#i know it’s a little early for mardi gras stuff but i wanted to get it done while i had the energy

[cultofcreatures]

good ol’ fashioned escapism

[vee-crytraps]

Good Luck, Babe! | Ch 1-2 | Ice Cream for Breakfast

{Trigger Warning/Themes Masterlist} This is split into a billion parts because it's long as hell! Read on Ao3 to avoid the headache!

You might not have the freaky little memory that your family of detectives boasted, but you would be out of your mind if you ever let yourself forget that Bruce Wayne owed you one. Exactly one year ago to the day, Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian had abandoned you at Rollerworld, a frown fixed onto your face as you had watched them all peel off in the name of Bat-Family business. The threat hadn’t even ended up being serious. Serious for Gotham, anyway. At the time, you had grateful to have corralled them together- at a roller rink of all places, for the twenty or so minutes that you had them- but you remembered finding it tough to remain in high spirits for the rest of the night. You hadn’t even seen them until the next morning, when Bruce had promised you a day of anything you wanted to make up for the embarrassment of having to carry home the remnants of a too-big-cake on your lap, enduring the stares and snickers of the other people on the train.

You reveled in the way Bruce’s frown deepened as he watched you sitting triumphantly at the head of the table. He fixes you with one of his patented bat-glares before finally giving in. “Fine,” he sighs, defeated. “Ice cream for breakfast.” “From the look on your face, you’d think you’d sentenced him to the electric chair,” Dick laughed, plopping down in his usual seat. He spun a spoon between his fingers like a drummer about to let loose. “C’mon, Bruce. Live a little!” “It won’t be so bad, I was kind enough to make sure to get everyone’s favorites. Even Damian’s god awful mint chocolate chip stuff,” “Mint chocolate chip is the most delicious flavor in the world,” Damian warns, and beside him Tim prays you two won’t get into a whole thing about it. “It’s a perfectly fine treat,” “It’s an abomination is what it is.” Tim laughs. You toss him a set of plastic Mardi-gras beads, which he snatches mid air with his impressive reflexes. “Did you give me these because I agreed with you?” He questioned aloud. “I see you’re being extra insufferable about today, birthday girl.” Jason hums, pulling up his own chair. You elect to ignore him, gesturing for Bruce to join you at your right side. “I even got some low cal, non-dairy vanilla for you. Matcha for Dick, Coffee for Tim, and for Jason-“ “Rocky fuckin’ Road.” Jason finishes with glee, cracking open the pint in front of him. “I’m sold. All hail the birthday princess.” He catches his beads and dons them with pride. “I expect everyone to eat at least one bowl. You are supposed to be making it up to me for ditching my party last year.” You reminded. The whole table erupts into groans. “Oh for the love of- how is it our fault that Scarecrow decided to have his grand re-debut like twenty minutes into your party?” Dick whines, digging into a spoon of matcha flavor. “To be fair, we would have back pretty quickly if you and Jason hadn’t gotten caught up one-upping each other,” Tim shrugged. “I don’t know why you’re all complaining, I’m the real victim here,” You joke, digging into your own ice cream. “Besides, Ace and Titus don’t seem to mind,” With your spoon, you gesture over to the pair of dogs who lap at the pet friendly ice cream seated into their bowls. Both beasts sport tiny paper party hats that had been carefully strapped to their heads. “Ace and Titus are animals, sweetheart.” Bruce cracks a small smile, pushing his ice cream around in his own. “I do not understand why you are making such a huge deal of this,” Damian interjects. “We’ve all had celebrations interrupted by villains." “It was my seventeenth birthday, Damian. The last one I would have before becoming a dumb, annoying and boring adult. No offense. Let me grieve for it, at least.” “It is wayyyy to early for this,” Jason groaned, leaning back in his chair. “And I was kind of looking forward to waffles.” The only people he’d rather be eating with less other than four superheros were probably four other superheros. You all eat together in relative peace, and as you really savor your first spoonful of birthday ice cream with all of the fixings, you can’t help but sigh with pleasure. “Oh my god,” you relax into your chair, savoring the melt of it on your tongue. “Now I know why you never let us keep this in the house. I could eat this for every meal.” “I can hear your teeth rotting from here,” Damian mutters under his breath. He can’t help but be confrontational, even if it is really good ice cream. He makes a face as Dick artfully squirts chocolate syrups into his matcha ice cream, topping it with crushed Oreos and a few gummy worms. “I have witnessed deaths more appealing,” Damian remarks, watching his eldest brother scoop the abomination into his mouth. “I’ve had deaths more appealing.” Jason snorts. “Babies! Whiny little babies, all of you.” You scold, pouting as you loaded your spoon once more.

Part 3

[woods2006gal]

Chapter 11 - Bad Things

Dean is riding a high when he arrives back to the motel room that night with Sam. He didn’t know why Addison had chosen not to join the battle of Moondoor to help Charlie keep ahold of her fictional kingdom. He thought that it would have been something right up her alley. Except she didn’t join them. She had chosen to stay back at the motel. None of that mattered at the moment, he was ready to celebrate his hard fought win with her. “Ads,” Dean calls, looking around the room. He tosses the blonde wig he was wearing onto their empty bed. He walks into the bathroom only to find it empty.

“Dean,” Sam calls out. Dean walks out of the bathroom to find his younger brother holding a piece of paper.

Dean grabs it from him to find a note from Addison. Had some stuff to take care of. See you in a few days. Ads.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean,” Dean snaps, pulling out his cell phone. Addison’s name was the top of his recent call log. He selects it and listens as the phone rings. Sam shrugs as he sits down at his computer. He knew exactly what Dean would be asking.

“This is Addison. Leave a message,” Addison’s voice says.

“Addison. Call me. Now,” Dean angrily says. He hangs up and walks over to Sam. “Where the fuck is she?”

Sam pulls up a map. A glowing blue dot was over southern Louisiana. “How’d she get to New Orleans so fast?”

“Fucking Sarah,” Dean mutters. “Killing that bitch is at the top of my to do list now.”

“You mean after you kind a way to kill someone who is immortal,” Sam points outs. He pays no attention to annoyed look that Dean shoots him. “Why do you hate Sarah? Other than the obvious.”

“Because that bitch wants Ads to do that stupid spell to give her powers.”

Sam raises an eyebrow. “Powers like Sarah has?”

“Yes damnit. And no, Ads isn’t doing the fucking spell. I already told her no.”

“When was the last time either of us told Ads not to do something and she did it anyway?”

Dean shakes his head. “Get your crap together,” he angrily says. “We’re going to fucking New Orleans.”

~*~

Addison follows Sarah through the crowded street. After checking into a very expensive hotel not that far from Bourbon Street, the two women had decided to venture out onto the popular street filled with bars. “What exactly are we looking for,” Addison questions, moving around the very drunk college students. “It’s a little early for Mardi Gras.”

Sarah smiles. “A bar with no windows and a red door.”

Addison stops. She motions to a windowless front of a building and a red door. “Like that one,” she amusedly asks

“Exactly. Come on.” 

Sarah walks over to the door and Addison is right on her heels. Sarah opens the door and they walk in to find a very crowded dark bar. The walls were red along with the floor. The furniture was black. Music was pulsating through the crowded. Sarah walks over to the bar. A tall blonde woman wearing all black was behind the bar. The bartender sets to red cocktail napkins down in front of them. “What can I get you,” she asks.

“I have a meeting with Eric,” Sarah replies.

The bartender stares at Sarah. Addison frowns when the bartender glances at her. “I’ll let him know you’re here,” she tells them then walks away.

Addison leans in close to Sarah. “Are we in a fucking vampire bar,” she quietly asks.

“More like vampire themed,” Sarah whispers. “But it just happens to be owned by a vampire.”

“Fuck me.”

A throat clears and they turn to see a tall, very pale blonde man. His hair was short. He had cold crystal blue eyes. “Eric,” Sarah brightly greets. “It’s been a while.”

“It has,” Eric replies, turning his gaze on Addison. She shifts under his gaze. “Lets go some place more private.”

“Lead the way,” Sarah replies, sliding off the bar stool. Eric turns and walks away. Sarah follows after him. Addison frowns but follows them anyway. She wasn’t sure that it was a good idea. She wasn’t even sure why Sarah had asked for her help.

Eric leads them into a backroom. This room was brightly lit. A desk was in the center of the room. He closes the door behind Addison before taking a seat in a tall wingback chair. “How can I help you, Sarah?”

“Metatron,” Sarah answers.

“What about the winged dick?”

“I need to know where he is.”

“And what makes you think I’ll help you?”

Sarah motions to Addison. “It’s been what two hundred years or so since you’ve had blood of the Last Descendant. Well, here she is.”

“No fucking way,” Addison snap, glaring at Sarah.

Eric turns his gaze on Addison. She shifts. Slowly, he stands up and walks around his desk to her. He grabs a fist full of her head and yanks her head to the side to reveal the bite mark on her neck. “Another vampire has had her,” he coldly says.

“What? No. Addison’s never been bite before,” Sarah argues.

Addison shifts. “Benny drank my blood in Purgatory,” she corrects.

Eric frowns. “You have been to Purgatory?”

“Yeah. It’s a shit hole. Almost died.”

“How did you get out?”

“Dean and I were lead out by Benny.”

“Benny Lafitte?”

“Yeah,” Addison answers. “Last that I knew he was in Carencro.” 

Eric lets out a low growl. He covers her mouth with his hand before biting down on her neck. Addison lets out a muffled shout. This was completely different from when Benny had bit her. This was more filled with pain. Eric pulls back and licks up the blood that was slowly flowing from the reopened wound. He grabs a towel off his desk and presses it against Addison’s neck. He steps back and licks his lips. “Last time I saw Metratron, I was in Machu Picchu. It was very crowded when I was there,” he tells Sarah.

Sarah raises an eyebrow. “Peru,” she disbelievingly repeats. “No where specific?”

Addison shifts. “When,” she softly asks.

“Before the fall of the Inca,” Eric replies.

Sarah’s gaze widens. “That was over four hundred years ago!”

Eric shrugs. He slides an arm around Addison’s waist and pulls her against him. “I hope my age does not bother you.”

“I’m married,” Addison snaps.

“Since when are you married,” Sarah questions.

“Apparently Dean and I have been married since 2005,” Addison explains. “Apparently, Dean has known for years and didn’t tell me. I only just learned about it.”

Eric brushes some of Addison’s hair. “No vampire will hurt you. Including Benny.”

“I’m not worried about vampires. You should be worried about my husband.”

“I don’t fear humans.”

“Dean Winchester is her husband,” Sarah states. “And where Dean is Sam Winchester is quick to follow.”

Eric steps back. “You’re connected to the Winchesters?” Addison nods. “Then I’m afraid that this will be our only visit.”

Sarah rolls her eyes and grabs Addison’s arm. “Thanks for your help,” she tells Eric before dragging Addison out of the backroom and the bar. The humidity hits them as they step out onto the busy street. “I wouldn’t have even asked for your help if I had known the last time Eric had seen Metratron was during the sixteenth century.”

“Asked for my help,” Addison disbelievingly repeats. “You offered me up to a vampire! And you didn’t even tell me about your plan!”

Sarah shrugs. “If I had told you, then you wouldn’t have agreed to it.”

Addison shakes her head. “Whatever. I’m going back to the hotel. You head down to Peru and start looking.” Sarah grabs Addison’s arm and the hunter looks at her. She places a hand on Addison’s neck and the vampire wound heals instantly. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Sarah brightly tells her before vanishing. 

~*~

Addison shifts as she sits on the couch. She hadn’t been surprised to see a very upset Dean waiting for her in the hotel suite when she arrived back from having a very late lunch at a restaurant in the French Quarter. “Are you done yelling,” she asks, standing up.

“No,” Dean snaps, grabbing her arm. She shrugs his grip off of her. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I had stuff to do, Dean. Last time I checked you took off all the time to do stuff and not tell me.”

“That was different.”

“How was that any different?”

“That was before.”

“Before what?”

“Before us,” Dean shouts. He runs a hand through his hair.

Addison steps closer to him. “You’re upset that I didn’t tell you. That I just left,” she states.

Dean glares at her. “Everything is different now, Ads. You had me scared out of my fucking mind.”

“Dean, I’m sorry,” Addison softly tells him. “Sarah called and said she needed help. She just needed someone to back her up.”

“Addison, please do not do the spell.”

“Dean—”

“Addison, I am asking you to not do the spell.”

Addison nods. “Okay. Okay. I won’t do the spell.” Dean walks over to her and tightly embraces her. She wraps her arms around him. He presses a soft kiss to the side of her head. 

[seeingteacupsindragons]

I come bearing questions!

Given what you clarified the other day about Liam's age: did he actually go to uni at 14 and start teaching at 19? (If so, no wonder he's Like That, geeze, imagine a kid barely into adolescence getting thrown in with a bunch of college kids. They're screaming "Down it fresher!" at a literal child.)

Does this mean that Sherlock (assuming he did a bunch of research on Liam fairly early on...which I do assume 🤣) thought that Liam was two years older than him until he was given his birth records?

Any theories about Liam's actual birthday? If we assume that Louis WAS full term (though I still like the preemie idea), and he was born in Feb the next year, that would narrow Liam's birthday down to the first few months of the year, right? What are the chances it will be yet another significant date on the liturgical calendar (I grew up Baptist so all we had was Christmas and Easter and I don't know what other ones would fit haha.)

Not to be all Sherlock-coded about it but you would be amazed by how quickly my thoughts derail when I try to sort out ages. Numbers are hard. 😅

I don't. Think. Takeuchi-sensei thought about the fact that Liam is actually two years younger than OG William when they decided how old everyone is. It seems very unlikely to be able to completely fake how old OG William was, especially as he was about to finally enter society publicly ("publicly"). So in a Watsonian sense, I assume Liam must have been 14/19, but as a writer, I'm just not sure it ever occurred to them. The timeline of the series is already very wobbly.

As for Sherlock...maybe? It's not like a 24yo and a 26yo really look all that different physically.

My main theory about Liam's actual true birthday at this point is that we're never, ever going to be told what it is, much like his birth name. Is it relevant? IDK. I think the relevant part was that he shared his past with Sherlock, not that the reader knows his past. But we'll see how it shakes out.

As for important liturgical dates it could be....Pentecost (the birthday of the church) is in May, usually, but sometimes June... if their mom got pregnant again like immediately and Louis was maybe a couple weeks early he coulda been born then and still be full term. The color of Pentecost is red (like, it's one of the major symbols of the holiday; just, red), and there's a little Flame story involved there with the Holy Spirit and marking the new Christians and stuff. My church growing up always swathed the entire place in red and people would wear red and it was Confirmation Day.

So using Pentecost as the absolutely latest it could be...

Ascension Day is a couple weeks before Pentecost, although I never remember celebrating that one. And I'm not sure it fits Liam, although I don't know that that matters.

All the Holy Week days (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday) are technically up for grabs. Hell, he coulda been born on Easter himself two years later which makes his birthday something else entirely.

Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras).

Man, I just want it to be Pentecost now. It is one of the more major holidays in the church, and one of the ones that doesn't really get much awareness outside of it.

[mystical-flute]

Black Coffee & Pumpkin Pie: Chapter 10

AO3 || FFN || Ko-Fi

“Are you sure we don’t look too touristy?” came Lily’s voice among the crowd gathered in the French Quarter. It had taken quite a bit of convincing the group that no, the best parades were not on Bourbon Street, but a look from Eudora had them quieting down rather quickly, and so, the group had moved quickly in the early morning light through the already crowded streets, finding a clear spot along the parade route.

Eudroa, along with Eli La Bouff, had decided to come with the young adults, and while many of them had protested at first, a quick mention of a parents’ group chat started by Regina ceased any opposition. Neal had felt even more pressure to keep everyone safe at the thought of Storybrooke’s Fire Chief, Fire Captain, Mayor, and Sheriff all in the same group chat with his mother.

He was going to die if anything happened during this trip, and he was certain that no one would be able to find his body, given the high ranking people involved.

“Meh, there’s really no such thing as too touristy. Mardi Gras has people dressin’ so ridiculous, it’s hard to tell who really lives here and who’s a tourist. I mean, look at that guy wearin’ Big Bird’s cousin over there,” Charlotte replied with a giggle as she gestured to a man wearing a blue feather coat. “Although, if you start flashin’ your breasts, especially in this area, that would give you away, no question.”

Lily stared at Charlotte, looking like some grand master plan had been ruined. “I thought that was a thing people did!”

“Nah, just tourists,” Neal replied with a grin. “And it’s more common on Bourbon Street. I don’t think you’d get the response you want here. Look at all the kids that are around here.”

“Then you’d end up on social media… where your mom would be able to see it,” Alex pointed out, gesturing to the hundreds of cameras in their view taking photos of a high school marching band marching by. “You know that’d tank your credibility at school too. If you weren’t arrested first, of course.”

Lily sighed, reaching out to catch a set of beads as they flew in her direction. “Yeah, you’re right. Maybe I’ll flash ‘em to someone else, in a more private setting.” A wink was tossed in Charlotte’s direction, who turned as pink as the shirt she wore.

“Oh my God you two, get a room! I thought Emma and Neal were the only two we were going to have to worry about on this trip,” Elaine said with a roll of her eyes.

“Hey, we haven’t done anything!” Neal protested, raising his hands in a show of surrender, before he felt a sudden weight in one and glanced down, a keychain was in his hand, having been tossed from the passing float. It had a swan design, and seemed well made for something getting tossed at a Mardi Gras parade, so he quietly tucked it into his pocket as the conversation continued around him.

“Yeah, that we’ve seen,” Yue teased, sticking her tongue out and dodging a swat from Emma.

Emma rolled her eyes and groaned. “Ugh! You guys are the worst!”

“Nah, we’re not. Otherwise you wouldn’t have invited us,” Eliza declared.

Neal shook his head. Though this group could be… a lot to deal with, he was glad he had a group of friends like them, and he was happy to be able to show off Mardi Gras to them.

The parade continued on, and the group reached up to catch the goodies tossed by the people on the floats, and by the time they made their way back to the restaurant, all of them had a small amount of trinkets.

“Well, that parade sure saved us some money on souvenirs!” Alex said, dropping onto the couch. “Granted, I don’t think Mom and Dad will be happy with just some plastic beads and a cup on it, but still.”

“We’ll take you guys to get some good stuff, none of that boring touristy stuff,” Charlotte promised with a grin. “There’s a cute little boutique with hand made accessories, and a metalworks place where you can get some really cool stuff for people in all sorts of careers.”

“Guess it’s true what they say - go where the locals go,” Roland said with a grin. “This trip has been so much better with you guys showing us around than it would be if we’d gone by ourselves. We really can’t repay you enough.”

“Oh no, don’t you worry about that,” Eudora said with a kind smile. “Any friends of Neal’s are always gonna be welcome here. You all just be careful tonight. The French Quarter might be where the best parades are, but Bourbon Street is where the parties are, and things can get a little wild ‘round here.”

“You may be downplaying New Orleans, Eudora,” Eli said with a laugh. “Bourbon Street is never completely empty during Mardi Gras. There’ll be more people here than you’ve ever seen. And since the weather’s so nice, more people than usual, I’d say. It’s perfect weather for Mardi Gras this year. It’s like the gods were smiling on y’all when you were planning your trip.”

“I mean, you’re just making it sound better and better, Mr. la Bouff,” Lily grinned. “So much to do and see, so many people to talk to, a party that won’t ever end? Sounds like a great time to me!”

“I think I’m gonna stick closer to our home base,” Yue said, with Eliza nodding in agreement as they glanced at the crowds beginning to form outside the restaurant. “Those crowds are making me a little nervous.”

Lily sighed. “You’re no fun, you two. I don’t know how that is considering one of your mothers is the fire captain of our town!”

“Yeah, and you don’t even know half the horrors she’s told us about parties in Chinatown when she was growing up,” Eliza said. “The parades were fun, but if I go out, I’m staying around here with Yue.”

“It’s alright Lily, I’ll take you to all the best party spots,” Charlotte said with a grin.

Eli didn’t look particularly thrilled at the idea, but didn’t say anything.

“There are some fun places around here we can go to,” Tiana said. “Mama’s friend Louis has a jazz band that’s playin’ at Woldenburg Park. It’s one of the more tame things to do this time of night.”

“Now that sounds up our alley,” Yue said. “That sounds like fun!”

“What do you want to do, Emma?” Neal asked.

“I’d love to listen to the jazz band play. We can always party tomorrow night too.”

Lily frowned, but went back into Tiana’s bedroom to change. When she returned, she was in a crop top and shorts, and a pair of sandals. “Alright, alright, fine. Come on Roland, Alex, Lottie.”

The group split then, half going out on the busy Bourbon Street, the others going to the slightly-quieter Woldenburg Park, taking in the sounds of New Orleans with Louis’ jazz band. There were crowds, of course, dancing and clapping along with the music, and Neal just relaxed against the blanket they’d spread out near the stage, a lazy grin on his face.

“Well, don’t you look right at home,” Emma giggled, plopping down next to him, a bottle of water in her hand.

“Shouldn’t I?” he questioned with a grin. “This was my home for years after all.”

“Oh no, of course you should! I just meant -”

He laughed, wrapping an arm around her as she leaned against his shoulder. “I’m kidding, Emma. Don’t worry. By the way, Mama said Louis and the band are willing to give us a backstage tour once their set is over.”

“Really? That sounds great, Neal!”

They sat in a peaceful silence, listening to the band. Take the A-Train, by Duke Ellington soon filled the air, and Neal tapped his fingers along to the beat before he paused and glanced at Emma. “Hey, I’ve got something for you.”

“Hm? What is it?”

Neal reached into his pocket and pulled out the silly swan keychain he’d caught during the morning’s festivities.

“Really?” Emma gasped, taking it into her hand. “You want me to have this?”

“I wouldn’t have given it to you if I didn’t,” he grinned. “It reminded me of the swans that are in the pond at your farm.”

Emma smiled. “It’s beautiful… thanks Neal.” She reached into her pocket and pulled her keys out, attaching the swan to it and holding it up to the stage lights so she could see better. “There. Looks good on my key ring, doesn’t it?”

“Like Cinderella’s slipper fitting her perfectly.”

Emma snorted and rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. “You can be so cheesy sometimes. But I guess that’s part of why I like you.”

“Only part of why you like me?” he gasped, placing a hand on his chest in mock offense. “You wound me, Emma.”

“So dramatic,” Emma said with a roll of her eyes. “You should be studying drama in college, not working as a fireman. You might put others at risk if you’re going to be such a drama king over your girlfriend finding parts of you she enjoys.”

Neal grinned. “Nah. I wouldn’t want to be an actor. Not now that I’m going by my birth name again. It’d be too easy to figure out who I was.”

Emma frowned, slowly nodding in agreement. “Right… we really wouldn’t want to do something like that.”

More and more people around them got up to dance, including Tiana, dancing with someone he didn’t recognize, so he held out his hand to Emma with a smile. “Come on, let’s dance the night away!”

Her face brightened as she took his hand and rose to her feet, Glenn Miller’s American Patrol beginning to play from the stage. “Yeah!”

Neal wrapped his arm around her waist, lacing their hands together with a grin. It felt nice, having her in his arms like this. Neither of them knew exactly how they were supposed to dance to it, so they just bounced around on their feet, swaying to the beat of the songs and laughing, under the starry, New Orleans sky.

------

Alice liked Storybrooke a lot. A quaint little town, away from the hustle and bustle of city life, little congestion, and more stars in the sky than she’d ever seen? Not to mention the kind people who had welcomed her with open arms despite her… quirks, and Margot’s family who had embraced her as one of their own without question. Though she loved her father, his job kept him busy while she’d been growing up, and she’d been bounced around between neighbors whenever her father’s workday ran longer than anticipated. Uncle Killian and Aunt Milah had never been able to watch her.

They had never come to their apartment at all - her and Papa had always gone to their houseboat for the holidays. Looking back on it now, knowing that her aunt had kidnapped Bae from his father and fled with him, she understood why.

But her heart broke for Bae whenever she thought about his life. How lonely he must have been, while Alice had been having the time of her life with a little cousin to play with. Knowing he’d been able to escape and find Tiana and Eudora made her so happy. She didn’t even mind that they had to pretend to not know each other, until her uncle and aunt were found.

What Alice hoped was that her father didn’t know anything about the kidnapping. That he didn’t know what a terrible thing Uncle Killian had done. If he did know… not only would he ruin his career, but he’d absolutely break her heart, and given how awful of a person Alice’s mother was, she really, really didn’t want to have two horrible parents. Not with all the good memories she had with her father.

Dammit, her mind was drifting again. She really needed to stop doing that.

Alice blinked and shook her head, turning her attention to the Zillow page in front of her. She hadn’t told Margot about her idea yet. Though they had discussed putting travel aside for now and settling down somewhere, they hadn’t talked about just staying here in Storybrooke.

“Alice? You in here?” she heard Margot call from the front door.

“In the kitchen!” Alice called back, reaching for her mug of tea and taking a sip before wincing. It was getting cold. She’d been thinking way too long this time, and rose to her feet to dump the cold tea down the sink with a frown before Margot entered the room with grocery bags in her hands.

“Hey, you alright? You’ve got that lost in thought look on your face again,” Margot questioned as she set the bags on the counter and started pulling groceries away.

Alice nodded. “Yea, of course! I just… I’ve been looking at places on Zillow.”

Margot paused, setting a jar of jelly down on the counter. “Zillow? What cities were you thinking of?”

“I wasn’t thinking of a city. I was thinking you and I could stay here. In Storybrooke.”

“Here?” Margot blinked in surprise. “Really? You want to stay here?”

Alice shrugged. “Yeah. Small town, nice people. Bit of a calm away from our crazy travel schedule. And next time we go somewhere, your mum can look after our place for us. Make sure there’s nothing going wrong there, you know? Plus, y’know, your family really accepted me. I feel… I feel happy here.”

Margot smiled softly and wrapped her arms around her. “I think that all sounds great, Alice. I’m glad you’ll be happy here. Did you find anywhere that caught your eye yet?”

“Not yet. Why don’t we finish putting the groceries away and we can look together?” she suggested with a wide smile.

“Sounds like a plan to me. It’ll be nice to have our own place where we can buy whatever we want and have our own space. Getting away from my mom sounds like a dream,” Margot groaned, taking Zelena’s favorite tea out of the bag. “And I never have to buy this brand of tea ever again.”

Alice laughed. “Right, because we have better taste when it comes to tea.”

“Exactly. One of the perks of going to China,” Margot said with a grin. “So did you want an apartment or were you thinking maybe an actual house?”

“A horse. I think I want to try growing a garden. We can have fresh herbs and vegetables in the summer! Do you think your uncle David would be willing to help?”

Margot nodded. “Are you kidding? I’m sure he’d love to. Aunt Mary-Margaret says gardening helps him relax, so any excuse he has to garden he’d jump at the chance to take.”

Alice could only grin, excitement building up inside her. Ever since she was a child, she’d wanted a garden, but it wasn’t easy to have a garden in Hyperion Heights. Not a personal one, anyway. When she’d been a kid she’d been part of a community garden club with her mother, before her mother had completely abandoned her. While Alice didn’t like her mother, she didn’t want gardening to become a sour memory. Having her own, with the help of people who loved her, would turn those sour memories sweet again.

“Yeah, you know, having a house would give us space to entertain. Maybe we can invite some of our travel buddies to visit us too. That way we won’t have to worry about being too loud for our neighbors that share walls with us, like when we were in Spain,” Margot said, breaking Alice from her thoughts again.

“Yeah,” Alice said with a grin. “And maybe we can invite my father to stay too.” She would have to figure out when in order to protect Bae from being discovered, but it would be weird for her not to mention her father if they were talking about having people over to their new place!

“Of course! I’m sure he’d love it,” Margot agreed, closing the fridge after putting the last of the refrigerated items away. “Let’s go check out Storybrooke’s real estate market.”

So they curled up together, a tablet between them, and scrolled through Storybrooke’s limited offerings.

“You know, if we don’t find anything here, Hyperion Heights is only a ten minute drive away. We could check there too,” Margot suggested. “It’s a bigger city, but I know they have houses with yards that you want.”

Alice must have had a frustrated look in her eyes. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. We won’t be too far from everyone in that case,” she sighed, and ran a hand through her blonde locks. “Why don’t we take a break for now? We can figure out din -” she was cut off as her phone began to buzz in her pocket. “Papa! Hi!” she greeted when she put the phone to her ear.

There was a large amount of background; noise, almost like a party, before she finally heard her father’s voice on the line. “Ah! Alice! I’m sorry, I thought I found a quiet place to call, but I guess not.”

“Where are you?” Papa was one of the last people that would call her from a party - especially one that sounded that wild and chaotic.

“I’m in New Orleans with your aunt and uncle. I have great news - we think we found Bae!”

Alice froze, her eyes widening in fear. Margot gave her an alarmed look, which she forced herself to wave off as she answered. “Oh - you did? How did that happen?”

“Killian said something about seeing a post about Mardi Gras on social media. Apparently Aunt Milah spotted him in a crowd shot of one of the parades. So now we’re looking to see if anyone knows him, but it’s been hard. I just wanted to let you know.”

Alice grinned nervously. “That’s great news, Papa. Let me know what happens.”

“Of course.”

“Alice, what’s wrong?” Margot asked the moment Alice lowered the phone from her ear.

“Call David. Tell him Killian and Milah Jones have been spotted in New Orleans.”

Margot stared and reached for her phone. “How did you - ”

“Because my dad is Killian’s twin brother! Please, Margot, we have to hurry before they find Neal - or worse, the woman that took him in!” Aunt Milah could be vicious when she wanted to be, and that wasn’t something Alice wished on anyone.

“Right. Okay,” Margot agreed, putting the phone to her ear. “Uncle David?”

-----

“That jazz museum was so cool! I had no idea it came from so many different genres!” Alex said with a grin. “I know exactly what my next essay is going to be on!”

“Oh for God’s sake, don’t remind me of school,” Lily groaned, wrapping her gift shop bag tighter to her wrist. “We’ve still got four days here!”

“It’s not my fault this city is full of inspiration!”

Neal laughed, fingers laced with Emma’s as they walked back toward the restaurant for lunch. Though Mardi Gras was still in full swing, the Storybrooke group had spent the morning exploring museums and landmarks around the city.

“I really am having a great time,” Emma said, moving closer and resting her head on his shoulder.

“I am too. I’m glad Lily invited me along - huh?” he paused and pulled his vibrating phone out of his pocket with a frown. “Tamara?”

Tamara’s voice was nervous and rushed as she spoke. “Neal. Hey. I know I’m probably the last person you want to hear from, but Mr. La Bouff told me to call.”

“What? Why did he do that?” he asked, gripping the phone tighter. Neal’s sudden stop had paused the others too, and they stepped into a surprisingly quiet part of the street.

“I don’t know the full details, but when I went into your mama’s restaurant to pick up an order, I heard a bunch of yelling. Something about your mama being a kidnapper? Mr. La Bouff came out of the back room and saw me, and told me to call you.”

Neal felt the color drain from his face. “Oh my God. They found me. Thanks Tamara.”

“Wait, what -”

But he didn’t wait another second. He ended the call and ran as fast as he could toward the restaurant, after a rushed explanation to the others. Dawn, Philip, and Emma had already pulled out their phones, trying to call Storybrooke’s police. He paid their conversations no mind as he rushed through the restaurant’s back door. There was no yelling from the office, so he rushed upstairs and burst into the apartment, eyes meeting Milah’s for the first time in six years.

“Hey! Leave her alone.”

[ronnie-azumane]

Haikyuu guys as stuff my dad did

This idea has been in my brain for a while, so I'm writing it out. Hope y'all enjoy :)

CW: idn, its pretty wholesome

Daichi answers your frantic phone call home expressing that you forgot your backpack and laptop for college when you went home over the weekend. Expressing that all of your notes are in the backpack, he decides to wake-up extra early Monday morning and make the 2 1/2 hour drive to your university, then drive all the way back to your hometown to go to work.

Sugawara came up with the best hiding spot for you while playing hide and seek at your 7th birthday party. He squeezed you in-between the back of the couch and the back couch cushions. Then, he sat in front of it to conceal the awkward lump it made in the couch. It took the others 30 minutes before giving up and telling you to come out.

Asahi asks you to style his hair for a zoom meeting he has later that day. After some deliberation, you both decide to do a mohawk style. He braces himself as you run off to get the brush, hairspray, hair gel, and hairdryer.

Nishinoya still wears the Annoying Orange shirt you got him when you were in 3rd grade. It's faded and has a giant picture of Annoying Orange on it, which faded from popularity in 2010, but he still wears it. In public.

Tanaka makes the dumbest jokes while in the audience of your colorguard/dance competitions. For example, he asked your mom if he should shout "Go get 'em George" to the group of girls performing to confuse everyone. Another favorite joke o his is to chant "the worm, the worm,, we worship the worm" while the previous team is carrying out their floor.

Ennoshida talks with you as you make one of the biggest changes in your life. Midway through your second semester at university, you determine that business is not for you, however, you do not have a backup plan. Talking with him, you end up changing your major to Geography, and now you love every second of it.

Kageyama drinks the milk out of you cereal. You hate the taste of milk by itself, but you don't want to eat dry cereal. To not waste milk, he drinks it after you finish eating your cereal.

Hinata fails miserably when your mom tells him to reapply the medical glue on your forehead. The day before, your sister threw a wooden block at you, causing a major tear in your head. Your mom took you to the emergency room, but they were busy and it was a school night, so they told her to just take some liquid band aid (which we called glue) and close the wound. Your mom told him to replace the glue, and he took ELMERS GLUE and placed it on the open wound. It hurt like a bitch.

Tsukishima takes you to go see the museum of natural history once a month. He knows you're the odd girl out of your class that would rather play with dinosaurs than dolls, so he takes you to see the dinosaur fossils. He also gets a discount because his place of work donated a significant amount of money and resources to one of the exhibits.

Yamaguchi helped set up your setup once you moved to zoom university. He attached your laptop to a monitor his job had extra, so now you feel like a badass whenever you use the two screens.

Oikawa out of nowhere invites all his high school friends over to stay the week at your house. A trip that probably should have been planned in weeks, even months, is planned in just a weekend. Everyone ends up sleeping on air mattresses and blankets on the floor due to your mom just finishing up replacing the floors in the house (she was not too happy with the sudden trip, but was welcoming anyway)

Iwaizumi makes you watch Godzilla with him whenever it's on TV. Some of his fondest memories include receiving Godzilla themed ornaments from his mom ever Christmas. He also unironically watches those cheesy fan-made Godzilla fights on YouTube for hours on end. Man just likes Godzilla.

Hanamaki and you wear funny hats to a volunteer cookout. The organizers told every one to wear a hat so that their hair didn't get in the food, but you two take it a step further. You wear a banana hat while he wears a hotdog hat.

Matsukawa taught you how to make all kinds of breakfast food at a young age. Whether it was a simple as a fried egg or as complex as French toast, he worked with you until the recipe came out perfect.

Kyotani scares the other parents off when it comes to the silent auction selling the class are projects. Now the shelf you and your kindergarten classmates fingerprinted flowers and bugs on sits proudly in your closet holding crafting supplies.

Ushijima scolds you for leaving the lights on. Most parents do that already, but he takes it to a new extreme. Your mom explains that he would never turn the lights on in his apartment when he was in college and would simply get his homework done before dark. Sometimes, if he had something to do, he would light a candle to finish something up.

Tendou recalls a story in which he stole a bus battery with his buddies to power an air conditioned tent at boy scout camp. He also recalls the year he and his friends tried to build a pool in the wilderness at the same count, only to get caught and reprimanded for it before filling it with water which totally had nothing to do with a camp counselor finding it and having a Vietnam flashback

Goshiki watches anime with you. He always acts like he is uninterested in whatever show is on, but he soon gets super into it and it will be the only thing he talks about for a week.

Kuroo sits at the table with you until 2am working on that math assignment you have been struggling with. You've definitely run out of tears to cry, and had to redo the assignment twice, but he is guiding you through the answers

Yaku isn't a fan of all the pets you and your mom have collected over the years. I mean, in his defense, at one point we had 8 cats an 3 dogs. However, he is also super cuddly with them, always giving them nose boops and belly rubs.

Kenma plays Xbox, Wii, and the ds with you. He doesn't find the bulk of the games you play with him entertaining, but he is willing to run through LEGO Star Wars with you. His personal favorite to play is Mario Kart and he doesn't let you win >:(

Lev is trying to convince the family to let him take the position in Alaska with higher pay. When mom raised the concern that the long winters wouldn't do well for your mental health, his counter argument was, "Yeah, and that sucks, but hear me out. We could have a pet Polar Bear." We didn't move to Alaska

Bokuto was definitely the most enthusiastic dad at the girl scout father daughter dance. He twirled you around in your pretty little JC Penney dress and made sure you two were the center of the dance floor. At one point, he lifted you above his head with each foot in a hand like a cheerleader. Truly terrifying.

Akaashi drives out to the 24-hour pharmacy to pick up some cold medicine when you couldn't sleep due to a stuffy nose. He also checks up on you every hour when you are coughing with some mysterious disease (due to the lack of tests and priority of the high-risk, I will never know if I had Covid when I got sick in late March)

Aone gives you the biggest hug after you get released from the graduation ceremony. He isn't the best with words, so this hug speaks so much to you.

Terushima has been taking you to Mardi Gras in New Orleans since you were a baby. He doesn't care that it's mostly an adult party, he believes that everyone in the family should enjoy a good ol' Mardi Gras

Atsumu carries you on his shoulders all the time when you're small. He just thinks it's the cutest thing.

Osamu makes sure to host a crawfish boil every year. Whether its the neighbors, family, both, or just the household, you can expect some good, spicy crawfish with corn and potatoes whenever he cooks.

Kita teaches you how to drive a stick shift. He's frustrated that you cant move three feet before stalling, but then realizes that the issue was that you were in third gear, not first. He is now impressed that you were even able to start moving at third gear.

Sakusa takes you along with him to work. His job is full of tough men, so when they see him with you in a little blue dress-up tutu and a plastic tiara on your head, their hearts just melt.

[darknessisafriend]

Hi! Can I ask for hcs' about almost every Joaquin character (y'know, Joe, Theo, Arthur, Ray, and many more) when they're on Christmas with you? Going to a party, with your family, staying at home, in a shopping, gettting presents, taking you to a café or a restaurant, putting on christmas decorations at home, what you eat with them or how you enjoy the night and fireworks, stuff like that. Thank you! Love your imagines!

Hiii I wrote and before Christmas so I’m really happy! (I literally spend my days writing it from morning to late in the night) so I hope you will like it!! 

Following HCs with: Arthur/Joker, Commodus, Joe, Abbe, Charlie, Bobby, Bruno, Willie, Max, Theodore, Merrill, Freddie, Ray

Arthur/Joker

-        Christmas is Arthur’s and Joker favorite day of the year after Mardi Gras. It is a day where he can be fully himself, wear one of those ‘ugly’ knitted sweaters, listen to oldies Christmas songs. He feels people more relaxed in the streets, it must be Christmas spirit softening them a little, even in Gotham. And usually you would manage to convince Joker not to make too much trouble and stay by your side all day instead.

 -        You would be staying home together on Christmas Eve. It would be a very simple day because you didn’t have a lot of money but what is important is to be together, and it’s what you would remind to Arthur, no need for something big or fancy, just to be together in Christmas spirit.  

 -        You would buy a few decorations, but you would mostly create them yourself, spending the weekends of December making them with Arthur as you drank hot chocolate. Your flat would be colorful, filled with red and white tinsels and candy canes; you both went to a park and discreetly cut a few pine trees branches to decorate the appartement.

 -        Of course, Arthur would make the surprise to buy a Christmas tree, not too big, but it was more than enough to make you smile with happiness. And you would decorate it with anything that was shiny and candy canes too of course.

 -        For dinner you would not buy anything expensive, but luckily you and Artie were pretty good in cooking and you could manage to make delicious dishes with basic ingredients, roasted potatoes with bacon wrapped turkey and red wine gravy, and you would drink the other half of the bottle while eating. And of course, your favorite part, an apple cake topped with cinnamon and sugar.

 -        You want the night to be as relaxing as possible, you would cook with Arthur while listening to music, exchanging kisses and giggling. Then, after dinner, you two would settle in the sofa, and watch Disney Christmas cartoons while drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows.

 -        The next morning, Arthur or Joker would be the first awake, excited like a kid and eager to open his gift. Yes, usually with Arthur it would be one or two gifts for each of you. Arthur would have worked extra hours and saved as much money as he could to be able to buy you something nice, he bought those cute earrings you had seen once in a store front. Joker would get you more gifts and would get a bit extravagant, but it was really fun. You would get a nice suit or piece of accessories for Joker. For Arthur you would get a warm sweater or scarf so that he wouldn’t get cold when he is outside.

 -        As soon as the gifts were open and breakfast with nice pastries taken; you and Arthur would head to your grandparents’ home where you would be reunited with your parents and cousins as well. Arthur was always a bit nervous about it but once they all greeted him with a hug, he would be smiling all along, hugging back your family and playing with your cousins and nephews. He never had a family but now he had one. Joker had promised you he would never come out on Christmas, it was always sweet Arthur, otherwise your parents would have freaked out.

Commodus

-        Saturnalia was always an amazing holiday. For whole a week the whole Empire would celebrate in honor of the god Saturn. It was a very special day where the People would be pampered by their Emperor and where even slaves would be provided by table service and dining with their masters, all would party and share. Many offerings were made to the god but also to the people.

-         

-        Commodus was always particularly joyful on that holiday. The first day, he always had a hard time not working but then, the next day, the real Commodus was back, joyful and relaxed. He would dedicate his days entirely to you, his nephew and the rest of the family.

-         

-        Commodus would be dressed colorfully, wear red and gold togas and you would usually wear matching clothes, except on Saturnalia eve where you would wear purple and gold, an outfit especially made for that night. You both loved beautiful clothes and it was the occasion to shine even more.

 -        He would make sure that Lucius gets chosen as the Saturnalicius princeps, the Lord of Misrule for the whole week. And Lucius loved it, he was able to prank everyone and especially his dear uncle who at first regretted it, and then you would find him pranking back Lucius or even you, those two were children.  

 -        The whole week, Commodus would offer chariot racing in the grand arena, the greatest charioteer gathered for the most exciting races and with great rewards, as well as gifts for the public. You both enjoyed it, no blood, no deaths, pure entertainment for all.

-         

-        It would be a huge party in the streets of Rome, people singing in the streets naked, drinking and gambling. With the Senate, Commodus would make sure to have a delicious public buffet offered to the people at the Temple of Saturn. He wants everyone to enjoy this holiday. And at night on the eve of Saturnalia, Commodus would organize a big party in the palace, where he would completely let himself go and enjoy the moment.

 -        For dinner, he would get you the finest foods from the whole Empire and even from far beyond, exotic dancers, magicians and entertainers would be invited as well to make this night unforgettable. He would make sure you smile and laugh, that you simply feel home, and it really were.

 -        “Io Saturnalia my love!” he would cheer, all tipsy, a big goofy grin on his face, coming to wrap his arms around you, almost spilling his cup of wine on you as he starts trying to dance, he wouldn’t care if he looked ridiculous, he wanted to hold you in his arms and kiss you. To be honest, drunk Commodus was probably the most adorable thing you ever saw.

 -        Commodus would be very nervous about the presents, he wants the best for you and he wants to impress you even if he knows he doesn’t have to but Commodus feels this need to constantly prove himself and his love for you.

 -        Early in the morning the day before, he would go out in the city in disguise to get your gifts, he doesn’t trust anyone else to get the best for you and choosing your gifts himself is very important to him, he wants something true, something that truly reflects how he feels for you. He would have a ring especially forged for you, with a blue gemstone incrusted in the center of it, reminding you of his gorgeous blue outfit that you loved so much. And for his nephew, his first real sword to train with him. As for you, you would get him a very fine wine from Greece and then a rather…sensual that you would were in your bedroom that night, you would be his gift in a way; and it would made him even crazier for you.

 -        After this long night of celebration, you and Commodus would take your time and just sleep as long as you could, it was the last day before getting back to work and you wanted him fully rested and ready to take care of the Empire as ardently as before. You had opened your gifts at midnight so there was nothing waiting to be done, except perhaps Lucius who was eager to take his first lesson from his uncle, but the boy was clever and let you enjoy your husband a few hours more….Io Saturnalia.

Joe 

-        Christmas with Joe would be quiet, something peaceful at home, it would mean a moment of full relaxion for Joe and perhaps the only moment where he feels like he doesn’t have to be on his guard all the time.

 -        You would spend Christmas Eve’s afternoon in an animal shelter with Joe, you two would pamper the pets and take them on a walk outside. You had discovered Joe rather enjoyed spending time with animals, especially dogs, it seemed to sooth him and you were thinking of adopting one of the dogs as his Christmas gift. So, this moment would be a good occasion as well to see which one he preferred.

 -        You would usually spend Christmas eve and Christmas day with your family, just your parents. It did good to Joe to be with other people. And your parents loved him, your father was a veteran and they understood each other. And then your mother just loved him and always offered him more cookies.

 -        You would do part of the shopping with Joe, especially to buy ingredients to cook for him and your family and then buy a few decorations. Joe would shop separately for your gift of course. And he would be in charge to get the Christmas tree and somehow he always ended up picking one that was too tall to fully fit in the living room, so he would have to climb on the stepladder and shorten the top of the trunk  and you couldn’t help but laugh. Poor Joe, he always picked up the biggest and most beautiful trees.

 -        This year Joe got you a few books, fantasy and sci-fi stories. It wasn’t his genre at all, but he knew you enjoyed it, and he hoped he had chosen well, he had made a research on internet to see which were better. As for you, well, you had gotten him the dog he was fond of at the shelter.

 -        You and Joe would cook with your parents, you would take care of the dessert with your dad while Joe and your mother did the rest. It wouldn’t be anything too complicated but there were many dishes to fill in everyone and especially Joe’s great appetite. As your mother said, a big man like him needed strength to carry on. And he truly managed to eat everything she was serving him, which you never thought was possible.

 -        As for the Christmas decoration of your house, it would be discreet but enough to remind of the Christmas spirit. The Christmas tree, a few tinsels on the walls or the banister and that was it. For everything, Joe liked to remain discreet. Still, you managed to get him to wear a Christmas sweater at home and with your family and he was the most adorable like that.

 -        The night would be spent taking your time dinning with your family, and then they would light a fire in the chimney, and drink mulled wine while talking about the many things that happened during the year. Then, your dad would put on some vinyl, oldies Christmas song; and you couldn’t resist but to get Joe to dance with, a slow dance, pressed against each other as you listened to the music.

 -        The next morning, you were the first one awake, excited to open your gifts. Well, you thought you were the first one awake, but you would soon realize Joe wasn’t sleeping by your side, maybe he was eager too. However, when you reached downstairs, you found him cooking a marvelous breakfast and not just for you but your parents as well, already wearing the Christmas sweater you had gotten him.

Abbe de Coulmier 

-        Christmas was obviously a very important day for the Abbe, the birth of the Christ and a day of love. Which meant a lot of work for him, he was a priest after all, and he wanted to give love to people around him and the people in need. And he also wanted to make this day special for his patients, many had been abandoned by their families, and he wanted to make them feel at home, celebrating this important day together.

 -        He would encourage his patients to create decorations, some patients even crafting wood, others picking up pine tree branches to ornate the doors of their cells. Then, you and Madeleine would spend the day cooking for the dinner, the Abbe as always had managed the finances excellently and you had extra money to buy more food and ingredients and cook something more sophisticated for this day and even Yule logs for everyone. You would even convince him to cook biscuits with the patients, it made them very happy and also seeing him covered in flour was adorable, you couldn’t stop giggling and teasing him.

 -        Then, towards the end of the afternoon you would help him greet homeless and poor for the evening and night, distributing blankets to them, and sharing a warm dinner with them and a shelter for the night. So, this was a very big day for him and slightly exhausting, but the Abbe was a workaholic, he lived for other people and he loved helping.

 -        Charenton had become his family so there was no reason for him to come out of the Asylum. And also, you were there, by his side. And he loved you, even if he knew he shouldn’t but he couldn’t resist the temptation you were, and he wanted to make this day special for you too.

 -        He had very little money, but he had still managed to go in town, and buy you a beautiful blue scarf to keep you warm in the corridors of Charenton.  As for you, you had saved as much money as you could to buy him this beautiful chain with a little golden cross, he could wear it around his neck all day along, underneath his cassock.

 -        It would be a very heartwarming night where everyone would be reunited in the canteen, a beautiful fire lit in the chimney. Everyone would sit close to it and listen to the Marquis, standing in front of it, telling funny stories and also Christmas stories which he had agreed to tell after the irresistible request from his favorite priest. As the Marquis was getting everyone’s attention, you felt the Abbe discreetly brush his fingers against yours, to finally entwine your hands, making you blush, you would exchange a look full of love, tonight he would spend the night in your bed.

 -        To end the night, he would celebrate the midnight mass, patients and employees gathered and singing songs celebrating the day of the birth of Jesus Christ. It would be a great moment to remind everyone the values of Christmas, compassion, sharing, kindness and love.

 -        The next morning you would both be awakened by the excited cheering of the patients, eager to open their gifts. He couldn’t help but chuckle, it seems you two won’t be able to make love again this morning, but he would find another way, probably request you to his office for some reason. It wouldn’t stop him from filling your face with kisses before getting up and putting his cassock on. As you both opened your gifts with everyone else, you would know which one was his gift and he would know which one is yours; the look he would give you would be more powerful than words and you would smile in return, you felt blessed.

 Charlie 

-        Charlie wasn’t a Christmas guy, not all. Mostly because he kept bad memories from it, his father made it hell for him and his brother, and his mother too. Even if she had always tried to make them smile, making them eggnog, discreetly slipping a gift in their bed in the morning.

 -        Naturally as an adult, he wasn’t really down for it, except getting drunk in a Saloon. But you were there to teach him another way to celebrate Christmas, and it would be a way he would surely enjoy; and he would end up with Christmas spirit.

 -        So, obviously you would spend the day with his family, his brother and his mother. And Charlie wouldn’t be so opposed to it; at first, he might complain and say he doesn’t feel like going. But as soon as he sees his family, he smiles and greet them with a hug, he would never admit it out loud but he missed them and Christmas would be the perfect occasion to spend time together.

 -        You would have to accompany Charlie to the different stores for Christmas shopping, he always played tough guys and now he didn’t want to go shopping alone, it made you retain a laugh, your man was dumb sometimes.  Of course, once he finds something that could be a great gift for you, he would do his best to hide it behind his back, and most of the time pretend he didn’t find anything, you would roll your eyes, you knew his lying face but it was adorable. For his mother, he would some embroidered hankies, another scarf for his brother, just to tease him and for you, an expensive perfume from San Francisco. As for him, you would spend a lot of time and money with specialist to have a prosthetic arm designed for him, he still had a hard time with it and perhaps it would help him feel better and for when he rides again.

 -        You and his mother would cook, both men were terrible at cooking anything else than beans. So, out of question that they came into the kitchen, especially since last time where Charlie managed to eat half of the cookies you had made. You would also cook apples pies, and a roasted turkey that the two men had hunted earlier.

 -        As for decorations, the two men had managed to cut a pine tree that resembles a Christmas tree. You would all together decorate the tree, thanks to their mother pushing them to participate. It would be filled with red ribbons, berries, paper strings, yarn, and other homemade decoration Eli had brought. You would even hang a few cookies in the tree.

 -        When the night came, a fire was lit to keep everyone warm, after all the winter was extremely cold in this part of the country. You would eat joyfully, the boys telling their most epic and finniest anecdotes. Obviously, alcohol would be part of the night, though you tried to keep Charlie just tipsy, except if you were drunk too and joined him in messing around. You would end the night singing joyful Christmas songs together.

 -        The next morning, Charlie would be the one waking up everyone, he would even try to guess what his gifts were while everyone was still asleep. “But Charlie it’s 7 am…on Christmas.” you yawned, you couldn’t believe he was excited like a child for it, but in a way your understood him, Charlie had never celebrated Christmas and soon his brother was up as well, eager to unwrap his gifts. Charlie would be left speechless as he unwraps his gift and discovers the prosthetic arm, the only thing he would do is to hug you tightly, burying his head in your neck, and placing a kiss on your skin, before letting you put the prosthetic on him.

Bobby Green 

-        Christmas for Bobby had become another mean to party, not as much as for New Year though. He just loved to enjoy life to the fullest unlike his family meetings where everyone was more uptight than the others.

-        So obviously, Bobby would much prefer to spend Christmas just with you, not even with his friends from El Caribe. Though, later in the evening, after dinner, you two might head to the club a little but not to work, simply dance and have fun.  

 -        You would do Christmas decorations shopping together trying to find which color would fit the best for this year; obviously you had a thing for red because it was a color that went well with Bobby too and you picked up gold as a second color; yes, this would be perfect. The very same day, arms full of bags, you would get a Christmas tree, a big fluffy one which would proudly wear the decorations you had bought.  

 -        Then, another day, Bobby would spend quite some time shopping, thanks to his job, money wasn’t a problem, but the problem was finding something perfect for you. Bobby would get you gold earrings with a little diamond on each, and the design would perfectly match with your face and he would also buy some sexy lingerie for you both to enjoy. You would get him an earring as well, the coincidence was rather funny, but it was a detail you particularly loved about him.

 -        As the evening comes, Bobby would bring you to a nice restaurant in the city center, it was a rather fancy one but not too much to avoid uptight people who couldn’t bear a laugh. It was fancy enough to fix the event in your memories. And you would enjoy a classic feast, and even Foie gras and dishes with truffles. Obviously, you would drink champagne, it would be a night of ‘excess and pleasure’ as Bobby said, and you loved this intensity.

 -        The decorations would mostly be on the Christmas tree, then you would spread little decorations everywhere, on cupboards and counters and then add many glitters which would be hell to clean up afterwards but you recognized Bobby’s great taste in decorations, he knew how to make it joyful and give a party atmosphere to a place.

 -        After the restaurant, you would head to El Caribe, at least you knew it was the best place to party in all safety. You and Bobby would just go wild, dancing pressed against each other, exchanging kisses and getting horny in no time; to the point that you would soon go back home to make love right away. Then, late in the night you couldn’t resist but open your gifts, giggling like children. So, there wouldn’t be really a Christmas morning for you, just sleeping late in each other’s arms, and it would be the best morning ever.

Bruno Weiss 

-        For Bruno, Christmas was like any other day. He was Jewish but not practicing so he wasn’t really celebrating in any way. And he was often alone on Christmas, his girls always finding a gentleman or another way to celebrate without him. And he had expected you spend Christmas away, with your family in San Francisco; but you surprised when you asked him what he would like to do with you for Christmas, it had made him so happy that you thought about him, even surrounded by his girls, he had always been a lonely man.

 -        Bruno would spoil you during this day, actually he would dedicate his time entirely to you and that starting from the morning. He wasn’t great at cooking breakfast but at least he tried, and that only made you happy. And you were even more when he announced you that he would spend the whole day with you to prepare Christmas.

 -        He would rather enjoy shopping with you, his woman, walking hands in hands from shop to shop, his arms getting fuller of bags each time. Once again, he would spoil you, trying to fulfil you every desires, though Bruno wasn’t a rich man either; so, when you showed him an item that was too expensive, you would see it instantly, the way, he avoided your gaze, an embarrassed look on his face, he wished he could buy you anything you desired. “Hey darling, you know what? I don’t need it, it’s all good, don’t worry.” You would reassure him, tenderly kissing him on the lips. He swore to himself he would make you feel like the luckiest women in the world when you would open your gifts.

 -        You would buy many items to put in the Christmas tree and a few garlands but the most important purchase had been this new thing, electric light garlands, you had not doubts it would look perfect on the tree, and what better than to have the latest modern house items? And about that, Bruno completely agreed.

 -        Bruno would get you a new dress and makeup as well; it was one of his favorite things, to watch you put on your makeup, making yourself even more beautiful than you already were and that view was only for him. And you would buy him a new pocket watch, not one he bought on the black market for nothing, one with a beautiful design and your initials engraved inside the watch cover, so there would always be a bit of you with him.

 -        On Christmas Eve, you would stay home together, you would cook dinner and he would try to help. However, Bruno doesn’t have much patience so his help would be rather limited, and you would soon tell him to sit down and just keep you company. You would cook a roasted chicken, cookies and a fruit cake. However, on Christmas day, for lunch he would bring you to a restaurant, fancier than the usual restaurant he goes to; you would get smoked salmon and cocktails with champagne. And he had to admit, it was nice to have celebrations from time to time, and Christmas spirit was perhaps starting to grow on him.

 -        For the night, Bruno was more inclined to just stay home, but you wanted to show him something more, and you managed to convince him to go to a jazz club, at least to listen to the Christmas songs recreated with jazz stylings. After a while, you saw your boyfriend relaxed, so you put your hand on his, gently stroking it and by the look in your eyes, he would understand and accept to dance with you, a slow dance, embracing each other.

 -        The next morning; the air was rather chill, the both of you waking up slowly, caressed by the warm rays of the sun, snuggling a bit more in his embrace as you felt the air cooler than usual, it had snowed. You would happily open your gifts as you shared a coffee, wrapped in your warm bathrobe, a soft smile was on Bruno’s face, this peace, warmth; Christmas wasn’t so bad after all.

Willie Gutirrez 

-        Willie absolutely loved Christmas and didn’t hide it. It was a great occasion to spend time with you and your family and everyone knew Wille was a family man. He wasn’t the most churchgoing man, but this day would have a religious meaning for him as well. And actually, he would make sure the apartment you shared would be decorated for the 1st of December and he would get an advent calendar with chocolates, he loves it and you would have never thought that about Willie but it was really cute.

 -        That meant that you would spend Christmas holidays at your parents’ home. It was nice to travel a bit and change of air. And your parents just loved Willie, this hard-working young man who satisfied your every desires and who was kind and funny, to them he was perfect; and to you too of course, after all you were madly in love.

 -        Obviously, you would shop together, for everything: decorations, gifts for you and your family, food and chocolates. You would tease each other, trying to guess the gift hidden in the bag of the other, and you would have to wait Christmas morning to know which was even more exciting.  

 -        The apartment would be perfectly decorated, as if a home stylist had done it, silver and gold, the Christmas tree big and fluffy and perfectly decorated, the nativity scene underneath it. You were very proud of your decorations.

 -        Before joining your parents’ house, you and Willie would make cookies. But it would be hard to focus for you, Willie was really sexy, wearing an apron, a comfy sweater and a Christmas hat just to tease you because he knew the effect it had on you. Obviously, you would end up having sex on the counter between Christmas cookies. Once you would have joined your parents Willie would insist on helping out your mother, which would make her fall for him even more, and he would drink a glass of whisky with your father the same time while talking politics; yes, he had completely seduced them, to your greatest pleasure.

 -        Willie would also surprise you all by taking out an expensive bottle of champagne one of his acquaintances would have gifted him. Other than that, you would eat a rather classic Christmas feast, braised pork, vegetables and a few canapés.

 -        After dinner, you would all settle in the sofas in the living room, you snuggled against Willie, drinking hot spiced apple cider as your parents told your boyfriend memories of your childhood, some rather embarrassing actually but it made him laugh and he loved knowing those things about you. Your parents would be the first to head to bed; you and Willie would stay a bit more, exchanging slow and tender kisses until it was time to sleep and let the magic of Christmas happen.

 -        The next morning, you would be awakened by more kisses from Willie, feather-like kisses on your face, his fingers gently pushing away the strands of hair on your face. “Don’t you want to find out what Santa got you?” he’d tease you. And you would truly hesitate between considering him your Santa gift and getting up, and he knew it. And after a little you would both finally get up, happily opening your gifts. Willie would be smiling all the time, he  had family who loved him now.

Max California 

-        Max celebrates Christmas but not in the typical way to do it. For him it is an overrated celebration, with a lot of fuss with all these decorations and Christmas movies on TV all day along and the whole picking up Christmas tree imperative. Also, Max doesn’t blend in very well with Christmas atmosphere with his look that he keeps all year along. People tend to look at him in a strange way when Christmas comes, seeing a guy all dressed in black with piercings and tattoos.

 -        It would be really fun when you boyfriend would realize that you are used to celebrate Christmas and that you rather enjoy the atmosphere. You would spare him Christmas songs and put on your headphones though you wouldn’t sometimes, just to embarrass him.

 -        You would celebrate Christmas just the two of you, you preferred to take baby steps with him, family gatherings on those type of celebrations made him uneasy because people were no fun, he couldn’t make his usual sex jokes or talk about the funniest things that happened back at the sex shop.

 -        You would manage to convince him to get a Christmas tree, and he got one in a pot so that you could plant it somewhere later. And you would accept that he chooses the decorations for it and thankfully you had no guests because this was hilarious and outrageous. Bulbs that looks like boobs, leather collars and other kinky stuff he had gotten at the shop; at least it was unique and very much Max California.

 -        As gifts, you would buy him more clothes that would perfectly match his style and you would get him a new sound system for his guitar, you didn’t want him to renounce to his passion and his dream of being a successful musician one day. As for Max well…. he would get you a few sexy things and also makeup that would perfectly match your face and look, you always loved when he did that, he was better than you at picking up those products, he really had great taste.

 -        For Christmas eve dinner you would order delivery but something out of the ordinary, something a bit fancy, your kitchen wasn’t the best to cook anyway, small and poorly equipped. And actually, you and Max would go for one of the most expensive Japanese restaurants of LA, and damn that was worth it, exotic and unique for this special night.

 -        You would move the little table to the window and open it, giving you a little view on the city. Since you two had moved from his rather questionable flat, you lived in a much better and beautiful neighborhood. After dinner you would head outside for a walk hand in hand by the beach, sharing a cigarette under the cool air and watching a few decorated store fronts; Max always finding ways to make a dirty joke.

 -        The next morning, you would wake up in your favorite way, Max tracing kisses along your thighs, that rascal never forgot his priorities, you thought, giggling sleepily and well, Christmas could wait a little more.  Obviously, after this little morning fun, you would go open your gifts under the tree while Facetiming with your parents “Oh my God Max!” you burst out laughing, you couldn’t show this gift to your parents “But baby it was a limited Christmas edition!” he’d reply, making everyone laugh even more.

 Theodore Twombly

-        Knowing how romantic and old-fashioned Theodore is, he absolutely loved Christmas. It had been a rough period for when he was single and without anyone to celebrate Christmas with but Amy. Celebrating with a friend is much different than with your lover and family. So, he was more than excited to celebrate it with you.

 -        With Theodore you would get up before sunrise and take the car to drive to his chalet in the mountains. That already put you in the full Christmas atmosphere, it was sunny and full of snow, so much that for a while you thought you wouldn’t be able to access the chalet.

 -        You would spend Christmas eve and the next day together, just the two of you, in his chalet, lost in the mountains, it would become your little heaven frozen in time where only what you felt for each other mattered.

 -        Theodore would have shopped for your gifts the whole year, but he would have wrapped them a few days before Christmas, to keep the magic of the celebration. He would have gotten you all sorts of gifts, from an artisanal wooden carved object, to the latest video game you wanted. And you would have gotten a game too but what people call now old-fashioned one, a board game. Those were rather expensive today because people much preferred immersive virtual games now, but you were sure he would love it.

 -        Theodore would have already all the decorations you could possibly need, ready in boxes in the basement, you were honestly surprised by the choice in colors he had. You would both decorate the whole chalet, inside and outside with classic garlands and electrical garlands to, it was so much more beautiful than the holographic ones. This year, you would go for blue and white and also add candy canes in the tree because it was just too good not to put them. Speaking of the Christmas tree you would go get it in a pine tree nursery nearby.  And the great thing was that you could chose it and cut it yourself, though you left that task to Theodore, despite several tries you couldn’t manage to hit the same spot each time; it was physical but you both really had fun.

 -        You would cook Christmas eve dinner together, already dressed in your warm and comfy pajamas; the fire lit in the chimney. You would make tons of different cookies with hot chocolate and marshmallows. Theodore was vegetarian and you too so you would cook a wonderful vegetarian dinner, something simple and delicious that wasn’t too complicated to make so that you could spend the day enjoying other things as well.

 -        You would have dinner with candle lights while listening to oldies Christmas songs, it would be super romantic and you couldn’t stop smiling all the time and Theodore felt the same, it was a perfect Christmas.  Then, you would go on the balcony, wrapped in a warm blanket, Theodore hugging you from behind as you looked at the stars, the sky was clear and it was a stunning view. Actually, you don’t know how much time you stayed there, despite the cold, you both couldn’t stop looking. Though after a while it would be really cold and you would run inside to snuggle in front of the TV and watch Christmas movies, you barely payed attention to it, too busy exchanging tender kisses until you felt it was time to go to sleep.

 -        The following morning, after opening your gifts, the both of you were overjoyed with what you had gotten. And soon, your parents would join you and Theodore for a few days and they would also take you cross-country skiing, to the great joy of Theodore….he wasn’t a sport guy at all but he would follow you anywhere in the world.

Merrill Hess

-        Christmas for Merill meant family time, he already spent a significant amount of time with his nephews and brother but less since you had moved together in a house farther down the neighborhood. And also, he was often away since he had integrated one of the best baseball team of the country. So, Christmas was a great way to be reunited all together.

-        You would spend the whole day in family, playing the snow with your nephews, obviously Merill would start a snowball fight, and he was the best at it, great aim and great strength especially when you received it right in the face. And you, on your side struggled to reach your target, and you couldn’t even run after him to get closer, he ran damn fast! At least your nephews laughed a lot at this. Afterwards, you would make a snowman competition, you and Abigail against Merill and Morgan, and Graham, would decide of the winners and it was your team who won, and the price was extra cookies.  

 -        Merill and Graham would go shopping while you watched after the children, who didn’t know at all that Santa was shopping. And in the meantime, with your nephews you would get the many boxes of decoration out of the basement and decorate the whole house so that that they would have the surprise when they come back. Though you would leave the nativity scene to Graham and his children, it was very important for them.

 -        In the meantime, the two brothers would not only buy the gifts but also food for the dinner, a menu that everyone had composed together. You had already your gift for Merill, a sled and a few DVDs of his favorite movies, as for him he would get you a tartan rug and the finest chocolates he could find, he knew how much you loved chocolate so he didn’t look at the price.

 -        For the Christmas tree you would all go together to pick it up, the children wanted the biggest one and Merill was always part of the children when it came to the Christmas tree. You and Graham would be more rational and manage to calm them down a bit and get them to chose one that would fit in the living room and 6’7 wasn’t bad at all.

 -        After playing a while outside and being frozen now, you would get to cooking, a great way to warm up again. Of course, the children were learning to cook so they participated in the elaboration of the dinner, it was a joyful moment where everyone had their importance and helped. Stuffed turkey, carrots, potatoes and an apple pie for dessert and everything in big portions because of the two growing up and the sportsman that was Merill.

 -        The night would be full of laughter and joy, after dinner you would settle by the fire and you tell Christmas tales with Graham while the three others were sitting crossed legged and listening to you, the little ones snuggled against their uncle. And then, all together you would watch Disney Christmas cartoons, there was nothing better to relax and dream of the wonderful gifts you would get tomorrow. After putting your nephews to bed, you and Merill would sleep back in his old room, reminding you of good memories, when you had started dating and your first time making love with him, it was very nice to spend Christmas here and you wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

 -        The next morning, you would be awakened by your nephews, running in the corridor and shouting that Santa had come and that many gifts were waiting to be unwrapped. You chuckled, thinking of Graham who had waited for them to be asleep to put the gifts underneath the tree. You wouldn’t take breakfast first, they were too impatient, and they didn’t seem very hungry, preferring to test their gifts together, including Merill with his sled, he could finally compete with his nephews as the big child he could be. But before you would convince them to eat their giant breakfast so they could play for hours in the snow.

Freddie Quell 

-        It’s not that Freddie didn’t like Christmas, but he never celebrated it in a normal way, from his terrible childhood to Christmas in the army which was mostly a lot of drinking and sex. So, in a way, this would be his first real Christmas, with you and his family-in-law.

 -        He would let you completely guide him through Christmas eve and day. He was a bit grumpy at first because he was frustrated; he wanted to fit in and understand how to do things right. He wanted you to be happy with your man.

 -        So, it would be best if you spent Christmas eve, just the two of you; Take baby steps with Freddie and tomorrow spend Christmas with your family where he would have to bear the shitty jokes of your uncle. You would take him outside to walk hands in hands a look at the store fronts especially decorated for Christmas, just to show him the colors and decorations, the joy of the adults and children looking at it, in short introduce him to the Christmas atmosphere. You wouldn’t stay for too long because you knew he couldn’t stand still and had a limited patience but still, you were pleasantly surprised by how calm he was, a boyish smile forming on his lips sometimes, it was great step forward and you were eager to spend this day with him.  

 -        He would be the first to suggest going inside the shops and buy a few decorations for your house. Though, once inside he would be a bit overwhelmed by the crowd but also the crazy choice there was. He wouldn’t let go of your hand as you took him through the various alleys, he would be rather undecided about the color to pick, so you went for blue and gold, and he help you to pick up the shape and designs of the garlands and bulbs. And he was happy to carry out all the bags.  

 -        “Do you need to go to another shop for a gift?” you asked him once outside of that shop “No, I actually have it already.” He replied looking away, he had his gifts for you for a while because he had taken great care to choose something that would fit, he had gotten you a dress and expensive perfume. You would look at him excitedly, the way he took care of you was always very attractive to you “Well, Mister Quell if you could wait for me in the car, I have one more thing to buy…” your murmured giving him a sensual kiss on the lips, he would chuckle already knowing how it would end once at home but also happy that you were about to buy his gift, a nice kit to make cocktails and expensive alcohol that he would savor with you, reasonably.  

 -        You would stay home, you thought he would want to go to the restaurant but actually he preferred to be alone with you and have no distractions. You would decorate the house together, while he actually sang the Christmas songs everyone sang on the vessel, it was joyful songs and it was nice hear Freddie sing, it was an aspect of him you encouraged to come out. And while he finished decorating you cooked the fabulous dinner you would share, and which remained classic. Though soon you would feel his arms wrap around your waist and his lips tracing kisses along you neck; he couldn’t help it, whatever you did, you were sexy.

 -        Freddie was an unpredictable man and full of surprises. When you thought you would spend the evening in his arms at home, he would actually take you to the rooftop of a building and you didn’t understand why until a firework started and he had brought you where you would have the best view on it. Your eyes were shining all along and you snuggled in Freddie’s arms as you watch the show with him. And you would conclude the night by making love there, at the risk of getting a cold, but you didn’t care. In the end, it was Freddie who guided you through an amazing Christmas.

Ray Elwood

-        Ray wouldn’t get a long permission for Christmas holidays, but at least he got a few days because you two were engaged. He was excited to spend Christmas outside of the base and with you, he had missed you so much, so much time away from you, only able to write to you or call you without being able to see you or hold you in his arms; he had missed you terribly and that was more important to him than celebrating Christmas.

 -        When you reached Germany, you had no idea of how your holidays with Ray would go, it was your first time in Europe and he had given you absolutely no indications of the program, if there was one. And that’s because he had a big surprise for you. You don’t know how much time it lasted when you embraced each other at the airport but to feel his warmth, his scent wrapped around you, his lips on yours, it was the best Christmas gift you could ever receive. After that, he would bring you to the base to introduce you to his friends and also to his boss, who had become a friend in a way, but a friend he also used to do his little business. After, he hadn’t been sent here for nothing but what could you do? You couldn’t stop loving him, and as far as you knew, he didn’t kill anyone, so that was good.

 -        And he would be really proud to show his beautiful fiancée to everyone, showing that you were real and a real knockout who was engaged to him. And his buddies were really nice and fun, they made you feel comfortable in this place full of men. However, once you two were alone again, he took out of his jacket two plane tickets for Paris “Spoiler alert, that’s your Christmas gift, a couple of days together in Paris.” He revealed to you, he had more than enough money for it and he wanted to spoil you, and he knew Paris was one of your dreams. You would be speechless, what a wonderful surprise “I prefer to tell you that my gift won’t be so crazy.” You chuckled, your eyes wet with emotion “Don’t worry baby, you are my gift.” He would reassure you, filling your face with kisses.

 -        And once in Paris, you realized Ray had really gone crazy, a superb hotel room, already decorated and even with Christmas tree in it, and gifts from the hotel like chocolates and perfumes. Though, you didn’t visit the city first, as soon as the door of the bedroom was closed and that the effect of surprise had passed, you literally jumped on Ray, the both ending making love passionately, again and again until you were satisfied, actually it didn’t change much from previous Christmas, there was always a lot of sex involved, for your greatest pleasure.

 -        And to make up for lost time, Ray would have the great idea to book a table on a barge on the Seine, it would enable the both of you to see the most beautiful monuments of the city, beautifully lit during the night and while you ate a typical French Christmas dinner and of course with great wine and champagne.

 -        After dinner, you would get off the boat and go watch the beautiful and famous store fronts of the Gallerie Lafayette incredibly decorated for Christmas, Paris was just amazingly decorated and the Christmas atmosphere was very present, it was perfect. Then, you would manage to convince Ray to go Ice skating with you, and after a few kisses and puppy eyes, he wouldn’t be able to resist and would just agree. The truth is that he was really bad at it and fell all the time on his behind, you were pretty much the same, but that’s where the fun was, trying to skate decently without falling. And the both of you would end up laughing a lot, clinging onto each other and ending up falling on each other.  

 -        The day had been exhausting but worth it, it was the best Christmas holidays you ever had, and it was only starting, you still had a few days more with your fiancée. And despite exhaustion you would make love again, the Christmas atmosphere in the bedroom making it even more magical. And Ray had to admit that it really gave him the Christmas spirit and with you he was really enjoying this celebration.  And even more so when he woke up the next morning and found underneath the Christmas tree a gift for him, he picked it up and went back in the bed to open it next to you. It wasn’t something big and flashy but it had more value to his eyes, you had made a photo album of you and him, all the pictures you took together since you were together and at the end of it you had included sexy pictures of you that you had made just for him; he would have a big smile, he was loving Christmas.

Also you my dear readers, tell me with which of these characters you would prefer to celebrate Christmas with!!

Tag list: @hopelessdisasterr @skaravile @lyoongx @weirdflecksbutok @beautifulyoungprospect @stellargirlie @rosebloodstuffandthangss @clowndaddyfleck @jaylovesbats @niniitah-ah @dreamingmaria @sagyunaro @just-a-fucking-comedy @spaceinvader @radio-hoo-ha @lady-carnivals-stuff @sierraclegane @legojorny @lemondedeniname @hvproductions @syvellsworld @charlie-sisters @papercut-paranoia @jokerflecker @cigznvalentines @help-i-am-obssessed @arthurfleckjoker2019 @theartistdetective @soulsdontbreaktheybeeend @fleckcmscott @obssessedandthirsty @ridiculousnerd @stardancerluv @sgtsavoytruffle @welcometomyhiddlesfandom @sanguinandoscrivo @valentina15 @phoenixbaby88 @captain-el-writes @thedamchii @ninathefandomcollector @kiddastle @lovesickforjoaqvin @joaquins-angel @alexsportello @ohcarlesmycarles @rajacero @bring-your-holy-water   @rajacero @morrisonmercuryphoenix @fly-like-a-phoenix @the-joaq-is-extra

[imacrowcawcaw]

A Lover With A Red Hot Thong -- Duzzy -- Ch. 1

Author (as known on various sites): luluthechoosingcrow - AO3, theladylovingcrow - Wattpad and Deviantart, lady lover - Rockfic, @insannywestan - Sanny shipping blog, @gretavanfleetconfessions

Fandom: Guns n Roses

Pairings: Duff McKagan/Izzy Stradlin (Duzzy)

Tags/Warnings: Fluff, like extreme fluff, attempted humor, airports, Duff has anxiety, Izzy is really good at comforting him, cuddling, sharing a bed, romance, dates, friends to lovers, adorable giggly boys, kissing

Summary: Duff dressed like a stripper from Arkansas that had discovered the Sex Pistols last week, drank more vodka in a month than most people did in a year, baked amazing blackberry streudals, sang Prince in the shower, and made out with his friends when he was lonely. Izzy was pretty sure that he was in love with him. Something certainly comes out of it when they end up spending a rather romantic week (totally not a honeymoon) in New Orleans because somebody (the very Duff of his longings) always loses their passport.

Taglist: @brianmaysclog @love-n-my-heart-4-n-army-apart @1800endmeplease @tymeconsuming @satans-helper @ageofkiszka @karrotkate @therealswanqueen @mountainofthesunn @onlyan-angel @lantern-inthenight @love-philautia @ubernoxa @kill-fear-the-power-of-lies (reminder that I just remade my taglist and organized it as best as I could, but if you either don’t want to be tagged in something (like GNR) or want to be added, just let me know!)

Author's Notes (aka disclaimers): 

1 - Don't own the people or places 

2 - It's a combination of real and made up (to my knowledge) places for this story. Don't use this as a fucking tour guide, I've never been to New Orleans and I don't have memories of anywhere east of Lake Tahoe

3 - The timeline of this is also completely made up. I like to bend reality to my will because I am a lazy writer

4 - I tried my hand at writing a character with anxiety. I'm trying my best with the info online and my own experiences, but please let me know if something is wildly inaccurate and detracts from the story 

5 - I mean no disrespect to the band. I try my best to be a humorous writer, and I think that I have a pretty healthy view of them, seeing both the good and poking fun at the bad. Some of this might come off as mean, but I’m not really trying to be. I just want people to laugh

6 - Trying that thing where I port my WIPs to get motivated. We’ll see if this works!

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

Monday, September 15, 6:46 AM, New Orleans Louis Armstrong National Airport 

"Duff, what exactly do you mean you don't have your passport?" Axl spit, breathing hard in an effort to diffuse combustion. He was not exactly the happiest camper this early in the morning, especially when some people's forgetfulness interrupted the sleep he had planned on getting as soon as they boarded the plane.

The man being questioned gazed at Axl nervously through wide, panicked eyes. 

"I don't know, man! Er- I mean, yeah I don't have it... I'm pretty sure the last time I saw it was at the hotel when we checked in. I'm sorry! We just got up so early and it was still dark and I kind of have a hangover from last night so I just shoved my stuff in my bag and went downstairs so we wouldn't be late, but now we're going to be late shit I'm sorry I don't-" 

"Hey, hey. Duff, it's okay, just breathe," Izzy soothed, speaking his first words of the day besides a 'fuck off' to Steven, who'd been tasked with waking him up. He settled a coffee-cup-warm, pale hand on Duff's shoulder and turned to speak to Axl.

"It's fine, Bill, we'll figure it out. None of us function well in the morning, do you have your snakeskin belt, hmm?" He asked, knowing that the beloved item was still hanging from a lamp in the hotel room they had checked out of at 4 AM.

Axl's mouth shut with a clack as he glared at Izzy and his damned know it all face. He huffed out a breath and made a big show of rolling his eyes and changing his expression to one of fond exasperation.

"Fine, then, you can figure it out. Don't expect any help from us, though!" 

Izzy snorted at his friend's drama and his statement; Steven was currently trying to convince an off duty captain to let him fly his plane, Axl was Axl, and Slash was still dead to the world behind his hair -- very helpful.

"Okay, well, we'll meet you there as soon as we can. Enjoy your flight, don't become members of the mile high club without us," Izzy replied, pulling Duff up and swinging his backpack over his shoulder.

They walked away, arms brushing with every step, to the sound of Axl screaming at them to bring back his belt, and the disgruntled looks of other early morning airport commuters whom they ignored. Izzy followed the overhead signs back to a check in desk with Duff in tow, hoping that everything would work out and that they could be in Amsterdam with the rest of the guys by nightfall.

No such luck, of course.

"I'm sorry," the lady said with a completely uncaring smile, "but the next flight to Amsterdam, commercial or private, isn't until next tuesday. I can book two tickets for you, Mr. Stradlin, but there's nothing more I can do." 

Izzy sighed, but nodded. He sorted through bills in his wallet, mocking the lady in his head all the while. 'I'm sorry, but your daughter is going to die from a wrench to the eye socket. I can give you a bandaid, but there's nothing more I can do.'

Duff, though, having woken up on the walk over, was looking closer to an anxiety attack than the mild annoyance Izzy was feeling. 

He quickly excused them and grabbed Duff's wrist, pulling him a few feet away for the false illusion of privacy to calm him down.

"Shh, shh, take a deep breath," Izzy whispered, hands gripping Duff's shoulders to force them to look straight in each other's eyes. "Everything will be alright. We'll find your passport, hang out in the city for a while, then go meet up with the guys. Easy, no problems. Relax babe, just try to relax and breathe."

Duff tried to steady his breathing as he clung to Izzy, pulling the man into a hug. He wasn't sure what he would do if Iz wasn't here -- his friend was usually the only one who could stop his incoming anxiety like that.

They stood there for several minutes; Duff regaining a normal breathing pattern, and Izzy slowly rubbing his back. As they pulled away from each other, Duff spotted a hippo in Mardi Gras attire glaring at them in disgust. He smirked rather weakly, still a bit shaken and queasy from his panic but back on the track to his usual self.

"Hey, Iz, it looks like we have an audience, and he's not very pleased."

Izzy grinned back at him, relieved that the Duff he knew was still kicking. Besides, this was their favorite game. 

Every once in a while, the boys were subjected to odd stares and the occasional slur. Usually, it was just for dressing like Dolly Parton while shoplifting, but occasionally, it was because they got pretty close. Sometimes they were drunk, sometimes they were just talking to each other or hugging, sometimes because they were blatantly trying to piss off as many people as possible (sometimes the "people" included Axl).

Izzy moved his hands from Duff's shoulder blades, one wrapping tight around his waist and the other getting a firm grip on his delectable ass. 

Duff snorted and cupped Izzy's face in his large hands, angling him upwards slightly so that they could lean their foreheads together. He bit his lip to stop from giggling, and Izzy brushed his own mouth against him for a split second, getting a quick hint of teeth and coffee-breathe.

Out of the corner of his eye, Izzy saw the man visibly shudder, his beady eyes grimacing. 

A fake blond, middle aged woman Izzy assumed was his wife laid one hand on his polo shirt, as if in an effort to calm him down. It had the opposite effect. The man grunted and skewered his mouth to the side, squinting even more as if a giant rainbow spotlight was being blasted into his eyes.

Izzy smirked, though it was barely noticeable against Duff's mouth. 

Duff murmured something about 'making a scene', but Izzy knew he was referring to their audience and not themselves. Neither of them cared who saw this, though if it was printed in any magazines Axl might try to suplex them out of a window. "Try" being the key word -- the little red terror was too chicken to actually try that with Izzy, and too short to get enough leverage on Duff. 

Somewhere behind him, Izzy heard the woman whine, "Oh, Charles!" like she was getting the worst rimjob of her life. 

"It's disgusting, Carol! I won't stand for it!" 

"Time to get going?" Duff whispered, pulling back an inch.

Izzy gave him one last searing kiss and an extra probing squeeze to the ass then nodded, breaking away. They quickly picked up their suitcases and high tailed it out of the building, leaving dust, stares, and a purple and green, mouth breathing, homophobic fatman in their wake. 

Duff laughed as they came to a stop in the middle of a group of Japanese tourists. They all turned to look at him as he barked, panted, barked, and then wheezed with his hands on his knees.

Izzy was looking at Duff too, a rare - though not as much as some people would think - smile on his lips. He patted his friend on the back and pulled out a cigarette, then offered one to Duff. It would make the wheezing worse, but a smoker cares none about that. 

They lit up from Izzy's lighter as the tour grouped streamed past them, completely nonplussed at the disgruntled - or awed, recognizing - stares they received. Once they had the stretch of sidewalk to themselves, Duff stacked their suitcases one atop the other and sat down while Izzy hailed a cab. His long arms soon garnered them a ride and they hopped into the sedan after tossing their bags into the trunk. 

It was blue, with a peeling leather interior and a hand stenciled logo on either window; the usual black and white checkers ran a wobbly circle around the outside of the car. The driver glared at them from underneath bushy brows as they smoked their cigarettes, and Izzy smiled at him politely, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror, until he finished and put out his cig on the door's plastic. 

Duff's mind was in some far off place and he didn't notice any interactions taking place. Izzy wondered if he was thinking about how to find his passport, or what to do in the city, or about girls -- or, the bleach blonde head rolling onto his shoulder could have been asleep. The snores more or less confirmed it. 

"Where to?" The driver asked after a minute. 

“Marriott on Jackson,” Izzy answered, turning his torso minutely to get more comfortable.

Etta James’ smoky vocals floated out of the speakers, half of the tone quality getting lost in the maze of beads hanging down from the cab ceiling in a curtain between driver and passengers. Izzy sighed and shifted; the leather creaked; Duff snorted and drool ran down his arm. He smiled down at the man asleep on him and brushed some hair back from his sticky mouth, fingers slowly tracing Duff’s jawline. 

Michael Andrew Mckagan was a unique specimen, that was for sure. He was laid back and welcoming, yet had enough energy to rival Popcorn, at times. He was loving and affectionate to his friends, and scathingly rude to those that hurt them. Duff dressed like a stripper from Arkansas that had discovered the Sex Pistols last week, drank more vodka in a month than most people did in a year, baked amazing blackberry streudals, sang Prince in the shower, and made out with his friends when he was lonely. Izzy was pretty sure that he was in love with him.

The engine of the cab coughed, and suddenly the vehicle was rolling to a stop outside the hotel they had left only an hour or so ago. Izzy gently shook Duff awake and went to pay the man while Duff got their bags back out of the trunk. 

“That will be forty dollars,” the man said, staring Izzy down from beneath his fuzzy caterpillar. Interestingly enough, that was the only facial hair he had; perhaps he’d shaved off his mustache and glued it, hair by hair, onto his brow bone. 

“Really? It was half that to get to the airport two hours ago. What’s your game, man? You think you can scam us?”

Izzy didn’t like being scammed. It was damn near impossible to get one up on him - let alone very rare someone even dared to try - so this guy was about to get it if he thought he could. 

“You ruined my interior. Smells like smoke. I need to clean it now. I know you have the money,” the man glared, narrowing his eyes. The caterpillar hunched down too, like it was trying to curl up on itself to avoid getting eaten by a hawk-nosed Stradlin. 

“Is that so?” Izzy snorted, fishing out another cigarette just for the hell of watching the man get angrier. 

“Here, forty dollars. C’mon Iz, let’s go.”

Duff handed the man a fold of two twenties with a sigh, his other hand subtly resting on Izzy’s lower back for a moment before removing itself again. He wanted to fight it - there was no way that guy should be getting away with charging them double price, fuck that! - but Duff was tired and the money was already handed over. Izzy knew that physical signal from Dff, too, the hand on the back: it meant “leave it”. 

With a final huff and a not so subtle bird, Izzy grabbed his carpet bag from where Duff had lain it on the asphalt and followed his tall friend through the hotel’s front entrance, cigarette dangling from his mouth all the while. 

They made their way over to the front desk, explained the situation, and then they were back inside the mirrored elevator armed with the suite’s key card, going up like they had never left in the first place. 

“Hmm, wonder what it would be like to make love in this elevator?” Duff mused, staring upwards at his reflection in the ceiling. 

Issy followed the bold line of his profile, from Adam's apple to nose to messy hair, before he finally glanced at the ceiling, too. 

“Interesting, certainly. I’ve done it in front of a mirror, but not in a whole box of them.”

“Yeah. Hey, we should come back here and incorporate this into our next video!” Duff exclaimed, grinning at him. 

“Izzy snorted. “What, you wanna come back here a third time? This place got like a magical draw or some shit?”

They both cracked up.

[authenticcadence18]

30 Questions About Me

THANKS FOR THE TAG @bugaboo-n-bananoir ILY!!!!

(Nick)name: Cadence

gender: cis female

Star sign: Pisces

Height: uhhhhh I am not sure, it’s taller than 5ft at least

Time: night! (Well I wrote most of this last night, but now it’s the evening of the next day!)

Birthday: well I’m a Pisces, so my birthday is between Feb 19th and march 20th!

Fave band/group: Pentatonix! Or For King and Country. Or the piano guys, the vitamin string quartet, Voctave.....also Phineas and the Ferbtones👌

Fave solo artists: I really like Lauren Daigle, and Jackie Evancho used to be my FAVE. Aaand idk if this counts but Michael Giacchino! love his scores, especially the score for Inside Out. There’s also this guy called Clay Kramer on YouTube who makes KK Slider covers of popular music, his stuff gives me so much seratonin😅

Song Stuck in my Head: Well I’m listening to music rn and “I’m Me” from Phineas and Ferb is on so I’ll say that! (I’ll revisit this one when I finish the list and update it with whatever song i’m listening to/is stuck in my head then) (ok the music has since been turned off and now I have “Status Quo” from High School Musical stuck in my head so! There ya go!) (now it is the next day, and I’ve got “when the party’s over” stuck in my head...i think these three songs are an accurate reflection of my taste in music🤣)

Last Movie: uhhhhh oh yeah, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice! It was SO GREAT because Jay Baruchel plays the main character (and the main character is super awkward), so I felt like I was watching Hiccup from the How To Train Your Dragon franchise learn magic and it was GLORIOUS. And also Nicholas Cage is great. And I liked the love interest in the movie as well!! She had a role to play in the story and felt authentic and genuine, which I appreciated!

Last Show: ok well the last show I watched by myself was Phineas and Ferb! Specifically, the episode with the Mardi Gras block party and then the one where Candace and Stacy compete in an obstacle course against Isabella and Ginger (omg wAIT ginger and Stacy are sisters and Isabella and Candace are GOING to be sisters mY HEART I—AH🥺). I hadn’t watched those episodes in forever, so they were really fun to revisit! I think the last actual show I watched was Kids Baking Championship or something, lol. (Those kids are AMAZING. So skilled!)

When i created this blog: November 2019! It was riiiight after the season 3 finale of miraculous aired and absolutely wrecked my emotions. I had some fanfic written that I’d never posted and had been thinking about making a tumblr/ao3 for awhile, and seeing the finale made me finally go, “.....you know what, yeah. The finale is aired, no more spoilers.....it’s time to make a blog.” So I did! And I posted my first fic! And I’m so happy i did :)

What Do I Post: a bunch of multi fandom stuff XD. This blog started off as 90% Miraculous, 10% other fandoms I like...but now it’s just kind of a hodgepoge of my favorite fandoms (with a focus on Phineas and Ferb, lol). I reblog a lot of posts, and then I post original stuff too! I write fanfic, nowadays for Phineas and Ferb but for Miraculous in the past (and probably in the future!), I draw art (mostly Phinabella art because I’ve been drawing them since i was 11 and it feels good to return to my roots), and OCCASIONALLY I will write an analysis post (I’ve got one in the works rn actually 👀), attempt to make a meme, or dip my toe into salt just SLIGHTLY before quickly backing away, lol. If I were to list the fandoms I post about in the order of how frequently I post about them, I’d probably say: Phineas and Ferb, Miraculous....and thennnnn everything else is pretty random and depends on the day, lol.

Last thing i googled: Jay Baruchel 😂. Couldn’t remember how to spell his last name!

Other blogs: this is my only blog! Sometimes I think about making a separate blog for my art and writing, but I am not sure if I should or not....maybe I will someday, but idk. I also have an AO3 for fanfic and an Instagram for art! All are under the name “authenticcadence18.”

Do I get asks: sometimes, yeah!! Sometimes I reblog ask games/prompts and get some asks for those (I’ve got so many prompts in my inbox I want to write/draw things for...ah it’s fine, I’ll get to it eventually😅), and sometimes lovely people will leave thoughts or nice messages in my inbox🥺💕. I’ve got a specific tag for all those nice messages so I can read back over them whenever I need a boost!

Why this url: it’s a music pun! When a song/section of a piece of music ends with a dominant chord resolving to a tonic chord (if you’ve read a certain fic of mine you should know allll about dominant and tonic chords👀🤣), it’s called an authentic cadence! There are different kinds of cadences, and authentic ones are my favorite. One example of this is “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” I also use this blog to be my authentic, fandom-loving self! So I like authentic cadences, and also, I’m Cadence and using this blog to be authentic! Woo! (And 18 is just my favorite number, lol) I’m glad I ended up choosing a name that doesn’t tie to a specific fandom becaaaaaause this ended up being a multi fandom blog!

Following: 232!!

Followers: 292!!! (THANKS SO MUCH Y’ALL ILY 💕)

Average amount of sleep: wellllll for the past week and a half I was sick so I was probably getting 9ish hours a night (because I would sleep in really late, lol). but NOW? In my immediate future? I suspect my average amount of sleep is going to go down because I’m really bad about staying up late even when I have to get up early😅. Hoping to be good about getting at least 7ish hours a night!

Lucky number: 18! But y’all probably already guessed that, lol.

Instruments: my voice, piano, ukulele, viola (but it’s been a HOT minute), aaaand i used to be able to play guitar but then I got a ukulele and forgot all the guitar chords. (I also dabble in songwriting! I primarily use voice and piano when writing music.)

What I’m wearing: my favorite sweatshirt (that was last night, rn I have on a tanktop), some leggings, and socks!

Dream job: I’m currently learning to be a teacher, and I LOVE teaching and working with kids so that is definitely a job I’m really excited about!!! I would also love to portray characters at Disney or something (well, maybe not at Disney because I hear they’re strict, but like....I want to be Rapunzel or Anna or something, that would be so fun). OR, I would LOVE to work in tv animation somehow, be it voice acting, writing scripts/music, and/or story boarding. basically if I could do what Dan and Swampy did for Phineas and Ferb/Milo Murphy’s Law, I would LOVE THAT. (Especially the writing music part. Getting to write music for established characters and get PAID for it would be SO COOL.!.!.!) Also I think it would be so fun to write Disney storybooks! Like, those books that are about Cinderella baking a cake or Ariel befriending a seahorse, stuff like that. Those brought me a ton of joy as a child!

Dream trip: I want to visit alllll the Disney parks someday😅. (Not right now because, ya know, Covid...but someday!)

Fave food: uhhh i really like pizza. And popcorn. Also hummus and guacamole!

nationality: American

Fave songs: “Times” by Tenth Avenue North; “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (I made an entire playlist of just this song when I first started writing my fic of the same name, so I like the original and a ton of covers of it!), “Show Yourself” from Frozen II, “What Might Have Been” from Phineas and Ferb (and lots of other songs from that show, i made a whole post about that once but I can’t find it, oof); “Rescue” by Lauren Daigle; “Thank You” by Pentatonix; “I See the Light” from Tangled; “Your Hands” by JJ Heller; “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran.....i like a loooot of songs so this is just the tip of the iceberg, but I think that’s good for now, LOL! (As soon as I post this I’m going to remember another song I love, lol)

last book: I got the book Unbirthday for Christmas! It’s basically Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, but if she’d never gone to wonderland and things went horribly wrong there. (I think, I’m not that far into it yet, lol)

Top 3 fictional universes I’d love to live in: 1. DANVILLE, PLS. Especially as a kid, I SO would’ve loved to hang out with Isabella and Phineas and the rest of the gang! Danville is so vibrant and unique and people are always randomly breaking into song there, that’s my kind of place! 2. Fairytopia (from the Barbie movies!) because I could be a fairy OR a mermaid OR BOTH and eat seeweed to breathe underwater even if I wasn’t a mermaid. Like, that’s the dream right there. (I’ve always loved mermaids and fairies, lol!) 3. Maybe San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6? All of the technology in that universe is really cool! And I would love to eat a noodle burger, lol .

Oh! That’s the last one! Wow! This was so FUN!!!!!!! Thanks again for the tag, Maddy!!!! :)

I’ll taaaag @sketchy-panda @macaronsforchat @simplynewyorkbound @inkjackets and anyone else who’d like to do this! (And pls don’t feel pressured to play at all, or answer all of the questions! I was definitely vague with a few of my answers, lol)

[nothingeverlost]

The Writing on the Wall (3/?)

Chapter 1 l Chapter 2

in which Meg shows up and Benoit is discussed (I promise he’s actually in the next chapter!)

II

Marta loved college.  She loved the classes, the library, the bio lab.  She loved the ivy that climbed up the wall of her dorm room even if she only spent half of her nights there.  There were nights when she stayed for a poetry reading or an extra seminar, or times when Alice was in a mood and it was easier to focus at her dorm.  Padma was certainly glad of a roommate that was not only quiet but also gone half the time.  She had argued that she might as well commute to Boston U, but her mom had wanted her to have the full college experience.  

What her college life didn’t include was dancing.  Marta wouldn’t have said she missed it at all.  She wouldn’t even have thought about it until five minutes ago.  There was a couple in the middle of the rec hall dancing, advertising for the lessons that were available to anyone that wanted to learn, and Marta couldn’t take her eyes off of them.  Him, in particular.  She’d seen a lot of muscles; one of her textbooks had three chapters on them this semester, but none so perfectly shaped or so well used.

“So do you think he’s gay? I mean from the way he swings his hips you have to really hope he’s not, but you know how those artists and dancers are.  Chances are depressingly high that he has a boyfriend.”  She was so distracted by the dancing that she didn’t hear anyone approach her.  She half expected Alice, but the woman standing next to her was older by a few years and not as familiar.  It took her a moment to realize who she was looking at.  

“Meg?”  She hadn’t seen Meg in almost five years, not since Joni had decided that southern California had a ‘better vibe.’ When she was little it was the one uncomplicated relationship she had with her papa’s family.  They had joked about Marta being an aunt only a year older than her niece.  They had played house and beauty parlor and watched cartoons together. As they had gotten older there had been slumber parties and trips to the mall and for a few years the same sleep away camp. “You’re here?”

“Grandpa called a week ago and said he’d pay for a room for me and mom if we wanted to come on vacation.  Mom hesitated but I convinced her that it was a good idea.”  Meg grinned, but the smile faded and she suddenly looked as young as she had the last time they’d been together.  “I was hoping... I mean I know I’m not very good with calls and stuff and it’s been a long time.  Too long.  But do you think...”

“I missed you, my friend.”  Marta was all too happy to accept a hug.

“Oh thank God.  We totally need to catch up.  After, you know, the dancing.”  Meg’s eyes strayed back to the dance floor and Marta had to admit she was distracted as well.  She’d never seen anyone move like that, or dance that close to someone else.  It wasn’t like the Academy where the nuns used Bibles to measure space between people.  And she’d yet to attend any sort of dance in her three years of college.  Her dating life was pretty nonexistent.

“Yeah, we should watch the dancing first,” she agreed.  From the healthy tan and the way his blonde hair caught the light she was sure the dancer spent time in the sun.  Did he only dance?  She could see him as a lifeguard.  If she was Alice she might even be tempted to fake drowning.

“Really wish there was a chance in hell the guy at the bar would let us have a couple of drinks.  Think they’d believe me if I said I was 21?  I’m getting warm just watching those two; I’ve fucked guys that have touched me less than they’re touching.”  

“Meg!”  Marta tore her eyes away from the dancers; his hand was skimming down her side in a way that was making Marta feel a little warm too.  The woman was leaning into the touch just a little, her eyes half-closed.

“What?  You’ve known guys, haven’t you, who skipped all three bases and went straight for the main event?  They’re usually the same guys you have to fake it for.”  Meg took a sip of water, wrinkling her nose as she looked down at the glass that wasn’t filled with the beverage of choice.  “Or maybe you’re not into guys?  Totally not judging if women are your thing.”

“I like guys.”  She felt her cheeks flush a little at the question.  Not even Alice had asked that, despite her rather dry dating life.  She’d gone to prom with a group of friends and had only been on a couple of dates in high school.  College hadn’t been that much more eventful, though she did go out occasionally.

Meg seemed to lose interest in the dancing, at least for the moment.  She grabbed at Marta’s hand and tugged on it.  “You have been with a guy, haven’t you?”

“I’ve dated.”  She liked the plan about watching the dancing.  It was safer, even if it was making her feel warm.

“Totally not what I asked, and you know it.  Not dating.  Not flashing a guy for mardi gras beads.  I’m talking full-on naked wrestling.  Naked Trojan wrestling, if you catch my drift, because safety is important.”  Marta looked around her.  It wasn’t a conversation she particularly wanted to have, but she certainly didn’t want to have it in a crowded room where anyone might be listening in.  As happy as she was to see Meg, knowing the rest of the family was around was another matter.

“I’ve never dated anyone that made me want to, you know, wrestle.”  Being one of the few non-anglo kids in her private high school as well as the daughter of a famous author had attracted a certain amount of interest, usually from the last type of guys she would be interested in dating.  The longest relationship she’d been in high school had ended because she had refused to go to a hotel with him after a school dance.  The next day her locker had ‘ice princess’ written on it in sharpie.  College was more diverse, but her name was still recognizable.  Too many of the people interested in her seemed curious about her dad’s writing, the movies made from his books, or how big of an allowance she had.

“You don’t have to date them to get the benefits.”  Meg shook her head.  “But it’s totally okay, whatever is right for you.  Let me just tell you from experience that you want someone who touches you like that guy is touching his partner.  Guys only interested in their own dicks aren't worth your time.”  

Marta wasn’t sure if she was embarrassed that Meg was so frank or grateful that she was so interested in really being a friend.  She’d wondered more than once if the move to the other coast was a convenient excuse to end their friendship.  She felt the same confusion when the song ended a moment later and the dancers began to leave. From across the room she could see her papa standing up, clearly ready to go back to their cottage.  She would need to join him in a moment.  “I have to go but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Breakfast?  Mom and I have a room here in the main lodge.  Are you still an early riser?”

“Yeah.”  She’d always been the first awake in her family.  Mag had been an early morning person too, when they were younger.  Joni had loved to sleep in, and Meg had learned at a young age how to get breakfast for herself.  Weekends she stayed over for sleepovers had been the only time she’d had a hot breakfast.

“Awesome.  I’ll meet you here at eight-thirty and we’ll catch up over coffee, okay?  I have so many things I want to know about how you’ve been.”  Meg was quick to hug her again before looking over to the bar where her mother was holding a drink.  ”I better go too, before mom forgets where she put our room key. See you at breakfast.”

“See you,” Marta agreed as Meg moved out of hearing range.  This summer certainly wasn’t going to be dull.

[howaminotinthestrokesyet]

When Hair Metal Was King: The Sunset Strip in the 1980’s

Guns N’ Roses was a Los Angeles band. They had all met during the 1980’s on the Sunset Strip. An important part of their story involves the Strip during that time. In order to understand the group as a band, I think it is relevant to take a look at the music scene in LA in the early to mid-1980’s. The Sunset Strip had long been a hotbed of rock music in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. In the late 1970’s, the music scene became grittier and dirtier as bands went from glam rock to punk rock. Yet, everything began to change into decadence with the arrival of Motley Crue in 1981.

A new genre of music, glam or hair metal, began to overtake the Strip fully embraced by Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, and Tommy Lee of Motley Crue. As they began to make a name for themselves musically at clubs along the Strip, they moved into an apartment right by the Whiskey A Go-Go. They would hold after hours parties at their place that soon took on the stuff of legends. Vince Neil would later say, “We played the Whisky, half the crowd would come back to our house and drink and do blow, smack, Percodan, quaaludes, and whatever else we could get for free… There would be members of punk-scene remnants like 45 Grave and the Circle Jerks coming to our almost nightly parties while guys in metal newborns like Ratt and W.A.S.P. spilled out into the courtyard and the street. Girls would arrive in shifts. One would be climbing out the window while another was coming in the door.” He would go on to say in his autobiography, “We’d get drunk, do crazy amounts of cocaine and walk the circuit in stiletto heels, stumbling all over the place. The Sunset Strip was a cesspool of depravity.” The group would be discovered by a record company talent scout who saw the hundreds of kids wearing tight leather and big hair waiting in line to see them. Soon enough, more and more bands began to pop up including W.A.S.P. and LA Guns. A little later groups like Faster Pussycat Kill and Poison showed up on the scene. These bands begin to do more and more outrageous things in order to bring attention to their live show. For example, W.A.S.P. would throw raw meat into the crowd. Not to be outdone, Motley Crue would have Nikki Sixx pour gasoline on his leather pants, then at some point Vince Neil would set him on fire during the show.

One of the centers of the metal glam scene on the Strip was Tower Records. The store was for the most part completely employed by local musicians. Some would say that when you walked into the place; everybody that worked there looked like they were in Motley Crue. Axl Rose would become a manager at Tower, even hiring Slash to work there until he was fired. Columnist Alison Martino recalls, “Everybody from Elton John to David Bowie to Van Halen, they were all in Tower Records. I saw all of them there, buying their own records. I remember seeing Valerie Bertinelli with her mother at Tower Records the week that ‘Jump!’ came out. They used to have on the wall all the number one singles. I remember she went up to the cover of the ‘Jump!’ 45 and turned it around to see Eddie’s face and left it that way.”

Headbangers would line up all along the Strip at night, so much so that you could not even walk on the sidewalk. They would all be waiting to get into clubs like the Troubadour, Roxy, Gazzara’s, the Whiskey, and more. More than 75 bands would be competing for headlining slots at these clubs, which would eventually include Guns N’ Roses. For a while, this was merely a local music phenomenon until Quiet Riot released their album, Metal Health, eventually reaching number one on the charts. This event changed everything as record companies began to sign Los Angeles-based hair bands left and right from that moment on. Hair metal represented the most popular kind of music in the country. This led to people migrating from the northwest like Duff McKagan or from the Midwest like Izzy Stradlin and Axl Rose to become rich and famous chasing their rock and roll dreams. Another such band was Poison, who came all the way from Pennsylvania sensing that Los Angeles was the only place that they could make their name. As these bands fought for fans along the Strip, advertising on a flyer became ultra competitive. There would be flyers posted everywhere promoting in the most creative of ways usually emphasizing sex and drugs. Each morning, along with the plethora of booze bottles lining the streets, there could be found fliers everywhere making Sunset Boulevard look like New Orleans after Mardi Gras.

Another center for the hair band movement on the Strip was the Rainbow Bar and Grill. This place opened in 1972 to host rock and Hollywood royalty like John Lennon, Ringo Starr, John Belushi, and Elton John. Lemmy Klimster of Motörhead had become a mainstay at the corner of the bar for a very long time playing games on the video machine. Tommy Lee offered up this assessment of the Rainbow. “When the clubs began to close, we’d go to the Rainbow. The place was set up like a circle, with the coolest rockers and richest deviants sitting at the center tables. Guys had to be twenty-one to come into the club, but girls could be eighteen. The guys would sit at their regular spots and the girls would walk around the ring until they were called over to someone’s empty chair... Afterward, everyone would spill out into the parking lot: Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist, would be hanging upside down from a tree screaming while junkies tried to score dope and everyone else tried to scam on girls.” No matter where you went along the strip at that time, you were bound to see some sort of insanity going on. Stephen Pearcy, lead singer of Ratt recalls, “I saw so many people f*** on the lawns behind Gazzarri’s that I actually got bored of watching and started to throw empty beer cans at them.” For its part, the Rainbow usually only saw people having sex in the bathroom stalls, not its lawn, but on occasion the dumpster.

The strange but true thing about all of these bands trying to get discovered on the Strip was that they were seemingly connected in some way. The 6 degrees of separation of all these groups has been noted by writers looking back at that music scene. Slash almost ended up in the band Poison. Tracii Guns of LA Guns helped to form the Guns found in Guns N’ Roses. GNR had a bit of a feud with Motley Crue, who’s founder Nikki Sixx once played in a band with Tracii Guns. The feud would later escalate to national headlines as guitarist Izzy Stradlin began hitting on Vince Neil‘s wife at a party. Axl Rose then got involved, which saw Vince Neil state on MTV News that he wanted to challenge Rose to a fight anytime, anywhere. For this reason, you cannot compare Seattle’s music scene to the Strip because to this day a lot of those bands that are still connected absolutely hate each other. These musicians would actually be members of multiple bands at any one time. In a VH1 documentary, the drummer from Quiet Riot said that before they were signed to a record deal, he had been in at least five bands at one time. One of the reasons for this also emerged in the fact that playing these clubs did not make you any money. All of these groups that would become very famous and very rich in the next few years were also struggling to find enough to eat or a place to sleep. For their part, Guns N’ Roses lived in a tiny apartment infested with cockroaches and squalor. Journalists have referred to their existence before Appetite For Destruction as street urchins. Their only saving grace was the financial assistance of waitresses and strippers, who served these bands as groupies. The females in Los Angeles at that time were completely enamored with any guy in a hair metal band. Half the time, they did not even care if you were any good or not.

With the arrival of Axl Rose on the music scene, one thing stood out at that time. Word began to spread that there was this singer, who gave off this incredibly intense and mesmerizing energy every time that he performed. The other guys in GNR always had to audition for any group, but Rose was wanted by every band on the scene that did not have a singer. Everyone wanted him to front their band. The second that this happened probably was the beginning of the end as far as Axl acting in any way humble towards his other bandmates. The question now becomes as to how the particular members of Guns N’ Roses actually came together. One answer to that was that Rose truly wanted to be in a band with Izzy Stradlin. They had been in one together with Hollywood Rose, but at the time of GNR’s formation, they were still trying for their own band. As for the other members, it represented a situation of the right place at the right time. Slash could have been in Poison by that time, but he still remained a free agent. Tracii Guns could have decided that he wanted to remain in that group with Axl Rose, but he did not. One important thing to remember is that unlike other groups, the guys in Guns N’ Roses really did not know each other too well when they got together. Axl and Izzy had been friends, while Slash, Steven Adler, and Duff knew each other quite well.

As for the scene itself, by the time of the release of Appetite For Destruction hair metal was slowly beginning to wear out its welcome. The death knell would not occur until the arrival of grunge in 1991. Yet, GNR did contribute just a little bit to this backlash as they represented something that was very anti-hair metal. They went out of their way to make sure the media portrayed them as a rock band like the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith, instead of any kind of hair metal band. Their behavior and actions followed up on this. Bands of that time like Poison and Motley Crue had gotten more and more outrageous and ridiculous in their blatant attempts to gain the attention of this new MTV generation. GNR changed things a little bit because everything that they did from drugs to sex to fights to snarky interviews was meant to be 100% real. For a time, the band had teased their hair and put on glam makeup, but they quickly stopped doing that for a new image. They made an overt attempt to scare the crap out of people showing fans and writers alike that they did not give a shit about anything or anyone, except themselves. This is not to say that each member was completely selfish, but instead that the only thing that mattered in their lives was the band. By the early 1990’s, this camaraderie between band members was slowly withering away as Rose began to exert more and more control over the group. The arrival of Nirvana and the bands from Seattle signaled the end of this music scene being the epicenter of popular rock in the United States. The death of River Phoenix in 1993 at the Viper Room foreshadowed the end of the strip as party central. Soon enough, more and more hotels began to pop up as that part of Los Angeles soon embraced tourists, rather than local musicians.

[bywandandsword]

I don't understand, what is a King Cake?

Oh sweet heavens. I’m going to assume then that you aren’t every familiar with Mardi Gras either

King Cake is a traditional festive pastry for Mardi gras. Mardi Gras, was first recorded to have been celebrated here in 1699 in Plaquemines Parish. Mardi Gras starts on January 6th, or the Epiphany if you follow the liturgical calendar. To celebrate, throughout Mardi Gras season (from the Epiphany to Ash Wednesday, or the first day of Lent). It’s is a festival that celebrates a final fling before the much more sober Lenten season. Traditionally, this is done not just by throwing parties and sharing meals, but by having parades. It’s such a big deal down here in south Louisiana that Mardi Gras floats for the bigger parades are under construction year round and being a member of one of the Krewes that man the floats is considered a point of pride and these Krewes often act as their own little organizations that do philanthropic work in their communities. Each Krewe has a king, sometimes a queen. The members of the krewes wear elaborate costumes, but everyone is encouraged to wear costumes and masks. When I was little, I specifically remember going as a lady bug to a few parades.

On the floats, the krewes then throw beads and dabloons and all sorts of stuff for the crowds to catch. Back when these sorts of parades first started, it was the rich folk throwing real money, but that quickly died away. The traditional call is “Throw me something mistah!!” belted at the top of your lungs while waving. You just got to be careful that you don’t get beaned in the head with an entire bag full of beads or moon pies, cause I’ll tell you from personal experience, that shit hurts. But on the bright side, the guy who got me felt so bad, he gave me a stuffed gator, which is one of the nicer throws. Generally, unless you’re at one of the big touristy parades, the crowds are really good about making sure everyone is safe, that kids and the elderly are taken care of, letting people pass through crowds. But these are several hour long events and you want to get there at least an hour early to get a good spot. Small towns are erected on the grass between lanes every day, complete with bathrooms and tents

In more rural cajun regions, we hold Courir de Mardi Gras (the Fat Tuesday run) wherein people dressed in mummer’s costumes, lead by Le Capitaine, knock on doors singing, drink, play pranks, and beg for gumbo ingredients a bit like Halloween. The Capitaine has to ask permission to enter the property and, in a trickster spirit, the mummers sometimes try to sneak onto the property, and the Capitaine has to ‘discipline’ the with a burlap whip (it’s part of the performance, everyone knows what’s going on, you’re expected to try to sneak in and you haven’t really participated in the run if you haven’t been ‘whipped’). As part of this, a chicken will be set loose in a field and the troop of mummers has to catch it. What is collected, including the chicken, is then brought to a town center and a communal gumbo pot is started and party until Lent

Now as to your original question; King Cakes are made specifically to celebrate the Epiphany, or Baby Jesus showing himself to the Wisemen, and as a symbol of that, a tiny plastic baby is hidden somewhere within the cake and whoever finds the baby both is considered lucky, but then also is bound to buy the next cake

A king cake look like this

Each region has their own version of it that they’re very very proud of (like my family is from is Chalmette so the bottom picture is what I grew up with) but generally it’s a sweet bread like you’d find in a cinnamon roll, with thick icing and swirls of cinnamon. Acceptable versions also include fruit spreads in the swirl, pecans or other nuts, various flavoring. 

This however. 

This is not acceptable. This does not spark joy. This is an abomination trying to pass for a king cake and I will NOT STAND FOR IT

Traditionally, they’re decorated in purple, green, and gold. Purple represents justice, green represents faith, and gold represents power. It’s a circle to represent a crown (either the crowns of the wisemen or the crown of Jesus, depending on who you ask).  

If you wanna make it yourself, here’s a recipe. 

And here’s a musical playlist to get in the mood cause fuck yeah

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

[random-imagines-blog]

On It {James Ransone x Reader Oneshot}

Requested by: @h-a-j-i-m-e-ru​ Wordcount: 2048 Summary: An unexpected storm puts a halt to your roadtrip with James.

Since everyone was saying that It Chapter 2 was going to be a huge success, James had suggested that the two of you go on the trip that you’ve been talking about since your school days together. It had been something that you started to plan after learning more about the country in Geography class, and saw things in your textbooks such as the Grand Canyon, The Statue of Liberty, Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Now was the perfect time to do it. With the movie finished filming, reshoots already completed, he had the time before he would have to do the press junkets, and before his face would be as out there for the world to see. The last thing either of you needed was people interrupting your road trip around America, begging for selfies and autographs. He loved the attention that he got when his work was recognized, of course, but this was more about making memories with you, his favorite person in the world, than advertising his career.

“Is that rain?” You asked, on the third day of the adventure.

“Worried about a little bit of water?” James joked, though the skies ahead were starting to look ominous. You both were just now leaving New York City, having started off there by seeing the Lady Liberty herself, and taking in Times Square where James was able to remain anonymous. He let out a deep breath as you gave him a glare, and focused on making the correct turn to get to Connecticut. “Because we’re going to be there in just a couple of hours, and that’s if traffic is bad.”

You were tapping on your phone, looking at upcoming weather forecasts and winced at what you were seeing. James kept glancing over at you, growing worried since you weren’t saying anything in response. Nothing was coming out of your mouth except for little winces and then a groan, so he just turned up the radio which was playing an obnoxious pop song.

You finally turned it down after the commericals started. “James, I think we should stay in Connecticut instead of continuing onto Rhode Island today. What the weather apps are telling me is honestly pretty frightening. I’ve been searching up hotels too, and I found us a deal on a room in a bed and breakfast, is that okay?” As he was doing the majority of the driving on this trip, even though you had offered to do your fair share, you wanted to make sure this was alright with him before going ahead and booking it.

“Now that’s another day to add onto this trip,” James grumbled, but he instantly regretted it when he saw the look on your face. “Which is wonderful?” He added, but your look of disappointment didn’t change. “Sorry, you just know how I like to stick to my schedules.”

“You want to drive through a storm, that’s fine with me. For some reason, I thought being courteous here was the right thing to do,” You huffed, folding your arms in front of you. It was clear that being in the same car as James for so long was beginning to irritate you, and even more so was the fact that he didn’t seem to be bothered much at all.

During the drive though, the rain started to fall. It was in big fat drops at first, and you looked at James with an ‘I told you so’ expression. But James gave you the same smug look and pointed in the backseat of his car where, along with some trash from fast food places, souvenirs and your suitcases, there was an umbrella for the two of you to use while you looked around the city. You rolled your eyes and brought your phone out again, deciding at the very least you were going to book the bed and breakfast for you, since you weren’t crazy enough to go through a storm, even if you weren’t the one driving.

And, of course, the rain didn’t let up as you crossed state lines. “You’d better drop the bravado act, this is getting bad, James.” The fact that as soon as you said that, thunder rumbled throughout the sky and the rain started to fall harder and harder until it was getting tough to see, helped your cause. You weren’t setting out to piss off James, you just wanted the both of you to be safe, even if that meant going off schedule a little bit.

When you reached the city of Hartwood Connecticut, James finally gave in and asked you the directions to the bed and breakfast. “Y/N, you win, we’ll stay the night.” He sighed, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as he tried to make out the street signs. You read off the directions, refraining from saying anything that might bother him further. The trip into the city became more about safe driving than sightseeing. You managed to steer James in the right direction and the car pulled up to an old house, three stories high, that would look cheerful on a sunny day but looked drab in the gray.

You started to shuffle through your stuff in the back seat, looking for your overnight bag that you used the day before. Over your shoulder, you noticed that James had turned off the car and was preparing to run out. “Don’t forget the umbrella,” You said, grabbing it and handed it over. Once he had it, he was out of the car and into the rain, circling around the car instead of running straight up to the door like you had half-expected.

“It’s freezing!” James announced as he opened your door for you, shivering beneath the umbrella.

“Oh James, let’s hurry then. Here, take this.” He took his bag from your arms and awkwardly held it and the umbrella and tried to keep it over you as you got out with your own bag. You noticed that he hadn’t pulled the umbrella out quick enough when he stepped out of the car, and the top of his head was damp from the rain. You wanted to stop for a second and admire how adorable he looked with his short hair plastered to his forehead, but he was right - the weather put a chill up your spine.

As luck would have it, it was a slow season for the Bed and Breakfast, and they had your room available immediately. Essentially, you would have to be out very early in the morning, but that wasn’t a problem with how tight James wanted to stick to the schedule. He smiled at you as he was handed the room key, grateful for your insistence. You knew that he wasn’t the type to say anything such as how wrong he was and how right you were, but you could see it in his eyes that he felt that way.

“Don’t look at me like that,” He chuckled as you both went up the stairs to the third floor where your room was. Smiling, you pretended that you had no idea what he was talking about.

The room looked as cozy as a picture, with floral bedding, home-made looking furniture, prints of artwork that could probably be seen in every bed and breakfast around the world as if they had a store just for that, and a small TV mounted on the dresser. James put his damp bag on the circular rug that went part-way under the bed and headed to the window to look out at the car. When you came up behind him, you could smell the rain on his clothes, despite the fact that he had barely been caught in it. You put your arms around him from behind and pressed your head to the space between his shoulderblades.  

“Once we unpack a bit, I promise I’ll make it up to you,” You told him, nuzzling him gently.

“First thing in the morning, we’re out of here,” He said, offering that as a compromise to staying here for the night rather than the original hotel in the next city. You nodded and let go of him and took a couple of steps back.

“You’re right, we should go early,” You sighed, not looking forward to waking up at the crack of dawn. His smile was reflected in the windowpane so you could see it. James had a lovely smile, and you felt that you didn’t see it often enough. “So I’m going to go and take a shower now, rather than wait for later. Do you want to join?” You asked the last question with a cheeky wink as he turned around.

“How? If the bed is this tiny, I can’t imagine what the shared bathrooms are like.” He said, making you laugh. You shrugged at his question, rummaging through your bag for your pajamas since it seemed like you two would just be staying in for the rest of the day.

“I guess I’m just going to have to find out.” James gave a nod, and sat on the end of the bed, picking up the remote and turned on the small TV. The door closed behind you, but he didn’t get up to turn the lock. He just fell back onto the bed, his head landing on the pillow. Because of the force, he supposed, a couple of feathers came loose from the inside of the case and tickled at his ear. You usually enjoyed nice long showers, so he knew not to expect you back too soon. For a little while, he played with the feather, and thought about this road trip that you two had been having.

Honestly, he had been excited about it since you brought up the prospect when the both of you were younger, before his acting career, before you got busy with yours. He thought about it when he got his driver’s license in the hope that he would be driving the two of you around sooner rather than later. As he picked up the feather and let it free fall once more, he frowned, thinking about how he had acted earlier to you. You didn’t deserve it - you didn’t control the weather.

He snapped up into a sitting position and looked around to try to find something to woo you with. The TV was playing an old episode of Happy Days, and that was extremely far from romantic. There were no flowers, no little chocolates, not even a coffee pot in the room, it was as simple as he could imagine. Something Eddie might live in, though his room would have medication bottles on every surface, he thought. As he thought this, he smiled, thinking that he had been really lucky to land the role, and it had been thanks to you. You were the Stephen King fan, you had goaded him into reading the book, which made him want to try out for the role. You really were the biggest part of his life.

James wasn’t able to find anything that he could use to woo you, so he laid back on the bed, once again playing with the feather until you came back into the room, hair damp against your head, skin slightly red-tone from the warm water. As he watched you come in, he sat up slowly, the feather sticking to the side of his head without his realization. So when you looked back at him, you had to stifle your laughter, sticking to a grin instead.

“Do you forgive me for being a grumpy jackass?” He asked, a nervous smile playing at the corner of his lips. You, wearing your cutest pair of pajamas, climbed onto the bed beside him, and blew the feather out of his hair. It flew up, but then landed right down on his lap, as if it didn’t want to leave him, which was pretty amusing.

“I guess so, chicken boy,” You giggled, picking up the feather and tickled his chin with it.

[kathyprior4200]

Inside Alastor’s Head (sensitive content warning)

Part 1

 “Use the princess to convince Lucifer to hand over Hell to me. Get to know Charlie and her family, see how this so called Happy Hotel works. I can’t wait to see her face when she realizes it’s actually the Hazbin Hotel. Has a better ring to it, anyway. May as well speed up the process by bringing in Niffty and making grumpy Husk join in. It’ll be everything Charlie’s dreamed of…and when it all blows up in her face, I’ll be enjoying my popcorn.”

 “So Charlie likes music and dancing, too? How marvelous! These hotel residents can enjoy my singing and illusion magic. (They won’t know what’s coming next.)”

 “Who, me? Evil? Why would you think that? It’s totally unlike me to broadcast my massacre of demon citizens who stand in my way. (Except it is.) Man, seeing them running and sacred…reminds me of game I used to hunt when I was alive.”

 “The demon princess wants to redeem sinners. Ha! Probably the silliest claim I’ve ever heard. A nice refresher from the usual grim news on the Picture Show. Her singing was a nice bonus. Oh, the good old days of being on the air…basking in the attention and glory. I told jokes, advertised shows, announced fun events. I even got to report on murders for the news, probably my favorite part. Soooo close to being able to advertise Jambalaya. Several other announcers got the part, so I wore a disguise, snuck in one day and sliced their heads off. Still loved the expressions on their faces. Here in Hell, I have no opponents in the radio business. ”

 “Those overlords look scary and cocky, but they’ve heard the tales of me…they’re scared deep down, for good reason. Sir Pentious didn’t stand a chance when I summoned black tentacles to wrap around him and his ship. Along with my powers, I have shadowy spirits to do my bidding. That’s why you can sometimes see them when I attack. You don’t need brute force and insults to win someone over. All it takes sometimes is some illusions, a little help from the Loa…and just smiling all the way through.”

 “My microphone cane surly comes in handy. It’s what allows me to project events in front of me and broadcast them on the radio. It has a life of its own, but I’m in control, of course. All part of the magic deal with the Loa.”

 “I enjoyed watching the picture show and going to the circus when I was a boy. Watching the animals and the performers was lots of fun. I may have burned down the circus tent after being rejected from a comedian role. But it was only an accident: my fingers slipped when I was getting cigarettes for father. Whenever I got sad, my mother told me “You’re never fully dressed without a smile.” Her motto still rings true to this day.”

 “I enjoyed hunting deer in my human life, yet I also feel some connection to the animal. They’re majestic, agile, and are free to travel pretty much anywhere. Though they’re often attacked by hunting dogs…or in my case, police dogs. The beasts mauled me just before I died. It was back in 1933. Thus, for my so called evil deeds, I arrived down here in Hell. And I gotta say, it’s quite a fun place to be!”

  “Sex and romance don’t interest me. Don’t get me wrong; Charlie is a charming demon belle, and Vaggie is adorable and feisty…but they’re just a means to an end. Maybe I’m too self-absorbed to want to deal with being judged by others. More fun, less responsibilities when you’re on your own. Though, I’ll admit, I did meet a lovely lady in my human life, but, certain circumstances led to a tragic end. Don’t get me started on Angel’s disturbing sexual remarks. That gross stuff makes my skin crawl. (Heh, that stuff bothers me but seeing the blood of my victims does not. Go figure.)”

 “When I smile and touch people, I’m in control. It’s the quickest and obvious way to show my dominance. Frowning shows doubt, weakness, and I can’t afford to appear weak. When other’s try to touch me, it’s always unexpected. I can never tell what it will feel like on me. My space, my rules. Touch me too much, and I hate it. Like when he…my father…did things to me…in front of mom. Abuse, molest, he did it to both of us when the drinks were in his system. You can see why I was shocked and overjoyed when I finally stabbed the life out of him. I fled into the woods in the hours before dawn, the police hot on my tail. Saw the faces of deer before I got shot in the head. The dogs came upon me and…nothing.”

 “I got my love of cooking from my mum. One of her favorite things to make was jambalaya. A tasty cuisine of rice, chicken, sausage, shrimp, a whole bundle of things. She added so much spice to it (and accidentally burned herself making it), it almost killed her. I thought it was fabulous, the heat invigorating to my taste buds. The secret spices she used by accident? Ghost peppers and Wasabi. It reminds me of home in New Orleans…a world of music, daily life, and alas, racism. People who didn’t know me at the radio station, white people and sometimes black people, badmouthing me for my mixed Creole heritage. Once I perfected my shooting with my rifle, well…they got what they deserved in the dead of night.”

 “Ah, I loved the stock market crash of 1929! There were so many orphans, so many kids in distress! Perhaps it made me feel better to know that there were those who had it worse than me. I’ve had my share of bad luck, it was about time for others to experience some of their own.”

 “I sometimes kill people at random, when I’m especially mad. It’s sort of like a game: the more you kill, the more dominant you’ll appear. I’m not fond of killing innocent children or chasing people, I mostly prefer to catch people off guard. To slaughter them behind the curtain, if you will. I would never rape or eat another person…such uncouth, disgusting behavior. Chasing my victims takes too long. Best to go at my own pace and decide their fate for them. But no worries; for women and innocent strangers, I make their deaths as painless as I can. Gotta keep being a gentlemen in some aspects.”

  “Voodoo had been practiced by my ancestors, way back in Africa. I read about the Loas and many of them were just like me: well-dressed, powerful, lovers of food, wine, the good life. From what was passed down to me, I was able to communicate with them. They granted me their powers to use in my afterlife…but only if I was willing to suffer an “early, gruesome death,” along with the loss of a potential lady partner… you know the rest. I know some of the symbols and they provide me with visualization of the spells I want to conjure.”

 “Singing, swing music, the radio, dancing, and dad jokes…those hobbies brought light to my otherwise mundane, grim human life. Even if other people don’t find those jokes funny, I always get a kick out of them. They’re so simple…a basic for any comedian. Though I do wish I knew how to tap dance. Maybe my magic can help me out...”

  Part 2 (Sensitive Content Warning)

 “Hello mortal humans, wherever you may live. For those who may not know me, I’m Alastor, the Radio Demon from Hell. Thank you for tuning in to 66.6FM, the only radio station in Hell and the only one I can talk into in your world.

 You may be thinking, demons aren’t real. Hell and Heaven aren’t real. He’s probably just using a low radio voice for effect. Well in a way I am, (laughs). But I can assure you…I’m very much real, though not really alive anymore. You see, with the help of some imps from Immediate Murder Professionals, my shadow has access to portals from Hell to Earth. He is Rotsala, and he can travel through radios like I can. He’s been lurking everywhere; in your car radios, those alarm clock radios you have in your homes. And recently, (with Vox’s help), he’s figured out how to access online podcasts, if that’s what they’re called. Thanks to him, I’ve gotten updates on your modern world. It’s very strange and very wild…I’ll never really understand it. Mostly because I’m from the early 1900s and I’ve been in Hell for decades.

 Now, if you remember from last time, I discussed my thoughts on the Hazbin Hotel in Hell and Charlie. About how she was a lovely friend and you she would be of great use to me to take her father’s place on the throne. And you got a glimpse of my love of cooking, sewing, singing dancing, along with the obvious killing and eating people part. I could talk for hours about myself, but not this time. On this broadcast, I’m here to talk about all of you.”

 “No, no, no, don’t try and turn the radio off. I have it stuck on full volume, so much that even covering your ears won’t do. You probably already know that I constantly smile to show my dominance and power. Frowning indicates weakness. But…I have learned there are a few exceptions when it comes to showing other emotions. I am…actually upset. Very rarely do you find me in this state. So unless you want my shadow to rip you apart from your insides, I suggest you listen very, very, carefully.”

 “First, let’s discuss this global pandemic that you all are dealing with right now. You refer to it as the corona virus or Covid 19. It seems that everywhere, people are dying right and left as this virus rapidly spreads. Jobs are being lost, entertainment sites shut down, people stuck in their homes for months, wondering if they’ll make it through all this.”

 “I’ll admit, this pandemic is just as entertaining as the Stock Market Crash of 1929. So many orphans, so many hungry people waiting in line for food, or not being able to be with their loved ones. Mostly it’s fun to watch because I’m already dead and I like watching others suffer. (sighs)”

  “But yes, it’s also a mixed bag. When I took a peek at modern New Orleans I was frankly stunned like a deer in the headlights. (audience laughter). How utterly lifeless it was! Bands not playing live anymore, restaurants closed. Even more shocking, Mardi Gras was cancelled! I grew up with the parades and the laughter and music in my previous life. To have all that taken away…I might as well have died sooner. It really is a shame how we take everyday life for granted…we’re not concerned about death or loss until it hits us right in the face. Trust me, I’ve been there. Back when the 1918 Spanish Flu killed my mother. Back when I cried at her gravestone even with a large smile on my face. That day that I lost all sense of humanity and became the demon I was destined to be.”

 “But what of you folks? You wear facemasks every day, you wash your hands, you pray every day that somehow, you and your families and friends and loved ones will get through it in several years. Maybe you will. Maybe you won’t. One good thing about the pandemic: the enforcement of the six foot rule. Social distancing is essential, and I think it should be mandatory in Hell! I hate being tainted and touched, that’s why I wear my gloves all the time. If only Angel Dust had that rule drilled into his head, it would make my afterlife so much easier. I always wash my hands before and after cooking, and especially after getting my victims blood all over them. You should too. Pure common sense. You can never be too clean and careful no matter where you are.  But enough about that.”

  “Hell is being more overpopulated than usual, and now I can see why. Thousands of people dying and being sent down here…I bet that stuffy hothead Stolas is having a party now that he’s not lonely anymore. You all are careless fools. You huddle close together during protests or pool parties or fight each other in grocery stores. All you think about is yourselves, hording toilet paper and food and not thinking of those who might actually need it more than you.”

  “That drama gets old fast, even for me.”

 “Many believe they have their rights taken away just because they can’t go to the Picture Shows anymore. Well let me tell you this: nurses, teachers, policemen, caregivers…they’re all risking their lives on the front line trying to heal others and slow down the spread of the virus. They witness deaths all the time and for every person they don’t manage to save, they feel guilt that will weight them down for weeks, months or even years. And the majority of you laze around, too absorbed in your own worlds to take notice.”

 “Want something to do to cure your agonizing boredom? Well, sadly, killing and cannibalism isn’t recommended as you would put your health at risk. But you can try new recipes at home. Learn how to make classic foods, especially good Creole dishes like Jambalaya. If you can make it better than me and my mother, I’d be impressed but we all know that’s not going to happen. Sing along to some songs. Listen to the radio. Watch some classic musicals.”

“Or for the online folk, watch the Hazbin Hotel! Make art and stories about me torturing my enemies. Laugh at all those who ship me with other characters because we know that I’m not interested in sex and romance. But to be heard…those who attack other people in the fandom over tying me down with Charlie and Angel and whoever else…stop it. Enough is enough. Respect other people’s fan works and let them indulge in their crazy imaginations. I belong to no one and I will befriend and flirt with others however I see fit. “Some asexuals and aromantics can still fall in love and enjoy sex.” Yes, that’s true, but my standards are different. Back to the virus…there are some people that deserve to get sick from it. The whole world could get infected and die but I’ll still be thriving in Hell…provided that I don’t get killed.”

 “I don’t really care about any of you. I’m just here to bring you the harsh truth. Doctors and essential workers are trying their hardest to make sure you all and enjoy your mundane lives. There’s no need to glorify them as heroes either. Just treat them with respect and move on. Patience is a virtue…I know that many of you need to go back to work, but putting others and the community at risk will just create an ongoing vicious cycle of misery. But if you want to expose yourself in the name of “making America great again” or wherever else you are, then be my guest. I’m always up for more prey to hunt down here.”

 “Now, onto the second topic: protests. Believe it or not, I, too, was saddened and shocked by the death of African American mortal George Floyd. He’s up in Heaven, not with me, so don’t fret.”

 “Yes, I’m entertained by the violence, cars setting on fire, the screams and yells, very thrilling! But to be honest, sometimes I feel safer in Hell in comparison to what’s going on in your world…and that’s saying something.”

 “All the riots going on, protesters being sprayed with teargas, being hit with batons. Looting, shooting, all of this madness going on. Charlie says that inside every demon is a rainbow, but I say inside every demon is a lost cause. Perhaps we’re both right. Though they’re may be some good inside everyone, we’re all imperfect lost causes. We’re subject to sin, violence, discrimination, and endless chaos. We are failures. It’s inevitable. There was no hope for me, and now there’s no hope for any of you.”

 “Police brutality needs to end. They are supposed to protect you folk, not use power to push everyone back for no reason. The rioters who looted stores, set cars on fire and put others in danger like that, need to take full responsibility for their actions. They don’t need to unleash their pain and rage onto the city and others. Killing and chaos is my job, no theirs.”

  “Racism, sexism, homophobia, they’ve been around since mankind became civilized. Black Lives do Matter. Those who have been downtrodden, beaten up, pushed to the side like dirt, need to have their voices heard. Otherwise, those in power will keep using and abusing their power and authority until there’s nobody left.”

 “Just take those white police and your president for example. The policeman arresting George Floyd and pressed a knee onto his neck for no apparent reason, other than he was a person of color who so happened to be caught doing something wrong, at least to them. He kept saying “I can’t breathe” and no one stepped in to stop the situation. The policeman was arrested but that’s a mere slap on the wrist in comparison to a life lost. The cops involved need to experience the same fate.”

 “And don’t even get me started on this Trump. A narcissist who sees himself as America’s God and has a cult of brainwashed voters and supporters. One who throws tantrums whenever someone disagrees with him. He sees women as sex objects and minority groups as tools and trash to be disposed of. Tear-gasing innocent protesters while holding a Bible posing for pictures. Satan himself would be shaking his head at this. Life on Earth was Hell for me and apparently it’s gotten even worse.”

 “And not to mention Trump boastfully claiming that he’d unleash vicious dogs and military force on protesters. Only a few people would see that he inadvertently made a reference to when African Americans and ethnically diverse people were attacked by police dogs when protesting and trying to make their lives better. As a biracial French Creole who was mauled to death by dogs, I’m offended and appalled.”  

 “Oh but I’m just a fictional character who can love or hate anybody. I bet I love Trump and Angel and world suffering and sex just because I’m a crazy furry demon. Right? Right?”

 *intense static and screeches*

 “GROW UP. WAKE UP. IF YOU THINK ANY OF THOSE THOUGHTS, THERE’S A SPECIAL CIRCLE IN HELL FOR YOU.”

 (deep breath) “Apologies.”

  “All Lives Matter? Wrong. A pathetic way to derail from the main problem and include white people so they can play the victim. The truth is, no lives matter except my own. Second to my life is my mom, Charlie and her friends. (Except Angel). Charlie’s project of rehabilitating sinners will eventually come to an end when humanity suffers a Greater Depression and all fall down into Hell. I have all of eternity to witness the end.”

  “Onto the last topic. You know that I secretly desire to take over Hell and spread chaos to Earth and Heaven, yes? If Charlie behaves, she’ll get to rule by my side along with Husk, Niffty, Mimzy and Rosie. Will that happen? Who knows? You’ll have to stay tuned for the next episode, if it even comes. (laughs). You’ll never know what happens next, just that everyone enjoyed my jambalaya at the hotel.”

 “Oh dear, did I strike a sensitive nerve? Did that hurt your insides and your mind more than our previous topics? You’re even more pathetic than I thought.”

 “But have you ever considered any underlying reasons as to why I enjoy spreading chaos and destruction? I may not be God but I do have god-like powers.”

 “The obvious answer? Sheer absolute boredom! I’m always seeking new forms of entertainment to enjoy. And what better way to do that then to watch sinners scream and tremble at my presence? Of course, I would always like my friends to smile and have fun with me, singing dancing, making deals, or whatever.”

 “But let’s say I was God? Why send Exterminators to reap Hell of demons every year. To curb overpopulation, yes, but to also remind demons of their place. God and the angels and the chosen reside in “paradise.” Only those who are fully “good” and devoted to helping others and believing in God can enter. It’s the perfect fear tactic: remind demons that they are lost causes who deserve to suffer and potentially met their end.”

 “Perhaps I do want to help Charlie with the hotel. Not just for entertainment but to introduce her to the way real life works. Seeing others fail will happen no matter what and that will be a pleasing sight. Demons reside in Hell due to the lives they’ve lived before. There’s no undoing what is done. Even if she does manage to redeem a sinner or two, there will always be those who try to claw their way up and then tumble back down to failure. I am a deal-maker, perhaps the most untrustworthy one in Hell. I want to test others, see how powerful and smart they really are.”

 “This all ties in to a larger lesson that is bigger than any of us can comprehend. With the pleasures of drugs, sex, killings and sin, comes the cost of knowing you are seen as outcasts deserving of death by those in the heavens. Whether it’s Angels, Exterminators, Overlords or people in politics and management, the elite have always used power, fear, rules, and any means necessary to keep people in line in the name of “order” and “God’s will.”  Lucifer would explain this better than me as he has centuries of experience. I’m willing to bet that Charlie will learn this the hard way, sending off sinners to “paradise,” only to find that she and her parents are stuck down here forever. Earth is between Heaven and Hell; it is full of good and evil, the sins and freedoms of Hell but also the passiveness and illusions and sheep mentality of Heaven. It’s all too easy to blame others and deny what’s going on around you. Go to Heaven for an enlightened life and forget about the criminals, the homeless, and the misfits below your feet.”

 “Let me tell you what my name means. It means “tormentor,” “avenger.” I’m a seeker of entertainment who loves to torment others to boast my status. But I am also one of vengeance. Retaliation against anyone who takes advantage of others. Those in Heaven, Vox, Valentino, Lucifer, my father, all of those who treated me like dirt for who I was… my magic is there to benefit myself…but it is all used to teach others a deeper lesson in mortality and what one believes.”

 “And me being an anti-hero could somehow lead to my redemption? Ha! No. As long as more episodes don’t come on the air, then I will continue my rampages and broadcasts in Hell. And if anyone lays a hand on me, my mother, or Charlie and my friends, then they will wish they had met their fate from the virus instead.”

 “Agree or disagree with me. I don’t care. Thank you for listening and as always, stay tuned.”

[askmissthunder]

Hey, Miss Thunder! Out of curiosity, if Power Alliance has it's own heroes that are similar to Superman and Batman, do they have a heroine who is similar to Wonder Woman?

Miss Thunder: Yes, there is! The heroine that immediately come to mind, for me, is Fieldmaiden. She has been in the current roster since the early 80′s but she’s usually listed as one of the leading members. She used to be part of a CIA program studying potential psychic powers in children when they found out she can create telekinetic force fields. The CIA then spent years grooming her to be a field operative, using her powers to take out “America’s Enemies”.  Apparently, there was some sort of falling out as she left the CIA to join the Power Alliance as she wanted to use her powers to help the world, not just the United States.

Red Rabbit: I remember hearing a rumor back in high school that the CIA regularly sends assassins to try and take her out because she stole some documents detailing some of the shadier stuff the CIA gets involved in but that might have been just tall tales.

MT : No, no, I remember hearing those stories too. They’d have a hard time though because of her powers. She can create force fields, ranging from covering her fist to make her punches harder and stronger to making a giant bubble over an entire city block. From what I’ve seen, she can block anything from bullets to cruise missiles. Remember when we were kids when there was that alien invasion over at Hong Kong?

RR: Yeah, yeah! I remember me and my siblings got to go home early from school but we were all watching the news footage on TV. I saw Fieldmaiden making a bubble around herself and Paladin tossing her right through a spaceship! God, that was so cool!

MT : Wasn't it?! That was bloody ace!

RR: You know, the question brought up Wonder Woman and, for a second, I thought you were gonna bring up that other chick.

MT : Who?

RR: The one that joined the PA a year or two ago? What was her name? Herculia? Herca?

MT : Ohhhhh! You mean Herculina?

RR: Yeah yeah! Her!

MT : I suppose she looks kind of like Wonder Woman if Lynda Carter was a bodybuilder or like She-Hulk but without the green skin. Isn't she sort of a troublemaker, though? You know? *Makes drinking motion*

RR: Oh, she's just a bit rowdy.

MT : A bit?! She flashed her boobs at New Orleans! I saw it in the tabloids!

RR: It was Mardi Gras, Penny! They throw you beads, you show your boobs! That's the rule!  *sighs* And what boobs they were...

MT : Hmph! Still! She knows she's in the public eye! She should know- ohhhhhhh! I see now!

RR: Wha?

MT : *Waggles eyebrows* You fancy her!

RR: Heh heh, maybe... What can I say? I wouldn't mind a little "team-up" with her if you know what I mean?

MT : Ooooh! Cheeky girl!

[croconanaluvsu-blog]

2018 Happy Thoughts

Hello, all! I have completed my list of happy thoughts from 2018! Before you read, some disclaimers/facts: -Some of these thoughts are highly political, or highly politically charged. Please remember that my views are my own and do not reflect the views of anyone else. -What you might consider a happy thought and what I consider a happy thought probably differ. That’s okay. -Like most of us, some days I really struggle to keep my chill. -Some days, the small victories mean everything. -When I say I take drugs to sleep, I mean OTC drugs. Nothing illegal here, folks. -I take immense pride in my work. -Most names have been changed. Please don’t stalk me. -I have NO idea WTF happened to my March dates. They were correct, now they aren’t? I’m too lazy to fix it. -I go to the movies a LOT. -If you live in PDX, you might recognize some places and events. I do live in Portland. -I only got 344/365. Not too shabby for a first time! -The word “movie” is mentioned 23 times. I hardly feel this is representative to how often I go to the movies. -There are 175 exclamation points here. -My Lovey is mentioned 40 times, “my love” 8. -This has been a year for friendship. -HAPPY NEW YEAR, FRIENDS! May this year be better and less stressful than 2018. 1/1Today I started packing for our Disney World trip!

1/2 Today was my last day at PCD. This is a very good thing. I left early and went to go see the movie Coco. It is a very good movie.

1/3 I got a makeover today. I let strangers touch my face. I stepped outside of my comfort zone. I tried something new.

1/4 T cheered me up today. He's a good friend to have!

1/5 I got a call for an interview. Nothing may come of it, but it still feels good. Also I did more packing for the honeymoon.

1/6 Today was my bachelorette party. I had a spectacular time with friends and fams!

1/7 Spent the day with Aunty! Took her to see the Downtown Library, Powells City of Books, and we went in search of Sasquatch!

1/8 BFF and I got a massage, mani and pedi today. It was a relaxing day! 1/9I GOT MARRIED TODAY! <3 <3

1/10 Arrived at Walt Disney Resort!

1/11 First day at Walt Disney World! Went to magic Kingdom, met so many characters, rode a roller coaster, a squirrel waved at me!

1/12 Went to Animal Kingdom today. I saw baby tigers! Might be my favorite park!

1/13 We had a wonderful dinner and saw a wonderful fireworks show at Epcot

1/14 We had a nice relaxing day at Hollywood Studios. Lovey got a cool limited edition Star Wars pin

1/15 Had a relaxing day @ Epcot today. Got to go on both Pandora rides @ Animal Kingdom

1/16 Met Gaston today! <3

1/17 We're finally home!

1/18 I spent the majority of the day asleep. I feel a little better.

1/19 I feel a bit better today. I have been binging Once Upon a Time

1/20 Feeling slightly better. I did chores today!

1/21 When to see the Pirates of the Caribbean live symphony today! :D

1/22 I had a job interview today. It was okay.

1/23 I started wearing my fitbit again. And I worked out! Also I get to see Becks today!

1/24 I scored a job interview today thanks to Opti. Feeling good about my job prospects.

1/25 I had two job interviews today.

1/26 Lovey came home and loved me.

1/27 I did my taxes today!

1/28 Lovey and I went to Rev Nat's today. We had yummy cider and pretzels!

1/29 I got a call from EES. Even if nothing comes from it, it felt good!

1/30 I heard back from EES today! I have an interview tomorrow at 10. Also I feel pretty today!

1/31 Got my nails done and got to see Mark

2/1 I got to see BFF today!

2/2 I snaked a drain for the first time today. It was really gross, but I am really proud of myself.

2/3 Waffles! Quality time with Lovey talking about the horror that is the Disney Cars universe.

2/4 I started putting up shelves in my craft room. I'm not sure if I'll finish tonight but I am halfway done and I did it all by myself.

2/5 Not sure why, but I feel pretty and confident today!

2/6 It took 4 days, but I finally finished making my craft room usable again.

2/7 I got my pixie cut back today! It feels good to have short hair again!

2/8 Pretty sure I got a job today

2/9 I baked today for the first time in years. I made mini red-velvet whoopie pies. It felt great.

2/10 I have been sleeping well for the last 4 nights. I am excited to go to BFF's for Galentines! I also made a delicious peppermint latte this morning.

2/11 I went to a CON meeting today. It was nice to feel wanted.

2/12 I got the job at EES! Eeeeeeeeeee!

2/13 I bought a nice dress today. I know I shouldn't have but I feel pretty! Also I am going to my first Mardi Gras parade today!

2/14 I took a great nap today!

2/15 Hopefully this isn't a duplicate. Went to see Black Panther today. It was really good. #wakandaforever

2/16I  had a very relaxed day at home today!

2/17 Lovey and I went to go see a Buster Keaton movie today called Seven Chances. Very funny movie!

2/18 So far, today has been quite relaxing. I am going to get my nails done today.

2/19 First day at EES. It was wonderful!

2/20 Today I did some of the stuff I was actually hired to do! It felt good!

2/21 Today I got to talk to Carol Carroll during my lunch break!

2/22 Today I kept having internal moments of why I love Lovey.

2/23 Today I finished out my first week at EES!

2/24 Went to Miyakocon today! 2/25Second day at Miyakocon! I made an applique Totoro. So glad to be home!

2/26 Received my Bernard pin today! Yay for the internet!

2/27 Lovey and I went to see a weird movie today that was weird, but great: Streets of Fire. I even got to sit next to Becks!

2/28 I went to BFF's house today

3/1 Tonight I have ZERO responsibilities to tend to after work. I have been looking forward to this ALL DAY.

3/2 I am not sure if I did a happy thought today. This may be a duplicate. I started watching season 2 of a Series of Unfortunate events today. Yay!

3/3 Today, I repurposed a lolita hat I have into another lolita hat! Getting my coord ready for Sak! Also today was nice and relaxing!

3/3 Today we started our Coast trip! Devil's Punch Bowl, Flying Dutchman Winery, good local food, and we arrived at The Sylvia Beach hotel.

3/3 We tried a new food: The Impossible Patty.A vegetable based meat substitute. It was delicious! It's made The White Owl Social Club one of my favorite things!

3/4 This might be a duplicate! Sunday was relaxing

3/4 I got to talk to my friend Emily A today for the first time in a while. I miss her tons!

3/5 I had a productive day at work today!

3/6 Lovey and I went to see a b-movie today with Tonya Harding in it.

3/7 Lovey was super cuddly today!

3/8 Had a fun day at Gamestorm! 3/9I came home today and watched Coco again

3/10 Got to spend time with BFF today!

3/11 Had a relaxing day with Lovey. Watched a documentary about Hedy Lamarr

3/12 This is the first day in over a week I haven't been mad at Con.

3/13 Had a wonderful time at Geek Craft Expo

3/13 Kung Fu theater tonight with my love!

3/14 It's PIE DAY! Went and had pie flavored cider, including a pizza flavored cider that actually tasted like pizza, as well as some actual pizza with my love!

3/15 Today I stayed home because I wasn't feeling well. I slept a lot and kept myself warm. Now I feel better.

3/16 Today was the first day of my first Trends show. It was fun! Then, Lovey and I went to see the new Jumanji! It's very entertaining!

3/17 Got to hang out with Con BFF for the first time in ages! 3/18Got my nails done today!

3/19 Today marks my first 30 days with EES

3/20 Today is the first day in a while that I have come straight home from work. It feels nice.

3/21 Today was the first day of spring3/22I had a lovely dinner with Lovey

3/23 It was a long week. My positive moment is leaving work today to enjoy my weekend.

3/24 Got my haircut today. It feels nice.

3/25 I'm over being angry about going to Sakuracon. I am actually kind of excited!

3/26 Work BFF gave me a much needed ear to listen to my woes and some good advice.

3/27 I had a nice day. :)

3/28 I'm packing for Sakura Con today

3/29 Work BFF and I spent our morning bus-wait together

3/30 Made it to Sakuracon!

3/31 I bought a dream Lolita dress today!

4/1 So happy to be home from Sak today!

4/2 My Beastie is keeping me from working on con things. It is annoying, but mostly adorable.

4/3 Today I discovered that Zero's beans are not 100% black. They have pink spots! He's been lying to me this whole time!

4/4 I am not feeling well so I stayed home and slept. It felt wonderful.

4/5 I accurately tracked my calories today. I am proud of me. 4/6I had a productive day at work!

4/7 I didn't sleep at all last night. Lovey made sure I slept today. He takes care of me. :)

4/9 I was locked out of the complex earlier. A nice neighbor let me in. :)

4/11 Lovey and I went to Ate Oh Ate today!

4/12 I had a wonderfully busy day at work!

4/13 I got a nice, simple, clean manicure today. My nails feel better

4/14 Spent time playing games with John and Lisa. :)

4/15 I slept remarkably well and have been enjoying playing World of Final Fantasy

4/16 Lovey and I headed to The Lakewood Theater to see Sister Act: The Musical

4/17 I went to see The Cell tonight with Lovey. I'll get shit for this, but that movie is scary. Lovey cuddled me very well tonight to make me feel better

4/18 I have the house to myself tonight! I'll miss my lovey, but sometimes it's nice to have the house to myself!

4/19 Went to Happy Hour with BFF today!

4/20 Lovey and I had a nice evening out. Went to dinner and took a walk at a park.

4/21 Got to see my CON friends at the meeting today. :)

4/22 I cleaned the kitchen and living room today! So nice!

4/23 I had a very productive day today and it is finally starting to be sunny out

4/24 I came home to a nice clean living room!

4/25 BFF & I finished RPDR All Stars 3 today.While were were behind the curve and massively disappointed in the winner, we did finish it and we did it together.

4/26 Lovey was super affectionate today.

4/27 Saw a great spaghetti western tonight!

4/28 Went to see Castle in the Sky tonight. I love that movie!

4/29 I spent my day sleeping!

4/30 I had a productive day

5/1 Lovey and I went to see the movie Running Man. The movie is awful and awesome.

5/2 Today was the first day at work without Lovey. It was so peaceful and so productive.

5/3 I had a wonderful walk at lunchtime today

5/4 It's Friday! The week is over! May the Fourth be with you!

5/5 It's free comic book day! Sammi and I had a good time at the Free Comic Book Day event at the Beaverton Library!

5/6 Lovey and I went to a lovely bunch. I dressed nice. I tried a bloody mary for the first time today (yuck)

5/7 Out with my love today after work to see Stand by Me

5/8 I had a wonderfully productive day at work today!

5/9 We saw a super cool movie called The Endless

5/10 BFF and I went to go seea Peaches Christ show today featuring Alaska! I got to shake her hand!

5/11 Lovey and I had a lovely morning at the Gresham Farmers Market. Also learned that my cats are not deathly ill! Yay!

5/12 Going to Geek Craft Expo today!

5/13 I did yoga today

5/14 The weather today was just perfect!

5/15 I feel very lucky and blessed to have Lovey in my life. I love that I can tell him anything.

5/19 Spent the morning with Con BFF and experienced my first Quilt Market event at EES

5/20 Just realized most of my May thoughts probably say April. Went to a CON meeting today.

5/21 It felt nice coming home after a long day.

5/22 I have a work friend! Her name is Work BFF!

5/23 I was actually helpful at a CON meeting today

5/24 It was a nice quiet day at work today!

5/25 Lovey and I went to see the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary. That woman is an inspiration.

5/26 Watched RPDR with Charmaine and Con BFF today!

5/27 Snow got me the game Slime Rancher! It's so cute and relaxing!

5/29 Work BFF and I bonded today over work annoyances and Drag Race

5/30 Today I caught up on my backlog at work! Woo!

5/31 Lovey and I went to see Blues Brothers today @ The Hollywood

6/1 Work BFF, Jolene and I went to go see Thunder From Down Under at Spirit Mountain Casino tonight. It was fun!

6/2 I went outside today then the sun made me sleepy and I took a lovely nap!

6/3 Today was ILD!

6/4 I booked our hotel for Disneyland!

6/5 Went to B Movie Bingo and watched an exceptionally bad movie called Ninja 3

6/6 Work BFF let me talk about Disneyland today for a very long time.

6/7 That moment of sweet relief when the splinter in my eye fell out. I will never forget how that moment of freedom felt.

6/8 I had a very productive day at work. It was just one of those days that just went well. It was nice.6/9Went to one of the few exec meetings that are in person.

6/10 We saw One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest today after the CON meeting

6/11 I had a happy Monday!

6/12 Productive day at work!

6/13 Today I read the Twitter thread about Casa Padre and the zero tolerance immigration policy. Maybe not a happy thought for me, but an important moment in American journalism.

6/14 Today was pleasantly uneventful

6/15 Lovey and I went to see The Incredibles 2 today!

6/16 Work BFF and I went to brunch then came back to my place to watch Vikings and Versailles

6/17 There was a lovely and long thunderstorm today. I also changed my hair color today and I love it!

6/18 Some accessories for my first ever Sweet Coordinate arrived today. They are much cuter in person.6/19I love listening to RuPaul's What's the Tee. It can be very enlightening.

6/20 Enjoying the house to myself tonight.

6/21 I forgot my fare card at home today. Work BFF came to the rescue and let me use hers. It was a very nice thing to do.

6/22 Went to see Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion tonight at The Hollywood

6/23 Locker meeting, Toadstool Cupcakes, and Versailles with Work BFF

6/24 I had a wonderful nap today

6/25 Today Lovey and I went to see The Big Lebowski at The Hollywood. It was my first time seeing that movie on the big screen.

6/26 I managed to not do any complaining today. It was nice.

6/27 I got a massage today! Yay!

6/28 Another day where I managed not to complain

6/29 Went to Triangle Productions to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch

6/30 I slept without sleeping pills last night. BFF and Work BFF are coming over to finish Drag Race season 10

7/1 A relaxing Sunday with cider, donuts and Spaceballs! #watchout!

7/2 End of month on a monday. I ran a marathon (so to speak) at work today and I am proud of myself.

7/3 We saw two movies today: Won't You Be My Neighbor and Avengers: Infinity War. The first one made me cry a lot.

7/4 My least favorite day of the year, but it was surprisingly relaxing and I got to sleep in

7/5 Met with a neighbor to work on stuff for our courtyard.

7/6 All I really remember is that today was a good day.

7/7 The D'elias were in town. We went to the Chinese Gardens and the Portland Art Museum

7/8 I love sunday afternoon naps!

7/9 Lovey and I had a good day.

7/10 Kung fu theater! :)

7/11 A Mighty Wind at The Hollywood! That movie makes me happy!

7/12 I stopped by Bernie Dexter today. Got myself a cute dress, and a petti.

7/13 Friday the 13th, woo! Also the house to myself tonight!

7/14 Going to the zoo with my love to have fun and to see Bela Fleck and the Flecktones!

7/15 Met BFF for brunch. It's been a while. It was lovely.

7/16 Monday was productive. :)

7/17 I made a dentist appointment!

7/18 I handled a tough work situation well today. 7/20Today we saw Leave No Trace. Sad movie.

7/21 We saw an awesome movie today called The Car. It was like Jaws, but with a car.

7/23 I've started making my own smoothies!

7/25 I drank a lot of water today.

7/26 Last night I slept without drugs!

7/27 I got my nails done today.

7/28 Deadpool 2! Also Mini-con! Busy day!

7/29 Lovey and I had an awesome day and Samurai Sunday is back at the Hollywood

7/30 Our new AR team member started today!

7/31 July was a long month! It's finally over!

8/1 I started training the new team member today!

8/2 Today is my birthday! Yay!

8/3 I am proud of how much work I got done today!

8/4 Went to the aquarium and learned a lot about otters. Also had a nice walk on the beach today.

8/5 Ending our coast trip with a visit to Yaquina Bay lighthouse, tide pools, and a trip to two towns cider house!

8/6 I got blood drawn today and didn't cry.

8/7 Lovey and I went to see Mortal Kombat at The Hollywood

8/8 Today one of my coworkers got super excited by all the nerdy stuff in my overhead at work.

8/9 I'm starting to come out of a grumpiness I have had for a while.

8/10 Today Work BFF came over for Versailles Season 2

8/12 Lovely quiet day with Lovey.

8/13 Finally got to set up the new mattress today!

8/14 Productive work day!

8/15 Movie date night with my love!

8/16 I made a delicious and perfectly blended smoothie today!

8/17 Work BFF and I went bar hopping!

8/18 First day at Resin Rose BJD expo. A lot more fun than I was expecting.

8/19 Second day at Resin Rose. Also Powerglove concert tonight! I made a friend at Resin Rose!

8/20 I slept great last night!

8/21 Today is Work BFF's birthday. I hope she had a wonderful day.

8/22 I don't know about events, but physically I am feeling great!

8/23 Today I logged on to Flight Rising for the first time in a long time. I missed my dergs.

8/24 Spent time @ The Hollywood watching Troop Beverly Hills with Jason (from work, because I know many Jasons)

8/25 We finally got our old mattress hauled away!

8/26 Had a really nice day doing outreach at The Hollywood theater.

8/27 I made a really good smoothie today!

8/28 Lovey and I went to go see a cool movie called Infra-Man. Princess Dragon Mom is awesome!

8/29 I talked to Jarrod for the first time in ages.

8/30 I got to see BFF for the first time in ages!

8/31 Got a QUEEN mani at Finger Bang today9/1Slept in! Saw Grease at The Hollywood!

9/2 Saw a very good movie called Samurai Rebellion

9/3 I cleaned the living room. Maybe someday I will clean the craft room.

9/4 Saw a great terrible movie today called For Your Height Only. It was awful and awesome.

9/5 Was a nice easy day at work.

9/6 Today was nice and fall like!

9/7 First day of Rose City. My panel went well! 9/8Finally saw Get Out. Bout damn time. It was a good movie.

9/9 Third day of RCCC. I met Jason Porath, creator of Rejected Princesses. He's so nice! And I finally saw Star Trek 2: Wrath of Kahn

9/10 Today I gave my coworker credit for the hard work she's been doing.

9/12 Today I started reading The Princess Bride

9/13 Today was a nice quiet day at work.

9/14 Second Trends show started today!

9/15 I wore my first Sweet lolita coordinate to work today! It was a smashing success!

9/16 Last day of Trends! So much fun!

9/17 Today was a day at work where I wasn't bored! Not once!

9/18 Today, I took time to forgive.

9/19 Spent some quality time with my heating pad today.

9/20 Rock and Roll High School @ the Hollywood with PJ Soles!

9/21 Day with Work BFF watching Versailles and the new Baywatch movie

9/23 Started a new book today: Z: The Beginning of Everything

9/23 Today I slept the fuck in! WOO!

9/24 Today I found out that my grandfather is dead. This is a good thing.

9/25 Saw The Color Purple @ The Armory!

9/26 Weather was so nice today! Fall is here!

9/27 Lovely, quiet night at home.

9/28 Had a good day at work today!

9/29 Slept WAY in! Mani-pedi @ fingerbang!

9/30 Brunch with Work BFF and BFF. Meeting at Laurelhurst Park. It was a good day.

10/1 Work BFF is a good friend to have.

10/2 Today I loved Lovey, like I do every day.

10/3 Lovey was very affectionate today. :)

10/4 Off to Colorado for the weekend! Can't wait to see my Auntie!

10/5 Memorial service for my rapist. It wasn't fun but boy am I glad he's dead

10/6 Party tonight with the fams in Colorado!

10/7 I'm home!

10/8 Mondays! It felt nice to wake up to the sound of rain!

10/9 Kung Fu Theater! It's always nice to see Becks!

10/10 Went to see Pippen tonight at The Lakewood!

10/11 Today I am wearing my Wednesday Addams dress. It's been a while. I look good!

10/12 Regardless of my work woes, I still had a good day

10/13 I slept in and we saw Evil Dead 2 at the Hollywood!

10/14 Brunch and shopping with Work BFF. She found a brand new Lindy Bop dress that I bought! I'm a size 16 now!

10/15 I am really starting to enjoy my book Sacre Bleu!

10/16 Dinner and a movie (Collette) with my love! And I got my new glasses today!

10/17 I don't remember! It was good though!

10/18 Cuddles tonight with Lovey

10/19 Today I went to get my dental prescriptions

10/20 I love being able to sleep in! Also, last reg meeting before con!

10/21 Last general meeting before con!

10/22 Today is already my Thursday!

10/23 Crazy productive day @ work today! Con soon!

10/24 Other than crying a lot, I did well at my dental appointment

10/25 Day Zero of con! Woo!

10/26 Day 1 of con! Woo!

10/27 Day 2 of con! Woo!

10/28 Day 3 of con! It's finally over!

10/29 Today: Applied for my passport, brunch with Work BFF, massage @ Zama, jacuzzi and awful TV with BFF

10/30 Con crud today, but it does feel good to sleep.

10/31 Halloween! Beetlejuice at The Hollywood and I got a tarot reading!

11/1 Month End @ work went smoothly

11/2 I know this is not a good thing to be happy about, but Michelle was a no-call/no-show today. Not having her around made my day easier.

11/3 Lovey's b-day today! Breakfast at a gluten free bakery, a Hitchcock movie @ The Hollywood, dinner @ Tapalaya, home for cuddles and to watch the new Sabrina show!

11/4 Gluten free donuts! And my search for a home repair person has begun!

11/5 Today I learned that we do not need to replace the drywall in the bathroom!

11/6 I watched some GWAR videos tonight. It made me sad. I'm still in mourning. But metal makes me feel good and it was followed by some good metal themed TedX talks.

11/7 Night out with BFF!

11/8 Today I learned about Scottish Wildcats.

11/9 Today I relaxed

11/11 Harry and the Hendersons w/ Rick Baker! Dinner with BFF and Anthony was fun!

11/12 Dentist appointment today and I didn't cry!

11/13 I was brave and actually made a recommendation today at work

11/14 Today I woke up actually feeling refreshed11/15Productive day at work!

11/16 Made it to Friday! 11/17CON elections, pretty lolita coordinates, cider festival where Lovey and I found a room to chill in that we had all to ourselves!

11/18 Spent the day being hung over with my love

11/19 Today I had a bunch of check batches. Super proud of myself for finishing them all.

11/20 Went to see Heavy Metal today at The Hollywood

11/21 Today at work was wonderfully quiet.

11/22 Nice quiet thanksgiving is the best

11/23 Nail day! I love getting my nails done!

11/24 I logged into GW 2 for the first time in ages. It felt good!

11/25 4 years ago today we brought our Beastie home!

11/26 Today I started an online fitness challenge. I am going to start focusing on being healthier and taking better care of my body.

11/27 Today I worked out in a dress and it made me feel fabulous.

11/28 Today I actually made it to 30 mins of a cardio workout

11/29 Keeping up with exercise today by doing laps on the hill at The Hollywood

11/30 Flying out to Seattle tonight!

12/1 ILD up in Seattle was so intimate and fun. Then we went to Enchant, a giant christmas light maze

12/2 My first long distance train ride ever! Lovey's work holiday party! Peaches Christ Drag Show!

12/3 Got to see Jarrod today!

12/4 Nice quiet night at home

12/5 I forced myself to work out today!

12/6 Nothing bothered me today

12/7 We went to see Howard the Duck tonight. Remember that movie?!

12/8 Today we went to crafty wonderland. I got my coworkers some nice gifts!

12/9 Hanukkah party with BFF and Work BFF!

12/10 I worked out!

12/19 Got a new phone today!

12/23 Started opening my happy thoughts today. This is gonna take forever. But it's gonna be fun!

12/24 Into the Spiderverse was really good!

12/25 Mary Poppins Returns. It was fun.

12/26 I made Zero wear his bow tie today. <3

12/27 Finished In Her Own Words. Great book!

12/31 Last day of 2018!