#like older dragons to keep the humble and in check and stuff

[concha-del-mar]

He’s right tho 😌

[sebthesnipe]

Morality, Magic, and Chocolate Cows

Hi @logicalyfun!!

Storytime! I wasn’t apart of the @sanderssidesgiftxchange at all. So, the fact that you got me as a pinch hitter is kinda a miracle in its own right ;3 But I’m super glad you did! I’m so sorry you didn’t get your gift on time but now you get to chill with me! And I can be pretty awesome sometimes… Occasionally… Rarely but hey! Who keeps track of that kind of stuff anyways? 

So, how did I become your pinch hitter? Well, you see. I’ve got this amazing best friend and beta reader @gilby-the-geek-girl. She actually /did/ participate in the exchange and because she’s just so amazing she offered to be a pinch hitter for it as well. 

Anyways, You’re prompt got sent to her. This one right here:

“Your giftee: Fabi

Tumblr: Logicalyfun

Media to receive: Fan fiction, Fan art

Wish 1: Puppiesss

Wish 2:  Fantasy world

Wish 3:  Starry sky night

Topics to avoid: Remrom, no NSFW”

And it gave her pause. You see, I wrote this awesome fic called My Dearest Procyon (also on AO3) that checks almost all of these boxes (minus the puppiesss, but there is a REALLY awesome cat and dragons too!). So, she thought we’d be perfect for each other! So she sent your prompt to me and here we are!

Now for the bad news… I had every intention of checking off every one of your wishes, but the story got away from me and I’m pretty sure I struck out. However, I really think you’ll like it! Please forgive me for not sticking strictly with the prompts but I do mention each, and I highly recommend MDP if you really like those things.

I’ll also make you a deal! If you don’t like this ficlet, let me know and I’ll write you a new one that adheres to your prompts exactly! ;3

(Also... posting this on Patton’s B-day so it’s like double meant to be!)

So, without further adieu, I present Morality, Magic, and Chocolate Cows:

“Have at you!” Roman cried, his tiny form bounding off the small hill to swing at his brother, his cardboard sword bending at an odd angle.

“Actually,” Logan commented, hurrying along behind him, flowing blue cape flapping in the wind. “It would’ve been ‘ye’.”

Roman  ignored him, adjusting the oversized ‘shining armor’ every time he took a step. The costume was far too large for Roman’s three foot, seven-and-a-half-inch tall body, though it was adorable to watch.

Remus, to his credit, laughed menacingly, the Sharpie mustache on his upper lip thinning from the effort as he parried his brother’s flopping cardboard blade with a small stick. His own costume consisted of a sheet, stained green, with what Patton hoped was paint (though he had never bothered to ask), wrapped around him like a toga.

“That's totally fair! Two against one!” Janus called from the safety of a tree branch; the yellow fabric of his shirt just visible through the leaves.

“I’m not fighting! I’m observing!” Logan called in his high-pitched voice, adjusting his glasses before the pointed wizard’s hat on his brow dipped forward, knocking them astray once more. His adorably pudgy form was wrapped in a shimmer fabric that reminded Patton of the stars Logan always seemed to want to tell him about.

“If you and V would help, your prince wouldn’t need an watcher-outer!” Roman whined, pausing in his attack to peer over at the older child and his companion, sitting in the shade below.

Remus took the opportunity to smack his twin across his butt with his stick, knocking Roman to the ground with a grunt.

A shrill cry filled the air, causing the other children to glance at Patton, who had been sitting on a blanket a few feet away.

Patton pushed to his feet, smiling softly as he approached the three boys, Janus and Virgil hurrying up to the crying child as well.

“It’s broken isn’t it!” Virgil rushed, his own tears threatening to fall. “Remus broke Roman’s leg! We’re all going to the hosp’al! I don’t want to go to the hosp’al! I don’t like doc’ors!” His words turned into a wail as he plopped on the grown next to Roman, waterworks in full force.

Patton examined the small scratch peaking through a tear in Roman’s jeans.

“Hm,” he sighed as if considering whether or not the wound was fatal. “We may have to amputate.”

“What?!” Remus gasped excitedly.

Janus moved over to Logan, attempting to whisper in his ear and failing. “What does ‘amputate’ mean?”

“Ample ate,” Logan attempted to repeat. “It means to eat a lot.”

“We’re going to eat him!” Remus gasped with a grin.

Patton couldn’t help but give a small chuckle at the exchange before sinking down on the lush grass and scooping Roman into his arms.

The pretend prince curled into the embrace, hiding his face in Patton’s chest as his wailing turned to sniffle.

“I don’t wanna be eaten,” he grumbled sullenly.

Patton felt Virgil curling into his side, tears soaking into his shirt. Patton glanced down, offering another small smile as he pulled him close as well.

“No one is getting eaten,” Patton chuckled softly. “Are they Remus?”

“Pft, no fair!” the mustached boy pouted, folding his arms over his chest and glaring down at his mismatched shoes.

“Why don’t we all come up with ways to make Roman’s boo-boo feel better?” Patton offered, motioning for everyone to move closer.

“I rather not,” Janus sighed softly. Still, the young boy scooted closer and sank down on the grass next to them.

Remus gave another ‘hmph’ before doing the same, though he made sure to sit far closer to Janus than anyone else.

“I can help!” Logan chirped excitedly, digging into his pockets with purpose.

Patton couldn’t help but allow his soft smile to turn even more fond. Logan was always the best helper.

Whatever Logan had in mind, it certainly got Roman’s attention. The sandy blond boy turned his head just enough that his cheek rested against Patton’s chest, eyes glued to the wizard.

A moment later, Logan produced a plastic wand. The pink shaft was a little too large for his tiny hands and the star at its end seemed to flash with tiny lights (no doubt running off of a few double A’s).

“I can cast a spell on him!” Logan offered confidently.

“But yes’rday you said magi’ wasn’t real,” Virgil whispered, still clinging to Patton’s shirt.

“Turn him into a frog!” Remus demanded eagerly; his pouting forgotten.

“Yeah, but I read it in one of my books today, so it has to be real! Right, Patton?” Logan asked, looking up at him expectantly, the others following his lead.

“Oh of course!” Patton reassured with a large grin. “Magic is very real.”

“It is?” Janus asked, suddenly invested in the conversation.

Virgil reacted in a very different manner, burying his face deeper into Patton’s side and giving a small cry. “Magi’ is scary! I dun wanna be turned into a frowg!”

“Oh sweetie,” Patton cooed, messing with the youngest child’s hair. “It’s not that type of magic,” he reassured.

“What other type of magic is there?!” Remus demanded, inching closer as he bounced with elation. “The type that can turn him into a giant squid?! Or make toilets talk?!”

“Ew!” Roman whined in response, once again earning a chuckle from Patton.

“I’m afraid not,” Patton admitted with no little amusement. “No, this kind of magic isn’t just reserved for very smart wizards.”

“It’s not?” Logan asked, moving closer and sinking down as well.

“Oh no. We all have magic of our very own that we can use whenever we want.”

“Nuh uh…” Janus breathed though he didn’t sound too convinced.

Patton nodded continuing. “Sure, we do.”

“What’s my power?!” Remus asked impatiently, “Can I make lasers come out my eyes?! Or maybe… maybe… um… summon a giant octopuspus to devour my enemies?!” He bounced to his feet roaring loudly as he stomped about.

“Your magic is something far greater,” Patton laughed.

“No way!” Remus breathed in awe; antics forgotten.

“Him?!” Roman gasped in disbelief.

Patton nodded. “Remus has the ability to see into other worlds!”

“Lame!” The boy in question huffed, falling back onto the grass.

“What do you mean?” Logan asked curiously.

“Well, Remus makes such a great villain because he sees things differently then we do,” Patton explained.

“So, he’s evil! I knew it!” Roman declared, shifting in Patton’s arms to simply sit in his lap, wound forgotten.

“Not at all,” Patton countered, acting as if he didn’t see the way Remus blew a raspberry at his brother. “Just because someone is different doesn’t make them evil.Though it can be scary, differences are what gives us our power. Take Logan for example.”

“Me?” Logan blinked in surprise, clinging to his wand a bit more self-consciously.

“Mm hmm,” Patton nodded. “Logan understands Remus better than anyone. He can understand how Remus sees the world.”

“So, he’s evil too?” Janus asked.

“I am not!” Logan cried.

“No one here is evil,” Patton laughed. “No, Logan’s magic power is that he can understand anything if given enough time.”

“So, you can figure out where chocolate milk comes from?!” Roman asked, pointedly staring at Logan who now sat a bit straighter.

“Well, if regular milk comes from a regular cow… and Patton says cows are just like oversized dogs… and there are a lot of different kinds of dogs… Then chocolate milk has to come from chocolate cows.” Logan explained in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Whoa! There are chocolate cows?! That’s so cool!” Roman gasped.

Patton was about to speak when his attention was pulled to the small hands tugging on his shirt in a patient persistence.

“Yes, Virgil?” Patton asked softly.

“Wha’s my magi’?” The youngest boy asked in a hushed whisper as the rest talked among themselves.

“You, my dear sweet shadowling,” Patton whispered, booping his nose. “have one of the strongest powers among us.”

“I do?” Virgil’s eyes grew wide, his hand lifting to his mouth to suck on his two fingers. It would be a few more years before Patton could manage to break him of the habit but it was cute nonetheless.

“Oh, yes. You have the power to protect. You tell us when something could hurt us or do damage in a way we haven’t noticed. In a way… You can see the future.” Patton’s allowed his voice to turn a bit wispy as if humbled by Virgil’s power.

“Sounds like a bunch of lies to me,” Janus interrupted, obviously eavesdropping.

“No one asked you!” Roman spat. “You didn’t even help protect your prince and now I’ve got a boo-boo! It’s not like you have any magic! ” He pointed at his knee, lifting it to put the scratch on display.

“Well, neither do you!” Janus argued.

“Oh, I think you both are pretty powerful when it comes to magic,” Patton offered.

“Well of course I am… I’m a prince!” Roman announced.

“Janus does too, Roman.” Patton mitigated.

“Like what?” Remus butted in, more curious that malicious.

“Well, Janus can work magic on people’s feelings,”

“I can?” Janus blinked in surprise.

“Well, of course Kiddo. You’re the best at it! You always know just what to say to make Remus feel better after he loses against the Prince’s armies,” Patton explained, “And you always know how to answer Roman’s questions about his costumes.” Naturally, Patton left out the fact that Janus used little white lies to work his magic and that he didn’t quite agree with the method, but the results were noteworthy.

“Boring!” Roman whined. “What about me?” Roman looked up at Patton expectantly.

“You, dear prince,” Patton replied, nuzzling him affectionately. “have the ability to change the world as we know it. You can push us to follow every passion our heart desires. You give us the very drive that will sustain us throughout our lives. ”

“What? That’s not fair! Why didn’t I get a cool power like that?” Remus huffed, sulking once more.

“’Cause I’m the Prince and I say so!” Roman answered, squirming in Patton’s arms. “Now, be quiet, Patton is talking about me!”

“Mneh!” Remus stuck out his tongue once more, but his brother ignored him.

“Now, now. I think all of your powers are cool,” Patton attempted.

“But Patton…” Logan mumbled, softly, as he stared up at the seemingly grown man. “What’s your power?”

Patton’s chest tightened at the question. Leave it to Logan to pull at the one string Patton wasn’t prepared for. What was Patton’s power? He manifested just as they all did, only he was the first. He grew faster than the rest of them, unable to keep up with Thomas growth, unable to keep up with his insecurity.

He was just Patton…. He had no magic… He wasn’t special. Not like the others.

He forced his smile to remain in place, trying not to let his voice crack as he answered. “Why would I ever need to be more than just happy pappy Patton when I get to spend time with all of you amazing magicians?”

“Patton?” Logan called, his voice distant and far too baritone to be coming from the pudgy boy before him. “Patton are you in here?” Logan called again causing the man to glance over his shoulder.

The memory he had immersed himself in froze, the boys still staring up at him.

He wiped a tear from his eye quickly and waved his hand, the children disappearing, leaving him alone in the small field behind their childhood home.

“I’m over here!” Patton called, standing and dusting off his pants, trying not to feel the loss. They had needed him so thoroughly. Everything was so different now. The boys were all grown. They all faced Thomas’ problems with a maturity Patton never could seem to muster. No doubt they thought him the child now.

 Logan strode up the small hill in his usual dark polo and striped tie adorning his broad shoulders.

“There you are,” Logan greeted with the same half smile he always did.

“Sorry, did you need something?” Patton asked softly, forcing his smile to turn warm.

“Yes, actually,” Logan admitted. “It seems Remus and Roman are fighting again, and Virgil and Janus are placing bets on who can make the most constructs in the imagination. It is truly a disaster. There are puppies and octopoda everywhere. No one will see reason. I could really use your help.”

Patton softened a bit at the words. Maybe they still needed him… just a tiny bit. He supposed he could live with that.

“Puppies?!” Patton squealed in excitement.

Logan’s gaze moved about the scene taking it in, obviously having expected Morality’s reaction. “Isn’t this…” he hesitated, turning on his heel. “Wasn’t this the field behind our home back in Orlando?”

“Oh…” Patton breathed, flushing slightly. “Is it?”

“It is! Thomas used to play out here all the time! We all did!” Logan mused, with a small huff of laughter. “Wow, it has been quite some time.”

Patton offered a melancholy smile as he glanced around. He missed it all. It was nice to have the memories though. At least he could relive it when ever he wanted. Though he doubted Logan would even bother to try to remember-

“You know 7% of Americans really do believe chocolate milk comes from chocolate cows,” Logan informed him, “And Roman is still one of them.” He laughed.

Patton’s heart fluttered at the fact that Logan remembered such a minute detail. He really was magic.

The sound of Logan’s deep chuckle had Patton joining him. “Best not spoil it for him,” Patton teased lightly as Logan offered out an arm for him to take as they headed out of the memory.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Logan reassured.

 La Fin.

[battlestar-royco]

updated faq

Round 2! I tried to shorten the answers so as not to be repetitive, and I also added new FAQs for your convenience. My past self who wrote my first FAQ annoys me, and this one is more thorough anyway, so here you go. I still can’t believe you all actually interact with me enough that I have to make one of these.

Questions up here, answers under the cut.

anti sjm basics

1. why are you an anti?

2. why are you specifically anti SJM?

3. do you like anything about SJM’s books?

4. terminology and practices

5. why do you hold SJM to a higher standard than other authors?/why do you focus on criticizing this one woman more harshly than you do men?

6. did you see what xyz stan did?

7. are you an anti for non-SJM stuff?

best of (in my humble opinion)

diversity and sensitivity

8. I have a question about writing and/or how to portray xyz identity...

9. can you please tag...?

10. is it okay if I like [x author]/[y series] even if I know they’re problematic?

11. what are your suggestions for aspiring authors who want to write diversely?

personal

12. is it okay if I message you?

13. why don’t you post about books/shows/movies you actually like?

14. favorites?

15. book suggestions?

16. are you a writer/what are you writing/do you plan on publishing?

17. is it okay if I follow you on other social media?

18. fandom research

19. when did you start your blog?

20. how did you decide your url?

anti SJM basics

1. why are you an anti?

I love thinking critically about the media I consume. Though I wouldn’t say I’m particularly “anti” any text or author, some people classify any criticism as “anti.” To respect people in the main tags, I post in anti tags so they don’t have to see critical posts. Otherwise, I love talking about positive, neutral, and negative aspects of books.

2. why are you specifically anti SJM?

The Anti SJM Manifesto

What made you turn into an anti? x x

Rowan/Rowaelin: x x x

The fandom: x x x x x x

3. do you like anything about SJM’s books?

Yes. I like a lot of SJM’s ideas, but I don’t like how they’re executed at all. I highly enjoyed TAB, TOG-HOF, and the witch storyline of QOS. My favorite TOG characters are Manon, Chaol, Nehemia, and Sorscha. Honorable mention for Lysandra, Kaltain, and Asterin. My favorite ACOTAR characters are Nesta, Lucien, and Tarquin. Additional links: x x x x

If you want my positive thoughts on certain SJM characters, look up: “anti sjm: [character name]” and you’ll find them.

4. terminology and practices:

Anti SJM Glossary. Seeing as many of us have had bad experiences with stans and in one case, authors, we censor names so our posts stay in our own tags.

What is soap dick? From August 2018 x x.

Manongate? when KOA came out, Charlie Bowater’s promotional art (x) depicted Manon as Asian. Here’s more on why that’s a problematic and lazy decision on SJM and Bloomsbury’s part: x x.

5. why do you hold SJM to a higher standard than other authors?/why do you focus on criticizing this one woman more harshly than you do men?

SJM alone out of all the biggest YA authors has yet to make craft improvements or display a social awareness similar to what I’ve seen from her colleagues. I give all authors an equal chance, but SJM’s writing and behavior has significantly decreased in quality compared to other fantasy authors despite her books being lauded as complex and feminist works. However, I’m not perfect, so do feel welcome to send me an ask if you think I’m being unfair.

The anti SJM community is focused on women because we all mainly read women. Critiquing women doesn’t mean we are unaware, dismissive of, or silent about the issues in men’s work. The “anti” movements for the likes of GRRM do exist, but under a different name than “anti”–there are thousands of critical meta blogs, book/TV critics and reviewers, Youtubers, etc out there who discuss his flaws in depth. I also have lengthy anti GRRM, anti GOT, and anti ASOIAF tags. Finally, I personally find critiquing and discussing women’s work a lot more interesting, productive, and empowering than doing the same for men, especially because my blog’s focus is on the YA author/transformative fan community at large.

About Leigh Bardugo: x x x x x x x

About GRRM (and GOT): x x x x x x x

About Tolkien: I've only read The Hobbit and a third of Fellowship of the Ring, and I’ve only watched FotR, so I don’t say much about him at all.

6. did you see what xyz stan did?

Probably not, especially if what they did was off Tumblr. I don’t look at stan accounts unless someone informs me that my posts or I have come up in conversation on their blog. Any specific stan urls in asks will be redacted both for their privacy and my own well-being. Stans have doxxed, harassed, and discriminated against antis, including myself, so I’d rather save us all the trouble.

7. are you an anti for non-SJM stuff?

I most often talk about SJM’s books, but I’ve also been very critical of GOT/ASOIAF. Following GRRM, several other YA authors have appeared in positive, neutral, and critical lights. On the more critical side we have Cassandra Clare and JK Rowling, and a very little bit about Victoria Aveyard, John Green, Maggie Stiefvater, Stephenie Meyer, and Veronica Roth. Otherwise, I’ve talked about Susan Dennard, Rick Riordan, Leigh Bardugo, and Marie Rutkoski. Check out my YA critical tag for more. I’m also down to discuss franchises like Star Wars, Fantastic Beasts, MCU, etc, as well as TV shows. Basically anything big in genre fiction media, there’s a good chance I’ve read/watched it and I have opinions!

best of

anti SJM

Are the Illyrians MOC?

Moral Ambiguity Series

Anti Nessian

Lucien or Rhysand?

Chaol or Rowan?

misc.

why are period dramas like... that

White Feminism

a beginner’s guide to fandom racism

diversity and sensitivity

8. I have a question about writing and/or how to portray xyz identity...

First and foremost, check my “writing advice” and “writing advice: poc” tags to see if the question has already been answered.

I am black cis girl with a dual degree in women’s/gender studies and creative writing. I will best be able to answer questions regarding black characters, women, racial oppression and identity as a whole, and most questions about queer characters. There’s a chance I can provide a basic answer to questions about demographics outside of these, but I’ll most likely advise you to ask another blogger or seek out sensitivity readers.

9. can you please tag...?

Yes. Just send an ask and I’ll tag anything. I’ve turned off all Tumblr notifications for this account so I probably won’t see tag requests in comments unless you comment within a day or so of the post.

10. is it okay if I like [x author]/[y series] even if I know they’re problematic?

Absolutely. I’m not the liking-things police and I can’t control whether you like something or not. There’s no such thing as an unproblematic author or unproblematic series, so you just have to like what you like at your own discretion and with a critical eye. As long as you’re aware of the issues and not denying or ignoring them, maybe even seeking out other people whose opinions add to the conversation, you’re good. It’s exhausting to be 100% critical but harmful to be 100% uncritical, so you have to seek out critics you like and figure out how to maintain a dialogue with the text and/or the author. The balance is different for everyone but once you find it, it gets easier to keep up!

11. what are your suggestions for aspiring authors who want to write diversely?

Concepts to be aware of and tropes to avoid: male gaze, the Bechdel test, the Mako Mori test, the sexy lamp test, fridging, Orientalism, xenoface (called “the Gamora Phenomenon” on my blog), black best friend, Spicy Latina, Dragon Lady, bury your gays, disability narratives, queerbaiting.

What not to do when creating a culture.

My advice about writing POC.

Check out these blogs if you like: x x x.

Follow as diversely as possible. Follow multiple blogs, especially writing- or fandom-themed blogs, run by POC (especially women and LGBTQ+), bloggers from religiously marginalized groups, bloggers with disabilities, older bloggers, younger bloggers, international bloggers, plus size bloggers, etc. Everyone has different perspectives and opinions, so it’s best to read from multiple sources.

Magnify marginalized voices in conversations about diversity, and LISTEN to what they are telling you.

Read diversely! Read genre fiction written by marginalized people. Maybe even read some gender, queer, race, or disability theory if you like. I’m personally a fan of Audre Lorde, Anne McClintock, and Sara Ahmed, but I like a lot more.

Seek out multiple sensitivity readers for the specific identity you are trying to represent (ie if you are trying to write a Muslim woman, ask a Muslim woman to sensitivity read for you. Experiences are not interchangeable so don’t treat them as such).

Don’t let the research stop here. This is just the beginning. There are plenty of awesome and accessible resources out there if you want to know more. I started learning about this stuff on sites like Tumblr, Goodreads, and Youtube. The Goodreads review sections, especially for YA books, are so entertaining and full of commentators coming at texts with feminist, queer, and POC lenses if you look in the right spots. There are also podcasts and Youtube videos about feminism, history of queerbaiting, and such. Happy reading/listening/writing!

personal

12. is it okay if I message you?

If we’ve been mutuals and/or we’ve interacted for a while (at least a few weeks or so), absolutely. When it comes to questions about writing or diversity advice in WIPs, I prefer asks (off or on anon is fine; if you’d like to be off anon but answered privately, you can indicate that in the ask). That way, other people with similar questions can join the discussion and I’m less likely to repeat myself. That said, I’m not opposed to messages; I just get shy around people I don’t know :). Regardless of ask or message, please try to ask the full question as clearly as possible so I can answer it to my best ability. Generally, you can expect an answer to your message or ask within a few days to a week of sending.

If you’re looking for a fight and/or if you start using condescending, rude, or discriminatory language, you will be ignored.

13. why don’t you post about books/shows/movies you actually like?

I do! :)

14. favorites?

books: Harry Potter; The Hunger Games; Six of Crows; Percy Jackson; The Winner’s Trilogy; Angelfall; The Secret History; Othello; Jane Eyre; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe/The Magician’s Nephew; A Storm of Swords.

movies: Alien, Blade Runner 2049, Harry Potter, Wonder Woman, Black Panther, Annihilation, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Terminator 2, The Breakfast Club, The Lion King, Moonlight dir. Barry Jenkins, Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Tangled.

tv series: Sense8, Battlestar Galactica (2004-2008), Black Mirror, The X Files, The 100, Westworld (season 1 only), Watchmen, Homeland (seasons 1-4 only), Orphan Black, Breaking Bad, The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl, Fleabag.

15. book suggestions?

Book recs!

Maxine, did you read/watch...?

16. are you a writer/what are you writing/do you plan on publishing?

I hope to publish, yes! I write mostly YA fantasy, but I also love sci fi, crime drama, and certain elements of horror so I have works in or influenced by all of those genres. I want to get my foot in the YA fantasy door first and foremost :). Check out “polysorscha writes things” if you want to know more specifics.

17. is it okay if I follow you on other social media?

As of now I keep my blog disconnected from my personal life, so I don’t share my other socials but feel free to follow me over on my main blog @ripley-stark if you like! It’s just pretty gifs and photos of my favorite movies and shows, social justice, meta reblogs here and there, and rambling in the tags. Don’t feel like you have to follow if you don’t want to; I say a lot more on here.

That being said, I have given my Goodreads to a handful of people who ask, so if you want to track what I’m reading, private message me and I’ll send you the link. In the case that I share the link with you, please respect my privacy and do not repost or share the link anywhere else unless you see me share it on my blog publicly.

18. fandom research:

In March to May 2019, I conducted a survey on my blog in an attempt to gather information about fandom through a social justice–specifically, intersectional feminist–lens. Here are the results and my analysis of the survey x. The purpose for this data collection was to write my final undergraduate research paper in one of my two majors, women’s and gender studies (the other is creative writing!), which focused on diversity and inclusion in genre fiction media and fandom. The final paper is about 11k words. I haven’t publicly published it, but message me if you’re interested in reading it! I also plan on doing more similar surveys to gather information about what audiences want to see in future media, so if anyone is interested, please send messages, asks, comments etc about what YOU want to see and/or ideas about how we can spread the info to creators. This is much bigger than just me and I can’t do it without your help. I love hearing from diverse voices and amplifying them as much as I can. Everyone’s perspective is meaningful!

19. when did you start your blog?

No earlier than the end of April or beginning of May 2018.

20. how did you decide your url?

I wish the Celaena/Dorian/Chaol love triangle resolved in a polyamorous relationship, and that Nehemia and Sorscha were thriving. Seeing as I am black, Sorscha is one of two characters in T0G who represents me. Thus, polyamorous + Sorscha. :)

[duckybeth99]

From Life to Death (Past!Fic)

I’d like to call this from life to death, here and there, but that’s too long lol. really short compared to my normal stuff; literally tiny fics strung together with a similar theme. wasn’t a real order to this? but I did put the most surprising one at the end

—

To become a demon of Hell requires two things: either to commit some great sin or make a demon deal, and die. This is true for every non-born demon, even the most kind of them. Some choose to move on once they have suffered their punishments or reformed. Some choose to stay.

A few who have chosen to stay are Mabuz, Vincent, Elliot, Sharp, Valerie and Violet. What got each of them there is different. Who they once were are all different. Some from Earth, the UpSide, Realm Prime, whatever one wants to call it. Others from different Realms, always from the UpSideDown, always otherworldly. There was little to no difference, though.

They all did something that brought them here.

—

He was the first of his kind. One of his parents, a grand dragon, wild and free. The other, domesticated, raised and cared by humanoid beings, and learned to be small like them. To walk on two legs, to hide their wings when not needed. So he was an oddity. No one quiet knew how he came to be. Some say it was fate. Some whispered of changelings and shapeshifters blood or malicious magics. Some say he was just born unlucky.

But there was their son, hatched from one of several eggs. He was the runt. Cracked his egg a day later than the others, who all appeared as, while smaller than the grand dragon, still as dragons. But the last one was different. Meek horns, tiny height among his siblings, scales that were uneven with some too large, others so small they looked like freckles across his body, and looked more humanlike than the rest. Than even the domesticated dragon. He was pathetic compared to his family. Nobody outright said it to him, but he could see it in how they treated him. His elder siblings, the disappointment his great dragon father showed. He knew he was lesser. To use his family name on itself would bring shame to them.

So he never did when he could prevent it. He only went by the nickname Sharp, and only to those who weren’t in his family, for they were the ones he showed his skills to.

While his brutal strength lacked due to his diminutive stature compared to his family, he was still clever. Sharp has a focused mind, speed, persistence, all on his side. What he didn’t have in raw power, he compensated in those skills. While his siblings used their dragon strength, their abilities over elements in combat, Sharp humbly took to a simple bow and arrow.

The day he discovered his first one was when he was a child. These weapons, laid about next to the carcasses of mortals who tried to hunt for his kind in sport. The swords were too heavy for him, too big to hide from his parents who would be angered by his wandering near fallen hunters. So he stole a bow and pouch of arrows from one body, and began to teach himself.

But still, he was looked down on.

His brothers and sisters mocked him, and the grand dragon said he was worth nothing as a misshapen. While he had the grand dragon’s blood, no symbol of it showed. He was still seen as weak, weaker than even the domesticated ones of his kind.

The pressure and rage built up in him until it reached a fever pitch. And that’s when the stranger came and offered Sharp a deal.

To find acceptance, the stranger said, would be to find power and end his weakness. Sharp listened to the stranger and they revealed a magic arrow he could use to end it all. The stranger warned the damage would be permanent. Sharp wasn’t worried.

Ready to display his power, Sharp took the magic arrow and called for his family to watch. But as they gathered, the grand dragon scolded the son for waisting his time with the power that even humans had at their disposal. Sharp begged for the attention, but the grand dragon showed disapproval still. The children soon joined and were about to make their exit.

Sharp pulled out his arrow, planning one shot to gain their attention. But the arrow in his hands was the magic one given to him. In his rage, he didn’t check the arrow, only drawing back and shooting.

When it released, he realized he was too late.

The magic arrow released its power, slaughtering Sharp’s brothers and sisters, his parents, including the mighty grand dragon. Their souls were ripped from their bodies as the arrow flew near them, as they tried to rush away. It landed straight into the grand dragon’s heart.

Sharp ran to take the arrow out, to try and save his father, but it was to no avail. The arrow disappeared, it’s mission complete. Sharp screamed in agony as his family laid dead around him. At his young age, Sharp wanted to run from the crime he committed. He tried to. But running doesn’t work if it’s the guilt that follows you.

Never the one to do well with a sword, he chose the weapon best wielded by his eldest sibling, the daughter who was the pride and joy of the grand dragon. Forged from his own fires, Sharp took the weapon that marked the crime he committed, the symbol of all his shortcomings an failures, and stabbed himself.

He waited for the pain to overtake him, to bleed into unconsciousness, before his life ended. Soon after, transformed into a demon, he served the same being that gave him the magic arrow that sealed his doom. It was only when a stranger of flaming red hair teamed with an old demon, did Sharp join in support and win his freedom, and became a knight in the new kingdom.

———

Fate was not always fair or kind. Sometimes, fate offered only cruelty to those who did nothing. Many demons found themselves in that position, defined as sinners by archaic reasons, or for deals made in desperation, ones made in attempt to do good.

For them, the girls paid the price for choices not made by them. Their names were Valerie and Violet, twin girls. The elder with darker hair and lighter eyes, the other with lighter hair and darker eyes. They thought they had peace in their life. Happiness. Love. But a deal was made behind their back.

The parents of these two had little love for them in their hearts. So in exchange for long life and wealth, they offered their girl. But soon, as young women when a demon came to take their souls, the brave older sister chose to fight for her and her sister’s life. She offered her parents lives for theirs, and they would do the harm themselves, not ask the demon to do it themself. So they agreed, never being one to pass the chance for more chaos and ultimately, more lives taken.

Valerie promised to keep her sister safe from the chaos, so lied of her plan to carry out the deal. In the dead of night, Valerie slit the throats of her parents in their sleep. The stains on her cheeks followed her into her death. As Valerie left the old home to find her sister, cloaked for the night, the younger sister, confused and mistaking her for one of their parents, killed her.

Valerie forgave her sister as she felt herself die. But Violet didn’t forgive herself. With splatters in her own face now, villagers came to try and see what the screams and chaos was caused from. Violet, knowing what would happen next, allowed the people to come and take her, to kill her for the murder of everyone else in her family.

Only hours later, did she awake as a demon, skin purple, with the slashes of blood now marks on her face and neck, matching her sister. Their deal meant nothing to the demon, but in truth, they upheld their end of the deal: the girls wished to undo their parent’s deal and live longer than them.

They got just as they wished.

Along with so many others, they were tortured for their crime, then made slaves in the palace of Discord, abused servants who knew no freedom, no true peace would ever come to them.

Or so they thought.

——

A legend when it came to building weaponry. That’s how he was seen. An ex-soldier named Elliot Edgar, a brave, hulking man who was a gentle giant. He retired early in his work as a soldier, preferring to be a man who crafted instead, but still desired to aid his friends and allies.

As a gentle giant, he stood tall with arms thick with muscle, but a stomach plush enough for hugs, and had an affinity for caring for others. He went so far as to sacrifice his own eye when rescuing a fellow soldier in battle.

Hair tied high in a bun on his head, he took in the trade of blacksmithing, crafting only the finest weapons for the finest knights, each playing to their own strengths and targeting an enemies’ weakness. But a battle is never one sided.

For his skill and expertise, other kingdoms and empires envied him. They desired to take him for their own, or steal his work, or sabotage it. They continued to try and continued to fail with each and every attempt. Elliot remained loyal and clever.

That was, until a stranger slinked through the shadows of his workspace, and whispered an idea into his ear, before vanishing into the shadows as though they were never there.

The idea was a grand weapon, one to end the current war for good, for all the people to move on and progress in peace. So Elliot stayed awake, day and night, crafting a spectacular piece of work that only lacked one quality. It had all the power man could create, but it needed more. The power of magic. The power of a god.

So Elliot turned to people who lurked in the night, asking for help, begging for their wisdom and resources. All turned him away, saying he could not handle the price of his actions. That is Dream was only fantasy and would lead to a dangerous end. Elliot held faith in himself and his creations. Soon enough, a stranger stepped forward to offer their wisdom, one with ginger hair and mismatched eyes.

Offering no name, they cast their magic, promising incredible strength and the final end to come, and the device was ready. Too excited and not wanting to even consider any more rejection, Elliot brought his grand machine, his grand weapon to the field to carry out its task.

Just as the stranger had said, it filled the sky with its power and the final end came. But the end was not the kind he had anticipated or wanted. His homeland, the enemies’ homeland, and all those neighboring were slaughtered. The machine destroyed. No life remained.

Elliot lived for only a moment longer to witness the ruin he brought, his tears sliding against his face before his eyes closed for good. His mortal life had ended. His demon life had him born anew, with violet skin, monstrous teeth and hands like a bear, claws and blank eyes. Though, despite his change, he kept love in his heart. He worked as the cruel Discord commanded, who built their elaborate palace and their empire, but where he could, he showed kindness to the others suffering under their rule.

He hoped he could make up for what he did one day, and craft for good again.

——

Vincent was always considered a smaller man. He was five foot four, not the smallest person, but the smallest boy. However, his ego easily compensated his height. His pride. It wasn’t undeserved, though.

He was a clever young man, one of the smartest people in the town. An orphan who took advantage of his time to educate himself past what schools taught him, continuously advancing his mind and leaving little time to work on and maintain humbleness. He was fairly handsome as well, with lovely red hair and vivid violet eyes. Fantastic with math and arithmetics, biology and sciences, and he was also very formal but blunt. Arthur Archibald Vincent achieved much in his education at a young age, and took quickly to earn the title of a doctor. His skill was incredible for his young age, his studies and papers captivating to his fellow peers. It captivated an employer, too.

He forgot the name of the place over the years, as though erased from his mind, but the men who represented the laboratories remained enough. They came to his current working place, helping maintain and curate a museum containing feats of science, and he introduced them to his private lab. He impressed them with his own studies, own experiments, his own creations. They offered him the job at their mysterious labs. He happily accepted.

He worked alongside plenty of other scientists during that time. Vincent was but another great mind behind the top secret work that was being done, in the discovery of monsters and creatures. Albeit, he did garner plenty of looks when first hired for his young age. The youngest at the labs, the youngest certified doctor. He worked towards the advancements he dreamed of and was promised he would help create. He worked for his patrons to create advancements including some devices used to study creatures.

What the labs deemed as the most valuable, though, was a serum he invented, which with a small device would inject it into the brain.

Initially created to distract a subject’s mind and make it easier to test on them without opposition, it instead intensified and projected fears to their fullest extent. Mental torture. Vincent only realized its flaws on his first test of it in front of many of his superiors. But they didn’t see the mistake.

They saw something fascinating. Something more powerful than they had even asked for.

Vincent was shortly promoted to a supervisor and lead scientist position, the same level as his former boss, Dr. Collins, much to his jealousy and annoyance. But as his ties with the labs became tighter, so did their watch. The torture he saw to the monsters increased. Passing by one of the experiments one day, he realized his serum was being used without his knowledge on the subjects. He heard it be threatened to be used on his coworkers.

Vincent slowed his inventing. Tried to impede on progress where he could. Slow down his research team, try to lose data and hide his findings. The superiors were starting to take note of his disloyal, suspicious behavior.

It came to a head when Vincent released a child.

He didn’t care what the species was, he didn’t ask for a name, nothing. He opened the cage and told it how to escape.

Little did he know, he was watched while he did it.

Soon after, alone at his home, people in the dark were watching him. Stalking him. One night, they broke in. Using his own device, his own serum, they tried to inject it into his head. Vincent fought back, accidentally injecting it into the attacker’s head. As the man screamed and wailed, he stumbled around and knocked a candle down. Vincent tried to escape, but couldn’t make it out of his home. The heat sweltered, the screams continued, and seemed to layer and layer atop itself.

The screams weren’t just the attacker’s. The screams weren’t his.

It was all the screams he heard for all his life.

The air turned worse, smoke filling his lungs. He fought to keep his eyes open, fought for his body to keep moving before he fell, before his eyes closed and he felt his body turn weaker.

Like a candle itself, he went out in an instant after.

When he awoke, he was changed forever. Smaller, meeker than he ever was before. Short like his temper, small like his forethought, his body both there and not. Not entirely physical like a human body, instead the element of fire.

In the past, he bragged about his name, his title as a doctor, his achievements in science.

Here in Hell, nobody knew him. Nobody except Discord, who had knowledge on all they possessed.

Vincent made a choice that day he was brought to Hell. He refused to refer to himself as a doctor. He refused to use his full name anymore. He wouldn’t be Dr. Arthur Archibald Vincent, famed for his science.

He would just be Vincent. Fade into the crowd the best he could.

Be nothing.

[abdicatedarchive]

nessvul vs. edcom || eddie and vanessa

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: litwaks arcade and the icecream place // spring 2021.

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: eddie x vanessa.

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒: none.

𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: eddie runs into vanessa unexpectedly after a bad day. it becomes one of his favorite days of all time.

Vanessa loved coming to the arcade, of course she had a gaming system set up and it was top of the line but nothing was better than this ambience. Marvel vs. Capcom: infinite was the game she choice to play today. Beating multiple people with Morrigan alone she was feeling herself. People looked at her and assumed she didn't know how to play, one person told her she looked to soft to be into video games. That was dumb. She just smiled, batted her lashes and destroyed them. "Okay who next, I promise to go easy on you." She clapped her hands, having a ball.  

Eddie had been at the arcade for a while, playing his comfort game. There was nothing like playing Dragons Lair. It brought him back to when his step-dad was trying to get to know him. So when he would ask what Eddie specifically wanted to do once a month ... Eddie always chose the arcade. He didn't want his new dad to teach him to ride a bike or anything like that, he wanted the crowd funding (aka a guilty guy dating his mom) to improve his experience. Eddie had been staring at his friend for a while. She was one of those really cool people that Ricki had introduced himself to, someone Eddie would never have the confidence to approach. But now they were friends. And it turns out she was even cooler than just being a hot girl. She was into all the stuff that they were into. He glanced over to see that the que of people who had lined up to play against her had settled down. Ed heard the call for who was next, and this was his moment. His hands were a little sweaty from being glued to the arcade machine, so he wiped them off on his jeans and headed over to her. "Hey Nessa" said Eddie as casually as possible. She's your friend dude, chillax, he thought to himself. "No need to go easy, I want to get absolutely wrecked" he said with a smile. He had played plenty of Marvel vs Capcom, but this was clearly her game of choice.

The skatepark and the arcade was her first stop even before checking in and doing the tours and the other welcome things. After that she was in the arcade atleast twice a week. At first most people didn't take her seriously, she wore designer clothes and they said she looked like she should be in a mall or a club somewhere. It made her happy to show the nay sayers just how wrong about her they were. Even entering some of the tournaments when it suited her not always winning but being a force to be reckoned with. Hearing her name Ness looked over and smiled brightly at him. "Eddie!" She hugged him before returning ro the controls. "I am in love with that whole sentence." She focused back on the screen. Nessa had met Eddie through a mutual friend and she was sure he would take one look at her and think she was not his cup of tea. She was happily wrong. "Finally someone who can give me a challenge and not just try and check me out the whole time." Nessa was being dramatic she didn't mind it, it was just thay they made it obvious. "We should make this interesting if I win, you have to buy me a well deserved ice cream and brownie."

Eddie smiled when she got all excited, he had done it right. "Totally dude, eyes on the prize" he said, fuck, why did I call her dude? Eddie thought to himself, stupid!. He brushed it off, he was going to be fine. They were friends and that was good. No reason to mess anything up by getting himself rejected. She might not look like a gamer, but she had the heart of one. If she wasn't in this packaging, Eddie probably would have been obsessed in a more realistic way. He just knew she was too far out of his league to even really worry about getting a shot, but then she basically proposed a date after this. "I don't want to take your money, but I'm more than happy to" he said with a laugh, they were going to hang out after this. That was cool. They didn't really ever hang out without Ricki there. He felt his heart rate pick up, but this was about the game. It was focus time. Eddie didn't usually take well to losing, but he figured losing to her best game wasn't too much of an ego hit. He put his hands on the controllers, "Ready when you are" he said giving her a thin lipped smile.

Nessa liked that Eddie didn't treat her like she was some spoiled princess. Maybe cause he didn't know that side of her? Nah she carried that around like a badge of honor. She was a little take back by being called a dude no one ever in her life has called her that but she thought it was cute. "Oooh I love it when you talk shit, so much more satisfying when you lose." She picked her characters. Eddie was cute like could be pretty popular cute but he was smart and the guys she knew never hung out with guys smarter than themselves. Vanessa was smart and she was pretty, plus her parents had money so she could do whatever she wanted. She loved that. Looking over her team again she nodded feeling comfortable in her selection. She moved her hair behind her ear so it wouldn't distract her.  "Let's do this." She pressed the start button and started the fight.

The real reason Eddie treated her like one of the guys is that he didn't really know any other way to do it. If he pursued her, both him and Ricki would probably lose a friend. "I'm just a simple man who likes free ice cream" he joked, putting his hand over his heart, "humbled already, and looking forward to you being humbled". Eddie selected his team and focused in on the game. She wasn't even here, just an NPC like usual. No pretty girl sitting next to him at all, no pretty nails or nice perfume. Just Ed and an old arcade game. The game began, and he put up a good fight but she ultimately did win. There was a lot of yelling, they were probably the loudest people in there. He let out an exhausted breath after they were done, "Fair is fair. Ice cream and a brownie from me to you" he said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Me humbled?" She scoffed playfully. Tossing her hair over her shoulders she looked him and flashed him her sweetest smile. "I can taste my victory now." She started looking at the screen. Nessa liked being able to be competitive without being judged. Eddie always matched her energy when it came to playing. Jumping and clapping her hands when she won she looked over him. "Yessir, I humbly accept." She teased. "Before I forget, I went to text you last night and I don't have your number. I wanted to know of you wanted to do D&D. I was going to ask Ricky too." She grabbed her purse and slid the things strap onto her shoulder. " I know you two are a pair." She wasn't sure if they were dating or just really good friends.

She looked cute when she had won, not that she didn't always. Eddie smiled when she remembered that he had mentioned D&D offhandedly. "Yeah man, that would be fucking amazing" he said, not thinking about his language again. Why did he keep reaffirming that she was a man? Clearly not a man. He knew he was gonna beat himself up over that later tonight when he was trying to sleep. "Yeah, has Ricki told you the backstory on that? So we're sort of related in the least related way possible" he said as the two headed out of the arcade. The night air was kind of cold and he had a light jacket with him so he passed it to her nonchalantly. "So his bio dad that helped his moms get pregnant is my step dad. He's never been like in the family, but I like to think he's my brother" he said, giving the shortest version of it that he could.

Every time she hung out with Eddie she got a warm feeling in her body.  She wasn't sure why though, but she did know that he always had her smiling and she actually liked that. " We just need to find some time do campaigns and stuff. I'm free all summer." She wasn't going back home to be bored and she could start the next semesters work a little bit early  "No. He didn't." She felt dumb for her assumption after he told her. " Honestly I thought you two were like together, together." She tried not to laugh. "I'm so sorry babe. It's just that yall are always together and I don't know." She touched his arm. "I'm glad that you guys are close. It's cute."

"Yeah I'm just doing some papers and stuff for kids in summer classes, but other than that I'm free" said Eddie, he was excited about what summer with more friends than just Ricki was going to look like. "It actually happens a lot. We have couple energy apparently, but just best friends" he clarified with a nervous laugh. Did Nessa think he was gay? Well he wasn't not gay, he is bi. But still. Just another little friendzone moment as they were heading down the street to the icecream parlor. He opened up the door for her, "after you" he said as he gestured her to go in.

"Oh good So i won't be alone this summer. Most people are doing the summer camp thing." She shook her head. " I'm kind of hyped were gonna chill. I love Ricky to death but we need to chill just the two of too." She looked up at him. "Unless you don't want to." She hoped that wasn't the case. "I see that I misunderstood but I think it's cute how close you guys are. "She walked into the parlor. "Thank you babe." She went to the counter and ordered a ice cream they could share. "Free for the cute couple." The older lady said giving a wink to Eddie.

This girl wanted to hang out with Eddie one on one? Now this, this was something different. "I'm down, for sure" he said, swallowing hard afterwards. His throat felt really dry. The woman at the register thought they were a couple. How could she possibly think that when Eddie was so awkward. It made him feel pretty good about himself though, like maybe he wasn't. His haircut was in right now, fun when the things you were bullied for in middle school become trendy according to tiktok. "Thank you so much, this one drags me all over town but I insisted we come here" he said with a laugh as he put a big tip into the tip jar. The two headed to the back booth, and Eddie was very confidently ignoring the fact that he was lactose intolerant. The small things you do.

Nessa was happy that he agreed, she didn't want to be bored all summer since most people left and did the counselor thing. She liked kids just not enough to spend hours around them, especially in that summer heat she wasn't sure her hair would agree. She wasn't going to correct the woman it got her a free snack and he looked happy to go along with it. She couldn't help but smile, she shrugged flipped her hair, "I'm going to start listening to him, he knows how to make me happy in more than one way." She winked and watched the lady giggle and her face turned red.  She sat down next to him. " You still owe me, you got lucky with the free snack."

Eddie let out a laugh at Nessa's comment, absolutely uncomfortable at the prospect but intrigued at the idea that he could actually be seeing her. As they sat down next to each other, he nodded, "I do still owe you. A bet is a bet" said the boy. He liked the idea of hanging out with Vanessa again, just the two of them. He hadn't been too painfully awkward yet. "What are you doing this summer? If you're not doing the counselor thing?" he asked, hoping that was a normal enough question.

"I love it when a man can keep his word." she said simply, "Just got to tell me if I get too clingy, I don't want to ruin anything you got going on." she didn't know to much about him or the things that he did besides the whole paper thing. She knew he was smart and liked games. "Do you want some?" she pointed to the ice cream with her spoon. "I get intern at a company, but their pretty chill so I come and go as please. So i do what I need to then I bounce and hit the park or the beach.

Eddie took the other spoon and had a bite of ice cream, "I've got nothing going on really. Just having fun, writing papers and working on some projects. Personal projects, not projects for other people" he clarified. He didn't waste all of his potential on others. "That's cool" Ed responded as he took another bite of ice cream. "Is that typical for you?" he asked, "like a relaxed work environment. I feel like that suits you. No 9-5 for this lady" he said, realizing that he sounded like a total dork. There was nothing smooth about this encounter except for the ice cream, which was totally going to give him hell later.

Nessa nodded as she took a bite of the brownie. "Wow I have like one solid thing and you have like a whole list." She had to hand it to him not many people their age wanted to do more than just chill out for the summer. She nodded as she wiped off some ice cream with her thumb off the corner of his mouth. "Relaxed and gorgeous is my preferred work environment." She teased. A airy chuckle left her lips. " You get me. That 9 to 5 is so 1999." She put down her spoon. " I have a question I have to ask, do you have a significant other that's going to be mad you're spending your summer with me?"

Her hand was touching his face, and how did even her hands smell good?! It was intoxicating. "I mean thank god 9 to 5's do exist, or we wouldn't have gotten the Dolly anthem of the century" said Eddie, a natural smile forming on his face. His cheeks were a little flushed from the physical contact. Now she was asking if he had a significant other, and his cheeks burned redder. "Oh nobody, just vibin right now" said the boy, wondering why that was the verb he chose. And if he truly had been vibin with being single, then he had been straight chillin for the last 20 years. "What about you? Cool guy going to be coming around, upset you're playing DND with a bunch of dorks and skaters?" he asked, trying to see what the situation was. Any and all advice Ricki had given him in the last 20 years falling to the wayside as he forged his own awkward path.

"You listen to Dolly Parton? That's a  huge check in my book." She didn't know to many people that even knew who that was. He kept surprising her, she liked it. It was nice to be around people who weren't trying to impress other people. He blushes, she wasn't sure she saw anyone blush around her. She bit her lip, was it weird she liked that but not in a friend way, like a crush.'You vibe?" She raised her brow in amusement. She wondered if he was really out here vibing with other people or did he mean it in another way. "No, I'm single, single. No one is even looking my way. Its summer and no one is trying to...well you know with me.  It's weird. Hold on sir I also  play dnd, games and skate does that make me a dork too?" She shook her head or am I not cool enough for the whole dork squad.

"Of course I listen to Dolly. She invented theme parks, literacy for children, and fake boobs all while being a really nice person. Dolly Parton is the greatest living legend of all time, take a back seat Bezos. Earth already has a savior" Eddie replied, the statement flowing out of him at a rate which he could not stop. He kind of shrugged when she asked him if he vibed. Vibing wasn't really the term to explain hopeless romantic turned cynic turned hopeless romantic every second of the day. Wake up? Love is dead. See a pretty person on the street? Love is alive. The birds are chirping. Life is here to live it. Don't talk to her? Love is dead. It was a vicious cycle with a very quick return rate. "Queen of the dorks" said Eddie with a kind smile. She really was queen of the dorks. Vanessa enjoyed everything that they liked, and did it while being hot and funny and smart. It was intimidating, but at least the dork stuff made her feel human to him. Like she was one of the guys, just in hot girl packaging.

Nessa listened as she took a bite of the brownie. He had a point Dolly was iconic and the whole world should appreciate her more.  "You're like a true fan, that's kinda hot Eddie." She complimented. He was unapologetically himself and she could learn from that. She was too but he was a better person than her. He wasn't materialistic or unrationally dramatic.  She was happy he didn't see that part of her ge might not want to hang out with her. Ricki was way more laid back so she didn't care he wasn't going to stop being her friend but Eddie was more together. "I like that." She looked at him proudly. She liked being called a Queen mostly, it boosted up her ego. " Thank you, that just made my whole week." She gave him a sweet smile. She wondered if he was this nice to all hos friends or just her? Did it matter?!

He laughed when she said he was hot. Eddie was not hot, at least he assumed not because no one had ever taken an interest in him. It was kind of hard to hit on people, especially when his wingman was really charismatic and cool. Girls always went for Ricki, it was part of the cycle. Like a girl? She goes for your brother who is not your brother. "I'm just saying the truth" he said, grinning at her. This was a moment he was going to remember. A moment where he didn't have any rage inside of him. Just Ed. "This campaigns gonna be a lot of work. Are you ready for the grind?" he teased her. A good DND campaign meant a lot of hours on the table and behind the scenes. Eddie realized he wasn't going to mind much, especially if she was going to be there. He couldn't help but stare at her, he liked her ears. Weird thing to be attracted to, but they were just so ... cute? Was Eddie having a stroke? Because it sort of felt like it.

Nessa ate some more of the ice cream saving him half the brownie. It was nice to see Eddie out of his element, usually he wasn't spotted without Ricki and if Ricki wasn't around she didn't know what he was doing. She adored Ricki but she didn't want to think about him now. She was sure that they probably didn't like it when people compare them to each other. "I'm so ready, so my parents rented me a  condo and i have a room dedicated to this, you can come by and see the set up and help me make it better." she looked over at him. "I mean obviously  we're going to have food but i don't know i it needs fairy lights. I'm trying to make it more cool and so much me." she knew they weren't going to want glittery and cute, soft and comfortable maybe. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at him, "You okay babe?" she could tel he was staring, omg was their something on my teeth or my face? she thought as she panicked internally.

"Yeah I just was disassociating there for a second" said Eddie, the light coming back into his eyes. "I'd love to come over and see it. Even help make dinner, or pick up the takeout. Whatever works for everyone" the boy replied as he took a large spoonful of brownie. "I feel like whatever your vibe is for how you want to decorate is going to be great, don't even think about the boys. It's your space" he encouraged her. If there was one thing he knew nothing about it was how to decorate a space. His whole room at home was just covered in tech and LED lights. Sometimes it was hard to even get to the bed with all the boxes of random things he was working on and had abandoned. Once something became too frustrating, he either broke it or he put it in a box or both. It wasn't exactly an effective system.

Was she that boring he was disassociating, at that moment she didn't know what that actual meant and she would have to to go and Google that later. "Wait can you cook?" She said a bit surprised, Nessa was good at alot of things but cooking was not one of them. "Maybe you could teach me something because honestly I can't cook to save my life."She wasn't even trusted to make scrambled eggs. She was thankful for her Doordash and cafeteria, or she would of starved. "No,I know I just don't want to suffocate you with vanilla candles and Lavender scented beanbag chairs. "Plus your opinion matters to me." Down to earth wasn't her thing she liked the whole drama of it all. Her board was rose gold and glittery.

Eddie smiled at her, "I was a busboy in high school. The kitchen guys let me make my own meals on long shifts. You pick up a few things" he replied, "I would be more than happy to help you out a little." He liked the idea of getting to spend more time with her, especially in her apartment. It would feel like playing couple to some degree. Eddie cocked his head to the side, "they make scented beanbag chairs?" he questioned, never having heard of such a thing ... but honestly it sounded kind of nice. "Anytime you want my opinion, just text me" Eddie encouraged, excited about the DND sanctuary this girl was putting together. She was so fucking cool, how did he ever even become friends with her? Well ... Ricki. But besides that.

Nessa never had a job before, her mother said she didn't have the temperament for someone telling her what to do. Nessa wasn't sure if that was true or not but she didn't question it." Thank you I think its a life skill that I desperately need to learn  if I ever plan on being truly independent or stuck on a island or a zombie apocalypse." She tapped her chin as she thought about it. "Yeah it's suppose to help mellow people out while they sit on them." She started to think it was too much, boys didn't care what things smell like. Well except for her, she always made sure she smelled good. " Don't tell me that and then get mad when I text you for every decision that I need help with." She said seriously. She looked at him and touched his arm softly.

"Cooking lessons it is. We can start easy with a bowl of cereal. I'm pro cereal into the bowl first, oat milk second" said Eddie, "but there are some crazy people that are milk first cereal second". He thought the whole idea was preposterous, but to each their own. Eddie thought about it for a second, "that sounds ... kinda nice actually" he responded in regards to the scented bean bag chair. He thought about how you could definitely get away with farting on it. Then she was touching his arm, and he felt his stomach drop. "Y-you can seriously hit me up anytime with questions" he said, stumbling a little on his words. She was touching him, and she smelled so good.

Nessa couldn't help but chuckle. "I can make cereal and I don't trust anyone that puts milk first, i'm pretty sure that they're psychopaths." she wasn't sure if that was true or not but it was a very strong belief of hers. "I'm thinking of something like Ramen or scrambled eggs. " she wasn't that thrilled to work with a stove but the thought also excited and gave her a reason to get cute aprons. "You'll love it as soon as you sit in them, its so comfy."  she knew they would love it and that the beanbags could be cleaned at a dry cleaners just in case sauce or something spilled on it.  "Just know you can't take it back now, this is now a sealed deal." she joked.

"Right? It's just so ridiculous, and what if there's a splash when you put the cereal in?" Eddie replied, doing his best to be normal like he was talking to one of the guys. Because that's what this was. She was one of the guys, just that one of his friends who smelled good and was really hot. "We can definitely start there" said the boy as he ran his hands through his hair. It was getting longer, maybe he should cut it. Would she like his hair if he cut it? Maybe just a trim, maintain the flow. "It's a pact" he said as he put out his hand to shake hers.

"I just don't get it like I pour enough for the cereal I poured but if you do it the other way then you might have to add more of one or the other and that's just too much extra work for cereal." she shook her head. "Good my parents are going to love you." she watched him run his hands through his hair. He had such nice hair, the volume alone was a dream. Would it be rude to just start playing in his hair, she just wanted to see i it was as soft as it looked. Snapping out of her thoughts she looked at his hand and touched his chin then shook his hand." Deal."

Eddie grinned when she touched his chin, thinking about how her parents would love him. He could do that. Meet someone's parents and be normal. Right? Maybe. Probably. Not likely. Perhaps. He was torn. "How about Friday, we start our first lessons?" he suggested, wanting to see her as soon as possible. But he had also heard Ricki say things like don't be too eager. So he was keeping his distance, four days was a good amount of time ... right? He was unsure, but their hands were still in the shake. He didn't know how to let go.

Vanessa wasn't sure she had plans on Friday, she might of gone shopping or maybe get her nails done, Maybe get her hair done. That wasn't a Friday thing it could be done any day and she looked goo regardless. "I will make time for you, we can do a little food shopping. It's going to be so cute." she said thinking of the instagram pics she post of her little adventure. She pulled her hand back and ran her fingers through his hair like she wanted to from the beginning." What conditioner do you use?"  this was rude right? she was already doing it though.

Spending time together was cute? What did that even mean? He knew she was cute and going to be there, but he didn't really think that spending time with him was a cute activity. Maybe cute in the pitying way. What was cute about the grocery store? His brain flatlined when she put her fingers in his hair, it felt so good to be in her space like this, "um" he said trying to remember what he even put in his hair. "It's a little douchey, but 2-in-1 caused my sister Natalie to flip out one time when she had to use my shower. So I use ogx coconut milk now, and I oil my hair once a week with the same brand" he said, because she genuinely wanted to know. Maybe they used the same one. He wanted her hands to stay in his hair, "you can do that whenever, consider it the other side to our texting agreement" he said almost robotically.

She didn't move her hands as she continued, taking his umm as her saying it was going to be cute. "I mean it like we're doing something cute together, Like I've never been grocery shopping so I imagine as it being cute. Not us cute we're hot." she wasn't sure how her explanation was going over with him, she didn't think she just wanted him to be walking around taking pics.  She wanted to explain it better but his hair was calming to her. "Text that to me later I'm going to try it." she slid a little bit closer to him, I use Dr carol's deep conditioner and a hair mask i make myself but it doesn't make me want to play in my hair like this." she looked at hi realizing how close she had gotten. "I could do this all day but i just realized how uncomfortable this might be for you."

Hot? She think's they're hot? He's hot? This day was overwhelming. He would touch her hair, but he had heard from his sisters that touching a girls hair could be bad. Hand oils and things, and hair washing schedules. A whole thing. "Nah, I'm good. Just touch my hair whenever you want or need to" he said as he took a breath. "May I touch yours? To see the softness difference" he asked, consent was very important to him. It made him feel like a dork having to ask before anything, but he wasn't exactly the maker of grand moves. Not that this was a move. Well, he'd like it to be. But he wasn't going to get his hopes too high. He'd had a crush on her for a while, but he did his best to shove it down for the sake of everything. Usually his crushes sent him soaring, and he would burn out quick. This had been more of a slow burn.

Nessa could be a little self absorbed she knew she was hot, being rich and a spoiled  that gave her a certain kind of confidence.  Now she wasn't sure if it was her being into herself or it was forreal but she had a nagging feeling that he might actually like her. Why else would he let her play in his hair like this. "You're spoiling me." she teased. He didn't seem to mind so she wasn't about to make a fuss for something that she so obviously wanted to do.  "Go for it." she hadn't put any product in it, she just brushed it and left.  Lucky for her it curled up on it's own.  "If it didn't look like it before they definitely looked like a couple now. She didn't care  it wasn't like she knew any of these people and they should be so lucky to witness anything she was doing.

Eddie put his hand through her hair, realizing he had never been this close to a girl for so long. Laney had given him his first kiss earlier in the week, but that had only been a few moments. He had wanted his first kiss so that if he were to get to kiss someone (specifically Nessa) then he would be prepared. He had been pretty sulky about it for the last 10 years, but every time he caught feelings for a new girl the shame of not having his first kiss just skyrocketed. "It is soft" said Eddie, "but hair like this ... it's an art" he said, in a moment of fake cockiness. "I'm kidding, but forreal. Your hair is great". Was great a good way to describe someone's hair? He definitely could have given her a bigger compliment.

Vanessa liked her hair being played with it, it always made her feel calm and relaxed she didn't want him to stop. The only thing men wanted to do with her hair most of the time was pull it. Nothing was wrong with that and she liked it but this felt good, it was making her a little weak in the knees. "Thank you." She rolled her eyes at his comment. Oh that was cocky, she thought as she smirked. He was coming out of his shell. Her hair was great, marvelous if you will. She was very proud of it but she wasn't playing in her hair shebwas playing with his. " I think we should stop before the nice people here get a different kind of show." She winked pulling her hands away even though she didn't want to.

"And what kind of show is that?" he asked, almost naively. He thought he was sure what she meant, but he wanted the clarity on it anyways. Because if he was reading into this wrong he was going to look like a total loser. As he said this he took his hand out of her hair but stayed sitting just as close. Part of his brain told him to back up, but he didn't want to. She smelled so good, his brain was shutting down.

She wasn't sure if he really didn't catch on to what she was saying or he just wanted her to tell him.  She studied him for a second before leaning in so no one else could hear what it is that she was saying. She started whispering some sexual things that would make a nun blush red. Slowly pulling away she moved back tobher spot . "That kind of show."She bit her lower lip. She didn't worry about embarrassing herself with what she said.

Eddie's ears were glowing red, and his cheeks grew red to match. He took a hard swallow and a deep breath "that's exactly what I was thinking" he replied, letting out an awkward laugh. He really didn't know what to say. Eddie rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and looked over at her. "You um... you do that often in the middle of the ice cream parlor?" he said, doing his best to make a joke. He was a funny guy, but his brain felt like it was on fire and all the blood in his body was definitely elsewhere.

Nessa watched as he turned red, like he got really red it made her smirk. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen anyone that red before she liked that she could make him do that. She wondered if she could do it again, she wanted to do it again. Nessa wasn't sure but she was going to see, you know for science. "Well." she moved closer to him her lips close to his, Nessa was always one to tease, she was known for it all through ice cream. "No but i'm more than willing to give it a go if you are." she whispered so only he could hear her.

Eddie looked down at her lips and then back up to her eyes. He thought about how he'd had his first kiss only a few nights ago. How he had wanted to get it out of the way so that he could do this. He could do this. "As long as it doesn't impact the party" said Eddie quietly in reference to their DND group, his hand touching the nape of her neck as he pulled her in for a small soft kiss. He looked back at her, she was so beautiful. He couldn't believe that had actually happened, that he had been able to kiss a girl like that. Vanessa was nothing like he'd ever met before.

She wasn't sure what he was going to do, he wasn't really an easy one to read. If this what mysterious guys were like, it was so much better than the ones who she could read like a book. Plus she never gave a guy like Eddie the time of day, she was shallow and went for the buff, jock types.  Maybe he could change that.  "I never let anything ruin my parties." She said truthfully, she had been waiting forever play DND, nothing was coming to change that. She was taken back by the kiss, his lips were so soft it felt almost unreal. "Wow." She whispered.

He was on cloud 9, this whole afternoon had been confusing as hell. Was he the kind of guy who just kisses the girl? What did it mean? Did it mean anything to her? It kind of was everything to him. His chest felt tight, he was so anxious about all of it. "Wow in the good way, right?" he asked insecurely, "because I'm always willing to try again". He wanted to kiss her again, he was worried he would never get the chance. Part of this felt like an elaborate prank, like Ricki was going to pop up any second and yell gotcha.

"I've never kissed anyone's who lips were as soft as yours. It's incredible." She said softly. " so yeah that wow was an amazing wow but I think you need a few follow up kisses just make sure." She looked at him, this time she initiated slipping her tongue between his lips. She wondered how many other girls he's kissed, how many other people got witness his lips on theirs. She could do this all day, it might lead to other things but maybe she shouldn't fuck it up  by being her.

For his first proper makeout, things seemed to be going well. Eddie mimicked her exact moves and put his tongue into her mouth, keeping his hand on the back of her neck while making sure not to tug on her much. He became very aware that while there were only a few people in here, this was a lot of PDA. Affection. He was receiving affection from Vanessa. This was already the most amazing day of his summer by far, and there was no way that he was going to top it. But he had to remain cool, girls like this did not like guys making a huge deal out of everything. They were in their 20s, he couldn't be a dweeb about this. "Do you want to get out of here? I think we might be overstaying our welcome" said Eddie with a smile as he looked around. He was glowing almost, his cheeks still red.

This was definitely the right way to start off her summer, making out with a hot guy who doesn't know that they are hot in front of people and making them uncomfortable.  Vanessa slid her fingers in his hair as she continued to kiss him. She knew all eyes on her but when wasn't that the case, that's how she liked it...it was part of who she was. She whined when he broke the kiss again. Her eyes moved to look on the side of her, he was right people were staring but it probably bothered him. She looked up and smiled. "Yeah, let's go." she pulled back and standing up, putting her hand into his. They had just made out hopefully holding hands was okay. Aha she did make him blush again. He was too cute when he blushed, not that he didn't have a reason. It was a steamy exchange.

Eddie wasn't a suave man, but having her hand in his made him feel on top of the world. Like he could do anything, so, once he held the door for her and they were both outside he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek before they kept walking and holding hands. "You're the most beautiful person I've ever met" said Eddie awkwardly as the thought came into his mind and out of his mouth before he could even think about whether or not he wanted to say it out loud. It was the truth, so he wasn't too embarrassed, but his ears that turned bright red were giving him away.

Nessa strutted out of the ice cream parlor and into the welcomed heat.  She looked up and smiled after he kissed her on her cheek. He was sweet, she didn't attract sweet, she attracted jerks and players. She was lost in her thought when she heard him speak. "Inside or out?" she inquired. Seeing how red he got was the best thin. She wondered how long until she wasn't able to do it anymore. "You're the only guy that treated me like this, sweet, like i'm more than  my jimmy choo's and Fenty lingerie." she admitted. "I like you Eddie." she said softly. She never liked admitting things but what was the harm since the were getting to know each other.

"My money is on both" said Eddie honestly. He liked that there was someone who understood him and his hobbies. Someone who could get down with the guys but could also embrace her femininity. "Well, not to play my cards too right or too wrong but I don't know what either of those things are" said Eddie, running his tongue over his teeth inside his mouth before cracking a smile. "I like you too, Vanessa. I can already tell this is going to be the best summer ever" he replied, swinging their hands a little. He felt normal, like he wasn't some alien tasked with the impossible of getting to know people. Like a regular human boy who liked a regular human girl.

"I'm still working on the inside part." being spoiled didn't exactly her a terrible person but she likes to call herself difficult. Anything she wanted she could get, her parents never told her no so she wasn't accustomed to hearing it and it ade her feel like she was better than most. A trait she carried all through her school years. "My shoes." she lifted up her leg and showed her heels. and my bra and make up." she pulled down her shirt to show her bra, winking as she fixed her clothing. "We can make it one that we can never forget." she moved in front of him, leaning up to kiss him again. Maybe this summer would be like the lays she liked, love, sex, pain, joy and she gets to be the main character.

Eddie looked over at her, "I think working on it is the mark of a good person. If you have nothing to work on then you're not being honest with yourself." Eddie had been in and out of therapy for years, but every time he got a new one it was always the promise that he was good if he would just keep working. He had a bit of a jolt when she showed him her bra, like a deer caught in headlights. Eddie took a deep breath and looked back as quickly as he could to make eye contact, "It's uh, nice makeup" he said, still a little flustered. Before he could even think much, she was kissing him again, and he moved his hands onto her waist, pulling her in and kissing her softly. "Can I walk you home?" he asked as the kiss broke.

She couldn't help but chuckle. "You sound like my therapist." she had to go to therapy not because her parents thought there was something  that she needed to work on but because there were complaints that she was a bully and her school said it was that or expulsion. She liked that he was surprised, he was not like any other guy that she was used to.  "Thank you, I'm glad you like it." she tossed her hair over her shoulder. His damn lips, why were they s damn soft. she thought to herself. "Yeah." she grinned. The last time someone walked her home was high school maybe if even that. She didn't know why but it was giving her butterflies in her stomach.

"This way?" Eddie asked before they started walking in the right direction. "So, weird question. But if you could go back to any day on your timeline and just get to watch for the sheer joy of it. What day would it be?" Eddie really liked the idea of perfect days. Sometimes he would only realize he was having the perfect day after it had already happened, but today he already recognized it. Well ... his afternoon hadn't been perfect but it had led him to Litwaks which led him to kissing a girl that he never thought he'd get the chance to kiss in this lifetime. So today definitely counted, every thing happens for a reason.

Nessa nodded, taking his hand again. "Hmm." Nessa said as she thought for a second. "Well when I was 9 my grandmother took me to this like garden slash park thing. She thought my parent were turning me into a diva. We sat under a cherry blossom tree talking, she taught me how to rollerblade, gave me these rollerblades that she drew blossoms on. They were used but oh they were perfect." she looked at the ground still smiling." It was the perfect day, but she passed soon after and my dad threw away the skates, so i learned how to skateboard until i got another pair." she shrugged it off. "What about you Eddie, what's your perf day?"

"There's nothing like a pair of already broken in skates" said Eddie before she shared that her grandmother had passed, "I'm really sorry to hear that. Maybe sometime you could paint cherry blossoms on your new skates" he suggested. People talking about death made him think about his dad. He felt like every day he remembered less and less about the man. "My perfect day to watch would probably be the last day of school in 8th grade. We had field day outside and it was just insane, and then Ricki and I went to the skatepark until after dark because we were technically high schoolers and our curfews had changed. I don't remember what we talked about, but I know I laughed so hard I thought I might have to go to the hospital because it hurt so bad" said Eddie, leaving out the detail that if he could watch a day back it would be this one. He would want to watch to see how he could pull off this caper again, to ensure that he wasn't making it all up.

She adored the skates, but her parents were snobs and though they came from old money they didn't believe on hand me downs or having used things. "I would but I can't draw plus it was knowing someone loved me enough to actually give me something sentimental instead of just the most expensive whatever." Vanessa loved being rich, and she loved her parents and she knew they loved her but their love languages was gifts and she liked acts of service and things like that. She smiled hearing his perfect day, it sounded perfect.  One of those days that you would remember in twenty years and smile at your youth. "I don't know if I'm entertaining enough to make you almost die laughing but I will make me my business to make a memory that you always want to come back to. Something you'll never forget." She squeezed his hand and jumped to kiss his cheek.

This day was folding out better than he could have ever imagined. "I think you already have" said Eddie with a smile as she kissed his cheek. He wasn't sure if she usually did this: the wholesome kind of dating. But it felt like he was really checking all the boxes at the moment. Eddie didn't necessarily identify as a hopeless romantic, but he was romantic comedy inclined. He mostly resonated with the first 30 minutes of the movie when people are awkward or fuck up. "You're really cool, ya know. For a geek" he teased her, running his thumb over hers as they held hands. He was starting to feel more comfortable, and able to open up. It wasn't like she was going to regret kissing him now, right? What if tomorrow she regretted it? It would feel like his whole ego was crumbling, she'd already done so much reparations to it tonight alone.

She blushed slightly, he was so sweet it was so unreal. That meant one thing something was wrong with him, maybe he had a temper or maybe he was no good in bed. Wait maybe he wouldn't want to take you into bed. Nah she was gorgeous why wouldn't he want to get up in her sheets.  Maybe he was too good for her and he would realize it.  Why was she overthinking this, he was walking her home, they made out in a ice cream parlor in front of old people that meant something to some people. "If you give me a chance I bet I can one up this day." she smiled, playfully hitting him. "Geek?" she scoffed." The hottest geek you know." she stuck out her tongue, She didn't want this day to end. She would not bet one of her Birkin bags that she would be here with him, happier than she had been in awhile.

"One up this day? I'd like to see you try" Eddie said with a little surprise in his voice. This day was already too good for him. Any more and he would be outed as desperately inexperienced. He didn't want her to know that. "You took the words right out of my mouth" he agreed with her as he shoved her a little as they took up most of the sidewalk. It felt like the end credits, but he knew this was only the start. He was going to fuck up and then it was all going to be over, and Ricki was going to shake his head and tell him that he shouldn't shit where he eats. The friendships between them and Vanessa severed. And it would be all his fault because he wasn't enough. But for now, he thought he just might be.

Taking his hand and twirling she smiled at him. "Just you wait Mr Dalton, you'll be fifty married with children and you'll be sitting telling your grandchildren about this summer. How a girl named Vanessa Samson was one of the most exciting things to ever happen to you." She walked in front of him taking his arms and wrapping them around her as they reached her apartment building. She hoped they would still be friends at least for that long but Nessa was a realist. She believed in the magic of summer and all that. You find love in heartache or whatever, she believed she was around to be memories. Anything more or longer didn't seem real to her, she knew they would bore of her. She didn't want him to, she wanted him to like her.. always.

He smiled at the idea. "I hope you're still around to tell them yourself" said Eddie hopefully, there was no reason to be realistic about anything. They could be empty promises ... but they didn't need to be. "This you?" he asked as he looked up at the apartment building, "nice digs". He wasn't going to invite himself up. He didn't want to ruin the perfect night by fumbling around or telling her that he didn't know anything about how to make her feel good. He was gonna go home with a smile on his face and then frantically be online all night looking for the solution to his problems. Eddie pulled her in for another kiss before he knew he was heading out, "I'll call you" he said with a smile as he pulled his baseball cap out of his back pocket and put it on his head backwards.

Her smile spread when he said that, a girl could only hope.  She was going to daydream about them in 50 years given secret looks if they were married or hooking up at the reunion. She was going to call her mother and annoy her with her head in the clouds, but this time she could actually her that he's a good guy.  She looked back at her building and nodded, she had a nice condo her parents paid for, so much better than dorm living. "Yes it is, remember how to get here for our little lessons." she smiled. She wondered if he wanted to come up, while she kissed him like she didn't want to stop. She wanted to whine but she nodded okay and walked backwards, watching him walking away and bumping into the door. Squealing as she went into the building hoping he didn't hear her. //END

[themurphyzone]

Mystery at McDuck Manor Ch 2

Ch 2- Interrogation

To recap for the absentminded, I, the do-gooder Darkwing Duck, have been called out of my territory to investigate the theft of a painting at the McDuck Manor. I am currently holding a green post-it note and a pair of goggles as evidence. It will take wits, skill, and a little help from Starducks’ Triple Chocolate Mocha with three extra shots of espresso to close this case. I pace in front of all the occupants as I contemplate the best course of action....

“Would you get on with it already?” Donald snaps. “The boys are going to keel over any second now!”

Only the green one seems remotely close to falling asleep. The other two appear extra happy at staying up past their bedtime. 

“Fine, fine. People just don’t appreciate a good expository monologue these days,” I grumble. “Now, where did you last see the painting?” 

“It was in the garage,” Scrooge replies, pacing back and forth. At this rate he would wear out the carpet within the next hour. 

“And you are absolutely certain that you didn’t move it elsewhere and forget?” I ask. 

That mere slip of the tongue earns me a jab to the jaw with his cane. “I may be old, but my memory is sharper than a dozen African elephants,” he snaps. 

If he disfigures my rather prominent and dashing bill, I’ll be sure to send him the medical costs. 

“Noted,” I say, backing up. “Now, I shall have to question the children. With their valuable information, I can catch our suspect red handed!”

“I get to help in an investigation? So cool!” The little girl exclaims. 

An elderly woman glares at me. “Questions only. They will not be helping you catch the thief if they’re still skulking around.” 

I nod. As a general rule, I don’t care for tact. But if the woman in question looks like she could squish me into a ball with her thumb, then perhaps a bit of tact is in order. 

Or a lot. 

“I don’t like this. He’s accusing my boys,” Donald mutters. “Nobody accuses my boys.” 

“Get it over with already. Just answer the best you can,” Scrooge sighs. 

I clap my hands. “Great! Do I have any volunteers?” 

No response. Huh. You’d think children would be happy to spend a little time with the daring and dangerously handsome Darkwing Duck. 

I am currently in the kitchen area with the red triplet. He watches me as I sharpen my pencil in preparation for note taking, eagerly awaiting the moment I drop my guard so he can gather reinforcements and overpower my otherwise indomitable will....

“Is Huey Duck your full legal name?” I ask. 

“Well, as far as I know it’s spelled Hubert on my birth certificate,” Huey replies, scratching his head. “I can pull up the document for you if you’d like. The Junior Woodchuck guidebook states that it’s important to at least have two forms of official documentation at all times.”

Oh, he’s a Junior Woodchuck. I assume he knows how to tie knots, set traps, and make friendship bracelets out of paperclips and bubblegum. He could very well be a crafty individual....

I shall proceed with caution. 

“Where were you at the time of the theft?” I ask. 

Huey thinks, scratching his chin as he comes up with his carefully crafted answer designed to cover up his involvement. “Webby was showing us the proper way to slide down the banister of the stairs. Please don’t tell Uncle Donald we were doing something that could’ve resulted in a broken arm if done incorrectly.”

“HUEY! YOU AND YOUR BROTHERS WERE DOING WHAT?” A raspy snarl sounds from behind me. Huey flinches and laughs nervously. 

I tap my foot to get Donald’s attention. “Excuse me, good sir. I was in the middle of a very important matter. Away with you, and I’ll fill you in on the results when my interrogation is complete.”

“Interrogation, my tailfeathers!” For the sensitive eyes of any youngsters viewing this file, I shall not record the resulting tirade of quacks, swearing, and onomatopoeia that occur when two angry ducks duke it out on a stress-filled night. 

(The following is an afterward for my archives at the tower. Let this be a lesson to myself: Make sure prying, short tempered uncles cannot eavesdrop on any future interrogations.)

I humbly apologize to Scrooge McDuck and I have purchased a new pressure cooker that I will send off tomorrow to get his lawyer to stop staking out on the walkway of the Audubon Bay Bridge. How does he even know where my lair is? 

Enclosed in the package is an photograph of me posing heroically in front of a defeated Steelbeak. I even perfected my signature for the occasion! It’s a loopy cursive style, my preferred choice of penmanship, by the way.)

Huey Duck admits to being in the same vicinity as the aviator goggles. This is a most peculiar development. 

I shall now proceed to the blue triplet. 

After I drag myself to the nearest pharmacy for some painkillers....

There is now a screen set up by yours truly that separates the kitchen and parlor to prevent Donald from interrupting my investigation with his irate inanities. 

The blue triplet grabs a handful of cookies for a midnight snack. A rebel I presume. 

“So do you have a secret identity and stuff?” he asks through a beakful of crumbs. “Maybe I should adopt one myself. But until then, I’m just plain ol’ Dewey.”

I keep my distance so the crumbs don’t hit my newly ironed cape. “A secret identity?” I laugh. “Crimefighting is a 24/7 job, kid. I don’t need one as long as there are criminals to bust.” 

“I’ve seen my Uncle Scrooge turn a dragon to stone,” Dewey says, leaning casually on the back of his chair. “I bet you can’t turn a dragon to stone.”

“Hah! I don’t need to!” I growl. Is he challenging my abilities as a vigilante? Well, he had another coming! “I defeated Eggmen with nothing but sunflower oil and a vase! I bested the likes of St. Canard’s thieves, litterbugs, and supervillains time and time again! Can your uncle do that, kid?”

Dewey yawns. “Sure he can.”

I decided to change the subject before my pride as a hero gets dragged through the mud, run over by a dump truck, and thrown into Davy Jones’ Locker. 

“What were you doing the night of the theft?” I ask. 

“Wait, is this an interrogation?” Dewey looks around, flipping the tablecloth as he looks underneath it for something.

How unusual. 

Some might call it suspicious. 

“Where are the lights? Did you bug the room?” Dewey asks. “This can’t be an interrogation if I’m not tied to a chair! Oh, maybe I could do the James Pond thing and escape with a laser ballpoint pen! Do you have one of those?” 

“Answer the question,” I say, waiting for a response. “Your uncle will tar and feather me if I tie you up.”

Dewey blinks. “Fine. We were sliding down the banister.”

So the story checks out then. “Anything else?” I ask. 

“It was pretty funny when Louie went down the banister just as this strangely shaped trenchcoat tumbled down the stairs. He thought it was Uncle Donald in disguise,” Dewey snickers.

A strangely shaped trenchcoat? Now we’re getting somewhere. 

“And did you see who was in the trenchcoat?” I ask, clicking my pen as I jot down all the new information. “Or their height? Distinguishing characteristics?” 

Dewey shakes his head. “Um, it was kinda long. It was a really big trenchcoat, but whoever was inside it was definitely about average size since we never saw their face.” 

“And does this look familiar to you?” I hold out the aviator goggles. 

He nods. “That fell out from underneath the trenchcoat when they fell down the stairs.” 

“I see. Well, that concludes this round of questioning. Your contribution is much appreciated,” I say proudly. 

Dewey huffs. “Uncle Scrooge can burrow through gold like a gopher. Bet you can’t do that.”

I take back what I said about appreciating his contribution. 

There’s something shifty about the green one. It must lie in how his hands remain in his pockets as he slumps against the chair. Or how he yawns every few seconds without expressing any strong emotion. Or the half-lidded gaze he gives me when my cape flutters. 

“And you are?” I ask. 

“Louie. Hey,” he says, as if I was nothing more than his bestie. 

“Louie. Do you know what this is?” I dump a crumpled green post it in front of him. 

“It’s a post it,” he says. 

I must resist the urge to slap my forehead. “I know it’s a post it.”

Louie shrugs. “So why were you asking me then? I mean, I guess you’re old and stuff, not as old as Uncle Scrooge but still a lot older than me.”

He did not just call me a senile senior citizen who slowly walks down the hallway of an assisted care center with a walker and spends the rest of his days playing bingo and gin. 

I mean, my feathers aren’t turning gray or anything! I’m not that old!

“Look, kid. I’ll let bygones be bygones. Now, tell me what the post it note was doing near the painting.”

Louie scoffs, folding his arms. “I just put the post its on cool stuff I want to inherit when I’m older. I put them there a few weeks ago. Nothing to do with the theft.”

A red herring. Or a green herring in this case. Seems plausible enough. 

“One more question before I let you go,” I say. “Did you happen to see who was in the trenchcoat?” 

He shakes his head. “I was kinda more focused on getting back at Dewey for laughing at me when I fell off the banister.”

I sigh. “Fine. Thanks for your help.”

A gas gun falls out of his hoodie. 

“Hehe. I thought it needed a little cleaning. There’s a bit of dust on the barrel,” Louie chuckles. 

A hero’s intuition is never wrong. I was right to suspect he was up to no good!

“Oh my gosh an actual investigation!” the girl shrieks. She stands on the table in an action pose. I have to admit, she doesn’t look half bad. “And I get to help! I’ve never done this thing before! Can I be your sidekick? Temporary sidekick? I’ll organize any files you have! I’m the best when it comes to organizing!” 

“Sorry,” I say. “Darkwing Duck is a loner who bravely champions the moonless nights, weathers through the thunderstorms, and stalks prey with hardly a sound. A tag-along would only slow me down.” 

She nods, only looking slightly crestfallen. “Well, I’m Webby, for future reference. So, anything I can help you with then? I mean, there’s got to be something, right?” 

“What happened after whoever was in the trenchcoat tumbled down the stairs?” I ask. 

“They opened the front door and ran outside,” Webby replies. 

Eureka! Then they stole the painting! 

“Thanks, kid!” I exclaim. “Now, let us reconvene at the parlor to catch ourselves a thief! But first, you want a picture together? I’m trying to reach out to a younger audience here. It’ll help for marketing in the future.”

She grins. 

How Webby hid a selfie stick on her person, I will never figure out. 

“I’m done with my questions!” I say, waiting for the onslaught of questions and shouts from my enraptured audience. 

Ahem. 

“And?” Scrooge taps his foot impatiently. 

Tough crowd. People don’t react like they used to.

“From these questions, I have concluded that the thief came in through the upstairs. They would’ve put the trenchcoat on after they entered the manor, though I don’t know why they took the roundabout way instead of just directly heading for the garage. From there, they tumbled down the stairs and made a beeline for the garage, where they stole the painting.”

Donald huffs. “Perfect. As if I didn’t have enough to deal with already. Kids, go back to bed. I don’t want you being all cranky in the morning.” 

They groan and protest, begging for a chance to capture the thief. 

“Please! I’ll donate a kidney if you’d let me!”

“No one steals from us! We can catch them!”

“I know how to set traps! I just need a lot of rope and duct tape!” 

Scrooge taps his cane against the ground, and they instantly quiet down. “We’re dealing with someone who knows their way around the manor. They’ll be back soon enough. Now, I have a plan to catch them....”

As Scrooge announces his plan to reclaim the pilfered painting, I sit back to contemplate the events that transpired during the interrogation. 

And I have come to a single conclusion. 

I am never having kids. Not even if you bound and gagged me on an exploding motorcycle. 

Not now or ever. 

[thedragonkingsbride]

Eren an inspiring youth to become a doctor takes many odd jobs to pay the bills....at the age of five he was sent to Tokyo to learn to be a Geisha. It wasn’t so bad and he learned how to read and write. He can entertain and play an instrument or dance. Living the life is a lot of hard work and breaking a lot of rules for example slapping a customer hand so hard it turned red for grabbing his ass.  He’s always been hot headed but, the feline in him didn’t approve of skin privilege that he didn’t willingly give. He’s no prostitute and his parents made that very clear when he moved for his training.

They were poor and Eren volunteered to provide for his family when he got older, at the age of thirteen he became a professional geisha and returned home with all sorts of tricks under his sleeves. He meet a doctor he often invited back into his room for the sole person of learning how to become a doctor. Sure, Grisha his dad is a doctor too but, they were ocean apart so he substituted with the next best thing. He study hard in everything he do especially in medicine and he even got to practiced with Najirie on his days off from being a Geiko and the present Geshia. All was good until a mail came through and he was being summoned to come back home. Eren at that time always knew he’d have to go back home some day but, that didn’t stop the people he grew up with as family didn’t try to make him stay. He had been happy where he was and they genuinely cared about him so he had promised to write to them once he was settled in. Having the shop closed down for that day to send him off the master of the establishment kept kissing him on the cheek and crying for him to not go the party was loud and chaotic and it was perfect.

Traveling home by trains and finally on an airplane he was home with all his stuff. Eren wore flashy clothes but, it was second hand clothing and fabrics store he used to make his own gear. Money makes the world go round and that place paid well. Which was why he send all his earning back home but, a ten percent to himself to go bargain shopping with.

Walking to the slums he can tell right off the bat that nothing had changed when he left... In fact it looked worse but, it could just be his imagination due to the dark clouds that smell of approaching rain. However the closer he walked the more he could see that despite being in the slums it was clear of any trash. When he checked at the building he can see their wasn’t any cracks that he can see with his own eyes. Maybe their was a slight change to things while he was away. 

Maybe the money he sent home actually done some good he was pretty popular back in Tokyo so money like what he earned could physically change his home town.  Looking down from his observation he took a left and walked straight for three more blocks before taking a right. His last name was a name plate that states it was his home. By the time he walked inside his home he ran back out his luggage staying at the door way.

“What the fuc-?!” Eren covered his mouth and nose and tried to breathe.... He saw hell.... That was all there was to it he walked in to the devil gate of hell and he wanted to run his ass back to Tokyo.

“W-waaaaah hic hic waaaaahh!” Eren narrow his eyes at the baby wailing if it haven’t been for the loud entrance of coming home he’d probably doubt he’d ever heard a baby before high tailing it back to Tokyo.

Eren kept his face covered when he rush back inside to the devil’s house....his mother would have never left this house this filthy....no way in hell especially with a baby inside. When he was getting closer to the baby’s wailing he could hear some shushing from behind the closed door that he lifted his legs and turned delivering a high kick breaking the door with ease.

The baby cried louder but, his shout was harder and louder than the sniveling mess of a baby.

“What the hell is going on?!?” Eren shifted his weight and brought one arm to his waist hand clenched while the other one was higher bald into a tighter fist he was preparing to fight for his life and the baby.

“Eren...” The soft tone deeply gravel had Eren hesitating to throw the first punch his hearing is beyond perfect which made his ears bleed due to the baby wailing.

“Dad? What the hell?” Using his fire he lit up the place by placing his fire inside the special lantern on the ceiling he did it for every one in their humble home. He had perfect night vision but, shedding light on it didn’t make it any less disgusting. Eren moved and took the baby from his dad arms “What’s the babies name? And we are cleaning this place up so get ready. I’mma get her changed and fed. So you can start by getting the trash separated from the goods and put out.”  His dad told her the baby name was Erena and she was his baby sister. Eren got his answer he can ask where his mom is later but, for now he need his home cleaned. So Eren barked orders like there was no one business even the bath was dirty so he cleaned a bath bin and find anything that was clean to wash her and get some what dressed in a diaper he sung to Erena while he washed the baby bottle filled it with magical made breast milk that came from him and put the rubber top in her mouth. She suckled with such hunger he kept his body on the maternal side. It was weird to make milk out of himself but, until his mom comes back he’ll get use to milking himself out for his new baby sister.

Taking off his red half sleeve coat he removed the hand gloves and skirt from around his waist and put it in his luggage. When he zipped it up he looked down by his feet to see the bearded Baron wiggling it’s antenna... To say there wasn’t a war zone in his house was an under statement because he prepared himself for war and attacked it without a second thought. To say that he wasn’t maniac for telling those bugs to run despite being a very beautiful boy. Those who were curious to see what the commotion was about had a rude awakening when a broom came flying out of the Jaeger household into a male’s face.

After that they gave the front door a wide birth when Eren pointed at his father to tell him not to horde shit. “I swear if you honestly think you’re keeping that as a pet you got another thing coming!” A case carrying a spider was shot out of the house so quick the neighbor thought it was a bullet before it crashed against the stone wall of another house. The spider fearing for its life ran and never looked back. Three days of intense cleaning Eren finally relaxed that not another one of bearded bandit didn’t have cousins behind the walls of his home.

On that third day of the intense cleaning was finally over Jean came inside with a broom in his hand that looked suspiciously like the one he threw at a cockroach days ago.

“Ahaha so the rumors true you are back, Eren.” The two toned male set aside the broom on the nearest wall surface. Eren narrowed his bright teal gaze at the loan shark...

“The fuck do you want?” Eren replied as one of his hand was high on his waist precious Erena was occupying his other arm pulling at his long strands of hair. Jean looked him up and down and Eren couldn’t help but, level a menacing growl at the heat that flared in the boy eyes.

Jean lifted his hand up in mock surrender, “Oh please get over yourself you’re not that attractive especially with your bad temper. Let me guess they sent you home packing because you clawed a customer to death with your attitude.”

Eren turned his back towards him “For your information I’m a high class professional Geshia and I have a lot of clients who come to see me.” He replied arrogantly. 

Eren laid Erena in her crib and caress her cheek her bright eyes were almost identical to Eren’s and that made him smile since both his parents were golden eyed. Only his baby sister had his dark chocolate hair bright teal eyes and skin that was a mocha caramel color. One would have mistaken them as adopted or something because he didn’t look like his parents... No, they looked like Soscha their great-grandmother... Except her eyes were gold and not teal but, everything else were identical.

“Whoa a high class Geshia in a place like this your fan must want to cry.” Jean mockingly teased, had Erena been sleeping he’d of high kicked his ass back on the street but, since he was doing his hardest to not cuss or fight in front of her it was a losing battle when he turned back to Jean. “Get out before I make you.” Eren replied his tone was soft almost too soft like silk that didn’t have a tale tell sign of a inner growl that would shred Jean to pieces if he doesn’t make like a plant and be blown off somewhere.

A few rounds of barbs and sarcasm Jean finally left after his manhood was endanger of being wiped off from the place of the earth while he slept. A week or two later of coming home he had hit the ground running find odd part time jobs to collect money. On his day off he had been picking out medical herbs to use at the shop when he found a dragon laying in the mud. The rain was drizzling but, it was only going to down pour from there in a little while. Turning he was going to leave it when he heard a painful whimper.. Eren shoulder slumped down pretty hard when he stalk back. Checking the fellow out he can tell he was male and his wounds weren’t too bad but, left untreated would pose a serious problem later. Cursing his nature to hell he did his best to get him on his back...

“The fuck do you eat?” He grunted as he pulled the baby dragon hard on to his back he manage to lock his arms under his short legs. “Fucking cow....” He grumbled as he lead him back to his private cave. He didn’t dare bring him home in case his father was there or Jean unwanted ass was making himself at home while he’s doing errands.

Grisha wouldn’t dare leave the baby by herself so he took comfort in that while he climbed his way up to higher ground. He was careful on his way up to his cave. No matter what he doesn’t want to be in a land slide but, push come to shove his dad at least know where this spot is just in case he was worried and came looking.

“Jesus....you need to be on a diet, Cow....boys like you shouldn’t be this fucking heavy.” He grumbled. He laid him down on dryer ground he added a little more soft leaves and hay of his nest before transferring the unconscious boy from point A to point B. The first thing he did was check him all over.

“Sorry this’ll hurt I’m not taking a chance with you of getting a fever.... God knows how long you been out there...” Eren cleaned him down and covered him with leaves before placing more hay on top of him to get him warm. He worked diligently with the herbs to turned it into salves for the wounds. Satisfied with his work he moved the hay off him than the leaves he worked on each wounds. No wounds were too small for him. He wrapped him up with clean ace bandage. “You’re in luck. I never leave my med bag. Just in case I’ll make some fever medicine you’re cold to the bones. Well at least you’re shivering so that’s a good sign.” Covering the boy up again he worked on getting a fever reducer power medicine ready for the just in case scenario. “...You’ll probably be hungry when you wake up but, all I have is-” He took out the bread and soup.... “This might work, I gotta say you have the devil’s luck.”

Starting a small controlled fire pit he set the soup close by it. The bread can warm up after he wakes. Stripping out of his clothes he hung up his stuff near the fire.

Eren turned around to look at the dragon who looked like he was suffering and knowing he wasn’t going to leave him once the rain stopped he made himself at home. He got in the make shift nest bed and pulled the dragon as close as he could. Eren closed his eyes and send a short PsyNet message back to his father that he was safe and taking shelter from the rain by their blood bond. With that done he lure himself into a hazy sleep so he could monitor the one being skin close to him and the fire. Everything else no one would stumble into a place like this but, if the off chance someone does come in and it was not friendly he’ll let his feline side have a field day on the intruder.

For the past few days he had taken care of the dragon that didn’t say anything to him. When he left to do work he always came back to him before the sun set and fed him. Eren had a fleeting thought that they were connected somehow so he started thinking of him as my dragon. On the last day the dragon wounds were healed enough for him to leave so when Eren peeked from half closed lid to see the dragon he had been taking care of getting up and quietly. Eren closed his eyes and didn’t stop the dragon he smiled a little when the stranger at least ate before he go. Curling into himself he put himself under into a full resting sleep. When he woke up he cleaned up after himself  and that was when he saw the necklace. Smiling a little he got dressed with care and returned home with fresh picks herbs he had used yesterday and the necklace that was left behind for him. On That day it was clear so at least he didn’t have to hunt down some dragon because it was gloomy.

Six years passed by and Eren rarely every thought about the dragon. No he had been too busy to worry about that kid because his dad...Grisha had crossed the line of gambling his saving’s away and partying like their family wasn’t in crisis. Sure, his dad told him the reason why his mom was gone but, that didn’t excuse him to being like this. She wasn’t dead she was just missing because if she were dead his dad wouldn’t be trying to run from him when the broom he had in his hand was snapped in a broken two. He hit his dad on the head with that said broom for the most excusable thing he had done. Eren never liked being in debt in fact he hated it so bad it made his skin crawled if it had just been did dad he’d of let him swam but, his cute baby sister that likes to call him ‘Big Bro Bro’ and was such a good girl. He wouldn’t let her suffer if he had anything to say about it. 

That same girl came home the clothes he made for her were on the dirty side with a small tear at the hem. Eren arched an eyebrow at her clothes but, her face told all. Turning his father around he gave a solid kick to his ass back to his room. “I’ll yell at you later so stay your ass in your room and if you so much as sneak out of the house I’ll bury your ass when you come back.”

Eren kicked Grisha on his flat ass again before turning back to Erena and cupping her face, “What happen, Baby?” His little sister is a good girl that he spoils her every change he gets. She’s also strong willed-ed that she wants to be independent. “Were you bullied again? How about you change and I’ll fix your clothes as good as new. I’ll be right back after I buy something I missed for dinner and you can tell me all about it.” 

Eren already knew what happen so when he left he ran to the trouble makers beat their asses after sending their asses home and yell at their parents. He threaten them that if they so much as look at his kid sister wrong he would gut them like fishes and suck the marrows out of their body before roasting them so badly their would only be an outline of their body from his flames. He did scratch something to proved his point in each of the kids home as a living reminder of what he’ll do to them the next time they touch his baby sister.

Leaving he grabbed what he needed and high tail it home he prepared dinner and talked to his kid sis who was learning to cook other dishes with his help. Eren promised her that one one won’t ever bully her again and that night her clothes were back to being brand new again. He tried to teach her everything he know but, there was just somethings he couldn’t teach. She was already learning so much and he didn’t want to overload her senses by pilling more things on top of that.

The next day he went to a place to look for my work he could try his hand on when he looked at the now hiring at the castle Eren rolled his eyes. As if he caught dead working at those stick in the mud royals or those high social status pigheaded douchebag. Eren took everything but, that despite it being high pay it could help his family. Eren stared at it if he could burn a hole into the flyer he would have but, thought against it. Before he walked out the door someone slapped the flyer onto the stack in his hand. Looking back a girl...Sasha grinned big at him, “You should try it at least everyone here knows how much of a money goblin you are. Plus you’re hot!”

Eren rolled his eyes, “Whatever Sasha Fierce... I won’t apply for it. Royalties rub my fur the wrong way.” Sasha giggled at her pet name but, told him to keep it since she had another copy of it. She also told him to apply who knows they might not even accept him but, at least he had tried. Eren rolled his eyes, “Fine let earth freeze over it won’t be my fault.” He replied as he walked out the whole way home he was burning invisible holes into the flyer. By the time he made it back home he dumped the paper on the dinning room table he took a bath first before he took the time to apply to all the job offer for the day.

When he came back out dressed he grabbed a pen from the pen holder and got to work on the job search. Eren threw the castle flyer into the trash he rather suffer from fur ball than to deal with people like them. By the time Erena came home he was finished filling things out everything and sending them out. He didn’t double check his work but, his signature was on all of them with a picture of him from the time he worked as a Geisha. Taking a photo over here wouldn’t of just been wasted dollars he didn’t have the luxury to give. After he sent all of that out he was half way done with making dinner. Kissing Erena on the forehead he asked where the dead beat dad had gone.

“I dunno, he say’ he won’t come back with you home cause you ish scareh.”

Eren sigh but, hearing his cute little baby sister talk with two of her baby tooth out did brighten his day. “More food for us than. Mind setting the dishes out and wash your hand and face food be ready in a few second.”

“Yesssh~” She replied cheerfully, it was actually peaceful with just the two of them but, he did worried where did his trouble maker of a father went to... He’ll leave his dinner on the table. He can at least count on him to come back to finish his food before he wakes up the next morning. He read Rena a story that night and watched her go to sleep.

‘If it was for her....I could work at the castle....but, a pay like that always have some sort of catch though.....’

Turning in that night he’ll send a job application tomorrow and see if he even has a chance. Although he doubts he even get a job like that despite his background as a Geisha. Imagine Eren surprises when he wake up a little past ten when some carrier came knocking on his door telling him he was accepted as a canidate and need to go to the castle bright and early in the morning tomorrow. Eren looked beside the man head and back to his eyes he didn’t even send an application he only thought about it and now he’s being summon to the castle. Eren waited until he left before he shut the door behind him.... He didn’t know what type of person wanted to harass him like this but, he was going to rub their faces in it. Going back to bed he got up at five am in the morning and made breakfast before taking a scalding bath. By the time he got out he was getting dressed up in clothes he truly did miss wearing other than odd jobs at some bars.

Eren did his hair than apply make up on his face which was his eyes with his mocha collar skin he was erotic to look at even as he apply a little gloss to his lips. Once he was done with his face he started to sing something he haven’t thought of for a long while.  "We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course. Nothing can stop us from overflowing watch out yeah watch out as we push ourselves of our cut of path woo wooohuu~” Getting up he slip into his half coat being careful of the teal ribbon that ties under the hidden half top. His black pants were fit to shape his body but, loose enough not to ride on him. With his black slippers on he worked on the arm band and gloves since working as a geisha he took extra care of himself. He would never embarrass his family but, he feels more comfortable with the clothes he made so he’ll have his stuff be brought to him. That way he can ignore any gift they tried to give him with that in mind he slipped the out of place necklace around his neck.... This was the first time he wore something like this so it was heavy on his collarbone.. The stone looked like it was glowing still humming after he stop singing the words he tucked one fan in a hidden holster while the other remain in his hand. Flip it open and closed it he felt at home with himself standing up he walked back into the living room his sister grinning at him. “You look so pretteh, like you ish getting married.”

Eren rolled his eyes and tap her cute nose, “This is work but, don’t worry once you fall in love and get married you’ll be even more beautiful than my work mode.” He said happily. “Is dad here I ain’t leaving you alone.” 

Erena bop her head, “Yeah he ish, he’s just hiddin from you.” Satisfied he kissed her forehead, “If things don’t work out I’ll come home and make dinner. If my some horrible bad luck of devil balls they keep me. Keep your fingers cross that the palace won’t be a palace by the time I’m through with it.”

Leaving he kissed them bye just in time for the carriage to pick him up he got in and sat down. A few minutes later he was on the road and his mind wander when he lean to the side. The sun was just now peeking over the horizon pink orange red purple...it was beautiful as he closed his eyes to prepare himself.

This was work and he won’t embarrass his teacher he’ll be the perfect woman by the time the carriage was slowing to halt he sat upright and slipped into character easily. By the time he got out he took the hand that was offered and walked out he had his fan flare out to cover his lower half of his face. He walked to the entrance with a purpose his back straight he kept his eyes in front of him. He offered a friendly smile when they caught sight of him and when he paused at the gate he offer them a kind smile too. He can see them swallow the heat in their gaze was unmistakable. When they open the way for him he walked forward and met someone they exchanged name or title with their name. As he was being lead to a room he moved toward the chair but, remain standing in front of it. He glanced around but, otherwise he remained neutral until someone walked in the door. Eren glanced in their direction before shifting his gaze forward to males they both carry themselves as they stand in front of him. They both looked serious. Eren bow fluently although he wanted to gag in his inner mind.