#which was very nice of them but unfortunately i spend 98% of my time in the us
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im pretty new to spider-man comics so i was wondering if their are any comics focused/centered on harry osborn or gwen stacy? or both of them? and if there is what are some of your favorites?
Hi anon! Welcome to Spider-Man comics. I have a Gwen Stacy reading list here. It’s relatively straightforward reading Spider-Man comics for Gwen -- unfortunately she’s alive for such a brief period of the canon that you can cover it fairly easily. I thought I had a reading list for Harry, but I can’t find it, and the one I’ve used before that was made by someone else appears to be gone now. So a quick Harry Osborn reading list!
Harry, like Gwen, first appears in Amazing Spider-Man #31 -- they knew each other before the start of the series and were friends in high school. While there’s a pretty immediate push and pull between Peter and Gwen, Peter and Harry’s relationship isn’t immediately magnetic. He and Peter first begin to become friends in Amazing Spider-Man #39. In Amazing Spider-Man #40, Norman rants about his relationship with Harry to a captured Peter, with Norman’s words clearly contrasted against flashbacks: Norman claims he was a great father to Harry where the flashbacks show he was, at best, emotionally neglectful. In ASM #46, Harry asks Peter to move in with him while they attend college and Peter accepts. In ASM #74, Harry debuts a horrible mustache. I wouldn’t necessarily count this as important-important, but it’s just something everyone needs to see.
The mustache is very short lived. In ASM #96-98, cracks in Harry and Mary Jane’s relationship begin to show and Harry’s drug use increases, leading Peter to beat up his dealers, while Norman Osborn’s buried memories of the Green Goblin begin to reassert themselves. In ASM #119-122, Harry relapses, unwittingly setting in motion the events that would lead to Gwen’s death at the hands of Norman Osborn. Harry is in the throws of an overdose when Peter confronts him while searching for Norman immediately after Gwen’s death. The stress caused by Norman and Gwen’s deaths is evident in Harry in ASM #125. In ASM #135-137, Harry discovers Peter’s Spider-Man costume and plots his revenge, believing that Spider-Man killed his father. This is the first appearance of Harry’s own Green Goblin persona, and he’s institutionalized following a confrontation with Spider-Man.
Harry next appears in ASM #151, appearing to have lost or repressed all his memories related to Peter being Spider-Man. He first meets Liz Allan, his future wife and Peter’s former classmate, in ASM #156, at Betty Brant and Ned Leeds’ wedding. He and Liz start seeing each other in ASM #157 and announce their engagement in ASM #166. In ASM #172-180, Liz is arrested following the reappearance of her stepbrother, Mark “the Molten Man” Raxton. She subsequently breaks up with Harry and Harry goes a little off the rails before he and Liz reunite. Not too long after this point, Harry and Liz get married off page and move to New Jersey. In Spectacular Spider-Man #63, Mark Raxton returns and threatens the Allan-Osborn home. In Spectacular Spider-Man #85, Harry and Liz announce they’re expecting a child.
In ASM #249-251, while Peter is attending a party at Liz and Harry’s place, Harry receives a disturbing letter attempting to blackmail him for his father’s crimes. This story is a big step towards Harry accepting what his father did as the Green Goblin. In ASM #260-261, Liz and Mary Jane are taken hostage and Harry unsuccessfully attempts to rescue them, leading to one of my favorite Harry moments which I think showcases that, deep down inside, Harry is an extraordinarily gentle person -- and that this tendency towards gentleness hurts him as much as it is an admirable quality. I think it’s an important trait when comparing him to Peter, that Harry is essentially a weak person, and that that weakness isn’t inherently negative -- it might even, in different circumstances, make Harry a more admirable, definitely a more inherently gentle person than Peter, but that it doesn’t serve Harry in their circumstances and leads him to unfairly and unfavorably compare himself to Peter, much to his own detriment.
In ASM #263, Harry and Liz’s son Norman “Normie” Osborn Jr. is born. Things are quiet for Harry for a bit, until Marvel’s Inferno event begins. (It’s a good event, don’t worry. It’s primarily an X-Men event and I recommend the whole thing. Daredevil fights a vacuum cleaner in it.) The relevant Spider-Man issues for the whole event are ASM #311-313, Spectacular Spidey #146-148, and Web of Spider-Man #47-48. If your primary focus is Harry, you can stick to the relevant Spectacular and Web of issues -- this is an important moment in Harry’s history, where Norman’s influence and memories of the Green Goblin begin to reassert themselves on Harry, and at one point an Oscorp building is the scene of the Inferno action. In ASM #321, while helping Liz and Harry move into a new New York home, Harry invites Peter and Mary Jane, currently without a permanent address, to move into the top floor of the building. Liz’s brother the Molten Man makes a reappearance in Web of Spider-Man #62, where Harry offers him a job with Oscorp. In Web of Spider-Man #66-67, Harry dons the Green Goblin costume again, this time to try and be a hero before Spider-Man intervenes.
Things at this point go downhill for Harry very quickly: he begins, depending on your interpretation, either hallucinating his father or having visions of his ghost in Spectacular Spider-Man #178-183, in a storyline called The Child Within.
This is in my opinion one of the strongest Spider-Man stories ever written and a very critical storyline for Harry in particular, but as a warning it deals fairly explicitly with childhood sexual abuse of a minor character who is, I would say, deliberately paralleled against Harry and Harry’s experiences in childhood. It’s amazingly done -- J.M. DeMatteis wrote it and he’s one of my favorite Spider-Man writers -- but it is very, very intense. This leads to a confrontation between Peter and Harry, during which the apparition of Norman urges Harry to kill Peter, but Harry cannot. In all honesty, I would recommend reading from The Child Within straight through to Spectacular Spider-Man #200, which is Harry’s death. Harry’s not present in every issue, but he lingers over every page like a threat, and it’s some seriously well done comic book storytelling. But if you just want the issues where Harry is present: Spectacular Spider-Man #184, #188, #189, #190, #199. But whatever you do, don’t miss Spectacular Spider-Man #200. It’s hands down my favorite single issue of Spider-Man.
So at this point Harry’s dead. You’d think there wouldn’t be very much to read between this point and his resurrection in Amazing Spider-Man’s Brand New Day but there’s still a few points to hit: Harry’s video will is read in Spectacular Spider-Man #204, and there’s some elaborate Osborn family flashbacks in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #14. Harry also arranged, although it was carried out posthumously, for the whole Robot Richard and Mary Parker debacle, which you can read using this guide from the Complete Marvel Chronology Order + Amazing Spider-Man #390.
Harry returns to the pages of Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #545, following the erasure of Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage that came with Peter’s deal with Mephisto in the wake of Civil War. Recently returned from Europe, Peter and Harry spend a lot of time together as Harry does his socialite thing and engages in a relationship with Lily Hollister, the daughter of a New York mayoral candidate. Relevant issues are ASM #546-549, #552, #554, #557-561, #565, #567-569, #571-573, #581-588. Amazing Spider-Man #595-599 is one of my favorite Harry Osborn stories, American Son. A rare can’t miss where Brand New Day is concerned. With Dark Reign in full swing, Norman Osborn is on top of the world and in charge of a new Avengers team -- and he wants Harry to come work for him. (Not to be confused with the three issue limited series called Amazing Spider-Man Presents: American Son, which Harry is in, but which I don’t necessarily recommend.)
Amazing Spider-Man Extra! #3′s “Nice Things” focuses on Harry’s childhood and on Harry in the wake of American Son. Harry also appears in ASM #602-605 (enjoy the plotline where he dates Peter’s hot cousin), #609-610, #621-622, #630, #642-647 -- which details the birth of Harry’s second child, Stanley Osborn. Harry disappears from the pages of Spider-Man for a bit at this point as everything goes completely to hell with the Superior Spider-Man plot, where Doc Ock steals Peter’s body. Harry makes a reappearance when Peter, who has taken back his body, is left to deal with the aftermath of Doc Ock’s actions, finding himself the CEO of a huge tech company. Harry goes to work for him. I don’t think any of this is particularly worth reading for Harry, certainly not in comparison to any of the previous comics mentioned, but Harry is present for Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #3, #7, #10-15, #25-28, ASM #789-791, and #797-800. Some of this is event territory, and a lot of it is just not very good. The one part of it I would recommend is ASM #789′s Harry scenes, which are about him and Liz getting back together. And that’s where we stand currently for Harry! Thanks a lot to Spencer’s run for neglecting him for like fifty whole issues now.
My other Harry and Gwen rec would be for the current Gwen Stacy series, written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Todd Nauck. This is my current favorite Spider-Man book on the shelves, even though we’ve only gotten two issues of it so far. It’s set during Gwen and Harry’s high school days, before they meet Peter, and fits perfectly into the Spider-Man canon of the time. The two issues released have had a big focus on Gwen and Harry’s relationship, with Gwen running for class president and Harry as her campaign manager/hype man.
Please return to the shelves, Gwen Stacy solo.
#gwen stacy#harry osborn#marvel comics#spiderman#comic recs#traincat talks comics#long post/#*replies
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KGAF Phase 4: Time
I have a vision of a man-made object
I have the money, I have the means
I have the strangest dreams
-Man-Made Object, Lemon Demon
(context) (previous)
We’re in the endgame now.
Put all of your kittens into Scholar. Well, not literally all of them, leave a couple in each other job to prevent your economy from collapsing, but put 98% of them into Scholar - it's all about starcharts now.
Pick up Hubble Space Telescope to further boost starchart production.
After ~9 Lunar Outposts, launch Piscine Mission. Piscine has Research Vessels, which will expand starchart production. Unfortunately, it will take about ten minutes to reach it. In the meantime, keep buying Lunar Outposts.
After ~14 outposts, launch Dune Mission. Dune doesn't actually have any helpful buildings, but it unlocks the Cosmological Libertarianism policy, which boosts unobtainium production by 15%.
Use your first 1000 unobtainium and Chemist to craft Eludium for Microwarp Reactors, and that's another +75% unobtainium.
Then funnel your unobtainium into about 13 Space Elevators. The exact number of elevators you want depends on how much total unobtainium you need to trade - for a 35k total unobtainium run, the optimal number is about 13.
Orbital Arrays are far more expensive in unobtainium and are not worth it.
Once your Piscine Mission arrives, build ~20 Research Stations to boost your starchart production. It's only about a 50% boost, but it's still worth it.
Now - until you can build up enough unobtainium to trade for 63 Time Crystals (~35k for me), you are going to be splitting your starcharts between building ships -> titanium -> factories to boost outposts, and using starcharts to directly build more outposts. My rule of thumb here is to prioritize outposts and occasionally spend a minute of starchart production on ships.
The Leviathans you need to trade with to get Time Crystals can only arrive at the start of a year, so you are going to want to do the RNG manipulation (in the same manner as titanium trading) to get them before you have all of the unobtainium. If you waited until you had the unobtainium, you'd have to wait for the next year to arrive, which could take several minutes.
And this is why you needed to have the Black Sky challenge complete. The Leviathans arrival chance is based on your number of Black Pyramids, but Black Pyramids cost unobtainium. Thankfully, Black Sky's reward is essentially a "passive Black Pyramid", which includes the Leviathan arrival chance. While the chance is low (only 3.5%), you can use RNG manipulation to guarantee Leviathan arrival with no unobtainium spent on Pyramids.
Once you have starcharts to spare, send a mission to Helios. After arrival, turn off the Winter Has Come challenge. This will give you 150 apotheosis and a bunch of void. By this time, you will probably be able to spare the resources for Thorium Drive and decrease the travel time.
Here is the total number of Time Crystals needed to build a Cryochamber:
Chronophysics - 5
Tachyon Theory - 25 (also costs relics)
Void Space - 30 (also costs 100 void - this is why Winter Has Come is part of the run)
Chronosphere - 1 (cryochamber requires chronosphere)
Cryochamber - 2
So you need 63 Time Crystals. One trade with the Leviathans is 5k unobtainium, so the total unobtainium you need will be a multiple of 5k, plus 2.5k for the one Chronosphere.
e.g. With 18.2M BP and Monarchy, you can just barely (with RNG manipulation) get 63 Time Crystals with 35k unobtainium.
While you're doing that trading, make sure you also get relics - they're needed for Tachyon Theory.
After building a cryochamber, disable the Atheism Challenge first (300 apotheosis), then 'No Chronospheres' (20 apotheosis) and 'No Apocrypha'.
Then you're done. Nice work! You've gained a total of 470 apotheosis in just under 3 hours.
==========
Because this phase is simpler than the others (even if it takes longer) I'll take the opportunity to talk about how each phase of the run changes as more Burned Paragon and Karma are accumulated. I'll also bring up newer/more speculative strategies.
Phase 1:
Since you don't have a leader during this phase, the only thing that changes from run to run is your karma count. This boosts the production of your kittens, which means faster Academies. Sadly, since Karma gain is diminishing, this isn't a huge effect - Phase 1 won't see much timesave. Because iron only comes from smelters, your iron levels also won't increase much.
This is also the only phase where anything gets "worse" - in the first few minutes, more karma increases the number of farmers you need to sustain your first full-time worker.
Phase 2:
The extra Burned Paragon here gets more iron -> observatories -> starcharts, more ships -> titanium, and more alloy/steel -> more steamworks. This phase benefits a lot from BP, perhaps the most out of all of them.
Crafting 3 batches of ships instead of 2 not only gets you more magnetos as you'd expect, but it also makes it reasonable to cough up the 250 titanium for SETI early. This might seem like a pure quality of life upgrade, but because it removes the 'reaction speed' factor of getting starcharts, it could even be optimal. And also, the quality of life is REALLY appreciated.
In the same vein, for only 75 titanium, you can explode culture production before Phase 3 with an early broadcast tower. This could be good in two ways: alleviating the culture bottleneck during the tech tree climb in phase 3, and allowing for the Zebra embassy to be purchased. This would make trading during this phase far more convenient, especially when using multiple tabs to manipulate RNG.
After the useful wood/mineral buildings have been made very expensive, I've messed around with assigning extra hunters and scholars to build up extra science and catpower for Phase 3. This ALSO gets you master rank hunters and scholars sooner in Phase 4, which is very useful.
The only minor issue with this strategy is that, once you run out of parchment, it's tempting to 'send all' hunters and spend your entire stockpile of catpower to replenish your parchment supply. Don't give into this temptation. Promote a kitten with the Manager trait to boost hunting, and send hunters one at a time from the city tab until you have enough furs.
Speaking of getting Masters sooner, Phase 2
Neural Networks/Telecommunication would dramatically speed up skill acquisition, but they each take thousands of titanium, and so won't be plausible for a long, long time - if ever.
Phase 3:
Once you get Neural Networks/Telecommunication, the raw number of kittens you have (total and in each job) boosts skill gain. This means that more kittens (from more karma -> woods/minerals -> log houses/huts, or BP -> titanium -> mansions) are even more useful than usual.
More BP means more ships -> titanium -> factories. Similarly, more blueprints for steamworks and magnetos (though this bottleneck is more of an issue in Phase 4.
More karma -> more gold from geologists, more catpower from hunters, and more science from scholars. All of this is super useful, but karma accrues slowly.
Phase 4:
More merchant power -> fewer unobtainium trades needed to get 63 Time Crystals.
More karma -> more starcharts from scholars.
Leviathans give starcharts in addition to Time Crystals when traded with, so I've been considering a two-trade instance strategy, e.g. trade half your unobtainium early, use the starcharts to build more lunar outposts to speed up your acquisition of the rest of the unobtainium.
One complication with this idea is that after you trade with the Leviathans, their timer is set to leave in one year. This doesn't make the strategy unworkable, but it does mean you need to know exactly how long it will take you to get the unobtainium for the second trade batch.
Not to mention, they don't give a huge amount of starcharts - enough for a couple outposts, maybe. Not a huge boost, which is why I haven't been super eager to try this out.
I discovered a new emerging issue on my most recent run, where I tried to get 63 TC in only 30k unobtainium.
I mentioned offhand earlier that once you complete Anarchy, your leaders can have ranks above one which boost their trait by 50% additively. In every run before this one, the merchant had time to reach at least rank 4. This time, however, they were only rank 3 - leaving me far short of the trading power necessary to get 63 TC from just 30k unobtainium.
If I had seen this coming, building more academies during Phases 2 and 3 might have been enough to get them to rank 4 in time - I was about 20% short. Even if this is true now, it won't be in the long term. By the time I'm doing 25k or even 20k unobtainium runs, rank 4 will be totally implausible.
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Tagged by Susie @sunrisegf ! 🍓
why did you choose your url? I dislike other people named Ben. Actually, “antiben” was taken from.. an SCP article iirc? My friend Victor convinced me that it would be a good url so ^_^
any sideblogs? Unfortunately yes :(
how long have you been on tumblr? Since circa 2018? Though this blog was made last year I believe? I’ve remade way too many times T_T
do you have a queue tag? Nah! My queue is untagged! I’m fucking crazy but I am free!
why did you start your blog? The like.. circle of tumblr I was in on my previous blog was genuinely very stressful :( So I remade! And now I am here :)
why did you choose your icon? I’m matching with my bestie Cecil :o) also it looks nice, imo!
why did you choose your header? It simply looks pretty..
whats your post with the most notes? I don’t even know. I think like, a DDLC shitpost I made on my last blog?
how many followers do you have? Oh don’t even worry about it 🌙
how many people do you follow? 97? 98? Nearly but not quite 100!
have you ever made a shitpost? Unfortunately:(
how often do you use tumblr? I check it usually everyday but I don’t really actively reblog or make posts here anymore unless prompted!
did you have a fight/argument with a blog once? Nah! I’ve been hardblocked though but never because of anything I did, it was usually because of people I was friends with.
how do you feel about "you need to reblog this post"? I don’t spend enough time here to see those posts anymore woops. I’ll reblog posts with that if I feel like they’re important; If not, then I ignore them!
do you like tag games? Of course! They’re quite fun :)
which one of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? Define tumblr famous? I think most of my mutuals are.. popular in whatever circles they’re in?? I’m not mutuals with any tumblr funnymen though?
do you have a crush on a mutual? Not currently, nah!
Tagging @exbifriend @tr1nketz @mooncleric & @megapicross !
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Now that it's all over, I wanted to let you in on the past couple of weeks of my life. It's been rather stressful and hectic, and some of it rather frightening, so please bear with me. I doubt this is a surprise to any of you, but we are living in the middle of a pandemic.
Unfortunately, it is not under control. Not even close. And while I won't go into politics in this venue, I will say that I am both angry with how this has been handled in my country, and afraid of what the future will bring.
So, here goes. Last week my sister-in-law convinced me to go with her into one of the nearby cities to shop and go to a local casino (which practices social distancing and refuses entry to anyone not wearing a mask). We had been out before, and I needed things for the house, so I went. And I had a blast. We had a lot of fun and just got to hang out and spend time doing girl things.
But this past Friday, the 14th, around mid-morning, I started feeling ill. I had a headache that was nothing like my migraines or a stress headache. It centered just behind my eyes. I started to have a runny nose and felt strangely out of touch with my surroundings. Worse, I started having trouble breathing. I told my husband, who called his work and warned them he might be infected. Then we started calling the local hospital to find out about testing.
We registered to get tested. The woman who registered us said there would be a sign on the side of the primary care physician's office that we should call when we got there Monday. Because we live in a tiny rural town, the hospital only does testing between 9:00 and 12:30, Monday through Friday.
We had to wait until Monday to get tested. An entire weekend, wondering if I was going to get sicker and sicker. With my pre-existing conditions I was sure if I had Covid-19, it would be a death sentence.
Added on top of that, my husband totally lost it when I tried to talk to him about my wishes if something happened to me. He absolutely refused to listen and for a moment I thought he was going to throw himself on the ground and throw a real fit like our son did once when he was small. So, I started putting everything in order, just in case. I spent most of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday putting together my own memorial service, just in case. I made written notes to doctors and made sure our life insurance was all set.
All of this took an even bigger toll on me than the continued headache and the congestion. Then, probably because of stress, I started feeling sick to my stomach. It wasn't pleasant. The stress got so overwhelming, and nothing wanted to go right, and I was just ready to tear my hair out and run down the street screaming. That would have been a rather embarrassing arrest, so I'm glad I had some self-control.
While we were waiting for the testing to start, I worked for several hours to put together a back-tracing list that had everywhere I had been for the last three weeks, where my husband had been, and even the places I knew my sister-in-law had gone. Then, on Monday morning, at just before eight, Steve and I left to go and get tested. Since we were afraid of exposing anyone else, we walked (and I walked up a very big hill almost completely without help!)
By this point, I firmly believed I didn't have Covid-19, but I wasn't about to take chances with anyone else's health and safety. So we got to the hospital, saw the sign on the side of the primary care physician's building, and made the call that we were there... except, we hadn't found the right sign. The one we were reading was the one ON the side of the building. Not AT the side of the building. So, after my husband discovered our mistake (forty minutes on hold later), we called the second number and waited for a response.
Now, I'll be honest here... by this time, I was hot, tired, afraid, and just plain mad. I held it together, but I'm pretty sure my diatribe on anyone refusing to wear masks was heard ten miles away. By the end of my rant, both the others waiting in their cars to be tested had rolled up their windows (it went on for a REALLY long time).
Then a nice gentleman came out. I turned to my husband in a panic and made him promise he wouldn't let me bite the poor guy (which is a tendency I have when I am in extreme pain and a doctor gets too close). He walked us through what would happen and I asked if he would let my husband hold my head, partly to avoid biting him, and partly because Steve just makes me feel better. The man agreed, Steve leaned my head against his chest, and I sat on my walker and waited with my eyes closed for the torture to begin.
I'll be honest, while it totally sucked, it wasn't quite as bad as I had made it in my head. It felt like he was trying to tickle my brain, and I think I begged him to stop and said "oh S***" A LOT, but in spite of the discomfort, I survived it. Watching Steve go through it a minute later was almost worse, because I knew how much it sucked. He had his hands fisted and was shaking the whole time. He was stoic about it, but afterwards, when I made the quip about tickling the brain, he said "more like drilling," and just shook his head.
The gentleman we had been speaking to (I call him a gentleman because he was incredibly kind and gentle) said we might have our results as early as today, which was both a surprise and a blessing, because without Steve going back to work, we weren't sure how we would even manage to get food next week, let alone pay our rent, electric, and other bills, or set money aside for winter heating.
We were on our way back when my sister-in-law (Steve's brother's wife) drove past. She yelled at us to stay where we were, and we did, because we were friggin' exhausted by this point. She picked us up and drove us home after taking her own test about ten minutes later.
So, we waited. Now, I'll be honest. By this point I was about 98% sure that none of us had Covid-19, but we didn't take chances. Steve works in a grocery store. Sometimes he is stocking shelves, sometimes running a register, and sometimes he is out at the fuel island (the store gas station) pumping gas for people, and taking their money. So we knew if he went to work he could expose a LOT of people. We were very careful.
At 9:00 on the dot this morning I received the phone call telling me that I was Covid-19 negative! I bounced in my seat through the whole call. She didn't have Steve's results yet, so we waited. Around eleven, my sister in-law got her results. And then around one Steve got his. None of us are infected, thankfully. Steve called his work and let them know he is free to return (not a moment too soon) and will be going back tomorrow.
In the meantime, all the things we couldn't do because we had to self-isolate need to be taken care of, including several errands like getting dog food. So he has been rushing around getting things done all afternoon. Then I sat down and started writing, because that is just how I process things. I put on some music and just let my fingers fly over the keyboard.
My week sort of sucked, but the bright side is, I don't have Covid-19. Now that you know that, it's time I got into a subject that has really been bothering me. If you don't want to read further, you don't have to, but I really wish you would, and that you would spread the message along.
Every single person who chooses to wear a mask in spite of the annoyance it causes, is a hero to me. Every one of you who has gone without going to the club, who hasn't been going to church, who hasn't done any of the other things that happen in big groups. All of you who have been frustrated, but who know that your actions can either protect or harm other people... You are all heroes. You make a difference. Just as much as necessary workers. Just as much as doctors and nurses. You are heroes.
For those of you who don't wear masks, social distance, or use proper protection procedures, I am begging you, don't let this disease take away what you hold dear. Be safe, be smart. Listen to the doctors and nurses. Listen to the people begging you to wear a mask. Don't put yourself (or your loved ones) through what I just experienced.
Each time you get out of your car to go in a store, put a fresh mask on. Each time you touch something that has been touched by other people, use hand sanitizer. Stay at LEAST six feet apart. Wash your hands constantly, and thoroughly, for at least 20 seconds. Avoid touching your face (or the outside of your used masks!) and be very careful.
You don't want to go through the worry and the fear that you might have been exposed. But more than that, you don't want to be worried that you gave Covid-19 to someone you love. Please, be careful, be kind, and be safe. I don't want to lose you from this world. Every single one of us is special and has a purpose. Don't let your light go out. Take care of yourselves, and the rest of us.
Now, I'm going to climb off my soap-box and go do something completely unrelated to death and dying for a few hours. I might play a video game, or write a funny story. I might blast some music and sing off-key (loudly). Who knows. All I know is, I've had enough of fear and death to last a lifetime.
I wish you all well. God bless you.
Tori
Sailor Silver Ladybug
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1. List 5 things you want to do before the year ends.
I’d love to just be able to go to the beach and relax, but that won’t happen. That was the only place I could feel relaxed. Beaches have reopened, but the hours are limited and you can’t just sit/lay there like you used to be able to. You can only walk around. And anyway, the fact we’re still very much in the thick of this whole thing I don’t feel safe or comfortable going places yet or being around people. I wouldn’t feel relaxed at all.
2. What color are your pants?
I’m wearing black leggings.
3. Favorite motivational quote.
Meh.
4. When was the last time you drank coffee?
I’m drinking a Starbucks Doubleshot energy drink, which as the can says is a “energy coffee beverage.”
5. What was the last thing you ate?
Ramen.
6. Favorite animal.
Giraffes! <<< Aww, saaaame. And doggos. (:
7. Favorite song.
I couldn’t just choose one favorite.
8. Last movie you watched?
I’m completely blanking at the moment in regards to the last movie, but I’ve binged a lot of a couple shows on Netflix recently.
9. Any turn ons?
Nice smelling cologne.
10. Any turn offs?
Cockiness and arrogance.
11. List 4 big words off of the top of your head.
Claustrophobia, arachnophobia, agoraphobia, tryphophobia.
12. What are some meaningful movies?
Hmm.
13. 2 most important people in your life right now?
God and my family. Yep, I’m grouping my family cause I couldn’t just choose 2.
14. What are 3 things you want to do before the month ends?
Let’s be real- I won’t be doing anything.
15. When was the last time you read a good book?
I’m almost done with one called, “Never Walk Alone” by Willow Rose.
16. How long do you study for usually, if you study?
I spend about 20 minutes to an hour when doing my Bible studies.
17. Do you have any nicknames?
Just Steph and Sis.
18. Favorite kind of perfume? (fruity, alluring, etc.)
I like certain fruity and sweet ones, ones with patchouli, and beachy and autumnal scents from B&BW.
19. Do you have any international friends / friends who live out of state?
Those of us in this survey community live all over.
20. What is something unique that you do every single day?
Probably that I have a bowl of ramen of every night.
21. If there was a movie based on your life, what would it be called?
A series of unfortunate events <– Pretty damn accurate. Lmao. <<< Lol, I’ve made that joke before, too. I also find it quite fitting for my life.
22. When was the last time you bought a gift for someone?
Last month.
23. Are you a shopaholic?
I was. My online shopping got out of hand the last few years, too. However, I’ve actually been pretty good this year so far.
24. What are some songs that always make you feel better?
Upbeat and catchy songs help in the moment. Sad, emo, relatable songs can help as well, though. Sometimes just shouting along to “I’m Not Okay” saying, “I’M NOT OKAY, I’M NOT O-FUCKING-KAY!” or something can feel good. ha. Need some good angst.
25. List 3 activities that you can only enjoy by yourself.
Surveys, reading, and listening to ASMR.
26. If you could live in any biome (and survive) which biome would you live in?
I don’t think I’d last long in any biome.
27. How do you like being roused in the morning?
Uh, I don’t.
28. How was your day? What did you do?
It’s only about 330 in the morning, but so far it’s been fine. I’ve had my bowl of ramen, scrolled some through Tumblr, watched YouTube videos, and now I’m doing surveys and listening to ASMR.
29. What did your last text message say?
I sent my brother a TikTok video that reminded me of our doggo.
30. Do you respond to texts quickly?
It depends.
31. Who was the last person you called?
My mom.
32. List 5 things that are on your wish list.
I don’t knowwww.
33. If you were famous, what do you think you would be famous for?
I wouldn’t be famous. I’m not that special or talented. <<< Same. I don’t want to be famous anyway.
34. Winter or summer?
Winter, HANDS DOWN.
35. What is a quality that all people should have?
Empathy would be great.
36. If you could have a large collection of one item, what would that item be?
I already have a large collection of giraffe stuffed animals, books, key chains, and graphic tees. I don’t have room for more.
37. What have you been thinking about lately?
My mind is always a jumbled mess with a lot of stuff that is always on my mind from my health, family, and just life in general. But this year has and continues to give me a lot to think about as well.
38. What is the secret to a happy life?
Ha, you’re asking the wrong person.
39. What are some phrases you say often?
I know I have my many “Stephanieisms”, but I always seem to blank when asked this question.
40. Favorite food?
Ramen, scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, spinach, and green onion, Wingstop garlic parm and lemon pepper boneless wings, spaghetti and meatballs, pasta salads, pesto pasta, deli sandwiches, and baked potatoes.
41. List 3 wishes.
I feel like you’ve asked me this in different ways a few times now.
42. What are some of your greatest fears?
Losing my loved ones, death, never getting better/getting worse, never doing anything with my life and just wasting away...stuff like that.
43. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer?
Some stuff for the last Bible study I did.
44. Most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen (in real life)?
Beautiful beaches and mountainous areas. I went on a gondola last year that took us up over 9,000ft and the views were breathtaking.
45. Spicy food:Like or dislike?
I used to be obSESSED with spicy food, but I haven’t been able to eat it for a few years now due to some health reasons. It sucks. :/
46. Scary movies:Like or dislike?
I love ‘em. I used to be a big baby, but I did a complete switch a few years ago.
47. Do you like to travel?
Yes.
48. Any regrets?
I have a lot of those.
49. Do you like rain?
I love the rain.
50. What do you spend most of your money on?
It used to be food or clothes, but this year I haven’t been doing a lot of shopping.
51. Would you rather visit the past or the future?
Past.
52. Favorite clothing store?
Hot Topic and BoxLunch.
53. What is the best advice you can give to those who are feeling down?
I’m always feeling down, so I’m not the one to ask about that either.
54. How often do you think about your future? Does it scare you?
The future terrifies me. My mind is more wrapped up in current and past stuff.
55. What angers you the most?
Injustice and corruption.
56. When was the last time you got majorly angry?
In my personal life, it’s been awhile since I’ve been angry. I get irritated and frustrated very easily, though.
57. When was the last time you got really sad?
Sadness is one of my personality traits.
58. Are you good at lying?
I used to be when it came to lying and downplaying about myself like with how I’m doing and really feeling, but my emotions took control. I still downplay and leave things out, but it’s obvious I’m not doing well.
59. What foreign language would you like to learn?
I’d like to be fluent in Spanish. I’ve been wanting to brush up and start practicing again.
60. How many languages can you speak and what are they?
I’m only fluent in English, but I can speak some Spanish.
61. How often do you go to parties? If you don’t, what do you do instead?
I stay at home.
62. What books do you plan to read this year?
I’ve read several this year and I plan to read several more.
63. Do you have breakfast every morning?
Nope. Very rarely these days since I sleep until like 3PM everyday. Sometimes I’ll have breakfast foods for a late lunch or dinner, though.
64. Tell us a secret.
Nah.
65. How many concerts have you been to?
Seven.
66. Last hug?
My doggo. I haven’t hugged a person in months.
67. Who knows you better than anyone else?
You guys, probably. ha.
68. Baths or showers?
Showers.
69. Do you think you’re ambitious?
I haven’t been for a long time...
70. What song is stuck in your head?
None at the moment.
71. Countries you’ve visited?
Mexico. Besides my own, of course.
72. What do you most value in your friends?
Understanding and low maintenance.
73. What helps you to sleep better?
Listening to/watching ASMR can help.
74. What is the most money you have ever held in your hand?
1k.
75. What makes you nervous?
A lot of things.
76. What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Hmm.
77. Is it easier to forgive or forget?
I always forgive but never forget. <<<
78. First mobile phone?
A gray Motorola flip phone.
79. Strangest dream?
I have a lot of those.
80. Best dream?
Hmm.
81. Who is the smartest person you know?
My younger brother.
82. Who is the prettiest person on tumblr?
All of you.
83. Do you miss anyone right now?
Loved ones who have passed away.
84. Who do you love? Why?
I love my family. They’re my everything.
85. Do you like sharing?
Sharing what?
86. What was the last picture you took with your phone?
Probably of my doggo.
87. Is there a reason behind everything that happens?
I believe so.
88. Favorite genre of music?
I like variety.
89. If you had one word to describe yourself, what would it be?
Mess.
90. Describe your life in 5 words.
Nahhh.
91. Describe the world in 4 words.
Nahhh.
92. Craziest thing you’ve ever done?
I’m boring.
93. First three songs in your favorite playlist?
I’m not checking right now.
94. Are you more creative or logical?
Logical. I wish I was creative.
95. Would you rather lie or hurt someone with the truth?
I mean, it kind of depends. If it’s something serious and they need to know, then I’d have to tell them even though it would be hard and could hurt them.
96. What are you most proud of?
I don’t feel proud of myself for anything.
97. What personality trait do you admire in other people?
Those who are driven.
98. When you imagine yourself as really, really relaxed and happy, what are you doing?
I’m at the beach, just staring out into the ocean while listening to the waves crash in and out and feeling the cool ocean air on my face, breathing it in.
99. How do you usually start a conversation?
I usually don’t, ha. But I suppose with a “hey” or something of the sort.
100. What is the best news you could hear right now?
That it was all just a horrible dream. <<< Oh man. If only.
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...you know exactly what we came here to ask. - X, Gem & Mun
Yes dear, I am well aware~
1. What’s one animal you wish you could have as a pet but can’t?
Once upon a time, I would’ve said a dragon~ Now, I suppose any sort of big cat. A melanistic lion would be quite magnificent, don’t you think?
2. Favorite thing to wear to sleep?
Usually, it ends up being flannel pajama pants, with or without a shirt, doesn’t matter. But, I do have a set of silk pajamas that feel rather nice
3. What song really gets you going?
That’s a good question. I’m not very up to date with modern music. But the song ‘Endgame’ from the musical Chess is very good.
4. Where do you usually eat your meals?
Preferably, at the kitchen table. Though I do admit I have a habit of sitting on the kitchen island to eat
5. Favorite meal: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Breakfast
6. Most embarrassing habit?
Uh, yes, well, I have been disconnected from society for quite some time, and I’m afraid my slang isn’t very up to date. I try not use slang as a general rule, but there are occasions where I can slip and say something that truly shows my age
7. Chocolate or fruity candy?
Chocolate, no question
8. Soft or hard tacos?
Soft
9. Worst way to break up a fight?
Participating in said fight, solves nothing
10. Best thing to say in an elevator of strangers?
Shift a pair of demon horns onto my head and boom “Going down?”
11. What color/design are your bedsheets?
Plain black, though the comforter has a nice black and white patterning I’m not sure how to describe. Swirls mixed with paisley?
12. Any hidden talents?
I don’t think it’s hidden anymore, but I can play the piano quite well
13. Favorite thing to drink out of (mug, glass, etc.)?
Mug
14. Socks or bare feet around the house?
Bare feet
15. Favorite board game?
Monopoly
16. Do you sleep with the fan on or off?
Off, I’m cold enough as is
17. Heat on or keep it cold with lots of layers?
Depends on my mood, but usually ends up being both with how big the manor is
18. Do you sing in the shower?
Yes
19. Favorite song to belt out at the top of your lungs when you’re alone?
......‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’
20. Last thing you cried about?
.....Everything, really. Everything that happened that night.
21. At what age did you first have alcohol?
When we were 7, but it was also a very different time back then.
22. Relationship status?
I’d say I’m taken, wouldn’t you, Xanthias~?
23. What’s the most amount of money you’ve spent on a single item of clothing?
Oh I can end up spending quite a lot on my suits. I think my most expensive one was...somewhere in the $30,000 range?
24. What do you typically wear to formal events?
Suits
25. Favorite memory?
............I’d rather not say. Time has made the moment bitter, but...it had been quite beautiful while it lasted
26. Gum or breath mints?
Mints
27. Favorite shoes?
I don’t have a favorite. I have very few pairs, and all of them are the same.
28. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
The list, my dear, is longer than I’d ever care to admit
29. What is the natural state of your hair?
Usually in my eyes, which is quite annoying
30. Have you ever had braces?
No
31. Most dangerous thing you’ve ever done?
Go to that stupid party
32. Most embarrassing thing your parents have caught you doing?
Our parents were never around to catch us doing anything
33. Last time you had an orgasm?
This morning, isn’t that right, Xanthias~
34. Celebrity crush(es)?
None, I’m not sure who the modern celebrities are
35. Windows or Mac?
......Pardon?
36. How old were you when you learned to ride a bike?
...I’ll be honest, neither of us ever learned
37. Makeup or natural?
I’ll always prefer a little makeup, no matter the body
38. What color do you wear the most?
Black
39. Favorite season?
Spring
40. Umbrella or rain coat?
Umbrella
41. Have you ever fallen out of a tree?
Yes, quite a few times as a child
42. First car you ever owned?
A Ford Model T
43. What time do you usually go to bed?
That relative
44. Are you a competitive person?
Yes
45. Least favorite color?
I’m not sure I dislike any color, though perhaps yellow
46. First pet you’ve ever owned?
Does Samuel count?
47. Sweet or salty?
Sweet
48. Favorite pasta dish?
Chicken and broccoli alfredo
49. Favorite kind of chips?
Are Pringles still around? I like those
50. Talk about something you’re passionate about.
I -- suppose I’m rather fond of music. I used to hoard records, still do, actually. And I used to write my own songs, for the piano. Never wrote any of them down, however. I didn’t like them to feel so concrete. I liked to experiment with my music
51. What are some of your hobbies?
I...I’m afraid I haven’t allowed any to flourish.
52. Caffeine? If so, what kind?
Coffee or tea
53. Favorite kind of pizza?
I don’t believe I’ve ever had it...?
54. Fast food or sit-down restaurant?
A sit-down restaurant
55. Lots of acquaintances or a handful of close friends?
Close friends
56. Something that ruins your appetite?
In terms of food? Or mannerisms? For food, any type of squash I dislike, and in terms of mannerisms, open-mouthed chewing tends to repulse me
57. Favorite labels about you?
‘Mysterious’, ‘terrifying’, ‘attractive’. I’m aware that’s not the intention of the question, but those are still labels
58. Are you a religious person?
No
59. Night out with a bunch of friends in public or night in with one friend having deep conversations?
Deep conversations with a friend
60. What size shoe do you wear?
How is this relevant...?
61. Favorite thing about yourself?
I...suppose my charm. It can be quite useful
62. Have you ever told someone you loved them first?
Yes
63. Have you ever had sex on the first date?
Yes
64. Heroes or villains?
Villains
65. Favorite fruit?
Pomegranate
66. Least favorite fruit?
Plum
67. Favorite vegetable?
Broccoli
68. Least favorite vegetable?
...Is squash a vegetable?
69. How many plates can you eat at a buffet?
Usually just one or two, plus a dessert
70. Favorite dessert?
......Admittedly, I will eat virtually anything with chocolate, though those dark chocolates filled with raspberry creme are divine
71. Do you play any sports?
Not at all
72. Age you learned how to swim?
I can’t remember my exact age, but we were children
73. Tell a funny story.
You’ve never seen Damien pine, when we were kids, he had a crush on a boy. His face would get so red whenever he could so much as see this boy, and he’d get that dreamy look on his face, and not watch where he was going, so one tiiiIIIIIIII -- THAT’S ENOUGH
74. What’s one interesting thing about your culture?
My culture? I don’t -- I’m not sure -- I don’t know all that’s happened in the world, I don’t know how culture has possibly changed over the years, I can’t confidently say what would be ‘interesting’ about modern culture
75. What’s one annoying thing about your culture?
......One thing I have a feeling hasn’t changed is that we claim to be inclusive, yet racism and homophobia and hate crimes prevail
76. What job would you be terrible at?
Anything that required a bedside manner
77. Would you rather watch a TV show or a movie?
A movie
78. What’s your favorite compliment to give?
My dear, I am not a pick-up line generator with a sole goal to get into someone’s pants. My compliments, when I give them, are sincere, and vary from person to person
79. What’s your favorite compliment to receive?
I can admit I can be rather vain. Anything complimenting my looks I enjoy
80. Has your opinion changed on something recently?
Technology. It really has come a long way, hasn’t it?
81. Do you always order the same thing at a restaurant or order something different each time?
I tend to be a creature of habit
82. What’s something you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t yet?
Hmm...I’ve always wanted to try and learn to draw. A friend of mine used to be quite good at it, and I’ve always been a little jealous of his seemingly innate skill
83. If you could learn to do anything right now, what would it be?
Switch between male and female bodies myself
84. Favorite physical feature about yourself?
My scar. As painful as it was, it’s quite beautiful, don’t you think?
85. Least favorite physical feature about yourself?
My dear, as a whole I despise this body. It’s not my own, it’s broken, but...it’s all I have
86. What’s one amazing thing you did that nobody was around to see?
I summoned the...thing, that’s in this body with us. Of course, only Damien was around to see it, and it...ended unpleasantly, but it was quite the feat.
87. If you could change your height, would you?
For my female body? Yes, I’d like to make myself a little taller in that form, but I’m quite content with the male body’s height
88. What’s something you would rate 10/10?
Music, any kind
89. Heels or flats?
Heels
90. What’s something you wish you had more knowledge about?
There’s a lot of things I wish I had more knowledge about, the list goes on
91. Would you want to be famous?
I used to be, in a sense. The public eye is quite taxing. Nowadays, I prefer the shadows
92. What’s something you would get arrested for?
Murder
93. What’s your spirit animal?
I’d like to think it’d be a lion
94. What’s the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to you?
You, Xanthias
95. Are you the type to have an organized mess, or no mess at all?
There’s a fine line between ‘organized’ and ‘organized chaos’. It depends which of us is doing the organizing
96. Do you tend to make decisions based on the past, present, or future?
I try to take all into account
97. Are you a planner or a more spontaneous person?
I’d like to say I’m a planner, but history tends to disagree
98. Thoughts on the oxford comma?
A needed grammatical tool
99. What do you hope never changes?
Having other people with me. After experiencing company for the first time in...60 years, I don’t think I could go back to isolation
100. How would you celebrate your 100th birthday?
I’m afraid that’s already come and passed. I can’t even remember my birthday, so undoubtedly it was uneventful, and spent alone.
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my jojo fic recs
I deleted the actual post because I am an idiot, but I was able to recover most of it! This is all copypasta, but the readmore actually works on this guy :D (hopefully it works on mobile as well...)
Admittedly, I have only read a handful of jojo fics 💔 I used to read fic all the time, but things started getting Litch Rally Mad at my job around the same time i really got into jojo, so I haven’t had as much time to dedicate to it :(
I have a total of like 3 to recommend, but bro I cannot recommend these 3 enough. ngl I stayed up until like 5am on a workday reading all of these, went to work, and then came home just to finish reading them lol. They are all jotakak, so I do apologize if that’s not your cup of tea! ; J ;/
I tend to ramble so I will put these under a readmore just in case. c:
Nessun Dorma, which I always misspell as Nessum Dorma
bro this is where it all Began. It’s set in a universe all on its own, in which Jotaro is just a Struggling doctorate student. He meets Kakyoin, a nonbinary ballet dansuer, by chance while having a smoke in a back alley. The fic follows the development of their relationship from strangers repeatedly sharing a smoke break in a back alley to something More, as well as Kakyoin’s journey from a corps dancer to more of a lead dancer (I don’t know the term, I apologize! 💔) and Jotaro’s struggles with his thesis. This one is written with such tenderness and care towards the characters and the setting, my heart grows fond just thinking of it. ; J ;
Watch out for an unsavory relationship between Dio and Kakyoin- Dio is a really good choreographer but also a terrible human and he’s no stranger to using his status as choreographer to leverage his will over Kakyoin and get What he Wants, if you catch my drift. This imbalance also occurs while Kakyoin is a minor, but we never get any scenes between minor Kakyoin and Dio. They just vent to Jotaro about it. Additionally, there are many parts where the disordered eating of dancers is described, so please steer clear if you need to. All triggering content is tagged!
Overall, this fic is one of the best ones I’ve ever read. The life of any performer trying to make it big is fr fr nitty gritty, and this fic gives that whole issue the gravitas it deserves. Aside from that, though, this fic captures the behind the scenes and backstage process beautifully- as a choir + theater nerd, I am incredibly enamored by that. Beyond that, though, this fic is just Wonderful to the characters. So much of Jotaro and Kakyoin’s dynamic in the SDA was inspired by how they are written in this fic. A real 10/10 banger.
(For the love of GOD watch out for yourself bc this fic is addictive and it is not finished and has not updated for some time :( We will all pop bottles when the next chapter comes out)
The Libertine, Destroyed
This one was actually recommended to me (unfortunately I forget by who ; - ;) when I was going through Nessun Dorma withdrawals lmao. This was one of the first fics I encountered when I started reading Jojo fics, but I passed on it bc I wasn’t a fan of Phantom. After I was recommended it, I gave it a shot and holy FUCK thank god i did, it’s very good also!
So, like I said, it’s a Phantom of the Opera AU! Kakyoin takes centerstage as our gorl Christine, Jotaro fills in for Raoul, and Dio is the Phantom. I was SUPER apprehensive of this because Dio POV fics give me the Shivers and Phantom POV fics fill me w intense middle-school dread. This fic, though.. This fic gets it. I am not wholly familiar with the Phantom’s full plot, but I know enough to say that this fic does not follow it 1 for 1. One huge change is that Kakyoin knows Dio behind the mask, but isn’t aware he’s the Phantom, which!! Ahhh it fills me with such dread, but it is very well-written dread! I kind of ?? liveblogged my read-through of this one a month ago and you can Feel the mania in my tags, ahh.
This is another one that’s still in the works and hasn’t updated for a bit, and as such, I haven’t read it in a bit 3 Due to this, I don’t remember if there’s anything outright triggering, but of course anything can be triggering, so please take caution of the tropes synonymous with Phantom before diving in. This fic includes a varied cast of characters from the first three parts, with varying degrees of respect for canon- ie Baron Zeppeli is still Caesar’s grandfather (or father? Uncle?…they are family…), but the first 3 Jojos are all brothers. That normally isn’t my cup of tea, but this fic does it in good taste, and we get a lot of chapters/mini-chapters dedicated to fleshing out their childhood and Kakyoin’s involvement in it!
I’m more partial to Nessun Dorma than this one, but they are both lovely reads! I really like HasturIsMyCopilot’s writing style, and their other Jotakak fics are really nice as well! c: Ode to the October Sky is super fluffy and *chef kiss* Paradidiomi is also a good read about the power imbalance in Dio and Kakyoin’s relationship, but there aren’t too many chapters for it.
Summer Lovin’
Ahh, this one. This was my first fr fr Jojo read, and god it’s such a fun read. Jotaro and Kakyoin are stupid teenagers, Jotaro is a man of few words, and Avpol is beleaguered by their stupidity. Joseph is Joseph, and Iggy is… evil..
This fic is set in a modern, Dio free universe, which is a1 in my book! Jotaro spends an entire summer trying and overthinking how to confess to Kakyoin, with his friends and family both helping and hindering him. I forget exactly where this fic goes, but I’m 98% certain Kakyoin gets jumped and ends up in the hospital at one point? He recovers well enough, but watch out for that- it’s in the later chapters. Also, watch out (but in a good way!) for the horrific Jotakak kiss!! It made me screech at 1 and bury myself in my blankets, they are just… horrible at romance. which is relatable but ahhhhmy GOD
Overall, a very fun rollercoaster of a fic! Kakyoin beats up Steely Dan at one point! :D It’s a very fun read! ^^
Another Man’s Son
I WAS WRONG! This one came back to me when I was writing about The Libertine, Destroyed. This one is just a chapter, but god it’s so wonderfully written. Dio POV (which.. y’all know how i feel about that lol. but this one!! this one is so good!), in which he encounters Giorno and has Thoughts and Feelings. It’s been a very long time since I’ve read it, so I don’t remember it very well, but I do remember it deeply endeared me to Giorno before I had any idea who he was.
(Also check out this beautiful piece Toffee Arts was inspired to make because of it!! Beware though, it has Saturn Devouring His Son in the bg D:)
Those are all of the ones that come to mind at the moment! I’m really sorry I basically only have Jotakak ones. ; - ; It’s a ship I really enjoy, but I know that not everyone is keen on it. Hopefully I will be able to update this in the future with a more diverse selection! I’d love to read more Avpol fics, and 10000% more fics about Polnareff and Sherry (she’s polnareff too… uh oh spaghettios..)
#ahh i recovered it ; u ;#i will not type the tags again bc ya girl is SPENT#but#they're on the last versions of the post#long post#(for mobile gang.. just in case the readmore doesn't work. :(#i'm sorry ily guys and i will try to figure it out)
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There were so many amazing bottom Louis fics posted or completed during the month of January. We really hope you enjoy this list. Happy reading!
1) When Boys Become Drugs | Not Rated | 274 words
Louis' always been a wild child.
2) Imagine | Not Rated | 1203 words
"...Imagine a world like that."
Where Harry and Louis talk about what life would have been like if they did not decide to join the band and ran away together, but they quickly realize they would not be as strong and as in love as they are here in this moment in time if they would not have taken the risk. And no matter what they came face to face with, they both knew that in their hearts that they would be the definite endgame for one another and nothing could tear them apart.
Inspired by Ariana Grande's single, 'Imagine.'
3) You Make My Heart Race | Explicit | 1333 words
Louis just wants to have it rough, Harry gives him rough.
4) Scars Don't Make You Ugly | Mature | 1604 words
Sometimes Louis needs to be reminded that hes beautiful
5) Falling Too Deep | Explicit | 2895 words
Niall helps Harry find someone spend his rut with.
Louis can make alphas drop.
6) No One But You Got Me Feeling This Way | Explicit | 3787 words
The one where Harry has a particular desire that only Louis can fulfil.
7) One Touch Is Never Enough | Explicit | 3854 words
It’s been a rough year for Louis. First, he was turned into a werewolf, which hasn't been so bad, except that he didn't anticipate how it would affect his love life. Maybe it’d be easier to ignore if he wasn’t constantly bombarded by the sound of his two werewolf best friends getting it on in the next room.
At least they were nice enough to give him a gift certificate for a massage.
8) I Don't Want A Taste (I Want It All) | Explicit | 3865 words
AU where Harry tells Louis to go fuck himself, Louis tells Harry to fuck him himself, and Harry follows through.
9) In This Light (I Fell For You) | Mature | 5334 words
Christmas AU where Harry is going to perform his very first concert and Louis is his mute (and very supportive) boyfriend. Also lots of kittens, bad puns and boyfriends being cute.
10) Azaleas Where Your Face Should Be | Explicit | 5626 words
Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.
Harry and Louis having some sexy time and some sappy time and sometimes both at the same time.
11) Searching For A Sweet Surrender | Explicit | 7250 words
The one where Louis is acting extra bratty at Ed's wedding and Harry gives him exactly what he needs.
12) Beautifully Broken | Mature | 7827 words
Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.
Louis's a little broken, but that's okay. Harry's studying to be a psychologist. They bond over thrift shop trinkets and vinyls. They make it okay.
13) Into It | Explicit | 9197 words
Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.
Louis meets Harry. They hit it off.
14) The Heist | Explicit | 9423 words
Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.
“If you sabotage us, I get a bullet in my head. You’re willing to let me die just so you can avenge your-“ Harry pauses, glancing over Louis’ shoulder to see Liam and Zayn watching them carefully. Their eyes are squinted, arms crossed and ready to step in if need be. “Just so you can take care of some unfinished business?” Harry questions uneasily.
Without hesitation, Louis replies, “Yes.” Harry grits his teeth together in frustration before stepping back, pinching the bridge of his nose as he feels a headache creep into his temples.
15) If Walls Could Talk | Explicit | 10028 words
Harry is in love with his straight best friend. He thinks he doesn't have a chance, until Louis presents him with a challenge he can't refuse.
16) Tattooed Heart | Explicit | 10035 words
Note: This is a sequel to this fic.
“Is that fucking real?”
Harry grins. “Feel for yourself.”
A curious hand comes to trace over Harry’s chest, sighing in awe. “Harry.”
He watches him as he does it and wishes he had a camera on him, because the sight of Louis’ dainty hand caressing the beautiful L written in intricate cursive right over Harry’s heart has to be the single greatest thing he’s ever seen.
“Like it?” he asks.
“Harry,” Louis repeats, suddenly digging his thumb into the skin as if it was going to disappear at any second—it wasn’t, something Harry’s tattoo artist made sure of. “That’s—that’s permanent.”
“You’re permanent,” Harry replies, simple as can be.
17) Holding Back the Flood | Not Rated | 11454 words
Louis Tomlinson has always been the star of the Manchester Megalodons, beloved by his coach and looked up to by his teammates. He won’t stand for anyone stealing his limelight, especially Harry fucking Styles...
18) Damn Your Love, Damn Your Lies | Explicit | 14860 words
Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.
“Of course you’d use your free time to go to the gym.”
“Your idea of the best way to spend your free time is annoying your neighbors,” he laughs, dimples carved into his cheeks like marble.
No, Louis likes to annoy Harry. Everyone else on this floor is just an unfortunate casualty.
“No one has complained except for you,” Louis informs him smartly. Which is actually a good thing. If someone other than Harry had complained to him long ago, he would have unfortunately had to stop.
19) Pleasure Over Matter | Explicit | 15204 words
Harry is a bit out of his element, and an unsuspecting stranger provides him temporary relief.
20) I Been Feeling High When I Touch Your Body | Not Rated | 16946 words
Harry is a boxer, Louis is an architect and Liam is the worst cupid that could ever exist.
21) The Dream That You Wish | Explicit | 21543 words
Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.
Disneyland!AU where the park's Peter Pan is rumoured to be fooling around with Prince Charming in the castle. There's also Baymax desperately trying to capture the heart of Pooh Bear while shift manager boyfriends Niall and Shawn are tired of watching it all go down in the happiest place on Earth.
22) Middle Ground | Explicit | 23561 words
Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.
It’s like all week, Harry is a normal person. Him and Louis don’t know each other, don’t acknowledge each other but if they did, it would be with disdain. Then on Sundays, they gravitate towards each other without fail.
Harry moves to a new town for work where he meets the enigma that is Louis Tomlinson.
23) Etched in Salt (Is a Cathedral of the World) | Explicit | 24416 words
Note: This fic has mentions of BH.
Louis asks for very few things in life, and they are: to solve cases, to keep bad people from doing their bad things, to get good coffee, to go home to a spacious apartment with nobody else in it, and to manage his stupid telempathy powers with minimal interference. And now he's stuck in a tiny cabin in a snowstorm in the middle of god-awful-nowhere with Harry Styles. Because of course he is.
24) Sweet Dreams Are Made of This | Mature | 30004 words
Loosely based on The Wedding Date. Inspired by 27 Dresses. Basically, Fake Boyfriend AU with a twist. Louis' sister is unknowingly getting married to the ex who broke his heart. When faced with the prospect of turning up alone, Louis panics and hires a corporate escort named Harry. General chaos and epic jealousy ensues.
25) Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat | Explicit | 34572 words
Harry is 98% sure Louis hates him. So he feels like his bewilderment is justified when the omega offers to help him through his rut.
26) Long Road To Ruin | Explicit | 38655 words
Note: This BL Exchange fic was posted in December, but it wasn’t made public until January. That’s why we’ve included it in this monthly roundup.
"I remember thinking I would have done anything you ever asked me to do, without reserve. I was a fool to think that maybe you’d grow to do the same for me."
Or the one where two people can be in love but not belong to each other.
27) I Just Wanna Get Back to Us | Mature | 62131 words
Where Harry and Louis are divorced soulmates who are seeing each other for the first time in two years.
28) Non-Disclosure | Mature | 170219 words
Being a world class Director, producing some of the best rated Romance movies to date, Louis was easily a sucker for the ‘Happy Ever After’.
Except, in a world where he pretends and imagines true love. He was stuck inbetween what he thought was the love of his life and everything trying to stop them.
"I did a lot of thinking when I was gone and every scenario I came up with ended with you. I'm fucking scared and I have no idea what will happen from now but I'd risk it all, if you could promise me a lifetime"
Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.
You can find other monthly roundup fic rec lists here.
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space cadet
stranger things! au: except there’s nothing to do with stranger things other than it’s in the 80s and they play dungeons and dragons. basically an excuse to write a fluffy 80s chanyeol who’s head is in the clouds 98% of the time. pure fluff
wordcount: 6k
note: i’m sorry for not uploaded in so long, i’ve had a lot of stuff to do with starting uni etc, hopefully i can write a lot more now though, i’ve got a lot of ideas!
You remembered that night like it was yesterday. The cold air brushing against your flushed cheeks as you snuck away from the group of kids you were supposed to be playing with. They were just sitting down on the grass talking about nonsense you didn't care about. You wanted something else, like an adventure, though perhaps not the physical kind - you were worn out from your gym class at school.
You just kept walking, down the street of houses you had never gone in and never would. Further away from your house and the group your parents had pushed you to sit with. It was when you reached the end of the road when you heard it: gleeful shouts and the mechanical sound of pedals on a bike being turned incredibly quickly. Probably too quickly.
"Hey! Chanyeol look out!" A shout from further away met your ears and you turned just in time to dodge the bicycle skidding in your direction, the boy riding it frantically trying to stop with wide eyes.
The boy's bike tilted when he swerved and he, unfortunately, hit the ground with a large crash, a gasp escaping your mouth as you rushed over to see if he was alright. The two other boys reached their fallen friend and you, one of them trying desperately to hold in his giggles.
"Baekhyun I know you want to laugh." The boy on the floor, Chanyeol you presumed his name was, groaned as he sat up under his bike. "Just go ahead."
The boy who had been trying to restrain his amusement let go, a bubbling laughter escaping him as he slapped his knees. You, however, kept your eyes on Chanyeol, who was wincing as he tried to push the bike off him.
Deciding to help since it was slightly your fault that he was now lying on the floor with his bike on top of him, you pulled on the handlebars to lift it up, the bike being heavier than expected, but the third boy, the one who wasn't Baekhyun, helped hold it up too.
Chanyeol got up, his eyes finally landed on you, a sheepish grin on his face. "Sorry, I am a good rider I promise."
You smiled at his words. "Are you alright?"
Chanyeol simply shot you a wide grin, unusual for a boy who had been flat on his back under a bike five seconds earlier, but you let that slide. He then picked up his bike from where his friend had left it on the floor. "I'm Chanyeol by the way, that's Baekhyun and this is Jongdae."
The two other boys he'd introduced beamed and waved at you. Already they seemed a lot more enjoyable than the kids you were with just five minutes earlier. You then realised you hadn't introduced yourself, so you did, telling them your name eagerly.
"What are you doing on your own then?" Baekhyun asked, a baby-like pout on his face.
"I-"
"She can come play with us!"
"Chanyeol," Jongdae whined, frowning at his taller friend. "You said we were going to play dungeons and dragons. Girls don't like that."
"Hey! Why don't we ask her if she likes it or not?" Chanyeol fired back, a determined look on his happy face. "Do you like dungeons and dragons?"
"Yes!" Your excitement was clear in your voice, noticing the proud grin that landed on Chanyeol's face as he heard your answer.
"See! Let's go play now." He said, nodding over to the direction he'd been heading to on his bike. "Your parents would be okay with that right?"
"I'm fifteen, I don't think they'd mind." You replied with a shrug, watching as Chanyeol climbed onto his bike. "Besides, they're out for the night."
"Ugh," Jongdae whined. "She can come but I don't wanna be dungeon master again, you both complained last time."
"Oh Jongdae, you were awful, talk about bad storytelling." Baekhyun retorted, nudging the other boy as he climbed onto his bike.
Chanyeol turned to you with a contagious grin before motioning to the back of his bike; as a message for you to climb on. You looked at him rather dubiously, eyebrows raised as a challenge. After all, the last time you saw him on a bike, he'd ended up on the floor. Thus, you weren't sure how you being on the back of it would help him regain any strength. But, Chanyeol just smiled and motioned for you to get on.
"It'll be fine. I'll catch you."
And with his chaste words, you climbed on and didn't look back.
Now you were back. On that very street, you met that gaggle of young boys who had somehow managed to ingrain themselves into your brain. You'd left town just a couple of months later in aid of your father's job, the thought of Chanyeol's airy smile haunting your brain. You thought you could have become good friends with those boys, but your family life had made it difficult to keep in contact.
Now you were back and a small part of you wondered what they would be doing now, just after finishing high school. Would they be back from college? Would they have a job? Somehow you couldn't picture it, especially Chanyeol. His head was too far up in space for him to have an office job. You pictured him in an amusement park or even an elementary school; his grin working well with the young children.
You craved something special too. Some part of you wanted to go into game creating but you knew how difficult that would be, especially with the competitiveness of that market recently. This decade had been the burst of arcade games; you adored them and wanted your own input. Hopefully, you could find a part-time job while you worked on your own thing for a while.
This small town could allow you the freedom you needed to do that.
"Do you want to take a walk around?" Your mother asked, her voice cutting through the air as you jolted out of your thoughts swiftly. She was basically telling you to get out of the way. "The moving men are going to start bringing in the boxes. I heard there's an arcade around here."
This immediately peaked your interest. "Oh? Is it close?"
Your mother placed her hand on the kitchen counter, her gaze pointed as she nodded towards the door. "I wouldn't have suggested it if it wasn't. Get out and have some fun before we force you to unpack everything later."
She gave you a smile before flicking her hand in a shooing motion, eager to get you out of the house. Which, you were quick to do, grabbing your Bowie tote bag from the arm of the sofa: you needed money if you were going to spend the afternoon at the arcade.
Your walk to the arcade was short, it was nearby like your mother had said, and the bright sun was soft and warm with the mid-spring wind brushing against your face and hair as you headed towards the town centre.
The arcade was next to the cinema: Robocop was on at 7pm today. Your gaze brushed over the cinema and landed on the smaller building next to it. The doors to get in were large and glass, framed with blue and red. Lights from the games were visible through the translucent windows and a bubble of excitement flooded through you. Your eyes looked to the name over the top of the doors. Space Cadets may become your new favourite place in this small town.
Taking in a deep breath, you pushed open the door, faith that new George Michael song echoed through the air, the sound of Pacman acting as an extra bass. A wide grin spread over your face as you took in the masses of games, your feet taking you straight over to the Defender station, one of your all-time favourites.
Surprisingly, the arcade itself was less busy than you'd expected, clumps of friends hovering around popular games like Space Invaders, Sonic the Hedgehog or Donkey Kong. You figured it would get busier as the afternoon progressed, though the town wasn't too big so you couldn't picture too many people finding themselves here, especially on a Thursday afternoon.
Grabbing your coin purse from your bag, you fished through for the required amount before slotting it into the machine, tingles rushing through you as you placed your hands on the controls.
You'd finished a few levels, your knack of the game flooding back to you when you felt a presence behind you. Brushing it off as someone waiting to play the game, you ignored it and carried on playing. You wanted to get as high a score as possible.
"Wow, you're good." A voice cuts into your focus and you groaned as you pressed down too slowly, allowing an alien to hit your spaceship. "Oh. Sorry."
You span around, a frown on your face. "You don't sound sorry."
The boy in front of you was grinning wildly, a striking black and red mullet framing his arrogantly handsome face. But his good looks were not what you were thinking about at this moment, he'd just distracted you and you were about to beat the game's high score.
"You're right I'm not sorry." The boy pointed at the leaderboard, at the top name: ByunKing. The name you'd almost stolen the title from. "I can't have you beating my record, it took me a month to get that. I don't want a newbie coming in and taking that from me."
You raised your eyebrows in a challenge. "Well, maybe you should get practicing. You can't distract me every time I get close can you?"
The boy just smiled, unphased by your retort and holding out his hand as a greeting.
"I'm Baekhyun, nice to meet you," Why did that name sound familiar? His smile grew wider as you shook his hand hesitantly and told him your name.
"I used to know someone with that name. My friend used to have the biggest crush on her, understandable she was a-"
"Baekhyun, what are you doing? You can't pick up any girls with that haircut, so why try?"
"I'm not chatting her up Jongdae, I was watching her play." Baekhyun whined at the new boy, a cat-like grin curled onto his lips. Baekhyun and Jongdae? Surely it wasn't them. You would have recognised them earlier if it was.
"Watching me play?" You scoffed. "More like sabotaging me because you don't wanna be beaten by a girl."
Jongdae let out a loud laugh at your words, immediately smiling at you as an act of gratitude for insulting his friend. They both had a familiar air around them and you couldn't help but wonder if they were those young boys you'd met almost seven years ago.
"You weren't going to beat me." Baekhyun frowned and huffed, his bottom lip poking out in exasperation.
"You should keep telling yourself that, Baek, it might help you sleep better at night and I won't be getting phone calls at 2am because you spilt coffee over your pillow."
Jongdae's retort had caused an amused smile to fall onto your lips and you watched them both argue with a friendly banter, throwing insults back and forth, rather loudly. It almost made up for the fact Baekhyun had ruined your gameplay. Almost.
"Shut up Jongdae- that happened once. Besides, wasn't it your idea to put salt in it in the first place?-"
Jongdae wasn't given the chance to answer because a large figure came into view, his long body leaning against the arcade machine.
"Baekhyun, we both know it was you who wanted a cake that reminded you of the ocean." A deep voice vibrated through the air, causing the three of us to look at the large figure standing by the machine. "Nobody made you change the recipe."
His face was divinely structured, large eyes, smooth skin and a splash of youth as his lips curled into a mocking and smug grin. There was something familiar about the curve of his lips, though you couldn't think of anybody you'd met before who was quite this handsome.
"I hope you're not disturbing my customers, here at Space Cadets we have a game courtesy that we only talk to players who are not playing." This statement seemed to be directed to Baekhyun, before the tall male looked at you, his eyes widening as he stared right at you.
Baekhyun introduced you, telling this man your name before continuing: "and Chanyeol, I wasn't disturbing her. It was a mutual decision to stop playing."
But neither of you were listening to the smaller mullet-adorning boy anymore. Your gaze was fixed on this man, Chanyeol, his intense stare making it impossible for you to look away. It couldn't be. What sort of coincidence would occur for the two of you to meet again on your first day back?
"Chanyeol?"
"Thana?" The sound of your old dungeons and dragons character leaving his lips caused a gasp to leave not only your lips, but the two boys who were watching this encounter curiously.
Baekhyun yelled and pushed Jongdae's shoulder violently, Jongdae shooting him a swift glare as he ducked out of the way of another one of Baekhyun's outbursts. His eyes were wide as he stared at you.
"I knew I recognised you!" He managed to land another hit on Jongdae's shoulder and the poor boy moved closer to you to get away from his loud-mouthed friend. "I knew it!"
"Who else would be able to beat your score on Defender?" Chanyeol rolled his eyes before sending you a stunning smile. "I wouldn't expect anything less from our long-lost friend here."
A flush sent warmth to your cheeks and you shrugged in response to Chanyeol's compliment. The whole situation felt surreal. You were really standing in an arcade with the three boys who had been part of your most cheerful younger memories. And to top it off, Chanyeol was beautiful.
You knew you'd always had a subtle crush on him and some part of you was thankful you'd moved away, knowing if you'd still known him as he was blooming you would probably have fallen in love with the nerdy giant.
"You've grown." Was all you could say.
Jongdae snickered but Chanyeol shot him a dirty look before grinning again, a flutter filling your stomach as you saw an innocent gleam in his large eyes.
"I've been eating my spinach."
It was such a simple response but it allowed all the warmth you'd missed from him the past few years to come flooding back. You didn't even realise that the two of you were essentially ignoring the noisy boys who were reacting animately to the situation. You simply looked at him, taking in his godly-carved features.
You didn't even notice when the other two boys scooted off, whispering to each other about Chanyeol finally making a move, or how much of a coincidence this was, or even how it was unfair that you were still better than Baekhyun at everything.
"How have you been?" Chanyeol asked, cutting through the silence that hovered over the two of you. "It's been a long time."
You nodded, giving him the stereotypical answer that you'd been good. You didn't tell him that you'd missed him, that would have made it awkward, so you kept it simple, glad that you could see him in front of you and it not be a dream. At least you hoped it wasn't.
"So, you work here?" You asked curiously.
Chanyeol grinned. "I don't just work here. I co-own it!"
"Co-own!?" You exclaimed. "That's totally boss!"
The tall boy gave you a wink, that wasn't really a wink as he scrunched up half of his face to do it. But it was cute nonetheless. He then tapped the arcade machine he was leaning against as if to say carry on. But you didn't want him to leave, you wanted to carry on talking to him.
"How long have you been here for?" You asked, causing his eyes to widen just a fraction at your eagerness for a conversation.
He went back to leaning against the machine, though he seemed a lot more visibly relaxed, as if now he knew you wanted him there. And that knowledge brought him great relief and warmth.
"It's only been open a couple of months but it's doing well. I'm just really glad I opened it because this town was so boring before, so now kids actually have something to do that doesn't involve throwing rocks off a cliff."
You smiled at him, enjoying how passionately he spoke about the arcade. He looked down at you, his soft eyes gleaming with a glee that was practically contagious, you felt an overwhelming burst of pride for your old friend.
"Actually - I finish in about an hour," Chanyeol stated, as if coming to a sudden realisation. "We can go get some food somewhere and catch up if you want- I mean, if you don't want to that's fine too but .. I think it would be nice-"
"I'd like that."
Just like he'd said, Chanyeol finished in an hour. After changing from his red and blue polo which was the arcade's uniform (he was supposed to wear a red cap too but apparently he'd lost that) he wandered the arcade in search of you. You'd moved from machine to machine, and he found you at a Space Invaders machine, frowning in concentration with your tongue poked out slightly as your hands moved diligently about the controls.
A small smile fell onto his lips as he watched you, not wanting to make a sound. Maybe you could beat Baekhyun's high score. He wanted somebody to knock ByunKing off the top spot on at least one game. You could do it. You looked so relaxed, like playing games was a sixth sense to you.
It was a couple minutes later when a smile broke out onto your face and you allowed yourself to lose. You grinned at yourself and turned around, your eyes widening in shock and a ragged gasp escaping your lips as you took in Chanyeol.
"Don't creep up on me!" You whined holding your hand over your chest. "You gave me a heart attack you absolute broomhead."
Chanyeol's own eyes widened as he heard your exclamation, his grin widening as he struggled not to laugh.
"Sorry. I didn't want to disturb your game."
You looked back at the arcade machine, a smug smirk suddenly making its way onto your lips. "Oh. You're going to have to break the news to ByunKing that I've beaten his high score on Space Invaders and Robotron."
Chanyeol just stared at you in shock. You'd managed to destroy Baekhyun's months of hard work in just an hour. Not that it was too surprising, back when you used to play with them you were always a step ahead of everyone.
"Actually- I want to be here when he comes back and realises he isn't top anymore." You smirked and cocked your head. "Anyway, don't we have somewhere to be, space cadet?"
And with that, Chanyeol was smiling irridescently at you and leading you out of the arcade to the old diner which you were sure had been here since you were last in the town, but you weren't sure. Especially as it looked a lot cleaner and the menu had finally seen sense and added ice-cream to it.
You let Chanyeol lead you to a table, he seemed to know where he wanted to sit, so you just followed. He slid into the booth, immediately picking up the menu that was slotted between the bottles of sauces. Sitting yourself down too, you watched as his eyes darted over the food choices, trying not to smile otherwise that might look a little creepy. You couldn't help it, he was rather adorable.
"What do you want?" Chanyeol looked up at you.
It was almost as if it was normal. You hadn't seen Chanyeol in years yet it didn't feel anything but natural when you ordered together, uncoincidentally it was the exact same thing. Chanyeol teased and said that at least you wouldn't need to steal any of his, to which you gasped and said that you definitely still would steal his.
It felt so natural, so calm, and you were so glad you'd bumped into him. Moving back had unnerved you, but now you knew Chanyeol was still here, you felt you could feel back at home.
The two of you talked intrepidly over the food you'd ordered, deciding to just put both plates in the middle and share it all. You discovered Chanyeol was hoping to go into game design, much like you, though you felt Chanyeol would have a much higher chance at it. He was so creative when you first knew him, and it appeared that it had only grown.
You could see the passion he had for gaming and creating games in the way he spoke animatedly about opening the arcade. The way his wide brown eyes sparkled as he waved his hands about trying to explain the latest idea he had for a sci-fi game. At one point he very nearly knocked his soda off the table, but he caught it just before any damage could be done.
"It kinda sucks that we don't have phones ourselves," Chanyeol stated as the waitress took your empty plates away. "I mean, we could have kept in touch after you left. I would have sent letters but I don't think that's fast enough."
"What like a phone you can carry around?"
Chanyeol nodded enthusiastically. "Imagine, if I saw a dog I could immediately ring you or even send a message straight away! How cool would it be?"
"I think that's some back to the future kinda stuff." You stated, moving to pick your denim jacket off the seat beside you.
Chanyeol already had his jacket on and was watching you slip yours on over the striped polo which he thought was very cute, but he wouldn't say that, if he did he wouldn't be able to stop saying it, so he kept quiet and watched you with a small smile instead.
"We should do this again." Chanyeol stated once you were both leaving the diner.
You simply nodded in agreement. Chanyeol had his arm draped casually over your shoulder and you couldn't help but notice that his arm felt a lot heavier on your shoulders than it actually was. A stubborn reminder that it was there.
"How about this weekend? I have Saturday off from the Arcade." Chanyeol said. "What would you want to do?"
"Rollerskating?" You'd seen adverts for roller skates on television and still found it irritating that you hadn't been in such a long time. You also kinda wanted to know whether Chanyeol would be as clumsy on the rink as he was on normal ground.
Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck but nodded. "If that's what you wanna do, it sounds fun to me!"
You smirked. "Are you scared?"
Chanyeol's eyes widened at your words and he shook his head adamantly in refusal.
"No. I've just never been rollerskating before."
You grinned widely at him. "Well now's your chance to try something new."
The smile that Chanyeol sent back in your direction was enough to send warmth through even the coldest places on the planet. It definitely sent warmth through you and you felt the fizzing reminder of a potential crush from your early teenage years come back.
Fortunately, you'd been busy the rest of the week repeatedly moving furniture and unpacking boxes. It was fortunate because you know if you'd been doing nothing your mind would constantly wander back to the tall lanky boy's smile whenever you sat down. So, fortunately, you'd been without many distractions the remainder of the week.
No distractions definitely did not include the phone calls from Yoonhye, who coincidentally was pre-occupied with her own love life, so; your thoughts were distracted by her heart-filled ramblings. It was nice too, hearing a familiar voice, especially since, aside from the three boys you'd met again, there was nobody you recognised in this town. Even the owner of the diner had changed. However, you did think you'd seen the librarian before, though you weren't sure if it was a library in which you'd seen her.
Either way, your mind had been far away from Chanyeol until this morning, when you'd looked at the calendar above your desk and seen his name written in red felt-tip. Once you'd seen it, your heart pounded in your chest, almost like an alarm.
So here you were, an hour away from 6pm, debating whether to wear your beige cords with a salmon jumper over a white polo, or your navy three-quarter length jeans with a yellow 'talking heads' top and denim jacket. You opted for the second choice, knowing you could probably stash your jacket somewhere in the roller rink.
It didn't take you too long to do your hair and makeup, knowing that your hair would end up out of place anyway. Now, you were sitting in the living room, trying to plug in the Famicom in case Chanyeol would come round one day and decide he wanted to play video games.
When the doorbell rang, you felt a rush flood through you, knowing you were going to see that beaming smile on the other side.
"Grab the door will you, Sweetie?" You heard your mother shout from the kitchen and you did so.
Behind the door was the tall boy you'd been thinking about since 9am this morning. Looking extremely adorable in his black courderoys, a baby pink t-shirt and a black corduroy jacket. You gaze automatically went up to his warming smile before it rose slightly higher and you gasped, stepping out of the house and closing the front door behind you.
"You dyed your hair?!" You exclaimed, tempted to run your hands through the pale pink locks.
Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck as the two of you reached his car which was sitting at the bottom of the driveway. "I didn't dye it on purpose. I lost a bet with Baekhyun - and you know him."
You just grinned. "It suits you."
"Really?"
"Mmhmm, looks rad."
Chanyeol's smile was even wider than it had been when you opened the door, and that unavoidable feeling of a crush erupted again in your stomach as you climbed into the passenger seat.
"No bicycles?"
"A car is quicker." Chanyeol retorted. "Besides, don't girls like cars?"
You smirked a little at his words as you looked out of the window. "They're alright. Why? Do you need your car to get you all the girls?"
"I'll have you know I have people falling for me all the time."
That you believed.
"That's what happens when you trip people up with your incredibly long limbs Mister Chanyeol."
You heard Chanyeol huff out a breath of air in an attempt to hide his chuckle, and then it was quiet. A nice quiet though. You used this chance to talk in Chanyeol's profile as he drove diligently down the road.
It was odd to see him so serious. It suited him in a strange way. His bottom lip stuck out in a slight pout as his large eyes remained on the road, his long fingers flicking the indicator swiftly. You drank in the sight of him as the orange hue of the sunset gave his skin a golden glow. It was almost like a painting. A painting, or artwork for a game, a very detailed game with exquisite graphics. Not the sort of game you would ever see any time soon.
Chanyeol noticed you looking at him, but he didn't say anything. He refused to look at you in case he got distracted by the sparkle in your eye, or the soft heat of your smile, or the shine of your hair. You were perfectly indulging and that was dangerous while driving.
He vowed he'd take your appearance fully in when you both reached the roller rink.
Which, incidentally, was around the next corner. He could see your excitement build up and he only hoped he could get the hang of this hobby fast. He definitely did not want to fall flat on his ass in front of you. That would be embarrassing.
Once you were inside, you headed over to the welcome desk, where you'd hand over your shoes for a pair of rollerskates, not rollerblades, you didn't think you were quite skilled for that level of balance yet; or ever.
When Chanyeol had swapped his shoes, the two of you walked over to one of the wooden benches by the side of the rink, the low blue and purple hues of the lights making it difficult to see. As a result, it was difficult to tie the laces of the roller skates, and you held back a smile when you saw Chanyeol fumbling with the laces.
"You should double knot them," You suggested, wiggling your ankles so that Chanyeol could see you'd finished.
Chanyeol's pout was adorable and you almost showed your adoration on your face, you were just thankful the dark lighting made it easier to hide your expressions. "I never learnt how to do that."
"Well, let me show you then." You patted your lap so Chanyeol could swing his leg up and rest his foot on your lap, your fingers demonstrating how to tie his laces securely. "Is this why you always tucked your laces under the front of your shoes?"
Chanyeol smiled sheepishly. You couldn't help but grin back at him.
"It's never too late to learn." You stated, gently pushing Chanyeol's feet off your lap and patting your thighs before standing up.
At first, you felt a little wobbly, the change from solid footwear to wheeled shoes was unusual but it only took a few seconds for you to get used to it. You guessed the couple of years you spent at the retro 50s diner as a waitress while at college was worth something. Moving your gaze from your own feet to Chanyeol, you had to bite back a laugh.
Already the boy was clinging onto the barrier that surrounded the rink, the two of you not even inside it yet. It was clear that while you were an experienced 'veteran' when it came to rollerskating, Park Chanyeol was not. To you it was as endearing as it was amusing and you held out your hand so you could lead him safely onto the rink. Chanyeol took your hand gratefully, his fingers crushing your own as you pulled him forward.
"I've got you," You said with a wink just as you got onto the rink.
"No it's okay I've got this." He said, his voice suddenly shooting into a higher pitch as he placed too much force into one of his strides, his arms flailing as he lost control of his feet. Hastily, you grabbed onto his hand, pulling him towards you with a firm grip, your eyebrows raised at his flushed cheeks and a sheepish smile.
"You've got this?"
You grinned as Chanyeol pouted in annoyance and muttered under his breath, his spare hand holding onto the barrier of the rink. In order to help him, you held out both of your hands, beckoning him to hold onto them.
"You're not going to learn if you're scared." You told him, as he hesitantly placed his hands in yours, pushing away from the side of the rink.
"I just don't want to fall." Chanyeol shot back, his eyes slightly widened and his bottom lip jutted out as he sulked a little. You simply smiled.
"Don't be scared to fall," You winked before stationing yourself in front of him, while you helped him, you'd keep close to the side, out of the way of the experienced skaters who usually looped around the centre of the rink. "It's best to keep your knees bent."
Demonstrating, you crouched slightly, waiting pointedly for Chanyeol to imitate your actions; he did. Then, you pulled backwards, Chanyeol's eyes widening as he started rolling. You knew he wanted to move his feet but you shook your head, crouching again to demonstrate the stable position.
"Don't try to walk, you've got to push sideways with your feet." You mimicked the action you were trying to help him learn before letting go of one of his hands and coming round the side. Then, you repeated the action, letting Chanyeol copy your movements, which he did.
"I'm doing it!" He exclaimed, his legs less shaky now as he gained confidence.
You loosened your grip on his hand, though you didn't let go of it. Chanyeol was still unsure on his feet, despite his extra confidence and you wanted him to keep that confidence. However, you did notice that he was speeding up quickly, not gradually, which for an amateur skater probably wasn't the best thing to do. Especially when the end of the rink was getting ever closer.
"Chanyeol - careful..." Your voice trailed off as Chanyeol's ankle locked and he slipped slightly, his grip on your hand tightening swiftly, dragging you down as he fell, letting out an oof as he hit the hard wood of the rink.
You gasped as your elbow hit the floor, shocked when your head fell on something slightly softer than the wooden flooring. You backed up slightly, your eyes meeting Chanyeol's as he gazed down at you in a slight daze.
"Hey there," He said with a smooth wink and your eyes widened.
"Did you do that on purpose?" You huffed, frowning and pushing yourself off him. Chanyeol's soft lips quirked into an amused grin and he cocked his head, sitting up on his hands as he looked up at you, innocently. "I know you, Park Chanyeol."
"Don't you want to get to know me better?"
Your eyes widened at his blunt words and you let go of his hand that you'd grabbed in order to pull him up off the floor. He fell backwards with a hard thud and frowned up at you in playful distaste. "Not funny?"
The corner of your lip twitched slightly, trying to keep the smile that was trying to form itself at bay. You held your hand out again and Chanyeol made a point of eyeing it warily, causing you to kick at his feet.
Pulling him up you smiled. "Let's try this again?"
Chanyeol nodded, his warm brown eyes twinkling. Winding you up was something he'd always enjoyed doing; he loved watching the soft pink rush to your cheeks as you looked at him, more flustered than you liked to admit. He was glad you were back, the old crush he had on you rushing back.
"We should have a reward system." He stated, about to make a bold move.
Your eyebrows raised at his words and you folded your arms over your chest, ready to reject whatever his suggestion would be. "Oh really?"
"Every time I complete a lap, you have to give me a kiss."
While you really should have said no and hit his shoulder softly for even suggesting that, the twinkle in his eye stopped you and you found yourself smiling at him and agreeing, your eyes drifting down to his own lips as they formed a triumphant grin.
"Let's get going then."
As he spoke, he stooped forward and let his lips brush against yours, ever so slightly. The touch was so light you barely even felt it, but you felt the heat rush to your cheeks as you looked at him with wide eyes.
"That one was for good luck." Chanyeol's smile was so wide that you found it impossible to be mad at him, knowing full well that you wanted to feel that kiss again. So you just shook your head and motioned to the rink.
"Go on then, space cadet."
And with that, slowly, but surely, Chanyeol was off, determined to win another kiss from you.
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Skincare/ makeup culture ☕️
oooh. i’ll divide this post into two parts: makeup culture and skincare culture.
(1.) makeup culture.
i think everyone knows that I’ve never liked makeup, mostly because I had relatively bad cystic acne throughout high school, that reacted badly to all of the makeup that my sister used (but most particularly her l’oreal foundation). I think makeup culture is particularly harmful to young girls, like the makeup youtube channels that are run by the parents I suppose of 8 year olds, where the 8yo is the actual youtuber.
like don’t get me wrong, i know young girls like playing with makeup (I actually did when I was that age, funnily enough)….. but the fact that professional or just plain fucking ridiculously expensive makeup palettes are now being marketed to girls in bloody primary/grade/elementary school, is just fucking wrong. and yeah there’s the post on here about how some younger girls are finding themselves ugly when they don’t wear properly applied makeup or something like that. and that breaks my heart. why the fuck should a young girl be made to feel ugly if she can’t blend like josiemaycosmetics (I made that up btw idk any makeup channels besides Jeffree star, James Charles and that tatti woman tbh) and can’t afford the bullshit Too Faced $98 powered foundation, $65 Sunday Riley blush (I roughly remember the price of this particular blush bc my sister bought it for me for my 20th birthday so that I could according to her “look good for uni” but I never actually used it lmao… and it’s no longer sold here in australia) and Kylie Jenner’s overpriced lip kits and idk Smashbox “photo finish” primer priced between $AU23-$AU55????
like I had this bad enough in fucking HIGH SCHOOL with my sister telling me that I’d “never get a boyfriend” or “never get a date for the formal/junior prom” if I didn’t spend hundreds of $$$$ for a good face of makeup and didn’t spend hours and hours learning how to do my own makeup. or how last year for my uni grad, she made out that I’d ruin my own uni grad if we didn’t spend $250 on the makeup artist we got for me….. where I unfortunately found out that my skin reacts to MAC products 😭😨 bc the MUA used MAC concealer and foundation. my sister also expected me to remember the setting spray the woman used for my makeup, when I was there from like 4:30am till like 6:45am and i was barely fucking awake. the setting spray probably could’ve easily cost over $100. let’s be real here. like why am I expected to remember shit that early in the morning???
one of my least favourite things with makeup culture is that you’re not meant to fuck it up in any way, shape or form. like when my sister did my makeup for my two high school formals/proms (year 10 & year 12) she constantly told me not to scratch my face while she was doing it (but it made me itchy, hooray for L’Oréal being shit lmao)…. not to fuck it up while I ate at those events….. and she didn’t let me eat before my uni grad last year bc “you’d definitely fuck up your makeup. don’t you dare scratch your face at all today!” like for someone who has hypersensitive/highly reactive skin that she has to scratch when it’s itchy….. and also loves fucking stuffing her face with food….. expecting me to never touch/scratch my face and to practically starve myself to preserve the integrity of my makeup (that i ended up paying for some in the end anyway) for an event is fucking stupid and over-restrictive.
like i always hated the way that the kardashians ate on KUWTK bc it looked so fucking mechanical and whatever bc they had to obvs preserve their makeup while shooting and also look nice for the camera. like why the fuck am I expected to eat ~like that~ when I have a faceload of MU on???? FUCK OFF. I will scratch it off. I will smear the food all over my face (ok not really) and eat however I motherfucking want, thank you very fucking much. like for my uni grad last year I was up from 4am and my grad ended at like 12:30pm….. so I didn’t have food til about 12:35 when I left the hall. and the whole time while I was eating my sister kept reminding me to not fuck up my makeup that we’d spent $250 on. JUST LET ME FUCKING EAT WOMAN, I SWEAR TO FUCK. lmao.
the last thing I hate the most about makeup culture is that like….. I absolutely hate makeup like I said above….. but once I have it on I feel pretty and cry a bit bc I’ll just never learn to do it myself…. mostly bc I couldn’t be bothered…. bc I save hundreds, if not thousands of $$$$ from not buying all the bullshit essential items you need just for a ~basic no makeup, makeup look~, and bc my hands have never been steady enough to use some of the things, like false eyelashes and eyelash curlers or liquid eyeliner/normal eyeliner…..
but yeah. I just hate that it makes me feel pretty???? but I also feel good and more natural without it???? and I’ll never like my sister’s comment that: “you’re the prettier one out of the two of us…. but if only you hurried up and learnt to do your makeup, you’d be even prettier” or some dumb semi-condescending shit comment she’s said to me like that before. like why is the only way a woman can be pretty (other than some clothes that make her feel good) by smearing 100s/1000s of dollars worth of makeup on???? like why the fuck am I expected to spend all that money when a good bulk of men will never bother with the male makeup trend anyway???? like why am I expected to act differently when I basically just have grown up face-paint on lmao???? I’ve never felt natural in makeup, I’ve always felt awkward and like…. not sound like an cringey edgelord emo kid…. but i never felt ~real~ wearing makeup lmao. just yeah.
but yeah I also understand makeup is an art and I appreciate that. makeup culture is so fucked on all sides for women.
(2.) skincare culture:
now skincare culture is different for me. considering that, like I said before, I had relatively bad cystic acne…. and I’ve since also developed eczema during the winter months….. so I’ve had to develop a good skincare routine over the years to keep my skin under control. but again, there are parts that I don’t like about skincare culture…. like women are typically meant to spend, again, hundreds and if not thousands of dollars on super expensive skin creams (some of which I’ve tried) to fix their fine lines, their laugh lines, their crows feet, their blemishes, their birth marks and cellulite…… the list truly goes on and on….. and on top of that (well this hellsite which isn’t entirely accurate) I’m, or we as women, are expected to teach all of that to men in their 20s???? like fuck off. why and how the fuck didn’t they get the fucking memo to look after their own goddamned skin???? like my 20s are already tiring enough, and now I gotta pass on important skincare advice to men, who could easily fucking find it themselves online???? lord help their asses lmao.
but other than the men bit…. yeah skincare culture is just as bad as makeup culture. like when Cosmo mag was still running in australia, more than half of the shit the women at Cosmo were advertising as part of their skincare routines were literally $300 night treatment creams or moisturisers; $150 facial cleansers; or $500 skin peels, or $600 appointments at dermatologists and skin therapies like electrolysis that I’ll probs never be able to afford. like one of the luxury brands that I LOVE (💖) is Mario badescu bc the two pimple treatments that i sometimes I use from them (the drying lotion and the anti-acne serum) are the ONLY two acne treatments that have NEVER made my face turn red and my skin peel off (besides a really good neutrogena one that Neutrogena discontinued 😭). every other chemist bought pimple treatment cream makes my skin peel off/itchy/turn red. but sadly the two Mario badescu treatments are priced over $50 if bought together (ones now $31 (formerly $28, this one’s great bc it dries clear), the other is like $26, this one dries pink). so the chemist bought ones like the ones by Clearasil or OXY10 are my saviours at $11.99-$12.99, even though they dry out my skin to buggery and leave big white marks on my face bc they both dry white lmao. but I’ve gotta suffer that for the price of beauty lmao.
also there’s expensive face washes (or skin care program packs etc) from Paula’s choice that I love.... but again they were like $35 for a 400ml bottle and $25 for a fucking 150ml or 250ml bottle. now the one i like is $20 for 177ml, which is a rip off. some of the other luxury things that I’ve tried (via free samples) that don’t work, like Kate Somerville (priced at like $65 and over), Philosophy and god knows what else that i’ve bought from Mecca Cosmetica, which is the Aussie version of Sephora in the past. and yes, for acne treatments, i’ve used pro-activ before. it was ok… but i never used it in high school, after the awful time we had trying to cancel our subscription to it back in the day for my sister lol.
also can we talk about the ultrasonic face brush systems that are still raging strongly??? like they’re also super rip offs, especially with buying replacement heads for $35 a pop. like I’ve had a Clarisonic for years (that I’ve stopped using, admittedly)…. the model was roughly $250 when I got it for my like 19th birthday. now they’re even more expensive at like $315 for the latest “clarisonic mia fit cleansing system” which is linked on the $315. or now there’s the foreo that costs anywhere between $75 (the cheapest model) to fucking almost $400… ie $395. the replacement heads for the clarisonic and i suppose replacement like pads or something for the foreo are meant to be replaced every three months “for optimum cleansing” or whatever. like $35 every three months is a lot to maintain after a while. also using the clarisonic added like 10 extra minutes to my showers/general skincare routine bc you’re meant to use it for five mins or whatever and then spend another 5mins washing it out to make sure that it doesn’t collect mould and buildup too much soap residue. it was just a lot of effort to use, even if it did make me feel like i had a better and deeper face washing routine.
and yes, i know there’s Lush. both my sister and i (but more my sister) were obsessed with Lush back in high school, after one of our sydney cousins introduced it to us. but Lush’s skincare stuff for pimples just never worked for us. it made me breakout more, actually. but their old apple pie and choc-orange lip balms were the BOMB. it’s a pity that they no longer make them tbh. their jelly soaps were fun to use and smelt nice too. i can’t remember much else about lush tbh lmao.
for face masks, i’ve found that store/chemist bought formula 10.0.06 or whatever works the best for my skin. but the push, especially again in cosmo and other places, to buy more expensive face-masks and like designer FMs that you should really ask a professional to use first imo, is fucking harmful, especially when you’ve got ones that take off the whole top layer of skin from your face (like the famous and the overly popular charcoal face peel masks), or so i’ve read. like it’s yikes out there. please be safe with these masks, ya’ll. and the same goes for making your own organic face masks, considering that i’ve seen posts on here about using lemon juice which is bad for your skin??? idk anyway. i also hate how with the face masks i buy, there’s about 6 different “skin-illuminating”/“skin brightening”/”skin detoxing” etc masks, that all essentially do the same fucking thing. just keep it at one and fucking go; for gods fucking sake lmao.
but yeah, skincare culture does suck just as much as makeup culture, considering that is heavily focused on women’s self-esteem and wallets…. and barely ever focuses on men. like it’s a double-edged sword tbh.
also as side notes: why the actual fuck are makeup companies still giving their makeup shades or makeup lines sexual names???? like i just found a fucking blush shade by NARS, in my research for this post, called “Orgasm”???? like what the FUCK is wrong with ya’ll??? like y’all actually have the fucking AUDACITY to really make 8 year olds say that in their makeup tutorial videos as well??? “our best selling orgasm collection” sweet lord. that sounds bad. y’all need to sort your shit out, and so do the people who name nail polish shades..
the other worrying general beauty trends that i keep getting on my facebook newsfeed are the teeth whitening systems like hismile and at home laser treatment machines… and then also the charcoal toothpastes to whiten your teeth. oh and also the facial skin “vacuums”, that suck out dirt/oil and your blackheads/pimples etc from your pores. stay safe out there everyone, and do your bloody research. don’t believe the reviews and the hype.
also finally: take your skin type and skin condition/(s) into account if you want to use any of the things that I’ve mentioned that I use/have used on this post. or that I’ve just generally mentioned, like the Clarisonic and the foreo. because what works for me, might not work for you. I’m not a skincare expert or dermatologist. check with your doctor or a skincare professional or whatever before you start using some of these things, even if you might think that it’s stupid & pointless to do so.
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Lately, I’ve been repairing this little furb for @softfubby, and it’s been quite the challenge! He had arrived completely non-working for no clear reason. After a lot of diagnostics, testing, and learning how to use an oscilloscope, I realized that his ceramic resonator was damaged internally– likely from rough shipping at some point. This part generates the clock signal, which “is used like a metronome to coordinate actions of digital circuits” (thanks, Wikipedia). Near-complete disassembly of this poor Furby and a quick soldering job with a donor part (from FT 002B, my very broken baby Furby) later and... He worked!
… kinda.
The swapped-in ceramic resonator (the two-pronged tan part in the middle there). New, compatible resonators aren’t hard to get a hold of, but shipping often takes a month or more. There’s nothing wrong with 002B’s resonator, so it’ll work just as well as a new one!
He would run for short periods, speaking with a charmingly glitchy voice and then locking up, seemingly at random. First, to eliminate the easiest solution, I swapped in a speaker from one of my other furbs (FT 010, who has an identical build). No change. Next theory: Maybe electrical noise from the motor wasn’t getting filtered out properly? That would make his audio driver try to interpret the junk data as audio and hang up the rest of his program while it processes. So, let’s check the filtering capacitor!
Uh-oh.
Some Furbies, mostly GE’s, have this little disaster-in-waiting on C7: Two surface-mount capacitors intentionally “tombstoned” so they fit in a spot designed for just one surface-mount part! Manufacturers usually spend large amounts of time and money preventing tombstoning, since surface-mount parts, especially these ceramic capacitors, are not designed to be installed like this. Doing so makes them especially vulnerable to mechanical shock, like the kind from… being… shipped… roughly. Ah.
Fortunately, this was also a pretty quick fix once I figured it out. The space between the daughter boards was too small for my soldering iron, and I had to use a through-hole part (surface-mount parts are installed either by machines or by humans with very specialized equipment), so I needed to find an alternate spot to solder the capacitor on. The conveniently-sized vias on the GE print of the audio daughter board should do nicely!
The new, blue capacitor. Attaching the part here is functionally the same as attaching it on C7, but it’s much easier to access and far more durable.
Wait for the solder to cool, pop a battery in, aaaand… he works! No more glitch voice, unfortunately, but also no more freezing. Clean his sensors, lubricate his gears, and he should be good to go for just as long as any other ‘98 furb, provided he gets shipped in proper packaging from now on!
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All of them :D
1. You woke up naked next to the last person you texted, what would you say?
Well, that would be my little and I love her but nahh
2. What’s going on between you and the last person you kissed?
That’s a great question, I have no fucking clue lmfao
3. If your boyfriend or girlfriend was into drugs, would you care?
I mean if they had an addiction then yes cause that’s rlly bad
4. Is your last name longer than six letters?
Nope
5. Was your last kiss drunk or sober?
Sober
6. Have you ever wanted to have someone but you messed it up?
No?
7. What does your last received text say?
“Nope, you only told me about the one”
8. How many times have you kissed the last person you kissed?
Wayyyy too many
9. Where was your last kiss at?
……… his bed LOL whoops
10. When is the last time you saw your sister?
August 10th
11. What do you drink in the morning?
Water, maybe tea if I’m feeling it
12. Where did you sleep last night?
Mah bed
13. Do you think relationships are hard?
I am the worst person to ask about this LOL
14. If you could go back and change something in the past 5 months, would you?
I mean maybe some small, stupid, insignificant thing that I did
15. You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, any problem?
Lmfao I mean it would be fine but he’s fuckin stupid and would say/ do a lot of stupid shit
16. Would you rather it be sunny or rainy?
Sunny
17. Do you know anyone with the same middle name as you?
Nope, I don’t know anyone in the world who has that name lol
18. Are you wearing jeans,sweatpants,or pajama pants?
I’m not wearing any pants cause I’m in bed LOL
19. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 years from now?
Naaahhhhhhh I doubt it
20. Does anyone like you?
Highly doubtful, no matter what some people say
21. Have you ever kissed someone with a name that starts with an S?
Unfortunately
22. Is the last person you kissed gay?
Nah, he says he is as a joke but that’s it
23. Is there a person you CANNOT stand?
I mean kind of but I deal with it just cause I have to
24. Have you ever considered getting a tattoo?
Yep LOL
25. In the past week have you cried?
Nah, I haven’t cried in months
26. What breed was the last dog you saw?
Uuuuhhhhhh I can’t remember but he’s smol and white and cute
Unless I saw a rando dog on the street and forgot about it which I think I did
27. Do you dry off in the shower or out of the shower?
In
28. Have you ever kissed a football player?
Ummmmm I don’t think so??
29. Do you think you’re old?
Nah, I’m still young
30. Do you like text messaging?
Meh I’m neutral to it
31. What type of day are you having?
Unproductive but not awful cause I got to hang with my best buds
32. Have you ever thought about getting your nose pierced?
Maybe for like one hot second but that’s it
33. Do you prefer warm or cold weather?
If it’s warm and not sweltering hot then tha’ts fine but I like fall/ spring weather
34. Is there a person of the opposite sex who means a lot to you?
Yeah, of course
35. Would you prefer a relationship or a fling?
I don’t know what I want anymore dfsohafohifadsf fuck
36. Are you a simple or complicated person?
I’m generally a simple person
37. What song are you listening to?
The h3 podcast
38. When you say you’re sorry do you mean it?
Yeah, unless it’s very clearly a joke or something but when I apologise I mean it
39. Is there a girl that knows everything or almost everything about you?
Yep and I love them with all my heart
40. What made you start liking the person you like now?
We aren’t talking about this garbage rn lmfao
41. When did you last receive a text message?
Like 10 seconds ago LOL
42. What is wrong with you right now?
A lot of things
43. How well do you know the last female you texted?
Pretty well, we’re very close
44. Does anyone disgust you?
Uhhhh idk I don’t think so??
45. Would you date someone right now if they asked?
Let’s not get into this cause I don’t fuckin know lmfao
46. Are you in a good mood right now?
Yeah I’m fine
47. Who was the last person you talked to in person?
My roommate
48. What color shirt are you wearing?
Navy
49. Has someone recently told you something you didn’t want to hear?
No I don’t think so, I mean H told me that she knows something that I should know but it’s not her place to say but I didn’t want to hear it anyways
50. Anyone you’re giving up on?
Uuuhhhhh no?? I mean maybe?? I guess it depends on what is meant by “giving up on”
51. Do you hate the person you fell hardest for?
Nah
52. Have you ever thought about giving up on someone but couldn’t?
Ummmm, no?? Idk
53. Do you like rain?
Yes and no, like it’s nice cause of the smell and ambiance but my bookbag gets soaked, my shoes and socks get wet, plus it gets cold
54. Do you care if your boyfriend/girlfriend drinks?
I don’t have one but I drink so no, but like the drugs if it’s an addiction/ problem then yeah I care. I mean as long as they’re safe and not dying then it’s fine
55. Have you ever liked somebody and never told them?
I mean when I was younger, yeah
56. Do you like to cuddle?
Yeah, cuddles are great
57. Are you shy?
Depends
58. Do you get along with girls?
Yeah but most of my mates are guys
59. Have you dated the person you texted last?
NOPE thank fuck
60. What do you carry with you at all times?
My phone, lipstick or lip balm, my wallet, and my keys
61. If you were paid 1 million dollars to spend the night in a supposed haunted house, would you?
Oh for sure, without a fucking doubt
62. Do you think you can last in a relationship for five months?
I don’t think I’m gonna be in a relationship for a very long time if at all so I don’t fucking know. But if the relationship has run its course before the five month mark then it’s time to call it quits
63. Think back to October, were you in a relationship?
Nope
64. The person you like kisses you on the forehead, do you find this cute?
I mean idk if it’s cute, but it’s nice
Actually yeah I take that back, it is cute
65. Did anything “cute” happen in the last week?
I mean I saw some cute dogs, but if u mean like romantically cute then nah
Well my roommate set up a romantic night for her and her bf and that was cute, it was gross but also cute
66. How old are the last three people you kissed?
22, 22, and 21
67. Would you rather pay to get your nails done or do them yourself?
Neither cause I have better things to do than paint my nails lmao
68. Which do you like better- Zebra print or leopard print?
Neither lol
69. Do you have any stickers on your car?
Nope cause I don’t like stickers on my car, magnets sure, but not stickers
70. Would you rather listen to Luke Bryan or Lil Wayne?
Lil wayne, easy
71. Blackberry, Anroid, or iPhone?
ANDROID!!
72. When’s the last time you had pizza from Pizza Hut?
Saturday lol, my roommate and her bf bought some and let me have some
73. Do you like diet soda?
I’m not really a soda person so nah
74. What color are the walls in your room?
White
75. Are you 16 or older?
Yep, thank god
76. Do you watch Pretty Little Liars?
Nah
77. Do you have a job?
Yep
78. What are your initials?
CS
79. Did you ever have braces?
Yep, I hated it but I guess it’s good that I had them
80. Are you from the south?
With all technicalities, I’m not really sure where I’m from but it definitely isn’t the south lol
81. What does your last status on facebook say?
Idk I never post to facebook, I think it was one of those friendship memories things
82. Do you still talk to the first person you ever kissed?
Nope LOL
83. Are you closer to your mom or your dad?
My mom, without a doubt
84. Have you ever done cheerleading or gymnastics?
I did gymnastics for a hot second when I was little
85. What’s the last movie you saw in theaters?
Uuuhhhhh ant man and the wasp maybe????
86. Do you smoke?
Nah
87. Would you rather wear heels or flip flops?
Depends on the event/ what I’m wearing but heels lol
88. Is your phone touch screen?
Yep
89. Do you normally wear your hair straight or curly?
Natural, so wavyish???
90. Have you ever snuck out of your house?
Nah
91. Would you rather swim in a river, lake, or pool?
Pool cause no sand LOL
92. Have you ever made out in a car?
....... yes
93. …Had sex in a car?
........ let’s not
94. Are you single or in a relationship?
s i n g l e
95. What were you doing last night at midnight?
Walking back to my apartment
96. When’s the last time you saw fireworks?
Yesterday
97. Do you like the camera on your phone?
It’s alright, better than my last phone
98. Have you ever had a friend with benefits?
LOL o boy, yeah I have
99. Have you ever passed out from drinking?
I mean, I’ve fallen asleep cause drinking made me tired but I don’t know if that qualifies as passing out
100. Are you friends with people on facebook that you actually hate?
I don’t hate anyone so no
101. Have you ever had a pregnancy scare?
No and let’s hope it stays that way
102. Name your favorite Kesha song:
Idk man, probably one of her older songs from middle school or something
103. Do you have any tan lines right now?
YES
My mates say that I don’t but I do, it’s slight but it’s there
104. Would you ever wear cowboy boots with shorts?
I’d rather eat glass than wear cowboy boots
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OnePlus 8 Pro Review: Slickest Android of 2020
While there have been a handful of Snapdragon 865-powered smartphones, the OnePlus 8 Pro is easily the most anticipated one. It’s the company’s first true flagship and OnePlus has finally relented to offer things like wireless charging and an official IP rating, apart from the bells and whistles you’d expect from a top of the line premium flagship. After a week of using the phone as a daily driver, the phone is clearly good at what it does, but it’s not as flawless as OnePlus claims it to be, especially when you consider other options in this segment. Here’s our review of the OnePlus 8 Pro —
OnePlus 8 Pro performance
The OnePlus 8 Pro variant we received for review comes with 8GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB UFS 3.0 storage. Powering it all is the Snapdragon 865 SoC. Which basically guarantees the 5G part. Yet, despite being a key partner for Qualcomm, OnePlus has interestingly skipped on a lot of features that comes with the chipset by default. That includes features like being able to shoot HDR videos, portrait videos, unlimited slow-motion recording, HDR gaming, 8K videos and a lot more. Then again, OnePlus did include things like live captions, audio zoom when you’re zooming in on a video, a 10-bit HDR display and of course, the full suite of 5G support. If you are looking for a flagship that includes more of the Snapdragon 865 features, the Mi 10 and the Realme X50 Pro are good options to consider.
Benchmark analysis
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 flagship chipset is the primary driver of performance in this smartphone, combined with a 120Hz display and the OxygenOS 10 software. These three things come together to offer a fast, stable experience which is very much worth the premium you spend for this phone. Yet, it’s the same hardware that keeps the OnePlus 8 Pro from achieving the highest scores in benchmark apps —
It’s surprising to see a Rs 34,999-priced Snapdragon 865-powered smartphone to outshine this year’s OnePlus flagship on benchmarks, but that’s just what we saw. And it’s not just the iQOO 3 5G we’re talking. Every single flagship Android phone we’ve tested this year has beaten the OnePlus 8 Pro on benchmark, although, the difference is perfectly within the margin of variance we expect in scores. Over the OnePlus 7 Pro last year, we saw around 15-18% boost in performance, which is good enough since there’s no app or game that’s specially built for this chipset, neither does it improve the experience in a noticeable way, as compared to the OnePlus 7T Pro that launched last year.
Real world usage
What does improve the experience is the 120Hz refresh rate on the phone. It feels far too smooth when compared against last year’s OnePlus 7 Pro, which again felt the smoothest back when it launched. The in-display fingerprint sensor is fast and accurate enough to unlock the phone in the first attempt, but more often I found the face unlock engaging even before my finger was scanned. A single scroll can browse past a lot more elements on the screen without looking stuttering and blurring. The haptic feedback is also strong and concentrated and typing on this phone is slightly better than the other Snapdragon 865-flagships. The UI also feels far more responsive, and thanks to the gesture navigation, switching between apps takes less than a second. However, there are chinks in this otherwise powerful armour.
The OnePlus 8 Pro kept freezing for a few seconds every time my Instagram Stories feed would encounter a video, and sometimes even when I was scrolling down a recipe online. Unfreezing required a quick lock-unlock, but the issue persists even as I am writing the review. Nevertheless, we’ve reached out to OnePlus about it, and they have acknowledged it. So safe to say, a patch is incoming.
The phone also heated up quite fast when used outdoors. I was out taking camera samples in a hot afternoon in Delhi and the phone heated to well over 50 degrees prompting it to issue a temperature warning. It didn’t shut down though, and quickly gave me a ‘temperature has been restored’ message right after I entered my building. In comparison, I have been taking samples from all other flagship Android phones this year out in the afternoon and this is really the first time I came across the phone heating just by using the camera out in the open. Can this be fixed with a software update? Unlikely.
Gaming performance
Thankfully, I never saw the overheating sign while gaming. The OnePlus 8 Pro responds really well to games, even when you are not using the Fnatic Mode that’s tuned to improve performance and keep away distractions. Yet, despite all the games we played, nothing really made the most of the high refresh rate display to run at 120FPS. But the nicely tuned display did deliver some fantastic visuals regardless. Except for Fortnite which ran at 90FPS but at low graphics, everything else was clocked to 60 FPS. Unfortunately, Fortnite didn’t allow us to clock performance using GameBench as it doesn’t support Android’s Developer Mode and USB Debugging.
CPU frequency distribution while gaming on the OnePlus 8 Pro
We did play our usual rounds of COD: Mobile and PUBG Mobile. The former clocked a stable 60 FPS with 99% stability while the latter delivered 59 FPS at 98% stability. The numbers are good enough for smooth gameplay. The touch response is good for a quick scope using a sniper on COD: Mobile’s multiplayer. The 2.86GHz prime core was regularly engaged while playing PUBG Mobile (despite which it couldn’t achieve 100% stability) while the CPU usage was around 30% at its peak. On COD: Mobile, the prime core hit 2.6GHz only twice and that too when my player died and had to respawn. There’s definitely room for improvement here, and OnePlus can do it with further tuning in a future update.
Having said that, OnePlus devices have been popular enough among gamers for the company to seriously consider allowing more granular tuning of the CPU and GPU that we have seen on phones like the Asus ROG Phone II.
Software performance
I was using the Mi 10 before I started to review the OnePlus 8 Pro, and it’s really the OxygenOS 10 UI that sets the phone apart from all other Android smartphones. It’s just as slick and fast as stock Android, but comes with a lot more features. In front of skins like MIUI and RealmeUI, OxygenOS is far more refined and it just blends in with your life. There are no ads or bloatware that distracted me from the task at hand. And the UI elements, combined with the high refresh rate of the display feels far more responsive than anything else I’ve reviewed this year. The good thing is, OnePlus emulates the same experience on the OnePlus 8 and even the older OnePlus phones that are still receiving regular updates with new features every 1-2 months.
I’ve also come to realise that using a OnePlus right when it launches will feel like a work in progress. The company has a penchant of using software builds riddled with bugs at launch, and there are a handful of them in the OxygenOS 10.5 version my unit came loaded with. The dark mode would invert colours of black and white pictures, especially on WhatsApp, while the live wallpaper app I was using (Metropolis. You guys should try it) had to reload the wallpaper after I would use an app or play a game for a long time. There’s also no always-on display. We’re at the cutting edge of AMOLED display technology here, but OnePlus still hasn’t figured out how to make an always-on display work. Remember, it used to be there until one random update took it away. And it never came back. The phone still shows incoming notifications discreetly on the screen, but you will have to pick it up or tap twice on the panel to surface it. But I did like the Google Assistant ambient mode the phone goes into when charging. It’s hella useful with all the information I need, right on the lockscreen.
OnePlus 8 Pro camera performance
The OnePlus 8 Pro features not one, but two 48MP cameras this time in a quad camera stack. There’s a primary 1/1.3” 48MP Sony IMX689 sensor that’s slightly larger than the 1/2” footprint of the previous generation. Then there’s another 1/2” 48MP IMX586 that’s used in the ultrawide lens which is what sets this phone apart from others in this segment. The quad camera stack also includes an 8MP telephoto lens with 3X hybrid zoom and a colour filter lens which was defunct in our review unit owing to the ongoing controversies around how it can see through plastic, and even clothes. What was OnePlus even thinking?
During the course of using the phone, I was mostly staying indoors and the most of the outdoor samples you will see in this review are a result of quick grocery runs or taken while I was out walking my dog. But it still gave us a good idea as to how this flagship camera performs. We have uploaded these photos to our Flickr gallery in their original resolution. The samples below have been resized for the web.
48MP Primary camera with f/1.78 aperture and OIS
Among all other OnePlus cameras we have tested over the years, this one gets the closest to beating the premium flagships in terms of the details and sharpness it produces when the light is optimum. Tricky situations don't perturb the camera all that much either and we managed a few good shots to show for it. The dynamic range is also quite good with photos balancing out the highlights and shadows to appear far more natural, than say the saturated output from the 108MP camera on the Mi 10. Samples below —
What did irk me was a tendency for the camera to highlight blue tones a lot more in the photos, and in some cases, noisy details, especially for indoor shots. The camera also has a smaller plane of focus which became apparent when I was trying to take photos of my culinary adventures, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen this issue. It’s present in almost all large-format high-res camera sensors, and there are reasons to believe that this is an inherent issue of the large sensor size and the lens arrangement inside the phone. Here’s an example —
Excessive blue tones is an issue that needs to be addressed.
The area of focus is also quite small, causing issues in taking close-ups
Videos from the primary 48MP camera aren’t all that good, especially when you compare against the regular OnePlus 8 and the Mi 10. It takes horribly long to focus on a subject up close and even when you do, it will drop the focus mid-way into the shoot and never recover until you start all over again. It’s a frustrating experience, and it happens at both 1080p and 4K resolution with 60 FPS output. The OIS is good enough for stability but the steady mode was what I used to take a stable video from an e-rickshaw I rode recently.
48MP Ultrawide camera with f/2.2 aperture and 119-degrees FOV.
Throughout last year when these high-res sensors kept coming on smartphones cheap and expensive, I wondered what it would take to get the same amount of details from the ultrawide lens. The iPhone 11 series proved it doesn’t have to be treated as a step-child, but the OnePlus 8 Pro made it at par with the primary camera. As a result, you’ll get the best results from this ultrawide lens than from any other Android flagship right now. The 48 MP camera also delivers the best dynamic range in the wide-angle shots, among its peers and this is certainly a welcome addition. Samples below —
Surprisingly, the 48MP ultrawide lens is better at maintaining focus of a close-up object while taking videos than the primary camera. And if not for the smaller aperture which makes it unusable for videos when the light is low, this is what should have been the primary camera for videos.
8MP Telephoto lens with 3X hybrid zoom and 20X digital zoom
The telephoto lens cannot keep up with the level of details you get from the other two cameras. OnePlus combines optical and digital zoom to let you zoom 3X, but details often look broken and full of noise. It lacks the sharpness you get from the other two lenses, and frankly, I used it much lesser than the primary and ultrawide lens. It’s also slightly slower in shutter response, but that’s more or less expected from a telephoto camera.
Night Mode
OnePlus claims it is using new algorithms for the Nightscape mode for low light photos. But the quality of images you get mostly is the same we saw in the OnePlus 7T Pro with no dramatic improvement. What has improved is the speed at which the phone shoots a burst of photos at varied exposure, and I’d go out on a limb and say the processing is also a bit faster. But still not necessarily better.
16MP Selfie Camera
Being not much of a selfie camera user, I only take a few of them for the review. And it did come out good, with my face looking natural by default. There’s an option to smoothen the details as well. The selfie camera can also take lowlight shots using the Nightscape algorithm, and can shoot 4K videos at 60 FPS. You also get a slow-fie option.
OnePlus 8 Pro Battery Life
I used the OnePlus 8 Pro for about a week as my primary device and the battery life is just about okay. If I am a little frugal in my usage, it can easily last a day. But on days where I’m on my phone all the time, the screen times range around 4-5 hours before it needs a quick refill, at the QHD+ 120Hz setting. It was 4 hours 30 minutes on the first day I set up the phone, downloading and installing all my apps, and restoring my WhatsApp data from the Mi 10 I was using previously. After that, with rounds of benchmarking, using the camera, gaming, back and forth texting and replying to emails, the phone lasted a good 6-7 hours.
You can lower the display quality to extend the battery, which is what I’d suggest when you can’t be near a charging point throughout the day. Watching 30 minutes of HDR content on Netflix drains the battery by around 6 per cent while 15 minutes of COD: Mobile drained the battery by around 5 per cent.
OnePlus 8 Pro design and display
The OnePlus 8 Pro looks and feels like the premium flagship it claims to be. And OnePlus has finally included an official ingress rating for the phone. It is IP68 rated but it doesn’t cover water damage under warranty. However, it can easily survive a tumble in the sink or heavy rain. OnePlus has also included another much desired feature - Wireless charging. That too at an unheard of 30W speed, which requires the Warp 30 Wireless Charger sold separately. We didn’t get the chance to test it out yet. The variant we received was the Glacier Green colour, and on this, the company has given a matte finish which reminds me of the Pearl White variant of the OnePlus 6. It’s much slimmer and lighter than before now that the pop-up mechanism is replaced by a punch-hole camera on the display
The 6.78-inch QHD+ AMOLED display covers 90% of the body with very thin bezels on the top and bottom edge. On the side, the screen curves sharper than before, and while I admire the aesthetic, it actually hinders the display experience. There’s significant discolouration around the edges and that becomes apparent in the camera app, or when you’re watching a movie. The colours on the curved parts look different from the flat area. It took me a while to look past that. The panel also has a slightly warmer tinge owing to the DCI-P3 colour space it uses by default. Also the peak brightness only hit 786 lux in our light meter, which is far lower than what we saw on the regular OnePlus 8 and even on the Mi 10. We clocked upwards of 900 lux on them. The minimum brightness is still the same at 6 lux and I did feel my eyes strained while using it before bed.
OnePlus 8 Pro bottomline
The OnePlus 8 Pro ticks all the boxes for a premium flagship this time, and if not for an inconsistent camera performance, it would have been at par with the Samsung and Apple flagships. And that sort of breaks the deal for me because I need a camera that can take photos and videos with consistency for the content we produce on YouTube and Instagram. So if that’s not something you have to deal with, the OnePlus 8 Pro is the easier option to choose between the premium flagships available right now. There’s also the OnePlus 8 which works just as well sans the wireless charging, water resistance, 120Hz at QHD+ display, and a high-res wide-angle camera, which should be the primary reasons to buy this instead of the regular OnePlus 8.
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#Android#OnePlus#OnePlus8Propriceinindia#OnePlus8Proreview#OnePlus8Prosale#OnePlus8Prospecs#Pro#Review#Slickest
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A piece of the past
Request: JamesxLily and I would love it to have a bit of Sirius and maybe of lil Harry too. But it’s okay with only Jily too. You keep the plot and everything like you want to, I’ll love it anyway! <3 ~ @jily-live-on aka my wonderful S
Ship: Jily
A/N: My first request ever! I’m so happy that it was from you, S!
A/N2: Ok, so, I cried. The writing drove me crazy, didn’t feel too confortable using past tense, so if anybody sees a mistake, please let me know! Hope you all like it!
Word count: 1,9k
James Potter was not the kind of guy that gets scared easily.
“Hand me the towel. Quickly!”
He had become an animagus during his teen years, without any adult’s help…
“Faster Pads, this is horrible!”
… because he was friends with a werewolf…
“I can’t- Did you find it?”
“I’m not good at doing things under pressure, Prongs!”
… he had fought against Dark wizards...
“Are you sleeping or what? This is getting out of hands!”
“It’s coming! Resist a bit mo-”
Tunk
… dealt with wicked magical creatures during his time at Hogwarts…
“How am I supposed to do this?”
“I don’t know, mate. Let me have a few seconds to recover, I just tripped over a giant lizard and almost broke my teeth.”
… asked Lily Evans out…
“That’s what happens when you don’t watch your steps. Just throw it away. The towel?”
… at least a hundred times…
“The tow- Stop looking at yourself in that mirror, you self-obsessed idiot!”
“I told you I almost got disfigured, you four-eyed moron!”
… he was brave, a true Gryffindor…
“Hand the bloody towel, Pads. And come help me, I can’t hold it much longer!”
“It’s your fight, don’t- What the hell is that?”
… but some things are bound to destabilize a 21-years-old man.
“That’s called a diaper.”
Under Sirius’ curious look, James tried, for the umpteenth time, to secure Harry in his diaper, with no better result than the previous attempts.
When his wife asked him to look after the baby a couple of hours before, James accepted, considering that he had enough experience, now, to deal with the situation. But apparently, after almost a year of being a father, he was no closer to knowing how to take care of his son than Dumbledore to rejuvenate.
“And how do you know which part is the front and which is the back?”
He also thought that Sirius’ help would make it all easier. His plan was to feed the child, put him to sleep, and then play wizarding chess with his best friend. But then again, it was easier for Nearly Headless Nick to enter the Headless Hunt.
“I guess this is the front. I’m 99% sure. Okay, maybe just 98%. Anyway, Lily’ll be up in no time.”
The real reason that had pushed James to be alone with the baby -- because being with Sirius at that moment was as good as being alone -- was because he wanted Lily to have some rest. The loneliness, the pressure, and the sleepless nights were starting to feel heavy on her shoulders.
“Well, I’m telling you, I’m glad to be single.”
Hurried steps coming from the stairs made the young men look up from the changing table. When they heard a series of loud bangs and disgruntled mumbles, their gazes met in a frightened coordination.
“James Potter! Sirius Black!” The cry, echoing from the living room, belonged to a half-preoccupied, half-enraged Lily.
After losing a rock, paper, scissors battle with Sirius, and taking what was left of his courage with both hands, James stepped in the next room, finding himself to be facing nothing but darkness. Remembering that he had closed the curtains in his effort to put Harry to sleep, he took a few steps toward the window, bumping into a pair of boots on the way.
When the feeble sun rays illuminated the interior of the house again, the young man turned over to look at his wife. Her nap did her good, by what he saw, as she looked more fresh than in the past days. But a rested Lily was also a more high-tempered Lily.
“Yes, darling?” James let out in a shy tone.
“James Fleamont Potter,” she said in a shaky voice, probably because she was trying to hold back her anger. “I take a few hours of peace and leave you in charge, and look at the state of the house!”
For the first time in the afternoon, James shot a glance at his surroundings, and he couldn’t help but understand Lily’s mood: Never, in his life, had he seen a more upside down room. Rests of baby food were spread on the couch; Sirius’ backpack laid open on the floor, its content dispersed here and there; there was a jumble of clothes in the middle of the room; something - feathers? - was showing from under an armchair; a broken vase had released its water and flowers everywhere; the big lizard toy on which Sirius had tripped was sticking his tongue out to James, from the corner where it had been dumped after the attempted disfigurment; an odd looking green substance was hanging from the roof; and Lily was blocked behind a mountain of old books, built by the men earlier in their attempt to stop Harry from climbing the stairs.
When James freed her with a flick of his wand, they were both surprised by a rather outraged ginger cat zooming away from the spot.
“There you were, Nuts! You should have told us that you liked to read so much!” joked the man, but his wife’s serious glance made him quiet again. Apparently, she didn’t believe that trapping the cat under the whole content of the bookshelf was a good idea.
“Do I have to worry about my child, or is he still alive?” asked the woman after a pause.
For a response, a disheveled and totally soaked Sirius got out of the bathroom, holding a pink and chubby mass wrapped in a towel. “Hi, Lily, had a nice rest?”
Answering with just a smile, she approached him to take the babbling baby in her arms.
“How’s baby Harry?” she said in the sweetest voice ever heard from her.
A small hand extricated itself from under the cloth to clumsily caress Lily’s face, ending up pulling her nose.
“Mommy loves you too,” laughed the woman, and then she added, “And as you look like you’re enjoying your time with your Godfather, Mommy is going to have a small talk with Daddy in the kitchen.”
Lily didn’t notice, as she was busy kissing Harry’s feet and laughing with him, the silent conversation between the two men.
“You are not leaving me alone with the monster,” mouthed Sirius.
“I’m going to have a worse time than you,” mouthed back James, pointing at Lily with his head.
“You four-eyed traitor,” said the former with his eyes.
“You self-obsessed coward,” glanced back the latter.
Some fog, a gray garden, an empty street, and a lot of rain: That’s all that James managed to see from the window of the kitchen.
“Quite a depressing scene,” he thought.
Then, his gaze went back to the red-haired woman that was standing in front of the stove, stiring some hot chocolate.
“Now, this is a view,” he said to himself.
With her lose hair and sparkling green eyes, she looked as gorgeous as she did during their Hogwarts years. The shadows under her eyes and the preoccupation that contracted her traits were the only proofs that some time had passed since when they were teenagers without a bigger concern than their Potions marks.
James still couldn’t believe that, finally, Lily Evans -- no, Potter, please -- was his wife. And it had been two years or so since the wedding.
After a few seconds, he cleared his throat, recalling the “small talk” she wanted to have, and considering that the sooner it was over, the better.
“Um, darling?”
She turned her head to look at him, apparently lost in her thoughts.
“What did you want to talk about?” the man asked.
An expression of comprehension, soon replaced by a childish grin, relaxed her face.
“Oh, nothing,” she explained, “We’ve been locked in here for almost a year now, but with Harry we barely have time to spend together. I was just taking advantage of Sirius’ presence to be alone with you.”
A rush of deep love toward his wife ran through James’ body, and he moved to hug her, burying his face in her flower-scented, flaming-red hair. For a moment, he wondered whether Harry would have such a strong attraction as him toward redheads, but then he pushed the thought aside: There was just a chance in a million.
Meanwhile, Lily’s hands closed around her husband’s waist, fists clenching the soft wool of his sweater, a Christmas gift by Molly Weasley. She rested her head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat and synchronizing her breathing with his. Her eyes closed, she silently hoped that Harry would turn out to be like him: a handsome, caring, brave man.
Suddenly, she realized something: What if James and her were not there to raise him? What if something happened to them? With their parents gone and Petunia and Vernon not wanting to come any closer than one mile, she felt no support.
“Don’t worry, darling, we’ll be fine,” she heard, “We love each other, we love Harry, and we have friends that love us. Everything is going to be alright.”
It was as if James had read in her mind.
“Do you promise?” she asked in a frightened, naive tone, very unusual to her.
What are promises in times of war? He didn’t want to lie to her, but he loved her so much. He knew he would do anything to keep her safe. To keep Harry, the fruit of their love, safe.
“I’ll do my best.”
He grabbed her chin and pulled her lips toward his, kissing her as he did during their first date: shyly, but pouring all his adoration into this simple action.
During their embrace, they felt plainly happy, forgetting the chaos that was submerging the world and all the difficulties and miseries that were awaiting outside. They were protected by this force that only the pure hearts can produce: the force of love.
Unfortunately, their moment of quiet couldn’t last long.
“My p- Harry! Harry no! Help!”
With a reluctant smile, James and Lily pulled apart.
“Poor Sirius. Harry can’t even walk properly, and his Padfather is already overcome,” remarked James.
“Imagine when he’ll start to talk,” said Lily dreamily.
“When he’ll go to school for the first time…”
“When he’ll have his first crush…”
“When he’ll be in his teenager crisis…”
“Argh! That leather jacket was new!”
“I guess we better go help him,” whispered Lili.
“Yeah, maybe,” answered James, and after a quick kiss on her cheek, he left the kitchen. “Reinforcements are coming Sirius!”
Remaining alone, Lily smiled to herself: This evening, she would have to bear with three children. Then, she stepped in the next room as well, ready to have a pillow fight or whatever else the guys were preparing.
The next hours went by between jokes and laughter. The photo album was commented -- “Sirius! There are more pictures of you at our wedding than of us!” -- and pictures were taken to fill it. Songs were sung -- “Stop singing, James, you’re frightening Harry!” -- and poems were written -- “What do you mean by ‘roses are red, violets are blue, Lily’s cute but not you’?” -- until the four peacefully fell asleep on the living room couches, wrapped by the silence of the night.
Untouched, on the dining table, stood the two mugs of hot chocolate, which, after all, were not needed by the newlyweds to bring back a piece of their past.
#jily#jily forever#jily married#jily one shot#jily fanfic#jily fic#jily fanfiction#baby harry#harry potter#Sirius Black#hp fanfic#hp fanfiction#***writing
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I’ve had a bunch of new followers lately, so I wanted to do a get to know the blogger tag!
1. What have you eaten today?
I had eggs and fruit for breakfast, and I’m making a salad for lunch rn
2. Who was your last kiss with? Was it pleasant?
It was with my ex, and it was delightful, but thinking about it makes me sad
3. What color shoes did you last wear?
Black, big surprise there
4. Who has made you laugh the hardest in the last week?
My best friend, Kaelyn!
5. What is your favorite scent?
Pine needles
6. What is your favorite season? Why?
Autumn, it is so beautiful
7. Can you do a handstand or cartwheel?
Neither, nope!
8. What color are your nails?
They are currently baby blue
9. If you had to get a tattoo on your face to save your life, what would it be?
I would get a crescent moon, I kind of want that anyway ha
10. What is something you find romantic?
Long walks at dusk
11. Are you happy?
I think so
12. Is there anything in particular making you happy or sad?
Adding to my crystal collection always makes me extra happy!
13. Dogs or Cats?
Cats!!!
15. Which do you prefer:a museum, a night club, the forest or a library?
The forest, I identify as a green witch!
15. What is your style?
Witchy :)
16. If you could be doing anything you like right now, what would it be?
I would be in a cottage in the woods, working on an altar
17. Are you in a relationship or single?
Single
18. What makes you attracted to the person you like right now?
He’s nice to me at work, but that’s about it. Super high standards, ha.
19. If you could replace your partner/best friend with a celebrity of your choice, would you? Who with?
Hell no
20. Are you holding on to something you need to let go of? If so then what?
I’m holding on to a lot of resentment and regret, I hope I can let it go soon
21. How did you celebrate last Halloween?
Did some tarot readings and handed out candy to the kids!
22. Have you recently made any big decisions?
Not really, life has been pretty mundane
23. Were you ever in a school play?
No, I was always too shy in school
24. What movie would you use to describe your life?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
25. Is there something you have dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?
I’ve dreamed of owning my own flower shop, but you know, money
26. Complete this sentence, “I wish I had someone with whom I could share…”
I wish I had someone with whom I could share my passions with
27. What are two things that irritate you about the same sex?
Girls can be very catty, and superficial
28. What are two things that irritate you about the opposite sex?
Boys can be very rude, and aggressive
29. What is the best thing that has happened to you this week?
My aunt found out she is pregnant!
30. What is something that makes you sad when you think about it?
Oh, there are a lot of things. Thinking about how I can barely afford rent is currently making me sad.
31. How long was your longest relationship?
A year and a half
32. Have you ever been in love?
Yes, I miss it
33. Are you currently in love?
I don’t think so
34. Why did your last relationship end?
A lot of reasons. He was mean to me, he found someone new, I didn’t make him happy. The list goes on. It was a mess.
35. What jewelry are you wearing right now, and where did you get it?
I’m wearing an amethyst pendant that I got off of etsy, and a couple rings I’ve gotten from different craft fairs!
36. When was the last time you cried and why?
Yesterday, because of Jacob ha
37. Name someone pretty.
I think Emma Watson is so pretty
38. What did you receive last Valentines Day?
Sunflowers and a very sweet note
39. Do you get jealous easily?
Unfortunately, yes
40. Have you ever been cheated on?
Again, unfortunately, yes
41. Do you trust your partner/best friend?
I don’t currently have a partner, but I trust my best friend with my life
42. Ever had detention?
I did fairly often in high school, I was a little shit
43. Would you rather live in the countryside or the city?
COUNTRYSIDE
44. What do people call you?
Hannah, Han, Anna, Hannah Banana, Han Solo
45. What was the last book you read?
The Book Thief! It was so good!
46. How big of a nerd/dork are you?
The biggest nerd
47. What kind of music do you listen to?
I like indie/acoustic music!!!
48. How tall are you?
5′3″, I’m a shrimp ha
49. Do you like kids?
I like babies, but kids stress me out
50. Favorite fruits?
All of the above, ha. My top favorite though is pineapple.
51. Do you wear jeans or sweats more?
Black jeans :)
52. What’s your earliest memory?
Running around my grandma’s yard during the spring
53. Ever had a poem or song written about you or to you?
I wish! That would so romantic
54. Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?
Behind it, I am so shy
55. Do you have a collection of anything?
I have too many collections! Crystals, tarot cards, shells, postcards, and pressed flowers are my biggest collections
56. Do you save money or spend it?
I try to save when I can, but I have so many expenses to keep up with
57. What would your dream house be like?
Tiny cottage in the woods, covered in ivy with a wildflower garden (I’m a basic witch, I know)
58. What top 5 things make you the angriest?
Animal abusers, people who litter, bigots, people with no respect, out of touch wealthy people
59. What top 5 things always brings a smile to your face?
Witchcraft :), my best friend, cats, rainstorms, good movies
60. You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?
Save the dog, every time
61. 72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?
I would tell only those closest to me, I would spend my remaining days do whatever I really wanted to do that day, and I wouldn’t be afraid at all.
62. Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.
December 7th
63. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?
I’m going to Salem!!!
64. Do you like the beach?
I do!
65. Ever sleep on the couch or a bed with someone special?
I used to all of the time. I miss it, I hate sleeping alone.
66. Do you have a middle name? If so what is it!
It is Amelia!
67. Do you talk to yourself?
All of the time, I probably look crazy
68. Describe your hair.
Shoulder length, fading from box dye blue to an ashy gray
69. What is the meaning of life.
The meaning of life is to live
70. What is your ideal partner like?
Kind, faithful, funny, passionate, and supportive.
71. Do you want to get married?
Maybe one day, if I can find the right person
72. Do you want to have kids?
I don’t think so
73. Like or dislike your family?
They try their best, but my family is dysfunctional and it can be hard to get along with them
74. Are you Chunky or Slim?
A lil chunky
75. Would you consider yourself smart?
I would say yes
76. What would you change about your life?
My financial situation, ha
77. Religious or Not?
I’m a practicing wiccan!
78. You’re drunk and yelling at hot guys/girls out of your car window, you’re with?
My best friend, Kaelyn! She’s the outgoing/outspoken one between the two of us
79. You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, is that a problem?
It would be a HUGE problem, I don’t think Jacob and I can be in the same room anymore
80. Does anyone regularly (other than family) tell you they love you?
Kaelyn does :)
81. If the person you wish to be with were with you, what would you be doing right now?
We would be in his car, parked somewhere late at night, and just talking and laughing
82. So, the last person you kissed just happens to arrive at your door at 3AM; do you let them in?
My better judgement would say no, but I know I would always let him in
83. Do you like when people play with your hair?
YES
84. Do you like bubble baths?
I do, but I like oil baths better!
85. Have you ever been pulled over by a cop?
Yes, I drive way too fast :X
86. Have you ever danced in the rain?
I try to whenever I can
87. Do you trust anyone with your life?
I trust Kaelyn with anything and everything
88. What was your first thought when you woke up this morning?
“I want to go back to bed”
89. If money wasn’t an issue, what top 10 places would you travel to? (You get to stay at each place for a week)
Salem, Paris, Dublin, Yosemite, Amsterdam, Brussels, Montreal, Sicily, Switzerland, London
90. How was your day today?
It’s been alright, just kind of boring to be honest
91. Play an instrument?
I used to play clarinet in school
92. Describe the what you think of the ocean.
It is breathtaking
93. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts?
Both!!!
94. Honestly, are things how you wanted them to be?
NOPE
95. Do you have a mean bitchy scary side?
No, I’m a big softie
96. When are you vulnerable?
Um all of the time ha
97. How much free time do you have?
I work two jobs, so not much
98. Do you like to go hiking?
Absolutely!
99. Odd or Even Numbers?
Odd
100. Would you ever go sky diving, bungee jumping , cliff diving, wing suit gliding, parasailing, snorkeling, or other extreme activities?
Yes to all of the above!
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