#yeah that fic is very meaningful to me hehehe

[cuephrase]

I cannot keep two words straight in my head smh. I meant the first wip and the third wip. No abandonment meant (though I would not be opposed to hearing about that one too 😅)

asjdfhjsd no worries haha!!

first wip/jigsaw: so although i personally enjoy jason being an anti-hero/being on (sort of?) better terms with the batfam i really like am so frustrated bummed that we don't really get to see how jason got there. however, i also think his current dynamic with the fam is very interesting bc idk, to me, it feels very delicate/fragile and like there's not a whole lot of trust? idk how to summarize all the nuance without giving you an essay you did not ask for, but basically, his current relationship with them is Complicated, yeah?

and i don't have a lot of interest in writing a fix-it/exploring a 'what if things had gone differently' scenario/trying to fill in that missing gap bc...idk. i just don't lmao. BUT!! a reconciliation fic still sounds like so much fun, bc like i like the idea of jason being part of the batfam right but like i don't want to erase all the drama from canon so BASICALLY-

tl;dr: i think jason's current relationship with the batfam is like a bone that broke but wasn't set properly so it needs to be re-broken to heal properly. so i want to start in a place where he's "comfortable" with them, then have him blow everything up. just stomp on all the eggshells. it would very much so be a Things Get Worse Before They Get Better type of reconciliation fic haha. i want it be messy and painful and full of missteps and misunderstandings- it would not be an 'X apologizes and magically everything is better' fic. (which is not shade to anyone who writes/enjoys those!!) i may also challenge myself to stick strictly in jason's pov to really lean into the Unreliable Narrator of it all.

this probably sounds like such a mess, omg *buries face in hands*

pretty bird: this one is a super dick-centric, kinda character study type fic somewhat focused on his sexual trauma, so mirage/catalina/liu, but also just kind of like exploring dick's relationship with himself and like...how he perceives himself? bc he is such a Performer, yk, and he is incredible at it. and he has all these close, meaningful relationships, but sometimes he can still feel so isolated to me in a way bc of how much he keeps to himself and idk i just really want to like get into his head.

also can't really articulate this one without an essay you didn't ask for haha, but it will be a very fun tonal challenge for myself bc i have a very specific vibe i want to achieve that'll require a very careful balancing act.

and then just for funsies, and bc it's also about dick haha,

abandonment: au (inspired by dan mora's black and white oneshot from batman: the brave and the bold) where bruce puts dick into foster care instead of keeping him, but they cross paths later when batman runs into dick and jason who are looking for their missing brother. at least a smidge of identity porn bc dick is willing to trust batman but won't trust bruce wayne. like i have this scene in my mind where batman offers to set the boys up with his friend bruce wayne and dick is like 'absolutely not' and batman is like ?? and then he realizes omg this is the kid i gave up omg.

just imagine dick trying to independently (with jason) try to hunt tim down with batman being like !!!! trying to assist but also not wanting to overstep and also trying not to get too attached (and failing) hehehe. complicated dick and bruce is just so fun, yk?

tysm for the ask, lily, (and for tagging me in this game to begin with!!), i hope you're having/had a beautiful day!!

[inkykeiji]

Hi Clari! It’s been so long but how are you? I finally read the fic with raver dabi and reader and it’s SO good. Like it’s euphoric and poetic and sensual😩✨🌸💕

I know the rave is only an aspect to the drug allusions and it was only mentioned like once but I gotta ask. Does reader or dabi like making kandi bracelet or jewelry? I just read about kandi at random and I just find it so interesting and cool! Especially the PLUR handshake! I bet reader would look so cute doing the handshake and exchanging bracelets and necklaces to other ravers unless dabi is the jealous and possessive type and will only allow her to exchange with him. Ooh would he make a bracelet for her?? Perhaps even matching couple ones!? I wonder what kind of style they would like to make. Maybe dabi will make the ones laced with drugs to sneak a high during a rave or scout the ones with a lot of bracelets on their arms with their hands in the air to subtly say they are a dealer. Maybe random or related to the previous statement but is there perhaps raver keigo and tomura there as well👀👀👀

Thank you for just being so sweet and wholesome. I hope you’ve been well and you are taking care of yourself❤️❤️❤️

pina-chan!!!!! it’s so lovely to hear from you! (´∀｀)♡ i’m doing okay, thank you for asking!!! i hope you are doing wonderful, my friend <3

oh!! thank you so much!! <333 that fic is extremely self indulgent as well as just indulgent in general; it’s meant to be written in a way that is decadent and full of sensations and imagery, and it’s meant to feel almost overwhelming to read, to mimic the immense and intense love reader feels towards dabi—something that is extremely overpowering and all-consuming and uncontrollable and voracious and addictive. it mirrors his love for addiction + raves with her love for him. then of course there’s the themes of home + happiness it explores as well; altogether it’s a very personal piece for me and i’m super happy to hear that you enjoyed it!!! <33333

YES he does like making kandi!!! most of the kandi he wears are made by or with his baby (reader), because she enjoys it too, and she has a knack for coming up with beautiful and intricate designs <3 he definitely taught her how to make 3D cuffs ehehehe <3

oooh the plur handshake!!! honestly, he’d allow her to do it, but he’d be keeping a very close eye on her, and would most likely make it logistically/physically difficult to complete, because he’d be fucking clinging to her from behind, strong arms wrapped around her hips, chin resting on her shoulder or the crown of her head as he glares at her plur partner. and YESSSS omg yes yes matching couples bracelets are 100% a thing with them <3 they’d both keep all of their special bracelets made by or for each other on one arm, to make sure they don’t get mixed up and accidentally traded <3 he also absolutely wears at least one of the bracelets she made him in his everyday normal life, just as a small, sweet, comforting reminder <3

as i mentioned above, they’d mostly make cuffs + 3d cuffs and singles. maybe a few 2d charms as well, cute lil stars and bears in the colours blue, purple, black and white (dabi’s colours <3) but more for her than for him. OOOOOH HEHEHE oh my GOD the idea of raver kei and raver tomu make me go fucking FERALLLL omg yum <333 i feel like keigo would be such a festival-goer it isn’t even funny like he truly does give off those vibes!! he’d enjoy every aspect of the festival life and he’d totally camp on the grounds and everything <3 just the whole experience <3 i feel like tomura would go as more of an escape, especially since i headcanon him to love edm and edm subgenres hehe <33

aw bb!!! you’re so so lovely!!! thank you so much for your well wishes my friend, i am sending you tons of love and happiness <333

[ayma-nidiot]

“Don’t Speak Their Names” - Shrimpshipping fic Chapter 11

This chapter on AO3 can be found here.

Chapter 11 - Strengthening My Deck

~29 July 2005~

“Phew…” Rex could finally walk on his own again after nearly two months of hospitalization. While holding Weevil’s hand, he now walked out of the hospital, greeted by the sunlight. “It feels nice to have not thrown up once this week.”

“I can’t even imagine.” Weevil frowned.

Rex caressed his now-very-obvious baby bump. “You’ve caused me a lot of trouble, you know that? When you grow up, you better be grateful.” Despite what he said, the presence of this new occupant in his body calmed him, and he spoke with a smile.

“So, Rex… How are you feeling?” Weevil placed a hand on Rex’s forehead; he felt a little hot, but not as much as he did a couple of months back.

“Great! Except…” Rex had felt a slow ache in his chest on his entire walk out of the hospital; he now had man boobs, and hadn’t noticed them until just now. “This whole pregnancy thing is still so surreal. It’s hard to imagine that five months from now, I’ll be breastfeeding our child.”

Weevil enjoyed the time they had together, smiling at Rex’s baby bump while the bug duelist stroked it. Then he broke the silence with, “Now that you’re out, what do you want to do?”

“Duel, what else?”

“No. Absolutely not.” Weevil held up a hand to slap Rex, and barely held it back. “You’re going to study for your college entrance exams so we can go to the same college together. And I don’t want you to risk a miscarriage.”

“But Weeves, I studied like the trooper I am, even while I was in the hospital!” Rex flexed his arms. “You did see, didn’t you?”

“But… Considering how you barely graduated-”

“Weeves.” Rex placed both hands on his boyfriend’s shoulders. “I am going to die of boredom if I don’t duel every now and then.”

“Well, good luck trying to find someone who wants to duel you, because it certainly won’t be me.” Weevil put his foot down.

“Humph. Some fun you are, bug boy.”

“Did someone say ‘duel?’” spoke a man’s voice from the hospital entrance.

“Waaaah!” Rex nearly doubled over. “Don’t scare me like that, you turd- Wait, I remember you. You’re that creep that was spying on me from my hospital room two months ago.”

The mystery man completely ignored Rex and revealed his Duel Disk. “If you’re looking for a challenger, you’ve got one.”

Then, just like that, Rex had put aside how this man weirded him out, and readied his own Duel Disk. “It’s a good thing that Weeves and I were strengthening our decks when I was hospitalized, or else I probably wouldn’t have this on me.”

“Are you out of your damned mind, Rex?” Weevil tried to stop his boyfriend, and might have been able to, had Amber not appeared out of the blue.

“No, I think he’ll be fine,” Amber spoke with her own Duel Disk at the ready. “While the pain inflicted by direct attacks feels real and immense, keep in mind that it’s all illusion. It shouldn’t pose a threat to him.”

“Who asked you? ” Weevil snarled. “And anyway, where the hell were you these past two months?”

“...Strengthening my deck,” Amber replied tersely.

“Aaaargh!” Weevil angrily activated his Duel Disk. “You know what, dino brain, go ahead. Duel if you want. But I’m tag teaming with you to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”

“So, I guess that means I’m tag teaming with this pretty lady here?” asked the mystery man.

“Can it, you toad.” Amber then looked to her opponents. “Duel standby!”

“Ladies first,” Weevil said to Amber.

“Don’t underestimate me, bug boy. I set a monster and another card, then end my turn.”

Weevil drew his first card. “I summon Armored Bee in attack mode, and set a card!”

“What, that’s it?” asked the mystery man. “Too bad, because I set this pretty cool trap. Then I summon two Gilasaurus and a Jurrac Velo in attack mode.”

“Whoa!” Rex exclaimed. “Another dino duelist! Well, I’ll show you that I’m the best dino duelist in this city!”

“So draw your card then, dino brain.” Weevil rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, whatever. I summon Giant Rex in attack mode, play the spell Jurassic World, then set a card. Go ahead, hot stuff.”

“Oh, I’ll show you who’s hot stuff…” Amber grumbled. “I activate my spell card Eradicating Aerosol! That gets rid of all insects on the field, which includes my set monster, Pinch Hopper!”

“I’m still better at using insects than you, punk,” Weevil snarled as he was now open to a direct attack.

“Really? Then how do you plan to stop this? Thanks to Pinch Hopper’s effect, I can Special Summon any insect from my hand… Say hello to the gorgeous, magnificent Insect Princess!”

“‘Insect Princess?’” Weevil had never heard of this card before, but it certainly looked familiar. “Huh. Well, I’ve got the Queen, and once I can summon her, your Princess will be done for!”

“Is that what you think? Insect Princess! Prove this worm boy wrong!”

“Hehehe, she’s going to have to wait! I activate Enemy Controller to force your Insect Princess into defense mode!”

“Heh, nothing I can’t handle. I set a card, then end my turn.”

Okay! Weevil smirked when he drew his Metamorphosed Insect Queen. The only other two cards in his hand, however, were Naturia Butterfly and another Armored Bee. All I need is Pinch Hopper, and I can summon my Queen! I should probably do something about those monsters the weird man has… “I activate Armored Bee’s special ability to cut the attack of one of the Gilasaurus in half! Now, Armored Bee, give that Gilasaurus a good sting!”

“Oof…” The mystery man took 900 points of damage. “Not bad, not bad… But my other Gilasaurus is still fine! I use it to attack your Armored Bee!”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Rex cut in and revealed his face-down card. “My trap Dimensional Prison… well, traps your Gilasaurus in a dimensional prison!”

“Hahahaha…” 

“What, was my joke actually that funny?”

“Yeah. Believe that if you want to. Jurrac Velo, stomp that Bee!”

Crap… Weevil gulped. I’m the one who’s supposed to be protecting Rex, and yet I’m open to attack. Again.

Rex drew Polymerization; he now only needed a Gilasaurus to summon Horned Saurus. That Jurrac Velo is going to be a problem… But my Giant Rex has the same attack. I think I should kamikaze it. “I summon another Giant Rex, and use one of them to destroy your Jurrac Velo!”

“Not the sharpest tool in the shed, are we?” the mystery man snickered. “When my Jurrac Velo is destroyed, I can Special Summon a Jurrac monster from my deck! And I chose Jurrac Gallim!”

“I’m sharper than you think! I have that card, and I know what it does!”

“Yup, you’re so sharp that you told your opponent what cards you have in your deck,” Weevil sighed.

“Shut up, bug boy! At least I have monsters to protect me!” Rex shot back. 

“Uh… Do you guys always bicker like this?” Amber looked at her opponents cock-eyed.

“No!” Both young men replied simultaneously.

“This is going to break up the tea party… Insect Princess, attack Weevil directly!” 

“Owwwww!” Weevil fell to his knees. ‘An illusion,’ my ass! ...Okay, I didn’t draw a Pinch Hopper, but at least I can stall for time with my Naturia Butterfly. “I summon Naturia Butterfly in defense-”

“Ohoho, I don’t think so,” Amber interrupted. “Thanks to Insect Princess’ special ability, your insect monster is forced into attack mode!”

“I… end my turn…” 

“Yup, you’re boned.” Rex bit his lip. “A monster with 500 ATK isn’t going to help.”

“Shaddup! I can still activate my Butterfly’s special ability!”

“There they go again,” the mystery man laughed. “I play Double Summon so that I can summon another Gilasaurus! Then I tribute it and my Jurrac Gallim to summon the king of my dinosaur deck… Jurrac Tyrannus!”

“Wow!!” Despite the tight spot both he and Weevil were in, Rex admired this enormous monster. “Where did you get it? I want it bad!”

“Maybe I’ll let you have it if you beat me. Emphasis on ‘maybe.’ Why don’t I show you just what it can do? Once per turn, I can tribute a dinosaur to my Tyrannus so he gains 500 attack points! And I tribute my last Gilasaurus! Prepare to say goodbye, Weevil!”

“S-So? I can still negate your attack with Naturia Butterfly!”

“But wait! There’s more! I activate my trap Survival Instinct! This allows me to banish any number of dinos from my Graveyard and gain 400 Life Points for each! Since I have five, that’s 2000 Life Points I gain! But my dinos won’t be banished for long. I shuffle them all back into my deck so I can summon the second strongest monster in my deck… Come on out, Overtex Qoatlus!”

“Oh no…” Even with Naturia Butterfly’s effect, Weevil knew that he was done for. 

“Go, my dinos! Stomp that puny butterfly and wipe out the rest of Weevil’s Life Points!”

“Hah…” Weevil looked up at Rex from a kneeling position. “Sorry, hun, they got me.”

Amber cut in, “You know, Rex, there’s nothing in your deck that can stand up to a Jurrac Tyrannus. I’ll be a sweetheart and let you yield now, if you want.”

“Never! The runner-up at regionals doesn’t yield!” Rex would soon regret this decision, however, as during his next turn, he didn’t summon anything meaningful, and the mystery man’s mighty monsters stomped him flat. “Well, that… um… was quite the challenge.”

As soon as the duel ended, Weevil ran up to Rex, and touched his baby bump. “Rex! Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Rex stretched a bit before fully standing up and approaching the mystery man. “I really would love to learn more about your playing style! Especially since I have never met another dinosaur duelist before! Dude, what’s your name?”

“The name’s Dr. Saurus. I’m actually a professor at Domino City University.”

“Hey, did you hear that, Weeves?” Rex turned to his boyfriend. “If I make it into your college, then I might have this guy as my teacher!”

“So now do you have incentive to study, dino brain?”

“You bet! But I also have to ask… Is there a special reason that the two of you wanted to duel us? And a tag duel, no less?”

“...” Amber stayed silent for a bit before she replied, “Dr. Saurus and I have always been big fans of yours ever since your glory days from regionals.”

“What? I didn’t know we still had fans!” Weevil exclaimed.

“That explains why you wanted to follow me around when we were still in high school.”

“Yup! Though I think Weevil is way smarter than you, which is why I chose to use an insect deck. I think it’s a sophisticated type that only the best of the best can appreciate.”

“Hahaha!” Weevil stuck his tongue out at Rex, who pouted in response.

“So now that we have a common bond through dueling, why don’t we go for a stroll?” Dr. Saurus proposed. 

“Yes, please,” Rex answered as the four began their walk. “Dr. Saurus, please teach me all of your-”

The dino duelist stopped in his tracks when he noticed a whiff of what he thought was a Red-Eyes Black Dragon fly past.

“Rex? Is something the matter, hun?”

“No, I… Either my pregnancy is causing me to hallucinate, or someone’s Duel Disk visuals are malfunctioning.”

“I highly doubt it’s the latter.” Weevil took Rex’s hand into his own. “Come, let’s go.”

[artxghoul]

so! by some miracle, since i asked the questions in browser, i was able to backpedal and find all the questions I asked you bc it hadn’t reloaded!! yay!! haha so disregard my last message. here is what i originally sent so hopefully you get it all this time :)

hi!! just wanted to say during the past two days I’ve read a ton of your larry fics. just...wow. The fuck fake friends on I thought was going to be light and playful based on the description and title and it was so intense and I really loved it even though it wasn’t what I was expecting. I’m the anon that messaged you awhile ago about Steal my heart (whatever it takes to get you off) and your writing is on a whole other level than fic I have read from anyone else...like so beautiful done and just...so wonderful. FFF was super painful, and the ending was magnificent. I want to read everything you’ve ever written, god, I cannot get enough of your writing. I just read the coffee shop/tattoo parlor AU and it was so good. Your light hearted stuff, your heavier stuff...I feel like (if you’re writing from a place within yourself) our minds in the way we view our identities are really similar and reading FFF gave me a million inspirations to write other stuff with internalized homophobia plot lines and the complexity of feelings...just...wow. Your fic obviously comes from such a deep place&Im in awe of your writing and the way your mind puts these stories together. Whoever has the privilege to know you is incredibly lucky& Im just basing that on your fics and your responses to my anon a bit ago about your receptionist au. I had to get all these feelings towards you out (seems like something I have to do every time I read your work bc I feel such a connection to it).

ps. Sorry if this is a lot or anything, it’s just seeing themes repeated in someone’s writing that I can relate to in the core of myself really just puts me in a mindset i cannot describe and I wanted to tell you what it made me feel. it is so meaningful to me to see my feelings reflected to me, and i hate that you dealt with that stuff if you did but just. yeah! i hope this isn’t too personal for you to publish, i just wasn’t sure how you’d react to this off anon and either way i wanted you to know your writing means a lot to someone

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA I WANNA CRYYYY THIS IS SO DAMN BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING my face is like :< but like in a GOOD WAY but also I’m SOBBING

Okay this has ended up being such a long reply but I’m just so happy you were able to retrieve the messages you wanted to send because this has made my day, week, year, life, and I just can’t wrap my head around that you would say all these kind and thoughtful things!!! I’m hella obsessive about other fic writers whose writing I love and want to just go and scream at them how much it means to me, so to GET exactly that is just SO mind blowing and I want to say thank you SO much. It’s not too much or bad or anything negative at all, I’m genuinely so extremely grateful you wanted to say this. I’m so happy you find appreciation in your recognition because honestly I’ve been scared of writing for a while, because I felt that the themes were too heavy and I didn’t have a good association to internalized homophobia because once I spoke too much about it here, and it just makes me all the more grateful because you’ve shown the greatest support even when asking about it the last time you messaged. Thank you, all in all. I know that FFF (as the fic is nicknamed, like the song, because we stan bebe rexha in this house) is one I really put effort into trying to express some pain I was feeling at the time and if you write yourself maybe you can relate to that it can be really very therapeutic to see your problems in a different way like this and make it a creative project, to both let it out and let it go, and also try to make sense of how both people were thinking to have this outcome. I don’t know if I wrote about it anywhere but the inspiration was partially a friendship I was losing because we were both really acting like them, you know, like idiots, if you’ve ever done things to make someone jealous and it’s just really toxic but uummm you still want to have them back in your life? Like that, and of course a longer internal project of accepting your sexuality as you’ve been able to tell, the secrety and the longing and the pain, pretending it doesn’t exist and doing things that just hurt more than do good, and YEAH IT SUCKS, like oh my god it’s such a painful story that I just couldn’t get out of my head. But at least I hope you caught the ending and the short sequel of chapter 2 when they made it! :’)) 

I think if you haven’t read The One When Louis Finds Out as the most recent one, you might like!! It’s a much lighter and easier one, to make up for all the bad hehehe OH and gosh if you want to come off anon, but this is totally up to you, I’m writing another long one now I’ve had in my drafts for way over a year or two. If you want to talk about tender love and stupid complications.

[chelledoggo]

Softwald [Epic Mickey x AU fanfiction] Chapter 7: Centered

Oswald’s mentor teaches him how to center himself, and he further realizes his appreciation for his hosts.

Softwald AU fic chapter 7

no content warnings except that this is really boring and gay

It seemed like Oswald had just dozed off underneath the tree in his dreams, when he heard Softwald's voice whispering next to him.

“Good morning, Oswald.”

Oswald pulled off his sleep mask and looked out the window to see that it was already bright outside. However, it was also pouring-down rain.

“Oh, geez,” Oswald groaned. “I overslept, didn't I? So much for morning meditation.”

Softwald chuckled quietly. “It's okay. I figured you might wanna sleep in a little today since you were up so late last night. Softensia has breakfast ready now, so we'll just move onto meditation and yoga indoors after that. Does that sound good?”

Oswald smiled. “Heheh...thanks. Sounds good to me!”

Softwald smiled and began heading to the kitchen.

Oswald looked out once again at the pouring rain and thought, Isn't this place up above the clouds? How can there be this much rain? ...Eh, it's probably best not to overthink it.

Oswald walked out to the large dining room where the Soft Couple and their 420 fluffy children were about to sit down to enjoy their breakfast; oatmeal with fresh fruits, along with a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice and a cereal parfait for each of them. A helping was also readily set out for Oswald.

The fact that a room full of 420 kids happily eating breakfast could be as quiet as a church was still a strange feeling for Oswald, but he wouldn't complain.

“Good mornin', Oswald,” Softensia whispered cheerfully. “How'd ya sleep last night?”

“Really nicely, actually,” Oswald replied. “I feel very rested.”

He turned to Softwald. “Thanks again, Softy,” he added with a grateful smile.

“No trouble at all, Os,” he replied.

“Lemme guess,” Softensia giggled silently. “He hypnotized you, right? He's so good at that.”

Oswald chuckled. “Yeah. It was really nice. He really gets into it with the narration.”

Softwald blushed. “I just sort of let myself get into the zone before I start, like I do when I teach meditation. It's almost like being in a trance, I guess.”

Oswald tilted his head in fascination. “Huh...Wow...That actually sounds really pleasant. Wish I could go into a trance sometimes.”

The trio continued in their light conversation over breakfast, after which Oswald assisted his hosts with cleanup.

Softwald then lead Oswald to the room where they'd be practicing, the room where Softensia had performed reiki on Oswald the night before.

“This is what Softensia and I call our 'quiet room,'” Softwald explained. “You already know how Softensia performs reiki in here, but this room's also typically used for yoga and meditation practice.”

Behind the door was a very minimalist, 'zen' themed room. A few various wall scrolls hung upon neutral-colored walls. Along the sides of the room were various items used for yogic practices; things like yoga mats, cushions, singing bowls, and so on. There was a small cupboard-table that had incense and candles stored inside.

Softwald grabbed a single scented candle and placed it in a holder in the center of the room. He set two cushions facing each other on either side of the candle, and then lit the wick. He then got up, plugged in a small zen fountain, and turned off the lights, leaving only the glow of the single candle.

He then sat cross-legged on one of the cushions, with his hands palms-up on top of his knees with the tips of his fingers and thumbs touching, and gestured Oswald to do the same on the other cushion provided for him.

When they were both comfortably seated, Softwald began with his lesson.

“Inside everyone,” he began, staring serenely into the flame of the candle before him, “there's a stillness. A place where you can go when things in life seem uncertain or overwhelming. A place where your mind can calmly figure out whatever it needs to, or where you can just let your mind rest completely. That's where I go when I'm 'in the zone,' so to speak. A place where peace and calm echo and reverberate through me, which puts me in the mindset to share that calmness with others. I call it my 'center,' a place where I feel more connected to my inner self.”

Oswald tilted his head contemplatively at his mentor's lecture, his eyes wide with intrigue.

“Anyone can go to their center,” Softwald continued. “You just need to learn how to get there. Once you do, you can go there any time you feel the need to bring yourself together in a stressful situation. Whenever you're anxious, or in doubt, or even if you just need a break, you can go there and shut everything else off for a while, until you're ready to face the day again.”

Oswald smiled dreamily at the thought of it. “That does sound really nice,” he responded.

“First off,” Softwald instructed, “We'll need to come up with a mantra for you.”

“...A 'mantra?'” Oswald inquired.

“A word or phrase that you'll repeat to yourself during meditation,” Softwald explained. “Something to keep your focus so it becomes easier to enter a deep meditative state. It should be something meaningful; something relating to the goal you're trying to achieve. Which is...”

“...to feel more calm?” Oswald finished.

Softwald smiled and nodded. “Right. So I think maybe 'calm' would be a good mantra, don't you agree?”

“Sounds good,” Oswald replied.

“So, throughout this meditation, you'll be focusing on the word 'calm,'” Softwald continued. “You'll start out repeating it aloud, focusing on the vibration of your voice repeating it, then slowly saying it more quietly as time goes on. Eventually, you'll only repeat this word in your head, until it naturally becomes an echo in your mind. Think of your mantra as a series of signposts guiding you to your center. When it becomes a natural echo, it means you've arrived.”

Softwald closed his eyes in mental preparation. “Are you ready to start?”

“Alright,” Oswald replied. “Fire away.”

“...Close your eyes...” the flow of Softwald's words indicated that he was now 'in the zone.' Oswald closed his eyes as instructed.

“...Calmmmm...” Softwald began chanting, with just a hint of vocalization in his whisper.

Oswald inhaled and began repeating in unison with his mentor.

“Calmmmm...Calmmmm...Calmmmm...” Oswald chanted in a single unbreaking note, feeling the vibrations from his throat spread throughout him. He began to smile a little bit at the pleasant 'tingling' feeling though his body.

“Calmmm....” After a few minutes, his chanting became a soft murmur.

“Calmm...” In a few more minutes, his murmur became a whisper.

“Calm...” He was soon simply mouthing the word.

“...” His lips ceased to move.

His mantra now only existed as a concious repitition in his mind.

Calm...Calm...Calm...

It began as a tangible word in his head. A word he could hear spoken in his own inner voice. A word with a definition. A word that could be spelled and pronounced. Four letters: 'Calm.'

Eventually, it ceased to be a word, and became a feeling. An all-enveloping presensce that wrapped around him like a blanket.

At this point, he was merely floating through nothing. A void. A very faint glow like that of a candlelight.

He felt as if he heard the voice of his mentor asking:

“...How do you feel?”

At this point, Oswald was in a really deep relaxed state. It made it hard for him to move his lips to properly answer.

“Fe...feels...” Oswald mumbled quietly. “...nice...warm...float...ing...very...calm...”

“You've arrived at your center,” Softwald affirmed. “Take some time to get familiar with it...There's no need to think about anything...Just let yourself exist here...This is your own place to just be still...”

Some time passed. Oswald didn't know how long. He didn't care. He was just happily floating in his own mind, and the rest of the world was far away.

Eventually he heard a soft bell-like noise begin to rise from the silence.

“Let's begin...slowly coming back...to regular consciousness...” Softwald's voice echoed softly through.

Oswald focused on the bell-like sound, letting it lead him back into the conscious world.

He eventually opened his eyes to see Softwald gently chiming a singing bowl.

Softwald placed his hands together and smiled. “Namaste.”

Oswald mirrored his mentor's gesture. “Heh...'Namaste,'” he replied casually. “That felt amazing. It was like...like my entire brain was being hugged or something!”

Oswald closed his eyes and remembered the feeling. “I felt like...I was safe...Like everything was just going to be okay, y'know? I just had to...relax.”

Softwald smiled. “I'm glad to hear that,” he whispered. “With regular practice, it'll become even easier and quicker for you access your center. Make sure to try and go there every day when you get a chance.”

Oswald nodded eagerly. “Absolutely!”

“Now,” Softwald began. “Let's take a break for a while, and then we'll move on to today's yoga lesson, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Oswald replied, as the two got up and begain picking up the room.

“Oh, and Softy?” Oswald added. “I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot when I...eheh...fell asleep in your house...and started...freaking out and all that...” He chuckled nervously and scratched his head.

Softwald giggled sliently. “Don't even worry about it. I can understand why it would be kind of an overwhelming situation.”

“Yeah, but,” Oswald continued, “Now that I've been here a few days, I've realized that I'm really glad I got to meet you and your family. You guys have been so nice to me, and you've helped me out a lot. Maybe this weird interdimensional meeting was supposed to happen somehow. I mean, the timing was pretty spot-on, right?”

“Yeah,” Softwald whispered with a nod. “I guess you're right.”

Oswald extended his arms for a hug. “Bring it in, buddy?”

Softwald grinned excitedly and jumped into his friend's arms.

“I hope this doesn't sound weird...” Oswald muttered.

“...but...you are pretty darned cuddly.”