#ok this one's almost like an intermission. last time and next time were Big Plan Moments and this one's a lil breather 😭 they needed it...

[rontra]

Persona failteacher yuri, comic #23: about her breaking point (part 2: apartment lore, and the moon) [AU masterpost]

this one alludes to the climax of persona 3, but it's from such a fuzzy outsider perspective that i can't say it constitutes "spoilers" either (due to lacking ... really Any concrete plot details or context). still 🤔 there u go

i think kawakami is not scared of like, ghost stories or horror etc because shes like . there are way scarier things going on in my real life. this is nothing to me. MEANWHILE toriumi's emotions are very easy to stir so she can get caught up in it and get really freaked out. that's how i feel. like kawakami's repressing her romantic side on purpose but i think the resistance to horror is just natural 😂

if i had a nickel for every time toriumi almost told this story but then got scared and backed out of the question i would....well becky is keeping a tally so i'll leave it to her

[rinkrats]

His latest travel snafu wouldn’t even crack a top-10 list of memorable moments, good or bad, Emil Larmi experienced during his tornado of a calendar year.

At an age when many graduate from college, he was crowned a champion in Finland’s top pro league, wooed by NHL teams and left home for a foreign land.

In the U.S., he unexpectedly split the season between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Wheeling, faced a health scare that left him searching for answers and went through rough patches that had him questioning whether he belonged here.

...After getting passed over in the NHL draft, Larmi blossomed into a top goalie in Finland. Last spring, he led HPK to its first Liiga title in 13 years. He then decided to make the jump to North America, picking Pittsburgh as his landing spot.

The 6-foot goalie turned heads at prospect development camp with his lateral quickness and flair and had his moments during his first NHL training camp. But the plan all along was to get him a lot of action at the AHL level in 2019-20.

As is often the case for Europeans, the adjustment to North American hockey, where the ice surface is smaller and the action is faster and at times more chaotic, proved difficult. So was Larmi’s transition to life in the United States.

His hometown of Lahti is among Finland’s largest cities, and Finns learn English in school. But using it to navigate everyday tasks was a far greater test.

The first time he went to a grocery store, Larmi was there for more than three hours. Google Translate is not very helpful when decoding nutritional labels.

Trying to acquire wheels was also tricky. He felt more comfortable communicating with dealers via email. He was surprised to find it was a one-way street.

“No one was answering me,” he said. “I was like, ‘OK, don’t take my money.’ ”

After hilariously chronicling the ordeal on social media, Larmi found a dealer who helped him pick the right car. That was a big deal for Larmi, who calls himself “a car guy” and zips around in a Porsche Turbo 911 back home. But when it was time to complete the paperwork, Larmi approached another speed bump.

And that’s how he spent as much time at the DMV as he did in the crease.

“Every time they told us, ‘You need this paper,’ and we didn’t have it. We would go get it and come back the next day. And then they’d tell us, ‘Now you need this paper.’ I don’t know why she didn’t tell us we needed all of these papers,” Larmi said, letting out a hearty laugh. “Maybe she was just playing with us?”

There was also the time he went to the wrong airport while flying from New Hampshire to Pittsburgh. Thankfully, an Uber driver got him to the right one on time.

...Larmi earned his first AHL win Oct. 16, stopping 30 of 33 shots. But his season quickly went off the rails, largely due to circumstances out of his control.

Nine days later, in his next start, he headed to the home locker room at Mohegan Sun Arena for the second intermission. Two minutes before the Penguins were to step back out onto the ice, Larmi mouthed to Almari, “I feel a bit weird.”

Larmi said what happened next was like an out-of-body experience.

“I started to get shaky and started to pass out, but I never really passed out,” he said. “I was really close. I remember I was almost falling on the bench.”

Teammates huddled around him and hollered for help. While the medical staff attended to Larmi, the rest of the team had to go chase a puck around.

“Almari told me he didn’t know if I was going to die or what. He just had to leave me and go play some hockey,” Larmi said. “Yeah, it was scary for all of us.”

In the coming days, Larmi visited doctors, including a cardiologist, to get a handle on what happened. The belief is he took a knee to the head late in the second period, suffered a concussion and quickly began experiencing symptoms.

“That was the only explanation for what happened,” he said. “After a concussion, it’s always scary because you don’t know how long it’s going to take to recover. But I was lucky that it didn’t do too much and I was back on the ice soon.”

...Larmi has been back home in Finland for more than 10 weeks now. After a long, trying season in North America, he was happy to be around his family. The only problem, he joked, was discovering his parents had replaced him.

“We only had two dogs when I left for the States. When I came back, there was three,” he said, chuckling. “[Replacing me with a dog], I think that was cheaper. They don’t eat as much as I do. I don’t think they even missed me.”

“Of course, during those hard times there was a lot going on in my head. Like ‘I want to quit hockey. I hate my life.’ Stuff like that,” he said, letting out another big laugh. “But I still think there’s a lot of things I learned. It wasn’t just a waste of time to be there and I think those things can help me in the future.”

“I’m really excited to come back,” the goalie said. “I’m not happy about the last year. But I’m happy about what’s going to happen in the future.”

-Penguins prospect Emil Larmi's first year in US was up and down — literally and figuratively, 12 June 2020

[thadelightfulone]

Apollo Night

So, my good friend @shaekingshitup placed this idea in my head. It is an already planned series of one- or two-shots of College Erik shenanigans. I hope you all enjoy. Those who want to be tagged just let me know. As always, my OCs are always black!

Summary: Melanie just wanted to get more involved on campus.

It is Melanie’s first year at Cal State, and she has been looking for a way to make new friends, get more involved on campus, and experience all college life has to offer. Some of the girls in her Sunday School class at church were students on campus and BSU board members. They advertised their annual Apollo Night on Sunday before class began since it was open to the community as well. She decided that this might be an excellent way to meet some of her goals as she finishes her freshman year in college.  

The following Saturday morning, she goes to campus for auditions for the show. While waiting, she sees a few groups from various fraternities and sororities preparing song and dance numbers for their auditions. She moves off to a corner of the building and practices vocal exercises until they call her name. She follows her friend, Marie, from church, to where she will be auditioning. Along the way, they pass a group of rowdy guys leaving their audition, clearly excited because their act was chosen to perform.

She looks up, making eye contact with one of the guys as he passes her while waving to Marie. Shining dark brown eyes meet her timid hazel ones. He smiles down at her since her 5'2 frame is much shorter than his own 6 ft. Dimples and gold canines in full view, she internally swoons while meeting his smile. Melanie didn’t realize that she picked up her pace, and stops short right before running into Marie. He chuckles and continues behind his boys. She drops her head and follows her to the audition room.

The audition goes well, and Melanie is informed right there on the spot that she will be performing in the show. The board explains to her how the show will go – following closely to how A Night at the Apollo does their Amateur Night. They have someone who will be Sandman and remove folks who are booed for longer than 15 secs off the stage. They let her know that it is not like singing at church; no one will coddle her. And if Melanie wants to make sure she stays in the competition, then she should make sure she has some friends who can make serious noise in the audience – just in case. Melanie sighs but nods her head in understanding.

She is given the date and location of the show. The board lets her know about the optional walk-through rehearsal two hours before the show. Also, the latest time that she can check-in for the show because she will need a soundcheck if she doesn’t attend the rehearsal. Melanie thanks the board for their time, and quietly exits the building. Mentally running through a checklist of things she will need to do before the show in two weeks. She frowns when she remembers what the board said about having support, most of her friends were across the country at HBCUs or the Ivy League schools of their choice. Not paying attention to what she was doing, Melanie pushes on the door leading out of the building hard enough to hit some people standing on the other side.

“Aye, watch it!” One guy jumps out of the way as the door swings wide.

“Damn, girl!” Another voice calls out, and when Melanie looks over, he is rubbing his upper arm after taking most of the impact.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” She looks down away from the group of guys who all turned to face her. “I wasn’t paying attention. My bad.” Melanie looks up and realizes it is the group she saw on her way into the audition. The guy she hit was the one who smiled at her earlier, now frowning in her direction.

“I take it the audition didn’t go well.” Melanie barely hears his words over, watching his muscular arms flex and stretch in response to her attack with the door. She shakes her head, “No?” He stops moving and looks directly at her.

“Oh no, I mean, it was fine. I got through.” A small smile appears on her face. “It’s just a lot to think about, I have never performed in front of a group I don’t know before.” All the guys nod their heads in understanding. “Well, I guess I will see you guys at the show. I should go.” Melanie looks back up at him. “Again, I’m sorry about that.”

He waves her off, “You’re good. We all celebrate differently. Just be careful next time.”

“Will do,” she waves at the guys, “Bye.” They all watch her leave before breaking out into laughter.

“Oh no, nope.” Luke, who was the other guy who almost got hit, says, “Too easy.” He stands in front of Erik, who Melanie hit with the door, and looks at him, “Not her.”

Darrin, another member of their group, speaks up, “Why not? She would be perfect.”

“I agree, I don’t see why we can’t make her it,” Erik spoke.                                

“You saw her first. You are never supposed to encounter the mark. We choose them the night of the show.” Marcus, the last member of the group, lowers his voice as he walks closer to them, so no one will hear what they are discussing.

“Ok, so we do it differently this year. My vote is for her.” Erik responds. The guys all look at him.

“Are you sure about this?” Luke asks warily.

Darrin slaps Luke on the back, “You heard the man. She’s the one.” He shrugs when Luke moves out of his grasp and closer to Marcus. “Besides, it’s his choice this year anyway. Who cares when it was decided?”

“Fine. Don’t make us regret this.” Luke says before walking away.

— Two Weeks Later —

Melanie walks into the Student Union Pavilions, where the show was going to be. She sees Marie and some of the other board members finishing up the final touches to the stage. She decided to skip the rehearsal and just come in for a soundcheck. Marie takes her music to the sound guy who plays it while Melanie hums along, he makes sure to mark the levels on both the music and mic so she can be heard clearly on the mic.

Once that is done, she heads to the bathroom to change into her outfit for the night. Melanie chose a navy blue shift dress that has a deep shawl collar with some black velvet booties. The dress wasn’t too form-fitting, but anyone could see the curves she was rocking. Her natural curls were already pinned up in a chignon bun with loose tendrils framing her face. She wasn’t one for much make up but decided to put on some black mascara with a matte raisin lipstick. She pouted her lips, took a couple selfies in the mirror for her snap before calling herself ready.  

Walking into the waiting room, she sees all the acts gathering around while waiting for the lineup announcement. She goes to a corner and decides to run a few vocal exercises to warm up since she didn’t sing full out at her soundcheck. She starts at her normal chest voice, “Ma Me Mi Mo Mu – oooh,” going up half a step, she gets through 3 repetitions before she hears a throat clearing behind her.

Looking up from her seat, she sees the guy she hit with the door the day of her audition. “Ahhh, so she sings.” She smiles at him as he sits next to her. Holding out his hand, "I’m Erik.”

She takes his hand, “Melanie.”

“Nice to meet you, Melanie.” He lets go of her hand, “I haven’t seen you around campus before. You go here?”

“Yeah. It’s my first year here.” Erik nods at her. “Trying to get more involved on campus.”

“That’s kool. You a member of the BSU?” He takes a sip of some water.

"Not yet, but I know a few of the board members from my church.” He nearly chokes on his water.

“You go to church with Marie and her friends?” She nods at him. Coughing a bit more to clear his airways, “That’s what’s up. I bet she wants you to pledge S G Rho, too?”

“Actually, the girls from Zeta are already trying to recruit me.” She looks down at his outfit, noticing he is in a blue jersey with white writing on it. The Greek letters of Phi Beta Sigma big and bold, going down the right side. Erik smiles at her, nodding his head.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to practicing. Break a leg tonight, Melanie.” Erik stands to leave.

“Thanks. You, too Erik.” She returns to finishing her vocal warmups, as Erik makes a hasty retreat from Melanie over to his group members, and frat brothers.

“Yo, we gotta pick someone else.“ Marcus, Luke, and Darrin look at him, shaking their heads.  

"No, can do. Word is out about the chosen act of the night. It’s a done deal.” Marcus looks at Erik.

“What happened to change your mind?” Luke asks.

“Doesn’t matter, she doesn’t deserve it. So, pick someone else.” He hisses out, keeping his voice low.

“No one does, Erik. That’s what makes it so great.” Darrin laughs while looking around. “Do we know when she goes on?”

“Second half. Speedy just read off her name.” Marcus answers, “Gives us enough time to spread the word during the intermission.”

“Fuck all that and listen to me! Pick. Someone. Else.” Erik keeps looking over at Melanie, who moved outside the door to sing a little louder without bothering anyone.

“Nah, we got our one. We’re good.” Luke walks outside, “Let’s get that last part together before we go onstage.” Passing Melanie, who is coming back inside, “Aye, break a leg tonight, young lady.”

She smiles at all of them, “Thanks fellas, you too.” She continues out to the Pavilion, deciding to watch the first part of the show since she didn’t perform until the second half.

—

The host of the evening was a local SoCal comedian by the name of Speedy. He welcomed everyone to the BSU’s Annual Apollo Night, explaining how the show would go. Speedy completed a short comedic set and introduced Ace Money, the special guest performer for the evening. Ace Money opened the show and brought out the first performer of the competition.

About 5 acts into the show, Speedy came out asking the audience about their love of the Divine Nine. The crowd went wild as they knew this means the next few acts represented the black fraternity and sorority chapters on campus. First up was a guy from the school’s shared chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, reciting some poetry earning plenty of snaps and praise for his prose. Followed by a quartet of girls from the campus chapter of Delta Sigma Theta singing  Giving Something He Can Feel as En Vogue in their long red gowns.

Before Speedy even returned to the stage, the crowd was loud already knowing who was next up to perform. “Well, I guess these brothers really don’t need this introduction, but ya’ll gonna get it anyway.” He walked across the stage to the side where Darrin and Luke were standing, “Keep making some noise for the Men of Fire and Brimstone, PHI BETA SIGMA!!!”

The music starts, and the audience goes nuts as Erik, Darrin, Marcus, and Luke all stroll out from both sides of the stage to 112’s Dance with Me. They stood in a straight line across the stage before breaking out into their choreography for the song. As the song progressed, they made their way off the stage and down into the audience.  

Erik was on Melanie’s side, and he spotted her immediately on the aisle not far from the stage. So when he made his way down, he went directly to her and started dancing in front of her. Much to the delight of her classmates who she sat with during the show. He takes her hands and lifts her from the seat right as the call and response part of the song came on –

If you sexy and you know it clap your hands (claps)

Erik dances behind Melanie, holding her by her hips, waiting for her to clap along. When she doesn’t, he takes her hands and claps them for her in tune with the song.

If you sexy and you know it clap your hands (claps) If you sexy and you know it and you really wanna show it, If you sexy and you know it clap your hands (claps)

Yeah!

Before Erik heads back up to the stage, he pulls Melanie in and whispers in her ear, “Thank you.“ He makes his way back to finish the performance on stage, and Melanie drops back into her seat, as her friends laugh and snicker around her. The song ends, and the guys bow before leaving the stage.

Speedy comes out and starts fanning girls he sees in the front row, "Yeah, I think now is a good time to call for an intermission. Some of you need to cool off. See ya in 20 minutes.”

Melanie had a big old grin on her face as she faced the people around her. “Who was that?” Alicia, a girl in her math class, asked.

“Just a guy I met before the show began. It’s nothing.“ The other two girls look at her and laugh, "Whatever, I’m gonna get some water and head backstage. I’ll see you all after the show.” They all gave her hugs and well wishes before watching her disappear behind the stage.

—

Speedy came back out on stage after the intermission and told a few jokes before starting the second half of the show.  

“Alright, ya’ll ready for your next act?” He holds his mic out to the crowd.

“YEAH,” variations of it overlapped as he got everyone hyped for the next performance.

“I said, are you ready for your next act?”

“YEAH!” the crowd returns much louder than before.

“Please welcome to the stage, Miss Melanie Alonzo.” Melanie walks out, smiling to Speedy and then the crowd. He brushes past her and wishes her luck.  

She takes a moment to breathe and looks to the back, cueing the sound guy. Melanie has an accompanying track for her song, but she starts off acapella. Following her favorite version of the song, she starts singing –

Birds flyin’ high, you know how I feel Sun in the sky, you know how I feel Breeze driftin’ on by, you know how I feel

Some cheers come from the audience as they recognize the song she is doing. She exhales as she continues feeling herself relax more as she adjusts to her sound on the stage.

It’s a new dawn It’s a new day It’s a new life for me Ooooooooh And I’m feelin’ good

She looks over the audience as she continues to sing and get more comfortable at the mic. The friends who were able to make the show smiling at her as the music starts.

Fish in the sea, you know how I feel River runnin’ free, you know how I feel Blossom on the tree, you know how I feel

As she pulls the mic from the stand to move around the stage, she starts hearing ‘boos’ coming from opposite corners of the room. She looks out at the audience and recognizes one of the guys booing her as one of Erik’s groupmates. She slows her pace on the stage as she continues singing while the ‘boos’ get increasingly louder.

It’s a new dawn It’s a new day It’s a new life for me And I’m feelin’ good

Eyes roaming the audience, she can see make out that each one of Erik’s group members is spaced out and booing at her from their spots in the crowd. She was the Boo Boo Act for the night.

Dragonfly out in the sun, you know what I mean Don’t you know Butterflies all havin’ fun, you know what I mean

She can see her friends trying to cheer louder for her along with others in the audience who are enjoying her performance. Even their Sandman is holding back from running her off the stage.

Sleep in peace when day is done, that’s what I mean And this old world is a new world and a bold world for me She continues singing, hoping that the mixed reaction is enough to keep her in the competition when she spots someone dead center in the audience, Erik. He isn’t booing or cheering, just looking directly at her with a confused expression. Melanie is ready to bolt from the stage in embarrassment, but she won’t let him and his childish group of friends win. She puts the mic back on the stand, stares straight into the spotlight, and continues singing.

Stars when you shine, you know how I feel Scent of the pine, you know how I feel Oh, freedom is mine, and I know how I feel It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me

Melanie’s voice increases in strength, and she belts out the last part, along with her own variation of Nina Simone’s scat before ending the song.

And I’m feelin’ – good

She holds that last note loud, long, and proud as the music ends, and she immediately exits the stage. Melanie had no idea that she earned a standing ovation or saw that Erik was cheering the loudest as she finished the song.

Speedy returns to the stage and looks back at Melanie, who went back to the waiting room. “I don’t know what that girl did to ya, but she handled that very well.” He shakes his head, looking down at his list of upcoming acts. “That couldn’t have been me, no sir.” There are a few scattered laughs and claps as the audience agrees with him.

—

Speedy calls out all the acts that made it through to the end. There was another act that the audience successfully managed to boo off the stage. He was still in the backstage waiting room. Melanie didn’t even want to be bothered with it anymore. She stayed in the back and listened from the open door. When a girl who sang Ex-Factor by Lauryn Hill, was announced as the winner, Melanie moved away from the door.

Everyone came back in and was congratulating one another for a job well done and an incredible show. Erik and his group were the loudest, cheering on their friend who won the competition. Melanie stayed out of the way towards the back. Gathering her things together when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turns around to find the guest artist, Money Ace, a new rapper gaining traction around the SoCal rap scene, standing there.

“Hey, I just wanted to let you know I thought you did a great job out there.” She looks him up and down, not saying anything. “I get it. Sometimes, it’s just not your night, and your voice just doesn’t match the song.“

Melanie rolls her eyes at him, “Yeah, thanks. I appreciate it.” She grabs her bag and moves to leave. He grabs her arm, stopping her in front of him.

“Wait, I am always looking for people to sing hooks on my songs.” He pulls out a business card, “Maybe we can find something for you to sing for me.” Ace takes Melanie’s hand and slides the card into it. “Just think about it.” She nods, and he walks away right as Erik makes his way over to her. Melanie puts on her jacket, double checks that she has all her stuff before heading for the back door leading out of the TSU.

Erik had been watching her since he got back to the waiting room, he noticed she never came out on the stage with everyone else. When he finally got a moment away from everyone, he saw that she was talking to Money Ace. He tried patiently to wait for them to finish before approaching her. When he shook her hand, Erik moved towards her, but Ace caught him and wanted to chat.

Melanie was walking over to her friends when she heard her name being called from behind her. She turned and saw Erik standing there. She turned back around and continued walking.

“MELANIE! Melanie, wait up!”

She stopped in front of her friends and turned around to face him. "What do you want, Erik? There’s no crowd here to embarrass me in front of, so I don’t know what’s in it for you.”

He scoffed at her, “It wasn’t even like that. I promise you.” She sucks her teeth at him. He looks at the card in her hand. “What did he want?”

“Oh, Ace?” She twirls the card between her fingers. “He likes my sound and wanted to see if I was interested in singing hooks on some of his tracks.” She knew she had no intention of doing anything with it, but it serves Erik right for acting bothered by it after what he just did.

Erik frowns at her, then reaches out and grabs the card, “Nah, you don’t need friends like that.” He tosses it in the nearest trashcan.

“But I need friends like you?”

“He only wants to fuck, Mel. You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?” She shrugs at him. "And as I said, it wasn’t even like that.”

“Then what was it like? Because I was just starting and then I get booed. I look out in the audience and notice your friends are the ones egging people on.” Erik lowers his head. “Oh, and let’s not forget the not-so-secretly hushed rumor that one act was chosen to be the Boo Boo Act. I guess it was just a good thing that I had enough people on my side to make sure I wasn’t booed off like-” she takes a minute to remember the name, “like Vanessa was last year.” Erik is wringing his hands in front of him. “I take it that was you and your frat buddies at work again, right?” Erik looks at Melanie, who has begun tearing up in front of him. “What did I ever do to you and your friends? Did you really think I deserved that?”

“I told them to call it off.” He responds lowly.

“Clearly, they didn’t hear you, or they didn’t care.” Melanie inhales deeply, “Doesn’t matter, I don’t need that kind of friend either.” She wipes her eyes of the tears that started to fall. “Please just leave me alone.” Turning around to her friends who witnessed their whole interaction, they leave Erik standing by himself in the fresh night air.

“I tried to warn you, E.” A clap on the back brings him face-to-face with his frat brothers. Luke has a smirk on his face. “You think she’ll participate in Apollo Night next year? She did pass with flying colors.”

“Why did you do it? I told you I wanted it stopped.” Erik looks at all three, Luke, Marcus, and Darrin.

“Now, E, you know we couldn’t do that. It goes against the rules.” Darrin replies.

“Once the act is picked, it is final.” Marcus recites in a precise manner.

“Besides, you stupidly chose her two weeks ago. And we knew it was a bad idea, but you never backed down until tonight when it was too late to pick another.” Luke chimed in.

“This is why we wait until the night of the show. When we have the chance to meet the performers and speak with them during the rehearsal or soundcheck.” Marcus throws his hands up. “You were warned.” Erik walks away from them.

“So, how bad did you fuck this one up, Erik?” Darrin catches up to walk beside him as they head back inside the TSU.

“She told me to leave her alone.” Erik stops short of the entrance.

“Serves you right, nigga. Picking on lonely girls like that.” Luke utters as he passes Erik, who trips him at the door. They all watch Luke try to catch his balance before he hits the ground, “Damn, man. It’s not my fault that you fucked up.”

“That’s not gonna stop him,” Marcus says as he helps Luke up. They all look over at Erik and can just see the wheels turning in his head. He grins at them while scratching his beard. “Ahhh, here it goes.”

[annakie]

-----------

We're back for part two!  Remember the last time how I said....

And after that game... I parted ways with my friends once again.  Because I had tickets... to Critical Role.

Well... not only that, but I was finally meeting @thievinghippo​ IRL to see it!

CRITICAL ROLE (aka Friday Night)

I took off right after the previous game had ended and headed for the show.  My one big frustration was that it took 30 minutes for my Lyft driver to arrive from AROUND THE BLOCK (ok, about a quarter of a mile, but still).  In retrospect, I think he was hoping I'd cancel so he could get a bigger fare or something.  I think he just fucked himself over because he could have done that route twice in the time it took him to come get me.  So I got there with just a few minutes to spare and no time to get in the merch line.  But hey, I found Hippo and met a few other people from Tumblr whose names I recognized!  

It was so great to finally meet her, but we had almost no time to talk beforehand (but when we did, it was all about how mad we still are about Jaime / Brienne and also I tried to catch her up to what's happening in CR since she's pretty far behind.)

The show was AWESOME.  It was so fun to see live!  It was particularly awesome when the entire audience sang along with the theme song (See this video if you haven't yet for those of you not there: https://twitter.com/PhoenixHeart815/status/1157446225223962624 ).  It reminded me a lot of singing along with the Sparks Nevada theme the last few TAH shows, I got a little misty-eyed.

The bad?  It was really really hot in the theater.  At intermission I bolted out to the bathroom and buy cold waters.  I was about to get in the merch line but the lights already started flashing.  SIGH.  I gave Hippo a water and before we could settle in much, the show started again.  I told her my plan for the end of the show, though.

I will admit, my lack of sleep from the previous two nights was starting to catch up with me, and I had no caffeine available to combat it with.  I almost ducked out of the show early because I felt myself nodding off with the heat in the theater masked with the dark of the theater and that the second half of the show was less exciting (but still fun!) than the first.  Seeing the show live was amazing!

Just as Matt said they were ending the show there, I hopped out of my chair (I was in an aisle) and went into the lobby.  I was dying to get a set of the metal dice... and they were sold out of EVERYTHING except the big blue d20 and some pins.  ARGHGHGHGHGH.  So I got the d20, and watched the rest of the show including Liam's very surprising win, on the monitors.  (I'd voted for Liam because I assumed Sam would win.  I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. :)  Though I love Sam to bits.)

Hippo joined me outside in the lobby early, and we left the theater just ahead of everyone else and she waited and we chatted while I called a Lyft.  She wanted to get out before traffic got too crazy, too, so she took off.  I am VERY MAD I didn't get a pic with the two of us at all.  Next year?!  

Then of course my Lyft driver didn't come to where I was exactly (literally at the Lyft pickup/dropoff designated location) and I had to walk around and look for him and by the time I found him, he'd gotten boxed in so we had to wait in traffic anyway.  Ah well.

At least the freeway was re-opened that night heading back to the airport, and thus, my hotel, for a shorter ride.  I ended up not falling asleep til close to 2.

I loved my evening and would do it all again but that Jeremy and Marcus told me that the Starfinder game they played in that night was AH-FUCKING-MAZING and was literally one of their favorite games of their entire lives, both of them.  It was a multi-table megagame that had a pass-fail condition and would shape the next season of the Society, and I'm sad I missed it while being really glad I did what I did.  Sometimes it's feast or feast, and you gotta pick which awesome meal you want.

I didn’t take many pics, just one as they were settling in after Sam came out in his costume, and one during intermission.  It’s all on Twitch, anyway!

SATURDAY

Oh man, for some really dumb reason we'd scheduled our Saturday morning for 8AM... but it was Starfinder!!  Uh, I will say I consumed more caffeine on that Saturday than maybe any other day of my life.  But it was needed.

What also helped keep me awake that it was FUCKING FREEZING IN THE ROOM.  The game itself was an absolute blast, though.  It was a brutal slog through a dead planet with hostile aliens everywhere and we had to stealth through, collect information and get out.  This was the game I felt the closest to death in all weekend, I'll say that for sure.  But we did it!

The very kind Felice(sp?) who was at the table decided she didn't want to carry her hoodie through the dealer hall, where she was going next, and her husband was working the main table at the Pathfinder room, so she told me to leave it there with him when I was done with it.  Since our next game was also in the Paizo room, I took her up on this offer and was warm and comfy the next few hours.

Our DM, an Operative, and Felice, plus the Hoodie of Warmth +2.

A very rare picture of me, on the internet, along with the guys.

And our next game was our first Pathfinder 2 game!  We were very excited to try out the system, and were put at a table with a father and son duo.  Jeremy and Marcus were excited because the DM was the same guy who'd DM'd their Starfinder game while I was at Critical Role.  

The only bad thing that happened here was that the El Paso Cielo Vista shooting news broke.  I grew up in El Paso, from when I was 12 to 22... it's Middle School through college for me.  Even though I've now lived in Dallas twice as long as I lived in El Paso and I haven't been there in like ten years, it's still... a little bit home.  So I left the table for a little bit to get on Facebook and make sure my friends there were all okay (they are), and text with my mom to make sure a family member who still lives there is okay (she is, though she took awhile to answer mom so we were worried.)  I have a lot of thoughts though, which belong in another post, and I'm still angry and upset about the shooting, even though it didn't affect me personally.  But for now, that's the end of talk of that terribleness.

At our table were a father and ~10 y/o son, who I'm cutting out of the pics because posting pics of minors without getting permission is not OK.  Also, the game was SHORT.  It turns out it was designed as an intro to Pathfinder 2 or maybe even RPGs in general so we knocked it out pretty quick, like 2.5 hours.

One very cool thing that Pazio was doing was that when you played in a game, you got a wooden token that you took up to the prize table, and rolled a d20 + d10.  No matter what you rolled, you got a prize, though most of them were cool little boons for your official characters.  However, if you critted, you got to pick a physical prize from the table.  Well, we played so much that Jeremy and Marcus both critted twice.  They ended up getting ALL THREE Token boxes (like cardboard minis, very nice quality) for Starfinder, plus the Starfinder Beginner's Box.  Pretty sure those four things together retailed for over $100.  Score!

So after the short game, with time to spare before our next game, the gang decided it was Dealer Hall time, literally the first time Jeremy or Marcus had time to go AT ALL.  I volunteered to be the stuff-holder.  After dropping off Felice's hoodie, I found a comfy seat near an outlet that was near the dealer hall and let everyone dump the stuff they didn't want to carry with me.  They came back and left stuff with me, and then after a couple of hours, also brought me dinner from the food trucks.  It was a fair trade.

I also asked Jeremy to stop by one particular booth and pick me up a set of dice I'd decided on, Blue Turquiose stone dice from Metallic Dice Games.  I took some pics of the dice below, though the next day I did have Jeremy swap out the d20 at the booth because I didn't like how some of the faces looked (by far the angle in the pic is the best side, there was too much solid color on the other sides of the die.)  These are going to be my official dice for my 4e character, who is a storm sorcerer reskinned as a druid.

LOVE THESE DICE, can’t wait to roll ‘em.

DM, Dad and blurred-out son.

A blurred-out boy and my guys.

Our final game of the day was the Cypher system, which is made by Monte Cook (one of the original D&D designers).  Cypher is a fairly simple system which mostly just uses a d20 and d6, and the DM never rolls dice.  The original system was made for a game called Numenera, which we'd played the beginner's box adventure for a few years ago but didn't feel like we got a good feel for the system, so we wanted to give it a go with a DM who knew the system well.

Overall, we enjoyed the game, it definitely wasn't "bad"!  But the problem was, we all agreed later, that the module that was being run was the kickoff module for a much longer campaign, there was a huge lore dump near the end and we also didn't really "get" everything that was going on.  

It also had the most memorable ending, though.  We ended the game by trying to escape from a base while being chased by some guys who greatly outmatched us.  My character was a pilot, and we needed to leave via a shuttlecraft.  One of the players who we didn't know was on the "get the door open and provide covering fire so everyone else can get to the shuttle" team.  And then he needed to make a roll in order to also GTFO and get to the shuttle.

He rolled.  Got a 5.  There's a mechanic where you can spend a card that you've collected in order to re-roll.  So he did that, got a 2.  Someone else gave him a card to re-roll.  He rolled a 3.  Someone else did.  He rolled a 5.  I was the last one with a card on the table, so I slapped it down.  He rolled a 4.

It was amazing.  Amazingly terrible rolling.

My pilot already had the craft powered up and was waiting for only him to get on.  I sighed, looked the player in the eye and said...

"I'm so sorry, but my character sheet says that I have a personality flaw.  I'm impulsive and impatient and have a setback to anything that requires patience, concentration or willpower.  I'm not waiting for you."  I looked at the DM and said "I decide that he's sacrificing himself to save us, and take off."

So I left him behind.  

The player was 100% cool with it, we had a laugh about it, and he agreed it was what my character would have done.  So it was kind of a tragic and funny way to end the game.  Also Brian needed to get some sleep that night so he hadn't come to that game, and Marcus left a little early to tend to the family, so just Jeremy and I closed out the night.

DM on the left, players I didn’t know in the center, and one on the right.  The guy in the bright blue shirt in the center?  I killed his character.  Sorry not sorry.

SUNDAY

The next morning, sadly, was the last day of GenCon.  We only had one game scheduled that morning, our second Pathfinder 2 game.  And EVERYONE was gonna be at the game!  

I hadn't even SEEN Gwen or Laura the entire con, and when they arrived at just about the same time Jeremy and I did, we joked that we hadn't believed the others were at the convention.  

We'd hoped that they'd let us put all 7 people at the table (Kirstyn had left late Saturday night to fly home and be at a concert she was playing in.)  They did not.  So we split up "Kids" and "Adults".

Sadly, this didn't work out super well for either table.  Gwen/Brian/Ally's table had a DM they did not enjoy and also a married couple who actually fought with each other uncomfortably at the table(!!).  

We had a good DM, but also an old guy who... I did not like.  At all.  He talked over the DM, even when the DM was explicitly trying to answer a question we'd asked him, things like rules questions on how game mechanics in PF2 had changed from PF1, since, you know, it was a system that had released THREE DAYS AGO.  Also, he was very... helpful... in telling me how skill checks worked and also questioning my decisions on how I was playing my character.  (YES, thanks I did consider carefully before casting Sanctuary on myself, and yes, it WAS THE RIGHT CALL.  I was the only healer in the party and had gargoyles flanking me, THANKS.)

I literally told the guy (as nicely as possible) "Sir, I've been playing RPGs for over twenty years, I'm well aware of how RPGs work, thank you" the second time he told me how skill checks worked as I was adding up my die roll with my skill modifier and took two seconds to do the math. And sure he'd probably been playing for thirty or more but um... I know how to roll a skill check.

After a short break, I told my friends I might need to leave the table.  Instead, Marcus and I switched seats so I wasn't sitting next to him anymore and the DM tried to refocus the game a bit.  It helped me at least.  I just did my best to ignore the guy.  I'm pretty sure he just didn't have the greatest social skills in the world but sometimes my tolerance for people like this can be... low.  His brother was also at the table and seemed okay, at least.  

The game itself was pretty good, ignoring everything having to do with that guy.  After the game the DM thanked me for sticking around and basically empathized that he was getting pretty annoyed, too.  

Not the greatest way to end gaming at the con, but hey, it also could have been worse.  I took pics of that game but decided not to put pics of someone I didn’t like on the internet.

Gwen, Brian and Ally's game ended like 45 minutes before ours (sadly, much to their relief) and they'd left to do one more run through the vendor hall and then left the con to start their drive home.  I had Gwen pick me up a set of dice that... I haven't even seen yet... and they were hella expensive.  I'm kinda feeling buyer's remorse about them right now, I didn't need to spend that much on dice this con but... well, we'll see how I feel when I see them in person.  If I hate 'em, I'll resell 'em.

All weekend long I'd been texting with my BFF from High School's husband, who is also my friend.  He was at the Con as well but doing his own thing and we'd been trying to arrange a meetup.  Well, we finally did it!  He came and saw me, and we hung out for about 45 minutes, just talking about the con, and old times and what we're doing now and the family etc. etc.  So that was great!  I was really glad to see him and catch up.

It’s Richard!

After he left because he had to go help tear down the booth he'd been working at, like the day before, I set up "basecamp" in the same place as before.  I had thought about going back to the vendor hall where Jeremy, Marcus and Laura were, but I'd already sent Jeremy off to ask him to pick me up the one last thing I wanted (the official GenCon dice tray.  I have a Wyrmwood Lacewood dice tray for home use, but wanted a nice travel dice tray.  I had a leather one for Kraken, but I'm real unhappy with Kraken Dice now and wanted something else.  I don’t plan on buying from them ever again in the future.  The official 2019 Gencon tray is very nice, and Jeremy had gotten one the day before, so he picked me up one as well.)

POST-CON

I only had to wait about an hour for the end of the con, and by that time the only ones from our group left were "the adults."  So once we were all gathered back up, the four of us headed out and walked a couple of blocks to a restaurant, which we couldn't get into, so we went to the restaurant next door, the Yard House.  

Wherein we had comically bad service, but they were very nice about it, and also WE were really nice about it, and ended up getting about half our meal comped.  Like our waiter had put in all the drink orders for all his tables to our table, so we had the wrong drinks delivered about five times.  We never got water refills.  Marcus had half a beer spilled on his leg (not even his beer, just another wrongly brought to our table), Laura's Appetizer-as-entree came out as an appetizer.  We asked for more chips for the chips and guac and queso we'd gotten as an app and never got it, etc.  Also while the manager was there assuring us we wouldn't have any more drinks brought to our table we didn't ask for... drinks were brought to our table we didn't ask for.  It was actually hilarious by that point.  

The waiter was brand new (his second day) so we got it.  It was just one of those things.  But they took care of us, we tipped well, it was all OK.

So that was the end of Gencon.  Back at my hotel, which Jeremy and I had long decided we wouldn't stay at again, I'd taken a shower very early Saturday morning after Critical Role.  Sunday morning when I showered again, the water still hadn't drained from the tub(!!) but I was in a hurry and just showered in gross cold water at my feet.  Then told the front desk.

They hadn't even been in my room all day to even clean up the room at all, much less do anything about the bathtub when I got back to my room Sunday night, so I switched rooms.  And then the room next to me had left the alarm clock on, and it went off at 9pm.  And my phone in that room didn't work, so I had to go downstairs a second time to get someone to go shut it off.  Also the AC in that room never turned off, the controls seemed to do nothing, so it was like 60 degrees in there the entire night.  It was actually a relief to leave the hotel the next day.  Next year... we'll pay a little more for a bit nicer hotel.

Annnd.. the next morning Jeremy and I got to the airport early enough, flight was full but not delayed, and had no problems getting home.  Spent most of the day from getting on the plane to going to sleep that night with a massive migraine so I spent the afternoon at home sleeping and drinking lots of water.. but yay... no con crud!

I miss the con, but being back in my own bed with my kitties is all worth it.  Still, I can't wait for Gencon again next year. :D

[dearestsouleater]

Entry #326 January 22, 2019 7:45 pm

Dearest SoulEater,

“Love does not change you, Loneliness does..“

That was my FB post this morning trying to reflect upon everything that transpired since December. Then this afternoon, after I have submitted my BIR Sworn Oath for Tax, I chanced upon Lara’s Coffee shop and decided to take my ultra late lunch there. I was eating this and maybe I might be feeling good now, so maybe it is high time to tell the story that has made me from an 2018 optimist to a 2019 pessimist.Yeah I know, Soul. It has been 6 long months since my last post, with lots and lots of things happened not being said. I have the memories in the form of videos at Youtube. It is there.

It all started December, where I was already forecasting the things I need to do for my transition to the same job but with better benefits. Like it always was, I had to endure the expectations and works of a teamleader, deciding on things and being responsible for them. I know for a fact that Ill be needing a lot of money to secure the new requirements set by the Civil Service for me to be accepted as a Casual Nurse under the Department of Health. I still have money, but the pressure was there, a very big cold and dark pressure. First is that we havent received our salary for November, and that it was December, meaning I had to prepare my gifts to my subordinates and of course, Lianne. With the budgeting I did, I can secure the costly requirements, but it will take toll to my plans with Lianne. I had to think long term and made sure that I secure that requirements for me to be financially secured until 2022. Me and Lianne were having some talks, and while she was planning, I was actually hesitant. Her plans involve expenses that are way beyond my capacity, she may have money for it, but I gotta consider where I stand after spending those. But in the end I agreed with what was initially planned and went on with my “Bahala na”.

Came December 21, it was our Christmas Party for the Department of Health. It was already stressful for me as being a Teamleader, I am responsible to a lot of things. And I am already in turmoil because of our ugly presentation since all municipalities are required to present a dance or whatever. Ours was not a presentation, more like an intermission number. That morning while I was having my preparations for that event, Lianne texted me and that conversation turned sour. She suddenly dropped the “As I thought” bomb on me. At the time I already saw what was coming. She was expecting that I have prepared plans for her on the coming holidays particularly Christmas. At the back of my mind I was thinking, didnt we had this conversation before, she already laid out the plans of what were bound to do, go to this fancy hotel and celebrate, after that go back to her apartment and be with each other, that was it. She was expecting more from me. Of all the times it would happen, why on that moment. We were still talking as I went to the venue of that Christmas Party masked as an Exit Conference. I was there the whole morning trying to juggle managing Lianne’s predicament with the problems I am facing on that event. Until she sent me a message that made me snap.. “Kahit hindi ka na bumalik”. I knew on that moment that that was it. That moment, I knew I cant keep going on. I understood that we cant make it work out anymore. I thought she was my partner for my battles, it turns out she was another battle that I had to win..and I felt so betrayed. I was just sitting there at my table, null and void with nothing but my fake smiles and just saying Im ok while people ask me why I was silent. I had to endure it for hours. And it felt like it was that day all over again, coz she gave back my money too. I dont even know what to feel and act them out. I just went home blank and staring after that successful Exit Conference.. Success for the event, disaster for me. I went home and acted like everything was ok and it was not. My parents even noticing it but I pretended that Im fine. They didnt know we already broke up on that day. I cancelled my reservation for the bus going to manila and had the money shifted to my mom’s reservation. Ate Cely asked me why, and I told them I was recalled for an emergency work on the 27th and 28th which was true. But I lied about the reason why Im not going to Manila anymore, it was because I had no more reason to go there. It was once again a long night..but it was never new to me. I have already faced the same event when she said she did not love me anymore, but only this time I had more resilience.

December 27, my parents had to leave for Manila because my father had to prepare going back to Saudi. I just didnt have the motivation to go anywhere, so I told them that I was recalled for work since it was an urgent matter and that it was a critical time for my appointment as a casual employee. And so they left me.. That time, a typhoon was coming in and that it was automatic for us nurses from DOH to activate Code White meaning we have to respond and report evacuees to central command. December 28 we already lost power supply and access to clean water, water was coming in too fast inside our house because they seep inside the cement, and I had to clean those areas the whole 24 hours. The next day, I stared at how black it was at my home..cold, dark and alone. I only had spare food to eat without the assurance that the faucet water was clean. That moment, I knew loneliness was killing me slowly. I have never been so alone at that point, that it made me think of a lot of things. But an unexpected event happened. My relatives who came from Naga cannot pass thru at the market going to their house as it was already in high flood, so they called me 11 pm that night to ask if they can stay at my house for the meantime. I was thinking that maybe it was You Soul that was giving me some light. So they came and stayed with me until the morning. They made me breakfast and then had to leave immediately to check the status of their own home. Maybe I got saved. Saved from feeling hopeless and alone. I went over to do my work to report any casualties of that calamity in our Municipality and had to live alone again.

December 31, current came back at around the afternoon and the relatives that I took in during the storm gave me Pizza from Shakeys because they knew I would be celebrating the New Year alone. There I was, only with myself and my prepared food before 12 am of January 1st 2019. I only had the pizza my relatives gave me, left over wine at the fridge and pancit canton while watching my friends from Twitch celebrate the New Year. I only had Se7en of HelixxVR with me during that time. I had no fireworks, I had no devices for making loud sounds, only me and my beating heart.

The whole of January was spent with me being all alone, doing everything by myself for myself, trying to survive and live. Our contracts are under abeyance due to some problems with the budget allocated with the Department of Health so what I have been doing in the past 3 weeks is just be at Twitch, stream, watch. It was during that time that I had a record high of 332 viewers, was able to pull off a 24 hr stream and got qualified for Twitch Partner. I slept 5 am almost everyday and woke up around 1 pm, missing my breakfast and lunch. I had nothing to do but stream and play. My November salary came, but it was all for paying the remaining bills and my December Salary is still pending.

Being alone for a long time turned me into something else. Maybe it was karma, or consequences of bad choices, but who is there to blame? Not Lianne, not everyone, not even You, Soul..only me. I decided not to talk to anyone about it. I just felt not doing it. I wanted this darkness for myself so I told no one about what I had gone through. I dont hate Lianne for what happened to us. I just came to realize that we have different end games. She wanted a grandeur life while I wanted a peaceful and simple one. She loved to travel while I only want to travel to just one place and that is Japan. We were different and it only needed sometime for me to accept that we are not compatible and that we are only bound to more stress and fights if we continued. I never talked about what happened to us at Social Media because it wont make me feel any better. I did not block her from my social medias as well because there is no sense doing it. I still see her posts, and maybe it was my way of self punishment.

2018 was a treasure chest of memories for me of her. It just so happened that December of that year became the Pandora’s box. She is currently happy now and I do pray to You Soul that you give her healing, and that she can move on peacefully, find someone that she deserves, not a loser like me who has nothing to offer as of the moment.  I still consider her a friend and acquaintance because Im not holding anything against her and I completely understand if she does not feel the same way I do.

I ate the last bits of my juicy saucy burger and finished it with my fries. I left with a face hoping that someday, I may never wish to ask from You that I rest..for good.

Thank You Soul, for everything..the blessings and lessons. You can still try and guide me while I try to live this tiring life. Give me something to motivate me to go on, yeah?

Love lots,

Jim..

P.S.

Funny that Jin didnt come out this time. Maybe he was confident Im getting through with this. I hope his confidence was right.

[xxxdragonfucker69xxx]

dunking and danging: kings of all cosmos

ok my dnd game is pretty certifiably dead so im gonna post here the skeleton of the plot i had planned, if you were in my game and want to preserve your innocence then do not read further

PLAYERS

squamata, a reptilian mystic

glenjamin gogol, a elemental monk who is dwight from the office

tobi, a hobbit ranger with a giant toad friend named george

and clayface, a goblin who makes things out of clay

ACT 0: EXPOSITION

the four of them appear in the sky over throne, a weird city where the sun is chained to the ground and ultraviolence is everywhere. also, demon wasps are attacking them. they fall through the roof of a building and meet the wanderers guild: neptune, jupiter and venus. they explain that this world is ruled by an asshole named zosimos, and that he has fucked off but left four kings to rule in his absence, and that there is a prophecy about a rising star that will overthrew zosimos and rule the universe as the new king, and one of them is the rising star. they’re stuck here unless one of the kings opens a way back to their homeworlds so they agree that they might as well become kings themselves

ACT 1: THE BLEAK ACADEMY

(i originally called this the black academy and then started kicking myself halfway through when i realized i fucked up the color scheme) (this is the only arc we finished)

the first king is lord entropy, principal of the bleak academy and inventor of murder. he cannot be killed by murder, which is a problem cause thats basically how you take the title of king from someone. everyone takes a youth potion and goes undercover at the bleak academy. there were some fun classes and squamata vowed to fuck lord entropy (leading to the famous “it’s not breaking the windflower law if it’s just eating ass”). in the end they befriend his daughter desecration roseblack attaris ebrot appeka entropy (and she ends up briefly played by a guest pc) who tells them about a scroll containing entropy’s true name (i wrote kind of a cool backstory for this i may post eventually) that can compel him to do anything. so they break into the library, then break into the secret underlibrary, to get the name. then they go confront entropy in his office, have a bigass boss battle, and then one of them commands entropy to attack so he can be killed in self-defense. rejoicing! they solved the murder puzzle! a star flies from entropy’s head to rest on tobi’s brow but im sure that’s not important for now! as they’re celebrating some old drunkard comes up to tobi and asks what she thinks about death, and her response is basically “it’s not something to worry about”

ACT 2: KEEPER OF THE FLAME

They wake up with a hangover and get an invitation from lady enheduanna, who is coincidentally the next king they gotta tick off. she’s throwing a party for nemontemi, which is basically calibration/halloween/the purge, and wants them there. the wanderers suggest they go shopping to get ready, and they basically have a christmas episode shopping and having fun with each other. they get back, and as they’re falling asleep, tobi wishes that “every day could be like this” in a very imperial voice. oops! they wake up and find that they’re in a time loop. after discussing it for a while they decide to go break back into the bleak academy’s library and look for information about time shit, and find that the key to breaking a time loop is usually a person that has to change

(this is where we left off)

the plan was for them to go talk to enheduanna, who at this point has probably been through a couple loops of their time loop (only the players and the kings keep their memories through the loop) and is probably kind of pissed off. but she offers them their hearts desires if they will go and steal from hell for her: she wants the forbidden apple, the fruit of life, because her current method of immortality is fading. (i really wanted to deliver the mottom speech ok). so then its a fun montage where they have less than a day to break into the brass embassy, which is hell’s embassy in throne, and find the door that will let them into actual hell, kill the serpent guarding it, and get back. surprise! enheduanna double-crosses them and tries to kill them. presumably they kill her and one of them becomes imperator of hunger

INTERMISSION: WAY DOWN NADIR TOWN

(this is possibly where this goes but maybe not)

the wanderers get a contract from the crooked-crosses, a gang of dickensian orphan urchins. they had a special treasure: one of the sparks of divinity leftover from the dead gods. it was stolen by a thief named snuffer, who has fled to nadir, which is a mining town inside the skull of a long-dead god. its run by a mysterious guy known only as Bossman, and nobody ever comes back. so they traverse the spiral road down, pass through the stygian wall and the kerberoi, and get admitted as miners. bossman provides food, board and company scrip, so by the time you actually find anything worth selling you’re probably so deep in debt it doesnt matter. his enforcers are the vakes, vaguely batlike people who swoop overhead in darkness; and the longer you stay in nadir the more you forget, so that the oldest workers are zombies who have forgotten everything but work. theres a friendly old worker named bones who points them towards the Hole, a speakeasy run by a lady named lilac. at the hole you can buy back some memories: sunlight, fresh air, clean water, love. of course, lilac is secretly the bossman. anyways, they find snuffer, but hes forgotten who he is and where hes hidden the spark. he begs them not to kill him cause hes just a kid too, and promises to pay them off if they rescue him. hes in debt to bossman, but bossman can be tempted by a suitable wager. the spark is actually in bossman’s vault as well. im almost certain this intermission ends in a riot.

ACT 3: KASTLE KORPUSLES

(backstory: in our last campaign one of the players was herbst korpusles, a paladin who was also basically agnostic. he had a little homunculus he kept in his beard and was raising like a son, but he was kind of a bad parent, so the homunculus was growing evil and basically sucking all the evil out of him. as time went on he got smaller and the homunculus got bigger and at the end of it you could barely tell them apart. the homunculus was named squilliam but thats neither here nor there. at the end of the last campaign they slew a demon named the king in yellow who basically possessed the empress and then herbst got made king for it, cause he also had excalibur)

hadnt really hugely planned this part but basically throne is split into quarters, and one of the quarters would be like industrial england (as opposed to the rest of throne which is more like ksbd) and ruled by this multiversal warlord named king korpusles who is, surprise surprise, that old herbst. they go to confront him through his castle which is simultaneously in throne and in albion (the world of our last campaign). i was probably going to send them to go discuss with a couple of other old characters: the druid raven veaux and the warlock valentine bebe, who are probably living in a bog together. they go to confront korpusles who has turned all of albion into one big war machine but he throws the cape off his hunchback and its not a hunchback at all! its a tiny little man just sort of attached to him sucking on his blood. is he the homunculus or the original herbst? neither can remember! also the king in yellow was the previous imperator of war and thats how korpusles is zoss’ king now.  big fight, big murders. someone becomes imperator of war

ACT 4: THE APOCALYPSE SERPENT

the fourth king is kind of a problem, cause whereas the other kings were old and/or magically powerful this one is old, magically powerful and a mile-long dragon. its name is kormis, the apocalypse serpent, and it has been sleeping for ages but recently awoken due to all the hubbub. but they have a plan! throne is dotted with giant statues that are the corpses of gods and are sort of incorporated into architecture, but the wanderers have got word of one they can sort of reanimate. unfortunately its being occupied by their rivals, the most illustrious guild of judicious violence. they have to clear out the main room in the skull, then keep it clear while they perform the ritual to reanimate the god-corpse into basically a giant mecha. then they call out kormis, and have a proper mecha/kaiju battle. someone becomes the imperator of conquest. 

ACT 5: BIG ZOSS BATTLE

the sun is chained to the tower of the sun, zoss’ palace, which the angels previously refused to let them into aaaalll the way back in act 1. but now they’re kings so they can enter. they go in, and aside from angels just kinda hibernating in between missions, its... empty. no palace here! but there is some kind of teleporter pad or something. they pop up, and appear in a room looking out over a plain of fire which is otherwise very luxurious. zoss’ palace isn’t underneath the sun, it’s on the sun. also, zoss is there, lounging with some cocktails. it turns out hes been grooming them as kings to take over, cause the current batch kind of fucking suck and hes bored of doing it himself. then they fight the king of the universe on top of the sun

[blissfullylostinarabbithole]

An End and a Beginning

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 1.8k

Summary: Dean takes you to see your favorite band for the last time.

A/N: Is anyone else having trouble tagging people? All recent requests for tags haven’t been working for me.

Dean kept stealing glances at you through the rearview mirror, the ball of guilt in his core growing by the mile. You were meant to spend the weekend in Colorado for a concert, but a case was taking you all across several state lines...in the opposite direction.

“We’ll try to kill this son of a bitch quick so you can make that show, alright?” Dean wanted you to know he hadn’t forgotten.

“Hm? Oh yeah, thanks,” you replied dismissively.

It only made him feel worse. You already paid for your ticket and you weren’t even mad; you were just looking over the pages Sam had printed out regarding the murders you were investigating. Normally it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but earlier in the year your favorite band had announced they would be parting ways after a final, farewell tour. The way your face fell when you heard would be forever stamped in his memory, and he hoped to never see you that heartbroken ever again.

The closest they would come to Kansas was Colorado, and you didn’t waste any time making plans to attend that show. Now, he was dragging you east two days before you’re meant to leave. It couldn’t be avoided; they needed your help. But Dean was going to make damn sure he did everything he could to get you back in time.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Dude, calm down.”

“I promised,” Dean ground out.

“You promised you’d try, and you did. It didn’t work out that way,” Sam tried to soothe, turning to the back seat to make sure you were still asleep.

“She could be in a crowd right now, singing along to whatever song, but instead she’s here, covered in blood and sleepin’ off another hunt.”

Sam sighed, sagging back into the seat. He knew there was no point in arguing when Dean was like this. The ride back to the bunker was silent after that, and when they parked, Sam didn’t waste any time getting out of the car and inside, leaving Dean to wake you.

“Hey, we’re here.” He gave you a gentle shake until your eyes fluttered open. Though his heart sank at the sweet smile you flashed, his own was instantaneous. “Head on in, I’ll get your bag.”

“Thanks,” you yawned, getting out and shuffling to your room.

Dean watched you go, knowing no matter what, you’d never hold his broken promise against him. Lives were saved, and nothing would make you feel bad over it.

The following morning, you were woken by Sam asking if you knew where Dean went. He showed you a note he found in the library saying he’s be back in a couple of days, and said his bed hadn’t been slept in. You decided to give him a call, but all he said was that he needed to run an errand and that everything was fine before hanging up.

You and Sam spent the time Dean was away updating archives and taking inventory. When he strolled in the next evening, he wore a satisfied smirk, but went straight to bed without explanation of where he’d been.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Y/N, wake up. We have a case.” Dean chuckled when you bolted up and tried to untangle yourself from your sheets. “Easy, Sweetheart, we got time.”

“Why are you smiling?” you asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously at him.

“What? I can’t be in a good mood?”

“Just before a case? No.” You got out of bed and went to wash up without waiting for a response. When you got out, Dean was holding your backpack.

“I already packed for you. Let’s go.”

In the garage, he gestured to the front seat as he headed to the trunk to stow your bags.

You raised a confused brow at him. “Sam’s not coming?”

“Nah. It’s a simple case, and he wouldn’t get out of bed, so it’s just you an’ me.” He winked, and you shook your head and smiled as you climbed into the car.

After a short nap, Dean woke you to get some breakfast. You were too sleepy to notice he hadn’t told you anything about the case other than you were meeting Donna for it, but not to see how easily he smiled. He asked what you’d gotten up to while he was gone, and hung onto every word. You had to admit it was nice to see him like this, so you decided against asking about his mood again.

Now wide awake, Dean blasted the stereo while you sang along to your favorites. When he reached the freeway’s onramp, you did a doubletake.

“Dean, this one goes east. Shouldn’t we be going north?”

He shook his head, not taking his eyes off the road. “Not this time. We’re meeting her in Chicago. She’s going to a convention or something.”

Satisfied with his answer, you sat back and enjoyed the ride. A few hours later, you noticed a faint vibrating sound coming from the glovebox. You reached in and pulled out one of their old phones and handed it to Dean before turning the music down.

“Hello?... Right, Mr. Jones. Would you mind holding for a moment while I check your status?... Great.” He set the phone down on the seat and turned the music back up, grinning at the amused look you were giving him. After a couple of minutes, he turned it back down and picked up the phone. “Well, Mr. Jones, it looks like it’s all settled on your end and your reimbursement check is in the mail… Uh-huh, no problem. Have a nice day!” He hung up and shoved it back in the glovebox.

“What was that about?”

“Just some loose end,” he dismissed.

“You’re being really secretive,” you huffed. “More than usual.”

Dean chuckled, but otherwise didn’t respond.

After stopping for lunch, the next several hours went by in companionable silence, occasionally broken by either his humming or your soft singing. By the time you reached your destination, you were eager to stretch your legs, so Dean suggested you go to a bar before dinner.

In the morning, Dean didn’t bother waking you. He let you sleep until you woke naturally and took you out to a late lunch. He told you Donna was running late, and wouldn’t be able to meet until the following day. With nothing to do, you suggested going for a walk at a beautiful park you passed on the way, and to your surprise, he readily agreed. When the sun began to set, he said he wanted to get back and have an early night, but when the street your motel was on came and went, you couldn’t keep quiet anymore.

“Ok, what’s really going on? You just passed the street and I know you know it.”

“You couldn’t give me five more minutes?” he groaned.

“For what?”

He looked over at you and smirked. “You’ll see in five minutes.”

You watched him intently, as if you could read his mind out of sheer will. When he saw you staring, he burst out in laughter, making your glare. His laughter tapered by the time he parked and asked you to follow him. Just as he was about to round a corner, he stopped and reached into his jacket’s pocket and handed you an envelope.

“What’s this?” You took it and pulled out the tickets inside. “Oh my god...OH MY GOD!!” Without thinking, you jumped into Dean’s arms and kissed his cheek. “How did you even get these?! Every show is sold out!” It was then you noticed the name on the tickets: Mark Jones. “Mr. Jones… Did you steal these?”

“What? No,” he scoffed, giving you that offended, squinty eyed look. “I confiscated them.”

“How?” Neither of you seemed to notice he was still holding you.

“With my badge,” he grinned. “I found the owner of the best seats, told him the tickets were counterfeit, and the seller was under investigation.”

“Dean, that’s…” What? Wrong? With everything else you’ve done, this hardly seemed like a big deal. “Brilliant.”

You giggled when his eyebrows shot up in surprise. It was only then you realized how close you were. You knew he did too when you saw his cheeks redden under the light of the street lamp and practically heard the lump he swallowed.

“We, uh, we should get inside.” He put you down so slowly, it made you wonder if maybe he didn’t want to. He cleared his throat and placed his hand on the small of your back, leading you to the front entrance of the venue.

When you got inside and the usher showed you to your seats, Dean went off to the bar to get some drinks. The opening act came on, and they were so much better than you expected that even Dean seemed to enjoy their music. During the intermission, you went to the restroom while Dean got more drinks so you were ready for the headlining act.

When the band came out on stage, Dean couldn’t help watching the way your face lit up, and it made his heart swell. The music started, and he turned toward the stage but kept watching you out of the corner of his eye, loving how into it you were. He was surprised to find himself singing along to a song he recognized, and looked over at you to see the shocked look on your face.

A slow song started to play and he felt your hand wrap around his. When his eyes found yours, he felt his heart stop for a moment.

“Dance with me?” you asked, almost pleadingly.

He swallowed hard, and unable to speak, simply nodded. He wrapped his arm around your waist and began swaying with you. You were both completely lost in each other that moment. Looking into his eyes, you noticed he wasn’t guarded. He was raw and unfiltered, and you were taken aback. For the first time, he let you see everything, and you knew he was in love with you. It was enough to bring tears to your eyes as you pulled him in for a kiss, pouring all your feelings into it as he did with one look.

It was a while before either of you noticed the room was quiet. When you pulled apart, you both looked to the stage to see the band smiling down at you.

“Thanks for upstaging us,” the singer joked, bringing laughter from the audience. “First kiss?” he asked, grinning widely when you both nodded. “Congratulations. This one’s for you.” As the crowd cheered, he turned to speak to the other members, and they began to play a song that wasn’t on the setlist.

The night wore on, and Dean couldn’t believe everything that had happened; everything he’d done to get you here. Most of all, he couldn’t believe you were his. That, and he had a new favorite band.

Permanent -  @melconnor2007 @ria132love @psychicwitchphilosopher @sireennotsiren  @silence–in–the–library  @thefridgeismybestie @hymnofthevalkyrie @abbybills22  @mvasquez492 @ek823 @nicky10876

If I missed you, or you wish to be added or removed, please let me know!

[yuzusorbet]

My 2nd Ice Show Adventure (Fantasy On Ice 2017 in Niigata)

Summer 2015, I went for my very 1st ice show, Fantasy On Ice (FaOI) in Kobe, and it was the 1st time I saw ‘nama-Yuzu’ (real-life Yuzuru) after being a fan since 2014 Olympics. 

Summer 2016, I had tickets for FaOI again but this time, Yuzu pulled out of all ice shows to recover from lisfranc ligament injury, so I sold my ticket, prayed for Yuzu’s health and happiness, sent him letters of support, and managed to survive the terribly long off-season with other long-suffering Yuzu-fans.  

This summer (2017), I am so busy with work projects that I have no time for fangirling, not to mention ice shows, and I moaned about it to a few friends. Almost like a miracle, one friend told me that if I wanted, she could get tickets for me for FaOI Niigata!  I decided I could get away for the weekend.  I must!  

The shows were on Friday, Saturday, Sunday (16-18 June) and it would be my first time in Niigata.  I took an ANA flight (yay! ANA!) and arrived in Niigata airport on Thursday.   The first meal I had was a very delicious bowl of ramen, and as I ate, I was surprised that I could taste bits of yuzu (the fruit).  I have never had ramen with yuzu before and so I was really happy!  It was really oiishiiiiiiiiii~~!!!  What a great omen, I thought.  My first meal on this trip was with yuzu. xD    

On this 1st night, there was something else that made me think of Yuzu.... I saw Bourbon ice-cream!  “Mo chotto”!  

I was way too full from the huge bowl of ramen and so I did not buy ‘Mo Chotto’ ice-cream to try.  Thought I’d try it another day but I did not pass by this shop again and I could not find it anywhere else.  Sigh.  Regret.  The snack is common but the ice-cream is not. 

Friday 16 June (ice show is at 7pm, doors open at 6pm)  

In the morning, I changed hotel.  Checked into ANA Crowne Plaza (yay, ANA!) because it’s a short walk to the ice show venue.  A Yuzu-fan friend, D-chan, messaged to say she is nearby and asked me to join her for coffee.  OK!   It was a lovely breezy walk from ANA hotel to an area called Pier Bandai and I found her in a cosy little coffee place with comfy sofas.  I ordered an iced coffee and we chatted away.  “I can’t believe I’m really here....”  “He’s somewhere near us now, you know....”  “Omg we’re breathing the same air as him....”   xD

Happiness is talking with a Yuzu-fan while sipping coffee in Japan. :)  

Soon it was time to meet another friend, Kay, the wonderful person who got my tickets for me.  We had plans for an early dinner together and then go for the ice show.  I met her at Niigata Station and we walked around looking for food. Some restaurants were not yet opened for dinner as it was too early. Luckily there was a soba shop that was open and we both felt like eating soba, so in we went.  (soba= buckwheat noodles) 

We ordered their specialty which was soba dipped in a warm broth with tender slices of pork.  And once again, I had the lovely surprise of finding yuzu in it!   I really love the citrusy fragrance it gave to the soupy noodles.  We felt so happy eating soba with yuzu.  It was a very good meal. :)  

From Niigata station, there was a shuttle bus to the show venue, running pretty frequently.  (I really love Japan;  they think of everything.) There was no real need to look for the bus-stop, just look for the long queue!  Luckily, it was a short wait as the buses came quickly and soon we were on our way to Toki Messe!   Just a 10-minute bus ride and we were there, a lovely glassy tall building by the river.  

We were early but the queue for FaOI merchandise was already VERY LONG. It’s ok, let’s admire the pretty Tanabata decorations and chit-chat while we wait in line.  Finally we could at least SEE the sale counter!  It’s going to be our turn!  I got a T-shirt, a towel and the programme booklet.  So happy to get the towel because 2 years ago at FaOI Kobe, the towel was sold out before it was my turn, on the very 1st day!  

Then Kay pointed out to me something that made me very happy.... Ice Rink Sendai merchandise counter!  I have not had the chance to buy anything from Yuzu’s hometown rink before, so I hurried towards it excitedly.  Wow, they really have a lot of pretty things!  

The photo of Yuzu wearing ‘Irene gloves’ was there.  (Irene is short for ‘Ice Rink Sendai’ and is the name of the mascot.)  And also his signature with a message saying “I will never forget, I will continue to do my best and give my support.” (my translation from Japanese)   And there is a little mushroom at the end. ^^

What a simple but heartwarming message for his hometown rink....

I bought the ‘Irene’ gloves, T-shirt, keychain and some stationery.  I love the pink theme!

There were also stalls selling really beautiful books and magazines..... I want them all!

Glad we were early.  It was hard to take a good look at the stalls when it got very crowded later.  

I was also very amused to see a counter that rented out binoculars, haha.  I did not rent one on the 1st day, but I did for the next 2 days.  Best decision ever.  I could see clearly all his cute facial expressions and who he was talking to all the time at the finale.  (Guess who. :))  

And of course, there were big boxes for fan letters and gifts to skaters.  Yuzu’s box filled up quickly and the inner bag had to be changed several times by the staff.  I used my new Irene stationery to write 2 fan letters (one on behalf of the FB international fan group and one from myself) and dropped them into the box on the 2nd day.  On the 3rd day, I decided to also drop a letter into Oda-san’s box.  I told him I enjoy his skating, his talk shows and his blog, thanked him for his great friendship with Yuzu, and may God bless his beautiful family. :)   

After all the excitement outside, it’s time to go in.  The seating arena for Niigata is smaller than some other places, so even the furthest row was not that far away.  I was somewhere in the middle, nearer one end of the rink.  

As usual, there were guys in black jackets who walk around holding up big signs that say “No taking of photos or videos”.  (I took this pic before the show, no pics during the show.  Law-abiding fan.) 

The show started and the skaters were introduced one or two at a time.  Yuzu was the last one to come out and the applause and cheers for him were huge.  It was clear who the star of the show was. :) 

After the opening number, the skaters did their individual performances.  I enjoyed watching all of them.  My favourite ones were the 2 performances by Nobunari Oda -- the music was beautiful for both and I love to watch his jumps;  it’s like he lands on marshmallow (once again I am reminded of why they gave him that T-shirt saying ‘landing with cat’s feet’);  Sex Bomb by Plushenko was hilarious and I laughed so much;  and Shizuka Arakawa-- what supreme grace and beauty.

Ice dancers Papadakis and Cizeron were very beautiful to watch. So glad they performed in this FaOI.  The acrobatic duo of 2 men in Swan Lake tutu performing ‘Notte Stellata’ was very funny.  I have seen Yuzu perform to this song so beautifully so many times in the past season (and watched it live at 4CC) and now this exact same song is skated in such a comical way..... I was so tickled. xD

For the record, the other skaters were Kaori Sakamoto, Marin Honda, Akiko Suzuki, Miki Ando, Shoma Uno, Evgenia Medvedeva, Denis Vasiljevs, Javier Fernandez, Elladj Balde, Johnny Weir, Stephane Lambiel, Jeffrey Buttle and the Chesnas.  Many of them performed twice, before and after the intermission.  Much thanks to all for their wonderful performances!     

At the end was Yuzu’s Chopin Ballade Number 1.  I had the good fortune of watching this 2 years ago, at the last show of FaOI 2015, when he gave us a surprise performance with live piano music played by Kotaro Fukuma.  At that time, he did the 2nd half of his usual Chopin, in a black FaOI finale shirt. It was awesome. So this time, I was really excited that I would see the full performance with that beautiful white Chopin top. And wow.... he really took my breath away. Although I have watched him perform Chopin for 2 seasons already, it felt like a different Chopin. It was the same and yet it was different. More beautiful, more powerful, more flow, more speed, more precision.... it was already so perfect, how can it be even better, but it is!  (based on my ‘expert’ opinion.)   I am so thrilled that he is doing this for the new season! I LOVE Chopin!

After Chopin, he went backstage to dry his sweat and then came out again to do an encore of ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ (his SP for last season). It was funny to watch LGC performed in that sweet Chopin costume. So mismatched, haha.

For the finale, Yuzu came out in a glittery blue FaOI top with a cat ears-hair band on his head. He danced in the group number and even did a cartwheel on the ice!  And he waved happily to all of us. It was so good to see him enjoying himself. I am very glad he did not do any quad battles at the end. He just did a side lunge for the 1st show (with one under a set of hurdles, so amazing!), a hydroblade for the 2nd show, and a ‘muscle man’ pose with Plushenko at the last show. And when others are doing their jumps or special elements in the middle of the rink, he would skate from his original position to the space between his idol Plushenko and good buddy Nobu. And he was often talking to Plush. Ahhh... Yuzu, still the cute fan-boy after all these years. :)))

After the finale, when all the other skaters have left the rink, Yuzu took a mic and spoke to thank all of us. He said things like please take care of yourselves, take care as you go home, have a meal, have a good rest, who is staying on for tomorrow’s show? oh that’s quite a lot of you (laughs), thank you for your support, I really enjoyed myself, eh to, eh to, there is still so much that I want to say, but never mind, it is already very late, I should stop here, I really want to thank all of you for today....... And he would end by putting the mic down and shouting as loudly as he could with his own voice “Arigato gozaimashita!”

Listening to him speak was just wonderful.... I was touched by his concern for his fans and also half-laughing at some things he said. He wanted to talk more but he did not want to hold us back as it was already way past 10pm on that 1st night. That dear talkative boy. :) Oh Yuzu, your fans would listen to you all night, if only we could. But then we want you to rest too! You need a good rest and a good meal more than us!

In his speech for the 2nd day, he also thanked the people who made the ice rink.  He said the ice was very good to skate on and they all loved skating there. Yuzu and his grateful heart. :) 

On that 2nd day, I was seated at the other end, where the stage was.  (I took this pic as I was leaving.)  When he was speaking, he was standing on the left of the stage just outside the ice.  I had a very clear side view of him through my binoculars ( I was halfway up the stands).  His face was sweaty but dazzling with happiness as he spoke.  How I wish I was sitting this close!   

The shows for Saturday and Sunday were at 2 pm and 1pm respectively.

Most skaters performed the same programmes for all 3 shows in Niigata but a few skaters did a different one for one of the shows. Like Marin Honda, for the 2nd show, she performed in a very cute Japan Airlines air stewardess costume. Elladj Balde was the skater before Marin (he did a great Michael Jackson medley) and when he finished his performance, he skated to one end with his chair and just sat there. Marin skated out in her JAL costume, went to him and said in Japanese, “Sir, would you like some coffee or tea?” Haha, that was how she started and I really enjoyed her performance.  For the other 2 days, she did ‘Crime Tale’.   Javier also had a different one in the 2nd show;  instead of his new SP, it was a funny pirate one where he was a cleaner-boy daydreaming. Johnny Weir performed ‘Amazing Grace’ in the 2nd half for the 1st 2 days, then on the 3rd day, he did a song called ‘Creep’.  His performance was so heart-wrenching, I almost cried.  I can still feel the pain he expressed even now when I think back..... Johnny’s skating is really very special. No wonder he is one of the skaters that Yuzu has looked up to since junior days.

In the 3rd show, which was the last FaOI show for 2017, Yuzu had some surprises for us. 

After performing Chopin, he went backstage as usual, and the rink was dark. As with the previous 2 shows, we waited a while and then started to call his name. “Yuzu, Yuzu....” The MC said we have to shout his name louder because he can’t hear us. So we shouted “YUZU!” as loudly as we could, expecting him to appear for the LGC encore. Suddenly, the sounds of an electric guitar filled the air. There was a guitarist on stage and he was playing ‘Parisienne Walkways’!!!! We recognised it immediately and the fan beside me turned to me with eyes as big as saucers. She grabbed my hand and we started screaming and jumping about, mad with excitement! Yuzu then skated out to all our screams and did his legendary PW wearing his Chopin costume (he did the 2nd half of the usual PW programme). Oh wow!!! What a surprise! What a treat!!! Yuzu's PW with live guitar!!! I felt like the luckiest fan in the world!!!

After that amazing encore, he went backstage and the finale started. The other skaters came out in turns to do the group number. When Yuzu came out again for his part in the finale, we all went hysterical again! Because he was wearing a yellow headband with Pooh ears!! Hahaha...... this guy really knows how to make his fans scream. He looked so adorable! It was wonderful to see him looking so happy and enjoying himself so much. (Later, I saw a Japanese fan on twitter say the Pooh headbands were all sold out. But of course. The Yuzuru-effect. XD) 

(2 pics above are fans’ screenshots of a TV news segment on FaOI.)

Then at the very end of the show, when the other skaters have left the rink, he gave a very emotional speech and made me cry.  He said that last year he could not do anything (no ice shows at all due to injury), so now he is feeling very happy to be back doing this and he loves skating and he is feeling most blessed and he is the happiest person in the world. (*may not be the exact words but the meaning is such.)  And he thanked the organisers and other people and all of us.  It was not so much the words he said but the way he said them. There were so much emotions. His voice trembled a bit at the beginning. It sounded like he was tearing and was trying to control himself not to cry. As he spoke, his feelings were just gushing out...... he was just so utterly happy and grateful for everything!

Then he did the usual ending-shout;  he put down the mic, cupped his hands near his mouth and shouted "arigato-gozaimashita!", and we all shouted back "arigato-gozaimashita!"  And then he bowed and waved and went in through the curtains.

Tears were running down my face. I continued to say softly, "Arigato, Yuzu-kun, arigato."  Thank you, Yuzu, thank you.  My tears just kept flowing as I thought back.  After going through so much... so much..... he is finally where he is supposed to be.......   

Seeing Yuzu so happy and healthy is one of the best things in the world. 

I met Kay after the show and we talked about how special Yuzu is.  And how is it that he can make us fly thousands of miles to watch him perform just those few minutes and we feel it’s so worth our time, money and energy.  She would be flying home that night, and for me, my flight home was the next day.  As with all good things, it ended too quickly but our hearts were filled to overflowing.

I am very grateful to Kay for her help with tickets and for her fun company.  We met up every day and ate some very delicious food together.  On the 2nd day after the show, we walked around and found a little ramen shop to have dinner.  And again there was yuzu in it!!!  (See the little yellow strips on top of the soup?)  Kay also ordered a yuzu sparkling wine.  I had a sip and it was lovely!   Another meal with yuzu.... ahhh life is good. :) 

On the last night after the ice show, I shopped for stuff like P&G Bold clothes detergent, Lenor clothes deodoriser and softener, Ghana chocolate and Xylitol gum.  I was so happy to find all these things near my hotel, and after I lugged my heavy shopping back to my hotel room, I realised I had forgotten to buy rice! Niigata is famous for very good rice and I had wanted to buy a small bag of rice home. :((  I messaged Kay to lament and she replied, it’s ok, he is not the ambassador for rice.  Hahaha..... I love Yuzu-fans.  (I did manage to get a bag of rice before I left for the airport the next day. :) ) 

Yuzu-fans are really wonderful and generous.  And just like Yuzu, they surprise me all the time.  On the 2nd night, D-chan passed a package to me from a fan that I don’t even know.  Inside were some Japanese newspapers and advertisements with Yuzu, and also ‘Weekend Sendai’!!!  OMG I nearly fainted with happiness.  (Weekend Sendai is a free travel magazine given out in Japan many months back.  Yuzu is featured inside recommending food and places in Sendai. 1st pic below, left side.)   Gosh, how did she know it’s something I had been coveting for ages now???  I told D-chan to give her my utmost gratitude.  And thank you, D-chan, for being a good friend and messenger!  So glad I met you on this trip!    

Another fan gave me gorgeous photos of Yuzu that she had taken herself at competitions.  And she said, “Thank you for the good work that you do in the fan group.”  Aww..... I was so touched!   Thank you, CL!

I was so happy when I was packing my luggage on the last night in Niigata.  I had so many precious goodies in my bag!   Thank you, dear Yuzu-fans!!!  Hope to see you all again! 

Below are pics of my FaOI tee, towel and booklet that I bought on Day 1.

There is so much more that I want to say, but this is already so long, I should stop here now.  Dear Yuzu, thank you for everything!!!  May God bless you and your family.  Always supporting you and hope to see you again soon!   

Note: This is written one month after the event due to being too busy at work.  If any details of FaOI are incorrect, I am sorry for my bad memory. :P   

[Credit: photos are all mine except for the 2 screenshots of Yuzu with Pooh-ears from twitter and the Pooh pics from pinterest - thanks!]

[latchingontoallofyou]

We Are Us - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

It’s the last night of the DWTS tour and the family is going since it’s in LA. Meryl and Maks are surprising Kamri. She knows they are going tonight but what she doesn’t know is that Caleb, Julianna, Billy and Christine are coming with them.

It’s the last Saturday in July. Kamri’s 6th birthday is next week and they have a very special thing planned but it’s still a secret as well.

Christine and Meryl had gone out shopping together earlier this week while Maks and Billy stayed with the kids. Kamri had told Meryl that she wanted to wear a fancy dress to the show tonight. Meryl tried to tell her she didn’t have to dress fancy but Kamri was hearing none of it. For her, DWTS and fancy dresses go together. They had gotten Kamri and Julianna matching dress and Caleb an outfit that match Kamri because both Moms knew meltdowns would ensue if they didn’t.

Kamri is at gymnastics private, which was per Kamri’s request, but Maks has gone to get her. Rylan is wondering around the living room, with her bear and blanket in hand. Now that she is walking, she rarely ever puts them down. 5-month-old Olivianna is bouncing in her activity jumper.

Meryl is beyond excited to finally have Jenna home. They’ve some time before the next season starts and Jenna’s days are filled again. She can’t wait sit with her as they watch the girls play, or go to the park together. They could walk around the neighborhood or venture to the beach. She doesn’t really care. She just wants to spend time with her best friends.  Jenna had wanted to spend the morning together today but since they were finally home, Meryl told her to spend the day at home with Val. They hadn’t spent time in their house since the day they came home for Rylan’s birthday and even that was really just sleeping. Meryl promised they’ll spend tomorrow together if they are up for it.

“I’m home” Meryl hears Kamri say as she opens the front door.

“Welcome home Lovey.”

“Mommy, Coach Kayla helped me do a back handspring. I can almost do it on my own!”

“That so awesome Kamri! I’m so proud of you.”

“Wasn’t I good Daddy?”

“You sure were. Coach Kayla said you worked very hard today. I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you Daddy. I’m all sweaty Mommy.”

“I bet you are. You’ll have to go take a shower so you aren’t stinky and sweaty for the show tonight.”

“I’m so excited! I want to go now!”

“We’d be really early Lovey. We’ll get you a shower, eat dinner, and then we’ll head out for the show.”

“Can I go shower now?” she asks excitedly.

“Do you want help?”

“No. I think I can do it.”

“Can I at least help with your hair big girl?”

“Ok, come on” she says reaching out for Meryl’s hand.

~

Kamri is fresh from her shower. Her long ringlets are down natural, air drying. She is wearing one of her night gowns so that she doesn’t get her dress for the night wet or get food on it. They are having one of her favorite things for dinner, pasta with marinara sauce, meatballs, salad and raspberries.

“We might have to bathe Rylan after this dinner” Maks laughs, looking over at Rylan whose face is covered in sauce. So are her hands.

“I think you’re right” Meryl laughs.

“Don’t worry. I handle it” Maks says.

“Can you do her and Olivianna?”

“Sure.”

“Mommy, I’m full.”

“Ok. I’m almost done and then we’ll get you dressed.”

“Mommy, I’m almost 6. I can do it.”

“But you don’t know where your new dress is for tonight. I got you a special dress for you.”

“Oh! Thank you, Mommy.”

“You’re welcome, Lovey. Can you go clean up your plate? Rinse it off and put in the dishwasher please.”

“Ok. I’m big now. I can do that.”

“You sure can.”

Meryl finishes her plate as Kamri cleans off hers. Meryl then quickly washes off her plate and goes upstairs with Kamri. Meryl tells Kamri to go into her own room and that she’ll bring in her dress. She is sitting, waiting anxiously on her bed waiting for Meryl.

“Whoa! It’s so pretty Mommy!”

“I’m so glad you like it.”

Kamri’s dress has a sequin top with red, gold, and green sequins. There is a black satin belt with a large red flower on it that leads to the black skirt with red, green, and white tulle overlay.

“You look beautiful Lovey.”

“Thank you Mommy.”

“Mer?” Meryl hears Kamri call out.

“Yes?”

“Can you come get Rylan? She’s all cleaned up and walking around the bathroom, making it hard to bathe Olivianna.”

“Got her” Meryl says coming into the bathroom in Rylan’s room. She had started walking to him once he called out to her.

“Wow. That was quick. Thanks.”

“I love you” Meryl says as she heads out of the bathroom to get Rylan dressed. Putting a diaper on her giggling girl, and then puts on her white tank top with a navy and light blue flower on one shoulder. The skirt that goes with it is a light blue and navy floral designed two layer, ruffle skirt. “Maks, I’ll bring Olivianna’s outfit in here for you.”

“Thanks. I’m just about done.”

“Ok.” Meryl takes Rylan with her as she goes to get Olivianna’s matching outfit. Her tank top is a soft pink with white flowers and her skirt is white ruffles with pink flowers.

Meryl and Rylan go downstairs and find Kamri siting on the couch, watch TV. She sits Rylan with Kamri and puts away the rest of dinner. She gets a text from Christine while she is putting the last container in the fridge.

C- We are about 10 minutes away.

M- Awesome! Kamri is dressed and itch to leave already. She still has no idea. See you soon.

“Kamri, can you keep an eye on your sister for me. I want to go get dressed.”

“Ok Mommy.”

Maks is just coming out with Olivianna when Meryl gets upstairs. He stops in the doorway of Rylan’s room and smiles at Meryl. She comes over and leans in to kiss him.

“I’ll take her. I should feed her before we go. We should pack her a bottle just in case too.”

“Good idea. And what am I wearing today?”

“You get to pick your own outfit. You’re a big boy.”

“Do I at least get to know what you’re wearing before I get dressed?”

“Only if you hurry because our surprise will be here soon. Oh, I should wait to feed her until they get here. I don’t want to miss seeing Kamri’s face.”

“Let’s get dressed and then you can feed her downstairs.”

“You’re too smart” he says kissing her. All three of them go into the master and Meryl goes into the closet to get dressed. Maks asks her the color she is wearing and she says white with red and a little blue. She is wearing a white, strapless maxi dress with a red, white, and blue floral design.

Once she comes out, he quickly dresses in a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and khaki shorts.

Just as they head downstairs, the doorbell rings. Maks looks over at Meryl who smiles back at him.

“Mommy!”

“Come here Lovey. Let’s see who it is” Meryl says, barely holding back her giggle. Kamri comes running over and Rylan is soon behind her.

The whole family is at the door. When Maks opens the door, Kamri gasps, squeals, and wraps Caleb up in a hug.

“Caleb!”

“Kamri!”

“Welcome! Come on in” Meryl says stepping aside so Christine, Billy, and Julianna can come into the house. “You all look amazing.”

“Thank you” Christine says, rubbing her bump.

“Mommy, is Caleb coming?”

“His whole family is coming.”

“Yay!”

“Happy Birthday” Billy says with a wink at Kamri.

“Thank you! I’m almost 6 now.”

“I can hardly believe it” Christine says.

“Julianna, we match!” Kamri says finally noticing her dress.

“We do!” Julianna, who is 8 years old says excitedly. Julianna’s dress is the same as Kamri but with a blue, pink, and yellow theme.

“Christine, you were right with Caleb’s outfit. It does match perfectly with Kamri. Caleb is wearing a white dress shirt, jean shorts, and red overalls.

“Thank you.”

“We are almost ready to go. I need to feed Olivianna first. You all can make yourself comfortable. We won’t be too long.”

~

At the show now, they are sitting in the 6th row. There is one more dance before intermission. It’s a group dance with everyone on tour. Kamri and Julianna, the dancers of the kids, are dancing in their seats. Caleb’s head is bopping to the music.

When the song ends and the dancers all head off the stage, the lights turn up. Kamri jumps out of her seat.

“What are you doing Lovey?” Maks asks.  

“Let’s go see Uncle Val and Aunt Jenna.”

“Kamri, we can’t do that today.”

“But why Daddy?” she whines.

“Because they need to take a break before they come back on.”

“Will we see them after?”

“They have the meet and greet after.”

“But…”

“Kamri Ellison, we can see them any time we want. Those going to see them today don’t. We need to let them have their turn.”

“But I miss them.”

“I know you do.”

“Julianna wants to go get a shirt. Can Kamri come with us?” Christine asks, leaning around the kids.

“Oh, I’ll come with you” Meryl says. “I need to stretch my legs.”

“If I go out there, we’ll get stopped to take pictures again” Maks says. They had been stopped many times for pictures on their way in.

“I’ll stay back with Maks” Billy suggest.

“Mer, do you want us to keep Olivianna with us?” Maks asks. He has Rylan in him lap and Meryl has Olivianna.

“No. I’ll take her with me. It might be good to let Rylan walk too.”

“I’ve got her” Christine says taking Rylan from Maks. They walk past Billy and Maks and into the aisle. Meryl has Kamri and Caleb hold hands and Julianna takes hold of Kamri’s other hand. They walk out of the auditorium together, successfully not being stopped even though they had been recognized. Once they get into the lobby, Christine lets Rylan down and holds her hand, letting her walk alongside her. It doesn’t last long because there is too many people and Rylan is a bit freaked out.

After all three of the older kids had gotten their shirts, they head back to the auditorium for the rest of the show. Kamri, Caleb, and Julianna, never took their eyes off the stage. Rylan and Olivianna on the other hand, both fell asleep after their bottles they’d been given during the second half of the show.

By the end of the show, Kamri, Julianna, and Caleb were bouncing in their seats, full of energy. They jump up and down, begging to go get ice cream. It’s too late at night to get ice cream, and little do they know, they really are exhausted. There were some tears when Maks tells Kamri it’s time to go home. She tried to hold on to Caleb so they wouldn’t have to go home but it didn’t work. Eventually, they made their way to the car. They talk about their favorite parts of the show until Kamri falls asleep.

~

“Thanks for coming to help me Jen” Meryl says letting her best friend in the house while trying to keep Rylan from walking out the front door.

“No problem. Come here Sissy. Come to Aunt Jenna” Jenna says turning from the door.

Rylan runs away from the door and right to Jenna. Meryl follows behind with a smile. Jenna picks Rylan up, twirling around and then sits Rylan on her hip.

“Where’s the little one?”

“Napping.”

“And Kamri is at dance?”

“Yes. Maks will pick her up later and then spend the afternoon with her so we have more time to get things done.”

“Good.”

“Can you believe she’s 6 and going to kindergarten in a few weeks?” Meryl asks as they walk upstairs.

“No. When you first met her, she had just turned 4. Almost two years later, look at you now.”

Kamri’s 6th birthday had come and gone. They had spent the day with Jenna and Val at the beach before dinner and a movie. They had had so much fun. Kamri smiled the entire time, happy to be spending time with her family. They had told her she has a very special surprise coming soon but they haven’t told her yet.

“Where should we start Mer?”

“Um, the little girls first. They’ll probably be the easiest. Oh, I guess we need the suitcases. I’ll be right back.”

Jenna takes Rylan into her nursery and waits for Meryl in there. There are some matching outfits already set out. Meryl comes back in with one suitcase.

“I figured we can probably fit both girls’ clothes in here since they are little. Diapers and formula should fit too. We’ll fill the diaper bag too.”

“I’m so excited for this trip.”

“Me too! Did you know the day we leave, I will officially have a 6 year old, a 14 month old and a 6th month old?”

“That’s crazy. So what do you want me to do?”

“I need help picking out outfits. I have a few outfits where the girls will match so that they’ll be easy to spot.”

“Ok. So, let’s put those in” Jenna says picking up the stacked outfits and puts them in the suitcase. “How many outfits are you thinking?”

“Well we’ll be gone, um, 9 days. No, we’ll be gone 10 days. So, 10 with a few extras. Maybe 15. That sounds like a lot.”

“There are babies. They are bound to get messy.”

“They’ll only need a few pajamas.”

“Right. Let’s get the outfits first.” Jenna says going to the closet.

~

“Mommy, what are all these suitcases for?”

“We’re going on a trip” Meryl says smiling and winks at Maks.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

“Wait, is this my birthday surprise?”

“Yes.”

“Yay!”

“We have to go to bed early because we need to be up really early to get to the airport” Maks says helping to clear the table. They have just finished dinner and are about to settled down for a movie.

“Ok. I’ll go get my pajamas on.”

“Good girl. Brush your teeth too” Meryl calls out as Kamri runs up the stairs.

“You ready for this?” Maks asks as he gets Olivianna out of her high chair. He puts her down and she crawls after Rylan who is on her way to the living room.

“I am. It will be the prefect end to a wonderful summer.”

“Do we need any last minute things?”

“No. I think I’ve got it all. You’re all packed?”

“Yes. Formula, bottles, diapers, wipes?”

“Got them all” Meryl says with a smile.

“Sunscreen?”

“Plenty.”

“Shampoo, conditioner, soap?”

“Yup.”

“I know you and Jenna have the clothes all packed. It sounds like you are set.”

“We have plenty of shoes packed as well.”

“You’re amazing. I love you” Maks says pulling her close and kisses her.

“Mommy, Daddy, can we watch our movie now?”

“Sure Lovey. Maks, can you go get their pjs?”

“Got it.”

~

“I’ve got the girls. Go get in the car Mer” Maks says handing her a mug of coffee and a bagel. She gives him a sleepy smile and heads to the car.

They had packed the suitcases and things into the car last night. Val and Jenna were expected to come over in their car any minute since they are coming on this vacation too. They managed to squeeze it in before the next season of DWTS starts. One by one, Maks brings out each of their sleeping girls and puts them in their car seats. As he is putting Rylan in, Val and Jenna pull up. Now that all of the girls are in the car and Maks has double checked to make sure they have everything, Maks gets into the car and they head to the airport.

It is quite a scene, them walking into the airport with all of their bags. Everything is checked in except their few carry- on items. They make their way through security and head to their gate. Kamri wakes up not long after and Maks takes her to the bathroom and to get some breakfast and snacks for the flight. She’s so out of sorts, she doesn’t even ask where they are going until they are sitting in their seats on the plane. Kamri has the window seat with Meryl next to her, Olivianna in her lap, and Maks on the end with Rylan in his lap. Val and Jenna are sitting behind them with an open seat.

“Mommy, where are we going?”

“Should we tell her Maks?”

“I think we can tell her where we are landing.”

“Good idea. We are landing in Florida.”

“We’re going to Florida?” she asks excitedly.

“Kind of. We are going somewhere from there.”

“Where?”

“Should we tell her Maks?”

“I don’t know.” He turns around to look at Jenna and Val. “Should we tell her Val?”

“I don’t know. Babe, what do you think? Should we tell her?”

“Please Aunt Jenna!”

“I think we should tell her” Jenna says with a smile and a wink.

“Alright. I guess we’ll tell you. Or we can wait until we land. What do you all think?”

“Daddy! Please!”

“Alright. We’re going on a cruise.”

“Yay!”

“We’re going to see beautiful beaches, swim, and have nice food on the boat” Meryl says.

“Aunt Jenna and Uncle Val are coming?”

“They are.”

“Anyone else?”

“Your sister, Daddy and I.”

“Grammy and Poppy?”

“No, they have to work.”

“Babushka and Dedushka?”

“Sorry Lovey.”

“That’s ok. We’re going to have so much fun!”

“We sure are” Meryl says squeezing Kamri against her side.

When the plane finally takes off, both Rylan and Olivianna are cranky, bothered by how their ears feel. Kamri, who has some gum and her iPad is happy and unbothered. Meryl settles Olivianna down with some music, singing their favorite songs. Maks wraps Rylan in her blanket and reads some stories. After a bottle for both a bit later, they both take a nap and Meryl drifts off to sleep on Maks’ shoulder as well. Kamri got bored sitting with them and goes back a row to sit with Val and Jenna. She and Jenna spend time coloring together. They talk, color, play, sing and end up napping a little too.

When they arrive in Florida, Jenna takes Rylan from Maks while Meryl continues holding Olivianna. Maks and Val carry the bags. Kamri holds Jenna’s hand as they make their way off the plane and through the airport. They stop at the bathroom, needing to change diapers and go themselves. Maks and Val are waiting for them outside the bathroom and they all head to the baggage claim. When all of their bags have come and they get the alert that their ride has arrived, they head out. Maks has rented a limo to take them from the airport to port.

“This is a really big car Daddy” Kamri says as she climbs in, amazed, looking around. She hops on the benches trying to find the most perfect seat. Maks and Val get Rylan and Olivianna’s seats situated.

“It’s called a limo Lovey.”

“We’re in a limo?” she asks excitedly.

“Yes. What do you think?”

“I love it! Mommy, it’s a limo” she says as Meryl and Jenna climb in.

“I know Lovey. It’s pretty special.”

“Where is it taking us?”

“To the ship.”

“Yay!”

~

“This boat is so big” Kamri says as they walk down the hall towards their room.

“It sure is but that’s because there is so much to do” Meryl says squeezing the hand she is holding. “That also means you need to stay close to us.”

“Yes Mommy. Can we go swimming?”

“Not yet Lovey. We have to check out the room and then we have to go to a meeting.”

“A meeting?”

“It’s a meeting that tells us how to stay safe.”

“Oh, ok. Then can we swim?”

“Yes. Then we can swim.”

“These are our rooms.” Jenna and Val’s room is next to Meryl, Maks and the girl’s room. Val passes Rylan back to Maks and they head into their rooms.

“Whoa!” Kamri squeals as they walk into the gorgeous room. There is a king size bed and a couch that will pull out to be Kamri’s bed. There is enough room for the pack and plays for Rylan and Olivianna. Meryl heads right for her favorite part of the room, the balcony.

“This is amazing” she says looking out over the ocean. She kisses Olivianna’s head.

“Mommy, we have a deck!”

“Close. It’s called a balcony. There’s a rule about the balcony. You can only be out here if Mommy or Daddy are out here. Well, Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Jenna, or Uncle Val. Ok?”

“Ok.”

“And no hanging on the wall there.”

“Ok” she says happily.

“Mommy, where’s my bed?”

“That couch pulls out to a bed. We’ll make the bed for you later.”

“Ok. Where are Sissy and Rusalka’s beds?”

“They’ll come with our luggage. We have to go to that meeting and then when we come back, our luggage should be here.”

“Ok.”

“Why don’t you go potty Lovey.”

“Ok.”

Meryl sits on one of the balcony chairs, loving the beach breeze. Olivianna, who’s in need of another nap, cuddles into Meryl’s shoulder. She hums her favorite song and rubs her back.

“And she’s in her happy place. Did you even check out the room?”

“I took a quick glance on my way out here.”

“Is she asleep?”

“Yea.”

“This is going to be a great trip.”

“It sure is” she says before he leans in and kisses her.

~

“That meeting was boring Daddy.”

“I know Kamri but we had to go to it. It’s mandatory.”

“What does that mean?”

“That you have to go to it.”

“Look, our suitcases are here!”

“Oh good” Meryl says coming into the room. She lays Olivianna down on the center of the big bed. She grabs one of the pack and plays and starts unpacking it. Thankful that it’s an easy set-up, as soon as it is up, she lays Olivianna in it. She moves on to Rylan’s pack and play.

“Mer…”

“I need to get us organized Maks. My head is going a thousand miles a minute and it won’t stop until we’re all set up in here.”

“What can I do?”

“Kamri wants to go swimming.”

“I’ll take Rylan too.”

“She needs a nap. I’ll keep her and get her down for a nap.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes Maks. Here Kamri. You can wear this swimsuit.”

“Thanks Mommy!”

~

“Kamri, we should go in quietly just in case the little girls are still asleep.”

“Why couldn’t we stay at the pool longer Daddy?”

“I didn’t want to leave Mommy by herself too long. Plus, the pool will be here the whole week.”

Maks slides the key and gently opens the door. The quiet calm room he was expecting wasn’t there. Rylan, who was walking around the room, squeals and comes towards the door.

“Hi Sissy” he says picking her up. She cuddles against him. Are you treating you Mommy well?”

“Let’s just say she does not like staying in this room and is not interested in her toys” Meryl says from the floor, leaning against the bed.

“Sorry Princess. What do you want me to do?”

“Get me out of this room.”

“Jenna was tired.”

“Maks, I don’t care. I need to get out of this room. All three of us do.”

“Let’s go explore.”

“She’s not going to want to sit in the stroller.”

“I’ll hold her.”

“Dinner is soon.”

“So we go to the windjammer. We don’t have to dress nicely for that.”

“How will Jenna and Val know?”

“I’ll let him know now.”

“But…”

“Meryl, relax. We’re on vacation.”

“I know. I’m struggling.”

“Need some balcony time?”

“No. I just need to walk with you and the girls.”

“Ok. Get some shoes on. I’ll go tell Val about dinner.”

Meryl finds her sandals and settles Olivianna into the stroller. Kamri starts telling Meryl all about the pool. She is beaming, clearly having had so much fun. It makes up for her almost going crazy in the room.

When Maks comes back, he says that Val and Jenna are going to rest and try to meet up with us later. Meryl nods and pushes the stroller out the door. She looks up and down the hall way, not sure which way to go.

“To the right Mer.”

“Where are we going to?” Kamri asks.”

“Anywhere Lovey. I just want to explore the ship.”

“Can we show you the pool?”

“Later Lovey” Maks jumps in saying. “Let’s go to the promenade.”

“What’s that?”

“The place where most of the shops are.”

“We can shop?!” Kamri says excitedly.

“We can start looking” Meryl corrects her with a laugh.

~

After a breakfast trip to the Windjammer, the buffet room, in their pajamas, the crew is heading back to their room to get dressed for a really exciting day. They are at their first port today. They are in Kings Wharf, Bermuda.

“Mommy, what are we going to do when we get off the boat?”

“We’re going to spend some time on the beach. We’ll play in the nice water or a while. We’ll come back on for lunch and naps.”

“Oh, ok. Do I have to nap?”

“If you are tired or cranky, yes. If not, no.”

“Ok. I’ll be big. I promise.”

“I believe you will.”

“Is Aunt Jenna coming?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“Ok, go potty” Meryl says as they get back to the room and Meryl opens the door. She gets right to work getting everything they need for today.

“Mer what can I do?” Maks asks but she doesn’t hear him. He walks over and puts a hand on her should and asks again.

“Sorry, um, can you change the girls into the swim diapers.”

“Got it.”

“Oh, put some extras in the bag too.”

Rylan runs over to Maks when he sits on the floor so he changes her first. Once her swim diaper is on, Meryl passes Maks her purple cheetah print swimsuit.

“Here Maks. Catch” Meryl says throwing him a white sundress with watermelons on it.

Rylan keeps trying to walk away while he puts the dress on her but he finally gets it on her. Meryl has already passes Kamri her two- piece pink cheetah swimsuit and her white sundress with watermelons on it. Her dress is different than Rylan’s dress but the same theme.

“I’ve got Rusalka. Go get dressed Princess.”

“Thank you” she smiles at him, dings through her clothes and grabs her things for the day and goes into the bathroom to get dressed.

Olivianna is much easier to change into her white swimsuit with red straps and red and black striped cheetah print. Her white watermelon dress has a matching diaper cover and a headband but her decides not to the diaper cover on her now but just put it in the diaper bag.

“Your turn” Meryl says coming out of the bathroom.

Maks goes into the bathroom with his swim trunks. Meryl puts Rylan in the stroller first, trying to keep her contained until it’s time to go. Meryl then puts Olivianna in the stroller as well and starts to look through the diaper bag. She makes sure there is plenty of diapers. She lathers Kamri up in sunscreen and does the same with the little ones.

Maks comes out and he helps Meryl with her own sunscreen and then puts some on himself. Val has said they would knock on their door when they were ready so they are waiting for their knock but Kamri is very anxious to go.

“Can’t we go without them?”

“Kamri Ellison, where are your manners? Have some patience please” Maks says.

“But there is only two of them and 5 of us. We are already done.”

“We also finished breakfast first. They were still eating when we left. Now no more whining or you’ll miss some beach time” Meryl says.

“Yes Mommy.”

Just then there is a knock on the door. Kamri’s eyes get wide and she really wants to jump off the bed and run to the door but Maks calmly walks over and opens the door.

“Who’s ready to go to the beach” Val says when Maks opens the door.

“Me!” Kamri squeals from the bed.

“Let’s go then Lovey” Val says holding his hand out for her.

She hopes off the bed and rushes to take his hand. Maks takes the stroller from Meryl and they all head down the hallway and eventually off the ship.

They walk down the path until they find the perfect spot on the beach. They find a quiet part of the beach were not too many people are. They set out towels and then get undressed. Jenna gets Olivianna out of the stroller and Maks gets Olivianna. Kamri is already halfway into the water with Meryl.

“Goodness, those two love each other so much” Val says as the rest of them make their way to the water.

“They sure do” Maks with a smile. “I love them too. All four of my girls.”

“Aunt Jenna, hurry!” Kamri calls from the water.

“I’m coming Lovey” she calls back quickening her steps.

“She looks good with a baby” Maks says when Jenna is far enough away.

“That she does” Val says softly, never taking his eyes off his wife.

“When are you going to make one of your own?”

“Maybe that’s what this trip is for” Val says with a laugh.

“Remember your nieces are in the room next door” he says with a laugh.

“We want to have a baby. We really do. The show makes it hard.”

“Hard but not impossible. Allison danced while she was pregnant.”

“You remember we just finished a tour where we spent more time on a bus in our own bunks with others around all the time. The rare nights we were at a hotel, we mostly spelt, just wanting to lay together in a comfy bed.”

“You never did it at a hotel?”

“I never said that. We both want it to happen but we aren’t stressing over it. We’ll just take your girls if we need some baby time.”

“Any time bro. Then I get some time with my wife.”

“Pick a night or two this cruise and we’ll take the girls overnight. You guys deserve some alone time too.”

“Thanks Val.”

“Daddy, come in!”

“We’re coming Lovey.”

“This water is amazing” Meryl says coming close to Maks, leaning against him, around Olivianna and kisses him.

“It sure is.”

“I can see me toes Daddy. The water is so nice.”

“It’s perfect.”

~

“Mommy, I don’t want to go back to the boat!”

“I know Lovey. I know it’s beautiful and fun but we have to go back. Your sisters are ready for naps. Daddy said he’ll stay with the girls and we can go up to the pool if you want.”

“Can we get the ice cream by the pool?”

“We’ll see.”

“Will we go to other beaches?”

“Yes. Not today though. The ship has to travel to the next port. That’s when we can go to another beach.”

“Oh, ok. Mommy?”

“Yes Lovey?”

“Why isn’t Aunt Jenna and Uncle Val coming with us?”

“They are going to spend some more time on the beach together. They need some time for just them. Remember how they were on the tour and didn’t really have time together?”

“Yes.”

“Well that what this trip is for. They’ll spend time with us but also alone.”

“Ok. Mommy?”

“Yea?”

“Can I have a piggy back ride?”

“Sure Lovey. Climb on.”

Kamri is quiet the rest of the way back onto the boat and to their room. When Maks opens the door and pushes the stroller in, Meryl follows behind him. Maks turns to look at Meryl and laughs. She gives him a confused look.

“She’s asleep on your back.”

“I knew she was tired. Looks like we get some us time” Meryl says with a wink. Maks comes over and takes Kamri off her back and lays her on her bed. She curls up onto her side and he pulls the blankets up over her.

Meryl is already moving Rylan out of the stroller and into her pack and play. Maks moves Olivianna and then pulls Meryl against him, standing in front of their big bed.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“We can’t Maks.”

“But there are asleep.”

“Yea, right next to us.”

“Shower?”

“You really think we can fit in that tiny shower together?”

“We’ll be real close.”

“Maks.”

“What if I ask Val and Jenna to keep the girls this tonight?”

“We can’t do that.”

“Val told me we could today.”

“But…”

“Meryl.”

“Alright.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes.”

“Can we at least make out on the bed?”

“I’m going out on the balcony Maks.”

“Can we…”

“Maks, have patience. Tonight.”

“I’ll try. Come on, let’s go sit.

[rationalsanskar]

Take A Peek Into South Florida’s Startup Culture, From Fort Lauderdale To Boca Raton

Until a few years ago, South Florida native Adam Garfield had been living in Boston and working in corporate finance. He had a “good job” at a hedge fund, earned a stable salary and could comfortably pay his rent, but something was missing.

“At the end of the day, it wasn’t very fulfilling,” Garfield says. “I think everybody sees it, where they start a job and they grow into just being pigeonholed in what they’re doing, and they only have to use one part of their brain. I just wanted to use the whole thing.”

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His idea to launch SpeedETab, a mobile app that lets customers pre-order and pre-pay for to-go lunches at local restaurants or concession stand items at sporting events, would let him do just that. By starting his own company, Garfield could be analytical and creative. It was a risk, but it was one he felt he needed to take. 

“For me, the bigger risk was not doing anything and seeing someone else do it and succeed,” says the founder and CEO of the Fort Lauderdale-based startup.

Nowadays, more and more South Floridians like Garfield are taking a chance at becoming an entrepreneur, with the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area ranked as No. 2 for startup activity in the U.S., according to a report by the Kauffman Foundation last year. 

Speedy Success

Garfield is wearing a fitted SpeedETab T-shirt—appropriate work attire for the company’s relaxed environment—when he steps out of SpeedETab’s offices in an industrial zone of downtown Fort Lauderdale. As he walks down the street to CoLab Workspaces, the coworking space where Garfield and co-founder Ed Gilmore first got the business off the ground, the 29-year-old CEO mentions he dropped his PR firm after a story ran that called SpeedETab a Miami startup. 

As of fall, the app has been made available in New York and parts of D.C., but Garfield says he’s proud the growing company is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. “Everyone knows how established Silicon Valley is, but for us, it’s really a chance to make a name not only for ourselves but for Fort Lauderdale,” he says.

Garfield and Gilmore, a developer who came on as chief technology officer, launched SpeedETab in April 2015. From there, it quickly evolved from a nightlife app for ordering drinks at a bar (an area where SpeedETab didn’t see much success) into an all-encompassing, everyday tool for pre-ordering food and beverages at a wide array of venues—including Warsaw Coffee, The Poke House, Flash Fire Pizza and Agave Taco Bar—in order to skip the line. “We want to let you have the most out of your lunch break, or we want you to be able to get to work on time but still get your coffee,” Garfield says.

Currently available at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, SpeedETab also plans to expand to other theaters and sports and concert venues in the area to save event-goers time at concessions stands during intermissions. The startup’s growth now depends on a team of 16 people who are motivated by this “movement,” as Garfield calls it—making to-go orders in today’s on-demand society as efficient as possible. “Within our company, it’s really about making people want to come to work everyday, and obviously the main way that we do that is by building something that people are excited to work on,” he says.

Nerds To The Rescue

Also catering to the on-demand market is Delray Beach-based startup Nerd Alert. The company offers in-home tech support to South Floridians, provided by a team of “Nerds”—an endearing name given to the tech support staff. Having 40 certified “Nerds” on staff gives each employee enough flexibility to pick up or pass on a job based on convenient hours.

On “Nerd Academy” days, potential new hires are invited to do ride-a-longs with the veteran “Nerds” and have a chance to learn about the company culture. “They see that we’re real people, not on our high horses. I’m in the trenches, just like all the other ‘Nerds,’” says co-founder and CEO Julius McGee. The company also holds social events, like bowling or beach trips. Through efforts like these, McGee says he’s trying to change the connotation of a nerd. “People ask me, ‘Should I call you a nerd?’ I say, ‘It’s like calling me Superman.’” 

It was following a stint as a “Genius” at the Apple Store that McGee started going into the homes of clients to resolve their technological issues one-on-one, much like he does with Nerd Alert now. With three friends—the entrepreneurs who founded Virgin Gaming alongside Sir Richard Branson—and a fifth partner with PC experience to complement McGee’s Mac expertise, McGee founded Nerd Alert, the Uber-fied version of the tech support and training. 

The company launched its services in February 2015 and has grown through referral discounts and by building relationships with 55-plus communities where Nerd Alert holds technology workshops with residents who oftentimes end up booking their own sessions. Rather than simply fixing problems and hitting frustrated clients with a big bill, as so often happens in tech stores, McGee and the other “Nerds” work to educate clients about what went wrong and how to resolve it. Clients now range from people in their 40s to 80s, to small businesses or doctors’ offices with Wi-Fi issues, to accounting firms looking to hold seminars on how to use Excel.

Co-founder Ryan Tenbusch says Nerd Alert made plenty of mistakes along the way—one being hiring some of the wrong people at the outset (applicants who were techy but not personable enough to work comfortably with clients in their homes)—but the important thing is they’ve learned to adapt, such as by implementing “Nerd Academy.” “It’s OK to make mistakes,” he says. “Honestly, people are so afraid to fail. You’re going to screw it up; I guarantee we’re going to screw something up next week. We’ll laugh about it and figure it out. There’s no ego on our team.”

Operating out of The KTCHN coworking space located on Atlantic Avenue—surrounded by other startups in an area McGee feels is undergoing a “renaissance”—has been advantageous for networking opportunities, McGee says. Some investors who learn about Nerd Alert have told him, “Hey, that’s a really cool idea—why don’t you go out to Silicon Valley?” But McGee insists that South Florida is where he belongs. “You don’t have to be in a certain location in order to be successful,” he says.

Fast-Tracking Funding

Though South Florida’s startup scene is certainly growing, the Kauffman Index shows a startling counter to these success stories: Of the 40 largest metro areas in the U.S., South Florida is ranked second to last in entrepreneurship growth when considering the number of startups scaling up into larger companies or how quickly (or not) the revenue for each is growing. “The entrepreneurial environment is here, but the know-how on how to scale a company, or the ability to scale it with additional funding is not here, and that needs to mature,” says Thomas Buchar of The South Florida Accelerator, which has offices in Broward College’s downtown Fort Lauderdale campus.

From Miami to West Palm Beach, the South Florida region takes in just under 1 percent of the total share of venture capital investment in the U.S., while Nos. 1 and 2 San Francisco and Silicon Valley combine for nearly 40 percent, according to the Martin Prosperity Institute. However, The South Florida Accelerator, which has partnered with local business giants like Citrix, is fast-tracking the typical investment-seeking process by connecting startups with large companies to back them. These Fort Lauderdale-headquartered firms give Broward County’s emerging startup scene an edge. “Look at where the top, top companies are—Ultimate Software and Citrix—they’re not in Miami,” Buchar says.

A secretive Dania Beach startup with Google and other big-name investors backing it has also drawn attention—and capital—to South Florida’s startup scene. MagicLeap is developing “mixed reality” technology (bringing virtual reality animations into a real-time setting), and even though its product is still at least 18 months away from hitting the market, the company is already worth $4.5 billion, according to Forbes. Local entrepreneurs hope this may have a trickle-down effect, motivating venture capitalists to fund other startups in the area or even leading MagicLeap employees to become investors themselves.

In the meantime, Broward College’s Innovation Hub Director Enrique Triay says entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are already moving from Silicon Valley and other startup hubs to South Florida for a number of reasons: lower taxes, the weather and overall quality of life.

Kick-starting Their Own Business

One Fort Lauderdale startup duo has bypassed South Florida’s funding shortfall by taking matters into their own hands: Jonathan Azevedo and Chris Lightcap of Plug and Play (PNP) Robotics put their ZenCrate anti-anxiety dog den concept on Kickstarter last fall and reached their crowdfunding goal of $80,000 in just 11 days (in fact, they almost doubled it). “We wanted to go the route where we didn’t have to reach out to angel investors,” Azevedo says. “We didn’t want to give up ownership of the company and didn’t want to have more decision makers in the room.” 

It’s been that way since the beginning for PNP Robotics, a product development startup. The co-founders, both engineers, became friends while working together for a medical company where they helped develop a surgical robot that can perform high-precision knee and hip surgeries. Azevedo and Lightcap eventually decided to start their own business to develop new products, and even then, they were hesitant to seek out investors. Instead, they first founded a consulting firm, ADEX Technologies, to earn enough revenue through developing for other companies that they’d soon be able to launch products of their own.

Their ZenCrate came about after Charger, a guide dog Azevedo had trained, started showing signs of anxiety during thunderstorms. Azevedo tried veterinarian-prescribed medication, essential oils and every other solution he’d found through research before he and Lightcap applied that research toward creating an entirely new product. 

The stylish, “smart” den they came up with plays calming music at frequencies ideal for dogs, has a motion-activated fan for ventilation, and plugs into the wall but also has a backup battery in case the power goes out during a storm. The ZenCrate’s acoustic design keeps anxiety-inducing sounds out while keeping the relaxation music in, and its shape mimics the tight-spaced feel of a car’s backseat, where Charger seemed most at ease. “Naturally, dogs in the wild would always take comfort in a den-type environment,” Azevedo says. “It makes them feel comfortable, and they can kind of lessen their senses. They know nothing can come out of their blind spot, so they can lay down and relax.” 

The PNP Robotics team is also working to develop an app so pet owners can control the ZenCrate remotely, get notifications, or even watch a livestream. The first mass order of ZenCrate is set for delivery in March.

Collaboration and Community

On the corner of Broward Boulevard and Federal Highway, a creative and tech hub has emerged in Fort Lauderdale that’s looking to take South Florida’s startup community to the next level. The new space, called Collective Ventures, offers an innovation center, a startup accelerator looking to invest $5 million into 100 new companies during the next three years, and a community coffeehouse all in one. “Coworking exists, startup accelerators exist, collaboration exists and cafes exist. I put them all together,” founder Brian Jacob says.

It takes four ingredients for an entrepreneur to be successful, Jacob says: knowledge, experience, courage and money. Most of the time, he meets people with only two of the four. But that’s where Collective Ventures can step in, whether the entrepreneur is looking for funding, expert advice or professional services. Conveniently, the 20 companies who are members of the coworking space all come from different industries essential to the growth of a startup—web development, search engine optimization, photography, PR, social media, legal services and more—and each of the agencies was hand-selected to be a top resource to whoever walks into the center. “I want people to come in for a cup of coffee and leave with a business,” Jacob says.

The soon-to-open coffee shop will host Ted Talk-style presentations that, even for the student who only comes in to study, Jacob hopes will be as inspirational as they are informative. Between the 110-seat cafe’s open-plan design and seven presentation and conference rooms that are rentable by the hour, the venue is bound to be a breeding ground for entrepreneurs and innovators. And, designed with collaboration and community in mind, it could soon be the birthplace of South Florida’s newest startups. “There’s only so much you can do alone,” Jacob says.

Coworking Spaces

Not only are new companies surfacing in South Florida, but so are new takes on work environments. Claim a desk nearby other creatives, entrepreneurs and freelancers at one of these coworking spots.

General Provision

This FAT Village coworking space is divided into themed rooms, such as The Hideaway, an alcove with a staircase for those who work best in a lofted setting, and The War Room, a presentation room lined with armor that features a Smart TV and video wall, and has a coffee bar with bicycle stools. It’s also the new home of Wyncode FAT Village, a computer programming academy that takes participants through an accelerated coding boot camp.

525 NW First Ave., Fort Lauderdale

CoLab Workspaces

CoLab’s open-plan workspace offers eclectic decor (think early 20th century-style telephone booth and a desk made from an old airplane wing) in a laid-back environment, as well as conference rooms and tons of freshly ground coffee from the Grind Coffee Project. Visitors are also welcome to book the conference rooms on a first-come, first-serve basis.

599 SW Second Ave., Fort Lauderdale

Innovation Hub at Broward College

This business incubator at Broward College’s Cypress Creek Center features 5,400 square feet of private offices, shared working space for up to 16 people, small conference and mentoring rooms, and a large seminar room with audiovisual equipment for video trainings and more. In addition to working space, Innovation Hub provides mentoring and access to industry experts and investors. It also hosts six-month “Shark Tank-meets-Survivor”-style accelerator programs for Broward County residents in which entrepreneurs fine-tune their startup concepts and learn how to seek funding. 

6400 NW Sixth Way, Fort Lauderdale

The KTCHN

The KTCHN in Delray Beach offers coworking space for the creative community right on Atlantic Avenue. The open workspace features a meeting room, galley kitchen and lounge area. Perks of membership include free food delivery from Delivery Dudes, fresh roasted coffee from Subculture and more.

135 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach

Quest Workspaces

Quest runs state-of-the-art shared office spaces in cities such as Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and, most recently, Plantation. The offices feature a blend of open, communal areas and closed meetings rooms for privacy, with unique elements such as a treadmill desk, communal dining tables, an open kitchen, TV lounge and dedicated meditation space.

1200 N. Federal Highway, Ste. 200, Boca Raton / 101 NE Third Ave., Ste. 1500, Fort Lauderdale / 150 S. Pine Island Road, Ste. 300, Plantation

This content was originally published here.

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[peaches-of-1]

Theatre Girl: Chapter 1- Roses

Theatre Boy: Prologue | Chapter 1

Theatre They: Prologue | Chapter 1

Mondays and Tuesdays were your off days, but today was Saturday which meant two shows. It was 10 am when your alarm woke you up and 10:15 am when you finally got up to take a shower after picking your outfit.

During your shower, you belted out the playlist of the newest version of Once on This Island. There was still blue body paint stuck to the floor that you rubbed with your big toe to get it down the drain. You dried off and put on your clothes while still in the bathroom. You decided to wear a skirt today. You'd been wearing skirts more often since you had to wear tights every night.

By 11:02, you were in the cafeteria for lunch since call was at noon. You had your messenger bag filled with your hoodie and some snacks since you wouldn't be leaving the auditorium building today. Zendaya called you over and was eating with Auli’i who played Helena.

“Hey, guys, what's up?”

Auli’i spoke, “No much, but hurry and get your food. We've got questions for you.”

“Um, sure, ok.” You wondered what kind of questions they had as you went up to get your meal. Probably something about a theatre assignment or the play itself.

Pizza and fries, lots of unsalted French fries went onto your plate. There was also some pasta you hadn't seen before and wanted to try out. After getting some ketchup, you returned to your friends. Hobi was now at the table with a plate featuring a cheeseburger and under seasoned rice. You must have just missed him in the food lines.

“Oh, hey, Hobi.” You smiled.

“Did they ask you yet?” He took a sip of watery sprite.

You shook your head and responded, “Nope. Let me get my drink and sit and you can ask me whatever.”

You got your drink--which was your favorite soda mixed with fruit punch--and told them to go ahead with their questions. Then you sipped your drink.

“Did Namjoon, I mean Mr. Kim. Did he ask you on a date, and did you say yes?”

It took you a moment for you to respond since you didn't wanna do a spit take.

“What?” You coughed. “No! No to both of those. He just said I was one of the greatest Pucks he had ever seen. Gave me his card which I didn't know people still did.”

Zendaya widened her eyes, “You could be one of the greatest fucks he’s ever had!”

“Did you call or message him?” Hoseok asked.

“No?” You took bite of your pizza.

“And why not? He's hot, single, likes girls, and he totally wants you.” Auli’i commented.

As per usual, your response to any notion of somebody being into you, you laughed. You covered your mouth so that no food would fly out. “First of all, he said to call him for help with my acting career. Second, he does not 'want me', Louie.”

“Uh, yell hea he does. Ouch!" Zendaya shot Hobi a glare. "Well, I'm not wrong.”

He sighed, “Anyways, what do you think the crowd's gonna be like tonight?”

You were the type of girl who didn't get asked on dates or invited to parties. You just happened to be friends with those types of people. Yeah, college had made you more open, but there was still a fundamental shyness to you.

It was weird, not really paying attention to the conversation at hand but being in your head, but this is who you were. You were weird to say the least. Awkward. Which is why your high school drama department became your home, a place where you had support for the quirks that you had because there were people there with the same quirks, awkwardness, shyness. They liked you for you. Still, no romance or even lust.

So, you just knew that no one was into you like the girls were suggesting. Anyways, if Mr. Kim was into you, why not just say it? Tell you to call him? Ask you on a date? He was out of your league, so he didn’t have to be shy around you. Nope. Just not into you. Oh, but if he were. He was so sexy and really nice. His touch on your back had been so gentle.

“What about you, (Y/N)?” Hobi asked, facing you.

“Huh?” You asked, fork full of pasta in your mouth.

“What do you expect from tonight’s audience? I hope they’re reactive.”

“Oh.” You said, quickly chewing and swallowing the food. “Uh, I think it’s gonna have the most kids since it’s a weekend. Maybe some repeats.”

Before you know it, you were all getting your makeup done. The foundation and base, everyone did on their own. You had done yours after getting dressed. Yoongi Oberon had to get leaves pressed onto his beautiful face, so the actual makeup artists did that.

Your glitter had to be neat, so an artist did that. They also painted your arms without the costume dirty. It was like magic, and you’re pretty sure it was.

Jimin had taken the chair next to you to tie his shoes. He smiled at you and asked, “So, did anything happen between you and Mr. Kim?”

The artist smiled and did a little laugh.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? And no. It was all just business and career pushing stuff.”

“Well, he did wink at you and give you candy.”

“To share.”

The cutie made an accepting noise, “Well, I think you’d be super cute together.”

You smiled, “Not as cute as you.”

He giggled, and you snuck a peek at his blushing face, “Awww, you’re so nice.”

The artist told you to close your eyes and hold your breath, as she stood you up. Then gave everyone a hairspray warning. Then she sprayed it on and fanned it away. Classic theatre smell. Another was what Titania aka Claire was doing, curling her hair as that German Reggae played.

The guy who requested it was jamming along with it. Singing along as he darkened his eyebrows since they were so blonde. You saw Yoongi putting on his arm drape cape things and leaned on his back.

“I’m so tired.”

“You’re not the only one, Pucky poo.” He turned around and looked at his arms. Do you think they’re even?

You poked out your lips as you looked and then reached for his left arm, “This needs to be a bit higher to match.” You squeezed his muscle. “I’m so glad you have these, so we can do the lifts.” You hugged them and smiled. “Too much?”

“It’s perfectly fine for you to hug my biceps.” He laughed, “Speaking of lifts, I had an idea for a new one. You can come over to my place this Monday, and we can work on it?”

“I think Edith will get mad if we try to pull anything new this far in.” You said, letting go of his arm.

“Well, it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”

You pointed at him, “True. We can at least try it for fun.”

Yoongi smiled, “Awesome!”

Seulgi announced 5 minutes to warm ups. You and Yoongi did your quick little stretch and made solid plans for Monday. Hoseok touched your neck and you nearly hit him. He apologized and said he was only trying to fix a braid that had gotten stuck to another braid.

Then warm up time. He grabbed your hand and you two ran up the stairs. He was such a silly boy. Good heart and just wanted to do warm ups next to you on stage. Then it was time to practice lifts with Oberon, glitter with the leads, and clean up some cues.

House opened and it was show time.

Jae Theseus held his bride-to-be Nayeon Hippolyta’s hand and entered, “Our wedding day is almost here, my beautiful Hippolyta. We’ll be getting married in four days, on the day of the new moon...”

Green path. Blackout. Clapping and then break. You let out the largest sigh when plopping down in the now actor’s only hallway to eat some trail mix. “That was not as bad as it could’ve been.”

Several people nearly fell due to one of the hand-holds on a set piece being broken. The set crew was putting on a new one now since they didn’t have the supplies during intermission.

Yoongi sat next to you, “Sorry for almost dropping you today. I was thinking about my line.”

“I’m ok. Still a bit shaken, but you caught me. It is our most dangerous one, so it’s understandable.”

Hoseok thought differently, “There you are! You nearly dropped (Y/N) out there today! She is more important than any of your lines.”

“Says the guy who missed half of them.”

“I was worried about my best friend! You can quickly recover from lines but she could’ve gotten seriously hurt.” 

“I’ve already gotten this speech from the director, I don’t need it from you too. I feel bad enough as it is. The last thing I wanna do is hurt her.” He looked at you. “It won’t happen again.”

You gave him a smile since you didn’t wanna say it was ok or tell him not to make promises he can’t keep. Theatre was full of chances. Mistakes. You had another show. Another chance. Not for the same audience, but that was fine.

Seulgi, with her hair in two braids, put a hand on his shoulder, “We’ll make sure of it. I want you guys to run that lift set again. Right now.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He said and you did.

As you passed by Hobi, you squeezed his hand and said you were fine. There was so much concern on his face, and in his voice. The experience was scary, but you knew you’d ok. You at least hoped really hard.

“And make her full of hateful fantasies.”

You were lifted onto his shoulders and made to sit there, feet hooked on his armpits. He handed you a flower after enchanting it.

“Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove: A sweet Athenian lady is in love With a disdainful youth” You stood on his shoulders now, matching his folded arm pose and facial expression.

“Anoint his eyes; But do it when the next thing he espies May be the lady:” There was the pop, and you jumped into his arms where he flipped you onto the floor in a standing position. Then your bodies made like a snaking X as you looked at each other. “Thou shalt know the man By the Athenian garments he hath on.”

You nodded and started to skip away, but he grabbed your arm with a sort of ‘I’m not done yet’ attitude, and pulled you into his embrace. You were leaned back a lot as he towered over you. “Effect it with some care, that he may prove More fond on her than she upon her love: And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.”

He looked up to the sky and you saluted, “Fear not, my lord, your servant shall do so.” After a quick bow, you two leaped off the stage.

Everyone clapped and the Stage Manager told you that’s how it’s supposed to be done and had you run it twice more before finishing your break. You could have really used a nap then.

Jimin met you when you were at the bottom of the stairs, “I wish I could hug you right now, but the paint.” He held your hand instead. “I really love when you do that, you know. It’s so awesome and accentuates the points that need to be paid attention to.”

“Thanks, buddy.” You said with a smile.

“You also look really hot when you do it.”

You were taken aback and blushed, “Oh, uh, uh, thanks. It’s the makeup.”

“Mmm, that’s part of it, but you’re always attractive, (Y/N). I think I might have a crush on you.”

“You’re too nice. I’m just me.” You reply, pinching his chin and sipping water, hoping to calm down.

After the second show, your name was called while wiping off the makeup. You looked up and Auli’i brought you a white basket packed with roses. “He’s not into you, my ass. Read the card.”

You picked up the card that was in the middle.

To the most honest Puck. If you want me to come to another show, just let me know. I want to see you again. ~Namjoon

Your cheeks got warm. What was this? “He--he. Um, he just means he wants to see me perform again.”

“In nothing but lace, I’m sure of it. Maybe only biting one of these roses.” Zendaya said, taking a rose out and putting it between her teeth.

“You lucky, minx.” Clair said with a smile on her face. “He’s so into you. I know, invite him to the cast party.”

“If you really want him to like you, tell him to come to the last showing and the party. He could even drive you there, take a detour and then hack you into little Puck sized pieces.” Yoongi said.

Hoseok added on, “He’d kiss her first. That’s how much he likes her. Then he’s kill her. He’s a complete stranger. Isn’t he getting attached too quickly?”

Key sighed, “Ignore them. If you wanna see where this goes, invite him. Last show, cast party. I support this.”

Taemin agreed, “It might even be love at first sight. Wouldn’t that be adorable?”

You bit your lip and thought. Everyone was surrounding you, but it wasn’t a bad thing. A bit stressful, but nothing compared to what you did on the stage.

“Sure. I’ll ask him. That doesn’t mean he’ll say yes.”

Almost everyone squealed and cheered. Then Seulgi kicked y’all out to go home because it was time to go home. You really wanted to get some sleep, but you had to wash the paint off. After hopping out of the shower, you sent Mr. Kim a text.

You weren’t expecting him to reply. It was late, after all.

You were surprised. Wait a minute...he said yes? To both. He said he wanted to come to the party and because he wanted to be invited to another show, he was coming. He actually...might have liked you. Drama queen that you were, he wanted you.

He was probably just being nice. Still, you sent him the location after confirming it with your group chat. You didn’t tell them you were doing it for Mr. Kim. They would get the news tomorrow since you were too tired to deal with their hype right now.

Was that...a heart? He sent you a heart emoji. Right next to your name, no space. Your millennial brain was freaking out. You sent a star because it was night time. He sent a heart. You almost threw your phone against the wall. Instead, you just dropped it.

Ok, wow. Now you had to go to bed. There was nothing more to say. You were too nervous to carry on a conversation. Oh goodness. Maybe...maybe you shouldn’t have done that. But it was done now.

It was a week until the last show. You looked at the roses on your desk and read the card again. Hoseok texted you, saying he couldn’t get to sleep and asked if you wanted to watch a movie. You lived in the same dorm building, same floor. He was just on the other side, so you said sure.

You grabbed your blanket and walked the hallways in your pajamas. Your eyes didn’t stay open for long as you snuggled up next to him on the mess of pillows on his floor. This was a common thing for you two since you had known him for a while. Hoseok was your best friend after all.

[fajrihanny]

Backstreet Boys 2017 : Larger Than Life

Oh my God, we’re back again~

So a few months back, there was that little news on my Facebook that Backstreet Boys were coming back to Singapore for one night only - and it’s their only stop in Asia in 2017! 

Did I rush to get the tickets? You bet I did. 

But this is to note that Singapore Sports Hub ticket system sucks - that virtual waiting room just got me so nervous. I needed to open few different browsers so I got more chances in the ticket!

Anyway, I got the ticket and I upgraded myself (and Husband, of course) to the ...2nd cheapest class available. Haha. 

Oh well, at least this is not our first time. I mean, we saw them back in 2015 (has it been 2 years?!) and we pretty much knew what we were expecting.

The concert was held in NATIONAL STADIUM. OK, they only opened half of the stadium for the concert but man, I was really surprised when I saw the venue! I imagined it’s going to be big and full of a blast! 

But was it?

The concert was supposed to start at 8.30 pm so we did Maghrib first at home. When we reached the venue, it was close to 8 pm. We thought we still had time for some snacks cause we were both quite hungry. Alas, we didn’t.

My friend who was already inside the stadium since 7 (!!) texted me and said that the security check took a while so I better queued early. Meh.

So we ditched our original plan and went to queue early. Poor Husband who was so hungry :(. When we reached the first security check... oh man, I started to appreciate how swift security check at Star Vista. They were fast, efficient, and most importantly, everything was done in an airconditioned room!

I digress - but the weather was really killing us outside even at night.

When we finally passed the last check, it was like 8.20 pm so we rushed to our section which was.... so far at the back LOL. Even my seats back in 2015 were SO MUCH BETTER and I paid less!

Anyway, enough of my rants. Let’s get on with the concert review.

***

At 8.30 pm, the big screen played a medley/remix of Backstreet Boys’ songs. That’s new (for me). The screen also flashed lots of clips from their music video - kinda like a mash-up.

That’s how far our seats were from the stage

The medley went on for about 10 minutes before finally, the concert started with “Larger Than Life”. So apt.

The crowd went wild but I stayed calm in my seat. LOL. Age is really catching up with me now. The boys (well - men) looked all smiley and did their best to open the concert with a bang, but I noticed that everyone’s voice was too tired. 

Next on the list was “The One”. Brian’s voice was a bit off and he couldn’t hit some of his notes in this song. And, as usual, the crowd cheered the loudest for Nick. Ah well, the teen heartthrob still has it.  They continued with “Get Down”. Not my favorite so I tended to skip. Kevin had a long hair and meh. Seemed like they toned down some parts of the choreography - maybe to cater to their age. After all, they are all backstreet dads now. Heh.  When the song was done, they started the first chat session. AJ has always been the heart of the party and this time it was no different. Nick followed afterwards and man the cheers could make my ears go deaf! He complained of how humid Singapore was that night and .... *drumroll* he also announced NEW ALBUM. 

PLEASE OH PLEASE MAKE IT BLACK AND BLUE VER 2.0!

Next was Kevin and I just wanted to chop that long hair of his.  After that short break, “Drowning” was played. Everyone looked so mellow. And at this point of the concert, I was starting to get annoyed at how bad the sound system was and how Brian still couldn’t hit some of his high notes right. What’s up with these?

The mellow mood continued with “Incomplete”. Meh. I am usually OK with Backstreet Boys’ slower songs but they didn’t sound... suitable for this open-air concert.

Luckily the next song was more upbeat. Now, this is weird but why was everyone so excited about “Quit Playing Games”? I mean, it’s a song about a man who got cheated on by his girlfriend! We were served with another intermission. Now it’s few slides which showed each member’s now and then. Wanna guess who got - like 50% more cheers than the others?

(Hint: it was not AJ nor Brian nor Kevin nor Howie) I was expecting more songs after those slides were over, but apparently... there was a bit of dance break. Yeah, forgot to mention that they brought a HELL lot of back dancers for this concert.  Not really interested in the dancers so I took that chance to rest my voice. I haven’t stopped singing while I was having a pretty bad cold and my throat was killing me. 

The dance show was finally over and... “Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely” was on. Oh crap. 

I am always weak for this song ;_; At some point of this song, I think I got some tears in my eyes. And finally, Brian hit his high notes perfectly!

They took a lighter mood with “I’ll Never Break Your Heart”. The crowd was swaying their heads to the left and right. Awww~ I have to say though that AJ’s adlib was awesome. How come his voice was that stable - this is no joke man! Next on the setlist was “Anywhere For You” and sorry, I was just not feeling it. My least favorite song of the night. 

... Or so I thought. Until next song was up and I didn’t even recognize the song?! I took my phone out and Soundhound-ed it and found out that it’s called “Darlin’”

Apparently, the stadium thought the same as me cause I swear I didn’t hear any choir from the crowd when this song was sung. Why was this song even on the list?

There was another dance show after that and I groaned - again?? Next song was “Undone” and the audience died down LOL. Maybe because this song was not nostalgic enough. But again, AJ’s voice~ <3 

The men (HAH!) had another break and Brian took the crowd. “We are only halfway done!” Seriously? The concert was already on for almost an hour and according to my ticket, it’s supposed to be only for 90 minutes. No way we were getting 2 hours concert right?

Brian said that their next song was his favorite and it was...

“As Long As You Love Me”

OK WHERE WAS MY MICROPHONE.

And the best part was, THEY DID FREAKING CHAIR DANCE GUYS. Granted, it was only for mere 30 seconds but COME ON IT’S THE LEGENDARY CHAIR DANCE. PS. Anyone can guess why is it that this song is Brian’s favorite?  (Hint: His wife. You are welcome)

Well, there was another intermission after the song ended. Now it’s another medley of their songs - one of those is “Everyone”- a less popular song from their ‘Black and Blue’ album. I couldn’t help but wonder why were there so many intermissions in this concert? And almost all of them were so abrupt and so disorganized. Honestly, I was a bit annoyed and feeling like this concert was really lacking in preparation. 

We were left for about 20 minutes. After the intermission was done, suddenly there was a phone ringing somewhere and I knew exactly what was the next song....

“The Call”

I sang my voice out lol. I knew I was getting myself a lot of trouble but come on, it’s THE CALL. They had a lot of back dancers for this song by the way. Concert moved on with “Get It Down” and “Get Another Boyfriend”. Followed by the last intermission from Howie. 

I could feel that the concert was reaching the last spurt. And I was expecting “I Want It That Way” any moment LOL. But no. It was “More Than That” which was a welcoming breather after so many dance numbers. 

Next came up “Shape Of My Heart”. I pretty much lost my voice at this stage. Playback was too strong and the inconsistencies in the sound system became more and more apparent.  Another dance show was up and for once - this was a number that I can appreciate. The dancers danced to “Straight Through My Heart” and “It’s Gotta Be You”. Man, their energy didn’t seem to slow down.

And finally, the intro to “I Want It That Way” was played. I ROSE FROM MY CHAIR OK. This is the legendary song from the epic 1999 - the only song from Backstreet Boys that I am willing to dance to. And I think the whole stadium agreed with me that night cause the choir was SO LOUD I didn’t think the group needs to sing at all lol.

When the song finally finished, everyone seemed to notice that the concert was going to end soon. Oh well. Everything good will end eventually. But of course.. there’s still an encore... “Backstreet’s Back”.

Unfortunately, I was already too tired to even sing along lol. 

Once the encore was done, the group waved goodbye and went to the backstage. The crowd moved fast to the exit - age is really catching up with us. Enough of nostalgia. Time to go back home and to reality.

***

Honestly, if you asked me, I don’t really like this concert. It felt too commercialized. It’s weirdly tied to WTA finals. if you buy a package of WTA finals ticket and Backstreet Boys concert, there will be freebies or upgrade if I remember correctly. Talk about profits. 

With 20,000 people buying the tickets, you would expect that they would have extra screens in the Stadium - but no, there was only ONE giant screen in the middle of the stadium. And guess who couldn’t even get a look at the group? People who sat on the side - like us. I know - beggars can’t choose, but come on, we paid for our tickets. 

The sound system was blah. Often times the playback was even stronger than the boys’ singing and it was so off-putting. The back dancers were such eyesores at some points of the concert - not their fault but they made the concert felt like just another Vegas show instead of a concert for Singapore fans.

The humid weather didn’t really help either. But again, this could be solved by ... I don’t know - extra fans? The organizer should have more experiences how to troubleshoot this right?

And lastly, again perhaps it’s the age, but Backstreet Boys looked so tired. They jetted to Singapore for 30 hours straight from the other side of the globe. From what I saw in their social media, they were still in the US two days before the concert! So if that’s true, they had no rest before they appeared in Singapore.

I sounded like an angry fan - but if you compare this concert with their 2015 concert, it’s like heaven vs earth. Maybe because they were a bit younger back then? Or maybe because the 2015 one was indoor and it was more intimate with only 5,000 attendees? I don’t know.

I think, twice is enough. It has been fun to sing along with the other fans but now, let me just rewatch their old videos and soak into nostalgia at the comfort of my bed.