#it's now organized in alphabetical order within the months

[hotcheetohatredwastaken]

July LU Write-a-Thon: 351,092 Words in One Day!

On July 1, we hosted our second monthly LU Write-a-thon (organized by @not-freyja and @hotcheetohatredwastaken and joined by their new mods @noorahqar, @a-manicured-lawn, and @winterfen). The purpose of this event was to write as many productive words—words that furthered yourself, the LU writing community at large, or your own stories—within 24 hours as humanly possible. 

We had a whopping 90+ participants as opposed to our previous 16 - none of us expected such a large turnout, and were suitably unprepared 😅 We’ll definitely be making a lot of changes to accommodate that many people during the next Write-a-Thon, occurring August 1st. Thank you all for your patience!

But, until next month, here’s the awards and titles earned by each participant, as voted upon by the Discord server through an anonymous survey. The mods read through all your hundreds of submissions (thank you guys so much!) and picked either the highest voted title or the funniest custom submission for each person, as we found appropriate. First up is the winner’s circle, then the clubs, and then everybody else in alphabetical order right below this readmore!

The Winner’s Circle (5 Most Wordiest)

20,037 “Writer of All Time” and “Most Likely to Make 1K become 100K” (As can be seen in all its glory in your Aspects AU) @tashacee: You took advantage of Freyja and Cheeto’s beefing about who would be first and snapped up the win right from under their noses. Well played! 

20,011 “Writer of Some of the Time” and “Pen and Paper (Scritch... Scratchy?)” @hotcheetohatredwastaken: Missed the mark by juuust a bit, for the second time in a row. Cheeto, you suck. (:3 –Cheeto) (Qar wrote this, for reference!). Also wrote for most of the marathon on pen and paper!

17,491 “Writer of Last Time” (for winning last month and then failing to defend their title) and “The FourShadow-er of all Time” (for the unholy amount of Chekov’s Guns they leave lying around loaded in their docs) @not-freyja: you are the most autistic about Legend. Nerd.

13,203 “Will Make You Cry” and “Captain of the Twilight Angst Tag on Ao3” @somer-writes: Boosting the Twilight economy, and we’re all happy about it. Also the second-funniest person in the server, with the second-most stars!

13,000 “AU Collector” and “Four Enjoyer” @zarvasace: Whether they're heroes with disabilities, space rangers, or vampires, if Mina wrote it, the boys will be written well.

Clubs

Now while everyone’s accomplishments as individuals were nothing to sneeze at, teamwork does in fact make the dream work. A few lovely people made a couple of equally lovely groups, either by their own choice or as assigned by peer review.

Aimed for the Funny Numbers Club

“Literally Satan” @allwayswildchild: with exactly 6666 words, you deserve every bit of this cursed title. 

“Lawn Blart Mall Cop” and “Qar's Mom in a Moment of Weakness Apparently (And Then Qar’s Sister in a Moment of Un-Weakness)” @a-manicured-lawn: The latter explains itself. Apparently, the vision of Lawn segwaying around is amusing. [Some people just can’t appreciate the beauty of a white shirt, tie, and glorious moped… ~Lawn]

“The Reincarnated” @defenestration13: Hadn't written in six months but then reappeared to write multiple thousand words. Good job.

“Multimedia Powerhouse” @passerinesoncaffeine: The art, the writing, Raven's got it all! Painting, analyzing music, commenting, whatever you touch it turns to gold.

“Dark Miette” goes to @rebornofstars: An inside joke that I don’t understand. Also thought you should know that you got [insert bee pun].

“The Memer” and “Literally Wind” @savimatteo2810: These are related.

“The Quoter” @whatvioletdoes-blog: For spending the event harvesting quotable quotes for their chat-fic.

(freyja overshot all potential funny numbers, but is a member at heart)

Most Likely to Get Fangirled (Gender Neutral) Over Club

“Literally Hyrule” @across-violet-skies: Also called the Spunky Sidekick and a calming jasmine tea type person. Hopefully your ghost pepper recovery goes well. 

“The Snippeter” @imperialkatwala: For sharing so many snippets to us hungry folk. Thank you kindly.

“Friend Shaped” @polynomialpandemic: A friend to all. Also a “Snippeter” - thank you for feeding the masses!

“Four Tormentor” @undertheopensky: For really obvious reasons. Also managed to make Freyja scream for 10 minutes with your mere presence alone!

Other Friend Groups

“Sad Wet Cat Club” @cinis0 and @lunaopus, you two seem to have nominated one another, so you get this club all to yourselves! However, I would love to know what the talk of forgetting that the Queen died was about…. (Qar has requested to be an honorary member of this club)

@awildsilver and @four-eyed-nerd, you two get to come together as “Four-Eyed-Nerd’s Rat” and “AWildSilver’s Cat,” which is I think our favorite group of all in this month’s running. I do have some additional questions for you two, however, about a mention of the bee movie as an original work (allowed as long as it’s not copy pasted and also hilarious) for you Wild and the title “Honey I shrunk the Links” for you, Four. 

The Community Support Team

“The Commentator of All Time” @1-renegade: To directly quote, “Ain't NOBODY give better feedback and comments than lawlessland.” 

“Will Make You Cry” @artsyanonymity: Anonymity is the sweetest and kindest commenter in existence! SHE. WILL. MAKE. YOU. CRy. Writes the nicest comments and they make me (and apparently several others) cry

“The Encouragement Itself” @cat-at-a-writing-desk: For encouraging others to reach their goals. We appreciate you!

“Drill Sergeant” @gintrinsic-writing: Made Qar get 5k and scared everyone else into writing. (You did it! I got 5k! The fear (with funny intonation) dragged me over the finish line -Qar)

“Drawer of A Thousand Words” @la-sera: Ruler of the Legend and Hyrule brotherhood, inspirer of writers, and the spreader of so much love with your art this Fan Joy July with the art you spent the marathon working on. Can’t wait to see it all as the month goes on.

“The Reader of all Time” @life-in-winter: Or as you all probably know her, passerine44, the writer of the best ao3 comments of all time. Thea, you walk into a digital room and every writer there makes heart eyes at you. Cannot wait to read the writing you’ve been working on (and leave a comment) to return the favor.

“The Respondent of All Time” @silvrash-797: Silvrash had over four months of unanswered ao3 comments that she caught up with, congrats!

“Lives up to the Screen Name” @sunny-porridge: To quote: “Sunny is 100% a ray of sunshine and anyone who says otherwise can FIGHT ME” and I think we all agree.

“The Wildest Supporter.��� @twilightangel83: Supported people and sent a lot of Wild emojis, so much so that we started picturing you as Wild!

“Poet” and “Master of the Shrimp Check” @winterfen: Writes good poetry, and also made sure that everyone was appropriately fed, hydrated, and rested for this event. 

Transfer Students

“I don’t work here, Lady” goes to bArk who neither has a tumblr nor writes for this fandom, but showed up and had fun anyways. Thanks for joining us!

“He Who Finished His Book” goes to jr_for_potus44 (not on Tumblr). Congrats!

“Split Screen” goes to @straight-outta-hobbiton for writing two fics on two screens at the same time, neither of which were LU. Frightening.

The Silent Ones

@pelicanpig, @mmelete, @wayfayrr, @raeofsky, @summaryscar @sunkissedkales: You guys came, you wrote, you did not elaborate. How mysterious your aura is (positive, deeply positive.)

"The Almost Silent One" @the-au-collector: Talked before and after, but not during the event. Probably too busy writing, or busy in general - good job either way!

Everybody else!

“Frequent Flier (WPM)” @anime-obsessed: For participating in so many sprints. Also earned “vocaloid enjoyer.”

“Keyboard Warrior” @august-the-friend: You fought autocorrect and lost 3-0, but it was a valiant fight nonetheless. You did great.

“Artist turned Writer” @aurora-boreas-borealis: Took a break from streaming to write—a huge shout out for all your hard work and your help with colors! (~the actual pigments, not the Links ~Lawn) 

“Literally Sun” @beesandhoney1219: Warmer than sunlight, sweeter than sugar, and absolutely obsessed with Sky’s girlfriend.

“Most Likely to Include Raccoons in their Fic” @bittirsweeteer: They Who Has Given Legend Espresso (thank you for your service).

“Last Minute Vidow” @deleetrix: Something that should always be encouraged. Thank you for feeding us.

“Stargiver” @emberlylion: For starring in a lot of posts, especially cat pics. Thank you for your service.

Move over Time, @estelian-01 “Will Fight Majora and Win” and then go back to studying.

“Studious Student Who (has not) Studied” @gerudoevernight: Self nominated for “Studious Student who Studied” for hitting their goal while in school. The mod team disagreed with the accuracy of that title and affectionately chose this one instead. Good job hitting your goal!

“The Outliner” @gia-d: Accidentally wrote a first draft. Also think it should be noted that everyone is convinced you either could kill a god or that you carry one around in your pocket.

“Onomatopoeia Outrage” @haloburns: Who debated the word “ow” so hard they inflicted it on the people around them.

“The Scholar” @irenkaferalkitty: For her extensive collection of well-researched data, presented in charts, documents and yes, excel sheets. We appreciate you.

“Most Improved” @labyrinthdancer: Their writing has improved a lot since they started posting! also they write really dark twilight & the chain fics. Being a new writer is scary, but they kept at it and are doing so well!

“Writer of Most Cursed Victorian Child” aka their take on Ravio, is @lele5429 with their first ever fic, which is as gorgeous in words as your art is in ink.

“The Hype Man (gender neutral)/Moral Support” @lemoncatssss: For all the encouragement that you gave others. Also the cat photos. Especially the cat photos.

“The accidental friend acquirer” @lennsart: For somehow befriending literally every single person you talk to.

“Severe Case of Clacking” @lerikwrites: You know why. Pennies in a washing machine my friend.

“Hyrule Hurter” goes to @linkiscool333: We all have the blorbo we love to put in the blender, but no one blends Rulie like you do.

“Marcus Actually Writes!?” @marcusdoodlesalot: For a second month in a row, some of us are still befuddled that Marcus is actually a writer, and not just an artist. Hard to believe that someone can have that much talent in both fields.

“Soup Soup Soup Soup Soup (Soup Soup Soup Soup Soup)” @marsnoodlesoup: I... do not know what this means. Congrats, it seems you’re soup.

“The Veteran” @musical-chan: For sharing stories of the early days of fandom. Back in my day but the most positive way possible

“Artist Turned Writer” @mysticstars105: Came out and wrote a whopping 400 words, which is so many words especially when you’re new. Gold Star!

“Art Fight Pre-Gaming” @nebulapaws: For their talk of Art Fight. Hope you have fun participating this month!

“Resident Audiophile” @needfantasticstories: Not just for writing with speech-to-text all day, but for your constant enthusiastic screaming about Epic the musical.

“Most likely to fight God and Win” and “The Modderrrrrr” @noorahqar: Who is actually Sky. Not with the sleepy part though. She actually wrote so much about Sky that he stole all her sleepy. Number one on the starboard, with the proud title of MVM (Most Valuable Mod) for sticking the landing as midnight hit. Also the one with “The Most Sigmas to Grindset” whatever… whatever that means. (Please help what does that mean?) 

“Picture Perfect Exhaustion” @nyastri: Their PFP (Four Doubled Over, hands on knees) combined with the announcement they'd reached their writing goal at the end of the marathon really just sold the picture for me. Well done.

“The Sleepy One” @ocha-blue: who justifiably went to bed as soon as they finished. (Hope you're recovered by now.)

“First Time Fic Writer” @peepthatbish: for breaking into the fic scene and boosting morale for our mod team, especially Lawn. We appreciate you!

“Slow And Steady (WPM)” @pokegeek151: Who was chugging away all day long.

“Doomed by the Narrative” @ra-archives: Google docs acting up, cat sitting on lap, and yet you persisted. Good job.

“My Little Friend Who I Love (This Is Qar Btw) (This Is Part Of The Title)” and “Wordsmith” @rosehipandroots: This is a direct copy paste from your submissions, Rose. Hope you enjoy it. But your amazing descriptions really make you a wordsmith. “The SkyBoy Enjoyer of All Time” @sapphicseasapphire: for your lovely art and writing of the boy!

“Task Succeeded Successfully” @screaming-but-i-have-four-swords: was an artist turned writer that tried to write words, and did! Good job.

“Artist Turned… More Artist” @seaotter-17: We were told you write descriptions like a poet, but in this event, you were most recognizable by your drawings of Nina the cat. Thank you for sharing. 

The “Person with a Passion for Pudding” (which is definitely an inside joke I do not understand, so I hope it makes you laugh) @somanyfanficssolittletime: Thanks for participating!

“The Fic Reccer of all Time” @staring-at-a-blank-page: For recommending so many fics, their own and others, up to read. Thank you!

“The Drabbler” @tenderleavesbob: For their lovely drabbles, of which they wrote around 10k of. The title is appropriate - it seems your drabbles have taken Tumblr (and the participants in this survey) by storm!

“100% Bunny Accurate Fiction”  @toyouhellohowareyou: writer of the most rabbit-fact-checked fics of all time by our own Bunny Lord [Beloved Pet and Bunny Boy (Legend) Himself]

“The Podficcer of All Time” @unexpectedstormy: For podfic making, promoting, and educating. And if that wasn’t enough fae is also our very own “Dragon Tamer” who spent the event working on their HTTYD WIP!

“The Dashshunder” @vivalaplutothedachshund: For sharing your lovely menace of a dog Pluto with us all. We also appreciate you both in the chats and in our rampage to give PolynomialPandemic 109 hugs. 

“Mod Emotional Support. We love you” @wanderlustmagician: You know what you did, and Cheeto’s firstborn deservedly belongs to you.

“Word Weaver” and “Fanfiction Foul---was writing at work instead of working” @weavingstarlight: Your words sparkle as bright as you do, glitter jar.

“Literally First (also shared cat pics)” @witchdoctor39 : Even Hylia can’t hold a candle to how much you love that poor poor man!

Thank all of you for participating, we appreciate each and every one of you so so so much! Please note that we had 90+ participants, and as such, there is probably guaranteed to be some mistakes on the list above. If you find any typos or pronoun goofs or anyone that was put on the list twice or missing or under the wrong name or put under the wrong name or any error that comes with having different discord and tumblr names or if you were left off the list in error or if you want to request a different name than the one you received or you want to be put into or removed from one club or another or anything else that could have gone wrong—please feel free to contact @hotcheetohatredwastaken or @not-freyja with your concerns here on tumblr!

Again, a big thank you to everyone for coming to the event from all of us on the mod team! Can’t wait to see you guys next month! And stay tuned---there will be another post with more information about the next event within the next couple of weeks!

[end-otw-racism]

2023 OTW Board Election Review

The election is over, and we'd like to congratulate (in alphabetical order) Anh Pham, Kathryn Soderholm, and Qiao Chu, who have been elected to serve full terms on the OTW Board of Directors, and Jennifer Haynes and Zixin Zhang, who have been elected to partial terms. We recognize that this is a turbulent time for the OTW, and that running for Board at any time takes guts and a lot of hard work, but especially so now, and we appreciate the time and labor you all have put into answering questions about how you envision your time serving on the Board and guiding OTW policy.

It really was a rollercoaster of an election season. With an original ballot of seven candidates for three seats, the field eventually narrowed to five candidates, and then unexpected resignations led to the opening of five total seats, creating an uncontested election. Still, voting mattered, as the number of votes each candidate got determined if they won a full term (three years) or a partial (two years), and we want to thank everyone who showed up to #VoteToEndOTWRacism.

Through their prepared bios and platforms, the Q&As posted to the Elections site, and the four Candidate Chats, OTW members and stakeholders had ample opportunity to get to know the candidates and learn about their ideas for improving the OTW, and we're excited to see how they might implement their plans once they take their seats.

Today we're going to take a look at how their stated priorities might guide the new Board, specifically in addressing our three main demands: 

Terms of Service (TOS) updates that address racist and bigoted harassment.

Hiring a Diversity Consultant within the next 3 months.

Committing to a policy of transparency on this topic.

As candidates, all five stressed the importance of updating the TOS (or the way the current TOS is enforced) to better protect fans from harassment on AO3, with Anh, Kathryn, and Qiao all listing it as a priority. 

All five also spoke of hiring and working with a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consultant, with Anh, Kathryn, and Qiao all speaking of filling the position soon, and Kathryn expressly calling it a priority.

And, continuing the positive trend, all five offered multiple ways the OTW could improve transparency within the organization and with stakeholders outside the organization! We are particularly interested in Zixin’s suggestion to increase the section on Board work in the monthly newsletters (something Qiao also mentioned!) as well as improve the Board Meeting process to have it better moderated and more efficient, as this would be a great step towards that transparency and engagement with the user base, and her idea to set up clearer internal guidelines on crisis resolution and make them accessible to all volunteers would be a tangible way of increasing transparency within the org.

Kathryn is also concerned about documentation and believes the OTW needs to establish: clear org-wide standards for when to use Constructive Corrective Action Procedures (CCAP), an org-wide crisis communication plan, and org-wide standards for moderating comments on news posts, and that these standards can, and should, be created within the first year.

And, finally, Anh discusses having the group tasked with implementation of the OTW's strategic plan develop infographics to better communicate that plan as a means of fostering outreach to OTW members and users to bring them in to contribute to the OTW’s processes. Unfortunately the strategic plan does not currently reference any of our goals, but if updated, this could be a great path of dialogue between users and the organization.  

The new Board will be seated October 1, 2023, and we look forward to seeing what they can accomplish by working together to make the OTW and its platforms a safe and welcoming place for fans of color.

[talesofedo]

Edo period egoyomi (picture calendar) for Keio 4 (1868), showing the sho-no-tsuki (small or short months) as women and the dai-no-tsuki (large or long months) as men.

Edo Period Calendars

Disclaimer: The following information is from the National Diet Library, I didn't write this. I am sharing it for reference, both for myself and those of you who might be interested. Some slight editing for paragraphs.

...

Background / History

Japan's first calendar came from China via Korea. In the middle of the 6th century, the Yamato Imperial Court, which ruled Japan at the time, invited a priest from a country called Paekche (Kudara in Japanese), in what is now Korea, to learn from him how to draw up a calendar, as well as astronomy and geography.

Reportedly, Japan organized its first calendar in the 12th year of Suiko (604).

Back then, all matters relating to the calendar were determined by the Imperial Court. Under the Ritsuryosei system of centralized administration under the Ritsuryo legal code of the Taika Reformation, the Onmyoryo of Nakatsukasasho was in charge of the task.

An Onmyoryo was a government office that had jurisdiction over calendar preparation, astronomy, divination, etc. It was a time when calendars and divination were inseparable.

From the end of 10th century, the task of preparing the calendar was handed down in the Kamo family, while astronomy passed through generations of the Abe family, its patriarch being Abe Seimei (921-1005), noted as an Onmyo-shi, or specialist in the realm of calendars and divination.

The calendar used then was called "Tai-in-taiyo-reki," a lunisolar calendar, or "Onmyo-reki."

Each month was adjusted to the cycle of moon's waxing and waning. Since the moon orbits the earth in about 29.5 days, adjustment was required and this was done by making months with either 30 days or 29 days, the former, "dai-no-tsuki (long month)," the latter, "sho-no-tsuki (short month)."

Aside from the moon's orbit round the earth, the earth orbits the sun in 365.25 days, which, as we all know, causes the seasonal changes. Thus, merely repeating long and short months gradually produced a discrepancy between the actual season and the calendar. To compensate for this, a month called "uru-zuki," or intercalary month, was inserted every few years to produce a year with 13 months, with the order of longer and shorter months changing year by year.

Unlike our contemporary calendar in which there is no change in the order of months, back then the fixing of a calendar was deemed so important that it was placed under the control of the imperial court and, in the later Edo period, under the superimposed military shogunate.

The calendar established by Onmyo-ryo was called "Guchu-reki," one in which various words indicating seasons, annual events and daily good omens were written in Chinese characters and called "reki-chu (calendar notes)." The Guchu-reki derives its name from the fact that the notes were written in detail.

This Guchu-reki, which was in service until the Edo period, was used particularly by noblemen in ancient and medieval times, individuals based their everyday activities on the calendar. They often wrote a personal diary in the blank spaces or on the back of their personal calendar. These entries remain left valuable historical records of the era.

With the spread of kana, Japan's phonetic alphabet, "Kana-goyomi," a simplified edition of Guchu-reki written in kana, appeared. In the middle of the 14th century calendars started to be printed and soon reached a broader range of users.

As the Edo period wore on and knowledge of astronomy grew more sophisticated, the discrepancy between the calendar and actual astronomical events, such as eclipses of the sun and moon, became an issue, there arose a movement within the shogunate to amend the calendar.

Prior to then, the calendar was made each year based on the Senmyo-reki brought from China in the 4th year of Jogan (862), but as the same method had been used for more than eight centuries, it was deemed consistent with the situation prevailing at the time.

In the 2nd year of Jokyo (1685), a method of making the calendar was devised by Shibukawa Harumi, marking the first attempt by a Japanese, with the amended version known as the Jokyo calendar.

Later in the Edo period, the calendar was revised several times, the results respectively called the Horeki (1755), Kansei (1798) and Tenpo (1844) calendars.

Through these amendments, a more accurate lunisolar calendar was devised incorporating Occidental astronomy. Calendar calculation was made by the "Tenmongata" (officer in charge of astronomy) in the Edo shogunate, with notes added by the Kotokui family, descendants of the Kamo family, after which calendars were issued by publishers in various regions.

Calendars at first were exclusively for the use of the imperial court and noblemen, but after the dawn of printed calendars, more and more people came to use them.

Farmers and merchants found them essential to know the seasons and events. In particular, when using lunisolar calendars in which the order of long and short months changed year after year, learning them proved indispensable for merchants who made collections or payments at the end of each month.

Because of this, various types of calendars were devised and used.

Edo period egoyomi (picture calendar) for Tenmei 7 (1787), showing the sho-no-tsuki (small or short months) as women's parts and the dai-no-tsuki (large or long months) as men's parts in kabuki, beginning with the first month at top right.

According to the lunisolar calendar, there were long months with 30 days and short ones with 29 and their arrangement changed year by year. So knowing the arrangement of long and short months, with the inclusion of an intercalary month from time to time, was very important for the people who lived in those times.

Merchants, who made it a rule to effect payments or collections at the end of each month, would make signs to show a long or short month and erect them up in their shops according to the month in order to avoid mistakes.

While the calendar spread, the Daisho-reki calendar, which showed only the order of the long and short months, appeared during the Edo period (1603-1867). In those days it was called simply "Daisho". But instead of merely showing the length of month, it incorporated such devices as indicating long and short months with the use of pictures and sentences.

Various kinds of Daisho, including those using auspicious illustrations like the animal of the year and scenes from popular Kabuki plays, were produced and many were traded at "Daisho" New Year gatherings, while others were used for gifts. This custom began at the end of 17th century and was most popular in the latter half of the 18th century, in the Edo period.

Many noted artists produced Daisho illustrations. Later, in the Meiji era, when the solar calendar was officially adopted, Daisho calendars fell into disuse and were no longer produced.

[dollsonmain]

Sort of an insight to my current file organization methods.

Down the left are ponies I’m working on. Personal ponies get individual folders named with the franchise, gen, set, type, and date. I’m BEHIND and some of those aren’t even in the house anymore. I failed to keep the data up to date.

Kind of want a laptop or tablet to do pony photo stuff on instead of having to use my PC so I can take the laptop/tablet down to where the ponies are and keep everything together.

Work ponies get one folder per customer plus an embedded folder for non-gallery pics and extra gallery pics that mess up the visual on the right.

I like the neat, tidy rows and columns... Fun to scroll through.

Then for whatever reason my old iPhone has decided photos are sideways so ponies that aren’t done are sideways which is annoying but it also helps me easily know which photos I need to look through to find a pony I just finished to edit and compile the pics. I’m adaptable.

But I’m having a hard time convincing myself that it’s ok that the afters come before the befores (alphabetical order), even though that does kind of annoy me...

Kind of want to go back and rename them from, like, “Twinkle Eyed Quackers Before Left”, and “Twinkle Eyed Quackers After Left” to “Left Before” and “Left Done” or “Left A” and “Left B” or “Before Left” and “Done Left” instead so the before and after are side by side in correct chronological order.

From this to that:

or

(it’s really easy to shuffle photos around within Picasa so I didn’t even have to rename files to do this and can easily put it back to the default by sorting by file name again, though I would certainly be open to a similar program that isn’t Picasa since Picasa is both owned and abandoned by Google and won’t ever be updated again)

But like... Is that small difference worth the effort? It WOULD be some effort, too. It’s a few hundred files to rename, but also, better to make that sort of change NOW than later.

This kind of data sorting nitpickery is why I had to uninstall AND delete all of my TS2 data. I spent MONTHS sorting CC files for no good reason. Just sorting and renaming, sorting and renaming, and starting again because I found a better to me naming convention and sorting and renaming........

This is also why the new tax thing was so distressing for me. I’d never bothered to keep receipts because I didn’t need them but then had to figure out a naming convention etc. and that’s something that’s just HARD for me. I can never settle on one nor can I find the RIGHT one from the start.

[dankusner]

Perplexity AI sued for ‘illegal’ copying of content

Dow Jones, New York Post filed on Monday

Media baron Rupert Murdoch’s Dow Jones and New York Post filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI on Monday, claiming the artificial intelligence startup engages in a “massive amount of illegal copying” of their copyrighted work.

The lawsuit is the latest salvo in a bitter ongoing battle between publishers and tech companies over how the latter may use copyrighted content without authorization to build and operate their AI systems.

“This suit is brought by news publishers who seek redress for Perplexity’s brazen scheme to compete for readers while simultaneously free-riding on the valuable content the publishers produce,” according to the lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York by Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones and the NY Post.

Perplexity did not immediately respond to emails from Reuters seeking comment.

The AI company is among the leading startups attempting to uproot the search engine market dominated by Alphabet’s Google.

It assembles information from web pages it deems to be authoritative, then provides a summary directly within Perplexity’s own tool.

Perplexity uses a variety of large language models (LLMs) to generate its summaries, from OpenAI to Meta’s open-source model Llama.

It provides citations in those results, though Perplexity’s own marketing promotes the notion that its interface enables users to “skip the links.”

Google likewise now shows AI-generated summaries similar to those offered by Perplexity, though most publishers grudgingly accept that arrangement because opting out would also mean having their content removed from Google’s search results, which would render them virtually invisible online.

The news publishers seek to differentiate Perplexity from search engines, which they argue allow for the discovery of their work, not a substitution for it, according to the lawsuit.

In the suit, the News Corp-owned publishers say their journalists investigate and write stories under tight deadlines and unpredictable circumstances.

There is high demand for high-quality news presented in a timely, digestible format, and these publications rely on the sale of advertising and subscriptions to underwrite the cost of journalism, they argue.

The news organizations allege Perplexity’s AI-generated “answer machine” has ingested its copyrighted news stories, analysis and opinion in an internal database used to generate responses to users’ questions.

In its quest to provide answers, Perplexity copied “vast” quantities of the publishers’ work into a database, which uses an AI technique known as retrieval- augmented generation (RAG) to provide answers to users’ queries, the suit alleges.

Perplexity formulates its responses in a way that, at times, reproduces the content verbatim, the news organizations claim.

The suit alleges these actions constitute an unlawful copyright infringement.

“Perplexity perpetrates an abuse of intellectual property that harms journalists, writers, publishers and News Corp,” News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said in a statement.

In July, Dow Jones and the New York Post sent a letter to Perplexity notifying it of the legal issues raised by its unauthorized use of copyrighted works, and offering to discuss a potential licensing deal.

The company did not respond, according to the suit.

The news organizations are asking the court to stop Perplexity from using its news articles as the basis for providing answers to questions, and to order the destruction of any database using its copyrighted work.

With its lawsuit, News Corp is joining the ranks of multiple publishers that have sued AI companies for copyright infringement over their use of content without authorization, both to train algorithms and to generate summaries of real-time information.

Earlier this month, New York Times sent Perplexity a “cease and desist” notice demanding it to stop using the newspaper’s content for generative AI purposes.

Perplexity has also faced accusations from media organizations such as Forbes and Wired for plagiarizing their content, but has since launched a revenue- sharing program to address some concerns put forward by publishers.

Some publishers are signing licensing agreements with AI companies open to paying for content, although the sides often disagree on the content’s value.

Many developers argue they have broken no laws in accessing them for free.

In May, News Corp announced it had struck a multi-year partnership with OpenAI, with Thomson applauding the tech company for understanding “that integrity and creativity are essential” to realize the potential of artificial intelligence.

While Perplexity has drawn the most scrutiny for its practices, it is not alone among AI companies in circumventing a common web standard used by publishers to block the scraping of their content, content licensing startup TollBit told publishers over the summer.

[360digitmg-bangalore]

11 Finest Information Science Blogs To Follow

There are a quantity of information science web sites which have weekly newsletters or every day publications that educate about the newest tendencies and happenings within the area. To have the ability to contribute to those blogs can definitely help you make your mark within the business. If you may be able to shift gears and enter a world with no limits, take a glance at any of our chosen blogs to learn extra about the area of information science right now. When studying or staying up-to-date on information sciences, why not learn about information science immediately from the International Business Machines Corp, better known as IBM. The tech big even provides an accredited IBM Data Science Professional Certificate. Courses appear to delve principally into the programming languages behind data mining.

visit to know more about :data science course in hyderabad KDNuggets also hosts tutorials, datasets, job postings, educational programs, and webinars and has practically 800,000 visitors per month. Kaggle’s weblog page, No Free Hunch, posts blogs and articles of the winners of the hackathons and competitions at Kaggle along with information and tutorials. With this, the blogs supply a direct perception into the minds of the data scientists who are fostering innovations and performing exceedingly nicely in the subject. AIM discovers new concepts and breakthroughs that create new relationships, new industries, and new ways of considering. AIM is the crucial supply of knowledge and concepts that make sense of a reality that's always altering. About weblog — Here are a few of the most interesting and regularly-updated blogs on Analytics, Big Data, Data Science, Data Mining, and Machine Learning, in alphabetical order. 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The blog explores various knowledge factors and the means to manage large information units, offers training on cloud-based modules and offers opportunities to learn code for software with machine learning. Some blogs are more complex than others, as readers are welcomed to dive deeper into the matters of machine learning, programming, visualization and artificial intelligence. Data Science Central does exactly what its name suggests and acts as an internet resource hub for almost every thing related to knowledge science and large knowledge. The website covers a wide array of information science matters concerning analytics, technology, instruments, knowledge visualization, code, and job opportunities.

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[piethemoon]

KinnPorsche English Subbed Interviews Masterpost from 2020 to August 2022

I didn't include their Be On Cloud content since it's basically their official yt channel.

Part 2

2020?

Audition-Casting Process

MileApo in front of the audition room waiting for their turn

January 2021

SoSatSeoulSay with the old cast

February 2021

Excerpt of the News Plus Variety Interview

Shopee Live with Mile & Apo

Star update interview with Bible & Build

ZoomDara Interview with Bible & Build

March 2021

Excerpt of the Zokzakdara Interview with Mile & Apo

Press Conference with the old cast

SoSatSeoulSay with Mile & Apo

Shopee Live with Mile & Apo

May 2021

Kazz Acting with Apo & Mile

When Bible&Build sulk each other (IG Live) with Bible, Build & Job

June 2021

Build Birthday Live with Bible (rough translation)

July 2021

How Mile Apo make a phone call to each other

November 2021

Newsway Interview with Bible & Build

December 2021

SoSatSeoulSay Press Conference with the cast

February 2022

Hello Asian with Mile & Apo

Starupdate with Mile & Apo

April 2022

AsiaOne with Mile & Apo

Dek-D Live

Elle Thailand with Mile & Apo

GoyNattyDream with Mile & Apo

Madan Photoshoot with Apo, Bible, Build & Mile

Madan with Mile & Apo

Madan - 5 facts with Apo

Madan - 5 facts with Bible

Madan - 5 facts with Build

Madan - 5 facts with Mile

PopLive with Mile, Apo, Barcode, Bible, Build & Jeff

Tipco Live with Bible, Build, Perth & Tong Part 1, Part 2

May 2022

KAZZTalK with Mile & Apo

FandomLive with Bible & Build (this is basically a short fanmeeting)

"Guessing Game" on Mellow Pop with Mile & Apo

Madan with Bible & Build

NewShowBiz with Mile & Apo Part 1, Part 2

SoSatSeoulSay with Jeff (technically not kinnporsche content but im including it because he does speaks about it & barcode)

Their fanmeeting for Episode 7

The Serie Press Conference Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

THHeadline with Mile & Apo

webdekd with Bible & Build (not actually eng subbed but someone translated a lot of it in the comments)

June 2022

Bible and his first experience in KinnPorsche

EFMFandomlive with Jeff & Barcode Part 1, Part 2

FandomLive with Barcode & Jeff (same as BibleBuild, basically a fanmeeting)

Farmhouse Live Press Interview with Mile, Apo & Barcode

Farmhouse Meet & Greet Live : Pool Scene!, 5yo Apo or 5×Apo with P'Mile - the entire MileApo live

Hiruscar Challenge with Bible & Build Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

IG Live with Apo, Bible, Jeff & Barcode (the translation focus on Jeff & Barcode)

KPTS World Tour Press Conference Interview

KuiZapShow : Mile & Apo's first meeting

La Roche Posay with BibleBuild : Part 1, Part 2 + Couple Shirt

HelloAsian with Bible & BuildMejii Livestream with Bible & Build- Game Portion, KTPS Talk Portion, Lie Detector Game

ThailandComing with Mile & Apo

The Standard Pop, On That Day with Mile & Apo

"What if Bible wakes up and see Build..." Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

July 2022

AtimeOnline with Bas & Job : BasJob or JobBas

Be On Cloud IG Live with Apo & a fan

Bible-Ta-Perth IG Live (no subs but they speak in english)

DeLing Magazine Interview with Bible & Build

Journey CN Mag Interview with Bible & Build - Q&A Game

K Magazine with Apo, Mile, Nodt, Perth & Tong

KTPS Premiere Interview & KPTS Press Conference Interview with Jeff & Barcode

Laneige Livestream with Bible & Build - Part 1, Part 2 + Q&A Cut

Rolling Stone India with Apo, Bible, Jeff & Mile

Starbox Magazine - 10 Questions with Bible & Build

SosatSeoulsay about KinnPorsche World Tour

UNIQUE Magazine Interview with Mile & Apo

August 2022

KIS x Farger Interview with Apo & Mile

L'Oréal Livestream with Barcode & Jeff

So Cool Magazine with Bible & Build

Starupdate Interview with Bible & Build

View Magazine Interview with Bible & Build

[random-of-random]

The Secret

Chapter 2 - Just One Day

Authors Note: Thanks for reading and favoriting, and for commenting. You guys are great!

Y/N Y/L/N and Percival Graves had met four years earlier, in 1921. She was new to MACUSA and he was already a top Auror. It was a tradition in the department that new employees learn from close observation of people who had been there longer. Y/N had been assigned to shadow Percival and she was given several words of condolence from her new co-workers.

“Don't let him push you out of here.” Arnold had warned her as he gave her a cheeky grin. He was being shadowed by Lovell. From the little she had gathered Percival Graves was a good guy, however he was also shrewd and some described him as single-minded.

When she went to his office and knocked on the door, she could feel her nerves building. His office was smaller then, and this one he shared with Arnold.

"Come in." His voice called and she hesitantly opened the door. Two desks were crammed into the tiny space, filing cabinets seemed to overflow. There were files covering the desks and piled on the floor. It was easy to see that it was a time-consuming job. Behind the desk to her right sat Percival. He didn't even glance up at her, at first, and he continued writing on a piece of parchment, the quill scratching on the paper reminded her of school.

"Mr. Graves?"

"Yes. You must be Miss. Y/L/N." She moved toward him slowly.

"Yes, sir."

"Graduated from Ilvermorny?" His hair was slicked back and black. She couldn't see the color of his eyes.

"Yes sir."

"One of the top students in your year." He still hadn't looked at her.

"Yes sir."

"What house?"

"Horned Serpent, sir."

"Did you always want to work in magical law enforcement, Miss. Y/L/N?"

"Frankly sir, no." That seemed to get his attention. The quill stopped and he turned to slowly look up at her. His eyes were a chestnut brown and seemed to be looking through her.

"What did you want to be?"

"A stage actress." She admitted and it garnered a small smile.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, sir."

"So, why are you here?" It wasn't a rude question, nor intense. Just inquisitive.

"If I was going to be on the stage then I would want to be somewhere big. Considering the Rappapport Law, I wouldn't be able to achieve that properly. So, I turned to the next best thing."

"From being an actress to catching criminals?"

"Yes, sir."

"And they sent you to me." He stood and placed the paper he was working on in an already full filing cabinet. "I suppose you've heard the stories." She could have lied, kissed a little ass, but that wasn't her style.

"Yes, sir, I have."

"And? How am I living up to them so far?" When he turned to look at her again she couldn't help but catch the smile he was trying to hide. Percival was handsome and she had a feeling he could be very charming if the mood struck him.

"A little lacking, sir." He chuckled.

"Welcome to the department, Miss Y/L/N. Now, if you wouldn't mind, we had a big bust if illegal imports yesterday and most of that needs sorted."

"Fine. Not a problem." She said putting on a smile. As soon as she left his office, she knew she was in trouble. Girls talked about plenty of other men in MACUSA, but Percival Graves was something special.

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

Y/N shadowed him continuously. Yeah, he was tough. Yes, he could be distant and cold. However, he was the best Auror she had ever seen. He was quick with a wand, his spells were powerful, and he had even mastered a few spells without the use of a wand. Every morning she would arrive at the Woolworth building by 7 AM. Every night she wouldn't leave until 8 PM. He stayed the same hours.

People constantly asked her when she was at lunch, "don't you hate this?" Her answer was always the same.

"Of course not! Are you crazy?" And she wasn't lying. She wasn't being insincere. Working as hard as she was had already improved her skills. There was so much Y/N thought she knew that was now being challenged. In her mind, she was working for the best.

The hardest part was Percival himself. She was enjoying being around him entirely too much. The way his eyes followed her suddenly didn't feel uncomfortable. It was welcome. The way he was studying her, she almost dared him to figure out her secrets.

Within three months she had stopped eating with the rest of her co-workers and started eating in Percival's office. Sometimes they would go over files, talk about the goings on in the magical and non-maj governments, and on rare occasions they would talk about personal things.

The personal conversations became more frequent over her year of shadowing him. He talked about the long line of Aurors in his family, and how he felt obligated to follow in their footsteps. However, it turned out that it was a field he was good in and enjoyed. He asked her about her family and seemed to want to know anything she was willing to share. She found out when he attended Ilvermorny he was in the Wampus house. Three had turned for him, the other two being Horned Serpent and Thunderbirds, but he went with the house based with warriors. It suited him.

"When I was in school Wampus beat Horned Serpent every time they played." He joked with her one day.

"That is not true." She said with an accusatory tone, though her eyes were alight. It was almost closing time, but they were still sitting in his office - the same place they had been talking for the last hour.

"It is." He insisted.

"If I waste my time going back through the records to prove you wrong..." he laughed then and the sound was beautiful. The door opened quickly and all signs of the levity were gone in that instant. Arnold walked in carrying yet another file.

"What's that?" Y/N asked.

"Dark wizard from Germany has landed in the US. He's a bad one. Already responsible for seven deaths. We have to catch him." Percival was on his feet in a second.

"Where?" He asked pulling on his coat.

"He was spotted in Central Park." Arnold answered.

"Let me come." Y/N suggested.

"No." Percival answered quickly.

"Why not?" She asked and he seemed to ignore her. "You were the one who said I was doing really well."

"I did say that." He admitted as he walked out of his office. Y/N was in tow.

"Then I should be able to go and prove myself."

Percival let out a tense sigh. “Y/N..."

"Come on, Percival. You know I can do this."

"No!" His shout made her take a step back in shock. The department was suddenly quiet as they all looked on at their head Auror. Granted, most of them were surprised this was the first time they heard him yelling at her. He took a few steps closer to her and lowered his voice so only she could hear. "Not this one. Just, trust me on this?" She merely nodded before she watched him walk toward the elevators. Turning on her heel she headed straight back to his office and shut the door after her. She was so mad it was hard to think of anything else. So, she did what she had been wanting to do for ages. She organized. Everything. Three hours later she was still putting papers into the last cabinet. She modified everything magically so it could fit five times the space is previously had. Any loose papers were sorted and put in their proper files which were then put in alphabetical order in one of the filing cabinets. A work of beauty. She allowed herself a moments rest as she looked over the office. It looked as if there was twice as much room as there had been. When the door opened she stood to smugly see his face, but it was Arnold who walked through the door. His normally styled hair was hanging loose, his tie was completely off, and she saw what looked like blood covering the arm of his white button down.

"Arnold, are you-" She moved toward him, but he put his hand up.

"It's not my blood." Her stomach turned and her breath hitched in her chest.

"I-is Mr. Graves... alright?" She dreaded the answer.

"I think so. He's with the healers now." Arnold took a seat at his desk and leaned back.

"What was he hit with?"

"A spell we had never seen before." Arnold answered her, his voice slightly shaking. "He just started bleeding." Y/N looked at him in shock. "It stopped when we got him subdued, but Percival lost a lot of blood."

"Are you alright though, sir?" She asked.

"I'm going to be fine, Y/N." She nodded and stood awkwardly. "He's in the healers room down on 20. In case you were interested."

"Thank you, sir." She took off, trying her best to look calm and inconspicuous. A few people had started to suspect something was going on between Percival and Y/N. How wrong they were despite how much she wanted them to be right. The rumors seemed to die down quickly. Something about Percival not being the type to settle down, let alone with someone like her. Y/N liked to joke, she was a little more lax about rules, and she didn't mind a little dancing every now and again. People in the building just decided that the two were never possible. Arnold, however, seemed to know how she felt about Percival. He would catch her looking at Graves as he scribbled a sentence on parchment or read quietly. As soon as Y/N would realize he was looking, Arnold would give her a kind smile or a wink. Though, he never told another soul about what he saw.

When the elevator stopped on 20 she stepped out and into a whole different world. She had been to a healing floor before, but not like this. It was bustling with healers running all over the place.

"Can I help you?" A young woman behind a desk asked.

"Yes. My boss was brought in: Percival Graves. I wanted to check and make sure he's alright."

"Your name?"

"Y/N Y/L/N."

"Alright, thank you. Have a seat in our waiting area and someone will be right with you." The woman indicated a small alcove filled with chairs. She hesitantly sat, but within a minute felt that she may stand up and demand an update. It was an excruciating hour before someone came out.

"Miss. Y/L/N?"

"That's me." The man who was now standing in front of her was older, maybe late 50's, with a kind smile.

"I am Mr. Graves healer."

"Is he okay?" She asked.

"Yes. He is going to be alright." She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and she allowed herself a small smile. "He lost a lot of blood, so we're producing potions for him to take every four hours for the next three days." The doctor explained. "He'll be groggy, but I believe he will do just fine. He will however need care because I want him to get bedrest. I can keep him here, if he would prefer."

"Thank you, and I'll run the options by him." Y/N said as she shook his hand.

"Would you like to see him?"

"Can I?" She asked. He put his hand softly on her upper back and led her back and deeper into the hallway. They walked for less then a minute when they stopped outside a room.

"Go a head in." He encouraged.

The room was very plain and ordinary. Sitting up on the bed was Percival. Already looking like he wanted to go another round. However, his skin was pale and it was easy to see he would be unsteady on his feet. His own clothes must have been discarded as he was wearing a hospital gown. She could faintly make out former cut marks on his arms that were an angry red. His brown eyes connected with hers and for a moment, she saw it. Relief. She couldn't stop herself. Taking several quick steps forward she pulled Percival Graves into a hug. Her arms wrapped around his upper back and shoulders and, to her great surprise, she felt his arms wrap around her waist.

"I'm glad you're back." She whispered before pulling away.

"You didn't have to come down here."

"I know." She answered. "So the docs said you have a potion you have to take every four hours for three days."

"Alright."

"And you have to rest - no working for those three days." He looked almost angry. "That way when you do come back you'll be at 100%."

"If I have to."

"And you're suppose to stay on bedrest. So, I'm going to come take care of you."

"What? No."

"It's your choice, Percival." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Let me take care of you for a few days..."

"Or..."

"Or you to stay here and be a special patient of the healers." It was as if he was at war with himself for a moment.

"When can we leave?"

[hermit-pistol]

Guido Mista Fluff Alphabet:

Okay Mista fans, here’s your food. Only one more alphabet and this series will be one! Make sure to show love and read under the cut!

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Mista has a super adventurous personality and this also shows in the activities that you two take part in. He always likes to do things that others would usually think of as silly, like going to the zoo. But! He always finds a way to make it entertaining and unforgettable. (Who wants to hold the baby kangarooooo)

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

He loves your laugh, and whenever he gets to hear it, it feels like the best reward for him. While he may have flirted with his fair share of girls in the past, looks aren't most important to him. In order to get you rolling around on the floor, he'll have to pull out the big guns, of course. Sometimes he'll tag team with Narancia to pull pranks just to get a rise out of you.

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Mista absolutely hates when you're sad because that also makes him feel sad. When he sees you sulking on the couch, he joins you, wrapping his large arms around you. He'll keep asking you why you're sad while sticking out his lower lip, (which was absolutely lethal for you). Soon after, you forgot why you were down in the dumps, which was Mista's main goal the whole time.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

He's a romantic, so he's always thinking about the future and what it will bring in regards to his love life. Within a few years of dating, he'll already want to move in and get a dog. Maybe two dogs, who knows. He sees marriage, children, grandchildren...all of it.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Mista can be pretty stubborn in certain situations. He will make the plans for dates and activities that the two of you can enjoy. He'll always ask you for your input, of course. Overall, the balance of power in the relationship is equal.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Mista can be a little childish when disagreements are involved. There's a possibility that he'll use humor to get out of a sticky situation, but don't let him get away with this all the time. If he's in the wrong let him know, or else things can get blown out of proportion easily.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Mista thanks you for the companionship and happiness that you've brought into his life. You are the longest relationship that he's had in quite some time given his current line of work, and he loves that you have the patience to stick around with him. Even though his stand keeps him company most of the time, he's glad to share time with another human.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Mista is very honest with you. Whether it be where he's going on a mission (sometimes, Bruno yells at him for telling you this), or telling you about his past before joining the organization, he's very transparent with you. You appreciate this, and make sure that you do the same. Hardly any secrets are kept between you.

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Like R mentions 👀, you inspire him to keep himself clean. Of course, a normal person would want to keep up with appearances but Mista is a very special guy.... While he was cheerful before the relationship he's over the moon when he sees you and prioritizes your time together.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Mista will be quiet, which is very uncharacteristic of him. His stand will always manifest and say whatever he’s thinking, probably along the lines of taunting and verbally harassing the person you’re talking to before they eventually grow frustrated and walk away. The Pistols would cheer, celebrating their victory.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Mista's kisses are very eager and wanting. In addition, he doesn't care who's around and has absolutely no problem with kissing in public. Even if you blush and get embarrassed this only give him another reason to hold you tighter and go to town. Prepare yourself... 😳

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

Mista will literally confess to you on the street. The first time he tells you that he loves you is actually in casual conversation. You had to do a double take, and he merely shrugged in response. It would take some getting used to, but you were elated that he felt the same as you!

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

He'll want to get married after his time in Passione is over, or at least has settled down to where he can live comfortably with you. The ceremony will be small, with only a few family members attending. Even if you haven't yet upgraded to a larger living space, he'll want to start a family right away. If you decide you're not ready you remind him that the Pistols are already his children.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

Every name invented is fair game. He loves using stupid niche names too that come up after a few months of dating. Examples include but are not limited to: "green bean", "lil mami", and "bicycle crusher" (the last refers to your thighs in a related incident).

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

He tells the gang that he's crushing on someone all the time, so when he first reveals that he's in love they really don't believe him at first. Although he "always says that", it's the Pistols that escalate the situation even further. Whenever you're along with him they'll come out and start egging him on with kissy noises and the like. He'll turn as red as a tomato when you grant him his wish.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Mista LOVES to show you off in public, and he loves watching the reactions of the passerby as he has an arm slung around your waist traveling dangerously close to your butt. It drives him nuts that out of all of the guys in Italy you chose him, and now that you two are a couple he wants to show the world.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

While many other guys may hate the concept of hugging, Mista loves it wholeheartedly. Whenever you're having a bad day, a good day, or are just walking around he won't hesitate to wrap his arms around you and smile. Sometimes the Pistols will even join in for a group hug! He's basically the hug king, and you're not opposed to that role.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Very romantic babey. Since he’s so smelly he would suggest taking a bath or shower with you. This will take some extreme confidence from both of you. Whether it becomes sexual or not, just being intimate in this way is so special to him.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

He believes in you like nobody's business. Also, he loves seeing when you follow through with your goals and sees your dreams coming to fruition! It's extremely exciting for him, and you love seeing his reactions to watching you succeed.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Mista loves the thrill that life and living provides. There's something new that arises every day you spend with him, and you never get bored. Loves booking hotel rooms for trips and the like and not telling you until the night before, which can be stressful yet cute.

U nderstanding - How well do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Mista is stupid but means well. Sometimes you can quiz him, and he'll still forget something as simple as your favorite food, or your favorite color. In time, he'll learn more about you and your emotions, but for now every time you tell him a fact about yourself he'll write it in his phone so he doesn't forget. 🥺

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

Mista will be so cheesy about telling you how much you mean to him. -"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...."- <-- If he pulls anything like this he usually givers you permission to slap him. You're one of the only partners that's stuck around with him for this long, and he's not planning on letting you go any time soon.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Mista insists that he should help around the house at times, and this means that he's going to help with the chores in any way that he can. You end up assigning him grocery shopping (a big mistake). He is so unorganized and claims that he doesn’t need a list to go off of, and this usually results in him buying whatever he wants. Watch him get all the way home and still manage to forget the milk and bread. Good thing he bought the family pack of ice cream sandwiches though.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

If you look up affectionate in the dictionary, there's a very good chance that you'll see Mista's name. He loves to cuddle with you and especially loves to nap with you because of the intimacy. Mista can nap anywhere, anytime, but he prefers falling asleep with you in his arms!

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Mista will be soooo needy when you are away, and so will the Pistols. When you have the free time between class or meetings he'll call you begging for you to come home with his six children screaming in the background. Eventually, it'll get to be too much and you have no choice but to come home, much to his delight. He'll never let you go.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Mista will definitely buy you presents if he has the money at hand. Expect lavish gifts like jewelry and clothes from him, whether it's a special occasion or not. If he could, he'd give you the world, but at times you have to remind him that you have more than enough and you don't need to be impressed by physical possessions.

[diyeoracha]

IwaOi Fanfiction Masterlist with 90+ Works

Hello! In celebration accumulating over 290 bookmarks on my AO3 account featuring IwaOi, Haikyuu S4 part 2, and @haikyuuweek2020​ (Day 7 - Free Choice), I decided to create a masterlist of all of my favorite Iwaoi fics in order to keep myself organized as well as contributing to more traffic for those works! Works are split up into genres such as alternate universe (either not childhood friends or set on Earth), angst, canon compliant (post timeskip with spoilers), canon divergent (childhood friends but divergent timeline post timeskip), high school, and university au

Formatting update: Jan 13, 2021 (spacing is wonky on the mobile app!).

Fic update: Jan 7, 2021

This is incomplete as I got distracted while re-reading a lot of these and have only gone through half of my bookmarks, but feel free to check my own page here for the rest of them! I really do hope you guys enjoy reading these and leave comments and kudos! Please reblog and like so more people can enjoy

Titles marked with (♡) are my absolute favorites and there’s a chance I cried while reading them but otherwise they’re in alphabetical order

Alternate Universe

an allegory of all the things we could’ve been

Word count: 16k

Summary: “I don’t know anything about some red string,” Iwaizumi murmurs into the cracks of Oikawa’s skin, “or even about lifetimes or fate. But no matter where you are, I’ll find you. Gods or otherwise.” Reincarnation AU

And All the Prince’s Men

Word count: 65k

Summary: “Father only loves that which he owns, and I am the one thing that can never truly be his.” Royalty AU

Built a Temple in Me

Word count: 55k

Summary: Up the mossy mountain steps, past the komainu guardians and the faded red gate, and beyond the boundaries of the green shrine—that’s where the forest and the spirit world within it lies. That’s were Hajime met him, and where their story began.But intertwining of destinies can be ugly business, Hajime finds, when their first meeting begins with blood and the too-human eyes of a beast. God Oikawa AU

Quote: It fills his heart anyway, heals the hole in his chest that had been bleeding since he cut Tooru so forcibly from him.

Cotton Breathing

Word count: 13k

Summary: Long-distance and summer only but childhood friends AU

Conquering the Great King

Word count: 105k

Summary: Oikawa's lips twitched into a smirk and he brought them hovering just over Iwaizumi's, "One time thing, Two time thing, what's it matter as long as it's not a Relationship thing?"

Quote: Oikawa's eyes twitched wide for less than a second, his knee pressed in hard against Iwaizumi's thigh, "I may be gorgeous, but I'm not a doll."

dear diary, i met a boy

Word count: 15k

Summary: Iwaizumi's first impression of his upstairs neighbor involves getting woken up at two in the morning to the sound of Oikawa singing along to trashy pop music. He'd thought it would get better, but it all just goes downhill from there. Modern AU

Desperado

Word count: 82k

Summary: Clearly Iwaizumi had a checkered past. Kyoutani has never asked about it, nor has Iwaizumi ever brought it up. He knows it’s a sore spot for his mentor, just like the gorgeous Monte Carlo he keeps hidden away is, so he leaves it alone. Out on the streets, you learn a little something about when to turn a blind eye in order to survive; Kyoutani knows better than most to leave the past of men like Iwaizumi well alone. Heist AU

Even Heroes (have the right to dream)

Word count: 20k

Summary: Oikawa Tooru, ace reporter of the superhero beat of Asahi Shimbun, hates superheroes. Or maybe he just hasn’t met the knight one yet. Superhero AU

♡Infinite Risks

Word count: 8k

Summary: “It’s my fate,” Oikawa responds slowly. He’s crying. “It’s too lonely,” Iwaizumi’s heart sounded broken. “And I’m not there with you. Not really.” Edge of Tomorrow AU

In Defense of Reptiles

Word count: 9k

Summary: In their seventh year, Oikawa is chosen to be the Hogwarts champion in the Triwizard Tournament, and Iwaizumi suffers. Harry Potter AU

Quote: “You are so spoiled,” Iwaizumi tells him, but lets him shuffle down until Iwaizumi’s hand is now running through Oikawa’s hair instead of rubbing his shoulder.

In the Telling

Word count: 6k

Summary: Muggleborn Iwaizumi could not be less impressed with pureblood Oikawa Tooru. Harry Potter AU

♡Lockdown

Word count: 72k

Summary: Within the first few months of his stay, Oikawa gets caught up in a war between cellblocks, becomes a prime target, and must decide just how far he's willing to go to protect Iwaizumi Hajime. Prison AU

♡long nights, no peace

Word count: 18k

Summary: It's the steady knowledge that Iwaizumi Hajime will always be someone that he can rely on, that no matter what the world throws at the two of them, they share in a piece of each other's soul. Pacific Rim AU

Quote: Quiet settles between them softly, like the warm pressure of the blanket, or Iwaizumi's fingers curling to lightly hold the fabric of Oikawa's shirt.

The Long Light

Word count: 36k

Summary: Iwaizumi Hajime's seventh year at Hogwarts begins, and begins, and begins, and begins. Somehow, Oikawa Tooru is always there. Harry Potter AU

Magic Man

Word count: 12k

Summary: Oikawa is named the most desirable wizard in France. Iwaizumi is not impressed. Harry Potter AU

Quote: You keep saying partner or them. Is it rude of me to ask you to clarify?

Meet me in the grey area

Word count: 24k

Summary: Set in a hero/villain AU with Iwa as our trusty hero and Oikawa as our charming villain

Saw You at the Fish Market

Word count: 14k

Summary: In other words, Oikawa befriends hot part-time worker Iwaizumi and tries to impress him both off and on the court, in hopes of more.

♡♡ (sing with me) A Song of Conquest and Fate

Word count: 26k

Summary: When Seijou receives a missive from Aobajousai to discuss a potential peace, its emperor Oikawa Tooru could not have foreseen the series of events that would follow. Historical fantasy AU

Similar Creatures

Word count: 53k

Summary: "What's your name?" "Whatever you want it to be."(Or, Oikawa gets directions from an attractive stranger on a street corner.). Escort AU

♡Something Like Us

Word count: 28k

Summary: Friends since childhood, Oikawa and Iwaizumi now live together, both playing for the National Team. It's no secret that athletes who are bonded perform better. So if the two of them happen to bond...It'd be for the good of the team, right? A/B/O AU

Space

Word count: 44k

Summary: Tries not to think of his rooftop garden, or the apartment he used to inhabit, or Hajime’s broken expression on the night they whispered their goodbyes before Tooru’s launch, attempting to push it all to the back of his mind behind visions of this alien world terraformed. Astronaut AU

Stop the Time

Word count: 10k

Summary: Iwaizumi Hajime, 27, E.R. nurse at University of Tokyo Hospital. Hospital AU

♡♡The Loyalty of A Traitor

Word count: 76k

Summary: Iwaizumi Hajime was an undercover officer with a single objective: Infiltrate the Seijoh Syndicate of the Yakuza and tear them down from the inside out. His primary target was the boss, Oikawa Tooru. The job itself was simple enough, until Iwaizumi got in too deep and absconded not only from the mission, but from the city itself. Yakuza AU

These Flowers I Stole For You

Word count: 3k

Summary: ANBU don't cry. They tear themselves apart, bit by bit, and then they stitch themselves whole again. Naruto AU

on shipwreck shore

Word count: 8k

Summary: “I’m going to murder you in cold blood and feed you to the basilisks,” Iwaizumi says conversationally. “You can’t do that, I’m your boss,” Oikawa sings, positively sparkling. “Also we’re partners, which means,” he points at Iwaizumi and leans in, “you’re stuck with me.” Detective AU

Page 305 of 304

Word count: 53k

Summary: “…she called you ‘papa’,” iwaizumi managed. oikawa just stared for a moment longer before relaxing in a smile. “yeah. cute, right? but you can call me ‘daddy’ if you want.”

Temporary fix

Word count: 12k

 Summary: “And you’ve shampooed his hair how many times now? Hmm. Yeah, that’s not technically a bromance.” A/B/O AU

Tokyo Boy

Word count: 16k

Summary: He has feelings for Iwaizumi Hajime, who probably has casual lovers just like him in every major city he visits on business. Oikawa is just his Tokyo Boy, just another pit-stop on Iwaizumi’s travels. Businessman AU

Trial by Fire

Word count: 78k

Summary: (lawyer!AU - in which Iwaizumi loves his objections, Oikawa is beautiful, and they have more chemistry than two opposing attorneys probably should.)

Watch Me

Word count: 32k

Summary: Oikawa's a cam model. It’s been a month since Iwaizumi first spoke in his chat. When they meet in person, things get complicated. Cam model AU

Angst

open when

Word count: 1k

Summary: Iwaizumi knew it was coming, but it still hurt. It still hurt when he opens one letter and drowns it in the tears he cannot keep at bay.

Chasing Paper Suns

Word count: 10k

Summary: Post-high school,     Oikawa makes it to the national volleyball team but Iwaizumi doesn't. The     next three years become an exercise in growing up without growing apart

Quote: “ ‘it’s just—I’m     just trying so hard—’‘What, and I’m not?’

Timeless (We Have 30 Days)

Word count: 12k

Summary: Or AU where you're branded 50 days before you die. But Oikawa doesn't tell anyone so now there's only 30 days left.

the weight of water

Word count: 6k

Summary: “Again,” he says, the smallest tremor in his voice, and Oikawa blinks at him a moment before smiling, soft and sweet. “Iwa-chan,” he replies, and Iwaizumi closes his eyes. “Again.” “Iwa-chan.”

Canon Compliant

Are You Listening?

Word count: 4k

Summary: 30 times oikawa said i love you and 1 time he didn't have to

Quote: “Iwa-chan, watch out for the log—!” Oikawa looked on in horror as his best friend tripped and fell flat on his face.

Edge of the balcony

Word count: 8k

Summary: Iwaizumi looks older, he realizes. Oikawa knew he had aged as well, and so did everyone around him, but the thing was when you see people often, you don't notice the subtle changes in appearance. And Oikawa hadn't seen Iwaizumi in four years.

How can this loser ever win

Word count: 2k

Summary: everyone is in stupid love with Iwaizumi Hajime and he has no idea

♡♡♡Lost in Translation

Word count: 9k

Summary: Because misfortune come in threes, Iwaizumi Hajime starts his Thursday having a screaming fight with Shittykawa, spends his lunch break listening to the UCI women's volleyball team gossiping about how Ushijima Wakatoshi had gone public about his longtime love affair with Oikawa Tooru, and closes out the day by drunkenly dropping his phone into a sewer grate.

maybe we could be enough

Word count: 9k

Summary: iwaizumi hums in reply as the car goes silent, frank ocean crooning from the speakers. they stop at a red light when iwaizumi feels eyes at the side of his face, and turns to look at oikawa.

Most people never even get a single high school rival

Word count: 5k

Summary: Team Argentina gets to know Iwaizumi Hajime (27) Athletic Trainer.

Primavera

Word count: 8k

Summary: They say it takes twenty-six years, for certain breeds to fully bloom.

Quote: Did you know that distance is only me, growing towards you?

♡♡♡rest on your laurels

Word count: 4k

Summary: In Iwaizumi’s heart of hearts, untouched by time, they are young and alive, burning with the hearth of home and bright as winter light. Unbreakable. Invincible.

♡♡♡Something Borrowed

Word count: 16k

Summary: In which Oikawa and Iwaizumi have always been a foregone conclusion to everyone else, but a massive, unanswered question to one another.

‘Til Infinity

Word count: 2k

Summary: “Hey,” he says, “that cloud looks kind of like a dick.”

Quote: “I got you ladybug”

♡♡♡ You Set Off a Dream In Me

Word count: 15k

Summary: In which Oikawa is 41 and ready to retire. He's at the top of his game and ready to find a new challenge. Turns out his new challenge is pretty familiar. It's high school, round 2.

Quote: A past with an Iwaizumi that wasn’t on the opposite side of the net, monsters on all sides, guiding a setter that had lived the dream left behind in the ruins of Tooru’s past self.

Canon Divergent

a world alone

Word count: 60k

Summary: Iwaizumi has his medical books on the musculoskeletal system. Oikawa has his research papers on parallel universes. It isn't until much, much later that they realize they have each other.

♡Almost a Stranger

Word count: 16k

Summary: Iwa-chan's leaving Kapan. Tooru's not sure he can forgive him, but he's not going to admit his long-held feelings, either. A trip to Miyajima complicates everything.

Quote: There are only two things that have ever broken Oikawa Tooru’s heart. Iwa-chan would say Tooru has no heart to break, but that’s simply untrue.

Count your blessings, it goes 1,2,3, me

Word count: 7k

Summary: He's unsettled by the undefined boundaries of their relationship so it's all his luck that he accidentally wins three wishes to be granted just for him, and all that comes to mind is Iwaizumi.

Quote: Now, as an adult, past convenience of circumstance and the haze of hormonal lust, exactly none of his feelings have worn off

♡♡♡the courtship ritual of the hercules beetle

Word count: 66k

Summary: Tooru is pretty sure he could manage the mating habits of a mosquito. It’s the mating habits of people he can’t seem to get right.

♡days fall away

Word count:17k

Summary: Except now he’s back home, so close to his old haunts and to Oikawa himself, and it's—weird.

Quote: “You and Tooru,” he begins, and then shrugs. “I was just thinking, you look at each other a lot.” And he walks away, leaving Hajime winded, and sort of aching, somewhere deep in his chest. Whatever that means.

♡here comes your man

Word count: 8k

Summary: Iwa-chan, it reads, Have a good day today! Good luck! <3 <3 <3 Suga chokes. It’s hard to imagine anyone calling the scowling and fierce Doctor Iwaizumi “Iwa-chan.” But marriage probably comes with all sorts of liberties. Doctor AU

♡♡In damp earth my body

Word count: 15k

Summary: Onscreen, the nation’s favorite setter has arranged himself so that he’s bowing, forehead pressed to the court, like he’s thanking everyone for their kindness thus far, like he’s asking for forgiveness. Hajime thinks: shit, it’s really happening

In the Business of Love

Word count: 22k

Summary: Meet Oikawa Tooru: He's a best-selling shoujo manga artist, a hardcore romantic and you won't believe where he's getting his lovey dovey fodder from...Enter Iwaizumi Hajime: He's Oikawa's best friend, a realist who also happens to be a wedding magazine writer despite not believing in romance...

Quote: A flare of pride lit in Oikawa as he watched Iwaizumi's eyes crinkle with mirth and in that yawning second, it bloomed into a warmth that bordered on a burn, forcing a bittersweet inhale.

it's been so long (nobody knows me the way you do)

Word count: 8k

Summary: Tooru hums, only half-listening. Somewhere along the way, Hajime’s palm has settled itself over the curve of Tooru’s cheek, thumb tracing over the line of his jaw.

Quote: Iwaizumi blushes even more. “That you’re here, I mean. I’m happy that you’re here. With me.”

♡♡♡Mint

Word count: 19k

Summary: It's the December after Iwaizumi’s last year in university when Tokyo welcomes him with a new ad campaign for Bright Days toothpaste, and Oikawa Tooru—fresh off a run at the 2016 Summer Olympics—has decided to grace the city with his signature grin, a flip of his wayfarer sunglasses, and the most irrepressible tag line for the signboard above.

Quote: "To be able to tell him, in the new year."  This comes under Oikawa's breath, so low that Matsukawa and Hanamaki can't hear, and the game continues.

Six-Month Lover

Word count: 89k

Summary: Iwaizumi barks out a laugh. “I’m still trying to get over the fact that you made a PowerPoint presentation about why we should date.” Oikawa doesn’t tell him the file has existed for the last twelve years, constantly receives updates, and that the original copy contained almost a hundred slides before he forced himself to get a grip.

Special Relativity

Word count: 22k

Summary: Time moves differently for people in different inertial reference frames. Oikawa goes on a two-year exploratory mission in space. Iwaizumi's been waiting for a lot longer than that.

♡♡sunset towns

Word count: 33k

Summary: In the summer of 2020, Oikawa Tooru returns home from his first successful stint as captain of Japan’s national volleyball team. In one hand, he holds the undisputed weight of an Olympic medal, and in the other, his unresolved feelings for a childhood best friend.

♡♡Thirty Years and Change (the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad)

Word count:     19k

Summary: It’s July 10th, 2024, and Oikawa Tooru is an Olympian. His smiling face airs on an NHK promo every 45 seconds. He’s captain of the national men’s volleyball team, reigning star of the professional leagues, and he hasn't spoken to Iwaizumi Hajime in two years.

Quote: Oikawa’s grin in  the last set of the morning’s game. Oikawa’s grin as they sat on their asses on a golf course. Oikawa’s grin when they were in college. When they were in high school. When they were twenty-two, seventeen, fifteen, twelve, six.

High School

Bet On It

Word count: 13k

Summary: Hajime knows exactly how shitty Oikawa's personality is, and has no scruples whatsover about betting Oikawa six thousand yen that he can't be nice for an entire week.

Quote: The whole instant-compliance thing was seriously creeping him out. Oikawa from a week ago would have made a crack about how if he'd wanted something cold, he could have just put his face on Hajime's shoulder.

Betweens

Word count: 2k

Summary: Iwaizumi is asleep in the club room. Oikawa is blindingly awake in the club room. The sun moves slowly across the sky, and Iwaizumi’s skin is gold underneath it. Oikawa watches the changing shadows on Iwaizumi’s face and thinks about nothing in particular.

Don’t think too much

Word count: 6k

Summary:  In which Oikawa and Iwaizumi have a confusing, drunken encounter and then deal with the (sticky) consequences.

Quote: As soon as that thought crossed his mind, though, Oikawa did what he always did:  exactly the opposite of what Hajime wanted

Gates

Word count: 12k

Summary: The day after their graduation ceremony, they drive to the beach at Shirahama. Iwaizumi drives, because it’s his car, and as he has told Oikawa on multiple occasions, he’d rather die than let him touch the wheel.

Quote: ‘Yeah,’ he says, because they’re on a beach, and they’re supposed to be on a metaphorical journey, and they’re supposed to be growing up, and completing rites of passage, so it’s honesty, today - just for today, at least.

♡♡i sing the body electric

Word count: 8k

Summary: It was never part of the plan, falling in love with his best friend, but then again, most things in Iwaizumi’s life that involve Oikawa rarely unfold the way he thinks they will.

Quote: But Iwaizumi thinks about Oikawa laughing with that girl in the low light of the gym, a particular kind of quiet intimacy that Iwaizumi’s only ever read about in books hovering in the air, and all it makes him feel is small and petty and spiteful.

it’s better than words

Word count: 3k

Summary: [ or : oikawa makes iwaizumi participate in three bonding activities for new friends, and iwaizumi just wants to know why oikawa's being so weird about this]

Make sure you cross the line

Word count: 4k

Summary: With graduation just around the corner, Iwaizumi knows he has to gather the courage to really ask Oikawa out.

Quote: He’s been asking Iwaizumi to go out with him every single day this past week, increasingly panicked about getting his time and attention now that they’re nearing the end of this season of their lives.

Only the jellyfish know

Word count: 6k

Summary: Their third and final year at Aoba Jousai has come to an end, and the guys decide to go to the beach the day after graduation. That day, the ocean water is salty, the watermelon is sweet, and the people are sweeter.

static

Word count: 6k

Summary: Being snowed in with all of Seijou volleyball in his childhood home brings back a lot of memories for Iwaizumi, because it's kinda Oikawa's childhood home too.

Quote: It's fate that brought them together and choice that keeps them that way. The closest description in Hajime’s vocabulary is partners, but only because Oikawa taught him what its true definition is.

Told before and told again

Word count: 3k

Summary: This is how Hajime and Tooru fall in love, through the accounts of those around them.

Quote: When Oikawa lets out a long, heavy breath, Iwaizumi looks up at him and frowns, and flings a towel over Oikawa’s head to cover his face. Then, he tugs, once, on Oikawa’s fingers, and leads him down the hallway, Oikawa walking quietly in tow.

♡we can do better than that

Word count: 16k

Summary: Oikawa and Iwaizumi go on a road trip during the summer after their high school graduation. It doesn't go as expected, but maybe that's not such a bad thing after all.

Quote: Because Iwaizumi’s known Oikawa nearly all his life and never felt anything more than vague affection usually followed by intense irritation for him. But then suddenly at eighteen years old and nearly two weeks into a very badly planned road trip, it’s like someone flipped a switch somewhere inside Iwaizumi

♡when it starts to rain, they go inside

Word count: 33k

Summary: “Where?” starts Iwaizumi.“ My parent’s old lakehouse, silly, didn’t you hear me the first time?” OR: Oikawa takes Iwaizumi to his lakehouse for two weeks, post-graduation.

reassemble it

Word count: 15k

Summary: When Tooru was six years old, he discovered—unbeknownst to him at the time—two of the most important things in his life: volleyball and Iwaizumi Hajime. It was ironic that he had stumbled upon them hand in hand—quite literally, too.

♡things that change, things that stay the same

Word count: 8k

Summary: Oikawa realizes he's in love with his best friend; it sucks for a while. (But only a while.)

Quote: Iwaizumi’s expression right now is less terrified than it used to get back then, but he’s tight-lipped with concern, and his broad body blocks out other passengers as if their stares might be a danger to Tooru too.

University AU

An Archaeology of Affection

Word count: 23k

Summary: For Hajime, it is a riddle and simultaneously so evident. It fills his chest, surging like water, paints heat up his neck. In retrospect, it eats up his days, makes them its own until it feels like his heart has always been in his throat at the smile thrown over Oikawa’s shoulder, the stilling of his fingers on Hajime’s sleeve.

closure

Word count: 22k

Summary: In his first year of university, Oikawa builds a new friendship and upgrades an old one. Or: Ushijima is not a great wingman, but he tries his best.

Quote: “On the first day of his university career, Oikawa Tooru walks into his dorm, spots his assigned roommate, and turns one hundred and eighty degrees and walks right back out. He dials a familiar phone number - the first one he ever memorized - and starts complaining before Iwaizumi even gets the chance to say hello. “Iwa-chan,” he says, “tell me why Ushiwaka is in my dorm room.”

♡♡♡galaxies, within you

Word count: 21k

Summary: Hajime and Tooru move in together at the start of university. Too bad they’re stuck with the two gremlins that haunt their apartment.

Quote: I AM A HEADASS

Hands to yourself

Word count: 11k

Summary: He missed his parents, and he missed Takeru, and Takeru's badly behaved puppy. He missed Aoba Jousai, and he missed the volleyball team. He even missed Karasuno and Shiratorizawa, just a little.

Home, and how we made ours

Word count: 3k

Summary: “No, I like it here.” There’s a rustling as Iwaizumi shifts, inching closer. “I like it here, as in this crappy apartment—with you.”

Quote: “Do your fights end up being like—you know, about actual things and then extending into toddler days and suddenly you’re accusing Iwaizumi of kissing the girl you used to like in preschool?”

in progress to you

Word count: 6k

Summary: The eventuality of Oikawa and Iwaizumi falling toward each other is dramatically lackluster. Still, it's a process to go through.

Quote: “But what if you didn’t eat my pudding all the time?” Iwaizumi asks flatly, ignoring the way Oikawa is slapping his thigh to get out of his chokehold. “Do you think I buy them for you, huh? I buy them for me, you turd.”

Like we’re made of starlight

Word count: 6k

Summary: (a look into iwaizumi hajime’s journey of falling in love with oikawa tooru, from when they’re babies meeting for the first time to young adults moving in together.)

Ninety nine percent

Word count: 14k

Summary: more than anything, oikawa tooru wants to be with iwaizumi hajime, but he's only ninety nine percent of the way there.

Quote: Their ace was lining up for the ball, knees bent and arm pulled back, just as Tooru tosses the ball……to Hajime.

no sleep in the city

Word count: 7k

Summary: Along their journey to find Tokyo's best ramen, Iwaizumi finds himself asked again and again why Oikawa is still single.

Quote: “I was only telling Hanamaki literally yesterday that your personality isn’t as vile as before,” Iwaizumi informs, slightly stiff from the way Oikawa’s got an arm looped through his own. “Why do you make me such a liar to people I care about?”

Out of nowhere

Word count: 8k

Summary: They move in together after graduation and it's doing weird things to Iwaizumi's heart. He's a little in denial about it.

Quote: Oikawa excitedly ran up to him when Iwaizumi came home with groceries the other day. Not about the food but just to say how boring everything is when Iwaizumi's not there, eyes shining, and he couldn't meet his gaze after from blushing down to his neck. He doesn't know how much more he can take.

♡♡shiver

Word count: 16k

Summary: Oikawa was always the brave one. Hajime just followed two paces behind.

Quote: “I’m in love with you,” Oikawa tells him three days after they graduate junior high, head in his lap and hands gently folded over his chest and completely and totally unconcerned that he’d just shattered Hajime’s world.

Terpischore

Word count: 38k

Summary: They’d ended up going to different universities, Tooru and he. The distance was good for them. The confession Hajime dropped in both their laps wasn’t. That’s how it’d ended – a lifetime of friendship crumbled to dust in the space of five minutes. (Or, a lesson in learning to move on from things you can't have, in finding old loves in new ways and in understanding that life is never truly simple... till it is.)

terrarium

Word count: 11k

Summary: At this point, is he really happy with just staying best friends forever? Will he be writing journals and collecting rocks forever (he will, he knows, but that is aside from the point)?

these foolish things (remind me of you)

Word count: 3k

Summary: Oikawa helps Iwaizumi move into his new college dorm.

Quote: He’s desperate for something to happen. It must show on his face because Iwaizumi blushes and looks away. The thing is, Oikawa always looks at him like this when Iwaizumi isn’t paying attention.

They say it rains diamonds on Jupiter

Word count: 35k

Summary: "You're in love with him. "Hajime considers denying it. "Yeah," he says instead.

Quote: “Share the weight of your feelings with me, Hajime wants to beg when he hears Tooru's first hitched breath. Let me carry some of your burdens”

to be first, to be best

Word count: 26k

Summary: Hajime is apparently something of a masochist, and as he stares down at the tie-dyed AREA51 T-shirt in his hands, he thinks “I’m totally in love with this asshole, aren't I?”

Undecipherable

Word count: 4k

Summary: "Koi no yokan," he says. "The sense one can have upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love."

Quote: Because for all the bravado, for all the flaunting Oikawa does, he wants Hajime by his side, and no one else.

♡we shine like diamonds

Word count: 26k

Summary: "You know Abe-kun from class?" they snicker, hands cupped around their mouths like they're passing along a filthy secret. "I hear his older brother is... gay."

Where you are (I’ll be)

Word count: 6k

Summary: Theirs is a love that starts out like a seed and it takes two sets of hands tending it for a shoot to appear. There are no dramatic declarations of love, only a pair of hands that find each other again and again and again.

Quote: Oikawa broke off into giggles as Hajime slowed the descent of his hand from a slap to the back of Oikawa’s head to a gentle ruffle of the taller boy’s hair

♡♡with every second that you could give

Word count: 9k

Summary: The journey of Iwaizumi and Oikawa going for gold.

Quote: He knows they’re too close. Iwaizumi knows it too, and they both decided to move in together anyway.

Your love is sunlight

Word count: 6k

Summary: It's Iwaizumi's birthday, and they have a talk about the future.

Quote: But Hajime doesn’t think any present could top this: them, kissing in a sun-dappled bathroom, Oikawa’s skin warm under his hands, and the promise of a life together stretched out before them.

[david-akintunde]

10 Tips To Boost Your Email Open Rates

Here is a simple talisman for success if you’re an email marketer — higher email open rates mean more conversions. Sounds obvious? Even then, many organizations don’t end up writing emails that subscribers want to open. A study by MailChimp found that email open rates are just at 21.33% across all industries.

In a quick glance, this figure looks ok. But is it really? Suppose you have an email list comprising a whopping 15,000 subscribers. With a 21.33% conversion rate, only a mere 3199 leads are ever going to see your emails, and fewer will take any action.

Remember, there comes a point, when it doesn’t matter how extensive your email list is, but how many prospects within that list open your emails. If within the same list of 15,000 subscribers, your open rates go up to 50%, you end up with 7500 leads engaging with your pitch.

So, how do you get here? By following these 10 hacks that are sure to improve your email open rates:

1. Don’t Forget to Segment your Email List

Without email list segmentation, you cannot personalize your emails. While you can categorize your email list under parameters most relevant to you, try these three segments for starters.

Segment based on:

Demography

Challenges and pain points

Like and dislikes

2. Get your Subject Line Right

Your subject line alone is what encourages prospects to open your email. It also helps form your brand’s first impression. So, craft it well! How?

Personalize it for your target audience. Write more than one subject sentence for, say, different age groups, even if the product you’re pitching is the same.

Hold back on using too many punctuations like exclamation marks. You’d be surprised how commonly marketers use more than one exclamation point in subject lines for emphasis. Choose to emphasize with your words instead.

Keep it concise and avoid vagueness.

Draft it in the form of a question, if you can.

Use powerful words and phrases. These stir emotion and arouse curiosity. For example, the image below uses a power word like “sanity-saving.”

Source: Smart Blogger

3. Get your Email Timing Right

Remember, leads will read your emails at different times in different parts of the world. Some will read them late at night, while others will do so in the morning. Leverage whichever email automation tool you use to track the time most of your prospects read your emails.

Once you have an optimal time, send emails accordingly to boost open as well as click-through rates. Also, as a general rule of thumb, avoid sending marketing emails over weekends. Several studies have now revealed that weekends are the most inopportune time to send promotional communication.

4. Get your Email Frequency Right

Nobody, and that even includes you wants their inbox to be bombarded with too many promotional emails from one brand. Not only does this single-handedly bring down your open rates, but the prospect can blacklist you or mark you as spam.

Simply put, strike the right balance with your audience. Generally, sending emails twice or thrice and no more makes for a healthy frequency that doesn’t annoy prospects.

5. Re-engage with the Dormant Prospects

All email lists have prospects who haven’t opened promotional emails from certain brands in months. Your list is likely no different. Weed them out! And scout for new prospects.

But, before identifying and deleting them from your email list, make sure to draft and deploy a re-engagement campaign. Maybe, this campaign contains time-limited offers or personalized deals to re-engage passive leads.

6. Send Emails using an Official Email ID

No matter how small your business is at this point, don’t use your Gmail or Hotmail ids to send out marketing communication. Such a practice will likely land you in the prospect’s junk pile. Use a domain email address that carries your brand name to stay out of spam filters and boost your open rates.

7. Ensure a High Deliverability Rate

Unfortunately, over 20% of marketing emails don’t land up in your prospects’ inboxes. These emails bounce because of:

Temporary server issues on both ends

Sending emails to abandoned or obsolete email ids

Prospects who accidentally blacklist you

Upping your deliverability rate will automatically boost open rates. You can do this by:

Sending reminder emails requesting your subscribers to whitelist you.

Confirm if a prospect has willingly subscribed to your list by asking them to click on a link sent to their inbox.

8. Avoid using Certain Words in Email Subject Line and Body

Stay away from phrases and words that make your email seem less authentic. For instance, “Urgent,” “free stuff for you,” “you have won,” and several others. Think of these phrases similar to swear words in email marketing.

9. Send the Same Email Once More

Sometimes your prospects want to open your email, but they simply forget or get distracted. And, once they do, they won’t revisit your email. To avoid this situation, resend the same email to subscribers who didn’t open your first email.

Don’t worry about being too intrusive here. You’d be happy to know that this is not an uncommon practice used by marketers to boost their open rates.

10. Don’t only Send Promotional Content

Sure, the ultimate goal for your brand is to sell its wares, but this doesn’t mean all your emails must carry a sales pitch. Share informational or educational content to make your email campaigns more engaging. Help them gain light on their challenges through blogs, case studies, etc. When you send a mixed bag of email content, you are more likely to increase your open rates.

Conclusion

With these 10 tips, you can undoubtedly experience higher open rates, eventually translating into more conversions. As for subscribers who, even after all the attempts, don’t open your emails, it’s best to let them go! After all, not all subscribers turn into qualified leads, and that’s ok.

Three Tips For Writing Marketing Email Subject Lines People Actually Want To Open

Sales, marketing and branding expert. CEO of GoPromotional, distributor of promotional products with a focus on online business development.

When was the last time you sent an email? Did you know that, according to Statista, roughly 306 billion emails were estimated to have been sent and received every single day in 2020? There are only about 7.7 billion people on Earth. Let that sink in. Now, ask yourself this: How many of the emails you receive every day do you actually read? More specifically, how many of the promotional emails you receive do you open at all?

With all the benefits of the information age, it’s important to remember that we’re utterly swamped with information to an extent we’ve never experienced before. So if you want to get through to people — if you’re an e-marketer whose goal is to reach as many targets as possible via mass emails — you’ll have to put in some thought and get creative. This is a game of subject lines, and your job is to master it by crafting engaging, inviting, tempting and even daring email subject lines that will grab attention — even if it’s just long enough for a click.

The fear of missing out is your ally.

FOMO is real, and it’s powerful. For the uninitiated, “FOMO” stands for “fear of missing out,” and while it may be a behavioral trend brought about by our rapidly developing internet infrastructure, it is a valuable marketing tool. No matter what you’re missing — a new blow dryer, a different kind of juice or a wedding — the point is that you’re missing something. Maybe you just don’t know about it yet.

FOMO will be of great use to you as you draft up effective subject lines. Don’t just stop with basic additions such as “act fast,” “for a limited time” or “while supplies last.” Go all the way and use numbers. What makes you want to move faster: “while supplies last” or “three hours left?” The fewer details, the better. This is all about getting your target to open the email. Don’t worry about telling them what ends in three hours. Let them find out for themselves.

Less is sometimes more.

We’re all busy. Nobody has time to read your spiel. Yes, that even includes your 10-word subject line. How many of the hundred emails you received today had 10 words in their subject lines? It adds up, and, at some point, it just looks like alphabet soup. Crafting an email subject line is all about visuals. In my experience, a short, quippy subject line can catch the eye of someone looking at their email inbox because it helps break up the sea of text.

Consider shortening a subject line such as “New jeans from Lucky Brand, Calvin Klein, Collection by Michael Strahan and more” to something more like, “Lucky. Calvin. Strahan.” You can call it a laconic method if you want, but when you treat every word like it’s a scarce commodity, they instantly appear more important.

Laugh it up.

I think we can all agree that email is no longer the stuffy, daunting, formal affair it may have once been. Email is something we do without even thinking. It’s on our phones. It’s how we confirm toothpaste orders. It’s like socks: totally ubiquitous. And consider this: More and more, your target audience is made up of people who weren’t even born before email was invented. These consumers grew up in the beginnings of a post-advertising era, when I believe traditional advertising began to lose its grip. They know a promotional email when they see one.

The solution? Laugh it up. Be a little self-aware. I’ve found that millennials and Generation Z pick up on self-awareness, and they appreciate it. Make fun of yourself a little; it can’t hurt. Switch out your stock enthusiasm for deadpan humor. Be honest. Instead of, “This week’s top picks just for you,” for example, you could try, “We want your money.” The content matters, but what matters more is getting your target interested.

Remember, the meat and potatoes are in the body of your email, but the subject is your alluring dessert. You can have dessert before dinner — as long as you eat.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

Your Email Marketing Is Destined To Fail Without These 3 Essentials

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Think email marketing is all spam? Think again! In a world where marketing pitches come at us from all angles and on every device, email marketing has held steady as the favored channel for consumers. When used well, this platform can help you attract, convert, close and delight your buyers. Don’t underestimate it — your company’s email strategy can make or break you.

When it comes to building a successful email-marketing strategy, there are three specific elements that will help you achieve your business goals or move you further away from them, depending on how well you use them.

Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

1. Frequency

Nobody wants to get ten emails a day from a subscription. It doesn’t matter if the content is brilliant, useful or undeniably accurate. Your leads will get annoyed if you send them too much information. Even though they might read it (with some luck), at some point, they’ll feel bothered and eventually click the unsubscribe button.

Avoid losing contacts by not only asking their desired frequency to get your emails, but also by relying on your metrics. Don’t pay too much attention to your open rate alone — look closely at your click-through rate too. This will indicate how interested your leads are and how often they take action to prove it.

While every industry and situation is different, a good place to start with email-marketing cadence is about once per week. This establishes a relationship with your subscribers that can turn into a habit-forming routine. Being too timid about frequency can lead to a sporadic cadence that will end up irritating recipients. If you wait too long between emails, even opt-in subscribers may report you for spam — simply because you’ve let them forget all about you!

2. Relevance

While subscribers may certainly become frustrated by the frequency of your emails, they are more likely to become annoyed if your content is not relevant to their interests and needs.

Relevance is a tricky concept because it depends on many factors like the consumer’s knowledge level, his or her stage in the buyer’s journey and good timing. You must know your audience in order to understand what type of content they want.

Specifically, you need to know what they want from you, which is often dictated by where they are in the buyer’s journey. Are they ready to buy? Are they trying to get valuable information? Are they looking to solve a problem? Are you able to solve that problem?

In every industry, there are two types of buyers: “now” buyers, who are progressing down the purchase funnel, and future buyers, who have no interest in or need for your product currently, but may down the road. For future buyers, the relevance of your content is what’s most important to them; it’s what builds the brand trust that will bring them back to you when they are ready to buy.

Finally, timing is everything. Relevance is about getting the right content to the right person at the right time.

3. Action

We receive emails basically everywhere — at home, work and while on the go. When receiving an email, we may take a look at it immediately, but sometimes it requires further action like submitting a form, watching a video or visiting a website. Try to reduce or streamline required actions in order to make it easy for contacts to follow through at any time of day.

First and foremost, make your offers simple. Your buyers don’t like to be given too many choices; when they are, they often won’t buy anything at all. Even in the physical world, this is the case. In the famous “jam study” by Columbia Business School Professor Sheena Iyengar, for example, she set out two tasting booths for a brand of jam. One table offered six flavors to choose from; the other offered 24.

While the tasting booth with 24 flavors attracted more people, the booth with six flavors sold much more jam — 30% of those who stopped at the booth bought a jar, compared to just 3% of those who stopped at the table with 24 varieties. These visitors were too confused and overwhelmed to make a purchase decision.

The difference between stopping at a booth and buying from a booth is similar to the difference between opening an email and clicking through to an offer. Your email campaigns must be able to achieve both to be successful. The more personalized and concise you can be in your offers, the simpler the choice will be for your email subscribers.

BONUS To enjoy the best email marketing software, click here

[purplesauris]

Housesitting For Your Best Friend 101

This is inspired by something that @witcher-and-his-bard and I were talking about late last night that has sprung from my brain with very little coaxing. 

Find it on AO3 here!

“You’re sure.” The question is phrased more as a statement, but Jaskier rolls his eyes all the same, grinning. “I can-”

“Geralt, dear, I may be a great many things, like dashingly handsome, a great lover, patron of the arts-” Jaskier stops when Geralt coughs into his fist, blue eyes narrowing until Geralt straightens up and quirks a brow as if to say what? “But if I cannot look after your apartment for a week, then consider my move back home to be raised further by my mother imminent.”  

Geralt doesn’t say anything for a long moment, amber eyes staring down the man in front of him. Jaskier to his credit, takes Geralt gently by the arm, and then with more strength than his frame might suggest, shoves Geralt toward the door and his waiting bags. “Go already, you brute, I’ll be fine.”

“Text me if you need me to come home.” He finally stoops to grab his bags, lingering by the door for a moment more before Jaskier pantomimes kicking him out and down the stairs. Once the door clicks shut Jaskier throws the bolt, turning with hands on his hips to survey the living room. He’s been here more times than he can say, but there’s something intimate about Geralt trusting him enough to ask him to watch his place. The old couch that he lugged up three flights of steps is still here, still fraying at the edge of the cushions and garish blue flowers finally fading. Jaskier had insisted they head to the nearest estate sale to find the beast after walking in to see the sad sight of Geralt’s living room with nothing more than a sagging armchair in front of the tv.

First order of business: check the list that he knows Geralt spent hours thinking over before finally writing it down. It takes a few minutes of searching, but he finally finds it stuck to the fridge with a horse head magnet. Weird.

water plants

care for roach

clean up after yourself

Well, this seems easy enough. Jaskier laughs at the third task, knowing what hell he’d get if this place was less than spotless upon Geralt’s return. It’s fifteen minutes later while he’s standing on the balcony staring at the plants and wondering how much each one gets, that he spies the little arrow wrapping around to the back of the paper. There, Geralt has written out exact instructions for all of his plants, with helpful notes on how much water they get, and which ones to bring inside at night. 

Roach is much easier; the brown tabby keeps to herself for the most part, and will let Jaskier know with a righteous fury if she needs something. Jaskier spends a good long while playing with her and brushing her fur before she runs off again, having had enough of his company for the time being. 

Jaskier is in the kitchen, debating whether he wants to order in or attempt to cook when his phone buzzes. It’s a vibration he would know in his sleep- Geralt had found some way to set a specific vibration, and Jaskier was too lazy to change it back. 

G: At the airport. Did you find the list?

Warmth blooms in his chest as he takes in the text. There’s nothing that should make him feel this way, but knowing that Geralt is still worrying is almost cute. Not that he would think of his best friend that way, of course. He shoots Geralt a picture of him posing next to the fridge with the list, tongue stuck out and number three carefully crossed off. Geralt’s reply is nothing more than a frowning face, which took Jaskier months to get him to use, but it makes Jaskier chuckle. This will be a piece of cake.

                                                            -*-

Jaskier is  four days in and trying to find something to watch. Normally he would just use Netflix like a normal person, but Geralt’s internet has been spotty for the past hour and Jaskier is about ready to die of boredom. His only problem, it seems, is the complete lack of organization. And the insane amount of movies that include horses. Spirit sits right at the front- one of the few animated movies that Geralt will admit to liking, and the others Jaskier has never heard of before. Well, since Geralt doesn’t seem to care, Jaskier sets out with the intent to alphabetize everything, and while he’s got the shelves empty, dusts as well, just to prove to Geralt that he can clean too.

He’s six movies in to reshelving them when he pulls out Flicka, staring at the black horse on the front cover. He’s noticed a pattern so far- most of the movies involving horses have dark coloring, and that gets him thinking about archetypes within horse movies. Not that he’s ever seen any of the ones on Geralt’s shelf. Out of curiosity he pops the case open, staring at the disc within and wondering if he really wants to subject himself to a movie he knows nothing about past the horse and girl on the front cover. He’s going to watch it with Geralt sooner or later, he thinks, so he shrugs, grabbing for the disc. The little tab in the middle releases with a pop, and Jaskier watches in slow motion horror as the disc goes tumbling out.

Jaskier fumbles, trying to catch the disc before it hits the ground, but to his horror the disc bounces off the carpet twice before he hears a distinct snapping noise. No. It fell on the carpet. It’s fine. His heart pounds in his ears as he sets the case down and pads over to where the disc has settled, cracked almost nearly in half. The curses that Jaskier lets out are particularly colorful, and if he weren’t panicking, he would almost be proud of the ones he’d created. Faintly in his panic he hears the door open, and he whips up, eyes wide and breathing ragged as he stares at the door. Geralt isn’t supposed to be back for another three days yet how-

“What is that?” Yennefer’s voice is cool, but he can hear the amusement running beneath it. 

“Yennefer! I- it’s nothing.” He takes a discreet step in front of his mistake, hoping she’ll leave it be. She never does, though, violet eyes sweeping the room and settling on the pile of movies on the coffee table waiting to be sorted. He clears his throat, and her eyes flick back to meet his briefly. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.”

“Me?” His voice cracks, and he clears his throat again.

“We were supposed to meet for lunch. It’s almost two.” Jaskier swears again, and Yennefer finally steps fully inside, kicking the door shut and crossing her arms. “It’s a good thing I remembered you were house sitting. That wouldn’t happen to be one of Geralt’s movies laying on the ground, would it?”

“Uh…” Yennefer takes a few steps into the apartment, and Jaskier takes two steps back, the edge of the disc pressing into his heel. He shuffles his feet a little, not wanting to cause more damage and watching helplessly as Yennefer picks up the open case, closing it to read the front. Her eyes flick up to meet his, and for a moment she almost looks as panicked as Jaskier feels. She’s better at hiding it though, and her panic turns into a crooked smile, smug and slightly condescending. 

���That’s Geralt’s second favorite movie.”

“I don’t-” 

“The one that’s currently on the floor, broken I’m assuming.” Jaskier can feel the blood drain from his face, and he nervously glances down at the broken disc.

“Fuck.” He stoops to pick up the disc now that Yennefer has figured him out, and stares with dismay at the crack running up the length of it. Yennefer holds out the case, and Jaskier gingerly snaps the disc back in place. “I have to get him another, if he finds out I broke it he’ll never let me come over again.”

Yennefer crosses her arms, that same smug smile on her face, letting Jaskier squirm as he thinks about where he’s going to find a movie from fucking 2006. Immediately his first thought is to go on eBay, see if anyone is selling the movie in some kind of good condition. “Well, lets go then.”

“W-wha…” The dark haired woman pins him with a look, and she motions for him to get his shoes on, standing impatiently by the door. 

“Let’s go see what we can find.” Jaskier shoves his feet into his boots, grabbing for his keys and wallet and stopping to shrug on a sweater much too big for him when he sees snowflakes fluttering down outside. Yennefer raises a perfect eyebrow at that but doesn’t say anything, just leads Jaskier to her car, giving his shoes a look before letting him into the car. 

They search four different stores and three thrift shops, but the only copies of the movie he finds are in almost worse condition than the one currently at Geralt’s house. He’s really panicking by the time Yennefer drops him off with food and a stern command to find something before Geralt gets home. Jaskier puts the movies back haphazardly, not caring about the order they’re in anymore. He parks himself on the floor in front of the couch, food on the coffee table and laptop balanced on his knees. He eats bites in between scrolling, and to his immense relief, there are over two thousand results for the movie. It only takes him a couple more hours of agonizing to find one that looks to be in good enough condition, and promises to get to him within two days. It’ll be tight, but as long as nothing happens, Geralt will be none the wiser.

 Jaskier makes his bed up on the couch and makes sure to bring in Geralt’s plants before bed, confident in his plan. Now to wait for it to ship, and Geralt to come back from visiting his adopted father. 

                                                           -*-

It comes perfectly on time. The case is in better shape than even Geralt’s was before, but by now Jaskier has learned, and swaps the cases before tossing the broken disc. Onto the shelf it goes, no worse for wear, and Jaskier can breathe a sigh of relief. His place in Geralt’s house secure, Jaskier sets out to clean up the apartment some, wanting nothing else to go wrong. Geralt should be home in a few hours, and if he knows his best friend, he’ll be starving. A good hearty welcome back meal is in order, and while Jaskier would never say he’s a fantastic cook, he’s proficient at the least and knows what his friend would like. 

Roach joins him while he’s cooking, stubbornly perching herself on his shoulder and watching his every move as he chops vegetables. He’s made this particular dish before, and knows that Geralt likes it more than he’ll say. Jaskier pops the freshly filled pot pie into the oven with 10 minutes before Geralt is supposed to get home- not that he’s counting or anything. Roach has settled herself like a scarf around Jaskiers neck, head tucked under his chin and little cat breaths puffing onto his neck. He’s sweltering in the heat of the kitchen and Roach’s long fur, but he would never squander any love that Roach chooses to show him. 

Jaskier is wiping up any excess mess when he hears the door click open softly, followed by the thump of bags hitting the floor. Roach perks up, ears tickling Jaskier’s cheek as she pulls herself into a standing position on his left shoulder. Her claws dig uncomfortably into him while she moves, but he forgives her. He’s still wearing Geralt’s sweater after all, and the material is just thick enough to keep him from getting maimed. 

“Jaskier? Roach?” Geralt’s voice is tired, and Jaskier pops out of the kitchen, grinning and heart beating wildly when he catches sight of Geralt. His white hair is wet with snow, and curls loosely wherever it’s free from his ponytail. 

“Geralt! You’re home just in time. Was your flight okay?” Geralt doesn’t say anything for a few moments, eyes dark as they flick over Jaskier, down to his toes and then up again. He holds his hands out for Roach, and she leaps off of Jaskier’s shoulder easily, landing in his waiting arms. Geralt is still staring at him as he allows Roach to snuggle into his arms, but Jaskier is used to this. 

“Yes.” He finally says, not saying a word when jaskier comes forward to work him out of his wet jacket, one arm at a time so Roach doesn’t have to be set down. Jaskier can see Geralt’s nostrils flare, and he glances over at the kitchen where the pot pie Jaskier has crafted has begun to smell heavenly. “You’re wearing my sweater.”

Jaskier pauses, cheeks flushed faintly, before he shrugs, chuckling softly. “Somehow I neglected to pack any sweaters, and well, it’s a long train ride home.”

“Hmm. Food?”

“Almost done. Sit, I’ll bring it out.” Geralt nods, toeing off his shoes and tucking them away before settling on his couch. Jaskier ducks into the kitchen to get his pie out and serve it, careful not to burn himself (again). Geralt takes the hot plate from him gently when Jaskier holds it out to him, taking in a deep breath and shooing Roach when she tries to snag a bite of the chicken inside. 

They eat in comfortable silence, Jaskier’s feet tucked under Geralt’s thigh to avoid a chill and Geralt only grunting at the cold that seeps through his jeans. Jaskier is halfway done with his pie when he sees Geralt pause with his fork midway to his mouth, a crease forming between his brows and eyes flicking back and forth. 

“Geralt?”

“My movies.” Jaskier looks over, sighing and laughing nervously. 

“Oh, I uh, was dusting so I moved them, but I couldn’t remember what order they went in. Sorry.” Can Geralt hear his heartbeat? Jaskier worries for a second that he’s going to be found out, but Geralt only frowns and goes back to eating. Jaskier thanks whatever god is out there watching over him and digs back into his food, grateful for the dropped subject. Geralt finishes before Jaskier, staring once again at the shelf full of dvds with a frown on his face. The longer he stares the more nervous Jaskier gets, and he hops up when he finishes, grabbing Geralt’s plate. 

“Be right back!” Geralt looks at him briefly as he disappears into the kitchen, and Jaskier thinks he’s going to have a stroke, there’s no way he’s going to get away with it. While he’s freaking out in the kitchen he figures he might as well actually do the dishes, just to say he was doing something other than hiding in here. He’s definitely not hiding in here from his best friend because he broke a dvd and had to replace it. The warm water and bubbles are a nice distraction, but there aren’t many dishes that haven’t already been done and Jaskier is running out of time to just stand here.

Jaskier gathers whatever courage he has left and dries his hands off once he’s certain he can handle more questions, slipping back into the living room. Geralt’s back is to him, and Jaskier definitely doesn’t take a moment to admire the muscles he can see through Geralt’s shirt. Definitely not. Geralt doesn’t seem to pay him much mind, shuffling his dvds around and putting them back in whatever nonsensical order they were in before. Jaskier isn’t quite sure what to do now, or if Geralt expected him to leave, so he goes about gathering his things so that he’s ready at a moment’s notice. He’s hunting for a stray sock he can’t seem to find when Geralt turns sharply on his heel, a white dvd case in hand.

“What did you do?” Geralt’s voice is soft, but Jaskier can hear the accusation in his tone.

“Hmm?” Jaskier looks up from where he’s crammed his head under the couch, eyes widening when he takes in the movie that Geralt is holding. “Uh, the dishes? Pack? I don’t-”

“It’s different.”

“What is, Geralt?” Geralt holds out the case, and with a growing amount of dread, Jaskier realizes that Geralt is both way too asinine and way too meticulous to not find out. “Your movie? I told you, I-”

“Jaskier.” The frown is back, and Jaskier only lasts a moment more under those disappointed eyes before he sighs. 

“Right, so uh, I might have had a little accident while cleaning, but I fixed it!” Geralt looks down at the case, and then back up at Jaskier, quirking a brow as if he doesn’t believe him. “Stop looking at me like that! I- ugh, okay so I was cleaning and your organization was just awful- not the point, so I was going to organize your shelf but then-”

“You’re rambling.” Geralt cuts in, expression smooth. “The point?”

“The disc fell out and I don’t know how carpet could damage it, but it uh, kind of broke? In half? So Yennefer-I know- took me to a few stores but we couldn’t find it, so I had to go on eBay to get a new copy.”

Geralt says nothing for a few long moments, just staring at Jaskier while he squirms, looking anywhere but at Geralt. 

“Jaskier.” He looks up at the mention of his name, and Geralt is still looking at him, though this time his gaze is warm, and there’s a small tilt to his lips. A hint of a smile that he’s trying to hold back. The sight brings tears to Jaskier’s eyes and he has to blink a few times to keep them at bay. 

“You aren’t mad?”

“No.” Jaskier reaches up to rub at his eyes, laughing and shaking his head. 

“I must look like an idiot, worried over a dvd, but I didn’t want you to come home to me having broken something after you trusted me to-”

“I have more than one.” Geralt interrupts, and jaskier really should tell him to break that habit.

“Huh?”

“I have more than one copy. For when the other breaks.” For a second Jaskier doesn’t hear what Geralt said. Once his brain catches up to him he bursts out laughing, hardly able to catch a breath between bouts of incredulous laughter. 

“So I didn’t- didn’t break your only copy?”

“No. But,” Jaskier has quieted down a bit more now, and Jaskier almost can’t handle the soft expression Geralt is looking at him with. “Thank you, for replacing it.”

“You’re welcome.” Jaskier smiles at him, and they stand there, smiling, until Geralt clears his throat awkwardly.

“So uh, did you want a ride home?”

“Oh, yes, yes that would be lovely. Lead the way.” Jaskier gathers his things, and Geralt doesn’t say a word when he drops Jaskier off, still wearing a sweater much too big for him.

[chasitity]

Our theory about Ranboo's Enderwalk

This is a long article with 1200+ words. It contains spoilers of several DSMP lore streams, including the one on 4.23.

We are DSMP fans who gather in a group chat, discuss the lore, share ideas, and watch streams together. The "three stages" theory was originally stated month ago by C431, one of us, when Puffy and Fundy saw "Ran". As the lore develops, more clues have appeared, allowing us to improve and confirm this theory.

DSMP C! Ranboo timeline

Organized by C431 in 2021.04.21. About 13000 letters are in the original article; I, Lotus, only translated a few paragraphs.

"My memory isn't good as my friends thought; I had my ways to remember things. Thus, the timeline isn't exactly accurate, but I indeed include all the essential details. "– C431.

Annotation:

"Three states of Ranboo" is a personal theory. There are multiple clues in Ranboo's streams, but CC! Ranboo hasn't confirmed yet.

"Boo": A state of Enderwalk. He can be easily confused with CC!Ranboo, usually appears in normal streams which contain small parts of lore. He cares little about his family; hyperactive, liking to prank, going along for the ride when something happens, even mocking others. He might be responsible for the dreamlike, illusionary "prison visit". He seems to be closely related to Dream, and has full, consistent memory.

"Ran": A state of Enderwalk. Silent, passive, similar to a real Enderman. He begins to show himself more recently, learning how to act as a human/Ranboo. He helps Ranboo in the shadows.

"Ranboo": He always appears in lore. Polite, cares about friendship. He wants to help his friends, avoiding harm. He prefers people instead of sides, yet he becomes slightly extreme for protecting his family. He really loves Michael.

For more information, please read this reddit page: https://www.reddit.com/r/dreamsmp/comments/l6p3ex/we_have_already_seen_ranboos_white_side_on_his/

-One day, Philza noticed that Ranboo was (probably Boo) using a strange language (Ender/Alien Language) talking to Fundy. He messages Ranboo for his location, yet receiving answers in Ender, making him confused. He talked to Ranboo again when they met in the front yard of his house; Ranboo still talked in Ender, then saying, "I just realized you probably couldn't understand Ender, well this is certainly awkward!"

-Meanwhile, something was going on between Ranboo and Foolish. Foolish wasn't happy about the conversation between Ranboo and Fundy, for Fundy knows nothing about Ender; he was being teased without realizing it. Foolish replied Ranboo in Galactic Alphabet/Enchantment language, saying, "Everything coming out of your mouth are lies" (something similar). Ranboo ignored Foolish, then was found wandering around Church Prime by Philza. He appeared as someone who just woke up after being hit by Philza, asking him why they are here.

-CaptainPuffy and Fundy witnessed a weird Ranboo around L'Manhole. He wandered around without any words, did not pay attention to anyone, picking and placing grass blocks. Puffy tried to talk with this "Enderman-like" Ranboo ("Ran"), only to found out that she couldn't move when staring at him. Puffy and Fundy freaked out when Ran disappeared within a second; it seems that he teleported away.

-During a "normal" stream, a super active Ranboo, aka Boo, suddenly stated that he needs to do something strange. He then searched for certain items, placing them in his inventory by some order, repeating several words; the first letter of these items and words formed "He is in control of me". Then he regained consciousness, wondering why his inventory was in a mess and went back to his tasks after arranging it.

The signs on the second floor's wall were removed and replaced by mocking and suggests finding the fourth memory book. Ranboo ignored it.

-Ranboo went to Enderwalk state (Ran) during his investigations about reviving Tommy. He silently went to Dream's Attachment Hall, then woke up Ranboo. Ranboo noticed that "he had never been in this place", yet he started to murmur sentences, everyone's conversations during the final war. Ranboo knew that Dream has a "revive book", realizing such power will only hurt others. Evil would again spread across this land. He wanted Dream dead, yet unwilling to kill with his own hands.

-Foolish came to Ranboo (which, unfortunately, was Boo), trying to sell his shulker box and rent in the long-term. Boo realized that Foolish was using him, for if he accepts the deal and the shulker box went missing, only "Ranboo" will lost interest and has to take action. Boo managed to scam Foolish, gaining a mansion and a favour from the god of Totems.

-Boo included Michael when listing his pets. He does not see Michael as his son.

The summaries below is written by Lotus.

-Ranboo was killed by Dream (twice) and Punz (once) when he first joined the SMP. This might be the hint of "Ran", "Boo", and "Ranboo".

-Boo appears more often recently. The title will usually be capitalized when he does, for instance, "THE PLAN FOR RICHES". He is the one who burns George's house down.

Boo likes explosion and lava. He might be a ghast.

-Ran starts to appear. We inferred: in Tubbo's stream "Building Snowchester Defences", Ran showed himself and talked. His tone was lower, much quieter than usual, but he jokes a lot (unlike "Ranboo"). He only spoke if Tubbo started a topic first. Ran hummed a lot, tending to play with himself, and screaming with the same pitch; we assume that he was learning and practicing Ranboo's behaviour.

As for Ranboo's lore stream on 4.23…

The idea of "Boo, one of the Enderwalk states, frequently appears during "regular" streams, pretending to be Ranboo" is proven when Foolish mentioned their deal. Ranboo did not remember it at all. Then some "lessons" appeared in his mind, making Ranboo frustrated.

We deduced that "Ran" is trying to protect Ranboo, for the first four "lessons" were more like guidance. Then Boo stepped in, showing him a book with "DO NOT LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE". Ranboo once ignored his request, and now he forced Ranboo to look for the fourth memory book.

After being refused by Sam, Ranboo came back home and tried to turn into Enderwalk state by harming himself with water. He thought he only has ONE Enderwalk state. Such action immediately angers Ran; we can hear the furious Enderman roar in the end.

Chinry, one of us, found out the relationships between the "lesson numbers", which is 14, 27, 53, 67, and 94. However, we are still organizing our informations, I'll probably post them later.

That's all! Thank you for reading this! I am not a native English speaker, so I apologize for any grammar/wording mistakes. Please, leave your ideas and thoughts below!

[thesquishywizard]

How to make a Grimoire!

This took me a week to compile so if you enjoy it and want to support me, this a link to my ko-fi!

Hey there, I’m Ismo the Squishy Wizard, and today I want to talk about how you could go about making a grimoire for yourself. Grimoires are very personal despite being for information and reference, so it is understandable that some of my advice just won’t fit your way of doing things. The following advice is based on my experiences and the experiences of other magical practitioners and witches I have spoken to or watched on youtube, so hopefully you can avoid some problems we have ran into.

What is the difference between a grimoire and a book of shadows (BoS)?

A grimoire is often only a magical reference book while a book of shadows is not only a magical reference book, but also a diary, record of magical activities and ultimately, whatever you make of it. The reason why you might want one more than the other is purely down to personal taste.

A grimoire will detail what things mean, their origins, uses and personal associations. It is in an order that will help the witch easily find what they’re looking for, whether that is in alphabetical order, simplicity to complexity, importance to you or some other personal order. Grimoires tend to be quite formal, being written in highly decorated documents on a computer, high quality notebooks, scrapbooks or sketchbooks.

A book of shadows may do all that too but also include records of daily practice, experiences with deities or spirits, personal reflection and introspection, thoughts and questions about the craft, results of spells and maybe dreams too. It generally is in order of learning and experiencing so can be slightly harder to navigate for reference for some people. Books of shadows tend to be more casual and some people write them in old school books and notebooks. Some people separate things further and put dreams and personal reflection and introspection in a book of mirrors, so that might be a good thing to think about.

Other people don’t define grimoires and BoS in this way and see it as two terms for the same concept and use “BoS” and “grimoire” interchangeably, so this may still be useful advice for those making a BoS. Neither a BoS or a grimoire is better universally, it is about what is best for you and the way you practice.

I personally have a grimoire and a magical diary as two seperate books!

Why might you want a grimoire?

Grimoires are useful for compiling knowledge all in one place, in a language you understand and work well with. With a grimoire, you might not feel the need to get several books out, just your grimoire because you will have used your knowledge and experience and the authors of those other books experiences when writing information in your grimoire. It also allows you to remove any jargon you don’t understand or add useful diagrams and pictures if you are a visual learner. A grimoire still shouldn’t be your only book, always continue learning and researching with others’ insights, grimoires are just more compact and quick for when you quickly need to find something out or need a bit of help. However, you don’t need a grimoire, if you think a book of shadows, a magical diary or just using pre-existing books is more useful to you, don’t make a grimoire. Grimoires can be an awful lot of work, only make one if you feel like you need it and are going to use it.

Don’t instantly begin making a grimoire, wait at least three months

A grimoire holds all the information that is important to your craft and though the beautiful, awe inspiring pictures of grimoires get a new witch raring to go, it is probably not best to make a grimoire yet. Making a book of shadows or a simple diary would probably be more useful and less overwhelming to begin with and you can still record new knowledge you come across, it is still important to learn and research as this is what will get you ready to make a grimoire.

Trying to make an organised, informative grimoire when you are still new to the craft can be very hard and may cause you to include misinformation or elements of witchcraft that are simply not relevant to your life soon after looking into them, as a witch’s practice changes a lot drastically in the first year or two, and their path will still change, but often just slighter, through their whole life.

This might mean that whole sections of your grimoire are never used, putting your hard work to waste. Some witches don’t start making their grimoire until they are years into their path, as they are now more sure of their beliefs, the way they practice and their thoughts on things so they can guarantee everything is of use to them, and should be for a long time.

I started my first grimoire five months into my path but I honestly should have done it later, as my path underwent some drastic changes only six months later (so eleven months into my path), but I’ve had a very stable path for about a year now so I’m currently making a new grimoire. Now I’m learning additional things, so I feel more comfortable starting my grimoire again. I’ve not learnt things that reshape my whole way of thinking and practice for quite a bit, though this can still happen at any point in your journey and it should be welcomed with open arms, but just a warning, that sort of thing is more likely to happen early on in your path.

Research and meditate on your findings!

To work out what path you want to take and how that may inform what goes into your grimoire, you need to research. You’ve probably heard before that the first step to anything in witchcraft is research which is very true and the sooner you start researching the quicker you’ll be able to understand and confidently start your grimoire. Bookmark websites, stick post-it notes and bookmarks in your books, or even begin collating your information into a computer document or writing it down in your diary or BoS. 

Experience being a witch before beginning to write your grimoire, try out those spells, try out those ideas, you may find that they simply don’t work for you or mesh right with your personal experiences or you may find that you’re a lot more into that area than you first thought you would be and you need to do deeper research and learn even more! Explore the world around you and record it in your diary, BoS, phone or elsewhere. Get to know the plants common in your area and therefore useful in your practice, the constellations in the sky, the food you can make, anything, just get to know what you like. Also make sure you fully understand a subject before deciding to put it in your grimoire, I’ve known witches who have written about things such as chakras, only to later find the western model of chakras is very warped from their Hindu and Tantric Buddhism origins and I myself have written about plants that are native to the Americas, despite me being British and having no way to access them because I didn’t properly research. 

When researching information, always think about whether it is relevant to you and whether you enjoy it. It can be tempting to research anything and everything but you might get burnt out and find the craft overwhelming that way and also some things are from closed practices. You should always check if something is from a closed practice, even if it seems to be commonly used.

Always use multiple resources even when it comes down to something as simple as latin names. The book I was using for British plants and wildflowers was written in the 1910s, which meant some latin names had changed so I crossed referenced every one with both British wildflower websites and wikipedia.

Drafting and planning your grimoire

Once you’ve collected some reliable resources and you feel comfortable in your understanding of the subjects that you’re interested in, you could start planning out your grimoire.

I recommend planning your grimoire so you don’t get overwhelmed by all of the things you want to put into it and how you want to present it.

First, think about what medium you want to construct your grimoire in, do you want it to be a digital grimoire? Or maybe in an actual book? Both? Next, think about the order you want everything in, though it isn’t yet made, plan it out something like a contents page. Make sure the order of things makes sense to your brain. Also, maybe have a little think about the future, maybe you could futureproof your book if you know there are areas that you want to look into one day or look into further and take into account the extra room you might need.

If you choose to make a physical grimoire, consider making a first draft before the finished project. You can do this in an old notebook or digitally. Mistakes are made and you don’t want to fumble your words so you could write it in full before writing it in your book, but many just plan a series of points they wish to cover. I planned mine in full in google docs, just without pictures. This meant I had all my knowledge and research already compiled and worded in a way I was happy with, I can often mess up my wording on the fly.

If you choose to make a digital grimoire you don’t have to worry as much about drafting, but it’s still important to make a structured plan for how you will organize things within your grimoire. Moving sections about can be a bit tricky! It’s also a good idea to choose which program you want to make your grimoire in, make sure it’s one you know how to use well so you don’t get frustrated, making a grimoire is meant to be fun. Some people enjoy using an art program to digitally draw and write their information, then they print them out! Some people instead use something like a google doc or document program, adding information in the form of text, pictures or charts but keeping it digital.

Tips for actually making your grimoire!

If you’ve planned a physical grimoire, it might be a good idea to get a larger book than you expect to actually need! You will keep using this book in the future, and continue to add information to it. You don’t want to run out of space when you have something really cool to talk about! As previously said, you could also futureproof it by leaving spaces or whole pages blank for extra information or new subjects.

A digital grimoire doesn’t mean a dull grimoire! Download some free fonts, lots of free witchy fonts exist and can really inject more of you into your document. There’s also lots of free photo websites or you could take your own photos and put them in your document. It doesn’t have to be all text in times new roman. I really like ‘Adalind’! https://www.fontspace.com/category/witch 

Some people find it is a good idea to source their information, especially when they are using their experiences and the experiences of several other people. This means that things can be checked later, years into the future if you are confused as to why something might be so.

You don’t have to know how to draw well to make a physical grimoire! You can print out pictures, you can take pictures out of magazines or books, or you can use something like postcards, tea cards, trading cards, lots of things! Don’t just restrict yourself to photos and drawings you’ve done.

Pressing flowers and leaves can be a wonderful idea for a physical grimoire, especially if you don’t have access to a printer or you feel like your art skills aren’t there. It can also give your grimoire that field journal feel! However, pressing flowers and leaves can mean some colour loss. To retain the most colour, keep the plants pressed for two or three weeks in a warm room. Most small flowers or leaves in a warm room will be pressed after just under a week. Never press a plant for more than a year, you don’t need to wait that long and also you run the risk of making your sample brittle. You could also laminate leaves (but not flowers, the heat seems to mess them up) and this seems to retain the colour better.

When making a physical grimoire, if using a book, make sure the book has a thick, sturdy cover, the book might get damaged with a soft cover, so a hard card, leather or even cork cover is a good idea to look out for when selecting your book. When selecting a book, never go for a type of binding known as ‘perfect binding’, as it uses glue to bind the pages to the cover. With the nature of grimoires, they tend to puff out quite a bit with all the flaps, pictures and pressed samples, which can break the inflexible glue binding. A good binding is wire or spiral bound, this means you can completely fold the pages over, reducing the total spread of the book on a work surface at any given time. Another good type of book is screwpost binding, here screws that can be easily screwed in and out hold the book together or alternatively bits of string to bind the book instead of the screws (this is my book’s binding). You can take the bits out and punch holes in your paper to increase the total amount of canvas you have to work with, it’s a lot like a ring binder, except it’s a book! Lastly, another common type of grimoire binding is section sewn, this is usually found in handmade leather grimoires. It’s virtually impossible to add paper to these, but they’re very sturdy and look quite magical. You can also bind your own books this way!

If you choose to make a ring binder grimoire, try to get a sturdy, high quality one. Many ring binders rings can’t actually match up, which can shred your paper as they pass over these sharp points. Also keep in mind a sturdy cover, some ring binders have a thin flexible plastic sheet, but cardboard or even wooden covers are out there and are a bit better at protecting your work.

If you plan to use multi-media methods of creating your grimoire, or heavy types of ink, I suggest you go for a heavyweight type of paper, something like a high quality notebook or sketchbook will be good. Handbound artisan books tend to come with heavyweight thick paper, so you don’t have to worry about those too much. Loose leaves of heavy paper can be bought from art shops if you are making a ring binder grimoire or need to add pages to a screwpost binding style book and are also using heavy inks, paints or making it scrapbook style.

Through all this, remember that the grimoire is primarily meant for you, you aren’t making it for other people, so don’t beat yourself up if it isn’t the most aesthetic and gorgeously professional thing ever. There’s a lot of pretty grimoires online for inspiration, but try not to just completely copy their work, or constantly compare your own creation to other peoples. They likely have been making grimoires for a very long time. As long as it gets the job done and makes you happy, that’s all that matters. It should be a little piece of yourself that looks and feels like you. 

Things to possibly include in your grimoire

Witches never have to do all of these, it is your path so pick and choose what inspires you!

Most grimoires have a title page including the date it was started and your magical name if you have one.

Some people include an invisibility sigil to prevent prying eyes, a curse that punishes them for looking or a warning that this book isn’t for them. Others bless their book!

Many people have a contents page so they can remember where to find the information they need.

A lot of witches include a personal introduction, explaining what brought them to the craft, a bit about who they are, favourite things like herbs, crystals and colours, any familiars they work with or any magical abilities they have. Some people almost make a little correspondence page about themselves, including key herbs, a natal chart, their birth tarot card and personal sigil.

Not all magical practitioners work with deities in their craft or are religious at all, but if you are, having a section about your deity or whole pantheon is a good idea. Write about what your deity acts like, what they are the deity of/over, things they enjoy as offerings or how you came to first begin working with them.

If you follow a wheel of the year or have celebrations, a page on these is a good idea. What does the celebration represent? What are some ideas for activities to do then? What does it mean to you?

Some people have a series of morals or tenants they follow and believe in. Maybe write down yours for your path.

The main chunk of the grimoire should be about what you work with. This could be plants, food, crystals, animals, colours, astrology, planetary magic, fair folk, magical creatures and much more! For each entry, explain the concept’s or item’s correspondences and uses, whether that be the common use or your personal uses and associations, what the item is like, where to find it, folklore about it, non-magical and mundane uses and maybe how to make it if it is something like food.

Another big chunk is often common spells, potions, practices or rituals you do and how to do them. Spells such as banishing, protecting, removing curses are all popular spells to record in a grimoire and meditation, grounding and centering methods are some non-spell things that are still important for many witches to know.

You might also want to talk about different types of spells in general, how to create one and what the differences are between them.

Some people talk about the tools they use, especially in practices like traditional Wicca, where there are important tools like chalices and athames. More universal tools like taglocks are another good thing to cover.

It's a good idea to talk about the divination methods there are or just the ones you personally use if you use any. Also cover any layouts, spreads or boards you might use. Witches don’t have to do divination, so if you don’t, you don’t have to include it! 

Some people include a section on magical theory, how they believe magic works. You could also do a section on how divination works for you. Some people think it helps introspection and decisions while others think it helps peer into possible futures.

You might want to include different alphabets relevant to your practice. If your practice is norse based, different futharks might be useful, whereas for hellenic practices, ancient greek alphabets will probably be of more use. The theban or witches’ alphabet is a common alphabet to be found in modern grimoires. Alphabets can help you code things from prying eyes or make sigils.

If you do ancestor or spirit work, you could talk about your ancestors or the spirits you work with. What they were/are like, wisdom they have passed on to you and other information you think is important.

Talk about how to work with spirits if you work with them. How to call them, how to respect them and how to banish them are important things to know.

If your path is a pre-existing one, talk about the history and origin of your type of witchcraft. If religion is heavily important to your path, talk about the history and how it has changed over time too. If your path is unique to you, talk about how you discovered and formed it!

Most witches include folktales, superstition or local wisdom and customs from their area. This could be ghost tales, how to keep crops safe, or even local magical goings on, anything that connects you to the land of your area.

Some people have people in their family who did things that could be considered magical. Many people used to do divination, herbalism (herbalism isn’t inherently witchcraft, it is using plants for healing and health and may or may not have a magical element to it) or use country wisdom and did not consider themselves witches or magical practitioners. Maybe talk about your relative or if you are an open witch and they are still around, ask their opinions and thoughts on matters and include a section on them.

If you are a hereditary witch, you could talk about what you’ve learnt from your family too! Though I feel you probably don’t need my advice on making a grimoire if you are one XD

Some people talk about places that feel magical to them. Explain exactly how the area makes you feel, maybe the reason why or what you have found in that place.

Always remember, your grimoire will never truly be finished, you’ll get it to catch up with your current knowledge at points and may not add new stuff for a bit, but part of being a witch is always learning, so there’ll be more to add soon! It is also important to keep in mind, there is no shame in remaking your grimoire or having to get another volume, it is the collection of your knowledge and it's actually quite common for experienced witches to have multiple volumes of their grimoire or old ones they don’t really refer to anymore, I know grimoires are often talked about in a singular way but it really is common to have multiple.

Most of all, have fun with it. Make your grimoire! I wish you a pleasant journey on your long and winding path <3

Resources!

How to press flowers: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-to-press-flowers.html 

Types of binding: https://www.studentbookbinding.co.uk/blog/types-of-binding 

Magical alphabets and historical alphabets: https://www.omniglot.com/ 

British plant, fungi and animal species: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer 

British plant and fungi species: https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species 

British plant, fungi and animal species: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/

(I’m British so these are the resources I know are good for the UK)

[santiagoswagger]

i've never fallen from quite this high

Amy's birthday falls one month into her very new relationship with Jake, and he promises her he has plans to blow her mind.

Set sometime after “The Funeral.”

In all the years Amy’s known Jake, she’s been witness to the downfall of most of his relationships, and she knows they all tend to follow a similar pattern.

He was disorganized and completely consumed by his work throughout most of them, perpetually forgetting to show up for dinners or drinks because a case always took precedence. He could be selfish, unfiltered with his words and competitive to a fault. Most of the women he dated never seemed to last very long, and if they did, Jake usually found a reason to end things. There were a few exceptions, just as there are with any rule, but Jake was nothing if not consistent. He was a lone wolf, even in his personal life.

But the Jake Peralta that Amy finds herself dating now might as well be a stranger.

In the month since they decided to screw being light and breezy, she’s observed several small changes in him that often have her questioning if he’s the same man who once took her on a date designed for maximum humiliation.

When they make plans, he immediately adds them to the calendar on his phone so he won’t forget. He shares his snacks with her at the movies, even if he rolls his eyes while passing her the popcorn bucket. He takes the time to compliment her whether she’s dressed up for a date night out or wearing her ratty sweats on the couch at home, and genuinely means it either way. He’s still overly competitive, but that only makes her like him more.

She catches herself staring at him from across their adjoined desks, in awe of the person he was and the person he’s becoming. She can’t believe she’s actually falling for her goofy, infuriating partner. It’s scary, just as any big change is for a control freak like Amy, but she’s starting to believe that anything worthwhile begins with a little fear.

Much to Amy’s chagrin, Jake catches her mid-stare and smirks.

“Amy, I know you think I look extremely handsome in my new flannel, but this is a workplace. What would the Captain say?” he asks smugly, keeping his voice quiet enough so their coworkers can’t overhear. It’s something they’ve both perfected over the last month.

She rolls her eyes but can’t stop a traitorous grin from materializing on her face.

“Jake, we both know you took that flannel from the lost and found last week. And I wasn’t doing anything,” she says unconvincingly, burying her head in the open file next to her keyboard. “I was thinking. About my case. Because I’m a detective.”

Jake leans back in his chair and crosses his arms behind his head. “Does this ‘thinking’ have anything to do with a major life event happening this weekend?”

Amy cocks her head to the side. “’Major life event?’ What are you talking about?”

Jake lets out a loud, triumphant laugh, startling Hitchcock and Scully from their afternoon naps a few feet away.

“Amy, please tell me you didn’t forget your own birthday. No, wait, please tell me you did so I can make fun of you.”

Her jaw drops in horror. Amy Santiago, queen of organization, forgot her own birthday. Work had been so crazy the last few weeks and nights spent analyzing her planner were few and far between now that she had someone to go home with after work so something was bound to fall through the cracks. But she would rather let Charles cook dinner for her than let Jake know that.

“Shut up,” she says indignantly. “Just because I don’t obsess over my birthday like some people doesn’t mean I forgot it.”

Jake leans forward with a softer smile than before. It’s fond, almost. “You did, but that’s okay. I’ve got a few things up my sleeve for Saturday.”

“You do?” she says, surprised.

“Mmm-hmm,” he nods, grinning. “Prepare to have your mind blown.”

She laughs. “Okay, I’ll hold you to it.”

As they pack up their desks to leave for the night, Amy allows herself to wonder what Jake could possibly have planned. It’s their first birthday or holiday as a couple, and it’s so early. Their relationship is still so new and exciting, but a birthday is a big commitment. They haven’t even discussed where they see things going or if there’s a future for them. She doesn’t want this birthday to be the thing that scares him away before the relationship really gets off the ground. She’s pretty sure it could be something great if they let it.

Amy wakes up Saturday morning to the smell of fresh coffee wafting into her bedroom. It’s a shock for two reasons: she’s fairly certain she ran out of coffee grounds earlier this week and she knew Jake was scheduled to work an overtime shift today. The rumpled sheets next to her confirm his absence, but they’re still slightly warm to the touch; he must have just brewed her a pot before stumbling out the door.

She takes the time to brush her hair and teeth, and wash and moisturize her face – she refuses to let her morning routine slip, even if it’s her birthday – before walking out into the kitchen. It’s where she finds a full pot of coffee, complete with a new bag of beans from her favorite neighborhood café. It’s annoyingly expensive hipster coffee, and she can’t believe Jake shelled out the cash for it.

She also finds a note written in Jake’s awful chicken scratch on some stationery he must have grabbed from her office. Lucky for him, Amy’s been forced to decipher a few hundred of his case files over the years and can read his appalling handwriting without a problem.

Ames,

Happy Birthday, weirdo! I’m sorry I have to work on the day of your birth but I promise to make it up to you later ;) See you at 5.

Jake

She smiles as she finishes reading before pouring herself a large cup of steaming coffee and taking a long sip. She sighs, and she’s fairly sure it’s not just the coffee warming her from the inside out.

Truthfully, a day to herself is the best birthday present she could have asked for. She spends the day fielding calls and texts from her family and Kylie while also managing to organize her binders alphabetically and catch up on her very full DVR.

But by the time 5 o’clock rolls around, Jake is nowhere to be found and Amy can’t help but be a little disheartened. He had been making much more of an effort to be punctual lately, especially once he discovered what that earned him from Amy, but she supposes he hasn’t completely let his old habits die. She does her best to shrug it off. He probably just got caught up finishing a case, she thinks.

By 5:30, Amy is concerned. By 6, she’s spiraling.

He’s never been this late to meet her before, and never this late without sending an emoji-filled apology text. She, more than most, knows things can get out of hand at the precinct within an instant, but a shadow of a doubt still manages to nestle its way into Amy’s brain as the minutes tick by without word from her boyfriend.

She pours herself a glass of wine and takes a huge gulp. She knows from past observations that a month is usually Jake’s tipping point in a relationship. It’s entirely possible that he’s starting to have second thoughts about turning their friendship into something more. The thought rips through her like lightning.

It’s then that her front door opens and an exhausted looking Jake practically stumbles into the living room carrying two stuffed takeaway bags. His hair is a mess and his flannel is even more rumpled than usual. Her previously racing thoughts are immediately quelled when she sees him.

“Ames, I’m so sorry but I couldn’t find the restaurant and then the order was wrong and then I had to go to a different place and it was a whole thing,” he says in a breathless jumble. She can barely make out individual words.

“Are you mad?” he asks as he catches his breath. He looks genuinely gutted at the mere possibility he’s disappointed her.

She puts her wine glass down on the coffee table and moves to wrap him up in a firm hug. She can feel the tension leave his body at her touch.

“No, I’m not mad,” she mumbles into his shoulder. “But I wish you had texted me so I knew you were alright.”

“Phone died,” he says sheepishly. She pulls away slightly and gently swats his arm.

“I thought I bought you a charger for your desk!”

“I may or may not have been playing Kwazy Cupcakes all day and it totally drained my battery,” he laughs. “The precinct was so boring today, Ames.”

She smirks. “Did you miss me, Peralta?”

“Pshh, no,” he says, eyes darting around the room.

“You did,” she says smugly and he rolls his eyes, visibly grinning. “Now, tell me about this food.”

She pulls away from him to rummage through the plastic bags he’d placed on her dining table when he came home. It smells unbelievably familiar.

“I, um,” he stutters. “Remember when you told me about your favorite birthday parties as a kid? When all of your extended family would come over and it was just a giant party with games and the best Cuban food?”

“Yeah, I do,” she says softly. It had been such a throwaway conversation, late night memories shared while cuddling on his couch in front of the TV after a long shift. She’s genuinely touched that it stayed with him.

“Well, I found a place in Park Slope that sells those cheesy guava pastries your mom used to make you every year on your birthday,” he says, rubbing his arm uncomfortably. “But they messed up the order and I had to drive around to a bunch of Cuban restaurants to find them. That’s why I was so late.”

Maybe it’s the nostalgic smell of the pasteles de queso y guayaba bringing back her childhood, or maybe it’s the look of pure vulnerability on Jake’s face, but Amy can feel the warmth from this morning’s coffee returning tenfold. A lump begins to grow in her throat and she swallows hard to tamp it down.

“I can’t believe you did this,” she says, astonished. “I haven’t had one of these in forever.”

He’s rubbing his arm again, a nervous tick. “I hope they’re right. The woman at the last place I tried didn’t speak English so it was a lot of charades and pointing.”

She laughs. “They’re definitely right. They smell just like I remember.”

She puts the bag down and walks quickly over to where he’s standing in her kitchen doorway. She kisses him delicately, bringing her hand up to cup his cheek, thumb sweeping his jaw as she pulls away. His eyes are half-mast but they’re shining brightly.

“Happy birthday, Amy,” he whispers, moving to gently grab her hand as it pulls away from his face.

She scrunches her nose and smiles. “Thank you. Now, are you ready to try some cheese and guava pastries?”

He wrinkles his nose. “Ugh, no, thank you,” he says vehemently, backing out of her embrace.

She walks closer. “Please? For my birthday? You did say you would make it up to me after working all day.”

He groans. “Fine. But this is the last time I do anything nice for you.”

She smiles. “Deal.”

[whispersafterdusk]

Lost in Time - ch 17

"How's that?"

Stewart vibrated as his back and facial panels slid back into place; his metallic body buzzed loudly against the table he was sitting on, and the noise made Petra and Merlin both jump.  Eli started returning various tools and spools of wire to the toolbox she'd borrowed from Selene (a second, different set of borrowed tools - that woman had no shortage of miscellaneous tools, materials, and doodads sitting around) and then waited for Stewart's systems to reboot.

A flurry of images and briefly flashing text projected out in front of the AI's "face" as he came back online then his usual polite, smiling expression was staring them down as he stood up.  "I do not detect anything out of place.  Who would you like me to test this on?"

"Arlo.  He's up top waiting."

Stewart's face blanked for a brief instant before being replaced with a stylized speaker icon.  "Hello Arlo.  Are you able to hear me?" ((Continued below cut))

There was a pause, then sounding out from somewhere near Stewart's shoulder came "I hear you, Stewart.  I'm not hearing any static or interference either - you're nice and clear."

"Good.  Ending transmission."  Stewart's face came back and he gave Eli a nod.  "It would seem you've successfully patched me into your Hi-Def's network."

"Good to hear.  That was easier than expected."  Eli flipped the toolbox closed and turned to Merlin and Petra.  "And thanks for the extra hands."

"Not a problem. It was quite educational to watch someone who is knowledgeable about the inner workings of an AI work," Petra replied with a smile.

Merlin nodded at her.  "Indeed.  When we first obtained Wendy we didn't feel confident to examine her components too closely -- we simply patched in her new power supply and that was it.  Having now seen Stewart's inner parts I feel much more at ease with the thought of potential future repairs."

"Here's to hoping it'll be well in the future before anything gives out," Eli replied.  She glanced to her Hi-Def - it was just past noon.   "I'm going to go check in with Selene, then I have a training session with Arlo and I might also be checking in with Martha this evening.  If you guys need anything I SHOULD, assuming nothing goes wrong, be either at the Civil Corps building, Martha's, or out in the fields near Selene's place."

Petra nodded and took one of the toolboxes from the table.  "We planned on checking on some of the plumbing down here, which shouldn't be more than we can handle."

With a wave over her shoulder Eli left and began to trek to the elevator; Selene was down in Stewart's room, inside Stewart's docking station.  There was a hatch-style door in the floor that supposedly led down to the final sub-level that held Stewart's severs and, since Stewart was unable to release the locks for it, they were having to painstakingly cut their way through the thick steel.

They'd managed to weasel out a bit more information on what Stewart claimed was the absolute, last, bottom floor to this place: it had been a late addition to the facility - added nearly nine months after the rest of the place had been constructed.  It was built by tunneling underwater from the nearby river (a river that she remembered well but it didn't exist anymore) and had been used as a sort of secretive, non-disruptive way to move equipment and people in and out of the facility.  By Stewart's explanation it was quicker and more efficient; it seemed to make perfect sense to the AI but with Eli it didn't sit well with her since he'd seemed to imply that the majority of people working within this facility hadn't even been told it was there.

At the very least, since the river was gone (there's no way the marsh could be THIS deep) and Stewart showed no signs of damage anywhere in his connection to his servers, Eli was fairly confident that it'd be an easy job to get his server banks out of there once they managed to get to them -- no water meant no current flooding and no apparent damage likely meant no previous flooding had happened either.

Though, to think that the river that provided all of Dubei with water was-

 Don't think about it.

It was a bit of a walk to get down to Stewart's room; when she entered through the glass doors she could already smell the metallic tang of burnt metal, and could just barely make out the flicker of flame within the pillar that housed Stewart's docking station.

"How's it going?" she called.  There wasn't an immediate answer but the flicker went out; she reached the pillar and bent to peer around the corner.  "Selene?"

"Yeah, it's going," came the woman's disgruntled response.  The builder was kneeling on the floor with a cutting torch in hand, and there was a pile of what looked like severed bolt heads sitting on the ground next to her knees.  "Stupid dumb door and its stupid dumb lock."

Eli laughed quietly; Selene flipped up the heavy welding facemask she was wearing and shifted to look up at her.

"Just a few more bolts to get out and then I can flip the top half of this hatch back and get inside at the lock," Selene continued.  "I have no idea what you all used to tighten these damn things but they may as well be cemented in place."

"AIs with impact wrenches, probably.  And a lack of lubrication over the centuries is likely why they're basically bonded to the hatch now."

Selene blew out a sigh that quickly turned into a raspberry.  "Pain in my butt.  Anyway, it'll probably be another day before I punch through the top, and then no idea how long it'll take to get the lock to release or cut through it."

Straightening with a nod Eli glanced back toward the door; she thought she'd heard footsteps and would rather not get cornered in a room with the scholars.  "If you need any help let me know."

"Will do - though at the moment there's not much anyone can do to help.  Not enough room in here for too many people and I only have this one torch that's strong enough besides."

"Want me to stand here with a palm leaf and fan you?"

Selene snorted and flashed her a brief smile before flipping her mask back down.  "Talk to me in another hour or two and I might take you up on that. It stinks in here."

"I'll ask Stewart and see if he can up fan speed in this room to get some higher airflow temporarily - see if that helps with the smell any."

"Thanks Eli."

She left the builder woman to her work and made the long trek back to the surface; Arlo was sitting at the (currently extinguished) firepit, with Asher and Mali.  The three of them looked up as she walked over.

"Arlo was telling me you had a busy afternoon but when you have some time I'd like to speak to you about some security methods I think we could try," was Mali's greeting when Eli was close enough.

"Sure thing."  She glanced between the three of them; Adam was likely still asleep since he'd taken the overnight shift.  "Any particular reason or are we just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks?"

"Seeing what sticks," Mali answered.  "Still no sign of our guest - they're either gone or not falling for the plan."

"Or being overly cautious since whoever it is knows at least one of us is armed," Eli said after a pause, gesturing toward her waist.   Currently the gun was holstered at the small of her back but it was clear what she was referring to.

Speaking of guns Selene had recently shown her some blueprints of rifles that her little factory could make -- assuming that Selene could get the needed materials.  It was mostly a metal-and-springs issue, something that Selene assured her could all be gathered in the ruins around Portia.  It was on Eli's To Do list...she might not be able to quick draw a rifle like she could the revolver but her accuracy at long distances would go up dramatically.  

"Wish they'd just get it over with - either make it clear they've left or let us catch them," Asher grumbled.  "Hate feeling like something is watching me."

Eli shrugged.  "It'll sort itself out one way or the other."  She looked to Arlo.  "Ready?" He nodded and got up off the stump he was using as a seat; she turned around and took a few steps then stopped.   "Oh, right-"  She tapped a pair of fingers to her Hi-Def's screen.   "Call user: Stewart."  

The screen highlighted Stewart's name, then a moment later enlarged the text so that his name was all that showed on the screen.  After a few seconds the screen took on a green tint.  "-hey, Stewart?"

"How may I assist you, Eli?"

"Selene's still down in your station and the smell is starting to get to her.  Could you adjust the air circulation for that room only?"

"I can, yes, but instead it may be more efficient to adjust my station's circulation."

"Whichever will help with the metal fumes.  Might even cool that area down some."

"I shall do so then.  Anything else?"

"That's it, thanks."  She palmed over the screen to end the call and put the Hi-Def back on stand by then glanced over her shoulder at Arlo. "Right, ok.  NOW I'm ready."

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

"Hello!"

The cheerful call came from the direction of the door; Xu couldn't actually see the door from where he was bent over organizing a drawer in his desk but he recognized the voice easily enough.

"Good afternoon Lily.  I haven't seen you in awhile."

There was the sound of footsteps approaching and by the time he straightened the girl was standing at his desk smiling politely.

"Oh I know.  I went home for a week to catch up with my mom.  Is Harrison not working today?"

"I'm afraid I sent him on an errand right before you arrived so he'll be gone at least a half hour, if not longer."

Lily nodded, scrunching up her lips and nose for a moment.  "Well!   That's ok.  I'll see him eventually.  I actually wanted to ask YOU something too."

"Oh?"  Xu bent again to quickly push the drawer shut; it wasn't a pressing matter to get the new patient files in alphabetical order right this instant, after all.  "Are you feeling ill?"

"No no, nothing like that," Lily said with a wave of her hand.   "Harrison told me how you had a machine that changed hair color and I was wondering how it worked and how much it'd cost."

"Ah, yes," Xu replied with a chuckle.  He gestured over at the Uplifter and Lily followed the gesture with her eyes.  "That's the machine there and, from what I understand, it interacts on a molecular level to temporarily instruct your body to use an injected dye rather than your naturally made melanin to color your hair.  It also adjusts the melanin already present so that the hair you already have matches the color that will be growing out of your scalp.  It IS, as I said, a temporary measure however and will only last three or four months.  I am uncertain about the long-term effects of this procedure however so I would caution you to think it over."

Lily hummed and rocked back and forth, staring at the machine.  "Has anyone tried it yet?"

"A few people.  So far they've not reported any issues though they would be beyond the time period that the procedure would still be working...at that point I imagine it would be no different than having applied a dye directly to your hair -- your natural hair color would be returning."

"Cool..." she sighed.  She continued to stare the machine down for a moment before looking back to him.  "What colors can it do?  Can it do purple?"

"Well..." he started.  "I believe so.  I know it can handle the full spectrum of what one would consider natural colors.  I would need to find the manual for it to provide a full list of examples."

Lily blinked at him.  "Manual?  Like an instruction book?"

Xu nodded.  "Indeed.  My assistant recently moved into her own practice so we had to separate out our belongings, so to speak.  The manual has been misplaced but I'm certain we'll find it once she's fully unpacked.  I would need it to know what settings to use to get the intended color."

"Ah...  Ok!  I'll just have to wait to see if the book turns up then.  I had another question too -- Harrison said it could...alter faces?"

"Yes," Xu said slowly.  "Based on the information we found with it this machine was originally a gift to a woman who was known to be very beautiful.  The face-altering function seems to have been aimed at allowing her to look young and lovely, no matter how much she aged."

Lily wrinkled her nose.  "That sounds weird.  All that effort to not even look different...  Is it permanent?"

"I can't see how it would ever revert as its a surgical process.   Thus far I've managed to turn it into a medical procedure to help those with facial wounds."

She nodded.  "I think he said something about cleft lips.  THAT sounds way more useful than...the other thing.  How does THAT work, anyway?"

"Well..." Xu said, scratching at the top of his head; he glanced to the Uplifter, wishing more than ever that the manual hadn't gone missing.  "There's terminology in that particular part of the manual that I still don't fully understand but based on my best guess, the machine scans your face, saves a picture of it within itself, and then somehow makes a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional one and fills in any imperfections or removes any blemishes, then somehow recreates that corrected image from your own flesh and blood.  You do have control over what it will or won't do, mind you, but a lot of it is...how was it worded... "artificial intelligence-guided algorithmic corrections."

He looked back to her and saw the utterly blank look on her face and smiled.  "Believe me, I felt just as you look right now when I read that part."

"I haven't the faintest clue what any of that meant but at least it can still help people," Lily said after a pause.  She then straightened her back and gave him a smile.  "I'll be back later if I don't see Harrison before then -- and DEFINITELY will be back for my purple hair!"

Xu smiled and waved as she bounced toward the door.  "Have a good afternoon, Lily."

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

"-and Carol said your fabric was on back order," Harrison said.   "She's hoping it'll be in next Tuesday with the rest of her missing order."

"At least we're not in any danger of running out of bandages before then," Xu replied.

Harrison waited for Xu to take the last few bottles out of the basket before he returned the basket to its place inside a cabinet.  Most of the supplies Xu had ordered had come through - empty glass bottles for storing liquids, small sealable pots for salves and lotions, tongue depressors, cotton-tipped swab sticks.  He'd also ordered a large roll of plain cotton fabric to cut and fashion into bandages; there was a woman here in town named Carol who tended to order fabrics in bulk so Xu always put in his order with hers to save them both on shipping costs but apparently her entire order had been held up somewhere.

"Did you happen to run into Lily on your way back?"

Harrison spun around to face Xu.  "What?  No, I didn't.  She's back?"

Xu chuckled at him.  "She is.  She came in asking after you, and also after hair color.  I certainly hope Phyllis finds that manual among her things...  I still can't see how it got misplaced, I'm so certain I always return it to same place each time."

"Yeah..." Harrison hummed - he had only half heard Xu; the bulk of his brain was celebrating the fact that Lily had come back like she said she would.   "Did she mention if she'd come back here, later?"

"Yes," Xu laughed.  "Go on - go find her then.  You've already completed today's lesson AND the errand I needed you to take care of so I don't have anything else that was planned for the day."

Harrison stood, unable to keep a grin from his face.  "Thanks, doctor!"

He grabbed his jacket and hurried out the door; where would Lily have gone... Maybe the town hall?  She would need to rent another room at the Happy Apartments while she was here.  But maybe she'd already done that...well.  He had to start SOMEWHERE.  He hurried down the hill with his jacket flapping over his arm, scanning around him as he went; she wasn't at town hall, and she wasn't at the Round Table.  Portia wasn't a large place but it would still be pretty easy to miss her if he just ran around like a madman.

He hurried down to the central plaza - it was large and open and if she was there she'd be easy to spot... And it didn't appear she was here either.  Oh well. From the plaza there was a set of stairs that led up to the hill that the clinic and Civil Corps building was perched on; Harrison hated climbing these particular stairs but from here it'd be quicker than walking all the way around to go up the hill near the cemetary.  With a huff he started his jog up, and was puffing and out of breath by the time he reached the top.

But, he did spy a familiar figure approaching the clinic from the other direction.

"Lily!"

She looked up at his shout and then waved happily at him.

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

"He's been reading more now than he ever has..." Martha murmured, glancing toward a door behind her that Eli assumed led to Toby's room.   "It's honestly shocking.  He never was one to take to homework."

Eli smiled and helped herself to another slice of the raisin bread that was on the table between the two of them.  "Well, he's technically doing homework he wants to do now so I guess that's the difference."

Martha smiled and took another piece of bread herself.  "It's such a relief, even if it does mean that he's thrown himself at the...at the adventurer's path."  Her smile faltered a moment and she limply dropped the bread onto the little saucer in front of her.  "I can't bear the thought of losing him like I did his father."

"I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't have a high chance of happening.  I can't promise it never will though," Eli added after a moment.  "He is, however, doing well and actually focusing on the lessons I'm giving him.  I thought all the bookwork would bore him but...well, it's not.  Which I find surprising for someone his age."

Martha nodded; she seemed to force herself to take a bite of the bread and it took ages for her to swallow it.  "-he's been quite the chatterbox about your lessons so I know what he's learning.  I just hope it'll be enough."

"When he becomes an adult it'll be up to him to make all the right choices and keep himself safe," Eli said after a moment.  She offered the woman a sympathetic smile.  "Who knows - you might be raising the next big hero.  I'd say the next Peach but I fu- I freaking hope not because that'd mean the world went to hell again."

That managed to bring a smile back to the woman's face and she seemed much happier when she took her next bite.  From the other side of the door she'd indicated a moment ago there was a loud scraping noise then several thumps before the door was flung open with Toby framed within it with his arms full of papers and books.

"Mom, I nee- hi Eli!"

"Toby, stop yelling in the house," Martha sighed as the boy came hurrying over.  She very narrowly managed to move a plate of butter out of the way before he plopped the books and paper down in a haphazard pile.  "Toby!"

"Sorry mom.  Eli - what's the difference between venomous and poisonous?"

Eli scooted her plate out of harm's way and dusted cinnamon off her fingertips; the papers were full of Toby's messy handwriting but she could read it well enough to see that he was dutifully copying (and even illustrating) notes out of an animal guide she'd managed to buy and give to him.  "Venomous means if IT bites YOU you'll die.  Poisonous means if YOU bite IT you'll die."

Toby snickered.  "That's dumb - I wouldn't just BITE an animal.  But that's the answer?"

"Yep.  Venomous basically means an animal can't poison you unless they bite or sting you first. Poisonous means you have to touch it, eat it, or otherwise inhale or ingest the poison to be poisoned.  A simple rule of thumb is to be watching for stingers, fangs, or bright colors, but THE safest way of dealing with either poison or venom is watch where you're putting your feet or hands and avoid touching any animal or insect as much as possible -- and even if said animal or insect is something you know for a fact isn't harmful you shouldn't be bothering them anyway.  You never know if an animal or insect is capable of spitting something at you either so it's best to just leave them alone."

"Got it..." the boy muttered, shuffling through the rumpled pile of papers.  "So I'm going to have to put poisonous in a pile and venomous in a pile and make sure I got it right because I thought those meant the same thing and they don't..."  After a moment he slapped all the papers back into one pile.  "Oh, mom!  I need more paper!"

"I'll buy more tomorrow," Martha replied.

Toby scooped everything up again and hurried out the door with a few scattered pages fluttering to the floor behind him.  Martha sighed and shook her head, and stood to go collect them.

"Well... Anyway.  When it gets warmer out and he's out of school I'll start the physical stuff," Eli said after a pause.  "If you're still willing, that is."

"No, no, I can't walk back on our agreement or else he'll think he can't trust me if I promise something," Martha said.  "I may not like it but at least I can rest easy that he's not just...just running headlong into things like he usually does."  She took a steadying breath and came back over with the sheets of notes that had been left behind.  

"I'll do my best to make sure he doesn't do something dumb," Eli said.  She stuffed the last bit of the raisin bread on her plate into her mouth and then dug into a pocket.  "-how much for a loaf of this?"

"Oh, uh - I actually don't have any more baked at the moment.  This was the last one."

"That's fine."  Eli dumped a handful of gols on the table and started sorting them into piles of 100s.  "Can I pay now for two loaves and come get them in the morning?"

Martha laughed.  "Absolutely.  Two loaves would 180 gols."

Eli shoved 300 at her.  "I'll donate toward more paper since I'm the reason he's burning through so much."

Martha carefully swept the gols up and slipped them into her apron pocket.  "Thank you, Eli.  I may hem and haw and fret like an old hen but I really do appreciate that you're teaching him how to be safe."

With a chuckle Eli headed toward the door.  "If he actually sticks with the training all the way through he'll know how to survive pretty much anything.  -- oh, right.  I meant to ask - I was going to rope Dr. Xu into this eventually, for some first aid training since mine is...oh, about 300 years out of date.  Are you all right with that?"

"Well, of course.  Why wouldn't I be?"

"I have no idea how squeamish you might be and up until today I didn't know how much he was sharing.  If he's being the chatterbox as you claim and it'll bother you then I need to set some pretty firm boundaries up front."

Martha blinked.  "Oh.  Ah.  That's a good point.  I wouldn't say I'm squeamish but..."  She took a steadying breath.  "I'll manage.  He needs to learn if he's going to be safe."

Eli nodded and put her hand on the doorknob only to jump a bit as someone knocked on the door; Gale was on the other side and he started as she opened the door to find his fist raised mid-knock.

"Oh!  What timing - I apologize for knocking in your face, Eli."

"No worries, I was just about to leave is all."

"Ah, well, I suppose 'what timing' applies a second time.  I came looking for you."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong but time IS of the essence," the man said with a chuckle.  He leaned around to peer in at Martha.  "Sorry to intrude on your home and steal your guest, Martha."

"It's no trouble, Gale."

The man chuckled and hurried out of the way so Eli could step outside.

"So what's so pressing?" Eli asked as she carefully shut the door behind her.

"Let's walk and chat," Gale suggested.  He waited for her to take the few steps needed to reach his side and then they began a leisurely stroll up the street -- Eli assumed this was going to end at the town hall.

"So!  The scholars have decided to take everything they've learned back to Atara next week and spend a few months there sharing with their peers," Gale went on.  "That will be one less thing to juggle schedules with. However: I'm expecting that shortly after their departure the pledged monetary assistance is going to arrive, and at that point we'll begin construction on expanding the clinic.  We've finalized plans with Dr. Xu to expand the building to house both more space to treat patients in, as well as a few spare rooms to use as classrooms."

Eli nodded.  "I'm aware.  I did have a question though."

Gale looked up at her.  "Yes?"

"Moving Stewart out of the facility is a good idea but I don't want the place to be abandoned except for the occasional poking about by scholars.  What are your long term plans for it?"

Gale slowed to a stop, rubbing at his chin.  "...to be frank, I haven't really thought a lot on what to do with it.  I don't think anyone gave much thought either to the other ruins around Portia - we've been scavenging what we can out of them for ages, but those ruins aren't even close to being in the same fantastic shape as the facility is so I can at least confidently say we won't be taking it apart.  Why do you ask?"

Eli blew out a long sigh.  "Well...at the risk of sounding sentimental, I just don't want to see it go unused or be torn apart.   We've been working on plans to transition it to a new, and renewable, power source, Petra and Merlin are checking that all the plumbing is still intact and working... I had thought once that maybe we could turn it into a college where Stewart could teach generations of doctors while treating patients of his own."

"That thought HAD crossed my mind but as it would be inconvenient to move the clinic itself I'll admit I'm uncomfortable with the thought of him traveling between there and the facility.  Not just from a security standpoint either, mind you -- I'm worried that if, in the future, we have a medical emergency that's beyond Dr. Xu's expertise that it would then take too long for Stewart to get back to town."

"Yeah...that's a good point," Eli said after a pause.  "Still.  I'd really love to see the place being used again.  Maybe more housing?"

Gale nodded, and then chuckled after a breath.  "Goodness knows we're going to need that soon. The Happy Apartments can only hold so many, after all, and there's only a handful of empty residences available for buyers.  If anything we could utilize it for short-term available housing, or long-term if someone is genuinely wanting to live there.   We'll definitely have work to do to make it all livable again, and we'll have to look into expanding our transportation along with..."  Gale paused and waved a hand.  "Look at me going off on a tangent, ha!  Come - let's go sit in my office and I'll get to what I I needed to speak to you about."

She nodded and they started walking again. He led the way to the town hall's door and held it open, gesturing for her to enter ahead of him; the office was spacious and a bit chilly, and smelled of paper and old books.  As he closed the door behind them Eli moved over to sit in one of the plush chairs in front of Gale's desk and a moment later Gale shuffled around the desk to lower himself into his own chair.

"Portia's fiscal year will be starting soon and I need to have our budget settled.  I wanted to ask you again if you're interested in becoming one of our Civil Corps members."

Eli leaned back in her chair, taking in a deep breath.  "...I am, but do you think Portia's folks would be all right with that?"

Gale waved a hand at her.  "I think they'll be more than all right with it - by now I'd argue you fit right in and I can't see any problems aside from the usual ones, and as I've said before if there ARE any problems you just let me know and I'll have a talk with the troublemakers.  But, from what I've seen, there's really only one person who would continue to be a problem and I like to think he'd know better than to try anything now."

A half smile twitched across her face then she cleared her throat. "Well...  What would happen with my position in the Research Center?  I don't want to leave them hanging."

Gale laughed.  "Pardon me for assuming but I didn't think for an instant that you would abandon Merlin and Petra, or anyone else for that matter.  Any and all instances of you being consulted on technological matters would be properly paid for, and your position's salary would be converted into a fund to cover such."

She smiled and shook her head; just by virtue of being alive she WAS the world expert on "Old World" tech-

 Don't think about it.

"You don't need to pay me for helping out with anything.  What it sounds like to me is most of my chosen duties won't be changing - I'll just be adding on the Civil Corps bit, right?"

Gale nodded.  "That sounds accurate...do keep in mind that if it seems like you're being buried in tasks you only need to say something -- there's a balance between being helpful and being taken advantage of.  Now...in addition to you becoming a Civil Corps member, I've had one other person requesting to sign on here for a time."

Eli blinked at him.  One other person...was it one of the Pigs?   Could they even do that?  She didn't have any real grasp on how the Flying Pigs's organizational structure worked.  "Really?  Can your budget handle two more town guards?"

Gale nodded again; he shuffled through some of the papers on his desk and pulled out one that was covered top to bottom, margin to margin, with tidy handwriting.  He turned it around toward her and picked up a pen to begin gesturing at underlined areas and numbers -- this must be a part of the budget paperwork, she realized.

"It can.  We've had additional positions budgeted for for years, just with no takers until now.  You can see how things add up here and here.  I intend to have all this printed, dated, signed, and on file for anyone to reference within a week."

With his nod of permission Eli took the handwritten budget plan and looked it over; she was somewhat familiar with budget balancing as she'd always had to sign off on anything coming out of HQ to confirm that all the numbers matched with what she had on hand or had requested for her squad.  So far as she could tell Portia's numbers all lined up nice and neat, and she could even see a few "emergency" funds had been created with the influx of trade that had come to the city over the last few years.

Of course, these numbers were way smaller than she was used to seeing and dealing with...

 Don't think about it.

She handed the paper back.  "Seems in order.  To make it official on the books consider my answer to be "yes."

Gale smiled and returned the paper to a stack on his desk.  "All right!  I'll consider this finalized for now and have the paperwork ready for you and Asher in a few days."

Ah, so it was Asher that wanted in... Well, that was an interesting development.  It at least made more sense than anyone else she could think of.

"Anything else?" she asked then.  "Not that I'm rushing out of here or anything - I just want to be sure everything is in place."

"I think we've got everything covered," Gale replied.  "Oh, yes - being as I already mentioned that this will be available for anyone in Portia to reference..."  He hopped out of his chair and motioned for Eli to follow him over to one of the bookcases.

Now that she was actively looking at them she could see that while a large number of the books seemed to be regular reading material there were several shelves full of leather-bound ledgers that were bursting with papers (and some looked old -- Eli spied more than one spine that was flaking leather and heavily worn at the middle where countless numbers of hands had touched and handled them).  Gale pointed and then, with a sweeping motion, indicated one of the lower shelves of ledgers.

"This shelf here holds what amounts to all of Portia's governing history for the last two decades.  Anyone is welcome to peruse the old records as needed.  All that's asked is you don't take the ledgers out of this office."

"Noted," she said.  "Do you get many takers on that?"

"Yes, actually," Gale chuckled.  "The budgetary highlights are usually printed in our newspaper a month or two after it's all been settled but there's a small handful of people who want to read it before the ink's even dried."

She smiled at him and glanced to the door; there wasn't much else needed here, and not much else she had to add.  Gale noted where she was looking and bustled over to the door to rest a hand on the knob.

"Thank you, Eli, for agreeing to this sudden meeting.  I hope I haven't derailed your evening too much."

"Nah, not at all."  She walked toward him and he opened the door for her.  "Have a good evening, Gale.  Let me know if you need anything else."

"I certainly will.  Good night."

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

"Gale's already told me" was Arlo's greeting when she got out to the facility the next morning.  "I'm excited to welcome you and Asher aboard."

Eli smiled as she knocked a clod of mud off the side of her boot before coming over to sit on a stump next to the firepit.  Adam was up and had eggs and bacon in a pan over the flames; Mali and Asher weren't in sight but she assumed they were both still in the tent.  "Excited to get back into my career field."

Arlo nodded, then studied her in silence for a moment.  "...is it going to be awkward for you, taking orders from someone else?"

She offered him a sly smirk.  "Not really, assuming you don't issue an order I consider stupid."

His face tinged red ever so slightly.  "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Then we're all good.  I spent years taking orders before I reached a rank where I was giving them -- I know how chains of command work and I'll do my best to remember I'm NOT in charge anymore."

Again Arlo nodded; he crossed his arms and shifted to look out over the marsh in the general direction of Portia.  "Right.  Remington is on patrol as we speak, and Sam's patrol starts when his ends.  We'll sort out a time to properly welcome you and Asher to the team and then shift patrol patterns around -- since Asher will be staying here anyway this region will be his, for sure."

Adam flipped a few pieces of bacon and grunted, looking up to them.  "Might not need the patrols if Mali's idea works."

"I know but I'd rather plan for what we can handle if it doesn't," Arlo replied.

Eli looked between the two of them.  "I haven't gotten to talk to Mali about this new idea yet so what am I in for?"

"A bunch of heavy lifting and electrical work," Adam responded before Arlo could answer.  "Assuming we can find a working door that'll fit."

"Even if it doesn't we can probably widen the hallways," Arlo picked up.  

"Hang on, a door?  What kind of door?" Eli interrupted.

Adam jerked a thumb over a shoulder toward the southeast.  "Mali's convinced we can repurpose some doors out of a ruin out that way.  Twice as thick as what's down in the facility now, lockable, and should prove to be a right pain in the ass to get through if you're not supposed to get through 'em."

Thick doors...  "Blast doors?" she asked, though more to herself than to the others.  And if it was to the east -- WOW Industries?  Or from somewhere else around here?   "A standard sized blast door is...I've no idea how we'd get blast doors out of there, much less down into here.   We'd have to remove the elevator car entirely and pray it fits down the shaft."

Adam shrugged.  "All I know is Mali remembered having to get through what she called security doors back when we first found the All Source AI - I'm not sure where she saw 'em and she didn't say when she had the idea.  She checked with your research folks and we seem to think that if we can just get 'em here and installed then we wouldn't need a constant guard up top because no one's getting in through those things if they're shut tight."

"We could still have a guard but move them down into the facility itself..." Eli mused.  "Out of the elements, in a proper apartment.   That would solve the question of what to even do with this place once Stewart's out too."

"A nice perk, if it works."

They turned around in unison to see Mali approaching them from the tent.

"The question is: do you think it's possible?" she went on as she came to stand at Adam's shoulder, gaze fixed on Eli.

"Well... Possibly.  The biggest hurdle is going to be getting it to fit down the elevator shaft - wiring is the easy part."

Mali nodded and shifted around Adam to sit on the far side of the pit from Eli.  "Then after I've eaten you and I can go looking to see if we can make it work."

"Sounds like a plan," Eli said.  After a pause she looked back to Arlo.  "I'll keep the rest of my day open so we can all meet, if that's all right?"

"I'll check in with Remington and Sam and let you know where to meet," Arlo answered with a small nod.  "And Asher, too."

"We've all got our marching orders for the day then," Eli chuckled.   She got up and stretched and, out of habit, scanned their surroundings for anything out of the ordinary.

In the distance she could see a familiar smudge of blue against the grass -- that was a gaggle of scholars heading back out this way.  She probably should have clarified with Gale on the exact date they'd be heading back home but oh well; depending on how long it took to dismantle and move a set of blast doors they might not be underfoot anymore anyway.

WOW Industries would probably have the doors that Eli was thinking of; she'd never given any thought to what it would take to move one of those things but knew they were strong enough to take heavy fire, literal fire, could seal to contain gas leaks, and also were built to immediately shut if there was ever a fluid leak too.  She had her doubts that the rubber seals would be in workable condition after all this time but so long as the doors hadn't rusted out then they'd still suffice as a security measure.

Granted, there were those doors along the elevator shaft...those were technically still vulnerable access points.  Maybe, just maybe, they could turn the blast doors flat and have them open to let the elevator down, rather than try to seal up the other doors and rely on a single door at the bottom floor.  They'd have to do some digging and run new wire, but...

She turned back around to the others.  "Just had an idea where size isn't going to matter much."