#my mom was the one who tried to sleep bake a ham

[cain-e-brookman]

Siblings and Questions Tag!

Thanks for the tag, @topazadine! I really enjoyed a look into your characters here! i'm gonna do this for the only two sibling characters i have to date that are both still living and also not a complete spoiler but this will be their first introduction! say hello to Hauk and Hesperos!

1. Who looks the most like Dad?

So they're actually not blood related! Hesperos was adopted into Hauk's family after being lost at sea. Hauk and his family are all Water Mages from Vizia, while Hesperos is a Sky Mage from Pelyra

2. Who looks the most like mom?

See above

3. Who eats the most?

Hesperos. Without question. Sky Mages are broken into 8 clans: one for each of the Sky God's children, and Hesperos is from the clan dedicated to the Sky's oldest daughter, the Goddess of Lightning, Khrou, His clan is extremely dedicated to their magic, as Khrou's power is difficult to wield, so Hesperos has a much deeper well of magic, thus needs more energy. Although Hauk is also a Mage, his is a more passive part of his life.

4. Who has been in the weirdest situations?

Hesperos. Not only is his young life marked by betrayal and pain, he's an absolute ham as an adult. Like a theater kid on steroids. Drama to the Nth degree. The crazy stories he could tell would melt the face off a lesser man. Unless Hauk's father is nearby in which, he doesn't know what an alcohol is at all, no sir.

5. Who sleeps the most?

This is really becoming Hesperos' post. With great power comes a great need to take a nap. He burns more calories asleep than a human would running a marathon for the same amount of time. Lots of food. Lots of sleep.

7. Most stable romantic life?

Now it's Hauk's turn! It is a tight race, though. Neither are exactly playboys, but Hesperos' two serious relationships were a bit tumultuous. Hauk's only been in one, and it seems like it's stuck.

8. Worst habit of each one?

If you asked each other, Hauk would tell you Hesperos' worst trait is deflecting anything that might look like confrontation or giving too much of himself away with humor. Hesperos would tell you Hauk's worst trait it stealing his hairbrush. (But it's actually taking on everyone's problems like they're his own.)

9. Who's the most dramatic?

Hesperos. No doubt. A running gag in his house is- Hesperos (who has been abandoned lost at sea, nearly drowned, and spent most of his childhood being a foreigner who could hardly speak the common language with people who didn't understand his culture, after finding out a dinner party was canceled): this is the worst day of my life Hauk and his father, exasperated: No it isn't.

10. Who had a weird phase?

Outside of normal teenage weirdness, neither, really.

11. Best cook of the family?

Hauk. He hates doing it, though. If pressed, he'd rather bake, but even then, he finds the whole thing boring and rather not worth it.

12. Best memory together?

Their first meeting. At a festival, where the Ocean god took the wishes of his people out to sea to return those desires to land, Hauk wished for the only thing he ever wanted. A little brother. Hauk's mother died in childbirth, and his father swore he'd never take another wife, so he didn't have the heart to tell his son, a brother simply wasn't in the cards. Half a year later, Hauk's father rescued Hesperos off the last vestiges of his broken raft. At first, he tried to find someone else who had the ability to take young Hesperos in. He was a single father already, and Hesperos was a traumatized child who spoke almost no Common and who'd let no one near him.....except Hauk. The first time they met, Hauk in all his innocense and naivete, brought Hesperos sweets, because "the morning maids always bake the best sweet breads, but you have to get them while they're still warm." For someone who'd only seen cruelty for months on end, Hesperos decided immediately that Hauk was an ally and a friend. After that, they were inseparable. One night, when tucking Hauk into bed, his father found them both in Hauk's room, Hesperos under the covers asleep while Hauk read to him from a book. Hauk asked if it was okay for him to sleep with him that night, and Hauk's father said just for the night, already doubting his resolve on not taking him in. Watching his son tuck the other little boy in, he couldn't help but ask, "You really love him, don't you?" to which Hauk replied, "Of course I do. He's my little brother. The Ocean brought him to me." Hauk's father officially took Hesperos in as his ward shortly after.

13. Worst memory together?

Mmmmmmmmmmmthats a spoiler. Second worst is the night Hesperos almost died and that's about all i can say about that incident too.

14. Dream trip together

Growing up with someone who has a Shadow Mage as a father figure, they've heard so many stories of the Ixoryn Marshes. They've both always wanted to go to Proussaux Suprae during the Parade of Dead Kings to see the fate of the Shadow King that given decade.

15. Would you rather not be able to shower for a month or have the same clothes for a month?

Hauk: the same clothes. Not being able to bathe would go against his religious obligations. Hesperos: is disgusted you would ask either of him. Genuinely weighs which is worse: being stinky or being boring. Eventually agrees with his brother.

16. Who's the older one?

Hauk, but by Mage standards, not by a whole lot.

17. Describe each other in three words

Hauk of Hesperos: vain, loyal, dramatic Hesperos of Hauk: steady, kind, patient

18. Role model?

Hauk's is his father. He trained under him to take over the family estate and it's business. He values his father's patience, resilience, and level head. Hesperos' is his grandfather. The once head of their clan, Hesperos believes his grandfather was the most honorable leader since the start of their history.

19. Who usually has the worst ideas?

This depends entirely on which brother is in current possession of the shared brain cell. I often think of the line from The Prince of Egypt, paraphrased "You were always getting us into trouble. Then again, you were always there to get us out of it."

20. A GIANT insect is on the wall, who's taking care of it?

Depends on the insect. If it's a like big gross beetle, Heperos will use his magic to blow it out the window. If it's a spider, and they're visiting a particular one of Hauk's father's business partners, they'll very surreptitiously get rid of it in whatever way is quieter so a particular someone doesn't see it.

this took a little longer than i'd like because work and then today i did a lot of house work that still needed to be done from the move. but! there they are. i'll taggggggg

@illarian-rambling @spideronthesun @emrowene and i'll leave the tag open if anyone else wants to! please tag me if you do!

[blurredcolour]

Holiday Tag Game

Thank you so much for the tag @ronsparky !

It's Festivus for the rest of us so grab your Chanukah bush, your mistletoe, your pagan ritual or whatever brings you joy and come gather round the fire and celebrate your pocket friends

Favourite nickname you’ve ever been given?

Let me see…probably “squeaks” because I quite honestly make that sound when I’m startled.

Where are you located?

Canada

What season is it where you are now?

Winter - though it’s a weird warm one this year

Favourite tradition this time of year?

Baking with my mom or gathering with friends and family

Favourite holiday food?

This cheese ball my mom makes from the 70s, man it’s so good. That or all the baking!

Mulled wine, eggnog or hot apple cider?

Eggnog

Turkey, ham or nut roast (Or Tofurkey?)?

Turkey

Would you rather spend the december holidays in: a cabin in the woods surrounded by snow, or a house on the beach with sun and sand?

Having tried both most definitely cabin in the woods surrounded by snow. Just doesn’t feel like the holidays without snow for me.

Are you pro-snow or anti-snow?

Pro-snow!

Have you ever built a snowman?

Many many

Skiing or snowboarding?

Neither - tried snowboarding when I lived in Japan, I’m not meant to go downhill that fast it was terrifying

Do you decorate for the holidays?

Yes, I have two huge boxes of decorations for a 700sq ft apartment

Favourite holiday movie?

Oh this is tough! At the moment it’s going to be a tie between While You Were Sleeping and White Christmas

Favourite holiday fanfic?

I’m gonna be weird and put one of my own here- What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve (Austin Butler fic). I really loved writing that one.

If you were to star in a hallmark movie, who would be your love interest?

Ooo choices, choices. I’m going to pick Glen Powell.

Zero-pressure tags: @venus-haze / @lostloveletters , @blueberry-ovaries, @elvisabutler , @steph-speaks

[spoondragon]

Sleeping with the Band of Brothers Boys

I couldn’t sleep last night so this happened instead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If I missed any of your faves or you just want to add some of your own sleepy Bob headcanons, please feel free to add onto this!

Webgott

Web tosses and turns, changing his position roughly a dozen times before he falls asleep and then a dozen more after he does. (This is the origin of his legendary bedhead.) The only time that he's truly still - beautiful face slack, mouth predictably agape, drooling on the pillow - is after a good, hard, thorough fucking. Joe woks hard to regularly achieve this result. How else is he gonna get any sleep? A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

Lieb secretly loves being the little spoon but he will punch you right in the dick if you ever breathe a word about it to anyone. He tells himself it's because he likes the body heat, which is part of it. He's a skinny fucker and he feels the cold worse than anybody else. But more than that, he likes feeling safe and protected, wrapped in Web's buff arms, his soft body fur warm against his back. But again, fist meets dick if you say a fucking word.

Speirton

Speirs steals the covers. All the covers. The sheet, the comforter, the bedspread, the throw blanket that was on the chair in the other room. He flatly denies it of course, even as he peers sleepily out of his blanket burrito. Tired of waking up shivering, Lip starts bringing his own covers, but of course in the morning those have been absorbed into the blanket burrito too. With a long-suffering sigh, he tells Ron that he might have to start sleeping on the couch or just not sleeping over at all. The next morning Lip wakes up covered in sweat, wrapped up in Ron and every blanket on the bed. He has been absorbed into the blanket burrito too.

Lip is a deep sleeper. Once he's out, he is OUT. He can sleep through anything. A train. An earthquake. A chainsaw. Ron knows. He's done experiments. The only things that seem to wake Lip are his alarm clock, the sun and Robbie. Somehow his tiny cries have Lip up and moving in an instant. Whether he's truly awake at these times, is debatable however. As the bottle of baby formula in the toaster will attest.

Baberoe

Gene is a light sleeper. His time as a combat medic has conditioned him to wake at the slightest disturbance and he does, often. He will jerk awake at Babe's sudden snore or the radiator clicking on and then that’s it. He's awake. Sometimes Babe is startled to see Gene already sitting up in bed, pale and wide eyed, still but vigilant, a thrum of taught energy coiled inside him like a compressed spring. "You're like a damn owl. Jesus!" Babe will mutter, hand on his heart. Gene just smiles sheepishly at him. Babe will then pull Gene down beside him, until his head is on his chest and he’ll tell him all about the crazy dream he just had while stroking Gene's dark, silky hair.

Babe has vivid, bizarre dreams. Sometimes they're bad dreams (Julian reaching for him in the snow as a pack of mutant zombie wolves devour him alive). Sometimes they're good dreams (walking down an aisle made of springy pink Jell-O to a smiling, glowing? Cajun doctor as his family and friends smile and cheer around them). Sometimes they're just... weird (having a heated discussion with Abe Lincoln about snickerdoodles vs gingersnaps while dressed in lady's lingerie). He really never knows what it's going to be. Gene keeps telling him that he should keep a dream journal but Babe doesn't really see the point. He doesn't have any trouble remembering them and Gene’s the only person he wants to tell about them anyway.

Winnix

Dick sleeps in full-on grandpa pajamas, complete with socks in the winter, which Nix finds abhorrent. He doesn't understand how that much fabric can possibly be comfortable to sleep in. He'd rather add three more blankets to the bed than put on one stitch of clothing. Plus, the fact that Dick is denying him access to his glorious naked body is just rude. ("Nix we're just going to be sleeping, what does it matter?" he argues. "Well if you're wearing 12 layers of clothes that's certainly all we're gonna be doing!") However, Nix soon discovers that if he wears Dick out completely with athletic sex, Dick is too exhausted to get dressed for bed, just collapsing in a naked, sweaty heap like God intended. Eventually, Dick is broken of his pajama habit. The socks, unfortunately, are still a thing.

Nix is a night owl and doesn't so much fall asleep as pass out, usually not before 2 am. It's not that he doesn't get sleepy. Dick will see his eyes getting heavy and suggest maybe he come to bed, only for Nix to argue that he's not tired like a petulant child avoiding nap time. Dick goes to bed early but finds it difficult to fall asleep alone in the big, cold bed. Eventually, he tells Nix that he doesn't care how late he stays up so long as he does it in bed next to him. Nix agrees, as he usually does to suggestions involving Dick and a bed. And sometimes, the sound of Dick's steady breathing lulls Nix to sleep as early as midnight.

Luztoye

Luz talks and even laughs in his sleep. The first time it happened, Joe thought he was fucking with him, making some kind of joke about purple detergent that he wouldn't explain. It irritated Joe to no end and he had trouble falling asleep. He was moody and gruff the next morning (even more so than normal for a Tuesday) to Luz's utter mystification. The next time it happened, Joe got so irritated that he turned on the light to confront Luz, only to find him obviously deeply asleep. Joe then starts writing down all the absurd shit that Luz says in his sleep ("Colonel Sink doesn't even LIKE petunias... Only if you pleeeease Mr. Beauregard... Fourteen yellow spinks.") and starts telling Luz about it in the morning. It becomes kind of fun after that, even though Joe still pretends he thinks it's weird and annoying. However, that attitude changes the night he overhears Luz telling Rita Hayworth about all the different ways Joe is amazing.

Joe likes to cuddle. He fucking hates that word but he guesses it's true. Touching is definitely better than talking. It's a lot less complicated. So, when no one else is around, like in bed, he likes to touch. It helps him express things he has trouble saying otherwise. Luz has never fallen asleep without Joe touching him somewhere – a hand resting on his bicep, a leg tangled with his, an arm slung around his waist. Sometimes Luz will fall asleep as Joe traces idle patterns on the skin of his back. That might be the best. Or maybe it's when he plays with his hair...

Bull/Martin (Bulltin?)

Bull snores – loudly. Like, really loud. Buzz saw loud. Jet engine loud. Can-still-be-heard-under-three-pillows loud. At first Johnny hates it and shakes Bull awake the moment it starts, giving him the patented Johnny Martin Don't Make Me Kill You with My Bare Hands look. But after a while the sound becomes an insanely loud kind of white noise that Johnny finds he can't sleep without.

Johnny has been dubbed Sargeant Starfish by the only person on Earth brave enough to do so. Bull is constantly amazed that such a small person can take up such an insane amount of space in a bed. He's not even surprised when he wakes up curled into a (not so) tiny ball at the foot of the bed like a dog. Johnny's been taking up all the space in his world for a while now. Why should it be any different in his bed?

Bonus

Buck sleeps with a teddy bear inexplicably named Mr. Jingles. He doesn't even think it's weird. Which is the weirdest part.

Malarkey sleep walks. And sometimes sleep bakes. He scared the crap out of Muck and Penkala the first time that happened. He wandered into the kitchen and started trying to bake a fully frozen ham still wrapped in plastic. The smoke alarm woke them up thank God, but they put a special lock on his door after that.

Skinny can and will sleep anywhere. In class. On public transportation. In waiting rooms. During car rides longer than 10 minutes (even if he's driving). He doesn't know why. He gets plenty of sleep at night. His brain just seems to see any idle moment as an opportunity to catch more z's.

Perconte wears a mouth guard to sleep because he grinds his teeth at night. His diligent oral hygiene is a result of all the time he spent at the orthodontist as a kid.

Shifty can lucid dream. He didn’t even know that’s what you called it, but there you go. When he was a boy he kept having the same nightmare over and over about a huge black panther chasing him. He came to be real sick of it. So he decided to shoot the thing. Every night before he fall asleep he’d concentrate real hard on what he wanted to happen. At first he’d have his rifle in the dream but it wouldn’t fire. Then after a while it would fire but he’d miss. Finally, after several weeks, he shot the panther right between the eyes. Only, as it fell to the ground it turned into a black sock. After that, he could pretty much decide what he wanted to dream about.

[passivenovember]

Sometimes I get really high and cry about how I don’t have anything from my childhood home. So here’s this.

WARNINGS FOR: mentions of suicide, Billy healing from the incident at Starcourt.

--

He’s never been fed by what is inherently sentimental. Even as a little boy, those precious creatures that lived on the highest shelf in his heart were easily destroyed or ripped away by the person he was becoming. Stuffed toys fell to pieces under the heat of his anger, the toxic potion that was brewing under the surface of his skin ate away at the rose-colored hue surrounding his childhood home to the point of absolute degradation. 

Billy doesn't remember a time when he longed for the sanctity of his bedroom. For the pale yellow sunlight streaming past blood stained Thomas the Train curtains, or the box of broken toys that Neil had left alone. He doesn't remember when it happened, when the flip switched and his longing went from missing Saturday morning cartoons in his parents bed to simply missing his mother and all the things she had taken when she jumped off the roof.

It wasn't always like that. Billy remembers something else. He remembers a blanket that smelled like cinnamon toast crunch, adorned with microscopic holes he liked to such his thumb through. He remembers a set of roller blades the color of crushed mustard seeds; Neil taught him to skate. No one knows that, no one remembers, but Billy. Does, he. Remembers strong fingers laced with his own, holding tightly while Billy figured out how to maneuver the cracks in the sidewalk. 

Billy is haunted by a time when his fathers hands were good for other things. 

--

Before Hawkins. Before that night when the demon punched a hole through his chest, Billy had been giving things away. To lighten the load, he supposes, that which had become unbearable.

First it was his skateboard. 

Max wanted it.

At the time he didn't think it was as simple as all that; his bitchy kid sister begging, day in and day out for access to the magic carpet that sat entombed in Billy's closet. He hadn't used it in years, ever a slave to the bright blue ocean, but it didn't matter. It was the principal of the thing, the skateboard to his kneecap.

Max took and took and took until Billy had nothing left to give. She said you don't even use it anymore and Billy said doesn't matter, you can't skate.

Neil told him it could be good for bonding.

Neil told him Max was a good kid, she deserved to have something of her own in their house on Willowbrook Avenue.

Neil told him to hand it over before I stick it up your ass, kid.

So Billy ground his teeth together and tried to push down the aching emptiness at tossing away the last thing his grandmama had given him before she passed away. It was the principal of the thing--if Ruthann were still around she'd tell him to let the kid have it. Let her have something of her own, so. He polished its bearings and left it outside her bedroom door, pretended to read until she came knocking an hour later with confusion twisting her freckled face to shit.

You're sure I can have it. She asked.

And.

Yeah.  I'll teach you. 

He wonders if Max remembers those afternoons in the driveway that morphed into weekends at the skatepark with Max scuffing up the wheels and Billy tapping into his thin line of patience. Wonders if she's plagued by the memory of hidden smiles and misplaced affection, because. Billy had thought it would hurt more, giving away a piece of his childhood like that, but. He had long since stopped attaching emotional worth to things that broke. Things that crumbled.

He wonders if Max remembers a time when his hands were good for other things.

--

Billy made a habit of throwing away the things that weighed him down. 

The skateboard, the blanket that smelled like cereal milk, he thought all of it made him weak. The more shit he had that mattered to him the more he had to lose, so. Every Spring Billy would wrap his fingers around the mouth of a big black trash bag and lighten his load. Scoop armfuls of his childhood into the abyss that always, somehow, incredibly operated as a portal to Max's room.

Sometimes he wondered if she even had a personality or if everything she had, everything she was, came directly from Billy's dumpster.

One man's trash, and all that. 

She wore his old shirts. Read his books, hung discarded posters of naked chick's on the insides of her closet doors for some fucking reason, and. In a weird way Billy felt like maybe he was being immortalized. Every phase of his life was shone back at him like the surface of a lake, or a shiny new penny on the dashboard of the Camaro, and he felt good. Useful, for his trash becoming someone's gold. 

So Billy kept tossing things out.

Reorganizing and downsizing until his room looked like a generic movie set for a troubled teen. Every weekend Billy packed the little pieces of himself into neat trash bags, tying the lip closed and leaving them for max. Nestled at the foot of her door, like a bargain brand Christmas gift that was not at all what she had asked for. Gifts that came 52 times a year.

The bags always vanished. Billy felt heavy and light. Heavy and light. In the end he wasn't sad to see it go.

--

Maybe it was just a side effect of growing up in the big, empty house on the hill and fighting the incessant need to fill it with shit but Steve Harrington was a packrat. The kid never got rid of anything. Before Starcourt. Before that night when the demon punched a hole through his chest, Billy would tease him about it.

What, like you need five binders full of empty laminate pages?

Steve's tongue would poke out of the corner of his mouth while his fingertips brushed the offended plastic. I'm going to start scrapbooking. 

And that was is usual way, to find an explanation, a inarguable reason for all the junk in his life, but.

Billy thought it was okay to have things around for comfort.

Wasn't really his style, but it was Steve's and Billy didn't stop the kid from collecting whatever he could get those slim fingers on. Old NATARI cartages, broken HAM radio antenna's, torn polaroid's, annual Moms of Loch Nora Bake sale t-shirts; he kept everything in case an old timey push mower could prove itself to be useful.

Before that night when the demon punched a hole in his chest, Billy would smirk. What sad sack wants a MILF's face on his chest?

Steve just shrugged his shoulders. Someone could need it.

And Billy just snorted, because.

Harrington's a weird guy.

Thoughtful and pretty and so, so fucking weird.

When they brought Billy home from the hospital he slept in a shirt with Karen Wheelers face on it, every night for a week.

Funny how it all comes back around.

--

He spends a lot of time in bed with the covers pulled up under his chin. Draped in Steve's ridiculous knit sweaters and thick woolen socks because everything is cold, now. As if winter has settled rough and desperate into the very marrow of his bones and even though the fabric rubs too harshly against the healing rise of his stitched skin, Billy can't shed even a single layer for fear of freezing to death.

That's what it had felt like Before Starcourt. Before the monster punched a hole through his chest, when it just had its fingers inside his skull.

Endless winter.

Steve buys every type of heated blanket on the market. Searches high and low for expensive down t-shirts that will help you feel more comfortable, but. Billy doesn't even remember what that's supposed to feel like.

Steve says comfort feels like sleeping in on Saturday mornings because you don't have anywhere to be. Home sounds like your mother fixing pancakes just before lunch time but--oh. Everyone always remembers half a second too late. Billy tries to smile, tries to accept the help Steve gives him--he wears the sweaters and keeps the socks on after his morning bath even though he's not really a sock person because Steve is so hopeful.

Bright.

Steve smiles over the mug of hot cocoa he fixes Billy every morning and hopes. If we start the day warm, who knows?

Billy doesn't have the heart to tell him.

--

Steve spends a lot of time in bed. Plastered to Billy's skin--chest to back because Billy needs to feel like he's protecting something, after Starcourt. After that night when the demon punched a hole through his chest. 

Sometimes Billy feels like Maxine. 

Stealing bits and pieces from someone's garbage can. Here he is, sleeping in Steve's bed wearing Steve's clothes taking up such a large part of Steve's life, and.

Pretty Boy just snuggles closer and lends his warmth in more ways than one.

Billy doesn't always know how to handle it when those milky brown eyes watch him roll around under the covers until his body finally feels at peace. Every night Billy closes his eyes says the same thing. "I can be out of here by next week, if you--" Afraid to look for fear that he'll see relief reflected back at him.

Every night Steve says the same thing in return. "You're my whole world now, Billy." 

As if that's supposed to get the car back on track. As if Billy hasn't veered off the road and crashed into a tree every single day since--

"Maybe it would make you feel better if, you know." Steve shuffles impossibly closer, the hot line of him charring Billy's skin even through the layers of wool. "If you had something familiar."

"You're familiar."

Steve's flesh burns even hotter. Eyes shining even bright, at that. Something almost like love. "I meant something from your childhood."

Billy rolls onto his side.

Steve moves with him without even thinking about it--chest to back because Steve needs to feel useful, after Starcourt. After that night when Billy hit the floor and the light went out of his eyes. Billy's chest rises against the palm of Steve's hand, where it's pressed against him. Steve will never get tired of that motion.

"I don't have anything from my childhood."

Which. "Not even at home?"

"This is home now." Billy sounds like he doesn't want to talk about it, but.

Steve can't bring himself to care. Or maybe stop caring. "I meant at Neil's."

"Got rid of all that shit." He can hear the tremor in Steve's voice, when the boy finally finds it.

"Neil got rid of your--"

"No." Billy says simply. "I did."

He can hear the wheels turning in that beautiful head. Steve swallows, the movement palpable in the thick night air. "But. Don't you miss it?"

After a while Billy shakes his head in the darkness, curls catching on the plaid pillowcase. It takes Steve a moment to decipher what it means, how it makes him feel that Billy can so easily toss away the things that no longer serve him. 

They're quiet for a while. So long that Billy's breathing goes deep and even, a clear indicator that he's fallen asleep. Steve knows it won't last long, knows the nightmares wake him up, and.

Steve always stays awake through the first three to give Billy something familiar to hold onto.

[shadowknight465]

The Wrath of Life

Light. Light of all colours in rainbow except for purple.  Surrounded by a golden aura. It was beautiful yet he is afraid.  When he tried to touch it. It burned him. Causing him screech a unholy sound with repeated phrases like. "Sinful creature and True spawn of hell."

There was a knock at the door.

Do these people have a life outside of bullying me?

He thought as he opened the door.  Except that the person was not who he is expecting, in fact he doesn't think he has ever seen him before. Before he could the stranger's name. He barge in straight to the guest room. "What a lovely house you two have, Nightmare." He said putting down his things . "Do you mind if you can run hot bath for me?" He asked.

"Um. First of all I don't even know you.  Second you can't just go to people's houses and expect them to treat you like royalty. " He said crossing his arms. The stranger look at him. "I thought Dream already told you about me." Nightmare thought of what Dream said before he left. "Neil?"

"That's me."

"Hold on if you are really Neil then give me proof."

Neil removed his cloak. Revealing that the cat has lost an arm. Nightmare felt guilty.  " Don't put on a sad face little boy.  You are just being protective of your home, and that I applaud you." Neil woke Nightmare with his thoughts. Neil then smile. " I guess I forgot that Dream told me you're not very trustful with strangers." Neil scratch his head "Speaking of which ,  Do you happen to know a person name Hubert Cumberdale or better known as Salad Fingers?" Nightmare gulped.  It's been awhile since he seen Hurbert his first and possibly only friend.  Last time he ever saw him was the time he had to take Hubert to the asylum. "Yes. I've know him." He answered. 

"Hubert wanted me tell you thank you." Neil responded.

"For what?" Nightmare asked.  He doesn't remember giving Hubert any kindness in fact he thinks what he did was horrible. "Because of your actions Huber is now married with a beautiful wife they had a lovely child." Neil responded.  Nightmare sigh in relief. " So I was worry  for nothing?"

"Yup. Now can you please run me a hot bath?" Neil responded. Nightmare decided this time he would run him as hot bath.

~~~~~

Dinner was not like what he was expecting.  Instead of him cooking it was Neil. But at least it was good. Baked beans with roasted ham. With a cup of wine. He felt comfortable knowing the person living with him for a while is friendly. "Hey Night, what time is it.?" Neil asked. Nightmare looked outside. "Well it is dark." He said. "Well time for me to hit the sack." Neil got up and went to his bedroom. 

Maybe I should go to sleep as well.

Nightmare thought. He took of his shirt. Brush his teeth with a dry corn cob. And went the his bed.  Falling asleep as soon his head hit the pillow. However instead of his normal nightmares this one felt wrong. He was wearing the same clothes Moon was except it was mostly black and sliver. He has markings all of him and he was behind a female paladin. Her skin was kissed by the sun itself. Her short hair looks like fire and her eyes were a red and yellow gradient.

"Sun. Is something wrong?" He spoke, but it wasn't his voice.  The paladin said nothing. "Sun?" The paladin turn with a flaming sword in her hand. "What are you doing?" He said backing away slowly, but the girl's eyes turned snake-like. And she jumped to him. Stabbing him with her blade. He quickly got the blade off of him screaming.  "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" The girl didn't answer.  Instead she showed her snake-like fangs smiling. He knew this was a fight so he summoned his unprepared scythe. The girl called for help claiming Moon was a traitor again and all the women that came looks familiar.  "But Sun. Didn't Moon said-" One of girls tried the reason. "She lied to us again." She cut her off. Nightmare felt betrayal, but he doesn't understand why. None of the girls responded and attacked him. One tore his mask and shot him in his missing eye with a arrow.  A mix of magic and weapons overpowered him. He knows he can kill everyone if he takes his gloves, but he made a vow to never used his bare hands. So he decided to do the next self defense.  By placing a cursed on them. One where they are trapped in limbo. He place his scythe on the ground and chant in latin. However the paladin attacked him in the back. He felt his life draining from him as he hears a man scream. "Mi Nina." He shut his eyes for the final time with the feeling of wrath and sorrow.

Nightmare woke up in a cold sweat. As he looked around he saw that the scythe Moon gave him was with breaking. Eventually turning a bit bigger with a moth at the bottom. 

What just happened?

He thought. Maybe another vision? He eventually fell back to sleep. He'll think about it in the morning.

~~~~

The autumn harvest festival has arrived and Nightmare put on his more regal garment. Neil was getting a few beers and the townsfolk had forgot he existed.  He was thinking about looking into the lore of the festival until a mysterious stanger showed up wearing strange garments.  She was pretty however.  Skin that was kiss by the sun, flaming hair that's been put up by a high ponytail.  A gold-red mask covering half her face, but not fully her scar. 

The priest was the first to got up to her. "Hello madam." He said.

"Olá" She responded.  "Huh?"

"I said hello in my native tongue." She answered.

"Oh. Anyways  What a pretty thing like you brings in our beautiful village?" He said.

Here he goes again trying to groom someone.

Nightmare thought as he rolled his eyes.  He look at her again and felt off. Like he met her before.

It wasn't long till she spotted him. She walks towards him.  Later squinting her eye. "M-Moonie?" She asked almost crying. Nightmare felt awkward.  "No, I'm Nightmare." He said. She blinked. "Oh my mistake, you just reminded me of an old friend of mine." She said as she walk away whispering "Eu sinto Muito.". 

Why do I feel unsafe around her?

Nightmare asked himself.

"You best keep an eye on her." Nightmare heard a familiar voice.  He turned and saw Nox in disguise.

"What are you doing here?" Nightmare asked. "Errands." Nox reply.

"Hey, Nox can I have a word with you?" Nightmare asked. Nox set the large sack he was carrying down. "What is it?"

"That's scythe Moon gave me.  Is it perhaps any chance curse?"

"What makes you say that?" Nox reply. "Last night I had a dream where I was murdered.  But it wasn't me at all." Nightmare answer. "Maybe the scythe didn't like you." Nox said. Nightmare could feel the jealous aura coming from Nox.

What's make that scythe so important to him?

He thought. "I think there's something that you're not telling me.  In fact ever since we first met I could sense you have some grudge against me and I don't know why." Nightmare said. Nox glared at him than he towered over him getting ready to punch him. Yet he didn't.  Instead he just sighed. "Moon's soul stuck in it. And I don't want anything bad happen to him." Nightmare had seen this behavior before.  In both real life and in his books mostly his romantic novels. "Are you telling me that you're..." Nightmare begin. "No. Not like that." Nox begins to plea. "In love with him?.." Nightmare finished.  He's no love expert, but  He can tell Nox is in love with Moon. Nox blushed a purple hue before covering his face. "Look me and Moon first met we had a rocky beginning.  I was task with killing death by W.D Gaster. I would have succeeded if that man didn't spot me. When we met again  It turns out that both of us aren't so different after all and.." Nox stops himself and put his arm around his chest. "He was the only person I could talk to about these feelings of hate on being born with a uncomfortable body." Even though Nightmare can't understand he felt bad for Nox. "So what do you think about that dream I had? Does it mean something?" Nightmare asked trying to change the subject.  "I don't know myself. And I read all of Moon's books and scrolls." Nox answered. Nightmare watch Nox pack up. "Where are you going?" Nightmare asked. "Home. Hecate freaks out being alone at midnight." Nox replied. Nightmare took a breath.  Then music became louder and more vibrant, with the lights and fire becoming brighter and more warm. He turn and saw the stranger dancing with the strong man. Something doesn't seem right. Usually the strong man would refuse to dance for anyone, but the little girl he was targeting.  And he could've swore he saw scales of a snake on the stranger. The stranger later took the man to a small alley.  Nightmare thought that the man is just showing her around town. So he didn't pay much attention. He decided to try out the bobbing for apples he saw a couple of people did.  He should known better than to trust everyone when they pushed his head into the water. Luckily the little ones are making smores next to its fire they made themselves so maybe he can rest there.  As he headed to the campfire the little boy with the abusive mother grabbed him. "Nightmare, I don't feel comfortable with that girl."

"What girl?" Nightmare asked.

"The girl dancing with my mom." The boy pointed out. Nightmare took a look and saw that the stranger with the boy's mother.

Wasn't she with the strong man?

He thought. He turned to boy. "I'll keep a close eye on them while you have fun with your friends. Alright?" The boy nodded. Nightmare walks towards the dancers, but made sure that both of them can't spot him. He watch as the stranger convinced the abusive mother to go to the alley. Once there the stranger carefully removed the other woman's clothes. Nightmare thought they were going to court with each other so he turned away embarrassed. Even if he wasn't there the two women would eventually be found, and be hanged for committing homosexuality witchcraft. He left to tell the boy he might be getting two moms if they can convince the court. To his surprise the boy didn't pay no mind to it. In fact the boy just ask if it's okay with God. He doesn't know how reply due to him not being religious.  So they change the topic. Eventually Nightmare forgot about the stranger. Later he got tried and decided he had enough partying for tonight. As he went back home he heard a scream next to him. He turn to where the scream was and saw the unimaginable.

Everyone that danced with the stanger died in pools of blood and a demon snake mantis fire thing licking some from her hands. Nightmare backed away slowly until a woman scream caught the creature's attention. She smile and dash past Nightmare and grabbed the woman and begins to feast on her. By making her paralyze with the vemon in her fangs. Then she gutted her with her teeth. Later riping her limb from limb until she was nothing more than a pool of blood. Worst of all everyone saw it. While Nightmare ran.

Is that a Solarite?

He thought, but someone grabbed him and push him towards her. The Solerite took notice and held him down. Nightmare closed his eyes and hope that the death will be quick, except it never came. Instead she froze in place and is beginning to cry blood. Then stopped. "Você conhece o Nim?" She said.

"W-What?" Nightmare asked. "I said. Do you know Nim? You know that apple tree dryad?" She said.

"Yes. She's my mother." He said. She glared, but not at him. "Essa vadia...I know she would do this. But never to her own son."  She muttered.  "Nightmare, did you summoned this..thing?" A man yelled. "No. I barely even kno-" He was cut off. "As if you weren't evil enough you destroyed a sacred ceremony. " Nightmare look down.

Are they that stupid?

He thought. "Wait, I cause the massacre.  Not him. And how is he a part of it?" The solerite asked. "Didn't he summoned you?" Someone else asked. "No. I came by going on a boat by myself. " She answered.  "Well he bleeds black blood." A woman said. "I have a close friend who bleeds black blood and he would never harm someone unless he has too or is provoked." She replied. The solarite stood up and allowed Nightmare to stand up. Then she put her hand on his shoulder.  Surprisingly it didn't burn him. "Are you a scapegoat?" She asked. Nightmare took a deep breath.  "Yes." She turns to village.  "Raise your hand if you still think he cause the massacre?" Not surprisingly almost all of village raise their hands. "Good thing my pets love barbecues." She whispered. "Now come to me if you think he is innocent." All the children and some of villagers came forward despite their loved ones pleas and threats. She came up to them and pat them all on their heads. Later did the same to Nightmare. "Who are you?" Someone said. The solarite smile. "I am the wrath of life." She said as she turns into a snake and begins slithering away. Many tried catch her, but she was too fast. And those that did hands were burnt to a crisp. Nightmare took the opportunity to run. He went home grabbed Moon's scythe and spent the night at the in-hill. Planning to talk to Moon about her and about that dream.

[popculturebuffet]

Green Eggs and Ham: “Train” Review or A Little Better Now (Patreon Review for Emma Fici)

Hello you happy people and all aboard! We’re back on the Green Eggs and Ham Train for a Train themed episode. Train. As you can tell I like trains... admitely I don’t see enough episodes et on them and I don’t buy books or obess on them but I like the idea of a train, the comfort, the use of a mode of travel that was once common but is now simply used on occasion with the dawn of air travel, and it confining our heroes to a smaller space with limited room to move. it’s good stuff. I even tolerae the band train... I mean yes their music is okay at best, but the lyrics.. are wonderfully delightfully insane. Who else would use a garbage bag as a genuine romantic metaphor?

When last we left off things ere a bit ehhhhhhhhhhh: Sam went from delightfully quirky with some issues ot adress to annoying, and Michelle went from kin dof a bitch ot ENTIRELY THAT BITCH. Outside of Guy’s mental breakdown/heatstroke episode involving hallucinations of green eggs and ham, yes that did in fact happen, it wasn’t much to write home about and I worried the series simply had a good PILOT but the series itself wasn’t going to be fun sit through. 

If I was right or I was rilla.. will have to wait till after the cut. But first as always i’d like to thank the person who payed for this episode Emma Fici. Emma is one of my closest friends and one of two patreon patreons. If you’d like a reivew of your choice eveyr month guarnateed, then please hop over to patreon.com/popculturebuffet and back me at the 5 dollar level. You also get access to my exclusive discord where I ocasoinally post about work in progress stuff and tlak to my falns, to pick a short any time I do one and EXCLUSIVE review, as well as helping me hit my stretch goals. So line up, sign up then join me under the cut. 

So we pick up where we left off with Guy hurtling into a lake. Eh I dunno i’ve heard being naked ina  lake is pretty neat. 

All you’d have to do is take off the hat and your there. But Sam saves him wiht the weird train of hats he put at the end of the car for some reason, and our heroes are saved.. but down a vehicle. Oh and Sam’s vehiclular neglgence costs a bunch of fish their home.

And our heroes are without a car and Guys at the end of his rope with Sam.. I mean granted he’s been there since he met the guy but it’s down to like the tiniest thred, not helped by Sam casually stealing his wallet to pay for train tickets depsite Guy , UNDERSTANDABLY, not wanting to hang out with the guy who has stolen with him, gotten him implicate din animal trafficing and dosen’t really respect personal space. Also it’s taken me embarassingly long to remember Micheal Douglas played my boy Hank Pym in the Ant Man and the Wasp films. Seroiusly I don’t know HOW I forgot that, him being aged up and thus unable to do ANY of the things he is constnatly denied credit for in canon (Founding the avengers, being the first ant man.. and the first goliath and the first yellow jacket and the first giant man.. and the only doctor pym...).. but instead the film kept his troubled nature and ego, but removed the domestic abuse (which is something I will not go into but needless to say the comics version went above and beyond to try and make up for that and redeem himself soley because it was the right hting to do) and by making im older still gav ehim a roll as Scott’s mentor. What i’m getting at is I freaking love Hank Pym and I could’ve been making hank pym jokes for several episdoes now. That’s a mistake I itned to recitfy.. right away as Guy looses his suitcase as a result of it and whie he lcaims not to be bothered his voice says otherwise. Eh i’m sure the world can wait for ultron Guy. 

So anyway, Guy reluctantly agrees to the train travel idea and being parked across from Sam on the grounds he has no real other options. Meanwhile the BAD GUYZ.. and i’ve also decided to drop spoilers as the series is two years old, most people reading this have probably seen the series, and it makes analysis rough when I have to dance around spoilers. So yeah the BAD GUYZ aren’t villians.. kind of a dickhead on the blue guys part, but not EVIL. They figure out their going by train it’s a whole thing.

ON the train we run into michelle again...

Yeahhh for the first half she’s as inusfferable as she was the last two episodes and it lead me to believie the rest of the series was going to be constant suffering as she’d be in every episode, likely because they DID get Diane Keaton for this and you don’t waste Diane Keaton. You just don’t. But while they got their money’s worth in having her on screne wise they just..w asted her for the first 2 and a half episodes: Michelle is a judgemental, unpleasnt suffocating bitch and it’s going to take a lot , even if this episode helped, to make me truly like her as a person. 

Case in point her first two scenes this episode are just.. dragging her daughter past a play place uncarring about her feelings because while I DO get she cares about her child’s saftey and is terrified afte rloosing her husband.. it dosen’t EXCUSE her actions. It dosen’t forgive her locking her daughter up constanlty, not talking to her like a human being and oh yeah PUTTING A FUCKING LOCK ON HER SHE CAN CONTROL.  I mean my god I don’t think they INTENDED for her to come off as abusive as she does, and i’ve seen far worse inteitonally and untietionally, but it’s still not remotely plesant. There is a larger issue baked into that the episode brings about, but we’ll get to that. 

And naturally at breakfast.. she procedes to top herself. ONCE AGAIN she treats guy like trash as guy UNDERSTANDABLY didn’t want to talk to her after her previous layers of bullshit which, just as a refresher, involved insulting his invention constnatly (even if it turned out ot be dangerous she did not know that till the last second) then refusing to help a man BAKING in the desert and mocking him to his face. 

So yeah unsuprisingly instead of you know, APOLOGIZING for that episode or anything else she mocks him again and calls him sad. I just.. I get they were trying to have her come off as a jerk and then slowly develop.. but you can’t overdue the jerk part. It has to be juts the right amount and if it is this much there has to be a commpuance. There is none as far as I can tell because god is a spiteful two faced prick. 

So naturally Sam forces the two parties together, and orders green eggs and ham for everyone, except guy who refuses. We do get a really great bit though as EB turns down the idea and we get a tremendous rant from Micheal Douglas as he talks about how a girl in his clash, veyr likely just him, got a rash from tring new things and you shouldn’t and to watch out for the scarlet beetle he’ll steel your ants and try to conquer your planet and is not a guy in a costume but in fact an actual beetle. EB naturally tries it. 

We get a brief interlude with Snerz that’s funny enough: he outright calls his visotrs flunkies, they enter to the song money, and his minon throws dollar bills at their feet. I imagine this is what visitng Mar a Largo is like. They turn up his noses until he mentions getting a chickarffe for his animal crutelty wall. And i’m torn about Snerz. On one hand he can be generally entertaining in his dickery.. but ont he other I do question why he’s in EVERY episode. We don’t NEED him in eveyr one and I feel he’s only in them because Eddie Izzard was expensive so they had to get him as a regular to justify the cost. We really DONT’ need this scene funny as it is and it adds nothing so far. Maybe i’m wrong and these guys end up being important. I don’t know. 

So yeah so far this episode was miserable getting through and I expected it to be another long sit... I was wrong. The second half.. is really damn good and reminded me why I liked this series so much. No really. We get two stories,both really good following one half of each pair teaming up. As for why their split Guy is annoyed with Sam, as well as dosen’t want him letting the chickaraffe out because you know lots of people dosen’t want ot go to jail and leaves to find a quiet place to work on watching paint dry while Michelle tucks a sleeping EB in, her first really truly humanizing moment, which should NOT have taken three episodes but hey, i’ll take it, and goes to find the same.

So starting with Sam and EB, naturally Sam takes all of a minute to let his buddy out and it gets loose on top of the train. EB hears the familiar sound and gives chase and the two meet properly. After Sam covers for his buddy and realizes the creature is asleep in his car safe now, he properly talks to EB and we get a truly magical sequnece: The two talk with Sam whoelheartdly supporting her free spirit and finally giving the girl what she badly needed: someone who treated her not as something to be tied down but you know.. a child who just wants some expression and as she literally lets her hair down, It’s truly adorable and it just has a magical quanitity as they enjoy the beautiful view from the train top. 

Granted this takes at urn later when EB brings up her mom, and Sam.. supports her mom, pointing out she’s just looking out for her.. which she is but in a deeply unehalthy way and I don’t like the show just.. brushing over Michelle’s terrible actions because “she’s her mom”. But it’s also hard to tell if they are: Sam’s mom left him as we’ll find out, so he likely colors his memories of her rosey and simply envys EB still HAVING hers. It’s not BAD stuff but I don’t like a work saying “You should love your family just beacause your related”. Instead of because they lovea nd support you and if they dont’ love you or treat you remotely well or don’t give an ass about you fuck them. Thankfully I DO love my family and have no issues with them, my immediate family at least, but i’ve had friens with downright abusive or neglectful parents. It’s not that black and white. Ducktales also hammered in the family theme but was transparent in how it can me messy, harm each other and that it took true love and consideratoin for it to work at it’s core. 

It’s still not a terrible scene and what comes next is neat as earlier it was shown the train has loops, because Seussworld, and now that’s a problem because their on top of it. Michelle’s jail braclet thing ends up coming in handy the first loop, as while she can’t unstick it means she and sam can suririvie it. They do get it loose, turns out the password was indeed password, because of course, and they end up narrowly suriving a roller coaster bit of track, with the help of MR. Jenkins who I can finally name because EB names her in the next scene. Understanding her need for a pet, Sam deputizes her, and gets her back in bed in time for the next plot. 

Speaking of which winding back a bit as these two go back and forth, Guy goes through two rather hilarious cars: First a bath car that has a bubsby berkely style water number and then a model train car.. with the train on the track showing guy watching guy watchin gthe train etc. 

It’s great. Guy ends up finding the quiet car.. and Michelle. And in her first scene of acting like a human being and not if julie powers was a soccer mom, Michelle, while standosfish as usual, not only unites with guy to shush a loud guy in the car, but is genuinely apricative when Guy helps her get her place back, she was doing some literal bean counting. 

The two genuinely hit it off, first with some adorable silent bits and then by talking, with Michelle appreciating his now safer job and warming up to him. Keaton and Douglas have GENUINE chemestry and it annoys me itt took the series this long to use that instead of wasting Diane Keaton on being 

It’s really great stuff and i’m actually rooting for the two.. once she gets her shit together obviously. Guy does make the mistake of lying abotu knowing about the chikcaraffe.

This ends up being bad as he finds out EB knows the next day and after she leaves the car RIGHTFULLY tears the fuck into same for getting him accused of crime, stealing from him and now puttin ghim in a precarious situation. While Guy DID lie, he idd so well meaningly and trying to impress someone whose ineherntly judgmeental. Douglas also does REALY well in the scene, calling sam out but it dosen’t feel cruel.. it’s justified. While guy is miserable and does need to work on himself.. Sam also needs to work on himself and is putting guy in serious danger just by forcing him into his animal smuggling scheme. 

So Guy leaves.. and naturally given the unvierse hate shim runs into the BAD GUYZ, who aren’t much better. No really they refuse to belieive guy might be innocent, use excessive force on everyone. They have better GOALS than sam but I woudln’t really call them good people. Smash to black and we’re out. 

Final Thoughts:  This one was better. As I said the first half or rather third drags slightly but once we get to the two seperate plotlines it’s REALLY damn good stuff and reminded me what the series was capable of in character in creativity. Hopefully it keeps this up

Next Time on the Blog: We return to mewni for the penultimate chapter of season 3 as Moon and Eclipsa have some fundemtnal disgareemnts on how to handle Meteora that wind up costing both dearly. 

See you at the next rainbow

[ronninoir]

Can I Steal You for a Second? CH6

Summary: Adrien is forced to participate in a new dating show, but becomes more excited when Ladybug says she’ll participate as her civilian self.

AKA: AU where Adrien doesn’t know Marinette, the superheroes are 22 and Gabriel is mean and ruthless but not Hawkmoth.

Read on AO3

Chapter 6

By the time Marinette became conscious again, it was almost noon. Tikki was the one who pulled her from her slumbers and she was very annoyed about it.

“Tiiiiiiiikiiiiiiiiii,” Marinette groaned. She peeked one eye out and then quickly sat up in bed, once she remembered where she was. She glanced around and noticed that (thankfully!) she was the only one in the room, so no one heard her say her kwami’s name. Marinette’s voice quickly shifted to a whisper, “Tikki! What are you doing? Someone could see you!”

“I’m so sorry, Marinette, but I’m really hungry. And since you’re meeting up with Chat tonight I need to start saving up my energy.” Tikki explained in a whisper. “I did wait until your roommate left though.”

“Oh, okay. Well that was good thinking.” Marinette said with a yawn. She normally stayed up late finishing varying designs but last night was a whole different kind of exhaustion. She doesn’t normally have to socialize so late into the night and the stress and tension level in the mansion tired her out as well. “Let me get dressed and I’ll find you something sweet to eat, okay?” Tikki gave her a nod and flew away into Marinette’s suitcase.

Marinette threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, something she would normally wear on a Sunday at home. She slipped on some flats as well, just because she wasn’t familiar with the mansion and it would make her feel more comfortable. After brushing her teeth and putting her hair in her signature pigtails, she ran downstairs in search of food.

It was only their first day in the mansion and she already could feel the dislike and animosity between the other girls. It was hanging in the air like a fog and it caused Marinette’s pace to slow as she neared the bottom of the stairs. No one seemed to be fighting. There was no yelling, no cameras and not a boy in sight. In fact, there wasn’t any sound coming from anywhere in the mansion. Marinette almost thought that everyone must still be asleep.

She didn’t encounter another human being until the kitchen. There were 3 girls sitting around the island. They weren’t talking or looking at each other and only one of them was eating.

“Good morning,” Marinette said hesitantly as she walked in the room. Her house was never this quiet or hostile. Her parents were up at 4:30 prepping things for the bakery and whenever she woke up there was always some sort of noise, either coming from the bakery, or from her mom making breakfast for her in the kitchen. She was always greeted with a “Good morning,” and either a hug or a kiss on her head.

All of the girls looked up at her, but none of them said a thing. Marinette forced a smile and said, “I’m Marinette.”

That caused one of the girls to give a cruel laugh and she responded with a, “We know.” Marinette paused a minute before remembering that of course they knew who she was, she got the first impression rose last night. All of the girls in the house know who she is. Unsure of how to continue, she decided small talk was better than no talk.

“How did you sleep?” She said, forcing a cheery voice as she headed to the fridge and began looking for something to make for lunch. She almost forgot what she was doing when she saw the fridge stocked with a large amount of food. There was virtually nothing sweet in there though, so the search for Tikki’s lunch was going to have to be conducted elsewhere. She located some ham, bread, an egg, and a block of cheese and set to work.

The girls chorused a “fine” and then didn’t speak again. Marinette pulled out a frying pan and some oil and began heating it on the stovetop. She then put the ham and cheese on top of the bread. The girls just stared at Marinette and didn’t say a word. She hardened her resolve to remain polite before she turned around with a smile and asked, “What are your names again? There was so much happening last night, I was having trouble keeping everyone straight.”

This comment seemed to be too much for one of the girls as she got up and stormed away. Another got up and followed her leaving only two. The last one, a girl with medium-length blonde hair and a kind face, sighed and smiled apologetically at Marinette. “I’m sorry it’s been a bit of transition for Gabrielle.” She pointed in the direction of where the first two girls went. “She shares a room with Lila and she hasn’t stopped making snide comments about Gabrielle.” This girl shifted uncomfortable in her seat before spitting out, “Of course, that doesn’t bother me, so can you just not tell Lila I said that?”

Marinette was very confused and almost forgot to put her egg in the pan when it was warm enough. As she cracked it with the grace of someone who has been cooking/baking since she was a child, she tried to process what the girl had said. Why would she feel as though she needed to tell Lila anything? Deciding it was better just to ask, she then turned back towards the girl, “I’m sorry, what are you talking about? Why would I tell Lila anything?”

The girl wouldn’t meet Marinette’s eyes when she said, “Well you are her best friend, we just don’t want to start any trouble. Especially with Lila.” Marinette almost dropped her spatula. Marinette, best friends with Lila of all people?! She’s disliked this girl since their interview weekend a couple months back. How could they get that idea? Soon, Marinette realized that Lila must have said something. Marinette was racking her brain, thinking of what she could have done last night to make Lila think they were friends. She came up blank.

“Did Lila tell you this?” Marinette inquired, trying not to sound too incredulous.

“Umm, yeah. She told the whole house this morning when everyone had woken up. She kept going on and on about how you two had entered the show together and hoped you’d both make it and that you both planned to be top two and have Adrien fight over the two of you.” The more this girl talked, the more Marinette got angry. Why would she say all of these things? Why would Lila lie about knowing her? Marinette took the egg, which had fried while she was thinking and slipped it on top of the bread, ham and cheese combination she had made. She plated it and walked around to the other side of the island and sat next to the girl.

“Okay, well let you be the first to know that I am not Lila’s friend. I’ve never met Lila before the interview a couple months back. Honestly, her attitude bothers me. I don’t appreciate people who manipulate others and that’s all I’ve seen Lila do since I met her. I really don’t like people who lie either, specifically about me.” She took a rather aggressive bite of her sloppily thrown together croque madame. The girl’s mouth had dropped and she stared at Marinette with wide eyes.

“She lied?” The girl asked. She sounded personally offended and all Marinette could do was nod. “Oh my. I bet she did it because you’re the front-runner.” Marinette had to remind herself to swallow before she choked.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“In the American version, the first impression rose is always one of the final four. In a lot of cases, that girl wins the whole thing. You’re the new front-runner. Everyone wants to be your friend so they can see what Adrien likes about you and imitate it.”

“So, you’re saying Lila won’t be the only one trying to get close to me?”

 “Well...” the girl draws out the vowel and bows her head to look at her feet.

“Well, what?”

“No one wants to be your friend now. Lila told everyone that if they tried to, she was going to destroy them and get them kicked off the show. If I leave, I want Adrien to be the one that makes the decision.” She gave a little shrug and smiled guiltily at Marinette.

“Lila is a liar, she has no control over who I’m friends with and she shouldn’t be allowed to intimidate the others.” Marinette gave an affirmative nod and continued to eat her breakfast/lunch.

“That’s such a relief to hear.” She paused and gave Marinette a beaming smile. “I’m Lucie, by the way.” Lucie extends a hand to Marinette who takes it and gives it a shake. “And to answer your original question, the girl who ran off is named Gabrielle and the girl who followed after her is Zoe. They come from the same town and are good friends.” She looked at her watch and sighed. “It was nice meeting you Marinette, and I’m glad I was able to set the record straight. Good luck today, but it’s my turn for my run around the mansion.” She stood up from the island, gave Marinette a little wave, and disappeared out of a door.

Marinette was so in shock from the conversation that she almost forgot to find Tikki something to eat. Thankfully, once she located the pantry, there was a large number of cookies hidden in there. Marinette grabbed a baggie and loaded up on some so Tikki could eat her fill and have something to recharge with tonight.

Once lunch was eaten and the cookies were delivered, Marinette wandered around the house. Her official excuse was that she wanted to get a better feel for it in case she needed to make a Ladybug escape, but in reality, she just wanted to find the other girls and avoid them. She wasn’t feeling up to anymore conversations like the one with Lucie, even if that one did turn out okay. Plus, she had never been in a house this large and it was interesting to see how it was laid out and decorated for the show. It was hard to move through the hallways with all of the luggage strewn around, so Marinette tried her best not to touch anything, in case someone wanted to use it against her.

Finally, she settled onto a bench with a window that overlooked the pool, where it seems most of the girls were showing off their new Gabriel swimsuits and working on their tans. It was unseasonably warm for late August, so Marinette couldn’t blame them for soaking in what was left of the summer. Each of the girls was showing off certain parts of their personalities and trying to intimidate the other girls. Lila seemed to be the only one succeeding, as she had been given a wide birth around her by most of the girls. Marinette also saw Hanna for the first time since the rose ceremony. She looked like one of the few who were actually enjoying themselves in the pool rather than baking in the sun.

Hanna’s innocence and general joy inspired Marinette and she opened up her sketchbook and started sketching out a dress. It was a shorter dress, more for daytime wear, and was designed to be light. Marinette wanted it to flow and be free, just like Hanna was. She was almost finished with the dress when someone cleared their throat behind her. Marinette jumped and had almost forgotten that she was in a house with 21 other girls. For a minute there, she felt like she was back in her room, in her own little designing bubble.

“I really hope that has been approved,” a voice said. Marinette looked up and recognized the girl from last night that wore the fencing outfit. Today she was wearing normal clothes, but her hair looked the exact same: cut into a short bob and left to sit there around her head. She sounded very serious and sharp, like she didn’t know how to carry on a conversation. “I’d hate to be the one to turn you in.”

Marinette highly doubted that. “You’re Kagami, right?” The girl gave a nod, which allowed her black hair to have some sort of movement. Marinette wondered if she ever did fun things with her hair, but she hardly seemed like the fun type. She felt pretty sure that if it would be socially acceptable, she would do away with her hair just for the practicality of it all. “I’m Marinette.”

“I know.”

That seemed to be the common answer. Marinette sighed and decided to skip the pleasantries. “The notebook has been approved. I’m not one to break the rules.” Unless Paris is in danger, but that’s a different problem entirely.

“Good to hear.” Kagami paused as she seemed to collect words for her next statement. “Why aren’t you outside enjoying the... weather?” Her voice tapered off at the end of the question and it forced Marinette to study her further. Why was this girl so odd?

“I wasn’t feeling the pool today. I’d much rather stay inside,” Marinette mumbled, looking back down at her sketchbook and doodling a cat paw in the corner, not wanting to reveal the real reason nor make eye contact with the weird girl.

“It wouldn’t have anything to do with your supposed ‘best friend’ Lila.” Welp. There goes that plan. Marinette looked up and saw that Kagami’s eyes were not harsh, but questioning.

“You don’t believe her?” Marinette asked, not daring to believe that someone else can see through Lila’s games.

“No.” Kagami said shortly. “She didn’t seem to be your friend yesterday and you weren’t even there to say anything. It seemed like some scheme she created.”

“Oh,” Marinette replied, releasing the tension in her shoulders that she didn’t realize she was holding. “Well thanks for not believing her lies.”

“Don’t thank me, I haven’t done anything.” Kagami replied curtly. She wasn’t warming up to Marinette at all; she felt just as distant and cold as she had the beginning of the conversation. Her words and tone made Marinette uneasy and she began to study her again. She just couldn’t get a feel for this girl. Seeming to not notice Marinette’s gaze, she continued. “I may not believe Lila, but there’s something off about you. You’re too calm for this competition. You’re hiding something and I’m determined to find out what it is.” At that, Kagami gave a curt nod and walked away.

Marinette blanched. Day two and she was already getting singled out by some girl claiming to be her best friend and threatening the others, and another girl claiming to be looking to out her secret. She was going to have to be more careful around the mansion than she thought. She couldn’t afford for the word to get around that Ladybug was participating in The Bachelor. Marinette, who was suddenly sick of sitting out in public and fearful of the other girls and their prying eyes, packed up her supplies and retreated to her room to hide. Maybe Tikki could cheer her up.

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

Tikki wasn’t the one who did the cheering up, but once 8 o’clock hit, being out in the open as Ladybug did wonders to lift her spirits. She arrived at the meeting spot a couple of minutes early and became suddenly very nervous about seeing Adrien/Chat. Sneaking out was easy, but knowing what to say to Adrien was very nerve-racking.

Once all of the girls had eaten dinner, they all went to some secluded spot and didn’t talk to each other. This was the perfect cover for Marinette, who traveled to her room where her roommate wasn’t. She transformed then jumped off the balcony, leaving it unlocked to make it easier to get back inside, hopefully without Mathilde noticing (or deciding to lock the unlocked window).

She sensed him before she could see him and she had trouble keeping the smile off of her face. She was giddy, even though she technically had seen him less than 24 hours before. But after a day of being ignored by everyone and in turn ignoring them, she was excited for this interaction.

She heard his boots hit the rooftop and she turned to look at him. He gave her the sweetest smile and a “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.”

“What a lovely evening it is,” he started. She couldn’t help but giggle at how awkward he sounded. She began to walk towards the edge of the rooftop to sit, knowing he’d follow.

“It sure is. Especially after being cooped up in the mansion all day.” He gave a slight gasp, that forced her to turn and look at him in mid-step. When she saw nothing wrong with him, she began searching around them, thinking there was an akuma. “What? Do you see something?”

“Um, no,” his voice was about an octave higher than it normally was. That made her giggle as she sat down on the edge of the roof. He cleared his throat before continuing. “So.... does that mean that you’re still in the competition?”

She watched him sit and couldn’t help but give him a smile. “Oh, you silly Kitty. Where you worried that you had let me go?” All he could do was nod. “Well, don’t worry. I’ve made it through the first round. If you cut me, you’d know that I was Ladybug right away, I promise.”

“Does that mean that I could just cut all of the girls, you’ll reveal yourself and we could live happily ever after?” The tone of his voice was clearly joking, but Ladybug’s heart skipped a beat at the thought. It would be a lot easier, if she could just reveal herself, they quit the show, get married, and live happily ever after. Sadly, she knew that wasn’t going to happen.

“You know your Father would never let you do that!” She may not have ever met Gabriel Agreste, but from all of the stories that Chat had told her throughout the years, it was obvious that he was a man who got his way, and if he didn’t then he found a way for it to happen. He sounded terrifying, and if Adrien was going to deviate from the show’s script at all, she knew he would pay for it dearly.

“Yeah, I know. But it’s still fun to think about,” he said softly. Ladybug’s heart sighed and she gave him a slight hug and leaned her head of his shoulder.

“Tell me about your day and I’ll tell you about mine.”

“Let’s see, I was woken up at the first sign of sunlight by my ever-annoying Kwami because he demanded cheese. Then a little bit later Mini-Natalie,” Ladybug took her head off of his shoulder to give him an incredulous look. “Oh sorry! That’s the girl in charge of me during the show. She moves me around and makes me keep to my schedule. She reminds me a lot of Father’s assistant, Natalie, and since I don’t know her name I call her Mini-Natalie.”

Ladybug gave a quick snort at his crazy line of thinking before leaning her head back down and saying, “Sounds legit. Continue.”

She could feel him chuckling beneath her, but he did continue. “Anyway, she took me to some dark room where they made me decide who was getting all of the dates this week. I also had to pick what I was going to do on each of these dates from the approved list for the first 2 weeks.” He gave a sad sigh that caused Ladybug to pull away to look at him again.

“How does that bother you? Would you rather plan all of the dates yourself? Cause honestly, it sounds exhausting.”

“It’s not that.” He paused and looked around the rooftop before saying, “It’s my Father. He’s... taken more of a hands-on approach to the whole process than I thought he was going to.”

Ladybug’s first thought was, “What does that mean?” but decided not to push him. Instead she asked, “How does that make you feel?”

“Annoyed. I—I thought that even though he was making me do this stupid show in the first place that I would at least get to pick who the winner was. I could go at it with an open mind and an open heart and actually get to know the girls and pick one that I could see being my wife. But now, I have to consider my dad’s preferences and how my decision could affect the company in the future.” He sighed again and then looked Ladybug straight in the eye. “I just want to make this choice myself, without anyone else’s opinions influencing my decision.”

“You deserve that much.”

Chat smiled and gave Ladybug another hug. This hug lasted a while and Ladybug never realized how comfortable and safe and at home she felt inside his arms. She could feel his head moving and she pulled back a little to see what he was doing. He rested his forehead on hers and whispered, “Thank you for supporting me. Knowing you were at the mansion yesterday made the whole day tolerable. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

She smiled and looked up at him. “You don’t know how much your presence changed everything for me too. Especially seeing all of those girls fawning over you. It helped me stay calm knowing that my Chaton was there looking for me.” He smiled at that and pulled away.

She missed his presence but knew it was time for them to start their rounds around the city. Slowly she stood, and offered him a hand to get up as well. “Well, duty calls, and we’ve been ignoring our city for the whole weekend.”

He took her hand and stood as well, though he held on to her hand a little bit longer. “Honestly, I’m surprised it didn’t randomly burst into flames or something while we were gone.”

At that, she laughed, a good hearty laugh. “Come on, Chaton. I’ll race you to the other side of the city.”

“You’re on.”

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

When they had finished their rounds, Chat had decided to be the gentleman and walk Ladybug back to the mansion. It was a wonderful feeling, walking his lady home, but it was also odd knowing that inside her current house was 21 other girls he was dating too. He stopped her on a rooftop about a block away from the mansion. She turned to look at him with those gorgeous bluebell eyes and he knew that he had to do it.

“Ladybug, can I ask you something?” Instead of answering, she turned her body fully towards him so that he had her full attention. That was one of the things he loved about her, how she was always there to listen if he needed her. “I, um, need to ask a favor of you.”

She tilted her a little to the side and she looked at him quizzically. He gulped and looked down at his hands, which were twisting nervously. He kept feeling as though he was under a microscope before remembering that there were no cameras around now. It was just him and his lady. Just the way he liked it.

“That depends on what it is, but I’ll try my best.” At that he smiled and looked back up at her. He hardened his resolve and just went for it. He leaned in and put his lips on hers and hoped she wouldn’t freak out.

Freak out is exactly what she did. She jerkily leaned back and made a noise that sounded almost like a choked scream. “What was that for?” she demanded, her tone a lot harsher than he thought it would have been.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to do! I’ve never kissed anyone before and I just wanted to take a chance and—” before he could continue, she cut him off.

“You’ve never kissed anyone before?”

He ducked his head, feeling the blush stain his cheeks. “No, not that I remember,” he mumbled. Him and Ladybug have kissed on two other occasions. Once during an akuma that Chat didn’t find out about until months later, and another right after they had their memories wiped, but before Ladybug’s cure was done. That one had been photographed, so he had proof, but he didn’t count those since he couldn’t remember them happening.

“Oh, that’s right,” Ladybug replied knowingly (and with a slight blush, Chat noticed). Her eyes lit up with a new-found fire though as she asked, “Wait, not even as Adrien?”

All Chat could do was shake his head.

At that, she let out a short laugh, “You, Adrien Agreste, have never kissed someone before?”

“Oh my gosh, do you have to tell the whole city?!”

“I’m speaking at a normal voice level,” She pointed out flatly.

“But it feels like you’re yelling.” He crossed his arms and gave her a pout. Normally she would laugh at his childish stance and then they could move on, but he wasn’t as lucky this time.

“So why did you decide to jump me with this kiss?” It was her turn to cross her arms and the sight made Chat feel more like cowering away than laughing.

He decided the truth was less embarrassing than what just happened. “The producers told me that I have to kiss someone this first week. Normally, the Bachelor kisses a good handful of the girls on the first night, but I was too embarrassed by the fact that I had never done that to do so. I want my first kiss to be memorable and with someone that I’m comfortable around, so I thought you would be the best choice.” He let his voice trail off, giving her the chance to respond. He was mentally kicking himself and he hoped that she would at least forgive him and they could forget this ever happened.

Instead, she walked up to him and placed her hands on his cheeks, pulling his eyes to hers. She began rubbing his temple. “Wha—What are you doing?” Her proximity and touch hadn’t bothered him earlier, but it stirred something in him this time that made him want to lean down and kiss her again.

“I’m erasing that memory. If this is going to be your first kiss it needs to be a proper one.” Before he could reply, her lips were on his and he forgot whatever he was going to say. He had imagined what it would be like to kiss Ladybug a million times, but none of those had prepared him for this. Her lips were soft, sweet, and tasted like strawberry lip gloss. He felt her melt into him and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.

Too soon, way too soon she was pulling away. She looked up at him and gave him a shy smile. “I really need to get back before they discover I’m gone.” He felt his head nod, but was still too much in shock to respond with words. “Thanks for letting me be your first kiss. I’ll see you later.” And with that she ran to the edge of the building and yo-yoed her way towards the mansion.

He managed to get himself headed back towards the hotel he was staying in before a yell of excitement escaped his lips. He felt like running and dancing and celebrating and screaming it from the rooftops and yet keeping the whole beautiful moment to himself. He was overwhelmed and excited and he knew that he was going to marry her. He just had to figure out which one she is.

He went to sleep that night with a smile on his face and even Plagg’s complaints about staying out too late couldn’t ruin his newfound happiness.

~

~

~

Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list

@momor3202

@legendaryneckjudgestudent

@discoveringmiraculouswriters

@adrianarfox

@veroocasanova

[notthecanadianaverage]

All 65 ho! 😤

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you?

I mean I guess kind of sometimes? As someone with ADHD, object permanence is a big thing so if I don't see you, you aren't real xD

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

Um, it varies, actually. Generally speaking, I'm not afraid. But sometimes I have lots of nightmares and the darkness is awful and I will deadass sleep with the light on. Also while I'm not afraid, if I hear sounds, I am terrified xD

3. The person you would never want to meet?

Jason Mamoa. He seems like a fine person but something about his appearance triggers my fight or flight.

4. What is your favorite word?

Hippopomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?

I think maybe either a birch or a weeping willow?

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

That's not yellow

7. What shirt are you wearing?

I'm wearing a green Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time shirt that my sister got for me a few years ago at Fan Expo.

8. What do you label yourself as?

Panromantic asexual. Gender identity wise, demigirl. I recently learned what omnisexual is and I'm curious, but I don't want to come out again so panromantic it is xD

9. Bright room or dark room?

Bright! Lots of sunlight for plants and reading!

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?

I was being trained at work

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far?

I think 18, just because mentally I'm still there.

12. Who told you they loved you last?

My boyfriend :3 I miss him.

13. Your worst enemy?

Dickface. He called me his step daughter once and I almost fucking lost it in that Tim Hortons. I had to fight so hard not to say anything. I was also fighting some pretty rough food poisoning that week so I was not in the mood to argue xD

14. What is your current desktop picture?

On my computer? I think it's a rat xD it's either me with Cortana on my shoulder or Willow peeking through some bars, I can't remember.

15. Do you like someone?

I like my boyfriend. A lot. I mean I hope I do since we have been dating for 6 years xD but I also have a celebrity squish. Patrick Dempsey. Motherfucker. Yes. That smile. Those EYES.

16. The last song you listened to?

https://youtu.be/0Eh4b0Ge-sM

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

That power hungry cheeto. But only if I wouldn't get caught.

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

Dickface. He is a child abuser and just a shitty person all around. I called him a stupid idiot on my birthday and lost my fucking mind because I didn't actually mean to and he looked PISSED.

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do?

I don't know who, but I would make them cuddle because I am touched starved and need a fucking hug xD

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional)

I'm doing this all in my phones notes so I can't add a picture, but I love my tattoos and piercings! I have both nostrils pierced, my septum and snakebites. Tattoo wise, I have the Triforce of Courage on my left hand, a small blue hard on my right thumb, a beautiful memorial rat tattoo on my left leg, Midna's Fused Shadow on my left arm and Expecto Patronum on my right wrist. I. Need. More.

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

Not gonna lie, I'd probably jerk off xD

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it?

If I shared it, it wouldn't be a secret.

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of?

I... don't know

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal.

I would stick with my normal Subway order: lettuce, tomato, red onions, LOTS OF PICKLES, cheese, black forest ham, mayo and salt and pepper.

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it?

Not gonna lie, I would probably get some Subway and maybe some candle making supplies.

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go?

California. I miss my boyfriend. Let's go.

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be?

Joke's on you, I don't really drink alcohol! I would instead request all the apple juice :')

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

Pet rats for everyone!!!!

29. What is your favorite expletive?

I enjoy cunt :3

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?

My little stuffed lion. I would also grab my teddy bear seeing as they are always together.

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? (Tw rape for this question)

I mean... all of these experiences have made me who I am. But if i can erase one experience without changing who I am, it would be nice to not have been raped.

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world!

I would say Indonesia because volcanoes! But I am also very gay and I don't believe that is a gay friendly country... so... maybe Japan? All of this assuming that the boyfriend is with me. If not, then California.

33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

My grandpa. I really miss him... I want him to see how far I've come and I want to spend more time with him.

34. What was your last dream about?

I have been having a weird amount of sex dreams lately...

35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]?

Rat mom? I like to think so! Shameless plug, but I have a blog here called @ratpotatoez where you can see my beautiful chonks. I'm also on Facebook and YouTube.

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital?

I mean yes? But not for like an overnight stay.

37. Have you ever built a snowman?

Yes

38. What is the color of your socks?

Fuck socks

39. What type of music do you like?

Depends on my mood. I love heavier, alternative rock but my heart will forever belong to Simple Plan.

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?

I think they're both really lovely!

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor?

Vanilla

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer)

I don't like football. The only sport I watch is hockey.

43. Do you have any scars?

I am covered in self harm scars (I'm working on covering them up with tattoos). I don't really have any scars with cool stories. I had one that went down my arm but somehow it healed??? Someone in gym class accidentally took a chunk out of my arm with their finger nail and I had a hole in my arm for the longest time!!! I also have a scar on my knee from when I was really young, maybe 3 or 4. I was balancing on some bricks in someone's garden and I lost my balance, fell, and hit my knee on the brick. I remember there being blood running all down my leg as I screamed and cried. So that was fun.

44. What do you want to be when you graduate?

I don't know. I do know, though, that I want to go to culinary school. I also want to go to school for creative writing.

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

My weight. I gained 100+lbs when I went off my anti-depressants and I swelled up like a balloon. I've felt like shit about myself ever since.

46. Are you reliable?

I sure as shit hope so!

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

Was it worth it...?

48. Do you hold grudges?

I try not to, but I think I do ._.

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create?

PIGEON RAT

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?

"I just really want to punch this horse in the face, okay?"

51. Are you a good liar?

I think so, yes. Trauma does that to you.

52. How long could you go without talking?

When I get super super drained, I go mute. I can stop talking for days at a time.

53. What has been you worst haircut/style?

I once left the hair dressers with essentially what was a fucking bowl cut. Yea, I wasn't thrilled. I refused to remove my hat.

54. Have you ever baked your own cake?

Yes. At 3AM. Because fuck a healthy sleep schedule.

55. Can you do any accents other than your own?

I can do an okay British accent and an okay Indian accent.

56. What do you like on your toast?

Butter. Just butter.

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of?

Um... I don't remember the last time I drew. Actually, that's a lie. I tried drawing a "small town doctor" while playing Drawful. I drew a very tiny doctor with a city skyline behind him.

58. What would be you dream car?

Literally anything with the popup headlights.

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain.

I talk to myself in the shower. Granted, I do that everywhere xD it's the only way I can work through my thoughts. I also cry in the shower a lot.

60. Do you believe in aliens?

Yes. We can't be the only ones here.

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet?

I don't really have a favourite. But I do like D. Mostly because it's the first letter of my boyfriends name, but also it reminds me of a woman I helped while working in tech support. She needed help figuring out her gif keyboard so I helped and she was so excited when I told her how to search for gifs. She then started giggling like a little girl saying she wondered what might happen if she searched for DICK. She made my day xD I think about her a lot. I hope she's doing well.

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons?

Don't do this to me...

Dragons are obviously amazing but haVE YOU EVER SEEN A DINOSAUR?!?!? LIKE THOSE THINGS ARE REAL. THEY WERE ALIVE. THEY FUCKING RULED THE EARTH. HAVE YOU SEEN A STEGOSAURUS?!?!?!?!?

64. What do you think about babies?

I like babies a lot. Like so much. I have super colourful hair, too, so they seem fascinated with me :') but their little chubby cheeks omg

65. Freebie! Ask anything interesting you can think of.

Fun fact: I actually really like the smell of wet dog. It's kind of a really comforting smell.

[throtegote]

Yung Waitloz (2012 me’s rapper name)

(If you’d like to read this off my wix blog here’s the link: https://erikatriesall.wixsite.com/tlhodia)

If you get triggered by topics concerning body image and weight loss then proceed with caution or don’t proceed at all.

I probably discuss way too much personal stuff online, but hey, who doesn’t appreciate a little oversharing every once in a while?

I have never been skinny or slim, let’s start there. Sure, I was a tiny baby, but that was about it. I have always been bigger than a lot of my classmates and even now I’m in no way built like a Victoria’s Secret model. Also, keep in mind that I’ve never been clinically obese or severely overweight. Got it? Cool.

Enter My Mom. She has been on my case to lose weight for as long as I remember. I admit, there were times when I was particularly chonky, but that’s beside the point. I remember being 8-9 years old when she spent over 15 minutes ridiculing and calling me out on how my spandex gym tights made noises as my thighs rubbed together during our uphill walk around the residential estate. She was also and still is, fond of pinching my “love-handles” (in quotes because if I remember “You can’t even call them love handles because you have nobody loving you.”),  with her long-ass, sharp nails whenever they appeared over the waistband of my pants.

(I’m not bitter or anything)

Essentially, 8-year-old me was told to lose weight enough times to try. I ate the food they gave me, and only what they gave me, and went on walks occasionally with My Mom (which I despised because I really didn’t leave the comfort of my room to be berated by my birth giver). I even started taking netball more seriously and started athletics training. What I also started doing was paying close attention to the bodies of girls around me and playing spot the difference. Not too long afterwards I learned to hate clothes shopping and hide in group photos. When I look through photo albums and my parent’s phone galleries now, it’s plain to see that I was an Olympic grade camera dodger.

Fast forward a few years. Now I’m 11-12 years old. I’ve grown taller and older, so my weight distribution has changed, but I’m still not skinny. My Mom is still on me to lose weight, even more so now that I’m older and maturing into “womanhood” because apparently, it is a crime to wear pants only a few sizes smaller than your mother of similar body structure and lesser height. Now that I’m older and more educated, I’ve realized that even though I was playing a sport and jogging and going for aerobics with my mom occasionally, I won’t get skinny unless I change my diet. In fact, there was a time when some government nurses came to do regional health checks at school and some data included body weight (there was a crowd around me when it was my turn to hop on the scale. The boys laughed, I went to the bathroom and cried. But it’s all good). The nurses then asked me questions about stuff like the bread we had at home, if I ate junk food or added sugar, stuff like that. That’s when it clicked. It clicked real hard.

A typical school lunch packed by My Mom comprised a hotdog/ham sandwich/homemade burger, a packet of chips/crisps and a juice box or Tropica when she was feeling generous. Which is what my brothers and a lot of my friends were packing to school with no problems: but I’m not built like those people so I can’t eat like them, right? The lunch had to go. And go it did. And so did pretty much all my other regular meals.

If My Mom was distracted with getting ready for work, I’d ditch breakfast and lie about it, then hop onto the school bus. Getting rid of the stuff in my lunchbox wasn’t too difficult to do because I had friends who were happy to help. This meant that for the first 12 hours of the day all I had was a juice box or nothing at all. It worked. My Mom noticed and complimented my improved physique along with a handful of relatives. But was I skinny? Not even.

Then came the Google searches. “How to lose weight quickly” “How to get skinny” “How to get a thigh gap” “How to lose thigh fat fast” Just to name a few.

That’s when I discovered the infamous pro-anorexia community. Or should I say that’s when they found me? I’m not too sure.

Over the school holidays, I started with the so-called “K-pop” diets and did YouTube workouts every night with more consistency than my prayer life. Two boiled eggs for breakfast, some milk for lunch (which was disastrous because apparently, I’m lactose intolerant), and for dinner… water, with or without lemon or tea. It really depended on the day. Not that hard to get away with, really. When the fat girl says they’re not hungry, who are you to force them?

But I couldn’t lose weight fast enough. Sure, slowly killing myself was working, but was I skinny? Nah.

So, I turned to “thinspo” and “pretty girl diet” challenges and "pro-ana" coaches to guide me. (If you're somebody who thinks it's okay to coax children into dangerous eating disorders and potentially death, you deserve a chair. But make it electric. Periodt.) My stomach was flattening, and my pants came on a lot easier, but the truth was I was utterly miserable. Getting skinny was all I thought about. And I’m not talking about Victoria’s Secret model skinny, I got to a point where I was jealous of the science lab skeleton, no jokes. Food wasn’t food anymore; it was just numbers and macros. I was always dizzy and cranky and my hair was falling out and even though I had done it for long enough to overcome the hunger pangs, there was a new pain, one that manifested in my chest and couldn’t be treated with sleep or Panado. I was the only one on holiday for three months, so nobody noticed.

I was twelve when I first tried to off myself with prescription drugs. All because I couldn’t be skinny and in my head that meant I couldn’t be pretty, or loved, or befriended. I woke up after a 8-hour “nap” to find that nothing had changed.

Why am I exposing myself by telling this story?

If you’re a parent or sibling or anyone who cares for a child who you think needs to lose weight for whatever reason (hopefully for health-related reasons, not purely aesthetics), please do not leave them to their own devices. They will search for authoritative guidance elsewhere, and the wrong people may find them. People who prescribe oxygen as a meal plan and perpetuate the notion that if you can pinch at your flesh, then you are ugly and will remain ugly until you are feather-light. Despite being one of the smartest kids in my grade, I still fell for it. (Update: I’m still not skinny. I probably only fucked up my metabolism and lost hair. -100/10, would not recommend to my worst enemy.)

Good news is at some point I got sick and tired of feeling the way I did. My suicide attempt failed miserably but instead of trying again, I uninstalled all my calorie counter and fitness apps, tossed all my magazines in the trash and talked to my mom and made it a point to talk to friends more, especially those who understood in some way or another. The Body Positivity movement was rising, and that helped a lot. Big ups to all the lovely people on YouTube who post videos on #recovery.

But experiences like this don’t just go away. You don’t forget and move on. I still have relapses, I still feel insurmountable guilt after eating, I still feel like I would rather eat baked rat than gain weight, I still go through binge-restrict cycles. All stemming from events that happened over 8 years ago.

My Mom had some level of good intention, I won't disregard that. People on her side of the family suffer from chronic illnesses that can all be prevented if not managed better through proper diet and exercise and she doesn't want her kids developing high blood pressure at age 13. Fine, I get it. But damn.

If you can avoid doing this to yourself or someone impressionable in your life, please do. Model healthy behaviours for your kids to adopt and talk health; not snatched waistlines, not thigh gaps nor scale readings. Teach your kids not to base the entirety of their worth on their appearance. And do not, under any circumstances, body shame them.

Please?

Once again, a lot of what is here is based on personal experience and opinion (‘coz it’s my blog, duh’). If you have separate ideas or any disagreements, bring them up in the comments or email me. I love a good debate.

Also, if you currently relate to anything mentioned in this post, take this as your sign to get better. Trust me, you're worth it.

xoxo

Erika

[maikatc]

Black Sun Tale | I’ll Have My Day

hello! things are yet again calm before another storm for this chapter, i’d have to say. but there are some sections that i appreciate for just existing in this one as well.

remember that this is a first draft with only minor edits, and enjoy! comments and reception are heavily appreciated.

-

A day followed by after Ayu’s time in Fowls. Instead of the dead breeze of the forest, the morning woke him up through traffic and an early store-keeper’s yell.

Creeping awake from his freezing body, Ayu sat up from his thin blanket and shivered in his jacket. He shifted his spaced gaze to the alley’s ground. It was cold and shapeless, but the tiny cracks of grass formed a gentle frost through the night. 

Breaths formed clouds in front of him. And he buried himself in his jacket as his own frosting skin had already woken him up. 

But then, memory served his groggy mind well. 

Ayu zapped himself awake and scurried over to his ‘stuff’ pile. After digging through Oliver’s pineapples, medicine, and whatever he found in parts of the forest, he recovered his walkie-talkie after weeks of having no use.

Clicking on the connection button, the walkie hissed as he called out in excitement, “Annette, Annette, Annette-”

The call seemed endless, for Ayu made no stop of saying her name until she replied. Though, she only managed to pick up once his voice grew sore. 

“Ayu… Why are you calling me at six in the morning on a Saturday?”

“Because we’re having a meeting today,” he explained. “Go and tell Oliver to come over too.” 

The walkie’s buzz filled in the gap between Annette’s reply. “... Are you telling me to go to a meeting right now…?”

“What time is it?” He asked, as the sun had no sign of rising. 

“I already said it’s six a.m.”

“Oh.” His winter schedule had already started. “Shit.”

“Lort, I’m exhausted,” Annette commented. “It’s been a long week, Ayu, sorry-”

“No, no, it’s my fault.”

“No. I usually wake up at five. Today’s just a day off before church.”

Ayu tensed his hand at the device. “It’s okay, Annette. You can sleep some more, I’ll wait.” Before he could drop the walkie-talkie in guilt, he added the important notion again, “Just don’t forget to text Ollie for when he wakes up.”

“Gotcha’.” He heard from what he left behind him. “Thanks, Ayu.”

In the musky morning, he said to nobody, “It’s nothing.”

***

“You should have paid more attention to the time Ayu.”

“I know, Lillie, but I can’t tell.”

“Look up at the sky,” she giggled. “There isn’t even daylight.”

“I get it.” Scribbles filled Ayu’s new page while winds tried blowing the paper away. “I already said it was my fault.”

“As it is. You just disturbed a nice morning for her.”

“She- she had a busy week…”

“And you interrupted her only time of rest. Sounds rather careless.”

Ayu broke his pencil tip. “No, I-” His words would have continued if it weren’t for a figure by his entrance, not of Lillie smiling at him, but of Oliver. 

Accessorized with a pillow, blanket, his ukulele, and another bag, Oliver entered into the alley nonchalantly with all the items. However, it’d only been half an hour since his talk with Annette. 

“Why are you here this early?”

Oliver placed down the sleeping materials. “I pulled another all-nighter and my mom left for work early in the meanwhile.”

“Then why…?” He nudged at the pillow.

The boy sat down by him, nuzzling up in his extra coat. “I thought I could take a nap here. But,” he passed the bag to Ayu, “I brought leftovers from last night too. Fork included.”

A grumbling stomach left Ayu to stare blankly at the food. “Can I eat it right now?”

“Of course, you can.” The direction of Oliver’s answer faced his ukulele instead of Ayu, as he already began opening it up. 

Another morning wind blew, lunging Ayu to warm up his legs. He hissed at the weather. 

“… I should have brought you a jacket.”

“It’s fine. This isn’t the coldest it’ll be.”

Oliver huffed in the frosty air, laying down the instrument he held and grabbing the blanket. “When the meeting’s over, I can take you to my place again. For now, take the blanket.”

Hesitant, Ayu snatched the cover out of Oliver’s hands and wrapped it around himself. His cocoon welcomed him in a snug embrace, its fluffy fabric softening his dry skin. “Why’d you bring such a nice one?”

Oliver rubbed his hands off of the tail of the cocoon. “I just found it in my closet and it looked comfy.”

The child in the blanket smiled smugly at the new warmth.

“You can keep it if you want,” Oliver chortled. “You definitely look comfortable.”

Despite the satisfying bliss, a simple few facts knocked Ayu back to questioning. “Don’t you still want to sleep?”

“Yeah… I’m gonna need to eat in a few days so I’m ‘bout to be out of it soon.”

He tottered his new blanket around himself, but gently tossed it aside for the winds to meet him again. 

“Ayu-”

“I’ll eat while you sleep. Since I got some sleep.” He opened the streaming, microwaved food from the container, revealing baked ham and other goods. The scrumptious smell already distracted him. 

“But…”

“God, this looks good.”

He already began devouring the plate, too focused to listen to Oliver’s answer. “Alright…”

The seconds the small yet hefty meal remained in the bowl was minimum, as Ayu chowed down on some of the bread he had gotten the day before as an after-snack. While biting through, he marked his gaze back at Oliver, who had set up his own bed. 

Ayu’s old and withering blanket managed to be reused as a sort of bedsheet to cushion the hard floor. Oliver had neatly adjusted himself underneath the cover brought in, alongside having his head eased by his pillow and Ayu’s pillow being hugged his arms. 

“You’re fast.”

Oliver turned his way to Ayu’s eating wall. “You have a good pillow.” 

Their personalities radiated at that moment, one a mess and the other an urbane thing of exhaustion. 

There was no help but laughter.

***

With such a chilling morning, the two relaxed by each other’s side. Ayu sketched calmly next to Oliver, who seemed to bounce lots in his sleep. 

A new scene was set into fruition for the boy. Vague dreams lead his pencil to sketch out a glaring eye, then a flat chin, then a long neck. Rage was embedded in the blank stare he’d created. And a circle was the perfect touch for yelling. Such artistry in an image would make a great impact for the audience and their emotions, right?

“… Probably not.” 

“Probably what?”

Ayu jumped at his seat, whisking himself to see Oliver in his home-made bed and staring at his drawing from a distance. 

“You were awake?”

Oliver trudged his arms to hold himself up. Rubbing his eyes from the rising sun, he answered, “Yeah. It’s hard for me to sleep in general.” 

“… Do you usually stay up all night?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

It took few seconds to process how tiresome he was, but Ayu made a deep breath. He dropped his sketchbook to the side to ask questions. “What do you do all night?”

He plucked on the ukulele he left beside him. “What I do during the day: whatever. Just quietly.”

“Is it because you’re hungry?”

He stopped playing. The note that rung from the last string was choked by a tap from his hand. “Yeah, you can say that.”

Ayu stared at the abyss of his thoughts as he made questions. A memory formed for the new one, though reluctance of asking slowed his words. He looked at Oliver directly. “Can I see your arm? –“ 

He met Oliver with the sketchbook at his hands. Oliver’s eyes peered through the newest pages. By instinct, he lunged at the hand and grabbed the journal back. “Stop it!” 

Oliver held a cheeky, sluggish smile as he chuckled. “What? I just wanna see them.”

Ayu raised a brow, a smidge of a blush shined by his cheeks. Is it the wolf or something? “You didn’t ask.” 

“Well then,” he sat up with good posture, “may I see your new drawings?”

Ayu’s red tint heightened more in the realization that nobody had ever asked. He questioned why he hid them in the first place, but nonetheless, he complied. “Sure.”

Oliver held the book again and scanned through the pages. Ayu watched as he rung his fingers around his hair. New judgement was unpredictable. Except if it’s the wolf, obviously. His neutral expression forced a tense feeling inside of Ayu’s gut in the process of reading. 

“How long have you been drawing?” Oliver asked while flipping a page again. 

“Uh.” Ayu counted with his fingers. “I think six years. Someone told me I was good at it when I was six, so I just kept doing it. But I stopped when I was eight.”

Oliver hummed in response, still scanning. 

He continued, “My parents didn’t pay attention, so I never got advice except that it was good- oh yeah I stopped around the time I was eight… then Annette gave me the journal last year, so,” he counts, “I’ve been drawing for three years.”

Oliver clicked his tongue. “Well, it definitely shows.” 

The vagueness of the comment punched Ayu in the gut. But one page turn later and came a page full of bad handwriting. Ayu’s chest rose at the sight, yet Oliver stared at it for far too long. He uttered, “What’s this?”

“… Oh it’s- they’re my journal entries. Nothing really happens in them though.” 

Oliver scans through once more, while Ayu doubted he could even read them. “Have you ever tried to write something?”

“The entries have enough bad spelling.”

Oliver shook his head. “No, I mean like try and write something, like a poem.” 

“A poem…?” He may have only heard the word once in kindergarten. The lesson itself was lost in his passage of time. 

“Just write random stuff,” he said slowly, “in multiple lines, maybe rhyme it. It’s, uh, like a song if you will.” He gave the sketchbook back to him, a pencil already on his side. He gazed down at the new blank page.

When was the last time I heard a song? Oh yeah, one time during a traffic jam this one guy was blasting-

“Do you need help?”

Ayu snapped out of his thoughts. “Oh, no. I think I’m good… Do I just make a song?”

Oliver lost eye contact. “Uh, sure. You can make it short if you want too. It doesn’t have to be long.” He pulled back his hair. “Write what you want.”

The blank page dawned him far too much. Drawing never took much thinking for him –though improving always baffled him–; however, the start of a word intimidated and struck him at odds. 

Whispers of old pop songs flooded back in his mind. Those that played on the weekend at his car loudly and excitedly. He’d be cheering for the weekly trip where he finally went outside and off to Obodo. The generic lyrics bounced by his ears as the park and playground rested ahead of him. The older girl by his side sang to the music while making captions to his art on a clipboard, handwriting pretty and flowery like her name.

The summer sun beamed at his vision but reality blew at his skin again. The breeze reminded him of the page in front of him as well, to his dismay. Oliver had gone back to playing ahead of him. Ayu shivered in bitterness and began scribbling down the vocabulary he would remember. Words flowed to him simplistically and bluntly all the same. And hard pressure made the pencil squeak at movement. 

After a decent ten minutes, his thoughts were on paper, with reference to those pop songs of old. 

Cold gos by 

Throo on the nite

Snow is shy

and hideing in the sky

and I wayt

day gos away fast

dont be layt 

ill have my day soon

There… that looks okay, I think.

He called out: “Oliver I did it.”

“Really?” He turned around and put down his uke. “I thought it’d take you longer.”

He handed the text. “I just thought of pop songs.”

“Did you copy them?”

“No. Just used a line I heard a lot.” 

Oliver nodded. “Good. I used to copy rhythms of songs I thought was deep so you’re doing better than I did.” He read the lyrics. As he tilting his head, Ayu’s anticipation wracked instead of fear. Yet the time taken to read was lengthier than expected. “Okay your spelling isn’t actually that bad for what you have.”

Why is that the first thing he says, he questioned. The excitement died down to possible critique. 

“Honestly, as simple as it is, it’s a good simple.”

“And?”

“It needs a bit of tweaking, but overall there could be a good rhythm to it. Looks like a nice kids’ song to me.”

A kids’ song?

“It’s cute, I guess you could say.”

Ayu’s impatience pushed his words out. “Can you make a song out of it?”

Oliver’s eyes widened at the page. “Oh. Uh, yeah I guess I can.” 

“Right now?”

He scoffed, “No, not right now. Music takes time.”

Ayu’s curiosity got the better of him. “How long?”

“However long it needs to take. But I don’t think this’ll take that long.” He held the slip of the page itself. “Can I take this?”

“…”

“You can copy it down on another page.”

Slow at first, he nodded. “Why don’t you write it?”

Oliver’s face fell flat. “Yeah… if I read it right at least.”

“Psh, you can do it.” Ayu smiled at Oliver. The master musician would make beauty out of his work in his mind. 

Oliver rewrote on the new page with focus in his eyes. And through some squinting and pausing hands, he teared the new page off of the journal, folded the page and placed it in his pocket. “There.”

Ayu took the sketchbook back. “So, what now?”

Oliver nipped back his instrument. “Thinking of the melody. You can take the blanket back if you want.” He crawled over to the corner, huddling in his own imaginary nest as he plucked a string. “I’ve been thinking of making more suspended chords lately, so I might do that,” he murmured.

Ayu canned a chuckle, unsure of what he meant in the first place. 

***

“Is Oliver here yet?” 

Ayu turned his head from his drawing to find Annette sliding her sneakers into the alleyway. Her composure sloppy and uncoordinated. She didn’t stay up, did she? 

She whipped back the bun that flew over her head. “Oh… he is.” 

“I’ve been here,” Oliver replied. 

“Twenty minutes after you texted him actually,” Ayu added. He then shifted in his blanket cocoon. 

Staring at them both, she straightened back her posture at the harmony of the two. “Huh. Well darn.” Sitting down between the two, she made a deep breath and un-frazzled her hair. Then, like she never changed before, she perked up to start conversation. “So, do you want to start the meeting Ayu?”

He peered at her, brows weighing down his eyes in concern. Though the subject matter carried more weight for all of them. “Yeah, so- wait Oliver, you want me to tell her all of it?”

He shrugged at him. “Not the big one but most of it is fine.”

Understanding what he meant, Ayu agreed. Yet, Annette cocked her head in confusion.

“Okay so it turns out Oliver’s parents are assassins and might be involved with the entire powers thing,” he informed Annette.

“… I’m sorry, what?”

Oliver pointed his hand out to Ayu. “Did you have to say it like that?”

Ayu said back, “What other way do you think you can tell her?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, slowly? Let her process it?”

“You didn’t let me process it.”

“Okay that was by accident and shock-”

“Can you please explain?” Annette interrupted the two by whining. 

Ayu blinked, back from Oliver, then back to her. “Right. So,” he explained the situation, albeit poorly in wording. 

Annette’s mouth gaped with confusion set on her face. “I… Oliver, why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

He avoided his sights from her. “Didn’t know they existed ‘til like, two weeks ago.”

“He’s adopted like us,” Ayu remarked. 

The girl brushed through her hair. “Huh… well three’s a party, I guess.”

Ayu continued, “Yeah, so I met with this chick from his parent’s group and learned a couple of things from her. First there’s-” he paused, remembering the boy in the room. He was the one who did not know everything. “Oliver, can you not be here for right now?”

“What? Why?”

He whispered to Annette, “It’s about Akeldama.”

She eyed him, and dipped her head, telling Oliver, “It’s a personal thing.”

Somehow, the communication between the two, whether it was between her tone of words or expressional speaking, seemed to work. And Oliver stepped out for the moment in time. 

Ayu scooted his way to Annette, huddling next to her in secret conversation. “I might’ve been tricked by Akeldama.”

She cocked her head. “I thought that was obvious.”

“No, no, she told me that almost everyone in the society was tricked to join since he offered them survival and freedom,” he hesitated at the last word, “but then forced them to kill for live.”

“Then what you’re saying is… you made your wishes to live, but it’s going to screw up…?”

With doubt, he shook his head. “Maybe, but us fucking up with the monsters might also be the killing- maybe… okay that sounds dumb saying it out loud.”

Annette stopped him before he could add on. “Not really. But do you know how much the society has to kill then?

In an instant, he blinked three times. “Actually, I don’t know. Shit, I forgot to ask.”

Making her thinking face, with hands holding the chin, Annette guessed, “I wouldn’t think they’d be forced to be mass murderers.”

“I would. It’s Akeldama.”

“Yeah… right.” She hissed at his reminder. “Then, what if it isn’t the monsters then? What do you think will happen?”

“I dunno,” Ayu copied her thinking face, “I didn’t plan this far ahead for the meeting.”

“That isn’t good,” she sighed. 

Ayu slumped from his position. “Yeah… but that’s all I needed to talk with you.” He processed what came to mind next. Though another privacy error occurred. Might as well get it over with. “Can you go out and get Oliver, but you stay over there instead?”

“Did you tell him something new?”

“No, he has something I need to tell him.” Ayu’s thoughts formulated as he talked. 

“Gotcha’. I’ll go get him.”

She walked out, leaving Ayu more time to gather his words together. But in no time, Oliver entered back in. “Alright, what is it now?”

Twiddling his thumbs in his cocoon, Ayu started. “So… you know about your dad, right?”

“Forgot I had one, go on.”

He made a frantic nod. “So, I actually figured out his history yesterday.” 

“And…?”

Ayu taught him the lesson, again poorly. “But it was in the 1700s, I think.”

Oliver stared at him in suspicion. “… That doesn’t make sense.”

“I know, right?!” He blurted out.

“Yeah,” Oliver agreed calmly. “He can’t be my dad then, so who is?”

“I don’t fucking know, that’s the problem.” A strong gust of wind blew his thoughts away. “Oh shit-”

“Did Eilwen say anything else about it?”

Ayu clung to his blanket. “Not really… she wasn’t allowed to go into detail. But he doesn’t really look like you either; his hair was a lot lighter.”

“Still red?”

“Ginger.”

“Oh, god he’s a devil.”

“What?”

“It’s a joke at my school.” He snapped his fingers. “But anything else?”

“Uh… I think she said you were a wish child. Which, now thinking about it, might be a bad thing.”

“What do you mean bad thing?” Oliver asked. “Aren’t I always a bad thing?”

“No- but, I can’t think of how to explain. Wishes just feel like bad luck to me.”

Oliver placed his head on his bent knee. “Well, it’s fitting at least.”

Ayu sighed on his behalf. “I’ll try and get more out of her, the next time I see her.” 

“You’re coming with me again?”

Ayu tipped him, “Whenever she can.” He looked on over to the entrance. Conversation due at the end. “Hey, Annette! You can come back in,” he called out.

“Hm, I have an idea.” 

Bringing herself up to discussion, Ayu and Oliver shifted attention to Annette. 

“What if we’re supposed to be a part of the society, then? Since we have powers and stuff.”

Ayu’s face laid crooked, in reminder of his conversation of Annette. But, he pointed out his eye instead. “If we were, then why would we have these marks? Besides, the leader would have picked us up and have us join immediately.”

Annette gave him a knowing look left the topic. 

“If anything,” Oliver added, “I’m the most involved with them at the moment. You two still need to figure things out.”

Despite the still unknowingness up in the air, Annette smiled. “At least this is the most info we’ve gotten. And in just a month too.”

“I know, I know.” Ayu buried his face in his blanket. “Thank god Oliver’s here now.”

Oliver laughed at the comment. “Oh really?”

“You’re the only reason we got this in the first place.” He muffled his voice to him, hiding his minor embarrassment which the reason was left unknown as well. 

“Sounds like I’m just your gateway,” he quipped. 

“You know what I mean,” he huffed.

“Wait hold on…” Annette’s expression drew her brows together. “What about the monsters?”

Ayu’s own face grew stern. “That was the first thing I asked. But she couldn’t talk about it.”

Oliver kept silent. 

“Really?” She gawked her hand forward. “I thought there’d be something but… let’s just hope there is something about it soon.”

“Wait a minute,” Oliver actually spoke, “There haven’t really been any monster attacks since November started, hasn’t there?”

Annette answered. “No, aside from the forests deaths but Ayu can’t even detect those. But what about it?”

Oliver’s face cringed at the side comment, but went on, “Wouldn’t they come like every two days before? It’s almost December and they’re basically gone.”

Ayu perked his attention at Oliver’s observation. He never noticed that nothing happened, considering he did nothing regardless.

“Yeah… what did happen to them?”

***

“Don’t talk to me like that. There’s no spirits around.”

The boy in the television opened the door, revealing a jump-scare of moaning spirits, only to close it instantly. 

“Alright, so I might have been wrong. Let’s run-”

Oliver chuckled at the joke. He watched Mr. Rious causally on his seat whilst working on his new tune. On the same couch yet again was Ayu, coped up with a pillow and bowl of pasta. 

The meeting ended soon after the questioning of the monsters, as Annette received a call from her father wondering where she was at eight in the morning. Luckily, the cold was beginning to grow more intense and shelter also grew in Ayu’s yearning. Thus, her absence was a blessing for his body heat.

Chewing on his new lunch, not wanting to pay attention to the frightening ghosts, and needing to make a certain topic clear, he decided to ask Oliver again, “So you need to eat in a few days, right?”

Oliver’s reaction was neutral. “Yeah, I don’t feel terrible right now though.”

“That’s good…” He picked up another noodle with his bare hands and ate it. “But Oliver, can I see your arm please?”

The tune he was playing stopped, leaving only the T.V. to make noise. “… Sure, fine. It isn’t as bad as before.”

Ayu gulped. “That’s, better, at least.” 

Oliver pulled his left sleeve up and directed it to Ayu, revealing his marked arm. The black sun still laid peacefully, but above were all of his healed scars, including new fresh ones up top.

“Wha- they’re still there!”

“It’s less than before!” He pulled his sleeve back down. “Like you said, I’ll do it less… and if this training works, it’ll go down gradually. Like you and bread.”

Ayu raised a brow. “So, you’re saying your food is my training?”

“Essentially.” He picked up the uke again. “… Also, I think I got your song down.” 

Ears woke up at the words, and Ayu followed at the attention-grabber. “Really?”

“Yeah, I just repeated the rhythm, so it was easy.”

Ayu hopped in his seat. A grin covered his sunken cheeks. “Lemme’ hear it.”

“I knew you’d say that.” He rolled his eyes, forming his starting finger positions in the meanwhile. He reminded him, “It’s not a masterpiece, just to say.” 

And with a single breath, he began to play. 

“Cold goes by

Through the night.”

A new sound echoed from his voice, a type of singing from him that Ayu never heard prior. The voice itself was still soft, as always, forming patterns of music through is instrument and voice beautifully. 

“Snow is shy,

Hiding in the sky.”

The estrange aspect radiated with the airiness of the tone; how lightly it reached to the high notes and simmered down in gentle grace. The melody tranquilized Ayu to not even pay attention to the lyrics, or the repetitive chords and simplistic progression. 

“As I wait,

day goes away.

Don’t be late,

For I’ll have my day.

I’ll have my day.”

 He allowed the last strum to ring throughout the room, placing it down to his lap all the while.

Words had no meaning for Ayu at the moment, similar to any other time Oliver played. It managed to take all his efforts into forming two words. “It’s pretty.”

“Pretty?” He gawked. “I never thought you’d say something like that.” 

“But you’re talented.”

He corrected him, “I’m not talented. I just have too much time on my hands at night… Besides, with time and effort, any song can be good. Unless you work with modern country.”

“… You make your own songs too, don’t you?”

A nod was received, with slight reluctance at first. 

“Can you sing one?” Ayu asked genuinely.

The musician’s mouth twitched downwards. He turned back to the television. “They’re more personal. And embarrassing.” 

Ayu ate another handful of pasta before it’s warmth goes away. “So, you don’t want to share them?”

“No,” he answered, and placed his ukulele to the side. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I think your songs are nice either way.” He giggled. “How long have you been making songs?”

Oliver pulled down on his sleeves in a shift. “Three years.”

“What are they about?”

“That’s the personal part.”

A man appeared on the screen out of nowhere, wailing in agony as he melted like a candle. 

“Okay Oliver, we’re changing this!”

***

“Oh, my God, I’ve never seen this episode!” Ayu had jumped out of the couch and right up close to the T.V. His gaze fixated not on Oliver anymore but instead the theme song of his favorite hero. 

“What the fuck is this?”

“It’s Crimson!” He cheered. “I haven’t seen them in so long.”

Oliver’s tone laid bewildered at the old animation and loud brass. “I didn’t think it’d be the show from the nineties. Heard that was the trippy one.”

Crimson ran down the city as the saxophone solo drove in to Ayu’s nostalgia. “Trippy or not, it’s kickass.”

A glare set foot from Oliver from then on. “Sure, it is.” The intro continued on with its silhouetted visuals. “How come you watched this?”

“We had it on DVD and my sister would explain everything for me.”

“Your-?” Ayu’s fascination distracted him from his slip-up. Yet, Oliver never finished his question. “What would she explain?”

Ayu answered. “Stuff that happened in the episodes, and why it made Crimson cool.”

“That he’s a hero?”

“That she does what’s right and whatever to help people. No matter how crazy the stunt can be.”

Oliver stayed silent as the opening scene played. Crimson was in his everyday persona, taking all the photos for news coverage as the millionaire of the city. The glamour and pizzazz gloated by the rich fellow shined throughout the screen. “… Why’re they a bitch?”

“They’re not!”

“Well, if you flaunt money and power like that when you can, you know, save people, it’s a bit of a dick move.”

Ayu’s retort was unknown to him. Only knowing ten episodes on repeat was not of help of him in the subject matter. Instead, he grumbled and continued on watching. 

***

Crimson seemed to have gotten himself stuck in the middle of two heists. What was worse was that the two heists were of rival gangs in a competition for the same bank! And with the cops trying to catch the masked crusader yet again, how will the craziness of the night end?

Crimson was running rampant! Bandits were flying everywhere in the city after discovering she was trying to catch them all. She had lost the cops ages ago anyways, so that means that all there is to do left is-

“Vittorino, shut up.”

The immersion clicked out of Ayu’s mind as Oliver’s words blinked him out of the television screen. He had finally been silent for the past few minutes yet this comment blew him away from the scene again. 

However, the second he turned around at Oliver, a taller man was standing beside him. 

“Holy shit-” he jumped at his seat on the floor.

Oliver looked at him. “He can see you now, I’m guessing?”

“Yep.”

He sighed. “Ayu, this is Vittorino: the guy who’s been bothering me for the past two months in which I haven’t mentioned because honestly he doesn’t make that much of an importance.”

Ayu studied him in his surprised state as the name finally started to register. His dark hair being the only recognizable aspect from the past. “You’re the Vittorino Eilwen talked about?”

Oliver tilted his head. “Eilwen talked about him?”

“Of course, she did!” Vittorino tacked on a grin and walked on over to him. He spoke to him and only him. “And you better not tell anything she said about me because its unimportant.” He gritted the last words out. His lanky figure leaning over Ayu as a governing tower. 

“… right.”

“Alright then!” His tone changed completely. “I’m only here to introduce myself.” As well as his demeanor as he bowed in front of Ayu. 

Even Oliver made a face at his action. 

Ending his bow, he made a turn at both of them, waving, “It’s been a pleasure meeting you.”

And he was gone as if nothing happened. 

“…What the fuck was that?”

“Don’t worry, he’s a weird fuck too.” Oliver assured. “He tells people to kill themselves yet he’s a religious saint the other half of the time.”

At first his words startled Ayu. Though majority of Oliver’s fun facts had led him to the same reaction, so might as well skip the moment. “From what Eilwen told me, that makes sense.”

“What did she say?”

“Just rumors… about-”

“Look at what I just told you a minute ago,” Vittorino appeared again. “Don’t!” And he vanished yet again. 

“… Huh.”

Oliver and Ayu looked at each other from the sudden interaction. The bewilderment of both seen in each of their expressions… Oliver cracked up first, following Ayu.

Oliver wheezed, “Okay that was definitely a first from him.” 

“It wasn’t what I thought he’d be like!”

They both laughed like the unamusing children they were.

“Wait, when did he tie up the cops?” Oliver asked Ayu as the ending of the episode played before them. 

Ayu kept his eyes glue to the screen. “We probably missed it while talking to Vittorino.”

“Why is Crimson an actual criminal?”

“Because the police sucks, and the city’s law thing in general.”

“… Okay, fair enough.”

The ending zoom-in starred the poor police officers, grumpy yet abandoned upside-down in ropes. Because Crimson had forgotten to actually free them! What a laugh! 

Ayu chuckled at the final joke but Oliver to no avail. 

The credits began to play in a slower jazz rhythm, with a female singer singing her smooth soul out.

“Oh what? This actually sounds nice,” Oliver commented. He checked the clock behind the couch. “Oh… my mom’s about to come back soon.”

Hearing the news, Ayu turned off what was playing. “So, you want me to go?”

“Are you fine with it…?”

Ayu told him. “Yeah, that blanket you gave me is gonna make tonight way better.” He got up, grabbed his sketchbook, and already walked up to the door. 

“… Right. Keep on writing. I like it.”

He smiled at his opinion. It isn’t the wolf this time. “Will do.” He opened the door and took his leave. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye…”

Slam.

-

Ten Dollars | Bread and Water | Red Eye | Crimson Capture | November 1st | A Mother | A Demon | A Child | The Wolf | Bloody Fingers | A Monochrome World | The Pocketwatch | Next >>>

[peterjakes]

the society christmas day headcanons

here’s one part of my contribution to the society secret santa for the lovely @theswiftiewholived​ x

alyssa, i really hope you like this (sorry for the lateness lol)

grizz wakes up first, far too excited to sleep through the morning, he takes special care not to wake sam up (who sleeps almost until midday – being a dad is tiring stuff guys)

whilst sam is asleep, grizz starts preparing for the christmas lunch (pretty simple stuff but grizz enjoys cooking and would never let sam go near the oven considering all he can make is burnt toast)

grizz would usually help his mom christmas day (his dad being far too occupied to do anything for the family)

after a while, sam, very sleepily, manages to force himself out of bed to join grizz in his plaid pjs (how cute would he look?)

grizz is already wearing a ridiculously ugly christmas jumper which sam loves even though he wouldn’t be seen dead in it (it’s seriously ugly but grizz rocks it ofc)

whilst grizz cooks their dinner, sam sets the table and brings down the few presents each have got for each other, carefully placing them around their small tree

the tree is grizz’s parents; quite small but good enough, both sam and grizz spent one afternoon decorating it together but spent most of the time bickering over who had the nicest decorations

it’s a mishmash of old decorations from the eliot’s and some handmade ones grizz’s mother made

christmas dinner is simple but sweet, grizz didn’t want to make too much fuss and sam enjoyed that

before becca and eden join them for opening presents, the two sit down to give each other their presents

sam made grizz promise to only give something small; he always thought smaller presents were more meaningful. grizz didn’t listen ofc but neither did sam – the two were very competitive over getting the best present

sam had scoured almost every single house and building in new ham until he found the perfect present for grizz

a few days before christmas day he’d finally found an original copy of Frankenstein, grizz’s favourite book

grizz was definitely the most excited to give sam his present and pretty proud of himself; he was never one for buying grand presents, but he was happy with the present

when he left for the expedition, grizz started writing again, only little pieces of how he was feeling, what he was thinking. Most of these started out about being in the open air, being one with nature but they all turned back to the one thing that grizz couldn’t escape from: sam

he’d started writing just about sam and only him, sometimes just little things he’d remember to keep him going – the way he smelt, the way his eyes glistened, that damn smile

he wrote about him every day during the expedition; and even afterward, when they reconciled, he carried on, it just became second nature to him, and it was only a week or so ago when he realised, he could show sam or give it to sam

grizz insists that sam gives the present first; he can see how excited sam is but is also still pretty wary about giving his present (he’d never shown anyone his writing before, but it made sense for sam to be the first)

grizz hoped sam would give him a book and is honoured he’d remembered his favourite book (even though of course sam would)

opening the gift, sam eyes flicker from slight confusion to absolute awe that grizz would put so much work and effort into a present for him

he spends the next 10 minutes carefully and intently reading every page and piece, at least twice until he’s soaked it all up and realises how much he’s in love with it and the boy sitting beside him who gave it to him

becca comes along with eden mid-afternoon; grizz found an old version of a very hungry caterpillar for eden and one of his mom’s pendant for becca (it’s a midnight blue which he thought would go well with her skin tone)

for becca, sam had made her a pair of gloves and a scarf; eden some booties and mittens (he loves to knit whenever he gets the chance)

becca and eden gave sam a photo album becca had started making a few weeks after arriving in new ham, full of photos of their friends, special occasions, and grizz an embroidered notebook

in the evening the house becomes full of their friends – allie, will, gordie, bean, mickey, gwen, kelly, helena, luke etc and they all watch a muppets christmas carol bc it’s sam’s and luke’s favourite christmas film and they both insist on watching it and nothing else (these two are brilliant sulkers as grizz and helena know only too well)

everyone finally agrees and eat cookies that helena baked with the help of luke (he badly decorated them, but he tried)

sam forces grizz to wear one of the many santa hats gordie brings round to get everyone in the mood (and sam is actually surprised how cute he looks)

grizz spends the whole time watching sam enjoy the film, barely paying attention to the weird puppets or michael caine (even though he loved the muppets when he was younger)

grizz did this a lot, whenever the two would sit down to watch a film on netflix he’d last about five minutes before he stopped watching the film and watched sam instead; sam was far more interesting

sam knew he did this, sometimes he’d try to get grizz’s attention back to the film but other times he’d leave him be, quietly and secretly loving every minute of grizz’s longing and loving stares

allie and will bring some of the pressman’s old board games (monopoly, kerplunk, cluedo, twister etc) and carry on the family tradition of playing at least 2 board games on Christmas Day

during a game of battleships; elle arrives (mostly bc of helena’s nagging) and brings some homemade mince pies (dw, she didn’t use any poison this time)

luke gets drunk on eggnog and no one actually knows how he did it but helena decides a luke drunk on eggnog is too much to handle and takes his home before he gets too much

over the course of the evening everyone else seems to go home, leaving sam and grizz alone to just enjoy each other’s company, watching various other classic films (a christmas story anyone?) until they both fall asleep in each other’s arms in front of a dying fire

[lightlorn]

💘 FOXHOLE!

send me 💘 + A SHIP and i’ll tell you—

where they first met and how: Alright, so maybe the stories lied. Maybe you can go home again, though Kokoro hardly recognized it for the way it had been sealed tight against invasion. There was no great family reunion, just inhuman figures who introduced her to a cell. If Xemnas didn’t have use for her, that might have been the end of it. Instead, he leads her through the Castle, her guardian devil, retracing her steps as if she might lead them to the heart of it, and to the boy they sought.

how long their ‘flirting’ phase was before feelings got involved: Implying their flirting was not just them clashing in battle as Xemnas tried to make it poetic and Kokoro just tried to beat him. That lasted for some months before they got a little tired of the battles for dominance, until Kokoro found better ways to get what she wanted out of him.

who fell for who first ( if applicable ): Xemnas was a fool for this woman almost as soon as he saw her. It deepened in the ensuing two years, but that first glance left him at least intrigued.

where their first date was and what it was like: A low-key affair, playing at the normalcy they hadn’t seen in a lifetime. Dinner, and then a long walk along an eternal Twilight, where she spoke candidly of the world’s architecture and history. She thought she must be boring him. He didn’t want her to stop talking, not when it was about her interests.

who asks who out and how ( with a sign? spelled out on a cake? just a simple ‘will you go out with me’? ): Xemnas played it like he wanted to have further discussions about their agreements and arrangements, Kokoro jokingly asked if he was trying to get her to go on a date with him. His silence afterwards told her that her joke struck a little too close to the truth. And then they had to.

who proposes first: Kokoro tries, bless her, but Xemnas is not one for matrimony even after everything is said and done.

if they keep / kept their relationship secret or let everyone know right away: Hi he’s one of the leaders of the forces of darkness and she is pretty firmly standing with the light this time. No one knows what is up except for the questionable couple themselves. Besides, who would believe a Nobody could feel the echo of another life playing at whatever was left of his patchwork heart?

where the proposal happens and how ( kiss cam at a baseball game? on a hillside surrounded by ducks? at a disney park? ): The two in bed, early morning, Kokoro straddling Xemnas’ chest and curling her fingers in the spaces between his. She brought it up conversationally, travel the worlds, find a religious official somewhere and be married before taking off to a long honeymoon. He shot her down gently, but they did travel in the end.

if they adopt any pets together: Vanitas counts right??? Kokoro insists they get a proper library cat, who is swiftly adopted by the kids and often kept from his duties as official library guardian. He is named ‘Hamlet the Lesbian,’ Ham for short. More on that later.

who’s more dominant: Kokoro. Any way she wants to use Xemnas is fine by him, so long as he gets to be in her presence.

where their first kiss was and what it was like: I’m pretty sure it’s established to be in the aftermath of him seeking an explanation for one of his Organization members turning traitor. For how he failed, for what he was to do with it. When she refused to be his object of worship or tell him what to do. I remember her pushing aside his ethereal blade and kissing him gently, giving him comfort rather than the orders he was so fond of following and handing down in equal measure.

if they have any matching couples stuff ( mugs? sweaters? pillowcases? ): One year Mads and Nam surprised them with ‘If Lost Return to Kokoro’ and ‘I Am Kokoro. Keep Him’ sweaters for Christmas. Xemnas was insulted they imply the family matriarch would be so cold as to refuse him. Kokoro just started wheezing into her shirt trying to hide the fact she was cracking up.

how into pda they are: Kokoro is far too reserved and ladylike for any such teenage nonsense. A hand held or a kiss on the cheek is the most she will muster with others around outside the privacy of their own home. Unless, of course, a certain someone is coming back from some dangerous nonsense to prove he is still a bad bitch, at which point decorum is off the table and she will run to embrace and kiss him.

who holds the umbrella when it rains: Kokoro. Do you really think Xemnas is troubled by rain? No, so her 5′7″ ass has to strain to try and lift an umbrella to his towering 7′ chad height.

where their usual ‘date spot’ is ( if applicable ): Radiant Garden Opera House, a private box, kept in her name and often the subject of gossip by the elite of that world. The lady is beautiful, true, but the gentleman with her has the oddest bearing. They watch the show, hold hands, and whisper about the plot or the quality of the performers.

who’s more protective: It’s about equal, as both try to present a united front. Xemnas wants to protect what is ‘his,’ and Kokoro refuses to lose anyone else.

how long it is before they sleep together ( can be as in ‘had sex’ or as in ‘shared a bed’ ): Roughly a year if we take into account the canon timeline. 

if they argue about anything: They’re the worst kind of snooty nerds who debate literature and authorial intent very passionately. The cat being named ‘Hamlet the Lesbian’ by Xem nearly sent Kokoro into a fit. He thinks Hamlet is a lesbian and that’s why he is like that, Kokoro wants to know if he’s high. He smokes crack? Is that it?

who leaves more marks ( lipstick, hickeys, scratchmarks etc. ): If Xemnas didn’t cheat and heal from anything, this would be Kokoro’s victory to claim. As it is, she is the one left marked up as a result.

who steals whose clothes and how often: He couldn’t fit in her clothes if he tried. On days, post-canon, where she doesn’t feel like putting on her entire kimono first thing in the morning, she absolutely snatches something of his to stumble through the morning. His clothes are so long on her that she’s absolutely decent in them.

how they cuddle ( spooning? facing each other? ): Kokoro lays beside him, head on his shoulder, as he curls an arm around her and toys with her hair most of the time.

what their favourite nonsexual activity is: They’re snooty nerds who dissect literature, rave about the opera season in the Gardens, and drink wine while laughing pretentiously at Scala high society.  

how long they stay mad at each other: While tempers might flare at times, often from Kokoro, they do cool quickly. They have never gone to bed angry since becoming a proper couple.

what their usual coffee / tea orders are: Xemnas is a tea elitist, knowing just the perfect mixture of leaves and a specific kind of water you can only get in this specific words, with just a drop of honey for texture. Kokoro has slurped coffee right out of the pot when she gets on a roll. Two kinds of people.

if they ever have any children together: Well, Xemnas does end up a father to Kokoro’s adoptive daughter Mads, and as we plot Nam and Vani kind of end up part of the family as well. Then there’s Kogitsune, their son, who is just a soft baby and dearly beloved by both of his parents.

if they have any special pet names for each other: He has always called her Foxglove in private moments, first as a way to soothe her and remind her of a certain memory with Terra, and then as an actual pet name. She, in turn, often calls him ‘my heart,’ which is pure schmaltz but never fails to tug on his heartstrings.

if they ever split up and / or get back together: Nah they are ride or die. And then die.

what their shared living space is like ( messy? clean? what kind of decor? ): Their bedroom is carefully cleaned and orderly, sort of a minimalist classical. The decor available is rather old fashioned and makes a statement, and there are also books scattered around rather than properly put away on the room’s singular bookcase.

what their first christmas / hanukkah / etc as a couple was like: A few stolen moments while Kokoro was in the company of certain allies. No one ever knew he was there, but she did offer him a small gift before he had to leave. As for when they could actually be together, it was a quiet, intimate Christmas morning, she made pancakes, they curled up comfortably and stared at snow falling behind the stained glass windows of her childhood home. And then Mads started trying to beat the door down to spend the latter half of Christmas day with her mom and that was the end of their peace for the day.

what their names are in each other’s phones: ♖Foxglove♖ for Kokoro, ♔King♔ for Xemnas.

if they have any ‘couple traditions’ ( buying a new mug for their collection every year? baking every friday evening? ): Once a year they recreate that first ‘date.’ He always buys her a new charm from every world they visit as a couple.

who falls asleep first and who wakes up first: Xemnas doesn’t sleep, so Kokoro takes both of these.

who’s the big spoon / little spoon: Kokoro would love to be the big spoon, but alas, He Thicc. So instead Xemnas curls his arms around her and snugs in close as she privately fumes.

who hogs the bathroom: They are both incorrigible bathroom hogs who need to perfect Their Look. It takes a lot of work to look as flawless as they do.

who kills the spiders / takes them outside: Kokoro moves them outside, Xemnas argues that they can help to keep pests out of the castle.

[lillianfromaccounting]

Finally getting around to this!

Was tagged by @cenobitic-anchorite (thank you!)

Putting this under a read more, because I wrote a lot.

1. What is your favorite movie? My answer to this is always Sleeping Beauty because it was the first movie that I stayed up watching with no adults. Like I must have been around 7 and my older cousin was 12 and we stayed up watching it after all the adults went to sleep. So for me, it signified some sort of independence. (On another note, that same cousin and I also stayed up to watch Pretty Woman before I realized what was going on in that movie.)

I know sometimes it’s a cop out answer, because I really can’t pick a favorite live action movie. There’s too many and I love a lot of them. Also, usually, when I say Sleeping Beauty, based on the other person’s reaction, I can tell if they’ll be compatible and/or get my vibe or not.

2.  If you had to drastically change your hair, how would you cut it and what color would you dye it?  I want rainbow hair, but I can’t have that where I work. I’ve been saying I’ve wanted to dye it red for several months now, but haven’t made the appointment yet (long story, but also mostly me dragging my feet). I’ve ALWAYS wanted a pixie cut, but have always been told that my face shape isn’t good for it (I did it senior year of college and there were people who flat out told me never to get that hair cut again). I’ll do it again, when I feel like I have the energy to maintain it.

3.  Can you drive a manual transmission car? lol, no. I can just barely drive an automatic. (Fact: I got my license at age 23 and didn’t regularly drive until 32.)

4.  What’s your favorite thing to cook or bake? Why? Is there a word limit to this? Cuz we’ll be here a few days. lol Favorite thing to bake is scones because I love scones. I also love to bake pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. And anything with a short pastry, so pies, tarts. I LOVE making sweet danishes. Oh crumb cakes. Oooh it’s season for fresh cranberries. I make a really good cranberry lime crumb cake. Cake, in just about every variation (rounds, sheet, cup, etc.) I like these because they’re delicious (and very few bakeries make them well, and I’m a dessert snob. If I’m eating it, it better be worth the calories. I’m also very particular about my cake to frosting/crumb ratio). Also, fact: I suck at baking regular cookies. I can do it, but they never look right and I’m pretty sure I’m screwing up the ratio of dry to wet ingredients or the butter’s not cold enough or something, but yeah, my cookies always look seriously deformed. (yes, I’ve seen that chart that troubleshoots cookies. No, it hasn’t helped.)

Favorite thing to cook. Hm... go to comfort stuff: penne vodka, but really, I like trying new recipes.

5.  How old were you when you got your ears pierced (if your ears aren’t pierced, do you want to get them pierced? The first time I got my ears pierced, I think I was in 8th grade, so 13-ish. After the initial however long it was that you’re supposed to keep them in, I got lazy so I didn’t keep earrings in all the time (and they hurt my ears), so the holes apparently closed. I got them re-pierced in sophomore or junior year of high school and again, after a little while, they closed again. I was thinking about getting them re-pierced again.

6.  Do you like Thanksgiving? Why or why not? I LOVE Thanksgiving. Yes, the historical aspect can go to hell, but personally, I love Thanksgiving. So growing up, being Chinese, we never celebrated American Thanksgiving. When I was about 13, I got a bread making book from the Scholastic book fair and discovered that we had a working oven (Chinese people don’t cook with ovens. We have a wok and a rice cooker. That’s really all you need.). Anyway, I started baking bread and it was amazing.

Also, our local supermarket would do the holiday promotion of if you spend $X, you can get a free holiday protein, and being a household of 8 (sometimes 10), we hit that spending threshold very, very quickly. So one year, I told my mom that we’re getting a turkey, instead of the ham that she likes. She was skeptical, but I was hell bent on celebrating American Thanksgiving and figuring out what this whole turkey hoopla was about.

I started cooking a Thanksgiving feast for my family (immediate and extended) from the age of 14. I did a sticky rice stuffing in the bird. Mashed sweet potatoes (no marshmallow. it’s sweet enough by itself.) I always made a lasagna (with cheese from DiPalo’s, where I would wait hours on line for our order) or another pasta dish. We did Chinese vegetables. And every year, we would pick new recipes we’d want to try. By ‘we’, I mean me. I would pick new recipes that I’d want to try and my three younger siblings would be obligatory sous chefs. And since bread baking happened in the wee early hours of the morning, we would have it for breakfast. So then I expanded the menu to include breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It became an all day thing and I was (and still am) obsessed.

Oh, it probably also helped to know that I come from a very large extended family and everyone would come through our house during holidays. Usually, it’s because my family hosted the mah jong parties, so we were kinda party central. My biggest Thanksgiving, we had about 50 people cycle through the house that day, so I had to make sure I had food enough for 50 people. Growing up, I’m pretty sure we never had less than 30. (It’s been a shock for me these past several years when we’ve hosted less than 20 people on turkey day.)

Then, my siblings would find recipes that they want to try, and Thanksgiving was this day where we would try food. Not all the recipes worked out, but no one ever got sick or food poisoning (oh man, I have stories from adjacent family members). But yeah. It’s an insane production and I love every minute of it (especially since my mom did the clean up, because bless that woman, she messed up Jiffy corn bread mix when she tried to bake, so she sticks to cleaning).

Anyway, after I got married, I demanded Thanksgiving, which my in-laws didn’t care about because they were getting it catered anyway. But I found out the hard way that they’ve sucked the soul out of my Thanksgiving festivities. One person demanded Stove Top (over fresh sausage dressing?!??!!). Fine. Another prefers roasted turkey (as opposed to smoked or fried). Year after year, they keep telling me to make less food, because they don’t enjoy watching me cook (they think I work too hard, but they also don’t understand that I’m having the time of my life).

At this point, I know that in order to get back to the Thanksgiving that I want to celebrate, it will be after that generation has passed. It’s fine.

I used to start planning my Thanksgiving menu in March, studying recipes and picking and choosing stuff up until like two weeks before hand. Ever since the kids came along, that excitement has also waned. But I’m excited for this year. There will be apple cider mimosas. And I’m roasting a savory pumpkin. And there will be artichokes. Oh and one of my good friends went to Dominique Ansel Kitchen’s pie night this year and had a poached pear chocolate pie that she said was divine. I am attempting to recreate it based on her descriptions of the textures and her pictures. This is what I live for.

(where the fuck is that barney stinson challenge accepted gif when you need it?)

and yes, this year will be my 24th year cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

7.  If you could live in the world of one film, which one would you pick? Oh man. D2: The Mighty Ducks. Ok, I lied. I do have a favorite live action movie. I wish I had a more creative answer to this. Yeah, Harry Potter’s world would be cool. Yeah, I identify with hobbits. Any of the Star Treks would also be good in terms of universes. But I want Adam Banks to teach (13-14 year old) me how to ice skate.

8.  What kind of pet have you never had, but have always wanted? lol one of my bffs and I always wanted a baby panda.

9.  If you won the huge lottery, what would be the first 3 things you’d do?Get a good fucking lawyer, set up a shell foundation so it’s not listed in mine or my husband’s name, prepare to disappear after a couple of years of acting normal. Then, for the more fun three, pay off debt, travel, get a house somewhere the fuck else.

Ceno’s answer was too perfect, so I left it, mainly because I’d pretty much do the same. I’d buy my parents a new house and hire a chauffeur for them. Also @katiekeysburg will get a chauffeur. And I’d throw money at teleportation research. And fund a bunch of gofundmes.

10.  Have you ever gotten a tattoo? What is it? If you haven’t, do you want one? I do not have any but I’ve always wanted one of my Chinese name above my ankle and I’ve always wanted the pi character somewhere (debated various locations). One day, when I get the guts to. (and when it’s seasonally appropriate to get one above my ankle, cuz omg I never knew about the various care required while it heals.)

11.  What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done? hahaha um. Probably calling the cops on an online friend who I thought was going to kill himself, but he really wasn’t (but I didn’t know that). (hey kids, don’t put your addresses in your aol profiles--yes I’m ancient.) actually, I’ve done my share to stupid aol/online shit. it will probably come back to haunt me if i ever run for public office or marry a celebrity.

Ok, real stupid thing. I’m a severe klutz, and one time I walked off a raised cement slab (like the kind that statues would sit on) and sprained my ankle. It was probably 3 inches off the ground on the side that I got on it, but it was further off the ground on the other side, so when I got off the slab, I misjudged where to put my foot and I rolled my ankle. Ended up at the ER and they put me in a soft cast. I had to have crutches to get around campus and this one guy who I don’t even know his name, picked me up and carried me up the campus hill (we had a really big hill), and it was against my consent. I did NOT want him to pick me up. It was terrible. Anyway, I rolled my ankle by walking. I have tons of stupid shit. How much time you got?

I was also pretty pretentious when I was younger. (I might still be. I’m not as self aware as I wish to be.) I once asked an Italian friend to try my tomato sauce and asked him what was missing because it didn’t taste right. (I know. I was so gross. You learn from your own grossness though.)

What other stupidity? I fawned over boys. My bff gave me a copy of The Giving Tree in college (I had never read it before) as a metaphor of how much of myself I gave to this toxic dude. I sobbed reading it for the first time.

In hindsight, not getting my license at 17 was a pretty stupid move too. But that also had to do with life circumstances.

OH. Turning down an interview for an internship with my dream company at the time, because I had already accepted an internship position with another company.

Trying to explain to my MBA ethics class how my industry worked only to get it mansplained back to me (pretty stupid of me to have tried in the first place).

Going for my MBA was also a pretty stupid move in the holistic view of my life.

12.  Have you accomplished your New Year’s Resolution for 2018? I honestly don’t remember if I even made resolutions, so I’m going to say hard no.

13.  If you could get any degree from any school, free of charge, what would you pick? Criminal Psychology. Ceno, we can go to school together! (this reminds me I need to catch up on last week’s Criminal Minds) Another option would be anything in the forensics sciences. I would also like to learn massage therapy. And I want to take that artisan bread breaking course at the Institute of Culinary Education.

I forget how many people I’m supposed to tag. @katiekeysburg @daisyjm75 @steverogersnotebook

[annabethwisegirl-chase]

250 Headcanons (Part 4)

I bet you thought you’d seen the last of these.  Headcanons #151-200.  These cover from Annabeth’s time in college, to her death, as well as a little extra.  You’ll see what I mean if you make it to the end of this.  

151. One of the general education requirements at the university in New Rome has to deal with an Ancient Roman history course, and how they’ve evolved over time, how things have changed and stayed the same, and how the past repeats itself, etc.  Being the good Greek demigod that she is, Annabeth spends most of the class creating edited versions of notes that contradict half of what the professor’s saying.  The myths that were so obviously stolen from the Greek tradition get the most heavy handed treatment, with Annabeth opting to continue telling it the way she knows.  After all, it’s based on her culture, so it has to be more accurate than whatever the Romans turned it into.  Since most of the tests in the class are short and long essay response questions, Annabeth ends up not doing too well in that course because of the fact she refuses to change her perspective on Rome and its history.  Her final paper in the class has about half a page about Roman history/mythology, comparing it to its Greek counterparts, before she spends the rest of it detailing where the narrative is completely wrong, citing sources like “my mother, the goddess, Athena,” and “Chiron, trainer of heroes,” and “former Praetor Jason Grace, who met this guy and said he was a dick.”  The last one, she found, was really hard to cite in APA format.

152.  Although Annabeth does have friends in New Rome (Reyna, Frank, Hazel, and the occasional appearance by Jason), she never feels quite right there.  She knows that most of the others living there don’t think twice about having her around, but there’s still an underlying prejudice with many of the younger demigods still at Camp Jupiter.  It’s enough to make her want to move back to New York after one year.  But, the credits at New Rome don’t really transfer to any other university, and Annabeth can’t stand the idea of feeling like she wasted her time there.  So, she agrees to stick it out for the next three and reevaluate at the end of it where they want to live.

153.  She spends those next three years drawing up plans for New Athens in her spare time and working with Chiron via IM on how to make it a reality.  At first the centaur seemed hesitant, because camp was never intended to become a permanent home.  But, with demigods living longer and Camp Jupiter having such a well working structure, Chiron knows he really has no choice but to give in.  Through some “anonymous funding” provided by the Olympian gods, the camp is able to buy more land and expand its borders for the creation of a new town.  The Athena Parthenos is moved to where the gates of the new city will be, and Annabeth almost hates that she’s not there to see its symbolic new placement.  Almost.

154.  At the college in New Rome, passwords have to be changed every 180 days.  It’s a supid rule, and Annabeth has to get IT to reset her account for her once because she forgets and lets it expire.  But, each year, she sets up her passwords based around a “theme” in the hopes they’ll be easier to remember.  (Although so many people are amazed at the things Annabeth can remember, passwords just don’t seem to be among them).  Her first year is pretty simple, just naming her friends and adding a number at the end of it.  The next few years have themes including favorite Disney characters, famous architects, and superheroes.

155.  Annabeth has never liked the taste of coffee. Ways to keep her going after pulling all-nighters usually include a lot of exercise and Dr. Pepper.  She also has very specific stages that she goes through whenever she hasn’t slept that are, in order: drunk sounding Annabeth, giggly Annabeth, sarcastic/sassy Annabeth, flat out mean Annabeth, and finally dead girl walking Annabeth.

156.  The first place she starts to design for New Athens is the home she wants to live in with Percy.  It’s completed in bits in pieces, because she keeps trying to hide it from him, which is definitely a task that is easier said than done.  He keeps trying to sneak up behind her or steal her blueprints away, just to see what is taking her away from him that he knows isn’t school work.  Somehow though, she manages to keep it tucked safely away, in a tube with a pen mark down the side that she stashes with her old Olympus sketches.

157.  She will drop anything and everything to have her head and/or neck rubbed. 

158.  Annabeth also is just a really good artist in general.  Like, she’s great at proportions and angles from her years of trying to train as an architect.  But, it transfers over into other subject matter as well.  Her notebooks are filled with doodles in the corners that look way more detailed than something absentmindedly drawn during lectures.  

159.  Since her mom is also the goddess of crafts, Annabeth tries to take up knitting over a winter break, watching Youtube tutorial videos to try and get good at it.  Although she can make a pretty wicked scarf, her hats kind of look deformed.  But, that doesn’t stop her from making them for nearly everyone that she comes in contact with.  It’s therapeutic, to be able to work with her hands and continue to create things instead of feeling like she’s only tearing them down.  And making hats and scarves take so much less time than watching a building rise from the ground up.  So it definitely provides the more immediate satisfaction while she’s waiting for her more major projects to come to fruition.

160.  Annabeth cannot cook to save her life.  She made it a point to learn how to make cupcakes, but that’s as far as her ability in the kitchen goes.  Everything else ends up burnt or not completely done.  Then, when Annabeth tries to cook it/bake it longer, then it just ends up burning.

161.  Ham, pineapple and extra black olives is her pizza of choice.  However, due to the fact she seems to be the only one on the side of pro-pineapple, and her boyfriend’s insistence that the pineapple taints the pizza entirely, she just settles for olives on her half of the pizza. 

162.  Literally always cold.  It doesn’t matter that they spend the majority of the year in California, Annabeth always has some sort of jacket or sweater on her.  She walks around her apartment with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and sleeps with her socks on because she swears that it keeps her warmer.

163.  Annabeth is that person who always dresses up for class.  Well, not necessarily dresses up, but is careful to make sure she looks professional at all times.  Literally the second she gets home though, it’s goodbye pants and hello oversized sweatshirt.  If there are going to be any plans to go out to eat dinner, or hang out in the city, those have to be made between classes or immediately after she walks through the door.  Because the second she changes out of her clothes, that’s it for the day.

164.  The first year that Percy and Annabeth live together brings back a lot of the bickering from their younger days.  And sometimes, that bickering can spiral out of control and have them in full on fights.  The argument that crops up the most definitely has to do with household chores.  Annabeth is used to having a certain level of cleanliness.  It helps her to stay focused it there’s not a huge mess everywhere.  Percy, on the other hand, does not seem to be quite as phased by it.  Fed up, she decides to try and institute a chore wheel, but it ends up causing more problems and neither of them pay much attention to it.  But, they never think to take it down off its place on the fridge.  So, it stays there pretty much the entire time they live in that apartment.

165.  She owns three calendars.  One is a little planner that she keeps in her backpack, one is hanging up on the wall by her desk, and one is huge and actually sits on her desk.  Although the same information is written in pretty much all three, the constant reminders and hope of seeing it makes it more likely that Annabeth will complete a task that’s set out for her.  Everything is also color coded.  School assignment due dates and tests are in red, family events are in blue, social events are in green, appointments are in purple, demigod related things are in orange, and anything else that might pop up is in pink.

166.  Annabeth gets a job her second year of living in New Rome working at a cafe.  She has to be up way too early for her liking, but she always has been an early riser so it’s not too hard to make the adjustment.  Besides, it means that she’s done with her shift by the time her classes start, giving her ample time in the evenings to work through her homework as well as her plans for New Athens.  She walks around all day smelling like coffee though, and it’s enough to make her never want to get near the stuff when she finally quits a few months before graduation.

167.  Growing up at camp, Annabeth’s used to eating pretty healthy.  However, that does not mean she can’t inhale junk food like the next person.  Her favorite non-healthy snack has to be chocolate covered peanuts (specifically, Goobers, but she’s not super picky on that).  On the flip side, she doesn’t really like peanut M&Ms.  Despite the fact that people have tried to convince her they’re basically the same thing, she’ll have none of it.  She claims that the candy coating gives the M&Ms a completely different flavor and basically refuses to eat them.

168.  There’s only one movie that Annabeth has ever cried at: Dinsey’s Hercules.  And, it didn’t even start until she was in her teens.  Even in college and beyond, she spends the entire film pointing out things that the movie got wrong.  But, the last ten minutes of it has her tearing up every single time.

169.  Annabeth is a Slytherin.  She also thinks that the people who combine houses (Slytherclaws, Gryffinpuffs, etc.) are just lying to themselves to make them feel better.

170.  Annabeth and Percy end up adopting two dogs from a nearby animal shelter.  They definitely went with the intention of only getting one, because their apartment was still small, and they were super busy all the time.  But, they couldn’t decide between two and ultimately decided to just get both of them.  Since there were two, each of them decided they got to rename one each.  So Otis and Aramis Jackson were added to the clan.

171.  Annabeth’s eyesight starts to get really poor during her sophomore year of college.  She dealt with it being slightly fuzzy, too stubborn to get her eyes checked out, for more than a year before finally giving in.  While she thanks the gods that she’s allowed to get contacts from the get go, her back up glasses have large, black frames and she feels sufficiently like a dork when she has to wear them.

172.  They’re juniors in college the first time the question of marriage is seriously discussed.  It’s Christmas break, and they're spending a weekend at her dad’s before Percy’s family flies in to celebrate the holiday.  Her stepmom meant it as a joke when she asked when they were getting married, and everyone--including Percy--looks stunned with Annabeth answers: “the summer after we graduate, that Saturday in the weird week where July becomes August.”  She says it without even looking up from the piece of chicken that’s she cutting, and is genuinely confused at everyone’s expression when she does look up.

173.  That same night, after everyone goes to bed, Percy asks her if she was being serious about what she said at dinner.  Annabeth responds in the affirmative, explaining how she felt like it went along with the whole idea that she wanted to be married young.  And, she wants to change her last name before she makes her mark in the mortal architectural world so that when she becomes a sort of “brand,” she’ll be restricted from doing that.  Since everything in their life happens in the summer, it only made sense that they’d get married then and she picked the weekend closest to the middle of their birthdays.  He acts all offended for about half a second, claiming that he can’t believe she made all these plans without even asking her to marry him, but they’re both a little too giddy at the prospect of actually getting married for them to believe it’s actually genuine.  Their laughter only grows when Annabeth gets down on one knee and asks him to marry her, slipping his college ring onto his ring finger to keep up the charade.

174.  Technically, they get engaged twice.  The first time, when Annabeth proposed with a college ring and it’s the time that she swears is the official start of their engagement.  The second time takes another year to crop up, and they’ve already started planning their wedding when Percy slides the engagement ring onto her hand.  It’s the second time that he swears is the official start of the engagement.

175.  In high school, the running gag was that if Percy didn’t graduate, then he couldn’t come to New Rome with her.  Of course, it was a ridiculous thing to say, because they both knew that no matter what happened, she would not be leaving him behind.  In college, the running gag becomes that if he doesn’t graduate, then he won’t get to marry her.  Of course, it proves to be just as ridiculous as their old gag, and not just because they’ve already put their deposit down on the venue.

176.  She designed exactly four structures for New Athens before deciding it wasn’t worth trying to do it all on her own.  She would go insane.  So, Annabeth handed over her designs and basic outline of the town to the Athena campers living at camp.  Those campers team up with the Hephaestus cabin to work on the city, careful to make sure each of Annabeth’s designs--including the house she made for herself and Percy--go into the final construction of the city.  It’s not ready to move into when they graduate college, but it’s closer than anything Annabeth could have achieved on her own.

177.  When they graduate from college, it’s a huge ordeal.  They have their friends from both camps come out, Percy’s family flies in, Annabeth’s family (including Magnus and two of his friends) shows up, and most of them end up crashing in their tiny apartment.  It’s cramped, and you can’t walk two steps without stepping on someone at night, but it’s great.  They have a barbecue after the ceremony, and the entire day is spent laughing and reminiscing on the various instances that made everyone doubt either Percy or Annabeth would end up as college graduates.  All through the day, Nico keeps shooting her strange glances, like he suspects something, but never voices a concern.  The party lasts for an entire weekend, and when people finally start leaving, they all express excitement at reuniting again in New York in a few months for the wedding.

178.  They decided to move back to New York after graduation.  Although Annabeth liked being close to her family and the safety of New Rome, neither of them felt they were truly at home.  So, two weeks after graduation, Percy and Annabeth pack as many of their belongings as they can into their car, and drop off the rest with Frederick, who promises to mail them soon.  It’s a long trip that’s only supposed to take four days, but because they’re who they are and constantly need breaks, monster attacks, and a weird case of car sickness from Annabeth, it ends up taking them almost twice that long.  Percy ends up having to drive most of it because Annabeth is exhausted or has a headache for most of the trip, and spends as much of it as she can sleeping.

179.  Since they don’t have an apartment when they move back to the city, Percy and Annabeth move back into his old room at Sally’s until they find one they like.  It’s still small and not in the best part of the city, but it’s theirs and her dad insists that he doesn’t mind helping them out a little.  At least, it’ll do until Annabeth’s job becomes more than just an internship and Percy finishes up with the final three courses that he has to take in order for his teaching license to be compatible with New York’s teaching requirements.

180.  She’s never been good at taking medication.  It doesn’t matter if there’s people there to remind her to do it, or if she puts post it notes up everywhere to try and get herself to take it.  It’s just one of those things that slips her mind.  It was the case when her stepmom put her on medication for her ADHD, and now, it’s the case with her birth control.  And it’s hard for her pills to work if she never takes them.  Which might be why she finds out she’s pregnant a little over a month before her wedding day.

181.  She absolutely does not want to invite any part of their godly family, and insists that they won’t even show up if they are invited.  But, Piper convinces her that it’ll be a slight if they don’t get invited to it, so Annabeth eventually relents.  Her invitation to Hera though has to be mailed a week later by Percy when Annabeth insists that it got “lost.”  However, due to the fact that Hera is the goddess of marriage, he vetoes her in saying that it’s asking for trouble if they don’t have her come.  Everyone is surprised when most of the gods RSVP with a yes.

182.   I keep seeing people saying Percy and Annabeth’ll get married at Camp and I’m like... no.  Okay here we go.  They get married at Montauk, and there’s this place called like the Navy Beach House or something, and it’s super nice and expensive but Frederick insists on paying for it because he knows that this is what Annabeth wants.  And he hasn’t really felt like he’s been able to really give her anything she wants before, so this is something that he goes all out for.  Also keep in mind, mortals can’t enter camp, and there is no way that Percy and Annabeth would get married without Sally, Paul, and baby Blofis around.  They want it to be a small thing, but of course, what Percy and Annabeth want and what usually happens end up being in complete contrast with each other.  It’s another huge party, with people from both camps coming in, basically all the gods showing up in human-esque form, the hunters of Artemis showing up (but they kind of have to, since Thalia’s in the wedding), in addition to the mortal sides of both their families.  The gods put up a protective border for the day, because that many demigods in one place would definitely draw monsters.  And Aphrodite has been waiting for this day since Percy and Annabeth were eleven, so no one is messing it up unless they want to deal with her wrath.  It’s great, but there’s so much preparation and planning and hugging relatives that it seems to go by in a blur.  Annabeth is sufficiently disappointed when the only piece of wedding cake she gets is the piece that Percy smashed in her face.

183.   She manages to keep the whole pregnancy thing a secret from everyone (except she’s like 85% sure Sally knows something’s up, and Nico definitely knows.  Turns out he can sense new life just like he can sense people dying and that’s why he gave her the weird looks at the graduation).  It’s during the reception that she just writes “I’m pregnant” on a napkin that she passes to Percy before walking off to go greet more guests.  The look he gives her when she finally makes eye contact again is priceless.

184.  She changes her last name to Jackson as soon as she can after they get back from the honeymoon.  Piper gave her some grief about it, claiming that it was giving into the patriarchy or something, but Annabeth didn’t care.  She finally was officially a part of a family that was going to be permanent and that was going to be there for her, no matter what.  Changing her last name to symbolize her belonging to that family was 100% her choice and something she’d decided on doing not long after her and Percy started talking about getting married.

185.  Annabeth wanted to get her master’s directly out of college and was even accepted into a program.  However, she decided to delay it due to the fact she was the idea of working, going to school, and taking care of a newborn seemed next to impossible.  Annabeth knows she’s incredible, but she’s not that incredible.  It actually gets pushed back a lot farther than she meant to, because all of their kids kind of end up being born back to back to back.  Eventually, she is able to go back to school when the youngest starts kindergarten, and gets her master’s degree, before going on to achieve her doctorate as well.

186.  They have three kids: two boys and a girl.  The first two were not planned.  The only reason they did decide to have a third was because of the whole ‘rule of three.’  Despite the fact that Annabeth proved it was a stupid law on her first quest, something about it still seemed safe.  So, they had one more.  It becomes a tradition for the next two kids that whenever Annabeth finds out she’s pregnant, she just writes it on a napkin and slips it to Percy at the end of dinner, before taking one of the kids to another room in their apartment.

187.  It’s after their second kid is born that New Athens is completed and they’re able to move back into the safety of camp borders, while still living as functioning adults.  It’s kind of a difficult commute for Annabeth for work, but she doesn’t care.  She likes living in a home she designed with her family.  And knowing their safe is worth the trip she has to take every day to get to the firm she works at.  When Annabeth got to take Percy around the house the first time after it was done, and explain the intricate details of it all and why she designed things certain ways, she was couldn’t stop bouncing on her feet as she walked.  They totally make out like teenagers in their newly finished kitchen before remembering that their kids are being watched by a few of Apollo’s kids in camp that probably should be relieved of their babysitting duties as soon as possible.

188.  Their youngest gets Percy’s water powers and he can’t properly control them until he’s about eight.  However, that doesn’t mean that his emotions don’t set them off.  Annabeth loses track of the number of times she gets doused in toilet water (to which Percy can’t help but laugh every time) and his siblings find themselves getting water from the faucet shooting straight at their faces every time there’s an argument.

189.  There are family Halloween costumes pretty much every year until their oldest is ten.  Some of Annabeth’s favorites include the Incredibles, Batman, the Scooby Doo gang, and the Addams Family.

190.  Due to the fact that both Percy and Annabeth are ADHD and dyslexic, all three of their kids have ADHD.  Only their daughter is not diagnosed with dyslexia and there are definitely tears of joy when Annabeth first hears her daughter read through a sentence without stumbling any more than any other child learning to read. 

191.  When each Jackson kid is six, they receive a plastic sword to begin learning to sword fight.  Granted, it probably seemed overkill, but all three of them definitely do still have a potent smell.  So, it’s necessary for them to learn how to fight.  After proving that they are capable of handling a blade and not hurting themselves (or pulling it on their siblings for the fun of it), they are given a real weapon, made especially for them by Tyson.  

192.  Board games, card games, and puzzles aren’t actually a thing that can go on in the Jackson household because everyone is so competitive about it.  Pieces go “missing” from puzzles because someone took it so they can put the last piece in.  Cards get traded below table tops to help someone win a hand.  Board games usually get tipped over “accidentally” when someone gets up to go to the kitchen for something to drink.  

193.  Annabeth falls asleep more at the kitchen table than she does in her own bed.  She gets wrapped up in some new project and insists on it being perfect.  So, even though she swears she’ll only be up for fifteen more minutes, there’s no telling what time Annabeth will actually pass out and Percy gave up trying to wake her up to come to bed about a year after they got married.  It just seemed that when he would wake her up, she’d murmur something about being awake enough to keep going and that she still definitely had five more minutes of work time left in her.

194.  She’s totally that mom who frightens teachers and coaches a like about her kids.  Like, when they make a mistake getting onto her kid for something that wasn’t their fault, or they take them out of a play when they’re clearly the best player on the team, Annabeth loses it.  She ends up banned from her daughter’s volleyball games for a year.

195.  When they take their kids to Disney for the first time, Annabeth is just as excited as any of the Jackson spawn.  She spends the entire time describing the inspiration for the facades of the buildings, as well as how the forced perspective is working.  She spends weeks planning their days down to the minute, factoring other potential plans for extra wait times, shorter wait times, etc. but ends up ditching all of it as soon as she rides Dumbo for the first time.  No one really understands why, but that is her ride.  They have to ride it first the two days they go to the Magic Kingdom during that trip.

196.   It’s not uncommon for either Percy or Annabeth to be asked to go out and escort a halfblood to camp.  Typically, they go as a team on the weekend, after dropping their kids off with Sally and Paul or letting them stay in their cabins at camp.  However, after getting a call from Chiron about a halfblood near by, Annabeth opted to take on the mission by herself.  After all, she’d be heading back close to camp’s borders at the end of the day anyway.  It only made sense to find the demigod and take them back with her.  But it wasn’t one demigod that she found.  There were three.  All kids under the age of twelve, and all looking absolutely terrified and banged up from a long journey.  There’s a rushed warning about something following them, and Annabeth decides then and there that it’s probably better to take them back to camp now instead of convincing them to hang out at work with her for the rest of the day first.  True to their word, there’s a cyclops on the trail of the three half bloods, who is ruthless in its attempts to hunt them down.  It destroys Annabeth’s car, and they’re but a few hundred feet from the protective borders of camp when she tells them to run and she’ll hold it off.   And it’s almost poetic, in a way.  When she’s turned to call directions to them, the cyclops knocks her to the side with a blow she didn’t see coming.  It sends her knife flying out of her hands, but she knows that she has to stall it in order for the kids to get to safety.  And they do.  They make it.  But Annabeth doesn’t.  She’s a month away from turning forty one when she dies.

197.  There’s a weird murmuring when Annabeth goes into the Underworld, and a few of the guard spirits seem to click excitedly when she arrives.  Despite her better judgement, she decides to go in front of the judges, to see if there is any sort of reward waiting for her on the other side.  Maybe she’ll get Elysium, or maybe--if she pleads her case hard enough--she’ll be able to wait for a few dozen years before Percy shows up so they can make the decision together.  After all, it was never a conversation that had popped up before.  Whenever they got close to the topic, they’d quickly find something else to talk about.  It definitely took her by surprise when she made her way in and found that she’d been granted not Elysium, but the Isles of the Blessed.  Her third life had been completed.  It’s then that she’s granted the memories of the first two lives as well before being ushered on.  In each of them, there are two common elements.  The first, there’s always a demigod present.  Somehow, the Greek gods continue to plague her life in each of her three incarnations.  The other, the boy she falls in love with is always the same.  Different names (except for his first and last lives, a fact she finds amusing), different parentage, slightly different personalities but the same goofy grin and same quick wit.

198.  Her first life found her as a princess in Ancient Greece, with parents who claimed she was more beautiful than Aphrodite.  The claim was considered blasphemy, and she was chained to a rock to be eaten for her parents’ words.  It seemed unfair, but she was too prideful even then to try and beg for her life from the gods.  So, she kept silent and faced her fate.  But her fate never came.  Instead, there was a boy--a demigod--who carried Medusa’s head that turned the monster to stone.  They married and lived happily ever after.   Seriously, depending on what version of the myth you read, Perseus and Andromeda are described to look exactly like Percy and Annabeth so fight me on this.

199.  Her second life had her as another Greek demigod, born in England.  This time, she was a daughter of Apollo.  Her mother had died when she was young, leaving the girl to become a charge to an aspiring artist during the early years of the English Renaissance.  He taught her how to paint and how to play the lyre, which she found that she was rather good at.  A soldier heard her playing, and quick banter made the girl find this soldier interesting.  Due to who her father was, she was talented with a bow and arrow, so she cut off her hair, ran away from her home, disguised herself as a man, and joined the army.  It was foolish, of course, and she died not long after by throwing herself in the way of a sword that was meant for the soldier she cared for.

200.  One of the privileges of being in the Isles is that she can travel through the Underworld, but it comes with stipulations.  It can never be for too long, she can’t look for people she used to know who chose to stay in the Fields of Asphodel, she can’t speak to demigods that come down for a quest, and the Fields of Punishment are completely off limits.  She uses this slight freedom to visit Daedalus when he’s working, often offering up tips for the redesigns he’s doing and to play catch with Cerberus.  As much as she enjoys the relaxing after three taxing lives, it does get a little lonely, even in a perpetual paradise.  There are definitely some happy tears shed when she finally reunites with who she can only call her soulmate.

[sixthousandninehundredmiles]

11/23/2017

Happy Thanksgiving!

I got to sleep in today. I haven’t been checking the cousin’s chat on Facebook for the past week even though they have been planning for this event. I’ve been too caught up in my school work to think about this. But when I woke up, Ryan’s family, Colin, and Beej had arrived already. Tony, Colin’s dad, and Max arrived soon after. Allison was hanging out with Danice during the day and somehow ended up having lunch with us as well. After showering and getting ready, I was like wow everyone is here so early today. And Danae said, “You know we are doing lunch right?” Ooops…this is what happens when I’m inactive for about a week LOL

As always, Colin and Beej did a fantastic job on Thanksgiving lunch. That turkey looked and tasted amazing. I wasn’t able to get a picture of all the food but just off the list, there’s baked ham, green bean casserole, homemade dinner rolls, corn, baked yam, mashed potato, gravy, and cranberry compote. We also had enough apple cider for everyone to have their own bottle LOL. The food was so good! I wished you were here. One of my favorite meals of the year is actually the Thanksgiving feast; full of hearty, comfort food that is basic and delicious. Danae also made a pumpkin pie that turned out very well when paired with Colin’s whipped cream.

After lunch, all the cousins and others in our generation gathered around to play poker. It was actually really fun but in a way annoying. We didn’t bet money but instead bet exercises like 50 sit ups. Danae, who didn’t know how to play, had that idgaf attitude so she basically went all in on the first hand and lost all her chips to Max. Same for Tony. Like dude you could slowly ask questions and learn rather than forcing yourself to learn and ruining everyone’s game because now Max could basically easily buy us out with his large amount of chips. Ryan was also throwing a fit because he wanted to play with money and didn’t like how we were altering the rules to fit a more family-friendly game style. On the other hand, it was also fun because Max implemented his version of poker with no money. Basically each colored chip represented a different exercise ex. 1 red chip = 5 seconds of planks. Rather than betting your own chips, you would grab from a pool of chips and make a pot from that. Somewhat complicated to explain in words but the game turned out pretty fun.

Around 6pm, Danae and Danice asked if I wanted to go visit my mom’s parents. Kinda just drop by with a small gift and say hi…I don’t like that side because of the way they treat my parents so I was reluctant to go…It was just an awkward 20 minute conversation of trying to think of something to talk about while we were there. Kinda got annoyed at Danae and Danice because they were mostly silent and didn’t bring anything to the table for conversation, forcing me to do so…and they were the ones who wanted to come. Whatever lol.

After the visit, we met the rest of our cousins at Great Mall for to watch Justice League and Black Friday Shopping. The movie was eh…it was what I expected of a DC movie…kinda shitty. At least I met my match in popcorn eating. Ryan can eat the same amount of popcorn as I can…or at least he is the closest person I know. He bragged that he wants a large for himself but in the end…I’m the only one who finished LOL. He had about 10% left. Thinking about it, idk why we even bother inviting Ryan to Black Friday anymore. Or why he even tries to come hangout with us because all he does is throw a fit after he finishes shopping within the first 10 minutes. He complains that we take hella long and that he’s tired…deja vu to last year lol. Colin, Beej, Max, Ryan, and Tony all came in Colin’s car because us 3 Longs went to visit our grandparents beforehand. Colin and Beej had to leave early because Colin had a 5am shift. Max decided to leave with them to head back to our house to get his car. Tony I can tell wanted to stay. Ryan was just fuck it cya and started walking too when he was supposed to go home with Tony…I’m like dude Ryan no one can take you home besides Tony because everyone else is the opposite way but he didn’t seem to care. Little bitch really gets on my nerves.

ANYWAYS I think I got a pretty good haul. I got a nice pair of sweats from Asics, 2 v-necks from Express, and a nice jacket from Guess. Rather than paying $180, I got everything for about $100. I also ran into Peter and Hong Ha at the mall. I hung out with them for a bit. They also asked me to go Black Friday shopping at Valley Fair the next day so we shall see how much more I can save :D

That’s my Thanksgiving babe. I really wished you were here for the holidays. It just isn’t the same without you here. I miss you!

[kewpieandco]

Mommy’s Little Helper

September 9, 2017

It is an exhilarating moment when your child successfully goes down for a nap.  It means you have an hour or two of freedom from booger wiping and dirty diaper changing where you can just do whatever you want!! (Mainly laundry, dishes, bills, dusting, sweeping, mopping, cooking, ironing and the like.  But hey, freedom is freedom!)

On this particular day, I decided that cooking would be my activity of choice during my moments of freedom.  Kewpie was sound asleep in her crib and I was anticipating a nice long nap, and thus lots of time to get my tasks done.  I was making quiche for dinner so my first order of business was to make the crust.  Feeling extra ambitious, I resolved to make a triple batch of dough and save the other two portions for future meals.  That was my first mistake.

When you have a young child, never attempt to do more than you know with absolute certainty that you have time for.  I was elbow deep in my gooey mixture of butter, flour, and cream cheese when Teddy, our mischievous cat, flounced into the room.  She jumped on the counter and attempted to take a bite of my dough.  I swatted her away and pushed her off of the counter with my shoulder.  Well it doesn’t take much to offend a cat and apparently I had crossed the line.

With a backwards glance that said, “Now you’ll pay for the error of your ways,” Teddy trotted down the hall, pushed Kewpie’s door open, and stood in the center of her bedroom.  I knew what was coming and I tried desperately to stop it!

“Teddy, NO! Get out!!” I hissed in a harsh whisper as I dashed toward her with my dough covered arms held out in front of me.  Too late.

“MEEEEEEEEOOOOOOWWW!” said Teddy, a slight sneer seemed to flicker across her whiskered face.

Kewpie sat bolt upright, grabbed the sidebars on her crib, focused her sleepy eyes, and answered Teddy’s call,  “MAAAAAAAAWWW!”

Nooooooooo!  I dropped to my knees and let my head sink onto the floor.  It was over.  All hopes of completing my plans without the interruption of having to fish cheerios out of my child’s ears were dashed, all because I had irritated the cat.

But maybe my freedom could still be salvaged?!  Maybe if I slipped out of sight before Kewpie saw me, she would simply go back to sleep, and I could continue on with my business.  I backed up slowly and tried to flatten myself against the wall behind the bedroom door so Kewpie couldn’t see me.  No such luck.  She wailed in protest and I knew the dream was dead.

I quickly washed my hands and walked into Kewpie’s bedroom at the same moment that Teddy walked out.  We passed one another in silence, each of us glaring at the other.  My look saying to her, “I’m going to send you to bed with no dinner.”  And her look saying, “Good, I’ll catch a mouse for dinner and share half of it with you.”  Cats are incorrigible.

Luckily Kewpie had awoken in a good mood.  She assured me that fifteen minutes of sleep had been enough to rejuvenate her spirit and she was ready for our next adventure.  I told her to go play with Teddy while I finished cooking dinner.  She obeyed for several minutes, during which time she covered Teddy, who was trying to take a nap on the floor, with every book she could find.  But when the fun of burying the cat wore off she became far more interested in what I was doing.

Kewpie yanked on my legs and strained to see what was happening with all of the bowls on the counter.  I told her I was making dinner, so she yanked harder to tell me that she wanted to make dinner too.  Realizing that I was not going to be able to finish my project without some adaptation, I moved my mixing bowl to the floor and sat down on the ground with Kewpie.  

“First we have to beat these eggs,” I said.  Kewpie’s eyes lit up when she saw me start to whisk the eggs into a swirly yellow puddle.  The temptation was too much.  She grabbed the fork out of my hands and started mixing the eggs vigorously.   I figured this would be the only way I could finish dinner so I let Kewpie continue to mix while I prepared the other ingredients.  Little did I know that she had more in mind than simply mixing.  I turned from my position at the refrigerator just in time to see Kewpie putting the finishing touches of slimy egg yolk decorations on her legs.

“No Kewpie!” I said, snatching a paper towel to clean up the mess.  “You can’t touch raw eggs because you might get salmonella!”

Kewpie, undaunted at the prospect of contracting a life threatening disease, continued to look at me while she slowly stuck one finger back into the eggy bowl, daring the salmonella to attack.

“No more touching eggs,” I said.  “Here, let’s add the cheese.”

Kewpie stared in fascination as I grated cheese over the bowl, little shreds of yellow tumbling down into the egg mixture.  Kewpie loves cheese, and little pieces of cheese ribbons must be even more delicious than normal cheese right?!  She made a grab for a clump of cheese, dripping with egg slime, but I intercepted the contraband right before it hit her eager, open mouth.  I gave her some non contaminated cheese to chew on and told her to keep mixing.

She threw all of her energy into mixing and babbled with delight each time I added a new ingredient.  At one point I had to go back to the refrigerator to get the spinach.  When I turned around I saw that some food had sloshed out of the bowl during Kewpie’s aggressive mixing and that she was now carefully picking fuzz off of pieces of ham and then throwing them back into the bowl with satisfied gusto.  I decided I would not tell Hubby about this part of our meal preparation until after we had eaten dinner…

A few more spills later, and the quiche was finished.  All that was left to be done was to put the filling into the crust and bake.  

“This is how we finish putting the quiche together,” I told Kewpie, showing her how to spread the mixture over the crust.  Once again she assumed command of the dinner and grabbed my spatula.  She quickly impaled the nice smooth quiche and started hacking at it as if to release some pent-up rage.

After rescuing the quiche from Kewpie’s outburst of violence, I told her that she could have a snack while I did the dishes.  I put some cheese and crackers on a plate and placed it on the floor for her to eat at her leisure.  I heard the dogs whining from my bedroom.  They love snack time because Kewpie always “accidentally” drops goodies for them to clean up.  But luckily today they were in my bedroom, unable to escape because the baby gate stood securely in the doorway.

With Kewpie happily munching on crackers behind me I was able to begin doing the dishes.

“MA!” said Kewpie, using the sign language to indicate that she wanted more food.

“You’re hungry today, aren’t you?” I said, putting more crackers on Kewpie’s plate.

Kewpie just nodded her head enthusiastically and kept chewing.  A few dishes later, and I heard, “MAA!” again.  I turned around and the crackers that I had given her just a few moments ago were gone!

“Wow Kewpie, you are scarfing these crackers down today!” I said.  I was a bit suspicious that something was amiss, but I put more crackers on my child’s plate anyway.  I kept doing dishes, but turned around more often to see what Kewpie was up to.  I noticed that the dogs whined again and Kewpie’s eyebrows went up as if to say, “That’s my cue!”

She pushed her chubby little body up to a standing position, grabbed a handful of crackers, and toddled quietly down the hall.  I watched without a word as Kewpie thrust an abundance of cracker crumbs and cheese particles over the baby gate and into my bedroom where the patiently waiting dogs gobbled up her generous offering.  You could almost see the three of them winking at each other and saying, “Haha, Mom will never know!”  I ducked back behind the corner as Kewpie returned to her place on the kitchen floor.

“MAA!" Kewpie said innocently.

“My goodness, Kewpie!” I said with mock surprise. “You certainly are hungry today!”

Kewpie smiled proudly and thumped her plate, insisting that I work on getting those crackers a little faster.  The dogs whined again, and seeing that I was still doing dishes, oblivious to all that was going on, Kewpie set off on her secret mission down the hall.  

I saw her throw a few shattered crackers onto the ground behind the gate and then hold out a whole cracker towards Juno.  He sniffed Kewpie’s hand, then gently nibbled a corner off of her tasty treat.  Kewpie then promptly shoved the rest of that same cracker into her mouth.  She turned to go fetch more loot, but jumped in surprise when she saw me standing at the end of the hallway, blocking her path to the kitchen.

“Kewpie?!” I said.  “Why were you smuggling all of your crackers to the dogs?!”

Kewpie burst into a huge smile, cracker crumbs tumbling out of her mouth.  She laughed and jumped up and down, clapping her hands over and over.  She had been caught, but she wasn’t sorry one bit.  She and the animals are in cahoots, and I expect that is how it will always be.