#in the process of making the other references for sausage and scott

[crumbsispoggers]

new life Owen origins! the sculk and the copper golem!

[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

i had a thought, dear (however scary)

A/N: I have been writing this since I finished aiahs and it's FINALLY DONE! get ready for me heavily projecting onto c!scott for about 4k words and some random lore sprinkled in! also things do get mildly suggestive at one point (and scott makes more than one suggestive comment but that's nothing new) but it's not a super big thing. otherwise this fic is mostly fluff and healing! (title is from Like Real People Do by Hozier)

Warnings: injury recovery, flirting, food, teasing, kissing, crying, self-worth issues, emotional conversations, touch-starvation, hugs, cuddling, suggestive themes 

Summary: In the aftermath of being corrupted, Scott is determined to make sure his friends and his... well, his Jimmy, are safe. However Jimmy is a bit more concerned with making sure Scott takes time to heal first. But healing is not an easy or fast process. (a missing scene between chapters 14 and 15 of my fic "an icarus and his sun," you may need to read that fic first for this one to make sense!)

AO3 Link

-

Scott wasn’t sure how he was still standing, honestly. Fatigue was beginning to creep in on him in waves, and Jimmy’s earlier insistence on making sure that he had some actual food was beginning to make sense now. His wings were drooping, and he was clinging to Jimmy like a lifeline- but this was more important. They had to be able to defend themselves against Fwhip, Sausage, and the corruption. He could push through a little sleepiness and hunger to make sure they would be safe. However Jimmy- sweet, wonderful, charming Jimmy- saw right through him.

“I think we need to take a break,” Jimmy blurted, interrupting him partway through asking Lizzie about the possibility of a canal or moat system to defend their empires.

“Bored already?” Scott teased, although his voice was a little rough from talking so much, and there was unmistakable exhaustion in his tone.

“I’m not bored, Scott. It’s just that you can barely stand right now, and don’t think I’ve forgotten that you haven’t eaten anything yet,” Jimmy said sternly. Scott chuckled nervously as several sets of concerned eyes turned to him.

“I’m fine, really! This is more important anyway,” Scott tried to protest, but Gem was already making her way over, gently grabbing the arm that used to be infected and placing her hand over the scar. A faint purple glow emitted from her, and Scott felt a slight tingling sensation before it disappeared as Gem drew back her hand.

“The corruption is gone, but you’re still recovering from other injuries. Let’s head to the apothecary, some rest and food would do you some good- in fact, I think that would all do us some good, it’s been a stressful few days,” Gem said firmly. The others nodded in agreement, Shelby cheerfully chiming in to say that she happened to have some mushrooms on her for stew, Pearl joining in and offering some crops from her empire. The group made their way out of the hidden meeting room, Scott, Jimmy, and Gem slowly trailing behind. Now both Jimmy and Gem were supporting him as they walked, and Scott was a little too embarrassed to thank them for the help.

“So who made you my doctor anyhow?” Scott settled for instead, teasing Gem a little.

“Since you up and collapsed in the middle of my empire and gave us all a heart attack,” Gem shot back cheerfully.

“It’s not like I chose to get ambushed and corrupted,” Scott muttered.

“I know. But you did show up to my empire for help, so actually I think you made me your doctor,” Gem teased back with a grin.

“I think you’re losing this round, sunshine,” Jimmy murmured.

“I can’t believe I’m being bullied by my- erm. My… I can’t believe you’re bullying me,” Scott finally settled on, unsure of how to refer to Jimmy. Sure, they had kissed (a lot), but did that mean they were courting now? Was referring to Jimmy as his partner too fast, considering they had just figured out their feelings for one another? And calling Jimmy his “boyfriend” didn’t feel quite right either, it felt too casual for the connection they had between them.

“Oh uh. Yep- I’m definitely uh. Yeah,” Jimmy rambled, face flushing pink at the way Scott had stumbled over what to call him. Gem let out a sigh.

“How is this worse than when you two used to argue all the time,” she muttered. Scott and Jimmy both let out various indignant responses, but Gem only smiled and shook her head as she continued helping Scott to the apothecary.

When they arrived there, the smells of a vegetable stew were already permeating the air. Everyone was gathered in the small kitchen area of the apothecary. Pearl was hard at work kneading some dough, Katherine and Shelby were standing at the stove and stirring the stew, and Pixl and Lizzie were laughing as they tried to dust some flour off of Joel. Jimmy chuckled fondly at the sight, guiding Scott to sit down at the table where Pearl was working before helping Lizzie and Pixl. Gem let out a sigh that was half exasperated and half fond, sitting down beside Scott.

“I really can’t leave any of you alone for more than a minute, can I?” she teased.

“Joel got a little overzealous with the flour, that’s all,” Pearl replied with a chuckle, setting the lump of kneaded dough in a pan and turning to put it in the oven. Scott looked over towards Joel again, unable to keep the fond smile off of his face as Jimmy only managed to get flour on himself as he tried to brush it off of Joel. That smile turned into a short laugh of amusement at Lizzie’s indignant shriek when Jimmy wiped the flour off on her sleeve.

“Soup’s on, lover boy!” a voice chirped, startling Scott slightly as he turned to see Shelby grinning at him. She set a steaming bowl of stew in front of him and Gem, before happily flouncing back to the stove to get stew for the rest of them. He took a small spoonful of the stew, not wanting to eat too fast and upset his stomach, and couldn’t help the contented sigh at how cozy the atmosphere felt. Jimmy soon sat at his side with his own bowl of stew, and Scott instinctively shifted his wing out to drape over Jimmy’s shoulders. Pearl gave him a knowing smile, her own wings shifting slightly, and Scott flushed and looked down at his stew.

“Why’re you smiling at Scott like that and why did it make him blush, is there something we can be teasing him about?” Joel asked as he sat down, a mischievous grin on his face.

“No! Why do you feel the need to tease me anyway?” Scott protested.

“Oh come on, you’re part of the family now! Which means I get to embarrass you,” Joel replied, somehow managing to grin brighter. Scott nearly dropped his spoon.

“I’m… what?” Scott asked in disbelief.

“Well, you and Jimmy do seem pretty attached, and he’s always been like family to me, so that makes you family too!” Joel answered with a shrug.

“Well- I’m not- we-” was all Scott could manage to get out, ducking his head down to hide his blush.

“Well Joel, it looks like you didn’t even need to know about the forms of affection winged beings use to embarrass Scott!” Pearl teased. Scott’s head shot up then.

“Pearl!” he squawked, feathers puffing up indignantly.

“Aww, Scott! Is that what the wing thing is about?” Jimmy asked, gently running a hand over Scott’s feathers. Scott just about shuddered and leaned into his touch right then and there, but he was extremely aware that all of their friends were sitting at the table with them. Pearl already had an eyebrow raised, being the only other winged person in the room who definitely knew what was going on. So he took Jimmy’s hand, squeezing it gently as he pulled it away from his feathers.

“Sorry, I uh… I haven’t preened in a bit, my feathers are kind of a mess. But yes, that’s what the wing thing is about. It’s common among winged beings- elf, human, or otherwise- to tuck loved ones under their wings,” Scott explained, curling his wing a bit tighter over Jimmy’s shoulders. A soft, adoring expression took over Jimmy’s face as he blushed slightly, and he placed his free hand over his heart.

“That’s about the cutest thing I’ve ever heard,” Jimmy cooed. Scott felt his face burning, suddenly finding his bowl of stew very interesting to look at.

“Blech, I think I almost miss those two arguing compared to- hey, ow!” Joel’s sentence got cut off by a yelp as Lizzie elbowed him sharply.

“It’s not as if we’re much better, babe,” she hummed with a smirk.

“That’s a good point, the first time Lizzie kissed Joel on the cheek he was incoherent for about a week,” Jimmy piped up. The table erupted into laughter as Joel’s face flushed as he gestured uselessly before finding the words to speak.

“THAT is an exaggeration-”

“Not really,” Lizzie interrupted in a mutter.

“AND we are supposed to be teasing you two about being sappy, not me!” Joel finished, crossing his arms and looking rather like a pouty toddler.

“I think that ship has sailed, Joel,” Scott replied with a laugh.

“You’re infuriating. Jimmy, you can do so much better than him,” Joel fumed, although there was no real malice in his tone. Jimmy chuckled fondly, then turned his head to look at Scott with nothing short of pure adoration in his eyes.

“I honestly don’t think I can,” he said softly. It felt like Scott’s world came to a screeching halt with those words, and distantly Scott wondered if he was dead, if they were all dead and this was some bizarre afterlife where everything was cozy and perfect. But it was real. Scott was alive, and he could tell through the fatigue that had settled deep into his bones, the dull aches he felt from fighting the mobs a few days ago, the uncomfortable itchiness of his feathers in desperate need of preening, and most importantly through the warmth that was Jimmy nestled beside him and holding his hand.

“I- you- you’re impossible,” Scott managed to get out. Jimmy just chuckled, squeezing his hand before letting go to continue eating his stew.

“That sounds more like the Scott and Jimmy we know,” Pixl commented with a laugh of his own. The laughter that sounded from the group as a result filled Scott with warmth that settled deep in his bones. The group of them had been through a lot, but maybe, just maybe, they would all start to heal. Together.

-

The evening wound down eventually, and slowly the other rulers left to return to their own empires. Gem had offered to let them stay in the Crystal Cliffs for the night, but each of them politely refused, saying that they had been away from their empires for too long. All of them except for Jimmy, that is. Gem was not allowing Scott to leave the Crystal Cliffs until he was completely back on his feet, and by extension Jimmy wasn't leaving the Crystal Cliffs. And he was being extremely gentle yet firm in making sure Scott was taking care of himself. Scott wasn't sure if it was endearing or irritating, but he definitely wasn't complaining about Jimmy sticking so close to him, an arm around his waist as he helped him to bed. Scott was about ready to just collapse face first into the sheets, but Jimmy sat him on the side of the bed with a stern look.

"You mentioned earlier that your wings haven't been preened in a bit- I might not know much about winged folk, but I do know that messy feathers are uncomfortable for you guys," Jimmy said firmly, hands on his hips as he looked down at Scott. Scott chuckled sheepishly, stretching out one wing and beginning to meticulously comb through his feathers, realigning them and picking out bits of dirt and dust. He was careful near his golden prosthetic feathers, making sure they were still properly attached. Soon enough, one wing was finished, and it was then Scott realized Jimmy was watching him. He glanced up and saw Jimmy sitting in a chair near the bed, and when Scott saw him staring, Jimmy quickly looked away.

"Would you like to help me?" Scott offered before he could really think about it. Preening was something extremely personal for winged beings, and if his parents were here, they surely would have lectured Scott about moving too fast with a man who he had barely started courting. If they had even started courting, that is. They hadn't had a proper conversation about it yet, and frankly Scott wasn't sure if he wanted to. He liked the way things were now, all soft and gentle and caring. He was afraid of ruining it if he tried to make it into something more serious. Yet here he was, asking Jimmy to be part of an extremely intimate practice.

"Are you sure? I don't know anything about wings," Jimmy asked softly.

"I'll teach you," Scott replied, scooching over and patting the bed. Jimmy slowly made his way over, as if Scott was a skittish animal that would run away at the slightest movement. Once he sat down, Scott stretched out his wing and guided Jimmy’s hands to his feathers.

"You'll let me know if I do something wrong, right?" Jimmy asked, voice trembling ever so slightly with nerves.

"Of course. Now see how some parts of the feathers are going the wrong way? That's because the barbs and barbules need to be realigned- they're simple enough to smooth out, just don't pull too hard," Scott explained. Jimmy did as he was told, albeit clumsily, but it made Scott sigh pleasantly all the same. He hadn't had someone else preen his wings since he was small, and to have someone doing it now was odd, but in a good way. Time seemed to pass slowly and syrupy, and Scott began to feel pleasantly warm. He just about dozed off too, until Jimmy was done and drew his hand back, Scott jolting slightly from the loss of contact and just barely being able to hold back the whine he wanted to let loose.

"You okay?" Jimmy asked with a soft chuckle.

"Mmm… yeah. Thank you for helping me," Scott replied, voice low and sounding like he had just woken up after a pleasant sleep.

"Of course," Jimmy replied, voice barely above a whisper. Scott then realized how close the two of them were, noses practically touching. There was a breath, and Jimmy leaned in for a slow, soft kiss that was over before Scott could really enjoy it. Jimmy pulled away for half a second, before they both dove back in for a kiss that was firmer than the first one, but still soft and sweet. Jimmy's arms wrapped around him, and Scott clutched back at him desperately. Scott felt like he was going to die if Jimmy stopped kissing him, stopped holding him like he was the most treasured thing in the world. He wasn’t completely sure if he deserved that treatment, but he definitely wasn’t one to complain as Jimmy’s hands brushed past his wings and Scott shivered before he melted into his touch. Jimmy made an intrigued sound in the back of his throat before deliberately and gently trailing his fingers over freshly preened feathers, and Scott felt borderline lightheaded at the touch, letting out a gasp into the kiss. Jimmy kept going with his gentle touch through Scott’s feathers, and it was both too much and not enough. Scott kissed Jimmy desperately, roughly even- but Jimmy gentled it every time, sending Scott’s heart fluttering as he felt warm, safe, and cared for. It didn’t make sense. What in Aeor’s name had Scott done to earn this, to capture the attention of a man to whom he had done nothing but hurt?

He didn’t even realize he had begun crying until Jimmy pushed him away, looking at him with concern. He drew his hands away from Scott’s wings, and an involuntary sob burst its way past Scott’s lips in response. Jimmy quickly put his hands back where they were, smoothing over his feathers soothingly. Scott sighed in relief, melting into the touch before burying his face in Jimmy’s chest, not wanting to look him in the eyes as he tried to stop crying.

“Hey hey hey- sunshine, look at me. What’s going on? Was I too much?” Jimmy murmured, moving one hand to tilt Scott’s head up to look at him. A thumb gently brushed away a tear rolling down Scott’s cheek. Some deep dark part of Scott suddenly snapped- he didn’t deserve to be treated so gently, like he was worth something. But he couldn’t say that out loud- because what if Jimmy agreed with that dark part of himself? What if he agreed and realized he was wasting his time with Scott? So he didn’t admit that to Jimmy… but what he said was maybe almost worse.

“I’m not made of glass, y’know. I’m not gonna break if you touch me,” Scott snapped. A flash of hurt came over Jimmy’s face, before it smoothed down into soft concern.

“Scott, I kissed you and now you’re having a mental breakdown. Think that means me being gentle is a little necessary here,” Jimmy said lightly. Scott instantly felt horrible for snapping at Jimmy like that, and curled back down into Jimmy’s chest so that he didn’t have to meet his eyes. Yet again, Jimmy gently prodded him out of his hiding place, and Jimmy couldn’t help but chuckle at Scott’s resulting offended expression.

“You’re really gonna make me talk about my issues?” Scott huffed indignantly. Jimmy shook his head fondly.

“Scott, I don’t know if you remember, but the last time we didn’t talk about our issues, you ended up half-dead and corrupted,” Jimmy pointed out with a nervous laugh. Scott let out a shaky sigh of defeat, wiping away any last tears on his face.

“You… have a point,” he muttered.

“Glad you could see it my way. Now please tell me what happened so I know not to do whatever I did again,” Jimmy said with a sheepish smile. Scott blinked at him in surprise, confused for a few moments before he gathered his thoughts to reply.

“Jimmy, you… you didn’t do anything. You were wonderful, and I uh. I’m usually a little guarded when it comes to my wings, but with you- it um. It feels really nice when you touch them, which is… new for me. And I dunno, maybe that made me feel a little overwhelmed- but nothing you did made me cry. I think I just got in my own head a little,” Scott said softly. At his words, Jimmy started running his fingers through Scott’s feathers again, causing Scott to let out a pleasant sigh.

“You wanna elaborate on what happened in that head of yours?” Jimmy asked gently. He could have asked Scott for the world with that tenderhearted tone and careful touch of his, and Scott would have given it to him without question. So curse Jimmy for asking Scott to open up about something as icky and complicated as feelings. Scott let out a heavy sigh.

“I just don’t feel like I deserve this,” Scott said, voice barely above a whisper. Jimmy’s fingers froze in their movements, and he looked to Scott with his brow furrowed in concern.

“What are you talking about, sunshine?” Jimmy asked softly. Scott’s eyes drifted to the hand-shaped bruises that were still prevalent on Jimmy’s neck, and he could practically still feel Jimmy’s life fading away beneath his fingertips before Jimmy- sweet, wonderful, charming Jimmy- kissed him and saved them both. But it wasn’t just that. He could still see the confusion and heartbreak in Jimmy’s eyes during his fight with Joel at the House Blossom Ball, and then the anger and distrust when he all but banished Scott from his empire- even if those emotions were long gone.

“I hurt you,” was all Scott could manage to get out before he broke down crying again. Jimmy let him curl into his chest this time, holding him tightly as he pressed kisses to his hair between words of comfort.

“It’s all in the past now, Scott. We have each other now, it’s alright. I promise you it’s alright,” he soothed. Scott risked a peek up at Jimmy’s face, and saw nothing but genuine care and affection there.

“You keep promising that. That everything is alright- how can you be so sure?” Scott asked timidly. Jimmy let out a soft laugh.

“Because I have you. It’s like- it’s like I managed to catch a bit of sunshine between my hands, and even though I opened my hands, that ray of light stayed anyway. With you here with me… I feel like I could take on the whole world single-handedly. That’s how I know everything is alright,” Jimmy explained with a soft grin. Frankly, Scott found it a little ridiculous that Jimmy was comparing him to sunshine when Jimmy had a smile like that.

“That’s some dangerously optimistic thinking,” Scott commented dryly, but there was a smile growing on his lips and a teasing twinkle in his eyes.

“I am trying to compliment you,” Jimmy replied with a laugh. Scott couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as well.

“I know. And… thank you. For putting up with me,” Scott said with a soft sigh, wiping at his eyes. Jimmy laughed again, sounding a bit incredulous this time around.

“It’s not ‘putting up with’ you if I love you, Scott,” Jimmy said softly. Scott swore he felt his heart stop even as all the blood rushed to his face.

“You. You what?” Scott asked, voice barely above a whisper. Jimmy seemed to register what he had just said, face flaming red in an instant.

“Oh. Uh. I love you? Was that too quick to say? I mean, I’m not taking it back, I’m pretty sure I am completely, totally, irrevocably in love with you. I just… gosh this is all so new, I have no idea what I’m doing and I just told you that I love you even if we’ve only been together-” Scott cut off Jimmy’s rambling with a kiss. He blinked in surprise when Scott pulled away, looking so adorably baffled that Scott couldn’t help dropping another kiss onto his nose, giggling at how it scrunched up in irritation as a result.

“For the record, I think I love you too. Guess this means we're courting now, huh?" Scott replied with a grin. Jimmy let out a laugh.

"I dunno what else this would be if it wasn't courting," he got out between laughs.

"Allyship with benefits?" Scott teased. Jimmy just laughed harder, eyes squeezing shut as he did so. Aeor above, he was gorgeous. His laughter calmed down eventually, eyes fluttering open to gaze at Scott with an incredibly sappy expression.

"By cod, I love you," he confessed softly.

"Think you've mentioned that already," Scott chuckled.

"Just figured I'd remind you, sunshine," Jimmy replied with a kiss to his forehead. Scott opened his mouth to reply- but all that came out was a yawn. Jimmy chuckled at the sight.

"Guess we should get some sleep, huh?" Scott said with a chuckle of his own. Jimmy smirked playfully, causing Scott's heart to flutter.

"Inviting me to bed, King Scott? Think of the scandal," Jimmy said in a mock appalled tone. Scott laughed, before shifting his expression to something a bit more sultry.

"Well, what did you think I was doing this whole time, letting you touch my wings?" Scott purred. Jimmy’s face flushed, pulling back slightly.

"Wait. Was the preening thing uh… and me touching your feathers… ?" Jimmy trailed off, unsure of how to ask just how sensitive Scott's feathers were. Scott couldn't help it- he broke down laughing at Jimmy's bewildered expression. Jimmy looked offended for a moment, until Scott's laughter finally ceased.

"Sorry, your face was priceless, dear. And to answer your question, feathers for winged beings is kind of like hair. It certainly can be something more… intimate, but most times having someone else preen your wings is just comforting. Like someone brushing or playing with your hair," Scott explained with a soft smile.

"Well I'm glad to know I haven't accidentally done something scandalous. Although I think Pearl definitely knew what you were up to at dinner," Jimmy teased.

"You were the one who tried to touch my feathers at the table!" Scott protested.

"I didn't know the significance then, sunshine. And I think this argument is getting us nowhere, we should be sleeping," Jimmy said sternly. A smirk crept onto Scott’s face.

"Didn't know you were so eager to get into bed with me," Scott teased, even as he let Jimmy guide him to lay down. Jimmy rolled his eyes, although he was smiling as Scott nestled down to lay against his chest.

"Less talking, more sleeping. You need the rest," Jimmy murmured, pressing a kiss to Scott’s hair. Scott let out a pleasant hum, wings shifting to drape over Jimmy like a blanket in return for the kiss.

"If you say so. G'night, love," Scott murmured back, half asleep already just with the comforting hold Jimmy had on him.

"Night, sunshine," Jimmy replied, and with that, Scott drifted off to sleep, at peace with his love's arms around him- and slowly beginning to accept that he was worthy of him.

-

and it was like flowers blooming (aiahs-verse) taglist: @anty-kreatywna @beepa99 @devilwoodkitty18 @logosbottm @riobug 

general mcyt fic taglist: @corazon10000 @damiensaidno @franticfandomfanatic @gattonero17 @hetapeep41 @meowdy-pickles @space-ace123 @vyeoh 

[cannedcrow]

‘Flower Frost’ - An Empires SMP/Flower Husbands fanfic: Part IV, Thorn Apple

Part I: Amaranthus

Part II: Bramble

Part III: Oleander

A/N: Reblogs, thoughts, and critique are very appreciated! Lilacs mean 'first emotions of love', but can also be a sign of mourning. //TW: Vague reference to suicide.//

Thorn Apple - Deceitful charms, Disguise, I dreamt of thee.

In less than 24 hours since the first meeting, the 11 rulers found themselves once more gathered in the sun-dappled gazebo of House Blossom.

Jimmy sat in his usual place, not particularly listening as Gem explained what they'd discovered from their visit to Rivendell to her attendant audience. He'd felt sick ever since that damned visit. He'd thought that confirmation of some kind would alleviate his tension, but he'd only been left with more questions, more worry. Gem began to read Scott's letter, and his heart wrenched. When she'd finished speaking, there was a silence as the group processed what she'd said.

"So, he found some magic boots, cursed himself, gave everyone some kind of plague, froze our crops and his kingdom, and ran away? That's the gist of it, right?" The scathing voice was Count Fwhip.

Joel gave a defeated shrug as if to say 'he's not really wrong.'

The Copper King sighed. "Man, it's hard to see him as a good guy right now."

The Count sat up, a gleam of anger in his eye. "He's not the good guy. He caused a catastrophe with his goddamned selfishness and left us all to clean it up. How many deaths have there been in your kingdoms so far?” He cast a challenging eye over the others. “The fact that none of us have been infected is frankly a shock!"

"And," He continued, clearly warming to his subject, "I honestly don't even know about all this 'I left to save people' bullshit. For all we know, he just doesn't want to deal with it. Bets that he'll come back in a few months to see if everything's fine and he can be king again?"

His outburst was greeted by shocked silence, and Gem looked horrified at her brother's cruel words.

"How could you say that?" She whispered faintly.

For a moment, Fwhip looked guilty, then defiant.

"What?" he objected, standing and facing Gem. "What've I said that's wrong?"

Gem regathered herself, her emerald eyes cold and dangerous as she said "How could you know so little of the character of your fellow ruler?"

"Let's not forget that some of us don't really get to talk about bad guys," added Pearl, mildly.

The Count's gaze flitted to her coldly, but he didn't deign to reply.

Jimmy, who'd stayed silent only by courtesy of Lizzie's placating hand on his wrist, spoke up, trying valiantly to steady his words.

"Fwhip, didn't you hear that letter? The way he wrote it made it sound like he -" He faltered, then tried again, his voice quiet and cracked. "His letter makes it sound like he commi- like he's dead."

"What, and leave you alone with Sausage? No chance." Joel put in with mock incredulity, laughing when Jimmy flushed and Sausage grinned wolfishly.

Lizzie punched his arm. "Joel, can you pick your moments better?"

"I choose my moments excellently; I'm diffusing tension-" Lizzie hissed something indistinguishably threatening that included the words 'shut up' and 'divorce' to him, and he lapsed into silence with the air of a persecuted martyr.

Fwhip scowled at the interruption, and looked ready to continue his tirade when Shelby remarked coolly "As fascinating as I find Jimmy's love life, could we get back to the subject? Let me summarise: Scott gone, deadly plague, cursed boots, bizarre Winter hijinks."

"Yes, thank you Shrub," replied Katherine, running a weary hand through her ebony hair, and Fwhip sat back in his chair without a word.

Katherine began: "From his letter, it seems Scott doesn't want us searching for him-"

"I wonder why," muttered the Count disagreeably.

"Which means," She continued, with a warning glance at him, "Either he doesn't want to be found, whether for our own good or his, or he knows we won't be successful. To be blunt, we have to decide whether or not it's our top priority to find him. It could be a waste of time and effort if he -" She looked apologetic - "if he meant to die."

"Outside of emotional involvement, I think we need to concentrate on finding a way to stop the Winter Plague," declared Pearl, and there were some murmurs of agreement as she continued:

"As for Rivendell, I'm afraid their problems can't be solved until we find out more about the Winter Plague, same as for the rest of us. Scott hasn't left his kingdom any more helpless than it would be with him - he's placed his council in charge, so their leadership isn't a problem at the moment."

"And what about Scott?!" Jimmy objected furiously.

Gem agreed. "I think finding Scott is of vital importance. It's not as though all of us have to go, but we can't just accept him disappearing forever. It's the same as abandoning him."

"You want to look for him?" exclaimed Fwhip, aghast, "After what he did to-"

"Fwhip," She warned.

But Count Fwhip was past consoling. He stood again, roaring "HE COULD'VE KILLED YOU! FOR ALL WE KNOW HE STILL MIGHT!"

The other rulers glanced at each other, nonplussed, as the Count and the little wizard stared at each other, he with leather gloves braced on the table, she perched tentatively on the arm of her chair, tortured storm-blue eyes meeting hurt emerald.

Jimmy couldn't help noticing how frightening the man looked, sun glinting from the red goggles on his head, soot-blackened gloves tense with the clawed fingers inside, as though fighting to not express his rage.

"Uh, Gem?" Joey broke in tentatively, "What's he talking about?"

She ignored the Lost Emperor, keeping her eyes on Fwhips.

"I asked you not to say anything."

He looked away bitterly, shoulders sagging. "I'm sorry."

The wizard only sighed, and Jimmy could see how very weary she looked. As she gathered herself to explain, Count Fwhip fell back into his chair once more, elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"I haven't been quite honest with you all, but I suppose we need to be transparent during this time. As you all know, I have a school of magic, and Scott ... Scott visited, once, a few weeks ago, asking me for help, when he was just realising something was wrong. He didn't know about the sickness, just that he had developed some sort of ice magic that he couldn't control. I tried to help, but I couldn't. He was scared and angry, and he couldn't control what he was doing. He - he did something that hurt me." She drew down her hood, pulling forward a pale lock of hair that contrasted sharply with the rest of her copper tresses.

"I don’t know why it affected my hair, but that’s only part of it.”

Undoing the clasp of her lilac capelet, she let it fall and pulled aside the neck of her green dress. Just below where her collarbones ended, over her heart, was a curious mark marring the pale skin. It was as though she’d been stabbed by some short, ragged, imprecise instrument, and the resulting wound filled with molten glass.

“Ice,” she explained simply in response to the horrified exclamations that greeted her revelation.

“It doesn’t melt, you see, so it can’t heal. It feels as you’d expect it to- as though an ice shard was plunged into your skin, except it never stops being frozen, even when the rest of me is warm.”

In a businesslike manner, she threw her capelet about her shoulders again and clasped it.

“I’ve tried just about everything I can think of to get rid of it. I started with the usual methods, normal frost thawing spells and such, but that didn’t work. I took a draft of fire resistance and submerged myself in lava, and I even tried removing it with a fire aspect blade, but still no luck.”

“What the hell?!” Burst out Fwhip, raising his head. “You promised me you wouldn’t do anything stupid! That includes performing heart surgery on yourself with a burning knife!”

“Well, I had to do something,” she replied coolly. “Desperate times, desperate measures, you know?”

Her brother only shook his head in disbelief. “You are something else.”

Gem continued, “I’m sure you can see now why I wasn’t keen on telling you all. I didn’t want Scott to be persecuted as a monster.”

“As noble of you as that is, Gem,” remarked Sausage, “He does sound a bit volatile.”

Gem seemed to prickle like a cat, her green eyes sparking suddenly with furious tears. “Noble?” She hissed, “You think I care about being noble? Have you considered that perhaps I’ve seen and heard of enough people being demonised and killed for magic they couldn’t control?”

“It’s not his fault,” she said, brokenly. “We can’t choose our fates.”

With an air of patient resignation, The Copper King declared, “I have a feeling we’re not going to get much more discussion done today. We can’t make any sensible decisions with emotions running so high.”

Katherine agreed, gently. “We will meet again soon; I’ll send letters to inform you all of the time. Go to your people now. Look after them and yourselves.”

The meeting dissolved quietly. Fwhip moved immediately to Gem’s side, hugging her tightly and murmuring what must’ve been apologies.

Jimmy watched the two discreetly. He really cares about her, he thought, and suddenly understood the Count’s aggression towards Scott. How would I have felt if it’d been Lizzie? Or Lizzie, were it me?

As though summoned by his thoughts, Lizzie appeared beside him, accompanied by Joel. She looked troubled, tugging absently on a lock of her pale pink hair, while Joel kept his face unreadable. The three stood together, saying nothing, as they watched the others don elytra and take off into the darkening sky.

~

Jimmy slept fitfully. He dreamt he was in a large ballroom, echoing with happy conversation, careless laughter, and music. It must be, he thought, a fancy-dress ball, judging by the crowd's attire. He was in the middle of the dance floor, and couples swirled around him, like a stream parting for a stone. He caught a glimpse of Joel and Lizzie - Joel as a phantom in a sweeping cloak of white-rimmed storm-blue, a peridot-eyed half-mask over his face, and Lizzie as a fairy, gossamer wings dancing behind her as she laughed at something Joel had said.

“You look lost.”

Jimmy turned at the voice behind him to see a cyan-haired man holding out his taloned, grey-gloved hand in invitation. He was attired in a long white coat barred with charcoal and wore an exquisite, white-feathered mask in an owl’s likeness. Large white wings, also barred with grey, protruded from his back, and the long tail of the coat was fashioned to look like tail feathers.

With a friendly grin, Jimmy took the hand offered to him, and they began to dance.

“It’s basically cheating you know, wearing a snowy owl costume,” teased Jimmy. “You already have the wings.”

“Says the man who came without any costume at all,” replied his partner easily, a smile in his voice. “And that’s precisely why I did it - I thought I ought to complete the image.”

Then the ground was uneven beneath their feet. The crowded ballroom was a quiet, grassy hollow carpeted in wildflowers of all kinds, a shallow pool of clear water in the middle. The air was warm, sweet with honeysuckle, and interrupted only by an occasional songbird. Scott was humming a tune they danced to, eyes closed, in an unbuttoned blue shirt and jeans, a crown of lilacs in his hair.

The ballroom again. Sweeping gracefully around and around ... Scott had always been an excellent dancer, damn him. They chatted easily, and Scott, as ever, enjoyed making Jimmy blush with his casual flirting. Another dance ended, and they stood, still clasping hands, flushed and panting in exhilaration. Scott held him close, and Jimmy felt his heart staccato even more furiously as he moved to kiss him.

“Your mask!” He interjected, laughing. “Take off your mask, fool!”

Scott did as he was bid, lifting the owl mask to reveal a deathly pale countenance with nothing but clear, white ice where the whites and irises of his eyes should’ve shone warm blue. Jimmy felt his heart skip a beat in horror, and tried to wrench himself away, to no avail. Scott held him tightly, talons pricking his back.

“Why haven’t you found me?” Asked the apparition, accusing, heartbroken.

“I-I-“ Jimmy stammered, speechless.

“Am I to die alone? I died alone once in defeat, then once again in victory. Am I to die alone again? I‘m so tired of being cold.” The figure seemed suddenly fragile, delicate as new snow. No, no it was snow. As Jimmy pulled away again instinctively, he felt no resistance, and Scott crumbled away, a heap of snow marring the now empty ballroom. Jimmy’s stumbling footsteps echoed ominously in the empty hall, accompanied by his ragged, panicked breaths.

When Jimmy woke, he sat up only to lean his head on his knees, exhausted and miserable. It was some time before he could make himself get up. He dressed mechanically and left the room, intending to make himself seen in the village, hopefully clearing his head. Cold sunlight shone on the Cod Empire as he wandered the village streets, aimless and wrapped in his own thoughts. Usually so lively, only a handful of people occupied the streets, carrying baskets of fish and crops with an air of constant apprehension. Sickhouses had been erected, and sufferers of the Endless Winter were isolated with their fellows in attempts to stop the sickness taking whole families. Alchemists, apothecaries, and doctors combined their talents valiantly, but to no avail - all that could be done now was to make comfortable the sick in their final hours. He remembered seeing the first small coffin, remembered the agonised stab to the heart as he saw it taken out to sea in a little ship, a mound of blue orchid blossoms on the little spruce casket. Bodies were entrusted to the sea after death, for though their bones would sink to the seafloor, cover in silt and kelp and make homes for crabs, the sea would gently guide on the souls to their forever after. Many families would take stones from the shore as a memento of their lost family members to be carved in their memory. A name, perhaps, or a flower, a swallow, a star, a minnow.

Wreaths of snowdrops and syringa marked the doors of homes that had lost family members, symbols of hope, memory, and love after death. Harebells and meadowsweet too made themselves known.

It’s as though we’re making our own pretend spring, he thought. He felt the gentle lap of water against his boots and realised he’d reached one of the cod pools that dotted the Empire. Its dusty-silver occupants flickered in the pond’s depths, and he crouched on the bank to watch them, pensively.

“I’m the Codfather,” He said bitterly, to no one in particular. “I’m the emperor of the Cod Empire, and I can’t help my own people or my allies.”

He absently plucked a stem of grass from the damp bank, and upon examining it, noticed the delicate sparkle of white frost on its edges. He realised, too, that a petal-thin layer of ice was sitting atop the water of the pool, and felt dread twist his stomach.

[whoreslut-supreme]

@neohood OKOKOK SO THe thing is it's heavily connected to an au of mine so i'll kinda talk about it first and then talk about the design qhdjahdiah i'll also have to put some tws (i'll mark the end of the triggering stuff with bold text so there's no problem with that i think)

// tw transphobia/enbyphobia, child neglect/abuse, gore mentions, possession, manipulation, death

So the changes are that Xornoth is Scott's brother, not Alinar's. Their parents are shitty and generally they only have each other.

One time they heard one of the servants/some rich elf's kid who was their friend refer to them as Xornoth and using they/them pronouns for them. Not trying to get too much into it (if i ever decide to make this a fanfic i'll do that) but it quickly tirned into a massive argument and it ended with Xornoth being punished by clipping their wings (like the feathers. So they can't fly.). They ran away and fell into a cave which turned out to be Exor's forgotten shrine and got possessed.

Exor made them go back there and kill everyone, except for some of the servants and Scott (mostly so they would think it was their decision to do that so they'll blame themself. But also because they were refusing to hurt Scott and he couldn't force them to do that, but he'll never admit that. He then took complete control over them for some time and used a broken sword to cut of their wings completely as a punishment for that.).

After that we get into some canon stuff, Alinar (who's just some guy who became Aeor's champion. Not related to them) fought them and banished both Xornoth and Exor to Shrub's realm, dying in the process. So now Scott, who was barely above 100 years back then, so mentally around 12-13 ish had to become the King.

Kinda the end of the triggering material here, there won't be as much heavy stuff now, mostly just misunderstandings, explaining them and healing

Then we get some canon stuff until the crystalization basically (i just made it so Xornoth answers to Joey's "i love you" right before that. Because i wanted to. Also Aeor isn't the best god, he tries pressuring Scott into sacrificing himself like the previous champions and runs away right before the final fight. That's because the stag gods can be only permanently killed when they're both killed at the same time and he was scared.). Some time after the final fight the elf Xornoth got yeeted out of it, leaving only the corruption contained. This was in the middle of the night so they just found some invis potions, food, and stuff and snuck away when Scott was sleeping. They were wandering around different empires since no one knew their actual face that's not all demon-like and stuff, but eventually they ran out of food. They didn't steal any money so they couldn't buy any. They passed out in a field right outside of Grimland's borders.

And that's when Joey found them! He carried them over to his home, gave them food etc. It was kinda awkward at first because Joey recognised an earring he gave them some time before that. Cause they were still wearing it.

Meanwhile, right after Xorxor ran away, Scott noticed a big crack on the crystal which was still containing corruption. He panicked and called a demonslayers meeting (so like Shubble, Katherine, Pearl and Gem, generally the people who helped contain the corruption in the first place). Gem examined the crystal and realized, that the "demon" got away. They decided to chase them thinking they're still corrupted. It started by them trying to hide it from the other empires, but eventually they just sent letters to the other emperors trying to capture them. Joey burnt his letter.

After a lot of stress they're cornered in the Lost Empire by Gem, fWhip, Sausage, Katherine and Shubble (some Sausage being sad, because he has to hold screaming Joey in place, so he's torn between helping his friends and helping his other friends.). There's a lot of screaming, whch is interrupted by Scott arriving and recognising his brother. He immediately runs up to then and hugs them. (I imagined a scene here where Scott would start talking to them and Xorxor corrects them om their name, because they weren't out to Scott before the possession. He accepts them and they both cry and it's getting heartwarming).

The next stuff is either the corruption getting out (because 1. I wanna write about scary corruption beasts, 2. I wanna write a cool epic fight scene with the corruption beasts and 3. I wanna give Shubble a chance to get her realm and people back) or just the end/some fluffy scenes from the future.

Now to the design part!

- the pink stuff on Xorxor's face is a big burn scar from when Gem shot them during the crystalization scene! My headcanon for Rivendell is that the elves are always proud of their scars unless they are on their faces (because they value both strenght/experience in fighing and beauty.) and Gem feeling bad about it but Xornoth not caring because Joey said it looks badass and Sausage confirmed.

- red hair! They had purple hair before, but after the corruption they got much more red. Same with their eyes, which used to be grey but now are pink-ish red.

- it's not visible in this drawing (it is in my first drawing of them lol), but they wear flip flops and socks. Like at once. Mans got no fashion sense.

- they are tall. Like 8'6 kind of tall (i imagine Scott is very short for an elf, since he confirmed that he's 6 foot something on empires)

- Gold is very important in elven culture and Joey gives them a lot of golden jewelry they never take off. I will draw that eventually.

Jornoth lol

Does anyone want to hear me talk about my au and explain my non-corrupted Xornoth design please i want to feel important

In case you notice that Joey's hair looks kinda weird (like the color): i accidentally put paint there (a littol droplet) and had to fix this in ibis paint hope it's not too noticeable

Also, if there's any tag i should add for people who want to avoid shipping content just lmk and i'll add it!

✨ if you wanna like, please just reblog, likes do nothing on tumblr! No one's gonna see it unless you reblog. Not trying to pressure/try to make you feel guilty abt something tho. If you don't wanna reblog for some reason i don't know don't do it. I won't be mad or anything :D ✨

[gaijinginger]

Days 4-5: Happy Accidents and Pleasant Encounters

I ended up going to Golden Gai the night before last- for those who are unfamiliar, it’s a square block of about a hundred odd little bars, some with as few as three stools. The one I drank at had about twelve seats; four were occupied by Californians, two by Spaniards, one by a Pole, and three by the drunkest Okinawans I’ve ever met. They insisted on calling me “1-D” the entire time, on the grounds that I apparently look like Harry Styles. I’ll take it as a compliment; I fared better than one of the Californians whom they dubbed “George Lucas” for his resemblance to the creator of Star Wars. We drank, we chatted, we sang “Country Roads,” and at the end of the night I got a really great group pic that will follow this post. I’ll probably never see any of them again, but for a night we were one big happy drunk family. For this introvert, the whole evening was a testament to the power of putting yourself out there.

Yesterday morning, I started off the day with my first Japanese sushi meal. Absolutely baffling to me that I made it this long without it. It was nothing short of mind-expanding levels of good. After that, I bid my farewells to what was probably the strangest place I’ve ever slept in. In retrospect, staying at Anshin Oyado Shinjuku was nothing short of a psychedelic experience. Read my previous blog post for more, and for further context and reference images, google the place. It’s pretty strange in the best way. Very glad I stayed there!

After checking out, I headed back over to Akihabara to my next sleep box, First Cabin Akihabara. The capsule here is my biggest yet, with ceilings big enough that I can stand up inside and a bed large enough to be considered a double by conservative estimates. No place to put my luggage again though, which means my large backpack stays at the front desk. The location is fantastic though; it’s about a five minute walk to Akihabara station.

Since I wasn’t able to check in until around 5 yesterday, after dropping off my luggage I headed over to Mitaka, about a 40 minute ride out of downtown Tokyo on the subway, to check out the Ghibli Museum. Or so I thought. Upon arriving at the museum, I found out that it’s closed for maintenance until the 26th. Good reason to come back. Luckily, there’s a wonderful park located directly next to the museum, and I ended up walking around it for about two hours, in the process getting a nice taste of rural Japan. The park is just big enough that you can’t see the city from within, and being surrounded by greenery and minimalistic shrines for a few hours was a welcome change of pace from the hustle and bustle of downtown. I sat on a bench and wrote for a while in classic pretentious-20something-white-dude-in-Asia fashion, then made a few loops around the park before stopping by a nearby restaurant for another helping of black curry and short rib, this time with cheese. After that I went back to my hotel, did some laundry, and promptly fell asleep at around 8:00pm.

This morning I got up at around 6, ate a small breakfast of rice balls and miso at my hotel, and then walked around Akihabara for a bit. I video chatted some friends from home from around 8-11 in hopes of sharing some of the sheer WTF factor of Akihabara (there are entire multilevel stores dedicated to the sale of cartoon porn magazines. We’re talking dozens of them in Akihabara alone. In the biggest stores, each floor corresponds to a different genre. Floor one is guy-on-guy, floor two is girl-on-girl, floor three is girl-on-octopus, you get the idea. And again, it’s all cartoons. After audibly saying “what the...” for the seventh time to myself, I knew I had to phone some friends to externalize my confusion/disbelief and share the craziness.)

After this, I had a mid-morning meal at a small diner in central Akihabara consisting of sliced breaded chicken and scrambled eggs over rice, then spent another two odd hours wandering around, weaving in and out of the weirdest stores I could find. Believe me when I say there’s no shortage. I feel sincere sorrow for their earnest visitors and patrons.

After a bowl of ramen for lunch at around 2, I headed over to Harajuku to meet up with a new friend of mine, my waitress from the Dozeu restaurant I ate at for lunch on my first day in Tokyo. She didn’t make it into my first blog post, but we ended up chatting quite a bit during my lunch and subsequently added each other on Facebook (social media, for all of its drawbacks, makes the world a hell of a lot smaller). She’s about my age, and speaks about five languages by my count, so she makes an excellent Tokyo companion. Plus we have a mutual appreciation for Wes Anderson movies, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jim Carrey. We got Starbucks and walked around Harajuku for a bit, and ultimately headed over to Shibuya to get dinner at a Korean restaurant in an area understood to be the district where Asians who aren’t Japanese gravitate in Tokyo- primarily Koreans, Nepalese, and Vietnamese.

To wander Tokyo alone as a westerner is great, but to wander with the aid of a native is absolutely amazing. Her observations about Tokyo and Japan as a whole were innumerable and invaluably enriching to my experience, and she’s already a good friend to boot. We’re planning on hanging out again next week before I leave, and thanks to Facebook we’ll always be in touch.

Over dinner of Korean blood sausage and kimchi we shared laughs at the most peculiar aspects of our respective cultures- she was in utter disbelief as I explained the ritual of bringing a tree into one’s house for the Christmas holidays, and how corn supersedes cane sugar in most American food. I was similarly baffled by her summation of her generation of Japanese young people- by her description, half of them are so wrapped up in their careers that their only outlets for romantic and sexual energies are the same baffling cartoons I described earlier. The other half has no interest in marrying before the age of 30 (at least there I can relate). No wonder Japan has a looming population crisis by all estimates.

Tomorrow I leave for Kyoto for three days. Somewhere in there will be a day trip to Hiroshima. Big doings! I’m really loving it here. Those of you experiencing anxiety from my absence probably won’t be thrilled to hear that I’m already thinking of my next excuse to be here. Expect another post in two days or so.

[themindfulword]

TRAVEL AND THE MINDSET OF

Colouring inside the lines

As we make our way through elementary school and then high school, then university, and then enter the workforce, we spend the majority of our first 25 years of life learning how to obey: how to colour within the lines, how to follow deadlines; how to sit down, keep quiet, pay attention and do what we’re told. Some people thrive in this environment and others don’t, but either way, we learn that these are values of our society, and there'll be consequences if we don’t comply. When you grow up in a system like this, you learn pretty quickly that it’s easier to just follow the rules and do what you’re told than it is to go against the current and rock the boat. That’s not to say having rules is bad, though, like for reinforcing certain societal values and things like basic human rights, but when we're continuously in an environment where things are regimented, and 90 percent of our lives are controlled and evaluated by someone else, our brains eventually become programmed to just fall into place and serve requirements bestowed upon us. We forget that we have the capacity to decide whether we want to be a part of this matrix at all.

"Shit disturbers" and success

This is why "shit disturbers" and ADHD kids grow up into revolutionary adults. I literally Googled “famous people + ADHD,” and these are some people who came up: Will Smith, Bill Gates, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Albert Einstein, Emma Watson, Michael Jordan, John Lennon, Vince Vaughan, Stevie Wonder, John F. Kennedy, Leonardo da Vinci, Stephen Hawking, Sylvester Stallone, Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Woody Harrelson, Mozart, Terry Bradshaw, Michael Phelps, Alfred Hitchcock, Beethoven, George Bernard Shaw, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Babe Ruth, Richard Branson, even Galileo. I don’t know if this list is 100 percent accurate or if some of these people were only speculated to have ADHD, but my point stands either way: people who reach impeccable heights of personal and professional mastery, and evolve into some of the most unique and impactful minds that have ever come to be, don't evolve this way from sitting still and "drinking the Kool-Aid." They make their own rules and march to the beat of their own drum.

Reprogram your brain through travel (not a "vacation"!)

From Brothers Bungalows resort in Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia Searching for your own unique life path while mentally programmed to "conform-or-die" is really hard. The next step for anyone here is to reprogram your brain to think for yourself again, and one of the most powerful ways to do this is through foreign travel. When I mention "travel," I don’t mean spending seven days on an all-inclusive vacation. I used to think that travelling meant setting foot in another country, but my perspective completely changed after my first big trip to Nepal, Thailand and Indonesia when I was 22. It gave me a completely different point of reference and opened my eyes to why staying in hotels and doing "touristy" things—AKA vacationing—is a completely different experience from travelling. Hotels and resorts are walled gardens, safe and controlled environments where guests are only supposed to see what they’re "supposed" to see. Raw authenticity is limited in an environment that’s consciously designed and managed to deploy a specific user experience. All-inclusive vacation experiences take the system even further, as people are escorted on and off the resort property on a timely schedule according to systems in place by transport accommodation companies. Things are usually planned well ahead of time, and there isn’t much room for the natural or sporadic flow of human movement, aside from whatever happens among the people who've ended up at the same property at the same time. From activities to dining options and sometimes even curfew, there’s not a whole lot of active decision-making to do. Staying at resorts or pre-planning a vacation to a tee is a wonderful thing for people who want to turn their brains off, chill out and unwind, but this isn’t the style of travel that'll help you become an individual thinker again. Vacationing simply extends the structure of our systematic lives to another location, where we continue living within a set routine or schedule that’s been put in place by some higher authority above. We’re all ushered along by guidelines and timelines, and our “free-thinking” is only useful concerning bacon or sausage. When life doesn’t require our input, autopilot ensues. We turn on, we do what we must and then we turn off. Vacationing reinforces a similar system. Travelling, on the other hand, dumps this system on its head and leaves you to your own devices. Your entire experience is curated on the fly. Everything requires a decision, and there are dozens of moving parts impacting each decision you make (as well as your decision-making skills) throughout each and every day. Travelling puts you in a position where you don’t have a choice but to make choices. Here’s why travel travel is different: You’re not in a walled garden, you’re out in the world. Some places are beautiful and safe, and other places are raw and unforgiving. The only "user experience" is what you yourself decide to do, and then choose to make of the given situation. You end up being exposed to people from all over the world, all at once: people at various points in their timeline of life, working within various budgets and ETAs; people heading in various directions, maybe coming from where you just came from or going somewhere you might not dare visit. You might hang out with a stranger for one single day or choose to stay with your new friend for weeks on end. Deadlines are in place by choice and fate. Your day is full of decisions, and your travel experience is actively created by you and whomever you might be with, which evolves daily. What’s for breakfast? When are we getting lunch? Are you going to that thing? Where are we staying tonight? Yo, it’s that guy from Tuesday! Everything in your world is a mixture of do-it-yourself (DIY) and going with the flow, shaped by your own input and desires. If this sounds stressful to you, or if it sounds like a lot of work, then you probably need it the most. Real travelling means making real life decisions all day, every day, everywhere; it forces you to tune in and figure out what you want, and then take action to make it happen. It’s real life.

"Real" travel changes people for the better

La Sultana hotel in Marrakech, Morrocco This type of travelling changes people. It changes the way your brain is wired. You realize that you're entirely in control of your own life experiences, and that you're entirely in control of where you end up and what you have to deal with because of it. If you want to go somewhere, you just go. If you’re late, nobody's going to suspend you. If you want to spank an ass, spank an ass; just make sure it’s wanted in return, and know that even if it's wanted, you still might have to throw down with someone bigger than you and then have your nose cracked back into place by a Thai bartender with a dart hanging out of his mouth. Nobody’s gonna get sued, and everyone involved will receive free buckets. Travel opens up the door to impulsive decisions and wild situations. Familiar patterns dissolve and re-establish themselves in ways that would never happen under controlled, systematic circumstances, and each situation you’re in will be the direct result of your own desires and motives, whether you’re prepared to accept that or not. Travel teaches you to have an idea of where you want to end up, but also that the zestiest experiences come from welcoming the flow of unforeseen attractions and taking the universe up on opportunities that unfold before you by sheer luck and divine timing. You learn to connect with other people you vibe with, and part of the magic is intertwined with the odds that you might never see these people again—and certainly never in the here and now of that particular moment. You learn to engage and to strike up conversations. You learn to be brave, to say "yes" to things you might normally say "no" to, and you learn to love the rush of stepping outside of your comfort zone. Travel is life-changing because you learn to embrace the world and participate in the creation of your own experiences. It’s a beautiful thing, being forced to create, because you learn quite quickly the type of world you want to create. You learn what you like, what you don’t like, who you’re attracted to and what you’re repulsed by. You learn which challenges you’re willing to take on and how to observe your way towards challenge acceptance. You learn your turn-ons and your "hard nos." You learn to shape your world according to whatever you want, while letting others do the same.

No expectations—cultivating happiness, confidence and self-knowledge

Koh Samui, Thailand There are no expectations to be a certain kind of someone. The characters we play in our "real" lives fall to the wayside, because when you travel, you can be anybody—which means, sometimes for the first time in our lives, we can discover and be our own authentic selves. Not only does this tint the lens through which we perceive the world, it changes the way we perceive ourselves. It shifts our minds into new dimensions of processing and connectivity that just aren’t required of us when we’re living on auto-pilot, doing our best to conform. Travel is life-changing because you learn who you are at your core and you learn how to present that person to the world. I believe that anyone who can travel should, but the most wonderful thing about the lessons of travel is that you don’t actually need to explore foreign lands at all. The lessons wrapped up in travel are ultimately about buying into the state of mind that you create your own happiness by creating your own reality, based on who you are at your authentic core—and everyone has the ability to tap into that state of mind, regardless of where you are in the world. What matters is that you increase the variety of experiences you have under your belt by trying new things and meeting new people. Increasing the number of experiences you have to draw upon will profoundly impact your capacity to perceive everything else in your life, and it'll also enhance your own capabilities. When you discover that you're a more capable human, you’ll find yourself gaining confidence as well. Double down on your confidence with intuitive guidance, and there, you'll have the internal foundation to navigate anything. «RELATED READ» GET OFF THE TOURIST BUS: 6 ways volunteering abroad will change your outlook» images 1-4: © Megan Scraper Click to Post