#They do it because they’re in a timezone ahead of me. So it’s like 4 pm for them when they schedule this stuff. Well it’s not for me!!

[aeolianblues]

I asked them, can you NOT set up the first meeting for the day at 6 AM, I asked them multiple times and what did they do? SET UP THE FIRST MEETING OF THE DAY AT 6 AM

As a bonus extra, they scheduled the meeting at 5:46 AM. Bitch fuck off.

[edenspoem]

Can I ask something, because of how time zones work:

if there’s ever a strike or blackout on tumblr specifically, should I do it on my Timezone or the US Timezone. Because I’m so far ahead they’re almost on separate days (like 20 hour difference) and I’m scared that if I do it on my Timezone, it wouldn’t have enough effect and also it might seem like I’m posting early or during a strike when I’m not, because of how behind the USA is.

Like today, for example. March 2 only overlapped for like 4 hours so if I posted at all it would have seemed like I ignored the blackout.

But I also feel like it’s a little weird to “ignore” the strike or do it a day late (for me at least) because of that, so can I have your advice on this??

very good question! because of timezones, the whole strike thing can be a little weird (mostly just for single day ones) and yeah, it can seem like you're ignoring the strike, but you really aren't. people all over the globe are striking, not necessarily just the US. so, depending on your timezone, I would stick with your hours! I had this question myself as well, but only for this strike, since it wasn't a week long like the rest. personally, this is one reason why i think a week long strike is better because then there is a consistent chunk of time where all timezones are participating practically simultaneously. hopefully, if there is another strike, it isn't so short that the construction of timezones kind of derails the whole balance of it all.

[solarscholarsofmagick]

7 Feelings that Most Witches Can Relate To

1. Feeling shame when you forget about a holiday (again)

Let’s be honest; it happens to us at least once. Life gets busy and before you know it, you see posts on Twitter, saying, “Blessed Ostara!” while you are in the breakroom, scarfing down bagel bites while simultaneously trying your damnedest to get marinara sauce off your white shirt. What happens next can only be compared to the 5 stages of grief:

Denial: Maybe everyone was just posting stuff early. Maybe they’re in a timezone waaaayyy ahead of yours. You didn’t see anything posted about it yesterday, so there’s no need to look at a calendar, because you didn’t forget about the holiday.

Anger: It’s not your fault, it’s society’s fault. It’s not like there’s tons of advertisements about it in the media. No, everyone is hung up on Easter. The lack of accurate representation pisses you off and you’re prepared to scream from the top of your lungs about your beliefs.

Bargaining: Okay, so maybe you initially forgot about it, but you can totally make up for it. You still have time in the day to go to the store and buy some ingredients to make a quick meal as an offering. Wiping that stain off your shirt can kinda represent creating a clean-slate, can’t it?

Depression: You are legit the worst witch in the world. What kind of witch doesn’t even remember the major holidays. No amount of salvaging the day will erase the fact that you forgot about it in the first place.

Acceptance: Missing the occasional (or every) holiday isn’t something worth beating yourself up for, especially since they traditionally span three days or a week anyways. Even non-witches will forget about mainstream holidays. Besides, there’s always next year if you absolutely can’t do anything this week.

2. Trying not to destroy your bank account on a really cool crystal

For most witches, the fascination with what are essentially pretty rocks predates their official delve into the craft. When we do delve, however, that love (pretty much an obsession at this point) amplifies. So, when we go by that crystal kiosk in the mall, it becomes all too hard to resist buying that $50 bonsai tree with leaves of tiny jade shards. Sometimes it’s a jade tree, sometimes it’s a large amethyst geode, and sometimes it’s a hand-crafted obsidian dagger with an ornate elk-antler handle. However, the little voice in the back of your head desperately screams out that this money can be better used on food or on hoarding toilet paper (excuse our memeing). Who wins the argument? Hell if I know. *tries to sneakily slide card across the counter*

3. Not being sure which *witchy* aesthetic you want to represent

There are so many different aesthetics that you see witches portray on social media such as Instagram, Twitter, and even Tumblr. There are so many, and they’re all so damn cute, so finding one to truly commit to is about as difficult as choosing your starter in the first Pokemon game. (Charmander is the right answer to that decision, by the way). Those aesthetics include, but are not limited to:

The “traditional” witch- This aesthetic is typically described as Goth, witchy, or spooky. It can entail black lipstick, straight pitch-black hair, spider-web stockings, and platform boots that go up to your knees or thighs. There is nothing wrong with following this aesthetic. Go for it and relish in the fact that you can easily crush your enemies under your 5-inch platforms. And the fact that you are able to walk in them while normies just can’t seem to quite grasp the skill.

The plant witch- These witches will wear lots of greens and often have floral or tree tattoos. Their social media is usually saturated with pictures of their green children. Their hands are more often than not coated in a thin layer of dirt, especially under their nails. They yearn for their own greenhouse or maybe just a really nice sunroom.

The bohemian witch- These witches fulfill an aesthetic similar to the hippie movement of the mid-1900’s. You can usually find them wearing comfortable, loose-fitting clothes, and, more often than not, barefoot. Their Instagram is typically full of yoga poses and soap that they just hand-crafted.

The closet witch– Because these witches are not open (or are actively hiding) their craft, it is not easy to spot one. You have to look closer to see the signs. Such signs will usually be in the form of crystal and/or symbolic jewelry.

Pro-tip: You don’t have to fulfill a certain aesthetic. The aesthetic is never what makes a witch a true witch. So go nuts and wear what you want to wear. Your personal style is your aesthetic.

4. Getting Roasted by Your Own Tarot Cards/Runes/Divination Method

We usually consult our cards when we need answers. However, sometimes, we already know the answers and are just in denial. In these times, we consult our trusty tarot cards to find the real answer, since the one in our heads is obviously not the right one. It can feel like a slap in the face whenever we do a reading, hoping/praying for a different answer, and receiving what we already knew or facts we wished we hadn’t discovered. In these situations, it can mean that something unpleasant is the result of our own actions or that we have to do something unpleasant in the near future. The cards do not care about your feelings. The cards care about giving you the answers you need and helping you.

5. Forgetting About the Jar That You Put Outside to Collect Rainwater

It’s supposed to be simple. You wait until it rains, you grab a jar, you put it outside, and, once it finishes raining, you bring it back in. But, no, it never ends up this simple. It all seems to go wrong at step 4. After we put the jar out, more often than not, we go on about our day and the jar leaves our mind… usually for a few days. By that time, however, the water has either been evaporated or it has been contaminated with dirt, pollen, or even bugs. Just like with forgetting holidays, we tell ourselves that we won’t forget next time, but you don’t need to consult your cards in order to know that, unless you set an alarm on your phone, the cycle will only repeat itself.

6. Being Overwhelmed in the Beginning

Witchcraft is such a broad, broad term. When you say that you’re going to “practice witchcraft,” it can mean a multitude of things. You could be performing a spell, praying to your gods, drawing sigils, astral projecting, divining, and much, much more. You quickly discover this when you start your journey into the craft and it becomes overwhelming. We are in an age where vast amounts of information is at our fingertips at any moment. You find yourself asking, “Where do I begin?” We tell ourselves, “Let’s find a guide!” Then, we see that there are hundreds of “beginner” guides to the craft in bookstores and thousands online. It’s stressful and there’s a pressure of picking one that had the “right” version of things. In the end, you just have to make a leap of faith and pick one that feels right to you. Build your craft from things that pique your interest. Or, like me, you can close your eyes and grab one off the shelf and go with that.

7. Being Exasperated with Incorrect Portrayals of Witches/Paganism/Magick

You’re just hanging out with someone or a group, or you’re just chilling by yourself, innocently checking out something claiming to be about witches or paganism or magick- or even those books or movies about Ouija boards and/or malignant spirits- and as you’re watching, you notice some things are wrong. Very wrong. In fact, if the people in this had any knowledge at all of magick or paganism, they wouldn’t be in this unfortunate circumstance to begin wi- hey, don’t go without closing the ritual prope- at least the salt is still lini- hey, don’t do tha– I don’t even care anymore, they had no respect or reason to even do this in the first place. If people look to these things as what practicing magick is like (there are some very ignorant people out there), then they are getting a lot of misinformation and downright insulting stereotypes and stigmas ingrained in their minds. No, not all spirits are bad and trying to kill you, maybe if you’d show some respect, Karen, things wouldn’t try to kill you or possess you or whatever the fuck is going on here.

Please consider supporting us by viewing the original post on our website here!

[safetytank]

long-ass floral drama ahead

after the roaring successes of my Anders DragonAge Did Nothing Wrong & How To Dungeons And Dragons Good presentations, the host of the original had a follow-up DTL night and u KNOW a bitch is incapable of not doing Way Too Much while simultaneously leaving everything to the last minute

so here u go, customers i interacted with while working at one of the local florists between 2017-2018, organized and ranked for ur entertainment

commentary added bc most the slides were just a visual component to a textual joke & i won’t make u all sit through a 10-minute video rendition, u got shit to do

every single older guy cheating on his partner follows exactly the same script, it’s like they were made in a lab

some did manage to break away from the mold tho, usually younger guys asking sheepishly if we had “i’m sorry” balloons (we did) or the following 2 honorable mentions for bringing innovations to the field of cheating on ur wife

imagine using a BIBLE VERSE to try and convince your girl she should take u back bc something something FORGIVENESS

the audacity

the second honorable mention is the very first customer complaint my manager handled after he was hired on back in like 2012, which was a guy whose girlfriend had looked at his credit card statement the day after Valentine’s Day and saw he’d sent 13 other one-dozen rose arrangements so he tried to convince her it must have been a credit card glitch & that he’d call and get it sorted out and my manager was like “lmao fuck no you’re not getting a refund, u made ur bed now lie in it asshole”

number 4 is the time a customer wanted an order wired to chicago for a loved one’s birthday and have it be sent to their job and i was like “oh how nice where do they work” and they were like “the leather museum” and me, internally, thinking “wow like cowboy stuff :)”

it was not cowboy stuff

number three i don’t even give a shit about censoring the name on bc if you know Vickie Fucking Fitzgerald in real life there’s no punishment u could enact upon me that would be greater than having to put up with Vickie Fucking Fitzgerald in real life

this slide is an example of a normal message someone might write on a card that comes in a floral arrangement, like 4-ish lines of text on a little plastic fork that says “happy birthday, love NAME 1 and NAME 2″ or “sorry for your loss, love THE LASTNAME FAMILY”

Vickie Fucking Fitzgerald does not know how cards on floral arrangements work

like damn bitch just send a letter at that point jesus christ

fun fact this was also a wire order so the other florist called us on the phone to be like “uhhhhh is this....correct” and we had to be like “yeah” and they went “ok, cool, just checking, uh, so we had to staple 4 different message cards together to fit all of it” and we were like “yeah bet u did lol”

vickie fucking fitzgerald was a million billion years old and if u saw her name pop up on the caller ID you learned to fear it bc it meant you’d be trapped on the phone for between 10 and 20 minutes listening to her entire life story in between trying to take a gd floral order

one time she wanted a funeral basket sent out of state to FUCKING ALASKA and we’re on the east coast of the united states so we were like “ok well there’s a 4 hour timezone difference and it’s 8am here so they’re not even open yet, we’ll have to wait til 12pm when they open up at 8 and then we can wire it for you so we’ll take down your order and call u back when it’s time to wire it”

yall wanna guess how many times this bitch called back to waste our time before 12pm

VICKIE YOU WENT ON FOR CUMULATIVE HOURS ABOUT HOW YOUR HUSBAND WAS DIVORCING YOU AND I’M BEGINNING TO SEE WHY HE MIGHT WANT TO

#2 is of course the dumb horny bullshit, bc it turns out if u order online and the quality control manager isn’t paying A Lot of attention u can slip all kinds of shit into ur card messages (just don’t do the entire fuckin Iliad like VFF up there)

this one gets put in horny jail because of the sheer AUDACITY of contacting someone who has either 1. been broken up with/divorced recently, or worse, 2. THEIR PARTNER FUCKING DIED, and THEN TRYING TO THROW YOUR HAT IN THE RING WITH THAT “I’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT YOU WERE BEAUTIFUL, CATCH ME ON THE REBOUND BABY ;)” HORSESHIT

no comment

this one haunts me in the depths of night and will absolutely be the last thing i see when i close my eyes to slough off this mortal coil

this one yall get every single slide for bc the only reason it lives on in as much detail is due to me hopping on twitter immediately afterwards to preserve the memory while it was still fresh (the caller was not the ghost btw, she was a middle-aged acquaintance of the aforementioned Gay Nigerian Royalty Ghost)

shout out to every stock website i skimmed off for this presentation btw

we stan one gay ghost king (THIS JOKE WORKS ON MULTIPLE LEVELS)

WHY DID HE HAVE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, YOU ASK

i cannot confirm literally any of this information please do not ask me to i was just paraphrasing what was told to me

here’s where we got into the really wild shit

if u ever worked retail u know this feeling

SO THE DELIVERY MANAGER COMES BACK IN THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL

and he’s like “so i walked in there to deliver the orders and the place was DECKED OUT in traditional fabrics, masks on the wall, everyone was dressed very traditionally, and i was like wow cool guess this guy was important” (he did not know about the International CIA Prosecutor stuff) and someone at the funeral home told him “oh yah we had to go all out bc the deceased’s family WERE A BRANCH OF THE NIGERIAN ROYAL FAMILY THAT HAD FLED TO THE UNITED STATES SOMETIME IN THE 80′S so obviously u can’t have a royal funeral and skimp on the decorations :)”

artist’s rendition

thank u for enjoying this little trip down memory lane also if u recognize urself or someone u know in any of these stories i blocked ur names out for a reason so don’t fuckin come at me ok

[brianc521]

Stressed | Nap Date 4

He’s stressed. That’s the only thing she can see from her side of the facetime call. Shawn’s stressed. Shawn’s stressed because not only is he supposed to be on break from tour but now he’s being told he needs to make a music video for a song he recorded long before he met Ember. He’s stressed because he didn’t think the song was gonna get released, and because of that he’s stressed because he’s yet to play it for Ember. 

Most importantly, he’s stressed because he’s been trying to plan a trip back to her for his break, that way he can see her at some point. Not just leave her hanging like a bad boyfriend does. 

“No that doesn’t work.” He tugs at his long curls that are dying for a haircut. “I have a stupid rehearsal for the video. I don’t want to do it. I don’t even want to do it.” He beats himself up. "And I can’t do dinner because I’ve got to go to the studio to rerecord the chorus.” 

“It’s okay Shawn.” She shrugs, trying to show him that she understands. She knew it was going to be a long shot for him to be able to visit on his break. He’s working and she understands that. This was a last minute idea that he’s stressing himself to see through.

“No it’s not.” He shakes his head. “I promised I wouldn’t let this happen. I promised I wouldn’t let my work come in between us.” 

“It’s not.” She shakes her head. Gasping a bit at his words. “It’s not coming between us Shawn.” 

“It is! I never see you.” He works himself up even more, and she’s worried that if he keeps going he’ll work himself into panic. “And don’t you dare say that we’re seeing each other right now. Because this doesn’t count. I want to hold you, I want you to tell me about your day while I play with your hair. I want you in front of me, physically.” 

She smiles, taking a few deep breaths, willing him to copy her actions. He does, he always picks up on her silent clues. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him, she makes big things feel small and that he can conquer them. 

“I just need to see you. Everything's too much lately, and I can’t function anymore. I feel like I can’t breathe properly, and that my thoughts are crazy, and I just need to hold you.” 

She nods, “Okay. So what day do you have off? Completely?”

“Tomorrow.” He groans, scrubbing a hand across his face, cursing Andrew and Cez for their awful planning. 

She grins, biting her lip, giggling a little before she goes. “All it’d take is one flight. We’d be in the same timezone.” 

Shawn laughs, a small, breathy laugh. He looks up through red glossy eyes and smiles at her. She shrugs in response. “Are you serious?” 

“I got an idea. And I know it sounds crazy oh I just wanna see ya.” She continues.

“Do you got plans tonight?” He asks, reaching for his laptop.

“I’m a couple hundred miles from you, and I was thinking you could fly to my apartment tonight.”

Shawn laughs, hearty this time. Throwing his head back and putting a hand to his chest. “I’ll see you in four hours, be ready.” He grins. 

**

She wakes when her alarm goes off, quickly turning it off, looking over to Shawn to make sure he’s still asleep. She doesn’t know why she’s so worried to wake him, he’s completely dead to the world. Has been since he got home last night. 

He landed at about 11 pm, rushed to her apartment and didn’t say a word other than ‘cuddles’ before picking her up and hauling her to the bedroom where he promptly threw her on the bed and landed on top of her. She swears he was already snoring by the time he fell on her. 

She steps out of the room to call her boss and call out sick. She knows he needs her, and if she’s being honest with herself, she needs the time with him too. He’s not wrong, it does feel like she doesn’t breathe the same when he’s not around. It’s like her heartbeat is a step off, but when he’s in her vicinity its finally in tune. 

Once called out, she goes about her morning by making a cup of coffee and starting on his favorite breakfast. Waffles. 

She takes her time, humming ‘Lost in Japan’ and smiling at the fact that he really caught a flight just to spend the day with her. It’s crazy, completely and totally crazy. She has a hint of guilt, that festers when she thinks about the fact that he has to fly back at 5 in the morning tomorrow. It spiraled when she noticed the bags under his eyes when she traced his features last night after he passed out. 

He’s too thin, and his hair is too long. He’s just tired, and a little unhealthy for her liking, and she just wants to take care of him. So she makes him 6 waffles, herself 2, and has enough batter to make him four more if he asks. 

“What are you doing?” His hoarse voice asks. She jumps at the sound, lost in her thoughts. “Sorry Emi, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He slinks behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, tugging her back into his body. 

“I’m making you breakfast. Coffee?” She asks looking up at him, head rested on his chest. 

“Tea?” He raises an eyebrow. “I can make it, I’m sorry that was rude.” He turns away from her embrace. 

“No.” She pouts, taking hold of his arm and turning him back to her. He looks at her, bleary eyes blinking slowly down at her. “Go sit.” She pushes him to the table. 

“No I can-”

“No I got it.” She shakes her head.

“Babe I can make it. I don’t need you to-” 

“Shawn Manuel.” She puts her hands on her hips. His lips shut immediately, and he looks at her like he’s being grounded. “I want to take care of you, go sit your cute butt down and let me make you some tea.” 

He smiles softly, nodding and kissing the top of her head before going to sit down like he was told. “I appreciate it honey, but you need to get ready for work.” 

She cringes lightly, knowing he’s not going to like what she has to say. 

“What’s that face?” He raises an eyebrow.

“I called out?” She reaches for her herbal grey. 

“You what?” He sits forward. 

“I called out, so I’m here with you all day.” 

“No call back, you don’t-”

“Shawn.” She turns and looks at him. “Did you really think that I wouldn’t? I mean fuck, you flew all the way here to see me. Did you really think that I would just leave you here? You think that I don’t want to spend time with you too? You think that I don’t miss you like crazy? You think that I’m functioning without you?”

“Hey.” He reaches for her hand, tugging her closer to him. “I’m sorry.” He whispers looking up at her through his somehow perfect lashes. “I just don’t want you risking your career to spend the day here with me.” 

“I’m not. I’m so far ahead it’s not even funny. I’ve got sick time out the ass.” She curls her hand into his hair at the back of his head. 

“Okay.” He nods smiling up at her. “Why are you so hellbent on taking care of me?” He tilts his head to the side. 

“Because you’re thin, and tired, and alone for so long. You need to be spoiled too. You need someone to make you tea, and waffles with chocolate chips and whip cream.” 

His eyes light up when she says that. “You didn’t.” 

“I did.” She points to the massive stack of waffles on his plate. 

“Why so many?” He laughs, standing to grab both plates, setting them on the table turning back for his cup of tea and her cup of coffee.

“Hey! I’m-”

“I’m allowed to spoil you too.” He pulls her chair out, kissing her lips softly before taking the seat next to her. 

**

Shawn ended up eating all six pancakes, and proceeded to politely ask for four more. He’s so full he swears he won’t ever eat again, and every time he says that she rolls her eyes. Currently they’re sprawled across her small couch, laying on each other in what looks to be the most uncomfortable position but finding themselves rather cozy.

His head is on her chest, her fingers in his hair. He sighs in contentment when she kisses the top of his head, pulling him as close as she can.

“Do you want another glass of tea?” She asks softly, as the episode of Grey’s they’re watching goes to a commercial break. 

He looks up with puppy dog eyes, now starting to feel really bad considering this would be glass number three she’s made for him. 

“Don’t give me that look. I told you this morning-” 

“I wanna take care of you too though.” He mumbles, holding her tight so she can’t leave him quite yet. 

“You do.” She traces a finger down his nose. 

He gives her a dead look, not buying her statement. “I haven’t. Not in the way that you take care of me, and I want to so bad. You just don’t let me.”

“Excuse me?” She laughs, standing up and going to the kitchen to make him more tea. “I don’t let you? Says the man that sends me food so I don’t have to make dinner. Or notices that my sweatshirt doesn’t look as cozy as it used to so he sends five of his??” She peeks her head out of the kitchen. 

He doesn’t deny anything, just blushes and looks down into his lap. 

“You take care of me Shawn, you take care of me when you’re not even here. I don’t get to do that. I can’t take care of you unless you are here. So please, would you relax and allow me to make you simple glass of tea?” She asks handing him the cup. He takes a long sip, closing his eyes and groaning when he tastes it.

“You’re tea is always so good.” He whines. “I don’t ever want to drink anyone else’s. Like at my interview yesterday, they offered so I had some. I kid you not I almost spit it out because it was awful.” 

“Shawn!” She laughs, pushing his shoulder playfully. 

“Nothing compares to my Emi.” He looks up at her with a cheeky grin. 

**

The day has been the best day Shawn or Emi’s had in a long time. To be wrapped in each other and not have to worry about anything other than clicking yes to the ‘are you still watching’ pop up on Netflix is so freeing. 

Shawn’s got his head in Emi’s lap as she plays with his hair. He can’t help but feel this overwhelming happiness wash over him every time she laughs along with the show they’re watching. Hearing her happy, knowing she’s happy, makes his heart feel lighter. It’s almost as if it’s his reaction to knowing that the most important thing in his life is content. 

“Feeling any better?” She asks softly, looking down as he shifts to look up at her. 

“Yeah, you always make me feel better.” He answers truthfully.

She blushes, biting her lip as she nods, “Good.” 

“I’m so happy right now, I don’t think it’s possible for me to be happier.” 

“I’m happy too.” She caresses his face. 

And he says it without even realizing it at first. It just floats out of his mouth, “God I love you.” 

Her eyes go wide for a moment, but quickly she grins and giggles, “I love you too.” 

They take a moment to smile at each other, just soaking in the moment. That is until Shawn realizes what’s been said. When he does, he’s sitting up quickly, looking to her with wide eyes and pink cheeks. 

“We’ve never said that before.” 

“No I haven’t.” She shakes her head. “You, my Love, talk in your sleep.”

He nods, but then does another double take towards her. “I what?”

“You talk in your sleep.” She rubs her thumb over his ear, knowing that he subconsciously folds into her when she does that. “You told me you loved me the last time you were home. Just, while you were dreaming.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me that!” He whines, flopping back against the couch.

“Because I didn’t want to rush you. I knew that when you were ready you’d tell me.” She shrugs, crawling closer to him now that he’s flopped away from her. 

“I’m ready.” He nods, looking at her. 

“Baby I know you’re ready, was just waiting.” She sings out, giggling afterward. 

“You just love to change the lyrics to my songs huh?” He lunges forward to tickle her side. She shrieks, pulling away. As he chases after her they go running throughout her apartment. It’s not until Shawn grabs a hold of her waist that his normal clumsiness takes over. His fuzzy socked foot hits the hardwood of the hall and before he knows it he’s taking her and himself down to the ground in a hard thud. 

“Oh Baby.” He worries, reaching for Ember. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” 

All the while she’s just laughing up a storm, caught up in the emotions and actions to feel any pain. Not that she has any, he totally broke her fall by pulling her on top of him. “I’m okay.” She takes hold of his face. “You’re so clumsy.” 

“That wasn’t my smoothest moment.” He looks away embarrassed. 

“Have you ever been smooth?” She raises an eyebrow at him. 

“Yes!” He protests. “You told me so. On the night we met.”

“Oh yes, Cinderella.” She nods, climbing onto his lap. 

“Who knew Cinderella wore a short blue dress, the tallest heels I’ve ever seen, and ended the night in my boots?” He grins. 

“You remember what I wore that night?” She asks, leaning back in shock.

“Are you kidding? I remember everything about that night.” 

“Like what?” 

“Like how you joked that I was Raul when you first walked up to me and Juniper.” He shrugs. “Or that you had a really important presentation the next day and set an alarm for when you needed to leave, but didn’t get home but 4 hours after your alarm.” 

“And who’s fault was that.” She gives him a pointed look.

“I still have Doris’ note.” He pipes up, eyes sparkling.

“What note?”

“Doris wrote me a note on the back of the receipt from our midnight snack.” He explains while reaching back into his jean pocket, pulling his wallet out. He opens the expensive leather and pulls out a worn flimsy piece of receipt paper. “The order is worn off by now, but her note still stands, clear as day.” 

Ember takes the receipt into her hand and reads the note. “I was really hoping that you wouldn’t break my heart because I knew I was gonna fall in love with you after that night.” 

“I won’t break your heart. I promise.” He says softly, nudging her nose with his own. “Can I have my receipt back now?” He holds his hand out for it.

“Why do you still have it?” 

“I like to keep it with me. It’s a nice reminder of one of the best nights of my life when I need some inspiration.” He tucks it away safely into his wallet. 

“You do know how to make a girl’s heart melt.” She whispers, causing him to look up with his big brown puppy dog eyes. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you.” She responds, leaning forward to capture his lips in a much needed soft sweet kiss. 

[lydiadarlingtonxo]

( victoria pedretti, female, she/her )╰ ✧ ˔ ⭒ magic is in the air !oh wait - that’s just our newest neighbor, lydia “lady” darlington, the 25 year old FLORIST. they’ve been relocated from pastoral city, and so far the locals claim that they’re EMPATHETIC and JEALOUS, just like LADY from LADY & THE TRAMP. if you ask me, they seem like the type to enjoy SILVER “RETURN TO TIFFANY & CO.” LOCKETS AND CANDLELIT ITALIAN DINNER DATES. apparently, they are CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC about entering rome pines, and i don’t think their power of EMPATHIC PERCEPTION VIA TOUCH will help them this time. let’s just hope they can adjust to the new neighborhood…⭒˔ ╮{ ooc: kate, 26, PST, she/her }

summary 

(tw: parent death) lydia renee darlington is a simple girl born on december 25th, 1994 to two simple people, renee and michael darlington, in the beautiful affluent town of pastoral city. growing up, she was surrounded by love and flowers. her father gave her a beautiful heart shaped pendant from tiffany & co for her 13th birthday, joking that the “if lost, please return to tiffany & co” would be better suited to her than being brought back home should she ever go missing. her thoughts were all spun sugar and glitter. whatever she wanted, she got and then some more. lydia--affectionately dubbed “lady” by her parents--was born into a dream world that she was lucky enough to call her reality. 

then, her mom got pregnant with the future christopher darlington. things changed, but renee and michael included lady in all the planning. she helped pick out the nursery furniture, the clothes, and even which walker would sit in their former 3-person living room. while she’d previously expected neglect, the impending arrival of her little brother brought the family even closer together and lady found herself excited to meet the 4th member of the darlingtons. 

on july 7th--7/7, what should’ve been the luckiest day of the year--ended in tragedy when her mother passed away due to complications during child birth. they left the hospital the same way they’d arrived: a family of three. 

from then on, life was different. her father, while still the loving and thoughtful man she’d always had the privilege of knowing, retreated and hid behind his job and lady did her best to surround her little brother with a sense of normalcy. she told him stories of their mother when rocking him to sleep and put her picture up in his nursery where they’d planned to put pictures of baby animals only months prior. michael continued to provide a cushy lifestyle for their family and always came home for dinner and though lady thought losing her mother would mean the end of her life, days came and went one at a time and a new normal blanketed the darlington household. 

when lady turned 16 and held her little brother’s hand in the park, she felt an overwhelming sense of fear and panic. her heart beat in her ears, her body trembling like a car with its bass set to maximum. she looked down at chris, whose face had fallen and whose grip had tightened on hers like a boa constrictor. and then: a dog ran up, face level with chris and the fear in her stomach boiled, unbearable and steaming. after a few moments, the dog licked chris and his shoulders sagged with relief. all at once, the fear pulsating through lady’s body evaporated almost as quickly as it had come. she didn’t know what happened, but it was only the first day she experienced what she would soon come to know as empathic perception. 

now, as a 25 year old florist newly relocated to rome pines, lady is trying her best to converge where she’s been and where she’s going. the love she has for her brother and father are never-ending and the darlingtons have dinner together every week. in a new, semi-terrifying place, lady tries to remain hopeful for what lies ahead. 

bullet points 

because her empathic perception happens via touch, lady always wears a thin pair of lace gloves. she’s tried learning how to control when she feels an emotion from someone else, but she’s not yet able to turn it off/choose when it happens. for now, the gloves are helping her preserve her sanity and stay close to those she loves. 

her passion for flowers came from her mother who used to wake her up early to go to the plant nursery down the street, pick out a new bundle of flowers, and plant them in their yard at least twice a month. when chris was old enough, lady started taking him to do this. 

lady would throw herself off a cliff if it meant saving her loved ones, namely her little brother. while lady wishes her mother could still be alive, she’s thankful for the extra chance to bond with chris so heavily. 

if she had the choice, lady would eat spaghetti with fresh grated parmesan for every single meal. 

lady has serious jealousy issues and is very possessive of the people she loves. she doesn’t like to feel threatened or have her relationships encroached upon. her jealousy manifests in a very petty, passive aggressive way and she will often blow up seemingly without warning because you didn’t “recognize the signs” she’d been putting up. 

she has not taken off the silver tiffany’s necklace her father bought her for her 13th birthday since he first put it on her and does not plan to do so. 

when lady feels she needs to share something difficult with someone, she will drink too much and spill her guts. she finds it very hard to open up, even to people she’s close with, because the person she was the most vulnerable with left her so early on in her life. 

unbeknownst to her father, lady has taken up smoking cigarettes. 

painting is lady’s favorite creative outlet and she will often set up an easel by her favorite window in her apartment and paint while eating her breakfast on the weekends. 

to better her health, lady tried to start drinking tea instead of coffee. it only took about a week before she went out and bought her own espresso machine and began making a minimum of 4 lattes a day at home and donated all of the tea she’d gotten to the coffeeshop under her apartment. 

lady one day hopes to open up a flower shop/cafe called darlingtons so she can combine two of her favorite things--flowers and coffee--into a passionate business. 

ooc intro

hello my sweetest friends! i apologize for this intro being so long overdue. the u.s. do be affecting my mento health these days. anyways, i’m kate, recently 26 (as of october 24th), she/her, living in the pst timezone! this is my lovely lady girl, whom i’ve played in a few disney rps before and am now completely in love with her as a character. we share a love of lattes and carbs. if you love lady as much as i do and ALSO love angsty/dramatic plots...please message me bc i would love to wreak havoc w you ♥︎

[mordoriscalling]

48 Weeks (2/4)

(Part 1)

Throughout the 48 weeks that Geralt and Jaskier spend apart, their relationship develops.

Aka, part 3 of the Singer and the Sailor AU no one asked for but I wrote anyway. The events of this story happen after Stay or Sail Away but before Homecoming. Warnigns: some sexual content ahead!

Weeks 13-24

Week 13

He waits for Jaskier’s call impatiently, praying in his mind that this is not the time they’ve got the timezones wrong. He doesn’t even have five minutes to spare right now.

Finally, after the eternity of two more minutes, there’s an incoming call from Jaskier. He picks up and immediately says, “A storm’s going to hit us soon.”

He hears Jaskier’s shaky sigh.

“Okay,” Jaskier’s replies, his voice tight, “please stay safe.”

Geralt nods. Nothing wrong happens to the crew on his watch. He made that mistake only once.

Week 14

“Another storm’s coming.”

“What? What the hell, are we some kind of star-crossed lovers –”

“Jaskier. I have to go.”

“Right.” The glint of fear turn’s Jaskier’s eyes into a colour almost as pale as ice. “Send me a text when it’s over.”

It’s one of the worst storms Geralt’s even been through but there’s no way in hell he’ll let the sea take him or anyone he’s responsible for. They all have people to return to. The thought of his family gets him through it. Jaskier’s among them too.

Week 15

“You write those songs fast.”

“What can I say?” Jaskier answers with a disarming grin, “You’re my muse.”

Geralt snorts at the ridiculous notion but he can’t fight a small smile tugging at his lips.

He listens to the recording the moment Jaskier hangs up. The song is about longing, Jaskier’s longing. His voice is high-pitched, raw and vulnerable, and Geralt finds he can’t breathe.

Week 16

When he tries to thank for the song, the “thank you” refuses to go through his throat. “Siren,” he says instead, “I miss you too.”

Jaskier smiles, a tiny, soft thing. His blue, blue eyes sparkle and somehow, Geralt feels seen.

Week 17

“Have I told you about that time me and Rozalia tried to teach chickens how to fly?”

“You what.”

Jaskier laughs. “Yeah. When we were little, we often spent the summer holidays with our grandma back in Poland. She kept chickens and well... I remember when I was maybe eight years old, me and Rozalia noticed that Amelia, who was little then, loved to watch how the chickens try to fly up in the air.”

“So, Roza suggested that we try to teach them how to fly, and I came up with the idea of creating a... chicken launcher.”

“A chicken launcher?” Geralt repeats.

“Yes,” Jaskier answers with a chuckle, “it was a really crude thing that me and Roza built out of some random planks and bricks we found in the shed. But it worked! It launched the chickens some six feet in the air. Amelia was delighted.”

“What the fuck, Jaskier.”

“I know, okay? We didn’t hurt the chickens, I swear! Though none of them wanted to be placed on the launcher for the second time, wonder why.”

Geralt laughs and laughs, and laughs, the sound coming deep from his chest and loosening the tension in his body. He keeps cackling hysterically – because fucking chicken launcher – and comes to realise that he doesn’t mind Jaskier’s ridiculousness at all.

Week 18

Geralt quickly picks up on the fact that something’s off about Jaskier, no matter how much Jaskier tries to hide it.

“Why are you sad?” he asks.

For a moment, Jaskier says nothing, but then replies, “Valdo called me yesterday.”

Geralt frowns, surprised. “Valdo Marx?”

Jaskier didn’t fail to mention how much of a “backstabbing motherfucker and talentless swine” Valdo Marx is.

“Yeah,” Jaskier confirms with a wry smile. “I know he’d call, we’re in the same city coincidentally.” He sighs heavily. “I knew he’d be drunk. He usually calls when he’s drunk.”

Geralt stays quiet and Jaskier goes on.

“When he calls me, he just... reopens this fucking wound, saying all those things. How he loves me still, how he’s never stopped loving me, how we should meet and try again... but then he’ll start petty drama on social media to gain publicity and call my music shit because that news sells, and I–” A sharp exhale. “I wish it was simple. I wish I could only hate him but... Well. The problem is, we were something else together.” Jaskier laughs bitterly. “And yet, fame tore us apart.”

There’s a pause. Geralt doesn’t speak again, trying to process all of he’s heard. Eventually, Jaskier breaks the silence again.

“And now I’m touring, and he’s touring too, and everyone thinks we’re rivals, and it’s just getting so old. I have better things to do.”

Geralt doesn’t know what to say to that, so he only says what he knows from experience. “In the long run, it’s harder to hold on than to let go.”

“That’s –” Jaskier starts, then cuts himself off. He stares at Geralt through the screen with wide eyes. “That’s... true.”

Week 19

“Two songs?”

“I have no idea how I do that either. At this point, I’m convinced that I just can’t die. Sleep deprivation should’ve killed me long ago but here I am, alive and kicking.”

“Jaskier,” Geralt growls. His worry comes off as anger but most of his emotions do. Jaskier doesn’t seem deterred. Geralt has a suspicion that he literally has no self-preservation instinct. Still, he tries to stare Jaskier into compliance. “Go to sleep.”

Jaskier obliges after some theatrical complaining.

When Geralt plays the recordings after going to bed, he’s surprised how different the songs are. The first one is an enticing call for sharing an adventure, luring him towards thoughts of what’s beyond the empty vastness of blue, towards what’s unknown to him. It’s all Jaskier, whereas the other song is not like Jaskier at all. It has none of Jaskier’s usual energy; it’s just a call for help, a cry of deep sadness that Geralt knows very well. He hates that Jaskier knows it too.

Week 20

Geralt listens to Jaskier strumming his guitar idly and no words come to him even though he knows he should say something. He sees that Jaskier needs it but his throat refuses to work. The wolf signet is a heavy weight in his pocket and he almost curses the day he let himself have this.

He was aware from the start that he shouldn’t have. After so many years at sea, he’s almost grown an allergic reaction to getting attached like this; he knows it hurts like bloody hell. He had no idea that he’d be called for this deployment back then though, and Jaskier was there, irrationally familiar and safe. His eyes sparkled in the light of the room during that birthday party, his elegant hand was warm underneath his own, and Geralt gave in. He regretted it mere minutes later and he almost regrets it now.

This would’ve been so much easier without Jaskier. Loneliness is what he knows and waiting for Jaskier isn’t easy like that, especially not when he isn’t doing enough to have Jaskier stay.

He tries to think of Ciri’s laugh to cheer himself up but in the end, it makes his chest ache even more.  

Week 21

When Jaskier’s face shows up on the screen, his eyes and grin almost scream mischief.

“Hello, dear,” he purrs, “What a sight for sore eyes you are.”

Geralt knows that tone very well. His body responds to it with a thrill of anticipation before he can form a single thought. Then, Jaskier stretches his arms, “accidentally” lowering the camera of his phone to show his naked, hairy chest, and any thoughts fly out of Geralt’s mind.

“No shirt on?” he asks, his mouth dry.

“I don’t have anything on,” Jaskier answers in that raspy voice which drives Geralt mad.

“Show me.”

“With pleasure, darling.”

Week 22

“The audience was wonderful today,” Jaskier says dreamily.

Geralt rolls his eyes. “You always say that.”

He’s been saying that very often ever since he’s started touring in North America two months ago.

“That’s because you got to say that,” Jaskier replies, “I have to make my audience feel special. I mean it this time, though. There was magic in the air.”

Suddenly, a heavy feeling settles in Geralt’s gut and he can’t help wondering if Jaskier truly means the words he says.  

Week 23

In the past week, the sea has been moody, there have been several small but bothersome damages to the ship, and Ciri’s caught a nasty cold. Generally, nothing’s going like it’s supposed to, and Geralt is tired. He sees that Jaskier’s noticed.  

They’re quiet, only looking at each other through the screen. The silence between them seems impassable but then it’s broken by Jaskier’s quiet question.

“Why is your hair white?”

“I won’t tell you,” Geralt snaps, because the very idea of talking about it sets his teeth on edge. Jaskier flinches at his harsh reaction. Geralt tries to amend it by adding, “Not yet.”

It’s a promise which he isn’t sure he can keep but Jaskier accepts it with a slow nod.

“Will you tell me how come you joined the Navy, then?” Jaskier asks quietly. “In detail, please. When I asked before, you only said that you didn’t have anything better to do.”

“That’s how it happened.”

“Geralt.”

“Fine.”

And so, Geralt tells him. He was twenty-three and still hadn’t dealt with having been abandoned by his mother and dumped by Yennefer, who he thought to be the love of his life at the time. He hated it so much that he decided it was his turn to abandon, and he quit everything.

Their adoptive father never suggested for them to follow in his footsteps but at the time, the Navy seemed a career good as any. Geralt and his brothers, not related to him by blood but still his brothers even before Vesemir took them in, truly didn’t have any plans too. Nothing kept them on land.

Now as he looks at Jaskier listening to him carefully, he thinks it’s funny how things have changed.

Week 24

“We’re halfway through.”

Jaskier sounds tired and Geralt heaves a sigh. The room is light but it suddenly appears very dark. He’s almost forgotten home and missing his family has got less painful but there’re still days when it chokes him, like today.

“You don’t have to do this,” he tells Jaskier.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s fine if you’ve changed your mind.”

Geralt hears Jaskier release a shaky breath.

“Have you changed your mind?”

“No,” Geralt replies, looking at Jaskier finally, hoping to be seen, “I want this.”

Jaskier smiles softly. “Good,” he says, his voice warm, “because I want this too.”

Geralt wants to call him an idiot but it would sound far too fond.

The day ends with another storm.

Part 3

***

A/N:  The story about the "chicken launcher" is what me and my younger brother did one day when we were kids. I think it's definitely something the horror sister Rozalia and the wild brother Julian would do to amuse their nasty angel baby sister Amelia.

[electratm]

Posting a quick intro because I’m super excited to get into interactions! Hi guys it’s ya girl Theo, I’m 20 and cursed to be in the GMT+2 timezone. I’m currently in uni studying journalism and pr, but you guessed it I won’t be able to save this PR wreck aka Electra Romero. I’ll have some ideas for connections down below, but if you want to reach me do it though my dms here or you can find me on my discord  —   theoffs#3866 !

.  *  ◜  oh  my  god  ,  you’ll  never  guess  who’s  coming  to  this  party  tonight  !  according  to  stan  twitter  ,  i  heard  that  it’s  electra romero,  a  singer who’s  currently  signed  to  gold  crown  entertainment  .  wait ,  you  don’t  know  who  she is  ?  well  ,  el is  a  cis female known  around  los  angeles  as  having  a  striking  resemblance  to  camila mendes,  &  the  resemblance  is  uncanny  .  they’re  a  twenty-two year  old  who  has  been  signed  to  gold  crown  for  THREE YEARS,  &  have  an  identical  career  to  camila cabello,  which  probably  explains  why  they’ve  amassed  such  a  following  .  ever  since  they  signed  to  gold  crown  ,  they  have  been  known  for  being  quite  astute &  maverick,  but  crown  exposed  seems  to  want  to  paint  them  as  nothing  more  than  detached &   irascible .  i’m  beyond  excited  that  they’ve  made  it  this  far  in  their  career  -  every  time  i  see  their  instagram  ,  i  can’t  help  but  picture  her  collection  of  electric  guitars, patched  denim  jackets,  drunken  swearing  at  paparazzi .  oh  wait  ,  they’re  coming  over  here  –  act  natural  !

Basics —  

Name:  Electra Rosario Romero Nicknames: El, Romero Age & Birthday: 22 /  March 1st 1997 Zodiac sign: Pisces Gender: cis female Occupation: singer / songwriter sexuality: heterosexual ( bicurious ) Born: Los Angeles, California Ethnicity: Brazillian  Career Claim: Camila Cabello Pinterest: here.

Background  —  ( death tw )

when I first applied I didn’t have that much of a backstory on her, but the more I worked on her pinterest and mock blog I fell in love with her messed up self. So the gist of it is that her family moved to L.A before she was born, her mother an aspiring singer and her dad wanted to do anything for his woman plus he is a car mechanic so he could find a job anywhere. Before her they had another daughter,  her older sister by 4 years and  a younger brother that was born 6 years after her. They were never the happiest family, high school sweethearts that got knocked up and wanted to escape the life in Brazil so they went with the ‘American dream’  only it was a goddamn nightmare. Her father found the work he was looking for, but her mother was seriously struggling and her only way of getting jobs being to sleep with whoever offered and she kept it a secret from her husband. Even with doing that it didn’t really lead anywhere, she grew old and bitter and wasn’t the best mother to her three kids. They didn’t see their father that often either, but that’s just cause he worked his ass off to keep them with clothes on their backs and to be able to afford food which obviously isn’t easy in L.A. It was home that never felt like home for Electra, she knew it like the palm of her hand, but there wasn’t that feeling of security as they lived in a pretty crappy neighbourhood. 

They still got around though and the three kids practically raised themselves. Her older sister playing the biggest role in her life as she practically raised her and taught her everything while her mother was off hooking up with random men. Her sister was quite the social butterfly in contrast to Electra and always did what was best for their family. Even if that meant doing some not so ethical stuff to get money. When Electra was 14 though things got really bad and her life literally turned upside down. Her sister had began stripping for money, something she made El swear to keep a secret, not that she understood it well, but she knew neither of her parents especially her father would be okay with that. That left 14 year old Electra looking after her then 8 year old brother after school, making sure he’s fed and okay. Electra actually learned how to take care of herself and others real young. But one day as he was walking back from school just as he was calling her to ask what they’ll have for lunch he hadn’t looked around while crossing the street and was hit by a car mid conversation with Electra. He died on the spot and although it’s not her fault she has always thought that she had a part of it because she was supposed to protect him. 

It was a devastating few months for the Romero’s,  not long after her younger child’s death her mother finally went ahead and left them for another man. Everything that happened made Electra sick and angry, but neither of them could stop and mourn properly cause if they did they’d have no place to live. That’s when around the age of 15/16 Electra started getting into songwriting. Being slightly more mature going into adolescence she started to experience the things that are love and friendship and got caught up with them. Smoking, underage drinking, stealing her first electric guitar and learning to play it so she could impress her then boyfriend. She did whatever she could to distract herself from the sad reality that was her life and for a while it worked like a charm. Her making a living out of singing never seemed like an option to her as she knew her father and sister wouldn’t approve. She saw what happened with her mother and even thinking about it wasn’t a topic of discussion. So it remained a silly little hobby she’d work on while she skipped on school to hang out with her friends until the moment when one of them suggested that she’d upload one of them for her as at the time Electra couldn’t afford owning a computer. She didn’t think much of it and agreed, but instead she went viral  and not long after a producer reached out to her with the chance to join a girl group he was forming. Electra was probably drunk or high when that happened, but somehow she ended up agreeing. 

Singing career / present  —    

Somehow Electra had been discovered by an actual producer that wasn’t going to scam her, and not only that, but he made a pretty decent girl group. Her and the four other girls who also had gone viral in some shape or from made quite the team, each girl different in her own way and attracting all sorts of people. He signed them to his record label and they started blowing up within a year of their release, yet Electra never seemed to take it as seriously as the rest of them. There she was all glamorous singing repetitive pop songs in a short skirt, something that even she found embarrassing, but the money was good.  Her family made a big deal out of it and didn’t want to do anything with her, seeing that she never told them and they found out when they saw one of her first preformances. Not facing them wasn’t that hard as they were almost always on the road doing show after show without consideration for their wellbeing. Not only was this not her music, it wasn’t her life anymore she had no control over it. About a year after they’d began she started getting out of control, skipping rehearsals, snapping at the crew and overall being super problematic which they ignored  for as long as they could, but she couldn’t stop crossing the line. After roughly two years the management kicked her out which they played out as a mutual decision, but it was obvious that she’s at fault. And again it was her fault that her family couldn’t get any money again, this time she could truly blame herself, but she had been so sick of being controlled all the time.

For awhile not working felt good, she got her own sound back, even wrote enough to have her own album, but all the people she had alienated while constantly on tour left her with nothing, but her music. Her sister was okay with talking with her, but her father still refused as he saw the wife that left him in the face of his own daughter. Even if he was mad at her Electra still wanted to provide for them, it’s what she was taught to do so when Gold Crown entertainment reached out to her with a whole plan to get her back in the spotlight she was all up for it. A fake relationship and collab that would make her out to be a new and changed person, inspired by it all she writes an album that becomes an instant hit and suddenly everyone adores her again. They let her write her own songs which she was happy about, but she had to follow this whole PR scheme to redeem herself. She didn’t really care if people liked her, what mattered was that at the end of the day each scandal or drama she was involved with brought money to the table and soon enough she would establish a much more successful image for herself than her girl band days that she wasted. This time she wasn’t going to fuck up. 

Personality  —    

Electra isn’t the nicest person, but she cares a lot. The people that gain her trust are very special to her and she’d do anything for them. She values family even if it’s as broken as hers with a workacholic father, a stripper sister and a mother that’s nowhere to be seen. She’s an honest and authentic person even if what she has to say isn’t pretty. El has seen quite the stuff growing up and doesn’t share it, especially the stuff that makes her vulnrable. Her life is strictly business and she can’t go around telling people her sob story as she feels guilty for it really being that way. At this point she just tries to keep her temper intact and do what she has to in order to have some advantage. She often contradicts herself with the things she believes yet still does the opposite thing cause she’ll get something out of it. She’s been in love and experienced real friendship, but that hasn’t helped her or filled the void of guilt in her heart. 

Wanted connections  —    

I have a lot of those! Whether it’s acquaintances, friends, frenemies, enemies, hookups, pr relationships, I want them all! Here are the main ones that I feel like are crucial to her story:

The PR relationship of a lifetime. This can be taken in any way whether they get along, have actual feelings or hate each other’s guts. The main idea of it is that when Gold Crown reached out to her and had a plan for her getting back to the spotlight this relationship was involved. What started out as an innocent collab at first would blossom into a romance. One that would inspire her to change her ways and write a whole album! Or at least that’s what the public has to see. In reality Electra is trapped by it as cause of it she can’t really have a real relationship with anyone. The only thing she can do is have hookups with people she’s certain won’t rat out that her other relationship is fake. 

Roomies. I suppose not long after she turned 18 and was still in her girl group she moved out due to her strained relationship with her family and started living with someone else. Could be another member from her girl group or just a friend from the business she made along the way. She’s probably really close to that person they’re one of the few to see her caring and protective side. 

Hookups. You know a girl has her needs. Whether she was sad, got drunk and somehow ended up in bed with that person or they made a fwb kinda deal it’s always fun to play out. 

Ex-band members. Another person to leave the band after her or they fell apart who knows, but they all share the long weeks of preforming every night and know the struggle that came in being in a girl band.

Dumped for the job. Another starlet she met in the start of her career. At first they hit it off and even got together, again one of the few people to know the real her and what’s she’s all about and that’s what drove them apart. Inspired but this post. Probably tried to stick by her in her rough patches, but she just kept pushing him away and with her offer for  the PR relationship it was obvious it was never going to last. There may still be some lingering feelings, but not all of them are good. 

These are the main things I can think of. I’m good with anything tbh and if you’re stuck you can take a look at my wanted tag or we can just brainstorm so like this post or hmu!!!

[hymn2000]

Called To Be A Rock - Frostiron feat. Spiderson AU fanfic - C26

Previous chapters: 1  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 2223 24 25

Comments/reviews/questions welcome as always

Overall Desc.:  Peter is staying with Tony and Loki one summer while his aunt is away working/travelling.

Chapter Desc.: The first full day of the holiday is underway. In true style, tiredness causes a bit of conflict, but the wonder of a new place is a good distraction 

Ship(s) involved: Tony x Loki aka Frostiron

Verse: Personal AU

Ongoing Warnings/themes/cw mentions: domestic, hurt/comfort, family dynamic, Tony in Dad Mode, holiday stuff

Chapter 26 - The Fairest Sun I’ve Ever Seen

-

Peter knelt up on the back seat of the hire car, pressed up against the window to see as much as possible.

“Peter, put your belt on” Tony said. 

Peter did as he was told, not taking his eyes off the passing view. 

“So, Manchester? What is there in Manchester?” he asked. “Big hotels?”

“We’re not staying in Manchester: it was just the most accessible place to land” Tony told him. “We’ve got a bit of a drive before we get to where we’re staying”

He handed Loki a box of travel pills.

“I took some this morning” Loki said.

“Well, take another one, just to be on the safe side”

Peter peered up at the sky. England. He’d never once considered the possibility that they’d be going to England. It felt so strange. His phone had kicked in to the timezone change. He adjusted his watch to match it. They’d arrived at 7pm, GMT. Five hours ahead of home.

-

Peter went quiet for a while, taking it all in. 

“Either of you two hungry? We’re not really gonna have time to cook when we get to where we’re staying. Might be worth grabbing a bite”

“Ok” Peter nodded, still looking out the window. “What can we get that’s properly English at this time?”

“Kebab” Loki said.

“Kebabs aren’t English”

“They’re part of the culture though”

“Yeah, hangover culture” Tony cut in. “We’ll seek out traditional stuff some other time. Just look out for the golden arches: that’ll do for tonight. That ok with both of you?”

Peter made a vague noise of agreement. Loki didn’t respond. He wasn’t hungry. 

“Loki?” Tony pressed him. “That ok with you?”

Loki shrugged. “I’m not really hungry”

“Oh, don’t start!”

“I’m not starting anything” Loki grumbled. “It’s all the travel: it’s made me feel funny” 

Tony sighed. “Alright, I get it. Still, you’ll need to try to eat something: it’s been a good 10 hours since you had breakfast, and I know you didn’t eat on the flight”

“Well, you know what I like...” he suddenly sat up straight, looking panicked. 

Tony looked at him in the rear view mirror. “You alright there, honey?”

“I left my pig on the jet!”

Tony reached into the bag in the passenger foot well, pulling out Loki’s pig and handing it over.

“For all your attachment to it, you never do a good job of remembering it” 

Loki held the pig against his chest, resting his nose against it’s snout. He could feel himself being watched, and looked over at Peter.

“What? I’m allowed a comfort blanket”

“How long have you had it?”

“Since I moved in with Tony” 

Peter nodded, looking back out the window - and spotted a familiar gleam in the near distance.

“GOLDEN ARCHES!”

Tony jumped slightly, but was in a good mood and laughed it off, simply reaching back and giving Peter a sharp tap on the leg.

“Not so loud next time, kiddo” 

-

They all felt a bit more energised once they’d had something to eat. They were parked up in the customer car park, and once they’d finished eating, Loki got out for a cigarette. Peter got out too, having a little wander and looking at the license plates and the familiar-but-not-familiar building and menus. 

“Don’t you go wandering off” said Tony, who was leaning against the car with a coffee.

Peter went back over to the car. “Is the air different here? Don’t you think it’s different? Or is it just because we’ve been inside for so long?”

“Don’t start another game of twenty questions. Please” Loki sighed, glancing at him. 

“Hey, Mr Loki?”

“What did I just say?”

“Fine, I’ll ask Mr Stark” Peter turned to Tony. “Why is he English?”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Why is he English? Y’know, his accent and the way he speaks and acts and stuff. Why is he English?”

Tony shook his head. “Haven’t the foggiest. He gets their humour better than I do as well”

“You get a lot of it” Loki said, looking off into the distance.

“Yeah, but only because I was basically raised by a couple of English people. You didn’t have any of Earth’s influences, so god knows why you’re so connected to it”

“It’s a mystery, then: just one of those things” Peter concluded.

Loki smiled. A mystery indeed.

-

It was all very exciting until they merged onto the M6.

“230 miles” Loki said, surprising the rest of the car, as he hadn’t said a word since finishing his cigarette a good hour prior. 

“What?”

“The M6. It’s 230 miles long” 

Peter nodded, finally sitting back properly in his seat. “Are we nearly there?”

“Still at least another hour to go, pet. Probably longer, especially if the traffic is bad” Tony answered.

Peter checked his watch. 8.30pm. 

-

Loki and Peter both nodded off. Tony didn’t mind: he quite enjoyed the long roads and the soft sounds of the car breaking the silence. Every so often he’d check on them in the rear view mirror. They were leant against their own doors, Loki with his pig under his head, Peter with his jacket under his, almost perfect mirror images of each other. Tony smiled to himself. He loved his funny little family.

-

Loki and Peter woke up almost simultaneously.

“Hey, you two” Tony said gently. “Not too much longer to go now”

Peter rubbed his eyes. He looked out the front window, but it was dark now, and the headlights only really illuminated the road markings, not the surroundings. He was a bit disappointed: he’d quite fancied watching the sunset. It took him a minute to realise they were no longer on the motorway: it was much quieter, the roads more winding. He grumbled to himself, leaning against the car door and closing his eyes.

“Hey, don’t you go back to sleep just yet” Tony said, reaching back and giving his knee a little shake. 

Peter whined, opening his eyes and slapping Tony’s hand away.

“Peter! Don’t you get like that with me, young man”

“Sorry” Peter was just as surprised as Tony was. “I’m just tired”

“Even so, please try to stay awake a little longer: I won’t carry you inside. I’m not sure Loki would either” he glanced back at them. “Loki?”

Loki still had his head on his pig, and he looked every bit as annoyed as Peter. 

“What? Are you feeling all fed up too?”

Loki grumbled. 

“I know, it’s been a long day” he said. “You’ll both feel better after a good nights sleep”

He wasn’t really feeling the fatigue himself. He had to stop himself from laughing at their grumpiness. Peter was fed up and irritated from the tiredness, and Loki was much the same. He complained silently to himself. What was he doing here? He wanted to be back home, curled up in his bed with the silk covers, a book in one hand and a mug of tea in the other. He didn’t want to be stuck in a car in almost total darkness, far away from the only place he’d ever really thought of as home. He almost wished they hadn’t bothered.

-

Peter fought with himself and managed to stay awake - just. A light went on, and he looked up, blinking a bit, and found that Tony had pulled onto a private drive in front of a large house. He parked up and stopped the engine. 

“Here we are” he said, unplugging his seatbelt. “Come on, let’s get the boot unloaded”

He grabbed his bag from the footwell and climbed out of the car, forcing the other two to do the same. Peter made his way round to the boot, his eyes fixed on the house. He couldn’t really see it properly in the dark. Tony put an arm round his shoulders, giving him a quick squeeze. Peter leant into him, turning and burying his face in his chest for a moment.

“Tired...” 

“I know, kiddo. We won’t bother unpacking tonight, but let’s get all this stuff inside. Then you can go to bed”

-

They unloaded the car, being a bit lazy about it and wandering off to the toilet and for a glass of water between trips back outside. They left most of it in the hallway, while Tony locked up behind them. Loki and Peter were too tired to take in the surroundings properly. 

“Right, it’s a three bed. Do I have to assign rooms, or do you two want to kill each other for the best one?”

They recovered a bit of energy to see the bedrooms and then fight it out on the landing. Loki won. Peter acted annoyed, but he didn’t really mind: all the rooms were good. He got second pick, across the landing from Loki, while Tony took the middle bedroom. 

They took their own cases to their rooms, and the tiredness hit all three of them. Tony gave up on his idea of giving them an itinerary for the next day. Loki was starting to veer off to one side, Peter looked like he might collapse, and they were both visibly fighting to keep their eyes open. Tony pulled them both close for a hug, and they all retired to their own rooms. None bothered with pyjamas or washing: they merely stripped down and crawled into bed, falling asleep mere seconds after their heads hit their pillows.

-

It was light when Peter woke up. He pulled a blanket round himself and crawled out of bed, rubbing his eyes. He went over to the window and pulled back the curtains. All elements of tiredness seemed to disappear, and his mouth fell open. He turned on his heel and ran across the hallway to Loki’s room, pushing the door open and giving Loki a shake.

“Mr Loki! Mr Loki, wake up!” 

“I’m awake, I’m awake! Stop shaking me”

“Sorry” Peter stepped back. 

Loki sat up. He’d found his dressing gown at some point during the night. He pulled it back round himself properly.

“What’s up?”

“You need to look out the window! Look out the window!”

Loki stood up and drew back the curtains.

“Oh wow” 

Peter stood beside him, hands on the windowsill, staring out over the fields and dry stone walls and the mountains in the not-too-far distance. He’d never seen anything like it.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Peter and Loki looked over their shoulders at Tony, who came over and put his arms round them.

“So... where are we?”

“The Lake District. Cumbria” Tony answered. “What do you think, Lolly?”

Loki looked out of the window, at the blue sky and the sheep in the fields. It was so beautiful, so serene...

“It’s wonderful...” 

Tony kissed him on the cheek and gave them both a squeeze. “Get dressed, you two, and then come downstairs for breakfast” 

“Aww, but I’m not finished looking yet!” Peter whined.

“You’ll have time enough for admiring the view. Now, get washed and dressed, come downstairs, have breakfast, and then we’ll head out. We’ve got plans!”

-

Peter didn’t eat much at breakfast, and Tony got a little worried. 

“Are you alright? You’re not feeling ill, are you?” he asked, feeling Peter’s forehead.

“I’m fine, I’m just excited, yknow?”

“You’re a bit warm”

“Leave him alone, darling” Loki said, pulling Tony close for a kiss. “You worry too much”

Tony kissed him firmly. “I’m just checking~”

“So” Loki said, keeping his arms round Tony’s waist. “What’s the plan for today, baby?”

“I thought we’d take it easy today. We need to get some food in, so we’re going to head to a little town where there’s some cool looking artisan shops and a big supermarket. So we can see some stuff and get a food shop. And then there’s somewhere I’d like to take you later on. You’ll have to bring your camera”

“Well, of course. After I’ve spent all that money on an SD card, it’d be a shame to waste it” he kissed Tony on the nose. “Are you going to be my model? You’d make a good model”

“I know. You’d be a better one though”

“Stop flirting and lets go!” Peter whined, grabbing at Loki’s arm. “Let’s go!”

Tony laughed at him. “Not just yet, kiddo. Give us a chance to finish our drinks”

“So where are we going today, huh? Huh, where are we going? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? H-”

“Stop the broken record impression and go and get your shoes” Tony said, ruffling his hair. 

“Only if you do the same!” 

He ran to find his shoes anyway. Loki shook his head fondly.

“He’s a funny kid” 

“He’s a good one” Tony kissed him again. “We’d better neck these and get our own shoes on: I have a feeling his patience is going to break”

Loki nodded. “I quite agree” he grabbed his tea and downed the rest of it. “I wish we’d remembered my mug”

“Never mind. Keep an eye out and if you see one you really like, we’ll get it for you. Holiday mug”

“Sounds good to me” he gave Tony one more kiss and released him from the hug. “I’ll go and get my shoes”

“Don’t forget your travel pills”

-

Peter was too interested in taking in the scenery to make proper conversation in the car. He was mostly quiet for a lot of the journey. 

“Llama’s Pyjamas!” he said suddenly. “That B&B is called Llama’s Pyjamas”

“Fabulous, I love it already” Tony said. “Just another ten minutes till we’re there”

“Till we’re where?”

“Penrith” 

“Penrith?”

“Penrith. There’s supposed to be some good shops, and then we’ll go to the supermarket before we head back to the house” Tony said. 

“Ooh, what kinda shops?”

“I don’t know; I’ve never been before. Just don’t be can-I-’aving every two seconds” 

-

They parked up and walked down into the centre of the town. It was a bright, mild day, and all three were in a good mood. Loki and Tony strolled along hand in hand while Peter bounded ten steps ahead, mesmerised by this new town, turning his head this way and that to take in as much as possible. Loki leant his head closer to Tony’s.

“What’s with the pigeon impression?”

“Leave him alone” Tony said, but he grinned.

Peter heard them laughing and glanced back at them momentarily, but went back to admiring the new surroundings. 

-

Loki grabbed Peter by the shoulders.

“Say ‘woah’ one more time, and I will tape your mouth shut”

Tony laughed at him. “Oh, leave him alone: it’s just high spirits” 

“He’s said it at every shop”

“Not every shop” Peter said. “But can you blame me? I mean, look at this place!”

He gestured wildly, and Loki had to grab his wrist so stop him from smacking a passer-by in the face. 

“A bit different from the concrete jungle, eh?” Tony said.

Peter nodded. “Uh-huh. Hey, what’s this?”

“Looks like some sort of shopping arcade. Looks a bit dodgy” 

“Can we go in anyway?”

Tony nodded. “Sure”

-

Tony’s preconception was proved wrong as soon as they saw the prices outside the children’s clothing shop at the entrance. Loki stopped for a while, rubbing his bottom lip and looking at all the clothes outside and those that could be seen through the window.

“What are you looking at baby stuff for?” Peter asked, curling his lip. 

“He likes babies” Tony said quietly, giving Loki’s hand a squeeze. “Let’s move on, honey”

Loki nodded slowly, letting Tony guide him onwards. 

“As if you like babies!” Peter laughed. “Imagine you as-”

“Peter, don’t be insensitive” Tony interrupted him sharply. 

He said it with such severity that Peter immediately shut his mouth. He turned his head away - and spotted something he quite liked. He went over to the shop window, looking at the display of expensive shirts and shoes and jackets and cufflinks. 

“Hey, Mr Loki, Mr Stark, come and look at this!” 

They went over to him, looking into the shop window. 

“Ooh wow. These are much nicer than that shop we passed earlier” Tony said. “Let’s have a little look in, shall we?”

Loki was all too happy with that. Peter followed them in, although he felt a little out of place. The men in the shop were dressed in the same finery they were selling, and greeted them when they walked in, but let them browse uninterrupted. Peter stuck by Tony’s side, looking at shirts and jackets with him while Loki looked at tie and cufflink sets on the other side. The shop seemed terribly crowded, Peter thought, with it’s vast collection of tweed and wool and whatever else, all with price tags enough to make the average person wince. 

Peter lost interest quite quickly. He saw Loki talking quietly to the man by the till, but chose not to say anything to Tony. He kept his eyes on him, but he couldn’t see what he was buying, and whatever it was was quickly put into his shoulder bag, so there was no way to sneak a peak either. 

-

The rest of the small shopping arcade wasn’t so exciting, so they u-turned and headed back out onto the main street, soon stumbling across a delicatessen.

“Woah, this looks fancy!” Peter said, looking up at the sign. “James and John Graham...”

“Established 1793″ Tony said. “Looks traditional”

“Are we gonna stand here all day or are we going to have a look?” Loki asked, smiling at Tony. 

Tony gestured. “After you, my dear”

Peter and Tony were visibly more impressed than Loki. They spent a long time looking at everything, with Peter periodically grabbing something else to show Loki.

“Hey, hey, look at this!” Peter said for at least the twentieth time. “Chinese gunpowder tea”

“Oh, weird” Loki said. “I think I’ll stick with what I’ve got. Here, what do you think of this?”

He showed Peter a little bottle of Kendal Mint Cake Liqueur. 

“Looks pretty! Woah, it’s so bright! You should get it” Peter said, grinning. “What’s Kendal Mint Cake?”

“Uuh. It’s basically just mint flavoured sugar” Loki said. “It’s supposed to be good if you go walking”

“Oh. Oh wait, I should’ve got my walking stuff out today!”

“Same, but I don’t suppose it matters too much: we’ll have plenty of time. Tony said we’re on holiday for three weeks” 

"Yeah... Sounds like hard work, all those mountains" 

"I think I'll stay on the ground if he suggests Helvellyn or Scarfell Pike" Loki said. "I'm not so resilient as I used to be: I prefer taking it easy" 

"I'm not sure I fancy the idea of dragging myself up a mountain every day either" Peter said. "Although I bet the views at the top are pretty cool" 

"Yes, but they're just as good from down here" 

"We've only seen a little bit though. I'm looking forward to seeing more" Peter said. "Hey, I know Mr Stark said not to be can-I-’aving, but there's some good looking biscuits in here..." 

Loki smiled at him. "We'll say they're to share. Go and choose some: my treat. Go and grab yourself a drink too" 

"Woah, really? Thank you!" 

He went to choose a couple of boxes while Loki decided on a couple more mini bottles and a selection of Kendal Mint Cake, partly for Peter's sake. Peter came back over, and was distracted by the chocolates and cheeses displayed on the middle counter. 

"Woah, can we get some of this stuff?" 

"I think you've got enough treats for now. Let's go and pay for these" 

- 

Tony said they could explore Penrith further at a later date. They made their way back up to the supermarket. As they were getting near, Peter noticed something he'd somehow missed the first time round. 

"Antique centre! Hey, Mr Loki, let's have a look!" 

"Not right now" 

"Aww, please" he clung to Loki's arm. "Please please please please please please please-" 

"Shut up! Tony, make him stop!" 

Tony laughed at them, and put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Ok, kiddo, if you're quiet, we'll have a little look. It's not like we're in a rush" 

Peter stopped chanting and grinned triumphantly. Loki grabbed him firmly by the wrist before he could go running off. Peter looked at him, brow furrowed. 

"What are you doing?" 

"I'm not paying for your mistakes if you go barging in there like a little elephant and break some priceless antique" 

Tony laughed at him. "Leave the kid alone! He's not going to break anything"

"What makes you so sure?" 

Tony detached Loki's hand from Peter's wrist. "He'll be careful. Won't you, Pete?" 

Peter nodded. 

"See? Come on. Might find something interesting" 

They entered the courtyard, and Tony was immediately distracted by the old vehicles and mechanic equipment outside, and wandered over for a proper look. Loki followed Peter in through the main entrance. It was strange and cluttered like every antique centre, but seemed to be sectioned into little 'rooms' within the warehouse-type building. Peter could feel Loki keeping a close eye on him, so initially he made a great show of keeping his hands behind his back. This didn't last long. He picked up a small faded plastic box of old photo slides, taking a few out to have a proper look. 

"Woah, hey, Mr Loki, look at these" he showed Loki a few of the slides. "Looks like someone's old holiday photos. I wonder how they ended up here" 

"Probably a death with next of kin that didn't really care" Loki guessed. "They're interesting though, aren't they? There's another box there" 

Peter set the first box down and had a look through the other one. He couldn't tell if they were the same people as the pictures in the first one. 

"These are so cool. I kinda want them" 

"What would you do with them? They'd just end up sat on a cabinet or at the bottom of a cupboard collecting dust" Loki said. "They're only worth buying if you work in a museum" 

"I guess you're right" Peter set the box down carefully. "Do you like antiques?"

Loki shrugged. "I like some antiques. But as you've already seen, the most antiqued things in my home are the inhabitants" 

"Do you want more antiques?" 

"I don't know. Maybe. I suppose I have always liked old tea sets. I'd love a proper full royal Albert tea set" he sounded wistful. 

"How much are they?" 

"It depends where you look, since there’s lots of knock-offs, and they’re not all antique: they're still in production, I'm pretty sure. Usually around the 250 mark for a proper set" 

"Ouch" his idea of tracking one down and surprising him with it went out the window. "That's expensive" 

"I know" Loki said mournfully. 

Peter frowned. "Why are you always so funny about spending money? You wouldn't buy one of those Zippo lighters you told me about, you won't buy yourself the tea set. I mean, it's not like you can't afford it. It'd barely make a dent in Mr Stark's fortune. I mean, I've looked it up, and a million seconds is about 11 days, and a billion seconds is about 31 years. That's an insane amount of money. You should treat yourself if you've got the means to" 

"Tony earnt that money" 

"Well, yeah, but he gives you money, doesn't he?" 

Loki nodded slowly. "Yes, he gives me money..." 

"Why don't you use it then?" 

"I do use it. Some of it. Just because I'm not blowing thousands on diamonds and speedboats, doesn't mean I don't spend any money" 

"Well, what do you spend your money on? Aside from cigarettes" 

"Whatever I need" Loki said simply. 

"That's not very specific"  

"It's also none of your business. Stop being so nosey" 

"How can I? It's in my name" 

Loki gave his nose a tweak. "Stop. Don't you remember what happened to Mr Nosey?" 

Peter looked at him, rubbing his sore nose. "You like the Mr Men as well? Oh my god. What Mr Man are you?" 

"Depends who you ask" 

"What about Mr Stark?" 

"He's a mix between Mr Funny, Mr Clever, and Mr Brave" Loki answered. 

"Cute. What about me?" 

"Mr Nosey, obviously. I've already said that" 

"Ok, ok. So back on the subject of money-" 

"One more financial question, and I will smack the nose clean off your face"

Peter huffed. "Fine. I'm going to find Mr Stark" 

- 

Peter found Tony in the back warehouse, deep in conversation with a member of staff. He approached cautiously, not wanting to interrupt, but Tony seemed pleased to see him.

"Ah, here he is" he held an arm out to Peter. "He's a bit of a whizz at this too. Still finding his feet, still a bit more on the sciencey side, but a pretty clever kid" 

Peter soon got drawn deep into the conversation too. He quite enjoyed it, having Tony show off about him and have a proper chat about it. The man showed him all sorts of things that he wasn't quite familiar with, so it was an interesting talk all round. 

- 

Eventually they were forced to tear themselves away and continue up the street to the supermarket. Peter felt that Loki might be upset with him, so he stayed close to Tony and talked to him instead. 

"Have you had a think about what meals you want?" Tony asked. "I don't want to be eating out three times a day, really" 

"Oh, I don't really mind" Peter shrugged. "You choose. But I do wanna try a bunch of English stuff. Can I borrow your phone? What are some traditional home cooked English dishes?" 

Tony laughed and handed him his phone. "Knock yourself out" 

It took Peter a matter of seconds to find a Wikipedia page listing some meals.

"Ok, some of these sound gross" Peter said, wrinkling his nose at the thought of jellied eels and liver. "But some of it looks good. Aww, pasties! We passed that bakery earlier: you should've let me stop" He pouted, scrolling through the list. "Hey, Mr Loki, help me choose" 

"Why?" he said, taking the phone from him. "Look, if you want to eat what they eat here, look at what they have in the shops and on cafe and pub menus, not this list. No one eats half this stuff anymore" 

"How would you know? Maybe everyone here still puts fish heads poking out of their pies" 

Loki gave him an exasperated look, and turned to Tony with a pained one.

"Please say this supermarket has a cafe" 

"Well, we'll see in a minute" Tony said as they approached the entrance. "Oh, yeah, they have. Do you wanna sit and have a drink while we do the shopping?"

"Yes. Your son is starting to do my head in" 

"Well you've been doing my head in all morning!" Peter snapped back, pouting and folding his arms over his chest. 

"Stop bickering" Tony said. "You can go and have a sit down for a while while we sort this, ok darling?" 

"Thank you. Come and get me when you're done" 

Loki was glad to be shot of them. 

Tony shook his head and turned to Peter. "I think we'll need more than a basket"

"Yeah, ok" Peter looked round, soon spotting the trolleys. "I'll grab one of those"

-

"Don't you think it's weird?" 

"What?" 

"This. Yknow, this is just normal and boring for everyone else here. But it's all new and different and exciting for us" Peter said. 

"Always good to try something new. I think we should get Loki a little treat: he seems pretty fed up" 

"Aww just leave him" Peter said bitterly. "It's not our fault he's a spoilsport sourpuss" 

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Have you two had a falling out?" 

Peter ignored him, pretending to look at the pick and mix breads. He was starting to feel pretty fed up too. Tony ruffled his hair. 

"How do you like these?" 

Peter turned to the fridge Tony was surveying.

"Oh woah, these look cool! Can we get some?" 

"Sure. 2 for £2. I'd get a bit of a selection if I were you" 

Peter spent a while looking at all the different options, finally going for choux buns, fresh cream éclairs, and fresh cream donuts. 

"Good selection. You get first pick when we're back at the house, ok?" 

"OK!" Peter grinned. 

Tony smiled. "There, that's cheered you up" 

Peter stuck his tongue out at him.

- 

Tony enjoyed looking round a new supermarket just as much as Peter did, but he tried not to let it show. He did, however, give in to Peter's clamouring for this, that and everything, and ended up with a trolley which was quite a bit fuller than he'd anticipated. 

"Wait, wait! Mr Stark! They've got Kinder eggs! I've always wanted to try these!"

Tony sighed a little, if only for show.. "Ok, put them in the trolley" 

"How many? Can I get five? I want five" 

Tony laughed at him. "Sure. Here, you're starting to bankrupt me a bit here: we'd better go and pay" 

Peter nodded without protest. Their shop had put him in a good mood.

- 

Loki was in a better mood too when they met up with him, although he raised an eyebrow when he saw the trolley. 

"You know, I'll be honest: I didn't expect you to buy enough food to feed a small country" 

"Couldn't resist" Tony grinned. "And I'll be honest; it's mainly treats for the kid"

Loki nodded. "I've got something for him too" 

Peter took the envelope Loki offered him. 

"What's this?" 

"Why don't you open it and find out?" 

Peter did so, and was surprised at what he found: a bundle of twenty pound notes, totalling two hundred pounds. 

"Woah! Thank you!" he was admittedly quite amazed by the generosity. 

Loki smiled slightly. "Holiday money. This way you don't have to ask every time you see something you want" 

"Wow... Are you sure this is ok? It’s a lot of money" 

"Positive" 

Tony gave Peter a nudge. "Put it away and help get these bags into the boot"

Peter shoved the envelope in his pocket and did as he was asked. £200! He felt like he could go crazy, have a proper shopping spree. He'd be able to buy anything, and he'd be able to get May a really good holiday present too, not to mention Ned. This was amazing. He really was getting spoilt.

-

Peter cuddled up against Loki in the car on the way back to the holiday home. 

“Sorry for being all insensitive with you earlier”

Loki nodded, giving him a hug. “Thanks. Sorry I got snappy with you”

Tony watched them in his rear-view mirror. He couldn’t help minding that they were so hot and cold with each other sometimes.

-

Peter made himself useful and helped unload the shopping. Tony was right: a lot of it was treats for Peter, so much so that Tony assigned him his own cupboard to keep his things separate from the communal food. 

“You should probably start policing all those snacks” Loki said, rearranging the bottles in the fridge. “I love a binge as much as the next person, but he’s going to make himself sick if you let him have free reign of all that”

“I am here, you know” Peter said. 

“He’ll be fine” Tony said. “He’s not going to make himself sick”

Loki wasn’t convinced. “Ok, well when he is - and I say when with conviction here - it’s gonna be you staying up with him”

“I’m not gonna make myself sick!”

“I’m getting sick of this topic of conversation” Tony said. “What do you want for lunch?”

“Did you buy any Philadelphia?”

“Yes”

“Yeah”

Peter quirked an eyebrow, but Loki paid him no mind and headed out into the living room to have a look at the shelf of DVDs.

“Peter? How about you?”

“Yeah...”

He followed Loki. Tony sighed heavily. ‘He’ll get what he’s given then’ he thought.

-

Peter went and stood beside Loki, peering at the DVDs.

“You wanna watch a film while we have lunch?”

Loki nodded slowly. “Maybe. They’ve got quite a lot here”

“What are you thinking?”

Loki shrugged. “I’m not sure. You know my DVDs, the ones my brother got me? They’ve got some of those”

Peter looked over the DVDs. “Ooh, they’ve got Coraline! Have you ever seen it? It’s creepy, but I think you’d like it”

“I don’t think so” he took the box down from the shelf, reading the summary on the back. “May as well give this one a go”

“Ok, good!” Peter took the DVD from him and knelt down to work out the DVD player.

“Oh, are you two watching a film then?” Tony asked, coming into the room and setting a couple of plates down on a nearby coffee table.

“Thought it’d be a good thing to do” Loki said.

“I’ll leave you to it. I’m gonna eat outside, just to make a change” Tony said. “Have you got your cigs on you?”

“Yeah?”

“Mind if I pinch one?”

“Since when did you smoke?” Peter frowned.

“I fancy one sometimes” Tony said.

Loki handed him his cigarettes and lighter.

“Thanks hun. I’ll join you in a bit” 

Loki took one of the plates and took a seat on the sofa. Peter got the DVD set up, grabbed the remote and the other plate, and flopped down on the sofa with Loki.

“Uhh, do you know what’s in this?”

“Philadelphia” Loki said, glancing at his identical plate. “Same as me” 

“Huh, ok” he pressed play on the remote. “You’ll like this one” 

“Best be quiet now, then”

-

Something about the opening and it’s soundtrack set Loki on edge. He’d grown to like stop-motion, and the style of this was something different, so he found it quite interesting, if a little unsettling.

The soundtrack invoked something in him. He finished eating and put his plate aside, glued to the screen. He could see why Peter had guessed he’d like it. He barely even noticed when Tony later came and joined them. He couldn’t quite figure out his emotions while watching. He couldn’t help but relate to it - it felt familiar: the neglect, the manipulation, the strange tunnel, the need to run away and escape, the way something seemingly so good turned so bad so quickly, the solidarity found in the most unlikely places... There was something so lonely about it. He loved the cinematography though. It was so unique in style, and the colour themes were so important to the story: the way the characters lived in colour in a grey world in the real house, and how they lived in grey in a colourful world in the Other Mother’s house. The atmospheric change between the two settings felt drastic. There was always something mildly unsettling about the other world, even before it all went wrong. Maybe it was the buttons. Eyes hold so much feeling: take them away, and there’s no real emotion..

-

“Well, that was suitably disturbing” Tony said, standing up as the credits rolled. “Even more so than the first time I saw it” 

He went to turn the DVD off, and Peter shifted closer to Loki, kneeling beside him.

“So what did you think, huh? You liked it, right? Right?”

Loki slowly turned his head to look at the boy. “That was wild”

Peter laughed at him. “It’s great, don’t you think?”

“I think” Tony said, putting the DVD back on the shelf. “That I read something somewhere that said that it’s something that scares adults, but kids see as an adventure”

“I’d say that’s about right” Loki said, resting his head in his hand. 

“Right, are you two gonna get your shoes on?”

Peter looked up. “Why?” 

“There’s somewhere I want to take you. I said that this morning”

“Oh! Ok!” he sprang up from the sofa and ran to the corridor to find his shoes.

Tony sat down beside Loki and gave him a hug. “Bring your camera”

Loki pulled away from him and went upstairs to find the bridge camera he’d found in the cupboard at home. He hadn’t really used it yet. He double checked the SD card, made sure he had spare batteries, and slung the camera case over his shoulder. 

-

Tony parked up. The car park was small, just a patch of gravel really, and empty. Peter couldn’t help feeling sceptical about it, but got out the car without saying anything. Loki adjusted the camera case, looking at the National Trust sign.

“Aira Force...” he read.

“Thought we’d be better coming off-peak. Apparently it gets pretty busy here” Tony said, linking arms with Loki. “Watch your step; ground might be rough”

“Oh, I don’t think I need to worry~” Loki said, kissing Tony on the cheek. 

Peter rolled his eyes at them and made for the dirt steps down from the car park. It was uneven ground, and it took a bit of concentration to navigate. The dirt track was surrounded by trees, just like any old forest. Still, as he continued round, the sound of running water hit his ears, and he stopped for a moment. He shook his head slightly, carried on a little further, and found himself face to face with a cascade of water, tearing down rough rocky edges.

“Woah!” he leant against the wooden safety barrier, looking down into the pool below. “Woah..!”

He heard the whir and click of a camera, and looked over his shoulder. He grinned.

“Look at this! You gotta come and look!”

Tony smiled. “This is just a tiny part of it. It gets even better from here on out”

*

[xtremedespair3d]

HajiKo Anime: Fall 2020

Where was Summer at? We needed to have a line-up as lit as this one, but alas, this cold line-up was pretty refreshing!

Okay, I probably shouldn’t come up with these ridiculous puntastic introductions just for filler and for the sake of using the “Keep reading” tab because these posts are always lengthy, but there’s nothing else I can say, I can’t just simply put the “Keep reading” tab and that’s it!

Also, there were some details on my anticipated shows and I completely forgot about them so I’m going to write them down here because I’m not even gonna bother go editing my previous post and add the things I forgot to say and tell everyone about it, nobody reads my posts anyway.

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Before I start this review, I want to say something and it’s probably not for the faint of heart depending on your prefered way of watching anime and mine may not be the absolute best if you’re a “purist,” but it’s very important. On October 1st, as soon as I published my previous Summer 2020 review the day prior and as soon as the Fall season began, HorribleSubs, the anime subs torrent site I’ve been using for a long time, has closed.

Torrenting anime is kind of a gray area for me to say this, but I’m not a shallow anime review site, so who cares? This is my personal blog and might as well say this. I’ve been torrenting anime for quite a few years now, and my go-to anime site to watch the latest shows ripped straight from big-shots like Crunchyroll, Funimation and HIDIVE, is HorribleSubs. I’ve been using random websites before but I moved to torrent anime because the torrent library site Nyaa offers a huge variety of high quality torrent anime, there are so many websites to watch anime illegally and they’re not even that good, the biggest one being KissAnime but on mid-2020, it appears that KissAnime has been closed, a lot of people who used the service are sad, meanwhile I’m laughing my ass off at them since I mainly torrent anime.

Ever wondered how I usually watch anime that aren’t licensed by Funimation, Sentai, etc.? Torrent, that’s why.

The closure of HorribleSubs is quite shocking considering I’ve been using the site for a while, but there’s other sites like Erai-Raws, although not as good as HorribleSubs as they can be very late, but they still get the job done. Sometimes I browse on Nyaa to look for any other sub groups that have the newly released anime I want to watch, but sometimes they can bring pretty awful quality.

I had briefly used Erai-Raws for a while, which was my alternative whenever HorribleSubs was slow, but even Erai-Raws can be very slow at times, so I switched to SubsPlease which at first I had seen torrents from them uploaded on Nyaa and they’re probably the first group to upload torrents of this season’s anime I watched, so I switched to SubsPlease and I gotta say, I’m really really impressed with SubsPlease, they truly are the best website, they really live up on being the better HorribleSubs and Erai-Raws.

Let me give you a quick rundown on why SubsPlease is absolutely better than HorribleSubs and Erai-Raws:

They have a schedule tab on the left page and they waste no time on uploading new seasonal anime, which they are rips from Crunchyroll and Funimation (I don’t know if they rip stuff from HIDIVE too and who knows if they’ll rip Netflix stuff too but we’ll see).

Although on November 19th, for some reason SubsPlease took so damn long on having the latest Guraburu episode, it only took a few hours, but seriously, I do not condone the tardiness and I hope they don’t make this same screw-up or be worse in the future. And then on November 27th, they also took too long with an episode of Assault Lily Bouquet, I don’t watch that series but the tardiness, come on...

The website automatically detects my timezone, even after the daylight saving time, which is really amazing.

And most importantly:

Dark theme! Well, Erai-Raws’ website is dark by default and there’s nothing wrong with it, but since I treat SubsPlease more like a successor of HorribleSubs, having a dark theme on their website is something HorribleSubs always lacked. Dark theme is the future! Not just it’s easier for my eyes, but dark theme is just cool.

I should also point out that on December 9th, Crunchyroll was actually bought by Funimation, this may or may not sound like a win-win situation, it sounds impressive and guess the tables have turned considering their previous team-up which didn’t last long and now they’re back, but I don’t have high hopes for this move overall, just as long as they don’t go too extreme with piracy DMCAs and worst-case-scenario nuking Nyaa or any subs sites like SubsPlease and Erai, I’m okay with it.

Anyways, enough talk with all the anime torrenting, but still, let’s press F to pay respect to HorribleSubs. HorribleSubs closing with the first episode of Higurashi (They were still uploading episodes of ongoing series for a little bit but we don’t count those) sounds like they definitely ended with a bang.

One more thing before I talk about my review for this Fall 2020 season as well as talking about my line-up for Winter 2021, let’s talk about my birthday. So, how was it? It was great, it’s always better when you happen to have friends who make lovely pictures for you, even if it’s usually a day early or some may not always deliver screenshots (Because most of my friends are Japanese and a Filipino who make Custom Order Maid 3D2 content) but at least I get something.

As for the actual day, well, it was alright, it started off quite stressful with reuploading my birthday picture with numerous fixes over and over and played some Among Us with friends, and then I did have fun just going out with my family and have lunch, so that was something.

But to be brutally honest, most of my fun was already taken away the day prior with all of my Japanese and Filipino friends sending me their COM3D2 pictures to me, that’s a big problem, their timezone is like way ahead of me and they lived on October 4th, so everyone pretty much celebrates my birthday so early and as much as I like it, it starts to lose the fun for what I’m supposed to be on my actual birthday.

My birthday should officially be October 5th in their timezones so I would tell everyone in my actual day that it is my birthday, and I should stop having this habit of telling everyone it’s my birthday, I say it’s pretentions but at the very moment I end up doing so anyways.

Actually, the most fun I would have had in my birthday was if Venom: Let There be Carnage hadn’t been delayed if only COVID didn’t exist, that seriously should have been the main thing that would have made my birthday but without it, my birthday has become shallow overall. But whatever, at least I did have a pretty good lunch, only to make my stomach hurt for a week.

So for the future of my birthday, I probably should stay quiet in telling Japanese people about my birthday being in October 4th in their timezone, at least some who don’t know, I’ll start going crazy about my birthday in my actual day. I really hope there’s something really exciting in my birthday and beyond, too bad there’s no movies to watch next year (Although I could wait to see Dune in my birthday since it comes out in October 1st, so it’s kinda close--And my birthday in 2021 is in Monday, lovely...).

Also, we do not talk about the day Travis Touchdown was announced in Super Smash Ultimate as a Mii fighter, the timing, which happened a day before my birthday, and the choice of making him a Mii fighter are the worst thing they’ve ever done and now I’ve 100% lost care for Smash, if I had any care to begin with, I’ll NEVER forgive you, Sakurai! 😡

That is until October 28th that the Switch ports of the first two No More Heroes games have been released! Aah, what a relief! I might have NMH3 next year, but having the first two games on Switch now is an absolute win and the most important thing right now! (SOMEONE GIVE ME A SWITCH!) Actually, now it seems like NMH1 and 2 will be coming out to PC as well, I GUESS I WON’T NEED A SWITCH AT THE MOMENT, THEN!

After I publish this post, please look forward to my New Year post in the next few days as well.

ANYWAYS, let’s start with the reviews!

Fall 2020 Review

(Higher resolution)

Akudama Drive: Call me biased since I’m a Danganronpa fan, but THIS! THIS IS IT! THE ANIME THAT SAVES 2020! THE ONE OF MANY TOOKYO GAMES PROJECT THAT HAS FIRST SOLD ME FINALLY RELEASED AND IT’S ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING I WANTED!

Ahem, sorry about that, but it’s true, I ABSOLUTELY loved this series.

It’s got really great characters and their designs are great, it’s got kick ass opening and ending themes (Although the OP theme is the most important highlight), the animation is very aesthetically pleasing too, and then... AT LAST WE GET TO SEE A PREVIEW OF THE DANGANRONPA COLLAB ART AND IT’S BEAUTIFUL! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY MY #1 AOTS!!! THEN ON DECEMBER 1ST, THE FULL ART IS SHOWN!!!

Another thing I like about the series are the titles of the episodes which they’re all movie titles, especially the episodes “Mission Impossible” and “The Shining,” especially The Shining because it definitely lives up to its name and goes all out with the most obvious references anyone would know.

As much as I love Akudama Drive, I have some complaints!

First off, in terms of the universe, I kinda wish the characters didn’t go by codenames and it would be nicer if they had real names or have them revealed at some point (Which they didn’t, sadly), this makes me feel like watching Goblin Slayer all over again. I mean, there are some things where I’m okay with the characters just having codenames for varying reasons (Hiding their identities or remain mysterious), but this one kind of doesn’t work a bit.

Another which I may take back is the lack of fan arts, somewhere like episode 4 or something, I thought I wouldn’t see fan art of Akudama Drive which I thought nobody watches the series, but one random person miraculously saved my life by giving this one fan art, not only it’s a good fan art, IT’S A CROSSOVER FAN ART WITH DANGANRONPA, ABSOLTUELY PREDATING THE REVEAL OF THE ACTUAL CROSSOVER ART!

Then I searched through Twitter and Pixiv and there’s quite a lot of decent fan arts! (Especially on Pixiv since it usually has god awful fan art, but not all the Akudama Drive fan arts were all that bad, not perfect, but it was something). Searching for Akudama Drive fan arts on Twitter would be extremely hard, especially when there can be way better fan art but without the Japanese hashtag, but even so, I can still find plenty of good fan arts with the hashtag. If anyone has more good Akudama Drive fan arts, please give them to me.

Well, these are nitpicks that are rather meaningless, the real complaint I have is the heavy censorship on any violent moment, like, the most hardcore bloody scenes or something. This is something I’m never going to understand with Japanese censorship, like, I’m okay with the censorship in porn, but the gore is something that hits close to home for me since I’ve always liked blood and gore but it just feels like whatever people like doing with violent video games, anime and manga, it just feels very limited. Not to mention there’s some weird inconsistency in some Japanese media that some can show gore uncensored and others censored, I’m so confused.

I also wish the ending was a little more satisfactory, even though I’m sad about all the Akudama dying, something about the ending is a little left to be desired and raises a lot of questions.

The healing factor kids are save now, but it came at the cost of our Akudama bros’ lives. 😭

By the way, there’s a manga adaptation that came out when the anime was supposed to come out back in July, it’s monthly and I would absolutely read it legit in this site called Renta and the chapters are quite cheap to rent or buy, which is really nice. I would like to read it but I’d like to buy the full volumes of it whenever they’re gonna come out.

Anyways, after the series ends, I hope we get to see new info in the Kazutaka Kodaka projects with Rui Komatsuzaki character designs soon, and I really hope Kodaka would make more original anime like Akudama Drive (As long as the characters are designed by Rui Komatsuzaki, I can’t look at anything Kodaka without Komatsuzaki character designs, no matter the concept).

Oh, by the way, even Osomatsu-san season 3 promoted Akudama Drive! (I mean, they’re both made by Pierrot, but to see something like this is just uncanny)

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni - Gou: First of all, the title is actually not “New,” the true title is actually “Gou,” which supposedly this is a brand new entry, this is interesting, the secrecy behind the series and how it was marketed certainly makes for a really great series, but since I’ve never experienced Higurashi in my life, I feel left out. I mean supposedly because from what I hear this isn’t even a remake but rather a new entry, but whatever site I heard that from is probably an unreliable nobody source that I know of, so I’m not entirely sure on that one.

Second of all, before I go into details on my impressions with the series, as someone who never grew up with the original anime nor the visual novels, there’s something I forgot to address in the previous post, Higurashi Gou is animated by Passione, which they impressed me with High School DxD Hero and Citrus. Although sometimes the character designs does throw me off a little, and I saw a comment on Nyaa within the HorribleSubs upload of the episode that the art style reminded of the commentor to Monogatari, which it does look Monogatari-ish and I can’t unsee that now.

Now for my impressions, since I pretty much know the nature of the Higurashi series, I didn’t have that much of high expectations, so there’s not much to say about it. Although even if I’m familiar with the messed up nature, I wasn’t really familiar with the characters and the story, so I guess this is my one way to go with it. As of late, YouTube has randomly been recommending me comparison videos of some moments from the series so far and I’m usually biased towards newer stuff that look cleaner, so I’m definitely take the 2020 side (Which leads me to believe this IS a remake of an adaptation or something).

One thing that did disappoint me, however, is that the Eiko Shimamiya opening theme from the original series was only used once at the end of the first episode, I was kinda sad this isn’t used for the rest of the series, but it was kind of expected to make new theme songs.

If I have the time and desire to do so, I wish I would watch the original Higurashi series and maybe rewatch Gou for like a side-to-side comparison visually and perhaps narratively as well. (And what about the VNs? Eh, I’ll probably never get the mental capacity and time to do so, sorry.)

D4DJ First Mix: Since this is already a new franchise beginning, I thought I would give this an A (just like other Sanzigen titles this year but for varying reasons), but as of the writing of this episode after episode 5 premiered, this series immediately went from A to S! This is my #2 Sanzigen anime of the year, #1 being of course Bandori season 3.

One thing I’d like to point out is that the background characters throughout the series are entirely CG! Looks like Sanzigen has finally delivered God’s work for once! Except there are times when MINOR characters, like the owners of Cafe Vynil and even the Happy Around girls when they were kids are still hand drawn. I don’t know why but I just realized I constantly talk about how much hand drawn characters I have to point out in literally everything Sanzigen makes, so apologies about that.

When I started watching the first episode, I literally got familiar vibes to that of Argonavis with the main character (or in this case, multiple main characters being Happy Around) going to a live concert, but it’s a little different. Instead of the main character being motivated to becoming a musician and go to the concert he went when he was a kid, instead the main character (Being Rinku) went to this concert and remembers WOW WAR TONIGHT, Maho, however, does have the desire of going to the same concert Rinku went when she was a kid.

That kinda sounds more like Argonavis but with more accessibility and well, something that appeals more to audiences because I’m still baffled that out of every Sanzigen title that came out this year, no company, and I mean, NO COMPANY, has officially licensed Argonavis at all! Leaving the series mainly being fansubbed. I think it may be for the better that Argonavis isn’t officially licensed because not everyone would like the series because not everyone is fond of the concept of a male equivalent of Bandori (If it works for Idolmaster, it wouldn’t for Bandori IMO).

Hopefully they’ll make just as many seasons and movies like Bandori if this is going to be Bushiroad’s next big franchise.

Osomatsu-san season 3: After 5 long years, Osomatsu-san continues to deliver some really good laughs and being bizarre.

Wait, it’s been 5 years, why hasn’t Osomatsu-san season 3 addressed a 5th anniversary of sorts? 5 years is an important milestone!

Girls’ Frontline Healing Chapter season 2: Sure, Osomatsu-san season 3 is definitely the better comedy of the season (Which forgot to mention it would top Girls’ Frontline Healing Chapter season 2 along with Uzaki-chan), but that doesn’t mean Healing Chapter season 2 wouldn’t give me a lot of laughs (Which I think it gives me more laughs than Osomatsu-san sometimes).

They definitely improved this season with a lot of things, new characters, extended runtime which they really listened, and G11 now speaks. The first season will always be iconic, but I definitely think this season is beyond better.

However, as much as I loved this season, that is until I watched episode 12 where right before watching it, I just realized we had come this far until the very end of the season, time went flying so fast I felt like this season ended way too soon. Even if the season had a longer runtime for episodes, but for some reason it kinda feels like it didn’t do anything to me. I was pretty confused with M16′s character throughout that episode as well.

Then there was this teaser with 6P62 in episode 8. Was this supposed to mean something or did they just randomly threw this scene out of nowhere?

This finale doesn’t ruin the season overall, like I said, it improves the first season and I had plenty of laughs, but I need to process this. Once I watch the Japanese, I’ll probably get a better impression of it, and yes, the Japanese dub is indeed happening. It is coming in Spring 2021 as well, I wish it would come out in January 2021, like how the first season in Chinese dub started in late July 2019 and then the Japanese dub came out in my birthday, October 4th, I actually saw this coming but I guess the Spring 2021 release is fine, I suppose.

Despite the somewhat weak ending, I repeat, I still think this is absolutely better than the first season.

With the trend of wasting new characters in comedy shows, I absolutely award Girls’ Frontline Healing Chapter season 2 as the one new comedy season that absolutely did not waste new characters like DEFY and Sangvis Ferri! 🏆

Surprisingly there was no surprise Madness Chapter season 2 or anything, which it’s for the best and I guess that’s just to show how that series wasn’t as popular as Healing Chapter, even though it’s supposed to be like an adaptation of the game’s 4koma, but the animation is so cheap and people prefer the more wholesome series like Healing Chapter, which is probably why it’s so popular.

(Although I kinda wish they picked Architect from the villain roster, I like Architect more than pretty much every Sangvis character. Although I guess Hunter, Executioner and Scarecrow are like the most popular characters or they’re important to the story? I don’t know, I just like Architect because she’s cuter)

Hoping for season 3 if the Healing Chapter series continues to grow popular and hopefully the 6P62 teaser can be paid off.

Burn the Witch: I’m still surprised how this adaptation came out shortly after the manga serialization was launched, which means it was on the work for some time, did Tite Kubo give the animators his drafts or early copies of the three chapters of the manga serialization early before it come out or something?!

Anyways, it was quite a great adaptation, I liked it, the animation was clean, I like the performances, etc. Although I do wish they should have adapted the one-shot instead since it’s pretty much the prologue of the story, although one-shots usually aren’t what the actual stories supposed to be, it’s kind of like a prototype of sorts, but this wasn’t a prototype at all, but oh well.

Golden Kamuy season 3: Around November 1st, I randomly read through all my previous Tumblr posts and even talking things out about my retrospective thoughts in stuff I reviewed (Some hold up, some don’t), with the first two seasons of Golden Kamuy, I gave it a B- overall because I was kinda spoiled with some of the hate around it and gratuitously CG animals, but retroactively, it’s still a very good series, the action, the worldbuilding, the characters and especially the bizarre humor are the best part.

Although to be honest, I like the storyline from the first two seasons better, but I’m glad things have turned out well in the end this season.

Munou na Nana: For a show that came out on my birthday, I guess this was alright overall, when I watched the first episode, I was quite surprised with the twist and that’s pretty much what the entire series is. Still, I wasn’t highly impressed, but it was alright at best. Like, I think it was best worth watching the premiere on my birthday, otherwise I wouldn’t be committed on watching the entire series because I usually drop anime that don’t convince me on my birthday.

At first I thought Rena from Higurashi and Nana would be a cute but deadly waifu combo, which they still are but I prefer Rena over Nana because I’m not pretty sure about her as a character before, she’s quite smart but I definitely wouldn’t cross paths with her ever, she at least had some hilarious faces throughout the series too. That is until the last few episodes is where I’m starting to like Nana now?

There’s another thing I liked about the series is that how earlier episodes were character focused, like dedicated to Nana’s victims before Nana kills them, later episodes have become more serialized or something.

Probably the worst thing I can come up with (And I seriously wish anyone else, especially anime journalist sites, the journalists themselves or normies would say this), is that Munou na Nana is basically Among Us the anime. Kyoya always sus’d Nana, and Nana was the Impostor all along. Pink is hella sus. (Yeah, this is stupid, moving on) But then, the final episode came out and... it ended... in quite a shocking fashion, and this is probably the best episode in the series.

If there’s one thing I have to complaint about this series, is that the official Funimation subtitles can be cringey and don’t make sense with what the characters actually say sometimes, what the hell were the official subbers thinking? I wouldn’t rewatch the series but I’m sure fansubbers would do a much better job with the writing in the Blu-Ray rips.

But then, the final episode came out and... it ended... in quite a shocking fashion, and in my opinion this is probably the best episode in the series, although even if I liked the episode very much now after watching it, there are some things I was pretty confused by, but whatever. Now this episode for sure makes me think about the series in retrospect, probably not the best anime to come out in my birthday, the first most of it was decent but this episode delivered quite a punch!

First the series started in a shocking fashion which I had no expectations for the series at the time, now the series ended in a shocking fashion. Who would have thought?

Danmachi season 3: Throughout the middle of the season, I thought this would be my least favorite storyline of the series ever, but I think it turned out pretty good in the end, I usually like beginnings than climaxes. I kinda felt similarly with Golden Kamuy as mentioned above, but both have solid climaxes.

Call me crazy, but I feel like Danmachi doesn’t feel as relevant as it used to be back when the first season came out and it was quite memed a lot, particularly with Hestia’s boob ribbon and the tooth brushing from the opening or something, those were the good old days.

Although I do admire how we’ve come this far with quite a lot of Danmachi anime over the last 5 years, from the first season in 2015, the Sword Oratoria spin-off in 2017, last year’s season 2 and now season 3. There’s this two year pattern but season 3 this year feels different.

Toji no Miko Tomishibi: On November 1st (Día de los Muertos), before watching the latest episode of Munou na Nana (or Talentless Nana as I called the series in the previous post), I knew I was definitely gonna forget about the first part of the OVA, so I watched the first part of the OVA after watching Munou na Nana and I guess it was okay, not really great but not bad either, but there was one thing I immediately noticed is that the character designs in the OVA look completely different than the TV series.

Before (TV series):

After (OVA):

The OVA character designs look a lot less like Yoshinori Shizuma’s art style like the TV series replicated. That is probably because the OVA was made by a different studio than the TV series. The TV series was made by Studio Gokumi and the OVA was made by Project No.9.

But even if they’re both made by different studios, part of the visuals kind of look similar in a way or something? I also noticed the Aradama aren’t CG in the OVA like in the TV series.

I was happy to see Kanami and Hiyori in the OVAs too, I always liked them better than pretty much everyone else, especially the characters from the mobile game which are the main stars here who are my least favorites, so I guess there are some characters I like in a series I’m otherwise lukewarm with.

The second part, however... It didn’t do much service to me, as the animation has gotten really horrible, the writing was terrible (And no, I’m talking about the subs, I’m talking about actual writing), and even if this served as the finale of the OVA, the pacing felt way fast for it being the last half of the OVA.

I’m not sure I should hope for more Toji no Miko anime in the future, I really hope this should be the last and never hear about Toji no Miko again.

Guraburu: This is probably the blandest Cygames adaptation yet. I mean, sure, you could say that it’s nowhere near bad (Same with Princess Connect Re:Dive), but for some reason this series wasn’t really that funny for me, definitely the worst comedy of the season when we have great ones like Osomatsu-san and Girls’ Frontline Healing Chapter. I think the Guranburu 4koma work best when they’re just still images, making an anime out of this just doesn’t work.

Then there’s the animation, I’m very conflicted with it. On one hand, it tries to replicate the art style of the 4koma very well, but when it comes to the motion, it just looks very cheap, almost as if it was animated on Flash, it’s kind of like Queen Bee tier animation. Even gacha 4koma adaptations like FGO’s Manga de Wakaru is does absolute justice to the art, it's hilarious and it's very pleasing to look at.

The subtitles writing can also be a little weird as well, though probably not as god awful as Munou na Nana can get, right? (No wonder people say dubs are usually better written, but I couldn’t care less about dubs in general)

As for the comedy, sometimes it was funny, but I wasn’t really impressed, I don’t think this is a case of “comedy is subjective” (or might be), if the animation were better, I would have laughed along with the jokes.

If you want better examples of anime adaptations based on gacha games’ 4koma, just watch FGO’s Manga de Wakaru instead, like I previously mentioned, and then the upcoming Azur Lane Bisoku Zenshin (If you’re one of those people who hate Azur Lane: The Animation which I hope you’re not).

This was me throughout the series...

(Although this and Lyria’s “See? You just said something nonsensical.” are the only good moments I liked which these make for good reaction images from a series I find otherwise bland.)

I just realized I haven’t put any anime I didn’t like or hated in D or E, so this might as well be the first and ONLY anime of 2020 being D tier! Congratulations! We’ve finally found a bad anime of the year that’s D or E-tier worthy for once! I’m impressed, most of the anime I watched this year aren’t really all god awful compared to last year, all the anime I watched, even the ones that let me down and downright disliked weren’t all god awful, so this year turned out quite a blessing in disguise with my anime experience for an otherwise terrible year for literally everything.

Honorable mentions

Attack on Titan: The Final Season: As of the publishing of this post, we’re literally four episodes into the season and I’d hardly call this as an AOTS in  2020, as the tier on my TierMaker image suggests, this gonna be more like the Best Anime of 2021, there’s no way after four episodes, this season should immediately be AOTY material, or who knows.

There’s one thing I forgot to mention in the previous post and that is the surprising studio change from Studio WIT to MAPPA, at first when I saw the poster of the season, I was very skeptical and confused as to why did they change studios from WIT to MAPPA, before I even noticed the trailer was actually there when this was announced, I was very skeptical, then I saw the trailer and I thought I was impressed, it seemed on par with what WIT did, but upon watching the actual first episode in fullscreen this time, I think it looks alright but it’s got some good parts so far like the rotoscope animation. Some of the character designs look a bit different too, but I don’t know if it’s just me. I just hope it’s not a repeat of One Punch Man season 2 where JC Staff did a horrible job and ended up being my #2 worst AOTY 2019 just for the animation quality alone. That’s not to say I’m shitting on MAPPA just yet, let’s wait until the very end so I can get a better judge of what’s the animation to come.

And then in episode 2, there were flashbacks from the previous seasons with the WIT animation. I think I’ve come at a point where I really started to get fed up with this trend. It’s not just lazy copy and pasting scenes from previous seasons, but it’s just really heartbreaking seeing those clips of the previous seasons done by better studios compared to the actual season we’re watching done by another studio.

The OP and ED are absolute bangers too. As for the OP, it’s still not Linked Horizon but it sounds good, and I love how it has now being parodied to death with footage from World War and even one of 2020. The ED is pretty good too and that one’s actually released in full first, sometimes I listen either the OP or the ED quite a lot Oh, and I found out the band that did the OP made... This. Uh... Okay... (Before you complaint, I don’t think it’s a bad song, but the backstory behind it just makes me feel uncomfortable. Oh and they did the ED theme for season 2 which I didn’t even know and forgot about the song)

The most shocking part is, from what I heard, this season is going to be 16 episodes long. I mean, it sounds a little better than 13 episodes like season 2, but is that even going to be enough considering the manga is nearly about to end? It should end pretty soon but the final season of the anime is ending in March and who knows if by that time the manga would have ended and who knows if MAPPA will be able to catch up by adapting this season with JUST 16 episodes, or they would probably end up making movies that cover the manga’s finale, I DON’T KNOW!

So far MAPPA’s animation has been okay for me, it can be a bit of hit or miss but they’re doing an alright job, but of course, WIT will always be the best, althugh sometimes even seasons 2 and 3 can get a little stale, but WIT will always be better. They pretty much worked hard into the series and lately they’ve been working in a lot of projects, so it must have been very difficult if they were able to work on AoT The Final Season and everything else all at once. Thank you WIT.

Fire Force season 2: After two seasons, Fire Foce is one of the best and worst works David Production has ever done. My thoughts into the story and stuff goes the same if I were to read the manga, I like the story, the worldbuilding, etc. But my biggest criticism in the anime’s part is the animation, sometimes even in the second season can still be a bit slow and poorly paced, but at least it’s not as dreadful as the first season, but even so, there’s still some great sakuga moments.

With that being said about the animation, I hope this doesn’t affect David Productions in the future, such as the upcoming second seasons of Cells at Work and potentially the JoJo Stone Ocean anime. (And whatever else David Production makes but honestly I don’t give a shit)

Hmmm, I feel like I’m missing something, oh yeah, what about the Dragon’s Dogma anime? Well, I wasn’t interested on wanting to watch it. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it would be shitty, even from hardcore Dragon’s Dogma players.

Arknights Holy Knight Light: This was quite the most surprising thing ever to come out of the 1st anniversary livestreams from the Japanese and English Arknights YouTube channels, the first time I started watching it, I couldn’t help but fanboy out of this with what was happening, this OVA is worth rewatching a billion times as a New Year movie!

Since I don’t have time or not planning to add this into my actual tier lists, might as well say that this is definitely S tier!

(This last honorable mentionis more like a last minute addition since I had planned to publish this post this Sunday, the 27th, which you’re probably reading now. This was written on the 26th.)

Anyways, let’s get into the most anticipated releases of Winter 2021!

Anticipated anime of Winter 2021

Note that I’m not talking about my anticipated anime of 2021 overall, as I’ll be discussing that in the next post which is my New Year 2020 review, so for now, let’s talk about the Winter 2021 releases!

Azur Lane Bisoku Zenshin - January 11th: Over the course of this 2020 after the finale episodes came out, I became extremely bummed out and spoiled on the fact that a lot of people (Especially the Western Azur Lane community) absolutely HATE Azur Lane: The Animation. I mean, sure, the animation kinda got bad at times but that doesn’t make it automatically trash, and neither should the story (Which I think the animation is more troublesome than the story).

I of course had always known Azur Lane The Animation might be hated, at least from the Western community, from the day it was first broadcast, I’ve seen nothing but praise from the Japanese community, and it was going that way for the entire series, that’s what I always relied on and it has beared with me until I started talking to the official Discord server about it and it was quite a shitstorm.

I could go on and on with ranting about why Azur Lane The Animation isn’t garbage for billions of times, over and over, from the many references from the game to fan service at its absolute best. especially that they actually featured official Azur Lane nudity in the Blu-Rays, and speaking of the Blu-Rays, they offered very cool costumes. You might say having exclusive costumes in the Blu-Rays would scream ALTA being a cash grab, shut up, it’s not, people of course religiously buy the Blu-Rays for whatever purpose. Shit animation my ass! Shit characterization my ass! Shit story my ass! Identity crisis my ass! Fuck everyone whoever talks shit about Azur Lane The Animation and even if I were to forget about it for a while, I’m bound to come across someone who’s gonna be like “Azur Lane has an anime too but it’s shit,” and I’m gonna yell at their asses off!

After making animated trailers, not only for Azur Lane but even Arknights too, this is the first major TV series release from Yostar’s new animation studio, Yostar Pictures, but they won’t operate alone, so they’re collaboration with another studio known as CANDY BOX. which seems to be a relatively new studio, but this isn’t the first time Yostar Pictures is collaborating with another studio, they also work with Madhouse for some trailers, including trailer for the third anniversary as well as the Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation collab trailer. YOSTAR PICTURES COLLABORATING WITH MADHOUSE, HOW COOL IS THAT?! THAT’S A DREAM TEAM FROM STUDIOS I LIKE!

Imagine if Azur Lane The Animation would get a second season (Dear god, please do. I loved this season more than anything, fuck what people say) that is animated in the same style as these trailers, the series could recover and it would be redeemed for the Western community (I may jinx this one out since I said the same thing with the very first animated commercial made by Sunrise, and then ALTAS was animated by Bibury Animation Studio, I’m not really disappointed, though).

What if an Arknights series from Yostar Pictures x Madhouse too? That would be amazing and they even teased about it. Actually, around this Christmas when the first anniversary livestreams were happening, they actually released an OVA which is sort of New Year-themed at the end BUT IT’S SO COOL, I’M GOING TO BE REWATCHING THIS A BILLION TIMES!

Anyways, I’m sorry for going off topic with Azur Lane The Animation instead of what I was supposed to be talking about, Bisoku Zenshin.

It’s been like 2 years since I started following the series, mainly on the Japanese Azur Lane Twitter account and I can’t remember what were the first chapters even like, the only things I remember is this one chapter where Takao actually having animal ears. 2 years later, the English Azur Lane Twitter account is finally catching up with English translations of the 4koma, but the problem is that it’s 2 years and so many chapters behind from JP, going from the first chapter, it may or may not help me remember what were the first chapters like and hopefully they’ll be adapted in the series, I probably should pay attention.

Although from what I’ve seen in the trailers and the character reveals which so far they revealed Formidable, Baltimore, Spee, etc, I’m not really sure if this series is going to actually adapt the 4koma from the very beginning, well, I don’t remember what were the first chapters like, so hopefully once I start seeing the series and try to find the first few chapters, this can be a faithful adaptation. Although, honestly, I wouldn’t mind if this were an original story using the same foundation, I just want to watch more Azur Lane anime with whatever stories they can come up with.

Cells at Work! season 2 and Cells at Work! BLACK - January 9th: What’s better than having a second season of Cells at Work and have an adaptation of the spin-off, Cells at Work BLACK? HAVE BOTH OF THEM AIRED BACK-TO-BACK IN ONE HOUR! That is such a perfect way to celebrate the series with a new season and spin-off! It kinda reminds me of the good old days when I used to watch Danganronpa 3 Hope and Despair Arcs almost simultaneously, just with two days apart, but with Cells at Work and BLACK, we’re getting ONE HOUR!

As previously mentioned in Fire Force season 2, I really hope David Production can keep their shit together with the animation in future shows, most specifically Cells at Work season 2. I’m not animation expert but I’m sure it’ll be pretty much the exact same team of animators who did the first season, so I really hope the series won’t have a very deteriorating tone and direction like Fire Force suffered so badly in the first season last year.

With Cells at Work BLACK, if you haven’t guessed from the title, this is a darker spin-off of the vanilla Cells at Work series. The vanilla series is already violent but it keeps a light spirited tone, BLACK, however, is downright edgy. We’re having quite the Ying and Yang of two series. I’m surprised that David Production isn’t doing BLACK like the vanilla series, although I think it’s for the better because they’ve been working on other stuff like JoJo and Fire Force, and with this different studio doing BLACK, I’m impressed with how the visuals look so far.

And female White Blood Cell is cute.

Quintessential Quintuplets season 2 - January 7th: I’m surprised how long it has been for season 2 to come out, at first I thought it would come out this Winter 2020 but nothing came out of it and I was already thinking it would have been delayed, then a few months later we finally got some info but the most surprising thing is that they actually changed studios to Bibury Animation Studio.

Given that this is Bibury Animation Studio, the same one that did Azur Lane The Animation, like I previously mentioned in Azur Lane Bisoku Zenshin, PLEASE GIVE BIBURY A CHANCE! THEY DID NOTHING WRONG!

When I looked at the visuals and looking at the character trailers, it actually looks quite promising, the first season wasn’t visually the best, so this has potential.

Project Scard: Scar on the Praeter - January 8th: Actually, this 2021, GoHands is going to release two TV series, this first one being an original anime series, and the second one which was supposed to be for April being Tokyo Babylon, an adaptation of CLAMP’s manga series of the same name. Tokyo Babylon was delayed until further notice because apparently costume designs were referenced without permission, that is such an outlandish reason. Besides, what kind of costume references? And permission from who or what? So vague. I could have gotten two GoHands shows in two seasons in a row!

Anyway, let’s first talk about Project Scard which that’s what it’s gonna come out first. I’m happy to see that GoHands is doing more original series, but there’s a problem: This one is apparently not related to Hand Shakers at all!

And no, this is not a case of misleading marketing with the trailers tricking me this could still be secretly a sequel of Hand Shakers like W’z did (Although I don’t think I payed attention to the W’z trailers at all until I started watching the series), I definitely see this series entirely standalone for once based on the characters and the setting, which I’m very disappointed that this isn’t a threequel to Hand Shakers. Everyone hated Hand Shakers and W’z was GoHands’ EXTREMELY worst selling anime, I really loved the series and I liked their stories, the world had so much potential!

Anyways, I may be sad this isn’t a new Hand Shakers entry, I should at least enjoy this series for what it is, not everyone’s going to like this one for sure since the animation is more akin to Hand Shakers, which would turn many people off.

With what I said about Bibury Animation Studio with Quintuplets S2, people should also give GoHands a chance! THEY DID NOTHING WRONG!!!

I’m honestly feeling more excited about Tokyo Bablyon than this, but we’ll get into more details in the New Year post.

Bungou Stray Dogs Wan! - January 12th: There may not be a new season of the main series as of late, but an adaptation of a chibi spin-off is quite surprising, since I really like Bungou Stray Dogs, I’m of course watching this!

(Now that I think about it, I don’t really think Bungou Stray Dogs a huge part of my life... 🤔)

Promised Neverland season 2 - January 7th: With the manga now ended a few months ago, should we expect future seasons so they would adapt the finale?

Beastars season 2 - January 5th: I always victimize Beastars when criticizing Sanzigen’s syndrome of having hand drawn background characters (Even D4DJ was so close on breaking the syndrome, it has CG background characters but there’s still some minor characters that are still hand drawn, the most baffling part is the main characters when they were kids), but that aside, it doesn’t really affect the story or anything, just ranting.

Yuru Camp season 2 - January 7th: I literally forgot the spin-off series, Heya Camp, existed, and since that one was a short series, I feel like it wasn’t enough, so it’s finally time for season 2 to come out!

I also forgot about the movie, so maybe once season 2 ends, there might be some info on it?

Re:Zero season 2 second cour - January 6th: It hasn’t been long but it still feels weird having to wait a while for the next part of the season, at least it’s not in production that would take forever like Magia Record.

Dr. Stone: Stone Wars - January 14th: A few months ago, I randomly watched a couple of episodes of Dr. Stone, but on the night of December 6th, I have decided to start binging the first season, then I finished it and... WHY DID I SLEEP ON IT IN 2019?! THIS IS GREAT! I was already impressed by the 3 episodes I randomly watched at some point, but after watching the series fully, I couldn’t be more impressed than ever, it’s making me feel like the time I binged Shield Hero and I was just as amazed (which lead to the disappointment of Isekai Quartet 2 wasting the Shield Hero characters hard).

That is it for my Fall 2020 review as well as my anticipated anime of 2021!

Final thoughts on 2020 in anime

I want to give my final thoughts on this overall year in anime: As previously mentioned, I was absolutely impressed that there was almost not a single anime I didn’t like that I would consider D or E, even for a year that has done me more harm than good, this year has delivered quite a lot of good anime, even if some of them disappointed me. BUT! Want to know what are my top anime of the year? You’ll have to find out in the New Year post to see what are my contenders!

Check out my Carrd.

[vreugd-madelon]

[338]

I ended up doing so little today. I send out an updated Questionnaire to my Beta Reader to see if any of their thoughts had changed regarding the book, and I’m still awaiting a response. They’re in the US, so timezones matter. I’ll be patient. They’ve been a dear too, love their comments. Maybe I’ll post some? Who knows.

I’ve also noticed that I’m not doing anything because I have a full day ahead where I can do things so I’ll procrastinate doing things and then at the end of the day I’m like: wait where has the day gone? I wanted to do so much!

I think for now I need a different plan of attack for my goals. I need to figure out what I need to do and make them quantifyable. Because that worked really well with my self edit, because I knew when I could cross things off the list. Because ‘send an email to editor’ is too vague.

As of tomorrow there are 4 days left of 2020, and here is what I want to accomplish: 28th: - Draft and email with all the questions you want to ask the editor. Thing regarding the process and payment details. - Draft the email to the cover designer you have an eye on. Asking them if they cam bring you vision to life. 29th: Re-read the email to see if there are anymore questions that arise. If not, send email at the end of the day. - Do the same to the designer email. 30th: Look over the sample edit to see if there are notes about a general trend in the manuscript. If there are note them down, and complete the edit of the sample. Place it back in Original Manuscript. 31st: Edit the manuscript and note down all the comments left by your Beta Reader for further references.

I hope that you’ll join me on this journey while the clock counts down, and follow me here on Tumblr, on Twitter @vreugd_madelon or on instagram @m.s.happi. For all my other days you can click here.

[ofstaffs]

rerek 2

rey rey immediately stepped away, a heartbroken expression taking over her already distraught features. derek clearly didn't trust them together. she didn't want him to be mad at her anymore. instead she backed up even more before stumbling towards where derek had gone, eventually finding him by the bar. "what did i do now?" she asked tiredly, still not able to look into his eyes.

Derek: It had nothing to do with trust or distrust and everything to do with the fact that even after proposing, even after promising his entire life to her, it still wasn't good enough - Rey had purposely kept their engagement from Steve and had acted like she was delivering both regretful and bad news when she'd told him. There were still feelings there, and it killed him that they were so obvious. He shook his head in response to Rey's question, arms crossed over his chest and not looking at her. "Are you in love with him?" he asked, voice distraught and confused, but not accusatory, more upset than blaming. "Because if you are, just get it out of the way now. Just tell me."

rey rey closed her eyes slowly then inhaled a slow, deep breath, letting it out as she managed to bring her exhausted eyes up to his own, though her hands were still clutching fearfully at the skirt of her dress. "no..." she whispered truthfully with an even tone. "are there still feelings there? yes. will i ever act on them? absolutely not. i didn't tell him because i didn't want to upset him on his wedding night, but that didn't go so well. anything else?" she raised one eyebrow then crossed her arms in return, trying to match his own firmness, though it was more adorable than anything.

rey joined the chat 26 hours ago

Derek: Ugh sorry we're figuring out how to get home

rey: haha its oka

rey: y

rey: ill be here

Derek: Derek wasn't sure he believed her, and he hated himself for it. It was just on the tip of his tongue to ask her - quite harshly, really - if Steve's /wife/ knew about their feelings for each other, but he swallowed the words down and sighed a hard breath out through his nose instead, ducking his head and taking more deep breaths to steady himself. He didn't want to fight. He was so tired of fighting. He couldn't comprehend what it must be like to love someone without complications. "Are you ready to go home?" he asked, voice matching the challenge that had been in Rey's. Apparently he hadn't quite gotten out of the clear; but at least he'd gotten away from talking about Steve.

rey rey just gave a single nod and tightened her sweater around herself before tilting her chin up then turning and walking away without waiting for him, trying her best to look defiant. but it wasn't really working. she stopped in place and looked around before ducking her head then quickly moving back to him, grasping onto his arm. "i-i don't know which way to go from here," she admitted sheepishly, voice lacking the stubbornness it'd contained before.

rey: ✍

rey: WHY DID THAT HAPPEN AGAIN JFC

Derek: Derek finished his beer and set his glass down then turned back to Rey-... Who seemed to have walked off without him. He rolled his eyes - if she was going to get defensive and irritated by his completely justifiable concern about her feelings for and relationship with another man, she was within her right to do that. But it didn't mean that he had to put up with it. He followed behind a ways, hesitantly approaching when she stopped. It surprised him when she took his arm, and he looked at her for a long quiet moment before continuing on, arm in arm with her down the road.

Derek: Lol no idea. It's funny

rey rey's stomach was still churning. it had been since the confrontation with ben and steve, and she knew it was all thanks to the exhilaration. she wrapped one arm around her front and continued to hold on tightly to his arm as they walked, though she was staring up at him sadly. they were well out of the meadow by the time she finally spoke up. "...i'm sorry i made you mad, derek... i promise i'll try to stop feeling this way about steve... i just want to make you happy," she murmured as if it were the most simple concept in the world then tucked her head against his arm and looked forward again.

Derek: Derek didn't mind silence. He was wondering what was going through Rey's mind the entire time, but he didn't much feel like talking, nevermind about everything that had happened, whether tonight or ever. "It's fine," he said passively, not really sounding like he meant it. "I just don't want to think about it anymore." He was going to put another ring on her finger and promise her his life, his whole world, and she couldn't even promise him her entire heart. Sighing, he turned them down another street in the direction of the apartments.

rey rey looked up swiftly again as she caught his tone, cheeks immediately paling. without even thinking about it, tears filled her eyes as her lip began to tremble, but she quickly faced away from him before he could see, even though she knew he'd probably find out anyway. still the nausea increased, especially due to his hollow, empty words. slowly, she stopped in place, letting her arm slip from his, as she turned her back to him completely, hand clasping over her mouth. she didn't know what would come out: a sob or sickness, so she just leaned over slightly and kept her hand over her mouth, hating the way they were acting.

Derek: Derek stopped when Rey did, brows furrowed as he watched her turn away and then curl into herself - he'd seen her fold in on herself when she was upset, but he felt that this had come on so quickly. He touched her arm as he stepped up next to her, surreptitiously pulling the pain as he looked at her face. Nausea swept through him, making him queasy for a minute. "What's wrong?"

Derek: I wish this fuxking thing notifications

rey rey glanced to the side just enough to see black running up his veins, and immediately pushed his hand off, shaking her head swiftly. "no..." she whined, not wanting him to do that for her. she deserved it. she'd made him unhappy and this was what she got for it. she stood up straight and moved in front of him, taking small gasps of breath. "i-i'm s-...." sick? sorry? "...s-scared of you leaving, don't leave, please..." she begged through her tears, holding her hand over her mouth again as she looked fearfully up into his eyes.

rey: on a computer it does

rey: it has sound notifications

rey: but i reply fast haha

Derek: "I'm scared of you leaving, too!" Derek pointed out with no small amount of irony and exasperation in his voice. "I'm scared of you cheating on me, I'm scared of you not being happy with me, I'm scared of you leaving me for him." His shoulders were rising and falling whxg as he spoke. "But that's what love is! That's what being with someone you care about is like! Constantly worrying that they're gonna find someone better than you, someone they deserve, because you want the best for them!" He ran both hands through his hair, looking just shy of pacing. "I'm not going anywhere! Jesus Christ, Rey. You think I'd give you my mother's ring and then leave because of shit with Steve? I'd never give him the satisfaction."

rey: yeet i hope this turns into fluff soon

Derek: It will

Derek: also

Derek: I am so so sleepy

Derek: *rapidly JFC were my she's even open when I typed that

Derek: EYES

Derek: FUCK ME

rey rey gasped sharply when he shouted, stumbling back immediately and clasping both hands over her mouth, as her jaw dropped. she just stared at him in disbelief as her tears continued to fall, stepping back again. what had happened to them? they'd been so happy in paris, and then suddenly... it seemed as if something had snapped. she'd never act on the extremely minor feelings she had for steve. derek had to know that. but obviously he didn't. "i'm sorry..." she sobbed helplessly and stumbled back yet again, not knowing what else she could do to make him not yell at her anymore. "p-please stop..."

rey: i hate timezones ugh

rey: ill be 3 hours ahead of you when you get back ;/

Derek: Ugh fuck that

rey: but ill stay up 4 u i promise

Derek: I'm so sorry I've been conking out so early. My mom fucking runs me ragged. I usually only walk like half a mile a day just in everyday life and we've done like 7, in shitty shoes, in the heat the past couple of days. I'm so wrecked.

rey: it's okay bb

rey: ill probs just re-read old rerek threads rip

Derek: He did stop, his chest rising and falling with the harshness of his breathing as he looked at her. He'd scared her, badly, and he hated himself for it. He just hadn't know how else to get out those feelings, to make her understand them. "I'm sorry," he mittered, turning to the curb and dropping down to sit, elbows on his knees and his head hung. He just wanted to be happy. He just wanted them to be happy.

rey as derek sat on the curb, rey felt a massive urge to make herself feel smaller than him, so she took a seat on the road where she had been standing and tucked her knees to her chest. she buried the lower half of her face in her kneecaps and stared down at the asphalt beneath her, crying silently to herself. she didn't want to be afraid... but when he yelled like that... nothing terrified her more. even snoke. even being alone on jakku for fifteen more years.

rey was timed out 12 hours ago

rey joined the chat 2 hours ago

Derek joined the chat 31 minutes ago

rey: rip they just arrested derek im so emo

Derek: womp

Derek: He looks so good in that scene tho

rey: he rly does

rey: the beard makes all the difference lbr

Derek: tru it makes him look so much older

rey: i love it

Derek: Derek hid his face in his hands; he didn't want to be angry about this anymore. He didn't want to feel frusrated with and upset at Rey, and he hated the way she seemed so scared of him, like she genuinely believed he would hurt her. He never would. He'd never raise a hand against her. He clenched his eyes shut as he took deep breaths to steady himself before he could get up and approach Rey, crouching down next to her and hesitantly, gently, touching her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, leaning in towards her. "I'm sorry I shouted. I'm just.... Frustrated. I want our relationship to be symmetrical and it doesn't feel that way, and that's hard for me to deal with. But I love you - more than anything, Rey - and nothing is going to change that. Ever."

rey rey couldn't help but duck away slightly when derek placed his hand on her shoulder, wincing softly, but took slow, deep breaths and wiped at her eyes then finally looked up into his, her worry evident. more tears fell as he spoke, and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion slightly. "you-you do...?" she whispered, tone genuinely surprised. she really was scared that he'd stopped loving her simply because of this stupid steve problem. something she couldn't help. she thought being honest about it would be better, that he'd help her get over him, but it had all backfired. "i-i love you s-so much... so much..."

Derek: "Of course I do," he said, a note of bemusement in his tone. As if something like this could just erase the entirety of their relationship, erase everything he loved so much about her. He found her left hand, holding it up between them. "I thought I made that clear when I made this particular promise." He cradled her face in his hand, looking into her eyes as he spoke. "I love you too. More than I think you realize." He wondered if she understand just how much proposing meant to him. "Can we go home now? I'm ready to just lay down with you."

rey rey's eyes drifted to her finger as more tears dripped down her cheeks, though she smiled shakily at the sight of the beautiful ring. then she met his eyes again and nodded. "y-yeah..." she whispered in agreement and wiped at her eyes again before taking his hands and standing slowly, still feeling somewhat off. "how about a massage?" she suggested with a small chuckle. the last one had just felt so darn good. "but this time i'll return the favor... i promise."

Derek: "Hey, there it is," Derek said warmly when she smiled, brushed over her cheek with the back of his thumb. "There you are." He kissed her forehead before helping her up, lacing their fingers together. "I'm more than happy to give you a massage," Derek said. "You deserve one. And I'd love one if you're up to it, but if you're not that's okay, too." He guided her by the hand around to his back, offering to give her a piggy back ride like he had after their first kiss.

rey "stop..." rey chuckled shyly when he commented on her smile, immediately turning her head away and biting her lip, though she was only smiling wider. he was too perfect. "of course i'm up for it," she replied and nodded, then giggled when he led her behind his back. she knew immediately what he was offering, so she laughed softly before carefully climbing onto his back, as if jumping would hurt him. "remember after the movie...? you gave me a ride home on your back," she chuckled, arms winding around his neck.

Derek: "As I recall," Derek said primly, "you loved it." He hooked his arms under her legs and bounced her a little so she'd move up his back into a more comfortable position. He started them back on the path home, not much of the walk remaining at that point. "You trust me?" he asked as they approached the staircase of the building that led up to their apartment.

rey "i did," rey admitted in a soft chuckle, hiding the lower half of her face in the back of his shoulder as she stared up at him. she let him readjust her on his back, complying willingly, and looked up again as they approached the staircase. her head quickly snapped towards him and she just paused before giggling nervously and holding onto him tighter. "always."

Derek: "Good. Take my hand." He held his right arm up, hand offered out to her. "And no matter what, don't let go, okay? And when I say so, just let go of everything else. Like you're jumping off. Got it?" Once her grip was sure, he gave her a, "Go!" and swung her around his body, landing her securely in his arms in a bridal carry.

rey rey quirked an eyebrow at him but slid her hand into his with a somewhat excited chuckle, keeping her grip tight. "okay..." she laughed nervously and raised her eyebrows before jumping off when he told her to, unsure of what to expect. but when she landed in his arms, she paused then began to laugh again, burying her face in her hands. "oh my goodness, that was so fun!"

Derek: Derek grinned, pleased that she'd enjoyed the little trick, and adjusted his arms slightly before heading up the stairs. "I thought you might like it," he said as they came to their landing and he fished out his keys.

rey "i always like when you carry me," rey giggled. it was true. she'd never get tired of it. when they approached the door, she turned her head to face it, but kept her arms wrapped around his neck, fingers combing through the hair at the nape of his neck.

Derek: "I noticed," Derek chuckled, carefully guided them through the door and making sure not to bump her into anything. He closed the door with his foot and carried her down the hall to their room, setting Rey down before climbing onto the bed next to her and laying on his side facing towards her.

rey rey turned her head forward again once they'd disappeared into the bedroom, smiling softly to herself. it smelled like his cologne. perfect. once he had laid her down, she kicked off her heels then curled up into a tight ball, the skirt of her dress curtaining over her legs. "you look so handsome..." she breathed out, reaching her fingers up to trace his cheekbone. "wow..."

Derek: "I look exactly the same way I did before I left for work," Derek chuckled, turning into her touch a little as he kept his eyes on hers. But he understood the sentiment - every time he went without seeing her for long, he always felt struck by how beautiful she was. "I've been looking forward to seeing you since I left."

rey rey shook her head, an adoring smile on her lips. "no... no, you always look this handsome," she whispered, dragging her thumb slowly over his lips and scooting closer as he spoke again. she smiled again and nodded her head, laying her hands in his own. "you're pretty much all of my impulse control, i think that's obvious by now... i can't get through one wedding without fighting with someone," she chuckled.

Derek: Derek hummed noncommittally as he puckered his lips just slightly, enough to press a semblance of a kiss to Rey's thumb. His arm wound around her waist, pulling her even closer until he could slip a leg between hers. "There... there was a lot going on. There's been a lot going on," he said, shrugging slightly. "You're stressed out. All that emotion's gotta come out somehow."

rey rey wrapped both of her legs around one of his and nodded in agreement, letting out a heavy sigh. "yeah..." she murmured, dragging a hand through her hair then resting it on top of her head as she closed her eyes. "yeah, i really am..." she'd never really stepped back and glanced at all her problems as a whole; always just focused on one at a time. but the list went on and on, now that she thought about it.

Derek: "We'll just... we'll find a better way for you to deal with it before it gets to that point," he said quietly, taking one of her hands and bringing it up to his mouth to gently kiss her knuckles. "At least there weren't any drink hoses involved this time," he chuckled, then laced their fingers together. "Have you, uh... have you thought about when? A date? For the wedding?"

rey rey smiled bashfully at his joke, holding his hand tightly, but easing up on her grip more and more as she relaxed. talking about the wedding made it even better. "i'm guessing tomorrow's out of the question," she teased, though she'd actually do it. she just wanted to be his wife as soon as possible. "when's the soonest we can do it? because i want to do it the day before that," she laughed softly.

Derek: Derek actually laughed out loud at that, smiling as he rolled onto his back, looking at the ceiling. "Tomorrow is out of the question," he said, "I don't think even Lydia would be able to get everything together in time." He pulled her hand over to play with her fingers. "Usually engagements are around six months long. It takes a lot of planning to put a wedding together..." He knew that wasn't what she wanted to hear, but he felt it needed to be said.

rey rey felt her jaw drop. literally. /six months/? but immediately she froze, remembering the ridicule she faced the last time for trying to rush something. "o-okay," she choked out, trying not to sound as disappointed as she actually felt. she didn't need a big wedding. she didn't care if it was just them two and someone to officiate. she didn't care. she just wanted to be married to him. but she bit the inside of her cheek and rolled over onto her back, though she let him keep her hand. her left hand, ironically enough.

Derek: "I know it's a long time," Derek said, rolling back onto his side when he felt her roll away, still holding onto her hand and playing idly with the ring on her finger. "And I know you don't want to wait. At this point.... at this point I don't really see the point, either. So we could expedite things, I'm sure. I just want everything... to be perfect. To be exactly what we want. I'm only planning on doing this once."

rey rey looked up at him when he rolled back onto his side next to her, releasing her teeth from the inside of her cheek and instead biting her bottom lip gently. a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips before she took a deep inhale then mumbled, "i know you do... but... i've lived my whole life without luxury. fifteen of those twenty years were spent with even less than a normal amount of wealth. i don't care about how many flowers there are or-or what colors the plates will be... all i care about is being your wife." but she shook her head, tugging at the hem of her shirt. "but-but if you want to wait... i can do that."

Derek: "I know you haven't," Derek said gently. It had been a topic of considerable discussion, and it was almost constantly on his mind when it came to caring for Rey, whether it was making her comfortable or buying her things or making sure she ate enough in a day. "So I... you can't blame me for wanting to celebrate us to the greatest extent that anyone in this town has ever seen." He leaned in and kissed her gently, pouring as much love and sincerity into the gesture as he could. "But I know it's important to you. we could shoot for three months?"

rey rey sniffed softly but kissed him back lovingly, placing her hand on his cheek. at the suggestion of three months, she just let out a shaky exhale but shrugged her shoulders and rolled over onto her stomach. "take my dress off...?" she whispered, face burying into the pillow. it was tight and pinchy, as much as she loved it. plus she still wanted that massage.

Derek: He could tell that it still wasn't good enough - unless he actually married her within the month, he doubted anything would be. But he knew that these things took time - they might be able to manage two months, if Derek wanted to pay an exorbitant amount for everything. The food, the decorations, the cake, the venue, the dresses, the suits, the photographer, the music... it would all take time. He quietly worked on the small clasp at the top of Rey's dress, then unzipped it all the way down to her lower back, carefully guiding her arms out of the sleeves before he pulled it down her body and off her legs gingerly.

rey rey couldn't help herself as she curled her toes into the sheets when he unzipped her dress. occasionally his fingers would ghost over her back or thighs and her heart rate would increase. which she knew he'd pick up on. once it was off, she stayed face down, but slowly tilted her head up to look at him, brown eyes full of love and passion. the pendant of her necklace had somehow slipped down the chain so that it now laid on her back in the exact same position as his tattoo. the moonlight reflected off the silver material of it, and it slid down her shoulder blade as she shifted on the sheets. "...how is it done...?"

Derek: Derek hummed quietly when Rey turned to look at him, fingers gently touching the pendant of her necklace where it sat on her back, a delicate mimicry of his own mark there. "How is what done?" he asked quietly, fingers ghosting over her back and the backs of her thighs.

rey rey stared down at the comforter, hands slowly sliding up to clasp lightly above her head, resting on the pillow. like usual. like they loved. as his fingers trailed over her skin, she began panting lightly, toes curling up again. she took another few moments before finally whispering, "how do you turn someone into a werewolf...?"

Derek: Derek's brows furrowed, a little crease appearing between them as he looked at her, hands faltering for a moment before they resumed their path, thumbs rubbing into Rey's shoulders and down her back in looping circles. "Usually it's done with a bite," he said slowly, "but people can be turned by a scratch that goes deep enough, too."

rey rey swallowed thickly and clenched her jaw, eyes slowly falling shut. his touch was irresistibly enchanting. "and you can only be turned by an alpha..." she whispered, quirking a brow then slowly returning it to its usual spot. her words were becoming breathier, more quiet, as his fingers traveled more places around her body. "...can you turn someone...?"

Derek: "Right," Derek said, fingers curling around her sides to knead over her hips, her stomach, inching up towards her ribcage. "Not anymore," he said. "I was able to, once. I turned Erica, Isaac, and Boyd. They were my betas."

rey rey hesitated before rolling over to lay on her back, gently tugging him down to meet her level. she brushed her fingers across his lips before pausing then whispering, "you want me to be safe... to be able to look out for myself..." she moved her hand down to his and dragged it up her body, taking a bit more time at her chest, before resting it on her cheek. "being like you would keep me safe."

Derek: "Of course I do," Derek said quietly, then froze, frowning a little when Rey implied that... that what? She wanted to be turned? "What? No, Rey, it's not... it's /really/ not that simple," he said, sitting up a bit, confused by what she was doing. "It's so easy to lose control when you first shift," he explained, "you could seriously hurt someone. Hurt yourself. There are people, Rey, who /hunt us/. Just because of what we are. I don't want that for you. Ever."

rey rey shook her head, purposefully averting her gaze from his. she knew there were hunters. they were in magnolia. and three of them were her best friends. not like derek knew that. "i-i could protect myself. you've done it so far, why can't i?" she asked shakily, bringing her hands down to rest over her chest. "you-you wouldn't have to worry about hurting me on the full moon. you wouldn't have to panic each time i don't answer my phone when you're at work. i-i could heal, i could fight better."

Derek: "Because I've been doing this all my life," he said desperately, wishing he could remove the thoughts from her head surgically, completely eradicate them so they'd never appear again. "You can protect yourself right now." He rubbed his eyes. "I'd have to worry about /you/ hurting someone on the full moon!" He couldn't argue with the healing or the fighting, but he didn't want to acknowledge that. "I don't know if you'd still be able to use the Force after the shift."

rey "you told me scott became in control when he was around allison. she helped him stay calm," rey whispered, placing a hand on his cheek. "derek, it could work for us... i know it could..." she shook her head and bit her lip, letting out a heavy sigh. "i don't care if i can't use it anymore. i don't care. i don't care if i have to go against alec when he's hun-" uh oh. immediately rey clasped her hands over her mouth, her eyes widening. "n-nothing..."

Derek: "That took him a while," he said, "and not everyone's anchor is the same thing." He shook his head lightly as she insisted that it could work. He didn't want this for her. He could do it for her in the first place, and he would refuse to tell her who could. His eyebrows lifted when Rey cut herself off, shaking his head again but this time for an entirely different reason. "I know Alec's a hunter," he said. "I met his sister before I met him, and she told me all about it. He told me that he doesn't hunt anything that doesn't deserve it. Including werewolves."

rey rey let out a deep breath of relief, able to snap back into her normal state of mind. at least she hadn't said dean or sam's name. she sat them both up then climbed into his lap, hair curtaining over her face as she panted heavier now. she didn't need derek's senses to tell that her heart was pounding. she could feel it against her chest. "i'm sorry..." she whispered at the ridiculousness of the whole idea. she wouldn't last a second as a werewolf. she knew that. "i-i'm not in my right mind..."

Derek: Derek sat up, hands on her waist as Rey settled into his lap, his head tipping to the side as he tried to look at her through her hair. He pushed it back behind her ears after a few moments, concern in his expression as he cradled her face. "Are you okay?" he asked, her heart pounding and her breathing coming rapid and shallow. "What's going on?"

rey too much. too much was going on. almost losing derek had just been what set it all off. but one thing... one thing had stuck with her. slowly, she tilted her head up to look into his eyes. "i spoke with lydia..." she whispered, eyebrows raising just slightly, though her fingers found his shirt to play with the material again. "she told me... she told me about your uncle... a-and i can't stop thinking about it..."

Derek: It felt like he'd swallowed a gallon of ice water when Rey said that she'd spoken to Lydia about Peter. Peter, of all people. He doubted Lydia took care to explain the nuances and difficulties of the situation. "What did she tell you?" he asked slowly, hands resting lightly on Rey's hips, as if afraid to touch her, afraid that she'd tell him not to touch her.

rey "she said... she said he controlled her... m-made her bring him back from the dead without her actually wanting to..." rey remembered, staring down at the sheets beneath them and furrowing her eyebrows, exterior softening as his hands rested on her hips. any time he touched her brought her comfort, but right now, she wanted to feel him as much as possible. "and that... she doesn't know where he is..."

Derek: "He did..." Derek said, uncertain as to whether or not Lydia had pointed out that Derek had been on the one to kill him in the first place. He was ready to justify it, to tell Rey that he'd been killing people and had no intention of stopping, but that didn't seem to be her concern. "And... no, we don't know where he is right now... Probably off licking his wounds after his last failed grab at power. But if he ever does find me, find us, I'm not going to let anything happen to you. He's not going to hurt you. I won't let him."

rey rey smiled sorrowfully, her eyes falling shut. "how do you always know what i'm thinking...?" she whispered. it felt selfish, being afraid of peter. because if he came, he'd only be out for derek. but after searching lydia's mind for memories of peter... she hadn't been able to get his vicious actions out of her mind. even now, looking into derek's memories, she saw him getting hit, getting hurt by his uncle, and it made her sick to her stomach to think of that ever happening again. she wouldn't let it. "i-i can fight him, he can't do anything against a lightsaber..."

Derek: "It's not going to come to that," Derek promised, wrapping his arms around her torso and pulling her against his chest, tucking her head under his chin. "It's not. I promise." He cradled the back of her head in one large hand, thumb stroking over her hair. "I'd never let you fight him, okay? He's too... manipulative, too willing to get into people's heads, under their skin. He'd find out all your weaknesses and use them against you, and I'd die before I let that happen."

rey rey let herself be coddled and soothed, resting both her arms against his chest. the air was cold, and she was fully unclothed, but derek's natural body heat kept her feeling warm and safe. as it always did. as he spoke about her weaknesses, she clenched her fists slightly in fear. she knew her main weakness: derek himself. if he was ever to be hurt, she couldn't fight and take that risk. and she was pretty sure it was the same way for him, too. "i-i don't want to talk about it anymore..." she whispered for the second time that night.

Derek: "Okay," Derek agreed easily, ducking his head to hide his face in her neck. He could tell she was scared - he didn't need her senses to know that - and he felt... nervous that he'd never considered the possibility that Peter could find them. Could ruin everything they'd built. "We don't have to." He rubbed his hand up and down her back, from the nape of her neck to the dip of her spine, reveling in the simple pleasure that he could touch her, that she was there... and she wasn't going anywhere.

rey rey nodded, feeling reassured by his gentle, steady tone. either he was good at hiding his emotions (which she knew to be true) or he really wasn't worried about his uncle. not daring to look into his mind again in fear of more memories of peter, rey simply glanced up and into his eyes, not knowing what else to say. so she did the only thing she really wanted to do. her hands slid up to tangle in his hair as she leaned up and kissed him, softly at first.

Derek: He kept her wrapped up in his arms as he kissed her, holding her as closely as possibly as her hands wound through his hair. He kissed her gently, reassuringly - trying to convey as much as possible that she didn't have anything to worry about, that he was going to protect her. He cradled her face in his hands, thumbs gently brushing over her cheeks as their kiss gradually deepened.

rey while he deepened the kiss, rey slowly leaned back more and more until she was laying flat on the bed, him hovering above her. she ran her hands down his back until her fingers found the hem of his shirt, which she tugged up and up until eventually it was off, then tossed it aside. her leg slowly moved to brush up his then back down as she nipped at his bottom lip then kissed him again.

Derek: Derek was reluctant to pull away from her for even a moment, but he sat up enough for her to pull off his shirt before stretching out over her again, resting his weight on one hand. The other he let smooth over her skin, over her stomach and up to her chest, his thumb ghosting circles over her nipple only just long enough to make it hard before his fingers were trailing downwards again.

rey when his fingers found her chest, rey tilted her chin up and gasped hoarsely, letting his lips land on her neck. she took a quick, deep breath then set her legs on either side of his body, though she brought them up so her feet were flat on the bed, toes curling into the sheets. but she brought her hands down to unbutton then slowly push down his pants and boxers at the same time. once they were off, she moved her hands up to clasp above her head, and found his lips again.

Derek: "We are going to have to get up eventually," Derek chided with a laugh, pushing back Rey's hair from her face as she rested on his chest, his fingers brushing up and down her spine. He didn't really want to move, either, but a shower and food were in order. "C'mon," he prompted, squeezing one of her hips gently and rocking his body back and forth in an attempt to get her moving. "Let's go."

rey "nooo..." rey groaned under her breath as derek said they'd have to get up. she turned so her cheek was resting against his chest, rather than burying her entire face in it, and winced silently when he squeezed her hip, one of her most ticklish areas. but she was shocked awake and opened her eyes, a small smile forming on her lips. she was so relaxed after they'd finished making love, and he'd just cuddled her for what felt like hours, though she knew it was only about twenty minutes or so. "fine," she sighed in defeat and moved off his chest, but held her arms up to him once he was standing, and giggled tiredly.

Derek: "Yesssss," Derek groaned right back at her, laughing a little when she didn't do much responding other than to move her face. "C'mon. If we don't get up now, we never will, you know that." He stretched, arms extending over his head and legs flexing and toes curling before he half-rolled, half-climbed off the bed. "Oh my god," he laughed when he saw her summoning him down to pick her up. Despite the complaint he still complied, bending over to let her arms around his neck as he lifted her up to hold her against his front. "You're so spoiled," he muttered as he carried her off to the bathroom, leaning over to start the shower without putting her down, instead pressing her up against the wall and letting his lips find her collarbone, already marked but still enticing.

rey "derek..." rey groaned but giggled when he picked her up, wrapping her arms around his neck. she loved being carried like this, no matter what. it allowed them to still be so close after intimate moments such as the one they just shared. "i know, but you're not gonna stop..." she mumbled against his skin as she closed her eyes again, chuckling softly. they were both sweaty and warm, so the shower would definitely feel good. but when he pressed her back against the wall, she lifted her head up with a quiet gasp, then let her eyes fall shut when his lips found her collarbone. the marks there weren't deep, but she'd need to cover them up with makeup tomorrow, she was sure of it. she winced softly, feeling the pit of her stomach tighten with ecstasy again, and took deep breaths, head falling back gently against the wall. "not again..." she whispered. she didn't know if she had it in her, really.

Derek: Derek hummed noncommittally into her skin when she teased him; he'd never stop spoiling her as long as he lived, he knew that with certainty, and apparently so did she. He couldn't blame her for taking advantage of it, especially when he loved it so much. "Wasn't gonna," he replied just as quietly into the skin of her throat, nose brushing along the softness of it, lips dragging a long line as his stubble scraped over it gently. His hands gripped her thighs, thumbs rubbing into the crease where they met her torso before sliding back to hold her up by her ass. "As much as I wish I could." He found her mouth again and kissed her until they were both out of breath, their skin warm and he could feel a heat low in his belly, that endless desire he always harbored for her. But he let her down, feet lightly stepping to the floor before he held his hand out to help her into the shower.

rey as his thumbs massaged into her skin, rey winced again and bit down on her lip, flexing her feet slightly as they rested against his back. again she breathed steadily until his hands moved to her behind, one of her favorite places where he touched her. she nodded in agreement then kissed him back, holding onto his hair gently, and felt that itching sensation creep up her body once she was on her feet. her legs pressed together tightly and she leaned over just a bit to recover, knowing how easy it was for her to become aroused. but then she took his hand and shuffled into the shower, letting the water cool her down both internally and externally. she stood so her back was pressed to his chest then slowly reached an arm up to loop around his neck, eyes closing and lips parting. "that's better..."

Derek: He could have touched her like this forever, no boundaries or secrets between them; he knew she got overwhelmed quickly, whether it was his hands or his mouth or any other part of him, and there were definitely times he played that to his advantage. But he let her recover once she had her feet on the ground, mouth trying (and failing) to quash a please little smirk behind her back. He sidled in behind her, hands smoothing down her sides and the fronts of her thighs, not intended to be sexual but celebratory, reveling in her and the fact that she was his. "I love you," he said quietly, head bowed to press his lips to her shoulder, light, worshiping. "I love you so much..."

rey a smile formed on her lips as she felt his hands travel down her hips to her thighs, and whispered, "i love you with all my heart..." it wasn't hard to, with how amazingly perfect he was. she still didn't feel like she deserved him, and probably never would. "it hurts less this time," she murmured, opening her eyes to look up at him. the first time had been pretty painful, even with how slow and gentle derek was, since it was her first time ever experiencing anything like that. since then, it'd hurt less and less after each run, and now it was just a slight disturbance. she gathered the washcloth and lathered it up with soap before turning her body to face his then handing it over so he could wash her, as they always did after making love.

Derek: "Good!" Derek replied earnestly, pressing his lips to her cheek and nuzzling at it with his nose after. He wrapped his arms around her middle and squeezed her gently. He'd nearly stopped then and there the first time, when he sensed her discomfort and uncertainty despite taking as much time as she needed. "Think it won't hurt at all soon?" he asked quietly. It was difficult to not feel bad whenever they had sex, feel like, despite what she said, she was uncomfortable or unhappy or they were only doing it because /he/ wanted to. He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind as he accepted the washcloth from her, tangling the fingers of one hand with hers as he held her arm out for him to start washing, working his way to her torso and over her chest before going on to the other arm.

rey "yeah, i do," rey smiled hopefully and gave him a nod, leaning up to peck his lips gently. she didn't need to use the force to feel the guilt stirring inside him. and she didn't like it one bit. she /wanted/ to do it, she really did, even through the pain. it was all worth it in the end, and she assumed derek didn't see that side of it. only the painful side. she stepped back just slightly so he could extend her arm to clean it, fingers dancing in his own, then watched his hand as the washcloth dragged from her shoulder to her abdomen and chest, where she had a few marks. she loved them. she watched again as he moved onto her other arm, but watched his face now instead. he was sculpted by gods, she was convinced. everything about him was so perfect. literally every little thing. "i love you..." she piped up quietly, standing on her toes for half a second before giving him a shy smile.

Derek: Derek's mouth twisted on a shy sort of smile when she said those words seemingly out of nowhere, and he ducked his head briefly, looking down at their feet before glancing back up at her. "I love you, too," he said, bringing one slightly soapy hand up to cradle her cheek, looking into her eyes as he said the words. "I can't believe you're going to marry me," he said, huffing out a chuckle as he smiled, all teeth and palpable awe. "I can't believe you're going to be Mrs. Hale." He rolled the words around on his tongue. "Rey Hale. Rey Skywalker-Hale?" He laughed a little, using the back of his hand to brush the washcloth over her stomach and hip.

rey rey laughed happily, nodding her head. she was still in shock, too, even though it had been well over a week. "just hale. i'm your family now, i don't want to be remembered just for my father and uncle and everyone else. i want to be my own person," she whispered, then smiled again. "your wife." she leaned up to peck his lips a few times then let him drag the washcloth over her stomach and waist, though she smiled a little each time his fingers brushed against her soft skin. she'd never get tired of his touch. never ever.

Derek: An easy smile tugged at Derek's lips as he leaned in close to her, pressing their lips together easily, briefly, a few times one right after the other. "It's your name just as much as it's theirs," Derek said, both hands touching her waist as he leaned in close enough to feel her breath on his face, her whisper so close that it felt loud in his ears. If they could stay this close forever, he'd die a happy man. "You are your own person, no matter what your name is." He could feel her smile against his lips as they kissed again, and he sighed contentedly when they parted, pulling her in close and resting his chin atop her head as he rubbed the washcloth over her back, and lower, to her thighs.

rey rey smiled softly and shrugged. "it's really only been my name for a few months... i've been fine being just rey before i knew. just rey..." she whispered when he leaned close to her, biting gently at her bottom lip. suddenly words weren't forming in her mind as easily, with how entrancing his gaze was. she nodded slowly, though, and kissed him back, though this one was soft and delicate. when he pulled her close, she rested her forearms against his chest and closed her eyes, though she frowned when he skipped a very important area. she took his free hand and placed it on her butt with a small giggle. "much better."

Derek: Derek's brows shot up when Rey placed his hand back on her ass, a little taken aback by the brazenness of it - a far cry from the woman who had been so uncomfortable with just being aroused a few months before. "Much better," he agreed, chuckling, and then gently passed the washcloth over her skin, humming into her neck as he pressed his face there, reveling in how comfortable it was being this close, enjoying the way they could touch each other so easily.

rey rey smiled slowly and wrinkled her nose just a bit before moving her hand up to the nape of his neck when he ducked his face into her skin, letting her eyes fall shut. slowly, her fingers ran through his hair, gently scratching his scalp in a soothing way as they went along. she remembered him saying long ago how much he loved when she did that. she turned her head just enough to press a gentle kiss to the side of his own, then rested her cheek against his hair and let out a soft sigh.

[archivesdiveronarpg]

Congratulations, ARK! You’ve been accepted for the role of FORTINBRAS. Faron is a character very near and dear to my heart; I’d strongly considered taking him up myself as I wrote him, but Ark, your application made me so incredibly glad I didn’t. You understand him in ways even I hadn’t thought about, and which is more, your portrayal of him feels so real and raw. I was in awe while reading through it, and I even went back to several parts of your app to read through them again because the writing and interpretation of him was just that good. From your beautiful para sample to the intricate details like his signature cigarette behind his ear, you painted a razor-sharp picture of Verona’s newest boss, and I loved every moment of it. I can’t imagine a better player to hand him off to than you! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within twenty-four hours.

                                                                          WELCOME TO THE MOB.

Out of Character Alias | Ark

Age | 18+

Preferred Pronouns | They/them

Activity Level | 4-7/10. Work is much the same, I have lots of time to RP- generally- and I’m thinking of dropping one or two other rps to focus on DiVerona more.

Timezone | GMT+8

In Character Character | Fortinbras // Faron Vasiliev // Фараон Васильев

What drew you to this character? | I honestly just read his bio and I fell in love?? I really can’t define any definite part of it that was the selling point. I just finished the bio and realized ‘this one’. And his connections give me life. The dynamics??? They’re all so varied and different and I love.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

my TEETH and AMBITIONS are bared //         so i suppose nothing is ever really going to be enough for faron- in the sense he’ll never be done. he’ll achieve another thing and go on to accomplish the next, there’s no stopping. he intends to learn more, obtain more, there is so much in verona to taste, to learn, to twist for his own- and he’s never inhibited by anything, he never falters- betrayal is never unexpected, setbacks and unpredicted variables are always taken in stride. and his plans are flexible too; so i’d like to see where he ends up going with that, he’s as much reactive as he is active, perceptive enough to know when to stand and when to drop and reevaluate from safety. he could go in any direction, i could see him working with either the capulets or montagues, with both, with neither (he’s intrigued by the witches too so)- i can see him going anywhere. he’s both ambitious and patient, with the intelligence and intuition to know when it’s good to favour one trait or the other.         the possibility is what astounds me, and i hope to be able to explore that further. (right now, i imagine he’s slipping between two distinct possibilities; he could side with either montague or capulet and have them owe him a nice favour by the end of it, or he could attempt to topple both and be the kingmaker for his dear judas.)

there are two methods to be a CONQUEROR //         faron built his empire from debt and dirty money. unlike most others he did not branch out from petty crime or drug dealing- it was a steady descent from legitimate business right down until he found himself with blood on his hands and blood staining his shoes. it was such a gradual shift that when his course became set, it was not unexpected at all. and so he has never played quite as the mobs do, never been one of them in the manner most are. likewise, much of his business is different- as well as his willingness in taking in the aberrant. while others may deride particular methods- what honour among thieves- in the end it’s about power. and perhaps tying into the present moment, for there’s no harm in keeping an eye out for those who may wish to defect ahead of time. nor in encouraging it.         (i.e. he used to like him some library julius caesar)

i am made ALL things to ALL men //         so along the lines of him never forgetting his roots- i imagine he’s very hands-on when it comes to his job. especially because his entire crew is unconventional. i picture things to be a lot more horizontal amongst the spades than in most russian mobs. he sticks to the formula of hierarchy, but things in general are looser, more open (or, alternatively, more tight-knit, depending on which aspect it is). which means faron gets to do lots of stuff! whether it involves torturing people, or persuading others to his cause- well, he’s flexible. i just love the range of interaction with his character- he can be anyone, be anything as long as it’s to suit his goals, nothing is really beneath or above him. so honestly just give me all the interactions with everyone/anyone at all. he’ll carve them up, talk them down, be charming or serious or both- and while he wears tailored suits and pressed shirts, he’s been assured time and again the aesthetic of blood and cigarettes does suit him rather well.

i was made WEAK to be strong //         faron has never had any particularly deter him. he cares in a detached manner- those people who give him their fealty, he returns that loyalty. he will absolutely wreck a city to find and take back one of his own (for both the contexts that implies). but it’s never so deeply personal to him. he’s never been broken by anything- he doesn’t think he will be (though nobody is omniscient). but on the more emotional side of things, i suppose i’d like to see him wrecked by something- although how is honestly beyond me. the only person that close to him? calina. but he wouldn’t be too worried if anything ever happened to her- he knows her as well as she knows him, they are equal in every sense of the word- and he knows that in the end she’ll be fine. but one can be contemplative and wonder if something like that will ever happen.

also just a note but my extras section has a lot of extra stuff on ‘future plans’ too (see the headcanons tag, but its a lil scattered and stuff). my app is all over the place whoops.

In Depth

What is your favorite place in Verona? |

“The Castelvecchio bridge. It’s quite lovely. A recreation of course, but I do like to stand and watch the river. Very pleasing on the eyes. Completely different aesthetic to my hometown- no ice, no frost, less of the cold; the water is a completely different colour. Must say it’s very soothing.”

Prattle, genuine prattle, but blather nonetheless. But- there is something about the Castelvecchio bridge, something that might be poetic if Faron was a man for poetry. Alas that he is not.

And yet to have heard of it, to see with his own eyes and he is undeniably intrigued. The boundary, the link connecting two chains. Flimsy, fallible, ever more so with the recent events in Verona.

In time, there will be no need for such a divide at all. What does your typical day look like?

Ah, but I’m afraid I’m not your typical businessman.

“That is a capacious question to ask. Have to admit, days for me tend to atypical. Mine’s more of a twenty-four seven on the call job, flexible at times. Typically I’ll have a cup of tea in the mornings- really difficult to find tea in Verona by the way, you all seem to drink coffee here- and aside from fitting in some breaks every now and again, you could say I’m always on the job.” What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

Gods and fools. Snakes and mongeese, squabbling in the plains. But he was a lion, come to claim this foreign land for his own.

(veni, vidi, vici)

(the conquerors would become the conquered)

“I’ve only just arrived here myself, my knowledge is a little scant. I do have to say Verona is a beautiful city, it’s a shame to see it marred by such skirmishes. With the recent events, I hold to hopes for extended peace.”

The flash of a smile.

“But I suppose we’ll all just have to see.” In-Character Para Sample:

HERE is my first para sample (trigger warnings at the top and in the tags) (300 words) HERE is my second para sample (no triggers) (1.9k)

Many of my headcanons (on the mockblog below) are long enough to be para-samples, so if they could be read as both that’d be great.

Extras:

here’s a MOCKBLOG (as usual everything on the mockblog is mine- you can skip the links and just browse if you like, everything on there can be counted on the app as it’s original)        general MOODBOARD and AESTHETIC        MOODBOARD faron / alva (headcanon 2)        here’s the HEADCANON tag (with 2, 3, 4, 5 headcanons) (8 incl the ones with the moodboards)        PLAYLIST        MOODBOARD faron / calina (headcanon included)        MOODBOARD faron / boris (more headcanons ayy)        felt like i didnt have enough graphics in general so one more HERE

6500 words and a ton of graphics later i am. finished. ahhhhhhh. thank you for reading/looking! i rly overindulged myself. lmao. either way this was fun!! gotta keep the hope down.

[hideandseaking]

Last time on Nikky’s WoD game show campaign??? All of which can be read here

In which I have the most self-antagonizing group on the planet

Started with Michael telling the tale about how he didn’t get a Nintendo Switch at Best Buy and everyone wondering why he didn’t preorder one hmmmm

We also roasted Brandon for buying an xbone instead of saving for the switch smh.....

No Jutopa this time bc it was too late for his timezone ://// RIP :///////////

“Okay, everyone needs to roll a resolve check because that poison ivy is ITCHY” [cue group whining]

Lady MacBeth fucking failed her roll and itched herself so hard that she knocked herself unconscious while surrounded by 4 assassins.........

In an act of heroism, SUCC decides to crawl back over to LM to save her sorry ass

Meanwhile Pap is wandering around blind in the woods and Hana Doku is trying to find him

“Where is Duke?” “[me shrugging]” “WHERE IS DUKE??????”

SUCC goes to battle the assassins and receives aggravated damage where he is going to die in 8 minutes if he doesn’t stabilize himself

“Should I use Buff Baby?” [group laughing] “Um... well, I can’t make that decision for you” “Okay but.... hmm.... is it worth it?” [group still laughing over the spell name] “Hmm.... but.... idk....” “Let me put it to you this way: You are going to bleed out and die in 8 minutes with that aggravated damage” “.......” “SUCC MEGA EVOLVE DO IT” “...... I guess I’m going to use Buff Baby” “SUCC’S GOING TO MEGA EVOLVE!!”

Suddenly a group of human-sized rats appear with crossbows and annihilate the assassins

They all are hicks and are just looking for dinner and put their eyes on SUCC

They pick him up and all start whacking him with their tails as he tries to punch them to get free

A swift slap to the ass actually kills SUCC

“Nikky.... Nicole.... Nikkole..... PLEASE let me go down better than this.” “..........” “...........” “...........................So SUCC dies with a slap to the ass-” [brandon hangs up]

After getting brandon back into the call, SUCC gets transported back to the stage all healed from Round 3 and starts to eat the buffet table

Meanwhile, Hana Doku finds Pap

But she can’t talk and Pap can’t see so so

She knocks on his leg and Pap asks who’s there

Then she tries to climb up his robes and he thinks it’s some foreign animal and tries to reflexively fling her off but SHE HOLDS ON

“Uhg! How do I tell Pap that it’s me!” “...Man if only there was a way you can communicate” [dan sits there thinking for 2 minutes] “....Can I use my Croak spell?” “YOU CAN JUST CROAK CAUSE YOU’RE A FROG!”

Pap recognizes that it’s Hana Doku and she starts to lead him back to the scene of the crime

When they get there they see the rats digging where SUCC disappeared from and LM wakes up

“Okay, I’m going to try to run away” “Okay do a dexterity roll” “....Um I got a 1″ “Okay you get up but not quickly enough to run” “FUCK”

The rats spot this and everyone has to roll initiative

Hana Doku leads Pap into the battle but tries to get him into the cabin, not in the fight

They hear LM scream cause she got hit with damage (again)

“What was that!?” “Um... Nothing... She’s dying.... You can’t help her” “You need to roll for that!!”

Pap starts asking questions to Hana Doku and the rats turn around and spot the frog duo

Hana Doku fucking dips and escapes into the cabin

Pap, in a sheer act of brilliance, uses Prestidigitation to create a tiger’s roar and scares 4 out of 5 of the rats which causes them to run away

Hana Doku snipes the 5th one in the forehead and almost kills her before she runs away too

After the battle ends, Pap walks over to help stabilize LM and Hana Doku begins to explore the cabin

Hana Doku makes her way to the second floor and really only sees a table with lots of maps and schematics, and a staircase to the third floor

She checks out the papers and realizes that they were plans to kidnap the king, but she can’t tell what the other blueprints are for

Suddenly she hears feet running down the stairs and she hides under the table while she sees 5 pairs of feet run out of the cabin

Then she smells smoke

She immediately runs upstairs and sees the whole room is on fire, and the kidnapped king is in the corner of the room. His earthy form is drying out and cracking and he cannot move

“I use Moisturize Me no Jutsu to wet his face” “You do that, and he asks weakly for help”

She tries to get him to move but he says he’s stuck and she notices that he is surrounded by these items that were on the blueprints

“OH MY GOD ARE THOSE BOMBS” “Um-” “I’M GOING TO QUICKLY GATHER THEM AND GET THEM OUT OF HERE”

She starts to quickly throw them out the window, one at a time because she’s only 6inches tall.....

“And after you get rid of them, the earth elemental King suddenly rises into his full form of 12 feet tall. He leans down and says, ���Thank you,’ and scoops you up in his arms while he immediately dives out of the window”

They land safely right as Pap smells the smoke and the King is safe

As he offers them a reward, they’re transported back to the gameshow

They’re all healed by the co-host, Joyce, and Sebastian immediately congratulates them for succeeding on their third round

“Okay, so he offers you guys to either receive a magical item, or you can revive SUCC for future rounds. So.... go ahead and discuss that.”

They spend 5 minutes arguing over whether to revive SUCC or get an item; all while SUCC is on the spotlight on the stage saying, “TAKE THE TREASURE. LET ME DIE.”

Much to Hana Doku’s regret, they revive SUCC

“So for Round 4, you’ll be going to a town where you need to solve one of their problems! No limitation this time, because the town itself doesn’t allow magic. Also, we have another magic item for you! It’s a cape!” [silence] “....Who wants the cape?” [more silence]

LM takes the cape and as they clip it on, they say that it’s a cape that gives amnesia to the user and suddenly LM can’t remember anything

They get transported to the new place, and land about half a mile away from the town they’re supposed to be at

LM tries to walk away because she doesn’t know who anyone is there, and Hana Doku stops her

And immediately begins a whole string of lies about LM’s past

Basically, throughout the next in-game 2 hours, Hana tells LM that she’s a princess named Juliet, who was turned into a dragon by her lover, Romeo’s, mother who hated her and now she’s in a gameshow to turn back to normal and that Pap is evil and might be one of the mother’s henchmen

This all happens right after everyone agreed to start to work together

Cue Pap being endlessly frustrated, LM being excessively excited about everything, and SUCC being extremely apathetic

“So who is the leader here?” “Oh. Um. IT’S SUCC.” “Oh. SUCC, youre the leader?” “I’m just as surprised as you are.....”

Pap gets upset and threatens Hana Doku to stop part 1

“You know, Dan, Pap has never EVER in his life considered killing a creature before.” [dan laughing] “And you know, Dan, this might be what breaks him.” “YES.”

They go into the town which is filled with 2ft tall Hawks so the buildings are more akin for Hana Doku and SUCC than anyone else

They start asking the hawks if they need help and a hawk farmer asks them for help plowing his farm fields. They agree to it while Hana Doku keeps telling LM lies especially about Pap

“So SUCC has a tongue that can make him transform into things!” What really!? Is that so, SUCC?” [SUCC turns towards them and pushes his tongue out like he’s pushing out play-doh]

“Dan, why are you doing this to me?” “Mike, the ratings!” “You’re antagonizing me! What did I do to you!?” “You locked me out into the snow during a blizzard!!!”

After plowing the fields, the farmer offers them food and Hana Doku and SUCC make their way into his house while LM was laying in the sun and Pap flipped through his personal journal to remind himself of his moral values

“Dan, you know that Lady MacBeth is going to remember all of this when that cape comes off.” “Yea, but Ally won’t hurt me. Right, Ally?” “Dude, I’m going to kill you.” [cue Dan whining]

The farmer cooks up some bugs for Hana Doku and SUCC, and Hana Doku brings them out for Pap

“Hey, buddy.” “Pap just stares at him.” “Um.... So I brought you some bugs for doing a good job today.” “He takes the bugs and starts eating them while staring at Hana Doku.” “The two of you just stand there looking at each other awkwardly for like.... 15 seconds.” “OKAY well I’m going back inside. Bye.”

Hana Doku walks back inside to the farmer feeding SUCC bags of trash

They get back to the town with the farmer, who goes to tell his friends about how they want to help people

Some of the hawks are looking at Pap suspiciously as Hana keeps telling LM lies right next to him

Some ask Pap if he does magic but he asks them where they even got that idea from to deter them

The farmer comes back with a friend of his named Gran and Gran asks if SUCC will eat more trash

“So, will you do it?” “No.” [everyone groaning] “Oh. Okay then.” [gran walks back to the bar with the farmer]

Hana Doku follows them into the bar and sits down to talk to them about the magic ban in the town. The whole bar looks at her and Gran and the farmer deny knowing anything about it

They explain there is a new “mayor” in the town called Raaw, who plans to turn city hall into a dojo but before Hana can ask many questions, all the hawks outside start cawing “MAGIC” and the rest in the bar leave except for the bartender

“Nikky, how many feathers are left in here?” “umm.... [rolls a d20]... 2 feathers.” “SWEET I GOT HAWK FEATHERS NOW.”

When Hana Doku goes outside, she sees LM flying off into the distance

Pap walks over and grabs her out of the bar and goes off on her about telling her lies and mentioning that she knew how to cast magic because someone asked if she could and she did so the whole town turned on her and started to peck her

Hana Doku tries to defend herself but Pap isn’t having it and shoves her into a wooden barrel and puts it into his satchel

“How does the inside of the barrel feel?” “Um... it’s moist.” “I roll around in it. (:”

Pap takes the lead and him and SUCC meet Julia, a hawk who takes them to her place so she can talk to them in private

She tells them that Raaw put the magic ban on the town and that any magic users found out will be killed or exiled from the town; and her brother was one of the victims

Pap says that he’ll try his best to help and asks her if she saw the direction that LM left to and Julia tells them what she knows

While they’re talking, Hana Doku manages to break one of the boards of the barrel and starts trying to use an arrow to stab Pap’s hands that are holding the barrel in the satchel

Pap, SUCC, and Hana Doku in the bag then start to make their way through the woods to find Lady MacBeth

And that’s where we ended for the day!! Join us next time for another round of excitement and probably death??? Who knows :’)

[justanotherboyinblue]

adorable asks! 🌸

1. Have you met your soul mate?  don’t know! i’m still pretty young, i don’t think that’s something i can say definitively until i’ve been with someone for a number of years, yk?

2. Favorite color when you were younger, and now?  mauve, which i still love but right now i have three favorite colors because i can’t decide on anything what do you expect. sunset orange, black, and a specific shade of seafoam blue

3. Do you wear eye-shadow? What color?  i do not! i think i’ve only worn makeup maybe three times, once was a small dot of concealer or some shit, then i tried to put on mascara to see if i liked it(i didn’t, it was clumpy as hell), and my mother did a full face of makeup which looked Weird and i didn’t like it

4. Are you in love right now?  i’ve recently been told that being in love and loving someone are two different things, so based on their definition of the two, that would be a no. i do love someone, but i’m not in love with them

5. In your opinion, is love at first sight real?  in a way, i believe so, yes. i don’t think you can truly love someone until you’ve spent at least a day with them and have gotten to know them, but i’ve clicked with people immediately after meeting them and i couldn’t describe it as anything other than love. their mannerisms, how they talk, their humor, those are things that you can only get a glimpse of and fall in love with. in my opinion, of course

6. Are you an optimist, realist, opportunist, or pessimist?  all? i’m optimistic that life will change for the better, i’m pessimistic that friendships will end, i’m a realist in knowing that both of these things will happen, i’m an opportunist in taking advantage in the now and enjoying what i have while i have it

7. First kiss details? (If you haven’t been kissed, reply how and if you would like to be.)  i’ve only been kissed once by a girl named Addi. she was drunk, i was scared, she liked me, i didn’t like her, it was a mess

8. Do you own stickers, an stationary?  i do not own any stickers myself although i am in the process of making some diy style! in what context are you using stationary? isn’t that just pen and paper?

9. What’s your aesthetic?  soft, warm colors. reading a book in front of a fireplace with a purring kitty in your lap. cold, cool colors. taking a walk in the snow at night when the moon is bright and the stars are shining. 

10. Do you wear dresses and skirts?  oh gosh no, i haven’t worn either in years

11. What is your hair like?  a bush. it looks and behaves like a bush. it’s thick and it’s curly and it’s long. it can be beautiful and wonderful to have, or it can be the Literal Worst

12. Does time go by fast or slow to you?  depends! in a general sense, time goes very slow. in the moment, time either goes by minute by minute or it’s six hours later than the last time i looked at the clock which was five minutes ago

13. What time do you go to bed? What time do you wake up?  anywhere from three to five am. anywhere from ten am to two pm  having a girlfriend in a timezone fourteen hours ahead of you is killer my dudes

14. Favorite sweet food?  chocolate and strawberries! even more so together

15. Tea, coffee, or hot cocoa?  hot cocoa!!

16. Space, Ocean, City, or Forest?  a l l o f t h e m  space is full of stars and planets and other life forms and wonder  the ocean is full of creatures and merpeople and life and mystery  the city is full of people, it is so full of people. bustling around in their own worlds, but most of all the city is full of life  the forest is positively teeming with magic. it’s in the air, it’s in the ground, it’s in the trees, it’s in the animals and it lives in the faeries. the forest is alive

17. Favorite game as a child?  how far back do you want me to go? when i was little my favorite thing in the world was frogger. i remember sitting under my brother’s bed where we made our own cave and playing it with him on the ps1

18. Comfort book?  oooh that’s tough. either finding me by Katheryn Cushman or white chocolate moments by Lori Wick

19. Princess, Fairy, Mermaid, or Unicorn?  oh fairies for sure. specifically faeries

20. Do you fall in love easily?  guilty as charged XD

21. Favorite word? rofflestomp for reasons i will not disclose(only real gamers know), and anything in polish honestly

22. Describe your life in 3 words.  uhhhhhhh wholesomeness meets dickishness? rollercoasters and fluff?

23. Do you dance? Slow dance?  bro i can’t even do the floss you expect me to be able to do an actual proper dance? nah 

24. Do you wear fake nails, or paint your nails?  if my nails are long they’re painted black 100% of the time

25. Has anyone ever confessed to you?  in a ‘i love you’ way or a ‘something happened and i need to vent’ way? because yes

26. Do you lie?  duh

27. What makes you smile?  my dziecko, my friends, sometimes my family, my pets, baking, yk the usual

28. Have you ever cried in a book or movie?  of course i have i’m not dead. Hachi the movie and the third divergent book are the most notable ones i can think of 

29. When and who was your first crush?  i think her name was Cassie? or was it Rory... one of the two

30. Marriage or kids?  neither, thanks

31. Are you superstitious?  don’t think so!

32. Who’s your 3 am thought?  y’all’ready know, moje kwait

33. Do you like candy? What’s your favorite candy?  i do!!! i think my favorite is either peppermint bark chocolate squares or the chocolate oranges

34. Favorite holiday?  christmas or halloween!

35. Favorite season?  fall!!!

36. Cat or dog person?  oh, cats, 100%

37. Are you quiet or loud?  most often? loud

38. Favorite time period? (80′s, 60′s, etc.)  rn babey!! while the world still sucks majorly the amount of progress we’ve made is amazing!

39. Favorite fashion fad that went away?  capes. why did we stop wearing capes. and robes with like secret pockets. cmon people, where is your sense of fashion

40. The best dream/ worst nightmare you’ve ever had?  one nightmare i had was just like maybe a minute of a single image of maybe two hundred spiders covering every inch of my vision with the noise of them crawling around. it still messes with me

41. Worst fear as a kid?  never being loved i guess

44. Do you flirt?  oh hell yes i do

45. What’s your style?  comfy

46. Do you blush?  ...maybe

47. Do you feel everything, nothing, or you don’t know what to feel?  everything. always everything

48. Are you a crier? Do you smile?  ugh i cry at the drop of a hat. if my girlfriend says something particularly sappy there’s a chance i’ll just start bawling

49. First love?  a toxic and abusive dick :)

50. Last love?  a wonderful and beautiful human being!!!

thank you Emma for the ask game!

[survivorinternational]

Episode 3 - "I wish you were BORN in 1920 so you wouldn't be in this org" - Emily

I was close to getting an idol without searching more than twice. Michael told me he had been gathering info and narrowed down to three locations, I had already searched one so thats two. Tyler was going to search one, micheal the other. So i thought: if i beat one of them to an idol search i will have it without then knowing. But idol was gone, rip. At least I have an alliance now, i like tyler idk about michael though. Anyone who can gather that much idol info must be shady to some degree. 

I am pretty good at Semantris but we are not winning this challenge.

----------

Oh yeah I guess maybe I shouldn't try too hard to not be a challenge target at merge. I guess I'll try to get the promised 6k ; my top 5 scores are 6k - 9k for comparison so it might not be the easiest thing. 

----------

So far Vilma, Richmond (Clash) and Ginger have said they will attend the watch-together. Hopefully we have a good time. 

----------

Day 5: God that music video is hilarious... basic... but funny Immunity win! YES! Still undefeated as a tribe. Continue to build social relations. Worked out most places that have been searched... Maybe i should do a spread sheet. Tomorrow Me and Tyler will search the last few places and hopefully find the idol. Day 6: GG Ruthie. Reward challenge, Word association, ok. Idol search has produced nothing... This is concerning... Someone must have it by now but no-one is saying. My guess is that its Stephen. Dean is more distant, this is also concerning. Dean is sitting out this challenge. Approached Tyler and Stephen about an alliance, Its going ahead, invited Jacob to be a 4th. If all goes to plan, I should know where all votes are going atm, It seems that most players trust me the most and are willing to work with me, but this is a double edge sword. Talk of a swap is happening... god i hope not yet.

So Laelaps comes up and tells me that there's an alliance of 4 forming with me not inside - Tyler, Stephen, Jacob and himself. Yes it does give me some comfort that he's told me and that we're still sticking together, but I don't like being possibly on the outside 4 to 2. I'm just trusting in my alliance of Jacob and Laelaps that even if they're playing both sides they'd rather take me, and I'm trying to appear less threatening to save myself here.

I hate to sound like that brawn comp beast girl but my tribe is full of inbreds and incapable of doing anything well. first of all, our music video was SHIT because only me and patrick actually tried and contributed something worth anything. second, this flash game is literally so easy..... and they're all like uWu I can't do it :/ like are y'all dumb dumb STUPID dumb? like what's up man? I've been doing this for like an hour at most and I've been getting 4400+ consistently and Patrick goes "my high score is 1920" bitch WHAT I wish you were BORN in 1920 so you wouldn't be in this org that was mean I'm kidding lol but im not I hate this tribe they're all so BORING I need some different timezones in my life. someone put vilma on my tribe. I don't know her and post season I really hope she doesn't think these confessionals are creepy. vilma I want to be your best friend everyone on my tribe sucks ): also last vote (sorry I didn't make a confession about it early) was okay - Ruthie wanted to go so we voted her out. ): rip her I love her so much. I was really looking forward to playing with her. but the good thing was it was easy and simple. if we go to tribal again idk if it'd be as simple lol. also im so bad at talking to these people???? they're so bland!!! maybe others are talking but im certainly not getting anywhere socially except with randy occasionally. I'd want to work with randy or Patrick. im not the biggest fan of liana or Daniel so if we went to tribal again that's who id want to go. I think I could make it happen too. maybe? who knows maybe they have it out for me fjdlkasjflas uhhhh okay bye bye

if the 24 hour challenge is word race i will flip 

I love European Michael, he is the best European. 

During the word making immunity challenge the Europeans were up at 4am kicking our butts and Tyler who isnt participating starts talking about a European girl on their tribe that seems to be good at everything so I go to check and I think it's Vilma and want to confirm with him. Then the next word we had to make was coincidentally V5, so guess what I wrote xD 

I think I'm coming off bossy in my tribe. Which I don't want to seem. But everything has got to be perfect and in order so there are no mistakes. We must win. 

You know what? im going to bed. If we lose the challenge so be it, itll be healthy to vote someone out. I am not slugging away through a 24hr challenge against a beast. I’m just not. And if Veni whats to make himself known as a challenge beast, he can do that, I’ll just be gunning for him come merge/swap. I know other people might do the same. But, you know, good for him.

So the w9 game is going on and my tribe has 3 and the others have 20 so it’s like for sure that we’re going to tribal tomorrow. And I have professed my love for randy and he returned it and I like Emily and we’re talking about our idol searches, so that’s 3 of 5 already. My tribe is just like a very quiet tribe nobody talks besides Emily. When I saw how good the other tribes music videos were I got very concerned about their amount of communication compared to ours. Idk who I want to vote out I think I like David a little more but I’ll see what the other two think. 

I am literally so happy I've got such devoted comp beasts like Vilma and Veni in my tribe ! And we're also close allies ;) It's cool, I don't need to slay comps to win this... I just need my social skills with me and they can continue to write words :) 

Patrick keeps calling Daniel David and if that doesn't tell you enough about my tribe idk what does. but who does it say more about? Patrick or Daniel? honestly who cares. Patrick, Randy, and I kind of banded together like "we're the only active ones lol let's vote together" so I think it's gonna be Daniel! sorry but the dude does NOT speak. and I know this is his first org over here and we're super boring... I feel bad. but yeah he's also boring! and he's sort of good at comps but not really dude. so I think it's gonna be him. after this tribal, im pretty sure that we are tribe swapping. yay final 14! I don't mind going to tribal honestly. I feel safe because I'm slightly more active than some of the other people. like it's sad to say im the most active member of my tribe but im constantly out with my friends or at work or neglecting my responsibilities. oopsie! yeah so im gonna hope and pray no one is planning a blindside on me but like if they were they'd be fucking stupid also there's no god damn way they're pulling something they don't care enough? like genuinely this tribe is so quiet. it's not that they're not talking to me. it's that they are not here. that makes the pre-merge easy for me because I can control what happens on my tribe for the time being... because it's easy? and everyone kind of thinks of me as a leader I think? because I TRY. that's IT. anyway lol yeah my plan is to vote out Daniel. and then swap onto a tribe with Vilma pls 

Our tribe results: *posted early in the afternoon that we lost* Tribe: *doesnt talk to me* Me, a few hours later: *messages everyone trying to start a conversation and no one responds for a while* Emily: *responds once and goes offline * Pat: *responds once* Emily: *gets back online and I see both her and Pat's green circles but neither has responded to me* Me: "are you bitches conspiring against me?" Whatever I will probably have to play my idol and I am thinking about playing it against pat or Emily.  Daniel is just new so that's a good excuse for him. 

If it wasn't a double tribal we'd all still be here but unfortunately we have to go to tribal tonight. Tonight for me could go very simply, keep my alliance of Michael and Jacob happy by voting out Dean who no one seems to have connections with, but I am getting a bit paranoid because besides Tyler, knowing seems to be talking to me or continuing my conversations which to me is a telltale sign that you're not included. The good thing is that I do have an idol and if I need to play it I will because better safe than sorry. 

All right, so we’ve got alliances out the wazoo rn. Along with a heavy handed dash of loose lips. So tyler tells me that sluggy made an alliance with everyone but me and dean, then sluggy tells me he had a super early alliance with michael and jacob. All this tells me that Micheal especially is playing the middle, being in two alliances with him already myself. It also tells me that sluggy cannot be trusted with info. But sureeee ill be in a 2man alliance with you sluggy -_- Right now I dont trust anyone, even tyler, but ill keep this info to myself, if sluggys playing me this might be a test to see if i tell tyler or anyone else. I just need to make sure I lay low and keep the target off my back. Fingers crossed I don’t get blindsided, but at least I know I am in no way in control of this tribe, keeps me on my toes. 

----------

So i think ive settled things enough to feel safe, i think everyones voting dean, deans voting jacob. The only wildcard is jacob who wants to split, but doesnt know who. Tbh if he does i dont want him to tell me who it is, ill only feel guilty if he does. As long as it aint me right? 

I guess to summarise the word race because I doubt I did confessionals during that. - Michael the helper was really cool and I really enjoyed our banter in tribe chat hopefully we cross paths again. We did add eachother on Snachat. - Me and Vilma once again were the most dedicated scoring 34/35 for our tribe together. She is absolutely my ride or die partner in this and I will do anything to get one of us to win the thing. - Survivor Africa watch was good, we watched the first 3 episodes though it was just me and Vilma (see the trend?). Sadly apparently that will become illegal if we swap and are not on the same tribe which is pretty sad. - Swap is incoming, everyone knows that. Question is, will it be entirely random? If so, I flipped a coin to test my luck and it failed me. My predictions have been on point this season so moral of the story: this swap won't work well for me. - ALSO I CALLED THAT IT'S WORD RACE I HATE YOU ALL BECAUSE I AM TOO DEDICATED FOR MY OWN GOOD GODDAMNIT peace out homedogs 

After that intense tribal council I am shaking so much, I did get to talk to Stephen and Tyler a bit alone afterwards in the call so it was nice to be able to get a feel for their true feelings without the disguise of text. At this point if Dean didn't have that idol, either Michael/Stephen have it, or it hasn't been found yet. The good news is that with it being final 14 i can expect a tribe swap into 2 tribes of 7, and that gives a lot of room for bonding, I'll continue to do what I've been doing with the friendliness and hopefully I'm not just swapped alone. I can always try to weasel my way into the cracks of a team if I am, but I'm not quite ready to play the victim card, I still have a long stretch of game left in me before I do that. 

Well what's cooking is that I really really think it's gonna be me this vote lol, no one has talked to me and well, yeha 

2 immunity wins in a row hell yeah! Ngl, I wasn't SUPER worried about this one because if we lost, I think it was almost certain that Ginger would go. Ginger didn't submit in the last immunity and barely helped in this one and has barely spoken to any of us. Clash and I had a call the other day which was good and gave us an opportunity to discuss a bit of game which was good. We talked about who we liked/disliked and I found out that he knows Ginger but doesn't like him. It's almost certain that next round is a tribe swap and I'm praying I get put with Clash. Right now, my ranking of who I'd want to go forward with is probably : Clash>Vilma>Veni>Ginger 

Oh bless at us winning but at the same time I don’t trust ginger so idk if that’s the best but let’s hope for the best and hope I am in a tribe with Vilma and randy next tribe swap hehe 

Where is this idol?? No one claims to have found it and I sure haven't either. Could use a clue right now. Too bad my tribe mates didn't agree, since THREE of them STRIKED at the reward challenge. I literally burst into laughter when I saw that. My I C O N I C fail of a tribe. Veni and I are the only ones who truly care about challenges. Well Allan cares a bit as well, but he also seems to have a life, so, I'm happy for him, although jealous! But I bet we would've lost every single pre merge challenge if Veni and I weren't overly enthusiastic about them. I just hate tribal, okay? Plus I guess I admit I'm somewhat competitive, because I don't think I could handle just throwing a challenge without trying at all. That would feel simply wrong. Veni and I went all out in the immunity challenge too, we napped in shifts and made sure one of us was around throughout the entire challenge so we had the possibility to score a point at all times. Plus we made a huge ass google sheet so we could just copy and paste answers whenever a new letter got posted. The first 15-17 hours or so I thought the Aussie tribe was for sure going to beat us (they were soooooo fast, but so was Veni thank god), but I guess they got sleepy by the end and we won!!!! YAYYYYY NO TRIBAL Veni almost posted a gif of himself as a chicken to the challenge chat I would've died if we got a warning for that He meant to post it on tribe chat https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/410716559632367616/599331778934603786/mmm_veni_2.gif I don't know who I'd vote if we went to tribal that's why I really would like to avoid it Plus I'm scared Veni and I's activity is pissing people off Don't wanna go home yet I'm having fun Ugh fuck I'm losing focus LOOK AT THAT FOUR AUSSIES GOING AGAINST ONE LITTLE ME HELP Ugh Veni will be busy in about 30 mins and then I'm gonna be in big trouble At least he let me shower I feel like a human again But it'll be tough If I was normal I'd just chill but I don't have it in me I don't know how to chill I love winning too much I gotta get that bag It's a thug life It's a thug life WE WON CHALLENGE WE GOT A BIG LEAD THEY CANT CATCH UP FUCK YEEE I CAN SLEEP EARLIER I am just glad we don't have to vote anyone out Would've sucked I feel like these past 24 hours brought closer together So I would've hated it if someone had to leave (Especially if it was me) But F14!! WOOP We're surely going to swap after the double tribal and I'm excited but scared!!! Excited because I'm ready to meet some new faces even though I've grown a liking to my flop tribe, and scared because I feel after the last challenge it's pretty apparent Veni and I were the more active members of our tribe and we could get targeted for that. My plan is to try to lay a bit low at swap, but still make sure I get to know everyone one on one to make solid new connections. I really hope I don't get swapfucked, hope to remain in the same tribe with as many og Faatasi as possible. Let's go!

Damn work keeping me to busy to do confessionals. Reward Challenge: This appears easier as we go on. Quite enjoy this. Aim for over 5000. Got 7200 in one of my first tries... Aim is 10,000 Settled for 8200, sick of looking at my screen. Some of these word associations don't make sense. Who doesn't associate Video games with words like Play or fun... REWARD CHALLENGE WIN! AWWW YER!!! Comfort Items get! And in comfort items... A Vote Blocker!!! BOO YAH!!! Immunity Challenge: I called this 12 hours before the challenge began. I am a legend. Seems that most people are busy this weekend. I will do what I can but i will be busy for a good 6 hours of it as well Veni and Vilma are thorns in my side with this, they just type so quick VENI DOESNT SLEEP WTF!!! I cant keep up, I tried my hardest but cant keep going at 3am. We lost :( Tribe life: Current Alliances: The UHC Alliance, The Idol Hunters Alliance. Sluggy has suggested an Alliance between Tyler, Jacob, himself and me which I agree to. Vote is very straight forward, We are all voting Dean as he isn't very active unfortunately. I wanted to try and keep him around but I think I was the only one chatting to him. If Dean has an Idol then it will be Jacob going, which is also fine with me as I think Jacob will be a hindrance later in the game Dean is voted out 5-1 The idea of a swap is brought up, which we all agree is likely to happen. In the UHC chat, Sluggy brings up the point that Veni could spill the beans about knowing each other out of this survivor. Its a good point and I really didnt want to but I told my Idol Hunter Alliance about the fact I knew Jacob, Sluggy and Veni outside of the game but I play each survivor without using my relationships from outside the game effect it.

RIGHT so here we go again u crack heads. Hate u all, this is for round 3 btw so dont get it TWISTED, sorry I made a VIDEO confessional and forgot to post it OOPSIES. Anywho, like the who’s from whovillie here we are partying minding our own business, well me at least because while I went out clubbing everyone else had to do the challenge. Sorry about it. They all love me anyway so ALL good in the HOOD. Here we are thriving Michael is absolutely carrying the team. So while the challenge was popping off Sluggy approached me asking if I was in any alliance, I high key avoided the question and just said who im trying to trust, and HIGH KEY dropped hints that dean wasn’t one of those people. He start saying if we should make an alliance chat, I was elated by the idea and smiles were HAD. The alliance included Myself, Sluggy, Michael and Jacob which is everyone expect Dean and Stephan. This is the exact same as the other alliance chat but without Stephan and Sluggy in his place! I like Stephan tho, so I went and dibba dobbed on sludgy real quick, like a speed demon u could say. Sluggy was out here trying to make ME make the alliance chat, like no thank u that can be UR job I need to tell people I was DRAGGED into it so I CANT make it SORRY. Anywho he made it. So we accidentally LOST the challenge, and much to my SURPRISE due to my lovely CONNECTIONS with these lovely people! I wasn’t targeted at all even tho I sat out and went clubbing. Yee haw, I exclaimed out of excitement. My target is Dean going into this tribal. A.) he seemed really arrogant and annoying during the music video round. b.) his video submission gave me NIGHTMARES now I can’t even hug my pillow without feeling UNSAFE and C.) we dont talk. So ooop here come the kiddies lining up in formation asking what we should do for the vote. Ooo I want to vote Dean but I simply never say it because im not a GOOSE well I try not to be a GOOSE. I say how I feel good with … but never include dean, I then wait for them to say anything negative about dean and oops I agree real quick and keep the convo focused on dean. People were talking in a alliance chats but I was highkey ignoring them because I COULDNT BE BOTHERED I talked to everyone in pm’s tho, love that for me. So Michael is over here being everyones friend so I threw him just a BIT under the bus for a later date. Like I built the ramp and the final destination is under the bus but we aint gonna push him yet. ANYWAY Dean went home yay he will be missed just not by me.