#RIOT WHY WONT YOU LET THEM BE HAPPY

[vivanightcity]

Name: Didier Travert

Age: 33

Gender + pronouns: Man, he/him

Occupation: Media. Boots on ground even for his day job at WNS, where it’s mostly following around politicians or corpo press conferences, or at most, a bit of light espionage and breaking into corpo offices. Prefers his moonlighting, where being in the field means chasing down NCPD alerts, recording firefights and clashes, and what goes on behind them, all with his old cam. Written up and posted online anonymously. 

Cyberware: His left eye is a cybereye with MicroVideo and TeleOptic enhancements - but paid for by WNS and designed to be undetectable under most visual inspections to get away with discreet recording. Also has an audio suite with a recorder, scrambler and sound amplifier. 

Sexuality: Bi

He was sent out by WNS to work in the city after it became the ‘free’ international city it was. A hub of corporate control and even more rampant political corruption than he grew up with. In case the name wasn’t a tip off, Didi isn’t an NC native. He’s from Bordeaux. One of two kids, with a mother who entered into politics after a protest she helped organize, turned into a riot she also helped instigate, gained a lot of attention. When you realize you want to be a media because of riots and unrest, and you’re raised keeping your head on a swivel and not believing shit you’re told by authority, you grow up knowing you’re living in interesting times with plenty that needs bringing to the surface. 

Despite all that, Night City was still one hell of a culture shock. For most of his life, corps haven’t had a particularly strong strangle-hold on his home. Present, sure, but ousted in all the ways they show off in NC. Not allowed to be so blatant, so violent, so involved. Not that life is peachy without them, his early days as a reporter was just video of frequent physical fights and violence in government buildings over the most ridiculously mundane decisions. 

The cybereye and optical cyberware are all technically property of WNS. Meaning, if he loses his job, he loses the eye. They also get access to whatever footage is recorded from it, nearly immediately, uploaded through their secure net connections the second he’s in range, so he can’t record anything he isn’t happy with higher ups, or potentially, the general public seeing. Hence using the head mounted cam for his personal work. 

Earns a decent amount in his job, and came from what I’d call a middle class background. Not buy and sell you wealthy by any means, but he can buy you a very nice dinner without having to look at the prices. 

A big believer in the power of a brick, a molotov, and a large group full of righteous anger, to get things done. Wants to tell stories that make people care and pay attention, or show them that how things are, aren’t ‘normal’ or universal, and that they can change. Not that he sees that ever happening in NC, fuck no, he’s got enough sense to see a city that’s set in its ways and it would take a lot to shock it out of rhythm. Which might be why he latches on to Ivan, Adiel, and the relic, the second there are rumors. Maybe it wont be enough, but at the very least, the answer to ‘Where’s Johnny?’, would hopefully get enough eyes on the story to make a few more people question. Plus, come on, who could resist? 

My god do i ship him and River. They compliment each other so well. The two of them running into each other on and off over the years, and then it's when Didi's working with Ivan, tagging along on the first job from the Peralez's, and it's the first time they really connect on a non-work level. Then he's the one who runs around with River doing that quest line. Probably a good thing cause neither Adiel nor Ivan would let the kids win the AR game.

[kaidatheghostdragon]

Lol this is actually something ive thought a lot about knowledge of the ghost zone going public.

Look, corruption thrives on silencing the opposition, so what is going to happen when the opposition is no longer silenced? All those innocent people killed to cover up a conspiracy suddenly have a voice again.

So i raise you the concept that the GIW are the silencers. The anti ecto acts? A cover. Any intelligent person can point out that an entity cannot be simultaneously non sentient AND actively malicious. The laws exist as a means to an end, to silence the ones that refused to be silenced the first time. The fact that their entire bodies are now made out of weaponizable energy is just a bonus. The GIW KNOW the ghosts are intelligent - its literally the reason they need to be silenced.

The giw are funded by all the most powerful corrupt rulers that know that even death wont guarantee silence. Their black budget status is a convenient cover for the money laundering that funds them.

Phantom is enemy number one because they KNOW that he's a spanner in the works - they might even be connected to the occult enough to know he's the new ghost king. They tried to bomb the ghost zone to prevent the dead from coming back.

The united states has essentially declared war and genocide against the afterlife because the majority of american politicians have secrets to hide, but its only a national-level (global-level?) conspiracy in the sense that all of these corrupt individuals have enough mutual blackmail on each other to hide each others dirty laundry.

The moment that punk ghost kid comes into his power and decides to no longer put up with their shenanigans (read: treasonous degree of illegal activities), they know their screwed.

That's why amity park was shut down so tight. The masquerade is the only thing maintaining the current status quo - the one in which they remain in power.

And the minute all those silent voices speak out, and the world learns that political corruption ran far deeper than anyone could imagine? Absolute chaos. There would be a mad dash to find someone - anyone - without skeletons in the closet to take over the government. Most governments would probably completely collapse from the rioting and utter anarchy. The justice league would be torn on how to keep people relatively safe while juggling the literal collapse of human civilization.

Who has authority to convict the politicians, judges, cops, etc of their crimes when nearly all of the ones at the top are guilty? Do they institute martial law? Do they go authoritarian to maintain control while trying to respect local governments' election cycles to get enough honest people into power to resume as before?

What if some locations, hit worst by corruption or are otherwise strongly liminal (amity park, gotham, dc's fictional third world countries, etc) straight up declare alliegence to the new ghost king during the clean up? Does the justice league just let a teenage king send in his undead armies to secure those locations? How many new political borders need to be drawn up, and how permanent are they?

And of course the only reason a happy ending would even be possible - let alone probable - is because danny is a Good Guy (tm). If he was willing to make deals with the corrupt to ensure his position of power, everyone would be screwed.

Oh... my god? Ghost Reporters.

Imagine it. Their office is in the Zone. They literally FEED of hunting for The Next Big Scoop! And Revealing The Truth! Every honest reporter that got silenced for getting a little too close to the facts. The bloody, beating, heart of societies underbelly.

Every Lois Lane that had no Kryptonian to stop some rich and powerful jackals putting them in the ground.

Well Death sure didn't stop THEM! They STILL want answers! But now they have co-wokers. Oh~ and SUPERPOWERS! And best part?

The newly appointed KING is going too and from the living world. That must mean it's okay now, RIGHT? Your majesty? You're not a RAGING HYPOCRITE, aaaaare you? :) 🎤

And... look. Danny knows full well what these piranhas are up too. He's not stupid. But Madeline Fenton raised a lot of things. Fool? Not one of um. That a LOT of reporters with sharp, sharp teeth and bloodlust in their eyes. He wants to half-live.

He compromises. Illusion of control and all that. Yeah, yeah, they all tooootally respect his authority etc. Give them Them Scoop! He, wisely, gets the fuck out of the way. Whoosh! Off they go!

Thats.... probably gonna be a problem. *siiiiiips his morning coffee* But it's not HIS problem. Not right now.

And? Suddenly all these politicians and business leaders are getting fucking AMBUSHED. Oh? You thought you'd get soft ball "aren't I a man of the people. Buy oil!" Bullshit questions? HA! Where were you on June 27th, 1978, at-

And "according to YOUR words, exact quote as follows-"

Just? They BEAT the leader with the STICK. "Oh but you'll lose access". They'd love to see HOW! They can go through WALLS! Answer the question, coward. "Your gonna make powerful enemies!" Oh nooooo, what are they gonna DO?

Shoot us TWICE?

Hey Mr. Family Values! How's the three mistresses your wife doesn't know about?? "No comment"? That's fine. We already have THEIRS. >:D Good luck with your upcoming election!

And like? As newspapers are shutting down and turning clickbait all across the country? This ONE(1) tiny, middle of nowhere town? Somehow has a horrid, horrid, ARMY of Satan's own Reporters. All apparently willing to die for the News. Throwing themselves at dictators and Supervillians alike.

"We see no God here but the Truth" is literally their papers MOTTO.

The damn thing is basicly a BRICK. You get a paperback of news. Entire planet AND THEN SOME. How?! How are they reporting, IN DETAIL, on the break down of talks between two planets 16 galaxies over? Hal says it's accurate. But what Earth paper would even HAVE that information?

And?? The whole town treats this as normal? There are human children, complaining about the weight of papers, because it makes their paper routes a pain in the ass. Soccer moms discussing alien celebrity drama. Farmers muttering over foreign unrest and how it will impact their corn harvest.

Fucking Lex Luthor, clearly deciding to roll with it, coming to sign himself up for a paper. Gaining a new life long Nemesis upon meeting Vladimir Master, whom he decides is both hot and unbearable. Someone is heard shouting "oh god, there's TWO OF THEM!"

And?? Look. Clark isn't MAD. Or JEALOUS. Nor is he in a secret Reporting War with Jerry from the Amity Chronicle. Because that would be petty and childish. He's just SAYING, maybe they should check the place out!

Maybe Jerry is a DICK and deserves it, is all. (Lois stop laughing.)

@hypewinter @hdgnj @ailithnight

[parkerlyn]

ROs reactions to the MC going up to them and bowing, hand outstretched, saying "May I have this dance?"

💃🏻🕺🏽🎵🎶 yeeeessss I am soft for dancing!! (sorry this took forEVER it uhhh spiraled into 2k words haha. ROs names are colored for separated drabbles!)

Thank you for the asks! ❤️❤️

*At [insert event here] that involves dancing*

The Healer:

Their face has been lit by the swirling orbits of the dancers in front of the two of you, a slack-jawed awe frozen on their face as they watch the footwork of the closest couple. 

Which is why when you turn and ask them to dance, their expression throws you off kilter. Instead of the enthusiasm you were expecting, a chill falls over the air between you as their face morphs into...fear?

"Oh, uh-" The Healer seems to have dropped their confidence on the ground, by the way their eyes search it. "I'm alright really, I'd rather be a bystander."

"Really?” Your incredulous response brings back the light in their face for just a moment. “You?" 

"I'm..." They search the ceiling and the draped pillars now before muttering, "Imnotverygoodatdancingyoushouldreallydancewithsomeoneelse."

You blink. "Sorry, want to say that again?"

A sigh passes through their lips while they pull idly at their ear. "I'm...a little clumsy at these sorts of dances. Can never get all the steps in the right order."

Your face breaks into a soft sympathy and they can't help theirs relaxing in response. Still, you hold your hand out with resolution.

"We don't have to do the fancy steps, it's enough just to dance with you."

Reflections of you are clearer in their gold irises as their eyes widen, the smile spreading in turn. Finally, they take your hand.

"You do remember I literally crashed into you the first time we met, right?" At your expectant stare, they laugh. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."

With that settled you lead them forward, feeling just the slightest bit of nervous resistance that melts away when you give a quick squeeze. You guide them to the corner of the dance floor away from focus, before turning and tentatively placing a hand on the luscious sash and decorated fabric draping over their shoulder, the other resting in their elevated hand. 

The Healer keeps their gaze locked to yours, uncertain what to do next and finding anchor in your eyes. Deliberately, steadily, you begin to rock to the right, then to the left, swaying your bodies in a gentle rhythm. Their eyes dart once with self-consciousness at the couples around you, before the movement hooks their focus back. Face transitioning into something more at ease, you feel them start to move with you instead of being moved by you.

The smile that illuminates their face practically jumps to yours, and they bring the hand they’re holding to press against their chest. Rumbling bliss echoes against your skin, their heart leaping to meet your palm at each beat.

“See?” you whisper. “You can dance just fine.”

They press their forehead against yours, eyes barely open. 

“Only because it’s with you.”

Oisein:

“Well, hello there.”

The sultry voice comes from your left as Oisein slides into your space. Though they’re wearing their mortalis glamour, the amount of embroidery on their clothes and the delicate jewelry adorning their ears, neck, and arms still gives them an ethereal sheevra-likeness that hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“What’s a gorgeous thing like you doing all alone?” Their eyes narrow, lip turning with a clearly mischievous intent. “Bored by all these stuffy mortalis?”

“Oisein!”

Grinning with no remorse, their lavender eyes cast back to the dancing crowd, the glints of light off their accessories casting shifting reflections on the columns around you.

“We do throw better parties though, you have to admit,” they murmur.

“Maybe... Though I’m not sure the last Equinox counts as a party so much as a...rampage? A riot?”

“What’s a party without a little chaos?”

The two of you laugh quietly enough to seem polite to those around you, almost in mockery of the mortalis niceties. 

As the laughter ebbs away, you just catch the slight shift of weight from one of their legs to another as Oisein fumbles with bracelets along their wrists. It’s clear what their real reason is for shadowing you recently, and you suppose you’ve played hard-to-get long enough.

With a flourish worthy of Oisein’s dramatics, you give a bow as the instruments and Soundweavers begin the next song. 

“May I have this dance?”

You're not sure what happens first, you finishing the question or Oisein grabbing you by both hands and hastily backing up onto the dance floor.

"Finally! I thought you'd never ask!"

"What, you couldn't ask me either?" You tease while they hold one of your hands up and lift your other arm on top of theirs, their palm gently pressing against your back between your shoulders.

"When have I ever made anything easy?"

The smirk is there for an instant before it thaws into something warm and affectionate, and the two of you begin to revolve around each other across the smooth floor. 

Colors swirl like a kaleidoscope as you keep your eyes fixed on them. The lavender, the golden blond, the emeralds and sapphires glittering while resting on their tanned and freckled neck. Compared to the pairs around you Oisein flows as naturally a part of the music as the notes themselves, your movements merging into a harmony between your bodies. 

Your view changes as Oisein dips you backward, your waist nestled and secured in the crook of their arm before they roll your torso back up against them. A low hum of delighted magic reverberates from their chest through yours when you’re fully upright again, and you can just hear them begin to sing with the melody enveloping you. 

Leaning into Oisein as far as you can without disrupting your dance, you catch the small hitch in breath before they reach a warm, steady hand to cradle your neck, saccharine voice continuing a private concert for your ears alone.

The Sage:

Even from a distance, you can see the Sage’s strained smile. To the dignitaries and figureheads around them, it must seem polite, polished, immaculate. But you recognize the tired creases at their eyes and the tightness of their hands, the anxious habit as their fingers brush the braids against their back.

They turn to face someone else, the soft yellow ribbon that usually holds their hair replaced by a brilliant golden clasp that glints against your eyes. It reflects once more as they give a seasoned nod and a bow of acknowledgement, before excusing themselves. 

You smile as you watch them search the crowd for respite, tense politeness loosening into adoring relief when their eyes catch yours. The smile tugs further at your mouth and you give a wave.

“I’m so sorry,” they exhale out as they come to your side. “I thought the conversation with the Ambassador would be much shorter, but I really should’ve foreseen the...” They search around you to make sure no one can overhear them. “-bragging and oversharing that he’s wont to do.”

“Were they at least fun stories, though?”

“Depends on your definition,” they whisper back, trying to control the smirk threatening to spread. “But I know for sure the ‘legendary beast’ he described fishing for off the coast of Han is a creature he stole from his daughter’s imagination.”

“Plagiarising children? Can the mortalis sink any lower?”

“You-!” The Sage tries to wave your words away, turning to make sure no one heard you but beaming with a conspiratorial excitement. You laugh at the reaction, and they cover their mouth to stop from releasing a laugh to match.

“Well,” you continue. “Do you think the Gold Sage might have a chance for a break with a commoner like me?”

With your question, they finally let the laugh loose and bring the base of their palm against the bottom of their eyes, the usual golden swoops under them painted further out and twisting into delicate, intricate patterns over their warm skin.

“I’d hardly consider you ‘common’,” they chide, eyes half-lidded. “But what did you have in mind?”

You hear the music crescendo, before putting on your best impression of a stuffy official, with an equally stiff bow and rigid arm outstretched.

“My dear Sage,” you begin with voice pitched in imitation. They snort at the caricature. “Would you give me the honor of a dance?”

“There's nothing else I’d rather do," they say with a more genuine response, reversing your hand to place a kiss on your fingers before they let you lead them to the dance floor.

Their fingers spread against your palm when you come to an open space, and they frame your body with theirs. A lilting waltz begins and their steps start to move like clockwork, precise and smooth, pulling you into the tides of golden fabric rippling at their waist.

Vivid, lively hazel watches your face, searching over your features with admiration while your feet glide beneath you. Any view of the other mortalis or the ballroom or the band blurs into the background, your eyes caught and tangled in the glow of their unbridled joy.

“...Think we could turn this into more than just a break?” they ask gently as you continue to revolve.

“I’d be happy to help you avoid the Ambassador for as long as possible, yes.”

“Perfect.”

The Magesmith:

You're not sure what you were expecting. Maybe not as much bluntness when you asked them to dance? But still, the crossed arms and resounding "No," stings a bit more than anticipated.

They shift awkwardly at your hurt expression as you draw your hand back, distracting themself by pulling at the tight, velvety dressclothes the Sage shoved in their face just hours before.

"It's not you," they continue softly, almost apologetically. "Just not a huge fan of crowds...and dancing."

“Right, of course," you trail off. You understand, really, but the rejection still burns in your core and in your cheeks.

Neither of you are fully sure where the conversation is supposed to go from here, and small talk has never been the Magesmith's strong suit. When you look up again though, you catch them click their tongue while exploring the area with their eyes.

"Come with me for a second." And now it's their hand waiting for yours.

Skeptical, you still take it, and there's a sweet tenderness as they close their heated fingers around yours and weave the two of you through the crowds to the outer rims of the party. Just beyond the last line of revelers, you see a curtain barely separated to show the balcony hiding behind it, hardly visible past the reflection of the gaudy scene you’re currently caught in.

The Magesmith releases your hand and presses their face against the glass with no regard for your surroundings, before nodding and turning to you.

"Here," they state, as if that's all the explanation they need to give. They press through the door anyway, beckoning you to follow.

Slight humidity hangs in the air outside, both warmth and chill prickling over your skin. In some wild turn of luck, the balcony is empty save for the two of you, and the Magesmith holds out their brass arm as the melody from inside trickles outward in muted cadences.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," you finally say into the silence.

"No, I-" They clench their fingers before relaxing them again. Brown eyes melt into their gentle admission.

"I want to," they breathe out. "Of course I want to."

They continue to stare into you until all you can do is believe them, and your hand moves without thought. When you do connect, a small noise escapes you at how confidently they pull you forward, and how smoothly their arm flows around you. There's a practiced step to the side as they move you to their hip, before unfurling you out and around, and closing back in so you’re facing them.

They're...good at dancing.

Your feet step in time with theirs as they rock backward, to the side, on the balls of their feet as they rotate you under their arm while keeping your hands connected. In some unfamiliar array of movements, your hand drops from one of theirs, sliding across their collar to the other with another soft spin.

Really good.

"Are you kidding me?" You practically hiss. They just snicker low in response, their lips now close to your ear as they pull you flush against them.

"Please don't tell anyone, it'll ruin my reputation."

The laughter that cascades from your mouth is bright enough to put the stars to shame.

[bridgyrose]

Weiss sighed as she watched Ruby while she helped Penny start loading up the next transport to Amity. Normally, other hunters and huntresses would help, although, due to the recent changes everyone faced with faunus becoming human and humans becoming faunus, the other hunters were busy keeping the peace. Even the Happy Huntresses had their hands full down in Mantle as riots started to break out claiming it was a White Fang plot or even some experiment gone wrong from Atlas. And yet, Weiss remained mostly calm due to having other thoughts on her mind. The first being why Ruby didnt seem any different. As far as anyone could tell, Ruby was still completely human. Weiss jolted back to reality as she realized Ruby was trying to talk to her. 

“Weiss, did you hear me? Penny and I finished loading up the last of the boxes into the transport. We’re about ready to go.” 

Weiss nodded a bit, heading to the transport with her team leader. She kept an eye on her, trying to figure out what was different about Ruby. She didnt seem to have any extra ears or a tail. No scales like Yang. Everything seemed completely… human. Even Penny had a mechanical cat tail on her. Once everyone was situated into the transport, Weiss kept a close eye on Ruby to see if she could find anything, even the smallest thing, that changed about Ruby. 

Ruby on the other hand, didnt quite seem to notice Weiss watching her every move, too busy talking with Penny. “How does it feel to have a tail now?” 

“I guess it doesnt feel much different.” Penny stood up a bit and let her tail move around. “Although, it does have it’s advantages.” 

“Well, I think it’s cute.” 

Weiss listened in on the conversation, her own tail wagging when she heard Ruby saying she liked Penny’s. She tried to stop her tail for a moment, trying not to give herself away too much. 

Penny sat down again, looking between Ruby and Weiss. “So Weiss is an arctic wolf faunus and you Ruby-” 

“I’m human.” 

Weiss hesitated when she heard that. “W-wait, did… did you not change like the rest of us?” 

“No, I did, I just… was a faunus before.” 

Weiss looked confused and looked towards Penny for some sort of confirmation or at least to find out if Ruby was messing with her. 

Penny nodded. “Ruby is indeed human.” 

“So, if you’re human now, then… what kind of faunus were you before?” asked Weiss. 

Ruby laid back a bit, seeming a bit more comfortable now. “I was a raven faunus before. Had wings as a trait. Although…” she sighed and looked up to the ceiling of the transport. “I… had an accident when I was younger and my wings were removed.”

Weiss sighed as she remembered seeing the scars on Ruby’s back. “I thought you said those came from a grimm attack.” 

“I… I was embarrassed about it. At the time you were upset about Blake having lied to us about her being a faunus and I… I didnt want to cause any other issues, so I lied. Made up an excuse that was a bit… believable.” 

“Oh… you should’ve said something.” 

“I was planning to. Eventually.” Ruby laughed to herself. “It was dumb for me to lie. And honestly, I wasnt sure how to bring up the fact that I lied. Just became easier to follow through with the lie.” 

Weiss nodded, understanding a bit on that. “Just make sure not to lie any more about this kind of stuff, okay?” 

Ruby nodded. “I promise.” 

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

Yang sat down and stretched, letting her weapon cool off. “Now that was a workout. Who knew we’d run into a pack of grimm out here?” 

“I’m glad you had your fun.” Blake wiped a bit of sweat from her brow and looked out to the snowy tundra. “So, you were saying about Ruby?” 

“Oh, right, I’m pretty sure she’s human right now.” 

“So, she was a faunus before? Why didnt the rest of us know?” 

“Because dad cut her wings off.” 

Blake stared at how nonchalantly Yang just said those words. “Your dad… cut her wings off?” 

Yang nodded and sighed. “There was a point in time when dad didnt like faunus. I guess he was still a bit… upset about a lot of things regarding our mother. Ruby… was only about four years old at the time so she wouldnt have remembered.” She looked down into the snow, still able to see as clear as day the events that happened. “I… I couldnt stop him and no one believed me when I told them about what dad did. Qrow did end up taking Ruby away for a few years, bringing her back when she was about ten. As far as she’s aware, she had an accident when she was little that caused her to lose her wings. I… I havent been able to tell her the truth yet because I’m afraid of what she’ll think of me.” 

“She wont think poorly of you. You were just a kid, there’s no way you could’ve stopped your dad from hurting her.” 

“But I should’ve tried. And I didnt.” Yang clenched her fist, letting her knuckles turn white. “So now, I just do what I can to protect her. I dont let her get too close to dad and I’ve made sure she understands when someone means to cause harm to her. But I can never make it up to her for what I never did.” 

Blake put a hand on Yang’s shoulder. “You’re going to have to tell her some day.” 

“I know. Just… when I know she’s ready to hear the truth.”

[famouskittychild]

Star Wars Fun in the Sun

vol 2 - At the pool

This is my gift (vol2) for @milfsyndullas in the Fun in the Sun gift exchange (hosted at @starwarsfandomfests). Some poolside fun during a break away from the war with the trio of Obi-wan, Anakin and Ahsoka. 

AO3 

.

.

.

The small skiff that had carried them down to the planet was a welcome sight. It was the first civilian craft they had been in for a while, and the unusual colours, shapes and interior kept them occupied during the descent.

“What a nice little ship this is” expressed Ahsoka what all three of them were thinking. Obi-wan answered with his usual serenity.

“Yes, it was acquired for the Grand Army not long after the beginning of the war. The planet we are heading to is on a supply line, so many of their infrastructure is now helping the war effort.”

Anakin’s mood darkened a bit though if anyone would’ve asked why, he couldn’t have answered. Ahsoka did find the problem for him.

“So… they had to give up their livelihood to the Republic…”

“... and the Republic uses it so they can go back to live their lives undisturbed by war as soon as possible.” Obi-wan nodded.

The skiff banked and they had a great view at the land under them. Green forests, white dwellings and small blue lakes were the dominant features under the patchy cover of rainclouds. The craft straightened out, bringing the landscape slowly out of view. The pilot’s voice came through the on-board comm system.

“We will be landing in five minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing.”

 The facility that was chosen as housing for the visiting officers was a sprawling complex of low, simple buildings nestled in a valley between gently rising hills. The person who took them over from the clerk at the front desk told them about the place after Obi-wan asked about it. Lilac Crescent was a holiday resort, with the attractions of forest walks, multiple lakes and wildlife reserves nearby.

“Soon after the war started, the ‘Crescent was acquired for the war effort. The tourism dried up anyways, what with all the blockades and restrictions. We usually host training sessions here, or provide housing for all kind of personnel, from troopers to clerks to maintenance workers. Most recently we had a conference for medical personnel. This way please.”

They reached a pair of glass doors on the corridor. It opened onto a spacious square that had a large enough space in the middle for every resident to gather there. Outside of the open area, the lawn was dotted with benches, tidy bushes and picnic tables. Small pathways led to the white walled cabins strewn around the premises, trees giving shade to them here and there.

Their building was off from the main one somewhat. Behind the cabins there were clusters of larger houses with two stories.

“Those have apartments, as we were told we can expect some of your colleagues to join you later. We had prepared an apartment with three bedrooms for you; if there is any request or you would like a different one, please let us know and we can make the necessary adjustments.”

“Thank you” Obi-wan answered for all three of them. They knew they wont be asking for anything.

There were differently coloured doors for each of the separate apartments on the outside of the building, but their guide led them to a widest, double door in the middle. It opened into an alcove cutting straight through the building,  walls lined with ferns and other shadow tolerant plants. As they rounded the corner and stepped into the inner courtyard, they all drew to a stop. Their guide grinned at them, no doubt expecting their reaction from experience with other visitors. Ahsoka’s jaw dropped, Anakin broke into a grin, and even Obi-wan’s smile grew wider.

“A swimming pool?” Ahsoka breathed.

“With parasols!” Anakin pointed out, which made Ahsoka snap around to look at him. She didn’t expected him to single those out when there was a small slide at one corner.

“And a slide!” she pointed it out to him.

“This is very nice.” Obi-wan turned to their guide. “Thank you.”

Their guide smiled.

“You are very welcome. Your unit will be just over there” they pointed towards the corner on their right, at one of the transparent wide doors. “Communal rooms on the ground floor, bedrooms and fresher upstairs. The shed over there contains pool equipment. There’s instructions for everything that needs instructions, and the rest is safe to use as is.”

They gave the keycards to Anakin who stood closest.

“The main building has meals all through the day, and we have a delivery service too, accessible from your datapads, both for groceries and meals. Just use the comm in the lounge if you need anything, any time.”

They thanked them for their help, smiling and looking forward to spending a few days there, then the employee left and they went to settle into their rooms. The glass double doors opened to the lounge, with low sofas in cheerful colours. Other transparent sliding doors separated the kitchen and dining areas, with windows set high on the walls that looked outside, for privacy. They opened all of them and enjoyed the breeze crossing the house.

Ahsoka run upstairs then yelled down telling them she had found her room.

“Its the one with the blue curtains!”

Anakin was inspecting the taps and Obi-wan was reading the safety guide posted on the hallway wall. Ahsoka grabbed their bags and carried them upstairs, leaving them in the middle of the foyer on the landing, thinking the other two can choose their rooms later. They were still inspecting the place when she got back downstairs. Anakin was now looking at the kettle, flipping the switch on and off on it. It was an old, almost entirely mechanical model, nothing like the automated appliances they were used to. She plopped down onto a sofa and relaxed.

“Don’t get too comfortable, we will have to leave for the briefing soon.” Obi-wan told her, as she expected he would, and she sighed. They might have come here for training and other official stuff, not even knowing for exactly how many days, but at least their surrounding were nice. She looked out at the pool. Very nice.

If only the weather would cooperate.

 After returning at the end of their official schedule later that day, Ahsoka went to the top floor straight away, leaving the other two downstairs. There was a large closet on the corridor, right by the stairs, that she wanted to investigate. She wondered what would be stored there; not bedlinen or bathing towels, as those were supplied with each room in their own closets. She opened the large doors and her jaw dropped. The contents of the spacious storage were so colourful, it reminded her of a toyshop.

“What are these? Circus tent accessories?” She mused, than looked closer. The neat piles were sorted by type it seemed. There were some that looked like towels, in several sizes. Others seemed to have tailoring and hems - cloaks, probably; and then there were thin shawl-looking pieces, and simple carrier bags in several sizes, and an assortment of hats. She pulled out one of the clothes-looking things: it was a loosely shaped yellow and blue striped dress. It was probably meant to fit many sizes and shapes with its wide sleeves, overlapping panels and ties at the waist and hems.  

The corners of her mouth turned upwards. This closet was here probably for the same reason the shed down by the pool was: to be used by guest who didn’t bring their own things, or just needed a spare of something. She could choose for herself, yes. But she could also choose for all three of them.

Just to spare the bother for the others.

 Fifteen minutes later, she hopped down the stairs, with a pile for the two jedis on her arm.

Anakin looked up at the sound of her barrelling down the stairs and stopped in his tracks as she came into view.

“Where did you got those?”

Ahsoka stopped in the middle of the room and looked down at herself as if just noticing that something is out of the ordinary.

“Oh. These. I found them in the closet upstairs. I’ve got some for you, master, and for Master Kenobi.” She lifted her arm with the suspicious pile. Anakin raised an eyebrow at her.

“Thank you for your effort”, he said cautiously. If her current look and the cascade of colours and patterns he could see where any indication, they weren't in for anything good.

Over her clothes she was wearing a cheerful lilac wrap-dress with a pattern of small blue flowers. She had a large towel thrown over her shoulder in a riot of greens, yellows and purples. The most unusual was the wide brimmed yellow hat she had over her montrals, the top of them sticking out of it.

She must’ve noticed his gaze as she glanced up at her headwear.

“I even found hats for non-round-heads. This will be good against the sun, isn’t it?” She addressed the question for both of them, as Obi-wan had moved closer too.

“What had you chosen for us?” he asked her in his usual light tone. Anakin braced himself, and his padawan’s exited grin just further spurred his suspicions.

He was right. She got them a similarly riotous assortment of shirts, dressing gowns, towels and even hats. Obi-wan seemed happy with her choices, but Anakin felt a bit uncomfortable.

“These are so… colourful.” He tried to put it into words. He wasn’t sure it was right for them, or for him, to wear things like these.

Ahsoka shrugged with a mischievous grin.

“That was my intent, master. Usually we have plain clothes, but we are on holiday. I thought we might enjoy our clothes for once, not just use them.”

Anakin looked at her, and realized he had to make a choice. She was right, there was nothing wrong with letting their hair down a bit. On the other hand, he also realized that his padawan had probably chosen the most outrageously coloured and patterned and maybe even tailored things she could find.

Out of habit, he glanced over to his former master. Obi-wan looked back from the corner of his eye, lips in a half smirk, and Anakin knew he had came to the same conclusion. But Anakin was the teacher here; it had to be his choice how to handle this.

“Make sure to take some holo recordings whilst we are wearing these, as you already went to the trouble of selecting the most outrages ones for us.”

Ahsoka opened her mouth to dispute some of what he said, then wisely changed her mind.

 The weather, as it often happens, did not cooperate. It rained through the next day, but at least they were busy with their schedule. They were also told to have a rest for another four days. Their troopers were back on Kamino, getting their usual update courses and evaluations. They could expect the officers showing up sometime the last day or two, depending on other factors. Until then, they were free to relax.

They talked about maybe going back to Coruscant, but Obi-wan cut that idea short.

“We haven’t had any time away either from the battlefields or the operation planning on Coruscant. Rest is important, too. Let’s recharge in the next few days.”

“Then when the boys get here we can dive straight back into action.” Anakin added, already on board. Ahsoka looked between the two of them, then shot a pointed look towards the courtyard.

“Swimming pool?” she asked. So far they had no time to try it out.

“Not in this weather” Anakin looked out through the doors. Over the low roofs of the building, the clouds were grey. It was raining intermittently.

“Not exactly pool weather,” Obi-wan was still cheerful despite it, “but good for a barbecue.”

The other two met his enthusiasm with doubt.

“Master Kenobi, it’s raining.” Ahsoka stated, just in case he missed the obvious. She could find no other explanation.

“Thank the Force for whoever had invented the umbrella, than.” He smiled at them once more before getting up from the sofa and getting ready to head out.

 Off to the side of the lounge doors in front of every apartment was a small enclosed area with tiled floor, surrounded with low walls and small shrubs. There was enough room for a table and four chairs on one side and a pair of sunbeds opposite. It also had a built in grill with a cover over it at about shoulder height but no roof for whoever was standing in front of it.

Ahsoka and Anakin decided to stick to the lounge, reading their datapads and watching holos. They occasionally looked outside at Obi-wan, grilling away in his purple shirt decorated with palm leaves. He was using one hand to hold whatever utensil he needed and the other to hold the colourful umbrella. He even twirled it once in a while.

They thought him a bit silly, standing outside in the gloomy weather and messing with the smoky grill when they had a very well equipped and rain-free kitchen. Until he came back indoors with a pile of grilled meats and vegetables.

“Get those salads we ordered earlier, please. Time for dinner.”

Ahsoka retrieved the stack of dishes they had ordered from the Crescent’s own kitchen. Obi-wan piled up a plate for her with meats, and shared out the veggies between Anakin and himself, then they all had their pick from the salads. Anakin pestered Ahsoka light heartedly about her not eating her veggies, and she showed her carnivore canines to him as answer. But they both thanked Obi-wan for making the majority of the food, and for making it delicious. 

“Lets hope the weather turns soon” he answered before tucking in.

 The colourful wooden building the opposite of their apartment on the other side of the pool, turned out to be a shed housing treasures, at least according to Ahsoka. When they had woken up to clear skies and sunshine the that morning, it was all she could do to wolf down her breakfast porridge before she raced outside.

On their third day, it finally did, and they broke out the pool equipment.

Anakin followed her.

“I think I should supervise. I don’t want the pool to end up with rainbow bubbles.” He got up, and Obi-wan stopped with the spoon halfway to his mouth. That was something that didn’t occur to him before. Than he reminded himself that they were on officially mandated holiday, and the employees of the Crescent assured them that everything is safe that was stored around the pool for guests to use. He hoped safe didn’t mean skin coloured to purple and teal patches that takes weeks of three rounds of daily sonic use to fade away.

The sun was still low but started to rise above the rooftops surrounding the courtyard. It made him remember another thing he had learned the hard way. He gathered the dishes but left the washing up for later, then he followed his former padawan and their current padawan outside.

The sun had already dried up any remnants of puddles on the tiled courtyard. He did spot some dew on the patches of lawns between the poolside and the individual terraces but only where there was till shadow. He knew the last reminders of the past few rainy days will vanish before noon and the meteorology service promised sunshine with a bit of breeze for the coming days. Perfect poolside weather.

He caught up with the younger ones and peaked over their shoulders. They were combing through the contents of the pool shed, at the moment inspecting the second shelf from the left. It had colourful boxes on the top shelves and some larger containers at the bottom.

“What are those?” He asked, and the other two jumped. “Sorry.”

Anakin waved him to not worry about it, and shoved him one of the boxes.

“Inflatables. There’s an airpump over there,” he pointed at a small machine in the corner, “and we are trying to choose.”

“I want the thranta. They are adorable.” Ahsoka said, showing the box already in her hand. Anakin raised an eyebrow.

“Those are aiwhas, obviously. The shape of the head…”

Ahsoka leaned forward, ready to argue with him. Obi-wan threw his palms up, stopping them.

“Argue later, please. For now, I want to remind you two to a very important thing.”

They both turned to him and showered him with guesses.

”Not to drown in the pool?” ”Not to pee in the pool?””Anakin! Where did you get that idea?!””The boys, obviously…”No eating in the pool!””No datapads, they aren’t actually waterproof.””Wear haircaps!””Not me!””Wear goggles?“

“Stop, please.” Obi-wan sighed, and the other two calmed down a bit. “I meant sunscreen. Plenty of sunscreen.” He paused, then looked at each of them in turn. “Learned that the hard way.”

“I smell a good story” grinned Ahsoka.

“I smell a funny story” Anakin added. Obi-wan rolled his eyes.

“If you want to know, yes, at one time I gut a sunburn so bad after a mere afternoon outside that I needed medical care. My face was red for two weeks and I needed to slather enough cooling lotion on myself that it would’ve covered a grown thranta. Or an aiwha.”

The other two tried not to laugh. Obi-wan was so pale, it was hard to imagine him all red, but they managed it of course. And it was hilarious. Only their respect for him stopped them to laugh at him, at least whilst he was standing in front of them.

“I haven’t seen any in the house, I guess people bring their own with them when they come here. I’ll put on a delivery request for them. Until that arrives, you two stay out of direct sunlight.” Again he looked at each of them in turn. It must have been really important to him if he was putting so much emphasis on it. “You don’t want to end up all red like I did back then.”

“Well that would be terrible” Ahsoka deadpanned, looking at her arms. Obi-wan smiled.

“I apologize. I should have worded that differently.”

“Like ‘burned like a crispy stuffed tomato’ for example?” Anakin volunteered. Obi-wan shot him a look but there was humour behind it. He left them to continue their exploration and went back to the lounge to put the order in on his datapad.

 The shed was a treasure throw. Neither of them had ever been to a place like this. They did swim at the temple’s pool but that was for learning and training. They never had the opportunity yet to just have fun with some water. It was extra nice that it wasn’t a beach - no sand. Anakin could never get used to having sand around water. Sand was desert, aridity, and water was everything the desert wasn’t. He could also never wrap his mind around the fact that the larger the body of water the more sand it’s shores tended to have.

Or that people went there willingly not just to swim but to play in the sand. For him, that substance was hard, gritty life, and when having fun, he didn’t wanted to be reminded of that.

Ahsoka had no such qualms, although she knew about her master’s aversion and she sympathised with him.

 By the time Obi-wan had arrived with the sunscreen sometime later, the other two had a competition going on. The airpump stood unused by their side and they were trying to inflate their respective pool floats using only their own lung capacities.

“That’s futile but a valiant effort” Obi-wan commented, and the other two threw him the annoyed look of the young. “I also have the sunscreen here, if you two need a break.”

They didn’t, of course, and they continued their strenuous competition. Watching the other two getting more and more winded whilst their floats where still barely more than colourful limp piles at their feet, Obi-wan sat down at one of the sunbeds around the pool with his yellow-green-red spotted towel and started to put lotion on his skin methodically.

“Do you need help, master?” Anakin asked some time later. Obi-wan looked up to see that they had stopped - and barely made progress - and were both looking at him. He shook his head, a bit confused about the question.

“No, I can manage, thank you Anakin.”

The other two exchanged looks than turned back to him. Than he realized. He was finished with the front of his torso and his shoulders; next would be his back. Which they thought would be a problem for poor old Obi-wan, obviously.

“Don’t worry I can reach my own back.” He turned around so they could see, and hooked his hands together behind his back, one arm over his shoulder the other reaching up from below. “See?”

He turned around and the other two had the grace to look a bit embarrassed. He didn’t blame them. He might’ve had similar thoughts about others at their age.

“Now how are those floats going?” he asked while his hands were working on his back.

“Abysmal.” “Hopeless.” “Futile.” “They are faulty.” “Yes, I bet they have holes on them.”

Obi-wan shot a look at them that made them stop.

“Well, I guess, we should admit defeat…”Anakin conceded, “and just use the machine.”

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea, master” agreed Ahsoka too.

They went over to the machine and in a few minutes they had two colourful, vaguely air-whale shaped mattresses. Ahsoka’s one was teal and turquoise and gray, while Anakin had a pink-blue-yellow one for himself.

“Would you like one too, master?” They already started to walk towards the shed.

“No thank you Anakin, I’ll chose one later after I finished.”

“It’s not a problem” and they already vanished. Obi-wan sighed, wondering what will he get. Between his shirts that Ahsoka cheerfully picked out for him every morning - he had a pink one on with tiny porgs all over it today- and his towels - those he choose himself, but the selection for both ranged from “cheerfully bright” through “interesting pattern” to “what where they on when they designed this”- he probably wore more colour in this past few days than usually did in a standard year, disguises included. He decided to wait to see what they chose for him, than he’d just have make his own choice if he doesn't like their selection.

 He didn’t liked it. It was some large bird, green and purple, and unlike theirs, wasn’t flat but shaped like a very awkward chair. So he went and rummaged around, settling on a large torus shaped something in all the colours of the rainbow. He was already covered in colours, so he thought why not go all out.

They air-whales were already floating on the water. Anakin and Ahsoka were sitting at the edge of the pool near them, hanging their legs into the water, passing the sunscreen bottle back and forth between them. After inflating his own device, Obi-wan saw that they were taking the task of screening up seriously. He got hold of the doughnut firmly, took a two careful steps to speed up than jumped onto the water. As he landed, he splashed up a good deal of water - straight at the two younger ones.

“Master!” he heard the two indignant voices. He turned to look at them innocently.

“Yes my dears?”

They had water dripping all over them. He knew they’ll get back at him later. He padded away, looking for the small portable music device he remembered seeing somewhere beside the pool. Might as well have some music too.

 Their attack was coordinated and well executed. Anakin floated in front of him, blocking his view and chatting with him. Under that cover, Ahsoka managed to round him unnoticed, then at a sign they both grabbed his doughnut and upturned it, tossing him into the water.

“Vengeance!” the yelled, laughing, as Obi-wan resurfaced spluttering, shaking his hair out of his eyers. Their alliance broke up almost immediately as their floats bumped into each other and they started to jostle.

“Hey, mind the thranta!” Ahsoka warned.

“It’s an aiwha.” Anakin pushed her, and her mattress wobbled heavily, threatening to throw her off.

“Yours maybe. This one isn't.”

They argued back and forth about the properties of the different air-whale species until they managed to knock each other off their respective float. All three in the water, the fight turned to everyone for themselves. Ahsoka was the shortest but also the most agile, and she swam around the other two like a fish. Anakin and Obi-wan was evenly matched, and they managed to push each other under the water and being pushed down by the other about equal frequency. Ahsoka won the battle when she remembered that she saw some long, straight foam rolls in the shed and whilst the other two was occupying themselves she sneaked out to get them Than she slapped them both on top of their heads, making them admitting defeat.

 When they got too tired - and hungry - they climbed out of the water and wrapped up in their oversized towels. Ahsoka’s was so large it covered her like a tent, but she loved the one she had and kept in on: it had tookas all over it. Than they fired up the barbecue again. This time Obi-wan had help, mostly because the other two were really hungry. After eating, he pulled out a second box of deliveries, just when they were getting ready to get back into the water.

“What are those?”

The largish box was full with bottles and jars, their contents a rainbow of colours.

“This, dear Ahsoka,” Obi-wan checked his datapad, “ well, let me read out the official product designation. This is a ‘The starter box every pool party needs if you want to avoid your guests getting too rowdy, touchy or messing up your place in one way or another - Everything You Need to Make Your Own Mocktails, Starter pack for twelve guests’. This was the smallest package, the others were for 24, 30, 50 or even more guests.”

“That’s how they called their product?” Anakin dug into the box, pulling out a jar with small golden fruits in it. It harmonised with the shirt he had on, with songbirds. “And they are still in business…”

“Who has twelve guest?” was Ahsoka’s observation.

“Here are some recipes” Obi-wan handed a small puck to her. She pushed a button on the cheap plastic gadget and a cheery hologram of an assortment of colourful drinks in fancy glasses showed up. She scrolled to the next picture, and there was indeed a recipe for the simplest of drinks under it.

“Syrup, water, bubbles - where do we get bubbles?” she mused.

“I think there’s a gadget for that. All is supposed to be in the box.” Obi-wan shrugged.

They all choose from the supplied list than set to measure and shake and stir. The first round was a success.

“Let’s try some of the more complicated ones” Anakin suggested only halfway into his drink. Ahsoka scrolled through the recipes and they found one that they both liked.

“How about this one. ‘Chandrilla Sunrise’. Phew, long list, but doesn’t seem too complicated.”

Their first try failed, predictably.

“Focus, padawan. I think we’ll have to follow the instructions by the letter.” Anakin furrowed his brows.

“Oh dear, that’s terrible” commented Obi-wan, than he turned back to his own holopad quickly. “I’ll will just look up some more tricks and recipes while you two… brew.”

They messed up something again. The colours didn’t stay separate bands but blended together into a muddy mix. Obi-wan found the root of their problem.

“The recipe doesn’t mention it, but here it says you have to keep each syrup chilled before pouring them into the glass, than wait a bit for it to warm up to air temperature before adding the next one.” The other two made a ‘hmm, gotcha’ noise simultaneously. “Other advise is to chill the glass beforehand.”

“Let’s try those ideas.” Anakin’s enthusiasm renewed, they got back to work on their third glass. It was a success, finally. Then they had to repeat the process two more times so each of them had a glass for themselves. Decorating them with straws, paper shapes that went over the edge and extra candied fruits.

Ahsoka exchanged her towel to a blue dress with puffy pink clouds printed on it, then turned the volume up on the music player before picking up her glass again. The sun was shining, their bellies were full and no one was shooting at them. It was a great day.

 The sun was slowly getting lower over the rooftops. Music was playing at an acceptable volume now after Ahsoka started to go a bit overboard before and they had to shout to hear each other. Some of the sunbeds were covered with towels and wraps and hats as they tossed them aside when not needed. They took turns on the slide, having a competition about who could make the biggest splash when crashing into the water. Anakin seemed to be in the lead.

“It’s not fair, you are just taller, that’s your advantage!” Ahsoka complained as they stood at the edge of the pool. Obi-wan agreed with her.

“Yes, he doesn’t use any technique aside of stretching out all limbs.”

Anakin grinned at them.

“You two are just sore losers.” Then he suddenly turned and with a single step, reached the edge of the pool and jumped. The other two barely had enough time to turn away before he smashed into the pool, splashing plenty of water at them.

 After declaring Anakin the splasher champion, him and Ahsoka got back on their floats for another round of foam-noodle duel and general splashing about. Obi-wan had stuck to his datapad, still reading about drink-making tricks and flavour harmonization and fruit types. He floated around on his doughnut as far as possible from the ruckus the other two were making, sipping from his glass with an umbrella in it and a fruit rind over its edge. By the end of the day, he had made almost a dozen different drinks, and they never had to float around long without one in hand, or put aside at the edge of the pool.

“Don’t forget to visit the fresher if you need to, master” Ahsoka reminded Anakin, who shot her a look of mock offence.

“Now why would you say that?” He took a sip of his drink, than furrowed his brow. “Actually that's not that bad of an idea.”

It took him a while to paddle to the edge of the pool using only one hand.

“You can do it, master!” “Use your legs!” “Don’t drop the glass, I spent half hour on that one!” was just a few of the advice he had received.

He mock- growled back at them then laughed himself as he finally climbed up onto the tiles.

“I'm so proud of you” Obi-wan told him, and raised his glass, Ahsoka’s giggling behind him.

They stayed out after the sun had already set, than gathered up their their stuff and went to sleep tired but happy.

 Just like the day before, Anakin and Ahsoka spent most of the day in the pool. They got very good at jumping in from the edge of the pool without their feet slipping on the wet tiles. When they got tired of that, they flopped onto their respective air-whales and padded about, occasionally bumping into each other and having a wrestling match. Obi-wan had joined them before, after the sun dipped a bit lower after the glare of the middle of the day. He even jumped in himself a few times, though he enjoyed the slide more. He was now making a late afternoon meal; the leftovers were all gone and he was happy to muck about the barbecue yet again.

He heard some noises from outside. It was quiet aside of the splashing coming from the pool and the noises made by the small portable music player. Maybe they were getting some neighbours before the officers arrived. They were expecting them the next day, no later than noon. Then the noises grew louder and he could tell that they were definitely made by sentients, and were getting closer. He stuck his head out around the barbecue’s wall and peaked towards the courtyard entrance, just in time to see the approaching group of clone officers step out into the sunshine. They burst into hollering upon seeing them, and when Ahsoka and Anakin noticed them they greeted them from the water with equal enthusiasm.

Obi-wan sighed. How lucky, he thought, that he spent the last afternoon studying how to make mocktails. He checked that everything that was on the grill could be left there for a little while, than he wiped his hands on his ‘Best chef in the sector’ apron and got his datapad.

As the officers gathered around the pool, chatting with Anakin and Ahsoka and no doubt planning to get in the water as soon as possible, he opened the delivery service on his datapad. He run through the items in his head that they’ll need to feed everyone. And the drink supplies too.

Maybe he can get some of them to help out with the food and drink preparations - if he can drag them from the pool first.

[ajfanfic]

The Golden Room - A 70s Lesbians Witcher Fic

Part four of Snow and Dirty Rain

Read it on Ao3

We were in the gold room where everyone finally gets what they want, so I said What do you want, sweetheart? and you said Kiss me. Here I am leaving you clues. I am singing now while Rome burns. We are all just trying to be holy. My applejack, my silent night, just mash your lips against me. We are all going forward. None of us are going back.

Richard Siken, "Snow and Dirty Rain"

The dykes are always the first to go. That was a fact Geralt had gotten used to. It doesn’t surprise her, and it hadn’t upset her much before. This time, though, her eyes burn as she walks in the door, a pink slip in her pocket. She drops her coat on a chair.

Jaskier looks up from where she’s scribbling in her notebook and before even saying hello, asks, “What’s wrong, baby?"

“Got laid off,” she says roughly.

Jaskier rounds the table and pulls her close. Between their two incomes, supporting the three of them had been a close thing. She says, “I’ll work more nights.”

Geralt wants to say no but bites her tongue. Jaskier knows how she feels about the risks her work poses. She breathes in the sweet smell of Jaskier’s shampoo. “I don’t want you to.”

“I don’t want to either, but what else are we going to do?”

“We’ll figure something out. I’ll find another job.”

“The rent is due soon.”

“I know.”

There isn’t much more to say.

Vesemir calls the next day and Geralt swears the old woman has a psychic ability to tell when something is wrong, no matter the distance between them. The longer Ciri is with them, the more she thinks it might be a parent thing. Jaskier sits leaning against Geralt’s shoulder to listen in.

“There’s always work for you here,” Vesemir says.

Jaskier raises her eyebrows in a question at Geralt, who shakes her head and answers both of them.

“I couldn’t leave Ciri and Jaskier for that long.”

“I meant all of you.” Geralt can hear the look on Vesemir’s face that asks are you stupid, kid?

“We wouldn’t want to impose,” Jaskier says, pressing close to join the conversation.

“No imposition, you’re family. Get that Yennefer to bring y’all down Monday, she can have the guest room for the night.”

And just like that, it’s more or less figured out.

Yennefer jumps at the chance to see Vesemir again. They pack themselves into her battered purple car with bags of groceries and a bottle of Vesemir’s favorite whiskey. Jaskier and Yennefer fight over control of the tape deck before letting Ciri pick. They speed down the highway, “Mercedes Benz” blaring. Geralt can’t help smile as the noise of the city fades away, replaced by the shout of the wind and her little family singing along.

The old farmhouse is much like its owner, weathered and grey in a way that would be imposing if not for the brightness of the life within. Vesemir is waiting for them on the front porch, arms crossed and grinning. Ciri looks between her and Geralt as they climb out of the car, then down at herself.

“I see what you meant, Yen,” she laughs. Between their hair, faded jeans, work boots, and muted flannels, the three look uncannily similar.

“Told you,” Yennefer says. “You were meant to end up here.”

Geralt drops their bags on the step and tackles Vesemir in a bear hug.

“It’s good to see you too, kid.”

“Been too long.”

Vesemir pulls away and smacks Geralt upside the head. “Now, who’s fault is that?” She holds her hand up before Geralt can protest. “Introduce me to my grandkid.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Geralt beckons her up. “This is Ciri.”

Ciri squares her shoulders and tips her chin up. “Good to meet you.”

Vesemir looks her up and down appraisingly. “Can you ride?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then that’s our first order of business.” Vesemir throws an arm around her shoulder and pulls her into her side. “Why don’t we let Geralt put y’all’s stuff away and I’ll show you around. The ladies can put their feet up for a bit.”

“Hey!” Geralt protests even as she picks the bags up again.

“Vesemir is absolutely right, that long drive was just exhausting.” Jaskier fans herself dramatically.

“And you didn’t even do anything,” says Yennefer.

“Nothing but enjoy your company, darling.”

“You-!”

Jaskier darts up the steps, giggling, with Yennefer hot on her heels. She pauses to drop a kiss on Vesemir’s cheek before heading into the house.

It doesn’t take long for them to decide to stay. They hadn’t talked about what they were going to do next, too grateful to want to ask too much but the next morning over breakfast Vesemir looks up from her coffee and says, “I’m not sure how attached y’all are to the furniture you got in the city, but you’re welcome to the truck if you want to bring anything else down.”

“Honestly, a coat of paint and this place would be nicer than anywhere else I’ve ever lived,” says Jaskier, “furniture included.”

Vesemir smiles. “Then we’ve got our first task. Ciri, what color’d you like?”

She thinks about it for a long moment. “Yellow. Bright yellow.”

“Yellow it is, then.”

Vesemir introduces Ciri to the horses when Geralt goes into town to buy paint. Ciri decides that Applejack is her horse. Applejack has yet to agree, but with time and sugar cubes, Ciri is determined to win him over.

Geralt comes back with paint, and brushes, and a package of seeds that promise to someday be a feast. Jaskier’s eyes light up and she claims a plot by the porch as her garden.

“So I can sit in the shade and keep an eye on it,” she explains. She’s got a wide-brimmed hat on and her hair tied up, a pair of Ciri’s jeans too short at her ankles, and Geralt has to push the hat back and kiss her.

Vesemir kneels in the dirt beside her and shows her how to build a mound and press the squash seeds into the middle, how to make furrows for the carrots, and put marigolds around the edge to keep off the bugs. Together, they plant the seeds.

“Good work,” Vesemir says. “It’s been a long time since I’ve kept a garden here. It’s too much work for one person.”

“Most things are,” says Jaskier. “Most things are, honey.”

They don’t end up using the truck. Yennefer drives down again the next weekend, the rest of Jaskier’s clothes, her records and record player, and Geralt’s few books in the trunk. Jaskier runs an extension cord out the kitchen window and sets the record player up on the porch. Geralt and Vesemir argue over their plan of attack, but settle on taking the week to do the work, one side of the house at a time, top and bottom. Ciri ends up with soap in her hair and Jaskier’s top is soaked through by the time the walls are clean, and they have to take a break for lemonade. They tape off the window trim and pull the chairs away from the wall. Vesemir starts at the top with Geralt, claiming her knees are too old to get on the ground. Ciri obliges and lays on her belly to paint the edge where the porch meets the wall.

The project grows, as projects are wont to do. The house’s bright color makes the trim look dirty, so white joins the yellow splatters on their jeans. A rainy weekend leaves the kitchen bright green, cans of blue waiting at the foot of the stairs for the bedrooms and the next storm. Summer is beginning to frizz Jaskier’s hair by the time they finish and the house matches the riot of color outside.

Vesemir teases them for their taste and Ciri says, “That’s what you get for inviting a bunch of queers into your house.”

There is a glint of victory in the smile Geralt and Jaskier share at that, satisfied in the knowledge that they have done well. After dinner, Ciri and Vesemir do the washing up and Geralt follows Jaskier onto the porch.

Fireflies flicker over the dirt road. They stand for a long moment at the rail, a breeze keeping the night from unpleasant heat.

“Thank you. For coming here.” Geralt doesn’t say for me but Jaskier knows her well enough to hear it.

Jaskier leans back against Geralt’s chest. She sighs, looking out past the small garden she’s planted beside the porch and the wide fields beyond. Geralt’s arms wrap around her and she feels very peacefully small.

“I knew I’d be happy here because you and Ciri are happy. And I am, but I’m happy here for me, too. All of this isn’t what I thought I wanted but it’s good in a way I couldn’t have predicted, putting down roots. I’ve never been in one place long enough to do that before.”

“What do you want, sweetheart?” Geralt says.

She smiles softly and says, “Kiss me.”

[toukatan]

Oh my god Beni why didn't you tell me that you like kda too, THE NEW EP IS AMAZING DRUM GO DUM BEING MY FAV

Hope you are doing okay beni, new chapter is among us and then one more chapter until end of year can you believe that

Which one was your fav in the new kda ep, drum go dum is so good, kai sa you go girl

Im back to studying japanese so been a bit busy but always sending love! Hope you are doing good too, and whats you been up to? Im now just waiting for new chapter to come and give us angst ❤️

BOY WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU LIKED K/DA? I’M THE ONE FEELIN’ BETRAYED HERE— I THOUGHT MY ASS WAS THE ONLY STAN AND THEN NOW YALL TELL ME YOU LIKE THEM TOO HHHH TALK TO ME ABOUT K/DA BECAUSE I WONT SHUT UP ABOUT THEM

we can discuss the three songs, i don’t needa talk about the baddest + more those two slapped harder than reiner punching zeke in titan form

villain: this bish did not have to go this hard on this track like every god dayum line describes evelynn so well like riot games? nah riot studio at this point. the vocals for this song was so ugh alluring and seductive?— if that ain’t eve idk what is like ‘is it really a surprise, if i'm playing with your mind? and i treat you like a prize, then i throw you to the side’ sis can play with my mind STRAIGHT UP VILLAIN YEAH NO FEELIN

drum go dum: NO WORDS BEST SONG ON THE EP villain creeps up close BUT THE BOM AND THE BANG GO DUM DEE DUM DUM DA DEE DUM DEE DUM IVE LITERALLY HAD THIS ON REPEAT SINCE THE RELEASE AND IT DESCRIBES KAI’SA TO THE T — OUR MAIN DANCER, SOTY I HOPE SIS DROPS MORE SONGS LIKE THIS THE BEAT REALLY DO BE ADDICTIVE IT MAKES YOU WANNA DANCE LIKE I AM HERE FOR IT YALL BETTER MAIN KAI’SA FOR THIS 🤩😭

i’ll show you: im a once so my onceblade ass was happy to see twice here too! i really like the lyrics in this track, it’s completely different from the traditional k/da sound but it’s screams ahri — but i think the lyrics reflecting ahri’s earlier pop star solo career to being the badass leader, queen she is and forming k/da and finding herself with the girls and that ish is so sweet i love to see it

YOU DIDNT TELL ME YOU WERE A BLADE BYE LIKE WE OUT HERE—

aight let’s talk after my long ass discussion of the legends k/da— back to japanese? yesss you study— boy you’ll be able to read effortlessly and go to japan without translated apps and listen without a translator too omg legend! nah wait you just sent me an ask while im answering this one i— wbjsbsnans take care of yourself over there btw?

and as for me? nothing new we boring as ever, hayfever being a real bully these days though but i am well and hope you are too 💗💗 AND RIGHT 2020 BOUTA SAY BYE LIKE SNK BYE

[crossovereddie]

Thoughts on S10xE12: THE WEDDING

Okay so y’all know how this is gonna go. A lot of tears. A lot of screaming via caps lock. And of course it wouldn’t be complete without a lot of “I LOVE YOU SO MUCH” and pet names for Mickey. Enjoy. 

Let’s get non related gallavich things out of the way because I don’t wanna finish this on a downer

I actually love Liam/Frank scenes

Debbie finally getting what she deserves? Good

Tami is a fucking bitch

Entitled little brat

You won’t change my mind about this

Don’t even try defending her

You NEVER use someone’s child against them.

Don’t threaten to take Fred away then be shocked that Lip ruined his sobriety

I just kept repeating “please no” when he paused before taking that first sip

It fucking hurt so much

Lip deserves BETTER

Tami is toxic. End of. Period.

Now let’s bring up the mood!!

Liam looking at the tuxes was so cute

He’s so confused

Mickey actually chose a white tux for himself :((((((

My snow angel🥺

Everyone checking on Ian is so sweet

Carl’s toe nail clippings “you picking those up” 😂😂😂

Ian really hates that shit doesn't he

I'm so proud of him for taking his meds

GIVE ME THOSE PHOTOS

"Savings" lmao

Baby got fancy for his wedding

HIS FACE I CANT😂😂😂

They shower together :((((

“Those are nice right?”

Fashionista Mickey making another comeback

Unpopular opinion but I love seeing his Ian tattoo on his chest ON THEIR WEDDING DAY

chin touch :(

So soft. So sweet.

THE WAY IAN GRABS HIM YES BITCH

THE GRUNT 🤤🤤🤤

HEIGHT DIFFERENCE FUCK

MICKEY IS T I N Y!!!!

TOWEL

NECK KISS

FUCK

I fucking hate terry

I need him dead because my baby isn’t safe until he is

His little “what?” 😩

HE DESERVES SO MUCH BETTER

GET HIM BABY

But like don’t because I need you free

Can sandy poison terry or something?

Sandy 😂😂

This scene was sad because my poor baby but so early shameless I love it

Carl and the beer trilogy 😂😂😂

“I don’t wanna get married where my shoes stick to the floor”

GIVE THE PRINCE HIS ROYAL WEDDING

The spinal cord line 😂😂😂

Mickey’s a Gallagher I don’t care what their last name is

HERE COME THE TEARS AGAIN

“Why is Mickey handcuffed?”

“Terry fucking wins again” NO BABY

MY FUCKING HEART

ILL GIVE YOU ALL THE HALLOWEEN CANDY TO FILL YOUR LITTLE TUMMY BABY BOY

I WANNA BUY YOU ALL THE CHRISTMAS GIFTS YOU WANT

LET ME ADOPT YOU

IM SO FUCKING SAD FOR HIM

HE DESERVES SO MUCH BETTER

“I love you. I love you” 😭😭😭😭😭

“This son of a bitch is never gonna let me be happy” IM SOBBING ALL OVER AGAIN

In so little words Lip really said “Mickey Milkovich deserves the wedding of his dreams and we’re gonna make it happen if it’s the last thing I do”

Did anyone else start singing Carrie Underwood when Ian said “Louisville slugger”

The Gallagher’s love Mickey so much

I LOVE MICKEY SO MUCH

IAN FUCKING LOVES MICKEY SO MUCH

“Mickey might have to marry Debbie instead of Ian”

“Nice polish boy named Michael” LMAO

I love Lip

OKAY THIS SCENE KILLED ME

The way Mickey is looking at Ian melts my heart

Again their height difference murdered me

YOU WANT KIDS?

K I D S

IAN WANTS KIDS WITH MICKEY BUT WE ALREADY KNEW THAT

FUCK HIS DREAM FROM THE ICONIC DELETED SCENE IS COMING TRUE

IF THEY DONT HAVE KIDS NEXT SEASON IM RIOTING

I like when they make fun of each other because they are literally best friends forever

THEIR SMILES

MILKOVICH

GALLAGHER

BUT WHICH ONE IS IT NOW

Ian is obsessed with holding mickey’s neck

THUMB

MY BOYS LOOK SO HANDSOME IN THEIR TUXEDOS

Mickey trying to be nice to this lady 😂😂

I LOVE HIS VOICE

They have mutual friends and I’m fond

I told y’all it’s the little things that get me

“Chiavari chairs look nice” “I like how the gold catches the light” DONE

The cake topper I NEED IT

I HATE TERRY I HATE TERRY I HATE TERRY

The lip and Ian scene made me cry again

THE SONG

IAN YOU SAP

HE LOVES MICKEY SO MUCH

As soon as I heard the first cords of the song I IMMEDIATELY bursted into sobs

IM CRYING AGAIN

MY LONELY DAYS ARE OVER 😭😭😭

Once again I’m beyond jealous of sandy

I wanna walk my baby down the aisle 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

HES SO CUTE FUCK

IM HONESTLY NOT OKAY

THE NIGHT I LOOKED AT YOU

I DIDNT KNOW THIS SONG WAS GONNA HURT SO MUCH

HEIGHT DIFFERENCE AGAIN IM SO BLESSED

It’s like even more noticeable this episode right?????

TINY AND TALL

BLACK HAIR AND RED HAIR

BLUE EYES AND GREEN EYES

WHITE TUX AND BLACK TUX

TOUGH AND SOFT

THEY COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE

Kev was so funny finally

GET HIS HOMOPHOBIC ASS GAY JESUS SQUAD

When they kept singing even after he pulled his gun I cried so hard

I’m crying again wtf

THE VOWS FUCK

TO BE MY HUSBAND

IM FULL ON UGLY CRYING I CANT EVEN SEE THE SCREEN

I IAN TAKE YOU MICKEY TO BE MY HUSBAND

FUCK THIS HURTS SO MUCH

AFTER ALL THE SHIT THEYVE BEEN THROUGH THEYRE GIVING THEMSELVES TO EACH OTHER IN THE PUREST WAY POSSIBLE

“Now?” “Yes now” HE WAS SO EAGER AND SHOCKED THAT THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE SINCE HE WAS A KID IS NOW HIS HUSBAND

We got to see the smitten lovesick Ian Gallagher from s1 again

HES NEVER STOPPED BEING SMITTEN AND LOVESICK BY MICKEY

Honestly same

Not gonna lie, seeing frank emotional made me even more emotional

MICKEYS SMILE COULD LIGHT THE WORLD

MY SON IS ACUALLY MY SUN

THE HAND HOLDING IS SO CUTE

THEYRE ACTUALLY MARRIED

HUSBANDS!!!!!

IAN SO PROUD HAVING HIS BABY ON HIS ARM

YES MICKEY IS IANS BABY FIGHT ME

IM SO FUCKING HAPPY

MICKEY DANCING IS THE CUTEST THING IVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE

“I miss mom” that hurt a lot more than I thought it ever would

I’m glad they mentioned Monica. Ian loved her so much

YOURE REALLY GONNA PLAY PERFECT RIGHT NOW FUCK YOU

“I should probably go dance with my husband” THATS YOUR HUSBAND CAN YOU BELIEVE IT

The head neck tuck 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

THE WAY THEYRE HOLDING EACH OTHER LIKE THEY NEVER WANNA LET GO

“We were just kids when we fell in love not knowing what it was I will not give you up this time” FUCK WHOEVER PICKED THIS SONG YOU WIN

I actually hate this song with a passion but suddenly I love it

LIKE THEYRE ACTUALLY SLOW DANCING

SLOW DANCING AT THEIR OWN WEDDING

IAN REALLY HAD TO DO THE NECK GRAB WITH THE THUMB RUB COMBO JUST TO KILL ME DIDNT HE

THEYRE SO IN LOVE IVE NEVER SEEN A LOVE THIS DEEP BEFORE (and I’m fucking married to the love of my life/high school sweetheart lmao)

Liam getting the car for them was the sweetest thing

He opens the car for Ian :((((

HE HOPS INTO THE CAR MY LITTLE BUNNY

Frank is genuinely happy for them and that fucks me up so much

THEY REALLY HAD TO USE RED SHEETS HUH

THEY KNEW IT WOULD FUCK US ALL UP EVEN MORE THAN WE ALREADY ARE

The soft touches are always my favorite

They make my heart flutter

“Morning Mr. Gallavich” OKAY SAY WHAT YOU WANT BUT THAT WAS ACTUALLY REALLY FUCKING CUTE

“Morning Mr......Millogher?” THE CUTENESS WONT STOP

Mickey physically cannot stop caressing Ian

THE THUMBS ALWAYS GET ME

Like I actually look for them knowing they’re gonna be doing the thumb rub

Fucking terry

BUT THEY LOOK SO CUTE COVERED IN FEATHERS

There Mickey goes again with the Ian caressing

in case you forgot: THEYRE MARRIED

HUSBANDS

I can’t believe this actually happened. They’re actually MARRIED. After everything they/we have been through....wow. I’m still in shock. I’m still crying my eyes out. Now I’m gonna go cuddle up with my husband and make him watch the episode with me since he finally has time. I’m over emotional. It’s not fair that they wait until I’m pregnant to let Mickey be happy. It’s like they enjoy my uncontrollable sobs. Leave me your thoughts! I wanna talk about this episode forever.

[ask-the-party-god]

Ask The Party God - Timeline

the pre-terezi-gang timeline post is here

height references over here

hi, im jade! everyones favorite party goddess and trans doggy girl~ but you already know that! if youre reading this, it means youre interested in learning more about my reality, because paradox space is fucking weird like that and you cant really be sure all the time

as far as im aware, everything up to the point where we beat the game happened without deviations from the alpha timeline? so this is what rose has talked about as a ‘terminal timeline’, or ‘post-canon’, or whatever the hell that is supposed to mean

we got to earth-c, and i settled in the troll kingdom because trolls are cool, dave and karkat were in the neighborhood, and the caverns are close by so i can visit rose and kanaya speedily as well! i still do have my old tower out on an island, with my workshop and garden, but i almost never sleep in it, too far away and isolated from everyone...

then one day i found this old active server in the furthest ring keeping tumblr active and i thought, hey, why not have some fun? ;D

as for the others...

my darling sis june egbert! she lives in the consort kingdom, but has been thinking about relocating elsewhere lately! she went through a rough patch right after the game, unsure of what to do and full of all sorts of doubts and questions, but shes doing a lot better nowadays! specially now that terezi is back, shes been a lot more peppy and hanging around with the lalondes particularly!

rose rose rose rose~ happily married to her wife kanaya, duh, but that doesnt make her any less of a flirty cutie! a while back she got really sick for a bit, and weve been keeping an eye on her just in case it happened again, but its been all good ever since! she helps kanaya at the caverns a bunch, which makes her schedule busy busy... and you didnt hear this from me, buuuut words out on the street that she and kanaya may be warming to the idea of having a kid! <3 well see how that goes!

one cool dude~ daves a little bit of a shut-in honestly! and honestly i dont blame him? he must be tired after all the timeline and time travel shenanigans, so he spends a good chunk of his time hanging out in his and karkats house! hes kind of awkward about opening up with feelings and stuff, and ive been trying to nudge him to be more open for a while! but with all the craziness thats been going down lately, and more people coming and going and getting together, hes starting to consider things he hadnt before~ hopefully, some specific someones? ;)

janey! my uh... ecto-mom, technically, although we see each other more like cousins than anything else! she still owns crockercorp, but ever since jasprose has been around, she has been spending a lot more time at home and just hanging out with her friends, which really, sounds a lot healthier than the big business thing she had going on a while back! she enjoys teaching me baking stuff, but doesnt have much patience for my decorating skills ;p

grandpa! and grandson technically, hehe, jakes kind of a weird case, hes a mixture of a shut-in, a celebrity and an adventurer! he can spend up to weeks at a time without leaving his manor, but then hell have full weeks of interviews and hiking, and thats not to say anything of when he and dirk put out another episode or two of their dumb comedy talkshow... hes often busy with stuff, but hes still a good pal and can clear his schedule in seconds if we need him for something!

one sweet nb dude! rox really is... something else, really! fun to tag along at a party, fun to chill at home playing games, fun to talk about more serious stuff and open up with him, he really is just solid as they come! hes been hanging out a lot more with june since she got out of her depressive slump, but sometimes i wonder if junebug finds weird to get flirty with roxy, considering im pretty sure we made out in front of her at some point or two... hehehe

dirk! if daves a bit of a shut-in, hes a shut-in times two, which is weird because youd think someone stuck in post-apocalyptic earth for so long would want to hang out more? not to say he DOESNT, though! hes around jake often enough, and keeps close to jane, roxy and dave specially! we dont see each other too often, but we HAVE been messing around with robots and planning out to upgrade our respective self-bots for funsies!

aradia! we only met briefly in dreams for the longest time, but i knew already that she was a riot! she came with terezis group after she finally found vriska, and seems pretty happy just... kind of... being around and watching shenanigans ensue! i actually dont know where she lives, but she drops by occasionally, because im apparently pretty ‘fun’... cant say i disagree ;)

sollux is blind, and not dead, and WILL kick you in the shins if you keep prying about how exactly he ended up like that, which is fair enough! he spends a good chunk of his time with aradia, and im not sure if theyre dating or not...? but hes been around the other trolls a bunch! specially kanaya, apparently theyre good friends that go way back! i guess they both DO style their hair similarly, with the side spike thingies...

the other half of the dave-kat duo! swooooon~ really though, i cant remember the last time i said “dave” or “karkat” without talking about the other shortly after... buuut theyre just roomies, and hell get awkward and grumpy if you even so slightly IMPLY otherwise, despite the fact everyone knows they fall asleep leaning against each other during friday movie night! roooolling my eyes~ with the rest of the living trolls having arrived, hes been a lot more willing to go outside, which im glad for! its healthy to get some fresh air from time to time, and specially hang out with friends!

oh-la-la, miss maryam-lalonde herself! kanayas the matriarch of the caverns, and quite the busy gal, having taken it upon herself to supervise her entire species reproduction and well-being... in my opinion, she needs a good vacation from time to time, and to be less of a workaholic! >:o ive been helping her occasionally in the caverns, and as of late weve begun trying to mess around with ectobiology for some troll-human crossing experiments with... not good results so far... but hey, rome wasnt built in a day!

terezis back, yes! after spending YEARS out there looking for vriska, she managed to find her and come back, the madwoman! personally im not sure why anyone would go to such lengths for... her... but also, its not my bond, not my place to speak, she obviously really loves her a bunch! with vriska no longer lost in the middle of the furthest ring, shes started to catch up with everything going on with earth-c, and i think shes really going to like being around! specially with how much june and the rest have missed her ;)

troublemaker extraordinaire herself! shes... well, shes vriska, im pretty sure she stole that eyepatch from sollux? so you just know she up to no good already >:/ speaking of her eyepatch, im not sure WHY shes wearing it? whatever kinda wound she got, she doesnt like mentioning it, despite bragging about defeating english at every chance she gets! terezi says they found her popping in and out of consciousness in the furthest ring with some messy wounds, and that shed probably been hovering out there after the fight for years... doesnt seem to have humbled her in the slightest <.<

callieeeee! theyre super sweet and wonderful but also really shy and awkward! they live with roxy but manage to outdo dirk in terms of shut-in-ness... they also totally like roxy but is unsure about approaching those feelings considering the whole species thing and whatever, ive been trying to get them to open up for a while now! weve written fanfic together and drawn grids, so i can definitely tell theres some attraction there, even if theyre afraid of acting upon it just yet <3

jaspie is roses bane, and the one cat that made me get used to their smell enough that i dont bark at them instantly anymore! im pretty sure she crashes at janes often, and is just as outgoing and flirty as i am around earth-c parties and bars, which is saying something honestly! i wont let her dethrone me as the party god, though >:)

and finally davepeta! theyre staying with june for the time being until they can get settled around and see what they want to do here! theyve also dropped by dave and karkats a bunch, which i most certainly dont mind! i definitely appreciate some help in bringing a romantic vibe into those twos lives~ ;o

and thats about it! theres also the nannasprites and tavrosprite and arquius, but they pop by so sporadically and rarely that i dont know what theyre doing a majority of the time... we lost track of gamzee after the session so hopefully hes totally gone, and we havent heard any message from caliborn in years... and with the furthest ring broken and the black hole sealed, leaving a weird white empty space right in the middle of reality, im not sure what our chances of bringing back the other trolls are :( but still, we keep living on happily over here and having our fun slice of life ending together!

id say after everything weve gone through, we deserve a big break, dont we? hehehe <3

also, particularly important events that happen and are recorded in this blog will be tagged as timeline shenanigans!

[captain-of-the-roses]

Weird things Me and Dad said while talking about RWBY:

Dad: Here's my theory.

Me: Take two.

Dad: Ruby. Silver eyes. Summer realizes this and goes to Ozpin. Ozpin tells Summer about Jinn.

Me: So Summer and Raven join forces?

Dad: Not unlikely. Raven would want something in return tho.

Me: Raven is like "Ya ok but what do I get out of this" and Summer goes "You'll get answers." And Raven says "Sounds sus but ok."

Dad: Ya. So they go to Mistral, open the vault, ask Jinn about why Silver eyes are being hunted, and get their answer.

Me: Raven just nopes out of there like "I ain't ever going back" while Summer goes "Welp. Time to get myself killed."

Dad: Ya, probably. Raven leaves and Summer tries to Kamahamaha Salem with her silver eyes but dies trying.

Dad: Winter is going to kill Ironwood. Sword right through the throat.

Dad: Teah brought something up earlier-

Me: Was it the taco thing?

Mom: Taco thing?

Dad: It was not the taco thing.

Me: Oscar uses the staff and says "Spooky Spooky give us back the husband" to bring back Ozma. "Please help we have your wife and we don't know what to do with her we are sorry."

Dad: If anyone hurts a hair on Penny's head I will kill everyone and them myself.

Dad: Kill off Qrow. And Robynn. Just for the shock value.

Me: Do it infront of the kids, cause they see him as a father figure.

Dad: Yes. Do it at the end. Right after Salem is purged of her Grimm self by the silver eyes-

Me: -if the group is smart enough to figure that out-

Dad: -and have it happen unexpectedly.

Me: Do it right at the end of the volume. Have everyone's shocked faces and then cut off the season. Have Raven and Tai and Zwei portal in to and watch Qrow die. The Happy Huntresses are there for Robynn.

Mom: No! Dont kill off Qrow.

Me: Or wait for Qrow to die. Do it after Vacuo when he's adopted CFVY and the Beacon students there.

Dad: No, because, as much as I love Qrow, he's had his arc now its death time. Just have the fandom cannibalize itself.

Dad: Ozpin is hiding much more then we know. He knows too much.

Me: Is that part of the reason why he lied about the no more lies amd halftruths things? Because he knew Yang and everyone else was keeping lies and telling half truths?

Dad: Yes!

Me: Listen, Robynn has fingerless gloves. Who else has fingerless gloves? Coco and Yang. What do Yang and Coco have in common? Theyre both lesbians. Therefore, Robynn is Lesbian.

Mom: I still headcanon they are both bi.

Me: Robynn litteraly runs an army of women, Mom.

Dad: Alright, I'm not gonna interfere with your shipper logic.

Dad: I headcanon Hot Chocolate was invented during the Great War and the King of Vale tried it and was all like "This is good. I'm gonna drink it for the rest of my life." And when he was put into Ozpin Ozpin was "I have the sudden urge for Hot Chocolate."

Me: Poor Oscar.

Me: I still like your theory that Oscar has a mimicry semblance.

Dad: If they don't unlock Oscar's semblance as the ability to act as someone else and no one says "Give this man an award" I will riot.

Dad: Oz is going to have his ideal happy ending, right? What does he want most in the world? Death.

Me: Ooh, fun.

Me: I never understood why heroes do the motivational speech. Like, if someone went up to me and said "Hey wanna fight an evil organization and stop the end of the world for the good of humanity" I would be like "No thanks." But if someone came up to me and said "Wanna go fight a guy?" I would immediatly say yes.

Dad: See, that's the same thing. You just worded it differently. You got to appeal to your audience. In any case, Ruby isnt going to be able to unite humanity against Salem. Salem, however, could do something so bad that humanity turns agaisnt her without leadership. Because when someone gives a motivational speech there is always that one person that goes "BuT wHaT iF-" or when the fight begins someone says "wElL aCtUaLlY-" like no shut up.

Dad: Salem is going to be taken care of this season, and Cinder will go in Volume 9. The bad guy if Volume 10, in Vale, with be the Brothers.

Me: Figures.

Me: The staff of creation just summons a bunch of ghosts in suits discussing how to take down Salem.

Dad: a staff meeting, ha!

Me: Like Summer and Pyrrha are there in suits-

Dad: And all of the Oz incarnations. Just like "you got them in your head to?" "Yep." "Same."

Me: Do you think after they free Salem of her Grimm self she'll join the gang?

Dad: No-

Me: That's sad.

Me: *trying to explain the Oz timeline and where the Infinite Man fits in*

Dad: *nodding in obvious confusion*

Dad: Did Ozma 2.0 and Salem have a son?

Me: Diggs and Salem had four daughters. One for each season. Spring, Winter, Summer, Fall. Color coordinated and everything.

Dad: They arent going to have a happily ever after. What's going to happen is the brothers are going to view humanity as a disaster. With 3 out of 4 of the nations being in ruin, they won't see humanity as being united even if everyone worked together to defeat the final boss. So they are going to let Oz and Salem die and then send RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, ect. back to before Salem went batshit crazy-

Me: The first time or Atlas?

Dad: The first time. So they are going to stop Salem from jumping into craziness. Get it, because she jumped into the pools-

Me: I get it.

Dad: It wont be a HAPPY happy ending but there is no saving Remnant. It was a punishment anyways and Salem already won.

Me: Why cant they just put Atlas on top of the Pools of Grimm?

Dad: Because then Salem will have a giant flying castle.

Me: She already has a castle. And she has a flying whale Grimm. Just put the castle on top of the whale and BOOM! Flying castle.

Dad: I still think Jaune's sword is the Sword of Destruction. Nothing in this show happens without purpose.

Me: No, everything has a purpose, just some things get forgotten and/or ignored.

Me: The group is going to be those parents that when their kid says they don't want to do homework go "When I was your age-"

Dad: Like "When I was your age I stopped an evil monster!"

Me: "I killed my Collage Professor's evil ex wife!" Nora is going to be telling her and Ren's kids the battle of Atlas. "We were alone facimg against an army of Grimm!"

Dad: Its going to play out as Nora telling the group the Beowulf story with Ren correcting her. "We were hopelessly outnumbered." "We weren't." "Surrounded by an army of Beowulfs." "There were two."

Me: "The middle of the night!" "It was the afternoon."

Dad: Ren just resigns himself to spending his life correcting Nora's story telling.

Me: She's telling her kids stories-

Dad: And Ren is just in the kitchen making tea.

Me: Nora goes "Our teacher's wife invaded mantle with thousands of Grimm! The Jellyfish were invading Mantle!" "They were floating in the sky." "We were farther apart then ever-"

Dad: "We were a block away."

Me: "The General.... Was Ironwooding." The rest of the group comes over with their kids. Nora is screaming about the story and Ruby and Yang join in. Ren and Weiss correcting them.

Dad: Blake is in the corner drinking tea.

Me: She looks up and goes "This is great tea." Meanwhile Ren is still busy correcting Nora.

Dad: "But they didnt know we had a secret weapon... A 20 foot laser eyed robot!" "She was 4' 8""

Me: Oscar comes over one day and says "Remember that one time I was shot off Atlas by James and fell and broke my aura falling down to Mantle." And everyone is like no??? Cause with the way things are going, he's not going to tell them.

Dad: Qrow is just upstairs banging his cane on the ground like "Keep it down I'm trying to sleep!"

Me: I love how we assume Qrow lives with them.

Dad: Of course he does. Where else would he stay?

Me: Tai.

Dad: Qrow is that old nuisance who lives with them.

Me: He's an old bird half the time just chilling on everyone's shoulders. How would the rest of the group be paired up? The only canon ship we got is Renora.

Dad: What Salem did with bringing back Ozma was essentially the 'Go to ask Dad. Dad gave you an answer you did not like. Go to Mom. Mom says yes. Parents start fighting and punish the kid."

Me: If Salem had gone to the younger brother, or in this case, mom, she wouldve gotten what she wanted and there would be a war on the Brother's hands cause the older couldn't punish Salem and could only argue against the younger.

[theravencawsatmidnight]

Bittersweet Events Part Five 🗡

A/N. Next part will be a time skip to Shifuku being three or four. I want to say a big giant thank you to everyone who has been enjoying this series with me. It means the world to me! ♥️ (All parts can be found under the Papachizome tag!)

It was quiet , the only sound was Stain putting on his costume and hooking all of his weapons to it . The clicking of them made Spinner uneasy. He fumbling his hands over each orher trying to focus on the tv that was still on. Shifuku was asleep next to Spinner on the couch . She was under one of Stains shirts and using it as a blanket. Spinner was still unsure about Stain going out . If something happened.. what would he do? Shifuku...?

Stain came out and Spinner shivered in his scales . Stain was an intimidating man.. the gaze the hair the knives... swords. It was hard to believe he made a tiny cute person.

He went to the couch picking up Shifuku bringing her to his room and sat on the bed looking at her. All wrapped up in one of his shirts . It was the shirt Suki liked to parade around the house in. A simple grey t shirt with swords on it. He rubbed Shifuku’s head watching her sleep. “I wont be gone long.. Papa needs to take care of some business.”

He glanced up when he saw Spinner in the doorway . The lizard man jumped fumbling his hands . Stain got up going to Spinner and handed him his daughter. Shifuku fussed around in her sleep and Spinner held her close looking at Stain but he was already gone.

He ran a long the rooftops, the air hitting his face . The wind cutting at his body and his heart pumping hard to keep up with him . He missed this. Not just the purges but the roof top running . The jumpimg from roof to roof wothout making any noise. The climbing on the fire escapes , everything. This was the one thing he wanted to show Shifuku . Nothing matched this thrill for him , it was a rush he loved.

Stain slammed down on a roof looking over the edge . It was dark and the only light was the streetlights. Spinner was right though, everything went to shit while he was gone. Villains were smashing store windows stealing and looting . The sidewalks were filthy with trash and no Pros in sight . He pulled a sword free and perched himself watching everything unfold.

Some villains were yelling at one another and others were looting and breaking into cars. Pathetic , all of them. A bright light and a loud explosion caught his eye , he got up and hopped a couple roof tops to get a better look. It was Ground Zero and Red Riot. They were rounding up all the villains. Stain crouched down watching the pathetic villains get rounded up with ease. So the Pros had this area secure for the most part, but it was still a block from his complex . He stood up ready to jump only to stop when he heard a voice behind him.

“Been awhile Hero Killer Stain.”

He turned to see Deku , he had blue lightning flashing all around him .

Stain hunched over grinning . This particular Hero was different from the rest. He put his life on the line for others unlike more of these Pros.

“Am i obligated to tell you where ive been?” He teased stepping closer.

Deku got in a fighting stance and ran towards Stain punching his chest, Stain heaved sliding back almost falling off the roof. The.. FUCK?!? How did he miss that?!? How did he let Deku hit him?

Stain fell forward caughing up some spit , he looked around with blurry vision. He heard Deku running towards him and jumped too late , Deku kicked him sending him up in the air then straight back down.

He was dizzy and angry. His body was sore and he realized he was out of practice ... fuck..

“God dammit... get up Stain..” he cursed at himself forcing himself to get up. His knees wobbled and he fell again .

Deku was about to punch him again but he was ... confused on his behaviour. He was not fighting back or preaching about his view of the world.

“Uhm.. Stain..?” Deku asked . “Are you feeling okay? You arent attacking?”

Stain pushed himself up and put his sword away . He did not look at Deku while he spoke. “Im just here to see what ive been missing. I heard things got bad .”

Deku was dumbfounded on this. The Hero Killer Stain was ... just out to watch things unfold?!

“Why?!? I .. i mean its good that you arent purging but uhm.. uh...” he could not find words.

“How long have i been gone? Did you keep track?” Stain asked walking to the edge of a rooftop with his back to Deku.

“Uhm.. a year i think? A year and two months? But what could you have been doing in a yea- WAIT! YOU? Stain?!?”

He jumped to the next roof top fleeing the scene.

Stain fell off the last rooftop slamming into a tree. “God DAMMIT. That hurt...” he pushed himself up looking up at the complex. He held his stomach limping inside and going up to his room.

Spinner was on the couch asleep with Shifuku in his arms also asleep when Stain walked in. The noise alerted Shifuku and she whined fussing around . Stain went over taking her from Spinner and went to his room to sit down. Shifuku was happy to see her father . She reached up at his knives and Stain Quickly pulled everything off placing it on the bed. “Not ready for those yet.” He teased tickling her stomach making her laugh. Stain held her close kissing her head. “Want to hear about Papa’s night? “

Shifuku laughed tugging at his mask and Stain smiled taking it off. “Of course you do huh?”

[hungergames-fanfic]

The Reapings

Word Count: 2606

Today is reaping day. A boy and a girl will be chosen at the Plaza, in front of all of Panem, and be put to fight for their lives in an arena. The winner will bring riches and fame back home, or so that’s what president Snow says on the propaganda commercials. District 10 hasn’t had a victor in over a decade.

For the 4th Annual Hunger Games, daddy’s uncle Amos was chosen as a tribute, cause people still weren’t used to the idea of the games there were riots on the street. A lot people died in my family leaving only momma Bilmin and daddy alive, daddy was a newborn. My best friend Efrain’s daddy, who was just a little boy himself got shot but survived, a story Efrain loves to tell. While all of this happened, the government still took uncle Amos, who was sixteen at the time. Being all alone, mourning the death of her husband and family, momma Bilmin was forced to watch uncle Amos survive the games. He killed the most tributes, a goal some careers claim to wanna surpass, or so Efrain says they say, and came back home as that year’s victor.

With his wealth, uncle Amos bought miles of land and divided it into two with a road seven miles long making it a detour from Bloques, where the poor live, where momma Bilmin and daddy are from, to Littleburg, where the heart of District 10 sits. Here live the rich, where momma and her family is from, shopping centers, hospitals, the Mayoral building and more are located. Uncle Amos also purchased cattle, daddy says back then they only had two of every animal. Cows, goats, chickens, horses, pigs and even sheep, but we don’t have sheep no more. He also built momma Bilmin a pretty house on the land and then years later, before I was born, he killed himself.

No one talks about uncle Amos or watches the games at our house cause it makes momma Bilmin cry a lot. So much so that last night I could hear her from my room, so I spent the night with her. She hugged me until we fell asleep. This morning I woke up to the smell of a thousand types of food.

Cause momma Bilmin knows what it’s like to go to bed hungry, with our money, she cooks big pots of food and feeds those who flock to us. Usually, on the mornings she’ll hand out her famous honey walnut bread to those who walk past our road, but on reaping day, she cooks a grand meal. This year she’s baked bread and a cinnamon version of it, two types of rice, an orange one with tomato and basil that’s a little spicy and a yellow one, which is my favotire cause it has eggs, vegetables and beef, but I’m not eating meat no more. Not after I seen where it comes from. Momma Bilmin also cooked a big pot of beans with bacon and sausage a long with another pot of mashed potatoes and cheese. Enough to feed up to a thousand people or more if portioned correctly.

Cause momma is Mayor Sotto’s secretary, she’s all about appearance. Today she wears an elegant dark blue pantsuit. It makes her look so pretty daddy wont stop hugging and kissing her. She tells him to stop with a smile on her face and makes him wear a tanned suit, threatning with “you ain’t gettin’ any honey” if he wears his cowboy hat. Daddy takes it off so fast it makes me laugh. I watch them from the mirror, where I stand and stare at myself while momma does my hair.

Momma’s made me wear a pink dress with itchy white socks and shiny white shoes I only use when I wear dresses like this. She makes a braid from the top of my head to the back, turning it into a low pony tail and adds a big bow to it. I hate the way I look. Can’t even go out to play when I’m dressed like this. I stare at my reflection wishing I could dress myself. I wonder what i’d chose if I were allowed. Then again, i’m only ten years old and can’t take a bath without supervision.

“Oh, my Dora you look so precious”, momma says kissing my cheeks. I don’t think I look like her, her skin is lighter than mines, but I do have curly hair. The curls aren’t as coily as hers though, just a little thicker in shape. I don’t look like daddy or momma Bilmin either, daddy is too dark skinned and his hair is straight, he looks like momma Bilmin but her skin is as brown as mines. Her hair is just as straight as his, too.

“Miss Esperanza”, Vano, Efrain’s cousin, knocks on the door frame. He clears his throat and takes off his hat showing off the waves on his hair. Unlike most days, him and Eddy, Efrain’s older brother, are dressed presentable and clean, that’s cause they’re both still eligible to be a part of the reapings. “We ready to go”, he says.

The reapings don’t start until one in the afternoon, but cause momma needs to be at work early, momma Bilmin will be feeding people and the boys have to sign up, we’re leaving early. Daddy’s gonna stay behind though, says last year someone stole a couple of chickens while we was in Littleburg.

The ride to the Plaza is boring and takes a lot longer than usual. The roads and highways are packed with new and old vehicles, run down wagons that look like they gon lose a wheel on a bump and horses carrying up to three people. Everyone wants to get there before noon since the peacekeepers are a lot more abundant and meaner on this day. Sometimes they break into homes in search for those that haven’t left yet and beat them out on the streets as a warning for others to hurry up. At one point, on the road we see a man getting frisked while his wife screams at peacekeepers tryna hold her back. This day is stressful as it is, peacekeepers always make things worse.

When we arrive to the Plaza, momma gives me a kiss on the cheek before leaving. She always asks if I wanna go inside the Mayoral Building with her cause there’s air conditioning but I like to stay with momma Bilmin, she doesn’t tell me to shush and sit every five seconds.

Left with just her while the boys go and sign up, I make sure to keep momma Bilmin safe. There’s always somebody ungreatful. Next to our wagon, people form a long line on the sidewalk waiting to be handed a plate of food, I help hand forks.

“Ain’t that some shit, Bilmin!”, an old man stands a few feet away eating some of the bread she’s made. “The youngin’ look just like’em”, he laughs. Momma Bilmin doesn’t look at him, she clears her throat and nods. I’ve seen this look on her before, she wants to cry. Mad at him, I scream “go away!”, he just laughs. “Same attitude too!”, he blurts outs in a laugh that turns into a gross cough.

“Come on, John, move along”, another old man says. A plate in one hand, pulling on the gross old man’s shirt with the other.

“Hey, I lost my Isabella to the games too, we’ve all lost family. You ain’t seen us cryin’ when they names be mentioned. Besides, all I said was the little girl look like Amos”, he goes on but the other man pulls him away. Too late, though. The damage has already been done and momma Bilmin has tears rolling down her face. Is that why momma Bilmin cries when she looks at me? Cause I look like her baby brother?

“When I get bigger I’m gonna beat him up”, I tell her whilst giving her a tight hug. I hate it when she cries. It’s not fair cause she doesn’t deserve to be sad.

She smiles at me, gives me a kiss on the forehead and stares for a little too long before her upper lip starts to quiver and more tears roll down her face. This happens a lot around this time, too. It just takes one look and I make her cry. I wish I could change my face. “Please don’t cry momma, I’m sorry”, I apologize wishing I could stop making her so sad. She rubs my back, wipes her tears and keeps on feeding everyone.

People come and go, they wish us blessings, some cry with thanks and others give us little gifts like handmade jewelry, pretty clothes or micellaneous items. None get my attention like this one though, it forms a big smile on my face the second I spot it. Like a trade, a woman hands momma Bilmin a black, fluffy puppy. “Issa boy, gon grow real big, Geller keepin’ the momma and she real good at guardin’ the house”, she informs. “Polomir need himself a guard dog, been hearin’ ’bout a lot of coyote attacks lately. If anythin’ it’ll eat it and not y’all’s cattle”, she chuckles. Momma Bilmin laughs and denies the pup but the lady wont take it back. She giggles when I beg to please keep it. “Listen to the baby, Bilmin, don’t deny me my gift to you”, “oh, alright, fine. Just don’t let’em near the pots of food”, momma Bilmin snaps a me.

By noon, through intercoms placed in every corner, poles, buildings and trees, we hear Mayor Sotto ask those eligible for the reapings that they have an hour to sign up. This makes a lot of teenagers scatter towards the Plaza, only a block away from where we’re stationed.

In the distance, on my skittish horse, Milk, I spot daddy galloping through the crowded road tryna get to us. Excited to show him the puppy, I hold it in the air and jump.

“Hey Isa!”, I hear an old familiar voice, “that your dog?”, Efrain asks. Seeing him walk towards me with his family makes me so happy I almost fall off the wagon but Jenae, his aunt gently pushes me back. “Careful, Isadora”, she warns helping Efrain and Abie up here with me. Compared to the last time I saw him, pale and near death, skinny and weak, he looks a lot better. “Been back outside playin’ with everyone on the block, Wendy was askin’ ‘bout you and Arielle. Says y’all ain’t go to school yesterday”, he says almost like he’s asking why. I wave my hand in the air, showing off my now dirty yellow cast, I don’t give him the same “it hurts” lie I give momma. I don’t wanna lie to him, so I let him assume on his own. Besides, I don’t wanna tell him about Ari and me not being friends no more. Instead I show him my new puppy, who I’ve named Bean cause he ate all the beans that spilled out the bean pot.

The name makes Efrain laugh. “I’d name him Edwin cause that boy’s hair just as shaggy”, he says. This makes me laugh cause it’s true.

Just like me, Efrain is dressed his very best. Although his clothes are too big for him and practically sun bleached, comapred to the rest of his hand-me-downs, he looks sharp. His curly hair has been bathed in oil making it look wet and shinny, his big gray buttoned long sleeve has been tucked into his brown pants held by red suspenders. His cousin Abie, who’s a year younger than us, wears a gray buttoned up long sleeve too, on her waist she wears a red belt that matches Efrain’s suspenders. Her curls, a lot finer than his, are also oily and shinny in the sun, slicked back with her baby hairs forming waves on her forehead. “Momma thought it be cute if we dressed the same”, Efrain says.

“I look cute”, she snaps, “you look like you need more sun”, she rolls her eyes. Her momma pinches her shoulder. Efrain chuckles.

Next to the wagon, on the street, Efrain’s daddy and momma, who came in her wheelchair cause people gotta be literally dying for them to be allowed to stay home, linger whilst talking to daddy who looks very uncomfortable. While her husband Otto helps momma Bilmin hand out plates of food, Jenae laughs and constantly puts her hand on daddy’s arm.

On top of the Mayoral Building sits a large television screen, it turns on to show a blue image. It slightly rocks back and forth but doesn’t fall. In patterns, all the other televisions around the area start to turn on too. The one above a one-floor shop turns on to show the same blue, another standing on a pole at the corner of the street turns on to show blurry images that turn clear. On the side of a big, wide complex building, a holographic image shows the same, from this one, I watch. On it, Mayor Sotto waddles up to the microphone. He’s short, balding and wears a suit too big for his own good. Behind him stands momma looking ever so pretty. Next to her is Tate Langdon, our only victor. He wears a black suit jacket and jeans with a black cowboy hat that matches. Next to him stands Jai Ngyuen. He’s from the Capitol and wears an all white suit that makes him shine bright. His hair and eyebrows are just as white along with his make up. “Goddamn clown”, I overhear Otto say under his voice.

Clearing his voice, Mayor Sotto begins. He dictates the same story from every year, I recognize it cause its one we read in our history books at school. He explains how Panem came to be, mentions the dark days, uprisings against the Capitol, District 13’s obliteration and the start of the Annual Hunger Games. The camera zooms in on Tate, who the mayor mentions as one of our victors along with “and may he rest in power, Amos Wyetka”, he reminds us of uncle Amos like he does every year. Through the crowd blinded by the sun, the camera goes on and on as if showing off our thousands of possible tributes. Once the mayor is done talking, he wipes the sweat off his shinny bald head with a hankerchief and stands next to momma. I glare at daddy who has a smirk on his face while watching the screen.

“Happy Hunger Games!”, Jai’s shrill voice makes the microphone screech. “And may the odds be ever in your favor”, he shakes his head and raises his arms excitedly. Giggling, fixing his tie, he smiles wide showing his perfect teeth. People in the crowded streets look at each other, some shake their head, others murmur to one another. Daddy turns to look at Efrain’s dad and both chuckle nodding their heads.

On stage, Jai walks over to a glass ball containing the male names. Like every year, he plays shuffling the papers, taking a lot longer than he should. Raising his hand in the air to show the folded piece of paper, two more fly out and fall to the ground. He picks them up, dances with and spreads them in his hands, choosing the middle note. Excitedly he practically skips back to the mic and opens it. Clearing his throat dramatically, he calls out the name of this year’s male tribute.

“Eduardo Oxoro”, Efrian’s oldest brother.

[the-gods-are-laughing]

The Night of the Treee - A Night That Has Gone Down in Infamy.

The Night of the Treee (September 15, 2008) -

2008. It's my 2nd week at college as a freshman.

I went to a public honors college far upstate, near Canada, in a valley.

This protected us from the worst of the snow

But... we got windstorms.

I didn't know just how bad those storms could get.

It's 2 am

I can't sleep

so I'm up on my computer and telling someone how windy it is when -

the power goes out

I stick my head out my room

and apparently no one is asleep at 2 am on a school night

because we're all sticking our heads out and wondering what's going on

because my building was in an H shape, with me on the bottom left, this lead to fake morse code with the people on the other side through the windows, but I got bored with this quickly and ended up in the hallway, where we all eventually gathered, sitting on the floor

I'm talking music next to some people doing Spanish homework

some kids who already give no shits are playing soccer outside the RA rooms.

so it's not long before a whooole bunch of people walk by

so i call out, "Hey, what's going on"

and i get the response

"There's a parade outside"

It is the middle of the night. I am in pajamas, barefoot with an ace bandage over a sprained ankle.

I follow outside.

Outside is, as promised, a parade - and they're yelling "T-R-E-E-E FOLLOW THE TREE FOLLOW THE TREE"

Because...a  public honors college can't spell tree, apparently.

I follow until I get to the next dorm, where my friends live

Door's ajar so I can go in

Find a friend of mine

He explains 2 decided to go play frisbee in the dark in a windstorm

And the rest are asleep

So I go try to find the idiots

Back outside

No luck

So I follow

We pick up a traffic cone

"FOLLOW THE TREEE! AND THE CONE! FOLLOW THE TREEE! AND THE CONE!"

My section of campus where I lived was connected by a street with townhouses on both sides

we walked through this street

into the quad

where we can go one of 2 directions

we stop

silence

The leader looks around

points

"Let's go THAT WAY"

so we CHEER

and then we go THAT WAY

We keep going and I see a friend of mine, taking a late night walk, as he was wont to do the entire time we were there

it's actually the morning of his birthday

"Hi, Luke! Happy birthday! Follow the treee!”

"OH MY GOD EIRIE WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT'S A MOB GET OUT OF THERE "

And he pulls me out of the mob

We look at each other, then look at the mob as it continues to pass by

Him: "...Wanna follow it and see what it does?"

Me: "Sure."

SO we follow this group of maybe 150 people, 3 abreast, chanting in the middle of the night for no reason

Eventually it passes by his dorm so we go in

Go to his room

he shows me the MTG deck he was making me

I tell him I wasn't expecting to see him so I'll give him his birthday card later

and he lends me a pair of those Adidas sandals guys have that are like 5 sizes too big

but, better than nothing

we leave the dorm and there's a few people there

we talk to someone he knows about webcomics

RD comes up

"Okay everyone, we temporarily have power. Get inside, I don't know how long it's going to last and after that you're locked out."

Luke looks at me

"Do you know how to get back to your dorm from here?"

"...

…

…

I don't know where I am"

Luke looks at the RD says, "Look, this is my friend, she's a freshman, she has no idea how to get back to her dorm, I need to get her back."

RD sighs and looks at me

"Do you know your way back from the townhouses?"

“Yes."

She looks at Luke

"Take her to the townhouses, but no farther. There's no guarantee you can get back in if you take too long."

So we head off

we got to the start of the street

and we hear the crowd coming

the chanting echoing in the dark

And Luke takes out a knife

"Luke what are you doing;?!"

"iT'S A MOB! WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S GOING TO DO!"

So now I’m freaking out that Luke's going to shank someone in front of me and this isn't how I thought college would go okay

We duck behind one of the buildings

and wait

we watch as, lead by one guy holding a giant branch, the group has now grown to at least double what it was before, chanting "T-R-E-E-E! FOLLOW THE TREE! FOLLOW THE TREE!"

Luke almost shanks one of his friends, as they came up behind us and we didn't hear them

Luke: "What are you doing here???"

Them: "We're watching the mob too."

The mob passes

Gesturing like some sort of soldier, Luke cries out "GO GO GO GO GO GO GO"

and we run to my dorm.

We get to the door

I kick off the sandals

I get inside...

and there's a bunch of students talking loudly

and they stop

look at me

and then crowd me yelling questions

"Why did you follow the mob?"

"How did the mob make you feel?"

"We gotta tell the professor about this"

"The professor?! We gotta tell the club!"

They were all psychology majors

It is 3 in the morning and I am NOT prepared for this.

I just kinda stand there stammering until some random guy with a guitar comes downstairs and they swarm him

I run up to the fourth floor

So the way my part of the H was made

is in between that hallway I was hanging out in before

there's an area with a quiet study room, with the entrance having a door on each side

and my room is right across

so that's how i usually get there

I'm so relieved to almost be back

I’m next to the study room -

the lights go out.

the doors close.

and lock.

I'm trapped.

like 10 feet from my room

so I sit on the ground and think about my life choices because a) my phone is in my room and b) I didn't have a smartphone or texting so it wouldn't have done any good anyway

So, I'm trapped, in the dark, contemplating my life choices. I finally see someone walking towards me. I stand up, open my mouth - and the lights go on, the doors open, and they stare at me like I'm insane. I close my mouth and walk to my room. It's now 4 am. I have class at 8. I give up on sleep and find the first person online I can and say, "You will not believe what happened tonight..."

Class at 8 am. 50 people, normally. There are... 6. Including me.

Professor: "What the hell happened last night?"

Kid either stoned or a senior or both: “You don't even know, man. It was wild.”

Professor: “. . . You all get extra credit for showing up. On with the lesson!”

I'd have thought it was a dream... But on every whiteboard on my return, was written "Follow the treee."

---

After I left the mob, it continued to grow and grow in size. Eventually it reached Main Street - and met the campus police. It nearly turned into a full scale riot. The only thing that stopped it was the leader stood up on the fountain and yelled "HEY"

They all looked at him.

He gestured at the branch. "Follow the treee."

And they all turned around and followed the treee. The police were so confused.

---

Luke told me the rest of this the next day when I gave him his card. He did make it back in, with his sandals, and also didn't bother sleeping. He also told me that during all college free hour (which is a lie, I had science lab so I missed this),  they sold t-shirts commemorating the event. Every shirt sold, and every cent went to charity.

This night has gone in my college’s history, and last I checked is still on its wiki.

[infantisimo]

On daily life right now,

Sadki cha ne maech pakaaan.

There is not even a fly on the streets.

Yemov ditch taar – band chakh kermich wath.

They’ve laid the barbed wire – closed the roads.

Dapan Chanapori zolukh auto.

They say, an auto has been set on fire in Chanapora

Pathrav chu jaeri!

Stone-pelting is on.

Dapan doctor waelikh gadi manz ti detikh choab.

They say, the doctors were brought out of the car and beaten up.

Yath mahlas chi wayn wanan Modi Nagar, yi chu yalai asan.

This neighbourhood is now called Modi Nagar. It is always open.

Rastaas aes helicopter naczaan. Kyah taen ba karan yim zaelim.

Helicopters were dancing around all night. They’re definitely going to do something, oppressors.

Airportas nish oas internet. Pate, zan lajikh payi. Chunukh czathith.

There was internet connectivity near the airport. Then, as if they found out, they shut it.

Yim dapan travikh 72 school yalla. Pagal gamit. Kus traavi mosoom shuyr, yiman halatan manz

They’re saying they’ll open 72 school. They’ve gone mad. Who will let innocent children go to school in these conditions?

Niyakh beyi bijli!

They took away the electricity again!

“Dapaan phone travan Eiz doha.” “Sawali chu nae. Zan chakh chaet.”

“They’re saying they’ll switch the phones back on for Eid.” “There is no way! It is not like they’re obliged to.”

This is psychological warfare!

Wayn chu civil curfewyi yota. Khabar kya bani saani Kasheeri. Yi chu zyuuth kesse.

There is only civil curfew now. Who knows what will happen to our Kashmir. This is a long story.

Dapan loriyan seeth maar dyutmut doctaran te pakenaevmit. Dapaan che, ‘Agar men moj paki cze kyazi na.’

They say the doctors have been beaten by sticks and told to leave the car and walk to hospitals. They (protestors) tell them, If my mother can walk, so can you.

Agar armyas lihaz aasi iman shurten aasi.

Even the army may have some pity on us, but these young boys protesting wont.

Hata modiya gokha myon hyu!

Oh Modi, may what has happened to me happen to you!

On the future,

“The future is bright for Kashmiri youth.”

“If they’re alive to see it that is.”

Agar ye saeb abhi nahi uthenge toh bohot nuksaan hoga.

If we’re not able to pick these apples now, there will be a huge loss.

“We had a debate on 35A in class. Turns out the girl said, I’m very happy as it gives us equality.” “Aen phaetir gamichz.” Oh, she’s just gone foolish.

Dapaan aek mael dit pannis dah warishi shuris choat mahlas manz. Su oas dramut kani jangas. Wahm thovun saarni shuryen mahlas manz.

They say that a father beat his ten-year-old child black and blue in the middle of his street. He’d gone out stone-pelting (the kid). He’s now scared every child in the neighborhood.

On what is happening outside of their homes,

Paaze apzi chine vanan kiheen

Truth or false, the authorities say nothing!

Ye wanhav muslalman chi hindustanas khosh, Tati ti azaab.

If only we could say Muslims are happy in India. They’re miserable too.

Dapan Kathua chikh 72 Musalman Marith. Tavai gov internet band.

They’re saying 72 people have been killed in Kathua in communal riots. That is why the internet has been cut off.

Dapan, akh bichor nafar chu moodmut. Temis aamit tear gas shell te dihi seet moodmut. Tre shury chis, lokit lokit.

They’re saying a poor man has died. He was hit by a tear gas shell and choked because of the smoke. He has three kids, all very young.

“Ratas 12 baji booz aesi taas. Pata lukh kreke diwan.” “Ahansa, ye oas Mahjoor Nagar. Dapaan 15 laedke nimit tulith. Shury– 10 wuhury, 15 wuhuyr.” “Mye booz 60.”

We heard a loud bang at midnight. And then screams of people.” “Oh yeah, it was Mehjoor Nagar. They’re saying they picked up 15 boys. Kids – 10  year olds, 15 year olds.” “I heard they took 60.”

“Mahra me wani tav yiman battan kyah govmit. Who are these Kashmiri pandits that are ecstatic?

Sir, please tell me what is wrong with the Kashmiri pandits.”

On the state of politicians in detention,

“Dapan temis chu na attached bathroom ti. Aki aki chikh walan bata khyene, ki yutna kath karan. Bey chukh panun ponsu diyun palavan, mineral water botli.” “Jaan kyah gokh. Hindustan, Hindustan aes na karan boed.”

They’re saying he (the politician) doesn’t even have a bathroom attached for his use in his detention area. The politicians are brought down one by one for food, so they don’t talk to each other. And then they have to pay for their own food, water bottles. “Good. They deserve it. They’d keep chanting India, India.”

On TV News,

Apuz!

Lies!

[raveneira]

I realized something

Im currently in a debate with someone on twitter about SasuSaku/SasuKarin I wont go into details but it basically revolves around Karin as a character vs Sakura as a character and Sasuke’s relationship with team 7/Taka etc

During this debate, I had to do a ton of research on certain things to refresh my memory and argue my points which yes, unfortunately, involved going onto SK blogs

But in doing so, visiting several SK blogs, seeing different SasuKarin posts and their arguments for it, not just on Tumblr but in plenty other places like youtube Instagram other sites on google etc and I noticed a pattern

Majority or I should say ALL the SK fans arguments that I SEEN [of course Im not speaking of the entire fandom only the part I SEEN]

Everything regarding SK although they ‘claim’ to care about Sasuke and his feelings, I noticed a pattern in every single post and argument made by them

NONE OF THEM actually talk about Sasuke’s feelings

Lemme elaborate, the pattern that I saw constantly when speaking of SK and why they should be together etc it all comes down to one thing, or I should say, one person

Karin

Everything I saw was about KARINS feelings, about KARINS backstory, about KARINS horrible childhood and trauma

Basically, the main argument for the pairing is all about Karin, nothing to do with Sasuke at all

Let me elaborate further, to put it in simple terms the arguments and reasoning basically boils down to pity

Thats right, the very thing they accuse Sasuke of getting together with Sakura for is the EXACT THING they use to argue for KARIN

I’ll go even more in depth so you get the full grasp of the BS and the hypocrisy

They think Sasuke should be with Karin because she loved him, she was selfless and only wanted him to be happy, she stood by him even in his darkest moments, Karin and Sasuke have similar pasts so she can understand him better, Karin grew up being used and abused and Sasuke was the first one to show her kindness, Karin loved him unconditionally, Karin deserved love, Karin deserved to be happy, if together they would make really OP kids, the Uzumaki and Uchiha need to reunite again, Sasuke wasnt aware of Karin's feelings to the full extent they actually were so he couldnt properly respond

Do you see the pattern? none of this directly talks about Sasuke, it all revolves around Karin

Let me ask you, which part of those arguments actually mentions Sasuke’s feelings for Karin? in which point do they mention Sasuke’s pov at all? I had yet to encounter one

The most I found was that he respects her, he chose her, he saved her from Bee, thats literally it

Everything else is just all about Karin's feelings for HIM not the other way around which is all based around pity

Sasuke should get with Karin because of how hard her life was, how tragic her life was, how selfless her love was, how much shes done for him, how much shes suffered, Karins been used and abused since she was a child she should be happy with Sasuke who also had a traumatic childhood, Karins Uzumaki genes mixed with Sasuke’s Uchiha ones would create a really op kid, its so sad how Karin never moved on she truly loved Sasuke she should have got a happy ending with him instead of Sakura who was just out of pity and fanservice

The irony is astonishing, it all boils down to Sasuke should get with Karin because of what SHES been through and how SHE feels for him and how bad THEY feel for her because ‘her life was so terrible, she deserved a happy ending’ which is just utter bullshit and quite frankly disgusting

So its ok for Sasuke to be with Karin out of pity for her horrible life just to give her a happy ending they think she ‘deserved’

But not get with Sakura out of pity for her feelings for him and hurting her how he did

I see pitys only ok when it involves the character/pairing you prefer, I see all that talk about SS not caring about Sasuke’s feelings was all bullcrap

Its funny to me how SKs arguments revolve solely around Karin's feelings for him yet SS argues both sides and the feelings and relationship and development of Sakura AND Sasuke together

But when it comes to SK its all about Karin and what she deserves, when it comes to SS its about what THEY deserve and how Sakura AND Sasuke feel for eachother, its not a one-sided argument

I also find it partially sickening that one of the main arguments for SK is Karins genes, keep in mind these people supposedly care about Karin and feel sorry for her messed up upbringing being used and abused for her power, yet you condone using her in this pairing just for her Uzumaki genes mixing with Sasuke’s to create an OP kid, that is beyond disgusting

This messed up argument actually reminds me of the storyline of Maburaho which I’ll post here for those who have never seen it

Kazuki learns that he is a descendant of most of the world's greatest magicians from both the eastern and western worlds. Even though he has a feeble spell count, his offspring has the potential of becoming a powerful magician.

The male protagonist, Kazuki, is a second-year student from an elite magic school, Aoi Academy, with serious social problems, and because he has a low spell count of only eight spells, most of the other students, especially the girls, would not notice him. At the beginning of his second year, it is revealed that he is descended from not only the most powerful of eastern mages but the most powerful of western mages. Having both powerful bloodlines fused into one body means that despite his low spell count, he is capable of wielding nearly omnipotent power. He is, therefore, the most powerful character in the series.

Basically, the MC Kazuki is seen as a loser because he can only use his magic 8 times and obviously isnt very popular with the ladies, however once its revealed that his genes are super powerful and that his child would be one of the most powerful mages in the world, all the girls suddenly want the D and are constantly pursuing him trying to get his genes

It’s the same for the SK fandom, they look down on Sakura because of her average status and glorify Karin as superior because of her superior genes thus making for a much stronger offspring when combined with Sasuke’s

So, bottom line, when it comes to SK its all about pity, Karin's feelings, Karin's genes, her deserving happiness and Sasuke should just reciprocate just to make Karin happy since she had a crappy life

Sasuke getting with Sakura out of pity is something I never wanna see again from SK, they have no room to talk about pity hooking up nor falling for someone's looks, nor do they have the right to claim they're more of Sasuke fans than SS

Of course they can still say this and feel how they wanna feel Im not trying to control anyone, Im just saying that from now on when I see those arguments Im gonna view them in a whole new perspective and see it for the hypocritical bullshit it actually is, especially when they claim to care about Sasuke yeah thats a riot lol

Anyway thats the end of this mini-rant I guess, should be obvious Im not directing this at the entire fandom just the portion of it that I’ve seen, its honestly pathetic and makes them look like not real Karin or Sasuke fans

It’s similar to the NS argument that Naruto should have gotten with Sakura because hes the MC and he deserved her etc, but genes are never a part of it so SK is arguably worse in this regard, its just a disgusting way of shipping two characters you claim to like

Pity, what one character deserves, who has better genes, how bad someone's life is so they deserve to have what they want in the end whether that person likes them back or not just give them the happy ending you think they deserve

Yeah, thats terrible

[aidenjaxwrites]

International woman’s day!!!!

Happy international womens day to all you lovely ladies of the world, kicking asses and breaking hearts and being whoever you want to be! In honor of this day, i decided I wanted to make a post celebrating the amazingly strong women within my wips! There will be a list and a paragraph about each of them and why i believe they are amazing, beyond the fact that they are so strong just for the fact that they are women. 

Bianca - riots of the damned. 

if you know about ROTD, than you know bianca i my lovely badass succubus daughter, who i will do anything to protect. She is a badass fighter, strong in wit and fighting ability. She escaped the arena based on her own skill. When she was forced to return, she knew to lay low and make people think she had been weakened, all while making plans to escape once more. She is compassionate, and cares deeply for the younger fighters. She’s beautiful. Strong. And terrifying to anyone who crosses her. 

Miryam - Vines

I havent made any posts about vines, but it is one of my darker wips. Miryam is a tough teenage girl, who knows what she wants from the world. Even when faced with the truth of her imminent death, she is determined to reach her goals before her life comes to an end. She is tough and brave in the face of death. When the time comes, she accepts it with her head held high. 

Safiya - Godly

Another strong, intelligent female. She provides a home to orphaned demigods, teaches them how to survive and how to look after themselves. She braves the dangers of the world even though she knows she doesnt have to. She is stubborn and honest and wont take no for an answer. She is the big sister i wish i had as a kid. 

Ally - Godly

Ally is so young,  so new to the world and her powers. Only fifteen, she has already been through so much. Yet she is brave enough to keep going on, to keep trying to find her father, to protect her brother. She is sweet and bright and positive. She knows the truth in the darkness of the world, but she knows there is also light. She knows the world can be good. She knows that she can be good. 

Lydia - If Tulips Had Thorns

Lydia, oh Lydia. She is a wonderful mother to her two sons, Tallius and Kaero. From the beginning, she raised them to be strong and brave, to know that they could do things in the world. she knew that her husband could never love her as deeply as she wished he could, yet she stood by him. She watched as he wooed young women, watched as he fell in love over and over again. When he passed on, and she learned of the son he had given to a mortal girl, she did not become bitter. She had expected it would one day happen. She brought emeric in, hoping he would become a part of her family. She welcomed him, and his eight year old brother she had no responsibility for. She helped them and she taught them and she did all she could to give them a good life. Even when her family starts to fall apart, she does what she can to keep it together.

Neza - If Tulips Had Thorns 

Neza, a strong young fae who lost her mother soon after her birth, who was abused by her father for decades, until her uncle found her, brought her to her true home in the autumn realm where she could be safe and loved. Even with her damaged eye, with her scarred heart, she remained strong. She learned how to fight, how to use her powers. And as she grows older, she becomes one of her uncle’s advisers. When a small eight-year-old deaf boy and his emotionally struggling brother come to her home, she sees them as new friends. She learns sign language to be able to communicate with Calen, helps to teach him how to fight. She is kind, even after all she has gone through as a young faerie woman without any parents. She is brave. When the war comes, she does all she can to protect those she loves. 

There are many more strong, amazing woman within my worlds, but im afraid this post would becomes too long if i were to continue. 

The point of this post, is that all women are strong, amazing beings, no matter what. Women are tough, and brave, and kind, and sweet, and smart, and strong, and can be absolutely feral if it means protecting those they love. Women are amazing, whether they believe so or not. Never let yourselves be brought down by people who don’t see you for the amazing people you art.