#spent the day at a university open day that was largely uneventful except i did ride the bus

[frotting-corporations]

had a cup of coffee in the morning that did NOT agree with me so ive spent all day battling a roiling tummy ache. and no shitting did not help. it is still a tumultous sea in there </3

[prettywordsyouleft]

Superstitious

Summary: Your bad luck had been your only friend growing up. Now that you’re studying at university, could you meet someone who accepted you?

Characters: Lee Taeyong x reader

Genre: fluff / supernatural au

A/N: Welcome to the first story of Frightful October! Admittedly this happened all too fast. The idea was to use a different idol and more supernatural elements but this literally wrote itself after a gifset of clumsy Taeyong, and I’m so happy with it! I hope you enjoy this!

Word count: 3024

Your whole life had been built up on superstitions.

As someone who had been ill as a child, you had heard many old wives tales given to your parents to nurse you back to health. But since then you had been nothing but clumsy, relatives and family friends would always remind you to be careful.

“You were born with bad luck, you mustn’t make it worse!” your Grandmother had chanted for your entire childhood.

So naturally you became cautious.

You avoided all the common superstitions. At first your cousin had chastised you for being so foolish. No one could have such bad luck just because of a few folklores. But there had been one time where you missed that it was Friday the 13th and came home with a broken arm and a bad case of pneumonia from a simple school trip. From there on, you stayed home on those days. Mirrors weren’t something you allowed yourself to get too close to since you were eleven; only just recovering from what you felt was an extremely difficult adolescence, and you were certain it came from breaking a large mirror in your family home. You never stood on train tracks and cracks, or walked under a ladder, just in case. Umbrellas were rarely used by you, and if anyone opened one inside around you, it would send you into a fizz.  

To counter your bad luck you had every lucky charm and well intended chant incorporated into your life, your keyring sported a rabbits foot, your bedroom door had a horseshoe up the right away, and you would always knock on wood, say bless you when someone sneezed, and admittedly, you carried salt with you always.

You could say you were more than prepared to combat any bad luck coming in threes.

But this made you different. People didn’t like being around you because you were a beacon of bad luck in your little town. Everyone knew about you. Growing up, you were soon blacklisted off of any sporting team, the last to be chosen for anything and those who ended up with you were instantly depressed. Group presentations were something you simply didn’t do; even teachers would rearrange the assignment so you could work on it alone. And if they weren’t doing that to help the students they would set up feng-shui or their own lucky talismans whenever you were in their classes to ward off any bad luck you might produce.

Any misfortunes that happened to the township was blamed on you, and only you. Even your family were spared from being lumped with you, others sympathising with them for having such a daughter. It made you feel less loved by them, and soon you preferred to be alone anyways.

You were used to being ostracised, but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less.

Because you had no one to rely on, you turned to your inner passion. It had been by mistake that you had stumbled upon the world of magic and folklore, studying up further superstitions when you were fourteen, in hopes to find a way to be accepted. Being hormonal and going through puberty had made you especially lonely, and desperate. But instead of finding a magical cure, you found yourself intrigued by supernatural things. You started studying mythical creatures, immortals, shape shifters, and other magical beings. It was like a whole new world, one you longed to belong to. You felt closer to these folk, and hoped to discover them one day. You had tried everything. You had often walked in the forests surrounding your township, even though you ran the high probability of coming home limping from tripping over, only to hope to see some sign of a woodland fairy or nymph, to cross paths with a wolf that held human eyes, or to step into a witches’ coven. It never happened, though you never gave up hope that one day you would meet someone who could accept you and all your bad luck too.

Your favourite thing to study about was witchcraft and you had dabbled in it from time to time, mostly to humour yourself, but sometimes it had been out of desperation again. To find a cure to your clumsiness, or to make at least your parents like you.

And on the night of school prom, to have Oh Sehun somehow fall in love with you and pick you up to take you to the dance.

You knew it wouldn’t happen. Your Grandmother had built it well into your psyche; you were just a really bad apple.

Somehow, perhaps because you had so much time to study due to not having a social life, you won a scholarship to the university you had picked as your choice. Your parents had been hesitant to let you go, unleashing your bad luck on others had always been something they tried their best to prevent, almost keeping you captive all these years. Your township had been tiny; going to the city would be overwhelming for someone like you, so they believed.

You only saw it as freedom. No one knew you, perhaps you could start anew, and not have bad luck there, you had argued. Though deep down you doubted that too. You were destined to carry around talismans and every lucky charm for the rest of your life.

All the same you finally made it, ignoring the party that you knew the township was throwing the same day you left for Seoul. Because the idea of leaving them was something to rejoice yourself. Even though you were scared a lot that day.

You were hyper alert on the train ride to your new home, not allowing yourself to rest even though you had been up since 5am. You had to make sure you didn’t harm anyone else unintentionally. And you had been successful, but it was terribly exhausting too. When you finally made it to your dorms, you pulled out your room information, looking up at the tall building and then back at your number.

#127.

You groaned as you found the stairwell. You hadn’t taken an elevator in your entire life. Instead you were left climbing up twelve flights of stairs with all your luggage. You were thankful when you saw the door number ahead of you, unlocking it and reaching to turn on the light. Nothing changed; the room was still in darkness. Groaning, you went into your tiny kitchen area and turned on the faucet, and nothing came out except and odd gurgle sound.

You promised yourself you wouldn’t cry. Today you had escaped your bad luck in your hometown.

But it was hard to hold the tears back and to grasp onto hope.

Surprisingly, after that night your life did take a turn for the better. For the next month, you had managed to not harm yourself more than usual, and not bother anyone else. You actually got hired for a part time job and kept it so far, all whilst navigating your university life with some success. It had given you a sense of acheivement and confidence to finally be in a bustling environment that no one knew you, and be seen as another student, not the one who everyone needs to avoid like the plague.

But that also blinded you for what was to come next. You had been so focused on yourself, that you hadn’t once expected there to be someone like you out there. You had spent years trying to find at least one other who suffered from bad luck like you. And not one person had ever appeared.

Until your world collided with Lee Taeyong. Literally.

“Ow!” you cried as you found yourself on the ground, rubbing your elbow lightly and then looking around yourself. Your stuff was everywhere, but it was mixed in with more than it should have been. You found the culprit sitting on the ground and rubbing at his own leg too. He laughed sheepishly and got up, holding out a hand for you to take. You reached up for it, but he pulled you up too fast and you struggled to gather your balance in time, both of you toppling back onto the grass. Except you were now on top of him, and blushing profusely.

“Ah, sorry,” he said weakly, laughing again. “I’m kind of clumsy. I didn’t mean to pull you down on me like this; honest it wasn’t a plan or anything. I was genuinely meaning to just help you up, but perhaps I shouldn’t have because now we’re like this and I’m rambling and I should really just stop, right?”

You nodded.

This time you both got up by your own device, the taller boy biting at his lip for a moment and then thrust his hand out for you to take. “I’m Lee Taeyong.”

“Y/N,” you greeted, shaking his hand and looking at all your things on the ground.

Taeyong’s eyes followed your gaze and immediately set to collecting your papers. “I’m so sorry about this. Honestly I am so useless at times!”

“Don’t feel like that, I’m clumsy too. It could have easily been me,” you assured, smiling at how alike he sounded. You were certain you had been more than over accommodating to others in the past when you made a mistake. It almost made you feel bad for Taeyong, but the sting in your elbow reminded you not to grow too helpful towards him either.

If he was clumsy like you, it could be a recipe for disaster.

“I think I’ve collected them all,” he stated, handing you the pile and then glanced down at his watch. He gasped. “Oh I’m late for class. It was nice bumping into you, well I mean not literally, but figuratively, and I hope to see you again and not harm you of course!”

He was off, his words trailing after him and you couldn’t help but giggle to yourself at how adorable he was. Unlike you, he took his clumsiness in his stride, his bubbly nature seeming infectious. You wondered if he was truly as clumsy as he said, and had been ostracised. Shaking your head, you doubted it, with his handsome looks he would still be accepted by others for sure.

You headed off to the library, which was thankfully uneventful for the rest of the walk there, and settled into studying quietly. And then there was a loud ringtone that startled you and the others around you. For a moment you stared, waiting to see who would silence their phone until you realised it was coming from inside your stash of papers. With colour flaring to your cheeks, you fumbled around to find the source of the noise, a mobile phone appearing as you scattered the papers quickly. You all but jumped on it to silence it, answering the call on the unfamiliar phone.

“Hello?” you whispered.

“Oh thank god, that’s you Y/N, right? It’s me, Taeyong. I think you have my phone.”

Getting up and moving away from all the glares, you walked over to the windows before answering him. “Since I answered it in the middle of the library, I think yes, I do.”

“Ouch, I forgot to put it on silent. Stay where you are, I’ll come to you.”

And then the line went dead before you could tell him what floor you were on.

You waited of course, though there were three libraries on campus, and you weren’t in the main one. It was cutting it close to when you would need to leave for your part time job, and it was making you anxious, your eyes abandoning the ancient text in front of you to keep a look out for Taeyong. Eventually you packed up your belongings whilst you waited, and then even your seat when someone came along and the study area was full. You decided to move down to the lobby just in case when the phone rang again.

“Where are you?” he asked with a pant and you sighed lightly.

“If you had of let me tell you before you hung up, you’d have met me by now,” you scolded, surprised with how annoyed you sounded.

It wasn’t lost on him. “Sorry, I have bad luck and now I’m throwing it on you. Tell me where you are, okay?”

You didn’t answer right away, you were stunned. “Bad luck?”

“Yeah, my whole life really. But I promise once I get my phone back you won’t be put out by it again, I’m really sorry. So where are you? My friend Doyoung needs to get to his part time job and for me to give back his phone.”

Without hesitation you told him your exact location and hung up, your chest instantly full of palpitations. Why were you so worked up? Like Taeyong said, once he had his phone, you could simply leave and not be involved in his own fate with Lady Luck again. But it bothered you the longer you thought about it. Was he brought into your world by his or your own luck? Was this a sign to put weight into or not? I mean, just today you had two encounters with him. And whilst the campus was large, who was to say you wouldn’t find him again. Would you be alright then? Or propelled to the ground once more?

A small part of you then remembered a folklore you had read from years ago. Most people think those with bad luck should avoid each other. But not only can they find relief in each other, it can also cancel out their fated luck altogether. It’s important to search for someone with similar characteristics so that the fate can change for the better.

You felt a feeble sense of hope at the thought, rocking on your heels softly as you waited for Taeyong to arrive again. And just when you saw him, you waved so he could find you and was shunted by a passer-by, your footing unsafe yet again. You saw Taeyong speed up to catch you, just in time for you to both fall to the ground. Again.

For a moment you sat still, and then you laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Taeyong soon joined you, and you both didn’t care that others were staring at the two people sprawled on the floor of the library lobby, laughing to themselves at their situation.

Eventually you got yourself up, this time offering your hand out to Taeyong. You pulled with the right amount of strength for him to just lean in a little too close but not topple you both back over. You shared an accomplished smile.

“I feel like I need to introduce myself properly to you,” you announced, feeling lighter than you had all day. Taeyong regarded you for a moment, before smiling encouragingly at you. “I’m someone who also has bad luck. My whole life really.”

“That was my line,” he quipped but grinned at you all the same. “Who would have thought two people with such luck would cross paths. This could be disaster you know.”

“It could,” you agreed, though you saw the determination build in his warm brown orbs. It made you glad he hadn’t stepped back yet.

“Or it could be something magical,” he uttered, your head nodding softly. Despite only just meeting, he felt compelled to brush you hair away from your face. And you allowed him, considering it was not like you hadn’t been on top of him earlier on. “Hi then.”

“Why are you saying hi again?”

“Because you introduced yourself to me as being my fated partner in bad luck, it only felt right to accept that,” Taeyong stated matter of factly and you couldn’t help but laugh. “Unless-”

“I accept,” you cut in, surprising him somewhat. And yourself too.

“So, Y/N with the origins of clumsy bad luck, should I make it up to you for falling all over you earlier with dinner?”

“Can’t,” you responded airily and he stopped following you as you both started walking to the exit. “I have work.”

“And after work?”

“Sleep?” you suggested, Taeyong’s mind clearly thinking too much. Your eyes widened and you shoved him playfully. Of course you did.

He managed to right his balance just in time, grinning triumphantly at your now cringing face. “You’re testing me.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t be around each other,” you revoked with concern and jumped when he shifted back to your side and took your hand.

“You accepted this fate a few minutes ago.”

You nodded but didn’t remove your hand. His was warm and you liked the feeling. “And I almost made another accident for you just now. We’re doomed.”

“At least if I fall now, you’re coming with me,” Taeyong mentioned whilst raising your linked hands, smiling at you charmingly.

“Is this how you made it through life so far? Grabbing the hands of people so you knew at least someone would come down with you?”

Taeyong blushed lightly and shook his head. “Actually you’re my first. I wouldn’t dream of holding another girl’s hand until now. What if I caused her a rash or something?”

“Taeyong!” you cried, trying to yank your hand free as he laughed loudly.

And just like that you made your first proper friend. Someone who wasn’t scared to be in your personal space, and was prepared to fall if you did.

And over time you did just that. You had countless bruises and scrapes, and he had just as many. But he never abandoned you once, and soon you were kissing those booboos better.

As a child you thought you needed someone who was mythical to be your friend. Someone who had magic within them, who could somehow counteract your bad luck. What you really needed was someone just like you. Who didn’t mind when he got hurt because of your bad luck, and who let you curse him out when it was his that attacked you.

Because Taeyong came to readily love you. Bad luck and all.

________________

Welcome to Frightful October, a collab between myself and @this-song-thats-only-for-you ... this week’s theme is Spellbound! To follow more of the stories check out the links below:

Other stories in Spellbound: Superstitious // Incantation // Love Spell // A Gift

Frightful October Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Request Guidelines

[roncosby7]

February 25th, 2021

I write blogs on Tumblr. You may or may not know this, but it is a thing I do and I receive very much deserved respect from it. I have friends because of this, high statuses because of this, lovers because of this. So many gifts have been gifted to me because of these blogs. Gifts that I cherish and embrace everyday, just as the gifts to do to me. Every morning I wake up and a new light has entered my eyes. The planet can now spin. Birds can now fly. Society can now start functioning as a whole for Grady Henderson has risen and he writes Tumblr blogs. I got 2 hours of sleep, but I feel great about this. Because I spent all night up writing another masterful blog that will be seen by all of my millions of followers on this morning. All of them will read it and be amazed by the satisfying structure, the poetic wording, the genius sense of philosophy and human perception. They will learn so much about life, others, themselves and philosophically dance with their own minds as their pupils dilate and tears fall down their faces. This happens every morning, and all of my followers do it at the same time. Every single one. They collectively exhale a breath of warm air as they experience pure euphoria and I feel it flow past me. This peaceful gust of wind that passes through me when I open my bedroom window and watch the day begin. I don’t need break feast, for my stomach is full of ideas. I do drink coffee, though. Because I am a writer. I exit my house and watch the sunlight reflect off of my black clothes, simply because it is too nervous to let me be absorbed by it. The wind stands still, the grass turns away, all animals stop what they’re doing to honor me. I have caused pure natural peace, because I write Tumblr blogs. The sun reflects off of me so much that I am now I a walking oval of light. I walk down the street this way. My light shines through neighborhoods and people recognize me. They say “Good morning Grady! Today’s blog was dazzlingly profound!” and I respond by nodding my head and taking a sip of coffee, visibly insecure. With a secret. I’m hiding something. Behind all of this light and these black clothes, there is a hidden diamond that will never be shown to anyone. With that thought in mind, I levitate to school and feel the ground vibrate beneath me. I watch 2 deer bound toward the horizon as I commence forth. “That will be us one day”, I profoundly whisper to myself

People exit their homes and congratulate me for saying something as profound as “That will be us one day”. How will the human brain ever be able to comprehend all the intricate meanings in the phrase “That will be us one day”? What a fucking genius. The light fades away as I step down from my levitation, for I have just arrived at school. All of the students greet me with thunderous applause. Each member of the school staff walks up to me and shakes my hand individually, sharing their thoughts and feelings about my latest blog and how it affected them as people. A kid runs up to me in tears and gives me a large hug, telling me that I saved his life. Then a group of well respected young women push him out of the way to consult and comfort me for being a life saver. I am not attracted to these well respected woman for what they look like for I am not a monster, I am attracted to them for the people that they are, which are people I respect. (they are beautiful, though). I all of a sudden have a bunch of brilliant thoughts rush through my head, as I always do, and I blurt out amongst the crowd. “What if we all wore yellow sunglasses?” and everyone in the school simultaneously gasps and grasps for air for they have just been hit with the intelligence of gods! This man’s understanding of the human race is unmeasurable! Multiple upon multiple tears are shed and everyone starts chanting my name, in tears. It sounds pathetic yet beautiful. Everyone ought to get to class so they all pick me up and carry me their triumphantly. I humbly reject their gratification in a sophisticated way.  

When I get to class I say “All this for merely existing?” and everyone laughs loudly while also understanding the sheer amount of thought that went into that phrase. Everyone understands me. They understand who I am and what all of my intentions are, and they respect me because of it. They don’t disrespect me or resent me for being different, instead they PRAISE me for it. They PRAISE me as if I have just slayed a demon in the center of a massive Colosseum. Except the demon is uniformity! 

Because I write Tumblr blogs

Yes. I am a human being that types things on to Tumblr and posts them for the world to see. This is something I do. And therefore I sit in Spanish class and do nothing. For the school system understands that Grady Henderson will not grow up to be in a position where he must talk to people that can’t speak the same language as him! Grady Henderson won’t have time for this, he’ll have stories to write! And so I sit in the back of the classroom and work on my next project of writing and gaze at the turned heads of all the normal students in front of me. Every now and then the students will turn around to look at me, just to be reminded of how brilliant and sophisticated humans can be. Just so they can put a bit more light into their dark, uneventful lives. Heh. what a bunch of Garfields. If I said that out loud 3 people in this classroom would likely have a brain seizure. I do not say it out loud, though, because I think I’ve caused enough completely worth it catastrophes in this school this morning. The multitude of tears that built up after “What if we all wore yellow sunglasses?” has made the school hallway slipperier than something that is extremely slippery. Students are slipping and falling and sliding all over the place. One struggles to walk more than 2 steps without nearly collapsing, simply because of the extremely large amount of tears that were shed. Look at all of these teenagers. Falling and wailing around in the effects of their own emotions. I write that down in my notepad, which I keep in my pocket because I’m a writer

As I’m walking to my next class, I don’t slip at all, for I am a perfect human being and this is true. I hear a feminine voice yelling my name behind me. I turn my head and see one of the well respected women from earlier sliding towards me at a very fast speed. I could’ve easily let her run into the wall, but I do not, for I respect this woman. for who she is, not because of what she looks like. (although she is beautiful). I catch her. She desperately stares into my eyes and asks “Grady Henderson! Grady Henderson! Did you stay up until 5 AM last night?” I answer honestly “Yes, I believe I did” she says “God. That is so fucking cool. Nobody else in the universe stays up that late, I can tell you that for sure! How do you manage to be this special of a human being?” I say “I’m actually very insecure about the lazy and ignorant decisions I make and therefore am deeply disappointed in myself most of the time” she says “God. That’s so fucking cool. The fact that you’re able to admit that about yourself? I honestly don’t think you should feel that way, but what do I know? Jesus, you’re amazing. Hey, you’re going out with friends tonight to throw cheese at people’s cars to metaphorically spit in the face of uniformity, correct?” I nod. she says “Well I was wondering if maybe I could tag along. At some point. With you.” I tell her I’ll think about it and then compare this situation to a Garfield strip. She faints from the overwhelming brilliance and lands in my arms. She wakes up shortly after and realizes the situation. “Oh! I must’ve been too amazed by your interpretation of Garfield! Anyway, I have to get to class. Oh shit, I can’t believe I don’t have this in the first place but what’s your Snap?” I tell her “I don’t use social media. I don’t have an undying need for attention like every student in this building”. She faints again and this time I don’t catch her, because I have to get to class. I’m really sorry about this and I hope she can forgive me. 

As the day moves on, all students get called to the gym for an assembly. As I’m walking down there in the circle that the slipping crowd has formed for me, a kid accidentally bumps into me before being tackled, beaten into a pulp, getting the words “You deserve this” carved on his stomach with a knife, becoming drenched in gasoline, and being burned alive. It takes every student about 40 minutes to get to the gym because of all the chaotic slipping and falling that’s happening due to the tears but when everyone gets there, the principal walks to the center of the gym seemingly very anxious. What will he say? Something about the small drug cartel that has formed in this school? No. Fuck that. You must’ve forgotten about the fact that I write Tumblr blogs. The principal yells “Fuck it! Fuck you guys! School’s out for the rest of the day! Grady Henderson writes blogs on Tumblr!”

Everyone starts wildly cheering and screaming. Fireworks are lit in this high school gym. They rented a band. A band starts playing intense and celebrational rock music. Confetti is fucking everywhere, people are slipping all over the god damn place, and as soon as a chant of my name begins I head out. Because I don’t need attention. I don’t need to be loved, it’s just an accessory. I need to levitate home and write another Tumblr blog. I do this. I get home and greet the silence. I make more coffee and light candles. I look deep into the crevices of my soul to find the most mind bogglingly genius themes and ideas. I gather these ideas and express them through my fingers. Every time I type a letter into this laptop, a dog gets cured of cancer. People are rallying outside my house to not only thank me for the day off school but thank me for existing. Also to beg for another blog. I humbly reject all of this praise and close my blinds. Sometimes I have to turn on the sprinklers to get then to fuck off. I did that during winter once and this man stayed. In fact, he froze. Jesus. the lengths people will go to praise me. It gets fucking annoying. Don’t they understand that by constantly informing me of their obsession with my writing, they’re interrupting my writing? Holy fuck, these people. The entirety of this day consists of me writing while intermittently meditating or taking a sip of coffee. My thoughts evaporate from my brain and into the atmosphere, forming into an eagle made of pure light and energy. It flies around my house, leaving trails of light behind it. Of course it lands after a while but never truly stops. For the eagle will always fly, and so will I. God, I’m such a fucking genius. The eagle just fell into the ocean, what the fuck? The eagle was supposed to fly forever, why did that happen. Well shit. Now I don’t have a reason to write, which is good because now it is nighttime. And at nighttime, Grady Henderson must explore the natural ground of his town to discover things about everything. Tonight, he will do it with other people. He will throw cheese in the face of uniformity, something that he does a lot. He will not watch people dance, that’s fucking cringe. Fuck you. What do you know about me? You’re gonna think that I’m gonna go to a school dance and experience THAT when I can experience ACTUAL fun? You must be insane. I will not abide by the expectations given to me by my culture. I will throw cheese on people’s cars. They will see the cheese on their cars and faint, knowing that they have been defeated. Defeated by the long arm of Grady Henderson, who writes Tumblr blogs. Did you know that? Did you know that I write Tumblr blogs? You didn’t. You didn’t and now you do and you have nothing but respect to give me for it. Many people respect me for thi-

I suddenly get a phone call. It’s a voice that sounds all to familiar that sternly says “Grady, I think you’re stalling to prevent something.” What the fuck does this person know about me? Holy shit. How disrespectful that I get these phone calls from people. People that assume things, Mother of Christ. I am the equivalent of the Mother of Christ, for I birth a savior while remaining innocent. This savior of course being Tumblr blogs. Yes, these Tumblr blogs have saved many people. These blogs have made people realize that they should not kill other people and themselves, that everyone must be alive. These blogs keep people alive. These blogs are the savior of all humanity-

I get a phone call again, it is the same voice. “Grady, just get in the car. You can’t prevent it, just let it happen.” I say Fuck you to this person and hang up. Who does this person think they are? calling me and telling me things that aren’t true? I could sue this person for lying.

I get in my friend’s car.  

A light immediately shines in the boring lives of everyone in this car. A smile is put on everyone’s faces for Grady Henderson is here and he writes Tumblr blogs. We laugh and tell personal stories. We laugh until the interior of the car nearly implodes. We laugh until we cannot breathe, mostly because of my stories though, because my stories are fucking hilarious. And the second I bring up Garfield, laughter shoots up like rockets amongst the stars. We throw cheese. We throw so much cheese. It slaps on buildings, it slaps on sidewalks, it slaps onto cars, it slaps onto people. There is so much solidified dairy sporadically spewed amongst this town that you can almost call it littering. You take one little look at any area of this town and you can point out nearly 100 pieces of cheese. People will wake up the next morning and not know what the fuck is going on. We revolutionized cheese warfare against uniformity! Correct! There is cheese fucking all over the place! If God’s sperm was yellow and he decided to cum all over his creation (like a narcissist) I guarantee it would look like this. Look at God’s yellow cum plastered all over this fucking place. It’s beautiful. Our town combined with this sperm is concepting a godlike being of creation and pride, and his name is Grady Henderson. 

I get another phone call and chuck my phone out the window

Look at this field. This field is a metaphor for all the people that will one day plant fields. They’re all the same, they’re all bland. Me, on the other hand, I am not! I am colorful! I am unique! For I am a writer and I write Tumblr blogs and this is why I’m here, isn’t it? Because I write Tumblr blogs? Yes. This is true. This is rightfully and justifiably true. I wonder why we’re in between fields. I notice we’re driving down a pitch black country road. 

“We are are driving down this road right now”, says Friend A. the only Identity this man has is Friends A. “We don’t have to”, says Jonas. You guessed it, he’s kind of a cunt, but he sells us cocaine. “What the fuck are you talking about?”, says Friends A. “We don’t have to go forward. We could go back and throw cheese forever. enough to make earth shine like the sun.”, I gotta say, I’m kinda leaning towards Jonas, here. But- “What the fuck would be the point of that? Think about all the other times that we’ve done that. Where do we end up? We end up right here, don’t we? We end up right here driving down this dark road. It wasn’t different the second time and it wasn’t different the time after and the time after and the time after, it’s not gonna be different this time.”, says Friend A. I’m starting to see this guy’s point of view but I really don’t want to. Friend B(2) chimes in “What the fuck are you guys talking about?” “Shut the fuck up!” says Jonas. “Fuck you! You only exist as a replacement for someone we thought we could save but can’t and never will be able to!” “See what I mean?”, says Friend A “You know what I’m saying is true, you just don’t wanna see the despair of her forehead agai-” “Alright.” Jonas says “I think we should let Grady Henderson decide what we should do” “That’s fair”, agrees Friend A “He writes Tumblr blogs and therefore we should always listen to him”

They stop. They’re waiting for me to respond. My mind is blank. For once in the history of the universe, there is nothing going on in the brain of Grady Henderson. They want me to say something, but I don’t think I will. Instead I just look out the window all all these stalks of corn. I watch each and every one of them pass by. I realize they’re not the same. They form sort of an inconsistent wave. Over and over and over is just corn stalks rise and falling and rising and falling. There’s no progression, they never learn anything. Every single one of those cornstalks is a led in their own story and every single one of them is repetitive and boring. I watch this for minutes They really want me to respond, I really want to think of a response but I simply cannot. I am too fixated on the cornstalks. All of a sudden, I do want to say something. I receive a surge of energy, I want to yell at the top of my lungs but I don’t because I’m respectful. Instead I just say “Let’s sleep on it” and we pass another car the second after I say that. Friend A slams on his brakes and says “That’s them!”. Jonas starts saying the word no over and over again. This doesn’t matter, because the reason we stopped is because we noticed the car that passed us. That car is full of well respected females. We must get out of our car and interact with these respected females because we are teenage males. It’s what we do! We have to do it! We simply have to! There is nothing in existence stopping us from talking to these well respected women. This is not for their physical attraction, though. It might be for my good friends but for me, of course, it is because of the people that they are. (Although you know they are extremely, dazzlingly, extraordinarily, astonishingly breathtakingly beautiful)

We get out of our car, they get out of theirs. They all say hi in various ways, dependent on how confident all of them are. They start talking to us. Not flirting with us. Talking with us. Jonas, for some reason, turns his back and nearly falls to the floor to vomit. The well respected women are all not phased by this because they’re all focused on me and how much of a genius I am. Expect for one. Yes. I notice one well respected women does not care about my genius at all, because she doesn’t seem to care at all after I tell her I’m working on my next blog. She tells me “You next blog? What is that? Why should I care?” Everyone looks at her, shocked. As do I. This doesn’t make sense. How can a human not know what my blog is? Why must a human ask if they should care about what my blog is? What the fuck is happening? I then notice that this is the same well respected woman that spoke to me today. The same woman that I let fall on the floor head first. This must be why she has a giant bruise on her forehead! This also must be why she is suffering terrible memory loss because she has obviously forgotten about my blog!

“Have you not heard of my blog?” I ask “We were talking about it earlier today.” She says “I’m gonna be honest with you, I’ve never seen you before in my life”. Oh my god. I can’t let nature get away with this. I can’t let her get away with this! I need this to be stopped! Everyone needs to love me! I can’t live without everyone PRAISING me! She needs to love me! I need to refresh her memory, that’s what I need to do. I need to make her realize how much of a genius I am, to maker her remember. This is what I do. I ask her “You wanna go for a ride?” (this is creepy, why are you so creepy. You’re not creepy! You’re a genius! You write Tumblr blogs for fuck sake!) She accepts because she has to and I lead her to my car. Some of the other well respected women emotionlessly ask me where I’m going. I tell them I’m going to space. As I step on the gas, I hear Jonas collapse on the floor, for I believe he was using this car as a way to hold himself up. I step on the breaks after Friend A screams my name. He tells me “Please end up happy this time. Please.” 

His eyes are red. I wink at him and drive out into the unknown. 

I’m driving like a bullet straight into the darkness, with a well respected women in the passenger seat beside me. She asks me what we’re doing or where we’re going about 7 times but the only response I have is “We’re going to space”. I start to think that maybe she’s not the villain, I am. But I’m not, because I’m a genius. Jesus CHRIST! What is happening to me? I’m seemingly forgetting how intelligent I am! Well, I’m gonna remind myself. And I’m gonna remind her. We drive further and further into the abyss that is the Nebraskan country roads. Deeper and deeper into this dark tunnel. I don’t exactly know where I’m going, except I do! I’m going right here right now! I stop the car. For a moment I experience pure inner and atmospheric peace. When I look over at the well respected women and my heart sinks. I stare at all of her beauty. Her imperfect hair rests upon her head like a feather resting upon the land, flowing and waving naturally through the wind. Below it are 2 eyes that when looked at could bring a feeling of peace that could end any war. And it’s pretty fucking hard to focus on that with that giant bruise on her head. She lays on top of the car with me. I play every song on my main playlist. Our hearts move to the music, our hands interlock. Our eyes are completely engulfed by the universe above us. This is what I show her. I show her my symphonies, my perspective, my passion, my views, my craft, I show her everything. Therefore I unveil this mask she has been wearing all her life and introduce her to a sunrise. I show her her purpose. the one reason she was put on this earth, and that is to honor Grady Henderson. I show her the beginning, the middle, and the end. Not only of the playlist, not only of this moment, but of the universe. All of existence is defined by this moment and she understands every bit of that. She looks at me, eyes and all, and asks “What’s your Tumblr username?”

She understands. She respects. She remembers. As we drive home, the streetlights of this town become more visible. Forget that beautiful, wretched land. We are here. I look at her and barely recognize the bruise. She looks at me and barely recognizes the person she saw step out of that car. I drop her off at her house. She thanks me, and says she looks forward to reading my blogs. She has no idea what she’s getting into. I have brought light and meaning into yet another soul today. I go home and finish writing tomorrow’s blog 

I write about how fucking pathetic I am. I write about how arrogant and narcissistic and disrespectful I am. I write paragraphs and paragraphs about how much I feel like Jon Arbuckle every day. I write about how alone I feel. I write about how unsatisfied I feel. I write about my repulsive face and my repulsive legs. I write about how the only reason I wanted her to like was because I’m an attention seeking piece of shit that only saw value in her because of her physical appearance. I write about how creepy I am for being so descriptive about her. I write about the friends that I hurt and abandoned and how I don’t even know if they made it home or not. Because I don’t care about anyone else, I only care about Grady Henderson. I write about this lazy, pathetic, repulsive person named Grady Henderson. I post it at 5 AM and go to sleep. 

I wake up 2 hours later. I look out my window and watch another Friday morning begin. I once again feel the gust of wind of all my followers expressing their emotions about my latest blog through exhalation. I feel disgusted. And yet, I still rise above nature’s ground and levitate to school. Because I have to. 

My name is Grady Henderson, and I write Tumblr blogs. I don’t receive any respect because of this and rightfully so. 

[purplesurveys]

1067

JANUARY 2020

Where did you go on new year’s?: I believe we only stayed home and had a big dinner with family. We’re usually home during the New Year since our rooftop already offers a fantastic view of the fireworks around the city and in Manila, and also because my dad usually isn’t home on December 31st/January 1st.

Who kissed you on new year’s? I didn’t kiss anyone when 2020 hit. Gab and I always celebrated holidays and spent weekends separately...in retrospect, both already should’ve served as a bit of a red flag for me.

Did you have a New Year’s Resolution this year? I didn’t. I thought I had it together. Oh well.

Does it snow where you live? It never snows here.

Do you like hot chocolate? It’s comforting and I order it a lot, but as I’ve said before I don’t like hot drinks haha. No restaurant or coffee shop serves lukewarm chocolate, so I usually just get an order of hot chocolate and then wait for it to considerably cool down.

Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop? I’ve never been to New York and they don’t show that program here.

Is January anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.) My dad’s birthday is on the 31st. I also always remember my aunt and uncle’s wedding anniversary on the 11th since theirs has so far been the only wedding of an immediate family member that I’ve attended, and so I remember the preparations and the actual event being really hectic but fun.

FEBRUARY 2020

Were you single? No. I was in a happy, committed relationship at the time.

Who was your Valentine? My girlfriend at the time was, but I remember we agreed to make Valentine’s a little lowkey last year because we were both low on savings at the time. Still, she got me a street food bouquet and I got her a pretty flower bouquet in return. I think we also had an Italian dinner somewhere between Valentine’s Day and our anniversary.

When you were little did you buy Valentine’s for the whole class? No. I don’t see the point.

Do you care if the groundhog sees its shadow or not? I really don’t care about this in general. It’s not a thing we follow here.

What did you receive for Valentine’s day? Like I said, Gab went to my favorite street food stall and she manually made a bouquet herself, fancy paper and ribbons and all. The ~bouquet had chicken isaw, pork isaw, barbecue, Betamax, and Walkman in it, which are my favorites.

What did you give for Valentine’s Day? A big bouquet. She was shooting for a school requirement that day and was at her best friend’s house, so I spoke with that friend in secret so I can plan out a surprise visit and hand her the flowers.

Is February anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.) I used to look forward to February because it was mine and my ex’s anniversary. I’m not threatened by the date this year and I will just make plans for myself. Or I can also ask Angela to hang out with me. Idk yet, but what matters to me right now is that I’m no longer sad about it.

MARCH 2020

Are you Irish? Not one drop of it in me.

Do you like corned beef and cabbage? I haven’t tried these together but I will sometimes eat my samgyupsal with cabbage, so I doubt this combo would be bad.

What did you do for St Patrick’s Day? We don’t celebrate that here.

Are you happy when winter is pretty much over? We also don’t have winter.

Is March anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.) My late grandpa celebrated his birthday on the 11th. March will also forever be burned in my brain as the month that 2020 ended for me.

APRIL 2020

Do you like the rain? Love it. Rain makes me feel calm and peaceful.

Did you play an April fool’s joke on anyone this year? I don’t think so. I just enjoy watching prank videos on social media sometimes, but I don’t pull them myself nor is there anyone who pulls them on me.

Do you get tons of candy for Easter? That’s not really tradition here. Most families will just go to church on Easter Sunday, and only families with young kids will have Easter egg hunting games.

Do you celebrate 4/20? Nope. I celebrate the day afterwards, which is my birthday haha.

Do you love the month of April? I do get a childlike excitement for it every year because I always get excited for my birthday, no matter how small my plans may be for it in a given year. The only thing I hate about April is the weather, because this is when it starts to get unbearably hot in the country. Is April anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.) My birthday, my parents’ anniversary, my brother’s birthday (at least I was excited for it until I stopped talking to him). April is also usually Wrestlemania month, and something I will always look forward to regardless of how detached I’ve gotten from pro wrestling.

MAY 2020

What is your favorite flower? Roses and peonies. Sunflowers make me feel hopeful, but I wouldn’t say they’re my favorite.

Finish the phrase “April showers…”: I don’t know.

Do you celebrate May 16th: National Piercing Day? That’s a day? I always remember May 16 as being Katreen’s birthday lol. Anyway, no I definitely do not celebrate it. I don’t even have piercings beyond my earlobes.

Is May anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.) It’s my favorite cousin’s birthday. May also marks the end of the school calendar, so back in college I had always looked forward to the 3rd or 4th week of May. In 2020, Andi and I also wrapped up our thesis in May.

JUNE 2020

What year did/will you graduate from high school? I graduated in 2016. Happier, simpler times.

Did you do anything fun during this Month? I learned how to use iMovie so I can make a surprise birthday video for Gab, where I collated video greetings from her closest friends and also asked them to put photos they have with her in a Google Drive. That was exciting to learn and make, even though my efforts ultimately went to waste. We also got Cooper last June!!!!! when he was still a small small tiny bean of a pup, and I could still carry him with one hand.

Have a favorite baseball team? I don’t even know how baseball works.

Is June anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.) Yeah used to be her birthday but I obvs can’t celebrate it with her anymore. Otherwise, pretty uneventful month overall.

JULY 2020

What did you do on the 4th of July? We don’t celebrate that here. This used to be the date of our Independence Day back when US still had a much tighter grip on us, but I believe a former President shifted it to a different date (the one we have now) to serve as a sign of our independence from that country.

Did you go to the fireworks? We don’t have fireworks on July 4th, nor do we have fireworks on our own Independence Day.

Did you blast the A/C all day? I wanted to but was not in the place to, given that I did not earn my own money yet to help with the bills.

Is July anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.) Last year, my college graduation was held in July.

AUGUST 2020

Did you have a sunburn? No. No reason for me to get one considering I stayed at home from March to September, except for the time I went to the doctor in May.

Did you go to the pool a lot? I didn’t, but my parents did blow up the inflatable pool that we keep and placed it on the rooftop so that we can cool down. Summer this year was unforgivable.

Did you go out of town? I don’t believe we did in August.

Is August anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.) My university-wide graduation. My school has quite a large population so we get two grads - a more intimate one with our own college where we can be called one by one to go up the stage; and a larger, more general, university-wide grad, where the university higher-ups and a chosen summa cum laude student make speeches and there are multiple music/dance performances.

SEPTEMBER 2020

Are you attending college/school? Not anymore.

Do you like fall better than summer? We don’t get fall.

What happened this month? Man you had 8 other months to ask this, why pick my worst month?? Lmao. September was the month of the quick deterioration of my relationship and its eventual breakup, my first job interview (that I got ghosted by), Nacho’s first death anniversary, opening my first bank account, and the start of my internship.

Is September anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.): Angela’s birthday, my mom’s birthday, Nina’s birthday.

OCTOBER 2020

Whats your favorite candy? Fruitella. I got soooooo many Fruitella packs from my relatives this Christmas because that was what I put on my wishlist hahahahaha.

What was your favorite thing(s)about this month? October was terrible. The only thing that kept me alive was my internship and the people in it, our Halloween party, and Good Mythical Morning. But in general, September through the first half of December 2020 is a period I would like to bury permanently.

What are you planning to be for Halloween? I don’t have plans for Halloween 2021 yet.

Are you going to be trick or treating? Nope.

Is October anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.): I don’t think so.

NOVEMBER 2020

Whose house do you go to for Thanksgiving? Sigh. I don’t care for Thanksgiving.

What are you going thankful for this year?: Too early to tell, but on the second day of the new year, so far, I’m thankful for the positive people around me, the kindness and patience they extend to me, and myself for powering through and living to see 2021.

Do you love stuffing? No but I’d like to try it.

Anything exciting happen this month? Again, November was still shitty times for me.

Is November anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.): I got employed and started my first real job.

DECEMBER 2020

Do you celebrate Christmas? Yeah, but it clashes with my non-belief so it’s something I’m still figuring out.

Have you ever been kissed under the mistletoe? No.

Get anything special last year? I got one too many bottles of soju and packs of Fruitella, hahah. I also got the wooden portable table that I’ve been eyeing for a while.

What do you love most about December? THE HOLIDAY WORK BREAK ZZZZZzzzzzz I can’t believe it’ll be over soon :( I’m not yet ready to go back to work ugh.

Is December anything special to you? (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Vacations, etc.): Two of my aunts’ birthdays, my godson’s birthday, my grandma’s birthday, and get-togethers with different sides of my family.

[thekimmiandjackieshow]

Locked Out & Liquidation

When I first learned about the Disney College Program, I thought that the apartments were literally on Walt Disney World property. In reality, the apartments sit just outside of the property lines in an area of Orlando known as Lake Buena Vista. At the border of the Walt Disney Property, on each of the main roads, there are archways welcoming guests to the wonderful and magical world of Walt Disney World. The apartments sit about 5 minutes away from the Disney Springs entrance, but depending on your route it can take 15 minutes before you go under one of the magical archways. The distinction isn’t really important, except to know that Walt Disney World obviously carefully controls everything that is on their property. Beyond the one McDonald’s restaurant and several Speedway Gas Stations, you won’t find much in the way of capitalist convenience on property. Just outside the borders though, is a wonderland of businesses thriving off guests who don’t wish to stay in one of the many Disney resorts. In the midst of the Waffle Houses and Steak ‘n Shakes of Lake Buena Vista, there is a popular outlet mall: Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets. It sits directly across from The Commons, one of the four CP housing options, making it a popular stop for CP’s without transportation. Located in this outlet mall is one of Disney’s liquidation stores, known as Character Warehouse.

Down the road near Universal, there is another outlet mall that is home to a second Character Warehouse. Both stores are official Disney stores that sell theme park merchandise at highly discounted rates. Whether it be exclusive merchandise that was sold or offered as part of a special event that Disney has leftovers of (such as runDisney’s marathon pins/patches) or just outdated merchandise (like the 2015 hats and t-shirts that were gone just before the new year), some of the best Disney finds are hidden in these little stores just outside of Walt Disney World property. Personally, I had never stepped inside either store. I was behind in my exploration of the outlet malls, being a person who isn’t really big on shopping. That is, until a shift opened up on the Hub.

Marissa and I were hanging out on the couches in my apartment’s living room, browsing through the hub to see if there were any extra shift postings. She was hesitant about picking up shifts in other locations, but we wound up finding matching shift postings for Disney’s Liquidation store for the same day, same time. We figured we’d carpool together and conquer another new location. CP transportation has routes to almost all work locations, but not the liquidation stores. While CP’s can pick up shifts at those locations, they just have to be careful to select shifts for the outlet mall across the street from the apartments if they don’t have access to a car. For me, it didn’t really matter since I drove everywhere. 

A few days later Marissa realized she had made plans for that day and had to cancel the shift. I was still determined to go for it. Picking up shifts in new places so often was actually extremely healthy for my anxiety. It constantly put me in new situations that normally would have sent me over the edge. When the day wound up being fine almost every single time, I found that I was able to combat the anxious thoughts that came up frequently. And while working at one of the outlet malls was never on any list of mine, it did add a new dimension to my ���working around the world” adventure.

Finding the costume was a little bit stressful. I had to ask on one of the Facebook groups for shift swaps because I had a feeling the outlet mall didn’t have a costuming building. Apparently the costumes hang around several locations but I was most familiar with the ones available at Disney Springs. Rumor is that different locations have slightly different shirts, one has an embroidery on it and one doesn’t. It doesn’t matter which one you get, both are suitable for the liquidation store. I guess one is just older than the other. In the back corner of Disney Springs’s Costuming was a rack of Character Warehouse shirts: blue collared shirts with purple lining. The costume was completed by plain khaki pants, a blue belt, and a purple cardigan for the people who got cold. In the back corner with all the liquidation shirts were the costumes for the people who worked at the airport. I vaguely remember the airport having a Disney store, and couldn’t even imagine working there with all that traffic. I picked up my costume and was ready for my shift.

Google Maps told me that my location was only about 15-20 minutes away. Because there was no backstage to navigate and I already had my costume, I wasn’t planning on leaving very early to get there. Other times I gave myself an extra 45 minutes to an hour to get everything together, but this time I actually raced out the door late. I grabbed my bag, threw it over my shoulder, raced down the stairs of my apartment, and right out the door which promptly locked behind me as all the Disney apartments do - an added safety feature to protect us from forgetful roommates. On that day, that feature was not my friend. The second it closed behind me, I realized that my keys were still sitting on my bed. My bright idea of the evening was to take the keys out of my bag before leaving for maximum efficiency. Instead, I just assumed I had them and left. I was one of the few CP’s that had a spare key, thanks to my carelessness with keys the day of check-in, but of course that was in my car that I was locked out of. 

Normally, I would have just left the keys on my bed and gone to work, worrying about getting let in later by a roommate who was home. But my car key was on that same key ring and I needed it to get to work. Of course all my roommates were out for the day so I headed on over to security to ask them to let me in to my apartment. They told me that because the clubhouse was still open, I’d have to ask them for a key to borrow. I headed over there, went back to my apartment thanking the heavens that my apartment was the closest building to the entrance, let myself in, grabbed my keys, went back to the clubhouse to drop off the borrowed key, and flew to my car. 

While the shift pick up didn’t bother explaining where I could get the costume, they did provide extensive details to the outlet mall. I easily found where outlet employees are supposed to park, followed a concrete path to the mall, and stopped at a directory so I could find the store. Down a row of restaurants and stores and around the corner was the Character Warehouse I’d be working in.

*Not my picture.

I walked in and asked one of the Cast Members where I could put my stuff. She pointed out large doors by the register that lead to the stock room/break room. Around the corner from the moving stock room shelves was a small break area and a few lockers. I clocked in, barely on time, and got my tour of the location. They explained to me what each work assignment meant and some of the policies that differed slightly from stores on property. Basically the return process was somewhat different because it was a liquidation store.

The store was a normal sized store with a few added Disney decorations. It wasn’t anything like the mall Disney stores with the giant TV and plush mountain towards the back. Instead the shelves were filled with neglected merchandise from the theme parks. One entire section was dedicated to 2015 snowglobes and tote bags. Hanging from the walls were the bubble guns that were banned from the parks after they decided to ban anything that remotely resembled a weapon. The spinning holders in the middle showcased a ton of neglected runDisney merchandise from the past year’s marathons. What was most surprising to me was the full table of Disneyland 60th Anniversary merchandise. Picture frames, scarfs, ears, dolls, etc., all meant for the big 60th celebration that was still technically taking place and meant for the park across the country, sat on a wobbly table in an outlet mall in Orlando at reduced prices. Most of the guests who walked in weren’t intrigued by that because they weren’t at Disneyland, they were at Walt Disney World. I made a mental note to come back and buy a few things since I never had the chance to get them when I was at Disneyland. 

*Not my picture

The majority of my shift was spent walking around the store, straightening things up and looking to see what they had. I was the youngest Cast Member there by about 20 years, but they were all very sweet, helpful, and chatty. I was thankful when I was finally put on register, hoping it would make time fly by faster. The store was fairly slow with only the occasional guest coming in to shop around. Of course, after we closed and locked the doors, it seemed like everybody wanted to be out shopping.

The shift was pretty uneventful but it was fun to be able to say I worked there. The Cast Members there were all very surprised I was a CP. I imagine they don’t see very many there since transportation isn’t provided. I would have picked up a shift there again if they had needed it, just because everybody was so nice. Working at the outlet malls was a nice addition to my “working around the world” feat. All that was left was a shift at one of the resorts, and I was looking forward to it! 

[ipunchvampires]

Storm of Stars: Part 15

In our last session, the crew of the NMS Ironbreath were dealing with the death of their comrade and pilot, the Triaxian human Manfred, from an ambush by the pirate underlings of Lastrin Vatrix. His replacement, a kasatha operative named Keldin, joined us just in time to attend his funeral on Triaxus. We open just after the funeral had ended. Melody, Metweska, and Ed (whose player is unable to attend sessions this quarter) decided to smoke Manfred’s hyperleaf in his memory. Melody and Ed made the fortitude saves to not be overly affected by the drug, but Metweska failed and started tripping balls. After clowning on our  captain for a bit, we decided to look up Xartin, the planet where the Archmage said the original owner of the Grease wand was hiding. Xartin, as it turned out, is a gas giant in a star system of so little value, no one had even bothered to name it. The atmosphere is so corrosive, you need a special hull coating to keep your ship from being eaten through. The only reason it’s worth anything to the galaxy at large is because the planet’s gasses are useful in the construction of certain magical items.

Since it would take time for the antiacid coating to be applied to our ship, some of us decided to go to the library and get some learning. Most of it was inconsequential, but I decided to look at a book on the Shadow Plane, though I don’t know if it was the same one that the robot tried to steal back on Helicoron IV. The Shadow Plane is one of three planes layered on top of each other, the other two being the Material Plane (aka the physical universe) and the First World, where the fey come from. Both the Shadow Plane and the First World are warped reflections of the Material Plane, but whereas the First World is bright and chaotic, the Shadow Plane is colorless and staid. While the plane has an evil reputation, due to Zon-Kuthon’s banishment there, most of the inhabitants are ambivalent to others. One of the exceptions are the nightshades. Formed from fiends who died in the Shadow Plane, nightshades are found in the deepest part of the Shadow Plane, where it intersects with the Negative Energy Plane. The book also revealed that nightshades have a critical weakness; they are weakened in sunlight. Yet the colossal nightwave we encountered seemed to be perfectly fine, despite the fact that in the void of space, direct sunlight is unavoidable. We concluded that there was likely some sort of divine protection on it.

The Drift travel to Xartin would take 23 days, each way, and so we needed to prepare supplies, as well as sell off the mist drake hide for a tidy sum. We gathered up enough food for 6 people for 46 days and left Triaxus behind. The travel was mostly uneventful, only a couple of encounters: a Tetral Caravel with witchwyrd merchants that we purchased some things from on the eighth day, and a pair of nihli that we avoided so they wouldn’t try to kill us on the 13th day. Finally, on the 23rd day, we arrived on Xartin. We found a domed facility with a ring attached, which seemed to have life forms on it. It was the most prominent building on the planet, and thus the most likely place where the mage was. As we approached the facility, a voice spoke to us in our minds, joking about how unused they were to hosting visitors. A forcefield sprang up around us, trapping us with no way to disable it, save for turning off the generator. So we docked with the station and left to explore it, Ed staying behind to guard the ship. The door slammed shut behind us, and a faint aura of abjuration magic cloaked the building. Melody determined that the magic was there to protect the station from the atmosphere. As we traveled down a corridor, the telepathic voice spoke again, this time about how it had prepared test subjects for us to go up against. We then ran into a pair of lizard creatures with black pits where their eyes should have been. Staring into their eyes made Metweska go mad, babbling incoherently, unable to move or act. These were vesalisks, otherwise known as void basilisks. Defeating them was a difficult undertaking, as every attack left us open to their confusion-inducing gazes. Thankfully, we rolled fairly well on the confusion table, and thus spent most of our time either acting normally or babbling incoherently rather than attacking each other. And so we prevailed.

A holographic projector activated once the battle was concluded, showing the form of a Contemplative of Ashok, the one the Archmage had seen. He introduced himself as Aladraivus, a scientist whose name had come up in our travels several times. After a brief conversation, in which he did not tell us where his compatriots were, we ended the session.

[taiyaki-travels-blog]

Tokyo day 1:

Today we had brekky at 8:30am and were in taxis on our way to JR Nikko station by 9:30am. We took local trains to get to Tokyo and we switched trains twice along the way, stopping for a quick bite to eat for lunch at Akebane station.

This morning I woke up with a sore throat and it only got worse as the day went on… 風邪をひいてしまいました。I, thankfully, was allocated a single room for tonight’s stay in Ours Inn in Oimachi, meaning that I could have an early night and rest up in preparation for the days ahead.

After checking into our hotels we quickly rushed out to Harajuku for the afternoon, followed by a dinner in Shibuya. I didn’t buy much today, but I was able to show one of my friends around Harajuku and Takeshita Dori and she seemed to have a great time, despite the rain! Along the way, I stopped in at a drug store to try and find something for my sore throat, I was so amazed at the amount of drinks, lozenges, lollies, medicines, and all sorts that were available for a cold and a sore throat. Japan is really ahead of Australia in terms of modern medicine, even Leigh Sensei was put onto some strong antibiotics to kick his cold and they worked practically overnight! No more “let the cold run its course”, it is fixable here in Japan! On a rainy day in Japan, all of the stores provide umbrella rests and umbrella bags for customers in order to keep store clean, this is something that Australia DEFINITELY needs to take on board!

I left dinner early in order to return to the hotel and take my concoction of new cold remedies, hopefully I will wake up tomorrow with less symptoms!

Tokyo day 2:

Today was the day that everyone left for the Ogasawara Archipelago. I chose to stay in Tokyo for those 5 days so I could catch up with my old friends, it was a tough decision to make, especially since the archipelago seemed so beautiful!

I had terrible cold symptoms today and I felt really drained, but I pushed through and trekked on. I left everyone at Shinagawa station and headed off to my Air B&B in Nakano. I was greeted by the dad of the house who had prepared a lovely lunch for me! He spoke in really broken English until he realised that I could understand Japanese, then he completely switched to Japanese. It is always really funny being in a foreign country and having locals figure out how to best talk to you. In a café today I walked up to the cashier and he said “ちょっと待って下さい” and then sent out an English speaking staff member, how then realised I spoke Japanese and served me as per usual. They are very welcoming here in Japan and really try to fill everyone’s needs, but often assume all non-Japanese people do not speak a word of Japanese.

I went back to Shibuya for the afternoon and got a present for my mum and my grandmother, along with some little things for myself. I got myself a pre-made donburi from the supermarket (only $3!) and went home for a night in.

Tokyo day 3:

Day three, and still no signs of slowing down. Today I arranged to meet up with an old friend and go to Ueno Zoo and Shinjuku. The zoo was beautiful and only 600yen to enter! (Meanwhile at $50+ entries in Aus…) My friend and I stopped for lunch and had 回転寿司 which was easily the best sushi I have had in my entire life! We then went to Shinjuku to get some baseball merch for my dad as a gift, and to book off for some cheap, and easy to read, Japanese books. Book off is a second hand book/dvd/game/etc. store which is normally at least 2 floors high and as wide as a maccas. This company also owns many other second hand chain stores such as mode off (for clothing) and hard off (for furniture etc.). These stores make finding cheap and functional items at super low prices, for three new books I only paid 400yen ($4!). I wish Australia was this into reusing/selling items, maybe then we wouldn’t produce so much waste…

We then headed for coffee, and my friend took me on a tour of his university to meet his friends and to have dinner altogether. We went to an 居酒屋for drinks and dinner. Just another lovely day full of memories, friends, and activities. Time for bed!

Tokyo day 4:

Turns out it isn’t just a cold, it is TONSILLITIS!!!! So I went and got some medicine and headed off for a day visiting my old host school from two years ago! The class I was in at that time are now in year 12 and about to graduate. It was so weird to see all of my classmates and friends all grown up and ready for university.

I helps teach some English classes and had a big class party with lots of sweets at lunch. It was such an amazing and nostalgic feeling to be back at Chiyoda, even if they have renovated most areas and even build a whole new building ready for an international school! I also found out that from next year there won’t be any more middle school attachment, and they are making it co-ed! Everyone has such mixed feelings about letting boys into the school, but they need growth so しょうがない.

After a sad goodbye to everyone at the school I headed off to ice skate with my best friend Momo. We hadn’t seen each other in two years, but it only felt like yesterday that we were together. After ice skating we had an udon dinner and wandered for hours as we chatted and reminisced.

I’m now home are ready for a loooooong sleep. I even cancelled my plans for tomorrow in order to rest up and attempt to cure this tonsillitis. Goodnight!

Tokyo day 5:

Today was uneventful, except for the evening.

I spent most of the day lying in bed, resting up to fight the tonsillitis, only making one trip out of the house to get some throat medicine. In the evening I met up with my friend from western Tokyo and we went shopping, took purikura, and had dinner in Shinjuku. Purikura is a photo booth machine that all girls (and boys) use here in Japan. They are normally in game arcades and are a must for any outing. It was wonderful to see my friend all grown up and ready for university, but it was also sad to say goodbye at the end. Bittersweet…

Tokyo day 6:

Today I woke up with a much better throat than the day before. This medicine is working a treat! Today I went back and visited my host family from 2 years ago that welcomed me into their family for 8 months. It was so amazing to see everyone again and they even got a new dog! (Now they have three in one apartment!) It is such a lively household full of laughter and love and it was amazing to go back. When visiting someone’s house in Japan, culturally, taking some sort of おみやげ with you is appropriate. That being said, when I was in Australia I got a personalised Vegemite jar for them as a gift ready to take with me.

Papa drove us all (us all being me, host sister, and host grandma) to Yokohama where we had a delicious lunch in China town, followed my some shopping in the local area. It was a very causal, yet exciting day and once again, saying goodbye was so so hard. It felt like it was just another day with the family, as if I was going to go back home with them and go to school the next day just like two years ago. Time moves so quickly…

Tokyo Day 7:

Today I left my Air B&B, packed up my things, and headed to meet back up with the group. I was actually starting to get a little bit lonely staying by myself for 5 days, so I was really quite excited to see everyone again and start having roommates! I really did love being in a Japanese style home for the past few days though. Living in a narrow townhouse, on a narrow road, in a crowded neighbourhood is the normal lifestyle for most Japanese people that live in the cities. This is quite different to the spacious front and back yards of Australian houses, you would be lucky to even have a pot plant here in Tokyo!

I spent the day at a café waiting around and reading a book before the group arrived back at the hotel from Ogasawara. We then headed out for dinner at an 居酒屋 and headed out for some shopping in Shibuya. The shops here are always open until at least 8pm and normally 10pm every night.

When we got back, I headed down to the 温泉 and relaxed after a long night. Now I am so ready for bed!

Tokyo day 8:

Today was a jam packed day! Most of the day was spent at the magical Disneyland, filled with laughter, food, and friends. After Disneyland, me and some other group members headed out for サイゼリヤ and shopping in Ikebukuro. We saw the famous Pokemon centre, at heaps of food, and got some cute stationary.

Not much to say today, just tired after a long day.

Tokyo day 9:

Today was our trip to 三鷹の森ジブリ美術館. I had been to this museum before, but there are new short films shown all the time that can only be seen there, so I was still excited to go back there! We walked through 井の頭公園 on our way to Ghibli and the 紅葉 was extremely beautiful as the trees here in the Autumn change into really bright reds.

After our afternoon at Ghibli we headed our separate ways to get out own dinners. Me and some group members went to 吉野家 where we got so much food for under $5 each! It is extremely easy to get not only healthy, but substantial sized meals in a hurry here in Japan.

Off to bed now!

Tokyo day 10:

Today was the last full day in Tokyo, and it was also a public holiday! I went and met up with my best friend and we spent the day in Kamakura. This was my first time going to Kamakura, and even a morning of 大雨 did not ruin the experience. Kamakura has a lot of Chinese food, is famous for its しらす, and has lots and lots of mochi. There are also many temples and shrines located in Kamakura and it seems like a very heavily Buddhist influenced city. There are large statues of Buddhas located around the city and no matter where you go, there is either a temple or a shrine within walking distance.

After a day of experiencing Kamakura, of course my friend and I had to take プリクラ. Saying goodbye again to one of my best friends was so insanely hard, but it was a little easier that last time we parted as I am hoping to come back next year.

At night I did some last minute clothes shopping with a group member and then headed off for a night of washing, packing, and sleeping.

Overall, Tokyo is a very very busy city, full of life and adventure. Not the best place if you want to experience the culture of Japan, but definitely full of stuff to experience, see, and do. This city will always have a special place in my heart as I have spent nearly a whole year of my life there, and this is definitely not goodbye, more like see ya later!