#not when i also have a library book i want to read due on october 15th
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firestorm09890 · 2 months ago
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[overenthusiastic youtuber voice] I have TWELVE DAYS to read the ENTIRE SECOND HALF of DON QUIXOTE, a.k.a. 74 CHAPTERS in 495 PAGES
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pokeharvest · 1 month ago
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Day 9 of OCtober by @bweirdart!
Prompt: Relationships
Ship chart for Splarnya and Gale :-) template taken from here
in depth explanations under the cut!
Extrovert/Introvert: I don't see Gale as an extreme introvert--he loves to talk with the friends he makes and enjoys social events as well as spending time alone or staying indoors. While his ideal night is probably the latter, he doesn't entirely despise being around others. Neither does Splarnya, but growing up as an only child and traveling alone has tempered her into someone who is very comfortable being by herself/in her own comfort zone.
Big Spoon/Little Spoon: They switch but because of their body sizes it usually ends up with Gale as the big spoon and Splarnya as the little spoon :)
PDA/No PDA: Gale is typically the first to initiate PDA, mostly since Splarnya's the more reserved one of the two. This is not to say she doesn't welcome it, she very much enjoys giving and receiving PDA <3
Pet Names/No Pet Names: Gale also uses pet names just a bit more than Splarnya, with his default being "my love." Splarnya also uses "my love" with Gale, but also says "Gale, sweetie..." when trying to coax him.
Independent/Separation Anxiety: Years of bullying and travelling alone has made Splarnya competently independent and fine on her own while Gale would frankly die after a day without her.
Love at First Sight/Slowburn: Despite her initial suspicions of him due to his secrecy, Splarnya falls first. She was friendly with him before, but the moment that changed was after she was poisoned by Nettie. Seeing that Gale genuinely cared for her wellbeing despite barely knowing her was what made her start to fall for him. As for Gale, he is very touched by Splarnya's compassion and generosity in regards to his condition, offering magical artifacts before even knowing why he needs them. What sends him over the edge is the Weave sharing scene, in which Splarnya pictures them together and opens his mind to a path he wasn't sure was possible for him. A rather tropey she fell first he fell harder situation xp
Affection via Actions/Words: Gale is pretty equal when it comes to actions and words being used to show affection, and Splarnya tends to gravitate towards actions as affection (she's more of an actions speak louder than words person).
Has Relationship Experience/No Relationship Experience: Splarnya has very little relationship experience, and Gale. Well. Yeah.
Practically an Open Book/Secretive: Splarnya's expressions are more on the subtle side and she tends to keep things close to her chest. Gale is much easier to read expression wise, and has less of a poker face than Splarnya.
Deals with Bugs/Cries About Them: Growing up on the road, Splarnya isn't particularly bothered by (regular) sized bugs. I also don't see Gale being extremely bothered by bugs, and in fact being curious about them.
Designated Driver/Can't Drive: In a setting with cars, both would be able to drive but Gale prefers letting Splarnya have the chance to relax in a car ride and not worry about driving.
Lends Clothes/Borrows Clothes: Splarnya is a chronic clothes borrower and Gale is happy to indulge her <3
At-Home Chef/Orders Takeout: Gale cooks most of the meals for the two of them, although there are days where Splarnya does insist on her taking over or getting food to take home when he is too busy to. Gale will insist he's fine and can handle the responsibility, but Splarnya always wins in the end :)
Tidy Homemaker/Chaotic Disorder: Splarnya and Gale are more on the tidy and neat side, but Gale's library and personal desk can get rather messy especially during long nights poring over tomes/scrolls/texts/etc. He has a method to the madness, however, and has a system only he really understands.
Practical Penny-Pincher/Impulsive Spendthrift: Splarnya grew up rather frugally, and during her independent travels tried to only spend money on essentials. It's quite a shift when she goes out with Gale who wants to indulge the both of them on every shopping trip.
Cuddles in Bed/Sleeps Distantly: If they're not cuddling together something has gone terribly wrong.
Problem Solver/Maker: They switch between problem solver and problem maker. SO often. Between Splarnya's wild magic causing random side effects and Gale's morbid curiosity, the two of them are always getting into some sort of trouble with one being the problem maker and the other being the problem maker.
Different Tastes + Styles/Likes to Match: Splarnya and Gale have pretty similar tastes in fashion, although Gale will go out of his way to see what Splarnya is wearing ahead of time and try to match with her <3
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wingsoverlagos · 8 months ago
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Lewisohn vs. Shepherd
I'm still at work on the whole Kim Bennett thing, but here's a quick Lewisohn vs. post to spice things up. Actually, the book from which I was cross-referencing was due at the library, so I started work on this, quickly realized the source was also readily availble online, but decided to finish it anyway.
The source at hand is Jean Shepherd’s October 28th, 1964 interview with the Beatles, published in the February 1965 issue of Playboy. You can find a transcribed version here or a scanned copy here. It’s a great, quick read - seven pages sparkling with Beatles wit and a concerted effort by George to convince the interviewer he's in love with Ringo. Small tw for transphobia in the form of a tired pronoun joke at the expense of April Ashley.
Tune In pulls three quotes from Shepherd's interview. Two of them are below the cut - their are minor changes (one exceedingly minor) to those quotes, but the first quote I'll address is taken wildly out of context. It's not the most offensive distortion of history that Lewisohn has put forward, but its maddeningly blatant - and pointless.
Tune In 26-20 vs. Shepherd 1965, p.54
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The quote of interest is highlighted in green, but I included the preceding paragraph because the context matters greatly here. The Beatles & Brian were down in the dumps, having struck out with every record company with any semblance of artistic merit. Lewisohn highlights that John and Paul in particular were down in the dumps, but that “their young friend George stayed optimistic. He rallied them, he showed them that while they might be thinking the worst, he was remaining hopeful.” His evidence for this is the quote highlighted in green, in which John says Brian and George knew they would make it big.
Well. Let’s check the source.
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If you look at the quote, once again in green, it’s almost correct—Lewisohn drops “our manager”, but it’s close by Tune In’s standards. Take a look at what’s around the quote, and you’ll see it’s taken wildly out of context. John isn’t talking about George’s confidence in the Beatles ability to score a record contract in 1962; he is unambiguously referring to George’s confidence that the Beatles will succeed in America in 1964. And that confidence didn’t stem from “the Beatles’ mantra” that “Something’ll turn up”—George thought they’d be successful in the states because he was aware of their U.S. record sales.
The thing that gets me here is that it’s so unnecessary. As a historian writing for a general audience, the Beatles must be a dream: you have a core group of four complex, interesting, musically gifted people whose personal and artistic growth played out in the public eye, exhaustively documented. They were surrounded by a supporting cast of vibrant characters to root for or revile, who all played a role in a story brimming with friendship, romance, rivalry, wit, and tragedy. There's no reason to rewrite history for the Beatles - their story can be both factually correct and narratively compelling, yet Lewisohn joins a storied list of authors who have felt the need to gild the lily.
What does this add to the Beatles story? How does it benefit the narrative to portray George Harrison as a plucky kid from an afterschool special, cheering on his elders with unflagging optimism when things look bleak? It’s trite, and it’s fake. It's not the Beatles.
This isn’t the most earth-shattering act of historical revisionism Lewisohn has committed to print, but its brazenness is galling. In the introduction to Tune In, Lewisohn states, “I’ve wanted a history of deep-level inquiry where the information is tested accurate, and free of airbrushing, embellishment and guesswork, written with an open mind and even hands, one that unfolds lives and events in context and without hindsight, the way they occurred…” And yet we get this. He knowingly took this quote two years and a whole Atlantic Ocean out of context, and he had the audacity to tout his book as “tested accurate, and free of airbrushing, embellishment and guesswork.”
He's pissing on our feet and telling us it's raining, folks.
Tune In 29-4 vs. Shepherd 1965, p.56
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An impressive number of little deletions and changes for such a small quote.
Tune In 33-1 vs. Shepherd 1965, p.54
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This one almost isn’t worth mentioning. The only change is the emphasis removed from Ringo’s “them” in the original quote.
Sources:
Lewisohn M. 2013. The Beatles: All These Years Vol. 1: Tune In. New York (NY): Crown Archetype. [ebook]
Shepherd J. 1965 Feb. Playboy Interview: The Beatles. Playboy 12:51-60. Accessed online 2024 Mar. Available from: https://imgur.com/a/HY2Ji
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secrets-of-everwich · 5 months ago
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08-1 The Everwich Caves
[Click]
[Electronic hum underlies recording]
{Callie}
Hello, this is Callie Hewitt, and I’m recording on the 22nd October 2021. In my last recording – 07-2 – I said I wanted to find out more about the Everwich Caves, which frankly, I didn’t know existed until a few weeks ago. Was it really a few weeks ago? Gosh… This investigation has already gone so quickly!
So, I’ve decided to go on a hunt for the Everwich Caves. First step: The town records in the library. I hopefully should be able to find some kind of record about the caves, probably from many years ago. I’m not going straight into the caves for two reasons: One, I’m not stupid. Yes I did just stand and stare at the Everwich Ghost a few days ago, but that sighting isn’t confirmed as the ghost so it doesn’t count. I’m trying to be more prepared now. Two, I don’t have the keys to the basement to check anyway.
[Click]
[Click]
[Whispered]
Hello, I’m here in a study room in the library with everything I could find related to the Everwich Caves. Right. I’ve got a lot here, so let’s crack on. I’m uh, just gonna read out, because I don’t have the energy to summarise.
This first source is from a 60s book: A Summarised History of Everwich. I may take this book out to use it…
        ‘Throughout Everwich, many shops and houses buildings are connected underground, thanks to the cave system underneath Everwich. Created by natural forces, the Everwich Caves spread throughout Everwich in a maze-like pattern. Not just spreading throughout the town, it also spreads into the neighbouring forest and beyond.
        ‘It seems a good candidate for a wine cellar during the middle ages, due to its constant temperature of 12 degrees Celsius, and more recently was used as a bomb shelter during the two World Wars. The caves have entrances still accessible today in the graveyard, by the war memorial, and in the forest by the train station. All other entrances are blocked up, or inaccessible due to being on private property.’
Well, that’s definitely interesting! I also managed to find a map of the caves, so I think I’ll use that to navigate my way around when I go down to check them out.
The second source is from The Everwich Post, from an edition from July 1986.
        ‘Everwich Declared a Heritage Site.
        ‘The Everwich Caves have been deemed a site of historical importance, meaning that developers now must be extremely careful so as not to disturb the caves system lying just under the surface of Everwich.
        ‘Most towns in England have some form of caves under, whether man-made or natural, and Everwich is no exception. However, what makes Everwich special is the sheer size of its cave system. If you enter at one end of the town, you can almost certainly get to any other part of town if you know your way around the caves.
        ‘As well as its newfound heritage site status, the caves are home to a few species of bats, which is another cause for people leaving the caves well alone. Some say, the bats have been attacking citizens who wonder into the caves, which has been put down as being rabies, due to the symptoms those attacked by the bats come back with.’
The paper then goes on to talk about the same stuff the book says. I think the reporter took that information straight from this book, to be honest.
Most other sources I’ve been looking at have the same information – some literally just copied and pasted. Oh well, I have someone in mind who may have some general knowledge about the caves.
[Click]
[Click]
[Sounds of outside – wind, birds chirping etc.]
[Footsteps running]
Bert! Bert! Hi!
[Footsteps stop]
{Bert} Hello there, miss. Haven’t got into trouble yet, have you?
{Callie}
Not yet, don’t worry! I wanted to ask you something, if that’s okay?
{Bert}
Well, I suppose so.
{Callie}
Great! Well, what do you know about the Everwich Caves? I’ve been doing some research, and apparently there’s an entrance here in the graveyard. Is it still open?
{Bert}
Still on your little investigation? [Chuckles] Yes, there is an entrance. It’s over there, that trapdoor behind those bars. But, it’s locked. You’re not planning on going in there, are you?
{Callie} No, no, don’t worry!
{Bert} Good. I’d hate to be the reason for your getting injured.
{Callie} Anyway, what information do you know?
{Bert}
Let’s see… There’s a section used as catacombs, underneath the grounds. The less famous families would get buried there, before the caves got closed.
{Callie}
They got closed?
{Bert}
Indeed, about 20 years ago. Group of kids went in, never seen again. But that’s the same old story here, isn’t it? Disappearances and such.
{Callie} Exactly! That’s what I’m interested in!
{Bert}
I’d say that’s a bit morbid, but I work in a graveyard [Chuckles]
{Callie}
[Laughs] Anyway, thank you, Bert, I’ll let you get on with your grave keeping!
[Footsteps]
[Distantly]
{Bert}
I’ll be seeing you around, miss.
[Normal volume]
{Callie}
More disappearances! I can’t believe the caves were closed, wow. I didn’t find that in the library. Well, I’d better go back home.
[Click]
[Click]
Back in my room now! Well, thanks for listening to this Secret of Everwich, I’ll see you next time!
[Click]
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foster-the-world · 5 months ago
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Onward and Upward
Last day of school. Onward to 3rd grade, 2nd grade and 4K. Can't believe she's going to be a "big kid" in the 3rd grade. They grow up so fast, its goes too fast, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah.
They were happy this morning. Certainly no learning will take place today. Bee's teachers is bringing her 9 and 13yo. Bee loves, loves, loves the 13yo. Our flight to my parents house is 8pm tonight. Got an email that we could change for free due to bad weather. It looks like maybe the storm is coming in later. Fingers crossed.
The girls had their awards ceremony last week. Disappointingly 2nd grade only did "you completed 2nd grade" awards for everyone. Lame. 1st grade had individual awards but they were generic - leadership, academic excellence. Rebel won both big awards because she's a teachers pet type. I had to miss because I don't have vacation hours at work. My husband said all of the kids were really excited for each other. I loved, loved Bee's teachers awards last year. Every kid got two very specific awards. They were very, very sweet and captured each kid beautifully. The kids tried to guess who she was talking about and they were 100% correct because the teacher really understood each kid so well. I had tears in my eyes. One of my favorite things is to see my kids being known and loved by other people. I wondered if it would be less so with a kid who has much more challenging behaviors. But nope. Baby boy was very well loved and known this year also. His teacher sent me a long text message about how much she is going to "miss her boy." She also sent a ton of pictures that capture him really well. Bee wrote "You are a great teacher. You treated me like family" in her teacher's card. So sweet. Teachers gifts sent off (flowers + gift cards). Feeling relieved to have all of the end of school year stuff over with.
I'm enjoying Clair Lombardo's books. I got a bunch of new books for baby boy on hold at the library. Found some about personal space. He's more of a crasher into other people so I'm not sure it will translate but let's see. His social skills class finished yesterday. If insurance paid we would keep sending him but I don't think its worth the steep price for what he got out of it. He understands social rules he just doesn't always follow them. They have a summer camp - nice to know for future reference.
The ADHD parent coach has given us some good suggestions we are trying out. We mentioned taking him to stores is difficult. He wants to run around and touch everything. I think it would work better in the suburbs where they have carts. In NYC we try to hold his hand while holding all of our purchases. Stores are smaller so less space for him. Anyway, he suggested we try it when we don't actually need to buy anything. That way we have time to set rules for him (stay near us, don't touch everything) and can leave if he's not following through. We are also going to put him in charge of finding one item. He can then buy/keep the item if he follows all of the rules. He gets three warnings. Normally we only take him when we have to buy something so we can't follow through with the threat of leaving if he doesn't listen. Not sure why we didn't think of this before. Fingers crossed some practice will help him/us out.
His sitter said he is interested in reading the pamphlets/how to's from the ADHD parent coach. Which is appreciated. Once again thankful to have so many people who want my kid to succeed.
His sitter owns a backpack company. Such a cool idea. They are really high quality: https://shiftbackpacks.com/ I'm really hoping they go viral at some point. I suggested he try to get in the NYC private school circuit. Those rich people have money and are all about letting their kids express their emotions.
Bought my husband (and I) tickets to Sturgill Simpson in October for his Birthday. Birthday present done and I get to see a concert = yes, please.
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sumire-no-nikki · 1 year ago
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To Be Here
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October. My beloved October. The kotatsu blanket is back on, the indoor plants don't need as much watering, the fallen leaves in the backyard need sweeping and the Summer clothes have been put away. Funny how many friends I've recently chatted with about the bliss that comes with October. It's a burst of orange ochre and apple red in my head. When the season turned, the sun who has since made herself scarce is a warm embrace whenever she pokes her head out. The wind and clouds are constant companions. The evening is perfect for mysterious reads under candlelight. What a splendid month.
As I am typing this, however, October is nearly done. Something this good always leaves too soon, doesn't it? I love the first taste of cold after the pesky Summer heat and September’s false promises of colder days. October is where it really gets going. But it's always nearly done before I feel like I can properly savor it. How melancholy!! But isn’t that how it always goes? Love is more deeply felt after only the crater it left is the one thing you’ve got to remember it by? Love defined by the lack, the absence, the loss? There will never be enough Octobers for me. I’m a creature of want in this way, yearning is an instinct for me. I watch the days go by and the thought that there won’t be another October until next year is like quicksand for my mind.
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That said I’ve spent the month working diligently and on the whole being rather productive in both work and personal matters. There’s this project I’ve started and making good progress on! Once completed I promised myself a trip where I can apply what I’ve learned and I’m so excited to reach that goal. I’ve also read a lot this month. I really surprised myself. I’ve read six books and the month isn’t over yet! I read two Agatha Christie books, all three of the Toshikazu Kawaguchi series (the fourth one is coming out next month!! And I’ll have to read the fifth one in Japanese because I don’t want to wait for the translation to come out!!!) I also read Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library as recommended by a friend and I'm so glad she brought it up! I've had a copy of it for ages but just never managed to pick it up due to associated memories (it was given to me by someone during a bad period in my life!!) I swear that book might've just saved my life. I also finished two manga volumes in Japanese this month. It's a series called Yotsuba&! which is just the most wholesome series. Maybe I'll talk about it someday on here. But that series is such a light in my life. I picked it up on one particularly tough day last week and it instantly revived hope in my heart that there's still good out there no matter what.
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Other things I've been up to: I've been running a lot these days and I'm actually surprising myself with how much I enjoy it. Earlier today (I'm typing this before bed) I went on a run while it was drizzling. I felt like a kid playing in the rain. I couldn't stop smiling!
Also, the podcast show I mentioned some entries ago!! Case 63!! It has a season 2!! Actually, I found out it's originally by a Chilean writer, so the version I listened to is an English adaptation. Anyway, I'm so happy there's more of it. Season 3 is the final season in Spanish so I expect the English adaptation of that will also be made (since they went so far as to continue with season 2). Fingers crossed! I'm so intrigued as to how it will end!!
As for TV, I started and finished watching HBO's Barry in like a week. I was absorbed!! All four seasons! Mind you, each episode is only 30 mins so it wasn't really that long. It's such a funny and dark show I love it so much. I've heard good things about it through the years but I never found the time to get into it. Plus I have this terrible illness of "I-Can't-Get-Into-Things-When-It's-Super-Mainstream-I-Need-To-Wait-Until-The-Hype-Dies-Down-itis" lol. No, seriously I just didn't feel like getting into a new show until this month apparently. But I'm so glad I watched it. The show is a goldmine, the best Hollywood/LA culture satire I've seen in ages. The way it highlights the gender gap in the workplace, how a writer must compromise on truth in order to sell something, even the way a woman needs to be a "perfect victim" in order for her story to be worth anything! It's so witty!! And the central question of can people truly change--I'll be thinking about this show for a long time. It's so good. Watch it if you can.
Early this month I also managed to sneak a quick trip to Croatia and Slovenia which was so relaxing and peaceful. Trips can be quite stressful for me especially when it's a big city full of tourists due to my OCD (I'm looking at you Paris, and literally all of Italy smh... jk jk) But this trip was restorative and gave me a genuine sense of discovery and wonder, which is what I aim to travel for.
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I've been listening to the new Mitski album and rethinking my home library's organisation system! I haven't decided yet but I mainly want my Classical Mythology books, both fiction and non-fiction in one area. Also wishing I bought two Caryatid statues in Athens last year instead of one! Would've been nice for her to have a buddy!!
Now, the title of this entry comes from a realisation I had this month--a very important one. As someone whose nature is to think and think and think, it's difficult to be in the present. I'm always in agony over the past, and anxious about the future. I can be quite dismissive of what's in front of me as a result. This is a chronic issue of mine. But while reading The Midnight Library, tucked in my reading chair, savoring the scent of a pumpkin pie candle, all the pieces of advice I've read both online and in person suddenly clicked.
When writing a first draft of a novel, it simply needs to exist.
When making art, it simply needs to be there.
When yearning to do something, I must attempt it
When wanting to exist, I simply am.
I just need to be here in the most literal sense. To be. Not in the past tense, not in the future tense. There's no need for qualifiers. There is no standard to fulfill. I know this is neither new nor revolutionary, but in the embrace of an October evening, digesting this advice and accepting it made me feel so brave.
It hit me like a sucker punch. I thought, I need to untangle my sense of self and my worth from anything external. I cannot keep on doing this to myself. Because the truth is if I don’t stop this constant self-flagellation, I have simply replaced my mother in adulthood. I will have been no different from her and her constant need to criticise me. This is something I've been actively trying to improve recently and I can feel myself getting better. I feel, somewhat ironically, that by being present, I'm regaining a sense of hope that I haven't felt since childhood. Like somehow my past is healed and my future is assured.
So despite how much I've gone on about loving October at the beginning of this entry, as much as I know I will miss it, I have to be where I am. That means accepting that all things end--good or bad. That means being in November when it comes. That means understanding that what I've lost, while dearly missed, is out of my grasp now. That means what will happen to me is tomorrow's business.
This entry's song I've repeated to death (which is a very good thing) this month. It's by an artist I really enjoy. I cannot wait for new material from her and this new single is a sign of really good things to come!
I leave you with a photo of a friend I made while out on a walk. What shall I name him?
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Have a wunderbaaahhh rest of Octobaaaahhh! 🐑
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oncexinxmyxdreams · 1 year ago
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Encanto OC Event Week 1: Mercedes Reyes
I can't draw at all and read that picrew is okay. Does DollDivine count? 😅
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Moodboard for Mercedes. 🎨
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Full Name: Mercedes Yarisel Cordova Reyes.
DOB: October 20th, 1899. Died June 26th, 1935.
POB: Bogota, Colombia.
Likes/Hobbies: Painting, long walks, exploring, rock collecting, swimming, dancing, and reading romance novels.
Dislikes: Arguing, being bored, her mother’s dismissiveness and people mistreating others.
MBTI: INFP
Height: Exactly 5 feet tall though she was an inch taller than Bruno at one point.
Hair Color/Style: Dark brown. Mid-back length and no bangs. She'd like changing the hairstyle every day and wear a pretty sunhat when outdoors.
Eye color: Jade green.
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual.
Voice: Zulay Henao.
Positive Traits: Compassionate, loyal, idealistic, easygoing, romantic and a dreamer.
Negative Traits: Self-conscious, overly private and a bit too unrealistic. Is very hard on herself when she fails.
Habits: Nibbles pencils while writing.
Talents: Skilled in watercolor and dancing.
Pets: Two donkeys named Diego and Eliana.
Favorite Food: Arroz de Lisa (rice, vegetables and salted fish, preferably mullet.)
Career: Wanted to be an artist but worked for her in-law's cantina while living in Villavicencio.
Family:  Her father, Vicente Cordova, passed away when she was 3. She has very few memories of him. Mother, Maria Reyes, who is controlling and manipulative. Armando Zaragoza became her stepfather when she was 14. She didn't like him at first but got along well with him. Half-sister Desideria was born when she was 15.
Eventually was forced into an arranged marriage with Pablo Salazar. They had twin girls, Francisca and Alejandra. Mercedes became close to her mother-in law Perla, but not with her father-in-law Arturo who's not the most sensitive person.
Backstory: After her dad died, Mercedes moved to different cities with her mom. At some point, they met a group of people who were traveling for new starts. They joined and miraculously arrived to the Encanto! Upon the first day, 10-year-old Mercedes met most of the Madrigals. She was getting used to a new home, but desired to find a library or bookstore. She wanted to find a book to a series she'd almost completed. A couple days after moving, she found one and searched for her book. The only copy she found was being read by a nervous looking boy: Bruno.
I'll save it for the Relationship week, but they were best friends. Some would say soulmates with how well they got along. Mercedes was friends with Julieta and Pepa, but she clicked with Bruno. Even when his reputation became worse and he was mistreated, she remained loyal. Bruno was grateful to her and devastated when she was forced to leave for the arranged marriage. The last time they saw each other, they were almost 20, and sadly, they won't meet again.
The marriage wasn't bad. Pablo had to leave his girlfriend due to the arrangement. He and Mercedes both understood each other's situation which led to respect and empathy. They really liked each other, but there wasn't true love. As a teen, Mercedes had always imagined different scenarios with her true love: exchanging love letters, dancing under starry skies and kiss in the rain. She had to leave the dreams behind, but her twins were the best part of her life.
When the twins were 13, Pablo and Mercedes annulled their marriage realizing they weren't content anymore. (Also Pablo was having an emotional affair.) After that, Mercedes took her daughters to Cali and secretly hoped she'd find the Encanto again. With the movie's timeline, Mercedes already passed away from a severe case of malaria. She was only 35. She left her daughters behind with no other family support. Though she's gone, her story isn't over because her children will find the Encanto and meet the Madrigals.
@encanto-extended-edition
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catohphm · 1 year ago
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The Art of Friendship
Welcome! In this fic, Cato meets up with his friends Helena and Erika in the Hogwarts training grounds, where they end up having an important, constructive conversation about the values of friendship and teamwork. Happy reading! I hope you enjoy! 😊
Helena Durazzo belongs to my good friend @helenadurazzo
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Clear skies and a fair temperature overlooked the Hogwarts as Cato exited the hall and set foot on the tame grass of the training grounds. He had been to the library to return a book that was due and went outside to take in the weekend's morning weather. It was early November coming in from early October. The week after Halloween was marked by a pattern of warm days after much rain the previous month.
Cato noticed two witches, a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw, come from around the corner, Helena Durazzo and Erika Rath. Helena has been close friends with him since childhood. Rath was the beater from Slytherin's team that Helena introduced to Cato as a friend. While athletic and in good physical shape, Erika was quiet, stoic and seen as intimidating by most of her peers. She was often misunderstood and the target of rumors by Skye Parkin. The truth was that while Erika was a guarded and reserved person, behind the shell lay a strong, loyal and devoted heart who was watchful over the people she trusted.
The Ravenclaw boy was first approached by Helena. “Hey, Cato! I hope the morning is going well for you.” she happily greeted him.
“Hey, Lena!” Cato replied. “It is! I returned a library book on quick notice. Madam Pince is perhaps the most uptight librarian I’ve met.”
“Yep, she is. With her, due books are better off taken back to the library on time. I wouldn’t want to cause problems for her either.” Helena agreed.
Cato asked his best friend how she and Erika were doing. “What about you and Rath? How’s the day for you two turning out?”
Helena nodded. “Good, Cato. We were coming back from some Quidditch practice that me and Erika were doing one-on-one.”
The two witches began dating each other sometime after they became friends. Both were beaters of their respective Quidditch teams and bonded through their one-on-one training. Eventually romantic feelings developed between Erika and Helena.
“Hey, Erika.” He greeted the Slytherin beater. She was clad in her usual green athletic outfit. “Good day, Cato. I hope you have been taking care of yourself. Ravenclaws like you and Helena deserve a break as much as any student or quidditch player.”
He answered with a confident smile. “I’ve been trying my best. Aside from dropping off that book, which I can’t say counts, not much on my plate this weekend.”
“That’s good to hear, Cato.” Erika affirmed. “I hope you and Helena have been too.” he said.
While Erika nodded, the Ravenclaw girl commented “Her training has its challenges, but we look out for each other and rest a bit if we have to.”
The Slytherin beater often trained on her own away from the others. Perhaps before she was old enough to join the Quidditch team, she started honing her skills with the bat. They had gotten to the point where she had an impressive command over the bludger. Fortunately, the training dummies Erika repeatedly dealt punishment to were very sturdy and took a lot of beating. Anyone who didn’t know her and witnessed her practicing the role of a beater could immediately understand why she had a reputation as distant and unsettling. 
Cato knew this as a regular member of the Ravenclaw quidditch team. He was also familiar with the rumors that Skye spread about Erika which attempted to label her as an imposing bully. He never believed rumors easily and specially took Skye with a grain of salt because of her hotshot, troublemaking behavior. Cato was slightly nervous when he and Erika first met, but he still gave her a chance because Helena introduced her to him. They were both protective of Helena. However Erika was more steadfast in this than Cato was. This sometimes got to her.
"Those bludgers are very unpredictable." Cato remarked. "I hope Helena doesn't end up in the hospital wing from being hit by one."
Erika took it a bit heavily. "Like I would ever let that happen, Cato. What makes you think I would let Helena get hurt on my watch?"
"Well it's a completely different story when a bludger strikes someone. Even with Skel-e-gro, they're still going to be out for a week." Cato replied.
"It is not necessary for you to tell me what I already know." Erika touted.
Cato squinted his eyes and looked, waving his hand. "I know how hard you hit those targets with those bludgers. What's not to say one of them hits some bloke just passing through?"
"We never practice around bystanders!" The Slytherin beater exclaimed with an annoyed look.
Helena crossed her arms as she witnessed the two argue with a mix of seriousness and concern in her face.
Cato put his hands on his hips. "I care about others around me when I practice. This is why Madam Hooch wants nice, clean games, Erika!"
"I do not hurt people during matches on purpose. Quidditch is a high action sport at a rapid pace. The referee does not want players to cheat or deliberately harm others. Most injuries happen during the matches because it's unpredictable." Erika explained in a somewhat heated tone.
Helena attempted to intervene. "Did we really come out here to argue over something not worth the headache? You two need to take deep breaths and calm down."
"Then what about when you struck a bludger that one time at-" Cato started in a heated tone before he caught himself. He shook his head before he cupped his hand over his face, realizing he had made a scene in front of his best friend and Erika's date.
"Look at you. You're in a mess." Erika told Cato with concern. 
In a somber voice, he apologized. "I'm sorry, both of you. I carried it on."
"I must take some responsibility too for this." Erika stated. "My mistake was starting this. I shouldn't have treated your word too harshly." 
Helena reassured her childhood friend. "Cato, it's okay. When Erika mentioned that we care a lot about safety when we train, she meant that first thing."
"Yeah." Erika affirmed with a nod and small smile. "For years I have been studying the art of a beater. The safety of the match is of equal precedence to winning, scoring points with the quaffle or catching the Golden Snitch. 
Adding on, Helena agreed with her date's words. "Exactly, we care about the people up in the stands too. They are our fans who cheer our teams on and support us during the match."
"Both you and Erika are right. Some of our fans are our friends too.They may be players whose teams are not in the match, or don't play Quidditch at all. No matter what, they all deserve our equal respect."
“Exactly!” Helena exclaimed in response to Cato.
Erika put her hand on his shoulder. “Cato, I forgive you for keeping it on.”
“Same to you, Erika. I’m glad all of us are on the same page here.” he said as he shook hands with her.
In a satisfied voice, she remarked “Me too, Cato. No matter what, it’s unconditional - even if Slytherin is playing against Ravenclaw, my love for Helena will never drop at the toss of the quaffle to start the match.”
“That’s very true, Erika. It all comes down to the houses we were sorted into as first years. While the Sorting Hat allows us to have a say when sitting on the stool, most of the time he picks our house based on our personality and life experiences as kids.”
Cato nodded. “Quidditch is a sport too, it is meant to bring people together through athletic competition. One should not assume that the members of a team hold something against the rival team off the pitch. It is called being a good sport."
“I have always been a believer in good sportsmanship.” Erika related. “That is why I did not like Skye trying to spread rumors about me. I do not stand for players using the games as an excuse to talk rubbish and get at people they have problems with. Drama is not how I enjoy Quidditch."
“Me neither.” Cato agreed. “I prefer to stay away from that too. I will listen to rumors and anything going around, but it would be unwise for me to assume them to be true.”
Helena chimed in. “Fights and gossip are not my thing as well. When stuff stirs up, I like to go to the greenhouses and work with the plants to get a break from the hustle.”
Cato smiled and noted “We’re all in it for being a good team.”
“That’s right, Cato.” Erika said. “You can always count on me to keep both myself and Helena safe while training or in a match. I do my best.”
“Me and Cato have been friends since we were very little. Our parents get along well and we spend time at each other’s homes. We look out for each other like siblings.” The Ravenclaw witch explained. 
Erika nodded “What I said also includes you, Cato. Both you and Helena are part of the team. I put my mates first above anything else. 
He shared the sentiment. “The safety of my friends is also important to me, Erika. I would do anything I can for their well being.”
“That’s good, Cato. Remember though to be aware of your limits. Only do what you know. There is no need to make promises you can’t keep."
“She’s right.” Helena told her best friend. “We are not expected to take on everyone’s problems. There is only so much we can do. It’s important for everyone to understand.”
“Indeed.” said Cato. “As a Ravenclaw, I can say that there is no way we can know everything. A bloke can be knowledgeable on many subjects but not all of them. That’s just how the world works.”
Erika agreed. “Correct. That’s why teams exist. We specialize in different abilities and compliment each other to achieve our goals. Take quidditch as an example. There are different people who are good at chasing, beating, keeping and seeking. We all practice for our own roles on the team. However, communication, awareness and respect amongst the players are also essential to being successful on the pitch."
“Well spoken, Erika.” Helena said to her as she smiled.
“I feel we have reached a new understanding as friends.” Cato declared.
Erika felt the same. "I think so too."
"I'm with you both on this. We know that we can rely on and trust each other." finished Helena.  
Cato was confident. "That's for sure!" He said happily. "If Sky or anyone else tries to push rumors about you, Erika, I'll debunk their codswallop."
"You will not have to do that." She assured me with a smile. "Both of you have my back so I will not listen to their rumors."
"For every enemy you make, there's always going to be a friend." said Helena. "There will always be some people who will take a dislike to us. Adding on to what me and Cato said before, their problems are not our own. We should place our own happiness first, ours and of those we care about."
They all nodded in agreement.
"I'm glad to have both of you as friends." a happy Cato remarked to Helena and Erika.
"Me too, always!" chimed the Ravenclaw witch.
"Glad to be with you, Cato." affirmed Erika.
Helena then had an idea. "Perhaps to celebrate, how about we all go as group to the Three Broomsticks for butterbeer the next time we go to Hogsmeade?"
"I'd love that, Lena!" Cato said excitedly. "Wish me luck trying to resist that." he laughed.
Erika was also in. "I would be all down for that. Sharing a butterbeer with my friends."
"You deserve it." Cato then told her.
Helena was eager in her tone. "So it's all settled then."
"I appreciate it. Thank you both. Really."
"Anytime!" returned Cato. "You're always welcome to join us, Erika."
As the trio started to walk back into the castle, Helena pleasantly said "You two are among the people I can always trust and confide in fully. For that alone, I'm grateful."
The small group of friends conversed together as they left the training grounds, looking forward to their get-together at the Three Broomsticks.
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inyvat · 2 years ago
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MY THOUGHTS ON LUMINE'S TRAVELER ARCHON QUEST (from 3.5)— read more cause idk how long this is gonna get everyone.
Just to let you all know that I in-game play as Lumine. So when I say Abyss Prince, I'm referring to when AETHER is the leader of the Abyss Order.
First thing's first. Kaeya calling Paimon a FLOATING LITTLE WHITE HAIRED FAERIE and having her as the address for his Letter is FUCKING HILARIOUS. IDK about y'all, but I laughed. I mean KAEYA'S NOT WRONG. She's basically SUPERGLUED TO LUMINE.
Ahhh Kaeya, how I've missed you. I haven't seen you get any screen time since FUCKING SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER! He says he's here on official business, and I'm inclined to believe him. And we've NEVER ONCE seen Jean actually pissed. She's always so cool and collected, even when angry or sick. So if Kaeya's seen her actually pissed off then yeah it would make sense if she terrifies him. But he could also be saying this in jest.
Paimon chastising Kaeya for drinking on the clock while also telling him to STOP HOLDING A GRUDGE AGAINST DILUC AND GIVE HIS BIG BROTHER THE INFO is golden. Since Diluc is no longer a Knight and he HATES any and all alcohol despite being in the business. So it would fall to his brother who loves his wine to be sent for spice deal for wines because he'd HAVE to taste them. Dawn Winery is too busy to send people ALL THE WAY TO SUMERU for this.
And then there's the casual Kaenri'ah name drop. Just out of the blue while talking about his past. He said, "when he was very young". So I'm looking at anywhere between the ages of 4-9. Why not 10? because once you hit double digits, you slowly start to learn more and more about the adult world, making you grow up little by little. Kaeya will never be in the single digits again in terms of age. He'll always be in the double digits. He'll start having more responsibilities by the time he's 10. They'll be little and a lot less than Diluc I'm sure, but he'll still end up having some responsiblity entrusted to him and that'll grow as he does.
He wanted to find out about Khaenri'ah. He read it in a book somewhere. Either in the library at the Knights HQ or in the library at Dawn Winery. And he's probably kept the book with him ever since. Since Lumine would know if she saw anything, any book, that has any mention of Khaenri'ah within its pages. But what he did was very serious. He probably scared Diluc and Crepus half to death by being a stowaway aboard that ship.
Kaeya as a kid used to believe that had some sort of destiny to Khaenri'ah. And that's what everyone in the RPC, theorists, etc headcanon or think. That he's got to be some sort of savior for them. But I don't think so. Khaenri'ahns didn't have a God at all. And yet the CRYO ARCHON HERSELF, THE TSARISTA, or Celestia or whoever truly grants the Visions to a small percentage of people thought he was fit enough for the power of a Cryo Vision; a small amount of the power of the Cryo Archon herself. Khaenri'ahns detested the gods and yet Kaeya is friends with the Anemo Archon himself as well. If he had some sort of destiny to avenge his distant homeland then he would still harbor such hatred towards the Archons and the other Gods that failed to win a seat in Celestia and would have forsaken his Vision. That thought of him having some sort of destiny faded after some time and now he's more Mondstadt than Khnaeri'ahn, regardless of his roots. He'd protect his friends and his life there in Mondstadt if push came to shove.
I would assume that what we heard during the Wine festivial of Kaeya's father's last words to him, that he was their last hope, was that he was their bloodline's last hope at something GOOD; at something decent. Not the last hope for Khaenri'ah. Because remember his family, the ALBERICHS were REGENTS OF KHAENRI'AH. Not Queen, King, Princess or Prince. But REGENT. And REGENT is someone who rules FOR someone else, either due to the monarch being mentally unstable or a minor, and it is a position that is not INHERITED but granted by the monarch at their choosing usually to a someone of NOBLE FAMILY.
Kaeya knows he's being cut off. From what? We don't know.We can all assume that it's the power from the Abyss or the Abyss Order itself. But what if it's not? What if the love of a mother and a father? Of having blood related siblings? I'm sure he still loves Diluc with all of his heart, but there are things that he's kept from him. Perhaps it's something more concrete. We don't know yet or perhaps we'll never know. We just have to see.
Then there's the last name Alberich. The very same name I was just talking about. Dain comes in and says that he knows the last name Alberich is the same last name used by the man who founded the Abyss Order. This does not make Kaeya "Prince of the Abyss Order" as that role immediately went to Aether when his journey was done. Not even "king" would be correct. As the founder would have had to induct his family into the order for it to be a "family business" and have Kaeya inherit the title. And if that were the case then there would be no need for Aether as the Abyss Prince.
Put a pin in that for a second. I'll come back to that.
Lumine and Paimon go with Dain to the Avidya Forest. To an old abandoned hut. The hut is checked out, the only things worthy of note are the strong smell of medicinal items coming from the bowl and the broken mirror. Lumine takes on some pyro slimes while Dain goes off to check the ley lines in the area living Lumine and Paimon alone for the night.
It gets a little emotional as Paimon reveals that she hopes that Lumine isn't growing or doesn't grow tired of her. Lumine has to cheer her up because Paimon being down in the dumps hurts her to see, she doesn't like to see her friend or any of her friends sad. It gets even more emotional when Paimon asks about Aether and her travels before they came to Teyvat. Lumine tells her a little bit about their travels and how this is the first time in all of her life she can remember ever being separated from her big brother.
Paimon notices that Lumine is exhausted and probably a little sad since she brought up Aether and so she tells Lumine to go sleep and that she'll wake her when it's time for her shift since Paimon is taking first watch instead of her. Lumine falls asleep, dreaming about Aether.
She wakes up to Dain but everything is groggy and disoriented and she doesn't move to get up and she doesn't see Paimon at all or hear her. But Dain tells her to go back to sleep while he goes back into the forest after he tells her that he noticed her tear stains. She falls back asleep and wakes up sometime in the late morning.
That's when she goes to the hut and sees weirdly dressed man with STAR SHAPED pupils. Just like Kaeya and Dain. Immediately I know that he's Khaenri'ahn. But I don't know WHO exactly. He's mentally unstable, since his moods go from one extreme to the next and during the conversation with Lumine, Lumine is introduced to a hilichurl by the name of Caribert. Now Caribert means GLORIOUS WARRIOR in Old Frankish and probably has the same meaning in Khaenri'ahn or something similiar.
What strikes me is that Caribert is HALF KHAENRI'AHN AND HALF MONDSTADTER. And he's this man's illegitimate son. Meaning he was born out of wedlock. We only see Caribert in his hilichurlian form, so we don't know what his eyes would be in his original form. This man, his father, is trying to give his son's mind some clarity again so that they can talk again at the very least.
The man "Eide" tells Lumine that he was fed up with his arranged life, which means an arranged WIFE and KIDS and everything planned for him but not by him. But then he met and fell in love with a Mondstadter woman turned naturalized Khaenri'ahn citizen. They had an affiar and it produced a son, Caribert. After that, he had to hide his love and his son from the eyes of his family. He couldn't be there for either of them, as "Eide" said, "I resented my life arranged by my family… Caribert faced great hardship from the very moment of his birth, all due to my selfish desires… and I was never able to be there by his his side for any of it…" So this tells me that Caribert was perhaps sickly from the time of his birth. And he also had to deal with being a hidden son, who would be viewed as a great shame by his noble paternal family and half siblings and thus grew up poor.
"Eide" during the Cataclysm went to his lover and his son, more than likely ABANDONING his first wife and kids, and watched as mother and son were changed into hilichurls. But because HE, his first wife and their kids as well as every other Pureblooded Khaenri'ahn were just that PUREBLOODED, they received a curse of Immortality. While those who were of the other nations, or were only half Khaenri'ahn, were turned into hilichurls. Lumine helps make some medicine for Caribert but it doesn't work. And "Eide" goes slightly more insane at the fact that it failed. But she reminds him that maybe one dose isn't going to be enough. Maybe it'll take more than one.
When Lumine and "Eide" go into the Chasm via the route into Sumeru after the man freaks about a lone hilichurl being Caribert and they end up facing a Frost Abyss Herald who tells them to go back that they have no business being down there. Now normally Abyss Heralds, Lectors and Mages (thus far) all have attacked Lumine. So it's strange that this one gives Lumine and "Eide" a chance to escape unscathed. But it ends up a battle anyway a "trial of destiny" as the Herald called it since it came to think that they were there for some sort of audience. Audience???? WITH WHAT OR WHO?! They go in and they see all these hilichurls bowing down to a crystal hanging in the sky. And it gives off the same familiar and unnatural evil that the Defiled Statue gave off. GREAT JUST GREAT!!!!!!
"Eide" bows and it reminds Lumine of the deceased thief from the Treasure Hoarders. YEP THIS IS BAD PLACE TIME TO YEET! And Lumine tells Eide pretty much that but is stopped from trying to pull him out of the trace/bow by a voice in her head, describing itself as a "sinner" not a god and to go and become a transcented one and learn the truth. Then the voice zaps "Eide" with a purple light and goes dormant.
THAT CAN'T BE GOOD OF FUCKING HELL NO. "Eide" gets up and Lumine and him return to the hut and they try the medicine again and this time it does work. I'm wondering right now if it's not the Abyssal Power that the voice gave him that made it work… Once Caribert regains his mind and he and "Eide" talk for a moment or two, he's told not take off his mask and to never look in a mirror. For good reason. Hilichurls hate how they look as they mourn the faces they can never have again.
Lumine and "Eide" go to unnamed/unknown sanctuary to go see the crystal again and find it missing "Eide" ponders if it was really a "sinner" and not a god after all. But soon as they return to the hut, Caribert had gone missing and "Eide" finds the broken mirror. They search around but find nothing. They decide to search outside of the hut and run into some forest rangers. One of them tells "Eide" that he saw a hilichurl just walking aimlessly and left be after a brief and heated confrontation.
Lumine and "Eide" find Caribert and he's got the dark purple Abyssal power following out of him. And he tells his father that it hurts and that he can't take the pain anymore and that he's sorry just as he takes off his mask and starts to fall the power explodes out of Caribert and Lumine passes out.
She wakes back up in the hut, but with only "Eide" there. Caribert is nowhere to be found. Lumine panics, understandable, as she doesn't know what happened to Caribert after he took off his mask. She hopes that he's okay, that he's not dead. And "Eide" laughs and tells her that Caribert can now weave his own destiny that he has become the "Loom of Fate".
So Dain is looking for A HILICHURL WITH A SCARF ON HIS ARM?! AND WHAT DOES THIS DUDE MEAN WHEN HE SAYS CARIBERT HAS NOW BECOME THE "LOOM OF FATE"?! IS HE DEAD, IS HE STILL ALIVE????? Or is he something else entirely now???? Is he something that's no longer human or hilichurl? Has he become something almost mythical to the point where Aether has to be the one to now find him as a part of his plans??????????
"Eide" then reveals that he's really CLOTHAR ALBERICH and is the FOUNDER OF THE ABYSS ORDER. Since he worshipped the thing that was a "sinner" and he figures that only salvation for a sinner must also come from a sinner. And then he reveals that to the people of Khaenri'ah that like the Abyss, which is mysterious and powerful and otherworldly, Lumine was viewed in the same light and everyone figured that she would lead them into a bright future.
Clothar then reveals to Lumine the title of PRINCE OF KHAENR'IAH. Which isn't right. If it was Lumine he was talking to then it would have to be PRINCESS! Right????? Well, Lumine looks into the broken mirror and doesn't see her own reflection staring back at her but AETHER'S INSTEAD! Meaning that this wasn't really happening in the here and now. THIS WAS AETHER'S MEMORY RIGHT BEFORE HE JOINED THE ABYSS ORDER AS ITS PRINCE.
The dream memory ends and Paimon and Dain are there relieved to have her awake and she relys to them both about everything she saw and heard. Dain reveals that 100 years after Clothar founded the Abyss Order he went completely mad due to the curse and then simply vanished. And that Aether had made no mention of this to him during their travels except for the "Loom of Fate" a few times.
Lumine asks Dain to help her dig up the field remembering the weird mushrooms that Clothar had given Aether for the medicine. There she finds two human skeletons. One male and one female. And around one of them, the female, is a scarf that Lumine recognizes as having once been Caribert. Then she says that she thinks the male skeleton, which was brought back over here at a later date, was Clothar's and that he found some way to break the curse of immortality and died.
Dain wants to say more but he has to go and shift through his memories. And he's pretty sure that an person he refers to as "he" as seen Lumine and that if it is who he thinks it is, Dain will be in touch later on at some later date once he's shifted though his memories and leaves Lumine and Paimon. Lumine gives Paimon and hug which is sweet.
— —— — —— — —— — —— — —— — —— — —— — —— — ——
Quick thoughts on the Abyss Heralds, Lectors and Mages. I think that the Abyss Heralds were the royal mages and their apprentices and other minor mages were the lectors and mages that we fight against in the game. That they were toying with the Abyssal magic and energy and it turned them not immortal humans or hilichurls but into monsters of the Abyss. And that they have their memories which haven't eroded away due to the curse of immortality. They know hilichurlian because it's a corruption of Khaenri'ahn.
The only royal mage who DIDN'T turn into a monster of the Abyss is Peirro, the 1st Harbinger. He left Khaenri'ah, but due to his being a pureblood, he's still cursed with the curse of immortality.
— —— — —— — —— — —— — —— — —— — —— — —— — ——
Now back to Kaeya. Is he Caribert?! I don't think so. It's possible, but only just. But Caribert is the "Loom of Fate". Meaning he can be ANYTHING or ANYONE at this point. I think he's something that's not human or hilichurlian or Abyssal monster. I think he's something more mythical now and is in hiding because he knows that if he's found by the Abyss Order it will be the end of everything. It's why Aether and the Order is so hellbent on finding the "Loom of Fate" since it's a major part of their operation to revive Khaenri'ah.
And if Kaeya was Caribert in a new form, Aether would know I think since he knows the feeling of that power that Caribert was trying to hold back and then when it exploded. No I think Kaeya is descended from Clothar through the family he had that was ARRANGED. As a noble, regardless of fantasy or reality, or even a royal; marrying for love was very rare. Everything from birth was arranged for Clothar. As he was either the OLDEST son or the SECOND oldest son in the Alberich family at the time of the Catacylsm. So that means he has no freedom in what he wants in terms of life. His only rebellion was falling in love with a woman who was NOT noble and who bore him an illegitimate son who he could not even with. So Kaeya being descended from this legitimate line of the Alberichs would make more sense.
And we KNOW THAT KAEYA IS A PUREBLOODED KHAENRI'AHN TOO. Because BOTH HIS EYES, even the one that's hidden, the one that has the scars from the night Diluc and he fought, are star shaped. Yes he's dark skinned, but who says that all pureblooded Khaenri'ahns were PALE?! We've only seen 3 pale Pureblooded Kaenri'ahns. Dain. Peirro. Clothar.
That's how Kaeya knows about Dain being pureblooded. Star shaped pupils. And STAR SHAPED PUPILS are the immediate identifiers of someone who is pureblooded either by descent — pureblooded Khaenri'ahns marrying down the line to other purebloods — or by the sole factor that they are the cursed immortal humans of that ruined nation. Dain even says that humans, pureblooded Khaenri'ahns by descent or cursed, still live in Khaenri'ah despite it being in a ruined state.
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giigil · 6 months ago
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how did you start to write? kinda curious to know your trajectory
story time! (really happy you asked, hehe.) note: if anyone's interested in going through my past writings, let me know and i'll probably make a google drive folder lol.
I've been addicted to gaming ever since I was younger and I've always had hyperfixations that would come and go. Middle school was when I realized I had a love for reading books (mainly young adult, romance, fiction + manga) and I used to always spend my time in the school library during my lunch breaks.
2012: I was 13 and almost graduated from middle school. I adored Zelda/Link as a ship so much that I Googled 'Zelda x Link' to look for cute art, only to stumble across a website: Fanfiction.net. Yep. That site.
I read through a couple of stories and found myself hooked. I made an account, and I decided to start writing my own stories.
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Super Smash Brothers Brawl had a huge impact on my life and holds a special place in my heart. It was all I'd ever written and thought about when I first started.
( putting a read more to elaborate further on my writing journey. )
Around 2013, though, someone put a wrench on my Fanfiction.net journey by reporting my story -- it wasn't anything horrible, it was just a cringe Truth or Dare fanfiction that someone and their group said was "against" Fanfiction.net rules. That story got deleted, and out of impulse and feeling depressed, I deleted every single fanfiction I'd ever posted on my account.
I deeply regret doing so, because there were so many ideas that I can't look back on because my memory isn't able to recall a whole lot of them.
At least a few weeks after, though, I got onto Tumblr and got into Tumblr roleplaying! Fairy Tail was my next huge fixation and I made a roleplay blog focused on Edo-Cana from the Edolas arc (after I spoke with an Edo-Lucy blog). After I lost my inspiration for Edo-Cana, I moved on to Evergreen, and then Lucy Heartfilia.
I believe I lost interest in roleplaying on Tumblr around 2014.
2014: I was still writing on Fanfiction.net, but as usual, I would delete my fics when they didn't satisfy me. I wrote for a couple of other fandoms ranging from Big Hero Six, Rise of the Guardians/Young Justice, and more. I'd also joined websites like Quotev and Wattpad.
2015: In my junior year of high school, I made a friend who also had an interest in roleplaying. She introduced me to this one roleplaying website which allowed me to continue with writing.
However, as you can probably see, I have the absolutely terrible habit of losing interest in things quickly. I ended up quitting roleplaying due to that.
I also joined Archiveofourown. I don't remember if I'd ever posted anything around the time of joining. This is the one year I don't remember much for.
I also continued to post on Fanfiction.net:
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As per usual, it lasted for *almost* a year.
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November 10th, 2016 was the last time I ever posted on my Fanfiction.net account.
I had a dry spell when it came to writing for a good year and a half from 2016-2017.
April 21 2017: I played Final Fantasy XV and (it's what I hyperfixated on for a good 2 years). Around April 27-28, I already had a hankering for wanting to write fanfiction for it. I have so many ideas that haven't seen the light of day, and probably never will.
There's so many drafts, mostly unfinished, just sitting in my Google Drive.
August 2018: I posted a Prompto Argentum x Reader fic on archiveofourown, but eventually orphaned it and everything else I had posted.
October 2018: My hyperfixation for Red Dead Redemption 2 started. I thought up of ideas, plotlines, etc.
February 2019: I posted 3 Arthur Morgan x Reader fics. Which, you can probably already guess what the fuck happened to those. *orphaned. woooow.*
March 2019: I swore off writing anything else for my old Fanfiction.net account, and have left all of my fanfiction saved there.
2020-2021: Once more, I stopped writing and focused on trying to get through day by day life considering it was the COVID outbreak and I was only ever working. I never stopped reading fanfiction though. It's what's kept my writing decent -- at least, that's what I feel like. 2020 was when my hyperfixation on Final Fantasy 7/Remake started. I would think up of things.
March 23, 2022: (Not a writing thing, but I like to make note of it.) The start of my hyperfixation on Jujutsu Kaisen and Gojo!
December 2022: I finally posted a fic after so long. Haven't deleted it, and I swear I won't.
January 2023: Wrote my first ever M rated fic for Nero the Sable from Final Fantasy 7 Remake x Reader, and told myself I'd go back to writing. I haven't posted anything else on AO3 since then.
August 11, 2023: I learned of and created an account on character.ai!
September 18, 2023: I started making character.ai bots!
TL;DR:
As you can see, I'm an inconsistent person and have occasional moments of inspiration and eventually get tired of things. There will be times when I need a break from writing, so I apologize if it takes me a bit to get through all of my requests.
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oceaniareads · 1 year ago
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Once Upon A Dream- A Twisted Tale Review
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My Review was Pasted from my Goodreads, which you can find here.
“Once Upon A Dream”: ⭐️
For Young Adults due to Language and Violence.
Other Twisted Tale Reviews to Follow.
Conceal Don't Feel | Mirror, Mirror |
*Not done as of October 4, 2022 at 10am*
*Finished October 4, 2022 at 8PM*
I. hate. this. book.
Oh my gosh.
Earlier today, I wrote a smallish review cause I needed to get my thoughts out. Now that I'm finally finished (8PM October 4th), I'm gonna write this out better.
This is still one of my least favorite books I've read this year and let me tell you why.
Firstly, Aurora didn't get any better than when I originally wrote some of my thoughts out. She's still whiny and full of herself. There are times when the author tries to show she has grown as a person and tries to majorly show that at the end of the novel, but it doesn't honestly feel right at all. The character development in the novel is like a rollercoaster: up and down (mostly downs though) throughout the whole novel. We're supposed to want to root for Aurora, but instead having her as the main character drags the novel even further on. And I know that she is supposed to be sixteen and gets older in her dreams as the novel goes on, but she does not mature until she wakes up, which makes her character seem completely different.
Additionally, Aurora discovers that she can wish for things to appear pretty early on in the novel. The concept of dream worlds and dreamers is a neat concept, but Aurora does not develop this skill until almost the very end of the novel (if you like the dreamer concept, please try The Raven Boys instead). And the use of time is not used well either as it only seems to change when the story needs it to. (to be honest, that happens with other things too. Super annoying) I should be able to tell you how the dreamworld works, but I barely can tell you anything about it, other than it's Aurora's and time runs slower somehow) Powers could be a good aspect of Aurora's dreamworld, but she does not develop them in a timely matter. That is one of the main issues of this novel: certain things drag on when they shouldn't while other ideas seem to be cut short.
Her relationship with Philip isn't good either. And while I'm on the subject, his character sucks as well. Once again, no character development. He's just a character who is there to tell Aurora that she is loved and worth something. Braswell tries to give him character development through flaws and through a scene where there are two of him, but because there is no romantic (or even platonic) development between the two characters, the relationship seems flat and boring. There is no proof that Philip loves her or that Aurora loves/comes to love him back. Which I understand was some of the point of the novel (love at first sight isn't a great thing and you need to get to know someone instead of just deciding you love them), the way this novel went about it wasn't great. They had random arguments about them being in love with each other before the story begins. And the arguments seem out of nowhere; they are also almost all from Aurora's side as well. Philip is not a part of her imagination either, which kinda sucks due to his lack of character traits. Neither character learns much of anything about themselves and each other.
Okay I'm gonna get a little more annoyed here:
The main reason I read this book was to figure out if it should be middle grade or young adult in my school's library. There is no reason for novels that are in the middle to use certain terms like rapist, especially since they're tossed randomly in the novel. Like really dude? Why did you think that was necessary, even if you were writing for the novel to be directed at young adults?? I mean, I'm glad it was easy to tell which category it should be in, but still there was no need for that. Especially when there are not even any romantic scenes in the book (other than cheek kisses and one mouth kiss at the end) and nothing like that happened to Aurora throughout the novel. Young adult novels do not need to be vulgar to be good. Especially when they are about a topic that interests younger audiences.
So to conclude, the characters suck and it took me way to long to finish.
I need to nap forever after reading this.
(Small thoughts from earlier)
I needed to get some of my thoughts out.
This is currently one of my least favorite books I have read this year.
Firstly, I hate Aurora. She's whiny and full of herself, even though the author tries to persuade you that she is not. Philip even directly mentions that she is not in one quote, even though some of her most inner thoughts are the worst.
I know that Aurora is supposed to be younger, but I think she comes off as way to young. And when she finally realizes she can manipulate her surroundings because they are in her dream, she does nothing to practice this ability or discover what she can do. It would be nice if her abilities actually were throughout her journey, especially since it's neat that she can manipulate everything around her.
Additionally, all he seems to be there for is to tell her she is loved and try to put different characteristics on Aurora that he wouldn't even truly know she has.
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mood2you · 1 year ago
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Blog 10: Books from the 00's
I'm reading Late Bloomer by Fern Michaels, you can rely on her for that fantasy of suddenly becoming very rich. In this book Cadwell Jordan moves back to her hometown to take care of her retired actress grandmother, who gets a lot better just by having her in her life again after raising her for 3 years when her parents fled after a mysterious accident. It's kind of like It I guess with no clown and 300 pages, I mean I think it should be longer. I mean I know saying "why isn't a reverse harem of Bev Ed, Ned, and Fred" it's like well, it simply isn't that! Get a grip! Read the summary! When they said "oh, and Ed is single too," they were kidding! I tried Name of the Wind but I might not continue it. I picked up Dead Until Dark Again and it's funny how different the second half is from the first half! Well I actually started this in March, um, and it's a bit too action packed, it sort of feels like 3 unrelated plots are happening, typical reality for someone like Sookie Stackhouse, the murder equivalent of your cat getting sick again as there is a new hire at work and you've lost your flipflops. to make any sense due to the long stretches of time I've inserted into it, the romance is cute.
Dead Until Dark fits the prompt of "building on the cover" (the burning down vampire house ;; from September 2022 Bookopoly, which I was running for myself this month, because I still have the board and it's fun. Well you know what Becca just announced: Spookoplothon, October Bookoplothon! And wouldn't you know it Dead Until Dark fits the parallel prompt on the new board: purple!
I'm also reading Darius the Great is Not Okay, and I keep crying about it. It's about highschool stuff like feeling left out and trying to talk to your dad. It is not a stupid 00's book. And I have the sequel!
On Friday I went swimming, which really was great. I'm always complaining now, this week, yesterday, because it's only high 80's. Which is very hot in the sun, on a calm, still day, with increasing humidity. Is that good swimming weather? It's not the weather I'm complaining about, it's how much work goes into swimming. Changing, getting towels, getting drinks, drying off, and so on... Also, I prepared wrongly for this summer. This week in particular, last year, was 110 and on fire, and I was very stressed out because I didn't want to have to evacuate all the animals alone. In June it was 80's and always rained and I basically threw that away, sleeping through it. And this week it's finally back to 80's. It was only 105 those two days I made sure to complain about it.
On Saturday I picked up another book by F. Paul Wilson for Halloween to pair with Midnight Mass a friend gave me. This book is The Tomb, it's like Three For The Money which I read last week, instead of bounty hunters it's a PI looking for, so far, a creepy looking necklace and a missing person his ex's mother. I think PI's dislike cops more bounty hunters but cops get in the way of either. It is dissimilar in that it's from 1984 and Three To Get Deadly is from the 00's.
On Sunday I had stewed pork. On Monday I watched the big game. On Tuesday I swung by Friends of the Library to get Wicked Business because I liked Three To Get Deadly alright and so I'm giving Lizzie and Diesel another shot. Basically this week is all about stupid books from the 00's. Incredibly I have a book about the Millenium Meltdown of computers bricking themselves (or worse) at midnight on 2000, but the kicker is it's from 1998 so it's not about the hysteria, it's just conspiracy theories about microchips, I'll have to start that too since some of these books are actually on the cusp.
Weirdly I'm set up nicely to try that challenge I had of reading (finishing) one book a day, maybe start on the 15.
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natashasnoodle · 2 years ago
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𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒎𝒆 - 𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝑵𝒂𝒕 𝒙 𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓
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Masterlist | N.R Masterlist
Words: 7.3k
Summary: Your entire life is turned upside down when you discover a book of the supernatural, propelling you into days of horror just before Halloween. What or who is causing the curse?
Triggers/tags: Ghost!WandaNat, dark!WandaNat, mind control, kidnapping, blood, visions, death, burns, an all round a spooky fic. No smut but minors DNI due to dark themes and implications please and thank you &lt;3
A good ol' Halloween fic to end off the month, was multiple days of planning and writing so I hope yous enjoy 👻
✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧
The chill of October air passed through you as you headed towards the campus library of the University that you attended. The way that the wind whipped the sides of your coat to the side, letting the awful freeze of the air wrap around your torso made you curse yourself for choosing to do a Master’s degree after your Bachelor’s. If you had just gotten a job like the rest of your friends had, then you would not be traipsing to the library every evening, and instead would be at home, snuggled under the comfort of many thick blankets after another day at the office. 
But instead, you were wrapping your arms around yourself in a hug, angry at the universe for your broken coat zipper as the hands of mother nature kept clawing their way through your outfit, yanking your tote bag repeatedly down in the process. By the time you arrived at the library you were already frustrated with the universe, and you hadn’t sat down to start your essay yet. 
Sighing a large puff of air from your already agape mouth thanks to the struggle of climbing stairs, you collapsed into a rickety old chair, slumping down and staring at the wall ahead, trying to mentally prepare yourself for the late night that was to be had. Thanks to your procrastination, you were missing pumpkin carving with your roommates, an activity that you adored, making this essay your arch-nemesis. 
Due to it being the Friday before Halloween, there were no fellow students also slumped in their seats, society beating them down as their burnt-out minds kept pushing on the invisible barriers that tried to stop them from working. 
You were all alone.
Taking the opportunity, you unpacked all of your things and laid them out on the desk in front of you in a haphazard way, not caring about everything being neat in front of you. You were simply here to rush through your essay, put in the absolute minimum effort, and get home to the likely ‘after pumpkin carving party’ that would be happening. After all, C’s get degrees. 
Usually, you would find any books or papers in the long line of the library resources before unpacking, in case anyone ran off with your laptop or bag, not that you had anything truly of value, your laptop was ancient. It looked like a slab of concrete and felt like one at that too, your shoulder consistently being weighed down. Every day you made a mental note to use a backpack next time, and every day you ignored yourself. 
But thanks to the emptiness of the place, you wanted to walk around without your laptop. You felt silly that it felt freeing to be walking around without holding anything. It felt as though you could walk on air. There was no rush to get back to your seat, especially because your mind was still procrastinating, so you decided to fully immerse yourself in the giant bank of knowledge that this building held, having never had the opportunity to do so in the past. 
You marvelled at the various books that students in other degrees would most likely groan at seeing due to reading them all the time for their assignments. It’s a funny thing. Most of the time you could do copious amounts of research in your own time and never get bored, digging down all the rabbit holes that you could find, but as soon as you needed to research something for a class, all interest is immediately tossed out of the window and stomped on. 
As you mindlessly ran the pads of your pointer finger along the row of books, a small smile tugging at your lips as you slowly walked on, you missed the gust of wind that passed through the closed door and towards your desk, moving all of your items before turning the corner and running past your boot-clad feet, the thick material enough to make you oblivious. 
Though when your finger landed on an old, worn-down-looking book, the gust of wind that was pooling at your feet, waiting to pounce, lifted itself into the air in a column around you, your hair flying around at the disturbance. You gasped as you felt the cool air around you, but before you could check your surroundings your eyes rolled to the back of your head as your hands grabbed the shelf in front of you to keep yourself steady.
When everything went dark you couldn’t feel your body anymore. You desperately tried to scream out in hopes that anyone in the library would be able to help you, but it was as though your voice box was clamped shut by an invisible force. No words that you were pleading to escape managed to pass through into the air. 
A low humming noise whistled through the air, overpowering your senses, your mind now completely distracted by the sound. Something had control of your mind as the humming continued, getting louder and louder. It was beautiful, rough around the edges but in the perfect way. As you allowed yourself to get lost in the symphony, the edges of your vision glowed white before a blurry room came into your sights.
A dim, yet beautiful ballet room, with mirrors on every wall and pine wood flooring, revealed itself to you, and suddenly a young woman with auburn hair appeared. Once her presence was made known to you, the humming increased in volume, and as she twirled around the room in a gorgeous choreography in a black bodice and tutu, you realised that the humming was coming from the woman herself.
She danced along to the beat of her own voice, moving her body in a way that had you mesmerised, captivating you in a way that had never captivated you before. You could watch her forever, it felt like you needed to see more like you needed to walk up to her and let her gaze meet yours. It felt as though at this moment she was the only thing in the universe that mattered. 
As the vision slowly moved closer to her, you could easily make out the flow of her hands. How her fingers danced along too, her entire being, every atom, going into this dance. But then it stopped. 
With the humming gone all that you could hear was a painful ringing, its pitch getting higher and higher with each passing second. The woman in the room stood, head looking down at the floor with her back to you, her breathing deep yet steady as she stood still. You were forced to watch as she recovered from the dance and slowly started walking towards one of the mirror walls, her head still pointed down.
It was only when her hands grabbed onto the wall railing that you realised how cold and lifeless her skin looked, how it looked as though she could break at any moment. It was at this moment that your consciousness came back to you, but your body didn’t. You were stuck in the vision. Panic flooded your system as once again you tried to scream out for help. You didn’t know this woman, and you didn’t know where you were. But maybe she could help you.
You begged whatever divinity was out there to just let you communicate with her, to let you ask for help so that you could go home, and just as you did, she looked up. Her eyes met your gaze through the mirror and you wanted to scream in pure terror. Her face was just as paper-white as her hands which only accentuated the blood pouring from her mouth as she looked at you blankly. All that she offered you as you were begging for help was a smirk and a wink before everything went black again.
Your chest heaved and you knew that you were back in your body, but with your eyes tightly screwed shut you didn’t know for sure. The column of wind that had surrounded you slowly dissipated and was absorbed by the scratchy carpeted flooring, allowing your extremities to warm up again. However long you were under that spell, the wind had made you feel freezing to the touch. Your tight jaw chattering only proved this further, though that could also be from the fear and adrenaline. 
Tentatively, you allowed your eyelids to flutter open, and you were met with the sight of your hands gripping tightly onto the shelf in front of you, knuckles painfully white as you held on for dear life. Your mouth felt dry as you tried to take in everything that had just happened, it didn’t feel real, it couldn’t be real, and yet why was your heart pounding? Why was your chest heaving with anxiety? 
You shook your head and looked up, the old book directly in front of you. An internal battle began as you fought the Angel and Devil that sat on your shoulder. The Angel telling you not to take the book, you touched it and the vision started, that couldn’t be a coincidence. But the Devil told you to take it, to put it in your bag and leave. 
The Devil won. 
Shakily, your hand reached out and gently pulled the book out. You stared at the cover, not being able to make any sense of it, it was like nothing you had ever seen before. The brown and black book looked as though it could fall apart if you dropped it, and the patterns on the front made you want to run your finger along them, so you gave in to your instincts. 
As the pads of your fingers ran along the intricate patterns, you felt a warmth run up your arm, followed quickly by a cold that made a whimper fall from your lips, the severe cold making your skin prick painfully before the feeling stopped completely, leaving as fast as it came. 
You had to take the book home, it was telling you to. Ordering you to.
With haste, you moved back to your desk and stuffed the book into your bag, not caring that you hadn’t bothered to check it out. If the book told you to take it home, then you would take it home. It was like you weren’t in full control of your movements since the book was in your hands, but you didn’t notice. 
Though when you looked up to begin packing your other things, you did notice that all of your stuff had been moved to the opposite side of the desk from where you had initially placed it. Though you just pinned it down to paranoia, you had just had the life scared out of you, so it was only natural for you to be overly paranoid now. 
So, with a shrug you packed the rest of your things, your hands still just as shaky, and you rushed out of the library without making sure that you had gotten everything, you just needed to leave, and you never wanted to step foot in there again. 
The walk home was much nicer than your work there. Other than your mind racing and being on the lookout for any sort of danger. But you felt warm, your bag felt like it weighed nothing, even with the additional book added, and no gusts of wind were hitting you, even though the trees around you were swaying with gusto, looking as though the trunks could quite easily snap. A frown rested on your forehead as you carried on speedwalking down the street, a storm was clearly coming, and yet you were feeling nothing.
It was like the book was helping you get it home as quickly as possible. Instinctually, you looked down at the book in the bag resting at your side and your feet seemed to pick up the pace, pushing you through the dark autumn night and towards the apartment you shared with your roommates. 
As soon as you pushed through the people that were at the small party that you had predicted would occur earlier on in the day, you ignored the weird looks from your friends as they saw your mindless body walk through the room and into yours. Your mind was on a mission, and nothing was going to stop you from giving that book a place in your bedroom. It would be safe with you, not out in the open for just anyone to touch. 
When it was placed on your chest of drawers opposite your bed, you let out a sigh of relief. The book was safe, and its hold on your mind eased. As you slowly regained some form of control of yourself, it was only then that you realised how crazy all of this was. Snippets of the terrifying vision flooded your senses again and hot tears began streaming down your face as you curled up into a ball on your bed. You didn’t know why this was happening to you and you didn’t know what to do.
If you told anyone then they would think of you as a crazy person, or someone spewing some ghost stories to freak people out before Halloween. So you did the thing any normal person would do, resorted to sobbing in your room whilst simultaneously trying to block the whole experience out, trying to allow the soft fabric of your sheets to give you some semblance of security.
It was an impossible thing to have happened, and you didn’t know if you believed your own mind. You didn’t trust yourself, and that was a scary thing. 
You needed to get rid of the book. 
After sniffing and wiping your nose with your sleeve, you stood shakily, your knees almost giving way, and slowly moved over to where the book lay, looking innocent as though it hadn’t just traumatised you for a lifetime. You inhaled a deep breath and closed your eyes, preparing yourself to take the leap and touch the book again, but when contact was made, a sharp pain spread across your hand, and a brief flash of an image appeared in the back of your eyelids.
You could just about make out the image of the small cabin surrounded by forests before it disappeared and you stumbled back, clutching your now wounded hand. The pain was excruciating, and you had to bite your bottom lip to avoid crying out, but when you extended your fingers and looked at your right palm, you had to stifle a scream. 
An hourglass symbol appeared as your hand continued to burn, etching itself onto your skin as you stared with wide eyes, your chest once again heaving. “What the fuck”, you whispered as your body began to shake like a leaf, very aware that your clock was mocking you, reading as 04:00. 
As you stared longer at the symbol a flash of recognition passed through you, you had most certainly seen this symbol before. It was plastered around years ago. A series of freak “accidents” had been slowly killing off the group of Earth’s mightiest heroes, the “Avengers”. It had been put down to a serial killer once more evidence was found, and the fact that they hadn’t been found had made the situation all the more terrifying until it all got shoved under the rug and everyone moved on with their lives. 
But something about a certain death or rather, two certain deaths confused you. Most of the Avengers were murdered in plain sight, the killer clearly on some sort of power trip trying to prove to people that they were just as vulnerable as regular humans. But Black Widow, whose symbol was now burned into your skin, was found dead alongside her wife, the Scarlet Witch, in their safe house after they went into hiding once the killing patterns had emerged. Very much not a public space. 
It also became clear to you, that the woman in the vision also looked like the Black Widow, a few years younger maybe, and most certainly not how she looked exactly when she was alive, but definitely her. The faces of all the Avengers were plastered around everywhere during their world-saving days, so you were sure that it looked like her.
You just wondered what this book had to do with her, especially as she was very dead. The idea that this had anything to do with the supernatural chilled you to the bone, but you shook that thought away. There must be a reasonable explanation for all of this. There was no such thing as vampires, zombies, or ghosts. They didn’t exist, and so you were safe. This was just a freak prank, nothing more nothing less. You nodded along to your train of thought, trying to convince yourself that everything was indeed okay, as you ignored the searing pain in your hand. 
Lifting up the soft duvet covers of your bed, you crawled underneath them and got into a foetal position, clutching your hand that was clenched as a fist close to your chest, your bottom lip trembling as you fought back tears, desperate to fall asleep so that you could wake up and pretend this never happened. You knew that you needed to go and get something to care for your new wound, but the bathroom was across the apartment, and there was no way that you were going to risk waking up your roommates as they would most certainly ask questions. So, you would have to wait until you awoke in a few hours' time and waltz into the room as if nothing was wrong. 
Eventually, your trembling body passed out from exhaustion, and your mind was finally at peace. For the time being.
---
The following day came with no issues, aside from the pain ebbing and flowing through your hand. Your roommates did wonder why you had a bandage wrapped around your hand, but you eased their fears by telling them that you had been stupid when trying to cook something new for breakfast. They believed you. 
You counted your lucky stars that the damned book resting in your room did not give you any nightmares or visions that day, and just put it down to a weird fluke. It was just a prank. A very painful prank, one that made you want to kick the creator of it in the shin, but a prank nonetheless. 
Having not started the essay the day prior, you had to work at double the speed yet you could only use one hand. The maths weren’t adding up, but with your mind fuelled on caffeine via various cups of coffee and cans of energy drinks, enough to make your brain go full throttle before an energy crash, you finished your essay. 
Smiling, you were satisfied with the day. It had been productive, yet calm. You sat on your bed and just let the world pass you by that evening, grateful for the peace, grateful to be able to watch the sunset, and grateful to be able to fall asleep with no issues. Your sleep went undisturbed, but what you didn’t know was that the book a mere few steps away from you was awake. Wide awake, and it had been watching your every move. 
The next day you went about your business once again. Attending your classes you typed out all the notes that you could, yet again with a singular hand, and the one that wasn’t your dominant one. It was tough but you pushed through, willing your body to continue so that when you got home you wouldn’t have to make notes on the slides in your own time. Whilst on campus you hung out with friends and engaged in some lovely chit-chat, all of them concerned for your bandaged hand but yet again you waved them off with a little white lie. 
You allowed yourself to romanticise the day, that’s how you got through most of your University days. You brought yourself an iced coffee to sip on whilst studying with friends, organising your notes in a way that was aesthetic, yet effective; colour scheming everything with titles of cute yet readable fonts. It was all for vanity reasons but if it meant that you would go back and read your notes then you didn’t see the issue. 
You also took the long route home, letting your scarf get ruffled in the wind as your boots quenched your thirst for standing on the crunchiest leaves that the local flora had to offer you. After seeing a quaint, run-down bench you decided to take a seat, resting your weary legs that had taken you from class to class that day. Though that was a mistake.
The very second that you planted yourself down on the hardwood a dizzy spell hit and it felt as though your head was spinning. Out of breath and confused you clutched onto the cool, metal armrest with your good hand, and held on for dear life as you had no choice but to let whatever was coming hit you like a brick. The nauseous feeling that was crawling its way up from your abdomen came to a swift halt when your vision went black. Though that feeling was replaced by the feeling of a pit as you anticipated what was to come, expecting it to be like the previous night.
You were pleasantly surprised at seeing the same cabin as prior instead of a dead ballerina, but it still left you feeling unsettled. Unlike with the vision of Black Widow, you were in full control of your consciousness and thoughts, which allowed you to ponder why this vision of the cabin wasn’t a quick flash like the other one had been, you were again stuck, and that feeling of dread came in full swing.
It did give you time to take in the full view of the cabin, however, and it looked to be a lovely one at that. It was solitary and looked to be a good place to get away, or to hide. The wood was dark which only made it seem more cosy and hidden away, and the large size of the building allowed for a lot of windows, each with a hanging basket coming from the windowsill, full of colourful blooming flowers. The roof was made of slate slabs, with a chimney coming out of one end, the smoke slowly billowing from it completing the aesthetic. 
It was peaceful.
But then the vision changed. You were moved to see the interior, it looked just as quaint as the exterior, but something felt off. The quiet was eerie instead of comforting, and as you were moved down the hallway against your will, you spotted a photo of Natasha Romanoff and Wanda Maximoff nailed to the wall in a beautiful mahogany picture frame with golden accents on the corners. It didn’t take a genius to conclude that this was most certainly the safe house in which they met their demise. If you could feel your spine in this vision then you were sure that you would feel a chill go down it. 
As you were forced to move more forward the eeriness was ever more present, and you just wanted to go home. It wasn’t until you turned the corner and into the kitchen that you saw the reason as to why. You wanted to scream when you saw the bloodied hand and arm belonging to one of the women peeking out from behind the kitchen counter, and your fear increased tenfold when you turned to see the body of Wanda Maximoff lying on the stairs, her lifeless eyes staring at you.
With all of your might, you willed your eyes to screw shut, but it was to no avail, you continued to be met with the awful sight. The vision once again changed, though you were in the same location. The only difference this time was that you could feel your body, and as you looked down at yourself you could see your hands, your torso, and your legs. Somehow you were there, so you did the first thing that you could think of. You tried to escape. 
You attempted over and over again to move your legs, but much to your frustration it was as though they were glued to the floor. As tears began to pool at your waterline you screamed out for help, which was your second mistake of the evening. As soon as you shouted, “Help!”, Wanda’s mouth formed into a smile, and you felt your heart drop to your stomach as you froze, staring in horror at the corpse in front of you slowly start to stand and walk down the stairs, right towards you. 
A whimper escaped your lips as you tried yet again to move backwards, the tears freefalling down your cheeks as she walked with purpose towards you, eyeing you as though you were her next meal, yet smiling at you as though you were an old friend. “Hi”, she spoke with such a gentle tone that you tilted your head slightly, showing your confusion, but you instantly leaned back as she reached out to cup your jaw, her cold skin touching your warm one. 
Your bottom lip trembled when she made contact, which only made her eyes darken as she upheld the same comforting smile. “Shh, it’s okay”, she cooed and lifted her other hand, cupping your face. You cringed as her ice-cold thumbs rubbed your tears away, perhaps an innocent enough gesture if she hadn’t also been smudging blood, her blood, from her hands at the same time. 
“You’re okay, sweetheart”, she whispered, and somehow you felt calm, like whoever was in charge of your visions was willing it, getting impatient with your reactions. You wanted to scream out again, you wanted to run away, but it was like your mind wasn’t yours again. “Come home, detka, come home to us”.
Your eyes snapped open and you were met with the sight of your hand gripping the bench as you sobbed. Nausea ebbed through you as you panted, why was this happening to you? What had you done wrong to warrant being tormented, haunted like this? It was a fear that you had never felt before, and you immediately got up and began sprinting home. Maybe it was because you were in possession of the book, if you got rid of the book, then you would be free of whatever curse you now held. You nodded to yourself as tears streamed down your cheeks, confirming your plan in your head. To anyone who saw you on the street, you would have looked crazy, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You just needed to get out of this nightmare. 
Your feet padded heavily against the concrete as you tried to avoid any wet leaves that would send you slipping and tumbling to the floor, and weaved in and out of people who were just trying to go about their lives. With the speed you were sprinting, it took you a mere five minutes to complete a twenty-minute walk. You tossed your apartment block door open and took to the stairs, not having the patience to wait for the lift, taking the steps two at a time. 
After reaching your floor, legs burning from the lactic acid, you basically slammed your door down, thankful that none of your roommates was in the living room, and flung yourself into your bedroom, staring at the book on your drawers that now had a gold glow radiating off of it. Your face hardened as you stared at it, hatred flowing through you. That book had ruined you, and it was time for it to go.
Without hesitation, you reached your hand out and grasped it, but immediately you had to pull away from it as the same burning feeling hit. You cried out in pain as you clutched your ex-good hand, and watched in horror as the silhouette of the Scarlet Witches’ crown appeared on the palm of your left hand. The pain was excruciating, it felt like all of your skin was on fire, like your body was covered in tiny soldiers, stabbing you repetitively. 
All of your energy drained as you stumbled back onto your bed, your lungs rapidly filling up with oxygen before dispelling the air as you began to hyperventilate. You were at a loss for what to do. A few weak whispers escaped your lips as you tried to call out for help, but your body betrayed you, and you passed out at the bottom of your bed.
---
A pounding on the door followed by multiple yells of your name rudely awakened you from your lengthy slumber. Your eyes opened in narrow slits as you groaned at the light streaming in and attacking your retinas, drowsiness clouding your mind, rendering you unable to comprehend what was happening. Though when a series of harsh knocks yet again pounded on your door, your eyes shot open and you jumped up off of the bed, “What?!”, you moved towards your door and shouted through.
“What do you mean ‘what’? It’s halloween, we all said we were going hiking before the party later, we’re about to go and we haven’t seen you all morning”, your roommate Sharon shouted back, followed by a sound of agreement from your other roommate Maria. “Fuck”, you whispered under your breath before shouting back through, “Right yeah, my alarm didn’t go off, give me ten minutes”. You heard a couple of groans from the other two due to you making them wait, but they agreed as you stood frozen on the other side of the door. You were far too spooked to be able to go on a friendly walk with your roommates, not when you were sure that this curse was somehow going to kill you soon with the way that it was progressing. 
But, you still didn’t want to tell anyone, because they would think that you were a certified crazy person, so, you rushed around to get ready for the day. Donning some leggings, a long sleeved fleece for the chilly weather, and hiking boots, you toussled your hair a bit to make it look more presentable and like you hadn’t literally collapsed hours before. Though once you were about to leave and your nerves had eased ever so slightly thanks to the drowsiness wearing off, you noticed that your hands didn’t feel as though they were burning anymore.
You looked out your outstretched palm which sported the crown, and saw that after just a night it had faded into a scar rather than a fresh burn, a nasty scar for sure, but it was confusing how quickly it had healed. After a confused huff, you ripped the bandage off of your other hand and saw that the hourglass too had formed into a swollen scar instead of an active injury. Before you had any real time to ponder, strong hands pounded on your door again. “It’s been ten minutes hurry the fuck up”, Maria’s voice sounded through, and you shook your head, lurching across your room to grab some gloves before opening the door, shooting them an innocent smile.
“I’m ready, no need to get your panties in a twist, Hill”, you smiled and walked past her towards the kitchen, seeing Sharon rolling her eyes at you with an amused glint as you reached for your water bottle, though she quickly got up to take it out of your hands. Before you could protest she hoisted her backpack up from off the floor, “Already packed you one to save time, let’s go”. 
You allowed yourself to be dragged out of the apartment by your friends, laughing at the way they had practically picked you up off of the ground. When they had put you down in front of Sharon’s car you gave a faux-pout, “That hurt my arms”. 
“Awh”, Maria cooed and mimicked your expression from right next to you before placing a playful kiss on your cheek and shoving you lightly into the back door, “You’ll live”. You gave a dry laugh as she threw herself into the passenger seat, your mind now taken over by worry once more, wondering why your hands burned when Maria had kissed your cheek, and how it stopped as soon as she was out of your eyeline. Though you shrugged it off when the car horn sounded, urging you to get your ass into the car. 
---
The hiking trail that you had all decided to take never failed to amaze you. The wildlife that you would see as you made your way up the steep, rocky hills made your heart flutter every single time. The smell of fresh oxygen left your nose feeling grateful as you were able to escape the city air, and the way that the sun shimmered through the canopy was enough to put a smile on your face. 
Plus your friends were a welcome distraction for the horrors that had recently started occuring in your life. Many laughs were shared and you all complained about the copious amounts of work you had all been doing for your studies. It was a nice change of pace, it felt like you could finally breathe through your lungs again, the hand that had a tight grasp on them momentarily released, even with the small nagging voice in the back of your mind that wouldn’t go away. 
Eventually when you were at the halfway mark of the gorgeous walk through nature, you all had to make a pitstop to go to the toilet. Luckily you had all walked this trail so many times that you knew where the toilet shack was planted, and so you all made a beeline for it. You finished first and headed outside to wait for the others, wiping your damp hands on your leggings as the dryer was broken, as it was every time. 
As you looked ahead, taking in the sights, something felt off. Your mind started to feel clouded as your eyes glazed over and the skin of your hands started prickling, and it wasn’t long before your consciousness was taken over once again, making you a passenger in your own mind. Desperately, you wanted to yell out for Sharon or Maria to help you, to snap you back to reality, but it didn’t work. Your mouth wasn’t following your commands, and without your permission your legs began moving of their own accord, bringing you towards the treeline and off of the designated trail.
Your legs stung occasionally as a bramble or thorn pierced your leggings and drew blood, but like before, no sound could escape your mouth and you could make no movements to prevent the pain. After a few minutes of walking like a zombie, you heard your friends shouting your name in the distance, their voices getting more and more panicked the more that they shouted for you, screaming your name as they moved around to try and see where you were, scared that something bad had happened to you. They weren’t wrong. 
Another minute later their voices were finally drowned out by the distance, and your heart began to thump painfully in your chest even more than it already had, you were too far to hear them now, which meant that even if you could shout and plead for your life, they wouldn’t hear you. They wouldn’t be able to find you now. 
You were all alone. 
There were many futile attempts over the course of the walk to regain control of your mind, but none of them worked. Whoever had you under their spell was a lot stronger than you, and you had a grim feeling that you knew who it was, even if you didn’t want to admit it to yourself. 
After what must have been an hour of traipsing through the wilderness, all signs of civilisation long out of your sights you saw something in the distance. If you could have, you would have furrowed your brows at the familiarity. A small cabin sat solitary in the clearing, worn down and old. Untouched for some years, quite possibly a decade. Flower pots lay on the windowsills, dull and dead, the old soil in there the only proof of what once was. 
Your breath hitched as the realisation hit you like a truck. The cabin from your visions, the one owned by the deceased Avengers, older and unused, but the same cabin. You wanted to scream bloody murder as your feet carried on marching towards the front door. You would rather do anything else than go in there, but you were like a robot as your journey continued, up the rickety wooden steps that were clearly the victim of water damage as they creaked under your weight. 
Heart rate elevating to a dangerous rate, the door opened without any external forces, as your body entered the threshold of the cabin. Only when the door slammed behind you and the sound of the lock clicking shut echoed throughout the hallway were you granted access of your own body again. Sobs racked through you as you turned around and yanked on the door, putting your foot up on the wall to try and gain more momentum. Nothing was working. 
As your cries continued, you heard a noise in the next room, and immediately you turned your body to see the door to the living room slowly creaking open. The only other sound that could be heard were your sniffles, your cries abruptly stopping as even more fear flooded through you as you watched the door open. “Hello?”, you said uncertainly, cursing yourself for being so stupid. People in horror movies always got killed as soon as they said that. 
Almost as though the entities within the four walls could read your mind, you heard a raspy chuckle a few metres away, though you couldn’t see anyone in the dusty room ahead of you. You whimpered as you tried to gain control of your breathing, aware of how pathetic you must sound, but not finding it within you to care. For all you knew, you were about to die. You didn’t want to die.
As this train of thought passed through you, a gust of wind appeared from nowhere and flew through you, but through the whistling sound of it, you could make out a comforting voice trying to shush your cries. Your head snapped to the side to look towards the kitchen, the direction of which the wind came from, but again you could see nothing. “Hello?”, you tried again, your voice weary from how quickly your sobs drained your energy, “Please let me out, I won’t tell anyone, I promise just please-”, you tried to bargain for your life. 
However, you stopped when you noticed a faint glow coming from the living room as two people slowly came into your sight, starting as transparent and slowly coming into their full forms. You gulped as you took in the sight of them, they looked human, but they were clearly dead, their pale skin, almost white exaggerating their respective hair colours, red and brown. 
You couldn’t seem to find your voice as they slowly approached you, though this wasn’t by any mind control, you were terrified. “Sweetheart”, the brunette, Wanda, started with a small smile as she rested her cold hand on your shoulder, “We can’t let you go”, her voice was sweet, but the dark look in her eyes showed you otherwise.
“Please, I just-”, you tried again, but Natasha’s finger came up to your lips to stop you from speaking, the contrast of cold and warm sent shivers running through your body, “Nuh uh. We’ve waited for years for someone to find that book, the Darkhold, we planted it in so many places, we’ve been so lonely after all these years after having our lives ripped away from us”, she seemed to be getting frustrated, but when she looked into your eyes again she immediately calmed and remembered that you were here, “But you were the first to find it, and we’re so glad”, she whispered the last part into your ear with parted lips before pulling back with a smirk at your new flushed state. 
“So glad”, her wife repeated and cupped your jaw, her grasp firm as she moved your face from side to side, examining you. You stilled whilst she did this, and tried to move backwards, but her painful grip held you in place. Once she was done she looked satisfied, as though she had just won a prize, “Look at her, Nat. So pretty”, she spoke with sparkling eyes, Natasha nodding and running a hand through your hair.
“All ours”, the redhead added on, making you stumble out of Wanda’s grip, your back harshly hitting the door. Theirs? No. You needed to get out of there, and fast. “No, I- no”, you shook your head and reached for the handle, but your wrist was painfully pulled into the clutch of Natasha as she shook her head at you, warning you not to try that again. “Oh, but you are”, Wanda continued with a voice smooth like honey, “The branding says you are”. Branding?
Confusion must have been evident on your face, as the two chuckled at your expression, making you shrink further into yourself, humiliated. Wanda and Natasha each took one of your gloves off, revealing their sigils on your palms. You looked down, wide eyed as the meaning of the marks was revealed to you, and panic ran through your veins as you attempted to pull your arms away, you just wanted to go home, you just wanted to see Maria and Sharon.
Both women scowled at your thoughts before looking at each other as though they were silently communicating, and looked back at you with gentle smiles. “It’s time sweetheart”, Natasha’s words brought you out of the trance your anxiety had put you in, and your mouth opened and closed like a fish as you tried to find words to say, but Wanda distracted you. “Don’t fight it, okay?”.
Before you had time to ask what you were supposed to not be fighting, both women pressed the pads of their fingertips to the marks on your hands, and you screamed out as white hot searing flashes of pain erupted and travelled around your skin, your entire body feeling like it was on fire. “Stop fighting”, Wanda spoke with authority as they pressed harder on the marks, making the pain increase tenfold, and you were sure that you were going to pass out. Your knees went weak, but they quickly held you up with hands on your waist, white spots beginning to cloud your vision.
You were trying so hard to get out, to escape the clutches of the ghosts that wanted you to stay with them. You wanted to go home, you wanted to see your friends, you wanted to continue going to your classes, you wanted to… you wanted to stay. 
You wanted to stay.
Your eyes glazed over as red clouded your vision momentarily, before everything cleared, and the pain stopped. You drew in a breath as you stood up straight, and the two women in front of you looked at you expectedly as they cautiously withdrew their hands, wondering if the spell had worked, but when you offered them a dopey smile thanks to your brain being full of thoughts about them, they knew the spell hard worked. 
Their grins were genuine as you stared at them adoringly, and they both reached forward to pull you into a hug. Their cold touch no longer felt cold, the warmth that radiated off of them reserved only for you made you feel the safest that you had ever felt. As you melted into their embrace the two women smiled at each other and increased the grip they had on you, afraid that you would disappear into thin air if they let you go. 
“Welcome home, detka”.
✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧:・゚✧
Comment if you want to be added to any taglists <3
Taglist: @fxckmiup
Natasha Romanoff Taglist: @diaryoflife @unlady-like-12-25-36
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duchess-fox · 3 years ago
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2021 Dream Girl
I found @2pretty's 12 Month Dream Girl Guide and thought it was actually a very good and intentional way of setting goals and achieving them. While I won't be doing 12 months - I'll be doing it for the rest of 2021 instead!
Who is she?
Naturally beautiful goddess with her life put together, who piques curiosity from many. She is kind, feminine and smart. Her home is always clean, cozy and quiet. Her style is understated but you know it's expensive because everything fits her perfectly. Her outward appearance is always perfect and even if it isn't, it's imperfect in just the right way. The epitome of beauty and brains.
Qualities to Create Her
She takes care of her body - hair, skin, nails, fitness
She speaks multiple languages - Korean, Chinese, English
Her apartment is clean, everything has a place and purpose and is beautifully decorated
She is well dressed - shoes clean, clothes fitted, bag organised
She eats well - knows how to cook and prepare healthy and delicious meals
Her life is organised - she knows exactly when her bills are due, how much money she has, how she plans on spending the money.
She can sew and makes some of her own clothes.
She keeps her mind nourished.
June
She takes care of her body - hair, skin, nails, fitness. She eats well - knows how to cook and prepare healthy and delicious meals
Hair - Hair masks once a fortnight! Luckily Kmart does have some inexpensive hair masks as money will have to be tightly rationed the next few months.
Skin - Daily morning and night regimen is something I want to get into the habit of as I've been slacking in the past year (!). I also need to develop the habit of putting on sunscreen daily.
Nails - Hopefully my nail drill and the nail supplies I order come in the mail soon! The dust fan won't arrive until much later which is a shame but it's not essential. I will apply cuticle oil and hand cream morning and night, extra hand cream after I wash my hands.
Body - I'm going to start walking every day, 3 times a day. I don't like taking long walks and I've come to really enjoy a particular route. It's about 1.7km so if I walk it 3 times a day (morning, after lunch and after work) it should be 5km a day! I also want to develop a morning and night time stretching routine to increase my flexibility. I bought a scale that has an app so it can track my weight so I will be using that daily in the morning too.
I would also like to have a bigger library of healthy meals in my repertoire. I am a fan of BTS and the BTS meal just came out so I will be having a McDonald's every couple of days. The local McDonald's is 1.4km from my apartment. So walking there and back is almost 3km which will add up!
July
She speaks multiple languages She keeps her mind nourished.
I've been learning Korean on and off for almost 10 years now and the lack of discipline in my language learning is painfully obvious.
I will also try and be more observant of the Korean vlogs and TV shows I watch - they're great because they usually have subtitles in Korean so I can read those too.
I will continue studying Korean grammar through Talk to Me in Korean.
I also want to make use of the local library - I like reading from physical books sometimes but economies need to be taken and I don't want to invite too much clutter into my apartment. The library might not be as big as the big city libraries I'm accustomed to in my home city but there's always material to read regardless. I'll also make use of certain resources too if I have to in order to find some of the books I've been wanting to read and are a bit more obscure and unlikely to be found in my local library.
August
Her apartment is clean, everything has a place and purpose and is beautifully decorated
I have a few prints I'd like to hang from one of my favourite artists. I also want to print a big triptych artwork which is a subtle nod to my favourite music artist. I have plans to buy some nice big plants to brighten up the place too.
I'm also going to set up dedicated sewing and nail spaces because I really enjoy those things and they also require specialty equipment.
Since I just recently moved to my new apartment, I still have cardboard boxes that need to be taken to the recycling centre.
I will also make it a habit to ensure that all the dishes are done before I go to bed, my desks are free of rubbish. I will make my bed in the mornings and make sure my laundry is folded away neatly.
September
She can sew and makes some of her own clothes.
I want to focus on hobbies - namely sewing. I'd like to really challenge myself in sewing so I'd like to make one well fitted dress to wear on a night out. I bought the Rose Café dress pattern from Daria Dressmaking and I hope my body will be in a more satisfactory condition before I attempt to make this dress. I'd like to make this is a boucle fabric (which I'll probably source from AliExpress as it's much more affordable than buying $35/m fabric from the fancy fabric store). I want it to be perfectly fitted to my body so I will be custom fitting it. It won't be a short project so I want to dedicate the whole month to it.
October
She is well dressed - shoes clean, clothes fitted, bag organised
I want to make sure all my clothes, shoes and bags are in good condition - especially winter clothes that I won't be wearing for a while. Lint roller, wool comb, leather conditioner, waterproof spray - it's all coming out.
Things in my bag should be organised into pouches so that they're not flying everywhere either.
November
Her life is organised - she knows exactly when her bills are due, how much money she has, how she plans on spending the money.
I want my Google calendar to be full and colour coded. I want my bills to be on auto transfer and have my cash flow organised. I'd also like to have at least $5000 in emergency savings (since my recent move really drained my savings) and aim for $20000 eventually. I hope by then I'll be more disciplined and in control of my finances.
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murderslugs · 4 years ago
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Getting To Know Them || Slasher x Reader Bf/Gf Scenarios Pt 2
Jason Voorhees
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When you woke, you were lying in a dim living room. The windows were boarded with thick, rotting oak planks and the doors were bolted shut. The only light left to illuminate the room was a small lamp on the old, rustic coffee table in front of you. Beneath you was a somewhat scratchy couch, clearly taken off of someone's front line with a paper labeled "free to take" on it, or from some dump. However, you were thankful that it at least wasn't the creaky wooden floor instead. You scratched at the rope around your wrists, loosened from being wriggled around and messed with.
You sat up and allowed your vision to re-adjust, and saw the same man in flannel and ski-mask in an arm-chair on the other side of the coffee table. He didn't seem to notice your awakening, or he at least didn't acknowledge it. He was reading a book with a maroon cover, and you couldn't make out the small copper-shaded title. You studied his movement. He was calm and showed little emotion in his body language, simply reading in peace.
In a split second, you decided to break the peace and silence. "Who are you?" The man put down the book in his lap, but only looked up at you for a moment, silent. You could see him think, then make a few hand gestures. You came to the realization that it was ASL, but you never really learned the language, despite your interest in it. You saw him take a deep breath and get up, grabbing a pen and a notebook off a table to the side. He slid the items onto the coffee table before you and slowly unbound your wrists. You wrote your question out again, "Who are you?" and slid it around for him to see. He read it, and wrote quickly, in slightly messy handwriting, "Jason. any more questions?" and slid the items back.
From here, you two went on for hours, listing out questions on the notebook and answering them for each other. You filled out pages and pages, ranging from basic questions to things like "what was your childhood like?" Certain things like that, he would pause and then write that he didn't want to talk about it. Through the night or day (due to the lack of natural light, it was hard to tell,) this game went on.
Michael Myers
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Though you tried your best and struggled and squirmed, the man who had taken you still had gotten you tied to a chair; where you sat with a belt tying your wrists to the wooden beams, thankfully with a cushion underneath your rear. You shut your eyes for a second and groaned, throwing your head back. You always thought of yourself as strong and independent, a fighter who didn't need help from anyone. Alas, this was one ass you couldn't kick, and you hated yourself for it.
Across the kitchen, the bright lights shined on the tiled floor, and a tea kettle whistled ceaselessly. The sound of running water stopped as the man who had taken you walked from the bathroom and into the kitchen. The man dried his hands on his pants and took the kettle off the burner, shutting the flames off. You observed him take two random mugs from the cabinets above, and place them on the white countertop. He carefully poured the tea into the two cups, and a light herbal smell filled the air. After a moment, you recognized the smell of hibiscus tea. This was a familiar smell, something your aunt made every morning when you spent the night at her house in the summers between school years.
The man walked over and brought the two cups with him. A low, slightly muffled, silky voice came from behind the mask as he slid a mug across the table to you. "Careful, it's scolding." The tall, built man walked across and unbuckled one of your arms from the chair for you to pick up the mug with. "Drink." He said, before taking a seat before you. This is when he slid the mask off, to reveal a face beneath that you never would have expected. Dark brown, shaggy, messy, wavy hair fell over his forehead, and he blew it out of his grey eyes. His face was scarred and his lips were chapped, but it somehow wasn't unappealing or revolting.
"What's your name? Who the fuck are you?" You asked, leaning as far as you could with your restraints still intact. The man pushed his hair back and sighed heavily, sipping the near boiling tea. "Michael. 24. Libra." He said in a monotone voice. You rolled your eyes. "This is an introduction to your victim, not The Dating Game." You told him harshly. "Well, is there something specific you wanna know? It's not like your giving me anything to go off of, sugar cube." 'Michael' replied with the same energy in return. "Fine. I'm (Y/N). What else is there to say?"
Carrie White
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Like the pale girl suggested, Carrie if you remembered correctly, you came back to the public library next Sunday, around noon. You had finished the book you had most recently checked out, so you had to return it anyways. Walking down the pavement, you saw here in a light sundress, walking up the few steps and into the library. You ran to catch up and followed her, careful not to startle the girl. As soon as you got inside, you carried yourself to just behind her, and tapped on her shoulder.
The girl turned around, and a look of confusion appeared on her features. "(Y/N). We met here last week? I suggested you check out Narnia." You reminded her, an eager smile painted on your face. A spark formed in her eyes, and she returned your smile. "Oh! Yes, yes, I remember. I'm sorry, my mind is awfully clouded lately." You assured her that it was alright, and you two went along.
The two of you walked down the aisles of bookshelves, and she looked for something new to try out. Maybe she would check out a cook-book and try a new recipe, or read up on WW1. Although, you DID notice that she avoided the religious aisle. However, you didn't comment on this, out of respect. You two checked out a few books, and on the paved outdoor steps, you stopped her. "Would you like to go for coffee or tea? Even a pastry? There's a little shop down the street, I'll buy. I'd just like to talk a bit.
Carrie obliged happily, and the two of you took your books and walked down to the small cafe. It had a dim, rustic theme, and brought peace to anyone who entered it's walls. There was a faint vanilla sent in the air, welcoming you two. For about an hour, Carrie sat down with you and talked about your life, your week, basic things. It was nice to get to know her. She seemed kind, and gentle. Everything about her was graceful, from the way she sipped her latte to the way she tucked her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. As you two finished up your chats, you grabbed your things and greeted each other farewell, agreeing to meet again next week.
Jennifer Check
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The pair of you had become half-decent lab partners over the last few weeks, but she didn't seem to be doing well with the subject. As a result, you decided that you would volunteer to tutor her in the subject after school. So, there you were, on your way to her house after school to hang out and help her study up on the subject and with the homework. It was a cloudy day, and you could tell that a storm was brewing in those clouds above your head. Because of this, you decided to walk a bit faster to avoid being soaked.
As you arrived at Jennifer's house, you knocked gently on the door. When you received no answer, you hesitantly knocked harder. Very suddenly, a slightly older woman answered the door, assumingly Jennifer's mom. The woman looked you up and down, then quickly turned to yell over her shoulder, "Jenny! Your new friend is here!" She then quickly invited you in and brought you a small tray of white-chocolate macadamia nut cookies, offering you to take one or two ((If you have an allergy to nuts, then M&M cookies.)) "I made these for you two while you were studying. There's also sodas in the fridge in case you need a drink." Jennifer's mom said joyfully, before scooping the strap of a purse onto her shoulder. "I'll be off now, I have a job interview to get to. Jen's room is upstairs, first door on the right. Have fun you two!" She informed you before heading out the door.
You walked up the stairs until you found an oak door, and knocked before coming in. "Uh, hi, it's (Y/N), I'm here to help you study..?" You said as you slowly walked in and shut the door behind you. Jennifer was standing, looking in the mirror and smearing concealer under her eyes. She sighed and looked over to you. "Sit on the bed. You know, I was gonna gut you like a fish and drink your blood like a Slurpee, but my mom seems to like you, and I don't think you're too bad. Shame, would have been a great opportunity." She said nonchalantly. As she turned to you, you saw that her face was pale and broken out in acne.
Your heart skipped a beat and the color drained from your face. "I'm sorry, w-what...?" You tried to gulp down the fear in your words. "I'm a succubus, idiot. Don't think that I didn't notice you staring at the blood on my shoes the first day we met. I feed on people's bodies and sexual energy so I can feel good and look good. But I've decided you're worth keeping around, so I'll save that for the next chump. So, shall we get to know each other?" She said calmly as she sat down beside you on the bed.
Billy Loomis
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You were home alone yet again, but this time it was mid day. You were watching horror movies out of boredom on your couch, when you got a call. You hesitantly answered, to hear a familiar voice on the other side of the phone. "I'm here, come let me in." You carried the phone with you. You figured one of your friends had stopped by to say hi, and their voice just sounded messed up due to shitty reception. You went to your front door, and looked through the peephole to see someone in a shitty costume, probably from Walmart, as it was October, and stores were starting to sell Halloween costumes and decorations. You hung up the phone and stuck it in your pocket, opening the door slightly with the chain lock still intact.
"Cut it out, prankster. That's not a very creepy costume. Ooo! I'm so scared!! Listen, I've seen the original Japanese film The Ring a million times, I'm not too scared of much." You heard the person sigh and push the door forward aggressively, breaking the lock. You jumped back in shock. "Hey! You're paying for that, asshole!" You yelled only for a quick response. "No, I don't think I will, beautiful. The man said, taking off his mask. To your shock, it was someone that you went to school with, Billy Loomis. You remember him graduating just the year before you, and were a bit shocked at his sudden appearance. You two had talked a bit, and you could consider yourselves acquaintances, but never really close friends.
Billy took a step forward, and in turn, you took one back. He put his hands up, showing he had no weapons in his hands. "Look, I'm not gonna hurt, that's not what I came to do. I just want to...get to know you. Look, you can pat me down, if you really feel the need. I don't have any weapons on me." You lowered your defenses a bit, but still kept them up. "Why would you want to know me so bad?" You asked hesitantly. "Well, I looked through your window and realized I'd found you again. And I wanted to get to know the pretty (girl/boy/person) I used to look at in the hallways every day." He said in a smooth tone. And that's where your night started.
Thomas Hewitt
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It was a lovely Texas summer day. A warm breeze carried through the semi-tall grass in the fields, and the smell of fresh bread filled the small wooden house. On this fine afternoon, you happened to be listening to some old music, from the 50s-60s, and baking. When you least expected it, you heard a loud knock on the door. You figured it might have been one of your new neighbors looking to get to know you, or ask to borrow something. You strolled to the door and opened it, to see a rather large man in a butcher's apron, curly dark hair, and a rather scarred face on the other side. Though he had somewhat of a threatening aura, you knew that there was more behind his appearance.
You saw him open his mouth, but then stop and think for a moment. He hesitantly put his hands up and made a few broken and hand signals. You realized quickly that it was sign language, as you had an uncle growing up that happened to be deaf, so you learned it so that you two could talk. "I'm not deaf, I just don't like to speak." You watched him sign apprehensively, and responded allowed. "That's okay, hun. What can I do for you?" You asked, and he thought for a moment. "Do you have some salt I can use? Papa shot a..." He stopped for a moment, then looked back up to meet your eyes. "Papa shot a deer, and we ran out of salt to dry out the hide and season the meat." He asked, and you replied. "Of course! Come right in, I keep a few bags in the cupboard, I have a half-full one you can take home." You told him as you allowed him to come in and shut the door behind him.
Your bread sat warm in the window-sill, cooling down. As you handed him the salt, he pointed over to it. "Oh, do you want a piece?" He nodded aggressively, and you smiled. You grabbed the metal baking sheet and put it on the counter, slicing a few pieces. "Here, you can have more than one. I make it all the time, and it's just me here to eat it anyways." You told him. "Would you like to sit down and chat for a moment? I can make you tea or coffee too if you like? You can tell me about yourself. That is, if you don't have to be home right quick." The man nodded again, and set the salt down on the counter. "My name's Thomas. I'd like some...Peppermint tea, if you have it." The man signed to you, his guard down as he clearly felt welcomed in the household. "Okay, Thomas, right on it." You smiled warmly and handed him a thick slice of warm bread with butter and mulberry jam smeared over the top. "Take a seat, dear."
____________________________________________
~Author's Note~
Hi guys, I'm so sorry it took so long to get this second part out :( I've just been really stressed and not in a great mental place, plus the factor of writer's block and being scared to burn myself out. But thank you for those who have stayed through the hiatus to continue reading!! Please comment below if you have any character or scenario requests. Goodbye for now, loves!
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ginkgomoon · 4 years ago
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Gavin and MC’s High School History- Detailed Timeline
Dedicated to my amazing and kind friend @cheri-cheri- one of the Queens of the MLQC fandom on Tumblr! I literally didn’t know how to use it before but I had learnt how in order to keep up with her posts. Without her work, I literally wouldn’t be on here making my own blog either. Thank you, Cheri!!
This is a timeline following the years of high school that MC and Gavin had together. Compiled of dates, rumours and secrets, calls, texts, and other from multiple servers. The source will be shown allocated to its corresponding sentence. I created this because I was really moved when I rewatched Gavin’s Old Days Date and suddenly thought of the many things other players could have missed out on regarding their high school years. If there is anything you need clarification on, or if you would like to add anything in, feel free to send a post/ask or just comment and I’ll try to incorporate and adjust accordingly! 
Based off of true correspondence of the Chinese education system in Shanghai, where the schools there are very strict, with specific responsibilities and events students must have and attend to. In addition, this is different from Western school systems where years 7-9 are in a seperate schools from years 10-12 before university. Dates and seasons mentioned will also be noted as accurately as possible to suit the Loveland storyline in which different events occurred. I felt like a detective trying to piece a fractured storyline together to solve a mystery, honestly...
Prepare your tissues, your milk tea and your soul because even I almost didn’t make it to publish this...
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Timeline
2008
Gavin enters high school.
2009
MC and Minor enter high school. MC does her hair in a nice ponytail, one of the only hairstyles she ever had in school.
Gavin is a grade above her. He is in his last year of high school. [Spring Festival Date]
Late Autumn of October 2010
“I noticed who you were before you ever noticed me.” 
On a rainy first day of school, Gavin helps Mr Keller move the tables and chairs in the classroom. 
Without taking an umbrella, Gavin leaves. 
At the same time, MC saves a cat in the rain with her handkerchief, attempting to shield it from the incoming rain under a roof. She gives it snacks from her bag while sheltering it from the rain. 
Gavin thinks she was nerdy-looking, but couldn't take his eyes off her and watches her from a distance for a long time. He feels out of place standing.
She looks back at him in astonishment, not knowing how long he stood for. 
She smiles at Gavin.
Gavin notes that MC’s smile just like her eyes, were pure and comforting as they start filling his vision. 
The rain starts to get heavier and MC shivers. 
Something stirred in Gavin’s heart as he notices this, and kicks a can in frustration then shelters her with his jacket. 
He runs away as MC shouts, “thank you!” 
She didn’t know it was Gavin who gave her his jacket at the time.
MC goes back and is then told by her fellow classmates that the boy she encountered was the “tyrant school bully”,  and “the Underworld Senior Gavin”, and that she should stay away from him. [Tilted Time- Rumours and Secrets]
-
MC finds piano dull to play the same songs over and over again.
MC in her spare time practices and sings to Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3 (Love Dream) for a talent show.
At the rooftop, Gavin is wounded by a gangster’s knife. A gradually intensifying melody is heard. 
Gavin kicks the gangster boss but then is pursued again. Outnumbered, wounded and losing consciousness due to major blood loss, the gangster boss kicks Gavin off the roof. 
Gavin reaches out, to something- anything. 
A heavy, surging melody sounded, transcending through time and allows Gavin to reflect on his past- to his father, to his late mother, and invokes deep reflection and epiphanies. 
Heavy notes seep into Gavin’s ears as he almost hits rock bottom. He feels his limbs emerging with the wind and awakens his wind evol. 
Gavin is now reborn.
The music continued to play. Gavin ends up humming with a bird. 
He then hears MC’s singing.
MC stops, mesmerised by the ginkgo leaves flying through the wind. The ginkgo leaves falling was her favourite time of the year in high school. This vivid sight is still engraved in her memory after many years.
Gavin vows to protect her for the rest of his life. [Campus Date]
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-
Gavin saved Minor from bullies. 
Minor also happens to be MC’s outgoing, talkative desk mate who sometimes helped old ladies cross the street. How he managed to hang around Gavin and not get beaten up, nobody knew (except us). He would often copy MC’s homework but never dragged her down with him if he got caught. This was MC’s biggest impression of him. 
During science class, MC cooked noodles for Minor on the Bunsen burner when he was hungry. The recipe was Shrimp flavoured instant noodles, mix two eggs in well, then add a dab of sea salt and black pepper. [S1 Chapter 7-1]
-
Gavin is always at the school gates at 7:30am. Carrying his flat school bag, he orders fish balls at the snack kiosk on the north side of the school. It was the third day in a row that Minor notices this. [Minor’s Memory Book]
Gavin would occasionally travel around on his bicycle. (Pre-debut Sparky??) He says he was good at riding it. [Lost Love Date]
It was hard to find Gavin as he’s rarely at school, so she didn’t see him until 3 days later when MC went to the library at sunset. 
She tries to retrieve “Byron’s Poetry Collection” from the top of a 2-metre shelf, and since Gavin was a head taller, he was able to help her get it. 
He musters up the introduction that he recited many times- but MC quickly thanks him and leaves before he could speak.
Minor notices Gavin watching after MC and that he was SMIL-ING. 
He helps him locate MC and reports that every day after school she would go to the library for afternoon revision, always sitting in the same seat. 
Gavin sat at a corner not far, quietly flipping through textbooks he hated. People who were reading in the library would be driven away because they were scared of him LOL
MC would then leave at 5pm sharp to go back home. 
Gavin commits to walking back 10 metres behind her with Minor every day on forward. [CN Tilted Time Rumours and Secrets] 
-
Gavin saves Minor from bullies again. Minor dedicates himself to be his “bro”. 
He finds out that MC is an honours student, but doesn’t know that she’s the school orchestra leader. [Mystery Wings Event] and [Mark Date] However, he does know that she’s renowned as the “campus belle/ school flower”.
Minor idly mentions that more people were giving MC love letters.
Gavin tells Minor to collect all the people who were planning to confess their love to MC. Minor doesn’t want to be wingman anymore HAHA
Gavin stared those boys down as they trembled with fear. He tells them to take them back and if they scare her, he’ll make them regret it. 
Minor realises Gavin’s feelings for MC. [Minor’s Memory Book] 
-
MC eats from a small stall outside the school gate selling red bean puffs. ($3 for one, $5 for two. What a deal!) 
She also encounters the stall that sells sugar figurines [Gift of Life- Sugar Figurine Call]
MC ate chocolate sticks often at school. It's also a memory of student life for Gavin, as well. [CN 2021 March Sign-In Taste of Happiness]
Students would scramble for the small swing set in the school garden. MC never went at lunch breaks, but she watches the sunset on it after school. Gavin is sometimes nearby. MC never noticed him, but she does however notice the ginkgo leaves dancing in the wind. [Mini House Small Happening- Leisure Time]
-
Gavin isn’t his usual self anymore. He sees MC out in the library everyday and starts reading “5 Years of College Examinations and 3 Years of Sample Questions” (book for colleague entrance examinations).
MC watches a basketball match at school. She calls someone from an away team “dashing” because they won with a dunk. This has been engraved in Gavin’s memory ever since. [Dreamers Date]
Gavin found out that he was very fond of basketball success stories, rushing into the court to try hundreds of shots after. He writes “I will beat you” beside Sakuragi Hanamichi from a Slam Dunk poster alongside “not a step back”.
(Slam Dunk starts out with a boy wanting to play basketball to impress his crush.)
Gavin then injures his head badly :(
He realises that basketball couldn’t help him to protect anything he wanted. He determines that he will do whatever it takes (to “beat” himself”). [Mystery Wings Event]
-
Gavin leans against a tree as he watches MC hurry down the corridor as she clutches a textbook. [Boundary Rumours and Secrets]
MC would eat pocky. Gavin would eat them too. [2021 March Sign-In Moments]
MC faints during a sports meet because she didn’t eat breakfast.
Gavin hurries to carry her to the infirmary. [CN Delightful Search Date]
He leaves bread and milk before she wakes up.
-
MC is on duty during PE class, which happens to be on basketball. 
Minor was careless about his aim and the ball almost hit her in the head. Gavin slams the ball away. [Minor’s Memory Book]
Gavin glares at Minor as MC thanks him.
Minor also “accidentally” pushes MC towards him.
Gavin glares again.
Gavin later is continuously shooting hoops. 
MC returns late at night to clean up the gym but all had been returned neatly in the basket. MC wanted to thank him but couldn’t. [CN Basketball Court Date]
-
There was a school sports competition that they attended. Gavin participated in the 10 lap race and came first by an impressive large measure. [Minor’s Memory Book]
MC participates in the sprint race, too. Gavin is worried about her performance, and if she would faint again. 
Gavin requests Minor to take a photo of her on his phone (which probably ended up as the photo that he carried with him in his early days at special training where the other men teased him about hiding a photo of a girl.) 
Approaching the End of October 
Gavin, Minor and MC are walking home. 
The weather is cold, and Gavin notices MC shivering in the distance. Gavin, conflicted by this, tells Minor to buy MC a hot drink without telling her that it was from him. [CN Tilted Time Rumours and Secrets] 
MC would occasionally spot a hot drink or a carton of strawberry milk in the piano room. [Chapter 31-12]
-
Gavin one day is conflicted by their early exchange, recalling how MC looks startled at the entrance of the library after seeing each other. His spirit depletes, kicking himself (metaphorically) in the corner of the classroom at how he might have scared her. 
Minor rushes in with a pink bandaid from MC for the wound at his mouth. 
He carefully took that bandaid, treating it as if it was his world’s most precious treasure.
This pink bandaid was always taped on his heart and whenever he stepped into the swamp-like darkness of the night, it gave off a faint warmth. [Mystery Wings Event]
-
MC starts to notice Gavin everywhere. At the corners of windows, she would see his figure. At the library, he would help her retrieve books from higher places. She would also see books laid out on his table, but most of the time he would be sleeping. Beneath his overlapping arms, he sees “Byron’s Poetry Collection”. Gavin doesn’t understand the poems, though. 
Lord Byron's "Don Juan" - Canto the Ninth, XVI 
"To be, or not to be?" — Ere I decide I should be glad to know that which is being? 'Tis true — we speculate both far and wide, And deem, because we see, we are all-seeing; For my part, I'll enlist on neither side Until I see both sides for once agreeing; For me, I sometimes think that Life is Death,
-
At the music rehearsal room on the fifth floor, she would see a corner of his shirt in the wind. 
MC thinks Gavin is friendly and slowly lets down her guard. 
At the canteen, he would offer her the last bottle of water. 
She begins smiling at him when they see each other, with the small arcs forming on her lips, soon becoming smiles that made her eyes squint.
-
MC would walk along the Senior hallways and subconsciously stop at a certain classroom- catching the sight of Gavin sleeping. On one particular day, she sees him standing by the window, staring at the sky. 
-
Minor asks Gavin if he could form a band with him. Gavin rejects him. He then asks Gavin if he wanted to join the school’s singing competition. Gavin rejects him again, saying that he didn’t perform for unimportant people or have others tell him how well he could play.
MC plays “Falling Slowly” on the piano. Gavin hearing this, learns to play the guitar. He doesn’t know the name of the song but familiarises himself with the melody. [CN Music and the Past Call]
-
Whenever school let students out early, she would go to Lynn’s Kitchen. MC gets her noodles with clear broth, chopped scallions and a half-boiled egg. Gavin usually gets his spicy noodles with garlic, cilantro, thinly sliced beef.
Gavin remembers her favourite order. 
MC leaves a post-it note at Lynn’s Kitchen, “I might never see you again and I didn’t even get to say goodbye. I miss you”, about a friend who transferred schools. 
Gavin knows she hates people who leave without saying goodbye the most.
Gavin, also in the vicinity near Lynn’s Kitchen, writes a post note.  “Until I met you.” [Mystery Box Game]
He saves Mr Noah’s son from an accident, immediately takes him to the hospital and pays for the medical fees. [Anime]
-
Gavin dismisses rumours of high school romance. 
“If you confessed on the 7th step of the stairway in the corner of the 3rd floor then it’ll succeed, or if you carved your name and another person’s name on the 6th tree in the courtyard at the back then your misunderstandings will be resolved, or if a guy gave the girl he liked the second button of his uniform on graduation day then the two of them will end up happy together.”
At lunch, he hears MC talking about the second button, and upon seeing her yearning face, he raises his head in thought, suddenly couldn’t wait for graduation. He tears off his second button. [Mystery Wings Event]
Gavin is just in love at this point.
-
Gavin sees one of the top students stealing money from a shop outside of school. The shopkeeper doesn’t believe him. 
He stops the student on his way home to hand him back the money. 
MC sees him at the alley then leaves.
Gavin spent all the money on a walkman he wanted for a very long time.
Mr Keller was the only one who believed in him. He said to him, “Since you can’t change what others think of you, you might as well just listen to your heart.” This had a great impact on Gavin. [Campus Date] 
Winter 
In the snowfall, the school allowed additional ten minutes of break time. The class next to MC’s stuffed Minor’s shirt with snowballs.
Gavin thought of helping him with a counterattack but MC had already returned a snowball to the male student who pulled the prank. 
Gavin looks at MC the whole time. [CN Recovery ASMR]
-
MC overheads girls in her class say that Gavin had bullied students for lunch money that morning. 
MC rides her bike back home after studying at the library for her finals. 
MC sees Gavin being handed an envelope full of money at Lynn’s Kitchen in an alleyway. 
She mistook it for him taking protection money. 
-
Summer of June 2011
On a humid afternoon, MC looks outside the window of the classroom in boredom. A boy in a loose-fitting school uniform ran by. She couldn’t make out his face. [S1 Chapter 7-23]
MC begins to distance herself from Gavin. She rushes out of class and goes straight home instead.
Gavin is sad. He broods by the piano room, goes to the library to brood, then stares at the place MC sits to brood some more. 
Minor wonders how he’s able to stare all afternoon at an empty space in the library but sleeps all day during class hours. [Minor’s Memory Book]
Before graduation, Gavin’s father expresses his thoughts for Gavin to join the organisation for special training. Gavin refuses, but his father uses MC to influence him to agree. 
Gavin remembers the panic and timidity in MC’s eyes when she first met him. He recalls that moment was probably the hardest to bear in his life.
Gavin in his short period of freedom writes a letter to MC. He ponders about what to say, thinking about their first encounter, and how she started to distance herself from him. But all he writes is-  
“Saturday 9am, I will be at the school library waiting for you.
-Gavin.”
-
MC attends the flag-raising ceremony and rehearses her speech. She then leaves to study for her exams. 
Meanwhile, Gavin finishes a fight with other boys from school in an alley after they talk inappropriately about MC. [Old Days Date]
Gavin, bloodied and bruised, asks Minor to make another copy of his letter. 
This is the only thing that Gavin had asked Minor to do so of course, he agreed. [Chapter 7-11]
Minor thinks the letter is a symbol of passion and fierce love due to the bloodstains and decides to keep the original. 
He writes “GAVIN” and places it on MC’s desk for her to see the next day. 
(In the Campus Date, the older MC is the one who finds him instead of Minor and treats him to his injuries. She ends up seeing the contents of the letter to find him later on.)
MC mistakes the letter as a threat and throws it away. 
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That Weekend
Gavin sits for 14 hours in the library waiting for MC, scanning the library every now and then.
With a fingertip, he rubs “Byron’s Poetry Collection” and carefully sandwiches a dried and yellowed ginkgo leaf into the book. He suddenly felt a measure of self-deprecation.
He stands up, and leaves, his heart filled with regret that he didn’t give it to her personally. [CN Tilted Time Rumours and Secrets]
After Summer Break- July 
Minor never saw Gavin, and neither did MC. 
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“We met often, but never passed by each other. I remember every moment I saw you in school. Time, location, weather, your expression, your clothes...
-I remember them all.”
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