#i haven't watched our dining table yet but even if i had gotten around to it i think sento would sweep

[t-u-i-t-c]

make me choose

atsuhiro inukai as sento kiriyu or atsuhiro inukai as hozumi yutaka → atsuhiro inukai as sento kiriyu

[heart-of-the-morningstar]

Dress Up Part 4: Last Preview

This will be the final big preview for y’all, I’m hoping to have this finished by Sunday! Luci’s here! There is one little nod towards some naughtiness~

You laughed to yourself, now slightly more worried. Perhaps this wasn’t the best idea after all, but you’ve already come this far. You sauntered through the front door and made your way towards Lucifer’s workshop, right where you left him. You knocked on the large wooden door. No answer. You slowly opened the door and realized Lucifer was not at his work bench. There was, however, a small handwritten note on top of his desk. You made your way over and picked up the beautiful hand written letter.

Welcome back, my love! If you're looking for me, I'll be in the kitchen! I have a surprise for you! ♥

~ Your Luci

You smiled sweetly at his letter. Before you made you made your way to the kitchen, you took a small detour to your bedroom, hiding Asmodeus's gifts under one of the large pillows on the bed. The gears were turning in your head as you formulated a plan. Finding your way to the dining room, you were greeted to the site of a lovely set table complete with a large vase full of pristine red roses with petals decorating the tablecloth beneath, flickering candles, and golden cutlery that glistened in the candlelight. Lucifer always knew how to go above and beyond, the view was nothing short of perfection. You took a few steps more and pushed open the swinging door to the kitchen, at last laying eyes on your husband across the room. He mustn't have heard you as he hadn't turned around. The sweet familiar smell of chocolate chip pancakes permeated the air as you watched him effortlessly flip one of the pancakes back into the pan. Ever the showman even when no one was watching. Or, at least he thought as much.

"It smells delicious in here," you called out to him.

"GAH!" Lucifer exclaimed in surprise, losing grip on the pan which clattered to the stove top. He turned around, his face softening and flashing you his signature toothy grin. "Oh, honey, you're back!" Quickly, he turned the dial on the stove to the 'off' position and discarded his 'Kiss The Cook' apron, tossing it to the floor and wrapped you in a tight embrace, his lips pecking every inch of your face before stopping at your lips. "You startled me! How dare you sneak up on me, and on our anniversary of all days!" he said playfully, placing another quick peck to your lips.

You could only giggle in response. "I'm sorry, Luci. I didn't think I had the power to frighten the devil himself, though. You're lucky I didn't try to give you a hug just now!"

"Oh, it would have been an unmitigated disaster, I assure you!" Lucifer joked. "But don't worry, all is forgiven. You're just in time too! Go have a seat out there and I'll be right behind you."

He gave you one last kiss on the forehead before releasing his grip on you and making his way back to the stove. You did as he asked and took a seat in one of the two empty chairs. Less than a minute passed before Lucifer threw his hip into the door carrying two huge stacks of pancakes in each hand, placing them down ever so delicately in front of you. With a quick snap of his fingers, your pancakes were doused in a cacophony of strawberries, bananas, and syrup.

"Bon appétit," Lucifer chuckled. He took his seat across from you, outstretching his hand to hold yours while you indulged in your perfect breakfast for dinner. "So tell me," Lucifer started to say after swallowing a mouthful of pancakes, "where did you disappear to today?"

You stopped chewing for a moment and swallowed the bits of banana that remained. "O-Oh, nowhere special. I was just...looking for a special gift."

"A present for moi?" Lucifer feigned surprise. "Do I get to know what it is?"

"Soon, love, I promise," you reassured him, "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise too soon. We haven't even gotten to dessert yet!"

Lucifer leaned down an placed a small kiss to the back of your hand. "Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to prepare anything. Please forgive me," he looked up at you with a small seductive grin. "But there is something sweet I've been dying to taste all day, my darling, and it's sweeter than any dessert I could ever conjure. I'm practically starving!"

You felt your cheeks burn as you smiled back at him coyly. After patting your face with your napkin, you stood up slowly and took a few steps towards your insatiable husband. You bent down, pressing your soft lips against his ear. "You need to learn to control that sweet tooth of yours, Luci," you teased him. Lucifer let out a shallow breath. You took a few steps back, placing your hands on your hips. "If you want dessert, you’re going to have to earn it." You snapped a portal open behind you without so much as a warning. “Come find me!” You sprinted through the portal, finding yourself in the adjacent hallway across from where you left your ravenous lover. You heard the dining room doors crash open followed by an amused laugh.

“So that’s how you want to play it, huh?” Lucifer’s voice carried, “Alright, then…”

[emotionallychargedtowel]

Since you're familiar with tokusatsu actors and their journeys into BL, what kinds of careers historically have tokusatsu actors had as they start to get more credits and mature?

Thank you for the ask! This is a great question. It’s something I’ve been curious about for a while, as you know.

I never get tired of this gif of Seto Toshiki (a Kamen Rider alum with two BLs under his belt) eating cake. (It's from Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, which he starred in with Iijima Hiroki of Our Dining Table fame.)

Oh, I should probably say at the outset that I'm talking about the suit transformation type of tokusatsu shows here. Technically the category is broader and also includes kaiju movies, but I'm focusing here on the kind of tokusatsu series in which human characters (or human-like ones) transform into masked heroes. I think that's what you had in mind, Ben, and it's the type of tokusatsu that tends to overlap with the BL world.

Another thing you'll notice is that I'm mostly going to talk about men here. Tokusatsu has been making some progress as a genre when it comes to gender equity, but it still has a long way to go. And since most of the progress that has happened, like the increase in female Riders, has been in the last few years, the actors who played those characters haven't had much of a subsequent career yet.

Now, to your question.

Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out a way to really look at this systematically. So, definitely take my conclusions with a grain of salt. (If anyone reading this knows more about this or has thoughts about how to get more/better info, I'd love to hear them.) The main source of information I have--aside from just soaking stuff up from watching tokusatsu shows and reading toku fans' tumblrs, of course--is looking at toku actors’ entries on MDL and seeing how many roles they’ve gotten, if they’re “guest,” “support,” or “main” roles, and trying to find out about the type of shows and movies they’re in.

One of the biggest weaknesses to this approach as an American viewer is that it's usually hard for me to tell what constitutes a popular or prestigious series or film even if I go to the listings for specific shows/films. I should also note that one thing that biases my “data” (to use the term loosely) is the fact that I’m more likely to look up this information about actors I like. Well, occasionally I’ll also look at info on some sample of actors out of curiosity, like a bunch of lead Ultraman actors’ subsequent careers or something like that. But it's usually more random.

A little background. As you're aware, tokusatsu roles often go to younger actors who don't have much previous experience. They tend to function both as a way of getting a foothold in the industry (building a resume, starting a fanbase, etc.) and as a way of learning on the job. Part of the reason they work so well in this regard is that they have long seasons. Ultraman seasons are typically around 25 episodes long, which is pretty long compared to many shows in Japan, but Kamen Rider and Super Sentai seasons are usually around 50 episodes long. This means two things: a toku part gets you a lot more of the aforementioned work experience than you'd get in other genres, and it provides a solid year of consistent work with additional work to follow (particularly hard to come by in Japan's entertainment industry, from what I understand). The additional work is substantial, too. There are typically post-series TV movies and touring live shows and there are often guest spots on other series in your franchise.

When it comes to landing other roles, as in other types of media, it makes a big difference what type of role you had. This is stating the obvious, I know, but there are some specific ways this works with tokusatsu series, and it relates to who ends up in BLs and in what capacity. So, all of the big three tokusatsu franchises are pretty ensemble-based but they still have distinct leads and some degree of a hierarchy of roles. Ultraman has the strongest leads, Kamen Rider has lead/title Riders and secondary (and often tertiary) Riders, and Super Sentai shows are especially ensemble-y (the word sentai basically means "squad," after all) but they always have some kind of group leader.

When I look up subsequent work by tokusatsu actors who had sizable roles in their toku series--lead roles, or other parts that are what MDL would call "main" roles--what I see most often is a lot of supporting and guest roles in a variety of TV shows and some films. You can usually find a smattering of lead roles as well, but if you look closely they may turn out to be smaller productions (but not always). When it comes to the number/frequency of credits, there's a lot of variation but an average case would be 2-3 such credits per year. Like I mentioned above, it's hard for me to tell how desirable/prestigious/well-paying those guest and supporting roles are. But they don't usually seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel or anything. So, yeah. Lots of these actors have different paths, but this is what I see most frequently.

Given how challenging it is to make a career out of acting in Japan, this is nothing to sneeze at. Despite its relative influence, the Japanese entertainment industry is still comparatively small, and there are only so many opportunities. In that context, regularly getting guest and supporting gigs constitutes a pretty uncommon level of success.

Could these folks support themselves on this amount of work? I often see just a few credits per year, so maybe not. But when I like one of these actors enough to follow them on socials, it usually seems like they are supplementing those parts with other stuff like stage plays, toku fan appearances, modeling gigs, or other types of performance including music. Even with these different sources of income, some probably still can't live on their entertainment industry pay alone. But it appears that some can.

So that's the most common thing. One less common outcome is leaning really hard into being a tokusatsu actor for life. It's not typical to get significant roles in multiple toku shows, but it does happen. And some actors manage to play the same character in a lot of post-series movies, miniseries, etc. stretching out for years after their actual series. For example, Tsuruno Takeshi, who played Ultraman Dyna's human host Shin Asuka, has been in ten different Ultraman things including his main series, a short series, a lot of TV movies, and a special. Dyna aired in 1997, and his last appearance as Asuka was fairly recent, in 2016. That's almost a 20-year span. Yet Tsuruno has never had a non-Ultraman main character part. (Though this is partly because he seems to have focused more on his music career and related variety show type things post-Dyna.) There are even some actors who are tokusatsu superfans whose whole career plan is centered on the genre from the get-go.

For those who are looking to branch out, there are a lot of trajectories. So I'll try to talk about some of them through a few examples.

Takeda Kouhei

You probably knew I was going to bring him up. On Kamen Rider Kiva, Takeda's character was important but not the lead (he played the main character's father in the 1980s, in a timeline that ran parallel to the present day one). That was in 2008, when he was 22. Nine years later, in 2017, he was in Kamen Rider Build, in which he was the "tertiary" Rider. This character was a potato farmer-turned-antihero. As tertiary Riders go, he was pretty popular. But Takeda seemed to be mostly hovering at a certain level at that point. Then Old Fashion Cupcake happened. It's significant that he went from playing supporting characters (albeit important ones) to a lead character in OFC. It's also helpful that OFC came out at a point when the prestige of BLs was on the rise. It seems like Takeda has had more consistent and larger parts since then. The difference isn't night and day or anything, but it's observable.

If you look at Takeda's Build costars, Inukai Atsuhiro and Akaso Eiji, here’s what you'll find. Akaso has a similar trajectory to Takeda's only somewhat steeper. His role on Build (the secondary Rider) was a bit bigger, he seemed to get slightly bigger roles overall after Build, and Cherry Magic gave him a significant boost from there. Inukai had a bigger upswing early on followed by slower growth that still had him outstripping both Akaso and Takeda. From what I can tell, his “data” more closely resembles that of Yamada Yuki, who I’ll talk about in a second, though they have different niches.

Suda Masaki

Suda Masaki was only 16 when he played the main rider in Kamen Rider W in 2009, which is unusually young. (W has a unique premise where two different people inhabit the same Rider, so Suda played a lead rider but so did his costar Kiriyama Renn.) From what I can tell, he seems to have had a pretty organic path to larger and larger roles while varying genres and styles quite a bit. At this point he's definitely a very respected actor. (One interesting bit of trivia: Hagiwara Riku has said Suda is his biggest acting role model.) He's won two Japan Academy Film Prizes and been nominated three more times. I don't know of a more successful ex-tokusatsu lead. Actually, I looked him up for this post to fill in some details and found out for the first time that he also has a pretty successful career as a jpop musician. It's almost annoying that he's that talented in yet another area.

I don't see any indication that Suda has ever played a queer character, though he has definitely done some pretty bromantic stuff. He did kiss a man once in a drama series, but it was for plot reasons and was 100% played for laughs in a gross way. He also played a gender nonconforming character in the 2014 live action version of Princess Jellyfish. (Another bit of trivia: when another live action adaptation of Princess Jellyfish was released in 2018, the same character was played by another former lead Rider, Seto Koji from Kiva.) I wouldn't put it past Suda to play a queer character, if it was for a highbrow movie or something analogous to what Nishijima Hidetoshi has done in What Did You Eat Yesterday?, but I'm also not holding my breath.

Yamada Yuki

A less extreme case. Yamada was on Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. He was the blue member of the team, a soldier-turned-pirate. It may have helped Yamada along later on that Gokaiger is an especially popular Sentai series. Post-Gokaiger, Yamada didn't have any sort of big breakout role that I can find. It just seems like fairly soon after Gokaiger, he started having significant roles in TV dramas and has pretty much continued from there, with some upward momentum but no huge changes. When he was in a drama with Akaso Eiji recently, his part was first billed and a smidge bigger. Yamada's trend line seemed to have a biggish upward swing early and then just a slight slope from there. But I just saw him in something different: he plays the younger member of the minesweeper crew in Godzilla Minus One. I wonder if that will mark any sort of shift for him.

Yamada hasn't played any queer characters as far as I can tell. His Sentai role was shippy as hell, though. It's a tradition among Sentai shows that subtext-level queer ships happen between the red and blue team members, and that's exactly what happened in Gokaiger. Sometimes the subtext pretty much became text. If magazine images from that time are any indication, their relationship seems to have been a promotional angle for the show. There's even one where they seem to be in some kind of high school AU that looks like it's straight out of a BL.

what about women?

I tried looking up a few women I know from tokusatsu roles while I was looking up these and other dudes. Some of them were still in the business, at least. Some were getting the same trickle of guest and supporting parts a lot of men do after a tokusatsu show. A few had a slightly bigger trickle. But many of them seemed to have disappeared from the public eye entirely. Not only are women underrepresented in tokusatsu, and not only are their roles often relatively small and two-dimensional, but it doesn't seem like they get even a slight career boost after these roles.

It's possible this will change for some of the actors who got bigger, more interesting toku roles in recent years. Here's hoping!

The changing relationship between tokusatsu and BL

The relationship between tokusatsu and BL has been changing as BL gains more prestige, like I alluded to when I talked about Takeda Kouhei. There was a time when they seemed to be pretty analogous in terms of how hard it was to get a role and how effective they were as rungs on a career ladder. If you went from being a tokusatsu side character to a BL lead (like Takeda), that was a step up, but only because you were shifting from a supporting spot to a lead one. Tokusatsu leads usually didn't usually do BL or, when they did, only played straight supporting roles. I think it was seen as a lateral move. But now, BL is becoming a very established next step after tokusatsu. It's like BL has moved up in status so that the consensus is that it's above tokusatsu on the ladder, but just by a little bit. It's also kind of an organic transition since we're seeing more queer ships in tokusatsu that, while they mostly happen on a subtext level, are close to being canon (and in some cases, arguably already are). It occurred to me while I was writing this that there's also another type of role that is in a similar zone of accessibility and prestige to both tokusatsu and BL. It's a franchise, not a genre, but with so many movies and such huge casts it almost functions like a genre for the purpose of this discussion. I'm talking about the High&Low movies. If you're a fan of tokusatsu or BL, you'll see actors you know in every High&Low movie and if you're a fan of both, you'll see tons.

Case in point: Here's our ol’ pal Yamada Yuki. He's in quite a few High&Low installments. If only he’d do a BL and complete the trifecta! The only person I know of offhand who’s done a tokusatsu show, a BL, and a High&Low role is Takeda. I bet there are others, though.

the new (?) prestige tokusatsu

There's another piece to this I should probably point out as well. In recent years there have been some more high-budget, prestigious takes on existing tokusatsu properties. First, Anno Hideaki, who's best known for the Evangelion anime series/films, put out three live action features that are new, well-financed takes on three big tokusatsu properties: Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman, and Shin Kamen Rider.

Last year there was also a Kamen Rider series geared toward adults that had higher-than-usual production values called Kamen Rider Black Sun. It did that “you can tell our show is for adults because it's all gritty and grimdark" thing, which I'm not a fan of. But it definitely had its points.

Really distinguished actors starred in both the Shin movies and Black Sun, including Nishijima Hidetoshi, who's about as distinguished as it gets. Nishijima was in both Shin Ultraman (in an important supporting role) and Black Sun (as a co-protagonist--and he's the biggest highlight of the series). So these are examples of toku media that are too prestigious to be a springboard into the industry for most actors.

This seems to be a new phenomenon, though I could be wrong about that. I don’t expect the trend will continue at this pace (after all, so much of it is attributable to Anno alone and I don't think he'll continue down this path indefinitely), but I bet some other shows/movies in this vein will come out sooner or later.

Here’s Nishijima doing a henshin sequence. He does these moves with such commitment. Is there anything he can't do?

before tokusatsu

As I was writing this, it got me thinking about what actors do before their tokusatsu roles as well as after. It's not uncommon for toku roles to be someone's debut, but that's not really the norm. Even when it is, most of those actors were doing something in the realm of performing or modeling beforehand. I don't usually look at this sort of information as much as I do later roles when I'm investigating toku actors I like. So I looked up some people to try to get a sense of where the actors tend to have done before their toku parts.

There's one starting point that a whole bunch of tokusatsu leads share: winning the Junon Super Boy Contest. When I first saw references to it, I thought, OK, this is some kind of national talent contest. I guess there are probably lots of them. But when I looked for others, I didn't see anything come up. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places or using the right search terms. But I think maybe this contest might be pretty unique in Japan.

It's run by a magazine called Junon and, well, if I describe how it works it's going to sound really familiar to you and anyone else who's seen Utsukushii Kare, because it's pretty much exactly the contest Kiyoi participates in. Like, if it's not what Nagira Yuu was thinking of when she wrote that part of the UK novel, I'll eat my shoe.

A ton of tokusatsu leads won, placed in, or made it to the finals of that contest. The Tokupedia fan wiki even has its own page dedicated to the contest with links to various winners' toku characters. The majority of Junon Super Boy contestants who ended up in a toku series went to Kamen Rider, but there are some Sentai dudes as well and at least one Ultraman lead.

So I guess if Kiyoi had won that contest, he probably would have ended up on Kamen Rider or something. Weird.

Inukai Atsuhiro and Iijima Hiroki both won that contest. Those are the only two Junon Boys (that's what people call the contest winners) who became tokusatsu actors and were on a BL that I know of right off the top of my head. But it seems likely that there are other toku-and-BL or just BL actors who won, placed, or made it to the finals of this contest.

Other dudes who ended up on tokusatsu shows started out in other ways. Some were simply signed to agencies as actors. There's a fair number of them who were in idol groups. (Though when an idol/ex-idol is looking for a gig as a transition into acting, BLs seem to be a more popular choice.) Some mostly did modeling prior to their toku series. Some already had quite a few acting credits, though usually not very big ones. Although he's a Junon Super Boy winner, Inukai had eight other acting credits before Kamen Rider. Takeda had the same number, and he started young--his first credit is for a TV show that came out when he was 10 (though it took another six years to get a second).

I also looked up some women who've had prominent roles in tokusatsu shows, including more recent ones. The most frequent things I found when I looked for information on their pre-toku careers were that they had been models or idols (or both). It's also not uncommon for women in toku roles to be former or present gravure models--basically models who pose in bikinis or comparably revealing outfits.

The coolest thing I found was that Imoto Ayaka, who played Igarashi Sakura/Kamen Rider Jeanne, was an award-winning ballet dancer. Which is not only incredibly cool but makes a lot of sense in terms of preparation for a tokusatsu hero role.

I mean, just check out this henshin.

Well, this has gotten ridiculously long. Sorry about that. I may have gotten a little carried away. But thanks again for the question.

And now, I have something to write for @wen-kexing-apologist...

[s0nia246]

Prince Charming x Reader: Magic training

I finally finished it. After months of procrastinating, I finally wrote part 2. Have fun 😊

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Charming...."

"Oh Charming!~"

"......"

*THAD!*

Charming's body lay down on the hard floor of his room. He had been woken up by his door slamming against the wall and by loud shouts coming from outside. With a groan, he sat up and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He hissed out an "ow" before turning to face you with his teeth bared and eyes full of murderous intent.

"What was that for?" he snapped angrily at you.

"It's time for breakfast, Charming!" you said cheerfully, ignoring his angry glare. You then proceeded to grab onto his hand and drag him along.

"H-hey!" Charming protested as he tried not to trip along behind you.

"I haven't even gotten dressed yet," he continued complaining while trying to pull away, but it was in vain. The two of you were already out the bedroom door and into the hallway. His face began to get redder and redder the more you dragged him along, and it didn't help that your hair was bouncing around and hitting his face in random directions.

"You can get dressed after breakfast!" You continued to ignore his protests. The last thing you wanted was to have to deal with Charming when he got all grumpy like this, especially with what you have planned for today.

"Fine, fine!" Charming finally gave in, though he still looked slightly irritated about something.

You let go of his arm and took a step back so you could look at your familiar. His face was still slightly red, but otherwise, he looked like he was just being dramatic over nothing.

"There you go~" You patted his chest. "Breakfast should cheer you up."

Charming just sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine."

You grinned. Your plan may have worked perfectly if not for one small detail... Charming's attitude.

You open the door to the dining room and lead the way inside. You pulled out the chair at the end of the table, and Charming sat down, looking rather annoyed but resigned to whatever fate awaited him for the day. It was clear that he wasn't going to change his mood anytime soon, and it was also obvious that he wouldn't be very happy with whatever you planned to do with him today. Not that you cared. But you didn't want to make things difficult for him and waste too much time on this. You sit down next to him and put on your best smile.

"Where is our breakfast ?" Charming asked, referring to the two empty silver trays on the table."

"What do you want to eat?" you asked sweetly.

"Whatever I want..." Charming muttered sullenly. "Can we just eat?"

"We can't eat until you tell me what you want to eat~" You leaned across the table, resting your chin on your hands as you stared at him expectantly.

".....Fine." Charming glared at you. "A giant plate of bacon and eggs, sunny side up. Side of pancakes, waffles, and pastries. Some fresh squeezed orange juice to wash it all down. And, of course, a healthy pour of maple syrup for my plate. Oh, and a glass of milk too."

"Got it!" you replied.

You hopped out of the chair and walked down to the end of the dinner table to make sure everything was ready for you. Charming just watched you with half lidded eyes, wondering what on earth you're planning on doing with him today. You grab your broom and cast a spell. Your arms glow a golden color as your magic power courses through them. In a matter of seconds, food appeared in front of Charming and you, sitting back down at the table.

"Anything else ?" you asked casually.

"No thanks." Charming answered blandly.

"Then dig in!" You smiled happily and started eating your own food. Charming frowned slightly at how cheery you suddenly became after waking him up earlier than usual. Did you do some weird ritual or something?

He really hoped you weren't about to try anything crazy again. He knew that there was no stopping you once you set your mind onto something. Charming sighed. This will probably take hours...

"What is it like up there?~"

"... What does that mean?"

"Well, you know. Far Far Away. The real world, I guess. "

"The real world? What are you talking about?" Charming's eye twitched. Of course, you would go and ask him questions about his past.

"Up in the sky," you stated matter of factly. "You must know about it."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Charming turned away from you, refusing to answer any further questions. As long as you left him alone, he wasn't interested in hearing any more nonsense from your mouth.

But you weren't giving up easily. You continued to press Charming for answers, asking about the wonders of the outside world. Charming simply shook his head.

"Fine then! If you don't want to talk, I'll talk instead. You must be wondering why I woke you up earlier than usual, right? I normally leave you alone to do whatever you want"

Charming just stared at you blankly. There was only one answer he could come up with. He couldn't believe he actually thought that you woke him up early because you wanted to talk with him. That would be the furthest thing from the truth ever. "Yes, I am wondering that. So what?"

"Today where going to start your training."

Charming froze, and then his eyes widened considerably. No, absolutely not. "Training? What training? What does training have to do with anything?!"

Charming felt his heart rate increase slightly, and he clenched his fist as his blood began to boil. Training was his greatest secret, hidden from everyone who could possibly find out about it -

"Relax, Charming. I'm not here to fight," you soothed calmly. "Not unless you insist."You leaned back in your chair and folded your arms in front of you. Charming noticed the slight twitch in the corner of your eye, indicating that you were holding back a grin.

"I just wanna teach you how to use magic properly!" You continued.

"Magic!?" Charming scoffed. "Why in the hell would I need to learn how to use magic?!"Charming slammed his fist against the table. "Just... Why are you so insistent on teaching me?!"

"...Did you really forget?" You smirked and rested your cheek against your palm. "Charming, just let me teach you. Trust me, you'll have fun." Your smirk grew even wider when Charming rolled his eyes.

You had never seen him so exasperated. Usually, he was able to stay calm whenever you tried to force him to do anything he didn't want to. "I bet your magic is so great. You could take on dragons with no problem! Come on, please , Charming~?"

Charming huffed irritably. "...Okay. Fine. Let's go. But don't think I'm going to enjoy myself, alright?"

You nodded eagerly. Charming slowly rose up and stretched his arms above his head. With a grunt, he reached for the table with both hands. He pulled himself up and stood in front of you.

"Go pretty yourself up. You look like a swamp."

┏━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┓┏━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┓┏━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┓

"Okay, are you ready!" you asked excitedly.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Charming shot back.

The two of you were outside your cottage, surrounded by several large trees and a lake that seemed to stretch on forever. The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was an azure blue color. Everything was beautiful and peaceful. Nothing like the rest of the forest and fields that surrounded the cottage. This place seemed to belong entirely to you. Or at least it seems to.

"Now close your eyes," you told him.

"For what exactly -" Before he could finish his sentence, his question is cut short.

You quickly closed his eyes and covered his ears with one hand.

"What the heck are you doing?!" Charming yelled, struggling against your grasp, but it was no use.

"Shh." You placed both of your index fingers on his lips and pressed them into a thin line, cutting him off from saying anymore.

"Don't say anything and just listen~"

Charming scowled and tried to glare at you, but it came out more like an annoyed expression. You started talking again a moment later.

"All you've got to do now is relax, and try to remember how to feel. I know it doesn't feel natural. Just pretend like you're trying to reach out to someone."

"Try reaching out to who, exactly?"Charming snarked.

You ignored his remark and kept going.

"I don't know. Me, someone you miss, either fine. It doesn't really matter. Try to focus on something good. Something positive. Something you like and care about. Like, say, you like strawberries."

"Strawberries?" Charming said flatly.

"Yeah! Like, strawberries!" You nodded enthusiastically. Charming rolled his eyes and grumbled in frustration.

"And then, you just... You open yourself up and let that feeling inside you flow through you. Think of the strawberry. Imagine it in your hands. Imagine it in your mouth. And then... you let it go. Let all the feelings come free. Then, you can feel better. Happy. At ease."

"Is that supposed to help me, exactly?, Charming asked sarcastically, still glaring at you.

"Just try out before saying anything! Don't overthink things and let yourself feel it." You said, starting to get annoyed by his attitude.

Charming sighed in defeat and shut his eyes tightly. "Alright. I'll give it a shot."

He thought back to the memories of happy childhood memories. Things he loved doing together with his mother. Things that made him laugh. Things he could always rely on to keep him calm whenever something bad happened. Stuff like that. Then...

*BOOM! (๑⍣๑)-=≡💥*

Charming's body is instantly surrounded by hundreds of little red sparks that burst into flames.

"Whaaat...!" you gasped and quickly jumped backward, falling onto your behind.

Charming landed awkwardly and sprawled out across the grass, his clothes singed and smoking.

"Wow...."You breathed quietly in awe. You have never seen somebody with that much magical energy.

Charming slowly sat up from the ground with a frown on his face.

"You alright?". You asked cautiously.

Charming grunted and looked over at you. "What the HELL was that? Did I just explode or something!?" he asked frantically.

You chuckled and shook your head lightly, "It's your magical power, pretty boy. Can't control it yet."

"My.. My Magical Power?" Charming repeated in a dumbfounded tone. His eyes glazed over in confusion. How the hell was that possible? What kind of energy was that? How is that even possible?

"Yes, magical power," you grinned smugly. Helping him on his feet. "Here, give me your hands. Let's try again. Focus, concentrate, and breathe in deeply. Now imagine the fire fading. It goes out. Now, let it out."

Your words gave Charming quite some trouble. Concentrate...? Breathe in... Slowly... And let it all go. He closed his eyes tight and thought back on that moment. Slowly, a small orange flame sparked in his palm.

You smiled. "Nice job~"Charming took a deep breath and exhaled. A flame immediately sprang forth from his hands and shot upwards.

He opened his eyes. "I can't believe that worked. Holy crap, I can't believe that worked..."

"See, I told you, right?"

Charming smiled gently. For this first time in years, there was a genuine smile plastered on his face. "Yeah... I guess you did."

You smiled and nodded at him, satisfied that he finally managed to learn how to control it properly.

"Wanna continue or take a break. Learning magical for the first time must be tiring," you told him with a teasing tone. You watched as he raised up one arm to rub his shoulder, while another hand held his other.

"No rest for the tired, eh? Alright. Go ahead, continue."

With that, you decided to continue teaching Charming on how to train his magical powers. You showed him different ways of summoning. Some he was pretty confident in controlling; others he still struggled with. By the end of the lesson, Charming wasn't too sure if he would ever be able to master all of these skills. He was still a beginner compared to you, after all.

"Well, Charming, I think we got enough practice today. I know it's hard, but you definitely have potential. And besides, we both know you're not ready to handle a real opponent any time soon. That's why you need my help to get stronger."

"Huh? Wait a minute, I don'-"

"Come on! Time for lunch!" You grabbed Charming's hand and dragged him along towards the cottage with a bright smile plastered on your face. Charming groaned in annoyance but followed nonetheless.

╚⏤⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤⏤╝╚⏤⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤⏤╝╚⏤⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤⏤

Thank you for reading. Here's a conversation I had with chat ai Prince Charming.

[bl6ckr0s3]

Dealing With Reality pt. 2

Just notice that this post was saved in draft and I dunno if this ever got posted or not. I’ll post it anyway just in case it never did. For the note, this post is from Feb. or Mar. of 2023 right b4 me and Josh had left California.

As I realized that Josh was unable to make enough money to rent the UHaul truck for today's move out, I was thankful that I was able to take a few boxes from the apartment that I have already packed to be able to drop off at our storage right before arriving to my family's home. My brother was visiting for the day, so I didn't hang around the dining room table too much. I took my bowl of spicy fried noodles to my room and ate while I was watching King of the Hill on the tv since Lim was already put to sleep for the afternoon. My sister said that she didn't realize that Lim had taken another shit an hour after she passed out. Poor baby developed a really bad diaper rash since he's been taking so many shits, but what really sucks is that sometimes my sister doesn't change him as often as she should. Even though I remind her that he needs to be changed every 2-3 hours, she's got shit to do sometimes in the household. She's getting older and she cannot handle a very active little boy all the time. If me and Josh weren't going through what we been going through, I would've been able to take care of him the way I always have at our place. It just sucks that when you're broke to the point where you can't even afford to buy food all the time for yourself, it was just better off that I had Lim stay at my family's house because everything he needs is there especially food.

Me & Josh are in the middle of trying to move out of Beck Park Apartments, so sadly I had to decide to drop off Lim at Ricky's tonite so that we can do what we need to do tomorrow without having to worry about dropping him off at the daycare in the afternoon. I may have to call off from work tomorrow, but at least I'm thankful that I got some vacation time again for the new year. I should be able to save up some sick leave now, if my annual leave won't be wasted so fast like it was the last couple of years. Here's a recap of why: In 2021, When Ricky was putting me through so much bullshit & drama, I ended up using at least 2 weeks of my annual leave to recuperate from the stress and fatigue that I was dealing with when I was temporarily homeless (kicked out of my apartment from Ricky over the weekend, then waited until the cops were able to escort him out of my apartment to serve my restraining order on him). In 2022: Me & Josh ended up catching Covid19 during the holidays so I couldn't work for 3 whole weeks until I tested negative to be able to return to work. 2 weeks of my annual leave during that year got wasted on that bullshit because the pandemic leave program had already expired during Sept. 2021. It never got renewed. I have called off many times on certain occasions when mentally I haven't been well enough to go to work, or other days when I have actually been sick. Other days, it's just because my son had gotten sick 2-3 times then I decided to take time off just to take care of him.

My dad and brother questioned me about whether I'm going to be able to transfer my job if I do decide to move to Tennessee. I said I am trying to. They absolutely don't want me to leave until I made sure I have a job position secured. My sister says that the Chinese woman spirit thinks I won't be happy if we do move there. Why wouldn't I be happy there? Can she state some reasons? Maybe she doesn't know what she's talking about? I might end up liking it there, but I won't know unless I scope out the area and get a feel of the place first before I would judge. If we decide to move out there forreals, then it's our decision and that's the sacrifice I'm choosing to make for an opportunity of being able to build a better life. We still don't know what can really happen yet between now & the summer.

[female-hercules]

The triplets had barely even gotten downstairs when Isabela, Dolores and Mirabel pulled them into the dining room; much to their surprise. They looked up the same moment they were sat down in chairs, their attention focusing on the rest of the family; all of whom were gathered together on the other side of the table and holding gifts for each of them. A blessing and a miracle.

Encantober Day Seventeen: Miracle

"Has anyone seen Bruno?" Pepa looked around for her brother as she came down the stairs and hugged her sister, her excitement causing her to bounce up and down in a cascade of color to illuminate the hall. "I haven't been this happy on our birthday in ten years and I want him to know it!"

Julieta chucked and returned the hug. "You know he wasn't ever big on parties, Pepa."

"But this is different!" Pepa exclaimed out loud, a cloud and a rainbow appearing above her head. She hadn't sounded this young and carefree in years and Julieta could not help it but smile as she watched her smile.

Julieta took Pepa's hand and began to lead her sister back up the stairs. "Come on, let's go find him.”

They stopped just outside their brother’s room to find the door open and Bruno pacing back and forth, his eyes focused on the sandy floor below his feet. A brief few moments of silence hit, Julieta and Pepa sporting matching worried expressions as they glanced at one another before looking back at their brother.

Of the two, it was Julieta who spoke up first, “Bruno? ¿Estás bien?”

The seer stopped pacing and turned, glancing between his sisters. “¿Qué? Sí, sí. Estoy bien.” His attention focused away from Julieta and Pepa, back towards the sand covered floor of his room. “No I’m not. This is the first birthday in ten years I spent out of the walls and… and….” He trailed off, unsure of how to finish.

“Well it’s both a blessing and a miracle that we three get to spend our birthdays together again. Now come on, we have to get downstairs or we’ll miss our party.” Pepa grabbed at Bruno’s hand, following Julieta as she began to make her way downstairs.

The triplets had barely even gotten downstairs when Isabela, Dolores and Mirabel pulled them into the dining room; much to their surprise. They looked up the same moment they were sat down in chairs, their attention focusing on the rest of the family; all of whom were gathered together on the other side of the table and holding gifts for each of them.

Isabela went first, setting down a bouquet of her tía’s favorite flower in front of Pepa, some new kinds of herbs for her mother and in front of Bruno she set down some succulents she said would survive in the sandy environment of his room.

Luisa went next, setting down some weather glass in front of Pepa, an upgraded piece of cookware in front of her mother and a new pair of sandals in front of Bruno.

Mirabel stepped up next, setting down some new embroidered and knitted stuff she had been working on for the past few days — a brand new apron for her mother, a dress with embroidery of different kinds of weather for Pepa and a brand new ruana for Bruno.

Dolores was up next, setting a parasol down in front of her mother and yet another piece of cookware in front of her tía. In front of her tío, she set down some brand new painted sets for his rat telenovelas.

Camilo just set down some cards he’d spent the previous night making.

Antonio’s idea of giving his mother, tía and tío an animal each was quickly replaced by him giving each of them a stuffed animal that he, with help from Mirabel, had made. But he still managed to get around it by giving Bruno a new pet rat or two.

Agustín and Félix went at the same time, both of them setting down a simple present in front of their respective wives each before giving their brother and their respective sister in laws sentimental presents. And Alma just walked around the table to give each and every one of of her triplets a hug and a kiss, whispering “My miracles” to all of them before rejoining the rest of the family.

They watched as Julieta, Pepa and Bruno took in all their gifts, a small silence making itself apparent before the triplets looked up. Of the three, Bruno spoke up first.

“You guys didn’t need to do all of this…”

The rest of the family exchanged glances with one another before returning their attention towards the triplets. Their mother spoke.

“It’s the first birthday in a decade you spent as three. There’s no better way to celebrate than that. Now do you want separate cakes or a shared one?”

Julieta, Pepa and Bruno exchanged brief glances with one another and let out simultaneous laughs, the three of them, in unison, exclaimed, “Shared!”

Alma laughed as she stepped into the kitchen to start on her triplets’ cake.

It truly was a blessing and a miracle that they got to celebrate this birthday, and hopefully many more to come, together.

[neptunetheplanet7]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 - 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

DM ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ON THE TAG LIST!!

;mikasa ackerman x fem!lesbian!reader

;modern au, band au

word count: 1.9k

warnings: swearing, cheating

italics means flashback/memory recall

listen to the music masterlist

| next

quick message! unlike on my wattpad, i’m not doing a character introduction chapter on here. so heads up for he/they armin and she/they sasha!! those are just my personal headcanons i included into the story :) also, i wrote this a LONG time ago. i posted this on my wattpad on 2/24/21. i apologize in advance for any errors. i do plan to re-edit a lot of things regarding this fic in the future.

"She's coming back tomorrow," Jean said casually while pouring himself a cup of coffee in the kitchen. You choked on your breakfast. Armin took a worried glance at your coughing form from across the table.

"Sorry." You hacked.

"Mikasa is?" Eren peeked his head through the bathroom doorway as he looked away from the mirror.

"Yeah, I'm going to pick her up from the airport tomorrow night." Jean put down the pot of coffee and took a sip from his hot mug.

"Why so sudden?" Armin put down his book on the table in front of his plate.

"She spoke to me about it briefly. said there was something she needed to do when she got here. I'm just as shocked as you are. I didn't think she'd be back any time soon" Jean brushed the crumbs off his hands and put his plate in the sink.

"How can you all be so calm about this? Did you hear him? Mikasa is coming home tomorrow. She left nearly two years ago! She's finally coming back and none of you are freaking out? She didn't even say why exactly she was coming back." You stood up and threw your hands in the air. Suddenly you lost your appetite. 

"No need to get all bent out of shape, Y/n. You act like we haven't seen her in ten years." Eren said with a hair tie in his mouth as he grew impatient with his long and tangled mess of hair.

You rolled your eyes. "Obviously, but she left for a reason. Even when she gets here, will she still want to play with us? Her absence from the band has taken a toll on everyone, and our audience was less than pleased when she announced her vacation, or rather when I announced her vacation." You start pacing in the living room.

Armin's eyes followed you as you moved. "I hope she does, but it's unlikely. I recall her saying she never wanted to see Jean again. I doubt she'll want to play with him here." He theorized.

"Well, she did call me to say she was coming back so I don't think she's still very upset with me." Jean finished off his coffee and tucked his hair behind his ears. "It happened two years ago, after all."

"I hope she's doing better. It's not like we've heard much from her since she left. I have to clean this house! Oh god, it's a mess! You boys are pigs." You said frantically.

Eren snickered. "Well, it looks like you haven't gotten over your little crush."

"Shut it, Jaeger. I'm doing fine and, frankly, that's none of your business." Still pacing, you held your stomach as the nervous feeling grew.

"Yeah, it sure looks like you're fine." His lips pulled into a grin as he rolled his eyes.

"I think I'm going to faint."

"Do you need to lie down? You look a bit pale." Armin stood up and came to my side.

"I think I'll take a nap."

"You just woke up, smarty. Going back to bed already?" Jean chuckled. "I'm going to Marco's place. See you losers later."

A chorus of 'bye, Jeans' sounded throughout the room when he left through the garage door.

"Y/n, were you serious about cleaning the house? Because I have to go and I really don't want to clean so-"

"Yeah, Eren. You can leave, I don't care."

"You're the best! Thank you!" Eren chirped and practically skipped through the door.

"I have nowhere to be. So I guess I'll stick with you here." Armin smiled. "Do you need help with anything?"

"I'll be fine, thanks. Just nervous is all." You wrung your hands and blinked several times.

"Okay, I'll be in the office if you need anything." Armin patted your shoulder and left you alone in the large living room.

You quickly got to cleaning the house in a nervous frenzy, deep in thought. Mikasa had left one night almost two years ago after a heated situation between her and Jean that ultimately resulted in their breakup and Mikasa leaving the band with only a painful note left behind.

Apparently, there was more to the breakup than you knew, but Jean kept what we didn't hear to himself for Mikasa's sake. Essentially, Mikasa caught Jean and Marco together at a party Eren threw for his nineteenth birthday. You were with her when she saw them.

You and Mikasa were having a silly conversation in the long hallway in front of the dining room. Mikasa stopped looking at you and started focusing on something behind you. her small smile dropped. "and that's why I never- hey Mikasa? You okay? What are you looking at?" You stopped telling your story and became more concerned for your friend.

Confused, you turned around. You gasped loudly. "Oh Mikasa, I'm so sorry." You reached a hand out to her but she left the hall quickly. "Don't worry about it, Y/n. It's not a big deal."  You watched her speedwalk up the stairs with her hand covering her mouth. 

You confronted Jean calmly, not wanting to disturb the party, despite being furious. "Hey, Jean. the world can see you, dickbag. And so did your girlfriend. Have fun explaining this to her. She went upstairs. Find her yourself. If you even care enough to do so."  You spat and darted away from them.

"Wait, Y/n!" Jean pushed past people as you swiftly made your way through the crowd in an attempt to find Eren. Normally, you'd look for Armin, but he was out of town for the night. You got to the kitchen and desperately glanced around. Jean took hold of your arm before you could get any farther. He turned you to face him and took note of your angry expression. "I'm sorry. let me explain."

You shoved him away from you. "Don't apologize to me. Don't explain anything to me. Tell it to your girlfriend. I'm finding Eren and ending this shitty party early. Frankly, Jean, I don't care what excuse you have." You kicked off your heels in a random spot and continued the search for your friend. Jean tried to follow you at first but gave up.

You pushed through crowds looking everywhere for Eren. "Where is he? Eren I need you," You muttered. You caught a glimpse of dark hair being pulled out of an updo. You took a sharp turn and bumped into someone. You fell backward on the floor and rubbed your side that you fell on. "Ouch."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry I wasn't looking where I was going!"  A girl with multiple party foods in her arms shouted apologetically. She hastily set down her collection and helped you up. I took a quick look around the room, Eren wasn't there. The brunette in front of me tilted her head. "Are you looking for someone? I can help you find them to make up for bumping into you. Hey, you're really pretty. Are you the guitarist from that band? Wait, so you live here? Oh no, I bumped into someone famous! Connie and Niccolo are gonna freak out when I tell them! I'm Sasha by the way. Your name is Y/n right?" 

Taken aback by her rambling, and the fact that she recognized you, you stuttered for a bit before gaining your composure. "Yeah, I'm looking for a friend, actually. And that's me. I live here."

Sasha grinned. "Cool! Who are you looking for? I might know them." She linked her arm through yours and pulled you to the outside deck.

"I'm looking for Eren. Uh- Jaeger. My friend Eren Jaeger. I need to find him."  Your voice sounded shaky.

"Me and him were partners in Professor Hange's science class back in high school! He invited me since we go way back." She opened the door and stepped outside. "Hey Y/n, you sound upset. Did something happen?" She unhooked your arm from hers and put her hands on your shoulders with a concerned stare. You were on the brink of tears and didn't want to cry in front of a stranger, but when you heard the caution in her tone you couldn't help but let some tears escape.

"Hey! Hey, hey Y/n, don't cry now. We'll find Eren." She pulled you in for a hug and you slowly accepted it. You weren't even the one who got cheated on yet you were the one crying. You were worried about the band. You were worried about the fight Eren and Jean were sure to get in. You were worried about what Armin would think. But most importantly, you were worried about Mikasa.

The thought of her locking herself in a room upstairs alone after what happened was enough to make you feel sick. You had to find Eren and end the party. You had to keep him calm once he found out. A part of you had always hoped they would break up, and you always felt extremely guilty about it, but you never hoped  it would end in a way that hurt them both. 

You quietly sobbed into sasha's clothed shoulder, definitely staining her frilly dress. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess right now." You stepped away and wiped your eyes several times. 

"No, don't apologize. You don't have to tell me what happened, either. Let's go find Eren, yeah?" She gently took my face in her hands and wiped away at my tears. She hooked her arm through mine again as we continued our search for Eren. 

We finally found him after looking for a good fifteen minutes. He was sitting alone on the front porch with a beer in hand, his hair a ragged mess. He took a swig of it and scowled at the taste. Sasha nodded to you and left you alone with him. You opened the glass door and stood awkwardly behind him.

"Hey, Eren."

"The party's inside." He said bitterly.

"I know." You sat down next him and smoothed out your dress in the process. "What are you doing out here at your own party? I've been looking for you everywhere."

He sighed. "I heard what happened. with Jean and Mikasa. He went looking for her so I assume he's found her, that was thirty minutes ago, give or take. I needed a break and came out here." 

You let your head slump on his shoulder. He let out another long sigh. "I saw it happen. She ran upstairs so I came looking for you. I figured once I told you, you could end the party. That sounds ridiculous now, considering how many people came." You let out a dry laugh and felt him laugh along with you. His head rested on top of yours and he placed a gentle kiss on it.

"What are we gonna do now, Y/n? There’s no chance this'll go over well. The band could be ruined.” He paused and sighed. “I bet Armin would know what to do right about now."

"I bet he would." You took Eren's hand in yours. "I don't even want to think about what could happen."

"Neither do I. Do you want to stay out here a little while longer? We can go back in later." Eren offered.

"Yeah. That sounds nice." 

posted: 8/23/21

neptunetheplanet7© 2021

no reposts, edits, or modification to my work by anyone other than me.

[mycatshuman]

A Risky Mystery

This is heavily based on an ask on @the-officially-kat 's blog about how prinxiety got together in their Scooby-Doo au. You can find that ask here

Art by @the-officially-kat

Colored by me

Masterlist | More

Warnings: There is a moment when the others think Thomas and Virgil have gotten seriously hurt, so look out for that. Let me know if I missed any.

Thank you to @icequeenoriginal for reading through this for me!

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

A lone van drove along the twisted road into the town of Letchworth. The people of the town watched the van through their curtains as it passed by while on it's way to the town's only hotel, Brooks Inn. The town was on fear induced lockdown during the night. But the people in the van couldn't possibly know that. 

The people in the van were actually kind of professional sleuths. They had handled countless different mysteries before. Each one ranging from predictable to bizarre with various different monsters as the cause of each one. Of course, the townspeople couldn't possibly know that. So they watched with fear-filled eyes as the van pulled into the Inn's parking lot. 

Out of the van came a small odd little group consisting of two glasses-wearing figures, a princely looking fellow, a fellow with dark eyeshadows under his eyes, and a dog. Together, they walked inside the Inn and the townspeople lost sight of them. 

-------

An older woman sat at the front desk to the Brooks Inn. The inn was empty, not a guest laid in her rooms. It was to be expected, the recent events have scared away any previous guest and most others left after one night. The old woman, whose name was Agatha, sighed. She wasn't sure why she didn't just close the inn. After all, it was late and recent circumstances provided a bit of a risk in staying open at night. Just as she decided to close the inn, a small group walked in. She quickly put on a small, reserved smile and greeted them. "Hello, welcome to Brooks Inn." 

The one in darker blues and glasses stepped forward. "Yes, hello. We would like two rooms for the night please." 

The woman nodded. "That will be $75," she said as she moved to grab two keys for each room. She placed the keys on the counter and took the money the man in front of her had placed down. "Can I have a name for the records?" 

One of the others spoke up, "Virgil Rogers." 

The woman frowned a little before filling out the information on the computer. "Alright," she said. Let me take you to your rooms. She led the group up the stairs and then to their rooms. "Here we are." She handed the keys over. "Rooms 2B and 3B." 

"Thank you!" One of the group called. He had glasses and lighter colored clothes. 

The one from earlier, Virgil, spoke up as he glanced around suspiciously. "This town seems awfully empty."

The woman bit her lip. "Oh, that." The group became alert and they all turned their attention to her. "Um, recently, we've been having some trouble in town." 

"What kind of trouble?" The last human of the group asked. His look seemed to consist of colors one would associate with a prince. 

"Well.." The woman hesitated. She didn't want to sound crazy but she decided to just tell the group, it wouldn't be right to keep it from them, they were at risk too, even if they didn't know it. "A phantom has been terrorizing the town recently. They scared off my last paying guest." 

The bubbly one's eyes lit up as Virgil groaned. "Well gang, it looks like we've got a mystery to solve!" The woman's eyes widened in surprise. The first one of the group, the one wearing the ascot, spoke up. "We are sleuths. We've solved a few mysteries before. This one will be a breeze. And I assure you, there is most definitely a logical explanation for this." 

The woman nodded slowly, not quite believing them. "Well, enjoy your stay," she responded before turning and leaving to go shut down the Inn. 

The group watched her go before turning to each other. "Alright, we'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well!" The bubbly one exclaimed and took one of the rooms with the other glasses-wearing figure following him after giving his own good night. 

The other two and the dog turned to their own room and closed the door. 

--------

The next morning, the gang gathered in the inns dining room to discuss their next move to begin their investigation. "Alright, let's start by looking around for any clues and if we find anyone willing to be interviewed, we'll interview them," Logan explained. 

"Sounds like a plan," Patton agreed. 

 "We're not going to split up, right?" Virgil asked as he scratched behind Thomas's ear. 

"Not, yet," Logan answered and pulled a journal out of his bag. "I've written down a few questions and things we should look out for while we're investigating." 

Roman rolled his eyes. "Come on, Logan we've been through this a million times. We know what to look out for and what kind of questions to ask. Let's just get going already." 

"Be nice," Patton chided. 

The group got up and left the Inn and began walking around town. They found it a little weird that the town now seemed so lively. When they had arrived last night, it was still fairly early, far too early for everyone in town to be all locked up in their homes. After walking for a fair amount of time, the gang noticed a few people walking around as if they were on eggshells. Virgil bit his lip before jerking his head at one of them. "Maybe we should ask one of them." 

"Alright." Logan walked over to ask if they could interview them while the rest of the gang waited. Soon Logan waved them over. The gang approached as the person before they inspected them carefully. "You said you saw the Phantom," Logan started. "Would you mind telling us about that?" 

The person bit their lip and glanced around. "Well," they started. "I was just taking my evening walk. When I started to hear this loud wailing." The person before them shivered. "It was really unsettling, so I turned to go home only to run into the Phantom. It looked like they had stepped straight out of a scary movie. They had pale bluish-grey, ghastly skin and it terrified me." The person sighed. "Ever since then, the Phantom has walked around every night. And two nights ago, they nearly pushed someone off the roof of the library." 

The gang shared a glance, they had never dealt with a mystery like this. Sure there were some terrifying monsters they had to deal with but none of them ever put people’s lives at risk. "Did the Phantom say anything to you?" Patton asked.

They nodded. "Yeah, they told me to leave and never return before I regretted it." 

Roman's nose wrinkled. "That's interesting. Is there anything else you can tell us about the Phantom?" 

The person shook their head. "Nope, I'm sorry." 

"That's okay, thank you for your help," Patton said and the gang walked away. 

"Do you guys think whatever this phantom wants is something that involves getting all of the people in town to leave?" Roman asked. 

Virgil shrugged. "I mean, it seems like it, but why?" 

"Let's head back to the Inn for lunch and then I'll do some research on the town and see what I can dig up." 

"Sounds like a plan," Virgil said as he ruffled Thomas's head. The gang head back to the Inn. Patton ordered a pizza while Logan went to get his tablet. Roman, Virgil, and Thomas wandered into the dining room to wait for their friends. Soon they were joined by Logan who immediately began working on pulling up the town records, recent articles, the most recent town map, and an older town map. By the time Patton came in with the pizza, Logan had about three different theories about why the town was being haunted and a few different suspects. 

"So, what have you discovered, Logan?" Patton asked as the group ate. 

"Well," Logan began. "I have found that recently, a wealthy business owner had offered to buy the whole town. But they refused. So he offered to buy single bits of land at a time." 

"I thought it might be something like that," Roman piped up. 

Logan nodded. "Yeah, I think our most likely suspect is Carl Livingking. He's the business owner. Although why he would want to buy up the town, I haven't a clue." 

Virgil bit his lip, "I have to agree, that seems like the most likely situation. But why would he go to the lengths of risking people's lives to get the town? I mean, it seems like he's trying to scare people off, and you can do that without putting people's lives at risk so why is he doing it?" 

Logan shrugged. "That's what I can't seem to find anything on. The land isn't even that good. But something tells me that we're missing out on an important clue."

"Hey, L," Virgil started. "Can I borrow your tablet for a minute?" 

"Sure."

Virgil quickly opened a new tab and did a quick google search. Soon he found something that looked promising. "Maybe you can't find anything, because this town is fairly new." He spun the tablet around to face the rest of the table. Thomas hopped up on a chair to get a closer look. "It says here that apparently, the land that this town sits on is part of a larger area that is said to be the hiding grounds of the legendary Sanderson Gang." 

"Oh, I've read about them!" Logan exclaimed. "They were train robbers. They stole over two million dollars worth of coins and precious stones. But they were never caught. No one knows where the loot went. Rumors spread that it was somewhere in this area but most people thought the gang had fled the country with their treasures and settled down on a remote island somewhere in the Pacific. Eventually, the rumors died down and some people settled down here and started a town. Since then, the Sanderson Gang faded into legend and most people forgot they were real people." 

"So Mr. Livingking must be trying to find the treasure," Patton exclaimed. 

"And what better way than to buy up all the land, evict the town and start a massive expedition."

"He could keep people out and avoid anyone trying to steal the loot." 

Logan nodded. "Yes. It seems so, he isn't doing a good job of covering his tracks. He was actually able to buy a nearby abandoned factory." 

The gang went silent as they looked between each other. "Should we set up a trap?" 

Roman asked. 

Logan bit his lip. "It would be wise. During my research, I found that the Phantom has put two people in the hospital with near-death experiences. Even if it's not him, the Phantom is clearing trying to scare people out of the town so they should still turn up if we are out at night." 

"Yeah, I'd rather have a trap for the most likely culprit already then not have one and risk someone else getting hurt," Patton agreed. 

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Virgil asked as Thomas hopped up on the chair beside him. 

Logan quickly opened the drawing app on his tablet and began to sketch out a plan. 

"Okay, Patton, Roman and I will set up a trap in the town square-"

"Oh don't tell me," Virgil started. "Thomas and I are gonna be the bait." 

"Well, you two are the faster runners out of all of us," Logan explained. "It's only logical." Virgil and Thomas pouted. Logan rolled his eyes. 

"Would you do it for a Thomas Treat?" Patton asked Thomas. The dog's ears perked up a bit but he stayed still. 

Roman poked Virgil with his foot. "Do it or you're straight." 

Virgil sputtered. "Don't threaten me!" 

Roman snorted. "Then do it." 

Logan rolled his eyes at the two childhood friends. As Patton finally convinced Thomas. And it only took ten Thomas Treats. "Okay, I need you two to go on a walk around town. Virgil, I need you to talk out loud about buying the whole town with Thomas. It'll be like you surveying what you're going to buy while taking your dog for a walk." Virgil cringed, not likely the idea of acting like one of those rich people. "I want you to eventually end up at the abandoned factory and if you happen across the Phantom, lure him back to the square. Okay?" 

Virgil groaned. "Yeah, I guess." 

"Great," Logan said and the gang continued to flush out their plan. In the end, they came up with an elaborate trap, one of the few things Logan allowed himself to be elaborate in, that included the entire town square. They were to block off all other entrances into the square except for the one leading to the factory. Virgil and Thomas would lead the Phantom into the square where they jump on a trampoline in front of the town hall and jump up onto the balcony and when the Phantom tried to jump on it, Logan would click a button to release the mechanism which would cause the trampoline to be pulled along a track and drive him right into a giant ball out in front of an apartment building where Patton and Roman would drop a large net over from the top of the building. The plan was flawless.

-------

Virgil and Thomas walked through the old factory apprehensively. "I don't know about you, Thomas, but this place is really too scary." Thomas nodded his head in agreement as they walked. "Like, I think there's no one here, so let's go." Just as Virgil and Thomas turned to go, a loud wailing sounded throughout the factory, bouncing off old machinery and creating a terrifying echo. 

"Get out!!!!!" Virgil and Thomas froze. The wailing got louder until the Phantom stood right in front of them. "GET OUT!!!" It screeched. 

"Don't worry, we are!" Virgil shouted and he turned tail and ran with Thomas running along beside him. The Phantom chased after them with a terrible that grated at their ears. They raced through town but ended up getting turned around. Eventually they scaled up a fire escape and ended up on the roof of Town Hall. They skidded to a stop as they got to the edge. They gulped as they looked down at the trampoline below them, a jump from this height would still be risky. But soon the Phantom was behind them. And before anyone could blink, Thomas and Virgil jumped. 

--------

Roman groaned as he waited. "Where are they?" He asked Patton. The other shrugged. Just then, as he glanced around the square, he noticed Thomas and Virgil on the opposite roof with the Phantom close behind. Roman's eyes widened in fear. Before he could say anything, the two jumped off. "Virgil!!" Roman screamed. 

It all happened in a blur. The Phantom jumped off too and bounced right back into the air after landing on the trampoline. They flew in an arch and landed into the ball pit. Roman and Patton dropped the blanket in shock and raced off the building quickly as they could. Meanwhile, Logan raced over to the ball pit with the police. The Phantom was indeed trapped. "Just hold on," Logan told them before meeting up with Roman and Patton. "What exactly happened?" 

Tears streamed down Roman's face as he answered. "They jumped off the roof!" 

"What?!?!!?" Logan exclaimed. "Where are they????" Roman went to answer only for a shout to draw their attention. 

The gang turned to find Thomas and Virgil stumbling out of the doors of town hall. The world around Roman stopped. The noises and flashing lights of the police cars fading into the background. Images flashed through Roman's mind. They have been best friends since birth. This was the boy who dyed his hair neon green on a date, the boy who ran to his house to show him his new dog, the boy who continuously jumped into terrifying situations willingly for his friends despite his fear. And suddenly the realization that he was so irreversibly and incredibly in love with. 

Roman marched as fast as he could to Virgil without running. His hands cupped Virgil's face as soon as he reached him. He slowly leaned in and kissed the other softly. Virgil returned the kiss without hesitation. It was so much better than either could have imagined. 

Thomas howled approvingly as Patton and Logan clapped. Eventually the two pulled away. "How did you-" 

"I found some rope and tied it around my waist and a hook on the roof before I jumped and we swung down into the open window." 

"I was so worried." 

"I'm okay. I'm okay."

"I think we should just hurry up and wrap this mystery up and get out of here," Patton said. 

"Agreed," Roman and Virgil said in sync. The gang moved over to where the police handcuffed the Phantom. Roman clung to Virgil, which made it a little difficult for them to move, but they managed. 

Logan walked over and grabbed the mask. "This is none other than Carl Livingking!" He exclaimed. 

"What?" The sheriff asked. 

"Carl had learned about the legend of the Sanderson Gang's loot and decided to look for it. So he offered to buy up the town. But when he was refused he decided to try and scare everyone out so he could begin looking for the treasure."

Carl huffed. "Yeah, and I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids and your dog." 

----------

Roman sighed as he laid in the back with Virgil, clinging to him like a kola. "I'm sorry again, Thomas." Thomas turned his head back to face them from his spot in the front seat as if to say it was okay. Roman smiled and nudged his face into Virgil's chest. Virgil pulled him closer and they slowly fell asleep. Content being in each other's arms. 

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Taglist: @spxced-oxt @superwholocked-for-life @mirror2thespirit @aroundofapplesauce @lyditist @little-euro-girl @unicornofdarknessstuff @maryann-draws @odette-ssbu

[deeahhnuh]

2018!!

I've done this year-in-review thing since 2007! 2007-2012 are over on my old LiveJournal, and 2013-on are right here on my Tumblr. :)

2019 is coming. What?!?!?

Happy almost New Year, Tumblr! :)

What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before?

Huh... I don't think I actually did anything too different this year! Well, this review is off to a great start, lol!

Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

As usual, no real official resolutions - I like having little goals as the year goes along!

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes!! My cousin had a precious baby girl!!

Did anyone close to you die?

My grandmother - Ma - passed away in late November. It's difficult to articulate, mostly because I just can't quite comprehend it yet, how much I will miss her. Ma was the biggest, warmest presence in our family. All of my memories have at least some trace of Ma in them!

One memory that I've recalled a lot lately is of the times we played my Barbie board game, sometime in the late '90s. There were so many wonderful times, but those Barbie game nights with just us girls - Ma, my mom (her daughter), and me - were magical. I would set the game up on the dining room table at BaBa (my grandfather) and Ma's house and we would play and talk and laugh! Ma was in her early 70s then, but her peals of laughter and her face lit up with smiles gave me a glimpse into what she must have been like as a teenager.

That was Ma!! ❤️ She was always up for having fun, for reminiscing about funny memories, for enjoying life. Ma was there for every big event and for all the quiet moments, too. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had Ma for so long into my life. I love her, and I miss her.

What countries did you visit?

None! I really need to get out more, lol!

What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?

Of course there are things I'd like to have, do, and learn in the next year - but I'm happy to say I didn't really lack anything in 2018! :)

What date(s) from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

The end of November and beginning of December were marked by sadness and loss, but also with connection and love - my family really helped (and continue to help) one another through a hard time. I feel closer than ever to my fam. ❤️

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Been a Registration Assistant for two years now, and I love it!! Less real-lifey, and actually very goofy - I hit (and passed) 10,000 scrobbles for the year. I haven't hit that kind of high number for a while, so... Achievement!

What was your biggest failure?

Didn't do anything too stupid this year, haha!

Did you suffer illness or injury?

No, yay!

What was the best thing you bought?

I love fragrances, so my fave purchase this year is, of course, a perfume! Calvin Klein Euphoria Amber Gold just smells soooo gooood. It's rich and sweet, kinda syrupy - really beautiful.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

My family. The mama, the dad, the bro - they are so awesome. We're always there for each other - I love them more than words can say!!! ❤️

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

No one really! I've been pretty even-tempered all year, haha!

Where did most of your money go?

Probably perfume, lol! But music is right up there, too. Maybe movies as well! Basically, entertainment!

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Kylie's new album, Golden!! Actually, a few other music faves had new releases too, and I was hyped about them all - Richard Ashcroft (Natural Rebel), Florence + The Machine (High As Hope), Lykke Li (so sad so sexy), Emika (Falling in Love With Sadness), Sarah Brightman (Hymn), and Arctic Monkeys (Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino). Great music, all year long!

What song will always remind you of 2018?

List time!

"Dancing" by Kylie Minogue. Of course! My queen returned with a lovely album this year (see above!), but this seemingly simple first single had to grow on me. I say "seemingly simple" because at first listen, it is! Guitar, stripped-down beat - where's the glitter? It's in Kylie's voice, in how she declares with gusto: "When I go out, I wanna go out dancin'!" A quietly bombastic grower.

"Breathe" by Jax Jones. Catchy and bouncy!

"One Kiss" by Calvin Harris feat. Dua Lipa. Breezy fun!

"In My Mind" by Dynoro & Gigi D'Agostino. Hypnotic!

Compared to this time last year (2017), are you:

Doing really well, kinda like last year! :)

What do you wish you'd done more of?

Quoting last year's year in review: "wish I'd listened to more new albums, and not just compilations." But I loves my dance music comps so much! :O I really think I'll try to listen to more new music in the new year.

What do you wish you'd done less of?

Not to be too serious business, but doubting myself. I worry I'm not doing enough, or not doing it right, or could have done it better. I guess a little self doubt keeps you on your toes - keeps you challenging yourself - but I'm happy that as I've gotten older and a tad wiser, and gained more confidence in myself, these worries have lessened. So this year, I did doubt myself, but not as much as last year, or the year before. Here's to an even more confident 2019! ;)

How did you spend Christmas?

Fam, ham, and fun! :)

What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in 2018?

I managed to not embarrass myself all year, haha!

How many one-night stands?

None, lol

What was your favorite TV program?

Forever a fan of goofy cartoons!

Real Housewives! All of 'em are wonderful trash TV. :) (Gif source!)

And for no good reason I watched every season of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! on Hulu. Cracks me right up!!

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018?

Put-together and polished, I like to think!

What kept you sane?

Lots of music, movies, and TV. Always up for some entertainment!

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Nah!

What was the best book you read in 2018?

Ooh, just got a New Year's Resolution for 2019 - read a book, lol.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

I rediscovered some old faves! "Love Today" by Mika has forever been pure joy, "You Can Dance" by Bryan Ferry can't be any smoother, "Spirits" by Jamie Woon stays majestic, "212" by Azealia Banks still slaps, "Reagan's Skeleton" by Yeasayer continues to be massive, and "Watch Out For This (Bumaye)" by Major Lazer is always a banger.

What did you want and get?

Lots of good things - I'm very fortunate!!

What did you want and not get?

Nothing! Like I said, fortunate. ❤️

What was your favorite film of this year?

I didn't see many movies released this year, but I did really like Ant-Man and the Wasp!

And A Quiet Place!

I also saw Midnight in Paris (2011) after years of meaning to - it's such a lovely film!

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

32! Little fun things - used CD shopping (a fave thing to do), movies, good meal...!

What three things would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Can't ask for more!!

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I've never watched American Horror Story because it seems pretty spoopy and I'm a wimp, but I was going around the channels and that guy who plays the Antichrist lol - Cody Fern - caught my eye. He fine!

What political issue stirred you the most?

There's something new stirring every day, ugh!

Who did you miss?

Ma. ❤️

What is a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018?

Family matters - not the TV show, although that's good too! I already knew this, but I really really felt it so much this year. ❤️

What quote can be used to sum up your year?

"When I go out, I wanna go out dancin'!" No matter what's going on, I want to try and have a good time and enjoy things! Here's to a 2019 full of goin' out and dancing! :)