#i made this for funsies and it took like 4 months to make

[xgothiec]

i made a new uquiz! it’s very short and silly so enjoy!

[lemonadedino]

74, 77 for prompts ask! huddling for warmth, and in vino veritas -- wiz

i'm so sorry that this took soo long wiz!! life started kicking my butt and my thoughts wouldn't settle

made this one lestappen for funsies

charles is the owner of an ice cream shop that specializes in making really elaborate ice cream confections. his store lowkey went viral on tiktok because their creations are super impressive looking, but mostly everyone in the comments was thirsting over charles when he appeared in the video to explain how they flavor the ice cream. obviously, his social media guy lando is absolutely thrilled with the heightened engagement.

one day after work, charles brings his puppy leo to the vet. they've been going to dr. vettel for forever and they both adore him. so imagine charles' shock when he checks in the with receptionist, an australian with remarkably swoopy hair who seems to have replaced the middle-aged woman with a perpetually pinched face that charles remembers form his previous visits, and is informed that dr. vettel has retired, moved to the alps to save the bees, and has left his personal phone number to charles in case he ever needs something.

after processing some emotions, charles finally asks the gold ticket question.

"who is leo seeing today, then?"

and then a blond man dressed in navy blue scrubs steps out from behind the door separating the rest of the clinic from the lobby. he doesn't seem to notice charles. charles doesn't mind because he's too busy ogling this gorgeous man who's exactly his type. he's always been a sucker for blue eyes, sue him.

"oscar, do you know if the 6'oclock appointment is coming in? they're already 15 minutes late, and the sooner i can get back to jimmy and sassy the better."

"charles, meet dr. max verstappen. he's taking over the clinic now that dr. vettel has retired," oscar says.

and boom introductions are made. they have a perfectly lovely vet appointment, where charles accidently said that leo is 4 years old instead of 8 months because the way max's mouth moved was just sooo mesmerizing wdym i actually have to have a functioning brain??

the next day, max shows up at the ice cream shop, presumably on his day off. charles is like "omg is he here to see me... but i don't want to read too much into it, yk?"

while paying for his scoop of vanilla ice cream on a waffle cone, max admits that he had no idea that charles owned the place. apparently, oscar had casually suggested the ice cream parlor as the best place in town for dessert. lando, who had been puttering around somewhere next to charles, trying to act like he wasn't listening in on their conversation, knocked over a rack of scrapers as soon at the mention of oscar's name. weird, right? crazyyyy

some time passes. max and charles become closer. leo is suddenly having a lot more vet visits than normal, even though he’s in perfect health so that charles has an excuse to see max. he’s aware that it’s getting borderline pathetic, and he’s pretty sure that oscar agrees, since the aussie has memorized his number due to how frequently charles calls to schedule appointments.

they're mutually pining but the feelings are kept under lock and key because i-dont-want-to-damage-our-friendship-what-if-he-doesn’t-like-me-back-am-I-allowed-to-date-my-dog’s-vet-blahblahblah.

charles’ shop gets nominated for a prestigious award, created to highlight innovators in the gastronomic world internationally. to celebrate, his best friend, pierre, throws him a surprise party at the ice cream store after hours. all of their friends are invited, as well as seb. having listened to charles mope about the hot vet countless times, he pops by the veterinarian office and invites max, telling him to bring a friend if he’d like so that he’s more comfortable.

and that’s how max ends up at charles’ surprise party, cradling a bottle of what he hopes is acceptable wine, oscar in tow.

upon seeing max, charles has a brief moment of “i am actually going to to murder pierre omg how am I supposed to handle being with him outside of a work context without combusting” before realizing “OMG I GET TO BE NEAR MY CRUSH!!!!”

charles notices that oscar and lando seem super awkward and stiff around each other but doesn’t know why and chooses not to press it (so actually landoscar had a one night stand that lando fled at 5AM because commitment is scary and he’s worried because he likes this guy way more than he should for someone he’s met less than 12 hours ago. better leave before it get too real)

The night progresses, more wine is poured and toasts are made. Basically everyone is tipsy by the time the party winds down and people start to trickle out.

max is the last guest to leave, constantly finding himself caught in conversation with charles again and again. just as he steps out the door, charles grabs his arm.

“wait hold on, do you want to try next week’s special edition flavor? you’re special, so you can taste test before the official public release.” charles says and then proceeds to wink horrifically. max agrees and the two of them make their way to the walk in freezer in the back where charles stores flavors to restock.

the door closes behind them and they realize a little too late that charles forgot to unlock the door from the inside so they’re now trapped.

cue immense panic from both of them. thankfully, charles has his phone on him and calls lando, to whom he had given a spare pair of keys to let them out. in the meantime, they ultimately end up cuddling for warmth in an effort to not freeze before lando could get to them.

wrapped up in max’s embrace and lulled by the wine on his tongue, charles confesses to max. mutually reciprocated declarations of love ensue and just and they’re about to kiss, a lock clicks and lando opens the door.

laying in his bed that night, max asleep next to him, charles realizes that the bruises on lando’s throat definitely wasn’t because of the shop’s weird lighting casting shadows. they were most definitely hickeys and charles remembers lando slipping out of the party at much the same time as a certain receptionist.

[kamiversee]

OKKK SOOO I read the new chapter about two times now. First one was a for funsies then the 2nd was to figure out more shit😭 soooo with my last comment. I feel like I'm not too far from the idea. Again with Geto, at the end it turns out he planned this. Or at least the conversation topic. But another thing that I noticed was, how, in the beginning, Geto didn't really see how we had a connection with Choso until everything clicked to him. Yet he still decided to taunt the living shit outta us. Which in turn, caused the outcome of the chapter. And you can't really say that Geto showed up at the Cafe on purpose because he was surprised to see us too. Another thing, which showed up a few times in the chapter. Was the word "yesterday" idk I feel like it probably doesn't have anything to do with the fic, or the chapter. But it was repeated multiple times. The ending is a big cliffhanger too😭 another thing was with Sukuna, we learn that of course, he treats women really shitty, and I was wondering why he was so sweet with us? I remember he how he gained a small bit of respect for us, but that was abt it. Also, maybe Sukuna does have something to do with this. One thing that I keep thinking about was when after we slept with him, he went to his phone and was messaging someone, or checking his phone. Idk. But a little while after, we get money from Gojo. So maybe he messaged Gojo about it? Bc how else could Gojo have known? HELP I WROTE SO MUCH. BYE LMAOOA I LOVE THIS THOUGH. IT MAKES ME THINK. KEEP UP WITH THE WORK💕💕

Insert Kami yap session:

1. Okay so the date of what took place in the fic is early February on a Monday! Ik sometimes it’s hard to keep track of but yeah, in their university I kinda explained before tht their winter break was roughly two months and a half so they wouldn’t return back to school until mid febuary!

You mentioning the use of the word yesterday just made me wanna clear tht up for some reason😭 Yesterday in her case would be a Sunday and as the story goes, nothing important happened on that day so she just kept using it to emphasize that what was done was quite some time ago and not recent!!

2. Also, Geto was going to be there regardless because he’s the friend Yuki was there to meet ^.^

3. Next, Gojo has once mentioned that Sukuna would like the reader because she’s cute so it’s honestly okay for one to assume that there are certain women Sukuna favors more than others.

Not only that, even when Sukuna and the reader meet, although he danced with her, it was mentioned how she was always intimidated by him & for a woman such as herself, if u notice, intimidation in this fic is always the first emotion felt before fear ^.^

4. While yes Gojo sent money not too long after Sukuna sent some kinda message, it’s also said that Gojo knew she was supposed to be with Sukuna that day & he could’ve simply assumed she did what was needed to be done!

5. TYSM FOR THE LONG MESSAGE I LOVE THEM SMM <3

[n41r]

Otsu Post for my Oreca Battle Session from May 2024-

I made a blog entry for this month's session, because miracle occurs and so many things happened at once, it was one of the most insane session I've ever had since the last time I battled Red Dragon-

I did spent more credits than I usually do for funsies, but my god, what followed after-

((Also please do ignore the shitty doodle I used as this entry's thumbnail, I wanted it to look as shitpost-y as possible-))

For the past few months, I have been going into the arcade to play Oreca, with missions on hand Those missions are,

Get 4★ CuChulainn's item, "Holy Will"

Get 3★ Darkness Magica's item, "Raven Magic Stone"

Hang out at Chapter 6 for a chance to meet Pyramid Head

I don't have much expectation with my luck, so I usually give 3 chances to explore each chapters incase I didn't meet any of the monsters I was aiming for

And guess who I met on my first encounter of the day?

FRIGGIN CUCHULAINN- AND HE GAVE ME "HOLY WILL"-

AFTER SO MANY TRIES AND NOT BEING ABLE TO MEET HIM, HE SHOWS UP ON MY FIRST PLAY-

Finally having one mission crossed off, I thought maybe I could relax a bit, try my luck on the other mission, y'know?

And my second play started WAY TOO INTENSE for my poor mind-

DARKNESS MAGICA SHOWS UP-

AND WITHIN THE INCH OF HIS LIFE, BEELZEBUB CASTED "DEATH" AND EARNED US A VICTORY

AND MY WHITE WHALE, "RAVEN MAGIC STONE" AAAAAAAA---

AFTER TRYING SO MANY TIMES TO MEET HIM AND NIHIL, THEN FIGHTING HIM 2 TIMES AND GOT NO ITEM TWICE AS WELL- AEFKHKDFJHJGVDRTG--

At this point, I grew anxious- I contacted Enzina and talked to her to calm myself down, because this was a barrage of stimulation-

Then I told her, "Yeah, let's take things slow. I might try to get Kurt or Dran for now"

Guess what, tho?

PANDORA SAYS NO, WE GO TO THE GHOST SHIP-

We might have lost the battle, but guess who got commands up and joined the team with rare item???

DEMON KING AZUL JOINED, BRINGING "EVIL SHELL SAUSE"!!!

THE RARE ITEM THAT CAN CHANGE 4★ DANTE AND 4★ POWAN BGM INTO THE ACCOUSTIC VERSION IN BATTLE!!!

UPDATE (28th May 2024)

It have come to my attention that "Evil Shell Sause" is only able to change Azul's card illustration, so yea-

I was drunk on excitement and dehydration I think, lmao-

So yea, with all of this big encounters all happened one after another, I finally took a break because the excitement and rush actually makes my head hurts-

It doesn't help with the fact that Indonesia (and the rest of the SEA countries-) are getting hit by intense heatwave, and how crowded the arcade was that day-

And after the much needed rest, I went back to the arcade and finally took my own advice seriously, "Take things slow"-

And take things slow we did, since searching for Dran and Kurt was a simple task, and Dark Magica with CuChulainn only need to be combined with their item!

With 1 last play in mind, I try my luck once again on Chapter 6, with a team consisting of 2★ Dia, 4★ CuChulainn, and 4★ Culann Cuz y'know, I need to level up Dia too-

And... guess who greeted us, like RIGHT AWAY at the first enemy selection screen?

Yes, that's right, THE MONSTER, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND, THE RARE ENCOUNTER OF CHAPTER 6-

FUCKING PYRAMID HEAD--

THIS WAS MY FUCKING LAST PLAY, I WAS NOT EXPECTING BIG THINGS-

BUT PYRAMID HEAD???? THE ONE MONSTERS I WAS AIMING EVER SINCE I STARTED TO GO LEVELLING AT CHAPTER 6 SINCE FEBRUARY????

FUCK, IT'S FATE- /slapped

We might have lost and I didn't get his item drop, but hey, we got Pyramid Head at the end, so who is laughing now? /slapped

So yea, otsukare all around~!!!

[rosemary-crane]

Pt. 2 of the stem of my corset-making ✨mistakes✨

So as we last left off, I was in the throes of complete and utter Audacity, thinking I could make the corset perfectly, with zero(0) experience with corsets. So, I made a mock up with cotton muslin and 1/2” twill tape, as seen below, wrote down my alterations and tried applying them.

Jk, I started having DoubtsTM, not helped by the fact that I was wavering over how wide the waist actually was, because my mockup and the description of the pattern’s measurement weren’t the same, whether to leave a few in. gap in the back or making it meet perfectly center back after lacing up (as is historically and og pattern accurate), getting confused when my mockup did not have the measurements as a costuber who was using the same pattern, and last but not least, I was fitting only one half of the corset and without any boning/busk, because I hadn’t gotten them yet. :/

Fml the pics got cropped weirdly

anyways, eventually I caved after trying to make another mockup as seen above and still not sure but unwilling to use up more fabric and time because I wanted it all done by December, and decided to run with the Etsy description measurement and add 1” on both halves of the corset, but split evenly between the panels 5, 6, & 7, because I thought they were too small, and extend the bust line on the other panels by half a cm to cover my nips, but hey at least my boobs weren’t bulging unseemly so over the bust of the corset so that part was clearly Fine otherwise. Mind you, I didn’t sew in the bone channels except like 2 and that was more for funsies than actually helpful in fitting a mock up. I also made a little make-shift pattern around the end of November for the top band of boning in the cups since that wasn’t provided but appeared to be added only after sewing panels 2, 3, & 4 together. Also, sometime in August to September, my busk and metal stamps had arrived and I made time to try and stamp the flowers onto the metal loops. Even though I had bought them in the smallest size available, the stamps were still too big to fit on the loops, which I ALREADY KNEW when I bought them, but I was in Denial :D I still tried, but quickly realized that for some godforsaken reason, the metal stamps weren’t stamping no matter how hard I hit it with a hammer (because we don’t have any softer mallets) and I’m✨ a cheapskate✨ so no buying another tool. Just to make sure, we tried stamping the actual um, hmmm would u call it a body? of the busk just to test whether it was the stamps or the small surface space, but even then they refused to properly create the stamped image so ig it was the metal?? *leans into the metaphorical mic* So that was a failure. AND AND just to top it all off, I realized that the busk I ordered was too long for the pattern, and because I didn’t want to make the front longer at the bottom, I had to order a shorter one, which also took time.

So, around mid to late September, like any good young individual, I was so confident things were going great that I drew up my altered pattern pieces all nice and official-like. Clearly, several months and a pound of blood, sweat, and tears later, that was wrong, cause I now am having to go back and scrap all of them except panels 1 and 7 >:///// but since I was oh so proud then of my work, here’s the general lineup, partially obscured out of respect for the pattern maker. Also, I had later decided to double the bones in panels 5 6 7 because I only realized after drawing them up that the bones I got, 3/16”, were like half the width of the og pattern bones, and pls don’t ask me about the smaller vertical bones in panel 7, because even I don’t remember what the fuck was going on there and u can’t erase ink. And if ur asking, well why the fuck didn’t u just buy bones in the correct width? Well, the supplier I ordered them from took like, 2 weeks to a month to arrive which wouldnt arrive in time for my deadline and were expensive as fuck, so I thought that I could just skate on by on my thiccc panels of tiny bones. It was already December 6 by the time I realized this mind u, so I also had to push my deadline back to December 20 as the latest I could tolerate, because I wanted to wear it for an event at the end of the year.

my fabric arrived in late September to early October and this was when I realized my second mistake, which was that instead of greige, I got cool grey toned to purple, so that was fun :/ like I like that color but it still wasn’t what I was originally going for, so a lesson in always buying a swatch first ig. Also it looked less like a sateen and more like a plain weave, and I was expecting something with a sheen like my moodfabrics cotton sateen, so another lesson in the reliability of quality from random suppliers. ://// I gave them both a thorough soak in clean water before leaving the to dry on the line for like 2 days? Just as a precaution if I ever get the corset wet so that it doesn’t shrink or warp, and also any excess dye for the sateen. I had finished drawing and cutting out my patterns sometime during all this too. Then I also ironed them both out to get rid of wrinkles, which I did over 3-5 days I think. I was also trying to buy cotton thread in a similar color to the fabric, but my first spool ended up being too light and in a fit of desperation, I tried dying it, failed miserably in terms of efficiency, and finally gave up that attempt to buy actually similar colored thread with a sample of some of my sateen. :|

From there, there’s multiple options on how you cut ur pattern out, but since coutil is so dense and sturdy, I decided that I would cut the pattern pieces out of that first, baste them wrong sides together to the sateen, then cut them out using the coutil pieces as the pattern for the sateen, which is much lighter and delicate. Obviously, you have to make sure to cut them according to the grainlines, and then for me, also baste them to match the sateen’s grainline. I spent a good chunk of time doing this, all the way into the beginning of November. I can remember because I vividly recall sewing basting through Halloween instead of getting out of the house. I don’t have any pics of this because I was so focused on making that I didn’t remember to take pics. 😔✌️ I did start sewing panel 1, my new busk, and the twill tape and did in fact remember to try testing the sewing machine on scraps of coutil and sateen first, but was again delayed when I had to face the fact that I had to get an actual awl and not just use the thin knitting needles I already had access to in order to poke holes for the pegs of the busk to poke through because I didn’t want to cut the fabric and compromise the stability of the corset, which would be under quite a bit of tension. I was also taking classes so I got delayed several times, increasingly so as we got closer to the end of the year/term. Even then, it was only until the beginning of December that I finally got to properly start sewing everything together. And by then, everything I had ordered had also arrived, which is good. Well, not rlly in regards to the grommets haha ha….

[aquadraco20]

So I worked at a lab until yesterday. Just about a year and a half there. And within that year and a half, 13 people, including me, either quit or were fired. With just over 30 people total, that's a 40% turnover rate.

First they like you, but as time goes on management needs a punching bag. They needle you and micromanage you and tell you to go faster but be more precise and dont make mistakes and refuse to help you. My coworker worked 12 hours the day before I left when her shift is normally 8.

I was fired for "bullying" and creating a "hostile work environment". So what happened? Back around October, they hired this guy. Didnt talk much, which is fine. But sometimes he didnt replace supplies he took or just did little things that were fine, but annoying.

Just for funsies, a different coworker googled his name and found out he was arrested for masterbating in a public place and got caught, and of course that spread like wildfire through the lab. No one confronted him about it but everyone limited their interactions with him and was uncomfortable anytime he was near.

A while after that, I noticed that he wasnt doing his job correctly. Not homogenizing his samples, leaving the fume hood up, pouring solvent into the trash and down the drain. I reported him, then nothing. Reported him again, nothing. Then I made a list to present to management with witnesses and dates. This is when I recieved my first warning for "bullying" and being "unprofessional". That was in February.

Later they implemented and arbitrary hierarchy. The people who did data were above the people who did prep. Also the people who did prep wee not allowed to sit, but data analysts were. The data analyst who been there the longest in each department became group leader.

Management said I could learn data as a back up, this was documented (and then forgotten by management until I brought it up again). Then they changed their minds and said I couldnt learn data. Then they said I could learn glycol data, but training sessions were weeks apart so I made mistakes.

Then I had a baby and went on leave for 3 months.

I came back, the girl I trained to do prep was now doing data and de facto group leader because the old one was going back to college like 4 of our other coworkers. I thought the concept of group leaders was stupid so I made a passing joke "oh wise group leader" to her a few times. She never mentioned that it bothered her.

Now this girl was constantly complaining and crying and coming to me for support. This week was a short week and our department was understaffed so I was stressed out too. The day before I was fired I said that "I wanted to do data but management made that decision so I'm grateful you can take one for the team." That's what made her report me for bullying. I wasnt going to work late because I dont get paid enough and I have a baby at home.

That's what got me fired. They said "multiple people" reported me for bullying, and brought up how I made a list with the masturbator as a history of my bullying behavior, and that was it. They didnt care that I was the primary breadwinner for a baby and a 2 year old. I kept asking them for more information and they wouldnt tell me, and they said this conversation is over and just stood in the hallway and waited for me to leave.

One of them said that they would call HR and talk with her and I said ok, and then the other said if I didnt leave they would call the police. They escorted me to the door after that, but not before I told some of my coworkers (who loved me! We had lunch together, we laughed together, everyone liked spending time with me!! I'm a nice person!!) that they fired me.

I'm happy I at least got to tell management that the staff thinks they're having an affair right to his face before I left.

They were caught hugging with the doors closed, tickling each other, and they stayed at a hotel for a conference, just the two of them.

Fucking bullshit. But I havent cried a single tear. Just have to get a new job as soon as possible because my husband doesnt want to give up his business, which I understand.

[keefwho]

February 07 - 2024 Wednesday

11:17pm

4/10

Im getting tired of writing the same thing every day, I'm falling into a mindless cycle. I'm going to try and report only what sticks out or actually meant something and on top of that, I want to list the things that made me happy today.

This morning I chopped up my celery and bell peppers to be frozen. Breakfast was oatmeal that I made very simply and successfully for the first time. I also had a can of beanie weenies warmed up by the heater for funsies. I REALLY did not feel like drawing today and I had a day to spare so I tried to make a plan where I wouldn't do commissions but would work on something else instead. I started drawing my own ideas and then Daisy asked if I was going to stream so she could watch something during her lunch break so I did. I stopped streaming when I had to use the bathroom sometime after she left. I wanted to continue work and maybe even get to my workout today but I didn't have it in me so I goofed around watching Henry and trying to figure out what to do. I ordered rice a roni cups on amazon again and had to pay the shipping cost since I don't have prime anymore. Hopefully they get here in tact. I started riling myself up out of boredom and took care of myself which I sort of regret because I did that instead of my workout. Around lunch time I felt stressed and didn't want to eat but I made a packet of soup and nothing else. Since the request guy didn't get back to me, I did other stuff until he did. I got a lot done in the afternoon like I planned and ended up working the most out of any other day this month so far so even though this morning fell apart, at least I did something in the end. After working I felt bored and lonely and was in my head so I curled up with a stream. Daisy called shortly after and we chilled. We watched Markiplier and then got on VRchat briefly. We were trying to find things to do and went back to the 3000 questions world to play that. She got off and I played Kingdom Hearts a couple hours for her.

~~~

Today I was burnt out and didn't know what to do about it. I tried altering my schedule but it didn't help very much. I was stressed and felt bad about not being the productive person I want myself to be. Maybe I already lost touch with that work/non-work mindset dynamic. It might have been easier to stop considering how I feel during work time like I've been doing. Other than that, I watched a short video telling me something that I already knew: that my obsessive/problem solving thinking is a way for me to preoccupy my mind to avoid thoughts that might hurt me. But today I realized that I didn't do that in the past when I wasn't aware of or wasn't working on "fixing" myself. I had my issues but I also lived in a sort of bliss at least occasionally. Now I quite literally never stop thinking about how to move forward and make myself better.

Things that made me happy today: -Watching Squeex stream -Getting work done after all -Daisy calling me a good friend -Answering questions with Daisy -Getting a little kissy from Daisy -Finding Dalmatians in Kingdom Hearts

[maos2013]

Fic Writer Review

Ok, I could’ve sworn I was tagged by @aleksandrachaev but now the notification has disappeared? Idk what the hellsite is up to by making me think I have notifications, but I’m going to do this anyway 😂 😂 . I haven’t looked too closely at my stats and everything in a while, so this will be fun! 

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

77. But please don’t ask about the number of WIPs I have  😅

2. what’s your total AO3 word count?

208,442. Huh. I thought it would be more? Oh well!

3. how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Three. One random one shot for each ER and T100. The rest are all AoS!

Actually, wait. Since Kat says (and I agree whole heartedly!) that Black Widow is it’s own fandom, then make that 4! I wrote a one shot of an alternate end credit scene for that movie!

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos? (I’m not including the ones I have cowritten)

Everything’s Changing 372 Kudos-  Talk about a wild idea I had watching a movie from the 90s. Anywayyyy. Philinda and Philindaisy moments. Lots of fluff. (which if you know me, you know I do more angst these days.  😂)

We’ve Come a Long Way from Where We Began 265 kudos - Aww! The first thing I ever wrote! Lots of May and Daisy moments and they work t reunite their team. (But also I now refuse to read this because I can see how much my writing has improved since then, and now I get mad at previous me 😂)

A Bad *Axe* Birthday 177 Kudos- May gives Daisy an axe for her birthday, and teaches her to throw it. Because to quote Rosa Diaz from B99 “What kind of woman doesn’t have an axe?”

I Took You for Granted 150 Kudos- TBH, I’m surprised this one was this high? It’s not one of the better things I’ve written tbh. But it’s May and Daisy, in season 7, and God knows they needed more scenes together, so maybe that’s why this one is on the list.

What Did We Do To Deserve This 137 Kudos- Oooooooh. *sigh* Early season 5 Philinda feels for when I still had hope for my OTP.

5. do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Ummmm YES! You kind person took the time to leave me a comment! I will let you know my appreciation for that! No comment is too big or too small! You can literally comment a <3 and I will respond because you made my day! That said, I usually respond like once a month to all the comments that have been building up in my inbox

6. what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

*cackles* Ummmm. I have several, but I think the angstiest would be The Unimaginable. Poor May just lost everyone in this fic. 

OR! the pieces of my heart are missing you because I just kill all of my favorites.

OR! the moon and the stars are nothing without you because Philindaaaa feeeeels

I’m Lost Without Her  and Stay Alive, That Would Be Enough are runners up!

7. do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope. Not creative enough for that  😂 😂

8. have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t think so? Only hate for making people feel too many feels  😂 😂 😂

But to the person who once commented “Bestie I hate to break it to you but this ^ is not therapy” on one of my angst fics, please know that even though I don’t know who you are, I love you and think about this comment everyday.

9. do you write smut? if so what kind?

Yes, but not lately. And it usually has feelings involved. No plots usually, but feelings yes.

10. have you ever had a fic stolen?

I doubt I am even known enough for someone to bother  😂

11. have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but that would be awesome!

12. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah! Lean On Me with @shadowcass! Set during season 7 of AoS- Instead of MaYo going to Afterlife, it’s May & Daisy!

13. what’s your all time favorite ship?

Philindaaaaaaa. I have way too many feels about those two. 

14. what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Anything that’s in my old laptop. I got a new computer about 6 months ago, and any of my WIPs that somehow didn’t transfer over will probably never be finished. 😔

15. what are your writing strengths?

Angst! Also fluff (if I’m in the right mood). Sometimes humor! (again, depends on the mood.)

16. what are your writing weaknesses?

Feels I think? Sometimes I just write and then I go back to read it later and the dialogue in the feels particularly cringey. Also, I have a habit of using my southern slang in random places if I’m writing while tired, so I try to double check that.  😂

17. what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Personally, I’ve only done it a couple of times, and for very short sentences or phrases because I don’t want to accidentally say something wrong and make a mess of things! I sadly only speak English with a few words of Spanish and Italian thrown in for funsies. Still waiting on a fic where I can randomly throw in a word or two in Italian.

18. what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Agents of Shield I believe! Unless you count the poorly written story I practically copied from an episode of Desperate Housewives that I was probably way too young to be watching. I wrote with gel pen on some loose leaf paper and then put into a pronged folder. I was maybe... 12? Mayyyyybe 13?

19. what’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

It’s like choosing my favorite child! (Not that I have children, but I do have 4 pets and I can easily tell you who my favorite pet is. 😂)

Hands down, I think my favorite has to be It’s Only a Matter of Time. I wrote a spec fic before the AoS finale where the team splits up across time, and I sobbed so hard while writing it!

Also I really really like The Unimaginable listed above with the angsty ending!

I’m tagging @tessathetesla @samanthaswishes @herosofmarvelanddc @brutashaphilindaandsylkieohmy if you guys want to do this!

[iridescentjin]

Broke for Halloween

Summary: Person A and Person B have moved in together just in time for Halloween. Hosting their first Halloween party seems like a good idea until they realize that funds are rather low. Creative DIY decorations last minute makes for an interesting evening.

Genre: Fluff...comedy? maybe? I don’t know it’s just silliness

Warning: recreational alcohol usage

a/n: This is my contribution to the BTS Writing Cafe “Promptly Yours” collaboration. (this is unedited as always)

WC: 1.9k

Living with Hoseok had proven to be a lot more fun than you had thought that it would be. He was a friend of a friend, and both of you were looking for a potential roommate at the same time. You met once before you’d signed the lease on the tiny, slightly run down cottage that you lived in now. The bedrooms were tiny, the bathrooms were tiny, and the kitchen had very limited counter space. There was this charm about it and the overgrown backyard that made you fall in love with it.

Hoseok was an amazing roommate. He always cleaned up after himself and was a lot of fun to hang out with. Your lease started on October 1, and you were so excited to decorate the house for Halloween.

“What do you think about getting a black light?” you ask Hoseok while the two of you sit watching “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.”

“Just for funsies?” he asks, chuckling slightly.

“I mean...it would obviously be fun. But for Halloween. Duh.”

He turns to you and smiles. “Whatever you want to do is totally fine with me.”

You immediately pick up your phone and start to scroll through blacklights online. You sigh slightly to yourself. You’d forgotten that you need money to be able to buy things. While you had enough money to buy the blacklight, that would leave very limited funds for everything else. You had already told a couple of friends that you were going to have a party, without asking Hoseok, but you hadn’t really planned any details.

“Question,” you state toward Hoseok.

“Answer.”

“How do you feel about a Halloween party?” you ask, slightly tentative because you’re unsure what his feelings about parties are.

“Here? That would be awesome!” He smiles at you, and you can’t help but smile back at him.

The two of you immediately begin planning. You’re in charge of drinks and decorations. Hoseok is in charge of food and music. The two of you immediately get to work. You look at your bank account and, much to your chagrin, realize that most of your money is going to go toward the drinks alone. Moving isn’t cheap, and with deposit, first and last month’s rent, you were pretty tapped.

“Hoseok...I don’t have a ton of money for decorations.”

“I wish I could help out, but with the food that I’ll be buying, I’m pretty cash poor,” he gives you a strained smile, but you can see that it bothers him.

You think for a second. You know that your party would still be fine even without decorations, but you really wish that you were able to do something to make it more festive rather than just a house party. Then it hits you.

“I know!” you exclaim, grabbing Hoseok’s hand. “There are plenty of DIY decorations online. We can use my art supplies to make some!”

You look down at where your hands are joined, immediately flush, and pull your hand away. You look away from him and tuck your hair behind your ears.

“That’s a great idea. Can you find some crafts online? I’ll do whatever you need me to do, just let me know.”

You smile to yourself, and something in your chest flutters a little bit at his words. There was no denying that Hoseok was attractive, but you know that getting involved in any way with your brand new roommate might not be the best idea. So you admired from afar, keeping your thoughts to yourself.

The next day, your best friend, Seoyeon took you out for coffee. You hadn’t seen her since she helped you move at the beginning of the month, and it was nice to just spend time in her warm energy.

“So how is living with that hot boy going?” she asks after sipping her latte.

You choke a little bit on your hot chocolate. You weren’t ready for a question like that, though you should have expected it from her. She had a way of being crass and straightforward about things. She often embarrassed you in public because you were a lot more reserved than her.

“It’s uh...it’s good,” you say, feeling the heat rising in your face.

She laughs and takes another sip of her latte. You can see by the look in her eyes that she’s not going to let you off so easily. You avert your eyes from her, instead looking at the local art that is hung around the shop. Some of it is actually really interesting, and you think that if you had more money right now, you might buy one.

“It’s good, is it?” You can almost hear her raising her eyebrows as you stare intently at an abstract piece on the wall. “How good?”

“Normal good. Roommate good.”

She laughs, and you force yourself to drag your eyes back to her face. The smile on her face is not mocking, but it actually seems empathetic. You are grateful for your friend because, even though she will make fun of you at any given chance, she is still caring and a good friend.

“Look, something is up. What is it?” she asks, her voice kind and caring.

“I just...I kinda grabbed his hand last night and felt - I don’t know - felt something,” you feel the heat building in your cheeks, and you kind of wish that you could disappear into the floor.

The look in her eyes brings you some comfort. “It’s okay to feel attracted to him. It’s okay to like him. I know it’s complicated because he’s your roommate, but you’re allowed to feel your feelings.”

You try to absorb the words and tell her she’s right, but in the back of your mind you know that it would be unwise to try to take things any further with the man you’ve only lived with for a few weeks. It would be great if everything worked out between you, but, you tell yourself, this is just a little crush. It will go away.

The two of you finally change the subject and talk about the things going on in her life. After a while, you split to go your separate ways. You head toward the craft store to gather your supplies.

When you arrive home, you have bags of various supplies, you shout out to Hoseok as you walk in. He appears in the room, in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, looking slightly disheveled.

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?” you ask

“No, I was just napping earlier, and I’ve been kind of just lounging around,” he responds, rubbing his eyes slightly.

You lift up the bags and shake them slightly. “I got the goods.”

The two of you spend the rest of the afternoon putting together homemade pumpkins, spiders, and creepy things in jars. Several times, your hands brush each other as you reach for pipe cleaners or construction paper.

4 hours later, your entire living room is covered in glitter, and you wonder how long you will be finding pieces of glitter in your hair and on your skin. You look over at Hoseok, and he has a large piece of purple glitter right on his cheek.

“Hold still,” you say as you lean in toward him.

You gently pluck the piece of glitter off his check, and the two of you stay there, heads close together for a little while longer. You feel the heaviness of the moment, knowing that you could lean your head a little further in and press your lips against his. You consider it, but you decide that ultimately, it isn’t the right time for that. Your heart flutters in your chest as you pull away from him and turn back toward your crafts. You wonder if he is having as much difficulty not kissing you as you are not kissing him.

Three nights later, the party at your house is in full swing. All of your friends are there as well as people you don’t recognize. You assume that these are Hoseok’s friends, but maybe they’re just crashers. The drinks are flowing, the music is loud, and everyone seems to be having a good time.

After two drinks, you are feeling pretty loose. You are standing with Seoyeon, looking over at Hoseok dancing in the middle of the room.

“I’m gonna do it,” you slur slightly.

“Do what?” Seoyeon asks, not following your eye line.

“I’m gonna make a move on Hoseok tonight. I want to do it.”

Seoyeon giggles with glee and claps her hands. “Yasss!”

The two of you are clearly tipsy, but that’s part of the fun. You decide that when he’s done dancing, you’ll approach him. You wait patiently, sipping your third drink and munching on the snacks on the table. Finally, he breaks from the crowd dancing in the center of the room and makes his way to the kitchen.

Seoyeon gives you a little push in his direction, and you head toward the kitchen. You try to act casual, but the alcohol pumping through your veins makes you feel even more awkward than usual. You don’t remember how you normally walk or what you do with your hands when you’re just standing there. Maybe now isn’t the best time. Before you can turn around and change your mind, Hoseok catches your eye and beckons you over.

You close the space between the two of you, probably standing too close to him.

“I think this is going really well,” he comments, taking a sip from his cup.

“Yeah. I’m having a good time!” you exclaim. “You looked amazing dancing out there.”

He chuckles under his breath slightly, “Oh, thank you.”

“Listen, Hoseok, I’ve been thinking-” you start, but you stop when you see Hoseok’s eyes move behind you and light up.

“Oh! Yoongi! Come over here.” He motions with his arm to a man with black hair and a slight frame who has just walked into the light of the kitchen. “Yn, you have to meet Yoongi.”

The man comes over and slips into the space next to Hoseok. He sticks out his hand to you and smiles a friendly smile. You take his hand, feeling how cool and soft it is in yours. Like everything else about him, it seems almost unreal. You’ve never seen someone quite like him, and you’re slightly in awe of him.

Hoseok leans in and kisses the man’s cheek, and you feel your eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“Yn, this is my boyfriend, Yoongi!” he exclaims, looking so happy to be introducing the two of you. “Yoongi, I’m so happy you’re finally getting the chance to meet yn! You haven’t been over all month!”

You can’t help but laugh to yourself. You never even thought to ask if he had a boyfriend or a girlfriend. You just assumed that you would have seen them. 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Yoongi,” you comment.

The lust that was running through your body for Hoseok fades into embarrassment and eventually laughter with the two men before you. Later that night, you tell Seoyeon how thankful you are that you didn’t ruin a relationship with your brand new roommate.

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

10 things finishing my 10th book taught me

Hey People of Earth!

(I cannot believe I typed the title of this post!)

Today, I’m going to be sharing 10 things finishing my 10th book taught me, which means--as of 2:30 this morning, I have finished writing my tenth novel, aka MOTH WORK. I’ve written posts like this for my 7th, 8th, and 9th novels as well!

Enjoy this note no one asked me to write but that I wrote because I was sad: 

I introduced this project on this blog back in June, but actually started it in the notes app of my iPhone (iconic) sometime in January of 2019. At this time, my mental health was *lackin* as I was stressed and in my final months of high school. I needed something to cheer me up, and so Moth Work became a place where I could dump my “bad writing” and also have fun. For more context, you can read more about Moth Work in my various writing updates HERE. 

I didn’t intend for this project to become a novel, but thought I’d write it as a longer “for fun” story (prospective word count was 5k words). I chipped away at it for a few months, but didn’t really start picking it up as a serious project until around May/June. It was only once summer vacation hit that I, under the advice of my therapist to have a “reach goal” for the summer, decided to say fuck it!! I shall write this as a novel (prospective word count now 50k words). This novel has seen me graduate high school + almost finish my first year of university, and I’m so excited to share all the wonderful things I learned while writing it!

1. It is totally okay to take your “guilty pleasures” seriously. 

I was in a mega dilemma writing this book. I’d wrapped up writing my ninth novel just after starting this project, and felt a need to write something that was more “serious”. Though I’m an advocate for writing what you want, when you want, even I struggled not to feel like I was wasting my time writing a project that didn’t have very much literary/craft merit (in my eyes, this changed eventually). 

I am here to tell you--do NOT let anyone, including yourself, shame you out of writing what you like. Allow yourself to let loose and write “bad” things, and remember you don’t have to feel guilty/ashamed for writing stuff that seems “juvenile” or “bad”.

2. Processes change--embrace this.

I took about 4000 different approaches writing this book, and though I really wanted to stick to one (outlining, pantsing), eventually, I let my process be what it wanted to be. For example, I am a pantser and began this novel pantsing. Very quickly, I realized I needed an outline because I could not keep track of events (this book begins very plot-oriented). But, pre-determining events that would happen eventually stopped working as I began feeling constrained, and so I settled for outlining as I went so I could keep track of plot points. 

I outlined 10 of the 15 chapters like this before I sort of... stopped doing this (though I will go back and fill it in just for future reference)! I went back to full-blown pantsing in the last four or so chapters, as what I’d planned would NOT pan out--and I think it’s so important to let your process be what it wants to be. Sometimes this book needed some planning--sometimes it really didn’t. This flexibility has really allowed me to be in touch with my projects more, and really listen to them/understand what it is they need. 

3. Sometimes plans change. Don’t be afraid to follow your gut.

I did not plan for Moth Work to be a novel. But as the project developed, so did its final form. My gut was telling me what I needed to do (continue writing), and another example of this is when I sporadically made this a dual point of view book! I’ve never written a full-length dual POV manuscript, and haven’t written dual POV since I was 12, but I didn’t let that stop me from doing what I knew in my gut, was what the book needed. 

I want to emphasize here--sometimes the vision you imagine changes. Allow this change to happen if you feel it’s right, even if it’s scary. I feel I’ve grown a lot as a writer by just allowing this of myself! It’s easy to beat yourself up for not following your plan, and I did this a lot. Understanding that sometimes plans turn into other plans turn into other plans etc, is the most freeing thing you can do for your writing!

4. Write what makes you happy!

This project began as a means to increase my serotonin lmaooo and I think sometimes as writers, we forget that yes, art is hard, but writing what you like can make that difficulty just a little more tolerable. This book started toiling toward disaster mode for a few chapters in the middle, and I really was not happy writing it. You can feel the difference in the chapters when I felt comfortable writing, versus when I struggled because I felt I “had to”. And so I took a step back and re-evaluated. Since this was not working/not making me happy, what would? This question solved my problems (not easily, but lead me on the right path). The artist! does not! have to! suffer! 

Sometimes problems occur, and critically thinking through them is vital. I’m not saying just to do whatever every time something doesn't work because this isn’t a shortcut. However, my point is not to be afraid to change things up and write what will make you happier and help you finish the book if you feel that’s what you need. I wanted to write a cheesy romance about two boys who both need to chill, and so though I could’ve written something else, I wrote this because it genuinely made me happier! And I love that about this book!

5. Things can take longer than you expect. You’re not a bad writer because of this.

Y’ALL. I wanted to write 50k words of this book over one summer. One month! One! Month! Lots of folks can do this, but I did not! In fact, I hit 50k this month, which is half a year after I projected. 

I think a lot of us constitute speed to being a good writer, and while speed and being a good writer can coexist, speed is not necessarily a determining factor in whether you can write or not! This book took me just over a year from when I started it (nine months from when I took it on as a full-time project), and while sure, I could’ve written it faster, I let it develop as it needed, and wrote it when I felt I could. I am not a professional writer with deadlines (that’s different)! While you gotta put in the time to improve, I think you also gotta look out for yourself! Use your gut, and take your time if that’s what you need!

6. Craft and play can coexist.

This took me so long to grasp, and I still struggle with this today! Craft and play can coexist. Say it with me y’all: craft and play can coexist!!

My manifesto for Moth Work initially was to have it be my dumping ground for shitty writing. While this took the pressure off initially, I then felt like I was regressing in my craft (which was untrue, I just didn’t realize it at the time). So, I decided to begin taking the craft aspect of this book very seriously, trying to write polished, delicious prose (every! time!) and the fact of the matter is that often, this did not happen. 

I beat myself up over this! I was like: Rachel, 16-year-old you was pumping out better prose than this, what’s up? And I put so much pressure on myself to perfect the writing, even though this was only ever meant to be a “for funsies” project. Eventually, I came to understand that, okay, I really do want this to be a for funsies project, but I also want to enjoy re-reading it and not criticizing every aspect of it. I then began incorporating a few passes of line edits after drafting a chapter, until eventually, I stopped circling back to chapters to line-edit them altogether. You don’t have to be perfect on the first draft!

You also don’t have to sacrifice craft to have fun, just as the opposite is true. This book taught me a lot about finding this balance, something I’ve lacked in my writing process for years!

7. Your writing styles can differ from book-to book!

I couldn’t understand why my prose in this book felt “thin” (aka awful in my eyes), why the only thing I felt capable of describing was literally everything shining in some sort of way (glinting, glimmering, glowing lool) or overzealous descriptions of the moon. It was only about a month ago that I realized, after making a breakthrough with my litfic novel Houses With Teeth, that Moth Work was not sucking the life out of my prose--it was just a different book with a different style of writing.

And this makes sense! I was writing with two different characters, in two different perspectives, in a completely different POV than I’m used to writing in the long-form (third-present). Of course things were going to be different! I felt a bit silly realizing this, lol, because it felt so obvious, but I struggled with this for a long time (you can even see bits of this struggle in my video Problems I’m having with writing + solutions). 

I thought I had regressed to being a bad writer because of this book, when in reality, the fault was on my inability to stop comparing a very different book to my very different past works. Sometimes you don’t even realize you’re working against yourself! Acknowledging this, and then letting it go was the best thing I did for this book and it allowed me to draft it much faster toward the end!

8. Writing is NOT linear.

I spoke about this in my Problems video, and I honestly was nervous to see how this hot take would be received. However, I was surprised to see that some folks thought this hot take was actually not a bad one, so I’m re-iterating it here!

I think, because we writers are often always practicing writing, we assume everything we write will be better than the last. Honestly, I feel like at least for me, this was my goal--to always be working linearly in terms of progress. It wasn’t until this book that I really came to realize that this is just not how writing works. The easiest way for me to compare this, also as a visual artist, is to say that sure, practice does make perfect, but I have sketches from last week that are worse than sketches I drew two years ago. Why is it that we expect writing to always be linearly better from one project to the next? My answer is that this is just not how writing works. I wrote some of my favourite paragraphs years ago, and may be embarrassed of a paragraph I write tomorrow. 

I got caught up in this idealism of “I must be writing better each time I write” because I thought this was the most logical progression of my writing craft, but realizing that actually!! progress jumps around, was so important for me. Some days I’m better at writing description, some days I write dialogue worse than I did when I was fourteen! It’s okay not to always be uphill. 

Y’all, if I step down a wrung on a ladder and then step up four the very next day, that’s how it’s going to be! Practice intrinsically will make you grow as a writer, but it doesn't mean everything you write has to be better than what you wrote before (though this can be the case, which is awesome). I feel like I don’t see this spoken about enough, so I do want to know if this is relevant to any of you or if this point is bologna!!!

9. The story wants what it wants.

This is heavily in line with some previous points, but is something that was driven home for me while writing this novel. If I can give one piece of advice, it would be to let the story be what it wants to be. If my story wants to be a YA fantasy trilogy, but I’m trying to force it to be a standalone pretentious character-driven coming-of-age saga (calling myself out), my writing may suffer! Of course, some writers can take control over their story and execute their initial vision perfectly! I am not! one of those! people!

I’m a firm believer that sometimes the story wants what it wants, and it’s often your best bet to follow this path. Write intuitively--if you know something feels wrong, or contrarily, feels right, follow that path. 

I did not know how to end this book. I’d had an ending planned for a few months, though it eventually fell apart in the last few weeks. I didn’t know what I would do instead, but last night when I was drafting the last two chapters of the book, I felt in my gut that I was heading to the end. I wanted to stop writing for the night--I almost did, but instead, I kept at it because I knew I was on a roll toward the finish line, and I felt compelled to follow my instinct. This is how I landed at the end I wrote in, and it was a completely organic process.

Planning out your story is a great thing to do, and I’m not here to start a debate about whether plotting/pantsing is better because they’re both amazing!! But for me, it’s important to let the story breathe, and let it eventually grow into the shoes it chooses for itself. Taking a step back so I could stop trying to mould this story into a place it didn't want to be is probably the best thing I could’ve done for it because I finished the book. Any process is a good process if it gets you to the end healthily, and for me, allowing the story to be what it wanted to be and allowing it to take the lead helped me get there.

10. It’s okay to love your story.

I’m going to end this post on another hot take because it is probably what I primarily felt early this morning as I typed up the last paragraph of this book. I’m not going to lie--I cried finishing this book lol. I ached finishing this book. It *hurt* to finish this book. I didn’t want to finish this book. What I wanted to do was shut my computer, and pretend the end was not coming, and come back four months from now to finish it, maybe. I wanted to hang onto my story because it’s my story and I love it!

Y’all, this book is cringey. It’s melodramatic, juvenile in some places, comically serious in others. But it’s mine, and I love it. Sometimes I’m ashamed of the writing in this book--sometimes I think I’m getting worse. But it’s my story, and I love! it! 

I think so many of us want to please other people! Or maybe that’s just me lol!! oh boy!! There were so many times I wanted to give up on this project because I thought others would find it cringey in places I too, thought were cringey, but simultaneously loved.

I’ve written for other people a lot in the past, and sometimes those ‘other people’ are just me--many critical versions of me. Don’t forget about how much you love a story (for its quirks maybe, its clichés, its “bad writing”) before you finish it. A first draft only comes once and finishing a first draft is so wonderful, and even more so when you love that story. We got enough hate y’all, lets give our stories some love. 

So that’s it for this post! I still have five chapters to write writing updates for, so the party ain’t over til it’s over!!!

For my obligatory Oscar’s speech! A special thanks to @sarahkelsiwrites​​ for reading about these trash people for five years, and for enthusiastically contributing to their trash decisions (#do it for the tea)! And for reassuring me that the prose in this book is actually not as bad as I believe because I would never have finished this book without that pep talk lol. To @imdisappointed​​ for helping me crack some of the toughest plot problems!! You talk me out of problems and it’s magic! And to my MOM @shaelinwrites​​ (for being my mom) and also for all the kind/insightful things you say! Y’all get me through it!!!

And of course!! I thank all of YOU for following this journey of drafting Moth Work. My community on here never fails to amaze me, and I’m a big stan of you all!! Please tag me in your stuff--I’d love to read about what you’re writing!

Here’s to finishing a book, but more importantly, to hoping I don’t make Moth Work a series lmaoo!!! *pops confetti*

--Rachel

[spam-monster]

Helsa Week day 4: fantasy

(I was trying to finish this last night so i could post it in time, but the words just did not want to go)

Backstory: Everyone is fairies. Elsa is the seelie Winter Queen, while Anna is the Queen of Summer (Rapunzel and Merida are Spring and Fall, respectively). The Queens have all decided to take Knights, loyal fairies who will protect them and help them enforce peace between the courts. The unseelie fey all choose members of their own courts as knights, but the seelie decided they would choose a knight from the opposing season’s court in order to strengthen their relationships.

(Fairy lore: basically seelie are the fairies who would help guide lost children out of the woods, and unseelie are the fairies who would lure unsuspecting travelers to their doom for funsies.)

(Story notes: The seelie and unseelie each have their own 4 seasonal courts, with their own Queens., and there are specific names for each. The relevant ones are: unseelie Summer = The Blazing Court, seelie Summer = the Dawn Court, and seelie Winter = the Dusk Court)

 As this part of our story begins, Queen Anna has been traveling around the realm of Winter searching for a suitable knight. But every time she met a promising candidate, something went wrong. It was eventually discovered that the culprit was a young man of noble lineage from the unseelie court of Summer, who had snuck into Anna’s realm and attempted to court her in order to win the position of her Knight...

 “But why would you choose a knight from another court? That’s not-“

“Just because the unseelie Queens have chosen knights from their own courts does not mean we are beholden to do the same.” The Winter Queen said. “And that is no excuse for you to sabotage my sister’s quest to find her knight.”

The redhead protested. “But I could have been-“

“Enough!” The Queen turned away, her crystalline cape glittering as it swayed around her. “Go back to the Summer courts of the unseelie at once, Hans! That is, unless you would prefer to stay here in Winter eternal as my servant.”

“…I would. Prefer that. Actually.”

The Queen looked back in confusion. Surely she could not have heard that right?

But the young unseelie man looked at her with quiet determination. “If it is possible…I would serve out my punishment here. I would rather endure a thousand winters as a servant than one more day as a noble among my brothers in the Blazing Court.”

The Queen was at a loss for words. A Summer fairy, wanting to stay here? There was a reason she had not yet gone to Anna’s court, despite her sister’s urging. Although she agreed strengthening the bonds between their courts by appointing a knight from the opposing season was a good idea in theory, deep down Elsa feared that no fairy from her sister’s land of sunshine and laughter would ever choose to live in her own land of ice and quiet.

Maybe…this would be a good test run. If this one could survive in her lands, perhaps there really was a Summer fairy out there willing to become her knight.

“Very well, then. You shall stay here, child of Summer.”

Who am I kidding? She thought to herself as he was led away. In a few weeks he’ll be begging to go back to his brothers.

---

It had been a few weeks, and another few weeks yet.

And the young man had shown no desire to leave.

Where other fairies of other courts would have been put off by her people’s stoicism and bluntness, Hans had adapted his way around it, speaking just enough to fill the silence but never so much as to be a nuisance. Where others would have complained about the endless cold, Hans just bundled up tighter and endured it (although he did take more trips to the hot springs than most). And when others would have compared her lands endlessly to Summer’s beaches and Spring’s gardens and Fall’s woodlands and found them wanting, Hans could be found staring out at the vast mountains of snow and ice for hours.

“It’s quiet.” He explained to her.

“And that doesn’t bother you?” She asked.

“I have twelve older brothers. My whole life I’ve been surrounded by noise, yelling and screaming and fighting and clashing. This…is peaceful. I feel like I can breathe again.”

She left him there, gazing out the windows, and did not ask for more.

---

“The gathering of the Four Seelie Queens shall now commence!”

“Elsa!” Anna yelled from across the room, bounding up to catch her sister in a hug. Elsa accepted it warmly, nodding to Kristoff in greeting.

“How have you been?” She asked the two of them. “She hasn’t been too much trouble, I hope?” She directed to Kristoff playfully.

Kristoff grinned sheepishly. The former grumpy icecutter had been roped into escorting Anna around when she was searching Winter for a candidate to be her knight, but the two of them had bonded against all odds and he was now her Summer’s knight. “Well, you know Anna. Never a dull moment with her.”

“And the weather?”

“Still getting used to it, as is Sven. But I’m fine. It’s worth a few sunburns to be able to…” stay with her went unspoken, as he glanced at Anna softly and she giggled and took his arm. Elsa felt a pang of something like envy, but she fiercely pushed it down.

“How is…” she waved her arm and glanced towards the other Queens. The Spring Queen Rapunzel was laughing softly, leaning her head on her knight. (Rapunzel had been the first of them to find her knight, and it had all started with Eugene trying to rob her, not knowing the girl in the carriage trundling through the woods was secretly royalty.)  Sir Eugene was preoccupied between playing with her hair and trying to fix his, as usual. And next to them was…

“Wait…Merida found a knight?!”

Anna chuckled as she glanced in their direction. “Yep!”

“But she’s…”

“Merida? Yeah. But it as it turns out, she somehow happened to find the one fairy in Spring as uninterested in romance as her, who was also willing to help her deal with all the boring administrative stuff she never wants to do.”

Elsa looked again. Unlike the other two pairs, Merida and her new Knight seemed more interested in leaning on each other and gossiping than stealing longing glances. They looked…comfortable. (And it wasn’t like there was actually a rule that said a Queen and their knight had to be romantically engaged, she supposed.)

“…Good for her.”

“Uh-huh! Soooo…what about you~?”

Elsa looked back at Anna. “Me?”

“You’re the only one who hasn’t…you know. You should come over later. I’ve been thinking about…is that Hans?!”

Elsa looks behind her. She’s so used to seeing Hans among the other members of her inner court by now, she’d forgotten that he wasn’t always there. “He’s been…serving out his punishment with me.”

“Wait, so he’s like, living with you?”

“You let him in the palace?!” Kristoff sounded scandalized.

Elsa shrugs awkwardly. “He’s been…behaving himself?”

Anna looked at Hans again, then back at her, like she was trying to figure something out. The intense scrutiny started to make her feel nervous. “Is…is this a problem?”

“No, not if he’s getting punished like you said, but…Elsa. You’ve been so worried about if any Summer fairies would actually want to stay with you – and don’t give me that look, I know that’s why you keep putting this off – and yet, you’ve been letting this guy live in Winter for months and it’s fine?”

“He…” Elsa hesitated, unsure of what to tell her. The sound of more trumpets below them interrupted her.

“Hear ye, hear ye! The gathering of the Unseelie Queens commences! Get in line, people!”

The floor beneath their feet rippled and changed, the barrier becoming clear. Below them, the four Queens of the unseelie courts and their Knights gathered. The chattering on their side stopped, tension filling the air.

The seelie Queen of Winter met the eyes of her unseelie counterpart through the barrier, as she knew the other Queens were doing. Slowly, she bowed. The unseelie Winter Queen held her gaze for a minute, her eyes a cold reflection of Elsa’s own, but she then bowed back. The tension lessened. The truce was upheld for another season.

“Excuse me.” Elsa murmured to her sister and her knight, slipping away to get some space. Logically she knew that the unseelie Queens would never break the truce (they couldn’t; any harm that befell one Queen would come to her counterpart on the other side as well), but it always made her nervous. She rested against the wall for a moment, watching as the party slowly resumed and the fairies on either side of the barrier began traveling back and forth, trading greetings and stories.

“Well, they didn’t waste any time in getting noisy again.”

Elsa turned to look at the man next to her. He glanced over at her with an unspoken question. Are you alright, your highness?  

She wondered since when Hans had become so readable to her; or maybe it was another aspect of himself he seemed to be able to turn on and off at will. She made a non-committal noise of agreement, and he nodded and looked out at the gathering again. I’m fine, Hans.

“Your sister seems to be in a good mood.” Is she still mad at me?

“Probably just happy that she doesn’t have to listen to Merida complain about not wanting a Knight anymore.” I’m not sure.

“So even the Queen of Fall has a Knight now…” And what about you, Elsa? How long are you planning to put this off?

“They seem to get along well. I’ll have to have her introduce me properly later.” I’m not answering that.

“Hmm…” You can’t run from this forever, you know…

“Is that you, little scrubfire?!”

Hans flinched, and his eyes grew wide as he turned towards the source of the voice; a man with similar eyes to his and a smile with too many teeth. He brandished a sword slung over his shoulder, the emblems on his chest gleaming.  The unseelie Knight of Summer, Elsa thought to herself.

---

Elsa understood why Hans hadn’t wanted to go back now, if this was what was waiting for him.  

The Knight was one of Hans’ older brothers, and once he found Hans the rest of them had swarmed him like a school of sharks seeking prey.

“We thought the Dusk Queen had frozen you up like a statue, or dumped you in a lake!” one of them laughs, in a tone that indicated he wouldn’t have cared much either way.

Elsa just stood and watched. She shouldn’t care, she knew. After all, this man had selfishly tried to disrupt the peace between their lands just so he could try and trick her sister into making him her knight. But the man who at any other time would have been easily quick-wittedly trading barbs with whoever insulted him, was frozen, looking down at his feet and slumping into the wall like if he made himself small enough maybe they would go away.  

“Hey, weren’t you gonna become a knight up here?

“Ha! That brat couldn’t become a regular knight, let alone a Queen’s Knight!”

“I’ll bet they took one look at him and laughed right in his stupid face!”

“Like he could ever be anything important!”

“That’s enough!” Elsa growled, unable to stand by and watch any more. She put herself in between Hans and his brothers, at them.

“Hans is a member of my court now, and I will not stand for him being disrespected this way!”

She could feel Hans eyes staring at the back of her head with surprised gratitude and relief.

---

It had taken Anna stepping in and summoning the unseelie Summer Queen herself to get Hans’ brothers dragged back to their own realm.

“You didn’t have to do that.” He muttered nervously.

“They were harassing you.”

He just shrugged.

“…Are you…alright?” Anna asked a bit awkwardly. Hans turned to her, sighed, and bowed deeply.

“Thanks for stepping in, your Highness. And…let me take the opportunity to apologize for my earlier actions against you. Had I known that there were people up here kind enough to protect me from my brother’s cruelty without asking anything in return, I would never have acted so rashly and almost upset the balance between your kingdoms.”

“Umm…yeah. You’re welcome.” Anna glanced at Elsa, then back at Hans, a small smile beginning to form on her face. “You seem different, after living with my sister. It’s a good different.”

“Well, I, uh, yes. That is. I.” Was Hans…blushing?

Anna giggled, her smile turning into a full-blown smirk. “Ooooh, I see how it is.” She patted Hans on the shoulder. “Welllll~, I suppose I can forgive you; if you promise to be good to her and lay off on the scheming. We can’t have future Knights running around causing any more unrest now, can we?”

“Yes. Wait, what?!”

-----

(Below the cut: pictures!)

I’ve actually been playing with this au for a while now...well, not an au really, more like I just based the fairy queens in my fantasy/D&D setting on Disney princesses because it was fun. The only oc is Merida’s “knight”, because I didn’t really want to “pair her up” with anyone, so I just made up a character who would also have no interest in getting married and would also balance out her personality. Anyway, here are some designs.

And the unseelie, just because:

[perfeggso]

Noir (yutae) 

Week I pt. 1

Tokyo – fall of 1983: Nakamoto Yuta is quickly rising in the ranks of one of Japan’s most notorious yakuza families, and he’s poised to climb even further if he can stop himself from being ruined by the pretty Korean boy who’s shown up out of nowhere. 

Chapter 1  |  Chapter 2  |  Chapter 3  |  Chapter 4  |  Chapter 5  |  Chapter 6  |  Chapter 7  |  Chapter 8  | Masterlist 

Glossary of Japanese words 

Characters: Yuta x Taeyong + NCT ensemble, Twice J-line (for funsies) 

Genres: Gang!AU, angst, smut, fluff, 1980s!AU

Warnings: graphic violence, swearing, minor character death, alcohol use, mentions of drugs, period-typical homophobia, xenophobia, BDSM 

Rating: 18+

Length: 1.7k (will progressively get way longer) 

Yuta was easily recognizable.  He was of about average stature, but that was the first and last thing about him that could be described as “average.”  Yuta reckoned that anyone living or working in the areas in and around Ueno Park and Akihabara could describe him to the police if they felt like it, but they all knew better, didn’t they?  He had a striking face, which others often remarked could have landed him in an idol group in another life.  He kept his hair in an undercut which swept over his head suggesting ever so faintly the shape of a mullet, but he would never call it that.  Mullets were for Mötley Crüe, not for men of taste.  Although he kept the bottom of the haircut in its original black, the long part was died white – an aesthetic choice that Yuta not only liked but which also made him feel nearly invincible in its destruction of his anonymity.    

Yuta was freshly 24, a prodigy of sorts in his own world of the Inagawa-kai family, where he had been promoted to Shategashira lieutenant last year and was now the commander of a small gaijin and zainichi unit operating in Shitamachi.  There was gossip that his position was due only to his relationship with Oyabun Hirai Goro’s daughter, but he knew better than that which was all that mattered.

It was late October and a crisp evening as Yuta weaved his way down Chūō Avenue.  He drew plenty of looks: of fearful recognition but also of admiration from certain young women.  Not one for subtlety, he wore a double-breasted dark blue snakeskin suit and a jumble of rings and piercings.  A scar transversing his right eyebrow and the tendrils of tattoos reaching out from his sleeves and collar confirmed his connection to the underworld for anyone who saw him, but that was alright if it gave Yuta some space to walk in the crowd.

He took a right into an arcade where Mark was sitting absently behind a yellow desk and flipping through the pages of the latest Young Magazine installment of Akira .  When he saw Yuta, he immediately straightened to attention.

“Good evening Shategashira!”

“At ease,” Yuta said casually, “how’s business today?”

Mark went back to slouching over his comic and shrugged as Yuta surveyed the room.

“Average,” hazarded Mark, “I’ve been hearing the machines in back pretty consistently my whole shift and Jungwoo’s still somewhere fixing shit and trying to get people to buy computers.”  

Yuta rapped his knuckles against the desk.  “Having any luck?”

Mark shrugged again.  “Why don’t you ask him?”

Yuta withdrew from the desk with a performative huff and straightened his jacket.  Sometimes he wondered if he should be less familiar with his subordinates, but he couldn’t imagine acting strict like some other lieutenants; he liked most of his men too much to be anything but personable.  So as usual, Mark’s cautious sass went unacknowledged.

Yuta made his way to the back of the low-ceilinged white room. The walls were lined with cubbies full of manga, tech and porn magazines, and cassettes; string lights; mirrors; Nintendo arcade games; and in the center of the space, you could peruse tables of PC’s in various states of disuse alongside Mazinger Z figurines.  Jungwoo had stationed himself in the middle of the clutter, fiddling with the hard drive of an ’82 Apple.  

“Jungwoo!”

“Shategashira!”

“At ease.”    

“This just came today!” remarked Jungwoo, referring to the computer.  “The computing power on this thing is off the charts!  A shame I have to fuck with it.”

“A necessary sacrifice,” said Yuta, not giving a damn about the technical side of this business since he couldn’t begin to understand it.  “How many have you sold?”

“Seven today,” said Jungwoo, sinking into a chair with his whole weight and pushing at his cuticles with the end of a screwdriver, “so that’s 225,000 yen, give or take.  I can get the books if you want.”

Yuta smiled, catlike.  “No, that’s alright.  Good work.  Although I’m confident you can do better still.”

Jungwoo stood again sharply.  “I assure you I can, Shategashira !”

“Good.”

In reality this was not a bad amount of revenue for the day so far.  The Inagawa-kai paid the property and business taxes on the building to shore up favor with the local government but didn’t technically own it.  The real owners covered all other expenses and utilities, meaning the Inagawa people ultimately could keep more of their profits than the average business owners, and this setup wouldn’t change because the landlords knew the local precinct had Inagawa’s back and that Yuta – or if not him, someone else – would not hesitate to pull a katana on them if they suddenly took issue with the arrangement.

No, thought Yuta, this is good.  Jungwoo was selling near his quota, and with the viruses he had installed, many of the unsuspecting customers would eventually be bringing their devices back for costly repairs.

Yuta looked at the unassuming door behind Jungwoo.

“Johnny in there?” he asked.

Jungwoo nodded curtly in response and Yuta passed him to open the door, stepping into the windowless back room.  Smoke hit Yuta instantly, warming his lungs along with the stinging scent of hard liquor.  The room may have been devoid of natural light, but it did have plenty of colorful artificial illumination: a wall of well-populated pachinko machines making brassy noises so loud Yuta could have sworn they were coming from inside his skull.  Each machine was a hypnotizing box of glowing neon, flashing lightbulbs, and shiny silver balls clacking in a perverse rhythm with the players’ chorus of disappointed groans and victorious whoops.  The men at the pachinko machines were all around middle age, smoking their heads off and depressing the shit out of Yuta.

Yuta swept his gaze over the rest of the room; the weathered purple booths on the other wall, the checkerboard tile on the floor, the mildewy walls; until he landed on Johnny.  He was in the bar in the back, under a dusty glass chandelier, smoking with a young woman seemingly attached to the front of his mahogany suit.

Johnny didn’t notice Yuta until he was a few paces away, and Yuta sensed a flicker of disappointment on Johnny’s face when he did look up, although Yuta couldn’t reproach him for that and he did well to hide it.

“Ah, Shategashira ,” Johnny greeted languidly, and Yuta acknowledged him back with a nod of his head.  Johnny was a few months older than Yuta, so he could afford to be more casual with his superior.  The only reason Johnny didn’t have Yuta’s position was that he indulged too much in life’s vices and wanted to keep it that way.

“Can we speak somewhere a bit quieter?” Yuta asked, and Johnny nodded, whispering something to his companion before leading Yuta out the back doorway into an alley.  Yuta breathed the crisp autumn air in once outside, a relief from the stuffiness of the pachinko bar.  Yuta reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of cigarettes and a lighter, smoking to match Johnny and giving Johnny time to get situated next to him against the wall.  Yuta had to look up to speak since Johnny was a good bit taller than him and when he did, Johnny’s face was sharper than usual in the shadows of twilight.  Yuta took a long drag of his cigarette.  

“So,” said Johnny, “you know when yet?”

“A month and a half from today,” said Yuta, “gives us enough time to finish preparing, I think.”

Johnny nodded, grinding the burnt-out end of his cigarette into the brick behind him.  “Good.  Can you relay the details?  What do I need to do?”        

“You and I and the other Sokaiya members will be going into the Mitsubishi executive offices with the goal of getting 130,000,000 yen and the right to ship arms and drugs to our Triad allies in Hong Kong disguised alongside the company’s car and electronics exports.”

“Goro’s getting ambitious, huh?” Johnny figured aloud.

“Yes,” Yuta answered, “in return we’re offering our own men as indefinite security details for commerce in the South China Sea and for members of the executive board, personally.”

“Mercenaries and bodyguards, I see.”

“You could call it that.”  Yuta took another drag of his cigarette and let the smoke escape his mouth in a meandering cloud.  Once it dissipated, he said, “but as to your role, you’re in charge of gathering information on Sato Kenichi.  He runs Mitsubishi’s finances and although we’ve found ample evidence to use against the CEO and I’m still working on some leads for the VP – Miyazaki is his name – we need dirt on as many of the higher ups as possible.  They can’t refuse us or we’re dead.”

Johnny nodded, lighting himself another cigarette.  “Sato Kenichi.  Understood.  Any leads on the guy?”

“Yes, I have them here.”  Yuta pulled a small sealed folder out of the interior of his jacket and handed it to Johnny, who slipped it into one of his inner pockets without opening it.

“Thank you, Shategashira .”  

“Just do a good job,” said Yuta, adding, “please.”  Then he dropped his cigarette to the asphalt and ground it out with the heel of his boot.  “We have almost enough stock to make the shareholder’s meeting so that shouldn’t be a problem.  Also, the Triads are sending a group of emissaries to advise us on their priorities and join us at the meeting.  They should be here in a few weeks or so.  That is all.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go meet the princess for our joint birthday dinner. We decided to combine this year.”

Yuta and Johnny pushed themselves off the wall and exchanged conspiratorial smiles.

“Tell her I said omedetou ,” said Johnny, backing away to return to his post at the dingy Pachinko bar, pulling the packet on Sato Kenichi out of his pocket and passing it between his hands.  “I can’t wait to see what this Sato-san gets up to in his spare time.  These executive types are all extortionists and perverts.  And they call us the criminals.”

Yuta chuckled to himself.  It was ironic, wasn’t it?  He saluted Johnny and turned on his heel with a “work hard, please,” and that was that.  The sun was setting, hot pink.  He’d be late to meet Momo if he didn’t hurry, but this was important business after all.  A month and a half.  What could possibly go wrong in such a short time?  

[willel]

So, the official writing team is going to post movies they’ve discussed for season 4 once a week. For the funsies, I guess I’ll look at each movie and see what it’s about. 

So let’s get started. I’m sorry if this looks bad on tumblr mobile, but it;s their fault for messing up the indented paragraphs

The Peanut Butter Solution

Ghosts restore a boy's (Mathew Mackay) hair when it falls out from fright, but then it won't stop growing.

Michael Baskin is an average 11-year-old boy. His father, Billy Baskin, is a struggling artist and temporary sole caregiver of the children while his wife attends to the needs of her recently deceased father in Australia. Upon hearing the news that an abandoned mansion has recently burned down, Michael and his friend Connie decide to explore the remains. Outside the mansion, Connie dares Michael to take a look inside, leading to a frightening encounter with the ghosts of its homeless inhabitants who had died in the fire. Michael does not know this yet, but his fearsome run in with the ghosts has given him a mysterious illness simply known as "The Fright". Michael wakes up the next morning to find out that "The Fright" has made him lose all of his hair. After a failed attempt with a wig (his wig was pulled off by an older boy during a fight in a soccer game), the ghosts visit Michael in his sleep and give him the recipe of a magical formula for hair growth, the main ingredient of which is peanut butter. Michael's first attempt to make the formula is thwarted when his father and sister think he is making something to ingest (rather than use topically) and dispose of it.

A short summary of this movie. It goes on to explain that Michael successfully makes the formula and grows his hair back, but an evil teacher fired from his school discovers his hair growing ability, kidnaps him, uses his hair to make magical paint brushes before he’s finally caught and everyone gets a happy ending. 

.... Gonna be honest. NO idea how this is gonna work in. lol. Will’s bowl cut??? The beginning part there had me thinking about Joyce. The exploring the hunted house with a friend had me thinking of Will and El. But everything else? Pfff. 

The Fisher King

After shock jock Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges) inadvertently provokes a caller into murdering a group of innocent people in a Manhattan bar, he grows depressed and turns to booze. As he's about to hit rock bottom, Lucas meets a homeless man named Parry (Robin Williams), whose wife was killed by the caller Lucas pushed to the brink. Mentally scarred by his loss, Parry spends his days searching for the Holy Grail. Lucas, feeling culpable for the poor man's plight, pledges to help him in his quest.

Nope, no idea. I really got nothing except.... maybe Kali?????? Ok wait, I read a bit more, mostly the ending bits. The homeless man, Parry, is beat senseless and is in a coma/catatonic state. The hero of the movie must steal a Holy Grail to wake him up, which he does.

Another part, the hero had previously broken up with his lover (out of guilt I guess???) reunites with her. She slaps him and then they kiss and make up. Or something.

Kinda... Hopper and Joyce like I guess. 

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

Amiable slackers Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are once again roped into a fantastical adventure when De Nomolos (Joss Ackland), a villain from the future, sends evil robot duplicates of the two lads to terminate and replace them. The robot doubles actually succeed in killing Bill and Ted, but the two are determined to escape the afterlife, challenging the Grim Reaper (William Sadler) to a series of games in order to return to the land of the living.

As much as I love Keanu, this does not make me happy. The only beneficial thing I can think of is two best friends doing stuff together to solve a mystery (Will and El). Maybe Will will get Keanu’s hair

You’ve Got Mail

Struggling boutique bookseller Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) hates Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), the owner of a corporate Foxbooks chain store that just moved in across the street. When they meet online, however, they begin an intense and anonymous Internet romance, oblivious of each other's true identity. Eventually Joe learns that the enchanting woman he's involved with is actually his business rival. He must now struggle to reconcile his real-life dislike for her with the cyber love he's come to feel.

.... What? No idea how this is going to happen.... maybe Joyce gets a mysterious pen pal and it’s secretly Hopper. Or, maybe Joyce will become a librarian/book seller

Ordinary People

Tormented by guilt following the death of his older brother, Buck, in a sailing accident, alienated teenager Conrad Jarrett (Timothy Hutton) attempts suicide. Returning home following an extended stay in a psychiatric hospital, Conrad tries to deal with his mental anguish and also reconnect with his mother, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), who has grown cold and angry, and his emotionally wounded father, Calvin (Donald Sutherland), with the help of his psychiatrist, Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch).

Ok THIS IS MORE LIKE IT. YES. I probably haven’t seen the movie, but this summary gets me hyped. Let me check out the plot....

“The Jarretts are an upper-middle-class family in suburban Chicago trying to return to normal life after the accidental death of their older teenage son, Buck, and the attempted suicide of their younger and surviving son, Conrad. “

Chicago huh? Hmmmmmm

“ Conrad, who has recently returned home from a four-month stay in a psychiatric hospital, feels alienated from his friends and family and begins seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Berger. Berger learns that Conrad was involved in the sailing accident that took the life of Buck, whom everyone idolized. Conrad now deals with post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt. “

This screams Will to me because of the whole alienation of friends and family (plus Will was going to doctors and psychiatrists for a while). BUT, the survivor's guilt thing could be El too. She told him she could fight (she didn’t know she couldn’t at the time she said that) and let him and Joyce go into the danger all alone. But Joyce would never send off her kids to a psychiatrist or ward. And she might not take them to counselors either, she’s been there done that.

“Mother and son often argue while Calvin tries to referee, generally taking Conrad's side for fear of pushing him over the edge again. Things come to a climax near Christmas, when Conrad becomes furious at Beth for not wanting to take a photo with him, swearing at her in front of his grandparents. “

Ooof, well. This movie does not have a particularly happy ending. Basically, Conrad is struggling with guilt and alienation most of the time. He even starts dating someone but it only helps a little. His mother is basically steely faced and refuses to express emotion. She totally blames her younger child for her older child’s death. She’s confronted by her husband who asks her “If she’s capable of loving anyone” and she leaves the family, only leaving father and son to heal together. 

The Byers don’t have that kind of stuff going on, not exactly. But.... yes. I can see some good material in here. Let’s hope there’s more of this and less of Bill and Ted’s adventures yeah?

[purplesurveys]

792

Who was the last person you had an intelligent debate with?: I don’t really have debates with anyone other than Gab or Angela. I’ll have deep discussions with my other friends, but they never turn into a debate.

Who was the last person who cooked something for you?:  My dad. Technically he just reheated stuff tonight, but he was still also the one who cooked for us this morning for breakfast.

Who was the last person who you heard singing?:  My mom. She does karaoke by herself one or two times a week for funsies and will sing songs from her day for an hour or so, and she did it tonight.

Who was the last person you kissed and it meant something?: Gabie, but it’s been a whilllllle. 

Who was the last person you were upset with?:  This girl that I’m classmates with for a layout class, Mikee. Horrible work ethic. So just for context, I currently have a grade of INC (Incomplete) for the layout class I took last semester because my prof wasn’t satisfied with our final output, which are a class magazine and a class newspaper; and when you have an INC, you typically have a year to fulfill the missing requirement/s (except in our case, we only have half a year because we have graduating students in the class, including me). Now that we’re inching closer to graduation and the college is supposed to release the official list of graduating students soon, I have to make sure ALL my grades are in. Mikee volunteered to be the one to contact our prof for submitting our work, and even though we’ve finished up and polished our revised outputs, she is taking FOREVER to email the prof for whatever fucking reason. I’m getting antsy by the hour and am desperate for a bit of urgency on her end because if my name doesn’t end up on the list of graduates I definitely wouldn’t hesitate to lash out on her.

Who was the last person you danced with?: Angela, Gabie, and Hans. And some other ADMU dudes I’ve never hung out with other than at that party.

Who was the last person you felt awkward around?: My dad. He made pancakes from scratch earlier and I think his measurements weren’t 100% spot on, because they came out incredibly dense and bland. I was already cranky enough this morning – and I still hadn’t known he made them himself – so I scowled when I took my first few bites because I thought it tasted off and even asked if it was some kind of vegetarian pancake. Once he said he made it from scratch, I felt awkward, shut up, and wolfed my plate down to show him that I enjoyed it and to make up for my horrid behavior just seconds before.

Who was the last person who borrowed something from you?: My mom borrowed my car (which is technically my parents’ anyway because they bought it lmao) to go to work today.

Who was the last person who showed you how to do something?: My dad. I wanted to get reacquainted with making stuff in the kitchen so he showed me how to cook hotdogs properly. I was already making them before, but after one time that one of our stove burners emitted a huge flame when I turned it on, I stopped making any food altogether for a while.

Who was the last person you went shopping with?: My mom.

Who was the last person you had a crush on?: Song Joong Ki hahaaaaaaah.

Who was the last person who made you cry?: The amazing actor from Descendants of the Sun playing the troubled rookie doctor. I looked him up and apparently he’s also one of the lead vocalists of SHINee, so he must be talented as all hell.

Who was the last person you shared a bed with?: Kimi, 45 seconds before he jumped off.

Who was the last person you got drunk with?: Angela, Hans, Gabie, Aids...I don’t remember the others anymore but they were cool and funny people. Idk, we were a big group so yeah.

Who was the last person who touched your hair?: Just me.

What was the last pair of shoes you wore?: A pair of Nikes to walk my dog.

What was the last birthday party you attended?: My cousin’s, aunt’s, and grandma’s. Their birthdays all fall on the same week in December, so it’s tradition for us to go over to my aunt’s to celebrate.

What was the last thing you said to your mother?: Something about thesis. I was telling her that I included her and dad and my four grandparents in my acknowledgments.

What was the last song you listened to?: I was listening to Beyoncé’s Homecoming a few hours ago but I’m too lazy to check what song was it I paused.

What was the last thing you thought about before going to sleep last night?: I wasn’t thinking of anything, I was just focused on falling asleep.

What was the last fun thing you did with your family?: Video-calling other relatives.

What was the last thing you borrowed from someone?: My dad’s earphones...and I’ve kept them for the meantime too lol thanks dad.

What was the last vegetable you ate?: String beans.

What was the last thing you bought online?: A Hydro Flask and several necklaces.

What was the last thing you had to drink?: I don’t *have* to drink it but I did make myself a cup of coffee tonight.

What was the last reason you went to see a doctor?: Had to get my eye checked. Sucks that I couldn’t and can’t have a follow-up appointment especially since my left eye still acts up from time to time.

What was the last non-food item you purchased?: Soju lmaaaaaooo.

What was the last type of yogurt you ate?: I hate yogurt.

What was the last fast food place you ate at?: Jollibee. We didn’t eat inside though, we just got the food delivered to our home. I think the last fast food place I was actually inside of was McDonald’s.

What was the last thing that bothered you and kept you awake?: I haven’t been bothered by anything in a while. Caffeine is the only thing keeping me up these days.

When was the last time you embarrassed yourself? I had sort of a Eureka moment earlier tonight when I suddenly recalled my paternal grandparents’ whole names. I had opted to use their nicknames in my acknowledgments and didn’t think anything of it, but then I remembered what their actual full first names were and then felt embarrassed within myself that I submitted a final draft with their nicknames. HAHAHA it’s a good things are less chill with the lockdown in place so I was able to explain and resubmit with the necessary revisions.

When was the last time you watched a movie with someone?: January-ish. I watched Hello Love Goodbye with Gabie.

When was the last time you charged your phone?: A few hours ago.

When was the last time you were sick with a cold?: It’s been...a while. I rarely get sick with anything so I don’t get to keep track of whenever I do.

When was the last time you spoke to a family member on the phone?: My birthday when my lola called.

When was the last time it rained where you live?: A couple of days ago, I think.

When was the last time you laid awake, unable to sleep?: This afternoon. I wanted to sleep the heat off, but it was just so uncomfortable I just ended up twisting and turning and sweating more. MAAAAAAN I can’t wait for June.

When was the last time you met someone new?: A week or so ago when I went on a following spree on this blog and started talking to a couple of them. Lol following spree in the survey community means following 3 or 4 blogs, but still.

When was the last time you filled up your car with petrol/gas?:  Gotta be the first week of March as that was the last time I was able to drive a lot.

When was the last time you ate popcorn?: Some months ago, I’m guessing? There was a brief time that my mom bought popcorn kernels to make bowls of popcorn for us, but we got tired of it pretty easily so there was no reason for her to keep buying more packs.

When was the last time you went to a school event?  I went to the Lantern Parade last December, as is tradition for my school’s community. I was mostly alone because my friends had to leave early and Gabie was stuck in traffic all evening and didn’t arrive til like, 9:30 PM, which sounds sad for me lol but it was still a fun experience.

When was the last time you took the trash out?: My parents don’t give me that task.

When was the last time you did anything to change your appearance?: Fucking March, a week before the lockdown. Okodlkjfffjsj don’t remind me I’m still pressed about it. No one got to see my short hair and bangs grrrrrrrr

When was the last time you cooked at home?: A week ago. I reconciled with the kitchen and cooked a couple of hotdogs hahaha. They’re frozen and literally a child could make them, but egh, I wanna have my moment too.

When was the last time you had a sleepover?: Honestly can’t remember. Start of the year maybe?

Where did you last go shopping for clothing?: Feliz. It’s my favorite place to find new clothes so yeah, you’ll always be hearing about Feliz. Where did you last go on a date to?: A study date at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and dinner at Yabu afterwards.

Where was the last wedding you went to?: 2007, my uncle and aunt’s. I had plans to go to my cousin Joelle’s wedding in Texas this year, but I think they postponed it which highkey ended up working well for them because it wouldn’t have happened under current circumstances anyway.

Where did you last park your car, other than home?: Gabie’s place.

Where did you last leave your keys?: On top of the dining room TV.

Where did your last kiss take place? By Gabie’s front door, I think.

Where did you last go for a walk to?: In front of the house and just a little farther, with my dog. He’s getting older so he gets tired easily and can’t go on the same walks we used to have, but I still make sure he gets his exercise.

Where did you last take a vacation to?: We had a weekend trip to Tagaytay and Cavite but honestly it felt like a quick getaway more than anything else. The last trip that felt like a vacation was when we went to Bicol.

Where did you last go to celebrate your own birthday?: I celebrated it at home.

Where was the last place you had dinner at?: Just at home, again.

Where did you last go to exercise?: I don’t exercise. < Ha, samesies.

Where did you last take public transport to?: Jum and I were going to the Senate building for a journalism class. That was the first and last time I took legit public transport.

Where does the last person you hung out with live?: Upper part of the city.

Where did you last visit for the first time?: Uhhhh I think it was the salon I went to to get my hair done.

Where did you last take a photo?: On the floor of the dining area, to take selfies with my dog.

[cainromainelettuce]

( non-binary ) haven’t seen CAIN ROMANOV around in a while. the BILL SKARSGARD lookalike has been known to be (+) RIGHTEOUS & (+) AMBITIOUS, but HE/THEY can also be (-) EVASIVE & (-) UNTRUSTING. The 24 year old is a SENIOR majoring in BUSINESS. I believe they’re living in EMERITUS, but I popped by earlier and no one answered the door. ( snot goblin. 20. EST. she/they. )

surprise !! i am the snot goblin ! (aka james aka saige aka amos aka aleta) !! i very much apologize for this intro being late !! and also for possibly being pretty long.

EDIT: i forgot to mention but 1. like this if u’d like to plot w/ him !! obv !! and then 2. if discord is easier for any of u, my thing is emo stan #3644 uwu

TW: CULT LIFE, HEROIN USAGE / ADDICTION, DRUG ADDICTION / USE / ABUSE, EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION, ABUSE, MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ( PTSD, ANXIETY ). if i forgot anything PLEASE tell me !!

a e s t h e t i c s

dangling limbs from tree branches, yellowed book pages, opened bottles of vintage wine, oversized sweaters and deep under eyes, bleached denim, worn leather gloves, cat hair against black cloth, fields of wheat, broken windows, descending staircases, tight-lipped smiles during public appearances, golden skies, light spilling from windows, stumbling over one's own words, wire-framed beds, linens, wool scarves, making the wrong decisions; running, from others and yourself.

general information !!

full name: cain alexei romanov

nickname(s): cock and ball torture, N/A

b.o.d. - feb 19th, fuckin pisces

label(s): the fallen, the phoenix, the crestfallen, etc. etc.

height: 6′4″ jfc

hometown: rochester, ny babey !!

sexuality: bi...? bi. yes. bi.

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biography !!

cain, like all of my other children, was born into a life of privilege. his father’s a senator of new york and his mother’s a philanthropist; both pretty prominent figures. cain is the eldest of five.

he was raised in mind of keeping a good public reputation, taught to be the perfect citizen. essentially, he was a golden child who could really do no wrong. as a child, he’d always aim to please his parents in any way he could.

this included joining several clubs during school, such as model UN, debate, DECA, etc. etc. as well as a few sports (soccer, track, basketball, lacrosse -- all throughout the years, not at once). pretty sure he’s been a class president once or twice, and has been in the lead for valedictorian.

his whole thing was that he was supposed to be perfect. volunteered on the weekends at homeless shelters and food banks and like...he just did The Most. the absolute most

this pleased his parents, and he never had a problem with them. life was good. they attended church on sundays, sometimes wednesdays, always did things as a Family. like, we’re talking family dinners and christmas photoshoots and new year eve parties.

probably lived in a gated community tbh

he went into college strong, started off as a double major in political science and business, lookin’ to take after both his parents. he’d Always been fairly close to tatiana, being around the same age as her. nothing freaky ever happened among them, and i wouldn’t have really called them...friends, if that makes sense? they were confidantes, they vented to each other for whatever reasons at the time.

however this whole ~do no wrong~ bearing was a charade. in the community and his families’ eye, cain was just this precious, hardworking citizen who gave back when possible.

those who actually, genuinely knew him knew he was just a dick lmfao

arrogant, harrowing, and an outright bully who tore down others when he felt like it -- often unprovoked. he was the senator’s son and a rich one at that, and ever since middle school he was just...mean !

because of his father and his family’s general position in the community, tattlers were the ones getting in trouble rather than cain, who’d often go without punishment for his attitude.

like...was That Bitch who’d actually, genuinely look down at somebody if they had less than him. just an absolute narcissistic dickhead who only cared about like, maybe two or three people outside of his family.

his only redeeming quality was probably his protectiveness over his siblings tbh -- even if he wasn’t ... the best person, nobody was rly allowed to fuck w/ his family.

this carried into college, he probably joined one of the frats too, y’know. known for keeping his composition even when others resorted to violence, ‘cos he never liked to get physical. it would’ve been bad for press, y’know ??

sometime during college, two important things happened.

the first one is that he became a sort of...middleman? broker? he wasn’t the one creating/growing what he was selling, but he wasn’t the one dealing them. y’know, he was the middleman. took drugs and sold them to dealers to sell, for profit, for funsies. very hush-hush for the obvious reasons.

the second is that he met earl and may meyers. they were fellow volunteers at a thanksgiving food drive, and the older couple were immediately drawn to cain -- and him to them, essentially. to this day he can’t tell you what about them had been so appealing. just, the air around them was something else entirely. some would probably call it unhinged. they were kind folks, very down to earth, very religious and warmhearted. they liked his name being cain a whole lot; told him that he reminded him of their late son.

i’d say the beginning of this was late junior year for cain. the couple volunteered more and more at the same places as cain, as often as he did -- which, in retrospect was odd -- but cain hadn’t really known better. being the Good Samaritan he acted as, he kept talking to them. it became a genuine friendship. a few months into it, they had started talking about like...the sin of wealth and what it does to your soul, god choosing only a select few to be saved when he eventually cleanses the earth, etc. etc. they claimed that cain was special, one of those to be selected, they could see it in his aura, etc. etc.

it was...oddly appealing to him? like hmm..maybe i am being constrained by capitalism and disappointing god!

but like...this was mostly because of a lot of emotional manipulation for a duration of months -- and he had never once suspected anything like that to be happening. cain had always been so sure of himself, that he’d never imagined one day being manipulated, even if he was manipulative himself.

earl and may told him that they were going to leave rochester, that there were so many more who had the same ideals as them -- it was time to join them, to be saved. cain held off from this, as a senior in college by now.

after all, he had his perfect lil family and a good side-business going on, and he had a long term girlfriend who put up with his shenanigans. cain was still an absolute asshole to others but he had at least found his crowd to all be collectively awful and full of themselves, y’know?

over winter break, however, cain had a change of heart pretty suddenly. 

for the third important thing had happened.

it had started off as a pretty average, normal day. christmas had gone and passed -- it was one of the days between christmas and new years eve, y’know? a period of days where time nor place is real. like walmart at midnight, or an empty 7/11 parking lot. during a seemingly normal conversation about his ancestry with his mother, she had suddenly broken down in sobs.

it was during this discussion that she revealed, to cain only -- that he was not his father’s son.

the beginning of vaughn and adelaide’s marriage had a pretty...rocky start, to say the least, and in a night of petty anger, adelaide had cheated on vaughn. this resulted in the pregnancy that wound up with cain.

the news rocked cain’s world in a very bad way, the sort of way that breaks a person. his entire life he looked up to his parents, did everything they ever asked of him, molded himself into perfection for the hope of being a sliver of a man his father was. and to learn that his father was not, actually, his father?

within the week he’d gotten into several altercations, both sober and drunk, and had landed in county jail overnight. nobody knows where cain went on new years eve, but he hadn’t skipped town until the third -- according to tatiana, who had received one last gift from him on the 2nd (her birthday).

then, he was gone. it wasn’t a missings person ordeal -- cain had made it very known that he was leaving rochester and that he had skipped town. hadn’t even broken up with his girlfriend before doing so. hell -- hadn’t even told the people he worked for. 

BEGINNING OF CULT / DRUG / MOST OF THE TRIGGER WARNINGS

only earl and may knew where cain went. because he went with them to the place they had told him so much about. this was the fourth most important thing to happen to him, because it changed his life.

cain didn’t know what a cult looked like, but it felt pretty accurate to hollywood’s interpretations. they lived separate from society in rural new york -- not nearly as far away as cain would’ve liked, but thank god in the long run for that. the people wore white, linens and cotton. there was no technology, just prayer and daily chores. money meant nothing, there.

i want to keep this part relatively short, so i’ll try my hardest. cain was only in the cult for three-ish months before he escaped. the beginning was grand -- it was peaceful, it was mind-clearing. he was treated as something special, his name being some sort of ... message, a sign that he’d been a gift for the group. that he’d be, ultimately, an eventual leader for them. however -- the longer he stayed with them, the more apparent it became that he wasn’t the messager they had long waited for.

he began slipping up. they became displeased with him. punishments occurred. sometimes once a week, sometimes multiple. he remembers hundreds of hands, pulling and tugging and gripping and begging -- asking him to repent, please, repent, and submergence on more than one occasion. these were not the worst.

 they were convinced that he couldn’t truly be cleansed of his sins unless he forgot his past life.

fun fact: heroin in small doses, daily, can lead to memory loss.

though it’d only been around three months of this -- it really felt longer to cain. time wasn’t a concept. there was only the ground they walked on, and god, and that was that.

drugged and weakened but still kickin’, he had gotten into a particularly violent, brutal fight with earl. this was the last straw. cain had attempted to murder his ‘brother’. this led to his next punishment.

in a particularly twisted reenactment / retelling, cain had been branded with the cult’s interpretation of the mark of cain (they were going to be accurate and place it upon his forehead, but after a lot of resistance [he bit somebody] it was, begrudgingly, placed atop his heart instead) and left for dead in the middle of nowhere.

by all means, he probably should’ve died. by miracle, though cain was no longer a believer -- he was found by a farmer.

END OF CULT / DRUG / MOST OF THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. STILL MENTIONS OF TRAUMA / MENTAL HEALTH / RECOVERY BEYOND THIS POINT.

by early april he’d been reunited with his family. things went very fast, suddenly, for him. recovering from his forced addiction, and the trauma he’d been put in within only a small amount of months -- and his father’s reputation -- his mother’s inability to look him in the eye -- cain took matters into his own hands and, rather than return to lockwood, put in his transfer to hendrix.

because he’s a grown man who, while recovering from being in a cult, can still make his own decisions even if they’re irrational. he should’ve taken a year off, really, and recover. but he couldn’t imagine staying in his house, either, and generally ?? his mind was just a very messy place.

he went to hendrix a s a p, before his term in the summer even began. he wound up at hendrix a few weeks (like...three?) before the lockwood kids and was very dismayed to find out that oh, coincidence, there’s an abroad semester attending !!

so that’s sort of where he’s at rn.

personality !!

okay so...douchebag cain is No More. they’re retired.

to the hendrix students they’ve familiarized themself with, they’re a pretty quiet person. well-meaning, kind enough if not a little sarcastic. sort of distant, not much for parties. smokes weed and like, drinks occasionally, but not much else. definitely doesn’t do anything harder. 

they’ve got four cats. that’s their entire personality. four cats. they got them all after transferring to hendrix and like ... no regrets ?

i imagine their parents still pay for their schooling ‘cos it’s not like their father Knows that cain’s not his child. if anything, vaughn just thinks that cain suffered a mental breakdown and needed a break.

anyways. they love their cats a lot. like, probably has photos of them in their wallet.

as mentioned above, their memory is pretty...fucked up right now. they don’t forget anything major, but there are days where it takes them a while to remember faces or names and sometimes they wake up and won’t know where they are.

not that they really...sleep a lot? they have night terrors, which fuck with their sleep schedule. they sleep only for a few hours each night because the nightmares are too bad.

cain suffers from severe touch aversion. skin-to-skin contact of any sort is enough to send them into a pretty bad panic attack. they wear leather gloves more often than not, because it helps without hindering them too much. they’re not the biggest fan of body contact in general, even with clothes, but it won’t send them into a panic like bare skin will. they make sure their few friends know that they don’t really like physical contact at all.

they’re dealing with PTSD, attends therapy every week. keeps an entire journal where they write b/c it helps them cope. it’s like, everything to them.

they’re...sort of like...blunt? they won’t go out of their way to be like ‘hey i joined a cult and it fucked me up pretty badly’ but they won’t lie about it either if the topic somehow comes to that. they don’t like delusions, but they don’t like drawing unnecessary attention to them either.

lockwood students being at hendrix makes them pretty anxious, just because they were looking to sort of ... rebuild themself into a better person, and like pretty much most students at lockwood knows how much of a massive tool they used to be. not to mention like, their plugs and customers they screwed over by leaving, and their ex girlfriend who they’re still probably in love with ?? but it’s just complicated now.

smokes weed to soothe them rather than just get high. is probably stoned often.

doesn’t really like cars! or swimming! or crowds. doesn’t like to feel trapped.

whenever they’re overwhelmed and needs to be away from everything, they’ve developed a habit of climbing into trees. they won’t suddenly go jump in a tree during a conversation, but more so at night or when they need to think.

probably trying to redeem themself in some sort of way. because while they want to avoid the lockwood students as much as possible, that’s not right. they want to fix the shit they’ve done and be a better person, because the whole...situation they’ve been in has opened their eyes.

uuuhh...there are days where they forget that tatiana’s dead. so that’s sad.

i wouldn’t be surprised if people from lockwood were suspicious of cain, considering they left rochester only a week or so before tatiana went missing, and just so happened to come to hendrix around the same time eva went missing ??

oh !! cain developed a stutter, and their voice is a little damaged from...screaming. a lot. in general they look a little gaunt, a little unhealthy. 

they can still definitely hold a conversation, and like i said they’re pretty...lowkey. soft, sort of. generally a quiet person and while they’re not the most social, they won’t be a direct asshole or anything. likes people! just...has low energy.

goes by he/they, doesn’t really care which one as he alternates pretty frequently.

dropped the political science part of his major and like...unfortunately is very much unhappy with being a business major atm. he might just go through another four years of college in a diff major or fuck off all together.

EDIT: i forgot to mention that he’s sort of really into the investigation of the cult he was part of b/c they’re still like...out there. also fascinated by the watershed app and shit, ‘cos they fucking...hate this shit with a passion. probably willing to stick their nose into places they shouldn’t

wanted connections !!

so first and foremost, cain would’ve been known around lockwood. connections relating to that would be v much appreciated !!

mostly enemies or people they’ve wronged, tbh, ‘cos he was a massive dick.

exes they’ve dumped, hook ups, ex-friends, people he’s gotten into arguments or fights with.

his ex gf would be gr8 . if anybody would like some angst.

uuhhh i’d imagine he’d know a few of the other prominent families from rochester, especially. not to say that they would’ve all gotten along.

hendrix pals !! give me some solid friendships based on mutual respect.

people cain used to receive drugs from and people he used to send those drugs to.

ex-party pals ??

people suspicious of them b/c cain was/is a very suspicious person. people still angry at them.

let them RECONNECT and FIX FRIENDSHIPS

people he’d bully or fuck with or whatever.

wholesome shit. angst shit. slowburns, anyone ?!? enemies to friends. friends to enemies. enemies to bigger enemies.

i’m not taking hook-ups for....obvious reasons.

but sexual tension is welcomed. maybe a sexting thing ??

ppl they DON’T even know that well but hATE his dAD because FUCK POLITICIANS y’know ?!?

old pals from lockwood, if i didnt mention that.

i imagine a lot of conversations w/ lockwood kids begin like ‘this is where u fucked off to, huh?’ b/c like....they told everybody they were ditching rochester. it wasn’t a secret or a shock. but it’s still like huh. u bastard.

people who are soft for them ??

people who are hard on him ??

make his life difficult but also uuuhh uwu him

[imaghostwriter]

The Café test

i got tagged by the amazing @writingonesdreams. it took me a while to get to it and now that i did it got freakishly long. sorry about that 

(answering this one for my drama novel. do i have a name for it yet? no, i don’t)

Did they get a cafe they liked? What kind of cafe do they like? What does that say about their character?

1. Where do they sit? (Near the door because there’s an exit? Near the back to hide? Where it’s shadowy? Where they’ll be seen by a waiter? Lots of table space for writing/drawing/hands? Minimal space? Would they ever sit with others? What do these things say about their character?)

daniel doesn't care where he sits so long as he can sit with his back to a wall so that he can look over the room. it makes him feel safe

james doesn't go to cafés unless he's being asked by someone else to accompany them and then he doesn't care where he sits bc his attention is solely focused on the person with him

ross sits somewhere central where there's loads of people around

colleen sits wherever she can be seen best by the people already in the café

sharon likes to sit by the window. she likes to watch the people outside and those in the café without necessarily being part of the hassle. she strategically places herself so that the waiter can easily spot her but not close to a door or any part where there's loads of movement

2. What do they order? (Is it sweet? Is it focused on hydration only? Is it expensive? (Can they afford it if it is?) Is it milky and warm? Is it to wake them up? To comfort them like a hot cocoa? Does it bring back memories? Do they get a drink connected to other people in their lives?)

daniel gets whatever the other person is getting. but if he goes by himself he always orders one large hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. he's too embarrassed to do it while anyone else is there tho

james drinks coffee with loads of milk. he craves the caffeine and enjoys the creaminess that comes with the milk

ross likes to play tough and orders black coffee, no sugar every time. he hates coffee.

colleen goes for whatever fancy and expensive thing catches her eye first but never actually finishes her drink. most times she ends up not liking it and orders a bitter lemon after that

sharon drinks tea. it makes her feel warm and helps her to calm down

3. If they get a snack, what do they get? (See above for similar questions to ask. Another good one is: Are they allergic to anything? Are there health concerns? Do they have to worry about their digestion for any reason? Or is their stomach made of steel?)

daniel gets whatever the other person he's with is having. again. if he's on his own he gets a slice of pecan pie bc he feels like it goes best with his hot chocolate

james doesn't get snacks bc he can't afford to buy any food outside his main meals. if he does he tries to get something nutritious so that he can feel as though it was worth it

ross usually gets a sandwich. he's always hungry and doesn't care much for sweet things, apart from the occasional milkshake maybe

colleen never gets anything but she will steal half of whatever you just ordered

sharon gets a piece of cake or a muffin if she feels like it. more often than not whoever is behind the counter will take one look at her open smile and serves her the biggest or prettiest one

4. How do they pay? (Are they rich? Poor? Do they count their pennies or do they throw a whole bunch of gold on the table? Or are they rich and stingy, counting their pennies because that’s how they got rich in the first place? Do they run out without paying? Do they not give a shit about the law? Are they desperate for a feed and want to pay but just can’t?)

daniel never thought much about tips. his mother taught him only to leave a tip if the service was well but he usually gives the standard tip no matter what, only tipping better if the service was exceptional

james would like to tip better but often can't. sometimes he's so embarrasssed about how small his tip is that he just puts the cash on the table and leaves, his face burning red

ross leaves the standard tip, usually falling a bit shorter rather than being on the generous side but once he left a 100$ tip just to prove a point against colleen and capitalism. he got into trouble with his mom for it bc they had to cut short that month. at first he stayed defiant but that night he heard her cry alone in her bedroom when he was just about to get himself a glass of water. after that he got himself a job and started watching the money he spent.

colleen doesn't think too much about tips. whatever she has in her pockets she puts on the table. sometimes it's embarrassingly low, sometimes it's hilariously high

sharon tips well, no matter what.

5. How do they interact with staff? (No eye contact? Lots of smiles? Friendly banter? Awkward conversation?)

daniel stays friendly and polite, no matter what. but if the waiter/waitress starts up more than just small talk he's out of his depth. don't get me started on what happens when someone tries to flirt with him bc rest assured that goes straight over his head

james never knows what to say. he feels awkward ordering things from other people and next thing you know you've got a tree of a man stammering out his order with a voice raspy as sandpaper. and although he probably doesn't look you directly into the eye you can definetely see him blush. what a mess.

ross manages to stay nice enough for the few seconds it takes to place his order. he used to be a bit of a dick but ever since he started working retail himself he reached the minimum requirement of counting as somewhat of a pleasant customer.

colleen barely looks the staff in the eye. she just reads off the menu and then returns to whatever is more important to her atm. unless that staff is male and handsome. then they have her undivided attention

sharon is always kind and smiles a lot. she even likes to chit-chat with the waiter or waitress if they have some time on their hands

this was so much fun! i’m tagging @thewritingsofart, @storyteller-kaelo, @metaphors-and-melodrama, @bookenders, @authorified, @waywordwriter, @wasted-hymn, @writingnosefreak and anyone else who feels like doing this. but pls also don’t feel pressured if i’ve tagged you. this is all for the funsies :D