#also the tails plushie was very great to find since i recently got the

[dizzehdakillah]

GAMERSSS LOOK AT COOL SCHTUFF I GOT AT THE MALLLLLLLL FOR LIKE 100ISH BUCKS SOMEHOWW WOWOWOWOWOWOOWHAHWO

edit: THE GUN-I FORGOT ABOUT IT-BUT I DIDN'T BUY IT WITH THE OTHER STUFF, ITS A TOY I HAD FOR A WHILE THAT I FOUND WHILE DOING A MOVE SO I GAVE IT TO JAX BECAUSE WHO ELSE WOULD HAVE IT (dw i won't let him shoot anyone with it tho :D)

[elizapbrooke]

A discovery of pancakes

This is my newsletter from Friday, May 22. You can sign up here.

I am disappointed to announce that the bird call I thought belonged to an owl comes, in fact, from a mourning dove. “One of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds,” Wikipedia says. It’s an embarrassing but maybe understandable mistake. I figured this owl was out during the day because it was a creature of New York like the rest of us, its circadian rhythm all fucked up by early morning garbage trucks and the blue glow of the Chase Bank across the street. The mourning dove’s coo is low and melancholy, a distinctive series of five notes. I’d certainly forgive you for thinking it’s a hoot. As I was listening to mourning dove calls on my computer and having this horrible realization, one landed on the fire escape and startled me with the loudest, most intimate rendition of their song I’d ever heard. It may as well have pressed its beak up against the glass. (I assume it thought there was a dove in the apartment.) I crept over to the window to confirm with my eyeballs what AllAboutBirds.org had already told me, and, yep, there it was. It felt so special to have a mystery owl in the neighborhood, but I guess doves are lovely birds too, with their plushy throats and elegantly tapered tail feathers. Anyway, my friend Sid tells me he’s heard owls in Gowanus, so I’m keeping my hopes up. This week I published a story for Curbed detailing the history and recent evolution of the home office. As I was fact checking it, I realized I’d accidentally talked to ten hundred sources, so please do enjoy the fruits of my labor. I’m not here to talk about home offices, though. A few weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and discovered I’d been brainstorming pitches in my sleep. I was thrilled. On account of pandemic depression and seeing very little of the outside world, I’ve really been struggling to come up with story concepts, which is problematic because that’s my job. Most of my dream pitches evaporated upon waking, but I managed to hold onto one, and in my sleepy haze I thought it was possibly the greatest idea I’d ever had. It was: PANCAKES ARE HAVING A MOMENT IN QUARANTINE. I decided I’d email the New York Times first thing in the morning. In the light of day, I realized that there wasn’t really a story there. When you’re writing a trend piece, you want to be able to point to, I don’t know, at least four really solid examples from the public sphere. My evidence was:

Alex and I had made pancakes recently

We were planning to make them again

I’d recently discussed pancakes with Molly and Vivian

I’d heard you can make pancakes from sourdough starter discard (which actually does speak to the zeitgeist)

But here’s the thing. Pancakes are a great topic for a newsletter. So here is my pancake article.

***

I’ve always liked the look of a big stack of pancakes, but I never really got why people were so into eating them. I like a breakfast that is hyper-functional and maximally filling. Because I’m an aging hippie, my preferred breakfast is a double-sized bowl of Ezekiel cereal, which tastes like delicious cardboard and fulfills 42% of your daily fiber needs. Pancakes, like pastries, always struck me as glamorous but pointless. I was even somewhat distrustful of my mom’s pancakes, which are dense and nutty, not sweet at all. Her recipe came from a “chiropractor/health nut in San Diego about 31 years ago” and involves grinding your own flour from winter wheat berries, groats, rye, brown rice, and millet. I love them, but a family pancake breakfast still makes me feel very out of control. This all changed a few weeks ago when Alex and I decided to make pancakes for dinner. All I can say is that quarantine has a way of melting away the rigid little fucks you used to give. For once, the chaos I associate with pancakes sounded fun and freeing. Also we’ve been watching a ton of Parks & Rec, and I was feeling inspired by Leslie’s diet of waffles and whipped cream. We made buttermilk pancakes, extra fluffy ones that require you to whip the egg whites on their own for several minutes before folding them into the batter. Two with banana chunks, two with bits of frozen peaches, two blueberry, one bonus plain for me. I had mine without anything on top, enjoying the choking feeling of eating so much cakey carb. It felt like a hug. When I saw my friend Todd post a gorgeous stack of pancakes on Instagram, I asked him if he had any theories about why they’re such a good quarantine food. At first he thought I was trolling him, but when I told him I was dead serious, here’s what he said: “What I love about pancakes right now is that they feel both ordinary and radical at the same time. Ordinary because they are nostalgic, all-American, homey, comfortable, and approachable. Anyone can make them. But there’s also something really subversive about a stack of pancakes right now—the gluten, the non-plant-based butter and eggs, eating breakfast when Goop tells us we should be intermittent fasting, so forth. Eating pancakes in the time of coronavirus brings into focus how overwhelming wellness culture has become in recent years—celery juice and collagen smoothies will never, ever, ever beat a big, buttery, syrupy stack of flapjacks.” I would agree. Given my dedication to breakfast foods that involve sprouted beans—which predates our wellness moment but was certainly bolstered by it—I definitely find pancakes subversive. They make me feel nostalgic, too, but not for anything I’ve personally experienced. For weekends in high school that I spent ensconced in the television world of Gilmore Girls, maybe, where breakfast at Luke’s Diner is a comfortable routine. As I continued my journey into pancake reportage, I sought out the perspective of Sarah Jampel, an editor at Bon Appetit. While pancakes made from sourdough discard have their fans, Sarah is not particularly one of them. She’s also team waffle. I don’t really have a horse in the pancake/waffle debate, but Sarah makes a compelling case. “I have thought a lot about pancakes,” she emailed back when I asked if she had anything to say about the topic. “And yes, I have made them since isolation started—mostly because I'm ‘every woman’ and my fridge is overflowing with sourdough discard. ‘Put it in pancakes,’ I thought. The issue is that I need to add more flour (as well as butter or oil and leaveners) to sourdough discard to turn it into pancakes, so I ultimately end up using more ingredients for the sole purpose of not throwing some stuff into the trash or compost (but really, the trash). And even though pancakes sound nice in theory—why not start the day with a hot breakfast instead of the usual routine, eating a Clif bar with one hand while the other clings bare to the subway pole (huge sigh of nostalgia)?—in actuality they're inferior waffles. Unless you take care with your pancakes—loading them with lots of butter and separating the egg yolks and whites (this recipe's my fave)—they're too mono-textured.” Never fear: Alex and I loaded ours with an alarming amount of butter. I suppose it is to be expected that when you go out hunting for pancake insights, you come back with waffle testimonials. When I asked Alex’s high school friends to weigh in on the appeal of pancakes during a global shutdown, Nico said, “Waffles are the superior carb. They provide greater textural variety and are a better delivery vessel for condiments.” (Dylan has been eating toast all quarantine, and Dan “didn’t understand the question” because the only god he acknowledges is the Joy of Cooking’s pancake recipe.) My friend Molly has been eating a lot of savory pancakes under quarantine, for breakfast or lunch. She sautées a bunch of garlic and kale in olive oil, adding scallions at the last minute, and then sets the vegetables aside in a bowl. In goes the Bisquick, and she adds the kale mix on top of the pancakes as they cook; after a minute, she tops the pancake with shredded white cheddar so that when she flips it, the cheese turns crispy. She’ll eat that with a runny egg or garlic yogurt. I can’t wait to see her again so she can make one for me. Pancakes are one of the few foods that Molly has consistently been able to stomach during this period of immense anxiety. They have a strong positive association for her: in pre-corona times, she would make savory pancakes after playing soccer on Saturday mornings. Those games are one of the things she misses most right now. We talked on the phone while she made her daily trip outside to juggle a soccer ball. Molly likes to chat with friends during these breaks because bouncing a ball on your feet benefits from loose attention. “Cooking a pancake is similar,” she said. “It requires some focus but it’s not that hard. You don’t really need to cut anything. You just watch it.” Alex always says that cooking is meditative for him. I would respectfully disagree—to me, it feels more like hurtling down a mogul course—but I can see it with pancakes. You’re just systematically waiting and flipping, waiting and flipping. After making buttermilk pancakes, we progressed to Sqirl’s buckwheat pancakes for lunch on a Sunday. I can’t find the recipe online, but here’s a photo. For those who are lucky enough to have dodged my Sqirl talk thus far, it’s a phenomenal, semi-healthy breakfast and lunch spot in Silver Lake. Every time I’m in LA, I badger my companions into going right when it opens at 8 a.m. so we’re sure to get a table. When I was there to write about Dax Shepard in November, I high-tailed it to Sqirl right after our interview and embarrassed myself in front of the staff by inhaling bits of a particularly seedy cookie and having a loud coughing fit, after which I went around the corner to die in private. Alex and I thought we had all the requisite ingredients for Sqirl’s buckwheat pancakes, other than cactus flour, but the recipe calls for corn flour and it turns out cornmeal isn’t the same thing. We subbed in whole wheat, so they weren’t really Sqirlcakes, but they were still tasty in a restrained, earthy way. Alex convinced me to try one with raspberry jam, which I reluctantly admit was a great pairing. A week or two later, we made them again. I wasn’t really hungry because it was 2 p.m. and I’d already eaten lunch—Alex had just gotten up—but I pledged to eat my portion cold out of the fridge. Alex thought this was insane, but he sometimes forgets that I like my food a little squidgy. We went grocery shopping the next morning, which was as much of a bitch as it always is right now. Even though we’ve gotten the process down to a science, it still takes three hours from start to finish, with significant angst on my part about the cleanliness of the inbound goods. Finally everything was put away, and Alex headed off to take a shower. I was agitated and crazy hungry. I scrubbed my hands one more time, pulled the pancakes out of the fridge, and promptly dropped one on the floor while trying to get it into my mouth. I ate the rest in big, angry bites, one after another, standing in the middle of the kitchen. I didn’t want to sit down in my outdoor clothes. The pancakes were perfect, though. A shot of sweet, comforting carb straight to the heart.

[poppyknitt]

A Real Eye-Opener- A JSE Egos Fanfic

*Minor trigger warning! Beware the end of this story if you’re triggered by things that suggest suicide or violence in general!

——————————————————

Previous fic

Next fic

[September 30th, 2018]

Seán was busy practicing some of the life-based spells he had learned during he and Marvin’s most recent training session, boredly trying to pass the time, when he noticed something green flash by out of the corner of his eye. He hadn’t really been focusing his magic on a specific target like he was supposed to, so the possibility of him accidentally giving life to one of the inanimate objects within his flat wasn’t entirely outlandish. He turned to look and see what it could have been, however, he found that whatever it was had already moved somewhere out of his field of vision. Weird.

He turned his head to focus back on practicing his spells, when he noticed that one of the smaller Septic Sam plushies was missing. He didn’t think much of it, though, since he and Signe did have a slight habit of misplacing them from time to time.

His stomach growled, and he immediately realized that he had barely eaten all day, so, he got up, and went to the kitchen for some snacks. When he heard a loud crash coming from the hallway, he put what he was holding down, and walked to the source of the noise, only to freeze in place when he saw what caused it.

There, on the ground before him, was a living, breathing Septic Sam- And he knew exactly how it got there.

...

....

.....

Seán had attempted to make friends with the little green eye, however, it seemed to just be contempt with following him around everywhere, and didn’t respond too well to his approaches. It was almost as though it had sensed something was wrong, however, since it couldn’t really emote or speak very well, given that it’s an eye and all, he had absolutely no idea what it was trying to let him know about the world around him, or even just about him. He had also yet to find out what it eats, assuming it can even do that at all in the first place.

It wasn’t until he realized how lightheaded he felt that he realized why Sam was being so clingy, but by then, it was too late to stop his motor functions from failing once again. Once he hit the ground, his vision began fading, and the last thing he saw before blacking out was Sam looking him dead in the face, very clearly in a panic.

~~~~

He shot up, gasping for breath, in yet another repeat of how he awoke from that nightmare he’d had a few days ago. He coughed a bit, thinking the incident with Sam was just another weird dream, until he realized he was in the exact place he had been in when he fell, and his head hurt like hell. He looked around, in confusion, wondering where the little eye had gone off to now, only to find it closely snuggled up next to him. He held back a laugh.

Aw! Man, that’s adorable. Freakishly adorable, but still adorable. He thought, smiling at the little eye. It blinked open, and became visibly excited when it saw that he was awake. Then, in a sudden, unexpected motion, it swiftly grabbed his wrist with its tail, and its pupil started glowing. Panicked by the sudden movements and bright light, Seán attempted to jerk away and scream, but he soon found that he was frozen, as his vision was taken entirely over by memories.

Whose memories were they? Why were they surrounding a bunch of characters who looked sorta like him? It wasn’t until he started hearing them too that he realized they were his memories.

Jack! Oh man! It’s so awesome to see you again! Mark’s voice, from all the way back in 2015, before he went dark.

Ack! Vhat is it zhat you two idiots are doing?! I zhought ve specifically told you that ve do not vant you practicing your stupid parlor tricks on our zhings! Hey, it was Henrik! And, look! He was with Marvin, practicing magic! But their hair was dyed some shade of green?

Hey! Dad! Uncle Seán! Watch this! He heard a young boy’s voice call out to him, as he saw a guy that looked like him, but with his hair dyed a yellowish-green color, excitedly waiting for someone to do something, though, he couldn’t see the kid, nor what was happening.

Hey, dude! Check out how fast I can run! A guy in a red, hooded jumpsuit said, and then promptly zipped out of view, only to zip back in a couple seconds later.

He struggled to process everything as all the memories of the interactions he’d had with these people he’d neglected to really even remember much of or about prior to his coma flashed by his eyes. It all slowly calmed down, until they were finally moving at probably like 50-75% the speed of what they probably originally happened in. When that happened, he finally saw the faces of the people he was hearing.

Marvin wore a neat little Japanese cat mask thing, which looked to be decorated with marker, though, Seán still knew it was him, since his hair still had the cool looking gradient purple design to it. Henrik was basically the same as he was now, aside from the green hair, and the unnamed dad was laughing and messing around with the others. The man in the red suit had a mask on, but he was actually removing it. Seán realized he’d seen him in the hospital before- it was Simon, the dude who apparently got crushed by some rubble in the crossfires of a superhero fight! Man, that must be cool! The dude had freakin’ superpowers!

He scanned what he could see in this final memory, and realized they were all celebrating his 27th birthday. Wow. They were all his friends before he fell into that coma, weren’t they? God, he felt terrible now! Imagine how it felt for them to realize he couldn’t remember any of them anymore!

He squeezed his eyes shit when the memory changed via a bright, blinding light, reopening them once it was gone, only this time, the room had gone red, and as he looked at everyone in the room, he saw their names flashing into his vision, each being accompanied by horrifying sounds and images.

Marvin. His hearing was overtaken by white noise and incoherent, angry yelling as the image of the magnificent magican casting some sort of inprisonment spell on Seán overtook his vision.

Chase. All he could hear was more incoherent yelling and screaming, but this time it was of emotional pain, and instead of white noise, the background was filled with the sounds of crying, laughing, and screaming children, while at the same time, he saw the image of the unnamed dad character allegedly shooting himself in the head with an unseen gun.

Henrik. A large slamming sound, followed by someone yelling and calling something “Cursed”, as the sounds of life support equipment could be heard loudly screaming at the doctor, even though all he could see was a very glitchy looking Henrik hanging from the ceiling by a green string.

And finally...

Jackie. His was the worst. There lay the once-great hero, his body broken and beaten until almost every inch was covered in blood, and several of his bones very clearly being misaligned, as the incoherent sound of Marvin and Chase yelling at someone to stay with them blocked out his hearing.

He felt himself being released, and he fell to the ground, hyperventilating as he tried to take this all in. He looked around, and realized Sam was gone. He shakily stood up, and followed what he thought was the sound of someone’s footsteps running down a hallway. He turned to look down said hallway, and to his surprise, saw Signe jumping out the window with Sam on her shoulder.

And yet, as he realized what just went down, only one thought went through his head.

Did she put Sam up to this?

——————————————————

Part Two of

The Unraveling

(A very big chapter in a slightly darker version of the Jacksepticeye & Markiplier Egoverse)

Part Three

@antis-loyal-puppet

@chaoticcrimsonrose

@septic-dr-schneep

[marumigamer]

Fake date - Larcana Oneshot

As promised, my special present for @keiid . I don’t need to explain what it is, right?

I shipped them even more while I was writing this. Hope you like it.

--------

- You can see the future with your cards? - asked Larcade, surprised.

- Not only the future - answered Cana -. I can see the present too. But I can't see specific names or people in it.

- What do they say about me?

- Let's see - Cana shuffled the cards and put them on the table -. There are three important men in your life. Those are your father, your uncle and your brother, right?

- Right.

- And two women. One is your mother, that's for sure. You have a girlfriend?

- No. It's Llum.

- Your pegasus?

- She was my only friend before joining Fairy Tail. She's with me since I was very little.

- You made more friends here?

- It's funnier than I thought, to have friends. What else they say?

- Eh? Oh, yes. You still have insecurities about yourself, but you are a great friend. And you are a romantic guy.

- You know this from the cards?

- It's not true?

- It is. But I never fell in love or had a girlfriend, so I don't know if the last one is true.

- You want to check it?

- What is your proposal?

- My hometown makes a festival. I go every year, and every year weird dudes try to seduce me.

- You weren't born in Magnolia?

- I'm from a little town near here. I go every year to remember my mother. She died when I was very little.

- I'm sorry about that.

- Don't worry. It happened a long time ago. So, my proposal is a fake date.

- A fake date?

- You come with me to the festival in my hometown, and I can enjoy it.

- And why you said "Fake date"? We can go as friends.

- Everyone will think you are my boyfriend, because I never went with a friend before.

- When?

- Tomorrow. I'll wait for you in the station at 7am.

- I'll be there.

Larcade explained that to one person, his mother.

- So... You have a date with Cana tomorrow? - asked Mavis.

- It's a fake date, but yes. I can say that.

- Do you know something about dates?

- I've never been in one before.

- Me neither. I can't help you with that.

- Don't tell dad a thing about it. Don't tell anyone.

- Promised.

- Cover me, mama.

- Don't worry, Larcade. No one will know.

- Thank you, mama.

- Sleep well, my child. Tomorrow is an special day.

- Don't say that, mama. Goodnight.

- Goodnight, Larcade.

When Larcade woke up the next morning, Mavis was awake, preparing some breakfast for him. When he left, Mavis hugged him, and kissed his cheek.

- Have a good day, my child.

- I will, mama.

Larcade went to the station and waited for Cana. She appeared 30 minutes later.

- Sorry, I'm late - said Cana.

- Yes, you are.

- You're not supposed to say that.

- Sorry for being honest. It's my nature.

- Well, it's not really a date. I forgive you, but don't do that in the first date.

- Why?

- Most of the girls don't like honest boys. They get mad at them.

- Girls are strange.

- Well, let's go.

Larcade fell asleep all the travel in train. Cana woke up him an hour later.

- We arrived, sleeping beauty - said Cana when he opened his eyes.

- Sorry, I fell asleep.

- Don't worry about that. Let's go.

Cana's hometown was very small. But that day, it's population multiplies.

- Normally, 4000 people live here - explained Cana to Larcade -. During the festival, we receive near 16000 visitors.

- That's a lot of people. What do you celebrate?

- A long time ago, there was an ogre who ate people in this town. He was slayed by two children he tried to eat. This festival is in memory of that event.

- How did two children slay an ogre?

- Brain games. The youngest child distracted the ogre with them, while the oldest one searched something to cut the ogre's throat. You're not believing me, right?

- Not too much.

- That's what the legend says.

- Not even their ages?

- No. Nothing else.

- And what do you do in this festival?

- Games.

- Why I asked?

- Not all games are mental games. There are also strenght games, and shoot games. And, at night, drink games.

- You come for the drink games, right?

- Not only for them.

Cana guided Larcade to one of the shooting games. She failed the three shoots she had, but Larcade...

- Choose one of the prizes - said Larcade after the first shoot.

- How did you do that?

- In Alvarez, they prohibited me this kind of games because of this.

- You still have two shoots.

- One for my mother, and the other for me.

Larcade didn't fail the two shoots he still had. As prizes, Cana choose a big snake plushie, and Larcade a dragon and a fairy plushies.

- What's next? - asked Larcade.

- Fishing ducks.

- Fishing ducks?

- Yes. I want to know what else you can do, besides of shooting.

- Fishing ducks?

- Fishing ducks.

Fishing bath ducks with a plastic fishing rod was really easy. Find the duck with the big prize, not that easy.

- I got a fourth prize. What about you, Larcade?

- I told you I was banned from this games in Alvarez.

Larcade showed her the duck with the first prize. Then he showed it to the manager of the game, who gave him his prize.

Games and more games. And, for every game, Larcade won the first prize. He even let people seal his magic, and won anyway.

- What are you searching in your cards? - asked Larcade while they were eating.

- An explanation for all your wins - answered Cana -. There are no patterns for those games.

- I'm good at shooting, and a good observant.

- I don't think you are prepared for the last game.

- The drinking one?

- It's a competition. I've been winner every year, except those years where I was gone in Tenroujima.

- I listened that story from uncle Natsu. A competition, you say? It will be fun.

- No one wins me at drinking.

- We will see that.

After eating, they continued playing all the games. And Larcade won in every single one.

And when the night fell, the cold weather came with it. Cana wasn't prepared for it, and she was freezing. But, suddenly, someone put a jacket in her shoulders.

- I wanted to buy it for me, but you need it more. Take it, it's yours now.

- You didn't need to do that, Larcade. If you want-

- I don't accept devolutions for this one. Just take it.

Larcade didn't look at Cana during the rest of the day, until both got drunk enough in the drink competition. They were the last ones inside the competition. Larcade was winning but, suddenly, he took all the beer on the table, like 15 jars, and drank everything. He collapsed before finishing all, making Cana win the competition.

- And the winner is... Cana Alberona! - announced the judge, approaching to them -. Congratulations, dear.

- I'm recovering my old glory! - yelled Cana, completely drunk.

- Your boyfriend doesn't seem to share your strenght.

- He's not my boyfriend! He's... The son of my guildmaster... And a gentleman...

- Oh... Of course.

- Can you make me a favor and take us home? I don't think we will arrive to Magnolia awake.

- If the champion wants, I can't reject that offer.

The judge took them home. Cana was right. She fell asleep in the train, and Larcade woke up a moment just to look at him and fell asleep.

Both wake up in their beds the next afternoon, with the worst hangover they ever had. They couldn't get out of bed. Every sound was really loud in their heads. But there was a thing they couldn't get out of their heads.

- Larcade, do you need something? - asked Mavis, entering at Larcade's room.

- I need silence, mama. Just silence - answered Larcade, with his face covered with his pillow.

- Are you okay?

- No, my head hurts like it's going to explode.

- I tell the boys to be silent.

- Thank you, mama.

Mavis left the room. Larcade put the pillow behind his head an covered his ears with it.

- Why I can't take her out of my head?

Cana was in a similar situation. She couldn't take Larcade off his head. She was sitting in her bed with the jacket on, and hugging the snake.

- What's the matter with me? I'm turning crazy.

The next day, Cana went to the guild with the jacket on. The girls asked her how the festival was.

- Good, I think.

- Did you won the drinking contest? - asked Mirajane.

- Uh... Yes...

- What's happening, Cana? - asked Lucy.

- I don't know. I've been strange recently.

- When did you buy that jacket? - asked Erza -. You didn't have anything like this before.

- I didn't. Larcade bought it to me.

- Larcade!? - yelled the girls -. You were in a date with Larcade!?

- It wasn't exactly a date. I just didn't want to be bothered by any of those weird guys, like every year.

- But if he bought it to you, it wasn't a date? - asked Juvia.

- It was a fake date. I needed someone to scare those weird guys, and he wanted to check a thing my cards told him. I didn't shuffle them since that day.

- And what they say about him?

- Well, they say...

- No, Cana. We want to know what you didn't tell him.

Cana put the cards on the table, showing every single one of them to the girls.

- He will find love soon...

- I think he already found it - said Mirajane.

- I hope Gildarts doesn't find this.

It was late. Gildarts was in Natsu's house. Zeref was the one who opened the door.

- Which are your son's issues with my daughter? - asked Gildarts.

- My son's issues? I don't have any information about that - answered Zeref -. In any case, what are your daughter's issues with my son?

- Are you trying to insult my daughter?

- I should ask the same.

At the moment Gildarts appeared, Natsu dragged Mavis into Larcade's room and closed the door.

- Tell me what happened - requested Natsu.

- Larcade and Cana went on a fake date - explained Mavis.

- A fake date?

- Yes, it was fake - added Larcade -. Why?

- Gildarts is at the door arguing with Zeref.

- Gildarts?

- Cana's father.

- Her father!?

- And not only that. Do you remember who took you home?

- I don't know who was. I only remember a pair of green eyes.

- It was Acnologia. He was disguised, and hiding his magic very well, but I could recognize him. His green emerald eyes are not a thing you forget easily.

- But Acnologia's hair is blue, and he has those marks in his body. That guy's hair was black.

- He can hide his demon blood. And he's your grandfather. And enjoys to see happy endings with two people in love. He's probably watching you and Cana right now.

- But we... We...

- You what?

- We are not a couple, uncle Natsu. It was a fake date. It doesn't count.

- Larcade, do you love her?

- I don't know. How do you know that?

- All starts when you discover yourself staring at her with an smile in your face, and you hide when you two make eye contact. Your heart beats faster when you see her, and when you think about her. She's in your head all day and all night. You smile when you see something which reminds you of her. That feeling that there are butterflies in you stomach. Larcade, are you feeling one of those?

- What about wanting to hug her every time you see her sad face? Or do something for her when she's down? Or wanting to wake up every morning at her side?

- Larcade, that's love. And you only needed one day to fell in love with Cana.

- But... I can't... I'm too old for her.

- No, you're not. Zeref is 300 years older than Mavis. My father is 30 years younger than my mother. My uncle and my aunt have an age gap of 100 years. I'm 400 years older than Lucy... And it's better if I don't continue telling you about my grandparents and the dragon queen. We are immortals. If we look at those things, we will be alone forever.

- How big is the difference between my great-grandparents?

- Enough to not tell you. Go for her. She's waiting for you, I'm sure.

- I can't do that! I can't...

Larcade walked around the room with his hands in his head, thinking in a way to forget all of that.

- Larcade... - said Mavis suddenly.

- Yes, mama?

- You need to tell her.

- I can't do it. I need to forget all of this. It's the only way.

- She will suffer, and you too.

- How do you know?

- I tried to do it, with your father. I tried to forget I love him, and he tried too, a long time ago. The more we tried, the more painful it turned. I couldn't look at black things without remembering him. It turns easier when you stop trying to forget and tell the truth.

- I was a year far away from Lucy - explained Natsu -. How do you think it was for me? I couldn't let Happy know how I was feeling. I had to hide my feelings for Lucy, and that was the worst thing I could do.

- But... I can't tell her in front of everyone - said Larcade.

- Who said you have to do it in front of everyone? Take her away from everyone, and tell her the truth. Create the moment, Larcade.

- You did it, uncle Natsu?

- I didn't. The moment came alone.

- Wish me luck, then.

Larcade jumped through the window and ran to the guild, trying to not be seen by Gildarts and Zeref. His heart beated faster when he saw Cana was wearing the jacket he bought for her, but got nervous when he saw all the girls with her.

- Okay, Larcade... Calm down. You can do it - said Larcade to himself.

Larcade approached to them. None of the girls saw him, and he could see the cards on the table. He recognized them.

- Are those my cards? - asked Larcade, scaring Cana -. The ones from two days ago?

- How long have you been here? - asked Cana, trying to hide her feelings -. They are, why?

- What do the other cards say?

- Nothing important!

- They say you will find love soon - answered Mirajane.

- Mira!

- Can you shuffle them again? - asked Larcade.

- Not now. I have things to do.

Cana took her cards and tried to leave, but Larcade took the cards from her purse and shuffled them himself. Then, he extended the cards at the table, in front of the girls.

- What do they say? - asked Larcade.

- Let's see... - said Levy, taking a book about tarot -. Um...

- You found love, and that person loves you back - answered Cana -. Now, give me my cards.

- You do? - asked Larcade, looking at the cards to try to hide his face.

- I didn't say that!

- That's what you said.

- No! I didn't!

- You did - said the girls.

- Absolutely not!

Cana took her cards and tried to leave, but Larcade hugged her from the back.

- Your father is at my house arguing with mine, because of our fake date - said Larcade.

- I can't do anything with that. He won't listen.

- Do you want to avoid them a little and go on a true date?

- I don't think it's a good idea.

- Cana, please. Let me do it.

- It's the worst idea you ever had.

- Maybe, but your worst idea was coming here with this jacket on.

- And where will you take me?

- I don't know Ishgar or Fiore. Choose you.

- Okay, but we go on your pegasus.

Larcade only had to whistle to take Llum at the door of the guild. He helped Cana to get on the pegasus, and then jumped behind her. Then, the three flew away. In that moment, Natsu and Mavis entered at the guild singing "Accidentally in love" by Counting Crows. Immediately, all the guild knew what was happening because of an uncle and a mother who builded a really good friendship.

[crystalsoul16]

Answer all the questions, mwahaha >u

Get to Know Me

Oh geez

okay, challenge accepted, let’s do this!!

I’m putting this under a cut for length tho lol

1. What is you middle name?My middle name is Ryan c:

2. How old are you?I am 24, but definitely don’t feel like I am >->

3. When is your birthday?July 11th! Best way to remember is that it’s also free slurpee day at 7-Eleven lol

4. What is your zodiac sign?Cancer

5. What is your favorite color?various shades of blues and greens. Hard to pick just one ^^;

6. What’s your lucky number?16~

7. Do you have any pets?I have three dogs (two beagles at my mom’s, one undetermined breed (assumed belgian malinois?) at my dad’s), and three birds

8. Where are you from?I live in the state of Virginia, USA

9. How tall are you?5′2″, making me the shortest person in my family T^T

10. What shoe size are you?Depends on the brand, since I have 6 ½ boots that fit just fine, but also have a pair that’s a size 9. So it’s kinda hard to say ^^;;;

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own?I have 8 pairs of shoes, but really only wear one ^^; I got a new pair of shoes for Christmas that I want to use tho!

12. What was your last dream about?…..crap, I don’t remember

13. What talents do you have?I feel like my drawing skills are pretty good, and one of my instructors at school told me I’m good at video editing. I really wanna play with that skillset more and get back into making AMVs one day, and of course continue improving my art skills

14. Are you psychic in any way?If I am, I’m not aware -shrugs-

15. Favorite song?oh gosh, I have so many it’s hard to pick one… At this current moment in time though, the one that is standing out in my mind is Strike Back by BACK-ON, which is the 16th opening for Fairy Tail

16. Favorite movie?Again it’s hard to pick one, but Brother Bear is jumping at me, so I’ll go with that for now lol

17. Who would be your ideal partner?Okay, um… Well, they definitely need to like animals, cuz I do not trust people who don’t like or respect animals. They also need to like video games. Considering I spend a lot of my time playing them, and really hope to one day be involved in video game production and/or design, I feel like my partner should also have an appreciation for video games. Plus ideal casual date is cuddling on the couch and playing games together, so a shared love of gaming kinda feels like a must ^^; Plus with online games we can still hang out even if we’re not together so yeah. Video games. Also liking anime would be great, since I love watching anime and going to cons and cosplaying (oh shit couple cosplaying tho yes plz~!!) so sharing an interest there would be great! Plus then if we’re not in the mood to game, we can just cuddle and watch anime. Also having a genuine kind and caring soul is a must. Those are probably the most important points, but I guess it’d be nice if they’re also in touch with their youthful side. I can be a wee bit childish at times myself, so I just wanna make sure I ain’t gonna be judged if I decide I want to eat dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets or cuddle with a plushie lolol Also, not a requirement, but willing to do stuff in the kitchen together would be nice~ And not judging me for watching cooking competition shows every so often would also be nice >->

……..or honestly, just be Yoosung >->;;;;;;;;;;; cuz it’s honestly startling to me how fuckin’ close that guy is to an ideal for me. And by close, I mean he is -hides face in hands- but of course, he’s fictional. So once again, fictional characters setting the bar high… -facepalms and sighs heavily-

18. Do you want children?At this current point in time, no. I’m still too much of a child in my own eyes to consider being a parent to anything that isn’t covered in fur or feathers. Maybe someday in the future, I will. 

19. Do you want a church wedding?Not sure, honestly. It would also depend on what my partner wants. All I know is that a fantasy theme would be rad!!

20. Are you religious?Not entirely. I mean, I do believe that there is some sort of higher power, but I don’t really do much beyond that. I know there’s a term for it, but I can’t remember what it is right now

21. Have you ever been to the hospital?Once, when I was little. I think I was five? I think I blacked out though so I don’t remember much about it. Otherwise, I’ve only been to visit someone or sit in the waiting room while waiting for someone who was admitted.

22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law?Not yet, and I hope to keep it that way!!!

23. Have you ever met any celebrities?Do anime voice actors count? Cuz I’ve met a few at cons before, but I’m not sure if those count ^^;;;

24. Baths or showers?Personally I prefer showers

25. What color socks are you wearing?White

26. Have you ever been famous?Nope, and I’m totally fine with that. Too much attention makes me nervous lol

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity?As said before, I’m good without that sort of attention.

28. What type of music do you like?I tend to listen to rock music a lot, but I’m open to listening a lot of stuff. Especially video game OSTs and Fantasy/Celtic stuff!

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping?No I haven’t, and I think I’m too shy and don’t like my body enough to ever be comfy doing that ^^;;;;;;;

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?Three

31. What position do you usually sleep in?I’m usually on my side or stomach, and I’m pretty much always hugging a pillow or plushie when I fall asleep

32. How big is your house?Well, my mom’s house is bigger than my dad’s. That said, neither are very large really… My mom and I keep saying how we wish this house had more closet and storage space… And at my dad’s, my room isn’t even attached to the house lol. My brother took my old room, so I now have the small mini-house thing right next to the pool. It’s got a bathroom, a counter for a microwave by the door, and a small bedroom. I like the privacy it has though!

33. What do you typically have for breakfast?Sadly, I often skip breakfast because I rarely wake up before noon lol. When I do have breakfast though, it’s either a bowl of cereal or a bagel with cream cheese

34. Have you ever fired a gun?No I have not

35. Have you ever tried archery?No, but I want to so baaaaaaaaaaaad~!!

36. Favorite clean word?solely because of my bro saying it in a ridiculous voice, biscuit

37. Favorite swear word?Fuck, because it’s the one I use the most lol

38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep?Over 48 hours. I had three final projects due, two of which I had to paint, so I stated up two days straight to finish them, and didn’t even fall asleep before going to school. That said, I don’t remember how late I stayed up including class, but due to class time, it was probably another five or seven hours… And it was misery. 0/10, would never recommend

39. Do you have any scars?I do have a small one next to my left eye from when I got bit by a dog when I was five, which was the cause of the hospital visit mentioned a while back

40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?umm……not that I recall, no

41. Are you a good liar?It depends. Sometimes I can be, but sometimes it’s easy to catch me. That said, I don’t like doing it

42. Are you a good judge of character?Not sure, honestly -shrugs- I like to assume I am, tho

43. Can you do any other accents other than your own?I can try, but they probably sound horrible XD

44. Do you have a strong accent?I was once told that I had a southern accent, but I’m not exactly sure. Sometimes I may slip into an exaggerated one, tho

45. What is your favorite accent?I’m a fan of a lot of accents, but I’ve always had a weakness for Australian! Probably because I grew up watching Steve Irwin all the time so I developed an early fondness for it lol

46. What is your personality type?INFP

47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing?I’m not sure, to be honest. I tend to be satisfied with “cheap” clothes, like at walmart or somethin’, so I’m not sure…. If I had to guess…it’s probably my Organization XIII coat

48. Can you curl your tongue?yurp

49. Are you an innie or an outie?Innie

50. Left or right handed?Rightie

51. Are you scared of spiders?Hell yes >~unless they’re spiders in pokemon, which always tend to be my favorite bug types for some reason lolol

52. Favorite food?shit, I dunno, I like a lot of foods….. I’ll just say pasta and be general about it lol

53. Favorite foreign food?dude I fuckin’ love me some mochi~

54. Are you a clean or messy person?Very clean when it comes to organizing files. Very messy otherwise

55. Most used phrased?Lately for some reason I’ve been saying “Oh dear” a lot and I have no idea why XD

56. Most used word?probably fuck

57. How long does it take for you to get ready?On average, to get ready in the morning takes me about half an hour, and most of that time is spent waking up =_=

58. Do you have much of an ego?I have no ego whatsoever. I could honestly use more of one, even just a small one to give myself at least a little confidence lol

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops?I try to just suck, but I tend to bite :/

60. Do you talk to yourself?always

61. Do you sing to yourself?sometimes, if no one is around to hear me >->

62. Are you a good singer?not at all lol

63. Biggest Fear?honestly, being disliked. I know I shouldn’t worry about what people think of me, but I do worry about people close to me finding me annoying or coming to dislike me for some reason.

64. Are you a gossip?nope

65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen?Either Gran Torino or Forrest Gump

66. Do you like long or short hair?On myself? I used to always keep my hair very long, and just recently decided to try shorter hair. And I actually really like it on myself! In general though, I’m good with anything~ You do you~

67. Can you name all 50 states of America?yup. I don’t feel like listing them all, if that’s what you’re asking, but I do know that one song that lists them in alphabetical order, so yup

68. Favorite school subject?hmmm…. In school, I tended to like math best, since I was pretty good at it

69. Extrovert or Introvert?I am without a doubt an Introvert

70. Have you ever been scuba diving?nope

71. What makes you nervous?everything. My anxiety has me in a nearly constant state of nervousness lol But especially being in social situations that involve talking to strangers!!

72. Are you scared of the dark?hmmm….. I mean, I can sleep in the dark if needed, but I prefer having some sort of background noise, usually a TV

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?Depends on the mistake. If it’s a typo, then no. If it’s a pokemon type advantage or something like that, hell yes.

74. Are you ticklish?uhhhh;;;;;;;; yeah, I am, but I highly recommend against it, cuz I have kicked people in response before out of reflex >-> that and I’d just rather not be tickled plz >->;;;;;;

75. Have you ever started a rumor?nope

76. Have you ever been in a position of authority?no, and I don’t want to be! I’d rather be a follower than a leader!!

77. Have you ever drank underage?nuh-uh

78. Have you ever done drugs?no

79. Who was your first real crush?umm………I cannot remember, honestly…

80. How many piercings do you have?none

81. Can you roll your Rs?no, but I tried so hard to before… and my family rubbed it in that they could and I can’t so fuck :c

82. How fast can you type?I just took a quick test and averaged at about 40 WPM. Not sure how fast that is lol

83. How fast can you run?not very

84. What color is your hair?Naturally dark brown, but I like coloring the ends! So far I’ve done green and a sort of minty aqua, and I’m thinking of doing a light violet next, but I’m not sure yet

85. What color is your eyes?Hazel

86. What are you allergic to?nothing that I’m aware of

87. Do you keep a journal?nope

88. What do your parents do?My mom is a middle school teacher, and my dad does some sort of IT work

89. Do you like your age?well, I have no qualms with being 24. I just don’t feel like I am is all, lol

90. What makes you angry?Cruelty and unfairness

91. Do you like your own name?Yup~

92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they?I did at one point, but I’ve forgotten them by now lol I’ll give it more serious thought if the time comes around

93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child?I honestly have no preference

94. What are you strengths?I tend to be open-minded and empathetic, so I can understand others pretty well

95. What are your weaknesses?My anxiety and low self-esteem are not helpful lol

96. How did you get your name?……I honestly don’t know. I think my parents just liked the name lol

97. Were your ancestors royalty?not that I’m aware of

98. Do you have any scars?wasn’t this asked before…? -scrolls up- ….yup, number 39. Oh well, I’ll copy and paste it~ I do have a small one next to my left eye from when I got bit by a dog when I was five, which was the cause of the hospital visit mentioned a while back

99. Color of your bedspread?My sheets have a black and white pattern on the front, and a solid light green on the other side. Same for the pillows. The other sheets are white with a grey pattern

100. Color of your room? My walls are a beige color, and I have a hardwood floor

[ddrkirbyisq]

Aaand we're back!  I was out all last week for a trip to Asia with my best friend and am finally posting about it now.  Since I've been back it's been a quite strange mix of fast and slow, with the days both rushing by quickly yet also seeming to drag on at times.  The flow of time has been really strange for me this week as I'm dealing with some jetlag and some of the strangest sleeping hours I've had in recent history (sleeping from 3-10....PM).  I've had some times when I crashed in the afternoon and set an alarm for one or a couple hours later, only to end up snoozing it a billion times.

I've got Friday off work this week, which is nice, though it also contributes to feeling that the flow of time is weird -- did a week really pass?  I've had what feels like some "extra days", especially after sleeping from 3-10PM and waking up and having so much extra time at night, yet somehow the week still passed by relatively quickly.  Thankfully, I've been able to start catching up on various things, such as putting away all of the things that I bought on the trip and even running some errands including a trip to the DMV (yay..........).  Physically I am still definitely recovering though -- I don't have the strongest constitution and the trip definitely got me a bit sick.

Anyways, enough about all that -- I know you're all here for the photos anyways!  This was a ~10-day trip to Asia, first stopping by Beijing where my friend was visiting family, and then to Tokyo where we met up and stayed with another friend (with a side trip to the Hakone area for hot springs).

I'll admit I'm not usually a huge photo-taker (anymore?) but I tried to be good about snapping some every so often.  Even if I don't actually end up looking at them later, I've found that they're at least good for showing to other people, and for recounting some various things that happened (e.g. for this post itself).  I took more photos than just the ones below, of course, but somehow I'm feeling like it's better to just post the more relevant ones rather than dump a whole bunch at you guys.  Well, let's get to it...

Beijing was like an weird mix of SF and Tokyo, though the smaller and more old-fashioned streets were a bit unique in their own.  Whenever I travel I'm always a little struck by how nice the trees and foliage are, I think it's because the areas I frequent here in California don't really have that much of that.

We saw some stray meowmies, and even got to pet and play with a meowmie at the tea house we went to, which was really nice :3

Sitting and having tea at the teahouse was a pretty cool experience, not really because the tea was amazing (though it was quite nice), but because of the atmosphere.  Time seemed to flow differently, I'm not so sure it was the place itself but more just the circumstances...It's almost never that I just sit around letting time pass by so freely without really a care as to what I need to do next.  Thinking about that was a bit elucidating for me, I think. Speaking of tea, I used to be super into white tea but currently am pretty into grain-based flavors, like genmaicha and barley or buckwheat tea.

The air quality was actually not too bad, or at least not bad enough to bother me noticeably, though of course I ended up getting a bit sick at some point over the course of the trip (not surprising really, but it wasn't terrible thankfully).  Around the airport area it was quite bad though, enough to bother me -- couldn't tell whether it was just that area or maybe just the construction they were doing in the airport itself.

The food we had was quite tasty!  The mapo tofu and other sichuan-style dishes were really yummy, and the pork belly + mustard greens were really great too, and of course the Peking duck.  It wasn't wholly different from Chinese food back here in CA though, so it's sort of nice knowing that I'm not really missing out on all too much when I'm at home either.

I'm not a huge fan of la zi ji (sichuan style spicy chicken -- which basically just looks like a plate of dried chili peppers), but gotta have it while I'm here right?  Definitely had a lot of sichuan peppercorn numbing flavor...

We spent a day walking around the Summer Palace, which is an imperial garden with a bunch of trees and lakes and really old buildings.  Some parts were nice, others were more crowded with tourists.

The weather was nice for the most part on our trip, but we got hit by one or two unexpected rainy days, which I definitely had not packed for.  Fortunately it worked out OK in terms of the timing and the weather at the Summer Palace was quite nice.

Lots of red and gold and green everywhere -- and all the ceilings had fancy designs like these.

Lots of water rock formations everywhere...

Some pretty flowers.

Some of them looked quite nice!

Lots of these long corridor-like walkways, too.

More flowers...

Gold-colored roofs...

Got to try some candied Bingtanghulu (candied hawthorn).

Lots of extra high bridges over the water too.

Suzhou street, a shopping street with river running through it.

Having some homemade zha jiang mian, a common beijing dish made of noodles topped with ground meat and fermented soybean paste, along with various veggies.

Cow followed us on the trip!  Was borrowing him from a friend to use as a pillow pet.

Of course Hello Kitty shows up in Asia all over the place.  Here she is as some sort of robot in the Beijing airport...

Sometimes the simple food is the best.  This bowl of porridge we got at the airport really hit the spot...

Finally off from Beijing and taking the air to fly to Tokyo!  I noticed that there were all these green-colored areas that we could see from the air, wondered what they were.  Maybe tarps to cover the dirt?

Cow~

It was cold and raining when we landed in Tokyo...luckily our friend was so gracious to meet us at the station with some umbrellas, and they also had a kotatsu at their place :O  We were really in their debt for much of the latter half of our trip...

Tsukemen dipping noodles!  We have them here in the states as well but I don't think I've ever gotten them before.

Putting Little Twin Stars on your product is a surefire way to get me to buy it.  These cookies were yummy~

We were in time to catch the tail end of the Sakuras blooming, though we had missed peak viewing time.  Still, it was nice to finally get to see these famous ephemeral flowers that is such a big deal in Japan's culture.

Potato corn dog!  It's like eating a corn dog and some french fries at the same time...definitely much better than your average corn dog.

While in Tokyo we mainly went around the Harajuku/Shibuya area, filled with a lot of shops and fashion establishments, both upscale malls and more hole-in-the wall places alike.  There were also a bunch of just...very interesting places, including this place with a whole bunch of bath bombs arranged in a mesmerizing display.  It really felt more like an art installation than anything else.  Lots of tourists and foreigners around these areas too, which is unsurprising.

One of the more fun things we got to do was go to Harry hedgehog cafe in Harajuku -- where you get to pet live hedgehogs!!!

They are apparently nocturnal, so a lot of them were kind of just sleeping or dozing around.  They just look like fat hairy blobs!

We had a more active one that we played with a lot.  Here it is drinking some water...they give you some little mealworms to feed to the hedgehogs too :3  So cute...

The other one was sort of just sleeping there for the most part...

You wear gloves to pick them up and play with them!  They were really fun <3

Some more of them just sleeping together in the corner.

Such good product marketing...we of course bought one of these little plushies to take home with us.

Here we are in the top floor of Kiddy Land -- a place I've been to all 3 times I've been to Japan now!  They've got the Sanrio/San-X goods on the top floor of Kiddy Land, as well as other various things on the other floors (Ghibli/Disney/Marvel/Peanuts)

We also got to check out the "Kawaii Monster Cafe", which definitely feels like something you wouldn't see anywhere other than Japan.  It was pretty interesting seeing this end of the broad "kawaii" spectrum.

Sort of a creepy + cute vibe all around.

The food was super interesting, especially this dish, which looks disgusting but actually tasted not too bad.  It was like a sort of beef curry with rice, and the pink frosting-looking thing is some cheese-based sauce.  The mysterious red candy balls are actually quail eggs!!!  Was so impressed by that...

I also got to try some monjayaki for the first time!  It's kind of like okonomiyaki, except with more of a watery broth, so it's more runny.  You spread the raw ingredients around on the grill and then pour in the broth, which sort of thickens as it heats up from the heat.  It ends up looking.......like barf, really.  Not the most appetizing thing, but tastes quite alright despite that, lol.

Some more close up photos of the sakura.

Now just imagine that all of them were still pink lol.

Apparently Sanrio was doing a collaboration with It's Demo, a sort of fashion/convenience store.  This is a beautiful Pochacco design!  The best I've ever seen out of this pup.  Real props to whoever did the designs for this.  It's super refreshing to see that this sort of aesthetic is still going strong over there in Japan, even though it has basically disappeared from the US -- you can only really find these things online now or maybe at Kinokuniya / Maido-type stores, and even then, you don't see such great stuff. Ah, really, that is one of the greatest things about being over there in Tokyo -- such great aesthetics.  So many pretty people and cute things, great designs and good fashion.  Definitely something I miss every time when I have to leave.

While we were in Hakone we took a side trip to the Petit Prince museum!

Some more sakura at the Little Prince museum.

They had lots of little quaint pretend building setups like this one.

Along with figures of the titular character.

Some japanese explanations of some things from the story.

The fox that the prince befriends by "taming".

A pretty cute place!  It was fun to go through, though also definitely made me a bit sad.

Last time we stayed at a ryokan we had traditional new year's food (Osechi ryori) which was....sort of weird.  This time we had more of a standard kaiseki dinner which was much more tasty!  Had so many different foods (more than what is in this photo, this is just the first set), including some really fatty steak, sushi, pickles and rice, sake, fish, miso soup with clams, soba noodles, tofu, and more.

Window leading out to the balcony of our room.

Private bath out on the balcony of our room, which had a view overlooking the river.  Of course, I couldn't really take a photo of the public baths for.....obvious reasons.

Same window, in daylight this time.

More awesome food, this time for breakfast.  Don't know if I've ever had such a fully-featured breakfast lol, goodness.  Had everything from soba, grilled fish, miso dengaku egglant, tamagoyaki, fruits, more rice and pickles, sushi, ...

Nice aesthetic in the other room...

We decided to write something sort of silly in the guestbook lol.

The rest of the Hakone area was very pretty, lots of river scenery with many trees growing all over the hillsides.

We even got to see a glimpse of Mt. Fuji in the distance while we were taking the train back to Tokyo (didn't notice until the group of westerners on the car all stood up and started snapping a whole bunch of photos omg)

Closer look at the Sanrio x It's Demo collaboration -- ended up going there and buying a keychain :)

Finally made it to Takeshita Dori, the sort of "main" fashion street in Harajuku!  It was WAY more crowded this time, dunno if it's just gotten more crowded over the years or maybe we had gone during a weekday last time (it was a Saturday this time).  It was packed with people but not actually too bad.  Many of the shops were super cramped (in terms of the amount of space there) though, nothing like the La Foret mall we had gone through which was more in the Shibuya direction.

Of course no visit to Harajuku is complete without some yummy crepes from one of the famous crepe places!  Mine had banana, nutella, and of course an exorbant amount of cream...

Made it to Sanrio Vivitix in Harajuku, which had quite a great amount of stuff that I ended up buying, including a bunch of Sanrio shirts/tops (!) and a whole bunch of really nice Cinnamoroll merchandise.  Yay Cinnamon!~

Put in all my votes for the Little Twin Stars!  Pom pom purin was actually the most popular character at this store -- kind of interesting to see him making such a comeback, as he was also featured in Sanrio Danshi (which I still have not finished watching lol).  Though it may also be because the Pom pom purin cafe is on the upper floor of the same building...

Here's the Pom pom purin cafe!  Didn't actually eat anything here unfortunately -- had other things I wanted to get to, and not the hugest fan of Pom pom purin, but he is definitely cute!

Looks really nice :)

Went back to Kiddy Land to see if there was any more stuff we wanted to get, haha.

Just look at these Cinnamoroll designs!!!  Gah!  Miyuki Okumura is the designer and character illustrator for Cinnamoroll and she really does a great job.  She is the designer for Wish Me Mell too!

More collaboration stuff -- this time Little Twin Stars x Gintama.

Eating some yummy sushi after another day of shopping!  Last time in Japan we had some amazing sushi at one of the big name places in Tsukiji fish market, but this time just had some at a place in Harajuku.  Like with Beijing, it's sort of nice knowing that the sushi over here in CA isn't super far off from what is in Tokyo.  Which is not to say that it wasn't good, of course :)

Yay shopping~

Had some very yummy fluffy pancakes as well before getting ready to leave :)

Some food from the grocery market too :)

The haul of all the stuff I got :D  Lots of clothes, including some interesting (and expensive!) stuff that I didn't expect to bring back, but am very glad I found -- I'm always craving more good Asian styles for my fashion, so I'm super happy to have brought back some nice clothing in my haul, since it's so hard (basically impossible) to find over here in the states.  Also a metric ton of stationery, a bunch of assorted cute things, a nice water bottle, and some other random odds and ends.  Success! Assorted thoughts on the trip overall... - Being in Tokyo was super nice.  I could never live in Asia I don't think, because of a lot of things, but there are things about Japan and Tokyo that I definitely appreciate a lot.  I already mentioned the aesthetic and good design sense, and of course public transit is awesome, but also just the efficiency of everything is great.  If I was there for too long I would probably just feel like a cog in a machine, but for a short bit it was certainly nice. - I did alright overall with nausea and airsickness...my flight over there was relatively fine, but I didn't end up catching any sleep on the way back, so I was pretty tired and fatigued, ugh. - Having an epipen on me definitely made me feel a lot safer about eating things.  I luckily didn't end up having to use it for anything -- caught quite a few things with disciplined awareness and care -- but it's something I definitely will always have for any future overseas trip. (not such a big deal for here in the states) - The experience involved quite a bit of ups and downs, but was smooth overall.  I got stressed out a few times though.  Nothing new really, just the same old types of things.  I don't think there is any way to really improve at it except by trying again and again, and perhaps sucking a bit less every time. - Came back from the trip overall with some assorted thoughts on people and life.  Nothing revolutionary, nothing mindblowing, just some refreshed perspective. - I actually got some nice chunks of work done on Rhythm Quest done during the flights and some of the downtime lol.  I guess I really do decompress by.....doing more work.....sigh. - Traveling with a wifi hotspot was infinitely easier than the past two trips where we traveled completely offline lol, especially when it came to trying to meet up with people who were also traveling, yeesh.  Traveling offline is definitely more than possible, but maybe there's not really a good reason to do it anymore. Since coming home I've been up to a variety of different things, including work, putting away all the stuff that I bought, reorganizing my wardrobe, running some various errands, One Hour Compo, playing Risk of Rain 2 (has been fun so far!), etc.  I also reorganized and revamped my soundfont collection and converted quite a bit of them into .wav files (much easier to work with) so it should be much easier to make SNES-styled music in the future -- I'd like to try to make an album like "SNESQUE" at some point.  Cooking at home again has been lovely, as well as simply just being home in general.  It was a good trip but I definitely was excited to be back.  This Saturday I'm hosting a little celebration for 30 -- side note, I went over to disable timeline posting only to find that it was already disabled since last year lol.  Should be fun! Until next time...