#if u are traveling from other cities and want to look at cheap stays i would 100% recommend zostel or other similar hostels!

[finexbright]

also guys the festival is still six months away, i promise u tickets are not gonna be sold out this soon. they're just trying to create panic buying by increasing the prices, right now it's at p4, at best it's gonna to p6! tickets for lolla berlin were available even until the last day. so u can always plan accordingly and book tickets!

[tsaagan]

Last night I had a dream I was visiting USA with my mom, aunt,  and some other relatives. My aunt’s house, where we all stayed at, was somehow in USA even though she lived in Finland. One day we decided to visit the nearest big city. I remembered that the Smithson Library is in that city and wanted to visit because they have many of those 1990s Dorling Kingley dinosaur models on display, these ones:

And I also knew that the have many other dinosaur models and statues there. We decided that I will go alone to the library and my other relatives will walk around the town, they weren’t interested in dinosaurs. The Smithson Library was located inside a huge shopping mall, right next to the entrace. So I walk in and immediately see a familiar looking Iguanodon! But it was a lot smaller than I expected, like smaller that a regular cat.

Then a woman working at the library approached me. She said she can give me a tour of the library. I thought that sounds interesting! But there was a problem: I would have to pay $4 for that and when I looked at my wallet I noticed that I only had euros. I also had my debit card, but they took only cash. Then she said that she can give me the beginning of the tour, then I go to an ATM to get money, pay her, and then I get the rest of the tour. Ok, that sounds good!

She guided me in front of a large glass box that had a diorama with dinosaurs. Then began to tell me about the ankylosaur that was in the diorama and she pressed a button that turned on a spotlight that highlighted the dinosaur she was talking about. While she was talking, the ankylosaur, which I had thought was just a statue, moved towards me really fast and moved its head and opened its mouth. It was so close to the glass that I was a little afraid of it even though I knew it’s not a real animal. The same thing happaned with all of the other animals inside the glass box, when it was their turn they moved right in front of me super fast and moved their heads and opened their mouths while she was speaking.

And now it was time for me to pay for the tour so I exited the Smithson Library to find an ATM. I walked a long and very crowded aisle and I saw 3 or 4 machines that looked like ATMs but when I got closer I saw that they were some kind of gambling devices. I made a u-turn and began to walk to the door from which I had entered the shopping mall, thinking that maybe I can find an ATM in the streets.

But when I walked past the Smithson Library I noticed that all of their light were off, they had already closed for that day! I was just thinking I hope my relatives want to visit this city again tomorror or some other day, otherwise I have just wasted my only chance ever in my life of visiting that place, traveling to another continent is not cheap! I was just so disappointed.

[denkamis]

into the fire. (dabi x reader)

masterlist.

warnings: this oneshot contains spoilers for the manga & swearing. it also describes burns & wounds in detail.

summary: you tend to dabi’s wounds after a small altercation with some pro-heroes. (takes place sometime after ch 290).

notes: fluffy dabi content written for a friend per her request <3 if u couldn’t tell, i have no fucking clue how to write him so pls bear with me. i’ve written like headcanons for him a bit so— either way, hope u like my first oneshot posted here :,))

word count: 1.4k

Information spread like wildfire. As soon as Dabi unveiled himself as the son of Endeavour, there was no turning back for him. The whole world knew, and that further skewed their once unshaken perspective of pro-heroes. Everything was crumbling before your very eyes. The society of heroes that was previously trusted was now brought to its knees by a simple revelation. They were not who they seemed to be.

You had known his secret for a little over six months now. When he had told you, he vowed he would make Endeavour suffer for the pain he had brought him all those years ago. No matter what it took. You had been no stranger to Dabi’s rants about his father at this point, and now that the date was finally here, he had been true to his word. It was time for karma to hit that poor son of a bitch back. And so it did.

Dabi had told you to wait at your usual rendezvous point: an abandoned apartment just on the outskirts of the city where the two of you would be hiding out until further notice. You were never a villain. You had never been interested in killing people, or bringing the hero civilization down to shambles. All you knew is that you loved the man that came home to you every few months. You knew it was wrong, you knew that there were probably other men you were better off with. Even so, you couldn’t shake the feeling that he cared about you more than he let on. There was something about him you couldn’t quite place. You supposed that’s what made life with him so exciting. The thrill of it all was exhilarating, maybe even addicting.

You were in the middle of plating dinner. You had made spicy udon, two bowls, with what little groceries you had in the rundown apartment. It wasn’t glamorous in the slightest. It was a temporary home that you two would stay at. You knew that you two would have to move in the morning to avoid detection anyways.

You sat down at the table, fingers tapping against the thin, cheap wood restlessly. The worry you felt was undeniable. Had the authorities tracked him? Would he even come back? Was he alive?

No. This was Dabi. He wouldn’t die so easily.

Putting your hands together, you said your grace before your shaky hands moved to pick up your chopsticks. Before you could touch them, there was a light thud that came from the singular bedroom that the apartment hosted. Cautiously, you stood from your seat. Your throat felt dry as your body seemed to move on its own, your legs guiding you to the door slowly as to not let the potential burglar know you were on to them. You braced yourself, your hand on the rusted knob of the door before you swung it open.

A gasp escaped you at the unsightly man before you. The smell of ash and burnt flesh made you keen, and the now white hair colour he dawned stood out against the darkness of his charred skin. Tears welled in your eyes. He faced away from you, shirt and coat discarded. Staples hung off the skin of his back, receding down further. He must have been in so much pain from the overuse of his quirk. He never seemed to listen to you when it came to protecting his body.

Dabi turned his head at the sound of the door, his eyes bored and emotionless. Your shock and horror must have been evident. You’ve seen him come home to you with scratches and bruises before, but nothing to this scale. He looked like he was falling apart at the seams.

“Dabi,” you began, your tone saddened and dripping with concern for the taller man. 

“Don’t pity me. Quit looking at me like a kicked puppy, Y/N. Doesn’t look good on that pretty face of yours.”

You swallowed, reaching into your travel bag on the bed and pulling out several bottles of ointment. They were specifically for burn care, mixed with aloe vera and pain reliever. It was your own personal concoction, one suited for Dabi’s needs that you could procure no matter where the two of you were if need be.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance, rolling his eyes. It seemed that every time you pulled out the bottle, he retaliated and complained. You shook your head. “No, you need it this time. Seriously, now show me where,” you demanded of him bluntly. You weren’t taking no for an answer. With a scoff, Dabi broke his gaze from you. “Don’t fight me on this,” you urged him, sliding onto the creaky mattress and already beginning to apply the lotion onto your hands. 

“Doll… You don’t have to do this shit for me,” Dabi said lowly, head turned so that he could watch you. You were gentle, always so painfully gentle, with him. Part of Dabi, actually all of himself, believed he didn’t deserve you. Him, and all of his broken parts, his disgusting past, his current, unforgivable actions. Yet here you were, patching him up without a second thought. His gaze, though unreadable to the onlooker, held a feeling deeper than what he let on.

Your hands massaged his skin and he let out a groan. His limbs ached and his bones felt like shattering, but he always made sure to come back home to you.

“You’re not leaving are you, doll?” he asked you suddenly.

“Hm?”

Your eyes met his turquoise ones. His face was burned nearly as badly as the rest of him, his staples appeared to be drooping dangerously. He stared at you, examining your features and committing them to memory. Dabi knew that nothing was ever permanent in this world, certainly not you. He dragged you into this. He had let you follow him along when there was no clear way out of this shithole.

Dabi bowed his head, white tufts of hair falling over his eyes. A cocky smile played on his lips, “You’re not like them, huh? Not gonna leave me for some dickhead that wipes their asshole with money?”

You snickered at the thought as your palms continued to rub away into his back, tracing the burns and wounds that refused to heal. Fingertips grazing the toned muscles, you hummed in thought. There were a lot of reasons you stayed, some reasons less logical than others, but you digress. As you ran your hands up his back, retracing your steps and mapping out his scarred skin, you rested your hands upon his shoulders, feeling how unnaturally tense they were. The feeling of soft lips meeting rough skin made Dabi sigh once more. He relaxed ever so slightly, skin surging from a new warmth you had brought him. You gave him comfort unlike anything else he had ever felt. You were home to him. He never cared for anyone, until you came waltzing into his life.

He was cautious, of course. You were a capable woman who could kill him at any moment (not that you wanted to, but Dabi had precautions). You were unlike anyone he had ever met. You were absolutely captivating, unbelievably kind, and yes, incredibly gullible, but you trusted him to come back to you. He felt like he owed you that much for you giving so much of yourself to him. For giving up so much of your small, insignificant life that you couldn’t get back, to him.

A strong hand fell onto your waist, lifting you up from your position beside him to one where your knees were situated at either side of his hips. You now straddled his torso, his hands gripping at your sides possessively. He looked up at you, grinning wolfishly. Heat rushed to your cheeks, your body now feeling like it was on fire from where he touched you.

“Answer me, baby. Tell me how much you love me,” he teased you, face so close to you that your noses brushed against each other. Heart beating rapidly in your chest, your hands held his face as if he were made of some type of china.

A smile crept across your face timidly, thumb rubbing over past scars being covered with new ones. You leaned down, lips ghosting his as you spoke.

“I could only have eyes for you, Dabi. No matter how many weeks you leave, I’ll be here when you get back. Always.”

His chapped, broken lips met your plump ones, passion and some sort of feeling resembling love radiating from the affectionate act you shared.

“I love you.”

Dabi laughed at your words, smiling up at the ceiling before his gaze lazily met yours. You managed to breathe such life into him without meaning to. Fuck. He was in deeper than he realized.

“Good. You fucking should.”

all works © denkamis 2021.

tags:

@meilbox

want to be on the taglist? see this post!

[rhinoswriting]

A Life On The Road - Part 1 (A Luke Hemmings FanFic)

Overview: Elizabeth and Calum have been best friends since they were 15/14 respectively. Elizabeth is from and lives in the UK, but her family lived in Sydney for a brief 2 year period which is how the two met. 

With Calum’s band, 5SOS, embarking on their biggest and most ambitious world tour to date, he has invited Elizabeth along to work as a photographer/content creator for their social media. This is in the hopes that travelling with them and getting to explore so many new cities will help Elizabeth achieve her dream of becoming a full-time travel writer.

Elizabeth is acquainted with the rest of 5SOS but doesn’t know them tremendously well. Obviously that changes as they are all forced to be in one another’s company for the duration of the tour. As the tour progresses and new friendships blossom, Elizabeth feels the connection between her and Luke grow more and more.

A/N: This chapter is a lot of story set-up and introduces you to the protagonist.

****************************************************************************

I lent my upper back against one of the work kitchen walls and peered out of the window beside me. Any other day, the grey curtain of drizzle would have perfectly matched my work mood. But today was not a normal work day for me. Today was my last day in this hell hole. I was finally getting out of here to pursue my dream of becoming a travel writer. I hugged my mug of coffee closer, content in the knowledge that nothing was going to step on my good mood today.

“I cannot believe you are leaving me with these people.” Drew complained as he walked over and lent some of his weight onto my shoulder while cradling his own steaming mug.

“I am sorry that I’ll be leaving you here. I truly am.” I told him, and I meant it, “But you know as well as I do how much this place can drag a person’s mental health down. So when a best friend offers to let you piggyback off their career to help launch you own, you take it and make the sacrifice of abandoning your work husband.”

“I hate that you have a famous best friend.”

“Don’t be a bitter bitch,” I laughed nudging him in the side with my elbow.

Drew and I chatted for a minute or two more before making our way back to our desks at opposite ends of the office. When I got to mine I noticed that someone (probably my manager or Josie, the company busy body) had taken my second coffee break of the morning as an opportunity to place an envelope and small gift bag by my keyboard. As I placed my coffee down I noticed that the people on my bank of desks had swivelled their chairs, and thus their attention, in my direction. I also heard the tell-tale sound of high heels on cheap carpet tiles that indicated Josie was making her way over.

“Elizabeth,” Josie cooed in her usual fake friendliness, “I can’t believe it’s your last day here already! We did a small collection for you in order to say goodbye and give you something to remember us by. It’s been such a great three years and eight months working with you. We’re all sad to see you go.”

“Thanks, Josie. I certainly will miss how precise you are with details.” I said trying not to make my sarcasm too obvious.

I rummaged in the tissue paper hoping to bring this moment in the spotlight to an end as soon as possible. First I pulled out a small, sleek rectangle. Through the plastic window of the box I spied a matte black fountain pen -it was a genuinely lovely pen which surprised me. Next I pulled out a small bottle of Kraken rum -my go to with Coke on work nights out- which was followed by a second, identical bottle. The fourth and final leaving gift was a new 10 shot pack of film for my Instax Mini camera.

“Thanks guys...” I awkwardly addressed the room, “These are all really thoughtful and nice. I love the pen. Uhh, yeah, thanks again. Stay cool and all that cliche stuff.”

I promptly sat down and unlocked my PC to indicate that the show was over and I should now be left the fuck alone.

The company’s internal IM program was flashing at me in orange, indicating I had an unread message.

[Drew Clarke - 10:47 am]  I am so sorry they are putting you through this. You look so awkward. I can see you blushing from here.  It is hilarious though :’D I made such a big deal about the stupid pen they wanted to get you having to be matte black Also my leaving gift to you is that I have done everything in my power to ensure Josie knows nothing about your leaving drinks tonight

I responded with a simple gif of some character I didn’t know mouthing ‘thank you’ to acknowledge his last message and then went back to work trying to complete as much of my remaining work as possible.

The rest of the day dragged on as it would any other day of the week. The only difference was that I had the occasional desk visit from a colleague to wish me luck or let me know they’d be at the leaving drinks Drew had arranged for me that evening. 

And then Drew was at my desk before the clock had even hit 5 pm,

“Start packing your shit up then. We’ve got a bar to get to.”

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

My leaving drinks were actually surprisingly fun. Which was as much of a good thing as it was a bad thing. 

It was good because who doesn’t love people buying them either shots or rum and cokes? Plus Drew and I had had a beautiful drunken moment where we gushed over how much we treasured each other’s friendship and would definitely, definitely stay in touch always, and who doesn’t love those moments? 

It was bad because I got in at 3:30 am, set an alarm for 6 am and left my house for the train station at 7 am with a hangover headache already brewing.

My morning then got worse when I remembered I had to change trains at Sheffield. Non-direct train journeys are enough of a pain without a hangover, rucksack, camera bag and 2-wheeled large carry-on suitcase to slow you down.

When I finally, and ungracefully, settled myself on the platform at Sheffield I glanced around to locate where I could get myself a coffee and some form of breakfast. I had a 50 minute wait until my next train so there was plenty of time to try and nurse my hangover with coffee and carbs before getting crammed into another train and eventually reuniting with Cal in Edinburgh.

I spotted a place on the next platform over with indoor seating and made my way to it. Once inside the warmth of the glass rectangle I grabbed a twin pack of almond biscuits from the counter display and ordered a large cappuccino as well as a breakfast bagel. I then went and dumped all my luggage (promptly followed by myself) down at the nearest table and waited for my name to be called over the mellow jazz music.

Once I had returned to my table with my breakfast order, I opened my phone to check my messages and view the photographic damage from the night before. As I sipped my coffee I opened my photos app and was pleased when nothing embarrassing immediately jumped out at me from the 50+ square icons of photos and boomerangs that I had very little memory of taking. Most of the photos were blurry and every single boomerang was a fail, so I deleted them to save storage space on my phone. There was a super cute selfie of Drew and I, with his fiance, Adam, photo-bombing us in the background. It made me smile so much that I set it as the lock screen on my phone.

Next I moved on to my messages. There we unread messages awaiting me from Drew, Cal, my mum and weirdly my now ex-manager.

Manager Si: Didd u mange t geet home ok?/?. Gd luk w everythin

Work Hubby: I miss you already. Hope you got home safe! Text me by midday so I know you’re still alive x

Mum: Good luck on this big new adventure of yours! Do not forget to call us when time zones allow. Your Dad and I will always b here to support you and cannot wait to see you succeed. Say hi to Calum for us. Mum & Dad Xx

Cal: Hey, hey! So stoked to see you later and have you come oN FREAKING TOUR WITH ME!!! See ya in Edinburgh! X

I responded first to my mum, because I was raised right. I flat out ignored my old manager’s drunk text. I assured Drew that I was still alive because if I was dead it wouldn’t feel like there was a gremlin hammering away inside my skull. I followed that up with a screenshot of my new lock screen. Finally, I replied to Calum:

Morning :) Feeling rough after my leaving drinks last night. Have I already begun my new rock n’ roll lifestyle?! So fucking excited to see you again!! You are not prepared for the hug you’re gonna get! X

With everyone replied to (or ignored in Si’s case) I put my phone face down on the table and tucked into my breakfast bagel. Then as I still had 20 minutes to kill I thought what better place to slap some make-up on than the middle of a train station coffee shop?

Looking and feeling more human, I made my way from the coffee shop to platform 4 as they announced my train was about to arrive. 

I hopped on carriage L, placed my luggage in the overhead rack and settled into my seat for the next 3+ hours. I quickly shot a text to my parents and Cal, letting them know I was on my last train. Then I pulled my noise cancelling headphones on, opened up a relaxing Spotify playlist and promptly fell asleep.

[callme--starchild]

Are u okay?

If they had told Donald that when he returned to the mansion he would be in the same room as his sister, having lunch in the dining room in the company of his uncle and four lovely ducklings, he would surely have mocked that positivism.

And surely now he would be more than sorry.

Of course, he practically devoured his food, delighted to completely remove the taste and texture of the sand and seawater from his mouth—which still remained days after the invasion, having completely exhausted a toothpaste tube, despite the insistence of his uncle in which he could choke if he kept eating like this, feeling involuntarily like a duckling again.

The only thing that had managed to satisfy this flavor was the breakfast that appeared days before in his dining room while watching Anxieties and other cheap soap operas of yesteryear.

At his side, the triplets had begun a food war with Della, causing food to fly and some will land on his face and clothes, but he was currently so focused on eating and that his boys—hers—will spend quality time with her that he was not in the mood to complain.

Webby, on the other hand, occasionally joined the battle when some food fell near her, throwing it with a war cry that startled the poor victim.

But at that moment, a knock at the door, exactly three, was heard, taking the Duck family off guard.

The vacuum stopped listening, indicating that Beakley would attend.

"Were you waiting for someone?" Asked Scrooge, lowering his cup of tea, confused. He knew that the circle of acquaintances of his nephews and nieces was relatively small outside the manor, but he was always advised when they would take a guest.

Everyone slowly denied, Donald even stopping eating and cleaning his beak.

"Penny isn't usually as polite, or silent," Della said, as strange as her uncle and dodging the beige mass thrown at her. "Besides, Launchpad said they would go out for coffee and continue to show her the city, or something like that."

"Lena and Violet left the city last weekend, their dads wanted to take a small vacation to celebrate the victory over the invasion. Don't come back until tomorrow." Webby removed a pea from her hair, lazily throwing it at Dewey.

"The meetings of the Junior Woodchucks are usually outdoors, and we didn't have any scheduled for today," Huey said, pulling out her neat guidebook from the food-stained cap and leafing through it, analyzing the organized dates of the next meetings of the young explorers. In the neighboring chair, Louie simply shrugged as he ate absently, staring at the screen of his cellphone and attending the improvised war of his brothers.

But before Donald could assure that José and Panchito would previously notify him of a visit—after a surprise visit not only postponed an adventure, but also cost his uncle's foyer—Beakley leaned out the dining room door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. McDuck, but one such professor Lairduck is looking for Donald," she said, anticipating that uncertainty would appear under the monotony of her voice, though her arched eyebrow showed otherwise.

Thus, six eyes, showing different levels of inquisition, will focus on the sailor, who only missed himself even more.

Professor Lairduck? Well, he was not as harebrained as he wanted to believe, but he was almost certain he had heard that false name more than eleven years ago, but it was to refer to a tacit subject. And Everett, who was unaware of the supposed surname, was still in Tibet doing who-knows-what.

And he certainly didn't remember giving up the information that he now lived in the richest duck in the world's mansion to Everett's daughters, adding the fact that he avoided appearing on newscasts that involved his family.

In addition, who recognized only had used this identity was...

With that doubt in mind he finished wiping his beak with a napkin and got up walking, with some hesitation, to the front door when Mrs. B. told him that they had offered to wait outside, trying not to look rushed when he continued to feel the looks of his family on him, peeking out the door frame. Damn it, he could even feel his uncle's, wanting to know about that subject and why he had never mentioned they in his not-so-limited circle of friends.

Because if it was true that he made some friends when he ventured alongside Della and Scrooge, some currently famous as the Mouse couple, the aforementioned Lairduck had never been introduced.

Della surely looked excited to meet what a new friend of her brother might be, but Donald couldn't hurry, at least not yet.

And he was sure that, if true, and knowing the background, he would be roasted duck.

(In fact, he himself hesitated when his hand was inches from touching the doorknob, so insecure and confused that he surely missed his family even more in the case of someone he supposedly knew).

He thought of peering through the peephole, but having his family's gaze on him installing some pressure, he opened the door.

Well, there was a car parked at the entrance. It seemed to have great value compared to his station wagon, and though he didn't know much about the modern motoring—despite the technological advancement of his tools at the Agency, he was sure that the vehicle in front of him was electric; he could remember them perfectly from the occasions when he was traveling to the 23rd century, though they were not as common as flying cars.

Next to him was... a duck he had never seen. He had the characteristic white plumage and a pair of whiskers that reminded him of Uncle Scrooge's, and the elegant jet hair stood out particularly.

Green eyes widened when they focused on him, and the sailor was even more surprised at the radiant smile that formed on the opposite face.

"Donald!" But despite the almost robotic movements, he felt the opposite arms surround him, hands stopping and fervently clenching his shoulders, as if it were familiar. "I heard what happened, are you alright?"

Over the thick Italian accent, the timbre of a disturbed voice that was known by the duck resonated. Anyway, he could not concentrate on the hands that analyzed each section of his face, and he did not know if it was because he wanted to check the presence of wounds, or if he was being investigated.

That a stranger showed up at his uncle's porch, speaking to him as if he knew him, was not his ideal for a quiet day. And listening to the children murmur behind him, the low volume making him unable to decipher what they were saying, did not help him much either.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Therefore, he don't hesitate to hold the wrists with some might, pulling them away when they began to check their beak.

Staying inexplicably quiet when those bright eyes watched him with surprise. Certainly his training as Double Duck, particularly the area of logic, had taught him to be more analytical and deductive—though he will ensure that it only increased his migraine, but he certainly did not have an area to analyze and deduce at that time.

"So unrecognizable am I, Don? Or is it some revenge?" He had smiled mockingly, proud of having discovered the sailor's joke. Until he perceived his frown still frowned, and how Donald scrutinized him much more before the fact of someone knowing his name and also referring to him with a pet name as if they had known each other for a lifetime, flagrantly erasing his smug smile and forming a one expressing nervousness. "Come on, Hero, I know I was wrong to not realize that you were on that island, but it is also not to pretend that you do not recognize me when I literally just added beautiful hair."

His voice had been reduced to a whisper, and he practically wasted worry and fear by strengthening the European accent, his hands beginning to tremble under Donald's grip whose eyes finally expanded in surprise, threatening to leave his basins.

Well, never mind. Yes it was a harebrained.

He paused to analyze the duck's features in front of him in greater detail. He certainly had a faint resemblance to Everett, and a frighteningly big one with Odin—he would have to check it out the next time he will travel to the 23rd century, even if he had to take Gyro's time tub that Louie had told him about, not having Lyla.

However, the smile that showed on that peak was recognizable. He didn't know how, or why, but the image of that smile had been etched in his mind for more than fifteen years, a year after he started working next to...

"Uno?" His voice was trembling, disturbed by the way that face shone bright again.

How the hell was it possible...?

"In flesh and blood," he joked, avoiding not laughing at his friend's dumbfounded expression. Not a few seconds passed before his smile vanished, leaving an embarrassed face that Donald did not believe was possible.

This emotion was something new for him, and given his partner's expression he seemed to understand it without words.

"I know I should have talked to you as soon as the invasion passed. I know you wanted to help more than you probably did," he whispered. Though it wasn't exactly the inside, he had seen the golden ship on his radar, as well as Donald coming down from it with his family—not glimpsing Della—when everything was over, "but I didn't know how. I was so focused building this body to surprise you that I didn't know about everything you've been through."

And certainly the absence of satellites had denied him the possibility of locating his friend when the invasion began, seeming to have vanished to a place where technology was nonexistent. Then he would talk about it with him.

But the sailor was so stunned by the fact that that presumed intelligence will accept that he made a mistake and that he also apologized for it he did not perceive the ducklings that made a beeline towards him, closely followed by Della and Scrooge.

The conversation had decreased so much in volume without them realizing that he had missed the family.

"Uncle Donald, who is he?" Whispered a shy Huey, involuntarily startling both adults thus creating a chain reaction when this also startled the four children.

Uno stared at the family, disturbed to recognize a duck that was identical to his partner.

(He knew her from the stories Donald told him about the adventures they used to take with Scrooge when he was not Paperinik and entered the Ducklair Tower, very injured for a young adult of nineteen who barely suffered serious injuries risking his life playing the superhero. He had assured him that knowing her, which was more than impossible—until now, he would not take much to recognize that they were family.

Now he understood why. They were devilishly identical!).

"I'd like to know that too, lad." Until his thoughts were abruptly interrupted by Scrooge's question, who frowned annoyedly. He wasn't a fool, and his memory was perfect enough to remember the time when he had the Tower in his name, and it certainly wasn't in the name of any Lairduck.

Of course, he hoped that something would change during the ten years of estrangement, but he simply did not want to accept the mystery that his boy was now involuntarily.

Uno laughed nervously, massaging his neck.

"Looks like I arrived at a bad time. I'm Professor Emil Ducklair, it's nice to meet you Mr. McDuck" if Donald noticed the way he stood up, the tension in his voice and the fake smile, he kept quiet "I met your nephew when he worked at the Tower every summer, at least until I moved to Tibet and we became correspondence friends; I returned a few days ago to the city."

And for an intelligence programmed to do what he thought was right, the duck was really impressed with the ease and fluidity with which Un... Emil lied, as if he understood without need of words how important it was for him to keep the secret of Paperinik. Or as if it was what he has really done in his life.

(What would have worked 100% if his uncle did not know the origin of the last name Lairduck)

"And why did we never hear from you?" Della inquired with interest, leaning nonchalantly on her brother's shoulder. "No offense, but with how much talkative Donnie is, we know as much about his friends as he does."

At the comment, Donald buffed, inadvertently moving away from his twin, knocking the duck down on the floor. Moment before which the android allowed himself to smile slyly.

"Our family is really discreet." Well, that wasn't quite a lie.

Donald cleared his throat, clearly wanting to change the topic of conversation.

"You could tell me that you had returned, you would have avoided this strange presentation," he teased, smiling nervously as he stroked Dewey's head. "I would like to introduce you to my family. Well, you know my Uncle Scrooge; the headache that is next to me is my sister, Della."

He voluntarily ignored the blow that his twin hit in his arm—thanking that it was less sensitive—in favor of maintaining the facade, smiling so little that the edges of his beak barely curved.

"And they are my nephews: Huey, Dewey and Louie." However, his face lit up when he introduced his nephews, pointing to each one so he could distinguish them.

Uno could recognize the love of a true parent, camouflaged under the callsign of nephews.

The ducklings introduced themselves strangely, Huey—the red-clad one and the cap—being the only one who shook his hand despite his confusion.

"I'm Webby!" Suddenly, the professor's field of vision was invaded when the bright smile of a lovely little girl appeared on his partner's shoulder (since when does Donald have a daughter? As he recognized he had only three nephews).

However, Uno smiled warmly watching as he held her so she wouldn't slip, and shook the little hand of the little duck.

"It's nice to meet you, Webby," he murmured, not commenting at the fond smile on the sailor's face as he readjusted his coat. "I would like to stay a few minutes, but I think it would be rude of me after my unnoticed visit. Do you think if we talk later, Donald?"

"Sure." Smiling broadly, the aforementioned lowered the girl again, ruffling her hair. And even if he didn't say it explicitly, both Uno and he knew they had a lot to talk about and a lot of questions to answer. "In the same place as always?"

"Count on it," he said, and Donald acknowledged his partner against crime's sincere smile. "See you soon Don, Mr. McDuck. It was nice meeting you Webby, kids."

And making a gesture, Emil went down the main stairs at a rapid pace, humming without realizing the main theme of Anxieties when he heard the door close behind him.

However, and on the other hand, the family could not solve why Donald was happier and more lively than usual when Emil left McDuck household, missing even the triplets having lived a decade with someone who smiled like that when he expressed how proud he was of them.

The only answer obtained? He is an old friend who had not seen for ten years.

[wonwoosthetic]

Summer Road Trip || Sebastian Stan

MASTERLIST in linked in my bio! :)

Thank you for the request, I hope you all like it!

Writing this request has given me the biggest summer feelings EVER! I just searched for tons of summer pictures on Pinterest -  I want it to be summer finally!!! I’m so excited and can’t wait for warm and long nights, probably writing, haha

Request: hey can u do a fic with Seb where he and the reader are on a road trip for the summer and then their car window breaks for some reason? The rest of up to you! xx

Characters: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Warnings: none, just pure fluff!!!

Summer Road Trip

The radio was blasting "No Woman, No Cry" through your rented mint-coloured VW Bus, the wind blowing, messing up your hair, as Sebastian was sitting in the driver's seat, you right next to him with the windows down.

After the Avengers: Endgame premieres in more countries than you had prepared for and all of the press tours, your boyfriend and you had finally taken some time off together. Your idea was to travel more as a couple since you hadn't been able to do that ever since you started dating three years ago, in 2017, on the set of Infinity War and Endgame. Sebastian had a different idea - he wanted to go somewhere quite far away, off the road, somewhere where no one was able to take pictures of you outside of your house, no disturbing city noises, nothing that could distract him from you.

With that in mind, you decided to combine those two ideas and tell your boyfriend about it. He immediately agreed to it: renting a beach house on the other side of the US in Charleston, far away from any source of civilization, but instead of flying there, you had agreed on renting a car and driving the perfect route through North America, travelling as much as you want along the way.

The two of you had been on the road for four days, that day slowly coming to an end as the sun had already set. You and the brown-haired next to you had been taking turns at driving, eight hours a day, making stops along the way to explore the place wherever you decided to rest for the night or just walk around. "My phone says we'll reach the next stop in about an hour. Should we stay there for the night?", Sebastian, next to you, spoke up, ripping you out of your daydream. "How far to the one after that?", you wanted to know. He looked at the GPS quickly with furrowed eyebrows, making sure to keep his eyes on the road, "Hm... another hour and a half." "Alright, then... yeah. We can stay overnight at the nearest one." With that, you closed your eyes and drifted off to a short nap.

The back of a hand caressing your cheek woke you up again, with silent whispers in your ears, "(Y/N), little one, wake up. We're here." You started to slowly open your eyes, not wanting to be blinded by any possible light source. With quick blinks, you came to sight with Sebastian, who kept his eyes close on you. "Where are we?", you asked, slightly off, not completely back into being able to think straight. The man hovering over you chuckled, "At the motel, come on. I already checked us in." You though were too tired to actually stand up and move your body from the car to your room, therefore you stretched out your arms, "Carry me. Please", and pleaded with a puppy face. You knew Seb was not able to say no to that and you were right. He freed you from the safety belt, put one arm under your knees and the other one on your lower back to carry you properly.

Carefully and gracefully, he got you to the room and put you on the bed, only to disappear again to get you something more comfortable to sleep in. Back by the bed, Sebastian took off your maxi skirt and shirt and put you in one of his old shirts he packed for the trip but since it was hotter than he expected, he decided to sleep topless. With the last sense of consciousness in your almost asleep state, you felt the mattress dip and your boyfriend lying down next to you, putting one arm around your body, and pulling you close.

--- The Following Day ---

You had been up for about thirty minutes and were waiting for the actor still laying in the cheap bed to wake up. After getting ready to go out again in the bathroom, you put the shirt from last night back in your small suitcase and wanted to take it back to the car. So, you closed it, opened the door, and walked outside into the morning light. In your shorts and t-shirt, you were able to feel the warm sun on your entire body. But, you weren't able to enjoy this moment for long as you took a look at the rented car and saw almost all of its windows crashed. Quickly, you threw the suitcase into the car, took a look at the broken windows, but sprinted back into your motel room -  only to jump on the bed, waking Sebastian up. "Seb, seb, seb", you were shaking him, "wake up, please. Sebastian!" With your loud shout, he jolted awake, immediately going into defence mode with his hands in position, "What?! What is it?!", he looked over to you, "Everything alright?" "No! Come, you have to take a look at the car", you made it clear in a worrying voice.

Without hesitation, he jumped up, he was much more awake in the morning then you will ever be able to understand, and followed you outside after putting on his pair of shoes that were placed next to the bed.

"Oh no", were the first two words that escaped his mouth after stepping a foot outside and seeing the damage on the rented bus. As Sebastian got closer to the vehicle, he started examining it precisely. "How did that happen?", he wondered. You shrugged, "I don't know, I came out here to put the suitcase back into the car and I saw that", you pointed at the broken windows.

"Oh, you too", the two of you turned around at the sound of an elderly woman's voice. "Excuse me?", Sebastian asked politely. "Last night", the woman started explaining, "some rowdy kids ran around and threw stones." "Stones? Why?", you asked confused. "Don't ask me, sweetheart. But those kids have been infamous in this town for quite some time. They've destroyed multiple windows. Last night the window of my office as well." You contemplated what to do next since you were not able to carry on with your holiday trip with three broken windows. The elderly woman, who you got to know was the owner of the motel who's name was Ana, had an idea, "You know what, there's a service station about an hour from here, I'm gonna make a call and tell them you're coming and you go." "That would so nice, thank you Ana", you thanked the woman and went back to the room. Seb said his 'Thank you' and got back to you. Inside, he finally put on a shirt and some short sweatpants, put the rest of his stuff back in his suitcase and brought it outside into the car.

You sat down on a bench outside of your shared room, looking into the distance, slightly disappointed of the sudden turn of events. The actor saw your posture and walked up to you, "What's with that face?" You looked up, "Hm?" "Don't 'hm' me", he mocked you, "you know exactly what's up." Internally, you smiled at the concern of your boyfriend and how well he was able to read you, on the outside though, you kept your face straight. He situated himself next to you, with his left arm around you to pull you close. "Spill." With a huff, you started, "I'm just... not... I don't know. I planned this trip how I wanted it to go. I didn't plan for this to happen. It-it throws me completely out of my plan and it'll slow us down and we won't get to Charleston in the time that we wanted and I just feel like it's gonna go downhill from now on." Sebastian was confused, "What's with all of that melancholy?" His comment made you smile - he had learned what the word 'melancholy' meant last weak and had been trying to get it into every conversation if possible. There was his chance and he took it. "Yes, this was not planned... but how would you want to plan for some kids coming 'round and smashing windows. And who is saying that everything will go downhill from here?" "I don't know, I just feel like it's not gonna get better", you answered, not looking at him but still straight ahead. "Not with that attitude, it won't." You smiled again.

He placed a kiss on the side of your head, "Just because this little thing happened doesn't mean it's all for shit now. Come on. Yes, we're gonna be in Charleston a bit later but that means more time for exploring more collecting experience." Now, you turned your head to look at him, placing your left hand on top of this that he had placed on your shoulder, "But you didn't want to explore so much. You wanted to have peace, to be in peace." "Yeah... but you wanted to, and I'm happy nevertheless", he was running his fingers through your hair, putting one piece behind your ear. After his fingers let go of your hair, they moved down to your chin, his thumb on top of it, his pointing finger underneath it to make you look up. With his arm, which was still placed around you, he pulled you into a kiss - a soft, loving, and meaningful kiss, just like every other one. Not once in your three-year-long relationship has a kiss ever felt meaningless. Every single one was a new excitement, letting butterflies erupt in your stomach.

After a long share of that show of love, you separated and Seb continued speaking, "Now, let's get to that service station and then we continue our drive. We only need about five more hours." He stood up, extending his hand for you to take, which you did. The actor then pulled you up and together you walked over to the car to get in and continue your journey together.

--- Eight Hours Later ---

It was late in the afternoon, almost the evening and the two of you had a long day behind you. After getting to the service station, the guy there had to tell you that it would take about two to three hours to repair the damage on your little rented bus. The good news was, that they actually were also renting cars. You came to the agreement that for the time that your car was in their service, you would take a car from their station, a yellow 1965 VW Beetle, and on the way back to Los Angeles, you would drive by their place and "switch" cars back - good news: you would only have to pay for the reparation of the windows and not for "renting" the yellow Beetle.

Because that car had been one of your dream cars ever since you were a teenager, you drove the two of you for the following five hours or so to Charleston, to the little beach house that you were renting for as long as you desired. You reached your destination just as the sun was setting. On one hand, you were happy to have finally made it, especially when you were just about able to see the sunset on the beautiful beach from the porch of the house, on the other hand though, you were kind of sad about the fact that you had just spent almost an entire day in a car without exploring any places besides the few streets in the area of the service station and the gas station two hours into the drive.

But at that moment you had everything you needed: you were standing on the porch, leaning on the railing, looking at the differently coloured sky, waiting for Sebastian who was doing god knows what in the kitchen. You could not wait to properly start your vacation in that part of town with no internet, no phone service, only the few necessities like electricity for the oven, lightning, and the TV, as well as running water - nothing more, because you didn't need anything more.

Deep in your thoughts, you didn't notice Sebastian, who had come up behind your leaning frame to grab you into a loving hug. "Let's take a walk on the beach, shall we?", he asked. Your arms were on top of his which were placed around your hips, holding you close. You turned your head to look at him and nodded with a big smile on your face.

While walking along the beach, hand in hand with the only person you had wanted to be with at this very moment, you noticed something; "This beach is so much cleaner than in L.A." To which he agreed. "It's so quiet and peaceful... I love it", you continued.

All of a sudden you came to a stop and your head shot from looking at the horizon to looking at Seb. You looked at with big eyes, "Hm?", wanting to know, why he suddenly stopped walking, making him fall in love with you even more. Just the look on your face - he could admire it every single day, and he wanted you to know that, then and forever.

He took a deep breath, "So.. we've had quite an adventure coming here. Five long days of driving, three broken windows and even a new car", he cleared his throat, "but we're here now and as cheesy as it sounds, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at this very moment. I want to thank you for the most amazing three years that I've gotten to spend with you ever since we met on set. I was actually once told to settle down before the whole career thing blows up... but, oh boy, thank god I didn't do that", his story made you both laugh, even you even though tears had started forming in your eyes from all the sweet words. Sebastian was holding one of your hands, the other one in the left-side pocket of his shorts, playing with a square box, "And I could tell you a thousand different ways of why and how I'm in love with you, I want you to know that, okay?", you saw his eyes becoming glassy and nodded with a smile, "Well then..." Now or never.

He grabbed the box out of his pocket and got down on one knee...

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

I didn’t want to write the ending because I want you to be able to imagine what he would say yourself and obviously what and how you would answer, I would love to hear your versions of the ending!!

Critic (positive and negative) is always welcome on my blog :)

Thank you for the request once more, I hope this somewhat turned out the way you had hoped for it! A huge Thanks to everyone who read this!!

I hope you have a great night/day! :) <3

[booknerdphd]

Hey! So in one of your posts i saw u say sth about budget and meal planning. Can you share tips on that? I'll be living in my own place this sept and will take any advice. Thanks❤️

Hey! Thanks for the question!

Firstly, I can possibly answer the budgeting bit better since I’ve already done that for my own shift to the US this fall. For meal planning, I’ll let you know how I’ve seen other people do it, as well as a website I know I will use when I shift there.

Also, I’ll give this list from the perspective of an International student, but it would be more or less similar for everyone.

So, I’ll break this up into two parts.

Budgeting

There are two things to remember about your shift- one is that you need to budget your first month, settling in money. And second, you will have to budget your initial months as well.

Initial Budget

Focus first on your initial move in- do you need furniture or is the place furnished? If not furnished (like mine), you can check an IKEA (or an IKEA equivalent) and pick out your furniture.

When looking at furniture, make sure you know what your essentials are. I think I mentioned in another post that I am buying the bed frame because I know I will not buy it later. Personally, if your kitchen already has a fridge, the only things you really need are you bed and your desk and chair. 

A dresser could also be considered an essential, depending on you, but if you want to save on this end so you can spend on something else (like me), then go ahead and live out of your suitcase for a bit.

Make a list on IKEA- that is what I did. I looked at all the things I could possibly need and kept it in one place for me to buy. This also means you will consciously check the prices, while lets you figure out your furniture budget.

Once the easy bit is out of the way (seriously this was the easy bit), start looking at your other needs. For example, India is a pretty warm country, and my city (while one of the better ones in terms of weather) would not need the same type of wardrobe as Seattle- eg. windcheaters. I would suggest you go ahead and buy this in the country you will be moving to, UNLESS YOU HAVE A DECATHALON.

Okay, sorry, brief side track but this could be useful- I went to a decathalon day before expecting to just buy some track pants and come out. But guys, I found windcheaters and warm clothes as well, and please go check your sports stores just in case they have stuff, because while it is hot right now in India, I still found something for cold weather!

Other than clothes and furniture, you may have a few other needs- for example, I’m going to be trying to go paperless during my PhD (trying beign the key word) so I am accounting for the money required for an IPad and an Apple Pencil.

If you are shifting a few days before your lease starts, you will either stay with a friend or at a hotel. Account for these costs, as well as the cost of daily expenses like food, grocery and travel- even if you do not use them, account for it.

Have a safety amount set for emergencies. You may not need to use it, but keep that on top of an additional buffer.

Also add, on top of all of this, the rent of your first and second month, just in case. 

Assume the worst. Over-budgeting, in my mind, is better than under-budgeting.

Figure out what your city’s discount stores are, or what the cheapest options are. You don’t need to buy at Zara if you can get what you need, for example, at a Target. Know what you need and stick to it till you’ve settled down.

One last thing to add for the initial budgeting is this- if you are going to be getting stipend, check what the pay cycle is like. This will influence the second section.

Budgeting in general

What is the amount of money you will have, either as an allowance from your parents, your stipend, whatever your source of money will be. Be sure you know this before hand.

If you have found your accommodation- which I suggest you do before you do your budgeting (or at least know how much you are willing to spend on rent). What you have left is the amount you have to theoretically spend.

Plan your meals on a weekly level. This means you will only buy the groceries you need.

For the sake of your health- don’t buy too many freezer meals and pop tarts and the like. They add up in many many ways.

Have a go to, cheap snack item every month that you make a planned purchase. Like, for example, say you decide you want to keep cookies at home. Don’t buy them, make them. This means you will have the raw material to do this for a while (because the packets of flour and all are big) or you may already have them on hand. Also, it’s a great way to destress and just stop thinking about school for a while.

Always keep a certain amount as your saving set and some as a safety set.

Let’s say, for an example, that the amount you will have at the start of any month is 3000. Break this up into your rent money and your general use amount. Let’s say rent is 1300. That means you have 1700 left, right? No. That 1700 will be broken up into, for example, three parts. Let’s say that after your rent, you will keep 500 as savings, 800 as your general spending allowance and the remaining 400 as your safety net. 

This amount can change over time, because knowing what your budget needs to be depends on your city, the cost of living, what you like to do or cook, etc. Keep this a little open for the first quarter and take your time understanding what works for you.

Meal Planning

Okay, here goes.

Firstly, know what food you like. There are so many ideas online about what you should do when meal planning, but personally, not too many of them make a lot of sense for me, as a person, given my habits. I don’t like protein powder. I’m okay with smoothies, but I’m used to eating full fruits. I like savory breakfasts, given that is what I am used to, rather than sweet ones.

Understand what you like and don’t. Then you can work out what works for you.

If you are someone who likes to eat while they walk to class vs a person like me, who likes to sit in one place and eat in peace. These are, in my mind, important to understand before you meal plan, or you will spend a lot of money to eat kale, hate it, and then hate it even more because you spent unnecessary money on this. All round misery.

Also see what food your family makes on a general day to day basis and check what can be made in advance and eaten over days, or prepped in advance and then just quickly cooked.

For example, I can make rice and keep it for a few days. Or I can buy dosa batter and keep it over the next 2 days and just make it for a few meals in a row. 

Lastly, this is the one blog I consider my guru- the one place to get whatever ideas I want. I am not a cook. I have never cooked in my goddamn life and the most complicated dish I can make is Khichdi, which is basically throwing a bunch of things in a pot and hoping for the best.

So I have no clue what lasts how long, probably would not be able to figure out what had gone bad either.

BUT. This is one blog I found that gives you all that information! PICK UP LIMES.

Sadia has a youtube channel too, and she is a dietician and a vegan. Her food feels very similar to the food we make at home, so I’m pretty psyched about her blog. If I need meat dishes, I can always just go to Tasty, but Sadia’s blog is basically my Bible.

And, she gives clear indications of how long each dish will last in your fridge, which basically means to me that I can cook for all my meals for the next two days at one shot. She also has a bunch of options that are great on the go.

Give her blog a try and let me know if it helped! She also has a grocery list that you can use if you sign up for her newsletter and updates, which is super helpful given I’m just starting out.

I may do more posts on meal planning and budgeting and other concepts as I go through my first few weeks in Seattle, come September, but I hope this helped!

[thegreatpikminzx789]

A Gathering at Jail Rock - Etrian Odyssey Mobile Mythos - Chapter 1 - Runaway to Freedom

Wattpad|AO3

Beginning (You are here)|Next Chapter

Taking place on a remote part of Earth, somewhere vastly surrounded by the sea, with no sight of other land masses, the island known as Jail Rock, housed a tall tree within a forest surrounding a pioneer-built village. Many of the inhabitants called the mighty tree, the Forest's Jail. It is rumored that everyone that investigated the World Tree disappeared overnight, and not a single person outside the island knows why this event occurred.

A study team was formed in the village with the intention to  investigate the Yggdrasil tree. Once word spread, many people traveled from their homelands to visit Jail Rock, hoping to climb the Yggdrasil Tree there. Some adventurers dare to seek the truth, some seek wealth and honor, and some seek the fight of their lives.

Summary: A man known as Elibom ran away from home in order to find a new life that would fit him the most without his past haunting him like a disease. What kinds of people and enemies will he make along his path to a new lifestyle? What kinds of length will he go to make sure his friends are well protected under his care? And what will he think of the new lifestyle once he reaches his destination: Jail Rock?

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

AN:  Due to this being an unofficial Etrian Odyssey game with a vastly unknown amount of origin and questionable ideas, I'm going to take liberty by making things different to make sure it's more original, both in monsters and in labyrinth theming.Also because the class choices, for some ungodly reason, is using the EO1/2 classes, I'm going to expand this to have a variety of classes/races, much like Etrian Odyssey Nexus. Keeps things interesting, this way. That, and this is pretty much my first attempt at creating something based on something so obscure, so I’m going to try my best with world building.

Near the city of Etria, the morning sun had just risen in the azure sky. Its rays, shining ever so brilliant, casts itself upon the planet, as a tired, exhausted man with white hair, blue and red eyes, and seemed to be ragged to the core. He had ran for who knows how long, far from the place he had ran from...his home. Though he could potentially enter the city and rest, he much preferred to rest while heading to whatever fate took him next.

He looked back upon the land behind him, knowing that whatever transpired there will be the only thing he has left to his name, apart from his possessions and money he was able to acquire. Very, very, far from where he stood. It wasn't a popular kingdom as opposed to Etria, but when you had ran for several hundred miles away from a place you formerly called home, you start to lose track of time.

"Fuckin' hell," Elibom groaned, leaning into the shade of a nearby tree, gasping for air. "Haven't ran that fast since I was young..."

It doesn't help that the memory of what he last saw of his parents lingered in his mind... lying on their bed, unable to move, and devoid of life. The kingdom he left behind was gradually falling to an illness that had no held record of a cure. It felt...wrong.

To run away from the life expected from his parents...but he didn't like dying to a disease that no one was able to cure! But not even he knows how far it will linger in the land he left behind. He had to run...find somewhere else to hide, and never return...

Most of his kingdom expected him to rule the throne should his parents pass away. Instead, he decided to run from his responsibility. For he had dreams far better realized elsewhere than having it be wasted on ruling a kingdom which was slowly dying on the inside. To explore the world...to explore...

He checked his pockets for the money he was able to acquire from his parents' account the moment he was able to find their vault. It wasn't enough to get him some strong as hell weapon, but it was more than enough to probably get a ticket to a boat. Hopefully, he wouldn't run into anyone who has the disease from his land in whatever town he's lucky enough to find.

After regaining his breath, and taking a moment to mourn the loss of his parents to himself, he noticed a bunch of people walking on a nearby road, getting onto a carriage of sorts. Perhaps it will lead him to a town that is capable of traveling by boat. He wouldn't be able to represent himself as the prince of the land to the commoners... They could get the wrong idea.

Not like he could do something about it now. He wanted to get as far away from his kingdom, now. He gathered the strength in his legs and ran to the carriage. It was the only way he could catch up to it.

"Last call for the carriage trip to city of Niranjan! Repeat, last call for the trip to Niranjan!" The man standing beside the carriage beckoned, before accepting the cash from an approaching adventurer, standing aside so that they could enter.

Niranjan... It was far beyond the city of Etria, yet it also was harbored near the edge of the ocean. Perhaps he can get a boat and sail out of the country... Elibom panted as he approached the man, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"You alright there, good sir?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm just...exhausted..." Elibom replied, standing up straight after moving his hair aside. "H-How much is it to ride to a nearby city?"

"One hundred fifty Ental, sir." The man confidently replied. Seemed a bit cheap for anyone that wasn't rich enough to get Ental. But considering the carriage was likely filled with adventurers, he was sure that they had enough Ental with them.

He took out the money from his pocket and handed it to the man. "I'd like to head there, myself, if you please." Elibom explained, as the man counted the Ental in his hand.

"Fancy yourself an explorer, eh?" The man smirked, noticing Eli's bag on his shoulder. The prince couldn't find it in him to explain his situation well enough to another individual, so he simply nodded in response, hoping it was enough to satisfy the man's curiosity.

"Then get in the carriage, sir. It's only an hour away, so please make yourself comfortable." The carriage man motioned, as Eli didn't hesitate to go into the carriage, as he closed the door behind him, and finding an available seat where he can contemplate alone.

After a couple of seconds, the carriage began to move. The scenery before him moved on by, as he took solace in seeing off the land he would never set foot in again. The forest his family often visited was going off in the distance the further the carriage got.

And with the forest behind him, so too, did the kingdom his family expected him to rule. He wasn't quite yet free from the land he was ever-so-proclaimed to be its future king, but it'll come to him soon enough. For once...he took a deep breath and a sighed in relief.

Although...it also did no harm to look upon the other explorers that he was heading into town with. Occasionally, he would glance over to his right, seeing the other explorers converse with the other. Medics, Landsknechts, two Hexers, a War Magus... Not a lot of variety of classes to look upon.

He did notice one of the Landsknechts had pink hair, which was an unusual color for a boy to have. They also had heterochromia colored eyes, much like Eli, except the Landsknecht's eyes were yellow and purple. For some reason, the colors of the Landsknechts eyes and hair felt somewhat soothing to look at. Turning away from the landsknecht, his eyes turned to gaze a Medic reading a book, sitting far away from the other explorers. Perhaps she didn't like the noise of chatter?

Eli noted to himself that the woman had brown eyes and black hair, ending in a ponytail that she had placed on her lap. From what Elibom could glance, the book she was reading was one of myths and legends, and not the typical medical guides or books Medics would normally read daily. She, too, seemed to be by herself, away from the noise.

Well, two's a company, as they say. No way in hell he was gonna stay silent and stare off in the distance. Gotta spruce things up every once in a while!

He got up and approached the Medic, seeing her flip over to a new page of the book. "H-Hey, um, do you mind if I sit next to you?" Elibom inquired.

"As long as you aren't distracting, like the others over there." The woman responded without looking away from her book, only adjusting her glasses to prevent the sunlight from the window getting into her eyes. The prince sat down, placing his bag on the table, sighing as he sat back on the chair, removing some of his armor on his hands.

The woman had only but took a single glance at Elibom to notice how bruised and injured he had been. "Hold on a moment,  how long have you been like this without any medical attention?" She questioned, throwing the prince off guard as he turned to face her.

"U-Um," Eli began to stutter, having not realized the major bruises he had gotten when he was stumbling through thorns and concrete. "I haven't... I thought they'd heal on their own, with what limited medical knowledge I knew of..." He admitted, seeing the female medic groan and closed the book in her hands, setting it aside and grabbed his hands, bringing them towards her, scanning them and checking for any recent injury.

"Well, I'll admit, you have some medical skill, but these aren't effective in the long run..." The medic sighed, as she began unwrapping the bandages and medical tapes he had got on and started to replace them with a much better medical tape, casting some sort of healing spell on him before applying the medical tape.

Elibom stood completely still as the medic tended to his injuries. "S-Sorry for making this rough on you, miss..." The prince apologized.

"Medics are around for a damn good reason, you know." The medic adjusted her glasses, as she puts the medical tape back in her bag. "Sothym."

"Huh?"

"My name's Sothym." Sothym repeated herself, slightly annoyed about having to repeat herself. Her glare towards Elibom made him shiver a bit. She seemed quite intimidating, despite her friendly appearance minutes earlier.

"N-N-Name's Eli." Eli introduced himself after he built up the courage to speak. Sothym's glare quickly stopped as she took a bit to ponder about the name, as if it struck a familiarity with her. "Eli, hm...?"

She took a glance back at Eli, trying to get a better idea of his appearance. Apart from the hair, and earrings, hardly anything about his clothes screamed 'princely'. It seemed like he just grabbed whatever clothes fitted him for the day. But the name was quite familiar, no doubts there.

"Your clothes are quite shabby for a prince, you know?" Sothym remarked, doing her best to keep any mention of royalty to a minimum around the other explorers. Eli sighed and looked down at the table.

"I-I'm sorry... I just...something terrible happened back at home, and I-"

"Ran away to try and find freedom elsewhere?" The medic interrupted, seeing the prince nod in response. He seemed like he wanted to go more detail, but is holding back on information that he didn't want to dump onto another.

"Can't say I blame you. I once had to run a medical center in a part of my town." She began, flicking her hair aside.

"Sold medicinal soaps for a time, before I found it boring and went around to several towns, being a medic for several other medical centers and hospitals before I saved enough money to get off this damn continent."

"Medicinal soaps...?"

"Some man-made soap that, when made with the right ingredients, can cure certain properties of the human body. My parents always tried their best to make the best ones around." Sothym explained in short detail.

The black haired medic sat back against the chair she was sitting in, letting out a sigh. "Sorry, I tend to ramble on whenever it comes to a particular subject." She apologized.

"H-Hey, it's perfectly OK. We all have things that we tend to ramble on about." Eli chuckled, not minding the tirade she was going on. Sothym lets out a chuckle of her own as well.

Gods, it had been so long since he had spoken to another commoner without fussing too much about his title as a prince. People back in his home would refer to him by his title on an almost daily basis. Given his brother had left long ago, ignoring the social status of the rich, the poor, and the common folk felt...exciting, now that he is experiencing this first hand. A question sneaked into his head, attempting to get him to think of a different subject.

"So, why were you studying that book about myths and legends earlier?" The prince inquired as she looks back at the book she placed down. "Ah, well..." She began, taking a moment to take a deep breath.

"I've been interested in trying to find out the truth behind myths and legends, as far fetched as that may seem. Truth is...the myths in that book seemed to be 'real and hard earned myths and legends' about an Yggdrasil tree far from this continent. I bought it recently so I could decipher the myths behind it."

Eli had only heard about rumors of the Yggdrasil Tree that were said to be around the world. Tall trees that were said to reach about as high as the sky itself. Though to think one could be near the very continent he was born and raised on? Who'd have ever thought he could hear of such a thing once he was outside his own home?

"What's so special about this Yggdrasil, apart from the myths and legends the book tells?" The prince inquired, wanting to know a bit more about the mighty and legendary tree everyone seems to know.

"Hell if I know." Sothym shrugged. "But if there is something, I'm going to expose the truth with everything I got. And what a better place to investigate than the Yggdrasil in Jail Rock."

Jail Rock? There was so much questions going through the princes' head, he wasn't sure if he could have them all answered before the end of the day.

"I...don't know about Jail Rock. Is it some kind of place or city?" Eli pestered Sothym with another question, seeing the medic sigh. "You sure don't know much about the outside world beyond our own continent, don't you?"

That was something Eli was not afraid to admit. His parents kept wanting him to be a ruler, and that any information about an Yggdrasil, or myths or legends of any sorts never held any merit to being a long term kind. His lifestyle was much more different than his brother, who was more in line of being the next king of his former home than Eli himself.

"Well, if you must know, Jail Rock is the name of an island that houses the Yggdrasil tree this book claims to know the myths and legends of. Monsters unlike any other Yggdrasil tree has ever held within... And a mysterious rumor that I'm most curious about to confirm for myself." Sothym looked at the prince, who urged the medic to continue speaking.

"The rumor, albeit strange in nature, states, 'One day, an investigation team that had entered Jail Rock's Yggdrasil vanished one day. Anyone involved in the investigation team was also taken in the dead of night.'"

The prince gulped upon hearing the rumor that people vanished mysteriously. It sounded like a scary story his parents would tell him to get him to behave. "H-How did...how did that happen?"

"Nobody knows. That's why there's so many adventurers heading to this city to get to the boat that will take them to Jail's Rock." The medic motioned to the other explorers, who were happily content chatting away the hour until they reached their destination. "Fame...a fight against the monsters living inside the tree...or even to find the truth. Whatever their reasons are, there's no denying that this has caused the rising buzz of explorers to heed the call."

"I see..." The prince looked out the window again, then back to his bag, wondering if this could be the opportunity to be free from the burden of being the prince that abandoned his kingdom... To runaway far beyond home and live elsewhere...

"I...I want to be an explorer, Sothym." He declared, seeing her turn to him once more. "You sure you want to live in that kind of lifestyle? It won't be easy, unlike most royal people... That, and you'd need a new pair of clothes." Sothym argued.

"I want the freedom to do what I want... If I must take up arms and explore the Yggdrasil tree, then that's what I will do!" Eli spoke, a look of determination showing on his face.

Though he had little experience, he felt like this was something that could get him out of the land that was more than likely doomed to fail under his leadership. Sothym placed her hands in her pocket as a small smile formed on her face. "Alright then, Eli. If you have what it takes to lead a guild, then we gotta find some explorers willing to join our guild." Sothym began, adjusting her glasses once more, feeling it slide off a little.

"We got plenty of time before we enter town, so why don't you rest for a spell?" She suggested, estimating that only fifteen minutes had passed when she looked out the window. Eli looked out the window and settling back against the seat.

"I suppose I'll take your offer, Sothym. You'll...let me know when we're in town, right?" The prince wanted to make sure that he wasn't dozing off well past the intended time.

"Of course I will. You just seemed pretty tired, so resting is generally a better idea than wasting energy on staying awake. A good Medic can see these sorts of things far often than a rookie can."

That was more than reassuring enough for the white haired prince. He had ran for quite some time, and the weight of succumbing to sleep was getting to him now that he wasn't running as much as he was. With a yawn escaping him, he grabbed what Sothym assumed was  a medium sized cloth and placed it on himself.

Strange how he finds comfort in doing this around other people he doesn't know, but Sothym was gonna look out for him. Closing his eyes, he dozed off to sleep, hoping to rest from the tiring trek he made through his own land...

Still, it baffled the medic before him. If Eli, a supposed prince of the land, doesn't know much about the outside world, it's going to be a pain to teach him all about the things that he's unaware of... But regardless, who knows what they were going to encounter out there, and the land of Jail Rock is sure to be a mysterious land to explore for the both of them. It would probably be good to find at least one member before they get inevitably stuck on another long trip to their destination.

.................................................................

"Hey, get up. We're here."

Time flew by since Eli fell asleep, and Sothym's voice, along with shaking the runaway prince awake, nearly startled the man. Had he not caught sight of the nearly empty carriage, he most likely would've been kicked out. "S-Sorry, I-um..." Eli stuttered, quickly folding the cloth that covered him to put back into his bag.

The woman could only sigh at Eli's rush to get up. She didn't expect him to be that tired. Grabbing his bag, the two finally left the carriage. The prince looked around, taking in the sight of the city.

"Niranjan... Never thought I'd set foot in this damn city of all places... This place is notorious for being a city where living here can either be a blessing or a curse." Sothym groaned, adjusting her own bag on her shoulder alongside adjusting her glasses once more.

From what Eli could glance, she wasn't wrong. The city, while not shabby, was quite mixed, with buildings either built with such attention to detail, or buildings that have been stripped of its unique appearance. Some people were even trying to get enough money to get by with just to survive. Seeing a place like this himself, honestly worried if Jail Rock was potentially going to be like this when they get there.

"I've heard some people are more rich here than in my own land... And that they've even claimed to be adventurers, too." Eli commented.

Sothym could only assume he must have heard outside rumors about such people living here. "It's hard to tell when the rich can manipulate the weak commoners. That's why I tend to stick to my own damn business." The Medic argued, motioning for him to follow her to a clothes store.

"We have plenty of time until we have to get our tickets to get to our boat to Jail Rock." She began, looking back behind her as she saw Eli walk beside her. "Tell me, have you been experienced in using any kind of weapon?"

"My father was once a Hero among my people, so he often trained me in the ways of the sword..." Eli began to recall, sticking as close to the medic so as to not stray from her. "He also taught me some skills based around the Hero class, but we hadn't really practiced them in a while."

"Not proficient in the outside world, but proficient enough to wield a sword... What kind of family did he grow up with?" Sothym muttered to herself, shrugging it off so as to not bother him about it now.

A few seconds later, and they arrived at the clothes store. "Well, we're here. If my calculations are correct, you should have enough money inheritance to afford some clothes befitting of a Hero class. Or, just whatever doesn't make you stand out as a royal figure." She began, stopping Eli from moving before she continued from where she left of.

"Of course, if there's anything too overpriced, we aren't getting it. Those tend to indicate that one is quite rich around this city, and we don't need that type of attention on ourselves, including you. Assassins can easily distinguish their target from the public eye." Sothym added, seeing the prince nod and began to walk around the store.

Still, assassins, in a city like this? This continent was a lot more dangerous than his parents had led him to believe. Would anyone truly want to assassinate him for wearing something so pricey as clothes? Or for being a runaway? What if-

"Hey, focus, Eli. We don't have time to stand still and daydream." Sothym's voice rang in Eli's ears as he turned to her.

"S-Sorry..."

The medic can only sigh as she encouraged him to continue looking around. They wandered for several minutes before Eli's eyes gazed at a red and blue armor set for a Hero class. It was just the armor set just for him. And the price was just enough to afford. It also came with a sword and a shield as a bonus for purchasing the full set. He assumed that armory and weaponry were all just sold in one shop, so it was a pretty great deal to get.

Sothym followed Eli's gaze as she stared at the armor for a moment before looking at Eli. "Content with something that matches your eye color, huh?" She mused, seeing him nod in response.

"Yeah...the others just didn't feel right for me to wear." Eli admitted, as he began to gather the armor and taking it to the shopkeeper and exchanging the money, before heading off to a changing room. Not that Sothym didn't mind the idea, but something as easily distinct as matching eye colors felt...off, in her opinion.

Assuming the man she was going to travel with was a runaway prince, she would at least think that he'd have the idea of blending in more with the public. Then again, given her own description on how assassins worked in this city, she felt it would've been a lot harder for him to hide had he not be by her side.

Nevertheless, she waited for Eli to come out, waiting for what seemed like an eternity before the prince came out of the changing room with his new appearance. She noticed his hair was more refined than it was minutes earlier. "...Not too bad for someone who desperately wants to be an explorer." Sothym commented, seeing the prince grin in return.

"Heh, this is nothing. It's like I've become like my...father, in a...way..." Eli's cheery grin started diminishing when he began to speak about his father. Sothym was quick to notice the change in his voice real quick.

"What's wrong?"

Eli didn't respond for quite a while, even when waving her own hand in front of him didn't garner his attention. Letting out a sigh, she grabbed his hand and pinched her index finger and thumb on a part of his palm to pinch him, as he lets out a yelp of pain and retracted his hand away from the medic.

"W-W-What was that for?!" He exclaimed, thrown aback by Sothym's action.

"To get your attention, duh." She countered. "You looked distraught speaking about your father. Did something happen to the king of this land...?"

The silence that filled the air between Sothym and Eli didn't help the tension that the prince felt about revealing about. But now that he said it aloud, there's hardly a way of avoiding conversing about it in full without tabling it for another day. With a sigh, he placed his own hand on the hilt of the sword attached to his belt.

"Mom and Dad...both fell to a disease that couldn't be cured in time." He finally admitted, seeing Sothym taken aback a bit by the news. "I ran away not because of a terrible life, but because I didn't want to fall to the same disease that killed my parents." He added, his eyes gazing to the floor as some tears escaped his eyes.

The medic took a bit longer to compose herself than she normally had. "Well, no wonder everyone back at home was debating about what happened at the castle... I had ignored the news and thought they were spreading rumors again." She began, looking at Eli in the eye and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm terribly sorry for the loss that happened for you." Sothym sighed, patting Eli's shoulder to try and comfort him. "If only I was there, then maybe..."

Maybe the whole situation would've been different. Would it have been for the better, or would Sothym too, fall to the diseases' grasp? Too many thoughts ran through the princes' head that by the time he wanted to respond, both he and Sothym had noticed that there was a huge fight going on outside the store. Normally a huge fight wasn't enough to stop a public crowd, but everyone seemed to be watching the fight, as if fearing what would happen if they stepped forward.

Eli saw the pink haired Landsknecht attempting to converse with two buff-looking men who seemed more than ready to pummel down the poor Landsknecht who was trying to talk to them. "What exactly is-?" Sothym began, before seeing Eli rush out to try and stop the fighting from prolonging itself. "H-Hey, wait up!" She yelled, following after him.

"You think you could try and get some of our money while we weren't lookin', weren't ye?" The red haired tall guy growled, grinding his fists together in a threatening way. "Yeah, anyone who tries to borrow our money has to go through the boss!" The other man added, standing rather close to the landsknecht as they attempted to back away.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"There's no excuses, boy! You brought this upon ye'self!" The red haired Pugilist exclaimed, winding up for a punch, feeling his fist get charged with electricity.

"Now you'll feel the wrath of Ira's Thunder Fist!" The man named Ira yelled, as the pink-haired landsknecht looked away and tried to shield themselves from the impact of the attack.

It wasn't until the Pugilist's fist hit something metal that the landsknecht opened their eyes to see Eli standing right in front of him, guarding with the Hero's shield he bought not too long ago. The landsknecht was rather speechless... Why would he...?

"What the bloody hell?!" Ira grunted, surprised at the sudden appearance of Eli as he regained his stance from bouncing off his shield. Eli looked back at the landsknecht, once he backed off from guarding the attack.

"Are you OK?" The prince asked the landsknecht, before hearing the other guy make his way toward him and faced the tall Pugilist. "'Ey you punk with the white hair; this ain't none of your business! Buzz off!" The Pugilist with dark green hair insisted, readying himself to pummel the intervening prince for stepping into a fight that wasn't his.

Eli gripped his shield, tightly a little shaken up from trying to think of a way to peacefully resolve this. He wasn't gonna let the landsknecht get hurt, no matter what. And that was what he intended on doing.

"Not talkin' eh?" Ira proclaimed, taking the princes' silence as a declaration all on its own. "Fine, then feel our wrath, ignorant brat-!"

"Hiyaah!"

As if in sync with the Pugilists taking a couple of steps closer to Eli, two bottles which emitted black smoke struck the tall men, as they recoiled back and tried to fan away the smoke that was emitted from the bottles' impact. Eli and the landsknecht turned to see Sothym wave at them to follow her.

"Come on! We gotta run, now!" She yelled, placing the bottles of Blind Gas back in her bag.

Eli and the landsknecht looked at each other and nodded simultaneously, letting the landsknecht run towards Sothym with Eli following right behind him. People that witnessed the scene also ran or tried to mind their own business, as if they wanted nothing to do with what had happened before them.

"Sothym! Who were those two?!" Eli questioned as he caught up to Sothym.

"The Twin Pugilists: Ira and Gori. They're two Pugilists who serve the higher up everyone refuses to name aloud in Niranjan!" She explained, looking back for a split second to see if the Blind Gas still affected them. "It should take them a bit for the blind gas to wear off, so we best get out of here, quickly!"

"But what about getting more guild members?" The prince asked, seeming to be full of questions today.

"Not the time to be asking those questions, Eli!" The medic complained, wanting to focus on running before the Pugilists can recover and track them down.

From the top of the nearby building, a lone figure stood witnessed the scene before them, wearing a cloak of sorts to prevent themselves from easily being identifiable. Their eyes were locked onto Eli, running alongside Sothym and the landsknecht that he had saved, seeing them run as fast as possible, before disappearing behind several buildings that blocked the figures' sight.

"...Target acquired."

............................................................................

Eli took several deep breaths, after the group determined they weren't being followed. Sothym handed him a bottle of fresh water that she more than likely intended to drink prior to the situation. He took it and took a few sips from the bottle.

"Next time you see someone in danger, don't recklessly charge ahead, Eli. Had I not helped, you would've ended up severely wounded." The medic warned, before turning to the landsknecht and looked for injuries.

"Well, now I know not to try and pick up random Ental of the ground again..." The landsknecht sighed as they stood up from having to sit down, their voice sounding a lot more feminine than their appearance led to be.

Eli was straight up confused by the landsknecht's voice. He assumed the landsknecht was a boy, but the voice clearly didn't match their appearance.

"What were you thinking, trying to steal money from those two? That's even worse than having an assassin on your tail." Sothym glanced at the landsknecht.

"H-Hey, I didn't know that they worked for someone higher up than them! It isn't my fault for not being told ahead of time!" The landsknecht replied, being honest with how little knowledge she knew of the city.

"So, um..." Eli intervened, wanting to change the subject from the two big Pugilists. "W-What's your name?"

The landsknecht turned to look at Eli. "Ah, right... It would be best to introduce ourselves now that we're out of that mess." They chuckled, scratching their head as they took a few seconds to compose themselves.

"The name's Chimo." Chimo began. "I may look like a boy, but never underestimate one's looks! I gotta find whatever money is lying around that World Tree!"

So, Chimo was not a male, but a female... Ouch. Guess even he doesn't know some people dress differently than the norm he was expected to see.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Chimo. I'm Elibom, but you can call me Eli." The white haired prince introduced himself, shaking Chimo's hand for a few seconds.

"Sothym." Sothym simply said, hardly in the mood to explain much about herself for the time being. She wanted to be aware, in case the two Pugilists were out on the prowl for them.

There was nothing wrong with being safe than sorry, after all.

"So, what were you two up to before that escapade occurred?" Chimo inquired, wanting to know the people she ran off with. Eli scratched the back of his head as he placed a hand on his waist.

"Clothes shopping... Nothing too major..." He responded as his eyes glanced at Sothym looking around the corners and keeping an eye on anything the Pugilists might use as cover to corner them when they least expected it.

"Ah, I see." The pink haired Landsknecht sighed, placing her arms behind her head as she leaned back against a wall, standing near the prince. "I've been kind of wanting to find some people to join with, but most of the people in this city wanted money, or something else that's precious to me. And both things I'm not willing to part with."

Well, she wasn't wrong. It would've been a pain for Eli and Sothym to try and find more people in this town, considering...well, Eli himself is royalty. He's a flat out easy target, and if they learn he's rich with money, who knows what would happen next?

Seeing as Sothym wasn't involved in the conversation for the majority of the time they were standing there, Eli figured this could be a chance to have someone join them so they can form a guild. "Say," Eli began. "You wouldn't mind if you tagged along with us, would you?"

Chimo glanced up at Eli with a confused look on her face. "Y-You want me to join you?" A hope glimmered in her eyes for a moment, but then she stood her ground. "Wait...what's the catch?" She added, thinking Eli could be doing this just so spite her.

"T-There is no catch," The prince exclaimed. "Just a pure and open invitation to our upcoming guild!"

Although it wasn't an entirely fair explanation of what he was telling her, Chimo did feel that his words held some truth. Considering he DID save her from a Thunder Fist from a Pugilist that was probably gonna beat her up for merely touching Ental that wasn't hers. Honestly, being alive was a much better debt than being dead; or on the edge of it.

"Alright, I think you got yourselves a new member, sir~" She hummed, a beaming smile forming on the landsknecht's face. Eli smiled back, shaking her hand once more. That's two more to find, at least, from his prior knowledge on how guilds work.

The prince had hardly felt Sothym's pressense, as he quickly noticed her standing right next to him. "You two done with your little meet-and-greet?" The medic inquired, as both the prince and landsknecht separated their hands from the other.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Chimo, but I'm afraid Eli and I must-"

"She's coming along with us, Sothym."

"She's what now?"

Sothym blinked as she and Eli glanced at each other. "She's coming along with us; as part of our guild." Eli explained, smirking a little as he watched Sothym silently question how she wasn't hearing the conversation behind her.

She eventually lets out a sigh, seeming to discard the question she was thinking about. "Okay then, guild leader," Sothym began, wanting to get back to her prior point of discussion. "With one guild member down, we'd need at least two more to properly form a guild."

"I know two people who we can get on the guild!" Chimo chirped, as the prince glanced back at the cheery landsknecht. "You do?"

The pink haired landsknecht nodded in return. "You see, I was invited here by a friend so we can set off to explore to lands unknown, and he wanted me to try and find any potential guild members on my way over." She started, as Sothym placed her hands in her pocket as she listened to Chimo.

"He should be waiting near the ticket center, so we should head over there right away." Chimo continued, walking past Eli and Sothym. "C'mon, I'll show you the way to the ticket center!" With that, the landsknecht began to walk on ahead, as Sothym and Eli soon followed behind.

To think that had he not ran away from home, he would have not met up with these two at all. He would have likely had a damn terrible time trying to get by all on his lonesome. The prince had no idea what awaited him from the remainder of today onward...

[imanes]

Imane! I’d luv to start traveling but tremendously afraid to go at it alone + how do you afford your trips? Sending lots of warmth 💓

hi babe! first of all i don’t travel alone so i can’t really give you advice but if you mean organising things on your own it’s a lot easier than people think! as far as how i afford my trips i know what my yearly income is and i know how much i want to dedicate to my savings and how much i can afford to spend on traveling. but when i was in college and on a much tighter budget here is what i did (and continue to do to a certain extent!)

visit family if you can. the good thing is that you don’t have to pay for the accommodation and that is a huge saving

don’t travel during high seasons as the price go waaaaaay higher in these periods. i sometimes travel at “odd” times to avoid the mass of tourists and getting ripped off lol that’s why i like traveling during winter even tho it’s cold... it’s worth it

put google flight alerts and use skyscanner to compare airfares, keep up to date with price changes and potentially change the dates of your trip so that you can save as much as possible on your tickets

travel to countries that are close by rather than trying to see how you can fit in a trip to the other side of the world. low-cost companies will offer more affordable options for countries that are geographically close to your homebase most of the time

compare accommodations on agoda, airbnb and booking.com but i typically use the first two bc they tend to offer better prices (of course i always compare everything before making any purchase... i love a good deal). you can also find deals on groupon!! some of my friends have used couchsurfing but i can’t vouch for it personally. i’d hate to stay at someone’s house on the couch lmao but like renting a room via airbnb can be a good option (check the comments first!! i did it once and had a great time but i wouldn’t do it for every occasion obv)

if you pick an airbnb, the good thing is that you can cook your meals. so don’t hesitate to favour countries where you know grocery shopping will be at a reasonable price!

walk as much as you can and plan out your visits by grouping things to do according to their location in the city. that way you can minimise your spendings on transportation 

try not to buy souvenirs lol they’re useless

set up a daily budget for food and other things for every day of your trip

speaking of budget i never love excel as much as when i’m doing my vacation budget spreadsheets... they’re so helpful and help you visualise where the bulk of your expenses will be and how you can divide your total budget in different categories

don’t plan a trip too late but don’t do it too early either!! that’s why i put google flight alerts on tickets that i am interested in so that i can follow price fluctuation and get it for as low as possible. for example for thailand i put the alert when it was at 600€ but it lowered to 480€ so that’s 120€ saved for smt else :-)

if you live in a small country like me u can take the bus or the train to a neighbouring country but if you live in a big one you should definitely give a chance to traveling inside your own borders!! there are plenty of things to visit in one’s own country and you don’t have to think about the language barrier and/or the currency exchange!

speaking of currency exchange... always look it up on google beforehand, people on tripadvisor and such will tell you which places to avoid so that you don’t lose too much money during the exchange since the rates can differ from one provider to the other

so yeah for me it’s mostly a matter of preparation and comparison! you just have to start somewhere like don’t pick the location first but rather list a pool of places you’d like to visit and check the prices for lower seasons (you can google which seasons see lower touristic traffic to plan accordingly) and check how much staying there costs. like for example if i were to go to dublin, tickets would be cheap but accommodations would be very expensive but if i also wanted to visit lisbon, flights and accommodations could be a bargain. you kind of have to map out where you want to go and how much it’s going to cost you by doing extensive research and once you’re there, try not to be too fancy and set up a daily budget and a contingency budget for unforeseen expenses. it’s time consuming but easy and fun! or at least it is for me ajdlkjgdkg i hope this helped like this is all common sense but a lot of people don’t know about agoda.com and i love booking hotels there bc they have great bargains! 

[ghostspies]

the previous year was great but 2019 has been a full year with my girlfriend whomst i love and i cant imagine anything better, i always thought i'd sort of..be doing things alone but no, this is it; a lot of other things happened but this has been the most defining one; also depression is fully gone i think, i dont have to keep a strict routine anymore im just Livingg; some of the other things that happened include:

spraining my ankle at sisters prom

going to masopust for the first time and its something i can look forward to every year

attending a wedding of ppl my age.....here it comes....... afterwards we drove 6 people in a tiny car, took the fancy clothes off and went for a swim, v fun, then we went for smažák

travelling all day by train to collect seashells to the most beautiful place 😭 by myself..i planned it all and had my own money to pay for it..lifechanging truly; i knew exactly what to do to make myself happy, every day spent there added a year to my lifespan

a trip to the Alps with my gf, we had a propane heater in a tiny room, fishe served in paper eaten by a lake, a broken boot

Marseille 😭 the museum exhibit, the city itself at night, rats, just being dve kocicky in a přímořský město in general, flying, and again knowing exactly what we want and being able to do it; then some smaller summer weekend trips, like swimming in a dirty rybník in kařez, walking through kutná hora like an old couple, and just choosing random places to go by train + berlin now in autumn

also going camping to austria with my dad and sister just like when we were little, singing by the campfire and playing hide and seek, the purest trip you can imagine

finally making and firing my own ceramics

getting asthma somehow :/

sunprinting on silk, trying camera obscura again; diy lip balms, tie dye, bleaching black clothes, sewing some as well, discovering those rly cheap second hand stores with 10kc tshirts.

making an art piece for a queer party with karolina lol

Finally !! getting additional ear piercings

FIN A L L Y managing to go to the dentist, one of my biggest fears

reading a book on joan of arc

getting to learn more about philosophy and history, materials, objects, true crime and psychology, physics, mostly through podcasts and books and going to museums

andd His dark materials series came out aa

i keep trying to make more art or just draw but i can feel it getting harder

aand i feel like i got a little bit uglier but thats ok

at work i had to learn to order all the art supplies from all our suppliers and i kind of run the store now lol, thats a bit stressful but i prefer it to just selling them bcs i know more and can be more confident; also my old coworker left and i got the most u s e l e s s w o m a n instead, she rly kept testing me

i have enough energy to message ppl first, think of activities we can do together, even spend more time with my family

in conclusion: the proper teenage summer i never had, the whole year was so pleasant

for 2020 i wanna: be even less rigid and still and afraid and just do things more spontaneously and stay in movement, learn more about things im interested in, maybe buy or download some textbooks?

try and draw more, even if its just traing the skill and not being creative

be more social and take iniciative and help and not just drag along most of the time

[movingkeepmoving]

Hello and welcome to Berlin, Germany! For many of you this will be your first stay here, so I’m trying to make things easy for you.

First things first: Phone code is +49 Police: 110 / fire brigade: 112 1€ is 100cts.

Be aware most places might not accept card as payment method; we’re pretty far behind on this; especially when it comes to music venues. Have some cash on you!

Safety:

Berlin is a huge city and compared to its size its fairly safe if you use common sense. No specific rules apply with the exception of public transportation and tourist areas where pickpockets are a problem. Watch your bags during rush hours, at larger train stations.

The police in Berlin are competent, not corrupt; therefore, if you try to bribe them you are likely to spend at least a night behind bars to check your background. They are generally helpful to tourists. Most of the officers are able to speak English, so don't hesitate to approach them if you are frightened or lost.

Although harmless, panhandlers have started to beg at local tourist spots such as Pariser Platz next to the Brandenburg Gate, Alexanderplatz and the Museumsinsel. They are usually women accompanied by their daughters who ask if you speak English and say that they are from the new EU countries and trying to raise money to fly home. The story is false, so don't give them money, which would encourage further exploitation of the women and their kids. They also have a new tactic where they hand you a card telling their "story" and asking for money; beware that the children that they carry in their arms will search through your bags while you are reading the card. The best way to avoid this is simply to ignore them and not to respond when they ask you "Speak English?" If you feel scared, don't hesitate to contact the police, as they will help.

ALOHOL / DRINKS IN GENERAL / SMOKING

You’re allowed to drink alcohol in the streets, beer and wine is legal from the age of 16, everything else from the age of 18. You’ll notice many people will buy their drinks in Spätis (late night corner shops) and drink them in front of those shops. You might find more people doing this than finding people drinking in bars, because our bars normally open in the evening time (and are closed before that - sorry to our friends from the UK!).

We have a deposit on cans and bottles, so please NEVER put them into any bin. Place them next to the bin if you don’t care about getting 0,08ct to 0,25ct back, as homeless people often rely on this „extra income“.

You’ll pay at least 1€ deposit on bottles/glasses in venues too - even if they’re plastic cups. Keep that in mind. You don’t pay a deposit in restaurants or bars.

Brining bottles into venue won’t be allowed, due the fact venues want to sell as many drinks as possible. It’s also not a common thing to request tab water in a music venue. They might charge you for the deposit.

Smoking weed is NOT legal in Berlin / Germany. Although there will be people around the RAW area trying to sell you stuff - I can’t recommend doing this, the police knows about the situation and often watches the side undercover. (Can’t tell you how many times I saw a catch me if you can situation around here)
> Welcome to Berlin, you can actually smoke in most bars if they said they’re an 18+ venue. If you don’t smoke like me, this can be rather hell. If you’re a smoker: Welcome to paradise.

Apps you should consider to download:

Citymapper: This one actually works in a lot of big cities. I used it in New York, London and Boston before. With Citymapper you'll get all the options of getting from point A to B, including cabs, uber, walking distance, local transport, etc. It also shows you if the journey is accesible, if there are any disturbances and which carriage/entry/exit you should take for the fastest route.

Uber: If you want to take an Uber it's a bit different than in your city: Uber drivers are not allowed to use their own cars, but special black Uber cars. I haven't used Uber within Berlin so far yet. With the App you can also use the red e-bikes and red e-scooters branded with JUMP. If you're not an Uber Member yet, feel free to use the following link to sign up and get a 10€ balance for your first three rides: https://www.uber.com/invite/w1rzjd

FreeNow: If you want to use cabs, the easiest way ordering one via App is FreeNow. The app also works in different cities all over Europe and as there are more cabs than Uber cars within Berlin, this option might be faster than Uber. If you want to sign app with FreeNow, feel free to use the following link: (App currently not working)

Clever Shuttle: This app connects you with electric cars only, it works like a shared Uber (so you might have a stranger on your ride), but the other passengers will never see your destination (I heard that's different from Uber), so it's safer and you actually do something good about the environment to. If you want to try it, feel free to use the following code to sign up - you'll get a ballance of 10€: 9oxujh

Shared bike services: There are a handful of services offering a shared bike system; I’ve never used one of these besides the UBER/Jump one, so I can’t really tell how they’re working and if they’re expensive of not. If you want to do a little research yourself: Donkey Republic, Mobike, Deezer, Lime - are four providers who come directly into my mind. There are also some escooter services like Lime, Voi and Tier.

Happy Cow: You’re vegan and you want to check where you can grab some food or you’re looking for a vegan restaurant / vegan options / a vegan supermarket? Check out Happy Cow, - descriptions for all the places are usually in English!

When it comes down to food: Don't expect to get served tab water for free when you're at a restaurant. It's not a thing within Germany. We also don't do refills on soft drinks either. When ordering water, make sure you mention if you want to get it with or without gas, to avoid disappointment. (We live our fizzy water, folks!) It's a common thing to split the bill when you're having food with friends. We don't have the requirement to tip in restaurants and bars like in the US, but if you're satisfied 10% are the standard.

Local Transport / BVG

While BVG doesn't run S-Bahn or local trains, they are covered by the website and can be used with the same tickets.

BVG's customer service, ☏ +49 30 19449. If you don't know how to get somewhere, or how to get home at night, BVG's customer service number. Most U-Bahn and some S-Bahn stations have call points from which you can contact customer service directly.

Some BVG buses and tram lines run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

TicketsThe public transport system in Berlin (U-, S-Bahn, bus, tram, regional rail) uses a common ticket system based on zones (zone A, B and C). You are unlikely going beyond zone A and B, except on trips to Potsdam or to Schönefeld Airport (SXF). The border between zones A and B is the S-Bahn Ring (see here). Zone C includes trips to and within Potsdam.

The following tickets can be used for single journeys:

Single Ticket. The standard single journey ticket. It is valid for any travel within two hours of validation, in a single direction, within the appropriate fare zones. There is no limit to transfers. Return journeys are not allowed. Price: Berlin AB €2.80 (reduced €1.70); Berlin ABC €3.40 (reduced €2.50).

4-trip ticket (4 Fahrten Karte). This gives you 4 single trip tickets at a cheaper cost. Price: Berlin AB €9.00 (reduced €5.60). Short trip (Kurzstrecke).

For a single journey you can buy a cheap Kurzstrecke for €1.70, but this is only valid for 3 stops on the U-Bahn or S-Bahn (transfers permitted) or 6 stops on buses or trams (no transfers). The stations included in a short tip ticket are indicated on schedules posted at bus and tram stops.

Several options are available for unlimited travel: Day Ticket (Tageskarte). A day ticket for one person. Worth it if you are travelling more than two trips a day. Valid until 03:00 the next morning, not 24 hours! Price: Berlin AB €7 (reduced €4.70); Berlin ABC €7.70 (reduced €5.30).

Small Group Day Ticket AB (Kleingruppen-Tageskarte). A day ticket valid for up to five people. For groups of three or more, this ticket is cheaper than individual day tickets. Price: Berlin AB €19.90, Berlin ABC €20.80.

7-Day-Ticket AB (7-Tagekarte). A ticket valid for seven days. Price: Berlin AB €30, Berlin ABC €37.50.

Berlin CityTourCard. Ticket valid for all public transport services in Berlin, Potsdam and the surrounding area (depending on the covered zones) and a discount card for many tourist attractions; available in several different versions: 48 hours AB €17.40; 72 hours AB €24.50; 5 days AB €31.90. Add a few euros if you want to go to Potsdam (fare zone ABC). A folded leaflet with inner city map and an overview of the S-Bahn and U-Bahn railway networks of Berlin is included. Can be bought at ticket machines and various sales points (Berlin airports, larger train stations, hotels or online).

Berlin WelcomeCard. Unlimited travel with all methods of public transport for the validity of the ticket; save up to 50% on more than 200 tourist and cultural highlights; handy guide in pocket book format with insider tips and tour suggestions; city plan for Berlin and Potsdam and a network plan for public transport. Can be bought at various sales points (Berlin airports, larger train stations, hotels or online).

Tickets valid for only A and C are available as well, which you might need for a single trip to Schönefeld Airport from somewhat out of the way lodgings. There is only one way to get a ticket only valid in A: Deutsche Bahn offers "City Tickets" as an add-on for their long distance train tickets and in Berlin those are only valid for a single trip inside the A zone.

Reduced fares apply for children 6 to 14. Children under 6 ride free.

Purchasing tickets Tickets can be purchased in several ways. Upon arrival at the different Berlin airports, some tickets can be purchased at the tourist desk. All tickets are available at vending machines at the airports, U- and S-Bahn platforms, and passengers may also use the vending machines operated by DB at long-distance and regional railway stations to purchase the same. English and other European languages are available. You can also purchase them on the BVG app via Paypal/Credit Card, but unfortunately this app isn’t available in English yet.

Really important: Before the journey starts tickets must be validated by stamping them at the yellow or red boxes on the platforms, in buses or trams. In case of inspection, a ticket that is not stamped is invalid. (Nevertheless, if you buy a ticket directly from a bus or tram driver, it won't need stamping). Getting caught with an invalid ticket = 60€ fee; never pay this fee in cash; it’s illegal for ticket officers to charge you in cash!!

Arriving in Berlin

When arriving at Schönefeld Airport (SXF), you’ll need to buy a ticket that valid for all three zones (ABC) to get into the center. You can either buy a single ride ticket for ABC or you buy the ticket you think you’ll need for the time of your stay (7 day ticket or similar) for ABC and purchase an additinal ticket for the C zone (1,60€). You can take either a red Regional train or a S-Bahn into the city center; your ticket is valid in both. Just ask Citymapper for the next conncetion!

When arriving at Tegel Airport (TXL), you’ll need to take the bus (TXL Express) to get to the city center. Please note it’s a regular bus, not a special airport shuttle with lots of luggage space. So if you are a group or you have lots of lagguage, maybe think about sharing a cab or something similar. If you decide on taking the bus tho, Tegel is within the B zone, so you can just get your regular ticket. Also note, there are ticket machines and ticket offices at the airport, you might want to use them instead of getting your ticket from the bus driver. Take this bus to Berlin HBF / Berlin main station and continue your journey from here via train / bus.

What to do in Berlin during your stay? Here are my top 10 recommendations:

Ramones Museum: This place might be part of the official Lost Evenings programm as Flo (owner) and Frank know each other and Frank played a couple of times in their old location. They have a bar and serve breakfast, cake, coffee, and alcohol from 10 am til 10 pm. You’ll be able to purchase Ramones merch, you’ll be able to visit the Ramones Museum part and you’ll be able to check out all the photos and signatures of all the bands who played there or visited the place. It’s one of my favourite places, so you better be nice to the staff there (they all speak english really well!!)

Alexanderplatz: Don’t go up the TV tower! I’ll tell you my favourite secret spot: Go to the Park Inn hotel, go through their entrance, turn left and go straight to the lifts. Take the lift to the topmost floor and follow their signs to the terrace (you’ll have to climb 1-2 more floors on the stairs). You’ll pay 4€/person and you’ll get a wonderful view all over Berlin, directly in front of the TV tower in a height of 120m. There’s also a bar up there if you want a coffee or beer.

Eastside Gallery: When in Berlin, you need to see THE WALL, don’t you? There’s a huge part of the wall close to the Spree and close to the Lost Evening site. It’s called the Eastside Gallery and it’s painted by many different artists from all over. If you want to dig a bit more into history, you can take the M10 tram from Warschauer Straße (close to the Eastside Gallery) and take it all the way until Bernauer Straße. Here’s another huge part of the wall and some more info about it. And while taking the M10, you’ll have a great way of seeing different parts of Berlin on your way. But be aware, during the evening, this line becomes some kind of party train.

Brandenburg Gate / Holocaust Memorial / Reichstag / Siegessäule - These places are all located close to each other and you can easily reach them while starting from Berlin main station. They’re four of the most touristy places in the city, but if it’s your first time, you might wanna give it a go? You can also climb up the Staircase of Siegessäule to get a full panoramo view of the city; it’s worth it, but the staircase is super narrow and there’s no lift!

Museums Insel & Berliner Dom: Close to Alexanderplatz you’ll find the Museums Insel - and built in island with many museums, which I haven’t visited yet myself. But if you’re the museums person, you might wanna give it a go!? The Dom is close by and an impressive cathedral in the middle of the city.

Check Point Charlie: First time in Berlin? You probably want to get your photo taken in front of the world famous border crossing in Berlin. During the day you’ll find people dressed up as American Soliders in front of it too.

Flughafen Tempelhof: Visit the outdoor part of our now closed airport in the center of the city. The place of the famous Luftbrücke, where planes started to drop supllies into the East Berlin zone. There are tour through the aiport building, which you have to register for in advance, but you can walk freely on the airfield and you’ll see many people walking there during the day, or riding their bikes, or do any other sorts of sports. It’s a place for picnics, for haning around, it can be really lovely once the weather gets better. 

tbc

[raintransfers10]

Bodrum Milas Airport Transfers

Bodrum airport transfers are something that most tourists try to avoid with the cost being very high. However, finding an affordable transfer is not as difficult as it seems. The best way to find a cheap transfer is to read reviews for different companies. You should also check to see if there are any promotions or discounts.

If you're looking for convenient and reliable Bodrum Milas Airport Transfers, then u can find lot of agencies . Find out about Bodrum airport taxi transfers and how you can arrange a taxi from Bodrum airport to your destination of choice, whether it's a hotel or any other location in Bodrum. We offer fixed fares to all destinations in and around Bodrum.

Bodrum is a city in Turkey. It is one of the most popular spots for tourists, especially in the summer. This seaside city has a number of beaches, but the most famous is Kısık Beach. It is a popular tourist destination and is quite close to historical sites and landmarks. The climate is mild and the people are very hospitable. If you are planning a trip in the summer, make sure to go to this beautiful coastal city. It has few places to stay, but many beaches.The sea is shallow & clear. Boats can't enter the beach, so you can swim safely. You can watch Bodrum Castle from the beach.

TheBodrum airport transfers and Bodrum Milas airport transfers  operates quickly and safely.

Bodrum is a beautiful place! It's where I go to get away from it all and relax. Having been to Turkey a few times, I can say that Bodrum is one of the most beautiful places with beautiful people. The resort area has great restaurants, bars, and hotels. I stayed at the Palazzo Barbaros, which had a pool and a view of the sea. You could kayak in the sea and then come back to the pool to swim! It was a great vacation!

If you are planning to visit Bodrum, you can either choose to rent a car or a driver from the airport or you can arrange Bodrum airport transfers. It is actually very easy to arrange transfers from Bodrum airport. All you have to do is call the taxi company or a minibus company. They come and pick you up. Then they will drop you off wherever you want to go!

You have the right to get information about all the services Bodrum airport transfers have to offer you. We strongly advise you to get this information before you plan to leave for your holiday. In order to get to your destination of choice as quickly as possible and in the safest way, Bodrum airport transfers will take you to your accommodation by plane, boat, rental car, taxi or minibus.

Bodrum airport transports are a convenient way to travel to and from your destination. People often make the mistake of booking their taxi in advance. In most circumstances, it is more convenient to get an airport transfer. The reason for this is that you can book an airport transfer at the last minute and you won't have to travel with a bunch of people that are going to the same place as you. You'll save a lot of money if you book a Bodrum airport transfer as well. In fact, you'll be able to save up to 30% if you book a transfer at the last minute!

For More Info: Antalya Airport Transfers

bodrum milas airport transfer

[quantumrpg]

NAME: Kathryn Atkins AGE: 31 SPECIES: Human (Dormant Werewolf) OCCUPATION: Adult Film Star YEAR OF DEPARTURE: 2016, end of year RESIDENT FOR… two years FACECLAIM: Diane Guerrero

t i m e  i s  a n  i l l u s i o n,  b u t  n o t  o u r  s t o r i e s…

Thick humidity and patches of moss covered her childhood home. It was old, barely standing since it’s purchase in the early 1900s. In Delight, the hottest spot was a run down creek with empty beer bottles tossed between a few reckless teenagers. The small town barely held three hundred in its population. Her father worked in construction while her mother stayed at home to mold her children into model Evangelists. Between double shifts and late nights, Maria wasn’t tending of her children. So long as they remained well-behaved and docile, she didn’t make the effort. Instead, a string of different friends ventured to her room. She never caught their names.

A lover of God and extremely well read, the brunette would remain seated on the front row of service each Sunday. While her brother waved an acceptance letter from Harvard, Kat sat in the Arkansas musk near Wolf Creek with a stolen cigarette. Once Rob left, there wasn’t anyone to guide her. The role of both parent and sibling whisked away on a full ride to become a doctor. She didn’t admit the twinge of jealousy that twisted in her gut. He got to leave, but not many did. Her grades were mediocre in comparison. Everything was. The only way she could thrive past her brother’s shadow was through theater.

Maria hyper focused near the end of high school to ensure her daughter thrived. It was a double edge pressure. Kat would make qualms against her mother’s adultry to get away with what she wanted. Exhausted from the peering looks from her mother and the aggravated tone of her father’s as his greasy hands clenched on his fifth beer, Kathryn gave in. After applying around to different universities, the brunette merely waited on her decision. She was never necessarily passionate about school, despite her academic achievements. The ringing leader was NYU. She decided to take a trip, staying with her brother as he showed her around the campus. It was almost too good to be true - - - away from their soul eating parents, living on their own, and creating a new life for themselves. She accepted the offer.

She returned home with a newfound motivation towards high school graduation. After an after party near the outskirts of town, Kat and her best friend, Roy broke into private property. It was a drunken idea to create crop circles that ended with a gun pointed between a bottle of everclear. Roy was shot out of self defense, despite being unarmed. Rather than stay by her injured friend, the teenager stumbled drunk through corn husks until authorities stopped her by the main road. She was thrown into a squad car as the investigation continued. Eventually, it was swept under the rug.

As the summer drew to a close, Kat settled into an undergraduate degree of pre-med biology. Her first year at university felt like a hiccup. She finally settled into what her parents wanted, but none of it felt right. In a skew of finding herself, she went out on a limb. Her first job in college was nude photography. It lined her up for other opportunities aside from a wannabe SoHo magazine. The photography was just side money at first. She couldn’t afford her medication through the university insurance, and needed some way to pay for room and board. It wasn’t until her second semester at NYU that she dropped off the grid completely. She cut off all contact from her parents and anyone back home. Her photography progressed into a career in adult film. It fulfilled the checklist in her life: acting, fame, and money. She bounced between traveling around the nation and keeping up with contract jobs in porn. Bouncing from her girlfriend’s apartment, she hitched a ride with a band. Washable was on the rise, stationed on their second studio album. She bummed in the bus for the second half of their tour before stopping back in Los Angeles. 

From Los Angeles to New York City, Kat got a taste of what it was like to feel herself. She soon became a pillar in the adult community – striking a name recognizable almost anywhere. Between the twelve hour sets and hectic atmosphere in her friend group, she slowly slipped from recreational to substance abuse. It started off with prescription, popping a few Xans when she was wound tight. Then, it was almost daily. It was an issue well hid even from her current relationship. New York offered more than anything in LA. She kept her head down and worked hard on sets. In the string of highs and lows, she ended up hooking up with a familiar face from Washable. Rather than keep it casual, it eventually progressed to a full fledged relationship. The star juggled both until one merely favored over the other. As she progressed in the new relationship, so did old demons. He never mentioned her use and she mentioned his. Drinks and pills ran together well until it slipped down the wormhole. Nearing a year celebration of their relationship, Kat fell into heroin. It was cheap and easy to curb stress. It was the high she sought after, warmth gathered in a calm sleep. It should have worked well. She did what she could to hide her use from Jake. It all ended with dead eyes locking as she stretched in a tub. A spoon and a bundle was all the evidence he needed. Rather than confront, he left the apartment with a duffle bag. 

He was supposed to come back. She focused on the same voicemail for weeks as the come downs were harsher. She couldn’t stop, but the police knocked on her door. His friend, Silas filed a missing persons report. There were never any leads, but vague surveillance footage. It was as if the man simply disappeared. Kat plunged further in her use, only finding clarity when a pregnancy test pinged positive. She didn’t have a choice, but get clean. She forced herself through detox and religiously attended doctor appointments. A new start was born. She tried to focus solely on a child, hoping that everything else tied to. She hoped that a body would show up, or at least, him. It was a false hope that lead to a self concluded closure. 

She married, though the love wasn’t genuine. It offered a better chance for her newborn. Jonah was a focal point in her life. It was clear only seven months into the marriage that it wouldn’t last. Clarke wanted a larger family, determined to coax her out of sex work as a stay at home mother. He pleaded for her to consider her family, guilting every opportunity she returned to work. The final strike was a crack of her head while her son cried in the living room. She scooped the toddler and a duffle bag. The next day a lawyer served papers. It took months for Clarke to make a move. He refused to sign them without talking it through, while Kat refused to talk with him without a lawyer present. Eventually, the dotted line was signed. There was never a fight for custody, which only confirmed her suspicion that the man never considered Jonah as his. 

Throughout the divorce, she held onto friends. The tight knit group of Washable, coworkers, and brother was a large key for her sobriety. She clocked in three years as she considered the idea of dating once more. She kept it on the back burner as she started casually seeing an old friend. Jer was brash and confident. It was a strange change from her usual, but determined to keep them loose in terms of a relationship. She didn’t want anything after Clarke. Both of them needed to concentrate on their sobriety.

Her first relapse was six months into the eventual relationship. Breaking off four years was the hardest one to keep in the scale of a bathroom. It was hard to stretch her manipulation, breaking on the first call from a pseudo father. Another week and she was out of detox with Jonah convinced he spent a fun week over at his grandparents. It was difficult to maintain a relationship when the other half couldn’t remain sober. It only grew worse when Jer had tour. Things broke off quickly after an explosive argument and a mutual understanding. Another year stretched as her career progressed to more directing than acting itself. No one was keen to hire an addict for major projects. It took over a year to gain any project longer than a month. 

Before the #MeToo movement, the adult film industry generally swept everything under the rug. Once Kat approached the company with an assault complaint against one of her directors, they were quick to cut ties with her. She was dropped from the company and much of her contracts were burned. A lawsuit slowly followed from staff on set with similar allegations.

She slipped into a gas station restroom, a stop on her way to pick up her son from elementary. She stepped out of the restroom and continued onto the school as normal. When she couldn’t find her son, a frantic call from the police shoved her into the waiting room of the station. It took over a day to realize that her son wasn’t actually missing, but in a different space completely. 

It’s been a little over a year since she slipped into the liminal space. Her apartment is bare bones. Though her portfolio is still available, she struggled to find another job in the city. It took a few months and a lesser rate than her usual. She hasn’t moved past the idea that she’s stuck there. It took months for her to leave the apartment, forcing some semblance of a life. She couldn’t slip back down the hole, despite alcohol being an easier vice.

t e l l  m e,  a r e  w e  a  p r o d u c t  o f  w h o  w e  u s e d  t o  b e?

Lothric and brash, Kat packs a majority of her personality in wisecrack jokes, anger, and spontaneity. She is generally distant in personal conversations unless she’s familiar with you. She’s messy with relationships, breaking them off as easily as she gained them. She likes to pretend she’s enigma, but she’s really just an inked girl with a two dimensional personality with a bag of hot Cheetos.