#I have never been taught anything about sewing at all so I basically just do what feels right usually 😬 probably not the best way to

[running-in-the-dark]

Sorry stupid question: how do you do the pinning when hemming your own pants? My hands (like most people's) are very far away from my ankles and when I bend over, my pants become a different length than they were before.

oh, I'm definitely no expert at all, but what I usually do is just pin them roughly where I think would be good. then stand up, walk around a little, maybe sit down - just to see how they fit when I'm moving. then I adjust the pins until I think it's good!

I'm sure there's really informative videos on how to do it properly on YouTube if you wanna hear how people who actually know stuff do it :')

[whereslynx]

[PART 2] Stepping in for Oscar “Spooky” Diaz

pov: mothering a child who isn’t yours isn’t easy, especially if it’s the leader of the santos’ younger brother; you’d know, you’ve been doing it since the end of your high school years. but for oscar — god, for that man, you’d do anything.

PART 1 (LINK)

a/n: thank you for the support guys :) i appreciate it so much !!

☽✶•┈┈┈•◦❥◦•┈┈┈•✶☾

☽✶•┈┈┈•◦❥◦•┈┈┈•✶☾

God, you couldn’t have been any more wrong.

Everything wasn’t okay. Cesar wasn’t safer. In fact, within the short span of Oscar being home, he was jumped into the Santos, rolled up on, ordered to kill a prophet. And now, they beat him to a pulp and basically ejected him from not only the Santos, but from his home after Latrelle was found alive, resulting in the death of Olivia and injury of Ruby. Cesar’s life was falling apart fast and you couldn’t do anything about it.

The first few weeks of Oscar getting released was filled with you smothering him with your love. Your undying loyalty for his— your family was evident within Cesar’s healthy figure. He was beyond proud and grateful that you stuck around for something that you didn’t sign up for, and he made sure you knew that. But when the days went by and more and more unfortunate events preyed on Cesar’s life after he joined the Santos, it all pushed you to distance yourself from Oscar by the hour.

He still remembers the night you found out Cesar was jumped in. The two Diaz boys will never forget how only a shaken gasp just left your lips when you lifted up his shirt. You didn’t shout or cry when you saw Cesar come home with Oscar with a bruised stomach, only biting back a cry and slamming the front door behind you without a word. The silence in the house after you left was overwhelming, pushing Cesar to twist the doorknob with the intent to explain himself to you. “Don’t. I know how she is when she gets like this.” Oscar barked just as about Cesar was going to run after you, “She needs space. Leave her be, vale?” he said, not even turning to face him as he spoke. Almost as if he didn’t want Cesar to see his expression, afraid to show weakness or vulnerability. Cesar sheepishly nodded, “Claro.” he responded with a mumble before leaving quietly to his room. You didn’t return until hours later with a tear stained face, slipping into you and Oscar’s shared bed without a word. You didn’t know if he was awake or not, but you didn’t want to know because the rest of the night was filled with a consuming silence.

The life of being in a gang wasn’t foreign to you. You grew up in Freeridge and around Santos all your life, and your relationship with Oscar that’s been ongoing since high school allowed you to bear witness to the gang life. But seeing the boy you considered your baby live through it brought sorrow to your heart, especially when Oscar had kicked him out of the house. You were torn between the weight of understanding what Oscar had to do because of Cuchillos, and whacking him over the head for kicking your baby boy out.

You weren’t Cesar’s biological mother, but you raised him since he was a child whilst Oscar was locked up. He was your everything, he taught you what it was to be a mother before you even bared your own child. And you hated to admit it because you swore to love Oscar through everything, but an overwhelming sense of anger stirred in you. You were angry that Cesar had to be jumped into the gang, and you were angry at the circumstances that you and Oscar had to deal with.

Your late night thoughts were put on halt when you felt the other side of the bed slightly sink, telling you that Oscar was home. But you didn’t shift in the bed, you didn’t turn around and whisper a quiet hello with a sweet kiss like you always did— No, you stayed under the covers with your back turned on him. He must’ve known you were awake because you felt his eyes on you, the silence sewing tension into the atmosphere. “Damn. Got yo’ back turned on me and everything, ma.” Oscar grunted from the edge of the bed, “What’s up with you?” he asked, a tinge of frustration in his tone. When you didn’t respond, a ‘tsk’ left Oscar’s lips as his gaze fixated on the narrow shaft of the midnight sky that broke through the darkness. Its light slipped through the crack of the curtains, illuminating the dark room with a soft, silver glow.

With a sharp inhale of a ravening fury, you sat up in the bed and turned to Oscar with furrowed brows, “Fuck you mean what’s up with me, Oscar?” you hissed with an expression of anger, “Do you expect me to shower you with affection while the boy I— We, raised is out on the streets?” you shook your head, running a hand down your face.

Oscar would’ve been a terrible boyfriend if he hadn’t recognised that look on your face. That same look on your face, was the same look you had on the day he was arrested. It was a look of sorrow and anxiety masked and disguised with an unshaken wrath.

“You think it’s any easier for me to handle?” Oscar said with a frown, “I’m as fucked up over it as you are, mami.” he growled, his jaw tightening under the intensity before he stood up from the bed and began pacing around the room. You only scoffed a laugh, swinging your legs off the bed as your feet touched the cold wooden floor, “Then why did you jump him in!?” you yelled, the volume of your voice rising without care. Cesar’s absence from home was only a bitter reminder that there was nobody left to hide your guys’ arguments from. “It was to protect him!” Oscar yelled back, his hands balling into fists. “Oh please, Oscar.” A baffled laugh left your lips, “I didn’t know you were protecting him when he came to me, crying his damn ass off because you and your manos, took him to kill a fucking prophet!” you contested, pointing a finger at him from the other side of the bed. Oscar shook his head, “Well, it’s a good thing he didn’t do it.” he grumbled, “That’s what got him kicked out in the first place.”

“Do you know how much it messes with my mental seeing my baby go through that? To have to stand by and watch him get kicked out the house by his own older brother?” You said with a quivering bottom lip, your furrowed brows marking your forehead with creases. Oscar covered his eyes with his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose, “You don’t understand, I had to. Cuchillos—“

“Fuck Cuchillos! She, outta all people should understand this twisted feeling that messes with my head every night.” You snapped, tears swelling your eyes, “Look, you did what you had to do. From a Santo’s perspective, it’s hard to do, but from a mother’s, it’s crushing. I only beg of you to see this situation as Oscar, not Spooky.” you muttered, your anger dissipating into a unresolvable state of grief once tears fell down your face.

The familiar sound of silence fell onto youse heavily, the two of you only staring at each other with broken expressions; a silent way of communicating how youse truly felt, without the burden of carrying it with words.

Oscar broke your mutual gaze, a deep sigh leaving him as he sniffled. Making his way to the other side of the bed, he wrapped his arms around you, pulling your tear stained faced against his chest. It was a gesture that you two weren’t strangers to, but you still found yourself tensing up. It’d been so long since you two embraced with the same warmth that youse prided yourselves on. But tonight, the warmth of genuine love indulged itself into the embrace, allowing you to ease into the hug. You wrapped your arms around his neck, letting a soft sob leave your lips. The weight of witnessing Cesar’s life fall apart wasn’t only dragging you down, but on Oscar as well.

“I’m sorry.” Oscar mumbled, his head leaned down to rest on your shoulder, “I have a plan. I’ll bring Cesar back, I promise.” he assured you, softly tightening his grip as a sign of his loyalty to his words. You could only nod silently, melting into his touch. “I love you.” He whispered, planting a soft kiss onto your shoulder. “I love you.” You said softly.

The life you two led was not a life of privilege, but it was undeniable that youse did find privilege in being able to walk through it together. Despite the losses that your journey might meet, with Oscar, you were sure that you would stumble, but not fall.

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Recently, through Twitter, I have become aware of the fact that modern American parents have been very ignorant of their parental duties when it comes to their children. Parents are banding together to complain about the schools their children attend because their kids are getting bad grades in class, or they're getting detentions for doing bad consistently, or they're being held back because they're just not at the same level as their peers.

There was an entire thread of some woman whining about how the school was failing her kid, because his English class grade was so bad. There were thousands of comments agreeing and various reposts with anecdotes from other parents with similar experiences.

"My 26 y/o son can't even write a check for God's sake!"

And one single person finally replied with, "Do you guys not teach your kids anything at home before they start going to school?" Which then spawned people with actual common sense questioning the level of involvement these people had in the lives of their kids.

This is what led to a large surge of people complaining about how it's the school's job to teach them everything and they did their job just keeping them alive.

Now, I don't want to be mean, but it's gonna come across that way.

Parents are lazy these days.

When I was a child, my Nana and mom had me learning with Hooked on Phonics before I entered pre-K. I was 3 years old and already sounding out words that rhymed. I was practicing how quickly I could say them in under 30 seconds so I could progress to the next lesson.

mat hat sat that cat vat pat bat fat lat rat brat

etc...

When I was in pre-K(4 years old), they had a single, really old computer that had a bunch of Winnie the Pooh CD-ROM games. Because I always got my work done faster than everybody else, they let me use the computer because I could actually read and follow Pooh's instructions, and it kept me busy.

And when I entered kindergarten for the first time, I was really surprised to see that Hooked on Phonics was actually part of my curriculum and I was already very well ahead of everyone else. My mom and Nana took traching me very seriously. They not only read to me, but they would also get me Madeline books and cassette tapes from the children's library downtown. And then I would listen to the cassettes telling the story while reading the book at the same time to get used to the words.

At three years old, I was helping out in the kitchen, learning all of the different kitchen utensils and types of measurement. My mom often went between English, French and American Sign Language at random times so I picked up a lot of stuff that way. We never had a computer in the house for the first 12 years of my life, but I did have an old keyboard to learn how to type. Nana gave me basic piano lessons for a couple years. Mom taught me how to hem my clothes because she would buy me bigger clothes, hem them to size, and then let them out as I grew. Hell, Sperm Donor taught me how to write a check when I was 8. He was also a Financial Adviser, so I got a lot of lessons on money management, investments, and 401Ks and shit.

All these incredibly simple things ended up benefiting me later on, because I was so far ahead of all of the other students that it consistently put me at odds with them. I was better at reading, cooking, sewing, music, languages, etc... I was allowed time to do whatever I wanted while the rest of them had to catch up.

There is a lot more to being a parent than just making sure your kid eats three meals a day and doesn't die in a stupid way. And it seems like a lot of parents these days have completely forgotten that they have a duty to their kids beyond the feeding and clothing thing.

Certain things SHOULD be taught in schools, like how to balance a checkbook. But if it's clear that the school won't cover it, why aren't YOU doing something about that? And why do so many parents have no clue what the hell their kids are even getting up to in school? Why don't y'all get involved in your kid's lives?

[jjmbbg]

headcanons + situations of "being an adopted child of john and abigail marston" [and being jack's older sibling].

• let's say you're about four years older than jack.

• honestly you weren't adopted by them, they just found you in the middle of the road wandering around barefoot and with your clothes a little torn.

• they took you because they felt sorry for you.

• and somehow abigail felt some special connection with you.

• the others in the gang would tease john for being a softie with you.

• although john would be happy to have you, he says it would be nice for jack to have an older sibling, someone else to play with.

• (but then john left)

• jack was one year old when he became the youngest child.

• you would both know how to read and write, although you would always help jack with the difficult words.

• abigail would teach you how to sew, basically it would be the only thing you would know how to do because it's known that she doesn't cook very well, so she couldn't teach you a lot of things.

• arthur was your "favorite uncle" in the gang, along with javier.

• javier taught you how to play the guitar and some words in spanish (he taught you curse words and abigail almost smashed the guitar on his head 'cause of that)

• let's say arthur had a soft side for you, with that in mind, he taught you how to draw.

• so you filled all the tents and notebooks with drawings.

• arthur would also take you fishing with jack.

【 ㅡ could you take care of them for a while?

arthur looked at abigail for a few seconds, agreeing.

you saw him walking towards you, jack was playing with a stick and you were sitting next to him reading his favorite book.

ㅡ whatchu up to?

ㅡ i'm playing ㅡjack answered, looking at him. ㅡ and they're reading to me.

ㅡ anything fun?

ㅡ i guess so ㅡyou said.

ㅡ you wanna come fishing with me?

ㅡ fishing?

ㅡ sounds fun ㅡyou said closing the book and marking the page you were reading.ㅡ does this sound fun to you, jackie?

ㅡ sure. you both are... it's about time that you started to earn your keep.

ㅡ okay.

ㅡ let's go get your pole then. now, you do have a fishing pole, don't you?

ㅡ uncle hosea made us two.

ㅡ cool.

the three of them went to get their fishing poles and mounted their horses, you heard the two of them talking as you looked around. you arrived at the ideal fishing spot and got off, arthur taught you both how to fish.

of course, jack got bored and sat a couple of meters away from you, but you stayed with arthur.

ㅡ how you fellin'? ㅡarthur asked you.ㅡ you know, because of your dad and that stuff.

ㅡ ah, that ㅡyou murmured.ㅡ i'm fine, i guess. mom is too and jack... i think he is too, he doesn't talk about it, although he doesn't fully understand it either.

ㅡ your mother have explained what happened, did she?

ㅡ she did it, but... well, i don't wanna talk about it...

ㅡ alright then. 】

• we know john and abigail were gonna have little girl too.

• i have the hc that she was conceived after their wedding, but she didn't make it.

• so, with that in mind, let's put ourselves in the situation where she should've been born.

• you would have stayed with jack so he wouldn't worry about his mother.

• you know, jack is anxious (canonically).

• you have a memory of hearing your little sister cry.

• however, you never saw her, neither you nor jack.

• and your family never brought the subject up to the table.

• at twelve you would ask john to teach you how to shoot because one day it would be just you and jack, and someone had to take care of him.

【 ㅡ you're twelve, i'm not gonna teach you that ㅡjohn said. but let's be honest, in part he didn't accept because abigail would castrate hi if he did.

ㅡ at my age you-

ㅡ yeah, but i didn't have other options, you do. i'm not gonna take you down that path.

ㅡ i just wanna know how to shoot, one day you will leave and so will mom and it'll be jack and i. i'll have to take care of that fool.

john was certainly be sad, although he will never show it to you. it's not that he didn't want to teach you how to shoot a gun, he just doesn't want you to get excited about learning and want to do things that put you at risk.

he ended up agreeing after many more pleas. 】

• your relationship with jack was the typical relationship of siblings where they fought at breakfast and at dinner they were already reconciled.

• and you would be the first person to come to his defense always, even if he was wrong.

【 ㅡ did you go hunting a bear by yourself? that was dangerous! and- and- stupid!

ㅡ i already know! ㅡjack would scream, then hiss in pain.ㅡ i had enough with pa, and ma would scold me worse. i already learned my lesson or whatever.

ㅡ ... at least let me sew your clothes while you clean up, okay?

ㅡ ... okay.

[...]

ㅡ i did my best at sewing it, and it doesn't look too bad ㅡyou said, extending his clothes to him.ㅡ i also washed them and let them dry, have you rested yet?

ㅡ you don't have to worry about me ㅡhe said annoyed.

ㅡ are you mad at me? ㅡyou asked, almost without being able to believe it.

ㅡ yes- no- i don't know! ㅡhe screeched.ㅡ it's just... i think i'm just mad at myself.

ㅡ and why is that? ㅡyou took a seat next to him on his mattress.

ㅡ i think... that i'm like this because i couldn't catch it...

ㅡ it's okay to not achieve things the first time.

ㅡ no, it's not okay ㅡhe said, standing up as best he could and walked around his room trying to calm down. ㅡ i'm supposed to already know how to do these hunting things, i learned how to skin elk!

ㅡ but it's not the same, jack. it's different to hunt animals that are hunters and animals that are fairly harmless.

ㅡ it doesn't matter anymore. and could you come out of my room? i want to change.

ㅡ let me check your wounds and i'll leave.

ㅡ does mom know?

ㅡ i don't know, i doubt it.

you checked the state of his wounds and changed his bandages.

ㅡ great, will you go now?

ㅡ mhm, just... wait.

in the midst of his struggle to put on his shirt, you hugged him.

ㅡ this is weird ㅡjack murmured, not knowing whether to reciprocate or not the hug.ㅡ very weird.

ㅡ shut up ㅡyou told him.ㅡ i wish you were sixteen forever.

jack seemed to understand what you were talking about, so he allowed himself to reciprocate your hug by murmuring a simple "it's okay." 】

• john's (and uncle's) death would have led you to take care of what was left of your family, trying to maintain order.

• but then abigail died.

• and jack wanted to revenge his family.

• you couldn't stop him.

• and he didn't look back when he left.

• it would have been weeks since jack left without telling you where.

• obviously you couldn't just die, you still had to take care of the farm and for yourself, with or without him.

• one day, while you were driving the cows, you saw him riding through the entrance of the place.

• he had returned.

【 ㅡ okay, little cows, tomorrow you'll go back to grazing ㅡyou told them as if they would understand you.

you got off your horse and went home, when you were going up the stairs in the entrance you saw him.

your stupid brother had already returned.

you smiled and returned on your steps as jack got off his (your dad's) horse and walked towards you. you stood facing each other, not knowing who should speak first.

ㅡ you're back ㅡyou said after a few eternal seconds of silence.

ㅡ i killed someone ㅡhe said.ㅡ i killed him, i- edgar ross died and i caused it.

you looked at him surprised and nodded your head as you listened to him talk about his journey.

ㅡ why did you do it?

ㅡ i told you it was for revenge. someone had to avenge uncle, ma and pa ㅡhe responded cautiously.

ㅡ and do you feel good after having done it?

jack didn't respond, in fact, he wasn't even looking at your face, he had his own hidden behind his hat. you raised your hand to lift him by the chin and make him deign to look you in the eyes and answer your question.

but then he sniffed.

ㅡ jackie... ㅡyou called him, feeling your heart break.

ㅡ it didn't feel good at all ㅡhe cried out.ㅡ i thought it would do it, that something would change, but no... nothing happened.

you hugged him because you knew he wasn't going to ask you to and you also knew it was what he needed most.

ㅡ they're gone... ma, pa, uncle... all gone...

ㅡ i know, jackie, i know. and i'm not going anywhere.

ㅡ pa said the same thing.

ㅡ maybe, but i'm not him. 】

[alaskan-wallflower]

I have this headcanon that all the Curtis brothers know how to sew and crochet because their Mom taught them. Though their Mom never got to teach Pony how to crochet so Darry and Soda decided to teach him to make up for it.

Also their sewing skills come in handy because whenever they rip their clothes or the gang needs their clothes repaired they usually can sew it back to “new”

Darry is the best sewer but Ponyboy practices the most so when he gets older he ends up being the best at both sewing and crocheting. Soda is really good at both aswell but he never has the patience to do more than a simple clothing repair.

wait wait wait wait you might be onto something, next 👀

i remember i made a headcanon a while ago (found here!) where darry learned how to see from his mom and ended up repairing one of pony’s plushies when he was a kid after some other kid ripped it up at school…i’ve always been big on the “darry knowing how to sew” train but i never considered either of the other two knowing!

i think you’re right-soda knows how to do a basic stitch and he knows how to crochet at least a bit (it gave him something to do with his hands as a kid) and pony enjoys just about anything that he can do while daydreaming and zoning out lol

they def make each other little things-pony sewed darry a winter hat because he was scared he’d get frostbite in the winter time :(

this is so cute oh my gosh, i love this!

[overthinkingtaleblr]

Hey. Having a bad week day right now and your blog is a huge comfort. Can I request some fluffy headcanons for PIE?

Of course! I'm a couple days late because I was swamped with work when the ask came in, but this has been living rent-free in my head for the past 24 hours. PIE has SO MUCH potential for headcanons, it would be amiss to not to touch on the softer side of things! I like to think that PIE was a turn for the better in all of their lives, and I do want to see them happy in spite of my open adoration of dramatics.

Time to let them be happy 🥺 I may have gotten carried away. Everything is under the cut! There are a LOT of words and I don’t expect everyone to read it all at once, it’s okay if it’s too much/you need to stop and come back to it later ^^;

Fluffy PIE Headcanons For The Soul (and Anon <3)

Personal Fluff

Colon actually didn’t believe in ghosts before his first mission with PIE. He just thought Ghost was interesting, and wanted to see what the job of a “paranormal investigator” entailed. He was already a bit of a hobbyist, reading some books about them for fun instead of thinking it was real. Since being introduced, he’s dived headfirst into exploring the paranormal and some types of magic. He feels like a whole new world has been opened up to him.

Colon loves the idea of being a parent some day and has done quite a bit of research to learn how to be properly responsible of children. He was considering being a teacher when he first entered college, but he preferred studying forensics to teaching it.

Because Colon is the only one of the team who has never met any of the other members of the team until adulthood, they don’t know anything about his family. Sometimes he just makes things up because he genuinely thinks they’re making things up with how crazy their families sound. They take him at face value.

Though he’s doing way better now that he’s older, Colon had some notable health issues while growing up, and is no stranger to hospitals and medical procedures. Taking care of his own health and taking note of his symptoms and what caused them has made him very good at giving advice when others are feeling sick, meaning he’s very on-top of making sure everyone is taking care of themselves (if they come to him first, he’s not here to pry). Especially Ghost.

Colon has a kind of beautiful and deep singing voice… but he only ever sings show tunes since he did a lot of theater growing up.

Ghost is usually very prickly, but gets more friendly to social and physical interactions when tired. This usually means he actually ends up more touch-friendly during all-night missions.

Growing up, Ghost’s dads taught him to sew and repair his own clothes when he was in middle school. Meaning in middle school and early high school, he had a variety of fun and interesting patches on his clothes.

Part of the reason why Ghost is so annoyed about being confused for the Ghostbusters is that he really feels like they “ruined” public perception of paranormal investigators in general. Despite his irritable nature, he’s aware that there is more to his job than deleting ghosts from existence and seeing every undead as a threat.

This is also why so much of the team’s tools and machines are home-constructed because he refuses to buy tools that the Ghostbusters sell or are associated with and they are kind of an industry giant. Also they were given some training by his dad but he likes to ignore that.

Ghost actually can read, he’s just super dyslexic and he’s basically decided he doesn’t even want to try if he’s going to be such an annoying struggle.

Spooker has a massive collection of stuffed animals that he treats with incredible love and care.

Spooker is actually allergic to cats, but loves cats and cat-themed things. He is willing to cuddle with a kitty if it means he has to suffer itchy eyes and sneezing. Won’t stop him from complaining about the consequences, though.

Technically out of the whole team, Spooker is both the least and most qualified member of the team. Part of the qualifications for the job is a degree in something that matches the field/industry, and Spooker doesn’t have that… what he DOES have is first-hand experience with the paranormal since BIRTH. He thinks that this is the funniest thing.

Spooker has everyone’s coffee/not coffee orders memorized and sometimes buys for the team on days where he feels he can take the detour.

Whatever the opposite of a green thumb is, Spooker has been cursed for it. He has killed every plant that has passed through his hands unless it was somehow already dead. He’s gotten into flower pressing to make up for it, and presses flowers that represent important dates to him.

After developing an interest in art in university, Toast actually learned how to sketch borderline photorealism, and has tons and tons of doodles in his writings. Buildings they explored on their journeys, sketches of the ghosts they encountered, and a Lot of beautiful but haunting pictures of Mary… and Ghost.

Toast keeps a planner with important dates circled and underlined, including the date everyone joined the team, everyone’s birthdays, and other important dates that may need celebration or revisiting.

In the PIE HQ, there’s a random tape of the Great British Bake-off mixed among all the other work VHS tapes by an old office TV. No one’s noticed it yet, but if they were to put it on, they’d see a college-age Johnny Toast featuring as one of the bakers in the episode. He looks so squishy.

Despite his job, Toast actually hates really scary horror movies and finds them to be a little too much. He can take supernatural-based movies since they feel so unrealistic to him, but the blood and gore in a lot of them is too much. Also, a lot of possession movies make him uncomfortable because he’s had to live through having someone he loves being possessed, and he doesn’t like how much it’s treated like the end-all be-all with few options.

Toast has a habit of feeding local stray animals, but doesn’t know all the local fauna and was feeding opossums for a long while thinking they were some kind of cat or bald rat or something, he didn’t want to ask.

Relationship Fluff

In order of who met first:

Johnny Ghost and Fred Soup

Surprisingly in first, Spooker first met Johnny Ghost when he was Gregory Casket. Spooker’s dad had several positive encounters with Timothy Casket and Johnny Ghost Senior, allowing for the two kids to have semi-frequent playdates. Ghost doesn’t remember this at all, but Spooker’s known since after the puppet arc. Spooker considers Ghost his oldest friend before of this.

Always the commanding kid, Gregory/Ghost actually came up with the nickname Spooker, it just stuck. Fred stopped going by the nickname around high school, but chose to take it up again because it just seemed to fit the paranormal investigating job.

Ghost has one-sided beef with Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza because of his time as a McDonalds manager in a city where everyone preferred pizza. Unknown to Spooker, this is most of the reason why Ghost was so annoyed during Spooker’s first mission. Ghost did Not want to be there and just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Around when Chris first getting used to the team’s dynamic, he told Ghost that he’s far too critical to Spooker, so for about a week, Ghost tried holding himself back and being “nicer”. Spooker quickly caught on and told him that her liked that Ghost was honest and serious with him— even if it was kind of mean. He felt it meant that Ghost would always be honest with him and didn’t see him as someone who needed to be coddled.

Ghost was pretty openly mean about Spooker’s stuffed animals when he first joined the team, but got pretty used to them after awhile and will offer to repair them when one gets ripped or damaged so Spooker doesn’t get upset.

For his fifth anniversary with the team, Ghost made a big deal about not wanting to get anything for Spooker, only to present him with a hand-sewn stuffed animal with the PIE symbol on its little arms and back. Spooker cried.

Ghost tried to make him stop by saying that it was only made from scraps that Ghost had lying around from repairing the team’s stuff. Spooker cried harder.

He named the stuffed animal Tart and lets Woah sleep with it when she needs something to hold at night.

Johnny Ghost and Johnny Toast

Toast was actually seen as the problem child out of the two of them when they first met. Ghost was still kind of shell-shocked and processing his PSTD, and Toast was lashing out at anything because the sudden change in his lift was stressing him out. The two were sometimes paired together by the school’s faculty because they were hoping Ghost’s easy-to-startle nature would make Toast settle down. Instead, Ghost got more hectic as he worked through his problems, and Toast barely mellowed out as he adjusted to life in the States.

Ghost was the first person to really be there for Toast after what happened to Mary. He was the only one who really had an idea of what Toast was going through, and tried his best to give Toast the comfort that he would have wanted when he was going through his own grief. It was more effort than Toast was hoping for and really helped him in ways he didn’t know he needed.

Toast tried to go no-contact with his family around when he graduated University, and maintained it up until the founding of PIE. He saw how much working several jobs for all hours just to keep the lights at PIE on was wearing out Ghost, and reached back out to his family for the money so Ghost wouldn’t have to work so hard.

For the longest time, Toast’s Home Screen on his phone was him and Ghost making a hand heart together… in front of an explosion. Ghost had a similar one as his Lock Screen, except his was over a swallowing abyss, and his Home Screen was all black. Ghost thought it was funny, but Toast thought it was adorable that they matched.

Though he’s very prim and proper with the team, Toast is actually pretty messy when at home. He can manage his own stuff, but he struggles at keeping a tidy space. To make up for this, Ghost regularly marks days on the calendar when they’ll spend the morning cleaning before they go to work, and take note of what specifically needs focus throughout the week.

When Johnny Toast first got into cosplay, he would go to stores to get the outfits and wigs or buy them cheap online and try to grin and bear the quality. Ghost couldn’t help with the wig aspect, but he’d sew incredibly complicated outfit designs for Toast under the guise that he wanted to prove that the quality of the store-bought stuff was That Bad.

That’s part of why he doesn’t want to go anywhere with Toast while Toast is in cosplay because he’s actually kind of embarrassed of his earlier work but doesn’t want to make Toast retire his favorite outfits.

Both Toast and Ghost have had long enough hair to braid in the past (or present, for Ghost), and they’ve had moments of absent-mindedly braiding segments of each other’s hair.

Toast was Not the only person getting fangirls and stalkers, Ghost just looked at Toast, saw him as the hottest man on the planet, and went ‘yeah, that’s the only reason why they’re here.’

Johnny Toast and Fred Soup

Originally, Toast didn’t realize that Spooker was going to be a long-term member of the team, and he thought Spooker quit when he went missing halfway through the Puppet Arc. Realizing that Spooker lowkey sacrificed himself to try to save Ghost made Toast come around to him staying with the team… Spooker also didn’t realize Toast was the other member of the team until after Ghost got back, though. Only Ghost knows that they were both confused.

Spooker insists upon keeping track of the birthdays of ghosts that they see frequently, and Toast has begrudgingly began adding them to his planner. It does require trudging through graveyards or examining old records sometimes, and it can be a lot more work than anyone was asking for… but Toast is glad it makes Spooker happy.

Spooker loves Toast’s art and is trying to convince him to try coloring some of it with watercolors. Toast doesn’t want to admit that paint deeply confuses him, so he just lets Spooker do it for him.

Lacking blood when he’s spectral (a consequence of being half-ghost), Spooker actually struggles with generating his own body heat. On the other hand, Toast generates warmth faster when infected with lycanthropy. That being said, when both conditions are met, the two can consistently be found together, as close as possible.

Unexpected to Toast, Spooker actually knew several werewolves growing up and figured out Toast was a werewolf before anyone told him. This led to Spooker giving Toast some really good werewolf-coping advice up until he was properly cured, and Toast thinking it was just a really insane coincidence for like. A year after it.

Despite Spooker not really having a paycheck for literal years, Toast would find “sneaky” ways to pay him for his work. Toast thought he was slick, but Spooker just didn’t want to comment about how he was being given like 200 dollars for gas money and 500 dollars to restock the fridge at the base. He just thought it was like how Ghost was bad at reading and didn’t want to bring it up.

Spooker saw a picture of Toast with his hair long and in a ponytail soon after college and has been begging him to grow it out ever since then. He thinks Toast’s hair is literally angelic and can’t imagine why he likes it short. Toast just says he got sick of brushing ghost slime out of it.

Spooker can’t tell Toast and Gavin apart, to the point where he kind of doesn’t remember they’re different people after being explained that they are. Gavin feels horrible for tricking him because Spooker is always really nice to him, even after being told that he isn’t Toast. Toast thinks it’s funny, though.

Chris Ghostie and Johnny Ghost

Ghost was really friendly with Colon while he was driving Ghost to his location. It had been a long time since a stranger who was ignorant about the supernatural was actually interested in learning about it and wasn’t judgmental, weird, or gave Ghost a fake smile before brushing him off. They had a long, friendly conversation that mostly consisted in Ghost explaining how the paranormal worked from a professional perspective, which Colon was very receptive to. That’s the main reason why he allowed a stranger with no experience to come with him on a potentially dangerous mission. He thought Colon really had the chops for the job. And he was right.

Though Colon was initially very drawn to Ghost, there was a period of time where he doubted himself because Ghost could come off as kind of cruel to the other members of the team sometimes. It took him awhile to realize it was just a front and that Ghost had a very soft inside with a very prickly outside… that was also when he realized Ghost probably really liked him to start their friendship by exposing his soft side.

Colon originally found his nickname kind of annoying, but Ghost laughing about it actually made it grow on him over time. He’s found he’s grown more comfortable with it over time. Also, he’s found ways to make fun of Ghost back if it ever strikes a nerve with him.

Despite spending incredibly minimal time with the team compared to everyone else, Colon was able to tell the difference between Ghost and Casket incredibly easy. He’s started spraying Ghost with water when he suddenly spikes with Casket activity out of nowhere to startle Ghost back to attention.

He can also tell the difference between Johnny Ghost and Johnny Cranky almost immediately, but didn’t tell Cranky the first time the doppelgänger tried pulling one over on him. He made up a Ton of fake drama happening inside of PIE to freak Cranky out and circulate false information around DIE. At this point, he sees Cranky as the most unthreatening version of Ghost.

According to Colon, upon realizing Colon’s love of research and learning, Ghost appointed him the team teacher so that Colon could teach every newcomer to the team. According to Ghost, he gave Colon the job so he’d stop suggesting they hire or adopt every vaguely paranormal-inclined person and creature, because then they’d be his responsibility to deal with (he did not stop).

When Colon gets really excited about a book, he usually tells Ghost about it because chances are, Ghost is never going to read it so he really doesn’t care about spoilers. This is the only way that Ghost has ever actually gotten invested in books— fiction and nonfiction— because Colon is very, very thematic when he summarizes stories.

While Ghost was retired, Colon sent regular emails to Ghost’s work email as kind-of a diary. He figured that even if Ghost opened his work email, he wouldn’t read most of them, even if he sent something back. Ghost didn’t actually open his work email again until right before he was considering joining the team. Part him wanted to find it annoying, but it’s part of what eventually pushed him into joining back. He used TTS to read them all.

Fred Soup and Chris Ghostie

These two have the strongest stomachs to blood and gore on the team, and first started going over to each other’s places to watch horror movies together. They tried making it into a team thing, but had to stop making it a horror thing when they realized Ghost and Toast weren’t as into it.

When Spooker realized Ghost only recognizes him with the hat, it was Colon’s idea to dye his hair a bubblegum pink. He dyed streaks of his own hair a temporary blue in solidarity, but it was kind of hard to see without bleach.

Colon asked Spooker why he acts kind of stupid on the job, and Spooker explained that most ghosts would underestimate him if they thought he was stupid. Colon thought that as a little bit ingenious and will sometimes join in, much to Ghost’s tired annoyance. To be nice, Colon will take missions seriously when it’s just him and Ghost.

They started putting on Bluey for Woah to watch, but Colon quickly realized that some of the episodes counted as honest-to-god parenting advice and pulled Spooker into watching some of the episodes with him. He didn’t realize it would be actually kind of therapeutic for Spooker.

They have a Minecraft server together. Woah has her own special area that Colon used mod privileges around to ensure mobs wouldn’t spawn. They put their minecraft beds together.

Colon has a lot of dietary restrictions because of his. Whole relationship with specifically his colon, so Spooker went out of his way to learn new recipes and double-check some of his old recipes so Colon would always have something he could eat without a stomachache anytime Spooker cooks for the team. It took some experimenting, but they figured out a system, and Colon is really grateful.

In spite of getting all his information from Johnny ‘they are the most threatening, horrifying thing on the planet’ Ghost, he’s chosen to go out of his way to give Spooker’s demon cat plushie a chance. Though he is still a little suspicious about it getting too close to Woah.

Colon is the only member of PIE that Spooker has personally introduced to his dad without his dad knowing they were involved with PIE, meaning Colon is the only member of PIE who Chakalata likes. (He begrudgingly kept liking Colon even after finding out the truth.)

Chris Ghostie and Johnny Toast

Out of all the members of PIE, Toast was the only one Colon knew of before joining PIE. How? He’s read Toast’s book cover-to-cover. Several times. He has multiple sections and most of the cases detailed in that book memorized.

Colon is gradually and slowly trying to teach Toast to drive in return for more background information about Toast’s book.

A big reason why Toast doesn’t experience curses or magical afflictions as often as he used to isn’t really because they stopped coming, but because Colon started making him different charms and curse-repellants when he realized how often Toast suffers because of the supernatural. He is a little disturbed with how quickly Toast goes through them, but Toast is just relieved to have any break. At all.

Colon was incredibly excited of Toast’s cosplaying when he found out about it, and has offered to tag along with him to contests, or to dress up with him if he needs a double. They’re the closest to being the same size out of everyone on the team, so Colon can actually wear some of Toast’s older costumes if the need arises.

Colon is sometimes disappointed that he missed out on Toast being a werewolf (in cases where Toast gets cured and manages not to get it again) because the stories from Ghost and Spooker makes it sound way cuter than it actually was.

Toast and Colon are both incredibly organization-oriented, and both have different methods of keeping track of things. Sometimes they compare notes to make sure that they have everything since they tend to value different information.

I dunno if I said this anywhere else, but I’m dubbing these two as the biggest nerds on the team. They will talk fandom and understand what the other person is talking about. They compare tv shows and movies and talk about the state of the animation industry and how best to support actors. It’s fun and exciting.

He’s also really good at telling Gavin and Toast apart, but tends to doubt himself since Gavin will commit to the bit as hard as possible and he doesn’t want to make Ghost panic. Sometimes, Toast is Just that chaotic and that’s okay.

Team-Focused Fluff

Every primary member of the team can pick up and carry Ghost with relative ease. On days when Ghost is dazed or out of it for some reason, he has been picked up and carried by the nearest teammate in the chase.

Toast getting strong-armed into keeping track of the birthdays of ghosts has actually had the humanizing but unintended side affect of actually re-learning and teaching ghosts their own birthdays. They all react differently, some better some worse. Maxwell actually eased up on them. Aimee cried.

Colon has needed a surgery or two since joining the team, and absolutely everyone joined in to make sure he was as comfortable as possible. They did give him space and time to recover on his own, but they also went out of his way to make sure they had snacks he could eat and that he was always comfortable and had something to do. One time he was bored to a point that the usual methods wouldn’t fixed, so they set up a whole mystery in his room for him to solve without straining himself.

EVERYONE on the team has a story around biting someone that they were too young to remember but their parents thought were notable/hilarious. Spooker bit another kid while playing a game where everyone was an animal (~1yrs old - he was probably just teething, but his dad thought it was really funny), Ghost bit someone while he was being taken in after being found wandering in the woods (~7-8yrs old something his dads always noted as being a sign that he was a fighter— trying to spin it into a positive), Toast bit one of the servants who was taking care of him when they tried to pry as to why the usually chipper toddler was suddenly being so closed off (~4-5yrs old - his mother’s first red flag that something was happening to her children, but it would be another few years before anything was done about it), and Colon bit a doctor while dazed and waking up after a dental surgery (~7yrs - old his mother thinks it’s hilarious). They find it funny that THAT’S a distinct and notable thing they all have in common.

It’s really hard to get a babysitter for Woah. Options in the past have ranged from random teens in the paper (Woah just does whatever she wants since they can’t touch her), Maddie-Friend per Gertrude’s recommendation (overall really responsible, but usually busy with college or stalking), Spencer Acachalla to keep him from coming on missions after he forced himself onto the team (puts Woah on the coms while playing online games to make them think a six-year-old girl is destroying them… also managed to burn water), Poppy Soup per Spooker’s request (she invited friends over without realizing one of them was the ghost the team was after and got herself banned from babysitting… but was otherwise okay.), and Maxwell Acachalla (Colon was hoping it would be therapeutic. It actually kind of worked. He has no idea how to cook food.).

They have talked about starting a band, mostly as a joke. They kind of stopped talking about it when they realized they would technically be a boy band.

Everyone in the team is actually pretty okay at cooking. Spooker is the most skilled at cooking a lot of food at a time for a group of people, of course, but that’s not the only needed skill. Toast has an incredible attention to detail when picking out ingredients but struggles at measuring time, Ghost is adept at using replacements when lacking specific ingredients but doesn’t keep track of the level of nutrients he’s taking in at a time, and Colon is incredible at making a little go a long way but gets easily overwhelmed in a large kitchen. Also, Spooker most struggles at cooking for just himself, often making wayyy too many leftovers.

Casket will sometimes bore and start poking around with stuff if he can’t find anyone after finding himself in control with Ghost’s body. That’s how the team walked in on him trying and failing to sing Karaoke with Ghost’s hoodie around his neck like a cape after they left Ghost at home for a mission because he had a migraine. This was the most humanizing moment Spooker and Colon have ever had with Jimmy Casket. It was also incredibly embarrassing for Jimmy. He tried killing Toast for managing to get pictures and everything devolved into chaos, but Toast ultimately won.

Everyone tends to wear different styles outside of work than they do in work. Toast actually prefers to dress down and wear more casual, rugged, and loose-fitting clothes. Spooker likes colorful, flowing stuff with sparkles and loose bits. He has also done some bedazzling of some of PIE’s tools. Colon likes wearing a bit of an academia look or business casual and enjoys jewelry. The only exception is Ghost, nothing on the planet will get him to part from styling his entire outfit around an oversized hoodie and thick-soled combat boots. They only ever look coordinated when they’re on the clock.

They celebrate Halloween like no one’s business. They also Hate Halloween because of the spike of absurd cases— both fake and real. It’s kind of hard to tell someone they’re overreacting when there IS a chance that SOME GHOST is crazy enough to do JUST ABOUT ANYTHING just because it’s Halloween.

Thanks for asking, and I hope your week has improved as much as possible since you sent that ask <3

[shining-gem34]

||Basic HC's ideas for March 7th and PomPom

March 7th

-Photography is her passion because since she has no memory of her past- She wants to take pictures of every adventure she has been in so she won't ever forget.

-She definitely can sew after Himeko (and Natasha) taught her. Any recent plushies are made by her hands. :3

-Definitely into the arts and crafts where she likes making scrapbooks and collage books eith her photos. Have to make them cute and pretty!

-90% of the time she will be the one to intiate a "girls" night among the trio. Yes she will drag Dan Heng and Caelus for sleepover in her room.

-Still debating on her weapons choice and why she chose a bow. It could be something she is adept with. It could also be the easiest(?) long-distance weapon. Not sure yet.

-I like to think when she first woke up, she had no control over her phase 6(or was it 7?) Ice powers. Everything she touches turns into ice, and if she gets startled: I C E. It got better over time with practice.

-Communication with anything cute? Hmmm. Might go into this later.

-March 7th is never the type to get angry. She's a cheerful and bubbly young girl, but it doesn't mean she's stupid. Yes she might be a bit slow to process information (could be an effect from her slumber inside ice). But she is definitely more aware than you think about things so hurt her friends? YOU GET AN ARROW TO THE KNEE-

-Angry March 7th? The shine is gone in her eyes and she is not smiling anymore. If she does, it's more frosty just like her element.

Conductor PomPom

-They/Them (Non-binary)

-I do see them as like an Avatar of Akivili since not much is known about them in general. I have to refresh my memory on that. I do know he met Himeko after she fixed the Astral Express and took role of Conductor.

-Too many hellos and goodbyes to people who boarded the Astral Express. :(( It will not be the first nor will it be the last, but PomPom cares for everyone that have stepped onto the passage. Definitely will cry if any of the current crew have to leave for good.

-Avatar of Akivili: If the Astral Express is broken/down, PomPom will naturally disappear too. Their existence is linked to the AE hence why they are sensitive to any changes inside.

-They usually appear as timid and adorable when a situation arises but if PomPom is like the last one standing to protect the AE- Very terrifying in a way they WILL eject you out after you experience very uhh strong hallucinations. :3 Rarely happens tho so don't worry.

-I do think they cannot leave the Express. If they do, they must remain a certain distance to stay connected to it. If they move too far, they disappear. Usually, they'll return to the Express. Unusual cases? They don't reappear at all and that will be bad news.

-PomPom (Astral Express) every month has to go through a software update aka maintence to stay strong and keep the powers of Akivili up. If you don't heed their warnings,Y̶̢͓̫͔̘̗͛̌͆͆́̈́͗̒̈́̍̔̍͜͠ö̵̫͔̰̩̭́̽̍͐̍̇̿͆͗͊̋̈͝͠u̴̥̤̦͐̈́͒̅̌ ��̛͈͉̝̹̥̉̋a̴̢̳̰̥̫̒̆̄́̋̐͋̑̓̅̆̕͝͠͠ͅ��̲̤̩͇̯r̸̨̨̨̨̰̤̩̼̫̦̩̼̒̀̀̋̂̋e̶͉̗̫͔̱͎͖̍̒͒͝ ̴̰͇̝̙̖̙̌͆̈̽̕͝i̷͖͛̏̉̑̕ń̶͚͍͇͇̹͓̫͍͎̦̰͎̲̟̂ͅ ̴͎̩͉̮̹͌͐̅͊̔̃̀̒͗͑̚͝ḁ̸̱̭̖͚͎̱̭̼̭͕̍̈̉̕͘͜͠ ̵͓̦̍w̴̨̫̣̙̭̩͚̤̹͔̤̗̹̩͎̍͌̆͂̑̎̚o̷̙̱͚̬̖̤̩͚̮͜͝ṙ̸͓͓̟͉̝̖̤̠̇͑͝l̵̥͎̖͚̘̺͓͒̿̔ḑ̵̩̺̀ ̷̩͔̳̔̓̏͌͐͒͋͠o̵͎̗̳͕̫͒̎͗͌̄̋̕f̶͍̮̤͈̹̻̙̯̩͓͗̍͊̓̾ ̴̢̫̬̥͍̗̲̠̩͕̱͈͖͛̎͛́̽͜͝ͅp̷̼̺̤̯͎͇̥͎̈́̈́̍̀̚͠ͅà̴̛͈̥̯̐̌͌͠í̶̛̱́́̐̓͗̓͒̃̃̽͝ṇ̷̨̛̩̺̣̪̟͇͍̰̊͊̈́̀̂͐̋̑͛͘.̸̟͚̇͛̒͆͌̿̽̍.

-PomPom!!! Definitely loves souvenirs because they can't leave the Express. 3: So remember to get something for the conductor alright?

-Related to recent Astral Express mechanics, because the energy it uses requires jumping between the worlds, PomPom can feel when the energy is declining. It does affect them to the point they might become lethargic and sleepy.

[6ftkyle]

not really sp related but what got you into crocheting? is there any other types of crafts that you do or would like to do? :3

ive always been interested in it, esp amigurumi in particular, but i had a very hard time self-teaching. i had also at some point when i was younger tried to teach myself to knit and i could NOT figure it out, so for years i just assumed yarn crafts and i were not meant to be. i could figure out how to chain but i really couldn't get any further than that.

but in late 2019, i started having dinner with my grandma once a week, and to give us something to do after i cooked for us, i asked if she'd teach me to crochet. she's taught other family members and friends, and i thought maybe i'd learn better with a live demo and someone to tell me what i was doing wrong. she taught me the basics, i got really into making simple blankets when the pandemmy hit in 2020, and then i fell out of it pretty quick.

then earlier this year, i decided to get back into it on kind of a whim. i had a lot more free time and i bought a kit for making a crocheted flamingo, figuring it could help me learn now that i knew the basics. it did NOT! it was more confusing that guides i had seen online.

but i realized i had never bothered trying to watch a youtube tutorial for it, which is like, almost embarrassing, because i am learning shit from youtube all the time. i watched and crocheted along with this video

and was able to make a successful ball and from there i just went nuts. i was able to finish the flamingo (a gift for my mom, flamingos are her ~mom animal~) and found the aradiyatoys south park patterns and decided to give them a go as something to keep me busy while mal was at work when i was visiting them. i'd kind of like to redo them now that i'm better at crochet, but the last thing mal needs is duplicates of stuff ive already made orz

as for other crafts i do, i was doing figure painting on 3d printed guys for a while, as well as bedazzling them (where my icon comes from, actually), but i haven't touched that in a while. i also have a button press ive been getting a lot of use out of lately and i like to make keychains with shrink plastic (be kind, my art is 4 years old here). for a short while i was doing shaker keychains with resin as well. i also took a studio art class where i learned how to make paper, do embossing/debossing and how to carve plaster. i would LOVE to do another plaster carving but i don't have the materials at home.

i do this thing where i fall in love with a craft, get deeply obsessed with it for a few weeks, then see a youtube tutorial for something else and move on to a new craft. the fact that ive stuck with crochet this long, is a bit of a surprise to me, but im just very deeply in love with it right now and i think its here to stay for a while.

im also adept at sewing plushes! and i'd like to get back to that, i haven't sewn anything in a long time (i dont even have any examples of my plush work to show, it's been that long 😭) but first i need to reorganize my work space so i have room to lay out fabrics and cut them. i have a couple projects i'd really like to sew, but i need to figure out the pattern for them first.

im also upping the level of detail i can get on my crochet dolls, by incorporating needle felting! my friend sent me this video and while i'm not felting over entire dolls like this, it's been a godsend for adding small details. i'm working on a commission with tiger striping right now and needle felting has completely changed how i decided to approach that project and it looks much better for it.

i've always deeply respected crafting, and i LOVE to see people doing fandom related crafts. like don't get me wrong, i also deeply respect illustrators and authors, but there's something really uniquely special to me about seeing someone channel their love of a piece of media into crafts that are written off as like 'granny activities'.

for crafts i'd like to learn, i am so so so into the idea of customizing dolls. it's basically an amalgamation of a lot of crafts and skills i've already done, and at the end of it i'd have a dolly of my special little guys (i am constantly rotating the idea of making a doll of my next gen oc CC. shes so special to me). i did 3d print a doll and string it. i got as far as making & inserting the eyes and making a wig cap, but i never finished the wig because i lost my straightener so i can't make wefts for it.

as of right now, i'm really only focused on crochet though! it's my income at the moment, so i can't afford (literally haha) to get distracted from it

a huge thank you and a lot of love to anyone who actually sat there and read thru this whole thing lmao. i love crafting so so so much and i am always willing to talk about it with anyone who will listen. esp other crafters! please show me your crafts, show me your wips, tell me about your processes, i cannot emphasize how much i love hearing about it all.

[coffee-or-murder]

For the 69 asks:

Daffodil: 7, 17, 31, 45

Zimri: 2, 18, 46, 63

Olly: 4, 10, 20, 52

Danya: 28, 47, 56, 66

Daffodil 

7 - There’s a magic item made just for them–what is it? 

Fantasy Instagram and a set of hand held stone slabs for her and her girlfriends to use it OR A rapier that has charges of entangle or plant growth, themed like a rose with a thorn coming out of the petals. 

17 - They’re crying–what did it take to make them cry? 

She broke the string on her citole, doesn’t have any replacements or a way to fix it, inspiration has struck, and she has no means to utilize it properly. Cue the waterworks OR Her grandniece finally passes, which would be a much more genuine cry but also much less dramatic. More of a quietly start flowers blooming at her grave and mourn the loss. 

31 - Do they respond well to praise? How about criticism? 

Daffodil quite enjoys praise, especially if it relates to her art or coming from her muses. Criticism should be applied in a compliment sandwich, or she may take it to heart and either withdraw that aspect of herself from the equation (if it’s her muses saying it) or find a way to ruin their week (if a stranger says it). 

45 - What lies do they tell themselves? 

“My time in the wilds and those otherworldly courts with all of its pleasures were wonderfully engaging and –while I do miss my father painfully– I do not regret my meandering path through those deep woody archways. In the end it brought me to my muses in a future I could not have conceived, and I would be poorer for not knowing them. My father was always going to die before me after all. This way at least I did not have to witness it myself.”  

Zimri 

2 - What was your original concept for this character? How did playing them change that concept? 

Zimri hasn’t changed too terribly much personality wise! She’s always been a little dramatic and bougie, never shied away from using her natural assets to get what she wanted, etc. Originally her goal was to raise an army by gathering powerful people to free that man she loved from his father the archduke and his corrupt rule, and save her not-dad from having to follow the orders to hunt her down. Playing her made me rethink that idea a bit, and I haven’t totally settled on what I want from her backstory. Zimri is Under Renovations for now. 

18 - What dish brings back the best memories for them? 

The poor attempt at curry her patron and basically father Avi would make from time to time. As a duke he wasn’t well versed in cooking, but he would always make a plate for him and Zimri after a particularly long day. Zimri rarely ever ate all of it but the smell of mediocre curry still makes her think of him. 

46 - Have they taught themselves any skills just for fun? 

I like to think at some point down the line Zimri would have taught herself some basic sewing skills, mostly so she can alter her own clothes a bit. Otherwise all of her skills are for survival. 

63 - What's a meme or tiktok or vine (or whatever) that you associate with them? 

Olly 

4 - What one person, place, or thing do they love more then anything else? 

Person - Top five favorite people who all come in first place are Danya, Eden, Tsisa, Lemon, and Benji (his sisters, favorite cousin his age, favorite little cousin/baker, and his father figure) and you can’t make him choose.

Place - The hives on Danya’s land OR Rosalind’s sprawling gardens. 

Thing - His bees. He loves those little bees.  

10 - What inspired this character's creation? 

He started out as a mix between Squidward from Spongebob, Spencer from ICarly, and Coach Finstock from Teen Wolf. I knew I wanted to make the cousin that ran the bakery/cafe Lemon, and Olly was a great fit for the role of a tired grumpy secretly very soft bakery manager.  

20 - What attracts them to someone–platonically and/or romantically, anything counts. 

Platonically he tends to be drawn to people who are either a bit quiet or broody –because this man is a caretaker under all the grump– or able to match his occasional shit shitting mood with their own. Of course a good sense of humor goes a long way too. He doesn’t have much of a physical preference for his romantic partners, so it’s mostly down to vibes with Olly. Kindness and humor are the things that make him take notice of someone, then if he teases them and they either get flustered, tease back, or even better argue he’s caught. Why he likes kind of bossy goody types he’ll never know. 

52 -How would they dress themselves for a formal event? 

A well tailored suit with bee and magnolia accents as either lapel pins, cufflinks, or a wristwatch. Nice shiny but flexible leather shoes he’s scored the bottoms of for better grip. 

Danya 

28 - Do they collect anything? 

Anytime anyone brings her flowers she presses a couple of each type of bloom in books in her private office, a habit she picked up from Doran. Danya also quite likes collecting books in general, and has the second largest library outside of Rosalind’s in the main estate house. 

47 - What could they talk about for hours on end? 

Law. It would be a bit dry, but she could lecture for hours on legal processes and functions in The United Shires, how they were brought about, and how they differ between the five shires. Unfortunately she isn’t particularly talkative in the first place, so anything she would talk about at length would just be a lecture. She would much rather have someone else do the talking. 

56 - Who would they trust with their life, unequivocally? 

Eden, Olly, Benji, or Doran. If her adoptive mother was still alive she would also be on the list but she’s passed. 

66 - Which fruit do they like most? 

She is quite fond of yellow pears or pomegranates. Baked pears are one of her favorite desserts.

[depresso3spresso]

This reminds me of a few guys I met this year. I recently joined a medieval club and we do crafts once a week. You can pretty much rock up and do any sort of craft you like, anything from calligraphy to wood carving. I’ve been doing leather work for a couple of years now so some of the guys there were really excited about my offer to teach them a thing or two.

Leather working sounds pretty cool but fundamentally it’s just another type of textile craft so I figured we should start with something simple using thin leather, assuming that they would have some transferable sewing skills. Most of the guys wanted to do something they considered cool like a sheath or some armour. I talked them down to starting with a simple leather pouch. Pouches can be fairly easy and I had my own projects to work on so I figured I’d show them how to create a basic pattern, how to trim and prep the leather, and then I’d just leave them to stitch it all together while I did my own thing.

You would not believe how badly I overestimated their ability level. Believe me when I say these guys had never worked with any form of textiles in their life. After setting them up their materials I left to grab some lunch. When I returned 10 minutes later they were still trying to figure out how to thread a needle, anxious and ashamed faces all round.

Now, I am ashamed to say I shared a giggle with the women of the club, no one should be shamed for the blind spots in their education. But to be honest our giggles were out of bewilderment not out of malice. As women most of us are made to learn basic sewing skills either in school or at home. It never even occurred to me that these boys had never so much as held a needle before.

Once we had established that none of these guys had ever sewed up so much as a shirt button, I reevaluated my expectations and set about explaining the very basics of textile craft to these guys. Lucky for me these guys seemed to realise how absurd it was that they had no foundational skills and they were super excited to learn from me and the other women around the table.

What I’m trying to say is basic skills in textiles, cooking, metal work, gardening, home repair etcetera should all be universally taught, and more often than not when someone has a gap in their knowledge or skill it is due to social expectations and gendering of knowledge. Men should not be shamed for not being taught how to fix a shirt. Women should not be shamed for not being taught how to check their cars oil level. Let’s all just lean on one another and be excited to share our knowledge.

Men like to believe theyd be great in apocalypse scenarios but they dont even know how to sew

[perpetual-fool]

-

I managed to ward off thinking, and the bad thoughts, for most of the day. I suppose I should feel proud about that? I broke out the tDCS device yesterday but it didn't really make things better. Now I just feel terrible more energetically.

On one hand, it's like there's this world out there that I desperately want to be a part of, but I just can't figure out how. But on the other hand, every time I've tried to engage, it's become clear that that world does not exist.

Have some new speculation, 'cause I can't help myself. Was watching a thing which was tracing the roots of karate back to China (Uechi-ryu looks almost exactly like White Crane kung fu, for instance). In it, a guy pointed out that in the Chinese language the movements are referred to differently. For instance, instead of saying 'step forward and punch' they would call it 'black dragon steals heart' or something. And he claimed that that represents a difference in thinking. Like, in China they think of it as all being one thing, but elsewhere they break it up into smaller pieces. Maybe I'm doing that, but more?

So, on topic, the concept of a martial arts 'style' has always been a mystery to me. What might make sense, hypothetically: start with every conceivable way one could possibly strike with a hand. Then filter out anything that's not feasible and anything that's strictly inferior to something else. Next, prioritize by cost-effectiveness. I don't think that's quantifiable but ya' know, if something takes a lot of work to be useful, then don't do that unless you have a good reason. And lastly, consider your situation and your goals, and pick whichever strikes would be useful for that. Then follow that process for every sort of technique that might be useful for whatever your goal is. The last part being the critical point. A 'style' would have to be defined by that goal, that purpose. What is the thread that's sewing all these pieces together?

And 'threads' don't exist for other people, as far as I can tell. Which would be because the pieces don't exist? Like with the above, "as far as I can tell" denotes that this is my own guess based on what I've experienced so far. And other people seem to rarely/never make distinctions between "I've tested this extensively", "I've tested this a little", "This is an untested guess", "Someone else made a good argument for this with apparent evidence", "Someone else made a good argument for this but without evidence", etc.. As if it's all just one singular thing for others.

I suspect if I ask Karate people why they punch in exactly the way that they do, I'll get arbitrary answers like "that's just how we do it", "that's how I was taught", or "that's how the old masters did it". (These kind of responses make me think that maybe everything humans do is a cult.) At best I'd get a response like "doing this generates more power". But there would never be an explanation as to why this way was chosen in preference to the alternatives. Ya' know, aside from the arbitrary ones. In that sense, I don't think Karate actually exists. There isn't a thread there.

It's more serious when it's things like 'friendship' and 'love' not actually existing. But anyway, what was my point?

Right, but the idea wasn't that people don't have 'threads' per se, it's that they don't have the discrete things which would be connected by it. And I have no idea how to parse that. What does a thing mean if it doesn't mean anything? Hm, though I was considering the other day, basic social strategies (e.g. 'tit for tat') would have to have been initially implemented by animals not yet intelligent enough to understand them. So that sort of thing would be possible. But that doesn't make any sense of it. But there is none to make, is there? Is there no real 'sense' but my own?

At some point I'm going to have to accept that there actually isn't some big secret that I'm missing and everyone else really is just insane.

I spend a lot of time lamenting the life I never got to have, but it's all Shii-Cho isn't it? maybe a nice story, but it's just not real.

[thistleandthorn-rpg]

Welcome Callie with your accepted app for Birdie Astor! Please check out this page for more information and send us her blog within 48 hours! Welcome to the group!

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Alias: Callie Preferred pronoun: She/They Age: 25 Timezone/Country: GMT UK RP Experience: I genuinely can’t give an estimate I just know it’s been Years. Activity Level: 7/10 ish

IC INFORMATION:

Name: Elizabeth ‘Birdie’ Matilda Astor Designation: submissive Age: 25 Birthdate (click here for list): June 13th Faceclaim: Hayley Williams Orientation: Pansexual Kinks: Age-play, pain play, praise, orgasm control, sensory deprivation Anti-Kinks: Vore, gore, bathroom play, feet

Key Points:

Tries to find the good in everyone and everything - even when it’s difficult

Deceptively intelligent - plays several instruments and speaks three languages

Has been trying to stop biting her nails for years

Appears naive and gullible

Diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 16

 BIO:

From an early age it had been Elizabeth’s mother's goal to shape her daughter into what she considered to be the perfect submissive. Long before receiving her mark was even thought of her mother had planned all sorts of lessons. At the age of seven Elizabeth was taught some basic stitches for sewing and how to properly present herself in public.

The lessons continued for years afterwards, and some of what she learned she knew would be useful but there was part of her that didn’t want to be another baby making submissive, but Elizabeth could never bring herself to say anything.

At the age of ten it was her father that decided his precious little girl needed to learn how to protect herself in the big wide world. He took it upon himself to teach her what he knew about self defense, it was safe to say that those lessons were much more enjoyable, even if her mother scolded her for tripping and ruining some clothes or getting a bruise she didn’t really mind.

Those lessons continued too, alongside her mother’s, and although she enjoyed them both neither were anything like what she wanted to do.

Elizabeth was fourteen when her grandma noticed it one day. They were watching television together, a channel that she’d let her granddaughter pick, and to say that it was unexpected was an understatement. She’d chosen to watch a medical programme, not a fictional one, but one that watched as real doctors and nurses attended to real patients. Elizabeth watched her grandma closely to see how she would react to that but when she saw nothing but genuine smiles she relaxed.

It was her grandma that she told first, that she wanted to be a doctor one day and help people, and her grandpa not too long after that. They both loved the idea. A couple of Elizabeth’s aunts had worked as nurses before but it was unheard of for a woman in the Astor family to become a doctor.

She kept it a secret from her parents for the time being. She couldn’t stand the thought of them being angry or disappointed with her for wanting something different. The things they wanted her to learn were useful too so Elizabeth didn’t really see the point in potentially starting an argument with them.

BIO QUESTIONS:

What are your feelings about the mark you have received?

 Honestly, it didn’t come as much of a surprise, and I’m pretty okay with it. My daddy always said I was like whiskey in a tea cup and he never knew what mark I’d get ‘til I got it.

 How do your feelings on the system compare to your parents’ feelings on it?

I mean, they’re not exactly…the same. I had a great time growing up and I was more than happy to play the part of the perfect daughter in public but I don’t see everything as black and white as they do.

 Where do you see yourself after you graduate?

 I’d love to go travelling, see the whole world, absorb as much of it as I can. Maybe I’ll get my masters, maybe I’ll have kids, who’s to say?

 How do you feel about authority?

There’s a time and a place, for sure, but I don’t think it’s the best thing since sliced bread.

[dragoneyes618]

Another idea for a Claudine Frollo fanfiction I am never going to write!

Basically, Madellaine from The Hunchback of Notre Dame II ends up on the Isle.

Why? Well, she was a thief. Sure, she reformed, but so did Anastasia Tremaine, and look how that turned out. So through a quirk of paperwork, Madellaine is labeled a villain and sent to the Isle.

Quasimodo, Phoebus, and Esmeralda immediately start trying to get her off, but they’re not royalty. They have no contacts. Nobody owes them any favors. The highest-ranking one among them is Phoebus, and he’s just a soldier. So they have to start from the bottom, and there’s a lot of red tape before they can even meet a royal. Years go by.

Meanwhile, Madellaine makes a life for herself on the Isle just like everybody else. She sends and receives letters occasionally to and from her friends, but besides for that, she’s on her own.

(By the way, is there any communication between the Isle and Auradon? The impression was that Auradon just dumped all the villains there and left them and didn’t bother with them afterwards, but Ben knew about Mal’s, Evie’s, Carlos’s, and Jay’s existences, didn’t he?)

She avoids the entire half of the Isle that Sarousch lives on, to the extent that he has no idea she’s there, but she has no clue who anybody else is who lives on that half of the Isle either.

She avoids Frollo too. She’s never met him, but she’s heard quite enough about him, and while she hates him, she knows how dangerous he can be. And some of Frollo’s soldiers are also on the Isle, and they’re loyal to him.

Then one day, she notices a little black-clad girl scurrying after Frollo, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

She asks around, and it turns out that this little girl is Claudine, Claude Frollo’s daughter.

To say Madellaine is horrified is an understatement. Quasimodo had it bad enough! Now Frollo is going to be raising (and ruining the life of) another little kid?

Like Quasimodo, Claudine is isolated. Frollo doesn’t let her go anywhere. She has no mother.

So Madellaine offers to be Claudine’s tutor.

She goes over to Frollo and offers to be his daughter’s tutor/governess/teacher, or whatever he wants to call it.

He interrogates her as to why she ended up on the Isle, because he didn’t want a villain teaching his daughter (she tells him she was penniless and resorted to theft) and as to why she wanted to teach his daughter (because she needs the money, and she thinks Claudine needs a woman’s touch) and finally agrees.

Madellaine is Claudine’s tutor from when she is six until the age of ten, when Frollo decided Claudine had learned enough from her.

I say “tutor-” Frollo taught Claudine reading and science and mathematics and (skewed) history, but he was perfectly happy for Madellaine to teach Claudine things like sewing and cooking and geography and grammar, so he didn’t have to do it.

Madellaine never lets on who she is, that she knows Quasimodo, that she is in fact engaged to be married to him. She lies convincingly enough so Frollo believes her when she says that although she’s been in Paris, she’s never met the bell ringer, or the captain of the guard, or the captain’s wife.

She becomes very good at hiding her emotions, not letting Frollo know what she really thinks of him. He also thinks she tacitly approves of his child-raising skills. Which she doesn’t, but if she voices any objection to his parenting methods, he’ll kick her out, and she won’t be able to do anything for Claudine at all.

So she says nothing, but she presents Claudine to her father in the best possible light, and covers for her, and comes up with reasons for why Claudine hasn’t met her father’s latest impossible expectations.

And when Frollo doesn’t see, Madellaine binds Claudine’s wounds (Frollo’s punishments are very harsh) and dries her tears and whispers to her soothingly and tells her stories.

Madellaine is the closest thing to a mother Claudine ever knows. (I’m just assuming Claudine’s actual mother mysteriously disappeared and/or died, like so many of the Isle parents seem to have.)

When Claudine was ten, Frollo decided that his daughter was old enough to manage without Madellaine and parted with her on cordial terms (or so he thinks). He even gave her severance pay.

Phoebus, Esmeralda, and Quasimodo finally succeeded in getting Madellaine off the Isle shortly after this, which was good, because Sarousch had recently found out that Madellaine was on the Isle. 

Then Madellaine told them about Claudine, and they started trying to get her off too.

Madellaine never forgot Claudine. Claudine never forgot her either.

[god1ngs]

BOYFRIEND

c!wilbur as your boyfriend. or, a mini character study of wilbur and how he'd love you (even if some awful part of him doesn't love himself)

— c!wilbur x gn!reader

warnings: bad mental health, self hatred, isolation, limbo, derealization(?)

bones' note: this is basically a character study for c!wilbur!! i adore c!wilbur and love everything about him

— wilbur has been alone for thirteen and a half years. he's been sat in the dark, alone, for a decade. he thought he wanted to die, that it wad what he wanted, but he was wrong. death is cruel. it's cold and merciless, and there were many nights (days?) where wilbur wished nothing more than to leave the hell he was put into. he never got what he wanted.

— but now he's alive. he's here and his heart is beating and his pulse is alive and so is he. he almost can't believe it (he had so many dreams of being alive, only to wake up to cold pavement and fluorescent lights), until he sees you. you're here, and he's holding you before you say anything. his limbs crack as he does so, and they ache from not moving for hours at a time in limbo, but he's sure it'll get better. all that matters right now is you.

— "you're here!" he exclaims, disbelief in his grin. "you're actually here! holy shit, it's- it's been so long! how've you- how've you been? what have you have been up to?" you're angry at first. the fact that he can talk yo you as if he's been doing days rather than months. it makes a minute for him to open up about his isolation for thirteen years, but when he does, you're immediately worried.

— you're the first one to actually be worried. you're the first one to tell him that he didn't deserve that hell for thirteen years, and something in him breaks. the tears well up before he can stop them, and he's trying to appear strong— he used to be so strong. what happened?— but he just can't. he tries to leave, to do what he's known to do, but you're wrapping your arms around him before he can. you want him here. the thought makes him cry harder, and he spends that night in your arms (it's the first night he hasn't had a nightmare in years).

— he's trying. he's trying so hard to be better, to not fall victim to guilt and self hatred again. he doesn't want to be the person he was in pogtopia (and he especially doesn't want to be dead again. he doesn't think he could handle it). but instead of thinking about that, he focuses on you instead. he helps you around the house, and he helps with dishes, and he feels alive. his heart is beating and his chest is rising and there's a smile on his face because of you. always because of you.

— he likes to give you gifts. he bakes you a cake (using the recipe niki taught him years ago) and the smile on your face was worth the effort. it wasn't that good— you think he mixed up the salt and sugar— but you don't say anything. he tried, and that's enough. you like to give him little gifts too, like sewing up parts of his trench coat that need it. he cried when you showed it to him for the first time.

— he loves physical touch now. after not feeling it for a decade, he can't get enough of it now. he's always trying to touch you in some way, whether it be your legs simply touching or you leaning against him. his favorite thing to do is to have you in between his legs with your head leaning back on his chest. he feels like he's protecting you. and he holds your hands and plays with them. he giggles about how big his hands are compared to yours.

— he'll never get enough of you. ever. he'll never grow tired of seeing you laugh because of him or smile because he did something for you. he doesn't want to be apart from you, he wants to hold you forever. he wants to hear your heartbeat and sink into the fact that everything is real. this is all real. never again will he wake up on cold pavement beneath fake lighting, and instead he'll wake up with the love of his life in his arms.

masterlist | taglist

[pumpkachubby]

Buried feelings

It’s been a while since last time I posted a new episode but here we are back at it! This time we have a chapter focused in Crescente and Guester, where what was supposed to be a lesson in magic quickly turned to the unexpected.

(from now on all new chapters will be acompanied by a map showing who will be featured and where, since many people will be traveling all around Galar)

Make sure to check the Story Archive for past chapters!

I can’t say that my relationship with Guester is bad, but until now we never really had a chance to connect, we are more like acquaintances than actual friends, if it wasn’t for Koh and Petrov we probably would have never meet each other and yet, here we are, alone in a meeting room of the Obsidian Guild.

And I’m pissed off at him.

Koh asked me to help him with his current interest in magic, according to my mother he has great potential in plant-based magic  (although almost every plant-type hybrid like us has it, it’s hard to master, even harder than training to use the pokemon moves of our individual species) and since I really need a distraction from my own problems I said yes without giving it much thought… and oh boy I am regretting it.

“Can you please stop that?” - I shouted, making him drop the thread he was trying to pass through his absurdly large needle, but he immediately went back to it.

“What’s wrong? I told you I lost my witch hat to that damn corviknight, so I’m trying to make a new one!”

“Where should I start…” - I said, taking off my glasses and rubbing my eyelids in frustration- “Do you see me wearing a witch hat? Don’t you think there must be a reason behind it?”

“...Fashion sense? No offense but until now you have always been wearing that boring barista outfit, if it wasn’t for your scarf you wouldn’t stand out at all…” - He replied without looking at me. It's been like this since Koh brought him earlier today. I tried to give him some basic guide on the magic he claims to be interested but all he has cared for is that stupid hat that he really, REALLY shouldn’t wear.

I took a deep breath to control my urges to strangle him with my scarf, murder is illegal after all, even if he just dragged my fashion sense in the floor. I stepped closer and tried to make…. a more direct approach.

“You know the difference between pokemon powers and magic, right?” - I asked, touching the fabric he was trying to sew ,in an act that would make Koh crawl in pain, without even properly cutting it in the proper shape of a hat.

“Aren't they basically the same?” - He replied, trying to get it away from me, but it was too late, I was already holding it tight. -“I mean, both are powers that come from within us, right?”

“Correct, but they are very different. Pokemon powers and abilities are very limited to our types, and human cannot learn to use them, but magic isn’t, you see…” - I said as I set on fire the fabric on my hand, although you would say it looked more like it was disintegrating in sparks, quickly reaching his hands, making him step back in shock - “... there are no limits on what you can learn to do with magic.”

Guester stood there in awe, now that I think about it it was probably the first time he had seen me use magic. Sure everyone had come to the coffee shop while lost ghosts gather at night but he in particular never saw me do anything practical like this. After a few seconds he finally spoke again.

“That was… SO COOL!!!” - He said jumping in excitement - “I wanna do that too!”

“You will if you are willing to listen and learn…” - I replied, walking back to my original seat. - “Honestly why aren’t you paying more attention? You show genuine interest and yet all you have done is ignore my lesson…”

“Well… because you are boring.” - He said with no hesitation, looking straight into my eyes.

“E- Excuse me???”

“Yeah, and I already know all of that plant stuff, mom taught me. Do you realize you are trying to teach about plants to a person who, quite literally, was born in a greenhouse? I learned all that before I even knew how to read…”

“I didn’t know that! Also, what do you mean I’m boring?? I’m trying my best to make it interesting!”

“Well… I wasn’t talking about the lesson when I said that…” 

My scarf quickly grabbed him by the legs, holding him tight upside down mid-air. Did he not realize that I can literally destroy him in as many ways I want if I felt like it? I can’t understand him at all! But I needed to calm down, he is a precious friend of my boyfriends, and way too many people know we are both here after all.

 “What the hell do you mean by that, uh?” - I said, looking at his sad upside-down face, probably just noticing how he just insulted me.

“I’m sorry I can’t help it! I always thought you were boring! You are always stuck at home, even after your mother came back and did the renovations, with the excuse of having to take care of the shop, yet you don’t really have to do much there besides a couple of very specific nights per month. You have all this power and yet you don’t want to use it! And you know what I will say it: I don’t get what Koh and Petrov see in you! They should have just been a couple and I would have been able to mo-” - He said, suddenly covering his own mouth with his hands, quickly getting flustered and it wasn’t because of his current position.

I had to sit down.

I should be angry, but deep down I agreed.

“... what?” - I asked - “Listen, I’m- I am aware I’m not the most interesting person around, but I just like the way things are, I don’t… do well with changes… and I’m the first person to notice that if I wasn’t around they probably would have ended up together sooner, I’m very aware of that and believe me I don’t know why they are with me either… I…”

“Sorry…” - He apologized, trying to rub my head but only managing to mess with my hair - “It’s just… how to say this… Petrov was my…” - His face was red as a tomato so I pulled him down, he quickly grabbed another chair and sat in front of me. - “Is there… is there any magic you have to conceal this room?”

“Done” - I said as I lifted a finger, creating the most powerful barrier I knew. There was a conversation we needed to have right here and right now. - “What’s up with Petrov?”

“I hate myself for this, I really do” - He said, clenching his fists - “But when you three got together I… was so jealous…”

“Why? Aren’t you happy with Harold?”

“I am! I trully am! I want to live my life along his side!... But, how to say this…”

“Calm down, just be direct.”

“Ok… - He replied after a few seconds in doubt, taking a deep breath - “Petrov was my first crush, I realized I liked boys because of him, you could say it was love at first sight. Back then when he was a small and slim insecure pumpkaboo, I fell hard for him, but he never corresponded with my feelings, and I’m quite sure he never even realized it…” - He declared abruptly, at the border of tears, I quickly jumped to hug him because I knew that feeling too well. - “I don’t know why! I tried really hard but he never realized it! Hell, even Rompt noticed it and he is probably the most useless when it comes to relationships and emotions, but Petrov, he just… never looked back at me in any other way than a friend, so at a certain point I decided to move on, I even had something with Rompt for a year, and while the sex was fantastic we decided it was best if we would remain as friends when Petrov came back to town and-”

“Wait wait a moment, you just dropped a lot of information I wasn't aware of… You and Rompt?”

“Yeah, he wasn’t my first boyfriend but we dated for almost a year after he and Koh broke up.”

“WAIT WHAT!??”

“Ups” - He said, stopping halfway getting up from his chair to leave the room, probably remembering he asked me to put on a barrier.

“Have everyone in this friend group had secret feelings for each other this whole time and I didn’t know anything at all?”

“Oh me and Rompt had more than feelings, Horacio should be grateful because he was so messy when we started, but I had way more experience in bed so I taught him well.” - He said so proudly you wouldn’t believe he was about to cry minutes ago - “You really need to work on your perception, don’t you know any spells to boost it or something?”

“Ok, I think you have dragged me enough already, let's keep the focus on you. So, you were jealous because Koh and I got into a relationship with him yet he was never able to see you as a potential boyfriend?”

“Exactly! And I know how messed up that is! And yet why do I feel this way?”

“Well I think it's normal, seeing someone achieve something you wanted for years and give up will always hurt a little. All you can do now is focus on your present and future. It's not like you have romantic feelings for him left, right?”

“Oh yeah, haha. Sorry for dropping such a bomb out of nowhere, it’s been a weird couple of days, I’d be lying if I said I’m not a bit resentful to Harold, I love him but he can be a bit too stubborn, including his stupid bird that steals hats… Why did it do that? It’s not even shiny!”

“That’s normal, it is a corviknight after all. Historically they have always been in good relationships with magic users so they don’t take such offenses lightly.”

“Offense?”

“Yeah! The reason why I don’t wear a witch hat is because it’s an important sign of status in our society, if you receive one it means that you are a fully matured sorcerer, it’s not just a costume, it’s quite literally a manifestation of our power and wisdom in us hybrids.”

“Like an evolution?” 

“Yes, normally we don’t mind when children wear them as a costume, but when an apprentice does… you should be glad you are not part of a formal academy, you would have been expelled at best.”

“That sounds… dangerous… Sorry, I’m really sorry I really didn’t know, I mean the only witch I know is your mother and she wears it quite often.”

“Don’t worry, she is a mismagius and they have a natural gift for magic. It’s fine, if I have learned something about you today is that you get carried away way too easily and hard at the same time, you really need some self-control, I don’t know what would have happened if you had told Harold about this…”

“Oh he is fine, he knows. Do you remember the day we forced you to talk about your feelings for each other? I told him all about it that same night…”

“Then why are you trying to be so secretive about it?”

“Because it would be a problem if someone overheard it in this place, don’t you think? Better be safe…” - I had to agree with him on that, while I’m sure most of the staff are trustworthy, we are still new to this environment. - “Oh, but I won’t apologize for calling you boring by the way. I may need some self-control but you need to learn how to let loose more, you can’t live without change! Life isn’t that simple, right? There are many things we can’t control, like your current weight situation.”

“Wow you really went for my throat, didn't you?”

“I can do it better. You are a spoiled brat, you have everything and yet you decide to stay in mediocrity, even when your mother quite literally pushed you out of your house to have more experiences in the outside world you haven’t gone out of the guild building for anything else than trying to find food to get back on shape, don’t you? Do yourself a favor and get out of your comfort zone for once!”

“But-”

“No buts! We are going to make you get that witch hat!”

“Wait, what?”

“You said that only mature witches get one, right? Then I think having an apprentice will help you with that!” - He declared proudly - “And who knows, maybe you will find a way to get your body back in shape.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” - Said Petrov from outside the room, opening both doors and having to kneel down a little to get inside the room.

“Woah Petrov you really have become huge!” - Reacted Guester by seeing his old friend for the first time in a couple of days- “Wait, didn’t you had a barrier?” - He asked, looking at me.

“Yeah… and it was strong enough to resist a hyper beam… did I become rusty?”

“Oh babe don’t worry about it, it wouldn’t be the first thing I break without realizing in the last couple of days after all…” - Said Petrov scratching his head - “And well, your mother did say you need to work more on your magic… Now that I think about it, weren't you supposed to study plant magic? what are you doing inside a dark room?”

“He is right! We need to be in contact with nature!” - Replied Guester, quickly grabbing me by the hips and hanging my slim body to his left shoulder - “I will have to borrow one of your boyfriends for a couple of days Petrov, I promise I will take good care of him!”

“I know you will, and if you get into trouble don’t hesitate to call me, ok?”

“Of course!” - Replied my captor, happily running away from the building and into the wild area, he didn’t let go of me until it was very late and he realized we forgot to bring any camping equipment, thankfully I knew how to improvise with magic.

I wonder how far this adventure will take me, but at least now that I’m closer to Guester I can be more positive about it, and who knows? Maybe he is right and I will find a way to cure me.

[lunaiz4]

The graduate program and the undergraduate program at my university share resources, including professors. There were two for costume design, one specializing in design and one in production, but only the design course is normally offered to undergrads. My design prof really wanted me to take the graduate construction courses, but the construction prof claimed I would slow them down and suggested an 8 am beginner sewing for dance course instead. I... do not think she liked me much.

She also co-taught an intro to production for theatre course where we learned basic hand stitching, ironing, laundering, how to put on buttons and snaps, that sort of thing, alongside similar stuff for scenic and lighting. I took my production hours in the costume shop, but half the time she set me to pulling thread out of the chair wheels with a seam ripper, and the other half I hand-stitched hem after hem. At least it was sewing?

I'm really not sure what I did to earn that. Maybe just being an undergrad (undergrad actors also had shop hours, and most cared a lot less about them than I did). Could also have been something I said or did, or just my general attitude. I was a gifted kid with limited social skills, I wasn't the most likable. Refusing to teach me anything was beyond petty, but since her courses were mostly in the grad catalog, she could do that. 2020 happened and I ended up in software, of all things.

I'm still trying to teach myself, but I have a tendency to be a bit... overly ambitious in what I think I can take on. Specifically, I'll decide I know better than a silly paper pattern and go attempt to draft my own, something I *also* have no formal training in. The paper pattern just isn't what I want to sew - I want to make my own designs. I always have, that's why I got into this in the first place. My attempts aren't even that bad, usually, but never quite what I was going for. It would be pretty funny if it weren't so discouraging.

Do you have any suggestions on where to purchase vintage/reproduction/historically inspired menswear? This is often the first question I get when people find out I went to school for costume design, at which point I am forced to explain that my training... really does not cover that. At all. The shops I'm aware of make either costumes, or exclusively women's clothing, which seems rather unfair.

I'm tempted to just make some, but my program taught exclusively design and no construction. The end result is that I know exactly how a garment is made in theory, but in reality I'm still figuring out waistbands and closures.

I'm afraid I haven't a clue! I don't really buy clothes, aside from socks, shoes, and underwear. But I'll post this and maybe some of my followers will have suggestions.

It sucks that your program didn't teach sewing :( It's so important to have experience putting things together when you have to design those things.

(If you do want to make some, here's an obligatory link to my 18th century menswear resources post.)