#that said some of the new electric truck designs do look really fun

[antiquery]

all concerns about Elon aside, as a Truck Guy I find the design and marketing of the cybertruck so profoundly odious because the correct aesthetic for a pickup truck is, like, the automotive equivalent of all the spaceship tech in 70s sci-fi movies. analog everything, idiot proof, and nigh indestructible. literally I just want my dad's decrepit diesel F150 with like 200k miles on the clock, except I can charge it. why must you tarnish this noble beast with Screens

[the-firebird69]

Luvly O Is An $11k Micro EV That Ships Like IKEA Furniture Without The A...

and he is an imbicile wants to make toys into cars like our son but makes toy cars man yo of them the new toyota has no towing capacity and it is the truck you change out he body on.  but..others see it anddo it and re forg and he a fool

we use this now and our son and dougher had help asked them to and good.

Thor Freya

We came over started blabbing his **** off was telling us what to do he has make the thing and it sucks so we put it in for redesign and he's sitting there with his fat **** on it saying we can't do it it's his idea and he said he had over and over and we said this we can't do it but you put the idea but you put the idea out there and it's everywhere because of you and everybody's doing and he said is that how that works let me say it apparently so he looks around he sees all these companies gearing up to start doing it and he's trying to send people and he's trying to send people out to stop them and the towing capacity is like 3000 pounds and it can carry about 3500 pounds it's A just a real flatbed just like our son and daughter said to use not a toy. And you can switch it out with all sorts of things people gonna have fun with it during the week they can work on the weekend they put the toy box in it or they put a camper on it and they tow a toy box and it is ridiculously fun ridiculous the amount of fun you can have it's terrifying how much fun it is so I'm Japanese and I'm his father no I'm his father in law and she my wife is his mother in law and he said that these electric dirt bikes are so light that you could make a quad and some of them have tires that aren't so wide that would fold inwards so if you had a pickup you can fit like 5 of them in it and they go just as long and just as fast as gasoline they can trade out the battery so the idea is great you take a regular dirt bike and you can make a quad and it's from a electric dirt bike the motor you'd upgrade a little in the battery not too much they're all like about 2500 so you make it 3000 and the tires you put on a little smaller than these huge balloon tires those are too big and really it only like 5 inches in in across and the way the electric courts is it's really actually quite skinny it's like a motorcycle it's like a dirt bikes you can make the center part like a dirt bike and it would look like a sand rail or one of these UTV things where the hardware is kind of sticking out there and furthermore you could actually make it shrink by putting the wheels downwards and it could wheel it in and out and I'm gonna work on it it's like a transformer idea but it's very simple you might be able to just disconnect the top and it drops down it's really simple and it's so simple it probably hurts I mean it's electric it's skinny and it's a quad and everybody would ride one because you can't stay up on a motorcycle anymore no one can they went too high as not wide it's impossible and he says that you can't do much about an electric 4 Wheeler but you take almost the same configuration but you change it a little of course and you see down to make like the Baja car but a small one and when you put it into your truck you put it vertically so instead of fitting like one or two you put in like 4 in a regular pickup truck does it be like two feet high well maybe three but still you can put everything else on the sides and you could fit it in there with a cap on it most likely and maybe not but a toy box you can fit five of them I think we're gonna try and make that too but it's electric you see it's not gasoline with gasoline you have to treat the vehicle with regards to gravity with the electrics you can put them on the side or facing upwards and that's what he's saying and it will help get his baja car going is by making it electric I'm gonna go ahead and make these now. And we're gonna start pumping out a whole bunch of ideas and see what happens. I like his new idea I like to design it's basically a Chinese design it came from the tube and they they did it and took it and we want to use it and calli t Troy Bilt and have people assemble it. and we love it..  it would wiegh only about 350lb and shp easy assemble like ikea furniutre  but with some insturucitons. we do ths now

Posieden and Goddess Wife we send out our name shortly good he says

Olympus

[thecandywrites]

Kinktober Day 27- Toys

Drumroll please....featuring Craig and Iris Foster! From my Magic and Miracles FFXV AU wher Iris is the former Iris Amicitia. and now married to her literal big hunk of a man, Craig. Who is like 6'6 and 400lbs of POWER. (He is both a strong man competitor and he's the other half of Foster and Foster Construction, a construction business he co-owns with his dad, Craig Foster Senior. Craig's uncle who is his dad's younger brother- and his wife- own Fosters Designs Incorporated where they design custom homes among other things where Selena works as a house designer/interior decorator. And Craig and Iris are building their dream house. Craig doing so, quite literally with his own two hands with lots of help from freinds and family.

Fun Fact. Craig is the only man alive that makes Gladio feel small. But they're cool and good brothers in law and Iris REALLY has a thing for the big strong but sweet and gentle type. Which Craig is the epitome of that. Also, look at that RING that is Sylva giving him a sweetheart deal because if her parents hadn't been in the hospital business, they would have been in the jewlery business. And would have been just as well known as the Winstons.

A billion and one thanks to @starsandskies for her Kinktober prompts. This is short and sweet. But only two more left and it's not December yet! Yay! Even though it is the middle of November. It still counts.

Kinktober Day 27- Toys

“So what new toys did you get me?” Iris asked as she giddily looked through the box that Craig had ordered, expecting to see a new piece of exercise equipment but to her surprise and delight, it wasn’t that kind of toy. 

It was vibrator that you wore in your underwear. The pure salaciously and practically evil giggle she made was both adorable yet, strangely, exciting for her husband Craig. 

“So when did you want to try it out?” Craig asked. 

“Right now!” She said. 

“It has to charge first.” Craig pointed to the fact that it was rechargeable. 

“Dang it.” Iris grumped before she impatiently unboxed it and plugged it in and whined when the light blinked red. 

“Come on, I need help with the house anyway. We can play with it when we get back.” Craig insisted as he urged his wife out of their condo and back to the house he was building for her. The basement was already dug, the foundations were poured, the framework was in place. It was getting it’s roof and the rest of the plumbing and electrical work was already in too as the windows were now being installed. And frankly Craig thought it was pretty awesome that not only did he get the materials for this house at cost, he actually got paid to build his own house. Granted along with all the houses he was still in the process of building for his other friends and family. But he took extra pride in this one as he had made sure that Iris would be perfectly happy with it and it would be a big enough house to fit him and his extra large size.

So Iris wasn’t disappointed for long as she helped make sure all the windows were installed correctly as she could still only imagine how great it was going to look once it was all done. Because the next step was drywall then floors, then paint then finishing work and then finally moving in with all the furniture, most of which was sitting in storage because they had gotten some amazing furniture on clearance. 

Then Craig got a call on his phone as he was in another room making sure the windows were installed correctly in there too before he came looking for his wife.

“Hey Hun? Pash and Gladio want to know if we want to go out to dinner. Mom just flew back from her trip with the boys and everyone else is meeting them at the steakhouse by the airport.” Craig informed her as he had the phone held to his chest. 

“Yes, of course, that sounds great.” She beamed. 

“I might need a shower first though.” She realized as she used her shirt to wipe off the sweat from her forehead. 

“Yup, we’ll be there.” Craig agreed as he and Iris got back into his truck and quickly drove home to get cleaned up and dressed as Iris put on just a bit of makeup too while Craig noticed that the toy was now fully charged and pocketed it as he downloaded the app and paired it with his own phone while she was in the bathroom. 

“Ready Babe?” Iris asked as she exited the bathroom, looking stunning as always since she had forgone the pixie cut and really let her hair grow out the older she got.

“Yup.” He smiled as he made sure the dogs were out in the yard before they got back in the truck. 

Once they got to the restaurant, Craig stood so that Iris and the other ladies could sit and wait for their large party to be seated before Regis came in carrying Alexis while Noct had Jaxon in his carseat from the car while Ignis had the diaper bag as a backpack on his back before Iris happily picked Jaxon up out of his carseat, and happily kissed his chubby cheeks and began talking some beautiful Spanish to him that he always seemed to like to hear as Craig simply smiled proudly to see Iris do so. She was going to be one hell of a good mom. When she was ready to be of course. 

So far they were with the couples who were waiting until thier houses were done before they started to expand their families, but others didn't seem to want to wait. Gladio and Pashmina had already had a little boy and a new baby girl and Pashmina was probably going to be pregnant with baby number three pretty soon. Luche and Ada had London and Ada was pregnant again, this time with a little girl as they were still figuring out baby names. And now with Noctis and Ignis adopting two children. Thier friend and family circle was still growing. And Luna and Nyx and Crowe and Libertus were back for a visit. With Crowe bringing Raven with her as Tredd was holding her and Raven just adored Tredd and did not want anyone but Tredd to hold her, which made Tredd happy and proud to see little Raven getting so big.

But Iris didn’t get to hold Jaxon for long before he wanted his grandmother to hold him as Sylva laughed as she took him from Iris and held him and cooed to him and rocked him before he could get a chance to even get fussy. Iris happily handed him over before she came and stood next to Craig who was still looking over a menu as he talked with the other guys before she felt something in his pocket between her hip and his leg. 

“What’s that?” Iris asked as she moved her hip around to feel a little better. 

“Your new toy. It was charged when we got home. Didn’t know if you’d…” Craig began to murmur to her quietly before she slyly pulled it out of his pocket and transferred it to her own purse. 

“Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom.” She excused herself with a very giddy smile as she quickly went to the bathroom before she eagerly took it out and giggled evilly before she realized she didn’t have any lube and he hadn’t gotten the remote. 

“Aw,” Iris complained as she realized what was missing. 

“Everything ok?” Luna asked when she was in the next stall over. 

“No. Craig got me a new toy but forgot the remote.” Iris answered. 

“Can I see it?” She asked as she stuck her hand uder the stall wall divider in the bathroom before Iris handed it over. 

“Oh this doesn’t need one. It has an app. Nyx and I got one of these too. Here.” She handed it back before she passed one of her little bottles of lube.

“I don’t think I’ll need that.” Iris offered. 

“Trust me dinner is going to take at least an hour, you’ll need it. Just trust me on this.” Luna insisted.

“Ok fine.” Iris grabbed the little bottle and lubed up before she used toilet paper to wipe off her hands and to hand it back so lube wouldn’t get on outside of the bottle. 

“Ok, is it on?” Luna asked. 

“Yup.” 

“And now put it in.” Luna instructed. 

“In.” 

“Good, kegal that baby to keep it in as you stand and pull up your underwear if you’re wearing any and your jeans.” Luna coached before Iris did before she flushed and then left the stall to wash her hands. 

“Ok, now, let’s download the app.” Luna said before Iris got a text from Craig. 

‘Is it in?’ 

‘Yeah’ Iris texted back before Craig grinned rather deviously and turned it on. 

“Holy fucking shit!” Iris splurted as she grabbed ahold of the counter as the first jolt of pleasure came from within. 

“Ah, I see Craig has the app already on his phone.” Luna giggled herself. 

“Yeah, fuck, how does Stella do this with a straight face?” Iris asked right as Stella herself walked in. 

“Woah, you ok?” Stella asked Iris. 

“First time using a toy in public, Craig has the app.” Luna informed her. 

“Oh! Nice, which one?” She asked before Luna whispered the answer as Iris slowly tried to regain her composure. 

“Nice!” Stella laughed. 

“How do you do this all the time with a straight face?” Iris asked as she clenched her hands to the counter as she was breathing heavy. 

“Well first of all, don’t go full tilt the whole way, have him turn it down and then build up from there.” Stella coached. 

“Ok, ok.” Iris said as she texted Craig to turn the intensity down if he wanted her to come out of the bathroom at all before she breathed in relief when he turned it down to it’s lowest setting. 

“Oh, ok, that’s much better.” Iris blew out a breath of relief. 

“And that thing stays charged for a couple of hours. Please tell me you have lube.” Stella began. 

“Yeah, I gave her some.” Luna said. 

“Well, since you’re gonna have some fun, I am too.” Stella said before she purposefully got in her purse and got her matching one on and in before she texted Tredd that she was ‘free to play’ before Tredd smiled brightly and got into his own app and turned it on to Stella’s favorite programed sequence. 

“Oh yeah, that’s it.” Stella sighed happily before she came out and washed her hands too. 

Stella, Luna and Iris returned to the group just as they were getting seated as Iris sat next to Craig and gave him a meaningful look as she sat down and just as she was starting to get used to it, he turned it up. They barely got their drink orders in as Iris was happy to use the menu as a shield and couldn’t even figure out what she wanted to eat because she was pretty sure she was going to bite her lip in half to keep herself from squirming or grinding right there in the seat and thankfully by the time the waitress was ready to get her order, Iris was able to at least order for herself. 

By the time the appetizers came, Iris was eager to stuff food in her mouth to keep her from speaking or making any other noises as she felt her breathing pattern through her nose betrayed her but thankfully, Stella was laughing and telling jokes and carrying on and keeping all the attention on her so Iris wouldn’t feel that much more exposed or observed too closely. 

When the salad came, she was in the home stretch and when Craig went to grab for his phone, she immediately grabbed it out of his hands to keep him from changing it anymore and grabbed his arm so tight she nearly drew blood from her fingernails digging into the flesh of his forearm before he moved his arm down under the table and simply held her hand as she squeezed it as tight as she could before she pretended to look through her purse for some tylenol or something because of the almost pained expression she wore.

Then her drink was refilled and she only grinded a little in her seat as she finally rode out the orgasm before she got into his phone and turned it off before she made too much of a scene and blew out a breath of relief as her cheeks flushed but the tension in her lower back finally eased.

She gave Craig a look that said if he turned this blessed thing on again, she was going to stab him with her steak knife. Which got him to snort a laugh but nod that he was going to leave it alone until she was ready to "play" again.

She gave him the phone back as he bit his lips to keep his grin from spreading too far on his face and nodded in understanding before she looked over at Luna who gave her a questioning look before Iris gave her a subtle nod and the sublte thumbs up that she had cum before Luna gave her a thumbs up and nod of solidarity as Stella simply beamed proudly.

[shintorikhazumi]

Life at stake

A/N: Sup, my name is Khaz. So I was binging Kakegurui lately (and rewatching one too many times), and then watched the ep where Mary’s bday was revealed just the other day, looked at my laptop calendar, and went, “woah- it’s Mary’s Birthday?!” So I was super excited to make my first Kakegurui fic a Mary bday fic, but then exams hit me like a truck so...

I love Mary. So Happy birthday Mary. My first Kakegurui fic goes to you. (even if it’s late lmao so I’ll make it a multi-chap)

Self indulgent af because... Because.

This. Might suck. Not the best author. Regardless, hope you at least...

Enjoy?

~Shintori Khazumi

Kirari continued twirling the coin ‘round her finger. It was getting boring in the office lately. She needed something. Some toy to mess around with. The recent days had been rather uneventful for her corporation. Nothing interesting had popped up, and all the business chains under her rule were working rather smoothly.

In short,

It sucked.

High school was definitely better.

Sayaka was by her side, ever faithful in her duties as she filed the last of today’s paperwork. Kirari eyed her expression, watching Sayaka bite her lip, a sign she was contemplating something. The ex-president of Hyakkaou guessed it was about whether or not she should get a head start on tomorrow’s scheduled responsibilities. A good insurance move for the unexpected future. How logical of her. How rational. How very Sayaka.

Ah. But Kirari was her opposite. Always had been. And much unlike her secretary, she adored the unexpected future.

You never know what could happen in so few seconds.

Be it life or death.

It filled her with a pleasurable electricity coursing through her whole body just from the thought of the Destiny stringing her along to its predetermined design. It reminded her of that one match of Fate she had with one Jabami Yumeko all those years ago- okay, maybe like... four years ago, but that was some time in the past, right?

Speaking of Yumeko...

Kirari watched Sayaka berate the girl as she sat on-yes, on, not at- the conference table just across from her now-boss, Kirari. Why she was here, well...

Yumeko was simply too uninterested in college, but unwilling to just settle down to do nothing. Thus, upon graduating from Hyakkaou, she had accepted a modified version of her “life plan” in high school that her relative had offered.

It was better than anything else to her at the time. More interesting than going to college or back home, Yumeko had told Kirari. So the girl was found working for her, managing one of the teal-eyed woman’s underground Casinos. That was it. No other conditions attached. Who was Yumeko to reject such a generous offer that was right in line with her one true love, gambling?

Okay, so maybe Kirari had been the one to scout after her and laid her bet of being Yumeko’s patron for a lifetime of gambling ahead. Yumeko didn’t actually find her offer all that appealing at the beginning, but then a bet had been set in place.  A bet with a risk of whether or not this new business would go under or if it would flourish, regardless of Yumeko’s presence.

One billion dollars. If the casino couldn’t make that much profit in a week without the girl, but could with her, then Kirari would win, and Yumeko was hers forever. If it succeeded, Kirari could not touch her. Yumeko would be gone from her grasp, out of her paradise aquarium.  

Of course Yumeko agreed to it.

She loved a good bet. Especially if it was one as intense as the ones she’d shared with Kirari. Kirari loved good, unpredictable wagers too. You could win it all, or lose it all. That was in gambling’s nature. But well, Kirari never gambled games she’d lose. Not on purpose at least.

And that was how she’d gotten Yumeko aboard in her little aquarium once more.

For what it was worth, Yumeko had been able to offer her the entertainment she desired. However, the more successful their whole group had grown, the less Kirari was able to enjoy messing with her very competent, and now very busy staff.

Staring at Yumeko looking over her work seriously despite being in such a position on her table was becoming dull, Kirari getting used to its oddness.

Why was everyone in this room so dedicated and serious in work?

Couldn’t they offer Kirari some semblance of entertainment right now?

Who else could she bother... ah- Ririka. Her dear twin sister. Who had just walked into the room. Surely she’d care enough to save her own flesh and blood, the spitting image of herself from the claws of death by utter boredom.

“Riri-”

“Not now, Rari. I have things to do.” The girl had her brows knitted in a frown, and Kirari suspected that the meeting she was sent to attend did not go as well as they hoped.

Guess that’s another thing for her to smooth out tomorrow. Something to spice up her bland work life. Somehow. But that was for tomorrow.

For today, however, now what... what else could she...

“Excuse me? I’m Hanatemari from HR. I have some files I’d like to have looked over for the recent proposed project.”

A rather fluffy-looking girl was bid welcome into the vast office, Sayaka approaching her and handling the business, as per usual, leaving Kirari to sulk in nothingness even more.

She decided to occupy her mind with this new arrival, eyeing her from head to toe discreetly. Hmm? There was something about the her... something familiar... Hanatemari, Hanatemari...- Oh.

Kirari internally grinned, memory clearing. Hanatemari Tsuzura-san. Hoho. Since when had she been working for Kirari? This was exciting! This was interesting! This was something unforeseen! Now maybe if Kirari could just get her to-

“Thank you very much. I’ll be taking my leave now.” The girl, before Kirari could even utter a single word and get up from her chair, had already began to clean up, and turned on her heel, walking across the vast room heading for the door.

Ahh. And there went her last resort. Would anyone be willing to just take this terrible monotony of a work routine away?

Her final hope, little Hanatemari was slipping away! Kirari would have stopped her. Kirari could have. But she was leaving now, and would it be odd for Kirari to stop her? But since when had she cared about such a thing? That’s right! She didn’t! And so she would get up right now and chat the poor employee up and try to fish for something, anything of any worth.

Before she could do that however, the girl seemed to have taken a turn to have a word with Ririka. She would have frowned, but then a voice at the back of her mind told her to watch; to observe the girl’s interaction with her currently perplexed sibling, showing her some papers that made her sigh at first, but then oddly enough, suddenly light up in poorly concealed excitement.

Oh?

“Yes. As Igarashi-san has said, I will be in direct supervision of this project. Thank you for coming all this way to show me this-” Ririka attempted to speak with her usual leveled tone of professionalism, but Kirari knew her twin well enough to notice sudden brightness in her voice, and the immediate disappearance of her earlier displeasure.

Now Kirari’s attention was definitely caught. It wouldn’t be fun to remain a spectator then, now would it? Not when fate’s dice had begun to roll once more.

“Hello.” She cut in between them, an unreadable smile on her lips as both ladies showed their surprise in their own ways.

Tsuzura had visibly jumped, almost dropping her folder and clipboard, while Kirari smirked at being able to get a flinch out of Ririka.

“M-m-ma’am! Madame! I... why- I’m...” For someone supposedly in Human Resources, this girl couldn’t hold much of a conversation. Kirari was a little worried about that department now.

Or maybe it was because it was Kirari that she acted this way? The sadistic little demon in her grinned, pleased.

“And what is it that you have right there?”

“O-oh! N-nothing someone as noble as you should trouble yourself with.” The girl squeaked out quickly,  papers held tighter to her chest.

“But of course, I should trouble myself with this. This is my company, and those seem to be some documents related to a new project, I heard? Do tell me what it’s all about, Miss...” Kirari trailed off, waiting for the girl to introduce herself.

“Hanatemari. I am Hanatemari Tsuzura.”

But of course, Kirari already knew that.

“Lovely name. And what do you have right there, Hanatemari-san?”

“Oh! Um...” Kirari smiled as the papers slowly inched their way towards her itching hands. What could they possibly contain-

“Just the profiles of incoming interns and trial members.” Ririka quickly snatched the thick folder away, mixing it in with her own. “I’m sure Sayaka has approved of them for you, and I do too. You needn’t worry, dear sister. This is part of our jobs.”

Now this was suspicious. Ririka never really hid much from her. The only time she’d do it was when... ara?

This.

This was it. This was what Kirari had been wanting.

With Ririka’s sudden, careless actions, a few sheets of paper had spilled out the bottom of the files and onto the floor, one particular face-up profile causing a grin to spread wide on Kirari’s face.

Blonde hair, shimmering golden eyes, and that signature scowl of headstrong defiance that Kirari absolutely loved to coax out from this particular girl.

Ah, of course. The one who despised her so, and was one of the people who always gave her a thrill. She never disappointed Kirari, and always entertained her. She was confident, capable, faultily prideful and cocky at times, and was a tsundere.

Yes.

The perfect amusement. Ever the perfect toy.

Kirari couldn’t help but voice her desires. Her need to bring back this little fishy into her lovely, deathly aquarium.

“I want Saotome. I want to make her mine.”

---------

If a few papers on the floor were already enough for Sayaka to consider it “a mess”, then all of those applications now dropped and mixed together on the floor surely made her head hurt, Kirari assumed. Maybe she should help clear it up later if she wanted to maybe not sleep on the couch again.

“What did you just...” Ririka began, but failed to continue. Her nails dug into her palm, teeth clenched and brows furrowed.

Kirari raised a brow at this reaction.

She vaguely registered the sound of a pen clicking, before there was the tap of the plastic onto the table surface.

“What a bold declaration.” Yumeko suddenly stood up, walking towards the gathered group, eyes hidden behind bangs. “To say you want Mary-san to be...” A pause as Yumeko got all up in Kirari’s face, eyes that dangerous red glint as she breathed the last word into Kirari’s ear. “Yours.”

Oh, that delicious chill that ran up her spine.

Mary Saotome. She wasn’t even here, and yet her name had so quickly already stirred up quite the fun. As she thought, Kirari truly needed her here.

Even Tsuzura had an odd tint to her gaze, a frown marring her soft features.

Hmm.

Kirari was certain she knew why they responded the way they did. It was all too obvious, and all the more exciting. Just... weren’t these girls misunderstanding something?

Well, it didn’t matter. If misunderstanding meant an end to her daily gray, then Kirari would utilize it to its fullest extent.

And what better way to do that than...

“It seems as though you disagree with me. Don’t tell me... you all want Saotome Mary to yourselves?”

Only Yumeko vocally confirmed in her usual light-hearted, ‘but of course!’, with that deceiving cheery smile; but Kirari knew the other two shared the sentiment.

“Well then. How about...

We gamble for her.”

Yes, Kirari savored those burning gazes, the exhilaration coursing within her. They all looked way too up for it. It was perfect!

Ah, gambling your life away in high risk games was always a pleasure.

But well, this time it wasn’t Kirari’s own life. She should probably apologize to the girl once she sees her, for betting “ownership” over her.

Meh. She’d cross that bridge when Mary got here.

For now,

Mary Saotome’s life...

is at stake.

//-//-//-//-//

“A-aaa...ACHOO-! Ugh...whad da heck...” Mary reached into her pocket for her handkerchief, clicking her tongue when she couldn’t feel it there. She began to grumble, hands rummaging her bag for possibly a pack of tissues... that were non -existent as well.

Just as she was about to curse the heavens, a clean cloth was held out to her. She took it grateful to the person who she knew could be no other than her usual companion on campus.

“Thanks, Suzui.”

“Always welcome, Mary.” The brunette lad replied with a smile. “You really can’t get used to my first name, huh?” Ryota chuckled as Mary rolled her eyes at it.

“It feels weird and uncomfortable if I suddenly call you so familiarly like that.”

“And yet you’re fine with me calling you ‘Mary’?” He asked.

“Well, it’s my name, isn’t it? Everyone calls me that.”

“If you say so.” Ryota shrugged.

The pair continued walking in silence, the afternoon sun beginning to set in the visible horizon.

While Mary usually preferred this quiet between them, today she would’ve have liked it better if Ryota just... chatted her up like he always did. Lately, her mind had been swirling with a lot of thoughts, and she kind of wanted a distraction from them now.

It wasn’t like they were terrible thoughts, or things that tortured her psyche to a horrible degree that she’d be left sleepless and distraught. No.

They were rather plain, actually.

The musings of her mind were simple, and maybe related to all her insecurities and complexes growing up that had all but exploded when she was in high school.

Why those thoughts and feelings were coming back to her years later, she had no clue.

What she did know was that Mary liked to think she wasn't special.

Odd thing for her to think about when her talk was usually about being a winner, and now wanting to be looked down upon; wanting to be equals with her insane best friend; being someone who wanted to claim her life for herself as her own.

For someone so ambitious and prideful-she was self-aware of this-, she didn’t think this train of thought existed within her mind.

Looking at herself objectively, however, Mary knew she wasn’t really all that spectacular or gifted. Saotome Mary was nothing special.

Okay no, not that she wasn't special. She was, well... Not average, at least.

But compared to the other intense gamblers at school name she was at least.. Sane..r. than most of them.

And like the normal person she claimed to be, Mary went to college. Just like anyone her age would after graduating from high school.

So yes, if she really thought about it, she was going about, using her free will to choose the most mundane life route. Still beats following a pre-writen life plan, though.

If one were to talk about special- Crazy special, crazy and special, now that, that was Jabami Yumeko.

Yumeko, and the Momobami clan, and fucking Kirari, especially. Mary shivered at the thought of the latter. It was no secret that she hated her guts. They sort of got along? Maybe? But she would still sock her if she had the chance.

And yet, as much as Mary claimed to loathe the woman, she had found herself on the long list of applicants to Kirari’s very corporation.

Great.

Mary found herself registering as an intern for their a new branch of the employee services. A new project that Tsuzura- her dear old friend who she’d been reunited with recently, had shown her; and upon finding out Mary’s course, excitedly assisted her with the paperwork.

Mary sighed. Maybe she shouldn’t have agreed after all.

“It still surprises me.” Suzui suddenly cut into her thoughts, meeting Mary’s curious gaze as they crossed a bridge on their way home, Mary spotting the building of their shared apartment in the distance.

It wasn’t as though they were in any sort of engagement other than being friends. Mary just felt that it would be better to split the bill with someone else while in college, and maybe living with someone would help ease some other kinds of life burdens- heck she didn’t know. She wasn’t loaded like all their other friends, neither was she working for someone as filthy rich as Kirari-fricking-Momobami.

There were weird rumors that had floated around them for the first year of Uni, with how often they were together, and apparently living under one roof. Almost. Mary had to explain that they had separate bedrooms and bathrooms. However, Mary was very keen on making it known that she was very much not into Ryota, and very very much gay.

At most, Ryota was her platonic husband, or something. Or dog. Whichever sounded better.

But back to the issue that had just flown over Mary’s head.

“What surprises you?” She responded to him naturally, as if she wasn’t just thinking about their whole arrangement and a dozen other things instead of replying to him right away.

“That you’d choose to take this course.”

“Hah? You saying it don’t suit me, Mr. Commerce?” Mary challenged with a glare.

Ryota’s eyes widened, hands held our defensively in front of him. “No! No, that’s not it at all! Actually...” He gave her a once over. “It might suit you a little too much. The uniform.”

“Oi, creep, what were you just thinking of, huh?” Mary growled, slapping his shoulder. “Stop treating my uniform like cosplay, gosh.”

“First of all, Yumeko was the one that called it that. Second, you have to admit, it almost looks like you are-geh! Mary, we’ve talked about violence!”

“Can it, mom.” Mary grumbled, walking up the steps of their apartment complex, already fishing for the keys in her jeans pocket. “You deserved that one.”

“Okay, but nursing, Mary. You. Someone as violent as you, who causes pain. You being a nurse- please put your fist down. This is exactly what I’m talking about.”

Mary sighed, other hand pushing their door open. “Whatever. You all make fun of me and constantly ask me why. I told you why so many times!”

Ryota laughed at Mary’s expense as the girl continued grumbling about judgmental friends not appreciating her goodwill.

“I mean. You all are wack.”

Ryota gasped,a little offended. “Says you-”

Mary chose to ignore that.

“Itsuki somehow keeps hurting her nails lately, someone like Sayaka looks like she could take a break from stress or else she’d collapse. Girls is bordering insanity, I tell you. Yumeko just... doesn’t give a shit about her health in general. I swear, if she gets one more fever this week, Imma-”

Mary inhaled to calm her nerves. Ranting about Yumeko would only stress her more. Speaking of which, she should message her about her meds later.

Continuing on, “Ririka can’t cook a substantial meal to save her life.” Mary complained, remembering the time she came over to the twins’ Condo, only to see stacks of various takeout on the counter. Sayaka had been gone on a business trip for about two weeks, and Mary didn’t think these two were the type to feast on fast food, of all things.

They wanted to ‘try out commoner food’, as Kirari put it, a teasing smirk on her face as she looked down on Mary again.

“She needs to learn to cook healthier! Essential life skills!”

“She has chefs for that-”

“Irrelevant!”

“It’s actually pretty relevant.” Ryota pointed out. “And what does that even have to do with nurs-”

“Anyway! I’m doing this because I want to, and because you all are... i-important to me or whatever.” Mary suddenly turned bashful. “Health is wealth and all that shit.” Her cheeks were dusted red as she turned around, marching towards the kitchen for a glass of water to cool the burning feeling overcoming her. “And because med would take too long before one of you fools accidentally kills yourself.” Mary added before Ryota could ask anymore questions. That last statement, she shook her head, believing that it really was plausible.

With all they’d been through, it wasn’t unbelievable at all.

Ryota smiled, raising his hands in defeat.

“Okay, okay. Got it. Will never ask about it again.”

“That’s what you assholes always say.” Mary growled, looking ready to pounce again before it was cut off by a sudden chill running up her spine, bringing about another strong sneeze that shook her whole frame. “Gosh, what is up with today?”

“How ironic. Our little nurse is getting sick?”

“Fuck no, screw off, Suzui.” Mary barked.

“Hmm...” Ryota rubbed his chin with his fingers, pretending to be in thought. “Maybe someone is talking about you behind your back?” He jokingly provided.

“Ugh, if I had to say...” She sniffed. “It feels like my life is in danger. Or like someone's looking at me like a "thing" again. Ugh... It feels like all those times with Kirari. Or Yumeko... or both. Are their ghosts haunting me now?”

“Don’t just go off killing our friends like that.” Ryota scolded, approaching Mary and gripping her shoulders from behind before pushing her towards the direction of their rooms. “Maybe getting changed into warmer clothes will help.”

“Maybe.” Mary began walking on her own just a few steps before reaching her room. “Ayt, see ya then.”

“Bye.”

Before they could both enter their respective quarters, their phones went off, a message from the same person, they figured.

Sure enough, the sender couldn’t be any more familiar to them.

“Guess I’ll just grab a coat then.” Mary sighed. “Can’t really turn down an invitation from her.” She chuckled.

“You’re right about that.” Ryota shook his head, amused.

“Let’s go meet her then.” Mary finalized, to which the boy nodded in agreement. “Come on Suzui. Time to meet up with Yumeko.”

Somehow, deep down, Mary had a bad feeling.

She wasn’t special. So she hoped this meeting would be as normal as normal gets.

Somehow.

.

[doubleddenden]

I've been playing Pokémon Xenoverse and it's a very fun fan game. It's RPG Maker so I'm still trying to figure out how to make it run smoother (because in my experience RPG Maker games run the same on caveman pcs and monster truck quantum physics pcs) but the spirit and stuff presented is very cool.

It reuses the gym formula I'm tired of, but the rest of the game is made in a way that feels very refreshing, from starters to maps and plot. The starters especially are so unique compared to how it's usually done, and I've grown quite attached to my Shulong.

Fakemon design wise, it's all around decent. Not perfect, but it's got this odd authenticity to it that makes me say "yeah, that's not my taste, but it looks official". The designs that do land are GREAT. In addition, there's X Pokémon- basically fancy speak for regional variant, except these come from another dimension. You encounter them in very unique boss battle style scenarios and they have multiple health bars, AND are very powerful. Not to mention plot wise they are God damn scary. Setting forests on fire, ensnaring trainers in frozen traps, I actually felt a bit unnerved at one point, and each has unique art work that is very professionally made and looks great. My personal favorite is the fire type Elekid line. Currently I'm running Shulong, Electabuzz, Nunvil, Mylomute, and a bug motorcycle I'm forgetting atm.

The music is also phenomenal. It sounds very authentic yet refreshing at the same time. Team Dimension's theme and especially the Gym theme live in my head rental free. The characters also have really good designs, and other than one so far, they're very memorable (the water one especially. Oof)

Also, there's mystery gifts. Right now you can get a Shiny Totodile, a beta Igglybuff, and a special Masgot that has actually more than helped me out on a few occasions- it's a fakemon with various disguises like Heracross, Camerupt, Blastoise, and more. AND! There's an HM alternative system that works wonders.

That being said, the game has flaws. It's native to Italian, translated to English. It's better than nothing and 80% of the time it's passable, but it's not exactly A+ work. There's also issues with frame rate where it slows down or freezes a tad, which again seems to be an RPG Maker issue. In terms of new Pokémon, there's not quite as many as I'd like, and most have very bizarre evolution mechanics. Lastly, in X battles, there's a nasty habit of giving you some to fight, telling you it's not weak enough to catch, and then wasting a turn trying to throw a ball only to learn that you can't catch it because of story.

There's also an extra type that seems... weird. Sound. A lot of people say it should be a type, I'm of the opinion it's kinda pointless. It's not too difficult to grasp and the creator has a decent type match-up chart for it for if you don't want to do trial and error, and it's decent against certain types while giving Dragon and Electric advantages against it. That being said, some Pokémon are retconned to it and it doesn't really make much sense. Drowzee and Ekans for instance. Mechanically it's okay and doesn't take away my enjoyment of the game nor has it hindered me so far, but it's still irky to me as a concept.

I'm excited to play more of it though. It's fun and exciting, and a great placeholder until the next real game or next monster catcher comes out. It's got a lot of heart and soul in it, and even has an animated trailer and opening.

If you wanna play it, Google it. It's got a weird full real name, but I believe it's for the best since Nintendo hates their fans and would kill it very quickly if it wasn't.

8.5/10 for me

[trillian-anders]

huevos rancheros

pairing: chef!bucky x plus!reader

warnings: fluff, domesticity

word count: 1778

Description: chef!au; bucky makes breakfast.

just a taste masterlist

Sunday mornings had been especially good lately. The sunlight filtering through the curtains, the apartment quiet, the sounds of the neighbors not stirring, a couple of honking cars on the street below seemed muffled by the arm around your waist. The body at your back protects you from the sun’s rays. His soft snores the only sound you could really focus on. Hair tickling your cheek from where it fell from the bun he’d put it in to sleep.

In your stretch, legs uncurling and muscles moving for the first time in about nine blissful hours you could hear his snoring stop, fingers curling in your t-shirt as he breathed heavily, burying his face back into your neck and pulling you closer to him, wrapping his other arm across your shoulder.

“G’mornin.” His voice raspy and well slept. Lips soft and pouted with sleep pressed gently against the skin of your neck.

“Hi.” His blue eyes half-lidded met yours. His lips softly pressing against yours.

He’d been spending a lot of time at your apartment lately. It was a little nicer than his, a little less of a bachelor pad and more of an adult living space. He had a drawer. His toiletries sat next to yours in the shower, on the shelf next to the sink. His toothbrush, his electric shaver, a jar of hair pomade and so many discarded elastics. He had a couple pairs of shoes next to your door. Two of his jackets hung in your hall closet. Next to your bed, on the nightstand sat the book he was currently reading. It sat on top of his iPad that he used to look at new recipes and shoot off emails before bed.

It happened slowly before you’d even realized it had happened.

But you didn’t mind at all.

“You want coffee?” He whispered against your cheek, pressing a kiss to the skin there before pressing a kiss to your jaw. You hummed in response, he squeezed you to him tightly for a moment more before slipping from bed, your door left open you could hear him pad to the bathroom first. You spread across the bed, starfishing out stretching the last bit of sleep from your body before following him out. The tv was soft and rambling. The news showing the weather.

“What did you want to do today?” You asked, taking the coffee from his hands and taking a seat at the kitchen island. The scars on his left arm extended partially onto his torso. The skin rippled underneath the florals, his shoulder and back darkened purple, blue, and gold with constellations. He shrugged,

“We don’t have to go out if you don’t want to.” Your coffee was made exactly how you like it, he took a sip of his own before continuing, “Or we could go to the Village, Wanda runs a niche little bookshop there, she’s been asking about you.” You’d met the redhead in passing once, the sweet vibrant, boho woman was Sam’s wife. Which seemed a little crazy seeing as he was a little straight laced from the military, he did a lot of VA work, ran the food truck. But once you saw the two of them together, they meshed so well.

He stands between your legs, fingers brushing back a well slept mess hair out of your face, “Or we could stay in,” His lips tasted like the bitter black brew he’d been drinking, “Watch a couple movies,” Another soft kiss, “Maybe take a nap.”

“Either one would be good.” Fingers laced, he rested his forehead on yours. The two of you sat in silence for a moment, enjoying it, not fully awake. Still sleepy and wanting touch.

“How about breakfast first?”

You’d teased him multiple times about it. How elitist he was about food. Bucky was a very, “I’ll make it from scratch,” Kinda guy. There were a box of mason jars in your pantry that he kept for when he wanted to make something, rosemary salt, compound butters, and what he’d made a couple days ago that he wanted to get rid of. A deliciously spicy and well flavored salsa. The jar is about half full. The two of you having used the other half a couple days ago when you’d had a dip night.

It had been a night where he’d been trying out a couple recipes for dips that they wanted to offer on the menu. Some spicy cajun flavors melded with crab, spinach, a vegan artichoke, something with roasted red peppers and a load of garlic. The two of you had put on the Bachelor and dug into the various pots with tortillas, chips, baguette, and naan. This salsa he’d made for fun, just to have. Something simple and delicious.

He used it now with breakfast.

Black beans, a whole chopped jalapeno thrown in with onion and red and green peppers. Soft and bubbling. He’d cracked two eggs into a pan, basting the top with butter to get the white fully cooked but the yolk soft and runny. Corn tortillas toasted on the open flame of the gas burner, turned deftly with fingers he didn’t have much feeling left in. Put on a plate, tortilla, beans, the veggie mix, eggs laid on top. Leftover queso fresco from tacos he’d made last week, and a large spoon of the salsa.

Coffee was switched out for orange juice. A couple of spare tortillas on a plate between you just in case you needed them. He brought your leg into his lap, hand left on your thigh as you ate your breakfast, idly chatting about the new space they’d found that they think is the one. The one for their restaurant.

“It’s gorgeous,” He told you, “A real industrial space, two floors so we could probably do the resturant and the kitchen downstairs and maybe just have an upstairs bar for tapas.” They had a plan, Sam and Bucky. Their vision synced for what they wanted for the restaurant. All it came down to was pinning down the menu.

“Sam is from New Orleans,” Bucky's fingers entwined with yours while you walked to the subway. “And I’ve always loved Cajun food and that’s why we did the Connect NOLA food truck.” You stood against his chest, arms around his waist while he held onto the bar taking the train into Manhattan.

They were going to bring Connect NOLA into this restaurant. The themed truck, they were looking for an interior designer to bring in the green, gold, and purple—tastefully— into the industrial restaurant.

Fingers intertwined you walked hand in hand down two blocks to a new age looking shop with books in the window. The decor was witchy and gorgeous. The dark distressed wood shelves, the colorful intricate carpet. It was messy, but in an organized way. Herbs and flowers hung dry behind the register, a glass case with crystals and stones. There were comfy well worn chairs spread throughout the store. A small stand with a keurig that seemed the most modern thing in here. Other than the tablet with the card reader plugged into it on the front desk.

You marveled at the sight of her. Wanda was gorgeous. Her red hair was currently piled on top of her head, she wore a dress with a long skirt, the strap of the loose cotton dress half slipped off of her shoulder. Of course she would be a woman who could forego a bra and be fine. A brush of jealousy as she grinned at Bucky, unfounded jealousy. But she was wafish, thin, gorgeous, and married to his best friend. You knew you were being ridiculous. So you shoved that feeling aside.

She bypassed Bucky coming to you, “Oh it’s so good to see you.” She wrapped you in her arms, pulling you in tight. The faint smell of incense and patchouli on her.

“You too.” You couldn’t help but smile back. She was so genuine. She gave off such a pleasant and welcoming vibe you felt foolish for the jealousy just a minute before.

“I’ve been telling Bucky to bring you around for weeks.” She took your hand, pulling you over towards the counter, “He said you want to be a writer?” You felt your cheeks flush, looking back over at your boyfriend who rested his arms on the counter, looking at you innocently.

“I’m not great,” You shake your head, “It’s just a hobby.” You laugh nervously, brushing Bucky’s hand off your arm as he tried to soothe you from the little embarrassment he knew you were feeling.

“She’s good.” Bucky nods, grinning, “I’ve read some of her stuff.”

“When?” You turn to him in a glare. “When did you read anything?” He shrugs, playing with the little cloth bookmarks on the counter, avoiding your eyes.

“You left it open the other night.” He looks at you impishly, “I couldn’t help myself.” The little bit of anger you’d felt in your chest dissolved when he took your hand, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin there. “You’re better than you give yourself credit for.” You roll your eyes lovingly, looking back at Wanda who was smirking.

“I’m okay.” You say, “I’m not a bestseller.”

“Yet.” She grins, “Not yet.”

You’d left with a couple of books at a steep discount, well worn and scribbled in the margins as used books usually are. Bucky held the fabric tote in his left hand while you were tucked under his arm, waiting for the take out you’d ordered, the small shop barely fitting the two of you and the group that had just walked in.

“You’re a great writer.” He whispered into your hair. “I really liked it.” You hummed, turning your face to his.

“You’re not embarrassed that I’m writing a Lord of The Rings style romance?” He laughed, kissing you softly.

“Nah, I kinda liked it.” His fingers wiggled against your side, tickling you. “And it’s a cross between fantasy, romance, and drama.” Another kiss against your forehead this time. “I’m excited for the sex scene that seemed to be coming up.” You scoff, acting offended trying to push away from him which makes him hold you tighter,

“I’m not putting a sex scene in my book.” You laugh, he wiggles his eyebrows, smirking at you.

“Just for me then?” You roll your eyes, he pulls you tightly into his chest, wrapping both arms around you, “Write it just for me?” A slow languid kiss you felt all the way down to your core. And then another. Your order number was called, your half lidded eyes meeting his, pupils blown wide.

“Maybe.”

.

.

.

taglist // @bookish-shristi @saturnki @jennmurawski13 @geeksareunique @the-soulofdevil @tinmunky @gifsbysimplysonia @alwaysbenhardysgirl @albinotigerpython @93generation

[quickspinner]

MLHolidays2k19 - 23. Carols

Part 2 - 20. Traditions 

Part 3 - 21. Blankets 

I was thinking about today’s prompt, and then I played this song and remembered the carols prompt and got to thinking, so we’re jumping back a few prompts. 

New York was full of inspiration, and Marinette’s favorite place to find it was a little bistro she’d stumbled on a few weeks into her assignment. A wide variety of people came and went, and they often had live music. Tonight, though, she just couldn’t seem to get interested in anything, even though one of her favorites was playing, a nice-looking young man with pierced ears and dyed hair who played the guitar beautifully. He had a fun style and Marinette had sketched him more than once in the past, but tonight she was just staring into her drink, stirring it listlessly, her sketchbook idle under her other hand. The people swirled around her little table but she just didn’t feel like watching them. The music was nice, but it seemed a bit melancholy.

Or maybe that was just her. 

She was startled out of her thoughts as the blue-haired guitarist began to sing. He rarely did, and it was always a treat. Marinette loved his voice and the songs he chose always seemed to resonate with what she was feeling at the time. 

I’m dreaming tonight of a place I love Even more than I usually do And I though I know it’s a long road back I promise you

It was no different tonight. His voice was smooth and mellow with just the right amount of longing. He sounded like she felt, and the song went straight to her heart as the words penetrated.

I’ll be home for Christmas You can count on me Please have snow and mistletoe  And presents under the tree  Christmas Eve will find me where the love lights gleam I’ll be home for Christmas  If only in my dreams

She’d heard the song many times since Thanksgiving, often enough that she had largely stopped noticing it, but now it struck her dumb. 

Marinette stared at the singer, who remained calm and relaxed, but with just enough tension in his body and in his face for you to believe he really felt it. For a moment Marinette felt he was looking right at her. She reached up quickly to wipe away the tears that had begun to cluster on her eyelashes. She’d never heard this song played on an electric guitar before but it fit him, and he made it fit the song too. Somehow he captured the perfect tone of wistful longing hidden under a brave smile, and it robbed Marinette completely of her ability to be brave any longer. She hunched down in her chair, clutching her drink, and hoped no one would notice the tears. 

Marinette had no idea how long she’d been sniffling there when a shadow fell over her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad,” said a male voice, low and smooth and...with an accent? She looked up to find the singer standing next to her table, with his guitar case in his hand and a friendly, sympathetic smile. 

“Oh,” she said, sitting up straight and grabbing her napkin to wipe at her eyes. “You didn’t. Truly, I was already sad. You just sang what was in my heart, I guess.” Marinette tried to smile, and the man’s face brightened.

“Pardon me, but are you French? Your accent—” Marinette was having the same revelation; she hadn’t been wrong, though his singing had always been perfect, when he spoke, he did so with an accent; lighter than hers, but distinctive. 

“Yes, I’m from Paris,” Marinette smiled. “I’ve only been in New York a few months. And you?”

“I’m also from Paris,” he answered in French, and it sounded like music as much as anything he had done with his guitar. He gestured at the chair across from her. “May I join you? It’s been a while since I was able to speak to anyone from home and, well...it seems like maybe we’re both a little homesick tonight.”

“Please, go ahead,” Marinette said eagerly, and he sat down immediately, tucking his guitar case under the table.

“It’s been months since I’ve been able to speak French with anyone,” he said with a self-conscious smile. “It feels good.” He held out his hand across the table. “My name is Luka, by the way.”

“Marinette,” she answered, shaking his hand. Luka’s smile widened.

“That’s a very pretty French name.” He leaned his elbows on the table, clasping his hands in front of him. “What brings you to New York?”

“Work,” she replied. “I work at a fashion design firm and they’re based in Paris, but they sent me to New York to work on a collaboration with another company that’s based here.”

“They must trust you a lot,” Luka observed. “You must be very capable for them to send you here on your own.” Marinette felt a little fluttered at the compliment, and didn’t quite know how to respond. Luka continued, with a slightly knowing smile, “I’m also here for work, playing backup for my mother’s old partner. It’s been fun, but this time of year, you definitely start to feel the distance. My boss is having a big Christmas party but it’s not the same as Christmas at home.” Marinette wasn’t sure but she thought he was blushing a bit. “I feel foolish admitting it, but I’ve never been away from my mother and sister at Christmas, and I miss them.” He swallowed hard and looked away.

Marinette leaned forward and patted the hands he had clasped on the table. “I feel the same way. I’ve never been away from home at the holidays either. When I think about missing my father’s bûche de Noël...” Her throat closed up and she couldn’t say anymore. 

Luka took her hand before she could pull it back across the table and squeezed it, and for a moment they just sat, connected but not looking at each other as they both tried to pull themselves together. When their eyes finally met again, they both shared a sheepish smile. 

“You okay?” Luka asked, and then cleared his throat, letting go of her hand.

“Not really,” Marinette giggled weakly. “You?”

“Nope,” he laughed back. “All right, well, how about this. If it sounds good to you, I can go get us another round of drinks or some food, and you can tell me about your family, and I can tell you about mine, and maybe we can at least keep each other company for a little bit, enjoy having someone to talk to without having to stop and figure out a word every few minutes—” Marinette giggled, and he smiled. “Because I can tell you, they don’t teach you the names of musical equipment in standard English classes.”

“Ugh, it’s the same with the technical terms where I work,” Marinette sighed. “I know exactly what I want to say but sometimes I just can’t find the right way to say it and I feel so stupid!”

Luka’s grin broadened. “I’ll get us a menu.” 

Marinette’s tears were soon forgotten in the joy of having someone from home to talk to.  Luka was a good listener. He asked insightful questions and seemed actually invested in the answers, and when he spoke he had interesting stories to tell. They shared plate after plate of food until they were really just nibbling for the sake of justifying their continued presence as they compared neighborhoods and swapped stories of their travels. 

“Seriously,” Luka grinned as Marinette laughed, her hands over her mouth and her eyes sparkling. “He rolls up outside our houseboat playing a piano on top of his giant tour truck—because of course he can’t have a bus like a normal rock star. And I’m just staring there like an idiot because it’s Jagged freaking Stone playing the piano on top of a truck outside my house, and then my mom just rips into him like’s her scummy ex-boyfriend.” Luka paused for a sip of water. “Because apparently he was. And my sister and I are just completely freaking out but only on the inside because a Couffaine never sweats where you can see.” 

Marinette could barely breathe for laughing, but she waved for Luka to go on.

“So he finally gets down off the damn truck and they have something almost approximating a conversation between two normal human beings, and it turns out he needed a guitarist and he wanted my mom to come play with him. And she basically tells him to fuck off but he can have me if I want to go.” He shrugged. “The money was good and I’ve never been to the States so I said, sure, what the hell. And here I am, Jagged Stone’s backup guitarist.” He rolled his eyes. “I get why mom was so pissed at him, though, he fires me like once a week, but…” He shrugged. “I’m good at what I do, and I’m laid back enough not to care about most of his weird antics, so his agent always just sends me home for the day and tells me to come back in the morning. I’m pretty sure she thinks nobody else could put up with him for this long so she has a vested interest in keeping me around.”

“Still, that’s terrible,” Marinette giggled. “I met him once, actually, years ago. He probably doesn’t remember, we met as part of a school project, but he wanted these sunglasses shaped like the Eiffel tower and colored like the French flag. I ended up making them because I couldn’t find anything like what he described.”

“You made those?” Luka raised his eyebrows. “He loves those things. Never lets them out of his sight. He left them in a restaurant once and Penny had to drive a six hour round-trip to go get them.”

“Really?” Marinette blushed, eyes wide. “Wow. They were so...wow. Okay.” 

“Yeah,” Luka grinned. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him you’re in town unless you want me to. He’d probably have you making glasses shaped like the Empire State Building next.”

They both giggled at that, and when the laughter finally died, Luka sighed and rubbed his neck. “I should really get going.” He hesitated. “Could I give you my number? Maybe we could hang out again sometime.”

Marinette smiled. “I’d like that.” Luka grinned and they traded phones to type in their numbers. They split the check and both got up to go. She got a bit stuck trying to get her coat back on, but Luka stepped behind her to help, chuckling, and sorted her out quickly. 

They walked together at the door, and just outside, Marinette turned to Luka. 

“Luka, do you—“ she hesitated and bit her lip.

“Do I?” he prompted with a gentle smile.

“Do you want to come over and spend Christmas Eve with me tomorrow?” she blurted in a rush. “I mean, I know we just met but if you’re going to be alone and I’m going to be alone and neither of us wants to be alone then…” She shrugged. “Why should we be? I can cook and maybe it won’t be the same but—“ she paused as Luka laughed quietly.

“”You don’t know how nice it is to hear somebody talk that fast and still be able to follow,” Luka chuckled, and though the laughter faded, the warmth remained in his smile. “And as for us being strangers, you’ve been listening to my music for a long time, so I think you know me better than you realize.”

Marinette’s eyes widened slightly. He’d noticed her, all those times he played?

Luka cleared his throat, glancing away for a moment before bringing his gaze back to hers. “I’d love to spend Christmas Even with you, Marinette. Text me the details? I’ll pick up some wine and bring my guitar and neither of us has to be alone.”

Marinette felt all bubbly inside at the thought of cooking for another person after all this time. Suddenly she felt motivated to clean up and find a nice tablecloth and put up some lights. All of those things she had always loved but couldn’t see the point of with no one to share them with. “Great! Yes, okay. I’ll see you then!” She had so much to do, she needed to plan a menu and make a grocery list and—“Bye!” she called with a bright smile, setting off with a bounce in her step.

Luka watched her go for a moment, his own smile growing. She practically sparkled as she bobbed down the street, clearly lost in her plans and looking so happy...

Yeah, he wasn’t going to feel bad about ditching Jagged’s giant Christmas party at all.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Accidents happen; Queen x teen reader

*Author’s note*

Hey all, okay so here I am with a new request. After people seeing my last Queen x teen reader ‘time for us to look after you’ this anon wanted another teen fic with Queen but with the reader being older. So in this fic imagine you are 18. Now to the anon in the light that as I was writing and trying to finish your fic during Deacy’s birthday I kinda leaned a more close bond with our beloved bass player so I hope that’s okay with you. Hope you all enjoy my lovely darlings :)

Warnings: parent death from drugs, head injuries, fluff, bit of angst. But MOSTLY FLUFF FROM OUR BELOVED 4 BOYS :)

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

@platawnic

@geek-and-proud

@queendeakyy

@coolcxt

__________________________________________________________

I was up on stage rewiring some of the bar lights so that when my dad would go to do the light cues to light up the bottom of the stage, they would hit the boys exactly on cue.  Wearing special gloves to ensure that no fingerprints got on the covering or the actual bulb smudged with fingerprints dimming the lights when they go up on cue.

“(Y/n), oh (y/n) baby~” I perked up my head and turned around to see my favorite Queen member the one whom I’ve considered a big brother to me, John Richard Deacon.  Known to most as the bassist of Queen, the ‘quiet’ guy, but to me he’s the Disco king, father to three beautiful children, loving and dedicated husband to his lady Veronica and as stated before, my brother from another mother.

“Yes?” I asked wearily.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where my Fender bass is at, would you?” I stopped my work and stood up.

“How dare you would accuse me of stealing it Deacy, I’m hurt.”

“I didn’t say it was you, I just asked if you had seen it.” Oh bugger. “But since I know it was you, where is it?”

“I plead the 5th!”

“You’re in England love, it won’t work here.” I gulped and quickly raced off with Deacy chasing after me.  I hopped off the stage and ran through the rows of seats with Deacy right behind me.

I would jump over the seats just to get into the next row before Deacy could grab hold of me.  We’d just stare each other down as we’d fake each other out trying to either escape or go on the chase.  I then raced towards the end trying to jump back onto the stage.  

As I rolled across the stage and just before I could make another run for it, I felt Deacy’s arms wrap around me and pin me down to the ground.

“Gotcha! You gonna tell me where it’s at?” I shook my head and that’s when I felt him start to tickle me.

“Gahh Nohohohoh! Deheheheacy stohahahp!”

“Then fess up love, or I won’t.” he mocked. “I have no problem doing this all night love.”

“Okay! Okay uncle! I’ll tell you!” He ceased his attack then before I could speak I heard the voices of the rest of the band come up from backstage.

“Ahh I see you’ve caught your culprit Deacy darling.” Freddie said.

“And it would seem you got a confession out of her.” Stated Brian.

“And now here we have the evidence. It was in her dressing room up against a guitar platform.” Roger presented Deacy with his bass.  He stood up and took his instrument back and I said as I got up.

“Ya’ll are snitches. Good to know I’ll be able to trust you guys in prison.” I joked.

“(Y/n)!” we all turned around and there stood my dad, Queen’s stage designer and main light technician.  “You know better than to distract the boys from their rehearsal.”

“Sorry dad.” It was then Roger came up and said.

“Ahh no worries (f/n). She wasn’t distracting us. She never is.” Roger said as he gave me a playful noogie.

A little background information about me.  As you know my name is (y/n) (l/n), my mum died of a cocaine overdose back in America 2 years ago.  Wanting a new life for me, my dad moved us across the ocean here to London where he got a job working at the Odeon Hammersmith theater.  After Queen performed their famed Christmas Eve concert back in ’75, they hired my dad as their permanent stage designer and light director because they loved what he had done to make them look good.

And just to get me out in the work field during my holidays, I helped with lighting all thanks to my dad for teaching me the ropes.  That’s kinda what helped Deacy and I connect was our knowledge of electrical engineering, and why the two of us just clicked with each other even being 8 years younger than him.

And of course bonding with the rest of the guys wasn’t hard either.  Freddie was the first one to just instantly love me cause of my genius work with the lights, he was even impressed when just last year my dad had allowed me to run the lights all by myself.  Brian and I bonded with each other due to our love for animals and Roger and I—we already kinda had that teasing big brother-little sister dynamic.

I’d embarrass him whenever he’d tried to bring in one of his ‘flings’ and he’d be the overbearing big brother when my dad was too busy to pick me up from school and intimidate the boys at my high school.  You know that kinda of stuff, but he’s also always there for a comforting shoulder and a good bear hug.

“Alright. But you better get back to work missy. I’m gonna start the light checks in half an hour and if those stage lights aren’t done by then, we’re gonna have an issue here.”

“Don’t worry dad I’ll get it done.” He just grinned at me suspiciously before heading back up to the control panel in the very back of the arena.

“You work too hard darling, we can back you up if you need a break.”

“Thanks for the offer Fred but I’m good. I’m….still kinda grounded for going to that party you invited me too last week.”

“Still? That was over 3 weeks ago.”

“Yeah and punishment is hard labor. But at least it’s not staying in my room with cabin fever.”

“I suppose.”

“Go on, you guys get ready for soundchecks, I’ll be five minutes anyways.” I then went back to the edge of the stage and continued my work on the bar lights.

Afterwards I was up on a high elevation machine to screw in the lights that hung along a track up on the ceiling.  Once I got done tightening the last screw so that it wouldn’t fall almost 20ft and really kill one of the guys, I saw all four of them starting their soundchecks. Since I was closest to Brian I couldn’t help but say.

“Hey Bri, I can finally see the top of your head.” He looked up at me and I swore he was probably giving me a bitch face.

“Ha-ha very funny (n/n).” he said.

“Oi (y/n), what’s it look like from up there?” Roger cried out.

“No different, just looks like a waterfall of curls sprouting out of his head.” I told him.

“Alright enough of this, you all had your fun.”

“Aww Bri I’m kidding. You know I love you right?”

“Sure you do.” He sneered sarcastically.  I chuckled and pressed the down button on the machine.  As I was being lowered down, I radioed my dad.

“Everything’s all good here dad.”

‘Good job sweetie bell. Head backstage and help Robert and Sam with the backdrops.’

“You got it pops.” Once I was successfully down and out of the elevator crane, Derek and Jason wheeled it away and I went to find Bobby and Sam.

It was getting close to concert time and as I was walking along stage right when I saw Deacy in his normal side of stage right practicing his bass and just when he thought no one would be looking, he’d try and work in one of his little Disco moves.  Which is why I have given him the endearing nickname, Disco Deacy.

It was then I heard something from up above.  I took out my binoculars and noticed that something didn’t look right with the track railing, especially on the left side.  There was this creaking and groaning sound and that’s when I had to act fast.  Quick as I could I cried out to Deacy and shoved him aside when I felt something hit my head and the next thing I knew, my world went black.

*3rd Person POV*

When John overcame the suddenly shock of suddenly being shoved aside, he turned around and saw probably the most horrifying thing he would ever see in his entire life.  There lying underneath the track railing was (y/n).

She wasn’t moving and it didn’t look like she was breathing either.  Without a word he rushed over and tried to lift up the railing but it was just too damn heavy with all the extra lights screwed onto it.

“Deacy! Are you alright we just heard a—oh my god!” Freddie gasped in horror.

“Don’t stand there gawking like idiots help me!” Deacy snapped.  Soon all the band members, plus a couple of stage handlers all piled into helping Deacy raise the railings to get (y/n) free.

“What in the samhell is going—(Y/N)!!!” Her father soon came in on the scene after hearing the crash.  He raced up towards the stage and he ordered. “Okay everyone lift slowly on three; One, two, three!” Soon the seven men began to lift the track with all their might. “Slowly, slowly, okay I can pull her out, keep it off of her.”

He then pulled his daughter out from under the track, finally seeing a small pool of blood on the stage.

“Okay slowly lower it back down. One, two three! Easy! Slowly!” Once the track was on the ground, the four band members surrounded the father and daughter.

“(Y/n)? (N/n), can you hear us?” Roger spoke.

“Here press this to her head.” Brian said as he got his jacket off and handed it to her father.

“Medic!”

“Someone call 999!” Soon the stage medics came in and took (y/n) out of her father’s arms and began checking her over.

Outside the ambulance finally arrived and the medics were loading (y/n) up into the back of the truck.

“Go with her (f/n) darling.” Freddie said.  (F/n) turned to Freddie and said.

“But what about the show?”

“For once there won’t be a show. We’ll tell John to cancel the show and refund all the tickets. We won’t have enough time to fix the stage. Plus none of us will be focused after seeing that blood.” Explained Roger.

“Go be with your daughter, we’ll try to get there as fast as we can.” Brian assured him.  (F/n) nodded and thanked the four band members for their help, most bands would’ve just left it be and not have gotten involved as they did just now.  

He raced up and asked the medic to ride with her, the paramedics allowed him to ride with them and once he entered the back of the van, two medics closed the door and the male tapped the door and almost immediately, the van took off for the hospital.

It took some convincing but Reid managed to work out with the manager of the stadium and they made an announcement to the audience that an accident happened and the show had to be canceled.  

Freddie, Brian, Roger and Deacy managed to find (y/n)’s dad in the waiting room.  He told the band that she was in surgery right now and come out once they had news.  Hours passed and finally by 4am a doctor came by with a clipboard and said.

“(Y/n) (l/n)’s father.” It was then the four band members along with (y/n)’s father all stood up.  The doctor was confused until her father walked up to him and said.

“I’m (y/n)’s dad.”

“Your daughter sustained a massive head injury. We did all we could to help her but the best we could do for her now is have her be in an induced coma.”

“Does that mean she’s—” her dad feared to continued but the doctor assured him.

“It’s up to her. She’s stable and all vitals are normal. It’s…..just gonna be up to her whether she wakes up or not.” He sighed heavily but thanked the Doctor.

“Can we see her?” asked Freddie.

“Of course. She’s in room 302, you can visit her now.” They all nodded and headed towards the room.

When the five of them came to the door, they saw (y/n)’s head wrapped in bandages, IV’s in her arms and all these hooks and wires attached to her as the machine showed her blood pressure, brain activity and heartrate.

“(Y/n), (y/n) it’s me. I’m here sweetie bell.” Her dad choked out as he took his daughter’s hand in his. “I’m here baby girl, I’m right here. Oh please let me see those pretty (e/c) eyes of yours. Let me know you’re gonna be okay.” He sniffed and kissed his daughter’s hand.

Taking this harder than anyone else, Deacy stepped out trying to compose himself as he gripped his head in his hands and tried to keep his sobs in, but they kept coming out in chokes.

“Deacy darling?” Deacy sniffled and wiped away his tears but refused to speak to Freddie because he knew if he tried to speak, all that would come out would be sobs. “This was in no way your fault darling, you couldn’t have known the track would collapse.”

“But……but…..”

“No buts darling, you. Didn’t. Cause. The. Collapse.” Freddie emphasized.  Deacy sighed heavily and cleaned himself up and he choked out.

“If she doesn’t wake up……I’ll never forgive myself.”

“She will. Our little light goddess is a fighter. She’s like a wild mustang. Can try to break her, but she’ll always keep bucking and fighting.” Freddie brought Deacy into a comforting hug, patting his back and rubbing it comfortingly.

Over three weeks passed and still there wasn’t any changes of (y/n) waking up. Even with the News of the World tour, any chance the boys got when they would perform back in England or they managed to get a day off, they’d go see (y/n) and ask her father if she had shown signs of improvement.

Currently Deacy was in there alone with (y/n).  As he listened to the machines that were his sign of her still being ‘alive’.

“I—I uhh….I know I’m not much of a singer, so if—you can somehow hear this I don’t want any teasing. As you know I wrote this for Veronica, but ever since meeting you, some of the lyrics seem to resemble you. You’re….like the sister I’ve always wanted and—I hope this song helps you see it.”

He took out a keyboard piano and placed it in his lap and began playing “You’re my best friend” as well as singing the song to her, hoping that somehow this could help her wake up.

*My POV*

I woke up to hearing the sound of a piano playing and a voice singing.  It wasn’t as powerful as Freddie’s, nor as high and strong as Roger’s and Bri’s, so….no it couldn’t be, could it?

Slowly I tried opening my eyes but for some reason they were so heavy to open, it was like my eyelids were made of lead.  When I did manage to open them, all I saw was a bright light and white walls. I also saw what looked to be balloons in the room as well.  I turned to my right to see dozens upon dozens of flowers, balloons and stuffed animals all in a “GET WELL SOON” package, as written on most of the balloons.

I then turned to my left to see Deacy sitting there with a keyboard on his lap and I finally pieced together that the voice was coming from him.  He briefly stopped and looked like he was about to break down crying.

“Don’t stop now Deacy.” I croaked out.  Wow how long have I been asleep? His head shot up and the second he looked at me, he looked like he was about to explode with a million emotions.  He quickly set aside the keyboard and rolled the chair closer towards my face as he said.

“Hey, oh my god you’re—you’re okay.” I felt him stroke my cheek and he repeatedly yet lovingly kissed over my face repeating ‘you’re okay.’

“A little dizzy and exhausted but yeah I guess.”

“Dizzy? Your vision’s not blurry is it? How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Deacy, relax. No my visions not blurry, and you’re holding up two FYI. What happened?”

“You—you don’t remember?” he asked me concerned.

“That’s a little hazy. I mean last thing I remember was running towards you and my vision went black after that.”

“(Y/n). The track beam that held the lights came down. You pushed me out of the way but got caught under the end of it. It took seven of us to get you out. God you….you were bleeding heavily from your head.”

“But—you guys still did the show last night, right? Did it still happen?”

“Uhh love. That happened over 3 weeks ago.” My eyes widened and that’s when I saw the three remaining members of Queen enter in with more gifts and when they saw me awake, they all proclaimed my name and raced over toward me talking all at once.  “Alright! Okay you guys step back, give her some air.” Deacy snapped.

“Oh love you still remember me don’t you?” Freddie begged.

“Of course I still remember you. How could I ever forget Freddie Mercury?” he sighed with relief and said.

“I was just worried that you had gotten memory loss from the bump on your precious noggin. Thank god you didn’t, and don’t you ever scare us like that again you cheeky darling.”

“In his own dramatic way, he’s glad you’re safe and awake (y/n).” Brian assured as he stroked my shoulder.

“Was I—really out for 3 weeks?”

“It felt like forever.” Roger stated solemnly.

“Where’s my dad? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. Hardly left your side the poor man. Finally took Deacy being here to watch over you for him to finally head home and bathe.” Said Freddie.

“As well as get some rest. He looked like he was ready for an early grave.” Roger stated which earned him a back of the head slap from Deacy.

“It’s okay Deacy. It—couldn’t be hard for him. I mean first he lost my mom, and now the thought of losing me, it must’ve devastated him.”

“Well he won’t have to worry about that anymore. Because you’re back, and soon you’ll be on your feet in no time!” Freddie proclaimed.

“And he won’t be alone in taking care of you, because he’s got 4 willing volunteers to help nurse you until you’re back to normal.” Roger stated as he gently poked my nose as he emphasized the ‘you’.

“And just who would those four unfortunately souls be?” they all proclaimed at my negative answer but I couldn’t help but playfully stick my tongue at them.

And they did as promised.  But god never did I imagine what mother hens these guys were.  They always hovered over me any chance they got, never leaving my side, making sure I was given my medications, and if any signs of discomfort came they’d even have a fight about who got to be my ‘body pillow’.

Mostly Rog, Bri and Fred were the ones to duke it out, which only allowed Deacy to make his move.  So nine times out of ten he was my body pillow leaving the other three to wallow in self-pity of not being my body pillow/teddy bear.  As Deacy and I were alone, I told him.

“You know I don’t blame you right?” he sighed heavily.

“I know. But seeing you on the ground, blood pooling out from your head. I should’ve heard the thing snapping off. I’d give anything for it to have been me and not you.”

“But what if you had died? Where would that leave Veronica? Your boys, your baby girl, the band, me? Deacy you are valued and the most important person in so many people’s lives. I’d never forgive myself if it had been you in that bed when I knew I could’ve saved you.” He gently stroked the back of my head and kissed my forehead.

“Just promise me never do something that reckless again.”

“I’ll try, being a stagehand is dangerous business.”

“I’ll make you my assistant or fashion designer if it means you’ll be safe. And you know I can make that happen.”

“Yeah but it’d totally backfire cause for one I’ve got 10 left fingers when it comes to drawing, and I’d be the worst assistant ever.” He grinned and gently bopped my nose.

“I don’t think you would. Veronica loves you and she knows you’d give me every message she had regarding her or the kids.” I softly smiled and leaned against his chest listening to his heartbeat.

“Sing me a lullaby.”

“Love you know I can’t sing.”

“I know, but you sang to me at the hospital three days ago.”

“That was when I felt you wouldn’t be able to hear me.”

“C’mon pwease?” I begged with the puppy dog eyes. “Injured girl with a concussion demands her favorite Queen member sing to her.” He sighed but held me close rubbing my shoulder with his thumb and first hummed the opening notes to my favorite Beatles song “Here comes the sun”.

I soon heard him beginning to sing softly.  Now while he may not have a strong voice and sure it cracked at some parts, mainly when the range went a little higher, Deacy still had a descent voice. And when he would sing in a normal, low range tone to fit his range, it actually sounded good.  Soon enough his voice sent me off into dreamland.

“Goodnight poppet. Sleep well.” Was the last thing I heard before feeling a kiss right over the very spot where I had been hit.

[homeforchristmas-au]

Character bios pt 2!!

Decided to continue the bios for the rest of the fam squad, the full extended family!! Might change things around a bit, we’ll see!!! Here’s part one in case you missed it :3

Emile Sanders (formerly Picani):

Age: 46

Pronouns: he/him/they/them

Height: 6’1”

Curly medium golden mahogany brown hair and sky blue eyes, subtly tanned skin covered in freckles, red framed rounded glasses, likes dressing like a cartoon character or just wearing cartoon merch (his prized possession is his Mabel pines jumper) but wears a brown cardigan over a white button down shirt with a pink necktie when he goes to work

A big goofball that has a lot of love to give, but he still knows when to be more subdued and calm and when to activate “serious picani”. He’s always loved helping people work through their issues which is why he’s a therapist

Like patton, he’s excellent at reading emotions, though he’s a bit better at it since he’s a professional

Has ADHD, but has developed the necessary coping skills to help keep his symptoms under control

Has two siblings; Catarina (Patton’s mother) and Leonard (Patton’s other uncle). Emile is the baby of the family while Leonard is the oldest

Emile met Thomas when they were both in college. They shared an ASL class and quickly began getting along, and frequently practiced sign language together and feelings developed from there

It was quite some time before they got married, but it was well worth the wait

Thomas Sanders:

Age: 43

Pronouns: he/him

Height: 5’10”

The standard character Thomas look; floppy medium brown hair, chestnut eyes, fair skinned, wears the same three shirts periodically for five years until he buys three new shirts, the usual stuff

He’s a sweet, down to earth guy. Loves cartoons almost as much as Emile does, has a passion for pizza, theatre, and the cats of the world he’ll never be able to pet without dying. He can be impulsive at times, but his heightened anxiety oftentimes outweighs that

Has three brothers named Christian, Patrick, and Shea, but I won’t describe them in depth cos I don’t wanna get any facts wrong since this is based on Thomas himself oop-

I’m literally just describing the canon character Thomas except slightly older im-

There’s like nothing else to add to make this fun and unique it’s just character Thomas welp

Thomas and Emile’s kids:

Anton Sanders:

Age: 16

Pronouns: any/all

Height: idk uh ??? 5’7” ???

Medium length wavy black hair, electric blue eyes, fair skinned with a beauty mark on his right cheek beneath his eye, usually wears fashionable clothes and declares himself an eleven, often wears scarves and turtlenecks (almost exclusively black) as well as his round mirrored sunglasses

Can and will kill you with a single look. Especially if you mess with his family. He’ll never admit it but he loves them with everything he’s got, even if he never acts like it for even a moment

Especially adores Remy and respects that they’re discovering themself and exploring new possibilities. He knows from experience how tough that is and how much of a challenge it can be

Was adopted at age three after his parents were busted for child abuse and heavy drug addiction. It took quite some time for him to come out of his shell but Emile and Thomas were nothing but patient and loving and kind. He still has a lot of trust issues but he knows he can trust his family

Will never admit it now but became insanely jealous when remy was adopted into the family. He did not want a brother because he knew that meant he was being replaced and he wasn’t loved anymore

Eventually Thomas and Emile sat him down and they all talked through it and assured Anton that he was still loved and he was not being replaced

It still took a very long time for Anton to trust Remy, even if he was only a baby

His heart was won over when Remy said his first word to him

All he said was “no” but Anton admired his defiant spirit

also yes this is the Critic how did u know

Remy Sanders:

Age: 12 (birthday January 16)

Pronouns: he/him/they/them/it/its

Height: damnit how tall are 12 year olds

Shoulder length hair dyed dark purple at the roots that fades into magenta at the ends (hair colour changes periodically depending on what it feels like having), chocolate brown eyes, fairly dark skinned but not heavily so, gender expression changes at the drop of a hat but it often wears leather, skirts, beanies, and a heck ton of earrings (when it turns eighteen it starts getting a lot of different piercings like angel bites, nostril, and industrial piercings, etc) (that’s worth noting)

Almost always sarcastic but that’s its way of showing love really. It’s a helluva punk that can and will fight anyone to the death if they deserve it (or if they hurt someone Remy likes). It’s actually a huge nerd but doesnt usually show that side of itself. It loves reading, watching shows like doctor who, and doing puzzles with Logan

Was diagnosed with adhd after Emile noticed it experienced similar symptoms for quite a while

Was adopted by Thomas and Emile when it was a baby (and Anton was four), having been found by Emile when it was left in a box in an alleyway, which was a long and complicated process but one hundred percent worth it

It has a trio of male rats named Holmes, Watson, and Splinter. Thomas was a bit reluctant to let it adopt rats but they all went to a rat breeder and when Thomas saw them all and even held one he realised it wasn’t so bad and they were actually kinda cute

When it was nine years old, it nearly died in a nasty hit and run. A truck had swerved into it when it was by the side of the road. It was fine after a lengthy recovery except it had to use a wheelchair after some spinal cord damage left it immobilised from the waist down. The driver was never identified

It probably wasn’t a coincidence that this event occurred not long after remy started talking about how much it loved boys just as much as it loved girls, but that teas a bit too hot for this post

Logan’s sisters:

Ellen Adams-Waterson:

Age: 26

Pronouns: she/her

Height: 5’6”

Light auburn hair going just barely past the shoulders, honey eyes, fair skinned though mildly tanned, covered from head to toe with freckles, red framed rectangular glasses, usually wears clothes for comfort and especially likes turtlenecks

She’s a determined, steadfast kinda gal who fights for whats right and gives everything she has for her loved ones, especially her immediate family. Although she can be pretty blunt with her words she’s also kindhearted and wants whats best for everyone

She’s an avid writer, and has actually published a novel. She also dabbles in fanfiction and is unashamed about it

She’s married to a wonderful wife named Elizabeth and they have a daughter named Kaylee (15)

She’s also been trying to quit smoking but so far that has yielded no results

Ashley Fletcher (formerly Adams):

Age: 24

Pronouns: she/her

Height: 5’10”

Long light ash brown hair that reaches her tailbone that she keeps parted to the right, electric blue eyes, fair skinned and a face full of freckles, black rectangular glasses, tries to be fashion forward but mostly just wears T-shirts and denim jackets

She’s a trans woman and has been transitioning for a few years now with lots of support from her family. She’s a nice person but let’s people walk all over her a bit. She doesn’t like confrontation much because of her anxiety disorder, but she’s trying to get better with that

Loves acting and wants to pursue it as a career, but her anxiety makes it difficult to put herself out there

Married to a trans man named warren and they have a son named jack (11) and a daughter named Emma (6)

She met warren at a pride event with Logan and Patton, and it was actually Patton who met him first (although at the time he went by a different name and didnt know he was trans yet) and then introduced him to the others

They actually talked about adopting a child long before even considering marriage. Although they realised it would look better to adoption agencies if they were married, and that was the main reason they even went through all of that

Renae Adams:

Age: 21

Pronouns: she/her/he/him

Height: 6’8”

Short wavy hair dyed bright pink, amber eyes, fair skinned, a black *dabs* styling pair of Warby Parker’s, often wears high neck shirts and suit jackets, basically always business casual because she can, and loves wearing hoop earrings

There are two sides to Renae; either stone cold businessperson or happy go lucky memelord with a heart of gold. She’s a lot like Logan in that regard, although it’s harder to predict what side of her you’ll see at any given moment. She can either be a super soft bean or the scariest person on the planet

Has been dealing with OCD her whole life, and sometimes it gets particularly bad (especially the intrusive thoughts) but she has a therapist and psychiatrist she sees somewhat regularly

She runs her own coffee shop called Real Bean Café and it does fairly well. She’s always thinking about how she can improve her business

She’s aroace so she isn’t in a romantic relationship but she is in a queerplatonic relationship with a beautiful enby named Pigeon

They actually met in her coffeeshop. Renae saw Pigeon’s Attack on Titan T-shirt and was immediately compelled to talk to them

And that is it for part two of the character bios!!! Might make another post talking about Logan’s sisters’ kids and partners but idk we’ll see 👀

I just really like character designs man lmao

Lemme know if I need to tag anything else my brain box isn’t generating the required tags rn lmao

[all-about-ebikes]

Everything You Need To Know About Ebikes

Hoverboards, skateboards, scooters, motorcycles, mopeds, unicycles, tricycles, you name it, we've ridden it. But I'm here to tell you why I think electric bikes, in particular, are more than just a fun tech fad. I think they could actually be the future of transportation. But that said, there's a lot out there, and you don't wanna get fooled. So here's some stuff you need to know about e-bikes.  

Obviously, e-bikes are not new. They've been around for decades. And if you live in China or Europe, it's a good bet that e-bikes are already a way of life for you. In Europe, for example, e-bikes have long helped older adults maintain independence and are just now really blowing up with younger riders. But here in the U.S., e-bikes are still pretty niche. They only account for 4% of total bike sales. Compare that to more bike-friendly countries like the Netherlands where there are more e-bikes sold than regular bikes. Overall, experts predict that worldwide sales will hit $23.8 billion by 2025.  But Americans are slowly coming around. Sales of electric bikes in the U.S. have grown more than eight folds since 2014. It took a long time to get to this point. 

Now one of the first patents for an electric-bike was registered in 1895 by an inventor named Ogden Bolton. Now Bolton didn't actually end up making or selling any of his bikes, but amazingly some of the same design details can be found in e-bikes today. A rear hub motor with a battery centrally mounted on the frame. Now I know what you're thinking. What the hell is he talking about?  A rear hub motor, amps and volts. I don't wanna get ahead of myself. So let's talk about the basics before we get to why e-bikes are the future of transportation. 

 So generally speaking e-bikes are bicycles with a battery-powered assist that comes through when you pedal or in some cases use a throttle. Pushing on the pedal activates a small motor that gives you a boost. So when you're zipping up a hill or cruising over rough terrain, you don't have to break a sweat. Twisting a throttle does the same thing but without pedaling. 

There are two types of motors. There's the mid-drive which is located in the middle of the bike usually between the two pedals. And then there's the hub motor which is located in the center of either the front or the rear wheel. There are pros and cons to both types of motors. 

Hub drives have been around forever and tend to be cheaper and more versatile. They're really excellent motors for anyone needing a reliable e-bike for long, mostly flat commuting. Mid-drives are usually smaller and lighter and can allow for greater torque than hub drives making them well suited for hilly areas and off road use. Their center position on the bike also creates a more balanced ride. And changing a tire on a mid-drive bike is usually less of a pain in the ass. 

e-bikes for sale also tend to use different types of sensors to determine how best to dole out power. There are two types, torque sensors, and cadence sensors. Torque sensors regulate the motor based on how hard you're pushing the pedals, while cadence sensors work off of how fast you pedal. 

Good bikes use torque sensors while the low enders have cadence only, and a lot of bikes use both. I highly recommend testing out both types of motors before buying an e-bikes to see which is the best for you. Think about how you plan on using the bike. Commuting, off-roading, touring?  The better e-bikes brands usually match the appropriate motor placement with the type of bike they're selling. Most mountain bikes come with mid-range motors while the majority of commuter bikes sold in hill-less Amsterdam are hub-based. 

Now let's talk power. Manufacturers will often offer power ratings for a variety of reasons. Until recently power ratings were a way for bike companies to dance around Europe's strict importation laws which prohibited anything stronger than 250 watts. But now the continent allows the sale of bikes with way more powerful motors, which is good because it allows bikes to be seen as a viable alternative to cars. Still, power ratings can be pretty subjective, and you can probably get away with just ignoring them. 

To get a better idea of how much maximum power you'll actually feel, check to see if they list the volts and the amps. Multiply those two together to get the watt hours or the number of watts that can be delivered in an hour. This gives you a great sense of how much range you'll get. For example, Rad Power Bikes' excellent cargo bike the RadWagon has a battery pack that is 48 volts and 14 amp hours. 48 times 14 equals 672 watt hours. If you're thrifty with your energy usage, each mile you travel will cost you about 20 watt hours. Therefore, a 672 watt hour pack will get you about 34 miles of range.

 Alright, let's talk classes. There are three classes of e-bikes in the U.S. Class one is pedal assist with no throttle. Class two is throttle assisted but with a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour. In a class three, it's pedal-assist only, no throttle, but with a maximum speed of 28 miles per hour. In Europe they only have two classes. Class one, which is by far the most popular, has a maximum speed of 25 kilometers an hour with no helmet required. Class two is 1,000 watt plus motors capable of going 45 kilometer an hour, require a helmet and can't be ridden on bike paths. They're basically motorcycles. 

So where can you buy an e-bike? Well, your local bike store is honestly your best bet. You're gonna get a selection that's been curated by the owners, and the folks that work there are gonna have answers to all your burning questions. Amazon is obviously another place, but there are some pretty serious trade-offs that you have to consider. Your bike could arrive pretty banged up. And the companies that sell e-bikes on Amazon are a little bit ephemeral, here one day, gone the next. It's not just Amazon of course. 

A majority of the e-bikes sold in the U.S. are just cobbled together from off-the-shelf Chinese made parts that you can find in the catalog. And if that sounds easy, it's because it is. It helps explain why there are like a billion e-bikes companies on Kickstarter and Indiegogo trying to impress you with their flashy designs and futuristic tech. Many don't come with warranties or any customer support. And it's very likely that you're buying a Chinese model that's just been rebranded for Western marketing and sold at a markup. If you find an e-bike that you like, an interesting test is to search the bike's specs on Alibaba to see if something similar is being sold in Asia. It might even be cheaper. 

Alright, so I promised to explain why I think that e-bikes are the future of transportation. So here we go. First, it lowers the barrier to biking. So if you're someone who's older or you're stressed out about the strains of biking, it really lowers the barrier, and it's easier to justify getting on a bike and just ride. You're more likely to ditch your car or delete you Uber app if you know you're gonna get to where you wanna go without getting sweating and stressed out. And look, if you're worried about electric bikes taking all the fun out of cycling, well, you're wrong. A study of the cognitive and psychological effects of outdoor cycling actually found the same results for e-bikes and traditional bikes.

 Let's say climate change has got you down.  Electric bikes are way more sustainable than electric cars. They're gonna make our cities more livable, and they're gonna help clear up traffic congestion. So as our cities are becoming more congested, some companies are turning to e-bikes to make their deliveries. Domino's Pizza recently announced they're gonna be using Rad Power Bikes to make pizza deliveries in some cities. UPS is using electric cargo bikes. German delivery company DPD is gonna be using these really cute looking mini trucks that are actually e-bikes in disguise. E-bikes are changing the way that businesses are doing business. 

So the other day I was riding an e-bike to work, and a remarkable thing happened. Well, first, I wasn't killed, which, in a city as deadly for bikers as New York, is a minor miracle. But more importantly I got to the office super quick, much faster than if I had taken the subway, and I wasn't a sweaty, stressed out mess when I arrived. Here e-bikes are almost exclusively used by food deliver workers, and it got me thinking about how far behind the rest of the world the U.S. is when it comes to bikes. We see them more as recreation than as transportation. Something to be used in fair weather and not in the rain and the snow like the Dutch do. But come on, our U.S. women's team just beat them in the World Cup. Surely we can compete in the saddle as well. Our streets are designed for cars, and pedestrians and bikers are really just an afterthought. But e-bikes can open up a whole world, especially for people with different abilities. Look, they're not gonna solve everything, but I can guarantee that once you start riding, you're not going to wanna stop. Did we make that word up? Is that a real word, rideable? 

[shelby77gt]

This is how it went - How Dreadwing was brought back to life.

"I was doing a patrol around my property when I found him. He was on the far end of my property so I never heard him crash land. I do remember feeling the ground shake the night before I found him. Which was the reason for my patrol." She began.

I have never seen anything like it. This giant blue and yellow robot is laying in the far corner of my land. I slow down the four wheeler I am driving and pull to a stop. I hop off and walk over to the machine. I slid my hand over the metal surface. It is cold to the touch. I walk around it and look the entire thing over. Has a lot of scraps and dents on the body. Something I knew I could fix up. I climb up on top of it and look it over. Its face frozen in shock. But no light shining though its eye sockets. The large hole in its chest is what made me shiver. Wires, cables, circuits all hanging out, sparks are still flying and its leaking coolant. Weird looking coolant. Blue like some coolant, but super bright. I wonder what it is. Hopefully I can find out. It looks like this robot lost a lot of it.

"I need to get the truck and trailer." I say to myself. I jump of the robot, hop on my four wheeler and race off the get my truck and trailer.

Not to much time later, I'm driving along the dirt trails to where the big bot lays. And of course he's still there. Not that I expected it to move. I have a 22 foot gooseneck trailer hooked up to my Dodge ram 2500 HD diesel pick up truck. My trailer has a winch with a 12,000lb rating line for pulling. I have no clue how much this thing weighs, but hopefully I can at least get most of it on the trailer. I'm gonna have fun pulling this thing back to the shop. I back up the trailer to the back of the bots head. Yeah this is going to be a lot more difficult that I thought it would be. I hope it doesn't weigh to much. I hope my truck can pull it. I pull out the winch and walk it to one side of the body. I hope this is long enough as well. I manage to get it under one arm and start to climb up and over. So far so good. I get under the other arm and start to try and hook it to the other side. and that's when it stops. Damn out of line. Looks like I'll have to improvise. I set the winch down and run to my truck and hop in the bed. I open my tool box and grab a heavy duty ratchet strap. I run back over and hook one end to the end of the line for the winch, then get it hooked to the other side.

I synch the ratchet strap as tight as I can get it. Now for the moment of truth. I run up to the controls and start to bring the winch back in. Once it gets pulled straight and tight, it starts to slow down. There is so much weight, its struggling to pull it. That just tells me its over 12000 pounds. I figured that much, givin his size. I decide to get in the truck and back the trailer up as the winch pulls in. I have controls in the cab so I am able to multi task. I put it in reverse and start going back. Its going easier now. The trailer is starting to go under the robots head. I know my trailer can hold a lot of weight. But I don't know if it can with this much. The head is lifting onto the trailer. This is a good sign. Its arms are sort of spread out from how I have the winch line wrapped around it. At least I know it won't break. At least I hope.

I soon get the head on it starts to go a little smoother and the body is starting to climb. He is as wide as the trailer. But I get him most of the way on. His legs dangle off about 6-7 feet. I hope when I start driving forward nothing come unattached. I jump out of my truck and get out some more ratchet straps to strap it down. Now I've done tons of jobs ratcheting or chaining down equipment. So this should be easy right? Boy was I wrong. I didn't want to use chains , so not to mess of the head. I throw the first ratchet strap over. Its shoulders hang off the sides about 3-5 feet.  I have to climb underneath it to hook it to the trailer. Same on the other side. luckily I have long enough straps. They are heavy duty ones and long ones I collected from my time in the military.  Once I have that finished, its time to see if I can move it. I look around and think if there is something I can do to help me move it better. This is not going to be easy at all. The way back to my shop, luckily is flat, but its uneven ground and there is a lot of trees and stuff in the way. Oh I wish I had some help.

*time skip though the boring hard part of moving Dreadwing*

My shop has garage doors on each side. One side is towards my land and the other is next to my house and driveway. Making it easy for me to just pull though and out the other side. It is going to be a tight fit for the bot. I had to clear out everything that could be moved and that I didn't need to work on him. I drove in pull right up until it's feet were just inside so I could close the garage door. I quickly unstrapped him. Slowly took the winch off as to not scratch his paint. Even though it did do some damage, I'm not worried, I know I can fix it. I slowly pull the trailer out from underneath My trailer starts to lift up in the front from the weight of it sliding towards the end. Next thing I know the back end of my truck starts to lift up as well. So I decide to just slam on the gas and pull out as fast as I can. The head made a loud slam onto the ground and my trailer and back end of my truck bounced down. Looking over my trailer and truck, my trailer's gooseneck is now bent pretty bad and the fifth wheel on my truck is practically torn off of my truck. That's gonna be fun to fix.

For now I'm not going to worry about my truck or trailer. I can still drive my truck and that's all the matters at the moment. I know I'm going to need it to get parts. As long as I can get the fifth wheel out, I think I'll be good. I walk over to the large robot and take in all the work that I was going to need to do. Its a good thing I'm an engineer. Or this would be very difficult.

Before I even started to work on the robot, I needed to draw up designs and get parts. With my engineering back round from my time in the military, I start to try and come up with something to power the giant. This process took me about a month and a half. The next month was building it. It was not easy. I don't know how many nights I spent awake on top of the giant. Just measuring and sizing and testing different materials.

I didn't realize how much time had gone by after I completed the power source and buffing and cleaning the bot. It was over two months. The first time I decided I should probably take a break, like a real break. I'm surprised I haven't starved myself this whole time. When I'm getting into a project, its really hard for me to focus on anything else. I walk out of the shop and trudge over into my house. It used to be my family's home. I inherited it, after my parents died about 2 years ago. But I didn't actually move in until last year. I still had time left in the military at their time of death.

I make myself a quick sandwich and grab a root beer and head back out to the shop to keep working. I finish my sandwich, take a drink, then grab a cigarette. I look over my notes while I smoke. I got some welding to do yet and connecting of the wires to the power source yet to finish and that won't be easy. The welding is the last thing on my list to do. I just hope I still know how to. I haven't welded in awhile. I'm going to have to practice on some old metal first. This giant is going to look perfect. At least to me it will. I ain't got no one to show him off too.

I think I'm going to say its a he. He's got the facial features and body type as one. So its a male. I wonder what I should name him. I think I'll decide that later after I get him working again. If I get him working. I sure hope this power source works.

I finish up my cigarette and get back to work. I grab my safety goggles and gloves. Then I grab the tools I need and climb up on top of the giant. I quickly get to work. I don't know how many times I get shocked or stabbed or poked or something while working on this beast. All joining with the scars I already have.

Then about 3-4 weeks later, I finish the last of my welding. I attach two sets of heavy duty jumper cables to the power source of him. Then I hook the other end to my mainframe. the place of all my power to generate enough electricity to start the robot. I grab the main lever and pull it down.

Light shines bright, sparks fly, shielding my eyes as to not get blinded.

The next thing I know. The giant machine is sitting up in front of me. Moving its head around and arms. Looking at himself. He then starts to look around and spots me.

"The rest is us getting to know one another. Learning each others names. He got mad at me a few times because he didn't have his weapons and couldn't transform. I worked hard on him. But I had no idea that he was going to be a transforming Decepticon." She finishes her story.

Everyone looked at her in awe. Unsure what to say. They defiantly have questions, but none of them knew where to start. Ratchet had stopped working on Dreadwing, so they could listen to the story. Everyone was sitting around Shelby on the ground. And Shelby was sitting on a bunch of boxes, to sit a little higher so everyone could see her. She looked over at Dreadwing, a smile on her face. He looks back at her, giving her a small smile and nod of thanks.

"How did you know what to do to try and bring him back?" Asks Raf, pushing his glasses up on his nose. Shelby looked down to him and smiled.

"Like I said about trying to build a power core, I used to be a engineer in the military. I could build anything I set my mind too. I developed a lot of new weapons for the military. And I had worked on some robots they we're attempting to build for the war. So I had a general idea of what to do. Hooking everything together was the hard part." She explained to them.

"So does he still have a spark or what?" Asked Miko looking over the blue and yellow con.

"Um I'm not sure I can explain that one." Shelby stated looking over at Ratchet.

This caused everyone else to look over at him. He had gone back to work. But when he heard his name, he looked back over. "As far as I can tell, his spark has seemed to fuse with the power source she built. I'm not sure how. But after giving him some energon. It seems not only will he need that to survive but he will need to somehow keep his core charged. I'm sure Shelby will know how to do that." He explained. It seemed to make sense to the Autobots and Shelby. But the kids still looked confused.

"I'm going to need a big battery." Shelby states staring up at Dreadwing.

[mollyraesly]

Time with Wolves--Chapter 15

A/N: Sorry for the long wait!!

Once her midterms were finished, all Sansa wanted to do was leave campus as soon as she could. She boarded her train with such eagerness that the ticket collector seemed a bit concerned. “Are you alright, miss?” the old man had asked, not unkindly. “Yes,” she said with a polite smile. “Just eager to get home.”

“Where’s that?” “Winterfell,” she replied. “Ah, a Northern girl. What’s a lass like you doing so far South?” Sansa let out a sigh, but was saved from having to give an answer by a question from the next customer. She waved goodbye to the man and hurried to find a decent window seat. Throughout the train ride, she tried but failed to distract herself by answering neglected emails on her phone and flipping through the fashion magazines she’d bought; the latest couture couldn’t ease her antsy fidgeting and neither could boring administrative emails. So instead she turned to the window to watch the landscape pass by, her heart beating just a bit faster the further north the train went. When she finally stepped onto the station at Wintertown, the chill in the November air made her shiver. But she was grinning as she watched her breath form small clouds of white and gray wisps. The air felt crisp, like air ought to.  She rolled her suitcase through the crowd, searching for the exit. When she spotted her father waiting for her by one of the brick columns, tears welled in her eyes. Beaming, she hurried toward him. “Father!” Ned swooped Sansa into a strong hug, and in his arms she felt like a young girl again. “I’ve missed you,” Sansa told him, her voice cracking. “I’ve missed you too, little one. It’s not been the same without the whole pack together. But now you’re home, everything is just as it should be.” He kissed the top of her head and took her bags for her, and Sansa was reminded that the world still had true knights. She filled him in on how the travel had gone and on what she thought about her performance on her exams.

Ned did not seem overly concerned about Sansa’s academic performance, for no one put more pressure on her than Sansa did herself to do well in school. “You’ve always been so motivated, Sansa,” Ned said with pride. “I wish that would have passed on to Rickon.”

“Still having trouble?”

“Your mother and I are at Winterfell Middle School every other week,” Ned told her. “To be honest, I think they should give us a parking spot, considering how many kids we’ve sent through.”

By the time they got into his truck, the conversation had turned to the situation back at home. Sansa peppered him with questions so she’d be ready for what awaited her. Arya had already slept off her jet-lag, so she wouldn’t be a complete ghoul. Bran was still tinkering with his wheels to make them work better on snow—so she needed to watch out for puddles everywhere. Rickon was still grounded for setting Mr. Luwin’s pumpkins on fire on Halloween, and Robb had been dodging everyone’s questions phone calls of late so was expected to have some bad news he did not want to share. “And how’s Mom dealing with Thanksgiving prep so far?” Ned gave her a secretive smile. “That bad?” “You are as much needed as you are wanted, daughter mine.” When they arrived home, she heard her siblings before she saw them. The house smelled like dinner—beef stew with peas and onions—and the warmth of the heat engulfed her after the brisk walk from the driveway. “Look who’s here!” Ned called. “Sansa!” “Sansa!” “Sansa!” She was nearly tackled to the ground by Rickon. “You’re home!” Rickon screeched. “I’m home!” Sansa replied with equal enthusiasm. She planted kisses on his face, which made him scowl and her laugh. She then reached out to Bran and all but knocked his wheelchair over. “My genius brother!” she sang. “Oi! What does that make me?” Sansa turned around to find Robb. “My older brother!”  He, too, groaned as she kissed his cheek. “Where’s Arya?” But as she asked, her little sister appeared down the stairs, stomping in bulky combat boots. “Arya!” Sansa sang and threw her arms around her. “Look at you! You cut your hair!” Arya had cut her hair into a short choppy bob that fell just beneath her eyes. “Do you like it?” “I love it,” Sansa replied. She spotted some ink behind Arya’s ear. “Gods, did you get a new tattoo?” “Do you like it?” “I love it!” They all began to speak at once, until Cat called them into the kitchen. Sansa found her mother behind the counter with a somewhat frantic look.  “Sansa!” she exclaimed. “Thank the Gods you’re here.” She forced a meat thermometer into Sansa’s hand. “Here, I need you to check to the roast for me.”

A minute later, Sansa had washed her hands and was wearing one of the aprons she’d soon herself back in high school that had pumpkins and apples patterned all over it. As she was throwing a loaf of bread into the oven to get it nice and warm before serving, Cat scooped her into a hug.

“You grow more beautiful every day,” her mother said.

“You’re just saying that because I’m the only one who helps.” Most of her siblings subscribed to the philosophy of don’t be good at something you don’t want to do.

Cat sighed. “At least the only one who I can trust to help and do the job well. Do you remember when Bran volunteered to bake a cake two years ago?”

Remembering that catastrophe, and Bran’s disbelief that he could understand high-level physics but not how to crack an egg properly, they both broke into giggles that only faded when the fire alarm went off from all the rising steam coming off the oven. Dinner that night was loud and happy, as was Thanksgiving. Sansa peeled potatoes and diced onions till she thought her hands might go numb, but they managed to feed over 25 people—even more than usual, as Gendry and his mother had come, as well as Theon and his sister Yara. And Robb had unexpectedly brought his new and apparently serious girlfriend Jeyne Westerling, about whom none of them had heard anything. “Do you think she’s pregnant?” Arya had asked Sansa when they were sent into the linen closet to grab more napkins. “Arya!” “Her shirt looks a bit roomy. Did you see that puffy part at the belly?” “People dress casual for Thanksgiving,” said Sansa, trying to be nice and set a good example. “It is a holiday about eating.” She looked pointedly at Arya’s too-big leggings ensemble. “But c’mon, didn’t you see that bulge?” Arya goaded. “Old Nan saw that bulge, and she’s past her eighties!” Sansa hissed and then clasped her hand over her mouth in horror at what she’d just said. Arya cackled. “Why would Robb be so stupid to introduce her to everyone on Thanksgiving?” “Maybe he thought it’d be a good buffer? I mean, we can’t exactly ask him, in front of the turkey, can we?” “He’s a moron,” said Arya, looking very much like her birthday had come early. “This will be so fun.” “Oh, Arya, please don’t do anything to Jeyne.” “What about Robb?” “After Jeyne leaves, he’s fair game,” Sansa proclaimed. “But if that girl is knocked up with Robb’s baby, she’s suffered enough.” Arya feigned gagging. “What a Thanksgiving,” she observed with glee. “What a Thanksgiving,” Sansa agreed with a sigh. They didn’t tease Robb too much with Jeyne around, but the teasing was merciless as soon as she left—only stopping when Ned asked to have a private chat with his eldest. “Is Robb gonna get grounded?” Rickon asked. “Worse,” Bran said sagely. “I suspect he’s about to be forced to finally become an adult.” “That sucks,” Rickon observed. “Indeed.” Sansa did the dishes with her mother, who seemed to be taking out her frustrations on the good china. “Watch it, Mom. You’ll break the plate.” Catelyn turned to her oldest daughter. “Sansa, promise me you’ll be smarter than Robb.” Sansa grinned. “Aren’t I always?” She decided to let things cool down at the Stark household and went out the next morning for some Black Friday shopping. Retail therapy had always been Sansa’s preferred method of cheering herself up, pampering herself, or really just spending a Tuesday. She bought a pair of classy drop earrings, a beautiful suit and skirt combination at an upscale designer shop for a fraction of the cost, a gorgeous chess set for Bran, a new pair of mile-high combat boots for Arya that were electric blue and absolutely ridiculous, and some sweet infant onesies with ducks and baby elephants on them—just in case she’d be attending a baby shower in the near future.  Armed with lemonade and a cinnamon sugar pretzel, she left the mall and went to the wolf preservation. Combing her fingers through Ghost’s fur and feeling the warm heavy weight of him against her was exactly what she needed. “You are such a good boy,” she cooed while rubbing behind Ghost’s ears. “You’ll spoil him if you continue on like that,” Mr. Mormont warned. “He could use some spoiling. I don’t see him enough.” “You almost done with the South? When you coming home for good?” Sansa paused a moment before answering. “I’ve applied to law programs all around Westeros. I’m not sure where I’ll be next year.” “You know, Winterfell U has a good law program. No reason to travel the country when you can get a good education in your own backyard.” “Yeah,” she replied, thinking it over. She smiled at Mr. Mormont. “But just think how spoiled Ghost would be then.”

Mr. Mormont rolled his eyes. “You’d think he was a dog they way you treat that beast.” Her time with Ghost lasted for another hour before she needed to head home to help with dinner. She kissed his face, and Ghost silently purred.  “I hate leaving you,” she told him. “You think after a few years I’d be better at it. But no. I still cry every time.” Ghost gave her such a sympathetic look that Sansa felt like he’d really understood her. “Winterfell U does have a good law program,” she murmured under her breath. After dinner, Sansa was losing spectacularly to Rickon and Bran in a game of Mario Party — she always played Princess Peach, Rickon Wario, Bran Yoshi— when Arya barged in. “Wow, Sansa, you still massively suck at this game.” “Oh, quiet!” she hissed. “I’m doing my best.” “And your best is losing to the computer Waluigi.” Sansa pressed pause. “What is it?” “Do you want to go to The Bear and the Maiden Fair with me and Gendry in a bit?” Sansa sighed.  “What?” “Well, I just woke up so early today—“ “Your choice.” “And I’m still tired from last night.” “Your fault for being so helpful.” “And I don’t know if I can stay up that late.” “We’ll get you some caffeine.” “But—“ “Oh, c’mon, Sans. You’re leaving soon, and I won’t see you for months. Come out with us. Just a few drinks.” Sansa bit her lip. “Don’t they card at The Bear and the Maiden Fair?” “Yeah, so?” “Well, last I checked, you were still only 19.” Arya rolled her eyes. “Gendry knows a guy. C’mon, it’ll be fun. There’s going to be dancing.” “I do like dancing,” Sansa mused.

“And you can have an excuse to get dressed up.”

“I do like doing that.”

“And wear your new earrings,” Arya pressed.

“Oh, those are so cute,” Sansa sighed. “And I already told Gendry to pick us up in twenty.” “Minutes?” “No, decades.” Sansa gave her younger sister a frosty look she’d learned from her mother. “Gods, yes, minutes.” Sansa inspected her ensemble of warm gray sweatpants and Robb’s old sweater from high school. “I need to change.” Arya grinned impishly and gestured her head toward the paused screen. “I’ll fill in for you. Maybe you’ll finally win a mini game.” Sansa hurled her controller at Arya, who had the audacity to catch it easily.  As she made her way to the stairs, she heard her sister muttering complaints about her character choice. “Princess Peach is a feminist icon, and I will not hear any differently!” Sansa called as she climbed the stairs. “You can still wear dresses and be powerful!” “I know! I know!” Arya shouted back.  “This is the hill I’m prepared to die on!” Sansa sang. She put on a pair of navy tights, a green plaid skirt, and a matching sweater. The light makeup she’d put on earlier had held up, but Sansa swiped on just a bit more mascara and coated her lips with just a hint of lip stain. Old habits died hard, and she snuck into her parents’ room to spritz on her mother’s perfume. She found her father on the stairs. “Going out?” he asked. She nodded. “Arya wants to go to The Bear and the Maiden Fair.” “Don’t they—“ Ned began, but then he sighed. “I’m sure your sister has a way in all worked out.” He kissed Sansa on the top of her head. “Call if you need a ride home.” “We might be our late. I don’t want to drag you out of bed.” “It won’t be me.” Ned’s eyes glimmered. “Robb will be more than happy to come pick up his sisters and learn the importance of staying sober and being a responsible parent.” She and her father shared a look that was interrupted by Arya hollering her name. “Gendry’s here!” she screeched. “Let’s go!” “I’m being summoned.” Ned smiled. “Have fun, Sansa.” “Thanks, I’ll try.” Sansa should not have been surprised that Arya, who looked even younger than she was, was nevertheless right that she’d have no trouble getting into the bar, but she was still impressed when Arya handed her a lemon drop and a ginger ale. “How?” “I told you. Gendry knows a guy.” “But it’s illegal.” Arya shrugged. “Lommy doesn’t care.” “What’s a Lommy?” Arya motioned for Sansa to grab her drink. “Cheers!” She downed nearly half her beer while Sansa sipped daintily from her drink. “Oh, you can do better than that.” Arya observed. Sansa took a larger sip. “There. Happy?” “Not nearly.” Arya looked to the bar. “Lommy! We are going to need some shots.” “How many?” “Eight.” An hour later, Sansa had very much forgotten how tired she was as she, Arya, and Gendry danced to loud pop music. She couldn’t quite remember how many drinks she’d had, but she knew that Arya and Gendry had had more. Gendry was actually a good dancer, which she had not expected, as he was normally a bit stiff and tough. Maybe it was the fact that Arya was so much shorter than him, and so they had to find inventive ways to dance together.

Sansa was quite happy to stand beside them and dance along. She had gotten quite hoarse from shouting along to the lyrics, but she was grinning like a loon anyway. To her welcome surprise, she’d run into Loras, Margaery’s brother, and his new boyfriend Renly. After another round of shots, they’d all gone back to dancing, and Sansa laughed as the couple cooed over how attractive Gendry was. “He’s called the Bull!” Arya informed them. “For a reason!” “You did good, little Stark,” Loras said. “Very good!” “He did better!” Sansa shouted. “Look how beautiful my sister is! And so talented! And just the best. I’m so proud. Arya, you know I love you, right?” “I love you too!” “Let’s move back to Winterfell,” Sansa said. “I’m so tired of being so far away. Let’s come back—and—and we can be roommates!” “YES!” exclaimed Arya, punching the air.  But no further discussion was had, as a new song started playing—“The Dornishman’s Wife (Remix Version)”— and they all started screeching and stamping to the beat. An hour later, the effects of the alcohol, despite its copious amount, had begun to wear off, and Sansa was starting to feel tired. Loras and Renly had gone to the bathroom over twenty minutes ago and had never returned. Sansa, knowing Margaery, suspected they would not come back. “My feet hurt,” she whined to Arya. “Mine too.” Gendry leaned over to let Arya climb into his back. Sansa frowned. “We shouldn’t have drinked—drank—drunk—hah! grammar! Suck it, English! I know my past participles. I’m a fucking Queen!” “Sansa!” “We should get water.” Gendry nodded and started toward the bar. “We should call Robb,” Sansa announced suddenly. “Robb?” Arya asked. “To take us home. Gendry is too drunk to drive.” “S’ too loud. Won’t hear anything.” Sansa tried to respond, but her brain couldn’t think of any response. “I’ll text him,” Arya said as Gendry returned with water and struggled to make his way onto a barstool. She pulled out her phone, and her whole face scrunched in concentration as she typed. “He’s coming!” She declared after a minute. Sansa cheered.  They sipped their water and discussed the food they wanted to eat to sober up. “Pancakes,” Arya said. “Mmm,” Sansa agreed. “And bacon.” “Yes! And eggs.” “Fries,” Gendry volunteered. “And a cheeseburger.”

“Oh my god, yes, but with bacon.”

“Yes, and pancakes too. On the side.” Both Stark girls agreed that was the best option. “We should go to the Ice Shack,” Arya said. “Rob will take us.” “They have the best milkshakes,” Sansa sighed dreamily. “I’ve never been there,” Gendry said. The next ten minutes were spent by the two sisters trying to remember and describe everything on the menu to him. At last, Arya’s phone vibrated on the bar counter. “He’s here!” “Fries!” Gendry cheered. Sansa pulled on her coat and did her best to walk evenly out of the bar, Gendry and Arya ambling slowly and laughing behind her. They opened the back seat of Robb’s red Mustang and collapsed inside. Sansa fumbled with the handle, and with some muttering was able to fall with some grace into the front passenger seat. The dazed grin on her lips died when she turned to her left and saw that it was not Robb sitting behind the wheel. “Jon?”

[the-firebird69]

This is the shape of the vehicle it's very plain Jane and it's kind of the idea he has is to make it interchangeable and plain Jane and easy to build and this is very easy to build because it's straightforward and there's no crazy angles to it. With upgraded seals and fairings and so forth and it'll be a couple not many and tires and rims and colors it looks very sharp and it is kind of bare bones it's cloth interior but is a performer this this type of car performs here but not like the new or not they look very very snazzy. But it's recycled vehicle and the way this is built is going to roll and crash rating is very high it's very safe and that's what we're going after and less expensive recycled version of this will probably be like 8 to $10,000 but that's because it's fully loaded with all sorts of stuff usually have but he says you can sell a Bare Bones one we could do that for about 7 Grand or maybe even less and we're going to look into it and we should do that and have different models and it look like a normal automobile store we have like two or three levels and you have one that's like a sporty version of this and then be like a Audi or something of the level of performance and we like it because it's really a French car and it's a wonderful ways to thank them it'll increase their sales and really the performance model with handle extremely well it would be a sports car. This size is the smallest we make except for two door and I need to make the larger four-door and we would make so that's three cars so far a truck with a compact truck that's that's a compact or the smaller and then a regular truck and we have a full line right there for the most part with an SUV the SUV would be a similar idea available in four wheel drive and people go nuts over it all recycled materials means cheap and I'll tell you 10 grand is cheap for a nice vehicle like this and then that $10,000 reason we only have one step up to the ultra performance and luxury it should only be 14 or 15,000 the car that's as good as like Lori's here

Frank Castle hardcastle

Call me why this is probably as good as our sons Kia I've been better because the fuses won't be crappy and the motor configuration is better but really it was a nice car to ride around in comfortable and handles well and that's what's going to be like because European design

Duke Nukem Blockbuster

We're approving this idea and we'll send it to Olympus and it is an awesome idea to make it interchangeable it's really intense and even with the motorcycle and or electric motorcycle and the name is hard times motor company but we may make the car name different and he suggested it, and we're getting together to decide and it said maybe something cool like a French word for recycle or French word that's close to recycle or something like that and that way they can sell their car there cuz they won't buy as many of these and they're actually laughing cuz that's fun and we got to look into that

Thor Freya

Me too

Hera

Me some

Zues

Me the last line ok we

Duke Nukem Blockbuste

We we and yes we agree

The French but are kind

And we agree too and oh contraire no this is great

The French not our kind

We approved and yes our kind

Olympus

[megamanx1994]

Rise of Smithy Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Heroes United! (Disclaimer!) We were getting prepared for the final battle against Smithy in Shanghai. Steven was putting on new armor designed by Luna. Michael and his team were putting on their armor. “Alright Cross, I got something for you,” I said, “I’ve upgraded your Blue Angel Armor into something new.” He transformed into Blue Angel. “Focus your mind and think of anything that comes inside of it,” I said. His right arm turned into some kind of blade. “Whoa!” he said. “I know right?!” said Luna, “I call it, Stream Edge armor.” “Its gonna be fun having you in battle after a while,” said Steven talking to Star. “Well looks like we have more allies as well,” said Star. Steven got a text from Connie. It read ‘Star told me everything. Just be sure to come home safe, cause we have a surprise for you. Good luck, and Mom says hi. I love you Steven. Love, Connie.’ “We all have to work together on this,” I said, “If even one of his goons survives, it all starts over again.” I turned to Michael. “Sure you’re up for this?” I asked. “I don’t have any plans tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll handle Smity,” I said, “I’m the guy he really wants.” “That’s true, he hates you the most,” said Geno. “Our top priority is evacuating everyone from the battle area,” said Colleen, “And as it turns out, one of B.L.A.D.E’s soldiers, Lao is rounding up any soldiers from Shanghai to assist us in the fight, probably to show gratitude for saving his wife and daughter.” “The more the merrier,” I said. We were in Shanghai evacuating the city. “The city is under attack, so clear the city!” said Denise. She ran out of the building. The people still stood there. Jet ran in and fired a rifle. “Get off your asses,” he said. I was out of costume getting people’s attention. “Ok everyone listen up!” I said. I took out my Japanese sayings book and found what I thought meant get to safety. “Daremoga anata no mottomo surudoi naifu o mitsukete, watashi no bōru o kezutte kudasai, right now!” I said. They all stared at me like something was wrong. Chun-Li face palmed her head. “What did I just say?” I asked. “You just asked everybody to find their sharpest knives, and shave your balls,” she said. “………I said that?” I asked. “Yes,” she said, “I’ll take it from here. She evacuated the city.  Asia assisted Chun-Li with her magic. I looked around for Smithy. “You’ve come to meet your demise?” asked Smithy. “No,” I said, “I’ve come to stop you.” “There’s no need to stop me Nicholas,” said Smithy, “All these innocent people losing loved ones every day to the jaws of war. But I can save them, maybe even cure them.” I saw him and he had new armor. I also saw something behind him. “This is my purpose; to save the humans from their lust for war, and make them strong enough to fight,” said Smithy, “Its what’s best for them whether they understand or not.” Xenoblade appeared on the scene. “I want you to know that I understand your intentions, but you can’t change the world like this,” he said. He chuckled. “I like your grit,” said Smithy, “I can see why the world treats you like heroes.” HE looked at us. “But you need to understand that I’m doing this for you all, to stop anymore innocent lives from being lost,” said Smithy. As the others were evacuating the civilians, Smithy drones started to rise from the ground. “You may think of me as a madman but that’s not the case,” said Smithy, “My true intention was to save as many humans as I could.” “Your methods are pretty understandable,” I said, “But your way of carrying it out and our way are different.” Colleen was fighting off the Smithy drones. Asia made a shield to keep the drones from attacking the people. “Run!” she said. “This is where conflict ends, and peace in our time begins,” said Smithy. “Smithy,” said a voice. It was Geno. “My vessel,” said Smithy. “Only without your vision of saving the world,” said Geno. “They really did take you from me,” said Smithy. “You set the terms, and you can also change them,” Geno explained. “Alright then,” said Smithy. He pushed Geno to a wall, but Geno grabbed him then shut him out from all of his drones. “Smithy has been cut off,” I said, “And he’s being cut from the net!” “You think that matters?” he asked, “I’ll still finish you off by myself if I have to!” We were fighting off Smithy. Jet saw Smithy drones attacking civilians. “Time to do what I do best,” he said. He charged up electricity then ran around the road taking them down one by one. “Fuck he’s fast,” said EJ. “Whether I have what I need or not, I will destroy all of you,” said Smithy. “Not if I can help it,” said Xenoblade, “Monado, EHCNANT!” He made us stronger and able to withstand Smithy’s attacks. Smithy tried attacking us with his hammer but I managed to block it. Chun-Li and Elma were back to back fighting Smithy’s drones. “You up for this?” asked Elma. “You know it,” said Chun-Li. She did a spinning bird kick knocking a few drones to the side. Denise was fighting a Smithy drone that looked like an Axem Ranger. It knocked her into a bush. “Time to finish you off,” said the drone. Steven jumped in the way and shielded her with a bubble. “Steven keep that up!” said Denise, “I’ve got an idea.” Denise pushed the bubble and started running. Meanwhile Bryan and EJ were fighting off more drones. A Yardiovich drone was facing off against Bryan. He decided to go for a concrete armor. “Concrete?” asked EJ, “I didn’t know you liked to play dirty.” “As Churchill said, there comes a time where all men must….” He said before he picked up Yardiovich by the legs. He then spun him around and threw him at a wall. “Oh you get the point!” he said. EJ was fighting a smithy drone and cut off its arm. It regenerated. He tried cutting him down to pieces but to no avail. “Alright,” he said. He kicked the drone in the groin. “Grow those back,” said EJ. Bryan threw Yardiovich in the air and finished him off with a megaton smash. As he was falling Cross caught him. “Ride’s not over yet,” he said. “My man!” said Bryan. Asia was using all her courage to fight off the Smithy drones with Bowser giving a hand. Crowds of people were cheering her on. Cross took on a Smithy drone. “How do you like me now?” it asked. It formed into a clone of him. “Ok,” he said. They clashed at each other with photon sabers. “Your copying me is a knockoff,” said Cross. “Your head is a knockoff,” said the drone. Cross knew that Elma was behind it. “Can I say one thing?” asked Cross, “Think fast!” Elma did the side slash while Cross did the assault hammer. He then picked it up. “You’ll never….” It said before he threw it at a wall shattering it. “I’ll never what?” he asked, “You didn’t finish!” Cross saw Lao fighting off the soldiers. “You’re the guy who saved my family,” he said, “Figured I’d return the favor.” “Thanks,” said Cross helping him fight off the drones. “I’m Lao by the way,” said Lao, “Lao Huang.” “Nice to meet you Lao,” said Cross. “Nice to meet you too Cross,” said Lao. He grabbed his javelin and slammed it down causing an earth shake around the area and demolishing a lot of the drones. “Damn,” said Cross. Smithy saw Star fighting off the Smithy drones and grabbed her. “You’re a nuisance and a distraction,” he said. He dragged her to where me and Xenoblade were. I grabbed one of the weapons used by his drones and used it against them. Jet brought Asia over to where Lao was to give him a hand. “Hold your fire men!” he said. Asia charged up neon and shot a beam at the drones. One of the soldiers accidently shot Jet in the arm. “Sorry,” he said. Jet shook it off and healed fast. Star was dealing with Smithy. ��You think you’re saving people?” asked Smithy, “All you’re doing is making them face their demise!” He knocked Star in the face. “If you want a perfect world, you should think like I do, and take risks you fear,” said Smithy. “I am Star Butterfly, princess of Mewni, and as long as I have life in my breast….. I’m starting to run out of things to say,” said Star looking at Geno, “Ready?!” Smithy looked but he was too late. “It was at this moment that Smithy knew…… he fucked up,” said Xenoblade breaking the 4th wall. Geno whacked Smithy using the wand as a club. “This thing is terribly well balanced. I was flying around fighting off the air based drones. Pit was giving me a hand with Rock. “Now this is a Megaman story,” said Rock. “Yeah if you live to tell it,” I said. Cross saw Elma struggling with Smithy Drones. “Elma!” he said. He flew over to help him but was shot down by a Smithy drone. He quickly got back into balance and flew after it. One of them was flying a plane and had a target on Elma. It fired a missile at her. “No!” said Cross, “Not this time!” he said. He flew right in front of her and the missile fired. Elma had her eyes closed then opened them again. Cross formed a shield protecting them both using the stream edge armor. “Always there in the nick of time,” said Elma. We were all doing our part in taking on the Smithy drones. Chun-Li was driving a truck piling all of them down. Pit had out his bow and arrow and was pepared to shoot. Geno went in the way and demolished them all without breaking a sweat. “What…. The fuck?” asked Pit. We were all meeting at the same place where Smithy way. “You really think those tin cans tan take us all down?” I asked, “They barely stood a chance.” “Yes, and now you face the final boss,” said Smithy. “Is that the best you can do!?” asked Star. A giant machine appeared before us. It had a bigger hammer and was menacing. “You had to ask,” I said. “This is the best I can do, my strongest weapon against all of you,” said Smithy, “How do you intend to stop that.” “Like Megaman X said,” Xenoblade said, “Together.” He summoned more drones while Cross and I handled Smithy. The head turned into a tank and started firing missiles at us. I cut them to shreds. Micah froze most of the drones in their tracks while Bryan and Bowser smashed them to pieces. We were all working together. “You’re bothering me Nicholas Shay,” said Smithy. He knocked me out. I woke up and I saw one of the Axem ranger drones that had an ax. “Wait a second,” I said, “Jet, Geno come here!” They both came to where I was. “I have an idea,” I said, “But I’ll need your power Jet.” The gem on my helmet copied his ability to conduct lightning while Geno put his own touch on the ax. Asia was helping Chun-Li fight them off. “Shanghai is our home!” she said, “Anyone who messes with it deals with us!” Thunder was brewing. It was Geno using the new ax. “Holy shit!” said Xenoblade. “Rock, did you and Pit clear out the people?” I asked. “The whole city,” said Rock, “We checked every spot and nobody was there!” “Good, cause I have an idea that’s gonna end with a bang,” I said, “If you know what I mean.” Geno kept fighting them on and the ax was starting to glow. “The ax is starting to glow,” said Geno. “That means its time!” I said, “Just like I told you!” Geno flew high into the sky and aimed for Smithy. “Geno WHIRL!” he said. He threw his ax and it spun around aiming straight for Smithy. When the ax hit, a tremendous explosion appeared. It leveled the city demolishing all of the Smithy Drones. Cross saw debris about to hit Elma as she tripped. “ELMA!” he said. He quickly flew to her before the debris hit. When the dust settled, Elma opened her eyes and saw she was being held bridal style by Cross. “Are you ok?” he asked. Elma smiled at him and answered, “I am now.” She then hugged him. I went to check on the others. “Is everyone alright?” I asked, “I don’t wanna haul my ass home solo.” “We’re all good,” said EJ. Colleen helped Jet up. “Can you stand, soldier?” she asked. “I just need a minute,” he said. “Fate dealt us these cards, so we have to play them,” said Cross. Smithy was crawling from the debris. He was half beaten up and missing half his face. “You know…. With a benefit of hindsight….” He said. Bowser punched him so hard he landed on the other side of the city. “He had a mouth,” he said. A jet was going up and Smithy was on it. “There’s information about Smithy and his weapons on there,” Anela said, “If he gets to that lab the whole thing starts over again!” “We can’t even let him get close,” I said, “Cross, Geno, you’re on me. Let’s….” Before I could finish Bowser jumped up on the buildings. He kept jumping until he got into the jet. “Oh for God’s sake!” Smithy said. Bowser threw him out. When Smithy awoke he saw Geno. Bowser saw us on screen. “Ok Billy you did good,” said Steven, “Now I need you to turn this plane around.” Bowser didn’t listen. “Billy, can you hear me?” asked Star, “We’re depen…….” The signal was lost. Geno approached Smithy. “You’re the last of your kind,” he said. “You were supposed to be the last,” said Smithy, “Nicholas wanted someone who would bring peace, but settled for what he had.” “I suppose we all have our flaws,” said Geno, “Your intentions were good nonetheless, however they were carried out wrong.” “How would you know?” asked Smithy. “We were all born in different ways, and yet we cannot be ashamed for who we are,” said Geno, “Our skills, gifts, and abilities can be a gift, or a curse depending on the choices we make.” He looked up to the sky. “In order to achieve our goals, we must also realize that they will not always go as we planned, and yet we cannot give up,” said Geno, “Because we are only human.” “You are so naïve,” said Smithy. “Well…… I was just born a day ago,” said Geno. Smithy went after Geno and Geno finished him off. “Rest now Smithy,” he said. It was finally over. The civilians cheered for our heroic actions. Elma turned to Cross. “Sooooo wasn’t there something you wanted to say?” she asked. Cross looked around and saw us. “Now’s a better time as any,” said Cross. He turned back to Elma. “So you know when you said you have some things you wanted to tell me later?” asked Cross. “I do,” said Elma. “Well, I also had something I wanted to say, and I’ve been meaning to tell you since the party, and maybe even before it,” said Cross looking down to the floor, “However given everything that was going on I didn’t think it was the right time.” He looked back to her. “And now, I kinda feel like an idiot for not telling you sooner, but now that its over, I can finally say it without any regret or fear,” said Cross as he looked into Elma’s blue eyes, “Elma…… I love you.” Elma blushed. Cross started to turn away. “I actually said it,” he said to himself, “I understand if you don’t…..” Elma made Cross face him. “Cross, there’s always been something about you that I’ve never seen in anybody else that I’ve worked with,” said Elma, “When I’m around you, I feel like everything is gonna be ok, no matter the situation, and I’ve tried to find out the reason for all of it.” She looked at Cross’ hand on top of hers. “And now its all clear to me as to why that is,” said Elma as she smiled at Cross, “…..I love you too Cross.” Cross was surprised. “Well since we love each other,” said Cross, “Maybe I could…. Maybe we….” “Cross?” asked Elma. “Elma?” asked Cross. Elma smiled and said, “Stop talking.” The two of them closed the distance between each other. Their lips met and they kissed. After a few minutes their foreheads were touching as they smiled at each other. “Well its about time,” I said with a grin. Most of the Peacekeepers had returned to their homes to take a vacation. Steven went home and got greeted with a kiss from Connie. Jet and Asia were taken in by Dr. Light. Elma was given a medal for her hard work. Chun-Li went back to Interpol work. Michael, Star, Colleen and I were walking around a building. “As of now the rules have changed,” said Colleen, “It looks like we’re about to be dealing with something new.” “Like Geno’s AI,” I said. “He’s a machine made to look like wood,” said Michael. “So he doesn’t count?” asked Colleen. “He’s a person,” I said, “A person that can somehow lift Star’s wand, and an all around nice guy.” “Exactly,” said Michael, “But what about the Mind Jade.” “As far as I’m concerned, if he can weild my wand, he can keep the gem,” said Star, “I feel as if it’ll be safe with him.” “Good thinking,” I said, “But if you put it in the elevator would it still go up.” “I doubt it,” said Michael. “I will miss the conversations we had,” said Star, “But for now, I gotta return what’s left of my cousin’s scepter, then meet up with my husband.” “You don’t have to leave you know,” I said. “But I don’t have a choice,” said Star, “There are other Cosmic Gems out there with great power, and like all great power, there may be someone who wants to use it for evil.” We were outside. “Someone’s been using us as pawns, but once the stones are set, the answers will be clear,” said Star. “You think you can find the answers?” asked Colleen. “I don’t think I can, I know I can,” said Star, “Until we meet again Nicholas.” She teleported back to Mewni. “I’m sure gonna miss her,” said Michael. He saw his teammates in the van. “A lot of manful tears at the end of the story,” he said breaking the 4th wall, “But I’ll be back in Xenoforce IV.” “I will miss you Michael,” I said, “I had a hell of a time working with you.” “I do feel kinda bad for Asami though,” said Michael, “She doesn’t have anything ready for the conference.” “Actually about that….. Mako proposed to her on stage,” I said. “Get outta town!” said Michael. “I’m serious,” I said, “He came up with it on the spot.” “Lucky dog,” said Michael. “Alright,” I said, “Bring it in.” We gave each other a hug. “Hopefully we’ll have another ultimate crossover like this one,” said Michael. He got in the car and they drove off. Colleen was staring at a wall. I came in. “It’s a great wall,” I said, “You look at yourself in the mirror, and you see two different sides of you; Who you were before and who you are now.” “I know,” said Colleen, “Back then we were just kids with dreams, and now…. We’re Earth’s line of defense.” “Our parents would be proud of how far we came,” I said, “I know I am.” Colleen gave me a hug. “Thanks for always being there for me man,” said Colleen. “Through thick and thin,” I said, “Nothing can separate the dynamic duo.” “So are you two gonna talk all day, or are we gonna start training the new team?” asked Cross. “So how do we look?” asked Colleen. “Well we’re not the Justice League,” I said. “We got some good members though,” said Colleen. “They’re good,” I said, “But they’re not a team yet.” “So let’s beat them into shape,” said Cross. We opened the doors of the Training Room. There we met the new members of the Peacekeepers. Cross, Colleen and I were the veterans. One of the newcomers was my younger sister Daisy Shay a.k.a Stretch Girl. The 2nd new member was Lola Montez known in LA as Arachnid Girl. All her abilities come from her technology and her athletic ability. Pit was our 3rd new member armed with a new bow and arrow. The last member was none other than Geno. They all looked at us. “Peacekeepers,” I said, “Mo…….. THE END…….. Back in Mewni, Comet had Dyntos the forger of weapons recreating his scepter. “Here you go sonny,” he said, “This is the best I could make.” “And it’s the best I’ll take,” said Comet. He grabbed the scepter and placed the space sapphire in one of the holes. “There’s no time to lose,” he said. Heroes by Gang of Youths I, I wish I could swim Just like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim But nothing, nothing will keep us together Yeah, we can beat them, forever and ever 'Cause we can be heroes, just for one day I, I will be king And you, you will be queen And nothing can drive us away We can be heroes, just for one day And we can be us, oh, just for one day And I, I can remember Standing, by the wall And the guns, the guns shot above our heads And we kissed, as though nothing could fall And the shame, was on the other side Oh, we can beat them, oh, forever and ever Then we could be heroes, oh, just for one day We, we can be heroes We, we can be heroes And we, we can be heroes, just for one day We can be heroes Meanwhile in the city of Amity Park, a young kid was watching his parents. They were creating a machine that would open a portal to the ghost world. “Alright Maggie, this is it,” said the dad, “After all these months of preparation, its finally about to happen!” “I’m prepared, Jack,” said Maggie. Maggie pulled the switch and nothing worked. “I don’t get it,” said Jack, “All that hard work and it….. it doesn’t work….” They both went upstairs. The young kid went inside to see what had happened. One of the plugs was undone. The young kid smiled to himself. “Time to prove my worth,” he said. THE FAN FICTION EXTENDED UNIVERSE WILL CONTINUE IN PHASE 3

[dammholgersen06-blog]

The ten Greatest Movers In Manhattan Seashore, CA 2018

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Moving price allow you to see how much revenue is required for your move. You must conduct as a lot analysis as potential for any major determination, particularly one which involves items of value and money. Winter sports are so much fun! Are you more of the DIY type of individual, no drawback, our packing videos and shifting suggestions are positive to help you put together in your moving day, leaving extra time for you to absorb your view. Handling Breakables: Most households have costly objects like pianos, paintings, antiques, and glassware which require specialized packing and transferring. We've regular site visitors, good neighbors and we’re conveniently off the 405 Freeway, which helps,” Quinlan said. They're too good! Regardless if you're solely moving to the opposite facet of city, or to a completely new metropolis, we're equipped to handle it. Our deals are truthful, and we give free recommendation. To find how our services can assist you throughout your subsequent move, you'll be able to call us or inquire a couple of free estimate now. Regardless of the scale and scope of your family transfer, the pros at Daniel’s can offer you an effortless transition, freed from stress and turmoil.

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Reputable as well as reasonably priced - It absolutely was my first move, so naturally We have lot and lots of questions, and all kinds of have been answered patiently via the very patient Christi who won my enterprise with the professionalism. I construct plenty of cabins, I fix boats and buildings. The sand was additionally used to construct the Los Angeles Coliseum and portions of the Pacific Coast Freeway. Manhattan Seashore, California is a coastal metropolis positioned on the Pacific coast in Los Angeles County. To have all shifting companies under one place with a bonus like offer of Low cost Moving in Manhattan Seashore, customers searching for a moving company mustn't miss the golden opportunity. Our Manhattan Beach residential shifting company can relocate you seamlessly to any native, lengthy distance, or international vacation spot. Your Manhattan Beach movers are completely happy to assist! Movers typically drive me, when they should ship issues!

Shifting sucks. It's obtained to be one of the annoying and dreadful issues we all need to go through infrequently. It is currently ranked as one of the nicely educated residents. Some of these effectively articulated web sites will have information on the several types of buying agreements that you would possibly have to look over. In order to do this, manhattan beach movers you possibly can search the Web to offer you a list of tons of of real estate agents which might be like selecting a needle in a haystack to find the most effective one for you. The very best Manhattan Seashore shifting firm. Trusted Manhattan Beach Movers moving crew and in addition top notch. You’ve performed your research and ended up right here — no need to look any further in your movers! You have discovered the one you want right here. Our Residential Shifting Company Manhattan Seashore will be custom-made and adapted to fit your each need.

By way of Moving Authority you may acquire an superior Manhattan Seashore, California transferring firm that 's low-price for you and tailor-made to your particular type of relocation. From Enterprise: All My Sons Transferring & Storage is a full service Moving and Storage company with over four generations of moving expertise. ] were up roughly 15% over last year. ] of over 80 businesses” The town is host to a number of other companies such because the fry’s Electronics, target and Macy’s. It has develop into one of the highest transferring firms that local Southland realtors advocate. It is certainly one of three Beach Cities that make up the South Bay. Avenues run east west and the numbers get greater the further south you go. “When you derive your income in New York Metropolis and New York state, you can’t get round it,” he said. This means no surprises, hidden charges or further expenses ever get added on.

Regardless if you are a small workplace, a big corporation with several areas or any size in between, Move Pro LA has you lined. Some have additionally said that the economic system is on an upturn and the government is giving giant tax credit to most of the brand new home buyers all year long. The sturdy economy has led to increased infrastructure spending, improvement, and oil operations, all of which utilize hydraulic systems, Martin defined. The financial system of Queens is based on tourism, business, and trade. Immigrants from world wide have delivered to Astoria essentially the most eclectic mix of restaurants wherever in Queens. This accounts for the fixed stream of people relocating and shifting in to search out employment in Queens. Angley said that while running, she has been sexually assaulted twice by people on electric bicycles or scooters. We additionally supply prolonged protection plans to additional protect your family items objects while they're being moved by us. Our staff takes care of the transfer from Day 1 until the objects have been delivered to the destination. We take satisfaction in offering the highest quality, buyer-oriented service, so you may make sure that our Manhattan Seashore local movers will care in your private belongings as if they were their own.

The pilot program, and the rules, will begin inside 120 days, and within the interim corporations can apply for a conditional-use permit for as much as 3,000 units. Or they could provide a listing of really useful senior shifting companies. Allsop countered that experience sharing firms have a foul repute, they introduce extra trips into the downtown by many various drivers and they do not permit prospects underneath 18. The Downtowner accepted passengers as young as 13, he mentioned. Whether or not they’re willing to relocate or not, wealth advisors have been sniffing out workarounds for clients balking at the upper tax payments they’re facing. But for some — like Sternlicht, asset supervisor Eddie Lampert and hedge funder Paul Tudor Jones — the migration started three years in the past, when Connecticut enacted sweeping changes to its tax code that impacted monetary firms. Whereas a majority of these tax constructions are authorized, they require proactive tax planning and the financial savvy to tug off. Cross Nation Movers Group consist of execs who have been working within the shifting industry for a while. Our many choices for native transferring providers assist to maintain you in control while saving you money. For Ship & Shore Environmental Inc., an industrial air pollution capture and management system design firm, Signal Hill’s proximity to the Lengthy Seaside Airport is convenient for shoppers flying to the realm, President and CEO Anoosheh Oskouian stated.

Ryan White, retail supervisor of Liberty Coin in Sign Hill, stated continued uncertainty within the financial markets has precipitated his enterprise to perform effectively. Sal Lombardi, owner of LB Walker Automotive, said business has been booming all yr, with not a single gradual day. Nice, Dependable Support - I moved my enterprise in Manhattan Seashore to a unique location. In case you are moving from Manhattan Beach to a very totally different nation then you definately need a world mover. Relocation may be aggravating, but some circumstances like the need for a nicer home or a brand new job makes it unavoidable. In the event you need your automotive delivered on to your new house, we will do that, too - you just must ask for door to door service. Buy one in every of the new Ford GT supercars and it is delivered to your house on a Dependable truck. I'm sure they are going to make the fitting decision-good to know you can not go improper on this one! Will there be a break-in? Are there different creatures, in the wavy waters?

“They are receiving nice outcomes. Our purpose is to make your move as seamless and stress-free as attainable. The consultant’s goal is to have answers for your entire questions. I am busy enough as it is, so it was incredible having Andrea's assist with managing all the unfastened ends that I most likely would have forgotten to do. Assembly/Disassembly - We may also help with disassembly of furniture, swing units, etc. prior to your move or re-meeting upon arrival at your new home. You are able to do a search for ? I can move quick like a plane! It’s yellow, like a pear! I have vehicles, shaped like bars! I have not less than one or two a month. You also have the option to choose up your possessions by yourself using certainly one of our Manhattan Beach truck rentals. Begin today by filling out the type below and we'll send you an Manhattan Seaside shifting estimate to help you in your manner.

The affluent, and unimaginable city of Manhattan Seaside demands excellence at every flip, and that is not any totally different when the neighborhood wants luxurious residential and industrial shifting companies. Redondo Seaside CA Properties on the market. It is divided into two sections, the hill part with excessive priced properties and the sand part, well known for its quiet neighborhood adjoining to the ocean. However new beginnings relocation moved so well final month that I feel proud to recommend them. A couple of weeks again I contacted New beginnings relocation to help me with my transfer because I wasn’t able to do it alone. Thanks for your help with my transfer! This may also help to take away the emotional, traumatic and bodily demand inherent in shifting and most of all provide support throughout this otherwise annoying time. Deceitful Rude Makes an attempt to coerce Attempts to manipulate Complained the entire time Unprofessional Argumentative Disrespectful Yes, it was THAT bad.

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Do You Buy Electric Cars?

Buying electric cars can be exciting and confusing. Think about what kind of car you want and where you need to charge.

The appeal of electric cars has never been stronger than it is now. GM plans to sell only electric vehicles by 2035. Volkswagen's goal is to make it cheaper than gasoline-powered cars. The survey shows that at least two-thirds of American drivers are willing to buy electric vehicles. However, many people are still worried about the costs, choices, and charges of electric vehicles, but these obstacles are falling rapidly. The government hopes to speed up this process and provide tens of billions of dollars of incentives.

For those who want to buy electric cars, this can be overwhelming and exciting. Here's how you should consider whether electric vehicles are suitable for you.

What are you looking for? Electric cars are fast, fun to drive, require little maintenance and produce no exhaust emissions, which are the main cause of climate change. But even if you're sure you want one, there are many options. That's why it's important to understand what you're looking for.

"Is this a basic means of transportation?" Or an expression of yourself and your personality, Said Matt DeLorenzo, senior executive editor of Kelly's blue book“ The car is a statement to the buyer. If not, there would be no Mercedes Benz. "

Tesla. Of course, the company produces powerful, modern, and fast electric vehicles. But Tesla's appeal is also related to its evaluation of car owners. Buying one means buying an early collector community and, to some extent, the views and vision of Elon Musk, the company's charismatic and arrogant CEO. Therefore, many car lovers either like Tesla or hate it.

Some electric vehicles, such as Hyundai IONIQ, Nissan LEAF, or mini cooper se, start at about $30000 and are economic and ecological alternatives to gasoline-powered vehicles. Other models, such as Porsche day can, GMC's upcoming giant electric Hummer, and the luxury Mercedes Benz EQs, are boutiques priced at about $100000.

What is your charging plan? The charging infrastructure in the United States may be developing rapidly, but anyone who wants to turn to electric vehicles should have a charging plan.

The first step is to determine where you usually charge. Most people do it at home, which is the easiest. But as new electric cars and trucks can travel 200 miles or more when fully charged, some drivers choose to replenish fuel when needed in the workplace or public charging stations. It is reported that some urban residents start long cables from apartments or families to provide power for vehicles parked on the street.

If you plan to charge a new electric car or truck at home, there are some pitfalls to pay attention to. Although electric vehicles can be charged through a typical household socket, the charging process is very slow and takes up to 24 hours or more to be fully charged. Many car owners choose to install faster 220 to 240-volt power outlets, as used in clothes dryers, which usually require hiring an electrician.

Alistair Weaver, editor in chief of edmunds.com, said: "you are basically installing something unique for electric vehicles - it costs."

He should know. After buying a new house, Weaver realized that his electric panel needed an expensive upgrade to power his wife's Tesla Model 3.

Anyone without a simple charging method should pay special attention to the driving distance of the car in the real world and its possible changes under different conditions. For example, cold weather can greatly reduce the vehicle's mileage.

But don't be too nervous. Experts say that although the fear of power failure, which is often called distance anxiety, is real, it is often exaggerated. In fact, many electric car owners don't charge every day because they don't need it at all.

Should I buy a Tesla? When it comes to electric vehicles, we can't help mentioning Tesla. Tesla is the leader in the U.S. electric vehicle market for a reason: Although Tesla's car is not without problems, it is still popular.

Tesla has attracted many people who are just looking for future technology or sports cars, and even something deeper. I think people like Elon Musk.

As a market leader, Tesla has some advantages. Tesla's cars and technology last longer than electric vehicles produced by other carmakers, and Tesla has an easy-to-use charging network for its own cars. But the situation is changing rapidly. The choice of electric vehicles is really proliferating. Everyone is pouring into the market. The turning point has come, and all the brands you are familiar with will provide really useful and multifunctional alternatives to electric vehicles in the next two or three years.

At the beginning of 2021, several new electric vehicles started on the road, including Ford's Mustang mache, Volkswagen's ID4, and Volvo's xc40 recharge. Carmakers are expected to launch more cars this year and next. The models eagerly awaited by car lovers include Audi Q4 e-Tron SUV, BMW I4 sedan, Hyundai IONIQ 5 SUV, and Nissan ariya SUV. Several other start-ups are also expected to start selling cars, including the lucid air sedan, Vivian's r1t pickup, and R1s SUV.

What can you afford? Tax credits may help. Yes, electric cars are more expensive than similar gasoline-powered cars, but the price tells you so much. Federal and state tax breaks, utility grants and other savings can help offset costs.

The federal government provides a $7500 tax credit for electric vehicles. Although Tesla or general motors have run out, they can still be used in many other electric vehicles. Take Nissan LEAF as an example. A new basic model costs nearly $32000, but after the federal tax credit, the price fell to less than $25000. States, cities, and even utility companies provide incentives to buy electric cars or install chargers at home.

Electric cars are also cheaper. A recent study by the consumer report found that, compared with the average owner of a gasoline-powered car, the average expenditure of electric vehicle drivers on providing power for a car, truck or SUV has decreased by 60%, while the expenditure on repair and maintenance has decreased by half - there is no need to change the oil.

Buying a used car may be a cheaper way to buy an electric car, but carefully evaluate the quality of the car you buy, especially the battery, because it will deteriorate over time. In other words, a used electric car may be the perfect choice for a second car on business, commuting, and other short trips.

Although owning an electric car may be exciting, it may not be suitable for everyone. Many families and individuals cannot afford electric cars that meet their needs - for example, there are few three-row electric cars, and they are often expensive. Others have difficulty charging at home or nearby. That's why Delorenzo and Fisher recommended plug-in hybrids.

If you're interested but not sure if you're willing to invest, these plug-in hybrids are away. For many people, plug-in vehicles such as Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivan or RAV4 prime SUV can be effectively used as all-electric vehicles. Toyota said the RAV4 prime could drive 42 miles before switching to gasoline, while Chrysler said Pacifica could drive 32 miles on a full charge. If these cars are mainly used for short commutes and town travel, they rarely use gasoline. Both cars and other plug-in hybrids are also eligible for the federal tax credit. As long as you plug it into an ordinary socket on the wall and charge it all night, you can feel what it's like to have an electric car. Maybe your next car will be a pure electric car.

Of course, gasoline-powered cars have become more and more efficient. If you want to upgrade from an old car, choosing one wisely will help reduce emissions. However, many people buy cars based on what they think is attractive and attractive. 'if you admire the function and design of electric vehicles, you may find that nothing else can satisfy you,' Mr. de Lorenzo said. This is a different experience.