#'goat' the deal instead of 'seal the deal' was pretty bad

[bil-daddy]

My hooves finally came in!! I hope I am a cute goat girl! I can clip clop around and maybe papa @mrazfellco would let me assist him in his shop and let me make treats for him and daddy @bil-daddy! (Happy bleat noise)

Shoes and goats, those have always been the twin passions of Bildad the Shuhite! Good on you, kid (human-goat-girl) for finding a way to combine the two.

Not sure Aziraphale'll let you into his bookshop wearing them, though--not sure he'd let anyone wearing hooves into the bookshop, to be honest, not even goats who can't exactly take them off.

But let's see what he says (I think the part of about you making him treats might sweeten the deal enough to seal goat it)

Hey @mrazfellco, can @nyx-w and her hooves have a job in your shop? She says she'll make you treats...

[rookieinbflat]

New Territory, 2

Open Heart - Ethan x MC (Levin Stern)

Summary: Ethan navigates a day of activities with an difficult yet endearing eight-year-old.

@writerapprentice

WC: ~2500

Thank God they had showered and gotten dressed before going to bed last night. Ethan had stayed true to his promise, and they had sex on almost every flat surface in the apartment last night, but now in the morning light, when he rolled over to gather Levin in his arms, where he would normally find her shoulders he instead found a small set of feet. Furrowing his eyebrows, he pushes himself up onto his elbows and gently pulls back the comforter, sunlight is streaming through the half-opened blinds and he can make out the small form of an annoyingly endearing eight-year-old lying between him and Levin, upside down.

He rubs his eyes before softly rustling her, “Isa, what are you doing sleeping upside down?” Ethan asks softly, and she almost robotically sits up before lying back down with her head on the pillow this time, she’s sucking her thumb and her eyes are still closed, Ethan gently pulls her hand away from her face, he’s determined for her to kick the thumb sucking habit by the end of this weekend.

“I had a bad dream, that room is scary cause it’s so big,” Isa mumbles and pulls Ethan’s arm back down so she can use his arm as a pillow and nestle into his side, like Levin, she’s a cuddler.

Ethan lies back down and pets her hair, he looks over to see that it’s only six thirty, they can sleep for a couple more hours before they get started for the day. Neither Ethan nor Levin could remember the last time they had a sleep in, or a whole weekend to themselves, well, almost to themselves. Between the two of them on the diagnostics team, Levin taking every professional development opportunity available to her and Ethan researching for his next book, the time between them had been stretched quite thin. Levin couldn’t even remember the last weekend they were both in the same city, she had been travelling so much she keeps an already packed bag in the wardrobe for convenience. They had spoken to Naveen and gotten the whole weekend off to look after Isa and they planned to make the most of it. The agenda is breakfast at Short Street, a morning spent at the aquarium, lunch in the park and then a movie. If Isa is anything like Levin at the aquarium, he’s in for a big day.

Levin turns over and reaches across Isa to squeeze Ethan’s arm, “She crawled in at around midnight,” she chuckles softly, her brown eyes twinkling with mischief, “though I’m not exactly sure when she decided to sleep upside down,”

Ethan stretches the arm that Isa is lying across to reach out and brushes Levin’s cheek softly, “I put the nightlight on for her,” Ethan says softly, “I bought that nightlight from the planetarium, she loved it,” Levin smiled fondly when he came home complaining of the prices at the museum gift store, he was so worked up about the blatant monetisation in science she thought a vein was going to burst.

“Nuh uh,” Isa pipes up from between them, “the constellations aren’t even right,” Levin purses her lips and tries to hold in a laugh as Ethan looks shocked, being told off by an eight-year-old is surely a first for him. Levin can't remember the last time she saw Ethan at a loss for words, he always knew what to say to his bosses, interns, patients, but this little three-foot-nothing mess had completely stumped him.

“Isa,” Levin pushes some hair from the over her eyes, “how about you take Jenner and Pascale to your room and get a bit more sleep before we head to the aquarium? I need to take a shower so I’m not all smelly and scare the fish off,” Take the bait kiddo, she thinks to herself, go and watch cartoons in bed. Isa happily agrees, she loves having the dogs sleep in the spare bed with her, and she’s already figured out how to operate Nick Jnr on the television in the spare room. She plants a big kiss on Levin’s cheek before walking out of the room, dragging a stuffed seal toy she always took with her on trips.

Levin quickly got up and locked the door, this babysitting was really bringing out some primal instinct in the two of them, they couldn’t wait to jump each other’s bones at any given chance. She jumps back on the bed and straddles Ethan, holding his hands over his head, “We’ve got about forty minutes before she gets bored,” Levin leans down and starts to lay kisses on his neck, nipping at the skin there as he runs his hands up the back of her thighs and rests them on her rear.

She rolls her hips against his own and she can feel him hardening against her, “I only need twenty for what I’m planning to do you,” he growls and squeezes her bum before moving his hands up to remove her top, leaving her in just boxer shorts. He aptly rolls them over and pins her beneath him, pushing down her shorts before returning to kiss her, running his tongue along the inside of her lip.

—————

“No, no, no, its nine am, you’re not getting chicken fingers,” Ethan slams the menu down on the table in front of him, Isa is sitting across from him and looks up in a treacherous stare, her brows furrowing, they’ve been going at this for five minutes. They stare at each other for a long time, Ethan’s face is deadpan serious, his fists are clenched and Isa looks like she’s about to set the whole place on fire.

“Chicken is healthy, its got good stuff,” she retorts, she’s stopped colouring now, engaged in this stare off.

Levin is sitting next to Isa, reading a book propped up against the centrepiece while sipping on a smoothie, she’s aware of the situation but doesn’t want to get involved, they’re both as stubborn as each other. Ethan breaks first, looking away from Isa and over to Levin, his icy blue eyes pleading. Help me, Levin, they say, this kid is crazy, he wants to say. Levin sits her book down on the table and picks up the menu, looking over options that Isa might be interested in, but once she’s made her mind up, it pretty hard to change it.

“How about some pancakes?” Levin suggests and points the option out on the menu, Isa shrugs indifferently, looking back down to her colouring, Levin pushes and picks up a purple pencil to draw a small butterfly on the corner of the page, “It says that it comes with whipped cream and strawberries,” take the bait kiddo.

“Okay, I’ll have the pancakes,”

Levin, 1. Ethan, 0. Levin smirks as Ethan’s jaw drops, he’s not used to being shown up by anyone, but this child is giving him a run for his money.

“Those pancakes will have ridiculous amounts of fructose in them, not to mention, how do we know the fruit is sustainable and non-GMO?” Ethan leans over the table and whispers to Levin, but she’s not paying any attention.

Levin reaches across the table and squeezes his hand, “Ethan, turn doctor mode off for a little bit,” she tells him gently, “just enjoy the weekend, I’m sure Isa won't die from a few irresponsibly farmed fruits,”

She says this to him a lot, Ethan, let go. Ethan, chill out. Ethan, wind down. It used to infuriate him to no end, it always seemed that she was condescending him when she said that. She said it like it's so simple like his brain is just a switch he can flick from an overbearing, over-ambitious doctor, to wild, reckless, hooligan. Then, Ethan realised, she knows it’s not easy, its a battle she struggles with every day, work mode, friend mode, home mode. All the different aspects of Levin’s personality that she tries to keep in a perfectly calibrated economy, but now, she was learning to embrace the unknown, to relax and stop worrying about the things she can't control. It was never easy, she knew that, but Levin also knew that Ethan wouldn’t try if he wasn’t pushed. Levin studied psychology in her undergrad degree, a discipline she’d been interested in since she was young. One night when they had first started dating, they were laid in bed and she opened up to him and Ethan realised why, she told stories about her mothers’ struggle with post-partum depression, her brothers bi-polar, and her own diagnosis with anxiety and borderline personality disorder. She was not looking for pity, nor did she say anything to suggest she was complaining. Levin looked back at her past with the idea that everything that happened made her the person she was today, and Ethan wouldn’t want his gorgeous Rookie any other way.

The waitress comes over to take their orders, Levin orders goats cheese and truffle mushrooms on toast, Ethan orders a vegetable chilli scramble and a double shot of espresso - he’s going to need it today. Ethan talks to Isa about his theories for his new book on diagnostic medicine, Isa pretends like she can understand a word he’s saying. They’re sharing a colouring page, two dogs chasing after a ball. Working on activities together always forces children to get along, Levin thinks to herself before returning to her book. Ethan looks up from the collar he’s colouring red and finds Levin looking at him with a small smile and he wonders what his Rookie is thinking about, he’s thinking about how much he loves her.

Just when Levin thinks she’s in the clear, there’s a three minute argument over Isa pouring more than a tablespoon of syrup over her pancakes, “It’s the syrup or the cream, Isa, I’m not playing games here - you can’t have both,” Ethan has his brows furrowed once again and Isa holds the bottle of syrup over her stack of pancakes almost threateningly.

Levin kicks him under the table and he lets out a quiet yelp, shooting a pointed glance across the table.

‘What was that for?’ He mouths silently, Levin raises her eyebrows and gestures towards Isa and her threat of syrup.

“Alright, I’ll strike a deal with you here,” Ethan turns back to Isa calmly and she gives him a confused look, “you can have more syrup on your pancakes, but you’re not allowed to have any soda at the aquarium,”

Isa thinks about it and puts the syrup down, “Nah, I want a big frozen drink when we go to the movies,” the word comes out sounding like moobies, she’s still struggling with her ‘v’ sounds.

Levin sighs, another crisis averted... for now.

—————

Levin and Ethan had survived the trip to the aquarium, well, maybe more Ethan had survived the trip to the aquarium. Levin and Isa had dragged him through every inch of the place, they could name every fish, every species of coral, every spec of dust in the tanks in front of them. Ethan had watched on in awe at Levin’s childlike wonder, they’d been there plenty of times before but each time was just as special as the last. He loved his beautiful fiancé with every cell in his body, he loved watching her love of the sea come to life when they were at the aquarium when she rattled off random facts in his ear, he thought his life couldn’t get any better.

For lunch, they sat under the warm sun, it was too cold in the shade and Boston had blessed them with a cloudless weekend in the bay. Levin laid with her head in Ethan’s lap, reading a novel about a conversation between a scientist and a monk about the meaning of life, Ethan flicked through a medical journal on his phone, Isa laid on her stomach, colouring in a super-duper-top-secret drawing that no one was allowed to see.

Now, Levin was getting Isa ready for bed, she had just had a bubble bath in their ridiculously oversized tub that could probably fit five people. Levin sat at the foot of their bed braiding Isa’s hair, trying to be gentle as Isa bounced around like a chihuahua on crack. “When I get old, I wanna have a big farm and I’m gonna have fifty dogs!” Isa tells the pair cheerily, she throws her arms out to the side, scaring poor Jenner, who’s not used to this level of energy in the house, “I’m gonna have a whole bunch of huskies,” she rattles on.

“While that sentiment is lovely Isa, I think you’re going to be very shocked at the associated veterinary bills,” Ethan ponders without looking up from his phone and Levin leans back to smack him on the chest. Of course, he is going to burst an eight-year-olds bubble with the serious realities of adult life.

Levin looks over at Isa sincerely, “I think that sounds freaking awesome and I am going to visit you all the time,” Levin loves dogs, she would have ten if she could, “alright your hair is done, it’s time for bed. Cmon, I’ll tuck you in,”

Isa shoots up from the floor, “No! I want Ethan to tuck me in,” it sounds more like ‘Eefan’ than it does anything else.

Levin turns back to a slightly shocked Ethan, but he recovers quickly, placing his phone down on the side table and rising off the bed. She puts the hairbrush on the dresser and watches as Isa grabs Ethan’s hand and leads him to tuck her into bed.

As Ethan is tucking her into bed and putting on the nightlight, Isa reaches into her rucksack beside the bed, pulls out a sheet of paper and hands it to the doctor. Ethan recognises it as the menu from the cafe this morning, he’s about to ask Isa why she kept it when he turns the page over to find her top-secret drawing from earlier. It’s a picture of the five of them - Levin and Ethan with Isa between the two, all holding hands, and Jenner and Pascale on either side.

Ethan tucks Isa in and leaves a soft kiss on her hair, “Thanks, Isa, I think I’m going to put this one on the fridge,” she smiles and rolls over in bed.

He walks out into the kitchen and places the picture underneath their schedules, it almost feels like it's his own daughters drawing that he’s sticking up on the stainless steel appliance. Ethan had never thought about having a family. When he began his career in medicine, he had accepted that the hospital was going to be his only family. When he met Levin, he had grown fond of the idea that she would be his family for the rest of his life. Now they were looking after Isa and he knew he wanted more, he wanted a family of his own.

[vadnyl]

Major Discovery: BotW’s Adventure Log = Link’s Diary?!

SERIOUSLY.

(Spoiler Alert)

At this point, our beloved game Breath of the Wild has been out for around half a year already. If you have played the game, you are probably very familiar with the Adventure Log feature in BotW that helps you keep track of all your missions and side quests. Or else its pretty much impossible to remember if you were catching chickens for this guy or collecting weapons to show that kid who’s boss.

But here’s the thing- Have you ever thought about the Adventure Log’s origin? Who or what is helping Link keep track of his missions?

If your answer is the Sheikah Slate or the “system”, which is what I’ve always thought, I’m gonna go ahead and assume you own an European/American copy of the game. Because apparently, in the Japanese version of the game, there is evidence that shows that LINK is the one who wrote the adventure log to keep track of his own journey.

“Ok… So what?”

So Link wrote the Adventure Log. Big deal. It’s not like this is gonna change the gameplay in any way.

…True. However, Link didn’t JUST record his missions in the Adventure Log. According to the Japnese version, Link would often type up some of his own thoughts and comments on what he was doing aside from his current objectives. This could give us a deeper insight of Link’s character.

Here’s an example:

This is what shows up after you complete The Hero’s Sword quest. The content of the two versions are very similar, but notice the use of “自分” (myself) in pic 1. This is evidence that the adventure log is written by Link, who’s talking about himself in first person narrative, instead of “the system”. With that in mind, the Japanese version can be translated to:

(I) Finally retrieved the legendary Master Sword. (I) Don’t know if it’s just an illusion, but the sword itself seems to be delighted about this.

To this moment, Princess Zelda is still inside Hyrule Castle, fighting to suppress the Calamity.

She is still holding on to the faith in me, believing that I will definitely come for her…!

But with the power (that I have) now, can she really be saved (by myself)…?

You see what they did there?

The English version replaced every first person pronoun Link has used with “you”!

As someone who owns an American copy, and has never set the system language to Japanese, I was absolutely SHOCKED when I was told about this (credits at the end).

Remember how we could find diaries of NPCs all across Hyrule? Link’s was right under our noses this whole time!

Now that you know about this, does your adventure log seem a bit different from before?

(I) finished visiting all 13 of the locations in the old pictures. I remembered everything I’ve been through together with Princess Zelda.

In those memories (of mine), Princess Zelda always strived to complete the task burdened onto her…

Even if it’s just a moment sooner, (I) want to save her as quickly as possible

(I) want to see her smile again, with these eyes (of my own).

The translation on this one is just OFF. I can’t believe the English version completely omitted the last part, and replaced it with some kind of mission instruction.

Link has been fighting all this time to see Princess Zelda’s smile again with his own eyes.

 ...*sniff*

Not to mention those side quest logs. Once you realize that all of the entries were written by Link himself, the seemingly trivial information recorded in those suddenly opens up so many more hidden sides of Link. It basically re-introduced Link as someone with normal human emotions instead of the silent hero depicted throughout the game.

The caring Link, who was worried about a girl he only met twice for putting herself in danger:

…(I) ventured inside and found part of the Royal Guard’s Series, famous among equipment collectors.

When those were shown to Parcy, the traveler at the stable, her curiosity about it seem to be provoked more than ever (by me). (I) Hope she won’t do anything reckless…

The compassionate Link, who felt glad for other peoples’ happiness:

…

As a sign of appreciation for bringing the town together and as compensation for the work done (by me), a hefty amount of gems that were unearthed during the town’s construction were given by Hudson (to me).

(I) wish the couple could live happily ever after.

The reckless Link, who apparently felt thrilled when he managed to knock out some monsters with his new companion:

(I) captured the giant horse in Taobab Grasslands

So that’s why. It’s indeed a really big horse. It trampled whatever kind of monster in its way with ease when it galloped. That was really cool.  

When it was brought back to Straia (by me), he was very surprised.

Link the foodie, who carefully noted down new recipes he learned along the way for future use: 

(I) brought Kiana the goat butter and hearty blueshell snail required for cooking seafood paella. She shared some of the dish (with me) as thanks!

/////Recipe/////

The playful Link, who tried to mimic the way Gorons speak- by adding “goron” at the end of every sentence- after he passed the Test of Will and became one of the bros:

……

Ah… (I) kinda want to write down Kabetta’s Bro Motto, but there’s not enough space goron?

That’s too bad goron…

The empathetic Link, who felt nervous for the guy in this side quest, then relieved when the couple finally got together:

…and… THIS:

The last line on the left is the Japanese equivalent of What the heck…

I guess the statue is a bit too weird even for our great adventurer.

Finally, we have the entry that shows up after you complete the DLC trial:

(I) finally conquered the merciless Trial of the Sword.

……

(I believe that) Princess Zelda would be quite happy about how much I’ve improved

As we all know, Breath of the Wild is a game that focuses a lot on the freedom given to the players. Even the main story line is broken down into the form of memories, waiting for the players to find. As the players venture on into the wild, they would eventually find the information they need to learn about this world. The amazing amount of details you can find about Hyrule and its people is an important reason why BotW is so attractive.

On the contrary, the info available about our protagonist is very limited. The only piece of description that directly describes Link is in Zelda’s diary, where she points out that he is a very quiet person, and that’s it for our hero.

…NOT!!

Link had always had the most extensive character description. Right under our noses.

Nintendo got us. They got us GOOD.

But now we know.

SIX months after the game’s launch.

…Better late than never.

End.

P.S.: Fun fact about BotW Link- he seems to like the sand seal game a lot. Of all the entires about racing minigames, the sand seal game is the only one where Link wrote “(I’ll) try to get a better score next time!”

He’s so adorable I can’t //////

CREDITS

Disclaimer: I did not discover this.

This discovery was made by a Chinese gamer @atomaruU about a week ago. To make sure that her theory is correct, she cross referenced the English version of the game, only to discover that the language is completely emotionless and robotic. Therefore, to allow more people to see who Link REALLY is, I was asked to write this post based on the Chinese article she published. 

Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/atomaruU

Tweet Link: https://twitter.com/atomaruU/status/902172455661211649

Chinese article Link: http://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404145837893616605

Pic credits: @lulubuu0609 (She’s an amazing artist btw check out her blog)

Hope you enjoyed this :3    

[survivormontenegro]

Episode 12: “Phase One: Get the Grandma’s Boys Back Together” - Jones

I have thoughts.

1 I still feel bad for telling Tom to fuck off but also,,,,, I don’t ???

2 I hate that I’m the one who has to apologize to *****these men***** when they were the ones who apparently threw me under the bus in the first place

3 I miss Julia

Ok I don’t feel like doing the number thing anymore that shits dumb.

Um if Mitch is gonna let an alliance slide through the cracks again he’s not playing hard like he said, he’s just playing dumb and out of fear. Benj is probs gonna do whatever Mitch says tho so maybe it’d be better sooner or later to get one of them out before we split up the Jason/Tom/Ali trio

Speaking OF,, Julia went out saying that that trio is the biggest threat to win, but that’s only true about like,,, only Ali SKSKKDKF to me it’s kinda clear that Jason and Tom are Ali’s goats and they’re gonna be the easiest to beat for him in a F3/2 situation. Ali is by far the biggest threat to win and probably has been since Alex got voted out. Bc who doesn’t love Ali yk??? It’s gonna be hard to get him out but I feel like at least my 100% people (Caeleb and Mo as of this vote) would be down to vote him if he was the biggest threat.

Um also ??? These guys REALLY think Alex left with the durmitor idol???? Which is SO shocking because I cannot keep a secret for my life and I’m so easy to read. But um that’s a plus for me tho so woohoo? I’m not gonna tell anyone else ab it tho Bc,,,, obviously. This cast is messy as fuck I don’t want anyone else that I DONT trust to know about it. So I’m happy that my little inner durmitor triangle are the only ones that know.

I think this is mostly me rambling at this point so i’m gonna sign off I think.

okay so I really did a crap job of confessing last round, so I have a lot of catch-up to do.

so first off, i think i already confessed about this, but i have TWO IDOLS NOW jklasdfaf, the budva idol and the merge sapphire idol. like assuming i play them right, i can fast track myself to F6 already, which is SO EXCITING.

also... last vote was such a mess. so after the last vote, where i was left out-ish, in that Jones/Caeleb/Benj told me what was happening, but don't know that each other told me. Me and Julia (who was truly left out) talked, and I was genuinely hoping to group up with her. Benj suggested a F4 of me/him/Tom/Julia last round, and I was SO DOWN. Like I've genuinely wanted to work with Julia all season, I should have told her about the Alex vote, but I've been with her this whole time, so its frustrating what happened next.

So... I'm on call and Mo/Mitch tell me to vote Julia, and I agree, knowing I'm lying because I'm in a chat with Jason/Julia/Tom where we are trying to vote off Mo or Jones. But then Mo being shady, and I literally told Julia this to, tells Julia that everyone is voting her out, and Jones says Tom is who threw Julia's name out.

Julia. Goes. Nuclear. She goes on call, outs the alliance, says we are all shady and tries to blow up our games. I'm REALLY frustrated that she did that, because Mo/Mitch were literally voting her and we were stopping it, but she let them mist her. Also... I didn't want to vote Tom or Julia, they are both outsiders, as am I, and we needed each other. Tom/Julia were both not apart of the Jules vote, we just had a fight amongst the outsiders which... dumb.

Once Julia did that, I was sure Tom was gone, I was totally sure. But Tom managed to flip Mitch, which good for him. But I don't know how he did that, getting Mitch to vote with me, when Mitch has been paranoid about me above everyone else. But now... Mitch will likely be suspicious of me, Jones/Mo will know for sure that I'm targeting them, and I'm no closer to breaking up that group.

So now I'm confident I'll need to use the idol to fracture that group. A scenario I could see happening and working, is next round maybe Mitch/Jones/Mo/Benj and maybe Caeleb vote me, Tom/Jason vote Jones/Mo and I vote the other, which means my sapphire idol can both save myself and break up that group. I'll have to stay tuned on that one though.

This reward challenge flash game is very annoying, so I'm probably not gonna win. Considering how much I popped off for the last immunity, if I win two in a row, it might cause me problems. Hopefully the immunity challenge is do-able, because if I win that, I'm guaranteed a spot in FINAL SEVEN YAY.

I haven't done one of these in a while, but ideal bootlist moving forwards:

Jones > Mitch > Jason > Caeleb > Mo > F3: Me/Tom/Benj or F2: Me/Benj

And if I am voted out eighth, the order in which I would vote for people at FTC:

Mitch > Jason > Caeleb > Benj > Jones > Tom > Mo

also just wanna stay like... how much i stan jones? like we literally have not voted together pretty much at all across merge... but we stan?

she is just so much fun, like our game relationship... is fragile at best, but on a personal level I am and will remain a Jones WARRIOR.

Omg I no longer have the most votes cast for me cuz now Tom does. Even though 2 of Tom's votes are HIMSELF the bafoon.

I was not surprised to see Julia go last tribal. I of course did not vote for her, but her craziness kinda sealed her deal. Plus theres the curse within the curse of where someone who gets cursed initially also goes home (Alex, Jules, Julia). Lmao. But seriously, I voted Tom and he got really sad because we had a good thing going, but at the time no one was willing to be cemented on Julia, but Mo and Jones were cemented on Tom. So I went with the "confidence" and voted what I knew was more certain. However, Ali and Benj and Mitch all voted Julia. Ali and Benj are my closest allies so they let me know before tribal, but Mitch is a flip always been so. The two of them (Ali and Benj) are playing very well which makes me nervous. I either have to take control back in this game or start voting them off, even if that makes me a little cut throat. My other option is to let them vote off Mo next time (Benj's idea) and then have them drag me along and lose in FTC. Instead I think I'm going to get Mo, Jones, and Me to vote Mitch next round (taken he doesn't have immunity), with maybe Ali and maybe Tom but I think 4 might be enough. Then next round I work with Benj and Jason and Ali and Tom to vote out Mo. That puts me back in a strong position (I THINK BUT TRULY IM NERVOUS WITH ANY VOTE AND ALL VOTES IM JUST PRETENDING TO KNOW WHAT IM SAYING). I just hope Tom doesn't have it out for me after last time. That could make things hard, and I'll have to navigate trying to get Benj to wait to vote Mo and telling Jason, Benj, and Mitch a wrong vote.

I’m genuinely feeling confident in my score of 10 guesses, I don’t know what’s considered a good score but for me this is stunnin

Oh Jones, Caeleb and Benj tied for a score of 8? That’s cool... Happy for them... In all seriousness though I think Ali might of screwed himself over by doing the challenge drunk because this may very well be our lucky chance to get out a comp beast.

So... I didn't win immunity, which is a shame, but also probably good news, since if I won three challenges in a row, people would likely try and vote me at every opportunity.

I feel like I'm going to need to play one of my idols this round, which... is unfortunate, but also like kinda exciting? I think the ideal situation is that I play the sapphire idol, maybe in a way that since Tom/Jason have exposed votes, if Caeleb/Benj/Mitch/Jones/Mo vote me, and Tom/Jason vote one of Jones or Mo, I vote the other and send them home with one vote.

However, I'm not 100% sure I'll be getting votes, just since Caeleb and I are super close, so I don't see him super wanting to vote for me. I feel like if the plan was to vote Ali, Mitch would tell Benj, who would tell me, or Caeleb might not be down. Regardless, I'm very much expecting to have to pull out an idol tonight!

If I get my way tonight, I want Jones and Mo split up. As people, we love them both, but as players right now, they are too connected and have too much sway. If I got my way, I would want Jones out, since I think she is the glue between the Caeleb/Mo/Mitch, so would defo be worth getting out.

Just realised that if I play the sapphire idol, it gets rehidden which I do not want, so I might just have to play the budva idol if I'm getting votes tonight, which is frustrating but I'll have to deal with it sighhhh.

ding dong the witch is dead (ur welcome johnny)

confessing this because my brain is SO BIG, and I clocked this on call. Caeleb is the boyfriend of Matt who just won Kuwait. MY MIND IS SO POWERFUL

I've been meaning to write this all day but Tom fell asleep on call and I've been distracted the whole time. SO here we are

I'm also typing this out with Google whatever the f*** is Google voice??? So it might sound a bit robotic just bare with me here LOL.

but literally yesterday while I was doing the trash at work I was brainstorming probably one of my favorite moves I've ever and probably will ever accomplish ever?? I'm very excited about it, because it seems like it's going underway,,, like it might work?? and knowing my luck this shouldn't be happening but here we go,,

So phase one: get the Grandma's boys back together. So like,,, me Caeleb and Mo. we basically already trust each other with our entire hearts anyway and besides the Alex but we've stuck together on everything? So we might as well get the band back together you know what I mean? also they're probably the three people I trust the most and the three people that I really want to go to the end with for sure so that's how I'm feeling about that. Check that off the list.

Phase 2: get Mitch and Benj to possibly spill who the other side is voting for and or get them to vote for Tom or Jason. because quite frankly Benj and Mitch are a very obvious power duo and have floated through the middle the entire time and they've been together the entire game so it feels kind of obvious that they're working together. Plus benj told Mitch the plan about voting out Caeleb premerge, so it just feels like it's been a thing forever. call go to be honest thinking about it now, I feel is though we're going to figure out who Jason and Tom are voting for anyway because they do have to vote in advance? So as long as Benj and Mitch vote for who we tell them for, then phase 2 will be a success.

Phase 3: grandma's boys vote,,,,, ALI!!!!! sorry to say, Ali is by far the biggest threat in the game and probably has been for a long time? Not only is he amazing in challenges , but he has like one the best social games ?? Ever???? So no one would Want to vote out Ali, but it's like,,, the best move I think to do now . Esp bc he doesn't have immunity.

And then,,,,, optional step 4: play my idol. That way,,, we can guarantee that a tie scenario doesn't happen,, and then in the split Ali would theoretically go w 3, but if an idol is played either way on them, one of those two will go. SO YA HOPEFULLY THIS PLAN ACTUHLY WORKS HAHAHAHAHA

Update!!! So like I think im in an ok spot. I was the sole vote to send home Julia because I found her unpredictable and she voted me the round previously so.... This vote should be between tom and one of jones/mo/caeleb because they are an obvious trio and im pretty sure one of them has an idol. If there is an idol played and it is flushed, the trio of mo/caeleb/jones is broken up. If it isnt flushed, we intend to do a 3-3-2 with Benj Ali Tom Jason and I splitting between two of them. Id prefer if Jones stays because I feel like I have the best connection with her out of the three, but I also fear that they have gotten closer and closer ever since we have merged. We will find out what happens shortly because as of now, there is still no definitive plan

[tipsycad147]

Faerie Lore

What is a Faerie?

Is she a species of supernatural creature placed somewhere between humankind and the Divine?  Is she an elemental creature?  Is she an angel, a devil or a fallen Goddess?  Is she willing to help humans or is she indifferent or even unkind to mortals?  Where did she come from?

Lewis Spence in British Fairy Origins equates Faeries with the dead and brings plenty of evidence to support his theory.  The fairy knolls near churchyards were supposed to be the places where the soul of the dead lodged waiting to rejoin their bodies on the Day of Judgement.  Their small size is accounted for by the primitive idea that the soul is a miniature replica of the person it's attached to.Ban Sidhs' are sometimes described as ghosts.   A less common belief was that the faeries were actually humans,  founded on the memory of a more primitive race driven into hiding by the invaders, lurking in caves or fens.

Another view held that the fairies were an intelligent species, distinct from humans and angels. In alchemy, in particular, they were regarded as elemental’s, such as gnomes and sylphs, as described by Paracelsus. This is uncommon in folklore, but accounts describing the fairies as "spirits of the air" have been found popularly.

Could the Faeries be a class of "demoted" angels?  One popular story held that when the angels revolted, God ordered the gates shut; those still in heaven remained angels, those in hell became devils, and those caught in between became fairies. Others held that they had been thrown out of heaven, not being good enough, but they were not evil enough for hell. This may explain the tradition that they had to pay a "teind" or tithe to Hell. As fallen angels, though not quite devils, they could be seen as subject of the Devil.

Another belief was the fairies were completely devilish.  This belief became much more popular with the growth of Puritanism. The hobgoblin, once a friendly household spirit, became a wicked goblin. Dealing with fairies was in some cases considered a form of witchcraft and punished as such in this era.

The last theory is that the faeries are dwindled gods or nature spirits. Many of the Irish tales of the Tuatha Dé Danann refer to these beings as fairies, though in more ancient times they were regarded as Goddesses and Gods. The Tuatha Dé were spoken of as having come from Islands in the north of the world, or, in other sources, from the sky. After being defeated in a series of battles with other Otherworldly beings, and then by the ancestors of the current Irish people, they were said to have withdrawn to the sídhe (fairy mounds), where they lived on in popular imagination as "fairies."

The term Faerie covers Scandinavian elves,  Highland Sidhe,  Irish Tuatha de Danann, Welsh Tylwyth Teg, the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court, the Wee Folk, Good Neighbours, Trooping Faeries and Solitary Faeries.  They can be human size, three foot high or very tiny.  There are domestic Faeries and wild Faeries.  Some live underground and some live in streams, lochs or the sea. Some different names for faeries are Fane, Farisees, or Pharisees, Fary , Feeorin ( a collective noun for faeries), Feruers  Ferries , Ferrishyn ,and Frairies

The Leanan Sidhe    

Faerie folk are counterparts of humankind, there are children and old people among them, they practice all kinds of trades and handicrafts, they possess cattle, dogs, arms and they require food, clothing, and sleep.  They are very skilful  at crafts and have been known to teach their skills to humans. They can become ill and they can be killed.  Here is an account of a faerie funeral seen by William Blake:

"a procession of creatures of the size and colour or green and grey grasshoppers, bearing a body laid out on a rose-leaf, which they buried with songs, and then disappeared."

Though the Fey are fiercely independent, there are some examples of their dependency upon mortals. They steal babies, children and adults, attesting to the fact that the faerie stock needs an infusion of mortal blood to keep it strong.  They also have a penchant for stealing grain and implements and like to use human mills and human fires.   Faeries practice "Borrowing" which means they'll filch food, tools and even cattle, but never repay the "loan". Not only do Faeries borrow from humans, but they will also lend utensils or food to humans expecting only the return of the fair equivalent of what they have lent, (humans ARE expected to pay back items borrowed from Faeries) neither less nor more.  If more is offered they'll take offence and never loan to you again.  

Faerie Blue Healing Spell

Butterfly Faerie

Good Faeries, Bad Faeries

 Nowadays the Fey Folk are looked upon as pretty and benevolent, we all want to believe that Faeries are lovely winged creatures that happily play and frolic in our gardens and forests spreading light, happiness and love to all.  Unfortunately, the Fey, like all creatures, are complex and intent on living their lives.  All Faeries can be formidable, if not downright scary if they are injured or insulted.  One must tread very carefully when dealing with them.   Faerie folk have been divided into two different types by humans: Evil Faeries belong to the " Unseelie Court" and are never under any circumstances favourable to humans.  Good Faeries belong to the "Seelie Court"  and are considered to be kindly towards humans and may give gifts of bread and seed corn to the poor and help with tasks.  But even the Seelie Court Fey will readily avenge any injury or insult. Dryad Magick

Faerie Wings

Not all faeries have wings!  Apparently, faeries don't fly by means of their wings (if they have them), they instead "levitate" by using a magick password, or they fly through the air on transformed ragwort stems, twigs or bundles of grasses using them like witch's broomsticks.

Faerie Garb

Green and red are the official Faerie colours. The Faerie lads may wear green coats with red caps or yellow breeches with blue coats and Faerie ladies may wear long green or blue dresses with red slippers. They by no means have a dress code however and have been seen sporting fox furs, plaids, leaves and moss, flowers spangled with dew and gauze, lambskin, pheasant's feathers and topknots in their hair.  They may also be completely naked as preferred by water-sprites and nymphs.

Faerie Animals

The Fey had two types of faerie animals, the first type are wild animals that exist in their own right for their own purposes, the second are domesticated animals bred and used by the Fey.  It's sometimes very difficult to distinguish between these two types because the Faeries often allow their animals to roam freely.

Dogs - Watchdogs called Cu Sith, and black dogs which are both wild and domesticated, used for hunting

Horses - Have the power to shape-shift and are used in Faerie Raids.  Very ferocious and wild!

Cattle - An Elf Bull was a welcome visitor to any mortal herd, but some Elf Bulls could be ferocious.

Cats - Considered to be almost Faeries in themselves.

Selkies - Seal people whose natural form is human and who live in an underwater world and put on seal skins so that they mas pass through the two worlds of water and air.

Goats & Deer - Thought to possibly be the Fey in their true shape.

Birds - Particularly eagles, ravens, owls and wrens

Trout & Salmon - Considered to be Faerie creatures.

http://sacredwicca.jigsy.com/faeries

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #116: BETRAYAL!

October, 1973

Here we go! Part three of the Avengers/Defenders War! Well, technically parts 2 and 3. For some reason.

So you just know that as soon as she tells him not to fall in the volcano that both he and the Surfer are going to be wrestling around in it like its mud.

Lil’ Vision doesn’t approve of Wanda being so close to an active volcano but this is only the typical cover exaggeration. In the comic, her situation is a lot stupider.

And lets just say that its not the only way in which this cover is telling fibs.

So, last time: the Avengers had decided to pay a visit to Dr. Strange to get him to explain the strange disappearance of Black Knight.

This time:

Dr. Strange politely but firmly discourages any visitors.

(Also happy ten year anniversary, Avengers!)

But seriously. Dr. Strange put a spell on his door so that if any touched the latch, they’d be sent hurtling through the air. Its safe to say that he probably wasn’t expecting any packages today.

This also doesn’t do much to endear the Avengers to the doctor.

Although what gets Iron Man’s goat is that Dr. Strange claims to do magic stuff. Which is dumb. Magic is fake and dumb. But rigging repulsors or whatever scientific explanation to your door doesn’t inspire trust.

Thor just starts banging on the door. And Dr. Strange’s manservant Wong answers to tell the Avengers to fuck off. The doctor is busy with vital research and does not wish to be disturbed.

Thor really doesn’t like when doors are slammed in his face, so he huffs and puffs and CHOOM!s the door down with Mjolnir.

If the Avengers are so impetuous that mystical warnings and straight up telling them to get lose won’t work, Wong will just beat them up.

Except Mantis. Mantis happens. Bye Wong.

And then as the door Mantis just flung Wong into opens, "several Avengerial eyes snap wide at what they see within that darkened chamber.”

There’s some new vocab for you.

And then a new spell blows all the Avengers out of Strange’s house.

But the Avengers have seen enough. Their Avengerial eyes saw the Black Knight, turned to stone, with Dr. Strange determined to keep them out.

So Thor yells at nothing that the Avengers aren’t licked, nosiree, they’ll be back once they figure out how to fight all this stupid magic.

Meanwhile inside Dr. Strange’s house, he has no idea what has been going on with the Avengers at all. He knows there was a disturbance but the mystic seal he placed around this room took care of it and that’s all he cares about.

Let me just state here that if he had talked to the Avengers now, several issues of story and a / War would not have happened.

Anyway, Strange recaps the Evil Eye for the other Defenders and for the readers. The Evil Eye belonged to Prester John of Avalon, who was accidentally woken up from a 700-year snooze by the Human Torch and Wyatt Wingfoot.

And then Johnny stole the Evil Eye because he believed it could be used to destroy the Great Refuge that Crystal of the Inhumans was imprisoned within.

Except the Evil Eye was building up energy toward an explosive overload so Prester John and Wyatt Wingfoot had to follow the Human Torch and shoot the Evil Eye out of his hand with a polarizer gun.

And then it exploded. The Evil Eye, I mean.

But instead of being destroyed, it was split into six identical fragments and scattered to Osaka, Japan; Rurutu, French Polynesia; Ft. Wayne, US; Los Angeles, Also US; Monterrey, Mexico; and Sucre, Bolivia.

Apparently this was how the Evil Eye was designed by the people of Avalon. So that anyone who used the device at full power wouldn’t get to use it a second time.

Long story short, Johnny Storm ruins everything.

Anyway, six fragments. Six Defenders. Pretty self-explanatory really. Hawkeye and Valkyrie will take the southern two fragments. Silver Surfer and Namor will cover Rurutu and Osaka respectively. Hulk will jump hella high to Los Angeles. And Dr. Strange will guard the Black Knight and head to Ft. Wayne when another Defender returns to take his post.

And then they split up.

But meanwhile: the villains. Dread Dormammu and also somewhat dreaded Loki.

But Loki is having second thoughts. First, Dormammu hasn’t restored his vision yet. But second, it just struck Loki that if Dormammu conquers Earthrealm, he’ll have access to Asgard. And Loki may be a villain but he’s a proud Asgardian as well. Clearly only he should conquer Asgard. Not some dude with his head on fire.

And since he’s currently banned from Asgard, that only leaves one person he can turn to for help. But boy does it make him Thor to consider.

So Loki projects himself in front of the Avengers. Not that he can tell. He’s blind. But he loudly requests that whoever he’s talking to bring his half-brother to him.

He doesn’t bother explaining who his half-brother is but luckily he did appear in front of Thor.

Thor immediately starts yelling at him about deceit and trickery. Because family.

But he’s wise to do so because Loki can’t help himself. He lies. Because otherwise he’d have to admit some amount of tiny blame for everything. And that’s ridiculous.

Instead, he tells the Avengers that the Defenders have hatched a plot that threatens the universe. And describes them in the least flattering way possible.

Dr. Strange, who hides himself away from most mortal men.

Valkyrie. Remember her? She kicked your asses.

Hulk. I mean, everybody knows he hates humanity.

Namor. He’s always declaring war on the surface world and yelling Imperious Rex.

Silver Surfer. Man, he is so bitter at being stuck on Earth. Bitter enough for evil? Yes. That exact amount.

And finally, Hawkeye. Would you instantly believe a trickster god telling you that your friend has turned against you? When it’s Hawkeye you would!

Before his projection ends, Loki tells them where the Defenders have headed. But can’t or doesn’t tell them which Defender go where. So the Avengers pretty much split up arbitrarily.

Captain America goes to Japan. Because he hasn’t been to Japan in a while.

Wanda and Vision will go to Rurutu. Probably to scope it out for their honeymoon.

Swordsman will go to Bolivia. He feels bad about the time that he tried to conquer South America.

Mantis wants to stay by Swordsman’s side but she has a hunch that Black Panthe will need her aid at Ft. Wayne.

Thor will go to California. Its the most central location so if any of the other Avengers need help, he’ll be close at hand.

And Iron Man will go to Mexico because its the last one left.

And then they split up. In... I can’t tell if those are Quinjets or not.

So we reach part 2. Er, chapter 3: The Silver Surfer vs. the Vision and the Scarlet Witch!

Nice logo face off.

So anyway, with Tomie the board, Silver Surfer got to Rurutu in no time but now he’s been flying around the island dozens of times without being able to find the Evil Eye fragment.

And then some probably offensive natives start worshiping him as a shiny volcano god.

He’s not all about that but them mentioning the volcano reminds him that the volcano is the one place he has not checked. So then he takes off.

The natives figure he’s trying to lead them somewhere and follow him.

Silver Surfer can fly through stars so a volcano isn’t that much of a big deal for him, in terms of just wading into the lava. Still, the Evil Eye isn’t going to be easy to find. He’ll have to handle this delicately by blasting the shit out of the volcano.

Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch and Vision arrive over Rurutu. In a weirdly flying saucer model of Quinjet. I swear, the Quinjets change every time I see them.

Despite the plausibility of Loki’s story, a story told by a trickster god mind you, Vision is having doubts. He doesn’t want to attack without exploring peaceful alternatives and maybe giving conversation a chance.

So he flies off to scout ahead.

Scarlet Witch thinks he’s being too logical. The pieces all fit together. The Black Knight was taken away by Dr. Strange and others in costumes. The Hulk, Namor, and Valkyrie have all been Avengers foes before, Silver Surfer has struck out at mankind in melodramatic snits as often as he has helped it, and Hawkeye is Hawkeye and believes that the Avengers have wronged him.

Meanwhile, Silver Surfer accidentally triggered an eruption by blasting the shit out of the volcano. 

The eruption blows Scarlet Witch’s Quinjet out of the sky. Because she was flying way too close to an active volcano.

Vision spots her falling and swoops down to catch her, talking the whole time about how he’ll be able to save her if he acts rather than talks. Talking is a free action, Vision.

Setting her down on the ground, Vision sees that she has some second-degree burns and seared lungs but she’s not permanently damaged. And then he sees Silver Surfer crawling out of the volcano, wondering what’s going on.

And Vision flips his shit.

See, Scarlet Witch said he was too logical. But when it comes to times where she’s hurt or endangered, he’s a bit too emotional. So he goes from logical to livid in the space of three panels.

And he just tackles Silver Surfer right into the volcano.

I guess at full density, Vision can withstand lava.

Also, Silver Surfer is confused by what Vision is doing here and why Vision just tackled him into a volcano. But neither can hear the other over the roaring volcano. And as the caption box notes, waist-deep in molten lava is no place for a meaningful dialogue anyway.

I sort of disagree. If you could stand waist-deep in molten lava without dying, you should definitely have at least one conversation in such a place. If only so you could tell people that you did. Although you might have to yell.

Anyway, productive exchange of ideas is definitely not going to be happening here. Not with Vision trying to drown Silver Surfer in lava. Which is confusing on a number of levels. I mean, first, unless Silver Surfer is denser than molten rock, good luck keeping him under.  Second, does he even need to breathe?

Not that it matters because the Surfer summons Tomie to PLOW! right into Vision.

Not being much of an aggressive person usually, the Surfer decides to surf on out of there. But he runs into the crater wall due to the smoke.

This is not a proud moment for either of them, really.

And yet, kind of cool. Put it on a rock album cover.

Meanwhile, the definitely offensive natives have taken the volcanic eruption to mean that their shiny, shiny god needs to be appeased. And hey, they just so happen to have found a strange girl lying unconscious near the volcano. Shouldn’t look a gift sacrifice in the mouth.

They place her in the path of the lava flow. Once she’s sacrificed, then everything will be better forever.

Meanwhile inside the volcano, the dumb two continue to fight inside a volcano. A blast from Silver Surfer accidentally dislodges the Evil Eye fragment from where it was hidden, probably in the crater wall?

Both heroes leap and grab it and start wrestling over it.

Silver Surfer is frankly confused. Black Knight is an Avenger and a teammate of Vision. Why is he trying to prevent the Defenders from saving him?

Probably because you never told the Avengers, his teammates what happened to him, and blasted them out when they came looking for answers, leaving them vulnerable to lies from a god of lies making them assume the worst about you??

Seriously, how long has Black Knight been a hat rack in Dr. Strange’s sanctum? And at no point did he think to drop a line to the Avengers to explain what happened?

There’s a lot of coincidences that keep the heroes from talking - the accidental eruption completely souring Vision’s talkative mood, for one - but this all could have been avoided if Dr. Strange had done one, obvious thing!

Anyway, the Evil Eye (fragment) is thought activated and with these two unfriendly boys wrestling over it, the Evil Eye fragment responds with a powerful blast that rockets the two out of the crater.

Between running into the wall and this, things are getting pretty slapsticky considering that they’re wrestling inside a volcano.

Silver Surfer and the Vision race anew to grab the Evil Eye (fragment) but Vision spots Wanda in the path of the lava and successfully prioritizes.

While Silver Surfer grabs the Evil Eye fragment and absconds, Vision gets Scarlet Witch to safety.

And Vision can’t match Silver Surfer’s flight speed but if he can find the Quinjet radio in the Quinjet wreckage, he can warn the other Avengers that the Defenders are out for blood and must be met with full force!

And Silver Surfer rockets back towards New York so he can warn Dr. Strange and the other Defenders that the Avengers seek the Evil Eye for their own ends and will attack without cause! The Defenders must be ready to fight them to the death!

Womp womp

This is how we get misunderstanding fights. A lot of jumping to conclusions and bad timing.

I mean, I joke but its fairly believably set up. The Defenders lineup is almost tailor-made to make the Avengers suspicious of them. Half of the Defenders are people that the Avengers have fought before! Another one is their jerk friend who ragequit the team. Between that and the unexplained circumstances behind what happened to Black Knight (unexplained because Dr. Strange is absentminded or something), the rude way that the Avengers are given the brush-off when they come looking for answers, and Loki’s warning, the Avengers were primed to think the worst of the Defenders.

Its a little more inexplicable from the other side. Yeah, Vision did attack Silver Surfer out of nowhere. RIGHT AFTER Silver Surfer made a volcano explode in an area where Vision was. And he saw Vision with Scarlet Witch afterward.

Way to take no responsibility for your actions, Silver Surfer.

Although I get the sense that the Defenders will have their own reasons to be wary of the Avengers explored in later parts.

Actually, the Avengers/Defenders War reminds me a lot of JLA/Avengers. I’ll try to remember to explain my thoughts regarding that when we get to the end.

Next time we get three more chapters in the Avengers/Defenders War (which well and truly has earned its Avengers, Defenders, /, and War by this point! I mean, wrestling in a volcano happened...) and fights between Iron Man and Hawkeye as well as between Dr. Strange against Black Panther and Mantis.

Doesn’t seem that sense is going to prevail any time soon. Good news for people who like watching superheroes punch each other in the face.

[inexchangeforyoursoul]

chapter 13- that’s my lucky number. too bad it’s wasted on what’s p much filler with Robin lmao

“... that's cheating, you know.” Law took note of the lack of soft thuds and paper sizzles a few minutes ago; that's what made him check on her eventually, turning on his chair sideways.

Kat ignores the remark, and continues juggling the pocket watch mid-air as she teleports it above the other paper pile. Then does it again, and again. After a few more, she responds:

“You say that, but... I'm doing the same thing. Plus wannabe telekinesis, minus property damage. It's a win-win, if you ask me.”

“While you are not wrong, it will also be impossible to tell when you get it right,” he notes, leaning onto the back of the chair.

She shrugs. “Honestly, it doesn't make a difference until I can put my finger onto what's right whenever it works out in the first place.” That, and she's also having more fun with this godforsaken task like this. She has no watch of her own and there's no clock in his room that she's aware of, but she's dang sure the bells rang for noon a while ago. Started doing this right after... a little surprised it took Law so long to notice the change, though.

“...” After some delay, Law sighs and gets up. “Well, do as you like. I'm off to eat lunch.”

“I'll be going, too, then...” she muses. “As long as you're in the hall it's less likely that I run into Shachi. Would be... awkward after yesterday.”

“That it would be,” Law drawls with an amused expression. Having shoved the chair back in its place, he puts a hand under his chest.

“You really are hungry, huh?” Kat asks, ambling direction door herself.

“Guess so,” he replies. “Even though I ate a bit more for breakfast than it would have been necessary for your size... also felt sick for a while. Guess that was your routine speaking.”

“Duh,” Kat rolls her eyes at that. “How were you not in that state yesterday before walk, anyway? Also... I'm surprised you are hungry again? My body is low maintenance, after all,” she adds, wondering. He's had a proper breakfast, and she can get by easily with two mediocre meals a day plus some snacks...

“Yesterday I was wide awake as early as 4 am. I have the suspicion it's your blood pressure fucking you over with breakfast, now that I'm thinking about it,” he says, donning his hat.

“I could see that. Either way... my 'wolf days' hit every other week and I downed a whole pizza, a big plate of soup and spaghetti the other day, so that...” She drifts off; there is one thing she sometimes mistakes for hunger or stomach ache, and that's... “Umm...”

“What is it?” he asks, noticing her vaguely worried expression.

“Actually... I don't think it's your stomach,” she concludes. As Law takes some time to catch on, she adds “I mean the problem is more likely to be here,” pointing at her lower abdomen. This could very well be her uterus making its usual ruckus.

Hearing that, he takes a deep breath and looks around with weary eyes. How conveniently he forgot about all that... first things first, the pads. God, where did he--- or actually, she, even put that stuff?

Before he could start looking for the oversized bag, Kat has already lifted it and peeled the plastic skin off the bunch of clothes levitating in mid-air; the package they're looking for is poking out from right between the layers of shirts and hoodies. Law doesn't even need to move as she's done getting it and repackaging her clothes within a few seconds.

“Godspeed,” she sighs, opening the door as he snatches the pads. Doing so she notes that her neck is getting antsy over such trivial tasks again. Oh well. As they part ways at the entrance, she shouts after him; “See you later, will be on the other ship today if I'm not back.”

“Noted,” he groans, picking up speed towards his private bathroom. Yep, hit the nail on the head.

Boarding the Thousand Sunny, she runs into quite a few of the crew hanging outside despite the cloudy day. Kat also can hear Franky and Zoro doing their thing somewhere unseen, too. It's quite chilly... she should get something warmer from one of those drawers.

“Hi, guys,” she waves, looking out for Sanji while at it.

“Hi, Kat,” is what the council of Usopp, Luffy, Carrot and Chopper say in unison while discussing something with quite some zeal at the railing. Nami and Robin, who seem to be on their way inside, wave back; without further ado, she joins them.

“Hey,” she greets them again upon catching up. Nami just nods and hums as she's already engrossed in the fresh newspaper she's been holding.

“How's it going, Miss Kat?” asks the archeologist with a gentle smile on her face.

“Out on food hunt,” she replies, also breaking into a smile. Seeing Robin being pleased has this... odd effect on her; it's almost as if she was proud of herself. A foreign feeling, but even if she thinks of it as undeserved, it's nice to have. “It feels rude to ask, but do you think I could join you guys today? I'm trying not to anger Law and things... have also gotten awkward on the other ship.”

“Well, we've already finished... but if you'd like, we could ask Sanji for something and you can join us for dessert at the aquarium,” she responds, sprouting an arm to hold the door for Nami, who sings a 'thank you~ ♡'.

“That sounds great, actually.” She does like the place quite a lot, after all.

Arriving at the seats, she stops and Nami plops down immediately, while Robin talks into a door on the middle of the pillar that's definitely part of the ship's main mast; Kat can hear Sanji's enthusiastic voice echo from inside. Whatever's going on, he's been waiting for her arrival.

“What is this?” she asks stepping up to the woman, pointing at the mechanism.

“A small elevator for snacks. Cute, isn't it?” Robin smiles.

“Can't argue with that.” Practical, too... thinking about it, this is right under the kitchen. She peeks a little up the hole. “That's cool... stuff like this has always fascinated me, but I never really took the time to get into mechanics.”

“You should ask Franky or Usopp, I'm sure they'd love someone listen to their rambling,” she says, sitting onto a nearby chair. “You spend quite some time over here now, after all.”

Kat hums; she's right. She could pick up some technical stuff from those two... even botany from Usopp, her mother has a green thumb, after all. Might as well hit up Brook for fencing lessons, she's always wanted to try her hand at that... Could even ask Chopper (or Law, to be honest) some questions about medicine and such, Sanji for some simple recipes while he's still calm around her... the possibilities on this ship are near limitless and so very tentative. The excitement over it tickles her heart.

She has to find the courage and energy to engage any of them, though. But she knows herself better than to wait for that.

On the other hand... “That's a pretty good idea... maybe you could also share some cool stuff I don't know about?” She has little to no qualms chatting with certain people who she finds just... always so easy to talk to.

A small glint appears in Robin's eyes. “And what is it that you would want me to tell you?”

Kat furrows her brows while thinking. “Hard to pick... you know basically everything there is to know know, you know?” With that, she also sits down.

She laughs. “That's a stretch, but a flattering one.”

Before she could continue, the mechanism next to them is put into motion and once the elevator hits their level, a muffled 'bon appétit, my fair ladies~' resounds through the shaft. Or just the floor... he must have been too much into it and made a pose facing away. Either way, that was damn fast.

Robin takes out two sets of cake slices and what appears to be cocktails and passes one of them over to Nami a bit farther away through some extra limbs.

Noticing that, she looks up from her newspaper. “Robin, you really didn't have to...”

She just smiles back at her, then returns her attention to Kat, who has carefully lifted out the glass of orange juice and a plate of what appears to be a dish consisting of a variation of mashed potatoes and some fish with dressing. The glass of white wine remains inside.

“You don't drink?”

“No. Well... at times I drink a cider in summer, and am willing to down a glass of champagne at New Year's, but that's about it,” she says, rather eager to dig in; the food smells really nice. “I don't like the bitter taste of alcohol, nor its effects.”

Robin leans onto an arm and watches her for a little bit, then hums. “Had some unfortunate experiences with it, I assume.”

Kat swallows the food she's been shoveling inside. “Eh, that too, yeah.” She's kinda thankful to her grandfather for trying to make her drink wine when she was about five years old. She's always hated bitter things, and that sealed the deal for a lifetime: one less alcoholic in the family.

“It's understandable. You know,” the woman starts after taking a sip of the reddish drink, “how about you tell me about yourself a little first?”

“Oh... I... already talk too much about myself whenever I don't pay attention, though,” she protests, settling her eyes on her plate.

Robin cuts a piece of cake, contemplating. “I've yet to hear one of your famous rants... Since you are unsure about what to talk about, it would make my job easier to decide where to start with this 'basically everything' I know, you know? How about this question instead: what kind of life would make you happy?”

Kat stuffs another spoonful of those delicious potatoes into her mouth. This sounds like a school assignment for children... not a terribly hard to answer one, either. “A simple one. With a small and comfortable place to live in, close to some settlement and next to the woods. I would earn enough to buy the food and drink I need, or the material for anything I'd like to draw or make. Maybe participate in fairs with my junk, and bake cookies for schools around some bigger holiday.” She nods. That's the basics. “A library of my own... and some animals would be nice, too. Chickens, a cat... some goats, maybe.” She's always found them rather charming. But she doesn't trust herself with taking care of anything, be it animals, children, or even plants, so it's all just fantasy. It wouldn't be so lonely with either, though. She wouldn't leave the house for human contact if she magically had everything at home that money could buy, after all. “All in all, just take up as little space I can... then disappear without a trace.” With noone to mourn her. As if she never existed.

She hums with another piece of sweet dough in her mouth. Those were more the words of a disillusioned child than that of a budding young woman technically co-leading a successful little business. “Quite a romantic image. That's not a whole lot, though.”

Looking back onto her near-empty plate, Kat takes a deep sigh. The air feels so heavy in her lungs. “It's not... that's why it always weirds me out when I think about it. That it's so little to wish for and yet seems unattainable, I mean.” External and personal hurdles notwithstanding. What she has now is likely the closest she could ever get, and it's fine that way.

Robin takes another long sip from her drink. “True.” Putting the glass down, she continues; “Would you like to see what kind of stuff I've dug up lately, then?”

The archeologist sees Kat's eyes light up before she gives some decisive and enthusiastic nods as the last remainders of her lunch interfere with a verbal answer. She smiles anew- children do love playthings, do they not?

“You'll love the panel painting and grail we've found hidden in a cave that turned out to be the entrance to an old burial place,” Nami chips in as she walks over with the empty dishes in her hand and the haphazardly folded newspaper under her arm. “Nice stubble, by the way,” she giggles before continuing her read, leaning against the counter behind Kat with one ear open.

Latter touches her face- welp, Nami's not wrong. Didn't seem to be that bad in the mirror and with soap on, but realizing how prickly she's gotten will annoy her on the long run. Will have to ask Law about that. Later. There's a much more exciting topic to pay attention to now.

“What are they like?” she asks, swinging the seat under her to the sides.

“They need a little restoration, but are fine and elaborate pieces from about three hundred years ago,” Robin states. “Long missing pieces from a monastery in the West; we must have found the stash of some long dead thieves or pirates,” the older woman sighs. “The actual graves were from a much earlier period than the artifacts, though, and still had human remains in them.” She can't help but wonder what else may have been there before the savages disturbed the bones...

Kat is all ears while slurping her juice. Sometimes she thinks about giving up archeology as soon as she started learning about history- keeping track of all the numbers and dates she acknowledged she wouldn't be able to do, after all. Even that wouldn't have changed dropping out of college, though. Either way, she wants to see this.

“I'm so skipping the sucky training for this tomorrow,” she states with enthusiasm to both of the girls' amusement.