#what the heck happened in 7th year

[sunkissesforzeus]

Ocean Spells & Chrysalid Shells WIP (31 chapters out)

Chapter 6: A Heart So Still

As they made their way to the top of the stairs, and alighted onto the corridor, other eerie peculiarities became apparent. The portraits were less lively than usual. The subjects were all sat in their assigned frames, quiet and unassuming, eyeing them warily from their painted positions. It was normal to see this illustrative community piling from one portrait to the next, like bees swarming in herds, the gossip was their honey, the revels, and parties their hive.

[pineapplefulfillseveryneed]

Additional info:

2. this was published as news on Sparks' website:

3. Alvin and the Chipmunks

4. Everyone has seen it, but anyway. The Russia Today Report video.

6. When I'm Sixty-Four (Bonus videos: you may also enjoy this version performed by Russell and the band Baby Lemonade and this performance of All You Need Is Love where Russell shares the stage with Jarvis Cocker and The Residents, among others.)

[Edit: dangit I forgot an option. Sparks also joined Facebook in 2007.]

[eye4katz]

She likes a boy, and I'm not a boy || Daniela Avanzini

Pairings: D. A. x KATSEYE 7th Member Fem!Reader

Genre: fluff and slight angst

Content Warning: light cursing, mixed signals 🥶, unrequited (?), indenial!reader, possible slowburn

Synopsis: Being in a global pop group was already a dream come true, but getting close to someone you once admired from afar was the last thing you expected. All moments with her feels warm and platonic, until a member's teasing lead to a realization that Cupid already pierced your heart long ago. Does it hurt because you're falling for her? Or because you know that you're not a man?

part 2

It has been a year since Y/N joined Dream Academy and became a part of KATSEYE.

While she was a trainee and was a contestant on the show, she immediately caught Daniela Avanzini's presence. The girl was often quiet around Dani, too shy to blurt out words towards her.

Soon after the final line-up was announced, Dani and Y/N got surprisingly close with each other. Daniela would hug her from behind, kiss her cheeks every time she had a chance, and—of course—shower her with compliments.

Daniela can't sleep without cuddling her plushies, and that's a fact. So, Y/N just became her own human plushie.

Y/N, being Y/N, didn't know how to respond to that. Instead, she just reciprocates all the actions Dani did.

They would cuddle at night and let out a soft sigh in their sleep, contented at each other's presence. Or, if they can't make their way to dreamland, they would just stay up late to talk about random experiences—still while cuddling.

Y/N thought it was a normal thing that friends would do, not until Manon's gaydar made her think twice.

"You two seem like a couple," Manon whispered to Y/N as they took a couple of minutes' break from their choreo practice.

"The heck?" Y/N's head turned toward the older woman. Confusion was painted on her face.

Manon laughed slightly at the expected reaction. "Oh, you know. You've been staring at her like you two are already married."

"E-eh?! I'm not staring at Dani!" Y/N exclaimed quietly.

"I did not say a name~"

"But you're implying it!!"

Manon couldn't help but laugh at Y/N again, amused at her flushed face just from her teasing. "You can't fool me. It's obvious that you like her."

The other woman groaned. "Oh please, even if I like her, she's straight. Lara literally helps Dani compose break-up texts, and guess what? None of those messages went to a girl!"

She couldn't help but sigh. "She's straight, you know."

"No, I don't know that. We don't know that! She hasn't even confirmed or said she was straight!"

The younger member couldn't help but groan again. "She literally uses the 'Tears of Joy' emoji (😂) as an indication of something funny instead of the crying one! No sapphic—or any wuhluhwuh person would use that!

"Okay. Well, if she's straight, so is spaghetti—"

The Swiss woman got interrupted by her member, knowing the golden quote people used to flirt with straight gals. "Oh, please! Keep it PG!"

Manon couldn't help but laugh. She then turned serious and a little soft minutes after.

"Why not take a risk? In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take."

Y/N just shrugged. "It's not like I have a crush on her to even take this invisible chance."

"Denial is a river in Egypt!" were the words from the older woman, making Y/N glare at her.

Manon just sighed, turning serious again, not wanting to put pressure on the younger member. "Okay, okay. Sorry."

"But if something happens, I'm always here for you," she added as she gave the younger one a good squeeze on her shoulder. This made Y/N's heart lighter.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

A week later, four of the girls: Manon, Dani, Y/N, and Lara were in the middle of their livestream. A bunch of banter, teasing, and laughter could be heard inside Danon’s room.

Lara and Manon were lying on their stomachs as they watched the comments fly across the screen, sandwiching Y/N, who was also in the same position as them.

Dani was trying to get herself into the camera frame, grunting as she shifted on top of Y/N’s back and sat there.

Lara noticed this and laughed softly. “Omg, Y/N’s back is so strong.”

Manon looked at the two, smirking teasingly, which is something Y/N immediately caught.

“Am not.” Y/N just shrugged off Lara’s statement.

“She’s used to being under Dani every night. That's a no wonder,” the Swiss woman rebutted.

The other three gasped before scolding her.

“You’re gonna make me have a scandal, Manon!” Y/N exclaimed.

“I’m straight, guys, chill!” The Latina laughed a little too loudly for Y/N’s liking.

The room went slightly silent. Manon, being the eldest and the one who was aware of her member’s feelings, noticed Y/N’s change in energy. She took the initiative to break the uncomfortable tension.

“Congrats, Dani! Congrats on coming out straight!” she said. Lara also joined the teasing, making Daniela laugh.

Y/N didn’t want to look like it affected her. Thus, she went in on the joke with her members.

After about two hours, they finally ended their live.

“Dayum, my vocal cords feel like they’re gonna rip out every time I speak,” Manon said before letting out the most diabolical cough a human had ever heard.

Y/N then barked out laughing, still not over the chaos they caused during the livestream. “Babes, you kept bantering with Lara and the eyekons.”

“WELL, THEY KEPT SAYING I LOOK LIKE ELPHABA AND GLINDA’S LOVE CHILD!”

“BAE, IT’S A COMPLIMENT—”

Lara just watched the scene unfold before her eyes, laughing at the two women’s banter. She might literally develop abs just from laughing so hard at them.

Dani, sitting on the edge of the bed, was somehow lost in her phone. She grinned at the screen as she typed, perhaps constructing a message—until the words that came out of Y/N’s mouth made her look up.

“Nuh-uh! Lara and I aren’t gonna sleep over here anymore since you’re against us!” she exclaimed seriously. (It’s obvious they’re teasing each other, duh.)

“OH, SEE IF I CARE!” Manon replied, her tone just serious enough to mask the playfulness in her voice.

Dani looked at Y/N before muttering, “Are you being for real?” As if she were quietly yearning for Y/N’s time, affection, and maybe… her love.

Her eyes searched for something that would reassure her that Y/N was going to stay with her—with Manon and Lara, of course.

Y/N heard the Latina’s soft voice, making her stop mid-sentence, even though she still hadn’t fully recovered from the official declaration Dani made during the live.

She then looked at her favorite member, her voice mirroring the softness Dani had given her.

“No. Of course not, Dani.”

Dani sighed contentedly.

Was she relieved because the argument wasn’t serious?

Or because Y/N would be staying with her?

Well… that’s what Y/N wondered, too.

They stared at each other for a moment before Manon hit Y/N’s back with a pillow, noticing and breaking the two girls’ longing eye contact.

“Move, bitch. We’re gonna sleep,” Manon said playfully, her statement followed by Lara’s giggle.

“Old people really need their eight hours of rest, huh?” Dani joked at Manon, as if she hadn’t just shared a deep connection with Y/N—or what Y/N thought was deep.

Manon groaned. “Oh, you three are ganging up on me. I see.” Genuine laughter then filled the room.

The two girls climbed onto Dani’s bed and made themselves comfy, Lara and Manon also did lay on Manon's bed.

“Night, girls!” Lara chimed in.

The other three greeted each other good night in return.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

The room would have been pitch black if it weren’t for the moonlight seeping through the curtains. It was quiet, except for the hum of the air conditioner and the occasional soft sighs of those already asleep.

While Manon and Lara slept comfortably on a single bed, Y/N felt like Dani's bed was a battlefield.

How could she possibly fall asleep when Dani’s arms were wrapped around her waist, the Latina’s nose nuzzled against her neck, and the curly-haired girl’s leg draped over her thighs?

It’s not like she wasn’t used to this after the times they went through, right? But she had become hyperaware of their closeness ever since Manon pointed out something she had never even considered. Thanks, Bannerman!

Y/N shifted into a couple of positions to find the most comfortable one, hoping not to wake the person beside her.

Well, to be fair, she wasn't even asleep.

"You fine there?" Dani suddenly whispered right when Y/N turned to lay on her side, facing away from Daniela.

Y/N's body jolted from the sudden voice. Her tongue got tied for a second, "A-ah- yeah, uh- I'm fine." She then turned around and lay on her back.

Dani took this chance to put her head on her member's chest. If the room wasn't too dark, Y/N's flustered cheek would be visible by now.

"Did I disturb you?"

"Nah, you're good. I just can't sleep."

"Mhm, me neither."

"..."

"..."

"You look pretty in tonight's livestream."

This made Y/N's throat tighten and go dry, as if it's her first time receiving compliments from Daniela all over again, even though it really never stops feeling like that.

"Thanks, Dani." She finally managed to reply.

Dani smiled lazily, drawing faint circles on her member's waist. "I might not show it all the time, but you're like my favorite friend in the world."

Shit, right. Friends! She likes a boy, and I'm not even a boy! We're just friends!

Y/N thought, bringing herself back to reality.

“Thank you. I appreciate that,” she managed to say quietly.

As Daniela fell asleep on Y/N’s chest, she stared at the Latina’s face. The moonlight helped her see a few of Dani’s beauty marks—adoring and admiring how perfectly they were placed. Yet, Y/N couldn't help but let her mind wander off.

Why did it affect her so much that she and Dani were only friends?

Would things be different if Y/N were a man?

These were questions she shouldn’t be asking herself about a friend.

"In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take." Were the words from her best friend echoed in Y/N’s mind that night. She couldn’t deny the truth in them.

That’s when she realized... Manon was right. Y/N really did liked Daniela, loved her even.

The Swiss woman would definitely go off celebrating because she was right… and she’d probably got her ego boosted about all her intuition shits, too.

Y/N groaned internally, knowing how messy it would be to deal with feelings that were burning slowly, especially when they involved a friend slash a co-worker.

She hated not being able to predict the future. She hated not being sure of the consequences of her own feelings.

Y/N hoped that even if she's not a boy, she would still be Daniela's favorite, but not as a friend anymore.

The chances—well, they’re 50/50.

Would she take the risk and trust the odds?

Or would she keep carrying the weight of the baggages of her feelings?

[mysticstronomy]

HOW TO DESTROY A BLACK HOLE??

Blog#460

Saturday, December 7th, 2024

Welcome back,

Black holes want to absorb all matter and energy in the Universe. It’s just a matter of time. So what can we do to fight back? What superweapons have been devised to destroy black holes?

Black holes are the natural enemies of all spacefaring races. With their bottomless capacity to consume all light and matter, it’s just a few septillion years before all things in the Universe have found their way into the cavernous maw of a black hole, crushed into the infinitely dense singularity. If Star Trek has taught us anything, it’s that it’s mankind’s imperative to survive against all odds.

So will we take this lying down?

Heck no!

Will we strike first and destroy the black holes before they destroy us?

Heck yes!

But how? How could you kill a black hole?

This… gets a little tricky.

For a black hole, any matter entering the event horizon is added to the mass. Shoot bullets at a black hole, and you just make a slightly more massive, slightly more dangerous black hole. Detonate a nuclear bomb inside the event horizon, and you only make the black hole more massive.

Fire your forward phasers at the black hole, and that’ll still make it even more massive. Swap those bullets in for lasers and black holes don’t care. Within the event horizon, energy and matter are one, and those very same black holes can convert that energy into mass. So all your projectiles and energy weapons inevitably just make it more dangerous.

What if we crashed a star into it? Would that fill it up, or burn it out? Nope. It would just gobble that star up, and go on with its business. If we smashed another black hole into it? Would that tear it apart? The cause is also the cure? Not even maybe. As soon as black holes get within each other’s event horizons, they’ll just merge into a more massive, and even nastier, meaner black hole.

Number 1, it’s time to bring out the big guns. Reverse the particle flow, flood the dilithium chamber with exotic particles and route it through the main deflector dish, and construct your own black hole out of antimatter. Then kamikaze this new antimatter black hole right into a the black hole you want to destroy. Would that do it? Would that solve our problem?

As you probably know, when you crash matter into antimatter, you get an explosion of pure energy. It’s the most perfect energy weapon we can envision. Unsurprisingly, this brings its own set of complications. It’s not entirely clear you’ve still have antimatter in your antimatter black hole. It’s possibly been converted into a regular flavour black hole.

Still, if you *could* crash an antimatter and regular matter black hole together, you would get an incomprehensible explosion. Converting that entire dense and gigantic mass into pure energy, as calculated by Einstein. As soon as you did, all that energy would be immediately converted… into more black hole.

Nothing, not even light itself can escape a black hole. That includes all your magnificent explosion energy from your antimatter impact. You wouldn’t even see it happen. You’d just end up with a black hole with twice the mass. And that might be just what it wants.

As we learned in a previous episode, we can extract angular momentum from a black hole. By dropping material into the event horizon, we can remove energy and slow its rotation. We can even bring it to a stop. So we can slow down its spin, but that won’t make it go away.

So, is that it, are we out of options? Good news, we have one last strategy, and it’s so crazy it just might work. According to Stephen Hawking, black holes can actually evaporate over enormous periods of time.

Virtual pairs of particles are constantly popping into existence all around us. Then they recombine in a flash and disappear from the Universe. When one of these particle pairs appears right on the edge of a black hole, one particle falls into the black hole, and the other is free to fly off into space. And here’s the amazing thing. This might actually reduce the overall mass of the black hole.

So, over an incomprehensible period of time, even the most supermassive of the black holes will have evaporated away into a harmless soup of particles. It turns out, in order to defeat the black hole menace, all we need to do is ignore them, and they’ll go away all on their own.

Originally published on https://www.universetoday.com

COMING UP!!

(Wednesday, December 11th, 2024)

"HOW ARE BLACK HOLES CREATED, AND HOW DO THEY GROW??"

[speed-world]

so I'm wondering if you can make a story if we were in the 7th anniversary of ovenbreak story (the wish camp story), like just the ending of the story but with y/n cookie and then they all tell them that they love them and then they all group hug them and kiss them while watching the shower

P.s sorry if this is long

“Woah! The sky is so clear now! The stars are so close…it feels like I’m in space.”

“Yeah…It’s really beautiful. Soon the Star Candy meteor shower will pass by…!”

“Oh?! I think I see something sparkling in the sky!!”

“Ah, those are the wish lanterns floated from the campsite, Y/N Cookie!”

“Ah-, hehe, guess I’m super eager for the shower!”

“So pretty….You can see everything from here. The town below looks tiny like a toy town!”

“The stars feel so close…like I can reach and grab them. Congrats for finding the best stargazing spot, Y/N Cookie.”

“C-Congrats to you too, and you as well Cannoli Cookie. There’s no better place in the world than here, right now!!”

The Star Candy meteor shower - finally, the day you’ve been waiting for!! The shower only happens once every seven years, and so much has happened in that time. Some good memories, some painful, but you made it through with all the cookies you connected with. The two cookies you connected with the most, S’more Cookie and Cannoli Cookie, were…more to you.

You enjoyed being around them more than any other cookie, and your dough has changed to redder shades the more time you spent with them. It was clear to you that you loved both of them dearly; so much that you fell head over heels for both of them at once! But you never could find the time, or the words, to confess your feelings to the two. Thankfully, tonight is your night-your time to open your heart! It’s all so beautifully perfectly aligned, the greatest setting to finally say—

“Y/N, Y/N!! Are you feeling okay? You spaced out there for a while.”

“Oh! I-umm, yeah I’m okay. Just really anxious and exited for everything.”

“Something must be really taking over your mind then, because you didn’t hear your name being called out by everyone…!”

You turned around and nearly dropped your jaw at the sight before you. Camp Leader Squirrel, GingerBrave, heck-every cookie you knew was here!! They’re surely here for the meteor shower too. You were starting to get nervous again as you saw everyone all chatting with each other. It was all radio noise as you only thought of one thing: confessing to Cannoli and S’more Cookie now, before the shower passes!

“H-Hey Cannoli Cookie, S’more Cookie, I gotta talk to you guys really bad.”

“Hmm? Of course Y/N, what’s on your mind?”

“Well…these last set of years have been quite the journey to say the least. So many memories, so many friends, but you guys have meant more to me than you could ever imagine.”

“Awww, that’s so sweet! I-“

“Hold on, lemme finish. You guys are really, really special to me. So much so that I-…I love you guys, a lot. And not just as friends, but more than that. I love you two so much that I wanna spend all of our years together forever!”

“W-wow…! Are you saying—“

“Yeah, I am, to the both of you. So err-would you guys…wanna be my lovers for life?”

The two of them were completely flushed, yet smiling so widely. They both hugged you from separate sides and nuzzled your cheek.

“Awwww, Y/N, you mean so much to me, and you too S’more Cookie!! Of course my answer is yes!!”

“So is mine. I really enjoy being around you like no one else; it would be amazing to spend the rest of my life with you two!”

“Really!? T-thanks you guys, this is the best night of my—! Wait, quick, look at the sky!”

“Hmm?”

“The star…!”

“The meteor shower!!”

“Woah…! I’ve never seen anything like this..! The stars are showering down like beautiful waves…”

“There’s the Star Candy meteor!”

It was breathtaking! The beautiful sight that only appears every seven years. Only one thing left to do…make a wish!

“I wish…that our love for each other never fades; that we stay together and love one another forever!”

Cannoli and S’more somehow smiled more widely than before when they hear your wish. The two of them then took turns cupping your cheek and kissing you; you made sure to kiss them back in return. Such a beautiful night and a beautiful memory that was just made; you have everything to be grateful for tonight!

[struggling-jpg]

Some Things About Ma Feima (Yanqing) I Learned

And it matters to HSR Yanqing only because some people have had what they heard about Ma Feima affect their views of him even though it really SHOULDN'T imo.

The underlying point I'm trying to get at is that when we hear about parts of a story or characters we aren't familiar with, it'd be fairer to at least try to look into it more before making final judgments, especially if we only hear see memes and short summaries from a person over the internet.

If you're also interested in this topic then this will be very long, so thank you for bearing with me.

And if not, especially because you don't care or don't want to read about 7S/HI3 Yanqing then that's also fair, Ma Feima and Yanqing are different characters, and I hope you have a good day!

(NOTE: CW for the mention/discussion of a notable age gap between characters in the story. There are details surrounding that but I'd rather place this here for convenience. Look out for yourselves and stay safe!)

It's wild how many different versions of what happened in the Seven Swords visual novel, which is understandable due to its lack of official translation + not being complete (as far as I know? I am open to corrections overall). But the amount of details that go missing or are incorrect is notably large and I find this situation interesting. As mentioned, anyone who knows better (content, translation-wise, etc.), please correct me on anything if needed.

I will use some screenshots from the videos that translated the available chapters (1-2 and part of the beginning/prologue of 3, I believe). The translations are not entirely accurate so heck, I might be wrong on stuff too.

From personal experience, there were two things I heard about Ma Feima from HI3 players:

He killed his master, Fu Hua.

He cheated on his wife.

Legit, the first time I encountered these points, it was as simple as that. And I took it at face value because it understandably takes effort to look into this stuff and a lot of players from HI3 were saying it. But over time, curiosity got to me and I wanted to see the context surrounding it, and here's what I found.

However, here are some things to know about Seven Swords and Fu Hua's disciples:

The Seven in order are: Lin Zhaoyu, Su Mei, Jiang Wanxi, Jiang Wanru, Cheng Lingshuang, Ma Feima, and Qin Suyi

The present of the VN is set in 1496 while the assassination of Fu Hua was twenty years prior in 1476.

Ma Feima, despite being the 6th disciple, is the youngest.

Ma Feima's original name was Yanqing but changed it to Feima when he got older.

Qin Suyi, the 7th disciple, is Sushang's mother in both HI3 and HSR.

Lin Zhaoyu, the 1st disciple, and Ma Feima are married.

Onto the points:

He killed his master, Fu Hua.

Yes, he was involved but some attribute the plan to him. BUT he wasn't. The person who formed this plan was Su Mei, the 2nd disciple.

Supposedly, all seven disciples participated though most, if not all of them, were reluctant to do so.

They were all bothered by Fu Hua's, effective but cruel way of dealing with Honkai-infected people (She would wipe out whole villages if even ONE person was infected).

The last straw for the disciples was when Jiang Wanru, the 4th disciple, got infected.

It was in that battle that Ma Feima got the scar on his face.

Also to note, Cheng Lingshuang, the 5th disciple, was the one to get the last hit on Fu Hua.

This is a straightforward point, a lot of people know this stuff, and is probably the point that's more elaborated on. But I still wanted to mention it because, oftentimes, a lot of the credit for the plan, and sometimes the last hit is given to Ma Feima. It erases the actions of other pretty interesting characters and is simply incorrect.

Onto the second point, because this is where things get really interesting and a lot is going on.

2. Ma Feima cheated on his wife.

This has given the idea that he had an affair, cheating on his wife, Lin Zhaoyu

No, he didn't.

It is true that he was in love with Su Mei but she never loved him back and was very clear about it so in a literal-traditional sense, he didn't have an affair.

Emotionally, yeah.

It seems that he had been attached to her since he was a child.

Lin Zhaoyu seems to have always been aware of that and still pursued to marry him.

BIG NOTE: This is where I'm going to cover the age gap stuff.

One thing that I have rarely seen anyone mention is the large gap between Lin Zhaoyu and Ma Feima in age.

It's said that Lin Zhaoyu is 15 years older than Su Mei.

Supposedly, Qin Suyi was around eight years old when Fu Hua found her.

Remember, Ma Feima is the youngest of the disciples.

I wouldn't have harped as hard about the age gap if they met/didn't know each other in Ma Feima's childhood, but the disciples technically grew up together so I found it to be questionable.

For reference:

In order, that's Lin Zhaoyu, Su Mei, and Ma Feima when they were younger.

At minimum and based on all the searching and math, at minimum, Su Mei would be thirteen there, and by the 15-year age gap, Zhaoyu would have been 28 years old.

Now, based on the writing, Zhaoyu and Feima most likely got married in the twenty years between the assassination of Fu Hua and the present of Seven Swords.

The youngest Feima would've been at the assassination was seventeen years old at that point.

For the present of the story, Zhaoyu, and Su Mei are 56 years old and 41 years old respectively. Feima is likely in his thirties.

Like I said, I'm making a big point to this because, like, what the heck. That's MAJORLY concerning even if you tried to reason your way around it. Besides any potential "normal in the era" type stuff and that they got married when they were both adults, it's still a huge yikes, isn't it? Also, I've seen barely anyone mention that, and the ones I did see it from, it was when I was looking into the visual novel.

It's mostly because Yanqing is the one in HSR, he's the character that gets the most eyes. And when people only know him as a "master-killing wife cheater" without any of the context surrounding it, it's a huge shame, albeit fair if people don't want to actively look into it themselves. But because a notable chunk of players have let those perceptions have weight over an unrelated by anything but appearance, old name, and the parallel of (potentially) killing a master.

The circumstances surrounding the two are very different.

HSR Yanqing has Jing Yuan to raise and guide him safely through his early life. He's still very young and while stubborn, has a good head on his shoulders, and has a lot of potential to grow into someone strong and stable.

7S/HI3 Ma Feima on the other hand, is shown to have grown very differently from his younger self.

He is far from enjoying life, and don't get me wrong, he isn't completely innocent.

But he's completely aware and is miserable.

There's a lot more I could cover in terms of Ma Feima, his circumstances, and the things about the characters around them, but my brain is so fried lol. All-in-all, his story alongside the seven, is very...complicated.

My main thing is that, hey, maybe we should be a bit more vigilant when we learn things about characters. Beyond fiction, misinformation spreads very easily because we, understandably, take things at face value. In terms of media literacy, we see it time and time again when characters get reduced to a singular trait or a ship or get heavily misunderstood by the audience because a simplified summary will never do the context justice.

[sayorinumberone]

Hiiii, can I make I request? Sorry I’m new in your blog and don’t know how it works really. But if you can could you make a sbg X reader (can be headcanons) where de reader collect dolls and is very passionate about it? One day she/he accidentally brought one to the phantom realm with her and that’s when they discovered and when they asked about the doll the reader started ranting abt doll lines and etc.

( sorry this is long)

SBG 𖦹 hold you to my heart

cw: Gender neutral reader, none !

a/n: I’m sorry this took me a whole week to get to hehe I do request in a very weird way but I try my best to finish off the ones I got first !

everyone has a trait about them that makes others go “why did I befriend this person.”

for you that would be dolls specially the ones that look like their from the 60, the pretty ringlet curls with not a single frizzy hair out of place, doll eyes that reflect like a mirror and the pale face with tinted cheeks.

although this is just one type of doll you collect for example :

cartoon dolls from shows in the 90s like strawberry shortcake, figures of characters you liked, plushy of characters you had no idea existed but looked cute !

you kept your dolls to yourself majority of the time, but one night something happened, like it was planned almost.

it was late you where on your laptop finishing who knows what when you hear a faint sound coming from your doll shelf turning your head to see what was up, you find one of your favourite dolls ( a glass doll ) face down still in their sitting position.

you sigh picking up the doll praying that it’s okay but it wasn’t, their was a large crack on its face leaving parts of its fake sharp skin on the ground.

this isn’t a first time thing but it’s certainly annoying, setting the doll on your desk you crouch at the shelf picking up bits of glass trying to peace them together.

it took half an hour to make the face look not terrifying, you smile at your own work before getting that tingly feeling, uh oh what time was it ?

turning to face the clock, which had the big hand and small hand right on the 12 their was no time to place your doll down so you let your eyes flutter closed until that jolt of coldness hits you.

“ayyyy the— WHAT THE HECK IS THAT ?” Aiden squeaked out as you look around the area “ what the heck is what ?” You asked him confused.

“that.” He pointed at you

and there the doll was in your hands.

“Oh this ? That’s Maria, she over 60 years old and is most definitely haunted !”

Ashlyn:

A bit weirded out, normally she wouldn’t have believed you saying the doll was haunted but after the phantom realm became a thing, well she really hoped that wasn’t real.

She listened to your 10 minutes of yap about Maria against her will

hates old dolls so much, their like a fear of hers after watching a horror movie about them.

told you to keep the doll away from the outside well you all where working on some set up by making the excuse of it getting more broken.

” can you keep it here, so it doesn’t get like possessed ?” ” oh yeah ! Your so smart ash,”

Taylor :

found it cool that you where so passionate about something that most would deem creepy or weird ( cough her cough Logan cough )

didnt stare at the doll in the eyes because she absolutely watched the videos that went “don’t look at a doll in its eyes or it will murder you at 3am” and still believes it

Taylor asks why you never talked about the dolls before and you replied with “because they don’t like when I talk about them” to scare her.

Actually screamed when she saw the doll on the ground of the bus even though you had put it on the seat.

Tyler :

this kid didn’t even hesitate to insult your doll, he didn’t believe it was haunted because “ghost and sprits aren’t real this realm just happened to happen.”

called you weird the whole night, but secretly found it funny how you could say so much about one thing and not be finished talking after 5 hours.

but he got a bit annoyed and crashed out after the 7th story about Maira trying to kill you.

told you to never bring that back again as if you brought it on purpose 💔

you started to quote horror movie lines and act possessed to freak him out but he just shouted at you.

Aiden :

wanted to hear every horror story about your dolls, after you finished one story he would beg for another.

really wanted to see how the phantoms would react to Maira and if they could use the doll as a vessel but you did not let the happen to her.

this started a conversation about horror movies and you both had a one hour conversation getting nothing done until Ashlyn grabbed Aiden by the hair and told him to get his ass to work.

kept trying to fake move Maria to see how the other would act.

Told you to bring more dolls more often ( no )

Ben :

Ben is chill, no doll or horror movie scares him so why would your doll be scary ?

Patted the doll on the head.

there not much to say about Ben.

Logan :

wanted to burn the doll, throw it away just something to get rid of it !!!

he is the ultimate winner of being scared, he was bolting away from you and your doll.

worked as far away from you cause your story’s genuinely where freaky ass.

Tried to be respectful but he just couldn’t fathom why someone would willing put themself near something evil like Maria.

Did not want to sit in the spot where you put your doll for a whole week Specially after he heard from Taylor that it moved on its own.

At the end of the 7 hours you grab your doll, safely held to your chest as you find your self back in your desk but without the doll, this can’t be right where’s Maria ?!

you never did find the doll again and eventually over time you all forgot about the missing doll the one that was a heated topic that night maybe she was actually haunted ?

[softgaychild]

I miss my 7th grade year, not because of school, but because it was then that I discovered this little Korean kids show named 'Tobot.' I watched dozens of episodes not understanding anything going on all since I was watching it un-subtitled in Korean. I even watched some of the sequel series it had like Athlon, V/Galaxy Detectives. Truly a moment in my life. (It should be noted that I rediscovered the series years after the fact in English on Youtube and that was how I was finally able to watch it and actually know the plot)

I also watched this other kids show called Dinocore which I absolutely devoured the first 3 seasons of. Season 2 had a small twist where for a brief minute you thought that they had killed the MC, and Season 3's first fight lasted 2 episodes and highkey made you question if this "monster of the week" style show would have the main characters lose immediately (of course it didn't

Oh and going back to Tobot, it was kinda based as it had hella interesting plot points. The show literally starts off with a kidnapping, there's dozens of near death experiences for a bunch of the characters. There's bombings, the spreading of addictive substances to children, terrorism, the kids get trauma, one of the main characters is a bit racist for one of the story arcs, it's crazy. Although unfortunately the english dub/edit removes several of the plot points that make it so interesting. Heck, even in V/Galaxy Detectives they nearly kill the MC from the previous Season with a cliffhanger where he's left powerless and sinking in the arctic ocean. Dinocore also does a similar thing where the MC is left comatose for like an episode before awakening with a new power. I need to rewatch the last few seasons in order to remember what happened cuz I don't even remember how they beat the final villain.

Long story short, Korean kids shows hit different.

[sinfulslytherin]

Fire

Summary: your Boyfriend kicked you out of your dorm room and invites another girl over. In the common room you meet Draco Malfoy.

"Daphne has been sleeping in the same dorm as Pansy and Blaise for the last few days...I doubt that she's making her way back to her dorm right now..especially at that pace." Draco says in a calm voice as we both watch Daphne run towards my dorm room.

"Yeah. I know. Graham probably lets her know that I am not in my dorm room tonight. He's probably gonna brag about me sleeping in the common room." I say as I scoff.

"How about you'll sleep somewhere else?" He smirks at me.

A laugh leaves my lips.

"You're dorm room? Isn't that a bit obvious?"

Draco shakes his head.

"No, not my dorm room. Let's go." He says as he grabs my hand and pulls me up and drags me out of the Slytherin common room.

We quietly make our way through hogwarts. We are still allowed to be up and walk through Hogwarts, bur we're still careful that no one who knows us spots us together.

Draco suddenly stops in front of a huge wall.

He lets go of my hand and starts to walk past the wall while he seemingly concentrates.

"Shall I leave ooooor....?-" I akwardly say as I am confused what he's doing.

Suddenly after the third time walking past the wall,a huge door appeared.

I look at Draco in shock as he only smirks at me.

He again grabs my hands as I am still overwhelmed by what just happened.

We enter the the room and my heart skips a beat.

A huge king sized bed and some beautiful book shelves. Furthermore, a sofa and a cute fireplace.

"What is this place..?" I say as I look around.

"The room of requirements." Draco answers as he makes his way over to the bed.

"How did you find it?-Did you just run a few laps in the hallway or what the heck did you do?" I ask as I laugh at him.

"Stop making fun of me. I just got us a beautiful place to stay for the night." He says as he rolls his eyes.

"Okay, okay. I was just joking, ferret boy." I tease him.

"You still remember that?" Draco whines after hearing the familiar nickname.

"Draco, everyone remembers. You were a freaking ferret." I say as I let myself fall into the bed.

"I hoped everyone would forget it someday." He quietly says as he looks away.

I laugh at his reaction.

"You think that's funny, huh?" He says as he looks at me.

I smirk as I look at him.

"Yes, kinda."

"I think it's time to whipe that smirk out of your face, you little brat."

Read the whole story here <3

[caitviolets]

fanfiction idea ! SPOILER WARNING FOR CHAPTERS 3 AND 4 BELOW THIS LINE !

i've had this idea ever since the second chapter came out. Imagine a fanfiction where Noelle and Susie go to the fair together. I feel like revamping it in dedication of the fourth chapter's release with an official plan that they are both going to the fair together. I was so happy when I saw that!!! I've been waiting for cute moments like the ones in the fourth chapter for YEARS, ever since the first chapter came out. little 7th grade me would be giggling and kicking their feet right now. I immediately feel like rewriting my old story and even basing it off this random J pop song that popped up in my head. And yes, it is no coincidence that I chose that song, which literally translates to festival in english.

I'm currently in the process of brainstorming a fanfic called "matsuri," which happens right after the events of Chapter four. It will have some elements of my old fanfiction from 2021, and now. The basic premise is that Noelle and Susie go to the fair together with Kris being an awkward third wheel. There's also a sub plot where Noelle's mom gets on her ass because she's sneaking out and hanging out with Susie. But, they both suddenly get lost and everything gets hazy, which leads to the fair coming to life! (in regards to what Ralsei talked about in the beginning of the third chapter.) and basically imagine like monster looking stuffed animals (like the ones that you win in carnivals) or heck, even some of the food like cotton candy or popcorn attacking Noelle and Susie has to save her with a sweet damsel in distress trope that'll give you cavities. But well, that's juat a thought for now. Hopefully, it'll come true if I don't forget!!! I will be uploading it on here and AO3 for everyone to read because it's all ages and pure fluff!!! and I will even draw a cute little drawing of them where Susie is trying to impress Noelle on one of those carnival games where you use a hammer to hit something hard to get a prize. But who knows!!! this is just me brain dumping because I just love them so much :3

[frau-wilhelm-klink]

Okay, I'm still on my social media hiatus, but I had to share this.

Context: Me and my dad both watch a certain YouTuber, and after hearing him (in good fun) call Alaska "a war crime sandwich", have decided to henceforth refer to it as such. Which, as an Alaskan, I can honestly say really is a fitting description😂 We also affectionately refer to Canada as "our friendly neighborhood war criminals" and regularly make World War II jokes. (Also in good fun, of course, especially since I have Canadian friends.)

So I was in the kitchen with my mom the other day, and she showed me these baking chips made by Hershey's. Now that wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary by itself...but these weren't your standard chocolate or whatever. They were cream cheese flavored. Well, my dad hears the words "cream cheese" and comes over to investigate. Man takes one look at those chocolate chips and gets this kinda dopey, adorable 'er?' expression like dogs get on his face while he cocks his head to the side, trying to figure out what the heck he's looking at.

Me, noticing this: "They're cream cheese chocolate chips, Dad."

Him, pulling a face: "Cream...cheese...chocolate?"

Me: "Yeah. Guess Mom needs them for some recipes she wants to make or something, I dunno. I'm just here to eat the food."

Him, without any hesitation at all: "What in the Geneva Convention?"

Me, promptly snorting tea out my nose: "DAD!"

Him, seeing his opportunity and taking it: "No, no. You see this?" *tapping the bag* "This is a war crime! Cream cheese should not be combined with chocolate. Who let the Canadians in here?!?"

Me: *is too busy wheezing with laughter and trying not to die*

My mom: *just rolls her eyes because she's used to us*

My brother, walking into the room: "Nobody expects the Canadians any more than they do the Spanish Inquisition."

Him, chuckling and looking at me: "Now see here, you call that Canadian friend of yours and tell her to keep her war crimes on her own damned side of the border! If we need some, we know who to call. We aren't taking our business anywhere else."

Me, already knowing he's talking about ✨️Quality Literature✨️ Anna: "I'd love to, I really would...but I ain't got her phone number. Best I can do is Discord."

Him: "That works." *pauses* "You okay, by the way?"

Me: "Yeah." *dryly* "But thanks for asking when I was literally choking. I could have died, you know."

Him: "And yet you didn't, huh?" *claps me on the shoulder* "Besides, I know you, darlin'. You won't even consider letting yourself die unless you're doing something 'cool'. Which I hope never happens, because I'd miss you."

Me: "Well." *shrugs and laughs* "I'm glad you'd miss me, though, and that you have so much faith in me."

Him: "That, and it's not like I could get rid of you that easily anyway, even if I wanted to. I know; I've tried."

Me: "...Come again?"

Him: "Yep. I've tried to give you away to the parents of some of your friends over the years, but they wouldn't take you, so..." *dramatic sigh* "I guess I'm stuck with you as my daughter instead."

Me, sounding faux-offended: "Wowwww. Thanks, Dad. Really appreciate the love and support there."

Him, grinning: "You're welcome."

You guys, I was howling🤣 (Can confirm that cold tea doesn't feel any better when snorted out one's nose then warm tea does, by the way.) Although I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, considering this is the same man who - out of the blue, mind you - texted me 'HAPPY WW2 VICTORY DAY!!' on May 7th, followed by an additional text that said, 'In Europe.' The history buff in me greatly appreciated the clarification😂 He's also the same one I had this short conversation with back in March:

In conclusion, my dad is quite a character, but I still love him😂 We definitely stan affectionate harassment in this household!

[felassan]

EA website update:

"Incoming Transmission N7 DAY 2023 Happy N7 Day to our wonderful community!"

"Hey, everyone, Every November 7th, we’ve all come together—developers, superfans, regular fans, kinda-fans—to celebrate (and speculate about!) the games, stories, and community that make Mass Effect so special. It’s a testament to the long-lasting appeal of this universe and the characters who call it home. Eleven years of N7 Days and sixteen years of Mass Effect later, the franchise continues to inspire our development team, and with each day, gives us the opportunity to create more adventures for you to have. Whether it’s one of the many who have been here since the original game’s launch or those recently joining us at BioWare, we are all incredibly lucky to be envisioning this future. That process is equal parts rewarding and challenging. We’ve asked ourselves many of the same questions you’ve asked us over the years! What happened to everyone you know and love in the games? Who really died? Who had kids with whom? What does a baby volus sound like? What about all the galaxies? The endings! What the heck is going on with our asari scientist-turned-Shadowbroker? What about S— nevermind...you get the idea. And of course, to those questions, there are answers, but you’ll have to wait to hear them. And anything we do say won’t be easy to find, just like you’ve come to expect from our #N7Day teases. But for real… thank you. Thank you for everything, and allowing us to do what we do. We approach the future of this universe with gratitude and deep respect. Respect for you—the community. Respect for the love and dedication you’ve given to us. Respect for the history and the stories you’ve created, and the characters you’ve fallen in love with. And, respect for the future, and the opportunity to do something big—something amazing—for you. Until next time…and Happy N7 Day! —Mike Gamble, Mass Effect Franchise Director & Executive Producer"

"Through o0ur partnership with Humble Bundle and friends at Dark Horse Comics, we’re making all Dark Horse Mass Effect and Dragon Age comics available in a convenient package! Pr1oceeds from this will go to Child’s Play, a charity that seeks to make the lives of children in hospitals more comfortable. We all know how powerful and uplifting games can be, so we’re glad to be able to help bring joy t0o kids in need through this effort. If you’d like to help, too, please check it o0ut! We also have some exciting new merch from our partners for those who want to stock their shelves or add to their wardro0bes. The BioWare Gear Store is releasing multiple new i1tems today! From a brand-new mini replica Claymore Shotgun to Omni-Blade LED Wall Art, we’ve got tons of Mass Effect items for your collection, all go0ing live with a site-wide sale. Be sure to check out items new and old, and follow them on social media to see their latest relea1ses."

"Our frie0nds over at Dark Horse have also been working on something special. For over a year now, we’ve been working closely with them on a few new statues based on popular requests. First and foremost, we’re excited to share that Commander Shepard (female) is ge1tting an iconic battle-worn statue! This has been one of the top requests from the community and we’ve been super excited to see it come to life."

"And, of course, if you w1ant to put a squad together for her, Dark Horse is also releasing new statues of Wrex and Tali. These statues are brought to life with the level of care and quality we’ve all come to expect from Dark Horse over the years. These two iconic characters are ready to take the fi1ght to the Reapers!"

"F0or those who live in colder climates (Canada being a prime example), our friends over at Volante Design have returned this year with s0omething just for you. Following the success of the N7 line of apparel they released, the team at Volante has created a Garrus Vak0arian-style parka, complete with a “head cone” to protect your 0face."

"A0nd of course, Sanshee always has something for our b1iggest fans. For lovers of Grunt, Lia1ra, and adorable va1rren, the team has created a new set of plu0shees and pins for your colle0ctions! Be sure to chec1k out their site for all that and m1ore."

"Your joy, creativity, and passion help drive us towards the future of Mass Effect and all that it may be0come. The team is ta1king their time to cr1aft a whole new adventu0re for you to enj1oy, with new stories, chara0cters, and experiences to fill it. At the end of t0he day, that’s w1hat N7 Day is about. Cel0ebr1ati1ng yo0u an1d th1is speci0al fr0anchise that br0ings us all to1get1her. W0e hope you’1ve enjoyed the glimpse1s int1o the fut1ure of the fra0nchis1e so f1ar. An0d don’t wor1ry, ther1e’s mo1re to come, but fa0rther away! Ever your biggest fans, —The Mass Effect Team"

[source and link to all images in post]

Associated Twitter post:

[source]

[kyndaris]

Legends and Lattes

While you, dear reader, may initially think this post is about Travis Baldree's novel of the same name, I am here to quickly disabuse you of that notion. In fact, I shall do you one better and admit I have yet to even read the book sitting on my shelf, begging to be read. Heck, I even bought the prequel not too long ago: Bookshops and Bonedust. And before you say anything, dear reader, I will get to it.

Eventually.

It just so happens my blog is not solely a book blog. Nor am I a BookTuber/ Booktoker by day or by night. So, you know, it's very understandable why I've not read through this, assumedly masterpiece of a tale. Plus, I also have a lot of other hobbies like badminton, videogames and my own actual writing. All of which detract from my reading time.

Then, of course, there's my dating life, which, albeit is slowing down because I've mostly given up on men. And well, the women are certainly not biting as often.

What's a 32-year-old supposed to do except pine for the love of a fictional character? Karlach, I'm looking at you for when I finally start playing Baldur's Gate 3.

As you've no doubt picked up on, this blog is yet another entry into my forays of dating. This time round, I met up with a woman (third time's the charm, maybe? We're still chatting on the occasion although the topic has shifted into more a creative enterprise). It started with her liking one of my Hinge prompts, and after thoroughly checking her profile (she had actually cropped up in a few of my recommends previously), I thought I would do her the courtesy of matching.

It was followed by a brief conversation on mythology before the two of us went down the tabletop role-playing game route where we both tried, and failed, at playing grifters stealing personal information. Now we're on a journey to stop the Goblin King. The dastardly creature has stolen her identity, leaving naught but an empty vault of where it should be. And because of that, I, the handsome rogue in this situation, must continue masquerading as a Nigerian Prince as we go forth to acquire a magical sword with the ability to track goblins.

So far, we've made it to a small town called Bree. Although we did try to ride towards Bag's End, a number of black riders passed us by and Keyleth - the codename I've decided to use in this instance to refer to my date - was insistent we put a stop to their evil plans. Not that we know they're evil.

They simply have business with a halfling and are being very difficult about anyone who might be in their way.

As you can see, dear reader, we are most assuredly not in Kansas anymore.

That said, we did arrange to meet at a cafe halfway between where we live in what is fittingly named The Shire for Sydneysiders like me. It should be noted that unlike me, Keyleth does not live in Sydney. Rather, she is situated in the coastal city of Wollongong. You'll remember it as a place I visited not too long ago with a group of friends as we tackled a dastardly difficult escape room.

At the time, though, Keyleth's path and mine had not yet crossed. A shame, truly, since there are quite a few choice burger places in Wollongong we could potentially visit if I didn't mind the long drive down.

The cafe was named 7th Heaven. To my dismay, there was no raven-haired bartender or a blond courier. What it did have were a number of brunch options such as my go-to meal in almost every situation: Eggs Benedict with a side of smoked salmon. Keyleth ordered a milkshake and Eggs on Toast, adding on top of it a rasher or two of bacon and some delectable avocado.

By the end, though, she'd barely touched it - having eaten only one piece of bread and egg, some bacon and hardly any of the avocado.

Keyleth was the first to arrive - most probably due to the limited number of trains and because she had further to travel. I arrived just shy of the appointed time at 10. When I arrived, I had not quite expected the shock of dyed red hair to greet me. After all, in all her previous photos - both on Hinge and on Whatsapp - Keyleth had sported long blonde hair.

Still, she was keen to give me a hug, though I was quick to advise I wasn't much of a hugger. Or even a physical touch kinda gal. Yes, I'm more willing to accept it from a woman but it's not something I tend to do. And it's certainly not one of my key love languages.

Once I had sat down, we chatted idly about how our week had gone. After putting in our order, we began the painstaking process of learning a little more of the other. Keyleth learned I was an only child, whereas I learned she had a sister. Some of our family dynamics were talked about before we moved to more dangerous topics: like my favourite musical and whether or not I am actually a theatre kid (spoiler alert, I am not. Yes, I've been to four musicals in the last four months but those are baby numbers compared to the actual musical nerds out there. Or so I hope).

We also chatted about the weird role-playing experience unfolding on our messages, with Keyleth confirming the Goblin King was none other than David Bowie from Labyrinth.

Then, of course, we also talked a little about our dating experiences. Given I was asexual and she was demisexual, it seemed prudent for us to address the very big elephant in the room of what an actual relationship would be like. Both of us were a little uneasy about jumping immediately jumping into relationships as we required time to get to know the people we would be committing a significant portion of time with. Lust is certainly not a thing either of us experienced at first sight. And in order to catch feels, a strong emotional connection must be created first.

I, certainly, have not been in an actual relationship of significance with another. At least in the romantic sense. I do like to think I have many meaningful friendships with the people in my life though it's anyone's guess if they agree. More than likely, they find me egregious or too sardonic for their tastes (in fact, I recently had a nineteen-year-old university student at my work place call me epigrammatic!)

We also bonded over how difficult it was to date cisgender men!

But while the conversation was invigorating, our brunch date did slowly come to an end. Given the immediate surroundings didn't have any other interesting diversion, we paid for our meals and headed back to the local train station. A little unfortunate but sometimes that is how the cookie crumbles.

After all, it would be the height of rudeness to remain at a table for several hours afterwards when all our food was taken away.

Will there be another date with Keyleth? I'm not quite sure. Our conversations were pretty easy-going, flowing from one topic to another.

It was certainly better than the date I had with Tip Top.

As always, time will tell if anything will come of it, but I'm hopeful in obtaining a new friend if nothing romantic blossoms from the encounter. Of course, there is still Dikottir.

And while we haven't exactly had a sixth date/ meet-up, both of us will have gone to PAX in Melbourne by the time this blog post goes up. So, keep your eyes peeled for that riveting entry. Or not.

In the words of the founder of feminism himself, Rhysand, "It's your choice, Feyre darling."

As an aside, I can't say for sure if that's an actual quote from the book but it certainly feels like something he would say. On that note, I need to stop reading books like ACOTAR. I mean, it's no Fourth Wing, so I'm glad for that. But it's definitely not the height of fantasy literature. I was hoping for.

Anyways, THIS WAS ANOTHER EPISODE OF DATING 2.0! WILL A ROSE BE FINALLY AWARDED TO A SUITABLE SUITOR? YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL WE COME BACK FOR THE NEXT UPDATE!

And now, back to the weather!

[bubblybumblebee1]

Alright

Barbie lore time lol

So I've done the math of Barbie's many siblings (cause I'm bored)

And if some of these characters aren't the same person (Tutti, Kelly number 1 and Anastasia, aka Stacie)

And assuming that Kelly number 2 and Chelsea aren't the same person despite what Mattel says since their ages don't match up

Barbie would canonically be the eldest child of 9 kids

Including a possible set of quadruplets (Tutti, Todd, Kelly number 1, and Stacie since they're all supposed to be the same age)

I was looking through the wiki for Barbie and her family, and it starts with Barbie obviously, then Skipper, Tutti, Todd, Kelly number 1, Stacie, Kelly number 2, Chelsea and Krissy

But the younger siblings' ages also don't match up either of how old they're supposed to be vs. debut orders, as well as where they stand in the family tree

Tutti came after Skipper making her 3rd oldest, then her twin brother Todd but

Kelly number 1 came after Tutti and then came Stacie, who has also been called Todd's twin

Are Stacie and Tutti the same person and just look different as they got older? Is Tutti a nickname and Anastasia aka Stacie her real name? And what about Kelly number 1? Who came after Tutti but before Stacie?

Or did something happen to Tutti and Kelly number 1? Did Tutti get sent away to live else where since she looks like trouble? Was she the trouble maker of the family?

Again: What happened to Kelly 1?

Also, where does Todd stand? Is Todd in the middle if they actually are quadruplets and what number order of middle since he's listed as both Tutti and Stacie's twin brother? Or is it Tutti, Kelly 1, Stacie, then Todd?

Then there's Kelly number 2, the apparent 7th oldest, yet her age range is listed as 3 and in preschool while Chelsea is listed as 6 and in elementary school

Is Chelsea actually the 7th born child and Kelly 2 8th?

And if all these other siblings really are different from each other and not the same people going by different names or nicknames, where are they? Why do people only know of some of Barbie's siblings but not the rest

Do all of Barbie's best friends and Ken know about these siblings? Many have known Barbie for years but only ever see and hear about Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea

Then again, these are also best friends who have never even heard of her siblings and vice-versa

Or is it because these 3 accompany Barbie the most throughout her adventures since apparently these 3 live with her and not their parents

When the heck did Barbie leave home? Why is she allowed to have custody of some of her siblings? Because of her many career moves? Also, isn't Barbie 19 since that's when she apparently stopped aging? Skipper is between 14 and 16 now, and I know Stacie is between the ages of 10 and 13 with about a 4 year age gap between her and Chelsea, who's 6

So modern age time wise: Barbie: 19, Skipper: 14 - 16, Tutti, Kelly 1, Todd and Stacie: 10 - 13, Chelsea: 6, Kelly 2: 3 and Krissy: 1

Meaning Barbie's parents were having kids about every 3 years

Many questions about the Robert's family

Maybe I'll do the extended family since they have some cousins and I wonder where they fit age wise

[nancypullen]

This Time Tomorrow...

I'll be slogging through airport security. But shortly after that I'll be flying through the sky in a chair (doesn't that sound magical?) and eventually landing in Paris.

We'll leave Baltimore around 5pm, connect at JFK, and fly overnight into beautiful Paris. Not going to lie, that first day will be rough. It will be noonish in France when we land. Once we get through passport control and claim our luggage we're catching a 3pm train to Strasbourg. The train ride is about an hour and 45 minutes. Once we arrive in Strasbourg our AirBnB is about a 4 minute walk from the train station...if you're not a 61-year-old zombie. So we'll be arriving at our lodging around 5 o'clock. I promise you that I'll be finished with the day by then. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the trip where I sleep like a baby on the plane and arrive refreshed. There's always a chance, right? But I'm betting on pure exhaustion by the time we unlock the door to our little French abode. As excited as I am about this trip, getting that day out of the way is the first hurdle. So we depart on the evening of the 7th, and the 8th will just be arrival and sleep. Then the adventure begins. I'll take you along to enchanting Alsatian villages and whatever else we discover along the way. BUT...before any of that happens I'm puttering around the house, making sure everything is ready for the cat sitter and for our return. I need to mention that after 42 years of being the only one who did any of that, Mr. Pullen has decided that he will actively participate in all of that fun. He's been tidying, laying in kitty supplies, etc. I don't know what to do with myself when half my chore list is already checked off. This is fun. I've had time to even clean up garden areas for fall (even though it's 80 degrees, yuck!). Remember that German Pink tomato plant that gave me an ulcer this summer? I babied the heck out of that thing and it bloomed like crazy but never produced fruit. I finally just completely ignored it, and now it has eight beautiful tomatoes on it.

Of course. Maybe they'll be perfect in two weeks when we're home, maybe the whole plant will be dead. I waited all summer and now I don't care anymore. Stupid plant. Probably should have waited to take the photo until after I pulled that big ol' weed. Whatever.

Oh! Before I forget, I received an email asking how the clay ghosts turned out that I made in early September (I think?). Eh, mixed results. The candy corn ghost is okay, looks fine with a little battery-powered votive underneath. He's sitting out with some other Halloween decor, doing his job.

The little ghost that I decided to dress in a patchwork quilt is another story. The quilt squares were just okay, but I could live with it, but then I ruined the whole dang thing because I painted his eyes too close together. He has issues.

I kept him in my craft room because I felt bad for doing that to him. We're friends now.

In other news, I was clearing photos out of my phone (100 flower pictures...why??) because I anticipate taking loads of photos on this trip. I came across some fun snaps of birthday gifts...

look at these beautiful sterling silver Scottish thistle earrings, purchased with an Etsy gift card.

I love them! A nod to my heritage, but also just pretty.

Then there was this picture of a luggage tag that I'm tickled with and, yes, I'm just that boring.

It's heavy duty acrylic, and on a metal loop, so super durable - not likely to be torn off, and it's SO CUTE. I covered my phone number because I don't want any calls from weirdos. Another Etsy purchase.

With that same Etsy gift card I found mosaic supplies that I plan to experiment with this winter (I'm excited!) and even this adorable glass tumbler that makes me smile every morning when I drink my protein shake.

And wait until you see this duo!

Not only is that a treasure of a travel journal with perfect prompts...

...but that little pink case is a TINY PHOTO PRINTER!

I've got an app on my phone, so I can select a photo and send it to the little printer with one touch. It prints a picture of excellent quality, and I can peel the back off and stick it right into my travel journal! Holy cow! These were all birthday gifts from people that I love, so they're already special - but man, do they know me well or what? I'm still wallowing around in the birthday love and I've been 61 for 11 days already. I even received flowers. Isn't it always the loveliest surprise when the doorbell rings and there are flowers on the other side? They arrived before my birthday and at the end of the first week some of the most delicate blooms were fading. I always just start plucking out the dying blooms and shrink the bouquet until I have a single stem and some greenery left. I just snapped this - the bouquet is down to about half its original size, and I fear I'll have to say goodbye to it. I may reduce it to just a few flowers and leave a pretty bouquet for the cat sitter. I can't toss them.

When I receive flowers I always try to place them where I'll enjoy them/see them the most. Often I'll move them room to room. These started out on the dining room table, and moved to my craft room on the days I spent hours in there. I love fresh flowers in the house.

So I've rambled from tomatoes to bag tags and have probably bored you stiff. Take heart, I'll soon have beautiful photos to share from fairytale villages. The weather forecast concerns me - the temps look fantastic, but there are a handful of days where we may see rain. I don't want a repeat of my Irish hair.

I don't care about the 8th, that's mostly a travel day. I'm hoping that those other drizzly days clear off in a hurry.

There's not a thing I can do about the weather, so I'm not going to worry about it. Brace yourself, France.

Alrighty kids, I'm outta' here. I need to check my list and make sure I have everything ready before we make our escape. You won't hear from me before the 9th, unless I can't sleep at all on the 8th - then you may get a posting from the wee hours. Until then, sending you loads of love. Stay safe, stay well. Adieu! Au revoir! XOXO, Nancy P.S. I have discovered that our Paris AirBnB at the end of the trip is in the 7th arrondissement, the same as Ina Garten's apartment! I may have found out that her building is on Boulevard Raspail, right across from a fabulous fresh market. Stalker? Who, me? Hey, I just want to pose in front of her building, I don't think she's even there. I did download her autobiography, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, so she's already traveling with me.

[twilightichor]

I have just completed the new Xianzhou quest, so leaving a few thoughts under cut!

𖧷 He didn't make a physical appearance, but I was mistaken about this man— his presence be stronk and to be honest, good for him. It was outrageous enough to get into a prison and not find Luocha :|

𖧷 I adored seeing Huaiyan at long last after hearing and seeing things about him. I feel that his talk about mistakes in the past is also about himself for not having been able to do anything / enough what concerns Yingxing here, as it seems that he continues to be very meaningful to him, probably as if he were his son or a grandson.

𖧷 I was already skeptical since Jarilo-VI with Topaz's coming (or was it the Aurum Valley event first? I don't quite remember) about the IPC, but they have gotten to a point of being insufferable to be by now and I hope they continue to be that way and that HYV don't make them "likeable" to sell more on their future banners. But on to the story: suspicious as heck with the making of borisin-looking mechas using actual biological tissue from them at that. I dislike them with all my soul.

𖧷 Not a fan in the slightest of the March 7th bit. They left it at the conversation between Feixiao and Yukong with the seriousness behind it and the foreshadowing of what was about to happen, and then they forced me to go through her part of learning swordsmanship. Way to kill the vibe there << The one good thing I have to say about this is that I liked the final part specially with Jiaoqiu.

𖧷 Moving forward with the plot, I adored to bits that they didn't cut any slack with the borisins and that they made them as deadly scary as several documents and the knowledge of what happened to Blade's homeworld because of them. It made me feel lots for what the Foxians must've endured and it made me feel for Jiaoqiu, a Foxian himself, going through the trouble he is just for a chance to heal Feixiao and probably for the best of the Xianzhou too.

𖧷 So eventually it's official that it's been 700 years since the disintegration of the High Cloud Quintet and this will be a topic that I'll stay away from the dash from now on for reasons I'll keep to myself. It's very saddening the disproportionate commentaries I've seen about them for more reasons than one and it continues to be even to this day, even after all the time that has passed since they didn't get any kind of spotlight for some months.

𖧷 Dan Heng has entered the club of making me feel for characters in this patch, the immense effort that must've taken from him to keep himself still despite being in the Shackling Prison, the bad memories, everything... He's so caring and I like that he's acceptant of those who know him as the Imbibitor Lunae.

𖧷 I can't wait to see more of the Xianzhou. It has that special charm to me that never dies out and even after Penacony, it never did. I won't ever get tired of saying that Xianzhou is the best "world" to me in HSR so far because of its compelling story and many of its characters. There is that vibe of coming back home and seeing the characters interacting with one another that felt so dissonant in Penacony because, great part of the characters there, weren't even local so-to-speak.

𖧷 Oh, and as one last note: has anyone addressed the big elephant in the room of what Moze said? That the mara-struck are actually using a technique typical of the Caelorum Venti and how this was a thing even during Dan Heng's quest with Bailu? Everything is looking so sus right now and I adore every bit of it.