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makeste · 3 years ago

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BnHA Chapter 338: My Little Babies off to Destroy People

Previously on BnHA: Aoyama was all “hey everyone, I am so sorry but I am in fact the U.A. Traitor.” Deku was all, “yeah, in hindsight I probably should have figured it out from that ominous message you sent me a while back which was written entirely in cheese and which you somehow tried to pass off as completely normal.” Aoyama was all, “yeah, that definitely was not normal at all. I’m really surprised you just took me at my word about that, actually.” Class 1-A was all, “we’re here and we’re desperately trying to process literally anything about this entire conversation, but let us tell you, it’s a losing battle right now.” Deku was all, “but anyways Aoyama you can still be a hero and I will tell you exactly how... next week after this cliffhanger.”

Today on BnHA: Naomasa is all “kids, I’m loving the supportive vibes you’ve all got going on here, but just a friendly reminder that this kid has committed several gravely serious crimes.” Iida is all, “you know what Aoyama, that’s our bad for not realizing how much you were suffering on account of feeling guilty for horribly betraying us all.” Kirishima is all “AOYAMA I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU THOUGHT WE’D BE MAD AT YOU FOR NEARLY GETTING US ALL KILLED ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS.” Aizawa is all “Mic, hold me up properly so that everyone can see my handsome face. Everyone, I propose that we use Aoyama to set up a trap for AFO.” Everyone is all “FUCK YEAH, I FUCKING HATE AFO, FUCK THAT GUY!!” Horikoshi is all, “anyway so Deku needs a new costume upgrade again, and you know what that means.” Fandom is all, “( ⁍᷄⌢̻⁍᷅ ).” Horikoshi is all, “(•̀ᴗ•́).” Fandom is all, “(ᵕ̣̣̣̣̣̣_ᵕ̣̣̣̣̣̣).” Horikoshi is all, “lol. boobs.”

well that threw me for a brief loop with RHA (apparently?) being down. guess that’s what happens when you brazenly slap the site name on literally every single page of the scanlation every single week for months on end lol. anyway so the cycle of piracy continues

Aoyama is actually so pretty on this cover page though

since when did Horikoshi start adding soft little curls to the ends of his bangs. usually his hair looks like it was baked in a silicon mold and then glued directly onto his head lol

also gotta love how this chapter is apparently a Part One Of Something, with Horikoshi presumably knowing FULL WELL that the timing would coincide with the first of WSJ’s two annual year-end holiday breaks. this fucking guy I s2g

(ETA: I don’t know whether the non-cliffhanger we actually got is better or worse than what I was expecting lol.)

um, wtf

??? ??????

LMAO

“hey Deku, idk if you noticed but this motherfucker is TIED THE FUCK UP, so reaching out towards him all symbolically seems kind of weird and cryptic at best and openly taunting at worst. not gonna judge you or anything but I’m not really sure exactly what you were thinking there”

well you see Nao, what he was actually thinking was, “I can’t believe Horikoshi is drawing me doing this and has completely forgotten that Aoyama is tied up, and once he realizes it’s already going to be too late and it’s gonna keep him up at night for the better part of the following week.” and he will immediately have to devote several panels in the following chapter to his hasty lampshading job smdh

and meanwhile what the fuck did you gag him for lol. care to explain that part? I don’t know what the fuck has gotten into Naomasa these last few months of 2021, but this man’s fucks are GONE. VAMOOSED. and I am living for it you guys

oh shit lol. so Nao is all “hey Deku, maybe don’t jump right in and start making this kid promises right when we are about to take him to jail and charge him with 39 counts of attempted murder.” huh. this legit did not even occur to me. I just straight up accepted that Deku is making all the rules now and outranks this police captain or whatever he is lol

anyway Nao, quit being a narc, man. just be cool bro

“what’s more, what if he is rigged to blow up like Nagant after all??” -- BUT YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SAID -- I MEAN --

“anyway so it’s not wise to let him talk anymore” wow okay. maybe his fucks aren’t gone yet after all. I liked it better when they were ngl

(ETA: and meanwhile he doesn’t do shit to the parents lol. I fully believe Horikoshi just needed some sort of excuse to stop Aoyama from interrupting the dialogue with tearful apologies this week so the rest of them could talk business.)

wait what??

this can’t actually be true, can it? you’re telling me AFO was so fucking arrogant that he couldn’t conceive of a situation where his mole at U.A. might come across some vital info that they might urgently need to communicate to him regardless of whether he asked or not? or did he just not trust Yuuga and his parents enough to give them a means of contacting him? maybe he didn’t want to risk this exact kind of situation and potentially give the heroes a way to track him down

“yes, it’s actually that second thing you just said” well okay then lol

anyway so now it’s looking like Deku is just gonna blurt out his secret plan right here and now regardless of what Nao says lol. BUT LOOK AT THIS THOUGH OMG??

KAMINARI “DON’T FORGET, I ACTUALLY PASSED THE SUPER-DIFFICULT ENTRANCE EXAM TO GET INTO JAPAN’S MOST ELITE HERO SCHOOL TOO YOU GUYS” DENKI OUT HERE BEING ALL SMART AND FIGURING OUT WHAT DEKU IS UP TO YOU LOVE TO SEE IT!! SOMEONE SEND A TESTIMONIAL TO AIZAWA SO DENKI CAN GET EXTRA CREDIT ON HIS NEXT ASSIGNMENT

(ETA: AIZAWA WAS THERE ALL ALONG!! AND NOT ONLY DID HE NOT GIVE HIM CREDIT, BUT HE FUCKING STOLE HIS IDEA LMAO.)

OMG HE EVEN FIGURED IT OUT BEFORE MOMO???

“that’s right bitches. while you were out fighting crime and developing flashy new supermoves this past month, I was sprawled out on the couch binging spy thriller dramas on my phone.” fuck yeah boy that’s how you do it!!

dfskjalgk

“um okay but just as a reminder HE TRIED TO KILL YOU GUYS.” yes, but look at him though! he’s all crying and stuff!! HAVE A HEART MIC. ALSO, WHERE THE HELL HAS YOUR BOYFRIEND GOTTEN TO?? YOU COULD AT LEAST PUT THE GUY ON SPEAKERPHONE, CHRIST

(ETA: I withdraw my objection lol.)

ffdjlskfjkl

like just to be clear, I’m in full agreement with what Iida just said. but at the same time, the way he just casually dismisses an entire year of espionage that led to two full-blown assaults on their class as “bygones” is sending me all the way down the fucking block lol

-- okay Iida but this is pushing it even for shounen lmao

“if you think about it from a certain point of view, the fact that Aoyama’s parents bought a quirk from AFO, and AFO subsequently blackmailed them into doing his bidding, and Aoyama spent the past year spying on us and nearly got us all killed on two separate occasions, is kind of our own fault actually” IIDA WHAT

oh my god he’s so brave and determined and loyal and responsible and I love him so much but I’m still not even 10% over that absurd leap of logic in the previous panel dsflkjl

this fucking kid. and your hair suddenly got all pretty too! did you all suddenly change up your conditioner game or what

okay I know I’m always joking about Iida being forty years old, but also, WHEN THE HELL DID IIDA TENYA BECOME A FULL GROWN MAN YOU GUYS

WHEN DID EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF CLASS 1-A BECOME A FULL FUCKING GROWNASS ADULT EXUDING ALL THIS CALM FUCKING AUTHORITY YOU GUYS. THEY GROW UP SO FAST. OMG

AND MEANWHILE, THERE’S THE ANGRY KATSUKI TIRADE I WAS WAITING FOR LAST WEEK LOL. DELAYED REACTION THERE OR WHAT

you little shithead, you already gave up the game last week when you were standing there all calm and remorseful and reflecting on how society treats quirkless people. but now that everyone else is puffing up their chests and giving big shounen forgiveness speeches, you’re suddenly all “holy shit it’s been almost five minutes since I last spouted some random tough guy bullshit, I better get on that quick before they all start thinking I’ve mellowed out.” god forbid, lol

so now Kirishima’s shouting at Aoyama that he has a chance to break free of AFO now

I mean as far as I can tell nothing has actually changed at all with regard to the amount of danger Aoyama is still in. like if anything this is just gonna make things 50x more dangerous. still, it’s a nice sentiment

oof

“do you really think any one of us would blame someone for being quirkless” while Katsuki is standing right there. “do you really think we’d blame someone for suppressing their angst and keeping it a secret from all of us until they can’t take it anymore and run away from home to be an emo vigilante” while Deku is standing right fucking there. jesus christ Kirishima who are you going to come for next, guy??

at what point does it actually become cruel to keep shouting all this stuff at him while he’s still sitting there all tied up and gagged lol

oh Yuuga. I want to give you a hug so bad

so now Nao is once again all “that’s really great that you guys are all so forgiving but I still have to take them to jail for the attempted murder” sigh

OH MY GOD MIC, GET THERE FASTER

the plan is to take advantage of the fact that AFO wanted Aoyama to lure Deku away somewhere on his own, and use that to set a trap for AFO and/or whoever else shows up to capture him. do we really have to spell it out for you?? Kaminari figured it out in like two seconds. Bakugou figured it out LAST WEEK. if you call up Aizawa right now, which you really ought to do btw, he will also figure it out within 30 seconds of picking up the phone. why don’t you go ahead and do that. have him explain it to you

WELL OKAY THEN LOL

FDSLFKJL I SCROLLED BACK UP TO REREAD THE TWO PREVIOUS PANELS AND IT WAS ACTUALLY SPEAKER-PHONE AIZAWA ASKING DEKU IF HE HAD A PLAN LOL I’M SO OBSERVANT. IN MY DEFENSE, AT LEAST I’VE NEVER TRIED TO DRAW AN INSPIRING PAGE WITH SOMEONE REACHING OUT TO SOMEONE ELSE WHILE FORGETTING THE OTHER PERSON WAS TIED TO A CHAIR

LOL

SOMEWHERE ON THE U.A. CAMPUS, THE ENTIRETY OF CLASS 2-A SUDDENLY SITS UP STRAIGHT, UNABLE TO SHAKE THE VAGUE BUT PERSISTENT FEELING THAT SOME ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT IS GOING DOWN RIGHT NOW

ACTUALLY YOU KNOW WHAT WE’RE GONNA PRESS PAUSE HERE FOR A SEC BECAUSE THIS DESERVES FURTHER EXAMINATION

THINGS CLASS 1-A IS ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH WITHOUT BEING EXPELLED FOR

COMING IN LAST PLACE IN AIZAWA’S BS ~LOGICAL RUSE~ DAY ONE QUIRK APPREHENSION TEST

CALLING YOUR FELLOW COMPETITORS “STEPPING STONES” AND PROCLAIMING YOU’RE GOING TO BE NUMBER ONE IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WHEN YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE RECITING THE U.A. ATHLETE’S OATH

HUNTING DOWN A SERIAL KILLER WITH THE INTENT OF REVENGE-MURDERING HIM AND NEEDING TO BE REELED IN BY YOUR FELLOW CLASSMATES AND ALL THREE OF YOU ALMOST GETTING YOURSELVES KILLED WHEN YOU DIDN’T EVEN HAVE PROVISIONAL LICENSES

HUNTING DOWN MORE SERIAL KILLERS WITH THE INTENT OF SAVING YOUR KIDNAPPED CLASSMATE EVEN THOUGH YOU KNEW THE TOP HEROES IN THE COUNTRY WERE ALREADY MOUNTING A RESCUE OP

KEEPING QUIET WHILE YOUR FELLOW CLASSMATES HUNTED DOWN ALL THESE SERIAL KILLERS

SNEAKING OUT OF THE DORMS IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT TO HAVE A WILD THROWDOWN WITH YOUR EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED CLASSMATE AND DESTROYING A PERFECTLY GOOD TRAINING GROUND IN THE PROCESS

BEING MINETA. JUST IN GENERAL

BATTLING TWO VILLAINS ALL ON YOUR OWN AND THEN STRAIGHT UP LYING TO THE TEACHERS ABOUT IT JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T WANT YOUR SCHOOL CONCERT TO BE CANCELLED

STRAIGHT UP QUITTING SCHOOL ALTOGETHER TO EMBARK ON A 20-CHAPTER RAMPAGE CONSISTING OF, YOU GUESSED IT, HUNTING DOWN YET MORE SERIAL KILLERS

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, BETRAYING YOUR CLASSMATES TO THE VILLAINS ON NOT ONE BUT TWO OCCASIONS WHICH RESULTED IN (1) THEIR NEAR-DEATHS, (2) THE FALL OF ALL MIGHT, AND (3) THE SUBSEQUENT DEATH-BY-A-THOUSAND-CUTS OF SOCIETY AS WE KNOW IT

QUITE AN IMPRESSIVE LIST. AND BEFORE YOU POINT IT OUT, I’M AWARE THAT AIZAWA TECHNICALLY WASN’T AWARE OF A COUPLE OF THESE INCIDENTS, BUT I ALSO FEEL LIKE IT REALLY WASN’T TOO HARD TO PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER BASED ON WHAT HE DID KNOW. ANYWAYS, BUT MEANWHILE,

THINGS CLASS 2-A IS NOT ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH WITHOUT BEING EXPELLED FOR

EXISTING

“WE SEE HOW IT IS” OH MY GOD. SOMEONE GET SOME JUSTICE FOR THESE POOR FUCKING KIDS. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT,” AIZAWA SAYS WHILE TAKING NONCHALANT SIPS FROM A CLASS 1-A LIMITED EDITION COFFEE MUG. “I’VE NEVER PLAYED FAVORITES IN MY LIFE” HE INSISTS AS HE PETS HIS CAT SUSHI WHO IS WEARING A LIL SWEATER THAT READS “CLASS 1-A SUPREMACY”

lol but anyways, so now Aizawa is telling everyone that he’s devised a cunning plan. and everyone’s standing there looking all serious and stuff

oh my god you did not just

did this man seriously just steal Kaminari’s suggestion and act like he came up with it all on his own lmao. “sure, when I say we should use Aoyama as a triple agent in order to lure AFO into a trap, everyone just fucking ignores me. but when Aizawa-sensei says it, everyone acts all stunned and the principal is all ‘that’s the best fucking idea I’ve ever heard.’” why does it feel like we are bearing witness to Kaminari Denki’s villain origin story here

meanwhile Horikoshi pats himself on the back for so deftly leaving us all in “suspense” here wondering what the heroes are planning. “sometimes I amaze even myself” lol okay buddy

DKLSFKJSLGK

so just like that we’re back on the honor system, huh. “I mean it you guys. pinky swear, 1000 needles, etc.” man y’all are damned lucky it doesn’t look like that Hagakure backup traitor thing is gonna pan out lol

anyway so now we’re cutting back to the dorm and everyone is just kind of hanging out morosely in the common room while Kacchan takes out the recycling because he’s a grownass responsible adult now too, but like hell is he ever gonna own up to it

-- NO!!

INTERVENTION!! SIT THESE MOTHERFUCKERS BACK DOWN!! WHY DO Y’ALL WANNA FUCK WITH THIS BEAUTIFUL THING WE HAD GOING ON GODDAMMIT. WHY CAN’T DEKU JUST FIGHT AFO IN HIS FUCKING SWEATPANTS HUH. WHO SAYS NO

OH MY GOD THEY ALL JUST SUDDENLY GOT FUCKING FIERCE IN UNISON ON CUE

IS THAT WHY AIZAWA DIDN’T WANT TO EXPEL THEM?? HE WAS TOO SCARED?? YOU LET THEM BECOME TOO POWERFUL SHOUTA OMG

TODOROKI FULLY BACK IN “FIGHTING WITHOUT THE SOLES OF YOUR FEET WILL BE DIFFICULT” MURDER MODE!

KATSUKI ACTUALLY ALWAYS LOOKS LIKE THAT LOL

WOULD YOU FUCK WITH OCHAKO?? I SURE WOULDN’T. IF YOU SAY YOU WOULD YOU’RE A LIAR

OJIRO IS TRYING SO HARD GOD BLESS HIM

DID YOU GUYS KNOW THAT MINA COULD BE TERRIFYING?? DID YOU KNOW SHE COULD FULLY CHANNEL ALL MIGHT’S VILLAIN-PUMMELING “FUCK YOU AFO” VIBES AND TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF HER OWN BLACK SCLERA LIKE THAT?? THIS IS A REVELATION TO ME

TOKOYAMI HAS THE SAME PROBLEM KACCHAN HAS, WHERE WE’RE ALREADY DESENSITIZED TO HIS EXPRESSION BECAUSE HE ALWAYS LOOKS LIKE THAT. CONGRATULATIONS SONS, YOU PLAYED YOURSELVES

IF JIROU EVER LOOKED AT ME LIKE THAT I WOULD FUCKING SCREAM AND RUN AWAY

FOR ALL HIS TALK ABOUT PEOPLE FINDING HIM SCARY, SHOUJI HAS NEVER REALLY ACTUALLY BEEN THAT SCARY THOUGH. UNTIL NOW

SATOU WITH THE FUCKING VEIN THROBBING IN HIS FOREHEAD HOLY SHIT

HOLY CRAP MOMO. WHY ARE THE GIRLS ALL SO GODDAMN TERRIFYING

IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE’VE SEEN DARK IIDA LOL. ALWAYS A CROWD PLEASER

SERO IS 1000% EMULATING KACCHAN HERE. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY A KACCHAN FACE. I MEAN, BUT IT FUCKING WORKS THOUGH

TSUYU JUST LOOKS LIKE SHE’S POUTING AND IT’S COMPLETELY RUINING THE OVERALL EFFECT BUT IT’S OKAY TSUYU

KAMINARI IS MAKING A KACCHAN FACE TOO?? AND WHILE WE’RE AT IT, SO IS KIRISHIMA. DO YOU GUYS FUCKING PRACTICE THIS SHIT

THIS WHOLE ENTIRE VIBE JUST ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT WORK FOR MINETA AT ALL, BUT I RESPECT HORIKOSHI FOR TRYING

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, KOUDA WENT FROM SWEET DISNEY PRINCESS TO PETRIFYING DISNEY VILLAIN IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE. WHAT A TRANSFORMATION. STUNNING

meanwhile poor Hagakure got left out and had to settle for being in the previous panel by herself lol. and obviously Aoyama can’t be here, so that just leaves us with good ol’ Deku. show us your murder face, Deku

OOOOH

THAT’S A GOOD MURDER FACE. OMG. BOY KILLED IT

HORIKOSHI NOOOOO

“COMIC RELIEF CLIFFHANGER??” NO MY GOOD MAN RESIST THE URGE!! STOP GIVING ME THOSE PUPPY DOG EYES YOU LOUT

OH MY FUCKING!!

“COMIC RELIEF CLIFFHANGER!!” NO, GODDAMMIT. DELETE THIS, NEPHEW

LOLLLL

FULL GROWN MAN IIDA HAS ABSCONDED!! “MOMMY COME GET ME, I’M SCARED” IIDA HAS ENTERED THE CHAT!!

AND MEANWHILE DEKU IS ALL “FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON ME. FOOL ME TWICE, YOU CAN’T FOOL ME BECAUSE I WAS BRACED THIS TIME, MOTHERFUCKER.” CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT, I ACTUALLY LAUGHED. BUT MOSTLY JUST BECAUSE THE ABSURDITY OF HOW QUICKLY THIS SERIES CAN TURN ON A DIME JUST GOT TO ME ALL OF A SUDDEN, AND THE EMOTIONAL WHIPLASH FROM “WE’RE READY TO BATTLE THE FINAL VILLAIN TO THE DEATH AFTER LEARNING HOW HE USED OUR OWN CLASSMATE AGAINST US” TO “LOL BOOBIES” WAS SO SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED THAT I DIDN’T REALLY KNOW HOW ELSE TO REACT

AND ALSO BECAUSE I PICTURED HORIKOSHI STOPPING EVERY FIVE MINUTES TO GIGGLE WHILE DRAWING THIS PAGE, AND I THOUGHT TO MYSELF ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SERIES AND HOW MUCH MENTAL ENERGY I DEVOTE TO IT AND HOW MUCH SPACE I HAVE CARVED OUT FOR IT IN MY OWN MENTAL LANDSCAPE, AND THEN IT GOES AND DOES STUFF LIKE THIS, AND I HAVE TO RECKON WITH THE FACT THAT THIS SERIES WHICH I OFTEN REGARD AS ONE OF THE GREATEST SHOUNEN MANGA OF ALL TIME, IS ALSO SOMETIMES JUST INCREDIBLY FUCKING STUPID, TO THE POINT WHERE I HAVE TO WONDER IF IT REALLY IS ALL THAT IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE IN MY HEAD, OR IF I ACTUALLY JUST HAVE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME LOL

anyways so there we are. one more chapter to go in 2021 (for us rogues who don’t wait for the official releases and should thus get the next chapter two weeks from now on the 31st), and then it’s on to the new year, possibly the last year that this series will ever run. what a crazy fucking ride it’s been lol

#bnha 338 #aoyama yuuga #midoriya izuku #kaminari denki #iida tenya #aizawa shouta #class 1-a #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #I actually have no idea how fandom reacted to the last page yet lol #I'm just happy I got this post up before 1am #next day eta: guess whose spell check decided to stop working on words written in all caps!!#til what enhanced spell check is #anyways though now everyone knows my shameful secret #I cannot for the life of me spell the word 'occasion'

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merry-pitchmas · 3 years ago

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Pitchmas 2021

For a record sixth year in a row, it’s time to roll out the red carpet for Pitchmas!!

So, grab your metaphorical glue sticks and pencils, haul out the wrapping paper and let’s get ready to make the season jolly af.

Welcome to the sixth annual Merry Pitchmas Gift Exchange!!

Okay, so... how does this work?

If you would like to take part in the gift exchange, please REPLY to this post. Reblog all you want, but you won’t be included in the draw unless you reply. That’s just the easiest way for me to keep track of people. I’ll let this post circulate until December 1st. After that, I’ll throw all the names into a hat and randomly assign Secret Santas. Once you have your person, feel free to contact them (anonymously - this is supposed to be a secret) and ask any questions about what they might like in a gift. Pairings, favourite tropes, etc. And that brings me to another biggie:

To anyone who wants to take part in this, please change your ask settings to allow anonymous questions!!!

Otherwise, this won’t work. Every year I have quite a few people come to me telling me they can’t ask their giftee questions because of this. That means I have to try to get a hold of them, which slows the process down for everyone and drives me to drink.

So please, even if you’re sure anon asks are allowed, double check that for me, okay?

Posting Date.

You can post your finished pieces starting December 24th. Please don’t post before this. Once the 24th rolls around, you can reveal yourself as your person’s Secret Santa by posting/scheduling your creation on your blog and @/tagging the person. Also, please tag your entry with #merry pitchmas 2021 so that I can find them all and combine them into a master post once everyone has posted.

But I don’t have any money!

You don’t need money for this! No, dear friends, all you need is some time and your imagination. You see, this exchange is all about getting creative. Your gifts can be fanfiction, fanart, gifsets, manips, and anything else that falls under the header of fanworks.

What pairings are accepted?

All pairings are welcome. However, please make a point of contacting your giftee if you aren’t sure which pairings they enjoy.

Also!

If you change your blog name between now and December 24th PLEASE let me know. It’s really, really difficult trying to hunt people down when this happens.

And so, in closing!

This is all about having fun. You know what isn’t fun? Putting time and effort into giving someone a gift, only to not receive one yourself. Every time I’ve done this previously, there have been people who have said yes to taking part who have gotten their gift and then not followed through in giving theirs. Refused to reply to messages and left someone without anything. Luckily, there are some lovely, wonderful people who offer to help out and dedicate even more of their time to coming up with something for those people.

PLEASE DO NOT SAY YES IF YOU AREN’T PLANNING ON HOLDING UP YOUR END OF THIS.

It’s not fair.

If you aren’t going to be able to finish your gift in time, or at all, please let me know. That way I can contact the person you have and let them know it’ll be late or arrange for something else to be done for them.

Which reminds me…

Once again, I’ll be looking for volunteers I can hit up in the event that some people get missed and need replacement gifts. If you’re interested, shoot me a message on this blog. I’ll love you forever.

Remember!

This is all about having fun!! I started this so that everyone could have a good time in the fandom around the holiday season. So that people who may be headed towards a rough holiday season or who might not get gifts elsewhere will have something to look forward to and something to work on during what can either be a really great or really tough time of the year.

TL;DR:

Reply to this post to take part. Reblogs will not be included.

December 1st is the cut off date.

Posting date is December 24th - not a day before!

You don’t need money to take part - just a dash of creativity and the drive to want to do something.

Manips, videos, fanfic, and comics are just a few examples of the things you can do!

All pairings are welcome, but I strongly encourage all participants to ANONYMOUSLY message the person they have to ask questions about which they prefer.

If you change your name between now and the posting date, please send me a message to let me know. It takes a lot of time to track people down otherwise.

Please don’t leave someone hanging. If you have no intention of doing anything and just want someone to do something for you, don’t reply. It’s not fair.

HAVE FUN.

See you all soon!

~Red

#merry pitchmas 2021 #bechloe #steca #jeca #Jessley #chaubrey #bemily #mitchsen #and any and all other pairings I might have missed #Pitch Perfect

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ahiddenpath · 3 years ago

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Chatter

Life/writing/camp digimonth chatter beneath the cut.

Highlight: I’m planning to launch Puits d’Amour in February 2022!

Writing

Puits d’Amour is... It started out as a simple, indulgent romantic AU situation. But when I ran out of outline around 25k of 50k during Nanowrimo 2021, it sort of... Took on a life of its own. No, seriously, it decided to explode O_o In some ways, this is great: it means I’m exploring something important to me. In some ways, this sucks: it means the story is taking more of my time and effort than originally planned.

But, after about 5 edits of the first chapter, I can say that... Dang, this thing is well-written. It’s also... so much more ambitious than I realized? Like, it requires a glossary and careful exposition management. And god, am I having fun with Yamato and Jyou, especially. I cannot wait to draw Jyou in suspenders, carrying a notebook in a leather cover and a fountain pen, regarding the viewer with a focused panic. I also have the cutest vintage outfit picked out to draw Sora in. (The story is vaguely set in the 1930s).

I’m so looking forward to sharing it with you.

Camp Digimonth

So I’m having a lot of fun on the Discord, which I was originally nervous about, so that’s been great! If you want to participate in Camp Digimonth and join the Discord, here is a fresh link.

Get your project/goals announcements ready! The event starts on Saturday, 1/1/2022!

Am I nervous? Yes! Is everything happening anyway? ALSO YES! LET’S GOOOOOOOO!

Life

Warning: Talking about Christmas/holiday blues.

Do you know how when you don’t feel 100%, your brain is like: have I contracted the plague? Will they throw my body into the “bring out yer dead” wheel barrow come dawn?

Yeah. It’s especially potent after seeing my family and my husband’s family for Christmas. They’re like 95% antivax, because of course they are. My husband and I are triple vaccinated (we got boosters, I mean), so hopefully it’s all fine, but... Yeah, I haven’t been feeling great. I am not running a fever, and I can taste/smell, buuuuut I’m thinking I should get tested before returning to work on January 4.

Speaking of anxiety, talking with a friend helped me see how vulnerable I am around the holidays. I’ve been anxious and easily upset/stuck in a bad mind frame since like... Late November? It’s releasing enough for me to see it now, but... Moving forward, I’m going to have to be vigilant around the holidays.

There’s a lot to unpack surrounding them, they bring up traumatic memories and make me question why I participate in the extended, draining pageantry (I hold a Christmas Eve dinner, then go to two Christmas celebrations on Christmas Day- three parties and about four hours in the car in a window of about 27 hours, with presents for every relative and hours of cleaning my house). I feel especially kinda... bamboozled on the Christmas Eve thing, which I was convinced to do by my mother and my husband’s parents as a substitute for having Christmas morning with them (which we can’t do, because we have two events to attend Christmas day, one with each of our families). I allowed this when I was 23 and easily influenced; now I’m 32 and over it, but with the tradition set, it’s difficult to back out.

It’s easy to be frustrated with myself- why am I taking part in this? My friend reminded me that most people see Christmas as a quick, annual sacrifice in the name of playing nice/avoiding huge fallout. Normally, I’d handle it well; the problems are the vulnerable state I’m already in, because the holidays are hard on me, and that my family goes so hard at it.

I found myself thinking, “If I had my own child, I could start my own traditions with them, and look forward to that.” Which is, of course, flawed thinking in multiple ways. One, it isn’t a child’s job to make me happy/fulfill some missing thing for me. Two, if I had a baby, there’d be more family pressure, not less, as people tend to love babies and want to see them.

Basically, guess who has two thumbs and needs to sort her own shit? This gal!

Actually, though, a few of my family members are wanting to move out of the area. I live in a high cost of living area on the east coast of the USA, and I guess with how rough inflation has been, and with the housing market soaring even higher, people are fleeing high COL areas to less expensive areas. It’s sounding like the holidays could look really different next year, which could be a good thing.

Still gotta sort the shit, though.

I hope you all had safe and happy holidays. If not, I wish you a speedy recovery xD

I guess it’s time to start thinking of the new year!

#hidden's life

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quicksilversquared · 5 years ago

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A Christmas Liar

After Ms. Bustier mentioned the annual school charity fundraiser in class, Lila seems determined to raise funds for her own "charity", aka herself. There's no way that Marinette is going to let that fly, but how successful will she be in taking Lila down in time for the holidays?

links in the reblog

It started with a normal morning in Ms. Bustier's homeroom class.

"As you all know, it's fast approaching the holiday season, and our collège always does a fundraiser for a charity before Christmas," Ms. Bustier told the class, smiling widely. The first few cut-out paper snowflakes had appeared in the classroom window that morning, and they all knew that the collection would only grow as December went on. "So remember to remind your parents to check their emails for details soon! Our student representatives have been hard at work brainstorming what to do this year."

Marinette smiled, even as she kept drawing in her sketchbook. Jagged Stone had commissioned an outfit for his Christmas present to Penny from her, and wanted the design ready to be sent to his seamstress as soon as possible so that he could have it ready in plenty of time. He had told her not to rush, of course- "you have so much going on, and I don't want to put you behind in your studies!"- but Marinette wanted to try to get things done early.

After all, akumas could appear and eat up her free time without any notice, and so she was going to take advantage of any extra time when she could.

"Oh, a charity fundraiser?" Lila asked from the back of the room, and Marinette mentally sighed before setting her pencil down. Clearly she wasn't going to get anything done now, if she had to deal with Lila's nonsense, and her nonsense-o-meter was going wild. "That's so wonderful! Do you think that- oh, no, I suppose it would come off a little self-appreciating, never mind..."

"No, go ahead!" Ms. Bustier reassured her quickly. "What is it that you wanted to ask, Lila?"

"Well, I was wondering if maybe I could put forth one of my charities to be considered for the fundraiser's proceeds," Lila told the class, and even without turning around, Marinette could picture the way that Lila would press a hand to her chest delicately, doing her best to look bashful. Adrien's eye roll from in front of her told Marinette that her mental picture probably wasn't very far off. "But I suppose that could come off as, well..."

Ms. Bustier perked up. "Oh, how could I have forgotten that we had someone in our class who had done so much charity work before? I don't think it would come off as self-serving at all! In fact, it could add an extra connection and an element of interest to the whole thing if the school picked one of your charities. Marinette, could-"

"Student council has already settled on a charity for this year's fundraiser," Marinette said at once, not even bothering to look up. She could see exactly where this was heading, and she was going to put a stop to it. Now.

In front of her, she could see Adrien's hastily-hidden grin out of the corner of her eye.

"But this is special, Marinette," Ms. Bustier implored. "Surely they'll understand and want to support a fellow student's charity efforts! This is a pretty unique opportunity!"

"We've had multiple meetings about it, thinned our selections down, did all of the background checks and verification on our final pick, filled out all of the paperwork to submit to Mr. Damocles, and let the charity know so that we could get more information to post around," Marinette informed her, because seriously? Ms. Bustier was going to fall for it, just like that? Also, she was super glad that she had pushed for the council to make the decision early this year, because at this time the previous year, they had been working on finalizing everything still, which would have made a last-minute change like this possible. It wouldn't have been fun, or easy, but it could have been possible. "We can't change it now."

Lila let out a small sigh from the back, and Marinette turned around just in time to see her shoulders slumping. "Oh, that's really a shame, then. For a minute there, I was picturing how much good I- we could do for the children in Africa with a bit of extra funding, but I suppose if they've already picked a charity..."

Ms. Bustier glanced from Marinette to Lila. "Marinette, do you think that we could do two charities instead of one, perhaps? It would just be so nice to be able to support Lila's charity!"

Marinette was honestly going to scream.

"I'm afraid that that would make things too complicated," she said instead, politely as she could and with as little teeth-gritting as possible. "We had a couple fundraiser activities in mind- which we agreed was important, in case an akuma attack keeps people away from an in-person event- plus a couple volunteering opportunities that we wanted to offer. Plus, there would be all of the paperwork and the background checks that would have to be done to add in another charity, and that's not exactly a short process. It's a lot of work."

There was also the fact that Lila didn't have any charities, and any money they earned would- if she managed to sneak her way through their careful screening process- no doubt go straight into her own pockets.

"Oh, I could fill out paperwork so that you guys don't have to!" Lila offered eagerly. "I don't mind, it's for the kids-"

"And the email letting parents know about our fundraiser and our selected charity is already scheduled to go out today," Marinette continued, raising her voice just ever-so-slightly to drown Lila out and making a mental note to talk to Aurore to actually get that email sent over lunch. It had originally been planned for tomorrow, actually, but Marinette wasn't going to give Lila any ins. "So the deadline for any changes has passed." She pasted on her best fake smile, trying not to let any signs of a smirk through as she looked back at Lila. "It's just not possible for this year, I'm afraid. Maybe you can bring it up for consideration earlier next year."

"I suppose that's fair," Ms. Bustier agreed. She smiled over at Lila. "It's my own fault for not bringing it up earlier, it just slipped my mind. Hopefully your charities will still get plenty of support! But right now, we're going to move on to today's lesson. If everyone could please get out your notebooks, we're going to start with a quick video..."

Marinette smiled to herself as she put her sketchbook away and opened up her notebook to a fresh page. This probably wasn't the last that she would hear about Lila's so-called "charities", but at least Ms. Bustier had dropped the subject and she wouldn't be getting pressure from that angle.

Now she just had to be ready for Lila's other attempts to get her hands on charity money.

"I am so glad that you already had stuff all finalized," Adrien said in Marinette's ear as they headed for their next class. Lila was ahead of them, surrounded by several of their classmates. "I got worried for a minute there when Ms. Bustier hopped on the Lila's charity thing."

"I'm just glad that it's a school-wide thing, not just a class-wide fundraiser," Marinette admitted, glancing around to make sure that no one was going to overhear them. She had managed to get out of being blamed for deliberately denying Lila's "charity" a chance to get more money because she wasn't the only person in charge of the fundraiser, and she didn't want anyone in their class mishearing and blowing things out of proportion. Again. "I mean, it's obvious that Lila jumped on that because I'm class representative and she wanted to put me in a bad spot, but she couldn't when I'm just one of the people involved in that process."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah. I was so sure that she was going to drop it after you mentioned the background check and verification thing, though, and then she didn't. Which is...weird, honestly."

"Not really. If we tried going forward and I was the one doing the check, she would probably just say that I was making stuff up about her charity out of jealousy or spite and that was why it failed or something." Marinette had thought the same, honestly, but it became apparent pretty quickly what Lila was up to. Lila wasn't nearly as sly as she thought she was. "I'm surprised that she didn't jump on that and complain that I was just making the background check thing up because I was doubting her. Ignoring, of course, that we want to have statistics in our flyers and posters and emails about how the money is used, and how much work they get done, and their rating by a charity watchdog. That's standard."

"Which is why she wanted to do her own paperwork," Adrien added. He made a face. "I bet that she's still going to try to piggyback off of the fundraiser somehow, or at least rope people into donating some of their own money. I already heard Rose bringing it up, and Alya mentioned something to Nino about posting something on the Ladyblog."

Marinette winced. That wasn't good. She would have to forward the link to their charity watchdog site to Alya later on, maybe under the guise of providing a resource to get all sorts of charity statistics at once to put in her posting. That didn't guarantee that Alya would look at it, of course, but it was worth a try.

(Also, she could use her throwaway account to point out the charity's questionable status, and then- well, hope that other people would see her post and upvote it.)

"She's really going too far now," Adrien said after a moment, pulling Marinette out of her brainstorming of how she could keep Lila from pocketing a bunch of charity money. "I mean, she has been for a while, especially when she tried to get you expelled, but this is just the cherry on top of a heap of awful. I just don't know... I mean, she's sunk her claws in really deep now, I don't know how to fix it. I guess I should have recognized it earlier, but..."

"Well, there's no point in worrying about what we should have done earlier now," Marinette said as they went through the door for their next class, though she couldn't help but feel a bit validated, since she had wanted to stop Lila's lies ages ago. "We can brainstorm later, if you can get away for lunch. I was going to talk to Aurore then anyway."

Adrien looked puzzled for a moment, then caught on with a grin. "Aha, right, since she's on student council too. Is she the one in charge of submitting paperwork?"

"No, that was me. She's in charge of sending out the emails to families." Marinette grinned up at him. "And I bet that we can do a bit of damage control with that."

-0-0-0-0-

Aurore was all too willing to bring her lunch over to the Dupain-Cheng bakery instead of eating in the school cafeteria. After all, she told them as they headed upstairs, her lunch was leftovers and best served warm, and the cafeteria microwave was gross.

Marinette could believe that. Aurore had already floated the idea of setting up either a roll of paper towels near the microwave so that people could cover their dishes to keep the contents from exploding all over, or going the more environmentally-friendly route of having microwave plate covers instead, which could then be washed daily in the industrial dish washers that the cafeteria kitchen had. Clearly it was a Big Deal for her.

"You said you wanted to talk about the email right?" Aurore asked finally, finishing her grumbling about someone who had apparently microwaved fish and ugh, the smell was awful. "I thought it was meant to be going out tomorrow? I have a draft that's almost complete, I was just going to review it tonight to make sure that it was perfect, but do you need something changed?"

"We had a situation come up in our class this morning," Marinette told her, leading the way into their kitchen. Her mom had left out food for her and Adrien, it just had to be warmed up and assembled. "I don't know how much you've heard about the new girl in our class..."

Aurore frowned. "Lila? The one with the questionable stories?"

Adrien laughed. "Okay, so we aren't the only ones with working brains in the school, that's good to know. Yeah, her."

It didn't take long to get Aurore caught up, and predictably, she was furious at the idea of Lila trying to hijack their fundraiser funds.

"This is going to go one of two ways, I know it," she told them, pulling out her laptop and getting it set up next to her on the table. "Either this girl is going to make up a charity- name, mission, and all- or she's going to find a charity that already exists, and then she'll claim credit for it. The first one is easy enough to disprove, because no one will be able to find anything about the charity. We could just put a reminder in the email about checking charities out before donating to them, and then enter that link we've been using. But the second one...well, she could use their rating and reputation to collect money, and then- if I'm reading her character right- keep it all for herself."

They all thought about that.

"Well, if Alya posts anything on the Ladyblog, in theory any donations would have to be electronically, though a website," Marinette pointed out after a minute. "As for in-person donations, I would say that people should use checks instead of cash, but I don't know how many people use checks anymore, and besides, that's not going to stop her from cashing them if she wants."

Adrien made a choked, horrified noise in the back of his throat. "It- it won't? How do you even know that?"

"But it might deter her, since that's a traceable crime," Aurore pointed out, her eyes gleaming. She snapped her fingers. "And as for the Ladyblog- if she's capable of creating a website that looks decent, she might give Alya a link for that. So that's still a problem-"

"-unless we notice that and bring it to the attention of the police!" Adrien exclaimed, sitting up straight. He winced. "I'd hate to get Alya in trouble, but otherwise people will be thinking that they're doing something good and helping people in need when actually, they're just giving Lila spending money. And if she told them that Lila gave her the link, then she'd get off pretty fast."

Marinette nodded. Alya would probably be a thundercloud that they had gone to the police first instead of her, but she couldn't say that they hadn't warned her. She just never listened when it came to Lila.

"So we can put in a line reminding people to check charities before they donate and to make sure that any links they follow for charities go to the actual website," Aurore finished. Her fingers tapped away at her keyboard. "My older brother is a computer whiz, so I can text him and ask about things people should look for to make sure that a site is the real deal. Then I can get that typed up and sent during study hall, so it'll go out today."

Marinette could only grin. Maybe Aurore could be hotheaded at times, but there was no denying that she could really pull through. "That would be great."

Unsurprisingly, Lila sold a sob story to Alya about her charity's website being down at the moment, so she couldn't provide a link right away.

"We're working on it, of course, because this is the best time of the year to get donations and we're going to fall so far behind with every day we miss, but the entire system is down and our tech guy is having trouble," Lila told Alya, looking positively wilted. "It's so upsetting! The longer it's down, the fewer people find out about our work, and the less budget we have to work with next year."

"That's terrible!" Alya exclaimed, frowning, and Marinette exchanged an exasperated look with Adrien. "I just wish there was a way to help..."

"Maybe you could post about our school charity instead, for the time being," Marinette suggested dryly. "Since Lila's charity is on the table for next year anyway."

"But we need budget for this year!" Lila repeated, and- yep, she was gritting her teeth. The glare that she flashed Marinette left no question that she had been trying to set up some sort of fake website and the email the night before had thrown her off. Either she was trying to make a more convincing website or- more likely- she was just hoping to wait until the reminder to be careful had faded from people's minds. Or she had had to abandon the online idea entirely in favor of throwing a pity party for herself in hopes of getting cash donations with the help of their classmates, if that hadn't already been the plan all along. "If we wait for a maybe next year, we could go into debt and collapse!"

Alya was looking worried now. "Marinette, are you sure that the student council can't switch charit-"

"It's all set up. We can't change anything, Alya, we established that yesterday." Marinette spared a glance at Lila, who was clearly working to keep a poker face. "Maybe Max can help you with your website issues, he's quite good at stuff like that. We wouldn't want you missing out on donations, after all."

"Oh, I couldn't," Lila simpered, glancing towards Max as well. "We, uh- well, my tech guy is back in Italy, so they wouldn't be able to work together, and he's quite protective of the system. Plus we were in the middle of upgrades when everything crashed, so that makes everything more complicated."

"We'll figure something out, Lila," Alya promised, patting the other girl's arm. Marinette took that as her cue to leave, but she wasn't going to go far. She needed to be able to overhear, after all. "We don't want those kids in Africa to suffer, after all! We can brainstorm before class."

Adrien caught Marinette's eye as she came back to her seat. "It sounds like she's just going to go another way, but isn't about to give up."

"No, she's got the idea of getting money into her head, and she's not about to give it up." Marinette kept her voice low, so that no one would overhear. "Which means that we need to come at the problem at a different angle. Any suggestions?"

Adrien looked unexpectedly delighted at being consulted, but then he paused, clearly not coming up with any ideas. "Uh."

"My first instinct would be to try to warn Alya and Rose and whoever else is going to get sucked in, but we all know how well that would go over," Marinette said, just to fill in the space. "They would clamp down and refuse to listen."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah. But I like what you did yesterday, where you made it sound like you would have gone along if you could and suggested trying next year. Then everyone thought that you weren't fighting against her-"

"-and was actually willing to listen!" Marinette finished, smiling. It was an approach that Tikki had suggested, and she was glad that it had worked. Well, sort of. It had worked in the moment, but just- apparently- pushed the problem off for later. "Yeah, that was nice."

"Maybe we could do something similar now," Adrien suggested. "And offer to be helpful by providing that link still. Like, it doesn't need the website, right? Just the charity name."

Marinette grinned. "Right. And there's no way that she can get around not telling anyone her charity's name. And if she does...well, either it's made up, or she's going to pick a real charity and we can find the real website."

"And congratulate Lila on her site getting back up so quickly," Adrien added with a small laugh. "It's a pain to deal with her, but I'm actually curious about what she's planning on doing going forward. Like, how long can she play this game? She's going to run out of escapes soon enough."

"Yeah, I don't know..." Marinette trailed off as Alya slid into her seat, and she and Adrien exchanged one last look before he turned back to the front, greeting Nino as his best friend entered the classroom.

"Man, I can't believe what bad luck Lila has, to have her charity's website crash at a time like this," Alya said glumly, sliding into her seat. "Lila is stressed about it, of course, but she has so many other obligations for her other charity work that she can't go out and do a collection, not that it would be easy with her throat still recovering from her laryngitis surgery. She can't be out in the cold for more than ten minutes without it causing a ton of pain, which can't be fun at all."

...Naturally.

"I want to help, but if we don't have a working link to put on the Ladyblog, I just don't know..." Alya trailed off. "I mean, we could do a door-to-door, I guess, but that only ever gets fairly minimal donations. And there's so many people who set up near the Eiffel Tower, we wouldn't have a chance. But- oh!" Alya perked up as another thought hit her. "We could put posters up at school, so more people know about it and maybe help us!"

Yeah, how about no.

"That's actually against school rules," Marinette said idly, flipping through her notebook as she waited for Ms. Bustier to call for a start to class. "All posters posted in the building have to be approved by Student Council normally, so that the walls don't get too cluttered, but there's an amendment to that that say that if the school is doing a charity fundraiser, posters promoting other charities can't go up during that time. I think it's to keep the effort from getting too splintered and distracted."

Alya slumped. "Oh."

That was not actually a lie, though clearly Adrien thought it was, if the slight frown on his face was anything to go by. Marinette had picked through the guidelines to make sure that she knew every rule that she could use to turn Lila's attempts aside, and apparently the Student Council had come up with and voted to implement that particular rule at some point in the past.

"Maybe you could do a surprise collection," Marinette suggested. "As a Christmas gift to Lila." She was improvising, admittedly, but this would be a good way to keep Alya and Rose and whoever else was getting sucked in from asking Lila too much and giving her chances to control the narrative. "If you ask her what the name of her charity is, and then you can use the website that we were using on Student Council to look at charities- it has all sorts of stats that you could use, information about charities and their work. That way, you don't need to bother Lila for all that when she's so busy."

"Oh, good idea!" Alya exclaimed. She grabbed Marinette's arm. "You know, none of the rest of us has ever organized any sort of charity fundraiser before- if we put you in charge of that-"

"I'm already busy, Alya," Marinette pointed out. She wasn't about to go make a fool of herself collecting money for a charity that didn't exist, not when she had a million other things to do. "The fundraiser for the school is already going to take up all of my time. I can send you the link that we used, but that's it."

"Oh, but-"

"She already said no, Alya," Adrien cut in, so Marinette didn't have to. "Marinette was telling me about that entire process yesterday, and it sounds like a lot of work and planning to pull something off at the level the school is planning. Asking her to plan another thing on top of that for you, instead of doing it yourself- that's not fair to her."

"I just thought that it might be a good way to repair the bad blood between the two of them!" Alya objected, frowning. "Since Marinette wasn't very welcoming when Lila first arrived."

Marinette narrowly withheld a snort. Gee, I wonder why?

"But if you're busy, I guess you can wait to try to mend that bridge later," Alya added. She sighed. "We probably won't be able to raise as much money, though, since we don't have your experience."

"Mmm," Marinette managed noncommittally, ignoring the clear attempt at a guilt-trip in favor of checking her email on her phone. Alya really had been spending too much time with Lila if she was starting to act just the same. Hopefully she would cut that out after Lila's lies had been exposed and everyone realized what a manipulator she was.

Marinette's phone lit up with a text, and she didn't hesitate to open it at once.

Adrien: Remember, if you commit homicide, you won't be around to gloat when people discover the lies.

Marinette snorted in amusement.

Marinette: I'm going to gloat for a solid MONTH after she gets found out. I wasn't very welcoming? Try SHE was a bully from the start and I wasn't about to tolerate that.

In front of her, Adrien's head gave a tiny nod as he put his phone away, just in time to start class. Marinette locked her phone and put it away, resigning herself to what was probably going to be a week of poorly-concealed efforts to get her into the extra fundraising before Alya either dropped it or realized that something was up with Lila's "charity".

At least now she had Adrien on her side.

The school fundraiser was going well as they marched steadily closer towards the holidays, their online portal showing just how much money had already been raised by people going through the link that they had both sent out and posted on the school site. There was going to be a bake sale before the break too, with each family asked to donate two dozen cookies for them to sell at their booths near City Hall and (courtesy of Chloe) in the Grand Paris.

Marinette was really happy. People were being generous, and it really was a very deserving charity to receive the funds. On top of that, Adrien had asked for her help in baking his family's two dozen cookies, so they would get to hang out together.

(She was going to ignore the fact that Alya had tried to convince her to make another extra two dozen cookies because Lila "wasn't going to have time" because "all of her charity work"; that attempt had fallen flat when Marinette had just point-blank asked Alya why, exactly, Alya didn't just do that herself. At least with Adrien, he was just a novice baker and was going to be actively participating in the baking, but he just wanted help to be sure that his attempt turned out edible and it was a good excuse to hang out with one of his friends.)

And possibly best of all...well, Aurore's tech-savvy older brother had pulled through for them again.

"I was looking at the email that we had on file for Lila, and something about it just didn't seem right," Aurore told them as they sat together in a private study room in back of the library over lunch. "The domain on it, to be exact, because it was '.net' instead of, oh, I don't know, something actually related to the government. And my brother agreed, so we did a little searching."

Marinette was pretty sure that her jaw was on the ground. Next to her, Adrien wasn't doing much better. "You mean she was keeping her mom from finding out about everything school-related? I wondered how she got away with skipping so much school! And she was probably emailing as her mom, too, to confirm whatever stories she was telling."

Aurore grinned. "Exactly. So we did some digging, and found Mrs. Rossi's actual email. It's almost the same, just with a different domain. So I'm trying to think of what to send that wouldn't sound weird, because obviously we need confirmation that this is the right address so we can get Mr. Damocles to change it for the school system, but I don't want to come off as accusing or anything and have her tip Lila off accidentally."

Marinette exchanged a look with Adrien as she thought about it. "Well, we could just send the fundraiser email again with a comment about how we think that maybe her email was mis-entered before and is this one the correct one that we should be using. That's pretty straightforward and it asks for a response, and she might not even think to say anything about it to Lila."

"Ooh, I like that." Aurore typed that in at once, giving it a quick once-over to make sure that there weren't any errors and that the email had been entered correctly before sending it. "So, what else is going on in Ms. Bustier's homeroom? Anything new with the not-a-charity?"

"Alya's been confused about why our watchdog site doesn't list anything about Lila's 'charity'- she decided to go for the make-one-up route, apparently- and she's still been trying to find stuff on it just on Google, but apparently no connection has been made," Marinette told them, trying not to roll her eyes. "I know she and Rose were talking about trying to just go ahead with a collection of sorts anyway, so I forwarded an email talking about the importance of keeping track of how much money they raised, down to the last cent, in a ledger sort of thing." She couldn't hold back the grin. "Which Rose is really into. So even though they're trying to collect money for Lila still, at the end she won't be able to keep any of it because there'll be record of how much money they collected."

"Which, if we get in contact with Mrs. Rossi, we can make sure that that gets paid back in full!" Adrien exclaimed, scooping Marinette up in a hug for a long few seconds. Marinette prayed that she wouldn't turn red and make things weird. "Genius!"

"As long as Rose doesn't give that to Lila," Aurore pointed out. She raised an eyebrow at Marinette's head-shake. "No? You've already taken care of that?"

"She'll give Lila an electronic copy, but not the hard copy. I suggested that she might want to hold onto that to show what she did for future charity work. Which I still think is a good idea, even if Lila's charity is a sham. It doesn't change the fact that she was doing all of the bookkeeping."

Aurore made a face. "I am so glad that Samuel is doing our bookkeeping for the non-online donations, because that stuff is not fun. It's really fiddly, and if anything gets off..."

Marinette nodded. Things had gotten off fairly early on, and she had head Samuel- another member of Student Council- complaining about having to go through everything to figure out where his mistake was. Since then, he did regular, frequent checks so that he wouldn't have to go through absolutely everything again, just the most frequent donations. Admittedly, Rose was working with much smaller amounts of money- most people wanted more information on what they were donating to than just the name and "helping kids in Africa" if they were going to toss more than an euro or two into the collections basket- but it was still good practice.

Aurore's computer let out a ding, and she pulled up the student council email at once. "We already got a response! Mrs. Rossi says that yes, this one is correct, please keep using it and thank you for catching the error and were there any other recent emails that she might have missed. I'm going to forward this to Mr. Damocles with a message to note the change in email address, just a second- and done."

"Nice job," Marinette told her, leaning across the table to bump fists with Aurore. After a second's thought, she fist-bumped Adrien, too, so that he wouldn't feel left out. "That's one more thing off of our plates."

Their fundraiser finished right before holiday break with a silent auction, with all of the items up for purchase having been donated by parents, teachers, extended family members, community business owners, and- in the case of an array of signed CD cases and posters- Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, and several of their musician buddies, after Marinette had approached Jagged Stone with the request.

And of course, everyone was invited. Posters had been put up outside of the school and emails had been sent out, reminding everyone about the time and date and their charity, plus attaching a list of the items up for auction to get people's interest.

"My mom so wanted to make it, but work came up," Lila told several of their classmates when she arrived at the auction, looking sad. "And there were several things that she was really interested in, like the-"

"Ooh, barf, I can see what you mean," Aurore said, materializing at Marinette's side and wrinkling her nose at Lila. "That's a pretty obvious ploy to get people to buy things for her, isn't it? Or at least to pitch in some of their own money to help her, so that she won't have to pay them back."

Marinette nodded. It really was disgusting, but at least now Lila was moving off with the group towards one of the items so that they didn't have to hear her. She was steering clear of the signed Jagged Stone things, oddly enough, but maybe that would be a dead giveaway that she didn't actually know him. After all, Jagged Stone would sign anything put in front of him, so her going out of her way to buy a signed item when she was supposedly on great terms with him would be pretty strange.

"Do you think her mom actually can't make it, or Lila just assumed that she wouldn't know about the auction and didn't tell her?" Adrien asked. His arm was tucked through Marinette's, though she was pretty sure that it was just so that he wouldn't lose her in the crowd. "Is the fake email still on the list?"

Aurore nodded. "Yeah, up until this morning. I cleared it off so that there wouldn't be any confusion going forward."

"And I would place bets on Lila assuming that her mom doesn't know anything," Marinette added. "She wouldn't want to risk anyone asking her mom about her charity." She grinned and pointed as she noticed someone new stepping into the school. "And look, over there."

The other two looked. There, standing in the entryway and looking around, was Mrs. Rossi. She really didn't look much like Lila, but it was easy enough to recognize her from her official embassy photo.

(Her official embassy photo, where she wasn't listed as the actual ambassador, but just one of the embassy staff, but that- well, that was an interesting little tidbit that Marinette was going to sit on for a little bit longer.)

"Oh, she's spotted Lila," Aurore said gleefully, craning her neck to follow Mrs. Rossi as she wove through the crowds. "And- whoops, Lila sees her!"

Marinette hastily smothered a laugh. If Lila's expression was anything to go by, she definitely hadn't realized that her mom was getting emails from the school and was going to be coming. She had never seen the other girl look so pale before.

"I'd ask if I should go get some of that amazing-smelling popcorn that they're selling so that we can watch, but honestly, I kind of just want to let things take their course and find out later," Adrien said, glancing down at Marinette. "There's some pretty cool items up for auction that I want to check out."

Marinette considered that. On one hand, she wanted to watch Lila's downfall. On the other... well, she had been keeping an eye on the whole Lila fiasco for a while now, and she was kind of tired of it. It would probably be a bit awkward to watch, too, and there was no guarantee that it would happen right away, and they were too far away to hear anything besides.

...yeah, her decision was pretty well made.

"That sounds like fun," Marinette told him, before glancing over at Aurore. "What about you?"

"I might go point Mr. Damocles in her direction," Aurore commented, glancing around the crowd. "Or maybe that can wait until later, since I don't want to throw everything at Mrs. Rossi at once and disrupt the auction with an akumatization." She sent them a slightly sheepish grin. "But you know I like my gossip, so..."

Marinette had to laugh. That was so very Aurore. "All right. We'll bump into you later, then."

Aurore grinned in return, and then was off. Marinette watched her go for a moment, then let Adrien lead the way off into the crowds surrounding the tables. It was amazing to be able to sit back and relax after the past weeks of planning and making sure that everything, from the online link to the cookie sale to this, was going to go off without a hitch. They were well on track raise more money this year than they had any other year, and that was amazing.

And to think that she had had a hand in setting all of this up...well, Marinette just couldn't be prouder.

It was fun investigating all of the donations with Adrien, even though- as part of Student Council and also part of the team that had photographed and logged all of the donated items- she had seen them all before. Marinette couldn't help but peek at the bids despite herself, grinning when she saw some of the higher ones.

"This is amazing," Adrien commented once they had made the rounds and had gone to browse through the assorted refreshments available for purchase. "There were a lot of nice things donated. And people are definitely bidding plenty of money."

"Yeah, some people will spend more to win the prize than it's worth," Marinette told him. "Like with the voucher for stuff from our bakery- the top bid right now is for more than the value of the voucher. It's interesting, but I think that people see it as buying the item, and then making a donation on top. Or something, I don't know."

"That's really cool," Adrien commented, then pointed. "Oh, look, Nathalie and the Gorilla are here! They said that they might show up and do some shopping. I honestly thought that Nathalie was just saying that to be nice, because she's been sick and hasn't wanted to go out, but I guess she's been feeling better lately."

"Oh, that's good," Marinette said, before a memory made her frown. "Wait, I thought you commented on her being sick, like, three months ago. Is she still having problems?"

Adrien shrugged, but he was frowning, too. "I don't know. She had been having these weak, dizzy spells like Mom used to before she disappeared for a bit before I commented on it at school, I think. Maybe whatever treatment she was getting finally kicked in, I don't know."

Marinette frowned even deeper. Nathalie had been showing the same symptoms as Adrien's mom before she vanished? That was a really weird coincidence. And for both of them- presumably both, at least- to have those same symptoms for an extended period of time?

If Mrs. Agreste and Nathalie had been related, Marinette might have guessed that it was a genetic thing. But since they weren't- again, that was an assumption- then the chances of them both separately having the same condition...

"I cannot believe that I fell for such a manipulative, thieving, disgusting liar!"

Alya materialized at Marinette's side, clearly steaming. Rose, Mylène, and Juleka weren't far behind her. Rose looked like she was close to tears, and the other two just looked lost.

"Pardon?" Adrien asked politely, but Marinette could see the amusement glimmering in his eyes.

"Lila's been leading us all around by the nose, making up stories about her life and about her nonexistent charity- and I've missed a dozen akuma attacks because I was wandering around in the cold, trying to raise money for her! I offered to make a posting on the Ladyblog so that I could put up a link to her site to raise more money! She was probably just planning on pocketing it all!" Alya scowled deeper. "I can't believe we fell for it! And aren't you even surprised?" she demanded when neither Adrien nor Marinette reacted. "At all?"

"Are we meant to be?" Adrien asked dryly. "After Marinette's spent so long calling Lila a liar?"

Alya faltered for a moment, then scowled deeper. "You- you knew, but you didn't warn us?"

"Yes, because pointing out the obvious lies worked so well the first several dozen times I did it," Marinette said, adopting the same dry tone that Adrien had used. "And I gave you the watchdog charity link to use. I rather thought that its complete lack of anything about Lila's charity might tip you off."

Alya faltered. "Oh."

"But we still gave Lila money that was meant for charity," Rose said tearfully. Juleka pulled her to her side, trying to comfort her. "And it was a decent amount, too."

"You have your log, right?" Marinette reminded her. "If you tell Lila's mom how much Lila got for her 'charity', then I bet that she can get that money back to you and you can donate it to another charity."

Rose perked up at once, tears drying up magically. "Oh, that's right! We can still put that money to good use! I'm glad you suggested that we keep track of everything, Marinette."

"Yeah," Juleka agreed. "Lila sucks, but at least we can get the money back."

"We should go talk to Lila's mom before she leaves," Rose decided. She dug in her bag, pulling out the ledger notebook that she had been using for their charity collections. "Aha! Yes, I have the amount we gave Lila yesterday written here. C'mon, let's go make sure that Mrs. Rossi knows!"

"Well, all's well that ends well," Adrien said cheerfully as the other girls headed off. "I bet this isn't how Mrs. Rossi saw her evening going, and Lila definitely wasn't expecting any of this, but at least now the adults can figure everything out and Lila can actually see some consequences. And hopefully next semester, there'll be less drama now that she'll be restrained- or gone, if Mrs. Rossi or Mr. Damocles decides that Lila staying here wouldn't be a good idea."

"Hopefully," Marinette agreed. She grinned over at Adrien. "But that's enough worrying about Lila and her nonsense for tonight. I think we should just sit back and enjoy the evening, don't you?"

Adrien beamed back. "I couldn't agree more."

#Miraculous Ladybug #my writing #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste

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tails89 · 4 years ago

Text

Aliit ori'shya tal'din

Family is more than blood

Fandom: The Mandalorian

Word count: 3700

No pairings

Summary: Din didn’t usually spare much through for annual holidays, Life Day included. There wasn’t much point when one spent most of their time travelling through the vast void of space where days were a monotonous streak of pitch black and starlight.

This year, there is a reason to celebrate.

Read it on AO3

***

It’s the insistent warning from the fuel gauge that forces Din to find somewhere to land. They’ve been traveling for a week, jumping from one quadrant to the next, never coming out of hyperspeed long enough to do much more than input the next set of coordinates and jump again.

Taking out Moff Gideon was supposed to solve their problems but they were yet to reap the rewards. Din can only hope that as word of the Moff’s demise continues to circulate, the hunters who still hold trackers will come to realise there is no longer any payout at the end. Until then, Din and the kid will need to keep moving—until they can be safe.

There’s also the matter of the Jedi.

He’d almost let the Jedi take Grogu after defeating Moff Gideon. The kid needs training. That much is certain, but Din isn’t ready to hand the little womp rat over to someone who may not have the kid’s best interests at heart. The Jedi, Luke, had given Din the coordinates to his school and an invitation to see it for himself. Din plans to take him up on that offer, but not yet.

The alarm whines again, the shrill sound set’s Din’s teeth on edge as he silences it. He misses that about Razor Crest. It had been old, but reliable and he’d known exactly how far he could stretch a full tank of fuel. There are too many things about this new ship that just don’t feel right. The galley is set up in a similar configuration as the old one, but the shelves are just a half step across, and Din has not yet learned to duck.

There’s a noise behind him in the cockpit—the soft patter of tiny feet and a high-pitched coo before a tug on his cloak draws Din’s attention down.

Grogu stares up at him with his large, expressive eyes.

“You want to help me find a place to refuel?”

He lifts the kid up to sit on his lap and drops them out of hyperspace. The kid watches with wide eyes as the long streaks of starlight condense into pinpricks of light.

“Alright.” Flicking up the map, Din presses a button on the console and their location blinks back at them. “This is us.”

The kid reaches for the hologram, one three-fingered hand stretching towards the flashing lights. The other clutches his newest toy—Din hasn’t worked it where it came from, but it’s definitely part of the ship.

Search the nearby planets, Din finds one that meets their requirements.

“Mirador,” he says out loud for the kid’s benefit. “It’s only a few hours away. Quiet, no known Imperial bases. What do you think?”

Grogu coos in agreement, at least, Din decides to take it is agreement. The kid understands more that it seems and is generally pretty good at getting his point across despite the language barrier. He plugs in the coordinates and stands, scooping the child out of his lap. If all goes smoothly and with out fuss, there’s enough time to feed his kid and catch up on a few hours sleep before Din needs to pilot the ship down the to the planet’s surface.

***

“Let’s see what we’ve got in here.”

Din set’s Grogu down on the bench and moves through the narrow space of the galley. They’re completely out of fresh food and Din makes a mental note to restock while they’re down on the planet, before looking at their dry rations. Before finding the child, Din had never been too fussed about eating. It was a necessity for survival, but he’d never taken any particular pleasure from the act. With another mouth to feed—a surprisingly picky mouth considering the things Din had seen swallowed whole—he’d had to expand his options.

Pulling one of the ration bars from the cupboard, Din tears open the packaging and starts breaking it down into smaller chunks, dividing the bar between two cups. Without anything to add to it, the soup will be rather bland, but it has all the nutrients and will be filling.

Carefully adding hot water, Din stirs until the chunks have dissolved, then adds cold water to the smaller cup to bring the temperature down.

“Sorry kiddo,” he says, pushing the cup towards Grogu. “It’s just for one meal. I’ll resupply when we land.”

The kid clutches at the cup, but makes no move to drink, his ears drooping in disappointment at the brown liquid.

“Come on,” Din reasons. “It’s not that bad.” He picks up his soup, lifting his helmet just high enough the raise the cup to his lips. “See?” He says, moving around the end of the bench. “Your turn.”

He passes the end of the shelving, just narrowly remembering to duck his head this time.

The kid giggles and finally drinks.

***

The new ship doesn’t have a sleeping compartment. The Razor Crest hadn’t had one either when Din had first come into possession of it— he’d repurposed a storage cupboard, fitting it out with a mattress and eventually turning it into something almost comfortable.

The new ship has an alcove. It’s not much more than a deep corner where two walls meet, but it’s out of the way, directly under the cockpit and half shielded by the ladder. It can’t be closed off the way the old compartment could, but until Din starts collecting bounties again, it’ll do.

Sitting on the warn mattress, Din starts pulling off his boots. He doesn’t remove all of his armour, just enough to sleep comfortably—the pauldrons, belt, and chest plate— and programs his vambrace to wake him just before they leave hyperspace.

The kid watches him throughout this little ritual, tucked away in his own little nest-bed, his large dark eyes blinking drowsily.

Finally ready to sleep, Din hesitates, his fingers flexing beside his head. After defeating Gideon and rescuing the child, Din had shown Grogu his face. After coming so close the losing the kid, he’d wanted to look at him with his own two eyes, to reassure himself that this was real.

He’d taken to sleeping without his helmet once they’d gone off on their own. Each time he removes it, it gets a little easier, but he’s still learning to reconcile his childhood lessons of the creed and the Re’solnare, and what he’s seen and learned in the last few weeks.

The helmet comes of with a soft hiss and Din sets in on the floor beside his boots. He lies back and closes his eyes, silently counting down in his head. Like clockwork, just as he reaches zero there is a shuffling as Grogu abandons his bed for Din’s.

He shouldn’t encourage it, but the separation had been hard on them both, so instead of sending him back to bed, Din lifts his arm so his kid can burrow in closer.

***

The vibration of his vambrace wakes Din a few hours later.

Careful not to wake the child, he sits up, tugging on his boots and reattaching his armour.

With his helmet tucked under one arm, he climbs the ladder to the cockpit, taking his seat in the pilot’s chair just as the bright streaks of starlight wink out as they leave hyperspace.

Up in the distance, the planet Mirador looms.

The beeping of fuel gauge is insistent now, Din shuts it off with the flick of a switch—he doesn’t need the reminder. The planet is in range and there’s just enough fuel to land—though it will be close.

He disengages the autopilot and locks in on the refueling station he’d scanned earlier. As he approaches the planet, his comms burst to life and he is assigned a bay to land in.

Grogu is awake when Din steps off the ladder. No doubt the loud clanking of the fuel line being attached woke him. He stares up from Din’s bed and voices his disapproval.

“Time to get up, we need to get moving.” Din scoops him up, ignoring the way the child goes limp in an effort to avoid being picked up. Grogu is a fairly easy-going child, despite everything that has happened to him, but he is a child and like some of the younger children back at the covert, prone to the occasional tantrum. Din can only hope this sour mood isn’t building to that.

“You know you can’t stay here,” Din says, carrying Grogu over to the weapons locker to grab his blaster. The kid whines, cranky and still half-asleep. “I know kiddo, but it’s not going to happen.”

He punches in the code to open the locker, ignoring the weapon that hangs beside the blaster—that was another problem Din wasn’t ready to deal with—and holsters the gun before resecuring the locker.

The next challenge is deciding how to carry Grogu.

Mirador’s distance from the nearby sun means that it is covered in snow and ice for the majority of its solar year. The days are short and frigid and Din’s usual method of carrying Grogu in his arms or in a satchel are not going to cut it in this weather.

He fashions a sling by cutting strips from a spare blanket and tying it around his waist. He has to take his cloak off to secure the sling, but once he’s done, he can pull the heavy material of his cloak around them both to stay warm.

When he’s ready, he hits the release for the ramp.

The kid burrows down further into the sling at the first blast of icy air that blows through the hold. Din wraps the cloak tighter around them and steps out into the snow. The heater in his suit helps to keep the frigid air at bay as they make their way towards the market town.

The child settles down after a few minutes, the slow rise and fall of his back against the cloak suggesting he’s asleep.

Good, Din thinks. He can’t imagine anything worse than shopping in the cold with a fussy child and in all honesty, the kid could use the extra sleep. They both could. Between the frequent resetting of their course and the constant vigilance since leaving Moff Gideon’s light cruiser, decent sleep has been few and far between.

The town, when they reach it, is brightly lit against the gloomy weather. The stalls are all outside, but they are each set up with large glowing heaters to keep people, and the wares, from freezing.

Din starts at one of the larger shopfronts, purchasing what he needs to restock the ship. They’re low on most things, the ship having been little more than a shell when it came into his possession, but in a town this small he’ll only be able to find the basic necessities. Fruit and vegetables are almost prohibitively expensive on a planet of Mirador’s type, but the meat seems reasonable.

Once he’s handed over an outrageous number of credits, Din gives instructions for delivery and moves on. He wanders from stall to stall with no real intention of purchasing anything else, just enjoying the opportunity to stretch his legs after a week on a cramped spaceship.

At some point, Din’s going to need to resume work. He’s got enough credits coming in from Dune and Karga to keep him and the kid fed, but he can’t live on their generosity forever. His conscience alone won’t let him. He needs to get back to what he knows, what he’s good at and earn money for the covert… once he finds them.

In the meantime, he’s happy enough to meander through the market. Many of the stalls are decorated and Din wonders if the planet has some local holiday approaching. He’s lost all sense of time in the last few weeks. It’s hard to measure the passage of days when speeding through the endless night of space.

As a Mandalorian he draws many stares as he walks, but the lump under his cloak goes unnoticed in the cold. He feels the child squirm against his chest just as his own stomach starts to rumble. He remembers passing a stall some time back selling hot food, so he doubles back to find it.

In the end, he follows his nose to the vendor roasting some sort of meat.

The Teltior woman looks up warily as he approaches, but Din is used to the stares his armour draws and just gestures for two of the skewers. Inside his cloak, Grogu shifts again, his clawed fingers skittering against the beskar.

“Don’t often see your kind on this planet, Mando,” she says conversationally as she turns the roasting meat on the grill. “Not here to cause trouble I hope.”

At the sound of another voice, Grogu coo’s something in response. Din tightens his hold on the edges of the cloak and shakes his head. “No trouble,” he says, raising his voice to cover the kid’s mumbling.

The Teltior’s eyes narrow slightly, but she doesn’t say anything else as she cooks. The scent of the roasting meat fills the air and kid makes a loud noise.

“Patience,” Din mutters under his breath, pressing one hand against the kid’s back in an effort to soothe him. He glances up, nervous, hoping the keep the child hidden but the noises from within his cloak become more insistent so Din lets the edges drop before his kid does something drastic, like use those Jedi powers of his.

The kid has his hands planted against the Mandalorian’s chest, twisting away to catch a glimpse of what’s going on behind him. With a silent sigh behind his mask, Din loosens the sling so that he can turn Grogu around and then refastens it.

The stallholder’s eyes go wide at the sight of the small green child, her eyes flicking from the kid up to Din’s helmet as she hands over the sticks of roasted meat and accepts the coins.

“Mine were like that,” she says, the suspicion gone from her tone, replaced with fond amusement. Her eyes are trained on the small green hand that’s come up, reaching for his lunch. “Like a nekarr cat the moment food was served. You’d think I never fed them.”

“Yeah, he uh- eats.” Din takes a half step back, ready to end the conversation and get back to the safety of their ship.

“He’s a cutie,” she continues blithely, leaning forward against the counter. “So, will this be your first Life Day with the little one?”

“Life Day?” His head jerks up, suddenly the decorations make sense. “Uh- yes?” He turns his attention down to the kid who is staring at the food, arms outstretched and grasping. He hands over one of the skewers and the kid immediately chomps down, babbling happily to himself.

“Cherish this moment,” she says. “They don’t stay this size forever. Next thing you know they’re grown and leaving home.”

***

After escaping the marketplace, Din wanders around looking for a secluded place the eat. He finds a sheltered spot behind a snowy outcrop and sits on the gnarled and folded trunk of a stunted tree.

While they eat, his thought’s drift back to the conversation with the stallholder.

Din didn’t usually spare much through for annual holidays, Life Day included. There wasn’t much point when one spent most of their time travelling through the vast void of space where days were a monotonous streak of pitch black and starlight.

He remembers celebrating the holiday as a child. The memories of his parents are faint and fleeting, the good times overshadowed by the grief of losing them.

Much more vivid, and welcome, are the memories with his buir and the clan—his aliit. It was a time for everyone to come together for good food and good cheer. The children would be given gifts and the adults would tell stories.

Din wants that for his kid.

He sits up sharply, eliciting a squeak from Grogu.

No, not his kid, he corrects silently, wondering when he started referring to Grogu as his in his head. He can’t afford to let himself think like that. As right as the word might feel, Din’s main priority needs to be returning Grogu to his kind—the Jedi.

He glances down at the kid, gnawing on the on the skewer. He’s a mess, his face and smock stained with meat juices. Wiping the worst of it from Grogu’s face, Din decides there’s not much else that can be done for it. They’ll just have to wait until they get back to the ship and he can find the kid a change of clothes.

But first—there’s something he needs to do.

Grogu doesn’t complain to much about being rugged back up. The wind had picked up while they sat, and the cloak offers an extra layer of protection from the icy blast.

They detour through the market on their way back to the ship so Din can pick up a few more things.

***

The light is fading by the time they return to the ship. It’s been refuelled so Din hands over the credits then takes the kid inside out of the cold. All of his earlier purchases have been delivered too, sitting just inside the hold.

Din’s anxious to get moving again, uncomfortable with spending so much time in one spot, but he needs to change Grogu into something clean and put everything away first.

He starts with the kid, unwrapping him from the sling and setting him down on the bed. He takes in the mess with a soft sigh beneath the helmet and collects a clean robe from their meagre box of possessions. Between the two of them they don’t own a lot of clothing. Still—the new outfit will be clean and keep the kid warm until Din can get the heating going again.

“Okay,” he says, holding up the robe. “I’ll make this quick.”

He manages to strip the kid one handed, keeping him still with the other, but the kid wriggles, making a game of the task.

“You’re going to get cold,” Din warns him, struggling to pull the new robe over the long green ears. “Just sit still.” He manages to pull the outfit over Grogu’s head and slip his arms through the sleeves. “I don’t know why you make that so hard every time,” he sighs, exasperated but fond. “I know you understand me.” He digs out one of the toys from their blankets and hands it over to keep Grogu entertained while he moves everything from the hold to the galley. It also gives him the opportunity to hide the gift he’d bought.

Once he’s done, he takes Grogu up to the cockpit—the sealed room will heat faster than the rest of the ship once the life support is engaged. He buckles in the kid and starts flicking the switches the power the engines.

Night has well and truly fallen across the snowy planet as the propulsion engines kick in. The ship rises steadily into the air and Din pilots them up out of the atmosphere. As soon as they’re clear of the planet, Din makes the jump to hyperspace hoping to put some distance between themselves and their last location, then sets the ship to autopilot.

***

Din wakes to the not unfamiliar sensation of something poking his face. It’s how he’s woken most mornings when he is not wearing his helmet—the kid was better than any alarm clock.

It comes again- the gentle pinching of his cheek- and he grabs the kid before the little womp rat can do it a third time. The kid giggles at the manhandling, wiggling against the hand holding him at bay. It’s a favoured game, but one that tends to be played too early. Din himself is an early riser, but somehow his kid just seems to have a knack for knowing when he’s in the deepest cycle of sleep and chooses that moment to wake him.

Today though, he doesn’t mind.

Rising from the bed, Din searches his hiding spot for the little cloth wrapped bundle.

“This is for you,” he says, returning to sit, legs crossed in front of the bed and setting down the gift. “Happy Life Day kid.”

It isn’t much— a couple of small toys so the kid will stop stealing ship parts and a new tunic. Grogu takes his time picking up each toy and holding them up to show Din, chattering away in excitement.

Din wonders if he understands the significance of this day, if anyone else has celebrated with him in the last fifty years or if, as far as Grogu’s concerned, today is just another day.

For Din, Life Day has always been day for family.

Is that what they are?

Family. A clan of two.

After everything they have gone through together, everything Din has done for the sake of the child. Everything he would do—are they not family?

Din’s entire worldview has shifted in the scant few months since he’d taken on a bounty and found a child. He’d removed his helmet—an act he swore he would never do in the presence of another living thing. He’d broken his creed for Grogu, yet somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Everything he’d done in his desperation to rescue Grogu had been worth it.

Grogu needs the Jedi, he needs to be trained… but as a child surely he needs more than that? Din wants him to have more than that.

“Grogu, hey.” He pulls the kids attention away from the toys he’s gleefully smashing together. “I-” he licks his lips against the sudden dryness in his mouth. It shouldn’t be this hard. He is a Mandalorian, the beroya for the tribe, master of the darksabre, the weapon of the Mandalor.

As though he can sense Din’s internal struggle, Grogu stands, reaching up for Din.

Taking one little green hand in his, Din steady’s his thoughts with a breath, and speaks the words that will make them family.

“Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad.”

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian spoilers #the mandalorian season 2 #din djarin #grogu #baby yoda #fluff #fanfiction #tailswritesmando

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compo67 · 4 years ago

Text

recomposed

well, it’s been a minute. i’m supposed to be getting ready for work, as in, showering because i have a meeting today but i think we’re gonna call it a “stick a hat on” day. cw: chronic illness, tumors/cancer, depression, mental health, suicidal ideations.

cue the song “a long december” by counting crows

how is it already december 8th??? how???

i’m hoping that maybe today i can decide on what to draw for this month’s print and flesh out ideas for a tcv xmas fic

maybe i’ll watch something cheesy and awful in between calls

it’s one of those days today where i don’t feel real. or maybe i just feel super distant from reality

if i let myself, i could stare at the fairy lights in my room all day and dissociate into oblivion

i hung the lights up pretty haphazardly, while standing on my bed, reaching above my head, alone, without supervision

yeah, i know, stupid. but no one else was around or willing to help and i just wanted them up.

i’ll do a better job of hanging them later. for now, they still look pretty

i’ve accepted that yes, i’m living with my mom + family for the foreseeable future. it only took me 8 months to accept it. sheesh.

so, we painted what used to be my sister’s room and rearranged all my stuff all over again. the walls are a really nice, elegant shade of gray. i hung up art and my photo ops and this one melissa etheridge shirt i really like. oh and my stars pennant

this reminds me that i need to go grab my stars hoodie from the laundry room, along with the rest of my laundry

i also hung a tension rod above my bed and added these sheer curtains + the lights for something like a canopy but not

it’s very pretty. needs some work but i’m more or less happy with it

i’m going through a depressive episode right now, so everything is very difficult. i’m also working my way through a costochondritis flare, so everything is also very painful. joy.

i have a long history of struggling with suicidal ideations, especially in intense moments of dissociating. sometimes they just get so loud.

i think that the humira is causing some of this mood disturbance but i’m not really sure what to do about it because it has helped my inflammation

and everything else we try i’m either allergic to or don’t see any changes

but tbh all i wanna do most days is lie in bed, cry, sleep, and listen to music. then get up and do little things i enjoy like talk to friends or bake a cake but then crawl back into bed again.

i just feel a bit resentful towards my brain right now. damn 3lb collection of fat and tissue.

i have to work today. i have back to back meetings. i don’t want to use up more PTO. i know i need something to keep me grounded and distracted.

i briefly thought about taking a leave of absence but then thought about the paperwork, the payroll crap, the change to my routine without work and just no. i need to just be patient and ride this out.

i have my bi-annual EDS doctor appointment tomorrow. i’m gonna ask about skin issues (why does it tear so easily?) and see if we can change my accommodations at work

i think working 8-9 hour days gets to be too much for me. i think i’d do better working 6 hour days 4 days a week. it would have helped if scheduling had replied to my email and let me do a trial run ahead of time but oh well. now they’re just gonna have to do it

ugh i really should shower because my first meeting involves other peer group facilitators and i’m gonna have to participate

i found perfectly sized holiday cards to fit patreon prints in, that was a win

it’s been 3 years since i learned about the tumors on my liver

3 years since i learned about transplant being in my future

3 years of carrying around all that knowledge

2 years since they took 26 vials of blood from me to get a baseline for whenever i do need a transplant

my next MRI is in april. i need to get labs done by the end of the month

it would be nice if i could just live without all of this

brain weasels included

but here we are

i need to grab my compression vest, my stars hoodie, and a bottle of smart water

and try my best to make it through my meetings and then take it an hour at a time after that

we’ll see, i suppose

it’s not all doom and gloom. i love fire pits and my friend J and my sister have been indulging me. i love smores. i love the crackle of a fire. i love when my clothes smell like smoke.

the NHL wants to start up in january. i keep thinking, “just stay alive until january” and that helps a bit

i checked out a ton of queer graphic novels/manga to read from my library

tcv edits are challenging but fun

i put up my tree and my ornaments

i have friends who check in on me and folks i can go to for comfort

some things are good

it ain’t all bad

and now.... a shower.

thank you for reading this, if you did. <3

take care of yourself.

#compo67 #authorial rambles #personal #pls do not reblog #suicidal ideations #mental health #chronic illness #tumors #cancer #the road to transplant

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hellas-himself · 5 years ago

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More Than Enough

Remember that self indulgent crack ship holiday fic I was writing about Cassian and Feyre? And how I couldn’t seem to mix the past with the present?

It’s a fic now. Still in the same AU just like... the year before. Leading up to the cheesy ass nonsense it is now. Originally it was going to be angsty at first but I think we have enough of that in our real life. If you haven’t read the crackship holidays featuring these two dumbasses, start here or on AO3.

Also. I promise all my other fics are not being abandoned.

I’ve had a playlist to listen to when writing them but it is so incredibly inappropriate if you understand spanish. and i haven’t made it onto spotify yet. But this song reminded me of them and that’s where the title comes from. Which is funny because Alina is who i put beside Toni Mafud as Rhys and Feyre whenever fan casts come up. ANYWAY.

Let’s follow Feyre as she thirsts after her best friend.

I blame it on the music.

Cassian lost his shirt about half an hour ago and is doing pull ups. The garage door is open, letting in the cold winter air. My fingers are cold but I don’t like wearing gloves when sketching. I had been working on hands and eyes but once he tossed his shirt… It’s not like I’ve never seen Cassian without a shirt on before. Between him and his brothers, they seem to always find an excuse to not wear one. But the difference is I don’t find myself daydreaming about what it would be like to run my fingers down their backs.

It’s definitely the music.

Even if I didn’t understand the words, the beat itself is way too sensual to not be about anything else but sex. But the lyrics and Cassian’s sweaty, half naked body mixed with the fact that I haven’t had sex in months is probably the worst mix. I am not supposed to be imagining sleeping with my best friend.

I clear my throat, startling Valo who was falling asleep at my feet.

“Sorry, baby, I need a drink.”

I set my sketch book and pencil down on the crate beside my chair.

“Would you get me a drink, bunny?” Cas breathes out and my face flushes all the more. I didn’t need another detail to this stupid daydream.

“Yeah,” I squeak and head into the house. I already know his post workout drink recipe by heart. I drink ice cold water while the blender is going.

Cassian is suspended in the air, holding his entire body parallel to the floor with his hands. Goddamn him. He drops his head back so that he’s looking at me upside down and he smiles.

“I love you,” he says and I roll my eyes.

“I’ll love you more if you don’t bust your ass.”

He chuckles and just to drive the nail in the coffin that is my desire to be the reason he’s making noises like that, he slowly lowers his body and resumes his pull ups. I set his cup on the table where he has his tools and go back to sit down.

Cassian drops down and walks over to his mat to do his cool down stretches. A new song comes on and the words are so filthy that I find myself staring at him. His tattoos. My ex-boyfriend had always believed I was into Cassian- and I wasn’t. But I wasn’t blind and I’ve been at his house almost every single day since Thanksgiving- he is always without a shirt.

It’s just the music.

“Plan on drawing me?” Cassian asks and I blink. I look away from his tattooed chest and to his face. He is smirking. Shit.

“Uh. Yeah. What better way to do anatomy studies than with a living reference?”

“Anatomy, huh?”

He flashes me a grin before he walks over to the table for his drink.

“Hey, what do you want for dinner?”

His question distracts me from looking at his ass.

“Uh, whatever you want… I’m not really craving anything.” Except you. I sigh and cover my face with my hands and lean over. I need a cold shower.

“Hey… You alright?” he asks softly.

I nod and slowly sit upright.

“I’m just… I’m fine. I promise.”

He doesn’t believe me but he walks over to grab his speaker.

“I love this song,” he says and starts to sing along to it as he gratefully goes back into the house.

Cassian meets me in the living room now dressed in a white tee and grey sweatpants. He lifts both my legs up so that he can sit down. This is normal. I always use his lap to rest my legs.

“I ordered Greek, I hope you don’t mind.”

“I told you, I’m not craving anything except-”

Fuck my entire life. Cassian raises a brow and I toss him the remote.

“Why don’t we finish your show so then we can watch my movie?”

This pacifies him and thankfully, his stupid show is so violent and bloody that all thoughts of fucking my best friend fade from my mind.

Our annual Christmas party is tonight and I’ve found an outfit. It is the kind of outfit Tamlin would have told me not to wear. It’s blood red and insanely inappropriate for winter with its spaghetti straps and super low neckline. Mor says it’s the perfect thing to wear after a break up and just the thought of all the pictures we’ll take with me and Cassian together makes me believe it.

I hang the dress up in the closet of Cassian’s bedroom. The heels are set beside his dress shoes and I can’t help but think about his reaction. Of dancing with him all night and coming back here and-

“Bunny!”

“I’m in the closet!”

I hear him chuckle.

“Shut up,” I call out and walk into the bedroom to find him pulling off his shirt. I feel my face go hot.

“I’m going to shower… do you want me to use the other bathroom?”

“What? No, this is your house,” I say far more casually than I feel. “Besides, we’ve got time, we can share.”

I want to punch myself in the face. Cassian starts to grin.

“The shower might be a little too small for the both of us but I’m sure we could find a way to-”

Cassian laughs when I smack his arm.

“Not exactly where I like being spanked but I’ll take it.”

“Oh my god, Cassian.”

He laughs and disappears into the bathroom. I force myself to leave the room when I hear the water.

Cassian walks into the kitchen in nothing but a towel, his hair wet, water dripping down his chest. He walks over and takes the sandwich from my hands.

“Fuck, we’re out of beer,” he mutters as he opens the fridge. I grab the second sandwich I made, expecting him to steal from my plate and force my gaze up. On his stupidly gorgeous face.

“I can go get some,” I say but he shakes his head and walks over to take my cup of iced tea.

“Are you cool with us taking a cab tonight?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess.”

Cassian drinks from my cup and sets it down before pinching my cheek.

“It’ll just be you and me,” he says softly. “So don’t worry about it.”

I blush at this and Cassian kisses my forehead.

“I’m gonna go get dressed. Thanks for the snack,” he says with a wink and walks away.

I keep my makeup rather muted; lip gloss and the usual winged liner. Nude eyeshadow. Cassian picked out the highlight and I have to admit, he chose well. My hair isn’t going to get any better, so I leave it in loose waves rather than the curls I’d wanted. I’ll leave that to Mor. I feel nervous, this is the first time since the breakup that I’m going out with all of our friends but Cassian will be there, and that’s enough to ease my nerves. Almost.

“Our ride is here,” Cas says as he walks into his bedroom. He stops and just stares. I approach him and hold out my ID card and debit card, needing to ignore the way his attention has me feeling.

“I don’t have pockets.”

“What?” He blinks and looks down at my hand. He laughs and pulls his wallet out. “You only need your ID.”

“Maybe so,” I say and reach out to smooth down the collar of his shirt while he puts my cards away. I remember my lip gloss and put it in his back pocket, giving him a wink.

Cassian holds my hand when we go outside, helping me down the steps and the driveway. It’s a regular occurrence, but I blush when he opens the door for me. And when he slides an arm around my shoulders when he sits down beside me. We take a bunch of pictures and call Cassian’s parents to check on Val- as if we hadn’t seen him an hour ago.

When we get to the club, Cassian holds my hand as we walk inside. Cassian and the boys are all friends with the owner, so we get to skip the line.

“Where are we going?” I ask as Cassian leads us up to the VIP lounge.

“Meeting up with Rhys.”

“What’s he doing up here?”

Cassian chuckles. “You know Rhys never passes a chance to be extra as fuck.”

I can’t argue with that.

Upstairs, Cassian helps me out of my coat. His fingers brush my skin and my mind takes a swan dive into the gutter.

“What do you say to a few drinks before we go downstairs?” he asks as he takes my hand. The bouncer outside the lounge acknowledges us with a nod.

“Yeah, I could use it.”

Cassian flashes me a grin and then opens the door.

“SURPRISE!” Everyone shouts and I find all of our friends standing under a Happy Birthday banner.

I am at a loss for words and Cassian laughs, bringing me further into the room. I’d completely forgotten about my birthday, I hadn’t cared enough to even think that anyone else would. But Elain is here with Az. So is Rhys and Lucien, Amren, Varian. Viv and Kallias, too. I’m separated from Cassian as I’m hugged and kissed by everyone. I realize Tarquin and Cresseida are here as well. Rhys is the one who breaks open the first bottle and we all stand around the little table to take shots.

“There is a cake,” Elain says as she hands me another shot. “But that’s later.”

“Later?”

She winks at me and shouts for Azriel.

“That’s my favorite song!” she exclaims and her husband happily ditches his brothers to go out and dance with his wife.

Lucien and Rhys pull me in for another hug as the others begin to trail down to the dance floor.

“You look good enough to eat,” Lucien mumbles and I laugh.

“Don’t tell me you’re already drunk, Luce.”

“We may have pregamed at the house,” Rhys admits. “But we took an uber! It’s okay.”

I roll my eyes.

“You both suck. I’m going to go find me two other cute boys to dance with. Boys who would have invited me to pregame with them and no amount of flirting is going to fix that.”

They begin to whine and I laugh, holding onto Rhysand’s forearms as they keep me caged between them.

“Alright! You win!” I say with a laugh and look over to find Cassian looking my way. He smiles.

I want to ask him to dance but Mor pulls him away before I can open my mouth.

We drink and dance and drink and dance and drink some more. I feel light headed and everything makes me laugh. But I haven’t danced with Cassian yet and that’s enough to dampen the mood. I push my way through the crowd until I find Cassian at the bar. I take the empty barstool beside him and sit down. I order myself a margarita before turning to face him.

“And where have you been all night?” I ask and Cassian smirks.

“Enjoying the night,” he says and takes a sip of his drink.

“Without me?”

I don’t understand the look in his eyes as he takes a sip of his drink. He sets the glass down and leans forward. I didn’t really understand just how short this dress was until he lays his hand on my thigh. If I turn my chair completely, if he moves his hand just an inch more…

“Yes,” he says and kisses me cheek. “But I think I’m about to enjoy it more now.”

“Why?” I manage to say. Cassian’s hand brushes my thigh as he sits upright.

“I’m about to go dance with my best friend.”

“Are you now?”

My drink is set before me and I grab it, chugging it down as Cassian slides off his chair. He turns mine so that I’m facing him completely and puts his hands on my hips.

“If she says yes, of course.”

I finish the last of my drink and set down the glass.

“When have I ever said no to you?”

Cassian grins.

I have danced with Cassian many times. At parties, at the beach, at clubs and bars and festivals. At his parents’ house. I should be used to the feeling of his body against mine, of his hands on me while we dance but not like this. I want nothing more than to take him back up to the lounge and push him down on the sofa or go find an empty bathroom stall.

But I don’t.

Birthday cake and alcohol isn’t the best mix, but I haven’t felt this alive in months. My face hurts from laughing, from smiling. My vision is spotty from all the pictures we’ve taken but I don’t care. Everything is right in the world.

“My feet hurt,” I complain and sit on Cassian’s lap.

“Want me to rub your feet?”

I shake my head and lean into him.

“No. Not until I’m showered.”

He laughs. “Okay.”

I sigh when he wraps his arms around me. He is so warm and smells so good, I want to stay this way forever.

“I think the birthday girl is done for the night,” Rhys says teasingly and I realize I was dozing off. I look up to see Rhys standing there with a stupid smirk on his face.

“Fuck you,” I say and curl up in Cassian’s arms. I feel his hand holding my dress down from showing everyone else my ass.

“Tempting,” Rhys says and then shoves his hands in his pockets. “But I think I’ll pass.”

I don’t think much of the look Rhys gives Cassian in favor of playing with his hair. I take way too much satisfaction in the knowledge that not everyone gets to do this, and that he enjoys it. Cassian seems to win whatever silent staring contest he and Rhys were having and Rhys rolls his eyes and goes after his boyfriend.

“You’re making me sleepy, bunny.”

“Good thing we’re going home together then,” I say before my mind catches up. But Cassian only chuckles and hugs me a little closer.

Cassian and I are a laughing mess as we stumble into the house. I lean on him to step out of my heels and he laughs as I shrug off my coat and toss it at him. We’re both trying to catch our breath, and I swat his hand away when he tries to tickle me again.

“I’m taking a shower,” I breathe out and walk off but he stops me.

“Wait,” he says and I turn to find him smiling.

“What?”

“Happy birthday,” he says softly and pulls me in for a hug. “I promise I’ll make you breakfast in the morning.”

“Hm… you really know the way to a girl’s heart, Cas.”

He pinches my side and I yelp.

“Go shower,” he says and kisses the top of my head.

“I won’t be long.”

My shower is clumsy and not at all relaxing. My feet hurt. So I put lotion on my body and grab the bottle of perfume that is on the dresser, except it’s not perfume but cologne. I shrug and put on Cassian’s Nirvana tee shirt and double check I actually have underwear on before I go looking for him.

“Cas?” The house is dark save for the light coming from his room. “My feet fucking hurt.”

He says something but I don’t understand it. His room is open and I step inside, finding him lying on his bed. He’s got basketball shorts on and his hair is loose.

“Bunny!” he says as if he hadn’t seen me all day. “I almost busted my ass in the shower.”

“Me, too.” I say with a laugh. “Maybe we should’ve showered together. It would’ve been safer that way.”

“I like the way you think, Archeron.”

He holds his hand out to me and when I’m close enough, he pulls me into bed with him. “You smell good.”

I snort. “I smell like you.”

“Exactly.”

I swat his arm but he ignores it, putting his arms around me.

“My feet hurt,” I complain, hoping he’ll make good on his promise.

“Just stay here,” he says simply.

My heart stops and starts too fast.

“Like… sleep here?” I ask too quietly.

“Mhm.” He goes quiet for a moment and then groans. “I forgot to turn the light off.”

“I can do it,” I say.

“No… Stay here.”

He goes quiet once more, and I let myself relax. We haven’t shared a bed since we were kids, playing video games until Adela would force us to go to bed. I smile at the thought and rest my head against his chest.

“Goodnight, Cas,” I say quietly, my eyes getting heavy.

“Goodnight, bunny,” he says and lets me go to stretch. Then he wraps his arms around me again and moves us so that we’re on our sides. He presses a kiss to my forehead and I close my eyes, letting the warmth of him lull me to sleep.

@mythicaitt @bookloveaffair @nalgenewhore @candid-confetti

#more than enough #cassian x feyre #crackship #and absolute self indulgence #him calling her bunny will be the end of me #i dont care what's canon #or that feyrhycien is everything to me

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darlinvandijk · 5 years ago

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Thrift Shop

Concept: request where “Ruel cleaning out his closet and accidentally giving his favorite hoodie (some limited edition shit) to a local thrift shop. Then one day he sees you in *that* hoodie and politely asks you if he could have it back. you have no idea who he is, but after some time, you get to know him better, and catch some feelings.” Dm me and whatnot for requests and I’ll be happy to comply! (This is really fucking long lol) I hope you enjoy :)

I slowly walk through the rows of clothing in my absolute favorite thrift shop, letting my fingers graze against the clothes, feeling all of the different textures and fabrics. I came here to buy a suede skirt for my mother’s annual Holiday party, but so far I have about 5 pieces of clothing and a hat, a hat that I’ll probably never wear. I’m strolling through the men’s section, trying to make my way across the store to dresses, when my eyes catch a muted reddish brown crewneck. I pull out the sweater, eyeing the “Holy Spirit” black writing across the front of it, before ultimately deciding its going to be added to my ever growing pile of clothes. I finally get everything I need, go up to the register, and pull out my card to pay for everything I impulsively bought. The cashier, who’s gotten to know me and become one of my best friends over the last few months of me always being here, looks at my stuff and sends me a small smile, before looking at the sweater and grinning.

“We actually just got this one in today, you should have seen the guy that donated it” he muses, folding everything up and placing it into a bag for me. I raise an eyebrow at him, intrigued by what he found so interesting about the mystery donor. He watches my expression and lets out a chuckle.

“Jake you have to tell me now, what was so great about him?” I question curiously, wanting to know why my friend had such a mischievous smile on his face. He passes me the bag and receipt before dramatically leaning on the counter and letting out a sigh, throwing his head back for effect.

“Sweets he was the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, like he could take me anywhere and anytime, and honestly definitely your type” Jake draws out, causing me to choke on air before laughing. I let him fan himself dramatically for a couple more seconds before rolling my eyes and laughing at my dramatic but great friend.

“Okay jake if you’re done losing your shit, I shall be on my way. Don’t forget this weekend though, you and Ali are supposed to bring the snacks since I’m hosting movie night” I remind him, about the deal our friend group made for our weekly movie night, completely ignoring his fascination over the unknown guy. He nods his head and waves bye as I make my way out of the store and back to my apartment, thinking about how I can put all my new clothes to use. ———

It’s been a few days since I went thrifting and today I decided to finally head out to the shops, wearing my new favorite sweater. I paired the Holy Spirit sweater with a pair of shorts and some black vans, before deciding the outfit was decent enough to be out in public in.

I make it to the shops and stroll around, looking at the setups in the windows, the different cafes and pastry shops, and all the various stores just begging me to spend my money there. I decide to make a quick stop at a cute little pastry place, sitting outside with my drink and chocolate croissant. As I sit outside at one of the tables enjoying the nice weather and hearing the chatter of the families strolling around, I feel someone tap my shoulder. I turn around in my seat, coming face to face with someone’s stomach, before having to completely tilt my head back in order to make eye contact with the random but extremely tall stranger. I freeze a little upon making eye contact with the gorgeous green eyed male, before throwing him a confused look since he obviously had something to say.

“Hey I hope I’m not bothering you, but uh this might be weird, like really weird actually, but uhm can I ask you a question? Did you thrift that sweater?” He asks with a crooked nervous smile, looking me over, spending a little bit longer on my sweater before looking back into my eyes. I slightly blush at his unwavering gaze at me, from not only being put on the spot, but from being flustered by the attention of such an attractive guy. I then take in the question he asked, becoming perpelxed that he came all the way up to me to ask about the very worn out sweater.

“Yeah? Why?” I question, throwing him a small smile, not wanting to come off too awkward or blunt to him. He gives me a boyish one back before taking another long look at my sweater, nervously wringing his hands in front of him, and slightly shifiting from foot to foot. I catch on to his anxious behavior and motion to the seat in front of me, blushing at the smile he throws me before taking the seat. He takes a deep breath before looking me in the eyes with an apprehensive expression.

“Can I have that sweater?” He blurts out completely catching me off guard, while also catching himself off guard by the apparent blush that rises to his cheeks. I stare at him with my mouth partially opened, unsure on what to say to his abrupt question. Like I barely know the guy, he might be attractive but I’m not going to strip right here for him to have this sweater. I slightly tilt my head to the side as I watch him let out a groan and cover his face with his hands.

“So I don’t know you and honestly have no clue what to say. Like well no, because I don’t have another shirt to wear, and also no because I bought it and don’t usually give my clothes to random people? Like I’m not about to strip here for a random guy?” I slowly speak, trying to figure out how to reply to him, still confused by this whole situation. He takes a deep breath at my answer before running a hand through his hair, causing my breathing to stutter for a second. He looks up at me and throws me a smirk, catching on to my reaction, making my face instantly heat up.

“That wasn’t the way I was going to ask, it just came out, but like please I’ll do anything to get that sweater back, I’ll even go buy you a new shirt right now ” the boy pleads, with big round eyes and a slightly pouted bottom lip. He pulls out a wallet and sets it on the table, giving me a look of pure desperation. I honestly have no clue what this guys deal is with this sweater, like did he say he wanted it back when I never took it from him in the first place?

“You want it back? But like I don’t know you so there’s no way I took it from you” I explain watching him bounce his leg anxiously, biting at his bottom lip. He starts to turn pink, seeming almost embarrassed to explain his situation with my sweater.

“Here’s the thing, I donated a lot to the thrift store, but I had no clue that my favorite sweater got put into the pile. Like that sweater is really valuable and also has a lot of sentimental value to me. I’ll pay you for it if that’s what it takes” he rushes out, eyes locked on the sweater, before looking at me with a nervous look. I look at the sweater, then to his wallet, then back to him, before deciding what my final decision is.

“I don’t know you at all, like I don’t even know your name, so I feel weird on giving you something I just bought, but I also don’t want to take your money. Why don’t we get to like know each other and then I can decide on if i believe the story and if I’ll give you the sweater” I reason, watching a grin blossom across his face at my words, before nodding his head vigorously, making me throw my head back and laugh at his excitement.

“Deal, how about we start with something simple. My names Ruel, what’s yours?” He asks, with a sincere look of genuine interest as he waits for my reply, I smile before holding my hand out, ready to finally introduce myself to the beautiful guy in front of me. ———

“You’re kidding me? There’s no way that’s true” I snort out, watching Ruel give me an incredulous look from his spot on my couch. He scoffs as he looks at me, throwing me a betrayed glare, trying his hardest to not smile. It’s been two months since I met him on that fateful sunny day, two months of inside jokes and shared stories, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have him in my life.

“For you information it IS true, I met Tyler and literally ran away from him after introducing myself, I was too nervous” he explains, laughing at the look I give him, before seating myself next to him, handing him his takeout container, both of us getting ready to binge on some Netflix movies, like we usually do on each other’s free days. He sends me a small smile and grabs a blanket, pulling it over the both of us, saying it’s protection from the cold and possible falling noodles if we drop any. We enjoy each other’s company in silence, with comments every now and then, our food finished with only the empty cartons on the coffee table, when he makes a move leaving me completely flustered.

He shifts a little, his left side completely pressed against my right side now, before setting an arm on the back of the couch, slowly moving it down until it rests upon my shoulders. I look up at him to see him already watching me, his green doe eyes and rosy cheeks waiting for my reaction, before I softly smile and turn to rest my back against his chest. He lets out a quiet chuckle, moving his arm down to wrap around my waist, holding me as we watch the rest of Spider-Man. This is the first time he’s made a move on me like this, like yeah we’ve had our moments of flirting and being a little touchy, but he’s never genuinely made a move. I smile as I think about how he might like me, the way I’ve grown to like him, shocked that he wasn’t just being friendly during all those fleeting touches we’ve shared. Shocked that maybe the feelings were mutual.

As the movie comes to an end, I notice the way our position has changed throughout it, at some point we must’ve shifted because I’m currently resting on his chest as he lays down across the couch. His hands rest on my back, one resting on my bare skin underneath my sweater, the sweater that actually made this whole friendship possible. He shifts once the final credits start to roll, sitting up and pulling me with him. I make a move to get off his lap, but he places his hands on my hips and holds me in place. He gives me a nervous grin, much like the one he gave when we first met, and reaches up to move some of my hair behind my ear. He lets his hand linger against my cheek for a second, before putting it back onto my hip.

“So I don’t know how to say this.. because I truly value our friendship and would hate to fuck it up.” He spits out, breaking the silence with his anxious statement. I give him a small smile, lifting a hand timidly to smooth out the wrinkles forming between his eyebrows. He stops furrowing them and just watches as I lay my hand against his cheek, feeling it heat up instantly.

“I don’t think anything you say can ruin our friendship, just go ahead and say it” I softly tell him, hoping to ease up any of the nervousness he feels, starting to get anxious myself on what has him so shy all of a sudden. He nods his head and take a deep breath, before looking up into my eyes and giving me the cute boyish grin I’ve come to love. I start to blush under his gaze, not being able to read the emotion that’s filling his eyes.

“I really like you, like I mean really fucking like you. I get it if it’s not reciprocated, we can just pretend this never happened, but I just needed to tell you. I’m really falling for you” Ruel whispers out, looking away from my eyes, too scared to see the look on my face. I can feel his hands shaking as they hold my hips, filled with fear of rejection. I stop breathing for a second, not being able to comprehend that he actually likes me in a way as more than friends. I let out a quiet laugh watching his eyes snap to mine in confusion, before I throw my arms around his neck, and hold him as tight as I can.

“I’m falling for you too” I softly whisper out, my face still pressed into the crook of his neck. I feel his body shake as he lets out a laugh of pure happiness, completely elated that he not only didn’t ruin a friendship, but that his feelings were wholeheartedly shared. We sit in silence for a little bit, just enjoying the peace and happiness filling the air around us. He pulls back so he can see my face, glancing down at my lips and the back to my eyes, slowly leaning in before connecting our lips in a soft yet sweet kiss. He pulls away and rests his forehead against mine, leaning in to place a few chaste kisses, causing me to let out a laugh. I watch his eyes light up in awe upon hearing the gleeful laugh leave my mouth, happy that he’s the one making me so happy.

“Sooo does this make you my girlfriend?” He asks slowly, not too sure where to go next after making the main move. I give him a smirk, laughing at the way he instantly becomes weary at my expression.

“Hmmm no” I sarcastically reply, watching his eyes widen before they form into a glare, catching on to my underlying sarcasm. He scoffs and instantly tackles me into the couch, landing on top of me and pressing kisses all over my face, making me shriek out at the sudden attack. He pulls away a little so that his face hovers above mine, giving me the softest smile before leaning down and pressing his lips to the tip of my nose. We smile at each other, both of us mentally agreeing that this is the start of our relationship. ———

“Hey baby, can I ask you something?” Ruel asks anxiously from my kitchen, where he’s currently on the search for the Cheetos he left here. I glance up from my place on the couch, waiting for him to go on with whatever his question is, before finally coming to the conclusion that I’ll need to verbally reply before he can finally spit out his question.

“Yeah?” I question, throwing him a small smile, not wanting to make my poor boyfriend even more nervous than he already was. He gives me a boyish one back before taking another long look at my sweater, nervously wringing his hands in front of him, and slightly shifiting from foot to foot. I catch on to his anxious behavior and motion to the seat next to me, blushing at the beautiful smile he throws me before taking the seat. He takes a deep breath before looking me in the eyes with an apprehensive expression. As I look at him I feel a strange sense of deja vu, almost like this had happened before.

“Can I have that sweater?” He blurts out completely catching me off guard, while also catching himself of guard by the apparent blush that rises to his cheeks. I stare at him with my mouth partially opened, unsure on what to say to my idiot of a boyfriend. Like he might be attractive but I’m not going to strip right now just for him to have this sweater back. I slightly tilt my head to the side as I watch him let out a groan and cover his face with his hands.

“Sorry I don’t give clothes to random people” I jokingly reply, watching the look of realization cross his face. He walks over to the couch and lifts me up, placing me on top of his lap with a sly grin. I wearily watch him, completely unsure on what his next move will be, he’s literally so unpredictable. He leans forward and gives me a kiss, sliding his hands under my sweater, and letting them roam across my skin. As the kiss becomes heated, I notice the way his hands seem to be less touchy and more focused on the sweater. I instantly pull away from Ruel and send him a glare, catching on to his sneaky little plan.

“Ruel you asshole, did you only kiss me right now to try and get the sweater off me?” I snap out, watching the guilty grin that spreads across his face. He laughs as I continue to glare at him, placing his hands on my waist and rubbing soft circles into my skin, enveloping me in warmth with his touch. I continue to glare at him, not wanting to let him off the hook so fast, even though I can already feel my stubbornness melting away.

“You had told me that you wouldn’t strip for a random guy, but I’m not random anymore baby. You’re looking at your boyfriend who is kindly pleading with you to give it back, I’ll even give you a different sweater of mine or even take you to buy a new sweater” He pleads, watching the look of mischief cross over my face at his words. He lets out a groan, realizing he just practically made a deal with the devil himself. I excitedly flash him a grin, feeling my cheeks heat up in pure excitement for what’s to come.

“Time to go to the Thrift Shop” I screech out in glee, causing Ruel to instantly press his face against my chest in defeat. I mean it’s his fault really, maybe he should double check piles before donating.

#ruelvincentvandijk #ruel van dijk #one ruel #ruel #ruel one shot #ruel imagines #ruel imagine #imagine #imagines #one shot #x reader #free time ep #ruel fanfic

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heyyyharry · 5 years ago

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Chapter 15: Fright-day Night

(Halloween Special - from the Flatmate Trilogy: Two Hearts, One Home)

…in which they play treasure hunt on Halloween again.

Word count: 7.1k

Chapter 14: For Better Or Worse - Harry and Niall have a guys night, Y/N starts showing, and Layla loves her wedding dress.

What to expect in this chapter: Baby’s gender (finally) AND the biggest crossover since The Avengers!!! (Jk)

For this chapter, the Flatmate characters will meet Eddie from My Girl (Bambi’s boss). If you want to read the alternative version in which they meet Thea (Bambi in the Wattpad version), CLICK HERE

Harry used to hate the smell of the hospital.

It reminded him of germs and sickness, and that one time he nearly died in a jet ski accident. But now that he was there so often, he'd gotten used to it. He thought he might even like it, because every time he and his wife were there, they would walk out with good news.

"I think it's a girl," Harry blurted while anxiously picking lint from his sleeve, his other hand was squeezing Y/N's. They were in the hospital's waiting room, but he already had a feeling that this might be the best day of his life.

"Why do you think so, baby?" she asked with a smile.

"Mum said if you were more into salty food, you were having a boy, and if it was a girl, then you ate lots of sweet things." He chuckled and nudged her nose with his own. "I just filled your snack drawer with sweets a few days ago, and this morning when I looked at it, it was almost empty!"

"The snack drawer was your idea!"

"Yeah, because you either woke me up at 3 AM asking me to fuck you, or to go out and buy you some sweets. Now that you have your snack drawer, I will only lose sleep for sex."

"God, you're such a teenager." Laughing and shaking her head, Y/N threaded a hand through his hair and said, "guess we'll find out if you're right in half an hour."

Half an hour felt like half a century to Harry. But once it was finally their turn, he thought he might just pass out. He didn't know it was possible to get more agitated than the last time they'd been there, but when he took the same seat and watched his wife lie down on the same examining table, his insides were on fire. It didn't matter what his baby's gender was, because he loved them and his wife, anyway. Still, he was holding his breath and couldn't ignore the shakiness in his limbs.

"Congratulations," said the woman who was rolling the scanning device on Y/N's tummy. "It's a girl."

Those three words coursed through Harry's ears like Adrenaline through his veins. He tingled from his head to his toes, wanting to jump, but he was glued to the chair and his feet were as stiff as a rock.

It's a girl, said the voice in his head. I'm having a baby girl.

Y/N was saying something to him, but all he heard was white noise, while the name was bouncing inside his head. It felt as if there was an explosion in his brain, the good sort, and it took him a few seconds to come back to reality.

"That's Asteria, baby," Y/N said, tears streaming from her eyes though she was laughing.

Harry sniffled as he brought her hand to his mouth to kiss her knuckles a few times. "Hi, Ria," he said to her baby bump. "Your dad is here."

"Congratulations! You are the lucky ones who got invited to our joint bachelor/bachelorette/Halloween party!" Layla raised her glass as if she was making a toast at her wedding, when in reality, she and her friends were sitting in a small cafe. "Thank you, my dear future husband, for coming up with this brilliant idea."

"I came up with it, actually—"

"Shut up, Harry," she snapped at the poor guy and shushed everyone who dared to snicker. "Anyway, where was I? Ahhh, the party. So this year, I'm—"

"We."

"We're bringing back our favorite tradition—"

As Layla immediately corrected herself after Niall had corrected her, the Irish man smugly wiggled his eyebrows at Harry, who looked slightly offended for the opposite reaction he'd received. Meanwhile, everyone else was already yawning.

"If she wrote a whole speech about the Halloween game one month prior, imagine how long her wedding vow would be," Louis whispered and fist-bumped Liam while Trix and Y/N were trying not to laugh.

Layla, however, was so passionate about her special party that she just kept going, "our annual Halloween game is back!" she exclaimed and clasped both hands in front of her chest. "It's called 'Fright-day Night'. And Louis will be the host!"

As everyone turned to Louis, who did a tiny bow as if he'd just won an Oscar, Layla added, "in case anyone else's wondering why I didn’t pick one of you, well, y'all fucking sucked."

"I guess I'll...take that as a compliment!" Louis uttered as the corners of his mouth turned up. "We'll have a Halloween party after the game, so make sure you have your costumes ready."

"Yes!" Layla chimed in before Louis could steal her spotlight. "Niall and I will also participate in the game, so we know nothing about the clues or the prizes or where the party will take place. Louis will take care of that. Our only job is to follow his rules and have fun!" She tapped her finger on her lips as the chatter began. "I guess I'm done. Anyone wanna add something?"

Harry raised his hand. "I have something important to announce."

"Put your hand down, Harold. Nothing is more important than my—"

"We've just found out the baby gender."

"Oh my God, what?!" Layla shouted and everyone in the cafe snapped their heads to look at her. She appeared as if she'd seen gold when she turned to Y/N. "Bitch, you should've told me first!"

"Sorry, I was afraid you'd tell everyone else." Y/N smiled. "We wanted to tell you guys ourselves."

"Just tell me now, am I an uncle or an aunt?!" Niall blurted and quickly shook his head when everyone gave him questioning looks. "No, I mean—God! You know what I mean!"

Harry puffed out his chest and cleared his throat. "It's Asteria!"

"Yes!" Layla jumped out of her seat and smacked Liam on the back. "You owed me twenty."

"You made a bet on our baby girl?!"

"Yes!" She giggled despite the look on Harry's face and took the money from Liam, who seemed pretty bitter about losing. "I'm not surprised that I won though. I knew it all along that it was Asteria. I'm her Godmother after all."

"Aunt."

"Godmother. Deal with it." She gave Harry the finger and went on, "by the way, I'm calling her Teri. It's gonna be a special thing between Godmother Layla and baby Asteria, so none of you bitches is allowed to call her that."

"Did she just call dibs on our daughter?" Harry whispered to Y/N, who simply laughed and told him Layla was just kidding.

Fall went as quickly as it had arrived. There was only one more day until Halloween.

Layla had gathered the whole group at the same cafe, "so Louis could briefly give us instructions about the game," she had said. But everyone knew it was only an excuse for her to open a discussion about what everyone was going to wear so no two of them would show up in the same costume, "for the group aesthetics," she reasoned.

"Niall and I will be Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday," she cheerfully said, sitting with her back straight and arms crossed on the table, as if she was really princess Ann in the movie. "That means none of you losers can be Audrey Hepburn or a princess. Except for Y/N."

"Why?" Trix pouted.

"Because she's pregnant with my Goddaughter."

"Harry and I will be Flynn Rider and Rapunzel," Y/N said and Trix was smiling again.

"Ooh! The other day I was just telling Liam that you two reminded me of Flynn Rider and Rapunzel because—"

"Um, I have a question," Harry cut her off, raising his hand. "What are Jack and Gemma doing here?"

"Harry!"

"What?" He flinched as his wife swatted at his chest and everyone was laughing.

"I'm one of the bridesmaids. Why can't I be here?" Gemma gave him a shrug, arching an eyebrow.

Jack, who was sitting next to her, spoke fast, "Layla told me to come. I have no idea what's going on."

"Well, young Johnny Depp, you are invited to my bachelorette/bachelor/Halloween party because we need an even number of players to play the Halloween game."

"Or we can just not include Gemma." Harry lifted his shoulders in a half shrug and this time it was Gemma who swatted him.

Niall suddenly leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Layla is obsessed with Gemma, so if I were you, I'd shut up before I got uninvited to the wedding."

"I can't get uninvited, I'm the best man."

"Maybe we don't need a best man," Layla said, and Harry gasped, turning to Niall.

"Sorry, mate." Niall pursed his lips unapologetically. "You've chosen Y/N over me many times before."

"You're kidding."

Y/N shushed the boys and started stroking Harry's hair, knowing it'd turn him to a quiet little puppy.

Now that peace had been restored, Louis turned to Jack and Gemma. "Okay, I'm just going to explain again. Every year back in college, we would get together on Halloween for a game of treasure hunt. Each year, we took turns being the host who would come up with clues, the prizes, and the rules of the game. This time, I will be the host. The game is pretty simple. I'll divide you into two teams, and—"

"Wait, we don't get to randomly draw out our team?"

"No, Liam. Harry would cheat again so he could be with Y/N."

"I didn't cheat!"

"Yes, you did," Layla chimed in. "Liam saw you!"

"I did." Liam confirmed. "But I shipped you two so I didn't say anything."

"See? Cheater!" Layla grumbled as Harry flashed a peace sign at her, unapologetically.

"Okay guys, let me finish and you can roast Harry later," said Louis who rolled his eyes in frustration. "So where was I? Aaaah, the teams. Yes, there will be two teams, four persons each. You will find out which team you're in tomorrow night. And I will give each team different clues, the treasure this year is the Halloween party. You find the party, you win."

"Sounds simple." Y/N leaned back in her chair, hands on her belly. "Where are we going to play the game this year?"

"I don't wanna spoil the surprise," Louis told them with a mischievous smile.

"The cemetery?!"

Folding his arms, Louis chuckled at the way Layla's jaw fell open as she looked around the spooky graveyard. Rows of tombstones stood erect in silence, and in this starless misty night, the place looked like a sea of the dead. This could be the opening scene of a classic horror movie, in which a group of stupid people got murdered in a graveyard for playing a stupid Halloween game.

"If I'd known we would play in a cemetery, I would have dressed up as something else to match the aesthetic!" Layla huffed as she smoothed down her skirt.

"What's the point? You're gonna lose, anyway."

"Shut up, you stupid alien!" she glowered at Liam, who couldn't look more offended by the name.

"I am not an alien!" he objected, pointing to his hat. "I'm a space cowboy!"

"Guys, don't yell. Ria has ears now," Harry said as he hugged his wife from behind, hands on her tummy.

Appalled, Trix pointed to Y/N. "If you're Rapunzel then where's your wig?"

"It was itchy, so I took it off," Y/N explained as she tucked her hair behind her ear and looked down at her pink dress. "But you could still tell that I'm Rapunzel, right?"

"You look just like her," Jack said with a smile, and instinctively, Harry held his wife closer, not even giving her boss the second glance.

Jack was dressed as Jack Dawson, but Harry knew it was him who was the original Jack Dawson. In fact, he was Jack Dawson when he won the game with his wife. This wasn't a competition but Harry thought he'd already won.

"I'm Red Riding Hood," Trix said. "In case anyone's wondering."

"No, we're not wondering. You're literally wearing a red cloak, Trix."

"Layla, don't be mean to Trix," Louis spoke, turning all heads back to him.

"What are you supposed to be?" Liam asked.

"Alastor Mad-Eye Moody from Harry Potter," he said proudly and adjusted his fake eye. "Probably the coolest costume here."

"You wish," Layla spat, rolling her eyes. "No one could beat Audrey."

The group chatted for a bit while waiting for Gemma, who showed up last. She apologized for being late because she'd had to clean pumpkin guts from her car window. "Typical Halloween prank by the kids in the neighborhood," she said.

"Princess Leia!" Liam exclaimed, pointing to Gemma's space buns.

"Um, yeah." The older Styles chuckled. "Sorry, Layla. I got this costume before you said—"

"No, no, it's totally fine!" Layla shook her head quickly. "That iconic hairstyle totally suits you!"

"Wait, why do all the girls get to be princesses except for me?!"

"Don't worry, Trix," Harry said, pointing to her heart. "Every woman is a princess in here."

"Okay, can Princess Leia or the space cowboy shoot Flynn Rider right now?"

Harry extended his middle finger toward Layla and everyone dissolved in laughter.

Clearing his throat loudly, Louis got all eyes back on him and pulled out a little box from his leather satchel. The box contained eight pieces of paper, each folded in half, on which a player's name was written. "Take the one with your name," he said. "Okay, now open it. Those who see the word 'red' go to my left. Those with 'blue' go to my right."

Harry, Layla, Gemma, and Liam went to the left. Y/N, Niall, Jack, and Trix went to the right.

"Yay! We're on the same team!" Layla squealed as she saw Gemma, who gave the girl an awkward grin, not knowing why Layla was so obsessed with her.

"Harold!" Louis shouted, making Harry and Niall flinch. "Do not switch with Niall this time! I know what color you are!"

"What?! I wasn't gonna do anything!"

"Then step away from the Irish boy!"

Groaning, Harry shoved both hands in his pockets and took a few steps back, frowning at Y/N and Jack on the opposite side. Louis then handed each team another piece of paper. "This is your first clue. It will take you to the next place where the second clue is hidden. Get your cars ready and I'll see you at the party."

As soon as Louis wished them good luck and walked away, Y/N opened her team's first clue and read the riddle aloud to the other members. "There's a man with a crooked smile, his round face is scarred with a knife."

It only took her two seconds to snap her head up to look at Jack. "Jack-o'-lantern!" they said at the same time.

"That one's easy! Let's go find one."

Niall grabbed the hood of Trix's cloak before she could run off without them. "Hold your horses, Red. Every house has one of those, it's Halloween."

Jack nodded to agree. "Maybe it's not an actual Jack-o'-lantern. Louis did say'a place', didn't he?"

"Right!" Y/N exclaimed as she tugged at his sleeve. "There's a small Halloween night market for tourists called Spooky Pumpkins. It's only a five-minute drive from here."

"Great! Let's go!" Trix said as she skipped ahead, and the others quickly followed.

"They're leaving!" Layla whined, stomping her feet like an angry little girl, but nobody on her team paid attention to her.

"Help us think and we'll be able to catch up with them!" said Liam while Harry and Gemma were still analyzing the riddle.

"It's Halloween, we're all afraid. Take your time, but don't be late," Gemma read it aloud once again as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What the hell does it mean?"

Harry shushed Liam immediately and turned to his sister. "Gem?"

"Take your time," Gemma mumbled as she scrunched up her face. "Take your time, but don't be late. Take your time...don't be—"

"A clock!" Harry snapped his fingers. "This must refer to a clock."

"How are we gonna find a clock in a cemetery, genius?"

"Not here, genius." He glowered at Liam. "Louis said this clue would take us to another place."

"So...clock...Big Ben?" Layla asked.

"No, too far from here." Gemma shook her head. "It has to be somewhere near because it's only the first clue. We have to think smaller."

"There's a vintage clock shop near here. It only takes five minutes to drive there," Liam said and the others all agreed with him.

"Come on, let's go!"

As Harry motioned everyone to follow him and walked ahead of the group, Gemma gave Layla a nudge. "This is about Jack, right?"

"Yup." Layla nodded. "He becomes a dictator when he's jealous. But hey, we can always kill him after we've won."

"I heard that!"

Laughing, she shouted back at Harry, "I wanted you to!"

Y/N hated night markets.

She hated being surrounded by too many strangers. She hated it when someone bumped into her or stepped on her feet and didn't apologize. She hated the distinct voices and laughter as they gave her anxiety and a headache. Being at a night market on its busiest night was a Halloween nightmare coming true. It wasn't really a phobia for Y/N, but it was close, and so she didn't want to be obvious about how uncomfortable she was. She had scared Jack enough when they were stuck in a lift last year. Unfortunately, it wasn't hard to tell that something was bothering her as she was walking so close to his side, basically attached to him.

"You alright?"

"Yeah." She looked up to give him a reassuring grin and changed the subject, "don't you have other plans on Halloween night?"

"I don't even have plans on regular nights."

His answer made her snort. "I mean, working plans. I know you don't hang like the rest of us."

"You said it like it's a bad thing." He chuckled, shaking his head. "But I'm hanging with the rest of you now, aren't I?"

"Yeah, why is that, I wonder?"

"I have a soft spot for you, not gonna lie," Jack answered without thinking, and when he noticed the look on her face, he laughed it off and added, "you're like a little sister to me. That's what I meant."

"Oh? Should I take that as a compliment?" She smiled, and he gave her a shrug.

"Many people would kill to be considered my sister. You're lucky."

Y/N let out a slight laugh as she playfully pushed his shoulder. Before either of them could say anything else, Niall jumped out from nowhere and walked right in the middle. "So..." He threw an arm over Y/N's shoulders, grinning. "What were you talking about?"

Y/N was trying her best not to laugh. "Harry tell you to—"

"Guys?" Trix's voice cut her off. All three of them paused and turned around to find Trix panting as she finally kept up with them. "Shouldn't we stop and look for clues? Why do we keep on walking?"

"We are looking for clues," Y/N said. "We need to find a pumpkin-carving knife."

"Oh, that's very specific."

She immediately shot Niall a glare. "If I want sarcasm, I would rather have Harry on this team."

"Yeah. I miss that sarcastic asshole." Niall sighed.

"Hey, where is Trix?"

Jack's question got both of them to turn their heads, but Trix wasn't there anymore. It was like she had vanished into thin air.

"Trix? Where are you?!"

"Calm down, Y/N. She's probably—"

"Trix?!" Y/N ignored Jack and called louder.

"I'm here, Y/N!"

"Trix!" Y/N let go of a harsh breath and dashed toward the girl. "Where were you going?! Stay close to us, okay?"

"Look what I've found!"

Everyone jumped back when Trix pointed a knife at them.

"Woah! Be careful with that!" Niall hissed, making the girl giggle.

"Chill. I'm not gonna stab you! I'm not Layla! Look!"

Y/N was the one who stepped forward and took the knife from Trix. She peered at the shiny blade to read the tiny words written in permanent ink.

"The paper monsters under your bed, come from the lands inside your head."

Niall's eyes brightened as Y/N handed him the knife. "Our second clue!"

"Well done, Trix!" Jack said, giving Trix the thumbs up. The girl was so proud of her achievement that she couldn't stop bouncing up and down.

"I was just following the guy in the pumpkin mask with the Harry Potter scar and I asked him about the second clue."

"Okay, that was smart. Louis was dressed up as a character from Harry Potter, so it must've been a hint. But it was also dangerous to follow a guy in a mask," Y/N said as she held onto Trix's shoulder. "Do not follow guys in masks, okay? Not when it's night and you're alone. And definitely not on Halloween."

"Oh, okay." Trix batted her eyelashes and gave her an innocent smile.

"Guys, our second clue?" Niall spoke as he waved the knife to get the others' attention. "Any idea what it's trying to say?"

"Should we look under a bed?"

"I don't think 'bed' is our keyword, Trix," said Jack as he took the knife from Niall and reread the riddle a few more times. "Hmm, paper monsters from the lands inside your head..."

"How did Lou come up with these clues!" Y/N cried out, making Niall cackle.

"The dude literally makes a living from designing computer games so..."

"I used to have monsters under my bed," Trix suddenly spoke. "My mother had to read me Alice in Wonderland every night to chase the monsters away."

"Wait, that's it!" Jack's whole face lit up. "Books! We need to find the closest bookstore."

"Paper monsters from the lands inside your head!" Y/N gasped. "Why didn't I think of that? This must refer to horror fiction."

"Yup, horror or fantasy," Jack said with a small smile. "What's the closest bookstore here?"

"I know one! Let's go!" Y/N gestured with a thumb, and the rest hurriedly followed her.

Harry blew out his cheeks as he read the text from Niall and put his phone away. "They've solved their second clue," he told the others.

"Have you been texting with the enemy?" Layla, who was in the backseat with Liam, grumbled at him.

"It's just Niall."

"My husband and your wife are our enemies now. Stop communicating with them."

"Guys, we're here," Gemma announced as she parked the car on the side of the road, in front of their first stop.

The clock shop was so small it blended right in with the rest of the street, probably the reason Harry had driven by it plenty of times yet he had never once noticed it before. He was the first to enter, and the rest followed him in a line because the door wasn't big enough for them to walk through at once.

The place had that spooky charm, it was dull and quiet, no other sound but the chaotic ticking of the clocks. It was exactly how Harry imagined inside a madhouse would sound like.

"Hi, may I help you?" an old lady greeted them at the entrance. In this terrible lightning of the place, her teeth looked yellow and crooked and her face was as pale as a corpse. Layla and Liam were quick to hide behind the Styles and let them do all the talking.

"Hi ma'am..." Harry stepped up to shake her hand. "This may sound stupid but...we're playing this game and we have to solve riddles to—"

"Are you friends with the short skinny boy Lewis?"

"Louis."

"Yes." The lady smiled and adjusted her small glasses. "I love that boy, he comes over to keep me company whenever he's free. Who knew his friends were also such beautiful people. You, young man, look just like a prince."

"Thanks, ma'am." Harry chuckled nervously as she pinched his cheeks. "D-do you mind if we...um...look around?"

"Not at all, dear. Go ahead," said the old lady.

The four of them split to search for their next clues. They checked every corner of the store, and the lady let them do whatever they wanted and take as much time as they needed. When Layla found the piece of paper attached to one of the clocks, the old woman had already fallen asleep in her rocking chair.

"The witch has got a brand new nose, look where she would keep her clothes."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "A witch? Does any of you happen to know a witch?"

"Or someone with a brand new nose," Liam chuckled.

"And a lot of clothes..." Gemma said.

And all three of them turned to look at Layla, whose mouth fell open. "What?! I'm not the witch!"

Liam immediately took a step back to keep a safe distance from Layla before he said, "you got a nose job last year and you'd rather die than be seen wearing the same dress twice. So, yeah..."

"Do you guys call me a witch when I'm not around?"

"Yes."

Layla shot Harry a death glare and his mouth immediately snapped shut.

"Do you live near here?" Gemma asked, and Layla shook her head. "Then it can't be Layla. We don't have much time until midnight so these places must be close to each other."

"Layla's shop is just two blocks away," Harry said as he rolled up his sleeves. "I don't think the clue refers to her closet, because Louis couldn't have broken into her house and hidden stuff in her closet, right? It must be her clothing shop."

"Fuck!" Layla suddenly raised her voice and had to double-check if she'd woken up the lady. Turning back to them, she whispered, "yesterday he told me he was there to buy clothes for his sisters! That sneaky son of a bitch!"

"Okay, that's it! That's our next clue!" Harry said as he checked the time on one of the clocks. "Let's go! If we don't hurry up, Jack will win!"

"Did he say 'Jack' instead of 'they'?" Liam asked, watching Harry bolt to the entrance without waiting for anyone.

"Yup, get used to it," Gemma and Layla said at the same time.

Y/N had been to this bookstore twice with Harry. It wasn't so far from where they used to live back in college. Coming here tonight, she was expecting to see the old lady who always gave her discounts because she adored Y/N and Harry's relationship, but sadly, the lady wasn't there anymore. Instead, they met a young man who looked like he could still be a student.

"Sorry, we're closed," he said, about to turn off the last light when Jack stepped in anyway.

"It says 'open until midnight'." Jack pointed to the chalkboard by the entrance, but the employee gave him a shrug.

"Well, I've got only two employees, very lazy ones, and they didn't even bother to show up tonight."

"Wait, you're the owner of the store?" Trix asked.

"Why's it a surprise?"

"You look like a teenager..."

"Trix," Y/N warned her friend before turning back to the angry man, looking at his name tag. "Eddie, can we just look around for a minute? Um...it's kind of important. Please?"

Eddie seemed reluctant as he eyed them up and eventually drew in a long breath. "Fine. Only because you're polite."

Y/N happily thanked Eddie and followed him into the store. As he turned all the lights back on, Jack and Y/N hurried to the fantasy section while Niall and Trix went to the horror section. Dust collected everywhere as far as they could see. Jack and Y/N had to cover their noses and mouths as they looked through the dirtied shelves and stands.

"How can you work in a place like this?" Y/N asked, glancing at Eddie, who was watching them with his arms dangling at his sides.

"Well, I don't have a choice. It's family business." He hung his head and mumbled, "if only I'd stayed in college..."

"There's a book called 'I have sex with an alien'?" Jack said, making Y/N laugh as she took it and checked the front and back cover.

"I think one of my two employees hid it at the back so no one could see and buy it," Eddie said as he rolled his eyes. "Anyway, do whatever you want, I need to make a phone call."

When he was gone, Jack immediately turned to Y/N. "I would really love to meet those girls," he whispered, and Y/N nodded.

"Me too."

"Hey, guys!"

"Jesus, Niall!" Y/N smacked Niall with the book, causing him to jump away. "Stop doing that!"

"Sorry!" Niall rubbed the sore spot on his arms, his face contorted. "I just wanted to say Trix and I found the clue."

"Where?!"

Trix showed up, holding a book and an iPhone 5. "We found these on the top shelf."

"The Haunting Of Hill House," Y/N read the title before looking up and beaming at her friends. "Good job, guys! We're so gonna win!"

"Well, what's on the phone?" Jack asked, and Niall gave him a half shrug.

"Don't know. It requires a passcode to unlock."

"Wait, there's a bookmark." Y/N ranked her fingers through her hair, tucked it behind her ear and then opened the book to where it was marked. On the page was a highlighted sentence that said, 'Journey ends in lovers meeting.'

"That's Shakespeare," Jack pointed out.

"Maybe Shakespeare is the passcode."

"No, it's numbers, Trix." Niall exhaled as he rubbed his chin. "Try Shakespeare's birthday or death day."

Y/N was about to pull out her phone to go on Google, but Jack already entered those numbers.

"No, it's not it," he said, shaking his head and looked up to find the other three gawking at him.

"You know Shakespeare's birthday and death day?" Y/N questioned with her eyes wide.

With a cheeky grin, he smirked. "Well, don't you?"

"Please marry me," Trix blurted, and Jack's startled reaction to her 'proposal' sent both Y/N and Niall into hysterics.

Meanwhile, the other team had just found their third clue in one of the coats in Layla's store.

"Well done, Liam!" Gemma said as she unfolded the piece of paper and read the riddle aloud, "There's a princess in disguise. To find your next clue, just follow the light."

"A princess in disguise?" Gemma raised an eyebrow at Layla. "That's you, right? Princess Anne was in disguise so she could walk around Rome freely."

"It can't be Layla twice. The host is Louis, not Niall," Harry commented, making Layla roll her eyes.

"If Niall was the host, I'd be the princess and Louis would be the witch," she grumbled with her arms crossed over her chest. "Well? If the princess in disguise isn't me then who?"

"Who else could be the princess?"

"Gemma."

"A princess but not in disguise," Gemma corrected Liam.

"Princess Leia was disguised as Boush once."

"I'm not wearing a Boush costume, aren't I?"

As the two continued to argue over Star Wars facts, Harry was still mumbling to riddle and trying to solve it on his own. "Follow the light..." He pinched his bottom lip, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "The light...I see the light...and at last, I see the light! Yes!"

Everyone looked at him as he punched the air. "Tangled! It's Tangled! The princess is Rapunzel!"

"Y/N?!" Gemma smacked her forehead.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed, his eyes sparkled with joy. "My wife is the motherfucking princess in disguise. She is our clue!"

"But she's on the other team," Liam said, shaking his head.

Layla thought for a moment before she raised a finger. "Maybe Louis wants us to meet."

"Yes! We have to go now! Let's go!" Harry was about to run toward the entrance when Gemma grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back to them. "Not so fast, Eugene. We don't know where she is."

"Oh, shit! You're right!" he said and pulled out his phone. "I'll text her."

Gemma gave him a nod to approve. "But don't tell her she's the next clue. Not until we get there."

"Harry just asked me where we are."

"Why are you texting with the enemy?" Niall asked when she showed them the message. Jack, on the other hand, straightened at once.

"Journey ends in lovers meeting." He stared at Y/N intensely. "That's it. You're supposed to meet Harry again and Niall is supposed to meet Layla. That's how this game ends. We're supposed to meet the other team."

"Maybe Harry got a similar clue and he knows we have to meet," Niall said.

Trix gave a slight shrug. "Or he just misses her."

"No, Harry's very competitive," Y/N said, shaking her head. "Jack's right. He wants something from us. Should I let him know we're here?"

"Do it," Jack said and stepped closer to watch her type down the message. "But don't let him know anything about our clue. Wait until they get here."

"When did this place become the tourist attraction?!" Eddie cried out as he watched another group barge into his bookstore.

Harry walked straight toward his wife and gave her a hug. And when Eddie saw him, his eyes went wide. "Hey, has anyone told you that you look like—"

"We don't have time for meet and greet!" Niall interrupted the man and pulled Harry and Y/N apart, pointing a finger to his best friend's face. "No touching until you tell us why you're here."

"He's right. Show us your clue."

"Wow, so this is how it's gonna be, huh?" Harry chuckled as his wife extended her hand toward him, palm up.

"We're still playing the game. Hand me your clue," she demanded.

Harry shoved his hand into his pocket, but Layla stopped him right away, pulling him to the side by his elbow. "Show me yours first," she said, her nose stuck up.

"Guys, I don't know what this is about, but you have one hour until midnight," said Eddie, who patiently checked his watch and blew out his cheeks.

Given no other choice, Y/N pulled out the phone. "We found a phone which requires a passcode. And the clue is a Shakespeare's quote: 'Journey ends in lovers meeting.'"

"Can I have it?" Harry asked and Y/N handed him the device. Everyone went silent as they waited for him to enter the passcode.

"It worked!" He cheered, raising a fist. "I'm in!"

"It worked?!" Layla slapped a hand over her mouth as Niall jumped in joy.

"Holy shit! What?! What's the passcode?"

"Y/N's birthday." Harry grinned at his wife. "Our clue was a princess in disguise and it told us to follow the light."

"Ha. I see the light. Classic." Y/N giggled and pulled Harry's head down to kiss him on the cheek. "My husband is so smart."

"Skip the sentimental bits. We don't have much time left." Layla smacked Harry on the arm, causing him to hiss and jump away. Stealing stole the phone from her brother, Gemma quickly went through the few apps on the home screen.

"Okay. The photo roll is empty. Messages. Empty. Notes. Empty."

"Try recording," Layla spoke, and Gemma tapped on the recording app.

"There's one recording!"

"Yes, wife!" Niall wrapped his arms around Layla and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "You're the best!"

"Is this the 'I love my wife' club now? Can the rest of us leave?" Liam joked, making everyone laugh as Layla shot him a death glare.

Gemma immediately shushed them all so she could play the recording. The first few seconds were nothing but silence, but then they heard Louis' voice. He said, "you're almost there, just look for white. Enter the room and claim your prize."

And it ended.

"That was it?" Layla scoffed as she exchanged looks with Y/N. "Look for white?!"

"Yes, that's the keyword," Gemma breathed. "White. What does the color white remind you of?"

"Snow?"

"It's Halloween, not Christmas, Liam!"

"You haven't watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, haven't ya?" Eddie spoke and Layla yelled at him to stay out of this.

While everyone was arguing with each other, Y/N subtly pulled Niall aside and whispered to him, "go get your car and wait for us outside."

Though confused, Niall trusted Y/N, so he didn't question her and just snuck out when nobody wasn't looking.

"White, hmm..." Layla trailed off as she shuffled her feet, one arm folded, the other rubbing her chin. "Treasure?"

"Treasure?" Harry chortled. "Our cat?"

"Yup."

Liam and Trix snickered at her answer, but Gemma and Jack were poker-faced.

"No, Layla's got a point," Jack said. "Louis did say the treasure is the party."

"Shit!" Harry cried out, holding his head. "Treasure is with Nam and Nam told me he'd taken tonight off to be with Ben. Treasure is at Ben's place! That's where the party is!"

Gemma groaned as she stomped her foot. "Why didn't I think of that? He gave us the final clue right from the beginning!"

Harry's team hadn't had time to react to the big discovery when his wife and her team shot right through the door. Niall's car was waiting outside, and they drove away in a matter of seconds. It took the others a moment to realize what was happening and all of them dashed off, not accepting defeat.

As the door fell shut in front of his eyes, Eddie was frozen, completely flabbergasted. He needed a minute to process everything and quickly pulled out his phone to make a call.

"Mum? Can you pick me up? I think I just met a cult."

"If we lose because we couldn't find a parking spot, I'd be so pissed," Layla panted as she chased after the others into the building right when Y/N's team was heading toward the lift. The two sides only shared one hostile look as the door opened, and the old lady in the lift was horrified when they all ran toward her. Harry was much faster. He almost got there when he heard Niall shouted, "stop! You're hurting Y/N!" which stopped him immediately.

"Which one of you fucking pushed her—"

"Sucker!" Niall pushed Harry aside, took Y/N's hand and pulled her into the lift with Jack and Trix. It took Harry nearly a second to realize he'd been fooled, but by the time he and the others got to the lift, it had gone to the next floor.

"We can just press the emergency button to stop it!" Liam said, looking frantically from left to right. "Is there one out here?!"

"Don't be fucking crazy. Y/N is afraid of small spaces!" Harry glowered at Liam as he crossed his arms and took a deep breath.

"Now what?" Gemma asked.

"Well, now we...wait for the lift."

"Niall James Horan!" was the first thing Layla shouted when she burst through the door into Ben's flat. She stormed right past the party guests who were clapping for her and grabbed Niall by the arm. "I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

All eyes followed Niall as he was dragged away, until Louis got up on a table and screamed, "party!" And everyone was cheering again.

"Let's hope they won't break up before the wedding," Trix said, but Liam only laughed.

"The only thing that they'll break tonight is a bed."

"Ew, gross!" Gemma cringed, pushing him away.

"Hey, there's a bar!" Jack exclaimed, making Gemma squeal in elation.

"Wanna get a drink?" she asked.

"Yes, please." He tossed his head back and sighed in relief.

The music was earsplittingly loud. Neon lights flashed everywhere like police sirens, but much more colorful. Harry guessed Ben wasn't kidding when he said he'd go all out with parties. Pushing his way through a room full of people, Harry finally got to where his wife was sitting with Ben and Nam on the couch. Treasure was lying on her lap. The cat was wearing a party hat that said 'I am the Treasure.'

"Punny." Harry chuckled, shaking his head.

When Y/N looked up and saw him, she was overjoyed. She handed the cat to Ben and got to her feet to give him a passionate kiss.

"I'm sorry you lost, baby," she said, nudging his nose with her own as she held his face.

He secured his arms around her waist, smiling against her lips. "Liar, you're not sorry."

"No, I'm so not," she admitted, kissing him. Again, and again, and again...

It was an exciting night, a great party, but it was over too soon for the married couple. They had decided to leave early because they feared loud music would affect their baby girl. The others were way too tipsy to see them sneak out, anyway. Layla and Niall were dancing on the table, apparently enjoying their last night before being married. Liam and Louis were hitting on some girls while Gemma and Jack were karaoke-ing with Nam and Ben. What a beautiful ending for the longest night ever, Harry thought.

"I can't believe the prize was 'friendship'! The only thing this game did was tear us apart!" Harry grumbled as he carried the cat to the lift and pressed the down button. "Baby?"

Turning back, he found Y/N standing still and staring at the door to their old flat. "I miss it, H," she said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, so do I..." He walked over to where she stood, sucking in a breath. "It's been so long."

"I wonder who lives here now."

"Wanna find out?"

"Wait!" She grabbed his wrist before he could ring the doorbell. "We could just ask Ben!"

"What's the fun in that?" Harry said and pressed the doorbell, anyway.

"What the hell, Harry?! We don't know them!"

"Relax, babe. We can just say we got the wrong flat number."

Harry had just finished the sentence, and the door creaked open. The first thing they saw was a face as white as a sheet. They both screamed, causing 'the face' to scream, and the two of them screamed again as they sprinted to the lift the second it arrived.

Breath busting in and out, the woman peeled off her sheet mask and cursed at the crazy couple now that they were gone.

"Aunt Lynn? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It was just some Halloween pranksters," she said to the person on the phone. "Anyway, tell your boyfriend I said hi."

*Ending explanation for those who don’t read My Girl*: The woman who’s living in the flatmate babies’ old flat is also a character from My Girl - The MC’s aunt. :)

#flatmate!harry

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maiz-of-light · 5 years ago

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All in the Cards: A Brief Introduction to the Tarot

Good evening, loves!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post on paganism, and with Beltane fast-approaching and my spiritual senses heightened, I would like to break that hiatus. I’ve already written briefly about setting up an altar space and using crystals for everyday purposes; now, I’d like to address the spirits’ most effective method of communication with humanity: the Tarot.

I started using Tarot cards about a year ago, when my finances and living situation finally allowed me to create a safe space for readings. Ever since, I have learned much about myself, my environment, and my own unique spiritual journey. The first thing I recall from beginning the process was quite the opposite of what I’ve since achieved: utter confusion. I had no clue where or how to start!

The start of my path was rocky, and although I eventually pulled through, I wish I would have had some sort of beginner’s guide to show me what to expect before beginning my journey. This post is dedicated to anyone who may now be in that same boat.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Please note that this is only an introduction; your journey is your own, and as such, the energy you transfer into your own deck will bear unique results and interpretations. This guide, I hope, will simply give you an idea of what to expect during your first few months as a reader.

Now, without further adieu...

The Minor Arcana

Tarot decks are not your everyday playing cards, but there are similarities. Because they are already commonly known, these are a good place to begin your study of the deck.

Every Tarot deck comprises 78 cards: the traditional 52 cards (also known as the Minor Arcana), ace through ten, Knight or Jack, Queen, and King; their Pages; and the 22 of the Major Arcana. We’ll begin by reviewing the traditional(ish) four sets of 13 and their Pages.

Wands

The Wands family, or the Deck of Wands, is represented by the element of air. As such, these cards tend to be indicative of figures and events that may require additional energy, creativity, or entrepreneurial effort. Wands cards present the most lighthearted of omens.

Astrology: Planets to consider: Uranus, Mercury, Venus; Constellations to consider: Aquarius, Gemini, Libra.

Cups

The Cups family is represented by the element of water, and deals with deep emotions and emotional connections. A reading from the Deck of Cups may symbolize a new relationship or friendship, a deepened connection, or, on the less appealing side, heartbreak or loss.

Astrology: Planets to consider: the Moon, Pluto, Neptune; Constellations to consider: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.

Pentacles

The Pentacles Family is represented by the element of earth, and deals with material gains and carnal affairs. A card of Pentacles might advise you to pick up a new craft, or prepare for an increase of wealth, or foreshadow grave carnal worries.

Astrology: Planets to consider: Saturn, Venus, Mercury; Constellations to consider: Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo

Swords

Represented by the element of fire, the Deck of Swords is perhaps the most intense family of the Tarot. Readings may range anywhere from symbolizing or foreshadowing a sudden epiphany, to a stalemate, to a betrayal, and so on.

Astrology: Planets to consider: Mars, the Sun, Jupiter; Constellations to consider: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.

The Major Arcana

The Major Arcana is interesting in that it originated as its own set of playing cards. Also known as the “trumps,” this deck is represented by the fifth element, most commonly referred to as Spirit. Each of the 22 cards symbolizes a figure or event with heavy spiritual significance. This deck is composed of:

the Fool

the Magician

the High Priestess

the Empress

the Emperor

the Hierophant

the Lovers

the Chariot

Strength

the Hermit

Wheel of Fortune

Justice

the Hanged Man

Death

Temperance

the Devil

the Tower

the Star

the Moon

the Sun

Judgement

the World

Types of Readings

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the cards, you can better begin to consider the different ways to read them.

A Card a Day

Drawing one card every day is comparable to reading a horoscope, but more personal to the reader because of the direct touch. This reading is ideal for giving you a quick glance at what may be in store for you today. Try to draw your card before leaving your house for the day, if applicable.

Past, Present, Future

Three-card readings are one of the most common. The first card you draw symbolizes an element of your past, the second represents a significant element of your present as effected by the first, and the third shows you where you are headed.

A Year in Review

Twelve-card readings are a lot of fun for New Years, birthdays, or any other major holiday or annual date of significance. Begin by drawing for the current month, then move from right to left, top to bottom for the following months, until you’ve drawn one card for each month of the year.

Tips for Shuffling

The first step of any reading is, of course, properly shuffling the deck.

Begin by spreading the cards out before you, then gather them back together however they choose to fall.

Cut the deck three ways. If you’re drawing for yourself, you cut. If you’re reading for someone else, you shuffle, but have them cut. Then, you draw.

Helpful Hints for Beginners

Now that you’ve covered the bases, here are a few things I’ve picked up over the course of my journey.

Cleansing your deck

It’s always a good idea to cleanse your deck every so often to rid it of foreign energy: before the first time you use it, after doing a reading for another person, after the deck has been handled by someone else (or stepped on by a cat, as happens to me quite often), or just whenever you feel the time is right. Sage smoke is the most commonly used for cleansing, but there are many other alternatives as well.

Reading reversals

Because of their vague nature, reversals are often considered an unnecessary option, sometimes even feared as all-negative omens. That’s not the case. A reversal simply means the opposite of a card’s typical reading. For example, if you were to draw the four of Pentacles in reverse, it could mean you need to prepare for upcoming financial hardships.

Don’t become a self-fulfilling prophecy

This is a difficult thing to do sometimes, especially with the more intense card readings. Should you find yourself caught in a bad omen, it’s best not to try to avoid it. Instead, do what you can to prepare yourself emotionally, financially, or otherwise.

Note astrological / celestial figures

Tarot cards are a form of communication between us and the spirits of the earth, but that doesn’t mean the celestial influences don’t combine their energy with the cards as well. Pay attention what planetary bodies are in what signs. If you’re not in a good place to read the stars, download an app that tracks them instead. I use Time Passages.

Keep a journal

You may find your experiences more beneficial if you track each reading. Be sure to number your entries, and to include the date, time, and number of cards drawn. Begin by jotting down your initial thoughts. You may want to go back later the same day and add any other comments on your reading and how it may have translated into the day’s events.

Tarot cards in rituals

Personally, I don’t use Tarot cards in many spells, but I do occasionally use them to enhance crystal magic. For performing such rituals, your altar should include some sort of cloth or talisman; it could be a pentacle, or some other symbol. Place your Tarot card on one of the five points or sections of the talisman: North if it’s a Pentacle, South if it’s a Sword, West if it’s a Cup, East if it’s a Wand. If you draw one of the trumps, place it in the center of the talisman. Set your crystal(s) nearby and light a candle so that it shines on both the crystal(s) and the card, then speak your blessing or intention over the flame.

Myths about purchasing your first Tarot deck

There’s an old legend that warns of bad luck clinging to the deck purchased by a first-time reader, and that all first-decks ought to then be either gifted or stolen. This legend is only a myth passed down by ancient Gypsy tribes who were thought to be smuggling with money gained by dishonest means. So long as you cleanse your deck immediately after purchasing it and keep the cards stored somewhere safe, no misfortune will follow you.

~ And we conclude! ~

We’ll wrap up with a reminder that this is only a beginner’s guide! And speaking of guides, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I didn’t include the translations of each individual card. Simply put, that would take way too long. There are guidebooks available for cheap that provide good summaries of what each card could mean; or, tarot.com is a free website also providing short descriptions of each card.

I hope you found this guide helpful, loves. And if you’re having difficulty acquiring a Tarot deck of your own, don’t be afraid to look online! There are tons of unique, beautifully-illustrated card decks equipped to boost your spiritual journey.

As always, stay safe and take care,

~ Gail

#pagan #paganism #wicca #pagan wicca #tarot #tarot cards #tarot deck #tarot readings #spiritual journey #blog post #pagan blog #baby pagan

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the-new-executive-assistant · 4 years ago

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How to Keep an Effective Diary

This is the diary system I have polished over the years. You may find some or all of these tips helpful.

Overall, the idea is to get organised for the year, before it actually begins. I like to do this in November, while the current year is drawing to a close, but before the office shuts down for Christmas.

The funny thing about being an EA is that you’re always looking ahead and you’re never really “in the moment”. It’s just the nature of the job.

Creating the System

Master List: On my computer I have created a master list of all the items, both in my personal and work life, that pop up at around the same time each year. I keep the work and personal lists separate, so that if I happen to switch jobs, the work list and the personal list aren’t jumbled together.

Here are a few items on the work list:

Board Meetings

Book the Board room

Place catering order for Board Meeting

Issue Board Papers

Book quarterly satellite office meeting

Remind CEO to issue brief for the staff they want to speak at the senior staff meeting (three weeks prior to the meeting)

And here are a few items on the personal list:

Birthdays, and a reminder two weeks prior

Book in pest (spider) spray company each year

School holidays

Arrange care for kids for the school holidays (two weeks prior)

Doctor, Dentist etc reminders to book my annual checkups

As you can see, for a lot of these items, not only have I got the actual item, I have all the pre-reminders set up as well so I can start planning for the event/item before it occurs.

Big Picture: The list may seem excessive, but truly, if you have a huge week at work, or you have a family emergency at home, and you need to delegate the urgent items, it is very helpful to be able to open your diary and look at all of it in front of you without having to rely on your memory.

As always, do what works for you, but this is what works for me, and I have been doing this for almost two decades now.

Significant Dates: Meet with your CEO before you plot anything significant (Are there any dates they want to avoid having a Board Meeting or other large staff meeting. When do they want to see the budget from the Finance Manager before it goes to the Board etc).

Put the significant items in twice. As an item for yourself, CEO and Finance Manager as a reminder two weeks prior, and then the actual event). These items will be date dependant depending on your organisation. Usually items such as the budget, need to go to the last Board Meeting before the end of the financial year as they need to be approved. This may differ from organisation to organisation.

Holidays: Pro Tip: Plot your annual leave and your CEO’s annual leave in before everything else. Then you can book the rest of the items around that, and you and your CEO get to take annual leave when you want to rather than having to squeeze it in 😊

The Calendar: I prefer a paper notebook plus the computer on my PC.

I use a two-page spread to a week (with the dates written in the top left-hand corner). I list all the things that need to get done that week on the left-side page and use the right-side page for scribble such as writing down the name of someone I called on the phone, and what they said etc.

If an item is date dependant, I just write the date eg 6/7: Board Meeting. I write it in red so it stands out. The other items I just list down the page.

Colours: I like to colour code my entries to make it easy to see which ones are work related, which need to stand out and which are personal.

Blue: Work related Red: Appointments and very important meetings Green: Personal Pink: Related to second job, or side project etc

For me, it’s not about making the diary “pretty” (but if that’s your style, go for it. Just be mindful that if your diary looks like an artwork with a lot of colour, fancy headings and sketches etc, your CEO may wonder how you have the time to decorate it and may also wonder why you’re doing that instead of getting your work done).

Getting it all down: Use your master list and put everything in; including the larger staff meetings (do your computer calendar invitations for everyone as well and book your meeting rooms while you’re at it. Booking early means you are more likely to get the room you want). If using a calendar on the computer, you can colour code those entries too. Just be mindful of the ICT rules at your workplace if you are putting personal reminders on a work computer (if you are allowed, you might like to mark them “private” which means you’re the only one who can see the contents).

It will take time (and you’ll be sick of writing before you’re finished), but once it’s done, it will be all there ready to go and you will feel organised and ready to take on the new year.

Using the Diary System

Each morning, I write down the things that need to get done that day. I’m mindful of when I feel more alert (good time to do the items that require a lot of focus, like booking flights), and the days where I may have a big meeting in the middle of the day (so I don’t pick a huge task for that day, because I won’t get it finished). Then, I put my diary to the side, and only focus on what is on the post-it. As I complete tasks, I run a highlighter through them.

If I am feeling particularly busy or stressed, I’ll look at the post-it and prioritise the items 1, 2, 3, or even write out a little day plan and time-block my day. Eg 10am – 12noon – typing Board Minutes. 12 noon – 12.30pm - Lunch 12.30pm – 1.30pm – Making phone calls to obtain quotes for x project.

I have a short huddle meeting with my CEO each morning, where we share what we have on our plates for the day. I find a paper diary handy for this as I can carry it to their office, but you could do the same with a laptop.

Any time my CEO asks me into their office I bring my diary with me, so I can jot down any instructions (I have learnt the hard way that if I don’t jot it down straight away I forget details of instructions, and then have to go back and clarify which is a pain to both of us).

I bring my diary to meetings and I use it when speaking to someone on the phone so I can jot down who I spoke with and what they said. There have been so many times I have flicked back through it to find some information.

Conclusion

I hope these suggestions help you. They work well for me to stay organised, and also allow me to just focus on what needs to be done that day, rather than feeling overwhelmed at the mountain of tasks for the month.

Yes, perhaps you do have a bucketload of things to accomplish this week, but on this day, you just have ten items to complete; so just focus on those and smash them and just keeping doing that each day.

#executive assistant #calendar #diary

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duhragonball · 5 years ago

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[FIC] Green Christmas (Luffa Annual 1)

Normal Brain: Write a Coffee Shop AU

Big Brain: With my own OC’s

Galaxy Brain: Set it in Japan to make it harder.

Cosmic Brain: Also, it’s a Christmas story.

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball, which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation. This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: About 1000 years before the events of Dragon Ball Z. This story is set on a Monday.

[December 23, 2019. Kiyosu, Japan.]

There was a very light drizzle outside. It didn't snow often in Kiyosu, and when it did, it usually happened in February, not December.

"It's a shame, y'know? This is a romantic time of year. Just once, it'd be nice to have a White Christmas without having to head out to Shirakawago or someplace up north."

Yamcha was a regular at the Emerald Eye Cafe. He liked to chat while he paid for his order. Every year around Christmas, he would wax poetic about the lack of snowfall in the Aichi Prefecture, and speak idly about someday taking a trip to a ski resort in Hokkaido. Zatte didn't know if he would ever make the trip. She only knew that he visited her store nearly every day, and she suspected that he enjoyed talking about snow and travel than the actual experience. He had a large iced milk coffee and a potato salad sandwich, which came to 1260 yen.

Zatte never minded the lack of snow. It meant one less obstacle to the day-to-day routine. She didn't know how people got along in snowy parts of the world, and she wasn't terribly interested in finding out. Christmas was Christmas whether it snowed or not. The sound system in the cafe was playing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for the fourth time that day, and she had been selling Christmas cakes for the better part of the month. Half of her customers spoke excitedly of their plans for the holiday, and the absence of snow didn't seem to discourage any of them. And then there was her "favorite" tradition of the season.

"... might call her up tonight and see if she wants to check out the lights downtown. You know, keep it casual. How about you? You got any big plans for Christmas?"

Zatte shook her head. "Maybe," she said. She had learned a long time ago that this was the best way to keep conversations short. Yamcha might have had unlimited time to talk, but she needed to head back to the kitchen at some point. Answering "no" only invited a polite argument. "Come on... I'm sure a young lady like yourself must have something to do on Christmas!" and so on. Answering "yes" was a lie, and it only invited the other person to press for details that didn't exist.

"Maybe, huh?" Yamcha replied. He finally fished the money out of his wallet and laid it on the counter. "Well, that's better than nothing, after all. Hang in there."

"Out of 1500 yen, 240 yen and your receipt," Zatte said, handing him a few coins and a slip of paper.

"Radical. Well, I'll get out of your hair," Yamcha said. "Thanks!"

She relaxed a bit when he left the store. Truthfully, he was one of the best customers--courteous, patient, and easy to please. Outside of work, he was probably an okay person to hang out with, if you liked hanging out with middle-aged civil servants. But in a customer service setting, life was all about getting the clients' orders filled and getting them on their way with as little fuss as possible. Zatte didn't think of herself as an introvert, but working retail seemed to have a funny way of making her feel like one for a few hours.

She supposed that it would be kind of fun to be chummy with the regulars, but the fact was that she had too many responsibilities behind the counter. She had to count the money later. The tables would need to be wiped down. Fresh muffins had to go on the display. The cook would probably need help, sooner or later. The customers saw this place as her home, and she was a hostess providing companionship in addition to food and a place to relax. That was the business model, of course, but it was still a business.

She chided herself for feeling grumpy, but decided that she had at least kept an even keel through the morning. The key was to accept the bad moods when they came, so long as she put on a pleasant face for the customers. They had their own lives and their own problems, after all. It wasn't fair to them--or profitable for her-- to burden them with her own troubles.

*******

Two hours later, she was reminded of one of those troubles.

"You haven't seen Roshi at all today, have you?"

A shiver ran down Zatte's spine at the name. "Not today, why?"

Krillin took his latte from her and shrugged slightly. "Well, let's just say I need to talk to him about something," he said evenly. Krillin was a police officer, which tended to inform statements like these, but he still felt a need to be as discreet as possible.

"Did something happen?" Zatte asked.

"Hey, you've gotten really good at making pictures with the foam," Krillin said. He pointed at the surface of his drink. "It looks just like that guy from One Piece."

"Thanks," Zatte said. "I'm still trying to get the hang of it, but luckily he's not too tough to draw. He's good practice."

"I oughta watch that show sometime," Krillin said. "Everyone at the station keeps saying I sound like the guy, but I don't even know anything about it. What's his name? 'Luffa' or something. No, hold on, that was the girl who used to be your cook, wasn't it?"

"Uh, yeah," Zatte said. She was sorely tempted to use "maybe", but that seemed kind of pointless here. Luffa was something of a legend at the Emerald Eye. Even if Krillin hadn't remembered her name, he would still know her reputation, so there was no point pretending she didn't exist.

"Whatever happened to her, anyway?" Krillin asked. He took a sip of his latte and added: "Nothing against the new guy, but she made the best danishes. And that egg salad! Boy, I could go for some of that right about now."

"Would you like me to get you--?" Zatte started to ask, but Krillin shook his head.

"Nah, it just wouldn't be the same," he said. "Something about the spices. Paprika, I think. Better to live with the memories."

"Understood," Zatte said, though she really didn't understand at all.

"Anyway, I'll be around for a little while, but if you see Roshi later, let me know, all right? And... don't tell him I said anything."

"Of course," Zatte said. As Krillin turned and went to his usual seat, Zatte wondered what sort of trouble that man had gotten into this time. It was always something with him. She wanted to believe that this time would be different, but somehow he always managed to get away with his bad behavior.

Later, as luck would have it, Roshi did stumble into the cafe. "Well hell-oooooooo, nurse!" he crooned as he staggered to the counter. The stench of alcohol on his breath was unmistakable. Public drinking was legal in Japan, though Roshi seemed to consider this license to make an ass of himself whenever he pleased.

"Can I help you?" Zatte said, struggling to maintain her composure.

"Well, you see," Roshi said with a mischievous grin, "It's my nose. It's awfully cold this time of year, and I was hoping I could... heh-heh-heh... warm it up."

Zatte looked toward Krillin's seat, ready and eager to call out to him. But it was empty. Had he already left?

"Now I know this is a coffee shop and all, but I don't think hot beverages will do the trick here. No, sir. I was thinking more along the lines of..." He held up his hands to pantomime the act of shoving his face into a pair of large breasts. Then he started smiling, like he had just suggested the most brilliant idea, ever.

Zatte wasn't sure that what she felt for this man qualified as hate, or pity, or revulsion. She only knew that he was a pathetic old man, who seemed to think his crudeness was quaint, or charming in some way. He was sorely mistaken, and she wanted him out of the store, permanently. Did that mean she wanted him dead? The thought of this worried Zatte, more for her own sake than for his.

"Sir, if you want something, you'll need to place an order," she said through clenched teeth. Below the countertop, her right hand clenched into a fist.

"Oh, well in that case," Roshi said, "I'd like to buy a pair of... heh-heh-heh... panties please! Used ones, of course!"

Zatte wanted him dead. If that reflected negatively on her character, then so be it. If Roshi had a heart attack and died right in front of her, she was sure she would feel relieved instead of sad. It wasn't even the harassment so much as the fact that he used the same five or six lines every time he came into the store. He wants to "puff-puff", he wants someone's panties, he wants to have coffee in the ladies' restroom, he wants to take showers with any woman in the store, and so on. Roshi embodied the absolute worst qualities of customers. He seemed to thrive on the power of going into shops and forcing cashiers and waitstaff to listen to his crude and pointless jabber, precisely because they had little choice but to put up with it.

And then, just as Roshi was telling the one about putting his grimy hands on someone's buttocks, Krillin stepped out of the men's room. "Oh, there you are," he said as he noticed Roshi at the counter.

"Eh? Krillin? What are you doing here?" Roshi asked. His jovial tone was suddenly gone. He almost sounded sober. Almost.

"We got another complaint about you," Krillin said with a sigh. "That maid cafe you keep messing around with."

"Th-that was just a joke!" Roshi protested. "Can't an old man have a bit of harmless fun anymore?"

"That girl you were picking on didn't think it was so harmless," Krillin grumbled. "Look, I have to take you down to the station."

"What? You can't do that!" He tried to run out the door, but Krillin caught up to him before he could get there.

"Just settle down," Krillin said. "Don't make this any more difficult than it already is."

This only made Roshi even more difficult than he already was. Eventually, Krillin managed to get the handcuffs on him, and he frog-marched Roshi out the door. By the time they left, everyone in the shop was staring. With Krillin and Roshi now gone, that left them no one to look at but Zatte.

"Uh, sorry for the disturbance," she said awkwardly. She wasn't sure how to feel about what had just happened, but she hoped that this meant Roshi wouldn't be back for a long time. That should have made her feel more at ease, but somehow she felt more tense than before.

*******

More than anything, Zatte just wanted some normal customers. She was starting to miss Yamcha, but then Tien entered the store, and she felt a sense of relief. Of all of her regulars, he was one of the easiest to deal with.

"Hello," he said evenly.

"How can I help you, sir?" she asked pleasantly.

He gestured to the smaller man who had followed him into the store. Zatte had never seen a little person before, but she was pretty sure this man was small enough to qualify as one.

"This is my brother, Chiaotzu," he explained. "I've been showing him around while he's in town."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," she said with a slight bow.

Chiaotzu did not move.

"I get my coffee here after work," Tien said to him. "Black, please. No sugar."

"Of course," Zatte said. "And for your brother?"

"Ice cream cafe au lait," Chiaotzu said after a pregnant pause. He never blinked. He just stared at Zatte as though gazing into her soul.

"Certainly. Your total is 1140 yen."

They paid and she brought the drinks to their table a few minutes later. Zatte forgot about them after that, until she happened to look up while counting the money in the register. Chiaotzu was still staring at her. His expression was completely neutral.

What made it even stranger was how normally Tien behaved by contrast. He was facing away from Zatte, but he was moving his head and arms like anyone having a normal conversation. If he even noticed Chiaotzu staring past him, he didn't seem to care.

She tried to ignore him, but this proved more difficult than she imagined. Every time she happened to glance in his direction, there he was, still staring, never moving. The cup in front of him was already empty. At some point he must have drank his au lait, but Zatte had no idea when that could have happened.

What was it about his eyes? Those bottomless, pitiless eyes? Looking at them just made her realize how pale his complexion was, like one of those stories about a vampire secretly living among humans. She was grateful for the next few customers who came in, as they gave her something else to think about, if only for a few minutes at a time.

She turned away from the counter to tidy up her workspace, and when she looked around again, he was suddenly standing there, glaring at her through the display glass.

"Orange cranberry muffins," Chiaotzu said.

"Huh?" Zatte said, trying to hide how much he had startled her.

He pressed his face up to the glass. By this time of day, the display case was nearly empty, as the demand for baked goods was too low to justify making more. "Do you still sell them? Or did you just run out?" Chiaotzu asked.

"Um, we stopped selling them," Zatte said. "We, uh, changed cooks a while ago. So we changed the menu. I'm sorry."

Chiaotzu never took his eyes off her, and after a long pause, he finally uttered: "Oh. That's too bad."

"There you are," Tien said as he walked up to the counter. "Come on, Chiaotzu, we need to get going."

Chiaotzu turned and followed him out the door, and Zatte was never so grateful to see the back of someone's head. He was bald, so she half expected a second pair of eyes to be there waiting for her. Instead, he turned back toward her, just as he stepped through the door.

"Thanks for the coffee," he said, though his expression looked more like he should be accusing Zatte of desecrating his own empty grave.

When he was finally gone, she glanced down at the display case. Luffa used to restock it herself, multiple times a day. It was a welcome distraction from the rigors of the day, even though she only popped out of the kitchen for a minute or two. She would have whispered something like "Get a load of that guy," to her, and they would have shared a quiet chuckle over it.

But Luffa was gone, and the new cook was fine, even if he wasn't quite as good, or fast, or popular with the customers. It made the workday slower, but Zatte was determined not to let that get in her way. She considered herself a survivor, someone who could adapt and endure anything life threw at her. All that mattered was getting through the day and closing up the shop, and then getting through tomorrow, and the day after, and so on. She didn't need Luffa, or anyone else to do that.

At least, that was what she told herself.

*******

Keda usually got home from school by 3:45 P.M. Today, she returned an hour early. Zatte wanted to know why, but there were too many customers for her to ask, and Keda walked straight through the swinging gate at the counter, and into the door that led to the upstairs apartment where they lived.

Ten minutes later, she came back down, having swapped her school uniform for a blue "Emerald Eye" apron. Under that, she wore one of her collection of T-shirts commemorating various professional wrestlers. This one said "NIGHTMARE ANGELS" in English, with the words "KNEE THE ELITE" in smaller text. Zatte was grateful that the apron kept the customers from seeing the entire shirt, and she hoped most of them didn't know enough English to be able to read it and wonder what it meant. She was pretty sure Keda would try to explain it if someone asked, but no one did, and Zatte was grateful for this as well.

"Need some help?" Keda asked.

"Why are you out of school so early?" Zatte asked as she finished handing someone their change.

"They let us out early," Keda said. "It's the Emperor's Birthday."

"Not anymore," Zatte said. "The Emperor abdicated, remember? The new Emperor's birthday won't be until February."

"Well, we convinced the school that it wasn't fair," Keda said with a shrug. "I mean, December 23rd is a good place for a holiday, isn't it? Right before Christmas. The new Emperor can't help being born in February, but it's not right that we don't have an Emperor's Birthday holiday in 2019. It just seems disrespectful, doesn't it? So the student council talked it over with the faculty, and we agreed to let out two hours early as a compromise."

"Why can't you just say you cut classes like all the other kids?" Zatte grumbled.

"Because that's not what happened," Keda said. "Can I help it if the President of the Student Council likes my ideas? Can I help it if the faculty is really open to suggestions?"

She picked up a small cup and put less than fifty milliliters of hazelnut coffee in it from the dispenser behind the cash register. Keda smelled it, but decided it was too hot to drink. This was part of her after-school ritual.

"I wish you'd stop doing that," Zatte said.

"Everyone says it's an acquired taste," Keda said. "I'm almost twelve, Zatte. In a few years, boys are gonna want to take me to coffee shops. I mean, not this one, that'd be kind of awkward. Getting waited on by your own sister. But a coffee shop, and I need to be ready to drink coffee by then."

"Now if only I could get you to put that kind of dedication into your schoolwork," Zatte said.

"Oh, I've got that under control," Keda said. "You see my grades, right? I've got a high school picked out and everything. But none of that matters if a boy buys me a coffee and I start gagging at the first sip."

As she said this, Keda decided her drink was cool enough, and she carefully raised it to her lips. She winced, but managed to swallow it, though the face she made indicated that it was an unpleasant achievement. "Ugh. Okay... okay... I'm getting there."

"Why would you want to go on a coffee date anyway?" Zatte asked. "Just tell a boy that you work at a cafe and you'd rather see a movie instead."

"That's the beauty of it!" Keda explained. "If he takes me to a coffee shop, it's like I'm on my own turf. It gives me the advantage. I can say all sorts of things during the date, like how they get the caffeine out of decaf, or how the cappuccino machine works. They'll think I'm super-sophisticated that way. If I'm at a movie I'm totally out of my element. You really need to read more Sun Tzu, Zatte."

"Sun Tzu?" Zatte asked, bewildered. "Are you trying to date a boy or kill him?"

"Never mind me," Keda said. "I'll bet you're excited today."

"About what?" Zatte asked.

"About Luffa, dummy," Keda said.

"Luffa who?" Zatte grumbled. "You mean our ex-cook who walked out on us and barely ever stops by?"

"Oh, come on," Keda said. "You know how busy she is, and she's on the road constantly."

"And now that she just happens to be in the area, I'm supposed to be giddy about it?" Zatte asked. "It's not like she's coming to see me, Keda. You're her biggest fan."

"Come on, you miss her too," Keda said. "She's your best friend."

"No, she's not," Zatte said. "I mean, of course she's my friend, but not like... Don't you have homework to do?"

"Nope," Keda said.

"Then shouldn't you be watching your show?" Zatte asked.

"It doesn't start until five," Keda said.

"All right then, go bus some tables," Zatte said, and then tossed a washcloth at her. Keda nodded with a shrug and then headed off to begin her assignment.

*******

Exactly two hours and fifteen minutes later, Keda had vanished from the shop. Zatte was never sure if she was doing a good job raising her little sister. It often felt like Keda was raising herself, and acting out just enough to make Zatte feel like she was involved in the process. The girl was extremely smart for her age, and she helped out with the cafe, so it seemed unfair to criticize her for being nosy or presumptuous. It was hard to tell whether she was being too strict on Keda or not strict enough.

No, Keda wasn't what had her on edge. It was Luffa. Zatte did miss her, but not in a way she particularly cared to admit to anyone else. And with Luffa away from the cafe, essentially out of their lives, it seemed pointless to admit anything now. Better to go on like it hadn't mattered. Better to be strong and independent, and hope that everyone accepted the image of Zatte as an independent, responsible shopkeeper. It wasn't always a satisfying life, but at least it was her own, and it couldn't be taken away by someone when they moved on to other things.

As much as she appreciated the new cook, she had to suppress a certain resentment towards him. It wasn't his fault that he didn't have the same level of culinary talent. Or that he didn't have that same wild look in his eye. Or that the apron didn't frame the small of his back the right way. Or (let's face it) that he was a 'he.' So Zatte was never sure if she was too hard on the guy, or if she was too easy on him because she was trying not to be too hard on him. Now that she thought about it, she had the same trouble with Luffa back in the day, for completely opposite reasons.

It was distracting and depressing, and she wasn't sure how she would feel about it, and she just wanted some work to do so she could think about something else.

*******

Gradually, more customers came into the store as offices started to close for the evening. It always struck Zatte as odd that people would want coffee so late in the day, but she supposed that they were all trying to fight off the tiredness from the workday, even if it cost them a few hours of sleep later in the night.

By 8:00 P.M., Zatte had convinced herself that she had nearly forgotten about whats-her-name, and she had settled into a steady routine of taking orders, making change, and handing out drinks. Then a middle-aged couple threw off the entire rhythm. The wife had been very concise with her order, but her husband was holding up the line while he tried to decide what he wanted.

"Now, lemme see here," he said as he looked at the menu and thoughtfully rubbed his chin with his thumb. "Oh, you've got pork fillet cutlets? I'll take two of them, and.... the egg sandwich... and... hmmm. Wow, you've got chili dogs? That's awesome! Three chili dogs, please!"

"Um... will there be anything else?" Zatte asked, unsure if she really wanted to know. His wife seemed to feel the same way.

"Goku, you'll never be able to eat all of that," she groaned.

"Sure I will!" he insisted. "I had a light lunch today, so..."

The look on his wife's face suggested that this was not even remotely true. Zatte decided it was better to just ring them up and get their money before she could talk him out of it.

"It will take some time to prepare all of this, you understand," Zatte said to Goku.

"Aw, don't worry about that," Goku said. "Take as long as you need. Me 'n' Chi-Chi will be so busy playing with the rabbits that we probably won't even notice!"

"Rabbits?" Zatte asked.

"Where do ya keep those guys, anyway?" Goku asked. He began looking around in every direction, which made all of the cowlicks in his hair that much harder to ignore. "Oh, crap, we forgot to order lettuce so we'd have somethin' to feed 'em!"

Chi-Chi's face began to turn red, and Zatte finally began to understand what he was talking about.

"Sir," Zatte said, "This isn't a rabbit cafe."

"It's not?" Goku asked. "Well, you've at least got a cat or something, right?"

"No, we just serve coffee and food."

"Goku, we talked about this on the way here..." Chi-Chi grumbled.

Goku crossed his arms and lowered his head, and it was hard to tell if he was pouting or contemplating his predicament. "Darn. Well, you still got chili dogs. I guess that'll just have to do."

"I... apologize for the inconvenience," Zatte said. She had never meant that sentence less than she did in this moment.

*******

Ten minutes later, Keda was downstairs in the shop again, sitting at one of the booths and scribbling notes while she read from a textbook. When asked, she would insist that this wasn't homework that had been assigned, and she was simply working ahead in anticipation of future assignments. Zatte was too exasperated with this explanation to dispute it. By now, business had slowed down considerably, with only a few stragglers coming in for quick to-go orders. At one of the tables, Goku was still finishing the feast he had ordered while his wife played a game on her phone and tried not to look too embarrassed. Finally, the couple got up to leave, and as they did, the doors swung open, and someone else entered the shop.

"Luffa!" Keda shouted. She practically jumped out of the booth and ran up to meet her.

"Hey, kid!" Luffa replied. She had been holding a gym bag, but dropped it so she could return Keda's embrace.

Zatte had been unloading the dishwasher when Luffa entered, and she looked over to see her. Luffa was wearing a pair of zubaz--baggy gym pants with a zebra-striped pattern--and a satin jacket with a steakhouse logo printed on the front. There was a smear of green around her lips, and even her teeth had a green stain on them. Once, Luffa had worn her hair long, but now it was cut very short and seemed to stand on end. And she had colored it an unnatural shade of yellow, far more vivid than blonde.

"You beat Ribrianne!" Keda said excitedly. "That puts your score up to 10 points!"

"Hey, don't sound so surprised," Luffa said.

"I thought she had you near the end," Keda said. "You looked like you were nearly out of it, and then you reversed that suplex into a head-scissors... how did you do that?"

Luffa puffed out her chest and jabbed her sternum with her thumb. "What do you mean how? I'm the Golden Ace, aren't I?"

"Well yeah," Keda said, "but you lost to Hop last week."

Luffa grimaced like she had accidentally swallowed a bug. "She cheated. That doesn't count."

"Well, the tournament rules say it does count, but now that you've got ten points, you've got a strong chance of winning. There's still some tiebreaker scenarios to consider, but personally I like your chances."

"Ugh," Luffa said. "I'm glad you can make sense of the scores. You know, these round-robin tournaments are great, right until you have to figure out whether you're winning or losing. Is Kale still in the running, or did she get eliminated?"

Keda pointed to a group of armchairs at one corner of the cafe. "Come on," she said, "I'll walk you through the scenarios."

Luffa followed her, waving to Zatte as she passed by. As she did this, she nearly bumped into Goku as he and his wife were on their way to the door. They exchanged a look, and for a split second, Zatte was worried that it might become awkward. Luffa almost looked like she was sizing him up for a fight. She couldn't read Goku at all, but she assumed he was mostly intrigued by her loud costume.

For some reason, the sound system in the store was playing a metal cover of "Carol of the Bells". Zatte didn't know how that had gotten added to the holiday playlist.

"Cool hair!" Goku finally said.

"Hey, thanks," Luffa said.

And then they went their separate ways.

The music system abruptly switched to "Here Comes Santa Claus," perhaps the most tension-free Christmas song of all.

"Now then," Luffa said to Keda as she collapsed into one of the armchairs. "Let's get down to business."

Keda was tapping a notepad with a pen, looking more like Luffa's accountant than a young fan. "Right, well, obviously, if you can win all of your next matches, you'll be a shoo-in to win the tournament. But even if you lose two more, there's still a chance of squeaking by. The only thing I'm worried about is you tying with Hop."

"She cheated," Luffa grumbled.

"It doesn't matter," Keda said. "If you both tie on points, she wins the tiebreaker, since she has a win over you. But if Ribrianne beats her, that'll set up a possible four-way tie with Videl. Then you'd win, because you'd have the best record among the four of you."

"Sounds like I should just win the rest of my matches," Luffa said after digesting what Keda had said.

"Just promise me you'll stay in the ring when you face Sorrel," Keda pleaded. "She always tricks her opponents into getting counted out, and I know how much you like to fight in the crowd."

"What I like," Luffa said with a sadistic grin, "is having the referee out of my way. If Sorrel thinks a twenty-count will save her from me, then she's already lost."

"But if you get counted out, you could lose the tournament!" Keda protested. "Then you won't get a shot at the All-Pacific Championship!"

"Hah! If someone like Sorrel can beat me," Luffa said, "then I don't deserve the title. It's that simple. Besides, she's not the only one with a trick up her sleeve." She pointed at her mouth, which had smears of green dye around it.

"When are you gonna teach me how to do the poison mist?" Keda asked.

"I keep telling you, kid," Luffa said, "it's a sacred technique. I can't just teach it to anybody."

Zatte approached them and cleared her throat to get their attention. "Sorry to interrupt this strategy conference, but I thought the 'Golden Ace' might be hungry." She held up a chicken salad sandwich and a to-go cup of coffee, which Luffa accepted with relish.

"You're a lifesaver," Luffa said with a smile. "I haven't eaten since before the show started."

"You'd think SPARKING! could afford catering for their events," Zatte said.

"They do," Luffa said as she unwrapped the sandwich. "I just don't like to eat so close to bell time. Makes me nervous. Too many stories out there about guys pooping their pants during matches."

"Ewwww!" Keda said. "Really?"

"I've never run into it myself," Luffa said, "but you hear about it. I almost threw up during a match, so I believe it."

"Was it because you swallowed posion mist?" Keda asked.

"Huh? Oh, no way," Luffa said with her mouth full. "I... well, I built up an immunity to that a long time ago."

Keda began scratching her chin thoughtfully. "Immunity... so that's it."

"What do I owe you?" Luffa asked Zatte.

"It's on the house," Zatte replied.

"Oh, come on," Luffa said, "I'm making halfway decent money these days."

Zatte pointed at Luffa's yellow-and-black striped pants. "Then why are you dressed like you're doing your laundry?"

"Hey, these are high fashion in my line of work," Luffa said with a smile. She propped her black boots on the ottoman in front of the armchair. There was an image of a playing card printed on the sides of each boot. "Check it out," she said. "They liked my match in Osaka so much that they paid me a little extra, and I used it to get these babies. I can afford to live it up at the Emerald Eye Cafe."

"Don't worry about it. Half my regulars keep asking if you'll ever come back to the kitchen," Zatte said. "You did such a good job while you were here that I'm still making money off of it now."

"How's the new guy working out?" Luffa asked, glancing toward the general direction of the kitchen.

"He's fine," Zatte said. "He's not as good as you, but who could be?"

"You know, that's what I think about you," Luffa said as she took a swig of her coffee. "I mean, there's a cafe near the dojo. It's just not the same."

"Right."

"Yeah."

There was a long silence, and then Keda nudged Luffa in the arm. "Hey, do you really think you can beat Kale next Saturday?" she asked.

"Are you saying I can't?" Luffa asked in a haughty tone.

"I'm just saying you can't take her lightly," Keda said. "That running knee she does is nothing to sneeze at."

"Running knee," Luffa scoffed. "Let me tell you what I'll do about that running knee..."

"I need to get back to the register," Zatte said, though she doubted anyone was listening.

*******

Closing time at the Emerald Eye wasn't for another hour, but the kitchen shut down at nine. The cook was saying his goodbyes to Zatte before leaving, when he happened to notice Luffa and Keda chatting.

"Is she some kind of celebrity?" he asked.

"Huh? No, that's Luffa," Zatte said.

"Oh. What's with the hair?" he asked. "She looks like a pop idol."

"She's a professional wrestler," Zatte explained. "She quit working here to go work for the SPARKING! promotion. They did a show tonight in Okazaki, so she came by to visit."

"Huh. I thought she became a famous chef or something like that."

"No, as good a cook as she is, she only worked her to make ends meet until she could break into the business," Zatte said. "And she's done pretty well. I read on the internet that they're planning to make her the next All-Pacific Champion."

"I thought you have to win the championship in a match," he said.

Zatte turned and gave him a dirty look. "It's fake," she said. "They decide who wins and loses ahead of time."

"Oh! Right," he said. "I guess it's like getting a promotion at an office job, then. You must be happy for her."

"I don't know that it matters," Zatte said. "This is the first time she's come back since she left. If Keda wasn't such a big fan of this stuff, she probably wouldn't even bother. She's moved on. I heard she's dating some referee there. She's got a whole new life on the road now."

"Well, I'd go over and pay my respects, but my parents are pretty upset that I haven't called home in a while, so..."

Zatte nodded and waved. "Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow, Trunks."

Less than five seconds after he had walked out the door, a man walked in and asked for Christmas cake. Zatte stifled a groan and explained that the kitchen was closed for the night. This was spelled out on the cafe's front door, but no one ever really read that as they walked in.

*******

At 10 P.M. Zatte switched the sign in the window to "CLOSED", and began turning off several of the lights in the store, until only the section above the armchairs was illuminated. The Christmas lights on the trees outside were easier to see this way, and they lent a pinkish, purplish tint to the inside of the cafe. Finally, Zatte walked over to Luffa's chair and took a bottle of soda out of her apron. She slung the apron over the chair opposite Luffa's, then collapsed into it with a heavy sigh.

"Long day?" Luffa asked. It wasn't until she saw her up close that Zatte noticed how tired Luffa looked. Keda had gone to bed a half-hour earlier, leaving Luffa by herself. She looked like she wanted to fall asleep in the chair, but was too excited from the day's events.

"I've had worse," Zatte said, "but that was back when I had you on the staff."

"Well, I'm off for a few days," Luffa said. "I could give you guys a hand."

"Tempting," Zatte said. "Keda would be thrilled, but I couldn't impose on you like that. You've probably got plans for Christmas Eve."

"Not really," Luffa said. "That's why I came here. I've been touring for so long that I'm not really sure what to do with this much free time."

There was a hiss as Zatte opened the bottle on her soda, and she raised an eyebrow at Luffa's words. "I thought you and that referee..."

Luffa looked confused for a moment, then she threw back her head and laughed. "No, no, no," she finally said. "That was an angle. Part of a storyline to make people think I had an unfair advantage. It was kind of dumb, but sometimes you gotta do what the office wants to show 'em you're a team player."

"Oh," Zatte said, somewhat embarrassed. "Well, it looked so convincing..."

"Well that's the idea," Luffa said. "Wait, have you been watching my matches? I thought you didn't go for that stuff."

"Well, Keda watches them all the time anyway," Zatte explained. "And she's got that subscription to the on-demand service on the internet. It's about the only time we get to see you anymore, you know? Even if it's while you're spitting green stuff all over people."

"Keda asked me to teach her how to do the poison mist," Luffa said. "I told her I couldn't, because the recipe for the poison is too dangerous. Merry Christmas."

"Thanks," Zatte said. She glanced around at the walls, imagining what they would look like with green food coloring on every surface. "When are you gonna tell her the truth about all that stuff, anyway?"

"What, that it's fake?" Luffa asked with a smile. "I dunno, she's still pretty young. I'll tell her next year."

"That's what you said last year," Zatte said. "I'd do it myself, but she wouldn't believe me. She's a smart kid, you know. Sooner or later, she'll figure it out on her own, and that might be kind of awkward for you."

Luffa settled back in her chair and looked down at the empty cup in her hands. "I don't know, it's cool to have someone I know who believes it's all real," she said. "I'll have to give that up eventually, but it's tough to let go. You saw how excited she was when I came in."

"Yeah..." Zatte said. She took a swig from her soda and propped her feet up on the ottoman that lay between their chairs, so that their ankles alternated in an orderly row across the cushion.

"So are you really winning the title?" Zatte asked after a long pause. In spite of Luffa's exhaustion, her eyes lit up at the question.

"Keep it under your hat," Luffa said, lowering her voice as though worried someone might overhear, "but maybe. That show's six weeks out, and a lot could change before then. If someone gets injured or something, they might have to call an audible and change the card around. But they definitely want to put the title on me at some point." She held up both hands and crossed her fingers for emphasis.

"That's great," Zatte said. "I mean, it is, right? If the matches are predetermined, does the championship even matter?"

"Oh, it's a big honor," Luffa said, visibly excited at the chance to explain it. "I mean, it's a secondary belt, and SPARKING! isn't that big a promotion, but still. It's kind of like an actor winning an award. The people in charge are saying they think I'm good enough to deserve that spot on the show. I mean, two years ago I was still helping the crew put the ring together. I still can't believe it."

"I can," Zatte said. "You always put everything you have into whatever you do. I always saw it when you worked here, so it doesn't shock me that other people can see it in you now."

"I've missed this place," Luffa said wistfully. "That's the only trouble with being on tour so much. I don't get to cook as often. I saw a place selling Christmas cakes on the way here and you've probably been selling them all month without me..."

"Well, if you really want to," Zatte said, "you could give us a hand in the kitchen tomorrow. I mean, if you really didn't have any other plans for Christmas Eve..."

"Nope, I got nothing," Luffa said. "What about you? Keda and I could keep an eye on the place so you can leave early."

"We're closing early anyway," Zatte said. "Business usually drops off pretty sharply on Christmas Eve night, so we might as well. Besides, I can't have you waiting tables with that crazy hair. You'd scare the customers."

"Huh? Oh, right," Luffa said. "You know, I've been wearing it like this for so long I'd gotten used to it. You don't like my look?"

"It's just... very bright," Zatte said. "It's not so bad up close, when I can see your face better, but it almost doesn't look like real hair. It looks rough, like hay."

"It's really not," Luffa said. She tugged on some of it to demonstrate. "I don't even put much stuff in it to make it stick up like it does. Here, feel this."

Zatte shrugged and moved to the seat beside Luffa's, where she reached for the same part of her hair that Luffa was holding. Their fingers brushed against each other, and neither of them seemed entirely sure how to react to the sensation.

"Huh..." Zatte said as she gently touched Luffa's head. "That's not at all what I expected."

"Yeah," Luffa said, somewhat awkwardly. "It's not so different from that red streak you've got in your hair, I bet."

She reached out for the side of Zatte's bob, and rubbed a strand of it between her fingers. "Why are you blushing?" Luffa asked.

"Oh... uh, I probably stood up too quickly," Zatte said.

"Oh..."

They heard someone outside walking past the storefront, and suddenly became very self-conscious of holding onto each other's hair, so they quickly let go, and looked away from each other.

"So uh..." Luffa said. "If you're not doing anything tomorrow night..."

"I mean, I've got a reservation at Kentucky Fried Chicken, but that's it, really," Zatte said. "Keda talked me into it. Said I ought to do something, even if I was alone. But if you wanted to come along..."

"Sure," Luffa said. "I haven't had KFC in ages. And you know, it'd give me a chance to see the lights around town."

"They've got a new thing at the mall," Zatte said. "Well, not new new. It was there last year, but you wouldn't have seen it then."

"That sounds fine," Luffa said. "Yeah."

*******

Behind the front counter, Keda observed her sister and Luffa through the glass of the display case. It wasn't an ideal vantage, and she could barely hear what they were saying, but it was enough for her to get the gist of things, and so far things looked promising.

There were still a lot of things that could go wrong. Long distance relationships were always a challenge, and the professional wrestling business wasn't exactly known for fidelity, but these were factors Keda couldn't control, and at some point it would be up to the two of them to make things work as best they could. It was enough that Keda had gotten them to this point-- studying Luffa's tour schedule, playing the eager fan, and providing Luffa a useful excuse to visit right before a romantic holiday. Really, the only thing she had been worried about was that the two women would have seen through Keda's "wrestling-is-real" act, but they were grown-ups, and they didn't know an eleven-year-old from an seven-year-old, not when you really got down to it.

Keda noticed Zatte reaching for Luffa's hair a second time, and decided that was her cue to withdraw. She was playing matchmaker, not spying on them, after all. Besides, Keda would have to rest up for tomorrow so she could help out in the store tomorrow, in order to make sure neither of them were too tired for their date.

Quietly, Keda made her way back to the door that led to their second-story apartment. As she ascended the stair, she imagined how great things would be next Christmas, with a SPARKING! All-Pacific Champion in the family. Maybe then, finally, Luffa would teach her how to spit Poison Mist.

[THE END]

#dragon ball #fanfiction #luffa #zatte #keda #yamcha #krillin #master roshi #goku #chi chi #trunks #tien #chiaotzu #earth #i tried to do a coffe shop au and i made it about wrestling sorry

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creative-horror-network · 5 years ago

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The Fog Report - Los Angeles Haunted Hayride 2019

Welcome back, intrepid listeners! The season is drawing to a close but that hasn’t deterred me from hitting a third haunted locale, although in this one the haze you’re walking through is less fog and more kicked-up dust. Probably has something to do with that weird-looking fairground tucked away in the trees there…

Started in 2009, the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride has taken up residence in Griffith Park, in and around the grounds of the Old LA Zoo. Already a fairly eerie place with its trails past abandoned enclosures and cages, the Hayride has consistently utilized the environment to create terrifying tableaus and vignettes, seen and experienced from a tractor-pulled trailer - something done for Halloween in many other parts of the country but a relative oddity in the big city. Though its themes have shifted and changed over the years, this year new owners Thirteenth Floor Entertainment have given the Hayride a unifying story and a setting from which to place their event: a cursed town called Midnight Falls.

Anyone who has read my last two articles about Dark Harbor and Knott’s Scary Farm (or who just knows me in general) should guess why this alone finally pulled me to the event. This was my first ever visit to the Haunted Hayride, so my expectations were not so effected by previous years; it’s all fresh eyes and raw opinion here.

The Event

Before I even get to the venue itself, can I just say how enjoyable just the walk there was? Unless you’re parked in one of the upper lots, you’ve got a little bit of a trek through a nighttime park ahead of you, and I wasn’t kidding earlier when I said this was “tucked away.” in the wilderness. The natural darkness and night noises certainly helped me get into the mood as I trudged up the path and saw the flickering orange glow in the distance.

Once you do get there, you find yourself in the town square of Midnight Falls in the midst of its 13th annual Halloween Festival, 1985. The Hayride itself, as well as three mazes, several concessions and a handful of slight-up charge escape rooms can all be accessed from here, but as a zone in itself the town square is well worth wandering around in. The roaming monsters - townsfolk who have been cursed but seem to be in good spirits - are more interactive and funny than outright scary, engaging visitors with humor and giving Midnight Falls the character of a cheesy 80s horror-comedy. Each character is an archetype of the era and each is a very distinct, from a jock werewolf to a hook-nosed Miss Midnight Falls to a snappy goblin server from the local diner (hi Reggie!), just to name a few of the myriad citizens.

This feels like a genuinely happy medium between the heavy thematic elements of Knott’s and the party atmosphere of Dark Harbor. You’re at an in-universe fair, and they play that up without it detracting from the scarier elements. It certainly evokes the spirit of a local Halloween: I spent a good chunk of my teenage years in the small mountain town of Idyllwild, and they also have (had?) a Halloween carnival, so I can say big props for reminding me of that feeling. Couple that with the amount of atmosphere and the commitment of the actors in their improv with guests and each other, and you have a nicely immersive, if tongue-in-cheek, experience.

It’s also good to know that the event is small, considering what it actually offers. The night I visited I managed to get there right around opening and was able to get through most everything in two hours. That doesn’t mean its not worth visiting, but don’t expect a marathon session like a theme park haunt.

The Hayride

As stated before, the hayride is the namesake and main draw of the event, a chance for Angelenos to board a hay wagon (and sit in real honest-to-goodness hay) and take a ride through the Old Zoo, now the outskirts and foothills of Midnight Falls. This attraction is presented as a sort of weird origin-story, demonstrating how the land fell under the Halloween hex and riders in the midst of it happening.

This is a wholly different kind of trip than one would make on foot through a maze, and is a proper ride in every sense, with each scene being staged in such a way that it only transpires as the hayride passes. The main ingredient is the live actors lurking in the dark that rush at the trailer and menace the riders, usually after a theatrical beat in a scene plays out, I’d never done anything like this before and it was honestly impressive, each scene having its fair share of startling surprises: highlights for me were a ghostly girl leaping from a cliff (possibly reenacting a suicide), a werewolf gang unleashed from some of the old animal cages, a amorous couple in a convertible being mauled by a Sasquatch, a close encounter with a ghost train, and a giant spider emerging from a stone structure.

I wasn’t able to take any picture while on the hayride, mainly out of respect for not ruining the moment and trying to present for it. Trust me when I say that even if the scenes seem a little cheesy, the fact that they’re part of this spooky hayride experience makes it fun. I actually feel like this is a decent entry point for people leery about going to a haunt, as it struck me as being less intense than being in the midst of a maze. Pro tip for first-timers: sit in the middle. The folks on the left and right get all the attention, so the heat’s off if you stick to the center.

The Mazes

As an added bonus, Midnight Falls has three mazes as part of its spooky neighborhood. Each is fairly short but exceptionally well put together for something built in the middle of Griffith Park, and I walked away from each fairly impressed.

The first maze I visited, Midnight Mortuary, takes you through the town’s funeral home, its backyard, morgue and chapel. The monsters here are a mix of the ghoulish staff and some goat-masked figures in white robes; perhaps a cult of some kind? More Victorian Gothic than grisly and gory, creative use of space and good set design are strong in this maze, and the startling finale helps put the random goat-people’s presence into perspective.

My favorite maze was definitely Trick or Treat, simulating a trip through a Midnight Falls neighborhood where every house has a resident surprise. This outdoor maze is unique because anyone visiting can actually ring the doorbells of the houses to see what wacky scare emerges. Since almost all the scares are guest-driven, the reward for courage comes when most of the monsters give you real candy! It’s a cute detail, and it really plays on the horror-camp and the tropes of Halloween: my favorite bit is the Devil-themed “home haunt” at the end that looks like some earnest kid built a strobe-light maze through their yard and garage. Big props for creativity.

Rounding out the three is Roadkill Ranch, ensuring no meat goes to waste in Midnight Falls… because if it’s good enough for your tires, it’s good enough for their fryers. While the effort was there, I’m personally very tired of the bloody Hellbilly theme for mazes as a whole, so this one did not really impress me. It did have some choice scare moments and a good strawbale layout in the back of it, making you weave through while masked ranchers hid in the dark, but I just think the trope has been done to death.

Final Thoughts

Though small in stature, the LA Haunted Hayride is big on personality and dark charm, offering a main attraction that isn’t offered anywhere nearby and a collection of scary sides to go along with it. The overarching setting of Midnight Falls is a huge boon to the event, and I hope it sticks around for the foreseeable future, along with its cast of characters. I’d love to see what they can add to it if it continues to expand.

What gives this an edge for me and makes it stick out, even from its larger competitors, is the festive quality of the Hayride. Halloween is not just the backdrop of the season here for spooky stuff, it’s positively dripping with Halloween flavor. Not many haunts actually make the holiday their front-and-center, and I’m super grateful that this does. It’s hard not to feel spirit (pun intended) of All Hallows Eve here, and I didn’t realize how much I missed that kind of vibe until I was there.

If you’re local and you can make it, the LA Haunted Hayride is worth a visit. Come kill a couple hours here and feel a bit of that Halloween magic, both terror and humor - trick and treats, if you’ll pardon the expression. And hey, if you’re not anywhere near LA, go see if anyone near you is doing a haunted hayride. It might help kindle that jack-o’-lantern flame in your soul too.

Anyway, I’ve got a lot of Midnight Falls dust to brush off my clothes. Until next time, I’ll see you in the fog.

The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride runs most nights in October and every night during the last week until November 2nd, from 7 to 10:30 or 11pm depending on the night. More details and tickets can be found here.

#LA Haunted Hayride

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mcspirkholidayfest · 6 years ago

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It’s the time of year again: Get To Know Your Mod! This year the moderators will be answering McSpirk headcanons.

Hello, everyone! I’m @klmeri , and I feel like I’ve been around for too long but you know there’s this beautiful thing called McSpirk that keeps drawing me back. I will be writing my headcanons aka mini stories in the TOS ‘verse, not because I love it best (AOS is lovely too) but simply for the ease of focusing on a Triumvirate that canonically has a lot of history together. I’ve dedicated nearly a decade to the joys of all things Triumvirate, so it’s with shameless insistence that I say read on, enjoy, and bless the other mods and the participants of McSpirk Holiday Fest with your attention too. There are a great many headcanons, stories, and art for you at this tumblr!

I will be answering these:

Who initiates hand holding while the other is piloting the craft

Who would cook the better romantic dinner

Who kissed who first

Who holds the door on dates

Who remembers things

Who caves to the other giving them pleading eyes

Who shows up at the other’s work randomly with gifts

Who initiates hand holding while the other is piloting the craft

Let’s be realistic. It’s Spock or Kirk piloting the craft. McCoy isn’t allowed. Sure, he might be trained and can navigate them the heck outta a bad situation in a pinch but if you value your sanity and don’t want to revisit what you last ate, you don’t let McCoy take the pilot’s seat. And like most crafts (shuttles, hover-things, alien contraptions), there is usually no more than two seats up front, precisely for the pilot and co-pilot. That means Kirk and Spock are often side-by-side and McCoy is in a seat behind them. This gives him great advantage (at least from his perspective) because it means he can do everything he wants with little to no repercussions, as that one time Jim tried to twist backward to make Leonard stop poking his shoulder did not go over well when Spock also took his attention off the console to intervene in their mock-fight and the whole craft nearly collided with a market stand of smelly produce in an overpopulated thoroughfare. Leonard does have some control over his childish impulses however; more frequently since he, Jim, and Spock got married, he finds himself reaching for the co-pilot’s hand like a lovesick moon-calf. If it’s Jim’s hand, Jim is very quick to lace their fingers together and kiss Leonard’s knuckles. If Spock happens to be in the co-pilot’s seat, he lets McCoy rest his hand lightly on the back of his, an area which is less sensitive than the palm and finger-pads. Leonard has come to understand this is still a very intimate sort of contact for a Vulcan. With the pilot, it’s different though. Leonard doesn’t dare interfere with the hands of the person controlling the craft (Jim, keep both hands on the levers, damn it!), but of course that isn’t a deterrent to showing affection. He likes to prop his chin on the shoulder of that partner. In this way, holding the hand of one and leaning against the other, McCoy stays connected to both. As the three of them know when it comes to loving each other, there are no favorites. Neither Kirk nor Spock have complained about this penchant of McCoy’s, and he hopes they never will.

Who would cook the better romantic dinner

Cooking is for those who can’t figure out how to use the replicator. Regardless of how many times, Jim Kirk hears this from Leonard McCoy, he doesn’t feel an ounce of shame over his desire to court his two favorite people. And because Jim is a widely read man, being particularly fond of literature with both adventure and romance, he has many and varied ideas on how a gentleman pays court. But cooking is not easy, he discovers. At least, the recipe for that Vulcan entree seems simple enough until one undertakes the act of preparing it. And, unfortunately, the final result doesn’t match the picture or the description of its supposed taste. Jim isn’t a quitter though, and on his third attempt (the kitchen crew would probably be appalled by the mess of the first two times), he gets it right. Spock thanks him for the effort later, and McCoy—after cracking a few jokes—appears equally appreciative of the country casserole Jim made for him. When all is said and done, success isn’t tied to Jim Kirk as a great chef or even as the best at cooking (as Kirk suspects McCoy could whip up a gourmet meal in a nanosecond); it is that his labor of love is truly one of a kind, standing out despite that none of them can stomach a second helping of a dish Jim might have flubbed a little during the making of it. McCoy, with Spock nodding in agreement, claims that is his best quality.

Who kissed who first

Jim swears he initiated the first kiss. He did. He will tell that to anyone who is gutsy enough to ask.

Except, years later, when Jim and Leonard sit down together and think deeply about the subject, analyzing the technique of kissing as humans versus as human-and-Vulcan, they realize Spock was kissing them long before their first passionate affair.

“We were duped,” McCoy says.

Jim decides, “Spock must have known what he wanted.”

“I knew there was something weird going on. He couldn’t keep his hands to himself!”

The men laugh about it, then, and never let on to Spock that they know his little secret.

Who holds the door on dates

If the universe finds it alarming that Kirk, Spock, and McCoy race to see who can be the first to sacrifice himself for the other two, the universe has never paid attention to the all-out war that is Kirk, Spock, and McCoy dating. A man raised to have good manners holds the door. A gentleman looks after his date. A fool in love lets his adoration be known through every tiny action. So, who holds the door on dates? Whoever gets there first! That’s both a sore spot and a playful game for the three of them. Spock wins most often, simply because Jim and Leonard are too busy tripping over each other trying to play the part of a proper escort. Spock will patiently wait for them to realize he has the door wide-open, and then one will frown about it and the other will grumble something about getting there first next time. But in general Spock has to stop holding the door a minute or so after, as the next battle usually ensues over which of Jim or Leonard should go through the doorway ahead of the others. A Vulcan’s patience, like a human’s, does have a limit after all.

None of them will admit it, but they are keeping score as to who can be the most mannered/gentlemanly/thoughtful lover. A true headache for any outsider to watch.

Who remembers things

Technically, Spock would claim his eidetic memory is superior. But that Vulcan doesn’t have a leg to stand on if you ask McCoy. Remembering the date of a dentist appointment isn’t the same as remembering the day they first said “I love you” to each other. If a man can’t recall a moment like that, having an eidetic memory is about as useful as a boot full of piss.

Spock isn’t fond of that strongly delivered expression, but sadly Jim, standing next to him, isn’t in a position to come to the Vulcan’s rescue. While Jim certainly can remember special dates like McCoy is referring to—anniversaries, first kisses, etc.—his days are so busy that his short memory has become less and less reliable; hence all those calendar reminders on his personal padd. And, okay, he might have missed the last important date, although he never forgets the romantic holidays.

In short, Leonard McCoy is very methodical in the maintenance of his relationships. He believes wholeheartedly in celebrating the special moments over and over again, which of course is the problem that led to this fight. Spock is not accustomed to the same way of thinking, and though he knows very well the precise date and time of all the little moments McCoy is rattling off, he did not once consider those moments would need to be recalled on an annual basis. This is one of those little trials unique to a relationship. The good thing is, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy will come to a joint agreement over what days are to be remembered and celebrated again. Spock will continue to remember the mundane details like appointments, meetings, and his partners’ schedules. Kirk will continue to rely on his padd for reminders but as the staunchest romantic of all three, he will put both McCoy and Spock to shame with his celebratory efforts.

Who caves to the other giving them pleading eyes

Jim, being readily expressive with his body language, has the best pleading eyes of the three men. He rarely feels desperate enough to employ the technique, however, preferring other, more direct means of persuasion; yet when the need arises and Jim falls back to the pleading eyes, he is always surprised to discover they never work. Why Spock and McCoy are oddly immune and utterly unmoved by any sort of sad, pitiful face Jim can conjure is quite the mystery to him, particularly as Jim considers himself a master charmer.

Spock’s dignity more so than his Vulcan upbringing does not allow for such behavior. He would rather argue his point of view until he runs out of breath. If that fails—such is rarely the case as Spock’s stamina (and stubbornness) is greater than his companions’ combined—he may admit momentary defeat until another angle of the argument can inevitably be worked out.

It goes without saying, then, that McCoy could be the best at using this technique. Truth be told, though, he knows something that works better, for McCoy is no stranger to how sensitive Spock and Kirk are to his moods and is equally aware of his own tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve, so to speak. Often, under duress or in the face of ill news, he cannot fully mask feelings like disappointment or sadness. So, Leonard might subtly infuse a little of that natural dejection into his body language or his tone (a tiny sloping of the shoulders or a soft, dejected sigh) when something isn’t going his way, and this small deception frequently proves effective. Leonard has won more arguments with Spock and sparked more swift reconsideration from Jim this way than sticking to his usual method of intractability. But Leonard doesn’t abuse this power he wields over the hearts of his partners because persuading a lover to eat a healthy salad or to cuddle with him a while longer on the couch can be relatively harmless, but asking a man to go against his values or moral code is not. Leonard understands that difference.

Who shows up at the other’s work randomly with gifts

Spock would insist that his behavior is a simple matter of performing his duties as first officer and husband in proper fashion, but in truth the Vulcan is a closeted caretaker. Having grown up in an environment that did not often appreciate the subtle differences in his character due to his being half-human, he treasures those who accept him for who he is, and therefore he treasures Kirk and McCoy. Logic suggests to hold on to something precious requires taking very good care of it. With this belief, Spock finds it no hardship in seemingly randomly checking up on his partners mid-shift or at odd hours and often without warning, bearing a small gift like a meal for the replenishment of energy during a long shift in Sickbay for Leonard or the summarization of those quarterly reports cluttering up Jim’s inbox. Spock’s thoughtfulness is in turn treasured by his husbands. Leonard and Jim always have a thank you or gesture of gratitude for him. They make certain Spock understands they care for him regardless of these surprise visits. This aspect of their relationship is one of the sweetest and also a testament to the depth of their love. Later, during Kirk and McCoy’s retirement years, they take great joy in returning the favor while Spock continues his work for Starfleet.

#mcspirk #mcspirkholidayfest #2018 fest #feature: get to know your mod

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