#this post was brought to you by enjoying a lovely polish dinner with my mom

[riverdeities]

there's nothing better than sauerkraut

[artsoupsoupart]

Chrave Fic: A Night In

Title: A Night In

Pairing: Raven and Chelsea

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or ideas to That’s so Raven or Raven’s Home.

A/N: I have no shame for writing this lol. This not my first fic ever, but my first time writing something in a LONG time. I wanted to have this up on Valentine's Day, but I never make the deadlines I set for myself lol. I've recently started to kinda ship these two bc of some posts i saw on tumblr and this story came from it. Also, I’m lanassupport group on here, but on Ao3 I’m artsoupsoupart.... it’ll probably always be like that. 

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22822261

It’s not too often that they get nights like this, where the house is quiet, candle light bouncing off the walls, smooth jazz playing on the stereo, utter peace and serenity. The kids, all four, are gone for the weekend on a school trip to Washington D.C., and while there is a certain sadness about their apartment not being filled with the sounds of video games being played or practiced steps for a music video, the two moms can’t help but feel absolutely relaxed and content.

Raven and Chelsea make their way to the kitchen hand in hand, both clad in satin pajamas after an eventful bubble bath. Chelsea’s emerald green teddy pairs well against her fair skin and ember hair while Raven dons a two piece pants set, in a fabulous blush pink and gold pattern.

They sit down at the moveable island in the middle of their kitchen where their dessert is spread out. They had moved the stools from the partition that separates the living room from the kitchen in order to feel a bit closer to each other. Chelsea’s the first the break into a marvelous smile and she nudges Raven with her shoulder. She receives a small chuckle from the other woman and a squeeze of her hand.

“Wow, Rae, I think I could get used to this.”

“Only for you. Though, the kids are definitely going to be back sooner than we expect.”

The redhead grimaces a little, a frown forming on her face. “Yeah!”

“You miss them, don’t you?”

“No, no, no!��� Her eyes widen as she fibs. “Psh... we’ve been so relaxed and been able to focus on each other. It’s.... great.”

Raven smirks at her best friend, lips pursing. “But you miss them.”

“Oh God, yes, Rae!” The two break out into a laugh. Chelsea continues. “So.... what have you prepared for me now?”

This was all Raven’s doing, the ambiance, the dinner, the hot bubble bath. It’s been her motivation to show Chelsea how much she truly cares for her. She felt as though, for so long, she didn’t really value Chelsea’s company or even the work that she does around the house. Raven vowed to herself and to any God that may have been listening at the time, that she would never take Chelsea for granted, never wonder when she’d finally not burn a meal, when she’d contribute to the rent, because the redhead delivered so much more.

She delivered love and compassion, a dizziness that only Chelsea Daniels-turned-Grayson could ever produce. It was beautiful. There were moments, whether with the children or not, that Chelsea brought an entirely different view to whatever Raven or the kids were going through.

“Well, we first have a mini-sweet treat.”

The dark-haired beauty brought forth a plate of toasted bread and sweet apple jam. She took a small slice with a scoop on it and held it up to rosy lips. Chelsea took a bite with a soft hum and Raven couldn’t help but follow her lead. The moan was beautiful, almost intoxicating to the point where she needed more.

“That’s delicious! What is it?” she asked. Raven told her, let her know exactly where she brought the bread and jam and the brand name. Her eyes never left Chelsea’s face though. They focused on the way dark eyelashes fluttered, the way her pink tongue poked out to capture the remaining jam on her list. All Raven felt was lust.

“Did you make this bread yourself?”

It’s a beat before she responds, still lost in her own images in her mind. “Mom taught me. It’s a special recipe that doesn’t need a lot of time for the bread to rise”

“Perfect for a late-night snack” Chelsea grins as she sees a smirk pull at the corners of her brunette lover’s mouth. Raven turns to her then she gives her a light but teasing kiss to the lips.

“You didn’t have to go through so much trouble to impress me, you know?” the redhead smiles, millimeters away from another kiss waiting for her on plump lips.

“It was no trouble. Plus, you deserve the best of the best. The finest jam and the most delicious bread.” Raven moves to move the dessert that had been baking from the oven to cool.

Chelsea responded after taking a deep whiff of the scent that surrounded her. “That smells good.”

The brunette looks up from inspecting the pie, dipping her finger in it briefly after it had cooled a bit. “Just about ready. Do you want a taste?”

Chelsea leans over and captures the covered finger between her lips. She hums as she pulls away, making sure to give it a small suck when she reaches the tip.

“Mmm… that’s amazing. What’s your secret?”

“Love?”

“Aw, Rae! Good answer.”

Raven smiles at her as she removes the pie from its pan to cool better on the rack. She takes this moment to pour them both a glass of wine.

“We are surrounded by kids and work 24/7. It’s amazing and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, but it does tend to mean that our moments are shared with others.” Chelsea hums in agreement, her eyes sparkling with affection that is only reserved for the raven-haired beauty in front of her. “I also like doing this for you myself… especially since you do so much.”

“It’s so sweet of you, Rae.”

Chelsea leans over and kisses her. It’s so soft yet holds so much passion behind it. If it weren’t for the dessert before them, Raven would carry her off to their bedroom immediately. Instead she returns the kiss, and another, and another, then licks her lips as she pulls away. Raven moves to plate a piece of pie and a dollop of vanilla. She puts it before her love and hands her a spoon. Chelsea grins wide and does a small happy dance as she scoops up the dessert. She raises it to her lips and takes the bite, gentle brown eyes fluttering close as the taste mixes and mingles on her tongue. She hums softly and Raven simply looks on at her.

“I hope I’m not enjoying this alone,” she smirks.

“Never, just enjoying the view.” Raven returns the smirk, mimicking Chelsea’s earlier words and picks up her spoon.

The duo sits and talks as they polish off their dessert and wine, even sneaking another scoop of ice cream to share. They exchange kisses and spoonfuls of the cold treat. The conversation continues on and on, flirty little jokes being passed between the two. Their dessert is long gone, two glasses, a bowl and two spoons forgotten in the small space between them as they get lost in each other’s lips. The kiss is soft, firm, but just as passionate as any other one they’ve had. It isn’t until Raven pulls away that they realize they’re still in the kitchen.

“We should move this somewhere more comfortable.” Chelsea smiles brightly, lip caught between her lips as she winks.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Raven takes a moment to deposit their empty dishes in the sink, that was tomorrow’s problem, and put away the leftover ice cream so that is doesn’t melt. She rounds back around to her best friend and takes her hand, leading her to their bedroom.

They barely make it, lips locking just as the door opens and they stumble in. Raven kicks it closed with her foot and walks the redhead back to the bed where they fall into a fit of giggles. Hazel eyes meet brown and Raven’s hands find Chelsea’s waist while the other woman’s push a lock of ebony hair behind her ear. They look at each other for a moment, the briefest of seconds before capturing the others lips all over again, this time with a renewed fever.

Raven’s hands make their way under the Chelsea’s night gown, fingertips dipping against unusually warm skin (the woman was usually freezing cold). She gives her waist a light squeeze before grabbing the fabric in her hands and pulling it upward. Chelsea shifts, assisting in getting the pesky clothing off. Her lips reconnect back to her love’s, moving to her chin then down her neck. She focuses on a spot, just above Raven’s collarbone, eliciting a low moan from the brunette. Pink lips smile against skin as she makes her way lower and lower, removing pants to find nothing underneath (a sight that has her gasping), but skipping over where Raven wanted her most.

The brunette whimpers in protest. “Tease,” she breathes out.

Chelsea frowns playfully at that, clicks her tongue and takes a swipe of her girlfriend’s warm center. It elicits the exact response she wants, a slightly loud whisper and a small twitch. She does it again, slower this time, and again, and again until Raven is pent up, hips desperately rolling for more friction. Chelsea tosses her hair over her should and she props herself up on one forearm, sending a dazzling smile up to Raven. She holds up two fingers to brown lips and Raven follows her silent directions, wetting the digits with her mouth.

“Good girl, Rae,” the redhead whispers as she slides slim fingers into her girlfriend, her pace torturously slow.

Raven makes the comment again and her girlfriend throws her a look saying Patience, Rae. She doesn’t make her wait too long as she increases the speed of her fingers, curls them upwards, pressing them at just the right angle. Raven moves with her, her own breathing becoming rapid. She’s on the brink of her orgasm, Chelsea can feel it, has learned her body so well in the past two years. Pink lips attach themselves to a throbbing clit and sucks to the beat of her heart and Raven’s hips roll against her mouth. Moans and gasps and whimpers fill the air. The brunette grabs at the sheets, grunts, pleads, and Chelsea has no problem giving her exactly what she wants. Her body tenses and she gasps, losing control of herself as she releases.

Chelsea lets her ride out her orgasm, smiling and humming as she massages her girlfriend down. She places a lasting kiss to her core before feeling hands pull her upwards. Raven instantly finds her; hands raising to cup her face and smash their lips together. The taste of herself on Chelsea’s lips make her hum hungrily. She turns them so that they’re on their sides, a single hand reaching to stroke down a fair leg to toss over her hip. They’re a tangle of legs and kiss, of arms and caresses. She wedges her hand in the small space between them and feels just how ready Chelsea is, how she always is when she starts them off.

Had they not been in the position they were, Raven would have placed persistent kisses to the redhead’s core. Tangled together, she simply stokes at her girlfriend’s pussy, the wet heat causing her to let out a moan of her own. It’s intoxicating, she’s intoxicating. She moves her hand back and forth back and forth, rubbing, caressing, stroking. She captures Chelsea’s swollen bud between her fingers and circles it gently, adding pressure when she hears the grunt that comes from the woman against her. Her lips take Chelsea’s and she kisses her while moving her own hips in time with her fingers. It is when she dips two then three fingers into her warm center that she gets the loud groan she’s been dying to hear all night. It’s her favorite sound, one that spurs her on, gives her the fever she so desperately desires. Chelsea herself gets her bearings and snakes her hand between the two of them.

“With me,” is all the redhead can grunt out.

Raven had been rocking against her and hadn’t been expecting the joining of her love. She accepted slim fingers willingly, nods her head as she tips the redhead’s chin up to connect her lips to a pulsing pressure point in her neck. The moans coming from the other woman have her wetter than ever. Stroke after stroke after stroke has both women clinging to each other, gasping, whining, moaning, cursing into the air between them as they both tip over the edges of their orgasms.

They bring each other down, their breaths slowing and the lethargy starting to set in. Brown eyes meet hazel in the pale light of the moon. Smiles are exchanged, kisses too, with a side of soft caresses and murmured I love you’s. Hands find themselves around the other woman in stead of between them as they slight chill of the room starts to replace the heat of their lovemaking. They move under the covers and reconnect; final kisses being placed to plumped lips as they drift off to sleep.

When morning comes, the sun beams down on the duo. Chelsea tries to hide from it by burrowing into Raven’s back, having shifted their position during the night. The brunette murmurs they should get up, the kids will be at the school soon, they have to pick them up. All Chelsea does is groans, never a morning person, choosing to stay in bed for five more minutes.

The couple finally gets out of bed and ready for the day. Raven showers first, stating that if they did together, they’d be late. While she’s occupied Chelsea makes the bed, straightens up, cleans up the kitchen from the night before, putting things back in order. She then takes over the restroom, in her own process of getting ready.

They figure they’ll get breakfast with the kids so the forego making it themselves and head out the door to the school. Still high on their weekend alone, they trade kisses until Chelsea notices the large charter bus pull into the parking lot. Raven pops the trunk and the two of them get out to greet their children.

It’s a rush, a rapid change from the calm from the past two days but they smile anyway as Booker already starts recounting the weekend, help the kids put their bags in the trunk. The four of them squish into the back seat and Raven and Chelsea return to their front. They share a look before pulling out of the parking lot and making their way back to the apartment, back to normal.

[paranymf]

Get This Right

For Hiccstrid week 2020, hosted by @shipmistress9

Hiccup Haddock is in love with Astrid Hofferson and after half a year of courting, he finally gathered enough courage to propose. But will he get it right?

Set in the 1820s, but no intentions of historical accuracy. Inspired by the song Get This Right, one of the outtakes from Frozen II.

Read this on AO3.

Hiccup looked at himself in the mirror, nodded and closed his eyes. “I’m going to do this. I can do this. I’m going to ask the most beautiful woman of Berk to marry me.” Hiccup opened his eyes again and looked in the mirror. He saw a tall guy with an untamed mop of auburn locks. The green eyes looked frightened and the smile under his freckled nose was little but convincing. The suit that he wore was slightly too big. His mother, Valka had pulled one of his father’s old suits from the attic and brought it to the tailor to fit it to Hiccup’s size. Even though Hiccup was only a head’s length shorter than Stoick, his late father, Stoick was bulky and muscular and Hiccup was… not. More accurately: quite the opposite of Stoick. When Hiccup looked at his left foot, he started to fiddle with the pants, maybe they could cover up the loss of a limb there. “Hey, stop the fiddling and let me get a good look at you.” Valka just walked into the room and Hiccup turned around. Valka straightened his jacket, his pants and his shirt. She took a step backwards and smiled at him. “You got the ring?” Hiccup crossed his hand over his heart, right where the pocket of his jacket was with the little box.  “Yes,” he said breathlessly. Valka’s eyes started to water. “Oh, how I wish your father could’ve seen this. My little boy is going to ask someone to marry him!” Valka pulled Hiccup in for a hug and he patted his mother on her back and rolled his eyes. “You’re already assuming she says yes.” Valka pulled back. “Why wouldn’t she? You’re a match made in Valhalla!” “Yeah, but what if she says n-” Valka put her hand before his mouth. “Don’t,” she said and smiled. “Just enjoy the evening with Astrid and seize your moment when you propose, okay?” Hiccup rolled his eyes. “Promise me?” Valka tilted his chin, forcing him to look at her as the light of the candle danced in her sparkling eyes. “Alright,” he said. Valka smiled. “That’s my boy. Now, where is that coachman? I thought I ordered him to be here at six thirty and it’s six forty five already.” Valka left the room and Hiccup was left alone to his thoughts again. He pulled out the box and opened it. He had thought about it a lot, but he knew Astrid wouldn’t care much for a big sparkly ring loaded with diamonds. Just to make sure he cared enough for her, he got one beautiful shining diamond on it. It was small, but it was beautiful.  Just as Hiccup was ready to leave the room, something big, black and fluffy stormed in and jumped on Hiccup. “Hey,” he smiled as a big black dog tried to lick Hiccup’s face. “Toothless, be careful! Yes buddy, I love you too, but we wouldn’t-oh no!” When Toothless adjusted his foot to support himself better on Hiccup, Hiccup had gotten hold of the ring and it fell out of his hands. Hiccup saw it roll on the floor and it disappeared under the drawer. Hiccup dropped to his knees and looked under the drawer for the ring. Just as he located it, he immediately tried to grab it with his hand, but missed. The ring rolled further and it stopped right beside the drawer, right where Toothless was. The dog was interested by the sparkling diamond and sniffed the ring. “Nononono, Toothless, that’s not edible.” Hiccup pushed Toothless aside and grabbed the ring from the floor. With his jacket he polished the diamond and quickly put it back in the box. “What am I going to do Toothless? How will I be able to propose if I can’t keep the ring safe?” Toothless turned his head as if to say ‘I don’t know, it was your idea’. Hiccup smiled and shook his head. “Yeah, it was.” 

“Good evening, Mr Haddock.” Hiccup looked up from his menu and saw Astrid Hofferson standing beside the table. “Astrid!” Hiccup nearly fell off his chair when he jumped up to get her chair. “Oh, please, Hiccup, don’t be such a gentleman.” Hiccup smiled. “But I want tonight to be perfect, please?” Astrid smiled and let him. She looked absolutely stunning tonight, as always. However, distracted by Astrid’s beauty, Hiccup took twice to actually grab the chair and pull it back for her. He smiled awkwardly and sat down quickly. He put up his menu quickly and tried to pull himself together. He closed his eyes. I’m gonna get this right, he repeated to himself in his head. “Hiccup?” Astrid pulled him out of his thoughts and looked at him. He gave her a questionable look. “What in Thor’s name are you doing?” Hiccup realised he was hiding in his menu, eyes closed and mouthing some words. It must have looked utterly ridiculous. He shook his weirdness off him and smiled at Astrid. “Sorry, don’t mind that.” Astrid raised her eyebrow, but decided not to question it any further. 

The whole evening was a mess, according to Hiccup. His wine tasting went horrible, his cutlery slipped out his hands multiple times and they hadn’t started dancing yet. “Oh, please, Hiccup, I’d love it if we would dance! Come on!” And Astrid pulled him from his chair and dragged him onto the dancefloor before he could protest. “Astrid,” Hiccup whispered, as he felt utterly uncomfortable. “My leg-” “Don’t worry, we’ll take it easy. They won’t notice a thing.” Hiccup bit his lip, but gave in. They danced for a few songs and he actually felt a bit more relaxed. But then, a swing song started and Astrid still wanted to continue. Hiccup tried to get along with Astrid, but he kept stepping on her toes. After a few painful looks, they decided to stop dancing. “I’m so sorry, Astrid. I didn-” “I don’t want to hear your excuses, Hiccup, it’s my fault we continued.” She stopped at their table and turned to him. “I had a great time.” She tiptoed and gave Hiccup a short kiss on his cheek. He smiled. “Come on, let’s have dessert!”

Hiccup paid for dinner, which Astrid insisted on sharing, but he wouldn’t have it. Living with her uncle wasn’t the best, especially since he didn’t earn enough money for them both. Astrid worked as a secretary at the town hall to get some extra money for the household, but it wasn’t much. So Hiccup insisted he would pay for this dinner. Especially because of the occasion, but she didn’t know that. 

After dinner, only disaster followed. As he held the door for Astrid, he was shaking. Just as she was about to walk through the door, Hiccup accidentally let go. Astrid’s reflexes were amazing so she stopped the door, but Hiccup only felt more embarrassment. After he apologized a million times, he walked right into a lamp post. “Hiccup?” Astrid asked after he shook the embarrassment off him. “Yes?” “Are you alright?” “Yes, ofcourse!” “You’ve been acting funny all night. Are you sure you wouldn’t go home and get some rest? That was one nasty smack on your head.” “Don’t worry, I’m fine. It’s just - nevermind. I wanted to take you somewhere.” Astrid smiled.  “Of course you did.” Hiccup raised his eyebrow, but didn’t question Astrid’s weird remark. He held out his arm and Astrid slid her hand through it. In her sparkling eyes he saw the dancing light of the street lantern and his heart filled with warmth. Yes, even though the evening was a disaster, this was going to be perfect. 

In the distance he saw the gazebo. “Hiccup?” Astrid looked confused. “Where are you taking us?” “This- ahum- This is a place I haven’t been to since my father died.” Astrid said nothing and looked around. Hiccup remembered the garden just as beautiful as this. “Every Saturday, we went to these gardens. My father would come straight from his Saturday morning meeting and my mother would bring the picnic basket. When I was younger, my mother asked the maid to make some snacks and sandwiches. As I grew older, I prepared the food for the picnic, so everyone did their part for the family time.” “What did your father do, then?” “If the meeting would run late, he would stop it when it was time for him to go. Only once a week this would happen, and never during any other meeting he would stop the meeting, but this one he would. Or, in better words, they would continue without him.”  Astrid smiled. “And you haven’t been here in seven years.” Hiccup nodded. “After he died, my mother and I never felt like going because…” “It would only bring up memories.” Astrid finished his sentence. Hiccup nodded quietly. Astrid looked around and took up all the beauty in the gardens. Hiccup admired her with a smile and took her hand. “Come, I have to show you this gazebo.” “A- what?” “A gazebo.” Astrid’s eyes lit up when she saw it. “Oh, Hiccup, this is beautiful!” Astrid let go of his hand and ran up to the gazebo. Hiccup, again amazed by Astrid’s beauty, thought he had to step on the chairs already but missed the step and almost fell forward. He quickly recovered and this times really walked up the stairs. “I love it.” Astrid took his hands, tiptoed again and gave him a kiss on his lips. Hiccup smiled.  “I love you,” he said. “I love you too.” They both smiled at each other. “This is actually the place were my father asked my mother to marry him.” Astrid’s smile grew. “He did?” “Yes. Mom told me he gave this big speech about love and she didn’t understand a thing what he said. Turns out he was really nervous and didn’t really know how to do it. She wanted to get a better look at the view of the garden and then turned around. There he was, on his knees, with a ring and questionable look.” As Astrid chuckled and looked at the view, Hiccup smoothly tried to get the box with the ring from his pocket, only to find it wasn’t there. Did he put it in the pockets of his pants? Another pocket of his jacket? He slowly started to panic when he couldn’t find it. Astrid felt his distress and carefully squeezed his hand. “Hiccup, are you sure you are okay?” 

He ruined it. He lost the box with the ring and now he couldn’t properly propose to Astrid. He completely ruined it and now she would be completely disappointed. She probably already had a hunch and then nothing would happen, because he lost the ring. He could slap himself in the face right now, but all he did was freeze in panic, standing completely still. Coming back to his senses, he looked apologetic at Astrid. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, turned around and started to run away. “Hiccup, wait!” On the last step of the gazebo he stopped and turned around. Astrid was on her knee and helt out a box with a ring, his ring. “Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, will you marry me?”  Hiccup was completely gobsmacked. The first question that went through his head was where did she get the box? The second was did she knew all the time that I was going to propose? And the third was is Astrid Hofferson asking me to marry her?  But then, after he processed that all, he couldn’t care less. He wanted to ask her to marry him, but he completely ruined it. She saved him. As always. He smiled, walked up the gazebo again. Hiccup dropped to his knees, took her hands in his. “Yes. Yes, my dearest Astrid Hofferson. I will definitely marry you.” 

[simonxriley]

For Jade Helm: ☀️💁⭐

Thank you! 

Writing Asks

☀️- Was there symbolism/motifs you worked in?

My motifs are anything bad that happens between Skylar’s past and post Outbreak. I wish I could go into more details, but spoilers 🙃. However I can say that Jade Helm was never about the Outbreak, yes it’s a major part but the story was always about two people who can go through literal hell and come out on the other side stronger and more in love than before. 

I also have another one, it’s going more into PTSD and how that can change you. I kind of touched on it in past chapters, not as much as I would’ve like too. 

💁- Did readers influence change any part of this story?

Almost, but it was more of an add on. I was going to add Fuze and Sledge to the Outbreak section but decided not too. That part of the fic is already going to be a beast to write and I didn’t feel like figuring out where to put them in. 

⭐- What’s a scene/paragraph you’re proud of?

I have two scenes I’m proud of. 

The first one is when they meet little seven year old Grace. I just loved writing them interacting with her and her helping them gather their supplies. It’s also kind of bittersweet knowing in a few years (quite literally) that Skylar and Tachanka will be rescuing her from the White Masks. 

The second one being Skylar and Tachanka talking about what they hope for in the future as a couple. Living together, eventually getting married and having a few (8) kids. It’s a sweet part in the chapter, Tachanka giving her an engraved dog tag to them talking about their future together. 

The actual scene is below the cut, cause it’s long 😅

“A dog tag is better fitting for our lifestyle.” She looked it over again, fingers tracing over the engravings. Flipping it over, she noticed more writing on the back. “Alexsandr + Skylar 12-15-2017 - Forever.” She looked back up at him, eyes glistening once again. “Forever?”

Her heart began beating at a rapid pace, so much so her hands began to shake. None of this felt real, it all felt like a dream, a dream she never wanted to wake up from. She spent so many years thinking marriage and a family would be out of reach, who would want to be married to a woman with trust issues? Or survivors guilt? But Alex, he was patient, showing her time and time again he was in it for the long haul. She never believed it, thinking it was only a matter of time before he got sick of her or found someone better. Like every other relationship she had, casual or not.

Now looking down at his promise, engraved in a silver dog tag, for both see, she finally believed him.

“Forever! You’re the first face I see every morning and the last I see when I go to bed, I wake up every morning the happiest man alive knowing that I have you by my side.” He locked eyes with her and took a deep breath. “Whether this happens a year or five from now, I hope one day you’ll become Mrs. Senaviev.”

“Skylar Senaviev does have a nice ring to it.” She wiped the tears from her eyes once again and smiled. “Now I’m curious, what does our future look like to you?”

He took the dog tag from her hand, motioning for her to turn around. She obliged and maneuvered herself to sit in front of him with her back turned. He undid the small chain, bringing the dog tag in front of her and clipped it shut around her neck. She brought her hand up to feel it again, then moved beside him and snuggled up against his chest.

“I picture us moving in together, where I would spend every morning cooking breakfast for you. You’d protest you’re perfectly capable making it yourself, but I’d ignore it and keep doing it. We’d spend the day together doing whatever errands we have to do, or we spend it at home cleaning our guns and watching movies all day on the couch. We would cook dinner together every night, talking about anything and everything that came to mind. And every night when we’d go to bed, I’d make love to you, you’d fall asleep in my arms afterwards where I would look down at your sleeping figure thinking how lucky I was to call you my wife.”

Skylar pushed herself up, face softening under his gaze. “That, that sounds perfect and very romantic. You’ve really thought about the future, and I hope it comes true.”

“I do too! What does yours look like, kotyonok?”

She sat up, cross legged. Her hand came up to play with the new dog tag that laid next to her work ones on her chest. “I never really thought about it, until now at least. I just want a…...simple kind of life - well as simple as it can be for our lifestyle. I just love the thought of waking up and falling asleep next to you everyday, taking long walks hand in hand around the city, when your polishing one of your Degtyaryov I could be reading a book or drawing a new picture next to you, just happy to spend some quality time together.” Her eyes averted to the small section of blanket that was in between them - smiling to herself. Then she looked back up to Alex. “But the one thing I’m looking forward too the most, is the day where you come home from a mission or a day of training with Glaz, Kapkan and Fuze and as soon as you walk through the door you’re being greeted by our child. Little feet pitter patting on the wooden floor, arms spread wide and a big smile on their face because they’re so excited to see their papa.”

Alex sat up, mouth slightly gaping. He wasn’t exactly sure what she would say, and was mostly expecting that she didn’t think about the future. Which would have been perfectly fine, he couldn’t blame her for not wanting to think about the uncertainty of the future. But he never expected to here she pictured their child, or that she actually wanted a family. Yes she mentioned it on the car ride home, her tone however was iffy.

“Kotyonok, I never realized you’d thought about things like that. Truthfully I wasn’t sure if you wanted kids or not.” He smiled over at her, and she mirrored it. “That sounds like the perfect way to come home after a long day of work. To my wife and child!”

“I do, more so than I like to let on.” She chuckled, then let out a sigh. “When I was a little girl, I always thought, I wanna get married and be a mom. It sounds so cliche now. Then the older I got and all the stuff I went through made the want of it die down, or at least I thought. There was a time where I didn’t care when I got pregnant, now I want to be emotionally ready to have a child.” She gave him a small smile that he mirrored. “It feels nice to talk about this, our future.”

“It makes sense why you would hide the fact you want a family, military life isn’t kind.” He leaned over, placing a quick kiss upon her lips. “It does feel nice to talk about the future. The future I’m excited to have. However, kotyonok, I am more than willing to take this slow.”

“Good because we are.” They both laughed, then sighed. “I think it’ll be more worth it if we do take things slow. Just enjoy it being us before we add a little Senaviev into the family.”

“I agree, kotyonok! If I feel this happy waiting only 5 months for you, I wonder how happy I’ll be when you’re my wife and we’re welcoming our child into this world years from now.”

Alex smiled, grabbing Skylar’s hand and gently pulled her into a hug. She sighed in content, resting her head on his chest. Both of them content on where they were. However Skylar could tell something had shifted between them, she felt closer to him than before, like she no longer needed to hide behind a facade. Because deep down they both knew that one day they would be a family.

[ladiekatie]

So... i remember for this year’s sterek week, one of the promtps was role reversal where stiles is the one with a large family and Derek has a small family, and it made me thiiink....

this got super fucking long soooo more under the cut. 

Like, not only does Stiles have 6 brothers and sisters (for a total of 7 Stilinski children), but he’s a twin. at that he’s not even the oldest, he’s the smack-dab-in-the-middle Middle Child™ He shares his room with 3 of his brothers and is forced on the top bunk of his bed where his twin, Stuart, kicks him in the middle of the night. David and Cole don’t do shit to try and stop him because of the twins, Stiles is the youngest and somehow deserves the nightly punishment. Across the hall, his two sisters Dina and Penny share what used to be an office, and the baby, Yani, sleeps in the crib in their parents room. 

He and all his brothers look more or less like carbon copies of each other, and people swear he and Stuart are the same person if they are not standing in the room together. His mom will often call him by the wrong name, and his dad doesn’t even call out names anymore, probably too confused by the mass of clones running in and out of his peripheries. 

They’re crammed into this tiny house that his parents bought ages ago, and it’s practically bursting at its seams with teenagers and a whoopsie baby. They all go to the same school, because Irish Twins seem to run in their Polish family lines. Stiles, and to a lesser extent Stuart, just get lost in the fold of things. He gets into a lot of trouble, but never enough to make his parents seem to notice him. Another call the principal’s office is old news they don’t even bother to ground him for. 

Derek on the other hand, lives with his mom. Just his mom. His dad died before he was born on a military mission in south america. He’s easily the apple of his mother’s eye. an eye which she rarely takes off of him for more than a few moments. If he’s not at school or at baseball practice, he is with his mother. She holds a tight leash on him, not because she’s a helicopter mom, but because she has no idea what she would do if she lost him. 

Derek’s mom has a good job, so their house is big, bigger than anything they will ever need. He kind of hates it. It’s usually quiet, and there is nothing to do besides homework and watch tv. he doesn’t even have a video game system because his mother is convinced it will make him violent. Derek doesn’t really have friends, none that he’s allowed to hang out with outside of school at least. It’s kind of suffocating.... 

Then they meet. 

Stiles is left to walk to school because fucking Cole, Penny, and Stuart left with the car they all share while Stiles was still in the shower, then dad dropped Dina and David off while Stiles was eating. Mom was going in the other direction to drop Yani off at Daycare and didn’t want to waste gas by driving him to school. Forgotten again. Jesus, he feels like a real life Kevin McCallister. 

It’s one of the rare days when Derek’s mom can’t take him to school, so Derek gets to ask Boyd to come pick him up. Erica is riding shotgun and they all have coffee from Starbucks. They’re talking about the test that is coming up at the end of the week, worried that Mr. Harris is going to post dumb questions about shit they haven’t even covered like he did on the last exam when Derek sees on of the Stilinski’s walking. Derek asks Boyd to slow down, and he opens the window and yells, “Stilinski!” because there are so many of them crawling over that school it’s almost impossible to tell them apart. The Stilinski turns around, “need a ride?” Derek offers, because it’s winter now and it’s fucking cold and no one should have to walk to school on a morning like this. 

At first Stiles turns it down, because a) Derek hale is a good kid and is probably just doing this out of pity b) This is probably the only alone time Stiles will get for a while c) Stiles is pretty pissed at the hand he’s been dealt, and this walk is really letting him let go of some pent up steam. 

But... Derek’s smile looks genuine, so he huffs out a sigh and makes his way into the little car. And it flourishes from there. Derek and Stiles make fast friends, like weirdly fast. Somehow being picked up becomes a thing for them, even if it’s Derek’s mom who picks him up and takes him to school. This leads to Derek’s mom allowing Stiles to come over after school sometimes, and even... letting Derek go out on Friday nights after his baseball games. 

It doesn’t take long for his brother’s to start teasing him about his new friend, or even a few times his new BoooOOoooyyyYYYYFFfffrriiiiIiieeEEnnnnNNNDddDdd. all of which Stiles vehemently denies. The first time Derek comes over to Stiles’ house, it’s a nightmare. The doorway is jammed with shoes, and there is a naked toddler running around and yelling upstairs and a smoke alarm in the kitchen and the back door is open, when did they get a dog? why is there salsa spilled on the couch?! and Derek loves it. 

Of course John and Claudia are super nice and eager to meet Stiles’ friend ‘he’s never brought home a friend before’ and dinner is good, if not a little darker than it should be and Derek kind of can’t believe that people can live so messily and be so happy. Derek is jealous of Stiles’ fully and loving house. 

On the flip side, Stiles loooooves being at Derek’s house, because it’s quiet and dinner is made and ready and he doesn’t have to fight over the food on the table. There are no stray animals crawling through the door and no toddler yelling about not wanting to put pants on. 

One night, when Stiles and Derek are dancing on that line between “are we friends or something more?” Stiles admits that he kind of hates his family, this coming after his mother announces she’s having another baby. He says that he hates being one of a set, and how even between him and Stuart, Stuart always seems a little bit more important. He says that no matter what he does to distinguish himself from his brothers, he can’t seem to be different enough for anyone to notice, and then:

“I notice,” Derek says  they’re sitting on the hood of the car Stiles and his brother’s share. Stiles bargained cleaning the bathroom for a month to get it for the night. 

and then Stiles leans over and kisses Derek, and Derek lets him and that night Derek’s mom is not happy that they stayed out past curfew but she knew he was with Stiles so they were safe. Their sleepovers get a lot more explicit after that. Cole goes off to college the next year, but the number of kids doesn’t change at Michael is born. 

Sometimes Derek will stay over at Stiles’ house, though sharing the room with his twin brother, little brother, and a toddler doesn’t allow for much hanky panky. When they stay at Derek’s they get it on like the horny teenagers they are. (tbh it was a relief to all parents involved that there weren’t going to be any stilinski grandchildren coming from Stiles and Derek anytime soon so they allowed it(Cole was NOT happy about this development when he tried to bring his girlfriend home after senior prom)) 

Like... Stiles and Derek don’t want to be dramatic... but they’re going to get married someday. Derek is a year older than Stiles, so when he graduates, he stays to go to community college to wait for Stiles. It’s year and years down the road, and Derek and Stiles finally put rings on it and they’re sitting at their dinner table talking about life and stuff and Derek just kind of asks off the top of his head, “So like... do you want a big family? For us, I mean?” because they both have talked about having a family before and they knew it was something they were going to want, the size of that family was never discussed though. Especially considering that after Stiles left his parents house, his mom and dad kept the limit of 8 kids in the house for 5 more years. brings Stiles family up to 13 kids. (The sheriff finally got a vasectomy, which he announced on facebook shortly after the last stilinski was announced.)

The question gave stiles pause, because his parents house was a mad house for years and years but... they were happy and loved. Despite Stiles near crippling identity struggles all throughout his childhood, he enjoyed having a big family. He also knew that Derek craved family, he was an only child, and ad no cousins. Hell, their wedding was pretty much a Stilinski family reunion with Derek and his mom. Seriously, the Stilinski are like fucking rabbits, Stiles has 82 cousins. Eighty. Two. Cousins. Stiles just didn’t know how big of a family Derek wants. 

“Do you?” he asks in lieu of an answer. 

“I mean... a few kids would be nice but-” Derek stops pausing to feel out Stiles’ facial cues. 

 “A few like-?”

“Four?” Derek answers, very nervous.

“Oh thank god,” Stiles says relaxing into his chair, he hadn’t even realized he was doing that. “I thought you were going to say something like 8. I couldn’t do 8. My mother was a saint but I’m pretty sure she contemplated murder once or twice.” Derek stares at Stiles some more. This definitely wasn’t a deal breaker, they know adoption is a hard avenue to follow, but it’s just to get a general idea. Stiles cuts into Derek’s thoughts, “Stop over thinking it. Four sounds perfect.”

AND THEN THEY KISS AND ADOPT THREE KIDS BECAUSE TURNS OUT THREE IS ACTUALLY PERFECT AND THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER THE END.

[lotsofdogs]

Our Tuesday + Biggest Baby Product Flops

Hey, hey! What’s cookin’ with you guys today? I’m checking in this afternoon with a recap of our day yesterday. I managed to snap pics of the madness around here all day long so if day-in-the-life style posts with an emphasis on food, fitness and family are your jam, hop on board and join me on our crazy train!

Morning

My morning began at 4:30 a.m. when Ryder began crying from his crib. He usually sleeps in until around 7 a.m. but a leaky diaper had him up extra early, so I stripped his crib, nursed him and rocked him for a bit in his nursery and somehow he miraculously went back to sleep. Phew!

Once I had Ryder settled back down for the day, I headed downstairs and ate a muffin topped with almond butter and said goodbye to Ryan before he headed out to meet up with a friend for a workout before work. (My muffin was a sweet potato muffin that I made by following my recipe for Chase’s favorite whole wheat pumpkin muffins. I simply swapped canned pureed sweet potato for the pumpkin and they turned out great!) I used the rest of my kid-free pre-dawn morning time to respond to time-sensitive emails and schedule a handful of social media shares.

About 90 minutes later, Ryder was up for the day and I nursed him again and brought him downstairs to play in his activity jumper while I made myself a cup of coffee. I’ve been making a mix of decaf + regular caffeinated coffee lately and topped off my cup with some foamy coconut milk.

I much prefer coconut milk from a can to the coconut milk that comes in a carton because it’s 10 times creamier. I just store the remaining coconut milk in a mason jar to use throughout the week and it works like a charm.

Chase was up around 7 a.m. and Ryder joined me in Chase’s room where we eased into the day by reading some books before we all got dressed and headed back downstairs for breakfast. On the menu for the boys = Eggs scrambled in coconut oil, waffles and a banana, plus some puffs to keep Ryder occupied while Chase helped me make the eggs!

After breakfast, Chase entertained Ryder while I packed his lunch for school and loaded up the car. I did the whole preschool drop off + settling Ryder down for his morning nap routine before making myself an egg white oatmeal protein pancake and a smoothie for breakfast 2.0. (FYI, I’ve been adding a tablespoon of ground flaxseed to my egg white protein pancake recipe and think the pancake is even better that way!)

And yes, I forgot to flip my protein pancake on the stove top as I was making my smoothie, hence its less-than-desirable appearance. At least it still tasted good!

My smoothie, on the other hand, looked and tasted good. I added Califia Farms’ probiotic drinkable yogurt to the Daily Harvest dragon fruit smoothie base before blending everything up and loved every last sip!

I’m still ordering regular deliveries of Daily Harvest cups and while I generally opt for the Harvest Bowls over the smoothies (simply because smoothies aren’t all that hard for me to make on my own), I do thoroughly enjoy the smoothies made with ingredients I don’t usually have on hand like dragon fruit, acai and lychee. (The mint + cacao smoothie will forever be my favorite! I cannot for the life of me replicate it at home which drives me a little bananas since the ingredients aren’t all that unusual.) If you’re looking for Harvest Bowl recommendations, two of my favorites are the Butternut Squash + Chimichurri and the Cauliflower Rice + Pesto bowls. They’re both fantastic and I usually add chickpeas, leftover chicken thighs or shrimp the bowls to give them a little more staying power for lunch. And just a reminder, if you want to give Daily Harvest a try, you can use my affiliate code pbfingers and get three free cups on your next order!

I polished off my smoothie and protein pancake while I worked on the computer and Ryder slept. Ryder took a decent nap which was wonderful and allowed me to get a bunch of work done.  Once he was up, I nursed him and set him up in his high chair for a snack.

He’s into grabbing and tasting anything and everything these days so I used his curiosity to help me get through a little dinner prep. While I chopped veggies for a curry dish, I gave Ryder some leftover roasted broccoli and passed spoons, baby shakers and other toys his way to entertain him. It worked like a charm and I ended up having enough time to finish off the curry on the stove top before we had to leave for Chase’s preschool pickup.

  Afternoon

By the time we were home from school, Chase was ready for a snack so I re-plated some of the uneaten food from his lunch along with a muffin and we headed upstairs for “picnic + stories” before the boys’ naps. I really, really try my best to get Chase and Ryder’s afternoon naps to sync up and lately I’ve been lucky and get about 45 minutes of afternoon nap overlap which is fantastic. I used this time yesterday to complete a quick garage workout with the baby monitor in tow and it felt good to sweat a bit.

My workout for the day started with 10 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill and concluded with about 20 minutes of upper body strength training. I followed my Everything One Minute Upper Body Workout and completed the exercises while I streamed part of the latest episode of The Bachelor.

Once I was done with my workout, I had just enough time to take a speedy shower and scarf down leftovers for lunch before Chase was up.

In my bowl: Moroccan marinated tofu, black lentils, corn, roasted broccoli and roasted Brussels sprouts.

Chase was up from his nap first and not long after, Ryder joined the party. We hung out a home for a bit while the boys played and I did some laundry. I wanted to wash the lining of Ryder’s two Rock ‘n’ Plays so we could store them up in the attic and of course I couldn’t help but have a mom moment when I realized we officially have a baby who is too big for the Rock ‘n’ Play now. How did this happen!?

It also made me think about how much we LOVED our Rock ‘n’ Plays for both babies and how similar Chase and Ryder seem to be when it comes to their baby product preferences. They were both all about the Ollie Swaddle and Merlin Magic Sleep Suit for sleep and the Baby Einstein Activity Jumper is, without a doubt, Ryder’s favorite playtime jumper just like it was for Chase.

Unfortunately this means the stuff Chase didn’t like was also a big-time flop with Ryder. Let’s just say the 4Moms RockaRoo was my biggest waste of money for both boys and I actually ended up passing it along to my sister whose daughter thankfully loves it! This made me wonder if any of you out there with multiple children noticed the same thing. Did your kids have similar preferences or were they totally different? Also, I’m curious to know what baby products everyone else’s babies seemed to love that your little one just didn’t like at all? What baby stuff works varies so much baby to baby so it’s always interesting for me to hear about what works and doesn’t work for certain kids!

Eventually the afternoon sunshine outside called to us and I figured we all could benefit from some fresh air. I leashed Sadie up and loaded the boys in the double stroller and we headed out off on a walk around the neighborhood.

It’s back to rainy weather again today so I’m glad we took advantage of the gorgeous sunshine when we did yesterday. Afternoon walks are my favorite and I am feeling very, very ready for spring.

Evening

By the time we made it home, Ryan was on his way home from work and everyone was ready for dinner. I reheated the curry I made earlier in the day and we dug in!

After dinner, I settled Ryder down for the night while Ryan and Chase played downstairs and then I said goodbye to my boys before driving off to a local coffee shop to meet up with my small group. We’re almost done with our latest study (we’re doing the David study from Love God Greatly) and it was really nice to get together and chat over a hot mug of tea.

I made it home for the night around 9:30 p.m. and Ryan and I caught up for a bit while I made myself a cup of Four Sigmatic hot cacao topped with frothy whole milk before bed.

I spent some time reading my latest book, Along the Infinite Sea, the third book in the Schuyler Sisters series I’m loving, and read until my eyes could no longer stay open. And now we’re all caught up! I hope you guys are having a great week so far!

[Read More ...] https://www.pbfingers.com/our-tuesday-biggest-baby-product-flops/

[thedappleddragon]

ugh im big stupid and haven't been posting my shit here for a while. I've still been typing it out in my notes, I just havent transferred them onto here lol. im putting it all under the cut, don't worry

Today was pretty dang nice! I spent a little time outside because it was nice and warm out, I drew a little in my sketchbook and digitally rendered a picture of Anna’s new princess outfit, ran an errand with my mom to pick up a graphing calculator and a pack of soda, ate some Wendy’s, and did a lot of sewing for my dress! I joined the bodice lining and exterior, and did a little over half of the sewing for the skirt. I’m doing French seams so there’s no raw edges on the inside, so I still have to iron it and go over the second round of stitches. My machine malfunctioned for a moment with the thread tangling up in the lower bobbin thingy, so I left it alone for like an hour and it fixed itself lol. I’m very happy with how the bodice came out after clipping all the extra fabric in the corners and test fitting it. I think it’ll be great when it’s done!! Although I may or may not need to seam rip a little bit of the skirt to extend the zipper down so I can get it over my fuckin DUMPTRUCK when putting it on. Right now there’s enough stretch to put it on, but Idk how well that’ll stay after attaching the 2 pieces. Also it might end up making me look fat/preggo in the end with how the skirt lays lmao. I also did a really quick test fit with the sleeves, and I might actually like it better sleeveless? I’ll put one on anyway and go from there to see which I like better. HOORAY this dress has pockets!! But I may have put them a little low lol. I wanted to do a big dress debut at prom, but turns out graduates aren’t allowed due to covid restrictions :( so that really sucks. But we’re still gonna hang out a little bit beforehand, and I can still do a debut. I made a little bow out of some scrap dress fabric, which I want to put in my hair for pre-prom. I think I’ll braid my hair, maybe get some fake flowers from dollar tree and ribbon to add somehow, and put the ribbon either at the bottom or the top, wherever the hair tie eventually goes. I’m so exited to work on it more. I’m kinda running out of white thread tho so I’ll have to get more. Later in the evening i got hungry and made ramen while my dad and I watched a documentary on some of the horrible shit that went on all around the world during 2020, some of which I had forgotten about, some that was really surreal and out of a dystopian movie, and some stuff that was just upsetting to watch. It was still pretty good tho. I got work tomorrow and I’m really sleepy even tho it’s only 12:30 so I think I’m gonna grab a snack and go to sleep soon. Gnight mwah

Yesterday I worked and sewed until I ran out of thread and drew a little bit. Spent most of my shift watering flowers, then I went home and ate for a moment, then watered more and picked dead flowers and talked about avatar and other animated shows with the highschool girl I work with. Came home and hung out for a while, that evening made some good pasta. 

Today I justly hung out, then went with mom to pick up a bookshelf and went through strawtown which I thought was a very funny name for a town. There was a cute antique shop in there tho. On the way back we stopped in a sewing shop called Always in stitches. I expected it to be a very small shop, but it was SO much bigger than I thought it would be. They had tons of fabric and quilting supplies, and lots of old ladies working and talking. I picked up a cone of white thread and a fabric sample pack. Then I sewed my dress a little bit. I still have lots to do, and only like 2.5 days to do it. I’ll get there tho. All I have to do is add the skirt hem, add the pockets back in (I took them out so I could see them in normally), add sleeves and hem them, and add the zipper. And attach the skirt to the bodice. I think I’ll be able to do it. I had yogurt for the first time in forever today. Tbh I used just enough to hold together the strawberry and granola bits kgelgskgs. It was pretty good tho. I drew ELEVEN pages in my sketchbook, about 8 of them being a comic about the pony au of our royalty au. I could have done the comic with human characters but ponies are so much easier to draw aggsssdh. I spent 40 minutes typing out the dialogue and editing it on top of the rest of the comic so my friend could read it, but she still hasn’t read my text :( oh well that’s fine lol. The original plot was supposed to be Sam talking to an accidental illusion of me being mean about her blight, but then I accidentally made it something different. I might just draw the alternate ending instead. Update I just did

Yesterday I sewed and went to Menards to buy tile for moms bathroom.

Today was VERY productive, I feel like. I woke up and immediately took a shower and did laundry. I spent some one just sitting on my bed scrolling and researching while listening to medieval remixes of songs lol. At some point I went out to buy subway for everyone and stopped at dollar tree for nail polish and satin ribbon. I made the ribbon into a little choker and wanted to use it for the hem of the skirt, but I was too short. In total I spent HOURS hemming and pinning and seam ripping and ironing and sewing today, but it’s still not done. I gotta kick my ass into high gear if it’s gone be done by Sunday afternoon. I started sewing the bottom hem, but my machine has been doing this weird thing where the fabric scrunches up right past the sewing foot and leaves wrinkles and gathers so loose I can move it around with my hands easily. I think it’s just my tension being too tight or something, I adjusted it a bit and I’ll test it in the morning. I’m too tired and it’s too late at night to be doing that much sewing. I seam ripped the entire back skirt seam so I could extend the zipper a little further down, and I’ll sew it back up once the hem is done. After that all I need to donis connect the skirt to the bocice, fix the zipper, and hem the arm holes. I don’t want to use the sleeves I made because the edges don’t line up at all and I don’t think I would be able to lift my arms, the way it’s built. The nail polish I picked up works way better than I thought it would, leaving a pretty good metallic sheen after just one coat. Way better than I thought for a dollar. I helped mom lay down tile a little bit, ripping up one old tile and helping a bit at a time throughout the day. I kept asking if she wanted help with the actual tiling part but she said no. We also couldn’t get the fuckin box cutter I bought to work. It’s supposed to be easy to replace the blade, but we couldn’t figure it out lol. I’m falling asleep fun. Washed my face twice, trying to take good care of myself before prom so I look good in photos. Gotta wash hair tomorrow. Made hamburger meat

Spent all day sewing and listening to bardcore remixes. Dress is as done as I bother to make it rn

Tbh I was hoping for a little more for today. I’ve spent the last like week or longer working towards this, and going especially in depth the past 3 days. I got all silky smooth, worked for hours on my dress, thought about pretty much nothing except prom day. I was late because my dad had my neighbor come over to take pictures of me in my dress. I thought it was just going to be her holding my dad’s phone to get a picture of us together, but she brought her whole ass professional camera and spent several minutes taking pictures. Then I took the weirdest way possible to get to my friend’s house on accident because google maps said it was the fastest way to get there. But HEY when I did get there I enjoyed hanging out with my friends. We ate some dinner AND??? Sammie I’m sorry if you’re reading this but THE MASHED POTATOES?? WERE S O BLAND????? AFAJSTSTHJST ily but girl. Just a little salt could have gone a long way <3 the steak and especially the green bean casserole were good tho :) dinner was good with the sparkling juice and little desert. Overall everything was just very loud, but that’s to be expected when this is everyone’s first time seeing each other in a goddamn while: actually I think they’ve all seen each other at school without me but hey whatever. I think I fucked up my phone screen on accident by sitting on it while it was in my pocket with my keys, leaving a spiderweb crack in it. I checked and yeah it’s not just the screen protector :( eh I don’t care that much, It didn’t fuck up the lcd screen or anything. We went up to Sam’s room and hung out and talked while she did Liz’s makeup and took pictures, and I borrowed a little of her concealer before photos. There was a little photo shoot in their front yard, and looking at the photos I look a little fat in them but I LOVE all the photos taken in Sam’s room where we were all just hanging out. Idk why but whenever you have to do photos and they say to do a silly one, it never turns out good, but the fun ones you casually take always turn out way better. They’re more genuine :) but then it was time for everyone to go to prom and for me to go home 😔 we only hung out for like an hour and a half. I didn’t want to take off my dress, seeing as I put in so much effort to sew the whole dress and shave and look pretty, so I wore it around the house for a bit until I got tired and went to lay in bed. I watched the mitchels vs the machines, which is a fuckin DELIGHTFUL movie!! Everybody go watch it it’s so cute <3 I also played some Pokémon and watched a little YouTube in bed, but feeling unfulfilled and wanting to do something different, I just didn’t know what. So instead I started typing this up as my sister brought me a cupcake from prom :) I had a bite and put the rest in the fridge, since it was so big and in a plastic container. I texted a friend over Snapchat asking if they had fun at prom, and they said it was kinda ass. I tried relating and saying yeah all school dances are a little ass, and my friend group once had anti prom and played dnd instead, but they just said ‘that’s nice’ back and idk if that means they’re annoyed at me or they’re just tired and didn’t wanna text or what but :( idk. Either way it’s fine, right now all I care about is going to bed. Gnight I guess. Also I keep thinking about that textpost that’s like “diary of icarly” and she talks in these simple-ass sentences and now I feel self conscious about how I write these snafnfs. I already know I write like a child in these, but that’s just because I don’t wanna go through the effort of making this sound nice and professional every day lmao. So child writing it is. Also painted my nails really horribly and it took forever to clean up which made me late

Woke up, went to work, spent a little time stocking, watered indoor plants, then attempting to work the register, and organized plants the rest of the time. I stood behind one of my coworkers as she checked people out, kind of understanding what she was doing but not that much, and read the manual in down periods. She had me check out a couple people, and it was NERVE WRACKING AS HELL. Thankfully everyone was very nice, and my coworker stood by and helped, and right as I was getting my foothold, my boss called for me to work outside and bring in the new shipment of plants. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT WAS REALLY NICE?? I was actually able to help some people today!! :D I’m slowly getting better at my job which is nice :) originally I was only gonna work 4 hours, but there were more plants to get and I felt like I could keep going, so I ended up working 6 instead. Every time I come home from the end of my shift I feel bad for not working more and like I should have stayed longer. Tbh I think I could do it if I had a proper break! I’ve been doing 4 hour shifts with maybe a water break in the middle because i don’t know how to ask to go on break ;-; Ike my secondary boss in the garden center is super nice and approachable and friendly but the main boss is like. Terrifying. I never know when he’s joking or being serious and I don’t understand him and assffsfamms it SUCKS. But whatever, I went home and ate some Mac n cheese and laid in bed because my back hurt and played on my ds for the rest of the night. I tried a couple new games, none of which I spent very long on. I tried okami den where you’re the wolf puppy child of the precious games protagonist I think, and idk maybe I’ll give it a better try in the future, but I wasn’t feelin it. I spent like 30 minutes on a pro bass fishing simulator and couldn’t clear the first level because the fish wouldn’t get close enough to my boat lmao. Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games was fun until I lost at table tennis to Mario. I’d play it again. But I have work again tomorrow so I gotta go to bed good night. Having to blast my fan and play drawfee on my phone to drown out moms tv again >:(

Ate a pbj for breakfast? Went to work, moved plants around, took my lunch break, went to subway with an expired coupon, ate at home and times it perfectly so I could watch one section of the new drawfee episode, went back to work, made myself sad thinking about the god girl homunculus from fullmetal alchemist, picked dead flowers off the petunias, left a little early, hung out at home, left to go get mom’s medicine, found my dad at the store, followed him around and shopped for a bit, can home to unload everything, talked with him about buying one of the cars from him so it would be under mom’s insurance after the divorce, talked about being able to hang out at dads apparent after we help him move, ate some of the stuff we bought, and now I’m hanging out in bed again. I picked up my Pokémon black save and played a while today which was nice. I think I’m gonna work more in the next few days, be really busy with shit for like a week, and finally have a breather after the 15th. I really need to switch brain gears back into college stuff soon so I can sign up for orientation and figure out finances and shit, but for now it’s midnight and I don’t have to think about it lol

Today was pretty good, but also pretty boring. I played Pokémon all day since I didn’t have work, cooked some hamburger meat, and went on an errand for mom but got the wrong thing so I went out later to buy the right thing. I got spicy chicharrones instead of regular ones oops. On my drive back from getting the right thing, I rolled all my windows down and loved the feeling of driving around right after sunset when the weather was nice but cool, especially after standing in mom’s loud-ass room trying to ask about her bank card. I thought about going back out to aimlessly drive around the park and back, but instead hung out in my kitchen as my cat fell asleep on my lap. I think I’m gonna get paid tomorrow, so that’s exciting :D I probably made a solid couple hundred dollars if I had to guess. Idk what I’m getting paid per hour, but it’s probably ~$10 and I COULD go through my texts again to see how much I’ve worked, but I don’t really wanna lmao. I should just start putting that in my notes app instead...

Just had probably the most involved, longest dream ever?? It was a mix of infinity train and dangenrompa, we were mostly stuck inside my house, one boy left for years to search for supplies, I tried biking along a tail that disappeared into tree roots and a ditch with grass, cried because we had been in the same car for so long I was afraid they were gonna make us kill someone to get past, and at the end we escaped or something and had to fuck up security cameras and get past loopholes and lots of cereal boxes were involved? Idk there’s just so much I don’t remember. I wasn't sure if I had to go to work today, so I sent my boss a text and just kinda hung out. was making  hamburger meat for my mom when my boss called asking me to come in, so I took a shower and worked from 1-5. spent some time at the register, and got way better at checking stuff out :) I learned a couple things, and there was one old lady in particular who was very patient and nice to me while my coworker went to go find a smaller bag of birdseed. when it stopped being busy inside, I went ut to the garden center to help price plants and spent the rest of my shift out there. I got paid too! $9 an hour, 22 hours, $200 in total. hell yeah. not bad, although I literally have no frame of reference on if this Is good or not. after work I went home for a second, then got Hardee’s (or carls jr in the western states). I used a coupon for chicken tenders for me and my sister :) and while I was driving around today, I found myself wishing that everything in life could be as smooth and easy as driving my car through my neighborhood. and then I kinda laughed thinking about how I cried my first time driving on a major road asdjfasjdhf. but seriously I love driving my dad’s silver Volvo!! its so comfy with 4 wheel drive and good petal control, its like always driving on freshly paved roads <3 unfortunately that's the car my dad is taking when he moves into his apartment to use as his full time car instead of his shit-ass blue Volvo, and we’re gonna be stuck with the red Volvo with a really touchy gas pedal and slow break pedal. (idk if you've noticed but we really love old Volvos in this family. they’re all old and boxy as hell and I love em <3 ) then I played Pokemon black and beat the elite 4 and champion in one try with a lot of revives lmao. I was kinda underleveled, right at 48-50 range, same as them. I was angry about stuff and in pain earlier in the shower as I washed my hair, but I dont remember exactly what it was. now I have my soft Spotify playlist going so I can maybe go to sleep soon. oh wait I remember being angry that all I could thin about all day was work, even tho it only takes up a few hours of my day, and then I do nothing all day afterwards. idk it’s just weird.

[a-corndog-named-schibbs]

Hunk’s Date (re-uploaded)

So this fic is literally the same as the fic I posted last week.  Tumblr seems to be messing up the text of posts with the “read more” button on them so the only difference is that this post doesn’t have a “keep reading” link.  Other than that, it’s the exact same thing.  Hopefully, the text comes out ok.

Enjoy (again)!

Hunk thought this day would never come.  He can’t remember being this excited for something before.  Or this nervous.

He’s finally, finally going on a date with Shay.

That’s why his insides are currently doing flips.  Because Shay is one of the most amazing people he knows.  She deserves the most amazing date he can give her.  And dang it if he isn’t going to try!

After all, he took the time to polish his paladin armor (the closest thing he has to formalwear out here), buy flowers from the Earth shop at the space mall (sunflowers, just like the ones his mom grew in their garden back home), and scout out the perfect location on the Balmera to watch the sunset from (a breathtaking canyon on the southern hemisphere).

Currently, though, he just wishes the canyon wasn’t so far from where they’d parked the castle-ship.  It’s quite a walk and the last thing he wants is to be gross and sweaty by the time he meets Shay.

But then he spots her waiting for him by the rim of the canyon and all thoughts of sweat are gone from his mind.  He sprints the rest of the way.

Shay greets him with a big hug, lifting him off his feet and smiling from ear to ear.

“I’m glad you could make it.  You look very handsome.”

Hunk blushes, “Thanks!  You look great too.”  Shay’s dress looks brand new, a rare luxury among Balmerans.  Did she get it just for this date?

“I’m glad you could visit.  How are the others?” Shay asks.

“Oh, they’re doing great.”  To be honest, though, Hunk’s not sure how they’re doing.  He hasn’t seen Lance, Keith, or Pidge all afternoon.  Which is a shame because he was hoping they’d wish him luck for his date.  Oh well…

***

Meanwhile, from a nearby outcropping of rocks, Lance grumbles.

“You couldn’t have found us a closer hiding spot?”

“You see any other places nearby that provide cover?” says Keith, “This is the best we’re gonna get.”

“Guys, shush, I think they’re starting.” says Pidge, peeking out over the rocks and adjusting the pair of binoculars pressed to her face as she observes the couple meeting on the rim of the canyon.

“Five minutes each with the binoculars, okay Pidge?” says Keith, “No hogging.”

***

Shay’s got a blanket spread out, with several plates and a large pot full of something edible sitting on it.

“Aww, Shay, you didn’t have to bring food.”

“Allura said it was customary for humans to have dinner together on dates.” she gestures to the pot, “So I brought dinner.”

“Smells good.” says Hunk, “Uh…what is it?”

“Grandmother’s special cave beetle stew.” says Shay, clearly pleased with herself, “With a few improvements!  I used those spices you gave me from your last visit.”

Be strong, Hunk.  Be strong for your lady.  “I…I’m sure I’ll love it!” he pulls the bouquet out from behind his back and hands it to Shay, “I got you something too.”

Shay’s face lights up, “They’re lovely!  They’re the same color as your lion!”

***

“Sunflowers?” says Lance, “I would have gone with roses.  Stick to the classics, you know?”

“It’s not your date.” Keith points out, “He can get his girlfriend whatever flowers he wants.”

“Lance, you’ve had the binoculars for five minutes now.  It’s my turn.”

“Your watch is fast.  It’s been four minutes and you know it, Pidge.”

***

Despite Hunk’s fears, the stew is actually pretty good.  The texture’s a bit odd but the flavor is nice and savory and the spices really do give it the kick it needs.

“This is great,” he says, finishing off his plate, “My compliments to the chef!”

Shay perks up at the praise, “As good as earth food?”

“Better if you ask me.  Think your grandma will give me the recipe?”

“If you asked nicely.  Would you make it for your friends back at the castle?”

“Not just for my friends.  I’ve been thinking…once things settle down, I might open up a restaurant.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  I’ve found so much amazing cuisine from so many different planets while I’ve been out here…when I get back home, I’d like to start a restaurant.  Earth’s first pan-galactic restaurant!  And I’ll put your grandma’s stew at the top of the menu.”

Shay laughs, “That sounds wonderful.”

Hunk finds his stomach is doing complicated maneuvers and it has nothing to do with the cave bugs he just ate.  The sun is just beginning to set, bathing everything in a golden light, even Shay.  Especially Shay.  He can’t look away from her.

“Hey…Shay?”

She turns toward him, “Yes?”

“Can I…Is it okay if…if I give you a kiss?”

Shay tilts her head, “What is a kiss?”

Hunk rubs the back of his neck, “It’s, uh…it’s something we do on Earth when we…when we like someone.”

Shay smiles, “Well, I like you very much, Hunk.  So, yes, you may give me a kiss.  How do we do it?”

Hunk’s poor stomach is doing backflips, “Well…I can show you.”

***

“He’s leaning forward.” Keith adjusts the binoculars.  Suddenly, he gasps, “He’s going for it!  Guys, he’s going for it!”

“Gimme those!” Lance pulls the binoculars out of Keith’s hands and presses them to his face, “Oh my god, they’re lip-locking!  Pidge, look!”  He passes the binoculars over.

“He did it.  He actually did it.” Pidge cups her hands around her mouth, “Yeah, Hunk!  Smooch that rock!”

“Get some, big man!”

“Someone hose ‘em off!”

***

For a moment everything is perfect.  He’s kissing Shay and she’s quickly getting the hang of it and it’s so, so nice.  Then, in the distance, he can hear three distinct, recognizable voices.  Three voices making rather lewd comments.  He pulls away from Shay and glares in the direction of a nearby outcropping of rock.

“Did I do the kiss wrong?” Shay is frowning, confused.

“What?  Oh!  No, you were great!  There’s just…” Hunk stands, “Hang on one second.”

He leans down and scoops up a fist-sized rock, hauling back and chucking it at the outcropping.  There’s a thud, followed by a Lance-sounding “Ow!”

“Can a guy get a little privacy?”

Three heads poke up over the rocks.  “You’re doing great, Hunk!  Keep up the good work!”  That’s Pidge’s voice.

“What the heck are you guys even doing over there?”

The heads duck down for a moment to discuss, before one of them, Lance, calls out, “We’re your chaperones!  No hanky-panky!”

“I appreciate the concern.  Now can you please scram?”

The heads duck back down before three paladin-shaped figures emerge from the rocks and slink back in the direction of the castle.

Hunk shakes his head, laughing, “Sorry about that.  They’re just really excited that we’re finally going on this date.”

“Well, I’m glad they approve of us.” Shay pats the ground next to her, “Now sit back down.  I want to learn more about kissing.”

Hunk is more than happy to oblige.

[alicornalice-blog]

Guardians in the Dark Prologue: Once Upon a Light

Yeah, screw it, I’m posting the draft here. It has not been revised for grammar or anything yet. I’m just super pumped because this is the best it has been yet! After rewriting it, the third time is finally the charm I think. 

Minor abuse warning, very mild language.

Genres/Themes: fantasy, adventure, family, friendship, forgiveness, predetermined destiny cause who doesn’t want that.

Guardians in the Dark

Prologue: Once Upon a Light

     Her red converse squeaked against the polished ceramic tiles, muffled by the overwhelming sound of chatter in the crowded hallway. Colorful posters made by students promoting the homecoming dance, and other various school events were taped onto the white walls. Her long, black hair swayed with every step. Her emerald colored eyes observed the judging, or even pitiful glances of her peers. Occasionally, she could hear her peers talk about her, shameless to the fact that she would be standing a few feet away.

    “Isn’t that the downer girl from your chem class?” the blonde one muttered to her red haired friend.

    “Yeah, that’s Kana. She always works by herself, even when people offer to work with her. It’s really depressing” two girls said to each other.

    “I heard that she used to actually be friendly.”

    “Josh says he’s known her since elementary school, and that she used to have a sister.” Kana sent a scowl toward the two girls as she walked past. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her red jacket while she continued on her way to the last class in her schedule.

    “It’s been ten years, why are people still talking about it?” Kana thought spitefully. With her gaze cast downward, she bumped into someone with long, wavy brown hair.

    “Excuse me.” Kana mumbled anxiously, and tried to step around the girl. The brunette spun on her heel with her arm extended, pushing Kana back.

    “What do you think you’re doing?” the girl’s brown eyes narrowed at Kana. She placed her hand on her hip. The skirt of her green, orange, and white cheerleader uniform swayed with her every move.

    “I think I’m on my way to algebra.”

    “Really, now? That’s hilarious, because I think you’re on your way to getting on my last nerve.” sarcastic venom dripped from her voice. Kana shrugged her shoulders, and

    “Not that you really have much tolerance for anything, anyway.”

    “You’ve always been a brat.” the brunette scoffed.

    “You’ve always been a spoiled one.” Kana retorted with a glare.

    “Better be spoiled than be resented.” she said with a wicked smirk “Don’t forget that I am the queen of this school, and you’re a nobody sophomore.” Once she saw that Kana was not going to respond, and clearly irritated, she walked off pretentiously with her heels clicking on the tile. Her bouncy hair whipped around, nearly smacking Kana on the face. Once Kana noticed that everyone was staring in her direction, she decided to escape to her classroom.

    Class went on without any further drama. Kana had tried her best to focus, but ultimately submitted to daydreams. She had just left the school, and was walking home. Normally, Kana would ride the bus to the outskirts of the town; however, this day was special, and she wanted to stay away from home as long as possible. After sending a short text to her parents, writing that she would be home later than usual, she put in her earbuds. Kana paid no mind to the sight of multi-story buildings.

    She had made a few stops along the way. First was the public library, which was mostly empty aside from a few stray folk on the computers, and others getting lost in the pages of fiction. The first section Kana pondered through was the history aisle to find a novel for her book report. On her way out, the fantasy section had caught her eye. Kana ending up leaving  with two books to read through that day.

    Her second stop was an in-the-wall coffee shop. The wallpaper was black, but had a lovely touch of white detail. White furniture and splashes of soft violet decor helped brighten the cafe enough to make it comfortable. After ordering a small chai tea and a bagel, she sat down at one of the empty tables along the wall. Kana reached into her grey backpack, and pulled out the fantasy book. The hard cover was a deep  purple color, with white lines spiraling from a silhouette of a dragon  in the center. A white mist-like design covered its edges. The title, ‘Light of a Dragon’ was displayed along the bottom.

    “I’ll just read the first chapter, then go home.” Kana told herself, before flipping the short novel to the first page. As she read, Kana would take note on lines or settings that stood out to her in a paperback journal she kept with her. The journal held every creative idea she’s had from the past year. If anything gave the girl inspiration, it was writing. She’d write down every idea she had in hopes of being able to write her own book one day.

    Three chapters later, and then Kana decided she needed to leave once it was beginning to get dark outside. She tossed the books into her backpack, and ran out of the cafe. Not long after, she brought herself to a brisk pace.

    Twenty minutes had passed before she returned to her neighborhood. It looked like an outdated version of the heart of town. Most of the houses were single-story, and built in the 1960’s. The sidewalk was old with occasional weeds growing between the cracks. A small forest had made itself everyone’s backyard. Kana sprinted up the white painted steps to the porch. While fumbling to dig her keys out of her bag, the door swung open, and revealed a very unhappy father.

    “Get inside, now.” he demanded sternly, glowering down at his daughter as Kana scurried inside. On a usual day, when she rode the school bus, Kana would beat her father home. While he was out, she would watch TV game shows with her mom, Laura, while they tried to toss popcorn into their mouths. More often than not, Laura would end up with popcorn tangled in her wavy auburn hair. She genuinely enjoyed spending time with her mother; although, once the sound of a car door slamming shut reached their ears, Kana escaped to her bedroom, and pretended to study while her mother prepped dinner. Her father slammed the front door shut, causing Kana to break out of her memory and flinch in surprise.

    “H-Hey, Dad.” Kana turned to face him, and froze as her eyes met his furious brown ones.

    “Where have you been? Do you not realize what time it is?” he asked, first running his hand down his chin before gesturing angrily toward the wall clock. When Kana didn’t say anything right away, he shouted, “it’s past seven-thirty, Kana! Did you not notice it was dark outside?”

    “I went to the library, an-”

    “You spent four hours at the library?” he interrupted, adjusting his glasses in a frustrated manner. His tone implied he did not believe the girl.

    “I-I also went to a cafe.” Kana stuttered, gripping the strap of her backpack nervously.

    “You’re sixteen! What makes you think you can do what you want, and not bother to tell us?” he shouted. Kana gave him a look of bewilderment before pulling her cell phone from her pocket.

    “I-I did text you. I know I did.” she claimed, and cursed at her device upon seeing the ‘failed to send’ message along with many texts and attempted phone calls from her parents.

    “Are you calling me a liar?” he scowled.

    “No, I’m not. Look-” she tried to show her phone’s screen to her father, but he ignored anything she tried to explain.

    “I don’t want to hear your excuses, Kana.” Kana felt her blood boiling at her father’s constant interruptions. She clenched her teeth.

    “Well, it wouldn’t kill you to hear me out for once your life!” Kana yelled, and immediately felt a stinging sensation on her cheek as she fell to the floor. In that instant it had felt like time stopped. Kana was on the floor, trying to process the fact that her father had just slapped her across the face. Her mother gasped, and ran over to them.

    “What are you doing?” her mother questioned, sounding shocked and concerned.

    “She’s gotten way out of line with far too much freedom. Hana wouldn’t pull this crap on us.” her father remarked “At the rate you’re going, you will always be a disappointment to me.” Kana refused to meet his hateful gaze. She brought herself to her feet, and ran out the door without a word.

    “Kana, wait!” she heard her mother call. Tears began to well up in her green eyes.

    “Don’t waste your breath, she’s worthless!” her father shouted, intending for Kana to hear as she ran away into the dark forest.

    With the moon as her only natural light source, Kana was forced to use her phone’s flashlight feature to find her way around. She had never ventured so deep into the woods before; therefore, never realized how thick the forest really was. Leaves of warm colors began to scatter over the ground. The air was chilly, as a breeze cut through her lightweight hoodie. Kana pulled the zipper all the way up, and tucked her hands into the soft pockets.

    “What am I doing?” she thought sadly “I have nowhere to go.” it was then that a droplet of water struck her on the nose, then the cheek, and so forth. Soon the rain began to fall. Mud stuck itself onto her legs and shoes as she ran through the forest in search of shelter. Her hair and clothes quickly got soaked before she found refuge inside of a damp, mossy cave.

    “Of course it started raining.” she complained aloud. Kana sat along the stone cave wall, bringing her knees to her chest. The girl sulked for a few minutes, debating what to do now that she had nowhere to go. The only sound aside from her sniffling was the current rainstorm. Another chilling gust blew by, causing her to shiver. Kana began digging through her backpack for a red lighter she kept on hand. There was no hope for firewood that late into the rainstorm, so she also pulled out some of her notebooks, and placed them on a dry piece of ground. After struggling to get the lighter to ignite, she set fire to them. The tiny flame flickered for only a few minute, filling Kana with a tiny bit of pride before dying out. This left the girl with a very small disappointing pile of ashes.

    “Damn it!” she cursed, throwing her head back as she groaned in frustration. Kana rested her back against the wall once again, and closed her eyes. She had tried taking deep breaths to calm herself, but nothing was relieving her of her stress. She was carrying no more than $28 in her wallet. She couldn’t go anywhere, afford anywhere, and had no one to go to. Then her phone vibrated in her hand, signalling that a text had just come through. Kana only glanced at the screen long enough to see it was her mother. More than likely, she was either asking where Kana was, or to come home. She looked at the screen sadly before tucking it away into the abyss of her backpack. Kana’s head had fallen into her hands.

    “I really should have been the one.” she thought pessimistically “Hana could have been so much more than I can ever be.” it was then that a light began to glow deep within the cave. It was a dim, yellow light, but it caught Kana’s attention enough to bring her to her feet. She was like a moth being guided toward a flame. Whatever was waiting at the end of the tunnel could have been one of two things: something that would help, or something that would harm her.

    At the very end of the cave lied something Kana was not expecting. A pair of katanas within black wooden sheaths rested on the ground, glowing softly in the darkness of the mossy cave. Along the side of the sheaths, carved and white in color was Japanese kanji.

    “How typical.” Kana commented. She knelt beside the glowing swords to observe them more closely, and had tried to read what was written, but could only make out the words ‘light’ and ‘dark’. Curiosity had gotten to her, so she reached for one of the swords. The moment her hand came into contact with the sheath, Kana was surrounded by a yellow light, and an indescribable feeling took over her. The girl couldn’t help but scream in terror. It was a painful experience, yet it also filled her with a strange warm feeling. Once Kana believed that this experience may be her last, she submitted to the unexplainable light, and let her vision fade to darkness.

[ulfwolf]

Spring

Spring was hard. The hardest. For this late in his life spring brought so many earlier springs to also touch him—a rush of them, each with a voice clearer than the next. Each singing faintly of promise, of rebirth, and not so faintly of fragrant and sunny mornings just above freezing but warming, warming, warming as the sun climbed well above the farmer’s barn, huge and dark up there on the hill to the east.

And in her tow, as she spread herself upon the northern earth: melting snow, dripping icicles, the expanse of fields gradually yielding their ocean of snow to the ever-hungry brightening sky. Insatiable for snow this sky, this sun, every spring long into April, sometimes even May. Snow lingering, appetite waning by then.

Not so warm this morning, though, and no sun, not yet, not here, not now. Warmer then—so many thens ago.

He was sitting by the window, wrapped in two, nay three blankets, though still shivering a little from the cold. Yes, he could turn up the thermostat but there was the question of electrical bills, and he was trying to keep them within payable reason; blankets, no matter how many you piled on, did not come with a monthly bill.

There was frost on the windows this morning—that breathtaking pattern of frozen water crystals, ever different, ever magnificent. Like a wide, pale landscape, drawn by God’s hand, he thought. He lost himself in it until the now rising sun took her jealous hand to the icy masterpieces and melted them out.

April had arrived and it should be warmer. In a few days, they had said on the radio, warm air bellowing up from the south. A ways off yet, they said, leaving Germany as we speak.

The surrounding fields were both white (with snow) and green and yellow (with new and old grass) and many birds were flying to and fro busy doing their many bird things. He shivered again and thought briefly about lighting a fire, but the project seemed too daunting to him, what with the stiffness here and there and what with the little pains that came and then didn’t go some of them. Perhaps another blanket.

The boards of the hardwood floor were hundred-year old birch, and they were a foot or more wide. Well-polished. Well walked. Home to many, many memories, most of them happy. This room had hosted many a Christmas, the tree usually set up in the very corner he now sat huddled in, looking out at April.

Yes, Christmas. By the time Christmas Eve arrived, Lisbet, a wonder-cook and wonder-baker, had been at it for weeks making candy and piling up one host of cookies after another. Yes, every December, starting mid-month or so, her please-stay-out-of kitchen became a pleasure factory, brimming not only with smells and rising dough, but with his mother singing for the sheer joy of being so incredibly good at baking.

So many, many thens ago.

He sees a fox crossing the field, keeping to the grassy parts, loathed to leave tracks in the snow even if they’ll melt away soon enough. He wonders where he’s going. Does not appear to be in any hurry. Not running away, not running at all. Just strolling (and so very gracefully) toward something or someone, looking up and around every now and then just to make sure he’s not being followed, hunted.

He almost ducked beneath the window sill to make sure the fox could not see him but then realized that no one could see him sitting behind a glass pane reflecting the sun. Fox, cat, bird, didn’t matter.

One summer evening, the same master-baker Lisbet-Mother brought home a fox cub. Small he was and very afraid.

Yes, she told my dad, she meant to keep it.

Where?

In the fox den.

Where?

So, she showed him the old, wooden chicken coop that she had altered, the better to suit the little canine life.

There?

Yes.

My dad shook his head. There was no arguing with Lisbet. So now we had a pet fox.

The April fox in the field still strolling without a care, looking like he enjoyed the season very much, stopping now and then to sniff the air, and—he thought to himself—smile.

The pet fox was a different story, and he had often wondered what had happened to this poor fox, or not really what, but how, and how badly, and now he wondered again.

For a few days after the fox arrived, Lisbet brought the (still frightened) little cub with her to friends who had a cottage by a beautiful lake a few miles inland. They had invited us to dinner and asked to see the fox, if she wouldn’t mind bringing him, and she, of course, had acquiesced.

To make sure the fox would not run away she had made (or bought) a small leather harness, to which she would attach a leash (for walking) or a longer rope, for securing, say, to a tree.

So, my dad drove us all (me, Mom, Dad, Sis One, Sis Two and fox) to the beautiful lake and their lakeside summer cottage. We all piled out, and fox took center stage. Lots of oohs and aahs and after them all she secured the little guy to a nearby tree while we all sat down to dinner.

Dinner done and dishes carried back into the house we went to check on the fox: no fox.

The rope was still attached to the tree, but the snap hook had broken, part of it still on the ground where the fox should have been.

Lisbet was beside herself, distraught first from losing her fox, and then, once someone, I think it was my dad, reminded her that he must still be wearing his little harness, and as his fate rose with ugly consequence and grew extremely real for her, ten times worse from killing her fox, slowly and painfully as he grew into and beyond the small harness that would in the end strangle or choke him to death. There was no ridding himself of that far-too-small constraint once he began to grow.

Unless they could find him.

He did not often see his mother cry, but now there was no holding back the tears.

Yes, of course, all of us at the dinner spent the next few hours searching for the frightened little thing—who, equally of course, did his best not to be found. So: no fox, and my mother started crying again.

That image had haunted him for years and was now back in full force, his master-baker Mother crying with the pain of the constricted, dying fox.

Now there was no frost left on the window and the icicles drip-drip-dripped almost into a small waterfall.

Lisbet eventually went by the way of the fox. Not in a harness, of course, but harnessed by memories. She lived her last years all regressed into the young girl who’d milk cows and carry firewood and help her mother and aunt keep the house clean.

He visited her one morning at the home. She was in bed, turned against the wall.

“What are you doing?” he asked

“Tending the cows,” she answered. “Cleaning up after them, and keeping the dung for spring fertilizer. We have three cows,” she added. “They all know me. They come when I call.”

Then she looks up at me and recognizes me. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Yes, Mom.”

A few days later, at lunch, she said something nobody really caught and fell over. Dead, the doctor guessed, before she hit the floor.

She was about as old then as he is now.

Some days he wishes that he had not bought this old house, his childhood home. But it had come up for sale just as he had cashed out and retired with a handsome chuck of cash. He could afford to buy it outright.

And did. Sis One and Sis Two urging him to. And his mostly happy memories.

But when you’re alone among the floorboards and windows of a lively and on the whole wonderful childhood twenty-four seven, memories play tricks on you and you’re slowly going by way of your mother into living more and more in the more and more vivid past.

People his age are dying off.

His first girlfriend, dead for many years now. Well, she was a smoker and probably a heavy drinker, too. But she went in her fifties.

Still, it is very chilling when people you once made love to are dead.

There is something acutely illogical about that, terrifying really. He didn’t get to see her, although he tried, before she passed.

His old grade school teacher, he still remembers her name, dead now.

Boyhood friends with triple bypasses and on the brink now.

School mates with cancer.

The reaper running amok among his happier days.

These days the mailman comes all the way to his house. Back then, he had to bicycle the quarter or so mile to the row of mailboxes at the crossing to collect. He assumes that the post office knows about his age, and, of course, the road from the nearby farmer to his cottage is now much improved, and also kept clear of snow in the winter, so, yes, they deliver his mail right to the door these days.

No mail today, though. Should have been here by now.

His two younger sisters (One and Two) are both alive. Neither lives too far away. Both urging him to get a dog to keep him company. He steadfastly refuses. Yes, it would be nice, sometimes, to have someone to talk to and to lick your fingers, but the upkeep, the upkeep. He shakes his head. No, he’s lived his entire single life (since his twenty-plus-years-ago divorce) canine and worry free.

He looks out again to see if the fox is still on the move, but no fox there now. Gone to wherever he was going, or at least off-stage.

By now he should be hungry, but he’s not. He wishes Lisbet would show up and commandeer the kitchen again. That would get him eating properly again.

It’s warmer now, and he sheds one, nay two blankets. The sun is climbing steadily into an almost cloudless sky. May is not far off. This is a beautiful spring after all.

(c) Wolfstuff

http://wolfstuff.com/aod-intro

[gabbylight]

Day 10 and 11?

Nothing much happened to be honest on Day 10 besides hanging out and going back to Woodfield Mall like the third time in a week haha. She literally told me I need to broaden my fashion sense, she isn’t wrong so we shop both of our clothes and gave me some advice. And she even pulled out a picture of an example of how I should dress. And she even paid a set for me to wear for next time or for another girl. LOL and after that we went to star bucks AGAIN and went to Barnes and Noble to talk about her books. I actually enjoy talking about books with her, sure manga is a thing but maaan.

It was late by the time we left so I went to her place again and just chilled, she was working on her Uni project again while I had to fix some of the stuff in her apartment. There were things that needed attention Like her damn faucet and her refrigerator since the light in one area isn’t turning on. I guess after two hours I used her shower to clean myself from the dirt. And then we just talked, teaching me some polish and telling her about the situation in Iran which she stopped me. Which I was glad, sure I was irritated but my War stuff needs to go. I read more again on the Kindle I brought and After that we watched a movie, John Wick and my god I had to control my orgasm when they talked about the specifications on the weapons or when they show case wash of the weapons. So yeah we talked more, telling me more about herself and I returned the favor. And idk what’s up with girls but whenever I tell them my hip is sceewes everyone’s wants to hit it.

We talked till 7 am and she finally knocked out, I slept in the floor this time because well I don’t think it’s right to do so. I literally woke up at 4pm and realize where I was and my god my mom was asking where I was hahaha. I stayed for another 3 hours and helped around her apartment. Had to reorganize her room, it’s not messy but my extreme OCD kicked in. Ever since I put my books back in my shelf and cleaned my room again, everything has to be organize from the tallest books and everything has to be dusted and organized. So I did that to her stuff... well to her 10 books... I put the pens and pencils in their own cup. Reorganize her kitchen, replace a bulb on a stove, fixed a noisy chair, had to help change her damn car oil and even teach her. And then I had to deal with her annoying white dog as she finishes her last portion of the essay. WTF hahaha. And I even helped her carry her laundry since idk why but her laundry needs to be done. Am I being nice? Noooo my OCD RANDOMLH APPEARED KNG

And what’s my payment? A hug and a 10 minute cuddle with these polish pastries in my stomach and . That 10 minute cuddle became a nap hahah.

Day 11 which is Wednesday I believe

Ehhh it was annoying my ex texted me since I misunderstood her text. Remind you that this was when she said she said didn’t love me anymore and my understanding in things have became very mediocre and I was distraught after learning for the last 6 months she hated ne. So yeah we argued again nothing new, probably shouldn’t have messaged her from her Friday message but it’s whatever. Bet her parents don’t know how she talks to me, that’s fine now. But do you know what’s cool? She lied to everyone that she doesn’t look at my stuff anymore. So how did you know the person I’ve been hanging out wit is Dom? I never mentioned her name nor even describe her. There’s only one way yiy could of knkw. And it’s by going on my post, a post that made 11 hours ago. And please stop saying I liked Dom. I hated her like I how I hated Edith, I don’t have feelings for her nor had any ideas of dating her when we were dating. If I liked dom, I would be the one ending it. And I’ll be ending it before I flew to NYC twice.

She’s a nice person, a strong personality but not like yours and the difference is that she’s very soft and actually cares. But Would I date her Lia? No at this point of my life, no. There’s to much history with you and her and it connects. I just want her to be my friend and hang out and so far I’m having fun. But if you’re reading this, I didn’t have sex with her. We got intimate but never had sex, I have more restraint than yiy.

Other than that and coming home late from her house, we celebrated my moms birthday and it was nice. I missed all of this, I may dislike my parents but I missed talking to them in a sense. We had dinner in Chili despite the cold weather. Went to Best Buy and had a laugh with Jennifer. After that, we ACTUALLY WENT TO A SHELTER. IDK WHY BUT OMG OMG. I hope it’s a rescue doggo. One other good thing I learned my ex, always adopt the rescue doggos they deserved the extra love. We were there for 29 so minutes and they were discussing something. After that we went hkme and played League, I played rank and I climbed over 4 people even though the season is over haha.

Here’s the shitty part, we have two appointments today. One for my health and my hip and one for my mom. Since lately my hip has been hurting me a lot and I’m sure what’s causing it. Lol we are going to see what’s up and after that LOTR with Connor and her. Pretty stoked and scared

[cbpcommunity-blog]

“Hi Mina, my name is Harriet. I love Jesus and I am a Christian. History tells us that the man we both love, Jesus, is the same person. To me, as a Christian, He is the Son of God. To you, he is a Prophet.”

This was my Comment to a post on LinkedIn Group some time ago. The facilitator’s post asked the question that day, ‘why do you love Jesus and what does He mean to you?’ (paraphrase).

Social Media enabled me to ‘talk’ with someone half-way around the world.  In an instant I was able to meet someone new and share with them that I love Jesus too.  I like this.

You and I can talk, share ideas/collaborate with each other, and be an Agent of Change – not only in social media, but also in-person, as a part of a local collaborative community.

My comment was intended for a young woman, living in Iran, who had just posted a comment to the facilitator’s post. I was eating lunch at my desk that day, reading through articles and comments posted by my LinkedIn connections.

She posted a comment that said, “Hi, my name is Mina. I love Jesus too, and I am Muslim.” (Mina is not her real name.)

I caught my breath, then quickly wrote and posted my above ‘introduction’ to her. I wanted to get to know her – how brave she is, I thought, to post her comment in a public forum, especially an open public Christian forum.  I think about her some times. I wonder where she lives, what her home looks like, what her family life is like, what is her typical day. What does she love about this man, Jesus? How wonderful it would be to share together our personal stories of Jesus. I was fascinated with this young woman and wanted to get to know her.

Daily, we have these same opportunities within our own Communities.  We cross paths with someone from a different culture. Someone who knows Jesus, and loves Him too - perhaps in a different way than you do.

They also write songs, author books, make films and dance to music about Jesus, just like I do.

I didn’t have the opportunity to 'talk' with Mina again.  I was disappointed. Everyday, I see someone in Los Angeles that reminds me of my brief encounter with Mina, and it makes me want to get to know each one of them and ask them the questions I wanted to ask Mina, but didn't have the chance to do so.

My fascination with this isn’t something new, I must admit. My interest in what other people and places are like began with one of my Father’s business colleagues, an insurance underwriter. My Dad was President of an Insurance Company, whose lines of business were Commercial Fire, Property and Casualty coverage (second career was Owner of a Commercial Real Estate business and President of the Charlotte Board of Realtors). This particular colleague was a world traveler that frequented our dinner table with wonderful stories of where he had been and what he had seen. Dad would call Mom about 4:00 in the afternoon and ask her to set an extra place at the dinner table for his friend.  And, he always sat next to me, which made the evening very special.

I would help Mom set the table, arrange the flowers, and prepare the dinner. I knew he must be special because we used the embroidered linen table cloth and napkins that took an hour to iron, along with the good china, sterling flatware that I polished until it gleamed, and crystal I washed so that it sparkled. The dinner always included a Rum Chess Pie for desert – it was the traveling underwriter’s favorite. Mom saved an extra piece for him in the kitchen, as he invariably would say, ‘your chess pie is so good that I am afraid I’m going to scrape the flowers off of your china trying to get that last bite.’ That was Mom’s cue to offer him the second piece of pie she had saved, which he always accepted with a smile.

From an early age, I intently listened, trying to imagine, as he recounted colorful exciting stories of the adventures he had, far away places he visited and people he had met on his latest voyage. He started a stamp collection for me, and with each visit he brought me new stamps from his most recent adventure to add to the collection. Some had pictures of elephants, people with strange faces and hats, buildings that were bright and bold in color – and each stamp came with its own story.

So, my interest in other people and places around the world was a natural curiosity, encouraged by my family and their friends to learn about the world that I hadn’t yet seen.  Today I no longer have to imagine — you and I can share our worlds personally, with each other, through local collaborative communities.

Growing up in the Southeastern part of the United States our family attended a protestant church in the community. The church was supportive of world missions and from an early age I learned about missionaries who shared the story of Jesus, and His love, to people everywhere. One of the families in our church, and friends of my parents, was the Grady Wilson family. Grady Wilson was a member of the Billy Graham Crusade team and worked with Rev. Graham throughout his career, until his death. Mrs. Wilson was a childhood friend of Ruth Graham, their parents were both missionaries in China. In sixth grade I was assigned a project on China for Social Studies class.

Mom and I stopped by the Wilson’s house, where Mrs. Wilson gathered together some of her keepsakes from China for me to borrow and display with my project. I loved listening to the stories she shared about the history of the pieces she had chosen for me to use as part of my project. Stories about what her life was like, what the Chinese people were like. I also wore one of her traditional Chinese costumes on the day that I delivered my project to the class. Thanks to Mrs. Wilson I definitely had the most authentic project –

Today I would expand my report  – by becoming personally acquainted with a Chinese family. Learn about their culture, religion, food and education as a part of my presentation. I don't need to travel to China and live in the culture in order to learn about it.  Here in Los Angeles, I can go to China Town, or my neighbors, for the same experience that Mrs. Wilson had as a girl.

Just like seeing a photograph, listening to music, viewing a painting, reading a translated piece of literature and watching a dance performance - anyone – anywhere – speaking any language can enjoy an artistic work – and find that it creates in you a new energy that makes you want to get up and shout, dance and sing! It makes you smile and gives you an urge to share that happiness and burst of energy with someone else!

Today we build relationships through local community activities in ethnic urban areas, Foodie groups, cultural performing arts groups, Chorales, Instrumental groups, Meet Ups, and collaborating to develop new works of art in the Choir Boy Productions community in Los Angeles.

In the short time that I have been in Los Angeles I have been privileged to hear; Los Angeles Balalaika Orchestra, Los Angeles County Professionals Indian Hindi dancing and the Towne Singers, all in memorable performances.  And, I can't wait to experience more of the treasures that are here.

Choir Boy Productions' faith-based collaborative community enables us to establish, and share, multi-cultural relationships, based on Jesus, with everyone in our community, letting everyone see the generous qualities of our relationships. CBP also enables us to collaborate in these new relationships to develop new faith-based works of art – and continue to build on these relationships to develop networks.

I love Jesus — just like so many of you do. He is my Savior, the Son of God – I am a Christian. So, when I blog about the Jesus that I love, it is from a Christian’s perspective.

I am excited that now I have an opportunity to collaborate with you to share Jesus, and who He is to you, through the faith-based media of Choir Boy Productions, all in our local community.

I invite you to contact me with your stories about the Jesus that you love and what He means to you. I want to hear your story of how Jesus touches your heart and influences your life. Tell me about your unforgettable Jesus experiences.  Choir Boy Productions may video you telling us your story and post it on the website.

Then let’s get your stories into the local Choir Boy Productions collaborative community and make music, art, books, dance and films.  Let's celebrate the joy of knowing Jesus.

As you know, history tells us that the Jesus we all love is the same man. Christianity, Judaism, Hindi and Muslim are religions that all recognize Jesus as a man held in high esteem, and with great reverence.  I will focus more on this topic in future blogs.

I hope that you will share with me your stories about the Jesus that you love.  I look forward to reading each one of them.

Through Choir Boy Productions these stories can be shared on our website, or in the community, through; video, music, dance, painting, books, poetry, film, seminars and theater.

Until next time…

http://blog.choirboyproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Hindi-Dance.mp4?_=1