#which is weird as there is always someone home that can accept a parcel

[tzarounderscorech]

i swear, I have not met a delivery company more incompetent than dpd

[kstewdeux]

@inuvember​

Prompt: AU

Summary: In a world filled with humans with abilities, an extrovert adopts an introvert and takes him home for the holidays. ​

Long ago, there was an incident. Well….not so much an incident as a nuclear war which devastated the planet and killed off most of humanity. But that’s not really what’s important here. While most humans did die, the ones who lived adapted to survive. Their long, twisted ladders of DNA laughing in the face of every scientist that had once declared super human abilities impossible.

So, in consideration of all of that, you’d think people would be more understanding. Given that mankind lived in a post-apocalyptic world where radioactivity made 80% of the population manifest abilities, you’d think that it wouldn’t matter if someone was different. You’d think they’d be kinder to one another and accepting of people. Especially if certain people, by themselves, were strong enough to protect your region from the other asshole regions which caused this mess in the first place. That they’d flock to someone who most likely would be the candidate like his father before him. You think they’d be understanding if - at the ripe age of three - someone accidentally killed said extremely powerful father because they couldn’t control their powers.

You’d think that, right?

Wrong.

Humanity might’ve survived but people still sucked. Those who weren’t blessed with a purely humanlike appearance were treated like second class citizens. Especially if they were powerful and showed promise. Those weaker mortals exerted the only power they had in an attempt to control the things they feared. Inuyasha remembered sitting on the bleachers waiting for someone, anyone to pick him to be on their team but he was always someone’s unwanted last player. The one the team got stuck with. The weird kid. The freak. This trend continued into adolescence. Sure, he’d gotten into the academy on merit. Didn’t even need to take any tests to prove he was worthy of being there to compete for the top twenty spots. Still, despite having top marks academically, no one wanted to sit with him at lunch. No one invited him to the birthday parties. He’d been rejected whenever he applied for club memberships. Everyone had made it very clear he was unwanted.

Life was a whole lot shittier now that his mother died. Now he wasn’t a freak only his mother loved. Now he was an orphaned freak who was going to spend three weeks alone in the dorm. Not even the cleaning staff was going to be there. The kitchens weren’t going to be open. And he didn’t have money to order take out much less have food delivered. He had been left with nothing. Nothing at…

“Is this seat taken?” a tall ebony haired boy seemingly out of nowhere- his oddly covered hand gesturing at the two empty chairs. So stunned was Inuyasha that anyone was talking to him that he said possibly the most pathetic, desperate statement of his life. The words sounded so hopeful. So excited. So…unlike him.

 “No. Not at all. You can sit there...”

 A small piece of Inuyasha’s soul curled up and died as the good looking teen pulled back the chair only to pick it up and placed it at a different table where two young rather pretty girls sat waiting. 

“If you want...”

As they all three glanced back at him, Inuyasha averted his eyes and tried his best to ignore the accompanying whispers. He needed to focus on making his own upcoming holiday plans. After all, he did have one last present from his mother. She’d wrapped it and mailed it to the academy right before the accident. Most likely it was something stupid like socks and underwear. Snack food. Soap. The question became where he could get a tree or whether he’d need to make one. After all, there had to be a tree. No matter what was in that parcel. His mother always made sure she had a tree up for when he came home and he had a present which needed a tree. He needed a tree...

Setting his jaw, Inuyasha reached up to wipe away the single traitorous tear under the guise of pushing his bangs away from his face. This was not the time to start crying.

“Looks like we have an extra chair and need an extra person,” a girl’s soft voice offered sweetly from a freakishly close distance, “Do you want to sit with us?”

It took Inuyasha a minute to clear his mind and by the time he did, the girl who’d been whispering about him at that table was already holding out a napkin. 

“I don’t need your pity,” Inuyasha snapped hatefully as he glared up at her and blocked the tendril of power that reached out to calm him down, “Or your help. I had something in my eye is all.”

The warm tendril probed for a moment as the two maintained eye contact. And then the girl hummed in what seemed like an approving yet suspicious manner while her sweet smile widened.

“My friend has some eye drops if you need them,” the girl offered as she remained standing with the napkin outstretched, “Everyone gets dry eyes in the winter.”

“I said I don’t need your pity…” 

“And I said we have one chair too many. We also have an offer for you if you’ll hear us out,” the girl interrupted in that abrasively saccharine tone, “You do know the selection process is starting in the spring, right?”

Inuyasha did know. Training for the damn thing was the only activity keeping him sane at the moment. Really, given the fact that he already prequalified for candidacy based on his stats from strength to stamina to pain tolerance, he didn’t need to train at… 

“Well, we need a fourth. Miroku,” she paused and waved at the young man who had taken the chair in the first place, “Has been watching you in the gymnasium and thinks you’d make a great addition to our team. We want to offer you that position.”

“I’m doing it alone,” Inuyasha huffed as he snagged the napkin out of her hand and tossed it away, “Like I said, I don’t need your pity.” 

“Well we need you,” the girl insisted as she folded her arms across her chest, “We’re powerful on our own defense wise but we need another offensive member to even our stats.” 

“Sucks to be you then,” Inuyasha scoffed hatefully before letting his power flare when a second warm tendril began trying to probe for a weakness, “Stop trying to fucking get inside my head. That trick won’t work on me.” 

“Look, I’m sorry for trying to feel you out but we’re short on time. Break starts Monday,” the girl sighed apologetically, “I’ve heard you’re from the Capital. So am I. If you decide you’re interested, I can give you my number and address…” 

“I don’t want your number or your address,” Inuyasha ground out as he picked up his tray, “If you’re really so desperate , there’s a whole cafeteria here filled with assholes who’d probably love to be…” 

“Again we don’t want them. We. Want. You,” the girl huffed - her sapphire eyes flashing dangerously, “What about that is so hard to understand?” 

“Well for starters none of you have even looked my way much less talked to me before,” Inuyasha damn near snarled, “Do you even know my name?”

 “Inuyasha, I literally sit next to you in biology class,” the girl sighed dourly, “That’s me saying hi to you every morning and asking you how you’re doing. Do you even know my name?”

Blushing faintly, Inuyasha would admit the girl looked vaguely familiar but he honestly didn’t remember ever talking to her a day in his life. Wouldn’t have been able to pick her out in a crowd. Although, to be fair, mother died three weeks into the semester and everything after had blurred together into a hellish soup. He went to class. Went to the gym. Did his homework. Went to bed. Running on fine-tuned autopilot trying to get by and not fail out. Mother would have been so disappointed if… 

“My name is Kagome. Ka-go-me,” the girl finally sighed before gesturing over at the two individuals watching these events unfold, “That’s Miroku and Sango. Our team right now is defense heavy. Sango is our only offensive member but she’s limited. Miroku is our short range defensive member. I am our long range defensive member. Just so you know, I’m an empath but I can manifest weapons, barriers and make things go boom.”

“Ah yes, ‘making things go boom.’ Textbook defensive strategy,” Inuyasha mocked scathingly, “Again, I don’t need your pity. I…”

“You are from the Capital, right?” the girl asked as her blue eyes pleaded with him to reconsider, “Come by over break and I’ll show you why my stats are defense orien…” 

“I’m staying here over break so you can shove your offer right up your ass,” Inuyasha hissed hatefully before realizing he’d given too much away. For a moment, he continued glaring at the girl then he turned and left the cafeteria. The next day Kagome noticed Inuyasha wasn’t in biology. Which was weird. What was even stranger was the fact that the teacher didn’t even call out Inuyasha’s name in roll call. Another day went by and again Inuyasha wasn’t present. The third day was what broke the camel’s back and after a short blunt conversation with the teacher, Kagome learned exactly why Inuyasha was staying here over the break. Why he hadn’t put in the effort and learned her name. Why he was so certain she approached him out of pity. 

It also gave her an idea.

READ THE REST HERE

{TUMBLR SAID THERE WERE TOO MANY WORDS}

[samwilsonshandsandass]

A Thank You To The Wilsons'

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x the Wilsons’

Summary: Bucky wants to thank the Wilsons’ for everything, and finds something special for them.

Warnings: none

Word count: about 1.7K

Bucky was happy. But he also had one worry. He worried about how to show his thanks to the Wilsons’ for everything they did for him.

To Sam, who just had to know about even the small and especially gruesome details of his past, who despite his initial skepticism of his person, trusted others and Bucky himself enough to help him. The first person he could always turn to with just about anything, even when Bucky had ignored him and Sam still tried and tried and tried. How he had really put the ‘tough’ in ‘tough love’ and knew that was exactly what he needed.

To Sarah, who not only accepted him from the start despite probably knowing who he was but also reminded him of who he once had been and would have stayed of the universe or whatever higher power had allowed him to. She didn’t even shy away from putting him in his place. And then, some time after school had started again, she had allowed him to pick up AJ and Cass from school. She had taken him with her and had him meet all the teachers and the principal.

To AJ and Cass, who immediately accepted him. The first time he visited, they looked appropriately weirded out by their mom flirting with someone and were suspiciously looking at this more-or-less stranger on their family’s boat. They had known not to touch the shield, let alone play with it, but what were they supposed to do when Uncle Sam just left it laying around? But Bucky didn’t tattle on them. That was the first time they thought about giving him a kind of honorific. Then, when school started again, after some weeks they asked their mom if Bucky could pick them up. He could. That was also the time, they started using him as their personal jungle gym.

Then, Bucky turned up at the cook out. With a store-bought cake, but the gesture was what counted and frankly, Cass said to AJ, he probably couldn’t cook more than an egg. Well, that not only would, but would have, to change should Bucky not leave Delacroix right the next day. And then, Bucky announced he’d like to move in, if they’d let him and if Sam learned to share.

In the fall, Bucky finally, officially, moved in with the guest room made into his permanent room. He learned sailing, fishing, preparing the seafood for selling. He learned which kids needed some more food when coming to the soup kitchen.

One night, when Sarah came into the kitchen, exhausted from a day’s work, the stress of trying to revive a failing business in a post-Blip world.

“Usually, I love what I have. And what I do. But there are days I just want to sleep” She mumbled, sitting down and rubbing her face.

Bucky sat down across the corner from her. “Just in general, or did something happen today?”

“The bank that told us they could help us. You know the one where my big brother made a fool of himself? They just called and told us how they’re so very sorry but they couldn’t help us now.”

Bucky went quiet after that and only hugged her tight.

---

The next day, after he had brought Cass and AJ to school, he drove to the bank. He asked for the exact employee that had Sam made a fool of himself and Sarah so exhausted.

---

Another day later, Sarah had to take an important call right in the middle of the family breakfast. Just as Bucky, and today also Sam, were ready to take the boys to school, she came back into the room and announced: “We got the loan! And the conditions are even better than what they first offered us!”

There was a quick Wilson-Barnes hugging pile, although Sam had to run one or two red lights to get the boys to class on time. Every few minutes during the car ride, Sam looked at Bucky from the corner of his eye. Bucky seemed deep in thought.

In the evening they all celebrated and AJ and Cass were allowed to stay up longer than usual, even for a Friday night.

The next morning, Bucky heard clattering in the kitchen. Earlier than he thought he would. ‘Maybe it’s Sarah and the sleeping rhythm of a mom never changes back.” He slipped down to the kitchen with the intention to surprise her.

“You’re not getting any closer!” Sam growled as he spun around with a batter dripping spatula in hand.

“I thought you were Sarah!” Bucky exclaimed, more shook than he thought he should have been.

“Did my hair get that long?” Sam stroked his head.

“What are you doing there?” Bucky nodded to the spatula that now dripped a yellow-y batter on the floor.

“Pancake batter.”

“This early?”

“The perfect batter needs patience, time and passion!” Sam was indignant.

“But you’re letting me have coffee, right?”

“Because you asked” Sam did that half-smile of his.

As Bucky was finishing his coffee, the other three Wilsons’ came down.

“Pancakes!” AJ called out.

“Pancakes!” Sam confirmed.

“Pancakes!” Cass yelled, coming down after his brother.

“That’s a useful big brother” Sarah smiled.

“You, too.”

“So, what do we all want? One serving of pancakes with berries and chocolate syrup-“

“Yes!” Cass grinned.

“-one serving of pancakes with jam in between each one-“

“That’s me!” That came from AJ.

“-one serving of pancakes with berries, chocolate syrup and jam on the side, specifically to be used for dipping. Gross” Sam chuckled.

“You keep telling yourself that” Sarah retorted.

“And Bucky?”

There was a chorus of three voices, all going “Ohhhhh!”

“Huh? What about me?” Bucky looked like what Sarah would later describe as ‘the confused puppy’ look.

“What do you want with your pancakes?”

“Uhm, uh…”

“There areplums in this kitchen” Sam grinned at Bucky.

“Could I get them with plums and berries and chocolate syrup in between?” With each word after ‘plums’ Bucky got quieter and redder.

“I think I got that.”

One serving after the other, Sam carefully and lovingly made the pancakes, and only after everyone was already tucking in, did Sam get some pancakes for himself. Bucky couldn’t help but notice how there was only one dollop of jam on the uppermost of his pancakes.

The breakfast and weekend went down peacefully. Playing in the backyard with the boys, the shield being used as an over-glorified frisbee, trying to teach Bucky some more cooking. Through all of it, Bucky was quieter than usual. Especially Sarah and Sam continued to shoot him looks, wondering what was up with him.

During the next weeks, everything went back to normal. Bucky brought the boys to school and picked them up, sometimes with Sarah, sometimes with Sam. The boat began to shine in new splendor without glossing over its history to the family and the community. The boys complained about school work, raved about other things that happened and brought up one or two school mates who very visibly sidled up to them just because now their uncle had somehow been accepted as a national symbol. Although Bucky had no reason to be proud of them, after all he didn’t have a hand in raising them, he still was.

During Christmas Break, Sarah approached him.

“Buck, could you and maybe Sam, watch the boys for the day?”

“Yeah, of course! Did something come up? Can I help?”

“That’s sweet of you, but it’s just wash day for me.”

“Hey, I can do the laundry! I’ve gotten better at it!” Bucky responded eagerly.

“No, no, it’s-“ Sarah chuckled quietly. “It’s my hair. It needs quite the pampering now, especially after the last weeks.”

Bucky’s eyes went wide.

“Buck? You okay?” Sarah seemed worried.

“Yep. Yeah. Just had a thought. Don’t worry about it” He reassured her.

She nodded. Bucky gathered Sam and the boys and when they went out, Sarah went up to the bathroom. Bucky had a moment to look at the back of her head. During the day, the playing and getting the lunch, he looked at the three Wilsons’. He really looked at them and especially their hair. Their hair that was so very different from his own.

At home, dinner made by Sam was a quiet affair on Bucky’s part. AJ and Cass retold everything that had happened, from Sam faceplanting, Bucky getting them all the food they wanted to Sam and Bucky chasing them around and then the other way round.

After all the Wilsons’ were asleep, Bucky started researching. He looked up everything he could. Quite some time later, he ordered four things and went to sleep himself.

Three days later, AJ and Cass were in school, Sarah was on the boat and Sam had been called away for some promotional thing but according to him this time it was something even Sam Wilson, and not only the symbol of Cap, stood behind.

Bucky arranged the four single parcels on the kitchen table, wrapping them in paper and ribbons. He sat down and tapped his foot anxiously. He didn’t stop until Sam came in with the boys and Sarah.

AJ was first to ask. “Uncle Bucky? What is that?”

“it’s, uh… a little something. To say thank you.”

“For what?” Sarah cocked her head.

“Uhm, uh. For… well, everything.”

“Well, what is it? Cass implored.

“Go on, open them!” Bucky pushed the two smaller parcels to AJ and Cass, the middle one to Sam and the biggest one to Sarah.

“Is that really?” Sarah looked at Bucky, then down again at the fabric peeking out from her half-opened package.

“Bucky, are these bonnets?!” Sam looked at him in disbelief.

Bucky rubbed his neck. “Yeah. I, uh. Just thought it’d be a nice way of thanking you all. Something that’s not just something superficial, that actually is of use for all of you.”

“Thank you, Bucky. Thank you so much” Sarah whispered and trailed her fingers over her long bonnet.

“You’re very, very welcome” He grinned.

The boys had already put their bonnets on and hugged Bucky’s waist. Sarah hugged him on his other side and Sam put his left arm around his nephews and the right one around Bucky’s shoulders.

“We’re never letting you go now, you know that, right?” Sam said.

“You’re also not getting rid of me, you know that, right?” Bucky retorted.

[yukipri]

Marco’s Bauble Part 3 - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Here’s part 3 of the Marco’s Bauble story, posted last month on Patreon!

Finally, an appearance from Marco himself ^ ^

Contains mention of Marco x Luffy.

Continues off of, and should be read after:

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 1

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 2

~~

Namur takes great pride in being a fishman in the Whitebeard Pirates.

Fishmen and merfolk are usually usually reluctant to join human-dominated organizations, and with good reason, given their long and painful history of suffering prejudice. And for those few who do feel the call of pirating, joining Jinbe and the Sun Pirates to be among their own kind is a natural and comfortable choice.

Jinbe's a good friend, and Namur has nothing but the highest respect for him and Aladine, but he's already chosen who to follow.

Pops, who stood up and protected Fishman island with just one word. Pops, who lets them keep his flag on the island without any tribute, which not even the world government would allow. Pops, who personally brings the wrath of colossal waves and quaking earth every time humans try to bring trouble to the undersea oasis.

Namur knew that he'd be alone among humans, but he trusts Pops, and trusts those who follow him and protect his home alongside him. And given everything he's done for Fishman Island, Namur feels it only fitting that fishmen be represented on the crew.

And so Namur became the first Fishman to join the Whitebeard pirates, but he wasn't the last. By the time Namur had been raised to the rank of 8th Division Commander, a handful of others had joined, along with a number of other people from various tribes considered not quite fully human. Some minks, some longarms, even one guy from a sky island.

In a crew as massive as theirs, diversity isn't surprising, and Pops has ensured they've never been alienated. Even so, the 8th Division became a natural gathering spot for those seeking others who are also a little different, and Namur's damn proud of his versatile, unique division that can handle missions that no other group can.

Namur's happiest aboard the Moby, and it's his one true home now. But at the same time, after spending so much time away from Fishman island, he sometimes misses his birth homeland and culture.

Which is why it feels like reverse culture shock when something familiar appears in front of him with no warning.

Like right now. On Marco's desk.

"Uh," Namur says eloquently, reports in his hand forgotten, eyes glued to the Thing that Marco's now wrapping in what looks like a letter, written in Marco's unmistakable elegant cursive.

"Sorry, I'll be done in a second, yoi," Marco says, and Namur freezes, realizing he must have intruded on possibly a very private moment--except Marco doesn't seem particularly bothered.

Well, even if Marco doesn't mind, Namur still feels awkward, and forces himself to avoid looking at the now-wrapped Thing. He really feels like he just saw something he shouldn't have. Had he knocked before coming in? He thought he had. He thought Marco had told him to come in, but now he's not so sure, because dropping by Marco's office to hand in reports is so habitual. Namur begins to sweat.

"Alright, what is it?"

Marco turns around, and he's wearing those glasses he always wears when he has to pour over documents for hours, that somehow make the legendary Phoenix look less like a terrifying warrior and more like an exhausted secretary. He's wearing his usual open shirt, Pops's mark proudly emblazoned on his chest, and his head still looks like a tropical fruit, and his face still looks kinda stoned. So, the usual Marco. Nothing amiss.

But maybe he's just hiding it. Humans can be so hard to read at times, and Marco wears his poker face better than most. Even though Namur's been his crew mate for roughly twenty years now, he still can't really see through it. Namur fidgets, palms feeling slick.

"Reports from the Eighth's last mission?" Marco prompts, and Namur flinches because oh, he'd been staring.

"Uh, yeah," he forces out, and raises his arm mechanically to pass over the bundle of documents he'd spent the entire morning writing up.

He notices that Marco uses his right hand to take it. He's heard that sometimes, humans wear the equivalent of the Thing on their left hand, and Namur realizes he hasn't seen (or perhaps just hasn't noticed) Marco's left hand in a while. He wonders if Marco's actually hiding it, and sneakily tries to peek at Marco's left side.

Apparently not sneakily enough, because Marco's sharp eyes flick to his side to try to catch what he must have thought Namur was trying to see, and Namur hastily straightens.

They stare at each other and the silence stretches awkwardly, and oh, Namur can tell this one, Marco looks very Confused. It comes off as sorta constipated, but Namur knows Marco well enough recognize the emotion on his questionably human face, and immediately feels bad. He didn't mean to act suspiciously, or snoop in Marco's personal life, but...he's so unbearably curious.

Namur supposes honesty is better.

"Marco," he tries to choose his words carefully, "that, on your desk..." Namur makes a vague jerky motion at the Thing.

"Oh, this?" Marco plucks up the little bundle that's now tied off with twine. "I was just going to send it off to Thatch."

Namur chokes on his own spit.

"You're, Th-Thatch?" Namur wheezes. "You're giving...to him?!"

Namur feels like he's just been sucked into a whirlpool, his world's suddenly tilting in every direction all at once. He doesn't have a problem with them being, y'know! Of course not! He supports his friends! It's just, well, he's surprised, because he'd never even suspected these particular brothers were anything but close friends, because it's Marco and Thatch, and he's been living with them for twenty years and--oh no, did everyone other than Namur actually know all along, is this Human Stuff again--

"Oh, no," Marco says with a soft laugh. "This isn't for him, yoi. He's just delivering it for me. It's for Ace's little brother."

Namur heaves out a huge sigh of relief. It's not Thatch. Oh thank goodness. Not that he doesn't think that Marco and Thatch wouldn't be great together. But. He's glad it wasn't just Namur misunderstanding...

Namur chokes on his own spit, again.

"Ace's little brother?" he tries hard not to shriek, and it comes out even tinier than expected, barely a whisper of a strangled sardine.

Marco frowns a bit at Namur's weird voice and offers him a bottle of fresh water from his side desk, which Namur shakily accepts. This is a lot to process.

"She's...ah, Ace said it's alright if Division Commanders know, but try not to spread this around too much. But she's a mermaid. I thought it'd be fitting," Marco says, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Ah," Namur nods, feeling numb. That does make a lot of sense, far more sense than giving That to Thatch at least.

A mermaid. Ace referring to his mermaid sister as "brother" also makes plenty of sense, given how vulnerable mermaids are in the world of pirates. In fact, it makes so much sense, and Namur wants to applaud Ace's discretion, he didn't seem the type to have that kind of tact and Namur's genuinely impressed, but his mind's also kind of overloaded right now.

"Although, Namur, since you're here..." Marco looks down at the parcel, dwarfed in his palm. "Do you think she'll like it? Or is it too bold, from someone she's never even met?"

It might be a trick of the light but...does Marco look, demure?

Namur's eyes bug out.

Holy shit. This is the real deal.

Namur's never known Marco to have a personal life or interest in anyone, the man's the definition of dedicating his life to the crew. But perhaps he was just being discreet, because surely everyone has a some soft spot or another, and Namur has just found Marco's.

And they've never even met?! They have a long distance relationship too. She's all the way in East Blue, and they correspond via letters and packages. All those oceans between them...

And on top of that, a mermaid and phoenix. She, bound in water, reaching up for the unattainable, while he, bound to the sky, doomed to drown if he touches her domain...like epic lovers torn apart by fate, just like the fairy tale of the fish princess and the bird, beloved by all fishmen and merfolk...

Namur feels his eyes sting a bit from the tragic romance of it all. But now Ace and Thatch have gone to retrieve her, and she'll be coming home to the Moby Dick soon. They'll be united. They'll get their happy ending.

Namur reigns in his overflowing emotions, remembering that he has an important task.

Do you think she'll like it? Or is it too bold?

Marco has consulted in Namur, his closest friend, his fishman expert confidant. This is his time to shine, his chance to give back a little for all the kindness and support Marco's shown him all these years. And Namur will not disappoint.

Namur composes himself, and then takes his reports back from Marco's hand, letting them go because they're suddenly utterly unimportant in light of Marco's blossoming future. He then grasps the now-empty hand, so warm and human, with both of his webbed ones. Marco's eyes widen in alarm as the papers flutter all around them, but Namur ignores them.

"Marco, I promise you, she'll love it," Namur pours every ounce of sincerity he has into his words, and feels his eyes begin to water again from the weight of it all. "I just want to say, I'm super happy for you, brother, and you can come to me for anything."

Marco stares at Namur, and Namur wills him to understand the depth of Namur's dedication to helping his dreams come true.

"...Right. Thanks, yoi?"

Namur doesn't see Marco's eyebrows climb up into his little mop of hair, doesn't notice him try and fail to extract his hand, doesn't notice him looking completely and utterly lost.

Because Namur's so overwhelmed. They grow up so fast! His friend's taking his next big step in life! And Namur gets to see it through! Being alive is incredible!

~~

Namur leaves eventually, and Marco stares blankly after him, hand still cramped from being death-gripped by the fishman for who knows how long.

He has no idea what just happened.

He then looks at the reports that are now scattered across his entire office.

"...He could have at least picked them up, yoi..."

~~

~~

~~

Namur is this guy here.

While he's a canon chara, he's also bg, and like most of Whitebeard's crew other than a core handful, we know very little about him and his personality and backstory is entirely me making it up ^ ^;

Next up in Marco's Bauble #04:

Namur values his crew's privacy. And given that he doubts he was even supposed to see Marco's secret, he absolutely can't disclose it to anyone.

Which is why he's snuck into Izo's room at ass o'clock in the morning, when everyone but the morning shift is asleep, but Izo's awake because he takes a few hours doing his hair and makeup.

Anyway, if you got through to the end, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

As always, comments/reblogs/tags always immensely appreciated!!! <3 People sharing their thoughts with me motivates me to write so much more, and update more frequently, so thank you so much for everyone who’s so kindly done so in the past!! ;A;

(and if anyone wants an early look, the next parts are already up on my Patreon ;D)

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

Read the next part: Marco’s Bauble, Part 4

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

[fmdminhee]

task. #famedrstask1.

notes: word counts are included with each individual answer! completed for +5 tracker points.

assuming your muse has changed in some way, be it internally or as a result of a change of the external factors around them, how is your muse different? these can be as small as an opinion on a song they hadn’t released previously or as big as a major change in their background. word count: 261.

minhee’s childhood prior to becoming a trainee is pretty much the exact same as before the restructuring. dance prodigy says fuck u crazy dance mom, i’m not gonna be maddie ziegler, and ends up becoming an idol. she started training a year earlier than before though, so she had a slightly longer training process! i think the most obvious change to everyone else is her faceclaim, which is now lee hyeri. buuuut if you take a look at her pages or app or anything else, you’ll see that she’s now a main dancer, lead vocal & rapper, rather than being a main dancer, lead rapper & vocal! this was sort of a selfish change on my part, because i wanted to open her up to some opportunities for solo work that wouldn’t have suited her before because of her position, but that would’ve fitted more along the lines of what i initially imagined for her image than the options actually available to her. she’s also been a lot happier for a lot longer, because instead of debuting with a concept she hated, minhee got to debut in ... an age appropriate group! if you look here, you can see some examples of what i thought of when thinking of minhee’s ideal group and ... yeah, lily lines up with that pretty well. not perfectly, but pretty well. she’s still dealing with her issues surrounding her family, her sexuality and her fear of aging, but for the most part, minhee’s a lot more settled, or even satisfied, in terms of her career.

what does your muse think of their company and their group? word count: 255.

let’s start with lily, minhee’s beloved. she loves her members, she loves the overwhelming majority of their songs, and she’s proud as hell of the legacy they’ve built up for themselves so far. to be honest, sometimes she it just hits her that oh shit, she’s minnie from lily! and oh shit, they’re basically the biggest girl group ever. no one tell her that candy inherited nation’s girl group or that ultraviolet are taking over the world, let her be dumb. no, but genuinely, she can’t believe the scale of what they’ve achieved sometimes. she doesn’t totally feel like she deserves all the love she gets. then there’s the company behind it all; bc entertainment. she wonders all the time if her mother would’ve went along with everything if it was any other company that minhee came home with a callback from. probably not. for that alone, she’s thankful. she sort of dislikes being portrayed as perfect and untouchable -- more silly and down to earth than a lot of her peers under the company, but still. it’s just part and parcel of bc’s status. the reason it gets to her is that she’s very much not that perfect girl next door that the company wants her to be, and she puts a lot of pressure on herself to live up to it. as such, minhee probably doesn’t take advantage of all of the resources being under bc allows her access to as much as she should, choosing instead to just grin and bear it. 

is your muse on their first contract or their second? if they’ve renewed, what were their feelings around that at the time and what were their hopes for their second contract? if they haven’t renewed, what are their current thoughts on the end of their eventual first contract? word count: 260.

minhee is on her second contract. she renewed with bc in 2019 for a further seven years, which doesn’t feel like that long of a time. seven years seemed like a liftetime when she signed her debut contract in 2012, but it went by pretty fast for her. finding out what the rest of her members were doing was the most important thing for minhee when choosing whether or not to renew. with lily’s status in the industry, the money she made over the previous years, and the wealth belonging to her family, she felt confident that she’d be okay no matter what happened. a safety net. but her preference was always going to be to continue with the rest of lily if possible. she wouldn’t have forced the issue if the others didn’t want to though ... at least not on purpose. knowing minhee, she probably would’ve been crying all over the place and ended up messing with everyone’s plans like that. maybe she would’ve put out an ad like, “nation’s girl group in search of new agency. must be willing to take in four fully grown women and meet all of their demands.” as for the terms in her second contract, minhee was looking for some more royalties and some reassurance that lily would continue to receive the levels of resources and investment that they were already receiving from the company, as well as more opportunities for her to grow as a soloist. she didn’t want them falling by the wayside. she’s too young to be washed up! 

what are your muse’s goals and motivations? word count: 259.

in terms of her career, minhee actually has some pretty lofty ambitions. her top two focuses are solo music and modeling, and they’re basically split an even 50/50. she wants to continue releasing upbeat solo songs, but as for the music itself, aside from some dabbling in lyrics, she’s happy to leave it to the professionals. her primary interest, aside from the obvious performance and promotion aspects, lies in developing her own choreography. for her own songs firstly, but also for lily’s songs, and maybe even others within the company. outside of bc remains to be seen. she’s been really inspired over the years by a lot of the dancers and choreographers that she’s worked with, even from before entering bc, and she’d like to inspire someone else some day too! and modeling ... i can’t lie, minhee just likes looking pretty and getting free stuff, so she’d like to do some more of that. 

as for her personal life ... messy as hell! she still really wants to find love but still only goes looking for it with fuckboys. she wants to get closer with her dad and her extended family, but is finding it difficult to pull off while also keeping her mother at arm’s length. she also can’t help antagonising her mother because she’s a dumb brat. i don’t think minhee realises it yet, but she’s slowly coming to a place of self acceptance too. when she does realise it, i think that’s something that will really motivate her to be the best she can be.

what is one conflict, internal or external, that your muse is currently dealing with, has recently dealt with, or will need to deal with in the future? word count: 262.

i’ve talked in depth about minhee’s conflict over her sexuality here, which all still holds true, but i want to take this opportunity to talk about something else very close to my heart concerning minhee that i’ve mentioned once or twice in passing but never explicitly. minhee is autistic. she just doesn’t know it yet. some fun mun trivia is that i’m autistic! but, as is typical for a lot of afab people, i was basically an adult by the time it was diagnosed. you might say, hey sucy, stop projecting on your muses, but i say no! write what you know and all that. it’s kind of ironic though, because not even i realised minhee could very well be autistic until i’d written her for two years, and deciding took me another. and now she has to go through the diagnostic process again in character, smh me. anyways, yeah, minhee is probably going to have it suggested to her pretty soon while seeking some help for her anxiety about aging, and after that she’s gonna have to recontextualise her whole life because it’s truly like a lightbulb moment for a lot of people, myself included. suddenly everything that was weird to you growing up makes sense. it’s kind of a lot to wrap your head around, and would be for anyone, so writing about that for minhee is going to be interesting. i mentioned above that she’s been kind of moving towards self acceptance anyways, and i think this will be a very big turning point for her on that journey.

if your muse has established career claims, what are their thoughts on their career so far? if they do not, how do they feel about not having individual activities yet? what would they like to do in the future, if anything? if they don’t have ambitions for individual activities, explain why. word count: 277.

she does! her individual activities consist of modeling jobs and a couple of variety show cast positions, because i felt that these were the avenues she would’ve been pushed down up until more recently in her career, when her interest in choreographing for herself would’ve really taken off. minhee has really enjoyed her career so far. she feels settled within the entertainment industry, and that type of security is so sexy to her. the less chance that her mother can say i told you so the better.it’s kind of a big difference for her in terms of character actually, but this incarnation of minhee likes being on variety shows! she’s actually confident appearing on them! this is because of the difference in concept between lily and lipstick. lipstick’s minnie’s confidence took a long time to build up. lily’s minnie’s didn’t. she’d like to be on more variety shows in the future, especially something competition based, like dancing with the stars ... or masterchef, for a laugh, because she’d be the first person eliminated. and then, there’s the modeling. as mentioned a couple of questions ago, it’s something she wants to focus pretty tightly on going forward. her favourite brand that she’s been the ambassador for so far is crocs. she loves her crocs. she has, like, five different colours. crocs, please sign minhee again. working with etude house and kloud was pretty cool too though. sometimes she’s still able to swing free beers when she goes out. so, going forward, she wants to continue with those types of gigs, as well as pursuing more solo music and developing her skills as a choreographer, like i mentioned earlier!

[tearsofthemis]

Tears of Themis : Chapter 1 “Social Snobbery” Part 1

[Masterlist] | [Next Part]

Location- Industrial Warehouse

(Early in the morning, a bustle of movement disturbed the quiet night at a raw chemical warehouse situated in Stellis City’s Industrial Zone. A group of warehouse clerks that should have been on break opened the warehouse doors as they manned robots that lugged barrel after barrel of raw materials which were loaded on carts.)

Man on Comms: “Raven, please report on the investigation progress.”

(The man called Raven moved to hide himself behind storage containers, and adjusted his night-vision goggles, turning on thermal imaging.)

Man on Comms: “Raven, do you copy? Did something happen to you?”

(Raven tapped on his earpiece three times and silenced it. The voice in the comms was effectively cut with it.)

Warehouse Clerk A: “These late night shifts are awful, what sorta business couldn’t we have left for tomorrow morning?”

Warehouse Clerk B: “Shut your trap; the sooner you stop complaining, the faster we can finish our job.”

Warehouse Clerk A: “Speaking of, where did Minister Xu go? He was…”

Warehouse Clerk B: “I told you to shut it! Are you daft?”

(The reprimanded clerk scratched their neck and went quiet. Soon after, the raw materials were loaded into the truck, and they drove away. The opening and closing of the warehouse doors, and even the workers’ small dispute, was semi-audible through Raven’s earpiece. His brows furrowed. He must have picked up something in their conversation… either that, or he was simply dissatisfied with the quality of his gear.)

Raven: “An abnormal delivery…”

(His fingers were like a blur as he typed away on his smart watch, pulling up information on the warehouse owners. Raven pressed his earpiece, and sent his last transmission of the night.)

Raven: “He Yin, Ya Ning, no anomalies detected. Mark Hai O’Sen.”

Without waiting for a confirmation on the other end, Raven turned and stalked away with the stealth of a black leopard, fading into the pitch black tar of the night…

~~~~~~

Location- Outside the Law Firm

(It’s Saturday morning, and the CBD building is quiet. Compared to the usual hub hub from workers rushing about on a business day, the silent streets were quite unsettling.)

MC: “Should I go pick up something sweet? It’s been tough working overtime to prepare for the exam, I ought to treat myself! I guess that’s decided!” 

(Just as I walked through the office doors, I nearly crashed into a deliveryman as he halted me on the way to the dessert shop.)

Delivery Man: “Excuse me, is uh… mis Law Firm in this building?”

MC: “This is Themis Law Firm, who are you looking for?”

MC: (Themis, the goddess of good council’s, name is difficult to pronounce… Even if Zhai Xing came up with the name with good implications, she seems to have failed to consider whether or not the name would even stick with others.)

Delivery Man: “Does Zuo Ran work here? I have a package under his name.”

MC: “Lawyer Zuo? He’s off today, so he won’t be in. Can I accept the parcel on his behalf? I’m also a lawyer at Themis, I can show you my work badge.”

[Game Instructions: Enter your name]

Delivery Man: “By our policy, it does have to be the intended recipient… but a lawyer is worthy of being trusted; I’ll have to ask you to forward it then.”

MC: “I-it’s heavy! I should put this down before heading to the dessert shop.”

~~~~~~

Location- Zuo Ran’s Office

MC: “Huu… what a heavy package. It must be case files again, why can’t they just send it over electronically…”

MC: “Eh? Lawyer Zuo?!”

(I-is this the Zuo Ran I’ve come to know? The chief of Themis, the youngest elite lawyer in the industry, Zuo Ran? He sat, slouched in the leather chair, as the first rays of the morning sun shone through the windows and onto his face, but it did little to erase the fatigue that had settled between his brows. At this moment, he appeared almost as if he were a traveler who had just returned from a perilous and long journey, and had finally put down his heavy bags and had a moment to breathe. But not before the weariness settled in.)

MC: “Lawyer Zuo, you....” Zuo Ran: “MC, it’s you?”

MC: “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in here, so I entered without knocking…”

(Zuo Ran loosened his tie and sighed. Compared to his usual immaculately pressed suit, seeing him like this was like unlocking something that wasn’t meant to be seen by others.)

Zuo Ran: “It’s alright…”

~~~

[Investigate Zuo Ran’s tie]

MC: (Lawyer Zuo changes his tie everyday… This is the same tie that he wore yesterday, it seems like he stayed overnight at the Law Firm.)

~~~

[Investigate books]

MC: (What’s this? I’ve never seen these books in Lawyer Zuo’s office before. “Undecided Event Book”... the name is so strange. Is this Lawyer Zuo’s new case? Unless… it’s some kind of weird novel he’s been reading?

~~~

[Investigate papers]

MC: (Isn’t this in regards to the trans-national trade dispute? The client has been quite unreasonable; perhaps that’s the reason for Lawyer Zuo’s troubles. Zhai Xing has urged Lawyer Zuo to find someone to help him with his workload many times. Although I don’t know how Lawyer Zuo feels about her suggestion.)

~~~

MC: “Lawyer Zuo, you look really pale, are you sick? “

(Zuo Ran pressed his temples as his brows knit together.)

Zuo Ran: “I’m alright, nothing’s wrong.”

MC: (Are you really alright?)

(Zuo Ran’s voice sounded raspy. It seems like he is mustering up strength just to respond to my questions.)

MC: “I’ll go make you some coffee, I’ll leave your package on the ottoman.”

Zuo Ran: “Alright, I’ll have to trouble you for that much.”

~~~

Location- Break Room

MC: “Lawyer Zuo must’ve worked overtime the entire night, right? Those strange books and files on his desk… did he take up a new case? If that’s how hard elite lawyers work, I have to ramp up my efforts! I must pass the intermediate exams!”

(An enticing aroma wafted from the coffee maker. Just as I was preparing Zuo Ran’s mug, someone’s device started vibrating.)

MC: “Hm?” (The notifications were coming from a tablet beside the coffee maker. I pressed the power button, and the screen lit up to life.)

~~~

[Investigate notification]

MC: “‘Sky-high copyright lawsuit verdict: XueYu Jewelry won the case!’... The push notification is from a news outlet. XueYu Jewelry’s case was handled by Lawyer Zuo; of course he would come out on top! I’ve never heard of Lawyer Zuo losing a case, but everyone else claims he wins 99% of the cases he handles… perhaps he lost a case before he came to Themis?”

~~~

[Investigate passcode]

MC: “Unrecognized fingerprint, I can’t unlock it…”

~~

[Investigate back of tablet]

MC: “A YingYuan sticker? Isn’t this the idol that ChengCheng has been obsessing over? This must be ChengCheng’s tablet. She’s so scatterbrained, always misplacing things. I bet she’s probably at home searching for her tablet...”

~~~~~~

(Just as I was about to set the tablet down, the screen lit up with yet another notification.)

MC: “A Genetic drug for cancer treatment released, YanNing Biology Company writes a new chapter in medical advancement! A new medicine, again? There’s been a lot of funding being invested in the development of medicine. Aside from YanNing Biology, the HeYin Pharmaceuticals development isn’t trivial, either. That market’s competition must be fierce! Though, that’s just good news for patients.”

~~~~~~

Location- Zuo Ran’s Office

MC: “Lawyer Zuo, coffee’s ready.”

Zuo Ran: “I appreciate it, thanks.”

(By the time I came back, Zuo Ran had begun to organize the case files. He was focused as he poured over the information, and the fountain pen between his fingers did not rest as it took notes and circled important details. Judging by the parcel wrapping in his trash bin, I’m guessing he has already begun looking into the new case. I carefully brush aside some of the documents and place the coffee mug by his hand.) MC: “Is this an urgent case? I think you should rest for a bit.”

Zuo Ran: “No need. It’s Saturday, why are you here?”

MC: “I’m preparing for the intermediate lawyer exam. I thought if I studied at Thermis, it would be easier to reference information.”

Zuo Ran: “I see. If you need help, you can come find me, I’ll be here the whole day.”

MC: “That’s great! Thank you, Lawyer Zuo! Lawyer Zuo, you probably haven’t had anything to eat all day, have you? I’m about to go…”

(The office doorbell suddenly rang.)

Zuo Ran: “We have guests?”

MC: “I’ll go take a look.”

Zuo Ran: “If it’s anything you can’t handle, send them to my office.”

MC: “Will do.” ~~~~~~

Location- Themis Law Firm’s Reception Area

(By the front door, a man and a woman are arguing.)

Man: “Xue XinRan, the old man has already accepted his fate. Why do you need to go to such lengths? Filing a case is just a waste of money. If you really wanna go through the hassle, why not employ our MeiWeiKa PR agency? We can guarantee your ‘QingPing Restaurant Scandal’ be served without any dirt.”

Xue XinRan: “What nonsense! Lu HaiYang, you’re lying through your teeth! MeiWeiKa only looks to squeeze money from us merchants; you’ve never cared about anyone’s well-being!”

(Suddenly, the man named Lu HaiYang stepped toward Xue XinRan and grabbed her wrist.)

Lu HaiYang: “Watch what you say, Xue XinRan. Our company has prestige, and it isn’t something that can be uprooted by the words of a country bumpkin.

MC: “Sir, this is a Law Firm, I ask that you remain respectful!”

(I separated the two, and pushed XinRan behind me.)

-------

[Masterlist] | [Next Part]

-------

《CREDIT》 Translator: @humi-and-co Editor: @hallowsivy​ 《未定事件簿》Tears of Themis is a 2020 Chinese otome game by 米哈游Mihoyo. All original credits go to 米哈游Mihoyo. 

《VOICE ACTORS》 Xia Yan | Jin Xian: https://weibo.com/riceranger Zuo Ran | Zhao Lu: https://weibo.com/mzhaolu Lu HaiYang | Zhang Pei: https://weibo.com/u/1937059462 Xue XinRan | V17-Su Wan: https://weibo.com/u/2925530143

《OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS》 Official website: https://bbs.mihoyo.com/wd/ Official WeChat account:  未定事件簿  Mihoyo official website: https://wd.mihoyo.com/

[rocket-remmy]

Cart Bear|| Nora and Remmy

Two whole nights in a row now, Remmy had had nothing to do. But tonight, they got to work. It was almost a relief. There was only so much a daily routine could do to keep someone sane, and without a full time job, without a full time existence, Remmy was going stir crazy. They’d been in the military so long, they almost couldn’t remember a time where every minute of their life wasn’t planned out. Tonight stuck to that plan. They needed a last minute security guard at the grocery store, as someone (or something?) had been stealing from the dumpsters out back. Probably a wild animal, but if it was a person, it was Remmy’s job to find them and report them. It was illegal, after all, and that was the job Remmy was hired to do. As they patrolled around the building for about the fifth time that night, something caught their attention this time. Voices, panicked, quiet, and-- some sort of animal? Remmy’s heart would have skipped a beat, had it not been acting oddly. They dropped all pretenses, though, and dashed for the sounds, Moose hot on their heels.

It wasn’t Nora’s fault that the grocery store was closed. She was starving! And she couldn’t even go buy a big slab of meat. Life really was unfair that way. Well, she was nothing if not resourceful and her resourcefulness said that it was time to eat a different food. If meat wasn’t available, fear would work. In this town, Nora found that there was a layer of residual fear. There were always people scared of something, whether it be the falling fish or the red sky. It made for tasty snacks throughout the day but it was in no way a replacement for the full, intense food of a scare that she designed herself. Which is how she found herself sitting outside the grocery store projecting  the illusion of clowns crawling out of gutters and running at anyone who wandered too close. 

When Remmy came around the corner, what they saw was not what they expected. It was just...a couple of the night stockers, who had taken their break outback, screaming and hiding behind one of the piles of pallets. Remmy came to a stop, blinking, but Moose was still on edge, a low growl in his throat, which meant something was around. But all Remmy saw was the cowering workers, and someone sitting in a shopping cart, a few feet away from the horrified workers. Quirking a brow, Remmy walked tentatively over to the person in the cart, keeping a safe distance for now. They cleared their throat. “Um-- excuse me? Do you uh-- do you know what’s going on here?”

The feast was good. The feast was grand. The feast was everything a shopping cart sitting fiend like Nora could ask for. The two people screaming were reacting as if they’d just seen King’s It and were cowering as clowns started to dance around them. Nora smelled the person before she saw the person. The slight aruroma of rot mixed with a bit of must and a lot of dog. That was fine, Nora decided, they would see the clowns and then they would run away. Not a problem. Except they didn’t run away. They approached Nora and asked what was going on. Nora looked between the guard, she could see the security jacket, and back to the clowns. It was at times like these she wished she had a more expressive feature pallet. So she could raise her eyebrows and make an ‘are you an idiot’ look. Instead she pointed at the clowns. “It looks like the dancing clowns are scaring them.” 

Remmy blinked. Again. Pointed their light towards where this person in this cart was pointing, then to the men cowering in fear, then back to the shopping cart girl. “Um...I don’t see anything,” they said. “Are um-- are you okay?” They weren’t really sure what to do or say at that point. It seemed like everyone but them could see whatever hideous disaster was making the stockers cry out in fear. Remmy really should go help them, but without a point of reference to know what to do, there wasn’t much they were sure they could do, other than make them seem as if they were seeing things that weren’t there. Moose, however, was still growling, his nose pointed directly at the two men. Remmy tugged on his lead. “Moose. Sit.” He sat. They looked back at the cart girl. This wasn’t the first time they’d been shunned by something everyone else-- everyone human-- could see and feel. Remmy was beginning to think the world might be doing things like this on purpose. It wouldn’t be so bad if they could just figure out what they were. 

Nora blinked back at the them. Then again. “I’m fine.” Nora didn’t trust this. Could… they actually not see the clowns. Nora pointed again. “They are the ones being chased by clowns. Not me. You… You know that right?” Nora asked in as concerned of a deadpan as she could manage. Sitting up straighter, Nora looked down at the dog. The dog could obviously see the illusion. Nora squinted at the stranger, holding up her hand. On it she projected a tiny dancer. “What do you see when I do this?”

The cart girl kept insisting that she was fine and that there were clowns chasing the two men, who had now made it back into the building, leaving a wake of over turned boxes and carts on their way in. Fumbled keys on the ground, the door still ajar. Remmy frowned. Great, they were gonna have to clean that mess up now. The cart girl was talking again and Remmy looked back down at her, and her open, empty palm. “Um...nothing?” They shrugged. “Am I supposed to see something? Is this like a magic trick?”

“Are you blind? Is that a seeing eye dog?” That was it. That was the solution Nora had come to for this situation. Her illusions were not the problem! Her illusions were perfect parcels of pure fear that had worked on everyone she’d ever encountered for as long as she’d been alive. Why would that change now? Solution it wouldn’t. This person in front of her was blind. Nora had the clowns start shooing off the screaming employees, she had a bigger fish to fry. She was going to need a bigger fear boat. 

Remmy tilted their head. “Um, no. I mean, technically I’m half blind,” they said, scratching cheek. “Why would that matter? Also...I don’t think they’d let a blind person be a security guard.” Moose had finally stopped growling, still sat next to Remmy, inching ever closer to them. “Oh, no-- he’s a service dog. For um--” that wasn’t important. “Actually, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave. The um-- premise. Please.”

“No.” Nora answered, slumping farther down into the shopping cart like a child pouting. Her face, impassive as ever, turned to face in front of her. “I will not leave.” It was a challenge. A ‘What are you going to do about it? Call the cops?’ She’d scare the cops just like she’d scared the employees. Only this person wouldn’t know. They’d remain ever clueless. It was vexing. “Can you see this?” Nora asked, then shifted into a bear her clothes tearing and piercings popping off in a pile around her.

“It wasn’t really a ques--” Remmy started, but Moose stiffened suddenly and yanked back on his lead, tugging Remmy back, just as the person in the cart, cart girl, was suddenly cart bear. “Woah! Holy fuck!” Remmy shouted, jumping back. They stumbled away, pulling Moose away as well, holding him behind them. “Did you just-- are you-- seriously!?” Remmy shouted, a bit exasperated. “First giant lobsters, then magic, now a bear! Someone really turned into a bear! And I thought regrowing an arm was weird!”

Nora was ready to bask in the glory of another full on fear feast. Instead, all they got was a little tiny bit of fear. Probably from the shock. Nora shifted back into a human, in all her naked glory, still sat in the shopping cart which was now uncomfortably cold against her flesh. “Really?” Nora asked, slumping farther and farther back in the cart and staring blankly ahead. “Am I not scary?” Everyone was scared of something, she told herself, she just had to find what they were scared of.

Remmy was more bewildered than anything. Shocked, confused, a little worried. If this bear cart person thing attacked, Moose would try to defend Remmy, and he could get hurt, and they didn’t want that to happen. But then the bear was turning back to normal, and Remmy relaxed, just a little. “Uh….” they finally put their flashlight away and took their jacket off, holding it out to the cart bear. “Here.” She looked upset almost. Like Remmy had hurt their feelings. “I mean-- it was definitely wild and crazy like??? You can turn into a BEAR? Are you not human? I don’t think I’m human. My arm ripped off and then GREW BACK in like a few minutes.”

Nora accepted the jacket, sliding it on carefully. Her hands started going through her tattered clothes as she started pulling snakes and spiders out of her once intact pockets and putting them into the new pockets available. When she ran out of jacket pockets she started picking up the pockets of the tattered coat and pressing them against her so they kept the warmth. She really needed to remember to take her jacket off before she transformed. This wasn’t a nice thing to do to her friends. As she spoke the person, the guard, was gushing about the bear thing when they added something Nora wasn’t expecting. “You grew back an arm? Metal. Can you do it again?”

Remmy stared with wide eyes as the cart bear started pulling spiders and snakes out of their tattered clothes and sticking them into their jacket pockets. Not that Remmy really minded spiders or bugs or even snakes. They’d had to learn to live with them pretty quick over in Afghanistan. Bugs didn’t care if your tent had a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on it. Everywhere was home to them. Besides, Remmy had always liked bugs. “Oh, um-- yeah. Maybe? Probably. I haven’t exactly tried again. It wasn’t the most um-- pleasant experience? Wait-- is that not, like, weird to you?? Everyone else I’ve told has FREAKED on me, even Blanche, and she can--” stopped. They were rambling again, and Blanche would not appreciate them slipping her secret, even if it was an accident. “It wasn’t a fun experience.”

“I just turned into a bear.” Nora replied blandly. “Why would regrowing an arm be weird?” For a second Nora wondered if she could regrow limbs. That would be an experience, she’d never broken anything before so there was no evidence saying that she couldn’t. “Can you turn into a bear?” She asked the person standing in front of her. Also, now that she was confident all her spiders, snakes and friends had been safely collected, Nora held out a hand to shake. Beyonce wrapped around her wrist like a pleasant little bracelet. “I’m Nora. Will you help me rip off my arm? I want to see if it grows back.”

“Yeah...that was kinda weird,” Remmy admitted. “You um-- turning into a bear. How did you do that?? Was it magic?” They paused. “I um...don’t think so? I’ve never tried though. So...maybe?” A shrug. When she held out her hand, Remmy took it, a bit wary for a moment. “What!? No! No. I’m not gonna pull your arm off! That would probably hurt you!” They paused. Unless Nora was like them, but...they didn’t even know what they were, so how could they know if Nora was?

Oh that was a tough question. “I don’t know.” Nora answered honestly. She’d never learned how she turned into a bear. “I kinda just think ‘be a bear’ and then I become a bear.” She shoved her arm further out. “Come on it’ll be fine. I wanna see if my arm will grow back. If I can turn into a bear I can probably regrow limbs like you right?”

“I-I don’t necessarily think that’s solid logic,” Remmy said, a bit confused, and a little concerned. “If I can’t turn into a bear, then maybe you can’t regrow limbs. What’re you gonna do if it doesn’t grow back, you know?” they said, hoping to convince cart bear-- err, Nora-- that ripping their arm off wasn’t a good idea. Remmy wasn’t even sure they wanted to try it again themself. “Do you um-- heal fast? Maybe try like, giving yourself a little cut and see if that heals quick. Mine heal like...right away.”

Security person was talking some good logic. Nora nodded her head very slowly. “You got a knife?” Nora asked with a plain face, opening her hand upwards in the universal expression for slap it in. “I can’t remember the last time I was hurt, so its now or never right?” Nora had been hurt many times in her life, and all times they healed at a normal rate, however in this moment of questions all memory of those moments seemed blocked to her. 

Remmy was still a bit tentative, but if a little cut was what it was going to take to make sure Nora didn’t try and rip her arm off, then it was probably okay. They reached into their back pocket and pulled out their pocket knife. “Okay, I’ll cut my palm then you cut yours and we can compare how fast they heal,” they said. “That way, if you heal as fast as mine maybe um-- maybe you can regrow arms.” Held out the knife.

“Sounds fair.” Nora picked up Beyonce, moving the snake to around her neck. She adjusted herself within the cart, fingers wrapping around the metal bars. This was probably the point where she was supposed to stop the stranger she just met from cutting themselves. But, Nora had never been one for common sense. Nora grabbed the knife, instantly slashing it across the flesh of her left palm without hesitation. Pain burned through her as she let a small grimace slip through her normally expressionless facade. “You’re turn.” She said, handing the knife back.

 ((HELLO I SEE YOU EDITING WAS THAT THERE BEFORE DID YOU JUST ADD THAT

ADD WHAT????/ 

THE KNIFE PART

NO IT WAS ALWAYS THERE??? NO EDITING WE TYPO LIKE MEN

HELD OUT THE KNIFE LMAOOO i m so dumb. LSRFA:SDFHASDFYOU ARE KILLING ME. im keeping this in the chatzy post.

Iwas just gonna ask lmaoo we gotta keep it now put the lil FF.net (A/N) shit HEY I SEE THAT DLETE BUTTON GOIN OFF

LLLLLMMMAAOOOOOOOOOO. We cANT EDIT IT OUT WE TYPO LIKE MEN. STOP IM SORRY IM A MESS))

Remmy watched with quiet concern as Nora sat up and slashed her palm without hesitation, even though she gave a small wince. Remmy took the knife and cleaned it on their pant leg before holding it out and slicing their own palm. Once again, they felt nothing. Didn’t even flinch, didn’t even bleed. Remmy showed Nora their palm, and the both of them watched as the skin fell back together and seemingly sewed itself back up, in a matter of seconds. “How’s yours?”

Nora’s hand slowly started oozing blood, dripping down her wrist. Perhaps it was a bit deeper than she’d thought it was. Her eyes moved over to the security guards hand and she watched as it started sewing itself back together. “Oh. That’s...that’s fast.” Nora commented, twitching her gaze back to her hand then at their’s. “I don’t think my arm will regrow. My blood hasn’t even clotted yet.”

Remmy let out a sigh of relief. No arm chopping tonight. Thank goodness. They pocketed the knife and dug around in their pack for a bandage. “Here,” they said, holding it out to Nora. “I’m um...Remmy, by the way. Have you um-- always been able to turn into a bear, then?” they asked, raising a brow. What an odd sentence, they thought. But if giant lobsters, magic, and regenerating limbs were real, why not a person who could turn into a bear? They almost wished they could be more worried by this, but if Moose wasn’t on edge around them, then things weren’t as bad as they seemed.

“It’s nice to meet you Remmy.” Nora mumbled, carefully slapping the bandage onto her hand. “I don’t think so. It just happened one day.” Nora didn’t often think about the day she turned into a bear for the first time. It was the only time in her life she had ever been scared. Something she didn’t think was fun, despite constantly believing that everyone must love being scared by her. “Have you always been able to regrow arms?” Nora asked in return. “Also, my shoes ripped.” She noted, moving so that her bare feet were sticking out over the railing of the cart. “Will you wheel me home?”

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Nora,” Remmy said, watching her put on the bandage. They waited for her to finish, taking the wrapper and putting it back in their bag. “Um...I don’t know, honestly. I’ve never um-- had my arm ripped off until recently. And, well-- technically it was like cut off. By a giant lobster. I’m not sure those count as the same thing. Maybe, um...maybe I have and I just never noticed, though.” A shrug. They didn’t like to think about it too much, because the idea of not being normal made their head feel woozy and their legs feel like spaghetti. They blinked, looked down at Nora. “Oh, um--” glanced at their watch. “I’m off in like...ten minutes if you can wait?”

Nora slid back into the cart, her feet kicking out at the empty air as she waited the ten whole minutes for Remmy to come back and wheel her. The crazy thing was it turned out they lived in the same complex. The sad part was, Remmy couldn’t see any of the giant lobster illusions Nora was constantly trying to scare them with. Shame. 

[cowplant-pizza]

Strangerville Review

first of all, thank you to ea for giving me early access to this game pack through the game changer program. all of these screenshots have been presented to you by the ea game changers.

Ratings:

CAS 9/10

Build/Buy 8/10

World 9/10

Gameplay 7/10

Story 6/10

Overall 7/10

So I really want to be as honest as I possibly can with you guys. Game changers get a lot of stick for licking EA’s asses but I don’t see the point in lying to you all and singing praises that I don’t agree with so just know that this review is my own words and honest thoughts. Lets begin

You can see both cas and build/buy items here. Credit to @wildlyminiaturesandwich for this!

CAS

I loved the CAS stuff, well, most of it. Everyone was so crazy about those dreads but I just wasn’t feeling them! I love dreads and basically always have my sims of colour donning them, but I felt like these just looked a bit weird? They fell awkwardly around the face and it looked like someone had used some hairspray to give it volume but really failed?? Idk, thats my opinion. I know a lot of people really love them so Im not gonna shit on that but I just felt they could’ve been made to look a bit more natural and a lot less stiff. Apart from that though, and the awful swatches on the cowboy boots and the low rise jeans, I seriously adored the aesthetic of the cas stuff. I loved all of the female stuff and the male tops were to die for. It’s a shame males got less stuff again, some more army inspired clothes or even tattoos could’ve been cool here but we need to remember that this is a game pack and not an expansion. For a game pack, we got quite a lot of stuff in cas. It’s definitely a western style with a cowboy theme, so if you’re not a fan of that, you wont like the cas stuff.

Build/Buy

I’m not a huge builder, but when I do build, I love vintage stuff and clutter! This pack definitely gave us both of these things. The debug menu is chock full of clutter that will be used in loads of different places. The only complaint I have is a) the style is very scify and probably wont be used in a home b) certain items in the debug menu that are to do with the story (ie. a hazmat suit) is just a parcel in build/buy mode. I get why that is but… it would’ve been cool to have the actual suit to place instead of a tiny parcel that the suit would never realistically fit in lmao

World

The world is beautiful. It gives me huge ts3 vibes. It looks like Willow Creek and Oasis Springs had a baby. My only complaints for the world is that you will get infected/possessed sims walking around and ruining the realism for you and also that most of my favorite parts of the world (downtown) are just deco.

Gameplay

The new gameplay is directly linked to the story but I decided to do them as two separate things because I enjoyed the gameplay actions more than the story itself. The new interactions were super cute but very limited and very repetitive. After you’ve done it once and had a giggle over it, it will probably get tiring to do it again… and again, which is what the story expects you to do. 

Story

To begin with, I was having a lot of fun with the story, until I hit a bug for whatever reason and I couldn’t obtain an item I needed to continue. A lovely game changer helped me and told me I could purchase the item from the debug list buuuuut that doesn’t really fix the issue in the first place does it. The fact that I had to cheat to carry on really just ruined it for me tbh. The start of the story was new and quirky and it felt super fresh. It didn’t feel like I was playing the sims, but a side game of the sims. However as I progressed, I was constantly reminded that I was playing the sims, as Johnny needed to eat and sleep and poop ect. So I ended up cheating there too and turning off his needs cause I just couldn’t manage both at once. Maybe that’s because I was rushing to finish the story for you guys, but it did definitely feel like you had to choose one or the other. I also decided to quit his job right at the beginning because already his days were so busy I had no clue how on earth I would finish in time if he had to go to work to. So after the bug, you had to start doing stuff and requesting items from people. And heres the catch: you had to be good friends with them. This was taking honestly forever so I had to cheat in order to get their friendship levels up. I don’t want to spoil anything sooo SPOILER ALERT DONT READ THIS IN THE BRACKETS [when you vaccinated a possessed sim and asked them to come and fight mother with you, you had to be good friends with them so they accepted. this was SUCH a drag because you needed 15 spores and 1 fruit to make a vaccine so if they said lol thanks 4 curing me but nah i aint gonna help you just wasted an entire vaccine. so i ended up just using mccc to cheat their friendships up to max so they couldn’t say no]. I know even now that I will not be replaying the story unless I have to to get rid of the possessed sims in the world. I LOVE the world and I really do hope there’s a way (or a future mod) to turn them off because they are really distracting from every day sim life. 

Overall

If you wanna buy this pack for the aesthetics and items I would highly encourage it. I personally think the items alone give us enough content to make it worth while. However, as I have said, I do slightly feel like the storyline is forced upon you where as I think it should be totally optional. Not all of us like stories whereas some people love them and I think whoever we are we should be able to opt in or out of a piece of gameplay that we purchase. If you wanna buy it for the story only, I would… eh… I dunno what I’d do. I wasn’t overwhelmed by it. It wasn’t shocking or creepy as advertised. But it certainly was a fun new type of gameplay that I am excited to see them use in the future maybe with some other ideas!

I hope this made sense, I just sort of word vomited all of this down! Hopefully some one will find this review helpful lol

[hysterialyywrites]

The Badlands

(This is where I started.)

“Len?” “Yeah, Dad?” “Can you come over here for a sec?”

I closed my book for the first time that day and walked over to where Dad was standing. It took a while, since our library was unbelievably huge; endless rows of bookshelves filled more than half of the hall, stacked with everything from classics to modern literature. Works as old as Marlowe lay in heaps on the marble floor on one side of the room, facing the novels of Green's generation on the opposite wall. I guess we have too much books and not enough bookshelves. Looking up, ornate chandeliers of the finest Murano glass hang from the ceiling, illuminating the library like a ballroom in the Millenium Hotel. The great oak study table at the far end of the room, where Dad was currently pacing, is covered with maps and history books, with a dozen compasses strewn about on the floor and around the table. “Have you seen the second volume of Lord Craigline's journals? They’re not in their place,” Dad said, scanning the shelf in front of him. I reached under the mess on his table and waved the book in my hand. “You really ought to clean up your desk sometimes,” I said, grinning. He laughed and snatched the book from me, giving me a warm smile. I could see the exhaustion in his eyes. “You're right. I don't even remember the last time we got this place scrubbed clean.” “You thinking of getting a cleaning bot?” “Not a chance. Timothy is the only bot for me. Right, Tim?” A whir of machinery and Tim peeked out from behind a bookshelf. “You're very flattering, Sir Stephen.” I chuckled, “You got that right.” Under our roof, getting a cleaning bot meant giving up responsibilities, which our society basically lacks these days. Cleaning bots do all the chores for everyone. I wouldn't be surprised if a girl my age told me she's never picked up a broom in her life. Tim is different though. He's not a cleaning bot, but rather, he archives all the books in the library and all the books we receive from various Wanderers. He stores them in the little chip drive inside his head. He was a gift from Marty from the next town over. Marty is a robotics engineer and a good friend. He says Tim is for the sole purpose of becoming a portable archive should the books in our library be discovered and burned. He modeled Tim after C-3PO from Star Wars, since Marty was—and still is—a huge fan of Star Wars. The Wanderers, on the other hand, come from everywhere, going everywhere, as swift as night, and they’ve never been caught. They're the companions of Aros, journeying far and wide across the globe, leaving parcels of gifts under porches that Aros has yet to set foot. These gifts are the classics, the novels that no one reads. Most people don’t want these gifts, so they burn them instead. We’re the lot that decided to keep them. Dad went back to the shelf, grabbed two more books, and sat at his desk. I looked around the hall. Dad was skilled at reading maps, and he had lots of them tacked on the walls other than the ones on his desk. If you walked around the sides of the hall, above the shelfless books you'd see maps of France, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, basically every country in Europe, three of them marked in red with dots and squiggles, showing multiple paths branching out from small random towns. In addition to that, somewhere in the library was a gigantic world map, with three red X's on the continent of interest. Dad would focus on one area at a time, drawing and marking like his life depended on it. He's done with Portugal, Spain, and France. The Crowned. Aros was successful. As of the moment, Dad had his eyes on Switzerland, the current Revive. That's where Aros is right now. “12 years,” I blurted out. “Sorry?” Dad said. “You've been doing all this—,” I gestured to the maps on the wall, “—for 12 years now. Aren't you tired?” “Hmm. Never thought about it. I guess I'm tired, but I enjoy what I do. Plus, Aros is a revolutionary hero. How can I not take note of his mission routes?” “Good point.” He says it's for Aros. But I can't help but think he's doing this for something else. Someone else, for that matter. “Come to think of it, Aros is almost finished with Switzerland, isn’t he?” I asked, “it’s close to becoming a Crowned.” He thought about it. “You’re right. The next Revive will either be Italy, Austria, or Germany. He’s moving pretty quickly.” I began thinking. “Do you think I’ll be able to do it?” “Do what?” Dad asked. “What Aros is doing. Reviving.” He looked at me with wide eyes for what felt like forever, then his features softened. He stood up, ruffling my hair and kissing it. “You make me proud in a lot of weird ways.” He didn't exactly answer my question, but I guess that was a yes. “Tim?” Dad called out. “Yes, Sir?” Tim replied. His voice was scratchy and metallic, hollow and whole. “How long until you finish archiving Macbeth?” “Just 45 more minutes Sir. Your Shakespeare collection is insane; it took me three whole days to finish only half of his works!” Dad gave a heartful laugh. “It's okay, Timothy. I know you enjoyed reading his sonnets.” Tim huffed, but gave a small smile. Are bots even capable? “Only you would give Tim such a hard time, Dad.” “He's archiving works of art! Literature of the finest quality! He should feel honored!” I shook my head at my dad's enthusiasm. I was about to turn and leave the hall when my dad called out. “Len, before you leave, can you set the view for me please?” “Anything in particular today?” “Your choice.” I walked towards the entryway where the stairs leading up to the storage room were, and adjusted the dial beside the entrance. The large window screen behind Dad's desk switched views, from an open, calm meadow to a quiet dusk view of New Arcadia, leaves falling at an easy speed, to match the mood of October. Our library was underground, so we didn't have any windows. “Hey, Dad,” I called. “Yes, Len?” “The only thing you're missing from Shakespeare is The Tempest, right?” Dad frowned at this. “Yes that's right. Out of all the salvageable works of the authors back in the Elizabethan era, Shakespeare's is the closest collection we have of completing. The only work missing is The Tempest. It would be a shame if Aros couldn't find a surviving copy to reprint and distribute.” “Where does he get all the copies anyway? And how does he reprint them while running from the government at the same time? And on top of all that, how does he manage to revive individual thought and rebuild human connections?” “No one knows, Len. Other than the Crowned countries and the current Revive, the rest of the world, our town included, know nothing. That's why we're called the Badlands.”                                                             * * * “Selene!” I turned my head towards the sound of my name. Our school's guidance counselor, Ms. Bulkins, was jogging in my direction. “Ms. Bulkins, is something wrong?” I asked. “No no, nothing's wrong,” she replied when she came to a stop in front of me. Blonde hair, blue eyes, fit body, elegant poise; she was a beauty in her early 20s. She had her iPad tucked under one arm, and I thought it polite of her to do so when she spoke to me. “I was just wondering if you've reconsidered accepting the scholarship offer?” “The one in New Washington?” “Yes,” she replied calmly. I gave her a small smile. “I'm sorry Ms. Bulkins, but I won't be changing my mind any time soon. I have other plans for the future.” “Are you sure? It's such a waste! With your excellent grades and outstanding performance in school, you're more than qualified for this offer,” she replied excitedly. “Yes I'm sure, Ms. Bulkins. Thank you for the offer, though. But there are also other students in school who are more than qualified for such an honor.” “Exactly. That's why other universities are pinning for them too.” “Ah, is that so?” “Please reconsider. This would be best for you.” I smiled once again. “Have a nice day, Ms. Bulkins.” I turned to walk past the school gates before she could press me any further.                                                            * * * I was about 5 meters away when the motion sensor above our front door beeped, scanning me as I walked towards the house. I was about one meter away when the front door opened and greeted me. “Welcome home, Miss Selene Pyrrha Gallagher.” I took my shoes off and checked my reflection in the mirror in the hallway. My eyes, warm brown in color, traced the sleek contour of my face, and saw the fiery red of my hair. It would have been a subject of ridicule if not for the population's preoccupied schedules. I stood in the hallway, thinking, that's the thing though; everybody's so busy with work or school that nobody has the time to greet each other in the subway or slap high-fives when they meet in the school hallways. I don't even think we say good morning anymore. It's always straight to work; never a time to stop. I'll even bet that no one in school would know what color my eyes were. They've got their heads down, glued to their iPads or their PDA's 24/7, and if neither of those, they’ve got their eyes on their school books. The informative books. The books that tell only of facts and statistics and not of stories. No one looks up anymore; it's rare. That's been the system for centuries now. The government insists that if we stop, we can never get back to work. “We are a tireless nation, one in a tireless world. We leave no room for triviality, indolence, nor incompetence, for we only seek to become a force to be reckoned with, an unstoppable human race,” the president would say, and it's the same thing everywhere else. The novels became of less significance as time passed, until eventually the government decided to get rid of them, partly because no one reads them anymore, mainly because they’re seen as a hindrance to the government’s system. “Hey, Dad,” I greeted as I walked into the kitchen. “Hi, Len. Anything new in school today?” “Same old things everyday.” He sighed. “How I wish things would change in this place.” “Ms. Bulkins asked me about that scholarship offer again though.” “And what did you say?” “I declined her offer, as I did before. But you know what, Dad? I think she’s trying to get rid of us. Get us to leave this house so she can check out the library and burn it right after. I think she knows who we really are, and that we have a massive library right underneath our feet. Ever since she met me during the opening ceremony, she’s had her eyes peeled.” “I think so too. Every time I come to your school, I always catch her gaze, and it’s not very welcoming. Plus, universities always send emails to the families of the students whom they offer scholarships to. We haven’t received a single one. We don’t even know which university Ms. Bulkins is talking about.” “Exactly. It makes me nervous having her around me.” “Well, don’t worry about that for now. Nothing’s happened yet.” “Yeah… Oh, and Dad?” “Yes, Len?” “I think I understand Aros a bit better now.” Dad raised his eyebrows, urging me to continue. “His Wanderers leave books under porches to initiate the people right? To spark their curiosity from within, to awaken the true nature of humans. Aros himself, on the other hand, works from within the Revive. I don’t know what they do exactly, but I like to think that Aros and his closest companions teach about life in novels to people who are willing to listen. They tell people of the things that novels can give and what informative books can’t, and they open the eyes of the people to what life is like outside of scholarships and jobs. This is the process of revival, of reawakening the human mind. This is what Aros wanted to achieve… and what Mom wanted as well, right?” Dad looked crestfallen when I turned to him. He never liked talking about Mom. “You say those maps down at the library were for tracking Aros’ movements, but you were concerned about Mom weren’t you? When she left us 12 years ago, I heard her say something, something about her needing to change this society, about how they’ve gone too far. You figured that Aros and Mom knew each other somehow, and had the same goals in mind. Mom helped Aros gather a bunch of people and left for Europe 12 years ago, and that’s why you have those maps in the library, to keep track of Aros… and Mom. You never really forgot about Mom, didn’t you?” Dad was silent for a long time. “Sometimes I forget how smart you are,” he smiled. “I didn’t mean to make you mad or anything—” He laughed out loud at that. “Don’t worry about it! You’re absolutely right. It wasn’t exactly a secret anyway; and we have The Hub to thank for those squiggles on the maps.” The Hub is an underground site exclusive only to people like us; it is controlled by Aros’ team, and the government knows nothing about it. Its purpose is to keep the people up-to-date with Aros’ progress. We got the password along with one of the first gifts the Wanderers left us years ago, and we’ve been tracking Aros’ movements using The Hub ever since.

Our conversations drew on as night fell, and Dad suggested heading down to the library. “I feel like Tim’s almost finished with my Shakespeare collection,” Dad added.

“You can go ahead. I’ll go check to see if we have a new gift.” I walked to the rug laid out in the hallway and rolled it up to reveal a trap door. Opening the door revealed the grass under our house, and I jumped down and started crawling to the front, where our porch was. In the dark, I found a parcel. I grabbed the gift and was surprised at what I saw. “Aros E. Dian” in bold script written on the parcel. Aros never signs the gifts. What made this one different? Curious and unable to wait until I got back up to the house, I unwrapped the parcel. In the darkness, I found it difficult to read the title of the book, but I saw it anyway, and it made me want to squeal. The Tempest.                                                            * * * Suddenly, I felt something was wrong. I climbed back up to see Dad slowly, quietly, making his way towards the back door in the kitchen. I made the decision to follow his lead, since that bad feeling in my gut is still there. While moving quietly, I heard voices coming from the library; a lot of male voices I assumed to be police officers, but one distinct voice caught me off-guard. It shouldn’t have though, because I should’ve known.

“I knew they had a library, but I never would’ve thought it was this huge.” “What do we do, Ms. Bulkins?” a man asked. “You have the flamethrowers I requested you to bring?” “Yes, Ma’am.” “Len!” Dad hissed from outside. “Burn everything.” I sprinted towards the door in the kitchen just as the first few police offers made their way upstairs. I cursed myself for being too slow; the officers saw me and called for a chase. I was relieved to see I still had The Tempest in my grip, and I joined my father outside and started running as fast as we could towards the road. I could hear Ms. Bulkins shouting at the officers, telling them to get moving, to not let us get away. I looked back briefly, and my heart fell, seeing our house in flames under a moonlit sky. There were no stars tonight. Gunshots were fired, but we managed to make it to the curb unscathed. That didn’t discourage the officers from chasing us though. We ran for what felt like an eternity, until Dad saw a chance to hide. We ducked into a dark alleyway and waited until we felt it was safe to come out. I could hear the blood pumping in my ears and my eyes threatened to black out, but I forced myself to focus. A few minutes later and a bunch of police officers whizzed by, and we waited another few minutes before we resumed our run, this time in the opposite direction.                                                            * * * The crack of dawn enhanced my senses, and I silently took note of my peaceful surroundings; the leaves were all pleasant mixes of yellow and apricot, and the grass was light with morning dewdrops. The asphalt beneath my feet was glistening under the morning sun, and the songs of nightingales found their way to my weary ears. It didn’t feel like we’ve been walking the whole night, after leaving the town of New Arcadia for New Pasadena, where Marty lives. Dad walked in front of me the whole time, and it was only when the sun came up that I noticed the gray that was creeping in his hair. I also vaguely remembered the wrinkles on his face when he smiles. Well, Dad was getting old. The constant enthusiasm in his voice and his unwavering human spirit always made me forget he’s already passed his twenties. He was a vigorous one, a winner against age.

The missing presence of a certain robot heightened my awareness. How could I have not noticed this last night? “Dad, where’s Tim?” Dad turned his head to look at me and saw my panicked eyes. Then he turned his whole body around to face me, and a gold pin twinkled on his gray vest. “Is that him?” Dad nodded. “Marty never told us he could reduce to the size of a pin. That’s incredible.” “Right? I never knew either, so when a gold spider crawled up my chest when I made my way downstairs to the library, I almost swatted him away.” The pin glimmered. “It’s a good thing I spoke up,” I heard Tim say, “I finished archiving, Sir Stephen. Everything. It took a few years, but my database is updated, and every single book in that library is accessible from my drive.” “You’re amazing, Tim. I could never thank you enough,” Dad said. I could see the grief etched on his face, and I know his heart yearned for the comfort of our library. I know, because I do too. “Can you archive one more work, Tim?” Dad looked up, his eyes questioning and curious. I guess he didn’t know I was carrying something the whole night. I held The Tempest out in front of them, and Dad looked absolutely ecstatic. “That’s the newest gift?” Tim asked. “Yes, and the weird thing was, the parcel was personally signed by Aros,” I explained. Dad was about to say something when a car beeped and cut him off. “Stephen! Len! Are you guys okay?” Marty yelled when he parked his car on the side of the road, right in front of us. “I heard of the fire from the radio last night. Figured you guys were heading this way, so I came over.” “Thanks a bunch, Marty,” Dad greeted in response. “Listen, I need to tell you something.” They walked away from me and began talking. Hands flew up, moving with gestures, and the discussion looked pretty serious. A few minutes later and Marty called me over, telling me to get into the car. The minute I sat down I managed to fall asleep.                                                            * * * I woke up to the bustle of NLAX, and it was there I found out that Marty owned a jet plane. Well, he and Dad owned the jet plane. They built it together when they were in college, Marty told me. I also noticed that Marty bore a striking resemblance to Dad; had I not known any better, I would’ve thought they were brothers. I read it in a book somewhere that friends who stay together for a long time tend to look like each other; Marty and Dad were living proof. 

We got onboard the plane and buckled up. Marty piloted the craft. Both Dad and Marty refused to tell me where we were going. I was skeptic, but I trusted Marty, and the sleep I got in the car was certainly not enough. Dad gave me the gold pin before we took off, so now Tim was fastened to my sweater, begging me to revert him to his original size so he could archive the final work to Dad’s collection. I told him he could do that later, when we landed on our destination, wherever that was. I spent my time looking out the window, over unfamiliar lands, unable to tell which boundaries we were crossing. I absent-mindedly flipped through the pages of The Tempest afterwards, and later became deeply lost in thought. I thought about our house, our library, our books, all reduced to ashes. I thought about Ms. Bulkins, sitting contently in her office, rewarding herself with a cup of coffee for successfully kicking us out of New Arcadia, and leaving herself with one less “novel-loving” family to deal with. I thought about Mom and Aros, about how they do what they do, how they love what they do, how they risk everything for the sake of everyone. I looked down at my hair and thought about Pyrrha, daughter of Pandora in Greek mythology, named for her red hair. I thought about how if I was the Pyrrha of this era’s mythology, my mom would be Pandora. I remembered Anesidora, Pandora’s other name, and how it means “she who sends up gifts”. I thought about how Aros’ full name vaguely resembles Anesidora, how their purposes are vaguely similar. I wondered if Aros E. Dian was an anagram for Anesidora, and suddenly everything clicked. Aros E. Dian. Anesidora. Pandora, mother of Pyrrha. If my mother was Pandora, she was Anesidora as well. Anesidora is Aros E. Dian. My mother is not with Aros; my mother is Aros. “We’re here!” I felt the plane land on a runway. I felt it move and shift and park into place. I felt how it didn’t stop there, how it shifted some more, but it wasn’t the plane that shifted; it was the ground. I heard the ground beneath the plane clicking, whirring, gearing, and finally I felt myself descending, the view of the unfamiliar airport disappearing as we sink into the ground. A few minutes later and a large hall comes into view, and I see hundreds of other planes of different varieties. Our plane settles down, and we disembark from the craft. This is a hangar, I thought, and in the hangar there were thousands of people, all who seemed to be expecting us. Among the crowd a woman stood out, her hair a fiery red. We made eye contact and she smiled at me. And then she spoke. “Welcome to Switzerland, the fourth Crowned in Europe, and in the world.”

Written: November 25, 2015

Big thanks to Ms. Katherine for seeing my potential xx

[kiradillinger]

Lotus Breeze, chapters 10-14

AO3 - http://archiveofourown.org/works/10698618?view_full_work=true

10.

December is painfully long, and in the beginning of the finals, tests and other bustle Peridot wants to bite each person, who once sarcastically joke about the "hot night", because Lapis-motherfucker-Lazuli absolutely doesn't know how to calculate the strength of her bites, and hickey on her neck (size of a ping-pong ball) can't be hidden even with concealer.

But there was nothing between them, they aren't teenagers who have reached the forbidden fruit and who need hot nights after the first kiss, they are adults who perfectly understand, that everything has its time. But people need to mock around, as if this is not a university, but a kindergarten for over-grown children.

Peridot clenches teeth and breaks a rule in the palm, already the third for December, and this time not even her own, but Steven, who lent her a pencil case. Connie prepares Steven for examinations at the school, and Peridot sometimes wants to trade with Steven, so she was told about everything with a cup of coffee too. But in these bloody finals Period needs to study three times as much, and help Lapis-motherfucker-Lazuli, who has a chance to fly out of the university, like a cork from a bottle of cheap champagne.

"Do you want me to beat all of them?" Lapis smiles and looks at the people around in an extremely friendly way.

Peridot is silent and looks like a beaten puppy. Lapis takes her hand and pulls along the long corridor to the exit, presumably to steal her from the last lesson and roll in the snow, and then watch how funny Peridot will shake and grumble.

Peridot turns to the right, and Lapis understands, that even she will have to go to the lesson, because "shit, show the teacher your face, Lapis, for the first time in a semester."

"Hey, Lazuli, found herself a nerd so as not to fly out of the university for skipping?"

The girls from the parallel group laugh, and, even if Lapis likes Peridot's grumpy face, right now this "joke" seems to her to be foul. With obvious intentions to polish a couple of faces she takes a step forward, but Peridot tightly squeezes her hand and doesn't let her go.

"But she, unlike you, will not be expelled." Peridot says mockingly and pulls Lapis into the audience.

Lapis can't find the right words for a couple of minutes.

"I adore you, you know?" she says in the end, and Peridot wearily puts her head on Lapis’ shoulder, breathes a simple "yep" and asks to wake her up as soon as the teacher comes in.

There is a week until the end of the finals.

Two weeks until the New Year.

And Peridot really wants to go through all of this.

11.

When the exams are passed, the tests are marked, and Lapis is sure that she wasn't expelled for skipping, everything more or less subsides, running stops, and all that Peridot wants now it's to sit with a blanket on her shoulders, and play the console all day long.

Steven has the same opinion, he passed the exams with difficulty, and because of him, Connie nearly failed her own exams. She spent a lot of time to explain to him the material that she herself knew for a long time. But Connie has an acceptable high mark, so that her parents are happy, and Steven has acceptable normal mark, so as not to worry about re-taking and enjoy the atmosphere of the approaching holiday. New Year in three days, gifts to all are bought and securely hidden.

A ticket home, to dad and relatives, are also bought.

"So when do you have your bus?" Peridot asks carelessly, without taking her eyes off the game.

"Tomorrow night. I'll be home in the morning."

"And don't you regret leaving your girlfriend alone for a holiday?.."

"She is not ..." Steven lowers the controller and looks thoughtfully at the ceiling; his car on the console screen graphically crashes into a pillar and explodes. "Peridot, what does "dating" mean?"

Peridot throws up her eyebrows in surprise, but doesn't get distracted from the game. She looks at the screen for a couple of minutes, and then sighs and pauses.

"I don't think I can answer you. Are we dating with Lapis? We live together. This isn't called "dating". Ask Lapis, maybe she'll tell you.”

Lapis, as if feeling that they are talking about her, appears in the room, crawls under the Peridot's blanket, and, listening the indignant "Laaaaapis, I'm going to lose the game" conveniently gets on Peridot's knees. Steven has already used to this and no longer tries to close his eyes, dump somewhere or simply be embarrassed. It's normal.

Lapis arches her back like a cat, stretching, and Peridot with all her endurance and patience tries to concentrate on the game, although this is DAMN difficult, oh god.

"Lapis, what does "dating" mean?" Steven's tone sounds like he asks "where do the children come from?", and Lapis chuckles, but thinks about it.

“"Dating" doesn't necessarily mean "love". A lot of people are dating just for the sake of some benefit. They say false phrases, and when the benefits are received, they disappear. I would choose the expression "the desire to be together." When you think about a person all your free time, when you want to hug him and say how much you miss him when he is not around.”

Steven sighs helplessly, staring at the ceiling, and Lapis smiles encouragingly.

"Hey, you're only sixteen. Don't think about that."

Steven would be glad not to think, but he can't. These feelings are completely new for him, and it seems to him that nothing will help him, except for a frank conversation face to face, when he returns after the holidays.

And he will prepare for it. Maybe even will write a song with his dad's help.

"And do you really miss me that much?" asks Peridot, still not losing the game, and Lapis seemed to have been waiting for this question all this time.

"Of course," she whispers languorfully in her ear, and the lettering "Game Over" on the whole screen doesn't make anyone wait.

12. 

On the evening of December 31 Peridot regrets only that they don't live in a big house with a fireplace, near which you could lie on a bear's skin, looking at the fire and cuddling. Although you can cuddle sitting on a spread out couch, in front of a laptop with New Year comedies. Champagne is poured on ordinary mugs, because of the lack of beautiful glasses, but who cares, when you want to laugh, dance and jump to the ceiling.

Pi-pi-pi, the clock rings, showing that the first of January has come.

Pi-pi-pi, comes SMS with congratulations and indication of the place of the hidden gift from Steven.

They laugh, climb under the bed and take out a large parcel with a postcard, in which is written only "Be happy, Happy New Year!", and in the parcel - a big terry turquoise plaid, incredibly soft, and with painted starfish.

Peridot says that this is clearly a hint, and immediately throws plaid on their shoulders, right in the middle of the room, on the floor, completely not caring about anything else.

"It's weird," Peridot says thoughtfully, stretching her legs. "In September, I hardly knew you, and now you are the first person I see in the new year."

"And the first one you kiss," Lapis giggles, and Peridot melts, when lips touch gently.

It's hot not because of a plaid or champagne.

“By the way, by the way ...” Peridot doesn't want to get out from under the plaid, but it's New Year, it is necessary to give gifts, it's time, and she, overcoming herself, rises and gives a hand to Lapis. "Let's go."

Peridot leads her to Steven's room, to the closet, asks to stand in front of it and opens the door, and a huge fluffy soft cat falls into Lapis' hands, made of plush, and very, very nice. Lapis looks surprised and joyful at the same time, and Peridot hastens to explain this choice of gift.

"Ah, well ... You like to hug something in a dream, and I'll be on conferences in January-February for a week... Probably. So, it'll be comfortable for you to sleep without me.”

Lapis buries her face in a furry cloth and smiles happily. She is really happy - in her childhood toys were a rarity, especially so big ... It's a great feeling.

"Thank you," she whispers, unable to hold the smile. "It's lovely, I like it very much."

The cat occupies a place in a hammock, in which no one is asleep, and even in a small room a toy almost as tall as Peridot looks perfect, as if it always was there. Lapis appreciates this beauty, and then squeezes Peridot in embraces, because, dammit, she doesn't know where to put all these emotions.

"Well, now it's my turn to give out presents."

Lapis draws a small bag from her closet and hands it to Peridot.

The inscription "This adorable little nerd belongs to Lapis Lazuli" on a long green T-shirt gives Peridot a laugh and a strange desire whether to strangle Lapis or to confess in love for her again. T-shirt is long almost to the knee, it's more like in what you can sleep in, and Peridot is sure that Lapis thought exactly about it.

This inscription is not for someone at the university to know the obvious thing. It is for her to know and remember it herself.

It's in Lapis' style – to tease, but do it goddamn cute.

And her grin is like a confirmation.

"Great. I'll wear it on holidays," Peridot snorts, and Lapis has a very cunning look.

"It is a holiday today. Go on."

Peridot sighs, but rather for the note, shows the tongue and hides in the bathroom, leaving there already in a T-shirt, and Lapis almost catch a heart attack. Too. Mother. Of. God. Cute.

Lapis gulps down the remains of champagne from a mug, snaps the light switch and takes a deep breath. This night, no matter how long it will be, she isn't going to sleep.

13.

Peridot always has very strange and uncomfortable feelings without her clothes on. It seems to her that there is nothing attractive and special in her body to wear something open or walk around the house just in shorts, and every look in the mirror reminds her, that she is a complete mediocrity and nothing of herself. Peridot always wears jeans, a shirt with long sleeves, and hates summer, when it's hot and you need to undress or you'll die.

Waking up next to Lapis, Peridot at first doesn't understand what this feeling is, why it's a bit cold and ohmygod where are the clothes, and then she remembers the night, giving out nothing but a helpless embarrassed squeak.

That was… awesome. And though the hickeys on the neck (god, Lapis loves to leave them) won't disappear for a week, it seems to Peridot that she didn't feel anything more wonderful in her life. And it's not even about the first sex - it was, of course, important, but Peridot thinks that she never trusted anyone as much as to allow someone to touch her everywhere. And no one before this didn't allow her to do the same thing (although she never wanted to touch anyone, but with Lapis-too-fucking-cool-Lazuli it was impossible not to think about this).

Lapis peacefully sleeps next to her, pulling the blanket to the very top of her head, and Peridot remembers her yesterday's whisper in her ear, thin cold fingers under the T-shirt, lips on her neck and shoulders, and buries her face in the pillow, helplessly and happily chuckling. After an endless amount of shit in her life, after months of depression, and then months of "to confess or not," life finally rewarded her for everything.

And Lapis' feelings were the best reward for Peridot for everything.

Peridot as quietly as possible gets out of bed, trying not to wake Lapis, finds her new T-shirt in the corner of the room, dresses and sits down at the computer. It's almost three o'clock in the afternoon, and Peridot knows, that her body would just die to sleep until the evening, and that the head doesn't hurt - it is necessary to wake up normally. Lapis, of course, can sleep like a ferret all day, and Peridot doesn't intend to wake her up.

Lapis wakes up herself, sweetly yawns and blindly stumbles across the bed, looking for something to pull to her and hug. She finds a big soft cat, which Peridot prudently left in her place, and Lapis for a while lies in an embrace with it, and then looks piteously at Peridot, who diligently pretends, that she doesn't notice anything, except the page of the website.

"How does it feel?" with a foxy smile asks Lapis, sitting down in bed, covering her naked chest with a blanket, knowing full well that it isn't necessary, and Peridot tries not to blush, although she can't control this process.

"It was... Not bad."

"Not bad? At "not bad" you don't ask "more" and don't say "I love you" every..."

“GODDAMMIT LAPIS!”

Lapis laughs and, wrapped in a blanket, approaches the nightmarishly confused Peridot, hugs her shoulders and leans to her ear. Peridot shivers.

"Wanna do it again?" Lapis whispers softly.

Peridot wants to die.

And to do it again.

14.

Holidays are lazy and delightful, but the real life reminds of itself, pulling Peridot to colloquiums and conferences almost from the bed and from Lapis' hands. “This is the fate of the best student of the faculty” everything Peridot can say, packing her belongings in a backpack and wildly regretting that she didn't begin to skip classes in the first week of the first year, so now don't suffer for the whole fucking faculty. Although, without her Lapis would be expelled from the university, which is extremely undesirable, especially now.

Lapis smiles and squeezes a soft cat, sadly realizing that for several days it will be a substitute, although very believable - with a funny displeased muzzle, shaggy and warm.

"Don't miss me." Peridot gives her a goodbye kiss, and the door behind her closes with some special dreary creak.

Lapis Lazuli simply can't stand being taken away from something or someone, to which she is attached. So it went from childhood, spent far beyond the city, with parents who treated her completely not as parents, friends, who appeared only in the summer when people come to a summer house on a barbecue, and her own loneliness. Lapis loved this loneliness, allowing not everyone to join her, and not daring not to let the parents, constantly invading her personal space.

"You can't communicate with these children," they said, and Lapis never saw the newly acquired and hard-to-find friends.

"You can't keep animals," and Lapis never saw the lop-eared red puppy brought home again.

God, she hated her life, in which she wasn't allowed to do something that her parents didn't like. Escape to the first university under the pretext of a good education seemed to be the only way out, and it worked, even somehow too well. And Lapis knows more than anyone else that if everything goes on well for a long time, then soon everything will definitely become lousy.

After the third missed call in skype from parents, messages to the mobile phone begin to pour, and Lapis frowns, hiding her face in the fluffy wool of a toy. She doesn't want to respond. But Lapis, being a person of adequate (more or less) understands, that if she doesn't respond to her parents, they, damn them, can just come and make a scandal.

She's twenty, mother of god, two, not fifteen, she thinks, and understands perfectly well how Connie lives now.

"I'm fine" she writes in response to the SMS, which are more like an interrogation, rather than normal messages from worried parents. Lapis climbs into a hammock and doesn't want them to get acquainted with Peridot one day. The ideal variant is ... Never. Yes, never is perfect. She doesn't want them to pour a bucket of shit onto Peridot, as they used to do with any person with whom Lapis had once been friends or tried to be together.

But the universe decides to turn everything inside out, and a few days later, on the threshold, tired and bored Peridot encounters a completely unfriendly looking woman, with piercing blue (like Lapis') eyes.

And Steven is here too, of course.