#fun fact these were actually taken at the first preview which i attended!!!

[ghostjustliketherest]

ghost quartet australia press photos are now out and oh isn't she beautiful.....

[justhockeythings-blog1]

School Crossed Lovers

A/N: So I wanted to write one while I was feeling it lol I had a lot of fun with this one as my first one back! As a U of M fan it was interesting to write from the opposite perspective but I hope I did okay! 

Request:  Omg I love your writing so much. Is it possible to get a Dylan Larkin imagine where he's still playing at Michigan and his girlfriend (the reader) goes to Michigan State, and you watch him play against Michigan State? Maybe State wins so you're happy but Larks is grumpy? Thanks a billion love ❤

On any other day Dylan had a game you would have happily donned the U of M jersey that he had gifted you on your first Christmas together. Whether you were at the game in person or holed up in your apartment with your friends, streaming it to your TV you never failed to show your support for him.

Today was different though. Different because Dylan wasn’t just playing any old team, he was playing Michigan State. His biggest rival and your school. While you loved your boyfriend, fully supported his hockey career, and generally loved watching him win, you also had undying loyalty to your school which meant today was going to be different. Today you tucked the U of M jersey back into your closet, opting instead for the green and white jersey that was so well worn. It had been in your family for the last four years, gifted to you by your older brother on the day that he graduated from MSU. Part of you felt like you were betraying your boyfriend as you threw up your hair, the spartan stickers on your cheeks a stark contrast to the usual maze and gold you would have donned on another day.

“Are you sure you’re going to have a boyfriend after this?” Your roommate, Alyssa, teased as she saw that you weren’t holding back on your support for your school. She found it funny, she had seen you nearly fight a frat boy for bashing on the U of M hockey team after a loss to Notre Dame and now you were doing a complete 180. 

You stuck your tongue out at her, flashing her the beaded Larkin bracelet you wore on your wrist. It was an early memory of yours and Dylan’s relationship, a simple babysitting job for your cousin resulted in hours of bracelet making. He had made you a beaded bracelet, mainly blue and yellow, but the six letter beads that sat in the middle were what made you smile every time you glanced down at your wrist. 

“Oh yes because from the ice he will for sure see the tiny bracelet on your wrist, covered by your green and white jersey.” She nodded, sarcasm dripping from her lips.

She wasn’t meaning to worry you, but admittedly there was a small pit forming in your stomach. You had always supported him at hockey games, having missed just about every MSU vs U of M game for some reason or another. This would be the first rival game you could attend in person and you weren’t going to wear his jersey. 

“He knew I was a Spartan when we started dating, not like it’s a newsflash for him. I root for MSU every football game, I don’t see why hockey would be any different.” You waved her off, grabbing your student I.D. and leading her out of the apartment. 

The drive to Munn Arena was short, giving you little time to focus on your impending problem. You had shot Dylan a good luck text that morning, knowing the closer it got to the game, the less time he would have to talk. You had just conveniently left out the part that you were secretly rooting against him this game. 

Not exactly against him, just his team, you wanted a victory for the Spartans. Call it pride, but you were a sore loser even when it came to sports you didn’t play.

You made your way to the student section, finding a few other friends who had managed to get there earlier than yourself to snag good seats. Meaning that you couldn’t even hide your jersey in the section, you were right up front where Dylan was undoubtedly going to see you. 

“Gotta make sure your boyfriend remembers where your loyalty lies.” Your buddy Jack teased, elbowing you lightly as you punched his arm. It seemed your jersey was going to be the talk of the group today, you were more intent on focusing on the guys beginning to pour onto the ice.

You caught Dylan’s eyes faster than you had prepared for, noticing the way his smile faltered for just a second before he shook his head, what looked like a chuckle escaping from his lips. It brought you ease, he didn’t seem overly angry that you were going to be donning the green and white today but you wouldn’t really know until after the game.

Needless to say, your anxiety returned when the final buzzer went off. The game had more or less gone the way you wanted to, MSU had emerged victorious, clear as the fight song that blared around you.  Dylan had played well too, so that was a benefit, but you could see from the look on his face that he was frustrated.

The Spartans had dominated the ice early on in the game, scoring in the first five minutes which seemed to be a preview for the rest of the game. It seemed while your team was on the top of their game, Dylan’s was slipping. Sloppy passes leading to turnovers which lead to goals. A 5-2 loss was never an easy thing to swallow, but it was even worse when it was to your rival team.

You split off from your friends, knowing Alyssa would catch a ride back to the apartment with one of the others, as you made your way to wait outside of the visiting locker room. You tried to keep your joy of your team winning to a downlow, out of respect for Dylan and his team who would have to pass you to leave. That didn’t mean you weren’t buzzing with excitement, the rush of a team victory coursing through you.

 You shifted on your feet as a few members of the team filtered out, recognizing you as Dylan’s girlfriend but not feeling the need to stop, especially given the fact that they could clearly see who you supported today. Dylan was the last one out, his movements stiff, something you assumed came from the hits he had taken in the game.

“Hey..” You trailed off, fiddling with the beaded bracelet on your wrist as you shifted your weight again. You shouldn’t be nervous, it’s not like he was going to break up with you over a jersey. Yet, you couldn’t help but feel like you were rubbing in a victory. 

“Hey.” He greeted, a quick peck to your lips as he set his bag down at your side, the short answer was enough to clench your stomach again.

“You played really well Dyl.” You offered, reaching out to hold his hand, in an attempt to get some kind of a smile from his lips. 

“So well, for sure. The scoreboard definitely reflected that.” He muttered sarcastically, glancing over at you as he felt you squeeze his hand. He must have sensed your nerves because he chuckled a little, shaking his head like he did out on the ice.

“I’ll chalk it up to bad luck considering my own girlfriend decided to betray me for my enemy.” He teased and you scoffed, all the stress of the day lifted off your shoulders as he joked about it.

“You knew this was part of the package when you asked me out babe. I am a Spartan! It’s in my blood! Besides it’s not like I wasn’t supporting you!” You protested, showing him the bracelet, which brought a full laugh bubbling to his lips.

“You aren’t allowed to come visit me tonight if you wear that. I’ll respect your decision this time but my roommates will not.” He pointed out, you had made plans to drive to Ann Arbor after the game, staying with him for the weekend in his apartment following the game.

“You got a better option?” You quirk your eyebrows challengingly, watching the smile cross his lips.

“Actually I do.”

Which was how you found yourself tucked into a U of M hockey sweatshirt, ‘Larkin’ spread out in block letters on your back, crossing the parking lot towards Dylan’s apartment an hour later, seeing him leaning in the doorway.

“See, you look so much better in maize and blue.”

[heyitsani]

We Don’t Share the Same Blood

Batman Bingo 2020: Ice Cream/”You are my dad, right?”

Word Count: 2026

Rating: General 

Warnings: Dick’s low self-worth, is that a warning?  This is fluff peeps, not much to warn about.

Pairing: None 

Summary: When Bruce is unable to attend parent/teacher conferences at Gotham Academy with Damian, Dick steps up and takes his place.  The evening ends with ice cream and a revelation that puts to rest a lot of questions Dick has been asking himself.

Notes: Dick get a little stuck in his head here, but it’s mostly fluff.  These brothers give me life and this makes me happy after such an awful Damian day yesterday.

I also put it all under the cut because there wasn’t a really good “preview” cut off point.  Not because it’s NSFW or anything.  Good, clean fun here.

You can also read this on AO3 here

While the idea of having kids and a family one day had always been one that Dick had subscribed to, he had never thought he would take the less traditional path.  He always expected to settle down with a partner, maybe marry them, and then have children through conception or surrogacy.  Yes, adoption had been an option to consider, but he had always wanted to make sure that his family genes continued through at least one biological child.  Not because he wanted his kids to look like him, but because he wanted a piece of his parents to continue on, even when they couldn’t.

He wanted a Grayson to be in the world after he had gone from it.  He wanted to be selfish on one thing.

What he hadn’t thought would happen was that at the age of 27, he would be taking custody of the son of the man who had taken him in after his parents had fallen to their deaths. He hadn’t expected to be doing it alone with no one but the man he thought of as a grandfather to guide him. Sure, Bruce hadn’t always been the best father, but Dick had always thought he had done the best he knew how. Mostly.  And Dick had always expected to have Bruce to fall back on when he felt like he was drowning in the ocean of parenthood.

But he hadn’t had Bruce.

It had been him and a child who hadn’t wanted Dick.  Damian had wanted Bruce, not a poor substitute in the shape of Dick.  And the young Wayne had made it clear from the very beginning that Dick was nothing but an inconvenience.  That he wasn’t Bruce and he never would be.

Then things had started to change.  Jason stopped trying to kill them and Tim was off trying to find the man they all loved like a father.  And Damian stopped fighting Dick every step of the way.  He still fought, but he slowly started opening up to the older man and things started to fall into place.

They were good.  Dick was happy and Damian was flourishing.  He watched the kid go from an angry murderous brat to a haughty self-entitled brat.  And then, eventually, Dick started seeing an actual child emerge.  And he did everything he could to foster that in Damian.  He tried to give him back the childhood that had been stolen from him.

And Damian slowly became a son.

And then Bruce came back.

And Dick felt like his entire world was torn away from him and there was nothing he could do about it. It had hurt.  It had burned.  And he had punished himself instead of taking it out on Bruce.  Because it wasn’t his fault.  And it certainly wasn’t Damian’s fault.  

So, Dick had done the only thing he could do.  He went back to his apartment and kept his distance so Bruce had the opportunity to become a real father to Damian.

At least until Gotham Academy was calling him stating Damian needed someone to pick him up because he was ill, and Bruce was not answering his phone.  Dick had still been listed as a secondary contact and Damian had asked for him over Alfred.  And, of course, Dick had dropped everything and gone straight to the school he had once graduated from to pick his brother up from school.

He hadn’t even considered saying he wasn’t able to.  Not for Damian.  Never for Damian.

And though the kid looked green around the gills, he looked far too grateful when Dick appeared in the doorway of the nurse’s room.

That day Dick had moved himself back to the primary contact for the school and promised Damian that he would always come when his brother called.  Always.  It didn’t matter what he was doing, if Damian needed him then he would be there.  Like he had always tried to be for all of his siblings since he had failed Jason so spectacularly when he had first come to the family.

Damian was different, though.

Outside of the fact that Dick had blurred the lines of brother and parent in his own heart, sometimes he felt like Damian did the same.  Like Dick was something more than just another brother.  And a part of Dick hoped that was true.  Even if the other part of him felt beyond guilty for taking that from Bruce.  It wasn’t like his father figure had meant to be taken away from them for a whole year, forcing Dick to step into far too many roles that he had never wanted. Including, “father” for a kid who would have rather been anywhere else.

“Are you even listening to me, Richard?”  Damian’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts, reminding him where they were and why.

Right.  Parent/teacher conferences that Bruce couldn’t be bothered to attend because the League had called on him.

“Sorry, Dami.  Got stuck in my head.”

Dick wasn’t surprised to see the teen heave a heavy sigh.  “I was explaining that these meetings are droll and pointless.  I am performing excellently in all of my courses and I don’t understand why we have to bother.”  Snorting out a laugh, Dick reached out and ruffled Damian’s hair.

“It’s so I can hear teacher’s gush about what an amazing student you are.”  His words were met with an eye roll before they continued their path to the first classroom.  And though Dick knew the teachers would all tell Dick that Damian was a bright kid and was very diligent, he knew they would also tell him that he was not the average middle schooler.

And Dick was well aware of that.

“Well, if it isn’t Richie Grayson,” a familiar voice called out.  Glancing over his shoulder, Dick smiled the familiar face of one of his old school friends.

“Hunter Blake, how are you?” Dick held out his hand to shake the other man’s but was surprised when the other man ignored it and found himself pulled into a hug instead.  It was quick, gentle, and over before Dick could really react but it still caught him off guard.  

“I’m good!  What are you doing gracing the halls of Gotham Academy on PT night?”

Glancing down at Damian, Dick was surprised to find the kid smiling brightly.  “Uh, I’m here with Damian.  Bruce couldn’t make it, so I’m filling in.”  Dick shook off the surprise at Damian’s expression just as he had the hug and looked back to Hunter.

“I don’t know why I never put that together.  I’m guessing you two are heading to my classroom now?”  Hunter looked down to Damian and Dick saw the teen nodding out of the corner of his eyes.  “I’m Damian’s art teacher.  Come on, I was just dropping off a forgotten purse in the office so I’m heading back that way too.”

“I didn’t realize you ended up teaching here.”

“Well, they certainly love to hire their graduates when they can,” Hunter laughed, and Dick nodded.  The trio walked in silence for a few more feet before Hunter was waving an arm toward a room.  “This is us.  Why don’t you go get your portfolio, Damian, while I talk to Dick?”  The teen wasted no time in hurrying off to grab something.

“So art?”

“I enjoyed it as a kid, turns out I’m pretty good at it but not good enough to make a living.”  Dick glanced around the room and took in all the art on display and shrugged.  

“You must be good with kids? Damian always talks about his art projects.  It’s obviously his favorite class.”

“No one has talent like him. He’s by far my most talented student. Probably the most talented student I’ll ever have.”  Dick followed Hunter to a wall of landscapes and immediately he could point out which one was his brothers.  The forest behind Wayne Manor was unmistakable but the style was one Dick had framed around his own apartment.  “He’s quiet and he’s reserved, but he is an artistic genius.  I hope he is encouraged at home to cultivate it?”

“I have numerous pieces framed around my own apartment.  I know Bruce has a few in his various offices as well.”  If anything, Dick had always worried that they had pushed it too much. But Damian was stubborn and if he didn’t want to do something then he didn’t do it.  So if he hadn’t wanted to draw, then he wouldn’t.

Hunter smiled brightly and clapped a hand on Dick’s shoulder.  “I’m glad to hear it.  I would love to be able to say I have a Damian Wayne original hanging in my classroom one day.  I’ll let him show you his portfolio.  I’ve got other parents to mingle with.”

“Thanks, Hunter.  Good to see you.”  Hunter said a you too before turning to approach a mother cooing over her daughter’s work.  Looking down to see Damian holding a book in his hands, Dick smiled and moved to sit at one of the desks so his brother could show off.  And Dick couldn’t stop the swell of pride in his chest as his brother showed him piece after beautiful piece.

When they had gone through the entire book, Dick smiled at Damian and told him just how amazing everything was and he watched the teen glow under the compliment.  As if it meant something coming from Dick.  Something more than it would had it come from someone else.

“What do you say to some ice cream?”

“That would be an acceptable end to this evening,” Damian agreed after he had returned from putting his portfolio back in it’s place.  And Dick couldn’t agree more because ice cream was an acceptable end to just about any evening.

“Richard,” Damian called softly as they walked the street with their individual cones.  Dick hummed in response as he watched the other people on the street, enjoying the cool but not cold night air.  “Thank you for attending tonight.”

Looking down, Dick smiled. “Of course, Little D.  I know I’m not Bruce, but I’ll always be where you need me to be.”

“Yes, you are not Father,” Damian agreed.  And though Dick knew that, the words did sting a little.  “But in full disclosure, you may not be Father, but you know you are my dad, right?”  Freezing in place, Dick stared at Damian as he processed his words.  He wasn’t Damian’s father but he was his dad.  That is what the teen had said.  

“Dames…”  Dick wasn’t sure what to say.  Did he tell him that he couldn’t do that to Bruce?  Did he thank him?  Did he hug him?

“I apologize if I have overstepped, but I thought you should know.”  There was an awkwardness to Damian and a slight blush on his cheeks, like he was embarrassed to admit such emotion.  It made Dick melt.  “I have spoke with Father about this regard and he told me that it was completely understandable, given the time you and I have spent together.”  Bruce knew?  And he apparently didn’t care.  “But I just wanted you to know that you may be my brother on paper, but to me you are more.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Dick finally responded, voice thick with emotion.  He wanted to say more, he wanted to gush all of his emotions onto Damian and make sure he knew that Dick felt the same.  That no matter what happened, Damian would always be his son. “It means more than you know.”

Nodding his head, Damian looked from Dick to his ice cream cone and then started walking again.  “Come, Baba.  Jon’s birthday is approaching, and I must find a gift to give him or I will never hear the end of it.  You shall aide me on this mission.”

Baba.  Dad.  

“Of course, Dames.  We wouldn’t want to disappoint a Kent.  You’d never survive the puppy dog eyes.”  Dick spoke through the happy tears that built in his eyes at the name, following his son down the street to see what the shops could offer.

[knives-and-narcissi]

Between

Chapter 3 is finally updated!

Read it at:

FanFiction.Net

AO3

I had so much fun writing this fic. I still have so many ideas for these two 😭 They make my heart bleed in the best way. Watch this space.

PREVIEW

Historia had spent her entire life being told she was unwanted. A mistake. Something that should never have happened; never have existed. She was not something to be celebrated, not someone who deserved anything good to happen to her. Life would have been better all round if she hadn't been born.

And then she had met Ymir - the girl who saw past the self-hatred Historia herself tried so hard to pretend wasn't there. She ripped away the mask of self-sacrificing Krista, began to fracture the deep-rooted belief that Historia could only exist in the capacity of giving herself to others to atone for her own wretched existence in some way.

Live for yourself.

Back in the chapel that day, Historia had thought she'd understood. She'd made a choice - she would not be her father's pawn. She would be the enemy of humanity, if that's what it took to defy the next role thrust her way - she would be the worst girl in the world, as long as that meant staying true to Ymir's words.

But still, she had been left feeling empty. Ymir was not there to witness her revelation; she was not there to tell Historia she had made the right choice. That validation she so desperately sought was, once again, missing.

Historia didn't really want to be the worst girl in the world. Quite the opposite, actually. Regardless of everything that had happened to her, somehow, there had been instilled in her a deep desire to look out for others. To protect and nurture. And so, still missing that something which might give her life some sort of meaning, she ventured the idea of opening an orphanage.

The proposal was scoffed at - hardly the most pressing matter for a Queen to attend to. Almost everyone had been quick to dismiss her without a moment's consideration, despite her insistence. Almost everyone.

Levi Ackerman, however, had backed her up immediately.

In the quiet moments they spent together more and more frequently since becoming business partners, essentially, Historia had begun to find something in the moody, initially cold Captain that she had discovered only once before, fleetingly, with Ymir:

Understanding.

He never needed to speak on it - it was a sense she got from his eyes when he looked at her. Something told her that he, too, understood the importance of ensuring children were told they were wanted. That they were enough, regardless of how many times they'd had to watch people walk away from them in the past.

They were enough, without having to do a thing.

It was all the Captain and Queen themselves had been in search of, all these years, and it had taken until now to recognise that fact.

When Levi called her a good girl that night - when he told her he wanted her to find her release, for him, after she had boldly pulled him into her bed for no other reason than she just wanted to - Historia felt as though she finally understood what Ymir had meant.

Live for yourself.

For the first time in her life, Historia felt as though she was enough simply as herself.

[carewyncromwell]

Hey, guys! So I don’t really have enough material in this most recent side quest to work with to create full roleplaying posts for it (largely because the writing for this quest was stilted as all get out and there really weren’t very high stakes)...so instead, I’ll be doing something a little different, and simply writing out my personal rewrite of the quest’s storyline, as performed by my MC, Carewyn. Most of the overall framework of what happened in the quest will still be there, but I will try to flesh out or rewrite some things to hopefully better develop the ideas and help them more smoothly fit into canon. Hope you enjoy!

When Lucius Malfoy first arrived at Hogwarts, Carewyn was immediately suspicious of him. She wasn’t familiar with the man, but she thought that his timing of coming to Hogwarts for an inspection only after the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher went on the run from the law reeked of the school governors and/or Ministry of Magic wanting to put forward a good show of looking after the students for the press, so that they couldn’t be condemned for their inaction.*

* = (Yes, I know this quest is supposed to be aimed at year 2, but...well...I honestly can’t justify why year 2 would be when an inspection would happen. I suppose the Ice Curse was still in effect, but it’s not like the Ministry or the school governors took any action in response to the danger of the Vaults, even though it seems like the perfect ammunition for Lucius to use against Dumbledore. He was able to coax all of the school governors to sack Dumbledore in the name of saving students during the Chamber of Secrets arc later on, so it feels like this could’ve been done here too, if the Ice Vault was still raging. Dumbledore would also have little reason to think we’re “good at solving mysteries” if this takes place in year 2, since we at that point haven’t even successfully dealt with one Cursed Vault yet. So in this version of events, Lucius has only just become a school governor in anticipation of his son, Draco, attending school in the next few years. And because the Statue Vault and Rakepick are currently being tackled by the Ministry already, Lucius doesn’t really have any more action he can take. It also makes very little sense for a five-year-old Draco to be brought along to Hogwarts. His mother Narcissa is a stay-at-home mother, and even in the films, it’s pretty clear she -- and Lucius, at least in the books -- wouldn’t want her precious bb boy being taken care of by a pair of strangers with no experience in child-rearing. And I don’t think either movie! or book!Lucius would want any “bad influences” like protagonist MC around his son at that age, either -- at least by age nine, Draco would be pretty locked into the pureblood beliefs he’s been raised with, and since he’d be attending school in two years, it would give Draco a good preview of what his school life will be like ahead of time.)

Carewyn’s suspicions only heightened when Flitwick summoned her and Ben to the Charms classroom and Lucius Malfoy was there talking to Professor Flitwick. She had been very flattered by Flitwick’s praise of her Charm work...but the way Lucius looked at her when he turned to her...

Even though yes, Carewyn didn’t like the mention of Jacob, there was something else she could sense in Lucius’s eyes -- something intrigued. Although he smiled very pleasantly, there was a definite marked interest in his voice, not unlike how Professor Tofty greeted her upon first meeting. Lucius had definitely heard a lot more than just about Jacob -- but despite this, Carewyn merely gave Lucius a very cool smile in return.

Lucius’s condescension toward Ben for his blood status only made Carewyn dislike Lucius all the more. When he’d left the room, Carewyn agreed with Ben’s distaste for the school governor immediately.

“Professor Flitwick,” she said slowly, “are the Malfoys an old Wizarding family?” Carewyn had heard plenty of stories about her mother’s family and their particular dislike of Muggles, so it seemed logical to think the Malfoys were like them.

Flitwick had confirmed that yes, they were, adding that Lucius could be difficult sometimes. “But he is one of the school governors,” he’d said. “So we simply must cooperate.“

After Potions class, Merula and Carewyn were both forwarded to Dumbledore’s office by their Head of House, Severus Snape. While waiting for Lucius Malfoy to arrive, Merula explained a bit more about Lucius Malfoy’s history with Voldemort, which thoroughly justified Carewyn’s distrust of the man. When Dumbledore and Lucius arrived, however, Carewyn and Merula soon found themselves roped into looking after Lucius’s son, the bratty nine-year-old Draco Malfoy.

Okay -- I know a lot of people liked how Draco was portrayed in the game and enjoyed how he (if you picked to protect his secret) expressed genuine admiration for MC, but...yeah, in this version of events, he’s not nearly so cute. (I mean, come on, in the books, Harry compared Draco to Dudley on first meeting -- this kid has some serious issues with empathy and a real selfish streak. He might be a lot more clever than Dudley, but in my mind, he should be pretty fun to hate at this stage, rather than cute.)

For one, because he’s older, Draco’s in less need of babysitting and more in need of guidance. Lucius thought it only fitting that two such promising students show Draco the best Hogwarts has to offer -- and Draco, being older and therefore even more entitled, arrogant, and condescending than he’s portrayed in the game, was sizing up his competition just as much as he was tailing after them. His father Lucius had told him all about Merula’s parents and about Carewyn’s reputation as a Cursebreaker, so he knew that both girls were incredibly powerful and thus were both people Draco should have in his circle, whether as allies or as pawns. While Lucius was at school, he became very talented at making connections, which has served him well in the present by giving him the power to either sway or pressure people into doing things his way -- and Draco not only is expected to do the same, but the young Malfoy heir is eager to follow in his father’s footsteps and already be the “big man on campus” when he starts at Hogwarts. Even if both Carewyn and Merula will be graduated by the time he starts school, those ties could still be very beneficial down the road.

That being said, Draco and Merula did still instantly end up at each other’s throats. Even if Draco was supposed to “get Carewyn and Merula in his circle,” thanks to his spoiled upbringing by his parents, Draco has no social skills whatsoever, and so has little idea of how to charm people without putting down others in the process. Even though (or perhaps because) Merula was a bully herself most of her school career, she reacted very harshly to Draco’s nasty attitude, and soon the two were verbally smacking each other around with barbed, personal insults.

Despite her growing dislike for both Lucius and his son, Carewyn did everything she could to be the mediating force between them and even successfully distracted Draco by asking about his interests and taking him to the Quidditch pitch. Not long after they arrived, Draco succeeded in snatching a spare broom and started flying around the pitch.

Merula sincerely hoped that he’d fall and break his neck, but Carewyn -- even if she didn’t particularly like Draco -- knew it’d be terrible if he did hurt himself. So she boarded her own Cleansweep (which she’d kept locked in the Slytherin Quidditch tent, in case one of Orion’s players needed a spare broom) and took off after Draco.

Once in the air, Carewyn kept her wand close in case something went wrong. Fortunately she needn’t have feared -- within a minute, she could see that Draco was a very talented flier. In an attempt to distract him away from fighting with Merula, Carewyn suggested that she could teach Draco some flying tricks. Draco was scornful at first, until Carewyn weaved through the stands and threaded the needle through all three goal posts before sweeping into an extreme dive and pulling up mere feet from the ground. She smirked up at Draco, folding her legs over her broom so she could lean back effortlessly with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Ready for a lesson now, Mr. Malfoy?” she called up to him coolly.

The young Malfoy heir couldn’t hide the greedy look in his eye at the thought of learning those cool tricks, nor could he hide how thrilled he was learning how to do an extreme dive.

Once the two had finally come back down to the ground, Draco asked Carewyn if she was on the Slytherin Quidditch team. When she said no, explaining that she just didn’t have the time to devote to Quidditch, Draco reacted with scorn.

“Because of those Vaults, I guess?” he presumed.

He said that his father had told him all about Carewyn’s Cursebreaking, and her family too -- that her brother was a delinquent and her mother had run away from home to marry a Muggle. Merula was actually a bit startled by this, not having heard that particular fact about Carewyn’s mother, but Carewyn herself kept her temper, even as her tone grew cooler and dryer than ever.

“My family may not be perfect, but I’m proud of it, all the same,” she said softly.

What she didn’t add out loud was, “I certainly wouldn’t be proud of my family if I were in your shoes.”

A bit miffed he hadn’t been able to get a rise out of Carewyn, Draco soon enough turned his attentions back to Merula. He ranted about how his father had said Hogwarts was going to the dogs and about how they had so many Mudbloods amongst their ranks. Carewyn stiffened very sharply at the use of the word.

“That is not a word to be used in civilized conversation,” she told him very severely.

“My father says it all the time,” Draco argued.

“Really?” said Carewyn, her lips turning up in a cool smile. “Don’t reckon that’s something you should admit too readily, given your own family’s history -- I wager a fair number of people at this school would hex you to belch slugs for using a word like that.”

Merula's face broke out into a smug smirk. “Don’t give me any ideas, Cromwell.”

This change in topic, however, led to Draco wanting a proper dueling lesson from Merula and Carewyn. Naturally, because Draco didn’t have a wand of his own and they certainly weren’t going to lend him theirs, the two girls refused -- and soon enough, they got word that Lucius was finished with his inspection and would be leaving the school soon.

Of course, that didn’t happen, because sure enough, Lucius’s wand went missing. The prime suspect? The Malfoy family house elf, Dobby.

Carewyn had little experience with house-elves prior to Dobby (only having met Pitts the previous year), so the poor elf’s maltreatment at the Malfoys’ hands greatly upset her. Determined to prove his innocence, she asked Dobby to tell her whatever he could say without hurting himself and -- upon Dobby trying to smack his own head against the ground -- she actually bent down and grabbed hold of him in both hands to try to wrestle him into not hurting himself.

“It’s okay, Dobby,” she kept telling him. “I’ll make sure you don’t get blamed.”

It didn’t take long at all for Carewyn to get to the bottom of who had taken the wand. If Dobby felt he couldn’t tell her who the thief was because he couldn’t speak ill of the Malfoy family, then there was only one possible suspect. Catching up with Merula and Draco, she confronted the Malfoy heir about having taken his father’s wand. Draco denied it at first, but pretty quickly came clean.

“I’m not too young to learn how to duel!” he said. “I wouldn’t have borrowed Father’s wand if you’d just lent me yours!”

After some prodding, Draco admitted where he’d hidden his father’s wand. It didn’t take long for Merula to find it.

Despite the younger boy’s bravado, though, Carewyn could still tell that Draco hadn’t meant for this whole thing to go so far. He wasn’t really sorry about the thought that Dobby could be blamed for something he did -- but he’d enjoyed what he’d learned so far and wanted to stay at Hogwarts a little longer so he could learn some spells.

Feeling some compassion despite herself, Carewyn sat down on the edge of the fountain next to Draco.

“If you give me your solemn word only to use this in a formal duel,” she said very seriously, “I will teach you one spell. Do we have a deal?”

His eyes once again greedy for knowledge, Draco nodded and eagerly agreed. Holding out her wand in front of her, Carewyn told Draco to put his hand on top of hers. Then she walked him step-by-step through the wand movements for the spell “Everte Sactum,” the Stumbling Hex.

“When you cast this correctly, it will hurl your opponent off their feet,” she explained. “That can then give you the time you need to get away, if you’re in trouble.”

Her eyes then narrowed sharply upon Draco’s face. “Remember your word, though -- you will only use this in a duel, not for fun. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Draco said breezily, but he was grinning from ear to ear all the same.

The group met back up with Lucius Malfoy and Dumbledore in the Headmaster’s Office. When Lucius asked Carewyn who had stolen the wand, she answered simply,

“No one, as far as I can tell. Merula found it on the floor near the Entrance Hall -- no thief to be seen.”

After all, Draco had only admitted to “borrowing” his father’s wand -- not stealing it.

”There’s no evidence that Dobby couldn’t have still taken it,” said Lucius.

Dobby shook his head frantically, wringing his hands desperately as he insisted he didn’t take the wand and never would. Carewyn very gently cut off Dobby’s denials by pointing out that house elves can’t lie to or speak ill of their masters without hurting themselves. The fact that Dobby was not hurting himself while claiming he didn’t take the wand was proof in itself that he didn’t commit the crime. And everyone must be considered innocent until proven guilty...right?

Lucius considered Carewyn carefully, his gray eyes oddly critical and shrewd upon her face -- then he inclined his head in an abridged nod.

“...Wisely said, Miss Cromwell. You could be an excellent lawyer, with sentiments such as those.”

His gray eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly as his lips curled up in a cool smile.

“I daresay that would please your grandfather quite a bit.”

Carewyn’s blood ran cold. Lucius Malfoy was in touch with her grandfather, Charles Cromwell? She’d never met her mother’s father before -- but given that Lucius Malfoy spoke highly of him, she wondered more than ever if she was incredibly fortunate in that...

For his part, Lucius seemed satisfied by how taken aback Carewyn was and, with a flourish of his cloak, swept toward the office door.

“Come, Draco,” he called over his shoulder.

Before Draco left, he paused, turning back to look at Carewyn.

“I won’t forget that,” he said. “What you did.”

He didn’t need to articulate what he meant.

“And I swear -- when we’re both done at Hogwarts, we’ll meet again, Cromwell. And when we do, I’ll be the greatest wizard ever -- greater than you could ever be.”

Despite the arrogance in his expression, Draco was still grinning from ear to ear in a kind of vicious determination.

Carewyn’s blue eyes grew a little smaller as she smirked in return.

“Good ambition. Just keep in mind -- there are many ways to be ‘great.’“

With an offhand scoff, Draco turned on his heel and followed his father, not fully able to bite back the smile still clinging to his lips.

When Dumbledore, Carewyn, and Merula were out of earshot, Lucius spoke to Draco at last.

“She knew you took my wand, didn’t she?” he asked.

Draco, although startled, reluctantly nodded.

“And yet she dared lie to my face,” said Lucius in dark amusement. “Rather effectively, too. Tell me -- what did you think of her, Draco?”

Draco shrugged offhandedly. “All right, I guess. She’s a decent flier -- and her spellwork’s okay.”

“Coming from you, that’s high praise,” said Lucius dryly. His lips curled up in a wry smile. “Seems I was right to think I should keep an eye on her advancement...”

Dobby was so grateful to Carewyn that he said that if she ever needed him, she only had to ask. Carewyn was very happy for that -- she had a feeling that she could use at least one friend in the Malfoy household, if Lucius really had such close ties to her mother’s family.

[callboxkat]

Merry (part 1)

Author’s note: This’ll probably only be two or three parts, unless I get inspired. Either way, this first part would probably work as a one-shot. Happy birthday, Virgil!

Warnings: This first part doesn’t really have any. Just some food mentions and mild-ish selective mutism. It’s pretty fluffy, to be honest.

Word count: 2470

Look for links to part 2 and my writing masterpost in the notes!

...

December, 2017

Patton was excited.

He absolutely loved throwing birthday parties, and it had been a while since he’d gotten to do so. He was especially eager because the last friend of his to have a birthday had been Logan, whose birthdays were never as fun as, say, Roman’s. It wasn’t that Patton preferred any of his friends over the others—of course he didn’t! Logan was one of Patton’s favorite people in the world, but he just wasn’t as receptive to Patton’s efforts as most of their other friends, which made him a little sad. He didn’t mean to be selfish about it, but it was always more fun when the person whose birthday it actually was was as excited about it as Patton.

He thought back to Logan’s birthday, which had been on November 3rd, just over a month ago. Knowing their friend, Patton and the others had tried to keep the celebrations minimal: just the six friends together at Roman’s house for cake, small presents, and a few games of Mario Kart on Roman’s console. Logan had been flustered by the attention; and while he was clearly trying to hide that he was pleased, he kept trying to insist that the party’s motivation didn’t make any sense.

“Patton, this is all highly unnecessary—I am only a day older than I was yesterday. I have not suddenly aged by an entire year. Really, all of this celebration is rather frivolous.”

They had all still had a fun time, of course! And Patton wouldn’t change Logan for the world.

Even so, this birthday was particularly special: it would Virgil’s first birthday since they had met him; and, according to Logan, he was turning eighteen! He would officially become an adult! That fact required celebration.

Patton was slightly ashamed to admit that he had nearly missed the date. Had it not been for an offhand comment by Logan about the upcoming milestone this month, Patton probably wouldn’t have known until after the date had passed. Logan hadn’t known the exact date of Virgil’s birthday, but some quick internet searching had gotten Patton his answer. December 19th—a Tuesday, only two days before winter break officially began (the school ended that week on a Thursday for reasons unknown to him). Patton was immensely glad that his friend’s birthday didn’t fall during the break. That would make things so much harder to plan!

Even though that was happily not the case, Patton had some work to do. He wanted Virgil’s day to be perfect.

…

A week before his birthday, Virgil received a package in the mail. It was fairly large, and at first, Virgil had assumed that there had been a mix-up at the post office. When he found out that his father had sent it, though, things made more sense. Virgil’s dad always got him a birthday present, no matter how tight money was. It made sense that he would put in even more effort this year, since his work and geographic distance kept him from coming to visit for the occasion.

On the side of the box, written in black sharpie, was a note: “Do Not Open Until Dec 19!!” The message was surrounded by simple line drawings: a party hat, a cupcake with a candle stuck in it, a smiley face, and a gift box. Virgil’s dad was no artist, but it made the just-shy-of-eighteen-year-old smile.

He put the box under his bed, so as to not be overly tempted to open it early, but he made sure to shoot a thank-you text to his dad so that he would know the present had arrived.

His dad, of course, immediately called him. Virgil didn’t mind: he actually really enjoyed talking about their days. Virgil’s dad still called him most days, in fact, even though Virgil had been in college for several months now.

“Hi, Dad,” he said, picking up on the second ring.

“Hey, Virgil! You didn’t open your present yet, did you?”

“No, of course not,” he laughed. “I can read.”

…

Everything was planned and ready.

Virgil still seemed to think that none of his friends knew about his upcoming birthday, and judging by how he was acting, he planned to keep it that way.

His birthday was tomorrow, after all. If Virgil had wanted any sort of effort to be put in to celebrate by the others, he would have told them earlier. Or, at least, he would have done so if he wanted them to know that he wanted that.

What a weird sentence, Patton thought.

Regardless, while it had taken some planning, everything was ready for his friend’s birthday. All Patton needed to do was work on his own present.

He sure hoped Virgil liked it.

…

Today was Virgil’s birthday. He was officially eighteen. Finally, an adult.

He had class, obviously, since it was a Tuesday, but he had the day off of work. He planned to use the afternoon mostly to just relax, although he did have some plans. Talyn had invited him to see a movie at four, a couple of hours after their and Virgil’s last class. Apparently, they’d been planning to go with Joan, but their schedule had filled up, and Virgil was one of their only other friends who was a fan of the horror genre.

Until then, though, Virgil planned to go about his day like normal. He attended class and sat with his friends as usual; thankfully, none of them seemed to know that today was any different than any other. Virgil was glad. He hadn’t wanted his friends to feel any pressure to put something together for him.

After school, he decided to open his present.

Virgil dug the package out from under his bed and carried it out to the kitchen, relieved when he set it down on the counter. It was quite heavy, whatever it contained. He smiled at the note scribbled on its side, then grabbed a pair of scissors and got to work removing the packaging tape. When he got the box open, Virgil had intended to grab the birthday card first, but the gift immediately grabbed his attention.

It was a coffee-maker, brand new, fancier than he was accustomed to.

Virgil oh-so-gently lifted it out of the box, staring at the machine in almost reverent awe. He set it carefully on the table, like it was made of glass.

“Um, what is that?”

Virgil looked up to see his roommate, Remy, standing in the doorway between his bedroom and the main room.

“It’s a coffee-maker.”

“I can see that, but gurl, since when can you afford one like that?” Remy made his way over, staring at the machine in shock.

“It’s a present from my dad,” Virgil admitted.

“You are 100 percent, absolutely letting me use it. This is non-negotiable. I’m putting it in the roommate agreement,” Remy said seriously. “Wait—a present? For what? Christmas isn’t until next week.”

“Um. It’s sort of my birthday?”

Remy lowered his sunglasses and regarded him over the rims, eyebrows raised in shock. “It’s your birthday? You cannot just, like, spring that on me! I don’t have anything for you!”

Virgil shrugged, embarrassed. “…I, uh, I didn’t expect you to care.”

“What! This is slander! Come on,” Remy said, grabbing Virgil’s arm and pulling him to his feet. “We’re going to get you some coffee. My present to you.”

“Uh… not to sound un—unappreciative or anything, but…” Virgil indicated the coffee maker he had literally just unwrapped.

“Coffee grounds, dummy, for the machine.” Remy rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Now get your shoes on and let’s go!”

Virgil let himself be dragged along, weakly protesting that he had to be back by four, since he was going to see a movie with a friend.

“Yeah, yeah, you will be.” Remy grinned, opening the door to the apartment building and pulling his roommate towards his car. “Get in, Grinch, we’re going shopping.”

…

At four o’clock, Virgil arrived at the library, where Talyn was waiting to pick him up. They smiled, pushing off of the little half-wall lining the walkway, and approached. They had recently dyed their hair a bright green, presumably for the upcoming holiday; and their stylishly done makeup had accents of red and gold.

Virgil wanted to tell them that they looked nice, but for some reason giving people compliments, even in a completely platonic way, was intimidating. So, he settled for a half-smile and a “hello”.

“Ready to go?” Talyn asked cheerfully.

The two of them were going to see a new horror movie that had recently come out. Apparently, Talyn and Joan had been planning to go together, but something had come up in Joan’s schedule, and so Talyn had an extra ticket. They had asked Virgil to come in Joan’s place, without asking him to help pay, and they didn’t even know it was his birthday! Virgil hadn’t told anybody, except now for Remy.

They arrived at the theatre, and Talyn made use of a gift card they had to get each of them some popcorn. They claimed to have found it when cleaning their room about a week ago. Virgil wasn’t sure if he believed this, but he decided to play along. It was really nice of them to pay.

The movie itself was pretty good. Virgil probably wouldn’t see it again, but it wasn’t bad. He really liked hanging out with Talyn, honestly, more than watching the actual movie. Before it had started, during the previews, they told him a funny story about their mom’s naming choices with a cat she had adopted—apparently, her first choice had been “Cosmic Charlie”.

“I—I don’t know, that seems like a quality name to me,” Virgil had said, grinning shyly, when they told him this.

“Oh, of course. It’s so unique, you know? But we kinda helped her figure out that Odin might be a better name.”

“Fewer syllables,” Virgil had agreed, nodding knowingly.

“Exactly.”

“No other reason for the name change, I’m sure.”

“Nope!”

Virgil smirked, pausing to eat some popcorn. “Does she just have the one cat?”

“No, my family has three. The other two are Boy Cat and Girl Cat.”

Virgil, who had just taken a sip from his drink, nearly spit it out. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah… but that wasn’t her. I named them when I was a kid.”

Virgil laughed. “That’s great.”

…

On the way home, Talyn checked the time on their dashboard, hummed, and then glanced over at Virgil. “Do you mind if we stop at Patton’s apartment on the way? I have to pick something up.”

Virgil shrugged. Why would he mind?

Talyn drove to Patton’s apartment building, which Virgil hadn’t actually been to before, and parked on the curb. “Why don’t you come with me? You know Patton: we’re probably going to end up chatting for a bit.”

Virgil nodded, shrugging again. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. The two of them walked up to Patton’s building—a stark contrast to Virgil’s own, but most of his friends wouldn’t know that. Roman was still the only one of his closest friends who had visited his run-down apartment building, and Virgil had made him promise not to tell the others about it. He didn’t want them to judge him for it, or worse, to pity him.

Talyn and Virgil were about halfway between the street and the building when Virgil paused.

“Wait, isn’t that Logan’s car over there?” he asked, pointing towards the sleek black car parked a short distance down the block.

Talyn followed his gaze, paused for a second, then said, “Maybe? I’m not sure. It’s a pretty common car.”

Virgil frowned, but he let Talyn lead him up to the building. They pressed the button beside Patton’s apartment number, and he buzzed them in almost immediately.

Walking down the hallway towards Patton’s apartment, Virgil cleared his throat, and then spoke uncertainly, his voice wavering and soft. “This—this was all p-planned… wasn’t it?” He wasn’t sure what made him more anxious to say that, that Talyn might be upset that he figured it out, or that he might be wrong and was about to have a very awkward conversation.

Talyn turned to grin at him, and then reached up and knocked on the door.

Relief flooded through Virgil, accompanied by confusion and, admittedly, a bit of excitement. The door swung open, and a chorus of voices greeted him.

“Happy birthday, Virgil!”

…

Virgil, Patton, Roman, Logan, Talyn, and Joan all sat around Patton’s kitchen table. Virgil, seated before a chocolate birthday cake, was sure his face was bright red as everyone else sang the happy birthday song.  The moment was made all the more embarrassing by two specific friends: Roman, of course, was being way too extra with his singing, adding riffs and changing octaves far more than should have been possible in such a short song; and Logan, meanwhile, sang in such a manner that, if he didn’t know any better, Virgil would have thought he was doing really awkward beat poetry.

The song finally ended, and Virgil leaned forward, blowing out the candles.

They enjoyed the cake after that, and then Patton insisted that they all watch Virgil open his presents.

“Wait—presents?” he repeated.

“Well, it is a birthday party,” Roman pointed out. “Presents are generally included.”

“Yeah, but… you didn’t have to do that. You already….” He gestured around at, well, everything.

“We know we didn’t have to,” Patton assured him. “We wanted to.”

Virgil didn’t have much choice in the matter, so he opened the gifts. They were already bought, he told himself; and it would be rude to refuse. Plus, he was secretly very happy that his friends had done all of this for him.

From Logan, he got a gift card, which he claimed was intended for some audio books that he believed would be calming for him. He had gotten the idea from the large pair of headphones that Virgil carried around in his free time.

From Talyn and Joan, who had already set up the outing to the movies for him, he got a pack of Tarot cards. When he asked about it, Joan shrugged and claimed that they’d thought of him when they saw it at a shop.

Roman gave him a poster of Jack Skellington from Nightmare before Christmas, already framed. He seemed incredibly pleased by Virgil’s shocked expression.

“Dude, how much did you spend on this?” he asked, wide-eyed.

“Don’t worry about it,” Roman said, grinning.

And from Patton, he got a little black, gray, white, and purple friendship bracelet, handmade, and a card that Patton had clearly drawn himself.

Virgil liked the gifts, but he absolutely loved his friends.

...

College AU tag list:  @patton-loves-coloring @starryfirefliesbloggo @purplesoul-at-hogwarts  @lotusthatexists-festivestyle @quoth-the-sparrow @awesomelissawho @amuthefunperson @faithfreedom @heck-im-lost @gayfandomsaremything  @bunny222 @syndianites @astraastro @momolinia @captainswan618 @hamilin-manuel-miranda @goldenkiddos @afilhadehades-blog @virgeofselfdestruction @theresneverenoughfandoms @iris-sanders-athena @super-magical-wizard @rainbow-sides @thefallendog @fanficptsd @zodiac-awesome @lookitsthatquietgirl @soft-boy-patton @nerd-in-space @pearls-of-patton @ab-artist @angered-turtle @im-so-infinitesimal @enby-kiddo-with-a-blog @raygelkitty @dr-gloom @whats-going-on-kiddos @spider-parker14 @oh-star-how-the-mighty-fall @fillyourteacup @kittiebrick

[atopearth]

Shall we Date? Wizardess Heart Part 15 - Mel Glover Route

How rude of Mel to just steal her apple and eat it!! I’d be so angry! Well, what a great first day for the heroine; she gets lost in the forest because she heard the voice of the tree, meets Mel, gets scolded by Leslie and then Sigurd comes to pick her up with Smokey, his flying magical beast! Now she doesn’t even need to walk back lmao.

Wow, what an honour for the heroine to be his buddy. Mel is so amazing to author textbooks, travel the world and be so knowledgeable about magical trees and plants etc. Lmao at their awkward interactions. Kate looks cool! Legit can’t believe the heroine is older than Mel, he looks so much older lmao. Loll at Mel’s eyes sparkling when he started thinking that the reason they lit up as buddies was to balance her childishness with his maturity haha and other theories. Awww his first impression of her was cute and interesting! I’m so surprised hahaha. Omg, it was so unexpected when Mel actually reacted with emotion and kindness when she said that he should sleep better otherwise his body will always be tired, and that she cares about him because they’re buddies, then he thanked her saying it was nice that someone was looking out for him! That’s actually really cute! I guess he’s always used to being alone so this made him realise that the feeling of someone caring about you is pretty nice.

Omg, honestly didn’t expect him to kiss her already lol. And to be when they were hiding under the podium too lol, so random. Not sure whether to feel happy or insulted that he kissed her because he felt that her heart beating really fast had influenced his heart to be the same, and that made him feel like kissing her lol. That’s wonderful, Mel🤨 It’s kinda funny how mature Mel can be but also how childish he can be at other times. It was nice of Mel to personally craft a new wand for the heroine since her one broke. I’m surprised the heroine so willingly gave the wand back to the magical tree and restore it when the wand was given to her by her parents. Guess it’s better to thank the wand and let it be useful to the tree than to keep it as just a memento.

Not sure why Mel doesn’t want to be her buddy anymore but he made her cry! That’s no good, Mel! Amelia is like the best friend ever btw. She lets the heroine cry her heart out, take her around the city to cheer her up, give advice and tell her that giving up so fast on Mel isn’t something she’d do and during all this, she somehow found the address of Mel’s master so the heroine could go visit and see what’s going on!? Dude, where can you get a great friend like this? She’s logical and understanding, I love her. I was just about to call Mel childish for running away after seeing the heroine, and then I remembered that he’s younger than her lol. But yeah, it was really cool and funny when she used the magic that he taught her to restrict his movements for a moment so she could catch up to him, she’s smart and capable haha! Only when she’s chasing boyfriends hahaha.

I always find it so adorable when a guy holds the girl’s hand and puts it in his pocket to keep their hands warm. Like, I’m not sure how big those pockets they have are since my clothes barely have any pockets, nevertheless, it’s so sweet and cute. Mel’s words can be blunt and hurt the heroine’s feelings but I think his self awareness towards this and apologising for it is very considerate. I’m glad he finally realised that the feelings he has towards the heroine is love. Took him a while but it was cute how their relationship progressed so I’m happy. It’s so cute how Mel says he’s a kid only when it’s convenient to him hahaha. I always forget that he’s younger though considering how mature he is most of the time. It was so adorable when they both didn’t want to leave each other, omggg. So corny but cute lmao.

For this season/arc, it’s a hard choice but I think I’ll have to choose Sigurd for the best route this time. Mel is a really close second though! And Leslie is a far off third lmao. Honestly, I think in terms of the story and progression, Sigurd’s route wins hands down, but in terms of romance, Mel’s was much cuter, sweeter and it progressed at a good pace. As for Leslie’s route, it just lacked in both areas and I don’t like Chica hahaha. Mel’s right though, they’ve kissed already and they’ll eventually be doing things that are even more embarrassing than him piggy backing her, so really she should just let him carry her since her ankle is like that loll. He’s so honest with his feelings and thoughts after he confessed lolll, the heroine is going to die from embarrassment🤣

I’m not sure why Mel is hiding things but I really wonder whether shooting an arrow with the Bow will really cure the magical tree that’s wilting? Kate seems kindaaa suspicious. And she is! She’s a bit frightening tbh… Was she jealous of Mel all this time? The preview for the next chapter was kinda sad though, Randy said Kate seemed like an evil person whereas Azusa said that from his perspective, she just seemed like someone overwhelmed with sadness, it made me think of Azusa himself and I guess he can really relate to that. I guess Mel wanted to protect Kate and bring her back to their side but it didn’t work.. I wonder why Kate is doing all this since she has the power to go through parallel worlds transcending time? You can see why she doesn’t like the heroine since she’s been thwarting her plans as the Sol Maiden in the different worlds aside from this one. So, the heroine getting together with Mel brings the world to an end? (Since Kate is successful this time around, hahaha)

I find it saddening that Kate is really doing all this because she feels so inferior to Mel since he can do anything, is super happy and has everything in life, whereas ever since she was abandoned as a child, she never had anything that was truly hers until she found out she had the power to transcend time, so now she wants to destroy the world and make herself the only living person so she can finally be special. It’s a terrible way to think about things especially if she succeeds, she’ll realise she’s not special at all because people are only special when they can be compared with someone normal. If she’s the only one alive, no one will recognise that she’s special anyway, so what’s the point?

I like that the summon was successful and that there’s more trouble to come but I honestly find Kate a weak villain especially since she was convinced so easily when she was so intent on destroying the world… It was cool to see the heroine’s clothes transform LOL, Sailor Moon moments hahaha, well gotta look pretty when you save the world from darkness I guess? Omggg when the heroine saved the world and all her friends and their familiars were thanking her, Taffy was sooo cuteeee when he jumped at her and clung to her saying he loves her omgg, I want Taffyyy! It was nice to see the heroine get to enjoy the festival this time around with Luca and everyone, sounds like fun~ She also delivered her part as the Sol Maiden well without any mistakes! The only sad thing was that Mel wasn’t there to share all this with her :( Personally, like the headmaster, considering the situation, there should be no reason for his licence as a magical tree doctor to be revoked since he did it to save the world, I don’t think anyone has the right to judge him for that!

Glad everything turned out well with Mel just being reprimanded and Kate being taken by the ministry, but with their master there to watch over her, so I guess now she can reflect but also get what she wanted most, which was the care of the master. Lmao when the heroine asked what Mel would do if she failed the academy judgment exam and he said he’d laugh hahahaah. He’s right though, regardless of whether she passes or not, that doesn’t change the fact that he loves her. I always forget that the story spans across only 13 days, so really, they met, fell in love, confessed, saved the world and then Mel proposed to her?! A lot of things really happened.. You could give me 13 years and I still wouldn’t be able to do those lmao.

I never considered the heroine becoming a magical tree doctor tbh since just because she can talk to them and cast the protection spell doesn’t mean she can become one too lol, but I guess considering how clingy both Mel and the heroine are with each other in this route, working in the same profession, travelling together and being together all the time would suit them. I love the engagement ring Mel made, it’s made with wood from the magical tree and it has a snow apple on it lmao. I’ll forever remember Mel eating her apple🤣 I felt it ended so nicely with Mel being able to fulfill his dream of attending school and it’s alongside the heroine~ Sweet!

Overall, I quite enjoyed Mel’s route, I guess it really helps to pick up on all the romance that Sigurd’s route lacked, but it was kinda to the point that the whole story was basically romance with a bit of plot hahaha. Well, it was good to finally see Mel’s perspective and how this event was related to Mel, but I think it was rather undermining and Kate was a meh kinda villain since her reasons and determination was rather flimsy. Anyway, if you want some more cute romance, then this is the one XD Overall though, I liked Sigurd’s route the most because I felt the heroine grew the most in that route and really became a strong independent woman that Sigurd couldn’t help but fall for eventually haha. Then I’d pick Mel since he’s sweet and I felt that he and the heroine grew together nicely in this route, where they learnt to rely and believe in each other and not just love each other I guess haha. Last is Leslie is because his route was really bland, I personally do like Leslie but his route just felt like nothing happened haha.

[naokimizutani-blog]

My Experiences, Perspective, My Why, My Vision, Point Of View On the World, And What I Believe In...

Hey guys. This is my first blog, so some of you might need a little background story.

I’m currently living in Tokyo with my wife and cat. I teach Transcendental Meditation and living a comfortable life here. It wasn’t always this way, as I’ve had to find my purpose, persevere and overcome my lack of patience…which I’m still working on.

I was born and raised in downtown Los Angeles. Some people say they’re born in a “big city” when they’re actually born in the outskirts “nearby.” I was born in the middle of LA in Korea Town. Not the best of places, but it’s where my parents started when they immigrated from Japan with only a dream and drive to succeed, and eventually raised a family with three kids, a cat and a dog. 

I never thought of myself as a minority, since I didn’t understand that there was even a majority. People were always people to me.

At home, my parents would speak Japanese. My father was from Kagoshima, Kyushu and my mother was from Osaka near Tennnoji. Luckily, I was placed in an environment where I didn’t have a lot of Japanese friends, so outside of the house, I spoke “SoCal” English. I write “SoCal” because later on, when I moved states for college, I found out the rest of America, or even the world, doesn’t speak the same laid back, “nah-man-everything’s-coo” English I spoke back in my hometown.

It also took me 25 years to realize that the Japanese I spoke at home was NOT the Japanese spoken by most people in Japan either. When I first came to Tokyo and heard formal Japanese (“keigo”), I had no clue what was being said. The clerk at the cash register would always look at me funny because I looked Japanese but couldn’t speak it fluently, which is a thing I sometimes still struggle with today. I probably come off as a Korean student who studies Japanese. These days, it seems the less I speak and just do subtle gestures combined with perfectly timed words, the more I fit right in.

Dialects are a real strange thing. I mean, can you imagine? What if you were born in an area with a specific dialect, and you moved out of your hometown only to realize that your dialect made you sound unintelligent to most people. Luckily the dialects I landed with weren’t so bad, but just a food for thought for those of you raising your children.

My parents were natural entrepreneurs. My dad owned an electronic store in Osaka, which is where he met my mother. (A really cute and funny story there that I’ll save for another blog.) It was during the economic bubble in Japan, so it was a good time to open up shop. He then sold it, followed his dreams, and flew to Los Angeles. My mother followed him to America a year later, and they eventually opened up a Japanese restaurant in Cypress, Orange County.

For all of my childhood, from preschool to high school, my parents were running their restaurant business. During my elementary school years, I’d go there after school and hang out in the back room until my mom finished work. I remember there was always a lot of customers. It was probably the fact that no one else in the area offered teriyaki bowls, sushi, udon noodles, yakisoba or chicken karaage. All I’ll say is that the food at home was ALWAYS good. :)

I admired the culture they created with their customers. Everyone seemed to know my parents by name, and even the police and fire fighters would come in and high-five me.

The only time I got in trouble for being there was when I got bored waiting and stuck my hand in a mountain of rice grains. It felt pretty amazing, but I learned never to mess with quality assurance when a customer witnessed me and my mom brought her scolding thunder.

My mother hardly speaks English, even today, and she claims you only need two things to survive in another country. A smile and “thank you.” I guess that’s why I naturally always smile and say thank you.

My parents did a pretty good job in keeping all three kids out of trouble. They kept us busy. Besides regular school, I trained in a basketball league 3-5 days a week with a weekend game. It wasn’t the league for aspiring Michael Jordan’s and Kobe Bryant’s, but the Asian one. I seriously thought I was pretty good at basketball until I met guys twice my size in Jr. High and High School that easily swatted my threes and dunked over my low defensive stance.

You know that feeling when you train every day and night, even though the lights are out at the park, trying to perfect your moves and shots for 10 years, only to find out you were living in a small bubble and there were guys with better genetics and more talent than you? It’s basically what happened to me with karate, piano, and golf as well, even though I won a lot of competitions, received awards, and featured in local newspapers…in my small bubble.

Basketball and karate brings a lot of good memories, though. It wasn’t winning the competitions and being the best that I enjoyed. It was the process of improving myself and enjoying the community.

My Jr. High and High School years were colored with hip hop, breakdancing and DJing. The Fugees, Tribe Called Quest, Tupac, Ice Cube, Rakim, KRS One, EPMD, Wu Tang, Biggie, DJ Qbert, Mix Master Mike, come to mind. It was always for fun, and my homiez always knew how to have a good time. After school, I’d swim at my friend’s pool, go snowboarding, or have bonfires at the beach. Life was good in the SoCal way.

Since my parents were also successful in network marketing as a side business, I remember being taken to large mansions with 13 rooms overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was sitting in on meetings and events like these where I learned that business was all about building a community, and financial success was just an outcome. It seemed like the business part was only an excuse to get together because 80-90% of the conversation was about family and kids.

My dad took the family on a local trip every weekend, we had a family trip multiple times a year, and visited our relatives in Japan once a year up until I was in high school.

My parents wanted all three kids to at least be able to understand Japanese and speak to our grandparents, so on top of going to weekday school and all the extra curricular activity, we went to Japanese school on Saturdays.

Boy, did I hate it. It wasn’t that it was hard or difficult. I just really didn’t like the mentality and culture at the Japanese school. Being raised in an American culture, especially in the “sunshine” culture of LA where you’re free to express yourself, going to Japanese school felt like the cringe most people feel when they hear about what’s going on in North Korea. Rigid, so many rules, and very top-down hierarchy. Eek.

It made me appreciate the American culture even more. I excelled in American school, but never did my homework for my Japanese school. I made a ton of friends during the weekdays, but got in a fight every Saturday. It was two opposite worlds, and it was stressful. I think I took out all my aggression and frustration in sports and recreation.

Then, the next day of the week were the peaceful days at Sunday school. That’s where I gained exposure to profound questions to life. It naturally made me think deeply, and put the small things into perspective. It set the foundation, the “thesis” for the direction in my life.

College felt sudden to me. I wasn’t prepared AT ALL. My parents were immigrants, so they didn’t know what to do or how to prepare. With my so-so grades, I cruised right into San Diego State University and that’s when I found out college was about drinking and partying. There was literally a free shuttle bus that would take students from college campus to Tijuana to go party. It all felt lame to me, so my attention went inwards to search for truth and what’s real. It made me ask bigger questions and initiated my soul searching.

I ended up transferring to a private college that specialized in traditional oriental medicine. It was my first exposure to acupuncture, herbs and hippies! I was fascinated because it was a new world to me and off the beaten path. After getting certified as a therapist, I continued my soul searching while attending community college.

During that time, one book that grabbed my attention was the “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda. I visited the Self-Realization Fellowship temples, participated in some classes, and learned some meditation techniques. The Eastern traditions were drawing me closer and closer, and I became fascinated with ancient Vedic knowledge.

One day, somewhere in Pasadena, I was walking home from a rock concert featuring Yellowcard, and saw a poster for the preview of “What The Bleep Do We Know” at a local bookstore. I was fascinated by the concept of quantum physics, mind over matter, and the law of attraction. To be honest, a lot of the speakers seemed too “out there” for my taste, but a Harvard professor caught my attention - Dr. John Hagelin.

I found he was a faculty member of a little known college in the middle of Iowa, called Maharishi University of Management (MUM). I searched for their website, and felt goosebumps. My gut feeling was telling me to go, so I convinced my dad to visit with me and I ended up becoming a student within a few months.

MUM was in a small town located in Fairfield, Iowa. The first reaction from my older sister, Jenny, was “Why are you going to Ohio?” It made me laugh, but I honestly didn’t have a rational, logical reasoning. I just had an intuition.

At MUM, I learned Transcendental Meditation, meditated twice a day with thousands of students, professors and people from many different countries. It was the world I started to glimpse at the oriental medicine school, but multiplied by a thousand.

Fairfield is a town of 10,000 people, where the majority of residents are health conscious artists, entrepreneurs and business owners. Those 5 years taught me what was possible on a community level if enough people agreed to a common lifestyle. My perspective of the world went from a dark, violent world, to a stress-free, peace-loving one.

I majored in Environmental Science, and minored in Vedic Science. Then, my last year was focused on mathematics and physics. I ended up being the assistant for Dr. John Hagelin’s first-year physics course, which was a crash course on fundamental physics and quantum physics.

I then found an opportunity to go to the Maharishi European Research University (MERU) in Vlodrop, Holland. Let me tell you, the feeling of the place made it seem like it was a different world. The closest thing I can relate it to is the Jedi counsel in Star Wars. Yoda was like the TM founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and the Jedi masters were like the many leaders from various countries. Some were from countries I probably wouldn’t be able to point out on a map even if my life depended on it. Kyrgyzstan, Brunei, or Malta anyone? MERU was like an extension of Fairfield, but more organized with a bit more of a corporate feeling to it. Kind of like a miniature United Nations, but without all the greed and corruption. After all, it was the headquarters for the global TM organization.

I was at MERU when Maharishi passed away, and suddenly flew over to India to attend the grand ceremony. Yes, India. Who would have ever thought I would end up in India? It was a major culture shock. My heart and mind were not prepared for the trip. I stayed close with a few friends I made at MERU who became some of my most cherished friends even today.

We backpacked it through rickshaws and cows, hopping on trains, and spending the night at one-star hotels. There’s a reason why people who have gone to India bond instantly. It’s because they’ve experienced something most people have never seen. A few places we visited: New Delhi, Allahabad, Varanasi, Rishikesh, Himalayan villages and a random city in Jabalpur, where we visited palm leaf astrologists, called Brighu Pandits.

After 90 days of travel, spiritual growth, and stomach problems, we said farewell and some of us flew to Phuket, Thailand. It seemed like paradise with coconuts, durian and white sand beaches.

Life took a 360 turn around after my trip, though, when I got back home to my parents place. I was 25, and received a phone call to be invited to help with educational conferences in Japan for the summer. The only reason I was invited was because I graduated from MUM, was Japanese, and made a connection at MERU. I helped set up conferences in Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo, which had some really high profile people.

Remember how I didn’t enjoy my Japanese school? It was basically the same situation, but worse. Go figure! I was too independent minded. I spoke when I wasn’t supposed to. Everything was backwards for me, and I must have upset a lot of “seniors” because I disturbed their way of doing things.

During the storm of cultural clash, I somehow met my wife, Yoko. There were three times in my life when I had a gut feeling of assurance. The first time was finding MUM. The second time was becoming an instructor of TM. The third was finding my wife. I’ve heard when the emotion and intellect integrate, there is a knowingness. It’s called intuition. It’s what I’ve based my life decisions on, and it hasn’t seemed to fail me. (Knock on wood)

From that moment on, my life was spun around, and I ended up marrying Yoko in less than a year of knowing each other. I began living in Japan without any plans or preparation, and really struggled to make ends meet at first. While gaining practical experience in life, such as paying the bills, working, and building a comfortable home, I simultaneously began to meet a lot of clairvoyants and clairaudients. The “SoCal” part of me would say “get-outta-here” but it’s just a normal day for me now. I don’t know why or how I meet them, but it’s just a reoccurring pattern. Must be some kind of pattern in nature.

Being in Japan, for me, has been a process of integrating my heart and mind, the left and right brain. I’ve been to high-end business seminars and personal development seminars. I’ve taught English for GABA, and rated with 5-stars at their Shinagawa office. I worked for a moving company, organic market, a farm, and as an international salesperson for a prototype car manufacturer. I don’t know what happened to all the samurais in Japan, but I think many of their offsprings work in the auto industry now. There’s a reason why Japan makes some of the best cars and technology in the world. There is a culture of being very organized, systematic and detail oriented.

After overworking, nearly breaking my back and having internal breakdowns from losing the "American” part of me, my wife and I had an intuition to become certified TM instructors and we both took a leap of faith. It was five and a half months of intensive meditation, training and bliss.

When Yoko and I graduated, we were ready to take on the world. We felt refreshed, filled with optimism and enthusiasm. Out of the group of teachers who graduated with us, we were the first to open our TM center in Akasaka. From a national average of 3 to 5 clients per month, we had 30 to 50 people sign up starting the first month. We already had a network of friends and clients who trusted us, and we used all our previous experience and knowledge about business to really make it a success. We soon became the most successful instructors in Japan, and became one of the highest performing teachers in the world.

No one grows with easy growth. All successful entrepreneurs experience a “punch in the face” that made them evolve and improve. I’ve experienced a fair share of my own, which had to do with a cloud of jealousy that overshadowed the blue sky above us and someone decided to close our center and take us off the map. It was one of those Japanese ninja tactics. I never received a clear answer as to what happened, but I can guess why. It’s one of those things in life you couldn’t do anything about, and it wasn’t worth fighting about. I decided to suck it up and move on.

We eventually managed to establish an independent TM organization in Japan with the approval from the international organization, and opened up our new TM center in Shinjuku, Japan, which is our current location. In the first 3 years, thousands of people have come through our doors.

We focused on nurturing our community, and created a wealth of loyal friends who referred their friends and family. We even had the privilege to teach an entire company with a hundred fifty employees. We have regular weekend retreat courses in Izu, and regular advanced lectures and courses around Japan. It may not be a place that everyone would be attracted to, but it seems fit for those people who like a positive, young and successful atmosphere, which is the way I like it.

The most difficult thing for me was learning patience to manage a company. Everything was new to me, and I had to learn about administration, finances, marketing, and sales, which I had no idea how to do. I only knew in my gut the direction I needed to take the company, but the process was very slow. It was the grind.

The only way to keep myself from giving up was cultivating my gratitude. The top things you need in creating a successful business is purpose, perseverance and patience. Without it, you’ll end up wanting to take shortcuts that eventually bite you back somewhere down the road.

I’ve been lucky with moments that seemed to be too good to be true. Call it serendipity or synchronicity, but when we were in the deep with our company, something or someone always seemed to come around to bring us back to where we needed to be. It’s like an invisible hand. I believe when you genuinely want to do good for others, and you’re doing your best to make it happen, the opportunity for luck to come into your life increases. I’ve been lucky many times in my life.

At the end of the day, no matter how hard the grind is, it comes down to joy and laughter. My wife thinks I’m the comedian, but she cracks me up multiple times a day. Laughter helps to keep things in perspective and makes the process so much more enjoyable. There are 99 million things to be worried and frustrated about everyday, but there’s always at least 1 thing you can find to laugh about. When I find it hard to find that one thing, it’s usually because I’m in the deep end of being too serious. I like to take a moment to smile at how intensely focused I am. Taking one step back, seeing the big picture, and just appreciating and finding the humor in every situation always helped me get through the darkest hours.

When you cultivate joy and laughter, it radiates and it’s what people are naturally attracted to. Everyone knows life isn’t easy, and if you don’t know, you probably still live with your parents or got a lucky break. When you radiate this joy, people want to be a part of it, and want to share it with others. We’ve been lucky to have a flow of referrals from our dedicated community only through word of mouth.

I have learned that in business your pipeline is your lifeblood and it always needs to be full. You have to constantly create awareness in prospective clients, provide enough information so they can do their own research and become interested, make an offer, deliver a good quality product or service, and follow up. You always need to have the energy flowing in your business. Otherwise, you’re not flowing. You’re not moving. That causes the wheels to stop turning and your company comes to a hault. Keeping your eyes on the whole process while focusing on the details takes some practice.

If done right, you can eventually create 500 true fans. It’s all you really need to create a success business and a comfortable life. For example, if you have 500 people who trust you, and like you and your services, they’re ready to be a part of your events, courses, and activities. Let’s say those 500 people purchase your $30 product or service. That’s $15,000. For most people, that’s a comfortable monthly income. For most businesses, that’s not all that difficult to achieve.

You start to create a culture where people gain value through the community and being together. Just how an organism is made of many microorganism, or how the galaxy is made of many stars and solar systems, your company becomes sustainable with 500 true fans.

Currently, I feel I’m getting ready to move on to another level in life beyond teaching TM and managing a TM center. After teaching hundreds of people and seeing the change in their life, I’m now drawn to helping others build a business that is fueled by their passion and purpose.

I need to do me. I have to keep following my intuition and joy. So I’ve created the Cosmic Entrepreneur program to help people build a mind body startup with 500 true fans. This can be beneficial for people just getting started or business owners who want to learn a more “zen” way of doing things. There really is no need to become a millionaire to live a good life. I’ve done a million and a half, and I can tell you it doesn’t really change anything other than the fact that you can buy more things. You still have to work on you, and I’m sure your wife will happily remind you of that.

Becoming wealthy isn’t a bad thing. However, it’s the unsatisfied small ego that wants to continuously grab a hold of millions and millions of dollars that you can’t even manage. It causes an imbalance of what you desire and what you actually need. This causes strain. All you need is to create a sustainable ecosystem in your business, so that you can enjoy the process called life. A business is always to support your lifestyle, not the other way around.

With the ever-changing field of marketing, online platforms, and social media, etc., it’s effecting the global economy and the large corporations. The media agencies on Wall Street are definitely feeling it.

I believe more and more people will want to become independent. There will be a growing number of house wives who start a home business and create their own independent income. More 14 year olds will become YouTubers and eBay flippers, rather than becoming hamburger flippers. Experienced professionals will become freelancers or contract workers, rather than caging themselves in a corporate environment. There is already a growing number of entrepreneurs and business owners, which only creates more opportunity for investors, angels, and philanthropists.

My intuition also tells me more and more people will want more balance between their happiness, health, and wealth. More people will want less B.S., such as these self-help gurus who don’t have real solution, talent or life experiences. People will steer away from these “make money fast” gurus who have never owned a real business. Those who took shortcuts may do well in the short term, but in the next 5, 10 or 20 years, the market will separate the authentic from the phony.

People will need to stop chasing an unreachable dream and become comfortable with who they really are, not what the media tells them to become. People will naturally enjoy more down time, family time, and being a part of a community. Technology, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and e-sports will change the way we use time, socialize and make purchases.

To be happy and comfortable, you don’t need to be a millionaire, be famous, or live each day to extremes as if it was the last day of your life. We just need to be ourselves, and less influenced by what others think of us. The next 5 or 10 years are going to challenge every one of us to find our purpose, perseverance, and patience.

Do you.

I’ve been in this business for about a decade now. I’ve met a lot of gooneys and some of the most amazing individuals. I’ve had my highs, and I’ve had my lows. I’m fascinated by it. I’m growing fast. I’m learning fast. I’m still a student of this stuff, but I have a service to offer for those of you getting started or want to take things to the next level.

I’m starting a series of talks called “Mind Body Startup with 500 True Fans.” It’s an integration of my new venture Cosmic Entrepreneur and TM Japan.

There is a process I created called Be-Do-Thrive. Be, meaning going within and getting to know yourself. Do, meaning finding a suitable business model that suits your lifestyle. Thrive, meaning utilizing the latest platforms to reach and nuture your 500 fans as quickly as possible. Topics include mind-body health, self-branding, building 500 true fans, latest marketing strategies through social media, and how meditation can help you in the process.

I hold lectures in Tokyo, which include a brief overview, a networking session to meet other participants, some demos, Q&A, and a mini-private session for those interested.

I also offer private sessions, live events and webinars, regular blog posts, videos, and share information on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Line, and Instagram. If you are interested, feel free to connect with me or email cosmic@naokimizutani.com

I wish you happiness, health and wealth, and most of all, I hope you enjoy the process of becoming more you.

Stay tuned to get the latest updates and insider’s tips.

[fae-fucker]

Zenith: Chapter 7

The man on the screen is Governor Cyprian General Cortas, who is the father of Andi’s first ever (accidental) kill. 

So of course, this means that Andi must have yet another dramatic flashback:

Wind in her hair, the kiss of freedom coating her skin as she sprinted through the darkness hallways, Kaley Kalee beside her.

Laughter bubbling between them as they snuck onto the Governor’s general’s personal starship transport ship.

The click of Kaley’s Kalee’s harness, buckled tight in the copilot’s seat, and Andi’s nervous laughter, again, as she dared Kaley to undo the harness.

To fly free.

“Don’t you trust me?” Andi asked, as her fingers curled over the wheel.

looked at her charge, the girl she was sworn to protect.

“Are you sure about this?” Andi asked, her fingers curled over the throttle.

Kalee lifted a pale brow, a smile tugging at her lips. “As my best friend and personal Spectre, I command you to do this, Androma.”

The engine purred as Andi started it up. A feeling of excitement coursed through her at the sound.

Kalee smiled. “For once in your life, have some real fun.”

Young Andi was a total dumbass, as you can see.

Shinsay decided to rewrite this scene to further absolve Andi of any crime. See? Kalee ordered Andi to do it! Technically it wasn’t her fault!

Also, I’m glad to see that Kaley’s name went from white to whiter.

I see that they changed this dude from governor to general, and chose to have the narration and the characters properly address him by his surname instead of his first name.

I hope the people who bought the preview bit were compensated, because they basically bought the first goddamn draft and were promised that “not much sould change” in the final product, yet here we are, with major character and narrative changes. 

I guess if nothing is of any consequence, then this doesn’t matter, but in a good book, even small changes can make a big difference.

In front of her was a victim of her foolishness, and next to her was the man who created her and then betrayed her.

The man in front of her was a victim of her foolishness. Beside her was the man who’d rejected her love.

The two of them, together? It was nearly enough to shatter Andi.

Yeah, look at this hardened badass nearly shattering because of Teh Menz. I get why she’d be upset in Cyprian’s presence, but Dex is her shitty (D)ex, why is she so miffed over him?

Why was the line changed from Dex betraying her to him “rejecting her love?” Andi had a good reason to hate him before, but now she’s just a woman scorned? Come on, Shinsay. Weren’t you all about girl power and shit? Can’t do one goddamn thing right, can you?

And can I just wonder about the possible and implied age difference between Andi and Dex? If he’s old enough to have taught her “everything she knows,” he’d have to be older to actualy know those things. Is this going to go into squick territory?

Anyway, Andi sees Arcardius behind the general and we find out that she attended the “Academy” with other “military students,” where she also learned to dance (???) and how to pilot ... things, I guess, and also where she’d been handpicked to be the personal “Spectre” for the general’s daughter, which is apparently super duper cool and most people only DREAM of. 

Everyone wants to be a dancing body guard, I guess. 

Cyprian reads some of Andi’s crimes back to her from a newspaper for ... reasons. So we can know how epic and edgy she is.

Turns out that she once shot down two passenger ships as a “distraction” from when she was smuggling illegal weapons. I’m ... not even going to open that can of strategically questionable worms.

Update: This has been changed to Andi shooting down two “black market ships” (what does that mean) and the debris from that battle falling down on a “village.”

Just one village? That’s some pinpoint aim on that debris. 

Also, this just further removes Andi from doing any actual harm. Like yeah, she did a dumb thing, but in the original version, she purposefully shot down civilian ships as a distraction. 

How the fuck did you edit your book about a space pirate and make her WIMPIER?! 

Can’t fucking handle the thought of your character not being morally fucking flawless, can you? Unless it’s just on the surface and only there when she needs to be sexy and badass, huh?

[Andi] took complete responsibility for those deaths. She’d never thought the debris would get through the atmosphere in such large pieces, let alone hit one of the few settlements on Pazus.

Oh, and she even feels remorse and takes responsibility, what a peach! 

Jesus Christ, how fucking boring can she get? 

It’s honestly so sad how even female authors can’t write morally grey or just outright cruel female characters in fear of them being unlikeable. 

Yeah, bitch. That’s the point. Let her be shitty and unlikeable. You can’t both let her be a ruthless space pirate and the “Bloody Baroness” and a pwecious widdle angel who cries for every man she kills and knits little mittens for their children and widows.

One of the darker choices I’ve made, Andi thought.

In case y’all didn’t get that shooting down two civilian ships and murdering over a dozen people for your own gain is “dark,” Shinsay’s here to clear it all up!

Update: This has been removed, but I’m leaving it in the snark because you need to see the stupidity, even if it was edited out.

“You were never caught,” Cyprian General Cortas said, his voice low, “but I knew it was you. That is what you do, Andi Androma. You leave a path of chaos in your wake, and you don’t ever look back to see whose lives were ended because of it.” His green blue eyes flashed at her.

It’s Morse code. He’s trying to tell you something, Andi.

.- -. -.. .-. --- -- .- .. ... .- -... ..- - - .... --- .-.. .

“The Bloody Baroness,” Cyprian General Cortas said, as he set setting down the screen, “is mentioned in thirteen cases since last year, six of those involving numerous deaths. Though And I have no doubt, Androma, that there are many more cases that went unnoticed. You are one of the most notorious criminals in all of Mirabel.”

Dude, did you come here to do anything besides stroking Andi’s ego? Because I’m getting kind of mixed signals here, buddy.

Bloody Baroness is still stupid and not at all intimidating, Shinsay.

At least she’s not an assassin and her job doesn’t rely on being undercover, I guess, so I’ll forgive some of the ridiculous infamy.

Against all odds, Zenith continues to be better than Throne of Glass.

“I’m not here for revenge,” he said, and again, Andi was reminded of the crash. The light. Kaley’s bloody hand, slipping from Andi’s as she breathed her last breath.

That’s great, buddy. You’ve had this flashback five times now.

Update: This has been removed. Why do you keep removing my favorite dumb bits, Shinsay? A pox on your house! 

Anywho, remember that dude in the MOST DARKNEST DARN DANKNESS DARK DARKNESS DARKNESS COLD VOID COLDEST VOID NOTHING EMPTY BLACK DARKNESS???

Turns out that he’s Cyprian’s son! And he’s been missing for a while! 

And now the general is so desperate that he’s asking Andi to help him find him again.

Valen, Kaley’s older brother with summer hair and soft eyes, who’d made her blush as a child, who’d never spoken more than a few fleeting words to Andi each time she visited Kaley’s floating estate on Arcardius.

*looks at Valen*

*looks at Dex Dogtective*

Hoo boy here we go.

Also, what does “summer hair” look like?

Update: This has been removed, and now Valen has “dark hair” and “soft hazel eyes.” There’s also no mention of him making Andi blush, and in fact the text says that they barely spoke to each other, though he did try to stop Kalee and Andi from sneaking out, and didn’t show up to court when Andi was on trial.

Three years after losing one child, the other had been taken from [Cyprian].

Two years after losing one child, the other had been snatched from him, too.

Again, the guilt clawed at Andi from inside.

I love how the inclusion of “again” both tries to excuse and also ironically highlights the extremely silly repetitiveness of Andi’s pointless oh-shit-I-feel-bad moments.

It’s Shinsay shrugging at the reader like: “Yep, there that wild bish Andi goes again with dem flashbacks.”

“Two weeks months ago, one of our satellites picked up a coded signal from Xen Ptera’s prison moon, Lunamere. The message was in the code that our top military operatives use, meaning only a select few know it. It said four words: I am here, Father.” Arcardian military code, which you no doubt remember from your time serving.”

We get a brief flashback to where Andi sits and tries to decode the “strange ancient symbols” where she admits that she can fight good but she’s not especially book smart. Why the hell are the military using one single code that apparently military students get to learn, and why the fuck is it ancient? 

That’s like ... the mother of all secutiry flaws. How has nobody cracked their code yet? What the fuck?

Anyway, apparently the general had been personally teaching his son this super secret, ancient, well-known code, and he thinks this signal is from Valen because it’s the last word he told him to decode.

I’m gonna love the explanation to how the fuck he even did that.

The reason Cyprian is telling her all this is because he wants Andi to find Valen, and he can’t send his men to do it because it would upset the fragile truce that’s between uh ... “their” part of the galaxy and the part of the galaxy where Valen is being held. Sending a pirate who has no official ties to anyone I guess makes sense, but this raises like a billion questions still.

Won’t the people holding him captive realize they’re working for Cyprian as soon as they try to bust him out? Just because they’re pirates he assumes they’ll be allowed to enter the prison and get whatever dude they want? What exactly is Cyprian expecting to happen here? Even if they’re pirates, when they deliver Valen back to him, the enemy will realize that they were infiltrated and still go to war. Or is he hoping that they’ll never admit that they did it? If they kidnapped the guy in the first place and placed him in the prison, they were already doing something that could easily provoke a war, so I don’t see them exactly backing down and pretending it didn’t happen. War is kind of inevitable at this point. It would’ve made more sense for Cyprian to hire Andi to smuggle him out so he’d be safe and not used as a pawn, but he’s framing it as a political move to avoid war, which doesn’t make much sense.

And if the government isn’t actually affiliated with the people who stole Valen, then why can’t he just ask them for help? Surely if they wanted to keep the peace, they’d help the guy find his son? I know that he suspects the government did it, and if they actually did it, keeping up appearances won’t change the outcome. If they didn’t do it, then asking might actually help him find him faster. I’m just saying that he probably should’ve like ... asked first. For political reasons, even if they deny it. The book does mention that “there has been no word from their end” (What, they’ve been silent for two years?), which is a red flag, but Cyprian should’ve been more persistent and not resort to pirates so quickly. The fact that they didn’t instantly jump to help him find Valen is enough to turn up the pressure, I’d say.

And why aren’t the people holding Valen captive demanding a ransom? He’s the son of an influential politician, what were they doing to him during these two years? Wouldn’t whatever medium Valen used to send out that signal still be picked up by the captors, even if they can’t decode it? (Don’t get me started on that btw.) When we saw Valen in the prison in the prologue, he was just rotting away and nobody seemed to want to keep him in good health because he’s a political asset, so why’d they take him in the first place? If he’s been gone for so long and has managed to survive but is seemingly also abandoned, what were they doing to him? What was their plan? “Let’s just grab him and have him sit there for shits and giggles.”

I guess these are questions that will be answered, but this feels a bit flimsy already.

*inhales*

I’m ok.

Andi says that she can’t do it.

“You can’t?” Cyprian The general barked out a laugh. “The Bloody Baroness does whatever she wants. Even if it means stealing a starship in the middle of the night, crashing it into the side of a mountain, and slaughtering an innocent girl in the process. One she was sworn to protect.”

Cyprian is supposed to sound angry here but somehow ends up stroking Andi’s ego some more.

“She was to be my heir,” Cyprian General Cortas whispered. “And you stole her from me. From my wife. From my people.”

Cyprian, you fucking drama queen. You do realize that military ranks can’t be inherited, yes?

This all makes sense to Andi, because of course.

The Mirabel Patrolmen couldn’t just waltz into a Xen Pterran prison and steal a prisoner out from under the guards without violating the terms of the treaty. The agreement was meant to prevent further war between Xen Ptera and the galaxy’ s other major systems, Prime, Stuna, Tavina and Phelexos. Galactic peace had always required a careful balancing act between each system, and when the Olen System rebelled, it had upset that balance.

The Unified Systems couldn’t risk an upset again.

But a pirate, not officially affiliated with any side...

Yeah, you’re right. And when you deliver that boy back to the general, he’ll just go “oi oi thanks lads, here’s your payment though you were totally not affiliated with me in any way lmao anyway cheerios” and the Xen Pterrans will be like “oh his son is back at his side is he? well that definitely doesn’t mean he hired people to invade our space, maybe Valen just walked out of the prison.”

Like ... they stole your son. They probably 100% stole your son. They broke the treaty. You’re free to attack. What I’d do is send in a spy, to check if Valen truly was there, get proof, and then hide him away to a safe place and then explode that shit. 

But no. Let’s send a fucking NOTORIOUS SPACE PIRATE with her FANCY SHIP and IDIOTIC, FLASHY METHODS (blew up two ships which then rained down on a village, good job).

That’ll fucking do it, you jackass.

“There is, of course, another option.”

Andi raised her eyebrows, and Cyprian General Cortas smiled, cold and calculating.

Cyprian tells Andi that if she does this, he’ll ERASE ALL HER CRIMES so she can START FROM SCRATCH. And if she refuses, he’ll just kill her.

“I will pardon you for your crimes. Lift your death sentence. You could return to Arcardius, Androma.”

Home, Andi’s mind whispered.

A thousand memories suddenly unlocked, poured into her from the place she’d kept them safely hidden away.

Her mother, twirling in a circle as a silver gown blossomed around her. Her freshly painted nails shining under the chandelier light as she pressed a soft hand to Andi’s cheek and whispered, “My daughter, protecting the general’s heir. A true Arcardian dream.”

Her father, later that night, praising Andi as she blocked his attack. “You’ve been practicing without me,” he said, hands flexing as he lunged forward and she slipped easily past him.

Arcardius, full of warmth and laughter and beauty .

Arcardius, full of Kalee’s screams and blood on Andi’s hands, hot and wrong and...

The chapter ends on Andi accepting (after making the general recite the “Arcardian Vow,” bless this book’s little heart) and asking for ship upgrades to help on the mission and we get this:

At that, Cyprian the general smiled, and looked not at Andi, but at Dex.

“He The bounty hunter will take care of that for you,” Cyprian General Cortas said, his voice dripping with sick satisfaction, “since he’ll be joining you on your mission.”

Oh, joy.

Who saw this coming. I sure didn’t.

What a buffet of surprises Shinsay has cooked up for us. 

[docandprof]

In Which I’m Uncomfortable

Hey bud!

How exciting to be writing back to you on All Hallow’s Eve Eve, because of course I’m not just going to call it Halloween. Goodness, has October, 2017 been a month for the books. Life sure is something, isn’t it? I’ve had no lack of things to do this long while, and it sounds like you’ve had plenty to do as well. Despite all of your worries and turmoil you conveyed in that last post, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh at how you tell your stories - it’s like you’re sitting across from me telling it for real - so thanks for the laughs! Let’s get on with it now.     

First of all, if this girl really is cooler than me, you had better go and catch her, and let her know how you feel, and also how cool she is. Apparently, it’s very. I can tell just from your writing that you are hopelessly into this girl, and you can bet your bottom dollar I would’ve kicked your butt into gear if I was with ya - but there’s no use worrying about things undone and unsaid! So, if you are still regretting that, forget about it. Here’s my advice: don’t just tell her how you feel or hold her hand or something to get the message across. That stuff - it’s too orthodox for you. Do you know who you are? Have you forgotten your roots? You, sir, are a weirdo. And Jaynie, I don’t know her, but she sounds like a weirdo too. It’s not just anyone who would draw you a super-manatee, wear your dry shoe, eat mac and cheese for breakfast, give you candy recommendations at two in the morning, and investigate the linguistics of Star Wars - and this is just what I know from a few paragraphs. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that she meets your criteria for an ideal girlfriend. When it comes to strong emotions like this, you can’t just sit around and wait. My roundabout way of getting to the point being - you’re not normal, so why are you worrying that you didn’t do any of the “normal” things to signal how you feel? I think this is better. Now you have the opportunity to do something that’s more you. You could make her a heart shaped pancake and mail it to her, or compose America’s next top love ballad on the recorder, or send her a carrier pigeon with cheesy love poetry. All I’m saying is that now you have a golden opportunity to show her how you feel in a way all your own - none of that normal, boring stuff the rest of us do. No no. You’re much more creative than that. So let her know, as soon as you can, because she won’t wait around forever ya know. 

Now that we’ve at least addressed that, it sounds like you’ve been doing tons of fun stuff! I would love to go camping like you and your friends did. I do miss the great outdoors. And it’s starting to feel a bit unfair how many great musicians you’ve gotten to see these past two months! I’m glad your classes are going well, and I’m pleased to say the same, assuming this Managerial Accounting exam doesn’t spook me into failure tomorrow night. It seems that in my last post I didn’t really fill you on anything I’m doing this semester with more than one sentence per item, so I’ll try and fill you in more. Oh, and that’s sort of where this week’s title is coming from - I pretty much operate outside of my comfort zone on a daily basis. I’ve been doing lots of new things, kind of all over the place. Just trying to decide where to begin is getting overwhelming. (Quick side-note about being overwhelmed: earlier I was sitting in bed, as I am still, thinking about the fact that I am reclining over 30 ft above ground with thousands of pounds of the 4th floor above me, which is kind of crazy. Whose idea was it to start building vertically?) 

I think I’ll discuss only honors related things for now so this post doesn’t get out of hand. Being an Honors Ambassador has been tons of fun so far! Everything really kicked off after my first tour, which I gave on my own without ever giving a tour or even attending an event as an ambassador, so I just told myself “If they get a bad tour then they will have had a sub-par tour of an academic institution, so really it could be worse,” and then I really wasn’t too worried. They even told me I did great when I asked how it was! Since then I’ve worked information sessions for two fall preview days where I talk about the Honors community in front of a group and then lead a smaller group on a tour. After the first group tour I was talking with this lovely prospective student, and I made some comment on how I could tell she was pretty interested in the HC, even though she seemed pretty introverted because I knew what it was like as a fellow introvert, to which she replied that I was doing a great job at hiding it. So that was funny, albeit perhaps a bit unprofessional, but I’m beginning to find more value in simple laughter and making human connections than I used to. I must say I have become quite the extrovert when I’m all dressed up for tours. I was joking with a professor I had last semester for my heroism seminar - ya know, securing my free spot on the trip to Transylvania she’s leading for Maymester, and telling her how ready I was to inspire the youth of America. Exactly a year ago from now I think I would have run away and had a breakdown in the corner at the thought of any of that ^. I told Rachel that I think being in a position that forces me to be energetic and positive is good for my health, because I’ve just felt happier after those events. Other honors related thing: my honors class on quality of life! This class has been quite interesting and different from others I’ve taken. Firstly, I really like the professor and that makes a big difference when I compare it to some of my other classes. I usually have lunch with him and other honors faculty and students during our weekly Tuesday HC lunch. Again, a year ago, I never would have done something like this, which I’m just now realizing how crazy it is how much my mentality has changed in just one year. Anyways, the course! We are working with community partners in urban poor communities in an attempt to talk with residents and identify what factors influence their well-being. I am in the group working with the Hub, a neighborhood center that primarily serves kids, because when asked, they adults said they wanted a safe place for the kids to play, because these kids are wild. So we tried to come up with some programming to get the parents more involved and just to come at all, hoping that we could talk to them. So last Friday we had a pumpkin carving event and it was a hit! The pastors that manage the Hub said it was the most parental involvement they’ve ever seen in the year they’ve been here. This goes along with the discomfort thing. I’ve never really worked with poor communities before. I suppose there are a lot of things we don’t realize from our comfortable socioeconomic viewpoint. Last Wednesday I went door to door through the neighborhood to invite people to Friday’s event, which was an experience I would certainly define as uncomfortable. And at the event itself there were over ten kids whose parents weren’t there so I was helping out the kids with their pumpkins which was actually pretty fun, even if I can be sort of awkward around kids at times. This is already getting long enough, so I’ll tell you more about...everything next time we see each other. 

Readers’ Digest on the rest: Working with Colombian students, I’ve made a friend and want to visit Colombia the more I learn about it. Work is still great, it is weird being an instructor though. I also recorded a Photoshop tutorial video for work, which could probably be better, but was still an interesting and new experience. Seeing John and Hank Green live was awesome! I also saw Alton Brown’s show with DJ, which was a super entertaining food science comedy show. I carved the most amazing pumpkin I’ve ever carved, we got our oven fixed, and I registered for the spring semester last week - and am hoping to renew my housing contract to stay in my apartment this week! 

Apparently I had a lot to say. Sorry for all the reading. My ideal Halloween costume: a student excited to be taking an accounting exam. That would be ideal. Just kidding. Honestly, since I didn’t do anything costume related this year, I haven’t put much thought into it. I know I mentioned dressing as Petyr Baelish would be fun, but I think anything with a cloak or some old timey robes would be enjoyable for me. Maybe if I try hard enough, I could dress up as just a cloak, instead of a guy wearing a cloak. Also, I love Too Many Zooz, thanks for the recommendation! My recommendation for you: get out of your comfort zone! Love is an uncomfortable emotion sometimes, so just embrace it and put yourself out there! Good luck with everything buddy! Let me know what you’re dressing up as for Halloween, because I’m sure you’re doing something! Oh and I almost forgot the question I wanted to ask you: can you think of a cool Dungeons and Dragons magic item? It can be anything - anything at all. Or multiple anythings. Now I’m done!

Your loquacious friend,

Souls

[ijunoposts]

A look at the New RHS Chatsworth Flower Show 2017

The Grounds of Chatsworth House

The first ever RHS Chatsworth Flower Show took place earlier this month, from 7-11th of June 2017.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend a Press Preview day, which ended rather abruptly early afternoon when the poor weather deteriorated resulting in sideways rain and wind strong enough to bring down a 20ft Palm Tree as I was passing by. I also attended the next day, which was the first official day open and the  RHS Members Day.

There has been lots reported about traffic problems and delays, but I can honestly say I had no problems at all, I drove straight into the car parks just after 9am, and settled down to wait for the 10am opening of the show.

Spaceship.

The RHS landed a spaceship in disguise as an inflatable giant conservatory, however nobody was allowed in after mid-morning in case they succumbed to the high winds.

Caterpillar

Ant

Ladybird

There appeared to be a random assortment of giant insects scattered around the site, as I saw no children throughout my visit I can only assume these insects were the reason. They were in fact part of a family trail sponsored by Bonne Maman Desserts.

There were 2 separate floral marques full of nurseries, one called the Cavendish Floral Marquee and the other one called the Devonshire Floral Marquee, both had nurseries in attendance that I have not come across before, as well as many regulars and favourite. The Great Conservatory (Spaceship),  was placed in between them with displays about The Cavendish Banana and Joseph Paxton within.

There was also a very well provided outside Plant Village with 13 nurseries in place.

One of my favourite Nurseries, Pennard Plants, was in attendance with a few new edible varieties available to buy.

Tomato Patio Plum

Sweet Pepper Tangerine Dream

I bought a plant of the very Dwarf Tomato Patio Plum which reaches 45 cm tall, and is apparently open pollinated, so hopefully a few seeds can be saved.

The Cottage Garden Society display

Gorgeous display by Morton Nurseries

Another Lovely Display

National Dahlia Society Display. Mystic Fantasy

National Dahlia Society Display. MT New Pink Single

The RHS had a planted display explaining about RHS Plant Trials and about the Award of Garden Merit, otherwise known as the AGM.

Hostas

Information board.

There were many quirky sights to be seen throughout the show sight, some by design, some due to the weather.

Sheep in Wellies

wind damage

Welly Fountain.

More Sheep?

The RHS had a feature garden called Garden for a changing climate, it was a depiction of two different scenarios for a small suburban garden based on gardening now and gardening in the future. It was designed to cope with extremes in temperature, and severe downpours of rain.

RHS Garden for a changing Climate

RHS Garden for a Changing Climate

The Show Gardens

Many of the show gardens were located together, this area got quite boggy due to the persistent rain, but I did my best in trying to take pictures and crop out the almost obligatory ‘person in a high vis vest’ Theme.

Cruse Bereavement Care: ‘A Time for Everything’

A garden of emotions with planting to symbolise the journey taken by those dealing with terminal illness

Lovely water feature.

Wonderful Lupins standing up to the winds.

This was a lovely garden that was awarded a Silver-Gilt. Worthy of a Gold in my opinion, very restful, with a seating areas, and parts of the garden out of view so you could not see it all at once. Very nice planting.

The Agriframes Garden

This garden is styled to reflect the influence of the Modernist movement yet could translate brilliantly to a current setting.

Apparently the idea was to view the seamless tubular steel frames of the pergolas change in shape from square to rounded as you walk through, representing the evolving use of this product in industry. Well it looked like a bit of an advert in my mind, however I really liked the colour combinations, but not necessarily the actual design itself.

Brave Delphiniums

Annoying square bits

There were annoying patches of grass throughout the garden which did not appear to serve any purpose, difficult to step onto because of surrounding plants and structures, and certainly from my point of view as a gardener, very difficult to actually maintain, you’d have to trim them with shears.! This Garden was awarded a Bronze. But as I said, I liked the colour combinations.

  Moveable Feast

This garden takes on the fight with ‘no maintenance gardening’ and wins with all year round interest for anyone

Large containers on wheels

Fruit, Herbs & Edibles.

I was really looking forward to seeing this garden, the concept of an entirely movable garden appeared to have passed Garden Designers by, until Tanya of Vergette Gardens designed this garden in order for the owner, or tenant of a property to take all the plants and features with them should they move on.

 It’s a great idea also if any plants needed moving in or out of shady or sheltered areas to better suit their needs then they could be easily rolled into a new position. The Garden was awarded a Silver Medal.

Belmond Enchanted Gardens

As you enter the garden through the scented doorways, you’re drawn into a floral journey which invites you to dream a little.

Best in Show

Wood woven Gateway

Spiral Stairway

Hedging and naturalistic plantings.

This was an interesting garden, there were only a few small areas where you could see into the garden, so it was a bit of a squash.

Predominantly naturalistic plantings with wildflowers, and seeding grasses, there were also small areas planted with herbs, and edibles.  The twisting staircase led upwards (to nowhere), or as the show guide said, to wherever your imagination takes you. This garden was awarded a gold, and was best in show.  Personally I was very confused by this garden.

IQ Quarry Garden

Best Show Garden

Best Construction award

Influenced by the life cycle of a quarry, this garden is designed for a professional couple who have built a modern house, and are inspired by brutalist form.

She got wet.

Planted bits were nice

Unable to see in there.

Plants stuffed in.

This garden appeared to be in 3 sections, the front section was very heavily planted, with trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, this was to represent nature reclaiming the area.  The middle section was lots of gravel and a water hole that you couldn’t see into from the boundary of the garden.

And the third section was very harsh in design and colour, and had a scantily clad woman sprayed orange draping over rocks… I had no idea what this was for, so I wandered off in search of an ice cream.

Experience Peak District & Derbyshire Garden

Lee’s garden gives a flavour of all that is great and beautiful about the Peak District and Derbyshire. Meadows, native trees and models of cows illustrate the wild and natural spaces while the traditional, manicured formal gardens take their cue from the area’s great houses

Silver Cows

Mini Formal Garden

Nice Edging

This was a nice garden, with lots of themes stuffed into a small space, with a big wide open area to represent the Peak District. (The rain certainly helped).

The planting was nice, but once again lots stuffed in, there where silver & Gold Cows dotted about, and apparently earlier in the day Alan Titchmarsh was spotted interfering with one or two. (They had blown over).

This garden was awarded a Silver-Gilt medal.

Jackie Knight’s Just Add Water

A colourful and fun water garden using local stone with a cascade, stepping-stones and a mix of alpines and perennials

Rocks

More Rocks

Rocks and water

I cannot remember the last time I saw a really good rock garden at a big show, I think the time and effort involved in building a garden well might put many off.

This garden was lovely, and easy to see it all from one position, the persistent heavy rain certainly made it look all nice, fresh and clean.

So that was a quick look at the new show, on any normal day the journey would take me about 1 hour 40 mins to drive, so this show has become a ‘local’ show for me.

I’m looking forward to next year’s show already, I think the RHS has certainly got to make some changes to the show layout, and make a better provision with some signage and extreme weather planning, also the traffic situation needs looking as, but as I previously stated I somehow managed to miss all the problems with my journey to the show.

  Tickets for RHS Chatsworth 2018 go on sale August 1st. 2017 For RHS Members.

Public Tickets go on sale September 1st. 2017.

      Wet and Wild at the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show 2017 A look at the New RHS Chatsworth Flower Show 2017 The first ever RHS Chatsworth Flower Show took place earlier this month, from 7-11th of June 2017.