#especially as my dog gets older (she's 11 now) i want her to know that i have loved her every moment

[bobomcfoe]

I wish so badly that you could text your pets. I wish I could send my dog memes that remind me of her (memes about dogs being stupid). I wish that when i was away for a few days i could send her a text to remind her I love her

[themiscyradobermans]

Nadia's half birthday was on Monday August 26th. Since she turned 6 years old I've been doing echocardiograms every 6 months, instead of just once a year, so I took her in to work with me that day celebrating the fact she is 9.5 years old, knowing we would probably do her echo at the end of the day. It's always a little bit exciting and nerve wracking all at once. Well unfortunately after 5 years of testing normal over the course of 8 normal echocardiograms, she had her first abnormal result. Her status was changed to Abnormal: MMVD. Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease. A disease I by now know very well, as we see patients in Cardiology with it every single day. It's characterized by a progressive thickening of the Mitral Valve (the valve that connects the left ventricle to the left atrium) which leads it to stiffen and in turn causes it to close improperly, thereby starting to leak. It is the most common acquired (typically adult on-set though some rare juvenile or near juvenile cases exist) heart disease in dogs. It is most typically seen in small breed, geriatric dogs, but it can occur sporadically in large breed dogs too. In some breeds there is a very clear, genetic and hereditary component with very strong familial occurrences, such as in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (90% of them will be affected by age 10), Cocker Spaniels, Dachshunds, Yorkies, Pomeranians etc. In other breeds it almost seems to happen randomly, especially in large breeds where it often appears in an isolated individual. (I'll make a more detailed post on MMVD, separately). To be honest while Nadia is not the first doberman I've seen with MMVD, we even have a few patients with it, all completely unrelated and from different types of bloodlines, it's kind of surprising to see one with it, because in general with a Doberman we expect DCM. Which brings me to my next point: MMVD and DCM are completely distinct from one another even though they both affect the left side of the heart. Fortunately for Nadia, she is in the very early stages of the disease. She is classified as a B1 and what more she has no remodelling at all. Her heart is still completely normal in appearance, size and function. Her Left Atrium and her Left Ventricle are normal in size, and her heart is pumping blood to the rest of her body with normal strength and power. The only reason she is clearly diagnosed as abnormal ather than equivocal, is because she has a mild leak at the valve and the mild leak corresponds to a mild increase in size of her left ventricle when compared to her own previous echo (but when compared to reference values is considered still in normal range). The valve still has a normal shape, but it is clearly a bit thickened and she has a Grade I out of VI heart murmur. She does not qualify for medication, she does not need to be exercise restricted or have her diet changed. She is totally asymptomatic and may continue to work, train, play and do whatever we want to do. She would no longer be cleared for breeding but, at 9 and a half years old Ms Nadia has been spayed with no plans to visit a whelping box any time soon. She shows Zero signs of DCM on her echocardiogram and meets none of the criteria for the diagnosis of occult DCM on her echo. She had no arrhythmias during her echo. Her last holter was in May and was normal. This is critical to me and the most important desicive factor with relation to my breeding program. MMVD is a very slow progressing disease compared to DCM which is a very quickly progressing disease on average. As a general rule of thumb age of onset is also associated with speed of disease progression: i.e. the older a dog is at onset, typically the slower the disease progresses. Especially in medium large and large breed dogs the most typical presentation we will see is a dog that gets diagnosed in the mild stage ages 8-11 yrs and never really progresses out of the mild stage, usually passing of something else. I'm hoping this week be the case for Nadia, and she will have many healthy years ahead of her.

In great news, Nadia also had a follow up with her oncologist (she had mammary tumours removed in december when she was spayed, and one of them came back as cancer, the others were all benign) and she remains cancer free for now.

Pictures were taken yesterday when she accompanied me to meet my new family doctor.

[hollyhomburg]

No is I am crying about the packs pups and how adorable they all are. Though to be fair it’s been a crying evening

okay but i do wanna talk about the packs two girl pups, the older alpha one (who i picture with the prettiest red hair for some reason) and the younger little omega one- whose blonde and curly haired like i was when i was little, and how the older one would be all skinned knees and sneakers until it came to dress up with the youngest and tae- like please imagine the little one being so excited to try on her big sister's baseball caps and the older one all the way up in a tree wearing a giant tutu getting it muddy- but then when she comes down they all get muddy and grimey makeing mudpies in the front lawn (jk lowkey hoses them down before letting them inside for some very thurough grooming and scenting) in my mind they are pretty different personality wise but they're very very close.

i think when the older one leaves for college she gives the younger one her pink pocket knife and maybe a pink baseball cap to match hers but backing up a bit- maybe when they're younger- around 11 and 6- the older one convinces the younger that something is safe when it isn't, accidentally leading to the younger one getting hurt- like a broken wrist or something,

And it's not that the others suspect that the older sister pushed the younger or encouraged her to do something that would deliberatly get her hurt- that just is their first reaction since they do tend to bicker alot and clash- but any doubt that they had in their mind is quickly extinquished when the older one sobs louder than they've ever heard her- which is suprising, different than they've come to expect from their stoney minded oldest girl.

like this is the same kid who has fallen 10 feet down from a tree without even batting an eye- who straight up got bitten by a neighborhood dog and laughed- an alpha girl that for all intents and purposes- is probably the toughest alpha in the family- they always joke that she has too much wolf in her- always walking barefoot and getting knots in her hair.

Who is now crying over their little siblings broken arm. sobbing big big tears and hiding her face, crying out "i'm the worst alpha in the whole world!!!" and of course she's quickly scooped up and shushed and comforted by the others- especially jin and the m/c who all but scent her silly and reassure her that they are not angry with her at all- that things happened and next time everyone just has to be careful-

and it's mostly fixed when the younger one comes back in namjoon's arms, yoongi close behind- and the little one is really okay! she's got wet cheeks and her face is tucked into namjoon's neck but she excitedly asks their older sister if they want a lolly pop too! because the really really really nice nurse gave her a whole lapfull of them for being brave and she got one for everyone!!! but her older sister gets two!!! and could she be the first one to sign her cast?

and maybe the older one asks her "why did you get it green instead of pink? thats your favorite color" and the little one is all shy but so happy because she got it in her older siblings favorite color instead, because pink and green are the same color as watermellon and really- watermellon is like the best best food so (in my mind- the littlest pup inherits the m/c's penchant for food really- please imagine her walking around with a little chubby belly the way that little kids walk, she's very food obsessed in like- the best most healthy way)

i know i said that i didn't have names in mind for them- and i know they're not traditional korean names but i do think that maybe the pups get korean names and american names because jin and namjoon would probably want to make sure they all could speak and write it. in my mind- the older sisters name is Magnolia (maggie for short) and the younger one is Lily. imagine if the pack called them "our little flowers" 🥺 i also think that hobi plants a big magnolia tree in their front yard when Magnolia is born and that's the one that she likes to climb so much <3

(i just looked it up and both of these names actually do have a korean equivalent that might fit the sylabic name structure of korean names, someone who speaks korean should chime in! lily in korean is Baeghab and magnolia in korean is Moglyeon)

[tveitertotwrites]

What is your favorite childhood memory?

What is your least favorite childhood memory?

What do you think had the biggest impact on you growing up?

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?

You’re given an unlimited budget to build anything you want!  What do you build and where do you build it?

Hey! Thanks for the questions! You can't really tell this that much based on the way I answered these, but all of my MC's/OC's are in the same room together doing this interview. The questions are from this ask!

3). What is your favorite childhood memory?

Brooklyn: "My favorite childhood memory is when my siblings (Elizabeth and Parker) and I would do a talent show with our cousins. We each did something different for our own separate sections, I usually did a song or a dance I had been learning for a competition. And since a lot of us were involved in dance and theater due to out parents, at the end we did a big cheesy dance number. It was always very fun and lighthearted and brought all of us closer together."

Claire: "My favorite childhood memory is when my grandmother and I would bake together. It was always so relaxing and it was something that I could do with someone who thought I was important at a time where home was not great."

Adelaide: "My favorite childhood memory is when my twin brother, Atlas, and I shared a room. We were little and while out parents always tried to make sure it was clean, we would always mess it up within like an hour after it was fully cleaned because we would make a big fort or something. It reminds me of when we were closer, not saying that we aren't close now, but there are times where I wish Atlas and I could be little again and making blanket forts and not having to care about the things that we thought was so far away at that time like paying rent and whatever else we didn't have to think about."

Charlie: "My favorite childhood memory is growing up with my siblings and doing the same sports as them. When I was a freshman, my older sister Athena was a senior and my older sister Summer was a junior and we were on the same volleyball team which was fun because I got to play alongside them and cheer them on during their senior nights. I also was on our school's co-ed swim team which I did with my younger brothers, Aaron and Sage, which was also fun because they were very supportive and I felt very proud of them, especially when they did well. Plus, I am the only one in our family to do a school activity with all of my siblings, so I feel like I won a competition or something."

4). Least favorite childhood memory?

Brooklyn: "My least favorite childhood memory was when my dog, Daisy who was a Yorkshire Terrier was ran over by a car. We had just gotten home and were sending out the dogs one at a time because if all 3 of the dogs we had at the time went outside together, it would be too much chaos and we were trying to get our oldest dog, Miley, outside and Daisy just bolted out the door and into the road and she was ran over by a car. She survived thankfully but she did have to have surgery and some casts for a little while but she made it through for a few more years."

Claire: "My least favorite memory is when my grandmother passed away when I was 12. For about a year or so prior to her death, she had been switching back and forth between the hospital and the nursing home due to some complications. And then about a year of hopping between the two, she said, or more likely wrote because she couldn't speak very well in her last couple of months, she had enough and wanted to stay at the nursing home until she passed, which was hard to hear at 11/12 because she is the one who said it and while I don't blame her or anything, it was hard knowing that she did as much as she could and it still wasn't enough."

Adelaide: "My least favorite childhood memory is when my older brother Rowan went off to college. At that time, Atlas and I were only like 7 years old and we had like no perception of time, so what we thought was that he was going to be gone forever but reality it was only a month or two at a time because of breaks and stuff. We also were all very close even though Atlas and I were 11 years younger than Rowan."

Charlie: "My least favorite childhood memory is when I broke both bones in my lower right arm. I was 8 and playing on a swing set when no one was around me at the time and I wanted to stop, so I went to go put my feet on the ground to stop myself. And where the little play set with the swings was placed, it was dirt underneath but there were roots of a nearby tree that kind of stuck out of the ground and my feet got caught by it and I fell and used my arm to break my fall and ended up breaking both of the bones in my lower arm. Which wasn't fun because it was near the start of winter and it was my dominant arm so i couldn't use it and at school when we would do assignments I had to have my teachers write for me."

8). What do you think had the biggest impact on you growing up?

Brooklyn: "Probably seeing my family doing theater and dance. They're the reason why I do what I do and I can't thank them enough. I always try to invite them to any event I can and show them appreciation for what they did for me and how I have the privilege to be as successful as I am because of their help."

Claire: "I think what had the biggest impact on me growing up was the favoritism of my younger sister. While I did have my own activities and things like that, I definitely felt my parents always being at everything for my sister. Like if I had something coming up, my parents would 99 percent of the time either had something to do with my sister or would say that they had something with my sister and would go do something else."

Adelaide: "What had the biggest impact on me growing up was growing up with two brothers. Having two brothers was interesting because I was told that doing things for me was vastly different from my two brothers even though I was the same age as one of them. It wasn't a bad thing in my opinion just interesting."

Charlie: "What had a big impact on me growing up was probably being the middle child. I felt like there were times that I was seen as too young or too old to hang out with my siblings at times and since there was 5 of us I felt like everyone had a partner except for me. But I didn't feel like that all the time because of sports and school activities which I am thankful for."

6). What is the hardest thing you have had to do?

Brooklyn: "Probably standing up for myself against people within the industry even though it is very hard. There a lot about the industry that is hidden and comes to light later down the road and it can be scary for anyone, especially those who don't have much power or respect. Trying to make it in the industry, no matter which side, is hard enough for the people who don't already have a way in and then having the added barrier of people only giving you jobs if you sexually satisfy them or satisfy them in a similar way is really frustrating for people who want to come into the industry."

Claire: "The hardest thing I have had to do is the chemical attack. It was during a time when I didn't believe in myself, and there were things going on in my personal life at the time. It was hard knowing what was going on and what people would be going through, such as the families of Bobby and Danny who had died due to what had happened. Knowing that I was partially to blame for it still haunts me to this day, but I am grateful to be around people who support me and care for me after everything."

Adelaide: "The hardest thing I had to do was probably go to med school. It was the first time where I had been away from my family for a while, especially Atlas. He had been going to school on the West Coast while I went to school on the east coast. Undergrad was the hardest as at least with Med School, my best friend Claire (Evans) and I were on the same campus and shared a dorm for our time there and we also went to hospitals within the same area so that part wasn't difficult. Undergrad, I was by myself and knew absolutely no one."

Charlie: "The hardest thing was probably losing my grandparents at a young age. My maternal grandpa and paternal grandma both died due to cancer when I was little and then my paternal grandpa had died prior to my birth. My maternal grandma was also sick during my senior year and died only two months before my graduation which was hard."

13). You have an unlimited budget to build anything you want! What do you build and where do you build it?

Brooklyn: "Well if you asked me when I was little then I probably would have said little dog houses all over the world. But now I would probably say either a theater in my hometown or a women's shelter."

Claire: "Umm... Selfishly I would say another location of my hometown's coffee shop and put it here in Boston. But also free period products, birth control, and help line information for different needs in stations all over the country."

Adelaide: "Yeah. I would also say resource stations around the country. But also I would love to have the view I had in Greece from my room here in Boston but at that point I should just move to Greece instead, it would be a lot cheaper."

Charlie: "I would probably build free donation buildings for good condition clothes. People could donate their clothes that were in good condition and look through other clothes and they could be free."

Any other questions?

[kiarathefox]

prime numbers

2: I drink both tea and coffee, I prefer coffee tho, love my bean soup. I take it almost anyway that involves milk. Hot/Cold latte capp flat white. If it's good coffee I don't need sugar. My tea is just kinda english breakfast with milk. I like Spearmint as well.

3: "Scream" from Final Fantasy XIV, free to play up to level 70 including award winning expansion stormblood

5: I usually do sleep with my plush Eevee, Blahaj and Bulbasaur, but recently I've had to give them up because now that I'm moved in with my gf, there isn't enough room in the bed for me, my gf and the plushies. When I upgrade to a bigger bed I can have my beloved plushies back :3

7: Usually, the minimum possible. I live in a hot country and I NEED to be cool when I sleep. But during winter I like 2, because of the addition of a weighted blanket. I LOVE sleeping with a weighted blanket.

11: Blue babyyyyy

13: Abandonment is the biggest one, I have severe issues with being left behind, it happened alot growing up, I had a bunch of friends just exclude me or straight up ditch me. It has led to a terrible habit of overthinking every negative interaction, and thinking I have to be a "perfect" friend or else they won't want to be around me anymore. The other crippling fear is bees/wasps, I have such a fight or flight reaction with them, such an overwhelming fear for something so small. Maybe me being attacked/chased my wasps when I was small affected that.

17: I already have ear piercings, tho I only just got them a year ago after I started transitioning. This revealed that I can't easily get piercings because of the medication I am on, nor tattoos. Because they just won't heal. Either way I don't think I want anymore piercings, but I might just have to miss out on a tattoo :c

19: I have 3 people whom I consider best friends. Two of which I retained from primary school, and one I met early in high school. The high school one has become a brother to me. Which is funny to think that he only had sisters, then finally got me as his bro, then a few years ago I turned around and went "ummm, I'm a sister too actually." Gottem

23: Kind of yeah. I like to think there is some other life out there. (I mean of course right? Even if a planet that's livable like Earth is an incredibly rare thing it COULD happen more than once) BUT I think it might be more likely that we came about so early in the universe's life, that we could be long gone before another civilisation finds us.

29: I either make snap decisions without thinking about it, or if I do make the mistake of thinking about something too long, I'm stuck in an endless loop of indecision until I break down over it.

31: Distant future? God I don't like thinking ahead too much, I think because most of my life I've had nothing to look forward to I guess. In a couple of years I hope to have a permanent home and a pet again. Is that something?

37: Ahh the classic.. I grew up with both and really have no preference for either one. I am very playful with pets, so I would have an inclination towards dogs, but I can still grab my cat and wrestle it with my hand just as well. Plus both of them are capable of being cuddly, or even go off and do their own thing for a bit. I'll put it this way. If I am living alone, I'd prefer a cat, for more peace of mind and less maintenance.

41: I CANNOT PICK ONE FAVOURITE WTF! I'll list a few "winners" My fave recent one would be "The Owl House" My fave older one would be "Avatar: The Last Airbender" And My nostalgia pick would be "Teen Titans"

43: One younger sister. Bit of a rat, especially in her teen years but she's grown, gotten better. We are slowly rebuilding our relationship but I really struggle to trust those who have hurt me in the past. So while I don't know how she feels about me exactly, I kind of have her at arms length for a while.

47: Yeah, muscle memory and all that

[ghenegersnaps]

12:11 am — March 22, 2023

I miss Gel. She just moved out and I’ve been feeling lonely. The house feels empty and quiet. I’ve been wanting to cry all day because all of her spots in this house has already changed. I look at those spots where we would spend time together, where she works, where we sleep, where we eat, her mess that never really bothered me, everything, and just stare. Like I’m imagining and recalling how we were in this house. I miss my sister so much. It’s just not the same anymore and it never will be. I wasn’t even fully aware that last week was the last night we’d sleep together and spend our days together here. I wish I stayed the entire week here with her. In this house, where we both grew up from little girls and became the ladies we are now. I just couldn’t tell her these because I want to be strong as her older sister.

It makes me think how heavy it would make me feel once I go back here in mnl without Josh. I’ll be away from Josh and Gel. I’ll be on my own most of the time and I know it won’t be easy. Especially the first day. I’m sure.

My sister still left a few of her things here. Things that she owns but not as important. She’ll pick them up within the week including Lemon. Today, seeing that Lemon is still here kinda helped— knowing her dog’s still with me.

Sigh. Man, I’m just sure the coming months will be a hell of a challenge for me. Lots of adjustments and getting used to. Lots of alone time which I need to learn again. Lots of tears. Sometimes, I think maybe Gel moving out is God’s way of helping me when we permanently leave for Taiwan. It could be this gradual separation from my family so it would be a little bit lighter once it finally happened. Maybe the reason why I never really stayed at Josh’s house even after getting married was to also have days without him and be okay with it. Same with my sister. Gel and I got used to not being with each other everyday and we were doing fine too. We’d still talk and everything wasn’t bad at all. I think maybe this is God’s way of helping me gradually. I just gotta trust Him and everything that’s about to happen.

I’m scared but I need to be strong. I will be strong.

P.S. I can always spend the weekends at their new house so I won’t be so alone :)

[jackzillanyanut8008]

The Last Of Us Part 3: Fan Write (Part 4)

Author’s Note:

This fan write of the 3rd addition to The Last Of Us franchise is completely fan made, I own zero rights to the game, tv show, or merchandise. Any and all properties of this franchise are owned by Naughty Dog Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and PlayStation Studios. And of course, please support both the previous games, as well as the HBO series.

-Stone CL Williams

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

 Chapter 11: Meeting the Rent(s)

Deacon stirs in his sleep, dreaming of something that happened a long time ago…

It was Outbreak Day, he was watching cartoons at his mom’s before his Dad and Uncle barged in the house and told him and his mother that Michigan was gonna be bombed to get rid of a massive virus sweeping the planet.

He didn’t know what to do, and before he could do anything he wakes up in his bed, covered in sweat and panting. “Fucking nightmares” he mutters under his breath as he gets up to check the clock in his room. “7:00 am huh? Early enough I guess” he says as he gets up and gets dressed.

As he makes his way downstairs, he notices Abby and Lev sitting with an older woman while eating breakfast. “Hi miss, something I can help you with?” he asks as he fixes his shirt. “My name is Maria, I’m one of the leaders of this place, and I could ask you all the same question” she says sharply as Deacon sits down. “We came here to live here, nothing else to it Maria” he says as he takes a sip from a hot cup of coffee. “Well considering the last time Abby was here she smashed my brother in law’s head in with a billy club, you can understand my concern” she says, giving Abby a glare before Lev steps up. “Past issues aside, we came here for another reason as well” he says, motioning Deacon to speak up. 

“Oh yeah, we heard from your friend Ellie that you guys were in need of more ‘higher end’ supplies and figured we could help out” Deacon says, hoping she’ll take the bait. Maria gives the trio each a look before shrugging it off “Well, we have been struggling with communications lately, we’ve had our eye on a radio tower up in the mountains for a few years now. Only problem is: it’s full of Infected”. Deacon scratches his beard “We can clear it out for you, in exchange we get free housing and food for as long as the tower is operational” he says flatly. 

Maria gives him a smirk “Quite a tall order, but not even Joel or Tommy were willing to clear out the tower so I suppose if that’s all you want… It’s a deal” she says as she reaches out for a handshake.

“Glad doing' business with you Maria, we’ll just need some directions to get there and some decent firearms. We’ll handle the rest” he says as he shakes her hand. “And while we’re on the subject…” Deacon begins as he pulls out an old leather bound journal from his bag “I’d like to offer you a copy of my father’s prepper guide. It’s got everything you might need in something like today’s world. And some extra stuff. Electrical work guides, blueprints, agricultural how-to’s, everything and anything you’d need for an ‘end of the world scenario’. Free of charge” he says, advertising the book as if it was a religious text.

Maria takes the book and smiles “Let’s get you your gear, and welcome to Jackson”.

Chapter 12: Video Killed My Radio Star 

Lev was impressed by how large Jackson was, especially considering how isolated it was. “I haven’t been anywhere like this since I left the Seraphites back in Seattle” he says as he looks around the compound streets before bumping into an older man in a denim jacket “Watch it you little- Hey! You're that Seraphite kid who shot me in the leg!” Tommy explains as Lev backs up. Before Tommy tries anything though, Ellie comes out from behind him and grabs his arm “Easy Tommy, he didn’t mean to bump into you, he’s just not used to Jackson yet. Don’t forget I was the same way once upon a time” she says with a grin. Tommy gives her a look before letting out a sigh “Well, we’ve taken in worse folk I suppose, just keep an eye on that Abby bitch. She still owes me for fucking up my eye” he mutters under his breath.

Ellie looks back at Lev “Don’t worry about Tommy, he can be a bit of an ass. Just try not to get on his bad side, okay?” she says. Lev gives her a nod before Deacon calls out for him. He hurries off to the gate and meets up with Abby and Deacon near a truck”Hop in the backseat, I’m driving” Deacon says as he tosses a duffel full of stuff over the side of the truck and walks around to get in. “Got it” Lev says as he climbs in the backseat.

The trio pull up to the east gate before Dina runs up next to them, Deacon rolls down the window as she hands him a road map “Red path is the quickest route to the Tower, be safe, and if anything happens-” she says before Deacon cuts her off “Turn tail and head home, got it, thanks Dina!” he says as the gates open and they drive off.

While driving Lev pulls out a box of magazines behind Deacon’s seat “Huh, what’s a Playboy” he asks as Deacon looks over his shoulder “Where did you- oh shit this is Tommy’s truck, figures. And don’t read that Lev!” he says before grabbing the magazine and tossing it on the dashboard. “Abby see if they got anything on cassette” he says as Abby shuffles around before pulling out an old Joan Jett cassette from the glovebox “Joan J, never took Tommy for a rock and roll kinda guy” Abby says as she slides the cassette in and turns up the radio.

Lev looks out the window and sees their destination, a massive radio and TV tower on top of a mountain “You gonna be okay Abby, what with your fear of heights and all-” he says before Deacon looks at Abby in shock “NO FUCKING WAY!!” he exclaims with a cackle of laughter “YOU! AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!?!” he says as Abby crosses her arms and faces him. “Well alright asshat, what’s your greatest fear? Rejection or some sad shit?” she says mockingly. Deacon stops laughing and lets out a sigh “Porcelain dolls, like the ones old people have walls of, fucking things are way scarier than any infected I’ve ever seen” he says as he turns up a trail.

Lev lets out a sigh “Mine’s the ocean” he says as Deacon turns down the radio. “Don’t blame you there, plenty of stuff there that creep me the fuck out too” he says as they continue to the tower.

[ameliagiovanna0]

10-20 :)

I wasn't sure if you meant 10 thru 20 or 10 and 20, so I just did all ten lol

10. I met a dog named Cobweb, and I absolutely loved that

11. I can turn my tongue on its side

12. Our CEO got arrested for tax fraud. I also had to report a guy for threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend. I had to talk to the teacher, the principal called my parents to thank me and let them know that the state police might be calling. That was fun. We also have a famous country singer alumni. Idk if that counts as gossip, but there ya go 😅

13. Nope

14. I'm not a huge coffee person, but maybe an iced mocha or a French vanilla cappuccino

15. People always want to know how old I am. From the time I was 10, I've literally had people come up and just ask me. When I was younger, people thought I was younger than my actual age because of how tiny I was. But then, I started getting drink menus at restaurants when I was 13. People, especially now that I'm in college, always assume I'm older

16. Oooo, this has been rolling around my brain for a while, tbh. I think it might have to be something for my late grandma. Out of all of us grandkids, everyone says that I'm the most like her. I even picked up some of her mannerisms by the time I was 2. It freaked everyone out because we lived so far away that I didn't get to see her very often, and I still managed to do the same things she did. Even though, she died when I was 8, I've always felt super close to her. Plus, my cousins said that my cookies are the closest to hers, which makes me all warm and fuzzy. Her name started with an E, so I think I'd get a letter E Maybe on the inside or side of my wrist

17. Yeah! by Usher, Lil Jon, and Ludacris. I'm not mad about this result 😂

18. I usually don't say that I have a favorite musician. I tend to just like whatever sounds good for the moment. But I think I'd have to go with for KING & COUNTRY. They're contemporary Christian. I've been to three of their concerts, and it was amazing. They're amazing performers. They have a song called Priceless. It's about how women are treated like objects and that, despite what we might be told, we're priceless.

I see you dressed in white

Every wrong made right

I see a rose in bloom

At the sight of you (oh, so priceless)

Irreplaceable, unmistakable, incomparable, darling, it's beautiful

I see it all in you (oh, so priceless)

The song goes along with the movie and book of the same name. They revolve around a man that finds out he's hauling human trafficking victims and ends up protecting them.

I also absolutely love their song God Only Knows. Bonus points for the version they did with Dolly Parton. HIGHLY recommend both songs, and for KING & COUNTRY all together, even if you don't like Christian music. Because I usually don't, but they're top notch

19. Mr. V! He was my 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher. I'll never forget him. I loved social studies anyway, but he made everything so much fun. He was kind and really cared about all of us. He actually sent me and my best friend, who was also in his class, cards when we graduated.

20. Chaotic, multi-fandom, disorganized, happy place

[creoterative]

I have Questions, Ericson Kids. A lot.

Info: The title says it all. While playing the fourth season for the billionth time, I questioned the entire existence of this school and its inhabitants. But I’ll try and keep this short because I’m still learning for the last exams.

Warnings: Eh, spoilers and swears

-----

Alright, first question: When exactly did the adults leave the school? 

It is said, that every last one of the adults abandoned the school and the kids, except Mrs. Martin, who was the nurse there. So I guess she was in charge most of the time after the apocalypse started. When exactly did she die? Assuming Marlon is 19 years old when he dies, the apocalypse has been going since... 8-9 years. Never ever has he run this shit since he was 10/11 years old, never in my life would I believe that. So my guess is, that she died when he was AT LEAST 14. And that only goes if the adults left immediately after the first walker showed up. 

-----

Who trained Rosie?

Marlon said that she was the headmaster’s dog before the dead started to rise again. But like I said, the apocalypse broke out 8-9 years prior to the events of season four. At least that’s what I’ve heard and read. That means, Rosie has to be at least 8 years old. Depending on when the adults left... I got a dog myself and I can tell you, a 10 year old kid can’t possibly deal with such a huge dog who’s in puberty. That’s a death sentence. I mean, yeah miracles happen, but, uhm... very unrealistic. Did Mrs. Martin take care of her? And did she teach Marlon her signs and signals for Rosie? Help him gain her trust etc.? Maybe he was clinging to the headmaster because he wanted to get to know his new dog? If Rosie even was that new. Maybe she’s older than we think, but I higly doubt that. At the age of ten years and more, that dog shouldn’t be able to run and walk like that anymore. 

-----

This one would never have occured to me if I hadn’t listened to some cut out answers from Marlon in the basement. But now that I heard at (and am glad that he didn’t say that one line): How do the girls deal with their special time in the month?

It’s not like they can buy pads and tampons in a store anymore, especially since a certain SOMEONE has drawn a safe zone on a map. And don’t forget, they were a lot more when the apocalypse started. If we say that Mrs. Martin was there for about... four years, then she died because of the walkers in the greenhouse. Then she probably would have taken care of it, I dunno, use some bandages or cloth, but most importantly, tell them what the fuck is going on. And tell the boys too! In a discrete way of course and make sure they know to shut up about it, it’s not funny. 

But hell, if Mrs. Martin wasn’t there and after a few years of running the school, everything seemed to get a little bit better, Marlon one day wakes up to a bunch of girls having their period for the first time and he’s like What the Fuck is going on, are they infested, do we have to kill them, CAN we kill them, stop screaming at me, why aren’t any of the boys in pain and bleeding, why did I ever step up as your leader, stop this shit. - poor boy. And Louis wouldn’t be any help, he would just look at Marlon like Man, you are the leader, I’m the gentleman, you handle this xD

-----

How did they all learn how to shoot with a bow and arrow? 

I don’t think any of them really knew how to do that before they attended Ericson, but... was there some form of archer club? Because the bow Marlon uses looks like a professional one, a compound bow, but that’s the only one they use. The others look a lot more self made or less expensive. 

It’s a little weird that Marlon is the only one using the professional bow, considering the fact that it can be stretched better and has a wider range. Yes, he is the leader and all, but for surviving it wouldn’t be that smart to hold other, better bows back from your comrades, just so you can look good. And I’m sure he knows that, he’s the one constantly worrying about the food. 

So what happened? Or is it really his and he just took it with him from home? Very unlikely, I wouldn’t let a kid run around in school with a bow that is twice its size, even now that bow is as big as Marlon’s entire torso.

-----

...These are kids in puberty. And there was ONE pair confirmed, Violet and Minerva. And Aasim having a thing for Ruby, but that’s it. How exactly did these little hormone-driven kids not fall all over each other long ago?

They were a lot more back in the days, that means, they had more options as well. I mean, yes, they are in the middle of the apocalypse, but we see couples, we even see pregnant women throughout the entire game. Maybe Mrs. Martin had THE TALK with them, so there wouldn’t be any... accidents... yeah, you know what I’m saying here. But still, one pair? Hell, Violet managed to find a girlfriend, how on earth did they all reject Louis? I get why Marlon isn’t interested in finding love, he knows that would just cause trouble for them all, he said it himself. But Louis? And even Brody, Brody is a very beautiful girl, from the inside and outside. Why? And don’t come after me here now, I know very well that relationships have to develop and for some people it really takes time. I can’t imagine Violet and Minnie looking at eachother one day and saying ‘Fuck me’ (although... that would have been funny). It has to be worked on, yes. But a bunch of teenagers in a little fortress? Man, if I was there and had to choose between 30 kids, I’d definetely find someone (that sounds so perverted, Jesus Christ - but you know what I mean!)

-----

That’s it for today, guys! If you have any answers for these questions, pls help me, this is just so confusing xD Anyway, I’ll leave some headcanons for Marlon and Louis soon (hopefully) but for today, that’s everything (well, depends on my mood, as always, hehe)

[uweiy]

I'm intrigued by Love is Science? but know nothing about it. Can you give me a run down on what kind of thing to expect and who it might appeal to? Thank you!! 😁

Ooooo boi *gremlin smile* I'm glad you asked. You've entered the dragon's den, broken the dam and thus this post turned out to be a monster so I'm gonna link here another post from @accidentallyadramablog which imo gives a nice (and short) overview.

That said let's get into

Love is Science?

Summary :

Yan Fei is a the CEO of the Love is Science marriage agency, that matches people based on scientific data. Hsuan Yu, 8 years younger than her, is a promising young hairstylist who has been in love with her thoughout their entire childhood when she has only ever seen him like a little brother.

Unexpectedly they meet again. Between the way they've each built their lives and how Yong Yan Fei's ex husband still looms over Yan Fei's life, how will their relationship develop this time around ?

Now,

just reading that summary I know what you're thinking.

Indeed, if you have some experience with dramas, you might recognize some TYPICAL TYPICAL tropes – let's get them out of the way :

love triangle (though we all know who she is going to end up with don't we)

childhood friends

'noona romance'

And they are every bit as present and as trope-ey as you would expect.

However, as they say, the devil is in the details.

And particularly, in the side characters. Let me give you a quick rundown of the lot of them :

As such, we follow the stories of multiple relationships that develop parallel to one another.

The relationships

• Yan Fei/ Hsuan Yu : Not much needs to be added I think. Their storyline might be the most predictable but they are pretty sweet and heartwarming. pining for like 12 years though poor Hsuan Yu. Anyway you can enjoy it or find it boring or but you can't hate it.

• Mark/Ouwen : Noooow we're getting to it. Their dynamic is so... Refreshing and unique. Confident gay with a soft heart and dumb disaster bisexual I mean *chef kiss*👌delicious

After the disasters of their first meetings, it's a cat and dog relationship where Ouwen is the hsssssss don't touch me– cat and Mark is the golden retriever trailing after him not really realizing the rampage he's creating in Ouwen's heart. while Ouwen is like "Remind me why the FUCK I caught feelings again ?".

IDK it just has everything 'Enemies' to friends to lovers, (not actually) unrequited love, pining, sweet moments, jealousy, feelings realization, snarky banter... What more could one want.

• Cho Nai Hui / You Fu : they are. So. So sweet. Both are older and have experience, and as such they are not so naive or stupid as the youngsters. Them sharing their life experiences and going on dates like typically teenagers (in movies or TV shows anyway) would is refreshing to see and really really heartwarming.

• Liu Sheng Ying/ ??? Her ex ? : The show hinted at a wlw storyline and this arc seems to have JUST begun. Basically Sheng Ying's ex comes to Love is Science as a client and requests Sheng Ying as an advisor, while Sheng Ying still seems heartbroken over her. I can't WAIT to see how it develops.

The friendships :

Something I greatly appreciate is that both the romantic relationships AND the friendships have a great importance in the drama.

• Joanna and Yan Fei : Jo, queen Jo 👑. She's just here to gossip, get all the gossip and be the voice of reason and we love her for it. You can see how comfortable they are around each other and how they were there for each other during tough times and still are. Kudos to the actresses because I believed the characters were besties in a heartbeat.

• Hsuan Yu and Mark : they are honestly... Such polar opposites you kinda wonder how they became friends but they are and it works perfectly.

Hsuan Yu still hasn't gotten he maybe shouldn't take Mark's advice, and Mark still hasn't gotten that he, definitely should take Hsuan Yu's. It also enables to develop a more playful and mischievous side to Hsuan Yu, giving him more depth?

• Ouwen and Sheng Ying: rivalry to reluctant solidarity to friends-but-i-will-deny-it-if-asked to just friends. IT'S GREAT

I also ejoy the fact that these multiple storylines are allowed to coexist. The romantic ones, the friendships, older, younger, m/f m/m and f/f like take your pick !! And tbh a WLW storyline ?????? These are so scarce I will take anything.

The recurring themes :

The show more or less subtly touches on some topics/issues, to which the dating aspect contributes to.

A non exhaustive list would be

Divorce, and how divorced women can be viewed as failures for some reason

How successful men over 30 are sought after but successful women after 30 are somehow deemed undatable

Preconceived notions and homophobia

And beyond the topics, there's just things like... Joanna not being interested in long term relationships nor wanting to get married, reporting sexual harassment, older people going on dates.... I'm not saying it's a groundbreaking activist drama –which is not really what I was looking for– I just appreciate the fact that it is a pretty mainstream drama and that these things are there.

Mad respect if you've made it up to here ! but we're not quite done yet.

The cast and crew :

The other element that made this drama stand out for me besides the side characters is the cast.

It might be weird that such a meta thing impacts the appreciation of the show but it did, for me at least.

📣��TMI WARNING 📣📣

For me what happened is I stumbled onto Mark and Ouwen cuts on YouTube, then somehow onto the behind the scenes. They weren't subbed at the time so I could barely understand a word of what they were saying, thus I'm not sure what but something about how the rest of the actors, the director and the crew were interacting just told me it was a show worth watching or at least checking out.

📣📣END OF TMI📣📣

The cast honestly seems to have a blast and to have, how to say it, come together really well. It seems like most of them have become genuinely friends, or despite differences in personality have truly enjoyed working with one another and with the rest of the crew, and it shows.

Where it's lacking

In my opinion the show does have some aspects where it underperforms.

As previously mentioned, the main plot is kinda tropey, furthermore, in a drama typical fashion when something is about to get resolved, immediately something else happens. Nothing unexpected from a drama though.

The pacing : Some moments of the main plot especially dragged on, so I admit I skipped through some parts.

Because I feel so strongly about all the characters though, I don't really mind the previously mentioned points. I just think it's a shame because I feel like if it had been crafted a little bit better it could have made the show go from an 8/10 good drama to an 11/10 friggin amazing drama easy.

Lastly, there is a pretty unequal time distribution so Yan Fei and Hsuan Yu do tend to occupy the most part of an episode. However some episodes are more centered on some pairings (like ep 11 that will probably have an important Mark/Ouwen part).

Overall

it's a drama that warms my heart, as simple as that. It's not that deep, it's pretty funny, the acting ranges from good to excellent and I have taken a liking to a lot of the characters, which is what I think fuels my interest for the drama.

And I feel like it managed to attract a wide range of audiences because the romances and relationships are so diverse. Whether you watch the show for its entirety or for one aspect/storyline/character is entirely up to you and I feel like the creators of the drama are aware of it as well : and you can easily find subbed compilations about each specific pairing on Settv's official YouTube channel.

Take that aspect that you like–if you find one of course–and enjoy it, that is all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What's left to say besides.... 🎉🎊 Congratulations for making it to the end of this lengthy post !

[bts-reveries]

expect the unexpected | 20

(the images are pretty scattered so be careful in scrolling !)

You couldn’t sleep after your video call with Jin.

He seemed like he had a rough week, with each day that passed by, the kids got more impatient with him and so did he with them.

You were very much aware that Jin was a full time business man, he had time for the kids after work but during work he had to focus. It’s not easy when you have three kids to take care of while you’re also taking care of a company and over a hundred employees.

Of course Jin knew it was his duty as a father to take care of his kids (with you there or not) and he didn’t want to complain, but some days are harder than others. He still loves them, don’t worry.

The two of you talked about asking for help, but remembered how busy all your friends are at this time. Especially knowing how they all have their own kids to take care of, asking them to babysit three kids would be difficult. Not to mention, they all work too.

You gave Jin the idea of taking Haneul to Taehyung’s while his siblings are at school. Taehyung does classes with younger kids at that time which would be perfect for Haneul to join. He’d both be watched over while Jin gets things done at work and he’d also be kept busy. You’re guessing one of the reasons why Haneul liked to cling on to his dad is because he doesn’t have much to do while Jin’s working. His siblings aren’t there to play with him and his toys can only do so much.

“I’ll text Taehyung and let him know I’m taking Haneul in the morning,” Jin says in a tired voice. “While I’m kid free, I’ll get all my meetings out of the way and so by the time I pick up the kids, we could go home and just relax. Then I’ll do all the paperwork when they’re all asleep.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. See? Easy fix,” you say, smiling up at him.

“Easier said than done,” Jin frowns. “I miss you, life was easier when you were around.” You laugh at what he said out loud.

“Yeah because the kids were always with me,” you say. “It’s good that I’m gone for this one week so that you can spend more alone time with the kids. They won’t be little like this forever you know..”

“That’s true,” he sighs. “I don’t know. It’s just… I thought I’d have this down by now. Minseok is eight. I thought it would be easier now that they’re older. But then again, Haneul’s only three. But Minseok and Soojin were never like that when they were his age. I thought it would be easy, working and taking care of three kids. Especially since two of them are old enough to know and listen. But it has been everything but easy… I haven’t asked any of our friends to come over and help. The most help I got was Yeonjun.. Here at work and when he came over our house when I fell asleep and forgot to pick up the kids.” He laughs. “You make it look so easy. How do you do it?”

You look up, thinking to yourself. “Well first, I spend more time with them since I work from home. I know them pretty well. What they like, what they want. We have a routine at home. So we follow it as best we can. But my job is more flexible than yours. I’m not running a whole company and holding meetings. So it’s okay. You’re just going to need a routine to follow I guess. The kids are good with that. You’re doing great right now babe. I know it’s hard, no one said being a parent is ever going to be easy. We have three kids.. right now.” You hesitated in adding those last two words. “They have three very different personalities, and they’re constantly changing. We’ll get through it.”

“I hope so. Come back home soon, okay? You could work from my office or I can work at home from time to time and you can teach me,” Jin says, laying to the side and holding his phone in front of him so it looks like you two are laying in bed across from one another.

You laugh, “okay, I will.”

“And let’s stick to just three kids. I don’t think I can handle any more changes.” Those seven words woke you up so fast. You try to laugh it off.

“Not even a puppy?” You joke. Jin shakes his head.

“We can get a goldfish, maybe.”

You weren’t typically an overthinker, but when you were pregnant with Haneul that’s all you were.

It was around 11:30 in the evening. You ended the call with Jin about half an hour ago because he was getting too tired. It was a long day after all.

You decided to get up and go to the kitchen.

“Mom,” you say, surprised to see your mother sitting at the kitchen counter. “What are you doing up? Are you feeling okay?”

Your mom smiles up at you, gesturing for you to come sit next to her.

“I’m doing great, I just can’t sleep. What about you?” She says, watching you walk up to her.

“I can’t sleep either. I was pretty sleepy until I ended my call with Jin.”

“Why what’s wrong? Did anything happen between you two?” She asks worriedly. You shake your head no.

“Not really… It’s just.. He’s been having a hard time with the kids. You know, there’s three of them and one of him and he’s working full time. It’s difficult.”

“I understand--”

“But that’s not all. He said he only wants three kids. No more. Not even a dog, mom. He said maybe to a goldfish.”

Your mom laughs, in a confused tone. “You’re sounding a little defensive hon, is there something… else? Do you want more kids? Three seems like a good number.” You bite your lip as you listen to her, turning away to look down at your fingers. “What’s wrong?” She asks again. “You’re acting like you’re a teenager again,” she laughs. “You always play with your fingers when you have something to tell me but you’re not sure if you should. I still remember when we had that talk when you had your first kiss.” You roll your eyes.

“Mom,” you say, turning back to look at her, steering the conversation back to where you were in the first place. “What would you say if I told you you’re going to have another grandchild?” Your mom gasps. She puts a hand over her mouth.

“Is your sister pregnant? Did she tell you?” She says, making you laugh.

“No, I’m just asking.”

“Oh,” she says, putting a hand on her heart. “Well, then I’d be happy! I love my babies and my babies’ babies,” she laughs. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Because,” you say, turning away again.

“Oh, just tell me,” she says, nudging your side.

“Because.. I’m pregnant.. again,” you say, turning to look at her face. Again, she puts her hand over her mouth and you don’t know if she’s shocked, or happily surprised.

“What?!” you say, “is that bad?” You groan, looking forward and dropping your head onto your hands.

“Nonono! I’m just surprised, I’m sososo happy for you!” Your mom says, leaning over to hug you. “Is that why you’re upset? Because Jin doesn’t want anymore? Does he know?”

“No,” you say, it was muffled by your hands. “No one knows. You’re the first person to know, I just found out.”

“Ohh I feel so special,” she laughs. “It’s going to be great hon, you and Jin make the best babies. Everything will be okay.” She plants a kiss on your head. “You should go ahead and go back home,” she tells you, making you sit back up.

“What?”

“I’m feeling great already, there’s no need for you to stay here and away from your family. Go celebrate this good news with them. I’m sure Jin and the kids would be so happy to see you and are even going to be happier to know they’re going to have a new addition~”

-

~The Next Morning~

“I’m sorry to wake you up so early, Yeonjun,” you say sheepishly. You were currently on the train back home and you called Jin’s secretary, asking him for a favor.

“I was already awake Noona, it’s no problem!” he answered energetically. “Is there anything you need?”

“Yes, I’ll be coming home today, but don’t tell Jin! I wanted to surprise them,” you say.

“Oh that’s great! Jin hyung will be so happy to have you back,” he says.

“I know, but I need you to tell Jin that you’ll be picking up Minseok and Soojin from school later, but really I’ll be picking up the kids and we can go surprise him at work.”

“Okay! No problem, Haneul will be at The Scenery though, so should I say I’m picking him up too so you can get him?”

“Oh yes, please.”

“Okay! No problem Noona. Oh and also, do you need me to pick you up from the train station?”

“Oh no it’s okay, I’m just going to get a cab.”

“I can pick you up before I head to the office, it’s no problem,” Yeonjun says.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, noona I’m sure. I’ll see you in a few hours!”

-

It was around 9 in the morning and you had just met up with Yeonjun. You sat in his car, leaning back with your eyes closed. He looks over at you and laughs.

“Are you sleepy noona?” He asks, stating the obvious.

“I couldn’t sleep last night, nor could I sleep on the ride here,” you say.

“Ah, I see. Well, you have a lot of time to nap when I drop you off at your house.”

“Kind of,” you say. “I have a few errands to take care of actually.”

“Like what?” he asks. Well you made an appointment to go get a check up with your obstetrician this morning. Then afterwards, you plan on going to 24/7 Heaven to get a few treats for the kids that you all can share when you get home. Then you’ll go to The Scenery to visit Haneul and take him out on a little date before you two pick up his siblings.

“I have an appointment,” you vaguely tell him. “Then I plan on going to my friend’s bakery to pick up a few things for the kids. Then I’ll go to my friend’s art school to pick up Haneul and take him out on a date.”

“Oh wow, you have a few things on your plate then. Go ahead and nap, I’ll wake you up when we get to your house,” Yeonjun says, focused on the road. You laugh at him.

“Thanks Yeonjun.” He’s your favorite secretary.

-

-

After your appointment, you headed straight to the bakery. You opened the door, instantly being greeted by your friend.

“YN!” Rina yells, waving at you frantically at the counter. You laugh as you get closer to her.

“Hi, you missed me?” You ask, winking at her. A habit you got from your husband.

“Duh,” she says. “Just like how Jungkook has separation anxiety with Jin, I can’t be away from you for too long! I have to at least know you’re in the city.”

You laugh at her, pulling her into a hug over the counter. 

“I thought you were going to be gone for a few more days?” she asks as you two pull away from one another.

“I was. But my mom suggested I come back home since she was feeling a lot better,” you tell her, eyeing a cake on the side. “Can you save that for me by the way?” You point.

“Sure, I’ll put it in the back,” she says. “That’s good though, that your mom is feeling better,” she says as she walks to the back room. She’s yelling so you can hear her. “And also I heard from Jungkook that Jin has been super stressed lately? I’m guessing the whole three to one thing?” 

“Yeah,” you sighed. “He’s been having a hard time splitting time between work and the kids. They keep clashing.”

“I see,” Rina says, walking back to the counter. “At least your back, they’re still out numbering you but nothing you can’t handle huh?” Rina was the first one you met out of all the girls, you helped her when she was pregnant with Sian since you already had experience and you two basically grew up together. As mothers. She’s practically your little sister. You don’t know this, but you’re her role model. Someone she has always looked up to.

“I guess so,” you laugh. You wish you could tell her right now about number four, but you want Jin to know before any of your friends. 

“Yn! Rina!”

The two of you turn around and see Byul running in. 

“Hey!” you say, turning around to give her a hug. She hugs Rina next. 

“Where’s Sohyun?” She asks, Rina turns around and points to the back room.

“Baking,” she laughs. 

“Oh, duh,” Byul says, smacking her forehead. “How about Taehyung?”

Rina laughs at her, shaking her head. “At his art school. The Scenery? Ring a bell?”

“OH. I--”

“So I’m guessing you haven’t had sleep again?” Rina asks.

“Why what happened?” You ask, feeling like you’re out of the loop.

“Namjoon is working on his new book and he’s let me read some of it! I spent half the night reading the drafts he gave me and I spent the other half crying my eyes out,” Byul tells you with a big smile on her face. Gosh, you love her.

“Are you allowed to tell us about it?” you ask. Byul shakes her head no. 

“Boyfriend said I have to keep my mouth shut,” she says, pretending to zip her lips. 

“Well she didn’t lock it!” Rina laughs, knowing Byul will spill it soon enough. “Should I get you two some coffees?”

“Yes please!”

-

After your little date with Byul (and a little bit of Rina and Sohyun came out later on), you finally made your way to The Scenery. After a quick stop at home to drop off the cake. 

“Hey~” you wave as you quietly walk into the room. 

“You’re back!” Taehyung says, walking up to you to give you a side hug, careful not to get paint on your clothes. 

“I am~ Where’s my kid?” You ask, looking around, not being able to see Haneul.

“Oh Yuna and Bora are in the bathroom with him and Mingyu. They got paint everywhere,” Taehyung says sheepishly. “I swear we were watching them but the second we turned… well you know.”

“That’s okay, thank you though for watching him,” you say with a small laugh.

“Mommy!”

You turn to see Haneul excitedly running towards you, his white sweater stained with red. You let out a laugh. “Haneul, oh my goodness you look like you killed someone.” Probably not the right thing to say to a three year old, but he giggled.

“Me and Gyugyu paint together,” he tells you, turning around to point to his cousin. 

“I know, auntie told me,” you say, pulling him in for a hug. Not caring about the paint. “I missed youuuu,” you tell him, placing kisses all over his cheek.

“I misschu too,” Haneul giggled.

“Hi Gyu,” you waved, extending your arm out so that you could hug him too. Your nephew comes running towards you hugging you tight. 

“I want a hug too!” Bora pouts, running towards you with Yuna right behind her. 

-

“Did I tell you?” Bora says. The three of you were now sitting on a separate table, talking before you and Haneul leave for a mommy-son date. 

“Tell us what?” You ask.

“I’m designing Rina’s wedding dress!” She whispers excitedly. You and Yuna’s eyes widened.

“No way! That sounds so much fun,” Yuna says, putting a hand on Bora’s wrist. “Are we allowed to see it?”

Bora smiles, shaking her head no.

Hmm.. deja vu.

“Rina doesn’t want anyone to see it until the fitting,” she says. You already knew you were going to cry when you see it on her. 

“I bet it’s beautiful,�� you say. “Rina’s been dreaming of this, I bet it’s perfect.”

“I hope it is. She gave me a few photo inspirations and I drew it out for her and she loves the design so far.”

“Oh I bet you’re going to design our bridesmaid dresses too huh,” Yuna says, looking at her with wide eyes.

“She’s right,” you say, getting excited.

“Maybe,” Bora answers, looking up. “I don’t know though.”

“Okay, so she is!” Yuna says, the two of you laughing. Bora wasn’t good at hiding things. 

-

“Where we goin’,” Haneul says as you two walked back to your car. He held tightly to his little painting as you held on to his other hand. 

“Well first we’re going to go home and get you changed so we can go on a little date. Where do you want to go?” You say. The two of you got to your car, you had a close parking spot. 

“I wanna play at the park,” he says as you carry him up into his car seat. “Look at my painting mommy.” He says, turning it around. Taehyung had a stack of white paper out for him and Mingyu as they were both painting so much, but Taehyung gave them both one canvas each to paint on and take home. “It's for daddy,” he says. 

“Aww it is?” You say as you buckle him in. “Well you can give it to daddy later, I’m sure he’s going to love it.” Haneul happily smiled at you, then down at his drawing. He was super excited to give it to Jin. 

-

“Okay let’s go change,” you say as you two finally get home. There was a bit of traffic. Haneul immediately runs off, but not to his room.

“Haneul where are you going? Come on, we need to change your sweater,” you say, walking into his room. Haneul tippy toed to reach the door handle of his dad’s office, sneaking inside. He giggles as he runs to his desk, placing his little present on top.

“Haneul?” You called. Your son looks back as he hears your voice, immediately running to his room. “I’m here!” he yells.

“Okay come on, arms up,” you say. You pull his sweater off of him, changing to a clean one.  “Mommy will also pack some snacks to take to the park okay?”

“Okay~” Haneul says as you pull his sweater over his head, making him giggle. He’s such a happy baby whenever you’re there.

-

-

“Thank you everyone, this concludes our meeting.” Jin has finished his last meeting of the day, just in time for the kids to get off of school. 

“Yeonjun,” Jin says. “I’m off, I’m going to pick up the kids now. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he quickly says, grabbing his things and walking out. It was just then when Yeonjun remembered that he was supposed to pick them up. Well, you, but he was supposed to tell Jin that he was so you could. Yeonjun panicked, it completely slipped his mind. After dropping you off back home, Jin had a lot of things for him to do.

“Oh hyung, it’s okay, I’ll pick them up,” Yeonjun says with a forced smile. He grabs his things, about to head off. Jin furrows his brows at him, tilting his head at the younger one. 

“No… it’s okay, I’ll do it. I finished everything I had to do anyways,” he says. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you.” Yeonjun knew he couldn’t say anything else to change his mind. Jin had nothing else to do at the building, picking up the kids for him just for him to go home right after was useless. 

“What am I going to tell noona,” he says to himself, watching Jin leave.

-

“Mommy!” Soojin yells as she gets in the car. “Why are you here already?” She says with a huge smile on her face.

“You’re here early,” Minseok says, a smile on his face as well. Haneul is waving at both of them right beside him. 

“I came to surprise you three,” you say. “And now we’re going to surprise daddy at work. Do you think he’s going to be happy?”

“YES!” They all yelled.

-

“Hey Taehyung,” Jin says as he walks into The Scenery. His older nieces and nephews were now there as school had just finished. 

“Hey hyung,” Taehyung says, patting Jin on the back. “What brings you here~ Kidless.” Jin frowns at him.

“What do you mean? I’m here to pick up Haneul, where is he?” Jin says, looking around. 

“Haneul’s not here,” Sian says, looking up at Jin. Jin’s heart stops for a second. 

“What do you mean he’s not here?”

“He was already picked up,” Taehyung says, not knowing that you haven’t told Jin that you’re back.

“By who?!” Jin yells, sighing loudly as he turns around, exiting the room quickly and heading straight to his car without a word from Taehyung. 

“He didn’t even let me answer!” Taehyung exclaimed, watching Jin get in his car from the window.

-

“He already left? Wait, you didn’t tell him?” You say, standing in your husband’s office with your three kids. 

“Jin hyung had me do a bunch of things when I came here! It slipped my mind!” Yeonjun says, freaking out. “I’m so sorry, he’s probably so worried right now but I tried calling him but he left his phone in here.” He says pointing to Jin’s phone on top of his desk. It had about 10 missed calls and 30 messages from Taehyung. 

At that moment, Jin comes barging into the room.

“Do you have any idea who picked up Haneul? Because I came in there and he was gon--” 

The five of you turn around with wide eyes after hearing his voice.

“DADDY!” Haneul yells running towards Jin and reaching his arms up to be carried. 

“HOW DID YOU GET HERE?” Jin yells, he sighs loudly, bringing his hands up to cover his face. “I almost called the police thinking someone stole my child but I didn’t even have my phone with me,” he says, dropping his hands down to bend over and pick Haneul up.

“Oh my gosh, I forgot the other kids.”

“It’s okay! We’re right here!” Soojin yells, making Jin finally look up towards the four of you. Yeonjun smiles and waves sheepishly at his boss while you do the same. You literally didn’t mean to stress him out even more. 

“Yn..” He breathes out.

“Sur.. prise?”

-

expect the unexpected

♡ part twenty: sur.. prise? ♡ 

pairings: ceo, dad!jin x interior designer, mom!reader

a/n: sorry this took so long 😀

also! just to let you all know ~ at this point in the story it’s going to be majority written but will still include some smau pics!

taglist: @silentlyimpractical @jillianmarie @waddlebby @cecedrake2217 @ddofa @samros95 @sope-and-shine @joonjoonsmiles @codeinebelle @aianloveseven @Chamchamcham @princessjazzyjazz @notvantaes @casspirit0705 @ramyagovindraj @brinnalaine @ephyra1230 @betysotelo18 @thoughtfultaledreamer @salty-for-suga @cosmicdaylight @dreamcatcherjiah @kookoo-kachoo @justinetingball  @josierosie @jayhope88 @butterflylion @hobiismyhopeu @momma-said-that-it-was-oke @ygbubs @catspancake  @somewhereofftheglobe @strawberryforever25 @rjsmochii @prdshobi @beeeb05 @eatjeanjin @taekookcaneatme @Cheeely14 @kookietsukkie @anpanman-sonyeondan @glitteringcoffeefreak @chocobetterknot @alpaca1612 @ohmy-fandoms @liljooniecutie @Jikachoo @preciouschimine @fan-ati--c @Joondala @httpmuffin @dammit-jjk @jikooksgirl19

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[horansqueen]

New Angel - Chapter 31

story masterlist [x]

chapter 1  ☆ chapter 2  ☆ chapter 3  ☆ chapter 4  ☆ chapter 5  ☆ chapter 6  ☆ chapter 7  ☆ chapter 8 ☆ chapter 9 ☆ chapter 10 ☆ chapter 11 ☆ chapter 12 ☆ chapter 13 ☆ chapter 14 ☆ chapter 15 ☆ chapter 16 ☆ chapter 17 ☆ chapter 18 ☆ chapter 19 ☆ chapter 20 ☆ chapter 21 ☆ chapter 22 ☆ chapter 23 ☆ chapter 24 ☆ chapter 25 ☆ chapter 26 ☆ chapter 27 ☆ chapter 28 ☆ chapter 29 ☆ chapter 30

NOTES

☆ written from Niall’s pov ☆ i don’t proofread, I never do, I hate it. ☆ AU comedy/fluff/smut/romance ☆ 2.5k ☆ i accept requests and ideas for this story, so message me in my inbox! Pretty sure no one will by now but its alright :) ☆ if you want to be notified when this story is updated (or be taken off the update list) CLICK HERE

NIALL

It was worth it just to see the sparkles in her eyes and the smile on her face. I watched her, my lips curled, and I couldn't seem to look away. She moved down on her knees and started petting the dog who just licked her hands, clearly excited to get attention and somehow, I could relate to him. It barely took an hour and we were back at the apartment, a new dog in the backseat, and knowing Millie's smile hadn't faltered at all since she realized we were adopting a dog made my month.

She turned around to look at the backseat when I parked and the do's head appeared between us.

"Hey boy." she whispered, her lips curling more. "You know you just became my favorite living being in the whole universe?"

"Heyyy!" I frowned slightly, making her turn to me. "Ouch?"

She chuckled and brought her hand to my cheek, brushing her thumb gently against my stubble. "Alright then, it's a tie!"

As an answer, the dog barked and I turned to him, raising my eyebrows. "Hey it's fair play, alright boy?" I brought my hand to him to rub his head and I felt Millie's hand slide on my chest.

"I thought you'd choose a puppy." I admitted, grabbing her hand with my free one and squeezing her fingers.

"I picked the one who needed love." she explained softly. "It doesn't matter that he's older. Puppies are picked first, I think Leo deserved a chance."

"Leo? So that's the name you picked?" I asked a bit surprised. "Please tell me it's not for Leonardo DiCaprio!"

This time, she laughed and turned to me, shaking her head. "No, I picked that name because it's his zodiac sign!"

I watched her smile and laugh and brought her hand up to press my lips on the back of it. I wanted to tell her that I was happy to see her smile and to hear her laugh. I wanted to tell her that I was happy she was out of the house, out of bed, and that she didn't seem impatient to get back. I wanted to tell her I was happy to spend time with her and that her happiness was all that mattered.

"Louis is gonna be pissed." she finally told me as I was unlocking the door.

I glanced at her thinking she may be right but it's not like I hadn't thought about the pros and  cons of this, but I knew that in the end, it was worth it, and knowing how guilty Louis felt at that moment, I knew he was not going to throw a fit. He may not enjoy it, but I was pretty sure he was going to accept it quickly.

"Yea, he'll get over it." I shrugged a shoulder, not even feeling guilty about it.

We both heard sound coming from the kitchen and I stopped breathing until I felt Millie's hand slip in mine. I relaxed and rubbing my thumb on the back of her hand gently and when she started walking, I followed her, my hand still in hers. I was not sure if she wanted Louis to see us like that, especially after she told me she was not ready to be in a relationship and we both let go of each other's hand at the same time.

It took Louis a few seconds to turn around and see us but he sent us a warm smile and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Hey guys, how-" he was quickly cut by Leo who started barking at him and Louis' smile quickly turned into a frown. "A dog?"

"Yea, they're better than therapy I heard." I pointed out. "They're emotional supports, they're incredible at making people happy."

I was not sure if he'd get the reference but he just nodded slowly, pressing his lips together.

"Good idea." he just said, and I knew that he remembered how he told me I had to show Millie that life was worth it, and that it was one of the ways I had thought of. "I love dogs anyway. So what's his name?"

"Leo!" Millie replied, getting up and making me realize she had spent the last minutes on her knees again just to pet her new dog.

"Oh god, please tell me it's not for Leonardo DiCaprio!" Louis let out with a groan, making me laugh loud.

"You're both so fucking annoying! It's his zodiac sign for fuck's sake!"

Louis chuckled and glanced at me, realizing I had the same reaction. "They knew his date of birth?"

"No, they didn't." Millie admitted, raising her nose up in a very cute grimace. "But it's July now, and it's a new start for both of us."

Without waiting for an answer, she bent down and rubbed Leo's head again, her eyes looking in his.

I saw Louis frown but he didn't dare asking why Millie needed a new start. Perhaps he thought it was because of their break-up and it was better this way. I just hoped he wouldn't ask me again.

"Can I... talk to you guys about something?"

My smile disappeared and suddenly, I felt nervous without really knowing why. I glance at Millie who's lips were still curled and she nodded before I could say anything. "Yea, what's up?"

How her mood had improved so fast was amazing and I was scared Louis was about to ruin it. He leaned against the kitchen's table as Millie and I remained standing up near. Louis cleared his throat and it took him long enough to talk to make sure a bunch of scenarios had invaded my head.

"I just thought it was time for us to part." he explained, his palms pressed on the table on each sides of his body. "You two need some space, and I decided I wanted to live with El." He paused and I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. "I think we need some distance between us. I love you both, and you'll always be my best friend, but for now, it's better, I believe."

I glanced at Millie, expecting her to get pissed or sad but she just nodded slowly again without saying a word. Louis moved back on his feet and took a step closer to us. Instinctively, I took a step closer and moved my body slightly in front of Millie in an attempt to protect her even if I was not sure of what. I had no idea if I did that often but it was the first time I noticed. Louis' facial expression changed and he stopped quickly, frowning for half a second before clearing his throat.

"I know I hurt you, Millie." he let out softly. "I'm so sorry. I really am. I'm not leaving because I don't love you, or because I want you out of my life. I'm leaving because I think it'll be easier. At least for a while, you know?"

I held my breath as my eyes roamed on my best friend's face and she finally licked her lips and nodded. "Yea, you're right." she replied gently, making me push the air out of my lungs in relief. "We've fought too much, I think it'll do both of us good."

Louis seemed to relax but when he took a step closer, Millie shook her  head before tilting it slightly. "I don't want to hug you, Louis. I'm sorry."

He looked surprised by her words but finally just nodded. "Alright, I get it." he let out very low. "It'll take time, I'll wait."

It was silent suddenly and I could feel the tension. I wanted to take Millie's hand but I was not sure it was something she wanted so instead, I moved closer to her, feeling her arm pressed against mine. She seemed to relax at my touch and Louis moved past us before turning around and sending us a sad smile.

"I'm... I'm going out."

He didn't mention it but we all knew he was going to spend time with his girlfriend. Millie and I waited until the door closed behind him and my eyes finally found hers. She seemed fine but I knew she mastered looking like she didn't care when deep down she was hurting. I could normally read the truth in her eyes but this time, I wasn't sure. Did I stop being able to read her?

"Okay, you know what? Pack your bags!"

Millie turned to me and sent me a frown just as Leo barked again.

"Where are we going?"

"At the end of the road, wherever it leads."

My best friend frowned even more at my words and shook her head slightly. "Where's the organized and wise man I'm used to?"

"Right in front of ya!" I argued with a smirk, taking a step closer. "You spent so much time in the same room, how about we see a part of this country we never visited?"

It took her about a minute to answer me. She studied me, her eyes roaming on my face, but when one of my hands slipped on her waist, she pressed her lips together. "If it's with you, it's okay."

I stared at her, feeling my heart jump in my chest. Something inside me was telling me to kiss her. In fact, every fibers of my body were telling me that our lips pressed together would make everything feel better. I bent down slightly but just as I was about to kiss her, Leo barked again. It made Millie's lips curl and she chuckled as I raised my eyebrows and crouched down to rub his head.

"Of course you're coming with us, Leo!"

---

"No dogs allowed."

It was the fourth hotel we stopped at but none of them accepted dogs in their rooms and it was starting to piss me off. I thought about just driving back home since it was only a few hours ride, but I wanted to do this with Millie. I wanted to make her happy and to spend time with her. I didn't want to give up just because it was tough, whether it was about this relationship or this hotel problem.

"So? What did they say?" Millie asked, hope in her voice, as I walked back to the car.

"Nope."

She sighed and her smile disappeared. She was sitting on the back seat, petting Leo who had a large smile on his face. He was not aware of the problem we were having, he was just happy about the car ride and It made me grimace at how lucky he was.

"It's getting late, Niall." Millie pointed out. "Maybe we should just go back home."

I moved closer to the car, holding myself with the top and bending down close to her. "I'm not ready to give up just yet."

She sent me a surprised smile and I raised my eyebrows before taking a step back and closing the door. I sat behind the wheel and we drove again, trying an other hotel before finally stopping in a retail store parking lot.

I leaned my head against the bench and sighed, closing my eyes until I felt her closer to me. She had moved between the seat and my heart jumped in my chest when I felt her lips brush against my jaw. I loved the way we were around each other. It felt like we took things so slow I could feel everything. On my skin and in my heart. I was mostly the type to rush things because of how fast I fall, but this time, I was happy Millie asked to take our time.

"How about you join me on the backseat? We could sleep here?"

My eyes fluttered open and they met hers, making my lips curl immediately.

"Sleeping in the car? In the middle of nowhere?"

"Cuddling in bed or in the backseat of the car is almost the same, isn't it?"

I grinned and chuckled low. "Except for the space, maybe."

"We can move your seats down and sleep there?"

"If you're not scared of backaches, yea, we can."

Her traits softened and without thinking, I brought my hand to her face, brushing my fingertips on her cheeks. She turned her head slightly and kissed my palm before looking back in my eyes again.

"Nothing scares me when you're with me, Niall."

It took us about ten minutes to get ready but we ended up laying down together in silence. Leo took place next to her and I felt lucky he didn't just decide to sleep between us. We remained silent and motionless, even if our backs hurt. Moving the seats down gave us more space but it was so uncomfortable I was a bit scared of how it would feel when we'd wake up. Millie didn't comment on it and I decided not to either.

"Thank you, Niall."

Her voice was so low and soft that it made my heart skip a few beats. We were in a small town in the middle of nowhere, laying in a car in an empty retail store parking lot late at night, but we were together and that in itself made the whole scene perfect.

"What for?"

This time, she turned her body my way and lied down on her stomach. I felt her fingers move to my cheek and she turned my face her way, holding herself with her elbow and when our eyes met, she smiled at me. I expected her to answer my question but instead, she bent down and her lips pressed against mine.

I let her kiss me for a few minutes, her lips moving slowly on mine and her tongue pressing and rubbing against mine. I could feel my whole body throb hard and my heartbeats accelerated when she placed her hand on my chest.

"I don't know what I did to deserve that kiss but please tell so I can do it again." I breathed out, making her chuckle low.

No, it was more like a giggle, and it made my heart twist. I liked it. i don't think I ever heard Millie giggle before, and the fact that she had been so sad in the past two weeks made this sound even more wonderful.

"Petal." I whispered again, bringing my hand to her face and placing a lock of her dark hair behind her ear. "How do you feel?"

Her amused smile turned into a soft one and she licked her lips. "Better." she admitted, brushing her thumb on my bottom lip. "But we didn't bring pillows or blankets."

"Mm, that's right." I nodded jokingly. "I guess that means I'm gonna have to hold you against me all night, what do you say?"

A large grin appeared on her face and she raised her nose up before rubbing it gently against mine. "I say, who needs blankets and pillows anyway?"

"Oh?"

"Mmhm, you're all I need."

I smiled at her but raised my eyebrows up when Leo barked, reminding us that he was still there. Millie chuckled and rolled her eyes, her grin still gracing her face.

"I need you too, Leo!"

[heyitsani]

A Dream Ripping at the Seams

@damianwayneweek fic Reverse Robins

Word Count: 5024

Rating: Teen and up

Warnings: Referenced past child abuse, canonical character death mentioned

Pairing: None

Summary: He had planned the whole thing out.  The moment he had seen the notes in Richard’s file on the computer, he had known he needed to get him out of there and away from Batman as soon as possible.  He refused to lose another brother.  

Saving Richard because he failed to save Todd was his only priority.

Notes: Guess what! IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! And it also happens to be Reverse Robins day for Damian Wayne week!  So to celebrate, I wrote this fic to give to all of you lovely people.  But especially those in the RR Discord who are always willing to encourage me to run with an idea that comes up last minute.

Also, this fic ends abruptly and that’s the point.  I might continue it, I might not.  But it’s supposed to feel sudden and full of questions.

To clear up confusion: Dick was 10 when adopted, Jason died when he was 15 and Dick 11, Dick is 12 (nearly 13) when the story starts, and 13 when it ends.

You can also read it on AO3 here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian waited until he had the opportunity to get Richard away from the manor for the afternoon before he approached the subject with the boy.  He hadn’t been certain he would need to, at first, but the longer Richard was in the house with his father the more he saw the signs he had seen with Jason. And that meant he needed to act.

So he had asked Richard if he wanted Damian to pick him up from school one Friday in February so they could go for ice cream before dinner.  Richard had, unsurprisingly, agreed enthusiastically like Damian had known he would.  With the kid’s sweet tooth, he never turned down things like ice cream.  Especially since it wasn’t something the circus really got much of apparently.  Traveling in trailers didn’t allow for too many luxuries like freezers.

“Richard,” Damian started once they were seated on a bench in a local park, not far from a playground that the child was eyeing.  When the sapphire eyes turned on him, Damian took a deep breath and looked directly at him. “I know you have figured out what Father and the rest of us do in the night.”  Richard nodded, smiling as he licked his cone.  “Has Father approached you about training yet?”

The boy nodded again, and Damian pressed his lips together.  Twelve years old.  Twelve.  None of them had been that young outside of himself, but his situation was different. Being born into the League of Assassins made for a different upbringing.  “Is that bad?”

Shaking his head, Damian made sure his face was neutral before speaking again.  “No, but I have concerns.”  The boy blinked at him, but remained silent as though he was waiting for his brother to tell him what it was he was concerned about.  “You do not know of my childhood, but it was far from…pleasant. I was raised in a place called Nanda Parbat that trains people to be the kind of people Batman fights against.”

“But you were a kid?” Richard sounded confused; ice cream forgotten as he tried to sort through what Damian was saying.  And what he wasn’t saying.  “Why would you train a kid like that?”

“Because that was the way things were done there.”

“Then they were done wrong.”

Damian let out a soft laugh, corner of his mouth raising just slightly at the thought of this twelve-year-old child telling him that he had been raised wrong.  “Be that as it may, you are correct that I was a kid and that should not have been my childhood.”

Richard hummed and went back to his ice cream, looking out at a pair of dogs playing in the grass. Damian observed him as he watched the dogs, wondering what he was thinking.  He wasn’t sure how to ask the boy to do what exactly he was thinking, but he just hoped Richard would go along with it.  That he would agree to leave because this was not the life he should be living.

“Dami?”  Richard looked back to him, and Damian raised his eyebrows.  “You don’t want me to train with Batman.”  Damian shook his head.  “Ever?”

And wasn’t that the real question?

Damian wasn’t sure if he wanted Richard, the purest of them all, to be exposed to how ugly the world was the same way the rest of them had been.  It would ruin him.  It would steal the innocence that Damian found himself desperately wanting to protect. It would tear out everything good in him and leave him a shell.  

“Never,” he admitted quietly.  Richard dropped his gaze again and chewed on his lower lip.  “I want you to understand why.  My childhood aside, I do not want to see what happened to Todd happen to you. I do not want you to lose yourself the way I have seen Drake do.  I do not want you to realize the ugly truths of the world long before your time the way Cain or Brown have.  I want to protect you from all of that.”

With brows drawn down, Richard looked at him again.  He was looking at Damian with that look, the one he had seen Cain look at him with too many times to count.  The look that penetrated all the walls and shields he had put around his mind and heart.

“You want me to leave.”

“I want to take you away from here and hide us both until you are able to stand your own against Father on the subject,” he quickly corrected, not wanting Richard to think he wasn’t welcome in the Wayne family.  “I want to protect you from a fate I wish we all could have been protected from.”

Richard took a lick of his ice cream and Damian waited, worried the boy would tell him no and then tell his father everything Damian had planned.  “Okay.”

“Okay?”

Richard nodded.  “Okay.”

And Damian released his held breath, relief washing over him.  He could save one of them, the best of them.  He could do one right thing in his life, a life filled with so many wrong things.

“We leave in a week.” Richard’s eyes turned determined, and he gave a firm nod before looking over toward the playground again.

“Can I play after my ice cream is finished?”  Damian laughed and nodded, too relieved to deny him anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Who is she?”  Richard asked, tugging on the black chuba Damian had selected for himself the moment they had touched down in Tibet.  The weather was fairly cool, and he hadn’t thought to purchase the proper wears before he had put his plan into motion. But thankfully he had anticipated needing to switch enough money into Yuan to get them by for the first couple of months.  It had made purchasing weather friendly clothing for himself and Richard much easier.

Looking down at Richard, Damian frowned and followed his eyeline to the familiar statue that stood at the top of the mountain, guarding over Nanda Parbat.  “She is Ruma Kushna,” he told Richard, who couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the beautiful stone statue.  He couldn’t blame the kid, he had been fascinated with the goddess when he had been younger.  She had been formidable and even his grandfather had spoken highly of the goddess. “She watches over all of those in Nanda Parbat.”

Richard frowned and looked away from the statue, blue eyes skittering over the various people wandering around the market they were making their way through in an attempt to find lodging.  “She is not kind then,” the boy said, looking up at Damian with a fierce look.

“What makes you say that?”

Richard shrugged and looked away, curiosity stealing the boy’s attention once more.  But Damian couldn’t forget that look for stubborn protectiveness that had covered Richard’s face in the moment.  It had been breathtaking if he were honest.  He couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked at him like that when they weren’t preparing to fight him for one reason or another.

Pausing at a stall with various spices that smelled familiar and distant at the same time, Damian gave the older woman a friendly smile.  “Tashi delek,” he greeted her, giving a small bow of his head.  “My son and I are looking for lodging, do you know of anyone with vacancies in their home that would spare space for us?  We are willing to pay.”

The woman seemed to consider him closely, glancing from him to Richard and then back again.  He knew his excuse of Richard being his son was flimsy when someone considered their age difference, but it was the story he needed to stick to for the time being.  He couldn’t risk someone looking too deeply into their relation if they thought they were merely brothers.  And Damian would be drawn and quartered before someone took Richard from him and returned him to Bruce.

“I have a spare sleeping quarter if you could spare your strength,” the woman finally replied, kindness heavy in her old eyes.

“Tuchi che!”  Richard exclaimed, smiling brightly at the woman who almost looked surprised at his enthusiasm.  Damian struggled to hold back a smile of his own as he gave the woman a firm nod, silently agreeing to her terms.

“I am Damian and this is Richard.  We are grateful for your hospitality.”  The woman chuckled and waved them off, telling them to scout the market for anything they might need since their packs were small and probably did not hold much out of the bare necessities.  “What should we call you?”

The woman’s smile warmed, and she leaned back.  “I am Amala,” she responded.  “Now go find you both some clothing that is not of the city but of the mountain.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You are al Ghul,” Amala stated as she handed over the cup of tea.  Damian froze, eyes wide as he looked at the woman who still looked at him with that same kindness she had since that first meeting almost four months ago.  But he couldn’t figure out how she could possibly look at him that way if she knew who his family was.  “The League is well known in our village, as small as we may be.  They look after their own on the mountain.  But there were whispers of the Heir refusing to return and the Demon Head demanding justice.”

Looking down at his teacup, cradled in both hands to warm his palms from the cool night air coming in from under the door, he sighed before glancing back toward the corner where Richard was sleeping.  Confirming Amala’s words would put them both in danger of being discovered.  He had picked this village because it meant they were right under his grandfather and mother’s noses.  They would never look for him here.

But if he lied, he risked having to run with Richard again.  And the child was finally settling nicely in the village.  He had made friends with some of the other children and he was catching up on his studies.  The last thing Damian wanted to do was uproot him yet again.  His life had been disrupted enough since the death of his parents.

“I am he,” Damian admitted, looking back to Amala.  The woman smiled knowingly before pressing a finger to her lips in a ‘shhhh’ motion and Damian let out a sigh of relief.  “How did you figure it out?”

The woman shrugged.  “You have your mother’s eyes,” she said, as if that was enough to give it all away.  “And your mother used to bring you down here as a babe, just learning to walk the mountain.  I recognized you the moment you approached my stall at market.”

“Has anyone else?”

“Not that I have heard.”

But that didn’t mean they hadn’t.  If someone told his mother or even one of the footmen, Damian would need to pick Richard up and run.  He wouldn’t have a choice.  He probably should do it now before anyone had the chance to come after them.

“Thank you, for trusting us then.”

Amala waved a hand.  “I could see in your eyes that you were running from something.  That you were protecting your son from something.”  Damian held back the cringe at the word son, knowing she had to have figured out that Richard wasn’t his.  “You are safe in my home.  I will not bring harm upon you.  No matter if it is from up the mountain or from far away.”

Damian swallowed, bowing his head against the onslaught of emotion that hit him from her words.  “Thank you,” he whispered, unable to look at her just yet.  “Protecting him is all I am after.”  He looked over at Richard again and blinked away the tears.  “It is my only goal.”

“And that is what makes you a good father,” she said softly, “blood or not.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Baba!”  Richard called out; voice distorted as it came into the house from outside where he had been helping plant some new seedlings.  “Dami!”  That made Damian pause.  It had been a while since Richard had called him by his name, out of habit or fear Damian couldn’t be sure which.  But it made a small sense of panic arise in his chest and had him dropping the piece he had been sketching and immediately run out the front door.

He froze when he saw a man kneeling in front of Richard, black cloak and hood pulled over his head, hiding his face from Damian but not from Richard.  But when the man looked up, Damian felt his stomach drop.

“No,” he whispered, hurrying forward and pushing Richard behind him as he glared at Timothy Drake, his father’s second eldest but first adopted child.  “You are not welcome here, Drake,” he said lowly, English rusty from lack of use since coming to Tibet.

Drake held up his hands and took a step back, but Damian held tighter onto Richard who tried to move out from behind his legs.  “I am not here to cause trouble, Damian,” Drake offered.  And Damian knew him well enough to know the man was being honest.  But it didn’t mean he could let his guard down. “He doesn’t know I’m here.  He doesn’t know I found you.”

“Trackers.”

“Rerouted.”

Taking a deep breath, Damian glanced around before giving Drake a nod and herding Richard into the house, knowing Drake would following them.  “Richard, go work on your schooling.”  Richard looked up at him, frowning at the order, before glancing over at Drake.  “Now, Richard.”  And though Damian knew the child didn’t want to, Richard walked away with a pout to the table where his schoolwork sat waiting.  “How did you find us?”  

“It wasn’t easy, you covered your tracks better than any of us expected,” Drake said, eyes watching Richard as he took his seat and began writing in the notebook.  Damian could tell he was curious, but Damian needed answers before Drake got his own.  “I looked at footage we had searched through a million times and got lucky.”

“And Father doesn’t know? I’m meant to believe you simply didn’t tell him?  You?”

“He thinks I’m off world with the Titans.”

“That doesn’t answer why you didn’t tell him.”

Drake seemed to consider his answer for a moment before shrugging both his shoulders.  “Dick didn’t seem to be in distress in the footage I found. He looked like he wanted to be with you.”

“I explained it to him before we left.  He agreed to come with me on his own.”

“Why did you take him?”

A familiar anger built in his core and Damian had to push it down with a few deep breaths before he could answer Drake without yelling.  “Because I would not let him sacrifice Richard the same way he sacrificed all of us. Because since losing Todd, he has lost sight of the true mission and we have become nothing but soldiers to him. I would die before I let that man turn Richard another glass case bearing a bloodied suit of armor,” he growled, fists clenched tightly.  

Drake watched him with those eyes, the ones Damian had always hated because it always felt like he was a risk and Drake was calculating how dangerous he was in any given moment.  As if Drake was just like his father, with a file of ways to put an end to Damian because part of him was too dangerous to be trusted.

“Your secret is safe with me,” Drake finally said, looking back to Richard with a nod.  “I didn’t believe you could have taken him for anything other than his own good.”  The cool blue eyes looked back to Damian and had lost some of the calculating look.  “B won’t stop though, Damian.  He’s desperate to find you both even though it’s been over six months.  I don’t know how long until he realizes that you hid both of you in plain sight of the League.  Does Ra’s or Talia know you’re here?”

“Not that they have revealed to me,” Damian admitted.  “Our patron, she knows of my heritage and has sworn an oath of secrecy.  But she is League loyal due to their protection.”

Damian watched Drake fully take in the appearance of the home they were in, the simple nature of it all and Damian couldn’t help but wonder what the man thought of him now.  What did he think of the haughty Wayne heir who had loved to shove that fact in every ones faces, telling them that he was the heir to one of the richest men in the world.  That he was heir to Batman, the Dark Knight.  The Damian standing in front of Drake was far from that person as Damian could probably get.

“This has not only saved him,” Drake finally said, looking directly at Damian.  There was no lie that Damian could see and though he wanted to deny what his brother said, his eyes glanced over to Richard and knew it was the truth. He was not who he had been before they had left Gotham.  He had been losing himself in his own grief and it was only the deep seeded fear of losing yet another family member that forced him to pull out of it and take action.

But he couldn’t admit that to Drake, could he?  “I wouldn’t lose him the way we lost Todd.  I did what I had to do.  He never would have listened.”

“No, he wouldn’t have.”

“And has anything changed?” Drake frowned; eyebrows furrowed. And that was enough of an answer for Damian.  “He’s just become obsessed with finding us instead.”

Drake nodded.  “It’s been bad enough that Superman watches Gotham from afar to keep B from doing something he might regret.”  And Damian knew, yet again, that he had made the right choice in getting Richard away from that.  “Can I give you a burner that only I know about?”  Damian’s eyes snapped back to Drake, having drifted back to Richard yet again.  “I want to be able to give you a heads up if he comes your way.  It might not be much of one, but maybe enough for you to get a head start.”

It wasn’t a bad idea, having that option, but Damian also knew it might give his father access to the pair of them without Drake even knowing.  But Drake did know technology more than anyone else in the family. Perhaps it was a risk he could take.

“All right,” Damian relented, giving a nod.  Drake’s features looked relieved, to the point where Damian wondered if he had made the wrong decision.  But he could work on the device later and see if it had been bugged or tampered with in any way.

Drake dug into his small pack and pulled out a small phone, probably a prototype that Wayne Tech had decided wasn’t worth the trouble.  He quickly showed Damian how to turn it on and use the basic features before it was turned off yet again and Damian was tucking it into the pocket of his pants.

“I need to go, I can’t reroute much longer.  But if you need anything, please call me.  I have your back.”  Damian gave a nod before watching Drake walk over to Richard and kneel down to talk quietly with the teen.  He didn’t bother listening in, knowing Richard would tell him what was said later, but he did watch.  He watched Richard listen and nod, responding with his own words before reaching out and hugging the man around the neck.  

When Drake stood and turned to leave, Damian was fairly certain he saw a sheen of tears in his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian knew something was different the instant he walked into the small house, even if he couldn’t immediately tell what.  It caused him to stop short in the doorway, Richard smacking into him because he had been too absorbed in the book of mathematics one of the men of the village had shared with him.

“Baba, what…?”  The child complained but Damian’s eyes focused on the figure in the corner of the room instead, not answering.

“Mother.”

The woman moved forward, like a serpent seeking prey, into the light with a smirk on her face.  “Son,” she greeted, eyes looking over his ragged appearance from his day of labor with a hint of distain before stopping on Richard. “You really do have too much of your father in you.”

Rolling his eyes, Damian shuffled Richard into the house and nudged him toward their sleeping corner. And though he didn’t think his mother meant them harm, he still kept his body between the two of them and coiled his muscles to prepare for a fight.

“What are you doing here? How did you even know?”

“Oh please, Damian,” Talia sighed and came closer before lounging in one of the chairs near the fireplace.  “Do you honestly think we weren’t aware the moment you landed in Tibet?  That we weren’t tracking you from the very start? You have forgotten your roots.”

Damian narrowed his eyes. “Then why did you wait so long to approach me?”

“Because we did not need you.”  That made Damian tense further.  The League needing him would lead to nothing good, he knew that deep in his core.  “I have something in Nanda Parbat that requires your attention before it can be dealt with.  And no,” she held up a hand to stop his question, “it is not your father. But it does have a link to him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  He couldn’t trust his own eyes in that moment.  It wasn’t possible.  Was it? No, he had seen the body.  He had been there as the coffin had been lowered into the plot and covered with dirt.  He had laid his hand on the tombstone and apologized for not being able to get to him in time.

But that was definitely Jason Todd in front of him.

“How is this possible?”  Damian asked, glad he had put Richard in his old rooms while he handled this.  Richard had known Todd for only a year before he had died. This was not something Damian wanted to expose the teen to before he knew what the point of all of this was.

“We are not certain. We can’t even say how long he has been like this.  He has been dead for nearly 18 months and we have had him here for the past six.” Damian frowned, walking closer to Todd, trying to catch the teen’s eye.  “He is alive and everything is in working order, but it is as though death stole his soul.”

“Of course it did!  He died!”  Damian snapped, looking back at his mother who stood a ways back watching but looked bored.  “We buried him.  We…” Breathing heavily through his nose, Damian looked back to Todd and shook his head.  They had mourned him.  And now he was there, living and breathing but lifeless.  Everything that had made him Jason Todd seemed to have been stripped away.  “What do you intend to do with him?”

His mother’s heels clicked on the marble floor as she moved closer and stopped once she reached the pair. He watched a slender hand reach out and pet the side of Jason’s face.  Annoyed, Damian’s hand shot out and grabbed his mother’s wrist to stop the obscene gesture.  “What do you intend to do with him,” he growled, gripping her wrist tightly and turning to fully face her.  He narrowed his eyes and stared her down, not willing to let her brush him off.  She had brought him here for a reason.

“We will put him in the Pit, of course,” she said, unaffected by the grip he had on her or the look on his face.  “We just wanted to see if a familiar face might wake him up first.”

“Mother,” Damian gasped, releasing her and stepping back.  “We do not put innocents in the Pit.  It is not done.”

Talia raised a brow and Damian glowered.  “There is no ‘we’, Damian.  You made your choice.”

“You cannot do that to him. He had anger before his death.  He was murdered brutally.  These are all things the League has always avoided in resurrections.”  Damian looked over at Jason’s empty eyes and frowned, shaking his head.  “You cannot sentence him to that Madness.  He is a child.”

“He is no more a child than any of you were.  My Beloved has only had one true child in his home and you stole him away in fear of him turning your precious Richard into the same monster each of you fight off daily.” Talia tilted her head, considering him. “You most of all, my son.”

“You created the monster long before he got his hands on it.”

A slender shoulder rose and fell gracefully.  “Perhaps, but you have Demon blood in your veins and you have always been destined for so much more than this charade of a life you have taken up.”

Damian clenched his jaw and looked away from his mother, unable to deny her words.  He knew this farce he and Richard had been living would not sustain them forever, but he knew it was what the teen needed at the moment. If he returned Richard to Gotham, his father would rip the child away from him and Damian would lose him to the fight he desperately wanted to protect Richard from.  The Bat would get into his head and Damian would lose.

No, returning to Gotham would never be an option until Richard was old enough to stand on his own.

“You could remain here. Take up your title again and we could train and teach the boy to be the very best.”  Damian immediately shook his head.  That wasn’t any better than the fate that awaited them in Gotham.  “It is only a matter of time before he finds you. He will exhaust all resources and then call upon me.  He will come to Nanda Parbat and hear the tinkling laughter that reminds him so much of the boy his own son had stolen away from him.  He will follow the sound to a yard where a teen with black hair and sapphire eyes kneels in the dirt, pulling weeds from around the plants that have just begun to sprout.

“He will watch in wonder at the change a year, perhaps two years, has made in the boy.  And then he will see the man who is responsible for the heartache and fear he experienced over that time, standing in the window watching the teen just as he had been.  And he will take him back.  He will threaten them both with everything in his itinerary until there is no choice but to return.”

“And then he will ruin him,” Damian whispered, closing his eyes because he knew his mother was right. It was the fear that kept him up each and every night.  His father would never stop searching and he would eventually get desperate enough to turn to Ra’s for help.  And he would come himself to plead his case because otherwise Ra’s would laugh in his face and behead whoever was foolish enough to come in his stead.

Opening his eyes, he stared into the familiar one watching him closely.  “You win.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian hated that his mother insisted on Richard being in the room with them when Todd was placed in the Pit, but he wasn’t in any position to argue.  He just hoped that nothing happened that would require him to use the sword strapped to his back in order to keep Richard safe.  The last thing he wanted was for the teen to see that side of him, the side that would require him to take up arms against another of his brothers.

But Richard stood just behind him, stubborn look on his face as he watched Todd over near the Pit. The green glow of the waters within gave the room an ethrial look but made Jason look sickly.  With that blank look on his face, Damian felt his heart ache for the boy he remembered.  He had tried harder with Todd than he had with Drake, but it didn’t mean he was the best of brothers.  He hoped the teen knew he had tried.

But emotions had never been his forte.

Thankfully, he was doing even better with Richard than he had with any of the others.  The teen had taught him much more than he ever thought possibly while he had taught the boy what little he had to offer outside of self-defense. Which, he had taught him as well. Just not to the same effect that training to be a Cape would have done.

“Are you ready to witness true magic, Richard?”  Damian frowned over at his mother when she entered the room and moved over to stand with the two of them.  He looked back and down toward the teen, who he found watching his mother with narrowed, untrusting eyes.  Good boy.

Damian had made sure that he always questioned his surroundings and stayed wary of those he didn’t know. Apparently, Talia al Ghul fell in that category.

The woman simply quirked an eyebrow at him before she walked over to where the footmen were getting ready to move Todd to the platform.  Reaching out, Damian tugged Richard closer to him in hopes to shield him from the coming disaster.  His mother might be certain this was a good idea, surely for her own gain, but he knew this was not something that should be done.  But as good of a fighter Damian was, he could not take on the entire League. And he would need to do just that if he wanted to get Todd out of there before he was manipulated and twisted into a shadow of the teen he had been.

“Let us begin,” Ra’s said as he took his place on the opposite side of the Pit.

[popculturebuffet]

House of Mouse: Max’s Embarrassing Date Review

Hello House Mouses and welcome back to the house of mouse. Another comission by Kev and my second House of Mouse for the valentine’s season. This time we’re not tackling a Valentine’s Episode necesarily, but a romantic one all the same as fan faviorite couple Max and Roxanne finally go on a date.  I always liked Max. Even as a kid when I wasn’t the biggest fan of “A Goofy Movie”, didn’t like the darker patches like the principals office scene or the Pete Hot tub scene.. though in hindsight both had legit greviances with Max... it just dosen’t make either less terrible as the principal still told an innocnet man who wasn’t responsible for what his kid did and was trying his best that his son was going to become a crminal because of one stupid but mostly harmless prank, and Pete.. is just an abusive, unlikeable and unlovable ass in both Goof Troop and Goofy Movie, and I hate how he treats his son, don’t blame his wife for leaving him or taking their daughter and dog, and am really sad he got custody of PJ somehow. And for the record this isn’t ALL petes, just this version. The rest are fine and just the right level of asshole. 

Point is despite my problems with the first film, I had none with the second and even now I like it due to having some really good ideas and concepts while also being gloirously rediclous due to the loveably dated X-Games element. While I do have a spot in my heart for the Dana Hill and Shaun Fleming versions, especially the latter once upon a christmas is awesome, Jason Marsden’s version is the best by the mile having the right amount of ego mixed with self doubt to make him likeable enough to brook him being an ass to his dad a lot. He’s a good character.. and it baffles me Disney NEVER uses him nowadays. No really, the last time he showed up was in twice upon a christmas and no one liked that because he was dating someone who wasn’t Roxanne just to rehash the same plot they’d already rehashed better in Extremley Goofy Movie. I REALLY need to rewatch that one. Hmm.... gonna see if I can squeeze that one into May or later in April. That’s for another time. 

But yeah while he’s at one of the disney parks, that’s it. The character just .. vanished, and hasn’t been brought back in any way shape or form. Though I could see either a Disney Plus reboot of goof troop or a goofy movie with max having his own kids. That could be intresting. Also bring Roxanne back as weirdly this episode i’m reviewing, a goofy movie and now her ducktales cameo are her ONLY apperances. 

Seriously I get she’s not the most fleshed out.. but then flesh her out. Like Max she’s crminally underused and while I get her absence as a character in the sequel, the plot really didn’t need her, he still could’ve been dating her off screen. Though clearly the two worked things out and tried again as this episode came out AFTER extremely did. But did this episode work out? Join me under the cut to find out. 

As i’ve decided is my standard for House of Mouse Episodes, shorts first, then wraparound, then Mickey Mouse live sex celebration. Though I will say i’ve picked up there are two kinds of formats for the show: They either use two of the longer Mouseworks shorts or just one close to 11 minute short, a medium one, and one of the little two minute segments. There might be a break from this in the future, we shall see but for now those ar ethe two standards. This time we have two longer shorts. 

Pluto’s Penthouse Sweet: 

I’ve mentioned in the past I dont’ really get why Pluto is part of Disney’s sensational six along with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Daisy. And I stand by that: While he’s had his own cartoons they just aren’t as entertaining and creative as MIckey’s or hilarous and relatable as Donald and Goofy’s. He’s just an average cartoon dog. He works fine in tandem with Mickey, but on his own he’s just nothing and his spot should be taken by pete, who while not a goodie all the time, again the goof troop version needs to step on a rake and fall into a well.. somehow. i didn’t think my insult through. Point is pete is better.  And this short isn’t BAD .. but to me it’s what some fans THINK the disney shorts are: Bland, maybe one or two good jokes but almost nothing new or intresting. As I found out last year, that’s far from the case, as a lot of the Donald shorts are still hilarious today and a lot of the mickey shorts are shockingly creative, like Thru The Mirorr where he goes .. well thru the mirror into a wonderland like world where all the inanaimate objects are alive and he can shrink and what not via astral projection, or Mickey’s Mechanical Man, which I sadly didn’t know about when I did the MIckey Birthday Special and for some reason isn’t on disne plus. In it Mickey creates a robot and has it box a monsterous looking gorillia. 

How has Mickey piloting this thing but giant sized against various kaiju been a thing yet? And if it has someone tell me. Seriously with all the comics and animated series how. I’d even settle for a Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse episode. Just bring this guy back. Point is there was far more invetnion than it seemed.. at least at first as it slowly died out as they went by the late 50′s. But Pluto just seemed even in their hayday like your standard pet gets into antics thing without the creative slapstick of tom and jerry or the likeablity of sylvester who never could get that asshole Tweety Bird. This is just weak sauce and whiel I could forgive the older shorts, as their from another time and likely lead to say Tom and Jerry... I can’t forgive this which was made probably in 1998 and released in 1999 originally. Comedy had evolved a LOT by that point and unlike the Goofy how to shorts, which are a format that is immortal and still evolved to match the times and felt fresh, these just feel stale and boring and like the last Pluto short I covered this one was a chore to sit through though not nearly AS bad. 

Still though the premise is about the same, Pluto’s left to his own devices, and finds a female dog, though in this case she’s VERY intrested in him. I”m also not entirley convinced she’s a dog, but instead one of Jumba’s experiments and that Lilo and Stitch later had to journey to.. wherever these shorts take place to fetch him. Or more likely the house of mouse. I mean Proud Family, Recess, American Dragon Jake Long and Kim Possible all take place int hat universe, why can’t house of mouse? Also tell me you wouldn’t watch an avengers style team consisting of Kim, Ron, Jake, Penny, Probably TJ, Lilo, Stitch and Donald Duck. If you wouldn’t i’d call you a liar because you would be. 

Seriously the eyes give her away.... just look at them. Very experimenty. But before Pluto can do it like they do on the discovery channel he has to get past the guard dog.. though how he does produces the one great gag of the short, as he BUILDS A GIANT, TROJAN HORSE ESQUE PLUTO OUT OF JUNK. Just holy shit that’s awesome> It gets him inside, only for him to find his lady friend is a bit TOO affectionate and he has to escape, he does so, and MIckey wonders if he missed him etc lame button. This short was a vacuum of comedy outside of GIANT PLUTO. Seriously where’s my disney giant mecha series. YOu have five main characters, and Pluto among with MANY, MANY side characters, frmo scrooge to the boys to hopefully Della, to even possibly pete and mortimer who could have their own mech against the heroes but maybe join them in the last episode. Maybe max and pj could have some, have a father vs son thing with PJ and Pete. I”m just saying, i’d watch it. I know my nieces would watch it. I know my nephews would watch it. Greenlight it. Or i’ll make it.. somehow. 

How to Ride a Bike: Speaking of the How To Shorts, as usual for the House of Mouse era ones.. this was awesome, pretty much what you’d expect, some goofy, pardon the pun, gags about goofy riding a bike and then a fun climax of him in a bike race. Not a ton to add, other than that hamster bike above is genius. Just needs some tweaking. Really funny, really simple, and really good as you’d expect from a good Goofy Short. Easily the best part of the episode. 

Max’s Embarrassing Date: So this was a disapointment. Like i’d try to be nice.. but I had high hopes given this brought Roxanne back, and while the premise was stock maybe they’d do something funny with with it. 

But no the plot is pretty standard, very predictable and fairly obnoxious. Max has a date with Roxanne, and is playing it cool and what not, but is worried his dad will find out.. which he somehow did offscreen. Probably Clarabelle.. I mean they do go out sometimes in this one, wouldn’t surprise me. 

So Max pleads with the rest of the HOM staff to keep him away because he fears his dad will overdo things, which.. is fair and one of the few things I like> He dosen’t want him to overdo it on the mood because this is well.. a first date. He dosen’t want to pressure her or himself and just wants it to be nice and calm. The problem is it’s framed like him once again being embarassed by his dad and having to learn better.

At this point we’d had TWO movies do this already, one of which was only two years old at the time of this episode. This plot is stale as old toast even if it dind’t have goofy in it. And the twist is predictable: the HOM crew end up also overdoing it: Minnie comments on how cute they are and wants candles brought, Daisy gets them a bigger table forgetting how dates work,t hough we do get a great gag of hte 7 dwarves stacked, and Mickey while having .. some.. gopher? I honestly can’t tell who it was, usually i’m better at the cameos. Speaking of which they also have a runner of beast going on a date with Cruella Devile. 

I mean is he cheating on his wife? Is she holding his wife hostage? Is this before belle because we see a post transfomratoin beast too so maybe the House of Mouse is an intersection of space and time? That’s.. actually the most resonable answer I can think of honestly and when i’m focusing more on how the hell your gag works than how funny it is, you clearly failed somewhere along the line. 

Point is Mickey puts his good friend in a pothole, and not only calls max little max, which while an understnadably close family thing to do is still embarassing, but also takes pictures while their eating the spagetthi.. which i’m 100% sure was Huey’s idea nad had Mickey not interrupted, would’ve been tied up down the middle for a lady and the tramp thing. It’s his signature move. Well that and having a panic attack. That’s also one of mine the others being lettterkenny refrences and sex jokes about disney characters.  But yeah this just.. dosen’t work. Them being as embarassing? that’d be fine.. if they weren’t wholly unsympathetic for not only keeping their friend from WELL INTEITONEDLY trying to help his son on his date, something his son shold have no problem with since ROXANNE’S MET HIM. AND IS FINE WITH HIM. AND NEVER CARED ABOUT YOU BEING HIS SON LIKE THE DICKHEADS AT SCHOOL. MINUS BOBBY WHO YOUR FRIENDS WITH FOR SOME REASON. My point is this plot bothers me a lot, and it makes the mickey crew come off like assholes for doing this to thier friend instead of just talking to him like a person. Especially since only ONE of them is a parent and Conviently donald is mostly absent. Likely because he realized this was going to end badly and just agreed to tie the spagetthi like huey taught him to keep his involvment in this shit show and gaslighting his best friend to a minimum. 

Eventually Mickey takes things a step too far and has Sebastian almost sing kiss the girl. Max cuts him off though yelling that he just wants them to back off, he just wants them to relax and he TOLD them this, which makes them come off worse as they KNEW he didn’t want this and did it anyway and never apologize becaue apparently the first rule of house of mouse is never apologize for anything, huh huh. Goofy naturally steps in, tells them off and agrees to serve them and Roxanne finds him entertaining and gives him a nose kiss for being a good dad. He’s a good guy that Goof.  Roxanne then whispers something in max’s ear at the end of the date... which gives him an audible erection. No really. And given his age is vauge here I’m suddenly super duper uncomfortable so let’s move on. 

So max tells them she liked it and wants to come back.. 100% sure that wasn’t what she said but what she said isn’t fit to print and you’ve seen what i’ve said and what I put in the we’ll be right back. Point is he’s happy, though Mickey says we’ll try to make it extra special next time. Mickey.. did you do a space mountain’s worth of pills and cokea nd just forget the entire evening? Did you take some of those hangover roofies/ Why would you do that? Was that pete’s new plan to steal the house of mouse? To drug you guys and make you forget you already paid the rent? Did PJ stop him? Inquiring me wants to know. 

Final Thoughts: Yeah this wasn’t a very good episode. Roxanne is wasted despite having a suitable replacment Roxanne voice in Grey Delise, with no real depth just to rehash the plot of the first and second goofy movies. And this one didn’t have an inexpilicable beatnik cafe, PJ getting laid and finally being happy for once, a standard college fraternity plot  surgeically infused with an out of nowhere obession with xtreme sports that was nowhere in the first film, Goofy in an afro, Goofy finding love, That disco sequence, and a climax in which Goofy carries Brad Garret out of a fire, then Brad Garret probably kills the villian of the film who certainly deserved it. My points are this episode was an underwhelming rehash only saved by some good shippy moments and a good goofy short. It was weak, not all that funny, and not all that intersting.  My other point is that an extremley goofy movie is awesome and also kinda insane and I love it for that. I’m glad I saw this one but i’m really disapointed in how bleh it was. Next time I visit the house of mouse is.. actually in a few days as Pete Does a One Man Show. So yeah already 100% better just by having THAT musical number in it, see you then and if not, there’s always another rainbow. 

[practicalmagicintuitions]

HC-NV relationship after the IG post (part 1)

So, originally I wanted to do a reading about Durrells, what we can except and I wanted to do a relationship reading around 22nd of May. But plans changed and I did a realtionship reading instead, after his post on IG

DISCLAIMER: If you will send me an Anon, I will answer the same tone as your ask, opinion is written.

All information and statements made in this reading or any other post of mine are all alleged until proven to be fact and for entertainment purposes & usage only. All information stated is based on my intuition and my tarot cards. Opinion only. The readings have no intention to cause any harm to the individuals, people featured in it.

How does HC feel after the IG post?

Queen of Swords clarify with the Knight of Wands and the Ace of Wands

QofSw (if she is not a person) is speaking up, cleared the air, stand up for what you believe in, get your facts straight, facing up with the truth, make a difficult decision.

So I think he absolutely feels he spoke the truth and cleared the air. Basically, he said to the fans to step back, mind their own business etc. 

This is clarified with the KnofW and the AoW. Both represent fire, being quick, rushed etc. KofW is the kick the door in knight. He is also popular, the centre of attention. He also can be narcissistic, and an aggressive player. He can be fiercely loyal but at the same time, he is not reliable. This card also suggests some travel. 

The Ace is the start of something. A ready to take action card. It’s you have a vision of your future, you are looking at the bigger picture and willing to take actions. It’s an early stage he feels powerful. 

Both Wands especially the Ace suggest sexual tension, sexual energy. It’s also a fertility card, which could suggest a pregnancy. ( I have cards from the previous readings and in this reading too and based on those I will say I don’t see a baby in this relationship at the moment) 

I think his goal was to be very passionate, very “ I will tell you what will happen”, because he felt this is the key to a new chapter, to start over. QofSw is also very critical, so I think he wanted to criticise what happed, the fans’ actions, etc. 

( I also have to mention that I had an unpublished reading on DG and him and I got the QofSw there too. So I think it could be her too as someone who has something to do with this. But I feel in this situation that explanation wouldn’t be that correct.9

How does HC see this relationship now?

The Fool.

This is again a beginning card, a new journey card. This is not the time when you should hesitate. And we saw above, he made quick, fierce decisions with the IG post. With this whole post, I feel intuitively he reached a turning point. Turning point how he sees his fans, how he wants to be on SM or what he wants from this relationship, I don’t know, but that was a turning point. Not just for him, many of his fans too. 

He doesn’t really have plans but he decided to go with the flow and letting go the expectations. 

From my 11/04 reading:

The Fool also urges you to do something. He doesn’t think about others, he is saying this is my life, I do what I have to do. 

On the card the Fool has a companion, a dog that represents family friends, who are trying to warn him when he becomes too reckless

From my 11/04 reading:

It is also a freshly glowing love when you can be married after a short period of dating or giving an older relationship a new boost. But this card also means someone who doesn’t want to settle down, who is unpredictable and doesn’t want to be in a long, serious relationship someone who is daydreaming and infatuated. The Fool has the potential to have a great relationship but everything is up to you. Nothing guaranteed.  This is again, a travel card too.

How does NV feel after the IG post?

The Hermit. 2 of Cups. 

Okay…. this is interesting. First, let’s revisit what I said in my previous reading. (06/05)

So! She thinks he decided they are in fact the two standing cups with full of potential. Because let’s face it this post was a clear sign to the fans that she is here, he is with her, he said he is happy and in love etc. 

However….

The Hermit turns his back to the couple on the 2 of C picture. So it suggests he ( and I said he, because he was represented by the Hermit before in her POV question, so I think it’s him again)  could start to reflect on this relationship, rethink the 2ofC situation. Realise he was on the wrong path, made mistakes, got involved with the wrong people. And I think those questions come up when he is alone and have time to think. 

2ofC otherwise is a very positive card in a relationship and one of its meaning is an emotional decision. If it’s a solo card or has different surrounding cards, it’s an excellent card in a relationship spread. 

With the Hermit though is take reflect on the relationship, have a second thought about it. It’s too good to be true.

How does NV see this relationship now?

7 of Cups rx

Could mean a lack of opportunity and choices or you have clear thought about something. You know what you want. You have a clear goal and you are heading for it. You have your priorities.

It also suggests a lack of spirituality and being overly materialistic and superficial in life. Having everything but you are still not happy. The attitude when everything is always someone’s fault not yours. It also means party days are over ( or should be) so probably she thinks she had to give up this because of HC in not that party animal. 

It’s a reversed cup card, it’s not love.. What should I say? 

What the rest of May hold for them?

The Moon. 

It is a very complex card but when I draw it I immediately thought ‘illusion’. It could be that they will be living in an illusion or trying to sell one to us. It could mean they will go through in an emotional, mental turmoil. It’s a crazy time for relationships.  It could mean they are isolated. It’s trouble behind the scenes, the happy couple only an illusion. The Moon can illuminate many things in a new light, you can realise you are surrounded by lies. 

Where is this relationship heading? 

3 of Pentacles rx.

Nowhere. 

No growth, not learning from mistakes, weak foundation, no team spirit.

No matter what are they communicating, there is no real effort in this relationship. They are impatient, they are rushed. Boredom, laziness, your heart is not in it. Be reckless, taking shortcuts. It also means if you are building a house, something is wrong, something fails, structural problems etc. This also can be a foundation of a relationship.  It also means someone who is not able to handle constructive criticism.  This also means you have a pattern in a relationship, and things always going in the same direction. 

I also drew a 2 months forecast, but I will publish that in a different post ( part 2) because it’s already too long. 

All in all, they are selling an illusion and they kinda know it but they are lying to themselves. One of these is the idea that the post gave them a second chance or a new beginning and the illusion that they are a so in love couple. However, I think that was something which consequences are irreversible.  

He thinks he did the right thing, he was aggressive enough, he showed how manly he is. 

She knows what she wants from this relationship and she thinks she is on the path, but deep down she knows it’s not a done deal yet, no matter how much he ‘protected’ her with that post.

[princesspiratecat]

The Rise and Fall of the Shepard Family Part 29: Summer, 1084 & Fall, 1085

Part 1& Part 2

Part 3 & Part 4

Part 5 & Part 6 & Part 7

Part 8 & Part 9 & Part 10

Part 11 & Part 12 & Part 13

Part 14 & Part 15 & Part 16

Part 17 & Part 18 & Part 19

Part 20 & Part 21 & Part 22

Part 23 & Part 24 & Part 25

Part 26 & Part 27 & Part 28

It was strange to be back. 

Most of Gwendolyn’s memories of the Allard estate were from a time when Aélgarda had been alive. During her exile at the hovel, she had come to miss so many things about it, and had reveled in the little luxuries she had once had. The fire was always roaring, the meat had always been cooked to perfection, and her feather bed had always afforded her a good night’s sleep when her mind was quiet. But now the house had a coldness about it that she hadn’t remembered from before. It was dark and damp and surprisingly dirty.

Gwendolyn wrinkled her nose at the smell of dog and garlic from last nights’ dinner that hung in the air in the Great Hall. There was something else there that she couldn’t account for....rotten vegetables perhaps? 

Yuck. 

They made their way to down the hall to the stairway and she could feel her palms getting sweaty. Frances met her eyes and offered her a reassuring glance, but she still felt a burning tightness in her chest as they treaded up the stairs.

Courage. You need courage.

“Oh brother! I am so glad you’re here!” Francine’s face was a mix of nervousness and fear as she hugged her brother tightly, and then hugged Gwendolyn. She had never seen her so frazzled before. Francine had always been the girlish one, full of giggles and frivolousness. But today, that was all gone, and she looked older than her eighteen years. “He is getting worse by the day, yet he still insists on coming down to sup and drink his mead. Then he is in his cups until he passes out. Frédérique says she will be here in the morning with her husband, but I am hoping they will arrive sooner. I cannot handle him anymore.”

“Mead? Is that wise?” The beautiful features on her husband’s face flashed with a look of concern.

“I cannot stop him. He won’t listen to anyone and keeps ranting about how he cannot trust women. I don’t know what to do!” The look of helplessness and hopelessness on her face disarmed Gwendolyn. She had seen that look before. It was the look her father had shortly before her mother died.   

“Take us to him.” Gwendolyn could see exactly what he was feeling without him having to say anything, just by the tone in his voice. He was nervous and slightly terrified. 

We all are. 

The room smelled of sweat, vomit and stale air. She had never been in the Master’s bedroom before, but it was a beautiful room, despite the smell. The bed was large with fine fabrics that seemed to shimmer in the light, and the furnishings were inlaid with beautiful carvings done by a highly skilled hand. The light streamed into the room through long windows, which, under different circumstances would have been pleasant, but just then it made her feel exposed. The floors were covered in a variety of fine furs, and the niches were filled with silver candlesticks and beautiful decorative wooden boxes. In the corner sat a bucket of unknown contents, and Gwendolyn tried not to think about what might be in it.

Marcelle had lost a considerable amount of weight since she had last seen him. He was frail and old looking, with dark circles under his eyes. But she noticed he was dressed in a long elaborate robe in the Norman fashion that set him apart from all the other men who wore the Saxon style. There was a finely carved silver medallion at his breast, which Gwendolyn found an odd thing to wear when one was sick. Had he dressed purposely for the occasion? 

He still wants to remind us of his status. Of course.

“What are you doing here, Shepard girl?” The raspy words slithered out of his mouth like a snake before she could even think. Upon his features was a look of disgust, reserved especially for her. She bristled under his gaze and felt her anger surface.  

“I am come to support my husband.” She looked away, intimidated by his hatred of her. She wanted to add that she had also come in the hopes that the breech between them could be healed, but after seeing his face she knew that it had been a foolish hope. Why was she here? The whole thing seemed like a stupid idea now, and she wished she had stayed away.

“Get her out of here, Frances.” He said his son’s name between clenched teeth, and her heart fell. What had she done for him to hate her so? Besides being born and falling in love with his son, she had never caused him harm or hurt him purposefully. If anything, it should be her that hated him.  

Perhaps it was better for her to go. If Frances wanted peace, then she was likely standing in the way of that just with her mere presence. But a small part of her hated being rejected by him, and it hurt her more than she expected it would. She got up and looked at what seemed like dead eyes and held his gaze to the point of making him uncomfortable. She wasn’t going to waste this chance to speak her bit, and he was going to hear it.

“I have come to inform you that I have forgiven you for all of the terrible things you have said and done. For exiling me, and for stealing my dowry, and for the hurt you have caused both of us. Although you really don’t deserve my forgiveness, nor my pity, I give it anyway.” His gaze was empty, as if he found her ridiculous. 

Then she moved closer to him and half whispered in his ear, ”Your time has come old man. You better get down on your knees and pray hard that your God will forgive you too for all of the rotten and disgusting things you have done.” She could feel her lip quiver in anger as she reflected back the look of disgust he had given her. His eyes grew wide with surprise, and it gave her a slight thrill. He hadn’t been expecting her to speak that way to him. In the past she would never have dared.

Before he could respond, she walked out of the room with more confidence than she felt. She noticed that her hands were shaking and her heart seemed to want to burst out of her chest. 

As soon as she walked into the long hall she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She had said what she come to say, and now it was over. She never had to think about that man again, and once he died, she would be free of him forever. But she couldn’t stop her tears from falling, yet she refused to give into the ache in her heart. 

Not here. 

She left word with a servant to tell Frances that she would be at the orphanage, and on shaky legs made the short walk down the lane to see her sisters. She wanted so much to collapse into Gwyn’s embrace, and after a few short moments, she did exactly that. 

She told her everything, in between sobs and sniffles. And when she had gained enough composure over herself, she asked her sister’s opinion. “Do you think I was too harsh on him? Do you think I should have said something kinder to a dying man?”

“Marcelle?! No. He is lucky indeed that more don’t make their opinions of him known. His wealth protects him. But most people have turned against him since what he did to you has come to light, they whisper about him. People are disgusted by his abuse of power against a helpless orphan girl. He’s no longer seen as a gentleman. If I were you, I would have said much more.”

Gwendolyn felt a small sense of relief that the village was on her side, but she was still worried about the rest of her new family. Where did they stand on the issue? Would they turn their backs on her once Marcelle was dead? 

During the ride back to the Inn, Marcelle explained everything that had happened and what his father had said. 

“Of course he chided me for leaving, and for marrying you and called me a simple fool. He called me simple!” Gwendolyn said nothing at this, as it was hardly a surprise. “Honestly, I thought he was going to be more angry and refuse to see me. But Gwendolyn, then he said the strangest thing- he called my mother a whore and said that myself and Francine are the only ones he can be sure are really his!”

Gwendolyn gasped in shock. “How could he say that of Aélgarda?! What an absurd thing to say! She dedicated her life to all of you, and the village.  And as for your parentage, one only has to look at your siblings to know they have the same parents as you do. They are all different arrangements of his own face!”

Frances nodded in agreement. Every one of his siblings had the same dark eyes as Marcelle, the straight sharp noses, and even the same shade of that beautiful sable colored hair. Gwendolyn thought that Frances was the best looking out of all of them, of course, but there was no denying that they were all related. It was as plain as day to anyone that cared to look. 

“I can only imagine that he is suffering from delusions. Perhaps a combination of poppy juice and mead?! He looks awful. I’ve never seen him so weak. It made me pity him.”

“Well, did you make your peace with him? How did you leave it?”

“In a way, I suppose. He said that I would inherit the estate since I am the only son he can be sure of...which shocks me to my core. I think the things you said to him had quite an affect on him, because he then told me to leave so that he could ‘make peace with his maker.’” He gave her a look just then, and she could see he was still recovering from shock. “What exactly did you whisper to him when you got close? I’ve never seen him pray in my life!”

She pinched her lips together and said quietly, “I told him what needed to be said. It was for his ears only.” 

His mouth curled into a little smile and he let out a chuckle. “Something about god? I’ll make a note never to cross you, as I have to say that I never want to see the look you gave him directed at me.” His eyes were teasing and he kissed her gently on the neck. “What a saucy Tigress you are.” She laughed and then he kissed her again. 

                             * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

In just a week’s time with the arrival of autumn, another nasty illness had spread to Barton Upon Humber from the North, and then made it’s way to Grimsby. Most people remained indoors, fearful that another plague would wipe out as many as it had several years ago, or more. Their fears were not unfounded, as it had been reported that twelve people had already died in the nearby farms and villages.

First it hit the Merchant household of Handel, and killed not only Master Uddulf Handel, but his young son as well. Everyone was surprised it had brought down such a large, healthy man, but luckily his wife and daughter were spared. 

Next it hit the Merchants, and killed the Irishman, Fáelán. For a time people thought that it would take Aoifé and the children as well, but they narrowly escaped death after several weeks.

Soon after it traveled to the house of the late Olric, where it bedded his widow, Agatha. The three children had to be sent to the orphanage while their mother was too sick to care for them, and she died just days afterwards, alone. 

But finally it ended it’s travels at the Allard estate, where it made short work of Marcelle, who had been hanging on. It also banished Francois to his bed, where he clung to life. Yet just as quickly as it had spread, it was gone again, leaving the living to mourn the dead one more time. 

As soon as Marcelle died a messenger was dispatched to the Inn. Frances had been summoned to the estate where the reading of the will was to take place, and they hastily began to pack their trunks. As Gwendolyn began to carefully fold her clothing, she couldn’t help but wonder why she felt as if someone had punched her in the gut. It was true that she mostly hated Marcelle, but now that he was gone she remembered the days when he used to come visit their father and offered them fresh cherries from his orchard. He would sup with them sometimes, and her father had always been so proud when he did. She had considered him a father figure for so long. 

What had made him change so much?

She glanced over at Frances, as tears silently rolled down his cheeks, and she could feel his sorrow. She stopped folding and clasped her hands in his. He looked away at first, too ashamed to look her in the eye. Then the tears gushed out, and he quietly began to sob. He rested his head on her shoulder, and she could feel him shake with misery. She gently rubbed his back up and down, up and down, until he sobbed even harder and it all came sputtering out. 

“Now we’re both orphans,” he whispered.