#anyway it's a thing I've always been on the fence about. it sure is something that's for sure

[sapphim]

if I really am going to start reverting bits of my canon worldstate back to how they were prior to 2020 then I have to reconsider if I want to have mahariel do that thing again where, instead of mercy killing tamlen when she encounters him as a ghoul near the dragonbone wastes, she instead pins him down and cries and begs and pleads until he agrees to give her a chance to fix things before he does anything drastic, and then makes the party immediately reverse course so she can drag him back to soldier's peak to make avernus see what he can do to help him. good idea? probably not but she's never known when to quit.

[kindacreepy-kindaugly]

haven't been sad like this in a long time

[sophiamcdougall]

I am never going to complain about Greek Duolingo again

I mean, I am. But still.

So, as some of you know, my family has been coming to this tiny Greek seaside village for several years. Just over a week ago I came out here with my mum, under the impression that early September, after the height of the summer heat, would be a good time to have a holiday. ANYWAY Storm Daniel had other ideas about that. Locally things are improving (I'm actually really pissed off about the disaster-porn tone of most English-language media coverage, but that's another post). The power is back on, there's running water most of the time, and though the latter is not drinkable, a truck from the government came and handled out free bottled water yesterday. But we are currently kind of stuck. Can't do tourist things. Can't go home. There aren't any local flights out until Saturday and the road to Thessaloniki is still closed.

So this evening, feeling kind of aimless and depressed, I go down to the nearest beach with a couple of binbags and start cleaning up in an effort to at least do something positive. I always try to do this at least once out here and obviously, after the storm, there's a lot more plastic and rubbish than usual.

At some point I find this large, round bit of metal - some kind of machinery part, I think -- that's too big for the bag, so I take it to the bins on its own, leaving the rubbish bag on the beach. And when I come back for it, something among the stones beside it moves.

Specifically, it pulls its head sharply inside its shell

So, meanwhile I've been trying to learn some Greek with the help of Duolingo.

I currently have a 33-day streak and... I have questions. Shouldn't I be able to use the past or future tenses by now? Shouldn't I be able to say "x is like y"? I can't do those things. But one thing I absolutely can say all day long is έχω μια χελώνα : I have a turtle.

This is far from the limit of Duolingo Greek's turtle-related content. "An obsession with turtles" is my mother's characterisation. I can inform you that the turtle is not a bird, and, improbably, that the turtle is drinking milk. I can introduce you to a turtle in company with a horse and an elephant. As far as Duolingo is concerned, it really is turtles all the way down.

Now this, you may be able to see, is not a turtle. It has claws rather than flippers. It is a tortoise. I know there are wild tortoises in Greece: my aunt once rescued a pair of them shagging in the middle of the road -- but that was up in the mountains. I've even seen one myself, but it was also on a road and very dead.

I am 95% certain they don't belong on beaches. There's nothing for it to eat, except, unfortunately, a lot of plastic. Even if it gets off the beach it will immediately find itself on a road where it could get hit by a car. I'm pretty sure it must have been washed down by the floodwater and has been just sitting there, dazed, ever since.

Now obviously the first thing I want to do on encountering this unusual animal is to go and tell my mummy, so I do. The tortoise immediately brightens her day. She agrees that the tortoise is not happy on the beach and needs to be taken somewhere safe. it gets surprisingly wriggly when picked up so we put it in a carrier bag with some grapes and cucumber and go looking for somewhere to rehome it.

We find a path leading up between the houses towards a likely-looking field, but before we get very far a dog in a yard goes berserk and a man's head pops over a fence and demands to know what we're doing. He does this in English, as evidently we're just that obviously tourists.

"I found a tortoise on the beach!" I explain. "We want to find somewhere to put it."

"A what," he asks.

"It's like a, you know," I begin and then to my astonishment I find myself saying... "μια χελώνα"

"Oh! A turtle!" he says.

"But from the land. δεν είναι χελώνα", [it is not a turtle,] I say, as I am worried he will tell me to put it back near the sea where I found it. As it turns out it actually IS a χελώνα, Greek does not distinguish between turtles and tortoises, but I don't know that; I can't even name the days of the week or identify any colours other than pink yet, give me a break.

The man's entire demeanour changes and thaws. He does not worry about my turtle-that-is-not-a-turtle conundrum. He knows where οι χελώνες come from and where η χελώνα μας belongs. He leads us through a gate into a courtyard area.

"[somethingsomething] μια χελώνα," he explains to the assembled onlookers, of whom there are, suddenly, a surprising number.

"ΜΙΑ ΧΕΛΩΝΑ!!!" crows the throng of delighted small children, who are, suddenly, everywhere.

"μια χελώνα!" I agree, accepting that at least for current purposes, that is what it is.

"Μπορούμε να δούμε τη χελώνα σας; [can we see your turtle?]" asks an adorable little girl, shyly, and I understand??

The children fucking love looking at the χελώνα and showing it to them is kind of magical?

I finally put the tortoise down on the grass of this wild area off to the side of the courtyard, and marvel aloud that it is weird that I barely know any Greek except how to say μια χελώνα.

"I think she will soon run off," a kind lady called Aspasia assures me, seeing I remain slightly anxious about its fate. "I don't know why I'm saying 'she'. I suppose because χελώνα is feminine in Greek."

"Yes! I know that!" I exclaim, thrilled.

"Well done!" she says. And also she asks if we are OK for drinking water after the storm and if we need any help with anything and is just generally incredibly lovely and now we know more of the neighbours!

So "μια χελώνα" has just become, by a long way, my most-used and most understood and all-around most conversationally successful phrase in Greek. So I guess I have to admit I was wrong to doubt Duolingo's wisdom: it is correct to be obsessed with turtles. And I concede that prior to learning how to count to ten or to distinguish right from left, the simple ability to yell the word TURTLE over and over again is, it turns out, a crucial element of the responsible traveller's social skills.

(I am pretty fluent in Italian and turtles haven't come up in conversation even once?)

[yesimwriting]

Do you think best friend!felix would kiss the reader “for fun” but really…

hm. good question bc i really had to think about this bc if anyone can get away with platonically kissing someone it's 110% felix, and it does feel in character

i was on the fence until i remembered that the first (and only) guy i dated started off as a really good friend and before dating we'd kiss at parties and laugh it off the next day bc of the alcohol/atmosphere so it's very much realistic bc i did not notice for an entire semester😭

so let's discuss!!

felix would definitely hide behind the "for fun" defense by being as casual as possible with it. while out partying/drinking, he'd kiss reader so briefly the reader can barely register what's happening until it's happened. also this is mainly done after a particularly good/happy moment,, maybe after you two take a shot together, with that touch of adrenaline and the sting of alcohol still lingering there. would definitely do this if he felt jealous/saw someone checking out reader.

now, if we're talking actual, more intentional kisses that are harder to explain away....i think these are a definitely a lot rarer, but for sure have happened.

still uses the "for fun" argument if it's a party thing, like if everyone's kissing someone (like a NYE kiss) or it's bc of some party game, then he's lingering/being touchier than usual bc he can get away with it.

also not to take this a step further and make it even more difficult to justify, but i think there's a level of intimacy to it bc felix is so touchy/open with everyone, that eventually the only way to be particularly close to someone is to do more.

so,, and this is definitely the rarest type of kiss ( like it's happened at most 2-3 times) after drinking/smoking together, felix will kiss reader when they're completely alone, with no one to blame or goad you on or interrupt. these are slow and heavy. concentrated.

there's always an emotional component,, maybe reader had been poorly trying to hide their mood because felix had been a little too into being admired recently. or maybe felix feels left out about something and needs to find a way to feel even closer to reader.

after felix is definitely being more open than he usual is, telling you things like "i trust you more than i've ever trusted anyone, you know that right?" and "it's just you and me."

the first time this happened is the first time reader has a oh my god?? do i actually have a thing for felix? moment,, and after felix finally falls asleep, reader freaks out bc what if what happened ruined your friendship?

but then the next morning comes and it's like nothing happened, he doesn't even do that guy thing where they ignore you the next day, it's literally like nothing out of the ordinary happened and out of instinct, reader follows felix's lead

then reader convinces themselves that it's not that weird by telling themselves that felix has probably at least kissed most of the people that are around him for long enough which is kind of true and you know several people that he still hangs out with that he hooks up with on and off,,

so, with the amount of time you spend together,, it isn't strange. not when you know felix the way reader does.

when taylor wrote “and you kiss me in a way that’s going to screw me up forever” it was for felix

----

this might be a little much,, but i can see it for felix tbh 😭

anyways, if anyone's interested in a drabble based on any part of this, lmk!!

[shadow0214]

I've been reading some fanfics with Noa and I love them, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's my first time writing so...don't judge me to hard.

Noa × human OC

Belonging

Always the same thing around the 'bunker', no one told you the things that were happening, you hated that. You felt like they still treated you like a little child even though you were in your twenties already.

"Yes, didn't you know? We're going on an excursion." Samantha said to me while I was drying the dishes after dinner.

"Of course, I didn't, nobody tells me anything around here. It's annoying" You muttered

You were the best tracker they had, you loved being outside, learning the ways of nature, and still nobody ever took you into account when expeditions like this happened.

"Hey, that's enough Sam." A voice said entering the kitchen. "Don't listen to her, she's just trying to get on your nerves"

You looked back and smiled at the comment. Lila always knew how to calm things down.

"Why don't you speak with Anna? Maybe she'll let you go this time." Lila said

"Yes, like every other time I asked her" You scoffed and shook your head.

"C'mon, I'll go with you." Lila pushed

"I don't even own a horse yet." You said

"Well...that's your own fault, Envy could've been yours, you just gave her away to Kiara". Lila reminded you.

Kiara, the daughter of a couple that was part of the council, the leaders of your group. She was like a little sister to you ever since you met her. You had no family, your dad died on an expedition, most say apes killed him, and your mother died soon after she gave birth to you. Medicine was scarce and trying to make it from scratch was hard, not impossible since you had a lab in the facility but still, sometimes the main components were just to available.

Most expeditions could last for months, trying to find more humans, more medicine, or even mark places where apes had their homes so no one would go near. You had the firearms, but not the manpower to fight them alone.

You never understood the hate your kind had towards the apes, yes, they were now more and had claimed a lot of the land humans once ruled, but they had also healed the land. No humans meant trees and animals were free to repossess what was once theirs, and apes were not using human machines that harm the earth, so everything had regained its balance in a way. Since you were little, you went out of the bunker with a horse, you learned how to fish, how to hunt, how to track and look for things outside, you never understood why you felt more connected to nature than to your own people. 'They never understood' you'd think. ‘They will never see the world as I see it'.

Anyway, all of that wasn't going to change, so you had to take what was given to you and make the most out of it. Lila and you went to Ana, she was distracted with the preparations for the expedition. This time, from what Lila had told you, they were going to look for more survivors and other bunkers to see if those had more medicine.

"Ana, mind if we talk to you for a moment?" Lila asked

"What? Yeah, sure. What's up?" Ana said absent-mindedly while she tripled checked the supplies. It looked like they were going for some months at least.

Lila looked at you and pushed you softly, and nodded at you when you looked back. You took a deep breath and spoke.

"So...Ana, I heard about the expedition and I wanted to know why you hadn’t called for me? You know I'm one of the best people to take in things like that. I can survive pretty well on my own while I'm outside."

Ana sighed and stopped what she was doing.

"Y/N, you know the reason, I need you here, protecting everyone else" She said while putting her hands on your shoulders

"No one ever comes close to this place since we put the electric fence around! Let me go!"

"Y/N" Lila spat at me. "Careful with your words!"

I just stared at her with anger.

"You have absolutely no good reason to not let me go. Please, I can really help if something goes wrong!"

Ana didn't have a comeback for that, she knew what you were saying was right, she knew how helpfull you could be, and still the promise she had made to your mother drilled into her head could not allow you to go with them. You were already in your twenties, now there was no good excuse to tell you to stay and Ana knew this. She sighed again and with a very sad tone agreed to your request. You were going with them, and that was that.

----------‐-----------------

-The next morning-

Ana and Aaron, parents of Kiara, were the ones in charge of this expedition. Samantha, Lila, Carlos, Seth (Samantha's uncle), and you were the rest of the group.

You went to get your stuff ready on Envy, the mare that was meant to be yours, but for some reason you had decided to give her to Kiara, still, she thought of Envy as a shared horse more than her own. Kiar knew how much you loved her, and she didn't mind giving her to you in times like this.

"Take care of each other, ride safely." Kiara said with a smile on her face while petting the side of the mare.

"We will, sis, we'll be back before you know it. Anything special you want me to look for?"

Kiara shook her head. " I just need you to come back to me, that's it."

"Aaww dear, of course I will." You said hugging little Kiara.

You loved her, she was the only one that understood you and never judged you. One day you were going to take her exploring with you, so you could show her everything you loved.

Two weeks passed. Everyone was a little on edge since the news of contact had gotten to you. Apparently, a week ago the satellites started working again and your walkie-talkies that you carried mostly just to feel like you were connected somehow started working again. The people on the bunker told Ana and Aaron that a girl, similar age to you and Lila, had found the missing piece to get satellite connection back on. We knew about the bunker on the east but we had little contact with them and the nomads that were looking for ways to communicate with each other had been murder by a big group of apes, but apparently one of the girls of the nomad group had survived and, with the help of some apes, was able to get to where the main computers where locked and retrieve de disc.

This news had everyone in our group freaked out, it had been a long time since we had been able to communicate over long distances. Some were happy about it, they were thinking that this way we were going to able to rebuilt what was ours, but others were weary of what other humans wanted. 'Humans are selfish and will do anything to get power' Others thought.

Our group tried to maintain calm during all this, we still had to find supplies and medicine that was not going to arrive even if we had connection with other humans. More people meant more food, more space needed and more medicine that we did not have to spare.

At night everyone was silently eating what you had hunted for the day. You were pretty good at using different weapons, but your favorite was the bow and arrow, you almost never missed unless you wanted to. The others had guns, and some knives with them, but most of them knew that using guns out hear meant that everything in a 1km radius or more could hear and pinpoint our location.

"We could've been eating earlier if we had used my gun, I never miss" Samantha spoke showing a cocky grin to you.

You just rolled your eyes at her.

"If we had done your way, every single ape around here would've come looking for us." Seth said calmingly.

Samantha hated it when he agreed with your methods, and you knew it; in a way, it made you proud when he did. He would always be om Samantha's side and agree with her, he never liked agreeing with you, but sometimes he just had to.

"You should be thanking Y/N for her quick thinking. Otherwise, we would've had to eat the dried-up food we brought, and I don't think anybody wanted more of that" Ana said laughing at the end. The rest of the group followed making faces of disgust and laughing at the comment of our leader.

"How long until we get to the big buildings?" Lila asked when everyone had calmed down

"Sadly, I think we'll have to go back. Ana and I have been thinking about it and it's better to be with everyone else at the moment." Aaron answered

"Uncertain times call for unity." Ana added

Seth nodded and kept eating.

You were thinking. The group needed medicine, and other things...maybe a tiny group could keep pushing forward while the adults went back.

"And what if some of us stayed? You said it yourself Aaron, we are a week away from the buildings and we need everything we can find over there. A small group will not be noticed as easily as all of us" you said.

You had a point, and they knew it. After some discussion, the leaders agreed, Lila and you could keep going, the rest was to go back with them. Samantha was going to disagree, but she knew better than to stay with you two. Lila and you were inseparable, and Samantha would only be outnumbered in any decision you made.

The next morning everyone gave you half of their rations for food since you two were going to need them more than them, and then they set off for the bunker.

Lila and you waved at them, and then kept going.

For some time, it was quiet between you two, but Lila was not going to let that be.

"Sooo, wanna race?" Lila said with a sparkle in her eyes.

You knew what that meant. The idea was in her mind, now you could only accept the challenge.

"I mean...It's kind of unfair. Char is not meant for sprinting" you said with a grin.

"And Envy is?" Lila replied

"Oh, I know she's faster that Char." You said, knowing full well that she was fast in short distances and Lila was thinking more of a long-distance race.

"Well, then start! See you at the end!" Lila said kicking softly the side of her mare that sprinted away.

"Hey no fair!" You yelled doing the same with Envy.

You passed trees and creeks so fast you felt like you were going to fall off the horse. Impressively you were just behind Lila and Char, who was galloping with all her might.

You were so enthralled by how fast Char was going that you barely missed a branch that could've hit you down.

Eventually Lila made Char stop. You kept going, but Lila screamed at you to stop.

"What? I thought we were going to end?" You said out of breath riding back to where they were.

"Look up" She said, almost like a whisper.

You did and saw tall buildings in front of you all covered in vines and trees. The trees had broken some of the sediments of the building but were also holding them up. Most of them were broken, and some had collapsed, probably by the sheer size of them.

"Wow, they are amazing" Lila said.

There were rows of them, all conquered back by nature itself. It was beautiful to see how two completely opposite things could come together to create art. All green and grey together forming structures that you had never seen before.

You were both still gawking at the immensity of the buildings when you heard a noise up in the sky. Eagles, huge and magnificent eagles. You had seen some flying around on your own little excursions, but now they were closer than ever.

"Should we follow them?" Lila whispered, this was unknown territory to her, this was more your area of interest.

"Mmm maybe for a while just to see where they take us." You said firmly. " We can also walk and get in some of these buildings to see if we find something" You added.

Lila nodded and dismounted Char, you followed suit. Both of you took the reins of each mare and pulled gently so they kept up with the pace you set.

Three days you walked and searched for supplies with no luck. You tried entering every building you could, but some of them where to destroy to even walk on the floor. Others had entrances that were too high for either of you to climb, and if you did climb the hard part later was going down.

"Thank goodness you came prepared, Y/N." Lila said, struggling while climbing down a rope.

"Don't mention it, just keep going we're almost at the bottom" You said short of breath. You were no stranger to climbing but doing it almost every day for 3 days was taking its toll on you.

Lila let go of the rope and landed on the ground huffing.

"We can't keep doing this, Y/N. It's too tiring. We aren't apes to be climbing around without a care in the world!"

"I know I know, but we've found some good stuff nonetheless" You said as you stretched out after jumping off the rope, you went back and pulled the rope 2 times so it could fall off the makeshift hook you had made to tie it up.

"Some expired painkillers and a bunch of gardening tools is NOT good stuff!"

Lila sighed, even though you’d a nice time sharing this little adventure together you were starting to feel hopeless. Maybe it was time to go back, maybe the others had gotten supplies from the other camp, and you were doing nothing out here but waste time.

"Lila…you can go you know?" You said softly cleaning some arrows that you had used to hunt rabbits earlier.

"What? And leave you here?? Are you insane?!"

"No… I just feel like my time here is not over yet. Yours though…"

"Nu uh, I'm not leaving you alone, we don't even know where exactly we are."

"It's my decision Lila"

"Bullshit! I know you love nature and such, but everyone is waiting for us!"

"Everyone?" You said lowering your head.

Lila didn't answer, she knew that most of the people treated you like an outsider. No one ever told her why, the only reason she could think of wad that you had no family left alive, but that was a cruel way of treating your own kind.

"Fine, I'll take what we found back. What do you expect me to say to the rest when you don't arrive with me huh?" Lila asked

"You tell them half the truth, that I simply didn't want to come back"

"That's the 'half-truth' to you?"

"Ok ok," you said rolling your eyes. " Tell them you begged me to go back, and I said I would keep looking for stuff for a couple more days, then you never met again with me"

"Mmm, alright. So, you got killed?"

"What?! No! Idiot" You said pushing her playfully. Lila just chuckled.

"I'm gonna miss you (Y/nickname)." Lila sniffled while hugging you.

You hugged her back with some tears in your eyes.

"I'll be back before you know it, I promise"

Lila waved goodbye to you while riding Char out of the jungle of buildings, you waved back until you couldn't see her anymore.

After that you kept searching for anything really for a couple of days, until one day the promises you had made to Lila and Kiara were going to be broken.

–----------------------------------------

One day while you were scavenging around in a building you heard noises, noises you hadn't heard before. You took Envy and hid her next to some bushes at the side of a building and tried to keep her relaxed.

As the noise came closer it became clearer: apes.

You never really had contact with them since you were always cradled inside the bunker. The only experience you had was the stories people would tell you, but once you started growing up you stopped believing everything the adults told you.

You were a little apprehensive about the situation at hand but as long as Envy obeyed you, you were sure the apes would pass as quickly as they came.

"You only try to show off when climbing, the other things you just avoid!" A female voice said

"Not true! Anaya never avoids challenges, right Noa?" A male voiced reply

'Anaya and Noa' you made a mental note of the names, not sure why. You heard them walking away so you went out of your hiding place little by little, looking around you just in case you needed to hide from them.

From where you were you could see 3 apes; one had an armband different than the other two. You felt bad spying on them, but your curiosity got the best of you. You kept listening in the conversation, but you also noticed they would sign sometimes and that got lost in translation. The only signs you knew were tactical warfare signs that Aaron had thaught you when you were learning about weapons with Lila and Samantha.

"Soona is right, Anaya always showing off then running away when something goes wrong" The third one spoke, another male. After that the three started making a noise that you could only compare to laugh.

"I'll show you, climb to top to see sunset. First one wins!" The other male said running in all fours and starting to climb the building in front of you with ease.

"Anaya wait!" The female voice shouted but followed right behind him.

The other male chuckled and followed his friends up the building.

You were mesmerized by how athletic and big they were, but something inside you also wanted to follow them so you could see at least one sunset. The past days you've had missed all of them because of the tall canopy, but not today. The renewed strength gave you confidence that you could climb to the top of the building you were hiding behind.

You took your trusty rope and, your bow and some arrows just in case they attacked you and started climbing up. The building that you had chosen was in pretty good state, it still had most of its stairs and you didn't have to jump too far from one part of some broken stairs to another, which would also be handy when climbing down.

About 3 floors from getting to the top, you encountered the biggest problem: no more stairs. They were all broken or looked very unstable, your best option to climb up was the outside of the building. The design made it look like a stair, and if you went a little bit over the edge that was keeping you from falling you could see a metal hook thingy in which you could tie a rope to climb down.

First you made a knot at the end of the rope with just enough space to insert it in the hook, after that you threw that end of the rope with just enough strength to get it to where you needed it. It took you 3 attempts, but eventually you made it and started climbing the rope. Your hands were already tired from days before, but the view would make it all worth it.

Eventually when you were halfway through something made a weird noise. At first you didn't pay much attention to it but then y sounded again and this time you felt the rope moving. The hook couldn't withstand your weight anymore, and you could feel it just pulling down.

You tried to keep taking deep breaths but that was not working, they were faster than before.

*crack*

You looked up and saw the rope sliding off the hook even farther than before, that was when you started panicking. Your breathing wasn't steady anymore and now you were seconds away from falling from the almost top of the building.

A piece of the building where the hook was gave up and you let go of the rope for milliseconds and eventually grabbed the rope but it burned because of the friction, and you screamed in pain.

Noa and his friends, who were happily watching the sunset, looked at each other when you screamed. The three of them looked around for the thing that had made such a horrible sound but couldn't see anything.

You tried climbing up again, but now your hands were bloody from the fall, and you were slipping from the rope. You were in agony.

"Please, not like this, I can't die like this" You said to yourself trying to reassure yourself that you were not going to die.

That's when Noa heard you and looked over the building, he signaled his friends to jump to the other building.

"She will die if we don't help," Soona said with worry.

" What do we do?" Anaya asked Noa.

Noa went to were the rope was tied.

"Please don't kill me!" You shouted, looking up seeing one of the apes.

Noa frowned his face but kept trying to pull you up.

You understood then he was trying to help, but you knew the extra weight on the now unstable floor was not going to help.

"No, let go! You'll make it worse!" You tried to explain with tears rolling down your face. You couldn't stand the pain anymore.

Eventually the rope itself started tearing up, you were about 15 meters from the ground, you knew it was unlikely to survive that fall, your only hope was now with the 3 apes that were trying to help.

You saw the male ape trying, again, to pull you up, but it was useless with the rope tearing, and that's when it happened.

The rope tore apart, and you started to fall, your only hope for surviving was the trees below you would cushion your fall enough for you not to die. The only thing you were able to come up with was using your left arm to cover your neck as best you could.

Silence. Silence followed after your fall. Anaya was the first one to get to you and he poked you with a stick.

Soona quickly took the stick from him and went to check if you were still alive. She saw that you were still breathing thankfully. But your left forearm was completely broken.

"What happens now?" Soona asked Noa.

Noa was not sure what to do, his instincts told him to leave you there to die, after all, you were Echo. You would only mean problems to the clan, but there was another part of him that felt responsible for you and wanted to help you out.

"We take her home, help her wounds. After that, she has to leave." Noa said to Soona.

Soona nodded and took your frail body, and the three friends started their journey back home, back to Eagle Clan.

[ladykailitha]

Icarus Part 13

Hello! I've cut my backlog literally in half with this move and while I hate seeing it that low (seven chapters I have waiting to be published) that is it's point after all.

After the nice meeting with Nancy, Robin brings the news to the boys who have a much different perspective on the issue.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

~

Robin was the last to arrive at Steve’s swanky apartment. Spence was on the grill frying up her tofu burger first so the meat wouldn’t touch hers. Simon and Shane were in a heated discussion about Brandon Sanderson and his contribution to the fantasy genre. Her best friend was coming out of the kitchen with all sorts of vegan options for her to chose from.

She went over and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, taking a couple of the bowls from him so he could go back and get more.

Once everyone had gotten their food and settled in Robin told them about her meeting with Nancy and Chrissy.

“So she’s going to apologize to our Stevie?” Simon asked around a bite of his potato salad.

Robin nodded stabbing her salad with a fork. “That’s what she said. I’ll believe it when I see it, though.” She took a bite of her food.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “Though ti doesn’t surprise me she’s not with Jonathan anymore.”

Robin tilted her head with a frown. “What do you mean?”

He sighed and pushed his food away not feeling very hungry at the moment. “Both of us had been pretty vocal about the white picket fence and the two point five kids. I’ve changed my mind on that obviously,” he waved at all of them. “But Jonathan was always his mom and Will first, especially after Will’s kidnapping. He was never going to be ambitious in the way she wanted.”

“His little brother got kidnapped?” Shane asked in wide-eyed shock. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah, it was this whole thing,” Steve said, nodding and leaning back on his chair, propping his arm on the back. “But everyone knew that despite all his dreams of being a wild life photographer, he was always going to pick somewhere close to home.”

“So yeah,” Robin said rolling her eyes and cocking her head. “She said she as going to apologize, but I told her she had to that and a shit ton of grovelling before I would consider her to rep the band.”

Steve phone went off and he picked it up. He frowned at the number. He answered it with a confused, “Hello?”

“Steve? Steve Harrington?” the cool feminine voice asked.

“That’s me,” he replied sitting up in his seat. “How can I help you?”

“It’s Nancy Wheeler,” she said after a moment. “I got your number from the record label, I hope that’s okay.”

“Uh, yeah,” he said in surprise. “Yeah, that’s fine. Wow, the Nancy Wheeler. We were just talking about your meeting with Celeste earlier.”

“Oh,” Nancy said, “I was hoping to call after you had finished speaking with her about it. I can call later.”

Steve shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine. We were mostly done anyway. We were just having dinner.”

“Are you sure?” she pressed. “If you’re eating, I could call back later tonight or even at a convenient time tomorrow?”

Steve rolled his eyes and Shane covered his mouth to hide the bubble of laughter that sprang to his lips. “I said it was fine. How are you? I understand you’re a hot shot music agent now.”

He could almost feel her smile on the other end when she said, “Something like that.”

She cleared her throat. “I’m actually calling to see you wanted to meet me for lunch tomorrow, I wanted to catch up and well...really to apologize. We were both so young, but that was no reason to treat you the way I did.”

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and put his elbow on the table to prop up the hand that was holding the phone. “You’re right, it wasn’t. But sure, I have a few days off, I could meet you for lunch tomorrow. What time and where?”

Nancy gave him the information and then rang off. Steve threw his phone on the table next to his plate and threw himself against the back of the chair in frustration.

“Well color me shocked,” Robin said with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t think she would actually go for it. Chrissy and I were actually going to go through another list of agents to find one more suitable.”

Spence rubbed the bottom of his lip. “I’m not sure I like the idea of Steve going alone. Because she can say she apologized and that Steve was unreasonable and get us blacklisted for other agents.”

Steve felt an uneasy twist to his stomach at that. But not just that, he just didn’t trust her. He didn’t even know how he was talked into letting her into his life in the first place. She was all apologies now, but what about later? What about after she finds out Steve and Eddie are dating? Would that be a conflict of interest? What if she’s homophobic? What if she outs him before he has a chance to do it himself?

“Steve.”

He came to himself with a start. He looked around to see that everyone was looking at him in concern.

“Hey, hon,” Shane said, tilting his head down to look at Steve. “You doing alright? You don’t look so good.”

He didn’t see Robin but as he came further into himself he could feel the warmth of her hand as she rubbed circles around the pulse point on his wrist.

“There you are, dingus,” she said with a teasing lit to her tone. “You really had us worried for a minute. Where did you go?”

Steve let out a shuddering sigh and then another. “Sorry, I guess I just got caught in a spiral of bad thoughts.”

Robin’s other hand came up to squeeze his. “We don’t have to take her as our agent,” she murmured. “Hell don’t even have to go talk to her if you don’t want to. Or we can all go. Whatever makes you comfortable.”

“I don’t think she’s apologizing to Steve because she’s actually sorry,” Simon said with a sneer, “I think she’s doing it because she sees dollar signs. If she signs with us that is going to make her a shit ton of money and open her up to even bigger clients. Corroded Coffin was already established when they hired her but if we hit the stratosphere while she’s repping us she’ll be in a sweet spot to have the doors open for her.”

Robin stood up. “I guess what I’m hearing is that none of you trust her with Steve. She already knows who each of the band is, because she signed the NDA. But just say the word and I’ll walk away.”

Steve took a deep breath and let it out slow. “I want to hear her out. If she’s actually sincere. But you’re all right, I can’t go alone.”

“Take Robin,” Spence suggested. “She’ll expect you to bring your best friend.”

Shane shook his head. “I think he should take one of us. Maybe Simon, he’s the most ripped out of all of us. I want him protected.”

“I’m down,” Simon replied with a grin.

Robin shook her head, a sly grin on her face. “No, no. Take Eddie.”

“What the fuck?” Simon said rearing his head back, offended. “Why him and not me?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Because he encompasses everything we need. A good friend, who won’t let her walk all over him, like me. An imposing guy like Simon. He might not look like much out of the leathers, but in them and he looks like he could snap you in two. Also, he’s worked with her for a number of years and would be a better judge of if she’s being genuine.”

Spence and Shane shared a glance.

“Sorry, darling,” Shane said with a shrug, “I’m gonna have to go with Robbie on this one. Plus, she’s going to have to know about their relationship anyway.”

Spence chewed on his bottom lip fitfully.

“What’s on your mind, Spence?” Steve asked. “I smell your hair burning from here!”

Spence snorted, “Oh fuck off!” But a giggle escaped anyway.

“You got a problem with Eddie?” Robin asked tilting her head to the side as she regarded their drummer.

Spence waved his hands in front of him. “Oh hell no! It’s not about Eddie, it’s not really about Steve going to meet Nancy.”

Simon frowned and put an arm around him. “What’s going on then?”

“Steve is being too nice about this whole thing,” he murmured. “She didn’t just cheat. She didn’t just string him along. She knew going into the relationship what Steve wanted. Yeah, it’s bit unrealistic to imagine marrying your high school sweetheart. But there is a reason it’s so prevalent in all our media. Because it can happen, because it has happened before. And then her excuse was that Steve wasn’t ambitious enough? Why?”

Steve furrowed his brow as he thought about it. That was an unusual dig. He was a senior in high school, how much more ambitious did she want.

Robin shrugged and said to fill the silence, “I’m not sure because I didn’t become friends with Steve until after the whole mess, but my guess is that he wanted to take what the Europeans call a gap year. A year to just be a kid before jumping into college.”

“Something my parents weren’t fond of either, if I’m honest,” Steve scoffed.

Shane waved his hand toward Steve to indicate that was most likely the cause. “And there it is. It’s so insane everyone expecting to kids to go right into school without taking the time to figure out what you want to do with your life. Hell, you have to apply in January. That’s half way through your senior year. You’re supposed to know what you want in life before you even finish high school? That’s fucked up on all levels.” Through the whole rant, he gestured wildly with his hands.

“I didn’t get to into college my first try,” she said, “Because my parents made too much for me to get assistance but not enough for them to pay for it themselves. And then I met you guys and the rest is history.”

There were nods all around.

“It is up to Stevie to forgive her,” Simon said with a grimace. “But some part of me doesn’t want him to.”

Steve straightened up in his chair. “Why not?” He cocked his head to side, looking like a confused puppy dog.

Simon huffed out a sigh and squirmed in his chair, looking down at his food. He poked at the top of his hamburger bun, picking at the sesame seeds.

“You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your ego for us to get a good agent.”

The silence that followed filled the air with a thick sinking feeling.

Steve straightened his spine. “I’m not the weak-willed, touch-starved kid she remembers. I have three of the best mates a guy could ask for, a platonic soulmate, and a boyfriend that loves me for me. If she thinks she can swan into my life and walk all over me like she did before, she has another think coming. I’ll meet up with her and take Eddie. But make it absolutely clear, I have everyone’s backing on this. If I walk away, we all walk away.”

There was still some grumbling, but it was ultimately it was up to Steve. He made the necessary calls and then they settled down to finish their dinner.

Slowly the mood improved as the night went on, but it never did reach the heights of a laid back night with friends.

~

Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22

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[livwritesstuff]

Okay so, do you headcannon any of the girls as also being LGBTQ? If so which one (s)

yeah i've put a normal amount of thought into this? hopefully?

mostly because, as an lgbtq person who was surrounded entirely by straight adults, I sometimes wonder how being raised by queer people affects your perception of being queer yourself. if any of y’all were raised by lgbtq people, pls weigh in because i’d truly love your input, but i have to imagine that at a minimum, you might have a totally different view of sexuality in general. it might not be a whole thing or whatever for them to date girls as well as or instead of boys because not only are they being raised by two dads, but they're also close with their aunts Robin and Nancy, and practically half of their other aunts and uncles are queer in some capacity too, so being lgbt was never "out of the norm" for them.

i also think that “psychology guy”-steve took a “psych of gender” class in college (it actually would probably have been called something like “women’s psych” at the time but the coursework would be the same-ish) that changed his entire life, and he made sure that he and eddie weren’t raising their daughters to fall into those gender role traps. The girls played with toy trains and cars as much as they played with their pretend kitchen, didn’t get scolded for roughhousing unless someone was getting injured for real, and were always allowed to explore whatever interests they wanted without any regard for whether or not it was a "girl thing".

All in all, I think the girls just go through life liking who they like and not making the who part of it a big deal.

Anyway, to answer your actual question –

Moe is gay. 100%. Also – anyone who read this and caught a vibe between her and Gray. Y’all are spot on. I don’t think they’d date in high school though; it’d be more like the situation in this tiktok.

I feel like Robbie is the kid who tried on different labels like hats in high school, but once she hit her college years and mellowed out a little bit, she landed on ol’ reliable queer and stuck with it. She does date cis men, and could probably label herself pansexual if she wanted to, but she’s also pretty much the physical embodiment of this tiktok trend, so it’s rare for her to find a guy she can tolerate dating longer than a month (much to Steve and Eddie’s relief).

Also, if any of them experience any kind of gender fuckery, it's probably Robbie, but again, her dads never made gender a big deal growing up so she kind of just rides the wave of it as it comes (and plays around with her gender expression quite a bit – Frankie from Better Things vibes perhaps?)

I’m on the fence about Hazel. She could def give femme lesbian energy, but I also v much enjoy the idea of Steve and Eddie sweating over finding out she has a boyfriend. Bisexual maybe? idk idk i’ll keep you updated

[meraki-yao]

I wanted to get your point of view on an issue. I've just been reading you, but your answers are always precise and intelligent, so I'll proceed! I'm not someone who likes to compare different works, or who gets stuck in one thing while denying the rest or what a biased part... but let's face it: the TIOY will probably only be saved due to Nicholas' singing performances. The plot is really obvious and banal (and I won't go into comparisons with Harry Styles because it's a real minefield) and honestly I haven't even seen this incredible chemistry with Anne (which was missing from the RWRB trailer immediately outside). I'll get to the point: I noticed that the two times Nicholas talked about the

project (the last one just the other evening) he seemed not totally at ease, contracted, not enthusiastic in short. The narrative of calling on his co-star Annie to show off the chemistry (I remember he didn't answer the famous question promptly, but said "I should probably say her") is obviously a PR move so I expect them to try to make pass it all off as something it isn't. So I think he is aware of the mediocrity of the product. I also found him cold for M&G but in that case it was clear that the matter had involved him anyway. I won't say anything about rwrb because his eyes speak for themselves. What do you think of all this? Thanks for the reply ❤️

Firstly thank you for the compliment, that's very kind of you 💕

I don't think it would be fair to judge TIOY so soon since the trailer's barely been out for a week, but I will say my own opinion on the project first:

I haven't read the book, frankly I don't have access to it, but while I don't hold any really negative thoughts regarding the premise, it isn't ... that exciting to me? Like it sounds fun, but I've read a fair amount of fics across fandoms with the same/similar premise. Plus from my Chinese celebrity experience, it kind of feels like it's feeding into the "dreamgirl" mindset which I feel iffy about

I also don't see the "incredibly chemistry"with Anne, it's better than what I saw in Cinderella with Camila (that was really freaking felt like besties) and it's there, but it's not what I felt with rwrb (then again I'm not sure how objective I am) but then again, we only have the trailer, so we'll have to wait and see to make a fair judgement

I actually got an ask about Nick answering the chemistry question that I haven't gotten around answering (I've gotten a lot, and I mean a lot of asks these couple of days and I'm also a full time student 😅) so I'll probably answer this point in more detail in that ask, but basically while I don't know it's a complete lie and he did have some genuine connection with Anne, it might be slightly exaggerated because of promo/PR reasons.

Forgive me, but I don't really look too much into how they talk about their work unless it's blatantly obvious, so I won't comment on what you said about him being tenser.

As for M&G:

I don't think Nick's acting cold when it comes to M&G, but also please keep in mind that M&G is something VASTLY different to any of his previous projects.

I actually have thoughts on what M&G means to Nick: it was a really, really hard job, arguably his hardest to date, but he's happy with what came out and has a sense of satisfaction from the work done: Nick often describes the process of shooting M&G as "gruelling", and he got hurt a lot, A LOT on that set. Also a lot was demanded from him in that role: (mild spoilers for M&G till *) a complex character who's recognizable from who he was in the first episode, sleeping with a lot of people, fencing, dancing, speaking French, horse riding, falling off a horse and deliberately running into a tree, filming in a flaming forest, etc. It was a lot, and a job like this doesn't come with entirely happy memories. Like I do believe the cast and crew were great, and Nick made really good friends, but just what entailed definitely took a lot out of him. So I think he's happy with the final product, but if you have him summarize the project, I think he'd say something along "learned a lot", "fulfilling" rather than something like "a joy", what he used for rwrb. So Nick might have a little more complicated feelings towards M&G, but I really don't think it's entirely negative.

But rwrb is something entirely different. It arguably gained the most traction and caused one of the biggest positive changes in his career, and there's also a bunch of personal, private connections and emotions there that we don't know about. So while M&G is a roller coaster, RWRB is a mostly happy experience.

Althought disclaimer, all of the above if my observation from what Nick has said, posted or done, and my own understanding of it. I do not or cannot actually speak for Nick.

I hope this helps? I think I might have gone off a tangent (I'm answering this while taking notes in a law lecture, fuck yeah multitasking 😅) so let me know if I missed something

[toomanyteefs]

So I've been taking a slight break from fanfic writing for a few days to work on one of my original stories and I ended up writing a scene I think I won't actually include in the story proper, so I just figured I'd post it for some fun. There's also a little painting at the end, just because I've got it on the brain.

***

Rowan skipped through the closest shadow back into Mama’s twilight realm. He came out in the forest and trotted happily through her ancient woods. All the things there were long dead, plant and animal species long extinct, but even the huge predators there were no danger to him. He was a better hunter than all of them anyway. Rowan slipped into Mama’s den and then galloped down the tunnel until he’d reached the main chamber where his mother rested.

“Mama!” the white wolf cried as he entered. With the human, Fox, there earlier they’d had to be professional, lest they be a distraction, but right now there was nobody to see. 

“Hello pup!” the goddess of death whuffed at him. She was laying down in her wolf shape, huge and dark-furred with captured stars shimmering in her coat, but upright and alert rather than resting. Rowan pranced up to her, his tail wagging, and she lowered her head so he could greet her by licking her chin and cheeks happily. She nuzzled him with her nose and he sat down in front of her, his tail still wagging.

“How goes your hunt, pup?” Mama asked him kindly.

“Slowly,” Rowan complained, “Fox is still figuring out how to navigate everything.”

Mama let out an amused huff, “She will get the hang of it before long, patience.”

“Patience is so hard, Mama!” Rowan whined and she laughed lightly.

“Oh I know, little one, but you’ll get better at it the more you practice, just like any skill. How are you getting along?”

“Rafa’s still on the fence about it,” Rowan huffed, although of course he knew his brother was just a grouch at heart, “You know how he is with new people, but Fox is nice! She showed us a hunting game.”

“Oh?” Mama hummed, “Tell me of this game of hers?”

Rowan nodded along to this, his tail brushing the packed earth of the floor, “She calls it ‘fetch.’ It’s a game where she throws something and we chase and capture it so we may return it to her.”

“Sounds familiar,” Mama said with a chuckle.

“It’s a dog’s game,” Rowan told her dryly, “I’ve seen it played before, but I always thought it looked like fun. It’s a good excuse to stretch my legs.”

“Dogs have their own wisdom,” Mama hummed in agreement, “They are simply wolves that saw an opportunity and took hold of it. A line as old as any other.”

“They chose the easy path,” Rowan pointed out, but Mama shook her head.

“A different path, it can be rewarding to form packs with humans and live off their spoils, but you know as well as I do the types of battery and suffering that they can endure. A dog left to starve, chained out in the weather, dies as much as a wolf in a scuffle over a carcass with a grizzly, and the death is far slower and more miserable.”

Rowan sighed, “Perhaps I am being unfair.”

“A little,” Mama teased, “tell me, who won your game, you or Rafa?”

“I won!” Rowan laughed, “Rafa got distracted and I stole the prey from him.”

“Oh, how quick of you!” Mama laughed in return, “Rafa was always easily distracted. What was the prey this time?”

Rowan laid down in front of his mother, his tail still swishing across the floor, “A pinecone, easy prey, even against Rafa.”

“What else have you been up to, pup, surely it’s not all waiting?” she asked him kindly.

“Hmm,” Rowan hummed, “Fox gives good scratches. She is not afraid of us at all, even though we could tear her apart. She’s brave…or perhaps foolish.”

“Ah, that sounds like fun,” Mama said, her tone light, “I’m glad you’re happy, pup, even with a slow chase like this.”

“Rafa thinks it’s undignified to accept the scratches, even though he can’t resist them either,” Rowan told her wryly.

“Always full of bluster that pup,” Mama chuckled, “Eventually he’ll learn life isn’t about depriving yourself.”

“Maybe someday. He’s a slow learner,” Rowan teased, only for Mama to nip his ear.

“Be nice,” she chided lightheartedly, “He’s clever, merely stubborn as a bull.”

“Far more stubborn than a bull,” Rowan agreed, “but he knows he’s full of it, he lets Fox scratch him even while speaking ill of it. He pouts, but he likes the attention.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Mama asked cheerfully, “he has not bitten her?”

Rowan laughed, “Not even close! Worst he does is glare, he hasn't even growled at her!”

Mama laughed with him, her great tail swishing and brushing up a cloud of dust, “Ah he is having a good time then! My ridiculous grouchy pup, normally he snaps at everyone.”

“I think he is taking our duties very seriously,” Rowan confided, “We haven’t even started the chase yet but he is so vigilant.”

“As he should be, this is a serious matter,” Mama hummed, “and I would not put it past the Prince in White to try and take Fox back. The elf lords are the epitome of entitlement. They do not realize that if they do not defend what is theirs, it will be stolen.”

“Fae always think the world turns on words,” Rowan agreed and Mama nodded her head.

“‘Civilized,’ they call it. The magics they weave in their words are powerful, but they cannot withstand tooth and claw. They think themselves immortal, but it is merely arrogance. I will take them as surely as any other. I am very patient.”

“All prey falls before you, Mama,” Rowan praised and Mama nuzzled her nose into Rowan’s side affectionately.

“Always such flattery from you,” she teased.

“Of course,” Rowan yipped, “You created me, how could I not love you?”

Mama smiled at him warmly, but then nudged him to his feet, “I love you too, pup, thank you for visiting, but Rafa will pout terribly if he’s left too long. You should return to your hunt.”

“We will find the prey before long,” Rowan assured her and she nodded.

“I trust you will, but remember, patience. This prey is not easily caught, better to be careful than make mistakes in your excitement.”

Rowan nodded, “Of course, Mama. I will send Rafa to visit you if this goes on for another week, it’s his turn.”

“Good, hunt well, pup,” Mama said, nudging him again towards the exit, although not without giving him a lick that mussed his fur.

Rowan barked in acknowledgment and then took off, back into the forest, back to his brother and Fox, back to the hunt. This was a good one, challenging, but they would not disappoint Mama, the kill would be theirs eventually. As she had said, patience.

[delicatelystrangepolice]

Some thoughts on fandom and discussions around art and how I don't really know how to feel about it

(because I was trying not to write something and I wrote this one instead)

I've been thinking to write something about that one post-s3 Lisa's interview (in fact, I did write some drafts with way too many words and scattered thoughts) but ultimately I decided it's not worth it 1) spending my time writing about something I DID NOT like and 2) engaging with a discussion around here because... I'm kind of on the fence about how I want to spend my time on tumblr.

Anyway, this led me to some thinking. From my previous experiences I was very sure that criticizing the creators was always a fair game. I always had a clear belief that creators and the audience are two separate entities and they of course have an overlap with discussing the given art, but ultimately they should be kept separate. It's the creators' choice if they want to engage with the audience but I think it can lead to some problems when the fans can't freely express themselves because they are afraid to hurt someone's feelings.

With the internet culure and social media this line between the creators and the audience blurred heavily - for better or for worse, I don't know, it probably has some benefits. But I remember when last year I was watching some Hearstopper interviews and Jo Locke's brought up something - someone commented it's nice that they casted more unconventionally attractive person for his role and I think he got a bit offended and described it as 'backhanded compliment.' It made me think.

I thought that the comment was fair - yeah, it's good that we maybe starting to see less supermodels casted for average people roles. I also thought yeah, I understand that because maybe I was never in any heavily marginalized group but sure as hell I never saw myself represented on screen when I was a teenager. I think that commenting on the casting choices is totally within the fair game of discussing a piece of media. And it's not Locke's fault - he was asked about it, he answered honestly how he feels, all good. But I think it put in people's minds this idea that the evil audience can harm the creators simply by commenting on the creation.

I saw some of it in YR fandom, the idea that criticizing something can harm the people who created it. That somehow we should be protective of them and only talk about privately about the negative things. And I personally think that having a big audience can get harmful, especially for young actors (or artists in general) especially if the social media is involved and they are there in the open to have fans coming on them personally - commenting on their private lives, looks, career choices etc. But I don't agree that it's the audience's job to censor themselves just because there's a chance someone can see their thoughts. To put it simply, it's not okay to harrass the creators on their profiles but it should be totally fine to write something on your blog.

It's the audience's job not to reach out to the creators with vile comments but it's the creator's job not to seek out the discussion in fandom spaces if they feel too sensitive to handle it.

I don't think the distinction is hard to understand and to execute.

I'm a big fan of having the discussion being there in the open. One of the benefits of the internet is the fact that people can gather around something they feel strongly about and seeking others to share the those feeling. Benefit of the fandom is that you can find someone as crazy and as weird as you. But when when the creators start to be a part of the fandom - I think the discussion stops being as honest as it could be.

And the honesty is the only interesting part for me.

[leggyre]

hi all! sorry, this is going to be a bit of a sad post.

I just want to share that Nano passed away today. He was a very old bun at 9 years old and we just couldn't keep it up with his increasingly difficult health issues.

As of right now, I'm not asking for consolation or any words of comfort. It's the first time I'm dealing with a loss of this scale, of something I've loved so dearly for so long, that I'll never get back.

I'm still coming to terms about how I feel about it. There were so many times I felt like meeting him was fate. And to be honest, I still do. I set out to adopt a classic white bunny(because honestly that's the only color I had ever seen in the place before) but between all the sleepy or hungry babies there was a little black mischievous boy hoping around and approaching people who gave my finger little kisses and I just couldn't leave him there. We didn't have any boxes or cages to carry him in so he got to pee on my lap on the way home lol

The first time he licked me after that day, something I thought would take ages to happen after lengthy Bunny Research(tm) telling me so, was maybe within a few days or a week, but what made the moment as special as it was for me was the fact I was sitting on the ground, having a breakdown, crying my eyes out. I have a really hard time using the word love to others because I'm never sure of my feelings and I don't want to say it without meaning, but from then on I had never been so sure about how much I loved him.

I have a lot of other stories like that. He helped me learn a lot about myself. He gave me company at my worst. I missed him so much when I had to stop allowing him on the bed to take a nap with me because one day he just decided peeing there was okay. I laid down on the floor on the most uncomfortable positions for the longest time because he had fallen asleep in my arms. I did that this morning, after I was told he might not make it when we went to see the vet today. It didn't even feel like anything was wrong, really. I kinda thought maybe we shouldn't go and I could keep doing that tomorrow. And the day after. And the next. But every time he woke up and shuffled around it was so easy for me to tell he was uncomfortable, trying to find a way to lay down in a way that would ease the pain. He didn't look any different to most people, but I memorized every single kind of motion he ever did.

And it's funny to think that he knew me the same way. He knew exactly what me shutting off the computer sounded like and that it was the perfect time to beg for snacks and attention. He knew when I was hiding something for him. He knew exactly where I walked so he could leave the god damned piss traps in the way when he was mad at me. He knew that if he kept poking his nose out the fence long enough I'd come back eventually to pet him more even if I had already walked all the way to my bed and laid down. And he knew that he could come to me for comfort whenever he felt scared or in pain. He trusted me so much and that meant the world to me.

Just to add one weird, maybe funny thing that's gonna keep me pondering forever; one day, years ago, I wished that I could be the one to take any pain he'd ever feel. Since then, I kind of took note that we'd have our sickest days together, and often in similar ways. It's most likely confirmation bias, but I do like to think I did manage to take some of his pain from him.

Well. My plan was just to share the news and go on with my day. Think about stuff. Couldn't keep from writing this much, though, so I just decided to let it all out anyway.

Again, I don't want any comfort. I will always love him, the things he taught me, and the memories I'm blessed with. I will be okay.

I want the thought of him to keep bringing joy into my life, because that's the thing he's always been the best at. The second best was destroying specifically videogame related cables.

heres some shenanigans to brighten up the mood :]

and here's a cute pic from years ago as well 🐇💞

[emabatis]

About a Zombie Working at an Amusement Park

This one's 923 words of drudgery. For the full working-at-a-theme-park experience, reread 60 times with loud annoying ambient noise in the background.

I've never been on this ride. The one I'm operating, that is. I guess I died before it opened. It's one of those spinny ones where guests go around in high, exciting circles in a metal container, instead of going around in boring circles with their feet. The line around the fence is one of those boring circles, which, since I'm kind of the one keeping them there, makes a lot of guests mad at me. I'm not sure how I would feel on either of these rides. Or, "feel," I guess. Guests go on these things to feel something in the speed, the height, the weather and good vertigo that can only happen because of this machine. I don't feel those things anymore, so what would the point be. I can hold this stick with the pointing hand on top, which probably isn't a real hand, and I know that it's slimy from sweat and years of grime on the peel-y paint, because I would see what it's made of if I could see, and I could hear how heavy it is if I could hear, but I can't. But I don't know what it's like to be tall and fast and spinning in the exact pattern I initiate every four to five minutes. It's weird, maybe. It doesn't feel weird, of course, but it is, and maybe if I had time off I could think it's weird, too, but as it is, it just is. I can only think spinny things.

I know, sometimes, but not how, that people who work with computers or in offices with copiers and printers, that those little machines get cute names and pseudo-personalities. Mine doesn't, even with the faces painted on the cars. It works too reliably to have much of a personality. It isn't anybody's, especially not mine. Same thing with the Uniform, The only thing keeping me different from the other yellow-shirts is the company hat that keeps my bald spot appropriate for guests.

There's a huge difference between the ground-rides that I usually operate and the roller coasters. The ground rides, there's only one of us, maybe two if it's big and un-understaffed, which isn't often. Roller coasters need a team. But when I work roller coasters, I'm always working. There's an endless stream of trains coming in and going out every time, and I like it when it rains because I'm allowed to stand still for more than a "second," I don't even talk to anyone or do an activity, there'd be no point, it's not allowed, I just stand. It's the closest thing to euphoria I have. I get to stand when I work ground rides, but I need to stand around guests, and no one else is there to chase them away. I don't know any of the other ride operators, even though we're all the same. I don't know myself, either, though, so it's more like "because."

Guests aren't allowed to bring certain things onto rides, that's on the signs, I know, but I can't read them, and neither can the guests but they don't know. In front of a few roller coasters, there's a glass case effigy, like the skeleton in a hanging cage holding a sign that says "pyrates beware," but instead of a skeleton it's scraps of glass and metal that used to be phones. Now they're one big broken phone that's only good at being a broken phone. They bring them on anyway and it's always my fault. Is it possible to be hungry without a working stomach?

The onboarding procedure is the worst part. Parents need to be told they're too tall to ride, even though there's words about that on the sign, too. Kids need to not unbuckle the restraints, I need to make sure. Guests expect to talk to me. They don't like that they talk at me. I lock-gats-turn-the-key-pull-out-the-E-stop-press-down-on-foot-pedal-press-start and guests still want to talk to me. It's part of my job to make sure none of the small guests turn into small hurt people. I'm only allowed to eat people, which is a shame, I never see them. Is that the amusement? That they get to be nothing but spinny wind and noise for a day? Why do they want to bring their backpacks and purses and phones onto rides?

At noon there's a chime that lasts too short, and I don't know where it comes from. I can't see anything, but I can see clocks even less. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of the numbers on a guest's phone, I actually look out for them, keeping a lot of my lack of awareness on the number of guests and the rest on their hands. I don't know why, it never means anything. It's never nine o'clock. I don't know how I get here. I don't know how I get home. I don't even know how I get to other rides. It's not surprising, though, I guess. I also don't know how to do something as simple as smell.

My job isn't to help guests have fun, that's up to the ride manufacturer and the guests themselves. My job isn't to sell tickets, people need to buy them in order to become guests and enter in the first place. I guess I have a million little jobs, but I can't put "doesn't rot too much" on a resume, if I ever get to make one. My job is to make this line shorter. And it spins and spins and spins.

[dreamstatesims]

hey girlie, hope you're doing well; having a good day/night:

i wanted to ask if you could give any advice with building and landscaping? i've always been a huge fan of your sim style, and i'm currently looking to get into building myself.

was there any videos you watched or accounts that were able to help you jump wholeheartedly into the wonderful world of build/buy mode?

thank you soooo much in advance <3

hi! i could go on and on about this topic so thanks for asking. last year i wrote about building here, if you recall. since that one was more about "vibe" maybe this one should be a little more technical? idk, i'm a dreamy creative so i'm sure this'll get emotional anyway lol.

i suggest picking a world or architectural style and let one inform the other. then research that style, look at floor plans and dive into pinterest for a while before you start building. if you don't already have one, get one and go collecting inspiration that you can reference later. here's mine, if you wanna check it out.

when landscaping i think about two key things: what style of gardening goes with this build (manicured, overgrown, minimal, etc) and i consider the trees and/or flowers i see in the world around my lot. i'll incorporate some to blend on and off-lot gardening. and i can't emphasize enough how important terrain painting is! in my opinion it really anchors everything down. for example, i paint all around and under landscaped areas, trees, the entire perimeter of the house/buildings, and anything else like pools, decks, driveways. it creates depth and makes it look like these things are really sprouting out of the ground. also paths! even if you don't have stones laid down, think about the routes sims will take to get from one place to another, like from the back porch to the pool, the marks little sneakers leave under the swing set when simmies play, from the mudroom to the trash bins by the garage. grass thins out and you'll see some dirt showing through regularly trodden routes, so paint those on to make the area look lived in.

the simpler the floor plan, the better. even if you pick a floor plan that's complicated, simplify it. you don't need a garage? remove it or convert it into something else. too many little rooms and hallways? open up those spaces or take them out entirely and push the necessary rooms you want to keep into that area. you'll find your builds will be much easier to play in this way and it won't take sims hours to get to the kitchen or up the stairs.

i have general dimensions for rooms that really work for me: kitchen 5x6, 6x6, 6x7 dining 4x5, 5x5, 5x6 living 5x6, 6x6, 6x7 half bath 2x2, 2x3 full bath 3x4, 4x4 owner's suite 5x6, 6x6 bedrooms 4x5, 5x5 hallways 2 spaces wide

maybe a bit tricky, but think about adding rooms in the roof. a play room, guest room, second living room, or office space. hell, even just an attic you can convert later as your family grows. when building attics, i'll lay out the roof design first and then see where i can build rooms inside. for easier gameplay you'll want to then break down the roof into sections so when you lower the walls you can see inside and the camera won't bounce around.

twistedmexi's TOOL mod is an absolute gamechanger and i highly recommend using it to expand your lot outside the lines. EA has decorated the world outside of your lot with fences and other features that suggest you can absolutely push things further. i'll setup whatever i want outside the lot inside my grid first and then move it all out together. i do this for play areas, picnic tables and umbrellas, firepits and seating. i'll put cars parallel parked on the road or in the driveway EA has provided. and don't forget about debug items like electrical poles, post boxes, bus stops, fire hydrants and other stuff you'd see around a neighborhood.

i'm subscribed to a handful builders on youtube that i'll watch from time to time. it's great to see what other folks are doing because this community is so creative and you'd be surprised the little tricks you'll pick up. these are some of my favorite builders: simproved, simsphony, plumbob kingdom, simcubeez, bojana sims.

if you have any more questions on specifics or want an actual tutorial on something, don't hesitate to ask! and that goes for anyone reading this very long-winded post. kudos if you made it this far!

[sudriantraveler]

Ivo Hugh's Adventure

I've been trying to get back into writing recently. So here's a story about Ivo Hugh, who didn't get to do anything in the books, but that doesn't mean nothing ever happens to him.

Ivo Hugh's Adventure

One late afternoon, Ivo Hugh returned to the yard upset.

“It’s not fair,” he complained to the other engines. 

“You all have had so many exciting things happen to you. Skarloey and Rheneas kept the line running when it was about to close, Sir Handel had his race with George, and Peter Sam had his run in with the slate trucks! I want an exciting story too! I want an adventure!”

Sir Handel groaned, “I’d hardly call George a fond memory. In fact, none of those stories were what I’d call fun.”

“But they were exciting!” insisted Ivo Hugh.

“For you to hear about maybe.” retorted Sir Handel, and he shot a glare at Skarloey. “What you call adventures are nothing more than hard work or embarrassing incidents, and I’d very much appreciate it if you’d shut up and let me get some rest!”

Ivo Hugh looked sheepishly down at his buffers.

Skarloey was more polite, “Just be patient Ivo Hugh” he said. “You remember an adventure because it’s not something that happens all too often.”

“Besides” he went on, “Sir Handel may be a bit… sharp” and he scowled at the short tempered engine, “but he does have a point. Adventures may be memorable, but they’re not always fun when they happen”.

“I don’t want anything disastrous to happen” insisted Ivo Hugh, “I just want something to happen that’ll make for a good story. Something to show that I’ve actually done something on this railway”.

“You do plenty already. You just don’t know it” soothed Skarloey. “And anyway, you're a young engine. Just give it time and I’m sure you’ll have a good story to tell eventually”.

“I know that I’m plenty young compared to everyone else here, but I wouldn’t say I count as a child anymore,” remarked Ivo Hugh, and he rolled off into the shed.

Skarloey sighed, then looked over and spoke to Rheneas. “Heh” he chuckled, “I suppose he does have a point. Although, it feels like just yesterday was his naming ceremony. My, my… We are getting old” he laughed, and he winked at Rheneas.

“We were getting old long before even Sir Handel and Peter Sam got here,” remarked Rheneas. “I think now we’re just old”.

The two engines laughed.

Sir Handel meanwhile, was still in a bad mood. “Oh, when will everyone just quiet down? I’ve had a busy day and now I have to deal with everyone reminiscing!” And he let off steam crossly, just as his Driver and Fireman came walking back towards the shed.

“Ah good, you have pressure up” said the driver, “Come on Sir Handel, we’ve still got some work to do”.

“What?” asked Sir Handel, “But the last train has already come back!”

“I’m afraid you're wrong,” explained the driver, “We’ve still got one more train today. They’re going to be replacing some fences around the loop throughout the week. We’re to take supplies up to Skarloey Station so the workman can get started tomorrow morning… Why did you think you were still in steam?”

“Wha… but… Why not have one of the diesels do it? Isn’t this sort of thing their job?” Asked Sir Handel incredulously.

“You know Rusty’s in the workshed for maintenance,” sighed the driver, “and Fred’s not exactly the quickest diesel. We’d be out all night if we took him, and like you I don’t want to have to be out later than I have to”.

“Go on then Sir Handel,” chuckled Rheneas. “Have a good journey”.

“Yes,” added Skarloey. “Who knows… Maybe you’ll have an adventure”.

Sir Handel Said nothing. He just wheeshed crossly as he set off to find Cora and some trucks.

He returned a couple of hours later. Skarloey opened one eye sleepily, and watched as Sir Handel rolled into the sheds now more cross than ever. His crew too, looked annoyed and exhausted, and Skarloey could tell that Sir Handel had been difficult throughout the entire run.

The driver walked off as the fireman closed the shed doors, and the yards became quiet for the rest of the night.

The next day, it was Ivo Hugh’s turn to take the first train. He was still feeling rather bored.

“It’s always the same routine everyday,” he grumbled, “I just want something exciting to happen”.

He ran smoothly all the way up the line and around the loop.

They were just approaching Skarloey Station, when…

“Woah there Ivo,” called his driver, gently applying the brakes.

Sir Handel had delivered the workmen’s supplies… but had done nothing else.

He hadn’t even shunted the train into the siding out of the way, and had instead left Cora and the trucks sitting in the platform road.

“Oh, thank goodness it’s you Ivo Hugh” said Cora. “That Sir Handel just left us here, and I’ve been stuck listening to these trucks awful singing all night!”

“Hey! You have to pass the time somehow” replied one truck.

“I thought we harmonized quite nicely” added another.

“Come on old boy,” said Ivo Hugh’s driver, “we’ll just have to shunt them ourselves”.

The fireman uncoupled the coaches, and Ivo Hugh rolled forward to buffer up to the trucks.

Now, Ivo Hugh was by no means a clumsy or careless engine… But it could be said that he didn’t always remember his own strength.

He hit the trucks with a bump!

Cora felt a sharp pain near her wheels as something snapped, and before anyone could stop them, her and the trucks were rolling away down the line, going faster and faster.

“HELP!” cried Cora. “My brakes! They’ve gone!”

“Quickly!” exclaimed Ivo Hugh. “We have to go after them!”

And leaving his coaches behind, he shot off in pursuit of the runaway train.

The trucks swayed and screamed as they tore down the line.

“We haven’t had a good runaway in years” laughed one, “Go on! Go on!”

“Stop! Stop!” screamed Cora. Unlike the trucks, she wasn’t having fun at all.

Ivo Hugh pounded the rails, and was soon gaining on Cora and the runaway trucks.

“Hold on!” he whistled, “We’re coming!”

“We’ll catch em, we’ll catch em,” he panted.

Puffing hard, Ivo Hugh caught up with the runaway… 

…and immediately realized that he didn’t really have a plan beyond this point.

Since he was behind the trucks he would need to couple up in order to stop them, and there was no way to do that while they were still flying down the line.

As if he didn't have enough to worry about, he then heard a familiar whistle.

Sir Handel was trundling up the line with his passenger train. If nothing was done, there would be a terrible crash.

Thinking quickly, Ivo Hugh remembered something.

“We can send the trucks into Quarry Siding!” He exclaimed. “We must warn the signalman!”

At Quarry Siding, the signalman was just waiting for Sir Handel to pass through, when he heard a noise from up the line.

He turned to see Cora, the trucks, and Ivo Hugh whistling fit to burst, screaming down the line.

“PEEP PEEP pip-pip-pip PEEEEEEEEP” Whistled Ivo Hugh, “Switch the points! Switch the points! Runaway train!”

Acting quickly, the signalman set the points to lead into the siding, just as Sir Handel rounded the bend and saw the runaway barreling towards him.

“OHHHH ERRRR” He groaned, “STOP! STOP!”

His driver applied the brakes, and Sir Handel came to a stop.

Cora shut her eyes as her and the trucks swerved violently into the siding.

They crashed through the buffers and plowed through the dirt for some distance before finally coming to a stop!

Ivo Hugh applied his brakes, but was going too fast and skidded through the siding following close behind the runaway.

His wheels left the rails and crunched through the ballast, and he came to a stop just behind the piled up trucks.

As the dust settled, Ivo Hugh looked towards Sir Handel.

“Oh good,” Ivo Hugh sighed with relief, “You stopped… I was afraid we would run into you”.

Sir Handel was at a loss for words.

But Cora wasn’t…

“YOU STUPID ENGINE” she shouted at Sir Handel, “Just what did you think you were doing leaving me stuck on the main line! Can’t even finish a job properly can you! I OUGHTA…

This went on for some time, with Cora having some very choice words for Sir Handel indeed, and Ivo Hugh began glancing at the coaches to see if there were any children onboard.

Fred soon arrived with a crane and some workmen to clean up the mess, and Sir Handel was sent sheepishly on his way.

After being re-railed and inspected, it was found that Ivo Hugh was mostly undamaged, and it was deemed safe for him to bring Cora and the trucks back down to the yards. 

They would need some repairs, and were soon being shunted into the workshed.

That evening, Ivo Hugh was resting in the shed, when Skarloey rolled in alongside him.

“Well well well,” chuckled Skarloey, “Busy day Ivo Hugh?”

“You could say that,” replied Ivo Hugh.

Skarloey went on “I hear you had an adventure today. How was it?”

Ivo Hugh thought for a moment… Then he laughed.

“It was fun,” he decided, “But I think I’ve had enough adventures for a while”.

Skarloey could only agree.

The End

[pinesfamilyguidetotheweird]

There's something I wanted to share, something that kinda saved me from my several burnouts with Cipher's Will.

The existence of Expy characters.

Basically characters that are either loosely or (usually) deliberately based off an already existing character.

I have technically made one already for a Hazbin Hotel fic. I say technically because the character design was not mine, but was shown briefly in the pilot: a hispanic looking demoness who was present during Charlie's interview. I loved her design and decided to make a fic based around her even though she didn't really have...anything to write about. So, I based her off the La Llorona legend with a bit of Blue Diamond in terms of feeling great lament and making other sinners cry in her woe.

When I remembered this, I decided to write characters based on ones that I liked.

I figured if I did this, I'd have a bet more freedom because I felt so much pressure with the crossover characters as I wanted to add basically everything that was connected to that character and it was part of the reason I was burning out.

The beauty of expies to me is to take these characters and kinda give them a new breath of fresh air, especially since they're based off my favs.

I'm not really sure if you can call them OCs...then again, originality is kinda hard to come by.

Plus, I've been wanting something specific and those specifics fit the already existing characters, buuuut...(reasons above). Not only that, but I was gonna be upfront about it anyways, sooo...

Really though, I'd like to use these characters outside of Cipher's Will and I'm gonna do just that.

Rimona Ethon-Jess

She is a singer and supermodel and daughter of a lesbian couple. I've based her on Garnet from Steven Universe. Really, the only differences between these two is Rimona's lack of Gems on her hands, future visions (or rather she might have some level of clairvoyance, just not the level of Garnet), and a third eye (though she does wear a bindi at times for meditative purposes).

She has two adoptive kids, Twig and Molly Westwood.

Yes, those are the names Anne used for her 'Shut In' story. As for the surname, its a reference to Humphrey Westwood (who's basically a human expy of Hop-Pop...shoot, remember the Curator?). Now, whether or not these characters are related is up to you. Twig is set to be Dipper's new friend usually with his return to the Falls (whenever that happens) whereas Molly kinda does her own thing, though she does become a fan of McGucket labs.

Next up is another character based on a character in Steven Universe, Glenn Finnegan.

He's a robotics prodigy from Ireland and a four-limbed amputee. He's also a freelance hacker and a gamer and has built a little robotic companion, plus a few pet plants.

Yet another character based on a Steven Universe character, plus others, Alexei Akoyevich Agapov

A slightly effeminate Russian-Japanese retired ice skater now cafe owner. He has a bit of Pearl's personality and body type and a bit of Fai D Flourite’s personality and fences as a hobby. He lives with his long term boyfriend.

The next character is interesting: Marilyn Rosenstein.

Yes. THAT Marilyn Rosenstein mentioned in Journal 3. I started to generate an idea that Marilyn was already an existing character and just so happens to share a lot in common with Eda (hell, I think Eda is an expy of Ryoko Hakubi), even with how she looked and that's how Eda was able to blend in. Heck, Marilyn also just so happens to be a witch too (albeit of the Earth variety). She lacks a golden tooth and curse, though. Now...Did Stan meet Marilyn first or was it always Eda? You decide!

Similar to Rimona, Marilyn has also two wards, two anthropomorphic wolves named Fenny and Yue.

Fenny is the youngest of the two, being slightly younger than Gideon, and Yue is around the same age as Wendy and her friends. Fenny and Yue aren't related to each other, though Yue was found with Fenny. Fenny is physically similar to King Clawthorne and can be demanding at times and likes to go on adventures. As for Yue, they're like a mix between Loona from Helluva Boss and Amethyst, though a little more on the brooding shy side, similar to Loona.

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

Annnnd, that's about it!

I do have original characters that...I'm not entirely sure if they could be expies too, lol.

Here, let me share a few.

Seiko Habutai

She is shown in the first chapter of Back in the Falls. I kinda wanted her to be almost the opposite of Wendy (more ladylike and proper, the Ojou-Sama, if you will), but that doesn't stop her from getting dirty if she has to be.

Ashe

A dark skinned elf, who is also set to be a friend of Dipper. Speaking of elves, they are different here from what is shown in media. First off, the tribe Ashe is from is kind of a hippie type of group (basically how I would imagine elves could be portrayed in Gravity Falls.) The other is actually something that isn't used often in any media, the elves (or at least Ashe's race) are hollow inside. Like, there is nothing in their bodies. No bones, no organs, no soul. Nothing. ...I'm sure that not a lot of angst will come about this for Ashe...

Professor Esther Ratselgast

She's mentioned in the second chapter of Back in the Falls. She was Ford's Quantum Physics teacher back in college. Somehow still alive despite her advanced age. She's also dressed in clothes that seem out of the Victorian era. She is currently working for a man named Adair Samler. Speaking of...

Adair Samler, the last OC I'm willing to share right now (this has gone on long enough as it is)

He appears to be a middle-aged man with silvery hair and small glasses. He's the current director of the Oregon branch of the ALMA Foundation (GF equivalent of the SCP Foundation. I will say that some of his inspiration is that of Ozpin from RWBY, by being a little bit mysterious.

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

And there we have it! Similar with the Expy characters, I'm gonna use these OCs outside of Cipher's Will if they are needed in that story.

[jungle-angel]

11. Fall baking

With Rhett Abbott

( its one of my favorite things to do! Baking is a huge part of my family especially things like apple /pear baked goods. Home made ice cream, meat pie, candied carrots and oatmeal products!)

BAAAAAABES!!!!! Ya had me at Rhett Abbott (lol)

Rhett was exhausted, even as he climbed over the paddock fence and back onto the grass. He wanted nothing more than to head up to the barn loft and go right to sleep in the hay, flopping right into it as he often did at night after the kids were all put to bed. Fall was always the hardest on the ranch and with it came more work to be done than during the summer.

It had been a hell of a morning. The kids had all been so excited since Halloween was right around the corner and they'd get to wear their costumes to school. The girls of course were no problem, but the boys? That was an entirely different story.

Tatum and Tanner had gotten really into watching Stranger Things on the weekends and both had wanted to go as Eddie for Halloween. You and Rhett saw absolutely no problem with this......until the rude awakening he had received that morning.

Usually Rhett got up about an hour after Royal did to go and help him with the cows, but Royal insisted that he try and get some sleep. Unfortunately, the two little ghouls had thought otherwise, both excited as ever to act out the part of Eddie Munson. Somehow they had gotten a hold of Rhett's old cassette player, hooked it up to the stereo system in the living room and proceeded to blast out "Master of Puppets", waking their father and you from your blissful sleep. Deep down Rhett was laughing, but still had given the boys an earful before you sent them and the girls off to school.

Back to the house he went, tired as hell, but surprised when the heavy smell of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves reached his nose. "Darlin' you in here?" he called.

"Yep!" you called back.

Rhett entered the kitchen and sure enough, there you were, scooping something from a metal bowl onto a cookie sheet. "Whatcha got?" he asked. "Smells good."

"Pumpkin cookies," you told him. "A friend of mine gave me this recipe a while back and the kids will probably be hankering for something when they get home."

"Thank God they won't be home till three-thirty," Rhett chuckled.

"I hate to tell you babe," you said. "But it's a half day today and a three day weekend."

"Oh fuck me!" Rhett groaned, running his hands over his face.

"Well, I'd like to but unfortunately these have to go right in the oven," you laughed.

"I might just call Wes and see if he can bring'em on over to their place over on the Res," Rhett mused. "I mean, both sets of kids run around like a pack of wild coyotes anyways."

"Whatever you wanna do," you told him.

"What can it hurt?" Rhett said to you. "I mean, they'll wander till sunset and if they come home with cuts and bruises, then we fix it."

You shook your head and smiled as you finished your work before Rhett gave Wes a call to let him know that the kids could get off at his place and stay until dinner.

"Here, lemme help you," he said.

"You sure?"

"I've got nothin better to do today," Rhett said, his crooked little grin beginning to show. "The kids will be with Wes and Nora until dinner and all the critters have been taken care of."

"Alright, if you insist," you told him.

You were pleasantly surprised by how quick he was with everything, grabbing whatever spices you needed from the cabinet and sticking the cookie sheets in the oven before taking the others out to cool. "You sure they're supposed to look like that?" he asked. "They only look half done."

"They're supposed to look like that Rhett," you laughed.

You and him spent the better part of that late morning and into the afternoon in that kitchen, the heavy smells of cinnamon, nutmeg and all the smells of fall hanging about in the kitchen. Once the last of it had gone into the oven, you and Rhett stood by, his arms around yours as you leaned against the counters and him half asleep as he rested his head against your shoulder.

Rhett's head shot right up when the timer went off on the oven. You laughed a little, tapping against his arms as he let you loose long enough to get the last tray of cookies out of the oven. "If you wanna go upstairs and take a nap," you told him. "We've got plenty of time before Wes brings the little miscreants back."

"I might," Rhett said. "Care to join?"

"I wouldn't mind at all," you said, setting the tray on top of the stove and shutting everything off.

Up you went with your husband, the two of you practically falling into your bed before you curled into each other. Though fall came with all its hard work and heavy toil, you and Rhett never failed to find a moment of peace with each other.