#I also saw a flying cat but it moved before I could take a pic with it...

[turquoisefleur]

Nikki: FLYING CHICKEN?! Momo hold the camera! 📷

Momo: I gotchu Nikki!

[abbysfrenchbraid]

Kissed by a Wolf - Chapter 9

masterlist

in this chapter, the reader takes up combat training with Eivor and goes on a walk with Valka. I hope you all have some wonderful days with your loved ones!

CW for alcohol consumption, choking/assault imagery, nudity

Inspo pic by @classicnovaproductions​

Heather

The next few days were filled with training, tasks, and getting to know people. You got up early every morning and either joined Valka for a few hours of learning about healing and plants, sometimes at her hut, sometimes on walks through the forest, or you helped Sfáva in the kitchen, preparing food for the day or running errands for her. Around noon you ate with your old friends and in the afternoon you had taken up training with Eivor.

 Eivor’s wound was healing well, but she was not yet allowed to train heavily so she was all the happier to have you to instruct and guide.

 You had been working with a short sword, first wooden, then metal, for a few afternoons now and while it was still extremely hard to swing, you started seeing a smoothness in your movements. When you stepped into the training area with the straw dummies and wooden targets, the sun already hung low on the horizon and tiny snowflakes were fluttering from a singular cloud in the sky. The days were at their shortest now, Winter solstice was only two nights away.

 “There you are!” You turned to see Eivor, dressed in thick leather and furs, with two axes in her hands. She looked lovely, her lashes and hair embezzled by ice crystals and her breath moving through the air like clouds in strong wind. She gave you the smaller axe and fastened the other one to her belt.

 “I want to introduce you to another weapon today. I have a feeling you’ll be good with the axe.”

 You weighed it in your hand. It was wooden with a dark metal blade; thin red leather strips were wrapped and fastened around the bottom for better grip.

 “How do I wield it?” You tried a few slow strokes through the air. Eivor stepped behind you, closing her arms around you as she grabbed the axe and your hands with it, encasing your fingers in her soft, warm palms. Her mouth was right next to your ear and when she spoke, her breath tickled your skin.

 “You hold it with a firm grip, but make sure your wrists stay loose. Don't stiffen your arms, keep them moving and natural. Engage your core while you swing so the weight of the weapon doesn’t pull your body with it.” She lifted your hands with the axe to your top right and made a slow, perfectly diagonal cut to your bottom left.

 “Never swing straight down unless you’re absolutely positive you will hit something. Otherwise, you might hit yourself. You can swing upwards, too.” She guided your hands from left to right with a slightly upward motion. “Never straight, though.”

 She let go of you and stepped around you.

 “If you need more momentum, you can turn and swing the axe just at chest level, drag it up or down into your target.” She took your hands and twirled you around as if you were dancing, then she grabbed them tightly and executed a quick stroke through the air.

 “It is also important that you practice to stop this motion if you miss. You need strong arms and again, an engaged core. Try it.”

 She took a few steps back and you assumed your fighting stance and tried a few cuts through the air. Eivor was right, you needed strength to move the axe without flinging your whole body around and you also needed the strength to stop its flight. She was watching you with crossed arms, biting her lip as she closely observed your every move.  After a while, she nodded.

 “Try it on the straw figure. I’ll show you a combination.” She took the heavy axe from her belt and stood in front of the straw man. Suddenly she became a whirlwind, hacking at the figure three, four times and sending straw flying everywhere. Then she repeated the combination slowly, showing you a diagonal cut from the top left to bottom right, a horizontal blow from the right, a counter-clockwise turn into a full-force blow to the neck from the right, and at last a skull-splitting hit from the top down.

 You could only imagine the terror and fright it had to cause in her enemies to see her on the battlefield. She was glorious, turning to you with a glow in her eyes.

 “Now you.”

 You stood in front of the figure and repeated her example slowly at first, trying to remember the right order and direction. She nodded encouragingly and seemed satisfied with your precision. You dared to work faster and started continuously repeating the combination, over and over again, harder and faster every time until your lungs and shoulders were on fire and sweat was running down your temples. Eivor was cheering for you with her booming voice, yelling at you to go another round and to hit harder, to keep your core tight and your wrists loose.

 When you turned to her, out of breath and happy with your new weapon, she looked incredibly proud, smiling at you and stepping forward to grab your shoulders.

 “I knew this was the right weapon for you. We shall continue training with others, but I think it wise to focus on the axe from now on. You will be a force to be reckoned with.”

 You continued training until the sun was long gone, fighting the straw figures in the light of several torches, learning new moves and more difficult combinations from your      drengr,     and giving it your all until you had absolutely no strength left in a single fiber of your body. Eivor had made you run laps and fight every figure in the course, climb obstacles, and defend yourself from a figure behind you. In the end, all you could do was lay down on a snowed up ball of straw and try to regain control of your breath.

 Even though Eivor’s training was rigorous and she always managed to completely drain you, you felt the happiest after working with her every day, proud of your accomplishments and hard work and delighted at spending this much time with the warrior. She was also in high spirits every time, amazed at your quick learning progress and your willingness to push yourself until the very end.

 She let herself fall down on the straw next to you. It had stopped snowing and the last small cloud was slowly making way for a clear sky filled with thousands of stars.

 “You did well today.” Eivor’s voice was smooth as silk, and she sounded very content.

 “You’re a great teacher. It’s my pleasure,” you replied.”I never thought I’d be one for fighting.”

 You thought back to the kitchen on the day you had first met Eivor. William had hit you so hard you had been thrown back into the shelves and almost died later when the wound had festered. What would happen if he tried this now? Would you be able to defend yourself, even without a weapon?

 A meow tore you from your thoughts. Birna had come to pick you up for supper. Eivor greeted the cat with great enthusiasm and picked her up, cradling her in her arms.

 “Are you hungry, my little princess? We shall find you something to eat.”

 The cat answered with a satisfied grunt. You made your way to the longhouse together, all of your stomachs growling with hunger after the long day. Eivor gave you Birna and joined Sigurd at his table while you visited Sfáva at the hearth. She was delighted to see Birna and gave her some leftover ham right away.

 “You hungry?” She answered your surprised expression with her almost toothless smile. “I learn English now. Eda.”

 The old woman had only spoken Norwegian so far, making it hard for you to communicate. Apparently, Eda had started spending time with her and teaching her a few words of your language. Even though Sfáva spoke with a thick accent, it was wonderful to suddenly understand her. Following an impulse, you stretched out your arms in joy and she immediately hugged you tight, her smell of herbs and wool filling your nose. What a wonderful woman.

 “Well, may I have some supper?” you asked, stepping back and smiling at her. She grabbed a bowl right away, filling it with hot stew and sausages.

 “You always hungry now. You fight.” She gave you two additional slices of dark rye bread and you had to laugh. She was right. Ever since you had taken up training with Eivor, you ate twice as much as before. A voice next to you joined the conversation.

 “Well, the best fighters deserve the best food.” Norvid was standing next to you, grinning widely. “I saw you training the last couple of days. You are making great progress.”

 You lowered your head as a gesture of gratitude and thanked him for his kind words. It really did mean a lot to be noticed by the other warriors.

 “Did I hear that right? You chose the axe as your primary weapon?”

 You were surprised he knew.

 “Word travels fast here,” you answered him, “but yes, I think the axe calls to me more than other weapons. We’ll see how much I call to the axe in the days to come.”

 As you excused yourself and wished him a nice evening, you felt someone’s eyes on you and as you looked up, you could see Eivor watching your interaction with a sour expression on her face. When she caught your gaze, she turned to Sigurd and continued talking to him.

 You made your way to Lewin, Aelfric, and Hal and joined them for your meal. They had also heard about your endeavors on the training grounds and were happy for you. They all knew how much you had had to take back in Williamsburg and how good  it felt to become stronger and more confident now.

 “Has anyone seen Eda?” Hal asked casually while he wiped his bowl with a last piece of bread.

 No one had met her since she had left her cell and you were all desperate to know where she was and how she was doing. Maybe you could ask Randvi later. But you had been right in the assumption that she apparently just wanted some time to settle in and recover.

 You left the longhouse early instead of staying to drink and talk. You were sweaty and dirty and in desperate need of a bath. Valka had offered you to use hers whenever you wanted, you just needed to fill it yourself. You knew she was still in the longhouse and you were glad to have some time to yourself, quickly grabbing a fresh tunic and a large cloth from yours and Eivor’s hut.

 Valka’s cottage was only dimly lit by a few candles, but you did not light any more. You poured two buckets of water from outside into the kettle over the fire, then you went out a few more times and brought in as much snow as you could carry in your woolen shawl, letting it melt into the hot water. When it was warm enough, you filled it into the wooden bathtub and added some mint, sage, and lemon balm into it to help with your sore muscles.

 You left all your clothes on a pile next to Valka’s bed and stepped into the steaming water. Slowly sinking down into the bath, you took deep breaths to adjust to the heat and inhale the wonderful scents rising from the water. The candles were flickering and painting landscapes and figures on the wooden walls, the steam was dancing through the air and your muscles were finally starting to relax.

 After a while, you let yourself sink underwater, holding your breath as the water finally encased your head and your soft hair caressed your neck and shoulders. As you emerged, you began to rub off the dirt and sweat from your face and neck. A quiet noise at the entrance caught your attention.

 Eivor was standing in the door, frozen and bright red, her hand still on the handle. You could see her heart drop when your eyes met.

 “Forgive me Y/N, I didn’t mean to -” She rubbed over her eyes and stared at the floor. “Valka said I could take a bath in here, I didn’t know you…”

 Of course. You were absolutely sure Valka had known. The little witch. You had to stifle a laugh.

 “It’s alright, Eivor. I’m almost done. This bath is terribly dirty though, you should probably warm up some fresh water for yourself.”

 The blushing warrior just nodded and went out again to get water and snow. You noticed you had forgotten the soap on the sideboard. Should you get up and risk standing completely wet and naked in front of Eivor when she came back? It was not like she had not seen you naked before; she had washed and dressed you when you had been sick and feverish. But things were different now. Even though you still had not kissed since that unlucky drunk embrace, the tension between you often thickened the air and stopped your breath.

 You still did not feel completely ready to give yourself to Eivor, even though at times you wanted to. Randvi had been nice and respectful toward you since you had spoken to Eda and she had not moved in on Eivor anymore, but Eivor had also been mostly sober ever since.

 It had been an idea of yours to wait until the winter solstice when everyone would celebrate and drink to see how Eivor behaved and to decide then if you wanted to let her in. Even though the wait was torture sometimes, it would be worth it in the end and it would show her how serious you were about your conditions for this relationship to work.

 The door opened and Eivor came in, filling the cauldron with water and not daring to look in your direction.

 “Eivor, could you please hand me the pine soap over there? I need to tame this nest on my head.” The last few days had really taken a toll on your hair, the braids from the ceremony now ruffled and loose while dust, dirt, and sweat stuck to your hair.

 The blonde seemed to hesitate for a moment, then she took the dark piece of soap and slowly came over to you. When you saw how nervous she was, you suddenly felt a great calm and confidence come over you. Instead of covering or crouching in the water, you stayed splayed out and relaxed, visible for her under the surface. Red patches formed on Eivor’s neck as she handed you the soap, intent on only looking into your eyes.

 “Thank you.” You began lathering it in your hair and on your neck and chest. Eivor had moved to the fireplace, but she suddenly straightened up and half-turned.

 “I could… I can help you with your hair. If you want. I know how knotted it can get from training.”

 She took the wide-toothed comb Valka had used to detangle your hair the last time and took a step toward you. You smiled at her.

 “That would be nice. I’m still not used to maintaining it while wearing it down.”

 Eivor knelt down on the floor right behind your head and started running her fingers through your wet hair. Every time her fingertips touched your scalp, it felt like tiny flashes of lightning struck your skull. The warrior began to hum as she slowly combed out every strand of hair, starting from the bottom and working her way up. Finally, she grabbed a small pot, took some of the warm, clean water from the kettle, and poured it over your head to wash out any remains of the soap.

 As you began to get up, she held out a hand for you and helped you stand and step out of the tub. Like before, her eyes were fixed to yours as she handed you the large cloth to dry yourself off. You wrapped yourself in it, then you stepped to Valka’s great wooden table and took some of her Cedar oil, massaging it into your sore shoulders and arms. Meanwhile, Eivor dragged the heavy wooden tub to the door and emptied it into the bushes next to the hut before putting it back in its place and starting to fill it anew.

 You slipped the tunic over your head and let the sheet fall to the floor before wrapping all your dirty clothes in it. You decided to wash all your things right in the morning, Eivor’s clothes included. As you turned around to her, you were now the one caught off guard. She had already undressed and was stepping into the tub with her back to you.

 There were tattoos down her spine and on her shoulder blades, beautiful artwork in dark blue and black. She had loosened her braids and her long, wavy hair was falling down her back and over her shoulders. When she grabbed the sides of the tub and lowered herself into the hot bath, the muscles at her arms and back danced under her skin. My drengr.

 “I’ll see you at our hut?” you asked shyly. Eivor gave you a look that made your heart skip a beat.

 “Yes, my darling. I will join you there.”

 You had already fallen asleep from exhaustion when Eivor came back to your hut. She found you curled up with Birna. The quiet closing of the door woke you up and you kept your eyes closed, listening intently as Eivor threw her clothes on your pile in the corner, took off her shoes and slipped into bed with you.

 She smelled fresh, like soap and healing calendula and sage. Valka must have come back and given her infused oils, probably for her healing wound. Eivor scooted close to your back and you lifted your head slightly so she could slide her arm underneath your neck before hugging you tightly to her chest.

 “You smell nice,” you mumbled and pushed your hips back against her almost unnoticeably. You could tell she noticed very well though, her breath stopping for a moment before she replied.

 “You look beautiful when you sleep.” She pressed a light kiss to the soft patch of skin behind your ear and hugged you tight. Birna was purring quietly. Her family was all here.

 -

 After training your axe fighting for the entire next day, ignoring your sore muscles and pushing yourself even harder, you were picked up by Valka at the training grounds for a sunset walk. She had brought bread and dried fruit, as well as two big jugs of steaming hot mead.

 You thanked Eivor for another productive day and for her endless patience and confidence in you, then you dried off your face with a small cloth and slipped into your fur coat, gratefully taking a sip of mead.

 As you made your way on a path along the shoreline, Birna joined you for your walk. Even though she still did not like the snow, she had grown so fond of you that she rarely let you out of her sight anymore. Valka showed you where to still look for plants and how to dig for roots while you told her about the things you had learned today. She was happy with your progress, content that you were fulfilling her prophecy so closely.

 On a small meadow where thick fir trees spared some of the ground from the snow, you actually found small white flowers. Valka explained that it was winter honeysuckle, a beautiful little plant that was most beloved for its fragrance. She rubbed a few petals between her fingers and held them up to your nose. It smelled delightful. She would show you how to distill the essence of honeysuckle tomorrow.

 A while later, while the sun was already setting and drenching the world in beautiful orange-golden light, you found little red buds sticking out of the snow. It was heather, a flower usually associated with good fortune. You collected it all in a jute sack and Valka told you that the tiny buds could be used to aid with digestion and bladder issues. It astounded you every day, the way nature gave you everything you needed to heal and to help, to eat and drink, a cure for every illness and aid in every situation. You stuck one of the small heather branches into your shirt so it rested between your breasts, right over your heart. The winter solstice tomorrow would bring you luck and happiness, you could feel it.

 This year you would not celebrate Christmas as you had done your whole life, but instead, the solstice would herald Yuletide, twelve days of celebrations. There would be sacrifices and feasts, fights and dances, singing and storytelling. Valka’s eyes were gleaming when she told you of the traditions and her plans for this year’s feast. You could tell this was special to her and you had a feeling that it would be like nothing you had ever experienced.

 As you started to make your way back, daylight now dwindling fast and leaving the world gray and dim, you could hear a wolf howling in the distance. You shuddered, terrified of the wild beasts that had sometimes ripped apart your Lord’s sheep and dogs. Valka sensed your fear and took your hand in hers.

 “You must not be afraid of the wolves anymore, little dove. You belong to Eivor Wolfsmal and no wolf will ever harm you.”

 Her words made you think. Up until now, you had thought the name stemmed from her family or maybe a sweet story from her home, but you had never really considered a strong meaning behind it. Now that you thought of it, that was stupid. Only people who went through extreme pain or overcame great obstacles were given those kinds of titles.

 “Where did that name come from?” you asked Valka, “Wolf-kissed?”

 The healer squeezed your hand. It was dark and the lights of the village only slowly became visible in the distance, but the moon was bright and lit your path in the white snow.

 “You have to ask Eivor that, it is her story to tell. I can say however that it was not a mere kiss by the beast that gave her the title. Did you ever notice the scar on her neck?”

 Your stomach twisted. You knew the scar she was speaking of. It was dreadful and large, covering the entire right side of her neck from her hairline to her throat. You had thought it a burn mark or something obtained in a fight. Had it really been the result of a wolf attack? The thought scared you even more. Valka held your hand tightly in hers.

 “Ask her, she will tell you what happened. You need not be afraid, I promise.”

 As you finally came close to the village again, Valka stopped and turned to you.

 “I wanted to tell you how greatly I enjoy spending time with you. People come to me with questions all the time, but they just want to hear answers, they do not want to find the answers themselves or even learn how to ask the questions the right way. You truly listen to me and you have already learned so much. I hope I can teach you everything I know so that one day you may know more than me.”

 You wanted to laugh, but she was completely serious. You drew her in for a hug and mumbled your gratitude into her furs.

 “Thank you, Valka, for all you do. I am just as eager to learn and grow as you are to teach. You are a wonderful friend.”

 “Y/N, is that you? Valka?” A voice in the dark called out to you. A big figure was stomping along the path toward you from the village. It was Eivor, visibly agitated. “What the fuck are you doing?”

 You could see her breath in the moonlight as she came closer.

 “Uh… We collected plants for Valka and for the Yule festival?” You were not sure what you had done wrong. Eivor came to a halt in front of you and immediately pulled you into her arms, sighing as she pressed you close for a moment, then she held you at arm’s length and shot you both angry looks.

 “What were you thinking, alone out here in the dark without anyone to protect you or at least a torch? Have you gone mad? Thor's hammer, I was so worried! Valka, what is your explanation for this?”

 Valka seemed not at all impressed with Eivor’s display of rage and worry.

 “As Y/N said, we were collecting plants. The moon lit our way, we were close to the village and only walked along the shore. There was no need to worry. We are no longer in Norway, with bears and wolves all around.”

 You quickly glanced at her but decided to keep the howl you had heard to yourself. Eivor grunted, then she grabbed you both by the arms and began to stride back to the village, pulling you along with her. You could have sworn you heard Valka giggle, but the drengr between you ignored her.

 Back at the village Eivor told you, a little too sternly, to go to her hut and wait for her there. She had set up a basin with hot water for you to clean yourself and the clothes you had washed in the morning and hung in front of the fireplace would be dry by now.

 “I need to go to the longhouse and make more preparations for tomorrow. Valka, will you come with me?”

 The seeress just nodded, gave you a secretive smile, and went ahead. Eivor stayed behind with you. She sighed and pulled you in for another hug, kissing the top of your head and rubbing your back.

 “Don’t ever scare me like that again. I thought you were lost and I would have to call up everyone to go look for you, the day before Yule.”

 You wrapped your arms around her waist and looked up at her.

 “I apologize,” you mumbled. “I should have told you where we were going and how long we would be gone. I won’t leave you in the dark anymore.”

 “Thank you.” Eivor pressed another kiss to your temple. “I’ll see you later.” She left for the longhouse.

 Birna rubbed herself against your ankles - you had completely forgotten about her! She had followed you this entire time. You had to laugh as you picked up the cat and held her close; you had not been without protection after all.

 Back at your hut you dropped all of your clothes to the floor and splashed some of the warm water in the metal bowl into your cold face, relishing in the wonderful prickly sensation of your skin warming up. You cleaned your body with a small piece of soap and a cloth, then you slipped into a fresh tunic that was still warm from the fire.

 As you waited for Eivor, you mended a few holes in your clothes and the quilt that kept you warm in the cold winter nights. Picking up your clothes and folding them so you could stack them in the corner, you noticed the little branch of heather among the heaps of fabric and fur. You spun it between your fingers a few times, contemplating over the things you had learned from Valka today.

 The Yule festival would be wonderful and you were hoping to bond with the other clan members even more, maybe even to see Eda again. You noticed that you had forgotten to ask Randvi about her. Hopefully, the matter would resolve itself tomorrow. Even though you were on good terms with Randvi now, you were still not too keen on spending more time with her than was absolutely necessary.

 You were half asleep when you heard Eivor at the door and sat up to greet her. She seemed to be in a great mood.

 “How are the preparations going?” you asked, pulling the blanket up to your chin.

 “Oh, fantastic. We will slaughter an ox tomorrow and roast him over a great fire. We will eat like kings for days!” Eivor beamed at you and jumped into the bed, quickly sliding under the blanket and pressing her cold cheek to your shoulder, making you squeal and try to scramble away, but she only pulled you closer.

 After playfully wrestling with her for a moment, you settled down and she tucked a strand of hair behind your hair. An idea suddenly came to your mind.

 “Eivor, will you teach me how to fight without weapons?”

 “What do you mean, my dove?” She gave you a confused look.

 “I mean fighting like when you pulled Norvid off of me the other day. I want to learn to defend myself even if it’s not a life or death situation.”

  “Oh, I see.” She sat up. “Right now?”

 You had thought she could just put this into her training schedule for you, but you would not say no to a few new skills on the spot.

 “Why not?” You got up and stood next to the bed. Eivor stood next to you. Birna seemed to know exactly what was going on and hid under the bed.

 “Alright. First, what to do when someone hugs you without your approval. Show me what you would do.” She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around you. Your first instinct was to hug her back, but you remembered just in time that you were supposed to fight her off. You put your hands between you and tried to push against her ribcage, but she did not move an inch. Instead, she pressed you closer and you could not move your hands anymore.

 “See, this is your first mistake,” Eivor chuckled. “You gave up your hands. Never let them capture your limbs and if they have, try to free them first. What you could do now is either headbutt me, stomp on my foot, or kick me in the groin if your legs are free to move that way.”

 You slowly put your foot on hers and pressed down. She laughed at your careful movement and let go, then she hugged your ribcage again, leaving your arms free.

 “Now you could punch me in the ribs or the head, but as you have no training in that regard, I could probably take the hits and lock you in again. It’s better to go straight for the head. Grab it with both hands if you can and twist it away from your body.” You gently placed your hands around her head and turned it away. “If I don’t want you to snap my neck, my body has to move along.” She turned with her head and loosened her hug. You mimicked stomping on her foot and she let go completely, stepping back and grinning at you.

 “Perfect!” Eivor took your hand and whirled you around, suddenly grabbing you from behind and pinning your arms to your body.

 “Now how about this?” Her breath was hot behind your ear and sent shivers down your spine.

 You tried to wiggle free, scratched at her sides with your fingernails, and put all your strength into freeing your arms, but she held you in her iron grip. You resorted to stepping on her toes again, but she only loosened her grip slightly.

 “You need to drop your weight first,” she instructed. “Bend your knees and let yourself fall down, then smash my foot with yours.” You followed her command and she gave way enough to take a step forward. “Now kick your foot back and catch my knee.” You did as she told you and she let go before immediately pulling you in again.

 “You can also throw your head back and try to break my nose before taking that step forward and kicking my knee.” You tried it out carefully.

 “If you need to run away, always go for their knees or groin so they drop and cannot follow,” she reminded you. “Let’s go again.”

 With a playful growl, she jumped toward you and you squealed as she grabbed you from behind, then you let yourself fall down, stomped on her foot, and kicked her shin. She gasped in pain and let you go, rubbing the spot where you had hit her.

 “Good girl,” she groaned. “Remind me never to surprise you from behind.”

 You laughed and began to apologize, but she just grabbed you and threw you on the bed, pinning you beneath her. She sat up between your legs and pinned down your throat, keeping the weight of her hands on your collar bones instead of actually choking you. Her face was smooth and focused.

 “Now, what you do if someone is holding you down like so is this: You grab my left shoulder with your left arm, so go across” - you placed your hand on her shoulder, your pinky finger touching her burning hot skin - “then you press my right hand to your chest with your right hand and hold it tight there.”

 You grabbed her hand and pressed it to your collarbone, almost sure she could feel your heart beating faster in your chest.

 “Now you raise your right leg all the way up under my left armpit and wrap it across my back.” She waited until you had hooked your leg around her body, now completely entangled with the large woman on top of you.

“Your final move is raising up your left leg, pushing me further to the left with your hand on my shoulder, and lifting the leg over my head.” You suddenly realized that you were only wearing a tunic and linen undergarments, your legs wide open underneath her and your tunic sliding up to your stomach as you lifted your hips to wrap your legs around her shoulder. Your cheeks began to burn hot with blood, but you followed her orders quietly.

 “Now you have my shoulder in a tight lock, my head is pushed away from you and you have captured my right arm. If you pull it, it will seriously hurt me.” You immediately let go of her hand and she straightened up and smiled at you. You pulled your tunic down, blushing at the look she gave you.

 “Again, faster this time.” She repositioned herself between your legs and pressed her hands to your throat.

 You concentrated. Left hand to her left shoulder, right hand holding her right arm down, leg up, left leg over and pull. Eivor tapped your thigh and groaned again, rubbing her shoulder this time and moving her arm in circles a few times to loosen up the strained muscle. She looked quite impressed with you.

 Jumping up from the bed, you got in your fighting stance.

 “Let’s try again, full strength this time,” you said and you could see Eivor was stifling a grin. She would never risk hurting you.

 She got up and paused for a moment, then she moved in so quickly you had no chance to react, hugging you from the side and clamping down your arms. You tried to drop your weight, but she just pushed her hips forward and picked you up, your legs flailing in the air uselessly. She threw you on the bed like a sack of flour, then she straddled you and pinned down your wrists above your head.

 You were so stunned that you did not even attempt to wriggle free, staring up at the blonde above you. Her icy blue gaze burned into your face, her mouth was slightly open and her breath fast as her eyes wandered to your lips. Slowly, she lowered her head down toward yours, her gaze still fixed to your lips and her grip tight around your wrists.

 For a moment, you breathed in each other’s air. You were one.

 At the last second, you realized your advantage. In one swift motion, you rammed your hips upwards so she flew forward over your head and had to let go of your hands to catch herself. You wrapped your legs around her waist and pulled her right arm underneath her and to your right so she fell on her shoulder and rolled to the side, leaving way for you to roll on top of her. Now you were straddling her, her arm still in your hands.

 She was completely thunderstruck, her eyes wide as she realized what had happened. Then she started laughing, her deep baritone filling the room. You could feel her chest vibrating beneath you, a sensation that made blood not only rush to your cheeks but also further down.

 Quickly, you got off of her and let yourself fall to the mattress next to her. She was still chuckling.

 “You got me, my delicate dove. An important thing people often forget is the element of surprise. If you have it on your side, you can defeat the greatest, strongest warrior.”

 Eivor turned to you and rested her head on her bicep, dreamy gaze wandering over your face again. She was completely infatuated with you.

 “Can I ask you something?” you said quietly.

 “Of course, my darling.”

 “Why do they call you Wolf-kissed?”

 The warrior rolled on her back again and crossed her arms over her head, studying the wooden ceiling like she always did when she was struggling to put the chaos in her head into words. You followed her gaze and waited patiently.

 “Sigurd is not my real brother. His father was the head of our clan and my parents were great drengrs, fighting at his side. One day he was giving a feast when we were attacked. I was only a child. It was Kjotve the Cruel. He slaughtered my parents and many of our clan. I only survived because Sigurd fled with me, but we got separated and I ended up injured on a frozen lake.” She laid her arm over her eyes as if trying to see the scene before her.

 “When I came to my senses, a wolf was there with me. He was all alone and looked like he was starving. His pack must have cast him out. My axe was just out of reach and he attacked me, biting down into my neck to kill me. My cries alerted two ravens nearby” - she lifted her arm again and gave you a bittersweet smile - “and they distracted the wolf long enough so I could grab my axe and strike it. Sigurd found me soon after and his family adopted and raised me.”

 Your heart felt like a little clump of cold, hard clay after listening to her frightful story. What could you say to her? She let out a quiet laugh.

 “Don’t worry, you do not have to pity or console me. I have long made my peace with wolves and I have taken vengeance for my parents. Now all that is left of that terrible day is my scar and my voice.”

 She hesitated for a moment, then she looked at you again.

 “And a tremendous fear of losing those I love.”

[currentfandomkick]

Marinette did not sign up for this part 8

first part here previous part here ao3 here

update at last!

--

Marinette almost screamed when she saw the knitting needles on her balcony. It wasn’t even her birthday yet. Was he around? Taunting her?

School wasn’t helping. She kept her eyes on the windows.

It didn’t help her team was scanning the area constantly… and she was certain that Kagami somehow got out of school as she could spot Ryuuko before school even started, and her shadow had’t moved often.

Alya, Nino and Adrien weren’t leaving her side. Kim had taken to joining them (and with him, Max and Alix) with Kim determined to get Marinette to wear one of his hoodies since “you look cold.”

She knew that was code. ‘Let me help.’ She wasn’t sure this was something safe for them to help with.

“Thanks but I’m good!” was highly ineffective.

Before lunch Kim had his hoodie on her. It made it harder to find her with the change from her usual outfits once Adrien and Alix stole her hairbands.

They were doing a plain sight disguise. She knew it.

Going to Alix’s after school helped a bit with that.

She still felt eyes on her. She couldn’t tell who’s.

Alix was the one to break out the guardian translations with her dad. The Kubdels knew more than most of her team—time travel side effects after all. It was a big part of why she could trust them in the first place: Alix wanted to help and her father knew there would be a Ladybug in Paris before giving Alix the family heirloom. When Marinette saw it after studying the miraculous for a bit and asking Fu if there could be two rabbit miraculouses… it lead to Fu merging the two (from two separate timelines).

In the one Mr. Kubdel was from, a girl named Bridgette took up the role of Ladybug and was followed around by a questionable Black Cat. Mr. Kubdel’s grandfather prevented that timeline from happening—changing key events and all—but was prepared for the chances another rabbit would be needed. His son was not a good fit… (poor research, questionable retention, and overall bad at delicate work) meanwhile Alix had street art done quickly and intricately, fast reflexes, and adored learning history to the point some topics had been re-written in the curriculum for “the complete BS this hack is pushing” and “obvious refusal to stick to the facts” among other objections with heavily cited and sourced works to back up her claims. To a truly terrifying degree.

Its also why once they were out of sight, Alix and Mr. Kubdel and her escaped to one of the secret passaged kept off the current schematics for Miraculous related reasons (escape without being seen leaving) and Alix brought them into her burrow sans ‘time windows’ for her peace of mind.

“What do you want us to do Ladybug?” Bunnix asked.

That was the question…

They tracked that the issue began with what let Robin identify her in the first place. The most likely culprit was the flaming akuma… if Alix went as Bunnix and helped Ladybug catch the butterfly or got it someone else, then Robin would never have identified her, and their current situation wouldn’t be happening.

She wouldn’t be hunted by the Ghosts of Gotham.

But then… her team wouldn’t exist, not as it does.

Chat wouldn’t know who she is.

She wouldn’t exist.

She… she wasn’t willing to give that up.

“We’re not undoing the past.”

Bunnix nodded, gliding around the empty space.

Mr. Kubdel opened and closed his mouth before finally offering his own suggestion. “Perhaps, we could capture them.”

Marinette ran over that option. It wasn’t bad. Not by a long shot… but the capture would deprive Gotham of its vigilantes…

“We only keep Robin, any others captured are cut loose as soon as possible and removed.”

“But Robin is the one that knows your identity,” Bunnix reminded her.

“The others probably figured it out already. But that’s not why we’re keeping him.”

Mr. Kubdel gestured for her to clue them in.

“Remember what the Aesir and Vanir did to end their dispute?”

Mr. Kubdel searched his memories until it hit him. “Ah. That.”

Marinette nodded. “Add in a game of chase, move to the home turf, and we have our plan.”

“And you’re bait?” Bunnix checked, no longer moving about as she absorbed the plan.

--

If you were a civilian in Paris, you might catch sight of what must be someone’s idea of a joke. As not only were there Big Justice Members running around with your local heroes—who up until this point had only worked with one other group (Quantics) who were Europe-based.

But seeing some guy in black with a bluebird on his chest go head to head with Rena, Miss Sting and a very pissed off Monkey King and Pegasus (since when does he get mad like that? Kid looks like he’s going to end Bluebird) was not a sight you were able to process at the moment. Wonder Woman joining the group was the cherry on top. and Carapace was moving civilians out of the way and sometimes caging them all in Shelter.

You also catch an enraged Chat Noir and Ryuuko tearing after some fashion disaster in a cape down the street. A cape for godsake. In broad daylight. Green Lantern was flying after them, and since when does Chat’s suit… move? Like, you’re pretty sure that’s not normal… at all.

Ryuuko and Fashion Disaster (FD for short) are sword fighting. Chat is attacking FD at any opening. Viperion is with them, sometimes shouting directions. Green Lantern seems to be keeping the fight from spilling over.

A check on the Miraculous News App shows pics of Fashion Disaster trying to get too close to the baker’s daughter. You know, the one that kind of slips the heroes snacks and is seen with Chat randomly at her balcony? The one you’re 30% sure he’s crushing on and in some war with Ryuuko for the heart of. Why else would the two be seen so often around it?—Akuma school is across the street.

You blink a few times when you realize that baker’s daughter is visibly scared of FD (and you’d be too if a random Mask with a sword showed up) and apparently had Bunnix with her at the time to help move faster.

That meant whatever happened in another time had to be bad…

Bunnix mentioned that in the world where she went Princess Justice there wasn’t much to stop her…

You can see why the team is a tad… okay, really overzealous. You’re pretty sure Chat tried to cataclysm FD after Ryuuko sent him flying with the air attack.

You manage to get a better view (For the People! and not to mock the villain later—no siree!) of the Bluebird fight. Dude gets taken down by a combination of things in short sucession—Monkey King landing a hit with his power, Wonder Woman’s lasso (through a portal—good on you Pegasus!) that he got pulled through, a flute to the head by Best Girl Rena, and paralyzed by your favorite striped heroine.

The take down shocked FD and Green Lantern caged the guy (teen? Kid? They look small.) and moved them over by Wonder Woman and her group, some of whom dispersed to recharge.

Never claim Bruce is not a dedicated parent. The best? He hopes not. The worst? He has met Stephanie’s parents, and he is far from them. And Cas’s. And he knows he’s not as bad as Rah’s. He is dedicated (and a serial adopters, but shhh). How does he know this?

He managed to reactivate his kid’s trackers and noted where they intersected and looked into properties, deeds, and children in the school across from the bakery Stephanie and Cass had taken to camping out in when not at their hotel rooms. So far, he narrowed down his daughter to three possible candidates—Mireille Caquet, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Laura Pretre. The only three girls in the age range he suspects Ladybug is in (he paid attention to the early videos and crossed her references, videogames and knowledge of the teens’ involved (re: knowing their names before the class became an akuma gold mine).  They are also the only three from his candidate pool who were adopted or single mother of the right age to have caught his younger self’s attention—a few interviews of the heroes let slip that Ladybug’s parents and her team’s parents are unaware of what they do, and her vicious support for child support and adoptive parents in a few akuma instances gave credit to her belonging to one of those two groups.

It was between Marinette and Laura in his opinion—they both ran a fashion boutique online. Mireille was a model the two shared, but still a possibility.

Jason was helped him narrow it down—a consolation for being stuck in bed and not allowed on patrol for the night. Apparently he was also trying to call off the identity search in-person to prevent any accidental identity reveals and prevent further stressing of “Lady Bat”.

Bruce may have smiled at the nickname. He doubted his daughter would appreciate it, but nicknames had a strange habit of sticking if Jason gave it… for better or worse in Tim’s case. (He was glad that Replacement was replaced with Tiny Tim, Timbo and Timmy).

He also noted that the girls were intent on Gabriel Agreste being Hawkmoth… and had a strange obsession with his relationship to Mayura given their search histories. Tim was still deciding between designers, and he did note that Marinette ranked highly on there… which was both a relief and terrifying.

That meant everyone but his daughter’s “business conduct supervisor” (Adrien Agreste, only son of Gabriel Agreste, primary candidate as Hawkmoth) had been akumatized and someone she had to personally fight while they hurled who knew what at her. He doubted it was good for her mental health. (Not that he has much room to talk, but still.)

Damian and Dick were refusing to respond to his messages, and likely engaged in something.

Until Green Lantern lit up his screen with a pained look. “Bats, this is not what I meant by get your house in order.”

The view panned to Nightwing and Robin currently held by a very pissed off Wonder Woman. With Chat Noir glaring at Robin, something off with his suit.

Batman sighed deeply. “I told you those two weren’t responding since Robin returned with Red Hood last night.”

Green Lantern looked at someone off screen, clearly taking commands from them.

“Uh, yeah… We’re having Supergirl get the other three back Stateside. Miss Sting and Chat want to interrogate these two since Robin was caught around a civilian they keep an eye on.”

Batman could hear what wasn’t being said. Robin went to talk to Ladybug’s civilian identity and it blew up in his face.

“… are any of you allowed to be present to monitor the interrogation?”

He doubted the teens would get violent. (he hoped) but there were too many unknowns.

A hiss from Chat Noir ended his ‘not likely to get violent’ train of thought. His one of his sons was caught stalking their leader, who he has previously tried to kill, and another aimed a gun at a member of their team. Violence was on the table.

And he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

“Ladybug will choose who comes.”

Robin looked up at him from the background. “Permission to ask Father a question?”

There was a moment when everyone turned to the figure off screen, likely Miss Sting given Ladybug’s refusal to be in the Justice League’s presence.

Robin turned back to the screen, Hal moving closer to give him a better view of Robin. HE was largely unbruised on his face and his breathing was even. Positive indicators.

“Am I allowed to unmask?”

Batman froze. Jason looked up from his spot. He could feel Babs choking on something in shock.

Hal and Diana reacted somehow, but they weren’t in screen.

He meant to do this far later. When she adjusted. To her alone, and later let her team know. ease them into it—there was no knowing one of their identities without knowing the rest. Not with how Ladybug’s mind worked. And he doubted she kept many secrets from her team.

“…I am not opposed to it. Preferably keep it to those you trust with that knowledge alone.”

Robin nodded. “Understood Father.”

--

When Ladybug showed up, she could feel everyone’s eyes on her. She ignored it as best she could, especially the silent Nightwing and Robin… possible assassins. Sent by her biological father who never even met her. it was going to be a long plan execution (and gods, she still needed to double check on the Hawkmoth as Gabriel theory and work out how to remove him from the company without screwing over a decent chunk of the fashion industry workers from design, store front to manufacturers and suppliers. And emotional whiplash of Hawkmoth trying to kill his own son twice. And the times he tried to manipulate her into Princess Justice and have it Stick in the timeline).

All it took was one look at Pegasus. One look and she blocked all the other issues swimming in her mind.

“Ah, we’re going there then… It’s a good thing Cowboy is resting for the moment…” Pegasus shook his head. “Voyage!”

Ladybug looked them over.

“Chat, Miss Sting, Rena, and Pegasus, I need you with me. The rest of you, patrol or return to civilian life until I return. If you come across an akuma, jar them. Contact us if you need a fix only.”

Carapace nodded, looking over at Kim and Alix. “We won’t let you down.”

Ladybug nodded, her eyes narrowing at the two League members present. She was still debating contacting the ‘only in an emergency do you contact this rogue branch’ group… they were once lead by a Chat Noir candidate, or still were… she wasn’t clear on that detail. What she did know is they went by League of Shadows in the book, but it was noted they favored violent forms of destruction, and she wasn’t sure if they needed that method… didn’t want them to need it either.

But the book stated the Amazons were loyal to Ladybugs. “Wonder Woman, please ensure the Bats are out of my city before we return.”

“Of course Ladybug.”

She turned to the Green Lantern. A shakier alliance with the lanterns historically, but also known to tell the Ghosts of Gotham off, and so far he’s shown a high favor of her team’s stance over his technical ally’s. Perhaps a personal grudge, or maybe the Justice League operated more like Gabriel’s company—a chain of command, specific roles somewhat dependent on each other, and no one had to like one another…

Wonder Woman was better to ensure the Bats left.

Green Lantern was the one holding Robin in his ring. And his “Core” as the book said, was most responsive to Ladybug who didn’t hesitate to protect others and themselves at once. That they showed a level of comradery during times when the Order followed philosophies that could be linked the idea of “personal and individual impact upon others with one’s actions and choice” was the exact wording.

She hoped she was doing this right.

“Green Lantern, if you would be so kind as to come with us and bring Murder Robin? You are free to roam once we get there, but don’t try to locate where on earth we are then. It’s the one place Hawkmoth hasn’t been able to reach, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Green Lantern and Robin both agreed readily.

Nightwing looked like he really wanted to argue. A lot.

Wonder Woman somehow kept him from speaking as they left.

Marinette could finally breath when they entered the Temple. She wasn’t able to bring back the Guardians. She could bring back their scrolls, the library, the training rooms. It also meant they were far from Paris, from Hawkmoth’s reach, and that now the real plan had to be put in action… how to keep the bats out of Paris and her secret identity a secret. (Hawkmoth could wait. She needed time to work that out, and once she was sure, once the nagging doubt and what ifs stopped plaguing her… then she’d look for that solution… maybe Adrien could inherit early or they could arrange for his father to be caught committing tax fraud or something after getting Nooroo and Duusuu? Anything to ensure he was punished for his actions and that Adrien isn’t caught in the crossfire. She can’t lose the literal other half of her soul. She just. Can’t.)

Ladybug paused when she looked over Chat. His suit was… moving. Shadows were moving on his suit. That. That can’t be good.

“Chat, bring Murder Robin somewhere he can’t find a weapon, Miss Sting, make sure no one attacks anyone in any way, am I clear?”

Miss Sting gave a curt Nod while Chat hissed, but relented easily enough.

Green Lantern put a hand on her shoulder while Pegasus ran off to the library, likely to check up on his own additions to the place… bringing it into the twenty-first century was not easy.

“Going to check-in with what’s going on with your Cat?”

Ladybug glanced at him. “He’s my partner.”

“Pretty sure that’s what a Black cat is for a Ladybug,” Green Lantern said.

Ladybug didn’t respond, moving away from him and Rena to message Alix to find out what shadows have to do with the Black Cat… and if she needs to worry about a second Atlantis event.

------------

so things are happening because Mari is Smart Strategist, Protect Mari Squad is a force to be reckoned with (teen superheros love local baker daughter that gives them food and lets them hang out), Kubdels Know Their Timelines (Sort of) and Wonder Woman and Hal know better than pissing of a Ladybug while Bruce is off Suffering and Putting Shit Together.

and yeah, Damian is both the one who started this, and the one that Marinette wants to confront, (plus respects her secret ID rights unlike Certain Bats who made it a competition) so he gets First Meet rights in the way None Of Them Wanted.

anyone who wants to add to the madness, feel free to comment possible things and i'll see what sticks and doesn't.

fight scenes are Not My Best so i tried where I could (Sorry to batfam fans who wanted Dick to be Badass. he's up against Diana and four miraculous members directly PLUS carapace 'i am locking you into this space now' shelter? he's good but its Wonder Woman and five demi-god level heroes raised on adapt and overcome heroing. long battle but he was going to lose.) Damian's fight is left up to interpretation but Team-Work makes the Dream Work for this story.

@heldtogetherbysafetypins @laurcad123 @raisuke06 @chaosace@jeminiikrystal @toodaloo-kangaroo @kris-pines04 @bisha43rbs @izang

[peanutpinet]

Nine Percent Scenarios for @ninepercent._.forever on IG

Cause she chose majority soft pics, so here is a soft group pic of the boys uwu <3

Cai Xukun

Can I just say one more time, silver hair Kunkun is *chefs kiss*

Alright, for this, I’d imagine that Kun was attending your graduation (high school or university, whichever you’d like) and when it was finally your turn to go up and take your paper/medal/diploma, etc; Kun would instantly smile, pointing at you/wave at you when you turn around to face the audience. I would also feel that Kun would brag about you to the people around him (if it’s your parents then he’ll be like ‘she’s so amazing’).

“That’s my girl!! Yeap!! That stunning, breath-taking, kind-hearted, smart girl is mine. You go sweetheart!!”

Chen Linong

OMO LOOK HOW SOFT NONGNONG IS WITH THAT CAT!! I DIE

Alright!! For this one, I feel that you guys are roommates and were heading back when you guys noticed this cat that doesn’t look alright. Nongnong (being the animal lover he is) would go over to the cat and pet it. When Nongnong said that the cat seems to be sick, he would suggest to bring it to the vet; which you agreed, without question.

After getting checked, the vet gave Nongnong a prescription and Nongnong just held the cat in his arms, soothing it and telling it that it’ll be alright. Upon the sight, you just can’t help but die of cuteness and just had to take a picture of him.

“Don’t worry lil guy, I got you. You’re going to be just fine!!” *insert is uwu smile*

Fan Chengcheng

Alright, alright, for this pic of Chengcheng, I feel that he was bored at home and was like “Hey!! (Y/N)!! Let’s go out!! I’m bored” and since you were also just being a couch potato (mind you, a hot couch potato), you were like “ehhh, I don’t see why not”. Especially when Chengcheng is the one picking you up and dropping you back.

So, the two of you went out the whole day. Had brunch together then went to the mall to do some window shopping/actual shopping, whichever one you are. Afterwards, you guys just decided to walk along the streets for a bit before going back home. Along the way, it started to snow and you were mesmerised by it and didn’t noticed that Chengcheng was staring until you turned around to see him (cue the pic).

“Isn’t it pretty Cheng?”

“Sure is” (looks at you)

Justin Huang Minghao

I SWEAR!! JUSTIN CAN LOOK 20+ IN ONE MINUTE AND 16 IN THE NEXT. LIKE HOW?!

Anyways, I imagine that you guys were just hanging out since it was finally winter break. So, Justin decided to celebrate your winter break by inviting you to join him for a little outing. Like, he’s so full of energy, he wants to go out and just move!! So, the two of you were now walking along the park when you started to feel tired from all the walking and decided to take a break by just sitting down on a bench, looking at the beautiful scenery in front of you. When Justin decided to sit next to you and look at you and you were a bit taken aback when he gave you that face (the picture).

“Wh-what are you looking at?”

“You. I never noticed how much your eyes are glowing. It’s pretty. And not to mention your smile. It’s just contagious. I hope that you would smile often from now on”

Lin Yanjun

Alright, I have no idea why she chose this pic of Yanjun. Clearly, you wanted to kill me huh, Aliya? Anyways, we’ll see what scenario I got

For this specific pic, since my dear friend wanted the boys to either be your guy friend/boyfriend, this is what I came up with. You and Yanjun were childhood friends; with Yanjun being like 4-5 years older and was the heir to a company which you decided to apply for. Of course, you still had to go through interviews and everything; Yanjun believes that you can never take the easy way out. 

However, the difference between you and your co-workers is that Yanjun would always asks you about your job at the end of the day which he knows that you worked hard since he heard it from your supervisor. Working under Yanjun was tough but he would never give you work that he knows you can’t handle and every now and then he would definitely treat you by taking you to your favourite restaurants/cafes at the weekend.

You have been working so hard and slowly climbed your way and was now Yanjun’s secretary. However, there were definitely some workers that were jealous of that. They’d be like “how can she become his secretary?” “just look at her! She doesn’t even look that good” and many more. But, it never really bothered you since you knew that dealing with those people are just a waste of your time and childish.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Sure, you tried your best to not care. But when those people started being physical, it was just too hard to handle. You were constantly dozing away and easily distracted that Yanjun himself became worried. He would asked you every now and then but you didn’t tell him, you didn’t want to bother him since he was basically “shouldering” your expenses.

But fear not!! One day, he finally caught the workers red-handed. You were just about to get lunch for both you and Yanjun when the elevator didn’t work and so, you took the stairs. However, those jealous workers caught you, some of them purposely bumped into you, making the food you brought fall onto yourself. But little did they know that Yanjun was passing by since he forgot to handover a document to his management team. At first, Yanjun was already ready to come in and fight. But when he saw that it was you, he didn’t hesitate one bit. He shouted at the workers, scaring them and you.

To say that the workers were scared was an understatement. Nope, they were petrified at this point. Yanjun was walking down the stairs, hands in his pockets and his gaze, colder than ever. He went to your side, asking you if you were alright but all you could do was let out a little hiccup. Noticing your state, Yanjun pulled you into a hug, looking back at the workers and told them that he’ll deal with them later and he hope that they have cleaned their belongings from the office.

“OI!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”

“Sshhh, are you alright? Is this why you’ve been dozing off lately?”

“J-jun...”

“ *sigh* I’ll deal with all of you later. Oh, and I hope that by the time I call you to my office, all of your belongings are packed”

“Is alright, I got you (Y/N). Please tell me the next time this happens”

“B-but...you just fired them?” 

“(Y/N)...you’re too sweet sometimes, you know that? I hope you know that things like this shouldn’t be taken lightly. I care about you, you know. Now c’mon, let’s get you cleaned up and I’ll order some food for us, your favourites, kay?”

HOW DO I WRITE SO LONG FOR HIM?! AND WITH THIS KIND OF SCENARIO!! AGGHHH CURSE MY WRITING

Zhu Zhengting

Mama Ting holding a big fluffy panda?! Welp, time to fly over to visit him (JK)

So, I feel that the two of you were hanging out all day, just a normal day of at your place, cooking, baking and watching TV shows/films all day when suddenly, the sun finally sets and it was night time. Since the both of you were too tired to cook, Zhengting suggested you guys have dinner at a nearby restaurant which of course, in the end, mama Ting paid for everything.

Whilst walking you back home, you both saw this place with a claw machine and you just so happen to see a huge panda in there. Determined to get it, you spent quite a pretty penny on it but failed to grabbed it. However, mama Ting decided to step in and get the doll for you. Which he finally did, after 7 tries.

“Th-the panda...Let me have the panda...please!!”

“Step aside (Y/N), I’ll get it for you!!”

“OMO!! TING!! YOU GOT IT!!”

“I GOT IT!!! Uhh, can I cuddle with it until we reached your home?”

“Is alright, since you got it, it should be yours”

“Eh?! Really?! I’M GOING TO GET TWO NEXT TIME!!”

Wang Ziyi

Can I say, Ziyi, multitasking to a new level man!!

So, for this pic, I thought that it’s been a while since you and Ziyi went out to grab a bite or catch up because he was very busy. However, since it was your birthday, he really didn’t want to cancel anymore plans. So, instead! He just cancelled meetings and all but he still brought a few work with him; works that he can easily finish in a short amount of time. Though he would apologise first-hand that he still had some unfinished business to take care of before you even got a chance to ask him.

“I’m really sorry that I had to bring some work with me today, (Y/N)”

“It’s fine Ziyi. I’m just happy that you even had the time to take me out”

“It’s your birthday. I wouldn’t miss it for anything else. Even though I’m technically somewhat working right now”

“I said it’s fine Ziyi. I’m happy that you’re here to spend the day with me”

“Aishh, you’re too nice (Y/N). Eh, eat up, the food will get cold! I just need to sign a few of these then I’m all yours for the day :)”

Xiao Gui

It’s been a while since I saw a soft Gui but hey!! I aint complaining!!

For Xiaogui, I feel that you finally graduated from university and was on your way back home. Well to be exact you were already back, it’s just that Xiaogui hasn’t had the time to see you. But!! He made it his mission that when he does see you, he would give you a surprise that you would never thought of.

He texted you saying that he had some free time and would like to meet up at the park that you guys used to hang out back in school. But little did you know that when you walked by the park, you saw Xiaogui, sitting on the stairs with a bouquet in his hands, a smile slowly formed on his face the minute you came into his sight.

“Kai (Wang Linkai, yea), wh-what’s all this? Are we going somewhere? OOH!! Is it for a special someone?”

“They sure are. You!”

“That’s...wait?! Me?! Wh-what?!” *cue blushing mess*

“Of course!! Congratulations on finishing your degree!! I’m proud of you (Y/N). Sorry that I have been very busy but, I wanted to do something special since you always send me something special. So, dinner?”

“I’d love to!! Thank you Kai!!”

You Zhangjing

Zhangjing in a suit!! YIKES!!! I NEED TO BREATHE!! PHEW!! OKAY!! ONTO THE SCENARIO!!

So, this is another slightly hard scenario to think of. But, here goes nothing. So, I imagine that you guys decided to have a date night since it has been a while you guys had like an actual proper date night. HECK!! Zhangjing even went all out and booked your favourite restaurant and brought out his suit for crying out loud!! Anyways, the date night, as you’d expect, was lovely. Zhangjing made sure that you get whatever food/drink you’d like then of course, Zhangjing being the responsible gentleman he is, brought you home. However, on you way back, you guys saw this bush with roses on them. And you know what Zhangjing did?

“Hey (Y/N)!!”

“Hmm? What is it Zhangjing?”

“Roses are red, violets are blue. I may not be able to rhyme but there is nothing prettier than you”

“OMG ZHANGJING!! STAWWPP!! Or more like, stop asking Yanjun for pick up lines for crying out loud!!”

[stubbedbakutoes]

Notes

Ushijima confronts (y/n) about her constant hate for him because he may or may not want to make a move on her

pairing: ushijima wakatoshi x reader

word count: 1k+

genre: quite angsty

masterlist

(ctto for the pic below)

"What's wrong, princess? Not having fun?"

His breath is tainted with alcohol, a half-empty red cup in his hands and a haze already glossing over his eyes.

He leans in close, close enough for her to see all the shades of the sky in his eyes, close enough for the small bristles of his chin to brush hers.

He never really did have a good understanding of personal space before, but intoxicated – she’d have better luck teaching an elephant how to do a backflip.

"Watching people get smashingly wasted? Oh, I'm having the time of my life."

The words are dripping sarcasm from her lips as she moves her head back to avoid his rancid breath.

She’s surprised Ushijima isn't there with his teammates– he's the first to get up on the table with his slogged dance moves, spilling alcohol everywhere and pulling up three girls with him on a too-cramped makeshift dancefloor.

He's not one to miss up on a spotlight of attention, and she doesn't know why he's chosen to give that up in an attempt to win just hers tonight.

Probably just the alcohol.

"Not enjoying your throne, princess?" He slurs, stumbling to her and nearly falling in the process, saving himself with a last-minute awkward twirl. "You can always sit on me, if you’d like."

"You’re disgusting, Ushijima. Go try that on some other girl who's drunk enough to find that charming."

"I happen to be – " he looks at her with the steady gaze of a drunk man, hands flying up to his head in a painfully awkward pose " – extremely charming."

"More like extremely drunk."

"That too. But also charming." His lips split into a wide grin, much too proud of himself.

"You know, I asked you to come. You should be thanking me."

"Tendou asked me to come and I only came to this stupid party because that was the only way I was getting his calc notes."

"Well, I asked Tendou to ask you  to come, so technically-"

"That doesn't even make sense."

"I said to Tendou to ask that pretty girl in his calc class – that's you – to come because number one, you need to get your head out of that disgusting textbook, and two, I wanted you to."

"So what, you asked Tendou to invite me to your frat party so you could fuck the one girl you haven't laid your greasy hands on?"

"Number one, you’re the one who mentioned fucking so just remember that later tonight, and number two, I moisturize every night so I can guarantee-“

"You’re a pig, Ushijima Wakatoshi."

"Pigs can't have dark olive eyes therefore your argument is invalid."

She throws her hands up in frustration, trying to storm past him – but even inebriated his reflexes are fast and he blocks her with his broad shoulders, a sloppy grin on his lips.

"Don't be mad, princess."

"Don't be a dick, Wakatoshi. Let me leave."

"But the party's just started." He whines a little, pouting his lips.

"This party is going to be ending real soon for you if you don't move."

"Was that in invitation to get out of here?"

"That was a fucking demand for you to leave me alone."

"What have I done to make you hate me so much?"

The playful demeanor is gone now, replaced by dark storm clouds in his eyes that make her take a step back in the sudden surprise.

"What?"

"You’re always so nice to other team captains – Daichi and Tendou and even Kuroo – he gets it on with like two girls every day and still you’d share your food with him – "

"Ushijima, I swear to god if this is over a cookie from that one time – "

"It's not fucking one time – you make a pointed effort to ignore me and you always make up some bullshit excuse to leave when I come up to talk to you when you’re with Tendou and last year you literally dropped your favourite course because you saw me in the same class – "

"I didn't have space for the class – "

"There we go again! Bullshit excuses, all of it. You get along fine with everyone on the campus – fucking sweetheart, that's what you are – but you treat me like shit for absolutely no reason at all."

She’s finding this drunk version of Ushijima a little harder to manage than the one from a few moments ago.

"And I fuck up. I fuck up a lot. I know. But I haven't slept with your sister or ran over your cat or whizzed on your car or any of the other stupid shit I usually do to make people hate me. It's like you literally hate me for being me."

"Ushijima, I – "

"Too high up on your throne to notice scum like me, your majesty?"

The words are bitter, hurt flashing in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Ushijima."

"You wouldn't be if I didn't tell you."

She’s silent and he's waiting and she doesn't know what to say.

He moves from the doorway, clearing the path for her.

"Just fucking leave. I'll tell Tendou to give you the notes tomorrow."

She’s still, the freedom of the door no longer as uplifting as it was before, not when there's still an elephant in the room blocking her way.

"Come with me?"

She tests the words out hesitantly, gauging his reaction.

"What?"

His eyebrows are pinched together and she’s not sure if his drunken mind understands her request, or if he's too confused over the meaning of the words.

"It's an invitation to get out of here with me." She smiles a little, parroting his words from earlier. "I want... I want to restart some things."

"You mean your crappy-ass behaviour to me?" He blurts out, blunt words that he can't help.

"Don't push it, Wakatoshi." She warns, though the small grin doesn't leave her lips. "But yes."

Ushijima looks out to the main room – where Daichi was currently dancing on top of the pool table, lassoing his shirt above his head – before turning back to her with a crooked smile.

"Let's get out of here. I wasn't really feeling this anyways."

She raises a questioning eyebrow at him – not quick to forget his hollering whoops with beer spilling from his cup when she first walked in – but she doesn't say a word about it, leaving it to the grin playing on her lips.

"I know just the place."

"It better not be your bedroom."

[dreamlikeapsycho]

I saw the max facts (pun intended 😂) you did for that question a while ago. So I was wondering if maybe you could tell us some more facts about Max it doesn’t have to be anything too detailed but anything you know would be nice to know, pretty please 😊

Okay... RANDOM FACTS ABOUT MAX - PART 2

I went on deep analysis mode this time to try and say all of Max's little nice and cute moments I know of.. Pls take notice, tho!! I'm not trying to flex or anything, I'm just a simple peasant girl on Maximilian's kingdom for a long time and it happens I have FBI blood in my veins 😭 so It's all gather on my brain and hard drive lol SO! I'm just answering this ask with a lot of thought and care so you can know more about Max and how he is even more awesome than you think!!! (And just in text form, cause Max doesn't need to be tagged on more personal stuff on IG (there’s too much illegal fishing at my tumblr pond already! 👏). It’s probably weird to know certain things, yes, but at least I'm respectful, I'll never bother him with this kind of stuff). Well, enjoy the bible below to end up knowing very little about him, still haha.. Just some more small facts.

- Max was at a barbecue just yesterday. It was someones birthday from the set of his new movie. He drank his beer, like usual, idk about the meat.. there was wurst and chicken.. I'm not sure if he's trying to be a vegetarian or not (after that thoughtful video he posted) 🤔.. maybe he didn't eat it, I don't know!!

- a little while before the start of this shooting, he was at the Baltic Sea filming for the series he's gonna be in (just one episode again! Don't get your hopes too high lol he's gonna be a security guard who disappears mysteriously, so....)

- He helped his friend renovate his house a few weeks ago!! How could I forget that on the first post.. Then, he had to go to Hesse for the movie shooting, and his friend had to call another friend to come help him lmao damn

I think I could describe some videos I have then... at least there's some cool and funny stuff. (Friends himself tagged in the past and cast friends)

- Max's dad went to the same uni as him. Also, he voiced a police officer on the phone in a short film Max wrote and directed all by himself (he didn't act on it, but he was also another police officer over the phone haha). Another thing, his dad made the official music for one of his plays.

- The falafel day.. his friend was taking a piss filming Max at the shop from afar and zooming in, saying "omg, guys! I found Noah from Dark! He's right there buying falafel" lmao, then, Max is just standing there looking all wonderful with his perfect hair and such, moving his hands, scratching his chin, ordering his food, and his friend talks some more, doing like a rough Max voice "yeah yeah, I'll have that one. Good, yeah". 😂

- the day he went to take a walk in nature. His friend asks him for a cigarette, he is denied, he goes to take it anyway, Max slams his cup of tea on the table and tries to take his cigarette back and it's all black and they're just laughing lmao (I love his laugh btw, so giggly!)

There was storys posted by Max himself.. so, maybe you saw it, but it's from before dark s3 came out.

- The pigeon storys. He filmed two pigeons chasing each other at the station, one always running from the other and he captioned "me trying to flirt" haha

- He screen recorded an ad for an app that deletes people from pictures and made some joke too, I can't remember exactly what he wrote, smt like "when you break up, but still wants to keep the picture" lol also, he unfollowed like 5 people that week after posting that... hm 👀

- he posted a video of him walking in the dark with really cold wind.. you can only see his hair flying around. Also, with a mask on, another chasing a cat in a big field, and that one drinking his coffee and eating his yogurt (you most likely saw it already)

- Ohh.. His friend was playing Max's drums the other day!!! Made a lot of jokes, it was obvious he was messing around in Max's room (maybe they live together, maybe he just waters the plants lol idk). Some of the jokes were "I've been playing this drums since 1921" and "the drums and me are a perfect pair, don't ever believe otherwise". I wonder what Max said to him.. he can't do anything about it, he's not in Berlin hahah. He has a little giraffe in his room, and other home decors (you can see it on his drumming video on his own IG)

- he likes to read on longer train rides.

- there's a video of him screaming inside a wardrobe after being jumped by a friend and one of him putting lipstick on with the song "I'm a sexy motherfucker" playing in the background hehe we was tagged, it was easy to find when there wasn't much tagged post.

- There's moments of ppl filming something/themselves and he just comes and photobombs it lol he is just like thiss 👏 showing his tongue and doing a funny face and such. One of those I saw it on the IG of a Das Boot cast member I actually already followed before.

- this group was such a blast. There's a few pictures, one of them he's in a dress, he has white stockings on til his thighs, heels and all haha lovely

- His improv-group.. he was almost in tears singing "I believe I can fly" with the group on their last day.. But he was happy! A mix of emotions. He loves everyone, he expresses his love a lot to people in general, he says it and adds heart emojis to make sure haha you can see his comments going on IG of his cast friends, especially from Das Boot (I followed a lot of the guys). So, about always commenting something funny on people's posts.. I didn't saved those, so I forgot most of it, but one I remember was that someone posted a video of a hailstorm and he was like "what are u doing, free ice!! Go grab them" hahaha

- Max has that Noah picture where he's peaking by a wall (you know that one Baran posted) printed and framed! 👏

- Things he’s pretty much always with: his backpack and his big headphones (it's always on his neck. At almost every picture, from every year, with different people etc. I was confused when he had normal headphones at his farm storys. Maybe he forgot them in Berlin 😭. Besides those, his rings, necklaces and bracelets (always, for years and years! Same ones, even). He uses frequently on premieres, as I saw it. Sometimes they also show up on his characters in his one-episode works!! Hahah is so nice when that happens. You can notice this on my screencaps.

- that pic of him that is everywhere now (with glasses, holding a bottle of champagne), I posted that months ago.. There's 2 more pics and 1 video. One pic, he is pretending the automatic lighter that's on the table is a Harry Potter wand (but I think I cropped the table, right.. I can't remember). This was actually posted by Max himself and he tagged his friend who took it. I went to see if they posted smt and there was a picture where he is literally biting the cork of that bottle off with his teeth Lmaoo, and one video.. he is talking on the phone trying to block the view with his feet.. this man!!

- he really doesn't care about buying too much unnecessary clothes and shoes and stuff. He is mindful of his things and the environment!! 

- there's a video of him on the set of Der Zauberlehrling, I need to recall where I got that from (maybe I could share this one. I'm not sure), he is messing with the broom and someone asks him "hey Max, what's that animal?" and points to the fluffy microphone. He says "it's a fucked up coala bear" (in english) 😂

Again.. I can't say names or anything, cause ppl are not mindful! Like.. I know I'm probably weird, but only for myself and my FBI office LOL I don't go over there and follow/reply to all these people’s posts and storys or take their videos and tag Max on them, this is just not.... nah. I'll always be respectful (yeah, some older stuff has gifs, cause he had like 10k followers, and 5 fans on tumblr lol But i never sent/tag him in anything personal directly.. that’s why i only posted on tumblr for the past year, in fact! I never thought things would be the way they are now a year later.. so, newer stuff it's not posted/gif nor ever will). I don't want him to be weirded out and like, disappear from IG!! I think about these things.. when people are being weird and stuff towards him. I don’t know how ppl don’t think about this when tagging him recklessly in random pictures and videos!!!

I wish he had more interviews, so we could know more proper stuff about him. (The few interviews he has are translated on my IG highlight. There's still an 8min interview missing there, cause I'm contemplating about being more of a bother to german speaking people, since I only have basic german..

[the-coolest-mallard]

Stealth Operation | Team Sabotage

@urchinxowens @justkeepdancing-nemo @oliversaluki

The boys sneak into the Hunted Deer and make a mess.

URCHIN

The light had faded and night was upon Swynlake. Everyone was asleep in order to build up energy to go back to work the next day. Everyone except Urchin - because he had summer holiday - and hopefully Louie, who Urchin was actually waiting for at their rendez-vous point a block away from Main Street.

Urchin sported his best spy gear which… well, consisted of a black turtle neck sweater, balck jeans and a black beanie that worked very little because his curls were overpowering it more and more by the minute, cascading out of the headgear.

With him also came a large cardboard box with air holes punctured on top. The boy sat next to said box and checked his phone, waiting for his partner in crime to arrive!

LOUIE

Ordinarily, Louie never got rid of his signature green. However, the plan they had was going to require stealthiness. So he also had dressed in all black. Black skinny jeans, black t-shirt, black leather jacket he found around the house. And of course a beanie as well, pushing down his own fantastic hair.

Louie had only one hand free to use (the other in a cast thanks to his genius moped moment), but he utilized his hand as best he could. He brought along with him some spray paint that he’d found at home, as well as some eggs both sort of put together in a bag. He’d feel a little bad about wasting the eggs but…there were a ton of things to toss at Gaston and he was gonna use all of them.

He made his way over with a grin, glad that he managed to find friends who were up for taking matters into their own hands. “Hey Urchin. Listen, I invited Ollie along too. He had some fun ideas for sabotage and stuff which is great and you know…I’ve only got one functioning hand so. Go team.”

OLLIE

Ollie kind of knew this was a bad idea but at the same time why not mess with someone who deserved it. Besides a little egg never hurt anyone and if he was there he could probably try and keep everyone from getting into too much shit.

So he had printed out harmless things, well not that werewolves were harmless but it was a prank that was harmless and his of choice.

Plus it was good to pull his leather jacket back on, pull the dark beanie on, and get out of the house from the crying baby.

It wasn’t hard to find the two other boys. 

“What’s up?” Ollie stated softly dropping to curb beside Urchin. 

URCHIN

“Woah, what happened to you?” Urchin couldn’t help but ask, gesturing at Louie’s arm. He didn’t look like that the last time Urchin had seen him, now did he? In any case, Ollie rolled up soon enough.

“Oh, hello! So it looks like we’re ready, huh? I’m honestly glad we’re not on our own, because I didn’t manage to get any raccoons,” he admitted, patting the cardboard box. The pat made the animal within wake up, though, because it had begun moving. 

“I… got the next best thing. This is Felicia. She’s the cat who always tries to get into our kitchen,” the boy explained. “She’s ferocious. Should give our big dumb friend a headache when he tries to take her out of his business tomorrow.”

NEMO

Nemo had never snuck out of the Hollow before. 

In the end– it had been kind of easy. He just waited for his father’s light snoring, put on one of his black dance hoodies, flipped up the hood, and then, quick and quiet as the wind itself, flit from outside his bedroom window.

He had to stop first at the Raccoon Hole to see if he could round up reinforcements. Course, he was no animal fairy and his Beast was seriously lacking, but as soon as he flashed the gold of his pixie dust, they were in. Raccoons loved all things shiny– kinda like magpies in that way. With his new comrades in tow, Nemo flitted fast as he could and tried not to think about how he had used up more than half his dust by the time he finally got to town. 

He walked the rest of the way, hood up, skirting from shadow to shadow until he saw what he thought were the three boys he had never met before. His steps slowed, hands going into his pockets, heart rapid-fire, though from his flying or nerves he didn’t know. He swallowed and put on a big grin, sauntering forward. 

“Um– hey! Are you erm, Louie, and Ollie and…?” he blinked. He didn’t know the other bloke. “Um. I brought Blueberry and Denise!” He blurted and pointed at his raccoon mates. 

They chattered and lifted their paws in a friendly wave.

LOUIE

What had started as an awful day had quickly turned into something incredible. He had gathered three other boys to do something important: sabotage the old geezer Gaston. It was the perfect union, with every one pitching in the best of plans (and one fantastic fairy delivering the raccoons of destiny). He almost forgot about the wrist, though he held it up with a sheepish grin. “Crashed my moped. It happens. Won’t get in the way of awesome though.”

And this was truly awesome. Ollie was there, Urchin brought a CAT! And then finally, the other hero of the night Nemo there with the raccoons! Who needed brothers for mischief when you could make friends like these? “Mwahaha,” Louie cackled quietly, rubbing his hands together because this was better than he could have imagined. “Team Sabotage…we’ve come together this dark night to take down an old man’s ego.” He glanced over at the cat and the raccoons. “I welcome Felicia, Blueberry and Denise to our super good cause.” 

He turned toward his fellow conspirators, the smile only growing on his face. “Urchin, Ollie, Nemo…you guys are the best of the best of the best with the coolest ideas. And I’m excited to pull off this mission with you. But first…we should probably have a sort of escape plan. My moped’s trashed so we can’t take that quick exit.”

OLLIE

Ollie really wasn’t quite sure what he was getting himself into at this rate. There was a cat and two raccoons? They couldn’t be too much damage? Or too dangerous. Either way Ollie was going to make sure they didn’t get into shit. Or try to.

He just lifted a hand in a greeting.

“I can double back and get my car? It’s kind of noticeable for the small town so I don’t know how much of a good idea that is for stealth.” Ollie mused with a shrug. “We gotta worry about cameras too and what not. I’ve never been so I don’t know what’s there but he’d be even more stupid not to have some sort of security.” Leaning forward Ollie rested on his knees trying to think of all the necessary things.

URCHIN

“Urchin,” the boy quickly said when the stranger asked for his name. Eventually, he managed to associate each person with their names, and smiled at the small collective of revenge-getters.

“Uh, we should probably try to stay out of very visible areas as much as possible, then,” the curly-haired boy pointed out after Ollie’s statement. “We can also ask the raccoons or the cat to disconnect anything we can find, if that’s even possible… and if anyone can talk to them.”

He stood up from his sitting place and grinned. “In any case, he’s getting what he deserves! So destiny will probably thank us for it or whatever. We will probably not even get grounded because of how much everyone probably dislikes this guy.”

NEMO

Nemo’s eyes flicked imperceptibly to his pocket. Tucked inside was his pixie dust pouch-- and in another world, Nemo would pull it out, grin bright, and show them all how to use it. Why need a moped when you could fly anyway, right? 

But if he ran out of pixie dust, he’d never get home, and his dad would wake up and see he was gone, and he’d totally flip and Nemo would be grounded (literally) for the next forever. 

He felt guilty, but he kept his hands in his pockets, fingers around that pouch, all to himself. 

“Erm, I can’t-- explain electronics to them,” he said, rolling from the balls of his feet to his toes and back again. “My beast’s not that good and they’d definitely not listen. But um, I can fly in before hand and maybe turn ‘em off?” 

LOUIE

“You can fly?!” Louie blurted first, instantly putting Nemo up there on the list of coolest people he’d ever met. That was awesome! He’d met this other guy who could fly once (Peter) but they hadn’t really spoken much since the incident at the ice cream shop. Nemo though, Nemo seemed like a super cool dude. So did Urchin and Ollie really. Immediately in for the world’s best sabotage team.

“Good idea on the security front too...hmm. If the car’s not the best option and the raccoons can’t tell...yeah okay. Here’s the plan,” Louie started, and honestly he wasn’t one hundred percent sure they’d just listen to him on this but what the hell. Act confident and like you’re the best option and eventually others will believe you.

“Nemo will fly in and turn off the security. From there he’ll call in the racoon pals to trash the place and the cat too. Phase two’ll be us swinging in there to egg the place and spray painting it. The werewolf pics will have to be more carefully put so they’re phase three. Ollie, you seem pretty like...responsible and shit, are you up for keeping watch? Make sure that the cost is clear?” 

OLLIE

Well if Ollie had to have a title of being responsible, you know what he was okay with that. The more he thought about it the more he worried about it he was. This wasn’t New York where you could get away with shit because no one paid attention to you. This was Swynlake where anything that could go wrong would go wrong.

Call him boring. He was not getting tossed into jail for this though even if he could bail himself out. 

“Honestly yeah I’m good with just keeping watch.” Ollie stated simply. “You guys can do all the trouble and we can make a simple signal that someone is on their way. Three knocks in quick sucession or something like that. So you know don’t be too loud in there.”

URCHIN

Urchin was disappointed they couldn’t tell the animals to do everything for them, mostly because it’d have been so cool, but the plan seemed solid either way. He listened intently to Louie’s words and tried to picture it in his mind - it’d probably involve a fun montage of crudely-drawn caricatures of the boys doing all the things if it were a TV show.

“Great! I think we’re all set, then,” he announced, picking up the box Felicia the cat was in, which shook almost uncontrollably as it was picked up. “Evidently, Felicia’s ready to move, too.”

NEMO 

Right-- that meant he actually had to fly. 

Instantly, Nemo got self-conscious, his hands fisting deep in his hoodie pockets. So dumb-- it wasn’t like they were gonna see his wing or anything. It just kinda felt like...well, his pixie life was in the forest and his human life was here in Swynlake. He’d never been in his pixie form here.

But Louie beamed at him. Nemo wanted to help. He didn’t have any other choice. 

“Er, okay. Yeah-- okay then, I’ll um-- do that!” said Nemo. His eyes flicked back to Louie and his smile dropped as fast as it jumped onto his face in the first time. “Uh, now right? I should do that now?” 

LOUIE

“Hmmm….the knock’ll work once we’re all in there, but I think Nemo you’ve gotta give us a bit more of a cue.” They’d be close by, but not too close, obviously. They couldn’t exactly be spotted by the cameras or anything. What would work better for that? “How about...Nemo you can do like an owl call or something. Hoot or something once you’ve got the cameras out of the way.”

He glanced around the group of misfits, a smile slowly lighting up his entire face. This was the kind of thing he lived for. Bringing together some cool kids to cause trouble for a man who absolutely deserved everything they threw his way. This was going to be the best. “Yeah okay. Nemo first uh huh. But maybe demo your call or whatever so we know what we’re listening for. But then yeah. Fly like an eagle or something.”

OLLIE

Ollie nodded, more than fine taking a step back. He wasn’t ever the leader type. It just wasn’t in his bones. So he listened to the plan. What an interesting group he had found himself in. Pushing himself into a standing position Ollie stepped back from the box with a potentially unruly cat. 

“Are we gonna make code names at his rate?” Ollie joked. “Eagle one, Eagle Two. If I had to pick a dude and what not.”

URCHIN

Urchin frankly loved the idea of getting code names, but he wondered if he’d start confusing them. “Okay, okay,” he said. “But I want memorable code names. Otherwise, I’m gonna confuse everyone, honestly.”

He looked around and at the rest. They all seemed ready and eager to start. The box shaking in his hands seemed to imitate his own anxiousness to get started. “Not to hurry us up or anything, but if this cat manages to escape the box there’s no way we’re getting her back in. So, let’s make sure she does it once she’s inside, and pronto.”

NEMO

The idea of code names distracted Nemo from his erratic, buggy jitters firing off in his belly. He brightened up-- especially at Eagle one, Eagle two.

His hand shot up into the air. “Dibs on Eagle One!” he preened. He grinned wide, shooting the grin from one boy to the next. 

He’d always wanted to be like an eagle-- strong, intense, fierce. Fast. 

He then cleared his throat. “Erm, okay how about somethin’ like--” and he whistled sharp and loud, the sort of call he had mimicked before from the animal fairies. 

It made Blueberry and Denise startle, then perk up on their hindlegs and wiggle their noses in the air. 

LOUIE

“Alright great. Nemo’s Eagle One. That’s good. Hmm… Ollie can be Hawkeye or something you know, cause he’s keeping watch.” Louie probably wasn’t any better at this code name thing, but he could sure try. “Urchin you’ll be 007. You’ve got the whole look down. Leaving me with…” he hummed, debating for a long minute. “Rebel Leader.”

He jumped a little at the whistle, knocking into Urchin a bit and patting his shoulder as his form of sort of apology. “Okayyyy. Yeah. Good. That’s good. Eagle One...you’re clear for take off,” he added, grinning like an idiot and giving them all the thumbs up. This would be amazing. Team Sabotage was ready to go. “The rest of us, we gotta chill, till we hear Nemo. Alright?”

OLLIE

Ollie couldn’t help the snort of laughter as all the code names. He had been teasing but he was glad they took him seriously. It made him feel more like they were part of a group than he had in a long time. Sure he couldn’t be sure everyone had each others backs but it felt like they did.

Blinking at the animal call Ollie nodded. “Hard to miss but it should blend in.” Ollie mused with a nod. “Have any of you guys pulled off anything like this before?” Ollie questioned already starting to glance around and make sure he took his task seriously during the whole time.

URCHIN

Urchin grinned at his code name. It was probably the best one out of all of them, so he certainly didn’t complain. He did jump a bit when Louie knocked into him, but was quick to regain his balance and smile as a silent way to tell him not to worry.

“And chill we shall,” the boy declared. He put down the box for a few seconds and made sure his cap was on correctly, and then shrugged at Ollie. “I mean… You know what they say, there’s a first time for everything, right?” he said, grinning.

NEMO 

First time for everything. 

Wasn’t that the truth? 

And Nemo-- Nemo was excited, especially as he glanced around at these other boys’ grins. It gave him the jolt of confidence he needed. He dug his hand back into his pocket and this time he pulled out the pixie dust pouch. “Okay! Okay okay, I’m um, I’m goin’!” he said as he skipped back, gathering a little bit of air on his heel that helped him glide. “Oi, Denise, Blueberry, follow me!” He took out a pinch of pixie dust, tossed it in the air, and leaped into the golden cloud-- 

In an instant, he was a small blur of orange and gold, zooming sharp as a rocket toward the Deer. The raccoons chattered and followed after him, their black and gray hides disappearing into the shadow. 

It didn’t take long for Nemo to fly all the way up to the Deer’s thatched roof. He skittered around the panels then found the chimney and dived down into it.  The raccoons, meanwhile, took the long way round and clambered up the gutters. Their claws scratched against the pipe work and the roof tiles. 

Nemo emerged into a dark, dim, silent pub. It was actually a bit creepy how quiet it was-- Nemo used to humming cicada and whistling crickets and the wind, always there, murmuring into his ear. There was no wind here. The air was still, so still it felt-- dead. Dusty. Nemo didn’t like it and he scrunched up his nose before zooming on. 

He found the cameras and scrambled on top of one, where he had to stop and rest. His little wind fluttered weakly and his lungs burned from all the effort of it. Breathing heavily, he drew his hands through his hair once before resecuring the hood over his orange hair. And then, squinting through the dark, he yanked hard on the tiny switch below the flashing red button. It didn’t budge. Nemo grimaced. This was the downside of being so small sometimes. He yanked again and again and the plastic rubbed against this tiny hands. And then one more time--

Nemo yelped as the switch gave way and he nearly toppled off the camera. His wings fluttered frantically and righted him again. 

This was way harder than it looked. 

It took him another five minutes to get the other three cameras all turned off, and then Nemo landed in a tired heap on the ground where he pinched out some pixie dust to help him return to his human-form. Nemo put his hands around made his call then and skipped over to the door to open it up for the boys when they arrived. 

He poked his head out. “Coast all clear!” he announced. Something smashed behind him and Nemo giggled. “I think that was Denise.”

LOUIE 

The mission was going off without a hitch. Nemo went for it, and the rest of the boys had a little while before they could be called in. “You know, I pull stuff like this with my brothers...but they’re usually too them to want to go for something really interesting.” Well, Huey more than Dewey, but it took some nudging to get them to want to cause some serious trouble.

But soon he heard the call, and he gestured for Ollie and Urchin to follow him as he rushed over to the entrance of the Hunted Deer. “Nice one Nemo. Your heroics will be remembered forever.” He carefully stepped into the building, holding onto a can of spray paint. It was time to mess up this newly prettied up place. Yesss. “Okay. Ollie, stick by the door yeah?” This teamwork was seriously going to rule. He’d never have a shot at something this good without them.

Louie moved toward the nearest wall, shaking the spray paint he had and considered it carefully. This would be his artistic masterpiece. “I know we should probably be beyond the immature dick art, but Gaston is one...so is it really so bad?” He considered the wall carefully. “Guys? Ideas on what we should put on the walls? It’s gotta be good.” He started ‘Gaston is a dick’ on one part, figuring it was both true and fun to write. The rest...well. He could probably paint something fun.

OLLIE

That wasnt that reassuring. People having only done this for the first time could be dangerous. Sure ollie hadnt spray painted or edges someone's place but he liked to think his own excursions in New York would count for it. 

He didn't technically have a criminal record at least. (Not that he hadn't ever been caught but because people took pity on him as a kid)

But that's almost why he was starting to feel responsible for the group of boys. He didn't want any of them to get in trouble for this. At least trouble they couldn't get themselves out of. 

Crossing over to the door Ollie nodded his head giving Nemo a heads up. "Okay you guys do your thing. I'll let you know if someone is coming. Stay as quiet as you can with you know Denise and everyone breaking things so you can hear if I have to give you guys a signal." 

URCHIN

Loud meowing followed Ollie’s instructions, totally being louder than intended, as Felicia finally found her freedom when Urchin unsecured the box and let her out. Immediately, the cat started running and hopping around the place, uncertain of her location, and had already knocked down a pair of bottles from behind the bar. That’s what Urchin would call a resounding success!

“Uh - Draw him!” Urchin suggested. “Except make his nose a dick,” he added, because hey, dick drawings were in like 50% of graffiti, right? It felt like a crime not to do it.

NEMO 

Nemo started giggling.

He’d never done anything like this before. It was like somethin’ outta a TV show, y’know, something he might watch at Roo’s house during one of his rare sleepovers. He didn’t realize this sort of thing happened in real life. That kids really did go out and-- and teepee places, and mess up houses, and use spray paint and markers and all sorts of things. 

He felt a little guilty, but it was a feeling as fast as a blink. Mostly he thought about how pissed his dad would be if he knew. Not only was Nemo breaking a whole handful of Marlin’s rules, but he was doing that in Gaston’s pub. 

He made a grab for a can of spray paint. “I’ll draw dicks on all the booths!” he announced and then scurried off to do so. 

Meanwhile, there was more glass-smashing as Denise and Blueberry had their way with the storage room. 

LOUIE

Never was there a better group of boys than now. He was sure of it. “Dicks on the booths yesssssss. Great idea Nemo!” Louie was delighted by the whole thing. And Urchin coming out with a dope drawing idea. Oh yeah. Louie would make Gaston as ugly as possible.

He smirked, taking one of the spray paint cans (a wonderful green) and studied the wall before him. “Good call good call. Alright, while I do my masterful art of Gaston….Urchin, put up those werewolf pics. Scare the pants off of him when he goes anywhere!” 

He started spraying a sort of rendition of Gaston. If Gaston were more of a blob person with a dick nose. What? He was still working on improving his art. Maybe he’d bother Lou Bonfamille for more lessons. For now? Well he added some extras like a fart cloud by his ass and a speech bubble by his mouth saying ‘no one farts like Gaston’

Then he took a step back to admire his work. “What do you guys think? Pretty good right?”

URCHIN

Urchin nodded and saluted before heading off to do as ordered. He gathered the expertly-crafted werewolves and began making rounds about the place to find locations for optimal scare factor. 

He decided to place the first one under the bar, hiding so that you’d only be able to see it if you were on the bartender’s side of it. The next one hung right by the bathroom doors, so you’d round that corner and piss your pants off on your way into the bathroom. That, of course, meant that he had to also set one up within the bathroom in place.

After setting up the rest in the general vicinity of the bar, the boy returned just in time to admire the drawing on the walls. “Perfect,” he commended. “I’m sure he’s going to love it.”

NEMO 

Nemo got to work on the drawings, giving the spray cans a good shake. It took him a few seconds to get a handle on the paint-stream, but once he’d got it down, the dicks were pretty easy. He went booth to booth and spray painted them big across the seat, though he made sure to switch it up a few times, y’know, vary the size and direction and all-- artistic license. He knew it was all a bit silly but, well, he couldn’t get Louie’s compliment outta his head. 

He thought Nemo was cool. And brilliant. And that he had great ideas. 

And sooo… Nemo wanted to show off. 

He jogged back over to Louie and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, Louie, I ah-- I got an idea. Wanna see somethin’ cool?” he said. 

And then Nemo drew his hands together, palms flat. And then, in one quick motion, he folded his fingers in one after another after another, then back again, until he had gathered a swirling ball of wind in his hands. 

And then Nemo shoved the heel of his hand across the palm of his other one, pushing the blast of wind out--! 

It blew out the napkins outta the napkin dispensers on several of the tables. “Nice, right!” He said, jumping up and down again. “I can do a windmill and probably knock everything over!” 

LOUIE

Louie was easily distracted from drawing something else spectacular (maybe Gaston cowering before a werewolf or something) by his new friend Nemo. He twisted around, watching the guy carefully as he gathered wind into his hands and knocked napkins out of this dispensers.

“Holy shit, you’re the avatar!” Louie blurted and then grinned. “Sorry. It just looks like something out of a cartoon.” He glanced around to see that Ollie was still properly keeping a look out, and that Urchin was placing the werewolf stuff. And wow he picked great spots.

“Nice move by the bathroom mate. Hilarious.” This was the best bunch of guys he’d ever met. They’d be bound together by a common bound of mischief with this. Maybe he’d get them to make some sort of pact. Or something. “Okay. I’m gonna draw one more thing. Nemo...definitely knock shit over. That’s fantastic. Everyone do one last ridiculous thing and then we’ll get the fuck outta here. Ollie...you do something ridiculous too. Come on. It’ll be worth it.”

OLLIE

Ollie was perfectly fine chilling by the door. It wasn't like there was anything to scare him out here. The only thing that worried him was that some random adult would see them wasn't he an adult too. Was he supposed to be turning people in for their hijinks. 

"You guys look to be doing perfectly fine." Ollie mused with a small laugh stepping back for a moment. "Plus I'm more musically inclined then I am artistically." Even with Gaston being a douche ollie doubted himself. Not that either one of his parents would care if he had to guess what they would think. 

"Wait this place has a kitchen right? What about saran wrapping most of the stools together or something?" 

URCHIN

Urchin was happy to be complimented for his ideas. Everyone else was doing pretty great too, which made him even more satisfied! After Ollie’s suggestion, though, the boy’s eyes seemed to outright gleam in delight.

“Ooooh, yes! He’d probably use that wrap to attack some deers and hang them on his wall or something evil like that anyway,” Urchin said, and immediately bolted into the kitchen. He took a while but trashed the place while he looked around, and Felicia even helped unintentionally by walking in and finding some leftovers on a counter.

Eventually, Urchin found a roll of something that people would likely use to wrap up take-out. “Here we go!” he proclaimed, tossing the few rolls he’d found out onto the main sitting area of the bar for the others to pick up.

NEMO

While they waited for Urchin to appear, Nemo did his fairy best too. He could feel the slight draft from the chimney where he’d flown down as well as the slightly open door where Ollie was standing guard. It was always much easier to play with already-moving air and so he splayed his fingers wide and gathered it in his hands. Once he’d rolled it all into a ball, he pushed it toward the booths and the mini wind-funnel skirted over the tables, skittering one after the other. Napkins blew from the dispensers and the salt and pepper turned over and got all over the table and seats. 

Then Urchin came back and Nemo’s smile leaped back onto his face. He jumped up and caught it. “Nice!” he crowed and then went to work saran-wrapping everything together.

He forgot all about the guilt he’d felt earlier-- the slight panic, that stray thought whispering what would happen if he got caught? Now, all he was thinkin’ about was how fun this was. 

Soon they finished, all the saran wrapped up. “Are we done?” Nemo said as he popped up, going back to Louie’s side since he seemed-- well. He was in charge, wasn’t he? He bounced a little on his toes, ready to perform a few more wind-tricks if he needed to. 

LOUIE

Louie glanced around the room, looking at all the chaos around them. They had done a spectacular job on sabotaging the place. He was honestly impressed by everyone’s initiative. He needed to keep a note of this. From this day forward, if there ever was a guy that wronged one of them, Louie felt they had the perfect solution.

“I’d say so. We’ve definitely made a mess of the place. Suck it Gaston,” Louie added, as if the man was around to hear it. Well...maybe he’d just write it. No. They’d done a good job without that. “Time to make a hasty exit. Ollie, look and see if the coast’s clear? From there we get the hell outta here. We’ve done important work lads. I’ll never forget it.”

OLLIE

Ollie let out a laugh, so many of his ideas had been thrown to the literally as everyone took it and ran with it. A part of him felt bad until he remembered it was Gaston and he didn’t feel bad anymore. Ducking his head out Ollie listened to everything around the place.

“We’re good to go. Remember what happens at the Deer stays at the Deer.” Ollie teased ushering the guys out. “Let’s get out of here.”

[noro124]

hey everyone it’s my frog collection + other cool things i had on the shelf at the time! i have 57 frogs (counting the packaged ones as one unit), which is 45 more than the last time i took a picture of my frog collection. enjoy!  

under here i will tell you where i got each frog & why i grouped them like that! the groups can also be read in the captions. all pics try to go from left to right, from the back row to the front. 

i. frogs that are big

Summer relaxin’ - my dad got him for me at a yard sale a few years ago. 

HAPPY FROG - my dad also got him for me at a yard sale, but closer to 6 months ago. He’s hanging over my bed right now on my Wall Of Stuff.

Paper frog - my sister ripped him off the bulletin board at the Starbucks where she works to give him to me

White frog - picked him up at TJ Max when my mom took me dress shopping.

Dark green frog - i don’t know...i think from a yard sale? he’s hollow & i keep a semicircle paperweight in the hole in his stomach.

ii. 8 frogs that will break if you drop them & 3 that won’t

Yoga frog - my dad got him for me, maybe from Goodwill? 

Ol Chumbo - got him at the flea market for $8. He is solid iron.

Just Eat What Bugs You!! - got him from a thrift store in a small town in Colorado. he’s got beans in him! if you shake him he rattles

Blue glass - he’s a candle holder! I got him from an antique store in Tennessee & then saw another one of him at the flea market years later. 

Bronze goofball - crooked eyes. very endearing. also very heavy. got him in a shop that sold lots of bronze things outside the Louvre. 

Gold - a gift from my boyfriend!!!

Sassy Frog - i think my dad gave her to me? or maybe i bought her at the antique store. 

Little brown frog - more fragile than he looks, missing his front right leg so i got him discounted from the antique store near school. 

Glass frog king! - got him in prague! he was overpriced, but worth it

Teeny glass frog - also got him in prague for $3! 

Another glass frog - got in the same store that I got tiny frog in.

iii. frogs that are minerals

Chunky brown frog - got him at the antique store near school. i think my boyfriend bought him for me on one of our first dates! 

Black frog - $35 but worth every cent. smooth, elegant, made in Japan. gotten from the antique store near school.

Flat brown frog - got him from the flea market. 

Malachite frog - bought him online from Bekkathyst! Expensive, but I took advantage of a sale.

Rose quartz frog - got from a really cool mineral shop in Prague! I did a project on that shop, about redesigning the storefront.

Pink frog - got from a yard sale a long time ago, only recently rediscovered in my room & added to the collection.

Little frog on a leaf - got from a gift shop at the end of a long 14k altitude hike in Colorado.

Frogs 8-12 were all given to me by my boyfriend after he came back from NY. They’re a big family!!! 

   13. Tiny frog bead - got from the flea market! 

iv. frogs that are squishy

Mint green frog loaf - picked this up from a recent con!! my boyfriend paid for half of it because he said this was something i needed to have, & he was right! 

Webkinz frog - my dad got him for me at a yard sale because he liked the mischievous look in his eyes. 

Little frog orb - part of a set of 3 round squishy things my boyfriend’s parents gave me for easter. 

TY Beanie Baby Frog - a beanie baby original my sister got from a yard sale. he might be worth a lot of money since he’s an original. i’m looking into it. 

Dark blue sand frog - I’ve had this since I was a child. he’s got stitches in his armpit because he used to have a big hole that let all the sand out.

Stripey sand frog - got her at a yard sale when i was maybe 9 so the dark blue frog could have a friend! 

Green and orange beanie frog - picked this up from a “Night Market” in Vienna. having seen real night markets in Taiwan, I was kind of disappointed, but the frog was a good purchase.

Green beanie frog - got in belfast from a cool museum. has a pink twin owned by one of my friends. all frogs have sweet dreams

v. frogs that are toys

Skeleton frog - one of my roommates got him for me from a halloween store.

Glowing frog - he changes rainbow colors! my sister gave him to me for my 20th birthday last year.

Slime frog - my boyfriend got him for me as a Welcome Back present after i returned from Prague! he’s nasty. he’s full of yellow goo & he has a cap on the bottom of his body that you can undo to take out the goo. it takes hours to put the goo back in. 

Keychain frog - also a flashlight that croaks when you turn him on! I saw him in Milan & had to have him. 

Lime green frog - my dad gave me 3 frog bath toys for Christmas. I have one in my collection (this one), one at his house, & one at my mom’s house.

Blue frog whistle - I think one of my friends gave this to me but I’m not sure.

Wooden frog - bought him from a nice lady at the night market in Taiwan in 2017.

Wooden frog 2 - he rolls! picked him up for $4 in one of the Golden Lane shops in Prague Castle. 

Frog rubber band - got him as a reward for being good at the dentist in like 2007. 

vi. frogs i have not unwrapped

 boblende fro - a frog bath bomb with a toy frog inside that i got from a weird store called Flying Tiger in prague. i don’t want to open him because he’ll be crumbly & i like the packaging a lot, & also i don’t want to use him yet.

Grow Frogs - another gift from my boyfriend’s parents for easter. I haven’t used them yet because I’m lazy & I don’t know if they’d crumble & I don’t know where I’d put them if they were unwrapped.

Frog King stickers - got these in northern ireland as well! i haven’t used any yet because they have layers & the things I’d put them on (my phone case, sketchbook, my laptop) move around a lot & the stickers would get destroyed really fast. 

vii. frogs with jobs

Candle holder - one of my friends gave it to me for my birthday.

Green frog - got him from the local crafts store my roommate used to work at. He can hold onto the outside of cups or flowerpots or my finger! 

Frog thimble - a different roommate gave him to me after he got back from his trip to Spain. 

Frog clip - one of my friends gave it to me for no reason! really nice of her!!!

Mosaic frog - the roommate that went to Spain got this for me there too! he doesn’t have a job, he just doesn’t fit into any of the other categories.

Keroppi pin - got this for 50 cents in Taiwan & then lost it for a year.

Tiny rubber frog - given to me by one of my roommates for Christmas. he got it in Florida. he doesn’t have a job either.

Milan eraser - picked this up in a stationary store in prague called McPen.

viii. miscellaneous items on the frog display shelf

Fat cat with big poofy cheeks - i went to the flea market with my dad & saw this funny man.

 Round unicorn & pink fish - the other 2 round things that came with the frog my boyfriend’s parents gave me for easter this year.

Crab ornament - given to me alongside the tiny rubber frog. he’s missing a leg and is EXTREMELY fragile - pieces of his shell fall off all the time.

Red wooden painted egg - got from an easter market in Prague.

Eggplant container - I keep souvenir pressed pennies in here. 

Stone egg with stand - I got this for my dad from an antique store, but my dad said I could keep it.

Golden pig - gotten somewhere in Prague. I was gonna give it to one of my roommates, but my mom said “You should keep it for good luck, it’s the year of the pig!” & so I did.

Snake carving - my grandma used to give me little carvings made of the same material all the time before she died. I don’t know where I got this.

Little glass crab - a gift alongside the crab ornament & tiny rubber frog!

White rock - looks very pretty in the right light. got it from a mineral store in Cesky Krumlov.

Smooth rock - smokey quartz I think? got it from the same mineral store. 

Carnelian scarab - got this from a really cool mineral store outside the Louvre. I could have spent all day in here - they sold really expensive frogs too. I had my eye on one made from turquoise, but it was 160 euros. Maybe next time. 

Labrodorite heart - my boyfriend paid for half of it when he came to visit me in Prague! it’s very blue & very gorgeous. 

Labrodorite chunk - my boyfriend got this for me at a hippie music festival!

Chunk of limestone - got this in northern ireland where there was a cool bridge near an old limestone quarry. I thought this rock looked cool, like mochi. You can’t tell from the picture quality.

Glass lizard - part of the gift with the crab ornament & the other things.

Turtle - got him from the flea market. not sure what he’s made of, but he’s handcrafted!

Shiny turtle - this was on the ground at the flea market. it probably had fallen off a display & cost money, but i put it in my pocket. please don’t arrest me

Stone turtle - got this guy from an aquarium that’s 2 hours away from home! we went as a group over spring break to the beach, but half of us immediately went home & half of us went to the aquarium. i got to touch a shark there. 

& that’s all, folks! thanks for reading my frog lore! 

[lycorogue]

Meet My OCs: Willow (Part 1 - Background)

Sorry this post was delayed a week. Sorry again that it’s 11pm on Sunday, so I almost missed my publication deadline AGAIN! 

I really did aim to get this up for my weekly Sunday updates of this series. However, Willow proved to be a bit more detailed than I gave her credit, resulting in her introductory post taking the better part of a week to write up and edit.

Before I get further into this post, however, have you had a chance to read my intro posts? They're not needed, but they do provide added context.

Part 1: What is this “Meet My OCs” series, and what was my inspiration when creating the worlds these characters live in?

Part 2: What IRL inspiration helped me create my four main OCs for my Gyateara stories?

Part 3a: What is the X-Future play-by-post game, and what inspired the creation of the main characters for Glitches?

Part 3b: What X-Men canonical characters needed to be reworked for Glitches, and how have they changed to become more original creations?

Feel free to check those out, and then come back. Otherwise, links will also be at the end of this post for your convenience.

Now then, let's get into the true meat and potatoes of this series, starting with the character I tend to unintentionally favor. The one who has the most visual presence. The one whose introduction was so massive (over 30pgs long in a Word document) that I had to split it into 6 parts to avoid overwhelming people (this may still overwhelm, though; sorry). These Meet My OCs posts are getting beefy.... I think I’ll have to switch to every OTHER Sunday for the updates.... Anyway, be prepared for a nice 6-post dump onto your dash!

------------------------------

Willow “Wisp” Driver

I was the one who watermarked that pic, BTW, to make sure Willow can't be swiped by anyone...

And, can we also give another quick shout out to @edendaphne​ for the beautiful commission work on my baby girl?

Anyway, Willow was my second X-Future character, and quickly climbed the ranks to one of my most prominent and vocal characters of all time. Check below for Part 1 of Willow's intro, which includes a broad overview of who Willow is, and some backstory for her. In a few minutes, I'll also have up Part 2, which talks more about Willow's main relationships: her family, her friends, and her romances. Later, I'll post Part 3, which talks about her basic storyline within X-Future, and how it relates to my intended starter arc for her in Glitches. In Part 4, I showcase some more artwork of Willow, followed by some narrative scene examples in Part 5. Finally, I’ll conclude with Part 6: wrestler entrances for Hubby’s WWE13 game.

Overview: 

Willow was 15 when she was first created back in 2012. She is currently 18 in our game. She's about average height at 5'4” (162.56cm), and has a fairly lean body. She's not overtly muscular, but she is sculpted due to her favorite form of exercise: parkour/free-running, an activity she started after school when she was 10 in order to help burn off extra energy. She's playful, flirty, a mischievous prankster, bubbly, and has a bit of a snarky/sarcastic attitude. She's also cunning, a bit manipulative, incredibly passionate, and surprisingly cautious and suspicious. She tends to surprise people by having a different view of life than most expect, making her playful when most might be somber, making her angered when most would be relieved, or making her harsh when most would be sympathetic. (examples of these outlooks will be in Part 5)

Further Physical Description:

Her hair is naturally a silvery-white, but that's too “grandma” and “bland” looking for her, especially with such pale Irish-American skin. So, to accent her aquamarine eye color, she routinely streaks the silver with blue. The shade of blue varies from dye to dye.

Family:

Willow's mother Meryl is a “normal” human. However, Willow's father Jacob Driver is a mutant (glitch). He has the power to “manipulate” any object so it looks like whatever he wants, as long as it's roughly the same shape, size, and weight. For instance, a chunk of cement could appear to be a large, raw ruby. A stack of blank paper can look like a first draft manuscript of a famous novel. A flashlight can look like a stick of dynamite, and children's play money can look like $100 bills. (Yes, Jacob was inspired by Hook Waters and the Shifting ability from the 2009 movie “Push,” and the categories for The GRID are also inspired by “Push”). Now, the objects aren't physically changed in any form. Instead, Jacob drapes the items within the illusionary forms he desires. His targets will 100% believe the objects are what Jacob claims, as long as they are indeed the correct size, shape, and weight; giving the items the tactile features the illusions suggest. Non-targets of Jacob's powers, however, will see the object for what it truly is. So, if someone accepts the “raw ruby” from Jacob, and takes it to a jeweler, said jeweler will simply see the original chunk of cement.

In his youth, Jacob had used his ability to manipulate items in order to swindle his way through life: making his homework appear done, his dissertation seem ingenious, his wallet always look filled with large bills, etc. He was eventually caught, and served some jail time. He was released early on good behavior, and ended up meeting Meryl, who turned him from a life of crime and swindling. (In the Glitches version, Jacob even had a bit of a playful con-artist rivalry with Ryder, and both men went legit after meeting their wives).

Now trying to stay off the radar as much as possible, Jacob resisted using his powers. He also avoided the public visibility of protesting at mutant/glitch rallies, deciding instead to silently protest mutant/glitches injustice from his home via online boards and petitions. Jacob also made a point of following the latest mutant/glitches news reports, even with his children Shawn and Willow within earshot, much to Meryl's disapproval due to the violence usually talked about in the reports. The news affected Shawn and Willow differently than Meryl originally expected, and the two would pretend to have battles using the various superpowers they heard about via the news.

Powers: 

Willow has the power of illusion. To be more technical, she has the telepathic ability to make her target's brain believe an illusion so faithfully that it becomes a seemingly physical manifestation. They actually hear what Willow wants them to hear, see what she wants them to see, taste the flavors she mentally puts into their mouths, and smell the scents she coats her illusions with. Most importantly, through a secondary use of her telekinetic powers, she can have her illusions have a “physical” form to those targeted to experience them. She can lift someone off the ground to make them feel like they're flying, falling, or climbing. She can mentally push down on someone to create the feeling of weight. She can also manipulate parts of the brain so the illusions have texture. The target can feel the cool lick of water splashing against their legs, the sharpness of a needle pricking their skin, the softness of satin, the frigid cold of a snow storm, the rough texture of sandpaper, etc. For all intents and purposes, for Willow's target, the illusions are physical manifestations.

When Willow first started using her powers, she could only concentrate on the two main senses of sight and sound. If she wanted to target more than one person, or if she wanted her illusions to affect more senses, she had to shift to the psychic world of the Astral Plane, causing her to fall unconscious as her consciousness transitioned onto the other level of existence. While on the Astral Plane, she could also use her telepathy to read minds and communicate telepathically. After some practice, she was able to learn to condense the psychic energy of the Astral Plane into a weapon (psy-weapon) she could use while on that plane.

Now that Willow is 18, she has much better control of her powers. She can create fully immersive illusions targeting up to 20 people within a quarter-mile radius (402m). She can use her telepathy for communication and reconnaissance for up to 5 people within the same quarter-mile radius. She can also use telekinesis to lift a collective weight of up to 600lbs (~272kg) within a 30ft (9.14m) radius. All of this without having to shift to the Astral Plane. When she does move to the other plane of existence, her powers increase 10-fold.

One of her favorite illusions, which also truly showcases her base personally, is turning herself into her version of the Cheshire Cat. One can usually tell that Willow has a prank or other mischievous plan in mind when she manifests cat ears, a tail, and a cat-like grin.

Image generated via gen8′s Chibi Maker on deviantart.

Power Manifestation: 

As mentioned above, when they were kids, Shawn and Willow would run around their backyard in San Diego, California, and pretend to use superpowers to battle either each other or an imaginary foe. They would pretend they had telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, wings, pyrokinesis, electrokinesis, accelerated healing, energy blasts, etc. One day, when Willow was 11, she became upset that her nearly 13-year-old brother was refusing to play pretend anymore. While nagging him to play with her, she imagined herself throwing fireballs at Shawn. He then actually saw the fireballs aimed at him, as well as the fire damage the dodged balls created. Understandably, he ran, terrified, and screaming for their parents.

Jacob, still trying to stay as far off-radar as possible, avoided sending Willow to a “Mutant Only” school, and instead tried to train her to control herself and her powers. It was tricky, though, since she showcased different powers on any given day, making it hard to know what her abilities actually were. Her imagination also expanded with her powers, and she soon reveled in the thrill of pulling pranks with her ability, usually resulting in terrorizing Shawn. After two years of Willow “playfully” tormenting her brother – as well as some classmates – Jacob finally caved, and sent Willow to the Colossus Academy; a sister location to the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. 

It was at the Academy that a telepath was able to finally figure out Willow's power of illusion and manipulation, and helped start Willow's training. While Willow continued to pull pranks, they weren't nearly as mean spirited as they were towards her brother.

In the Glitches rework, Emily’s school on the east coast is the only place Willow is sent. I’m still reworking the timeframe of everything now that I don’t have those 2 extra years between Willow discovering her powers and going to the school. I do know that Willow is sent to Emily’s school because of Jacob’s connection with her husband Ryder.

Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters:

In X-Future, Willow originally went to the west coast branch of the Xavier Institute: Colossus Academy, appropriately run by Piotr “Colossus” Rasputin. Willow stayed at the Academy from age 13 through 15; grades 8 and 9. While at the Academy, she became best friends with her roommate Noelle “Penumbra” Firada. She also became close with Marjory “Lookout” Allodis, the girl tasked to keep her safe whenever Willow went into the Astral Plane, leaving her lifeless body defenseless. A young boy named Winston “Hedge” Michaels became a bit of an unwanted tag-along. He was only two years younger than Willow, but the introverted and awkward boy with virtually no social skills latched onto her as an unwanted and bothersome younger brother figure.

When Willow was 15 and nearing the conclusion of her second year at the Academy, Colossus and his wife Jubilee were needed for a crucial X-Men-related mission. Neither of them returned home. Delegates from the Xavier Institute were sent to the Colossus Academy so the students could finish their school year, as well as figure out where to go next. Then, once summer hit, the Academy was shut down. A lot of the students were sent to the east coast and the Institute. Once there, Willow originally stuck with her core group of Noelle (Penny), Marjory (Marge), and Winston. Willow's a friendly enough person, outgoing and inviting, so it didn't take long for her to make friends with Devon, Chayse, and Lia, as well as create a playful rivalry with a classmate named William.

For more about these relationships, check out Part 2 of Meet Willow.

Willow's Style: 

Her base style started off a bit punk/rocker/scene, similar to the early 2000's fashion Rogue and Boom-Boom wore in X-Men: Evolution. Over the past 7yrs since I created Willow, her style toned down a little bit. She still wears fairly form-fitting outfits and short skirts, though. Her main color scheme trends towards blue and white, to match her hair.

Willow's a borderline exhibitionist, always teetering on that line between showing off enough to excite onlookers, and leaving JUUUUUST enough to the imagination. She has budding curves, and she's perfectly fine showing them off to everyone. In fact, much like Trish, Willow has an unofficial theme song herself: “I Get Off” by Halestorm

Willow doesn’t really care who you are when she flirts and teases. All she cares about is if she's getting your blood pumping, if you end up desiring her, and if she's riling you up somehow. She's just turned on by someone else getting turned on by her. She's much more modest than she lets on, though, and rarely follows through with any sexual acts. Instead, she uses her powers of illusion to create a copy of herself, and lets the copy continue along with the act, should the other person wish to go along still. She's so used to deceit and manipulation, thanks to her powers and how she uses them, that it's actually hard for her to find full trust in others. As much as she teases that sex is all well-and-good fun, deep down she knows she, personally, would regret participating with her own body unless she fully trusted her partner.

Her desire to get others riled up and turned on even extends to using her illusions to try to draw other couples together. Especially with a bunch of “Will they; won't they”, she has fun having an illusion of one trying to seduce the other, just to see where the snag in their “will they” might be. Plus, she loves watching her classmates blush.

------------------------------

Welp, there’s your broad introduction to Willow. Now to move on to Part 2, where I’ll talk a bit more about her main relationships.

------------------------------

While waiting for Part 2, you can also check out my introductory posts for this over-all Meet My OCs series.

Quick recap this series thus far, in Part 1 I talked about why I wanted to do this series in a bit more depth than I did above, and I talk about the real world inspiration for creating my two main worlds:

Gyateara – a high fantasy world that will, presumably, house many self-contained series that may or may not interconnect beyond all taking place on the same planet

Glitches – a pseudo-cyberpunk future AU of Earth where mutated humans – known as Glitches – must fight for equality, and even survival, while also dealing with the normal dramas of puberty.

In Part 2 of my series, I explained the real-world inspiration for my four main Gyateara OCs:

Amara Yori

Jolene Crisslebalm

Natalie

Connor

Part 3 of this series went a bit long, so it was broken down into its own two-parter. In Part 3a, I talked about the creation of the four main characters of Glitches:

Chayse

Lia

Willow

Trish

For Part 3b of this series, I explained the canonical character origins of my adult Glitches, and how they've been reworked to create my still-evolving adult support characters for Glitches:

Matteo

Emily

Ryder

Keahi

Cody

Iggy

Alright, this long post is becoming more epic, so I'll catch you guys in Meet Willow Part 2 in a few minutes!

[dannyphantomisameme]

Not What I Want

~ Chapter 4 ~

(Click for prologue, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, and fan fiction link)

‘You need me.’

‘No I don’t.’

‘You want me.’

‘No I don’t.’

The devil began to multiply and evolve, growing in number and size to surround Daniel. Their smirks gradually took over their faces, spreading like the Cheshire cat. Their stances unveiled dominance and madness. Behind them roared the intense inferno, red flames blazing to touch the ceiling. ‘You will never escape.’ they said in unison.

Behind the numerous devil’s rested a cage with an indistinct figure inside. Daniel ran through the mob of monsters, pushing them aside to reach the cage. Their eyes continued to follow him, searing into his fragile skin. Instinctively, he recognized the need to save whoever was in there. As he neared the silver restraint, he noticed a ghost with flaming blue hair sitting on the floor, bawling her eyes out. His pace slowed as he reached the cage.

Ember. Was it really her? Was she back?!

She suddenly stopped crying and her head pivoted to face him. ‘YOU DIDN’T SAVE ME…’ she shrieked as she began to ooze into a pile of ectoplasm. The noise pierced his ears and he fell to the ground, clutching his ears to stop the noise.

‘THIS ISN’T WHAT I WANTED!’ Daniel shouted just as the largest of the devil’s monstrous hand lept for him. Daniel squirmed to be set free, but he was stuck within the palm of the demon. The devil’s all began shrieking, their laughter ringing through his head and tearing the little sanity he had left.

‘You will never get what you want.’ The largest devil’s voice echoed. The fire thundered to match his words. ‘You’re my little pawn. You do what I want. Understood?’ The laughter picked up again and rumbled throughout the inferno.

‘Stop. Please. STOP!’ Daniel shrieked as blood poured out of his ear and dripped down his face. He couldn’t hold consciousness anymore.

Daniel gasped and sat up suddenly, only to bump his head on the table above him. It was cramped in the vehicle with all the pieces of furniture, but there was enough space for a half-ghost teenager to fit in. The events of yesterday hit him like a train, prompting him to lie back down and sigh. He rubbed his head as a migraine began to form. So he really was free. Away from the devil. Closing his eyes, he continued to doze off.

With his heightened hearing he heard a screech and noticed that the vehicle had stopped moving. Realizing he needed to take off before anyone noticed him, he went invisible and flew through the wall. Just as he exited, the back doors opened and two men began unloading the furniture.

He flew off into the sky, not understanding where he was. The van had stopped in a suburban neighborhood. According to the sky, it was late morning. He flew out of the neighborhood area into the parking lot of a strip mall. Becoming visible again, he landed on the floor and rounded the corner. His back contacted the stone wall as he slid down into a sitting position. He placed his pounding head into his hands.

Now what?

He couldn’t evade his father forever, right? At some point his money would run out and he wouldn’t be able to provide for himself. He needed some way to fit in and save money.

Lifting his head he noticed his hands covered in soot. I need a shower. A warm shower. He needed to change his clothes too, before someone noticed a ash-coated teen with a tattered attire walking around. He got up, went invisible, and sprung into the air. He ground was covered with a thick blanket of snow, making it harder to spot what he was searching for.

After soaring through the frigid atmosphere, he discovered a forest filled with pine trees. He knew he could find what he was looking for within the thicket of timber, but overlooking the woods he couldn’t see under the large evergreens. Plunging to the ground, he landed swiftly on his feet in front of the forest. He trekked on foot, searching and searching. The forest seemed deserted, except for the little wildlife not hibernating.

Finally noticing a glimmer from a distance, he raced towards it. Upon closer inspection, he came across a frozen pond.

It’s not ideal, but I’ve been through worse.

Blasting a hole onto the pond, he shattered the layer of ice that sat upon it. He didn’t notice any fish in the pool of water unfortunately. He lightly tested the water with his fingers, a cold sensation running up his spine. He manifested ecto energy on his palms and placed it down onto the pond. Soon he saw the water begin to smoke, fog rising into the air. He removed his hands and checked the water temperature again.

Perfect.

Removing his clothes and tossing them aside, he stepped into the water. The liquid rose up to his armpits when he sat down. His muscles softened as he relaxed into the warm sensation. He had created his own hot tub.

Ha, beat that, father.

He scrubbed himself clean of the ash. Once he was finished, the water had returned to its original temperature. He got out and fished for a new pair of clothes in his backpack. Realizing he had only packed one outfit, he was careful to not get it dirty. Slipping his collared shirt, boxers, blazer, and pants on, he tied his shoes and stood up. He grabbed his backpack and took out a packet of Chex Mix.

He ate as he considered what his next objective was. He couldn’t leave behind any evidence, so he decided to burn his clothes and trash. Throwing everything into a pile along with a few pieces of kindling, he sent three ecto-blasts towards it. The clothes immediately lit up, blazing red and orange. Although there would still be some indication that someone was here from the now black stained snow and smoke, it would wear away after some time.

He was proud of himself for surviving this long away from his father. Although his entire life he desired to be away from him, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. He had stabbed his father, threw him into a wall, and set ablaze his only ‘safe haven’. That wasn’t exactly the best goodbye he could have given his old man. But no matter, he was quite a distance away from the devil and had no intention of returning back to hell.

Daniel decided to trek through the forest instead of flying since he had all the time in the world. He also settled to return to the strip mall and find a way from there. Walking through the forest felt like bliss, the cold radiated through his jacket, but it was better than the devoid sensation of the stone halls back home. He hadn’t the slightest idea from which way he came, but luckily his footprints still showed through the snow, so he followed them.

He began humming a song as he strolled, but he couldn’t recall the name of the song or where he heard it from. But then he realized. He stopped in his tracks, glaring straight ahead subconsciously.

Ember’s song.

It was the last song he heard her sing. Shaking it off and continuing his journey, he remembered the last visit he paid her.

‘Hey Ember’ Daniel said sheepishly, grinning as he entered into the living room.

‘Hey Babypop!’ she squealed as she hugged him tightly. A light green blush tinted his cheeks, but they vanished just before she noticed. She stretched out her arms to look him in the face. ‘You’re just in time to see to hear my newest song,’ she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him further into the room. ‘come on!’

He smiled as she yanked him through the living room, past the kitchen, and into her bedroom. Her guitar rested on her black comforter detailed with skulls. They both hopped onto the bed, giggling as she picked up her guitar and pic.

‘Just a sneak peek alright? I still want to keep you waiting for the entire performance. You are coming right? Remember the tickets I gave you?’ her mouth moved a mile a minute. She was so passionate when it came to music.

‘Y-yeah. I’m coming.’ he said as he rubbed his neck nervously. No way would his father ever approve of him going to a concert in the ghost zone. But he couldn’t tell Ember that. And it wasn’t like he would be seen in the crowd of thousands of ghosts anyways.

‘Great! Now here’s a little something I like to call Remember’ she exclaimed. Ember began to strum her guitar singing the chorus of her future hallmark song. ‘Ember, you will remember. Ember, one thing remains. Ooh Ember, so warm and tender! You will remember my name.’ With a final strum of her guitar, he clapped for her.

‘That’s amazing.’ he replied beaming. ‘Your fans are going to live again with that hit.’ her vocal range was quite impressive. And with her song, she was going to have so many swooning over her. They surely were going to remember Ember Mclain.

Just like him.

But he would remember for the wrong reasons.

He returned to consciousness, blinking away the surreality. His smile from earlier faltered as he tripped over a log, catching his balance before tumbling into the snow. He was living a life of luxury while Ember was who knows where. And it was all his fault. Maybe if he had disobeyed his father he could have saved her. He knew he should of swung the hammer at his father’s demonic glare instead of Ember’s core. But now it was too late.

He finally reached the end of the trail of his footprints. Going invisible, he vaulted into the air, continuing the rest of his path in the air. He couldn’t remember where he came from, so he resolved to go to the nearest store. Within a mile of flying, he spotted a link of stores. He headed for the shopping center, descending to the ground. Once he contacted the floor, he turned visible and whirled to walk to the front of the store.

Now what?

He didn’t want to buy anything, but he also didn’t want to do absolutely nothing, so he entered the store. Inside, he realized it was a grocery store. Produce lined the right side of the large space. Next to it were refrigerators stocked with dairy products. On the left were shelfs equipped with non-perishables and other food items. Maybe he could buy something for dinner.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” a voice out of nowhere said. Daniel turned to see a woman with blonde hair tied into a messy bun. The cashier. She stuck her finger out at him with a lazy expression on her face. She couldn’t be older than 25.

“I -uh.” before entirely responding, he dashed out of through the automatic doors and into the parking lot. He heard a muffled cry behind him, but he didn’t bother to listen. He continued to run into the streets, using the sidewalk as a guide. Once he was a safe distance away, he swiveled to hide behind a bare oak tree. His hands were on his knees as he panted softly. Droplets of sweat descended down his forehead. Even in winter he could find a way to sweat. So maybe he used a bit of his supernatural strength to race out of there, so what? Hopefully the cashier didn’t notice.

But she did have a point. A teenager roaming the streets wasn’t the ideal situation. Since he wasn’t 18 yet, he was sure to be called either homeless or a runaway. He didn’t need the police involved. If they found him, he would receive a one-way ticket back to his father. And back to hell.

Deciding to research some more, he resolved to find a library and use a computer. Although, he didn’t know where to find a library. Entering back into the open and walking along the sidewalk, he noticed someone walking towards him. He waved frantically, hoping to grasp their attention.

As the figure came closer, he was able to make out a man wearing athletic wear. The man noticed him and removed some white bulbs from his ears that were connected to his phone by wires. Were those earbuds he had heard of once?

“What’s up kiddo?” The man’s said in a friendly tone. It felt strange to hear an actual human voice that contrasted his father’s greatly.

“Uh- do you know where I could find a library?” Daniel asked softly. Hopefully the man wouldn’t answer his question with more questions.

“Yea, your in luck. It’s only a 20 minute walk from here. Take a right on McBerry street, then continue until you hit an intersection. Turn left on Winona street and then from there you should be able to see a large building on your left. That’s the library.” the man said as he gestured the directions.

“Thanks!” Daniel replied quickly, not waiting for the man to reply back. He took off, following the mans guidance. He continued walking till he noticed a pole with a green sign displaying the words ‘McBerry Street’. He took a right and progressed forward for another 15 minutes. He passed by more homes that looked almost identical in shape, other than their different colors. Most of the homes looked vacant with their dark windows. Daniel guessed that the residents were off working or studying at school. The chain of trees situated in the front yards were all stricken of their leaves, bare to the twig. The sidewalk was somewhat slippery with chunks of ice forming a rocky sheet, but he was able to keep his balance majority of the time. Nearing Winona street, he turned left and noticed a building in the distance. He headed in the direction of the building presumed to be the library.

Nearing the library, he noticed a sign outside the building. Johnsville Library. So he was on the correct path. Opening the door, he felt a wave of warmth hit him. The air conditioner blew his hair away from his right eye, but he returned the strands back to its previous position. Entering the library, he was reminded of the one back home, however this one was more vibrant with its posters and modern looking furniture. Shelves stacked with books filled the area. In the center, sat a table peppered with computers ready to be used. Few people actually were inside the building, most of them sitting on the couches in the far corner reading a book.

He took a seat at one of the computers farthest away from the checkout. The desktop was already opened to google. In his lifetime, he had used a computer several times. His father occasionally graced him with the opportunity to search the internet for a maximum of two hours. Typically three times a month. He always said yes and learned more about the world around him. His research was the only reason he was still surviving, otherwise he would have been like a newborn child entering the world for the first time.

He first searched for his current location.

Amity Park, Minnesota.

What? He went north? It made some sense considering there was more snow here than his father’s mansion back in Colorado. He then searched for the distance between the two states.

992 miles. 16 hours and 27 minutes.

Was I asleep in the van for 16 hours? He hadn’t slept that long since he was an infant. The rest was helpful though, as he recalled being quite energized after being startled awake. But there was still no way his father could find him here. Out of all the places he could be, Minnesota was one of the most unlikely. It would have been better to get out of the country, but then he would have to waste some of his money on a plane ticket. Unless he flew, but flying over the ocean would be next to impossible. Although he could hitch a plane ride by sitting in the cargo… he set that as plan B. He still had some things in mind he wanted to accomplish.

Daniel proceeded to research about Amity Park. He found some interesting information. Amity Park was among the smallest of cities in the midwest state of Minnesota. So small, that they only had one high school, Casper high. That was good news. He could stay here for the time being till he found a better way to provide for himself. And what better way to amuse himself than going to school?

To be able to interact with other humans his age would be a life-altering experience. He didn’t care if he had to work through it, anything was better than roaming the frigid streets of the petite town. He googled Casper high, coming upon a website with a raven as its mascot. Toying around the site, he found a link to application forms.

Score!

He entered his information, changing some of the details.

Full name: Daniel James Masters. Being accustomed to his name, he knew he wouldn’t reply to any fake name he could provide. But he never had a middle or last name. James was a name he had seen on one the portraits in the hall. His father’s last name was Masters, so it seemed the most reasonable. He kept it the same since he anticipated his father would be looking for a Daniel with a different last name, not something so obvious as his father’s last name.

Gender: male.

Date of Birth: February 15th, 2001. Originally his birthday was April 3rd, 2001, but he needed to switch it up.

Age: 17 years. He couldn’t fake his age even if he tried.

Origin: USA. He kept his home simple, although he knew people would ask where he came from. He would have to think of something by then.

Reason for Application: Previously homeschooled, looking to join a school.

He filled in a couple of other questions, answering them to the best of his ability. At the bottom of the document, it requested him to make an appointment and notify the school when he wanted to join. He decided to see the school tomorrow, and join immediately the next day. Once he finished, he pressed the enter key on the computer and smiled.

He was going to high school.

[t0bi0l0gy]

ML Fluff Month Day 3: Summer Love

ML Fluff Month Day 3: Summer Love

Ship: Adrienette/Ladynoir?

AU: anon!/nonsuper!

Words: 1889

Rating: G

Summary: Love in the age of the internet? More likely than you’d think.

A/N: This was kinda rushed so I apologize in advance but I was really busy today and didn’t have a lot of time to write because of work! (hope you enjoy anyway!) { @miraculousfluffmonth }

Day 2 ~ ao3

ChatInTheNight is online.

Marinette smiled, as she pushed aside the dress she had been working on, and opened up the private chatroom she shared with her online ‘friend’. She really wasn’t sure what she considered him. They talk all the time, but she has no idea who he is or what he looks like. For all she knows, he could be catfishing her. But she trusts him, oddly he seems trustworthy. They’ve skyped before, but they had created an odd rule to stay anonymous.

Chat: Good evening, milady. Sorry I’m late for our date ;)

Marinette rolled her eyes, before typing back a witty response. The good thing about talking over the internet is you have a chance to think about what you want to say, before you say it. If only she had that luxury with Adrien.

LadyLvck: In your dreams, kitty cat. This bug has standards.

Chat: Meowch. For all you know, I could be a hot model with rock hard abs.

Adrien chuckled, as he held his laptop on his lap. Talking to Ladybug was one of his favorite pastimes. It didn’t take long for him to fall in love with her, but she constantly talks about this boy who is not him. She really cares for him. Adrien gets a little jealous as he thinks about the boy who has her heart, but he brushes it off as he waits for her reply.

LadyLvck: Pics or it didn’t happen ;)

Adrien wasted no time responding.

Chat: If I did, you wouldn’t be able to resist me. But if you insist...

LadyLvck: HA. You’re bluffing. I knew it.

Adrien decided to play along, even though he really was a hot model with rock hard abs. It was best if Ladybug thought he was hoking, because Adrien didn’t want to come off as that self-involved.

 Chat: All right you caught me. I’m even hotter.

LadyLvck: Yeah and I can fly. Nice try, Chaton.

Chat: I thought Ladybugs could fly?

��After that, Ladybug stopped responding for a while. It happens sometimes, she has a life to get to. Sometimes it’s dinner with her family, or her best friend arrives unexpectedly, or last minute babysitting. But she always comes back eventually. So Adrien just put his laptop off to the side, and rolled out of bed. Despite his incredible room, Adrien had trouble finding anything to do to pass the time. He wished he could spend his Friday evening out with his friends, but his father refuses to even let him set foot outside unless it involved school, fencing, or modeling. He hates being locked up in his house all weekend, but it’s not all bad. It gives him a chance to talk to Ladybug. When she’s around at least. Adrien had proceeded to staring up at the ceiling when his laptop beeped, signalling a message from Ladybug. He reached behind him, turning the laptop to face him, and he read it slowly.

LadyLvck: Hey, I really need to get out of my house. Are you free tonight?

Adrien couldn’t believe what he was reading. Would he... really meet Ladybug. Then maybe would be a good time to confess his feelings for her.

Chat: Is something wrong, milady?

Marinette had tears streaming down her face, so she couldn’t read the screen very clearly. She managed to type out an ‘I’m alright. Just bored :)’ to satisfy Chat, but in reality she was sick of the secrets. She needs to know who he is.

Chat: As it turns out, I am totally free tonight. Purrrrfect for you.

LadyLvck: I guess my luck prevails today. If we were to meet at the park by my school, how would we find each other?

Marinette knew what he was going to say before the typing bubble even appeared on her computer screen.

Chat: Wear my sweatshirt I sent you. I’ll be able to sniff you out, bugaboo.

LadyLvck: What about you? Not that I don’t trust you or anything...

Chat: Trust me, bugaboo. I’ll know when I see you. Because you’ll be the prettiest person in the park. ;)

By now, the sadness and hoplessness she had felt only moments ago, and was replaced with a blush and a smile. Chat was the only one who seemed to notice her. To most everyone else, she was invisible. Except for Chloe. Chloe had come into the bakery, and her snarky comments finally pushed Marinette to her breaking point. But Chat and his flirting helped her to feel better about herself.

LadyLvck: Can’t wait to meet you again Chat Noir.

Chat logged out first, and she followed not long afterwards. Standing up, she moved to her closet, pulling Chat’s sweatshirt from the floor, and pulling it over her head. It was a little baggy, but surprisingly, it fit her well. It was just a black hoodie, with cat ears on the hood, and a green paw print on the pocket. Marinette pulled the hood up, and slipped out of her house. She avoided the bakery, mainly to avoid her parents, and started off towards the park.

Adrien couldn’t decide what to wear. His first meeting with Ladybug. He wanted to look his absolute best, but also look recognizable. She needed to be able to recognize him. So he pulled a red blazer with black accents from under his bed, and he grinned like a cat. It was perfect. Slipping the jacket on, he opened his bedroom and slipped out, unnoticed. His first time sneaking out of his house. It was exhilarating, honestly. He hurried along the busy Paris streets, towards the park next to their school. Ladybug didn’t know this, but he had found out one day that they go to the same school. As Adrien walked, he tried to figure out his Lady could be.

Alix, Rose, Mylene, Chloe

... Adrien cringed at the last one, and continued down the line.

Juleka, Alya, Sabrina, Marinette.

His mind lingered on Marinette a little longer than he liked to admit, but he pushed the thoughts out of his head, because it couldn’t be her. Adrien had never known the girl to be sarcastic or teasing. Marinette was too kind to be that way.

The park was growing closer, and Adrien’s pace quickened with anticipation of finally meeting Ladybug, the girl who he can’t seem to ever stop thinking about. He noticed the girl wearing his hoodie almost instantly, and his heart rate went crazy, and he knew his cheeks must be bright pink. From where Adrien stood, he couldn’t see the girl’s face, and she was scribbling furiously in a notebook. Adrien broke out of his trance and moved towards the girl. The girl looked up suddenly, and locked eyes with Adrien, who exploded in a deep blush. Ladybug is Marinette. She has been the whole time.

God, I feel like such an idiot

Adrien thought to himself, as he brought up one hand to wave at her. Marinette just smiled shyly, closing her notebook quickly.

“Hey, Adrien,” She paused, a tense giggle leaving her lips. “What are you doing here? Well, I’m not saying you can’t be here because you can, and I am really happy you’re here! But it’s not like you came here for me, no of course not. I just...” Marinette silenced herself, groaning before looking up at Adrien, who was just smiling weirdly at her.

“I’m here to see you.” Adrien managed to choke out, and Marinette gasped and blushed darkly, turning her head away from him to hide her blush.

“You WHAT?! I mean... sorry.” Adrien knew this was probably the most awkward conversation he has ever had and probably will ever have, but he doesn’t care. His head is in the clouds, he feels like he’s flying.

Marinette is Ladybug

.

And she’s sitting RIGHT THERE. And she is wearing my hoodie.

Adrien could die happy. But he knew that he couldn’t tell her he was Chat, Not yet at least.

“Well, I saw you sitting there alone and thought you could use some company.” Adrien couldn’t help the suave tone his voice took on as he spoke. He had a strange urge to impress Marinette now. Even more so than before. Marinette looked around, and Adrien knew she was looking for him. Well Chat Noir.

“I- I’m actually waiting for someone. A-A friend.” Adrien smirked, and bumped her shoulder with his own.

“Does Marinette have a date?” Adrien was hoping for a positive reaction. He needed to know if she truly felt the same way. Marinette giggled, a faraway look in her eyes. Then she giggled again, but the affectionate smile that crossed her face gave Adrien all the answers he needed.

“No...” She brushed him off, another giggle escaping her lips. “I mean, maybe? It’s complicated.”

“How so?” Adrien slid into the spot next to her on the bench, and she pulled the hood over her face, which Adrien guessed to cover another blush.

“Well, for one, I have never met him in person,” Marinette paused, as if she were waiting for a response from Adrien, but he willed himself to stay silent. “But also, I’ve never met anyone, besides maybe my parents, who cares so unselfishly for me. Like I complained that my room was cold and he literally

sent me this sweatshirt

. In the mail.” She turned to meet Adrien’s gaze. Marinette has had a crush on Adrien for years now, and everytime she would look at him, her brain would malfunction. Now, that awkwardness had faded. She still loved Adrien, but the way she felt about Chat was completely different.

“He must really love you.” Marinette coughed, and turned to narrow her eyes at Adrien, who was just smiling warmly at her.

“W-Why do you think that? We’ve never even met?”

“Does that matter?” Adrien knew this whole situation was very ironic, but he was enjoying every second spent with Marinette. With school approaching soon, he wanted to spend the year with Marinette by his side. If she would let him. Marinette opened her mouth to respond, but just closed it again when she caught Adrien staring at her.

“Well, if he were here, I would consider this a date. But I’ve been waiting for almost a half hour and he hasn’t shown, so I think I got stood up.” Adrien hated the way her voice cracked with insecurity. Whatever had happened today had really hurt her self-esteem. And Adrien planned to fix it.

“Marinette.” Adrien pulled the hood away from her face, revealing her tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes. She sniffled, before looking up at him. She tried to smile, to show him that she was ok, but she clearly wasn’t.

Chloe had shown up at the bakery and decided to treat her like a servant, only to not buy anything. Normally, Marinette can easily put up with Chloe, but her day has been pretty unlucky, which is why she needed Chat to cheer her up. In person. But the one time she needs him the most, he doesn’t come. Was it all just a lie?

“Marinette, who do you think you’ve been sitting with this whole time?”

“Uh... You? Adrien Agreste.” Marinette clearly didn’t understand the question. So Adrien just leaned in and kissed her forehead gently.

“Nice to finally meet you, milady.”

[jungnoir]

college boyfriend!joshua

a/n: special thanks to @choco-seventeen for giving me the idea of barista!josh which ended up being the best idea ever,,, get rdy to die yall

here it is, our long awaited gentleman of seventeen!! requested by this darling~

i’ve never written anything for josh (which is appalling) and seeing as he’s now,,, like a bias,, i mean i kinda have to don’t i

i’m going to pretend that a straight week of searching for joshua scenarios did not help encourage this

so, lovely josh has always had a love for animation

ever since he was a baby, he’s always found a joy in watching cartoons, so his parents always put on some colorful children’s movie for him whenever he got fussy, or when he’d wake in the middle of the night from a terrifying dream and he’d need some calming down

this kind of comfort of seeing characters of all colors, shapes and sizes gave joshua an abundant imagination as a child. he always found he liked the fantastical feeling of animation that live action didn’t really provide him

anything could happen in animation, and anyone could be anything and look anyway that they liked, which was part of the appeal for him

as he got older, he was exposed to anime (lol) and he found that he enjoyed the more mature animation just as much as the kind marketed for children

and he didn’t discriminate either! he could watch anything from tokyo ghoul and death note to your lie in april and haikyuu!! 

but his favorite kind of animation lied in the love of studio ghibli films

something about the wonder of each film enthralled joshua so much as a teen, bringing him the nostalgia of his childhood that he loved so much

to all of his friends in high school, they had always expected joshua to get a stable, lackluster office job and stay in california with his family, which, originally, was the plan

but the films had inspired him to take a leap, so after applying to a few universities in seoul and getting accepted to the good majority, josh finished up two years of college in california before packing up everything he had and all the money he’d saved from odd jobs through his high school/college career and booked a flight straight to seoul, south korea

he obviously wasn’t flying completely blind, as he did have a friend living there already by the name of vernon

long story short on how the two met, bonding over xbox live can lead to long-lasting friendships ok

after a few years of friendship, countless nights of Skype calls and planning to meet one day, joshua had taken the first step and vernon’s family were more than happy to let joshua stay with them until he could get onto his own two feet (not that there’s any rush!! vernon totally doesn’t mind having an older brother around)

joshua was no stranger to korea either, having been taught korean since a young age by his parents, so he was pretty much set to start his new life in korea, even if his parents were pretty sad to see him go so far and so soon

they knew joshua had been a good kid his whole life, and he was making sure every connection and plan he had for his new life was laid out just right so he wouldn’t make things hard on himself and his family, and that was all they could really ask of him

for the summer before school started in korea, vernon takes to making sure joshua is settled in and at least semi-good at making his way around seoul without a problem

there was that one time,,, where he did get lost for like five hours and showed up back at the chwe house with an assortment of baked goods and sweets and exclaiming that “this stuff is so much better than the stuff in california!!”

vernon: you realize that we all thought you were dead right

josh: *blink blink* hm? :)))

but i mean before vernon knows it, joshua is freakishly adapted to life there and he’s suddenly like a local, making friends with literally everyone he meets because everyone is so fascinated by the american boy!! yet it’s funny cause the way josh saw it, vernon was v similar to him in a lot of ways, so he was a lil overwhelmed to find all of vernon’s friends were like !!! a foreigner !!! tell us everything

and sure, vernon hadn’t been to america since he was about five except to visit family, but they were all sooooo excited to hear about things from joshua’s perspective compared to the younger boy’s

so josh obliged, always talking about his experiences overseas and the other kids would be like :o or :D because!!! to josh that was all just boring everyday stuff to him but to them this was all so cool and interesting, and the way they felt about america was the same way josh felt about korea tbh

after a year in college in seoul, joshua was well settled down at the school

since he’s like,,, one of the best english speakers in school (save for a handful of other students who were bilingual their whole lives, foreigners, or just really good at the subject asjdijisa) he’s always willing to help his friends out with english class projects and he coaches them by speaking to them in english at random intervals

like they’ll be having a completely korean conversation and then all of a sudden josh is like “explain the plot to howl’s moving castle in english” and they’re like o shit here we go

but it’s really helpful??? they all get amazing grades bc of his pop quizes

all hail english professor hong jisoo

but, ok, everyone is so confused because that’s….. not what he goes to college for

like he’s verbalized that he loves learning and that being an english teacher in korea would be great for him bc he loves to show people the joy of learning! but animation was his first love

he’s v passionate about it, and he’s made several short films where the characters were stylized after his friends and their experiences (with their permission of course)

he actually did one on jun’s story of coming to korea for the first time as a chinese transfer student and entered it in a small film contest and won!! and jun was so happy that he cried ok

joshua was on skype with jun to jun’s family back in china and they were all gushing about the film after josh emailed it to them

basically if joshua ever needs to flee to another country, jun’s home is open jun’s mom said joshua has privilege of jun’s room before jun does

despite being really good at animating though, joshua is actually kinda shy about showing his work. he’s even shy showing it to his friends with the exception of vernon and jeonghan, the latter of which passive-aggressively convinced joshua to do it and is now joshua’s biggest hype man

“jisooooo. jun got a movie and I didn’t??” “…what would a movie about you even be about? you don’t do anything but sleep” “it could have been about how much you love me!!”

to placate him joshua showed all the lil drawings of chibi!jeonghan joshua had done over the year and jeonghan wouldn’t stop smiling and hugging josh all day jfc

jk jk tho jeonghan is super supportive and whenever people ask him (or don’t. they usually don’t ask but whom the fuk cares jeonghan says) about joshua, jeonghan just guuuushes about the boy and all of his great art and shows them joshua’s v tentative instagram page of his art. there’s only a few pics of outlines and some small clips of films he puts together, but jeonghan will gas his boy up so bad you’d think joshua already had an oscar

on the side, joshua has a job at the campus coffee shop

and like,, idk if you understand just how much of an accumulator of revenue that boy’s face is??

joshua is pretty humble so whenever his friends tease him and say that most of the customers that come to the coffee shop are there for his face, he downright refuses

but i mean,,, it’s true,, the majority of customers come during joshua’s shifts

and if josh isn’t working, it’s like a funeral home

it gets so bad the school is like “do u wanna like work here forever bc we’re totally down with that”

josh is like “lol no”

but he’s really good at his job and not many ppl notice that!! some jealous dudes think the only reason ppl even buy coffee from the shop is bc josh is serving it and they’re deluding themselves into drinking it, but josh is actually an amazing barista

u kinda get creative with coffee when you’re living off of it to graduate ajsiodha

he’s also king of latte art don’t fight me on this

he was playing around in the back one day on his break when he got an idea to make some art in a latte, bc he was at a creative loss with his art on paper, and he just made this v simple couple of hearts here and there, and then suddenly he was making all kinds of designs that ppl loved

his favorite is a little cat design that is so friggin cute ok. everyone loves it

everyone except you,,, who had no idea this was even a thing

between classes on certain days, you have about two hours of free time to yourself, so you like to escape to your favorite coffee place to study and relax

you usually didn’t like to go during this certain time in the day bc the shop was always bustling with customers and you really rather preferred to be in a smaller crowd. so basically, you’ve never seen joshua

you haven’t even heard of him bc you’ve always been pretty in your head when it comes to your studying time

u basically zone out the minute you can smell the coffee beans

but a friend of yours held you up in your last class, so your two hour break diminished to fifteen minutes, and you still hadn’t had your coffee

you practically bolt toward the coffee shop, but your eyes bug out of your head when you notice that for once, there’s a huge crowd of students there, something that never happens when you’re there

so like, groaning internally, you force yourself into line before anyone else can get in front of you and delay you even further

but like… the line is moving at snail’s pace

you can barely see up front, all you know is that someone is taking their sweet time making coffees

in fact, 70% of your time is swallowed up just waiting for the line to move up

you’re jittery, knowing class starts soon and you already don’t have that much time to book it to your next class at this rate, but you have to have your coffee

finally,,, you reach the front….. and….

“hi there! what can I get you this lovely afternoon?”

in the words of jeonghan again, whom the fuk-

“u-hhuhhhuuu hhh ????” 

windows has shut down unexpectedly

this beautiful specimen of a man is smiling down at you without a worry in the world, blinking softly with the longest, prettiest eyelashes you’ve ever seen on a guy

his hair is short and well kept, roots dark and colored with highlights of chestnut throughout

he’s in the uniform but that’s really only black slacks and a half apron; he’s wearing a really nice baby blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and his collarbones are just slightly exposed with only two buttons undone at the collar- !!

“do you need a minute?” he asks, looking concerned at your vacant expression

that seems to snap you out of it (or maybe the frustrated swears from behind you do), and you sheepishly apologize, spitting out the first thing that comes to mind, which is definitely not your usual order, “small latte, please”

his eyes light up when you answer, “would you like the art too?”

you furrow your brows and he stares at you for a good moment before he realizes,, wow u really don’t know about his latte art? that’s literally all ppl come here during his shift for

but he does notice he’s never actually seen you during his shifts before

hmm. interesting

“i… i do latte art. it’s kind of… sort of a thing? i don’t know, um, would you like me to make you something in particular?” he says, suddenly a little flustered

you know. you know deep in your heart that you have zero time to spare and that you really shouldn’t be late for this class… but also,,, why the heck not

“surprise me!” you say softly, letting out a breath you didn’t know you were holding

joshua perks up and he nods (probably harder than he should have) and quickly puts in your order for your latte 

you quickly scoot to the side and another boy takes over in his place as he turns to make your coffee, and you can’t help but watch his calm, gentle hands as he prepares it

there’s no rush in him, no sloppiness detected, and you can tell he takes pride in his craft

he pours the steamed milk with no difficulty, pouring it with such smooth precision that it hypnotizes you, even as he’s half turned from you and you can barely see what he makes

it’s only when he’s done and handing over your coffee with a smile that you realize,, you’re holding a mug

you forgot to ask for a to-go cup!

but like,,, if you put it in a to-go cup now, it’ll ruin his art

yet, you’re so late for class already……..

he looks at you with even more concern when he just catches you staring at the small tulip etched into the surface of the coffee, and he’s about to ask if you’re alright when you suddenly smile at him and say “you’re beautiful”

in ur mind, you’ve just told him the art he made in your coffee was beautiful

it takes u like,, eight seconds to register that is not what you said AT ALL

but by the time you realize your mistake and wordlessly try to motion to the cup he’s already laughing gently behind his hand, eyes locked on yours, and when he’s done he says “i’m sorry, i’m not making fun of you… you’re just… very sweet. i hope you enjoy the coffee”

part of u still wants to correct yourself, maybe save some of your pride, but instead, you simply sigh and accept his compliment that low (high) key makes your heart beat a little faster, and you quickly whisper a “thanks again!!” before skedaddling

and josh just watches with a soft smile, and can’t seem to get the strange new customer out of his head even after his shift

he doesn’t even mention that you’ve stolen the mug when his co-worker asks about it in bewildered confusion

“just say I broke it” he tells him, and goes back to work like nothing happened

the next day, you come in much earlier and find that the shop is void of a crowd, much to your relief and quieter dismay

holding in your hands the mug that you had washed and stared at in disbelieving horror the whole night in your dorm, you walk up to the counter and hold out the mug to the cashier, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion when you start to ashamedly explain exactly how you had snuck out one of the mugs

but before you can even get anything out, josh suddenly appears from the back, tying his apron just as he spots you and he goes “oh!! hey, mug stealer”

your face flashes in mortification

“i swear it was an accident-” “don’t worry, no hard feelings. I already covered for you so I mean, it’s practically yours anyway. you didn’t have to bring it back”

but you still hold it out, sighing “it made me feel bad, ok? i can’t look at this shame cup anymore”

joshua snorts bc

shame cup

ur too fucking cute for him

“ok, well, let’s make it not so shameful” he says, carefully taking the mug from you and going over to the coffee machine “latte, right? same as usual?” he throw over his shoulder

the girl at the cashier actually knows you, has served you for the last few years, so she shakes her head and tells him that’s not your usual, which makes him a little surprised and he apologizes, saying that he’s since switched around shifts with someone else so he’s still adjusting, so he’s about to ask you what you usually get when you blurt “latte’s fine!” 

and ok, yeh, you’re not getting a latte for him of course

obviously

he just smiles that beautiful smile and gets to work, and the cashier gives you a small, very indiscreet wink much to your chagrin

you shuffle to the side and watch joshua work again, smiling as he gets ready to pour the milk, when he asks what kind of art you’d like

“can I have… wait, what are you good at?” “hm, well, my favorite is a kitty” “kitty it is!”

he quietly makes your kitty, lip tucked between his teeth and you can tell he’s working hard 

he sets the cup before you (this time in a foam cup, just in case you have to run and didn’t remember to tell him again), and watches with pride as you beam at the art, your eyes shining

before you even think about it, you’re whipping out your phone and snapping a photo of it for instagram, before you realize you don’t simply want to credit “random handsome campus barista” for something as beautiful as that

“what’s your name?” you ask, and joshua tells you, and you quickly type down his name in the caption before tapping the photo to add a tag “do you have a instagram?”

and though he rarely ever uses it unless jeonghan prompts him to, joshua spells out his username for you and you tag him successfully, posting the photo just as joshua’s back pocket vibrates with a notification

“thank you so much, joshua. you’re really good at this you know” 

and josh hears it from everyone a lot. all of his customers and co-workers compliment him often so it’s not like he’s unaware of his talent

but there’s just something about the fact that you complimented him that makes him blush, but he just bows a little at you and thanks you softly as you depart to find a table to start studying

of which,,, u do not do lol

even tho it’s barely 10 posts, you spend quite a while looking through joshua’s instagram

they’re mainly shots of his art, of which you soon find out that his major is animation and film development

the captions are v minimalist, but in the comments to his friends and others who’d found his insta, he’s cutely gushing with lots of exclamation marks and the like about how his work is coming along, having casual convos about the others and how their lives are going, and responding to compliments with v heartfelt thanks

because he doesn’t post much, you check the posts he’s tagged in and see a bunch of candid, secret pics of him from all kinds of funny angles, most from students and some parody ones from his friends

by the time you decide to check how much time you have left until your next class, you find you’ve got about a half hour to cram whatever you were going to study within two hours into half of one and get to your lecture on time

so as fast as your legs will allow, you quickly hit follow on his instagram and stuff everything you have back into your bag before sprinting out, missing joshua’s small goodbye and wave in your haste

he smiles anyway, and later when he gets off his shift, he checks his notifications and finds he has a new follower… you

he totally misses everything his professor says looking through your instagram for a good hour and a half

so it goes on like this for a while, you getting your coffee from josh now that half his adoring fans are usually in class when you go to see him, and the two of you casually chatting about this and that

he talks about his major, you talk about yours, and a pure friendship forms

with josh, you really feel like you can talk to him about anything and he understands

he speaks slow, soft, uses pretty words but they’re never overrated. he talks to you with the utmost respect and attention, 100% focused on you whenever you’re around. you’re honestly surprised no one has snatched him yet, what with how much of a catch he is

and like,, you know that anyone would kill to date him because not only is he talented and beautiful and a certified dorkozoid, he’s considerate, kind, feminine…. he almost feels untouched by this world and everything in it

maybe that’s why, you usually think. he’s a catch. anyone would be lucky to have him and you’re having regular chats over coffee and you can tell ppl are jealous

but he just feels too good for you. for anyone

you can’t think of one person on campus that would be good for him. not necessarily that there isn’t anyone… it’s just… who?

as months pass and winter gets colder, you find yourself feeling the effects of being single ten times more

so your friends are like!! are you still head over heels for that barista?? let’s set you up on a blind date to get your mind off it!!!

you’re only like 60% against it

because honestly, even though you’d do anything to work up the courage to date joshua, you wouldn’t mind getting a little dolled up for someone and having fun on a date

so your friends set you up with some guy who’d meet you at this italian place in the city on friday, and you anticipate the day, even telling josh about it when he has time to listen

“ahh… heh, a blind date? you must be super excited” 

instantly you can tell something is off with the way josh talks, but he still keeps that pleasant smile, even tho it doesn’t quite reach his eyes

for the next few days leading up until friday, josh feels a little more reserved to you, not as open as usual and somehow always a little out of it when he talks to you

even when you ask, he just smiles (and it is nothing like his real smile) and tells you he’s fine

so come friday, you’re all dressed up and you happen to walk past the campus coffee shop and see joshua going in for a late shift, so you wave to him on your way and

fuck

fuck

he can’t even manage to say anything, completely speechless as he sees how absolutely stunning you look

and how he wishes you’d turn into the shop, grab his hand and tell him you were excited for your date

but instead, you’re meeting someone else, and all he can hope is that they care about you half as much as he does. even half was a feat

he suddenly catches up to you before going in, grabbing your hand, and you blink up at him in confusion when he says “be careful. text me when you get there please? so i know you got there okay. and… and text me, or one of your friends on your way home, please. you don’t know who this guy is or what he might do. just… have fun. be careful.”

you look at josh, his eyes showing such worry and concern for your well being that you pull him into a quick hug, smiling into his chest as he lets out a sigh, “of course. i’ll be good. plus, i have a pocket knife and a full can of pepper spray just in case he tries to get one over on me”

he chuckles, feeling a lot more relaxed as he hugs you back, “let’s trust you come back with that can still full and that knife still clean, alright?”

eventually, he has to send you off, and you head to your date

you arrive by 6:55, having been told that he’d be there by 7, and so you anxiously look around, knowing you were supposed to be on the lookout for a guy in a navy blazer

but… all the guys in navy blazers are there with someone already

by the time it’s 7:30, the waiter has come by twice, asking if the other member of your party is coming

and by 8, you’re sure he’s not

so you begrudgingly order dinner, eat it in angered silence, and don’t even bother to text your friends he didn’t show. you get your leftovers boxed and order one slice of strawberry cheesecake and leave, your eyes stinging and your heart hurting, but you get back to the school just fine

and at first, you were going to just head back to your dorm. 

but you walk past the coffee shop, and you look through the windows to see it’s still open and josh is still inside, cleaning up and shutting down for the night

before you can think, you’re rushing inside, glad he hadn’t locked the doors, and as soon as josh looks up in surprise to see you, he’s shuffling out from behind the counter and scolding you with “you never told me if you arrived or not. why are you back so early? you look sad, (y/n). what happened? what did that bastard do-” “I have cheesecake. you want some? take it or leave it”

you look hurt, but you keep up the stony expression and he just quietly nods, following you to a booth in the very back

he says nothing as you take out the cheesecake, says nothing as you go into the back and grab two forks and hand him one, says nothing as you take the first piece and sigh, over-exaggeratedly praising the dessert

he says nothing because he knows better. instead, he just listens as you begin to babble about the day, about how excited you were for today all week, how your friends had gassed up your blind date so much and how you had spent two hours eating by yourself, too embarrassed to cry or even tell your friends

he watches as you quietly struggle to pick up a strawberry, the sauce drenched fruit slipping off your fork as your hand trembles with words unsaid

so, he slides out of the booth and into yours, slips an arm around your shoulders, and makes you put it down

“it’s okay. i’m here” he says softly into your ear, and you let it all out into his shoulder

all of your tears and makeup stain his shirt but he couldn’t care less, his only priority in holding you close and comforting you

he wants to beat up your blind date, make them feel terrible for ever passing up an opportunity to spend a night with you because gdi, you were amazing and lovely and he wished he was in that bastard’s shoes

you guys stay like that for a while, you simply relishing in his comfort and joshua wishing he could help you feel better, yet not knowing how

but then he gets an idea

“do you want me to show you how to make latte art? you mentioned you were interested once”

at first, you’re kind of like??? now of all times?? but you also can’t help wanting to get your mind off things, so he helps you slip out of the booth and leads you to the back in the kitchen

there you see his sketchbook and laptop up, seeing he had been working on something before he’d gone to clean up

he goes to get some coffee together while you look over his work, smiling when you see he’s intricately drawing a character at a booth in what looked like a coffee shop, but as you look at it longer, something starts to click

“josh?” you ask, and he hums, filling up a cup with some coffee “Is… is this me?”

he glances back at you and his eyes widen some when he sees what you’re looking at, but he turns back around to play it off before you can say anything “ah, yeah. i needed to warm up so… i thought of you and drew”

“this looks way too detailed for a warm up” you say with a smile, tracing your fingers over the drawing, half of it colored in, the other half still white parchment paper and blending in to the colors where they end

josh snorts, making his way over to you and closing the notebook, “look at you. you know me too well, it seems”

you simply nudge him and he places the coffee cup before you before handing you a metal cup of steamed milk, “so, we’re going to start out with making a simple heart. it’s really important how you guide your hand. i don’t expect it to be perfect, so just try, freely”

he hands you the cup and you nod, turning the spout toward the cup and trying to carefully pour in the shape of a heart, but it becomes a deformed swirl too soon

josh still smiles, telling you to attempt to fix your mistake, but you continue to find it hard, somehow making the swirl more prominent

“josh, please help me” you whine with a small smile, and he nods with a laugh, reaching his arms around you

and,,, you’re caged against the counter, his hand coming to rest above your own where you hold the milk, and his head leans down to whisper into your ear how you should pour, murmuring “it takes a bit of practice, but once you get it, it’s satisfying”

you can’t even focus on the damn coffee bc he’s so close sasjhnasi

he keeps whispering in your ear, helping you try to fix your mistake, and then he grabs a toothpick and starts to trace the swirl into something of a shape, looking a lot better than before

“see?” he whispers by your ear, smiling even as your heart beats so hard you bet he can hear it against your back “not so bad”

you turn your head slightly, only able to move so much with his arm around you and body behind you, keeping you practically pushed up against the counter

he just looks at you for a moment when he sees the look in your eyes, mouth going a little dry

it must be the moment, or maybe the mix of emotions you’d released earlier, because you can’t find the nervousness from before anywhere near when you knead your fingers into his shirt and pull him in to kiss

his lips taste like coffee and stolen sweets, and he moves his body only to turn you around for better access to your mouth, his large hands closing around your hips and squeezing

he’s careful but he is not shy. he kisses you like he’s been wanting to all night, and if you asked him, he’d tell you he had 

you get so caught up in his heady kiss that even when he lifts you onto the counter and pulls himself between your legs, you don’t stop to laugh or marvel at his strength you didn’t know he had. you just thank god that he’s closer

after a few moments, he ends up pulling away, your lips chasing his with a frustrated whine that has him nearly buckling under his weight “my boss will kill me if we make out in the kitchen”

“then let’s take it somewhere else, dummy”

joshua has never locked up the coffee shop faster

after that day, he finally asks you out, and of course, you say yes

your friends apologize to you, feeling absolutely terrible for what happened with the blind date, but you honestly couldn’t care less bc if you hadn’t been stood up, you may have never gotten the chance to kiss joshua

everyone, and i mean everyone can tell there’s something different about josh come monday

he’s so much more peppy, so much more friendly, he’s practically beaming like a ray of sunshine,, like more than usual

and it’s so obvious why when you come in, stealing a kiss from him when he gets your coffee to you before you leave

josh’s co-workers are like??? is this allowed?? wtf is this allowed????

joshua’s boss doesn’t care cause it’s FRICKIN CUTE

a majority of joshua’s suitors back off when they find out he’s taken, but of course they continue to come bc josh is amazing at making coffee and no one is petty enough to stop coming just bc he’s taken lol

if joshua was an amazing friend, he’s an even better boyfriend ok

turns out that one drawing of you in the coffee shop was not the only one

he draws you often, and his favorite you to draw is a cute lil chibi version which he swears is so cute bc like,,, u small

boy literally giggles whenever he thinks about it

you: it’s really not that funny josh-

joshua: YOU’RE SO SMALL

actually made a chibi ver of himself and animated your chibi selves to kiss

he sent you the video and you look at it before you go to sleep every night bc it’s so cute

is always hyped for animated films and you can never get him as excited for live action films

he goes absolutely nuts for disney and stuff but he’s also a fine tuned indie animated film connoisseur of course

sometimes he’ll be like “so i watched this film last night called blah blah blah and it was about blah blah blah and…” and you don’t know wth he’s talking bout sometimes but you just listen to him babble bc u love him

scolds u if you haven’t seen a particular movie/anime/cartoon and then proceeds to force you to watch it

but you actually end up liking them?? and some of them become your comfort movies just because they remind you of josh

will send you animated couples and be like “this is us”

even if you two have nothing in common with the characters? it could just be a cute scene and he’ll link it back to you two

jeonghan LOVES you…. and also will fight you for joshua’s attention but he still loves you

he prides himself on being “joshua’s best friend” but then you meet vernon and vernon is like “he was my best friend first” so you go from a love triangle to a love square

if you added in all of joshua’s admirers it’d be like a love….  enneacontakaipentagon

(that is a thing)

since it’s a lot to go back to america to meet josh’s family, you instead meet vernon’s family in place of them, who despite only knowing josh for a year feel like he’s their second son

they gush about how much they love him and his influence on vernon and vernon’s lil sister and it’s just,,, so precious

but you can tell he gets homesick sometimes, and when family holidays come, he gets particularly sad

vernon’s family works hard to make it easier on him so they set up a skype date with his family every holiday and you watch josh as he talks about how his graduation is coming up, how he can’t wait to visit them, how he misses his mom’s home cooking and how nice life is in seoul

he introduces you to them over skype as well and they’re so kind and lovely!! they absolutely spoil you with love and attention and only have lovely things to say about you

then one day, you get a call from vernon’s mother

she tells you that secretly, they’ve been setting up for joshua’s parents to come visit, and they want you to keep it secret, as well as keep joshua out of the house the day they arrive so he doesn’t catch on

which,, proves harder than you expect

even on spring break your lovely boyfriend only wants to stay in and catch up on shows with you so you have to literally drag him out of the house to hang with jeonghan and vernon at the mall

while you’re all out, joshua just happens to see a shirt while you’re all shopping

it’s a tank top with the word “california” written across it

and usually, josh would just ignore little things like that, but as he stands there, he starts thinking of home and his family who he misses like crazy

it’s not like him, but a few tears slip past his eyes before he wipes them away, attempting to hide it before one of you saw

you did, but you don’t say anything, instead hooking an arm with him and leading him elsewhere, practically bursting with the need to tell joshua what was awaiting him at home

you manage to keep it secret though, even as you smile wider than ever on your back to vernon’s house

of course,,, josh is highly concerned

“why are you smiling so much? what are you hiding?” “dang boy, can’t a girl just smile a lil bit” “not like that. your smile is too big. it’s creeping me out”

if you weren’t driving you might’ve socked him in the arm

you carefully pull up to the house and joshua’s eyebrows furrows when he notices vernon’s parents’ car is parked somewhere different than it was when you all left 

“v, did your parents go somewhere?” he asks, but vernon simply shrugs and follows a grinning jeonghan out of the car, leaving just you and him alone

he stares at you for a bit, the smile still on your face, and then looks back at the house, the wheels turning behind his eyes

“what are you waiting for? i don’t know about you, but I wanna meet the hongs sometime this week, thank you”

his eyes widen a little bit and you’re laughing as he tumbles out of the car, rushing toward the front door as you trail behind, hearing a chorus of elated screams before you enter the house

when you do, you see josh all wrapped up in between his parents, all three of them crying into each other as jeonghan, vernon, and vernon’s family watch with smiles just like yours

for the rest of the day, you spend it with josh and his family, catching up on all that they’ve missed along with getting to know the hongs personally

they’re just as sweet in person as they are over skype, and they absolutely love poking fun at josh to you whenever they get the chance

the sound of josh’s embarrassed “mooooooom” in the background as she tells you about josh’s anime phase and how she’d seen an episode of one of those shows and had to have a talk with him afterward

you: what were you watching, josh?

josh:… i have since refined my taste

by the time the night ends, you’ve got enough embarrassment fodder to last you months

“please don’t take anything my parents said seriously okay. they live to make my life terrible” he tells you over the phone that night, after vernon’s family told you it was getting far too late and you should be heading home

highest of keys, josh was hoping you’d stay so late that they’d let you sleep over but knowing he had two (2) sets of parents in the house now, they’d probably make vernon sleep between you two and that’s the closest you’d get throughout the night

“i don’t know about that. those baby stories were comedy gold” you grin into the phone, laying on your back and smiling up at the ceiling

he scoffs, “just wait till i meet your parents. they’ll tell me all the crazy stories and i’ll have so much blackmail i won’t even know what to do with” “isn’t it funny how i met your parents, who live in california, before you met mine who live here?”

he smiles into the phone, “’s okay. makes us a unique couple. i was starting to think we were far too daydreamy. almost feels like a movie.”

“i’m surprised you haven’t turned it into one, actually” you say, playing with your shirt hem as sleepiness starts to creep up on you and you let out a yawn

“i promise one day i’ll make a movie about us. now go to sleep, i’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

you yawn again but oblige, and you say your goodbyes before hanging up and laying down to fall asleep, a content smile on your face

but then your phone vibrates under your pillow not twenty minutes later

confused, you pull it out, and find a video message from joshua

carefully, you open it, unsure of what you’ll expect, but find a seemingly quickly drawn stop motion video of chibi!you and chibi!josh kissing each other’s cheeks

you smile tiredly, shaking your head at the boy, but as the video comes to an end, a speech bubble appears above chibi!josh’s head, his eyes turning into hearts as he speaks to chibi!you “i’ve been debating on when to say this for a while, but i’m proud to be the first of us to say it: i love you”

the video ends, and you giddily dial josh’s number once more, the boy picking up just as quickly as you had called

“yes?” he says softly, voice tinged with slight worry

but you just chuckle, “jerk. i wanted to say it first. now let me go to sleep… i love you too”

[cheetahsprints]

Beyond the Surface

Words: 2822 Summary: Cisco couldn’t stand Harrison Wells. Crossing his path in an unexpected place would change that view permanently. Rating: Gen A/N: Title inspired by Fly Down - Stephen

Cisco tapped his pen on his mouth. He checked over his grocery list to be sure he got everything. It was just general foodstuff. He added some extra items.

- That new conditioner I heard about - All the bath bombs - Try the candle Caitlin suggested that smells like my kinda man called “Mechanical grease and Angst” - A recorder to piss off my grumpy neighbor. Tell him it's for a hipster band. - Dog food. - One of those big fake owls. It might freak out neighbors cats

Cisco always left without dog food. He underlined it three times. He chuckled at the recorder addition, picturing the constipated expression his neighbor would make. It wasn’t a challenge to antagonize him. Cisco was constantly finding new and creative ways to accomplish his mission.

His neighbor was also his professor. He was the unrelenting Harrison Wells. He cursed the day he incidentally moved to his floor, beside him to boot. The man was intelligent, handsome, and mysterious. Under most circumstances, Cisco would have a crush the size of Alaska. Unfortunately, Harrison Wells needed a personality transplant. He was an infuriating jackass. He gave not an inch, and he enjoyed pushing people over the edge.

Every day he passed the man’s giant door poster. It was a picture of the Grinch (cartoon version) that said: Don't bother me after 8 p.m. or I'll steal YOUR Christmas. The building supervisor had referred to him as only Mr. Grinch, due to this decor.

Cisco was willing to bet it was custom-made. Rumor had it that Professor Wells was a man of many talents. Cisco’s complaints also fell on deaf ears. Because no one else lived on this floor to corroborate his stories. Cisco didn't blame people for moving. On the bright side, he had to pay lower rent for this shit apartment location. The apartment itself was nice, with a big bathtub, walk-in closet, and balcony. It was worth Wells knocking on his door to tell him his party was too loud. Wells threatened to call the cops, but he never did. He knew Cisco would have it cleaned and shut down before they got halfway there.

His cats meowed all hours of the night. Cisco didn't know how he could hear them running around at night. Especially since one was a stick. One had also snuck into his apartment and shredded his stuffed Rocky the flying squirrel. It had been a present from his ex, Lisa. On one hand, technically kind of a good thing. On the other, he had liked that squirrel.

Cisco perked when he heard his six month old brown-and-white shih tzu mix yapping. He strolled out to the balcony. Sure enough, there they were. Wells’ stringy black and white oriental shorthair and tabby maine coon. The maine coon was the chillest animal on the planet, asleep to the tune of barking dog. That was the one that murdered his squirrel. Everytime Cisco left his apartment, the oriental starting yowling from behind Wells’ door. Then his puppy barked her head off.

Stevie, his brindle greyhound, appeared to investigate. He nudged Cisco curiously. He patted his service dog on the head absently. Cisco was prone to seizures. They were mostly random, but could sometimes be caused by distress. He grabbed a squeaky toy to distract Buttercup. He closed the balcony doors. He packed up and got Stevie in his work outfit. He expected to run into the Professor’s dumb face when he opened the door. He always complained about Buttercup’s barking even though he could just bring in his cats. Cisco had nothing against cats as a whole. He had everything against Wells’ disregard for the effects his cats had on others. Cisco was relieved when he was miraculously not there. He either decided to keep to himself or went out. Cisco saw enough of him in class, it just figured he would end up living beside him.

On a positive note, pissing him off was the most entertaining thing. He even drove him crazy in class. On the first day, Professor Wells had began by saying, “Science fact: The world around you is made up of protons, neutrons, morons, and electrons.”

When he said “morons” he had looked directly at Cisco. He wasn’t sure if Wells was presumptuous, if it was an accident, or if the man was prejudiced. Wells hadn’t eased up on him. He had called on Cisco to answer the toughest questions, contradicted all of his answers. Cisco wasn’t a special case, Wells was mean to other students, but they were slackers or whatever. He did have the potential for kindness, immediately helping anyone who seriously required it.

Either way, Cisco went out of his way to make his teaching aspect of life a bit of a nightmare. He pretended to be incredibly dumb in class, forcing Wells to cater to him. He would ace his tests and grin like a little shit.

He would ask the stupidest most basic questions, eyelashes fluttering like an infatuated schoolgirl. Wells was that “hot silver fox professor” as the women, and even some men, all of whom had no self respect, referred to him. They fawned over him. It was revolting. Cisco made them upset too by imitating their behavior. Wells always apparently lost his train of thought. He would sort of freeze on the spot, mouth open. He stuttered over his next words. It took everything Cisco had to hold in his laughter.

He kept the irritation to the minimum at home. Needless to say, but the airheads in his class didn’t believe Wells played the most obnoxious music at four in the morning. They didn’t believe he had a psychic connection to his cats and bid them to drive Cisco up the wall. They didn’t believe Wells pounded on the wall when Cisco played Christmas music. They didn’t believe he would sit on his balcony and throw things onto Cisco’s. Those objects had included: a wrench, a stupid singing toy from a dollar-per-item store, and even a rather large dildo. He had the supernatural ability to know when Cisco was studying. His hobby of throwing random shit would always scare the daylights out of Cisco.

For some reason, they did believe when he told them about the time Cisco had returned to his apartment shirtless. Some wiseass at he dog park had knocked him into a puddle of mud. At least, he hoped it was mud. He had thrown his shirt away and stormed home in a huff. Wells had seemed to choke on his own saliva when he saw Cisco. His blushing and stuttering was adorable. It was like he had never seen another man shirtless. 

Cisco figured he might’ve been offended by the tattoo, curling around his nipple and over his shoulder. Cisco had experienced a bit of a phase in his first semester of college. He lost a bet which required him to get the tats. They were pretty, and he luckily didn’t end up regretting his decision. He went through a bit of a ‘only get away with being young and dumb once’ phase. He cleared his less that stellar ideas and urges from his system, to pave the way for responsible adulting. He would have a lot of stories for his kids, if he ever felt like having any. Maybe he would tell the stories to Barry’s or Caitlin’s.

Stevie walked easily beside him in the Starling-Central City Shopping Center. He whistled a jaunty tune. He was having a pretty good day. He had satisfied with his level of studying for the upcoming exams and wasn’t exhausted. His new puppy hadn’t peed on the carpet this week. He hadn’t seen Wells’ annoying face yet.

He spoke too soon. He saw Wells, browsing in the assorted candles and incense. He glared at his turned back. He couldn’t believe the man chose this day to enter society and be shopping for something Cisco was looking to purchase. He tentatively stepped into the section, footsteps light. He hoped Wells wouldn’t see him.

He heard someone scoff and stage-whisper, “Do you see that rat he has in his cart? Like anyone believes that’s a real service dog.”

His girlfriend cackled. “What an asshole.”

Cisco’s gaze riveted on Wells’ little dog. She was a chihuahua-corgi mix named Rocket. Wells was secretive as hell. The only things Cisco knew was that he had a daughter and pets. That was due to the photos on his desk of a young girl in braces, a calm Chorgi with its tongue hanging out, next to the 85 % legs oriental shorthair (same pic) and one of the fluffy Maine coon. And there was a final faded, worn one of a German Shepherd/Dalmation in a doggie wheelchair next to an urn simply engraved Sam - Never Forget. Cisco had asked the little dog’s name, and gotten such a gruff reply that he didn’t inquire further.

It was simple to assume his professor was not much beyond a grumpy old jerk. His humanity seemed to be buried deep. He was robotic, functional enough to take care of pets and teach a class, that was all. Cisco would have to rethink that. Rocket was even cuter in person. Wells had obviously heard and he winced. He picked up Rocket, cradling her close. He marched up to the couple.

“Hey what is your deal? His dog is well-behaved, and he did nothing to you!” Cisco crossed his arms, raising his chin. The boyfriend attempted to tower over him, but he was no match for Cisco’s sheer force of will.

“Back off asshole,” The girlfriend butted in. “No one asked you.”

“I’m the asshole? It’s pretty rude to go around assuming things about someone’s life. For all you know, he nearly lost his life fighting in a war.”

“For all I know, you’re a phony too. Look at that - that thing you have. Is it imported from Africa or something?” The Dude narrowed his eyes at Stevie. And that was the end for Cisco.

“Listen here,” he said dangerously, voice flat. “Judgey tools like you is why we can’t have nice things. You can get that stick out of your ass and -”

Dude started making offended noises. The Girlfriend looked ready to jump on Cisco and tear his hair out. He braced himself. Let them try. A distinct high-pitched bark interrupted his tirade. His mouth shut with an audible click, and he whirled around. Rocket was back in the cart, whining, trying to get to Harrison Wells. He was crouched on the floor, all six feet of him. His hand was covering his eyes. The other hand was braced on the shelves. He was rocking back and forth, making breathy noises.

Cisco rushed over, argument forgotten. He wasn’t sure if he’d go to hell for it, but he gently picked up Rocket and placed her on the floor. He certainly lost his mind whenever someone tried to touch his well-trained greyhound on duty. But this seemed like an emergency. Rocket whined again and snuffled on Wells cheek. He sighed and pulled her close, taking deep breaths. Cisco shifted. He glanced over his shoulder to see that the couple had wandered off. Confrontation wasn’t always the best idea. Sometimes, his anger got the better of him. Stevie watched calmly. He looked a bit twitchy. He was always wary whenever Cisco got himself into tense situations.

Wells gained control of himself. His eyes were glazed for a moment, then it faded. His hands were shaking. Rocket was pressed close, licking at his face. He picked her up and stood, clutching her to his chest. He stared at Cisco with wide, bleary eyes. He had never seen Wells looking so spooked.

“Hey buddy. You good or do you need to call someone?”

“Did - did I hurt anyone? When episodes strike, I black out,” Wells explained at Cisco’s confused look. “I can be prone to violence because I think I’m. Back there.”

His voice was at such a low pitch. Cisco was stiff as a board. He shook out his hands, trying to loosen his muscles. He wasn’t afraid. He just wasn’t sure how to tread here.

“No it’s fine. You were kinda on the floor. Was that my fault?”

“They started it, you were only trying to defend me, thank you,” Wells replied.

He was surprisingly relaxed, for all that they didn’t get along. Cisco felt like a veil had been torn from in front of his eyes. He saw everything in front of him anew. He should really take some of his own advice.

“Well, it got a little out of hand ‘cause I don’t know when to shut my mouth and walk away sometimes. Can I - can I buy you some ice cream or something, Professor Wells?”

Wells blinked. Then he laughed, heartily. “You can call me Harry, Mr. Ramon.”

“Cisco!” He continued, mostly to himself, “Big Belly Burger sounds damn good right now.”

Harry nodded in agreement. Cisco indicated his cart. Harry began to pile his stuff inside. It was more efficient to take one cart. His eyes widened at the Star Wars paraphernalia. So, he was a fellow nerd too. There was probably so much Cisco didn’t know about him. These recent discoveries only scratched the surface. He suddenly had an overwhelmingly urgent desire to know everything that Harry would give him.

On the way to the in-store restaurant, Cisco said casually, “I have seizures. Stevie here, he’ll sit and howl when he senses one coming, so I can find a safe place. He stays by my side and helps me out. Completely necessary just like yours.”

“Some people think they’re smart. The reality being they know nothing at all,” Harry replied.

“I know that all I know is that I do not know anything,” Cisco said and snorted. “That guy didn’t even know how to remove the stick in his ass.”

“There’s no proof of that phrase, but the spirit of it is true.”

They finished their meals, bought separately, and Harry paid for their ice cream. Cisco opened his mouth to protest. He was silenced by Harry’s glare.

“I’m sorry I act empty-headed in your class,” Cisco confessed.

Harry nodded and lapped at his ice cream. He smiled as he scooped some with two fingers and fed it to Rocket. Absurdly, Cisco’s stomach started doing acrobatics. He couldn’t pinpoint the cause. He scratched Stevie’s ears, who made a dog-sigh of content.

“I’m sorry for being a difficult neighbor,” Harry offered. “Let’s promise to be at least civil to one another for now on?”

“Agreed. Life will be much easier. And we’re totally having a Star Wars marathon.”

Harry grinned. He rubbed at his lips with a finger. Cisco gnawed on his cone and watched him for a moment. He felt a stab of guilt. He had despised Harry for his behavior. He was a hypocrite. He saw now he had acted the exact same way and judged him. He knew next to nothing about his private life, because he presumed that he did not have one. What did he think? That Harry went home and hooked himself up to a charger?

The man probably had dreams, hobbies, as many likes as dislikes. Hell, Cisco had known he had a family he must care about, from the picture of his daughter on his desk. Cisco distantly noticed Harry had no wedding ring. Somewhere, under all that brain and bluster, Cisco was beginning to see his heart.

The best restart would be to address the root of the problem. Then they could clear the air. He licked his lips nervously. He locked his fingers in his lap and leaned forward. Harry folded his arms on the table, chin lifting in preparation.

Cisco kept his voice soft and not accusing. “Why did you single me out the first day of class?”

“Are you kidding? I heard you were practically wunderkind,” Harry answered in an incredulous tone. “I was very impressed with your records.”

“Seriously? I grew up in the most obscure town.”

“I’m in the habit of keeping an eye on talent. Finding out you were in my class made my entire week, which isn’t saying much, but still. You are the most brilliant and creative person I’ve met, aside from my daughter.”

Cisco internally preened, a flush of pleasure coming over him. He had a weakness for direct compliments of his talents. He realized that also meant Harry had believed in exactly none of his bullshit. Harry pointed at his own face and raised his eyebrows. Cisco squinted at him. Harry spread his hand and made circles. Cisco scrambled in embarrassment to wipe his face off. He found it wasn’t as bad as Harry indicated. He scowled.

“You say such sweet things. But you’re still a dick.”

“Did you really expect anything else?”

[martin-duran]

For years Amma suggested we visit Sydney and Perth for the Gourmet Escape event in Margaret River (which is actually a 3 hour drive from Perth). It seemed like an ambitious trip and frankly, the long flight scared the hell out of me. 

Between Oprah’s Australian Special years ago and a postcard from Sydney I found amongst my dad’s old keepsake box, the timing seemed right.

This trip came at a great time. It gave us something to look forward to during & after the big move/home renovation of our place in Silver Lake. 

I was also a bit concerned traveling with a group. Tere & I are typically a travel duo but Rocky, Annie, Cat, Dave & Amma helped create one of the most memorable adventures of our lives.  

The Flight: Three movies and a benedryl

It wasn’t all that bad. Maybe it was the anticipation of exploring a new city. 

The oddest adjustment was landing in Sydney and the time difference was NINETEEN hours ahead of Los Angeles Time. Talk about time traveling. 

First impressions:

Sydney is clean and people seem pleasant. 

Armed with our Opal cards, courtesy of Raul & Enrique, we made our way to Circular Quay (key)- the center of the city. 

Kudos to the city planner for building the airport so close to the center of Sydney.  Day 1:

Though it may seem touristy, the hop on/hop off bus is the most expedient way to get to know a city. 

The Sydney Harbour is the cutest. I say that because it sort of reminds us the San Francisco Bay & San Diego harbor but on a smaller scale. 

After looping the entire city we stroll around the Royal Botanical garden, it’s there we get the best view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge & The Sydney Opera House. Both are breath taking and I got goosebumps seeing them in person. 

On our first night we also arranged for a dinner meet up with Rand’s aunt Andee and her much younger boyfriend at a Lebanese restaurant in Surry Hills near her home. We had a blast listening to how she came to live in Sydney.

Turns out her life played out like a movie. (Left L.A cause FBI was looking for her due to a questionable AFI Film Program....she fled to China with 2nd husband who had a breakdown after taking some hallucinogens...he was fired from teaching at the University, she dropped him off in Amsterdam and she wound up staying in Sydney after meeting up with a friend. At least that’s what I remembered). 

Surprisingly we weren’t jet lagged after dinner & soaking in the city. In fact we embarked on our own Pub Crawl after the Hop On Off bus driver pointed out a few favorite watering holes. The Waterloo (bartender showed us the shanghai tunnel) The Brewery Hotel and the Palisades rooftop bar

Day 2:

The Koala Crew is here! 

Tapas Lunch near The Marriott Hotel 

Walk in the Park, drinks overlooking the harbour, first night at the Wydam...Thai Food to tackle the cold I caught.

Day 3:

The Crew spends the day at Bondi Beach while I rest up at the hotel before we embark on planned events. 

Day 4:

Taronga Zoo- In search of the Kwaka

Meet up with Andee her local bar. We head to a Tapas bar with Live Flamenco. The gang loses their mind when they see her library.

Amma- “You knew Octavia Butler?”

Andee- “ Yes.” 

She provides us space cake which we indulge in later in the trip. 

Day 5:

The Sydney Bridge Climb with Rocky, Cat & Dave.

Pete is the best tour guide. It took an hour to prep and gear up for the climb.

Pics of Kate Blanchett, Katy Perry, Will Smith, Oprah in the same gear we put on got us psyched up. During our climb we started singing Bill Wither’s “Lovely Day”. I hope it reminds me of that day for the rest of my life. I’ll never forget that view of the harbor. 

Spontaneous Ferry Trip to Manly Beach.

The search for Sushi, Are those bats in the tree? they’re loud as hell. 

Free Magic show at 4 Pines Brewery.

Dave is addicted to Chocolate and we discover this at the shoppe near the dock.

Day 6:

Alas we meet Sydney Opera House!

News Flash, the exterior is not one singular piece but rather tiled pieces. 

Drinks at the Benelong, “The Merchant of Venice” Play.

Rocky, Cat & I eat one of Andee’s space cakes. At a bar across the street from the hotel we realize we’re on the moon! Amma chats with me about meditation. Stillness seems like a good idea. We had back to the hotel but not before Tere takes me on a small goose chase for a bottle of wine. No luck! 

At one point we make our way back to the hotel and we start discussing violating at cantaloupe...it’ll be sold as the Honey Do Me! Laughter ensues for a good 10 minutes. 

For most of the week we notice Dave paying attention to driving in the city. He’ll be taking the wheel (they drive on the left side and steering wheel is on the right side) when we get to Perth. Three hours in the dark. Even I was afraid for him. 

Day 7:

Cross country flight to Perth. It’s almost like L.A. to N.Y.

Did you know 80% of Australians live on the East Coast Side/Pacific Ocean Side? Neither did I. It’s no wonder the West Coast side of the country seems far more chill. 

We land near sunset and embark on a 3 hour drive to Margaret River. En route Dave almost hits a kangaroo. 

Day 8:

The private beach bbq with Curtis Stone at Castle Rock.

Rock Star parking was a sign of good things to come.  

The location, the staff and the food were all superb.

Getting the private cabana was the way to go. Curtis chilled with us in our private lounge and chat with us for a bit. On lookers sat envious and we loved it!

Day 9:

Bike Ride with Tere

Sunday. nov 19th Margaret River. Met Martin’s friend at the cafe. Kenneth. Leeuwin winery. Jackie Browne. Location of the MR festival. WA = Western Australia Vas Felix wines well done.   Camel on the Manchugarup on the way to airport Robert. Gentleman we met at the Curtis Stone beach event. First event of the festival. Valle, friend in LA. Guru will be speaker in northern cal and southern cal. New port beach. Fri. February 23rd. Three day event. Friday to Sunday. Sunday do dinner in LA. 25th. Writes for conde’str. Timeout ISNA All about the Bao Hay Shed Hill. Wine. Jayme Gallaher and Chris. (FB name James) Saturday Cat and Dave have to leave Bar & Bear at Bunker Beach House Naturaliste 6:30 pm. Jayme is taking us to some spots Skipper sip is designated driver serving Cowarup for candy. Candy Cow. Diving gold cow. We tried crocodile, venicen, kangaroo, and emu. Chorizo and salamis. Venicen chorizo. Coat of arms salami has both kangaroo and emu. Brekey = breakfast. Hay Shed Hill. Margaret River. Lunch and wine. We saw Chef Luke there. Animal farm petting zoo Roos for Kangaroo Distillery the Grove Friday. Nov 17 Met cats friend. Jayme Gallaher Massage with Amma Anita Beisler. Inga’s daughter. Tina Margaret River Gourmet Escape Wine Chapel. Pray the wine never runs out. Why don’t they make bottles of wine bigger so two people could have a drink. Inspector Chile sol. Cat put Chile under nose Fermented Vietnamese fish sauce. Secret ingredient or favorite sauce for Luke. Luke Nguyen. Andy Allen and Ben Melbourne. Andy won Master chef. Red Lantern. eight now. Dysentery. Saigon cooking school. Sunset beats and bites. White Elephant Cafe Gnarabup, presented by Audi DJ Sarang.  Walked to a bar called The Commons. Pool table bar. Thursday. Nov 16 Haley mentioned. Wine Henchsky. Black barrosa region Vasse Felix. Drive down Margarett river. Ask for cab or Shiraz. Shiraz drink in winter near a fire. Southwest Coast line. Reserve for ride to Perth airport. Indian Ocean. Waterside Beach Bike ride. With Annie. Marty and Terri Australian Mexican maraca birds Jacuzzi. Amma’s dive. Black lizard. Snake lizard Audi Gourmet Beach BBQ Castle Rock Beach Dunsborough Dinner by Curtis Stone. Book signing Lamb, chicken tajien, veggie, brownie. Pork. Chickpea salad. Beef sausage. Laura. Reann Selena, Robert. Haley Wed Nov 15 Sydney to Perth. Perth to Donburough. Picked up the car. Almost hit a baby kangaroo Ramada Inn Dave’s bday Cat Cafe catmosphere Gay marriage equality AUS World Cup Royal Albert hotel Le Monde brunch Sent postcards. Tuesday Bridge walk. Song choice. lovely Day Bill Withers Monday Taronga zoo. Took ferry. Came back and took another ferry to Manly Beach The sushi place we wanted was closed for a private party so we found another one. Then walked to the warf again had a beer and magic at a Brewery. 4 Pines. Or something like that on Magic Monday. Took the ferry back and talked to a guy from Perth on the bow of the boat. Herbs. Warm cantaloupe. Honey doo me.  Watermen strap on. She drink Shiraz. Quaka Love. Sydney Bitches. The points guy. Check out his blog. Annie’s friends friend Sunday. Sydney Opera. The Merchant of Venice. The Rocks. Palisades. Sydney Cove Movie Ava. A wrinkle in time. Irsa gelyn. Book. I was just there. Good book name. Suggestion for her. Dinner with Andy Andre Reese 2005. Worst. Year. Her daughter Candice passed. Lou R. Old boyfriend. Boyfriend had second heart attack and passed at 43. Octavia Butler. Her good friend passed. Saturday. Free day. Bondi Beach. No marty. Icebergs. Saltwater Pool Friday Met Terri and Marti at their Hotel near the Rocks Walked to royal Botanical Gardens. Mrs. Macquaries Chair. Check in at Wyndham. Suggestions. Near Elizabeth Quay The Esplanade Climb the Harbor Bridge Umbilical brothers. Not in town Australia. 2017 Sydney and Perth. Going to Margaret River Fri to wed in Sydney Wed we fly to Perth. 3hrs to Margaret river Nov 9. Even. 10:35pm SFO to Sydney direct flight United arrives. Sat morning 863 flight United Perth. On 15th. Out of Perth 20th. To Sydney. Am.

[bobs-spaces]

   Here is a collection of pictures and comments from Science Teacher members of the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) who viewed the August 21st total solar eclipse from different locations across the United States of America. The State where the picture(s) was/were taken is abbreviated to be part of the picture name – so you could scroll down to the bottom of the picture to see that.    The caption below a picture starts the sequence of pictures from each teacher. Clicking on any picture will open it into a slide show where you can move forward or backward through the various pictures.    From Ryan Westberry: Here’s a video I made after watching the totality in Wyoming at Green River Lakes just off the center line. I sent my drone up really high to capture the landscape while also filming our reactions on the surface- and set it all to music. I did edit the language in the beginning of totality (overcome by that moment) but there are some “Oh S^*t” toward the end that need to be known if anyone plans on showing it. (I’m not promoting that.) I’m just wanting to share in the emotion (I was literally shaking and had tears of joy) and magnitude of watching the event and the love of the science. 🙂

   Here is one of the 360o videos I made while the school yard was filling up with families and the students.

   If you are wondering what do with any eclipse glasses perhaps donate them to the Eclipse Glasses Donation Program – organized by Astronomers Without Borders.

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Missouri: Briarcliff Elementary School students.

Missouri: Waiting patiently for the start.

Missouri: Briarcliff students getting ready

Wyoming: Drove out with my sister to Grand Island, NE from Wisconsin. I was concerned about cloud cover in Nebraska, so we got up at 4am on the morning 21st to drive for clear skies further west. Ended up in Fort Laramie, WY with beautiful weather. I know that my pictures aren’t nearly as neat or crisp as others, but this was my experience with this rare event. Took the eclipse image through the lens of my solar scope, along with another shot with my sister. On a side note, sure, the eclipse was pretty neat, but what affected me more was knowing that nearly everyone on the road during those couple days were there for the eclipse. It was this thought that made wading through traffic on the way back much easier for me. Being out it Wyoming, on the long windy and rolling hills, cars like ants crawling through the distance, I couldn’t help but think of myself as part of a convoy, similar to the Oregon Trail. Yet, instead of wagons, it was SUVs coming all the way from New York to Manitoba. I know I’m sounding a little poetic here, but this impacted me more than the eclipse itself.

Wyoming:

Wyoming: I drove 6,000 miles in total, from CT to Wyoming to see the eclipse in Jackson Hole with another teacher friend who flew from CT (I also went to a number of parks and monuments… a wonderful trip in total). But the highlight was totality. My friend brought two solar telescopes with her and we were able to see the details of the entire eclipse, complete with sun spots. As it neared totality, the birds all started calling and flying madly, then settled down and became silent as though it were night. A cat came walking out in the street, clearly unnerved — its tail was all puffed up and it kept looking around as if very confused and worried. And it got quite chilly. Jackson is at about 8,000′ and I had to go get a jacket — I’d say the temperature dropped at least 25 degrees. Altogether, stunning. So glad I made the trip.

Texas: South Texas only had a 50% version of the eclipse. We took a couple of Sunspotters out in front of our main office along with a handful of the glasses and some punched tag board. Our sky cleared up only a few minutes before the maximum coverage–it rained briefly at the beginning of the eclipse event and you can see the clouds in one of the views attached. While I really enjoyed seeing the eclipse through various viewers, what was really cool was our finance and other non-science staff who stopped by as they came back from lunch and looked at the image on the Sunspotters and took selfies or got us to take pictures of them with the images. Observing the staff go from nonchalant to kids again was great!

Texas:

Texas:

Texas:

Texas: Much better images than mine, but we only had 61% where I am. I did especially enjoy the tree shadows.

Texas:

South Carolina: We were on a boat in the middle of Charleston Harbor, anchored off of a small island that is a bird sanctuary. As soon as totality hit, all of the birds took off at once. It was very cloudy so it didn’t get as dark as we expected…reflection? We could see the “sunset” all around. I’m already making plans for 2024!

South Carolina: Thanks for starting this topic and for all the great images from people’s experiences! I drove to SC from NH to explore data collection in light intensity and temperature readings on land cover with small sensors that the teachers have been using on classroom phenomenon. We set up a cross the totality path with people willing to carry along the same sensors set at the same timing. Weather was especially helpful, adding tension by sending in one fat cloud that the sun escaped just at the last minute before the total event! I use an old digital camera that posts the date and time on the image and the picture below verified how close we came to missing the “main event”. Total started at 2:41. While these photos are not classic, thinking about evidence and alignment with data their importance to alignment with the data capture was essential. I felt connected to those watching but also to those who carried along the data loggers and shared the further project. Will take me some time to explore them and share with the teachers and sites in partial locations also using the same loggers.

South Carolina:

Oregon: I was lucky to have a sister in Oregon who arranged for us to stay with friends in Sisters, Oregon, just at the edge of being able to see the totality. My spouse and adult daughter came with me, happily. Surprisingly the traffic was very light, and thanks to firefighters there was very little smoke in the air. Plans were in place with glasses, colander, and champagne. Using the glasses (thank you NASA) we saw the totality, less than 1 minute, noted the change in light, birds quieting and temperature dropping. Knowing that the “cosmic coincidence” of Sun and Moon sizes and distance from the Earth makes our planet the only one in our solar system that experiences a total solar eclipse and seeing it in a community of science-interested people made it even more special. (We also saw new-to-me birds: White-headed woodpeckers, Mountain chickadee, Pygmy nuthatch.) On the NSTA Early Years blog, a preschool teacher posted about the preparation her class went through, their experience, and the follow-up questions they are investigating. http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2017/08/30/eclipse-report-from-preschool/

Oregon:

Oregon:

Oregon: Jordan Makower

Oregon:

New Jersey: We took the first picture the night before the eclipse over the Barnegat Bay in NJ. The second pic is from the beach with an iPhone in Lavallette, NJ

New Jersey:

Nebraska: This was my first eclipse as well. We had about 2 1/2 minutes in the heart of Nebraska’s beautiful Sand Hills just north of where I live. I did not attempt to photograph it…I left that to professionals. I couldn’t, however, resist taking this panoramic image during totality and managed to catch my daughter’s silhouette. It was partly cloudy that day as you can tell in the photo, but our view of the eclipse was completely clear during totality. It was an amazing experience. Absolutely breathtaking and beautiful!

Missouri: My viewing location was with 350 elementary school kiddos, staff, and parents. We had 80 seconds of totality but clouds covered the sky during totality with a few breaks giving everyone a chance to cheer but not for long. Rain started a few minutes later so from where I was we saw the first half only. My 4th total eclipse and still blown away.

Missouri: Sunspots!

Missouri: That’s the star Regulus in Leo the Lion to the left.

Louisiana: Taken in New Iberia, Louisiana by one of my students. We had a 73% eclipse. 🙂

Kentucky: It is also great for making projections on t-shirts. Family tradition since 1994.

Kentucky: I was in Hopkinsville, KY with the 2 minutes 40 seconds. This is my second total eclipse. I also have 2 annual too. I projected the image from my old astroscan on a piece of foam core board. Great little telescope. The crowd got to see the sunspots.

Kentucky: I was in Dawson Springs, KY where totality was 2 minutes 32 seconds. This was my first total eclipse, and it was an amazing experience. Here are the photos. My two pictures of totality were not the best because I did not want to take the time to change the settings on my camera. One question: at the start and end of totality, I heard a sound similar to thunder or fireworks. Any idea what that was?

Kentucky:

Kentucky:

Kentucky: Great pictures from Hopkinsville, Kentukcy. The traffic was a nightmare from Hopkinsville to Cincinnati. Enjoy!

Kentucky:

Missouri: I was about 30 miles east and few miles south of you. The clouds cleared just in time. It was beautiful. One thing that really surprised me was how much light there was when the sun was almost totally eclipsed. Before totality, when there was just a small sliver of the sun visible, it was still pretty light. It was not until totality that is got “dark”. I assumed it was going to gradually get darker and darker leading up to totality. It did not work that way. Those of us that saw totality are likely making plans for the next one in the U.S. in 2024. Those that did not see totality really need to try to see it once. It is amazing and indescribable.

Illinois: We had teacher’s institute on Monday (students didn’t start til Wednesday). I convinced our principal to do an activity in the afternoon and we went outside as a staff. We are 180 miles north of Carbondale and experienced 90% coverage. I had eclipse glasses and pinhole viewers available, along with a telescope with solar filter. I also equiped our staff with UV bead braclets to observe changes in UV exposure. We were also able to experience the eclipse shadows caused by the light filtering through the trees. We had a blast and even got coverage in the local paper. The neatest part was seeing our staff really get into it. I’ll attach photos, but if you can’t get them they can also be viewed via our twitter account GRS_Science My brother was in Nashville and got to experience totality. He sent me photos a co-worker of his took and I was able to share those with my classes on Wednesday. I also had a few students that were able experience it first hand. My 3rd partial solar eclipse…never gets old!

Illinois:

Illinois:

Illinois:

Illinois:

Idaho: My daughter got a nice panorama of the 360° sunset. Photo by Kiana Duggan-Haas.

Idaho: I watched from a ridgetop just outside of Victor, Idaho with the Tetons in the background, at the Pine Creek Campground. Here’s a Google Street View Panorama of us and our site, taken before totality. I was with my two daughters (13 & 16) a couple of high school friends and their families, my cousin and her family, and another family who is friends with one of my high school buds and a few friends and family of these folks. Also on our ridgetop were another 15 or so people, including three planetary scientists from the USGS, a cinematographer and some others. Below are a few pics from our group. Our temperature change was substantial, though we didn’t have thermometers. I’d guess there was a swing of 20° F. We were at something like 8,000 feet in elevation. Totality was chilly, but brief. One thing that didn’t photograph well and I’ve not seen mentioned above are the shadow bands. They look something like the bands on the bottom of a pool on a sunny day and are caused by diffraction of the sun’s light when it’s just a sliver – immediately before and after totality. We’d laid down a white sheet to see them, and they were definitely there, I think wavering more quickly than the bands on the bottom of a pool. They were also pretty faint. I’ll note that the difference between totality and 98% of totality is quite impressive. I heard someone compare the difference to the difference between going 98% of the way to Disneyland vs. actually going to Disneyland. I’m not a Disney guy, so my analogy is that it’s like comparing getting 98% of the way to a climax to actually getting to a climax (you know, of your favorite book or whatever). The plans for this trip had been in the works since my first total solar eclipse viewed from the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula in 1991. More about that trip here (it’s my contribution to the My Earth Educator Story Project). One of the friends I saw that with was one of the high school friends who was with us this time – in fact, he was the lead organizer. I anxiously await my third eclipse when totality passes over my house on April 8, 2024. (Though April in Buffalo offers nothing like a guarantee of clear skies).

Idaho: I was at the base of Borah Pk, tallest mountain in Idaho near MacKay. We had an incredible total eclipse with clear skies. The temperature dropped 10 degrees, the birds were quiet and not flying. I was with a few friends but there was reported about 1000 people who started climbing Borah Peak around midnight! Attached are a few of my husband’s pictures.

Idaho:

Idaho: This is what it looked like, more or less, to my naked eye. Photo by Andy Frank.

Idaho: My first eclipse. We had a total of 2 minutes 2 seconds in Garden Valley Schools, Garden Valley, Idaho, Couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. We also had Dr. Joe Llama from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff talking us through what we were about to see. This is the one and only picture I took. It was amazing.

Georgia: Here is the temperature data recorded at a high school about 20 minutes north of Athens, GA We were at 99.7% totality.

            Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Teacher Eclipse Pictures Here is a collection of pictures and comments from Science Teacher members of the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association)

[luckygoami]

The Maine @ 9:30 Club [May 3, 2017]

Please ignore any and all typos in this. It’s coming from my phone since no real wifi to do it in the computer. But that’s okay because I don’t mind one bit.

So yesterday, May 3, I along with my older sister went to Washington, D.C. We were meant to be there all day but people do things and plans get ruined. I digress though! The reason we were in D.C. was because The Maine was on tour!! I mean obviously anyone who enjoys the band knows they were on tour but still. The last time I saw The Maine was in May 2011 in North Carolina, so a good 6 years have passed. Back then, I was only 14 I believe. I had either not started high school yet or was just starting. So for me to be able to see them again live at all was amazing.

My sister (who I’m visiting) lives all the way in Baltimore. The two of us caught a train to Union Station but because of a track issue, the train (well every train) was delayed for at least 2 ½ hours. We boarded around 3:30 were meant to arrived by 4:30 at the latest but because of the delays, we didn’t actually get to D.C. until much later. It was already 7 when we were at the stop before ours. Then we still had time to go and didn’t reach D.C. until about 8. That big of a delay even after we started moving. So imagine my sadness when I found that I had missed Beach Weather. When my sister and I got into the club, they were setting up for The Mowgli’s. I’ve made a promise to myself to see Beach Weather one day.

Before the announcement of the tour, I had actually never heard of The Mowgli’s. But I’m glad I found them. Their overall energy and vibe are amazing and Katie’s speech during the break between songs was nothing short of amazing or love filled. Her words about love and being accepting and just being good and okay is something I could really get into hearing all the time. Not only that, but the raw feeling of the band itself and the connections I didn’t even think could happen actually happened. If this sounds like a lot of running around words and not saying anything, that’s literally how I felt listening to them. They have a great sound and their energy is hype but it’s not something I can put into words correctly. The saying “you have to see it to believe it” really rings true. If any of The Mowgli’s read this, come to Charlotte NC please. I wanna see you guys again and get a picture with you next time!

So… onto The Maine event. Like my pun? No? Okay. Anyway! Let me tell you why I feel like I set up the best day of my life so far. Originally I was on the right end of the stage but something told me to just move over to the other side. Of course I could’ve ignored it but you know. Why would you ignore your instinct at a freakin concert? So I moved and got some pics as they changed from The Mowgli’s to the LLL stage. The roses were great but the turf was a nice touch. The lights dimmed and then it happened. The guys came out on the same side I was standing on. They didn’t see me coming in and only Kennedy waved going out but that close proximity. Anyway there was literally no way. When I first saw them, Black & White was “new.” Not new but it was the most recent album. Who would’ve thought that a year old was “recent.” In Darkness & In Light was out by the 2011 concert too but that’s not the point. The point is, if you needed a mental picture of time there it is. So it’s been a loooong time.

They started playing and being right next to a speaker was probably bad but it was pretty good cause you’re literally right in front of the music. Anyway, I’m not here to rate the concert. I wanna tell how great it is for me and GOD it was AMAZING. During the concert, John was John. Talking about gettin those pits sweaty. My favorite part though was when he was lookin over the crowd and pointed me out. It wasn’t random though. I have an unhealthy obsession with headbands and at the current moment, I have about 10. I won’t go into all of them but I have a lot of cat ears. One of them I recently got and it was perfect. Red cat ears and with roses on them. When getting ready that day, I was trying to decide if I could wear my rose cat ears or a crown. With respect to the current album’s aesthetic, I chose to go with roses and my sister had some rose earrings that I wore too. During the show John looked over and noticed them and as a result, noticed me. You have no idea how happy that made me. Then there was Jason! Hands down the best part of the set. This concert was the stuff that I absolutely LIVE for. As they were going off later on, myself and some others called out to get some of their attention but only Kenneth noticed. He waved and we were happy.

Later, a lot of people got outside because it was over what else do you do? I wanted to get a picture like everyone else with them so we waited outside. That is until Pat came out and told us they’d actually be inside. I didn’t even notice Pat came by until I turned and he was basically next to me. The people at the club kept trying to tell us that nobody can come back in after they went out because they were trying to clean of course, all of us were like that’s not gonna fly because Pat just told us they’d be inside. Luckily they eventually let us in and we all had to line up. There were so many people that it basically reached back down stairs and into the main floor. It was about 10, maybe 15, minutes before the boys came up to meet and take pictures. It had to be real quick so at first it was pic or autograph and no videos or anything. After it was pic OR autograph, not both. Picked picture because that’s amazing compared to an autograph to me.

Let me tell you. These guys are amazing close up and I almost died. Like I was exploding with happiness because last time I saw them I didn’t even get to say hi up closed, I had to go. Anyway, John recognized my ears and high fived me along with giving me a hug. For the picture, I was between Kennedy and Pat. I really think they’re the only “normal” ones of the band. But the craziest one is probably Garrett who seems to have done something crazy in every photo he took. But that’s why I love him ya know? I always say “Oh x is my favorite” or “Y is the best” but honestly it’s hard when they’re all so genuine. My sister kept telling people it was my birthday (which was last week) and so they all wished me happy birthday and ghddjndwjjej it makes me happy just thinking of it. So we said our goodbyes and such and they wished me happy birthday again before we left. I saw some of my new friends down at the bottom of the line too so we pretty much shared happiness especially after they got their pictures.

My sister and I hung out for a bit outside Satellite Room. Well I was in the half in-half out area since I couldn’t go alllll the way in but it was okay. When my sister came out, we say one of the girls I met and we were both basically just waiting around for selfies and to say good bye one last time. It took a while but I and another girl in our group we were with got one last picture with John. He wore my cat ears and ahhh so happy! He also gave me another hug so there’s that. Ever underestimate how tall or short someone is? I don’t realize how tall John was. Pat is around my height & Garrett may be too, but Kennedy, Jared, and John are actually tall. In the selfie, John had to bend over in order to be the same height as me.

After that, we got to go home. It was a fun experience and I immediately went to sleep when I got in. I was so tired and drained that I didn’t even take my shoes off or change clothes. I’ve been sleep most of the day too so until I’m fully up or forced to go out, I’m not changing yet. That’s all there was though.

During the concert, both myself and my sister meet some really cool people. Some traveled a few states, some within the state, some all the way from another country. I even got the red flag they were selling. I wanted more but the flag was my #1 want. I really just had a lot of fun and couldn’t ask for more. My sister who had never head of them even really enjoyed herself which was my main goal.

Did you go last night at 9:30 club? If not, have you gone to any of the LLL tour dates or do you plan on it? Sorry for this super long post. Funnily enough, it doesn’t even go into all that I enjoyed. Some things can’t be put to words.

With this, I hope to get back to reviewing music and concerts that I go to. So many bands and musicians follow me on Twitter every week that I feel like I need to do SOMETHING. So, if you have a band that’s had/having a recent release please let me know. I also plan on going to see All Time Low in August which my sister does know and maybe even Vans Warped Tour this year. I’ve actually never been to Vans or an ATL concert (that’s a totally different story too) so I hope this is the year I do more than I have ever done. Thanks for reading!

You can check out basically all of my pictures from yesterday on my Instagram (@happyflowercami). Go check it out!

- Ami