#this game makes me want to move to a country with four seasons

[iridium-milk]

my favourite season in sdv is winter and i missed the chance to go to the night market with harvey because i was too focused on the skull caverns 😭

[babydollmarauders]

MEDIA MANAGEMENT — JACK HUGHES (23-24 SZN PART 10)

au masterlist

y/ndevils00

liked by tofff73, jackhughes, and 266,359 others

y/ndevils00 🚨🚨 NEW UNCLE HAT TRICK 🚨🚨

TYLER ‘TOFFEE TRUFFLE’ TOFFOLI GOT HIS FIRST DEVILS HAT TRICK!! just coming off his first goal as a devil, too! GO NEW UNCLE!! YOU SLAYED TONIGHT, QUEEN! first slide was my reaction to his empty net hatty goal!!

but before those three goals could happen, we had to kick off the scoring somehow! and what better way to do it than with a Holtzy goal!! congrats on your first of the season!!

and squished in there between those three goals, CAPTAIN SWISS GOT HIS FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON! TWICE! one goal WAS taken away for goalie interference— but don’t worry your slutty lil mind, Neeks, because it still counts in my heart!

my not-so-sweet, bff4l-ttylxox, maraschino cherry got a penalty for roughing— i missed what he actually did because i was climbing into the penalty box (btw if you have pics of that, please delete them, i can’t have evidence of me breaking into jail), but i’ve decided in my head that he punched a guy to defend me. and if he didn’t… what a bitch

and of course, who would i be if i didn’t point out that MY BOYFRIEND IS THE FIRST PLAYER TO GET 14 POINTS IN THE OPENING 5 GAMES OF A SEASON SINCE MARIO LEMIEUX IN 1992! whew, try saying that 10 times fast! the love of my life had FOUR primary assists tonight (on all 3 of uncle Toff’s goals and on captain’s goal!)! MY MAN, THANK YOU TO MY MAN!

p.s. i swear i feed him

p.p.s. we have no enemies of tonight, because none of the habs really played great… so i would just like to point out that, though not pictured here, I SAW MY TEDDY BEAR, COLE CAUFIELD TONIGHT! he seemed happy to see me! until i showed him my french? idk why that upset him so much

tagged dawson1417, holtz_10, tofff73, nicohischier, jackhughes, and john.marino97

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holtz_10 thank you, y/n!!

y/ndevils00 well this is awkward

holtz_10 i’m not sure i understand how

y/ndevils00 you gave me nothing to work off of. how am i supposed to show my personality if all you say is “thank you”?

holtz_10 oh, i know! Nico gave me answer to this one: you don’t.

y/ndevils00 @/nicohischier am i a joke to you?

dawson1417 I MADE IT

y/ndevils00 you’re such a meme, i love you 🫶

dawson1417 thanks, i was born this way!

y/ndevils00 never change, sugar muffin!

user19 so who has the pics of y/n climbing into the penalty box?

colecaufield YOU CALLED ME YOUR “LITTLE CABBAGE HEAD”

y/ndevils00 well yeah, but i said “JE T’AIME, mon petit tête de chou.”

colecaufield saying you love me does not make it better

y/ndevils00 yes it does?

colecaufield how?

y/ndevils00 because i said so?

colecaufield @/jackhughes take her home. i don’t want her in my country anymore

y/ndevils00 I WAS BORN HERE! YOU’RE AMERICAN!

john.marino97 i wish i could say i was shocked when i got to the penalty box and you were sitting on the floor, but nothing you do surprises me anymore

y/ndevils00 awww that’s so sweet!

john.marino97 that wasn’t a compliment

y/ndevils00 it’s okay to not act tough <3 you can compliment me

john.marino97 i’m beginning to worry you don’t know what compliments are

nicohischier i wasn’t worrying at all, but nice to know. it’s appreciated ❤️ love you

y/ndevils00 love you too! hey, i have a picture of you bent over, do you wanna see it?

nicohischier i take it back, please move back to canada

y/ndevils00 well that was mean :( you could’ve just said no :(

nicohischier fine, i’m sorry. no, thank you

y/ndevils00 okay! i just sent it to you!

nicohischier why do i bother?

user83 i would do anything to see Marino’s face when he walked into the penalty box and just saw y/n there waiting for him

y/ndevils00 it was a little like this: 🤨😐😑🙄!

jackhughes YOU don’t even feed me. i feed YOU!

y/ndevils00 that’s cause you make the money and i look pretty and make jokes!

jackhughes and you do such a good job!

y/ndevils00 thank you, i know!

jackhughes well that’s a bit conceited

y/ndevils00 you’re one to talk, mr. mirror ***

jackhughes THAT WAS FOR YOU AND YOU KNOW IT

y/ndevils00 IT WAS YOUR IDEA

jackhughes AND YOU LIKED IT

y/ndevils00 yeah, i did *insert debby ryan gif*

tofff73 Cat says i did indeed “slay tonight” ?? whatever that means

y/ndevils00 ask her to marry me

tofff73 she’s MY wife?

y/ndevils00 okay and? what, are you against love?

tofff73 no, i’m against you stealing my wife

y/ndevils00 you are no longer slaying tonight. you ran out of slay. you are flopping. you’re in your flop era.

tofff73 i kissed your boyfriend a few days ago and then got a hat trick, what did you do?

y/ndevils00 i did other things to my boyfriend and i’ll get a hat trick tonight

tofff73 you don’t even play hockey?

john.marino97 how are you so innocent? you’re 31

tofff73 @/john.marino97 i’m so lost

dawson1417 probably better if you keep it that way, dude

trevorzegras can’t believe you saw Cole before you saw me

y/ndevils00 not my fault we played the french before the quackies 🤷‍♀️ take it up with buttman

trevorzegras it’s *bettman

y/ndevils00 oh, i know

trevorzegras how do you still have a job?

y/ndevils00 nepotism

trevorzegras oh yeah

user68 this is the second time y/n has used this joke, WHO IS SHE A NEPO BABY OF?!

lhughes_06 you yelled at me

y/ndevils00 you knocked down my teddy bear

lhughes_06 I DIDNT MEAN TO! AND IT’S MY JOB!

y/ndevils00 WELL I WANT YOU TO SUCK AT YOUR JOB WHEN YOU PLAY AGAINST MY FAVORITE FAKE CANADIAN

_quinnhughes you said i was your favorite fake canadian!

y/ndevils00 @_quinnhughes and you are!

_quinnhughes you just said Cole is your favorite!

y/ndevils00 @_quinnhughes no i didn’t

_quinnhughes are you trying to gaslight me? when there’s literal proof?

y/ndevils00 @_quinnhughes no! (is it working?)

_quinnhughes yes, you are! (no)

y/ndevils00 @_quinnhughes (damnit)

[humbledragon669]

S1E5 – The Doomsday Option Write Up P2 - Saturday (The last day of the World) from "the wiggle on" to "He was waving"

Alright, so now we have the seed of hope planted for an Aziraphale/Crowly reunion, this episode moves, pretty swiftly, through a number of plot threads that now all need to be brought together to serve as the climax for the season.

Thread number one: Madame Tracy and Shadwell, and their purpose in the storyline.

I don’t have a great deal to say about this scene, only one tiny question. Why is that Julia makes no move to hand over a “donation” to Madame Tracy?

Both Mrs. Ormerod and Mr. Scroggie (brilliant names by the way) are clearly well-prepared to be handing their money over, but not so young Julia. I don’t think it’s important, just one of those little things I wondered about when I was watching the scene back.

Thread number two: bringing the Four Horsemen together.

Couple of things to point out in the next montage sequence, including an Easter egg or two. Firstly, the immigration official has clearly become disillusioned with her job in the short time that she granted Anathema into the country.

It’s a very different interaction than the one she had with Anathema where she was actually paying attention. Even Famine seems puzzled at her lack of interest. Next up I just want to say that I really didn’t have the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse down for being tea-drinkers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m British. Tea is the foundation of civilised society as far as I’m concerned. But that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? These four characters are about to, quite happily, undo all of civilisation. Always time for a cup of tea I suppose though. And now for an Easter egg! Feels like it’s been a minute since I’ve pointed one of those out. The top scores on the arcade game next to the one that Death is playing on are all allocated to D.EATH, except for the #1 spot, which goes to T. PRATCHETT.

There is another Easter egg here for the eagle-eyed, this one of the apple variety – one of the questions on the quiz machine asks what year Apple Computers was founded in.

And the last thing about the quiz machine: the machine that displays the “GAME OVER” sign is actually not the machine that Death has been playing on:

As a little side note, once we realise that it’s Death playing on the quiz machine, we can appreciate that he has in fact been there from the beginning of the scene. I wouldn’t swear to it given the camera angles that are used, but I don’t think his bike is in the car park when War arrives. You could argue that it’s out of shot, but I’m still pretty sure she would have recognised it for what it was and known that he was already inside. Famine and Pollution too. So why aren’t they aware of his presence from the outset? Again, probably not important, and the little quiz machine interaction provides some much-needed light comedy.

Back to thread number one. I found little of interest in this scene prior to Aziraphale’s arrival from the spirit world, aside from the vapid personality of Mrs. Ormerod and the obvious dig at the validity of psychic mediums whilst using the delightfully oblivious Mr. Scroggie. What I do really enjoy about this scene is the sound editing (I know, you’re all shocked I’m picking up on sound cues…). We know that something is about to happen when a low rumble begins, enforced by some lightly flickering candles in a room with no breeze, but the real joy here is the sequence of noises, animal, human, and object, that issues from Madame Tracy’s mouth as Aziraphale takes up residence in her body. Miranda Richardson does a pretty stella job here too – this was either really fun to shoot or incredibly embarrassing. I’d lean towards the former, given she’s largely a comic actress, but managing to keep a straight face throughout the whole thing must have taken an incredible degree of self-control. I’d be quite interested to know how much free reign she was given with this, how much of it was improvised, and if she knew there was going to be extra noises added in post-production. Here’s a list of the noises that I could pick up in the sequence that takes place during Aziraphale’s possession:

Rumbling noise before Madame Tracy starts vocalising.

Madame Tracy making a low rumbling noise.

Elephant trumpeting.

The noise of something ramping up, like a turbine engine but not. No idea what this noise actually is!

Thunder (from outside the house – accompanied by lightning).

Madame Tracy’s short shout followed by very high and musical almost-screams.

Another one of those weird ramping up noises but shorter and sharper.

Panting.

Madame Tracy blowing a raspberry.

Loud singing (enforced in the soundtrack) of the William Tell overture.

Madame Tracy belching.

A little quacking noise made by Madame Tracy.

A fart (no way was I leaving this off the list), which puts a definitive stop to any other noises that are ongoing.

Pretty impressive. Those sound editors aren’t done yet though, because aside from another chaotic sound sequence for Ron’s possession, there’s still a load of work to do with the voices coming out of Madame Tracy’s mouth. I love the way they shift between her voice and Aziraphale’s during the following sequence, starting from the very first sentence that she says after the possession has completed – she starts out as Madame Tracy and finishes as Aziraphale (in German, which we were led to believe that he couldn’t speak back in 1941). There are times in this scene where both voices come out of her mouth at the same time and there are other times where Madame Tracy speaks in her own voice but in a deeper tone, and times where it’s one or the other speaking, and it’s all so seamlessly stitched together. Not to mention the fact that it never once looks like it’s not Miranda Richardson speaking – her lip movements match the words exactly. She even adapts some of Aziraphale’s mannerisms when she’s speaking as him.  It’s a really brilliantly put together scene. The sound sequences for Ron’s possession (played by none other than Johnny Vegas) are more difficult to pick out because the surrounding scene is very noisy (not that Shadwell would know anything about that, sound asleep in the unaffected boudoir) but I did manage to pick out:

Another raspberry.

A short squeal.

A line from “Moonlight Becomes You” (by Johnny Mathis, I couldn’t see any immediate Easter eggs or references from the lyrics).

A prolonged shout.

More thunder.

What sounds like a piano string or strings (from low down the keyboard) being struck.

A retching noise like someone’s about to hurl.

Something bubbling.

Howling.

Lightning.

Fireworks, used in the same way as the fart in the first sequence – to cut off all the other noises.

It feels like quite a jolt moving from all that cacophony into Madame Tracy’s peaceful kitchen. There’s one little thing that really makes me giggle in this scene:

She seems pretty blasé about the fact that there’s a blonde, slightly transparent, male figure staring back at her from the mirror. It’s only when he actually waves back at her that she reacts at all, and even then it’s pretty muted. I think most of us would have taken off screaming at that point, or pass out, but not Madame Tracy, she’s way too worldly-wise for that dramatic nonsense.

I was a little puzzled at the choice of soundtrack for Crowley’s battle against the traffic in the next scene, but then I wondered whether it was a reference to the M25 being another one of Crowley’s plans that started out so well and then ending up foundering “on the rocks on iniquity”, which appears to be a bit of a running theme throughout the show – first the misplacing of the Antichrist, again in his desperate pleas to Aziraphale for them to run away together, and in his failed rescue of the angel. This particular instance of Crowley’s well-intentioned failings would suggest that it’s a characteristic he has been prone to for a long while, and that the foundering of his plans can take anything from seconds to decades. And just for a bit of fun, a tried to get screenshots of the M25 before and after Crowley’s interference:

I also noticed that the projector Crowley uses is marked as belonging to Room 11:

Having fallen foul of my neglect in consulting Strong’s Concordance with numbers in my write ups before, I did actually remember to look this one up. According to my scant research, 11 in Strong’s Concordance represents a place of destruction or ruin. Whether this is a reference to Crowley’s original intentions for the M25, the eventual fate and purpose of the M25 in the show, or a tongue-in-cheek remark to the experience of actually driving on the M25 in real life isn’t clear. Maybe it’s a bit of all three. Or maybe it’s just a random number. Unlikely I think.

Now that Shadwell’s had a nice little snooze, he also seems to have had some sort of personality transplant. That’s the only real explanation for the impassioned attempt at protecting Madame Tracy’s dignity, right? I think we as the audience all know better, but he clearly forgets himself in the heat of his jealous moment. Interestingly, the mirror no longer appears to show Aziraphale’s reflection:

I think this might just have been a case of budgetary or time restraints rather than an intent to convey anything specific. Whatever the reason, Aziraphale doesn’t seem too upset at Shadwell for discorporating him. One question though – how does the angel know that Shadwell has referred to him as “the Southern pansy” before? As far as I can remember, he never uses that name to his face, which only really leaves the possibility that he has obtained the information from Madame Tracy, who has heard him refer to Aziraphale in that way at least once before. I find it unlikely she would have told the angel the offensive name that had been allocated to him, which suggests he has obtained the news from her own thoughts. Obviously at this point Madame Tracy is sharing the residence of her body, but it does raise an interesting question for later when Aziraphale and Crowley perform the body switch – would they be able to read the thoughts of the other without the sentience of that other being present concurrently?

Whilst we are on the topic of how people know things that they do, how does Crowley know the M25 has just combusted into a ring of infernal flames? I know we’ve had the whole “Crowley turned the M25 into a hellhole” scenario written out for us already, but that was to do with the eternal traffic jams he caused, not some sort of hidden boobie trap that would cause it to spontaneously combust. Presumably this is one of those things his demon-sense tells him has simply happened, like when Adam welcomed the Hellhound into his life.

I find the next scene with the cold caller provides an interesting overview of the way nuisance callers have evolved across the years. The basis for the call in the original book was double glazing, but we’ve moved on to ambulance chasers in the show. As a society I think it’s likely we’ve moved on even further now, from using actual real people to individually make these calls to automated recordings, but Hastur wouldn’t be able to eat them all in that case, thus denying the audience the satisfaction of the sick justice he unwittingly wreaks on the call centre staff. Got ourselves a little Easter egg here too – the message that Lisa types out on her screen (to a colleague or as a note on a casefile isn’t clear) is the title of a Queen song:

This happens to be the very song that Crowley was listening to in the Bentley on the M25. She also types that up right before she arrives his own casefile (titled “Anthony Cowwley”, which differs from the book’s “A J Cowlley”).

Shifting back to Crouch End now (this episode really does jump around a lot doesn’t it?!), can we just take a moment to gape at Aziraphale adamantly declaring that the Antichrist must be killed. The Antichrist who is a child. It really wasn’t that long ago that he was vehemently stating that he himself could never do such a thing, nor could he endorse it without suggesting that it would be for the good of Heaven’s reputation. Now though, he’s very happy to encourage a human, for whom the consequences of killing an innocent child would be dire in Heaven’s eyes, and even worse for killing the Antichrist as far as Hell is concerned, to do the deed, but this time the motivation is nothing to do with his employer; it revolves around the fate of the World. It feels like something of an oxymoron – his siding with humanity driving an incredibly inhumane act. In fairness, Shadwell follows it up with an oxymoron of his own:

So, as far as Shadwell’s concerned: witches? Kill without question. The Antichrist? Not so sure. Even if he’s going to bring about the end of the world. Sounds like he’s all good with the plan when Aziraphale tells him that he has traits associated with witches though. Good morals Shadwell, well done. Perhaps not quite as terrifying as Aziraphale’s declaration of triumph when the sergeant suggests they can use a massive antique gun to fire lumps of building materials to assassinate the Antichrist. Again I’ll point out that Adam is a child, but perhaps it wasn’t clear enough earlier on that Aziraphale also knows he’s a child.

I don’t know whether what I’m about to say describes a typically British behaviour when caught in traffic jams or not, but here goes. Anybody else find it suspect that other people aren’t either already driving down the hard shoulder or that Crowley doesn’t have a giant tail of cars following him? I’ve been in my fair share of motorway gridlocks, enough to know that once some entitled prick starts driving down the hard shoulder in attempt to assert their own self-importance over the rest of the people caught in the chaos, anybody else with delusions of grandeur will follow suit very quickly. Not for Crowley though, he’s just pottering down the escape lane under his own steam. And is it just me, or does it feel like a bit of a violation when Hastur removes Crowley’s glasses? Looks to me like Crowley feels like that as well to be fair.

He manages to get over his surprise quickly enough though, characteristically engaging his brain into full gear to try and find a solution, which he does with an interesting choice of music:

I find it interesting because it deviates from what we have come to believe is his usual taste in music. Mozart would actually seem to be more Aziraphale’s taste than Crowley’s. It’s also a pretty sedate underscore for what he’s about to do. As a side note, this piece not only doesn’t actually start from the beginning when it starts playing in the Bentley, but is also used in another one of my favourite shows – Our Flag Means Death. In that show, it’s used as background music in the final episode when Prince Ricky is strolling down the street his victory over the pirates with another naval officer. The Mozart doesn’t stick around for long though, morphing into Queen’s “I’m In Love With My Car” (no need to point out the reference with this one) as Hastur starts to lose his calm. For those who haven’t read the book, or just don’t remember this detail, there is mention of this phenomenon in the original text – the apparently common mystery that every tape or CD left in a car is doomed to become a Queen album eventually, but this little detail is left out in the show, with the audience instead being led to believe that the CD player plays mood-appropriate music instead.

The speech we get from Crowley here goes a long way to showing us how much he has come to love both humanity and modernity – he’s actually quite complimentary about humans and their ability to invent new things.

Lovely clever people, inventing cars and motorways and windscreen wipers.

He also, in a very dismissive way, puts a clear distinction between himself and Hastur with his marking of the difference between his feelings towards the 14th century and what he believes the Duke of Hell would have thought. That simple little line actually says a lot to me about how he believes he distanced himself from the other beings in Hell – it’s a clear declaration of “we are not the same”. I also find myself wondering if Crowley had little to no contact with Aziraphale during the 14th century, contributing to his dislike of the time period. We certainly never see anything of the sort – the meetings we bear witness to have a large gap between 537 and 1601, though the book and script book tells us that there was definitely a meeting in 1020, and the script would suggest that there were several (dozens of them in fact) meetings between that and the 1601 meeting.

It's interesting to hear that Hastur is concerned that he’s going to be discorporated as it confirms he’s been issued with a human body, just like Crowley, even though he doesn’t reside on Earth. I’d be interested to know if the body was issued to him in that state or whether it looks pretty run down because of Hastur’s lack of appropriate care (which would in turn suggest that both Aziraphale and Crowley have had to work towards maintaining the appearance of their own corporal beings). And whilst we’re on the subject of bodily appearances, I love the little detail that the snake component of Crowley’s eyes now fill his entire eyeball as he maniacally drives through the flames.

I have a suspicion that the size of the snake “irises” (for want of a better word) is reliant on his emotional state, but I don’t feel like I have the patience to go through the show and test the theory. And I don’t know if those little horizontal lines on Crowley’s nose were intentional here or whether that’s just a natural crease in David’s face, but they certainly strengthen the snake resemblance. As a final comment on this scene, we actually hear God telling us that Crowley really is fundamentally different from his peers – he has an imagination. Which is not so different from the idea that Aziraphale is different from his peers because he has free will, a theme that has been presenting itself, with increasing clarity, throughout the series.

Final little note for this section, and it’s about this snippet of epic:

Apparently the most amazing thing about this, according to the local bobby, isn’t the fact that the car is on fire, or that it’s just driven through a wall of fire, or that it’s still moving forward, or even that the person inside it is not only alive, but unharmed and still capable of driving. No, the most amazing thing is that the driver is waving. Gotta love the way us Brits have a way of stating simple facts to display complete amazement.

Right, this section went on for way longer than I thought it was going to so I’m going to cut it short. I was hoping to get as far as the defection of The Them from Adam, but as soon as I started watching that scene I realised I had more to say about it than I thought, so I’m going to let you go for now. As always, questions, comments, discussion – always welcome! See you next time 😊

[soranihimawari]

1/100th of a Second

Or how a poor college student became the sweetheart off a popular rookie athlete in his debut season…

Warnings: none? Just a meet cute at Noehbi…?

Pairings: Bokuto Kotarō x (fem!)reader

Ratings: reunitedbest friends!->lovers

Based on this image i had commissioned from @/rrabittt

Love, as scientific experts say, can change the chemistry of your brain. Love, some romantics who write in the genre, say can happen as often as a clap of thunder in the storm. Love, as you know it, walked into the classroom of your fifth grade class and you feel your young heart fall instantly within 1/100th of a second when your eyes meet the most talkative boy in your class.

Sure, for the next four years, until you enter different high schools, you were inseparable. Taking naps, going to support each other’s sporting events, you name it, he was there for every win and you were there for his. It wasn’t until your middle school year was ending that you had to break the news to him up weren’t able to join him in at Fukurodani. He was devastated and he seemed to visibly deflate and poke around his bento.

“But it’s not like I’m going to be too far away, Bo,” you remind him. “You can always watch my games when I start the season in Hyogo. My mom went to Inarizaki too before moving here to Tokyo for university and she met my dad instantly and kicked off their love story…”

“Yeah, but it’s not the same! You’re gonna be 12+ hours away by bus even more so my walking…”

“The scouts saw me out perform everyone on the team this year even if we didn’t make it to the girls’ junior nationals…’m really sorry bokkun.”

That summer, before you packed up and left, you don’t let the fight you two had nearly three hours before you leave with your parents who would drop you off in another city, stop you from marching to his house in the pouring rain. You pounded on his door and when his older sister answered the door, she leans over her shoulder and you don’t wait for her to return with a towel. For once, you put your heart on the line and in true story book fashion, you bully your way into your best friend’s room:

“Bokuto Kotaru!”

He’s never heard you yet at him, but you at 14 years old knew how to get his attention without the yelling. He hit his growth spurt this year and is now at a comfortable height difference for you to reach up, cup his face and humble him with his first kiss being stolen by you.

“You’re insane,” he mumbles.

“Absolutely stark raving mad,” you jest back before hugging him. “Thought you should know I’ve been wanting to do that since we were ten.”

And so, you leave when he wishes you luck in Hyogo.

Almost a full three years later, you’re back in the city that bared and raised you. Tokyo was ever growing, ever expanding. It would be the same across the country in Hyogo. Sure you were a bit timid even in the past, however ever since your parents decided to split, you find yourself back in your hometown.

It's a weird feeling hearing your old friend in your new high school's gymnasium. Apparently, though you were studying at Nohebi (because they were still accepting transfer students right before the year had started), you happened to join a classmate to oversee her boyfriend's volleyball club training. That's when you see a few of the guys clad in ivory. The third team that were invited were a den of cats, and you seem to pick up this was a pre-pre season face off. Noehbi's vice captain nudges one of the others whom your girl friend from class waves toward and you are introduced to Daisho Suguru. His rival, the tall guy in red, still insults him, but you sort of laugh at their banter. However, your attention goes to the third young man clad in the ivory and gray practice uniform. Sure, you haven't seen each other in three years, but you can tell he sort of filled out: chest and torso was worked out on a weekly focus rotation; his legs were covered with compression leggings which only accentuated his...other assets; and oh my god, you realize he's walking toward you.

"Excuse me," you smile at Daisho and his-your-girl friend, and you respond when you know Bokuto's voice has changed to a little raspier one than before. "Bo?"

"YN?"

You both chuckle and you let Daisho make the call to have the first practice match be between Nekoma (red team you found out later) and Nohebi, begins. WInner of that match will square off with one of the five top aces in the year.

Hours later, you're seen walking in the opposite direction of your own home, reconnecting with the boy you stole your first kiss from at 14. You fill him in on your life, even your parents divorce, "so the judge agreed I was old enough to choose who and where I wanted to live, so I came back home...with my dad."

"Cool, but y'know, 'm sorry they split," Bokuto says, holding your hand and giving it a squeeze.

"Me too, but I'm glad they're living their own truths now," you reply, shyly combing a piece of your hair behind your ear. “I’ll be here through the end of our third year. So, I’ll be seeing you more I guess.”

He hums, nodding along. 

“Once an old friend, always an old friend,” Bokuto beams. 

You don’t bring up the time you literally gave him his first kiss, that memory could burn for all you care. Awkward and all, however that was three years ago and as his house comes to view, he asks you something a bit…sweet?

“Want to come in?” 

You, who think nothing of it, agree, stepping across the threshold of the front door you’ve came through so many times. His house is lively with with sisters and even the eldest one now is finally expanding the family. Her sweet smile invites conversation, but thankfully after you had said your greetings, she understands her kid brother more than anyone else. The middle sisters are gushing over the latest sonograms of their eldest sibling while Bokuto chimes in with being named a godparent almost immediately.

“Well, if I make Koutaro a god parent, then,” his expecting sister glances at you. “I’d have to make you one too I guess.”

Your cheeks are burnt sunset orange when Bokuto pulls you away from the kitchen saying something about homework.

“They are as lively as ever…So, your one-san is expecting? That’s something I wasn’t expecting when you told me she was gonna come home for a few months and travel back I think before she gets too far along…You an uncle? That’s also great too,” you ramble a bit. You take an opportunity to see the achievements he made with being the ace for the volleyball clubs since your move, spotting the article framed of him and his near perfect posture for a pipeline spike. 

“Bokuto,” your voice is gentle. “Why did you invite me inside?”

He places his things down at the corner of his bed before sitting on the edge of it.

“Because I missed you way more than I imagined.”

Considering you’re standing by his desk right now, you arch an eyebrow, but you shrug your shoulders. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t write or call,” you confess. “I didn’t have enough time to ask for a computer at the time. I mean, I had tablets, sure, but we didn’t make it a point to trade social media.”

“Come here,” he holds your hand. You listen to him and walk toward him until you’re close enough he hugs you; a hand of yours rustles his hair. You chuckle slightly amused when he nuzzles his cheek against your torso. 

“Affectionate as always,” he hears you say. His eyes light up and he chooses to ask you something a bit bolder. 

“Mind if I do something?”

You shake your head before asking if he’s attempting to flirt with you (again).

“So what if I am,” Bokuto loves it when you tease him a bit. His lips find yours after he guides you to sit on his lap for a bit. There’s a smile you feel post him pecking your lips as he finally decides to take a chance for you both. For the boy who cares and emotes too much to find the person who inspired him to return after some time, having you return his affections meant the world to him.

So when future you had honed your skills in obtaining your degree in public relations, you stand in the press room with the rest of the rookie volleyball players from the Monster Generation, a sparkly stone shines on your finger when just a regular ace answers a question from the press.

[nonsensical-pixels]

Merry Christmas/Winterfest, everyone! Today, I bring you a conversion of the Playa Beach Set by @syboubou 😀

I've mentioned before that in my country, we don't have four seasons, just a permanent summer, so my family is more likely to hit the beach than to actually bundle up in parkas for Christmas, which made converting this set seem perfectly fitting. Also, I'm still working on my custom 'hood of Blingkawi and never feel that I have enough beach stuff, so it's nice to add to my catalog 🤣

This set consists of 12 new objects, including a functional kiddie pool cloned from Echo's. Everything has been compressed, everything is recolorable, etc.

Download - SFS | MF

I have a readme included in the download, but keep reading for more info.

credits

@syboubou for the original Sims 4meshes & textures ♥

Echo on MTS for the original kiddie pool, I just cloned theirs 😁

things to note

The towel functions as a rug. I wanted to make it functional, but couldn't work out how :( When used on a beach lot make the sim sunbathe, then use move objects to delete the Maxis towel and relocate the sim to the rug one.

I didn't manage to convert the dollhouse in time, it kept crashing the game D:

The kiddie pool is cloned from Echo's and is very much functional!

stuff included

You can look at Syboulette's original post to see the items included!

If there is any problem with any of these items, please let me know ASAP! Once again, Merry Christmas, and a happy new year! 🥂

arm bands -> 1312 polys

beach ball -> 528 polys

beach umbrella -> 1464 polys

flipflops -> 1200 polys

kiddie pool -> 1738 polys

magazine -> 1320 polys

sand toys -> 1756 polys

shells -> 1803 polys

snorkeling mask and flippers -> 2151 polys

straw hat -> 956 polys

towel -> 1569 polys

wicker bag -> 1552 polys

( @4t2ccdatabase )

[arealphrooblem]

Terms of Surrender Part 5

Synopsis: The queen of a doomed city makes the deal her husband refused to make with the conquering warlord outside her city's gates.

Part One Here

Part Four Here

CW: Ingrained, systematic sexism (not from the Warlord)

“I have a matter I wish to discuss with you.”

The warlord hovered his hand over a rook and then a pawn, considering his next move. The last few visits to the rooftop garden had shown nothing but a city peacefully rebuilding; even so, the queen felt her stomach clench in unease.

“Oh?” she said, keeping her voice light and curious.

The warlord settled on the pawn and moved it. “Yes. The king of Neighboring Country wants to meet and discuss new trade agreements. I had hoped to gain your insight and advice on his upcoming visit.”

“You want my advice?”

The warlord glanced up at her from the board. “Of course. Out of everyone I know, you would have the most experience and knowledge with this man and previous trade agreements.”

“And you would trust my advice?” she asked slowly, game forgotten.

The corner of his mouth lifted up. “Well I wouldn’t follow it blindly, but I don’t follow any advice blindly. It doesn’t make it any less valuable. Would you be willing to share it?”

She chose her words carefully. “I will share what I can. However, my husband did not include me in those kinds of negotiations.”

“What do you mean he didn’t include you?” The tiny smile dropped, replaced by an icy glint in his eyes. “You are his wife and a ruler of your country. Why would you not be included?”

The question took her aback, the answer so obvious to her that she didn’t understand his confusion. “I’m a woman,” she explained slowly. “Trade and the economy were not part of my duties. That’s the sphere of men.”

He stared at her as if she had just spoken gibberish, or in a language foreign to both of them. “I see,” he said after a long moment.

She felt as if she had just disappointed him and the guilt and embarrassment of it burned at her edges.

“I have met that king many times,” she said tentatively. “He was a friend of my father’s before I was married. I could advise you on his personality, his flaws and vices.”

“That would be very helpful,” he said, the coldness of his gaze melting. “Thank you.” He gestured at the chessboard. “It’s your turn, my lady.”

That afternoon, one of her guards delivered a rolled up piece of parchment to her, from the warlord.

“What is this?” she asked cautiously.

“The terms of trade my lord created,” said the guard. “He wanted you to look over them.”

Nerves fluttered in her gut but she did not let her face betray her. “I see. Thank you.”

She took it to her desk that faced a window to the garden, opened up the curtains,  and settled in. Reading it with her limited skills felt like deciphering a code. The slant of his beautiful handwriting often confused her, as did his long, winding sentences. She took in enough to get a basic idea of the terms he wanted; hopefully combined with her knowledge of the king in question she would be able to provide enough assistance to satisfy him and not enough to invite more this sort of advice.

Dinner was accompanied by the Warlord himself, who set them up at her breakfast table. She noticed that he preferred simple food, not multiple courses, and he had a sweet tooth. Tonight's dinner was seasoned, tender fish, spiced rice and soft flat bread. A small layered pastry sat on a separate plate.

“This is unexpected,” she said. “I haven’t had a dinner companion in quite some time.”

He paused, fork in hand. “Do you prefer to eat alone? I can return.”

“No, no. It was not a complaint.”

In truth she did enjoy his company, despite her reluctance to trust him. And though she’d grown more comfortable with a level of solitude unheard of for a member of the court, she often found herself lonely.

He gave her that tiny smile. “I thought we could discuss that trade contract after we eat. Meanwhile, what can you tell me about your experiences with this king?”

“He’s very manipulative,” she said immediately. “My father could see through much of his lies, but he ran circles around my husband and received many benefits as a result. I’m sure he expects to woo your ego enough to get those same benefits from you.”

The Warlord smirked. “I hope he gets used to disappointment.”

They discussed the king in more detail. The Queen regaled him with stories of the type of oily flattery that had won her husband’s fragile ego so quickly. She could tell just by the way the Warlord rolled his eyes or pursed his lips that such flattery would not work on him, that his ego was not fragile at all. It pleased her that the king would be greatly disappointed indeed but not brave or stupid enough to start a war over it. If only she could sit in on such a meeting to witness it herself.

She enjoyed their conversation so much that she forgot his expectation for after dinner. Once the plates were cleared away, the Warlord asked her to bring the scroll, and the bottom of her stomach dropped out. She obeyed regardless, trapped. The Warlord unrolled it out on the table between them.

“Considering the information you gave me, I see several loopholes this king will try to exploit. Which do you think is the worst offender?”

He gestured at the scroll, inviting her to look. The queen leaned over the table, a small knot forming in her stomach. To tell the truth that she could barely read and understand the first paragraph, let alone be able to skim the entire document.

She took a gamble, pointed vaguely at a paragraph in the middle. The Warlord peered down, brow furrowed.

“Forgive me, I must have gotten confused at what section you pointed at. This is a detail of my previous trade agreements in my country. What part did you refer to again?”

A hot flush crawled down her neck. “My apologies,” she said. “I meant this section right here.”

She pointed to a part two paragraphs below. The Warlord glanced down for a moment before looking back up, gaze suddenly cold.

“If you did not want to give your advice, you could have just told me. I gave you no obligation to comply. Did you even read this?”

The knot in her stomach twisted painfully. “Of course I read it,” she lied.

“And yet you point out the most useless parts of the contract that do not answer my concerns,” he retorted. “I will not be taken for a fool, not especially for asking for something that would only help your people.”

“I’m not trying to make you a fool!” she snapped. How did this conversation spiral so fast?

“Then answer my question!”

“I can’t!” she shouted.

Her voice echoed against the stone walls. The Warlord looked nonplussed.

“Why not?” he asked. “You’re not a stupid woman. Even if you could not be present for these types of discussions with your husband — which I find an utterly ridiculous practice — you would still have valuable insight. Unless, of course, watching me fail at this gives you some petty sense of revenge.”

Right now the Queen wanted nothing more than to throw herself out the window before she let him know the truth.

“I don’t care for petty revenge,” she said through gritted teeth.

“No, you don’t seem the type,” he agreed. “So why is this so difficult?”

That horrible, terrifying focus of his stare narrowed onto her and she watched the realization dawn on him in horrible, terrifying clarity.

“Please tell me you can read,” he said.

She jut her chin out. “I can read.” It technically was not a lie.

He tapped at one of the last paragraphs of the contract, the one closest to her end of the table. “Read that for me.”

She crossed her arm. “I’m not playing your game.”

His stare challenged her. “It’s not a game. Read it.”

She said nothing, holding his stare, keeping her arms crossed. The longer she refused the stormier his gaze became. But the fear of his anger was like a candle to the inferno of her shame. Finally he took up the scroll in disgust and rolled it back up. Victory tasted like ash on her tongue.

“Why were you never taught to read?” he demanded. “Was it because of your father? Did your mother know how to read? What sick bastard of a man keeps his daughters from literacy?”

“It wasn’t my father,” she snapped, unable to hear further slander of her family. “No woman knows how to read!”

“What?”

If anything, this made him even more furious. His face glowed red with it.

“You’re telling me half of your citizens can’t read? Half of your workforce can’t read?  Half of your royal court can’t read? The mothers of your children can’t read? Why?”

“Because we don’t need to read!” she shouted.

It was a mantra she had heard over and over again. Mothers did not need to read to cook or clean or raise children or love their husbands. Women of the court did not need to read to paint or embroider or manipulate the court for their husband’s favor. Women did not make decisions — their husbands and fathers did. What was the point of reading?

“Are you fucking serious?”

She stood up so suddenly the char behind her fell over. The lack of literacy was hard enough to swallow without the implication that it was somehow her fault, that she was culpable in it’s continuation. As if she could ever have the power to change an idea ingrained over hundreds of generations, Queen or not.

“I don’t care that I’m your prisoner,” she said shakily. Tears crowded in her throat and she refused to let him witness them. “I am not listening to this anymore. I am sorry my inadequacies have disappointed you.”

She strode over to her bedroom doors and slammed them shut behind her.

For three days she did not see or hear anything from the Warlord, which suited her just fine. A constant ember of shame glowed in her chest. He had thought so highly of her, in spite of their circumstances. It baffled her and warmed her. The Queen’s husband had seen her as a means to an end, a way to the throne, and her father had seen her as a failure for not being a son. No man had ever seen her as worthy of equal respect until the Warlord.

And now he thought she was nothing more than pathetic and  at fault for her own stupidity. She mourned the loss of his regard for her as much as she burned in fury at him for the whole cursed affair.

On the fourth day, the Warlord entered her sitting room. He held a book in his hand. The Queen glanced up at him from her embroidery and then pointedly ignored him. This did not stop him from taking a seat across from her.

Silence stretched out between them as fragile as a spider’s web. She refused to break it first just as she refused to look at him.

“I owe you an apology,” he said finally.

Her needle paused in surprise, but she kept her gaze firmly on her project.

“I humiliated you. It was not done intentionally; I truly had no idea the women here were illiterate. I became so angry because I see that practice as utterly barbaric and cruel. But I fear in my anger I only deepened your shame.”

The ice of her anger melted enough for her to respond.

“I have tried to teach myself,” she explained haltingly. “But my skills are very rudimentary at best. If I could have changed it, I would have.”

She dared a glance at his face and found herself shocked at the sorrow reflected in it.

“Back home, the women are not so powerless and at the mercy of their men,” he said. “It’s not a perfectly equal society by any means. But it is much different than here. You walked into my camp and delivered your surrender with such confidence, I had assumed you possessed much more power than you did.”

“I have more respect from you as a prisoner than I did from my husband as a Queen,” she admitted.

He looked pained. “That is unacceptable.”

She shrugged. “He was my father’s closest friend. I was his avenue to rule, and the bearer of his heir and nothing more.”

“You will never have to concern yourself with him again,” he said, a glint of his previous fury in his eyes.

The corner of her mouth tipped up. “No,” she agreed. “I will not.”

A relief she thanks God for every day.

“If you want it, I could arrange for a tutor for you,” he offered. “To teach you to read. I am already making plans to open up schools for the women here.”

And you wonder why I find you hard to believe she thought again.

“And until then, I thought I could read to you sometimes?” This offer came more hesitantly, as if afraid it would offend her.

She put her embroidery to the side. “I would like that very much.”

part 6 here

Taglist: @cesspitoflove@aprilraine@talesofurbania1@sarcasticlittlebook @hasel-anne @weaverofbrokenthreads @prismaticpizza

[clatoera]

Picket Fence is Sharp as Knives: Chapter 1 At Dinner Parties, I Call You Out (ARWBFB sequel)

Heeey besties. We're back. We're back. Thus begins the sequel to Always Remember We're Burned for Better. Fucking wild right.

So. This is chapter one of the sequel. The title of the sequel comes from High Infidelity, not because they're experiencing that, but because I liked the line being about picket fences. This fic is structured much different than ARWBFB. It's going to be more vignette day in the life style fics. It's not high intensity. It's not high drama. ARWBFB has all of that. This is the life after the war and that is this.

This concept of this fucking chicken...this is entirely what I wanted to write the sequel for. The mental imagery of spatchcocking a chicken. I'm not lying as you are about to see.

Thats what this whole sequel is to be. Just..moments of life. Fun moments of life. You are welcome to send requests. I will do my best to honor and address them.

So yeah! Fic title from High Infidelity (t swift)

Chapter title from gold rush (t swift).

AO3 Link

masterpost

So! Yeah!

Here we go again. Thank you all for being here and rejoining me.

Life moves blessedly slow in a world without the Hunger Games. 

A life without training to run, a life without interviews to attend. A life with morning runs as a leisure and not a warm up, a life with meals with seasoning and flavor, a life with friends a forty minute train ride away.

It is a peaceful life, albeit somewhat boring for two twenty something kids who spent their life learning to kill. 

It is unbelievably peaceful, actually.

 Cato and Clove sit nearly on top of each other on their living room couch, her little legs tucked in his lap, her feet in his hands. Their luggage sits unpacked by the door from a ten day trip to District Four, having been discarded immediately upon their return in long awaited exchange for their own cool bed sheets on their sun warmed skin. If you ask Cato the best part of the trip, he will tell you it was watching more freckles appear on the skin of his wife every passing day. If you ask Clove she will tell you it was watching Cato’s hair lighten and his skin take on that golden hue she hadn’t seen since he won his games what seemed like a lifetime ago. 

They don’t need to talk, not when she’s lounging in his lap like this, reading aloud the new curriculum designs Enobaria had dropped off for their input. It was more difficult than any of them had anticipated, adapting their training plans to regular recreation activities. Every once in a while Cato gives a hum of approval or digs his thumb into the arch of her foot in a way that makes her lose her place in a sentence. 

“Do you think they’ll let us come teach?” Cato wonders out loud, before kicking his own feet up and pushing his side of the couch back in a reclining position. “Feels like it could be fun, it’s something to do..”

“I think after reading this shit they better let us do whatever we want, I don’t even think i’m pronouncing the word Calisthenics right.” Clove latches her knees over his thighs and pulls herself closer, the warm thrum of his hand on her knee keeping in cadence with her reading. She writes something in the margins of the paper that Cato cannot see, but it’s almost certainly something about the meaning of a word that she will look up later to save herself the embarrassment of asking Enobaria. “Do you think they’re going to keep teaching kids to read after they turn twelve? I feel like thats a skill we should prioritize.”

“I’m not even sure I learned to read well enough before them.”

A frantic rapping at the door interrupts their commentary, and they share a suspicious look though neither move from their position intertwined on the couch. 

“Who knocks?” Cato raises an eyebrow, his hand stilling from where it strokes at her knee. “Doesn’t half the country have a key to our house?”

“We really should change those locks.” Clove muses lightly, making no move to answer the door or even see who it was. Cato had a point. Whoever it was..either they’d let themselves in or they’d leave. 

“What, tired of Enobaria letting herself in for breakfast?” Cato taunts, but there's no real malice there. If the worst that happened to them for the rest of their lives were their family members inviting themselves over at eight in the morning then they are better off than they were with all the victor glory in the world. 

“I just want to know when I became responsible for feeding the world,” 

As if on cue the front door creaks open, and shuts incredibly softly within the same second. There is only one person, one frame, that could slip in like a ghost and as silent as a wisp. 

They hear her soft voice and the ruffling of what sounds like bags before they see her. 

“Clove? Clove I need help.” Glimmer turns the corner from the entryway, two large white canvas totes on her arm. Whatever panic she was in pauses as she sees them for the first time in nearly two weeks, as if they were separated across a war torn nation again. “It’s been so long since i’ve seen you- oh! Don’t you two just look so cute and in love.” She raises a hand to her cheek dramatically, pursing her lips out in a plush. “How was the honeymoon?”

“So long? We got married twelve days ago, and it was you who disappeared without a goodbye-“‘Cato starts to debate, but a firm kick to his thigh shuts him up. “I mean, it was great, Glimmer.”

“I was going to ask if you even enjoyed the beach but from the looks of it you did go outside!! I’m very proud.” The woman sits herself down on the other side of Clove, still holding a canvas bag on each shoulder. “I’m still just so happy for you!” 

“I’m assuming you did not bring gifts?” Clove closes the portfolio of ideas, placing it on the arm of the couch on the other side of Cato. “The wedding’s over, what kind of emergency could you possibly be having now? The dresses fit, they were perfect, what do you need help with, Glim?”

Glimmer lets out a sigh of clear distress, finally letting the bags fall to the floor and relieving her shoulders of the weight. “I may have overcommitted.” She begins, and the repetitive way she starts to twist at her fingers betrays the anxiety that’s been building. “My mom used to make this chicken when I was little. She didn't make it a lot, but it was for special days. It was just so warm and comforting, Clove. And for the last few days it has been all I have wanted. It keeps me up at night. I think about it all day and I want it so bad and I don’t have a mom to make it so I told Cash and Gloss to come to dinner because I was going to try and I did try and it was terrible and pink and Marvel definitely hated it but lied not to hurt my feelings and I don’t want to kill my brother and my sister and my- Marvel, and I really really want this chicken I don’t even like Chicken with bones but it’s all I want and-“ Glimmer ceases her ramble to takes a deep breath  and squeezes her eyes shut, willing away the tears she is on the verge of releasing over this chicken she desperately craves. It isn’t even that remarkable- she just wants the comfort that her mother cannot give her. “And long story short they’ll be here in two hours for dinner.”

Clove sits up far straighter than her lounging position in Cato’s lap, and his chuckle in the background would have earned him a glare had it not been for the shock filling Clove’s face. In fact, Clove is sure if she had not literally returned from vacation last night, she would have choked her. 

“You invited your family to dinner at my house. That I have to make?” 

“Well…Cash was bringing Enobaria! So! I told her to invite Brutus too!” Glimmer buries her head in the heel of her hands, physically forcing the tears back into her head. “I’m sorry! I just want this so bad and I almost killed Marvel with it earlier, and I’m lonely, and all I want is this chicken.” 

Cato and Clove share what can only be described as a what the fuck look, and Cato puts his hands up in defeat. There had been an unspoken agreement amongst all of them, that knowing Glimmer’s precarious history with food, that they’d never tell her no if she wanted something to eat. This, unfortunately, fell into that category. 

Of course there was the question of are we actually crying over chicken or is this something bigger, but that was simply not something they were willing to address right now. 

“….as long as Brutus doesn’t bring those fucking dogs.” Cato concedes, and can’t help but shiver in distaste. Something about those three giant puppies made him feel incredibly unsettled, despite the significant size advantages he had on the literal dogs. “I sure as hell won’t complain about anything you make.”

Clove shoots him a look of disbelief, eyes wide and eyebrows raised, as he merely shrugs. “You should make those really good potatoes with it too, Clovey. ”

Glimmer look’s up with glistening eyes, and nods enthusiastically. “I promised there’d be salad too.”

“Am I your personal chef, Glimmer?” Clove mumbles, but pushes herself from Cato’s lap to a standing position. “I need to start now. If you only gave me two hours, come on, you’re helping.”

“But I can’t cook!” Glimmer tries, but Clove is grabbing her by the wrists and pulling her along regardless. 

“You’re going to learn SOMETHING today.”

Clove drags Glimmer, who shuffles her feet in hesitation, all the way to her kitchen island before beginning to dig around her kitchen drawers. “I’ve seen Cato eat an entire chicken for breakfast when we were younger, you better have at least two between him, marvel, and Enobaria.”

She’s fluttering around the kitchen, sliding a cutting board in front of Glimmer along with an impeccably sharpened chef's knife. Directly beside Glimmer she places one for herself, but instead pulls out something that not long ago Glimmer would have seen her throwing at a target in the capitol training center before their conjoined games. She must make a face at the realization, because Clove’s soft laugh grounds her back in reality.”

“It makes me feel like I'm still doing something cool.” Clove explains, running her finger over the sharp edge of the knife. “Not much use for them other than this, anymore.”

Glimmer shakes her head rapidly, eyes wide as Clove pulls the two little chickens out and plops them directly in the large, steel sink behind them. “This is so cool, Clove. So cool.”

“What? Cooking? It’s a basic survival skill when you’re seven and no one likes you, Glimmer.” Clove comments, before bringing the cleaned chicken over to Glimmer. “Okay. You’re going to learn how to do this, today. What’s your mother put on them?”

“...I don’t know. It was just good.” Glimmer shrugs, and takes the most minute step back away from the raw bird carcass, hands flush against her abdomen so she doesn’t have to touch it by accident. 

“What the hell do you mean that you don’t know, I can’t just magically recreate it? Didn’t you want it specifically?” Clove whips her head to look at Glimmer in sheer disbelief, taking the opportunity to pull her long hair to the center of her head, securing it back and out of the way of her work before reaching out and flicking the ends of Glimmer’s ever increasing long blonde hair. “I’d pull this back, unless you want raw meat fluid in your hair.”

Glimmer gags. Audibly gags. So loud in fact that Cato peaks into the Kitchen with a bewildered, but smug expression before he pulls a chair over to the island across from them. “I have to watch this.”

“God you’re such a dick.” Glimmer mumbles, but composes herself in time to loosely tie her hair at the nape of her neck. “I’m fine, I’m fine, let's just..do this.”

“You’re the one who wanted it.” Clove rolls her eyes, but hands Glimmer a pair of kitchen shears. “Okay. Pull out the insides, and then you’re going to cut out the spine. It cooks faster that way.”

What little color Glimmer had in her face drains immediately, leaving her a sickly shade of translucent white. She drops the scissors instantly, and braces herself on the marble countertop. “T-the insides? We’re going to cut out the what?”

Clove tries, oh she tries, to hide the amused smirk dancing along the corners of her lips, and notices Cato does not even bother to hide his own laugh. “Yes the insides, there's a bag of organs in there– Glimmer didn’t you say you already tried this? What did you even do?”

“I just..I unwrapped it and put it in the oven for a while, I don’t know!” Glimmer defends, but anxiously wrings at her hands. “They don’t come with directions.”

“Damn, I get it now, I wouldn’t want to stick around if I were Marvel either-” Cato starts, but the look Clove throws his way is as sharp as the knives she once did.  “I mean..totally understandable mistake…you know what, I value my life and I enjoy being married so I'm going back to the couch if you need me.”

“Smart move.” Clove remarks, shaking her head as he walks away. “Smart fucking move.”

“I don’t think I can do this.” Glimmer decides, pushing herself away from the cutting board and the knives. “These look like babies.”

“They’re featherless, dead, headless chickens, Glimmer.” Clove reminds her firmly, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her in again. “They aren’t babies.”

“They look like the size of new babies. I can't cut them up.” Glimmer insists, pulling away until her back hits the countertop behind her. “I can’t.”

“Glimmer! YOU have killed people’s babies, now get over here and cut out the spine of this fucking chicken.” Clove snaps, grabbing the pair of scissors. “It’s going to make it cook evenly and faster and it’s called spatch-cocking–”

“You’re doing what to a chicken?” Comes from the living room, the disembodied laugh of Cato following behind. “Say that word again!”

“I married a fucking child.” Clove murmurs, and once again drags Glimmer closer. “Just wait until you have to put butter under the skin.” 

“Oh my fucking god.” Glimmer whines, but stands dutifully beside Clove. She does not reach for the scissors, as she isn’t sure she’s capable of steadily holding anything in this immediate moment. “I just feel so so sick.”

When Clove digs a knife through the back of one of the chickens, the grinding sound of ribs and bones separating from the spine push Glimmer over the edge. “I think I need to lay down.”

“Wait, listen to this. Cato always wants to do this part but it’s my favorite.” Clove climbs on top of the counter, and flips the raw chicken over. She kneels over the cutting board, and puts both her hands on top of the chicken. Quickly and efficiently she presses her weight forward, and the sound of ribs shattering and cracking echoes through the kitchen. 

Glimmer hits the floor within seconds.

“Oh for fucks sake…Cato! Glimmer’s down.” Clove hops off the countertop, and steps over her friend. She switches the cutting board to work on Glimmer’s untouched task. She doesn’t bother to move Glimmer as she begins to work on that one as well, cutting through skin and tissue as if for a moment she is back in the games. 

“Hey that's the best part,” Cato pouts as he appears behind Clove, leaning down to kiss her cheek briefly, before leaning down to scoop Glimmer’s unconscious body into his arms. “What do you want me to do with her?”

“I dunno. Put her in one of the extra rooms.” Clove shrugs, but cocks her head as she looks at Glimmer’s uncharacteristically pale skin. “She seems sick, Cato.”

“What’s new?” Cato grumbles, but does as he is instructed to carry their friend out of the warzone that is Clove’s kitchen. 

Marvel arrives within the hour.

He lets himself in directly through the back kitchen door, a goofy, warm smile on his face. “There’s my favorite ex-bride, how was your little trip!” He announces himself, setting various bottles of wine and other alcohol on the island as a peace offering for Glimmer’s otherwise frantic arrival. “I burn if I even think about the beach too long, but it sounds fun.” He glances around the kitchen, where various arrays of trays full of food cooling or waiting to go in the oven are spread. “Where’s Glim?”

“That's a great segway. I think I should be asking you about your last two weeks.” Clove teases, narrowing her eyes at the man. “Are you two like..back together? Are you just fucking, what’s going on over there?”

“Great question Clove, great question. Things are good, really, they’re great. I’ve been staying there for like two weeks but I don’t know, Clove. I don’t know how I'd explain it.” He reaches for one of the still sizzling roasted potatoes, but drops it both from the burn on his fingertips and the sharp whack on the back of fingers with Clove’s rubber spatula. “I’m just taste testing! Seriously, where is she?”

“I cut the spine out and she passed out. The whole thing really freaked her out, I don’t know. She’s upstairs sleeping.” Clove waves off, focused instead on the slicing and peeling of pomegranate for the salad in front of her. “I thought she said she tried to do it herself.”

“Clove. She did. I threw up for forty five minutes after she left, it was raw. And cold. All she talked about for three days was this chicken, I couldn’t just say no.” Marvel admits with a low whisper, as if the sound would travel all the way upstairs and wake her up with fresh betrayal. 

“Look who it is! I think we need to start calling you loverboy.” Cato surprises Marvel, grabbing him by the top of the shoulders and squeezing. He leans in from behind him and whispers “I have videos of you drunk, crying over her, at eight in the morning. I will never delete them.” 

“It was an emotional day, Cato.” He defends himself, but can’t help the silly little smile that he cannot wipe away from his face. “I was just feeling the love.”

“You were feeling something alright, and that something is five-seven and blonde-” 

“Okaaay, who wants a drink.” Marvel jumps up from the island chair, scurrying over to let himself into the cabinet that contains all the various glassware. “Glimmer made this cranberry thing the other day that was so good, well.. I thought it was good. It made her do that gaggy thing.” 

Clove slowly turns her head to watch him shuffle around the kitchen, narrowing her eyes at him. “Do we need to be concerned that everything is making her do that, because the chicken did too. Is this some new ploy to not eat?”

“Nah, she wants to try things, maybe she’s just getting sick. She’s the one who wanted this dinner so badly.” Marvel insists, stealing a handful of Clove’s pomegranate seeds to sprinkle in the coup glasses. “I guess if she’s sick we’re all going to get it so. Enjoy it before it hits us.”  He slides a glass in Clove’s general direction, before sliding a matching one to Cato. 

It’s Clove’s turn to choke, when the burn of the liquid hits her tongue. “Uh yeah, Marvel, this is straight up vodka.”

Cato seems unphased, and instead takes the entire thing like a shot. “I don’t think it’s half bad.”

“Ah. Right. I’m supposed to add the juice to it. Sorry!” Marvel helps himself to the refrigerator, searching for whatever he simply assumes Clove will have on hand. On his way past a tray of croutons, he nabs a handful to shove in his mouth before he continues speaking.  “I was thinking, you could use the leftover chicken to make chicken soup, that could be REALLY good.” Marvel suggests, words barely comprehensible around the crunch of toasted bread. 

The look Clove responds with is a blend of disdain, disgust, and amusement as the blade of her knife does not stop rocking to slice through the salad vegetables in front of her, a skill to cut and look away from training days past. “...do I look like your mother, Marvel?”

“Well, no, my mother’s dead and you’re not.” Marvel says so easily, so casually, it’s almost possible to ignore the ache in his voice,

Clove can’t help but drop her knife, bringing her head to rest in her hands as her shoulders shake with laughter, “Hey, so is mine!”

Joining in with borderline giggles, Cato adds; “Hey, Clove, tell Marvel what you had to do to the chicken.”

“...I cut out the spine and broke the ribs?” Clove plays with an innocent intonation in her voice, knowing full well what Cato’s trying to get her to say again. “What’s so funny about that?”

“Noooo, Clove say it. Say the word.” Cato pleads, sticking his bottom lip out in a little pout. “Say it.”

Clove audibly sighs as she rolls her eyes, but gently places her hands on the counter, and looks to Cato with a serious expression. Without flinching, smirking, or letting her expression betray her, Clove looks him dead in the eye as she says, “it’s called spatchcocking.”

Cato and Marvel both erupt into childish laughter, Marvel even more so than Cato, as he has to place the glass in his hand back down so he doesn't drop it. Marvel continues to laugh, nearly bent in half with his forehead resting on the countertop as his entire body shakes with his laughter. “Say it again, say it again.” Marvel begs, resting his face on the cool marble countertops. 

“You’re also a fucking child.” Clove reminds, going back to her task at hand of trying to rapidly finish dinner before the rest of their friends (family?) arrives.  “Leave my kitchen. Both of you.”

“But Clovey-” Cato starts, reaching to wrap his arms around her waist before she slaps his hands away. 

“Out.”

Marvel wipes the tears out of his eyes as he grabs one of his wine bottles and heads towards any room but this. “Hey, do you have any wedding cake left I didn’t get to have any-”

“Out.” 

 By the point Glimmer is awake, she remains curled up on the couch looking rather green. 

“Glimmer do you want to come try the chicken, see if it’s how you like it?” Clove offers, holding out a tiny plate to her. 

As soon as Glimmer reaches for it, the smell hits her and leaves her maybe even more nauseous than before. She gags before she can even skewer it with a fork, and Clove walks away with fury all over her face. 

The audacity to come all this way, beg for dinner, and then outright gag at it. 

Fuck you, Glimmer. 

All four of their older counterparts arrive at once, exactly on time, as if they were waiting across the street for the clock to strike dinnertime.

“At least you didn’t bring the dogs.” Cato greets Brutus, who otherwise would in fact be tormenting him with three pitbulls running through his yard. 

“Clove won’t let them around the food. I had to prioritize.”

Gloss follows close behind, and immediately is confused by the way Glimmer is curled up on the couch rather than playing her favorite role of hostess (even at someone else's house.)

“She had the audacity to gag at my chicken. She better get used to fending for herself. What a bitch.” Clove explains, standing to the side as Cashmere leads Enobaria in by her hand.

“She’s not herself, Clove, don’t take it out on her. She tried to cook. You know something’s up with her.” Cashmere gently reminds her, tugging in Enobaria behind her. 

“Cooking is Clove’s love language these days, Glimmer just broke her heart.” Enobaria teases, but pulls out a bottle of the good District One wine to have with Dinner. “I knew there was no way in hell we were eating in one.”

“I thought you were in One this weekend at Cashmere’s?” 

“Oh, yeah. Whenever Glimmer said dinner at six everyone came to two. We’ve been patiently waiting by the door.” Enobaria explains, looping her arm over Clove’s shoulders. “Look at you. A little housewife making family dinner.” 

“Do NOT call me that-” Clove warns, but any further commentary is interrupted by Marvel, who runs into the living room with that stupid, goofy grin on his face. 

“Clove! Tell everyone what you did to the chicken!”

[f1-disaster-bi]

Tag game lunch break spree!!!

Thank you my dearest @rosetinted--clouds for the tag (I hope your LOTR spiral is going well 😂)

1. do you make your own bed?

Yep. I turn into a monster because I make making the bed fun by getting in side the sheets when changing the duvet cover 😂

2. favorite number?

7 or 13

3. what’s your job?

I am a PhD research student full time, and I also work as a teaching assistant running tutorials during the semester for the undergraduates.

4. if you could go back to school, would you?

Once I am done with this PhD in another (hopefully) two years, thats it for me. No more degrees. No more school expcept for working in a university

5. can you parallel park?

Nope. Not a hope. I cannot do it. I can reverse into a spot but I cannot parallel park.

6. do you think aliens are real?

Aliens and Ghosts. 100% I believe they're out there somewhere. Probably laughing at us.

7. can you drive a manual car?

Yep. It's the only car type I've ever driven. I love my little Micra.

8. guilty pleasure?

I love Drag Race. I will binge seasons I've seen multiple times. I know the lyrics to most of the songs written for the show and the musicals.

And yes I'm still mad over certain choices and decisions in the show.

9. tattoos?

I currenty have four. I got my latest in January. I have one on the back of my right leg above my heel (it's a marching tatt with my mam), and the rest are on my arms (left forearm, left inner bicep, back of right bicep)

And my sister and I are planning on matching tattoo's next time I'm in Ireland.

10. favorite color?

Green. I love dark greens, and like olive greens.

It used to be blue or red but I love green.

11. favorite type of music?

Honestly.....I sound like an asshole saying this, but I don't have a favourite type.

I will basically listen to every genre, and I have playlists that reflect that. I will mix and match genres. I can go from broadyway to grunge to country to pop to folk music to orchestra's to piano pieces.

12. do you like puzzles?

I love them. I used to get puzzles for Christmas every year and loved spending time doing them.

13. favorite childhood sport?

Swimming was my main one. I even competed on a swim team.

14. do you talk to yourself?

I talk and sing to myself the whole time, especially while living in Prague because I can go a day or two without physically talking to people so I talk to myself.

15. tea or coffee?

Tea.

Always tea.

I can only drink iced frappes, and even then I normally irder them without the coffee 😂

16. first thing you wanted to be when you were growing up?

I wanted to be an archealogist and then a vet. I was a strange kid.

17. what movies do you adore?

I have so many movies I adore and rewatch for comfort. One's that come to mind right now are like Jaws, LOTR, Mulan, Howls Moving Castle, Wild Child, Legally Blonde, Interview with The Vampire, Lost Boys, and so so many more

second tag game - 5 songs you have on repeat

Wilkommen - Alan Cummings (cast of Cabaret 1998)

Moments Silence - Hozier

Break My Heart Again - FINNEAS

People are Strange - The Doors

Under the Water - The Pretty Reckless

I will tag my usual suspects @f1-birb, @wolfsbanesbite, @faerieroyal, @geooooooorge, but no pressure to do this!

And if anyone wants to do it and tag me, then feel free to ❤️

[darkspellmaster]

I wanna know your family headcanons for most/some of the guys beyond the vague confirmations of who's got one parent/both.

Like, names of those confirmed with siblings their names/personalities, maybe something on what you think is up with Vil's mom/Deuce's dad?

Okay gonna go by Houses to make it easier for me. *Spoilers head for a few characters in future books*

Any names that are not from the games are my own creation. A vast majority of the characters I haven't named yet. Those who have names are going to be featured in Season 1, ones without names will probably get them in the future. (Some names may change)

Heartslabyul

Riddle

Parents are separated, or living apart for the most part, it's one of the reasons his mother gets away with a lot of stuff with her son. Father travels a lot and visits his family (namely his sister and his parents) who live in the northern part of the country. Mother's family is from the capital and comes from old money, father is not that well off, but known for being well versed in medical healing and also normal medicine.

He has an Aunt on his father's side that is a Vet that lives to the north, and she has two kids, not sure about her own husband or wife.

No siblings as of this time. That's about all for Riddle that I know.

Trey

From Cannon, his parents run a bakery, and he has several siblings, I think with him he has seven, Trey being the oldest. Three girls, and with him four boys. I figured they might be a cat family, or a rabbit family as far as pets go. Maybe a duck. Not sure yet.

He has both sets of grandparents who live not to far from the family home. Both of his parents have siblings. Dad has two brothers and a sister. One brother is married, the other is not, the sister is married too. Married siblings have at least two kids each, brother has four, sister has two. Mom has three brother and two sisters. The sisters are married one brother is engaged, the other one is dating still and one is divorced but is dating a person who has kids.

Cater

As we know he has a Mom and Dad, and two older sisters. Both are in college, they're roughly a year or so apart in age. One wants to be a dress designer, the other is into making her own jewelry. They adore their brother, but don't quite get him. They kind of wanted another sister, and tried to make him into a girly boy without realizing how that is affecting him.

Mom is a photographer, and she, like her son loves to use social media. More professional and tends to take landscapes and non people images, like sweets and other such things. She also knows how to edit videos. Works for essentially Getty photos in that world. His dad works in a Bank, he's a higher manager and is extremely math oriented and very organized. Also very sociable when he wants to. His hobby is kite making.

Cater's parents have kinda spoiled him from time to time, because of all the moving. They don't know about his issues all that much because he hides it. He has his own convertible red car that he can drive at home, it's an older model, but he likes it a lot. His mom gave him a go-pro to film his skateboarding which she actually uploads for him on Magitube, it's small but it's her way of supporting him.

Mom has a twin brother who lives out of the country. Not sure where, he's apparently a long time traveler and doesn't communicate much with the family outside of postcards, infrequent calls and suddenly showing up. Dad has two sister's (younger one is named Mary) and a step brother. Not sure about one of the sisters other than she's a lawyer with kids and is frequently at functions that the family needs to attend. She's always busy so Cater's family over the summer has to watch her two daughters, who are more of a handful than Cater's sisters. His other Aunt, Mary, is a hippy/beatnik type person. She's very sweet but absent minded, which is nice for Cater because she's very chill and lets him get away with shit. She lives in the Shaftlands not too far from the Fairest City. His Uncle is a broker, and likes to boat a lot, maybe queer, unsure.

They have a pet parrot from his Mom.

Ace

Ace's Mom is the mage, she's a teacher at a local elementary school. His dad used to be a stage magician, and now created props and other things for the local theater in his hometown, as a small time business owner. His dad doesn't have magic, but is an avid reader of Mage Histories. Basically his brother complies to Cannon.

Ace's older brother is seven years older. According to Ace, his bro more excited about Ace getting into NRC than Ace's parents were. He's an alumnis and previously in Heartslabyul. Ace talks with his brother over the phone until the wee hours, on occasion, which can make him over sleep thus being late to class. Ace's older brother built up a whole repertoire of magic tricks from his days as a student. Ace learned them by watching, playing, memorizing and replicating, since his brother refused to tell him how to do it. It's through these experiences that Ace has become quite adaptable.

Both learned slight of Hand tricks from their Dad. When ever the three of them are together they challenge each other to pull off various magic tricks. Ace said that his older brother told him, "The most convincing lies are sprinkled with a dash of truth." this implies that Ace learned to lie thanks to his brother or at least was inspired by him. Ace's brother bought an expensive watch with his first paycheck, he framed it as if it was Ace's birthday gift but gave him an empty box instead. He later apologized, and gave Ace candy, which annoyed Ace. Ace's brother purposely snuffed out the birthday candles on Ace's cake, resulting in a fight between the two. We can tell that Ace's brother is a prankster. Ace's brother did his internship at a theme park management company designing shows and attractions.

He currently works for that same company. There's a picture of Ace's brother in the hallway by the teacher's lounge, it's when his brother led the card parade for the Interschool Spelldrive tournament. Ace says his brother is not the type to make sweets for him. Ace's brother wasn't interested in dorm life. He also told Ace about ways to kill time at the dorm. Ace describes his brother as light hearted, casual and easy to get along with. Ace also admits it's advantageous to have a brother since they a role model to follow, as well as refences his school life and job hunting as examples.

They have a pet dog named Rascal, he's a mutt and likes belly rubs.

Deuce

Mom, Dylla delivery driver. She met his dad in High school and the two hit it off well. Her father was a contractor, and her mother worked at a animal shelter, not sure if she was a SAHM, or had another job. Family loved to garden though.

Deuce's father passed away when he was about five years old. His family is wealthy, but he was the rebel of the three kids and the youngest. His parents wanted him to continue in the family business, accounting since the older siblings passed on the title, and he refused, wanting to become a mechanic and work on cars and motorcycles. After he met Dylla in school and the two hit it off as both enjoyed similar music, they started to date, and when he proposed to her in senior year, his parents threw a fit, and cut him off.

Deuce has not met his paternal grandparents, he has one Aunt and one uncle that he's yet to meet. His Aunt is an artist, and his uncle works in the offices at an animation studio in Fairest City. Both of them would like to meet Deuce at some point, but they don't know how to properly contact since their brother kind of cut them all off after his parents disowned him.

Grandpa passed when Deuce was 11, so it's been him, his mom and grandma. They have no pets but they did have a rabbit that eventually passed on after 15 years. Haven't had a pet since. Grandma likes to do jigsaw puzzles with him, and they play board games together. Deuce learned to crochet from her.

In my story the leather jacket he wears is his later fathers.

Savanaclaw

Leona

Has one older brother Falena, who is the regent right now. When they were younger they were super close and Leona would follow him around like a puppy. Falena still loves his brother to bits, and isn't sure how to help him as Leona pulled away from him. His wife is Shani, the two have known one another since childhood. Her father is one of the members of the parliament. Where as Falena is very soft, open and welcoming (Mufasa meet Alexis Leon Midford) she can be strict and some what serious most of the time, keeping her husband and son in check from causing trouble (Think Francis Midford meets Sarabi). She's known for being very dignified, but she has a soft spot for Leona and has been trying to get the brothers together again.

Of course everyone knows Cheka, he's covered.

Other family include, His mother Kito is the more serious one of the two parents. She is helping Falana run the country while her husband is ill. She is the one who disciplined the brothers when they were younger, she also was once the bodyguard to their father. That's how they met. She likes puns as jokes, and has a dry wit. She plays music, and is very good with bead work, but sucks at cooking, much like Lilia. His father is Nyata. Kind and wise, known for his compassion and willingness to be diplomatic over destructive. Highly loves the natural beauty of the country. Loves Chess and taught both Leona and Falena how to play. Knows how to carve and whittle, and made Leona the chess board and set he has on his desk. He was very robust, and muscular before he grew ill, it's a genetic disease, but he's still kicking and doing his best to help his sons. He wants both Falena and Leona to make up. Loves them equally. (Kind of twisted from King Richard from Robinhood)

Leona looks like his mother, while Falena looks like his dad.

As for other family members. Zawadi is Cheka's best friend and cousin via Kito's family though her second sister. Kito has three sisters, unknown status right now about them other than Leona has mentioned his crazy Aunts to Ruggie before.

Bahati is his former governor and is now Cheka's though he sees Leona as his own son. Bahati has a brother Omari who is a lawyer as seen in Book 3.

Clarus Martelli is Cheka's guardian/bodyguard, is not a mage, and distantly related to Leona through his Sister-in-law, via her mother since her mom, Imara is his Mother and Father's bodyguard. Clarus is a no nonsense person when it comes to guarding Cheka but she and Leona have been friends since they were little, and up until he pulled away from her friendship. She's like Edward in some ways, can be strict but also very kind, and competitive. Also they share a unique dynamic, and Cheka keeps trying to play match maker, he tells Clarus all the time he wants her to marry his Unca Leona, to which she says, when he gets the thorn pulled out of his behind, maybe. Cheka keeps trying to find that thorn on Leona. She is 20 like Leona. (She's slightly twisted from Pretty scar from Tokyo Disney Sea and a bit of Kovu)

Imara is not a fan of Leona, and is more like a kinder version of Zera. She is very strict, very serious, doesn't seem to laugh at all. Cares deeply for her children to sometimes a worrisome degree. She's extremely protective of Kito and Nyata as they saved her live after she fell into a depression when her husband up and vanished after the birth of her youngest daughter.

Jabari is the oldest child of Imara, at 25. Not a mage like his mother. He is very different than Nuka whom he's twisted from. He's a very chill and loving guy. He became a kindergarten teacher rather than follow his mother into becoming a guard. He's a pacifist, by choice and a Pescatarian, and enjoys growing herbs and spices in his garden. he does know how to fight but prefers words over fists. Likes to do thing honorably, and always tries to let others go before him. He loves hand crafted crap, and is the sort that will buy the dumbest souvenir that he can. Also tends to collect anime figures, and enjoys singing on a ukulele. He's very tall and lanky for a lion, and always seems to be in a meditative mood. "Leona...my man, just Zen, reach inside and pull out that inner child. Enjoy the macaroni and glitter. It'll make you smile, and when you smile, the world will smile back. See...the sun's smiling now."

Asami is the youngest child of Imara at 15. She just started the mage school in Sunshine city, getting it from her father. She looks the most like her dad, and she hates it. Sweet but rebellious, very much your typical teenage goth in some ways. She prefers lots of black, likes metal and is part of a rock group called the Sheer Cons (Ha ha ha). She and her siblings get along very well, except for the clothing and make-up which her and Clarus butt heads over, as she wants to be a guard, but also doesn't want to be uniform. Has a crush on Leona, and makes it fucking clear in that she's interested in him. Very competitive, and likes to play sports. Loves soccer/football, does spelldrive, and intends on beating Leona one day with the express intention that if she does, he's gotta marry her. She's been saying this since age 5.

Clarus's father has a relation to the royal family distantly, but has not been seen in fifteen years. He was sweet talker and went to jail for a few crimes. It's rumored he may have been the one to point out where the princes were for the attempted kidnapping. (He's twisted from King John)

Ruggie

Lives with his grandma in the slums outside of Sunshine City. His mother died when she gave birth to him. She was very sweet and was very excited to be a mom. Never finished college as she married his father after she found out she was going to have a kid. Ruggie has he picture in his room, when she was in High school. She, like her father, was a mage. She wanted to be a doctor with magic. She met Ruggie's dad in college, both dropped out.

Ruggie's father, non mage, tried to raise him but left during Ruggie's third birthday, leaving him with his grandma. Grandma calls him a deadbeat and couldn't hold down a job. We don't know where he is at this time. He has a brother who does keep in contact with Grandma, but the family is distant due to the situation with Ruggie's dad. They seem to dislike him as well. They also come from the Slum area, though they're a bit more well off.

Grandma is known for playing bingo, and making donuts, and knitting. Strong woman who raised her daughter on her own after her husband tragically passed away in an accident. She worked two jobs, one as a secretary for her husband's bakery which was owned by his older brother and one as a night janitor. She recently retired and does part time work at the local library. Warm and kind but no nonsense. She's very much a protector of her grandson, who looks a lot like her daughter down to the droopy eyes. Ruggie, like her daughter is very smart and cunning. Always sends him care packages, and was very proud of him getting into Night Raven.

Jack

Don't have much on Jack's parents yet. I know that his mom and dad are mages, and I know that they are soulmates as he puts it. His mom is a white wolf, and his dad is gray. They do a lot of outdoors stuff as a family, I think his father writes books, but I'm not sure if it's textbooks or fiction, but it has to do with outdoor things. They did meet in college, and I think his mom edits the books for his father and does maybe the page layouts for him.

Jack has a younger brother who is not a mage, and is in middle school, so about 11-12 in age, while his sister is 6 going on 7, or somewhere around there. His brother can be a handful at times, as he can play jokes on Jack, though it's more of a kids teasing thing. He's good at outdoor stuff too, though not sure what he specializes in. He likes to draw though a lot and paint. His sister likes Vil a lot and has a kiddy crush on him. His brother can get moody about not being a mage. But they love him dearly and look up to him and Vil as big brothers. She's very energetic and tomboyish. She tends to get into more trouble than he older brothers, and likes to swim a lot and does dancing for fun. She also likes to rearrange her room and has said she wanted to be an interior designer at one point. She and Jack's brother likes to watch DIY shows for fun when they're being lazy.

No pets as far as I'm aware.

Octavinelle

Azul

We know his mom runs and owns a restaurant and his step dad is an attorney. His biological mom and dad are divorced. He has a very good relationship with his mom and his Stepdad. His stepdad got him a book to help him collect coins and encouraged him to do so as a hobby. His mom is very active in the community and likes to help out a lot when it comes to supplying food for events.

(He might be getting a sibling in the future since Ursula had one in the sequel movie and Najima is based on Jafar's sister from the game, so...yeah I'm holding off on this aspect right now. )

He hasn't seen his bio dad in a long time and he's not interested in getting to know him again. All he remembers is that he made his mom cry, and he's an octopus too. He may have been a chef. There used to be a picture up on his mom's wall that she took a marker too before she put it away of them.

He does have his mom's parents around, but his material grandparents live in a different town than him and it's harder for them to travel as they had their daughter late in life.

Jade and Floyd

Father is a mobster who seems to work with some shady people, he helps to run a company but I don't know what type yet. Their dad has the personality of Lau in a lot of ways, and comes off as loyal but also shady as hell at times. He shares the black hair of the twins, and the last name. Unknown if he's got siblings or not, or if he's an only child, and where he came from. He's very quiet about his past, even to his family.

Their mother looks like them, and is a very cunning woman from a family that has mob connections. However she runs her own business legally and has no ties to what her husband does, and keeps it that way. Should her husband go to jail, she will happily protect her sons first over saving his sorry ass for getting caught. She is a investor of sorts, and runs a business to help with stocks under the sea. She's very much a mama bear type, but will knock sense into her sons should they cross the line.

As of now I don't know if they have any siblings. Their mom has sisters and brothers, but I don't know how many or how many cousins they have. They do have a large extended family though.

Scarabia

Kalim

Kalim's father was not the oldest son, in fact he took over after his two older brothers were killed by rival family members who wanted the family company. He is not a mage, and met his wife on a boat tour, as she was visiting family in the Silk city. Kalim's dad is a very hospitable man who can be a bit naïve in how he does things. He's been best friends with Jamil's dad since they were little. Always smiling, he comes off as friendly and very bubbly like his son. Though he's constantly worried for Kalim, and is a shewed business man, he is also someone who follows the rules to a T, and this can sometimes end up hurting Kalim and his siblings. Regarding Kalim's grandfather and Grandmother on his dad's side, both have since passed but he has a unknown number of siblings, some of whom are from his father's second, third, and fourth marriages. Not at the same time! Kalim has mentioned to Cater that his grandfather had a bad habit of leaving his other wives after his grandmother passed because he wanted more sons and they gave him daughters. Kamil has said if he was a girl, he still would have been given the slot for leading as his father feels that anyone can do a good job leading the company.

Kalim's mother is very sweet, but she has her own negative aspects. Kalim is the only one who is a mage like her of her biological and adopted children. Yes all 30 are not hers, and no her husband doesn't have a harem. She is very close to Kalim, and trained him before he went to Night Raven College. She would have preferred him going to her old school in the Scalding Sands, but he wanted to go where Jamil was. She also has a weird thing about his hair, as it once was as dark as hers, but now is white due to the poisons that he has dealt with. She used to say his hair was lovely, but now when she looks at it it only causes her to be sad, so she tried to hide that when she compliments him. His hair is never brought up. He has one Aunt on his mother's side that he knows of.

Of his 30 siblings, seven are biological, the rest are all adopted via his father and mother wanting to have a huge family. We know of his younger brother who is also studying to become a advisor to Kalim, and is far more business savvy than Kalim. All the sibling love one another and they call one another by nicknames since Kalim can't always recall their real names.

He is also the direct cousin of the Prince that is the ruler of the Scalding Sands. Who has a beef with Jamil as he doesn't trust him with Kalim and is very protective of his cousin. Not sure of his age, yet. The Prince's cousin is also at Night Raven as a fourth year who is right now on his internship until spring semester. He doesn't like Kalim at all and was upset that his elder cousin gave the Housewarden position to Kalim.

Kalim's elder cousin was previously at Night Raven college, related to his mother, and was the previous Housewarden. He is now working somewhere in the Scalding sands but writes Kalim every few weeks to see how things are going.

Jamil

Jamil's father has been a friend of Mr. Al Asim since they were kids. Jamil's grandfather and down the line, has been an advisor/butler to the Al Asim family since an incident where the Al Asim patriarch saved him and they have a kinda life debt owed to the Al Asim. So the family has since worked as the Advisor/Vizor/Butler for god knows how long. Jamil's father is very strict and dedicated to Mr. Al Asim who he respects and sees as dear friend. He doesn't want to lose his post because that would mean a loss of high status and station which he prides himself in. Jamil's grandfather was more strict on his Jamil's dad, and pretty much beat (not literally) into Jamil's father the sense of tradition and how a Advisor/Butler should act and gain the favor of the Master of the house.

Jamil's mom is a kind woman but also someone, who, like her husband is staunch on traditions and status seeking. Jamil looks a lot like her, and took to braiding his hair due to his Aunt, mother's sister, doing it for him when he was younger, before she left. His mom is very much a person who cares for her son but like her husband sees her kids as a bit of a means to an end in some cases. Think Mommy influencer type in some ways.

Jamil has at least one Aunt who travels around, and she was very kind to him and Najima when she lived with them as a teenager/twenty something year old.

Najima, is his sister, and she looks very much like His father.

Pomefiore

Vil

Vil's Father Eric Venue gets along wonderfully with his son. He started out as a bit player in theater, graduating into soap operas in his late teens, eventually becoming seen as a leading man. He eventually left the show to become an actor on a popular prime time tv series as part of a team of Robin hood like characters that would take back from greedy people. It was While on this show he met Vil's mother, who was a up and coming starlet, she was one of the main characters on the show. The two hit it off and dated for the majority of the shows run, Eric leaving after several seasons to star in smaller movies, and then moving up the chain. He and Vil's mom married, but the marriage wasn't a happy one, and after they had Vil she ended up realizing that she wasn't cut out for motherhood. Eric and her separated, and she gave him sole custody of their son. The two moved to a smaller apartment, as his ex wife wanted to keep the larger one. Eric is a kind father with a wry sense of humor much like his son. Vil has learned a lot from his dad, and gained his smile, and laugh, along with aspects of his eyes. He later started in a famous Video game movie, as he also enjoys video gaming when he was younger, though he hasn't had time to play console games, he does like on the go games to play with on down time (think 3DS, or Switch light or mobile games). He reads a lot and is a producer, does script writing, directs plays and has directed TV series as well, he also runs a smaller talent agency, and still acts in plays, movies and tv series. He recently ventured into Voice acting and also teaches as a Professor at the local University in Fairest City in the Theater and Speech department.

Vil's biological Mother, is an unknown person to him as he wants no contact with her. She's a well known actress who looks a lot like her son. Vil inherited his sharp features, violet colored eyes, and blonde hair from her. She is considered one of the most beautiful actresses in the movie industry. When she first met Eric she figured she could use him to prop herself up and the two grew as actors, until Eric began to outpace her in getting Movie Roles. After they married she started to grow jealous of his assent in acting and the push he got in the show they were both starting in. Eventually the show was cancelled and she went on to make several independent films. On the outset they looked great, but internally she was seething that Eric was doing better than she was. Upon learning she was with Vil, Vil's mom was thrilled at first, but then found out that it would be harder for her to be offered parts where she was seen as the sexy lead. Having a baby was hard on her, and she eventually came to the realization that she wasn't in love with Eric, and didn't want to have a child with him. After a year of taking care of Vil, she abandoned both of them, with the intent of restarting her career, free of a husband and a son. She has been watching Vil from Afar for years, and more recently, with his Social media influence, and fame, she's considered making contact. She's remarried in recent years to an older actor who already had grown kids. She wanted to reconnect for a documentary she's doing on her life.

Vil's stepmother is Vanessa Lee Schoenheit. Vanessa and Vil have a very strong relationship, and have had one since they first met when Vil was about 3 going on 4 years old. Vanessa has an interesting past, one that Vil respects highly for her being "true" to herself and her feelings about her music. When Vanessa was a teenager she and her brother started a band HALYX, which they gathered friends to help fill out the band. Vanessa was the lead singer, along with her brother and one of her best friends being back up vocals. The band did well enough that when they continued it into College, where they met an Agent who offered them a chance to become produced by a record label. The group took the chance, and they recorded and did what he said. The Agent ran away with their demo and money, leaving the group in debt. Vanessa, not wanting her friends or family to have to deal with the situation took on the full debt herself as she was the lead, and spent years paying back every debt that the band got stuck with. After the situation with the Agent, the bad split up. Vanessa finished college and became an lead event manager and coordinator. (Basically part of the team that handles the Met Gala or Film Festivals.) During one of the events that she was coordinating for a Charity, Eric happened to notice Vanessa and had his friend, who was his date for the night, play wing man to get a chance to ask her out for coffee. After several friendly meetups, the two started to date, and Eric slowly introduced Vanessa to Vil. It was love at first sight for her to the little boy, the two got along well, and after three years of dating, Vanessa married Eric in a private ceremony. She still works as an event coordinator and Vil considers her his mother. She is his biggest supporter and fan, ready to always help him out and comfort him when trouble arose. She was also his earliest singing coach and taught him to play a piano, even though he doesn't keep at it. She was trained until college in dance, so also taught him dancing, and the two hang out doing shopping and make up as well. Vanessa and Eric have tried to have a child, but have been unsuccessful over the years and are happy with just Vil as their one and only. She's a natural blonde, but used to dye her hair black.

Vanessa's brother is Vil's Uncle, and works as a lawyer and Professor. He and Vil are close and his family visits during the summer and holidays. Vil's cousins are very excitable at times, but he deals with them rather well. They always want "Cousin Vil" to praise them. He is married to his partner, and the kids are from his partner's first marriage.

Both Vanessa and Eric's parents are still alive. Vil's grandparents do not live in the same town as they do, and he doesn't get to see them very frequently due to his and his parents work schedules. They do come down for holidays and send him cards and other gifts for his birthday.

Rook

I don't have a lot on this one because of how limited the information on Rook is...But...

Rook's family is pretty much the equal of the Phantomhive Watchdog family in Twisted Wonderland. While not reporting directly to a specific ruler, they work for a international group, ala Interpol, who deal with Blotings and other matters that the world doesn't want causing a new war.

His father is a gentleman, serious and firm but kind. He wants his children to be able to fend for themselves, and unfortunately he's kind of caused Rook's emotional state to be stunted for a while. He does care about his son, it's just that he wants Rook to be a person that is able to deal with the serious implications of taking a life.

Rook's mother is a softer person. Still strong and brave, and like her husband dedicated to their work. However she is more involved emotionally with their kids. She isn't always approving of her husband's methods. (She's twisted from Helga from Atlantis)

Rook's older siblings are very proud of their brother, but I'm not sure they share his sense of beauty, but they support him and his efforts to better and enrich himself. His younger siblings, thanks to Rook, are being more emotional and he managed to get his father to agree to do a different test for them rather than send them out into the jungle.

Epel

We've met Epel's grandmother, so...Not much to add on that front.

Peepaw is a very kind soul and a strong person. He was very good looking when he was younger but is now shorter and older looking. He is a happy old timer with a strong work ethic that he instilled into his grandson and tries to teach him about the land and farming. He also likes to brag about Epel's carving skills, and show them off to his friends.

Epel's dad is a kind father who finds it amazing that his son looks so much like his mother in law. He met his wife when he was working as an hired summer hand on the farm. He eventually married her after a while of courting, and the two had Epel. His family knows Epel's mom's family and has for years since the two families live in Harveston. His father's family runs a small gift shop in town, they moved to Harveston when Epel's Dad was a kid.

Epel's Mom is Meemaw and Peepaw's second youngest daughter. She always wanted to be a witch like her mother but wasn't. As one of the main business operators to the farm, she and her siblings help keep the farm running and are always looking for a new way to help keep the business afloat. She looks like her father and is a very cute type of person with a strong work ethic and ambitions. (Based on a twisted form of Slue-Foot Sue) Epel get's his hair and eyes from her and her mother, though she looks more like her father. She was thrilled when Epel found out he had magic and wanted him to go to school for it.

Cousins, Aunts and Uncles, I don't have much on them, other than Several of his family are much like Epel. Only one of his cousins is not like the rest of the family, and she lives in the Capital of the Shaftlands, working in the hospitality industry. She's the daughter of His Grandparent's eldest daughter. His youngest cousin, a boy, does horse riding for fun.

Ignihyde

Idia and Ortho

We've met the shrouds, so all I can say is the following.

We know a bit about Grandma Shroud, so not touching that.

Papa Shroud in my mind looks a lot like Vincent, but has a grown up OCiel's personality. He's shy and mindful of others, but also can be firm when he needs to be and is very gentle with his sons. He also liked to read to them stories of adventure and started their toy collection to ensure that Idia and Ortho had joy in their lives even though they couldn't go outside. Idia and Ortho inherited their father's eye color and flaming hair. Idia got his father's eye shape, while the rest of his features are based on his mother. The two met while at work, when Idia's dad brought over coffee and teas to the tech department, and Idia's mom fell head over heels for the shy boy. She actually perused him and while it took a while, eventually she proposed to Papa shroud and he said yes. He's always worried about Idia's future, and wishes that his son didn't have to continue the family tradition.

Mama Shroud is the bubbly one. She comes from outside of STYX and started to work there after her time in her magic Academy in the Kingdom of Heroes. In my mind she looks a lot like Rachel Phantomhive, but personality wise she's a mix of her and a grown up Elizabeth Midford. She's outspoken and everything excites her. She can be strict, but is a loving mother who would do anything for her children. Prior to Ortho's accident, she and her husband did try several times to persuade the Olympus organization to allow the boys time outside of the STYX facility but it fell on deaf ears. While her husband has flaming blue hair, her hair is a red/pink color, which she likes to keep in pigtails or ponytails and she has him braid it at night. When they first met Mama Shroud knew that she wanted to be with Papa because of how kind his eyes were and she wanted to make him smile. They became friends and she fell for him hard, leading to her pursuing him, much to his shock and shyness. Eventually she asked him to marry and he said yes. She loves building models with her sons, and is proud of both of their accomplishments and hopes to see both graduate and do what they want in life.

Diasomnia

Not touching too much on family for various characters as we have a lot on that now.

Malleus

We know about his mother and somewhat about his grandmother.

Levan, or Raverene, Malleus's dad we already know a lot about personally, I'm only going to add that he was a blue color due to the shading in Malleus's hair, and that Malleus has his father's deep and polite voice. (For myself I'm twisting him from the Reluctant Dragon who is very much a model for Levan's personality). I don't know enough about him other than I think he was close with Lilia too.

Malleus's Grandfather, I see as a noble knight who courted the then Princess Maleficia, and they had their daughter. I feel like he may have been an older fae and passed on before his daughter was of full age. Malenore (Maleanore -where the hell are they getting these spellings from?) has her father's sharper angled face, and his sense of rebelliousness that he gave her.

I have a very strong suspicion that Maleficia grew up a lot like Queen Victoria where her life was pretty much monitored and she was very lonely from the get go, only getting freedom when she became Queen. Her husband I see more as Albert, who grew up as a normal noble and was very shy but also kind and gentle as a person. Both parents loved their kids, but Malenore's dad was more the giver of hugs while her mother wasn't good with kids.

I think that Malleus has distant cousins but not sure about them.

Lilia

So what I know so far is that Lilia's parents were weavers. At some point earlier in his life his parents passed away. He did seem to have an elder brother as a sibling, but he too pass during some event that had him and several other members of Lilia's village venture out past the mountain range of the Black Scale Castle.

While the Queen and King were passing through his village, Lilia, was spotted by the King and Queen. The former liked his energy and took him in to raise him in the castle. Maleficia loved him but didn't know how to raise him, he had a better relationship with her husband, who trained him in swords and got him to want to become part of the royal guard.

Arawnwye (Pronouced Ah Ron Wee), known as the Witch of the Forest, her blood line goes back to the days of King Taran and Queen Eilonwy, who were once one of the rulers of Briar valley before the rise of Briar Rose and Philips line and then the Draconian family. Ages ago one of her ancestors helped to defeat a mage who was a monster, and in doing so, the family was cursed to have a long life, where it was hard to have kids. She was the one stuck with the curse to have no kids. As a strong mage she helped out the humans and had a good relationship with the fae, and her skills were whispered about around Twisted Wonderland. (Think third most powerful mage in the world at the time.) She met Lilia after he was wounded in a battle and he ended up in her garden where she asked him if he was trying to water her flowers with his blood. She became his first human friend, and helped him over time. The house he eventually took Silver too was hers. The two became close, eventually becoming a couple, which was hidden for reasons, only Malleus's dad and mother knew about the relationship and were sworn to secrecy. The others that eventually knew of them were his two friends, Baul and Finnius (Ptitsa's father). She and Lilia had pet nicknames. She died before Malleus was able to be born, and five years after Melenore passed in her battle. (I can't say more due to not wanting it to spoil too much).

Silver

We know about his family, so I don't think we need to go over this too much.

Sebek

Mother is the daughter of Baul, and she is very much like her father. She helps her husband in his dental practice, and watched over Silver from time to time for Lilia when she wasn't working.

Sebek's father lived on the Coastal Cities. He became a dentist to help others, and followed in his grandmother's footsteps. He has an Uncle that lives in the Queendom of Roses.

I kind of see him and his wife as Milo and Kida from Atlantis.

Sebek's brother is a zoologist and is trying to work on the conservation of Briar Valley's flora and fauna. He is a happy go lucky person like his father, and looks like his mother, much like Sebek. His sister is local studying to be a linguist and teach others Nocturnal and Demiural fae languages. She has her mother's eyes, but her father's brown hair and features. She adores her grandfather and loves to fish and cook. She and her brother consider Lilia their great uncle, and call him uncle Lilia all the damn time.

STAFF

Crowley

Nothing as of right now.

Divus Crewel

Parents are from the Queendom. His mother is a fashion designer, who uses magic to do her work. He inherited his magic from her. His father is actually a toy maker who has his own shop and line of toys in the Queendom and they're very popular. His mother is very kind but comes off as aloof like her son. His father is warm and jovial, and has bright blue eyes. Divus inherited his looks from his mother.

He has an older brother Andre, who, while a mage, isn't as strong as Divus. When they were younger they got along well, then Andre changed and the two drifted as the older brother started to work as an Accountant and began to see magic as not such an impressive thing, and seems to be jealous of Divus for an unknown reason to him.

Sabine is Divus's younger sister who works with his father making toys. She enjoys fashion and is very much the sort that loves to annoy her brother Andre with tricks, but also adores Divus. She has no magic so she went to fashion school to be a designer, but it didn't work out and she started a fashion doll line for her father's shop which does well.

Ptitsa Zhar

His mother is a mage bird beastman from Sunset Savanna, and his father is the main archivist lord Finnius, formally a member of the Royal guard. His mother is where they get their last name, and is stern but kind. (Think Francis from Black Butler) while his father is as bubbly as all get out and is always trying to be kind. He's an owl nocturnal fae (though there maybe some Day fae in his family line).

Ptitsa has a younger sister who's signature is the opposite of his and can make things grow. She looks more like their father, and is twisted from the nature sprite from the Firebird short from Fantasia. She and Sabine are friends, and like to tease their older brothers.

Ptitsa looks like his mother but has his father's sharp and large eyes, with his mother's color. His sister is short and looks like their father, but with her mother's eye shape.

Mozus Trein

We learned about his family in the Masquerade event so nothing new here yet.

Sam

His grandmother is known as the Queen of the Bayou.

Maika McNamara

Half Mermaid half Human, his mother is a cousin of Prince Rielle, and part of the royal family. His father was a fisherman.

He is married to Klara who is a therapist/psychologist, and they have two kids. Clarabelle who is the youngest and Horace who is the oldest.

And that's what I have. XD

[nadiegesabate1990]

But, before all that, I did the opposite!

In the beginning, my songs had catchy melodies, and I created a very simple sample structure and continued to record with guitar sound.

However, due to money and health problems, this guitarist Nadiege and under the influence of alcohol consumption, I matured and both my songs and instrumentation gained complexity. In fact, it was all I needed to create my classic songs.

The fusion point is to create a song and with it create another. We call them variations. Learn this technique by listening to classical music.

Shortly after, I decided that I wasn't going to give concerts. (I'm still deciding). And even though my career began with frivolous performances, I was also thinking about dance and electronic music from small nightclubs in Europe.

At that time, as the percussionist, I still had no idea that I was a percussionist, I created songs with a lot of rhythm and a great explosion of anger because sometimes the notes didn't come out perfectly or how I wanted them.

I want to pursue a solo career, I'm an individual and, although I've achieved some 'cool metal', I'm managing to repeat my success as a composer.

I stopped for a while to dedicate myself to games, and created some games, including some animations.

And I thought and began to wonder; What is the music world like?

You see many artists are acclaimed by children and young people. And when they appear, it is full of unprecedented enthusiasm, and at the same time they suffer rejection from adults.

And some say I'm a 34-year-old grown woman and I'm moving away from American singers? No! I've always listened to classical electronic dance music and if I hadn't heard it, I wouldn't have been inspired to write lyrics. But the problem is the composer.

I listened to the songs, lyrics by British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber in the voice of singer Madonna only on the first album. There's no one who can make me like Madonna. What I know about his life is, he came from a family that worked in classical music. Lloyd Weber's songs are full of feeling and the melodies are beautiful, some of which are classical music.

And we have the extraordinary international success achieved by this girl Taylor who contributed decisively to the popularization of modern pop country music. Thanks to the composers, and professional marketing, Taylor's first album has been selling and I hope it will reach more than 1 billion copies. For years she dominated the charts like no other woman in the musical world. She has succeeded so far; the top 7 places on the North American list are occupied by 6 of her songs.

And Taylor is really cool, just like Ariana Grande Iggy Azalea Miley Cyrus RITA ORA Selena Gomez.

But over time they see disenchantment. And we create a new way of experiencing life. And survivors like me Nadiege won't stop recording songs, composing for myself and making new versions of many more of my songs.

[willcodehtmlforfood]

(sadly paywalled

"Mohammed Marikar’s typical commute to his office in the City of London takes three and a half hours. On a bad day, it is more than four.

The senior director at RBC Wealth Management is one of a growing breed of “super-commuters”, many of whom moved out of town during the pandemic to increase their living space in more affordable regions, and now travel long distances to their workplace for part of the week.

The proportion of commuters globally doing a journey of 90-120 minutes at least once a week has risen from 2.4 per cent in 2020 to just over 4 per cent in 2024, according to Euromonitor. Those with a commute of more than 120 minutes rose from 2.7 per cent to 3.4 per cent.

Marikar and his wife, who runs her own business, moved with their four children from Eastcote, north-west London, to north Wales in 2022. Instead of his previous daily commute of 75 minutes, Marikar gets up at 5am on a Tuesday morning and is at his desk at about 10am — working a later shift so he can overlap with colleagues in Toronto. He returns to Wales after work on Thursday. On Mondays and Fridays, he works from home.

Marikar sometimes ponders the wisdom of his move when stuck in gridlock traffic, but on balance is happy. “You notice a difference in the air. There’s a lot more we can do at the weekends with the kids.” Even when they lived in London, making it home for dinner was pretty rare.

Love Whelchel now travels to his job in New York from Miami, having moved from New Jersey. He typically spends a fortnight at home and then a week commuting. Although he is away more he says the time he does have with his family is better quality. “It’s given me some balance and focus. This has been an amazing time to spend with my teenage son. When I was commuting in New York, I barely saw him.”

Some employers are attempting to ease the financial burden on long-distance commuters beyond allowing them to work part of the week from home and offering rail season ticket loans. For Marikar, the game changer has been his company’s electric car financing arrangement paid through salary sacrifice — an increasingly popular benefit among employers — that spurred him to switch from trains, which can cost up to about £350 a week, to driving, which is just under £50. “The journey is longer. [But] I don’t need to stick to train times. If a train is [delayed] I’m not stuck.”

Adam Wyman, employment partner at law firm Travers Smith, says companies tend not to incentivise commuting but will reimburse travel and accommodation for some high performers. “Businesses that have a skills gap are looking more widely than before. They can recruit someone in another country and pay for them to come to the office where and when.” He also observes a post-pandemic trend for some companies to provide discretionary packages for staff they want to retain who are moving to other countries to be closer to family."

[stonesandswords]

I'm so excited for the four f's of Richard maintenance fic and just season 3 of Ted Lasso in general, and it has left me unable to come up with any headcanon or information about our lovely little OT3 to drop on you, so I would like to politely request for you to respond to this with a rambly Jan/Colin/Richard ot3 info dump please! I need the joy (will also happily accept smut or angst over fluff)

I'm so glad you're excited for the fic! I made sure to write a bunch tonight because of it because I'm excited too.

I'm also so excited for season 3 of Ted Lasso in general, I feel like I've been waiting for season 3 so long that I still can't believe it's almost here! One more week! Also been loving the premier pics and videos from Instagram tonight, it's a whole lot but I can't believe how many of the AFC Richmond team actors are there and I think it's so fucking awesome how many of them are there!

As for a rambly info dump on OT3, I'm thinking about the three of them being homesick. They all three live and met in a different country from where they grew up and it's hard for them all.

Jan pretends he struggles the least but mostly because he buries his hurt more than Richard and Colin. Jan is normally a more quiet and more subdued man, but there's a certain pensive gloom to him when he's homesick. It always takes a few days for Colin and Richard to catch on (although they're quicker on it through the years) but when they finally do catch on, they always feel so guilty that Jan was feeling this way for so long, that they make a triple effort to cheer him up and lovingly goad him into reminding him why he moved so far away from home. For love, they tell him, which Jan always argues that he didn't know he'd move away and fall in love with the worst Frenchman and the worst Welshman he'd ever met in his life. (To which Colin and Richard remind him that he moved for the love of football.)

Colin is the most vocal about his homesickness. He gets homesick the least, as at least one of his family members is able to travel to a Richmond game on a monthly basis. And on many the extra day off, Colin, Richard, and Jan have made day or weekend trips into Wales, just to explore. But it is often that Colin feels like he has important things he wants to celebrate (or grieve) with his family and he finds it frustrating that they're not right by his side he wants to share something with them. Jan and Richard find that a simple video call with his nieces and nephews cures Colin's homesickness in an instant.

Richard gets reminiscent when he's homesick. Colin and Jan try to recognize the signs of Richard romanticizing his life back in France as signs of Richard's oncoming homesickness. Anything from life back on the goat farm to Richard's years to the time he spent in youth leagues in France. Colin and Jan know it's especially bad when Richard starts talking about his life with Newcastle United. Colin and Jan like to utilize their Richard Maintenance Manual™ that they drunkenly made one night to cheer Richard right back up.

[bookloveravenue]

Franklin U (book 8): Football Royalty by Eden Finley

If you never fooled around with someone of the same gender, did you even go to high school?

PEYTON

My whole life I’ve had the pressure of being Marcus Talon and Shane Miller’s football prodigy. I’ve been destined to follow in my NFL-playing fathers’ footsteps since the day I was born. I usually thrive under pressure, but as senior year looms, it all gets too much, and I need an outlet. The last place I thought I’d find my release is at Levi Vanderbilt’s graduation party. In his bed. With him.

It’s a one-time thing. An experimentation. And while it was fun, we agree that being with guys isn’t for either of us. I’m happy to accept that until he turns up in California.

I haven’t had to think about him for four years, but now I can’t get him out of my head.

LEVI

Coming to Franklin University for grad school to follow a boy I hooked up with once is the stupidest thing I could have done.

We said that high school didn’t mean anything, but the truth is, that night made me realize who I truly am, and since then, I’ve been trying to find that sense of freedom again.

I’m hoping it can be with him, but everything I’ve heard around campus points to Peyton not having the same life-changing revelation I did.

And if that’s the case, did I just move across the country for a straight guy?

Kill me now.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61367899-football-royalty

********

January 25, 2023

My Review: 5/5 Stars

Last book of this series and definitely another favorite of mine! We finally get Peyton's story. He has been mentioned throughout and we've seen his brother, Brady, appear as well (I also learned that he has his own book that happened to come out today! So yay for nice timing!). Peyton is known as the football star at Franklin U. His dads were both pro football players and now he is following in their footsteps. Peyton's done well to manage his school work and football by making sure his head is in the game. Relationships don't exist besides a hook up once in a while. But then he sees Levi and is he is brought back to four years ago. The two of them hooked up and it was both their first time with a guy and it brought many feelings. But as two awkward teenagers can be, they brush it off as nothing. But not for Levi. To Levi that was his realization that he is gay and for Peyton, he never liked a guy after that so he never bothered to claim he was bi. But Levi is now at is school and all those unresolved feelings come right on back. Levi came to Franklin U in part because of Peyton. He never forgot their last meeting and Levi is done with his father and the expectations. So he lied and transferred to Franklin U claiming to go to law school when really he is there for the art program. Peyton and Levi finally have it out and it doesn't take long for them to hook up again. But the timing isn't great. Not for Peyton who is at the end of his football season and is looking to get drafted to the NFL. He has to focus. But how can he when all he wants to do is be with Levi? Loved, loved their story! Such a great one to end it on. Levi and Peyton are such a great pair and their chemistry is fantastic. Plus, you gotta love all the side characters that is Peyton's family (many of whom I learned, have their own books, so going to have to track those down). This was a great end to this series and I'm sad it's over!

[yowlthinks]

@meatballlady ,thanks for the asks! You made me realise this is an ask game not just "fill out the answers" 🤣 But I am gonna fill them all out anyway.

Bonfire - ooh, dream house is an interesting question, because the answers vary wildly if it is just for me or me and my partner and the kids. If it is with kids, then defo enough space for them, garden and space that is easy to keep clean. If it is just for me, then it is a small-ish flat, eclectic design, maybe a high ceiling so that I can have a chandelier? And a four-poster bed? I don't know why I want it, I honestly oscillate between practicality and a mash up of old and new.

Cinnamon - I would not want to live in the past because objectively scientific and societal progress has been amazing, so it will have to be the future. But really, I am happy with living in the 21st century.

Cobweb - God no, absolutely not! My last 2 years of school were an absolute nightmare, but uni was amazing. Overall, I like being an adult, I like not being a fresh graduate on hunt for a job at a time of economic uncertainty. I've done this in 2008-9, having moved countries and when my visa depended on my earnings and I really don't want a repeat of this. And yes, if you are struggling and would like support on prepping your CV and application letters, reach out and I will help where I can. This is me paying fwd a kindness someone once lent me. (I work in marketing and product management).

Cranberry - I have pretty eyes.

Maize - there was a woman on the bus who talked about how God came to her and advised her to go to a financial advisor to have a conversation on managing her debts. There were 3 of us receiving this wisdom in stunned silence.

Quilt - I drink tea with wild abandon, coffee pretty much not at all.

Coffee makes my heart go like crazy, I like the taste when it is veery light, so as a guilty pleasure I would get a seasonal medium latte from Starbucks and ask for half a shot of coffee in there. They usually put two, so I explain that I only mean half of one shot. It gives lovely smell, a little bit of taste and masks the taste of milk.

As for tea, I include here all sorts of tea (like berries, herbal infusions and good old hot water over sliced apple). I drink about 3.5 liters of that per day, almost none of it is formally tea (black, green or otherwise), mostly this is rooibush. This is also what keeps me warm.

Pumpkin - definitely inherently good. I think people who purposely do harm have had something really horrible happen to them in the past, so this is caused by damage, rather then people being bad from the outset.

Moonlit - I like being neat and I try to keep things tidy, but... yeah, I could be better at this.

Flannel- oh god, definitely! My first date was especially disastrous. I was bored out of my scull, didn't know how to get out of it. Amazing how a guy can be an amazing conversationalist online but literally impossible to talk to in person.

Cocoa - I am really happy with my hair (straight, shoulderblade long). Perhaps, they could be a bit thicker, not have grey hair would be nice. I have dark brown hair naturally and colour it into deep red colour currently.

Ghost - yes, there is. It is a friend who had a big influence on me but we are no longer in touch. I think we both made each other better people, but I also understand why he cut contact all those years ago and I think it was the right thing to do. I hope he is happy and that in some 20 years we drift back into each other's orbits.

autumnal asks

lantern - how did you meet your best friend? What were your first impressions of each other?

frost - if you could give some advice to your younger self, what would you say?

maple - is there a hobby / skill that you’ve always wanted to try but never did?

harvest - what fictional character do you most identify with? Why?

fireside - if you had your dream wardrobe, what would it look like?

cider - a food that you disliked as a child but now enjoy?

amber - share an unpopular opinion that you may have.

fog - how well do you think you’d do in a zombie apocalypse scenario?

jack-o-lantern - if you could look like any celebrity, who would you choose?

spice - have you ever encountered a house that you believed to be haunted?

orchard - share one thing that you’d like to happen this autumn.

crow - which school subject do you wish you had an aptitude for?

bonfire - describe your dream house.

cinnamon - if you had to live in a time period different than the present, which would you choose and where?

cobweb - (if you’ve graduated) do you miss high school?

cranberry - what’s one physical feature that you get complimented on?

maize - share the weirdest encounter you’ve had with a stranger on the street.

quilt - how do you take your tea (or coffee)?

pumpkin - do you think that humans are inherently good or bad?

moonlit - are you a neat or messy person? Is your room / house orderly?

flannel - have you ever gone on a bad date? 

cocoa - if you could have any type of hair, what colour and cut would you have?

ghost - is there someone that you miss having in your life?

[dhowellafisheromen]

Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty says 'my identity is in Christ'

By Kevin Mercer Oct 9, 2024

Barry Sanders’ 1988 season with the Oklahoma State Cowboys is widely considered to be the greatest individual season by a running back in the history of college football. Five games into 2024, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is putting up numbers that rival Sanders‘ historic campaign.

Jeanty leads all of college football with 1,031 rushing yards, 260 more than the second-leading rusher despite two fewer attempts, good for an almost unthinkable average of 10.9 yards per carry. He’s also tallied 16 touchdowns, four more than anyone else in college football.

Jeanty’s performance thus far in 2024 has made him the undisputed front-runner for the Heisman Trophy.

Perhaps most importantly for Jeanty, however, is that his team is 4-1 and has vaulted to No. 17 in the country. The Broncos’ only loss came in Week 2 at Oregon, now ranked No. 3 in the nation, when the Ducks kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired.

Yet as the national spotlight has recently pointed his way, the 20-year-old junior hasn’t stopped talking about what’s most important to him.

“I like to say that I’m a Christian cleverly disguised as an All-American running back,” Jeanty said in a video with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes that he recently posted on Instagram. “I’ve learned that God has blessed me with amazing talents. I’ve just been able to do a lot of great things with it, but at the same time, not losing yourself in it and understanding that my identity is in Christ.”

Jeanty explained in the video that he grew up with parents who introduced him to faith at a young age, but having a relationship with God didn’t really make sense to him. The move from Frisco, Texas, to Boise, Idaho, for college in 2022 was a difficult one for Jeanty, and the changes in his life and lack of a sure foundation led to feelings of depression.

That all began to change as his faith in God began to grow.

“Once I decided to give my life to Him and change my ways, it’s been an ultimate transformation,” he said. “… I felt that this (Boise) community has helped me grow tremendously. It’s very welcoming, it’s not forceful, it’s not aggressive in any type of way. It’s the way God would want it to be, and I could see — even before stepping foot on this campus — that God had His hands on this program. I could see that Christianity was a big thing here and that guys were real big on their faith.

“I learned to embrace that, and all the guys and people around the facility have embraced me.”

In August, Jeanty posted a video of him undergoing the sacrament of baptism. Numerous teammates were on hand to witness his public proclamation of faith in Christ, and it was Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson who had the honor of submerging Jeanty under the water.

Jeanty often uses social media to continue to profess his faith, and he quotes the Bible verse Luke 1:37 — “For nothing will be impossible with God” — in his Instagram and X bios.

Jeanty’s explosion on the field in 2024 isn’t a complete surprise, as he did win the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year award as he led all of college football in yards from scrimmage (1,347 rushing, 569 receiving) in 2023. The 5-foot-9, 215-pound speedster decided to return for his junior year on the Broncos’ blue turf, a decision made much easier because of the home he’s found during his three years at Boise State. The school and the town are full of people who care for him and who point him to Christ, his ultimate hope.

“You don’t have to be perfect to come to God, but all you have to do is trust in Him and have faith in Him, and He will change your life,” Jeanty said in the FCA video. “I feel that everything that I’m doing now is because of that. Obviously I’ve been able to do some great things on the field, but beyond that, He’s changed my life. He’s changed my views, my personality. I felt that I wasn’t really a man before, I was just a boy. But now I feel as I’m a man, and a man of God.”

[equestrianempire]

The Weekend Update: Carolina Prep and More at Pine Top, Three Lakes, Full Gallop Farm

Another weekend of eventing is in the books, with plenty of horse and rider pairs out and about in the southern states. We’re inching closer to warmer weather for the spring season, as well as some upcoming competitions, like the Carolina International CCI4* in just a few weeks!

We caught up with some of the riders aiming for Carolina, and took a look back on this weekend and celebrate our Weekend Winners! Congrats to all on successful outings, with an extra shout out to the winner of our Unofficial Low Score Award, Priscilla Pignatelli and Dittos Gold En Fury, who scored 20.7 in the Starter Rider division at Three Lakes!

Full Gallop Farm Mid February H.T. (Aiken, SC) [Website][Scoring]

Preliminary/Training: Alexandra Knowles and Fernhill Mac an Bata (29.8) Training: Tracey Bienemann and Silver Bop (29.6) Training/Novice: Margaret Schneck and Islandwood Border Patrol (31.7) Novice: Cole William Horn and WillOMoor Pathfinder (24.7) Beginner Novice A: Christine Hryzak and Sheeran (27.7) Beginner Novice B: Fylicia Barr and Master Of Illusion (23.8) Starter: Sophia Perry and Corona With Lime (29.7) Pre-Starter: Katherine Thornton and Carlingford Finegan (28.0)

Pine Top Advanced (Thomson, GA) [Website][Scoring]

“I’m very pleased with how my horses went at Pine Top this weekend,” says Advanced B winner Ariel Grald, who reflected, “I’m based in Ocala for the winters, and although we have several great venues to choose from, I always make the trip to the Pine Top Advanced HT with my upper level horses… The cross country courses are fantastic and are a good evaluation of where the horses are at at the beginning of the season.”

We’ll see Ariel at Carolina in just a few weeks, with Anne Eldridge’s Leamore Master Plan (Master Imp xx – Ardragh Bash, by Cavalier Royale) in the 4*S, Annie Eldridge’s Diara in the 3*S (Diacontinus – Lady Revens, by Colon xx), and Annie Eldridge’s Adagio’s Nobility (Adagio De Talma – Noble Lady I, by Heraldik xx) in the 2*S.

Andrew McConnon won the Advanced A with Jeanne Shigo’s Ferrie’s Cello (Chello III – Karelza, by Wolfgang). “I’m thankful to have my horses starting off the season looking and feeling well! I had different goals for each horse and I’m pleased with all four of them. We’re really fortunate to have Pine Top Farm on our spring calendar, I’ve been going to Pine Top for nearly 20 years. I’ve had many firsts at Pine Top, including my first Advanced many years ago. It’s always been a special event to me!”

Coming out of the winter, these early spring events have been helpful in bringing Andrew’s horses back from their breaks and in utilizing their training. “I’ve been fortunate to learn from William Fox-Pitt in England the importance of a long winter break and several weeks of long hacking before starting back into work. Most recently with the help of the USEF I’ve had the opportunity to train with Leslie Law, well as my long time coaches at home who have helped me step up my game. While I’m not on the development list this year, the opportunities over the last several years from Nations Cup teams, European tour, and access to training in that program has made a huge impact to myself and my program.”

With a recent move out onto his own, Chris Talley sought out Pine Top as an important stop in his spring for his horses and program: “This year after stepping out on my own and starting my own business I came up from Ocala, Florida and came to the second Pine Top specifically because they have the Advanced division which I wanted to target with the Allison Pratt’s FE Marco Polo (Arko Junior Pms – Elfe II, by Exorbitant XX) and my own Loughtown Cici (Cc Captain Cruise – Castlelawn Diamond Clover, by White Clover) that recently stepped up to [the level].”

“The cross country at Pine Top is why I chose to come here every year. It’s big and bold and really requires positive riding. The courses offer fair questions for this point in the season and also offers a bit of terrain which in Florida you don’t get much of.”

“It’s been a very good start to the season and all the horses finished Pine Top full of confidence so I’m excited for some big spring plans… Since establishing my own business I’ve been really happy with how the horses are going. I have an amazing group of horses and wonderful owners who have been incredibly supportive. This year I really wanted to find the fun in it again. I wanted to enjoy my personal life as much as I enjoy the horses and I’ve found the perfect work/life balance which I think the horses and their performance and reaping the rewards of,” Chris commented.

Having just moved her business back to the states from her time in England, Kimmy Cecere enjoyed her first time at Pine Top. “What a fantastic event to start the season! Both the cross country and show jumping courses were strong and rewarding.”

“Jacqueline Mars’ Landmark’s Monaco (Formula One – Glamour) had a fun and easy canter around the Intermediate. [Her own] OS Hermintage (Indoctro – Elvira), who has just stepped up to the level, gained confidence throughout all three phases. The rolling hills and variety of questions set both horses up to continue on to Carolina in a few weeks,” Kimmy reflected.

Kimmy’s horses seem to be making the transition to their new base in Southern Pines well. “The horses traveled super well and they love our new base in Southern Pines,” Kimmy commented. “I have developed some great new relationships, and I’m looking forward to expanding my business!”

Advanced – 2022 USEF Advanced Test A: Andrew McConnon and Ferrie’s Cello (36.5) Advanced – 2022 USEF Advanced Test B: Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan (29.5) Intermediate Rider: Sara Beth Anton and Legionnaire (37.2) Open Intermediate A: Allison Springer and No May Moon (27.0) Open Intermediate B: Colleen Loach and FE Golden Eye (27.2) Open Preliminary A: Ariel Grald and Adagio’s Nobility (26.1) Open Preliminary B: Boyd Martin and Kolbeinn (27.2) Preliminary Rider: Carlin Keefe and Point Nemo (26.6) Modified – Open A: Fylicia Barr and Quantum Cooley (26.5) Modified – Open B: Chris Talley and Fast Forward (25.8) Modified – Rider A: Heidi Grimm Powell and Finntastic! (28.0) Modified – Rider B: Molly McLaughlin and Top L’Amour WV (34.0) Open Training A: Kim Severson and Cooley Consort (26.9) Open Training B: Andrew McConnon and Connery Cooper Z (22.8) Open Training C: Jane Jennings and SF Vancouver 2 (25.3) Training Rider: Harrison Chang and JVK Fionn MacCumhaill (34.3) Junior Novice Rider: Samantha Sibley and RHS Casallco Star (35.4) Open Novice: Erin Kanara and Captain’s Lady (24.4) Senior Novice Rider: Alexis Shrum and Anchorman (29.7) Beginner Novice Rider: Nina Celeste Braun and Lagoon Macaroon (33.5) Open Beginner Novice: Maddie Lichten and RF Luminati (28.8)

Three Lakes Winter II H.T. at Caudle Ranch (Groveland, FL) [Website][Scoring]

Open Preliminary: Elisabeth Halliday and Newmarket Cooley (29.7) Preliminary Rider: Victoria Sudkamp and Woodstock Rio (32.6) Open Modified: Jordan Crabo and Cooley Pot of Gold (27.9) Open Training: Stephanie Goodman and HSH Clever Z (25.5) Training Rider: Hannah Fatehdin and Things To Ponder (26.9) Novice Rider A: Kirsty McLeod and Celtic Sapphire (27.5) Novice Rider B: Coco Fiorita and Oskar (22.5) Open Novice A: Arielle Aharoni and Veni Vidi Vici (30.6) Open Novice B: Lauren Nicholson and Sir Prize (22.9) Beginner Novice Rider A: Sarah Alexander and Lambrusco W (21.6) Beginner Novice Rider B: Jean McNamara and Pavoratti’s Soul (35.0) Open Beginner Novice A: Lauren Nicholson and Tennyson (25.3) Open Beginner Novice B: Macy Clark and Bailando (21.9) Open Starter: Kristen Ayers and Counting Stars (26.7) Starter Rider: Priscilla Pignatelli and Dittos Gold En Fury (20.7)