#best trolley speakers

[webblogstory]

The most insightful stories about Elista Trolley Speaker

Trolley speakers, also known as portable or wireless speakers with wheels and handles for easy transportation, have become popular for outdoor gatherings, parties, and events. While best trolley speakers themselves might not have stories, there are plenty of interesting and insightful anecdotes related to their use and impact on various occasions. Here are a few:

The Beach Party Savior:

On a sunny summer day, a group of friends planned a beach party. They brought along their trolley speaker to provide music and create a lively atmosphere. As the day turned into evening, more people joined the gathering. The trolley speaker, with its powerful sound, drew in other beachgoers, turning a small gathering into an impromptu beach party. It became a memorable day for everyone present, showcasing how technology can bring people together.

The Wedding Surprise:

At a rustic outdoor wedding, the bride and groom decided to use a trolley speaker for their music instead of a traditional sound system. During the ceremony, the groom took control of the speaker, surprising the bride by serenading her with a heartfelt song. It was an emotional and touching moment that left not a dry eye in the audience, highlighting how trolley speakers can add a personal touch to special events.

Street Performer's Dream:

A street performer, struggling to make ends meet, invested in a trolley speaker to amplify their music and draw a larger crowd. With the enhanced sound quality, they not only attracted more listeners but also received generous tips from passersby. The trolley speaker became a valuable tool for this artist, illustrating how technology can empower individuals to pursue their passions.

Campfire Jam Session:

A group of friends embarked on a camping trip, and one of them brought a trolley speaker along with their guitar. Around the campfire, they used the speaker to amplify their music, creating an impromptu jam session in the wilderness. The combination of nature, music, and camaraderie made it a memorable camping experience, demonstrating how trolley speakers can enhance outdoor adventures.

Community Movie Night:

In a small neighbourhood, a resident decided to organize a weekly outdoor movie night using a trolley speaker and a projector. This initiative brought the community together, offering a space for families and friends to enjoy movies under the stars. It strengthened neighbourhood bonds and showcased the versatility of trolley speakers beyond music.

Empowering Street Vendors:

Street vendors in busy marketplaces have found trolley speakers to be invaluable for attracting customers. They use them to announce their products, play catchy tunes, and engage with shoppers. This has increased their sales and improved their livelihoods, highlighting the role of technology in small-scale entrepreneurship.

These insightful stories about the best trolley speakers demonstrate their versatility and ability to enhance various aspects of life, from entertainment and celebrations to entrepreneurship and community-building. Trolley speakers have become more than just a sound system; they have become a part of memorable moments and experiences.

For Any inquiry call us at 1800-121-7162 or visit at https://www.elistaworld.com/contactus

[prasangkaraoke]

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Get the ultimate home karaoke experience with Persang Portable Speakers, Trolley Speakers, Party Speakers, Bluetooth Speakers, Tower Speakers, Sound Bar Systems, Wired and Wireless Microphones, Karaoke Adapters, Remote, Speakers and many more.

[wyattjohnston]

turbulent - nico hischier

summary: a bumpy flight forces two people closer together.

word count: 2,790

note: this is for @dunnerlars as part of the summer fic exchange 2k24. i really hope you like it ash <3 thanks to @offside-the-lines for putting up with me going through the five stages of grief whilst trying to pull this together!

There was an element of strangeness to working on an NHL charter flight; most perplexing, even still, to Bonnie was the sudden way they all stripped out of their suits the second the seatbelt sign was turned off. She understood that sitting in a suit for six hours wasn’t comfortable, and also understood that the toilets were not big enough for giant men to reasonably change—she chose to spend time in the galley while they were doing it, because it was impossible not to stare inappropriately if she was walking the aisles.

“I thought you were joking,” Alice said, returning to the galley wide eyed and keeping the curtain closed with a hard fist against the cabin wall.

Bonnie hummed without turning around. “Everyone does.”

Short of holding her coworkers hostage in the galley, there wasn’t much Bonnie could do beyond warning them about what they’d see if they wandered the plane before she told them to. So, without fail, they all got caught in the aisles as some twenty odd men stood in unison and started to remove their pants.

“I know athletes have no shame in locker rooms,” Alice whispered aggressively, still with a firm grip on the curtain, “but this is a plane. There are people out there! Journalists!”

“This happens every flight,” Bonnie stressed. “Everyone is used to it. Some of the journalists might even be changing, too.”

Alice’s eyes widened, so big that Bonnie had a mild concern that they would come out of her head, and they only returned to normal when the captain’s voice came over the speaker.

“Hello everyone, sorry to interrupt your flight so early on, we have just been made aware of some unexpected weather on route to Los Angeles. We’ll do our best to make any necessary deviations to avoid patches of turbulence without adding too much extra time to the flight. For your own safety, please keep your seatbelts fastened and only move around the cabin if necessary. Thank you.”

Bonnie sighed, her chin dropping to her chest, at the thought of yet another turbulent flight. Alice groaned. It had been an uncommonly turbulent couple of weeks across both of their flights, even in completely different areas and directions—it was the first thing they’d spoken about when they met before getting on the plane.

“I can’t unsee any of that,” Alice said, finally letting go of the curtain.

“I mean, yeah, but there are worse things to have burnt into your brain.”

Alice readily agreed, even took a moment to subtly peak back into the cabin.

Bonnie still vividly remembered the first time she’d witnessed it. She would never forget the eye contact she’d made with the team’s captain before her eyes were drawn to his bare chest, the tattoo on the inside of his bicep—

“What can I do for you?”

“I’m just here to see Bonnie.”

Said chest and said tattoo blazed in Bonnie’s mind, and then she made eye contact with the team’s captain and sighed softly.

“Hi, Nico,” she greeted. “My captain said you were meant to remain seated with your seatbelt on.”

He smiled knowingly, “Good luck with that.”

Alice disappeared back into the cabin when someone pressed the call button and Nico moved out of her way with a practiced ease, even as Bonnie began to organise the food trolley for the first pass through.

“I just wanted to come check on you; you weren’t on the last few flights.”

“Just a sinus infection,” she said, as if it hadn’t written her off for a week and a half. “Didn’t want my eardrums to explode, you know?”

“You’re okay?” he asked, his hand coming to rest on her forearm. Concern radiated off him.

Bonnie covered his hand with her own, smiling softly and saying reassuringly, “I’m all better.”

Nico stayed while Bonnie finished filling the trolley. The flights were the three after the All-Star Break, so he had plenty of stories to tell to keep her occupied. The Swiss boys had headed to Mexico, of which she was jealous. It hadn’t been too cold in Jersey, but the need for sun had been growing and growing since Christmas, and the longing had only gotten more intense after being cooped up in her own apartment.

“Have you been?” Nico asked.

“No,” Bonnie said with a shake of her head. “One of my college friends had a vacation home in Fort Lauderdale so we did Spring Br—shit.”

The trolley rattled, a few trays coming half out of their places, and Bonnie watched helplessly as the last knife and fork fell off the counter.

“What the fuck is going on today?” Nico asked, causing Bonnie's eyes to snap up. He had a hand on each of the high cabinets either side of the galley.

“You should go back to your seat,” Bonnie said, picking up the lost cutlery and dropping into what would become the dirty dishes container. “I’ll be out in a second. Put your seatbelt on.”

Nico nodded, “Yes ma’am.”

Bonnie was friendly with all the players, staff and media on the flight. Most of them were familiar faces, especially halfway through the season, but anybody she didn’t know was introduced to her with a startling amount of enthusiasm from whichever player had taken it upon themselves to do so—normally it was Luke, being egged on by Nate. She always made sure they had the same energy for whoever had been assigned to work with her, whether or not they had ever met before. Alice looked delighted by the attention; Bonnie hoped it was just the energy being contagious.

If they lingered a little longer next to Nico, who politely ignored Alice’s doe eyes, and Jesper, so that they could get his round up of the All-Star Game, that was purely coincidental.

Back in the galley, Alice was poised to ask many questions. Bonnie could feel the curiosity bursting from her, it only becoming more obvious with every passing minute of silence. Every now and then Bonnie was assigned to work with someone who couldn’t quite handle it. Bonnie would never put in any complaints herself for some lowkey fangirling, but she had had a few coworkers who had been asked to never work a team’s charter flight again.

“Say whatever it is you want to say,” Bonnie said after Alice’s eagerness became too much to bear.

“Did they ask for you to be on all their flights?”

“Uh…” Bonnie hesitated, rolling the question around in her mind. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t that “I don’t think so? I think it’s just easier to have someone who knows all the ins and outs. I didn’t think they could request people.”

“The Rangers do it,” Alice said casually, as she pulled out a new tray of water bottles from the fridge, “but I think that’s because she’s sleeping with one of the players.”

Bonnie was nodding, distracted by someone pressing the call button, and responded mindlessly, “Yeah, that’s pretty norm—Wait, what? I didn’t know anything about that!”

“That’s what I heard,” Alice said, looking and sounding suspiciously like Alexis Rose. “Super juicy. They wouldn’t tell me which player which was upsetting.”

“I wouldn’t want to know anyway,” Bonnie said, largely trying to convince herself because, though she would never admit aloud, she was not immune to gossip. “I couldn’t look them in the face again.”

The plane rumbled.

“Fine, I won’t tell you when I find out, but I also won’t tell anybody you’re sleeping with Nico. Promise.”

Bonnie’s neck snapped as she turned to glare at Alice. “Yeah, you better not because I’m not sleeping with Nico.”

“Oh, really? Damn.” Alice pouted. “You so could be, though. Should be.”

The thing about that was that Bonnie knew she could be. Nico had never made it explicitly clear, but nobody else on the team spent any time in the galley with her during flights. Nobody else ever got up and sought her out when they needed something.

Nobody else touched her so effortlessly, so naturally, when in her space without at all being in the way or a burden.

Nobody else ever looked at her like she was the best thing to happen in their day.

Bonnie tried her hardest to hide the small sigh that escaped her lips. She made direct eye contact with Alice as she moved the conversation along.

“How did you even find out about the Rangers thing? This is your first flight.”

Alice, either oblivious to the redirect or just so interested in the gossip that she didn’t mind, rattled on, “They brought me in for orientation and the woman they left me with is chatty.”

Bonnie knew the exact woman being referred to—in fact, she’d been subtly blacklisted from the Devils’ flights at the beginning of that season for some very inappropriate and entirely unsubtle flirting.

Alice was still talking, even as she left the galley with her tray of water bottles and crossed through the curtain, stopping mid-word to change topics and start a conversation with the person sitting directly on the other side.

A brief jolt came over the plane and Bonnie groaned. It was followed by a considerable rattle.

She was second guessing her career choice as her stomach lurched with the plane when Nico, once again, appeared in the galley. His closed-mouth smile was genuine if not a little cautious and it set Bonnie at ease.

Until she felt more turbulence and was met with Nico’s uncertain head tilt.

“You can stay, but you have to sit there,” Bonnie told him, putting a hand on his shoulder to forcibly turn him around to look at the jump seat she was pointing at. “And put your seatbelt on.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. When he sat down, he only broke eye contact to find the seatbelt. “What did you do while we were on break?”

The shelves were rattling around her.

“Worked other flights like I normally do when you guys are at home for a while,” Bonnie answered. “I don’t just sit at home and wait for the team to go on a road trip, you know.”

“That… that makes a lot of sense,” he admitted, his cheeks turning the slightest bit red. “I don’t know why I thought you only flew with us.”

“Sometimes I fly with the Knicks, sometimes there’s some commercial flights. You boys are my favourites, though.”

Nico’s sweet smile turned just ever so slightly into a smirk. “I knew we would be.”

“You didn’t even know there were others,” Bonnie said, laughing.

“Yeah, but obviously.”

Bonnie’s eye roll was good natured, her laughter continuing as Nico’s smirk morphed back into its purest, most genuine form.

She kept looking back at him as she continued to work, sometimes to show she was listening and other times just to look. He was often looking back.

Their peacefulness was interrupted by the ding of the seatbelt sign being switched on and the plane’s captain making an announcement.

“Everybody, including cabin crew, the seatbelt sign has been turned on. Please make your way back to your seats immediately and put on your seatbelt; we don’t expect that to be the last patch and we apologise for our lack of notice on that one. If you need emergency assistance, please press the call button and someone will be with you as soon as it is safe.”

The inclusion of the cabin crew set Bonnie on edge, and she was halfway to demanding Nico return to his seat and hunting Alice down to drag her back when the plane shook even more violently than it had the entire life.

Bonnie’s feet momentarily left the floor. She could hear some shouting from the cabin. She could hear luggage bouncing in the nearest overhead lockers. She made eye contact with Nico—all colour was drained from his face.

“Where’s Alice?” Bonnie asked, holding desperately onto the galley counter behind her back. “She needs to be sitting down.”

Nico leant as far as he could, peeking down the aisle, before saying firmly, “She’s in my seat. Come here.”

Bonnie didn’t let go of the counter as she walked, her eyes never leaving the seat opposite Nico, and she was confident she was going to make it before the next bump. She looked back into the aisle when she could, instantly looking to Nico’s normal seat to see Alice expertly calming down some very nervous men, and relaxed knowing that she was safe.

Naturally, the plane started to tremble just a bit harder the very second she was feeling comfortable, and the oh shit had barely left her mouth before the plane dropped again. Her mind filled with all the things that could happen, where her head and the plane would meet, all the things that would inevitably fall on her if she was unable to get off the floor. And then—

“Gopf.”

She was hauled by the arm with an abrupt and unexpected force, all momentum she’d gained coming to a crashing halt when she collided with Nico’s chest and was held firmly in place by his arms wrapped around her.

“This is the worst flight I’ve ever been on.”

“Go on a date with me.”

Bonnie froze in Nico’s arms; no thoughts being given to the next bumpy patch and all thoughts being focused on his words and the way his arms squeezed just a little bit together.

“What?” she asked, breathless. “Nico.”

“I kind of feel like we might be about to die,” he said—it wasn’t totally clear if he was being serious or not, but he was sincere in his tone. “I don’t want that to happen without at least asking.”

She sighed wistfully, swooning closer to him in their already intimate position. Nico’s eyes dropped to Bonnie’s mouth, causing her to bite her lip and turn her head.

“I shouldn’t have asked?” Nico asked cautiously, his arms loosening around her waist. “I’m sorry.”

Bonnie shook her head, and said in a whisper, “You should have. I’m just—I’m working. I wish I wasn’t working.”

Out of the corner of her eye she caught Nico’s small, pleased expression, and revelled in the delight in his voice when he said, mostly to himself, “I’ll ask again when we’re off the plane.”

For her own sanity, and to remain professional whilst working, Bonnie took the slight break in turbulence as an opportunity to move to the empty jump seat on the other side of the galley. Nico’s hands lingered on her waist as she left, and his eyes burnt holes in the side of her head. She was determinedly looking down the aisle, carefully not looking at anybody sitting down.

The turbulence continued, the seatbelt sign remained on, but Bonnie and Alice were free to move around the cabin. Nico went back to his seat when Alice returned, the smile he sent Bonnie had Alice turning to her deviously.

“Are you sure you aren’t fucking him?”

“I would remember.”

Alice prattled on about maybe the sex being so good that it was affecting Bonnie’s memory, not letting up even as they prepared the cabin for landing—both of them steering clear of the cabin as the players stripped down to change back into their suits. It was amazing how much work she could get done whilst her mouth was moving a million miles a minute, seemingly every thought coming out in a stream of consciousness. It may have been about Bonnie, but it was still enough for Bonnie to tune out the exact words and just let it become background noise that distracted her from thinking about whether or not Nico was in fact going to find her once the plane had landed.

As always, the players were the first off of the plane, most of them thanking Bonnie and Alice, whilst others looked a bit too green to speak. Nico was the last of the players to disembark, slightly uncommon but not unheard of. Bonnie had to keep her eyes trained on his face because she knew if she even looked at Alice for a moment the endless talking would restart.

“I, uh, don’t actually know if I can miss the team bus from the airport,” he said, his eyebrows knitted tightly together and his voice solemn. “But if I could get your number, we could meet up later? For dinner?”

“Yeah,” Bonnie nodded, blushing. “I’d like that a lot.”

Nico pulled out his phone for Bonnie to enter her number, and, when she was finished, she made accidental eye contact with Alice who had, to Bonnie’s dismay, started to dance in the galley.

[bs2sjh]

An Extra May 20 Prompt - Do-Over

Okay, I couldn't let today pass without writing an actual do-over, so I chose this scene to rewrite. Enjoy!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Let me through, he's my friend." 

John could only sit there on the pavement as he watched his friend be lifted onto the trolley and wheeled away. The blood ran in rivers along the cracks in the pavement, forming a spider's web of red. Soon, it would all be washed away, leaving nothing to mark the devastation of this moment.

"John?"

The voice was nearby, yet he couldn't bring himself to turn towards it, to tear his eyes away from where the person who made his life worth living had just ended theirs. 

"Come on, John. Up you get. You can't stay here. You're wet through."  Hands wrapped around his arm, pulling him upwards off the floor. Sluggishly, he stood, his legs feeling like jelly, a hollow emptiness filling his entire body. "Come on. Let's get you warmed up." He followed the hand on his arm, his eyes never leaving the now faintly pink paving stones. 

John blindly followed. His feet moved automatically. Sometimes, he stumbled as his knees threatened to give out again; each time, an arm came around his waist to keep him upright. 

"You're alright. We're nearly there now." The voice was vaguely familiar but distant like the voice was a recording playing through far away speakers. 

You're in shock, John. You should have a blanket.

John shook his head. Hearing his best friend's voice already. Definitely a bit not good. 

"Here we are, just through this door." John heard the door squeak slightly as it opened. The room was dark inside and seemed to be empty. "You'll be alright in here." The familiar stranger left the room and left John alone in the dark. 

"Hello, John." John shook his head. 

"You're not real. I just watched you die." Someone flicked the switch, flooding the room with fluorescent light. 

"I assure you, I am very much real and alive. I have the bruises to prove it." Sherlock stood before him, a sad smile on his face. 

Upon seeing his friend, John collapsed onto the floor, the stress of the last forty minutes leaching the last of his strength. Sherlock at once knelt before him. "You weren't meant to see. You weren't meant to be there. I am so sorry, John." 

Sherlock folded John into his arms, holding him close, John gripping on just as tightly. 

"Oh, God. You're really here. You're really here." 

"I am. I really am. But we can't tarry for long. We have a mission, John, and I will need your help. I can't do this without you." John sat back, keeping hold but just far enough to see Sherlock's face. "It could be dangerous." John couldn't help but laugh, his body feeling a thousand times lighter for knowing Sherlock was alive.

"Only could be?" Sherlock smiled. "Were you actually going to leave me thinking you were dead?" The smile faded. 

"That was one version of the plan. But I'd be totally, hopelessly lost without my blogger." As Sherlock's lips met John's, Mike Stamford decided his job was really done and walked away, a very big smile on his face. 

An extra one-shot for @calaisreno's May Prompt Challenge.

[z-saint-box]

Tara Duncan (2010) Series Review

"also known as, How Tara is Not a Spellbinder"

[this series review was originally posted on deviantArt]

"also known as, reviewing the first season, because the show is not good enough for a second."

"I want to like it, but I can only analyze it, because it didn't live up to my hype."

Physically attractive, yet fundamentally bland, Tara Duncan is yet another typical heroine of a standard, uninteresting girl show. Unlike the other girls, she does not have charm or personality. Rose (Regal Academy) is cute and silly, Iris (Lolirock) has an outstanding art and character design, and even Raf (Angel's Friends) has identity through how bad her show is.

As for Tara, she comes from a book series I never knew about until I learned about her equally obscure show. The former never saw widespread publication and the latter never saw widespread broadcast. Ironically, to non-French speakers, the animated series is more well-known than the book series. For perspective, I didn't even know about the Kabillion channel that she was on until I learned more about her franchise. And for that matter, only the first two Tara Duncan books have ever been translated into English whereas all twenty-six episodes of the animated series has been. Despite this, there are very few methods for Anglophones to watch the latter. A few years ago, the entire series was available on the official youtube channel until they were removed or deleted for unknown reasons; and at the beginning of 2023, it was removed from Amazon's streaming service Freevee.

However, I have a low opinion of the show, and this may have been the issue of adapting a book series into a cartoon; alternatively, the English dub may even be a bad translation. As a result, this is not necessarily a review of the show in its original voice.

One reason why I had such high hopes for Tara Duncan is the theme song. It is legitimately one of the best intro music for any cartoon ever. Each episode begins with high energy to create anticipation for Tara's next adventure. While Dania Gio slurs the lyrics to the English intro, the opening theme is still just as strong as the original French version. A complete English version does not exist; but the song is so good, I recommend listening to the original, which I can listen to multiple times despite having no knowledge of French. If anything , my opinion also applies to every language the theme song has been adapted into, such as Spanish, Castellano, Portuguese, and Arabic. The only caveat though is, the German version sounds terrible.

Either way, I'm disappointed that I could not write episode reviews for this series, unlike what I did for Regal Academy and Lolirock. It's because there is very little for me to talk about. Every draft proved difficult to write, owing to a lack of opinion. For these reasons, I even had trouble remembering episode titles. Not helping is that I can barely remember specific plot points for the majority of episodes. This very review was incredibly difficult, due to how hard it is to articulate my thoughts. It took an entire year of editing and revising, because Tara Duncan lacks creativity and personality.

The show's aesthetics are presentable, but the art and character design looks similar to W.I.T.C.H, to the point where Tara is comparable to Cornelia; and the resemblance is not only close, but understandable. Tara's line art however, is cleaner, and her color palette is brighter.

Unlike W.I.T.C.H, Tara uses CGI, and even though it is limited to just the vehicles, it looks terrible. I have to mention this because car, trolley, boat, or airplane looks completely detached from the overall art style. They look so poor, that their time on-screen is limited; or, their time on-screen is limited because of how poor they look. I understand that vehicles are harder to draw than characters, but they must look cohesive with the world they are in; otherwise it will seem that they are a separate entity, even if the intention is to save time, effort, and money. However, this may explain why the 2022 reboot of Tara Duncan is presented entirely in CGI.

Tara uses the most basic fantasy tropes without anything unique to distinguish herself. Werewolves are vulnerable against silver, dragons love gold, and mermaids swim in the ocean. In some fairness, I was unaware of the first two before watching her; but this may explain why the original books were rejected by up to three hundred publishers, at least according to the author herself.

Ironically, vampires on the show can survive in broad daylight and they are uninterested in drinking blood. It is unknown if the latter is the result of censorship, or a design choice to show that they are different from conventional vampires. Still, their most predominant traits are not present, although Serena does order raw steak in the second episode, albeit in the morning.

Despite the variety of mythological creatures at the show's disposal, they are the same kinds that viewers are already familiar with, which also includes sirens, harpies, elves, and mummies.

Although it makes no difference when newcomers to the animated series will not understand a significant portion of her world. Sparrow's actual name is Gloria Davile. Cal's full name is Caliban Dal Salan. And Serena's name in the original French language is Selenba. I did not know the former two until later episodes, and the latter is information I had to search for on my own.

More importantly, a spellbinder is someone who has magic powers, or someone that can use spells; but at the same time, I have also read that Tara is a witch. After having watched the entire series multiple times, a witch is a spellbinder, but a spellbinder is not a witch. If I am wrong, it is the show's fault for not making this any more clear. Not only that, but the original title of the theme song is "Sortceliere," which technically does not translate into "sorceress."

[see, I told you]

And to add confusion, the official youtube channel says that Tara is a "spellweaver," but this could be a mistranslation. For convenience, "spellbinder" will be used instead of spellweaver. Not only is the former used in the English theme song, the characters use the same word in the English dub. And for a long time, I thought the first letter is meant to be capitalized, because it is an important word that specifies an important person.

I suspect that the show was created with fans of the book series in mind; in which case, the lack of exposition is understandable, albeit only for fans who have read the original text(s). But compounding this issue is Tara herself.

Being the main protagonist, she must have the strongest personality. She must have the most unique, interesting, or remarkable traits that define who she is and why she is the central character. Her physical beauty is not enough, and despite how noticeable and distinct it is, no character ever mentions or references the front portion of her hair, which is a different color from the rest of her head. While it is obviously genetics, due to her mother having the same abnormality, there is no explanation, let alone suggestion or why it is unique to her family. Because of this, it also gives the impression that it is just hair dye, or even that Tara is bad or lazy at dying her hair.

[there is something abnormal in this shot, and it's not the vampire]

Beyond this, she is not just attractive, she is a powerful magic user who lives in a luxurious manor that can literally defend her against trespassers. One of her romantic interests is Robin, a handsome elf that her rivals, Sandra and Olivia drool over. Tara even has her own majestic pegasus, and most importantly, her name is the title of the show. These elements prove that she is a Mary Su.

I honestly wonder if her creator, Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian, is actually going to read this, because Tara is a self-insert of herself; and she has admitted to this. I think I should also mention that she likes to be addressed as "Princess," because I honestly believe that the book and show were specifically created be her wish fulfillment. If they were, I'm glad she had (has?) fun, but that would explain the quality of the writing. Nothing is inherently wrong with self-inserts, but they risk becoming  flawless characters, hollow with no personality.

Tara's worst flaw is using via transportus incorrectly, and this does not happen often. If it did, it would present believable irony; she might have powerful magic, but she does not have the experience to use it correctly. And she doesn't even use other spells incorrectly or inefficiently.

In the episode "BFF," Tara says she has trouble making friends on Earth, and that she is a social outcast, but later episodes contradict this. Secondary characters such as Edward have no problem with her, and because she plays basketball, she has no issue with befriending the twins. Either that, or Sandra is less effective at suppressing Tara than she thinks, or Tara is effective at allowing Sandra to inhibit her, because at the end of the same episode, the twins walk over and socialize with her and her friends. I should also mention that in a later episode "Guardian of My Heart," the antagonist completely suspends his objective just because Tara is beautiful, I kid you not.

Even though Sparrow and Cal are not any more interesting as characters, they would make better protagonists. The former has spontaneous transformations that she cannot control, and better demonstrates naivety or lack of experience than Tara. As for Cal, his constant misuse of common Earth phrases exhibit his lack of familiarity in a new environment. But because Tara has blonde hair and blue eyes, the network decided she must be the main character.

[Even though Tara is the main character, how is she any different from the girls you see here?]

In spite of her being a Mary Su, I am legitimately interested in her role as Earth guardian. This enormous responsibility, which was passed down via mother and grandmother, is delegated to a teenage girl with teenage problems, which is highly ironic.

Being the next person in a lineage of spellbinders, Tara Duncan's plots work best when they are focused on the dilemma of balancing life as a spellbinder with the life of a non-spell, as seen in the episodes "Assault on the Manor" and "Heart of Stone."

Speaking of her magic, her powers are not based on any element, so she and her friends are not limited to one specific ability. Having an unlimited range of spells at their disposal, they have teleportation, transformation, miniaturization, memory wiping, and vocal transformation. In spite of this, these are not only basic, but they are not as interesting as they can be; and ironically, the characters limit themselves from using their powers to the full extent of their uniqueness; and due to how broad they are, the characters are not as vulnerable as they should be.

Although one good thing is, unlike the magic in Lolirock, I can not only understand the spells that Tara and friends vocalize, I can even spell them correctly without having to look them up. For example, "via reformis" is a spell that reforms or fixes things; while in Lolirock, I still don't know what "crystal collaida" is. Consequently, via reformis is a boring, uninteresting spell while crystal collaida launches a volley of crystal shards.

In general, Tara's magic is mild and subdued, to the point where climactic battles merely have characters standing back and releasing a beam, or stream of magic. I understand that these moments are meant to be intense, but the animation does not complement the action that is supposedly happening. There is not enough damage, let alone collateral damage to show the impact of what they do. Or just as egregious, when the show makes several action cuts, such as in the climax of "Four Parchments."

But it matters less when every episode follows a typical formula. A semchanach comes to Earth and Alpha team, lead by Tara, is dispatched to subdue him, her, or it. The slow pacing, excess exposition, and copious amounts of dialogue will deter new viewers. A lot of the episodes feel padded; to stretch every story to twenty-four minutes. And the runtime will feel longer if you are completely new to Tara Duncan. After passing through continuity lock-out, the show is better on a second viewing, albeit not by much. For comparison, Lolirock episodes do not require background knowledge of a pre-existing book series, especially when the show specifically takes place between the seventh and eighth book, long after basic exposition has been presented. The only good thing is that episodes can be watched out of order.

Tara is so uninteresting that I actually adore Sandra, despite her function as Tara's sworn rival. Being a direct anti-thesis to the main protagonist, straight down to her physical appearance, this may explain why she has more personality than her; even if admittedly, her worst offenses are physically attacking Tara and stealing Sparrow's diary. Although she is callous and otherwise nasty, she has more potential for growth and development than Tara does.

Whether she is unintelligent or ignorant of how to be a better person, she is a child-like brat without the same responsibilities as Tara. For these reasons, she is cuter and more fun to watch, such as the moment when she breaks down crying because she did not invite enough girls to her party.

Sandra makes every episode she appears in more entertaining. She brings the show closer to reality that Tara must deal with as a result of living on Earth. I would genuinely like to know about her than the title character, because Mary is a Tara Su

Understanding all the elements at play here, the show could have been Tara battling her grandmother. Because her mother is missing, Isabella is responsible for taking care of (or parenting) her. Due to the generation gap, Tara and Isabella could have had more intense conflict between them. Tara would like to be a regular, teenage girl while Isabella demands that she fulfill her obligation as Earth guardian. These issues are lightly discussed in episodes like "Gold Fever" and "Mirror of Youth," but they do not make a major bulk of the show. Furthermore, Master Chem is a surrogate father to Tara, and he is more liberal to her than her grandmother. For these reasons, I think the episode "Summer School" is good, because Master Chem and Isabella literally battle each other over what Tara should do for summer break. I also love the episode "Master Chem's Honor," due to Chem being stripped of his authority over Alpha Team; and consequently, his guardianship over Tara.

[you would think with a dvd cover like this, the show would be more exciting]

But this review is not entirely critical. Aside from Sandra, Sparrow is my favorite character for being cute and feminine. Aside from being attractively girly, she is also half animal, i.e. a big, hairy beast that she transforms into when she is upset or loses control. She is descended not only from the Beauty, but also the Beast, which explains her unusual, but charming quirk.

I also like the character Fafnir for her similarity to Carissa from Lolirock. Like Carissa, she has the energy of a warrior girl she makes very few appearances on the show. Unlike Carissa, she is a dwarf; but this does not stop her from using her full strength.

Master Chem is my favorite adult on the show, and beyond what I explained above, he has unique, and fun ways of debriefing Alpha Team. When Tara and Sparrow are looking through a clothing rack, he startles them by hiding in the clothes. In "Four Parchments," Chem sneaks into Tara's bedroom in the middle of night and scares her. Beyond this, he is sensible and fair to Tara and Alpha Team.

Beyond these three character, I also adore the show's use of split-screens. This is when two scenes play at the same time with a line splitting the screen. This happens when two characters are talking to each other, and they may even interact with the screen itself, usually by pulling or pushing it out. This makes the show a bit more charming, and it uses animation to its advantage. A good example is in the episode "Mirror of Youth," when Isabella pulls the split-screen from off-camera so that Tara can give her powers back to her. Another good example is in the episode "Alpha Male," when a miniature version of Tara pushes it away so that Robin can resume his mission. The creators use animation to the show's advantage, if not embraces it.

Characters and backgrounds are hand-drawn; and surprisingly, the show does not utilize flash animation, even though its production studio could have easily done this to save money. I would rather watch Tara Duncan over Angel's Friends because of this; and overall, character animation is equally good. Even though she and her friends do not wear anything interesting or unique, they are practical and conventional for everyday assignments in an urban environment.

The voice acting is nice, even if is too soft to capture a range of feelings, and even if it comes across as dull sometimes. Tara's voice in particular, is the nicest to listen to, even when it doesn't produce raw (RAWR?!) expressive emotions.

And admittedly, she is a bit less bland or dull than other girl show protagonists such as Iris from Lolirock. Not only does she play basketball with boys, she is also a fan of Madney Spears; and idolizing her, would like to dance just like her, triggering the events of "Gold Fever." So she is also athletic. I should also mention that unlike Iris, Tara is a bad singer.

And what makes her a bit more respectable than other girl shows is that she does not have a line of dolls like Winx, Bratz, or Ever After High. Instead, her series was produced to sell or promote the books, and as said before, maybe even satisfy the author's fantasies. Not only that, but Tara does not attend a special or magical school, a trope that is too common with girl shows.

Because she only lasted one season, she didn't waste all that much time, and it's still better than Angel's Friends, which got two seasons. And in a bizarre twist, I am weirdly nostalgic for her , even though I didn't catch (meet?) her back in 2010 when she was first broadcast, or when she first introduced herself.

But Tara does not have a meaningful premise, nor does she have as much spirit, or girl power, as other shows. It's quite baffling how little creativity she has, yet she was somehow given an entire, twenty-six episode animated series. I am not even the first to criticize her. For that matter, I am not even the first person to scrutinize her writing. And like I said earlier, she has another animated series. There is still no explanation for why her original incarnation did not continue for another season. Although the easiest explanation may be everything I just detailed above, because Tara is clearly lacking magic.

Overall Grade: D / D +

[the D stands for "Duncan"]

[Tara's face when she reads how bad her show is]

[bisexual-bat]

cute lil oneshot for @sspadfoot <3 (lwk made me cry even tho i wrote it) special delivery <333

It was the last day of 7th year.  James was so excited to go home and see his parents.  And plus, everyone was coming over too. Regulus, Remus, Sirius, Peter, Mary, Dorcas, Pandora, Evan, and even Barty. Marlene was coming too lames was a little nervous about that. Marlene had a sort of crush on his mom. Even though she has her own girlfriend. It made no sense to James, but whatever. They were going to have the best week before everyone had to go.  

They were all getting on the train to go back home. Somehow, they all fit inside one compartment. To be fair there were a lot of people sitting on each other, Barty on Evan, Sirius on Remus, Pandora on Lily, Marlene on Dorcas, regulus on James and there was enough room that Peter and Mary could sit by themselves.  They all were chatting. When the trolley lady came around was an awkward situation, but James made up for it by buying a lot of candy. It was their last year, after all, might as well indulge in the childless while they could.

They all got to platform 9 ¾ and Effie and Monty were nowhere to be seen

Marlene looked around in a very exaggerated manner, “Now. Where is my wife?”

Dorcas looked appalled, “Excuse me?”

“I love you babe, but Euphemia Potter.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Well, they couldn’t find them at the station. So, they all got a ride on the Night Bus to James’ house.  James took the spare key out from underneath the flowerpot and opened the front door.  Effie wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen or the library, neither was Monty.

“Mom!?” “Dad?!” James yelled out.

James remembered his parent’s bedroom, so they checked there next.

“We have gathered here today to remember Euphemia and Fleamont Potter.” James eventually drowned out the speaker and looked at the two caskets in the grass. He watched as they lowered the two caskets side by side forever.  

James kept thinking back to that day. When they all found his parents. Dead in their bed. Holding hands. They were so peaceful. So serene.  The way James started bawling, hitting the floor. All of his friends surrounded him in the biggest hug ever. They all sat there in silence while James sobbed. At one point Lily got up to get him some water.  Somehow, they all moved downstairs to the living room where James was cuddled up in Regulus’ arms while Lily and Pandora made some food and something to drink. Everyone was quiet, huddled around the fire. All sitting in the living room.

                  James walked to the wake with everyone surrounding him.

                  James every day came down to the cemetery to have lunch, dinner, breakfast or just to talk to them.

                              Every day till he was reunited with them.

@im-just-here4853 @sspadfoot

[silverdune]

..humbug | prologue.

"please.. forgive the intrusion of us three festive spectres.."

minors dni. ageless blogs dni. blank blogs dni. you'll be blocked.

..humbug masterlist | next ->

character(s): choi seungcheol, yoon jeonghan, joshua hong as the ghosts of christmas past, present and future (ft. you as scrooge, mentioned ?? svt member)

tags: retail worker!reader, reader doesn't like the holidays, 95z are sarcastic and they sorta break-in(??) (it'll make sense), banter, mild suspense, ghosts, reader gets freaked out and questions their reality, retail stores during the holidays, stress, food (eating), christmas music, past relationships/breakups, crying, angst, explicit language

word count: 4.0k

summary: you come home, stressed from your christmas eve shift and three people have shown up in your apartment. they claim they're the ghosts of christmas past, present and future, but a christmas carol is a work of fiction.. right?

a/n: i didn't expect the prologue to be this long haha but here it is. hopefully i can get the rest of this up by christmas, if not, just after?? anyways, i hope you enjoy;

Christmas Eve.

It's always dialled up to eleven on the last day before Christmas. The speakers are only playing holiday music, you've got to wear the tacky sweater and your stress levels are indisputably at their highest.

This isn't your favourite time of year by any means.

Every chance you get, you eye what seems to be the only clock in the entire store. It rings an hour before closing time, and you've got to spend a further hour clearing everything away and shutting up shop before you can spend two blissful days in solitude.

The queue for the checkouts stretches as far as the eye can see. As you pass by to take a stack of baskets back to the entrance, you can't help but take a gander at everyone's trolleys, filled to the brim with their last minute buys. It truly makes you wonder why anyone would wait until the last second to get everything in for the holidays.

The journey is slow as people go back and forth across the aisles, trying their best to gather all the stuff they could possibly need and want. Your mind is ticking over, wishing and waiting for your shift to be done with so you can go home and eat.

The stack of baskets finally end up back in the holder, and you're immediately called away to jump back on tills.

An hour becomes forty-five minutes, to half an hour, to fifteen minutes, to shutters down.

The speakers are turned off and you glance at your co-workers with a heavy sigh. One of them remarks that it's another Christmas Eve over with!

You snort to yourself and say beneath your breath, "Ain't I glad for it."

You get to work wiping down the tills, making sure everything is tidied away, and helping a few other staff members replace leftover stock from customers who could not stomach the neverending queue. Soon enough, it's time for you to go home.

You had exchanged gifts with the rest of the staff throughout the week, and as you head to your car, you wish everyone a happy holiday and new year. They shout back with more energy than your sleep deprived self could manage, and you climb into your car before starting the engine and driving home.

You keep the radio off. You had heard enough Christmas music on this day alone.

Pulling into the tiny driveway of your house sometime later, you clamber out, collecting your bag of presents from your friends at work as well as your shoulder bag. Eventually, you get it all to the front door, and upon entering the code, you almost fall into your abode and haphazardly shut the door behind you.

The bags hit the floor. Your shoes are the first thing to come flying off, followed by your hat, coat and scarf. It had started snowing recently, though thankfully none had fallen so far tonight.

Stepping into your house, you take a deep breath in then turn on all the lights. You then decide to head to your bedroom and get changed into your pyjamas. Much better.

It's almost 10pm when you start preparing dinner. Nothing too fancy or elaborate, just a quick bite to eat before you inevitably get into bed and fall into the deepest sleep imaginable. Slumber had been slipping away for days, you know you'll be thankful for the first good night's sleep in ages.

The house is quiet and still, save for the sounds of the hood fan above your stove, the clacking of pots and pans, the faucet turning on and off as you wash your hands, and the timer on your phone letting you know your meal is done.

As you plate your dinner and toss the pans into the sink, the wind picks up outside. It howls at your kitchen window, startling you a little, before you notice drops of something fall in front of the nearby streetlight.

Immediately, you think it's snow, and a quick poke of the head outside your front door confirms that theory. You hum, then go back inside before your dinner gets cold.

You take the dish into the living room and place it on the table before taking a seat on the floor. Without a second to waste, you tuck in.

The wind gets stronger with each passing minute. You figure the snow could only be getting heavier. Perhaps it's cold enough for it to stick.

Thoughts pass absent-mindedly through your head as you eat. Gotta call parents in the morning. Make sure dinner is prepared. They're coming at around 2pm. I need to tidy up a bit before they get here too.

Finishing up your dinner, you get up to grab your phone from your bag. It lets you know it's just past 11pm and your eyes widen in surprise - has time really gone that fast?

As you re-enter the living room, you ensure you have an alarm set for 9am the following morning, then pick up your plate and take it into the kitchen.

The wind grows rather fierce outside, and the howling becomes.. eerie. A blizzard hails and you wonder when it's going to calm down, if it will at all.

You clear everything up and put everything back, then wipe the countertops down. It's an extra step before you can go to bed, but you know you'll be thankful for it in the morning. Once you switch off all the lights, you head into the bathroom and brush your teeth.

The baying wind causes a noticeable raucous outside as you splash your face with warm water and turn off the faucet. The nature of it is almost otherworldly and it brings you to a halt.

Never before have your hairs stood on head at the mere appearance of a gale force wind.

You pick up your towel to dry your face, now slightly perturbed at just how forceful these gusts are.

You won't lie, it's making you feel uneasy.

Setting the towel on the side, you hurry out the bathroom to switch on one of the floor lamps so you can feel comfortable turning off the bathroom light. You're not sure why the weather is making you feel like this, but the way it's picked up in the last hour is genuinely starting to scare you.

Your mouth is a few seconds ahead of your brain when you call out, "Hello?" You shake your head slightly, unsure of where that exclamation came from.

What, do you suppose there are ghosts here?

A chuckle escapes you - surely not. It is just an incredibly powerful wind, coupled with snow. This has happened hundreds of times before, this is nothing new!

Exhaling, you turn off the bathroom light, turn off the floor lamp, then go into your bedroom. The clock reads just shy of midnight.

For some reason, this makes you pause.

A lump forms in your throat that you promptly swallow. Nothing to fear, you think, and get into bed with the promise of a wonderful night's rest.

You close your eyes, knowing you'll be off to sleep in no time..

Thud.

You jolt upright.

"What the fuck?"

You heart picks up speed. You place a hand on your chest as you try and take the deepest breaths possible.

Your shaky hand reaches out to turn on the bedside lamp. Slowly, you pull back the duvet and get out of bed, grabbing your phone in the process and switching on the torch.

Inch by inch, you trudge out of the bedroom and head in the direction of the kitchen, where you assume the noise came from. It sounded like a clattering of pans.. you don't even know what would've caused it.

But more than that, you are chilled to the bone to discover you can.. fucking hear voices?

Coming to a stop in the middle of the hallway, every sense is on high alert as you point your torch to the floor. What the fuck is going on, and who the fuck is in my house?

Assuredly not what you were expecting in the early hours of Christmas morning.

Nobody had entered the house as you were getting ready for bed. There was no break-in, no disturbances other than the loud wind, and certainly no sign that someone had managed to find another way to enter.

This is truly something else.

And what gets to you more than anything, is that as you start treading carefully towards the kitchen again, the voices become more distinctive.. and there's three of them.

.

.

Usually, a more graceful entrance through the chimney would be in order.

But where no chimney exists, the next best option is.. the oven.

"Damn it!"

"Good one, Joshua.."

"Don't look at me, Jeonghan. I'm not the one who decides to get thrown down- or I guess in this case out- first." Joshua picks himself up off the ground and dusts down his jacket. Jeonghan follows suit, then moves to brush off Joshua's shoulders before getting shooed away. "And Seungcheol's going to get a lovely entrance, I bet.."

Much to their shock - and joy - Seungcheol flies through the open oven door and lands with a thud against the kitchen island opposite.

Jeonghan and Joshua both guffaw as the latter closes the oven. "Ah, I'm almost glad I spoke too soon."

"Bastard," mutters Seungcheol beneath his breath, rubbing his head as he scrambles to his feet. "Could've helped me.."

Both Jeonghan and Joshua - whom Seungcheol unabashedly nicknames The Bothersome Brothers - look at one another then turn to Seungcheol in mock sympathy. For dramatic effect, Jeonghan gently covers his mouth with his hand as Joshua shakes his head in shame.

"Oh.. we are so sorry, forgive us, dear elder.." Jeonghan drones, hand now on his chest to feign sadness.

Seungcheol fixes them a less-than-pleased glare and rolls one shoulder back at a time to relieve some tension. "I will roast you both."

The pair fake a gasp simultaneously. "The horror!" says Joshua.

"Couldn't imagine!" follows Jeonghan, back of hand on his forehead.

"Alright, enough you two. We need to figure out where we are and who we're assisting."

The two drop the act and instantly shift into gear. "Well.." begins Joshua, putting his hands behind his back and taking a walk through the kitchen, "we're in a house.."

Jeonghan snorts. Seungcheol does not have the patience for this.

"Seriously?"

"What?" Joshua exclaims; Seungcheol's raised brow says it all. "..Fine." Out of thin air, he retrieves a large, ancient book that he opens to about the halfway point. He recites the information within back to the other men. "LN.FN. Late 20s-early 30s. Retail worker. Reason for hating the holidays.."

Shriek.

.

.

When you wander into your kitchen, you let out an earth-shattering scream.

You abruptly reach for the nearest light switch and turn it on, revealing three men standing in front of your oven, one of them fumbling to hold onto a giant book as it nearly slips out of his hands.

The flashlight on your phone gets shut off. You stare blankly at the trio, unable to fathom just why they are currently standing in your kitchen.

"Who the hell are you? What are you doing in my house?" you yell, hoping to God this is either a very realistic nightmare, or that if it is real, one of your neighbours understands there are currently three intruders in your home so they can come and help you.

The man furthest to the right takes a step forward. They are all noticeably just as freaked out as you, and it befuddles you since, you know, they are the ones in your house.

"Our sincerest apologies.." He says it so intently and it's disquieting. "We did not mean to frighten you."

The man in the centre continues, "Please.. forgive the intrusion of us three festive spectres.."

The man holding the book completes the sentence, "You must be N." He smiles, and now you have to try and wrap your head around the fact that he just said your name. "It is very nice to meet you."

You are at a complete loss for words. Everything goes still as you try and make sense of all of this.

You try again with asking questions. "..Please tell me who you are and where you came from." The words leave you in a controlled yet urgent tone.

"Bizarrely, of the two queries, the latter will be the more difficult to understand.." remarks the man in the centre.

What in the- "What in the name is that supposed to mean?" you ask.

Bookkeeper answers, "What he's trying to say is that our method of arrival was both unconventional and incomprehensible."

Your head is spinning irrevocably. The walls feel like they are closing in. Everything about this is wrong and you just want to wake up from whatever sordid dream this is.

"Okay.." You try again, this time with a shaky voice. "I am going to politely ask you- in fact, no, I am going to demand that you leave my house this instant or I will call the police!" Your voice quickly reaches its peak volume and the trio are taken aback.

The first man to speak to you tries to de-escalate the situation. "We can explain why we're here!"

"And how!" says the man in the middle.

Good God, is this nightmare over already?

At that moment, the three men form a line. One by one, they introduce themselves.

"My name is Seungcheol. I am the Ghost of Christmas Past."

"My name is Jeonghan, I am the Ghost of Christmas Present."

"My name is Joshua, I am the Ghost of Christmas Future."

They bow in unison.

You laugh.

They glance at one another as they lift their heads, then look over at you. Both arms are tucked across your stomach and you are fully bellowing out laughter.

Their backs straighten. Joshua tucks the book under his arm. The three exchange another glance before they turn back to you.

Once you have finally calmed down and wiped a stray tear, you come back to the room and say, "Holy shit, that is the funniest thing I've heard all year."

Jeonghan goes to speak, "Um- we're- we're afraid that it's-"

You continue chuckling, effectively interrupting him. "That is quite the cover story."

"Beg your pardon?" Joshua cocks a brow.

"All fun and games, huh? Thought you'd get a last minute steal in, and if I found you, you'd pose as the three ghosts of Christmas from the Dickens novel." A snort involuntarily escapes you at the ridiculousness of it all.

The trio perk up at that. Jeonghan mutters to them, "That author's name again!"

Seungcheol gazes at you. "Um, excuse me? Did you mention.. Dickens?"

You stop. "Yes? His famous novel, A Christmas Carol has three ghosts that show up in it: Christmas past, present and future.." Their bemused facial expressions are not lost on you. "Surely you.. must have heard of it if you're referencing the characters and literally introducing yourselves as them." You are still in disbelief over that.

"Well," Joshua begins, "to be honest, we've only heard of the novel through other visits we've done.."

"Yes, literally everyone we have interacted with has brought that story up in connection to us but we have no knowledge of it!" Jeonghan explains.

"Some have even gone as far as to say we are actually from that novel and we've come to life!" says Seungcheol.

Frozen solid to the spot you're standing on, you take a good look at three men in front of you. They are all wearing similar attire of a vintage persuasion: suits under long trenchcoats with slacks. Their hair is styled in a way reminiscent of the 40s.

This is baffling to say the least.

Festive spectres..

"Jeonghan, is it?"

Jeonghan eyes you. "Yes?"

"You mentioned you were.. festive spectres.. Is-" You cannot comprehend the fact you're going to inquire about this. "Is that.. legit?"

Jeonghan smiles. "Undoubtedly. And if you want to know the answer to your other query.. We entered through your oven."

Your jaw drops.

That's enough.

"Okay!" You enter the kitchen and go to stand behind them so you can escort them out of the house. "Thank you very much for your company, but-"

As soon as your hand brushes Joshua's shoulder, you squeal and step back.

He is frightfully cold.

The men pivot and see you standing on the other side of the kitchen, back pressed against the sink with one hand covering the other.

"Oh!" Seungcheol understands. "Yes, we are.. quite chilly." The other two catch on and nod in agreement.

Your pupils grow three sizes. "Quite chilly?" you scoff. "You're a damn glacier, fuck.."

"Again, apologies," Seungcheol quietly laughs. "Comes with the territory."

You can do nothing but stare at them; this all well beyond you at this rate.

Joshua opens the book again to the same place as before. "Your name is N.. Late 20s-early 30s.."

"Hang on a minute!" You point a finger. "How the hell do you have that information?"

"Oh! When we are assigned folks to visit during the early morn of Christmas day, we're given a basic information log on who they are and their reasons for disliking the holiday season," says Joshua with a grin on his face.

That last part throws you off. "My.. reasons for disliking Christmas?"

"Yes! A few are listed here actually.. The music, working in a retail store, putting up with distant relatives, commercialisation, consumerism, etc, etc.."

The list is all accurate, but something stings in the back of your mind. You ignore it. For now.

"Right and as the self-proclaimed ghosts of Christmas whenever, you're here to try and make me less of a Grinch?"

"Grinch..?" Joshua furrows his brow in confusion.

"We had a few people mention The Grinch, remember?" says Jeonghan, trying to poke at Joshua's memory. "He's a cartoon of a character who hates Christmas so much he tries to steal it."

"And eventually his heart grows three sizes and he learns to love the holiday and be more cheerful," you finish explaining. Now your head is spinning much faster.

It eventually registers with Joshua, "Ah! Yes, I do remember that story now. Not mentioned as frequently as the other one."

"I mean.. no surprise there, you are literally telling people you're three of the characters from that story." You rub your forehead in exasperation. Quite frankly, you're tired, stressed and just want to go back to bed.

"So, I think with all that settled, we should get to the bottom of what really upsets you about the holidays," announces Seungcheol.

Your eyes split open. Huh?

"Excuse you?"

"The real reason for your hurt at this time of year," Jeonghan informs.

"Yeah, I got that part, but the fuck?"

You are yet to find a good explanation for anything occurring right now and these three "ghosts" want to unpack all the problems?

It is still unclear if they are even telling the truth!

Joshua closes the book and sighs. "I listed many reasons, all of which are perfectly valid and understandable, but there's something much deeper."

"It has been troubling you since well.. last year," laments Jeonghan.

"And only when you confront it, can you learn to move forward," Seungcheol affirms.

Your legs nearly turn to jelly and you have to prop yourself up on the side of the sink just to remain steady.

The something much deeper?

The thing troubling you?

The thing you must confront?

You have to turn away from them.

Staring out of the window, all the memories come flooding back.

You had spent three Christmases together.

Everything was going so well. You had considered moving in together up until late last year.

That was when things got worse.

You grew ever so distant in the weeks leading up to Christmas. It was to be your fourth together and yet, by the time December rolled around, you both decided it was best if you broke it off.

No closure. No final words. No cards or gifts or well wishes from either of you.

Truly a lonely holiday.

You had of course spent it surrounded by family, but after almost four years together, it hurt to have an empty seat beside you at the dinner table.

Even waltzing around your own house reminded you of everything you shared. You'd often stay the night at each other's places.

Now it was your second Christmas apart, and despite all the time that has passed, it could still bring you to tears just thinking about it.

You often wonder what he's doing. If he ever thinks of you. It crosses your mind that he clearly hasn't, otherwise he'd pick up the phone, but the hypocrisy would be so loud, and it never stopped you from thinking about him.

With a heavy weight on your shoulders, you take a deep breath in. It occurs to you that the three ghosts have been standing behind you this entire time, and you brush a tear away before turning around.

"Sorry.." you whisper. To them? To him? To yourself? You don't know.

"It is more than okay. We are only here to help," says Seungcheol, gently.

"And if you'd like us to, we can guide you through these three different times," follows Jeonghan. "But it is up to you."

"If you wish us to leave, we shall," Joshua vows on behalf of all three of them.

Something uncanny twists in your stomach. You are unsure of when or how the atmosphere shifted but, you find yourself unable to do much else but choke a sob. They watch on sympathetically, unable to conceal their sorrow.

"How do I- kn-know that you're really those ghosts?" you sniff.

"Well, aside from the temperature, does this help you?" wonders Joshua, before he levitates the book above his palm before throwing it into the air, causing it to vanish.

You blink. "W-Wow.."

"And perhaps.." Seungcheol backtracks out of the kitchen, subtly guiding you towards the standing mirror in the hallway. You follow, and once you're standing in front of the glass, it reveals zero reflection of the man beside you.

"Oh, shit-" You can't see, but Seungcheol smirks behind you. You lift a hand to the mirror and gulp. "Okay.. So.. How would you plan on guiding me through these times?"

"I answer your question with another: who do you see before you?"

".. Not you," you joke. The trio chuckle. "But, seriously.. myself, of course."

"Yourself, when?"

"Now. Today."

"And what year is it currently?"

"..2023."

"Correct. Now.." Seungcheol lifts an arm, then moves his hand in a circle motion, causing a spiralling ripple effect on the mirror.

Your mouth gapes open and a gasp escapes. This is insane, how is this even real?

Seungcheol eventually lowers his arm. "..What do you see?"

The picture clears. You say what you see. "Christmas lights.. That's the front of my house! It's snowing.. There's someone laughing-"

The words get caught in your throat.

Wonwoo.

Your ex.

"That's.." You struggle to say his name. It's like you haven't said it in years. "..Wonwoo."

The name tastes of salt on your tongue. Or maybe that's the tears that have since started shedding with reckless abandon.

"Your ex-boyfriend, correct?"

You swallow thickly. "Y-Yes.."

The picture starts to change. It becomes so much darker. The tone is shifting. It was only a vignette of the past and yet you wish you could hold onto it for dear life.

The world becomes foggy. The words are mumbled and the voices are not defined. You shudder in your own living room, wiping your cheeks free of tears.

Seungcheol stands before you and holds his hand out.

"I stood you before the mirror, as while it does give you your reflection at present, it can also reflect so much of what has been left in the past. It acts as a window to everything that has transpired to make you who you are."

You look at him, then the mirror, then back at him.

"Take my hand, if you wish to revisit the past."

Pushing your shoulders back, you take a moment to consider whether this is a good idea.

In seconds, your hand ends up in his.

He guides you through the mirror, and as the door closes, your living room is shrouded in darkness.

Jeonghan nudges Joshua, "Admirable."

Joshua nods. "I do hope this brings them some much needed closure."

× tristeetconfus (ave). do not repost. ×

[qqtxt]

[🍬] sweet serendipity [🦊]

[!] this is for the 500 followers mini fics. click here to find out more! ✿ pairing: yeonjun x reader / idol!txt / makeup.artist!you / fluff / 544 words ✿ request: “you can hold my hand, if you want.” + yeonjun [main masterlist 🌸] / [event masterlist] / [tag: #qqtxt: 500]

this isn’t something you were used to. if anything, you would’ve imagined yourself to get used to things on the job but this? absolutely not. it wasn’t your first time experiencing a black out during one of your duties as a makeup artist on call but add a thunderstorm to that equation? you have never considered resigning so quickly in your life.

and curse the fact that the person you’re currently working on is looking up to you with worried eyes considering he knows how fidgety you get due to unforeseen circumstances. he notices your breath hitching when the lights go out and pitch black soon consumes the world. tiny flickers of emergency lights come on, illumination portions of the room in red and yeonjun’s able to see you closing your eyes, hands retreating to the front of your chest as you clutch onto the eye shadow palette with one hand, the other squeezing the brush like a lifeline. 

the rumbles of thunder can be heard despite the fact that all of you were indoors of a large building. it’s overlapping with announcements being made on the speaker of the standard procedure of remaining calm and that help is on the way to quickly restore things back to the way it was.

you only remember who you are and where you are when the soft clearing of a throat reels you back. peeking with one eye, you watch as yeonjun inches his hand up, palm facing you with fingers stretched out towards you. blinking at his hand, back to his face, you watch intently as he points with his chin, as if it’s to say without words: you can hold my hand, if you want.

it’s a wired response of you shaking your head, even if that’s not what you actually mean. it’s just your nervous system taking over as a whole and you can’t seem to function right. he offers you a small smile and gently reaches out with both hands this time; one hand removing your eye shadow palette, the other removing the brush and setting it aside on your trolley stand. when both of your hands are free, he carefully takes them into his own and lightly sways them side to side, as if he’s drawing your attention elsewhere from the scary situation that slowly... surely... it’s kind of working.

even though no words are exchanged, yeonjun knows the words thank you are lining your smile when you lower your head and start to grasp onto his hands better. palm to palm, gently fingers learning to trust each other to slip in between for security and solidarity.

it was... sweet.

the kind of sweet that even if beomgyu wanted to yell from across the room for both of you to get a room! he realises he’ll pipe down for once when he knows just how much his precious hyung has been talking about you non-stop about his potential one-sided crush. (even if beomgyu knows that’s not the case when you spend a bit more time on making yeonjun look the best out of all of them, he’ll relish in the little fantasy k-drama unfolding in front of him that just got a bit more interesting in the sudden turn of events)

[honouredsnakeprincess]

Ask game consisting of fifty or so questions and clarifications

Have you ever left the continent you were born on?

Is honour important to you?

Do you think you could convincingly fake speaking a language you don't actually speak to people who are monolingual speakers of your own language?

If you had an evil clone, how would you stop them from ruining everything?

Do you remember your dreams? If you do, what are they about? If you don't, what do you imagine they are about?

What are your thoughts on Italian futurism and its relationship with the fascists?

Do you have strong feelings about entropy?

Do you consider yourself a part of the country you reside in? As an example, if you lived in Germany, do you consider yourself 'German'?

Do you remember your favourite song?

Do you remember your favourite meal?

Do you remember your favourite book?

Is there any field of human knowledge that you hold in high esteem but would never want to actually study?

How much of your past do you remember?

How many names have you used?

How many places can you never go back to?

Do you believe confederalism to be a meaningful or desireable organizing principle for a 21st-century polity? Can a confederation ever really have an implicit right to secession, or do the pressures of international politics make this impossible in practice?

Is it better for a constitution to guarantee abstract rights (freedom of speech and expression) or more material ones (freedom from hunger, guaranteed housing)? Please don't say 'both', it's the least interesting answer you could give here and isn't really engaging with the question.

Is agency real?

How would you react to the trolley problem?

Can we ever really know how we will react to things in advance?

Is true self-knowledge possible?

Are you afraid of the dark?

Your lifespan has been extended to five hundred years. How will you pass the time? Will you want more when those five hundred years are up?

Is there a game you've never played but want to play someday?

Are you the type of person to reblog ask games without sending any asks to the person you reblogged them from?

Do you consider yourself to be a bad person?

Can any of us ever truly be good?

Are you allowed to be a good person?

Have you ever wanted to marry someone who you did not end up marrying?

Can a person be made better by witnessing suffering?

Have you ever owned more than one copy of a book? How did this happen?

What is your favorite hypothetical solution to the fermi paradox?

Do you trust your own experiences?

What is the best font and why is it Consolas?

Have you ever heard a cover song that just didn't compare to the original?

If you had superpowers, would you be brave enough to use them for good or for ill?

Do you think superpowered vigilantism is even meaningfully possible in the modern surveillance state?

What do you love, if not a person or people?

What's something you are no longer afraid of?

Do you kill insects for your own convenience?

Do you know what the excrucians are? Do you sympathize?

Can an action ever truly be 'inauthentic' to the person doing it?

Do we have souls?

Do you ever find yourself listening to music you don't remember putting on, and that you don't especially like?

Do you like looking into mirrors?

Do you trust mirrors?

Have you ever fallen into water you could not swim in?

Do you think human beings can ever truly give up violence? If so, do you think we would?

Do you think human beings should strive to give up violence? Would it make the world better, or just make it harder to fight against injustice?

Do you believe in empathy as a feeling or as an act?

[bbeanbbao]

we ache until we bloom

summary

Sex with Jimin was amazing, truly mind-blowing. From the first time, he seemed to know exactly what you wanted, always determined to make you feel good, touching you in ways that had you weak and needing more.

But if you were being brutally honest with yourself, this was what kept you coming back for more - this right here. The lazy kisses after you'd finished. The feeling of Jimin's body pressed against yours, warm and solid, holding you carefully. The way you breathed together, his hands stroking through your hair, and ultimately, falling asleep in his arms, sated and content.

relationship

park jimin/reader

tags

f/m, au - college/university, fluff, smut, friends with benefits to lovers, vaginal sex, chaptered

read on ao3!

preview

"J-Hooooooooooooope!" a voice cut through the noise of the music and chatting, and you turned to see Yoongi with his arms raised in victory, welcoming in a flushed Hoseok who was balancing far too many shots of soju in his hands.

"Hyung, stop yelling and help me!" Hoseok exclaimed, the various glasses wobbling in his hands.

Yoongi and Seokjin rushed to him to grab some glasses, handing them out to the hands grabbing around them.

"J-Hope! J-Hope! J-Hope!" A chant of his stage name started out from the other side of the room as drinks were passed out and promptly knocked back.

"Ah, none of that!" Hoseok said, waving a hand bashfully before returning to the kitchen to presumably get more drinks.

You watched as Yoongi squeezed through the huddle that had surrounded him, one hand placed over a couple of glasses of soju protectively.

"I got the goods!" he said, offering one out to you when he reached you.

"This is why you're my favourite, oppa," you replied, raising your voice to be heard over the music. 

"What's this I hear about favourites?" another voice came from behind you, and Yoongi smirked as he looked over your shoulder.

Turning, you came face to face with a pouting Jimin, cheeks a little pink and hair messily brushed back from his forehead. 

"Oh, just being told once more how I'm the favourite and best ever," Yoongi said beside you, and you shoved his arm playfully.

"I think you made that last bit up, oppa," you scolded him. He merely downed his drink, letting out a smug "ah" when he was done.

"I'm offended!" Jimin whined and you couldn't help but laugh at his puppy eyes, hand dramatically placed on his chest.

Leaning in, you stage whispered into his ear, "Don't tell oppa, but I only say that so he brings me free stuff."

Jimin threw his head back with a loud laugh, and it was Yoongi's turn to clutch at his heart dramatically.

"The betrayal! Fuck you both," Yoongi said, only making you and Jimin laugh more.

At that point, Hoseok re-emerged from the kitchen, once again juggling drinks, and Yoongi was summoned.

"Hyung! A hand again please!" 

Yoongi darted off once more as chants restarted around you. 

Hoseok, Taehyung, Jungkook and Jimin's apartment was packed, filled to the brim with stressed and tired students trying to let off a final bit of steam before the madness of countless essays, assignments and exams truly began in the coming semester. Namjoon’s carefully curated playlist played out through the huge speakers that Yoongi had wheeled over, and drinks seemed to be limitless. (You suspected the speakers and the little trolley Yoongi had brought them on had been “borrowed” from the postgraduate recording studios, but you didn't dare ask.)

You thought it must only be a matter of time before you got a noise complaint.

As you watched drinks being handed out again, your eyes scanning over the groups of people huddled together chatting, some lounging on the sofas and floor, you felt a hand rest lightly on your lower back.

“Want another?” Jimin said in your ear and you quickly downed your soju before nodding.

“I brought some drinks as well, but I’m not sure what happened to them…" you replied, vaguely remembering Taehyung saying that he'd "keep them somewhere safe". 

As if reading your thoughts, Jimin chuckled.

"Come on, I think I have an idea where they might be."

He took your hand and gently led you through the living room, weaving between the groups of people talking and singing along to the music.

On the way, you were suddenly attacked by a flurry of dark hair and sparkly clothes.

"There you are!" a muffled but undeniably drunken squeal rang in your ear and you pulled back slightly, grinning at your friend.

"It's only been about fifteen minutes, Minjeong!" you laughed and the girl in front of you huffed.

"Hobi oppa said he'd get me some soju but he's disappeared!" Her eyes were a little glassy, her cheeks also flushed beneath the speckles of glitter on them. Suddenly, her eyes focused on Jimin next to you, still holding your hand.

"Jimin oppa!" she cried, then threw her arms around him next. He laughed, stumbling back a little - Minjeong was tiny but a fierce hugger. 

"Minjeong-ah, how much have you had?" he asked lightly, pulling back to look at her properly.

"Ah, oppa, I'm fine," she replied, waving him away.

"If you say so! Come on, we're going to get some drinks," Jimin continued with a wide smile spread across his face. "Let's get you some water."

Minjeong rolled her eyes but smiled, grabbing your hand, the three of you forming a line to the kitchen. 

As you reached the door, Minjeong squeezed your hand and leaned into you.

"Jimin looks cute tonight, no?" she said, a mischievous smile on her face. You rolled your eyes in turn and shushed her, which only made her laugh.

You looked ahead at Jimin again, thinking that despite her lack of tact, Minjeong was right. Jimin did look cute. In fact, as your eyes wandered from the line of his neck to the way his shoulders moved under the white t-shirt he wore, the fabric clinging slightly, down to the dip of his waist and then his ass and long legs in those tight, black ripped jeans...yeah, he looked hot.

You shook the thought from your head as you entered the kitchen, focusing on the task at hand - water for Minjeong, alcohol for you and Jimin.

Jimin was grabbing some cups now, moving to the fridge to get some cold water and passing one to Minjeong and the other to you. 

"Make sure you stay hydrated," he said with a sweet smile, and you took the cup with a smile back.

As you and Minjeong finished off your water, feeling like naughty kids being told what to do, Jimin searched the cupboards for more alcohol.

"Aha!" he exclaimed, his head in the cupboard under the sink, then emerged with a grin, your bottle of gin in hand. His little crooked tooth stuck out as he smiled, and you couldn't help but think he looked adorable.

"Yes! Fair play, thank you!" you said, taking a mental note to thank Taehyung for hiding it well. Jimin grabbed some fresh cups to start pouring the gin out, taking some tonic from the fridge to top it up with.

"Now, Minjeong," Jimin started, a playful smile on his face. "If I give you a tiny cup of gin and tonic, will you please, please promise to drink it slowly?" 

Minjeong bounced on the balls of her feet cutely and you wrapped an arm around her. 

"Yes, oppa!" she said, all smiling sweetness - but as soon as Jimin's back was turned, she winked at you. You poked her nose with your free hand.

"Hey, listen to Mr. Jimin!" you whispered jokingly and she laughed again.

"Yes, sir, Jimin sir!" she said quietly and Jimin tutted, overhearing. Shaking his head with faux seriousness, he handed over her drink.

"Thank you, oppa!" Minjeong sang out and, giving your waist a quick squeeze, she skipped out of the kitchen. 

"Look what I got!" you heard her shout, followed by a distinct, "Aish, you really are trouble" from Hoseok.

As the door swung closed, you and Jimin shared a giggle and, after handing your drink over, he held out his own cup to cheers.

"Thank you, Jiminie," you said and he smiled, sipping his drink.

"Any time. So how's it going? Ready for our impending doom in the next few weeks?" he asked and you groaned.

"I'm going to die ," you answered dramatically and Jimin laughed again. "Seriously, if I have to answer another essay question about some old guy's rambling novel again, I'm going to scream."

Tilting his head back to laugh louder, you watched as Jimin's eyes creased into crescents and his shoulders shook. Cute.

"Ah, you've got this! I believe in you," Jimin said when he was done laughing at your misfortune, a defiant look now crossing his face. He reached up to place a hand on your shoulder, squeezing a little. 

"Let's make a pact," he continued, and you raised an eyebrow in interest. "If I can make it through this next performance without Hobi hyung kicking my ass into oblivion for the sake of perfection, and you write the best essay ever on old white dudes, then we can treat ourselves."

"Oh yeah? How so?" 

"We'll go all out! Dress up, have a nice dinner, dessert and all!"

You laughed at that.

"Dessert too? Park Jimin, you tease," you said slyly and Jimin winked cheekily.

"Oh, I know how to treat a lady!" he said, puffing out his chest in mock pride, shaking his hair back. As you laughed, you reached up a hand and brushed a stray piece of hair off his forehead, letting your fingers linger a little. Smiling sweetly now, Jimin closed his eyes for a moment and leant into your touch.

Moving his hand from your shoulder, he stroked down to your waist, pulling you a little closer. You looked at each other for a few seconds, his eyes searching yours, before he began to lean forward a little.

continue on ao3!

[donalds-dreamland]

on ttr's 10th anniversary

hi! i was too busy to write this yesterday, both from being out of the house and. playing cartoonival LOL

my name is clover. it's also ivy. it's also celestial storm sometimes. in the past it's been burningstone, and embersprout, and sparrowsight, and wingpaw.

and sometimes, it's even something like princess marigold wildfoot.

(full post under cut!)

this is a screenshot from 2008, taken by my dad. despite the fact we're on the street in this picture, most of my time at this stage of playing the game was spent chasing butterflies in toontown central, trying and failing to race, and being curled up in my dad's lap, watching him do CFOs and CEOs with his friends and being soothed nearly to sleep by donald's dreamland's playground music. there are other names i recall from this time period, such as princess pearl and kiddo the mice (kiddo got all the way to MML before 2013)...

and then i really started finding myself.

these two screenshots are from 2011. if you couldn't tell, i also have a special interest in pokémon, and i joined a Clan by the (eventual) name of Dark Nation. our leader was Darkrai, and my best friend within the group was a Latias. more on them later, but Dark Nation's important. i would play Snivy with my dad's other Toons he had at the time, Coffee and Mocha the black and brown cats. when i was strong enough, he'd run me through the factory with his friends, and i would always get lost and die in the warehouse in the run for the stairs.

(it was a pretty scary warehouse.)

and then i joined RiverClan.

i don't need to tell you too much about what the warriors Clans were like in the 2010s. if you were there, you understand. (TLDR, it was a lot of violent roleplaying, petty drama, and circumventing disney's dictionary as hard as we could. it was glorious.)

and if you understand, you know i speak from the heart when i say these experiences, of the names snivy (or ivy, as the chat would allow) and burningstone, and eventually of the name clover, who became my main in TTO, were the genesis of my artistic endeavors.

i was roleplaying. i was writing. i was getting up at 5am, going out to the dining room, setting up my laptop, and hearing digital meows and yowls from my speakers for four hours before my mom woke up and i had to do my homework. i was creating. i was thriving. i was living.

and i was still playing with my dad. it was how we kept in touch, and i had an absolute blast. even when i teleported to a hacker and got ivy suspended for a few days, or when i tried beating up a hacker in toon valley and my dad (the payer of the account) had to forward my mom the chat log to my mortification, or my days of family gatherings, showing the littles the trolley games as they crowded around my laptop...

i could go on for hours.

there was something different in my dad's tone of voice when he called me the day it was announced, to the point where i asked what was wrong. and then he broke the news.

i wasn't very happy either. i remember spending my last days on toontown with riverclan, with the people i loved, hoping i could carry them with me for the rest of my life.

and then something magical happened.

when ttr was announced, there was an early statement somewhere on its website, there was a statement that basically said "we cannot take the toons with us, but this gives you a chance to rewrite their stories!"

and rewrite them i did.

clover is at 73 laff and working on her cashbot suit. in TTO, i had only just broken into the brrrgh.

ivy is somewhere in minnie's melodyland, at 53 laff. i believe in TTO she was around 36.

celestial storm is a rebirth, a positive one, of every clan experience i had as a child. (believe me, if there's one thing i'm okay with letting rest in the ashes of TTO, it's the warriors clans. at least, the ones we had.) i haven't played her much except for cartoonival, but i want her to reach the same heights clover and ivy are.

not only did TTR let me rewrite the stories of my beloved toons, it opened the gateway for me to reconnect and reunite with my past clans, with dark nation and riverclan, to get back in touch and reignite feelings and stories long forgotten. and i can never thank the game enough for that.

i'm even breaking into corporate clash, into these new experiences, these new flavors and remixes of the game that singlehandedly shaped who i would eventually become.

i feel a little silly for what i'm about to do, but thank you to people like @latiastm , @winkyfish , @sonicthehedgehogunofficial and all the people i'm about to DM this post to on discord for finding me again and for sticking with me these many, many years.

thank you also to @papajoolia for being my leader, now and forever, and you have all my respect and congratulations for where you are in the industry. keep going!!!

thank you to all the people i've managed to rope into the game, at least a little bit, with how important it is, most especially @surleetonin . i love you!!! so much!!!

and most of all,

thank you, sir max, and everyone on the ttr team for keeping the most important aspect of my childhood alive and paving the way for so many others to give this game the love it deserves in as many ways as we can. thank you for keeping us alive!!!!!! thank you!!!!! so much!!!!!!!

even now i know these words aren't enough. it just brings me a great amount of comfort and joy to know that this aspect of my childhood was brought back with as much ferocity, devotion and love as the world could give it. as i could give it, as i want to give it. this game is everything, absolutely everything to me in so many ways, and to know it still stands brings me eternal peace.

my name will always be clover, and ivy, and burning, and ember, and sparrow, and celeste, and whatever other names this lovely community lets me take on.

and even somewhere within my heart, there will always be a part of me named princess marigold wildfoot.

thank you, toontown rewritten. 💙 happy 10 years! 🎉 TOONS OF THE WORLD UNITE!!! 🎂🥧

[ladyaj-13]

LadyAJ's 2022 Fics

This year I wrote 28 new stories across four fandoms - One Direction, Kingsman, Endeavour and Eagle of the Ninth. Details below, I hope you’ll check some out - a mix of short tea break fics and longer ones, and a good scattering of rare pairs amongst the fandom standards.

One Direction

Follow Your Arrow - T, 36k, Louis/Harry

Canon compliant omegaverse band era pack-fic with touch-starved luna Louis, dropping, and other good stuff. Written for the One Direction Big Bang.

They said Louis playing alpha wouldn’t affect anything. It was the best thing for the band, so he doesn’t really regret it except deep in the dead of night, when he bites down on his knuckles to swap the echoing ache of depri for a sting of pain. But if he’d known it meant stepping back from Harry?

He’d have thought twice.

Bit by Bit and All at Once - M, 23k, Louis/Liam

Canon compliant, present day friends to lovers story, with long overdue love confessions and a very oblivious Liam.

“It’s not a joke,” Louis says, so quietly it almost gets lost in the humming of the fridge and the TV still playing out to itself in the other room. “I’ve been meaning to say for a long time… always told myself I would before I turned thirty... I love you,” he repeats, slightly choked, awful. “I’m in love with you.”

Or the one where Louis is in love with Liam, but Liam doesn't love him back. Or does he?

Eight Days - T, 22k, Louis/Liam

My attempt at a true romantic comedy, this is a canon compliant, near future fic. Written for the Lilo fest.

“Eight days,” Louis says decisively. “If the paperwork takes three weeks that means you have eight days before you have to file it. Give me those eight days.”

“Wait, what?”

“To show you what you’re missing, being married to me,” Louis says with a ghost of his old cheekiness. “You want to end this marriage, well. I want to experience it first.”

Or: Louis and Liam got hitched in Vegas, completely forgot about it for more than a decade, and it comes back to bite them. Sort of.

Blind Date - G, 14k, OT5

Bantery, fluffy poly AU fic where all five of them meet through the reality TV show Blind Date. Podfic available, linked from fic.

Louis Tomlinson, model and aspiring actor, has been chosen to appear on Blind Date. The only problem is, all the contestants are wonderful. And so is the host. It's making things difficult.

You and Me (Got a Whole Lot of History) - T, 7k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw

A Walls-tour era canon compliant Tomlinshaw with exes to lovers - a bit of misunderstanding for flavour and maturity in the finish.

Nick loves the crush and fever of being right in the thick of things, but just the thought of Louis looking down and spotting him makes him feel a little queasy.

It hadn’t been a proper thing. It wasn’t a relationship.

With This Wing, I Thee Wed - T, 4k, Louis/Niall

I flirted with calling this either the Cheeky Nandos one or the Gay Chicken one. AU capers with fake dating! Written for the Louis rare pair fest.

“Nando’s?”

Niall crosses his arms and pouts, a little line appearing between his eyebrows. “I want Nandos. I like Nandos.”

“And I like my dignity,” Louis mutters.

Make Your Mark - T, 3k, Louis/Liam

A friends to lovers speed-run with university students Louis and Liam, a tube of lipstick, and some realisations.

When one of Liam's classmates isn't getting the hint that he's not interested, Louis suggests they make him look unavailable.

Choo-Choose Me - G, 3k, Louis/Liam

AU meet-cute - read it on your next commute!

Liam is a commuter with a crush. Louis is the chirpy ticket inspector who occasionally mans the drinks trolley and sometimes makes announcements, his broad Yorkshire accent fighting the outdated train speakers. The train ships it.

Common Interest - T, 3k, Niall/Greg James

After reading the commuter fic above, maybe read this one on your lunch break. An office AU with background Larry, Nouis friendship and Tomlinshaw frenemyship. Written for Wordplay “Swing”.

Louis hums, swirling his potato to form a gravy puddle in the middle. He dunks a sausage in it. “Not that I don’t love our little daily ritual, but when are you going to go get your boy, you big hunky slab of man meat, you?”

Niall looks at Louis in horror.

Tall, Dark and… wait, what? - G, 3k, Louis/Harry/Nick Grimshaw

A canon compliant, Liam-POV, tour-shenanigans take on Stylinshaw. Written for Wordplay “Describe”.

Liam just wants Louis and Harry to admit they're seeing each other. To feel comfortable being themselves within the band and know that they're supported. So, he sets up a little game.

Roses - T, 2k, Louis/Niall

Beware the tags. Heed the tags. I take a fluffy pairing and make it less fluffy…

He’s going to go for it. He’s going to ask to be - boyfriends, or partners, or whatever you call it when you’re in your thirties and already know each other inside out. It feels like jumping off a cliff, but at the same time - it’s Niall. He can’t be afraid with Niall.

The Elf who Saved Christmas - G, 2k, Louis/Harry

An alternate universe meet-cute, with shopping mall Elf!Harry (and Niall) to the rescue. Written for the 1D Christmas fest.

Ernie and Doris are tired, grouchy, and no one told Louis you had to book an appointment to see Santa.

Particular - M, 2k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw

Edging into smut, as I described it in the tags, read for useless cleaner!Louis and uptight!(sometimes)Nick. Written for Wordplay “Particular”.

Nick is very particular about the upkeep of his hallway's Brazilian hardwood floor. He is very particular about the cleaning of his kitchen's fine Wedgewood china.

He is less particular in his bedroom.

The Superstar Scavenger Scramble - G, 2k, Louis/Greg James

The whole point of this fic was the smooching - canon compliant and height difference, because of course. Written for Wordplay “Scramble”.

He wants to win. And not just because he’s competitive as fuck, likes to best the other boys and put them in their place whatever they’re doing, never mind that this is a silly Radio 1 scavenger hunt around London, but because of what - who - is waiting at the other end.

Food Fight - G, 1k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw

A little canon compliant snippet that encompasses Louis’ love for tomato pasta.

It’s Louis’ famed cooking skills against Nick’s more cultured palate. Fight.

Moths and Butterflies - G, 1k, Louis/Harry

A fic that is close to my heart and seems to have resonated with people - pride parades, insecurity and finding a friend (maybe more).

It seemed like such a good plan a week ago. It had seemed like fate, for the town’s Pride parade to fall at the very same time when work sent him there to charm some clients. Who was Louis, to sniff at a higher power?

It was exciting, a week ago. Now he’s here though, in the thick of it, and he thought it would feel freeing but it doesn't. It just rams home how he doesn’t belong.

Damn it, Let me Cuddle You! - T, 920 words, Louis/Niall

Part of my sleepy Nouis series, this is just cuddling, arguing and fluff. And a bit more bickering.

Louis and Niall are both the big spoon. This causes issues.

Check the Body - G, 869 words, Zayn & Nick Grimshaw

A little canon compliant fic about finding commonalities and making friends. Written for Wordplay “Check”.

“Check the body!” Zayn yelps, and Nick nearly jumps out of his skin.

Kingsman

Trading Players - T, 7k - Eggsy/Harry

An alternative first meeting if Harry wasn’t available to spring Eggsy from the police station - with lots of protective Eggsy and Eggsy&Daisy. Complete as is, but I may continue it next year…

With Harry away on a mission, Merlin answers Eggsy's call and inducts Harry's Lancelot candidate, a Thomas Mayfield, for him. But the story doesn't end there, just because the pieces aren't yet on the board.

There’s a faint whimper, too distant from the bug to be Eggsy, but it sharpens Harry’s ears. He hits run on the location tracking software.

“Fuck.”

Quiet, breathed. Hopeless.

“S’alright Dais. We’re alright, yeah? Just - just ona adventure.”

Electric - M, 2k, Eggsy/Harry

A bit of an experiment, with Harry doting and Eggsy learning to like it - mainly fluff, but with a little angst as the salt in the caramel.

Harry’s touch is gentle, but electric. His fingertips massage light circles across Eggsy’s scalp that raise goosebumps over his entire body, broad palms tilting his head this way and that, putting Eggsy where he wants him, and Eggsy lets himself be put.

Family Realisations - G, 1k, Eggsy/Harry but maybe more Harry&Daisy

99% of Hartwin includes an age difference relationship, but this leans into Harry having a (hopefully humorous!) realisation of that, thanks to Daisy. 

Harry cuts up apple slices for his sister in law. Then he sits his sister in law in front of Peppa Pig for her designated half an hour of screen time, changes from his full suit into something more appropriate for an afternoon spent with a three year - with his sister in law, and when the episode finishes he takes his sister in law outside so she can check on her bug hotel.

Cascade - G, 1k, Eggsy/Harry and Tilde/Eggsy

Because everyone in this universe is clearly traumatised and making bad decisions.

This was a mistake.

And not just one mistake, no. This has been a whole series of them - a cascade of wrong turns and bad decisions, snowballing away until the momentum ran out.

Following in His Footsteps - T, 397 words, Eggsy & Merlin

Everything kept getting so long, I purposely wrote something tiny. But I still kind of love it. More Merlin & Eggsy friendship, please.

“In my defence,” Eggsy says shakily, because the whole point of the mission was capture only, Eggsy, we need information, “he was already dead when I got here.”

Endeavour

Uncommon People - T, 25k, Morse/Jakes

Merlin-esque alternate universe with prince!Morse, pining and shenanigans.

Prince Endeavour of Lincolnia is trapped by his status, and even worse - now he's expected to marry a woman he barely knows! But the Oxfordon cohort aren't all bad…

Snowy Morning - G, 1k, Morse/Max

An instalment in my domestic, established relationship Morse/Max series. 

There’s an ominous silence, and he wonders if he’s about to be treated to an overly detailed description of what happens to feet when left cold and soggy in inadequate boots.

A Battle of Wills - G, 1k, Morse/Jakes

We all want to see out-of-his-element Morse on Jakes’ farm, right?

Peter eyes the two staring contest participants, wondering who will win. Morse has determination on his side. He'll never back down from anything or anyone, Morse – he's got grit, as some out here would call it. Not to mention those wide blue eyes, narrowed now, that miss nothing, no sign of weakness.

Sunny Morning - T, 860 words, Morse/Max

Another instalment in my morning series, so more domestic established relationship fic, featuring Max’s garden.

Oxford is swathed in a heavy, unbroken blanket of heat.

The Eagle of the Ninth

Old-fashioned Sensibilities - G, 2k, Marcus/Esca

A modern AU… my flirtation with this fandom was brief but very satisfying.

Marcus must marry before he turns thirty, or his inheritance goes to Placidus.

[tonosystem]

Optimizing Your Home Theater Setup with Banana Plugs, HDMI 2.1 Cables, Speaker Cables, and TV Trolleys

Setting up a home theater system can be a complex task, requiring attention to detail and the right accessories to achieve optimal performance. Whether you're a movie enthusiast, a gamer, or simply someone who enjoys high-quality audio and visual experiences, understanding the role of each component in your setup is crucial. In this article, we'll delve into the importance of banana plugs, HDMI 2.1 cable, speaker cables, and TV trolleys, and how they contribute to an enhanced home entertainment experience.

The Role of Banana Plugs in Speaker Connections

Banana plugs are small, yet vital connectors that ensure a secure and reliable connection between your speakers and the amplifier or receiver. These plugs not only simplify the process of connecting and disconnecting speakers but also help to prevent frayed wires, which can degrade audio quality over time. When setting up your home theater, it's important to use high-quality banana plug that offer a tight fit and solid conductivity. In fact, by incorporating banana plugs into your setup, you can minimize signal loss and ensure that your speaker cables deliver the best possible sound. This is especially important if you are aiming for a clean and professional look in your home theater.

HDMI 2.1 Cables: Future-Proofing Your Entertainment System

As technology advances, so do the standards of audio-visual equipment. HDMI 2.1 cables represent the latest in high-definition multimedia interface technology, offering significant improvements over previous versions. These cables support higher video resolutions and refresh rates, including 8K at 60Hz and 4K at 120Hz, making them ideal for future-proofing your home theater system. Furthermore, HDMI 2.1 cables feature enhanced audio return channels (eARC), which allow for uncompressed audio formats, providing a more immersive sound experience. It's important to choose HDMI 2.1 cables that are certified for their performance, ensuring that your devices can take full advantage of these advanced features.

Importance of Quality Speaker Cables in Audio Performance

The quality of your speaker cables plays a critical role in the overall sound quality of your home theater system. Speaker cables are responsible for transmitting audio signals from your amplifier or receiver to your speakers, and any degradation in this signal can lead to poor sound performance. High-quality speaker cables are designed to minimize resistance and interference, ensuring that the audio signal remains pure and unaltered. When selecting speaker cables, it's important to consider the length of the cable, as well as its gauge, to ensure that it meets the specific needs of your setup. By investing in good speaker cables, you can significantly enhance the clarity and richness of your audio, making your home theater experience more enjoyable.

TV Trolleys: Flexibility and Mobility for Your Viewing Experience

TV trolleys are an often-overlooked accessory that can greatly enhance the versatility and functionality of your home entertainment setup. These mobile stands allow you to easily move your television to different locations within a room or even between rooms, providing flexibility in how you arrange your space. Whether you want to reposition your TV for better viewing angles or need to transport it to another room, a sturdy TV trolley can make the process hassle-free. Moreover, TV trolley come with built-in cable management systems, helping you keep your cables organized and preventing clutter. When choosing a TV trolley, it's important to ensure that it is compatible with your TV's size and weight, providing a stable and secure platform.

Conclusion

Optimizing your home theater setup involves careful consideration of various components, each of which plays a crucial role in delivering the best possible audio and visual experience. By using high-quality banana plugs, HDMI 2.1 cables, speaker cables, and TV trolleys, you can ensure that your home entertainment system performs at its peak. These accessories not only enhance the functionality and performance of your setup but also contribute to a more organized and aesthetically pleasing environment. Whether you're building a new home theater or upgrading an existing one, investing in these essential components will undoubtedly elevate your viewing and listening experience.

[thekaraokestore]

Keep the Music Pumping: Simple Tips to Keep Your Portable Trolley Speaker Singing

Portable trolley speakers are the life of the party, the soundtrack to adventures, and the ultimate outdoor entertainment companions. But like any trusty sidekick, your portable trolley speaker needs some TLC to keep it pumping out the tunes for years to come. Let’s delve into how you can maintain your portable trolley speakerfor unbeatable longevity

Keep it Clean: Dust and debris can seriously affect the sound quality of your speaker. Regularly use a dry microfiber cloth to clean the exterior. For stubborn dirt, a slightly moist cloth can be used, but be careful to avoid getting water near the ports or speakers. For certain portable trolley speakers, you can use a compressed air can to clear any remaining material after carefully removing the grills (see the user manual).

Power Up Wisely: Avoid draining your battery completely before recharging. Most lithium-ion batteries used in portable trolley speakers perform best with shallow discharges and frequent top-ups. Consult your user manual for optimal charging practices.

Location: The internal components of your speaker may be harmed by extremely high or low temperatures. Steer clear of frigid conditions and prolonged exposure to direct sunlight for your portable trolley speaker. Store it somewhere dry and cool while not in use.

Listen Up!: Don't crank the volume to the max for extended periods. This can distort the sound and damage the speakers. Aim for moderate listening levels for optimal sound quality and speaker lifespan.

By following these simple portable trolley speaker maintenance tips, you can ensure your trusty audio companion keeps the party going for years to come. Remember, a little TLC goes a long way in maximizing the life and performance of your portable trolley speaker. Now, go forth and conquer the world (or at least your backyard) with the power of music!

[semconindia72]

Semcon India - Leading Speaker Distributor

Speakers are an integral component of any audio system, be it for home entertainment or professional purposes. In India, the demand for quality speakers has been on the rise, owing to the growth of the music and entertainment industry. However, finding a reliable and trustworthy speakers distributor in India can be a daunting task. This is where Semcon India comes in as a leading distributor of high-quality speakers in the country. p audio speaker bm-300

With over a decade of experience in the audio industry, Semcon India has established itself as a go-to distributor for top-notch speakers from some of the world's leading brands. The company prides itself on its ability to provide a wide range of options to its customers, ensuring that everyone's needs and budgets are catered for.

One of the factors that set Semcon India apart from its competitors is its commitment to providing only the best quality speakers. The company sources its products from trusted manufacturers and ensures that all speakers meet its stringent quality standards. This means that customers can rest assured that they are getting the best value for their money. p audio challenger

Another advantage of choosing Semcon India as your speaker’s distributor is its efficient delivery system. The company has a well-established network of delivery partners across the country, ensuring that all orders are delivered to customers in a timely and professional manner. This means that customers can enjoy their new speakers without having to wait for weeks for them to arrive.

In addition to its commitment to quality and efficient delivery, Semcon India also offers excellent customer service. The company's team of experts is always ready to assist customers with any questions they may have about their products or the ordering process. This means that customers can enjoy a hassle-free buying experience, from browsing the products on the website to receiving their orders. powered speaker manufacturer

Whether you are looking for speakers for your home entertainment system or professional use, Semcon India has got you covered. With a wide range of options to choose from, customers can find the perfect speakers to suit their needs and budget. Plus, with the company's commitment to quality, efficient delivery, and excellent customer service, customers can rest assured that they are in good hands.

In conclusion, Semcon India is a leading distributor of high-quality speakers in India. With its commitment to quality, efficient delivery, and excellent customer service, the company has established itself as a reliable and trustworthy partner for all your audio needs. So, if you are in the market for top-notch speakers, look no further than Semcon India.

View More: trolley speaker manufacturer

[annykapoor]

Tips and Tricks to Eliminate Back Pain at Work - Omnigel

Back pain is a growing problem in India and all over the world. Many occupations like nursing, teaching or routine office work can be held responsible for back pain. Let us understand what causes back pain and how to treat it.

Causes of back pain

Exerting Force: If your work requires a lot of physical activity, including lifting heavy objects frequently, it could cause back pain and injury. For example, if you are working in a store where you need to shift and transfer heavy goods without support from machines or trolleys, this can harm your back and cause pain.

Repetitive Movement: If your work involves repetitive movement of twisting or rotating the spine, back injuries are likely. For example, if you are in the nursing or teaching profession and need to bend, turn and twist, making your actions almost repetitive, it can trigger backache. 

Inactive Desk Jobs: If your job requires you to sit at your desk continuously and your activity level is low, poor posture can contribute to back pain. For example, if you are sitting at a desk for a long period without taking breaks or standing or walking, it could gravely injure your back and cause intense back pain.

Tips to reduce back pain

Back pain comes naturally with aging, obesity, and a poor lifestyle. Let us look at the best possible ways how to reduce back pain.

Eat healthily: Your diet should be calcium and vitamin-D-rich. Adding these nutrients to your diet will prevent bone degeneration. Bones tend to get brittle and weak from osteoporosis which causes bone fractures easily. This also leads to back pain. 

Exercise regularly: Including some form of exercise in your daily life is healthy. It could be anything from yoga to aerobics, swimming, walking, or any exercise that stretches the muscles of your back and abdomen. By exercising regularly, you strengthen your muscles and bones, and decrease the risk of falling and injuring your back. 

Quit smoking: Smoking causes your blood vessels to constrict, which reduces blood flow in the lower spine. This leads to the weakening of the spine disk, which in turn results in slow healing from back injuries. Coughing, which goes hand in hand with smoking, further aggravates the problem. 

Maintain correct posture: Be conscious of your posture when you stand. Ensure that the weight in your feet is evenly distributed. Do not slouch. While sitting, a good posture comes from a chair that supports your feet and lower back. Adjust the chair's height so that your feet touch flat on the ground and your thighs can be parallel to the floor. While sitting, your wallet and phone should be removed from the back pocket to relieve extra pressure on the lower back.

Lift correctly: Lifting posture should be maintained strictly. You should tighten your stomach muscles and bend your knees. Lift the object and hold it close to your body. When standing up from the lowered posture, use your leg muscles to lift yourself. Keep the natural curve of your back and do not twist when you are lifting the object. Ask for help while lifting heavy objects. 

Improvise repetitive tasks: If your work involves lifting, use a lifting device. If you work on a computer, ensure that the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and chair are positioned at the right height and distance. If you need to be on call while working on the computer, use Bluetooth speakers to replace the handset. You should avoid unnecessary bending, twisting, and reaching. If you are required to carry your laptop home regularly with your purse and briefcase, don't overdo it and try lightening your load.

Periodically change posture: If your work demands prolonged sitting hours, change your posture periodically by taking walking breaks, or stretching muscles to relax and relieve tension.