#going through my camera roll. these are from my birthday hike last year <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[shirleyjacksonesque]

8/13/2022

[comingyourlugubriousness]

More Than Anything!

Yume Ume Birthday Vignette!

Characters: Riddle Rosehearts, Cater Diamond, Trey Clover, Ace Trappola, Grim, Yume Ume, Yuuta Midori, Yuuuhi Kiiro, Guest: Elie Akane

Words: 5.8k

Summary: “IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY!?!” Ace shouted, his voice echoing through the rose garden maze. As he did, time seemed to stop, all the Heartslabyul students' Unbirthday celebrations came to a halt at the words; they stared at their table.

-

(This is just a little fun thing I had in mind for Yume's birthday. Since it would be their first Birthday card I wanted to focus on some of their first friends at NRC; The Heartslabyul Gang! There's references galore and I'm sure people will spot them. Thank you again for all the sweet birthday wishes! (o´▽`o))

Birthday Card Art ⭐

Birthday Card Groovy ⭐

Asked to be tagged: @bunnwich, @cherryjkj,@ruggiethethuggie,@authoruio,@nicoliharu,@kittycat0419

“Hey what up everyone, it's ya boy CayCay! Here #live from another Heartslabyul Unbirthday party!” Cater said, flashing a wink and peace sign to his phone's camera as he went live on Magicam.

“Does he always do that?” Yuuta asked,to no one in particular, sitting next to Yume on the other side of the large round table.  

“Every unbirthday party, on the dot, for the past three years.” Trey said lightheartedly, though Yume could hear the slight edge of exasperation that could only come from knowing a person’s habitual routine for years.Trey laid down a tray of tarts to the guest table causing Ace, Yuuhi, and Grim to cheer and dig in immediately. Yume waited a few seconds before the carnage was over to grab a piece of their own and placed it gently to the side.

“You get used to it pretty fast.” Deuce smiled with a good natured shrug, grabbing two pieces of a tart and laying one on Yuuta’s plate. The two of them shared a look and a smile, before turning back to their food. Yume caught Yuuta’s eye as they gave him a smug look, Yuuta rolled their eyes, saying nothing. Yume snickered, as their brother's fair cheeks tinted a bit pink and they stuffed a forkful of tart in their mouth.

“Today is extra special because we have our honored guests, *dun dun dun dunn~!* The Ramshackle gang! Say, “hi” guys~!” Cater said, humming a fanfare noise, before turning the phone camera around to the three brothers. Yume jumped and instinctually leaned to hide behind Yuuta's shoulder. 

Yuuta gave Cater a look, before turning away from the camera as well, covering their face eating their tart. Yuuhi flashed a peace sign, as comments flooded the screen:

CayCay’s Very Merry Unbirthday!!!

🔴 [You’re live]

Chivalrousrichesse: OMG the food looks to good, #gimmie a bite

Bigcatluver69: Omg their eyes are green like their hair, its so striking!!! o///o AzzLuver89: Is that kid's hair purple? I can’t tell #weird

Carefold: are those the ppl from “another world” they look pretty normal to me… ;/

FeaturedLeo: Ugh the aesthetic of these things are always so cool! I wanna go! #NRChitmeup Bnutsquash: Happy Unbirthday everyone!! #MerryUnbrithday

FlirtyPsych: Cater plz dm!!!<3 #CayCaySimpAndProud

-

“Cater, don't spend the entire party on your phone.” Riddle warned, gracefully taking a sip from his rose patterned teacup. 

Cater’s shoulders hiked at being called out and he sheepishly rubbed that back of his head. 

“Yep yep, of course!” He said placatingly to Riddle, then he looked back at the camera. “That’s all for now! Gotta get back to my card soldier duty or it's off with my head~! Be sure to check my feed later for pics! Bye Bye~” He said cheerfully, giving a playful wink before ending the stream. Then, he sat in his chair, a content smile on his face as he scrolled through his feed of comments.

There was a sigh from Riddle, it seemed like he wanted to comment more about Cater’s media addiction, but decided against it. Trey laughed at his sigh.

“Well, he’s nothing if not consistent!” Trey said in good nature, coming back with the last dessert from the kitchen and finally sitting down in his own chair. “Oh here, Yume, try some of this cake!” 

Yume perked up at their name being called. “Oh no, it’s okay I already have this tart.” They said politely waving him off. Trey raised a knowing eyebrow at them.

“But, you don’t like tarts, Yume.” He said coyly.

“Mh-!” Yume’s eyebrows raised in surprise, their brothers and friends looked at them curiously.  Trey continued before they could deny it.

“You always take a piece to be polite, but you never end up eating it. You usually end up giving it to Grim afterwards.” He said, adjusting his glasses, as if he was making the observation right now.

“Uh, well I-It’s not that it tastes bad I ju-” They stumbled to get the words out.

“Hey, hey, it’s fine I’m not mad or anything. We all have different tastes here!” He said, holding his hands up in a placating motion. Yume sighed, not mad, but a little embarrassed at being called out.

“Sorry, it's not your baking skills or anything Trey, I’m just a bit picky about food is all…” Yume trailed off.

“You guys should see the way he eats popcorn.” Yuuta chimed in.

“Yuuta!” Yume slapped his arm playfully.

“Oh, it must be really weird.” Ace staged whispered teasingly.

Yume groaned dramatically, laying their head on the table as their friends had a good natured laugh at their expense.

“Like I said, I’m not mad or anything. Actually, I’ve been taking it as a bit of a challenge, to bake something you like-without getting your input, that is. So I think you’ll really like this cake.” Trey said, cutting them a slice and sliding it over to them.

It was a 3 layered cake with a light colored frosting. There was a light drizzle of red syrup and an arrangement of strawberries at the top to imitate a rose in full bloom. It looked good enough, like all the flavors Yume usually liked to eat. They gave a tentative sniff and didn’t have a problem, so they picked up their fork. They were a little on edge, it felt as though everyone was watching them and waiting for their opinion as they popped the piece of cake into their mouth. “Mmh~!” They made a noise of satisfaction as the cake touched their tongue. The frosting was sweet, but not overpowering. Letting them taste the light fluffy cake and tart tanginess of the strawberries and syrup. They closed their eyes in delight, their cheeks flushing with happiness as they smiled. Because their eyes were closed they missed Trey’s goofy fist pump in success. 

A sudden click and flash, however, did make them open their eyes.

“Ah! Me-Me is so cute, that’s definitely getting a lot of likes!” Cater said, pulling his phone down to look at his picture. He received an elbow bump and a look from Yuuta. 

“A-ah-, that is as long as Me-Me is okay with me posting it.” He amended. Yume let out a breath. Guess that “mom” title really stuck. Yume thought , looking at their brother. “I’ll want to look over it first, but then I don’t really mind.” Yume said, taking another bite of the cake. It’s not like Cater hadn’t already posted pictures of them before, so it wasn’t a huge deal. They barely went on their MagicCam for anything, except to use the messaging system. They swallowed down the tasty piece happily rocking in their chair.

“Y’know it's actually pretty nice to have some cake the day before my birthday!” They said, offhandedly.

“What!?!” Both Ace and Deuce exclaimed.

“It’s your birthday soon?” Ace asked, almost a little annoyed to only be hearing about it now. He leaned in. “You're not trying to pull a ‘Yuuta’ are you?” He sneered. 

“Hey!” Yuuta said, giving him a look but couldn’t deny their past actions. At this Riddle was confused, clearly out of the loop, but before he could ask the conversation continued.

“No no, I wanna celebrate it just…maybe something small you know?” They said, fiddling with their cardigan sleeves. “I feel like it would be a lot considering Azul’s is right before mine. Two birthday’s back to back sounds exhausting, even if it's in different dorms. Yume sighed. “Ugh, why does his have to be the day before mine, couldn’t he have been born later or something.” Yu huffed in annoyance. 

Trey faltered and paused as he poured Riddle some tea. 

“Wait…what do you mean? Azul’s birthday was yesterday. ” Trey said, placing the teapot down.

“Huh, no no it's today, we didn’t wanna go to his dumb party that's why…” Yuuta trailed off as Trey’s face became more confused. “...It's the 24th today right…?!” Yuuta said, their confidence fading the more they spoke.

“Uh, nono “DoubleYu” today is…umm…w-well not I’m not so sure now ahaha...” Cater trailed off. “Elie, date and time.” Riddle commanded, waving a hand over at the taller Rabbit beastmen. Elie jumped, dropping the plate of cake and fork in his hand as he clumsily fumbled to get his pocket watch out.

“The date is February 25th, approximately to 11:13AM on the dot, Housewarden Sir!” Elie stated, his large ears standing up straight to match the rest of his posture when addressing his dorm leader.

“So that means…” Deuce began, a look of realization coming over his features.

“IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY!?!” Ace shouted, his voice echoing through the rose garden maze. As he did, time seemed to stop, all the Heartslabyul students' Unbirthday celebrations came to a halt at the words; they stared at their table.

“Oh naur...” Yuuhi grimaced, face palming his ears flattening against his head as he ducked in his seat. All the rest of the first year's shoulders hiked.

“GRIM, YOU LITTLE FLEA BAG, YOU TOLD ME TODAY WAS THE 24TH, I ASKED YOU THIS MORNING HOW COULD YOU GET IT WRONG!?” Yuuta growled, grabbing Grim by his scruff and lifting him off his chair stacked with pillows. “NYA! DON’T YELL AT ME, YOUR THE ONE WHO WOKE ME UP ALL EARLY ON A SATURDAY GETTING READY FOR WORK! I WAS HARDLY AWAKE, YOU CAN’T BLAME ME!?” He countered, swiping his paws at Yuuta.

“It’s your birthday today?” Riddle’s eerily calm voice cut through the chaos, a dead silence came over the garden. Out of the corner of their eye they saw Elie and Cater take a practiced step back.

Yume swallowed, a nervous grin appearing on their face.

“Um….well…yeah…seems like it…ahaha…” Yu said, an anxious giggle escaping them, though some part of them did think it was a little funny. Not that they would ever admit that outloud. Riddle took a deep breath, holding his hand in a prayer like position to his lip. Then he took another deep breath, then another. All the while his brows twitched in and out of a furrow, his face getting steadily redder. It was almost cartoonish, Yume would have laughed if they didn’t know better.

“Oh shit, now you’ve done it-! How could you forget your own birthday!?” Ace said snidely. “I don’t know-I mean- it just happened-!” They shrugged in exasperation. “Everythings just been crazy lately, AS USUAL!” Yume retorted.

Ace looked back at Riddle, his voice shifted to a charismatic calm. “Ahaha, listen Housewarden, it was just a misunderstanding, I didn’t know when I invited them hehe…” Ace said, holding his hands up in a calming gesture.

“T-that’s right, just a misunderstanding!” Deuce said, holding up his arms as if an actual explosion was about to take place. Yuuta gave Yume an uncomfortable look, a silent conversation taking place between them as they soaked up all the anxiety in the air.

“Hey, Riddle, it's okay, we'll figure this out.” Trey said, placing a hand on Riddle’s shoulder.

Riddle's eyes twitched before taking one more deep calming breath. He closed his eyes, his face losing its color and shoulders suddenly relaxing. He folded his hands in front of himself on the table calmly and smiled at Yume. 

“It's alright Yume, you couldn’t have known what a big deal this is; as you do not follow the Queen of Hearts rules to the same degree that I do. It was an honest mistake.” He said calmly; a passive look of acceptance on his face.

“Oookaaay…” Yume said, somehow his calm response only freaked them out more.

“But, the rest of you DO know what a big deal this is, correct?” Riddle said with a smile, his eyes narrowing at his fellow dorm members. There were a few sheepish mutters of agreement throughout the crowd. Riddle nodded. 

“Well in that case, this entire eVENT IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!” Riddle yelled, his tone changing to a harsh shrill tone and his expression morphing into one of complete rage. The Heartslabyul students yelped and began scrambling; following through with the orders that Riddle was now barking at them

Yume and his brothers sat dumbfounded, watching the orderly chaos unfold.

“I WANT THE TABLES REARRANGED, YESTERDAY! CATER, IF YOU CAN’T REMOVE ALL THE BOYSENBERRIES FROM THE DISHES BY HAND; JUST THROW THEM OUT! THEY ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE AT A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!” Riddle screamed, barely stopping to take a breath as he marched around waving his scepter and giving commands. 

“TREY GET THE BIRTHDAY FLAMINGO N O W!” Riddle demanded. Trey gave a practiced salute before running off towards the animal cages. 

“AND WHAT IS THIS, WHAT IS THIS TABLE MADE OUT OF, OAK?!” Riddle asked, tapping his finger in irritation on the table.

“Actually I think it's Walnut.” Yuuhi sheepishly piped up, raising a hand as if he was in a classroom, Yuuta without looking at him grabbed his hand and lowered it. 

“UNACCEPTABLE!” Riddle said, lifting his leg and bringing his heel down hard on the center of the table. Yume chose to believe that there was magic involved because they wouldn’t know how to deal with the fact that Riddle could break a table in half through sheer rage alone. As pieces of furniture crumpled to the ground Yume and his brothers stood up and took a step back. And Grim yelped and jumped into Yume’s arms.

“ACE, DEUCE!” Riddle called for them. And they popped up out of the crowd standing in attention. “START THROWING AWAY ALL THE WOODEN STOOLS! I WANT THIS PLACE LOOKING LIKE THE GREAT SEVEN ON ICE, IN ONE MINUTE!” He yelled, throwing one of the stools over the hedge of the Garden.

“YOU THERE-!” He said, pointing his scepter at a random student, who yelped in fear. “START PREPARING THE THRONE! WE HAVE SPAT IN THE FACE OF OUR GUEST OF HONOR BY LETTING THEM SIT ON THIS BIRCH ATROCITY.” He said, tossing another stood to the side.

“GET THE MAHOGANY THRONE FROM THE FOYER NOW, NOW PEOPLE!” He said, clapping his hands for emphasis. ”ELIE I NEED THOSE PILLOWS LOOKING PLUMPED! I MEAN FLUFFED!” He said to the rabbit beastman, who look close to a mental breakdown as he stuffed a pillow cushion full of feathers that flew everywhere.

“What the fuck is happening, I just wanted some tarts!” Grim whined, leaning into Yume’s hold. Yume gave him a little pat on the back. 

“Should we just…leave?” Yuuta whispered to Yume. To which they shrugged unsure; this wasn’t how they expected brunch to go...

“Maybe we should ju- '' Before Yuuta could finish that sentence they were snatched away by Trey.

“Quick Yuuta, I need your help!” Was the only words spoken before Yuuta was yoinked into the crowd.

“Hey, wait wh-” 

“And SOMEONE GET YUME PROPERLY DRESSED!!!” Riddle’s voice stopped Yume’s words in their throat.

“Huh?!?” They said looking at Riddle. They looked down at their outfit, then to Yuuhi, then back down. “Awh, oh mann, what’s wrong with my clothes?” They whined, feeling self conscious.

“We can’t! We have to start cooking their favorite food!” Someone yelled. 

“UGH-! Riddle groaned, "I have to do EVERYTHING AROUND HERE!” He said, pointing his wand directly at Yume.

“RIDDLE, WAIT!” Yume yelped before a flash of magic enveloped them.

-

Twenty minutes later it was a much more peaceful scene. Somehow, in the short amount of time the Heartslabyul students had managed to rearrange the entire garden area from an Unbirthday party to an official Queen of Hearts Birthday celebration. 

Yume now sat at the main table, in their new spiffy fresh birthday boy outfit; though their hair was a little tousled from Riddle's magic. Around the table were dishes of their favorite foods and a brand new birthday cake baked by Trey and Yuuta. All around them dorm students were finally settling down into their seats, exhausted from scrambling to fix the celebration. Next to them Riddle carefully adjusted their sash, making sure it laid correctly.

“...I…am so…fucking sorry you guys.” Yume deadpanned to their friends. Riddle looked up from his task as if to say something; but stopped short as if catching himself.

“You should be!” Ace said, dramatically slapping his hand on the table. “How could you forget your own birthday!?” He asked again, in genuine disbelief.

“It is kinda hard to believe…” Deuce agreed. Yume sighed, wanting to sink down in their chair, but opting not to so they wouldn’t mess with Riddle’s current task of fixing their outfit

“I mean- I don’t know. I guess…Well…” They looked down avoiding all the questioning eyes. 

“Things have just been so…hectic lately. I guess it just slipped my mind and I got the dates mixed up. Besides; I didn’t want to make that big of a deal out of it.” They sighed again. “Guess that ship has fucking sailed.” They said, then immediately covered their mouth realizing they cursed in front of Riddle. Yume didn’t really care, but he had asked them nicely beforehand not to swear at the dorm. Riddle gave them a look. 

“Worry not, the Queen’s rules state that “on one's birthday they can speak their mind freely, without criticism from anyone”. So you can curse as much as you like…today.” He explained, adding on the warning at the end as he finished adjusting their bolo tie and sat down in his seat.

“Oh…cool.” Yume said smiling, then subtly loosened the tie that was too tight.

“Still why didn’t you tell us? Between me and Ace one of us could have probably remembered…” Deuce said with a slight pout. Yume pursued their lips, sensing that they may have hurt his feelings a bit.

“ It just…it seems silly to keep reminding people, I didn’t wanna be that guy you know? There are other things we have to worry about….Plus! I thought the school made announcements or something? 

“Only on school days.” Trey said.

“See!!! It snuck up on me too!” Yume said, gesturing to his words.

“Well, I kind of understand what you mean, sometimes when you're trying hard to just keep everything afloat, things like this get put on the backburner.” He said, adjusting his hat.

“Ahh! But that’s so sadface; you were just gonna have a late watered down celebration for yourself! That’s so tragic, Me-me. This kind of thing is totes important!”

“And we ended up making a big fuss of it anyway…” Deuce sighed, leaning his head in exhaustion on Yuuta’s shoulder. 

“We should have kept better track of it, I knew it was coming up soon and I still…” Yuuta sighed, palming his face. Besides him Grim and Yuuhi’s ears fell on their heads.

“Geez you didn’t even think about the trouble you caused for others, keeping it to yourself… next time you could at least tell your friends.” He said a little harshly, a bit of hurt seeping through.

Each of their friends' words added another layer of guilt to their shoulders, even though they know they didn’t mean it in a genuinely mean way, it still made Yume’s chest ache.

“Ah… I’m…sorry…” They said, holding back the tears, and trying to keep their lips from wobbling. They didn’t want to cry, their friends were right and they knew all this came from a good place, but…

They swallowed hard, drooping a little in their seats.

“Enough!” Riddle's voice and hand being placed on their shoulder, started Yume out of their mini pity party. “Berating our guest of honor on their birthday is unbecoming for any student of Heartslabyul, I won’t tolerate it any more.” He said firmly, giving Yume a little pat on the shoulder. 

“Also-” Riddle’s  eyes narrowed. “Rule: #503: Any one who makes someone frown on their birthday must do a handstand while singing the alphabet backwards, until they laugh! So-” He pointed his scepter boldly across the table. 

“Ace.”   

Ace’s shoulder hiked as he squealed in indignance, around him everyone took a step away from him.

“-start singing!” Riddle demanded.

“WHAT?! Wh- why me- oh my I can’t even-!” He tried to stutter out an excuse, but the glare he received stopped him in his tracks.

“UGGHHH-! I can’t believe this bullsh…” He muttered to himself before beginning his first attempts at a handstand. Riddle cleared this throat, turning back to address Yume.

“Even so, I agree. We could have prepared a much better celebration had we known in advance… but regardless we can’t change what we did in the past, all we can do now is do better from here on. Isn’t that right?” He said.

Yume smiled, recognizing the meaningful echo of something Yume and his brothers had told Riddle before. 

“Right!” They nodded, and saw their friends and brothers grin in agreement.

“Good!” Riddle smiled and nodded back. “Happy birthday Yume!...Now let me take this time to recite the customary birthday poem!” He said, pulling out a fully typed page of custom stationary from seemingly nowhere.

“The, WHAT!?” Yume laughed, in disbelief at the absurdity of their friends' actions.

“Ah, that laugh counts right-?” Ace’s exasperated voice, could barely be heard the above rest of the birthday merriment in the Heartlabyul gardens.

-

“Uhmm Riddle…are you sure the animals are okay?” Yume asked, watching the strange croquet game being played from their throne seat next to Riddle’s. Apparently it was some tradition, the birthday guest always sat at the side of the “Queen” during the first half of the croquet game before joining in the second half.

“I assure you it's fine. It's standard to play with flamingos and hedgehogs. Though I did see someone try with a crane once when I was younger…” He recalled curiously, holding a finger to his chin. 

“In some parts of the Queendom of Rose’s, flamingos are bred specifically for the game.” He went on. “Actually, it's less about the skill of the player and more so on the relationship you have with your animals.” He explained, as they watched Yuuta jut his butt out at a funny angle to line up his shot. They swung hard, but at the last second his flamingo raised its head, making him completely whiff his shot; earning a big laugh from Ace and Grim at their expense.

“Okayyy, if you say so…!” Yume grinned, holding in a laugh at the absurdity of it all. The two of them watched in comfortable silence for a little longer before Riddle broke it.

“...Yume…?” He asked, quietly, pulling their attention away from the clownish spectacle.

“Hm?” 

“...How did you forget your own birthday? I mean, as scatterbrained as you can be at times-”

“Gee thanks.” They deadpanned.

“-You’re not the type to forget important dates. ” He said seriously, ignoring their snark. Yume let out a breath through their nose.

“I mean…I didn’t really…forget I just… got them mixed up...” Yume muttered, offhandedly fidgeting with their birthday boy ribbon. 

“In this case it's still one in the same, you would have missed your birthday if you hadn’t been reminded, it's almost like-” Riddle paused, and his eyes widened as if he just realized something.

“...You didn’t forget an important date…because this isn’t an important date to you… is it?” He asked carefully.

Yume turned away, avoiding his eyes, giving a non committal shrug. At this Riddle frowned.

“Yume-” Before he could start Yume sighed and interrupted him.

“That’s not it Riddle it's not that- it's not that it's not important it's just that-well…''The fumbled to find the right way to say it. “...Everything else is MORE important…y’know?” Yume gestured to him as if what they were saying was common knowledge.

Riddle did not seem to agree given the way he crossed his arms.

“Explain.” He demanded. Yume sighed again, rolling their eyes a bit.

“I mean, after everything we’ve been through.” They began listing things off on their fingers. “Getting dragged to his world, losing our memories, finding out magic is real, becoming students, the overblots, winter break and the whole gas leak.” They listed off things off the top of their head, though they knew there was much more.

 “It just…I don’t know, it seems like a waste of time to celebrate something as trivial as my birthday, I mean this is nice and all ,but I could be spending this time doing something ACTUALLY important! Like trying to find a way to get my brothers home!” They said, gripping the front of their pants in a balled fist.

“The headmage is responsible for that.” Riddle said, matter of factly.

“And I’m just supposed to take his word for it?!” They raised their voice, getting a little heated.

 Riddle leaned back, not expecting to be suddenly yelled at.

 Yume pursed their lips, not meaning to snap at their friend like that. They peeked over, seeing that the others didn’t notice their outburst.

“I just…” They began in a much quieter tone. “Ever since I got here…it feels like…time is running out Riddle.”

“...Here?” He questioned giving them a confused look.

“Here, Twisted Wonderland or Night Raven college or maybe…this world? I-I don’t know I…” Yume struggled to put it into words. They paused, closing their eyes and collecting their thoughts.

“Sometimes…” Yume bit their lip, taking a breath before continuing “...Sometimes, I think, the only time worth spending, is spent helping others…and that I’m just wasting it being self indulgent…doing things that won’t really matter in the long run…” They murmured, slipping a hand in their jacket pocket to touch the charm attached to their phone...

At the words Riddle’s whole demeanor changed, a look of familiarity shone in his eyes. He adjusted himself in his seat, needlessly fixing his already perfect uniform before folding his hands in his lap. His brows furrow uncomfortably and he took a moment before speaking. 

“I used to think similarly…” He whispered, as if admitting a secret. Yume turned to look at him in surprise, silently urging him to continue

.

“I used to think that time was a thief; a very sneaky one…At first I didn’t even realize it, how all day and everyday it stole my life away, as I worked and worked; preparing for a future that was already planned out down to the second; tick by tick taking everything I cared about from right under my nose…” Riddle said as he stared off into the distance; as if seeing something Yume couldn’t. 

“Then I met Trey and Chen’ya and-” He stopped, seeming to get a little choked up at the nostalgia and memories.He flinched slightly when Yume placed a gentle hand on his wrist for comfort. He gave them a grateful look and took a moment to collect himself. “They made me realize…that everyday is a gift, every minute and every second.” He said resolutely then looking at Yume. 

“So, you're not wasting your time Yume, you can’t waste a gift.” He said, shaking his head in full denial of that idea. Then he put a hand on Yume’s shoulder.

“Every second you spend with the people you care about, every minute you share in their company; making new memories or learning something new. And, even the time you spend in a peaceful solitude. That’s you! Enjoying your gift and…there's no shame in that!” He said, shaking their shoulders a bit for emphasis. He looked away. “I understand that now…” He said with solemn sincerity. 

Yume stared surprised for a moment, taking in their friend's poetic words.Their brow creased up and they gave a bittersweet smile to their friend; feeling a sudden strong kinship. Yume threw their arms around Riddle's shoulder in appreciation. Riddle didn’t seem to expect it; or maybe he just wasn’t used to such casual affection? Regardless, he relaxed a few moments later, enjoying the half hug. After a few comforting moments Riddle spoke again.

“…I…want to give you something…” He said, hesitantly, removing himself from the hold. 

Yume tilted their head, waiting curiously as he reached into his uniform pocket. 

“Consider it a birthday gift.” He said, nodding, as he pulled something out and placed it in Yume’s palm.

Yume looked down to see a pocket watch. The bronze material made it a comfortable weight in their hand. It looked antique, but well taken care of. The metal didn’t have a scratch on it and shined beautifully in the natural garden light. The centerpiece, however, was the elaborate rose design; etched into the bezel. Simple but elegant filigree surrounded the design, a few spaces artistically hollowed so you could see through to the clock.

Yume tilted the watch in their hand, taking in every detail and enjoying the feel of the smooth chain as it glided across their palm.

“Oh, it's so pretty…!” They smiled, cradling the gift gently. Riddle nodded, agreeing with them.

“This is the stopwatch my mother gave me, to keep track of my lessons, my meals…everything, that is when she didn’t do it herself…” He said sentimentally. Yume gasped, their brows pinching up.

“O-oh, Riddle, y-you don’t have to give to me, it's too important-!” They urged, trying to quickly but carefully, place it back in his hands. “You should keep it in the family or-” They stopped short as Riddle firmly pushed it back into their palm.

“No…I want you to have it, really I do.” He said resolutely, using his hand to wrap Yume’s fingers around it. Making sure they had a good hold of it before pulling away.

“...Are you sure?” Yume asked. This felt like something too…personal to just hand over.

“I’m sure, besides it's broken.” He said.

“Huh?” Yume held it close to their ear, only realizing now that the clock was not ticking. “Oh…”

“It broke after my…overblot.” He said. His jaw clenched as he gritted out the word, as if it took physical effort. The shame was still evident on his face; but he still held his head high, as if he refused to hide from the reality of the situation. 

Yume swallowed, realizing that this gift was more important than they previously thought. 

“Riddle…” They gave him a worried look, and this time fully grabbed their friend's hand. They weren’t sure if it was for their own comfort or his. Riddle gave them a strained smile, trying to put on a brave face it seemed.

“I got the glass fixed afterwards, but I couldn’t bring myself to get the mechanism fixed.” He sighed. “After years of hearing its incessant tick tock.” Riddle huffed, before ever so slightly slouching in his throne. For just a second, he looked like any fed up normal teenager.

“I kept it, all this time, as a reminder of sorts…and now I’m giving it to you.” He said, sitting up in his chair and facing them, an adamant look burning in his eyes.

“Spend your time here wisely…don’t look back and regret it…okay?” He said, giving their hand a squeeze. It almost seemed like he was pleading with Yume.  Sincerely advising his friend on a mistake he had long already made.

Yume suddenly felt choked up, the turbulent events of the past few months with their friends and loved ones replaying rapidly in their head. All the emotions bubbling up at once. Their lips wobbled, there was so much left to do and so much more to experience. They couldn’t do it all, they couldn’t. They didn’t have the time. So then…! “How do I know?!” They asked, desperate for answers. “How do I know what I should do….?” They trailed off, suddenly very fearful of regrets yet to come. He reached up, trying to wipe a stray tear that fell. But Riddle beat them to it, dabbing it away with his handkerchief.

“You’ll know…” He said simply, putting the handkerchief back in his pocket. “In fact…I think you already do…” Riddle said confidently.

“Hm?” Yume made an unsure noise.

“Right now, more than anything, what do you want?” He asked.

Yume took a second to clear their thoughts. What they wanted…? Well, They…wanted to stop crying, it was embarrassing. They wanted to appreciate all their friends' hard work at throwing a birthday party for them. They wanted to have fun and open presents and eat cake and take pictures. So that they wouldn’t forget, so that in the future they could be happy... But couldn’t they have that now…

That’s right more than anything they just…

“I just…want to be happy.” Yume admitted, their shoulders hiking up at how childish it sounded. “A-and I want it now, I…” They swallowed hard, not sure why it was so hard to say these words. “I don’t want to wait for it! I want to be happy now and enjoy things in the present! I don’t wanna look back and wish I’d done it differently! I don’t…I don’t want to waste any time!” They said, feeling a surge of confidence at the words. They took a deep breath, feeling like a weight was lifted off their shoulders. They peeked up at Riddle to see him beaming at them.

“Well said!” He agreed, squeezing their hand once more before standing up. “Then you must start immediately! Right now, this second! By enjoying today!” He said, the regality returning to his tone, but the kindness remaining as well.

Yume grinned, tucking the watch carefully into their pocket before standing to their feet as well. 

“Right!” They cheered, suddenly feeling energized.

“Heeeyyy guys!” Cater’s upbeat voice echoed across the field. 

Riddle and Yume looked over to see him waving for their attention.

“The first half's over! Time for the birthday boy to play!” He said, giving a wink and peace sign.

“We got your special flamingo right here!” Deuce said, holding the extravagantly dressed bird excitedly over his head. Next to him Yuuhi held up a cute hedgehog in a bowtie!

 Yume laughed carefreely, feeling the full mirth of the party for the first time. 

“Alright! Get ready because I’m going to win!” Yume grinned, jumping in place, before bounding over to their friends. Riddle following close behind.

-

Bonus scene:

“Riddle, is this super necessary…?” Yuuta started to ask, as they watched Riddle hold a pretty impressive handstand as he expertly recited the alphabet backwards!

“Yes IT IS! He made me do it for 10 minutes before Yume laughed. Ah-! Yume, I can see it on your face, don’t you dare- it hasn’t even been thirty seconds-!”

“I’m sorry, I pff- I just remembered how constipated you looked- *snort* -AHHAHA!” Yume couldn’t contain it, bursting out in laughter at the memory. As they laugh, Riddle gives a smug grin. Carefully, maneuvering out of the handstand.

“See, Ace! With practice and discipline ,you can easily follow all of the Queen's rules. Let this be a lesson to you!” Riddle said, allowing Trey to slip back on his cloak.

“Right, sure, whatever…shouldn’t we get back to the game now…!” 

-END-

[itshardtoactnormal-blog]

Beautiful LGBTQ Proposal Stories

1. Patrick + Matthew

“Patrick and I started dating in July 2016. By September, we had told each other, 'I love you.' Day after that, I bought the ring. He is the most special person I have ever met, and loving him is the best thing I’ll ever do with my life. I proposed on his birthday, Jan. 19. He made me promise not to propose at Disneyland ― Disney’s super special to us. So I didn’t propose at Disneyland. I proposed at Disney California Adventure ― thank God for loopholes! We were married this past August. It was everything; HE’S everything. So thankful for our happily ever after.” ― Matthew Markulis

2. Allie + Sam

"We actually had two proposals! I popped the question back in July, and it was a total shock to Sam. We'd been together 3.5 years and I told her I'd never propose..."

"... Anyways, I've been waiting for a ring ever since. In November, she told me we were going to scope out a wedding venue at our favorite park, so we took our dog Lily and met our wedding planner there. Little did I know, they'd set up a beautiful arbor and candles, and Sam got down on one knee and proposed. To top it all off, she took me out to dinner, and I was stunned that all of my friends were there! It was so exciting to celebrate with everyone! When we got home, our Christmas tree was decorated with photos of us from over the years, and I had so many sweet gifts to unwrap. I can't wait to marry this sweet girl!" ― Allie

  3. Jennie + Joanna

"As cliché as it may sound, Joanna was one in a million, and I knew it from the moment I met her. She was genuine and kind. She came into my life when I wasn't even expecting it. I never thought I would ever date someone with children because I didn't even think I would want children. However, these three little hearts opened mine to a world I never knew: true unconditional love. The way she loved them made me fall in love with her even more. I asked the two oldest boys for their permission to marry their mother. It was important to me they were part of the decision, as they were the men of the house. Without hesitation, they did. We planned the whole thing together! They were the only ones who knew that our family 'Easter' photos were actually a surprise engagement photo shoot. I was extremely nervous, but Tara, a good friend [and the photographer], made everything easier. She captured one of the best moments of my life: my now-wife saying yes to marrying me!" ― Jennie Romano

4. Kayla + Loren

"The photographer Albert and I came up with the idea for me to propose on the Hogwarts Express [at Universal Studios]. My fiancée Loren (who uses they/them pronouns), ever the planner, was furious that we were skipping all the attractions on the itinerary we spent hours planning just to ride the train. They didn’t speak to me the entire time in line! Finally, we sat on the train, and Albert motions for me to sit next to him across from my fiancée. As he is setting up this very obvious and huge camera (Loren still hasn’t caught on!) he sneakily texts me, 'Now.' I lean in slightly and Loren is shaking their head saying that I was in the way of Albert taking his tourist pictures! I couldn’t help but laugh because they didn’t even know the half of it. I finally get down on one knee with the ring in the chocolate frog box and start my proposal with, 'Are you still mad at me?' Loren puts it all together, starts to tear up, and we’ve been happily engaged ever since!" ― Kayla S.

5. Jan-Kristòf + Kellan

"Kellan planned to invite a group of our friends up to Rainbow Mountain Lodge in Pennsylvania to propose to me in front of everyone. However, he changed his mind, thinking that I would probably be upset if I knew that our friends were coming to stay with us during our anniversary weekend. The day after we got there, we hiked up Resort Point Overlook, where Kellan planned to propose at the top of the mountain with the sunset in the background ― except that he forgot the ring! Moments like this honestly remind me how much I love our lives; we just truly keep each other entertained. We went back to the hotel room, where he presented me with this box of photographs, which were a collection of the most memorable places we have been in the last 10 years, and notes, which he had written our story on. He then got on his knees and popped the question with the ring in hand. The picture of him kneeling was for the engagement pictures taken in Central Park in New York." ― Jan-Kristòf Louis-Mansano 

6. Quinn + Evelyn

“June 18, 2018, is the day that will forever be my best. It’s the day that Evelyn sat next to me with a wine glass of lemonade and a mouth full of turkey sandwich while I nervously watched in anticipation of asking the most important question I’ve ever asked in my entire life. My heart was beating 1,000 times a minute and Evelyn was finishing her lunch ― I was way too nervous to eat anything. I finally got on one knee while pulling out my handmade sign and the ring and asked Evelyn, 'Will you marry me?' With a very surprised look and tears coming to both our eyes, Evelyn spoke the most important word that I have longed to hear for so long: 'YES!'" ― Quinn S.

7. Cameron + Maggie

"When Cameron and I met, we had no idea we would end up here. We went from strangers to best friends, roommates to more than friends, and two short months later, we became engaged. He gave me a puppy who was wearing a tag that said, 'Will you marry me?' After a moment, he asked, 'Well?!' So I said, 'If I say no, do I get to keep the puppy?' He said no, I said yes, and when he’s rotten, I tell everyone he tricked me into this marriage with a puppy. 😂..."

8. Jeroen + Amar

"Straight from the start, I knew Amar was the one that I would spend my life with. Amar is an architect and loves special sustainable projects like the High Line in New York City. So I prepared our trip in detail, including a paparazzi photographer to take pictures of the moment that I would propose. On the High Line, I fell to my knees and asked him to become my husband. Even though I knew he would say yes, I still was somewhat nervous. But he did, indeed, say yes, and suddenly a group of people who surrounded us started to applaud. We revisited that specific spot three times that week. It will be always our romantic spot in New York." ― Jeroen W.

9. Jackie + Beth

"Beth and I had both decided that we wanted to propose to each other, but we had no idea that we’d be proposing within 24 hours of each other. I’d been planning for months to propose to her on our anniversary in Tower Grove Park [in St. Louis], where we’d gone for several of our first dates. I planned every detail to be as personal and sentimental as possible – I coordinated a group of her closest friends and family, flew in her best friends from out of town, gathered branches from the park to have turned into a wooden engagement ring for her. And when the date rolled around, I hung string lights from our go-to hammocking trees and rolled out our favorite vintage rug from my grandma. I told Beth I wanted to have an anniversary picnic in the park (which, bless her heart, she agreed to, even though it had been cold and rainy all day). As soon as we turned the corner and Beth saw the string lights, she started crying. She said yes, and all of our friends came out from behind the bushes to surprise Beth (again) and celebrate with us.” ― Jackie P.

“What Jackie didn’t know was that I was planning on proposing to her the very next morning at our favorite farmers market, in the same park where she had proposed to me. I went to the market early, talked to all our favorite vendors, and set up a scavenger hunt through the market for her. I left notes, pictures and our favorite market foods at each booth. My last note asked her to meet me at the stone ruins in the park, just outside the market. As soon as I saw her walking towards me with tears in her eyes and arms full of herbs and veggies, I completely forgot everything I had planned to say — it became the happiest blur that ended with a ring on Jackie’s finger and a celebratory breakfast with friends, featuring all the food Jackie had gathered on her scavenger hunt. It was as close to a perfect weekend as I could imagine. We each got to show the other how deeply known and loved we are, and we celebrated that love surrounded by our friends, family and queer community.” ― Beth W.

10. Amber + Courtney

"Our driver dropped us off on the wrong block so we had to navigate our way through the rainy streets of New York. All the while, I was trying not to give away where we were going. We were lost, jaywalking streets, getting caught in traffic in the rain, until we finally found our way. We rode the elevator to the top of the building, where a gentleman walked us up to a door. Courtney didn't know what was behind it until it opened. Immediately, we were met with candles lit, lining the rooftop floor, leading us out to a terrace that overlooked a beaming Empire State Building. The rain had stopped. As I turned to grab Courtney’s hand and lead her out, she immediately melted into a million happy tears and knew this was the moment we had both been waiting for. I walked her out to the middle of the terrace and made a promise of family, love and happiness. I said, 'My mom used to tell me when I was kid, as we said our prayers at night, to thank God every night for the things you don’t want to wake up tomorrow without. It never made complete sense what that meant until I met you.'" ― Amber P.

11. Alli + Chris

"I proposed to Christiane on our four-year anniversary. We drove up to this great little trail in northwestern Connecticut and hiked up to a quiet vantage point to watch the sunrise. This was a pretty typical way for us to enjoy a day together or celebrate something like a birthday or anniversary. She noticed me fumbling around with a bunch of cameras but I was able to come up with an excuse about wanting to photograph the sunrise. As the sun started to come up over the horizon, I gave Chris her anniversary present: a children’s book I had written that told our story. It all led up to the last page, which read, 'Will you marry me?' She said yes, and we got to watch a beautiful sunrise!..."

"... Later, Chris proposed to me and surprised me with a ring when we were taking some engagement photos with Steph Grant in Yosemite National Park. They planned the whole thing without me knowing, so I got a sunrise proposal too." ― Alli L.

[emospritelet]

KoL Prompt: 26 - “Whisky is a perfectly acceptable alternative to turkey”

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10] [Part 11] [Part 12] [Part 13] [Part 14] [Part 15] [Part 16] [Part 17] [Part 18] [Part 19] [Part 20] [Part 21]

AO3 link

Gold was beginning to wish he hadn’t agreed to come out for a drink.  Granny’s bar had been reasonably quiet when he and Dorothy had arrived, but now the dinner service was in full swing, and the raucous laughter and clatter of cutlery against plates was making him flinch.  Jefferson suggested that they get a booth, which cut a little of the noise, and ordered burgers and fries for the two of them, slapping the large padded envelope he had brought on the table next to him.  Gold wasn’t hungry, but he didn’t say anything about the burger, figuring that Jefferson wouldn’t listen, and Dorothy would probably eat it if no one else did.

He wished that he could stop stressing out over what she might find out; he told himself that it was likely that Belle both had a boyfriend and was happy with him.  After all, who would ever treat her poorly, if they were lucky enough to be with her?  Her boyfriend would be intelligent and funny and outgoing, easily making friends and with a good career.  He was probably the outdoors type, which was why he looked tanned. The two of them no doubt went hiking or skiing together.  She would have met him at college, and they would go on to get married and settle in a pretty little suburban house and have three kids who they would take upcountry at the weekends.  She’d be happy.

Jefferson was rattling on about some new procedure he’d been reading about, but Gold was only listening with half an ear as he constructed the perfect life for Belle inside his head.  Eventually Jefferson sighed, clicking his fingers in front of Gold’s eyes and making him jump.

“You’re not even listening, are you?” he said, sounding both irritated and amused.

“Sorry,” said Gold, and Jefferson shook his head.

“Fine, I’ll stop with the work talk,” he said.  “Thought it might pull you out of yourself for awhile.  You done with that drink?”

Gold nodded, pushing his glass across the table and reaching into his pocket for some cash.

“Next round’s on me.”

“Fine, but you’d better eat something when the food gets here,” warned Jefferson.  “I’m not carrying you home, okay?”

“Don’t fuss,” sighed Gold.

“Yeah, you can say that, but I still remember Glinda’s birthday party.  I’m not doing duets with you when you’re drunk: you can’t hold a high note and it cramps my karaoke style.”

Gold chuckled.

“I promise to pace myself,” he said.  “Are you working Christmas Day?”

“Nah, Whale said he’d cover,” said Jefferson.  “I covered last year, and it’s nice to spend the whole day with Grace.  You could always come over, you know.  Have Christmas dinner.”

“I’m working,” said Gold.

“After your shift, then,” said Jefferson.  “I don’t like thinking of you alone with a bottle of whisky on Christmas Day.”

“Whisky is a perfectly acceptable alternative to turkey,” said Gold absently.

“As a doctor I can assure you that isn’t the case.”

“Well, maybe I’ll come over for a drink, then,” he said, sitting back.  “It’ll probably be late, though.”

“There’ll be plenty of leftovers, don’t worry.”

“Thank you,” said Gold, and meant it.  “I suppose you’re off work on New Year’s Eve, too?”

“I’m gonna be in this place, waiting to see out the year with a bang,” confirmed Jefferson.  “You working?”

“As always.”

“Next year you should let someone else take over for once.”

“You volunteering?” asked Gold, with a grin, and Jefferson pulled a face.

“Oh, God no!”

“Thought not.”

The diner door opened with a blast of cold air, and they both looked around as Dorothy hurried over, shrugging out of her coat and pulling her hat from her head.

“Right,” she said briskly, fixing Gold with a beady eye.  “It’s as I thought.  You’re a fucking moron and the guy she’s with is just a friend.  Engaged to someone else, as it happens.  So would you pull your pretty head out of your ass and ask the poor girl out before she dies of old age?”

Gold felt his heart clench, but he tried to keep his emotions in check, reaching for his glass before realising it was empty and letting his fingertips dance awkwardly on the table top.  He licked his lips.

“She’s - she’s single?” he asked, and Dorothy rolled her eyes.

“I’d like to ask what gave you the impression that she wasn’t, but we all know low self-esteem’s a fucking drag, so just trust me on this one, okay?  She’s single.  Very single and very in love with you and very eager to say yes if you just fucking ask her.”

“Right,��� he said, his voice echoing strangely in his head.  “Right.  Okay.  I - I’ll give it some thought.”

“I swear by all the gods…” she sighed, sinking into the seat opposite.  “Fine.  I’ve done my bit, it’s up to you now, you big dork.  Is that my drink?”

“I ordered a couple of burgers, as well,” said Jefferson.

“Good, I’m starving.”

She took a slurp of her drink, and Jefferson waved a hand to get Ruby’s attention.  She blushed a little as she came over, and Dorothy became very interested in her drink.  Gold rolled his eyes.

“Can we get another round?” asked Jefferson.  “And maybe an extra portion of fries?”

“Sure thing!” chirped Ruby.

She jotted down the order before trotting off, and Gold eyed Dorothy.

“You know, for someone who talks a lot of shit to me about asking people out, you’re really no better,” he said, and she frowned.

“Shut up.  I’m - preparing myself.”

“To do what?” asked Jefferson.  “Perfect the art of telepathy and ask her out that way?”

“Don’t you start on me,” she said, wagging a finger.  “I don’t see you dating anyone.”

He shrugged at that.

“Too busy being a dad,” he said.  “If Grace suddenly turns around and decides she wants another parent, I’ll be back on the market.  Besides, I haven’t had anything more serious than a one-nighter in years, and I’m way too pretty to get hurt.”

“Why am I taking relationship advice from you two idiots?” remarked Gold.

“Because we care,” said Dorothy.  “And we want to see you coming into work happy.”

“With that post-coital glow I just know Belle wants to give you,” added Jefferson.  “And that you’re just dying to give her.”

Gold frowned at him.

“I’m stressing out enough about my Secret Santa present, without worrying about something that will probably never happen, thank you.”

“Well, you could always give her one of these,” announced Jefferson, patting the padded envelope in front of him.

“What’s in there?”

“Our calendars, what do you think?”  Jefferson beamed as Gold groaned.  “I got some advance copies.  They’re shipping the rest next week.  I’m on the front cover!  Take a look!”

He opened up the envelope, sliding out three of the calendars and handing them over.  Jefferson’s picture graced the front, a pose which had him looking off into the distance as he prepared a syringe, one knee up on the edge of a gurney, the leg bent enough that it hid his genitals.  His belly was pulled taut, his muscles well-defined, and Gold could understand why he’d made the cover.

“Well, you look good,” he admitted.  “Perhaps they didn’t bother adding my picture in.  No doubt it would spoil the aesthetic.”

“Au contraire, Dr December,” said Jefferson.  “You look awesome.”

Gold began flipping through the calendar, grinning as he saw Miss Blanchard, photographed with a jug of water obscuring one breast and a small pot plant hiding the other, a thoughtful expression on her face.  Next was Graham, toned and perfect, one hand on the frame of a saline drip and another holding a patient’s chart in front of his groin.  Dorothy’s picture had her with her back to the camera, looking back over her shoulder with a glint in her eye and a grin on her face as she held up a blood pressure cuff.

“I look hella cute,” she observed.

“Okay, here are your dri— oh!”  Ruby’s eyes went wide as she saw the calendar, and she blushed fiercely, pushing the tray of drinks onto the table.  “Um - your order.”

“Thanks,” said Gold, and smiled at her.  “Charity calendars for the hospital, Miss Lucas.  Perhaps you’d like to buy one.”

“I - uh - sure,” she said lamely.  “I’d love to.  It’s - it’s for a good cause, right?”

“Nurse Gale is looking particularly fine, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah,” she said, blushing harder as Dorothy buried her head in the calendar. “I’ll - um - just get your food.”

She rushed off quickly, dark hair swishing.

“I hate you,” said Dorothy, from behind the calendar.

“No you don’t.”

Gold turned the page, grinning as he saw Leroy with nothing but his security guard’s hat protecting his modesty.  The man was seriously hairy.  He turned the page again, revealing the month of May, and his heart skipped a beat. The picture was taken from above, and Belle was lying on the hospital gurney on her front, resting on her elbows.  She was completely naked, her feet kicked up behind her and crossed at the ankles.  Dark curls tumbled over her pale shoulders, and there was a medical textbook open in front of her, a copy of Gray’s Anatomy.  She was looking up at the camera through thick dark lashes, smiling slightly, a hint of promise in her expression, and he swallowed hard as his gaze travelled up the page, along the groove of her spine and over the perfect curves of her buttocks.  The sight of her made his heart thump.

“I’m guessing it’s gonna be May at your place for the rest of the year,” observed Dorothy snidely, and he sucked in a breath, flipping the page and seeing nothing.

“Holy crap, Gold, where have you been hiding that ass?” asked Jefferson.

Gold sighed, flipping through the rest of the calendar until he reached December.  Looking the picture over critically, he supposed it could have been worse.  He was standing with his back to the camera, only his nose and the edge of one cheekbone visible as he studied the chart in his hand, the other grasping the handle of his cane.  He supposed his butt wasn’t bad, considering.  It wasn’t exactly something he had ever looked at.

“I don’t say this often, but that is one biteable butt,” added Jefferson.  “Damn those loose scrubs!”

“For fuck’s sake,” he muttered, as Dorothy and Jefferson chuckled.

“Just think, pretty soon everyone in Storybrooke’s gonna see that ass,” said Dorothy.  “Pretty sure you’ll get some new admirers.  Zelena’s probably gonna paper her walls with Dr December.”

“Thanks, that’s not at all terrifying.”

“Here are your burgers, and one extra fries,” announced Ruby, sliding plates onto the table.  “Oh, nice ass, Dr Gold.”

Gold frowned as Dorothy and Jefferson snickered.

“Told you,” said Dorothy.

“Miss Lucas, are you single?” asked Gold suddenly, and Ruby looked confused.

“I - uh - yeah, why?”

“Oh good,” he said lightly.  “Because Dorothy here is also single and would very much like to buy you a drink.  In fact why don’t I buy you both a drink and you can go and sit in a quiet corner somewhere and get to know each other? There’s some mistletoe over by the bar, I believe it’s an excellent ice-breaker when people want to kiss each other.”

Ruby’s mouth had fallen open a little and a shade of red was spreading up her cheeks.  Dorothy rounded on Gold with a look of fury in her eyes.

“Oh, so you can’t say ‘hi’ to Belle without freaking out like a big wuss, but the chance to embarrass me and all of a sudden you can’t stop flapping your mouth?”

“Oh my God, does he like Belle?” asked Ruby, wide-eyed.

“It’s - it’s not like that…” began Gold.

“Yes it is,” said Jefferson and Dorothy, and Ruby sighed in relief.

“Thank God, I was ready to ask you out for her myself,” she said.  “She likes you, okay?  More than likes you, if you must know.  Just ask her out and stop being a dork about it.”

She wandered off, still blushing, and Gold glared at her back.

“There,” said Dorothy, sounding satisfied.  “You heard the woman.”

“Fine!” he snapped.  “I’ll do it, if only to shut you up!”

“Never gonna happen, but okay.”

Gold flipped the calendar closed, cutting off the view of his rear end and reaching for his drink.  He was going to do it.  He was going to ask her out.  It was time.

“So it’s a no on the calendar for a Secret Santa present?” asked Jefferson. “Pity, that would have been easy.”

“She’ll already have ordered one,” he said grumpily.  “I need to get her something more - her.  Unique.”

“Well, that’s easy,” said Jefferson.  “Just think about what she likes, and what would make her happy.  Then try and condense that into something that costs around thirty bucks.  Piece of cake.”

“Easy for you to say,” said Gold absently, and tapped his fingers on the table top.  Something that would make her happy.  I wonder…

A thought occurred to him, and he sat up straight as it took form.  It might take some effort, and it wouldn’t technically cost anything beyond the calling-in of a favour, but if he could make it work, it would be perfect.  He grinned as he thought about it, reaching out for one of the fries.  Perhaps the festive season wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[tirsaroundtheworld]

Hawaii

After a 3-movies-and-a-far-too-short-nap flight, we arrived in Honolulu. The change of scenery could not have been more different; jackets changed to boardshorts, scarfs and hats to sarongs and snorkel sets, hot tea to icetea, pinetrees to palmtrees and 10 degrees to 25. Yet, on first sight, we also found quite some similarities between New Zealand and Hawaii. The ancient Hawaiians share their Polynesian descent with the Maori and different aspects of their initial culture are still visible in both countries, though evolved differently over time. Both the Hawaiians and the Maori make use of a ‘tiki’ as a symbol for strength, their languages are similarly phonetic, they brought the same types of produce, have similar tattoos and generally have a similar look. Just as in New Zealand, the population now merely consist of transplants and people with partial Hawaiian descend, but the culture is still alive.

We arrived in Oahu, the 3rd largest island that, as we later learned, is referred to as ‘the city’. It also seems to be the least favourite island, which could explain the fact that we were slightly dissapointed. With the presence of the state’s busy capital city, its many highways filled with pressing traffic, its neverending supply of airconditioned superstores, its skyhigh pricetags and its honestly not that impressive scenery, Oahu came nowhere near our experiences in New Zealand (which, as must be said, had set the bar incredibly high 😂). After backpacking in cheap Asia and basic campinglife in New Zealand, we were now forced into a very American lifestyle, complete with a decadent rental car to get around, crazy supersize food portions, an instant cold due to the strong airco and staying in pricey accommodation, which asked for quite some getting used to. Luckily we stayed with a very nice couple in a centrally located airbnb, the mega cheap car rental deal that we had found turned out not to be a scam and got us rolling around in nothing less than a bright red Volkswagen Beetle convertable and we quickly got the hang of finding the most local spots to get a better feel of the island. We spent 5 days cruising all around the island and these where the highlights of our adventures:

# One thing one can absolutely not miss when on Oahu is Pearl Harbour. We rewatched the movie for the occasion and spent hours exploring the memorial ground and museums to learn more about the painful events that happened almost 70 years ago. An interesting experience!

# One of the downsides of traveling with a rental car is the need for parking space. Probably 99% of Hawaii has plenty of that, but we happened to stay in that 1% where finding a spot is a true struggle. Needless to say we were surprised to find a free spot, almost too conveniently close to home! A few hours later a nice and shiny fine on the windshield explained why no-one had parked there (and that the car’s rego was overdue).. Note to self: do not park within 10 feet of a fire hydrant or it will cost you. 😂 Gotta learn the hard way I guess, at least we managed to remain fine-free from there. 💪

# Oahu is Hawaii’s hikers’ paradise and we tried a selection of tracks, with the memory of our 3728272 breathtaking hikes in NZ still fresh in our minds and muscles. From all the hilltop views, emerald waters and dramatic coastlines we mostly enjoyed the hike to deserted Makapu’u Point with its beautiful views, from where we spotted two great whales jumping up and showing us their mighty tails. Awesomeee! 🐋

# Speaking of spotting sea life; we spotted our very first wild sea turtle while snorkeling in the beautiful and preserved Hanauma Bay. The very pretty and gracious fellow gave us quite a show too; for what seemed like hours he swam peacefully around the reef, going up to get air, going down to nibble on some tasty-looking algae (not) and getting up very close, seemingly interested in us too. And as if all that wasn’t enough, we shared this wonderful experience with another tourist who happened to be holding a HUGE super pro underwater camera. A big thanks to Richard for the photo-proof of this magical encounter! 🐢💖

# To end our time on Oahu in style, we went to watch the sunset at the famous and overcrowded but beautiful Waikiki Beach with our nice Airbnb hosts. The plan was to watch the weekly fireworks from the terrace where we had dinner, but it turned out that we were on the wrong side of the beach for that so the many tall buildings along the coast blocked our view.. The fireworks sounded beautiful though! We ended the night with a few drinks and dances in a very happy Hula bar, of which we never realized that it was a gay bar until we left. 😂 Time flies when you’re having fun!

In under half an hour we flew from Oahu to Kauai, ‘the garden island’. This beautiful island, the 4th in size and 2nd in highest prices, offers some of the most eye-popping scenery and is a lot less American and commercialized than Oahu. Forced by our last-minuteness, we booked the most expensive accommodation we had stayed at all year (and probably even EVER) but spent the next 7 days sleeping like royals. And this is what we did:

# One of the island’s main tourist attractions is the Wailua waterfall. With reason; the falls are truly beautiful and you can drive up all the way to the lookout platform for a magnificent view. Less touristy is the climb down to the actual bottom of the falls, which follows a muddy and steep drop down through thick jungle after you made your way over the fence that’s there to keep you from going there. Once we reached the pool at the bottom we were all alone (apart from some 38393738373 asshole mosquitos) and enjoyed a refreshing swim around the falls and its magical rainbows in the sunlight. 🌈💦

# As if celebrating your birthday with your bum on a stunning beach, dipping in crystal blue seas, staring at palmtrees and sipping from a cooled fresh coconut isn’t enough of a present, we treated each other to one of the most adrenaline rushing experiences we ever had: a skydive! After a first attempt was canceled due to the strong wind, we got up super early, drove to the tiny airport in pretty Port Allen, signed the piles of papers preventing us to have any possible reason to sue the company, got on board of the plane, enjoyed a short scenic flight over the Southern coast of Kauai, jumped and 3 minutes later gently landed back safely on the ground. Doesn’t sound like much, but WOW, what an experience!! I wish that moment of free falling had lasted forever, tumbling down and piercing through clouds, rain and even rainbows before the most amazing sights of the ground below open up in front of you. I was lucky enough to be given some control of the parachute by my ‘buddy’ who I was with in this tandem jump, so I could make turns and see all around while we slowly descended and the harness’s wedgy started to be increasingly more uncomfortable. Quite an exciting start of our 28th and 30th years on this beautiful earth! 🎉

# Along the line of extremities, hidden in the middle of Kauai is the extremely beautiful Waimea canyon - one of the most unexpected sights we found on this trip. Perfectly American we followed the stunning Waimea Canyon Drive all the way up to the step of the central lookout. Just before a stream of tourist busses arrived we took our time to soak in the breathtaking sight of steep cracks of land descending into a deep and colourful valley with beautiful waterfalls and perfectly snaky rivers as silver lining. For the first time Hawaii came close to some of New Zealand’s spectacular sights! We tried to lose the better parts of the crowds by hiking deeper into the valley, passing dense forests, exposed ridges, rocky slopes and countless sick views. We chased waterfalls, balanced on fallen trees and got off the beaten track; what a good day! 💖

# It took some time, but we finally accepted that Hawaii is much more of a place for a holiday than to travel around in. And as soon as we switched to holiday mode, we started to appreciate the comfort we found ourselves in rather than bothering the high pricetags while we could do with so much less. We adapted a slower pace and lined up right next to the seals to chill on Kauai’s stunning Tunnels Beach, found the most beautiful Secret Beach and snorkeled its amazing reef filled with bright fish and turtles, indulged in typical koi burgers and poke bowls, visited farmers markets and hung out in in our lovely Airbnb.

# Any visit to Kauai is incomplete without an encounter with the most amazing and historically important Na Pali Coast, famous for its sheer cliffs and lush green valleys. We found ourselves in the middle of the crowds marching along the muddy Kalalau track that goes rights through the Na Pali Coast state park, until we reached the beautiful Hanakapi’ai Beach, 4 miles into the track. Unfortunately, the views along the track were not as breathtaking as we had hoped and expected, and the crowded beach wasn’t a peaceful oasis to experiece the serene beauty of this special place at all. Nonetheless it was a stunning walk, but we realized that it is hard to experience a majestic place like this from right in the middle; it can better be enjoyed from a helicopter or by boat to see it as a whole. Oh well, at least we saved hundreds of Dollars by just exploring the area by foot. 👍

Warming up to Hawaii more and more we flew to The Big Island, obviously largest in size - it is as large as the size of all other islands combined - but also the youngest of them all. 8 of the world’s 13 climate zones exist on this island, and to us it seemed to be the most ‘Hawaiian’ with less tourists and commercial areas, more ancient Hawaiian sights and a lower pace of life. Upon arrival in Kona we were surrounded by black, solidified lava, which doesn’t look too paradise-y, but we ended up extending and extending our stay as there is so much more around and the highlights kept on coming:

# Going to Hawaii is equal to going surfing, so we had to hit the surf at least once. We were lucky enough to stay with a nice, retired local on Airbnb who took us and his surfboards to his favorite beach where we spent all morning being thrown around by the waves. Right away we were done with surfing, so instead of cruising the island in search of the best surf we got under the waves in search of the best snorkeling spots. Just for the record; the beautiful and insanely colourful reefs and fishes at Two Step won!

# Aiming for a slow afternoon, we went to Kiholo Bay. This peaceful bay is to be found at the end of a not so slow hike along the coast, passing several beaches, a beautiful Balinese house, some private mansions and a field of lava. But once there, it was all worth it; we found a stunning black sand nook and crannie that we shared with just sea turtles (many of them though 😍) to soak in some sun and test our new GoPro. All afternoon we didn’t see another human soul, which felt like a true miracle on Hawaii!

# The first few nights we stayed in Kona with the surfer host, who had ensured us that it barely ever rained on that side of the island. Ironically, we woke up the third morning (and actually already a few times during the night) in the middle of terrible rain and storm. We decided to move to the ‘Hilo side’ of the island, all the way to the east, where the weather is usually a lot wetter but the Airbnb’s a lot cheaper. We ended up in a perfect place on a hill just outside hippy-town Pahoa with the nicest hosts, who we ended up staying with for 12 days. They shared the best places to go and see, where to eat, what to do and what not to do and they took us to the local weekly food festival where we enjoyed local and nonlocal foods, live music and hula dancers. Spending some more time in one place allowed us to find our own favourite supermarkets, beaches, cafes and bars, plus get the hang of the directions! All the right ingredients to blend in and experience a more authentic side of Hawaii; we loved it!

# One of the most interesting and varied national parks of all of the USA is Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. We spent a day exploring this widespread wonderland of craters, lava tubes, thermic activity, ancient petroglyphs, rainforests and spectacular coastal formations and special it was for sure! Especially our drive down to the Southern coast, when the sky cleared, the sun started setting and reflecting on te solidified lava and we could see as far as the end of the coast, was one to remember. And as if we hadn’t seen enough beauty, the park completely changed in the dark! We went back to the star feature of the park, the massive Halema’uma’u crater, the home of Pele, goddess of fire, that seemed all peaceful and quiet during the day but was now spurting burning, bright red lava!! Now that’s a seriously unusual sight for us Dutchies, wow!! 🔥

# Another unusual thing that we went to see is the summit of Mauna Kea, the world’s tallest mountain. What struck us as most unusual about it is the fact that you can just drive up to the summit, at 4.200 meters! Half way up the drive we made an half hour stop at the visitor center, to acclimatize to the altitude and to make a short walk up one of the cones. From there it took us under half an hour to reach the summit, where we got an out of this world panoramic view over the slopes of the mountain, the beautiful surroundings and over the incoming clouds. Unfortunately, it wasn’t clear enough to see any of the other islands - but hey, we were expecting less visibility after recent persistant bad weather! Being that high feels a bit weird, so we didn’t stay for too long before we returned - right in time to avoid the crowds that were coming in to settle for some star gazing. Sometimes you spend the afternoon in the supermarket, sometimes on top of the world’s tallest mountain! A ma zing! 🗻

# Another special place on The Big Island is Waipi’o Valley, which can only be reached by a steep road leading into the valley. One option to go down is by shuttle (a 15 min ride at max), which would cost us nothing less than 60$ a person, so we decided to ‘just’ walk down. Once we reached the valley floor, we found ourselves right in the middle of a blooming green oasis, the most fertile grounds, an abundancy of fresh fruits growing from the trees in and around the gardens of the hippy locals - who aren’t that approving of them curious tourists -, lushy cliffs all around, the smell of weed and free roaming ponies. No wonder the locals are really pressuring the governments to keep their policies out of this valley; time stops here. We continued to walk deeper into the valley, aiming to find a huge waterfall, but a few miles of walking, millions of mosquito bites (on my side) and a slip and fall in the river we had to cross later we learned that we had gone the wrong way and had to turn right back around… In the end we never found the waterfall, but we did end up at a beautiful beach where we enjoyed a picnic on the black sand before we struggled our way up the steep road out of the valley. An adventurous way to keep our summer bodies in shape! 💪

# We ended our stay on the lovely Big Island with a night trip to see Puna’s lava stream. Here, lava from the Kilauea volcano flows down into the ocean, which should be a spectacular sight. To get to the flow, we rented mountainbikes to bike 6 km into the volcanoes national park, from where we continued by foot. The flow was not strong enough to reach the ocean, so we started walking landward as we could see smoldering lava in the dark distance. We walked and walked and walked over the sharp and crunching solidified lava from previous streams, which must be the most deceptive surface in the world as we just did not seem to get any closer. Finally, after an 1,5 hours walk, we literally felt heat under our feet and started to see burning lava through the cracks of the lava we were walking on. Scary!! And just when it all started to feel slightly too dangerous for our taste, we bumped into the actual flow of burning, glowing lava! Wow, that truly was one of the most special things we have seen!! And very very hot, so after we took a really good look and some underlit pictures we decided to start making our way back. It took forever before we finally got back home, but whát an experience! 😱

Sort of sad to move on but ready for new adventures at the same time, we made our way to the airport. The rental shuttle dropped us at the smallest airstrip at the side the airport, where it turned out that we had booked two seats on a tiny 7 seat plane! Though the windy weather made the short flight significantly less comfortable, the stunning views we got while flying over the Big Island’s extraordinary landscape to and over Maui completely made up for it. We had heard a lot of good things about Maui and we had saved our last week on Hawaii to find out for ourselves:

# We were off to a great start when we checked in to a conveniently located Airbnb where our hosts happened to be a very fun couple of our age with who we really clicked! Even though they had adapted the ‘Maui midnight’ routine, which meant that they would go to bed at 8 pm and wake up at 4 am, we managed to spend some time together and really became friends. They had a reaaally cool dog too, awesome!

# One of the main attractions on Maui is ‘the road to Hana’. This road leads from the ‘commercial’ centre around Kahului to Hana in the rather remote and natural side of the island, passing beautiful, thick rainforest dotted with countless waterfalls, rainbow eucalyptus, lushy cliffs, stunning coastal views and food-trucks with local treats. After the ‘secret’ Bamboo Forest that we heard about, to be reached by climbing through the fence around the 6,5 miles marker along the road, turned out not to be the ‘hidden oasis’ that we expected to find, we continued to Hana with just a single stop for some fabulous banana bread, straight from the oven; a treat that cannot be missed on this road! Though honestly beautiful at times, the road was just dreadfully crowded with countless tourists including reckless Asian drivers. Hana itself is a tiny, sleepy place, where we just stopped for some chili dog before we continued our roadtrip along the coast. Even though it is a lot longer in miles, we decided to continue driving around the island, rather than driving back the way we came, and that was the best choice we could have made! Even though ‘the road to Hana’ is supposed to be the main attraction, we were blown away by the beauty of the road on the other side of the island! It took us along the most stunning coastal views - from where we could actually see almost all other Hawaiian islands! -, around a range of stunning, lushy cliffs and beautiful rivers floating through while the sun was setting and the sky turned fifty shades of pink. Where we drove the road to Hana almost in one go, here we literally stopped around every corner! Wow! 💖

# One of our absolute highlights on Maui was catching the sunset at the beautiful crater rim of Haleakalã. On the way to the top we enjoyed some seriously beautiful views, though they weren’t as impressive as Mauna Kea. We settled down on the West side of the of the crater rim, from where we watched the sun going down, through the crowds into the ocean behind the hills, completed by the sky’s brightly changing colours. Will sunsets ever get boring?

# All the way at the Eastern end of the Haleakalã National Park we went for a walk along the Pipiway Trail, which led us through thick forest, past a gigantic tree that looked all magical with the sun roaming through its many branches and into the most amazing Bamboo Forest that not even the ones in Japan could compare to. We kept following the path that got more and more narrow as we continued, with tons of branches of bamboo bending over us and closing us in. At the end we reached an opening with a waterfall and millions of mosquitos, so we quickly made our way back into the jungle. Hawaiian jungle must be the most beautiful we’ve seen!

# Maui seems to have it all; there is a commercial center with resorts and high-end shops, there is a quiet and natural side with countless waterfalls and thick jungle, there are beaches of all sorts and densities and there are many small and rather authentic villages as Kihei, Paia and Lahaina. We loved to spend our time roaming the tiny streets with cute shops, artist markets and peaceful parks, visiting museums to learn more about Maui’s whaling and settlers history and feel the vibes, while indulging in fresh smoothies, açai bowls and shave ice. We did save one of the bests for last!

# Our favorite beach on Maui was Big Beach, where we were lucky enough to meet some nice people to play beach volleyball with. We came back for the weekly beach volley ‘competitions’, which is a gathering of people who spend all day playing volleyball, chatting, swimming and drinking. Gotta love islandlife! 🤙

# As recommended by our new Airbnb friends, we made a beautiful hike along the Waihe’e Ridge. In under two hours, we climbed higher and higher, following the ridge and enjoying the most beautiful views over the ‘Iao Valey, the coast and the other side of the island. How I wish we would live in a place like this and could do this as our daily exersize! 💫

# We had our first couchsurfing experience! It took us a year, but we finally signed up and were accepted to be hosted by a lovely couple on the island. Other than with Airbnb, these people really invested in getting to know us a little bit, we had dinner together and we shared travel experiences. It is really interested to see how an experience changes when the influence of money is taken from the equation! Our stay really added to a genuine and authentic experience of Hawaiian life on Maui, and we hope to be able to return the favor one day as our lovely hosts come to visit us in NL!

And then, all of a sudden, those 5 weeks that seemed so long at the start had flown over and our date of departure arrived. Still sandy from our last day at the beach, we changed into our warm winter clothes on the airport and checked in. Bye bye summer, beachbums, palmtrees and coconuts; time to get used to some winter temperatures in Chicago! ❄️🇱🇷

[anonymous-wolf22]

Survey 3

Reblog | Bold what applies to you;

You have a lava lamp in your room. You like dreamcatchers. You have a flower tattoo. You are allergic to pollen. You were born in November. You love hiking in the woods. Your ideal vacation spot is a big city. You own a Snuggie. You were a huge fan of a celebrity when you were twelve. You’ve gotten lost in a big city. You don’t mind sleeping on the floor. You wish you had more money so you could do more shopping. At times you are are lazy. You are a target for bullies. You love music. You have a food allergy. You sing in the shower. You’ve held a baby. You’ve been to a baby shower. You’ve had an embarrassing moment at a school dance. You’ve passed notes in class and gotten caught. You’ve got a grass stain. You own or once owned plaid shorts. You own a button-up plaid shirt. You own skinny jeans. You own sunglasses. You’ve played a tambourine in church. You’ve danced in church. You don’t like mushrooms. You’ve seen a Broadway show. You have natural blonde hair. You have red hair. You know someone with red hair. You have freckles. You’ve had crutches. You’ve had to wear a cast before. You liked playing with scooters in gym class. You own a flip phone. You dislike texting and prefer people would just call you. You like talking in person better than on the phone. ..but you enjoy talking on the phone, too. There is someone in your life that you would like to get to know more. You’ve been keeping a secret, and you would like to tell it. You have a friend who’s just like you whom you love dearly. You’ve made a lot of mistakes that you wish you could undo. You live in an apartment. You have a basement. You own a telescope. You’ve looked through a telescope at night. You’ve seen an eclipse. You’ve seen a shooting star. You enjoy public speaking. …even though you feel nervous before making a speech. You find holding your breath to be a good cure for hiccups. You’ve been told you look like a certain celebrity. You feel like you could have chosen to be gay, but didn’t. You have curly hair. You wish your eyes were a different color. You’ve been told that you should model. You’ve burnt popcorn. There is something on your heart right now. You have an overdue library book. You can’t find your library card right now. You don’t care what your car looks like; you just want something that runs. You’re allergic to pet dander. You’re allergic to dust. You enjoy parades. You enjoy dressing up in costume. You have a younger brother or sister. You’re an only child. You are/were homeschooled. You like coffee shops. You like worship music. You believe in the supernatural. You enjoy church. You believe there is more to life than what we see and know. You love to worship. You feel a sense of calm when looking at the moon. You’ve been on a missions trip. You love someone. You like paisleys. You’ve driven a tractor. You can write in cursive. You’ve written in calligraphy. You can tap dance. You have a food sensitivity. You have a food intolerance. You believe in a higher power. You’re tired. You like taking selfies.

01. I believe in luck. 02. I believe in horoscopes and fortunes, too. 03. I’m fairly superstitious. 04. I’m feeling quite lucky right now. 05. I love entering raffles. 06. I love the song “Last Chance To Lose Your Keys” by Brand New. 07. I’ve never dyed my hair. 08. I use temporary dye all the time. 09. I have made a party cracker before. 10. I like to make treat bags for trick or treaters on Halloween. 11. I have a Christmas playlist. 12. I feel really good right now. 13. I don’t use candles as often as I’d like to. 14. I especially love the scented ones. 15. I read the newspaper daily. 16. There is an item of clothing I really want right now. 17. That item is a jacket. 18. I adore Polaroid cameras. 19. I don’t use Bing. 20. My friend’s birthday was this week. 21. I want to go to a party. 22. I’ve been to a Halloween party before. 23. I believe in the symbolism of numbers. 24. I know who Taylor Momsen is. 25. And I think she’s gorgeous. 26. I hate when people copy me. 27. I’ve used oil pastels before. (possibly..) 28. I like using them. 29. I cry basically daily. (in secret) 30. I get frustrated so damn easily. 31. I’ve never had a swiss roll. 32. They look amazing, though. 33. I’ve only been to one concert in my life. 34. I enjoyed it a lot, though. 35. I like messing with HTML coding. 36. I admit, I can be a greedy person at times. 37. I can also be very selfish. 38. I get impatient easily. 39. I actually enjoy greasy pizza. 40. At my high school, you only have/had to be a junior to leave campus for lunch. 41. I adore typewriter fonts. 42. I’ve been to a dermatologist before. 43. I feel achey right now. 44. I like to be solids more than stripes in pool. 45. I currently need new earphones. 46. I prefer earbuds. 47. I take antacids often. 48. I usually have a spare hair tie around my wrist. 49. I weigh less now than I did at this time last year. 50. I’ve seen how my favorite celebrity looked as a baby.

You’re a chick. You’re a girl’s girl, as well as a guy’s girl. You’re a freshman in college. You can’t decide if you love it or fucking hate it. You are obsessed with weight loss. You have sleeping problems. You miss someone, a lot more than you like to admit. You get along with people easily. You have a lot of secrets. You like books about murder and drug addicts. You drink soda like water. You secretly listen to country. Your shoulders are sore. You’re extremely self destructive. You take vitamins and fish oils. You always have one headphone in. And it annoys the shit out of people. Your hands are freezing. Your room mate thinks you’re a little weird. You’re blonde, but you don’t wanna be. You used to love your body, but now you despise it. You love to dance. You’ve never had any really good relationships. You hate dates. You hate your parents, but not really. You feel sick right now. You’ve drank about 4 liters of water in the past 10 minutes. You drink too much. You smoke too much. You are a vegetarian, sort of. Ha You’re a closet romantic. You can’t sleep, and you don’t know why. You have a thousand things on your mind. You’re spinning out of control. You’re undeclared. Your clothes are weird. You really need to do your nails. You love your sister more than yourself. You smoke a lot of cigarettes. You’re kind of a burn out. You’re very creative, but don’t know how to channel it. You miss the past more than you should. You’re very independent. You have major trust issues. You have anti depressants, but you don’t take them. You adore cheesecake. You wear dark eye makeup for some reason. People don’t take you seriously, and you like it that way. You have a lot of scars. You’ve lied about some pretty big things. You’re kind of a horrible person. You hate skype, but have one anyway. You edit all your pictures. You live for your cigs, chipotle and sitcoms. You go to weheartit.com a billion times a day. You have a secret blog. Hahaaa. You’re extremely insecure, but you’d never show it. You like to make other people happy. Christmas freaks you out. You had a major emo phase. You have no real goals in life. You miss your best friends. You miss your brothers. You miss not counting calories. You miss sleeping. You love watching the stupid news fluff pieces. Your favorite Kardashian is Kourtney because she has no feelings. You like guys who you know will always let you down. You like guys who have issues and addictions. You have daddy issues. You have mommy issues. You have a lot of issues. You don’t know what to say to therapists. You don’t know what to say in general. Your shoulders are really starting to hurt. You’re hungry, but you’re not gonna eat for a while. You love being alone, and hate it at the same time. You’ve had over 10 hamsters. You feel very insignificant and small in this giant world. Ocean water scares you. But you jump in anyway. You always forget to call back. You’ll always sort of be in love with someone from your past. When you get mad, you start yelling and use your hands a lot. You’re not very attractive without makeup. If you met yourself, you think you’d hate yourself. You like older men (ex. George Clooney) You regret eating so much last night. Your neck is in an extremely uncomfortable position. You have very pale skin. You have a very intense stare. You’re basically fuckin blind. You say fuckin a lot. You hate your smile. You spend way too much time thinking. You like weed cuz it makes you numb. you like alcohol cuz it makes you retarded. Alcoholism and drug addiction runs in your family. You do drugs. You come from a very dysfunctional family. You love going on walks. You don’t know how to get through the rest of this week. You love writing songs lyrics and poems. Your computer is making weird noises and you don’t know why. You’re scared no one will ever want to marry you. You don’t even support marriages, but it still scares you. You fucking love chipotle. You like spazzing out to dubstep. You’d never show anyone your art work. You’ve quit everything you’ve tried. You have had a lot of fucking fun. You’ve been really really heartbroken. You’ve gradually become very sarcastic and fierce. You’re scared. You’re exhausted.

[fence-sitter]

1. What have you eaten today? I had a piece of toast with vegemite and a piece with ginger marmalade, i had some lamington, i had a sao cracker with vegemite and cheese, i stuffed a perfetta roll in my mouth as i left the house, i had a yogo and some green tea and this afternoon i had some fig yoghurt and ginger and apple iced tea. Very random i know.  2. Who was your last kiss with? Was it pleasant? what passes as a kiss 3. What color shoes did you last wear? black leather 4. Who has made you laugh the hardest in the last week? maybe Wendy 5. What is your favorite scent? freshly peeled mandarins or bush fires or that coastal smell you get driving through beach suburbs 6. What is your favorite season? Why? maybe late autumn and early spring because its cold but not too cold 7. Can you do a handstand or cartwheel? i can do both 8. What color are your nails? a very chipped yellow 9. If you had to get a tattoo on your face to save your life, what would it be? the words “Have a nice day” 10. What is something you find romantic? when someone kisses your hand 11. Are you happy? happy enough 12. Is there anything in particular making you happy or sad? anime, Wendy and uni have been making me happy, i think thinking about my school  friends is the only thing that really makes me sad... or anime. 13. Dogs or Cats? ahhhhh both but i really want a black cat called liquor 15. Which do you prefer:a museum, a night club, the forest or a library? the forest 15. What is your style? explosive in a controlled way, its crazy but it has some order to it.  16. If you could be doing anything you like right now, what would it be? swimming in the ocean 17. Are you in a relationship or single? single pringle 18. What makes you attracted to the person you like right now? he a sad bitch (yurio) 19. If you could replace your partner/best friend with a celebrity of your choice, would you? Who with? i don’t know who i’d replace them with but i just want Jake Gyllenhaal hes such a man child 20. Are you holding on to something you need to let go of? If so then what? nothing 21. How did you celebrate last Halloween? i spent it with Gibby and Taylah and we watched The Brothers Grimm and ate spring rolls and vege chips 22. Have you recently made any big decisions?  um UNI  23. Were you ever in a school play? yes and it was hella !  24. What movie would you use to describe your life? Amelie 25. Is there something you have dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it? Well i have always dreamed of moving to melbourne for a little while and well i haven’t because im a poor bean at 18 26. Complete this sentence, “I wish I had someone with whom I could share…” my artistic desires with. 27. What are two things that irritate you about the same sex? cause so much damn drama, complicate everything 28. What are two things that irritate you about the opposite sex? stubborn, i can’t think of another i honestly think boys are super chill and cool 29. What is the best thing that has happened to you this week? i made a pouf 30. What is something that makes you sad when you think about it? bad people 31. How long was your longest relationship? i suppose like a year 32. Have you ever been in love? a 13 year old version of love 33. Are you currently in love? no 34. Why did your last relationship end? the same way it started, it didn’t (i know it doesn’t make sense) 35. What jewelry are you wearing right now, and where did you get it? i’m wearing earings from nundah lifeline with bears holding umbrellas. 36. When was the last time you cried and why? um when i had a realisation that i’m not exciting enough to make or keep friends by comparing myself to someone who can easily because they’re so charismatic but then realising that we are completely different and i can make friend in different ways. 37. Name someone pretty. My friend Tabetha 38. What did you receive last Valentines Day? hmm lets see, some sunlight some day time i got a good sleep maybe some lunch thats about it  39. Do you get jealous easily? not really 40. Have you ever been cheated on? no thank god 41. Do you trust your partner/best friend? i trust Taylah but shes not my partner or my best friend  42. Ever had detention? yeah for not wearing shoes THE FUCK 43. Would you rather live in the countryside or the city? countryside but if living in the city means im closer to the beach 44. What do people call you? my name 45. What was the last book you read? On The Road 46. How big of a nerd/dork are you? minor  47. What kind of music do you listen to? ALL except for that screamo and country music stuff that 48. How tall are you? 172cm 49. Do you like kids? yeee 50. Favorite fruits? rockmelon, mango, banana, strawberries, peaches. 51. Do you wear jeans or sweats more? jeans 52. What’s your earliest memory? idk maybe the garden down along the side of my old house at ascot  53. Ever had a poem or song written about you or to you? no but ive writen a poem for someone else 54. Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it? behind but both is nice 55. Do you have a collection of anything? stamps, birthday and christmas cards 56. Do you save money or spend it? i like the feeling of saving money but i also like spending it on small puchases like op shops, spending large amounts is scary but i do it if i know i really want it 57. What would your dream house be like? um a little wooden cottage style shack thing at the beach 58. What top 5 things make you the angriest? when people swear unnecessarily, when people make jokes about disabled people, disabilities etc., ibis, when people complain about their first world problems, other angry people.  59. What top 5 things always brings a smile to your face? when people say good morning or smile at you when your walking down the street, dogs, cats, when people comment on what you’re wearing, boys being sentimental 60. You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do? do firefighters deal with that stuff?? cause i’d call them. 61. 72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid? ok i wouldn’t tell everyone right away i know im the kind of person who doesn’t like burdening people with my problems, i would perhaps book a holiday i’ve always wanted to go on and yes i would be afraid 62. Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart. i think of it literally when Mr Boddice stuck a probe through the chambers of a pigs heart 63. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go? Canada 64. Do you like the beach? YES 65. Ever sleep on the couch or a bed with someone special? well yeah ive slept on a couch with Kanya and Taylah many times, i’ve slept with James and i’ve slept with Gibby and i’ve slept with Rosie not that thats anything special cause she rolls all over me. 66. Do you have a middle name? If so what is it! ALICE 67. Do you talk to yourself? all the time 68. Describe your hair. a mop 69. What is the meaning of life. passion 70. What is your ideal partner like? easy going, beachy, spunk, is a bit of a quirk like me i.e. doesn’t think my anime obsession is weird or my crazy eyeshadow and doesn’t judge me  71. Do you want to get married? yea that’d be cool 72. Do you want to have kids? yea that’d be cool 73. Like or dislike your family? i like them 74. Are you Chunky or Slim? slim  75. Would you consider yourself smart? smart enough to get around 76. What would you change about your life? nothing 77. Religious or Not? nah 78. You’re drunk and yelling at hot guys/girls out of your car window, you’re with? Nikita 79. You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, is that a problem?nah 80. Does anyone regularly (other than family) tell you they love you? Gibby aw 81. If the person you wish to be with were with you, what would you be doing right now? i kinda want to see Jam man again and idk maybe he’d play Halo on our new xbox 82. So, the last person you kissed just happens to arrive at your door at 3AM; do you let them in? who the fuck are you 83. Do you like when people play with your hair? yES 84. Do you like bubble baths? bubble baths are life 85. Have you ever been pulled over by a cop? no 86. Have you ever danced in the rain? yes 87. Do you trust anyone with your life? Taylah 88. What was your first thought when you woke up this morning? do my siblings ever stop arguing 89. If money wasn’t an issue, what top 10 places would you travel to? (You get to stay at each place for a week) Canada, Melbourne, Tasmania, Colorado, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Nepal, Vietnam, Turkey 90. How was your day today? it was really good i got up and read my book and spontaneously went to nundah and got soome good op shop buys 91. Play an instrument? i can play trumpet 92. Describe the what you think of the ocean. it wants you to be afraid, it can sooth you or it can devour you but you learn to be friends with it  93. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? i believe in aliens and i suppose i believe in spirits  94. Honestly, are things how you wanted them to be? honestly, its how i always expected things to be, i think i wanted more adventures and friends 95. Do you have a mean bitchy scary side? no 96. When are you vulnerable? when my social battery is dead 97. How much free time do you have? a lot 98. Do you like to go hiking? yes yes very much 99. Odd or Even Numbers? even 100. Would you ever go sky diving, bungee jumping , cliff diving, wing suit gliding, parasailing, snorkeling, or other extreme activities? id go hot air ballooning and snorkeling and i’d love to go in one of those shark cages

[drarrygirl27]

Thanks for the tag, @unsealingkale !

1. what does your name mean / mean to you?

Oh wow! I learned something new about my name. It is a Hindi boy name meaning, Center. I'm used to reading it meaning things like knowledge, wise, understanding, and water baby. This is very interesting!

I used to hate my first name years ago, but honestly I really used to hate myself for many reasons for many years. I now love my first name as much as I love my middle name. My last name is pretty cool. I used to want to change it to my biological last name, but now it ties me to both my grandma (She got remarried when my dad and his brother were in their teen years. The man she remarried, she had 3 of my uncles with, 2 are still alive.) and my dad so I'm going to keep it for a little while longer. My dad has another brother who I keep in contact with with my biological last name. They found each other through Facebook years and years ago.

2. breakfast, lunch or dinner?

Breakfast because breakfast is the bomb! That is my favorite kind of food, day or night. I do eat lunch and dinner too, but breakfast food will always have my heart.

3. what are you proud of?

I am proud of how far I actually have come in my life. There were times where I literally wanted to just let things be even when it was bad for me to do so, but I still eventually found the courage to leave when I knew that in my heart of hearts that I needed to for the good of my overall well being. I have had to do that a good bit of times in my life and despite how some of it hurt me really bad to do so emotionally and sometimes mentally even, I knew that I just had to do it because if I would have stayed in some if not most of those situations, I wouldn't be where I am now.

I don't have the best job in the world right now and things have been really hard especially with this crazy ass situation going on, but I am so much happier in so many ways than I was 3 years ago and years before that even. I have grown a lot in many ways. I have the Army to thank for that at least partly. That place pushed me to my limits in so many ways that I had no choice, but to see that I really, really needed to change in some ways if I was ever going to get anywhere in life in the Civilian world. It was what I like to call a necessary hell.

4. your go to song on a bad day?

Not sure if this counts, but when I get scared or anxious about something, I listen to "Lullaby" by Shawn Mullins. It feels like he is singing it to me in a way. It sounds crazy I know, but I have loved this song for many years and overtime it just became a really good comforting song for me.

5. have / want tattoos

I don't have tattoos and I don't think I will ever get a tattoo. I don't like needles. I'm not as bad as my mom with them, but I still don't like the way they feel and I wouldn't know what to get anyway.

6. what are you looking forward to post ‘rona?

To go to places without having to wear a mask like the movies and the mall for instance. They drive me nuts! I wear them for work and when I go into stores. At home, I stay mask free because no one has the 'rona in the house because we all wear masks when we go out some where like work places and the like.

7. fave place you’ve travelled to / where you would like to travel to?

Lost Maples Natural State Area in Texas, hands down! It is a gorgeous place with mountains with hiking trails and beautiful unbelievably crystal clear water.

North Carolina. I need to pay respects to my grandma and if it is allowed I am thinking about spreading my dad's ashes on her grave as well. I was in the Army when she died. I was offered to go back home because of it, but I knew my grandma would have wanted me to keep going and so I did.

8. name a personal object in your room that you love

My grandma's and Daddi-o's memorial service discs even though the Bitch Cunt of the Century a.k.a. Former stepmom was in charge of the pictures on my Daddii-o's discs. You can tell because she is in most of the pics. *Sighs* Lord, I wish I would have had enough balls to tell that 'thing' to fuck all the way off! *Sighs* Hindsight is 2020 and unfortunately, all that shit went down in 2017.

This Bitch Cunt of the Century actually had the absolute gall just like she does every year to wish me a happy birthday. I of course ignored it like I do every year. In other words, Go fuck yourself & leave me alone!!! I want to forget that you ever, ever existed, please & thank you. By the way, that statement was towards my former stepmom who is I am pretty certain as a curtain has a spot in Hell waiting for her and not at any of you. I just wanted to make sure that that was clear as crystal.

9. what’s your niche interest?

Hmm... I have a good bit of them to be honest. I will just name my main fandoms at the moment. Rhink, Supernatural, and Harry Potter especially when it comes to shipping. LOL!

10. ideal date with yourself?

Hmm... An ideal date with myself, eh? This is going to sound so weird or maybe not, but either a trip to a bookstore or a thrift and or antique store. I love to check out those kinds of places.

11. share a pic from your camera roll that brings you joy

This cute little thing is Lulu off of Kittisaurus. He is my favorite cat on that YouTube channel.

12. Is there anything you would say to your younger self?

Yes there is. Things will get better than what they are now. You just have to be patient and strong. One day your life won't be completely the same. It will be better. We ourselves will be better so keep your head up kid and don't give up on the fact that one day your life will change and that you will change for the better and that you will be truly happy. Eventually, wonderful things will come your way, but you first have to go through some trials & tribulations that will make you want to just give up, roll over and cry and allow life & people to screw you over. Don't let them! You are stronger and brighter in spirit than you will ever realize. Keep striving to have a better & happier life because you are worth it. You have always been worth it and I love you. One day you will be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say that to yourself like I am telling you right now.

After that I would embrace my younger self while she cried. That is probably what more than likely would happen if I met up with my younger self somehow.

13. do you bop to music on (I corrected this. It originally said in.) your own? do you sing?

Yep especially while driving in my car to and from work and at work too.

Oh Hell Yeah! I sing way more than I used to especially not just by myself behind closed doors. I don't sing out loud at work though because people could be sleeping and also I'm still a wee bit hesitant to sing in front of people like face to face depending upon where I am at, who I am with, and such. I'm working on it, but I do show my talent to people a lot more than what I used to.

Now that I work at the school district this has changed quite a bit. LOL! 😆 I more than likely especially this summer thus far have given unintentional concerts to some people possibly.

14. is there a type of animal you associate with home? does your house get animal visitors?

Hmm... I was around cats a lot more than dogs throughout most of my lifetime especially my childhood and teenage years.

If we're being sappy though I'd say cats and dogs now. My boyfriend's brother and sister-in-law have a cat that I love a lot. He is what I like to call a sweet asshole. LOL! He can be nice and or loving, but not towards most people. He is kind of like my boyfriend in that way. They're both assholes to people who actually deserve it, but if you're a good and respectable person they'll show you the same kind of decency.

My mom has two German Shepherds that are my fuzz sisters. I love them way more than I thought I would ever love dogs. I was just a cat person for a really, really long time, but now I actually like or love dogs depending upon my relationship with them.

As far as animal visitors go now that Doug & I have an apartment that has loads of cats just casually hanging out in some spots including our patio yesterday swatting at some birds, the answer to the next question is yes. Too bad I was at work when that was occuring. It sounded so entertaining & cute!

15. is there an artist of any kind who speaks to your soul?

Oh goodness! So many of them do. A lot of musical artists, writers, and the like. To name them all would have me write out a novel or two even. LOL! However, I will say one at least. Stevie Nicks is a huge one. I love her and her music too death. She was also awesome in Fleetwood Mac as well.

Ok. So this is going to be possibly weird to do because this post is so old and I honestly cannot remember for the life of me if I ever posted it. If I did I apologize in advance for the possible repeat. LOL!

Anyway, thank you @unsealingkale ! I apologize sincerely if I never answered & posted these questions and or apologize for doing it twice depending on whether I did not post or I already have. Anywho, here are my good vibes to you & yours: 😃💖✊✌️ Rock on! 🎸 Stay safe, Be smart, & Take care! May the Force or whatever you believe in be with you always!!! 🌟🌟🌟

[fivethings5-blog]

Our fourteen year wedding anniversary is today. I still can’t believe it. Not only is our marriage a teenager (so to speak), but it is growing and thriving. I am so thankful for Justin Beard and I thought I would share some fun facts about our life together.

1. Justin and I met at a Weezer/Dashboard Confessional concert. It wasn’t exactly love at first sight, but we hit it off the day we met and have pretty much been together ever since. I lived in Ohio and he lived in North Carolina, so we dated long distance for a year.

Watching the storm roll in.

Our wedding party keeping the tent from blowing away.

We didn’t let this storm sink our wedding!

2. The remnants of a hurricane blew through our wedding. People say it’s good luck when it rains on your wedding day… I’m not so sure about that, but I’m pretty happy with the long-term results! We had the best bridal party and friends – many of them had to hold down our tents to keep them from blowing away! I don’t think there was a dry soul left, but that didn’t end the party. After someone rolled in a generator to get the electricity back on, it turned into a party for the ages!

After the storm passed it was time for the toasts.

Justin dried off and ready for the first dance. Keeping it classy in his t-shirt and shorts.

3. Justin and I have lived in three countries and traveled to many others together. We lived in England, Nigeria, and the place we now call home – the good old US of A.

Jess trying to live like a local.

At the beach in Nigeria.

Justin found a friend and the beach.

4. The Five Love Languages book impacted our marriage greatly. Once we learned how to communicate our love for each other, our marriage really began to grow. I highly recommend that book to anyone in a serious relationship.

5. While we were dating, Justin used to make me the. best. mix CDs. I practically lived at the post office waiting for them to come. Now he uses his mix mastering skills to compile a Christmas mix as our musical Christmas card every holiday season. Let me know if you’d like to get in on that!

6. Justin once threw me a surprise Pirate birthday parrrty. He strives to surprise me and to always make me feel loved in the most fun ways.

Justin and his crew.

Hannah surprised me by being in town for my surprise Pirate Party!

7. Every May, our church puts on something called the Date Your Mate Challenge, and it’s become one of my favorite months for that reason. Justin and I might be a pinch competitive, so it takes our dating game to a whole new level. We enjoy getting creative and look forward each year to not only growing our relationship, but building community with others in our church in a fun way.

8. If there was ever a more patient and kind husband, I haven’t met him. Justin had to go to New Orleans for work once and agreed, after getting the green light from the midwife, to drive there with his 38 weeks pregnant wife and our three kids! I’m pretty sure it took like seventeen hours. Although some of his jobs over the years have had him traveling quite a bit, Justin has been more than gracious in bringing us along when he can. It has been fun being able to travel that way as a family and we’ve been able to make some great memories. It’s certainly not easy traveling as a family, but also definitely worth it.

Took us along on a work trip to Pittsburgh.

Had to go to Columbus for work and brought the gang along.

9. Justin and I love laughing together. It’s pretty much what keeps us sane. When I was pregnant with our youngest son, Justin and I once joked and laughed so hard that he pulled a muscle in his back and my water prematurely broke. Generally, laughter is the best medicine, and, fortunately, that remains the only exception to that rule we’ve encountered so far.

10. It is one of our goals to fill our house with as many people as we can, pretty much as often as we can. When we rented our first place in Strongsville, it was so teeny tiny, but that didn’t stop us from hosting as many gatherings as we could and filling it to the brim every time. When we moved into our current house, we weren’t here six months and had the opportunity for a student to move in with us for a year. It was one of the best decisions we made as we gained a dear friend who has since become family. On Thanksgiving or Christmas, it is not unusual for us to host friends, family, and even strangers who ultimately leave that status at the door.

11. Making friends… We love people so much that we made five friends. That also is the undercover word we use for messing around in the bedroom. You’re welcome. Bow chicka wow wow!

12. Growing up, my Christmas experience was interesting. Some years we celebrated and some years… not so much. Having divorced parents made it very difficult as well. It all worked out in the end, as it turns out I married Mr. Christmas. Justin makes everything SO magical at Christmas time.

Nothing like a good Christmas family photo. Photo Cred: Ron Knerem

13. Early in our marriage, I didn’t think we should waste money on a babysitter so we could have date nights. At that time, I didn’t understand the principle that you get out what you put in. I’m not saying that you need to throw gobs of money at it all the time, but that when you start to look at your marriage as an investment, you’ll realize that you can never put too much in. It is always worth it! It is also worth it to purchase the books on marriage, pay to go to conferences or seminars, and if you can save up, getaways with your spouse are more than just for fun. They are deposits into your marital bank. You can build long lasting connection from which you will reap benefits for a long time to come.

14. Justin and I love to go on day dates. He says, “The best date is the the one you’re on together.” If we get a chance to get away, we love going out to lunch at some of our Cleveland favorites like Townhall, Boaz Cafe, Johny Mango, Le Petit Triangle, and a close-by favorite is Mizu Sushi in Parma. We usually end up hiking or walking around Cleveland somewhere because there are so many beautiful places to go. Edgewater is definitely a favorite spot for a nice walk by the water and there’s always a great breeze. We’ve hit the Cleveland Museum of Art, plenty of great coffee shops (Phoenix Coffee in Ohio City, Coffee Coffee Coffee and Metropolitan Coffee in Old Brooklyn, and Beviamo Cafe in Tremont just to name a few), several parks, and we sometimes even just run errands together. One recent favorite was getting Chipotle and eating it at Lakewood Park while watching the water. It doesn’t have to be extravagant to be a date, but it does have to include good conversation and some form of fun.

Lakewood Park Lunch Date

By the way, for those who aren’t familiar, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least 14,000 feet. We hear a good bit about these because Justin’s brother Joe is super into climbing them (Joe lives in Colorado, which has more fourteeners than any other state in the US). So far, our marriage is the only fourteener we’ve climbed together, although we may change that one of these days. Marriage is truly a mountain though. It’s very challenging at times, but it’s also incredibly rewarding, the journey is beautiful, and it makes you stronger along the way. I guess the thing that’s different about a marriage is that you’ll never know you’ve reached the summit until you actually get there. Justin and I hope we get to climb on together for many years to come.

Our Marriage, the Fourteener- Marriage is truly a mountain though. It's very challenging at times, but it's also incredibly rewarding, the journey is beautiful, and it makes you stronger along the way. #marriedlife #love #Reallife Our fourteen year wedding anniversary is today. I still can't believe it. Not only is our marriage a teenager (so to speak), but it is growing and thriving.

[invisional]

Destination: Tofino, BC

Since moving to Vancouver in 2011, I have been desperate to visit Tofino. My attempts were often thwarted by work and a lack of courage (to just… go for it!)…which lead to me spending more time fantasizing and less time making it happen.

My mental image of what Tofino would be like was largely influenced by social media and photographs of the Canadian Pacific Northwest.   Tall, dark, lush, green, coniferous trees hiding in the fog and dew drenched lichen clinging to their branches and endless smooth sand beaches broken up with rough exposed stone and cabins peeking out from the edge of the forest.   In town I imagined a sleepy village with aging buildings and rows of docks with numerous boats moored along side them waiting to take visitors out to see the coast.

 It wasn’t until this year that I would finally visit this place that I had built up in my head.  My girlfriend Caitlin and I made a decision that we would go storm watching in the fall, as we both had Tofino on our bucket list of destinations to visit.   We had a date set, booked a cabin at a resort on Mackenzie Beach, and all we had to do was wait.

 November seemed like a long way away, but it snuck up on us quickly and come the week we were due to leave time slammed on the brakes and all I could do to contain myself was count the sleeps like a child excited for his birthday party. My work days slowed to a snails’ pace and all I could do was remind myself “only 4 more days.”  

 “only 3 more days.”

 “only 2 more days.”

 Finally, the morning arrived and we were on our way!

Coming into Pacific Rim National Park we were immediately greeted by a massive black bear waddling across the highway and into the bushes.   We had finally made it to Tofino and it felt like that bear was welcoming me! Or maybe it just needed to use the washroom?     I kept my face pressed to the passenger side window like an excited kid in the parking lot of Disney Land for the first time.    I stared intently into the thick forests, trying to see into the darkness between the trees (for more forest creatures) and simply just taking in the sight of it all.   As we made our way to our accommodations, through the trees we could see bits of the beach and massive rolling waves.   Upon arrival at the resort I could taste the salt in the air and hear a deep rumble of the the waves crashing against the shore.

Our cabin was a 2 story building with a separate suite on each floor.   We booked the second floor suite, with a balcony overlooking the entire resort and more importantly, a clear view of Mackenzie beach.   The room had a rustic feel to it with all the necessities of home.  The only thing missing was a fireplace, but regardless of that it made for an excellent home base for us in between our adventures.   After settling in we set out for a walk up the beach.  My initial impressions of Tofino (having only been out of the car for a short period of time) was that I feel like my imagination did not do Tofino justice.   It was far, far, more impressive than I could have ever imagined.. even with the visual help of the social media photos, travel magazines, and tourism pamphlets.

The weather (for the most part) was exactly what we had wished for. Rainy and windy, churning up massive waves.   During the nights the  gale winds would shake the cabin and rain would hit so hard that the cabin’s keel shaped roof became a drum.   The exceptional moment to the promised stormy seas was during our second day. We finished walking up and down Long Beach, the clouds cleared, and we woke from an afternoon post-walk nap to a beautiful sunset.

 That night I woke early in the morning to a surreal silence – no wind – no rain.    I slipped out from under the warmth of the bed covers and walked to our balcony window. Peering out into the darkness I was stunned to find the night sky filled with stars bright than anything I had ever witnessed in the last 7 years of living in Vancouver.   In my excitement I woke Caitlin and she sleepily asked me “so…are you going to go out and photograph them?” At that point I don’t think the thought had even crossed my mind, I was just too excited to see the stars.    So I pulled on my clothes and grabbed my camera and tripod and out the door I went. I will admit that having recently spotted a bear in the area (and the wolf and cougar warnings posted around the area) I was a little paranoid crouched behind my tripod in the darkness with my senses muddled by the crashing of the waves.    

Photography sidenote: I have only attempted night-sky photography a few times and it has been largely trial and error (and this particular moment was nothing short of that as I was anxious to try and capture the stars).   After remembering the 600 rule of photography (some use the 500 rule, both seem to work), fumbling with the camera settings, and while adjusting the composition accidently knocking my camera’s focus out of infinity, I got some reasonable results that I was happy with. Which was good - because I was cold and a little worried there was maybe a cougar or something hungry eyeing me up from the shadows.

 We originally planned to visit Hot Spring Cove, a 3 hour boat ride up the coast from Tofino - but the charter company had concerns about boating in the higher than normal swells, and there just wasn’t enough interest from other customers to go. Instead we inquired about a quicker boat trip to Meares Island and the company was happy to take the two of us that way.  

Meares Island is located just east of Tofino and is about a 10 to 15-minute boat ride away. The island is home to some of the oldest living organisms this planet has ever seen and has quite the history behind its conservation.  I think the island is best described as magical. Towering trees wider than pick up trucks, lush green moss and ferns cover the island, you’d almost think you were entering uncharted territory or into some sort of fairytale.

Upon leaving the boat via a rocky ledge on the island shore we climbed up a rickety looking (yet somehow sturdy) ramp and onto a boardwalk built with rough split cedar planks. After about 45 minutes of strolling along the boardwalk (with my mouth agape at the sight of the monstrous trees), we ran out of cedar to walk on and found ourselves completing the walk-turned-hike by following tiny florescent flags tied to the branches of trees.  The trail quickly became muddy and exciting to traverse. We had to carefully choose our next steps to avoid a boot full of muddy water.  We climbed, crawled, and trudged our way around the island covered in mud up to our shins looking for the next trail marker.   All the while we were still thrilled - pointing things out to each other as we moved along. We were feeling exhausted by the time we reached the mud flats on the south side of the island, so we stopped for some hot chocolate and lunch while we soaked up some of the sun’s warmth.   After something to eat we carried on down the trail and were re-introduced to a boardwalk, which lead us back to the shore just in time to meet our boat.   I think by the time we set foot on the boat both Caitlin and I were ready for a beer or two and a soak in the hot tub back at the cabin.

I really enjoyed our trip to Tofino.  I fell in love with the raw natural beauty surrounding the town, and I can safely say that it exceeded my expectations. Social media, travel magazines and pamphlets do not nearly give Tofino the justice that it deserves.  I will admit that we didn’t spend a whole lot of time exploring the town itself, but we did manage to make it in for a fantastic dinner at a restaurant called “The Wolf in the Fog”.  Great staff, an incredibly extensive selection of drinks, and a menu and culinary presentation that left a great impression on me.  We had beers at the Tofino Brewery, coffee at Rhino Coffee House, we also browsed a few local shops all of which were staffed by truly wonderful and friendly folks.

I’ll remember the weekend as a relaxing get away to the edge of the world that let us live the part of life that involves exploring, having fun, getting to know each other more, and less of that pesky work stuff.  

Thanks for reading.

-Travis

All images © 2017 Travis Forsyth

[andrewcalofblog]

YEAR IN PHOTOGRAPHS 2016

I’m not going to lie to you, it keeps getting better and better, life that is.  Maybe thats because I’m trying to suck up as much as I can all the time.  Why watch it go bye, but instead live it, be in it, take it, crush it, grab it, repeat.

I’m trying to relax.  It’s honestly hard, especially when you’ve been programmed to work work work, never a dull moment, can’t sit still.  If I’m not doing my day job working on movies, I’m with my lovely girls, I’m reading about photography, shooting, editing, shopping, eating, studying, upping my game, trying to swallow up everything I can while I can.  Why not, right?!?!

To say it’s been a year is an understatement.  I’m blessed, blessed on belief to have such a wonderful wife, kids, the JAY OHH BEE, home.  It’s like the world opened itself up to us and said come on in, make a mess of things, spray paint, laugh, cry, relax, go, go, go, etc etc etc.  Incredible on all fronts to have arrived at the end of 2016 with smiles, left nothing on the field, no stone unturned, no page unread, checked all the boxes, and then some.

I think the year shows, especially in these photographs.  The places we went, the things we saw, people we met, experiences we banked, the highs the lows and everything in between.  Milestones, journeys, down time, working, family, friends, traveling and more.

To my girls, keep on keeping on.  I will take you there, you can ride with me any day and I hope I can with you too.  Love you with all my heart.  To my wife, boy am I lucky.  My muse.  My love.  My Amanda.

Check out these photographs, no seriously - CHECK.  THEM.  OUT.  Don’t do that thing that we do, where you scroll through real quick and then click LIKE or simply move on. Rather take the time to read the captions, look at each photograph for longer than a second, let the picture wash over you.  We live in a world where our attention spans are five seconds.  Take it in for a bit. Whether you like them or not, that’s okay, at least, hopefully, they made you feel something!  Enjoy.

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1. Tree, Malibu, January 17, 2016

From below there is this beautiful park at the basin of a hill.  When you look up, the people hiking the hill look like ants.  So we decided to go for it and upon summiting, we came across this beautiful tree, weathered and old, recouping from the winter sun, with very few leaves, silhouetted against a California sky.

2. Sophie Teener’s 100th Birthday, Minneapolis, January 24, 2016

Words can barely describe the joy in my grandmother’s eyes as she turned 100 last January.  We celebrated with a luncheon at Beth El Synagogue, a very special place dear to her, friends and family traveled near and far.  This photograph is perfection like Sophie.

3. Sylvie, Palm Springs, March 26, 2016

We weren’t happy with our room.  We were on the outskirts of the property at La Quinta, but it all gets put in perspective when the girls couldn’t believe there was a pool right outside their door, basically our own private little spot.  With each stroke, Sylvie gained more and more confidence as a swimmer.  Each day she’d throw on her swimming suit, run out through the door, and into the pool. She wouldn’t sit still, until this precious quiet moment, with a towel around her body, eyes glazed over, staring off into the distance, silence, and then I clicked the shutter.

5. Palm Springs 5pm, Palm Springs, March 27, 2016

When I think of Palm Springs, this is the picture that comes to mind.  Old deco patio furniture, palm trees, clean line architecture, case study homes, my hero Julius Shulman, rolling mountains, green grass, blue skies, and flat roofs.

6. On Set Office Christmas Party, Atlanta, April 13, 2016

Those that know me well, know that I like to to creep around our movie sets, Leica in hand, when I come for a visit.  Office Christmas Party was some of the best times I’ve had making a movie because we were making it with good people.  The ‘magic of the movies’ is something special, and what I love about this photograph is that it exemplifies that magic.  The operator shoots the camera, the boom guy records the sound, fake snow falls from the cherry picker, Jason and Olivia perform, and the A.D. readies to yell cut.  Not mention the set is made to feel like it is the top of a building but is firmly planted on the ground.  Can you say, magic?!?!

7. Wellington, New Zealand, April 27, 216

Michael and I were on our way to the airport after leaving the set of Ghost in the Shell.  Our driver wanted to show us a few quick sites in and around Wellington, New Zealand before we caught our ride home.  So we drove to the top of Mount Victoria and the view was stunning.  The vast city below, the bay creeping its way inland.  We were on the other side of the world.

8. Blake & Sylvie, Los Angeles, May 21, 2106

This is what best friends looks like.  This was photograph was made just after their performance of Cinderella by Ovation Performing Arts School at Sherman Oaks Elementary.  Capturing that sense of purity, proudness, and exhilaration is something that makes me want to take photographs of young people.

9. Amanda, Louvre, Paris, May 30, 2016

That Day in Paris, we sat in Room 77 of the Louvre, 19th Century France, as the world swirled around us.  Though the pictures are stagnant moments in time, the room seems to breath life and energy as people from all ways of the world pass back and forth, looking at such beautiful creations.  It’s easy to get up in all of it, feel rushed to see it all, but instead we’d rather take a minute and soak it all up.  

10. Musee d’Orsay Clock, Paris, May 31, 2016

It was important to me to capture this image while visiting Musee d’Orsay.  I had a feeling this particular clock would be a busy stop for tourists.  To get it clean would have been a miracle, so instead, what made sense was to shoot all the tourists as silhouettes, clean edges but blow out the light coming through the clock face.  I love how it’s such a center piece of the museum.

11. Art Students, Paris, June 1, 2016

Place des Vosges is special, particularly on this day when we came across these art students sketching in the park.  Eager minds capturing the energy and flow that is this beautiful setting of fountains, trees, tourists, and statues.  This photography hopefully captures the beauty of those making beauty.

12. Pont Neuf, Paris, June 1, 2016

Classic Paris.  What’s unique about this photograph is the height of the water in the Seine.  Record rain fall blasted France while we were there, so much rain that even the Louve was shut down for a few days, art was moved to higher ground to protect against the chance of flooding.  This photograph was inspired by Peter Turnley’s book French Kiss.  It’s classic, it’s timeless, could be the 1651 or 2016.

13. Amanda, Jardins du Trocadero, Paris, June 3, 2016

This photograph was taken on our final full day in Paris.  There is only one place to truly shoot a subject against the Eiffel Tower skyline and that place is Jardins du Tracadero.  Amanda is so happy in this picture.  She wanted to recreate a photograph she saw on Instagram.  I love her black scarf, the way she wore her hair that week, and her cute little body.  I must’ve had her walk up and down the stairs ten times to capture this image.  It’s my favorite from our trip.

14. Estella, Chicago, August 5, 2016

It’s interesting how you can take many many photographs, create albums, selects, modify many, throw away lots.  And then go through those photographs some time later only to find a gem that you had originally thrown out.  When I originally made my Chicago album, this photograph wasn’t even included, but I absolutely love it.  Estella’s expression of feeling slighted (about what, I don’t know!), the bent knee, doritos, and those sunglasses right out of the movie The Crush.  It’s her to a T!

15. Shiloh, Sylvie & Friends, Chicago, August 6, 2016

I love Amusement Parks.  That sense of awe, energy, and excitement.  Feeling older like it’s a place you belong.  I have no idea what is driving their reaction, but I was lucky enough to capture their expressions.  And then the ride started…

16. Amanda, Santa Barbara, September 4, 2016

My Model.  My muse.  My Wife.  She’s my everything.  That black dress, that iPhone light just enough under her face to light it up, those high strappy heels, that necklace, and those little pockets.  She’s confident.  She cool.  She’s beautiful.  Amanda.

17. Ned Specktor, Los Angeles, October 9, 2016

Ned and I wandered Hollywood Boulevard shooting a marketing campaign for his upcoming show The Movement - a motivational musical that helps people grasp their passions through music and dance.  We came across this space just off the boulevard and Ned laid down like Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly before him, gracefully dancing in his white stans.  This kid was born to bring people together, dance and music his tool, his thought process his weapon, and much more.  We must have shot 100 frames alone in this little alley but his grace mixed with the his power seemed to have come together nicely in this image.

18. Estella & Sylvie, Carlsbad, October 22, 2016

We celebrated my dad’s 70th birthday in La Costa California this past October. For dinner one evening we went to the Chart House in Carlsbad, right on the ocean.  There were these amazing rocks and lights making the view of the ocean incredible. But the view was missing something.  Luckily Estella and Sylvie were near by so they jumped up on the rocks and held each other tight, two sisters connecting, letting their differences fall aside for a brief moment to show just how much they love each other.  And scene…

19. Estella, Madison, November 20, 216

This photograph was taken a top the Children’s Museum in Madison, Wisconsin.  It was important for us to take the girls there to see where their parents went to school.  There is this great lookout point of the capitol up on the roof.  Estella turned right as I clicked the shutter and we made this image together.

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Day one began harmlessly enough. It was still pitch black outside at nine-thirty when we set out to walk to the van rental place.  Oh, I forgot to mention it was freaking cold! After a few wrong turns we came across a host of Asian fisherman each frantically inhaling pack of cigarettes before their next shift begins, they offered no help to two lost white gents with a smartphone acting as our unfolded map. Arriving about a half hour after we left the hostel, not yet frozen but close, we were about to immerse ourselves into this playground for the senses by renting a Camper Van from Rent.is. Having someone to be my copilot and take some of the burden of driving would be very helpful on these sometimes treacherous roads. The buddy who was brave enough to make this journey with me was an adventurous soul himself. Well before we found ourselves each desiring to travel to Iceland, we had met in March on a camel safari in the Thar Desert near the Pakistan/India border. What we then discovered was that he, along with his brother and brother’s girlfriend, were about to embark on the same epic adventure as my best friends, Cecil, Dave and I were. The ‘Rickshaw Run‘ would comprise 3,000 kilometers of driving a 3-wheeled tin bucket across ungodly hellish terrain from Jaiselmar to Shillong, India. For those not going right to Google to see where those two points are located I will let you know. Jaiselmar is near Pakistan and Shillong is on the far side of Bangladesh. A helluva long drive in a vehicle that could only take 7 liters of petrol and get you about 65 km/hr with a good tail wind and downhill slalom tires. Suffice it to say, with a combined 6,000 km’s of driving experience traversing desert, mountain and downpours, as well as cattle, goats, and camel’s, we felt confident we could survive whatever Iceland had to throw at us. Because let’s face it, when you see dead bodies on the road in India and are targeted over every other inhabitant of the Indian roadways, you seem to be a bit more understanding of the life/death paradigm on the open road.

Our first attempt to escape Reyjkavik for the frozen tundra of northern Iceland in the Renault Camper Van hit a hiccup when the cigarette lighter blew a fuse as we were heading out of town. Oh, I almost forgot to give my “buddy” a name. We’ll name him ‘Anthony’ for purposes of this blog to protect his identity. He’s rather famous in parts around Windsor. He has been seen in adverts across England, thanks to his epic Rickshaw Run experience, where his team (“Shillong Way To Go”) wore the proper Boot’s Pharmacy SPF suncreen in the blistering Indian sun. If you blinked at the end, you missed this Anthony character. And let’s face it, protecting your skin in the Indian sun is of utmost importance to those in England where it barely registers 20 Celsius on a good day. Do they even have long enough periods of sun to warrant such a product being slathered on exposed skin? Do they even have sunny days in the summer in England? I doubt it. But back to Iceland and our Camper Van (“CV”). Returning that vehicle, we thought a simple fuse change would have us on our way in minutes. August, surprised to see us back was probably wondering to himself, “Ha, these young lads thought they knew what to expect on the roads of Iceland. Wimps are already chickening out.” No, August we just need you to do the simple thing of changing a fuse so we can be on our way. This proved too large a chore for August and his female cohort who offered up “watch the large trucks who drive crazy on the road. It’s probably best if you move to the side of the road and let them pass.” Advice that was so extremely wrong it was laughable to Anthony and I as our trip would progress. There were two other vans on the lot. But we learned the one similar to ours hadn’t been cleaned out so they ‘upgraded’ us to a larger CV that could sleep 3. It actually was a much nicer van but also ate 2x the diesel fuel. Something that is super expensive in an already crazy expensive country. If you haven’t heard, Iceland is a wealthy country. And they sure as hell display it in their prices. From the mini-mart to the gas pump and all places in between where you will need to purchase items that you actually need to survive. Anyway, after an hour and a half of wasted daylight, a very precious commodity in the winter here as daylight only lasts from about 10:00 to 16:00. And that’s if you are lucky enough to have sunlight all day and not be behind mountain peaks. In reality, you might not see actual daylight until closer to noon and if the clouds roll in, darkness will start around 15:30. Anyway, off we went in a CV twice the size of our first but with a working cigarette lighter which is much needed for your phones and portable devices. Otherwise, you will die. Seriously! Your family will be notified that the authorities found your frozen carcass inside a luxurious CV despite you being bundled up in your Coleman sleeping bag with a can of Pringle’s firmly entrenched in your frozen grip. All because you couldn’t call for help along the desolate Route 1 highway that encircles this island the size of England. Or you were just stupid and tried to hit a side road that doesn’t show up as an orange or blue line stretch of road on the local road conditions site (road.is). Trust me, it happens. Well, at least I think it does.

At this point you are saying out loud, ‘this started off sounding super exciting with an informative slant about what the best things are to do on the island, but now it’s sounding like this country is a frozen hellish tundra.’ Well, calm down there mate. The best part is coming. And it will span the remainder of this article. But it won’t be a preferred itinerary for you to plan your upcoming adventure to this barren winter wonderland.

The first thing you notice behind the wheel is that there is little to no traffic anywhere. There are approximately half a million people that inhabit the island and the rest are tourists. Predominantly Asian tourists. Which can scare some people if you do have to drive these roads. Look, stereotypes exist for a reason. Lighten up. I saw no accidents, save one. No, make that two. Those come later. You’ll have to stick around for that. So even Asian drivers can safely navigate these treacherous driving conditions. Moving along. . . we make it to Route 1 and begin to notice that the landscape is quite different from what you see in Reykjavik. In fact, the landscape seems to change about every 20-50 kilometers. It certainly does impress. Getting comfortable inside the warmth of the van it still doesn’t keep you from pulling off the road every 30 minutes or so to take a picture of this incredibly beautiful country. You will likely want to stop often and photograph the gorgeous, thick haired Icelandic horses that dot the landscape throughout your entire journey. Save the extremely desolate northern stretch of highway.

The sunset the first day occurred mostly in our rear view mirrors. But we were fortunate enough to spot such a large gathering of those Icelandic horses and captured some great sunset shots with them in the foreground. We had to pull off the road and hike through knee deep snow to do so, but it was worth it. Their curiosity got the best of them and many of them wandered over to us, a couple even wishing to be pet. Leaving our new heavily coated four-legged friends, we drove into the dark night, missed some turns but otherwise an uneventful day of driving. By our standards we were true journeymen making it from Reykjavik all the way to Myvatn, where we found a campsite for the night.

As we were bunking down, getting the generator started so we wouldn’t become that frozen corpse clinging to a can of Pringle’s (our go to food on this trip) and getting the stove going so we could make some tea, a car pulled up next to our van. Anthony assumed the occupants had come out to the middle of nowhere for a ‘dogging’ session. I had to inquire as to what this meant (urban dictionary has the meaning). After laughing hysterically, Anthony must have wanted to join in their fun as he commented “I am going to go say hi.” A couple of minutes later he returned to the van, still clothed mind you, and said, “Martin and the Northern Lights are out.” For a brief second I thought this meant Martin was naked and he had some really good marijuana. But Martin actually was a Polish chap who photographs the awesome spectacle on a near nightly basis we would learn. Being the expert, he showed us how to set our cameras to best catch them. He took us to a better spot to capture this dancing spectacle in the sky. We shot picture after picture and we did get some good photographs. “They won’t be as good the next 10-14 years,” Martin would inform us, as the southern hemisphere would be the larger recipient of their magnificent dance over the upcoming time period. Capturing the best photos we could and trying to avoid frost bite in the -17 Celsius chill, we returned to our campsite and climbed into our sleeping bags to sleep. It was 02:00 and now my birthday. There is something special about seeing the northern lights for the first time on your birthday. Even if your fingertips, toes and face are frozen. Now, we were cozy and fast asleep in the warm van.

Northern Lights, Horses and Cold! Day one began harmlessly enough. It was still pitch black outside at nine-thirty when we set out to walk to the van rental place.