#human Pizza Granny

[theblacksheepcz]

Oh my god

Pizza granny…<3

human tower (me trying to make human vers of some of the. not human guys)

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Hi! Hello! I heard you wanted some requests! So, may I request the SDV bachelors with a crush or S/O who is coeliac? Basically, they're allergic to gluten and it can make them very sick if they eat it. Cross contamination is also a big issue (spoon touch bread -> spoon touch salad -> can't eat salad)!

Hope this isn't a bad ask! Have a lovely week! :]

Hi Snake, glad to see you in my askbox! 👋

And don't worry, that's a pretty good question. I hope you like this silly HC. Have a lovely week as well 😊

Alex:

Alex always reminds his grandmother about Farmers' gluten intolerance, as Evelyn often cooks pies, donuts, and other sweet pastries for a visiting guest at their house.

Paranoidly checks all utensils the Farmer will eat and drink with, making sure the cutlery has not previously touched wheat bread or similar food.

Fast as lightning, he is ready to carry the Farmer in his arms to Harvey's clinic if they get sick from accidentally eating bread.

Alex keeps track of his diet, because he is going to become a sports star, so if the Farmer wants, he will help with the diet (in consultation with Dr. Harvey, of course).

Although sometimes it is difficult for him to refuse the delicious pastries of his granny.

The Farmer doesn't want Alex to limit himself in this, but the athlete is seriously worried about the health of his friend (crush)/partner.

George benefits from it all ("More food for me!" "Grandpa...")

Elliott:

Oh goodness! Elliott didn't know about it.

But it's good that the Farmer told him about their gluten intolerance. He would not want to hurt his close friend because of his and ignorance.

"Excuse me, my friend, I'll leave you for a moment. Make yourself at home in my little cabin."

Elliott ran as fast as he could towards the Saloon.

"Gus, emergency! The table for two is still stands, but gluten-free meals must be served! This is important! Don't even touch the baked goods please, I beg you! I can't let them go to the hospital because of me, I can handle it if something bad happened to them! Goodness me!"

Gus knew from the first minute that the dishes needed to be served gluten-free, but the emotional writer still continued to punish himself for not knowing about Farmer's illness.

"He's a fine drama actor, alright" Gus thought, pretending he was still listening to the dramatic writer.

Elliott is willing to sacrifice his favorite crab cakes to keep the Farmer happy and healthy.

"I can make them without flour, just have something to replace."

"Gus, why didn't you say that! Then I order, for me and my partne-, I mean, a good friend! Oh, marvelous!"

Any whim at your expense, Mr. Writer.

Sam:

The Farmer has never eaten pizza?!

Sam is saddened by the realization that because of the coeliac, the Farmer is unable to taste the food of the gods, the great invention of mankind, the food without which almost none of his rehearsals with Abigail and Sebastian take place.

"Dude, it's just pizza." "Just pizza?! Seb, how can you say that!"

But without pizza-drama, Sam is now very careful about this information.

He doesn't give the Farmer any snack that has gluten in it.

Sam will tell his mom about it, in case the Farmer comes to visit and the musician himself is not there.

He also asks her if there is a recipe for gluten-free pizza.

"Because man, pizza is a great human creation that everyone need to try. And no intolerance should prevent people from being happy!"

(Sammy, it's just pizza)

Luckily for him, Jodi just happened to have a gluten-free recipe book. And, lo and behold, the pizza recipe is there too!

Jodi made it especially for the Farmer, as the Farmer is also her friend, a real sweetheart, and Sam seems to like them a lot ;) ("Mom!")

The pizza was really tasty. And the Farmer can safely eat it with Sam without fear for their health.

Indeed, the food of the gods!

Harvey:

Oh, Harvey understands Farmer very well. And not only as their doctor, but also as another person who doesn't tolerate gluten.

Friend or partner, he will never forget this when cooking if the Farmer dropped by to visit Harvey. He also doesn't forget about this when dispensing medicines and vitamins if the Farmer has caught a cold or other illness.

If they feel bad about accidentally eating a cookie, then Harvey will immediately come running to their call.

No wonder Harvey is very concerned about Farmer's health - he's a doctor after all, and the effects of coeliac can be very unpleasant (and sometimes life-threatening).

He still doesn't ever lose his temper if there's an emergency, so Harvey's friend (or spouse) is in safe hands.

The doctor is sorry that this disease is incurable. But it's not even that he and the Farmer can't eat pastries (Harvey dislike sweets and pies anyway, preferring vegetables and healthier food). It's just that even the slightest touch of your cutlery with gluten food can provoke an exacerbation of symptoms.

But he will keep an eye on this as often as possible, and the Farmer will also remind Harvey of this if he gets busy and accidentally reaches for a box of biscuits in Pierre's store, confusing it with a box of rice.

Shane:

Coel-what? Can you repeat again?

It took Shane a little longer to figure out what the disease was. So the Farmer can't eat anything with gluten or they'll get sick?

"...Listen, I recently had a burger and pizza in the Saloon, and my hands are still a little dirty after eating. Should I move away from you?"

Shane immediately moved a meter away from the Farmer when they confirmed that cross contamination could also be a problem.

The Farmer feels guilty after this, but Shane told them not to worry about it. After all, it is not their fault that they are gluten intolerant.

"Maybe I fucked my own health, but I don't want to harm other people's health. I'm not a complete asshole."

Before meeting with the Farmer, he began to wash his hands more often.

Sometimes he will defend the Farmer at the fair if someone persistently offers the Farmer to taste the pastries.

Also, eggs don't contain gluten, so they can make a good launch for a guest who comes to Marnie's Ranch (or for a spouse's breakfast)

His chickens will never let you down. Good girls!

Sebastian:

"Oh, sorry..."

"Sebby, what are you sorry for?"

Well, doesn't that mean it will restrict his friend the Farmer from growing certain crops, like wheat, for example? It's just... sad.

Moreover, he just wanted to invite the Farmer to his basement for another Solarion Chronicles: The Game with snacks. But Sam always brings pizza and Abigail brings blueberry cobbler...

No, he doesn't want it to limit his friendship with the Farmer because of that. Therefore, Sebastian still invites the Farmer, promising that he will arrange everything.

Fortunately, Sam and Abby were sympathetic to the situation and prepared gluten-free snacks, since there was a lot of choice.

Although Sam was still a little dramatic. "They've never had pizza?! It's -" "Sam, shut up already."

The board game sessions were just as fun, and the seeki were delicious too.

Sebastian will now henceforth remember Farmer's coeliac. He also wanted to ask them out on a date- uh, he mean just have some fun time in the Saloon, play pool, maybe walk around the city after...

"A night with billiards and no pizza? Is this even legal? :D" "SAM!!!"

[namelessedospuntosp]

There's something I can't stop thinking about, I need to tell this story and it's about the people with pizza heads in the portraits that appear in the lobby.

It's amazing how no one is talking about these, I just found a post talking about it.

Nobody paid attention to these portraits, perhaps due to lack of information or they were more interested in playing.

We can see that pizzaface, pizza granny and pizzahead have more relatives or there are people of the same species and there are even pizza-shaped animals.

Unfortunately, only floor 1 shows that and the other floors do not show more about the pizza people/family.

but I'm not only interested in these portraits or in this removed character

Pizzamancer

According to the wiki, he is a magician and creator of the tower and not pizzaface or pizzahead as some think. He cast a spell on the spaghetti family because they disrespected the pizza, saying that the family would not be at peace if they had pizza cooked, this caused a war between spaghetti and the pizzas and the winner was the spaghetti family.

He died after the war and leaving pizzaface this position in the tower, but in my opinion it was someone else, since there are photos of other people with pizza heads, so most of the photos must have been family members who were in charge of The tower, mostly male, was like this for generations to generations, it's like the typical story that the manager or boss should always be a relative of the first manager of all of the company.

but they never explained the origin of the tower, but I have a theory: the tower could be a safe place for living foods that were not going to fight far from the war and also a resting place for soldiers and that today they are a living place. (and there are possibilities that before the tower did not accept humans because of what happened in the war)

Speaking of the war, there is a level of war, this can mean something important for the pizza family, creating a portal of that event for future generations so that they "do not forget" the origin of the tower, causing the new generations hate the spaghetti family and that the curse continues to exist. (and no friend, that peppino has gone to war is no longer canon, but even so it is not explained what the peppino clones do there, so let's imagine that pizzahead left the other peppino clones there because he was very stupid and that the soldiers kill him, The only thing that came out of there was fake Peppino, pizzahead discovering it and more likely they will manipulate fake peppino than fight peppino)

"I'm going to go ahead and talk about something that I've been saying to others who know about this place of worship that you did this. Well, we come down from your pizzeria and we come down from this tower. There are customers, and they want to see one of these things. So I got a friend, he went down one of the floors and this guy went up next to me, and the idea was, why when you're at the top of the tower is this character from Pizzaface, then there's a man in your life? before the head? There is a pizza in your tower with all this information."

There is a lot here to create a lot of theories from the phrases they release and we have to have a great imagination to understand. (when he said "There are customers, and they want to see one of these things", my first thought was people paying to see the fight between spaghetti and pizza one more time. lol and when he says "we come down from your pizzeria and down from this tower" can it mean that peppino pizza ended like the tower?)

about "he went down one of the floors and this guy went up next to me, and the idea was, why when you're at the top of the tower is this Pizzaface character, then is there a man from your previous life at the head? There's a pizza in your tower with all this information."

what happens to me is that he talks about pizzaface, granny wonders why he calls himself pizzaface and that he has a real name. but I have another theory, it's about the ancestor of pizzahead's ancestor, who also calls himself pizzaface (maybe there is a tradition that when the son of the previous boss/manager is ready to take over that position, he should abandon his name and call himself pizzaface )

since granny asks peppino if he remembers someone like that in his previous life. (does granny know who the ancestors of pizzahead and peppino were?) about there is a pizza in your tower that knows all this information (oh crap, is he saying that the tower used to be for spaghetti?? granny has already debunked my theory without the need for someone else to do it)

More likely, Pizzahead and/or Pizzaface already know everything about what happened to the ancestors and all the fights in the previous generations, and Granny tries to warn Peppino in an indirect way. (betrayed his grandson and his son. lol)

I think my theory is here, maybe they will update if I find more material related to the tower or the ancestors.

You can leave your theories here if you want. ^^

Can you imagine that Pizzahead and Peppino's relationship was like Romeo and Juliet's? lol

[greatlyblessed]

Grabby hands tell me some nuanced details about 87 Donatello or the 87 Turtles in general!

Oh no now I feel put on the spot but, sure I shall try.

So in the 87, one thing that pops up only a little bit in dialogue is how Donatello? Doesn't really like humans all that much. He had one bit where he figured out some serum would change them into horrible creatures. Human beings.

Also this boy? Stuck up as all get out. Absolutely convinced he knows everything. He's also a more... mild-mannered? Donatello. Like, he doesn't act feral (like Rise). Does this mean he has any restraint? No. It's been one of those things I'm watching for and it seems like if there's a fight they may not need to actually get into, it's Donatello who will throw the first punch.

Also he just builds the weirdest, randomest things. Just cause. Half the time they explode in his face.

Raphael, I believe I've said the boy has the braincell most of the time and just uses it to make jokes. I stand by this still. This boy is about the only one to actually register his surroundings and what's going on. He will sass Leonardo for leading them into a trap. And then follow Leonardo into the trap without a real complaint.

Also I find it interesting to contrast Raphael in the last episode I watched (Leonardo Lightens Up) vs an earlier one (Take Me to Your Leader). Both times Leonardo wasn't around to lead. (Either because his teammates zapped him with a personality ray to get him to lighten up, or because he had a bad dream and psyched himself out so much he quit the team). Because in Take Me to Your Leader there was an actual discussion over who would be leader now and when Raphael was officially dubbed in charge, he freaked out. Absolutely 0 confidence. Very quickly (and happily) deposed by Donatello. And then in Leonardo Lightens Up, when it becomes clear that Leonardo is not gonna be able to lead. He kinda just steps up naturally? It's not called attention to at all, but he does seem to be 'in charge'. (Until Splinter shows back up.)

So yeah 0 self confidence boy but also he is competent!! He just doesn't believe it. :( (But also if there's a turtle who is not actually helpfully contributing? Likely it's Raphael. He got outdid by a granny one time, so proud of the boy.)

Leonardo. Oh sweet precious boy. Idiot. He's a defender of truth and justice! A hero! Boy is such a goober. He is in hero mode 24/7, unless he's having an attack of crippling self doubt. Interestingly though, seems very reliant on his team to make him feel Competent. I have a feeling this boy is repressing a LOT. Trying to focus on being this idealized version of a great hero! And occasionally the cracks show. My favorite turtle from 1987.

Michelangelo. Ah, Michelangelo. I feel like the 'stereotype' of what the 87 turtles are, is 1/4 accurate and that 1/4 is Michelangelo. Boy has 1 thought in his head and that thought is 'pizza'. Stoner party boy is just here to chill and have a good time. Still occasionally has a temper, and does have his moments where he's a competent ninja. (One episode, they did a two on two training exercise. Michelangelo didn't try, up until the point the others ruined his pizza. He then proceeded to beat them up single-handed.) So, he is a good ninja. He just doesn't much care about it. (Also, the 87 boys as a whole have interesting pizza tastes. Michelangelo still is the worst though. He wanted to find toppings out of the garbage facility in one episode.)

[super-unpredictable98]

Inspired by @bisexualnathanyoung and @merrilark I'm here to give my opinions (that nobody asked for) about every single thing Rob has been in.

The Umbrella Academy: really good adaptation, Klaus is a work of art. I wish there were a billion seasons

The Last Bus: I mean... way too little Rob in it, but it was fun

Angel Dust: nice voice, bruh

Robot Chicken: nice voice, bruh. But also kinda gross

Trailer Park Boys: anyone please hook me up, I wanna watch the whole thing. I've only seen clips, love his observations about Canadian pizza

Young Offenders: love how he pulled this off even when he was sick. I live for the part about being gay and the protest scene is perfect

Mortal Engines: I like the movie even though it was way longer than it needed to be, but what the hell was that hair? Where does it say Tom needs to have 2005 pop punk hair?

Genius Picasso: Amazing, heartbreaking. Really shows the importance of oral sex. Also, please never paint a beard on Rob ever again, that was weird af

Bad Samaritan: PERFECT MOVIE, I have nothing bad to say about it

Mute: needed more Luba. This movie made me hate Paul Rudd lol we need to know what happened to Luba!!!

Song of Sway Lake: Ye old granny fucker! Love this movie, although it's a bit pretentious (sorry, Ari Gold! I love you, but you know you make things too poetic sometimes and that can rub me the wrong way)

Dicky: that was weird... that was a bit odd... love it

Geostorm: the three minutes Rob is in are masterful (I don't care what anyone says, the accent was good), the rest of it is pure shit

Three Summers: LOVE IT, but what an annoying protagonist. I'm talking about Keevy. Roland is awesome and deserves the world. Also, it did sound like Smells Like Teen Spirit!

Fortitude: what the fuck was that? This show sucks balls, why is Dennis Quaid involved in this? Vladek is hot though and I'm grateful for the full frontal nudity. Lots of people seem very disturbed by the scene, but I like it

Banshee Betty: represents very well the moment Rob was living love wise lol

Jet Trash: ugggggggggggh Lee is sexy, everyone else in this movie is fucking horrible. I hate every single character, especially Vix. Girl, get a personality. And someone please give Rob a burger, he's so thin

The Bigger Picture: it was good, nothing too special, but nice

Rideshare: CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE, does anyone know where I can find it?

The Messenger: Literally traumatized

Moonwalkers: really good, extremely funny. Love the cast, love the story, love the fake moon landing scene, love the tiger pigs

The Exchange: That was kinda cute, not gonna lie

The Road Within: PERFECT, as a person with mental health issues, I cry every single time I watch it. Fuck you, Marie, you're manipulative af. Rob did such a good and respectful job, I love it

Randumb - The Adventures of an Irish Guy in LA: omfg that was disturbing, but represents LA quite well

Anita B: love it, my Jewish heart swells with joy, especially during the Purim scene. Rob speaking Yiddish? UGH, SO HOT! He should've gotten the role of Max for The Book Thief

Love/Hate: overrated

Mortal Instruments: the only thing wrong with this movie is that there is no second one. I wanna see Simon as a vampire so bad! Iconic lines such as "I don't remember anything she'd want me to forget"

Push It: um... interesting. Lots of visuals and stuff.

Rituals: hippie fantasy and I'm living for it

In Love With...: it was cool, don't get exactly what the hell that was, but I was vibing

Immaturity For Charity: HILARIOUS! Very few times I laughed this hard

Me and Mrs. Jones: I don't care what anyone says, I love this show. Criminal what Rob did to his hair after the pilot, and Gemma is way too stupid to be a functional human, but Inca is our queen. Billy is way too charming and I can't cope

Accused: well, that was sad

The Borrowers: this movie has no business being that sexy. The scene with the motorbike? The scene with the bed? The scene in the plane? Spiller could get it and he's only five inches tall

Demons Never Die: very bad horror movie with a very bad name, but Rob was good in it

Misfits: PERFECTION! Nathan Young is the king of my heart. He can do anything to me, I wouldn't stop loving him even after he trippled himself.

Killing Bono: love the movie, love the cast, the soundtrack is immaculate (SPOTIFY, GET THE FUCKING SONGS IN THERE!), way funnier than I expected. Who tf gave Rob such a low harmony? His voice nearly disappeared.

Season of the Witch: average Nicolas Cage movie lol Kay is nice, love to see him on a horse. The ending was fucking wild. I wonder who we have to exorcise to end COVID

Coming Up - Dip: that was really good! The social commentary was actually kinda deep and relevant. I like the ending

A Turtle's Tale: Who the hell looked at Rob and thought he was the right fit for this role? I like it, but it was weird.

Red Riding Trilogy: HEARTBREAKING, I wanna give BJ a hug

Cherrybomb: love it, love the accents, very much early 2000s vibe and it makes me feel things. Luke's dad deserved better. Love the way Rob says the word tape in this

Ghostwood: um, what? Pop off I guess, baby Rob. Cool accent. Tim is how I imagine Nathan in the high school arc @seanfalco

Lowland Fell: what the hell did I just watch? What was the meaning of all that? Not a single person I know has a reasonable explanation for anything that happens in this

Rock Rivals: Guilty pleasure. Addison deserved better, they did him so wrong! I wish I could see Rob singing in this, but the boyband dances and outfits were really good

BitterSweet: needed more Rob. The neck kisses are just *chef's kiss*. Liam is such a good guy

The Summer of the Flying Saucer: I will do anything to watch this movie. I will suck any cock, fuck any ass, lick any pair of balls! PLEASE SOMEONE GET ME A COPY OF THIS MOVIE

An Créatúr: Bruh... what the fuck? Good job acting in another language and seeing Rob act as a little kid was so sweet. The big baby scene was at the same time terrifying and strangely alluring, don't know what that says about me. For legal reasons I'm not gonna comment on the scene where he's fed cake

Bel's Boys: pretty funny, love the clothes Max wears lol evil genius got defeated

The Clinic: Robbie, baby, why did you do this to your hair? At first, this looked like the beginning of a porno. Love the vulnerability of Shane and that tummy close-up was gold. They really violated his mouth there

Young Blades: King Louie is so underrated! I love him. Every scene with him is just gold. We really needed a spin-off about him finding a wife and all. Wish there was a ballet scene.

Foreign Exchange: Really good! First thing I ever saw Rob in when I was 9. You can blame this show for everything. So many good memories, it makes me feel hugged.

An Cuainín: does this short film actually exist? I never found any evidence of it lol if anyone has it, send it my way

A Dublin Story: wow, just wow. The subjects this short film touches on and the way it handles them are amazing, Rob was so young and his acting was already so powerful. He also managed to make Clocker very funny, I like it a lot.

Song For a Raggy Boy: what a pile of bricks, this movie is very very hard to watch. But it's a fun game of Spot the Rob. Lefties rise up!

The Tudors: I know his bit was cut, but boy did I spend hours watching over and over to see if I could spot him.

[dreaminlittlenightmares]

What's the best dish they can cook? Can you include the comic character too?

One of these days, I'll make that fabled master list, so I can find if an ask was already answered...

The Maw

Six: Grilled Fish the Janitor: Pork and Beans the Twin Chefs: One makes good Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, and the other makes a delicious Crème Brulée the Lady: Not necessarily a dish, but a good Old Fashion drink the Granny: Pasteles the Runaway Kid: Peppermint Bark

Pale City

Mono: Spaghetti and Meatballs the Hunter: Roasted Pheasant or Cornish Hens the Teacher: Blackberry Pies the Doctor: Pişmaniye the Thin Man: Ravioli

The Nest

the Raincoat Girl: Scotch Eggs the Craftsman: Handmade Pastas the Butler: Ube Halaya the Pretender: Pancakes

Extras

the Spoon Girl: Mud Pies the Lollipop Kid: Cinnamon Rolls the Ghost Kid: Crab cakes the Toddler: Can't cook, but can pick out edible Berries

the Green Boy: Roasted Chestnuts the Refugee Boy: Rømmegrø the Refugee Boy’s Sister: Raspeball the Long Haired Girl: Spring rolls the Humpback Girl: Gyros the Mummy Kid: Naan the Tall Boy: Chicken Soup the Forked Boy: Pizza the Strong Boy: Barbecued Ribs

the Ferryman: Fish Stew the Mirror Man: Doesn't eat the North Wind: Humans... >A>;

[sassypotatoe1]

Some great existing social rituals that are secular and flexible to suit your boundaries:

Housewarming parties. You host your friends, they bring you functional gifts for your new home, you eat good food, they help you finish unpacking, can be expanded to include painting party where you take a Friday evening, order pizza and box wine, paint out your place with friends before you actually move in (your landlord doesn't need to know but actually just negotiate and promise in writing you'll paint it back to neutral before you move out if it's not an evacuation or eviction without notice and that you'll do it on your own cost they're usually pretty happy to allow it then).

New year's eve! Ban motherfucking commercial fireworks in residential areas and it's actually really nice. My family has every year for the last few years made a bonfire, we drink fancy coffee, I make a sourdough and we make stick bread with it. That's how we celebrate new year's eve. You can genuinely just have a calm, intimate time with close friends or family and talk about what your plans are for the year and how you can help each other achieve them. It's a fabulous time to have meaningful conversations about boundaries, goals and needs and strengthen your support system.

Baby showers! You don't have to invite women only most baby showers nowadays are genderless ito the guest list. Again, great food, good friends, baby shower games, gifts to make parenthood easier like baby clothes, nappies, cleaning supplies, formula. It's a fabulous way to get together, help new parents out, and establish a baby-specific support system. You can talk about baby sitting, emotional support etc postpartum. Find out how you can continue to help the parents after the birth. It takes a village, it should never have been a single person's responsibility, and capitalism really fucked that over for us. More connections with more people is integral for baby's social development, and it means more eyes on baby to notice if something needs addressing as well as meaningful rest and breaks for the parents.

April fools. Nothing, and I mean not a thing, is more healthy for an office culture than close bonds and comfort. Pranks are a fabulous way to achieve that camaraderie. Don't do pranks that cause a mess or property damage if you're not willing to fix or clean it immediately. Confuse don't abuse. It can also be a great exercise in creativity at home with the family, or with friends. Pranks only really work when they're clever, so taking the time and effort to set up and execute good pranks is really good for your mental health and general well-being. You need to play. Humans need to play, it's how we are built, and constantly working is genuinely so bad for you and another thing capitalism fucked up hard.

Clubs, whether it's a book club, a knitting or crochet circle, a social club or a sports club, being in a group of people with similar interests and doing something regularly that you enjoy with other people is so important. I'm part of a crochet club that meets monthly. We make granny squares, put them together into blankets and donate the blankets to charity. We all use the same brand of yarn and the organizer, Heather, spent time with each of us to determine what size hook we need to use and which techniques so all our squares are the same size. Now we just come together every second Saturday of the month at a gorgeous tea garden and restaurant and crochet and chat. Book clubs are also fabulous, because you can discuss themes and tropes in the stories and the philosophies thereof and debate them. You learn from the book, you learn from each other and you improve your cognitive literacy.

Seasonal celebrations. I know a bunch aren't secular, but there are also so many cultures that celebrate seasonal events in so many different ways that it doesn't really matter if you have one more, as long as you don't appropriate closed practices. Solstices and equinoxes? Gorgeous time to celebrate what has passed and what's to come. You don't even have to include any spiritual practices, you just look at what your fall has been like and what you'd like to take into winter with you. It's great ways to mark the passage of time and where you are in the year, and for those of us with SAD winter solstice specifically is significant because it's the point at which days will start to become longer again. We've celebrated the solstices and equinoxes for millenia, there's no reason to stop now.

First and last days of school, if you have kids or are still in school. I don't and am not so I don't have much to say here because I never did join those celebrations but it is something significant you can celebrate.

Anyway humans have made up rituals for our entire existence. Homo naledi had a burial culture 300 000 years ago. It's hardwired into our genetics to follow rituals and patterns, and with the rise of secularism and science we need to remember our roots. We don't need to assign a deity to our practices, they can be functional and based in evidence and science, or they can still be religious because who am I to say religious people are wrong about divinity? Just be respectful about it and understand why you're doing these things so it's not an obligation, but a celebration. And for the love of all things beautiful play.

You gotta create replacement activities man. We can't just phase out all the church attendance and all the usamerican social holidays cold turkey in the middle of a loneliness epidemic bro like yeah fuck church fuck thanksgiving and FUCK the 4th of July but like what's the long-term plan. People need holidays and repetitive social rituals or they go crazy. Like are we inventing new ones or ....?

[billconrad]

Food is Difficult to Write About

    Today, we have reliable cars, fast computers, cell phones, endless knowledge, and entertainment that defies the imagination. Want to talk about it over lunch? Sure! Why? Our entire existence revolves around food. We get driven to consume three times a day (plus snacks). Humans eat various delicious edibles from the far corners of the world. Crab from Alaska, dates from the Middle East, pasta from Italy, kiwi from New Zealand, caviar from Russia, cheese from France, and cod from the Atlantic. We turn this endless variety of yummy base ingredients into incredible creations. Pizza, sushi, burgers, pretzels, string cheese, baba ganoush, snickerdoodle cookies, Twinkies and lasagna. Have you ever eaten from a chocolate fondue fountain? Yum!

    Our insatiable drive to consume munchies goes beyond survival into absurdity. We have entire sections of the bookstore, television channels, and streets dedicated to food. To feed (pun intended) this desire, we consume vast quantities of land, waste countless tons of leftover food, go to cooking school for years, and spend trillions of dollars.

    Of course, I cannot address our drive to take this planet to the scrumptious breaking point. The minor topic I wanted to concentrate on is that food is difficult to write about. Let’s take the most basic example. A person has a glass of pure water and adds one spoonful of sugar. How does it taste? “Sweet.” Alright, the person adds a second spoonful of sugar. “It tastes sweeter.” How much sweeter? “Umm… More.” Now, add a spoonful of salt. How does that taste? “Umm, sweet-salty. Sort of? Umm, not good.”

    This simple thought experiment shows how difficult it is to write about flavor. At the same time, scientific descriptions give us the exact chemical makeup, but they do not help the reader. “The water contained 500 parts per million of sugar.” “The substance measured 1.0 on the sweetness scale.” Not helping. You’d better add more sugar. It turns out that pure sugar is 1.0 on the sweetness scale. I had to look up this number; this is the only time I have ever used the sweetness scale.

    How about something basic? Describe the taste of an apple. “The apple tastes sour and sweet.” Many foods, such as an oranges, taffy, Coca-Cola or ice cream, fit that description. To understand how an apple tastes, a reader must have eaten an apple and remember the flavor. That requires a lot of prerequisites tasting for our helpless reader.

    Alright, a little more basic. Describe the difference between Budweiser beer and Coors beer. “Coors tastes more watery.” Is “watery” a proper word? Ok, what can I describe? “I like a good amber ale when I eat a hamburger.” Not helping.

    Last week, I made salmon on a cedar plank. I started cooking by taking… Hold on. That was not the assignment. I am supposed to describe the taste. Hmm. “The salmon had a sweet rub on top with a smoky flavor that combined a hint of Rosemary. It was cooked perfectly to a golden brown. The cedar–salmon smell filled the kitchen with an amazing aroma. I enjoyed the delicious taste, and so did my family.” Based on those words, what is the difference between my meal and smoked tuna? Umm, they taste different. I keep using the word taste. This sounds like a preference and not a description.

    While scientific terms exist, we lack universally accepted scientific food descriptions. We also do not have a universal background of flavors. For example, I suspect that about half the planet has never had a Granny Smith apple. They may have had apple juice, apple-flavored food, or a Red Delicious apple, but no Granny Smith apple. So, how could I ever describe how a Granny Smith tastes? “It tastes sour-apple-ee? I got nothing else.”

    How about something more fundamental? Describe hunger. “I am hungry.” A little more… “I am super-hungry.” Not helping. “I am famished.” It’s not a popular word, and it means the same thing. “I am starving.” Wait, starvation is a condition, not a feeling. “I am ravenous.” Technically, no. That is the condition of being hungry. Anti-stuffed? That is a made-up phrase. We have reached the limit of hunger descriptions. Yet, humans spend 5-20% of their day on food, and our entire drive to consume comes down to two words? Apparently.

    Well, what can I describe with words? I can explain how the food looks, how to cook it, how good it feels, and how satisfied the person is after eating. Well, what about the smell? We are a bit more developed in that area and have more descriptions. For example, an unpleasant smell: reeking, foul, putrid, fishy, smoky, stinky… The list continues.

    Oddly, this critical topic has not been tackled. We should have a universally accepted flavor, hunger, taste attributes, satisfaction, and enjoyment. So, let’s invent some words.

Maltese  >Mildly hungry

Quire   >30% yummy

Malarkey  >10% overcooked

Ithimple   >A little too crunchy

Arintingly  >Way too much ginger

Ratoon  >60% too salty

Iressent  >Perfect bitter

Poemess  >Needs 20% more sugar

Smated   >Served at the perfect temperature

Gobble  >Sweet-fatty as opposed to sour-fatty

Sistock  >Ending of a food discussion

    You’re the best -Bill

    March 02, 2024

    Hey book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:

    Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.

    Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

    Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.

    Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.

    These books are available in soft-cover on Amazon and eBook format everywhere.

[royilyoily]

can we all agree that if the pizza granny were humans they would be those smoker moms

like do you know the videos this person makes like the mom taht goes “KIM!! KIM!!!!”

[heyitsyn]

RANDOM SEIJOH HCs ACCORDING TO GIGI

a/n: this is a thing i cooked up between doing trig exam and ap gov review akdsjfldskfj

IM PRETTY SURE I ALREADY USED THIS GIF BUT IM WANTING TO RE-DO MY ENTIRE PAGE AND MAKING BANNERS SO THIS IS A TEMPORARY THING AJDJDJJD ALSO I DONT KNOW HOW TO DO THE KEEP READING THING ON THE APP BYE

oikawa def listens to indie music just bc he wants to feel unique and the 'iM diFfErENt fRoM oTHeR gUrLs' vibes

i FIRMLY BELIEVE IWAIZUMI HAJIME IS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO CHOMPS ON HIS ICE CREAM BC HE LIKES TO FEEL THE COLD ON HIS TEETH AKSJSKSKSK

meanwhile kunimi eats a kitkat like its pizza just CHOMP

makki caNNOT sleep without a pillow between his thighs LIKE LISTEN he has 2 sisters and they all told him its so comfortable and at first he was like,, ??,, then he tried and now cant sleep without it

bUT MATTSUN LIKES TO SLEEP WITH PILLOWS SURROUNDING HIM bc it makes him feel safe and like there are two body pillows on either side of him and hes kinda trapped in the middle aksjskdk

when kyo was younger, he was really short and although he had other pants, he loved this one pair but they were really long on him and he wore it all the time and the part of the pants that touched the ground is torn in shreds

kindaichi steps on the sofa before sitting LIKE puts one foot on the cushion then the other until hes literally standing on the couch before folding to sit with his knees up to his chest (i do this)

watari sniffs his food before eating it no matter if its something he eats all the time or something new, he still sniffs it either way

yahaba is really particular with his feet and he likes to get a really big tupperware (duh one only meant for his feet) and fill it up with warm almost boiling water and he just soaks them

oikawa has sleep paralysis and he oftens hallucinates about aliens in the corner of his room

kunimi does this thing where he makes weird noises with his mouth like sounds of his mouth opening LIKE when youre tastinf something new and you do that sound with your tongue (I DUNNO HOW TO DESCRIBE IT AJDKSKKD)

makki bends his knees just to crack his ankles

iwa sneezes a ton but he has those sneezes where theyre quiet that you dont even notice or really loudly that it just echoes throughout the gym

kyo sleeps with one sock on bc his feet gets cold easily but both socks make him feel really hot so only one sock is perfect

for a tall and hunk of a guy, mattsun is a very light walker like his footsteps are very light and if he wants to, it can be practically silent

watari actually hates vegetables ajssksksk he particularly hates zucchini, eggplants, any vegetables that are that shape

kindaichi likes to stick or lean against walls because to him, they feel cold and can decrease his body heat

oikawa stands and places his feet at V position like \/ instead of ll because his sister did ballet and he was taught that was the right way of standing and it was considered graceful

yahaba has a fear of cactuses

mattsun does so badly in the heat because his body temp runs so high and the hot surroundings make him feel so uncomfortable and so he takes a lot of cold showers

iwa cannot swim like he freaks out immediately when his toetips can no longer feel the bottom and he panics with thoughts of drowning

watari has really small feet that he still buys big kids shoes to save money

kyotani considered playing baseball because he thought baseball bats were cool but he got angry and threw tantrum after missing his first pitch

iwa chomps on a whole raw chili while eating ramen akskksks

oikawa actually hates sweets bc when he was younger, he had cavities and iwa showed him a cartoon of cavities eating his teeth and will make him toothless

kindaichi really really likes hugs but hes too awkward to ask them even from his parents

yahaba chomps on mints so he goes through boxes of them in a week

i feel like theres a boy in the team who doesnt brush their teeth everyday and rubs a towel on their teeth to make it look clean and take mints to hide their bad breath

iwaizumi is actually iron deficient so he bruises super super fast and he even developed iron defiency anemia when he was younger bc his parents didnt catch on which caused him to be put on strong medication for months and still takes it now

WAIT,, OIKAWA IS LACTOSE INTOLERANT BUT HE LIKES MILK SO HE EATS MILK BREAD TO MAKE HIM FEEL NOT SO BAD OR GUILTY OF CONSUMING STRAIGHT DAIRY

seijoh four bonding time is watching gordom ramsey shows and yelling and screaming 'YEA! EXACTLY!' as if theyre also cooking genuises

watari used to eat grapes all the time until his mom got worried and told him if he doesnt stop, he will eventually turn into one. he only eats it every few weeks

when he was younger, kunimi cried because he had befriended a chicken on a trip to a farm and his mom took him to eat fried chicken after and he thought it was Chicky (his chicken friend :"))

kyotani used to stick out his tongue when it was raining so he could taste the raindrops. they taste better than bottled water

one time, during a seijoh sleepover, they dared oikawa to wear his sisters old uniform, skirt and all, and it backfired so everyone turned red and couldnt look at him in the face

their pregame ritual is touching each other's shoe tips

they tried doing yoga at yahaba's house before by watching yoga youtube videos but everyone ended up having to go to the chiropractor after (how did makki even turn into the human pretzel?)

the local gym gets so scared when they see the team coming through the doors bc these men are so LOUD like they HYPE EACH OTHER UP SO MUCH THEYRE SO ANNOYING AKSKSKDK

also never take them to an all you can eat sushi place. if you do, bring them earlier of the day like 30 mins after opening time so the cooks can cook enough for them without running out of ingredients (even then sometimes they still run out)

oikawa used to eat his mom's roses from her garden because he thought it would make his farts smell good like roses

takahiro is a surprisingly good artist like he draws really cool action fighting scenes in the corner of his papers and stuff

in my work: it's canon that iwa is half filo and his nanay used to dress him up in a barong all the time during halloween bc she wanted him to showcase his heritage

yahaba drinks a lot of milk because he hopes to one day grow strong and bulky like the 3rd years instead of being seen as a pretty boy

kindaichi's mom is a hairstylist and she always scolds him for using a lot of gel bc she's always the one who washes his hair

makki never learned how to do taxes and hes had the government knocking on his door a handful of times (BOKUTO AKKDJSKKS)

kyo has a dog: a chiweenie

there's someone on the team who wears those socks with individual pockets for toes

their pinterest is so different from what they look like for example, mattsun has a board of different flower decorations and arrangements

kunimi throws up during intense horror movies

watari's celeb crush is emma watson

the team alternates from different music genres like from ateez and bts to mxmtoon and beach bunny

they still dont know how to pronounce camila cabello's name

theyre all active in social media but only oikawa is on it 24/7 and in all platforms while the others have insta and snap

mattsun has twins as little siblings and he used to get them mixed up all the time that he used to draw a sharpie dot on the girl's forehead to determine she was his sister

watari hates sitting on the floor bc his butt bone hurts really easily so he can only sit on cushions for long periods of time

the team was supposed to have a party but everyone didnt know what to bring so they proved they shared the same braincell by bringing the same thing: a box of pizza

makki's an old soul and prefers to play records on a record player or watch old movies

kyo is surprisingly good at giving massages because he really pushed hard on those tense muscles

kindaichi knows how to crack necks so everyone goes to him a lot to do it (a friend of mine does this and can i say its terrifying yet so good?)

the only one who has a license is matsukawa and thats because granny needs to go to the doctor a lot and he hates her walking by herself and cabs are expensive

kyotani and yahaba are actually,,, lowkey close,,, not like best friends but theyre nice to each other and they got a stick and poke together (yahaba's was: :) while kyo's was: >:))

watari has a collection of mangas (some bl maybe 👀)

WARNING SAD: mattsun’s future job is a funeral person right? he ends up taking care of granny’s funeral free of charge and he had to take a week off because it was really painful for him

oikawa learned spanish SUPER fast to the point he forgets japanese sometimes but there are moments where he forgets both languages and hes just,,,, ???

makki’s unemployed yea but he rooms with mattsun in exchange of cooking because makki’s surprisingly good at cooking

iwa is practically the nutritionist of the team because he knows everything about proteins, carbs, iron, and needed vitamins so they all go to him to know what to eat and what they need

kunimi has lots and lots of shoes but usually only wears 2

kindaichi has a habit of pretending hes chewing gum even though he doesnt have gum, his mouth just chomps and moves with air akasldfjkf

there was a clown phenomenon in america but in their city, they had a mascots and seijoh 4 went around scaring kids :”(

oikawa never manspreads he gets too insecure to spread out like that akdjfkd

kyotani can easily sleep anywhere like he would be standing and just fall asleep or he sleeps with his eyes open

yahaba’s parents own a restaurant somewhere in the city and he works there sometimes

IM REALLY GOING TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS YALL AKSDJFKL

SORRY IM WRITING TOO MUCH I FEEL BAD THAT I HAVENT UPDATED BUT IM IN A CAR RIDE RN AND I WAS ABLE TO WRITE AGAIN AND MY EXAMS HAVE FINISHED THIS WEEK IMMA CRY

PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO REPLY WITH ANY OTHER HCS YOU GUYS KNOW OF SO I CAN PUT IT IN HERE AND CREDIT YOU WITH IT SO WE CAN HAVE LIKE A HCS BOOK FROM EVERYONE BUT THIS IS WHAT I STARTED WITH

oikawa screams a lot according to gigi but he’s actually a really quiet guy and not easy to scare

OKAY YOU GUYS DONT KILL ME I SWEAR IVE BEEN SO TERRIBLE AT WRITING BUT YOU KNOW WHO TURNED ONE TODAY? THIS PAGE!!! MY BABY IS ONE ALREADY 😭😭😭 ANYWAYS, HOPE THIS CAN MAKE YOU GUYS SMILE TODAY AND SCHOOL ENDS NEXT WEEK AND IM ALREADY AT 132 DRAFTS AMSJKSDKSK SO OH MY GOD THERES GOING TO BE SO MUCH COMING AND IM SO EXCITED TO GET THEM OUT 😩😩

[kingdeku-queentoga]

The crowd of humans started to mumbled as they looked at Steven, making him clear his throat loudly, getting the attention of everyone "tell me who is in charge here?" He said loudly.

There was a moment of mumbling before someone was pushed forward towards Steven, letting him see that it was a short human male with balding dark-brown hair and pinkish skin, and was wearing an weird outfit that seen different then everyone else "h-hello um... Steven was it?" He spoke nervously while sweating "I'm am Dewey. The mayor of b-beach city" he announced.

Steven looked at him, slightly unimpressed as he didn't seem like much of an leader but that wasn't important "tell me, are all those other humans your servant?" He asked Dewey.

"S-servants? No o-of course not" Dewey announced "e-everyone is f-free to do whatever they w-want as long as they don't b-break the rules" he explained to Steven who had looked around before nodding.

"Is there anyone else in charge that I can talk too" Steven said loudly feeling as though he wasn't making any progress talking to this human.

A moment pass before a short elderly woman with brown skin and wafer-gray hair done up in a large bun had walk out of the crowd, ignoring a few of the humans that was calling out to her as she walked towards Dewey and Steven "my name is Nanefua but everyone just call me granny and you can speak to me young man" she told Steven "tell me, are you here to attack earth?" Nanefua asked him suddenly, making everyone go quiet

Steven looked at her and saw nothing close to a threat but at least she didn't seem scared and if she was, she was doing a good job at hiding it "I'm not here to attack earth... In fact I want to stay here" Steven announced, shocking everyone as their was a large amount of mumbling coming from the crowd of humans.

"Why do you want to stay here?" Nanefua asked Steven.

"I'm sure you can tell but I look nothing like my counterpart" Steven said making Nanefua look towards spinel and pearl before looking back and Steven "that is because I'm an hybrid, even though I'm an gem I am also a human just like you and everyone else" he explained.

"Tell me why should we let you stay here?" Nanefua asked making Steven laugh.

Steven laughed at her boldness before he looked at her "because even though I want to stay here, I don't have any problems blowing this planet up" he told her, hearing a couple of yells from the group of humans behind them, while Nanefua looked like she started to think about what to say next.

"If we do let you live here in exchange for not blowing up the planet... How can we trust that aren't you lying and not going to blow up the earth, once you get bored with it?" Nanefua asked him, making everyone agree with her.

Steven looked at her then behind her at the other humans, seeing their scared faces before he sigh and shook his head "listen, everyone. I had no intentions of hurting anyone on this planet as long as no one had tried to hurt me first" he said loudly "I still have no interest in blowing up this planet nor making anyone become my servant. I truly want to stay here on earth and coexist with you all. I want to know what it like to live among other humans, you have my word that I will not harm anyone nor this planet as long as no one tries to harm me and my gems first, if you understand that then we can live in peace with each other. And exchange for letting me stay here I'm also willing to help around anyway I can, though I don't know what I can do exactly but help none the less" Steven said honestly, seeing some looks of relief on their face but was still on edge.

"Well young man, everyone here is friendly and will not hurt you nor your friends" Nanefua told Steven honestly, making him nod

"Then I have absolutely no reason to start any trouble with anyone" Steven told her honestly

Nanefua and Steven stared at each other for a moment before someone came from the crowd, Steven saw it was a tall bald man with a darker complexion and a mustache that frames his very large and bright smile

The man walked beside Nanefua, towering over her as he looked at Steven "hello, it seem like you are going to be staying here. I'm Harold but everyone knows me as Mr. Smiley" he said keeping his large smile "let me be the first to welcome you to beach city" he told him, making the corner of Steven lips move upward slightly.

"Heh... Thank you" Steven said as he realized that he was actually nervous about how everything was going to play out as he could only guess that not everyone was going to be so welcoming, he looked back at Nanefua seeing that she had turned around towards the crowd of humans who stayed looking, ready for anything

"It seem Steven is not going to hurt anyone, plus he is going to be staying here at beach city, so please welcome him" Nanefua announced as there was a mumbling across the crowd, she turned around and motion for Steven to come here.

Steven was hesitant as he looked at her but jumped as he felt someone touch his back, he looked over and saw his Pearl was behind him with a soft smile before she nodded to him, making him nod as well and slowly walked towards nanefua, he stopped once he was besides her looking at everyone.

The humans and Steven stare at each other in silenced which made Steven heart race a little bit, someone slowly came from the crowd letting Steven look at her as she was short and heavyset, with fair skin and curly shoulder-length blonde hair "h-hi, I'm Sadie" she smiled towards him

"Hello, I'm Steven" Steven smiled to her before spinel suddenly jumped in between them, making everyone jump from shock.

"HI I'M SPINEL" spinel waved towards them cheerfully "I'm Steven best friend!" She told them while Pearl walked beside Steven and smiled with a slight bow of her head.

"H-hello. My name is Pearl" Pearl spoke softly as she smiled to them.

"Such lovely friends you have Steven" Nanefua laughed while Steven chuckled softly and pet spinel head.

"Heh yeah, they are great" Steven said making spinel and Pearl smile happily as the praise, while everyone slowly started to warm up to Steven as they watched how acted with Pearl and spinel, Steven looked at Nanefua before clearing his throat "Nanefua is there anywhere I could stay, like an unused living quarters" he asked her, making everyone go quiet.

"...there is that old house just on under the cliff but it not in the best condition, it pretty tore down" Mr. Smiley said making Steven nod.

"That is fine... Can someone show me where it is" Steven asked aloud.

"Umm... I wouldn't mind" Sadie announced making Steven smile softly and nod.

"Thank you Sadie" Steven told her, seeing her nod and started to walk away from the crowd of human while Steven, spinel, and Pearl had followed behind her.

The four walked to the side of a mountain and under it, Steven saw that there was a small house at the base of it "I guessing that is the living quarter" he asked Sadie.

"Yeah, it a little far from everyone else but got a great view of the ocean" Sadie told him "also it is called a house" she explained making Steven nod, the group made their way to the house and walked up to the stair, which had immediately let everyone know that the house was a bit old because every step they took up the stairs made the stairs creak as if it was going to give out at any moment, the group followed Sadie to the door as she opened it and walked inside.

The gems took in what they saw as everything was wore down from old age and dust "oh my..." Pearl said quietly, feeling dirty just being inside the 'house' as the human girl called it.

"whoa, talk about a mess!" Spinel yelled while laughing madly, jumping up and down hoping to break though the floor.

"Yeah um... Sorry about the mess but no one has been for a long time" Sadie said feeling a bit embarrassed about showing Steven this ran down house "b-but if you can get it fixed up and running then it'll look great" she explained to them.

Steven looked around and chuckled softly "seem like I got my work cut out for me" he said planning to fix the ran down house up.

The sound of the stairs creaking had caused everyone to turn around before hearing a group of whispers, Steven was the first one to speak up "whoever you are, quit hiding. I not going to hurt you" he called out as he was met with silence before three teens slowly came to view.

A teenager dark brown hair, and light brown-coral skin, he wore a pair of black glasses, an overly large red button-up shirt with unbuttoned cuffs, a white shirt with a yellow lightning bolt design, dark blue slim-fit pant, and cyan and blue sneakers with white soles.

Next was a pale young man, with platinum blond hair styled into a point, ice-blue eyes, and a long, angular face. He wore a grayish-blue hoodie over a light gray undershirt, orange phat pants, and bright sea-foam green tennis shoes

Finally a brown skin girl that wore large gold hoop earrings, a pale cream-colored shirt, a dark brown leather jacket with a beige fur-trimmed collar, long pink pants, and mint-colored flats.

The girl gave a small wave "hi, Steven was it?" She asked him while the group looked at them.

"Yes, I'm Steven" Steven answered her "who are you?"

"I'm jenny pizza" the girl smile at him.

"I'm buck" the teen with the glasses said simply

"And I'm sour cream" the last guy told him

"What are y'all doing here" Sadie asked them confused.

"Well we just wanted to see the outta space dude and his friends for ourselves" sour cream said making Steven raise a brow at that but nodded as he was indeed from space.

"Well it nice to meet you as well" Steven told them making them smile.

"Yes humans, it is a pleasure to meet you" Pearl smile.

Spinel waved "hello, I'm spinel!" She smiled making herself known

"So are you really not going to blow up our planet?" Jenny asked him making Steven shake his head.

"I already said as long as no one hurt me or my gems then I have no reason" Steven asked her, seeing that she became slightly relieved.

"Awesome" buck said simply with a small smile.

"Oh guys what if we take Steven to our secret spot" sour cream said making the two look at him while the gems because confused.

"Sure, I see not harm in it" buck nodded "but we'll have to hurry up before it to late"

"Oh yeah, plus it'll be a good way to welcome Steven and his friends to earth" jenny smiled making the group nod before looking back at the group.

"Steven come with us, there somewhere we want to show you as a welcome to earth gift" buck said making Steven slowly nodded, not knowing what he was talking about.

"You want to come as well Sadie" sour cream asked making her shake her head.

"No thanks, I got to make sure lars is actually working plus I need to let mom know I'm okay" Sadie told them before looking at Steven with a smile "I have to go but it was nice to meet you Steven, Pearl, and spinel. Hopefully I can see you later" she said before she had left the group, waving bye as she headed back the city.

"Well it seem like it just us" Jenny said as she looked at buck and sour cream "come let's hurry up before it too late" she told them making them nodded.

"Yeah, let's go. Follow us dude" buck said as the group left the house slowly leaving Steven, Pearl, and spinel behind.

Steven and Pearl looked at each other before nodding and started to follow the humans. The walk was pretty long as the gems saw, smell, felt and heard things they never knew had existed before but had soon they had arrived to a large cliff that if Steven was correct about, it was directly above the 'house' Sadie shown him.

Steven was confused as to why the humans lead them here but Jenny spoke up "we made it in time, y'all come here" she smiled as her, buck, and sour cream was standing on the edge of the cliff, the gems looked at them and slowly went to the edge with the humans before their eyes widened.

The sky was bright orange and faded to a dark blue but what really gotten the gems attention, was the sparking ocean as it looked like an endless sea of thousands of sparking stars on the water, the group was speechless as they look at the water.

Tears slowly ran down Steven face before he felt a hand on his back, making him look back and saw his dad smiling at him while everyone else had disappeared "welcome to earth, Steven" his dad told him proudly "please, protect it" he said making Steven nod slowly

"Y-yeah" Steven agreed before looking back at the sea as he felt his dad hand disappear, he looked over and saw Pearl and spinel with tears forming while they was both smiling as they kept looking at the sea, he wiped his tears before he went in the middle of them and suddenly wrapped his arms around the both of them, making them let out a small squeak as they looked over at their Diamond and saw that he was smiling at them, making them smile as well "heh it seem like we going to be staying on earth for awhile" he told them.

Pearl and spinel smiled happily "of course my Diamond" Pearl nodded while spinel cheered happily at the news.

Each group watched in blissful silence as everyone was simply enjoying the view, a view that Steven would do everything he could to protect, he didn't know what the future held but he knew he could handle it as long as he had spinel and Pearl by his side

[rocksandrobots]

Of Rocks and Robots Ch. 39 - Finale (Part 1)

(note: This is only the season one finale, not the end of the series)

A fast yellow blur sped along its way; knocking out cars, smashing through brick walls, and plowing down trees as the mysterious speeding streak caused destruction in its wake. Though it was not out of any intentional malice that the human wrecking ball caused such vast property damage, it's just that the superhuman speedster didn't know how to control his powers fully.

The muscle bound hulk finally came to a screeching stop right outside of the maximum security facility, causing a trench to form as he slammed on the breaks of his high powered roller skates.

"Ok Stu, you got this! You're dressed to impress! You smell great! And everyone says you're as smart as a bag of hammers! So what could possibly go wrong?"

The villain finished hyping himself up as he looked towards the jail. He then punched his fists together and took off like a flash, barreling towards the concrete walls at breakneck speeds. He crashed through the barricade and kept on going; smashing through walls as if they were cardboard. He didn't stop until he reached the cell he was looking for.

"Hi Nana!" He loudly proclaimed in a childlike manner as he busted down the wall and saw the elderly lady dressed in an orange jumpsuit laying on the cell bunk.

"Stu!" The woman gave a large smile and came over to give the overgrown galoot a hug. "My what a good grandson you are, bustin' your poor old granny out of jail."

"Awe, I try." Stu said as he blushed and sheepishly grinned. "Anything for you Nana."

He handed his grandmother the knapsack on his back. She eagerly opened it and pulled out a pair of rocket skates same as the ones he was wearing.

"Oh yeah! Supersonic Sue is back in business, baby!" The woman laughed and then sweetly asked of her grandchild as she put on the stakes, "Oh, however did you come up with such a clever escape plan, sugar plum?"

"Well, I wish I could claim all the credit, but I kinda got help from one of your old supervillain buddies. They gave me the new gear." He handed her a note and then quickly added, "But I'm the one who thought to smash the walls with my noggin!" He knocked on the top of his helmet with his knuckles.

Sue gave him an encouraging smile and a pat on the cheek before reading the note. "Dear Sue, hope you're doing well. Do you mind picking up for me a certain prisoner on your way out? He's being kept in the solitary detention block…."

"Welp, looks like we need to make a little detour before finishing our escape, Pookie." She chirped as she finished strapping on her own helmet. "After all, I'd hate to disappoint an old friend."

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

"Ok, bathing suit, sandals, change of clothes, uh… Am I forgetting anything?" Aunt Cass asked as she gathered up her suitcases.

"Don't forget your sunblock." Varian helpfully said handing her the bottle of coconut smelling cream.

"Oh thank you. Yes."

"Hey, Tracy just pulled up." Hiro shouted from the other room, and as if to confirm this a car horn sounded from below, blaring out La Cucaracha.

Aunt Cass half heartedly rolled her eyes at her friend's over eagerness and tried to carry everything out of the room and down the stairs in one go. Varian followed behind her picking up whatever she dropped and stuffing it back into pockets of her purse.

"Now you both know what to do while I'm gone." She instructed the boys as she scurried out into the currently empty cafe. "No wild parties, no sneaking out past midnight, no tinkering with the appliances...The café is only open for breakfast tomorrow and Wasabi will be over to help with that, oh and there's dinners already made up in the fridge if you don't want to cook later. And if anything goes wrong…"

"Call Officer Cruz or Professor Granville," Hiro finished for her. "We know Aunt Cass."

"Right, and Krei's promised to bring over pizza later tonight and check up on you two, so no giving him a hard time. He's been very gracious in giving me this trip and for helping out wherever he can. Okay?"

"Don't worry about a thing, Aunt Cass." Varian assured her. "We got everything under control."

Just then the car horn sounded out again reminding Cass to hurry up. She ran to the coat rack where the keys hung up and took one pair for herself and handed another to Varian.

"You're in charge of opening up at six," she told him, "and making sure the doors are all locked before going to bed. Have the café closed by noon. Also don't forget the upstairs dishes, make sure to feed Mochi and Ruddiger, and if you can get around to vacuuming that'll be great."

"Got it." He nodded and then Aunt Cass turned her attention to her other child.

"Hiro, I know you're already helping Varian and Wasabi tomorrow, but I also need you to take out the trash, clean your room, and do the laundry before I get back."

Hiro protested this. "The laundry?" He whined. "Oh please Aunt Cass I'll do anything else. Let me clean out the rain gutters instead."

"Okay, you can clean the gutters, and do the laundry." Aunt Cass said with a tone to her voice that told him this wasn't a matter up for discussion. She slipped on her jacket and put the keys in her pocket before stopping and staring out at the middle distance as she tried to remember what it was she was forgetting.

"You left your phone on the charger upstairs." Hiro answered for her.

"Oh, right." She exclaimed as she ran up to get it.

"I don't get you man," Varian said as she ran off. "You have a machine that literally washes clothes for you. What's so bad about doing laundry?"

"Have you smelled your socks?! A person needs a gas mask just to get near them."

Varian screwed up his face, fully offended. "Please, you're just looking for any excuse to get out of doing house work. You got it easy here, and you don't even know it. Try milking a goat every morning for ten years and then come complaining to me about washing socks."

"Boys, boys," Aunt Cass soothed as she reentered the room and placed an arm around each of her kids' shoulders. "Can you please, more than anything, just get along? For my sake hun? I'll only be gone for three days and I would very much prefer it if I didn't have to come home early because you two decided to start world war three in my house."

Both teens looked away sheepishly at that request, before mumbling their agreement apologetically.

"Thank you." She said before getting misty eyed and wrapping them into a group hug. "Oooh I'm going to miss you both so much."

The car horn sounded a third time interrupting the family moment.

"You better get going before Trace leaves without you." Hiro joked.

"Okay, Okay." She gave them each a kiss on the cheek before grabbing her things and heading out the door.

"I love you! I'll bring you both back souvenirs." She called after them as she loaded up the car.

"We love you too Aunt Cass." Hiro said as he and Varian stood at the door and waved goodbye to her.

She stuck her head out the car window and shouted, "I'll call you when I get there!" As the vehicle sped away.

"Bye, have a safe trip!" Varian shouted back and continued to wave until she and the car were out of sight.

Once their aunt was gone Hiro gave Varian a confused look and asked, "Did you really have to milk a goat?"

Varian rolled his eyes and walked back inside instead of dignifying the question with an answer.

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

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Hiro went ahead and finished up his list of chores with Baymax's help, while Varian made sure everything in the cafe was stocked and ready to open for tomorrow. He baked a coffee cake, some blueberry muffins, and a batch of biscotti for the breakfast rush.

"That way I don't have to wake up before sunrise to make donuts." He explained to Hiro as he fixed them a couple of tuna fish sandwiches for lunch.

Aunt Cass called soon after to let them know she had made it safe to the spa. She was full of nervous questions about what they were up to and how things were going at the Luck Cat without her. The boys reassured her everything was fine for what felt like the bajillionth time that day. However she was still reluctant to let them go and it took Tracy threatening her with a dunk in the pool to get her to hang up.

"I swear Cass you're going to lighten up and have fun on this trip even if I have to force you!" The boys heard the nasally woman yell over the phone.

Finally free to their own devices they spent the rest of the day lazing about. With the finals done both teens had to find new things to take up their free time. Hiro tried to reach the leaderboards on his video game, Mind Smith Turbo 3, while Varian read a new book that Karmi had given him; A Crease in Time.

Krei did show up at around nine as promised, pizza boxes in tow.

"Sorry I'm late, the pizzas might be cold, but I just couldn't get the Maharaja off the phone. I'm trying to get new investors and trade deals don't make themselves, am I right?" He chuckled at his own joke even though both boys knew nothing about stocks and trade.

Hiro grabbed the pizza boxes from the tycoon only to turn his nose up at the pineapple and anchovy pizza within. Fortunately for him there was also plain cheese in the second box.

Keri stuck around for dinner and they watched a movie together. As they finished watching an old western that Keri had picked out, one that admittedly turned out to be more engaging than Hiro thought it would be, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Hiro said as he walked backwards from the room, his eyes never leaving the tv. It was at the climax and the hero was about to face down his sworn enemy in a shootout. Hiro's steps instinctively timed to the actors own as the sidekick counted down the paces, "10, 9, 8,... "

Hiro tilted his head around the corner of the banister as he made his way down stairs, then he heard the bang of the gun shots. Only no one fell down. The villain hugged his wounded hand as the hero stood there, gun still raised.

"Well what are you waiting for?!" The scoundrel bitterly yelled back, "End it!"

The camera hovered over the stone faced marshal and his still raised gun, only Hiro never got to see the protagonist's final decision as the person at the door took to banging on it instead  finally gaining his attention.

It was Chief Cruz at the door.

"Hi Hiro, is your aunt here?" He asked. He tried to sound nonchalant but Hiro could tell that the man was on edge.

"Sorry no, she's on vacation to that spa remember?"

"Oh right… then who is here watching you two?"

Hiro tried to suppress an eye roll. Officer Cruz was just as bad as Aunt Cass was sometimes with being over protective, arguably even more so. "Krei is "babysitting" tonight."

Cruz raised a skeptic eyebrow but declined to comment on his rival being in his crush's home. "Then can I speak with him then?"

"Sure." Hiro hesitantly said and ran back upstairs to get the businessman, wondering all the while what was going on.

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

Both Hiro and Varian huddled in the kitchen by the swinging door of the café as they listened in on Cruz and Krei's conversation.

"You wanted to see me?" Krei asked.

"Yes, I came by to inform Cass of the news but this probably concerns you as well." Chief sighed before cutting to the case. "Callaghan escaped prison today."

There was an awkward silence as the news sunk in. Hiro felt his own heart race as his grip on the door tightened.

"How?" Was all Keri asked.

"He had help. Two other villains, a grandmother and kid team up, also busted out at the same time. They're called the Supersonic Skaters; thieving speedsters, the pair of them."

"That doesn't sound like Callaghan." Krei said matter-of-factly. "I've known the man for years. When would he have ever befriended common thieves?"

"Yet you didn't know about his half a decade long revenge plot to murder you." Cruz pointed out.

Krei huffed and Hiro could see the billionaire fold his arms across his chest.

"I have lots of former employees who want to kill me. It's not like most of them actually follow through with." Krei mumbled.

"Speaking of which, do you have any bodyguards you can call?" Cruz asked.

"You know, I've gotten in the habit of tasking Big Hero Six as my usual bodyguards."

"You've been employing vigilantes as your personal security?" The frown was evident in Cruz's voice.

Krei snorted. "That would imply that I pay them. No, they volunteer their services. I told them they could make a killing as a private security taskforce but they wouldn't hear of it."

"Well maybe you ought to call them cause my men will be too busy tracking Callaghan and his accomplices down to provide you with any personal escort." Cruz spat, though Krei seemed unfazed by the police officer's irritation.

"So why did you come here first instead of calling my office?" Krei asked in an unusual display of seriousness.

"Gerson already called your secretary. I guess she just hadn't given you the message yet."

"You know she might have," Krei interrupted off handedly, "I need to get more into the habit of reading Judy's memos."

"Uh-hun, well anyways I thought Cass should know too. Seeing as how Callaghan is.. well is responsible for what happened to her nephew." Hiro heard the police chief heavy a weary sigh before changing the subject. "You know, Cass told me she was going on a trip, I just didn't know she asked you to babysit?"

"Well I volunteered. I just figured I do something nice for a change, as unbelievable that may sound to you."

You could have cut a knife through the unspoken tension in the air as each man eyed the other.

"So, you, what, put everything on hold to play the responsible parent for a day?"

"Well, seeing as how Hiro and Varian are teenagers, Cass and I figured they were old enough to handle themselves for a day while I worked, and then I came over after I was done at the office to check up on them. Why, do you have a problem with that Chief Cruz?"

Peering through the small crack in the door, Hiro watched Cruz close the distance between himself and Krei. He stopped just inches from the other man's face.

"I don't know what she sees in you, or why on earth anyone would entrust you with children, but mark my words if anything happens to those two boys…"

"Nothing is going to happen." Krei said eveningly. "And you may not trust me, but you could try trusting Cass and the boys just a little bit more."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Did you have any plans of telling Hiro what was going on?"

Cruz seemed taken aback by that question.

"No." He admitted reluctantly. "He's just a school boy. He shouldn't have to worry about things like, escape convicts and murderers.."

"And yet he does." Krei interrupted. "This concerns him just as much as it does myself. You can't just hide things from him just because he's young."

Cruz casted Krei a searing glare. "Last time I checked you weren't the boys' father."

"And neither are you." Krei shot back. There was another awkward pause as both men sized each other up, until Krei added, "Ten to one both teens are eavesdropping behind that door."

Keri shrugged and nodded his head towards the kitchen. Cruz casted a bewildered look at Krei before walking towards the swinging doors. Both teens scattered and ran out the back door in a rush.

Chief Cruz walked into the empty kitchen and looked around for the two boys. He then noticed the back door was opened just a crack and went out into the alley to check. He found nothing but a blonde raccoon running out from behind a trash can, followed by Varian's own pet racoon scurrying out and climbing up the fire escape into his owner's bedroom.

"Gee, I could have sworn they'd be out here." Krei cheekily commented as he pulled out a ten dollar bill and vaguely waved it towards Cruz.

Cruz snatched it out of his hand in annoyance. "Just because you're an overgrown kid yourself doesn't mean you know anything about them."

"Ouch." Krei said.

Cruz rolled his eyes. "Look can I just trust you keep an eye on the boys for tonight and then I'll watch them tomorrow. Call Big Hero Six to keep lookout if you have too, but don't let Hiro know about Callaghan."

"Yeeeah, those two things might not be possible toge-"

"I mean it. He's been through enough. Him and Varian both. They don't need this."

Krei sighed. "Alright. You're the boss here. You'll let me know as soon as you found out anything about Callaghan's whereabouts."

"Of course." And with that Cruz left.

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

Hiro and Varian sat under Varian's bedroom window. They were breathing heavily from their hasty retreat up the fire escape and from the rush of just barely avoiding being discovered by the adults. As they heard the chief of police's car drive away, Varian let out a sigh of relief and then nuzzled the pet raccoon in his arms.

"That was close." He breathed only to stop when Krei opened the door, flooding light into the little bedroom and casting a spotlight on the two teens.

"I knew you two were snooping." Krei said.

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

There was a big debate over what to do next. Hiro wanted to suit up and go investigate the breakout himself.

Krei wouldn't have it though. "Look I promised both Chief Cruz and your Aunt Cass. I'm trying to be the responsible one here."

"Cruz also told you to call Big Hero Six and that's us."

"Yeah, you seem to be missing five other members there Hiro." Krei pointed out.

"I've already texted Wasabi." Varian interrupted the argument. "He said Fred and Gogo were already on patrol tonight and that they would swing by the jail to investigate."

"There, ya see?" Krei said. "You already got two members out there on the case, and Baymax is here to keep watch for the night. Besides didn't you and Varian promise your aunt to mind the café in the morning?"

Hiro let out a defeated sigh as he slouched back down into the kitchen chair, but he gave no further protest.

Krei rubbed his eyes and gave a yawn. "I'll take the couch tonight. I got to be up by five and at the office by six. Please don't do anything dangerous until after leave. I would prefer it if I didn't have to listen to Cruz lecturing me on proper parenting, thanks."

"Oh don't worry," Varian said, "he'll just find something else to lecture you on."

"Prefect." Krei said as he got up from the table, walked into the living room, and flopped onto the couch for the night.

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

Hiro thought noon would never come. He had barely slept through the night and working the café this morning had been torture. It hadn't been especially busy today, but time seemed to crawl along at a snail's pace as he waited till time to close up shop. The whole while keeping his eyes glued to the tv that was in the café, just in case the news announcer brought up Callaghan.

He didn't. Though he did mention Supersonic Sue breaking out. The long time super villain was apparently more noteworthy to the masses than his brother's murder going free.

"Aaaand done." Wasabi said as he topped the last cappuccino of the day with whip cream. "There you go sir."

The customer took the coffee and Hiro rushed him to the door with a plastered smile on his face. He waved goodbye to the man before slamming the door close and locking it with a sigh of relief.

"Hey, thanks for helping out today." Varian told Wasabi, as he finished sweeping up.

"No, problem. I like working here now and then. It's peaceful." As if to counteract this statement, Ruddiger snuck up onto the counter beside Wasabi and tried to grab the can of cool whip out of his hand.

"Hey! Oh no you don't!"

Hiro ignored his friends' tug-a-war with the pesky raccoon as he ran upstairs to get Baymax and his armor. Only for Aunt Cass to call while he tried to snap on the chest plate. He fiddled with the phone through his gloves and juggle it while suiting up.

"Hey, how's things going?" He heard his aunt say over the phone.

"Fine." He grunted as he buckled his utility belt. "We just closed up shop for the day."

"So, no problems then?"

"No." Hiro said distractedly as he looked for shurikens he hid under the bed.

Aunt Cass heaved a sigh. "I talked to Chief Cruz this morning, he told me some news that was a little upsetting…. Did he or Krei tell you?"

Hiro paused, he didn't know what answer to give that would be the least disastrous. Aunt Cass plowed on thorough though.

"He said that, Professor Callaghan broke out of jail yesterday."

There was a long and awkward silence between the two.

"Hiro? Are you still there?"

"Yeah.."

"Do you want to… to talk about it?"

Another uncomfortable pause.

Aunt Cass sighed again, "Look, I can come home early. It's not a problem-"

"No! I, mean, no. You shouldn't let some bad news ruin your vacation. It's not like Callaghan is going to come over here or anything, and whether or not the police find him has nothing to do with you being here at the Lucky Cat or not."

"I know, I just, I'm worried about you. You and Varian. If you need me, then I'll hop in the car right now and I'll be there, lickity split."

"We're fine Aunt Cass. I'm fine." Hiro lied. "You don't need to drop everything and rush over. Everything is under control and Varian and I are just going to hang out with Wasabi for the rest of the day."

"Ooh, fun. Whatcha got planned?"

"Uhhh, the park?"

"Okay, well, text me if you need anything. I'll call later to make sure you're still alright, oh and before I forget, Cruz and Megan are coming over tonight for dinner. Just put the frozen casserole in the oven at say, eight?"

"Alright. Bye Aunt Cass."

"Bye, I love you."

"I love you too." Hiro ended the call as he leaned against his desk in silence. He glanced over at Tadashi's side of the room. It was relatively neat compared to his own side which was already a mess of dirty clothes and papers despite having cleaned it just yesterday. All that is, save for the visible dust that was beginning to collect on Tadashi's things; a disturbing reminder of how much time had passed since the other teen had slept there.

Hiro blinked back tears as he pulled himself out of reprieve, put on his helmet, and pressed the on switch on top of Baymax's charging case.

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

Big Hero Six, plus Varian, sat around the desk at their headquarters as they watched the security footage of the prison-break up on their viewing screen.

Roddy had done a great job on the briefing room and it's connected laboratory, and was finishing up the training room next door. After that, all that would be left would be to add the bedrooms so that the team could crash there of need be.

"Yeah that's Sue alright." Rodney said as he walked in on them carrying his tool box.

"Yeah we kind of figured that." Gogo said deadpan. "Who's the new guy though?" Roddy peered at the screen, "Oh hey, it's that dimwit of a grandson of hers. Boy he sure grew up. I remember when he was yay high."

"I wish there was sound on this." Fred said. "That note she's reading is probably a clue."

Then the scene on screen changed. Callaghan was shown reading in his cell, then the two speedsters burst in, grabbed him, and then skated away before the screen went to black.

"He doesn't look like he was expecting that." Honey Lemon hesitantly said.

"Almost, like he wasn't in on the plan" Wasabi confirmed her suspicions.

"Roddy, you know Supersonic Sue, do you know of any connection she might have to Callaghan?" Hiro asked.

The red-bearded construction worker just shook his head. "I mean, he's not one of the old villains that Boss Awesome used to face. I'll tell ya that much. Buuut I don't make it a habit to know all of my customers' personal lives. I'm just here to build lairs; not gossip."

"Says the one other guy who knew that mom was a former supervillain," Fred said as he eyed Roddy suspiciously. "You know, besides my dad, and Heathcliff apparently..."

"Dude, someday you're going to, like, have to have a big family therapy session or something." Wasabi butted in.

Fred ignored him and marched over to Roddy. "Spill it." He ordered as he poked the larger man in the chest.

"What's to tell? So maybe the word on the super lair forums is that Sue got busted out by an old buddy of hers. One of the old gang, you know. I've know idea how Challagan figures into that though."

"Old buddy?" Hiro asked.

"They go by Kensei. They're a master thief and assassin. Never been caught. Used to be real active back in the old days for a few years but then went quiet for decades. Most thought they was dead or retired until just a few months ago."

"Why? What happened a few months ago?" Gogo asked.

"Back in April, was it, this new crime lord started filling in the power vacuum in the city. I got approached by Yama to build a lair for the new big boss, but I turned it down to do yous guys headquarters. Anyways the business card he gave had Kensei's old logo on it, the samurai's sword."

Hiro's eyes went wide. "We need to know everything about this Kensei guy."

Roddy rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I don't know much. In fact no one knows much. Like I said the guy never got caught. No one knows who they really are or what they even look like. Unless you were one of the very few supervillains working the circuit back then and happened to team up with them."

"Wait, if this Kensei guy and the new Bosu are one the same person then..." Honey Lemon mused.

"Portals." Varian said, startling everyone. They had forgotten he was even there. "They'd paid off Supersonic Sue to kidnap Callaghan, same as Yama kidnapped me."

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

"Well ain't this nice and cozy?" Sue said with a smug smile as she sat on top of the desk and peered down at tied up Callaghan. "Lot better than that nasty old jail cell wouldn't you say?"

Callaghan just glared daggers at her. The three convicts were inside a dimly lit, dingy office, in some old abandoned warehouse. As the elderly lady tried to persuade the former school teacher to join them, her beefy grandson kept watch by the door.

"Lets just cut to the chase shall we? You're the top in your field when it comes to portals and a friend of mine is willing to pay you handsomely to build one, on top of helping to smuggle you out of the country. Think of it, a fresh start! Whatta say?"  She slapped a wad of cash onto the table along with a fake passport.

Callaghan starred at the tempting offer on display before shutting eyes tightly and kicking over the desk with a snarl.

Sue jumped back in surprise and Stu covered his mouth with a gasp.

"Hey that's not very nice. No one treats my nana that way."

He stalked towards the other man but Sue stopped him with a hand. "Now, now, snookum, let's give Callaghan a chance to explain himself."  

"If you think I'm going to help the likes of you, then you're crazy." Callaghan spat.

Sue only turned up her nose at the rebuff. "My, my, aren't we all high and mighty all of a sudden, mister "I was in solitary confinement". You think the police are going to care that you suddenly grew a conscience? It ain't even like we're asking you to hurt anybody."

"Those portals are dangerous." Callaghan said through gritted teeth.

"So," Sue shrugged, "that's your benefactor's problem not ours."

"It's a problem for everyone, and I wouldn't debase myself to working for a has-been hack and her dunce of a kid no matter how much you paid me."

"I'm not a dunce." Stu said. "I got in A in penmanship. Tell him nana."

"Of course you're not sweetums." Sue patted her grandson on the head before turning to Callaghan with a scowl on her face. "You know, you gotta pretty smart mouth to go with that big brain of yours. But of the two of us, I'm not the one wanted for manslaughter and attempted murder, so I'd be awfully careful about who I'd go insulting here if n' I was you. I'm liable to turn you back into the police myself.``

Callaghan didn't rise to the bait but met her gaze steadily. After this staring contest Supersonic Sue sighed and turned to walk away.

"Come on Stu, let's let the man wallow in his self pity for a while. We can come back and try this again later. But mark my words Callaghan, we got other ways of making you cooperate. Ways that aren't so nice." And with that the two speedsters left the room leaving Professor Callaghan alone with his guilt and misery.

[viharistenno]

Gonna make it into a reblog cause looooong... Thanks for asking back :) Let's see.

Haaaard... Okay, let me do something similar.

Space is easy, Star Trek version yes, Star Wars version maybe, but probably no, International Space Station or Martian HARD NO.

Enchanted Forest, hmm probably? I love forests and I think I'd enjoy it as some sort of fae. As an ordinary human, not so much :D Although if I got to be a love interest for a certain Madam Mayor... That gets a strong maybe. (Read too much Swan Queen I guess ;))

Underwater city. Now this one is very dependable, as I have an age old fascination with Atlantis and such, and with what our waters can still hide from us. I love natural water but also the true depths may be too dark for my taste, so a submerged version would be more practical. Amphibian life can be fun, I am joining the lizard people :D (Tell Chakotay not to leave me behind though.)

Finally the Magical Kingdom! Probably the best alternative to Star Trek Space, if it's my choice I'd shamelessly choose a dragon that can take human(oid) form, if it's not, I'd say it's still the best bet even for ordinary humans. Especially if you have the luck of getting Granny Weatherwax or Co. for a guardian where you live. :)

So! I think it's a Yes! We meet in the Magical Kingdom!

Well. Nothing beats fresh pizza. But I am quite alright with the ones brought to my apartment. :) However, cheese is my beloved (quattro formaggi nomnomnom), but tomato-mozzarella-basil we can agree on! Ham too. I can be versatile, pizza hut's thick crust, Italian thin crust and some stuff in between. My second favourite pizza has sour cream, onion, chicken breast, tomato and taco seasoning on it. Whose idea this was I am at odds but it's SO TASTY. Anyway. I only truly clash with mushroom and olives from the classics, and even those I can pick off so we definitely can have our nice fresh margherita anytime ;)

Hello :) 14, 17 and 21 :)

Hi and thanks for asking! (here's the full list)

14. Tactician, fighter, generalist, or supportive role?

None of those. I am not a fighter. If it has to be a combat role, I'd be a tank: protect my friends, steadfast, soak up anything the enemy throws at us. In other roles, I would be a healer - not so much of the body but of the mind. (the social worker raises her head here 😂)

17. Space, enchanted forest, magical kingdom, or underwater city?

Enchanted Forest hard pass: arachnophobic. While I do love forests in general, even just the regular old mini spiders you'd find here where I live would freak me out; enchanted ones? NO THANK YOU.

Magical kingdom depends on whether I'm well-adapted to living there. Assuming yes (i.e. I am a magical being too and not like super-low on the food chain), I'd still want to know what kind of magic: benevolent, malign, an overall neutral mix of the two? How dangerous is that magic to regular people like I would be one?

And space - space is scary. Unless it's a Star Trek future, with space travel/space ships being spacious and with artificial gravity that is indistinguishable from the normal kind, and replicators and medical tricorders and all that, I would NOT want to live in space, thank you. For the same reason I am gonna say no to the underwater city. I do love turtles but I am not one, and so I would be way too scared of sudden fractures etc. that would drown me and mine. Both of these are contingent upon me being not built for that kind of living, though, so again, if I *was*, if I magically could breathe underwater or not breathe at all (space), if I could just swim/fly wherever without having to fear for my life? Sign me up. Unless I could go faster than light on a whim, though, space would be too empty. So, my ranking, assuming I'm well-adapted enough to all these environments:

3. enchanted forest 2. space 1. underwater city and magical kingdom tied in first place, contingent upon the details.

21. How do you take your pizza?

Fresh from the oven, thank you very much. I cannot STAND delivery pizza which isn't hot anymore. I'm a pizza snob, I'll confess: I want it fresh, ideally from a wood/stone oven, I want it thin crust and not too much on top of it (especially not too much cheese - yes, I will confess that too: an inch-thick cheese layer makes me gag). Ideal toppings are manifold and depend on mood: ham and artichoke is always a favorite, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella and basil chef's kiss, shrimp sometimes, or arugula (fresh, added after cooking). Not too much garlic either, thanks. (If I lose followers over this, so be it.)

😅

Thanks for asking! Those were fun questions! How about you, would we meet in the magical kingdom? Would we clash over our pizza order?

[artificialqueens]

Tree House Kisses, Chapter 37 (Adorney) - Scorpio and Veronica

A/N: Click here for previous chapters or to read on AO3, click here! XOXO!

Chapter Summary: Courtney and Adore begin repairing their friendship, slowly but surely.

Chapter 37: I Have Confidence

“Bonnie!” Courtney flung herself into Bonnie’s arms, causing the older woman to laugh and put down the tongs, stepping away from the grill.

“Hiya darlin’, how are you?”

“I’m good now.” Courtney’s voice was soft, muffled in her hair.

“Dory told me you were coming, so I threw on a couple of veggie burgers.” Bonnie gestured to the grill.

“Aww, thank you!”

“Do you still eat cheese, or have you gone all the way to the dark side?” Bonnie held up a package of jack cheese, which she was about to put on the burgers.

“Cheese is fine,” Courtney laughed. “Although you know I’m really here for your macaroni salad.”

“Hey, Court? You wanna stop hanging on my poor mother and help me set the table?” Adore called from the other side of the patio, arms full.

“Coming!” Courtney pressed one last kiss to Bonnie’s cheek before skipping over to happily fold napkins, just as Angie came outside with a couple of serving bowls.

As she laid out the silverware, Courtney looked up at Adore, setting the condiments at one end of the table. She snatched a piece of red pepper from the veggie tray and grinned, thrilled to be here with her best friend and surrogate family on this beautiful, breezy Spring evening.

Adore smiled back, the light in her hazel eyes making Courtney’s heart nearly burst with happiness.

“Who wants toasted buns?” Bonnie called.

“I do!” Courtney exclaimed, eyes glittering with amusement at the joke she knew by now was coming.

“Well then, come sit on the grill…”

Adore and Angie both groaned, but Courtney laughed uproariously as if it was the first time she’d ever heard Bonnie’s lame joke.

“Why are you encouraging her?” Adore asked, slinging an arm around Courtney’s shoulders and guiding her towards the house to get the rest of the food.

“She’s cute. I missed her-” Courtney stopped suddenly, not wanting to kill the jovial mood, but Adore nodded.

“She missed you too,” Adore said, tossing Courtney another smile before she entered the house.

Courtney took a deep breath, grateful and happy, and then followed her inside.

-

Trinity adjusted her pillow behind her back, accidentally jostling the porch swing and Willam on the other side.

Willam had joined Trinity at her Granny's for the weekend. He never missed an opportunity to get some homemade cornbread, mac and cheese, and Granny Bonet’s Famous Peach Cobbler.

Plus Granny Bonet was sweet as pie, soft-spoken with a roaring laugh. She always seemed genuine when asking Willam what he has been up to since they last had seen each other, never making him feel any different than her own grandkids.

"Shit, Trin! Don't make me drop the weed." Willam snapped, adjusting the book on his legs.

"Sorry, sorry. This thing was stabbing me in the back," she said, finally getting the pillow in place and turning to get comfortable.

"Eh, Fuck it!" Willam shrugged, taking the half-open joint to his mouth and wrapping it closed. "If I can roll up while Violet is driving, I can fucking roll anywhere. That bitch drives like she’s playing Mario Cart."

Trinity burst into laughter, nodding her head in agreement unable to vocalize.

"I don't understand how the hell she even got her license," Willam snorted, spurred on by Trinity’s giggles.  

"It's really not that bad," Trinity said, finally trying to defend their friend.

Willam gave an incredulous look over the flame he quickly ran over the joint.

"It's more so when she's impatient," Trinity clarified.

"Oh." Willam rolled his eyes before actually lighting and taking a quick intake. “So, all the time.”

"She's gotten better recently. I think Pearl's been helping her or something," Trinity shrugged, grabbing the joint.

"Wait, what? Pearl doesn't even have a car. That's not right." Willam sat up, staring seriously at Trinity.

Trinity held his gaze, intrigued by the wheels turning in his head. What could he be thinking?

"They're having sex!" Willam finally exclaimed triumphantly.

"What? No!" Trinity’s brow furrowed.

Willam shook his head and continued, "Actually, it's pretty obvious. And right under our noses. Violet’s one sneaky bitch."

"No, no, no, no, no," Trinity coughed, deep and loud.

"Yes!"

"Do you really think Violet is over Fame though?" Trinity asked, intentionally rocking the swing as Willam took another hit.

"Well, yeah. Or...maybe. Probably. At least, she should be."

"No." Trinity shook her head adamantly. “She’s definitely not.”

"Okay, Trin. If Pearl and Violet haven't hooked up already; they will. I bet you that."

"Bet what? Because I don't even know if Pearl is really Violet's type," Trinity hesitated.

"How so?"

"Like compatibility...in bed and stuff like that. You know Violet is forward and aggressive and Pearl seems sort of nonchalant but in the ‘you can't tell me what to do’ kind of way. Violet has to be the boss, and Pearl doesn’t seem like she’d let her. Incompatible." Trinity shrugged, snatching the joint from her cousin’s hand. “Don’t forget to share, dick.”

"Hold up! And how would you know what either of them is like in bed? You’ve given this a lot of thought, cuz." Willam looked genuinely shocked and confused.

“It’s just a guess,” Trinity said, rolling her eyes. She put the joining to her lips, inhaling deeply, even as her cheeks darkened in embarrassment. “I mean, you know, it’s not like I obsess over it or anything...shut up.”

“Omigod, Trin, are you gonna start lezzing out with those whores?”

Trinity started coughing and laughing, shaking her head.

“Never say never,” she wheezed, laughing even harder at the scandalized look on his face.

-

“What’s so funny?” Roy asked, tapping on Courtney’s thigh. She was sitting next to him in the booth at Denny’s, giggling to herself over something on her phone for about the 20th time since they’d sat down. They were with April and Bob, getting a late snack after the movies, and her mind was clearly elsewhere.  

“Oh, um...sorry. Adore just sent me this-” Courtney gave a sheepish smile. “You know what, it’s not important.” She closed her phone and stuffed it into her jacket pocket.

“Well, thanks for finally joining us,” Roy said. He was going for lighthearted, but it came out a bit cross and scolding.

“Sorry, daddy,” Courtney teased, causing April to burst out laughing and Roy to make an even grumpier face. She stole a French fry off his plate, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

“I think she needs a spanking,” Bob said, and Courtney turned to stick her tongue out at him.

“You need a spanking,” she informed Bob.

“Hell yeah I do.” He cast a sly look over at April. “You wanna spank me?”

“Not especially,” April said, feigning boredom as she sipped her strawberry milkshake.

“What about you, Court?” Bob wiggled his eyebrows. “Want to teach me how to behave?”

“You’re sick,” Courtney said.

“Come on, someone must want to punish me,” Bob whined, and then yelled, “Ow!” as Roy kicked him hard under the table.

“You’re welcome,” Roy said. “Now eat your chicken fingers.”

Courtney laughed, then felt her phone buzz in her pocket, fingers itching to open it and see what Adore might have sent. She reached inside; even just touching it made her feel better. When Roy got into a heated debate with Bob over whether the Jackass crew was in fact funny, she quickly flipped it open and checked.

ADORE: LOL but can you blame me?

COURTNEY: Of course not. You’re only human.

Courtney finished sending the text, quickly putting her phone back, when she looked up and saw April gazing knowingly at her. She shrugged guiltily, pulling her root beer float over and taking a sip.

-

Once Courtney and Adore made up, play practice became about ten times as fun. They didn’t have any scenes together, so whenever one of them was on stage, the other would be cheering them on silently from the wings.

Courtney was especially supportive once the performances began—not once leaving during Adore’s big solo, ready to leap out and fight anyone who would dare upset her this year. Fortunately, the protestors stayed home. Apparently, as Mrs. Maguire thought, just the words ‘Sound of Music’ were enough to appease them. They didn’t bother watching to see the genderqueer lead, lesbian nuns, drag queen baroness or gay messenger boy mincing about.

Closing night was a bit bittersweet for Roy—after all, he’d had a starring role in every show his entire 4 years there. College would be different, and he knew that this part of his life was now officially over. Courtney hugged him tight, and Adore teasingly told him that it was okay if he wanted to cry.

“Fuck off,” he said, burying his face into Courtney’s hair.

“What, I’m serious! We’re all very impressed at this display of emotion,” Adore said.

“Yeah, it really shows how secure you are in your masculinity,” Courtney added with a wink.

“Ugh! You’re both assholes!” Roy said before he stomped off stage.

“Hmm. I guess he’s not that secure,” Adore commented, and she and Courtney both began to giggle again.  

-

As May bled into June, days getting longer and warmer, Adore began to feel antsy for summer to begin. One Saturday, she invited Courtney for an old-fashioned sleepover in the tree house, just like the good old days, and Courtney enthusiastically agreed. It was their first one in almost a year, and both girls were excited to reconnect, but maybe a bit nervous. There was still so much that they’d never said to each other. Still so much that they didn’t know how to put into words.

Adore climbed up the ladder with pizza and drinks, just as Courtney finished laying out the sleeping bags.

“Pizza delivery!”

“Ooh, yay!” Courtney exclaimed. “And um...I stole this from the liquor cabinet. Hopefully Adam won’t miss it.”

She produced a nearly full bottle of Jack Daniels, which impressed Adore, and made her send a grateful little prayer to Karen’s latest boyfriend.

“Thanks, Adam!”

Feeling like she could use a little something to help her relax, Courtney took a big swig from the bottle.

“Ugh, this is disgusting!” Courtney winced at the bitter taste, giggling.

“There's Coke too,” Adore said, and off Courtney's horrified expression, clarified, “Coca-cola, you dumbass. You can use it as a chaser.” She gestured to the white bag on top of the pizza box.

“Oh. Right.” Courtney flashed an apologetic grin and pulled a bottle of Coke from the bag, taking a sip.

Adore shook her head, chuckling, taking the bottle from her.

“Here…” She poured some of the soda out the window, then carefully replaced it with Jack, taking a sip to make sure the ratio was right before adding a little more alcohol. “Perfect.”

“Ugh, Adore!” Courtney opened the pizza box, groaning. “There’s pepperoni all over it!”

“Oh shit.”

“Gross…”

“Sorry!” Adore said, explaining, “I haven’t been hanging out with a lot of vegetarians lately, I forgot. Here, I’ll eat the pepperoni off for you.”

“Then there will still be pepperoni juice,” Courtney whined.

“You’re such a pain in the ass. Pepperoni is barely an animal. I don’t even know what animal it is!”

“Yeah. Don’t you think that’s a problem?” She pushed the pizza aside and dug into the bag of cheesy bread instead.

“Well. Sorry,” Adore said again, and Courtney leaned back, giving her a smile before taking another swig of Jack and Coke.

“It’s cool, I can eat this.”

-

“So…” Adore traced the edge of the sleeping bag with her finger, by now a bit sleepy and rocking a healthy buzz, finding herself realizing again just how much she’d missed her best friend. She felt bad, wished she could take back all the months of silence. But instead, she settled for trying her best to find out how her life was going these days. “...How are things with Roy?”

“Good. Great, actually,” Courtney sighed. “He’s the best.”

“He really loves you a lot,” Adore said, the memory of their argument a few weeks back still fresh in her mind. How Roy was the one who, in spite of everything, got her to make up with Courtney—and all because he wanted his girlfriend to be happy. It was disgustingly sweet, actually.

“Yeah. It’s gonna be so weird when he’s gone next year…” Courtney said.

“Oh, right. Shit. How’re you gonna survive?” They’d been joined at the hip for so long now that Adore couldn’t imagine what school—or life—would be like for Courtney without him.

“I’ll manage,” Courtney said, rolling over onto her side. “Anyway, he’s going to UCLA, so he’s only gonna be a few hours away. I’ll probably still see him all the time.”

“That’s cool.” Adore took another sip of their makeshift cocktail, swallowing down her residual bitterness about Roy and Courtney’s perfect teen romance along with the whiskey.  

“What about you. Any...special girls I should know about?” Courtney asked carefully. She took the bottle from Adore’s hands.

“Special girls? Okay mom.”

“Shut up, you know what I mean! Anyone who-”

“Nah.” Adore shook her head slowly.

“Do you and Violet still ever-”

“No,” Adore said, not even letting her get out the question. “We both realized that it was super toxic, and we’re much better off as friends. And this time, it feels like it’s stuck.”

“And Pearl?”

“Pearl?” Adore furrowed her brow, shaking her head. She and Pearl were still in that weird place where things were almost flirty but not. And she was still the only one who knew the whole truth about what happened with Courtney. It was too hard to explain, so instead she just said, “No. Although she has been really great this year. You know...with everything.”

Courtney took another sip, nearly polishing off the bottle, and Adore crawled over to make a new one.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.” Adore once again poured the Coke out the window—this time maybe a bit more, and then replaced the contents with Jack.  

It was a few moments before Courtney spoke again. She appeared to be collecting her thoughts.

“How did you know that you were gay? Or...when…did you start thinking about it?”

Adore turned around, head tilted.

“Where’d this come from?”

“I’m just curious. You never really talked to me about it.” Courtney held a pillow in her arms, hair falling across her eyes.

Adore considered what to say, how honest to actually be in this moment, deciding that a few lies of omission were probably the best idea for everyone.

“I guess I always sort felt a little...different. And then when Violet started tutoring me, she kind of guessed? And she made me feel like...I don’t know. It was normal. Or at least, okay.”

“Of course it’s okay,” Courtney assured her, then asked, “So...was she the first girl you ever...had feelings for?”

Adore’s tongue felt thick in her mouth. She didn’t want to lie, not tonight when they were supposed to be bonding. But on the other hand, they’d only recently found their way back to each other, and what if she destroyed their delicate new reality? She didn’t think she could bear another fight, another period of loneliness like she’d had this year.

“Um...I guess I had little crushes before, but nothing that ever...went anywhere,” Adore finally said. Which was true.

“Oh yeah? Like who?” It was a fair question. A casual question. Her best friend showing interest in the inner workings of her heart.

“Uh…” Adore racked her brain for an answer that would satisfy her. “Remember that counselor we had at drama camp? Asia?”

Courtney did remember—she was a pretty Black girl with a dazzling smile, funny and lively but always sure to keep them in line.

“Oh yeah. She was cute,” Courtney nodded approvingly.

“And of course, um...Shakira.”

“Of course.” Courtney giggled, then bit her lip. “Anyone else?”

“Oh! Remember that girl who worked at Video Village? With the pink hair and all the piercings?” Adore grinned slyly, starting to have fun with this walk down memory lane.

“Her?!” This one, Courtney didn’t seem to appreciate, but Adore just shrugged.  

“Yeah! She was hot.”

Courtney took another thoughtful sip from the bottle before asking, “Have you ever liked a boy?”

“I used to try to make myself like boys,” Adore said. “Or, imagine that I did. But it was always just some dumb pop star or something. Like...remember Ashley Parker Angel?”

“No. Who?!” Courtney looked utterly confused, brow furrowed.

“The blond from O-Town.”

“O-Town!” Courtney giggled gleefully, a hiccup escaping her as she passed the bottle back to Adore. “Omigod. You had their picture on your binder and no one could figure out why.”

“Yeah, I know. Their music was terrible,” Adore admitted.

“They made music?”

Adore laughed, shaking her head.  

“And god, even my fake crushes were dudes with girl names…”

This made Courtney giggle some more, holding her pillow tighter. Her eyes drifted shut for a moment.

“What about you?” Adore asked.

Courtney’s eyes popped back open.

“What about me?”

“You ever like a girl?” Adore teased, poking her in the ribs. Fully expecting her to squeal in disgust, or burst out laughing.

But instead, Courtney looked back at her and said, “Besides you?”

Adore stared back at her for a long, heated moment. A million thoughts swirled in her head, but none so strong as the realization that Courtney was just fucking around, making her pay for her teasing. Adore started to laugh, shaking her head.

“Good one, bitch.”

Overcome with an impulse she couldn’t ignore, Courtney leaned forward and pressed her lips to Adore’s. And for a moment, it was perfect—Adore’s soft lips against hers, breath sweet and smoky from the drinks. And then Courtney felt a hand on her shoulder, shoving her backward.

Courtney clapped a hand over her mouth. What was wrong with her? This was exactly how she’d fucked things up last time. Her cheeks blazed red.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“I know,” Adore said hoarsely.

Courtney’s eyes filled with tears, terrified that this time, she’d fucked up for good.

“Are you mad?” she whispered.

“No.” Adore shook her head, giving a wry smile and reaching forward to pry the bottle from her fingers. “But you’ve probably had enough of this.”

Courtney let out a relieved chuckle, tension leaving her body as she laid back down against the bean bag chair. Things were okay; they were still friends and everything was back to normal. Or at least, as normal as possible.

“Dory?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you snuggle with me?” she asked, voice soft and tentative.

Adore turned to her friend, giving a gentle nod, saying “Of course,” before curling up beside her.

For a second, as she breathed in, Adore realized that Courtney must have switched shampoos. The scent of her hair was different, and the unfamiliarity of it gave Adore a strange pang of sadness.

But then, as they settled in some more, Adore realized that lingering beneath the surface was something she knew very well, something innately her that would never go away, no matter what perfumes she might use. And that, the sameness, was enough to make her smile to herself, arms wrapping tightly around Courtney as she pulled her in close.

[wyntereyez]

Squid Pro Quo part thirty-five

Apologies this has taken so long!  I’ve been having technical difficulties.  Which is why the banner isn’t included with this part, because I’m doing this via the library computer and I don’t have the banner available.

------

And on that gloomy note, Granny shooed them all from the kitchen, clucking over the state of it (apparently, there’d been batter-slinging while Emma had been answering the door) and Granny had given the streaked countertop a long-suffering sigh.

 Emma would object to being banned from her own kitchen, but…free breakfast made by Granny. Plus, when she’d tried to say something, Granny had admitted she liked to cook when stressed, and with her diner still in shambles, she was denied that outlet.

 So they shuffled off to the living room to strategize, knowing the old wolf in the kitchen would hear everything they discussed and would contribute if necessary.

 Emma sat on the couch, Hope in her lap.  Killian sat next to her, while Jones took the recliner.  There were still tattered remains of pizza boxes scattered across the floor, but Emma ignored them.  She could clean when this was all over.

 Besides, it was kind of fun seeing Killian - both of him - dismayed by the disorder. He was definitely the tidy one of the relationship.

 “If things remain consistent, we have about an hour and a half until the next set of transformations,” Emma said.  Hope spat out her pacifier.  Killian automatically retrieved it.  “We need to get word out, somehow…”

 “Like a press conference?” Jones asked.  “There’s not enough time to get one together.”

 “And it wouldn’t reach everyone - the Storybrooke residents are the only ones who really have TVs or phones.”  Emma bit her lip thoughtfully.  “There must be a way to do it magically.”

 “Regina has conference calls with other rulers via mirror,” Jones said.  “I wonder if she can expand that to everybody.”

 “Good idea.” Emma glanced around for her phone, then realized it was upstairs.

 “I’ll get it, Love,” Killian said, and headed upstairs.

 While they waited, Jones stood and started rooting around in the pile of demolished cardboard.  Killian returned and exchanged the phone for Hope, who gurgled and pressed her face into his chest.  He watched Jones, puzzled, until the man let out a pleased huff and pulled out the blue gem he’d taken from the Cave of Wonders.  Looking pleased with himself, he set it on the coffee table.

 Killian eyed it admiringly.  “I have to admit, Mate, I do admire your dedication to piracy.  I’ve always wanted to plunder the Cave of Wonders, but I didn’t even think of it yesterday.”

 Emma looked up from the text she was writing to Regina.  “Seriously, you two?  We have more important things to worry about right now!”  Emma finished typing, double-checked it to make sure it was clear, and sent the text.  “You need to give that back to Jasmine.”

 “Aye, and I will,” Jones said, making Killian’s face fall a little, “but I didn’t grab it because I wanted a bit of treasure.”  Jones picked up the stone, holding it close to his face as though peering into its depths.  “When we were in the cave, I kept seeing eyes in the stones.  Aladdin said there weren’t any magical artifacts left in the cave, so I assume the magic came from elsewhere.”

 “Someone was using the stones to scry us,” Killian realized.

 “That was my thought,” Jones nodded.  “There’s no magic in the stone now, but I thought perhaps there’s something that can be used to trace the magic back to the source”

 Emma’s phone pinged - Regina was going to look in to finding a way to boost her power enough to reach every mirror in the United Realms.  “I have no idea how to do that,” Emma sighed, setting her phone aside.

 “I’ll take it to Regina; she needs the amulet anyway,” Jones volunteered.

 Emma nodded. “Okay, now we need to discuss -” A frantic knocking on the door interrupted her.  “Now who…?”

 Killian answered the door and ushered in a frantic Snow and David, trailed by a very confused and tired Neal, still in his pajamas.  David was carrying a wrapped bundled that he held as far away from himself and Snow as possible.

 “Mom? Dad? What’s going on?”  Emma jumped to her feet.

 David didn’t immediately answer; he hurried across the room, set the bundle on the table, then hastily backed away until he and Snow stood as far back as they could without leaving the living room.  Granny appeared, armed with a butcher knife and spatula.

 “This morning,” Snow said, eyes never leaving the bundle, “I woke up wanting to wear my jewelry.  It was more important to me than brushing my teeth, or making breakfast.  I got out of bed and immediately grabbed my jewelry box.”

 David picked up the story.  “She was babbling, going on and on about a necklace her father had given her and she needed to wear it today to honor him.  So I went to see what she was talking about, and then all I could think about was how beautiful Snow would look in this necklace, and how she’d need my help putting it on…”  David shook his head, as though he were still fighting the compulsion.  He probably was.  “It felt wrong, so I pulled Snow back.  It helped us clear our heads enough to realize what was happening, so we brought the jewelry box straight here.”

 “We were going to try for Regina’s,” Snow said apologetically, “but we weren’t sure if we’d be able to resist long enough to make to the drive.”

 “You did the right thing,” Emma said, eyeing the wrapped box warily.  She did not want it in the same house as her daughter.

 “Why don’t you help me with breakfast, Your Majesties?” Granny asked.  “You don’t need to be in the room for this.”

 “Take Hope,” Emma commanded.  Killian handed the baby over to Snow, whose face lost its pinched look as soon as she made contact.  

 “Don’t touch anything, Emma,” Granny said, as she ushered Snow, David, and Neal ahead of her. “For all we know, this could be a trap for you as well.  Let the guys do it.”

 Emma’s stomach lurched at the thought.  Whoever was behind this seemed to be three moves ahead of everyone; it would be like them to anticipate Emma being there to help her parents and become transformed herself.

 Killian and Jones waited until they were sure everyone was in the kitchen.  Emma kept her distance, though she felt no compulsion to touch the box.  Killian carefully unwrapped the box (silk, Emma noted absently, which had the ability to insulate magic, to a small extant.  At least her parents had been thinking clearly.)

 The jewelry box was innocuous; it was plain, but lovingly crafted of a dark polished wood with brass hinges and clasp.  Killian slowly opened it with the tip of his hook, then he and Jones began to sort through the jewelry inside.  It took less than a minute for Killian to find it and pull it slowly free, again using his hook.  He laid it atop the silk and turned to Emma.  “Feel anything?”

 Emma shook her head and took a step forward.  Killian and Jones immediately shifted to block her, but she was able to peer over their shoulders to see the necklace.

 There was no mistaking it; like the others, the main piece was a golden disc roughly the size of a quarter, carved with intricate symbols almost too small to see with the naked eye.  But unlike the other amulets, this one wasn’t scorched, and she could make out details not visible on the others, including the raised pictures in the middle of - “Is that a rabbit and a pig?”

 “Looks like,” Killian agreed.  “Wonder which one’s meant to be Dave?”  He flashed a grin, but it didn’t reach his eyes.  He carefully wrapped the necklace and handed it to Jones.  “Looks like you’ll be taking this to Regina as well.”

 “I should get going, then.  The sooner this is away from your parents, the better.”  Jones cast a wistful look towards the kitchen, and the delectable scents wafting towards them.

 Granny peaked out.  “I brought a bear claw for you,” she said.  “It’s in the bag.”

 Jones beamed, and Emma scowled.  Was she ever going to get another bear claw?  Jones gathered up everything, then grimaced.  “My car’s still at the station.”

 Emma nodded towards a bowl on a stand by the door.  “Take our cruiser,” she said.  As sheriff and deputy, she and Killian had taken to keeping a cruiser available at all times.  They hadn’t needed it originally, the Bug being sufficient for their needs, but the United Realms came with more potential for trouble, and it had been more convenient to having a cruiser nearby.

 “We’ll give you call after the spell activates, to make sure you remained human,” Killian said.  Jones nodded in thanks, scooped up the keys, and headed out.

[skamamoroma]

Sending love to @londongirl2001 for tagging ❤

1. what is the color of your hairbrush? Haha starting off random, i see. It’s a peachy colour with white bits.

2. a food you never eat? Shellfish. I’m allergic and have been since I was a kid. I haven’t a clue what it tastes like!

3. are you typically too warm or too cold? I’m a bit of both. I run quite warm but if I get properly cold I take FOREVER to warm up. 

4. what were you doing 45 minutes ago? Cleaning my bathroom. THE EXCITEMENT. Contain yourselves!

5. what is your favorite candy bar? I’m guessing candy bar can relate to chocolate because, if so, Wispa. Hands down.

6. have you ever been to a professional sports event? Yes but not loads... I’ve been to a few football matches and I used to live in Wimbledon so I’ve been to the tennis before. Other than that, I’m not a bit sports person.

7. what is the last thing you said out loud? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Quarantined for 34 days alone. It was probably me singing I think!

8. what is your favorite ice cream? Pistachio al gelato! 

9. what was the last thing you had to drink? Cloudy lemonade. I’m a little addicted at the moment and have been drinking it warm when I had a really bad cough/hayfever and fatigue with honey!

10. do you like your wallet? It’s a little blue thing with a star on the zip. I’m not really one for designer stuff or fancy leather stuff... but it suits me and works. I’m kinda only ever interested in if something is cute and practical...!

11. what was the last thing you ate? A chocolate chip cookie!

12. did you buy any new clothes last weekend? Oh I don’t even remember what clothes shopping is like haha. But I did treat myself for a few new bits for staying inside from Monki recently (aka the place half of my wardrobe is from)

13. the last sporting event you watched? Oh god knows. I think 6 Nations rugby in a pub in Brighton.

14. what is your favorite flavor of popcorn? Basic sweet from the cinema. I’m not a huge popcorn person.

15. who is the last person you sent a text message to? To my group of best friends.

16. ever go camping? LOADS when I was a kid, a few times when I was a teenager and at a few festivals then I genuinely can’t remember after that...

17. do you take vitamins? Hahahaha. I have a hormone condition and I’ve been taking a ridiculous amount of supplements for that so yes. Loads. 

18. do you go to church every sunday? I’m atheist so, no. 

19. do you have a tan? I’m painfully Northern so no. I’m pasty and this whole staying inside thing is meaning I’m practically translucent!

20. do you prefer chinese food or pizza? OH GOD. This is hard. I have to betray my Italian food loving soul and say chinese food. Mainly because there’s more of a mix aka veg/carbs

21. do you drink your soda with a straw? Nope, but I do drink fizzy drinks (whenever i have them at home) out of a huge goblet glass

22. what color socks do you usually wear? ALLSORTS. I have quite the ridiculous sock selection. I’m wearing some today that say “you crafty bitch” that one of my best friends bought me when we were in Brighton

23. ever drive above the speed limit? Oh definitely. Hardly ever intentionally but I’m sure I’ve done it a few times. 

24. what terrifies you? I used to have quite a few morbid fears that would impact me hugely but I taught myself to get over two of them (flying and needles) which I’m so proud of myself for doing... but I think seeing those I love suffer is right up there, spiders/bugs in general and then I have a few weird ones like trypophobia and a touch of claustrophobia. 

25. look to your left, what do you see? My kitchen!

26. what chore do you hate? I really don’t mind most chores but I hate to iron clothes so I rarely do it and also I taking the rubbish out... otherwise, I am a bit weird and I like to clean around my flat. 

27. what do you think of when you hear an australian accent? Normally TV shows!

28. what’s your favorite soda? Lemonade - all kinds!

29. do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive-thru? I don’t have a car as I live in London so I can’t do a drive-thru and I don’t really go to many fast food places to be honest. I only ever really get fast food when I travel on trains or the odd home delivery

30. who’s the last person you talked to? MYSELF. 

31. favorite cut of beef? I’m not a huge meat eater in general but I do like steak every now and then. 

32. last song you listened to? Always Will from the musical Bright Star

33. last book you read? My Italian dictionary....haha

34. favorite day of the week? Friday or Saturday - or Wednesdays when I have Italian class!

35. can you say the alphabet backwards? Good lord, no. My brain gets scrambled.

36. do you like your coffee? OH GOD. I love coffee in so many ways. I’m a real iced latte fiend. I love a Cappuccino after a meal. I love mochas on the regular. I like a good milky coffee in the winter at work. TONS.

37. favorite pair of shoes? I have a pair of pink converse I love and my Birkenstocks in the summer. 

38. at what time do you normally go to bed? OH GOD MY SLEEP PATTERN IS SCREWED. Normally, around midnight when we’re not in a global pandemic!!! 

39. at what time do you normally get up? For work, around 7.30-8. Now.... christ on a bike, any time. 

40. what do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets? Sunsets. 100%. My favourite sunsets I’ve ever seen were in Italy (I watched so many from the top deck of the boats on Lake Garda) and in Iceland at the Glacier Lagoon near Diamond Beach. Both were ridiculously beautiful.

41. how many blankets are on your bed? Only my quilt but in the Winter, I have a pink sparkly blanket I put over the bottom :)

42. describe your kitchen plates. HA. My kitchen wear is what I call ‘granny chic’. I have so many mismatched plates but all of them are either pink or pastel colours, I have citrus fruit side plates and floral crockery. Even all of my cookware like casserole dishes etc are patterned and granny-ish!

43. do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage? Gin. Hands down. I love it with allsorts. I’m a bit picky though and have my favourites. I like to drink it with garnishes though. Juniper berries, pink peppercorns etc. Also, I love a Shandy every now and then and I love certain brands of sweet sparkling Italian wine. Also cocktails. My friends always say I’ll drink anything pink.

44. do you play cards? Not really. We were never really a card playing household so I never learned but I am a board game person!

45. what color is your car? I don’t have one. I live in London and really don’t need one AND can’t afford one. I used to have a little black Micra called Daisy though!

46. can you change a tire? I could once upon a time but I’ve forgotten!

47. what is your favorite province? Province is difficult to work out for the UK... I guess it’d loosely translate to ‘region’ and that’s DIFFICULT. I guess I’d say the North East of England. 

48. favorite job you’ve ever had? I LOVED working in a bookshop when I was at Uni. I’d wanted that job for SO long and I adored it. I also love my current job a lot of the time too. 

49. how did you get your biggest scar? My old dog. He had sharp nails and scratched the back of my hand but it wasn’t his fault!

50. what did you do today that made someone else happy? I haven’t interacted with another human being today in person but, via the wonders of social media, I gave advice to once of my best friends about life etc and I THINK I helped a bit and gave her support so I’m hoping that made her happy!!!

I’m tagging : anyone who reads it - tell us things, I love reading about people! (also, feel free to ignore, of course!)