#Beau and Elise are FRIENDS NOW

[discodreaming]

HELLO! i've now opened my inbox for my followers/mutuals to talk to their favorite character!

you can send in random sentences, inbox prompts that you see on my blog or even confess your love!

please be sure to be respectful and kind to not only me but the muses.

this will be very much like roleplaying. to continue communication you can send in more inboxes or you can even link the inbox to a conversation to communicate with your beau/family/friend!

please do not request any minors/anthropomorphic in romantic or sexual ways, I'm begging you. i will only reply to the platonic/familial ones.

you may talk to at least 2 muses at once in one message, all to prevent being overwhelmed. this may change once i get comfortable enough to handle more.

all romantic and nsft inboxes or starters towards muses will require slow burn

all ships are multishipped but can be single shipped if you guys can build up their romance meter!

this will only be reader x character, oc x character i will put on either another blog or a different post.

* note: i will accept 5 oc x character in this post for the time being: 1/5

however for certain events i can bend these rules for you to get a romantic scene with your crushes!

or even just hanging out with your friends!

characters i will write for right now:

note: this list will change every now and then as i advance further into the shows or a character is requested more!

if you don't see a character you like here and would like to see me try my hand at playing them, don't be shy to tell me!

bold = characters I've played before

one piece! ( pre timeskip )

romantic options: nico robin, nami, sanji, zoro, usopp, buggy, sir crocodile, dracule mihawk, shanks, portgas d. ace

platonic options: chopper, franky ( may change ), luffy ( im currently on the pretimeskip )

up to debate: please ask !

rwby ! ( all season 9 ages )

romantic options: weiss schnee, blake belladonna, yang xiao long, jaune arc, taiyang xiao long, raven branwen, qrow branwen, emerald sustari, sun wukong, neptune vasillias, james ironwood, winter schnee, mercury black

platonic options: ruby rose, nora valkyrie, lie ren, pyrrha nikos, penny polendina, professor ozpin, oscar pine, neopolitan

up to debate: salem, cinder fall

fruits basket !

romantic options: shigure sohma, hatori soma, ayame soma

platonic options: tohru honda, yuki sohma, kyo sohma

castlevania animated !

romantic options: trevor belmont, adrian 'alucard' tepes, sypha belnades

edens zero !

romantic options: rebecca bluegarden, weisz steiner, homura kogetsu, kris rutherford, shiki granbell, labilla christy

platonic: happy, witch regret, sister ivry, hermit mio, valkyrie yuna, elise crimson, justice

d.gray man !

romantic options: yu kanda, lavi, tyki mikk, howard link, cross marian

platonic: allen walker, lenalee lee, nea d. campbell, wisely kamelot

psycho pass !

romantic options: akane tsuneori, shinya kogami, nobuchika ginoza, shuusei kagari, yayoi kunizuka, shion karanomori, shogo makishima

platonic: tomomoi masaoka

owari no seraph

romantic options: guren ichinose, ferid bathory, kureto hiiragi, shinya hiragi, seishiro hiiragi, crowley eusford

platonic: yuichiro hyakuya, mikaela hyakuya, shinoa hiiragi, yoichi saotome, shiho kimizuki, mitsuba sangu, krul tepes

yuukou no moriarty

romantic options: william james moriarty, albert james moriarty, louis james moiarty, sherlock holmes, fred porlock, sebastian moran, mycroft holmes, james bond

fate/ ( /zero & /stay night)

romantic options: saber, kirei kotomine, gilgamesh, cu chulainn

platonic: shirou emiya, rin tohsaka, waver velvet

up to debate: kiritsugu emiya, irisviel von einzbern, archer emiya, tokiomi tohsaka, diamuid ua duibhne

please don't: shinji matou, ryuunosuke uryu

fairy tail

romantic options: lucy heartfilia, gray fullbuster, erza scarlet, mirajane strauss, laxus dreyar, gildarts clive, loke, elfman strauss, juvia lockser, fried justine, evergreen, bickslow, rogue cheney, sting eucliffe, kagura mikazuchi, aguria yukino, natsu dragneel, mystogan, cana alberona, gajeel redfox, erik, jellal fernandes

platonic: wendy marvell

record of ragnarok

romantic options: adam, jack the ripper, kojiro sasaki, qin shi huang, hades, beelzebub, hermes

platonic: souji okita

up to debate: the valkyries, nikolas tepes, thor, poseidon, apollo,

obey me

romantic options: lucifer, mammon, levianthan, satan, asmodeus, beelzebub, belphegor,diavolo, barbatos, simeon, raphael, solomon,

platonic: luke

up to debate: thirteen, mephistopheles

kingdom hearts ( kingdom hearts iii )

romantic options: terra, aqua, xemnas, zexion, saix, axel, demyx,

platonic: sora, kairi, riku, roxas, namine, xion, ventus, vanitas, ephemer, skuld, brain

genshin impact

romantic options: wriothesley, albedo, alhaitham, ayaka, ayato, baizhu, ajax, cyno, dehya, diluc, eula, ganyu, itto, jean, kazuha, kokomi, xiao, heizou, shenhe, kaeya, rosaria, yae miko, beidou, lisa, kaveh, zhongli, nigguang, neuvillette, yela, candace, thoma, yanfei

platonic: hu tao, venti, faruzan, sucrose, chongyun, freminet, layla, mika, fischl, collei, noelle, yun jin, barbara, xingqiu, amber, bennette, xinyan

up to debate: keqing, lyney, aether, lumine, wanderer, lynette, kuki shinobu, sara, kiara, gorou, mona, nilou, yoimiya, charlotte

please don't: klee, sayu, qiqi, diona, dori, nahida, yaoyao

final fantasy

romantic options: cloud strife, tifa lockhart, aerith gainsborough, zack fair, reno, rude, genesis rhapsodos, reeve tuesti, angel hewley, sephiroth, vincent valentine.

platonic: barret wallace, yuffie kisaragi

detroit become human

romantic options: connor, markus, gavin

platonic: kara, hank

devil may cry

romantic options: dante, nero, vergil

platonic: trish, nico, lady, v

jojo's bizarre adventure

romantic options: dio brando, joseph joestar ( part 2 & 3 ), caesar anthonio zeppeli, jotaro kujo ( 4-6 only ), rohan kishibe, bruno bucciarati, leone abbachio, narciso anasui, johnny joestar, gyro zeppeli, diego brando

debating: jonathan joestar, jolyne cujoh, weather report

[marjaystuff]

Interview with Patricia Johns

An Amish Country Reunion

Her Pretend Amish Beau

Patricia Johns

An Amish Country Reunion by Patricia Johns centers around two people and one very special dog. The heroine, Trooper Genevieve Austin, arrives at the State Police K9 Training Center. She learns that she’ll be reporting to her former partner, Sergeant Scott Simpson who was not just her partner but her best friend. Gen hasn’t seen Scott since he ghosted her to protect his job. And after her own struggles to climb the ranks, she can sympathize. Scott is on track to move up and a K9 partner won’t be part of that new job. The problem is Benji, his working dog, won’t work with another trainer, and he will be cut from the program. Now with Gen and Scott’s new working relationship there are some bumps in the road as they navigate their relationship, their feelings, their goals, and their unresolved issues. There are Amish in the story, but on the fringes of the mystery,

Her Pretend Amish Beau delves into what it is like for widowed parents to want to be involved with a relationship, but concerned how that would affect their children. Delia Swarey has four sons and a flower farm. But that doesn’t stop her boys from rejecting every potential suitor. And widowed dad Elias Lehman is in the same boat with his daughter Violet. They hope that pretending to court each other will teach their children about opening their hearts and being receptive to their parents having a relationship. Delia and Elias, school mates, get reacquainted and realize they each could use the other’s help regarding their children’s closed hearts. A plan for a fake courtship is hatched. Neither Delia nor Elias is ready for a new relationship yet, so no feelings will take root, or so they think.

Both stories delve into human emotions, needs, wants, and desires. 

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story for An Amish Country Reunion?

Patricia Johns:  It started with a trope.  I wanted the hero to be the boss over the heroine.

EC: How would you describe Genevieve Austin?

PJ:  She is wise-cracking, funny, and someone who speaks her mind. Because of her having trouble with her job she is frustrated, feels humiliated, and insubordinate.  Overall, she is tough, intuitive, but vulnerable. Having a rich father, she is used to her life being easy. Now her ex-partner is put in a position of authority over her because of her insubordination. She is not a team player.

EC: How about the hero, Scott?

PJ: He is a political animal, seems to put his career first, yet he is caring, protective, and loyal. He is trying to be careful with his feelings because he messed up in the past with a co-worker. Now he is trying to not repeat those mistakes. He has a bit of a control issue.

EC:  What about their relationship?

PJ:  They are not just starting out and both know what they could lose if they go with their feelings for each other. They do not want to throw their career away for a relationship even though they are both attracted to each other.  He respects and admires her. They know each other incredibly well having worked together as partners in the past. They have a close connection and can finish each other’s sentence. 

EC: What role does the German Shepherd Benji play?

PJ: He was a symbol for Gen and Scott’s relationship. The dog version of what Gen and Scott are struggling with, the heart wants what the heart wants. Just like Gen, Benji likes to do things his own way, work with Scott, and is talented, smart, with good instincts. I put in this book quote, “Scott has issues with boundaries with a partner in the field,” whether Gen or Benji. In all facets they are each other’s kryptonite. 

EC: What about the relationship with her dad?

PJ: He wants to protect her and, in some ways, wants to control her.  His heart is in the right place because he wants to keep her safe. He should not meddle in her career. Her father is a powerful man who is used to dictate what should happen.  This made her less safe because she does not have the experience to handle situations. Gen does not want to cut off the relationship but is trying to sort things out. 

EC:  What is the role of the Amish?

PJ: There is a mystery of this local missing expensive watch owned by an Amish man. One of his wife’s Amish best friends took it. The Amish women gave Gen relationship advice as she and Scott try to find the missing watch.  In this book the Amish are characters that enhance the mystery. 

EC:  The next book, Her Pretend Amish Beau, will there be a spin-off?

PJ:  I was not planning on writing other books regarding these Amish children.  I do not think it will happen.

EC: How would you describe the heroine, Delia?

PJ: She is a protective mother.  She is gentle, kind, funny, vulnerable, and insightful.

EC:  What about the hero, Elias?

PJ: He is charming, gentle, thoughtful, and a good single dad.

EC:  What about the relationship?

PJ: They are both looking for companionship but do not see it with each other. They are part of the “early in life widowed club.” They want their children to be an important part of any relationship. They are honest and direct with each other.  They were friends when they were teenagers, but their lives went in different directions. They think they are bonding together to teach each of their children a life lesson. 

EC: How would you describe Elias’ daughter, Violet?

PJ: Rebellious, likes to flaunt the rules, and is angry over losing her mother. She is thinking that she will never find a romantic relationship in her Amish community. Remember, with the Amish a lot of the romance is behind closed doors. They are not demonstrative in front of the children. Romance has not played out in front of her, so she concludes romance does not exist. 

EC: What about the children of Delia?

PJ: She wants her boys to have adventure but be safe.  She never wants to break their spirits but wants a life of her own.  The oldest son, Ezekiel, is bossy, someone who wants to take charge, stern, and never wants his mom to get hurt.  Thomas is distrusting about his mom able to know someone else’s character and is sensitive. Aaron is direct.  Moses thinks and reacts like a child, never hiding his feelings. All her sons want to protect their mom. They will never trust another man to take as good a care of her as they can.  She knows they love her. Delia tells them that she is the adult in the room, and they should not worry about protecting her, she needs to worry about protecting them. 

EC:  What about your next books?

PJ: Amish Sleigh Bells is a Christmas story, wrapping up this mini-series.  It comes out in November. Lydia has a matchmaker trying to find her a husband.  She is in a Conservative Amish community while there is a vet who is Beachy Amish, a more liberal community.  They get to know each other.

Grave Amish Secrets comes out in February 2025 and has suspense. It is a cold case story. 

Green Pastures is coming out in March 2025. A woman leaves the Amish faith and becomes a vet.  She is a divorced woman who comes back to the Amish faith. It is a women’s fiction/romance story.

THANK YOU!!

[nathank77]

4/5/24

4:29 a.m Edited/Added to 5:09 a.m

"I'm into nerds shy guys."

First off I swipe right on everyone on okcupid. Fucking everyone. It's like having okcupid premium.... and I can just unmatch. I'm only on okcupid, and Taimi. I am also on FB dating on two of my FBs..... that's one of the only other reasons I use fb except for Elise. Although I don't swipe on anyone. Women run the dating world. If someone likes me I either match or left swipe. On taimi I do nothing. Queer people are ugly basically. And the pool is small. I basically only swipe when I'm really bored or lonely. There is a reason I'm going to a Meet Up event... I mean Southbury Tango to start... and for a very specific reason to learn to dance and maybe just Maybe the girl of my dreams will show up... but after that I'm just going to try free events unless the tango wows me or I see someone I like and they give me the eyes... although no one gives me the eyes lol

I don't use other sites. Why?

No one on Tinder swipes right on me. No one on Hinge swipes right on me. No one on Bumble Date or friends swipe right on me. It's just OkStupid, taimi and FB dating. No one swipes right on me on FB Dating either. Other than Reilly.. YIKES A NERD. I MEAN BITCH LOOK AT MY PROFILE PICTURE BIG DORKY NERDY GLASSES. Anyways.....

I'm not interested at all in this Woman... but she's into NERDS. Cause I'm a fucking NERD. That's why girls don't like me.

I can't believe someone had that written and swiped right on me.... I mean I thought I was being dramatic... but I am a nerd appearance wise bc of my glasses.... I guess... and I like video games and my personality is nerdy..

Maybe some women look at my profile and go to my gaming channel and go holy NERD. Maybe I should take it off okcupid. I thought I was proving I'm me and maybe someone would find me charming...

Anyways there you go:

NERD that's the fucked part. I'm actually right. I'm labeled a nerd... I guess I'm some people's type but not really...

Going back to my last post about my glasses. Maybe it's time to return what I can and throw out the rest and stop being labeled..

I can't fucking believe I'm not being dramatic. I actually am labeled a nerd..

If i take my glasses off and show my gauges Maybe I'll somewhat lose the label.... I mean my personality is never going to change.

I got to lose the glasses..

My mother thought my dad was a nerd. He used to try to talk to her at his job when she went there. She said he had these dorky glasses. I'm sure they were basic wire frames... either way, he kept trying, she kept ignoring him. Then she saw him at a bar. He asked to buy her a drink. She left. He followed her to another bar I believe... and he asked again. She agreed. She was annoyed by the nerd following her bc of his dorky glasses. Then he asked her to dance. She agreed but she asked him to take off his glasses... and he took them off and never put them back on again. My dad didn't wear them the whole time I was growing up until they got divorced... she said she didn't want him to wear glasses.... he started wearing them again with my step mother. Cause she wasn't stupid.. either way, good thing my dad took them off otherwise I wouldn't have existed. She was like once he took them off and I could see into his eyes I fell in love with him on that dance floor and then he took me home. I cheated on my husband Mike and I was pregnant within the first or second time with you.

And now I can see it.... girls actually think guys with glasses are nerdy and if they find nerds attractive that's the only way I'll find a girl...They don't want to date a guy with glasses.

I very well may return all of them and throw out my Beau. Fuck this. I don't need to see other than in a dark car and I'll only wear them discreetly. In a dark car. And no one will ever see me like this again.

Girls don't want frames and lenses in the way. They want to see your eyes. As Reilly put it YIKES. And to this girl appearantly nerdy guys are her thing. She ain't my thing that's for sure...

I guess I need tattoos. And to throw away the glasses. Then I'll be edgy.. I already have the body.... I have a good face. Glasses are labeling me and keeping women away from me.

Idk if Elise is leaving Brendan idk anything. She's the only girl I care about but I've got to assume she's staying with Brendan...

Everyone else I've talked to doesn't like men in dorky glasses.

I mean my mother has told me that story so many times and I remember thinking how stupid it was that she didn't want to give him a chance bc of his glasses and him taking them off made all the difference. I remember thinking that as a child...

But now I'm like maybe there is something to it. No girl wants frames touching her nose when she kisses you.

[piratekenway]

wheezes. with all this chaos in the servers, it's really only a matter of time until someone notices that, wait, hang on, why is Desmond accessing the servers when he's dead? possibly while all this chaos is happening, Shaun and Rebecca and Bishop and whoever else is on tech duty are trying to figure out who's using the old account and password. they haven't deleted it yet bc they're trying to track the activity—is it an initiate? somebody from those DedSec guys? a new player on the field?

meanwhile Desmond borrowed some rope darts from Shao Jun and is now using one to fast-rappel down onto the Notre Dame with Ezio and Altair and Evie coming along with him. I just like the idea of Ezio marveling at the architecture of Paris and meanwhile Desmond is just like oh shit this is the French Revolution. Ratonhnhaké:ton's on the ship since of this whole group he's the most experienced at captaining a ship, so he's just watching over it while they're parked above the Notre Dame.

Evie flat-out refused to stay on the ship while her brother and her beau are in danger, so she's the first to notice the Blighters mixing with the Extremists and the fact that something about the mechanics have changed. Desmond points out there's three server bridges around here, and knowing Jacob, Evie figures he'll be gunning for the one in Le Marais, near the Bastille.

--

HAHAH BELLEC. oh god. Arno tried to save him too, not quite as many times with Elise but still. but still. he and Jacob and Jayadeep rush up to the cell and Bellec is happy to see Arno, calls him pisspot just like he used to call Charles, and tells him that he's proud of him for doing the right thing and throwing off the Templar chains de la Serre and his girl laid on him. Arno says something about how he'd half-expected Bellec to get out of here by now, and Bellec says that he was searching for something through the prisons of Paris. "must've gotten thrown into a half-dozen prisons," he says wistfully, "just looking for clues."

"clues?" Jacob whispers.

"drawings on the wall, I don't know, it didn't come up again," Arno murmurs back. "we're breaking the sequence here, I should be in the cell with him," and he nods to the filthy mattress on the ground, "but needs must." he picks the lock to Bellec's cell just as the assault on the Bastille starts.

they need this gang war. they need to get this district free of the Extremists' grip. so Arno tells Bellec to go and get the other prisoners out, and to take down the Extremists and their leader, whoever it is. and if it's de la Serre's daughter who's the leader—

"kill her, sure," says Bellec.

"no," says Arno, quickly. "no, she's." he swallows. "I have to deal with her. you focus on getting out."

Bellec interprets this as Arno claiming a kill. Jacob and Jayadeep watch him go, then look at Arno and are just like. okay. what the fuck.

--

Ezio, in the meantime, keeps finding the Nostradamus enigmas all over Paris, while he and Desmond and Altair and Evie are trying to get through the French Revolution with heads still on their shoulders. (lol what if Ezio keeps being a target of various parties bc he's a nobleman and something in their programming is like Get Him.) except the riddles have changed and the reward for finding them isn't a key to unlock a room in the Cafe Theatre: it's a flash of an image, or a conversation. it's all badly corrupted, but he gleans just enough from each flash to be able to piece together a general idea of a location.

at first he wonders what the hell it is. then he hears Leonardo's name and it clicks: Juno has Leonardo, and even corrupted by her will, his friend is still, on some subconscious level, trying to aid them. resisting in the same way Thatch did.

the post is getting Too Long on my blog and it’s breaking my poor phone so. WHEE. new one!

gang sails off into the distance! and by “distance” I mean they’re high-tailing it into the Assassin servers in order to regroup and recuperate and figure out what the fuck to do now since. well. hey, they retrieved Desmond and they’ve kept him safe! uh. now what. if there were other Assassins’ memories in Abstergo, how long until they gain sentience as well? and how the fuck did Desmond and Jacob find a movie projector on the ship?

Desmond is still kind of reeling from everything that’s just happened, and to his surprise, despite the whole awkwardness surrounding Uh Fuckin Everything, the Kenways are willing to take him in, altho Edward somewhat morbidly jokes that their dysfunctional family being an improvement over his is really kind of sad when he thinks about it. then he offers to let him take a turn at the wheel—he needs to go see what they’ve done to the captain’s cabin anyway, he wasn’t able to since the collision and it’s probably messed with a few things.

they do need a base to operate out of for the time being. Davenport Manor is suggested, then somewhat reluctantly shot down bc of the two Templars around who are immediately like yeah uh No. Café Theatre is too cramped, although in a pinch it could do. the Frye twins’ train has little to offer in the way of bedrooms. Monteriggioni is considered and makes it into a top five list, only losing bc an entire town is a little too big and prone to glitches. (Desmond is a little peeved about it.) eventually everyone settles on finding a version of Great Inagua in the Assassin servers and regrouping there so they can figure out their next move. and maybe Edward is a little bit smug over it.

I do like the idea of Desmond teaching the gang how to really break shit in Abstergo, like—Juno is still in there, and there’s a possibility there might be more sentient data representations of dead Assassins (and dead Templars) rolling around now in the servers. Ezio shudders to think of Juno at the same time that Shay does, and they’re both concerned about the idea of Juno being able to simply possess somebody, and if she’s able to do that in the digital realm, there’s the lingering possibility of her being able to do that to an actual flesh and blood person. which nobody wants! so that’s on their priority list. and also all the other possibly-sentient people who might be running around the servers.

Arno and the twins and Henry listen to all of this, then sit in contemplation. then all three of them are like. oh shit we have to check on our simulations bc Lydia and Elise might also be gaining sentience and god KNOWS what they’re doing right now without us. who wants to come with, we’ve got spare clothes for you. (aka: how to justify the legacy outfits lol.)

The “Too Long Post” which was about the playable characters in Abstergo’s games gaining sentience for easy reference. (And considering we ended it after they got away, we can count that as Arc 1 XD)

Honestly, I think the only valid locations for their homebase would be the Great Inagua or Davenport Homestead because they also need to park their ship (depending on who you ask, it’s either called ‘Aquila’ or ‘Jackdaw’) and the Seine river would be hard to navigate while the Thames is chock-full of other ships and boats and the moving train means they can’t always get to the ship quickly. Also, they all try to fit in the mansion that Edward had ‘commandeered’ but it becomes clear that there is a division. Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton took the rooms nearest to Desmond. Haytham took the room furthest away from everyone and Shay took the room to his left. Shao Jun took the empty room nearest to Ezio while Aveline took the empty room nearest to Ratonhnhaké:ton. Jacob’s the only one who went ‘whichever room is free’ and Arno took the room furthest away from Shay which sorta put him between Jacob and an empty room that Evie took for herself. Jacob joked of Jayadeep just sharing a room with Evie so he took the room on the other side of Jacob instead, making Jacob roll his eyes. Edward just took his old room (which was the largest room). So… they might be in this together but they’re definitely not exactly the bestest of allies at the moment.  

Desmond taught them what he knew, things he didn’t know when he was alive but he just… knew once he ‘woke up’. He doesn’t even know if these skills came from his memory of Clay or from his memory of Dionysus (holy shit, his Isu ancestor was the god of wine and debauchery? What the fuck???) but he wasn’t going to reject such a boon. He’s quiet about his life though, only sharing a bit if anyone asked about what they saw. 

And the only one who asked was a worried Shao Jun because Shay was keeping his distance and the others either didn’t have such a bad memory to watch (Aveline, Evie and Jayadeep) or didn’t even see any memory (Jacob and Arno).

The ones connected to Desmond though… Desmond told them everything. Even Edward who was just in the room with the three people who had the biggest urge to find Desmond and Haytham who Edward believes had been affected just as much by the time they started to piece Desmond back together. Edward provided the alcohol back then (although Altaïr did not partake) and they finished more than five bottles of Edward’s hardest liquor. He was especially worried for Haytham who grabbed an entire unopened bottle and just started topping his glass with it and ended up finishing it and still requesting his glass to be filled afterward.  

Are we talking about the Juno in Desmond’s dataspace or the real Juno in digital space? Because if it’s the real Juno and this is set after Syndicate BUT before the comics where she died, then Juno is out in the real world (which would give us an excuse to have our sentient Assassins travel into other corners of the internet XD).

However, I do like the idea that they’ve unintentionally created Juno 2.0 from Desmond’s memory of her (and also a bit of Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton’s memories). This also gives Ratonhnhaké:ton a reason to want to take her down since she… technically didn’t lie but she absolutely used Ratonhnhaké:ton and gave him the short stick in that deal. (With her past misgivings to Ratonhnhaké:ton, Edward would be on board and maybe even Haytham once he learned how everything had been set into stones because of the path the Isus have chosen the world to walk to, including how the Kenway family ended).

You know what would be fun? If they made the grievous assumption that the data are gaining sentient while they were gone BUT the real reason why they’re slowly gaining sentient is because all sentient data (them) are still connected to the virus that started this all. Now, the virus was fast-acting in Abstergo because it was meant to fuck shit up there but the virus also have a failsafe that makes it dormant when it knows it’s no longer in Abstergo’s servers. But… the virus itself might be dormant but constant exposure to it will still affect data. 

… wanna make Arno have a bad time once more? Élise is slowly waking up and she starts remembering…

The many times Arno repeated her death, together with the pain and rage that consumed her during those days, not knowing Arno repeated that memory over and over again to try and save her.

You gotta wonder… if Élise would even be happy to see Arno once more when her most lived memory was her death.

(Also… Lydia would be fine being sentient since she loves her grandaunt and granddad who raised her but… remember… Jack the Ripper is also in the servers). 

[dungeons-an-dickheads]

They meet ..

@vlasseblaster

[roberttchase]

Brettsey prompt - established brettsey relationship and jealous Sylvie.

Have some cute Brettsey with kids! They are from my Must Love Dog series. This is set in the future. I will be writing more with them but for now, have a tiny little sliver.

At four, almost five years old, Adelaide Casey is going to be the death of Matt. Whether it’s from her curious, independent personality, or him being wrapped around her finger, he’s not sure which. It’s early; barely eight am, but the little girl has been restless since Sylvie left for her usual cycle-bar lesson, and she’s been asking for the past twenty minutes straight to go to the park.

Matt’s usually pretty good at tuning things out (he had to be when Otis and Cruz were galavanting around the firehouse), but the relentless determination his daughter seems to have woken up with is finally cutting through the barrier. That, or he just can’t say no to her. Looking at where she’s laying splayed across the couch, playing with two small animal figurines, he smiles. He sends a quick text to Sylvie, then walks over.

“Go get dressed and we can go.” The words make the tiny girl freeze, then she hops up, grinning and all but running up to her room.

They’ve been working on letting Addy dress herself more, and make more decisions, instead of just telling her. It’s definitely an ‘Addy-day’ as she so affectionately calls them, because when she reappears a few minutes later, she’s dressed herself and looks proud. Looking her over, Matt thinks it could definitely be worse. He and Sylvie have been explaining to her about the weather lately, and how to dress accordingly. It’s September, and the little black and white striped leggings with panda faces on the knees, paired with her favorite short sleeve shirt that reads ‘Jedi in Training’, should easily be enough to keep her warm.

“Can you put my hair up like Mama’s please?” Big blue eyes look up at him and Matt is amazed (as always) how much she looks like Sylvie.

“Of course. Do you think you can sit still for me long enough?” He teases, taking the hair brush and hair tie from her little hands, leading them to the living room. She sits on the coffee table while he sits on the couch behind her, brushing her wild mess of long, curly blonde hair.

“Papa, do you think Mama will wanna to get a donut after? She’ll be real hungry from the bike, right?”

Matt snorts as the hair tie hangs loosely between his teeth, pulling her hair up before catching it all with it, pulling it through to make a ponytail.

“She might be. Are you still hungry? We have more oatmeal and banana,” he offers, knowing exactly what game she’s playing at. He can’t help the smile taking over his face.

“No! I’m allll full. Jus’worried ‘bout Mama.”

“It’s very sweet of you to worry. When she finishes and meets us at the park you can ask,” Matt suggests, kissing her head. “You ready to head out, Chief?”

“Yes sir!” She gives him a mock salute and he laughs, following her to put their shoes on.

“Can we take Beau? I’ll walk him!” She freezes in the middle of the hallway, making Matt stumble.

“...we can. But only if he wants to go. Go find him and ask okay?” Another thing they’ve been working on- everyone has feelings, even animals. You have to ask before assuming someone wants to do something.

Moments later, while Matt’s pulling on his Nikes, Addy comes back with Beau trailing her, little nub wagging wildly. Matt nods and grabs Beau’s leash off of the hook near the door to the garage, handing it to her. She clips it on and grabs her sunglasses, another new development lately.

“Let’s head out. We can go to the park a few blocks away, yeah? The one with the tire swing?” When he gets an excited smile and wiggle, Matt lets her out into the front yard and locks up.

The walk doesn’t take long, and Matt, as always, is impressed with how well she walks their little frenchie. They get to the park that’s blissfully empty, though he’s not surprised. It’s early enough most kids are just waking up. He’s sure that Andy, their two year old, is just waking up with his Aunt Stella, Uncle Kelly, and their three year old (his best friend) Jackson. Sleepovers with the two are common, enough so that they know they’ll happen twice a week. Addy prefers Cruz’s twins, even if they’re almost two years older than her. Beau starts sniffing around near Matt, extending his leash to the longest it can be.

“Want me to come with you, or do you want to explore and play alone for a bit?” Options, Matt reminds himself, as his daughter thinks them over.

“Alone, but together later?”

“Of course. Go play.” With a smile, Matt watches Addy run over to the large structure, climbing up the little fake rock wall. They’ve come a long way from three months prior, when she was scared to do it on her own. Now she’s handling it like it’s nothing, and Matt couldn’t be more proud. Around ten minutes later, a mom and her two girls who seem to be around Addy’s age appear, and within seconds all three girls are talking and playing.

“They seem to be getting along,” the mom, a red head says, walking over. “Normally Katie’s pretty shy, but she seems to be warming up to your daughter quickly. I’m Elise.”

Matt’s never been one to just talk to other parents, that’s Sylvie’s specialty. He’s of course capable of making small talk, but his reserved nature makes him weary of it. Giving the woman a smile, he nods.

“Addy’s pretty quick to make friends,” he supplies, not fully sure he even wants to give her name out, but it seems rude not to. The girls look well adjusted enough, and his paranoia is put to rest when he sees their features resemble the woman’s next to him. “Matt, nice to meet you,” he adds. Beau snorts and Matt can’t help but laugh. “And this is Beau.”

They talk about their kids, and Matt’s unsure if he’s imagining it; he’s never been good at picking up signals, but it feels like Elise is flirting with him. He’s suddenly, acutely aware he doesn’t have his wedding ring on, doesn’t have it at all, actually. An accident a few months back involving cribbing being dropped on his hand and swelling had resulted in his ring finger swelling enough they’d had to cut his ring off. He definitely needs to get it replaced.

As the minutes tick by, Matt relaxes a bit. Elise is nice enough, and maybe she really is just being friendly. He can’t imagine her flirting with her kids so near by. Or...maybe not. The redhead is inching closer to him on the bench, and the firefighter tries not to look uncomfortable. Before he can say anything else, he hears Addy yell ‘mama’ at the top of her lungs. Looking up, Matt sees Sylvie walking towards them, breathtakingly beautiful. Though she may have just come from spin class, she’s still the prettiest woman in the world, blue eyes bright and smile wide.

Elise, for her part, looks only slightly thrown for a loop. He watches her smile tighten as Sylvie walks over. There’s something unreadable in her expression that Matt can’t quite place.

“Hey sweetheart,” Matt stands and presses a kiss to her cheek.

“Hey love. Hi! I’m Sylvie, Matt’s wife. Nice to meet you.”

Elise’s eyes are calculating, then she huffs. “Elise.”

Watching the interaction, Matt feels like he’s missing something, but with the way Sylvie is suddenly eyeing the woman, he thinks that maybe his first assumption of Elise flirting with him was right. By now, Addy’s next to them, clambering to try and get into Sylvie’s arms, one of her favorite places to be. Sylvie, while still reaching down to hold her, keeps eye contact with the other mom, cocking an eyebrow.

“I think we’d better get going,” Elise informs them, when her twins start making their way over. When Sylvie doesn’t reply, Matt speaks up.

“It was great meeting you!”

“Likewise Matt.”

When the family is walking off, he turns back to his wife, looking at her curiously. “What was that?”

“She was flirting with you, and needed to be put in her place.”

Matt’s not sure what to do with the information that Sylvie is jealous, and not only that, she’s adorable when she’s jealous, like a grumpy cat.

“Mama, can we go get donuts? You must be reaaallll hungry after workin’ out….”

[whats-ahead]

Game Verse Au

the other day we were talking about how different our canon would change if it was game verse instead so we came up with some ideas on how it would change. We focused more on making all of our kids fit into a gameverse setting verse restarting from scratch. For major changes/notes I took we have:

ship changes. All of our pokeani ships don't work anymore so we had to change ships

Adele's now hoennshippings only child

Red, Green, and Blue are in a poly relationship with Ber, Marx, and Sammy 

Dawn and Lucas had Noel and Jean together (who are twins), dawn took Jean and Lucas took Noel (both the adults and kids are still really close though the parents just aren't together romantically). Lucas and Barry also adopted Kitty when he was 5 (he's no longer Barry's biologically)

Io is now the adopted daughter of Lillie and Selene and doesn't have a dramatic parent backstory anymore

Penny and Tanner are Gold and Kris' kid

Scout is now Lyra and Silver's kid

Autumn is Lisa and Chaz's kid

Linette is Roxanne and Brawly's kid

Yancy and Len are Yancy and Nate's kid

Eclair is the adopted daughter of all of the Stratton brothers

Gale's now Wanda's (wally's cousin) kid but is still really close with his uncle

Ages. The game timeline is different so adults are different ages so ages have to change. Each line is separate by the year they can leave to travel (think of school years) with the oldest at top

Gale, Ike

Ber, Linette

Adele, Marx, Mirabelle, Bridge, Autumn

Sammy, Scout, Penny, Noel, Jean, Kitty, Milton

Charlotte, Eclair, Cliff

Larentia, Tanner

Axel, Lloyd, Len, Elise, Beau

  Io

The main 12 is now based off of regional trio groups which are

Ber, Marx, and Sammy: they're brothers who get along sometimes but still pretty close

Gale, Ike, and Adele: Gale and Adele's parents are best friends and Adele know Ike through Champion Stuff through the parents. Gale and Ike are like Adele's big brothers who won't hesitate if someone does something to her

Noel, Kitty, and Jean: again, siblings. They're all the same age (same birthday in fact) so they're all joint at the hip

Axel, Lloyd, and Len: already a trio in the main verse but this time they're even closer since Len's from Unova and doesn't move

Trainer Class changes! A lot don't change but some do and it's hilarious for the ones that do

Adele does field research for her dad! She's not good at it but she travels to try to help with the pokedex and constantly has updates for her dad of her "discovering" ""new"" pokemon (and he's happy to hear from her everyday

Scout's a trainer (and would probably be called his actual name Scott since "scouts" a nickname pun on idols) because of his dad so Penny became a trainer just to try to one up him

Gale's a trainer and eventually down the line becomes hoenns champion 

Noel's also a trainer so Kitty and Jean travel with him to keep him company

Other notes that don't fit in categories as well

Jean and Adele are still a thing. They meet when Adele's traveling in Sinnoh and Adele is telling him about how she just discovered a pokemon she's named "big tree turtle" (Torterra). Jean falls for her instantly. Noel and Kitty are concerned for Jean

For at least a region or two Adele and Marx travel together. Weird to think about since they're suppose to be siblings

Autumn still likes to poke fun at Adele

Penny isn't into idols anymore since she only was into them because of her mom and that's just really weird to think about

Axel and Len are going even harder they are in the main verse and I'm happy for them

Ike went from having 0 people he cares about to 2 people he TOLERATES ONLY. Don't tell them he said that though

Adele and Len aren't friends which again, is just weird to think about 

Charlotte was conceived at the after party of the xy endgame ceremony. Yeah. Grace wasn't too happy with this news

Bridge and Milton are dating still. Don't know the details but they are. they are the last fankid ship we can get to work in this verse so they will because I said so

[lousylark]

blue lace

(part 6. Read the previous part here, read the first part here. This is a bite-sized part because halfway through is where I decided to switch the story from being in past-tense to present-tense, so sorry about that lol. But the chapter is really long anyway so breaking it into two parts should be fine.)

- 

Spring 7th. Maurice’s Inn. Morning. 

When Klaus stepped outside that morning, the world seemed noticeably lighter. 

As he locked the door of his home behind him, he took a deep breath in through the nose. The air felt wet, though not in an unpleasant way; rather, it foretold the arrival of Spring — and not a moment too soon, seeing as a week had gone by since the dawn of the New Year. 

On his walk to town, he was surprised to find that most of the snow had melted overnight. Perhaps the farmers would finally be able to plant — he’d heard grumblings around town of a possible slow-down in the local economy thanks to spring’s late arrival. 

In fact, the weather was so nice that he didn’t even miss his heavier jacket. Since Minori had yet to return his winter coat, he’d been wearing a lighter jacket the past several days. Not, of course, that he minded too much. He had seen her wearing it two days ago while walking through town and hadn’t failed to notice the charming way she tucked her nose inside the collar to hide her face from the cold. 

Such were dangerous thoughts, however, and he pushed them away, deep into the crevices of his heart, as he stepped into the lobby of Maurice’s Inn. 

“Klaus!” Maurice greeted even before he had closed the door behind him. “What can I do for you, sir?”

Klaus tipped his hat. “I have a meeting with some of your guests, actually.” 

“Ah, I see.” Maurice leaned on the counter on his elbows. “Can I get you anything? A glass of water?”

He started to take off his coat. “No, I —“ And then he paused. He was a little thirsty. “Actually, yes, thank you, Maurice.” 

Maurice grinned. “Good man. I’ll be right back.”

He disappeared through a door behind the counter, which, Klaus assumed, led to his family’s personal living space. 

Klaus took his time in taking off his coat and hanging it on the rack. He took a deep breath in through the nose. The Inn smelled of fresh flowers and cinnamon, with a dash of chai and green tea. He looked to the welcome desk: a vase of fresh daisies sat atop the wooden counter. He wondered who had managed to find such lovely flowers amidst the recent winter weather. He had always wanted to try a flower-and-chai scented perfume. Maybe the Inn would be his inspiration.

A loud pair of feet clunked down the stairs. He looked up to find Melanie, the younger of Maurice’s two daughters, clad in a rain jacket and boots. 

Her eyes widened when she saw him. She froze on the stairwell, surprised. “Hi Mr. Shultz!”

He nodded at her. “Good morning, Melanie. How are you?”

Her grin could singlehandedly light up a theater — not unlike her father. 

“Great!” she chirped, practically flying down the rest of the stairs until she was at the bottom step. She draped herself over the railing — strangely lavishly for her next words: “I’m going to hunt for worms with Lutz.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Worms?”

She nodded. “It’s the perfect weather to find them — all muddy. You know?”

“Indeed,” he said, “but why worms?”

“Otmar said he’d teach us to fish when the river thawed,” she explained hastily. “But we gotta find bait, first.”

“Ah. You’d best get to it, then. I hear worms are easiest to find in the morning.”

Her eyebrows practically rose to her hairline. “Really? I didn’t know that!” 

She raced past him toward the door, swinging it open. A pleasantly warm breeze blew into the lobby. 

Before she left, she looked up at him, still grinning, and said, “Thanks, Mr. Shultz. I owe you one!”

The door slammed behind her. Though he chuckled at her youthful excitement, Klaus couldn’t help but wonder when we’d gotten so old that the youngsters of the town had started calling him ‘Mr. Shultz” rather than Klaus. It was a thought he wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to ponder.

Thankfully, Maurice came back with a glass of water, providing him with a distraction.

“Here you go, Klaus,” he said, and Klaus approached to grab the water. “Sorry it’s a mug, not a glass. I haven’t had time to do the dishes the past few days.”

“Not a problem, Maurice,” he replied, raising the glass to his lips. “I’m less likely to spill with the handle, anyway.” 

Maurice’s eyes sparkled. “You’re always findin’ that silver lining, aren’t you? Well, I’ll leave you to your meeting.” As Klaus started toward the staircase, he added, “Just yell if you need anything, alright?”

“Will do, Maurice,” he said. “Thank you.” 

Raeger’s Restaurant. Morning. 

After finishing her morning chores, Minori found herself once again sitting at the counter of Raeger’s restaurant. Her sketchbook was open to a blank page — well, blank, minus the drop of coffee she’d accidentally spilled in the corner. 

She groaned, throwing her head against the book. 

“Still stumped about White Day?” Raeger asked. He stood behind the counter, cleaning out a coffee pitcher with a wet dish towel.

“Yeah,” she said, but the sound was muffled by her sketchbook. “It’s like my mind is…totally blank. I have no idea how to throw a White Day festival without it seeming overly cheesy, and I don’t want it to be focused solely on romance. It has to attract families, too.”

Raeger scoffed. “Come on, you don’t usually admit defeat so easily. You’ve gotta have something up your sleeve.” 

She finally lifted her head from the counter, leaning it on one hand. “Literally all I’ve got is “Under the Sea” and “White and Black” — you know, ‘cause it’s White Day?”

Raeger looked at her strangely — and then smiled lop-sidedly. 

“Yeah, those really are kinda weak,” he jibed.

She picked her sketchbook up off the counter and whacked him with it. He only laughed in response. 

“You’re so unhelpful,” she grumbled.

“Hey, come on, Nor,” he said, hopping up to sit on the counter next to her. “You’re usually full of ideas. What’s so different about this?”

She sighed. “I don’t know…”

“I don’t know,” he parroted — in a rather terrible impression of her voice, she thought. “It’s that crazy French lady that’s staying with Elise, isn’t it?”

She pouted. “No!” A pause. “Okay, maybe.” She threw her head against the sketchbook again. “I don’t know.” 

Raeger put a hand on her shoulder. She lifted her head. For a moment, looking into his sweet, puppy-dog eyes, she realized it wasn’t any wonder Lillie was so terribly besotted with him.

“You’ve never let someone get in your way before, Nor,” he said, his tone significantly gentler. “Not your stubborn cows, or Giorgio, or even Elise. Why is Madame Dupont any different?”

She sighed, averting her gaze. “I don’t know.”

The door to the restaurant opened. Otmar hobbled in. He looked particularly put-together today, with a bright blue rain jacket and big brown boots. 

“Hiya, kids,” he said through whistling dentures. 

“Hey, Otmar,” Minori said — but she couldn’t keep the wistfulness out of her voice.

He tottered over to the counter, using his cane to propel himself onto one of the bar stools. “Why, what’s with the long face? Youngsters like you shouldn’t have any reason to look so sad.” 

Minori managed a half-smile. “I have to throw together a brand new festival by the end of the day, or else our Business Mentor is gonna roast me over an open fire.” 

He titled his head to one side like a Beagle asking for a treat. “You mean that slim lady with the high heels? And the…the hair?”

Minori nodded. “That’s the one.”

He whistled. “Her eyes are so icy I almost slipped and fell on my bum watchin’ her walk through town.”

Minori burst out laughing at that — she couldn’t help it.

Raeger hopped off the counter. “Hey, good work Otmar. That’s the first time she’s laughed this morning.”

“Always willing to help a friend in need,” Otmar said, flashing a toothy smile. “If anyone wants to help this friend in need, I can’t remember where I put my vitamins.”

“Did you check the drawer under the cash register?” Minori asked. “They were there last time.”

Otmar’s eyes lit up. “By golly, they were, weren’t they!”

She nodded — she didn’t know why, but her eyes had suddenly filled with tears. “U-Uh huh.”

Otmar somehow seemed to understand. He took a handkerchief out of his back pocket and handed it to her. It looked slightly used, but she didn’t really mind in the moment. Raeger kindly turned back to his dish washing as the first tear rolled down her cheek.

“Now don’t you let that scary woman get to you, little lady,” Otmar said over the sound of her nose-blowing. “You’re a right bit stronger than her, y’see? Now what’s this festival you have ta plan?”

“It’s for White Day,” she explained — or rather, hiccuped. She had a nasty habit of crying when she was even just a bit frustrated. “We have to come up with…some sort of celebration that’ll make money.”

Otmar’s eyes lit up. “White Day? Well why didn’t ya say so!”

Raeger paused in his dishwashing. Minori, too, put the handkerchief down.

“What?” 

“Back in my youth,” Otmar explained, “this town’d have an annual White Day lunch auction.”

“A lunch auction?” Minori repeated.

He nodded. “A lunch auction.” 

She thought he was going to say more, but he simply stared at the far wall, eyes full of nostalgia.

Raeger took over. “Uh, Otmar?” he asked gently. “What’s a lunch auction?”

Otmar shook his head. “What? What was that? Munch oxen?”

“A lunch auction,” Minori clarified. 

“I haven’t been to a lunch auction in years!” he cried. His eyes glimmered with excitement. “A lunch auction is when all the little ladies anonymously make a lunch — but really they put ‘em in a pretty bag or tie ‘em up real special so their beaus know which lunch is theirs. And then they auction off the lunches. Whichever little lad is willing to pay the most gets to eat lunch with the lady who made it!”

Minori raised an eyebrow. “So it’s like…auctioning off a date?”

“You betcha,” he said, nodding. “It died down over the years ‘cause payin’ for a lady’s time became more…frowned upon, ya see.” He paused, clicking his teeth together. “But I bet’cha could tweak it and make it socially acceptable for the maidens and their misters here in town.”

The gears started turning in her mind. There were a lot of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes in town — and famous ones for that matter, like Elise and Raeger, whose participation would certainly draw a crowd, even from Norchester. And not only that, but the preparation on the board’s end would be minimal: all they had to do was arrange somewhere for the event to take place (the Trade Depot), find an auctioneer (Mistel would be perfect!), and advertise with flyers or a radio program (which Kassie had already offered to do as soon as she had the idea). Check, check, and —

“Minori?” Raeger asked, nudging her. “You alright?”

She grabbed her sketchbook and a pen. “Otmar, can you tell me more about this lunch auction? What kind of space did you use? What were the decorations like? The auctioning process? The entry guidelines?”

Otmar blinked. Raeger only laughed. 

Maurice’s Inn — Licorice’s Room. Mid-morning. 

Klaus waited patiently as Licorice and Kamil glanced over the journal. 

They had been sitting there for several minutes, both quietly reading the pages he’d marked that covered what he believed to be the flower he was looking for, Mundavi Meum. He was getting nervous — his knee bounced, his eye twitched. He focused on another of Marian’s anti-dissociating tricks: name a food that starts with every letter of the alphabet. 

Apple, Banana, Clementine. That was easy enough. 

They kept reading. He put a hand on his knee to keep it from bouncing. 

…Gourd, Honey…Jasmine? Did herbs count as food?

He glanced up. Both were still reading. Licorice smelled like daisies. He wondered if she’d been the one to put the vase of daisies on the counter downstairs. 

…Milk. Which made him think of cows, which made him think of a farm, which made him think of — 

Kamil hummed, pulling Klaus out of his mental whirlwind.

“Sorry, Klaus,” he said, sinking back into his chair with a resigned sigh. “I’ve never heard of this flower before.”

He felt his heart skip a beat in his chest, and then it sank deep to his stomach. So that was it, then.

Licorice, however, kept her eyes on the page. “I have,” she said, her voice soft even in the quiet room.

Klaus almost dropped his mug of water, the one Maurice had given him. As a precaution, he set it down on the floor before asking, “You have?” He really hadn’t been expecting this.

Licorice nodded. “Do you have a piece of paper? Something to write on?”

He fumbled with the button on the pocket of his sports coat, but managed to produce a receipt from Raeger’s restaurant and a pen. He handed them to Licorice.

She scratched a few notes on the piece of paper. The silence made his chest ache.

Finally, she said, “You’re missing a word. The Latin name of the flower is Mundavi Cor Meum — ‘Separate From My Heart’ is the literal translation.” She paused to return the receipt and the pen. “But it’s much more commonly referred to as ‘Blue Lace.’”

Klaus raised an eyebrow. He didn’t even glance at the paper — he was too fixated on every word she said. “Blue Lace?” 

She nodded. “The name is based on its appearance. The petals are extremely delicate, and it’s rare for a flower to be royal blue.” 

“Blue Lace,” he breathed. The name was like a benediction. “Incredible.”

Licorice nodded — but her eyes remained guarded. “It’s a wonder of nature, but I…I’m afraid I’ve never seen the flower in person, Klaus. It’s incredibly difficult to grow, as you’ll see from the instructions I wrote for you, and thus exceedingly rare. It also wilts exceptionally soon after harvesting.”

“But it exists,” he said. “Yes?”

She took a deep breath and held it, contemplating the answer. Then, her chest deflated, and she replied, “Yes. Technically. In very rare circumstances, and not often in the wild. It must be cultivated and cared for with the gentlest of hands.” She glanced at Kamil. “I’m not even sure either of us have the skill to plant it, let alone see it to harvest.”

“No matter,” he said, waving a hand. “I have faith.”

“Faith won’t water your flowers, Klaus,” Kamil pointed out, albeit gently. “If Licorice doesn’t think she can plant it, it’s a real long shot.” 

Licorice’s cheeks turned pink at the subtle compliment. Nonetheless, she said, “Kamil’s right. It would be really, really difficult —“

“But what of its healing properties?” Klaus asked. He felt only a little guilty for so blatantly interrupting her. “Surely the turnout is worth the risk?”

Licorice tilted her head to one side. “Healing properties?”

Klaus stood from his chair. He was too restless; he needed to move. 

“Mundavi — Blue Lace,” he corrected himself, pacing the room, “is known only in legend to chemists of my line of work. The scent of the flower is said to have…unimaginable healing properties,” he explained. “If I could harvest the flower and concoct a perfume from its aroma, I could —“ 

He stopped himself. Swallowed. Reeled himself back in.

“I could do a lot of good,” he finished. He looked back and forth between Licorice and Kamil. “You truly know nothing of the legend?”

Licorice shook her head. Kamil, too, looked at a loss. 

Klaus collapsed back into his chair. He pinched his nose between two fingers.

“Very well,” he said, his voice soft. “We’ll start with this: do you know where I could find the seeds to grow this flower?” 

Licorice shook her head. “That’s a question for Kamil, not me. I don’t have contacts like that.” 

Klaus, thus, looked to Kamil. With his sweater vest and newsies cap, he reminded Klaus a little of his younger self. He hoped for Kamil’s sake, however, that this was not the case. 

“I can see what I can do,” Kamil said. “But it might take days, even weeks, if I find anyone at all.”

Klaus nodded. “I understand. It’s taken me years to get even to this point.”

Licorice’s eyes widened. “Y-Years?”

“Years,” he affirmed. 

He supposed that was the moment when the gravity of his search finally sunk in for Kamil and Licorice: their eyes darkened with sadness, though both looked at him with a new degree of understanding. Klaus wondered, briefly, if they were related, or even just a couple: their mannerisms were unorthodoxly similar. He sometimes saw Lillie and Raeger do the same thing. Perhaps it was the result of being friends since childhood. 

“I’ll find the seeds for you, Klaus,” Kamil said, his voice low with sincerity. “I promise.”

Klaus chuckled dryly. 

“When you get to be my age, you won’t believe in promises anymore,” he said, a hint of bitterness to his tone. His gaze softened, however. “But I do appreciate the sentiment.” He tucked Licorice’s notes into his journal to look at later. “Thank you, both of you, for your help. You have no idea what it means to me.”

Elise’s Manor. Lunch. 

Nadi was oddly muscular for a landscaper.

Seeing as the weather had finally warmed up, Elise had decided to do some work on the porch instead of in her office. Occupying her favorite porch-swing — the one with the pink floral seat cushion — she had spent the majority of the morning balancing accounts and writing letters to her contacts in Norchester. Nadi had emerged from the mansion some ten minutes ago, claiming he was going to check the soil acidity and moisture now that the snow had melted. 

She hadn’t been able to focus since then. Every time she tried to start a task, her gaze would be pulled back out to the field. She didn’t usually pay attention to Nadi’s work, but she found herself suddenly engaged by the way he would get on his hands and knees and stick his hands straight into the mud. Then, he would pull his hands out and wipe them on his shirt before writing some notes down on a nearby sheet of paper. 

All the while, the fresh Spring sun shone down on his white hair. Today it was pulled back in an unruly ponytail; the strands that still clung to the base of his neck stood out like branches of birchwood against his dark skin. 

And then there were the muscles. He donned a simple cream working tunic that tied with elastic around the waist. When he leaned over to check the soil, she could see the muscles in his back and shoulders through the thin material. She’d never noticed them before.

“Elise.”

She snapped her gaze away from Nadi. Madame stood in the front doorway some feet away. 

Since the incident in the parlor, they had managed…cordiality. Nothing more, nothing less. Elise had not forgotten her resentment, and her knuckles were still bruised, but for now, she was biding her time until she could unravel whatever horrendous scheme Madame had in mind. Until then, she would wait patiently to strike. 

“Bonjour Madame,” she said, shifting the papers in her lap so she could cross her legs in the porch swing. “Ça va?” 

Madame moved from the doorway toward a chair opposite Elise. “Today is the third day since the meeting, and our Agricultural Representative has yet to present any ideas for a possible White Day festival.”

As Madame sat down, Elise let out a sigh. “Her name is Minori, Madame.” 

“Minor details, p’tite,” she said, crossing her legs and looking out to the field. “Without a festival, we risk —“ 

She abruptly cut off. Elise tried to follow her gaze — she was staring at Nadi.

“Is something the matter, Madame?” she asked. 

Madame scowled. “I’ve never seen any Prince of Silk Country playing in the dirt.”

Elise moved her hand delicately to her collarbone in a show of surprise. “Why, Madame! He has kindly asked to help my servants with landscaping this Spring. ’Tis not unheard of for the nobility to take up such hobbies.”

“I suppose you’re right. Did he bring that shirt with him?” Madame asked. “It would be terribly unflattering on anyone else, but it fits him well.” She crossed her arms. “A pity he’s from Silk Country, or I would dare say he’s a rather handsome young man.” 

Fire smoldered in Elise’s belly. “Madame,” she hissed. “C’est impoli. Il est un prince!” She hesitated, then added, “And more so, he is a person. You should not say such things.”

Madame barked out a laugh. “Oh, Elise. T’es un enfant.”

Elise’s shook her head. “Skin color holds no weight in contests for beauty,” she argued, echoing her mother’s words from when she was young — but the next words were her own: “But how one perceives race does aid in assessing one’s capacity for hatred.”

Madame, however, seemed unperturbed by the insult. “Please, ma petite. You cannot tell me truly that you find our Prince Nadi becoming.” 

Elise chewed on the inside of her cheek, remembering the way the sun lit up Nadi’s hair; the way his lips pursed when he was thinking hard; the muscles of his back when he got on his knees to check the soil — 

A long pause. Madame’s lips curled into an eerie smile. 

“Of course I do not,” Elise said quickly, attempting to deter her. “He is my guest — not eye candy.”

Madame leaned back into her chair with a satisfied sigh. “You see? ’Tis simply the way of things.”

Elise had at least seven cutting responses on the tip of her tongue, but they were interrupted by the front door opening.

Jenny, her servant, poked her head out onto the porch. “Excuse me, mistress. Would you care for some tea or cookies?” 

Elise sighed. She supposed this was as good a distraction from the direction of their conversation as any. Jenny, as always, had good timing. Perhaps she should consider giving her a raise. 

“Yes, Jenny. Thank you.”

“Hold the cookies,” Madame ordered, not even looking at Jenny.

Jenny glanced at Elise for approval. Elise sighed. 

“No cookies,” she affirmed, trying desperately to suppress the blush crawling up to her cheeks. 

Jenny nodded, and then disappeared back into the house. 

“There, now,” Madame hummed once she was gone. “N’ayez pas peur. We will restore your figure within the season, p’tite.” 

Elise didn’t respond. She returned her focus to the balance sheets in her lap, ignoring the shame boiling in the pit of her stomach. She would not let Madame hold this over her — not again, not after the years she’d spent undoing her curse. 

Madame didn’t seem to be done with her yet, however. “I asked Cook if we might have broiled fish and asparagus for dinner this evening.” She crossed her legs as if her next words were just an observation of the weather. “I suppose I could ask him to add a dollop of butter to the cod, if you’ll really feel remiss without it.”

Elise snapped. 

“Actually, I won’t be joining you for dinner this evening,” she said, gathering her papers and standing from the porch swing. “I have a social commitment I must attend.”

Madame raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? What social commitments could you possibly have in this tiny town?”

“A ladies’ gathering,” she replied, “with some of my dear friends. Once a season we meet to drink wine and eat cheese and —“ she took a tiny pause. What did girls her age talk about? “— discuss our favorite fashions, and such.” 

Madame peered at her suspiciously. “I was under the impression you didn’t waste your time on such frivolous matters, p’tite.” 

“Time spent schmoozing is never time wasted, Madame,” she countered. “Or wasn’t that what you always taught me?” She set her papers down on a little table nearby and started toward the porch steps.

Madame shook her head, smiling pointedly. “Only when the schmoozing actually benefits your political stance.”

Elise whirled around. “You have much to learn about Oak Tree Town politics, Madame. The girls I’ll be courting tonight carry a great deal of respect in this town.” She smiled thinly. “Perhaps you’d like to come? Iris is quite the fiction writer. You could commission her to whip up a little story to save your fashion enterprise. Imagine the headline: ‘Racist, Cold-Hearted Designer Nurses Small Town to Health.’” A pause so that she could bark a laugh. “Actually, I’m not even sure Iris’s skills could help you there.” 

Madame’s mouth popped open. Elise was fairly sure that if she hadn’t been standing several feet, safely away, she would have gotten slapped. 

But instead of an angry reprimanding, Madame just leaned back in her chair, her gaze sliding out to look where Nadi worked in the field. 

“Perhaps I’ll call your father while you’re at this gathering,” Madame commented too-nonchalantly. “He and I have a great deal to talk about.”

Elise smiled with no mirth. “Do give him my warmest regards.”

And then she flounced into the house, teeth gritted and ready to stuff a hundred cookies down her throat out of spite. 

[forr-everrmorre]

so since we have an almost full cast for our Gender Bent BATB, Ill give an explanation for all the choices and their names. 

(under the cut bc I wrote a lot)

Alfred Enoch as Beau  Belle was definitely the hardest to cast (except Chip, obvs) because I REALLY wanted them to have brown eyes and hair since it's one of Belle's most defining features. every actor I came up with or you guys suggested didn't have brown eyes, and the few who did just didn't match what I was looking for in a Belle. BUT BLESS @lumiereswig BC EVERYTHING ABOUT ALFRED ENOCH WORKS. he has the right eye color, he's handsome as hell, and he's a POC (of mixed parents might I add!). The POC part meant a lot to me because one thing I love about the actual movie is all the mixed race couples, and casting Belle as a POC makes two couples not originally mixed race (Belle/Beast and Maurice/Belle's mom) into mixed and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. as for his name, Beau in French is the masculine form of Belle so it was just logical. 

Karen Gillan as The Beast/Princess Adelia The Beast was the other role I was adamant about getting the right eyes for. so I gave up and looked at a list on IMDB of Blue Eyed actors. Karen came on that list, and while looking at it now, her eyes are more green than blue, they're still gorgeous and defining. I loved Karen in Doctor Who, but after seeing her in both GOTG movies, I’m convinced she could play the role of the seemingly intimidating villain who actually does have a heart. and everyone bitches and moans about how Adam isn't a French name so I looked up french names that start with an a. Adelia came up AND it means noble, so it works. 

Aubrey Plaza as Geneve This was I think the second person I chose out of this entire list, mostly for her role as Lenny in Legion. She played this best friend figure who ended up being manipulative and tricked everyone with a facade, which is EXACTLY what we need in a Gaston. Her name was the harder part since Gaston is one of two names belonging to major characters that I would need to change but are used as lyrics (the other being Belle, but Beau is the same number of syllables). My first idea was Giselle, but then I remembered that there's already a Disney character with that name that most people are familiar with. then I stumbled on the name Genevieve, but too many syllables. An alternate form of Genevieve is Geneve, which is 2 syllables SO THAT WORKS! 

Rebel Wilson as LaFoue This one was all on my cousin. We were just spit balling names and hers came up for LeFou, and WOW THAT WAS GENIUS. Rebel can pull of that comedic sidekick with increasing moral values, she's done it before. And I legit just made "Le Fou" into its feminine form, so La instead of Le and an e at the end. 

Meryl Streep as Heidi Cogsworth  Paternal, sassy, and legendary. Definitely things I'd describe Cogsworth as, and also Meryl Streep. Honestly she was just made for this role. And Heidi is just a French name I found that I thought sounds like Henri. 

Renée Elise Goldsberry as Lumiere Another one from @lumiereswig, and WHY DIDNT I THINK OF IT SOONER? I used to be obsessed with Hamilton and my GOD DID I LOVE RENÉE. She's my qUEEN and an absolute showstopper, what else would we need in our favorite Candleabra? Also, LUMIERE IS ALREADY A FEMININE WORD IN FRENCH SO WE GOOD. 

Dan Stevens as Plumet Alright so originally, we jokingly cast Emma Watson as Lumiere, so our obvious choice was Dan as Plumette. But even after we decided Emma wasn't Lumiere, I still thought Dan could work really well as Plumette. And Plumette technically isn't a real French name, its derived from Plume, which means feather. The masculine form of Plume is Plumet so there's his name. 

Hugh Jackman as Monsieur de Garderobe I don't even remember how, but we came up with Hugh Jackman and rolled with it. And honestly, he just works. He can be larger than life and is a great singer, which is just what we need for Garderobe. I didn't change the name because I'm assuming Garderobe is a last name. 

Helena Bonham Carter as Maestro Cadenza Helena can pull off just the right amount of crazy genius needed for a Cadenza. And she can sing and admits to being able to sing UNLIKE SOME CADENZAS. Again, Cadenza appears to be a last name and Maestro is a gender neutral term. 

Julie Andrews as Margurite This one's from @batbobsession. Julie Andrews can totally be that wonderfully quirky parental figure so she definitely works. The name is just another random French name I thought sounded like the actual name. 

Stanley Tucci as Mr. Bertrand Potts Another one from @batbobsession. I don't really have an explanation for this one but I think it works bc he's Stanley Tucci, and the name is another one of those sounds like the original kinda thing. 

That's it for now! Still looking for a Chip and then I'm gonna start doing minor characters (for those it's mainly Chapeau, Agathe, Bimbettes, Tom, Dick, Stanley, Mr. Potts, Clothilde, the Headmaster, and Pere Robert, but that on its own is still 11 more roles, so I will most likely still need your guy's help). I'll also be tagging all posts about this #genderbentbatb, so get yourselves ready, bc I have a lot planned for this!

[legolasgoldy]

8, 10, and 14, for your active muses!

// Omg thank you!! ;~; @acommonanomaly//

8. What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

Well, definitely love of teddy bears! When Phillip was a child his favorite thing to watch was Winnie the Pooh and he loved it so much that his mother Elise began to buy him a small bear figurine each year for his birthday, they were super fragile so he couldnt play with them of course but the idea was a similar concept to marking height on the wall. Each year when a new teddy was added on the shelf it shown how old he was. Teddy bears were his favorite thing in the whole world and now at 28 years old he still sleeps with Monsieur Teddy between the pillows.  I can relate because i sleep with a ton of plushies, they may not be bears but i do have several teddy bears around haha i just dont have them on my bed. On my bed i have a plushie donut, mouse, deer, dogs, and plushie bigfoots X’D  i think theres a cow and snowman too somewhere lol its a pile haha

10. If they have an LI, how much of their character is tailored to be compatible to that person?

Ahh very complicated question XD His canon love interest is his boyfriend Derek who to say the least, is the biggest douche of all douches. Its made that way so that Phillip can learn from the experience and overcome it. Eventually he does realize that hes done nothing wrong and that it was his boyfriend who had been purposely making him think he was the problem. So long story short, he breaks up with him and feels a TON better afterwards and decides hes never going to let anyone ever make him feel that way again. So i guess in a way his love interest was tailored to NOT be compatible haha. Eventually he does find a partner who he trusts more than anything and they are super compatible but his story is combined with someone elses OC so rather than them being tailored to fit, they naturally fit so they were kinda just introduced and the rest fell into place haha. They adopted a girl and named her Arielle Chevalier and then later on they adopt a boy and name him Beau Chevalier

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

Hmm well the way his voice sounds definitely, if his voice doesnt sound right its just takes away a huge aspect of his character. Hes French so hes got that type of accent, and people close to him are used to hearing certain words sound certain ways. They love it about him, so if he says/words things differently they kinda freak out haha. For a joke once he actually learned how to do an american accent and everyone was like @_@ WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH PHILLIP XD

Another thing would be.. umm..I really need to keep in mind as much medical knowledge as possible since hes a surgeon. I know nothing about those things haha so i have to look them up and figure out what medical instruments he uses, how much time it takes, the specifics of what kind of surgeon he is and what cases he takes. All that kinda stuff. Which also transfers into him being a bit of a clean freak, not much but a little. And also, if a friend gets hurt while theyre out or at his house, etc, hes going to immediately switch to doctor mode and doctor them up and i really have to keep in mind how his medical-ish brain works XD.

[keenperfectiondaze-blog]

Internet dating. Write only if you are serious! Maria. Age 20 My new photos and sexy videos here >>>

Name: Maria Age: 20 Country: Ukraine City: Zaporozhye Marital status: single Children: none Height: 5'3" - 160 cm Weight: 97 lb - 44 kg Eye color: brown Hair color: dark brown Religion: Christian Smoke: no Drink: no English level: basic

Maria Internet dating

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Internet dating

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All Girl Games Privacy Policy Terms of Use Copyright Policy Feedback Free Girl Games for Webmasters Welcome to Girl Games, the largest free game site made just for girl gamers. It is vital for the first meeting, but after that it will be more fun and unpredictable if you do not have your other meetings planned out far in advance. I would love to date him and form a r'ship, but i don't understand if the texting game is same for 2 lads. How better to find someone you can really be interested in than sitting on your couch, browsing photos and profiles and being able to have a conversation without loud music club or the voices of other clients in the restaurant. Composed of 50 states, 5 major states and a federal district, America has the world's largest economy.

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[marjaystuff]

Elise Cooper interviews Debra Goldstein

Three Treats Too Many by Debra Goldstein has amateur sleuth Sarah Blair once again solving a murder.  What makes these books beyond a cozy mystery is that the story delves into societal issues.  

This plot has Sarah, now the co-owner of a restaurant with her twin sister, Emily and brother-in-law.  Running a nearby restaurant is Sarah’s nemesis, Jane, who was Sarah’s late husband’s mistress. 

The mystery ratchets up after Jane's new sous chef, Riley Miller, is found dead outside the restaurant with Sarah's friend, Jacob, kneeling over her.  He becomes the prime suspect after word gets out about his infatuation with Riley. As Sarah looks to prove Jacob's innocence, she soon learns that Riley had more people dislike her than not. This includes many of the members of a motorcycle gang that Riley and Jacob were part of. Other suspects include the veterinarians that recently opened up an office by the parking lot where Riley was found dead.

 The darker side of love is dealt with in this novel, along with PTSD, of those who served in the military.  The relationships between the characters seem very realistic. There are a number of suspects to go around, which makes the mystery very compelling. 

Elise Cooper: This story involves a motorcycle gang?

Debra Goldstein:  I took this writing class and during a break these people started talking about their motorcycle trip.  They were not the stereotypical people of the motorcycle world.  They were a group who from all walks of life and every summer went on a motorcycle trip. Also, some friends of mine who owned a balloon business was someone who broke all the motorcycle records in his youth.  I also went to the largest motorcycle museum, which is located here in Alabama.  All of these came together.

EC:  Jane is still Sarah’s nemesis?

DG:  She will always be her nemesis.  Jane is like a cat with nine lives.  Everything she touches eventually turns sour.  In this one she opens a restaurant which becomes popular because of the vegan meal choices.  But, after the chef dies, she does not know what to do and cannot make it on her own. She seems to always stumble but ends up surviving. 

EC:  How would you describe Jacob, the main person of interest?

DG:  Good heartened, generous, has a jealous streak, is a giving person, and protective.

EC:  In this story you discuss veteran’s issues?

DG:  The dog, General Beau, was a land mine sniffer. But he had PTSD because he was close to an exploding bomb.  I had him fostered in Wheaton, Ala. He was skittish around loud noises and in unfamiliar settings. Also, all three vets in the story got military scholarships that allowed them to go to vet school.

EC:  In all your books you reference a social issue?

DG:  I write cozies but not as they are defined.  I bring in issues that makes someone think deeper about a topic.  

EC:  I laughed when you talked about a buffet, maybe a thing of the past?

DG:  Out here there are some open.  Someone points behind a shield and are served what they want.  People are also made to social distance.  

EC:  Can you give a shout out about your next book?

DG: It comes out next June and is titled, Four Cuts Too Many.  BTW:  All the books in this series will be the next number Too Many.  In this one, Grace Winston, the sous chef for Emily and Marcus, is involved in a murder.  I will also be developing the relationship between Grace and her partner.  

THANK YOU!!

[nathank77]

4/3/24

9:43 p.m Updated/Added to/Edited

Mike said rimless glasses were out of style... I mean glasses are nerdy man. If I ever had time to just talk I could talk to you about how much my glasses effect my self esteem and how i feel like less of a person for wearing them and how I don't feel like people want to get to know me bc of them. How they affect my ability to find friends and or dates. Although I only want Elise.

Anyways, now I'm insecure about buying them...

Either way I got two pairs of the same Ray-Bans.. the focal point isn't perfect but that's the problem with online Eyewear.. lense crafters next year will make sure they line up.... although if I don't wear them in specific spots on my nose if I laugh or smile big one side of my cheek touches the bottom of the frames.... I can't win but whatever.

The issue with all my glasses is bc I get them online my focal point is never perfect. Even the ones I wore last year.. I just accept that my clarity will be affected and my vision will worsen every year bc of it.

I get two pairs of the same Ray-Bans, 2 pairs of the Beau Frames and one pair of rimless for 228$ if you divide that by 5 pairs of glasses, I got each pair for 45$ in Total.. I obv got a great deal.

I just hope my Ray-Bans stop touching my face on that one side thank you body for being asymmetrical....

Maybe I won't wear my rimless... idk I don't want to look weird..

I feel like with my Ray-Bans they take up my whole face... my whole face is glasses. If I was in a far away picture you could totally tell I'm a glasses wearer..... I feel like a total nerd I wish I could have gotten a smaller lense height.... I like them don't get me wrong but I obv am self conscious.

I feel like the Beau frames compliment my face but I still feel like a nerd and they would also show up in a far away photo...

The rimless idk how I feel about them. They are more discrete.. I'll see what I think when I wear them..... but now I feel stupid for buying them...

I hope one day I can get my frames fitted at lense crafters and get a variety of styles... or maybe I'll go to no glasses or contacts....

Beyond that I was thinking if anyone is stupid enough to marry me I might be in hearing aids too. The more I wear glasses the more my vision gets worse... I'm obv getting behind the ear hearing aids on my insurance... I don't want to look weird in those photos. How would a girl love me? I could not wear the hearing aids or get them edited out but I want to be authentically me..

With tepezza I very well may not have a choice if my hearing loss is significant and maybe we could get them edited out... but I'd still be wearing them and everyone would see them at my wedding. Hearing aids are expensive. Especially discreet ones ranging in the thousands...

I guess I got to accept myself for being a glasses wearer to start but if I get hearing aids- it's inevitable I'm on the line I will have them in a few years and with tepezza its even more likely...

I will have to accept that this is just my face and head. This is why being bald sucks. If I could grow hair and cover the hearing aids it would be ideal but I'd look awful. I'll never wear a wig.

So I got to accept myself for who I am eventually.

[americasnexttoprecap-blog]

Cycle 1 Episode 2

The Girl Who’s Here to Win, Not to Make Friends, aka. Who Will Be This Cycle’s Bitch?

We open with Sister Shannon feeling relieved about not leaving and having a super loving time with Ebony.  Cut to Elyse in one of those diary entry head on interviews bitching about how everyone’s noisy and annoying and how she wants to hide.  This appears to be ok with everyone else because Elyse is a buzzkill.  

Next day OMG TYRA(nt) MAIL. I guess we are calling it Tyra(nt) Mail from now on.  The girls are going to meet their first FASHION EXPERT! Ebony practices posing in front of the mirror and it’s one of the most awkward things ever.  I can’t look away.

Elyse starts bitching about how she’s an ACADEMIC and she loves how ACADEMIC she is and the house is just so not ACADEMIC.  She then says she’s a militant atheist again.  Still don’t really know what she means by that.  Then Robin gives her a bible verse that says ‘Foolish is the man that says there is no God’ and Elyse thinks it’s offensive, which it totally is.  But don’t get a big head Elyse because I still hate you.

The girls head to some place where there’s a runway and Tyra(nt) is there to show them all the wrong ways to do a runway.  The girls walk up and down the runway and OMG MISS J IS THERE except he isn’t calling himself Miss J.  Nice-cole is apparently fine, Robin is OMG SO FAT, Adrianne is also fine, Sister Shannon has a commercial walk, Giselle’s walk is too dancey, Kesse is fucking aggressive as fuck, Ebony’s walk is uptight, Patron Saint of Polar Bears is really into it but is kinda shite, and bloody Elyse apparently has what it takes (and yet I still hate you Elyse).  Then Miss J walks and he looks better than them.  

We go back to talking about Elyse being ACADEMIC.  Can this be over soon.

We’re now in a pizza place and Elyse is eating oatmeal (out of a fucking paper cup, what is happening) and everyone is concerned.  I’m concerned about why in the holy name of Tyra(nt) a pizza place is selling random paper cups of oatmeal.

Back at Model Dungeon they are all practicing their walk on the runway that they just happen to have in their apartment.  Elyse is talking about how she doesn’t want to be a model and wants to be eliminated. It’s probably because she’s so ACADEMIC.

The next day there is an EXTREME RUNWAY CHALLENGE aka impromptu fashion show. The reward is a night out on the town with Wyclef Jean.  I don’t know who he is but I feel like a night out on the town with someone famous who you don’t know is a form of torture not a prize.  How much more awkward can a social situation get?  Anyway.

The girls all walk in pyjamas, I think.  But then someone’s wearing a beanie so I dunno.

Then they walk in other clothes.  What the fuck is this monstrosity?

Miss J says Elyse’s dress is fabulous and looks great on her.  She says ‘Frankly this dress is hideous and I’m so glad I don’t own it’. Which it 100% is, but stfu Elyse. It isn’t decorated in tiny little equations and chemical symbols, so it isn’t ACADEMIC enough for her probably.

We cut to critiques, Miss J says throws some random critiques out there then says something I didn’t catch about Elyse’s shoe, but it doesn’t actually matter what was said because it’s just a chance to cut to Elyse’s head on interview thing where she says that because modelling doesn’t rely on intelligence she doesn’t have an advantage, even though she’s smarter than the other girls.  God help Elyse’s future patients.  Girl’s a grade A bitch.

Robin was late getting on runway cause she was looking at herself in the mirror.  This is a major hazard when one is a model.  Sister Shannon gets in trouble for buttoning a shirt she was supposed to leave open, and she says she didn’t feel comfortable with it open because Jesus.  Ebony was early, and she was also late, and she gives too much attitude.  Giselle was good, Adrianne good, Patron Saint of Polar Bears was good but should be less sexy (Katie, why always so porny?).  The winner of the challenge is Giselle and Adrianne is pissed off because she thinks Giselle doesn’t have enough confidence, therefore Adrianne intends to build her confidence by saying she doesn’t deserve to win.  Rock’n’Roll!  Giselle picks Ebony, Katie and Nice-cole to go with her for the Awkward Night Out with That Guy.  That makes it less awkward but it’s still a lame prize.  

Elyse is feeling isolated from the other girls and that makes her not want to be here.  This is because the other girls are vapid (which means not ACADEMIC) and boring.  It has nothing to do with the fact that Elyse is a snob. Then she goes in full sweary rant mode out of nowhere and it’s glorious.  She brings up the bible incident (fair, dick move Robin), says Adrianne should get out of her face and stop quoting movies, calls Giselle a fucking worthless cunt who is wasteful, bitchy, stupid and a shame to her parents, then she says that Miss J offended her by saying that medical school is hard work because she’s aware of that, then she says Katie is the most insincere person she’s ever met. Guys, model down.  Elyse has cracked.

Giselle and her Chosen Ones go to the night out with that guy and an emergency letter arrives saying the photoshoot starts at 7.30 the next day and I think Robin goes downstairs to catch Giselle and the Chosen Ones to tell them.  Boring. They don’t refer to it as Tyra(nt) Mail cause they can’t commit.

Giselle and her Chosen Ones are at Wyclef’s studio having a grand old time being forced to sing in 5 part harmony.  It’s cringeworthy as fuck and I pray for a sudden death.

Back at the Model Dungeon Ebony is practicing her runway walk.  Cut back to Giselle and her Chosen Ones and OMFG they’re all grinding on each other. It’s just this Wyclef bloke, a handful of random people and the four models dry humping in the studio.  This is torture.  Show me Elyse talking about ACADEMICS again.   

Giselle and her Chosen Ones return to the Model Dungeon and Ebony tells Adrianne about the early morning photo shoot.  Then Adrianne says that Ebony was planning to keep it to herself.  But earlier Robin went and told them?  I don’t really know.  Adrianne is pissed off in a drawly way.  Boring.

Next day Robin is talking about how she went down to tell Giselle and the Chosen Ones about the early photo shoot and how that is because she is so Christian.  Ebony didn’t do it because she’s a blood drinking Satanist who hates babies.  Ebony says she wasn’t trying to keep it to herself.  Robin says that all the demons that are within Ebony are going to come out. The Exorcism of Ebony Rose.  Ha. Everyone is yelling at the same time except the Patron Saint of Polar Bears who is giggling which makes me like her. Then Robin starts singing some gospel song, then makes everyone close their eyes and join hands and say a prayer and she starts crying and it’s nauseating.  Shit is getting extremely close to ‘The Craft’.   Even Elyse joins in the prayer even though it’s not ACADEMIC, then she starts crying too, but not because she’s being touched by the spirit, just because she’s uncomfortable.  

Then Ebony throws the best shade of the season so far.  She sneakily opens her eyes in the middle of the prayer circle and looks straight into the camera like it’s The Office.  

Ebony, you’re a fucking queen.

PHOTOSHOOT TIME!

They’re modelling for a men’s magazine today.  Katie will probably be in her element but Sister Shannon and Robin and whoever the other Christians are are not going to like this! Oh wait they don’t seem to care!  Having an open shirt will condemn you to eternal suffering and gnashing of teeth, but soft porn mags are 100% a-ok!  For that is the Word.  

Tyra(nt) has her photos taken for a while because it’s very important that we don’t forget about her. Everyone waxes poetic about how great she was.  

As predicted Patron Saint of Polar Bears is super into it because everything she does is porny, but the photographer isn’t feeling it.  Adrianne is like a snake, which is apparently a good thing, Elyse gets her bra stuffed and feels silly and uncomfortable in her shoot.  Good.  Robyn wants to cover her hips up, probably because Janice Duckinson and Elyse and Giselle and everyone else kept saying she was fat last week.  But Tyra(nt) convinces her not to and she goes out in her bikini.  Werk it Robin.  Nice-cole is ‘physically flawless’, Ebony is super modern, Sister Shannon was great, Giselle was ‘beautifully present’ and has an inner sexuality, Kesse was too self-conscious.  

TYRA(nt) MAIL!  It just says it’s elimination time the next day. In the future, kids, we refer to that as Skull Mail.

Elise goes on about how the prayer was inappropriate again.  Then she says if Kesse wins it’ll be unfair cause Kesse looks like Tyrant and it would just be Tyra(nt) choosing another Tyra(nt).  I think that’s literally Tyra(nt)’s goal in life.  Then she says the other girls think she isn’t taking the competition seriously but she’s actually starting to take it more seriously than she’s letting on.  What the fuck woman? 20 minutes ago you said you wanted to be eliminated and you didn’t want to be a model?  WHAT HAPPENED TO ACADEMICS?  Traitor.

MORNING OF THE ELIMINATION DAY.  Elise drinks peppermint tea and Ebony drinks the blood of a Christian virgin (probably). The Christians pray together.

The guest judge is Miss J.

The girls do their runway walks again before they talk about their photos but I’m not going to talk about that unless something interesting happens.  Seriously?  Enough walking.  

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, THE PHOTOS AND SNIDE JUDGEMENTS!

ROBIN

The judges like it, except Janice Duckinson who says 26 is too old.  Janice Duckinson is rude.

NICE-COLE

Janice Duckinson thinks her arm is making her look too titty and would like more relaxation.  

GISELLE

They like her photo.   Kimbra likes the shoes because they’re her shoes.  Shut up Kimbra. Wait is that her name?  That’s a musician… I don’t know.  NEXT!

SISTER SHANNON

Janice Duckinson loves it and gives her a 10.  No one else says anything.  Beau never says anything.  Perhaps Ebony ate his tongue in a ritual.

ADRIANNE

Tyra(nt) likes it, the light looks good on her cheekbone.  No one else says anything.  Not even Janice Duckinson.

EBONY

Janice Duckinson loves it. That’s all.

ELYSE

Elyse is the only one who gets praised for her walk.  They say she looks super sexy in her photo and that the photographer liked working with her. She says she doesn’t like it and that she was forced to make her sexuality ‘mainstream’.  I do not know what she means by that.  It was probs too ACADEMIC for me.  Kimora says she’s too thin and too pale (Kimora!  Not Kimbra.  Apologies to Kimbra).  That’s because she has no soul, Kimora.  

PATRON SAINT OF POLAR BEARS/ KATIE

They think the picture is cheap and porny.  Surprise.

KESSE

She cries when she gets critiqued on her runway walk.  Drink some cement and harden up mate.  Janice Duckinson agrees with me. They say she looks like Tyra(nt) in the picture and they like it.

The judges deliberate. They say Kesse is weak for crying (truuuue).  They say Giselle needs to ‘tighten up’ which I think for a moment is their way of being PC about calling her fat, but then they all just say ‘SHE’S GOT A WIDE ASS’ so PC is out the window.  #thatwouldneverflytoday.  Elyse= skinny, Katie= porny, she’s vacant, she’s boring, she’s too hard etc.  

WAVE THE FLAG, IT’S ELIMINATION NATION (I hate myself).  

Sister Shannon is called first, then Nice-cole.

Giselle in, Robin in, Adrianne in, Ebony in (Robin crosses herself), Elyse in (NO WHYYYY).

Kesse and Katie are in the bottom two.

Kesse is in.  As if Tyra(nt) would let mini-me go.  

Katie goes home as melancholy guitar music plays.  You can see what she’s been up to since the show on pornhub.com.  

Til next time.  

PS. Sorry Katie love your work, the polar bears need you xx

[marjaystuff]

Elise Cooper Interviews Mary Burton

Burn You Twice by Mary Burton is suspenseful with a heated plot. Fire is front and center in this book whose main antagonist is an arsonist. An added feature of the plot is how Burton gives glimpses and insight into the deranged mind of an arsonist. This psychological thriller intermingles a slight romance with family, fire, mistakes, and second chances.

Readers quickly learn that ten years ago, college student Joan Mason and her best friend, Ann Bailey, were rescued from a fire that destroyed the house they shared in Missoula, Montana. A fellow student, Elijah Weston, was subsequently tried and convicted of the crime, though he professed his innocence. Shaken, she fled the small collegiate Montana town, leaving behind friends and never looked back. Now a Philadelphia homicide detective, Joan’s trying to put her traumas to rest.

Ten years have passed, and Elijah Weston is out of prison and returning to Missoula. Gut instinct tells Joan he’ll strike again. To stop him, she returns to Montana. She now must face not only the man she fears, but Detective Gideon Bailey, the man she loved and left behind. Staying with her friend and former roommate Ann, Joan finds Ann is separated from Clarke, her firefighter husband and is living at her parents' ranch with their son Nate.

Shortly after Joan's arrival and Elijah’s' release from prison, an arson fire destroys the Beau- T- Shop. There is a fatality with one of the stylists inside. Joan vows to find the culprit, which requires her to examine her past and relive the terrifying night she nearly died. The investigation draws Joan and Gideon together, but it also sends them down a dangerous path, into a troubling history that Joan, Gideon, Clark, Elijah, and Ann all share. All are determined to find the arsonist before other buildings go up in flames.

The plot has scorching action. The twists and turns keep the reader on the edge of their seat as they will not want to put the novel down.

Elise Cooper:  How did you get the idea for the story?

Mary Burton: I have been a big fan of the Writer’s Police Academy, having gone to about ten of them.  I went to a class there taught by a retired ATF agent who talked about arsonists.  As we were getting into the case files, I started to think about a story that included the psychology behind it.  

EC:  You delve into the mind of an arsonist?

MB:  They get a rush from seeing the destruction of a fire and have complex psychological reasons. Some of the reasons they do it can include financial, revenge, and something deeply personal. They experience the thrill, control, power, and danger.  Since everybody is a creature of habit some arsonists can have their favorite technique on how they set a fire. It is very creepy.

EC:  At the end of every chapter is the confessions of an arsonist?

MB: I want the reader to get a sense of what the arsonist is thinking.  This is a guy tracking his own thoughts and activity. I am looking to create the scary factor.

EC:  How would you describe Joan?

MB: She is an interesting gal who grew up rough. She came together for me pretty quickly and drove the story for me. She came to Montana to start fresh, to re-invent herself.  All of a sudden, she nearly dies in a fire and realizes there are no safe places, so she goes back to her hometown of Philadelphia. She becomes obsessed with stopping arsonists since she knows first-hand the destructive power.  Joan will not let her fear stop her from getting the arsonist.  What makes it interesting is that she is terrified of fire but is determined to run toward it. Joan has made it a specialty to figure out their pattern and to stop them.  Overall, she is stubborn, bold, guarded, and direct.

EC:  How would you describe Elijah?

MB: Readers have to decide for themselves if he is a bad guy, or he is misunderstood and was framed.  He is very intelligent, likes to set goals, is intense, can be charming, funny, and calculating.

EC:  How would you describe Ann?

MB:  Intelligent, quiet, soft-spoken, determined, and worries constantly.

EC:  How would you describe Gideon?

MB:  A steady as you go guy.  Cautious, determined, a cowboy-Montana type, who is not afraid of much.

EC:  What is the relationship between Gideon and Joan like?

MB:  Both had hurt feelings.  Joan because two months after she left, she finds out he got a girlfriend pregnant and married her. She had the attitude “he did not even let the pillow get cold.” Gideon because he was madly in love with Joan and when she went back to Philadelphia it threw him for a loop. Now they are trying to figure each other out and have a tendency to initiate low sarcastic blows.

EC:  Obviously, fire plays a big role in the story?

MB:  It is like a character, a living thing.  It moves through rooms with speed, makes noise, and its smoke changes color.  A jolt of oxygen can make it angry and that is when things blow up, almost like it was provoked. I remember five years ago, at another Writer’s Police Academy how they set fire to a building.  I saw how quickly the fire consumed it.  After ten minutes the whole thing was consumed.

EC:  Can you give a heads up about your next book?

MB:  There will be a follow up book to this one. It is titled Near You and comes out in the spring of 2021. The story will feature Ann and will explore Elijah’s personality. There will also be a Montana State policeman.  The plot has someone killing women connected to Elijah and has Ann having to deal with him and her demons. If there is more to say and the characters are compelling enough there might be another book after this one.

In October there will be a book set in Texas, unrelated to these characters.  The plot is still forming in my head, but I will say I like independent and challenging female detectives.

THANK YOU!!

[marjaystuff]

Elise Cooper interviews Nicole Helm

A Badlands Cops Series by Nicole Helm is a must read for anyone who wants a great suspense story intertwined with a romance and very likeable protagonists.  These novels explore if children can escape the sins of their father, who is the ruthless head of a murderous gang.  

The first book in the series, South Dakota Showdown has the oldest of the six Wyatt brothers, Jamison, helping his former beau, Liza rescue her four-year-old-kid step-sister Gigi.  He resents her for going back into the gang, Sons of the Badlands, after he had rescued her from the claws of these dastardly men.  Now, fifteen years later, he learns she went back for her sisters, and to try to do the same thing he did for his brothers, to save them, and help them escape. She can’t do it alone and enlists the help of her old flame, Jamison, a police officer. Together they try to outwit his father, Ace, and rescue Gigi as they learn the gang is involved in sex trafficking. As they face intense danger they realize that their love for each other has not died and will do anything in their power to save each other and Gigi.

The next book in the series, Covert Complication, highlights the youngest of the brothers, Cody, and someone he was in love with, Nina. She had left him seven years ago to protect Cody and their child, having been warned off by Ace.  Now back because she can no longer battle the gang on her own, Nina informs Cody they have a child, Brianna.  Cody and Nina must team together to protect their child by deciding to go on the run.  Using his skills as an agent in a mysterious agency, Cody knows that he and Nina can draw Ace away from Brianna.  While hiding they realize that the flame of love was not snuffed out and understand that if they escape the gang’s clutches they will become a family again.

The third book in the series, Backcountry Escape, features a middle brother, Gage, and the heroine, Felicity.  He has a law enforcement background and she is a Park Ranger, her dream job.  Because she helped Cody and Nina, Ace is out for revenge and vengeance, wanting nothing more than to kill Felicity. He and his gang attempt to frame her for murder, hoping she will run and they can achieve their goal.  Knowing she needs help, Felicity calls upon Brady Wyatt, someone she has had a crush on for ages.  But he cannot come to her rescue and instead sends his brother Gage.  As the two of them play a cat and mouse game with Ace they realize that they can accept each other for who they are.  From acquaintances to friends to lovers they recognize that they can count on each other and have formed an inseparable bond.

These first three books will be covered in the following Q A, with the last three covered sometime in the summer.  If people have not read Nicole Helm they might want to because her novels always have a riveting mystery with great relationship stories that include brother to brother, sister to sister, and hero to heroine.  All the novels are fast-paced and have realistic action.

Elise Cooper:  Why the Badland series?

Nicole Helm:  I wanted to write a crime and mystery series that has some romance, basically romantic suspense.  I decided to have six brothers and six sisters, where one brother and one sister will be featured in each book.  Although the brothers are all birth related the sisters are either blood relatives, foster children, or adopted, but the girls still look upon each other as family.  I figured out each personality as I wrote each book.

EC:  How would you describe Ace, the over-arching bad guy of the series?

NH:  He is a sociopath and has the qualities of a cult leader: charismatic, egocentric, manipulative, and controlling.  He is cold, calculating, ruthless, and someone who is willing to play with people’s emotions.

EC:  Why the South Dakota setting?

NH:  I was just on vacation there.  My grandmother lived in South Dakota when she was a girl in a tiny little town.  As I was traveling through I saw a sign that explained how land spectators caused a bunch of trouble.  The story took off from there.

EC:  Did the last name Wyatt come from the famous figure Wyatt Earp?

NH:  I could have sub-consciously come up with that last name from the historical figure.  When I write western cowboy books I do try to think of western names.

EC: The motherly figure of each book is Grandma Pauline who raised the brothers after their mother, her daughter, was killed?

NH:  Yes.  She is tough, a fighter, a straight-talker, and became the brothers’ defacto mother. She creates a safe-haven for the brothers and they realize, even as adults she is not someone to argue with.

EC:  There is Duke, the father of all six girls?

NH:  He and his wife, who has since died, adopted some of the girls and were foster parents to some of the others, besides raising their own daughter and their niece.  Duke became the same role for the girls that Grandma Pauline is for the boys.  He is very protective of his daughters.  

EC:  In the series all twelve characters along with Grandma Pauline and Duke are involved in each story?

NH:  Yes, because the story comes about because of the strong family ties.  Throughout, they help each other.  I tried to emphasize that family is everything whether a nuclear family or a foster family.  It does not matter if someone is related biologically, through adoption, or by being a foster child.  A family is what people make of it.  In this series they all connect and support each other. I wanted to show how each sibling could be viewed differently depending on their relationship and age difference.  They all interacted in different ways.

EC:  In the first book, how would you describe the hero Jamison?

NH:  He is responsible, uptight, and always wants to do the right thing. He is also humble, serious, trustworthy, and a father figure to the brothers.

EC:  How about Liza?

NH:  Bold, confidant, loyal, protective, and stubborn with good instincts.  

EC:  How about their relationship?

NH:  They butt-heads at first.  In their younger years they had a relationship but she left and Jamison was very hurt.  He now holds a grudge and is a bit hateful.  They have to work through this tortured tension where Jamison sees everything as black and white and Liza sees all the grey areas.  In the end of the day, love is about forgiving and acceptance.  

EC:  Book 2 did not highlight the next brother in age but the youngest, Cody?

NH:  Originally, he was not going to be second.  But since he had such a big role in book one it made sense to me to make him the hero in book two. He beats to his own drum and did not go into law enforcement like all of his brothers.  He is more independent, brave, an introvert, likes to be in control, and has trouble admitting when wrong.

EC:  How would you describe the heroine, Nina?

NH:  Protective, courageous, has a soft heart, and the core of her being is motherhood.  She is a survivor and tough. I wanted to show that for a parent the biggest danger is fearing that their children could be hurt.

EC:  What about their relationship?

NH:  This was another reunion.  She had disappeared for seven years.  There was a lot of baggage after she came back that the two had to overcome.  Since they truly loved each other it won out.  

EC:  In book 3 the hero was Gage?

NH:  I originally had his twin brother Brady as the hero. But, there was not a lot of tension because of their personalities so I shifted it around and had Gage as the hero.  He is light-hearted, calm, and even-keeled with a sense of humor.  Unlike Felicity he is an extrovert, brash, and confident.  

EC:  How would you describe Felicity?

NH: An introvert, dreamy, and lost some of her shyness/anxiousness because of her job.  She likes routines.  I had her stuttering and struggling to get words out as a physical manifestation of childhood abuse at the hands of her father.  

EC:  The relationship?

NH:  They both realized they understood each other.  She had to overcome her crush on Brady, while Gage realized how much he admired her for overcoming some personality traits.  

EC:  Next Books?

NH:  The next book in this series will highlight Brady and Cecilia.  After this series is done I plan on writing a spinoff series. It will feature the North Star Group that Cody was a part of and highlight his co-worker Shay.  In book five of the Badlands series the North Star Group will play a prevalent role where readers can get a better understanding of this group.

THANK YOU!!