#it's SO cool and the photos themselves are still cool but they don't fully give a sense of just how AMAZING these feel

[remidyal]

So you may have seen the Lunacy fanbinds from @webspite that I reblogged recently. He had offered one of the copies to me, and I am now absolutely delighted to have a handcrafted physical copy of Lunacy:

(pls ignore that I desperately need to touch up my fingernail polish I've been doing a lot of moving things around this week)

This is an absolute work of art to hold, and genuinely as someone whose artistic expression is almost entirely writing simply having something I wrote in a physical form means more than words can say; this to me is a gift I will treasure for a long, long time - just knowing that they would have a copy when they asked permission to do one meant the world to me, but now I have my very own and I want to cry happy tears about it.

But wait, there's more!

Not limiting themself to one staggering gift, @webspite had another, equally impressive one! A scrapbook spellbook, equally handcrafted, which will serve me well for notetaking and brainstorming for years to come!:

Every time I look in this, I'm discovering some new surprise and treasure that was left to be found, but my absolute favorite is tucked right within the front cover:

I once described Boggy and Moonlight cuddling on a crescent moon as my perfect cover art for Lunacy, and this is so very good! They look very chill and happy together. <3

Another example, a pocketful of stickers, including a princely frog that could be Boggy getting his due recognition or could be Gerard just chilling out before his morning workout.

A few more pictures of some of the many types of pages within this. It's hard to capture how great it feels in person, but hopefully I've gotten some sense across.

Y'all I'm going to be insufferable with happiness for so long from this. Thank you so so so much to Duck!

[luvyeni]

( drabble ) after party ̨ ! ୨୧ 一 심재윤 ՞

⸃ ⸰ ⌁ after watching you on the runway , he finally got you at the after party ヾ

idol!jake・ runwaymodel!reader ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ g ・ smut ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ cw ・ ‎ fingering , unprotected sex , oral ( male rec. ) wc ・0.6 k ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎| ‎ ‎click to library

「 ୨୧ authors note 」 he looks so fine in that photo , the things i want to say is crazy ...

being an idol for so long; jake was used to the fashion show — and he loved it , flying to different countries, seeing all the cool clothes… and the best of all; the sexy runway models , like you.

the moment he saw you on the runway, he was enamored by you; his eyes following you all the way down, until jungwon had to pull him back before fell out of his chair. when you came back around for the final walk — he knew he had to find a way to talk to you.

he had his chance; his other members talking amongst themselves and other celebrities, he was nursing his glass of wine in his hand — watching you dance with another model across the room. you made eye contact with him , giving him a flirty smile and a wink before walking away; sitting his glass down , standing up. “im going to the bathroom.

he followed behind you; you looked over your shoulder, smiling when you saw him behind you. he stayed close enough to see you , but far enough to not raise any suspicions. his eyes low on your low cut dress , your entire back out , he bit his lip as you turned into a quiet corner — away from everyone else.

“oh fuck…” you sighed , his plump lips on yours , a giggle leaving your glossed lips. “i don't even know your name.” he pulled away , face red from the alcohol; hair messy from you tugging at it. “it's jake.” his hands on your waist, working it's way down. “jake.” you repeated , his hand coming up your dress. “you're getting a little handsy there jake , you don't even know me.” you teased. “i know enough.” he said , cupping your heat. “shit.” you moaned out. “like how wet you are for me.”

it was on from there , his finger stringing your clothed clit , pushing your thong to the side. “please.” he pushed a finger inside you. “fuck , your fingers.” sucking on your neck. “you're so tight , been waiting to fuck you since i saw you on the runway.” he said hissing as you tightened around his fingers. “fuck me please.”

undoing the buttons of his slacks , his cock ready to be freed. “fuck , gonna stuff you full of my cock.” he lifted your leg, wrapping it around his waist , slowly working his cock into your warm cunt. “fuck baby you're so fucking tight.” he cursed , hand coming up to squeeze your boob. “deeper please.” your hand on his waist as he fucked you , both of you forgetting you were still in public and someone could easily hear you. “such a slut for my cock baby -shit- you don't even know me and you were so ready to take me.”

he fully lifted you up against the wall, his cock hitting you much deeper, your cunt squeezing you. “oh fuck your pussy is like heaven.” he moaned. “god im gonna cum , gonna cum.” you gasped , yanking his hair. “fuck jake im gonna cum.” you screamed. “fuck , fuck get on your knees im gonna cum.”

quickly pulling out of you; getting on your knees, he tugged at his cock , throwing his head back as you wrapped you shimmering lips around his tip. “oh fuck!” he groaned out , ropes of cum shooting into your mouth. “mmh fuck.”

you swallowed his cum , sticking your tongue out. he let out a breathless gasp. “shit when will you be in korea? i need to see you again.” you smiled , wiping the remnants of his load of your lips , standing up. “i can make time.”

“where the fuck have you been?” jay asked once the boy made it back to his seat. “we were waiting for you , let's go.” he turned around to where you were dancing with a model once again , your hair was messy , but he knew it was from dancing , you turned to him smiling , he bit his lip turning back to his friend. “i was in the bathroom.”

"mhm wipe the pink lip gloss off your neck before you lie , and before the camera sees it."

©LUVYENI translations to other sites prohibited, reblogs are appreciated but not forced !

[manofbeskar]

S-hawk headcanons?

Like how do you think mihawk found him and did he just go like "this child is now mine" or was it "the shanks effect" also how did s-hawk trust mihawk? shehdhsjwhwe I'm sorry I js have so many questions about this au 😭 I hope I'm not too annoying

don't apologise, i enjoy talking about my aus or headcanons. sorry if this post gets a little long!

i imagine mihawk heard about the warlords' replacements and realised they were clones of them. mihawk hated the idea of the world government creating a child version of him that just did whatever they wanted with the bare minimum of autonomy. mihawk is a man who values his free will, even when he worked for the marines, it was still his free will. s-hawk isn't working for the marines because he wants to—he's just forced to—so mihawk felt a strong responsibility to liberate him from the world government

(egghead spoilers) since the last time the seraphim were seen, they were locked up, i think mihawk just broke in to rescue him. maybe he'd free the rest while he's there, let the kids live for themselves

s-hawk at first is just confused. he's seen photos and footage of mihawk before when learning his moves, but meeting the real person is a strange experience. when mihawk frees him from egghead, his first priority is figuring out how to get rid of the chain of command. maybe he can find vegapunk and get him to reprogram s-hawk's mind so he had more autonomy if possible. i imagine even if getting rid of the command chain is impossible, mihawk is fully prepared to put the effort in himself to manually "reprogram" him to think for himself

without anyone in the chain of command around him, s-hawk has no orders to follow. he's lived his whole life following everyone else's will and with no orders, he finds himself unsure of what to do. for a few weeks, he literally doesn't do anything unless mihawk specifically tells him to do a certain task, even small things like "eat your food" or "sit down". mihawk works very hard to get s-hawk to be more proactive but decides to get the help of the freest man he knows, shanks

shanks's free-spirited nature is a good influence on s-hawk, just as mihawk hoped. there's something about being around someone so open-hearted that does something to s-hawk. not that mihawk is very impatient or stressful to be around, but s-hawk feels pressure to get everything right when he's with the man he was cloned from. he kind of wanted to live up to the original. with shanks, there's less pressure on s-hawk. he picks up on shanks's love for adventure. shanks tells him stories about young mihawk, ranging from his cool marine hunting ones to silly ones, which make mihawk seem less intimidating, more human—unlike what zoro told him, that mihawk was less human than himself. it helps make s-hawk ease up more around mihawk

mihawk decides to take s-hawk in as an apprentice, making a two-person crew named the hawk pirates. he immediately establishes an alliance with the red hair pirates because he believes the camaraderie will make s-hawk feel less alone, more like he has people in his corner if he ever needs it. with only two people, s-hawk views himself as the first mate by default. mihawk initially doesn't think of s-hawk like that since he doesn't do any first mate duties, but then realises the rank gives s-hawk a sense of pride, responsibility, and improves his self-value beyond his identity as a living weapon. mihawk refers to him as his first mate from then on, fine with s-hawk just helping wherever he thinks he's needed. it's a step forwards for learning autonomy, learning responsibility, and the alliance helps s-hawk to grow more comfortable and trusting of others (especially when the allying crew is shanks's who quickly became a very comforting presence in s-hawk's life)

as s-hawk grows more comfortable with making his own choices and forming an identity outside what the world government carved for him, s-hawk begins to want more distinction between himself and mihawk—resulting in him trimming his facial hair when he's older to be a mix of shanks's style and teen mihawk's (doesn't want to look like a replica of mihawk, but still wants to honour his father figure in some way, the reason he can even exist). also dresses more simply, doesn't really use the same floral and cross themes mihawk does in his own fashion.

that's all i have for now! i'm sorry the post went for so long

[formulatrash]

f1 shipping gets kind of weird for me to begin with. i have seen people get into HEATED arguments about which ship is better and every time i just think people understand these ships aren't real right? half of these men are publicly in romantic relationships with women. there are a few who go out of their ways to say they won't do certain, really just regular activities that platonic friends could do together, with other men because they don't want to be perceived as gay. and i don't really fault them for that because i see how cruel fans are when drivers show they're accepting and inclusive by voluntarily wearing rainbow symbols or just simply saying they believe in equality, love is love, etc., but idk there's still something so gross about usually straight fans telling me certain drivers are like icons and activists for the LGBTQ+ community due to simply having a PR "relationship" or close friendship with other drivers on the grid. i love a nice sportsmanship moment or genuine friendship moment as much as the next fan, but that isn't "activism." that's doing NOTHING to address or prevent the abuse LGBTQ+ fans receive, especially in f1 spaces, both online and at races.

also idk i hate how every time teams or f1 themselves try to push these ships and bromances, the comments usually range from hateful and discriminatory to outdated stereotypes. and those harmful comments are NEVER deleted by admins. like, okay, cool, that's a really cute carlando or yukierre or whatever photo f1 or mclaren or ferrari or alphatauri has posted, but this does NOTHING for making me feel more accepted when a) it's fictional. it's friendships, some maybe closer than others, but it's not really LGBTQ+ representation. (at least not outwardly. i am not trying to assume anyone's sexual orientation here either, but none of these relationships have been confirmed real, and frankly, i don't think teams would be as open to publicizing these relationships like this if they were real romantic relationships, like some fans believe, due to drawback from homophobic fans, sponsors, etc.). b) how is this supposed to make anyone feel welcome and accepted when half the comments are like "who's the man and who's the woman in that relationship?" (something i fucking hate being asked myself. if i wanted a man in my relationship, i would just fucking be with a man).

idek if this makes sense or if i really even made the point i was trying to make but it bothers me too.

a lot here so, idk, apologies if I don't quite answer it all but I will give a try.

shipping wars in general are pretty weird to me, especially that something that feels so antique (like, Yahoo Groups-era internet) is going stronger than ever today.

that said, I think people who are completely aware it's fiction having some blorbos they like thinking about is also completely harmless. for a lot of people shipping whatever is a source of joy and play and to some extent companionship and it can create lots of good things. humans are meant to think things through by playing and sometimes dressing up the dolls you're doing that with in, I don't know, Star Trek uniforms or F1 racesuits or whatever is just the blorbo seasoning of the week.

it would absolutely nuke my brain to read. uhm, idk, I just looked in the F1 tag and pretty much anything in there as far as I can tell but I think it's fundamentally harmless as something people do, when it's understood as fictional.

that said; I fully get you about the mistaking shipping for activism thing. this actually, oh, let's get deep in the internet lore, used to be a big thing on here about 10 years ago. for whatever reason the Johnlock community went like, big on shipping pride and how it was an important expression of LGBTQ+ identity and inevitably, the loudest advocates were the straightest. cringe.

now, on the one hand I do think there's something to be said for queer interpretations. especially in the rigidly straight mainstreams of sport and media. if you think of reinterpreting the silly, silly world that is F1 as not for straight people then, well. yes, there's something radical to be said for that thought process.

imagining another possibility is a way to realise how absurd the current reality is. and that's good. but pointing at things and saying 'that's gay' when as far as we know it's not isn't that.

appropriating straight people (and many of the drivers have confirmed that is absolutely how they identify) as representation is, well, sometimes I can understand why LGBTQ+ people take crumbs. but when it's in a space where there are none of us then calling that acceptable or suggesting it fixes a huge demographic imbalance it doesn't is obviously a massive problem.

there are very few openly LGBTQ+ people in motorsport. pretending that's not true in reality isn't creating representation. it's fun to think about a world where there was more of us but it shouldn't replace the reality or excuse our absence.

and then there's the cynical marketing.

I've always really hated Jeandré. I know how many LGBTQ+ people were in the Formula E paddock at the time because I was one of them. clearly, JEV and André played into it, as did their team and Formula E but it was always so uncomfortable to me, that this was play-acting in an environment where the real thing would probably have got more of a pass than in any other part of motorsport but still not been treated with pride and acceptance.

it was something that drove engagement. which, god knows, Formula E needs so maybe that should be the next marketing tactic but it was also... not real.

I've said before I found things like all Sky's Carlando segments really uncomfortable. the one where Lando and Carlos took each other on laps and asked each other very dating-oriented questions was just... very uncomfortable. because men can ask each other dating-oriented questions, it shouldn't be a punchline.

to their credit Carlos and Lando actually always deflected any attempt at 'no homo' - they clearly have a very comfortable friendship and they didn't ever seem to get skittish, no matter how weird interviews got. I can respect just sort of seriously looking someone down and saying like, no you blink first if this is gay chicken. if you're trying to ship us, you've got to admit it.

but that didn't make it right. or make it that they were representation. remember when there was that seriously odd blog on here that claimed to be written by marketing specialists and body language analysts that was a transparent attempt to 'prove' carlando was true and both Lando and Carlos' official relationships were fake?

that felt very strange, a new development in motorsport fandom. obviously we all know it happened with One Direction and whatever but I was surprised to see that there was a ship that invested in, in F1. and needless to say, it was completely libellous and incredibly invasive, as well as quite misogynist.

shipping won't help a driver come out. and acting as though it's totally unrealistic that drivers could be in a relationship together obviously ignores the fact that some of them are (Jess and Abbie!)

anyway as a bonus piece of analysis for anyone who got down this far, when did Max/Charles go past the F1 RPF titan that is Simi for number of works??? unbelievable, never thought I'd see the day that was knocked off the top spot by two ships involving Max Verstappen. poor ol' brocedes.

[koreposion]

Something small and sweet

Black like tar and slick like oil

Ichor and Indigo sit quietly in Ichor's bedroom.

A room filled with boxes and trinkets, a bookshelf in one corner that towers tall in a vast room. Strings of gold hang up pictures and jewels collected by the object-head. The bed is huge, enough to fit many for a good night's rest, and this is where the two sit.

Close together they both stare at a laptop placed on Ichor's lap. They both look through the photos of different times and dates. The light of the laptop reflecting in Ichor's wide eyes as they search for something.

"If we don't get VIP tickets I'm just going to have to steal them from some prick." Ichor mumbles, clothed in a soft oversized sweater that hangs off their lean frame. They type furiously as they look through different websites.

"It's not that big of a deal, we can just hide somewhere and watch it." Indigo mentions, matching with Ichor in a sweater three sizes to big for their body. They go behind them and hug their friend's waist.

"Calm down and just breath, we'll get there somehow." They coo softly to the other, "It's not like you'll miss everything if we don't get front seats. We'll still be there, an upside if anything."

A whine leaves Ichor's throat as they grow frustrated with searching and themselves. Feeling their emotions boil over like a pot, they lean back into the touch of the skeletal dragon. A sigh leaves them and they fully relax in Indigo's arms, looking up at them with apologetic eyes.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Ichor speaks softly, feeling their emotions cool down, ”I just really want to go without any meddling! I geel like every time we try to go out there is meddling."

Indigo listens as their dearest friend vents their valid frustrations. Heroes are always on lookout for the two. But even then Heroes just get in the way of fun in general. It's so hard for idols to hold a concert without one being there and causing problems. It's even worse when that Hero is a fan of the idol.

"I can't promise no meddling, love." They start off, giving Ichor a smile as sweet as honey, "But I can promise good clear photos of the event."

At that a smile appears on Ichor's face and they turn their body so they can nuzzle into Indigo's chest. They kick their feet happily as they scream, knowing that their friend makes good on their promises. Their excitement makes the skeleton chuckle and run their hands through the "hair" of Ichor.

After a moment, the excited puppy settled and lays their head in Indigo's lap.

"I can't wait..." They mumble softly, blush on their face as they toy with the fray of Indigo's sweater.

"Nether can I!" A chuckle leaves Indigo as they reply, happy to leave it there.

In the silence of the room, they both atune themselves to the quiet. Finding comfort in each other and their surroundings.

[chaos-bringer-13]

Wha- I was tagged? Wow. Um. Okay. So. I'm not supposed to write yet, but I can dump a bunch of thoughts, so there's that. (Seriously though, being tagged in the same line with bloggerspam is so confusing and surprising and cool? I'm not worthy lol)

Steph should be so mad about getting caught in the wish. She should be absolutely indignant about being deaged because she's not one of Damian's siblings, thank you very much, she was doing an amazing job at not becoming one. And Babs wasn't deaged! Do you think that Steph is one of your siblings but Babs isn't, Dami?

Bats and birds mostly disappearing as soon as the Waynes get deaged. I mean, Batman and Robin are probably still trying to appear as to not cause any suspicions, but Jason has nightmares, and Dick and Tim keep trying to sneak out, and Steph decided to make it her life's mission to annoy Damian and Bruce with petty pranks (purple glitter is everywhere), and Cass- WHERE IS CASS AGAIN?!

(Bruce and Dami think that Duke is reasonable at least but they actually just don't notice what he's doing because they're so distracted with everyone else. Not sure what chaos Duke causes, but it's either something absolutely insane in the city, or he does favours for his siblings who are supervised at all times. Or both. Probably both.)

Anyway, Batfam suddenly stop appearing as much, and people jump to conspiracy theories. Theory number one (normal): they're trying to find whoever caused the deaging. Theory number two (by shippers): Batman and Bruce are dating so all batfam is helping to rein in the Wayne kids (everyone knows that Waynes are insane, of course you need the entire batfamily for this task). The theory gets more followers after someone posts a shaky video of Batman catching Tim on a rooftop and returning Tim to standing on the ground Bruce (Clark is in Batman's costume for a night). Theory number three (the butts match): Batfam and the Waynes are the same people. Absurd. Nonsense.

As the deaged siblings fully retain their memories until they first sleep, it's gonna cause so much chaos. Dami makes a wish, sees Desiree, and since nothing about him changed, he realizes that something happened to his siblings. Give him a minute or two of panic as he realizes that they could be dead, and it's his fault, oh no, why did he say that out loud, that was stupid, he was just getting used to what having siblings feels like, and now he probably lost them all, and he's never talking without considering his words again- and then Dick finally picks up the phone. (sorry, I changed it from Tim because I wanted that minute or two as Dami is waiting for someone to pick up the phone, and I felt like he would call Dick immediately). Let's traumatize Dami a little. Just a tiny bit.

And then they finally check that everyone is okay and have their memories, and they calm down and relax a bit. Deaged siblings are a bit more emotional in a way kids are, and their bodies are children's bodies and it affects the way they react to some things, but they're still themselves and remember their lives (there is some yelling after they realize what happened but that's okay, at least they're alive). And they get tired soon, so maybe Jason storms off and falls asleep first (Bruce feels his heart ache at the sight of Jay being a child again, sleeping safely as if his death never happened). Maybe Dick, Duke and Steph follow after a while, and then they find Cass asleep in a terribly uncomfortable looking position in the rafters

(have you seen photos of children sleeping in the most uncomfortable positions ever? That would be her. Dick is the same, actually, he has no bones, but he'll at least be in his bed, and Cass just went "wanna sleep in the rafters" and didn't find a reason not to)

Tim fights against going to bed with a rage of a ten year old, and he's vindicated when Jason walks back, something feeling different (less angry, less stiff, more childlike) about him, and tells Bruce that he's scared because he had this awful nightmare about some clown, and he doesn't really remember it but it was really scary, so can he just sit with Bruce for a bit? And he rambles about Bruce looking kinda old, is he not sleeping enough? And as Jason looks at Damian, there's confusion in his eyes, and he doesn't exactly not recognize Dami, he remembers his name and that it's his brother, but he can't recall the details.

They wait for someone else to wake up, and yep, the kids are confused and have very fuzzy memories. So Tim decides to stay awake for as long as possible, and he writes down some stuff for himself in case he loses all his memory, and after that he dives into research, tracking down any artifacts that were brought into Gotham and could contain a genie. He manages to stay awake for a bit over 24 hours before falling asleep on the table, face-planting into the batkeyboard. After he wakes up, he's back to his batstalking and birdwatching.

(It's almost impossible to get the kids to bed after that. They're afraid of losing more memories, and who can blame them? Definitely not me.)

Danny knows that Desiree's changes are irreversible after a certain point, so he's trying to track down everyone affected, and he has no idea how. At least he can get to the Waynes fast- why do they have protection against ghosts now? Why is there a magician who is trying to help them and subsequently doesn't let any ghosts even get close? (Tell me that Batman, mr. Contingencies for everyone, didn't find a way to protect his kids from a new threat immediately)

Imagine the chaos as Danny is trying to sneak into the manor to help without getting on Batman's radar, and flying head first into some anti-ghost wards. Imagine him having to somehow catch Bruce and explain to him that he can help, just please let him, he doesn't have that much time, come on! And Bruce is in full paranoid Bat mode, because those are his tiny little baby children, he can't just let anyone close to them!

Damian is panicking throughout the whole ordeal even if he's not showing it. Maybe he acts more formal in his attempts to hide his panic, and then he has trouble with going back to normal because just look at what his informal speaking led to! (bby is traumatized)

Also I have no idea how Sam and Tucker would manage to cover for Danny while he disappears for a week or so. What do you even tell teachers and parents at this situation? They'd have problems. Poor guys.

Age reversal

Desiree is tired of losing to Phantom and decided to just go to another city and grant wishes there. She finds a natural portal in the realms and exits it into Gotham. We’ll say she grants a few petty wishes like being taller being prettier ect.

Then she runs across a 12 year old Damian saying he wished he was the eldest brother. She says “As you wish!” And there is the usual sparkle filled puff of purple smoke, but Damian remains the same. It isn’t until he gets a com from Tim a minute later he realizes his mistake.

All the bat kids were deaged to reverse order. Damian 12, Duke 11, Tim 10, Steph 9, Jason 8, Cass 7, and Dick 6.

Fortunately this happens while everyone is in there civil IDs and not actively on patrol. Bruce calls Zatana as this seems like it was a magic curse or something. While Damian is sent on a fetch quest to to round up his siblings and bring them back to the manor. Zatana and later Constantine say that this was caused be an Infinite Realms being and they can’t undo it unless they find the being who cast the spell.

Mean while Danny is wondering why Desiree hasn’t shown up in a while. Shrugs, maybe he is finally catching a break.

[weheartchrisevans]

Chris Evans Is PEOPLE's 2022 Sexiest Man Alive: 'My Mom Will Be So Happy'

If you were to tell a middle school-aged Chris Evans that he would one day be named PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive, "he'd be pumped!" the star tells the magazine in this week's cover story. "This would probably be the road to the cool table which I was not at."

Present-day Evans, 41, is still adjusting to the new title of PEOPLE's 2022 Sexiest Man Alive and having to talk about it, but he knows this news will delight at least one person: "My mom will be so happy," he says. "She's proud of everything I do but this is something she can really brag about."

It's a sunny fall day on a farm outside of Atlanta, Ga. where Evans is sitting in front of the fireplace in a quaint farmhouse. Although he appears to have fully understood this particular assignment, dressed in a cozy knit sweater and jeans, the Boston native would probably rather jump into said fireplace than talk about being sexy.

"This whole thing is tough to be interviewed about," he says with a laugh. "It feels like a weird form of humble bragging."

The Gray Man star is also bracing for some good-natured ribbing from his close friends.

"Really this will just be a point of bullying," he jokes. "It's ripe for harassment."

Regardless, his mom Lisa is delighted by the news. "I am not surprised at all," she tells PEOPLE. "Our family will be beside themselves."

Best known for playing the altruistic, self-sacrificing superhero Captain America in Marvel's multi-billion-dollar Avengers franchise, and as a devoted, photo-happy dog dad to Dodger, his boxer mix, on social media, Evans is far more comfortable talking about his career, which has been on fire for the last decade. This year alone, he starred in Pixar's Lightyear, Netflix's Gray Man and filmed three new movies, including 2023's Ghosted for AppleTV+ which he is also producing, and also still co-runs A Starting Point, the civic engagement platform he launched in 2020.

Now in his 40s, Evans is trying to prioritize a healthy work-life balance and spending as much time as possible at home and with his family in Boston.

"When it comes to seeking out the people I play it's more of an issue of where the movie shoots," he says. "I'm too old to be living out of a suitcase for six months and I've settled into a nicer phase where I'm just happy being at home."

He's also thinking a lot more about his future outside of acting — one that includes marriage and fatherhood.

"That's absolutely something I want," he says. Just don't expect him to talk much about that when it happens: "Some things you want just for you, or just for my family and my friends."

Twenty-two years into his career, Evans admits he's ready to slow down a bit.

"The most enjoyable aspect of my career right now is feeling secure enough to take my foot off the gas," he says. "I feel like I have a bit more freedom to take time away from the industry and still find projects that will satisfy my creative appetite when I return."

​And given all the time he's been spending in and around his hometown, what does he think is the sexiest thing about Boston?

"So much history there! I love the accent. To me, the accent is home," he says. "I love the weather. The seasons, the sports teams. But the sexiest thing about Boston... maybe our universities. We've got a lot of good schools. Let's give education a plug, that's damn sexy."

Just don't ask him to use the word "sexy" in a sentence about himself. And although he's not quite comfortable with it yet, years from now he'll look back on the title fondly.

"It's something that as I become old and saggy I can look back on and say 'I remember then…' " he says. "I'm lucky to be in the discussion in any capacity."

[junipersgarden]

metanoia 1. | Recover

PAIRING: Peter Parker x Superhero!Reader

SUMMARY: 8 months later from Tony’s funeral and the promise Peter and you made, where do you two stand now?

WORD COUNT: 4119 words

WARNINGS: N/A?

a/n: i did not expect this to blow up so quickly so thank you all sm!! ill be updating every Friday/ re uploading from Wattpad and converting it to here!! hope you enjoy this chapter and ill see you next Friday ; )

[NOT MY GIF] 

...

8 Months Later...

...

"I have a plan. Okay. First, I sit next to Y/N on the flight."

"Mhm."

"Second,  I'm gonna buy a dual head phone adapter and watch movies with her the whole time."

"Okay."

"Three, when we go to Venice; Venice is super famous for making stuff out of glass right?"

"True."

"So I'm going to buy her a white gardenia necklace because it's a really pretty flower and... because... well-"

"Is it because of the-?"

"Because of its meaning yeah. Step 4 is when we're in Paris, I'm going to take her to the top of the Eiffel Tower, give her the necklace and 5, I'm gonna tell her how I feel. And 6, hopefully she tells me she feels the same way."

"And don't forget Step 7."

"Step 7?" Peter questions and clicks the top of his pen to write down Step 7, ears perked to listen to Ned.

"Don't do any of that."

Peter lets out an annoyed and frustrated sigh as Ned gave him a look that expressed 'what? what did i do?'

"Why?"

"Because we're gonna be bachelors in Europe Peter!"

"Ned."

"Look, I may not know much, but I do know Europeans love Americans."

Peter had little belief in Ned's statement that he scrunched up his face and looked at Ned.

"Really?"

"-And more than half of them are women!" Ned exclaims to make his point.

"...Sure but, I really like Y/N man. She's awesome, she's super funny like in a kind of dork way, and whenever she looks at me I feel like- she's coming over don't say anything!" Peter quickly shuts himself up.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Don't say anything!" Is the only thing you hear as you walked up to Peter and Ned's table.

"Sup guys? You excited for the science trip?" You greet them, rocking your body with a smile planted on your face, your assignment folder occupying your hands. Technically you got up from your, F/N's and MJ's table so you could photo copy your guy's group project but you heard Peter and Ned rambling about Europe and thought you could start up a conversation.

"Hey! Uh, yeah! We're just talking about the trip."

"Yeah and Peter's Plan." Ned confidently slides in the conversation.

Peter's Plan?

You stop moving and shift yourself to Peter, averting your eyes so yours meet his.

"...You have a plan? For what?" You nervously smile and laugh at him, playing with your bracelet on your wrist. The bracelet was silver but held a black cross (similar to a crucifix) in the middle of it.

"I- I don't have a plan." Peter mumbles, fiddling with his pen and looking at you with anxious eyes.

"No he's just gonna collect tiny statues while we're travelling to other countries." Ned blurts out and you can see he exchanged a look to Peter.

"I didn't know you liked-" You stopped speaking immediately, your response lost in your mind, something else distracting you.

You looked past Peter's head and your eyes meet with the dozens of drawings and tributes to Iron Man, to Tony and his sacrifice.

It seemed like yesterday you were on the battlefield, when you found out Peter was Spider-Man and all of those emotions and memories swept and flooded your mind in a tidal wave.

You can feel the whole room spinning even though your feet were planted on the ground, the voices of Peter and Ned fading as the sobs of Peter replaced them and Tony's dying breath.

It's been 8 months and you thought you had finally moved on from all the grief and suffering, the sleepless nights full of insidious nightmares and the suffocating feeling that came from all those panic attacks.

"You can rest now..."

"Did you photo copy it?" Someone asks and you whirl yourself around suddenly and possibly too fast, loosing balance and landing into someone's arms. F/N.

"Oh shoot sorry F/N I was talking to Ned and Peter about Europe and got side tracked?"

"It's okay! I was just checking since MJ was sorta getting antsy since she wanted it to all be done before you guys leave tomorrow." F/N beams at you, still holding you up.

"I-I'll go do it now-"

"Y/L/N, did you firstly ask me and secondly get a hall pass?" Ms. Warren spoke up and alarmed you. She was sitting at her desk and was staring at the 4 of you.

"N-No Ms. Warren..."

"I'll go!" Peter shot straight up from his seat. Ned shook his head and F/N laughed at his eagerness.

"No Parker you've got work to do. Y/L/N, Davis can take you."

Davis... Brad Davis?

Just on cue, Brad lifted his head up from being preoccupied at his desk and sent you a friendly smile and wave. He stood up immediately and from his demeanor, seemed over the top that the teacher asked him to escort you to the printers. He looked so familiar but no matter how heard you tried, you couldn't conjure where you'd seen him from.

Brad walked over to you and was still smiling from before so you nicely smiled back. Brad offered you to go first so you walked to Ms. Warren's desk and grabbed the huge hall pass with Brad trailing after you.

"We won't be long Ms. Warren!" Brad yelled out as he closed the classroom door.

You shot F/N a look that said 'okay guess i go and also what just happened?' and F/N shrugged back with no explanation and return back to MJ. You saw Peter looking at you as you left and saw him sigh heavily and immediately get back to his work. I hope Peter's okay.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The cold, crisp breeze whirled through the dim lit streets of Queens as you walked back home;  the streets were always alive at night with people hurrying from one place to another, lights shine brightly, beaming against tall, towering buildings and billboards, apartments until rooftops could reach the sky. New York was always cold in the night and what lurked in the darkness was even colder. Robberies, assaults and muggings were a regular sighting in alleyways but with yourself as Saviour and Peter as Spider-Man, the number has been decreasing over time thanks to the both of you. School was weird today with the whole Peter and Ned thing and especially with Brad. He was nice taking you to the printers but he kept asking way to many questions about you and you caught him staring a couple of times... weird.

You gripped your coat tightly around you, wrapping it as much as you could around your body to fight the wind, shivers being sent down your spine. Your mind had been blurry lately; balancing the lifestyle of school, social life and duties into one while trying to properly rest and to be there whenever anyone needed you was a struggle; the biggest fear you had was if you just took one, innocent day off that'd you regret it for the rest of your life. You also found it hard to escape your thoughts,  insecurities and nightmares whenever you'd zoned out or even closed your eyes for a second. Despite it all you had your anchors though; the people who were holding you down from losing yourself from all the madness happening. You slip out a smile at the thought of those special individuals; friends that you put above anything or anyone else. Peter, Ned and even Michelle were all you had and all you were relying on to help you back up.

"Help! Someone!" A stranger cries into the night, pleading for a saviour, followed by the sound of gunshots and glass shattering.

Show time.

Reacting instantly, you check for your surroundings before fleeing into the shadows of a lonesome alley and with a single flick of your bracelet, it lets of a white glow, letting you know its activated.

"Hello Ms. L/N, how may I assist you tonight?"

"You know the drill ARIS: suit up."

"Right away Y/N."

On command, the familiar cool and sensational feeling of the nano tech being released from your bracelet began spreading all across your body; you loved the feeling of your suit coming alive just by wishing it, AI on the ready and that the suit was also with you, being a part of you.

As you relished in the moment your suit was fully on your body, you rushed out of the alleyway, concealing your true identity under your mask, prepared to fight,  you begin to follow the cries of the citizen in need.

You felt your heart beat and pace fasten, senses heightened and the adrenaline coursing through your veins.

A shift in your vision changes as you feel your pupils fill fully black and steady themselves with your mask lenses,  you exert all your energy into a singular jump and successfully land on the rooftop.

"ARIS, scan for location of activity."

"The distress signal appeared from 21st Street."

Ahhh, classic bank robbery.

"Okay ARIS, are all systems ready to go?"

"Affirmative. Initiating heads up display and initializing flight power."

You roll your head back and crack your knuckles, jumping up and down on the spot, ready for take off.

Nodding your head, you extend your arms out and feel the palms opening up and see the infinite blue glow from your thrustsers and feel the energy spreading and going to the soles of your suit.

Staring down the run way of the roof, you start walking before speeding up into a full sprint, running across the abandoned roof top. Steps quickening, you can see the end of the roof nearing with each step you take; you're going to jump. Before you know it you've leapt off the roof and it feels like time has stopped and you're floating on nothing; it's only you, the sky and the city's blurred noises and lights.

"Flight power fully restored."  ARIS states, crashing and hauling you back into reality.

The euphoria of you floating has started to turn into the immense awareness that you are plummeting straight down with such speed to the lively streets and roads of New York below.

Extending your arms and legs, you point them into the direction of 21st Street and hear the whirring of your suit taking control and then, you're off. You're flying, just like Tony did, in the late night sky of New York City to stop a robbery.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Positioning yourself, your eyes meet with the victim in front of you; the typical situation.

"Hey."

The criminals all stop with their actions and immediately turn their heads to you. The hostages look up at you with hope and desperate, tears of fear and joy being to stream from their eyes.

"Looks like you forgot your credit cards huh fellas?"

2 out of the 4 robbers stand up and you took the chance to fire an energy blast, distracting them you slide on your knees towards the captives.

"Go! Go!" You beckon as you freed them from their constraints, they hurried out of the door shouting 'thank you's'  and praises for your service and gratitude.

Getting up from the ground quickly, you turn around and see the 2 robbers running toward you.

You spring off the floor, back onto your feet and observe your surroundings; the 2 robbers are still sprinting towards you. You ball your fists and stance yourself ready to fight.

"Guys, guys, guys! You can either return back the money and nothing happens or we can do this the annoying and hard way."

One of the robbers racing towards you pulls back their gun and you hear a gunshot and feel a little ting and flick on your suit; the robber was really dumb enough to shoot you and your bulletproof suit.

"Well, guess you chose the hard way."

The 2 robbers still at full speed rush towards you but before they can even touch you, you step to the side and they loose control and crash into the wall.

"Ooooh! That's at least gotta leave a bruise.' You mock them.

You dart towards the fallen robbers, dizzy and dazed from the impact. You hit your right wrist twice on your suit and it opens up and greets you with what you were looking for; your trusty tool and invention of electric rope. The rope appeared as a blue wire with white sparks that shot out of it and you used it to tie up criminals and lets say if they were to hesitate or make a runner, they'd get a bit of a shock.

Grabbing the 1st and 2nd robber's hands, you wrap the wire around them both so they are both stuck together and unable to escape.

2 down, 2 to go.

The other 2 robbers that were still looting money had stopped since they'd heard the crash and the groaning of pain from the one's you'd taken on.

One robber stands up and places his fingers in his mouth and whistles.

You tilt your head in confusion but see that 3 more step out from the remaining safes.

"Aww brought more of your friends for me? How sweet..."

They all attack you at once, bullets ricochet off you and bounce back, flying back at them.

In unison they all duck down behind a counter from the bullets and curse out profanities and you take the opportunity to dash forward and leap onto the counter and land in front of them.

They all jump to their feet and a robber steps in front of you and tries to land a hit. You grab their arm and twist it and they let off a howl of anguish, you tasered him with your bracelet and flipping and throwing him to the floor.

Another takes his place and goes to hit you but one from behind tackles you and pins your arms, locking them in a firm and harsh grip.

Even through the suit, you can feel sharp fingernails attempting to latch and pierce you.

The guy in front of you clutches a solid grasp on both of your shoulders, forcefully yanks you down into his knee and hits your stomach. Already you can feel a bruise forming on your lower abdomen.

Jesus this one will be hard to cover...

You groan at the extensive, burning sensation building, your skin becoming tender and aching from the hit. The guy holding your arms down is tightening his grip and

"Given up huh Saviour?" The robber in front of you spits.

"T-that's the thing...." You let out a breathless chuckle, "I'm only getting started."

The robbers stare at each other and back before laughing furiously at you, the rest approaching you with guns.

What the robbers were thinking is that they'd won; they had successfully robbed Queens County Saving Bank and had taken down one of Queen's own superheroes. You on the other hand, had plans and knew perfectly well how criminal's minds worked; allow them to think they've won, they'll loose all focus and control on the situation, so you'd gotten them in the spot you wanted them: busy getting ready to celebrate a fake victory and not realizing the black smoke manifesting around them.

"As I said, I'm just getting started." A smirk lies on your covered face as you look deeply into the taunting robber's eyes full of bewilderment and fear.

The black smoke begins flurrying around your body finds it way around the robber's hands, instantly making him let go you. You lunge forward and punch the one in front of you with full power, he stumbles back and falls to the ground defeated. You then sharply turn and kick the other in the face.

The two out of the three still left go to attack you but you raise your arm in defense and send a gust of smoke flying to them. They stagger back and remain frozen as the smoke curls around and drags them to the ground. You rush over and deploy more of your rope onto the two and wrap it tightly around them, restraining them to the one place.

The last robber you spot is kneeling on the ground, trembling slightly with fear and piling as much money possible into one bag, trying to make a clean getaway.

Slowly and antagonistically, you make your way over to him and stand there, staring at him and waiting for him to notice. So busy and frantically he continues filling the bag he doesn't take care of his surroundings or even the cries of his comrades.

"I'll take that thank you." You cleanly snatch the bag and kick him to the ground with your heel.

He lands flat on his chest, hands out to the side you grab them and wrap them around once more.

People emerge from hiding and cry out cheers of joy and appreciation, a few giving you a pat on the shoulder, hugging you and the occasional asking for photos. The sound of police sirens ring in the distance, signaling its time to go. Waving your goodbyes, you turn to flee the scene but you hear and notice the vibration of a tap being played on your suit. You pivot back around and see one of the bank accountant's smiling frailly at you, evidently anxious and nervous in your presence.

"T-thank you so much Saviour, how ever can we repay you?" The accountant's eyes full of tears and lost distress begged.

"You don't need too; this is my job. Saving people's lives is what I do." You reply to the accountant, taking off into the night.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"You did quite an excellent job tonight might I say so myself Y/N."

"Why thank you my Another, Rather, Intelligent System."

"Was that perhaps what you call, a flex?"

"...Yes ARIS, that was a flex." You mumble with a hint of embarrassment.

Currently soaring in the air with another criminal taken down, the fresh and cool wind rattles against you. Patrols were always 'relaxing' in a sense to you; gliding around the city and if your AI or you come to the attention of any law breaking activity, you swoop in (literally) and handle it. At times, you would bump into now and then into Spider-Man and the two of you mixed with your skills, would work together as a dynamic duo to take down the enemy. Queens loved and adored the both of you as individuals but as partners as well. Before knowing Peter was Spider-Man, there was a bit of tension and jealously and bickering from both of you: 'Dibs I had him first!' 'No, you know I patrol this area!' arguments occurred so many times that even the Avengers were pulled into it.

"I apologize for interrupting your thinking but it seems to be you have approximately 3 missed calls from your mother and from Pepper Potts accordingly."  

Missed calls from Mum is bad but wait- Pepper called?

"W-when did they call ARIS? Any voicemails?"

"Your mother called to say to be home earlier from 'study group' to prepare for Europe tomorrow and that not to miss dinner again... which you did and Ms. Potts left nothing for you."

"C-can you auto text Mum that study group when longer than expected and that Y/F/N's offered dinner so I stayed and that I'll be home soon?"

"Already on it and for Pepper?"

"Don't text her anything."

"Text sent."

Pepper? The Pepper Potts? It's been 8 months; what does she want and is that Peter?

Drifting down from the air, you land quietly behind a wall and crouch down behind it,  peering out carefully and you see Peter in his Iron Spider suit, eyes red and wet with tears as he stares at a piece of graffiti.

What's so bad about- oh.

The piece of artwork was of Tony; no wonder he was so distraught.

"You okay Spider-Man?"

"Y-yeah, I j-just c-crashed into a w-wall?" His voice high pitched, obviously lying.

"Uh huh... mind if I sit?"

"O-oh uh... no! No, you can sit!"

Giggling at Peter's awkwardness, you slide next to him and take a seat. You knew something was wrong by the way he was breathing and that his eyes were wet and red but how do you bring it up?

"So..."

"So...?"

"H-how is everything Spidey?" God that was awful.

"T-things could be s-so much better... just, the whole Blip thing is, it's getting to me."

"Blip?"

"The Blip? W-where the alien guy on Titan s-snapped his fingers and e-everyone d-disappeared?"

"Wait that's called the Blip?"

"Well that's what everyone is calling it."

"It sounds better than something to do with a maniac murdering half of the Earth's population... plus it's easy to say and remember."

And for the first time in a long time, you actually heard Spider-Man and Peter laugh. It was more of a sad and dry chuckle but, at least it was something.

"I'm assuming you didn't hear about 21st Street then?"

"21st Street what now?"

"Just now there was a robbery; apparently some of uhhh, what's his name? The macho, pacho penguin looking guy? Sends out his henchmen to do all the dirty work?"

"K-Kingpin?"

"Yeah! Pretty sure that's the one! But, really? Kingpin? Sounds really dumb; reminds me of bowling or something instead of an evil business man."

"His head does look like a bowling ball..." Peter murmured quietly.

You smiled brightly and threw your head back as you laughed; that's the Peter and Spider-Man I know.

From his mask, you could tell he was smiling since the corner of his mouth was showing the little peaks from out of it.

Your and his laughter began to die down you two just stayed silence  and looked up into the cloudless sky.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

"It really is... makes my night."

"And mine as well, I mean besides your company." Spider-Man, well more like Peter coughed, trying to cover up what he said.

"T-thank you though.. this was a nice chat Saviour. Not to alarm you or anything, but I'm not gonna be here much longer-"

"W-woah, what the hell do you mean-"

"N-no! Sorry, I worded that wrong don't panic! What I meant to say is I'm not going to be here because, I'm going on vacation."

Parker I swear...

You lightly hit his shoulder and let out a breath of relief. "Don't scare me like that! I did not need that!"

"S-sorry! B-but yeah... I'm going on vacation.. can you handle Queens without me?"

"I already do. Besides, there's always the other Avengers who can."

"Y-yeah... the Avengers... a-anyways Saviour, I-I'm gonna go now. I'll s-see you soon?"

"See ya Spidey and don't go crashing into any walls!"

"When did I- oh."

"Ratted yourself out. Bye Spideyyyyy!" You call out and wave as you watch him swing away and make tracks home yourself.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"I dunno how I did it, but I snuck back in ARIS."

"Well, your mother is asleep-"

"Shhh lemme have this!"

"... Congratulations Y/N."

"Thank you ARIS-"

"Even though I do not condone this behaviour."

Rolling your eyes, you shrug your body and switch your bracelet and your suit slowly peels away from your body, the nano- tech shrinking so it all fits inside the bracelet. You stretch your body but wince from your stomach. Cautiously, you lift your shirt and see the enormous bruise left on you from the robber and his knee.

Bye, bye crop tops...

Plopping yourself on your bed, you lie down and sigh in exhaustion. Closing your eyes slowly, you feel yourself falling to asleep. Until the chime of your best friend's ringtone plays from your phone which causes you to lurch up and open your phone to look at the text.

from: F/N ✌️

yeah.... i'm really sorry that I can't go to Europe...

from: you  

i get it, it's totally fine! your family needs you.

don't feel bad trust me it's all g.

from: F/N ✌️

...if you say so dude. just, have a great time,

take photos and promise to text me when you can?

from: you

you know I will 😤

from: F/N ✌️

kk. well, I better go. it's late and unlike you, people have school tomorrow.

from: you

haha, very funny... well, goodnight nub > : (

from: F/N ✌️

see ya geek : P

Reaching over you place your phone back on the charger and look at the ceiling and sigh.

New York has been chaotic since the Snap- Blip. The Blip. And the amount of crimes has only doubled since before then and everything with school and my friends, Ned, MJ, F/N and Peter and oh god...

Hopefully Europe gives me a break.

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

TAG LIST !! < 3

@eridanuswave

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[savysavannah]

Challenge 1

Special thanks to @damian-schreave and @hadleyjaneharper for the rps.

Also the last section is not in fic format because its 2am, im lazy, and you get the gyst from the RP. Apperantly this is too long so part 2 soon.

    The Prince was off in Paloma for a bit so we were of little use in the Palace, no idea why they had us move in so early. Therefore, I’d spent most of the day with some books I’d grabbed from the library. Primarily they were legal books since it never hurts to brush up. But every once in a while, such as now I’d need to go and grab some food. 

I brought my notepad and a book on contract law with me and walked into the kitchen. There was another girl also in the kitchen. We haven't spoken to each other, she didn’t seem unfriendly or particularly awful company, just hadn’t really had the moment to. I grabbed a plate of fruit and wondered if she would say anything. After a moment I sat down and resumed reading. 

Then a small sad sigh came from the young woman who was looking down at her phone with a sad face. It wouldn’t be too bad if I took a break for some conversation. However, the young woman looked troubled, she may not be in the mood. I yawned and stretched then mumbled, but loud enough for her to hear, “God, I could use a drink.” and wondered if the other would take the bait. 

There was a beat before the other spoke, “Long day?”

“More or less. Lots of reading, missing work. How about yourself?”

She shrugged “Its...different than what I’m used to. Lots of sitting still when I’m used to spending my days moving around.” SHe grimaces then sighed, “The adjustment period is always the toughest, though.”

I thought for a moment trying to remember the occupations of the selected, “The dancer?” I asked. 

She grinned “Yeah. Hadley.” She raised an eyebrow, “And you?”

“Lawyer.” I said and stood from the table, walked over to Hadley and held her hand out, “Savannah Mars, Labrador, three.”

She shook my hand, “Nice to meet you.” then thought for a moment, “You said you were missing work? Do you work at a law firm?”

“Kinda. I work for the Illean Civil Liberties Union in their legal division. It's a non-profit which focuses on civil rights and for me civil legal cases. Lgbt+ rights defense, domestic defense, that sort of thing.”

“Oh, that’s really cool.” She said, seeming actually interested in my work. “Are you missing the casework, or something else?”

“It's pretty hard for me to step back from my work. Since I'm kind of left worrying about my clients. A new guy took over my cases but I'm trying to still work in my own way by studying up on some legal sections I work in less frequently but still may come up. Such as contract law.” I explained not fully hearing her other question. 

She nodded, “I understand, sort of. I’m left worrying about how my ballet company is going to perform, with somebody else taking over the role in the Nutcracker that I’ve had the past few years.”

“Yeah the transition really is nerve wracking. Have you seen them perform though?” I asked hoping that could at least provide some solace. 

“I’ve seen pictures on Instagram, but no videos yet. We were just finishing up our performance of Cinderella when I left. Nutcracker rehearsal started a few days after, but it’s a show we do each year, so... “ She sighed “ It /should/ be fine.”

I nodded, “well if they assigned them the role try and have faith in their qualifications. That's what I'm keeping in mind for mine. They did go to law school so it's fine. They got the role so it’s fine.” I said partially for her and partially for me. 

She sighed a little hesitant, “Yeah, you’re probably right. Competition is just gonna be a bitch and a half when I’m sent back.” She chuckled wryly.  

“Well maybe you'll win and then you won't have too. Who’s gonna take a role away from the future queen of Illea.”

“That’s extremely unlikely to happen.” She then almost smirked “What about you? If you win, nobody’s going to tell you no in a courtroom.”

I laughed, “If I win I'll kill myself.” Then I realized how dark that sounded, though it didn’t seem to phase her.

“I hate to say that I feel the same way, but…” She shrugged and nodded, “I feel the same way” For a moment I was confused, why would she join if she felt the same way? Then it clicked, a dancer would be a five, lower class, need the money.

“You're a five right? Did you apply for the money? If you don't mind my asking that is. It would just make sense why you'd dislike to win.” 

“It…” She bit her lip, “Kind of? It’s a long story involving a deadbeat mom, a shitty health care system, two starving artists, and a kid with leukemia.” She said with an apologetic smile. Whatever she’d be apologizing for I can’t say. 

“Well shit man, I'm glad you got in then. Both for the money and for a break from that. I know this society fucking sucks and we've got a likely shit for brains hier, but if you ever need a lawyer I'm here to help. Hopefully, being a three now will provide some help for you too.” I said then caught myself making a mental note to not be so vulgar with my language. 

She gave me a small smile, “Thanks. Now I just have to figure out what I’m doing with the rest of my life, after throwing my career into dance, only to become a Three.” She laughed, “What about you? Why did you enter? It sounds like you had a pretty cushy gig going on.”

It wouldn’t be smart to tell the truth, but lying when Hadley had been so open felt wrong, I sighed and said, “My brother. Basically he forged my entry and I didn't want him to get into legal troubles for that. He's a fucking idiot.” I sighed and let that last cuss word slide as he is a fucking idiot. 

She snorted, “Men really do only have two brain cells.” She gave a small smile, “I’m sorry that you ended up in that situation, though. That’s rough.”

“Yeah. I tried to beat him up but my other brothers stopped me. It was really a mess. Had to find out from a waitress asking for a photo with me.” 

She shook her head, “My best friend told me that he was so upset to see me, “throwing my life away,” as if I hadn’t entered to help him and his brother.” Sounds like an ungrateful ass. She sighed and looked down at her fruit, “When did life get this messed up?”

A question with too big of an answer. A bit panicked and not knowing what to say I took a strawberry off my plate and held it out to her, “Fruit?” 

She chuckled and took the strawberry, “Thanks.” She takes a bit, chews, and then pauses, looking at Savannah, “You know what I could really go for right now, though? A good gin and tonic.”

“God that'd be great. You know what, let's make some. One glass can't hurt.”

She shrugged, “Sure, sounds fun. I’m down.” She looks around, “I know they keep the wine in that cabinet, but I haven’t found the liquor yet.”

After gathering our ingredients we get to work making the glasses, “so, what's your plan in all this?”

“In the selection?” She raises an eyebrow and then shrugs, she starts pouring things into the mixer bottle, “Stay here for as long as I can so I keep making stimulus checks, and then get sent home before I’m stuck spending the rest of my life here.” She finishes pouring and looks at Savannah, “You?”

I sighed, “about the same. Give the money to the non-profit I work for. I was hoping I could root for you to win, you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders to influence him, but the more I think about it the more I realize that's like damning to hell.

She snorts, “Well, I still appreciate the compliment, and I would’ve said the same about you.” Then she sighs, “I’ve always known that it’s been like this, though. He gets to squander every penny he has on luxury shit, whereas my paychecks…” another sigh, “But life isn’t fair.”

“Yeah. And then waste the money on useless shit and trying to pass dumb laws like making 'cats' illegal instead of actually fixing the problems in this country.” I said and poured myself a glass of the drink.

She poured some for herself and then shook her head with an eye roll, “Don’t even get me started on that debacle. Why even joke about things like that?”

“Because he doesn't comprehend how the people of his own country are suffering. He's just so blind with privilege. Not that I have much to speak on but at least I freaking try to think about others in the country and their situations.”

She gave me a small smile, “You didn’t seem like the type to blow your money on worthless things to me, at all. I don’t even know what I’m going to say to him when we have that interview in a few days.”

“Yeah I think im just gonna be polite for the sake of not causing a scene that'll haunt me my whole life” I said and took a sip, then clarified, “polite though, not kind.”

She nodded then drank too, “I really went from putting on one type of show for Twos to another.” 

“Any idea what you're gonna do as a three?” I asked.

She pursed her lips and shook her head, “I haven’t taken a science or maths class since I was eleven, and I don’t have the money for university. I guess I could work as a translator, or if that doesn’t work out, marry a five and go back to dancing.” She took another sip of her drink, “Hopefully I’ll be here long enough to figure it out.”

“Do they not have like threes who are dance teachers? I haven't really looked much into the area myself but it may make sense.”

She shook her head, “For me, at least, it was mostly Russian immigrants who were former dancers themselves, so Fives.”

I thought for a moment, “Well if you ever need history lessons, english, or legal aid I'm around. I dug into my pocket and pulled out a business card, since it’s not like either of us plan to be here long,  “Just all the way up in Labrador. Where are you from again?”

“Allens. So, not too far. Thanks.” She replied and looked at the card.

“Welcome.” I replied, finished off my drink then wrote down another idea. 

Hadley narrowed her eyes curiously, “What are you writing?”

“Just an idea for a proposition with the ICLU. There are probably other girls in a similar situation as you being lower caste now upper be it through marriage or selection, it may be helpful to talk about implementing a caste readjustment program.”

She lifted her head, smiling just a little, “That sounds like a great idea.” Then a little quieter she added,  “I'd appreciate it.” 

“Hopefully my boss will agree and pass it onto the innovation department. I'll write a quick memo about it to her later.” I smiled happy to have something to do.

“You really love your job, don't you?” She asked. 

I nodded, “It makes me feel like I have some kinda purpose. As cheesy as that is to say.” Making actual change in Illea instead of just prancing around doing whatever else I could have grown up to do. 

“No, I get that.” She looked down, “As a kid, I never really felt like I belonged, but on the stage, dancing?” She looked a little distant, “Standing out was a good thing.”

I nodded,  “Mhm. Have you thought of ways you could continue working while at the palace?”

She smiled, “Actually, I had a conversation with Prince Eaton about that, and I’ve been able to work out a schedule that allows me to still practice, even though I have to do a little more work to catch up on lessons.”

“That'll be good. If you wanted too you could put on a performance and donate the profits. That way you could be working towards a goal too instead of general practice.”

She tilted her head, “That's an interesting idea. I’ll keep that in mind.”

I nodded, “Well it was nice meeting you, Lady Hadley. But it is probably time for me to get back to work.” Then held out my hand to shake goodbye.

She took it, giving it a shake. “Nice to meet you too.”

It was pretty late in the afternoon by the time I was escorted to the interview room. Damian was in a navy blue suit jacket, dress pants, and a white button up shirt. He smiled at me as I got closer.  His eyes flicker to my nametag for a second before he speaks, “Hello, Lady Savannah. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.”

I smiled trying to stay polite, then gave a small curtsy, “The same to you, your highness.”

He smiled back, taking a few steps back and gestured for me to go into the interview room. In the room is a sofa, surrounded by stage lights and a few cameras, what a romantic first meeting. There is one camera on a swivel stand, that is currently focused on Damian and I. He starts walking into the room, looking at me as he talks, "How have you found your first few days here, so far?"

I debated giving him a short one word answer of 'fine' but Danny's words of 'don't ruin your own happiness" slipped into my head. "They've been fine. I've enjoyed your library. It's helped me feel like I can in some ways continue working by catching up on legal matters normally outside of my areas of expertise."

He nodded while smiling then took a seat on the sofa, "So you're a lawyer, then? What kind of law do you practice?"

Reluctantly I sat next to him, hopefully I wouldn't catch an STD from proximity alone, "Yes, I practice primarily civil and criminal law with the Illean Civil Librities Union. So primarily defending people who are in bad situations due to outdated laws which need amending." My tone came out more passive aggressive than intended, but it was slightly justified as he should have been working to amend said laws and help people instead of partying.

"That's a great thing, to be doing. What got you into law?"

"Well I was at the University of Labrador. My best friend I'm the sorority I was in decided to go to a protest over women's rights in illea. We went, someone man came and antagonized some women, she defended herself verbally, got arrested, felt up by the officer, then was unable to do anything legally about it. I felt that was unfair so I decided to look into being a lawyer, liked the process, graduated in 2 years, went to Yale and here I am." 

He lets out a low whistle, looking down for a second. I couldn't help but be a but prideful at my accomplishment, then looks back up at me, more serious than before, his jaw tense, "I'm really sorry that happened to your friend." He said and fell silent. What a conversation killer. 

"It's fine." I said trying not to dwell on it, "How was your time in undergrad? Partied a lot, I saw." I said the passive agressiveness coming out again. 

He smiled, a little more relaxed than before, but not as relaxed as he was when he first entered the room, "I enjoyed my last few years of freedom before entering the real world, yes." He then raised his eyebrows, grinning a little wider, kind of teasing, "And what about you? Being in a sorority and all, I doubt you were much of a homebody yourself." 

I couldn't help but completely flush and bit down my urge to absolutely smack him upside the head. "It was a brief phase. It was fun. But also a waste of time." I chuckled a bit remembering my airheaded behavior in that year, "had I already been working harder I may have been able to finish faster and help more people."

He grinned a little at how flustered I was, which just made me want to punch him more, then smiled a little more genuinely towards the end, "We're still young. We have our whole lives to keep fixing things."

i frowned, "That isn't true. We never know when we're going to die. Something could always happen so we should be trying to help as much as we can. Not to mention while we" I paused after my slip of the tongue, but didn't correct it "partied in undergrad people were suffering who could have been helped."

There's a flicker of a frown on his face when I mentioned how short life is, but he lets it go, tilting his head when he looks at me, "We can't save everyone. That's impossible. We can try to do as much as we can, but there will always be more people in need of help.

"Partying isn't trying."

He raised his eyebrows, "You didn't even know you wanted to be a lawyer, back when you were partying in college."

I got kinda flustered again, he's right, there's no logically sound way to win. Yeah but I should have, I wish I had. Would have made the time a lot less regrettable." I said then cleared my throat, "Though, this is a bit of a heavy topic for our first meeting, don't you agree? Your- Damian." I barely corrected myself from saying Your Highness.

He chuckled, "A bit, but it's different from the surface level talk about work and provinces." He inclined his head, "Though, if you think about it, you never would have discovered your passion for law if you hadn't joined your sorority." He shrugged and gave a stupid grin which made me blush even more. 

Finally I snapped and turned to point a finger at him, "You won okay. I can't regret something if I didn't know to do something better, but that doesn't make topless jello shots any less of an embarrassing memory." I exclaimed then heard what I said and wished to curl into a ball and die. 

He chuckled a little, "We all have our moments. It's okay."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door then, and a guard pokes his head in. Damian nods at him, then turns and looks at me, "Unfortunately, we'll have to exchange stories another time. It appears our time today is up."

I sighed in relief at my rescue, then mumbled under my breath, "Thank God." I stood to curtsy, "Your-" I cringed a bit at the error, "Damian."

He chuckled again, "It was a pleasure to meet you Savannah. Until next time." He smiled at me when we got to the door, and stopped in the doorway.

I smiled back politely, "Thank you for the conversation. Till next time." 

*savy was taking a break from her work and decided to out for a walk in the gardens. She had always been a fan of taking runs when stressed snd the gardens were providing a peaceful alternative. She was walking around when she thought she saw a bunny in the bushes. Being the gal she is she wanted to see it closer so she stepped off the path and walked into the gravel. Immediately her heel sank in the gravel. She lost her balance for a moment but didnt fall. Instead she panicked. She debated stepping out of her shoes to get it out but she didnt wanna hurt her skin on the gravel. Instead she tried to wiggle it loose and hopped no one was near*

*rip savannah, but Damian is out distressing by playing basketball at that point in time, and from where he's standing as he shoots this basket, he can see someone clearly struggling with something in the gardens. he can't see who it is, or what the problem is, but he figures he should go check it out. he tucks the basketball under one arm, jogging towards the person he can see, calling out* Hey, everything okay?

*savannah hears him call out an knows immediately it's the last person in the world she'd want to find her like this* Absolutely peachy! *calls back and debates ditching the shoes*

*he slows to a stop when he gets closer, his eyes going from savannah's face to her foot* Mmm, looks like you've got yourself in a bit of a sticky situation, there.

*is extremely flustered* no situation at all. I said I'm fine. *aggressively wiggles the heel and almost trips so she squeaks but manages to catch herself*

*when he sees her almost trip, he lunges forwards to catch her before she hits the ground, but then she catches herself, so he's like "oh was that for nothing?" he looks down at the shoe, furrowing his brows, thinking* Here, let me help with that, before you actually fall.

I'm not going to fall and I don't need your help. I'm perfectly capable of defeating some gravel on my own

*he takes a step back* Alright... if you insist... *hes not going anywhere, just watching her, waiting to see what she'll do*

*huffs when she doesnt hear him walk away and continues to wiggle then huffs when shes not getting anywhere* Fine. If you're just going to stand there anyways you may as well help.

*he chuckles, setting the basketball down on the ground, kneeling down to look at the gravel and the heel, before beginning to dig the heel out with his fingers* Not the best shoes to walk off the path in.

*rolls her eyes* I didn't think about that. I thought I saw a bunny and got distracted

*he can't help but raise his eyebrows at that, grinning, twisting the heel a little to unscrew it from the gravel* Was it at least a cute bunny?

*his tone is a little teasing*

It was cute, be careful with your tone though when your face is near my foot. *once its free she steps back on the path so she doesn't sink again*

*he chuckles, joking* What, are you planning on giving me a royal nose job with your shoe?

You could probably use one. *offers a hand to help him stand back up*

*he picks up his basketball, taking her hand, still grinning at her, teasing* Maybe it's just the angle you've been looking at it from.

*stands on her tiptoes looking at his nose* Nope. It's a little off. Nose job it is.

*she pinches his nose* its a big flaw. Doubt you'll be able to get a wife like that

*he chuckles* I don’t know, my nose has never gotten in my way before

*considers* You're right, I'm sure that was just your sense of responsibility that got in the way.

*he raises his eyebrows* You know, I’ve never turned in an assignment late, or anything for work late. Never asked for an extension.

I somehow find that doubtful. Your reputation of being a loose partier precedds that of a responsible duitiful person.

Well, it’s the truth. *he shrugs* If you’re really curious, you could email my professors. It’s all about finding a balance. *he smiles*

*grumbles because he seems to be honest about it* What did you even study?

I dual majored in political science and marketing. You?

*sighs in relief* at least you werent a buisness major. Political Science and History for me on a prelaw track.

*he nods, smiling, genuinely curious* Did you prefer one over the other?

Probably political science. I mean I love history it's why I added it. For fun since it's just like learning stories and seeing the modern day impact of said stories. But political science felt more efficient. Like it helped me have a better understanding of the philosophy of political thinking which has helped me a lot in law. Plus I just liked the professors more.

*he smiles* Understandable. Good professors make it so much easier to learn the content

*smiles* yeah and lots and lots of highlighters. Did you have a favorite topic in political science?

*grinning* I took a really cool course on comparative political economies - I really like the economic side of things. That, and the classes I had to take on international politics. *he looks over at savannah* What about you?

Probably civil politics. I've always been a fan of civil work. I honestly thought about working for the AFEI instead of the ICLU but decided I wanted to do more personal legal work than policy legal work. But it's always been the work that has interested me more since it's important to bring up civil conflicts within the country and try to help as much as possible. But learning about where we came from in terms of The United States vs the civil policies of Illea was an interesting course for me, especially because of the overlap of History and Political Science.

*he nods as she talks, thinking that all over* I think work guided what classes I liked as well. Because beyond national politics, I also have to think about international politics, trade agreements, and maintaining Illéa’s position in the world.

*seems slightly surprised* so you actually liked your major? I assumed you just were kinda forced to pick it

I was kind of forced to, but I could still pick the classes that interested me more. *He shrugs* Plus I really enjoyed my marketing major.

*thinks for a moment* Can I ask you something and have an honest answer? No bullshit PR answer. I'm just trying to figure out if we can trust you to be our future king through this, at the very least.

Sure *he nods, pursing his lips a little* Ask away.

Do you actually want to be the king of this country? Like aside from the perks you have from it, do you care about the work?

I do care. *he pauses, swallowing* I really do. It’s just...it’s a lot of pressure to accept from a young age.

*she thinks for a moment* Noted. Thank you for your honesty. *Looks at the basketball* Do you play much?

*he smiles kind of sadly* Not as much as I used to. I’ve gotten a little busy helping to run the country, and such.

*gets an idea* Do you wanna make a bet with me?

*he grins* Depends on what it is

Basketball. I'm working on a program right now with the ICLU, a coworker wants to come visit me and discuss about it but appreantly work visits aren't allowed during this. If I can get more hoops in you'll arrange that?

*he furrows his brows* Better yet, I could just organize for your coworker to visit under the guise of another event going on. Just give me a few weeks to work out the details.

*kinda chuckles because shes competitive* oh? Youre scared you'll lose? But if that's what you prefer

*he laughs* No, I just know I’d win, and I’d hate to deny you the ability to see your coworker

Fine. You'll set up the meeting, then I'll just prove to you that I would win had their beem stakes.

*he narrows his eyes at her, extending a hand to shake, still grinning* Deal

*shakes it firmly then kicks off her heels planning to walk to the court barefoot.* Would be an unfair advantage for me to still be in them

*he raises his eyebrows* Why, they helped square up the height difference between us, at the very least *he chuckles*

*almost elbows him over that but barely stops herself* I don't need that help. I'm perfectly capable of crushing you independent of my shoes

*he laughs* I played basketball in uni, you know?

As did I. Well- not in a club. A guy who I was *ponders for a moment* acquainted with, played it therefore I played with him and his friends fairly often

*he raises his eyebrows* And how tall was your acquaintance? Because I’m used to playing with people my height, but also my mom and sister, who are - *he puts his hand somewhere around his shoulder because they’re 5’4” and 5’5”* - about this tall

He was around 6'3. His friends the same or more. Don't worry I'm well aware of the disadvantage of my height and very prepared to utilize it

*he chuckles* Oh, I’ve got to see this. *when they get to the court he starts dribbling the ball casually, walking towards the middle of the court* Do you want to start with the ball, or should I?

*thinks for a moment and puts her shoes down on the edge of the court and rolls up the bottoms of her dress pants a bit* You can start with it.

*he raises his eyebrows at her rolling up her dress pants, but he nods* Okay, if you insist. *he waits until he’s ready before starting the play*

*she walks up prepared to steal since she cant block*

*he starts dribbling more seriously, quickly maneuvering around her, taking three large steps with the ball, and then shoots a basket, and it goes in*

*she kinda huffs about that dislikes. But once he has the ball again she tries again, this time getting it and doing her UNDER THE LEGS MOVE AND SHOOTS*

*he turns around, a little in shock* That is not a legal move!

Hmmm *puts her finger to her chin very smug* I dont think it explicitly says in the rules that you're not allowed too. You use your height I'll use mine *VERY SMUG*

*he narrows his eyes* Fine, best 2 out of 3? Whoever gets this next shot wins, then

*SHES BEING COCKY NOW* Aw is the wittle princey calling it quits so soon? His fragile ego damaged? *bats her eyes teasingly*

*he narrows his eyes* Fine, best three out of five, then. *he starts dribbling the ball right from here he is, and it’s a long shot to his basket from there, but he’s pretty confident, so he goes for it, and somehow it actually goes in. he raises his eyebrows at her* Still think you’re gonna win?

*crosses her arms* That was luck. *goes to get the ball since shes closer*

Or just sheer skill. *he smirks a little*

*turns to face him just to roll her eyes and gets the ball. She then dribbles it back to the middle or something idk how basketball works*

*he follows her to the middle, standing in front of her, knees bent in that “ready” position idk wtf it’s called lmao*

*that position makes knees wide so she dribbles and goes to do her fast under the leg move again*

*he sees it coming this time, and takes a few steps back, keeps his arm in front of him to reach for the ball, which he gets, and then dribbles across to the the hoop he has to score in, taking the shot, and watching it go in again. he grabs the ball as it bounces back up, raising his brows at savannah* One more, or are you good? *he grins a little*

*huffs again and crosses her arm* Fine we'll call it at 3 to 1. But in my defense it's been awhile.

*he grins* Well, you’re always welcome to practice out here with me, if you want.

I can't tell if you're being taunting or not *rolls her eyes and walks up to him then holds out her hand to shake for the end of the game*

*he takes her hand and shakes, then gives her a genuine smile* No taunting. I mean it. I’d love to have someone new to play with.

I'll consider it then. I am getting slightly bored of your homes running path for exercise.

*smiles back even tho she doesnt wanna because it was a nice offer*

*he tilts his head from side to side* Yeah, the running trail through the gardens is kind of short. There are better ones /in/ Angeles, if you ever want to check them out

Not sure I'm allowed to just waltz on out of here, but I'd love the names of any you know. My grandmother lives near her so I'm sure I'll be visiting soon enough after this if not immediately so.

*he shrugs* I could also drive you sometime, if you want. I /do/ have a car.

*seems a bit surprised* You know how to drive?

*he furrows his brows* Of course! I got my license as soon as I was legally allowed to.

But its not like you need too? Don't you have like drivers?

*he looks a little confused and taken aback* I’m sure some exist, but why would I want someone else to drive me when I could be free and drive myself?

I'm not sure. I just know rich people, like for example my cousin *mumbles for a moment to find the phrasing* So my grandmother is in charge of the Mars Candy Corporation. My mom's older brother Nathaniel will be taking over it, his kids also my cousins all have drivers. They're like twenty something now but Jackson is always bragging about how he doesn't have to take the effort to drive himself places. I just assumed other people who could afford them would have them, especially busy people who could work instead of drive.

*he blinks* Wow, I never even would have considered that. *he shakes his head* No, I like driving. Being able to roll the windows down and blast the music...it’s like a few moments of freedom. *he shrugs, smiling a little sadly*

*she noticed the smile then something clicks* so freedom is your vice. You act out to feel free, thus the partying. You mentioned earlier the responsibility of being a prince being am influence on the partying. A lack of freedom makes sense. *she knows shes getting too personal but her curiosity and worry for the future gets the best of her* But what does that mean you're going to do when you're king? You'll have even less. How do you plan to maintain that restriction without bursting and needing freedom?

*he stiffens a little at her analysis because damn it’s spot on, but sighs towards the end* Getting as much out of life as I can now. I always knew what my future held for me. So I can plan accordingly. *he forces a small grin, trying to joke* Besides, with any luck, I’ll be old and almost out of energy by the time I’m king.

*furrows her eyebrows concerned* That doesn't work. *sighs* Believe me I'd know. But we aren't wired to run off memories. Instead we develop habits and coping mechanisms. Everyone snaps from time to time, you'll go back to what made you happy last. For you I assume that'll be partying. Which is something you can't do as king, and assuming it wont be till your old isn't right either, regardless of if that was a joke it's not something that you can lean on since millions of people could be relying on you and you'd be unprepared. You are going to be king, You are not going to have freedom, you are going to be under immense pressure and responsibility, honest answer, what are you going to do when you need to snap?

*he narrows his eyes at her, this time more out of irritation than anything else, and he’s a little sarcastic* Gee, thanks for the reminder. Though, for the record, I /haven’t/ partied since uni, and I have no plans to in the near future. So perhaps I’ll rely on my other coping mechanism, such as basketball, or taking a drive.

Yeah well it's the truth and uni wasn't that long ago. It's hard to break habits. I mean I partied like 4 times a month in undergrad and I still use it. That was forever ago but that's not how humans work. You're gonna lean on what you've leaned on. You're going to get shitfaced, you're going to want what you used to have, you're gonna idolize those times in uni and want them back. But you're not going to have it and it's going to be hard and shitty but you have to tough it out because of the country that relies on you and this is proving to me that you're not going to be a reliable King for the people who need you.  

[done-mer-moved]

i Also don't know ur OCs but: 1, 4, 5, 8, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 33, 42, 50, 54, 56, 61, 73, and 78 please? -drunkmiraak

[[LKdghlkj sorry this took so long!! I got super sick so it sat half-done in my drafts for 84 years. @drunkmiraak]]

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

So, while I’ve got half a billion OCs by technicality, my main idiot is Azaryne Redoran who takes the role of the Vestige in the ESO story I write with @sinnaroll by the name of Soulbound. (Ima also just casually pass on these questions for her to answer in reply for D'tannen, who is the other main character in this thingy so you can get to know him too!)

Thank you so much for asking!! Here we gooooo~!

1. What is/are your OC’s nickname(s) and how did it come about?

Az’s main nickname is the self-explanatory name shortening from “Azaryne” to “Az”. But D'tannen has kinda stuck on jabbing him with “pretty boy” to the point where it’s basically a nickname lol 

Also, in-game plot reasons dictate that the Five Companions also know him by “Vestige”, much to his dismay. It’s what the Scrolls named him by, so the Prophet tends to slip and refer to him that way, and the others kinda do too by proxy for a while. However, after Az makes it clear that he’s really uncomfortable with it, Lyris and Sai specifically make a point not to call him that.

4. What is a noticeable physical attribute of your OC?

So I memed twice earlier before I got to these questions lasdgkh gomen, but my goofier answers are Dorito Shape and Resting Trouble Face

But more seriously, one of his major notable physical features is that he’s pretty much covered in tattoos from his neck down past his waist and starting down his legs. They’re being redesigned from scratch right now because I can’t ever allow myself to have characters that can be adequately represented in game i guess lmfao but here’s the in-game tattoos with some photo-editing for an earlier visual draft on where they might cut off—

It’s a total personal headcanon but I decided that since the in-game body marking style was pretty clearly influenced by Maori-style kiriituhi, that Az’s tattoos are also highly significant in a similar way. Each piece symbolizes or connects to either his ancestry, or his own life and skills and milestones. His designs weren’t finished, but have the indication of where they were meant to continue as he hit new points in his life. Unfortunately, since his life was cut so short, that’s as far as they ever get.

On a lighter note, he also has pretty big ears?? Lmao

5. What does your OC normally wear? What would your OC wear on a special night?

He likes clothes that are comfortable but flattering. He knows what his assets are and enjoys looking well-dressed – a bit of a remnant from his previous life as a noble. 

He tends to favor sleeveless tops and cool-colored fabrics with neutral accents. He particularly likes blues of all shades, and some purples. He’ll also occasionally wear red. On his travels he wears leather armor that fits within these features, and notably has a Khajiiti-style jack because he liked the aesthetic of it when he saw the style in a tailor’s display. 

When he’s dressing up, he’ll wear more flowing robe-like attire. He had more reason to do so while he was alive, and at the time it was usually specifically Dunmeri cultural clothing. Over the course of Soulbound, he only dresses up the once so far for a date with Sinna. That takes place in Orsinium, so it’s Orcish formal wear. 

Even if the situation’s not a fancy one, though, he’ll usually still wear kohl eyeshadow, which D’tannen gives him shit for, of course lol.

8. How does your OC talk/what does your OC’s voice sound like?

Az’s voice is light, crisp, warm and friendly. It’s between tenor and baritone in range, and the expected Dunmeri accent. He’s well spoken, and you can tell he’s well educated, but his phrasing isn’t snobbish or condescending, and there’s a firm sort of sincerity to his speech, even when he’s being playful.

15. What was your OC’s childhood like?

Az’s childhood was a little complicated in that it came with a great deal of privilege, but also a great deal of expectation. He was noble-born— the eldest son of House Redoran’s Archmaster— so before he was even old enough to have an awareness of the world, his parents had already decided many things about his future. 

In spite of both this and the constant pressure of the Redoran philosophy that “a light, careless life is not worth living”, Az had an untamable spirit that continuously tried his parents’ patience. As a child, his impulsivity, tendency to bend the rules, and headstrong defiance on points he fundamentally disagreed with led to frequent discipline, and a particularly strained relationship with his father.

Over time, he begrudgingly learned to play by the rules, but would still disappear from time to time for brief moments of freedom. 

He had two younger siblings— Eralane and Meril, and they had very close and loving relationships with each other. Az always did his bes to see right by them, so they felt safe in knowing that he would always have their backs. They didn’t ever keep much from him, as a result, and Meril specifically often looked up to him as a role model.

By the time he was fourteen, he’d been arranged into a political betrothal to solidify clan relations within the House, and it was decided that the two would be married in 16 years when they were both fully grown adults. Neither he nor his intended fiancée were really comfortable with this, but even as young as they were, they knew it was a sticky situation far bigger than just the two of them. So, they quickly established that, future aside, they didn’t feel entitled to each other’s feelings. They would both rather have a straightforward, honest friendship than try to force things between them. 

Because of this, there was no tension when other chemistries developed in later years. Instead, they continued to ignore their inevitable marriage, and turned their performative date nights into formally-dressed vent and gossip sessions. Using the expectations put upon them to their advantage as they got older, they also happily became each other’s alibi when either of them needed time away with other people.

22. Who is/are your OC’s closest friend(s)?

Since arriving back on Tamriel, he’s been shuffling company a lot on his journeys. He’s also pretty introverted, despite being fairly socially adept. He doesn’t have any real connections from his previous life anymore, but has met many people and made casual friends and positive acquaintances with a solid chunk of new ones.

In terms of more serious friendships, D’tannen is honestly the closest, which is kind of incredible honestly laksdhg. But, they travel with each other day in and day out, so there’s a tight bond there that’s developing fast.

He’s also particularly attached to Irvane, who was his first friend since coming back to Nirn.

23. Who are the people your OC surrounds him/herself with?

Along the same lines as I just said above, he’s never in one place for very long right now, so he is constantly around new people. His kind heart and need for hands-on activity means he tends to gravitate toward people he can help in some way or another. His empathy and sense of honor do most of the weeding. He’d rather be around someone who has shown good intentions, even if they are rough around the edges, than someone who rests on the laurels of past deeds and judges others against themselves.

24. Who are the people your OC dislikes/hates?

It’s pretty damn hard to make this list, at least if you have any sort of good bone in your body. He’s really very empathetic and patient, and will forgive so quickly once he feels amends have been made that it’s honestly gotten him into trouble.

But, even with that said, he’s got some strong resentments for some strong reasons… Notably: Mannimarco and his Worm Cult, ol’ Molag Bal himself, and pretty much anyone who allies with them… Malacus is another name that quickly finds its way on the list under “kill unflinchingly” as he becomes closer with D’tannen.  

25. If your OC has a soulmate, who is it?

oh my god im so sorry this joke is just right here its too easy to grab i can’t help myself – 

Doesn’t a soulmate require… a soul…? 

33. What subjects interested your OC?

He’s always done whittling as a hobby, so he’s currently kinda advancing on that in woodcarving. Since he was also trained in maintaining and repairing his own weapons and armor in life, that’s carried over into an interest in actually crafting weapons on his own. He does wind up making his own bow way later on, and even spends a bit of time with the Morkul Orcs in the Orsinium arc learning to do some metalwork.

42. What makes your OC happy?

He’s very attached to his dog Blackjack, and the mutt can always seem to pick him up when he’s otherwise faltering. He loves whittling and tends to carve little objects to occupy his mind. Complicatedly, D’tannen makes him happy as well, lol. 

He also tends to have moments where he finds happiness in specific things, but the emotion related feels strange or misplaced. When this happens, it’s usually because whatever he’s experiencing— a particular sight or smell or flavor— is something that ties directly to a positive memory he’s lost from his life before. A sort of unwitting-nostalgia that’s hard to pinpoint or replicate.

As a general rule, he’s pretty easily contented. He lives very much in the moment, which combined with his adaptability and natural optimism, means that he’s usually able to find some small spark of cheer for himself anywhere he goes. He’s always wanted the freedom of life as an adventurer, so if circumstances were different, this would honestly be an ideal life for him. However, it’s pretty dampened by the stress of current events, along with the nagging restless and hollow feeling of having lost his soul.

50. What secrets does your OC have?

This is a bit of a tricky one. He’s not a super open person, but he also doesn’t like to lie to cover things up. However, there are many things about his life at present that he finds he has to dance around giving knowledge of. In some ways, the very nature of his current existence is something he keeps tucked away. It’s not very easy to explain to anyone, so he’s grateful that for the majority of the people he interacts with, direct questions never really come up.

In the second act of Soulbound, however, after he becomes very close with Sinna, Sinna asks him directly for his story. He dodges it for quite some time before finally giving him the details, but he’s kind of nervous at that point to state it. He doesn’t know how Sinna might react. But, he lays it out on the table anyway: He’s not truly alive. He’s what remained of himself after he was sacrificed by cultists to Molag Bal. His soul was stolen, and he has only vague pieces of memories from when he lived. And now, he’s been prophesied to assist in stopping a daedric invasion. 

Sinna’s response was heartfelt. But, nobody could blame him for the fact that all he could manage for a brief moment after listening was “Wild….”

54. Does your OC think with his/her head or heart?

Heart… His upbringing tried its best to instill an ability to detach for the sake of duty, but honestly, he’s never been able to. Even when he knows there’s no way he can avoid a difficult situation, and is able to approach it tactically, emotion will be gnawing at him all the while, and he’ll be completely staunch on the things he believes the most if those interfere with the “logical” course of action.

56. What are some of your OC’s strengths?

He’s honestly got a wide range of skills in a lot of ways. He’s a highly skilled archer, and has a very well-rounded set of combat and survival skills that have been hardwired into him since a very young age. He’s also got a great sense of aesthetics, which he likes to express in woodworking and whittling when he can. He’s intelligent, but a lot of his skill specifically in emotional/social intelligence comes from his powerful empathy, and how dramatic swings of circumstances in his life have given him many perspectives to draw from, even subconsciously through the massive amnesia he struggles with. He’s incredibly adaptable. He’s intensely loyal, courageous, and firmly optimistic even through the worst circumstances. He’s got an incredibly strong character to him, and it tends to be both charming and inspiring, even when he doesn’t recognize that he’s producing these effects himself.

61. What is the general impression your OC gives other people?

Honest. Empathetic and selfless. Good-natured, down to earth, and a bit wild-spirited. Patient, incredibly forgiving. Helpful. Playfully charming. A protector. A defender of good.

73. What is your OC’s favorite form of entertainment?

He likes art, stories, nature, animals, and adventure. Crafting from time to time as well.

78. What is your OC’s favorite time of day?

Late morning. The point in the day when you’re up and awake and setting off. The whole day lies in wait before you, and you’re ready to meet it

[deep-hearts-core]

2016 - final

originally posted 5/21/20

Italy Francesca is so very very cute. Good composition, as expected from Italy - Eurovision was inspired by Sanremo for good reason! - but the staging, while not bad, is questionable. I'm a little weirded out by the fake plants on the stage. Also, I think this might have been the first entry to have onscreen effects as well as a show on the live stage? I'm not sure, but if yes Francesca is clearly a trendsetter lol. Sweden Going from Heroes to this was such a glow-down, Sweden, please. It used to be that there were no words for how much I hated this... I've come around, but just a little. I like the stage background and the instrumental is nice, I guess. But I hate the vocal line, and I don't know if that's anything to do with Frans or if it's just uninteresting no matter what. Germany This is not a bad song, and Jamie-Lee is actually a great singer. The song was ruined by her weeaboo aesthetic. I mean, come on, guys, this could have been so cool - keep the laser trees but give Jamie-Lee a normal-looking dress? Definitely would have scored a lot better. Overall I do like the song but Jamie-Lee's outfit sours it completely. France I actually like the space staging. It's a little tacky, yes, but not bad. This is a good song - I really enjoy listening to it and it was just what France needed to pull it out of its slump. Spain That staged fall is actually so epic. Everyone believes it for a hot second, we wonder why the lights went out, and then, oh! This was planned! Not as clever as Lea Sirk's gimmick in 2018 but... still. Anyway, Say Yay is a good song, but incredibly forgettable. This is the one song from this year where I couldn't remember how it went before watching the performance, lol. UK This one is sweet. Like Denmark, it's a pretty generic boyband song, but Joe and Jake seem to be enjoying themselves and I can't fault them for that. The stage background with the photos was a little weird but Joe and Jake are handling themselves well and I liked the drum sets as well. The song is okay. Don't hate it. Voting/Intervals Not technically an interval but christ, this was the weirdest parade of flags I've ever seen. I don't think it was included when I watched the show before on the German stream so only now can I fully appreciate how strange it is. Also, I cannot get over the crowd cheering for Petra every time she's introduced... Why is Justin Timberlake here? His appearance is not nearly as heinous as Madonna's but I'm still confused. He does seem very chill though, kind to the artists and playing well off Mans. I've never been able to take Don't Stop the Feeling seriously because I associate it with Eurovision, lol. Love Love Peace Peace remains iconic. This is another one I cited in that paper I mentioned - to explain that Eurovision songs often contain similar, generic messages. The fact that they actually got Rybak to show up is hilarious. Mans: So, Dami, what will you do if you win? Dami: I'll go and have a lemonade dfjdh I love her. Poland's televote glow-up is still so incredible. Honestly, I think it remains such because it was the first instance we've seen of a song that was ranked so low by the juries getting a huge boost from the televote - we've seen this with other countries in the years that followed, such as Ukraine in 2018. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most iconic moments of this year's contest, right up there with Love Love Peace Peace, Gina Dirawi saying "there's room in the butt", that weird projection of Douwe Bob's face during the jury votes, and however the fuck Russia pulled off that staging. It's so cute how Poli went straight over to Jamala as soon as she won... friendship... My top 42

Armenia

Australia

Ukraine

Latvia

Belgium

Bulgaria

Lithuania

Russia

Malta

Montenegro

Austria

Italy

Cyprus

Israel

Azerbaijan

Hungary

Serbia

France

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Czechia

Greece

Germany

Norway

Poland

Moldova

Belarus

Estonia

Spain

United Kingdom

Slovenia

Iceland

Denmark

Netherlands

Croatia

Albania

San Marino

Switzerland

Finland

Georgia

Ireland

North Macedonia

Sweden

Thoughts after watching I do agree with Jamala as a winner. A lot of people say that her song was too political to be allowed in Eurovision, but like... all of Eurovision is political. Every song and artist a country sends, every staging choice that they make, is a calculated choice about how the rest of Europe will see them for that year. Eurovision has always been a venue for political arguments, between Spain and Andorra, between Russia and Ukraine or Georgia, between Armenia and Turkey or Azerbaijan. Israel has brought up the Holocaust multiple times in presenting their points, and Israel's inclusion itself is a complicated political issue. In 2016, even, Petra and Mans discussed the criminalization of queer relationships and the refugee crisis, almost shaming countries that didn't line up with their views. When you get that many countries together and make them compete, it can't not be political, whether that's in subtle ways or overt ways. Therefore, 1944 deserved to compete in the 2016 contest. It and Jamala have a place. /endrant Anyways, this is actually a really weak year? I have so much nostalgia for it and always will, but there weren't a lot of songs I truly loved, not like in 2014/15 for example. And that stage design was actually pretty bad compared to 2013, 2014, and 2015, and then 2017 after. The lights on the floor made it look like a skull, it was so angular and industrial and appeared to be pretty difficult to work with. The Swedes did an excellent job hosting, though. I love Mans, and while I... well, Petra isn't my favorite, we'll get into that in my 2013 watch, but she's very good at what she does. I liked the postcards and really enjoyed the visual design and interval programming.

[airshipcity]

for HC post: Harry potter, aph norway, legolas?, (from haikyuu) hinata, nishinoya,suga, bokuto, oikawa, yamaguchi (hopefully you don't mind so many ahhhh )

:OOO dw i don’t mind!!! i’m putting them under a cut to save my poor followers’ dashes tho 

harry 

A - when he finds out how easy it is for him to get wizarding clothes that are actually fitted for him and sit right on his body, as opposed to dudley’s leftover clothes, he never wants to go back and hermione helps him get all kinds of nice, casual clothes, both muggle clothes and robes 

B - no matter how much harry loves the wizarding world and how different it is from his old life, harry and hermione still smuggle regular ballpoint pens into hogwarts because they can’t always be arsed to go buy more quills and inkwells just to finish their homework on time 

C - it takes harry forever to actually nail apparating, primarily because he just has so many shitty memories and experiences with apparating and portkeys and floo powder and all sorts of magical non-broom transport 

D - harry tries working as an auror for a while, but eventually decides to start a career as dada teacher at hogwarts, to the relief of all the people in his life tired of him still getting into life-threatening situations on a regular basis 

aph norway 

A - he owns like, eight different coffee machines. even though he primarily drinks black coffee. you never know what your next houseguest might want so he has Everything 

B - he also has two drawers full of ties, because the other nordics keep giving him ties for birthdays and christmas etc. a lot of them are joke gifts and he has at least twelve different christmas ties that play songs and/or light up 

C - he genuinely tries to keep up with all the new icelandic words for technology stuff and trends and all that stuff?? partly because it’s interesting, and partly because he feels like he’ll fall behind and lose touch with iceland if he doesn’t, like if he doesn’t pay attention icelandic will just stop sounding familiar 

D - he knows every single norwegian dialect. even the dumb made-up ones and the ones that hardly sound norwegian at all. he also speaks fluent swedish and danish, but refuses to speak either in the presence of sweden or denmark, 100% because they want him to. (he might switch over to a random obscure norwegian dialect just to mess with them, though) 

legolas 

A - legolas can use swords, but he’s fully aware he’s not nearly as impressive with a sword as with a bow or a knife or a pair of daggers, and is juuust petty enough that he’ll only use a sword if he really has to 

B - he’s a horrible, horrible actor. too emotional and takes all the fake arguing personally. breaks character and storms out in a huff. terrible at lying and pretending unless it’s to temporarily get a playful rise out of someone, and even then he’d prefer being honest and smug about it 

C - will stubbornly pretend he’s not hurt until he’s literally falling over from the pain, absolute shit at laying down and letting people take care of him if he can help it 

D - you know the “how to talk to short people” graphic??? he exhausts every possible Wrong option at every opportunity and every dwarf in middle earth has him on their personal shit list because of it. with halflings he just kinda crouches all the way down like he’s about to pet a cat and they just kinda endure it at this point because fuck it at least this way they get to look non-hobbits in the eye while talking for once 

hinata shoyo 

A - hinata will train and practice with like, absolutely anyone. some middle school kids sees him practicing and asks to join? hell yeah. old grandpa wants to throw for the kid a few times to feel young again? hit it gramps! some asshole in class lobs a ball of paper at him from across the room? hinata’s already spiking it and hollering a cheery “thanks” 

B - even though he’s plenty capable of jumping super high himself, he’ll never really get tired of riding on someone else’s shoulders. he likes the view and he’d like to enjoy it for longer than a split second sometimes, thank you very much 

C - occasionally, he trains and practices until his hands and feet are bleeding. sometimes he shows up with bandaids and sports tape around his ankles or knuckles and while it’d be easy to make jokes about hinata getting into fights with kageyama or the other teams, all the third years + tanaka are very aware of what’s happening and insist that hinata has them on speedcall, just in case something really horrible happens while hinata’s practicing alone late at night again 

D - hinata does parkour and no one gets to tell me otherwise. it’s just facts 

nishinoya 

A - on the team, his appetite is only second to hinata’s. no one has a clue where all that food goes. asahi is constantly terrified of their power level 

B - noya and hinata have an act where they balance on each other inside a massive trenchcoat they borrow from the drama club, which they use during training camps and stuff to entertain the other players - usually by imitating all the tallest people present, and some that aren’t there. their ushiwaka’s a crowd favourite, and whenever seijou is present for the act, oikawa immediately requests they do him (followed by iwa who usually follows up with “yeah and then do oikawa next” to zero protest from anyone but oikawa) 

C - man i don’t have a lot of sad headcanons for noya??? but: part of him kind of wishes hinata would consider taking over as libero. not because he’s short or because he’s fast, all those things help but ultimately he sees a vast potential in hinata that he thinks would make for a great libero if hinata wanted to give it a try. he respects that hinata wants to be a good middle blocker and even an ace, and thinks it’s a super cool and ambitious goal that hinata might actually achieve, but hinata understands what being a libero truly means at the core, probably moreso than anyone else in karasuno, and noya’s sad to see that possibility already gone 

D - noya is suuuper affectionate when people let him be. he’ll happily give out hugs and smooch cheeks and play with people’s hair and lay on their laps like a cat in the sun, as long as he’s certain the other person is comfortable with it 

suga 

A - suga does bunny ears on people in photos like, all the time. most pictures with suga standing next to someone will have to be retaken 

B - suga has a surprisingly strong competitive streak, and loves challenges set by his kohais. he wins most of them, sometimes just because he’d rather push himself to the limit and be pleasantly smug about “still got it” than have his juniors laugh at him and calling him old 

C - you’d think asahi would be the one that gets sick the most often and that suga’s the team mom who always has to take care of all the sick team members, but suga’s usually the first to catch anything that’s going around, and the flu just knocks him completely out for a full week. he kinda hates it, especially missing training and matches and having people worry about him and not being able to rely on him for being there for an important match because he could well be sick for it, but he doesn’t like talking about it, so he just grumbles and lets the others help so he can get back on his feet, only to huff at them about how they shouldn’t put themselves at risk of catching it from him. daichi fondly tells him to shut up and then sneezes. suga yells even louder 

D - suga used to be an avid reader, but hasn’t had much time to sit down with books since he started doing volleyball, so he listens to a lot of audiobooks when he can 

bokuto 

A - bokuto is 100% a dog person, he’s especially great with big dog breeds but he loves them all and sometimes volunteers at kennels when he has extra time 

B - the fukurodani drama club has been trying to recruit bokuto for years, and go to all their volleyball matches just bc bokuto’s dramatic everything is 1) entertaining and 2) gives them a lot of inspiration for their own activities and roles. bokuto’s heart is with the ball but he still shows up to just about all of the drama club’s shows in return, clapping and cheering loudly (which helps with the drama club members’ nerves because none of them are gonna look sillier than bokuto even if they trip up) 

C - bokuto has a heart condition, and everyone on the fukurodani team is aware of it, but he persistently doesn’t talk about it and none of them ever bring it up, unless something really, really serious happens. akaashi nearly falls over himself whenever it looks like something’s wrong with bokuto but he usually manages to keep his cool 

D - bokuto sings in the shower, especially communal showers, loudly and badly. he’s actually much better at singing when he wants to but where’s the fun in that when he can joke around instead (also if the drama club finds out he’s actually good at singing they’ll never let go) 

oikawa 

A - oikawa is the undisputed king of movie nerds at aoba johsai, but he’s kind of a snob about it, with thorough lists of what movies he thinks are Good and which ones he’ll grimace at you at for even acknowledging out loud 

B - oikawa just really really cannot swim. he’s so bad at it, it’s barely even funny. he can sort of dog paddle, but that’s it. everyone else at seijoh swims circles around him. 

C - he’s a massive hypocrite when it comes to food and nutrition, and pays fairly close attention to his team to make sure they eat as much as they need and the right kinds of foods, while simultaneously eating like, one (1) banana for breakfast because he didn’t take the time to prepare anything the night before and was in a rush. fortunately iwaizumi gets on his case about it constantly and usually packs extra food to make sure tohru eats, but he has collapsed mid-practice at least once because he just straight up forgot to eat properly for two days straight 

D - he has like, an entire wall in his room dedicated to his team and his family and the people he gives a shit about. dumb pictures, newspaper cutouts, heart-shaped post-it notes with quotes, little neatly scrawled notes about their favourite foods and how they like their tosses and specific weaknesses of the various other teams, all that junk. it’s  kind of a huge mess but he loves looking at it 

yamaguchi 

A - yamaguchi is such an all-over nerd that he sometimes forgets he plays an actual sport. he shows up to every practice and trains his jump-float serve all the time and yet he somehow keeps catching himself thinking jocks are the furthest thing from him and tsukki 

B - yamaguchi has, hands down, the neatest handwriting of the whole karasuno team. even neater than kiyoko, yachi, or tsukki, which is incredibly impressive. he doesn’t even realize it. 

C - he’s great at doing chores and household stuff, but that’s mainly because he’s always had to do these things and learnt at a very young age. as a result, he feels constantly responsible for everything, including the happiness of people around him and making sure everything is as good as it can be, which is hard sometimes. especially with tsukishima, who doesn’t always communicate properly whether something’s wrong or if everything’s okay or if he needs anything, so yamaguchi often feels like he’s not doing enough 

D - yachi and yamaguchi chat a lot when they have the time, so they both bring powerbanks and phone chargers everywhere because their line apps never get any rest. sometimes yamaguchi accidentally sends something to tsukki instead of yachi and tsukishima’s response is always some variation on “what the hell are you guys even talking about, how is this possibly related to anything” and yamaguchi just “oh whoops sorry, it makes sense in context okay”. tsukishima genuinely wonders if they just send him weird pictures and shit just to mess with him. sometimes he’s actually right 

[dreadreverendryan]

helping seizures in dogs with ice packs

So, to start off, yes this is a post that already exists on tumblr, but I don't remember if it had reference photos, and I haven't seen it in a while. Also, to clarify the title: this is how to help dogs who have seizures by using an ice pack, not how to benefit the seizure itself in a dog who (for some reason) has ice packs, that is a very different post. If your dog doesn't have seizures (and you're not curious), feel free to skip the rest of the words and enjoy the pictures.

I highly recommend checking with a vet, especially if the seizures are severe and/or frequent! I am not a vet, just someone who found a useful post on tumblr. I use this method because two of my girls only have, on average, 1 seizure every 3-4 months at most, they range from mild (lying down and shaking) to moderate (rocking side to side, paws flailing), and they are short (usually 30 seconds at most, bad ones still under 3 minutes). And when Sushi, the eldest girl, started having them, we took her to a vet that did not recommend medication for the exact reasons I listed.

Now, with all that out of the way, let's see some dogs!

Conveniently laying oldest to youngest and left to right: Sushi (13), Mali (9), and Bambi (5). Only Sushi and Bambi have seizures, and they both started getting them around age 2. Their uncle said Mali was born lucky, and the other two were lucky to be born, but he's an asshole and I don't want to bend that particular fire today... Anyway, we'll be using Mali as our model today, because Sushi is old and irritable, and Bambi had a seizure earlier, thus prompting me to do this post. Don't worry, she's fine! This is less than 10 minutes after her (admittedly, longest and worst) seizure, and she actually jumped on the bed herself, this is not a staged photo (except for including the ice packs) like the ones after it:

So, the two of the more common genders styles of ice pack pictured and the ones discussed in this post: full of beans, and stiff jerk. Which is better? The one you have, but I go for full of beans (better for placement) before stiff jerk (better for staying cold) due to the short length and usually mild intensity. If it's a bit worse, or your dog tends to have longer seizures, grab that stiff jerk (after you are sure your dog is in a safe place that they will not hurt themselves! Do not leave them on furniture on near stairs!) and stick it on their neck:

Like this ^.^ Again, this is Mali, who does not have seizures, and is only annoyed with me in these pictures, not in any actual distress or discomfort.

So, a few things I wanna point out that I had to figure out on my own, specifically tailored to ice packs, or other frozen things, you would identify as a stiff jerk: -put as much of the pack on as much of their neck as possible -keep it as centered as possible down the length of their neck, which may not be easy (I'm not doing a great job in the pic because Mali is *highly* displeased already, and isn't used to this sort of thing) -it's (probably) better to let it overlap a bit at the base of their skull, as opposed to shoulders. Why? It seems to work better, I dunno why, I am not a vet.

Cool stuff, but what about those with full of beans (or cubes in bag) concerns?

-this is proper placement and technique for FoB (Full of Beans is getting annoying to type) -why is the placement proper if only half of the damn pack is on her neck? Because, as noted, FoB packs tend to warm up quicker, so this would be the *second* way I place it, with the first being fully draped, evenly, around the neck -what do I mean by "proper" technique? Again, FoBs warm up quicker, so you want as much of the pack on the pup, and as little of your hand/fingers as is necessary to keep it there. -"Poor" technique would be just, like, fully putting your hand around the pack (thus warming it faster) as pictured here:

And that's pretty much it! With both girls, I notice that it helps somewhere between immediately and within 5 seconds, but they are small, so, keep that in mind. Also, to give you an idea of *how much* it helps, the average Sushi Seizure would last between 2 and 5 minutes, regardless of severity, and now it's generally about 30 seconds for mild ones and 2 minutes for the worst ones. And, again, I am not a vet, and you should ask a vet if your dog has severe or frequent seizures. Ok, bye!

[zealynstan]

Unmastered Interview Part 1

Emma: Hello and welcome to Unmastered. I'm Emma.

Gohar: And I'm Gohar.

Emma: And we are uncut and on the record with your favorite bands. So today, we're sitting down with someone who I'm really excited to talk to. A lot of my friends and people who have been on the show said great things about her. So, we're just gonna go ahead and jump into it. Can you tell us what's your name? We do a couple of ice breakers like we always do.

Zealyn: Okay.

Emma: So what's your name? Where you're from? Any strange phobias you have? And if you were any color crayon, what would it be and why?

Zealyn: Okay, you might need to remind me with the questions.

Emma: That's okay.

Zealyn: Thanks for having me! *all of them laughs* I'm Zealyn, what was the second question?

Emma: Where you're from?

Zealyn: Okay, I'm Zealyn, I'm originally from Boston and, you know, moved out to LA five years ago for music.

Emma: As we all do.

Zealyn: Do you say if I was a favorite color crayon?

Emma: Almost umm.. any phobias and if you were any color

crayon what would you be and why?

Zealyn: Okay. Well, phobias... gosh, I- guys this is so gross but I'm terrified of throwing up when people throwing up like it really freaks me out if I'm around it, I need to leave the room like right away. That's like way too- that's really gross.

Emma: Is it like sympathy like, no that we're talking about vomit? Is it like sympathy vomit?

Zealyn: It's like- No. It's like terrified like I hate it. If anyone even just mentions like, "I'm not feeling good." I'm like, "I'm leaving the room." I'm so scared of it umm... that's a huge phobia of mine. Umm... and if I was a color crayon I... right now, I think I'd be yellow because I'm incorporating a lot of color and lights into-

Gohar: Your brand?

Zealyn: My brand. Yeah, even though I'm wearing all black right now.

Emma: That's okay. People can't see it, I don't know.

Zealyn: But yeah.

Gohar: You're preparing for the rain.

Zealyn: Yeah, yeah, that's right. The next few nights. Yep.

Emma: Yeah, I know, your colors on Instagram like a big fan of all these.

Gohar: It's super vibrant.

Zealyn: Thanks.

Emma: It's really vibrant and like a lot of like the color play is super fun to like look at.

Zealyn: Thank you!

Emma: I was like going, "Oh my gosh, I just feel so like light and airy looking at this" and I'm like "Wow, I want this to be my closet".

Zealyn: That's good because if you looked at my Instagram two years ago, it was all black. Like black and gray and like just really moody and with this new wave of music, I

just wanted to add color and light and yeah, so.

Emma: There you go. I love it. I can't wait to see how it keeps up, I'm like a big like, I love photography. I love seeing how people kind of take a brand idea and like market themselves and just like be themselves through like visual art as well as like you know the music you create that's seeing how people yeah corporate that is always really fun so I'm like such a big fan of like oh like go through someone's Instagram and I'm like, "Ooh! Colors here. I see what you're doing, it's mysterious, I like it like..." I love that stuff.

Zealyn: Same. All artists that I love and I'm inspired by, I go to their Instagram, check out their branding, their photos, and stuff. Unfortunately, it makes a big difference, social media nowadays you know, and branding and everything. But it also is great so...

Emma: It's just another form of expression like if we wanna stop calling it branding, we can always call it expression. Creative expression.

Zealyn: Yeah. That's better.

Emma: It's like a way of expressing how you're feeling in whatever moment of your life that you're in so it's fun to see what people do. We really love it. So, you two met.

Gohar: Yeah. That's right.

Emma: Holiday party, give me the details cause I don't know.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Gohar: Okay I- I'll start.

Zealyn: Go ahead.

Gohar: Umm... I went to the We Found New Music, Grant Owens presents Holiday Party.

Zealyn: Mhm.

Gohar: Uhh... Back in 2018. Wow, it feels like such a long time ago.

Emma: All I'm saying-

Zealyn: It feels like a month in a half ago.

Emma: All I'm saying this has been a long January.

Zealyn: Yes.

Gohar: It has been. I think, every year we say January last an eternity and then the rest of the year zooms by.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Emma: This is the first year I've like fully felt that cause I'm like, "oh my gosh." like I mean, by the time this comes out, it will be like the first week of February.

Zealyn: Yeah. *laughs*

Emma: But like still like, it's been a long January.

Gohar: So I was there, there were maybe one of two people before you performed and then you went up and then I was there with my team and we were just like *gasps*

Zealyn: Aww.

Gohar: You can't see my expression but it was, you know that emoji that's like-

Zealyn: Yep.

Gohar: Me and Art went up to you and we introduced ourselves and you were just phenomenal. And I remember you telling me cause I introduced myself and then Arpita introduced herself and you're like, "Whoa your names are so unique."

Zealyn: They are. They really are. I've never heard them before.

Gohar: And yeah. That was a fun experience and I knew I wanted to get you on the show like then and there.

Zealyn: Thank you for that because you guys are doing something really cool here. I saw that you did Disco Shrine and LeyeT and just you're getting really cool artists on the show.

Emma: Disco Shrine does say hello by the way. I talked to her earlier.

Zealyn: Aww. Hi!

Emma: Shout out to Disco Shrine!

Zealyn: No, I truly loved what you guys are doing. And talk about branding, I love your guys' branding and the three photos you posted each artist.

Emma: Aww man.

Gohar: Emma, Absolutely fantastic but bad aesthetic.

Emma: I'm trying. We'll get there.

Zealyn: I'm really glad we met at that show. I just remember when you guys came up to me, it was so- just like welcoming and you guys had such like warm hearts like you know what I mean?

Gohar: Aww. I'm so glad.

Emma: Yeah, it's what we're trying to be.

Gohar: If I could put a smile on anyone's face, that's a win for me. Yeah.

Emma: I think my biggest thing is when I go to shows like- I kind of like get a feel for like if the artist is someone

who like wants to talk or doesn't want to talk.

Zealyn: Oh yeah.

Emma: 'Cause sometimes you can just tell like they're just not down for it but like... I can at least make someone like... feel like not pressured because I know sometimes like observing people like go up to artists and act a certain away I'm always just like, "What's up?" Just kind of get that like just warm- because we're all people. I try to get down with that like people level.

Gohar: You know what you're right we are people.

Emma: Shut up

*All of them laugh*

Zealyn: No, I know what you mean though. Because, especially in LA, it's super hit or miss.

Emma: Exactly.

Zealyn: Lots of people have egos, lots of people try to be too cool or you know, yeah.

Gohar: Dude, what the heck? I just like umm... not too long ago, I saw a prompt that said, "You can be successful and nice" and I'm like, "That's it! That's the key!"

Zealyn: Yeah.

Gohar: You could be successful and nice.

Emma: You just have a billboard on one of those in every block in LA just like, "You can be successful and nice!"

Zealyn: They should. A lot of people need to be constantly reminded of it for sure. Umm... But yeah. I feel super lucky whenever I'm at a show and all the other people playing are so nice like cause that doesn't happen often. Usually, there's at least one person with an ego or whatever but umm... yeah, it's really cool when you meet the people in LA that are genuine and just friendly.

Emma: I feel like there's a lot there once you start like-

Zealyn: Yeah.

Emma: Cause you know like there's like the whole six degrees of separation and like you know everyone kind of has their own circle?

Zealyn: Uh-huh.

Emma: Once you find that kind of like one person who has that, you get introduced to their circle and their people and then you realize like a lot of these really like kind and very wonderful people all kind of like hang out together and flock-

Zealyn: Yeah. So true.

Emma: You know like they're in their own flock of people and that's really cool because once you meet one, it kind of like Domino effects. You start meeting-

Gohar: Exactly.

Emma: A ton of people and I think that's really great because we met LeyeT, Disco Shrine, now you. So it's just like this fun Domino fantasy where it leads.

Zealyn: Yeah. Absolutely. I agree.

Gohar: That's cool. We're super glad- I'm super glad you guys met and I'm super glad to hear that.

Zealyn: Yeah! Me too. Thanks.

Emma: Let's go ahead and kind of get a little bit of background about yourself.

Zealyn: Okay.

Emma: How was music a part of your childhood and like how was it incorporated in you growing up and all of that?

Zealyn: Uh so I, fortunately, was having(?) a super musical family. My dad sings and plays piano, that's where I started playing the piano from him. My mom sings beautifully and plays guitar, I learned everything about singing from her. And then my brother picks up anything like he plays piano, guitar, bass. He's mainly a drummer, he also sings so well like he plays everything. He's so talented.

Gohar: So like your family has more talent than I have in my parents?

*All laugh*

Zealyn: My family together- they're so awesome umm... but yeah. We- I'd you know grow up in Boston and just did music there and all- a lot of my friends did music so I just kind of grew up around it and always was inspired by you know what other people were doing and umm... When I was 19 and I moved out here for music and... which is so young when I think about it. Like, it's kind of terrifying.

Emma: Did you move out here with your family or yourself?

Zealyn: No, it was me and my best friend.

Emma: Wow.

Zealyn: And when she was younger, she was 18.

Emma: Wow, good for you guys.

Zealyn: Our parents must have been like, "What are you doing?" but yeah, I'm so glad I did though, it was you know. It takes a while to love LA and I'm glad I did at a younger age and then.

Gohar: Oh good.

Zealyn: Yeah

Gohar: I have a follow-up question.

Zealyn: Yes.

Gohar: You said you grew up in Boston. What's the music community like there versus here in LA?

Zealyn: Umm... well I'm not super experienced because I did move out here when I was 19.

Gohar: Mm-hmm.

Zealyn: So a lot of the... you know. I just did a lot of like music theater in high school and stuff so I didn't really get to see a lot of the Boston scene but my brother is in the band called Valley Heart and umm...

Gohar: Hold on. I'm writing this down.

Emma: Take note everyone.

Zealyn: Yeah just exactly how it- you know sounds, Valley Heart. So I kind of see what the Boston scene is like through them and it's very different than LA. LA is super pop, electronic, R&B like very-

Emma: Oh okay.

Zealyn: And Boston, there's not as much.

Gohar: I feel like there would be a lot more rock and roll.

Zealyn: Yeah. A lot of rock and roll and lot of I don't know if it's rapper/R&B but like yeah, it's a lot of really underground stuff. Where LA is very- you know all the big people come out of it, you know.

Gohar: Which is kind of strange to me because there's a lot of places in LA like the Viper Room whiskey a go-go, places like that are catered more toward rock and roll because those clubs were extremely popular 60, 70s, 80s when rock and roll started you know becoming a thing and now, they host a whole bunch of rock stuff it's- if you go in for example to the whiskey go-go, it's like I-I-I think rock and roll throughout here because-

Zealyn: Oh yeah.

Gohar: And every once in awhile, they have pop sets, some jazz sets, and whatnot because you know you have to have variety but I feel like it doesn't fit the environment.

Zealyn: I mean they're definitely- yeah like you're right, it was definitely still like a rock scene here, it's just different. Yeah, I don't know.

Emma: Well, what you said kind of like stuck out to me was the comparison I hear there's a lot more like electronic and like synth-like in pop and like I never actually consider that thought about that cause now that I'm thinking about it like, "Wait like so much of these artists like they are here in their based here," like I've never even considered to think that you know that the other side of the country wouldn't like connect with that as much. But now I'm like, "You're right oh my gosh."

Zealyn: So to put it into perspective, planning a show out here, I can very quickly come up with oh at least eight people that I can picture playing on a bill with like all

these people are similar to me similar sounds let's play a show together, awesome. But in Boston, it's really

hard to find like an electronic pop artist out there and I know that they exist, they're just harder to find. So the Boston music scene is definitely still great and awesome and that there's a lot of music but it's harder to find the electronic pop artists and maybe I'm way off cuz I don't live there anymore but that's what it seems like being over here.

Part 2 coming soon.

[inactiat-writes]

[WP] "The light can never go out," explained the old lighthouse operator. "Ships don't need us. Haven't in quite some time. It's the people here on land who'll suffer if that light ever goes out."

Original post here.

After days of sifting through the belongings her papa didn't need anymore, the new lighthouse keeper crept upstairs to watch the last bit of hope be extinguished. There was no need for it anymore. Her papa had owned the deed on the land, but it was the town who paid for the light.

The mayor had decided to put the funds set aside for upkeep of the lighthouse into a pay raise for the teachers. It was supposed to honor her papa who had led the teacher's union for years and had been teaching up until the day he'd died.

Ana hadn't been able to sell the land, although her daughter and son-in-law had tried to convince her otherwise. It was her childhood home and she traveled so much for work that it didn't feel like it mattered where she called home.

People who knew a lot more than her about lighthouses came and fiddled with a panel. She heard deep, mechanical clicks that sounded more like the solemn tone of a bell. Then, they bid her good day and left with their tools.

She put her hand on the cool glass and wondered why her papa had insisted that the light was not for ships, but for the town. She smiled when she lifted her hand away and didn't see any dust or smudges besides her own handprint.

She went back downstairs to continue wiping at her eyes as she went through old photo albums and tried not to get anything important dirty with grease from a pizza one of the people in town had gotten delivered to her.

The next morning, Ana woke up to stillness. It seemed to be so sombre, fog rolling in from the ocean in the cool morning. The sky was still dark, but light was starting to come in. She made herself a cup of coffee and gazed out onto the ocean, listening to the crash of waves against the cliffside.

She closed her eyes and smiled at the familiar smell of ocean breeze. After a moment, she cracked one eye open and realized something was wrong. She hadn't heard a single gull screaming about the sun.

She blinked and scanned the horizon as if she thought she'd spot any. It was then that she realized the sky was still pitch black.

A glance at the clock on the stove told her it was 9:42 am. Before Ana could process this, she heard a deep, rumbling click and then a siren began wailing in the town below.

She quickly wrapped herself up in a house robe and kicked on a pair of slippers. As she grabbed the handle of the front door, she heard a hissing and popping sound from right outside that made her stop. On edge, she waited for it to stop, but it only devolved into what sounded like a man coughing.

Ana looked around the room for a baseball bat or anything she can use as a weapon. Deep in her gut was the feeling that she should have something to defend herself with. Mounted on the mantle was an old flail next to her family crest. She pried it off the wall and went to answer the door, hefting the heavy flail into a position she hoped would let gravity do most of the work.

It was a man in a suit.

Ana blinked for a moment at him, not quite sure what she'd been expecting. She started to feel embarrassment rise when the man suddenly smiled too wide, too big and started to speak, "Ana Connswell, the new lighthouse keeper. I am here to give you a very special offer, any wish you--"

The flail hit his head with a satisfying crack before Ana let herself think too much about it.

His skull caved and Ana was jerked forward by the momentum. After a bit of tugging and sickening squelching, she was fully upright again. Four other men glared at her.

The biggest stepped forward menacingly, his steps burning the grass and melting a plastic frog, "You fool. You would have been granted anything. Now, we, the servants of--"

A louder crack and a metallic thunk as the sidewise swipe smashed the man into the side of the lighthouse. It was easier to pull back this time. Ana frowned at the three remaining... men? Demons? Horrors? She didn't know, but after having an English teacher for a father, the cold stare she sent their way had them glancing between themselves nervously.

She stepped back into the lighthouse and closed the door. After a pause, she also slid the deadbolt in place. She let herself put the flail down for a moment to still her shaking hands and then was off, up the narrow lighthouse steps to the top.

With the 360 degree view, she could see the chaos raging in the town below. Creatures chasing the dots of civilians and fires ravaging homes while sirens still cried under the black sky.

Ana knew it didn't take a genius to follow a simple chain of events.

She'd watch them undo the lighthouse yesterday, so she just worked the switches in the reverse sequence. Each click gave that deep tone, but seemed to shake the ground with it. With every step closer, the ground shook more violently.

As the light finally flared to life, the black sky seemed to edge away. The sirens still wailed and, as Ana made her way to look down at the town, fires still raged.

Yet, the new lighthouse keeper learned a very important first lesson: When you die in that place, you don't die in real life. You can, however, be horribly traumatized.

Later that day, she would learn her second lesson: Lighthouses don't work if the town's transformer gets blown up in a fire. However, lighthouses accept blood sacrifices as a form of power and aren't really picky about if the blood is human or not.