#like the lazy river and the wave pool were my everythings like after i learned how to conquer the wave i would swim to the deep end

[localgardenweed]

Remembering its not socially acceptable to just swim in the lazy rivers like the best part was ditching the floaty and letting the current take you and swimming at the speed of sound cause of the jets pushing you along, wdym now that im a big kid I CANT JUST DO THAT????? Like how do you even live with yourself if you haven’t ditched your floaty and pretended the current was so strong as a kid that you couldn’t swim off to the exit to avoid going back to the hotel room, that was like the entire point of the lazy river for me. I would like let my arms dangle underwater to touch the bottom and push myself to go faster and i would swim under the water and go under people all the time and sure almost drowned but like i learned the name of the game bro. Best part if they had like sprayers or smth like that was awesome popping my head out and getting a little shower. The life guards hated me im so sorry you just had to be there to understand

[broken-heroes-and-potatoes]

Hey, this may seem dumb and all but like can you have any of the bakusquad members comforting their reader after they faced some boy problems. I think itll really cheer my up. It’s all good if not :)

@teerama It’s not dumb at all, I’am sorry for the late reply I hope it’ll help you feel a little much better ♥ Your admin here is totally insomniac so if you want to talk about it, my private messages are open, Stay Strong! ♥

The news broke and stroke you like a dagger in the heart, this guy you’ve trusted, this relationship you put so much energy and effort in came crashing into pieces in front of you.

You didn’t know how to react nor what you were feeling, he was definitely a bastard for doing things that way and it let you, frustrated, devasted maybe angry if you dig enough under the layers of sorrow.

Anyways, there weren’t a lot of solution, you could lock yourself up in your room and exhaust you to the bones after hours of crying OR, you could relay on one of your friends and share the news with them..

Eijiro Kirishima - Physical comfort

- By the time you focused on what to do, a knock on your door was heard, you got up and as soon as you opened it, you fell face to face with a smiling Kirishima

- He caught you off guard, you weren’t prepared for a verbal exchange at that moment, and when his red hues stopped on your sad face, a wave of panic shook him.

- «Heeeey what’s wrong?» Oh Boi. The sound of his concern voice was enough to open the bag of your emotions and you weren’t able to hold it together, so you just hid your face in your hands and cried like a river

- He would push you inside, he hates to see you cry, slightly distraught, were you okay, obviously not, but, what happened, are you hurt, have you learn some really bad news, can he does something?

- He would give you the best comforting hug ever, letting you damp his shoulder for as long as you need to, he won’t ask anything, only passing his hand on your hair with some reassuring «Sshhhhh it’s okay, it’s okay»

- You would finally fall asleep against him from exhaustion, both of you on your bed, and he can't help but think how beautiful you look with a slight feeling of guilt to be ‘happy’ to have you in his arms even because of a situation like this.

Hanta Sero - Earful comfort

- His room is not far from yours, so maybe, you could just stop by and see if he isn't busy? That was the better thing to do. Yes.

- Hanta is a sweet perfection when it comes to listen and comfort people. He’s the one who would be the most mature and honest about the situation.

- He’s composed, thoughtful, patient and he would let you rant for hours if you feel the need to.

- He inspires trust, he’s that kind of people you tell your deepest secrets or someone you easily confy what’s wrong in your life, he doesn’t do anything to, but it’s just his reassuring nature.

- So, here you were, explaining every single details of the relationship and problems encountered, why, how, when, it took litteraly hours.

- It’s almost as if you were about to take some papers and highlighter to organize everything and try to understand what happened, discovering new stuff as if you were playing Cluedo.

- In the end, you saw the situation with a new eyes, and you distanced yourself from it helped you streamline the whole thing.

- Thanks to Hanta, who was smiling confidently at you, even if, in his head, he just wanted to hug you thight and sequester the guy for making you so sad.

Denki Kaminari - Silly comfort

- You were supposed to revise with Kaminari, but hell no it would not be possible in that state, the guy could understand, or so you thought.

- After a text saying you weren’t feeling well enough to come over, you’ll receive a plethora of messages and don’t ignore them, because he’ll reach you on every possible platforms.

- He tried a call/visio or two, but he got that you weren’t feeling like talking in person, he kept the texting to keep you company though’, he’s a lazy buns so he answered with vocals instead.

- A lot of puns to lighten the mood were used and you were grateful for the good laugh and positive energy (no pun intended) that guy conveys around him.

- You’ll both end far away from the principal topic, almost forgetting about the ache, sending silly tik toks to each other or Epic Fails compilations.

- By the end of the conversation, you would feel way better, and, sorry but, he would win. You capitulate and accept to turn on your webcam.

- He keeps a broad smile on his lips, but he doesn't ignore the pang in his chest at the sight of your puffy and dark circled eyes. Because, he would have never made you cry that way.

Mina Ashido - High Level comfort

- Best girl in the world, it’s like a mix between all of the guys above without any awkwardness.

- As soon as she heard that bastard made you cry she knocked on your door in the next fifteen minutes.

- Comfort food in hands, your favorite ones, how does she..? In the middle of the night? Neverminds.

- She wants to hear every details about it and would comments every single thing, she’ll help you write a dreadful, final message to send him that will make him cry and crawl in front of you.

- Then, If you want to talk about it, she’ll listen, if you want her to say he's a fucking asshole, she’ll, if you just feel like chilling and don’t think about it, no problem!

- You’ll spend the night together, gossiping, with silly movies you both know by heart playing in the background.

- Wanna scream and dance on the bed like crazy? She puts on the radio ignoring the complaints of the neighbourgs.

- Wanna go out and took a midnight bath in the U.A swimming pool? Say no more.

- She won’t leave your side for the next two weeks, keeing you busy to change your mind. Mina would do everything in her power to cheer you up because it’s what friends do.

Katsuki Bakugo - What is comfort for fuck sake.

- No. Staying in your room crying your heart out wasn’t the good solution, but you didn’t wanted to disturb you friends with your stupid story.

- For what after all ? Hear ‘I told you so’ or ‘I always knew this guy wasn’t good’. They weren’t backbiting, but to comfort you, they could have been and you didn’t need that right now.

- The migraine was harassing your head and eyes and a boiling shower was the best thing you could think of, you hadn’t eat anything in the day neither so.. maybe a quick stop by the kitchen to grab even if only a cup of tea would be good?

- You bumped into Bakugo, of all people, and as he was about to lash onto you with a «watch your steps», he stopped mid-sentence when he saw your red eyes.

- You apologized head down and left toward the kitchen, him, he didn’t budge, watching your moves. He’s not a specialist when it comes to feelings or comfort, but he couldn’t just let you walk away in that state.

- You probably had a good reason for being like this, it was none of his buisness and he didn't care (or so he thought), but something was screaming inside of him to move.

- He hailed you, and casually asked you to join him in his room because he was about to begin a movie (a movie you really wanted to see, oh convenient.)

- He would pull out a bag of chips when he heard your stomach growl, only because HE wanted to eat some (yeah, sure.)

- He won’t ask anything, the silence was comfortable and you realized that a bit of company, his company, was really appreciable.

- When he learnt what had happen, he would keep it a secret, but confront the guy and threatened him to blow his head off if he ever talk to you again. He meant it, he would make all of the guys run away from you if it could prevent you from crying.

[ericsonclan]

Aquatic Adventures

Summary: Louis and Clementine go on a double date with Violet and Prisha to the waterpark.

Read on A03:

“C’mon, Violet, quit dragging your feet!” Louis called as he raced towards the entrance.

Violet rolled her eyes, adjusting her swimsuit strap under her shirt. She hoped Prisha was OK with the fact that she’d chickened out and bought a tankini to wear. Clementine had helped her pick it out online and had assured her that Prisha would love it, but Violet still wasn’t sure. She wasn’t comfortable showing more than a tankini offered yet. Her ribcage and hipbones always stuck out weird in swimsuits. Hopefully the tankini covered up those flaws.

Prisha seemed excited for the day as she walked beside her, sunhat on and beach bag in tow. They’d both been rather surprised when Louis and Clementine asked them out on a double date, especially considering both couples had only been officially dating for a month or so. But they soon got excited by the idea and agreed to join in. It had been forever since either of them had been to a water park.

“Louis, wait up! I’ve got the tickets!” Clementine called from behind them.

Louis spun around and ran back to her, quickly taking everything she was carrying into his own arms. “Sorry babe, lost track of myself for a minute there. I’m just so excited!”

Clementine smiled at his ear to ear grin. “No worries. And you don’t have to carry everything. I can take half,”

“Nu-uh. As a good boyfriend it’s my job to carry everything to and from the date,”

Violet scoffed. “Where’d you read that? Dating for Dummies?”

Louis stuck his tongue out at her in retort.

“There it is!” Prisha exclaimed, pointing toward the top of a slide that could be seen in the distance. “The Mother Lode: 80 feet of dead drop glory,” Screams could be heard in the distance as swimmers started their watery descent.

“Can’t wait,” Violet said with a grin.

Louis looked nervous. “I don’t know… I think Clem and I may be sticking to the smaller slides. The wave pool sounds nice too,”

“Actually, I think I’ll try out the Mother Lode too,” Clementine giggled as she saw Louis’ panicked reaction. “Don’t worry. That doesn’t mean you have to go,”

Violet laughed. “Oh, but it does! How can he prove himself worthy of you if he can’t face a simple water slide?”

Louis looked guiltily at the ground.

Clementine leaned forward to give him a quick peck on the cheek. “Do what makes you happy, OK? She whispered.

Louis’ eye lit up and his fingers entwined with hers. “OK,”

---

Aqua Extravaganza Water Park and Resort was an awesome place. They’d decided to go on a weekday to avoid the crowds, but even with lower turnout there were still plenty of kids running around screaming and having the time of their lives. The four of them quickly followed suit. They started out with some classics: The Spinnerator, Dive Bomb and the Big Splash. Then Prisha grabbed Violet’s hand and they ran off together toward the Mother Lode. Louis encouraged Clementine to tag along, opting to use the time to buy snacks for the group.

 After the girls had experienced their terrifying drop (which Prisha and Violet wanted to do again, but the line had gotten super long), they met up with Louis, downed their Icees and Pretzels and headed over to the Lazy River, grabbing a giant raft that would fit all four of them and plopping in to follow the River’s flow. They laughed amongst themselves as they regaled each other with stories from work. Aasim and Ruby were a key topic of interest as it was clear they were going to be the next couple to get together. It was only a question of when.

“I kid you not,” Louis said, leaning forward on the raft, “The other day I saw them talking about different types of lettuce and Aasim was absolutely entranced. He sure as hell didn’t take in a word she was saying though!”

Prisha chuckled. “The poor man is whipped. I hope he gets the guts up soon to tell her how he feels,”

“How did you and Vi get together?” Clementine asked. “Who made the first move?”

“I would say Violet did,”

“Really?” Violet spluttered. “But you were the first to ask me out!”

“True, but I wouldn’t have if not for the brilliance that was you chugging that entire jar of maraschino cherries in ten seconds flat. I was flirting with tying the cherry stem, sure, but that display of feral vitality was what convinced me to take the leap and ask you out officially,”

“Excuse me,” Louis shook his head in confusion. “Violet did what now?”

“Don’t tell,” Violet said, a warning tone to her voice.

“But it’s such a cute story!”

“I’ll never hear the end of it if you do,”

Clementine sat up straighter. “Well now we have to hear it,”

Prisha opened her mouth to begin. “So Violet and I were by the bar-”

Before she could continue, Violet pushed her off the raft, causing Prisha to fall into the water with a squeal. Prisha swam after them, grabbing Violet’s arm and pulling her in as well. As they play wrestled in the water, the raft drifted further and further ahead of them.

“Should we try to slow down so they can catch up?” Clementine asked.

Louis shook his head. “They look like they’re having fun. Maybe… we can have some fun of our own too,” He met Clementine’s gaze for a second, then looked down, embarrassed.

Clementine giggled.

“Sorry, that was an awful line, wasn’t it?”

Clementine brushed a dreadlock back behind his ear. “I liked it,”

 By the time Prisha and Violet caught up to the raft and saw where things had gone, they decided it’d be best if they didn’t rejoin the pair, opting instead to grab a couple’s raft of their own.

---

After a couple more rounds on the water slides, the couples made their way over to one of the regular pools. Louis had the brilliant idea to have a chicken fight faceoff: Prisha and him as the bases while Violet and Clementine fought hand to hand on top. The competition got surprisingly fierce. Violet and Clementine both knew a thing or two about hand to hand combat and were fast enough to dodge each other’s attacks, making it a battle of skill and dexterity as each of them tried to outwit the other.

Meanwhile, Prisha and Louis were each determined to be the best tank, pressing fiercely against each other and trying to throw the other off-balance. Both couples were impressive in their own right. Clementine utilized Louis’ dreadlocks to their full potential, steering and guiding him with such finesse that they looked like something out of Ratatouille. More than once she yanked him out of harm’s way, Louis’ trust in her so complete that they moved as though they were a singular unit. Prisha and Violet were not to be underestimated though. During one round where it looked like Louis and Clem had just won, the pair made a miraculous recovery, rising from the water with determined banshee cries, faces contorted in ungodly rage. The attack was so frightening that they quickly overwhelmed their startled opponents.

By the end of the day they were too exhausted to even get up to leave. Louis had pulled his chair beside Clementine’s and covered both of them in an enormous beach blanket, huddling together for warmth as the chill of staying out of the water overtook them. Meanwhile Violet and Prisha were sitting by the edge of the pool, legs trailing through the water as they chatted about this and that, finding more comfort in each other’s presence than the actual dialogue.

“You were magnificent in that last round,” Prisha said, smiling at Violet. “Like something out of a Greek myth: an Amazon, ready to cut down any fool that might dare to cross her,”

Violet bit her lip, looking down.

“Was that too much?”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just not use to compliments like that,”

“You deserve to be. You’re worthy of them,”

“How do you do that? Just speak so freely?”

Prisha shrugged, looking bemused. “I’m not sure. I’ve never been one to mince my words, but you…. You inspire me. You’re like my muse,”

If Violet hadn’t been blushing before, she certainly was now.

“I’m sorry. I’m laying it on pretty heavy, aren’t I? I should learn to hold back more,”

“No,” Violet grabbed her hand. “I like it. Don’t ever change,”

Prisha smiled shyly. “Alright then. I won’t,”

---

“They’re so dang cute,” Louis whispered, peeking out from underneath the beach towel.

Clementine joined him in his spying, her head on his shoulder. “Definitely. It’s nice to see Violet so happy.” She turned to Louis. “You’ve known her for a long time, haven’t you?”

“Over half my life. She’s dated before, but I’ve never seen her like this. I really hope things work out between them,”

“I think they will. Prisha looks just as smitten,”

Louis looked back toward her, turning on his side. “Sorry I’ve been focused on stalking my ship when I should be focusing on you,”

Clem shook her head. “Don’t apologize. I think it’s cute the way you care so much about your friends. It’s one of the reasons I started liking you,”

Louis flushed at her words, looking down between them. “That’s good to know, since I don’t think I could stop. The excessive stalking of my friends that is,”

“Don’t do that,” Clementine murmured.

“Do what?”

“Sell yourself short. Turn every statement you make about yourself into some sort of back-handed insult. You’re a good person, Louis. Don’t convince yourself otherwise,”

“I… wow. I don’t know what to say in response to that,”

“Then don’t say anything at all,” Clementine drew closer to kiss him, leaning into him as his hand slipped around her. They pulled apart with a sigh.

“I know it’s too early to say anything super heavy yet,” Louis stated. “So I’m just gonna say that I really, really, really like you,”

Clementine’s nose wrinkled in amusement. “I really, really, really like you too,”

They leaned in for another kiss.

“Hey, lovebirds!” Prisha called. “You done yet?”

“Yeah!” Violet joined in. “Quit making out underneath the towel! It’s time to go!”

Louis sighed, rolling his eyes. “Alright, alright. We’re coming!”

---

It had been a wonderful day at the water park. Louis immediately started making plans for their next double date. Violet and Prisha tentatively agreed, with the caveat that they had veto power on double date ideas if any of them got too crazy. As the couples walked back to the car, hand in hand, they were certain that this had been the first double date of many, many more to come. None of them were complaining. In fact, they were already looking forward to the next one. 

[thedaveandkimmershow]

We left our story yesterday on our way back to our suite for some peace and rest… which we got. Even the kids were seriously down for a nap. In fact, we woke up before they did.

Now, one of the items on Kimmer's and Rachel's To-Do lists is to hit a Disney outlet store 'cause 1) Kimmer's quite taken by the idea of scoring a t-shirt or something from cruises that actually didn't happen. That would be merchandise manufactured for cruises that we're to take place in 2020 but didn't since all cruise ships were grounded. And 2) Rachel's on the hunt for other and less expensive Disney gifts for friends and family.

In the end, I think none of us were really drawn to anything we saw at that store. I think Kimmer walked away with a very sweet Mulan pin and exactly half of what Rachel found was for herself.

We were in a mall, though, so we poked around for a bit. Kimmer found me a black Hurley t-shirt because yup.

I've gotta sunburn.

I think this t-shirt's called a rash guard in surfing circles. Whatever it is, it's comfy, it fits, and I'll be wearing it with my swim trunks tomorrow at Blizzard Beach 'cause I really don't need any more burn than I've already got.

New shirt in hand, we jump a Lyft to Epcot where we pick up our day in The Land pavilion. Soarin' first, wonders of the world. Then that boat ride, Living With The Land, where you learn a little about ecosystem, farming, and some pretty impressive, better sustainable,.used in the park methods for growing food.

After that, the girls head off to the Magic Kingdom where they wanna end the night whilst we head off to the food & wine festival happening around the lake. Our plan's to explore around the UK side but we immediately fall for the temptation of Canada's menus of fillet mignon and cheddar soup with pretzel bread.

Seriously, it was the first stand we passed. But it.

Was.

Yummy.

😁

After, we continued walking in the direction of France… but nothing spoke to us and all the lines in France were too long. So we head back down the lake, out if the park, to the monorail station where we meet a.lovely family of four from Georgia. They're a little anxious on behalf of their kids 'cause the Disney Magic Kingdom fireworks show could start any minute now and they won't get a shot at seeing this particular version of that show.

Unfortunately, by the time we walk through the front gates of the Magic Kingdom, the show's in full swing.

☹️

We had no such expectations, fortunately, no plans to see the fireworks or the imagery projected onto Sleeping Beauty's Castle. That was all lovely and spectacular, of course…

But we were there for dessert.

We purposefully, then, make our way along Main Street to the Ice Cream parlor, last establishment on the right before the park's hub.

Now here's the thing. Kimmer has a nut allergy that encompasses all nuts except coconuts. So desserts… are always a challenge.

Always.

So Kimmer asks the question about nuts and exposure… and it's a pretty noisy environment just then and I think I see the cashier shake her head and mouth "no". Which I take to mean that everything's been exposed to nuts

But.

Turns out the opposite's true as the manager even offers to make Kimmer's Coke Float in a separate area with newly cleaned utensils.

And yes. That absolutely sealed the deal. And it's how, for the second time this trip, Disney's managed to provide her with a delicious, no risk dessert.

You have no idea what a gift that is

Me, I ordered an ice cream sundae with warm brownie and we walked our desserts across the way.

Quick Disney Tip: these tables clear out almost immediately once the fireworks are done. So if you don't care as much about endings, you can order your ice cream and score a table right away.

Also:

If you're looking to score ice cream on your way out the park at closing, the parlour on your right, walking from the direction of Sleeping Beauty's Castle will be closed whilst the one on the left, the one we landed on, stays open. In fact a long, packed line of people forms just as soon as the show's over and everyone starts streaming to the front gates.

By the way, one of the employees there, bless her heart, was super into the music outside. She sang along with her eyes open. She sang with her eyes closed. She sang with all her heart. And when she was done, she rushed to the window to see if Tinker Bell was flying.

Which.

She.

Was.

It's important, by the way, because she always has a good night when that happens.

🙂

The four of us finished out our night with desserts and stories around a table for four right there across from Sleeping Beauty's Castle before heading home for the night.

We weren't quite done with our day, though. There was laundry to do 'cause there's a washer/dryer in our suite and it's super easy to handle.

Also, the day turned into quite a time for losing things: my water bottle that I actually left on the ride. I got it back when I was sent through the exit to the platform where they'd already found it and cheerfully handed it over

Linzy lost her water bottle too, although pretty much she simply forgot that she left it on the counter when we left for the evening.

Rachel, though, the bag in which she stashed gifts for family and friends was legitimately gone. Most likely on the Disney shuttle that took us from the Magic Kingdom to the Transportation.

We don't know what's gonna happen but Disney personnel will go through the bus at end of shift and relay anything they find with Disney City Hall. Rachel's already contacted them and we'll just have to hope for a touch of luck

We've definitely got a routine that gets us out the door by eight… so we do that again and begin our fourth day in the Animal Kingdom with a return engagement of the Na'vi River Journey, an experience that's even better the second time around because there's so much depth to what Imagineers have created.

After that, Kimmer and Rachel make their way to the Tough To Be A Bug 3D performance whilst Linzy 'n I head over to Expedition Everest 'cause we're just straight up gluttons for punishment.

On the way, we're distracted by a live presentation of Macaws, a type of New World parrots that are long-tailed and colorful.

They were magnificent. At the end, one flew straight at and over me. And then a few beats later a bunch of them followed suit.

It was all amazing and terrifying at the same time

After the roller coaster and a few photo ops, Linzy and I met up with Kimmer and Rachel. We did a quick partner swap that sent the girls out for more shopping whilst the missus 'n I shared a breakfast sandwich over the river.

We rejoined the girls I'm Dino Land where Linzy's identified a ride that was built over the Indiana Jones ride track design but with a dino narrative. The girls enjoyed it first, we followed a few minutes later, then we all took a moment at a table in the main part of Dino Land for some photo reviewing and popcorn.

Afterward, the girls head off for Africa looking for a gift for Rachel's sister whilst we hop a bus (a wonderfully empty bus) for our second visit to Blizzard Beach.

Once we had our swimwear on, we walked a little until we notice inflatable chairs floating invitingly in the Lazy River. So we race down and situate ourselves in them and they.

We're.

Wonderful.

Good grief. They're super easy to get into. There's like zero chance of flipping over when you do. And, for me at least, they also seem to facilitate naps.

About three quarters of the way around our lap, we changed to clear ones with green handles 'cause Kimmer loves green and, you know, what the heck.

About three quarters of the way around our second lap, the girls ran into is, having slipped into the river a half hour before.

After that, the four of us in the warm waters of the wave pool followed by a tuna sandwich and chips lunch whilst air drying under an intense sun while then girls, I'm thinking, scored some donuts.

The girls caught up again when we were indulging our new tradition of grape fruit hefeweizen at Freddy's Shack.

Okay one last thing:

The ride back to our condo was helmed by another charming gentleman from Venezuela. We actually got into a pretty involved conversation that ranged from working as a bank executive to being forced to leave his country to trying to starting new in this country to facing employment language and age barriers to teaching in a Spanish teaching school to transportation management to Uber to Lyft to real estate.

Then we talked family. A pair of kids. Five grandkids that he and his wife help with during the day.

But his kids?

A teacher. A NASA engineer. And then the spouse of one of his kids who's also a NASA engineer. And then the fact that he's gotten to watch four shuttle launches. Two during the day. Two at night. And those nighttime launches absolutely turn the darkness of night into the brightness of day.

And so on.

It really is something when you talk stories with people you don't know.

🙂🙂🙂

[carpe-astra]

                                                    Mood Music

                                          Kingswood, Bristol 1935

                                                        3:25 AM

The Crown was a squat, one story building made of plaster and brick. Once upon a time it had been proud and ruddy, but now it was grey. Dinginess bred of heavy smog and the grit of factories on the outskirts of town, as well as the perpetual soak of mud by the drizzling rain. The sign creaked quietly in the breeze, made of an old slab of wood that had been painted black, with a gold crown in the middle. That too had once been bright and colorful, now it was ordinary and drab.

They had all thought it a sense of poetic irony to take it over. For awhile, it had been funny. But tonight, there was no humor to be found in those old walls. Tension had bit through every crevice and crack of the building -- and choked the air worse than the clouds of cigarette smoke did.

Valentino set his hands down on the edge of the bar top and studied the way the candlelight shimmered over the mountains of his bloody knuckles. A cigarette hung slack in the corner of his mouth, lazy curls of smoke half obscuring the man tied to his chair beside him. Absently, Valentino reached for the bottle of vodka that was sitting next to his glass to dump some in before taking a lengthy swig of it.

“So, Driscoll,” he began thoughtfully, his voice a warning rumble of an impending storm. He turned to the man, a cruel edged smile on his face like the jagged edge of a broken bone.

Driscoll was a fat man, but built around the arms. Someone who had done real work once upon a time, and then gone somewhere softer in his old age. The Butcher of Eagle Street still wore his leather apron, but it was no longer the blood of beasts that stained it, and the blood of the lives he had taken -- but his own now, too. His hair was kept closely cropped, and it was easy to see the large gash that arced over his scalp, deep enough to see the twinkle of bone through the scraps of flesh. His entire face was a sheet of blood, piggy blue eyes blinking rapidly as blood dripped into them.

Driscoll had given up straining against his bindings, but he shook his head wildly which sent blood splattering across the floor and Valentino’s shirt. But Valentino didn’t really notice it, just like he barely minded the spark of cold drops where Driscoll’s blood had dusted over his face earlier and cooled.

“I don’t know nothing,” he slurred out, red spit escaping him in a spray with his words. Most people had feared the Butcher. They had wondered if he sold his victims like he did his slabs of beef and pork to the unwitting masses of Bristol. Any reservations Valentino had had previously, the need for cunning strategy and the long game had evaporated the moment Leo had brought him Elizabeth’s hat where he’d found it on the side of the street.

Valentino touched the brim of the hat, slicking his thumb along the curve so that he wouldn’t blemish the pristine white with dirt or blood. “I might have believed you Driscoll, if I didn’t fuckin’ know that Malcolm was always watching her.” He took in air suddenly, dragging his fingers through the tail of hair that slathered back over the top of his head as the ferocity of his fury almost consumed him.

Driscoll shook his head again, more blood spraying around them while he swayed violently with a sickening green tint to his face.

“One more time Driscoll. WHERE. IS. MY. WIFE?” He took in another deep breath after he roared in Driscoll’s face, the echo of his gravelly voice ringing in the near empty bar. Again he spoke, but quiet this time, and calm. A frozen intensity burning in the undercurrent reminiscent of a Siberian winter. “Last chance.”  

All he could picture was that hat sitting on the edge of the street. Long red ribbons trailing in the passing wake of a cart, lost and alone. He was going to find her, or burn the world down around him.

“We didn’t take her! Malcolm ain’t that stupid!” The Butcher reduced to slurring words that were barely coherent, tangled up in blood and exhaustion.

“I beg to disagree.” Valentino upended the bottle of vodka abruptly, pouring out the gleaming liquor right into the ragged wound in Driscoll’s skull. It took a moment, but Valentino watched hungrily as the burning began.

It started slow, Driscoll’s eyes wrenching open and his head lolling up, before he squeezed them shut against the rain of scarlet soaked alcohol that washed away the blood that had been sticking to his fat face. He flushed hotly, face creasing into a tight grimace of pain while he struggled not to cry out. His jowls quivered, then he was sputtering against the agonizing sting as he hissed. It bubbled up louder and he started to rock in place, flinging drops around as he shook his head like a dog.

“Right nasty shit, innit?” Valentino questioned Driscoll as the man screamed in pain. There was no one to hear him but Valentino, and the few King Breakers he had brought to guard the place as he worked. And none of them moved.

Valentino pried his cigarette from his mouth, breathing out a cloud of pollution directly into Driscoll’s tortured face as he kept screaming. A bit of ash sprinkled over the leather apron he wore, sticking there. The man’s collar had been stained piss-yellow with his sweat and now it clung to his thick throat damply, a hint of pink from the steady ooze of blood spreading downward before disappearing under the line of the apron.

He could feel the shark’s grin stretched over his face too tightly, like it was too wide for his bones, or not wide enough to contain his monsters. He felt hollow -- just a deep, black unending river that he dipped his hands into and washed himself with.

Elizabeth had always kept it under lock and key; had built a cage for the rippling, sinuous leviathan that he had brought back from the war. The one that took pleasure in feeling the wet heat of life on his palms. He wasn’t fit to be on his own anymore -- not without Elizabeth. She was his sanity. For a heartbeat, his hands shook as he hoped Odette would sleep through the night soundly, and never learn of this.

The thought was smothered abruptly under a gout of rage as Driscoll’s face swam into his view again.

“You don’t know anything, huh?” His voice dropped to a rumbling growl, edged like a razor while he stuck a finger into the wound on Driscoll’s head to peel his scalp up. It was harder than he thought it’d be, or that could have been Driscoll’s renewed howling and thrashing. It was hard to tell. Though it was slick against his fingertips, he hung onto the Butcher’s mousy hair and yanked brutally. Driscoll wobbled again, but Valentino slapped his cheek a few times to keep him conscious while the vomit dribbled from his mouth.

Valentino stepped away as the reek touched his nose, shoving both dirty hands into his hair as he watched with a hawkish intensity. He grabbed his seat suddenly and set it across from his prisoner to sit down with his elbows on his knees while he thought.

Elizabeth had been last seen walking home from a shopping trip. No matter that he had told her time and time again to take one of the boys with her, just in case. He had only wanted her safe. The bloodied, vodka soaked heels of his palms pressed into his brow while he desperately tried to think, his cigarette burning idly between his fingers. Normally, everything came to him as easily as breathing. He could see all the ins and outs, the path forward to get his hands on what he wanted.

Malcolm had always had eyes for Elizabeth, even before Valentino had met her. It’d been a stupid accident, that day in the rain. But he’d bathe in a river of blood before he let another touch her. Some of the Breakers had seen Malcolm’s men, The Jackals, around King Breaker territory. He could only assume it had been The Jackals. But if he didn’t play it smart, Elizabeth could end up hurt, though he didn’t think Malcolm would kill her.

A gut wrenching coldness crept down his spine at the image that had been rattling around in his mind for days. Crimson splattered over her fine face and soaked into her pale hair. Eyes, utterly lifeless. The eyes had always gotten to him in the war. When they became so still and glassy, that was the moment he had known. He couldn’t bear to see Elizabeth’s beautiful blues empty like that. He wouldn’t survive it.

Driscoll was Malcolm’s top killer, but still a pawn. It would send the message that Valentino needed it to. He gestured to the boys lingering on the fringes of his attention and they moved forward into action to hoist Driscoll up and smash his head down onto the bar.

With the flames of perdition licking up his spine like a rabid dog, he took up a second bottle of vodka from the counter. Driscoll whimpered, blood and snot dripping down his face and being inhaled... then exhaled with each shuddering breath he took.

“C’mon Driscoll, don’t be a pussy eh?” Valentino chided him as he tipped the bottle over and sent a gleaming tidal wave of vodka spilling across the counter to splash up against the Butcher’s face and over the edges. He took in a sharp breath, lighting up the end of his cigarette into a gleaming cherry before he flicked the stick onto the pool.

Flames ignited in a rush, greedily devouring the bartop until it reached Driscoll and washed over his face as though the hounds of hell were after him. The stench of burning flesh and hair filled his nose in a sickeningly familiar way, that kept after him even while he and the men who had hauled Driscoll up backed away from the blast of heat and fire.

For a moment, Valentino was transported back to the battlefield, with the sharp sizzle of gunpowder and the cloying ash under the stench of burning bodies.

The scream that tore through the cold bar startled him back to the present, and Valentino reached forward to wrench Driscoll up off the counter as he thrashed and writhed, dumping him onto the floor in a wailing, knotted heap of limps. The flames were blistering against his hands, but he stepped away again, shadows dancing around them in a hedonistic display. Through the tangled tongues of the fire, he could see Driscoll’s skin bubbling and cracking, splitting apart to reveal the hot meat underneath that sizzled like a side of beef in a stovetop pan.

“Toss him onto Malcolm’s doorstep and stick a goldie with him,” he growled at the men around him, who watched silently at the gory display Valentino had put on. Driscoll had finally stopped moving, and they snapped into action to snuff out the flames before they could spread far enough to burn the whole place down.

He crushed the sodden cigarette that had rolled back at him under his heel. “Have Mr. Delong send me the bill for repairs and cleaning.” The golden bullet Valentino had prepared three days ago was pressed into Brandon’s hand, Malcolm’s etched name glittering in the still lingering flames. Brandon looked sick to his stomach when he glanced at Driscoll. New, and too young to have been in the war -- but Brandon blanched when Valentino met his eyes.

Valentino tugged out another cigarette to light up, taking comfort in the familiar burn of smoke snaking down into his lungs while he rolled his sleeves back down to cover the tattoos on his forearms. He left The Crown with Elizabeth’s hat, to wash his hands and check on Odette -- their daughter.

[crowwingedangel]

My vacation, Part 2: Colossalcon!

This is for everyone who keeps asking me how my time going home/at the convention was. Actually, I’m not very good with talking about my emotional reactions and things on the spot… I’m a writer. I do much better writing it out. So that’s what I’m doing now! If you’re one of those people who wanted to know, or are just curious, feel free to look under the cut!

Below is my experience at the convention! It’s long and will have photos, so check it out! 

Wednesday 

So I got to Kalahari around 5 and parked my car. It was still pretty early, so there was plenty of parking around. I went to check in, only to learn that my room was fairly close to where I parked my car! SCORE!  

I then spent some time making trips to the room with my stuff... I brought a bunch of food, since I knew con food is really expensive, and the room itself was a lot... and I had a VIP pass, so this con was costly enough already. Heh... Luckily though, I got all of my stuff in just before the rain showed up!

My friend I was sharing the room with wasn’t going to arrive until Thursday afternoon, so I had this night to myself. I went and registered for the con and got my pass, then I proceeded to walk around... get the layout of the land, as it where. Alas, my phone was pretty full, so I didn’t take lots of pictures of everything I saw... In fact, I only took a few the whole weekend. But a lot of people took photos, so check out the colossalcon tag if you want an idea of what I saw!  I wandered around for a while before heading back to the room and deciding to spend the night chilling... I took a nice bath in the giant tub, then spent the evening making a semi-update for Crimson Wings. That mutant class update? Yeah, I made it during this down time. Eventually I went to bed, knowing I’d have a long day following. 

Thursday 

The con officially began! I took my time waking up in the morning, and decided to explore for a while, waiting for my friend to arrive. I didn’t wear any cosplay that morning, wanting to save it for when she got there, and wanting to look at everything for a while as myself before I changed...

So I went! Not knowing what to do other then look around, I guessed. But luckily, I came across the usual “I need friends” signs that happen at cons. So, seeing as I was alone, I decided, “why not?” I approached, and made some new friends and we all hugged sexy Jesus (yes you just read that). You may have figured out by now that I don’t really like using people’s names on the Internet so... I’ll just say that the two girls had the same name and the guy’s name was my middle name! There, now some of you may know one of their names...

We hung out for a while and met up several times throughout the con! I’m very socially awkward at making friends, so I’m kind of proud that I managed it... But two of them were dressed as two of my favorite twins when I first saw them, so that helped! We went to the game room and played things for a while, mostly team music games. One of them was like a master at them, but we did pretty good as a team! 

Eventually went to the craft fair and saw all the cool stuff people had made and were selling. Eventually my friend arrived and we had to split up, but like I said, I kept in contact with these guys after!  

So I met up with my friend, the one who basically functions as my editor for my writing... Did you know my writing has an editor? Well, now you do. I helped get her stuff to the room, and while she got settled, I changed into my Edward Elric cosplay. I don’t have any pictures of this cosplay, but a bunch of people took photos of me, so if one turns up, I’ll put it here!  We wandered about and I showed her around. And we finally started buying stuff. I got an Non-binary and an Ace-ace patch. I don’t know what I’m going to put them on, but I liked them! I also got one of those ironed-bead sprite Mad Dummy and a small fox pattern pouch... But then of course I finally found the plushies in the dealer room. And there... was a chubby lucario. I made him mine. ...Well, he was always mine, wasn’t he?! He’s actually under my arm right now as I type this! He’s some comfy! Oh, I can take a photo of him right now, can’t I?

Here he is! My fat boi! So chubby and cute, I love him! 

Eventually my friend and I made it back to our room and chilled for the rest of the evening, eating snacks and reading webcomics. I’m pretty good and getting my friends into more webcomics, I think... I had her catch up on a pretty long one that night while we listened to the sounds of party around us.

Friday

Friday, oh boy what I day. It was certainly fun and interesting! So, I (and my grandma, she did the sewing part) worked very hard on a cosplay of RGB from The Property of Hate by @modmad. 

I think it turned out very well, and you can see more pictures in my post here. But, being summer and all, it was very hot and the head was pretty much and oven. I could only wear it for bursts of 20 minutes to half an hour at a time before I’d need to go back to the room and rest. I still think it looked cool though, and some people recognized who I was so mission accomplished I guess! But also... @modmad, is his vision really as limited from that screen as I could see? Because there is no peripheral vision at all, someone get him a seeing-eye hero!  

I wandered about the convention a lot that day sans the head so that I could... be alive, haha. But I bought myself some manga and ordered a commission that I will probably fill you all in more on later once it is made! ;3 (It’s Crimson Wings related.) It’s by the same artist I bought some buttons from a few years back... And I bought more buttons, of course! I needed my snoot-snoot seal!

In the evening, I had my VIP autograph session... I had brought something for most of them (at least the ones I had stuff for, unfortunately I didn’t own anything to bring for the two ladies :C). I knew I was going to be meeting Steve Blum, so I switched into my Terriermon outfit I had made with my grandma. At the session, I met up with the trio of friends from the other day (I had met up with them earlier that day too, but only for a few minutes). We talking in the lines and such while we waited! I got to meet a few awesome people, including Chris Patton, who I caved and bought a Greed poster to have him sign... I love Greed, you guys... I also met Vic Mignogna and had him sign my FMA Brotherhood DVD set, and met Steve Blum and had him sign my Digimon Tamers DVD (he also kept talking in Guilmon’s voice and I was losing it.) My friends also had Vic do the coffee scene from Ouran which you can see on one of their instagrams here! I also got photos with Vic and Steve because I am weak.

Awesomeness.

Then later that night my editor friend and I went to the Kalahari pool for the after hours time we had! We went nearing midnight, and did stuff like the wave pool, the hot tub, and the lazy river for a while. We were about to leave when I ran into the friend trio again, so we went back into the wave pool for a while before finally heading back to the room. It was like 3 in the morning and I had an early Nintendo photoshoot I wanted to get to!

Saturday

Saturday I cosplayed as Pit the whole day. Nintendo had an early photoshoot that day (well, early considering how late we were up that night and how it’d take a while to get dressed. We’re still waiting for all the photos to come out from it, but it’s page is here. And one photo is out at least with me and the other awesome Pit in it! 

It was a lot of fun, and all the smash brothers poses and things were a blast and I hope more photos show up soon! Like we beat up Sandbag and there was the smash ball and-... lots of playing around, I hope they turn up. Unfortunately the Zelda shoot was at the same time, so no Zelda or Link for us... what’s up with that? 

Anyway, after that my friend and I hung out in the room for a while, needing to relax after being up so early... I showed her some youtube videos and made her laugh so hard she fell off the bed. Good times! Then we headed back to the con and did more shopping around, smaller things like charms and stickers now, and went to some panels. I said good bye to my new trio of friends who were leaving that afternoon, and hopefully they are doing well! 

By the evening I had to go to the room a while because I wasn’t feeling great... I actually bought some actual food at the con because the food we had was basically running out and I needed something to settle my stomach. But when we grabbed food we headed to the Masquerade (The skit / cosplay contest) and watched that! I still chuckle that Tony Stark was the host. It was a lot of fun, and the skits were fun, including some really good singers and a Nurse Joy who wanted to become a trainer (that one had some very clever props, just saying). And those cosplays were amazing. Much appreciation. The halftime show was hilarious, our side’s champion two girls beating the other side’s two men at a blind-folded donut eating contest-... It’s a long story, and this is long enough as it is, haha.  

After it was over, my friend and I headed back to the room and ended the night watching some youtube.  

Sunday 

Alas, the con was basically over. I wore my Terriermon cosplay that day since it’s the simplest and isn’t hot. We had to check out by ten, and my friend had to leave at ten, so we basically got up in the morning, packed my car, and parted ways as she was picked up. I stayed a little longer to check out the flee market. I found some good stuff and spend more money (of course! More pokemon plush for me! ...And some really old digimon toys. Nice.) Once I felt I had checked everything out and had basically spent the last of the cash I had brought with me, I headed back out to my car to start my drive to my parent’s house...   I arrived, and then had dinner with my family, including my aunt and uncle at a restaurant, then turned in for the night, having to catch an early flight back down here in the morning... 

AND that was the con, everyone! It was a lot of fun and I tried to sort out as much as I could here! I hope that helped answer the basic question of how it was! If you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask! 

[frankiirperwcw-blog]

UNTOLD STORIES FROM THE FAE COURTS.

they are coming from the woods

Summer.

The summer court is loud and seems slow, but the lazy progress of the sun through the sky betrays a vitality within the fae of the warmer months. The gauzy air over the realm of summer is thick with magic. Sunlight is daubed onto forest floors through gaps in the verdant leaves, and the warm evenings host lively parties, barefooted and frenzied dancers kicking dandelion seeds to the wind. Make no mistake, the fae realm will kill you no matter what season, and the land of the summer court is aggressively fertile. Nothing will stop it's growth, and if needs be it will find root inside you, a seed planted by the haze of a warm evening and peace and contentment that soaks so deeply through your skin that eventually flowers will grow from your mouth and eyes.

I don't know that fae experience love the same way as humans, but I was once involved with a courtier from this realm. Her lips were always violently red, eyes round and shining like the swelling fruit in the thickets, and her passions as unrelenting as waves on the sand. We shared the bounties of the summer court, which are seemingly endless, with feasts laid out endlessly across long blankets on the forest floor or at high tables within the carefully kept gardens of the court. Precisely grown roses wound their way around marble and soft fountains paint the space with a frenetic song. And through the balmy nights competition turned warmth to heat and blood spilled across those perfect marble floors.

In the end my love was so passionate that my relative quiet bored her, and we fell out of step. I cared more to observe the ways of the summer courtiers, to watch the viciousness so often disguised by bright sunshine. The perfect sweeping towers of the castles and the apparent madness are all in step with someone's devising- although the architect changes constantly, the play that unfolds on the stage is always carefully calculated, no matter how chaotic it seems. Everything is planned.

Autumn.

This season is predictably mediated by decay. The mournful forests have an endless fall of leaves of ochre, copper, rust and other, stranger colours. As night falls and a cool tang enters the air, maroon and shimmering gold leaves drift through the air and lucent mushrooms cast a ghostly light onto burnt brown trunks. The fae of the autumn court are secretive and quiet, but there is plenty of activity happening, albeit out of sight, like earthworms transforming rot to soil underfoot. The goblin market supplies a wealth of enchantments and fae food to those passing through, and fruit wines and sweet cakes are prepared, the finest as gifts for the courtiers or to woo unsuspecting mortals. This court is perhaps of a more sinister reputation than the others, the natural penchant for the death of the year tending to make them unnerving, but the season is not without warmth, if it can be found.

Precise homes made from bones are created for fireflies and field-mice. Sticks are woven into small enchantments and spells. Bonfires create embers that never cool, and ash that will revive cold, sad mortal hearts. Some of the finest bakeries in the four courts are found in autumn, creating exquisite cakes and pies that rival even elven ovens. A baker there once took a liking to me, and I to her, and she frequently made me gifts of her wares- carefully spiced wrapped apple pastries, thick, cloying marzipan filled sweet buns, cakes adorned with delicately spun sugar-work in the shape of birds' nests and hedgerows.

Eventually the sweetness became too close, and I left. She burnt a tray of brittle instantly, the sweet luxury quickly becoming ashen and bitter.

Winter.

Ah, winter. So cold and still, so ruthless and straightforwards. Beautiful but deadly, the cold clings to your eyelashes and joints, the fresh shock of the freeze arriving with every blast of wind. A pale, washed out land, it would seem that many things have stopped dead, but for the fae of the winter court, the extreme brings clarity. Reverence for the simplicity of the season makes the winter court a quietly meditative place. The stars are all the more visible in the lengthened nights, and deep, cold pools of water reflect them, glassy surfaces gathering the starlight so that it may be collected and bottled. The forests are home to great elk, vast in size, picking their way through the pale trees, antlers crowned with moonlight. Weapons made from their bones can be fashioned, and will instantly freeze any mortal wounded by it, cold seeping into their souls.

The fae of this thought are pensive, thoughtful and careful. In this case, the chase was mine, the prize a courtier of high regard. With guile and charm I persuaded her to choose me, and she wrapped me in ermine furs and walked with me through the woods with the sound of softly collapsing snow drifts to accompany us. We would sit on sparse hilltops in a land cast in blues and grays and watch the night sky, hours and days and weeks contentedly filled with quiet rapture, responsibilities and roles cast aside.

Sadly, it wasn't just her who forgot. She confessed later that she knew why I was there, and I had suspected that she was not the only prize. But in the game of wits and love and honour, we both forgot ourselves. And when it came time, her gleaming dagger of antler lay forgotten by mine of thorn and vine.

She had had intended to kill me when she tired of my company. I had been dispatched to sew chaos within the other courts. After all, everything is planned. The baker wove secrets into her buns, recipes for concealment and code plaited with every braid of bread and twist of pastry. The passionate young courtier of summer was no more a fool in love than I, and when we realised neither would give up their secrets we parted like a valley around a river. The winter courtier and I were too loathe to trust, too infatuated to follow through. I journeyed home from her realm with her elk-bone knife tucked into my belt, and my blossoming thorn dagger stayed in her private garden.

Spring.

It has been an age in mortal years since I left the fae realm.

The world beyond it has always seemed insignificant to me. While some fae find entertainment and companionship in humans, there doesn't seem to be anything to gain from it beyond idle amusement. There is nothing that I have an interest in gaining from the waking realm. I did spend a time wandering it's forests and glens, where our worlds touch. Power there, although meaningless, was easy to accrue, with an all too devoted trail of creatures who would be passionately, vividly inspired. In those times it mostly took the form of song, but I'm told mortals have expanded now to many expressions of creativity. Though it has been the blink of an eye for the fae, humans have come far, or so they think.

I sit by a stream in the spring realm in the dewy morning surrounded by bird calls, blossoms gently falling into the waters and covering my hair, pale and stark against the deep black curls. The early morning is a blessed time, where the beacon of a new day fills the realm of spring with it's effervescent, nebulous quality of promise. Potential. The eyes of the spring court turn skywards into the lavenders and blush tones of the new day as they clear amid pale lemon clouds to powder blue skies. Fields of grass sway beside pools and lakes, the motion of the wind spelling out the secrets of the earth as it shakes.

The spring court is the fairest, but of course I will think that, with it being my home. Everything here is soft, and sweet- not like the dull shades of autumn or the gaudy brights of summer. Gentle showers blow through like so many kisses, and warm evenings are filled with tender, budding romances and rivalries. Young courtiers are effervescent before their lips turn blue from poison and their smiles twist in ugly grimaces of pain. The smarter ones will learn to avoid certain smells, to drink meticulously prepared tinctures of nightshade so they cannot be harmed by it, to recognise hemlock and aconite in the woods. Eventually they will learn to poison their enemies before they get the chance to return the favour. The death toll at parties can become very large by the time all is said and done.

Humans have transformed their world, so the fae who have visited it say. Ungraceful monoliths rise from a plague of fumes and metal, the tortured earth filled with the scream of their machines. Luminous portals sit in their hands and transport them and their chittering lives around their realm. They think the world is bent to their will, and see themselves as the grand custodians of nature's creation. Perhaps it's time to walk in their world again, to see for myself this "civilisation" they think they have built.

Who knows how they could soon factor into my plans.

[cruentusscarlet]

                                                           (X)

“It is the day and time a lot of people were waiting for!...my dear people of Gensokyo, I am grateful to announce that the Scarlet’s Devil Waterpark is now officially open!”

“With it being the best indoors Waterpark, let me guide you around a few of the areas that can be enjoyed once inside.~”

“First of all, we start with one of the biggest areas of the Waterpark; this area is specially designed for kids. Not only it counts with a pool that it’s not deep and has a considerable size, but we also installed a good amount of slides of different kinds so the younger ones can enjoy having a fun time.”

“If you are an adult that enjoys that kind of stuff, you can also access it, but, please, don’t give the children bad examples and don’t cause trouble.”

“For those grown ups that want to be lazy but want to be one with the water, you can always access the area of the lazy rivers. You can simply sit on a floater and let the slow course of the river move you around. With it being a closed circuit, you don’t need to worry much about reaching the end of this one...and well, guess children can enjoy this too, if they are as lazy as some adults.”

“A Waterpark can’t be a proper one without an area for sport centered activities, so we also count with a pool prepared for the practice of waterpolo and pool volleyball that also includes diving boards of different heights. Aside of that, there is also a wave pool created for those who want to learn surf...almost nothing.~”

“Now, now! For the most calm people that come here to relax, you can access various climatized pools in an specific area prepared for that. From cold pools to warmer ones, born from the thought of pleasing youkai with different tastes...and, well, also humans.”

“For the ones who don’t like to move all that much or prefer closeted and small spaces, they can feel free to access the area with our saunas or hot tubs with jacuzzi function...there is not much to say about this one, right? And then people say I don’t think about others...”

“And lastly, but not less important, a resting area for those who want to relax and snack or drink something.”

“The Hashihime, Parsee Mizuhashi, will be taking care of attending the food stand, so, if you want to buy anything, you just need to go there...every snack or drink will be sold for only 100¥.~”

“Now that everything has been presented, don’t forget to buy your ticket from me before entering inside! Or otherwise, I won’t let you do so...if you didn’t get convinced already with what I said, I don’t know what could do.~”

“The entry is of 1400¥, with a 20% off for Residents of Gensokyo that have been living in the land for at least a year (1120¥). **You can always buy the Seasonal Pass if you are going to visit regularly, though! For only 5000¥ you will have Summer covered until the closing of the center at the end of the season.”

“To start your experience, simply buy the ticket from me, and once done, feel free to start enjoying what the park offers!~”

IC posts related to the Waterpark will be tagged as #ScarletWaterpark2017 after your character has bought the ticket!

[rhosinthorn]

No Job is Worthless

Okay friends, this has nothing to do with writing and everything to do with me getting up on the proverbial soapbox, so if you’re here for the writing, feel free to move right on by.

 Mkay, now that we’ve got everyone here, let’s begin.

 ‘Tis that time of year again: summer jobs/internships/co-ops, you name it. And some of you probably slunk off back home because (once again?) you didn’t land anything. You spent all year in classes, worked your butt off, applied to everything and anything that looked remotely related to those things you were learning in classes…

 And you got nothing.

 Nothing but form rejection letters from careers sites, interviews that never got back to you, and a whole bunch of disappointed hopes.

 Or, potentially worse, you have that shiny new degree in your hands, fresh from the printers and not even framed yet, and you have nothing. No job prospects, no hopes other than maybe one of those applications you filled out might come back any day now. But in the meantime you have bills to pay, parents/family members to answer to, and potentially a mountain of student debt breathing down your neck.

 Trust me, I’ve been there.

 My major in college was chemical engineering. It was a pretty great school, does a lot of cutting edge research. Highly selective, the whole thing.

 I worked for 3/3 summers in college, plus on campus during the year. (Career Center, just doing glorified cut/paste type things on a computer.)

 Here’s my summer jobs:

 Pool technician at a local amusement park (post Freshman/pre Sophomore)

Research at a lab on campus (post Sophomore/pre Junior)

Cashier at an arts & craft store (post Junior/pre Senior)

 They sound really relevant to my field right? I was putting my degree to some use? Maybe?

 Not really. Let’s break them down.

 (Below the cut, for those who are scrolling by)

If I’ve still got you, let’s go over these jobs.

 Pool Technician:

 Fancy title, right? Sounds like I’m doing important things.

 I sort of was. Behind the waterslides and lazy rivers, every waterpark has these guys lurking in the background. We’re the ones who make sure there’s nothing sharp on the slides to hurt you, picks up your lost change from the bottom of the pools because you left it in your pockets, and makes sure there’s nothing that will make you sick in the water.

 Every morning, one of us would walk each and every slide to check that no repairs needed to be made. Rain or shine, we had to walk up or down the length of them. We would have to sweep or vacuum any pool that needed it, and scrub the scum lines off the walls. It was often cold, wet, or rainy because I lived in the NE USA. Only one pool had a vacuum, one of the smaller ones, so if the wave pool had to be swept? Yeah, I was going for a swim.

 While one of us was out there shivering and probably swearing, the other was making the rounds of the pumphouses, changing filter baskets, checking on the chlorine levels, and getting things up to the right levels of chemicals in the water. Each state has their own minimum chlorine levels in public pools, and sometimes they vary depending on the type of attraction. It’s the technician’s job to make sure we meet those levels, and that we keep records if the state auditors come knocking.

 Sometime in the early afternoon, after the park’s been open and there are screaming children running everywhere, the afternoon person took over, and kept an eye on things all by themselves, since it was just monitoring chemicals and responding to incidents at this point. (Yeah, the lifeguards call us if someone has an “accident”. We get to clean it up & deal with the fallout.)

 So, in short: sort of relevant to what a first year chemE would have learned that first year (I did mostly math & chemistry with a few gen ed type courses). All in all, not a bad summer job for the resume, right?

 Summer Research

 Now, I’m going to clarify this with the following statement: you get out of research what you put into it. Most people do not make money from research. Especially students on summer jobs.

 This was a last minute panic job for me. I knew the professor, had done some stuff in his lab during HS (long story, ask me another time if interested), and was pretty much able to finagle myself into the internship with lots of sweet talk and splitting funding with some others who weren’t able to do a full time commitment to the lab that summer (one was taking classes, the other was TAing).

 Now, this was theoretically a ChemE lab.

 I knew this when I was getting in, but they do mostly bio research. Weekly updates were full of things about cells, PCR, gene expression, the whole nine yards.

 The last time I took bio anything was junior year of high school, and it was generic AP Bio. So, vastly underqualified but willing to learn? Yeah, that was me.

 My fellow lab-sufferers were more qualified due to classwork/experience, but I was already friends with one and grew to be close with the other out of shared misery. Together we got something done, though I don’t really see how what I worked on helped, since my greatest help to the lab was being an extra pair of hands. (And a neat freak- the PI seemed like a hoarder and the lab had junk everywhere. The three of us summer interns spent a whole week making the place presentable before summer safety inspections. And reorganizing the chemical cabinet.)

 But I digress. I did a lot of bio things that I don’t really understood, was even more of a typical college student than I usually was (food was a scarce thing that summer due to several reasons, and the college-provided housing was terrible), and learned that a career in research was not a good option for me.

 So, let’s see. Research is a respectable option, taught me that research is not a career path to pursue...not a bad summer experience. Decent resume material.

 Cashier

 This one was pure desperation. I got the call for an interview going into finals week, nearly cried with relief, and set the interview for the day after I moved back home.

 Pulled into the parking lot, and there’s a big STORE LIQUIDATION SALE sign on the outside. Bodes real well for my summer job plans, right?

 So, turns out, the store is closing, but they’re opening up across town. The staff is supposed to go with them, and I was being hired to help with the closing. However, if they liked me, and I wanted to, they might take me with them when they left. Oh, and could I start tomorrow or the next day?

 I went with it. None of my managers had ever not liked me, and even if they didn’t take me, I had something and would deal with what comes when it came.

 But they took me with them, and I spent half of my summer learning how stores are organized and set up. We walked into this new store and it had all of the fixtures (aisles & the unmovable stuff) set up, but nothing else. Five days a week, we’d all be there, putting up shelves/hooks, labeling everything, and then setting out stock. I set one aisle six times in three weeks because we had opened as soon as we had most of the store ready, but we couldn’t leave empty shelves, so the existing stock was arranged nicely to cover the empty holes. After we opened again, it was the usual retail humdrum. Stock, answer questions, work the register. Rinse and repeat.

 At this point, I should have probably had a “real” job experience. Internship, co-op, something that looked pretty on my resume, so when I waved it at employers they would say “Yeah, this kid’s qualified.” My grades weren’t 4.0, but they were respectable, and I hadn’t just been sitting on my butt.

 And thus, I went into my senior year, praying for the stars to align and a job to appear in time for graduation.

 But guess what?

 Life’s not a fairy tale, and I walked out of graduation with an expensive piece of paper, and a whole lot of worries.

 My now fiance had taken a job in one city, and we were determined to go together, especially since it was critical that he be employed. Two days after graduation, he, his family (who are visiting), and I are all settled in our cozy new two bedroom apartment in a different state from the one I grew up with, and I still have no job.

 Here’s where the craft store came through for me. I was able to get myself transferred (and a small promotion!) to a store about half an hour from where I now lived. It was going to pay the bills and keep me busy while I looked for a “real” job.

 Turns out, the (non-manager) staff was terrible, they kept scheduling me for night shift which meant I was stuck in rush hour traffic for an hour instead of half an hour, and the customers were awful. My mental health was going down the drain because I’m in a strange city, know only my fiance and my coworkers (who I didn’t really like), and I never see him because I’m scheduled 5-9 and don’t get home before 10pm most nights. Plus, we were short staffed, so the chances of me getting called in some weeks were pretty high, even though I was only part time. Great for extra money, but not when it’s getting eaten by the gas stations so I can get there.

 So, after the night where I spent my fifteen minute break crying in my car, I decided that I was done. And my job search, which had previously been focused on full-time with benefits, changed to anything to get me out of the hellhole.

 Lucky me, I am a very desirable candidate in the minimum wage arena. I got a call, had an interview, and I was now a pharmacy technician.

 Life was better. My schedule was manageable, I didn’t hate everyone I dealt with. I had found a church to attend, my fiance and I had adopted a kitty, and there was hope. Not a great life, but a tolerable one for the time being.

 I was there for about a month and a half when I got The Call.

 Around the same time as I was looking to leave the hellhole, I had interviewed with a temp agency that specialized in scientific staffing. Nothing ever came of that interview because the company decided not to fill the position that they had advertised, but apparently they kept me on file.

 Which was great, because when another company came asking for a similar position, they called me. I did a phone interview a day later, and would have started immediately if I wasn’t already scheduled at the other place.

 Because it was a temp job, I decided to keep my part time job, but limit it to weekends only. They were quoting me 1-3 months of work, just to lighten the load during a busy spurt. Fine, I said. Keeps me connected with my field, just another line on the resume. It’s close to my field and a great experience.

 That was December 15th.

 In February, the manager of the connected department who we worked closely with sends me an email summoning me to his office. I am (rightfully?) terrified, and arrive. As soon as I am seated, he informs me that his underling is moving several states away and he wishes to steal me from my manager, who is okay with this move. This would be a full time, permanent position, with benefits.

 Due to some complicated agreement between the company and the staffing firm, I’m still temporary, but will go full time within the month hopefully. But in these six months I have been fully refreshed in my job search, gained a ton of experience in two different areas of work, and made contacts that could help me.

 So, where am I going with all of this?

 Two things.

 One: Don’t lose hope. It’s scary and disheartening to be without relevant jobs. It makes you doubt your self worth, your education, and a whole lot of things. But things work out. Keep putting in applications, keep going to interviews, and keep on believing that you will get there someday.

 But the thing that triggered this post (which was not supposed to be this long, sorry!) is thing number two. Which comes in a part a and a part b.

 Part a: Don’t. Stop. Working.

 I have two friends, one who graduated with me, and one who I only know from online. Friend #1 was pretty much my male counterpart in my field. He, unlike me, scored a six month internship that ended in December and chose not to go full time, and is now living at home. From what he tells me when we manage to chat about things non-anime/manga related, he’s still looking for full time/benefits positions, if a little half-heartedly. (I can’t judge, because my job search was fairly half-hearted at times.) He’s living at home with his family and doesn’t work even part time right now.

 My second friend is still in school. She’s looking for a summer job and mentioned that she might throw in her towel for a relevant job and look more towards a job that will pay bills but not get you experience.

 I’m going to tell you what I told both of them. And now I’m telling it to you, as part b.

 All jobs are useful in some way.

 Take the pool technician job. I learned in a hands on setting about sanitization in a public place, kept detailed records for state audit purposes, and even did a nifty little side project about measuring flow rate in the pipes.

 Or the research job. There, the skills were things like, collaboration with team members, literature research, and laboratory skills.

 Craft store? Operations and logistics, customer service skills, defusing difficult situations, teamwork...and then at the other store, the one with the bad staff, I learned about some basic personnel management (it was a very, very tiny bit of supervising- just managing everyone’s break schedules and who was at the register when), and prioritizing which battles to fight.

 Pharmacy. I learned meticulous accuracy (you do not want to be giving the wrong person the wrong pills, and heaven help you if you miscount), more customer service skills, and a bunch of stuff about how that side of the healthcare industry really works.

 Those things I just listed? They’re what I call soft skills. Soft skills are the ones you learn on the job, just by being there. Everyone expects you to work a cash register. That’s why those jobs look bad on a resume if you’re going for a “professional” job. But when I go into an interview and they ask me all of those weird questions about problem solving and past experiences, I can tell them that I learned how to respond quickly and calmly in a trying situation because when 50+% of your registers go down, it’s a Sunday shopping crowd, and EVERYONE has a coupon they want to use, you have to think on your feet and reroute the crowds & cashiers onto non-affected registers and come up with workarounds that minimize customer experience as much as possible. If we’re talking about teamwork and collaboration, I can say that I had an experience with what a previous manager referred to as “the most hostile staff she’s ever worked with” (we were both new to the store at the time) and did my best to preserve the peace while not compromising on my job performance or customer services.

 So, to sum it up all jobs are important and don’t give up. Take whatever job you can find, and be the best damn employee you can be. I’m reasonably certain that any of my past managers would give me a good reference if they were called because I did my best and didn’t just show up and do what was needed to get by. Use every opportunity that you can grasp and turn it into something that makes a good talking point. Volunteer, minimum wage, full time job...by working/assisting, you show that you can be a good employee. You show that you have survived a work environment and absorbed what skills can be taught there.

 If you’re working at McDonalds, it’s a lot more than flipping burgers and asking “do you want fries with that”. Think of all those fancy buzzwords and put them on your resume and talk about them in your interviews.

 I’m no expert. I don’t have it made. This is just my way of making the best of the situations I’ve been given, and it seems to be working thus far. We’ll see.

[jessflewitt]

NOOSA -31st Jan- 15th Feb

NOOSA 30th-15th February

Can’t even explain how much we loved this place - definitely our favourite beach bum places on the east coast so far! We saw the most stunning coastline , wild dolphins- wild koala , canoed the Everglades and Fraser island was definitely a highlight of our lives, life memories and friends made there for sure. Noosa is a bit less hippie than Byron ( more up our street) and just beautiful everywhere. Apparently it’s where a lot of ozzies travel for a summer holiday. We didn’t want to leave…

When we arrived we had about 3 days to chill out before our first tour. It was baking hot so we spend most of time beach buming and trying to find water to swim in to cool down. The main beach was just stunning - we were playing in the waves on the first day and Oli shouted ‘Jess watch out!’ Then a wave tumbled over our heads before I got chance to hear what he said so I was freaking out thinking it was a shark or something! Turns out a swarm of blue bottle jelly fish had floated in - managed to get out without being stung but called it a day after that. Ended up going to Noosa spit - noosa is lined with beautiful houses along rivers ( boats parked outside like Miami) and they each have a little beach opposite where you can swim. Spent an afternoon there lounging in the water - we were sat still for too long though and both got bitten by fish!

Locals in noosa are just awesome and friendly- no different to anywhere else. We had just come off the beach and were chilling in the van having a coffee and a local came up to us giving us some shit about the crack in the window screen! English mindsets we first thought he was trying to sell us a screen or something but turns out he was just being friendly - introduced us to his daughter and we ended up chatting for about 40 minutes.

We visited the famous ’ Eumundi Market’ the next day - it was way better than we expected and we completely blew the travel budget… Oppsie. It was absolutely huge! We had to park so far away and walk in because there was just hundred of cars. Tried tapioca for the first time - great for me as I’m now GF. Grown in Brazil. Ol got a sexy new rucksack :)

Next day we did the coastal noosa national park walk and it was just stunning!

The gagaju bush camp took the next three days. 3 days canoeing the Everglades- awesome. We met the group and our leader at the supermarkets and brought all the food and drink ect we’d need , a couple of German lads we’d met the night before in a camp site were on the same trip so that was cool- drove in convoy to the camp - got shown around the hilariously shocking accommodation - (we were last dibs too because we were chatting too much - they were like handmade bamboo bunk beds with a bit of mesh hanging down you were supposed to sleep on - no mattress or anything - and Olis bit of mesh was ripped so he’d basically we sleeping on the floor haha - we ended up sleeping in the van). Did a small hike that night and saw about 10 kangaroos - two were mummies with baby Roos in their pouches was amazing too see. They let us watch standing quite close - and then the ( we assume daddy) got a bit wary and stood up towering over us on his tail so we backed off after that! Had a swim in the river when we got back and Had a fun night playing drinking games and getting to know our team for the next day.

We were up and ready to go canoeing at 7am - canoes were Canadian style with the single sided oar - and had three people in each. We were given a barrel to put our lunch and bits in - awesome day! Luckily the current was on our side so it wasn’t too difficult. The day before they had been fighting the current for the whole 16k and they looked absolutely jaded! There was some lads that were just hanging out their arses and Henry was still smashed singing the whole way so it was hilarious. We stopped off at this rope swing into the river- all the lads were doing it ( it was actually quite high and scary when you got up the ladder) I was all confident until I got up there but too late to turn back at that stage with everyone watching so just went for it! Only girl to do it though 💪. We carried on up the river to this little beach where we had lunch which was cool and then made it back for about 4pm. I learned how to steer ( the posh way by dragging the oar in the water ) by copying the Canadian guy Joe on the way back - life skillsss.

Got accidentally drunk that night on goon for the first time with this awesome German girl Kim. Never again. The next morning was a struggle but we made it out again- ( about 10 people didn’t!) shorter trip up the Everglades the opposite way. We were fighting the current day two so was much harder - half way we left the canoes on the sand and went swimming in a water hole for about an hour until we were all shaking we got got so cold!

We left that day and headed back to Noosa- found a cute little campsite close to the beach and had another few days buming round Noosa. We did the national park walk again (once wasn’t enough) and we were lucky enough to see our first wild koala and a whole pod of dolphins playing in the surf! Amazing. We got the long baords out and went all around the coast too which was cool.

Fraser Island filled our next few days and it was just UNREAL. We got a free nights stay in noomads hostel the night before and the night after the trip … So we went there on the 8th for our first briefing. Got shown lots of boring videos about how to drive safely on sand. There was about 100 girls and 4 lads so that worried us a bit - didn’t want to be stuck in a car full of girls. So we went to the bar that night will full intentions of making a bline for all the lads - that didn’t happen and we ended up spending the night talking to this Irish couple that weren't even going on our tour 🙈but just before we went to bed we bumped into nick! Got on like a house on fire & instantly decided to team up:) next morning ( our 5 year anniversary what a way to spend it !) we got the two hour bus to rainbow beach where we picked the jeeps. Met Bailey ( Canadian girl) who was ace - then two more people , Olivia ( German but South American parents and spoke Spanish) and Andreas ( from Chile). We all just clicked - spent three days tearing around the beaches with all the windows down singing our hearts out. Ace! All the stop offs were just dreamy - lake McKenzie the water is so clear you can drink it - so we did , sand is so fine you can brush you teeth with so we did, exfoliated our skin- played volley ball , made a human pyramid in the sand, Eli Creek - was like a natural lazy river and the water was ice cold ( the boys have about an hour footage of trying to feed the fish with horse flies they caught 🙈) the champagne pools were awesome- were really rough , we got hit by a wave that dragged most of us across the coral into the next pool - Lucy and I have the scars to prove it! And a fish took a chunk out of Lucys bum which was hilarious! Indian head was a small cliff we climbed up for the view - saw a stingray from the top which was cool . Saw a ship wreck and on the last day we stopped off at lake wabi which was actually my favourite of the whole lot - we hiked through the sand dunes ( which was a killer for me who was dying off a goon hangover again!) and then there was this awesome lake in the middle of the dunes - absolutely stunning. You can see turtles there so we spent a while looking for them but didn’t see any, they have the fish that eat your dead skin so we all sat in a line with the fish eating our dead skin, then our guide said he would give $50 to anyone who could catch a catfish with their bare hands so we had a go! Obviously failed but we fed them flies haha.

We named are car Toni-( before we found out the name of our guide which was Tony lol!) he made our trip he was just fantastic. Really got involved with us , full of awesome stories and knew everything there was to know about Fraser- he caught a sea snake - told us all about it and released it - even drank with us at night and chased a dingo down the beach ( such a good Australian) he catches sharks in his spare time- once caught a tiger shark - took him 16 hours - he was harnessed to his truck and he made beans on toast twice durning the time- awesome!

We were all fighting for the drivers seat but split it fairly- it was just amazing bombing along next to the sea- our hostel was pretty basic but there was a pool we could use in our down time which was cool. Would recommend it to anybody- best trip ever. We came close with a few girls from the uk in a different car too- Lucy, little and Emma.

(We attempted to GoPro video the entire canoe Everglades tour and it was ok but the videos were too short to clip- so we did it again for Fraser - literally had about 60 videos and some of them are class! So really excited to made a Fraser video whenever we get a rainy day) Slept the entire way back to Noosa and the hostel put on an after party- free pizza and drinks which was cool of them. Some pretty dire games that we got involved in accidentally that might have been funny if we were 18 ha but we didn’t care we were still so hyped from the trip.

Next day we we returned to our baby Hayley and drove up the coast to Rainbow Beach ( Again) probably would have been better to drive up and meet the guys there but then we might not have met the gang and had such a good car so hey) rainbow beach is another beach with 4x4's racing down it - it’s like a beach highway - so cool. And Its surrounded by this awesome cliff face that is actually all different colours. Walked the length of it had a coffee then drove up north again until it got dark - parked up in this really creepy campsite with only one other car ( met this German girl who was a complete drag but had dinner with her) then next day headed to Hervey Bay - this is usually a whale watching town but it’s not the season for it so there wasn’t a huge amount to sea. It’s a marine national park so you can see manatees and sea turtles and everything if your there at the right time. We walked the pier and met a fisherman who told us a spot to sea two huge sea turtles ( which we did- was cool) and then that night we had the most amazing experience. Paid $12 each to watch baby turtles hatch and run into the sea for the first time. Mon Repos is a turtle breeding beach that is patrolled every night by Rangers. As the turtles are so endangered they have a special tagging system for the ones that are high priority and the ones that return so they can track numbers - there was videos and presentations about the guy behind the whole conversation programme and it was pretty amazing listening to all the work they have done over the years. When turtles hatch they join the south east Australian current ( finding nemo lol) and they go all the way to South America - eating things like plankton and jelly fish - they are more protected from predators in the current. They don’t return until they are about 16 years old and then they stay put as they are big enough to not be a prey target form bigger fish and sharks. They only go on land to lay - and they return to the same beach they were born on ( they know where to go because when they run from the nest to the sea for the first time they made a magnetic imprint that they remember ( amazing) and they can lay up to 500 eggs at one time. The estimate is that only 1 in a 1000 make it back to the same beach! So when you see a big one it’s pretty amazing. When the female lays she does so at night and goes straight back to the sea and has nothing more to do with them- so the conservation team patrol - and when the eggs are laid they build a cage around it to stop foxes and birds of prey taking the eggs - when the baby turtles climb up through the sand they take 10 ( out of about 70 usually) if it’s us a priority mother ( so endangered or local or retuning mother ) weigh and tag the babies - and then release them. The rest in the nest are realised straight away.

When the babes are doing their run to the sea they make sure no crabs or anything take them and make sure they all reach the sea! Some get tired and need a helping hand - we got to see a priority nest being released after they had been to the lab- your not allowed to use lights are anything they are guided to the sea by natural light . They were all so tired it was so cute and when they reached the sea it took them about 6 attempted each because the waves kept washing them in - then we stayed late ( most people went home ) and we got to see another nest running to the sea - these were not priority so there was tons of them and they had loads of energy and were running to the sea - amazing. And then the conservation team dig up the nests 24 hours after the turtles climb up to check that none have been left behind - because if one gets trapped for some reason they are not able to climb on their own so they die. So we watched a ranger dig up a nest and we rescued 2! So we released them into the sea - they also count how many eggs don’t develop and check what stage of development the eggs are at so they can monitor it. Amazing experience.

The next day we drove up to 1770 - there wasn’t too much going on but had had a small Fraser reunion and also bumped into some friends from the canoeing tour. We’d planned to go surfing the next day but the conditions weren't great- also found out we can’t go inland to do the national parks up here because you need a 4x4 - still have about 10 days to kill till Whitsundays so we’re going to try and find some casual work ( fruit picking or something ) for a week.

Day of the Everglades trip - we arranged some farm work - living with a family in cairns and learning how to run their farm for the first month-12 cows- few pigs - chickens - 2 dogs and the second month we’d be running it on our own while they went on holiday to Scotland- would get accommodation - food - live in the house and 2 months of our farming signed off so we could extend our visa) we weren’t going to be earning much money but thought it would be worth it to get a chunk of our farming signed off for a good experience. Found out today that we don’t think they can provide us with all the credentials we need for it to be legal - which we’re gutted about because we were really excited- still waiting to here but pretty sure it’s not going to happen. New plan is probably try to find a small farm and suck it up for 3 months- you can earn a ton of money and means we can extend our visas if we want to once we get to Melbourne- so that’s all ongoing - bit up in the air for now.

Currently just entered croc zone! So no swimming in rivers anymore. It’s dark so about to pull up to crash. It’s the 15th Feb …. Up to date woop!