#/um yes!!!! perfect Vee fit

[babysizedfics]

hey! i just wanted to pop by and say that i love your blog loads 🥺🥺 also, i have a question! does roman ever give vee tickles? when they’re big OR small? 💗

aaawW thank u so much for saying so !!

heads up i accidentally made this a ficlet halfway through lol

warning for tickling and teasing

and YES roman tickles vee a lot hsjshdhs you see it on the ic blog quite a lot - if they're hanging out they are actually pretty touchy feely. even when big vee usually ends up in romans lap and he will purposefully be cheeky because he knows roman ends up tickling him as revenge jdhds

just yesterday roman was holding the video game controller out of reach of virgil and fondly teasing him abt being too short to reach it, so vee twisted his septum piercing with his tongue to freak roman out. roman is very grossed out by things easily and dropped the controller to get vee to stop

vee started playing the video game, still sitting in romans lap with a smug smile on his little face... but he was kinda disappointed roman didn't put up more of a (tickle) fight.

so he licked romans cheek

roman freaked out, went to scrub his cheek withm soap, compained on the blog about vee being gross and 'baby snot on his face', then vee just denied it all (purposefully being cheeky to try to get roman to retaliate) until roman started chasing him for revenge

they ended up in virgils room with roman pinning him to the floor. virgil THOUGHT roman was going to lick his cheeks back, but instead roman asked him to admit he did it. virgil denied it and roman started wiggling a finger under his ear

vee squeaked and a giggle escaped

"admit it!" roman demanded

of cours vee knew what would happen if he didnt. so: "no, im innocent!"

then romans other hand circled a finger around the side of his ribs. virgil gasped and started giggling constantly and wriggling under roman

"Last chance, vee-vee!" roman warns with eyebrows raised and a big smile

virgils gigges are squeaky and breathless already, he really is too sensitive for a lot of tickling. but he meets romans eyes for a brief second before they fall shut with another gasp when romans finger brushes a particularly bad tickle spot. "n-no-ho" virgil protests... then he licks his deptum piercing again just to add fuel to the fire

roman cries out in disgust then immediately starts scribbling both his hands quickly over the sides of virgils.

virgil screams and bucks and gasps and blushes so hard

at this point logan appears in the doorway to check what is happening

"h-help, lo-ho" virgil pleads, eyes watering and cheeks aching from laughing so much

"no, don't help Lo!" roman argues, chuckling at vee and kindly slowing his fingers enough to give vee room to breathe between giggles "this is justice for a heinous act!"

logan sniffs in amusement, "well i am not one to stand in the way of justice"

virgils eyes fly open and land on logan "no! pl-hee-he-ease, M-ha-Mama!"

hearing vee call logan mama immediately makes roman stop his fingers, because if vee is starting to regress theres no way he would enjoy such intense tickling

logan steps closer and leans down to better speak to vee. "are you alright, little one?" he asks in a very babytalk voice, then roman stops pinning him and pinches his cheek a little

"hi vee-vee, do you feel tiny?"

and virgil goess BRIGHT RED because he isnt regressing at all, he just used the Mama card to try to get logan to feel sorry for him. he covers his face with his hands and shakes his head and mumbles through his fingers "not little, sorry... just wanted.."

the other two frown. "wanted what, virgil" logan asks.

"do you want me to stop?" roman asks sincerely

virgil wriggles on the floor a little and pulls his hand down from his face enough to chew his thumbnail and reveal one eye and one very pink cheek "no.. just wanted, um... attention" he admits quietly

roman immediately lights up "Ohhhhhh-"

vee whines and covers his face again. roman takes his hands and pulls them away. "let me get this right... did you want more teases?"

vee's silence speaks loudly

"oh my god youre insatiable" roman laughs, but before virgil has time to feel insecure about it roman's fingers start teasing at his ribs again

"i think you have this under control," logan chuckles, then leaves.

"so teasing how tiny you are earier wasn't enough?" roman muses, his fingernails tracing lightly over each individual rib. virgil holds his lips tight to contain a squeal, but it just comes out as a highpitched whimper. "its not enough to just tease how your little arms can't reach when i hold a controller above my head?"

virgil cant respond because one of romans fingers is back under his ear and tickling right under his earlobe and making him titter and squirm

"and i dont think its enough to tease what an itty bitty widdle baby you are, either," roman says in a babytalk voice, laughing when vee whines and tries to hide his red cheeks but then roman pokes his tummy teasingly and vee immediately drops his hands to his tummy protectively. "because we all know what a tiny little cutie you are, with your baby bottles and pacis and your diapers"

"ro-ah!" virgil tried to protest but romans fingers went for the sides of his tummy and all he can do is gasp and wriggle and giggle and hope his cheeks dont catch fire with how much theyre burning

"so i think we'll just stick with teasing you... for how much you love being teased" roman says confidently

"nooo" virgil whines between breathless laughter

"yes, vee-vee" roman laughs. he's drawing little spirals over vee's sides now and it's making vee writhe and squeal

"you love the teases sooo much, how adorable is that, huh?" romans fingers slow down and atart tiptoeing over vee's ribs one by one like theyre stepping stones

vee gasps in a deep breath and lets himself calm down, all while squeaking and smiling so hard

"you pretend to not like it when we tease you for being the shortest, but everytime you get the biggest smile!" romans fingers go up so one wriggles under his ear again and one scribbles at his cheek. vee squeals and shakes his head

"no?!" roman gasps dramatically, "aw, but it's true vee! youre tiny and you love it! and you cant hide it anymore with those cute dimples popping out and your squeaky laughter whenever i hold something out of reach..."

virgils far gone from talking now. he's a flustered giggly mess

"hm and what about how much you love tickles? thats pretty adorable too you know" romans fingers go back to his ribs to circle around slowly and vee instantly curls up, legs bent up to his chest and accidentally trapping romans fingers there

"see!" roman laughs "you love being tickle tickle tickled so much you wont let me take my hands away!" he scribbles his fingers quickly now and vee squeals and rocks on the floor and gasps but his legs still hold romans hands there.

"n-n-no d-doh-ho--"

"no you don't?" roman guesses and virgil nods, eyes squint shut tight with laughter. "yes you do~" roman teases with a sing song babytalk voice. it makes virgils chest feel melty. "you love the tickles vee! Little vee is a little tickly cutie, aren't you?~"

virgil squeaks and gasps. romans fingers slow down and vee breathes through his giggles for a few moments. he's getting to his limit now

"cmon, vee~" roman sings and wiggles his hand sout from between virgils chest and knees. virgil squeals even tho roman wasnt trying to tickle him. roman laughs "if you admit you love teases and tickles then i'll stop"

it takes a couple of minutes for vee to be ready - both because he is so breathless and he keeps getting interrupted by giggle fits even though roman isnt touching him anymore, which just makes roman laugh too - but eventually virgil opens his eyes, squinting past tears of laughter and not bothering to hide his hot cheeks anymore and admits under his breath "i- i um i like being... teased and - and tickled"

"yeah you do" roman agrees with a big smug smile, then he gets up and helps pull vee up from the floor - vee's knees are wobbly and he collapses a little into roman when he is standing and they both laugh and roman keeps an arm around vee's shoulders when they go back to his room to carry on with the video game.

"that wasnt too much, was it?" roman asks a bit meekly after several minute of gameplay.

virgil looks iver to him and sees he refuses to take his eyes off the screen. romans fingers are fidgeting a bit with the controller even though its a cutscene on the screen.

"no," vee whispers, then lets himself wiggle back into romans lap like they'd been before. he looks at the screen as well and breathes deeply when romans arms circle around him. he feels secure and safe in his big brothers lap. "it was perfect" he admits quietly, stroking his fingers over romans arms

[shih-coulda-had-it]

At work there is an ice maker we call bertha we refill the ice machines with it and sometimes when we are refilling ice the lid falls and hits us I head cannon for the coffee shop au gran has access to the store to grab a taiyaki before and after patrol as long as he does small misc. Things around the shop like refill ice, take out trash etc.

“You’re not closed yet?”

Nana whips her head up from under the counter, startled by the familiar voice at an unfamiliar time. Gran Torino, looking a little worse for wear, lingers at the storefront. Half-in and half-out, like he is unsure of his welcome.

It’s nearly seven in the evening. She had sent Toshinori off at six, and she doesn’t plan on closing until nine. Even if customers aren’t looking for an evening fix, Nana likes to brew herself a cup and survey the sidewalks.

“Don’t I have my hours listed on the door?”

“It doesn’t have numbers,” he informs her. “You wrote in kaomojis, and I’m not sure what the shrugging one means.”

“It means, ‘try your luck’! And lucky you, I’m still open.” She grins and beckons Torino inside. Does she still have taiyaki warming in the display case? Maybe he has enough time to wait for Nana to pour a new batch. “You really are new to the area, aren’t you?”

“Mn.”

“What can I get you?”

“The regular, please,” he says. Then he catches himself. “A small black coffee and…”

“If you can wait fifteen minutes, I can get you one fresh for the patrol?”

Gran Torino stiffens. A little mechanically, he says, “What patrol.”

“Well, Torino-san,” Nana drags out, spinning around to pluck a paper cup, fit it to a sleeve, and situate it under the dispenser. “You don’t have your messenger bag, and that sure isn’t civilian clothing. You wouldn’t be the first pro-hero looking to get a snack before patrol, y’know? Even the underground heroes need their kicks.”

“Room for cream, please.”

That was different. Nana obliges, caps the cup, and turns around to slide it over the counter. “Is that a yes to taiyaki? Fifteen minutes, I swear.”

He glances at the clock. “... I can wait.”

“Excellent!” she crows, and rings up the purchases. “That’s six-hundred yen.”

“I remember,” he says drily. Gran Torino dips his fingers into his belt, and then he freezes. Nana observes the flash of panic twisting his mouth into a grimace and the almost serene way he rechecks his person for money. “Um. Shit. I, uh…”

“Happens to all of us,” she says, not unkindly.

“Sorry.” Torino pushes the coffee back over to her end of the counter, but Nana steadies his wrist and holds him there.

“It’s okay,” Nana says firmly. Except she knows that Gran Torino is not the type of person to accept charity, even as a flirtation, so in the way of all managers, she finds a task that needs to be done. “In exchange, would you mind refilling the ice machine? Lots of customers in summer means lots of iced drinks, so it needs a bucket or two.”

Gran Torino considers the proposal for only a second. “Done,” he says. “Tell me what to do.”

“Ah, it’s self-explanatory. Walk in from over there,” as he follows her directions, Nana darts to the kitchen and preps the taiyaki pan, giving it a quick brushdown with melted butter and turning the stove on medium-low.

“Found the ice maker,” he reports from the front.

“The white bucket next to it, fill up as much as you can carry,” she calls back. “Oh! And be careful of the lid, it’s got--”

A low thonk and subsequent curse. Nana winces as she retrieves the chilled batter and red bean paste, stirring the former as she peeks out of the kitchen.

“You okay?”

“I’ve been told I have a hard head,” Torino says, and hefts the bucket of ice onto his shoulder. Nana tries not to stare. “Where does this go?”

“Uh,” Nana stalls. He doesn’t even look strained by the weight. His shoulders are broad and his chest is, well, present. Manufacturers of pro-hero gear must have some kind of agenda, because Nana can’t think of a good reason why a jumpsuit needs to be so tight. Even flight suits have some give, not to mention the necessity of insulation. Wait, what’s happening?

“Shimura-san.”

“Stepladder. One moment,” she blurts out, and hastily returns to pour the batter into the pan mold. Nana adds a generous scoop of the red bean paste, ladles additional batter over that, closes the pan and flips it.

Muscle memory helps her set the timer for two minutes, and then she is out behind the counter again.

Just in time to see Gran Torino brusquely dump the bucket of ice into the machine’s canister. Nana has the perfect line-of-sight to see the curvature of his rear. Is that what the cape’s for? To hide how the angled lines of Torino’s yellow belt, the ones she suspects trace the vee of his hipbones, connect over a truly enviable butt?

She can never talk gossip to Toshinori about his homeroom teacher again.

It’s just--it’s just unfair, that is.

“It’s near capacity.”

“Mm, typically my part-timer needs two trips to get the ice in,” she says distractedly. “I usually top it up overnight.”

“Do you,” he says.

“One less task to do in the morning. Budge over.” Impulse has her joining him on the stepladder, sneakily using Float to make sure Nana doesn’t topple them to the floor. Checking the capacity of the machine is just an excuse, since there’s no reason to doubt Torino’s judgment.

He’s quiet. Belatedly, Nana realizes that he is reassessing something. She cancels Float and balances her weight on one foot.

“Guess you were right,” she says, cheerful.

“I have a good eye,” Torino murmurs. “You wouldn’t be the first to use your Quirk for minor things in public, Shimura-san.”

“I won’t be the last to do it, either.”

“So long as others don’t catch you.”

“I’ve made it this long without a ticket,” Nana teases. “Are you gonna be the first?”

“I’m not on-duty yet,” Gran Torino says, and deliberately looks at his coffee. “So before you ask, you can’t bribe me with taiyaki. That’s strictly payment for the ice.”

“I’ll be sure to time my transgressions better.” Her timer beeps. She has about thirty seconds before she really has to flip the pan again, so Nana pulls out her best customer service voice. “When does your patrol end anyway, Torino-san?”

“... Midnight.”

“I’ll keep the second taiyaki ready for you, if you drop by again tonight,” she offers. Nana hops down to the floor, Float flickering on and off, just to soften the clap of her sneakers’ soles on the tile.

“I can’t ask that--”

She ducks into the kitchen and flips the pan, resets her timer and pokes her head out to check on Gran Torino exiting the employee-only space. He snags his coffee and pops the lid; he fills it with cream and sugar.

Aha, she thinks gleefully. She knew he couldn’t possibly like coffee straight from the pot. The taiyaki from the afternoon might have sweetened the bitter brew, but as of the evening’s coffee?

“Will you be impressed if I tell you that I basically live upstairs?” she asks Torino.

“You’re renting both the business and your apartment?”

“I own the land and the building,” Nana corrects.

“That can’t be cheap.”

“I’m a responsible business owner!” In response, he snorts into his coffee. “Anyway, if you don’t have anyone to check in with after patrol, just check in with me. Underground pro-heroes are advised to have some kind of handler, right?”

“We’re not government agents,” Torino says, frowning.

“Just say ‘yes,’” she tells him. “‘Yes, I will drop by your balcony and pick up my other taiyaki, Shimura-san.’”

Because she’s watching for it, Nana sees the slight twitch of his lips curling up into a smile.

“Yes, I will drop by your balcony and pick up my other taiyaki, Shimura-san,” he parrots.

[jungle321jungle]

Forge My Heart

The Crown Prince ordered a sword from the blacksmith. He got more than he expected.

An anxceit oneshot

Taglist: @hells-missing-a-goat @angels-and-dreams @ollyollyoxinfree @gattonero17

Ao3 - Masterlist

~~~~

Forge My Heart

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“You want me?”

“Yes.”

“But- but why ?”

“Must you make me repeat myself?” The Prince gave a sigh. “You’re a skilled blacksmith who makes many swords, no?”

His eyes drifted to his father’s gaze watching from behind the Prince’s entourage. “But my father-”

“Give me more credit, blacksmith,” he said with a slight smile. “I know this is your father’s shop, but I also know that your father hasn’t made a thing in years. You’ve been doing all the hard work, while he takes your hard earned coin. So I wish to contract you personally for my birthday present... to myself. Oh besides your payment upon completion, I will provide money to buy the best materials and you can keep whatever you don’t use.” He paused before he turned to his attendant who was looking over a scroll. “Am I forgetting something, Logan?”

The man didn’t look up, “Giving him the money?”

“Right. Roman?”

One of his other attendants moved away from where he had been lingering by the anvil where Virgil’s current project laid before he had shuffled over and handed Virgil a sack of coins.

“Well?” The Prince asked him crossing his arms. “Do we have a deal?”

Virgil blinked before he nodded, “What kind of sword would you like Prince Dante?”

The Prince’s different color eyes gave a twinkle, “Surprise me.”

~~~~

“ Surprise me, ” Roman mocked as they climbed in the carriage. “Didn’t you spend the whole ride over reciting to us all you very specific details of what you wanted in a rapier?”

“I will throw you from the palace tower,” Dee responded looking out the window as they pulled away.

“Please do so sooner rather than later,” Logan tossed in. “I won’t have the guests passing by a blood stain on their way into the ball.”

Roman rolled his eyes, “Wow, for a moment there I thought you were concerned about my wellbeing.”

Logan ignored him, “Prince, next in your schedule is a hospitality visit to the children’s home. Following that you will...”

Logan’s words continued, but Dee had zoned out as he hoped the blacksmith could get it right.

“My Prince!” The blacksmith yelped as he stumbled back dropping the hot metal to the ground as he did.

Dee blinked as the young man fumbled to pick it up with tongs before setting it aside. When he had looked up, Dee could see the surprise in his beautiful deep brown eyes.

“I wasn’t aware you were coming,” Virgil  said awkwardly brushing his hands off on his pants.

“I wanted to check in on your progress,” Dee said simply.

Virgil nodded as he picked up what he had been working on and held it for Dee to see.

It wasn’t a rapier, Dee noted silently. But then again he hadn’t asked for one.

“It’s going to be a saber,” Virgil started turning over the metal. “You can’t tell right now, but once it’s acid etched you’ll be able to see the design I put into the metal- a twisted pattern. The handle will have some good detailing in it and I plan to make it as intricate as possible. Do... do you have anything specific you want?”

Dee shook his head, “Not at all. Just making sure things are-”

“Whoa! The Prince!”

Dee turned in surprise to see as a small boy entered the shop.

“Patton!” Virgil shouted in surprise hurrying over to the boy. “Sorry my Prince. This is my little brother.” He then turned to the boy, “That’s not how you greet a Prince.”

The small boy blinked before he nodded, “Sorry. Hi your Majesty. Thanks for hiring my brother!”

Dee gave a chuckle as he joined the brothers by the ship entrance. “Nice to meet you Patton. And I had to pick your brother, he’s good at what he does.”

“I’m gonna be better one day!”

“Oh?”

“Uhuh! Vee is gonna teach me!”

Dee raised an eyebrow and looked to the blacksmith, “Are you Vee ?”

Virgil gave a blush beneath his dark eyeshadow and wow Dee wanted to see him do that more. “Y-yeah,” he mumbled. “Its- it’s a family business after all.”

Dee nodded once and moved for the exit, “I’ll come back in a few days!”

“You don’t have time to be checking up on the smith,” Logan disagreed as Dee climbed in the carriage. “Do you not realize how many more things we need to do before the ball?”

“Remus is handling them,” Dee waved dismissively.

“You trust him with that many things?” Roman asked in surprise. “I only trust him to stare at Logan’s ass.”

“Well...” Dee gave a cough as he watched Logan’s stoic face. “Fine. Can I just go visit him once more this week?”

Logan raised an eyebrow, “Fine. Once more.”

“Hello Virgil the blacksmith!” Dee called as he entered the back of the shop. “I am shouting as my silence last time led to me startling you.”

Virgil gave an amused look as he looked away from his forge, “I’m sorry my Prince. Can I have one minute? I need to quench the blade.”

Dee gave a nod pretending he knew what that meant. At his affirmation Virgil put his face back to staring into the flames before he grabbed his tongs and pulled out glowing metal and hurriedly shoved it in a barrel- which immediately caused flames to fly up into Virgil’s face.

“Holy shit!” Dee yelled in response taking a step closer. “Are you alright?”

Virgil pulled the sword out the barrel and gave it a visual inspection with a bright smile, “I'm fine, why?”

“You just had fire erupt in your face.”

Virgil paused as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him, “Nothing different that usual. Anyway, I assume you came for an update?”

Dee nodded, “I did. And to tell you that you are personally invited to the ball.”

“Oh, you want me to deliver it then?”

“Yes, but you are also free to enjoy the ball as a guest .”

“Oh...”

“So how’s the sword?”

“I should have it cleaned up and sharpened by the end of the day. And then I have the rest of the week to get the handle together. Should be a sword more than worthy for the Crown Prince.”

Dee nods once as he looks at the metal Virgil had set aside. It certainly looked more like a sword than the slab he had initially seen during his first day, but still he couldn’t quite picture the final product. He just hoped it would be as nice as Virgil had claimed.

~~~~

“Vee you need to go! You’re late! The ball already started!”

Virgil didn’t move away from where he was grinding at the last of the sword. “Grab me the box! And the thing!”

“What thing?”

“The thing to wrap the sword in for the box!”

He heard Patton shuffling around behind him as he finished sharpening the blade.

“It looks perfect!” Patton cheered, setting the box down.

Virgil smiled in agreement before he got everything together. “Okay I’m going.”

“But you didn’t change!”

“No time!”

Virgil arrived at the palace out of breath and, present in hand. One of the Prince’s attendants was by the door dressed in a blue suit, and a large frown on his face. “Late and underdressed Mr. Storm?”

“Sorry,” Virgil apologized, holding the present out and the man took it. “Give it to him. I’ll head back to my shop, um... let me know if he likes-”

Virgil didn’t get to finish before the man had grabbed him by the wrist and began dragging him along as they made their way inside.

“Um, sir?”

“Logan,” he corrected letting Virgil go and pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his hand. “The Prince wants you to hand deliver it.”

“Oh well uh-”

“Roman!” Logan called at a passing man.

The man turned and gave them both a smile before he looked Virgil up and down amused. “Couldn’t you at least take off the eyeshadow?”

Virgil’s eyebrows knit in confusion. “What eyeshadow?”

“Your... you know... eyes... Logan you needed something?”

Logan nodded once, “Go get him an outfit. And I’ll send Remus to join you, I think our Prince told him Mr. Storm’s measurements.”

“My measurements?” Virgil echoed awkwardly. “Why would he know-”

“In the meantime Mr. Storm I shall send you to clean yourself up a bit.”

“Oh, uh okay?”

~~~~

“Something wrong dear?”

Dee shook his head and gave his mother a polite smile, “I’m just wondering about my sword. The blacksmith was supposed to be here by now.”

“Well then I guess we are right on time.”

Dee turned to where Logan appeared a man dressed in a beautiful purple suit beside him. Logan stepped aside and the man stepped forward holding out the box to Dee. “Happy birthday Your Majesty.”

Dee took the box in confusion before he looked at the man. Upon opening it he saw a beautiful saber sitting in it. “Virgil?”

“Yes?”

“You're the same pretty blacksmith?”

His face flushed, “ Pretty ?”

Gone was the soot and grime from his face, and for the first time Dee could clearly see his face. Gone was this dirty clothing instead he wore a beautifully tailored purple suit which fit him perfectly in every way. And wow, if Dee had thought he was beautiful prior to this- then he wasn’t sure what Virgil was now.

“The sword?” Logan coughed taking the box and holding toward Dee.

Dee blinked and picked up the sword by its hilt, marveling in how natural it felt in his hand. It was wonderful.

“Look under the leather,” Virgil advised.

Dee lifted it confused and he froze in surprise and picked up the second sword. And wow, it was more beautiful than the first.

“A rapier,” Dee smiled, turning it over in his hands.

Virgil nodded once, “I finished the saber and realized I wanted to do something even more special. I hope you like them.”

“They’re perfect ,” Dee smiled. “Thank you so so much Virgil.”

Virgil’s blush returned as he took a step back, “Thank you for giving me such a good challenge.”

He moved to step away, but Dee put the swords in the box before moving beside the smith. “If you’re sticking around for a while, can I ask you to dance?”

“I can’t dance.”

Dee gave him a smile as he extended a hand to the man. “I’ll let you in on a secret, most people here can’t.”

~~~~

“Virgil?”

The blacksmith looked up from his feet to the Prince’s face trying not to think about how close they were. “Yes?”

“You did such a nice job on the swords...” the Prince started slowly as he whirled Virgil around with ease. “and well I think I might need a set of matching knives. One for each sword. So um, why don’t you come back to the palace tomorrow? I can- I can treat you to lunch while we discuss the designs?”

Virgil gave a large smile in response despite the blush he could feel on his cheeks, “That sounds great, My Prince.”

“Dee... you can call me Dee.”

Virgil shook his head as he looked back to his feet. “I’m just a blacksmith . I- I can’t call you by your name.”

“Then maybe you need to be more than a blacksmith?”

“What do you mean?”

Virgil heard as the Prince hummed in thought monetarily before speaking again. “I’ve got it, how about you let me court you? Then you could certainly call me by name.”

Virgil’s ears must have stopped working. He stared at the Prince’s smirking face in shock before he dropped his head again. “I...I’d like that.”

“You would?”

The Prince’s surprised tone caused Virgil’s gaze to rise to see the Prince’s slight blush. “I would,” he confirmed. “I would... Dee .”

Dee gave him a smile as he leaned forward and rested his forehead on Virgil’s in a teasing way.

[soft-stormcloud]

Panic Cord [Part 1/3]

Synopsis: When Virgil and his fiancé, Logan, take in Virgil’s ex boyfriend Roman and his boyfriend, Patton, Virgil’s forced to come face to face with his guilt. 

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Prinxiety, Analogical, LAMP, background logicality

Word count: 2684 out of roughly 8791

Trigger warnings: Implied abusive parents, very heavy guilt, financial problems, potentially unsympathetic Virgil? It’s complicated, everyone makes mistakes.

A/N: this whole fic was inspired by the song Panic Cord by Gabrielle Aplin, 10/10 song

    “Are you serious?”

    “Yes.” 

    Logan gave his stubborn fiance a defiant look. “You’re serious?” He asked again, just to be sure. 

    Virgil nodded insistently. “Yes! Look, we play DND every week, tell me it wouldn’t be badass playing on this.” 

    He gestured towards the coffee table he wanted, an overdramatic, gothic table that would take up half of their living room. 

    Logan quirked an eyebrow. “Okay, but we eat dinner every day. Lunch, too. Imagine trying to balance a cup on one of those ridges. We might as well not even have a table.”

    Virgil held his hands up. “I’d be glad to eat on the floor.”

    He couldn’t help but laugh. “Then why… Are we even here?” 

    Virgil cracked up, too, but shook his head. “I don’t want that boring ass table.” 

    Logan pouted. He liked the table. It was simple, but not ugly, with dark reddish brown panels of wood and black iron supports. It was big enough for them to eat, and play DND, too, albeit a bit cramped. He especially liked that it looked easy to clean, and it was the perfect height for their couch. 

    Virgil hesitated, and then sighed as the bell above the shop’s door dinged. “Okay. Fine. We’ll get that table. But! I get to pick the next three games we play.” 

    Logan smiled. That meant three sessions of DND, with Logan dm’ing. “If that’ll make you happy.”

    As giggling sounded from near the door, Virgil looked up and smiled sheepishly at him. Then his eyes slid over his fiance’s shoulder, towards the couple coming towards them- One excitedly pulling his boyfriend, the other nervously and subtly trying to lead him away. 

Virgil ducked down and behind Logan, whispering, “Shit, shit, shit!” 

Logan looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

“That’s my ex-boyfriend.”

“Which one?”

“The tall one.”

The couple stopped to admire the table Logan picked out. The tall one stared fiercely at it, eyes not moving, stiff. The oblivious one admired the wood. 

Logan didn’t take his gaze off the tall one as he said, “I think they know you’re here.”

The round, freckled one looked at them with a polite smile. “Hm?”

The tall one peeked around Logan a bit and gave an awkward wave. “Hey, uh-” He almost said something else, and then just said, “Hey.” 

Virgil stared at him, anxiety having frozen him solid. They spent thirty seconds in the most uncomfortable silence Logan thought he’d ever witnessed, Virgil’s ex’s boyfriend completely oblivious, until Logan said, “So, you two used to date?”

That got his attention. 

“Um, yeah… I’m Roman,” the tall one said, ignoring his boyfriend’s concerned look. His hair was grown out in a messy enough way that it was clearly unintentional, faded red with inches of brown roots. His nails were painted an assortment of pastel colours. “This is my boyfriend, Patton.” Patton was dressed all in pastels, with golden circular glasses frames and platform boots. He looked familiar, but Virgil couldn’t place him. His hair was also a mess, but it was curly and looked more on purpose. 

“I’m Virgil’s fiance.” Logan stuck his hand out, and Roman’s eyes went wide. 

“Fiance?” He didn’t shake Logan’s hand. Patton squeezed Roman’s arm. 

“Yes.” A small smile crawled onto Logan’s face as his eyes slid over to Virgil. Virgil blushed and looked away. “Fiance.”

“So that’s the name you picked? ‘Virgil?’” Roman forced a chuckle and glanced to Logan. “He was still trying a few out when we were together.” 

Desperate to get the attention off of him, Virgil asked, “So are you two moving in together?” 

Patton smiled brightly. “We’re trying to! But, you know, money’s tight. We figured we’d stop by here since we were close and look at some options. It’s more expensive than we thought it’d be, though.” 

Logan perked up. “You know, when Vee and I started looking at options, we found this little store downtown…” 

Logan and Patton got lost in conversation as Logan told him about the furniture store he and Virgil had found, and all the things they found for their new apartment. Virgil’s eyes widened as he realized he and Roman were, basically, left alone. 

After thirty seconds of just staring at Logan and Patton’s conversation, he realized there wasn’t really a subtle way to get out of this situation. He turned to Roman and, after a bit to think of what to say, stuttered out, “You look like you’re doing… Good?” 

A little bit of authenticity bled into Roman’s smile. “Patton’s really great. Do you, um, do you remember him?”  

“Um, I think, yeah?” Virgil looked away and scratched the back of his neck a little aggressively. Shit, Patton? Patton… He couldn’t place the name. “Probably, I don’t know.”

“I met him at that Wicked showing,” Roman reminded him. “It was, like, a week before. You only met him once.” Roman’s eyes widened. “Oh- But we didn’t do anything! We only got together a year ago. I promise, we didn’t-”

Roman tended to go on and on until someone stopped him. 

“After what happened, do you really think I could be mad at you for forgetting to tell me something?” Virgil raised his eyebrows. Every day he felt guilty for what he did. He would let Roman get away with breaking a thousand rules to their polygamy set up, let alone one. 

“I guess not,” he said quietly. He was blushing. He let out a little laugh and shrugged. “I just… Don’t like you being mad at me.” 

Virgil could tell where this headed. He rushed to speak at the same as Roman,

“It wasn’t your fault-”

“If I did anything-” 

Virgil pursed his lips and Roman chuckled. “I mean…” Roman turned away slightly, peeking at him. “There had to be a reason, right? Never mind, don’t answer that.” He fully looked away, pretending to examine one of the tables. “I shouldn’t pry.” 

“Vee?”

They both glanced back. Logan and Patton were standing close enough for their clothes to brush together, and they each had a little dopey smile on their faces. Patton broke off to join Roman, wrapping his arms around one of Roman’s. Roman smiled down at him. 

“Are you ready to go, love?” Logan asked. Little happy butterflies fluttered around Virgil’s stomach. “I have to get ready for work.” 

“Yeah, go ahead.” Virgil pointed back at the table they chose. “I'll get this to the register.” 

Logan turned for a moment, before looking back and asking, cautiously, “You’re not trying to trick me, are you?”

He grinned. “Which table did we pick again?”

Logan pointed at him. “I’m trusting you.” 

He went outside to go warm up the car, and Virgil reached for the box. 

“Virgil, um…” Roman smiled nervously as Virgil turned back to him. “Before you leave, could I just- Could I hug you?” 

Virgil’s heart stuttered. Dread twisted his stomach into a knot, but how could he say no? After what he did, if the guy wanted a hug, he could have a hug. He nodded. “Yeah, sure.” 

Roman almost stepped forward, but then his gaze settled on Virgil’s face, and he really looked, and he stopped. “I know you too well,” he said with a sad smile. “But, um, here… Pat, can I borrow a marker?”

“Mhm!” Patton swung his pastel purple backpack around to his front and dug inside for a moment before producing a pink marker. 

Virgil held out his arm instinctively and Roman scribbled down a phone number. “We should catch up some time, if you want.” 

Virgil knew what he was doing. It was an invitation, and nothing more. It was Roman saying, I miss you, and I feel like we ran into each other today for a reason, but I would never pressure you into anything. So, if you want to, you can reach out. 

Virgil was conflicted. 

He just nodded and forced a smile, and then got the box with Logan’s pick to the register. 

Later, while they were putting the table together, Logan said, “You know, Patton mentioned they’re still looking for a place to live.” 

Virgil looked at him in confusion. “Yeah?” 

He stared at the screw he was trying to fit in the wood. “They seemed like they were in a hurry.”

“I can imagine,” Virgil mumbled. 

Logan furrowed his eyebrows. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “Personal stuff. Roman’s personal stuff.”

“Oh.” Logan shrugged it off. “Okay, well. I was just thinking, if it gets too bad, we could always rent out my office.” 

Virgil’s stomach coiled. “What?” He asked in panic. “To them?”

“Yes?” He looked up in confusion. “Would that not be okay?”

Virgil dropped his screwdriver. “No! No, that’s- No.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to do that. What kind of idea is that? He’s my ex.” 

“Yeah, I know, I heard that, Vee.” He sighed and set down his screwdriver, as well, giving Virgil his full attention. “But they need a place to live, and I figured things couldn’t have ended that badly. You guys got along fine today.”

“No- It wasn’t a fight.” Virgil pursed his lips and tried to figure out the best way to explain what happened, and quickly gave up. “It’s just- It’s not a good idea.”

Logan crawled around his side of the table to sit next to his fiance, taking his hands. “You’re talking like it’s already decided,” he said gently. “I was just asking your opinion. If you don’t want it to happen, it won’t, okay?” 

Virgil nodded slowly, squeezing his hands. “Yeah. You’re right. I’m sorry, I just- I panicked.” 

He smiled. “I know. It’s okay.” Logan kissed him softly, and Virgil leaned into it. “I gotta get going, though, or else I’ll be late.” He stood up and let Virgil’s hands drop from his. “Are you okay with finishing this yourself?”

Virgil picked up his screwdriver again and nodded. “Yeah. I’m off tonight. I’ll see you in the morning.” 

Logan leaned down to give him one last kiss, before leaving, grabbing his keys on the way out. 

xxx 

A few days later, Virgil burst into their apartment after work. Logan jumped as Virgil dropped his bag on the floor and dropped himself into Logan’s lap. 

“Bad day?” Logan asked, hiding a smile as he ran his fingers through Virgil’s hair. 

“Whatever,” Virgil grumbled. 

“What happened?” 

“Just a bunch of stupid shit. I didn’t even really want to be there anyway. Apparently I made some mistake yesterday, and my supervisor, like, attacked me for it.” 

Logan was immediately sceptical. “He did?” 

“Yeah.”

“What did he say?”

“I don’t even remember, it happened as soon as I got inside.” Virgil sat up, feet planted on either side of Logan’s lap. “What, do you not believe me?”

“No, it’s not that.” Logan rested his hand on the side of Virgil’s face. “I just know how you can be.”

Virgil scowled and stuck out his tongue at him. Logan laughed and kissed him. 

“I don’t know, I was trying to make coffee and he stormed up and started snapping at me.”

“Did you snap back?”

“Of course I did. Can you blame me?” 

He shrugged. “Not really, I guess.” He tucked a loose strand of Virgil’s purple hair behind his ear. “But… I don’t know, he’s your supervisor. Is that smart?” 

Virgil grimaced as chills crawled up his back. He had been trying not to think about that. “Just because he’s my supervisor doesn’t mean he can be a dick,” Virgil grumbled. 

“No, I agree, but…” 

Virgil sighed. “Dear God, what?” 

“It sounds like he was just doing his job,” Logan said with a sigh. 

He scowled. “And being a dick about it,” he said pointedly. 

“Well, maybe, I don’t know, I wasn’t there. But besides that point.” 

Virgil didn’t answer. 

“Just think about it,” Logan said gently and pulled him closer.

Virgil easily leaned against him. There was nothing in this world that calmed him down faster than his fiance. It was how he realized he was in love with Logan, in love with him the kind of way that he knew, without him, he would just ache. The first time Logan came into the room and Virgil felt undeniable, bone-deep relaxation, an overpowering feeling of safety- He knew. 

Logan was always trying to encourage him to be better; not because he didn’t think Virgil was enough, but because he saw how Virgil was constantly hurting himself, and he didn’t want to watch it. 

Virgil rolled his eyes and rested his head on Logan’s shoulder, mumbling mockingly, “Should I… Apologize?” He hated apologizing. He only really did it to Logan, and that still sucked. 

“It depends.” Logan kissed the top of his head. “How big of a dick was he being?” 

“... Not really.” 

“Then probably.” 

Virgil sighed heavily. “This is stupid.” 

Virgil knew what he was thinking: You need to stop getting so defensive. But he didn’t say it. Maybe because he knew that Virgil already knew. Maybe he felt like he got his point across fine enough without it. Either way, Virgil was grateful. 

xxx 

Virgil’s phone woke him up at 10am, and it felt like the middle of the night. 

A number unknown to his phone but memorized by Virgil showed across the scene, and his heart at once sunk to his stomach and filled with butterflies. He was frozen with indecision. A mix of relief and regret swirled inside his stomach as the phone stopped buzzing, a missed call showing up on screen… And then it all shattered as it began again. 

“Turn that shit off,” Logan groaned, wrapping an arm around Virgil’s waist. 

Virgil kissed his hand and nudged him away so he could get out of bed. He answered the phone as he tiptoed out of the bedroom. 

In their empty apartment, the world was quiet. Cars buzzed by outside, but it was muffled from so high up. The sun streamed in from the windows they forgot to draw the curtains on before going to bed, shining patterns on the carpet from the stained glass pieces Virgil had hung up. 

He tried to focus on that while he answered the phone. His blooming life with Logan, and how happy it made him. 

“Roman?” 

“Hey!” He didn’t sound happy. He sounded nervous. “So, uh… You busy right now?”

“What’s going on?” Virgil’s eyes settled on the vase of fake roses on their coffee table. They both adored plants, but neither of them had the time or patience to really take care of any. Virgil traced the familiar petals and the child safe thorns on the stem. 

“Well, you know how Patton and I were trying to find a place to live?”

“Mhm.” 

Virgil expected him to ask him and Logan to help them move in, that they found a place but they happened to bite off more than they could chew and Virgil was the only person he felt comfortable asking for such a favour. However likely that was. 

“Well, we couldn’t. And, uh…”

Virgil furrowed his eyebrows. Dread tangled his stomach into knots. “What’s wrong, why can’t you keep looking?”

“Well, we can! It just…” 

“Give me the phone,” a soft voice said from Roman’s side of the phone, and after a moment of shuffling, the voice came out clearer. “Virgil? It’s Patton. We were just wondering if you know anybody who has a spare room for rent. Like… Today, maybe.” 

“Is everything okay?” They were freaking him out. 

“I ran out of rent money a few months ago, and I was hoping to get paid today, but… Anyway, I guess I overstayed my welcome. My landlord kicked me out. And Roman won’t let me stay with him.” 

That much was obvious- Virgil wouldn’t let a frog stay with Roman’s parents. 

“So?” Patton tried much too hard to sound cheerful. “Do you maybe know anybody?” 

Virgil looked back to their bedroom, where Logan was standing in the doorway, watching him in concern. “Yeah,” Virgil said. “I have a place.”

Reblogs are better than likes

[bitchardhendricks]

Well I’ve Never Been to Heaven (But I’ve Been to Oklahoma) pt 11

As you can imagine, I’ve been having a lot of feelings about my hometown this week in particular. But while on a national stage it’s painted as being full of fanatical zealots hellbent on worshipping at the altar of a fascist demagogue, the reality that I’ve seen from the majority of its citizens this week is compassion, empathy, care, and concern. That mix is the brutal reality of the place that made me - a place not unlike a lot of your own hometowns, if I had to guess. I think overall, that’s the feeling I want to capture in all the parts of Tulsa fic. I wrote this part weeks and weeks ago, before any mention of the rally, but it feels fitting to post this week. I hope you’re all doing well out there, staying strong, staying safe, and taking care of each other.

***

They spend a few hours exploring the myriad shelves at Gardner’s; every time they walk into another room, Jared expects them to finally reach the end of the labyrinth, and every time there’s yet another room beyond. Richard shows Jared the spot tucked into a corner by the sci-fi section where he would spend long summer afternoons discovering new worlds with Bradbury and Asimov, Heinlein and Herbert. 

Jared finds a used Pioneer Woman cookbook to buy for Diane - “Do you think she’d like this? I noticed she didn’t have this one when I was perusing her cookbooks this morning.” 

Richard has no idea, but tries to be enthusiastic. “Um. I mean, yeah, probably, she’ll love it.”

Richard wonders what it must be like to be a person who notices things like that, makes notes of gifts to buy for people. Someone who’s thoughtful and kind and just fucking nice. He wonders, not for the first time, why Jared isn’t somewhere better, with better people, people who are like him. He wonders, also not for the first time, if his vision - Pied Piper, the company, changing the world one compressed byte at a time - is worth enough for Jared to stick around when the reality (when Richard himself) is so vastly disappointing. 

He stops paging through back issues of Fantastic Four and looks up to watch Jared flipping through records in the section across the aisle from him. Sometimes Jared’s very existence throws Richard off-balance. His posture, his competence - everything about Jared is so put together and accomplished, like he’s been practicing for hours every day to make being a grown-up look so simple. His long, nimble fingers move over the records with ease and surety. Like a pianist, Richard thinks. Good with his hands. Jared must feel the weight of his gaze, and he looks up with a bemused expression that Richard knows means, Goodness, I’m so sorry, was I being too distracting? Richard’s face grows inexplicably warm. He shakes his head sheepishly - no, you’re ok - and Jared goes back to browsing. 

He only watches for a minute or so before another guy squeezes past him trying to get to the Daredevil comics, and he jumps guiltily out of the way. “Hey Jared, we should ah, get going. Lots more to see.”

As they pay for their purchases, the sunny blonde cashier’s hand lingers against Jared’s long pianist fingers when she hands him his change. 

Richard snatches his bag of books out of her hands and stalks off before she can finish saying, “Have a nice day!” 

***

They drive for 15 minutes or so, the air conditioner cranked up, until Richard slows down in front of a huge pavilion with a banner advertising GUN SHOW flapping disconsolately in the muggy June air. Jared pales, hit by a vivid memory of a Saturday afternoon spent with Uncle Jerry and his friends at a civic center filled with the smell of testosterone and gun oil and the sounds of boisterous laughter and Lynyrd Skynyrd bouncing off the concrete walls. “Richard, I don’t--” he begins, but the car pulls into a neighborhood directly across from the huge building.

Richard puts it in park and turns to see the look on Jared’s face. “Oh - fuck, Jared, did you think I was taking you to an actual gun show? Jesus, c’mon man. No, it’s ah,” he opens his door and stands up, wedged in the vee of the car door and turning to point. “Better angle from here. See the statue? It’s the Golden Driller.”

Jared also gets out of the car to look and follows Richard’s indication. Towering above the pavilion is what looks to be a giant man made of stone the color of sand standing next to an oil derrick. The figure he cuts is imposing - Jared estimates he must be at least 7 stories tall, with his workman’s boots the size of school buses splayed shoulder-width apart, one hand on his hip and one hand resting possessively on top of the massive derrick like a hunter posing with a prized kill. His face is cut in austere lines, a square jaw, a long slash of a nose, a heavy brow hidden under a hard hat of some kind with a wide brim. He’s shirtless, and his broad shoulders narrow to a waist with a belt around it that says TULSA.

“He’s very tall,” Jared says, which makes Richard laugh. With a darted glance to confirm Richard isn’t laughing at him, Jared also laughs, surprised and a little dizzy. 

“This is like - he’s THE symbol of Tulsa, you know. The baseball team is named after him, the stadium. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with this statue, we’d pass it and I’d just start like,” Richard mimes shaking his fists back and forth in the air in wild jubilation, “‘It’s the Tulsa Driller!’ I don’t even know why, heh. Kid stuff. I think probably everyone who lives here has a picture of themselves with that statue. It’s like a Tulsa rite of passage.”

He reaches over the roof of the Camry palm up and looks at Jared, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Wanting, expectant. Jared can hardly stand it, rooted to the spot and captured by that look as neatly as a rabbit in a snare. With a sly grin, Richard finally speaks. “C’mon, gimme your phone. You wanted to document the trip, right?”

A Tulsa rite of passage, he thinks, and fumbles in his pocket for his phone. Richard unlocks it with his fingerprint - thank goodness for the day Jared had insisted they spend setting up their emergency contacts and preparedness protocols - and gestures for Jared to come around the car and pose in frame with the colossal statue. “A little to the right - ah, my right, sorry - and uh, put your hands y’know - “ Richard half-attempts the Driller’s pose and ends up more akin to a little teapot before he aborts the gesture, embarrassed. “OK, look stern. You’re an oil man now, you gotta - yeah, that’s, that’s great,” he says, giggling as Jared puts on an exaggerated scowl. The shutter clicks in rapid succession as Richard crouches down, getting a better angle. “Yes, perfect, you’re a natural, Jared,” he teases lightly and Jared’s scowl disappears, replaced with a grin so wide he hears his jaw creak. 

Richard lets the phone fall from in front of his face for a second, faltering, and just looks at Jared with a matching grin that’s febrile, electric, before taking a few more photos. When he hands the phone back to Jared, he avoids any further eye contact, looking down at the ground and hurrying back to hop in the car. 

Jared follows, hoping the spell hasn’t been entirely broken on this inexplicable wonder of a day. As they drive to their next destination, Richard is quiet, contemplative. Just as Jared is about to ask if there’s something bothering him, Richard breaks the silence. “There’s a plaque by the Driller - we went to Expo Square there, that building, on a field trip in middle school for some like, multicultural fair, I don’t know. But my teacher, she made a huge deal about this plaque, right, and I still remember it, it, it said something like um, ‘Golden Driller, dedicated to the men of the petroleum industry, who um..with their uh vision and bravery uh, benefitted all mankind.’” 

“Ah. Perhaps not all,” Jared cedes, and Richard nods furiously. 

“Right, like, I mean look how that fucking worked out for everybody. And they’re y’know, displacing Native Americans and like, if you’re not white you’re fucked, and just annihilating the goddamn planet, and they’re building monuments to themselves like they’re so, so fucking magnanimous. Right?” He grips the steering wheel with knuckles going white and Jared nods along with him, attempting to remain afloat on the tempestuous sea of Richard’s emotions. 

“You’re thinking of Gavin,” he says, and Richard’s jaw clenches mutinously in a way that tells Jared he’s right. The wound that Gavin has inflicted upon Richard’s soul is so raw and ragged, even after all this time, and it makes Jared ache to see him lash out like this, a proud lion tortured by the venomous thorn in his paw. 

“He doesn’t have a case, Richard - you know that and I know that. In the annals of history, people will remember Richard Hendricks far longer than they’ll ever remember Gavin Belson, and not because you erect monuments to your greatness in the sky. The most enduring legacies are built by leaders who inspire love, not fear.”

Richard snorts, “Great. I can’t inspire either one for shit.”

The words clamor in his throat like a swarm of bees, and he can’t quite keep them contained. With his hands clutched tight in his lap, Jared says in a rush, like a compulsion, “Oh, Richard, that’s just not true.” 

Richard glances at him, looks away. Glances back. Jared offers up a smile he hopes is reassuring rather than ghoulish, and decides the safest course of action is to redirect Richard’s focus away from Gavin. This is supposed to be a vacation, after all. “Anyway, let’s focus on Tulsa and all her hidden wonders. Where are we going next on the grand Hendricks magical mystery tour?”

The digital clock in the car reads 4:50, and Richard appears to do some mental math in his head. He shifts in his seat, perking up a little, and Jared breathes out a sigh of relief. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

“We’ve got time for one more thing and it’s...well,” Richard taps on the steering wheel in a beat Jared is coming to recognize as his tell when he’s eager, excited to show off something. “I think you’re gonna like it.”

[swynlake-spill]

Screw Robinson’s ranking. What’s your ranking of the secondary students?

Oooooo yes, I think it’s about time we get a more objective point of view around here don’t we? Now, my sources tell me that the Ashleys’ ranking system was based on a combination of style, looks, and...personality or cool points or something like that. I’m assuming that Wilbur is using about the same system and so I will honor it, but I’ll add it all up to a score out of 30 in the end! 

also this took so long will someone please venmo me a quid for coffee or something 

Bae “Nemo” Nam-min

Looks: 8/10 he’s legit hottie when he actually puts effort in 

Style: 4/10 leaves MUCH to be desired. He has two looks-- sweatpants or skinny jeans. With a friend like Finn, you’d think he’d be more educated

Personality: 7/10 He’s very easy to be friends with, but an airhead and drama magnet. Don’t be fooled by the smile-- he’s more trouble than he looks!

Overall score: 19/30, or about a 6.33 on the old scale. 

Ferbs Fletcher

Looks: 9/10 LEGS LEGS LEGS LEGS LEGS. points off for hair rip 

Style: 4/10 why are all men fashion-challenged, why are all boys addicted to the skinny 

Personality: 5/10 I honestly don’t know what to make out of Ferb b/c he’s more of a tall, mysterious type, so I’m giving him a very neutral score here. If he opened his mouth more, I might like him less. 

Overall score: 18/30! 6 even! 

Mei Kusakabe 

Looks: 8/10 EEEE she’s a real cutie with serious selfie game! 

Style: 9/10 As you all know, I’m super obsessed with her look! Point deducted for those misses, which are SERIOUS misses. Miss Mei needs to float some of those looks past a panel before strutting into school and embarrassing herself. 

Personality: 6/10 Here’s where she’s losing points and it’s because she talks to ghosts. Mei! Ignore them, jfc! Save it for your free time! 

Overall score: 23/30-- a 7.6! 

Jack-Jack Parr

Looks: 5/10 oh boy does JJ Parr need an intervention. I just don’t understand why so many boys’ mothers don’t teach them how to properly care for their hair. Honey, you need to be using a special shampoo and a mousse for those curls!! ldsajflk let me help you 

Style: 2/10 ooooh boy does JJ Par need an invention. Everything he wears looks like hand-me-downs from Dash. It was cool when Dash wore it... several years ago! 

Personality: 6/10 I think he’s funny! He’s nice! He’s um, creative! Like if I went to secondary and got paired with him on a group project, I would absolutely be doing most of the work but at least he’d probably try. Maybe? Well. I could think of people who I would want to work with less.  

Overall score: 14/30 --4.6! 

Su Qin

Looks: 7/10. My problem here has everything to do with the weird staring thing. We all know the weird staring thing. None of us like the weird staring thing. 

Style: 7/10. I like her style as I’ve said before! I think she’s super unique, but I also think she could go just that extra step further. 

Personality: 2/10. Oh honey. I hate having to score you so low, but right now your personality is if Mei’s personality was a sandwich, you’d be the crusts that no one wants to eat. 

Overall score: 16/30-- 5.3 

Brandon “Barrel” Adamson

Looks: 5/10. PLEASE CUT UR HAIR CUT UR HAIR CUT UR HAIR. There’s a cute boy under there somewhere! 

Style: 2/10 Barrel knows one colour and that colour is black. His clothes also don’t seem to fit him very well. Hey Wilbur, can you do something about this?

Personality: 2/10. It’s only fair to give him a similar score as Su, since they like each other so much. He is also the leftover crusts to Lock’s personality sandwich. 

Overall score: 9/30-- a 3. Ouch. 

Romeo “Roo” DeRosa

Looks: 8/10. He is extremely good-looking! Like that’s a smile that is doing him every favour in the world. I can certainly see why he lured an Ashley in. 

Style: 6/10. ugh all these teenage boys exhaust me with their lack of style why even bother having this as a category. what kills me is Roo’s shoes are never clean, like they’re caked with mud. Wash off your shoes!! 

Personality: 8/10. I have almost no complaints with Romeo. He’s a sweet boy, he’s hardworking, he’s funny and even talented! I also think he’s kind of gullible...might even go with stupid. You’d have to be to knock up Ashley A. 

Overall score: 22/30-- 7.3! 

Finn Flounder

Looks: 9/10 hELLO face personally i dont understand why we have not talked about Finn’s face sooner and also more, like we just have dedicated Finn Face Appreciation Time, like, I’m talking artistically speaking is anyone else with me or

Style: 10/10 Colour! Variety! Texture! Pattern! Finn knows how to pick a concept and nail it, and he makes so much of his own clothes! 

Personality: 1/10 oh right this is why we don’t talk about his face, it’s because his personality is the equivalent of the puddle of water you squeeze out of a dishrag. He is such a sweet boy with no spine whatsoever. It drive me CRaZY.

Overall score: 20/30-- 6.6 

Phineas Flynn

Looks: 7/10. He is cute! He has a perfectly pleasant face with nice features. He is tall, though not as tall as Ferb. He looks, in a word, harmless. 

Style: 5/10. Once again, he looks like his mother dresses him, and I mean sometimes that’s a blessing because who knows what he’d look like if his mother didn’t dress him, but way to look like 95% of the teenage male population. 

Personality: 6/10. Phineas is charming, but only if you talk to him for about 20 minutes. After twenty minutes, there’s this quality in his voice that will worm inside your head and get stuck there. It’s like nails on the chalkboard. Once you hit forty minutes, you’ll realize he’s still talking (though you haven’t said anything in over twenty minutes), and that he really loves to hear himself talk so then it just becomes an exercise in watching Phineas impress himself. 

Overall score: 18/30--6, like his brother. Appropriate! 

Haley Long

Looks: 8/10. She’s hella cute! She’s got to be, sharing the genes of one hottie Jake Long! 

Style: 8/10. She’s got the whole ‘am i gay’ vibe going for her, which I love. I love when I can’t tell, when it’s like, does she like flannel, or is an avid fan of Lost Girl? She went with Ashley A to prom, so I mean we know she’s at least a LITTLE wlw--I’m getting off track, the point is, I’m into her masculine-feminine energies. 

Personality: 5/10. Hayley confuses me. Like, on one hand--she went to prom with Ashley A so maybe she’s an insane person. On the other hand, she ended up with Vee at the end of prom, so maybe...oh yeah, she’s still an insane person. She feels unpredictable, and maybe in a good way, but also maybe I need to run for my life. Haven’t decided! 

Overall score: 21/30-- 7! 

Dewford “Dewey” Mallard

Looks: 5/10. The Mallard boys are very interesting looking to me, like they have some of the most beautiful hair in Secondary but they prove time and time again they have absolutely no idea what to do with it. They’re also tall, but so skinny, like slendermen. Would like to enroll them all in a zumba class, maybe even yoga. 

Style: 5/10. I’ll be honest, my eyes glaze over when I look at Dewey/Huey b/c the only difference between them is the general colour scheme. I like that they do TRY for some individuality. 

Personality: 4/10. Dewey is...quiet. And weird. And alone a lot. He actually concerns me a little bit, like is he okay...? It’s not really my job to know, but it should be someone’s! 

Overall score: 14/30-- 4.6 

Hubert “Huey” Mallard

Looks: 5/10 please see above 

Style: 5/10 please see above

Personality: 8/10. I like to think of Huey as the capable, family-friendly Mallard. He’s like a glass of milk with a chocolate biscuit. Everyone likes it, even if it’s not everyone’s favourite dessert. I mean, he’s smart, interesting, he has a wide group of friends! If I had to choose anyone to be put on a group project with, it would be Huey Mallard 

Overall score: 18/30-- 6!  

Llewellyn “Louie” Mallard

Looks: 5/10. u know what to do 

Style: 7/10. GASP. Yes! A decent score! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Louie tries to have a unique style. He experiments, he’s not scared of looking like an idiot--he often looks like an idiot-- but he at least intrigues me. And next to so many boys who literally don’t know what they’re doing, he really stands out from the pack. 

Personality: 6/10. While Huey is family-friendly, Louie is an acquired taste. You might really like all those wacky Louie antics, or maybe you’re allergic! He’s definitely trouble all the way around, so my personal opinion is that he’s best in small doses.

Overall score: 18/30-- 6! 

Moon Yeongtae

Looks: 7/10. He pisses me off actually because he’s genuinely quite a handsome boy who is genuinely trying to look as un-handsome as possible. I should put this way lower out of sheer spite, but I want to encourage the rest of the teen population to exercise because at least Tae has that going for himself. Take the Mallards to the gym, Tae!

Style: 3/10. He also only knows the colour black and I think I’ve seen him in jeans three times in my life. I’ve never seen a boy so dedicated to sweatpants as a personality trait

Personality: 5/10. Speaking of personality, sweatpants isnt a personality trait! What’s his other personality trait? Arguing with people? Grunting? 

Overall score: 15/30-- 5. 

Pearl Park 

Looks: 10/10. YES our first perfect score! But is there any question when you have a face like that? Just check out her insta. The likes speak for themselves. She’s GLOWING, she’s RADIANT, she’s going to bring this school to its knees

Style: 8/10. Obviously she has more style than 80 percent of this list. It’s only this low because we haven’t seen her full potential yet, or so I like to think. She’s playing it very safe, even if she’s playing it in her own league. I would like to see her push the envelope!

Personality: 7/10. Once again, this is low because we are still getting to know the alluring Miss Park. She seems to be super nice! No enemies yet. But I know there’s something spicy hiding under all the new girl niceties. I would also like to see it! 

Overall score: 25/30-- 8.3

Pip Seville

Looks: 7/10. Personally, I like he’s adorable! He might not be topping any Most Handsome Buzzfeed lists anytime soon nor is he anyone’s secret crush but we love a boy who had good hygiene and perfect skin! 

Style: 9/10. Yes yes yes!!! He might be a theatre kid cliche, but I’ll take one of those over another awful pair of joggers! Pip would never wear all black unless he’s in tech rehearsal, and we respect that. 

Personality: 6/10. Soooo he’s pretty loud and a bit of a risk, like if you partnered with him on a school project, the odds of you getting an A are very high, but the odds of you crying by the end of it because you didn’t meet his expectations are also very high. So you know....take your chances. 

Overall score: 23/30-- 7.6! 

Wilbur Robinson

Looks: 8/10. Well OBVIOUSly Wilbur is a hottie. Did I deduct points for his new hair. Maybe I did. 

Style: 9/10. FINALLYYYY Yet another boy who can dress and dress well! It helps that he can afford nice things of course, but you also have to know how to WEAR the nice things, and Wilbur does. 

Personality: 7/10. Wilbur is funny, opinionated, stubborn, a go-getter, generous, and these days, even charitable (those are two different things). Does Wilbur have flaws? Sure. But from what I’ve seen in my ask box, people can’t decide what those flaws are. Is he ... too nice? No wait, he’s actually too mean! He’s an asshole, oh wait, he’s a simp for Barrel. Bla bla bla. Point is, if you add everything up, he’s a decent dude. I don’t agree with all his choices, but I’d also rather hang out with Wilbur than most people on this list! 

Overall score: 24/30-- an 8! 

Ariel Triton

Looks: 4/10. Boy did the Tritons really mess it up on this one!! I love the pixie cut, but Ariel always lets it grow too long and doesn’t keep up with it. It’s like at this point just shave your head-- tbh, i bet you’d look pretty good. 

Style: 4/10. BOY of all the girls she really has no idea what she’s doing either. I admire Alana and Adella deeply for letting Ariel find herself in her own time. I’m just hoping it’s going to work out at this point, maybe we’ll transition from Dumpster Girl to punk rock when they actually get the band going. 

Personality: 6/10. You know, I have a healthy level of respect for Ariel. Some people will say she is too fightey, but she stands up for her friends and her beliefs! I’m into that. I mean, she’s usually wrong, but at least she has conviction. 

Overall score: 14/30-- 4.6 

[wistfulcynic]

Their Way By Moonlight: Emma (Chapter 4)

Notes: Thank you as always for your comments and feedback, though I confess I've been a bit taken aback by the vehement reaction to Emma and Walsh's cursed marriage. It seems that people hate Walsh in a much more visceral way than I anticipated.  

I do truly appreciate all of you who are reading this, and especially those who have made supportive and encouraging comments. I’m really putting a lot into this one in terms of style, plot, and detail, and it’s hard not to get discouraged when I pour blood and sweat into something only to have everyone focus on one tiny thing. So to ease your minds, here is our first chapter from Emma’s POV. I think it will go a long way towards assuaging your fears about her circumstances under the curse. If you are considering bailing on this fic because of the Emma/Walsh situation, I would ask you please to read this chapter before you make a final decision.  

As before, there are allusions to cursed relationships, and a potentially distressing scene of aggression within a cursed marriage. 

Summary: A new curse has fallen on Storybrooke and this time the Saviour is trapped inside it, deliberately separated from her son and anyone else who might help her break it. But what no one knows –including her own cursed self– is that she and Hook are soulmates, working together within their shared dreams to find a way to break the curse and free everyone from the clutches of evil yet again. (Alternate 3B, set in the What Dreams May Come universe)

Rating: A hard M

Tagging: @teamhook @wellhellotragic @rouhn @kmomof4 @resident-of-storybrooke @darkcolinodonorgasm @jennjenn615@tiganasummertree @let-it-raines @bonbonpirate @thejollyroger-writer @lfh1962

Anyone wishing to be added to or dropped from this tag list, please let me know!

Read it on AO3

Emma: 

Emma hesitated outside the door of the old cannery. She wasn’t quite certain of why she was there, or the reason behind the irresistible compulsion she felt to see its disconcertingly attractive new owner again. He had invited her to come by, though of course he’d meant later— the bookstore wasn’t even open yet. But Emma hadn’t been able to wait. Two days had passed since they’d met, since that brief but oddly intense conversation in Granny’s, and she had been unable to get Killian Jones and his son out of her head. Something about them, about him, pulled at her, and it wasn’t just his striking looks, not even the beautiful blue eyes with their expression of profound, compelling sadness. It was something deeper. She felt somehow as though she knew him, and more astoundingly that he knew her, better than anyone, better even than her own husband. Although, she thought with a small start, as though the idea had only just occurred to her, Walsh barely even took the trouble to speak to her these days, much less keep up with what was going on in her life. She’d been meaning to talk to him about that, she remembered suddenly. Yes. She’d been meaning to talk to him about a lot of things, but when the time came to do so she always seemed to forget. Tonight, she promised herself, making a mental note. Tonight they would finally talk. She wouldn’t forget this time.

Gathering her courage, Emma reached for the doorknob with her right hand, the palm of which still tingled from her brief handshake with Killian two days ago, and as she opened the door she remembered how the night before last her sleep had been troubled by disturbing dreams. She could recall only wisps of them, but she was certain he had been in them, he and his eyes, doing things to her that she couldn’t bear to think about in the light of day. Things she couldn’t bear to admit she had loved. 

She really should stay far away from him. And yet here she was, in his shop. 

She pushed the door open and stepped inside, gasping at the sight before her. The room was simply lovely, bright and airy, with sunlight pouring in through the wide windows, dancing across the exposed brick walls and the antique looking dark-wood shelves that stood tall in four distinct sections around the room.  A heavy mahogany desk sat opposite the door, elegantly carved with nautical designs: ships and storms, mermaids and other sea creatures she couldn’t put a name to, all rendered in exquisite detail. Atop it was an antique metal cash register, as elegantly decorated as the desk, sitting alongside, Emma was amused to note, a decidedly modern portable card reader attached to an iPad. Someone had a taste for the ancient but enough sense to appreciate the modern, she thought.

She was so caught up in admiration of her surroundings that she didn’t notice Killian’s arrival until he spoke. 

“Swan?” The sound of his voice seemed to wrap around her, as deep and sonorous as she remembered, almost caressing her name. She turned to see him standing at the foot of the stairs. “What are you doing here?”

“Um,” she said, feeling abruptly hot and itchy. How was it possible that he could be even better looking than she remembered? Admittedly she hadn’t really had a good look at Granny’s, though she had definitely noticed his face, but now as he stood by the black wrought-iron staircase that wound in a perfect helix up to a hole in the ceiling, his expression briefly unguarded and searingly intense, she had an opportunity to ogle. 

He wore dark grey trousers in a soft woolen twill and an equally soft looking v-neck sweater in a shade of blue that made his eyes stand out even more. A tuft of dark hair peeked out just above the vee, and the itch in Emma’s palm flared to life again with the desire to touch it, to touch him. Everything about him seemed so eminently touchable. The sweater clung to his lean frame just tightly enough to show how fit he was, and his hair was tousled in a way that looked both deliberate and as though it could have been caused by fingers being run through it in the heat of passion. 

What? Emma shook herself. Where the hell did that come from? Remember you’re married. And it’s not like you know anything about the heat of passion, anyway. At least, that’s what Walsh always told her, what he always gave as an excuse for why he didn’t want to touch her. She was cold, he said. Too hard. Not enough. She forced back those thoughts, promising herself once again that she would sit down with Walsh that evening and discuss the problems in their marriage. She dreaded it, but she had to try. They couldn’t go on much longer like this. 

“Uh,” she tried again to respond to Killian’s question. “You said I should come by.” 

“So I did, though I didn’t expect you quite so soon. I’m afraid we’re not open yet.” 

“Yeah, sorry, it was stupid,” she said, turning away. “I was just passing and I thought— never mind, I’ll go—”

“No!” She looked back at him, startled at the vehemence in his voice. He flushed faintly pink and reached up to rub at a spot behind his right ear. “No, you don’t have to go. Please don’t, in fact. I’d be happy to, um, give you a tour? If you’d like.” 

He looked hesitant but also eager, like he really, really wanted her to stay. She smiled. It felt like a long time since anyone had actually desired her company. 

“Okay,” she said, a bit shyly. “I’d like that.” 

A bright smile broke across his face, warm and soft and with just a hint of something wicked beneath it. For a moment Emma forgot to breathe. God, he’s gorgeous.

“Well, why don’t we start here?” he said, coming to stand beside her and indicating the near corner of the room with his left arm. His sleeve was pushed up slightly and she could see the seam where his prosthetic hand joined his arm. She realised with surprise that she hadn’t noticed the other day that he was missing his left hand. He’s missing his left hand. Why did that fact seem so significant to her? It tickled at the back of her mind, like something she needed to remember but couldn’t quite pull from her subconscious. 

“So we’re still waiting on some inventory, but you can see the general layout of the shop,” he was saying. “Reference material is here at the front, with theory guides just here behind it. The practical manuals we have to be a bit more careful with, so they’re back in this corner, some of them will be locked in a special glass cupboard, available on request only. Then here in this corner we have the historical context.” 

Emma frowned, looking more closely at the titles of the books that already graced the shelves. Rare volumes, he’d said the other day, but these were all—

“These are books of magic!” she cried. 

“Oh, aye, did I not mention? That’s our specialty. Books of and about magic.”

She started to laugh, then trailed off when she noticed he didn’t join her. “But you’re not serious?”

“Very serious.”

“Books of magic.” 

“And about magic, aye.” 

“But— magic isn’t real.” 

“There are quite a number of people who would disagree with that assessment, Sheriff.”

“And you’re one of them?” Her voice was rife with disbelief.

“Aye,” he replied, and the sincerity in his face and tone were unmistakable. “I am.” 

She shook her head. “I would never have pegged you as someone with an interest in the occult. You seem so, I dont know, practical.” 

“Oh, I’m very practical, love, but that doesn’t mean I can’t believe in magic.” 

She wanted to deny his words, really it was so absurd, but she realised with another start of surprise that she was genuinely interested, almost despite herself, curious to the point of fascination. “Will you tell me about them?”

He exhaled deeply, almost as if he had been holding his breath waiting for her reaction, and gave her another dazzling smile. “It would be my pleasure.” 

Nearly two hours later they were sitting on the floor surrounded by books, and Emma’s head was buzzing with stories of witches and wizards, covens and cults, fascinating details concerning the history and practice of magical arts.  She felt like she had learned more in that short time than she had before in the whole of her life. Of course, her earlier education had been… it had been… what? She couldn’t recall. Frowning, she tried to remember where she had gone to school, the names of her teachers, fellow classmates, anything, but it was all a blank. 

“Emma?” She turned to see Killian looking at her inquiringly. “Are you all right, love?”

She should really object to that ‘love’, she knew, but couldn’t bring herself to. She liked it. It made her feel warm inside. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit distracted.” 

He nodded, and reached out to close one of the books. “We’ve been talking for a long time,” he said. “Perhaps we could take a break?”

She watched carefully as he used the prosthetic hand to close the book. The hand moved, she noticed, clearly it had some sort of mechanism operating it, but he seemed to mange it awkwardly, as though not quite used to it. She wondered how long he’d had— “When did you lose your hand?” she blurted, then flushed. “Sorry, it’s none of my business.” 

He looked startled, then smiled. “No, it’s fine. It’s been so long, I don’t mind speaking of it anymore.”

“How long?”

“Oh, years and years.” 

“What happened? Er, if you don’t mind me asking.” 

“Not at all. It was stupid, really. I was young, I got in a fight. Over a woman. Woke up the next day with no hand.”

“I’m so sorry.” 

He shrugged. “Like I said it was years ago.” 

“Mmmmm.” 

“What is it, Swan?” He looked almost expectant, like he knew the gears were turning in her head and was excited to see what they would spit out. She felt again the odd, unfamiliar sensation of being the focus of genuine interest. He truly seemed to care about what she had to say, for no reason other than that she was saying it. 

“It’s just— well, you don’t seem very comfortable with the artificial one. If it’s been so long, I guess I would have thought you’d be more used to it by now.” 

“Ah, well that’s explained easily enough. I lost my hand so long ago that the prosthetics that were available to me at the time were, um, let’s say primitive. This one however is quite new. State of the art, they tell me. It works by interacting with the electrical impulses in my muscle fibres, apparently. So you see, until quite recently I had a much simpler one, and this one, while far better in many ways, is taking a bit of time to adjust to.”

Every word he spoke was the truth, she could detect no dishonesty in his face or manner, yet she sensed it wasn’t the whole story either. He was leaving out important details. And she wondered why. 

As he spoke he adjusted the prosthetic with his right hand, drawing her attention to the thick, engraved silver band he wore on its ring finger. A wedding ring? she wondered. It must be. A man with no left hand would naturally wear his wedding band on his right, wouldn’t he? Especially if until recently he’d worn a simpler prosthesis, one with no fingers. 

She wondered, and not for the first time, about Henry’s mother. Killian’s face when he’d spoken of her in Granny’s had worn for a brief moment such a devastated expression, her loss must still be fresh and painful for him. In a weird way that made her feel better about having sought him out and spent so long talking with him. She was married, he a grieving widower, what harm could there be in a friendship between them? She certainly wouldn’t have to worry about anything coming of the fierce attraction she felt for him. Even if he felt it too, he would never act on it. He was very obviously still in love with his wife, and Emma somehow knew beyond any doubt that he was not a man to betray those he loved. 

“So, um, it’s ah, lunchtime,” he said, scratching behind his ear again. “And it seems we both could use a break. Would you care to join me? For some lunch?”

“Sure, I guess. Where were you going to go?”

“I—, uh, we live upstairs,” he gestured towards the staircase. “The third floor is a loft apartment, I was just going to go up and make a sandwich.” 

Alone with him in his apartment. Emma’s heart thundered. “A sandwich sounds great,” she managed to say. “Can you do grilled cheese?”

His face twisted for a moment into the strangest expression, half blissful happiness, half like he wanted to cry. “I can,” he said, his voice hoarse. “It’s my son’s favourite.” 

“In that case, I’d love to join you.” 

The grilled cheese was perfect, exactly the way she liked it. She told him as much, and was rewarded with another half-delighted, half-sad expression. “I’m glad I haven’t lost my touch,” he said, almost to himself. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Grilled cheese is— Henry’s mother’s favourite as well,” he said quietly. “Since we lost her we don’t make it as often as we used to.”

Emma didn’t quite know how to respond to that, so she crunched her sandwich in slightly awkward silence as he busied himself at the stove, avoiding looking at him until he slid a cup in front of her. “What’s this?” she asked in surprise. 

“Traditional Jones family accompaniment to grilled cheese,” he replied. 

She picked up the mug and inhaled over it. “Hot chocolate with— is that cinnamon?”

“Aye. It’s a bit odd I’ll grant you, and if I’m honest I prefer it plain, but that’s how Henry likes it.”

“Seriously? You’re telling me your son likes cinnamon on his hot chocolate.” 

“Aye.” He seemed to be watching her carefully. 

“Grilled cheese and hot chocolate with cinnamon is my favourite lunch,” she said. “You’re basically telling me that I have the same tastes as your thirteen year old kid.” 

“Would it help if I confessed to an affinity for it as well?” he asked, his face deadpan but with amusement twinkling in his eyes. 

“It might.” 

“Very well, I confess it, but you mustn’t ever tell Henry. I’d never get him to eat a vegetable again if he thought he could wheedle grilled cheese out of me every night.” 

“It’s a deal.” 

The earlier awkwardness was dispelled, and as Killian sat down to eat his sandwich Emma sipped her chocolate —it too was perfect— making it last as long as possible. There was no way she could justify staying any longer once lunch was over, and she didn’t want to go. She felt comfortable with Killian, and happy, things she couldn’t remember feeling in a long, long time. Later she knew she would need to analyse these feelings, but for now she simply wished to feel them. 

When the last drop was finally drained she set the cup down on the counter, then realised it might be nice if she took it to the sink instead and went to pick it up again, at the same time as Killian reached for it himself. Her hand closed around it first followed a second later by his, his fingers linking with hers in a way that felt so natural that it didn’t even occur to her to question it, simply laughing lightly as they released the cup but not each other’s hands. His thumb caressed her bare ring finger. “You don’t wear a wedding ring,” he said softly. 

She could barely breathe her heart was pounding so hard, the gentle movements of his thumb sending sparks coursing up her arm, reverberating through her whole body. “Um,” she said, trying to think. “No, I — I have one of course, but I don’t wear it.” 

“Why not?” 

“Er.” She tried to remember. There was a reason, surely? “I can’t with— with my job. It gets in the way.” Yes, that must be it. 

“Ah.” Something in his tone suggested he didn’t quite believe her, but before she could reply he had released her hand and turned away, picking up the mug and putting it in the sink. 

“I like yours though,” she said abruptly. Where did that come from? 

“What?” He turned, giving her an odd look. 

“Your wedding ring.” She reached out and took his hand again, this time caressing the silver band upon the third finger with her own thumb. “It is a wedding ring, isn’t it?”

He cleared his throat. “Aye.” 

“Henry’s mother.” It wasn’t a question and so required no answer, but he gave one anyway. “Aye.” The sadness was back in his voice, this time untempered by any joy.

Emma smiled, feeling suddenly swamped by sadness herself. She felt such a connection to this man, unlike anything she’d ever felt before, and she hated to think of him hurting. 

Briefly she allowed herself a rare, uncharacteristic moment of self-indulgence to wonder what it would be like to be loved as devotedly as Killian loved his wife. To be loved even after she was gone. To have such an emotion, from such a man. Swallowing back tears, she looked up at him. “She had good taste. This is exactly the sort of ring I would have chosen.” 

“She’s an extraordinary woman,” he replied, his voice rough with emotion, his eyes blazing with it. 

Emma nodded, wishing she knew why that remark left such a clutching, squeezing sensation around her heart. 

“Well I should go,” she said, releasing his hand.

He swallowed hard then gave her a small smile, a tight, guarded thing that squeezed her heart again. He looked so sad. She wanted to see the bright, wicked grin from earlier. 

“May I see you out?” he asked politely, his emotions under control again. 

She shook her head, already moving towards the door. “No, it’s fine. But thanks.”

“Any time, love.”

Her hand was on the doorknob when he spoke again. “Emma.” 

She looked back at him, gripped by the wild, irrational hope that he might ask her to stay. “What about your husband?” he asked. 

“Who?” She frowned in confusion, then remembered. “Oh, Walsh.” Why had she forgotten him? “What about him?” 

“Does he not wear a ring?”

“Of course he does.” Didn’t he? “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that you said ‘would have chosen.’” Killian’s face was calm, but that intensity was back in his eyes. 

“What?”

“Just now, when you looked at my ring you said it’s exactly what you would have chosen. Not what you did choose.” 

There was that confusion again, swirling through her brain and blocking her thoughts. Why couldn’t she think? “I— I must have misspoken.” She rubbed her forehead, which had started to ache. 

He was silent for a long moment before replying. “Of course, I’m sure that’s it. Goodbye, Sheriff.” 

Emma smiled tightly and left. 

When she arrived home that evening, Emma sought out Walsh in his study. He didn’t like her bothering him there but she was confused, her head spinning with questions that needed answers. She’d spent the afternoon in her office with the lights dimmed, nursing her headache and making a list of all the questions she needed to ask him, everything that was odd in their relationship and in her life. It was a long list. Why hadn’t she ever talked to him before? She’d been unhappy for so long…

“What is it, Emma?” Walsh’s voice was cold.

“I just— wanted to talk to you. About some things.” 

He turned and fixed her with the icy, probing stare that never failed to make her tongue-tied and anxious. She wanted to flee, back to the relative safety of the living room, where Walsh rarely went. No! You need answers! Stay strong! 

“Some things,” Walsh repeated. 

“Y-yes.” 

“Well go on,” he waved his hand at her and adopted an expression of exaggerated patience. “We haven’t got all night. What are these ‘things’ that are suddenly so important?”

Emma had spent an hour memorising her list of questions, but now she could only remember one. 

“Why don’t you wear a wedding ring?” she burst out. “Why don’t I?”

“Of— of course I wear one!” Walsh looked genuinely surprised, his composure slipping enough to rejuvenate her resolve. 

“Walsh I am looking at your hand right now and it is bare,” she said. “Neither of us wear rings. I’m certain I have one, I remember it, but where is it? Why did I stop wearing it?” He gaped at her and she seized her opportunity, letting months worth of questions flood out. “And why don’t we do anything together any more? What happened to our friends? I remember— I think I remember that we used to go out, do things as a couple, with other couples. But we have no friends now, and I stay in alone every night. I feel like I never see you these days, you’re hardly ever home, you never want to have sex—” she broke off as a look of revulsion crossed Walsh’s face, crushing her, stopping the words in her throat. Your own husband finds you repulsive, she thought bitterly, and a small voice at the very back of her consciousness piped up with a single word. “Why?” 

What? thought Emma, and the voice elaborated. “Dont you want to know why?”

A memory flashed through her mind, although no, not a memory, it couldn’t be, but it felt like a memory. The blue, blue eyes of Killian Jones, warm with adoration, his deep voice, his hand in her hair. “You’re so beautiful, Emma,” he whispered. “So utterly, heartbreakingly beautiful.” 

“Walsh, what’s going on?” she asked, suddenly angry, furious, incandescent with rage. “There’s something very wrong here, and I think you’re behind it. Tell me what it is. Tell me what you’ve done to me!”

Walsh’s face twisted into a terrifying snarl and he grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him until they were nose-to-nose, drowning her anger in fear. “Why are you asking these questions all of a sudden?” he hissed, “Does it by any chance have something to do with our new neighbourhood bookseller?” 

“Wh— what?” Emma scrambled to lie, to protect Killian. “No! Of course not.” 

“You’re a terrible liar, Emma.” Walsh sighed, his face falling back into its usual supercilious, condescending expression. Still holding her arm he turned and picked something up from his desk, a small box in silver filigree, beautiful in a cold and terrible way. “Fortunately it won’t matter. Come morning you’ll be yourself again. Or one of your selves, anyway.” He opened the box with a flick of his thumb and blew a harsh puff of air into it, sending a shower of glittering grey particles flying into Emma’s eyes. She gasped, then collapsed. Walsh held her up with his grip on her arm, then gave her a shove back into the sofa behind her. “That should take care of you for now,” he muttered, looking down at her unconscious form. “It appears that the pirate works faster than I had anticipated. Of course very little that we anticipated about him has turned out to be true. How he even managed to get here in the first place is something I would very much like to know. He is supposed to be stuck in Neverland.” He paused, smirking. “The power of true love, I suppose,” he said, sneering the words. “But he’ll soon be dealt with, him and your son. And now, ‘wife’, off to bed with you.” He waved his hand and Emma disappeared in a puff of green smoke. 

When she awoke the next morning, alone in her bed as always, all her doubts and worries about her marriage along with all recollection of her confrontation with Walsh were gone. 

Her memories of the time she’d spent with Killian Jones, however, were not. 

Notes: I hope this makes you feel a bit better (but still interested enough to want more!). 

[theladyofdeath]

The First Date. {Charene}

Part 1 of my new mini-series, which will cover the milestones of Chaol and Yrene’s happily ever after, starting with their first date. I love this couple, and I cannot wait to read more about them! So, naturally, I had to write about them, first.

I hope you all enjoy. Let me know what you think! :)

Chaol’s hand trembled as it reached for the doorbell.

She was too good for him, that much he knew with what little he knew of Yrene Towers. She was beautiful, with her curly, brown hair and tanned, slender frame. She walked with a confidence Chaol had never seen, even with the scar that draped across her neck.

So, naturally, he was nervous as he stood on her threshold.

He had worn his best jeans, the only pair he owned without any rips or stains, and a fitted button-down shirt that he had purchased only hours before, along with some cologne he was hoping he didn’t put too much of on.

He thought he smelled pretty good. As for his appearance? Well, at least he’d brushed his hair.

With a deep breath, he pressed the doorbell, sending a buzzzzzzz into the air around him.

There was silence, and for a moment, he thought she wasn’t coming. Maybe she had forgotten of their plans, forgotten he had even asked, forgotten that she had indeed, to Chaol’s surprise, said yes.

He was debating on walking away, on forgetting he had ever come to her doorstep in the first place, when the door swung open to a bright-eyed Yrene.

“Sorry!” she apologized, trying to tug on the wedges that matched her royal-blue sundress. “I lost track of the time.”

Chaol meant to respond, to tell her it was fine, that he didn’t mind waiting, but he couldn’t. He stared, realizing how rude it was to do so, but couldn’t help himself. She was stunning.

Mesmerizing.

“Are you okay?” Yrene’s eyebrows rose. “Are you not feeling well?”

“No, I, um….” He laughed – an awkward, barking sound. “I’m great. You look…..You look great.”

Her shoulders relaxed as a soft grin swept across her lips. “Thank you. So do you.”

Chaol nodded, and continued to stare. He took in the dress, that barely reached her knees, to the deep neckline that perfectly displayed the long, silver chained necklace she wore, that had a pendant hanging on the end in the shape of a heart.

“Um,” she cleared her throat, “so, are you ready, or -?”

Embarrassment replaced Chaol’s nerves as he nodded, over-enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah, yes. Yup.”

After mentally slapping himself, Chaol cursed. I should have brought flowers. Why didn’t I bring flowers?!

“You seem nervous.”

“I’m not nervous,” he lied, as Yrene closed and locked the door to her townhouse. “I’m just -”

“It’s okay,” she assured him, giving him a soft smile. “I’m nervous, too.”

They fell into a tense silence as they descended the stairs, and began their walk down second avenue.

Say something, he told himself, begged himself. Anything. Anything will do. How’s the weather? What’s your favorite color? Could you just punch me in the face? Because that would be less painful than this silence. 

“So, what –“ Chaol began, just as Yrene said, “I’m so glad –“

They both stopped, and looked at one another, and laughed.

“Sorry,” Chaol apologized. “Go ahead.”

“No, you first.”

“No, I insist.”

Yrene smiled, an image that sent Chaol’s gut into a chaotic plunge. “I was just saying that I’m so glad you asked me out. I had been waiting for you to for a while now.”

This surprised him. Chaol wasn’t even aware that Yrene knew he existed before Monday, when he had asked her to join him for dinner on Friday night.

Chaol had recently moved in down the block. Every morning for the last two months, he had passed Yrene on his morning jog, as she was walking her husky pup.

Every morning, she took his breath away.

“I’m surprised you said yes.”

Yrene frowned. “Really? Why?”

“Because,” he shrugged. “You’re so beautiful, and I’m –“

Not at all put together. My life is a mess. I’m not even wearing matching socks right now.

“Incredibly attractive,” Yrene said for him, glancing sideways in his direction as they walked. “And kind. And respectful.”

“Well,” Chaol said, at a loss for words. He gave her a nod, which made her laugh.

“However, you are a man of few words.”

“Not inside my mind,” he assured her. “The man who lives up there never shuts up, unfortunately.”

“I’d like to meet him sometime,” she winked. “So, Chaol Westfall, where are you taking me this evening?”

He cleared his throat, the theme of the evening. “Well, you said you’d like to keep it casual….” He looked to her for confirmation, in which she gave him a giddy nod. “It’s a surprise then.”

“A man of mystery?” she inquired, she brushed her fingers along the palm of his hand, sending chills down his spine.

“I like to think so,” he said, clearing his throat, again, as he took his hand in hers.

To his surprise, she did not pull back.

………………………………………………………………………………………

There was a street fair a few blocks away. Chaol had passed them setting up that morning on his run, thankfully, because he was in a full-blown panic the entire night before while trying to decide the perfect place to take her.

“Is this okay?” he asked, as they stopped on the curb, admiring the food trucks, amusement rides, and little booths of this and that.

There was a glint in her eye as she nodded. “This…..is perfect.”

Chaol released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Thank gods.

Yrene wasted no time. Within the first hour, he had bought her a shish-ka-bob from a man who was dressed as a giant gorilla, had won her a stuffed teddy bear by throwing rings around the tops of glass milk bottles, and taken her on a ride that spun enough to make Chaol nauseous.

He didn’t care, though. He ignored the dizziness, and the feeling of his kabob coming back up, because she was perfect.

Every time she looked like she was enjoying herself, Chaol was amazed. He had done this. He had made her smile like that. He had made her laugh.

He never wanted to be without it: that laugh, that smile.

It was a sweet melody that he would never forget. 

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Yrene’s hair was a mess, and she was sweating profusely in the mid-summer heat.

She didn’t care though. She couldn’t remember the last time she had that much fun.

And Chaol…..

Well, he was perfect in a way that was completely imperfect.

And Yrene craved it.

The sun had long ago set behind the skyscrapers of the city, and they were sitting side by side on the ferris wheel when he took her hand, again.

“I hope you had fun tonight,” he told her, his cheeks reddened from the heat. He had long ago dismissed his red, plaid button down, and was wearing a plain, white vee-neck. She could see his muscles perfectly – and gods, he had muscles.

Yrene had to keep reminding herself not to stare.

“Yes,” she promised. “Yes, I did. But, the night isn’t over yet, is it?”

“No,” he smiled. “I still have to buy you dessert. I also have to walk you back home…..and ask to kiss you before I tell you goodnight on your doorstep.”

Yrene didn’t think it was possible for your heart to literally skip a beat, but with his words, hers did.

“Why wait until we’re waiting on my doorstep?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she was mortified. But, Chaol simply stared at her, as a silent question welled in his eyes.

She leaned in, just slightly, to let him know it was okay. 

Yrene swore his breath halted as he came closer, as their lips met, gently.

He leaned back, and cleared his throat. “Was that -”

She didn’t wait for him to finish before her lips were pressed against his in a hasty embrace.

A kiss, that was all it was, and yet, Yrene didn’t know that such a simple act could feel like that. Her entire body felt lighter at the touch, her insides melting into oblivion as his tongue danced along her bottom lip.

Yrene opened her eyes, and found him watching her, adoringly, as a set of fireworks went off in the night sky above them. The reds, greens, and yellows reflecting in the brown pools of his eyes. A crimson blush swept across her cheeks as she laid her head against his shoulder, and watched the display.

Yes, she was enjoying herself.

Yrene Towers thought that she would not mind starting a life with Chaol Westfall.

No -  she wouldn’t mind, at all. 

[ask-de-writer]

NIGHTMARE NIGHT LESSON : MLP Fan Fiction : Tales to Read AFTER the Lights are OUT!

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NIGHTMARE NIGHT LESSON

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

2871 words

© 2017 by Glen Ten-Eyck

Writing begun 10/19/17

All rights reserved.  This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

The palomino waitress, Peanut Brittle, called, “Um, Boss!! They are back!  They are roosting on all the stronger branches of our hedges and up on the roof, too!”

Caramel Treat called back from the kitchen of her restaurant, Caramel Treat's Sweets, “I know, Peanut!  They are a little early, that's all!  I set out some meat for them in the back dining area!

“Don't worry about the vultures!  They are behaving, just like Roe promised that they would!  He says that the bats will be right on time!”

Peanut Brittle looked up at the big vultures roosting all around the outdoor dining plaza of Caramel Treat's Sweets.  They were looking right back at her, except for the ones that were staring at the customers.  And licking their beaks in anticipation!

The customers were clearly enjoying the bizarre show!  Caramel Treat's Sweets was known all over Equestria and the many lands beyond for being a place for superb food and for their unique Nightmare Night Celebrations!  Those presently dining were happily accepting the big black carrion birds as a part of this year's celebration.

After all, Peanut had already dyed her fur green and was wearing her traditional witch costume as she took orders.  Several goats disguised as small “Demons of the Underworld” lounged about, holding tridents or other instruments.

She glanced up at the big black birds and muttered to herself, “Only one more full day and it will be Nightmare Night!

“Caramel sure is keeping it close to her chest about who her secret Guest of Honor is!”

Caramel, whose extremely sharp werewolf's senses allowed her to hear the comment, replied, “That is because I have pulled off one of the best ones yet!  I don't want anypony trying to pull her away from our celebration!  I have special decorations ordered from Bleater's Hallow, too.  Those should arrive later today in a closed van.”

Shrugging, Peanut went back to taking orders.

Shortly she was joined by Fangrin, Caramel's mate, in his pony form.  He was gray all over.  His mane and tail were the same gray but darker.

He confided, “Caramel has not told me, either.  I do have a guess.  I saw the drawings for the dining area decorations.  More like a stage set, really.  There will be a dark throne at the center of it all.”

Almost instantly, Romaine, roving reporter for the Ponyville Prancer, and usually having light green fur with a darker green mane and tail, was there.  As part of the Caramel Treat's Sweets Nightmare Night staff, she was glamored to resemble a somewhat skeletal dark colored thestral.

She pointed out, “I have been with Caramel's Nightmare Night celebrations since the beginning.  May I quote you about the dark throne?  You know that I will not reveal anything without clearing it with Caramel first.”

Fangrin nodded thoughtfully.  “You may quote me on that but you must keep this whole thing secret until Caramel releases it, OK?”

“I promise it,” Romaine replied.  “Will there be a Dark Court to go with the Dark Throne?”

Fangrin snickered a bit as he said, “Yes, there will be!”

Further exchange was stopped by the arrival of a large delivery van pulled by six goats.  Their leader, a plain tan color, unhitched and trotted over to Fangrin.

“Pardon, Sir.  We have the decorations and set for the restaurant's Nightmare Night.  What shall we do with it?”

Caramel was out from the kitchen at once!  She was in her pony form too.  She conferred with the goat's leader and one of the pulling crew.  They were going over the set diagram.

“The tables will be reset like so.  Keep the throne shrouded until our guest arrives.  We need to work around our dining guests.  Got it?”

The goat leader nodded, “Got it!”  Turning to his crew, he called, “Put the van's loading ramp down!  We are starting the set up now! Don't do anything to disturb the diners.  We just have to work around them.”

Van doors were opened and a stout ramp secured.  The industrious goats began to unload many pieces and fabric curtains.  As the set began to take shape, it was clear that it was looking very like a large, dark, bare stonework, castle room.

Last, the goats wrestled out a large object shrouded in black cloth.  They set it up with care on a stage-like dais at the back of the room. In front of the dais, they set up Caramel's traditional cracked cauldron, supported on chains from a stout tripod.

The vultures had waited on the roof until all was ready.  They swooped about and found perches on ledges and rods provided for their use. The dark birds stared out to the various games and tables, suggestively licking their beaks!

All was in readiness for the big day and night tomorrow!  The van was now stored behind Caramel's restaurant.

It was late, almost closing time when Caramel's secret guest of honor arrived.

The call came from above!  “Make way!  Royal Guard landing!”

A flight of six Royal Armored Pegassi in the livery of Princess Luna landed in the street in front of Caramel Treat's!  They were in an open Vee formation, with the open side facing the now decorated restaurant!  Princess Luna landed lightly in the center of their formation and paced forward, into Caramel's shop!  Her Guard followed, breaking formation to enter through the tables across the front of the outdoor dining area and reforming as soon as they were clear of them.

It was a most impressive display of marching skill.  Luna turned to them and smiled.  “My good Guards, you are now released to recreation as you see fit.  You have served me well on the night flight to this place.

“I know that you have deep and honest concerns about my safety.  I am as well guarded here as I could be.  This event is being watched over by two Werewolves, Grumpter Goat, and the Litch King himself.

“If I may be so bold as to recommend it, the food here at Caramel Treat's is some of the finest to be found in the whole kingdom.  And whatever you get will be paid by Royal Largess.  The Lovely Witch pony here, is waiting to take your orders.”

Caramel and Fangrin came out and managed good courtly bows, in spite of being in their wolf forms.  They chorused, “Welcome to Caramel Treat's Nightmare, oh, Ruler of the Dream.”

The three disappeared into the restaurant proper.

Watching them go, one of the Guard spoke to Captain Lightning, “It still makes me nervous when the Princess just takes off like that with commoners.”

The Captain, relaxing at a table and examining the menu, replied, “It used to bother me too, Baron.  The worst risks that she has ever faced mostly came from the nobility.  Most of those were Counts or Dukes.  When she is among the Rom or supernatural beings, I really worry less.  They are VERY careful to protect both Princesses.”

“I understand that, Captain.  I am worried about all of the common ponies that she will be around with this Nightmare Night thing.”

The Captain turned to Peanut and requested, “The Clover Steak with Sea Grass Puffs, please.  The Honeyed Cider sounds perfect to go with it. Thank you.”

Returning his attention to the Baron, he pointed out, “Among those watching her, this visit is the Litch King.  A being who can not be dodged or avoided.  One who can stop any attack by simply saying Drop Dead! And make it stick!”

Sitting to the table, the worried Baron said, “I see.  Sort of like last Nightmare Night, when we went to that realm of monsters that Princess Luna said was on the edge of Nightmare.  She controls more than is apparent.”

“Precisely. I understand that the security arrangements for this event make Palace Security look like foals playing with rag dollies.”

The Baron looked about the place and commented, “Perhaps, but I see no sign of it.”  He paused thoughtfully for a few moments before adding, “It could be that it is so good that we do not see it.”

Back in the kitchen, Luna was delightedly cooking up the dinner orders as they came in.  “This is so much fun, Caramel!  This short order cooking is so different from banquet or snack cooking!  Let's see, this scramble will be fast, so I start it last . . .”

The two big Everfree Ridgeback Wolves watched tolerantly while Princess Luna took over their kitchen.  Caramel confided to Fangrin, “This was her price.  Uninterrupted cooking except when she is being part of our Nightmare Night Staff.”

Romaine quietly entered the kitchen and politely asked, “Your Highness, is it OK for me to get pictures of you cooking?  They will be part of my annual Caramel Treat's Nightmare Night story for the Ponyville Prancer.  I already got pictures of your arrival with the Guard.”

Princess Luna looked up from her cooking to exclaim, “Romaine!  I haven't seen you since we made that book deal to clobber the so-called Celestian Church!  Of course you can!  That is a blanket permission for the whole event!”

Caramel grinned, “You have the scoop, Romaine!  You know where the Magic Net mirror is!  Call it in and send your pictures!  We managed to keep this visit secret even from Luna's Protocol Ponies!”

With a final few pictures, Romaine nearly flew to the Magic Net mirror to call in her story and pictures!

The next morning, just after staff breakfast, the vultures all took to the air, forming a swirling cone of birds of ill omen, centered on Caramel Treat's!

Looking out through spy holes in the set, the staff saw a long line already formed!  Out front, a news pony was hawking the Ponyville Prancer's morning edition!

“Extra! Extra!  Read all about it!  Princess Luna has come to Caramel Treat's Nightmare Night Celebration!”

Caramel turned to Princess Luna and suggested, “Let's not keep them waiting, your Highness!”

Taking that as a cue, two of the goats pulled the cover off the object on the dais, revealing The NIGHTMARE THRONE.  Luna actually drew a breath of surprise.  

“That is a very good copy of my Nightmare Throne in the Fortress of Nightmare!”

One of the goats smiled at her.  “We had to work from our folklore!  I am glad that we got it done so well!”

The glamored goats, appearing to be twisted creatures of Nightmare, stepped forward on the set and began to beat the start of a Processional on deeply resonant kettle drums.  The doors of the set opened impressively.  Caramel and Fangrin stepped out and went each to one side of the doors.  In full view of every pony waiting, they transformed into their monster sized Wolf forms.

Luna's Guard stepped out by twos, glamored as thestrals.  They formed up before the throne and split to two ranks, one flanking each side of the throne.

Trumpets blew a fanfare while the deep drums kept their part of the processional going.  Princess Luna stepped forth, glamored to a Nightmare Alicorn.  She was all jet black, fur, mane and tail, her eyes glowing red coals, stark yellowed fangs in her jaws and small curls of flame were arising from her nostrils!

She paced forward faced the crowd and blew out flare of fire.  The Nightmare then ascended to the Throne of Nightmare.

She called, “Prepare the Cauldron of Fate!”

The Cauldron was brought forth by a skeletal Alicorn, a witch pony and a Goat skull with fangs, glowing eyes and a candle burning between its horns.  The goat's body was invisible but clearly supporting his leg of the cauldron's tripod.

They set it up some meters in front of the throne.  The witch touched it with her wand and mist began to arise and boil over the lip and some out through a prominent crack in the side of it.

The big black gryphon, her flight feathers outlined in stark red and her eyebrows picked out in it too, admitted the foals and their escorts in groups of five.  Each “trial” game was set up for five to do at once.

She whispered to one foal who was looking worried, “The Nightmare does not expect you to be perfect.  If you try at each game, that is enough.”

Soon the area was an orderly madhouse of foals trying their luck at the games before “Advancing” to the Cauldron of Fate!  There, they chanted “Nightmare Night!  What a fright!  Give me something sweet to bite!”

Plunging eager hooves into the famous Foal Bowl cauldron, they brought out treats for their loot bags!

Besides taking photos of the unfolding event, Romaine had a sign up.

Your picture with the Nightmare!

Only ONE Silver, rolled in a tube

Only TWO Silver, framed!

All proceeds go to the Widows and Orphans Fund to feed and house the needy.  All donations will be matched from Royal Largess.

In spite of the fairly steep price, there were many lined up to get their pictures made!  As he brought out a new stack of frames, one of the glamored goats commented, “It is good thing that when we heard about the photo thing, we brought our frame shop along in the van with the set!  You are keeping us hopping!”

It was approaching noon when a goat, glamored as a creature of the underworld, began pushing a cart down the line waiting to get in.  He had small cheap snacks and an order book.  For those who wanted more than the snacks, he took orders and gave out numbers.

Soon a second cart came down the line, delivering the ordered meals.  And more snacks, of course!

Princess Luna was having a ball, hamming it up for the many photos of her and foals!  A favorite pose was her possessively gripping a costumed foal and making a threatening blast of flame.  Since the flame was a carefully designed glamor, it was totally harmless but delighted the foals!

As evening came on, big cressets on either side of the throne lit up with flaring flames of blue, yellow and green!  Again, like her flaming breath, it was carefully designed glamors, totally harmless but a lot of fun!

Among the new evening glamors that Grumpy was managing for Caramel and Fangrin was causing the whole set and cast to glow in a spectral and ghastly pale blue.

Oohs and aahs of appreciation for the effect arose from the line.  The bats made their scheduled appearance, fluttering all about the set! The glow and the cressets were drawing in tasty moths and the little guys were having a field day!

The well fed vultures were happily perched where they could look menacing and enjoying the whole show!

A pegasus in full Royal Court attire fluttered down, landing self importantly in the midst of the set!  Without preamble, he demanded, “YOUR HIGHNESS!!  It was most difficult to find you!  Your presence is REQUIRED in Canterlot, immediately!  You must stop this foolishness with these commoners at once and come with me!”

He was moving to block the next foal in line for a picture as he spoke.

Princess Luna's pale midnight magic, shot through with stars, reached out and slapped him from his feet!  It gently picked up the filly in her Princess Celestia costume and brought her to the dais.

Ignoring the outcries of the outraged Count, she asked softly, “How would you like your picture to be made?”

The filly thought for only a second.  “I'd like one of those vultures perching on my right wing and a couple of the bats on my left!  Want to be sort of rearing like Celestia facing down the Nightmare!  Can we do that?”

For answer, a smiling Nightmare brought a vulture from its perch and herded a pair of bats to the filly's wings.  She helped them all to be rearing and looking menacing towards her.  She reared in her own turn and held them all posed with her magic while Romaine got the picture!

While waiting to have it framed, the filly pointed to the fallen count and asked, “Isn't he awfully important?”

Luna gave her a hug as she replied, “He certainly seems to think so. The answer is that he is wrong.  You, your dad and mom, and all of the other so called common folk of Equestria are who is really important.

“All of his wealth and position rests on the work of all of you.  You are all the foundation upon which the house of the nobility rests. Without the foundation, the house would collapse.  

“It works the other way too, dear.  A foundation with no building is but useless stones.  Together, they form a whole building.  But never forget this.  It rests on the solid foundation that is all of you.

“That is why I am here.  I honor the solid foundation of all of Equestria.”

Admiring her framed picture, the filly replied, “Wow!  I got a real treasure, this Nightmare Night!  And it wasn't just this picture! Thank You, Your Highness!”

~THE END~

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[babyobservationcrusade-blog]

okay okay hello did you guys miss me on here making sure we have good sound mic is not here he's at the doctor okay that's from my campus college probably because no a stress beef I live on the third floor there's no elevators I walk up the stairs at least four times big around my bike to class so it's very possible watch my 15 Italy so my sometimes Oh Mindy so she's trapped inside Walmart's with momently cops that does not stop me did it it's a good shoplift alright so we're making English muffin bread I think okay we've got everybody on here now swearing guys for the delay Mike is out the doctor with BJ starting our next round of doctors yeah so that's what we're doing all right and yes so that's what am i oh what a day so English muffin bread this is super simple if you want to start with really hot water or milk now I'm using dry milk but if you're using milk and water heat it in the microwave until you put your finger in it's really hot I'm going to use water from the tap really so adding extra sorry okay okay so you put your cups of flour [Music] today we're permutation it can undergo reactions both ways then without oxygen okay people are in the baking Oh salt the world needs people okay and baking soda that's the proper amount and then sugar that's the proper amount and then whisk that I have a board in my finger from tearing down the road switch today so I put roundup okay so then pour in your water milk mixture I keep forgetting Emily is left-handed sorry about that [Music] there you go very good and stir we should just have our own show the ante and M show ya how to cook for college see there we go see we have remember that kitchen we have yeah they were doing something yesterday they were making like sushi or something down there making sushi yeah they have some sort of like cooking class I'm sorry but sushi no this is not gluten-free flour Kim it makes really really well you go back down here this is my niece for those of you who are new and haven't heard our whole story so she we are four Guardians and she came to live with us three years ago yes so a long time ago okay let me check YouTube here is there even anybody on YouTube oh dear I have no one in chat on YouTube Dave mm-hmm oh there you are kitty Donna says like a family things all right now that's food and I'm gonna do the next portion cuz you what did I do wrong okay so then we're gonna stir in three more cups of flour and I'll have you do three or stir in between each it just goes a little bit easier and then let me go back up here to questions real quick um let's see mmm no smoking up drink don't drive do sex you know you can only get embarrassed for so long until you just yeah okay next one that one in yay Nancy I'm so glad you got your soap and you love it yes Nancy do you loving yourself have you used it lately I do your body wash no I ran out of that oh it's okay um let's see all right one more yeah we do need an apron for Emily do you wanna a prett is that where you're wearing to the concert yeah are you sure yeah people are saying this sound is low um let's see okay it looks like they've got it fixed don't worry if you can't hear me I'm just like quiet so that's not a problem I'm just very quiet uh your bread tastes a bit yeast yeast bgill well maybe just try using a little less G so I guess I don't know that's strange okay getting too mixed in okay Wow hello our friends in the UK thank you for watching us and turret in Norway um let's see we should make a cookbook together oh yay cat lover got her thank-you card I'm so glad Dave do you think your mom would eat sushi for super chaps oh my doubt it you'd have to pay her extra I might for $100 if you had one more it was a hundred plus super check yeah I think maybe I should do a thousand instead I don't know okay did you get mixed in how does it look looks pretty good okay yeah so then I'm just gonna scrape and just make sure here yeah pretty good okay so since your hands are all lovely and mine aren't I'm just gonna push down a little bit okay just to kind of get the last of it mixed in together can they see that Dave and you're not really needing it you're just kind of folding in this stuff maybe what she's doing I just didn't want you to get stuff all on your fingernails one concert hi Brenda okay now we're gonna get two hands here yes North Dakota pink twinning uh-oh she got the same shirt yeah any way to go I only have one loaf Pam left because I have the other two in the oven so spray this one over the seat so we don't okay this is on page dining I died cookbook page 87 and let me get the links here for everybody because I forgot to do the links okay so now what you're gonna do is you're going to take and here's the recipe guys hold I'm doing three things at once here this is not easy to do recipe link right there recipe and then if you want our book tell all your friends hey I'm live watch me on something YouTube Facebook okay and there is the book so though you did get them haha okay it's a joke comfortable do you in a comment and it just took me to that thanks man okay so now you're a sprinkle a little bit of cornmeal on the bottom of each thing so just like this just so it's just covered so what is that what does that do so it keeps it from sticking and then you just tap it around so it's all even see you like that beautiful beautiful okay do this one Mike is at the doctor's with BJ we are headed for the next um the next round of doctor's appointments to try and figure out why he's not feeling well hmm okay so here we go so then let's see cut let me see oh I'm having a brain moment okay so then what you're gonna do is you're gonna take it and you're gonna kind of fold it under like this way out hold on let me yeah get it together just a little bit more here okay there that's a little bit better okay so then you're just gonna fold it like this and kind of make a little I don't know what what do you come at a rectangle I guess I was thinking more of like an oboe slash rectangle something a long shape elongated is that what we're looking for a long shape of elongated piece of bread there you go yeah because these are the only pans I have we're just gonna make them so if they fit kind of in the pan just kind of like so okay just like Boop put it in the center a little bit more because when it poops out you want it centered okay okay so now we're going to take our cornmeal again and sprinkle it on top yeah perfect all right so things are gonna let it rise and they are going to look like this after you let them rise now these have only been rising for 30 minutes and they really should rise for 40 minutes but I'm gonna go ahead and bake them so you guys can see for the show they're not finished rising while the heat the oven is heating up all right so then we're gonna bake it at 400 and for 25 minutes okay so timer 25 okay so then just let these rise until they puff up and then bake them about 45 minutes it's how long you let them rise all right and that's it so we're going to let them cook and while we're cooking I'm gonna cut soap this Emily wants to look at comments you want and give us one second to get my mess cleaned up here feel free to ask me any questions I love talking about myself okay so my question is how are you pole-vaulting yourself up on to your your bed is the ladder working yeah I use the ladder is it we had to go get a stepladder because for $1200 a month they don't provide a ladder for you to get on your best bed in college yeah I have like a higher up bed which like I chose to get but I was sort of thinking they would give me means to get on it a lot of girls just like I don't know how they do it climb in their window but yeah ladders says forget that it was crazy we were trying and trying to figure out how to get how to get poor Emma looking up on her bed it was crazy crazy crazy okay well I see let's do links one more time can you put a link in right there here's the recipe or here's our books first so do that one first just command-c so I did that what do I do now and then post it right there yippee man oh no oh let's see Vee why they would do V for paste I don't know very good here's our books again and go back one more time here's the recipe that we're doing for today the English that's easy English muffinz oh yes Uncle Mike was like is this the best or the easy I said it's both so I am cookbook page 87 okay yes I can just technology Wow Emily is doing good trying there you go yeah all right okay now you can scroll down see if there's a your scroll up at caesars ecology Oh is up like the newer ones mm-hmm okay I got that backwards not this the newer ones but if you go to the bottom and work your way up then you can see the old ones first hi Rebecca okay and then is this so I have one rising and I have one baking in the oven while we're waiting and I'm gonna cut soap and we are going to see if we have any questions Dave is there anything on YouTube yeah anything interesting no comments on YouTube so this is my right you know what it is it's at the bacon one coffee oh I had that so wrong does it smell like coffee yes Oh Thank You Nancy I'm glad you like that one yay seat ours head exploded paid not paid off for once I guess I don't know maybe not know so this is the one where I made the mistake yesterday and I put my brown in with my white so that's why there's two different colors yeah oh yeah that's probably a good idea thank you um I am going to see I don't know if there's like a name of the concert but it's like joyride and snakes and it's a lot of like electronic music so you know it'll be fun sorry Lana your dad had already talked here let's look and see what we got down here okay that's a little what concert if you ever get to go on a shopping what maybe spree it will be with living on a dime you have to you have what I want in need you have what I want need oh I have what everybody wants what's funny um George Oh Norway I didn't realize I join what oh that was when I hit him up wouldn't you yeah when Ann said hi to you and you saw it on there no BJ ever get his new bed yes Marianne he got his new bed and he has been sleeping from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. every morning some mornings 6:00 a.m. whoa um and he is sleeping but he's not really feeling better so that's the problem that we're having we're having another disease checked out today and so yeah that's what we're doing today so page 61 is how do you say how do you say that name Oh Rocio Rocio Rocio sorry you got that wrong on dining and I'm cookbook doughnuts on page 60 and 61 yes we do does the finicky family eat English muffin bread you know why do you Emily does and I think yeah I think everybody actually eats the English muffin bread yeah it's really good well not that it's not really good it's just that yeah you guys know should you wait until the oven gets to 400 before starting the timer normally I would jeanne but oh yes I should have that was my mistake but I put it in there to let it rise just a little bit longer while the heat oven is heating up so yes I should have Mary Ann wants to know how are you liking school it's good you hesitated it's just very it's very different like living on a college campus and like taking college classes but there's also a lot of fun things to do and lots of involvement so it's been an adjustment but it's also really cool I like it so you're getting in the groove yeah um do I at the time it takes to preheat the oven to your baking time yes usually I do Mandy that was a mistake on my part I'm pretty frazzled today I'm sorry it's been a really long week for us with all the rough videos I've had to monitor comments on YouTube literally every 10 minutes today because I have gotten so many comments that I just have to really stay on top of it today um let's see what's your what's your favorite teas Tara my absolute favorite is English breakfast that's my number one favourite by circuit I like blueberry and Blackberry I like mint there's one you got me last year what once did you get me I know I got you the good one what was it Emily got me you got me a raspberry or something last year that was really good - sounds good and I love teas I love all kinds of teas so the kids have been getting me those for Christmas and I love it I love it I love it Catherine Catherine what's she saying so I have CFS how do you manage family not understanding oh boy that's like a 20-hour show you know I I don't know what to tell you on that because we have family that doesn't understand they think she's lazy and she doesn't want to do it yeah um you know I mean I guess the main thing is to just have patience and just keep doing what you could do I don't know mom would be better to answer that one and maybe next week heard Mike when I'm gone could have a show on that possibly maybe I don't know I hate to put mom on the spot but there you go on I just put you on the spot this is the coffee one man I'm loving this one Katie Jo says your shirt matches your soul I know you guys I didn't even realize I was all matchy matchy with my soul pick Christine you might have figured it out but cutting soap that's what we're cutting right now yes not anything at a bowl or anything like that yes this is my homemade soap and I have my english muffin bread in the oven right now so while we're waiting at bake for chatting and chatting with emily ting soap all right Kim has CFS been ruled out for BJ um well no but we don't think that's what he has his blood pressure is extremely high and we think that's part of his problem so you know it could be part but we don't think that that's part of it so all right what you guys put on the bread to make it yummy we put cornmeal so yeah a little tip um if you leave the light on in your oven that is a good way to help your bread rise in the winter when it's colder Emily Jeannie wants to know are you a coffee or a tea person definitely both it depends on my mood some days I'm a little like riled up so I'll go for the tea but generally I prefer a coffee so there you go are you planning to live on campus next year um I'm not sure yet we'll have to see there's definitely pros and cons of both if I don't live on campus though I'll probably just live in an apartment close to campus it would I don't know it may or may some sort you find it may or may not be cheaper in Fort Collins for rent for campus that's Ernie you know that's the problem for the dorm or for the apartment for the apartment it just depends on what she can find or what she can get yeah it's kind of hard but Colorado's prices have gone through the roof yeah and it's hard cause like I really started school like a month ago and we're already starting to think about next year because you got to pick something soon so we'll see that's crazy that's uh where do you find the link for the book I will put it in there here for you Mandy it's right here it's dining iodine cookbook and anybody who wants to buy one please do we're gonna have a huge round of medical bills coming up again with Vijay now what do I do with that very thin slice of soap those are my samples that I do and I am going to Michigan on Tuesday to visit our viewer penny she bought me she had frequent owner miles and she bought me a plane ticket girl so I've never seen the fall leaves change and so she paid for me to go see the fall leaves change I thought that was done Emily doesn't even know we found a house in Wisconsin paper did you know that Uncle Mike and I almost went to cut Wisconsin this week no Uncle Mike text me like every day you think he would say something about that so we found the house in Wisconsin that was perfect and we loved it you're just gonna die when you see it but we're gonna wait for right now because Mike wants to wait and not go until the summer so we're gonna wait and not go anywhere and we may or may not go next summer this one's cucumber/melon who like that one and see if um next summer if we want to go ahead and go so um thanks Lynn it's always good to hear that I'm doing a great job and I think Katie Joe thank you also I appreciate it let's see um Cindy may make bread this weekend which is your favorite tarah my favorite is the plain homemade on let's see what page is the plain homemade it is on page the plain homemade one basic bread dough page 71 that's my favorite one um and then I make a lot of muscles too so that one turned out pretty and these are for sale on my Etsy store let me get the link for that real quick um if you guys want them you can get my homemade soaps here and I'll put a link there are they home I dare a car I don't know if that's bad I think that might be Jack or now so there's my soaps if you want to buy my soaps I have them all on there and no anything what am i studying so I'm studying nutrition specifically I think dietetics so so when is Dietetics um so basically like a dietitian is what people kind of think of as a nutritionist but it's like higher credentials so you could work like in a clinical setting or like a community setting or in like a foodservice setting and basically just like make sure the nutrition standards are like compliant and kind of things like that just helping people be healthier understanding how food is like metabolized in the body everything like that so yeah yes Dave you found me a house in Michigan uh-oh photo so now we have to go to Michigan no there you go here's cucumber/melon guys isn't that pretty turned out so nice nice Maryann's oh and let me do one other link here real quick if you guys want to see me make these soaps oops I pushed the wrong thing um you can go to my how to make soap YouTube channel on a dime how to make so fun at all I feel like I came up with that I probably did okay amber wants to know I don't know if you just put this already in there I need some soap for Christmas gifts where to purchase I just put the link in there but I'll do it one more time right here I am gearing up for Christmas trying to get all my Christmas stuff made up now this one is lemon lavender blue I have a really good lemon lavender cake one time it was awesome a lemon lavender cake yeah I think this is directed at me wow you look like Uncle Mike well that's a first yeah you mean him yeah I don't know I'm also look like my other side of the family but that's cool we are related this one's lemon lavender and these will ship out after I get back from my trip next week they need to cure only two weeks cuz this one I made hot process right there mmm that looks so good smells good too mwah peas crystal yeah everybody's been wondering where you've been College yeah sure Jack wants to tell us something go for hmm the day before everyone found out that it might be snowing tomorrow it's Monday now but yes Oh Monday yep well my teacher so yesterday my friend started singing Christmas songs and she was like no please no it's gonna be your fault if it snows but her her eater in her car is broken oh oh your poor teacher oh no and then the next day she found out that it was gonna be some day like Monday or Tuesday or yeah tomorrow she was like it's all your fault funny do your soaps contain animal product um let's see some of them do but this batch does not know these are all vegan the ones I'm cutting today are all vegan they have coconut palm castor avocado and olive oil so lemme just soap but what makes it smell like eggs my like eggs you crazy died oh just kidding are you gonna make some following Christmas soaps I only made one fall one I have a pumpkin one I'm making tomorrow but I won't do it live I'm just going to make it cuz I got to get it done so I'll have one pumpkin one and I think I've sold out of my fall maple one but I am gonna do Christmas as soon as I get back I'm gonna start on Christmas once and get those done so I have a peppermint for sure a couple of Christmas trees and a couple of cinnamon scented ones so whether we're under hazardous weather outlook already what is it for wind the wind is horrible today no every time I want to do something so this is hot process soap this one without a crock-pot and I'll put the video up in a few days or a week or so money but it's cold this day no it's not you have Monday off school and then you're off on Wednesday Thursday Friday and the next Monday there's Columbus Day I don't think so you better not have Monday off righty that's awesome oh my word that is lazy oh that's crazy um let's see what else do we have yeah no break is coming I know Fall Break is coming in I'm not gonna back here it's a few half days Tuesday Wednesday and then Thursday Friday Saturday and Sunday obviously all right that is crazy you are crazy dude next week is only two days of school oh that's crazy Tracy what is English spread what is English muffin bread in the UK I do not know it um well I don't know what it would be called in in the UK but it's like a it's not a real sweet bread but you usually eat it in the morning an egg or with Jam and you toast it usually so yeah I don't know so I found a house in Colorado staying qualifications really nice like the other one in Wisconsin there was only $675,000 hmm did you have $675,000 I could have I remember when you said your budget was like three hundred thousand and now we're like okay there is no budget have you tried Irish Breakfast tea yes and I do like it it's actually really good yeah it is really good and Donna Mike and I might come up and see you guys when I get back from Wisconsin um I'm only gonna be gone for like five or six days so I made the bread at the beginning of the video we're waiting for it to cook which we're getting close actually it's almost done it's got like five minutes and it's almost done okay so then I made a batch of unscented which actually I think it smells good even though it's unscented it still smells fresh don't you think it's good to smell fresh it is good to smell fresh especially when you're living in a dorm isn't it well I need it all fresh that could be a problem I mean it's like all girls so it's not yeah so Connie Mike is at the doctor with BJ he's lost 40 pounds he's been sleeping eight to ten hours a night like the doctors told him to it's been four months and he's not doing any better so we're off for the next round of doctor's visits so we're just gonna start doing that McKenna yes I'm making English muffin bread it is in the oven I have about four minutes or so before it's done and then we'll take it out so Stacey what is the name of the website you use for your glasses Zen easy and in I optical dot-com they really need to pay me they really do I need to get something from them because you know we just mentioned them all the time so what branded a mattress - BJ get I don't know candy I don't remember we got it American furniture I can go look it up and email it to you candy send me an email remind send me an email and I'll send it back so is Emily your daughter's heard my brother's daughter or from Mike site Mike's sister's daughter yes so from that side of the family [Music] I am so just I'm excited my soaked in his color either because I thought my soap with discolor so I'm glad it didn't and that pretty I just love regular plain soap I don't know I just think it's so cool I just love so cat lover so a lot of people ask my major is um I already said it was nutrition but am I taking some am i taking some courses in that major or only to basics so I got some of my basics out of the way before I went to college so I'm gonna be taking a lot of science classes so I'm taking just like general biology this year and I'm taking like an intro to nutrition and then I am taking a couple of like other classes like sociology and math and things like that so kind of a wide variety but since you since you did so many in high school do you have to go for your stuff yeah oh well that stinks well I didn't really get what I'm doing that then I didn't really get that many I got like a psychology credit and like some English credits now but why have to take a lot of classes in my major I see cuz I have a lot let's see huh but we'll see okay let's check and see well you know I have never heard of hope Davis so I yeah that's that's cool I'll have to look her up apparently I look like her my Etsy store is loaded up and pretty full right now guys I have several soaps on there so sue hasn't been on lately Tura do you know when sue is coming Colorado she said the end of October so that should be fun they were wondering if you're taking underwater basket-weaving that would be an interesting course to take I mean technically no but some of this stuff they're making me take it's kind of the same thing so yeah what's your one you're taking right now like the HISP the study of leisure and then what a waste I'm sorry what a waste that's study and leisure it's true it's kind of fun but so at least it's not hard well oh we get a lot of assignments so that's annoying do yeah but oh that stinks do you put your dough into a cold oven and let it heat flash rise during the preheat I do M Brown but I did let it rise about 25 to 30 minutes beforehand it needs to rise 45 minutes but I just didn't have time for the show so anyway so there's my unscented what do you guys think mmm a nice big sample for somebody oh wow this let's plate it quickly oh there's a lot of stuff on the counter all right so let me get my bread out of the oven and I will show it to you guys wipe off the counter here how I got so clear [Music] that's funny here there well whitening now no there's that and I have no idea where all my holders wink okay I'll give it just a minute to cool off but let me show yes so here's what it looks like when it's risen see how it puffs up and looks really luscious so we're gonna go and put these in the oven and start them baking cuz they rose pretty quick that was super fresh yeast so that's probably why you cut let me grab a knife okay let's see this too hot dude can you give me a plate okay no biggie no biggie okay poor BJ you want to leave 15 minutes ago - that'll work okay he's running out the door I think yo guys are running so I'm ready okay good bye buddy thank you for hosting us sing with me okay there it is guys what do you think is that lovely or what yay so let me put the link to the recipe in here again for our English muffin bread that's what it looks like um let's see okay so get my homemade soaps here did you find anything on it off please Salinas his first thing you think happens when dr. partisan said and so did that test say he has okay so guys keep your fingers crossed and please pray that BJ except may have an answer well I know but at least it can be fixed oh man please pray that we can figure out what's wrong with BJ even if it's surgery oh my goodness how are we gonna pay for that I'm saying oh my goodness yeah we may be having a lot of sales soon okay sorry guys hold on okay here you go dear you can have it back okay hi Brenda so the back pain was part of a deep hurt when he thinks no he said that the that blood test that you said they already gave him uh-huh was suspicious and that the test they did wasn't significant enough to they just tested that the ultrasound only tested one little area but he said it could be anywhere from here down there to here so what do we have to do next we have to get a CT scan and no we don't have insurance to cover this so we have something to cover a lot of things but not this because it was already existing but we could have gotten regular insurance and it would have cost us more for the insurance then and then it wouldn't have paid till after nine thousand out of pocket so um well did you feel did you like him BJ did you feel good about it do you feel hopeful you just want to go to your concert they're buying they weren't expecting us to be gone that long so looking a little rustic there dear you know I see quite a shame I ran out of the building hi guys I didn't shave and I ran out of the house and I thought oh I'll be back just before the show I was like wait it's 45 minutes and I just got here so yeah this is what it was pheochromocytoma is what they're testing for I'm testing for what pheochromocytomas no-sleep Toma psyched pheochromocytoma has anybody had that that's what they were saying to you so what did it it may not be that but the Mayo Clinic doctor called us back and said you should have him test for this and when I told him the Mayo Clinic doctor said that he said that's the first thing I was thinking we need to check for because the blood pressure and a lot of the other symptoms all seem to point to that and it's one thing that they didn't test well so what that means is if that's what he had it would explain why his blood pressure is up and there are a lot of mysterious unknown symptoms because there's a variety of those unknown symptoms that come together with blood pressure when you have a small tumor which is usually not cancer on a an adrenal gland which might be around your kidneys or I guess there's some other adrenal glands in that part of your body that could be it so that's what they think it might be but they didn't go as far as to tell us you know it's likely to be that because but he had another test that was not normal it shouldn't have been the numbers it was get a blood test that indicates that it could it's out of the range might be careful bye I love you so he had another test that's out of the normal range and when it's out of the normal range it's one of the indicators that this could be a problem but also the blood pressure could indicate that this could be a problem and a lot of things like it said being pale sweating he'll he'll just walk out of his stairs and he'll just break out into a sweat just walking up the stairs and he has heart palpitations and he's really weak and he's really dizzy and he's extremely tired so we're gonna just he did give me suggestions on how we can ago she ate some of the places for so guys if you wouldn't mind going and buying out my soap store and well we don't know because we don't know what it is we don't know how much it'll cost so might not be mean Oh cream cheese and jelly would be good on that hot English muffin bread oh man this looks good did you take a picture of it no I should we should take picture of it Emily please make us a basic yoga video oh did she see that before she left she did it mm-hmm so we've got the santa plate oh whoa it's a picture of me brightening all right oh that looks really delicious is a weird thing to be taking pictures of this while everyone's waiting so how was the show I tried to watch a little at the doctor's office not even commented still at the doc did you see my god um so Emily helped she did very good she made the bread I told BJ so it started at 5:00 started at 4:00 but apparently it goes to like oh it goes till after make us a late and the group that he really wants to see doesn't start until 9:00 or something get a good seat so well because he's worked there he's worked at this concert venue before so he needs to be there drone pilot so he knows the secrets so that'll be cool let's see how old is he he's going to be 20 next month oh my baby's gonna be yeah Wow that makes oh well that's another thing the doctor said about that particular thing he said you know another reason why he thought it was something significantly worth checking is he said you know he said I people I usually see in the kidney specialist here they're usually like 75 or 80 years old and they have all this stuff and his age he said there aren't nearly as many things like so likes his food yes just for for Trish not being mean but that set of symptoms sounds like menopause so here's the thing so funny yeah like when we were first trying to figure this out even before he went to Mayo Clinic like a year ago he said mom I figured out what I have I said why he said dr. Google says I have menopause yes Oh googling it I'm just seeing all the high Mike's from before yay thank you everybody appreciate that and yeah thanks for praying for BJ it's it did help him son and he was even talking to the doctor about this that it did improve him some with what hat with what mail recommended it's just Mayo was suspecting there could be more than one thing and this seems like it I think this would this one if it if it's what they think it is that should resolve all those symptoms well anyone who's incluso ate and exercise and he's like I can't he said I can't physically do it and I just wanted to slap that doctor upside the head and so he got the 40 pounds off but he's not feeling better so did Emily answer thee do you miss Levine home think hello to your checklist I'm sorry did the dogs out I'm like that's my bus really dear you should have seen me I literally like 30 seconds before the show went on I was still getting my makeup on it I called David said Dave I don't think for the start of the show so so how'd it go look at them so you made some bread lots of soap here's the coffee soap what do you think you like it ooh let me smell it again yeah maybe we could trade soap at the hospital for medical bills here doc thousand dollars he was oh man and it's funny because he said yeah I see you've had a lot of tests and you've been through a lot of things before and I said yeah it said we've been kind of concerned about this or that and he said well that's because you didn't come to me but I looked I before we found him well I went to Google and I looked for doctors in that specialty that had high ratings and then I went to I forgot the name of the site health grade rates and at both places he had five stars and he had like a hundred ratings all together and I was thinking wow when you get a hundred people saying five stars and they are all saying amazing magnificent things I thought this sounds like the kind of doctor who's looking for so oh yeah yeah because we're trying to find a new family doctor since we changed insurances which is not really an insurance it's what the what is it called I know I'm calling insurance was not injured it's a health sharing so raychel health sharing thing that the family is on but after whatever helps sharing is it's not insurance and so it doesn't cover things that are pre-existing until after years I think it's you told me three years well originally it said three but they told me like to one or two but some people would say well you know why would you be on insurance because the insurance doesn't have that but the thing about the insurance is insurance cost is $18,000 a year and then it doesn't cover anyone until we've spent nine thousand on that person so we'd have to spend twenty seven thousand dollars for the insurance to have been worth it and even paying cash it's I think it's yeah I do like we would get three he has worked enough that he probably could get on disability but it takes two years or more to get on disability and if this is what it is you know if we have to take out a loan on the house or whatever we'll do it because he needs to get something he's been really sick for for almost five years now five years now he's been really sick for five years now doesn't think we'll just take it as it comes and see how it goes yeah Lucia what type of doctor is this it's a kidney specialist with really come I keep getting confused because I think I think that's like I don't know for some reason I I think that would be a different specialty based on the root of it I guess not so you have this kidney doctor and the reason why I actually just said we're gonna go to a specialist right away and get everyone before all the at Mayo and in other places they all told us that the blood pressure would soon tend to lead towards a kidney thing but since a previous kidney doctor here said no Mayo didn't check that and they had to test some things but so hmm yeah what yeah so anyway so we're I'm encouraged that there's a direction to go that looks like it might actually help something but I hope so yeah so well yeah Angela says a fried egg sandwich on English muffin bread toasted even cheese - oh yeah that was easy so within my snack range today yep so I'm kind of on this diet thing we're very strict at amount on one day and then you need a normal amount on the other day and a restricted amount so every other day so I have to be careful which day we I'm sorry which did you not to temptation so anyway Kathy says don't forget thrive foods as that oh oh it's reference to that oh yeah tonight by the way thrive is having a sale on the Black Friday the week of Black Friday so if you guys are interested in it but you think it's just too hype which I totally the price is just really high I get that um they're having a sale the week of Black Friday so so Lynn you say you have a tumor on your adrenal gland that causes blood pressure issues why that sounds like the exact same thing why why would they not remove it because they say that that should resolve those issues and of course it's not G but the same time I think the blood pressure being high or having those problems can cause of worse problems later yeah so anyway so it was good but the funny thing is for BJ he was he was mostly the he and Emily were going to a concert tonight and he was getting a little nervous thinking anyway well maybe when the security guards could get him in down closer maybe we can pay for that so maybe well I shouldn't say that never mind yeah hmm all right well I didn't know if you I feel like I've come into this without understanding where we are on the show which is kind of weird this show is nothing safe without you Thank You Shannon I appreciate that because I was wondering so you just make the show I guess I'm to comic relief you're the comic relief I'm the brains you're the Brawn oh that's painful so you do look pretty handsome rustic there can you see that on camera it's too bad I don't like like beards I'm sorry yeah she won't kiss me if I don't say so so here's the thing my uncle my dad's brother when I was like five held me down and tickled my neck with his beard and ever since that I can't stand you totally ruined it for me I know I can't stand anything touching my neck I'm like just don't touch my neck just don't touch it so yeah and he wasn't being he thought he was just around and stuff but yeah so anyway hmm doctors is difficult to hurt surgery to go through oh great huh all right well Susan yes he he could get medicaid on his own but Medicaid is very not useful and the doctors want it like if we knew worth about if we knew what the problem was and he was on Medicaid they would solve it but to get or they wouldn't solve it they would treat it but to identify the problem they won't ever get there the doctors just won't even take Medicaid patients in Colorado at all so that's you know we just I think when we we finally were getting frustrated with doctors and hospitals and ticking in general which is why we end up going to Mayo and which is why now we went to a specialist directly just because we don't want this to keep going on four more years but I'm sure something I I know something will come up that will make it possible if we discover that's the issue so yeah yeah Rebecca's right Medicaid doesn't cover anything and they won't even take doctors won't even take Medicaid here they won't even let you in the door they just it's it's a first when they say however many million people are covered with insurance now that doesn't mean anything if the doctors won't accept you all the doctors have to do is say no we don't take Medicaid so they don't even take them here so well yes did I miss the bread-making I missed the bread Mickey Stoke yes we both did but so I made English muffin bread and here's the final I don't know I could probably could since it's a show day right yeah I didn't know if does anybody noticed I was getting my girlish figure back how many pounds of you lost now twelve twelve I better lose a couple more before the coach calls me next week so she called me yesterday and I said I quit look you really yes what can we do to help motivate you I said I can't I have no motivation what do you think he's so good it tastes so good what do you think no it's really delicious did mom do a good job yay good mm-hmm yeah I see why doctors don't want to use it either yeah just because they don't get paid yeah bye Donna yeah I'm not knocking doctors who don't want to take Medicare I do not blame them at all because Medicaid doesn't pay anything if you're not gonna get paid for your work why would you that doesn't make sense you know why would you take people when you're not going to get paid it's not a charity organization for all of them and so so Catherine this is a cross-section it is super good red oh yeah we cook for the country here's what we could do we show Bellwood we could take him to Costa Rica and do a show about it and write it off on our taxes well it's one of our doctors ain't get a vacation Kansas was talking about going and practicing medicine in Costa Rica so he said yeah if you don't want to come down be like $400 for a surgery or something he said cuz down there they don't have to deal with the insurance or anything so they just do it all kashin so Brenda has been 12 pounds in three months but I it's been like four pounds in just over a week so I think I figured out had to do this better than I was doing in the first part basically I discovered this this doctor well it's a diet plan for this doctor where are you you she says he whatever you want on one day and then the next day you eat 500 calories and then the next day whatever you want again and there's a whole bunch of stuff about the research but the idea is your body doesn't feel like it's in starvation mode and you're likely to last on it more because you actually get to eat stuff you like on other days and so far it's been working great so hopefully hopefully that will continue to be that way now that I've told you I have to really thank you Mary Ann Thank You Brenda yeah I'm sorry I get my buns motivated somehow cuz I gotta get mine off too I think we have had the mineral and nutrient we have he's had so much this doctor was saying I can't believe how much stuff he's been tested for right and I'm not puttin he hasn't been tested for this anyway yeah Andrews asking is the recipe in the book yes page 87 in dining iodine also if you don't have the book right now I'm gonna share it loose where the recipe is on the site and then I'll probably share where you can get the book if you would like it so so Jack said he's gonna gobble the whole of so I think we got a thumbs up on that one yay for Josh to say yeah you know it's good cuz it's not it's not a sweet thing it's delay yeah it is very strange coming in alright guys any last questions and then we'll go what do you think oh stop oh yeah oh this is horrible and you're walking off with the rest of us easement come tell them what you really think of it you can't let him think you're a liar it's pretty nice oh yes shared in a while I don't think it's on it you can open a new Google tab and type in thrive slashes and I'm wait oh oh it's slash living let's try that and see work okay here's if you want the Thrive food you can go here to that link sorry I'm sorry and they're having a sale in November though and some foods are gonna be up to 50% off so that's gonna be a good deal were you talking about it during this show no but I just now somebody mentioned oh you still don't get me that pomegranate stuff that it actually it's right there so I have to say target I do I tried all that it fruits and man I was thinking about just keeping a can of the dehydrated pomegranate yogurt stuff in the car because it's really good but it's actually fruit but because it's freeze dry and it won't go bad in the car and I think my biggest reason for not eating more fruit is it's just too difficult to keep it isn't pre-atomic this one has this one is the yogurt thing yogurt right yeah but it's really good well I don't know where the can opener wait interesting huh why did why didn't Mayo test him for this well Mayo because of the test that they ran and because of the test that had been run before it pointed them in a certain direction and because he had been to a kidney specialist before and the kidney specialist said that this wasn't an issue they did not pursue that and lieu of the things that it appeared like that it was going to be but now that those things are cleared out it kind of came to a point of saying okay if the sleeping doesn't end up solving the problem then he's be reevaluated yeah so the first step in the reevaluating was what could we have missed and mayo doctor told me you know maybe he said we I didn't I see we didn't have a test for this was he tested for it before and I said yeah it was I said before it before and he said you might ask him if they would be interested in testing him again well tar looked at that test and she said I think this is saying this is kind of high of course part of the thing with Mayo is we showed up with a huge stack of papers so they didn't exhaustively read every detail but I think basically it's just the kind of thing that because we had been told it was Lyme they were sort of on a different track of what they were thinking at the time cat lover you can put your video in there we made you moderator so you can put a link to your channel in there um and when I look today it said that on this particular test that it's supposed to be six or under and his was 21 so that's why and I lift this up on the internet like most of this stuff we've been looking it up on the internet because yeah we just have okay so anyway the second a flashlight affair comes in I see a light behind it oh no the sun is shining in from the window it's just kind of gone down enough where it's kind of coming right in the window across so when Jack walks in it causes or a flash over here do you have something so in the oven yes I do all right nice thank you for joining us yes thank you please keep Vijay in your prayers that we will when do we do the when we do these tests do they know they're they're gonna call us on Tuesday with the information about some of the tests but the things that are really expensive he suggested we we call several places and get them okay he actually gave me some specific advice on how did I go she ate that so hopefully well Brandis you know Brenda says I'm down 34 this year that's awesome yeah what's the best way to store flour if you live in a place where there's bugs Susan um you need to start in the freezer long term if like Kansas Oklahoma Mississippi those places if you're in a place like Colorado it you can just store it out we don't have a bug problem here but that's how Oh Katrina's asking about my elbow mostly it's feeling better I'm I've been careful if I try to lift weights or something those of you who might remember before Ellie and I went to Ireland it was diagnosed as being torn which it apparently was but they said it was torn more like pulling a sponge apart as opposed to torn like tearing a paper in half so he said with enough time going by it might repair itself so it hasn't really been hurting lately I've not been pushing it too too hard but I think it's improving at least I'm fairly confident I won't have to have surgery on it so that'll be great yeah so I appreciate you asking I'm glad you remembered so thanks for ordering Jacqueline I appreciate it the food is really tasty it is I understand I totally get it but you know some people if it's convenient for them and so yeah that's what I do yeah so alright guys we'll see you later please have a good night I've been awesome drinking again yeah we're gonna be mowing tomorrow maybe they're our last meal we're getting snow on Monday 80% chance of snow okay and then I fly out Tuesday so let's hope it's not too bad so yeah oh yeah Laurie made the sermon prep bread yay all right guys we'll talk to you later have a good night see you on Monday for my last show before I leave so I'll be doing two shows what you've done oh yeah oh okay I'm sure we can work that out I just need somebody to bounce things off of because I'm a comic relief and if there's nobody to be the comic relief for but i'm boring all right have a good weekend let me know calm

[babyobservationcrusade-blog]

okay okay hello did you guys miss me on here making sure we have good sound mic is not here he's at the doctor okay that's from my campus college probably because no a stress beef I live on the third floor there's no elevators I walk up the stairs at least four times big around my bike to class so it's very possible watch my 15 Italy so my sometimes Oh Mindy so she's trapped inside Walmart's with momently cops that does not stop me did it it's a good shoplift alright so we're making English muffin bread I think okay we've got everybody on here now swearing guys for the delay Mike is out the doctor with BJ starting our next round of doctors yeah so that's what we're doing all right and yes so that's what am i oh what a day so English muffin bread this is super simple if you want to start with really hot water or milk now I'm using dry milk but if you're using milk and water heat it in the microwave until you put your finger in it's really hot I'm going to use water from the tap really so adding extra sorry okay okay so you put your cups of flour [Music] today we're permutation it can undergo reactions both ways then without oxygen okay people are in the baking Oh salt the world needs people okay and baking soda that's the proper amount and then sugar that's the proper amount and then whisk that I have a board in my finger from tearing down the road switch today so I put roundup okay so then pour in your water milk mixture I keep forgetting Emily is left-handed sorry about that [Music] there you go very good and stir we should just have our own show the ante and M show ya how to cook for college see there we go see we have remember that kitchen we have yeah they were doing something yesterday they were making like sushi or something down there making sushi yeah they have some sort of like cooking class I'm sorry but sushi no this is not gluten-free flour Kim it makes really really well you go back down here this is my niece for those of you who are new and haven't heard our whole story so she we are four Guardians and she came to live with us three years ago yes so a long time ago okay let me check YouTube here is there even anybody on YouTube oh dear I have no one in chat on YouTube Dave mm-hmm oh there you are kitty Donna says like a family things all right now that's food and I'm gonna do the next portion cuz you what did I do wrong okay so then we're gonna stir in three more cups of flour and I'll have you do three or stir in between each it just goes a little bit easier and then let me go back up here to questions real quick um let's see mmm no smoking up drink don't drive do sex you know you can only get embarrassed for so long until you just yeah okay next one that one in yay Nancy I'm so glad you got your soap and you love it yes Nancy do you loving yourself have you used it lately I do your body wash no I ran out of that oh it's okay um let's see all right one more yeah we do need an apron for Emily do you wanna a prett is that where you're wearing to the concert yeah are you sure yeah people are saying this sound is low um let's see okay it looks like they've got it fixed don't worry if you can't hear me I'm just like quiet so that's not a problem I'm just very quiet uh your bread tastes a bit yeast yeast bgill well maybe just try using a little less G so I guess I don't know that's strange okay getting too mixed in okay Wow hello our friends in the UK thank you for watching us and turret in Norway um let's see we should make a cookbook together oh yay cat lover got her thank-you card I'm so glad Dave do you think your mom would eat sushi for super chaps oh my doubt it you'd have to pay her extra I might for $100 if you had one more it was a hundred plus super check yeah I think maybe I should do a thousand instead I don't know okay did you get mixed in how does it look looks pretty good okay yeah so then I'm just gonna scrape and just make sure here yeah pretty good okay so since your hands are all lovely and mine aren't I'm just gonna push down a little bit okay just to kind of get the last of it mixed in together can they see that Dave and you're not really needing it you're just kind of folding in this stuff maybe what she's doing I just didn't want you to get stuff all on your fingernails one concert hi Brenda okay now we're gonna get two hands here yes North Dakota pink twinning uh-oh she got the same shirt yeah any way to go I only have one loaf Pam left because I have the other two in the oven so spray this one over the seat so we don't okay this is on page dining I died cookbook page 87 and let me get the links here for everybody because I forgot to do the links okay so now what you're gonna do is you're going to take and here's the recipe guys hold I'm doing three things at once here this is not easy to do recipe link right there recipe and then if you want our book tell all your friends hey I'm live watch me on something YouTube Facebook okay and there is the book so though you did get them haha okay it's a joke comfortable do you in a comment and it just took me to that thanks man okay so now you're a sprinkle a little bit of cornmeal on the bottom of each thing so just like this just so it's just covered so what is that what does that do so it keeps it from sticking and then you just tap it around so it's all even see you like that beautiful beautiful okay do this one Mike is at the doctor's with BJ we are headed for the next um the next round of doctor's appointments to try and figure out why he's not feeling well hmm okay so here we go so then let's see cut let me see oh I'm having a brain moment okay so then what you're gonna do is you're gonna take it and you're gonna kind of fold it under like this way out hold on let me yeah get it together just a little bit more here okay there that's a little bit better okay so then you're just gonna fold it like this and kind of make a little I don't know what what do you come at a rectangle I guess I was thinking more of like an oboe slash rectangle something a long shape elongated is that what we're looking for a long shape of elongated piece of bread there you go yeah because these are the only pans I have we're just gonna make them so if they fit kind of in the pan just kind of like so okay just like Boop put it in the center a little bit more because when it poops out you want it centered okay okay so now we're going to take our cornmeal again and sprinkle it on top yeah perfect all right so things are gonna let it rise and they are going to look like this after you let them rise now these have only been rising for 30 minutes and they really should rise for 40 minutes but I'm gonna go ahead and bake them so you guys can see for the show they're not finished rising while the heat the oven is heating up all right so then we're gonna bake it at 400 and for 25 minutes okay so timer 25 okay so then just let these rise until they puff up and then bake them about 45 minutes it's how long you let them rise all right and that's it so we're going to let them cook and while we're cooking I'm gonna cut soap this Emily wants to look at comments you want and give us one second to get my mess cleaned up here feel free to ask me any questions I love talking about myself okay so my question is how are you pole-vaulting yourself up on to your your bed is the ladder working yeah I use the ladder is it we had to go get a stepladder because for $1200 a month they don't provide a ladder for you to get on your best bed in college yeah I have like a higher up bed which like I chose to get but I was sort of thinking they would give me means to get on it a lot of girls just like I don't know how they do it climb in their window but yeah ladders says forget that it was crazy we were trying and trying to figure out how to get how to get poor Emma looking up on her bed it was crazy crazy crazy okay well I see let's do links one more time can you put a link in right there here's the recipe or here's our books first so do that one first just command-c so I did that what do I do now and then post it right there yippee man oh no oh let's see Vee why they would do V for paste I don't know very good here's our books again and go back one more time here's the recipe that we're doing for today the English that's easy English muffinz oh yes Uncle Mike was like is this the best or the easy I said it's both so I am cookbook page 87 okay yes I can just technology Wow Emily is doing good trying there you go yeah all right okay now you can scroll down see if there's a your scroll up at caesars ecology Oh is up like the newer ones mm-hmm okay I got that backwards not this the newer ones but if you go to the bottom and work your way up then you can see the old ones first hi Rebecca okay and then is this so I have one rising and I have one baking in the oven while we're waiting and I'm gonna cut soap and we are going to see if we have any questions Dave is there anything on YouTube yeah anything interesting no comments on YouTube so this is my right you know what it is it's at the bacon one coffee oh I had that so wrong does it smell like coffee yes Oh Thank You Nancy I'm glad you like that one yay seat ours head exploded paid not paid off for once I guess I don't know maybe not know so this is the one where I made the mistake yesterday and I put my brown in with my white so that's why there's two different colors yeah oh yeah that's probably a good idea thank you um I am going to see I don't know if there's like a name of the concert but it's like joyride and snakes and it's a lot of like electronic music so you know it'll be fun sorry Lana your dad had already talked here let's look and see what we got down here okay that's a little what concert if you ever get to go on a shopping what maybe spree it will be with living on a dime you have to you have what I want in need you have what I want need oh I have what everybody wants what's funny um George Oh Norway I didn't realize I join what oh that was when I hit him up wouldn't you yeah when Ann said hi to you and you saw it on there no BJ ever get his new bed yes Marianne he got his new bed and he has been sleeping from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. every morning some mornings 6:00 a.m. whoa um and he is sleeping but he's not really feeling better so that's the problem that we're having we're having another disease checked out today and so yeah that's what we're doing today so page 61 is how do you say how do you say that name Oh Rocio Rocio Rocio sorry you got that wrong on dining and I'm cookbook doughnuts on page 60 and 61 yes we do does the finicky family eat English muffin bread you know why do you Emily does and I think yeah I think everybody actually eats the English muffin bread yeah it's really good well not that it's not really good it's just that yeah you guys know should you wait until the oven gets to 400 before starting the timer normally I would jeanne but oh yes I should have that was my mistake but I put it in there to let it rise just a little bit longer while the heat oven is heating up so yes I should have Mary Ann wants to know how are you liking school it's good you hesitated it's just very it's very different like living on a college campus and like taking college classes but there's also a lot of fun things to do and lots of involvement so it's been an adjustment but it's also really cool I like it so you're getting in the groove yeah um do I at the time it takes to preheat the oven to your baking time yes usually I do Mandy that was a mistake on my part I'm pretty frazzled today I'm sorry it's been a really long week for us with all the rough videos I've had to monitor comments on YouTube literally every 10 minutes today because I have gotten so many comments that I just have to really stay on top of it today um let's see what's your what's your favorite teas Tara my absolute favorite is English breakfast that's my number one favourite by circuit I like blueberry and Blackberry I like mint there's one you got me last year what once did you get me I know I got you the good one what was it Emily got me you got me a raspberry or something last year that was really good - sounds good and I love teas I love all kinds of teas so the kids have been getting me those for Christmas and I love it I love it I love it Catherine Catherine what's she saying so I have CFS how do you manage family not understanding oh boy that's like a 20-hour show you know I I don't know what to tell you on that because we have family that doesn't understand they think she's lazy and she doesn't want to do it yeah um you know I mean I guess the main thing is to just have patience and just keep doing what you could do I don't know mom would be better to answer that one and maybe next week heard Mike when I'm gone could have a show on that possibly maybe I don't know I hate to put mom on the spot but there you go on I just put you on the spot this is the coffee one man I'm loving this one Katie Jo says your shirt matches your soul I know you guys I didn't even realize I was all matchy matchy with my soul pick Christine you might have figured it out but cutting soap that's what we're cutting right now yes not anything at a bowl or anything like that yes this is my homemade soap and I have my english muffin bread in the oven right now so while we're waiting at bake for chatting and chatting with emily ting soap all right Kim has CFS been ruled out for BJ um well no but we don't think that's what he has his blood pressure is extremely high and we think that's part of his problem so you know it could be part but we don't think that that's part of it so all right what you guys put on the bread to make it yummy we put cornmeal so yeah a little tip um if you leave the light on in your oven that is a good way to help your bread rise in the winter when it's colder Emily Jeannie wants to know are you a coffee or a tea person definitely both it depends on my mood some days I'm a little like riled up so I'll go for the tea but generally I prefer a coffee so there you go are you planning to live on campus next year um I'm not sure yet we'll have to see there's definitely pros and cons of both if I don't live on campus though I'll probably just live in an apartment close to campus it would I don't know it may or may some sort you find it may or may not be cheaper in Fort Collins for rent for campus that's Ernie you know that's the problem for the dorm or for the apartment for the apartment it just depends on what she can find or what she can get yeah it's kind of hard but Colorado's prices have gone through the roof yeah and it's hard cause like I really started school like a month ago and we're already starting to think about next year because you got to pick something soon so we'll see that's crazy that's uh where do you find the link for the book I will put it in there here for you Mandy it's right here it's dining iodine cookbook and anybody who wants to buy one please do we're gonna have a huge round of medical bills coming up again with Vijay now what do I do with that very thin slice of soap those are my samples that I do and I am going to Michigan on Tuesday to visit our viewer penny she bought me she had frequent owner miles and she bought me a plane ticket girl so I've never seen the fall leaves change and so she paid for me to go see the fall leaves change I thought that was done Emily doesn't even know we found a house in Wisconsin paper did you know that Uncle Mike and I almost went to cut Wisconsin this week no Uncle Mike text me like every day you think he would say something about that so we found the house in Wisconsin that was perfect and we loved it you're just gonna die when you see it but we're gonna wait for right now because Mike wants to wait and not go until the summer so we're gonna wait and not go anywhere and we may or may not go next summer this one's cucumber/melon who like that one and see if um next summer if we want to go ahead and go so um thanks Lynn it's always good to hear that I'm doing a great job and I think Katie Joe thank you also I appreciate it let's see um Cindy may make bread this weekend which is your favorite tarah my favorite is the plain homemade on let's see what page is the plain homemade it is on page the plain homemade one basic bread dough page 71 that's my favorite one um and then I make a lot of muscles too so that one turned out pretty and these are for sale on my Etsy store let me get the link for that real quick um if you guys want them you can get my homemade soaps here and I'll put a link there are they home I dare a car I don't know if that's bad I think that might be Jack or now so there's my soaps if you want to buy my soaps I have them all on there and no anything what am i studying so I'm studying nutrition specifically I think dietetics so so when is Dietetics um so basically like a dietitian is what people kind of think of as a nutritionist but it's like higher credentials so you could work like in a clinical setting or like a community setting or in like a foodservice setting and basically just like make sure the nutrition standards are like compliant and kind of things like that just helping people be healthier understanding how food is like metabolized in the body everything like that so yeah yes Dave you found me a house in Michigan uh-oh photo so now we have to go to Michigan no there you go here's cucumber/melon guys isn't that pretty turned out so nice nice Maryann's oh and let me do one other link here real quick if you guys want to see me make these soaps oops I pushed the wrong thing um you can go to my how to make soap YouTube channel on a dime how to make so fun at all I feel like I came up with that I probably did okay amber wants to know I don't know if you just put this already in there I need some soap for Christmas gifts where to purchase I just put the link in there but I'll do it one more time right here I am gearing up for Christmas trying to get all my Christmas stuff made up now this one is lemon lavender blue I have a really good lemon lavender cake one time it was awesome a lemon lavender cake yeah I think this is directed at me wow you look like Uncle Mike well that's a first yeah you mean him yeah I don't know I'm also look like my other side of the family but that's cool we are related this one's lemon lavender and these will ship out after I get back from my trip next week they need to cure only two weeks cuz this one I made hot process right there mmm that looks so good smells good too mwah peas crystal yeah everybody's been wondering where you've been College yeah sure Jack wants to tell us something go for hmm the day before everyone found out that it might be snowing tomorrow it's Monday now but yes Oh Monday yep well my teacher so yesterday my friend started singing Christmas songs and she was like no please no it's gonna be your fault if it snows but her her eater in her car is broken oh oh your poor teacher oh no and then the next day she found out that it was gonna be some day like Monday or Tuesday or yeah tomorrow she was like it's all your fault funny do your soaps contain animal product um let's see some of them do but this batch does not know these are all vegan the ones I'm cutting today are all vegan they have coconut palm castor avocado and olive oil so lemme just soap but what makes it smell like eggs my like eggs you crazy died oh just kidding are you gonna make some following Christmas soaps I only made one fall one I have a pumpkin one I'm making tomorrow but I won't do it live I'm just going to make it cuz I got to get it done so I'll have one pumpkin one and I think I've sold out of my fall maple one but I am gonna do Christmas as soon as I get back I'm gonna start on Christmas once and get those done so I have a peppermint for sure a couple of Christmas trees and a couple of cinnamon scented ones so whether we're under hazardous weather outlook already what is it for wind the wind is horrible today no every time I want to do something so this is hot process soap this one without a crock-pot and I'll put the video up in a few days or a week or so money but it's cold this day no it's not you have Monday off school and then you're off on Wednesday Thursday Friday and the next Monday there's Columbus Day I don't think so you better not have Monday off righty that's awesome oh my word that is lazy oh that's crazy um let's see what else do we have yeah no break is coming I know Fall Break is coming in I'm not gonna back here it's a few half days Tuesday Wednesday and then Thursday Friday Saturday and Sunday obviously all right that is crazy you are crazy dude next week is only two days of school oh that's crazy Tracy what is English spread what is English muffin bread in the UK I do not know it um well I don't know what it would be called in in the UK but it's like a it's not a real sweet bread but you usually eat it in the morning an egg or with Jam and you toast it usually so yeah I don't know so I found a house in Colorado staying qualifications really nice like the other one in Wisconsin there was only $675,000 hmm did you have $675,000 I could have I remember when you said your budget was like three hundred thousand and now we're like okay there is no budget have you tried Irish Breakfast tea yes and I do like it it's actually really good yeah it is really good and Donna Mike and I might come up and see you guys when I get back from Wisconsin um I'm only gonna be gone for like five or six days so I made the bread at the beginning of the video we're waiting for it to cook which we're getting close actually it's almost done it's got like five minutes and it's almost done okay so then I made a batch of unscented which actually I think it smells good even though it's unscented it still smells fresh don't you think it's good to smell fresh it is good to smell fresh especially when you're living in a dorm isn't it well I need it all fresh that could be a problem I mean it's like all girls so it's not yeah so Connie Mike is at the doctor with BJ he's lost 40 pounds he's been sleeping eight to ten hours a night like the doctors told him to it's been four months and he's not doing any better so we're off for the next round of doctor's visits so we're just gonna start doing that McKenna yes I'm making English muffin bread it is in the oven I have about four minutes or so before it's done and then we'll take it out so Stacey what is the name of the website you use for your glasses Zen easy and in I optical dot-com they really need to pay me they really do I need to get something from them because you know we just mentioned them all the time so what branded a mattress - BJ get I don't know candy I don't remember we got it American furniture I can go look it up and email it to you candy send me an email remind send me an email and I'll send it back so is Emily your daughter's heard my brother's daughter or from Mike site Mike's sister's daughter yes so from that side of the family [Music] I am so just I'm excited my soaked in his color either because I thought my soap with discolor so I'm glad it didn't and that pretty I just love regular plain soap I don't know I just think it's so cool I just love so cat lover so a lot of people ask my major is um I already said it was nutrition but am I taking some am i taking some courses in that major or only to basics so I got some of my basics out of the way before I went to college so I'm gonna be taking a lot of science classes so I'm taking just like general biology this year and I'm taking like an intro to nutrition and then I am taking a couple of like other classes like sociology and math and things like that so kind of a wide variety but since you since you did so many in high school do you have to go for your stuff yeah oh well that stinks well I didn't really get what I'm doing that then I didn't really get that many I got like a psychology credit and like some English credits now but why have to take a lot of classes in my major I see cuz I have a lot let's see huh but we'll see okay let's check and see well you know I have never heard of hope Davis so I yeah that's that's cool I'll have to look her up apparently I look like her my Etsy store is loaded up and pretty full right now guys I have several soaps on there so sue hasn't been on lately Tura do you know when sue is coming Colorado she said the end of October so that should be fun they were wondering if you're taking underwater basket-weaving that would be an interesting course to take I mean technically no but some of this stuff they're making me take it's kind of the same thing so yeah what's your one you're taking right now like the HISP the study of leisure and then what a waste I'm sorry what a waste that's study and leisure it's true it's kind of fun but so at least it's not hard well oh we get a lot of assignments so that's annoying do yeah but oh that stinks do you put your dough into a cold oven and let it heat flash rise during the preheat I do M Brown but I did let it rise about 25 to 30 minutes beforehand it needs to rise 45 minutes but I just didn't have time for the show so anyway so there's my unscented what do you guys think mmm a nice big sample for somebody oh wow this let's plate it quickly oh there's a lot of stuff on the counter all right so let me get my bread out of the oven and I will show it to you guys wipe off the counter here how I got so clear [Music] that's funny here there well whitening now no there's that and I have no idea where all my holders wink okay I'll give it just a minute to cool off but let me show yes so here's what it looks like when it's risen see how it puffs up and looks really luscious so we're gonna go and put these in the oven and start them baking cuz they rose pretty quick that was super fresh yeast so that's probably why you cut let me grab a knife okay let's see this too hot dude can you give me a plate okay no biggie no biggie okay poor BJ you want to leave 15 minutes ago - that'll work okay he's running out the door I think yo guys are running so I'm ready okay good bye buddy thank you for hosting us sing with me okay there it is guys what do you think is that lovely or what yay so let me put the link to the recipe in here again for our English muffin bread that's what it looks like um let's see okay so get my homemade soaps here did you find anything on it off please Salinas his first thing you think happens when dr. partisan said and so did that test say he has okay so guys keep your fingers crossed and please pray that BJ except may have an answer well I know but at least it can be fixed oh man please pray that we can figure out what's wrong with BJ even if it's surgery oh my goodness how are we gonna pay for that I'm saying oh my goodness yeah we may be having a lot of sales soon okay sorry guys hold on okay here you go dear you can have it back okay hi Brenda so the back pain was part of a deep hurt when he thinks no he said that the that blood test that you said they already gave him uh-huh was suspicious and that the test they did wasn't significant enough to they just tested that the ultrasound only tested one little area but he said it could be anywhere from here down there to here so what do we have to do next we have to get a CT scan and no we don't have insurance to cover this so we have something to cover a lot of things but not this because it was already existing but we could have gotten regular insurance and it would have cost us more for the insurance then and then it wouldn't have paid till after nine thousand out of pocket so um well did you feel did you like him BJ did you feel good about it do you feel hopeful you just want to go to your concert they're buying they weren't expecting us to be gone that long so looking a little rustic there dear you know I see quite a shame I ran out of the building hi guys I didn't shave and I ran out of the house and I thought oh I'll be back just before the show I was like wait it's 45 minutes and I just got here so yeah this is what it was pheochromocytoma is what they're testing for I'm testing for what pheochromocytomas no-sleep Toma psyched pheochromocytoma has anybody had that that's what they were saying to you so what did it it may not be that but the Mayo Clinic doctor called us back and said you should have him test for this and when I told him the Mayo Clinic doctor said that he said that's the first thing I was thinking we need to check for because the blood pressure and a lot of the other symptoms all seem to point to that and it's one thing that they didn't test well so what that means is if that's what he had it would explain why his blood pressure is up and there are a lot of mysterious unknown symptoms because there's a variety of those unknown symptoms that come together with blood pressure when you have a small tumor which is usually not cancer on a an adrenal gland which might be around your kidneys or I guess there's some other adrenal glands in that part of your body that could be it so that's what they think it might be but they didn't go as far as to tell us you know it's likely to be that because but he had another test that was not normal it shouldn't have been the numbers it was get a blood test that indicates that it could it's out of the range might be careful bye I love you so he had another test that's out of the normal range and when it's out of the normal range it's one of the indicators that this could be a problem but also the blood pressure could indicate that this could be a problem and a lot of things like it said being pale sweating he'll he'll just walk out of his stairs and he'll just break out into a sweat just walking up the stairs and he has heart palpitations and he's really weak and he's really dizzy and he's extremely tired so we're gonna just he did give me suggestions on how we can ago she ate some of the places for so guys if you wouldn't mind going and buying out my soap store and well we don't know because we don't know what it is we don't know how much it'll cost so might not be mean Oh cream cheese and jelly would be good on that hot English muffin bread oh man this looks good did you take a picture of it no I should we should take picture of it Emily please make us a basic yoga video oh did she see that before she left she did it mm-hmm so we've got the santa plate oh whoa it's a picture of me brightening all right oh that looks really delicious is a weird thing to be taking pictures of this while everyone's waiting so how was the show I tried to watch a little at the doctor's office not even commented still at the doc did you see my god um so Emily helped she did very good she made the bread I told BJ so it started at 5:00 started at 4:00 but apparently it goes to like oh it goes till after make us a late and the group that he really wants to see doesn't start until 9:00 or something get a good seat so well because he's worked there he's worked at this concert venue before so he needs to be there drone pilot so he knows the secrets so that'll be cool let's see how old is he he's going to be 20 next month oh my baby's gonna be yeah Wow that makes oh well that's another thing the doctor said about that particular thing he said you know another reason why he thought it was something significantly worth checking is he said you know he said I people I usually see in the kidney specialist here they're usually like 75 or 80 years old and they have all this stuff and his age he said there aren't nearly as many things like so likes his food yes just for for Trish not being mean but that set of symptoms sounds like menopause so here's the thing so funny yeah like when we were first trying to figure this out even before he went to Mayo Clinic like a year ago he said mom I figured out what I have I said why he said dr. Google says I have menopause yes Oh googling it I'm just seeing all the high Mike's from before yay thank you everybody appreciate that and yeah thanks for praying for BJ it's it did help him son and he was even talking to the doctor about this that it did improve him some with what hat with what mail recommended it's just Mayo was suspecting there could be more than one thing and this seems like it I think this would this one if it if it's what they think it is that should resolve all those symptoms well anyone who's incluso ate and exercise and he's like I can't he said I can't physically do it and I just wanted to slap that doctor upside the head and so he got the 40 pounds off but he's not feeling better so did Emily answer thee do you miss Levine home think hello to your checklist I'm sorry did the dogs out I'm like that's my bus really dear you should have seen me I literally like 30 seconds before the show went on I was still getting my makeup on it I called David said Dave I don't think for the start of the show so so how'd it go look at them so you made some bread lots of soap here's the coffee soap what do you think you like it ooh let me smell it again yeah maybe we could trade soap at the hospital for medical bills here doc thousand dollars he was oh man and it's funny because he said yeah I see you've had a lot of tests and you've been through a lot of things before and I said yeah it said we've been kind of concerned about this or that and he said well that's because you didn't come to me but I looked I before we found him well I went to Google and I looked for doctors in that specialty that had high ratings and then I went to I forgot the name of the site health grade rates and at both places he had five stars and he had like a hundred ratings all together and I was thinking wow when you get a hundred people saying five stars and they are all saying amazing magnificent things I thought this sounds like the kind of doctor who's looking for so oh yeah yeah because we're trying to find a new family doctor since we changed insurances which is not really an insurance it's what the what is it called I know I'm calling insurance was not injured it's a health sharing so raychel health sharing thing that the family is on but after whatever helps sharing is it's not insurance and so it doesn't cover things that are pre-existing until after years I think it's you told me three years well originally it said three but they told me like to one or two but some people would say well you know why would you be on insurance because the insurance doesn't have that but the thing about the insurance is insurance cost is $18,000 a year and then it doesn't cover anyone until we've spent nine thousand on that person so we'd have to spend twenty seven thousand dollars for the insurance to have been worth it and even paying cash it's I think it's yeah I do like we would get three he has worked enough that he probably could get on disability but it takes two years or more to get on disability and if this is what it is you know if we have to take out a loan on the house or whatever we'll do it because he needs to get something he's been really sick for for almost five years now five years now he's been really sick for five years now doesn't think we'll just take it as it comes and see how it goes yeah Lucia what type of doctor is this it's a kidney specialist with really come I keep getting confused because I think I think that's like I don't know for some reason I I think that would be a different specialty based on the root of it I guess not so you have this kidney doctor and the reason why I actually just said we're gonna go to a specialist right away and get everyone before all the at Mayo and in other places they all told us that the blood pressure would soon tend to lead towards a kidney thing but since a previous kidney doctor here said no Mayo didn't check that and they had to test some things but so hmm yeah what yeah so anyway so we're I'm encouraged that there's a direction to go that looks like it might actually help something but I hope so yeah so well yeah Angela says a fried egg sandwich on English muffin bread toasted even cheese - oh yeah that was easy so within my snack range today yep so I'm kind of on this diet thing we're very strict at amount on one day and then you need a normal amount on the other day and a restricted amount so every other day so I have to be careful which day we I'm sorry which did you not to temptation so anyway Kathy says don't forget thrive foods as that oh oh it's reference to that oh yeah tonight by the way thrive is having a sale on the Black Friday the week of Black Friday so if you guys are interested in it but you think it's just too hype which I totally the price is just really high I get that um they're having a sale the week of Black Friday so so Lynn you say you have a tumor on your adrenal gland that causes blood pressure issues why that sounds like the exact same thing why why would they not remove it because they say that that should resolve those issues and of course it's not G but the same time I think the blood pressure being high or having those problems can cause of worse problems later yeah so anyway so it was good but the funny thing is for BJ he was he was mostly the he and Emily were going to a concert tonight and he was getting a little nervous thinking anyway well maybe when the security guards could get him in down closer maybe we can pay for that so maybe well I shouldn't say that never mind yeah hmm all right well I didn't know if you I feel like I've come into this without understanding where we are on the show which is kind of weird this show is nothing safe without you Thank You Shannon I appreciate that because I was wondering so you just make the show I guess I'm to comic relief you're the comic relief I'm the brains you're the Brawn oh that's painful so you do look pretty handsome rustic there can you see that on camera it's too bad I don't like like beards I'm sorry yeah she won't kiss me if I don't say so so here's the thing my uncle my dad's brother when I was like five held me down and tickled my neck with his beard and ever since that I can't stand you totally ruined it for me I know I can't stand anything touching my neck I'm like just don't touch my neck just don't touch it so yeah and he wasn't being he thought he was just around and stuff but yeah so anyway hmm doctors is difficult to hurt surgery to go through oh great huh all right well Susan yes he he could get medicaid on his own but Medicaid is very not useful and the doctors want it like if we knew worth about if we knew what the problem was and he was on Medicaid they would solve it but to get or they wouldn't solve it they would treat it but to identify the problem they won't ever get there the doctors just won't even take Medicaid patients in Colorado at all so that's you know we just I think when we we finally were getting frustrated with doctors and hospitals and ticking in general which is why we end up going to Mayo and which is why now we went to a specialist directly just because we don't want this to keep going on four more years but I'm sure something I I know something will come up that will make it possible if we discover that's the issue so yeah yeah Rebecca's right Medicaid doesn't cover anything and they won't even take doctors won't even take Medicaid here they won't even let you in the door they just it's it's a first when they say however many million people are covered with insurance now that doesn't mean anything if the doctors won't accept you all the doctors have to do is say no we don't take Medicaid so they don't even take them here so well yes did I miss the bread-making I missed the bread Mickey Stoke yes we both did but so I made English muffin bread and here's the final I don't know I could probably could since it's a show day right yeah I didn't know if does anybody noticed I was getting my girlish figure back how many pounds of you lost now twelve twelve I better lose a couple more before the coach calls me next week so she called me yesterday and I said I quit look you really yes what can we do to help motivate you I said I can't I have no motivation what do you think he's so good it tastes so good what do you think no it's really delicious did mom do a good job yay good mm-hmm yeah I see why doctors don't want to use it either yeah just because they don't get paid yeah bye Donna yeah I'm not knocking doctors who don't want to take Medicare I do not blame them at all because Medicaid doesn't pay anything if you're not gonna get paid for your work why would you that doesn't make sense you know why would you take people when you're not going to get paid it's not a charity organization for all of them and so so Catherine this is a cross-section it is super good red oh yeah we cook for the country here's what we could do we show Bellwood we could take him to Costa Rica and do a show about it and write it off on our taxes well it's one of our doctors ain't get a vacation Kansas was talking about going and practicing medicine in Costa Rica so he said yeah if you don't want to come down be like $400 for a surgery or something he said cuz down there they don't have to deal with the insurance or anything so they just do it all kashin so Brenda has been 12 pounds in three months but I it's been like four pounds in just over a week so I think I figured out had to do this better than I was doing in the first part basically I discovered this this doctor well it's a diet plan for this doctor where are you you she says he whatever you want on one day and then the next day you eat 500 calories and then the next day whatever you want again and there's a whole bunch of stuff about the research but the idea is your body doesn't feel like it's in starvation mode and you're likely to last on it more because you actually get to eat stuff you like on other days and so far it's been working great so hopefully hopefully that will continue to be that way now that I've told you I have to really thank you Mary Ann Thank You Brenda yeah I'm sorry I get my buns motivated somehow cuz I gotta get mine off too I think we have had the mineral and nutrient we have he's had so much this doctor was saying I can't believe how much stuff he's been tested for right and I'm not puttin he hasn't been tested for this anyway yeah Andrews asking is the recipe in the book yes page 87 in dining iodine also if you don't have the book right now I'm gonna share it loose where the recipe is on the site and then I'll probably share where you can get the book if you would like it so so Jack said he's gonna gobble the whole of so I think we got a thumbs up on that one yay for Josh to say yeah you know it's good cuz it's not it's not a sweet thing it's delay yeah it is very strange coming in alright guys any last questions and then we'll go what do you think oh stop oh yeah oh this is horrible and you're walking off with the rest of us easement come tell them what you really think of it you can't let him think you're a liar it's pretty nice oh yes shared in a while I don't think it's on it you can open a new Google tab and type in thrive slashes and I'm wait oh oh it's slash living let's try that and see work okay here's if you want the Thrive food you can go here to that link sorry I'm sorry and they're having a sale in November though and some foods are gonna be up to 50% off so that's gonna be a good deal were you talking about it during this show no but I just now somebody mentioned oh you still don't get me that pomegranate stuff that it actually it's right there so I have to say target I do I tried all that it fruits and man I was thinking about just keeping a can of the dehydrated pomegranate yogurt stuff in the car because it's really good but it's actually fruit but because it's freeze dry and it won't go bad in the car and I think my biggest reason for not eating more fruit is it's just too difficult to keep it isn't pre-atomic this one has this one is the yogurt thing yogurt right yeah but it's really good well I don't know where the can opener wait interesting huh why did why didn't Mayo test him for this well Mayo because of the test that they ran and because of the test that had been run before it pointed them in a certain direction and because he had been to a kidney specialist before and the kidney specialist said that this wasn't an issue they did not pursue that and lieu of the things that it appeared like that it was going to be but now that those things are cleared out it kind of came to a point of saying okay if the sleeping doesn't end up solving the problem then he's be reevaluated yeah so the first step in the reevaluating was what could we have missed and mayo doctor told me you know maybe he said we I didn't I see we didn't have a test for this was he tested for it before and I said yeah it was I said before it before and he said you might ask him if they would be interested in testing him again well tar looked at that test and she said I think this is saying this is kind of high of course part of the thing with Mayo is we showed up with a huge stack of papers so they didn't exhaustively read every detail but I think basically it's just the kind of thing that because we had been told it was Lyme they were sort of on a different track of what they were thinking at the time cat lover you can put your video in there we made you moderator so you can put a link to your channel in there um and when I look today it said that on this particular test that it's supposed to be six or under and his was 21 so that's why and I lift this up on the internet like most of this stuff we've been looking it up on the internet because yeah we just have okay so anyway the second a flashlight affair comes in I see a light behind it oh no the sun is shining in from the window it's just kind of gone down enough where it's kind of coming right in the window across so when Jack walks in it causes or a flash over here do you have something so in the oven yes I do all right nice thank you for joining us yes thank you please keep Vijay in your prayers that we will when do we do the when we do these tests do they know they're they're gonna call us on Tuesday with the information about some of the tests but the things that are really expensive he suggested we we call several places and get them okay he actually gave me some specific advice on how did I go she ate that so hopefully well Brandis you know Brenda says I'm down 34 this year that's awesome yeah what's the best way to store flour if you live in a place where there's bugs Susan um you need to start in the freezer long term if like Kansas Oklahoma Mississippi those places if you're in a place like Colorado it you can just store it out we don't have a bug problem here but that's how Oh Katrina's asking about my elbow mostly it's feeling better I'm I've been careful if I try to lift weights or something those of you who might remember before Ellie and I went to Ireland it was diagnosed as being torn which it apparently was but they said it was torn more like pulling a sponge apart as opposed to torn like tearing a paper in half so he said with enough time going by it might repair itself so it hasn't really been hurting lately I've not been pushing it too too hard but I think it's improving at least I'm fairly confident I won't have to have surgery on it so that'll be great yeah so I appreciate you asking I'm glad you remembered so thanks for ordering Jacqueline I appreciate it the food is really tasty it is I understand I totally get it but you know some people if it's convenient for them and so yeah that's what I do yeah so alright guys we'll see you later please have a good night I've been awesome drinking again yeah we're gonna be mowing tomorrow maybe they're our last meal we're getting snow on Monday 80% chance of snow okay and then I fly out Tuesday so let's hope it's not too bad so yeah oh yeah Laurie made the sermon prep bread yay all right guys we'll talk to you later have a good night see you on Monday for my last show before I leave so I'll be doing two shows what you've done oh yeah oh okay I'm sure we can work that out I just need somebody to bounce things off of because I'm a comic relief and if there's nobody to be the comic relief for but i'm boring all right have a good weekend let me know calm