#anyhoo. shes normal outside of the horrors

[a-drama-addict]

Bhaal's favourite little princess

[winchester-inthe-tardis221b]

A feathery problem

It happened few weeks ago. My father, Brother and I were playing “cricket” in our floor’s corridor in our apartment. If you are interested to know how to play our version of cricket, then you are in luck ‘coz most of the time I’m not generous with the information when it comes to telling people who I have never seen before.

1) Always have a wooden bat and a person who is willing to bat. If there is a fight /scuffle / argument, then break it up with a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, or leave the place.

2) The same applies for the bowlers, though instead of the wooden bat, use the ball, preferably tennis ball.

3) And a Wicket Keeper (optional).

 On that particular day, which happened to be a Thursday, if my memory serves me right (Shut up, brother. My memory does serve me right. Yes, I do remember when WW1 started and when India got its Independence!....*cough* I think *cough*. Oh, never mind.) We heard a really annoying high pitched noise and gods, it was freakin’ loud. At first I assumed it was a monkey because our apartment has a monkey nuisance which is ongoing even now. Besides, I don’t even know how a monkey sounds like. But we still continued to play. After I had bowled three balls, we again heard the same sound and I felt goose bumps. It sounded like a wounded animal to me. My father was the first to rush inside. My brother and I followed abandoning the cricket equipment except the ball because I was very much attached to it. (I only know how to bowl, my batting sucks). For the third time that evening, another high pitch shrill was heard but this time I was able to determine where it came from. My house. There was a creature which hid behind the plant pots which was right in front of our window.  My father claimed to have seen a monkey’s tail through the window’s horizontal bars before the little brute scurried off.

 Now, we all had our experience with insects, especially near plants and we were very reluctant to find out what creature was making that infernal sound. By now my mother had joined us. She moved closer to investigate and my bother looked terrified. He had covered his face with his hands like he was watching a horror movie or an episode of the T.V. show Supernatural and believe me, that show actually makes you quite immune to certain horror flicks with all it’s werewolves, vampires, demons, angels, wendigos, shapshifter, gods, titans, vetalas, changelings, ghouls, ghosts, rugarus, sirens, soul eaters, rakshasas, witches, djinn and the Apocalypse………okay, I’m seriously getting carried away now. Well, coming back to my extraordinary story, it turned out to be a parrot. A freakin’ parrot, people! And I must say it was stunning to look at. It looked at me in the eye and waddled up to us. And now I’m thinking to myself “now what?” So I stuck out my finger. (Yes, I know. Stupid thing to do. It might try to bite me but hey, where do you see a parrot like that and try not to touch it? Besides, I already have experience with birds. I had a family of 4 lovebirds once.) Surprisingly, it climbed onto it and a startled sound escaped my brother’s throat. And then my great Sherlockian mind deduced that this bird was domesticated. Oh My Chuck! I am too clever and precious for this world! And I also decided to name it as Jack (from the T.V. show Doctor Who’s character called as Captain Jack Harkness , not the nephilim, Jack Kline ) now the next issue to fix was ‘what are we going to do with it?’ We contemplated about what we can do with the bird (okay, that sentence sounds more Hannibal-ly than I thought. Guys, I assure you that I love animals thought I am non-veg) we took a picture and send it in my apartments’ whatsapp and mygate group. We gave away the cage in which we housed our lovebirds so we couldn’t exactly keep the bird with us (and I mean a normal bird cage, not the cage where the Winchesters imprisoned Michael and Lucifer in Supernatural). And then there was this person who messaged us in a private whatsapp chat that if no one claims it, could we give the bird to them ‘cos it looks ‘very pretty’. So we decided to wait and see if anyone claims the bird or we could give it to the mystery person the next morning. We couldn’t send it back outside for the fear of monkeys. My mother gave it some grains and water and we faced-timed my maternal grandparents. While we did that, my father noticed a wound on its body right above its leg. My grandmother suggested putting a mixture of coconut oil and turmeric on it which I did. I actually held and put it by myself. My mother thought it would be best to put it in in the bathroom for the night which we did and soon it got comfortable. And in case you wish to call some animal organization or PETA and charge us for the crimes of cruelty against animals, first hear me out. We totally made sure the bathroom was habitable for the bird. It was dry and we kept grains and water in separate bowls and allowed it to poop and pee on the floor (which we then had to scoop and clean the place up.) What did you say we were guilty of then? Anyhoo, a guy and his friends showed up thanking us for keeping the bird until then. It seemed like he had some private issues to manage and a dog too. He seemed pretty shaken up. I don’t remember what else he said but I felt good. OK that sounded a bit sappy but hey, we all do need a bit of sappy in our lives, don’t we? P.S: In case you are still worried about our stumps and bat(s), and thank you for being so concerned for its well being, my father took care of it so no worries. P.P.S: I regret to admit that my memory served me wrong. But only on this occasion, mind you! It was actually a Friday evening. But I certainly do remember when WW1 broke out and when India got it’s independence.

[quintessence-sentimentalist]

quintessence-sentimentalist Takes on 30 Days of W.i.t.c.h.versary!: Week One

So I’ve been way too swamped as of late to keep up with this challenge day-by-day, even with only written answers (because guys, I write long answers, even when I cut myself short). As a solution (at least to start), I’m going to lump my answers for days falling within the same week together. Here’s Days 1 through 7!

Day 1: Favorite Guardian

Well, glancing up at my username and icon, I think it’d be remiss not to say Will Vandom, at least in some respect.

Will was my favorite from the beginning, back when I only had the chapter books with comic inserts. I can’t quite put my finger on why I gravitated to her, though I get the feeling that my love of energy/electricity-based powers had something to do with it. Plus, she got the cool transformation trinket! I’m sure there are many, many more reasons why she became my favorite, but this was also a good 15 years ago and even my obscure-detail-focused memory is having a hard time tracing back.

I’m not as passionate about comics Will as an adult, just in terms of how they loaded the poor girl up with so much drama that it’s just overwhelmingly exhausting, and she has some pretty immature reactions to her problems with her mom and Matt (pre-relationship). But animated Will is still my girl, with her awkwardness and quipping (of a different sort than Irma’s) and the way she grows as a leader, to the point where she’s basically set up a long con on even the viewers as a battle strategy in the latter quarter of season 2. This was the Will I grew to love as an adult rewatching the series after many years.

Since I’ve always been a Will Girl in some form, this has to be my official answer, but very honorable mentions to Irma and Hay Lin across both media. 

Day 2: Favorite Villain

Alright, if we’re talking the animated series and you aren’t new around these parts, we all know it’s Shagon. Listen, this arc is 90% of the reason why I love the cartoon as much as I do, because they took a character from the comics with a nebulous backstory and a spooky, badass design who was relatively underused even with being Nerissa’s strongest/preferred minion, and decided to pull out all the stops. They gave a recurring character (who, okay, I already loved) with very strong ties to the girls - and who’d already evolved out of his role in the comics at the time - his own challenge/story arc about literally facing his inner demon; they gave the Guardians a deadly enemy to face off against (distract them) while Nerissa is off plucking up ex-Guardians one by one; they gave Will and Matt some brutal emotional turmoil that’s actually new and refreshing for the two of them (let’s send the repeated comics jealousy plotlines back to the kitchen, yeah?). And, uh, they made an already spooky, badass character design EVEN SPOOKIER AND MORE BADASS. 

(The darker colors all around? The brilliant gold mask? The dark angel wings? I have been in love with this design since I was 12, alright?)

But! If we’re talking comics, then I’m going with Yua. I’ve talked about this at length before in a different ask game, but I think I gravitate to Yua because a) I’m largely not about full-on villains in any media and b) she’s a beautifully complex character in the context of the third arc’s narrative. 

I’m not going to reiterate everything I said before and just redirect to that post, but I just find it fascinating that the banshee - whose species we’re repeatedly told are eeeeeevil by nature - shows more humanity than the actual human antagonists in this arc. She never wanted harm to come to Maqi, taking him away the second she’s freed as both revenge on her oppressor and a means of keeping this little boy safe from his father’s single-minded crusade. Yua even directly expresses this sentiment when Maqi falls, horror-struck and swearing that it was always about hurting Ari and never Maqi. And even when Maqi is... eurgh, “healed” (yeah, there are a lot of problems with the resolution to this arc), Yua has the opportunity to strike Ari at his happiest and complete her vengeance, but seeing Maqi so delighted makes her retreat, at least for now. 

So yeah. More humanity than Ari and his blind rage in his quest to “cure” his son, and more humanity than Riddle & Co. in abducting an innocent teenage girl on the mere suspicion that she has powers with the intention of putting her through human experimentation. Yua takes Best Villain in my heart because she’s not a villain, not really.

Day 3: Favorite Love Interest

Again, unless you’re new here, it’s no shock that - if we’re talking animated series - it’s Matthew “I’m Arguing With a Housepet” Olsen. 

As wildly different as it is from the comics, I do so adore his character design, with his dark hair (which, uh, may have been the first indication that I have a Type when it comes to my favorite male characters) and purple hoodie. His personality is so endearing too, because he’s not just the idolized older boy we initially see him as in the comics, but like... a legitimate dork. He’s sweet and plays guitar and generally exudes Cool, but you get to know him and it’s easy to see that he and Will are like souls. Not the best about expressing their feelings to the person they like, but always ready to step up and fight.

That’s another quality I love about cartoon Matt. Even before the Shagon arc, very shortly after even learning of the Guardian secret, Matt wants in on the action. It’s not in a “living out his action hero dreams” way, or even really a matter of impressing/protecting Will: it’s more about not being the guy who sits safe on the sidelines while everyone else is risking their lives, and trying to prove (largely to himself, in the end) that he’s worthy to be Will’s boyfriend when she’s a honest-to-Kandrakar warrior and he’s just “Funny Matt.”

I’m going to skip the Shagon arc for now because I assure you I could probably talk for ages about cartoon Matt, and we don’t have that kind of time now.

As for comics, I definitely have to go with Eric Lyndon and - technically a pseudo-love interest - Joel Wright. Oh, and Peter Cook!! Basically, all the sweet guys who don’t get quite as much attention with the comics and whose romantic relationships developed a bit later.

Day 4: Favorite Ship

Surprise, surprise: it’s animated Will/Matt. I’ve blubbered about them before, I will blubber about them again (please give me reasons to do so?), so I’m going to spare you all this time around. Just know that they’re my longest-held major OTP, and that it normally takes a hell of a lot to get me to full-on ship something.

(Real quick though: mutually pining dorks? Matt’s insecurity about being enough for his badass electricity-flinging girlfriend? Will’s drive to just blast shit down to find and save Matt? “If this all goes south, I’m gonna be beside you”??? Please ignore my choked sobbing.)

Anyhoo, there are a couple different comics ships I’d say qualify, though I might not be as passionate about them as I am cartoon WxM. Hay Lin and Eric are positively adorable, and I love how their relationship was slow but not agonizingly so. Hay was the only one not to get a love interest of sorts from the very start, taking us all the way to issue 18 before a guy makes her giggly. And I really appreciate that it wasn’t just a superficial crush, that while Eric was cute, it was his kindness and the time he spent with Hay that made her go, You know, I think I like this guy. It was a refreshing change of pace, they’re both adorable, and we ignore the fact that Eric was mysteriously written out and Hay has that one issue in the Dark Times late in the series where she falls head-over-heels for this rockstar-ish guy for no real reason and changes her style to try to impress him. 

Honorable mentions go to Irma and Joel, who had excellent potential and should have still been kept as friends even if they decided to give Irma a different SO (we ignore the later issue where Joel just wistfully looks at Irma with his “We used to be friends” thought bubble and no actual explanation for why they aren’t anymore); and Cornelia and Peter, who I don’t give enough credit and definitely need to reread.

Day 5: Favorite Friendship

This is a tough one - can I say all of the W.i.t.c.h. girls together? Because outside of the first arc, there isn’t really a whole lot of focus on the smaller group friendships. 

Cornelia and Elyon is a good one, though, literally spanning worlds because Cornelia is dead-set on saving her friend. I’ll toss Orube and Will into the mix as well, because Will was crucial to Orube’s initial character development and they seemed to have the closest relationship moving forward.

Day 6: Favorite Cover/Pinup/Promotional Art

Oof, giving me the hard questions, are we? I have a few favorites, but one of the first that came to mind was this one of Will. It’s the cover of the 21st chapter book, which I think is actually the pinup for issue 21. They must have changed it up for the US release in order to keep it more in-line with the actual plot.

Day 7: Favorite Episode/Issue

Hrm. Let’s change it up and start with the comics on this one. Off the top of my head, I have a soft spot for issue 32. It’s the zenith of the Sylla sub-arc, so the stakes are high, the girls get cute semi-formal clothes when they go to the opera to spring and hopefully evade Riddle’s trap, Sylla double-crosses Riddle and teams up with Medina and McTiennan (and I still think there’s a missed opportunity here with wiping that particular team’s memories of the girls), and we get the most iconic page in this entire comic with Orube beating up Riddle’s goon while brushing off a suitor and then coyly asking him to be her arm candy. 

Issue 50 is another one I like, though largely because I enjoy the futures presented for each of the girls (I particularly love the concept of park ranger Cornelia and writer Will). And as a lingering vestige of my young, comic-Will/Matt-shipping heart, issue 40 is another nostalgic choice.

As for the animated series, I routinely consider my favorites on the chance that Greg Weisman still sells scripts at cons and I get the chance to buy that of a favorite episode. But true to form, basically all of my favorites are heavy Will/Matt episodes...

“D is for Dangerous” is fun because it’s the first time Will gains her quintessence lightning (yay!), the running gag with the Sisterhood of the Traveling Mr. Huggles is amusing, Elyon’s deadpan “Barehanded folding. My one talent” still kills me, and Matt and Caleb’s epic failures of training montages are great. “M is for Mercy” is brutal, with Shagon at his absolute deadliest and taunting Will with Matt’s disappearance, the utter hatred Will has for this demon who’s taken on the form of the boy she loves (and, unbeknownst to her, is legitimately a twisted reflection of Matt), and the sight of Shagon at his lowest while at Will’s mercy and her offer to teach him just that. “S is for Self” has not one but two musical numbers for Matt, and we finally get the resolution to the Shagon arc, so of course it’s a favorite.

But what the hell: I’m going with “T is for Trauma” as my favorite. I watched this episode three times the day it aired, and I still love it to this day. We get the introduction of rejuvenated C.h.y.k.n. (who wipe the floor with the W.i.t.c.h. girls at first), the Egyptian-themed costumes for no actual reason (“Could someone tell me how that man could look at me and think camel???”), Matt getting to fight as the badass normal for the first and last time since “L is for Loser,” etc. But most of all, this is Hay Lin’s episode, and it is absolutely soul-destroying but with a magnificent payoff at the end. It hurts to see the naturally lighthearted, high hopes member of the crew with her spirit absolutely shattered by her grandmother’s apparent betrayal, Eric’s brainwashing, and Nerissa’s general existence, and it’s just as painful that this was the way they gave her character development, but I have to commend this episode for one of the heaviest lines ever: “That’s how you survive the trauma - not by knowing it will be alright, but by having no other choice. ...I don’t have the luxury of breaking down right now.”

[themurphyzone]

Mayor Murphy Ch 8

It would be really amusing to me if Animal Crossing had their own version of those shows on HGTV with the home improvement and vacation home stuff. 

Ch 8- Home Sweet Home 

Milo rubbed his eyes, feeling the hardwood against his bare feet. The small bed was surprisingly comfortable, though he definitely preferred the height his loft bed at home gave him. 

Wait, hardwood?

“Hello, mayor!” a voice chimed. 

Milo yelped and fell back on his bed in surprise, banging his head against the wall with a hard thud. “Morning Isabelle. Ow,” he groaned, feeling a dull throb. 

“Oh my gosh! Mayor, are you all right?” Isabelle yelped, grabbing his head and checking for bruises. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Digby is always telling me I need to stop waiting by animal’s beds for them to wake up because it’s creepy and I wasn’t being creepy, was I? Don’t call Copper on me! Please don’t!” 

“I don’t know who that is, but I promise I won’t tell him,” Milo said. “What are you doing here anyway?” 

Isabelle tentatively held out several wrapped presents. “I wanted to be the first to see your new home. And I brought you housewarming gifts!” 

Milo opened the first present, unwrapping a yellow wallpaper with pawprints covering every inch. “This is a really pretty wallpaper,” Milo said. 

“You really like it?” Isabelle blushed, her tail wagging. “I made it just for you!” 

Milo glanced at the small room, eyes flicking between the bright yellow wallpaper he held and the unsightly dull gray that currently covered the walls of the house. “Would you mind if I put this up now?” he asked. “The walls right now look kind of, um....” 

Isabelle squealed, then clapped a paw over her mouth in horror. “Sorry. I’m just really happy you like it so much. And yes, I agree. Your current wallpaper is much too depressing. Anyway, to change the wallpaper, just tap the wall with the one you’re holding.” 

Milo obeyed, and Isabelle’s wallpaper unfurled and spread through the house while the gray curled and folded in, finally dropping in a heap into Milo’s lap. “I wish redecorating was this easy at home,” he laughed. “One time we were painting the guest room and I wasn’t watching where I was going and I stepped in an entire can of orange paint. Then my dad got his entire arm stuck in a roll of blue tape.”

The second present was a special set of coffee from Brewster. “We don’t have the Roost yet in this town, but Digby knows Blathers who’s buddies with Brewster,” Isabelle explained. “Speaking of the Roost, I should put that on the list of public works projects. And onto the topic of public works project, we can now get somewhat started on your duties as mayor. However, before you can start improving the town, first of all you’ll need a 100% approval rating.” 

Milo nodded. “Okay, I can do that. I think....” 

“I know it seems like a lot, but the residents already like you. If you go around helping them today, you can get your rating up to 100% in no time! The good news is, you’re already at 35%, which is pretty good considering this is only your third day,” Isabelle cheerfully said. “Now, why don’t you unwrap that last present?” 

Milo held up a lantern, which he set up in a far corner. “Thanks for everything, Isabelle,” he said as they exited the house. He took the coffee set with him so he could share it with the others. 

“No problem, mayor,” Isabelle said. “I’m going to get back to Town Hall. You know. Paperwork as usual. Toodles!” 

There was a creaking noise underfoot, and Milo stepped off a slab of wood. Now he noticed the giant pile of scrap materials that a group of raccoons were clearing away. 

“Excuse me,” Milo said to a heavyset raccoon. “What’s going on?” 

The raccoon chewed the twig in his mouth before responding. “That darn house kept collapsing on us when we tried to remodel it! Told my cousin not to put newbies in charge of the roof, but would he listen to me? No, course not! Took until five this morning before the house actually looked like a house!” 

Milo examined the exterior of his new house, made of solid white brick. Tom Nook had delivered on the red roof, a chimney standing proudly in the back. There was a beep coming from the mailbox, and Milo pulled out two letters. The first was from Marshal, written on blue and white stationary.

Yo, Milo!

Thanks for a great time yesterday! Reminds me of firefly hunting with my siblings when I was little. My mom freaked when I swallowed one, but it made my mouth all tingly and glowy so I just kept stuffing my cheeks with them. Let’s continue being friends!

Cool as a cucumber, Marshal

There was a shirt attached to the letter. “A gelato tee?” Milo wondered. “Well, he’s got good taste!” He decided to put it on for the day, stuffing his normal sweatervest and shirt into his backpack. He reminded himself to thank Marshal later. 

He read the second letter on the way to the Plaza. There wasn’t a name attached, but whoever wrote it thought he’d do a good job as mayor and congratulated him. 

Sara was already at the Plaza, several pastries lying on a plate next to her. Milo set the coffee down, sitting on the cobblestone and biting into a large peach. “Where’d the coffee come from?” Sara asked. 

“Isabelle. She was in my house when I woke up,” Milo explained. “I’m not really sure how they built a house around me. I didn’t even wake up once.”

“I wonder how many times it collapsed,” she said casually, taking a bite of her toast. 

“There was a large pile of debris outside my house that the construction crew was hauling away,” Milo said. “So probably a few. Where are Zack and Melissa?” 

Sara pointed to Main Street. “Melissa’s visiting Lottie in Central. I think Zack is donating a few things things to the Museum right now. I don’t have anything planned for today though, so I can help you do whatever you need to do.” 

Milo grinned. “That’s perfect! Isabelle says I need to raise my approval rating so I can actually do stuff as mayor. I’m thinking I should go around and help the villagers today.” 

“Well, I definitely approve of my little brother,” Sara gave a thumbs up. “Melissa and Zack too. You seem like great pals with Marshal already, but I don’t think you know the other animals too well.” 

“Then it’s time to fix that!” Milo exclaimed. 

“Gronk! Get off me! You two are scraping away my scales!” Del snarled. Zack and the museum curator, Blathers, were currently using Del as a gator jungle gym so they could get away from the horrible monstrosities that laid before them.

That is, if one considered ladybugs and sweetfish horrible monstrosities. 

“I think it’s staring at me!” Zack shrieked. 

“Hoo-hoo! Ladybugs can emit powerful chemicals if threatened,” Blathers fearfully clung to Del’s jaw, trembling. “Are we threatening right now? I’ll have that smell on my wings for weeks!”

Del stumbled around for a few seconds before tripping over his tail, landing on his back painfully. Zack extracted himself from Del’s stomach, carefully prying Blathers’ wings from Del’s jaw. 

“Both of you put those creatures into the proper exhibit. If you’ll excuse me, I have a flower garden to attend to.” With that, Del stood up, shaking his head and muttering curses. The door slammed behind him, causing a little plaster to rain down from the ceiling.

“Hoo!” Blathers hooted. “He’s something all right. And you room with that guy?”

Zack shrugged. “He was willing to show me his electric guitar collection. Moving on, we should really get these to the exhibits. I don’t mind taking the ladybug if you’ll handle the sweetfish. I can’t wait to get that dead-eyed stare off me.” 

Zack approached the ladybug’s container carefully, picking it up at arm’s length so he didn’t get too close to the sweetfish. The ladybug inside rested on a leaf placidly, not moving when the container was slightly jostled. Blathers grabbed the small tank that held the sweetfish and left for the fish and sea creature exhibit.

The only sound from the bug exhibit was the tapping of Zack’s shoes. There were all sorts of plants, from cedars, fruit trees, and flowers, but he didn’t hear anything that sounded remotely like an insect. Zack normally disliked too much noise, but now there was too little of it. It creeped him out. 

In the next room over, Zack found a post that marked the ladybug’s habitat, but there was no other text that gave more information about the insect. “Bye, bye, little ladybug,” Zack said as it flew out and landed on a white rose. 

“Doesn’t the museum seem a little empty?” Zack asked Blathers once he returned, his feathers slightly wet. 

“Yes, well, seeing as Fortuna is a new town, it can’t be helped,” Blathers sighed. “It’s my dream to see every exhibit filled up, though that could take a long time, with the scarcity of some of these creatures. Anyhoo, you did a great job handling that ladybug. If it wouldn’t be so much trouble, perhaps you could stop by every now and then to help with the bugs? I’m afraid of creepy-crawlies, you see....” 

Zack nodded. “I’ll be sure to tell everyone that they should try to donate their catches. Also, I don’t mind the bugs if you’ll take care of the fish. At least bugs don’t have gaping mouths and gills.” 

“So what’s on the to-do list?” Milo asked. 

Sara glanced at the checklist. “Deliver a package to Diana that was given to Cesar by in a post office mix-up, find furniture for Coco, and catch a zebra turkeyfish for Del.” 

“A zebra turkeyfish? Those exist? What kind of animal is that anyway?” Milo said. 

“The lovechild of a striped equine, Thanksgiving dinner, and a scaly marine creature,” Sara suggested, wiggling her fingers. “Legends say it comes after those who dare to laugh at its name.” 

Milo laughed, his voice an octave lower. “You’re mocking the ancestral name of the zebra turkeyfish, Sara Murphy. You will be eliminated by the the kraken.” 

Sara ruffled his hair. “I don’t think being a demonic zebra turkeyfish will do wonders for your approval rating.” 

After messing around, they found Diana relaxing on a hammock by her house. A pair of sunglasses was over her eyes, her polished hooves holding up a screen. She hummed contentedly, her legs crossed in relaxation. 

“Hey, Diana!” Milo greeted, tripping over a stool next to the hammock. He threw out an arm to catch himself, his hand accidentally catching on the hook that attached the hammock to the tree trunk. 

Diana let out a not so ladylike scream as the hammock flipped over and sent her crashing to the grass below. The screen landed on her head, covering her eyes. Milo quickly helped her up. “Sorry, didn’t mean for that to happen. Are you alright?” 

“Yes, I am quite fine,” Diana said coolly, her gaze flicking over to Sara. “Both of you shall mention this incident to nobody. I have an image to maintain. And in return I shall gladly accept your apology.” 

“We have a package for you,” Sara said. Milo handed Diana a letter, attached to a small box. “It was delivered to Cesar by mistake. I had to put it in my pouch for safekeeping because he kept going on about how ‘anything Diana orders will ruin my mustache’. Then he attempted to Cesar Crash it and managed to break the couch.”

“That fool,” Diana sighed. “I must have a word with him later. I insist that I repay with you with this alpine dresser. Please accept it.” 

She handed him a leaf, then started rolling up the hammock. 

“Now we help Coco find some furniture,” Sara said. “Um, any ideas of what that rabbit is into?” 

“We heard about your roomie program, and we’re like, so totally interested!” a white cat exclaimed as Melissa walked through the door of Nook’s Homes. “But the other towns are destroying our vibe, like, I don’t go anywhere without Kiki, mweee!” She clung to her companion, a black cat who shuffled nervously.

Kiki opened her mouth to say something, but Lottie cut her off. “Then I think I know the town just for you! The mayor is fresh off the train, he needs all the help he can get to develop Fortuna! And oh, you’re timing is perfect, Melissa!” Before Melissa could say anything, Lottie wrapped an arm around her shoulders with a wide grin. “This is Melissa! She’s a friend of the current mayor of Fortuna! Melissa, I’d like you to meet Merry and Kiki!”

Melissa awkwardly waved. “Hi.” Everyone covered their ears at Merry’s loud squeal. 

“O.M.G. You know the mayor of your town?” Merry suddenly started to inspect her closely. “I can totally believe that. Like, look at the stitching of her jacket. This is Gracie style quality. What do you think, Kiki?”

Kiki shifted from paw to paw, nervously wringing her paws. “Does your town have tuna in it?” she asked. 

“I don’t know about tuna, but there’s plenty of other fish in the sea,” Melissa replied. “Though my friend Zack is afraid of them.”

“Why? Fish are adorable!” Kiki’s eyes widened. 

Melissa could think of a few species of fish that she would never consider adorable, but didn’t say that aloud. “He has a lot of phobias.”

“Like, if you’re okay with Fortuna then I’m okay with it too!” Merry exclaimed. “And the best part is, we know Melissa who knows the mayor and that makes us celebrities by association!”

“Well then, in that case, let’s get to work on your house!” Lottie struck a pose as Merry cheered and hugged Kiki. “You wanna help us out here, Melissa?”

“All those interior design shows my dad likes to watch have prepared me for this moment,” Melissa said.

The bonfires cast an eerie glow on the already creepy moving statues. Milo poked one out of curiosity, then jumped back as it emitted a long, mournful howl. 

“The Howloids are my favorites,” Coco said. “I want to be surrounded by Gyroids. They make the most beautiful sounds. Besides, I can’t sleep without them.”

Sara stayed by the door so she couldn’t see those gaping black eyes watching her every move. “Yeah, I bet these things have some pretty good lullabies.” 

“Anyway, do you think you two could go find another for me?” Coco asked. “I’d go with you, but my room needs a little rearranging.” 

“Sure!” Milo exclaimed, taking care to not get too close to the flames that were a little too large for his liking. “As my dad always says, when a rabbit asks you to do a favor for them, don’t refuse or they’ll move into your basement!” 

“You can usually find them buried in the ground,” Coco supplied as they exited the house. “Happy digging, doyoing!” 

Sara pulled a shovel out of her pouch. “Good thing I bought this. Timmy said to look for star-shaped patterns on the ground to dig up.” 

“Like this one?” Milo pointed to one in the shade of a tree, then stepped on it out of curiosity. The ground immediately collapsed, leaving Milo stuck up to his waist in a hole. 

Sara promptly dropped her shovel and pulled Milo out. “Let’s avoid stepping on them in the future,” she suggested. 

“Mweee, Fortuna is so amazing!” Merry exclaimed. “And I love that we’re near a bridge! This is going to be inspirational for my sketching, I can tell!” 

The two cats had decided they wanted to be near a river, so Melissa and Lottie led them back to Fortuna. Once they’d scouted out a location, Lottie handed Melissa a small electronic device. “That’s a portable catalog,” Lottie explained. “It makes things a lot easier so we don’t have to deal with the hassle of moving in by hand. Maybe you could give it a go?” 

“Um, sure?” Melissa slid a stylus out of a side hole and tapped it, and a screen with several notes that Lottie had taken earlier popped up. “So an artsy room to sketch for Merry, and an aquarium for Kiki?” 

“I couldn’t leave Finn behind,” Kiki mumbled. “He’d be lonely without me.” 

Melissa raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Finn?” 

“Her goldfish!” Merry exclaimed. “He’s not a good subject. At all. Keeps trying to hide every time I try to draw him. Humph!” 

“Residents have a few keepsakes when they move,” Lottie explained. “You’ll have to include them while designing a room. Now, we’ll begin with the exterior. Let the magic happen!” 

“I know you’ll pick something so us, Melissa!” Merry cheered. Kiki simply gave a thumbs up. 

“It’s your house. You sure you don’t want to choose?” Melissa asked. 

They shook their heads, so Melissa decided to go with the simple medium house. She tapped the option with the stylus, and a house immediately sprung into existence. She blinked in surprise. “Okay, that’s cool. So if you guys can build a house like this, which wouldn’t even take an hour, what was with the construction crew at Milo’s this morning?”

“Oh, we always manually build the mayor’s home,” Lottie waved a paw dismissively. “Other than the Plaza, the mayor’s home should always be representative of the town! The process we’re going through right now makes it easier on the animals. This way, they’ll be ship-shape for town life straight away!”

Melissa picked out the gray brick roof and white chalet exterior. Some of the options were...interesting, for lack of a better word. Some were too bright on the eyes, others looked as though they wouldn’t hold up the house at all. 

And just who in their right mind wanted their house to be made out of cardboard? 

Two mailboxes, both decorated with cat paw prints, were placed on both sides of the door. “You’re so good at this design thing!” Merry exclaimed. 

“I guess you wouldn’t believe me if I said this was my first time,” Melissa said. 

“Thanks for the Poltergoid!” Coco exclaimed, lovingly placing her new Gyroid, which wailed like a ghost at regular intervals, next to the rest of her collection. “Here’s a gift! I hope you’ll associate this with me from now on!” 

Milo stored the leaf in his backpack. “No problem, Coco! Just let me know if you need any more favors!” Sara only waved. 

Coco bowed politely as they exited her house. “Before we get started on the last favor, I’d like to get these fossils to the museum,” Sara said. “I am literally carrying the rib cage of a dinosaur right now. All I need is an explorer’s hat so I can act like Fern in the Mesozoic Panic arc. By the way, what did Coco give you?” 

“A skeleton,” Milo said. “I’m not sure where she managed to find one of those.”

“Dug it up like we did with the fossils?” Sara suggested. “We need to stop speculating. Crossing Valley is more confusing than attempting to pace out the entire Dr. Zone timeline across all continuities.”

“It’s the best thing you can do!” a voice sung. Milo opened the door to the museum a little, peeking in through the crack. Sara leaned over his backpack, giggling quietly. Inside, Zack and Blathers had apparently taken a break from cleaning the lobby and were now jamming out to The Bettys. Zack in particular was really into the song, using a broom handle as a microphone and dipping it as his hips swished from side to side. 

Milo pushed the door open all the way. “Hi, Zack! I like your song cover!”

“Get ready for the Bettys, cause the Bettys are ready for-MILO!” 

Zack looked like a deer in the headlights, going wide-eyed when he spotted Milo clapping, then slammed a fist on the stop button of the radio. He dropped the broom and kicked it out of sight, chuckling nervously. 

Blathers tried to regain his professional demeanor, straightening his bow tie with a wing. “Welcome to the Fortuna Museum!” he said awkwardly. 

“You didn’t see anything!” Zack exclaimed. “I wasn’t singing to an all female pop rock band!” An album for the Bettys fell out of his pocket. “I have no idea who the Bettys are!” 

“Actually we came by because we found two fossils,” Sara said. “But the show was pretty great too.” 

Blathers’ eyes lit up. “Hoo! Give them to me so that I can identify them please!” Sara obliged and pulled a large ribcage and what appeared to be an ancient sea creature out of her pouch.  “Hoo, and double hoo, we certainly don’t have an ammonite in our collection yet! These ancient creatures lived in the Devonian period, and are thought to be one of the oldest ancestors of mollusks today! Quite interesting! And they survived up until the extinction of the dinosaurs. Hardy, yes. Very hardy. Oh, there I go running my beak.” 

“Don’t ask about the rib cage,” Milo said. Zack closed his mouth. 

“And this T-rex torso is marvelous to behold! King of beasts, indeed! Though it pales in comparison to quite a few sea creatures, a fact sadly forgotten nowadays. But, 40 feet is still an impressive length!” Blathers stored both fossils in his wings. “I’ll be sure to get these up faster than Gracie can spot an imperfection! Thank you for your generous contribution!”

“So, we’re forgetting about a few minutes ago, right?” Zack asked. 

Melissa felt her phone vibrate with a message, so she paused in trying to figure out the best placement for a pufferfish TV set to check it. “Sara sent me a video message,” she explained as the other girls crowded around her to see the video. 

She hit play and the screen enlarged to show Zack and an owl dancing to the Bettys. The camera quivered slightly as she and Milo tried to stifle their giggles. 

Merry and Kiki burst into high-pitched laughter. “He’s so cute when he gets caught,” Merry said breathlessly. 

Melissa smirked. “He’s not living this one down. Ever.”

[two-ofa-kind-blog]

Memowees

Guten tag. We just wanted to share with all of you our top 3 favourite memories together in no particular order😊 because (as you may already know) we are bffs.

Ps - I know how to spell memories it was just for effect 😊.

1. The boy on the coach

S has touched on this before so I’ll go into some detail. Before we start I’ll just inform you that I’m going to call the boy in question “Madhead” because basically he’s a madhead as you’ll find out.

One day on the way home from school (about 2 years ago) S and I saw Madhead crying by himself facing the window on the coach. We were like what’s happened? Is he alright? Ooh no. Because obviously we were friends with him. Madhead was sat opposite us across the aisle so we were debating whether to ask if he was alright, finally we decided on yes. But who was going to ask? I said that S should do it as she was sat on the outside (closest to Madhead) and they were closer friend than I was with him. She sat by him and asked him if he was alright and he basically told her to get lost. She even asked again if he was sure he didn’t want to talk about it but he said something like “you may as well go back to your seat because I’m not going to tell you.”

After this Madhead completely stopped speaking to us and we were so confused. For me this was the first time he’d stopped talking to me but for S this had happened 3 times before. But as we weren’t in the wrong we weren’t taking it so one day we started ranting aloud while he was there saying: I’d he dumb? It doesn’t even make sense. Stuff like that.

Anyhoo fast forwarding about 5 weeks this is when the horror started. We like to call it, Phase 1.

-Phase 1: All of a sudden out of nowhere he starts burping in our faces. Farting by us. Throwing chewing gum about. It was so disgusting😷. Bear in mind he still wasn’t talking to us.

-Phase 2: He was still acting like an idiot but not as bad more like just kicking our chairs but he did start talking to us but just like making jokes and that.

-Phase 3: The horror finally ended. We were friends again. He was talking to us normally again. I cannot express to you how relieved we were.

To this day we still laugh about it although we don’t speak to him anymore (he’s gone weird and just changed). But looking back this is such a funny story now. Not saying I’d want it to happen again though😶. I just feel sorry for S it happened to her 3 times.

2. Horrible History

This has been brushed over before in a previous post so I thought I’d elaborate.

When we got put into sets in history S and I were in the same class. The first teacher we had was Mr C and he had the biggest problem with us (mainly me), most lessons he would:

-Tell us to stop talking when the whole class was basically talking.

-Move me to the front of the class all the time.

-Blatantly ignore us when we had our hands up to answer a question or ask something as in he actually looked at us and would ignore us.

I know this all sounds really bad but we did actually have jokes with him, he was quite a decent teacher and his lesson were quite fun despite all of that.

The second history teacher we had was Miss V. Mr C left the school so she took over our class instead and she was so funny although we had to do loads of controlled assessments with her . I remember this one time S was using some vaseline (she doesn’t go anywhere without some) and Miss V walked over and goes “arr napalm” (if you know you know) and we just burst out laughing😂 bearing in mind we were learning about the Vietnam war at the time.

So all the class got bad grades in their controlled assessments (don't ask😂) so we got given our third teacher Mr M and he was the funniest one yet. As I’d been in the Athletics team I’d trained with him before so I was the only one he really knew in the class so he’d always come over to talk to S and I (as we sat together).

But anyway these are the reasons he was so funny :

-He’d always come over to talk to us and joke about with us

-He would make alot of jokes in the class and because we were quite loud we’d laugh the loudest so it came to the point were he’d make a joke and actually look at us to laugh😂.

-When we watched videos and he stood at the back of the class (where we sat) and because we’d be talking he would shine his whiteboard laser at us to get us to stop talking.

-He’d always be singing around the classroom which was hilarious.

That’s just a few of the things that happened in that class but he’s probably our favorite teacher not to mention he’s practically the reason we got A’s by the end of the year😊.

3. Bus life

Once upon a time S and I went for a shopping trip. To get up to the shopping centre we caught a bus, let’s call it the ***.

I caught the bus first because the bus stop is right outside my house then a few minutes down the road S got on the bus. But S was still trying to use her out of date pass😂.

The driver caught S and she started asking him how much a child fayre was eventhough she already knew. Then she calls up the bus to where I’m sat laughing asking me if I have a pound. I walked down and put the pound in then she starts paying the rest of the money in1p’s😂. At this point the driver got really fed up and said to her “you’re gonna take forever doing that just go” and gives her the ticket.

After this we go and sit down and this man at the front of the bus is staring at us and smiling😶 and he did that the whole 45 minutes of the bus journey. Talk about creepy.

But this isn’t the reason this story’s funny it’s funny because my girl (S) stepped on the bus in Timberlands, with a DKNY purse and all her name branded clothes but can’t pay a simple £1.15 for a ticket😭 eventhough she had the money.

To this day we don’t catch the *** bus just incase we bump into the driver again and S doesn’t try and use out of date passes anymore😂.

Well we’ve reached the end of this post, hope you liked it. Let us know what your favourite memowees are and why. Byee.

-P

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