#toby i literally cannot wait until next year

[astrologista]

DELTARUNE Ch 3 AND 4 [[[SPOILERS]]]

I have finished both chapters (I guess?) and have seen one ending so far and I just want to discuss the lore a bit / some predictions

DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS!!!

Overall I really loved both chapters. Chapter 3 was really fun, the only criticism I have is that Tenna, while a very imaginative character (him doing a Mickey Mouse pose while the Knight sliced his arms off had me dead), kind of felt a biiiit forced as like "the new Spamton" which I think is what Toby was clearly going for, but in a self-aware way. I liked the focus on nostalgia and the retro gaming stuff / analog horror with a touch of vaporwave remixes in the soundtrack. Very cool.

Chapter 4 of course was the lore-heavy one. What we've basically learned is that Noelle had a sister at one point, Ms. Holiday is probably the Roaring Knight (I also heard a theory it might be the sister, which is plausible but I still think it's Carol based on her behavior), Ms. Holiday does NOT like the Susie/Noelle pairing (homophobic... damn), Gerson has something to do with Undyne and also Undyne was kidnapped by the Knight into the bunker, and Sans fucked our mom.

Asgore also seems to be planning... something.

My predictions include that Ralsei is Kris' idea of Asriel (all of the Darkeners were confirmed to be objects in the real world, so I bet Ralsei is something of Asriel's) or maybe Ralsei is just Asriel. Gerson may not be an object, but a memory of a real guy, so perhaps it's the same with Asriel.

I was disturbed by the lack of Berdly.

The final prophecy... I mean, it has to be that Noelle has to be sacrificed to save the world, isn't it? The prophecy seemed very focused on Susie's love in particular (though that may because she created the Dark Fountain that we were in when the Susie prophecies started popping up everywhere about that). Surely everything is tied to the Roaring Knight being Noelle's mother or sister, and Noelle needing to be sacrificed or stopped (perhaps due to her enormous power of Snowgrave). Noelle being sacrificed is something that Susie and Kris would never allow to happen, matching the description of the final prophecy that Susie gave before she smashed it. This also explains why Ralsei was so panicked over Susie seeing the final prophecy.

Chapter 5 is going to be the festival, but after that, surely we're going to unlock the bunker... also, how does this all tie in to Mr. Holiday's illness? My prediction is that Carol gave up her humanity/soul and is working with Chara in some way to gain a cure from the Dark World. Apparently the Roaring Knight is the one opening the Fountains, so it would make a lot of sense if this is the underlying reason. But it seems there is way more to be discovered.

I'm really happy with the pacing of the overall chapters. It seems to be leading up to a badass ending. The halfway point has been reached, so... 4 more chapters?

If I have anything negative to say, it would be that a few more twists or unexpected things would've been interesting. I don't want to say Toby is "playing it safe", but since more people have gotten involved, maybe Deltarune is starting to err a bit on the side of formulaic (for the series in general, I mean, which is a great formula, I just really enjoy the way Toby took so many chances with Undertale and Deltarune Chapters 1 and 2). This was exactly what I expected and more. The advantage to having more programmers and artists involved is that the game looks incredible. Though looking incredible is not everything to a game, it's nice to see the series get the treatment and window dressings it rightly deserves, and it's very clear that Toby still has creative control over the story and characters. You can't help but appreciate the amount of talent and hard work that goes into these games. But I really hope chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8 really knock my socks off!

[aethersea]

you know what, I never do these things, but actually I’ve decided I would like to get to know people better! I would like to partake of the mortifying ordeal! I would like to talk about myself for a bit!

ok for the next...let’s say five days I will answer any of these things that people tag me in, or any random personal questions you plop in my ask box. I don’t have an ask meme on hand but just....pick one you’ve seen recently, or make up questions of your own, and I’ll answer. (the answer might be ‘nope that’s private’ but I will answer.) (@ the anon who asked for book recs - I see you, I’ve been thinking of books all day, I’m going to give you SUCH a long answer, I hope you don’t regret your choices bc it WILL be full of gushing)

alright, let’s go!

🌻 Tag 9 people you want to get to know better

Tagged by @booksandchainmail​

Last Song: I’m currently listening to “Falcon in the Dive” from the Scarlet Pimpernel musical on loop. I watched one or two Scarlet Pimpernel movies when I was just barely too young to fully get what was going on, and the story’s held an odd but deep-seated place in my heart ever since. A few years ago I found out there’s a musical and most of the songs are pretty stellar (go listen to “Madame Guillotine” if you like big ensemble broadway numbers, it’s a banger, the bit where he cries out for God has been running through my mind on and off for a few days now haha not like that’s topical or anything), so every once in a while I spend a few days listening to them a lot.

Sometime last year I read the actual book, and got super into the whole concept of the Scarlet Pimpernel for a while. I plotted out Pimpernel aus for several fandoms, I read the entire wikipedia article, and I went looking for bootlegs of the musical. I didn’t find one, but I did find a full radioplay-style recording of the script, complete with full musical numbers, and listened to it like a podcast.

Reader, I was so disappointed. The play adds some scenes, bc a lot of the dramatic tension of the novel comes from internal conflict and that doesn’t stage super well, and the very first scene of this play – a play written in the NINETIES – features our dashing hero rescuing some aristocrats from a French prison, and then saying to the person in the next cell, who begs for rescue but is not an aristocrat, “We have enough of your kind in England.”

Enough! of your KIND! What in the merry frickety HECK my dudes!! The book has some rather unfortunate™ takes but it is from 1905, it’s regrettable but sadly to be expected. This play is from 1997. It has NO excuse. This scene wasn’t even in the book! What! the heck!

I was so disheartened that I lost my excitement for the play, and a couple songs later I stopped listening. It occurred to me just a few days ago that you could actually stage that ironically, with the person in the cell giving the audience a “can you believe this” look, and then the rest of the play could feature assorted non-aristocratic ensemble members constantly looking at the audience like they’re on The Office. And hey, maybe that’s what they did, or something similar – maybe that was never meant to be taken as a cleanly heroic stance, and the play deals with it in a complex way. It’s possible. I wouldn’t know. Kinda doubt it though, based on song lyrics.

Favorite Color: red, probably

Last Movie: I watched that new lesbian christmas movie with my family for christmas, the one with kirsten stewart and the guy from schitt’s creek. it’s very sweet and good and kinda sad, and I really enjoyed it. it also incidentally has the best gay best friend trope in probably anything ever, bc it’s not a trope (I didn’t realize until several hours after watching that it technically fits), it’s just a guy who is the protagonist’s best friend, and they’re just all gay, and then when he Gives Relationship Advice as a gay best friend always does, it’s advice about how to deal with your partner’s hangups around coming out.

actually every part of the gay best friend trope becomes better when they’re just best friends who are both gay. the big dramatic gestures (in this case, driving some ungodly distance in the snow on no notice) go from “haha how kooky” to “queer man will do anything he needs to to rescue his queer friend from an isolating & potentially triggering situation”. the relationship advice isn’t “honey you deserve some self-respect, treat yourself”, it’s a deeply sincere reminder of the vulnerability that is shared across almost everyone’s queer experience, and look I could ramble about this for a long time before reaching a coherent point but I’m INTO IT, okay? I’m into it.

Last Show: you want me to remember what show I last finished???? impossible, cannot be done, it was a long time ago and the adhd has eaten everything that happened before last week. here, instead I’ll tell you about another movie I watched, late at night with my mom in cozy companionship just a couple days ago. it’s called Quigley Down Under and it’s about a cowboy who goes to Australia and kills a bunch of racists, 10/10 would watch again. it’s from 1990 but it feels much older, with the music choices and the cinematography of a 70s Western. the cowboy is great, honorable and fearless and kind, but the breakaway star of this movie for me is the woman who attaches herself to his side and refuses to leave. her name is Cora, and she’s crazy, in the sense that she’s not altogether tethered to reality, but this never for a second diminishes her agency. she’s fierce and clever and compassionate, and she basically never does anything she doesn’t want to in the whole movie. her arc is about overcoming trauma by taking charge of her own fear and facing it head-on, she is never belittled or dismissed by the narrative or the protagonist, and look she’s just so cool. I love her. she’s so vibrantly alive. her story could probably have been handled with a bit more nuance, but honestly for the 90s it’s pretty great. I’m no expert, but I found nothing objectionable in it, just a bit of heavy-handedness.

anyway the theme of the movie is that racism is evil and racists deserve to be shot, and this too could have been handled better (not a single aboriginal character speaks a single line of english in this movie), but it follows through on that message in every way, while still being a fun kinda campy cowboy movie. overall a very good time.

Currently Watching: started showing my sister Hilda the other day, and she’s liking it! I love that show, it’s so incredibly cute. can’t wait to see season 2

Currently Reading: lmao I wish. lately the brain has firmly rejected all attempts to read anything of any length. currently pending, bc I was halfway through them when my brain stalled out, are tano’s fic What Does Kill You Can Make You Stronger, Too, a Toby Daye book - I think it was The Brightest Fell, I got like half a chapter in and haven’t picked it up in over a month, the Locked Tomb series, and probably a few other things too. ooh! also a book called Making Sex by thomas laqueur, which is my fancy academic reading that I’ve been doing in short bursts for the past year or two when I feel fancy and academic. it’s about the development of the concept of biological sex and of gender in Western society, and it’s fascinating. has among other things introduced me to the idea that until quite recently, fathers were a matter of faith. the mother? yeah, you can watch the baby pop out, we all know who the mother is. but the father? how can you know? how can you really know? we have paternity tests these days, but for all of human history up until now, we've just had to take fatherhood on faith. (not to mention we didn’t even know what fathers were contributing to the production of a fetus. clearly it was something, since you can’t get pregnant without a penis getting involved, but we have literally not known what until the past few decades. and that is wild. it has colored ALL of human history, all of our conceptions of society and family and kinship and gender, all of it, and it hadn’t even occurred to me until it was spelled out for me in this book, and it’s just......wow.

Salty, sweet or savory: for christmas my sister and I made seven different types of cookie, most of them involving chocolate somehow.

Craving: no bc I ate so many cookies. unless sleep counts. or maybe pringles, it’s been many moons since last I had a potato chip and I miss them.

Coffee or Tea: no thank you

Tagging: @coloursisee, @krchy-tuna, @sam-j-squirrel, @xzienne, @mirandatam, @viciousmaukeries, @sepulchritude, @elidyce, and @navigatorsnorth bc it’s been a while since we’ve talked, and I’m super hyped that you’re married now. v happy for you!

[lovehugsandcandy]

First Snow (Colt x MC)

A/N: Thanks for hosting the @choicesdecemberchallenge, @choicesbyjade and @cora-nova! This is for day 8 and the prompt is presents. (@client-327 inspired this with this piece of art. Also, thanks @client-327 and @brightpinkpeppercorn for the analysis of RoD coffee orders. Very verrry helpful, thank you so so much.)  

Pairing: Colt x MC, RoD

Length: ~3900 words 

Rating: PG-13 (Swearing. Kissing.)

Summary: Ellie has always wanted to see the snow. She just didn’t know she had to live through so much snark to get there.

“You look like a Muppet.”

“Excuse me?” Ellie looked down at her vest and snarled, more bark than bite. “This is very in right now, I will have you know. And just because LA is hot doesn’t mean I can’t try for some Christmas spirit.”

Colt stood from where he had been crouched next to his bike. “And that means you need to don some giant bright monstrosity that makes it look like you scalped a Wookie and dyed it green?”

“Well…you wear red pants.”

“I don’t shed.”

She groaned and looked down. She was leaving a conspicuous trail of forest green fuzz across the concrete floor.

“It’s also LA,” Colt continued. “I don’t think you need a vest.”

“It’s December. That means it’s almost Christmas! I love Christmas.” Ellie had always adored the holiday, though the sunshine and endless beaches of her hometown made the Christmas spirit seem contrived. 

“Wow. You are all about the holidays, aren’t you?”

Ellie crossed her arms over her chest, but her defensive stance soon faded as a dreamy look crossed her face. “Yeah? My mom used to love it. She let out a wistful smile and looked down. “I’ve never seen the snow. We always dreamed of taking a winter holiday, playing in the snow or something, but...”

“…Sorry.” He ducked his head, eyes softening. Colt may be prickly about almost everything, but he understood family. 

“Every year, I tell myself I am gonna see the snow and it never happens.”

“It’s 70 degrees right now.”

“I know but not everywhere. It snowed two feet in Tahoe yesterday!” She sighed. “Next year. I’ll see it next year. At Langston. I can just picture me gazing out at the snow while studying.“ Ellie chuckled without warmth as she lost herself in the daydream. “I’d have a mug full of hot cocoa and a full set of highlighters and-”

“Highlighters?”

“Are you seriously interrupting my fantasy right now?”

His smirk was wicked. “That’s your fantasy?” He stepped closer, sliding into her space. “I can think of some better fantasies than that.”

She rolled her eyes but she felt herself being drawn in, butterflies in her stomach, electric pulses across her skin, inches away from Colt and his eyes crinkling at the corners and his lips right there. “Seriously?” Her eyes darted to the curve of his smirk.

“I have much better fantasies, I can promise you.” He moved to close the distance when a shout from behind made her jump.

“Ellie!” Logan walked through the door and Colt stepped back; if they hadn’t been so infinitesimally close, Ellie never would have heard the soft groan of a curse from deep in his throat. “There you are. Did you need a ride home?”

She flushed, sneaking a quick peek at Colt before nodding.

She had just turned away when she felt a hand circle her wrist. The touch should have been innocent, just a light touch of his fingertips, but the way his thumb stroked her pulse point made heat flash up her veins. “Hey, Ellie?”

“Yeah?”

“Tragic holiday backstory aside...” He looked serious, contemplating her.

“Yeah?” 

“You still look like a Muppet.”

She couldn’t stop the snort that escaped her and it looked like he couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his face either.

~~~~~

"What are you doing?!?" She stopped short as she walked through the front door. Usually, the desk was empty and customers would just duck their head in and scream until someone helped them. Occasionally, Kaneko would sit at the front, giving her a short nod as she slipped by to head into the garage. And she had seen Toby there a couple times, devouring comic books and bobbing to the music blaring from the tinny computer speakers.

But she had never seen this.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"You look like you're working the front desk."

"Wow. You are every bit as smart as everyone says. I'm really glad the California Educational System is truly equipping the minds of our youth with such fantastic observational skills," Colt deadpanned and turned back to the monitor in front of him.

"But..."

"Yes, I'm working the front desk, Ellie. Jesus."

"Why?"

"A job?"

"But..." She looked around and dropped her voice. "You're a car thief. Why in the world...?"

"My dad said ‘front desk only, Colt’." He mocked and rolled his eyes. "Until I can prove myself, I'm on lame ass front desk duty."

“But...you never used to work the front desk. You just used to bum around and make snide comments!”

“Oh, I’ll still do that, don’t worry. But now I can get paid.”

"What do you need to get paid for?"

"I dunno. Maybe Christmas presents, Ellie,” he scoffed. “Duh. You're the one who likes the holidays. Shouldn't it be obvious?"

“But…”

“But?”

“But your dad,” she dropped her voice before continuing. “Your dad legit steals million dollar cars. Why do you need a job for money?”

He shook his head. “Just because he gets paid doesn’t mean I do.”

"Ok. But...but...since when do you listen to your dad?"

"Since he's my boss?"

As if on cue, Kaneko walked out, clutching a paper and sliding it across the desk before pulling a wrinkled list and credit card from his pocket. "Coffee, please."

Colt raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest. “I will not be the coffee bitch.”

Kaneko seemed nonplussed, small smile gracing his lips. "Do you work here or not?" He was obviously having fun with this.

“I work the front desk, I’m not your fucking errand-”

“I’ll go.” Ellie shrugged, swiping the credit card and coffee order. “It’d be nice to take a walk for a few.”

Kaneko just shook his head at his son and turned his back, walking back into the depths of the shop. She was about to head out but froze when Colt hopped out of the desk chair.

“I’ll go with you.”

“What?” She blinked, staring at him. “I thought you didn’t want to be coffee bit-”

“Shut up. Are we going or what?” He knocked his shoulder into hers to interrupt her tease. 

She smiled, a soft secret one designed to be seen by him and him alone. “Ok. Let’s go.”  

She was amazed when they made it three blocks, an eternity of LA pavement, where her eyes kept finding their way to his no matter how hard she tried to focus on the sidewalk. But right when they pulled the left on Manchester, strong arms pushed her against the brick wall of a pawn shop and, finally, insistent lips found hers. She melted into the kiss, pulling him close by the lapels of his jacket, cool leather a direct contrast to the heat flaming her cheeks, her lips, licking down her spine.

"Ah." She was being held up by the wall behind her and his hands on her hips. Absent those, she was certain she would collapse into a boneless puddle, a stain on the concrete where a girl had been kissed and kissed well. "Is this the reason you wanted to come? It wasn't to help me carry all the coffee?"

"You got me," he huffed low into her ear. "Ulterior motives. I'm actually not helping you at all; I'll just wait here until you pick up the order and then, when you come back, I'll kiss you again."

"Greedy. "

"Hey, I've been trying to get you to myself all week."

She bit her lip and looked up, all coy eyes and sneaky smile. "Well, you definitely don't want to waste this time now, do you?"

And when they finally continued on their way, after two pedestrians made snooty references to getting a room, well, Ellie felt very well-kissed when she got to the counter of the Starbucks.

"Ok. We have a big order, sorry." Ellie peered at the crumpled list, struggling with the variety of unintelligible handwriting. "Toby wants a venti iced frappuccino with a double shot-"

"What? No!" Colt ripped the paper from her hand. "Toby cannot have caffeine."

"Ok…"

"No. I don't think you understand." He grabbed her shoulders so he could look her dead in the eyes. "Toby cannot have caffeine. He once tried an espresso and then decided he wanted to try jogging; Pop had to pick him up in Pasadena when he got tired. Another time, he only had one cup but still was up for 36 hours straight convinced that he was destined to be a world-famous DJ; I had to kick him out when he was trying to make his own dubstep remix on the shop speakers. And then, another time, after having a fucking tea, he tried to redecorate the loft and I had to repaint the entire thing because he designed some half-assed mural of Big Bird eating tacos."

“Big Bird?”

Colt shrugged. 

“Ok, ok, jeez.” She grimaced and turned back to the counter. "Can you make it decaf? And just maybe...not write decaf on the cup so he doesn't know?"

The girl behind the counter did not look amused but still nodded, tapping in the order.

"Ok.” Ellie sighed. “What else do we need?"

Colt peered at the paper in his hand. "A cappuccino with turmeric and honey."

"For Ximena?"

"You got it. Mona wants a venti dark roast, black like her soul."

"Colt, come on..."

"What? That is literally what it says."

She shook her head. "Did Logan want a latte or a mocha?" 

"Latte. A vanilla latte." He focused on the sheet in his hand, scrunching his nose. "And my old man wants tea. Black tea. Black. No soul."

"Did he write that as well?"

"No, that was all me."

"Urgh. Ok, what do you want?"

"Flat white." He inclined his head at Ellie. "And I bet you want a hot chocolate.” 

She looked at him in surprise.

“What? That's what you want, right?”

She blinked at him.

“What?” He was looking at her like she was insane. “You always get that.”

"You know what I get?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh my God, don't make a big deal of it." She beamed at him. "Stop it. Or I'll make you carry it all back by yourself."

"Ok, fine."

She couldn’t have carried it all back anyways. It was seven drinks, two trays, four hands full with beverages; however, even laden with drinks, Colt still took every opportunity to lean in and capture her lips, ending with an especially long kiss hidden to the side of the bay doors. She had to blink away the sparks from her eyes as she walked in. But, even as she gave out drinks to outstretched hands, the butterflies still remained.

She was savoring the first taste of hot cocoa, sweet and smooth and still warm on her tongue, when Logan took a sip from his cup and shuddered, lips pursing into a grimace. "Hey. I wanted a mocha! What is this?"

Ellie turned to glare at Colt but he was already walking back to the front desk, shoulders shaking in silent laughter and an extra bounce in his step.

~~~~~

"You're on front desk duty, again?"

Colt smirked at her, thumbing through an old magazine. “I’m starting to feel like you’re my boss.”

“Ha. If I were your boss, then you would definitely be disciplined for insubordination.”

He looked at her through eyes half-mast and she immediately realized her mistake. “I don’t know where I should start with that. The idea of you bossing me around or the idea of you punishing me.” He laughed as she flushed scarlet. 

“How do you always make everything so inappropriate?”

“It’s a talent.” He looked past her at the sound of footsteps on concrete and scowled.

She turned and grinned, fully aware of the different reactions Logan inspired. “Hey, you!”

“Hey, Troublemaker.” He slid next to her at the counter, copying her lean so their shoulders brushed, nudging her gently before turning to Colt. “You still on desk duty?”

Colt glowered at him before turning a page so hard she could hear the magazine tear. “Better than pain in the ass duty.”

Ellie rolled her eyes as Logan turned to her, ignoring the jab. “So, Troublemaker, I heard you were quite the fan of the holidays?”

She grinned, barely noticing Colt’s head shoot up in her periphery. “Maybe...why?”

“Well, what do you want for a present?” Logan’s smile was hopeful, disarming as always.

“Oh, stop, nothing.”

“I’m still gonna get you something.” He winked and Ellie could hear paper crinkling in clenched fists. 

“You don’t have to, really.” She tilted her head at him.

“What, my presence is present enough?”

She smirked as Colt gagged behind the desk. “Exactly. That, and you let me drive your car.”

“Free driver’s ed?” Logan put his hand over his heart. “Is that all I am to you?”

“You caught me. It’s like driving school and the opportunity to jump through the window of a sports car, all in one.”

“You wound me.” He rubbed her shoulder. “Ok, I gotta get back to work. Ride home later?”

“Definitely!” 

“What do you want for Christmas, Ellie?” Colt’s sing-song mocked Logan, precisely, an eerily good rendition that made her narrow her eyes at him. At least he had waited until they were alone, until it was only Ellie there to hear him at full brat.

“I want you to be touched by the magic of Christmas, Colt, and stop being such a-"

"If I were you, I'd think of a backup gift."

"Fine." She crossed her arms over her chest. "You know what I want? Snow.”

“You want someone to buy the weather?” Colt leaned back in his chair, throwing his feet up onto the conspicuously bare front desk.

She rolled her eyes at him and leaned over the desk. "You asked what I wanted. I told you. Snow."

"Good luck with that one. It's 75 degrees today."

“Well, you asked…”

“I don’t have snow but…” He fished around in the pockets of his jacket, grinning triumphantly as he opened his clenched fist. “There you go. Twenty-seven cents, a receipt from Kelso’s, and some dirt.”

“Why in the world do you even have coins?”

“To give to you, obviously.” He dropped them with a flourish on the counter. “Merry Christmas.”

~~~~~

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"This is the third time you've been at the desk this week.” She leaned over the desk. “What in the world are you saving up for?"

“I told you. Christmas presents."

"For who?"

"Maybe you, Ellie." The glint in his eye was back, the one that reminded her that poking fun of her was Colt’s favorite pastime.

"Yeah, right. You know what I'm gonna get you?"

"I feel like you're about to tell me."

"Coal."

"Hmm..." he leaned closer. "Is that 'cuz I've been naughty?"

Ellie choked.

He only edged closer and kept going. "I have been bad but I'd be so fucking good for you, El-." He bit his lip and Ellie couldn’t pull her eyes from the way a blindingly white tooth made indents in the tender skin. "I'd do good things for you, do good things to you."

"Jesus." The flush traveled through her body like lightning, heat everywhere. He was so close. She slid a touch closer, just enough to brush her lips against his, but then-

"Colt!" The voice calling his name commanded attention, by tone alone.

She pulled away with a frown and she watched a similar frown grace Colt's face as he replied, "Yeah, Pop?"

“Do you have that paperwork on the Martinez car?”

She was close enough to hear him drop his voice as he opened up a desk drawer. “It’s up your ass.”

“Colt!”

“What?” He flashed her a guilty smile, pulling the papers out of a folder and holding them up. “Here you go, boss.”

~~~~~

Ellie furrowed her brow, confused. She had been looking for Colt but he wasn’t milling around the shop, wasn’t sulking at the front desk, wasn’t anywhere. She bit her lips, nervously. It was Christmas Eve, for chrissake- she wanted to give him her present.

Finally, when she had almost given up, her laps around the shop not going unnoticed by the others, he emerged from downstairs. She made a beeline over but wasn’t able to say a word before she saw his eyes narrow as he looked at the present adorning her neck.

“The hell’s that?”

She toyed with the delicate chain around her neck. “My new necklace. Logan got it. He said that he wanted to get something nicer than a spark plug for me.”

“Pssht.” He rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, “Run a few jobs and all of a sudden you think you’re the Monopoly guy.”

“What was that?”

“I said...it looks nice on you.”

“Liar.” She took a deep breath and reached into her pocket, tightly squeezing the metal ring into the palm of her fist. “I got something for you.” He watched her curiously as she pulled it out and handing it over.  “I didn’t wrap it, sorry.”

“What is it?”

“A keychain. It’s for your keys.”

“No shit, Sherlock. But what is...:”

“Oh, that.” She grinned brightly. “Coal. That’s coal on the end. Seemed appropriate.”

He smirked and opened his mouth before shaking his head and closing it again, obviously thinking better of whatever snide suggestive remark had been on the tip of his tongue. “Thanks, Ellie. Come here.” She followed him to the front desk, where he ducked down into a drawer to emerge with a box, a wrapped present, white ribbon stark around red paper. “Here. This is for you.”

“Wow.” She flushed and took it, gingerly, paper crinkling underneath her fingers. “You wrapped it and everything, this is so nice!”

“Ximena did it for me.” He rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands in his pockets. “You gonna open it?”

She hadn’t been expecting anything from him; other than stolen kisses that made her heart race, they had never really talked about presents or labels or whether he felt any of the same pull she did when their eyes met. She grinned at him beneath slow lashes and slid her index finger under the tape, slowly opening one seal and then, all at once, ripping the paper apart. “Oh my God, you got me hot cocoa!” She clutched the cardboard to her chest. “Dork. Thank you!”

“Yeah, it’s-” he stopped, biting his lip, suddenly shy. “It’s...you should-”

“Hey, Trouble? You ready to go home?” She turned as Logan walked in from the break room, tossing his keys from one hand to the other. “I’ll let you drive if you want!”

“Ok, yeah.” She looked at Colt, who was standing stock-still in front of her, odd look on his face. However, when she raised her eyebrows at him to silently communicate her confusion, he only shrugged. “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah.” He shot one last, dark look at Logan before walking away, throwing a quick “Merry Christmas” over her shoulder.

As she took the keys from Logan and adjusted the seat, she couldn’t help but wonder. What was that all about? And, while she totally appreciated the present, what had Colt been saving up for?

~~~~~

She still couldn’t figure it out sitting on her bed, idly playing with her new necklace, sliding the diamond up and down her fingers. Why in the world had Colt been working the desk?

She got up with a frown, grabbing the box of hot cocoa and heading downstairs. At least it was a very sweet gesture. Her house was quiet, dark, her dad out on night shift and, with school on break, there was nothing and no one to distract her.

She pulled a mug off a shelf and paused, looking down. The box was open. She didn’t…

Carefully, she slid her thumb underneath the cardboard tab and pulled, peering inside. There was cocoa in here, two packets. But there was also a parcel, wrapped in tissue paper. She opened it up and laughed. Highlighters. Of course. Asshole.

And some papers, wedged inside. It wasn’t a card, just a piece of white printer paper folded to house a few more sheets of paper. She smoothed them out on the counter and gasped. Two tickets to Tahoe. A hotel reservation. And, in Colt’s careful scrawl: to see the snow.

She blinked. Gasped. And blinked again.

Her hands were shaking as she threw everything back in the box, a trick of packaging if she ever saw one. She ran upstairs to get her phone, her wallet, moving so fast she tripped on the way up and had to peel herself off the carpet. She ordered the Dryve while rushing downstairs, almost falling again, and waited by the front door, toe tapping an anxious song on the hardwood as she clutched the cocoa box.

The car came quick, the ride was quick, but she was impatient. Thankfully, when she opened the back door to the shop, it was still, quiet. No one was there to stop her as she ran downstairs, making her way to the door of Colt’s makeshift room.

She could hear him moving around, the slamming of a drawer and subsequent muttered curse, so she knocked. Loudly. And waited.

His eyes widened when he opened the door and saw her standing there. His eyes narrowed in understanding when he spotted the box in her hand.

“Hi.” Her fingers dug into the box, denting the cardboard. “I opened your present.”

“Good.”

“You didn’t need to-”

“I know.”

She took a breath. “No, you really didn’t need to do-”

“I know.” He shrugged. “But you wanted the snow for Christmas.”

“And it’s my trip.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you coming with me?”

He shook his head, laughing. “You can go with whoever you want, the ticket’s transferable. Right now they’re both in your name.”

“I know.”

“You can take Logan and then the both of you will be outta my hair. Might be nice to get some peace and quiet around here.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you really want that? Logan and I going together on this trip you got me?”

He opened his mouth and closed it again.

“Who should I go with, Colt?” She waited, staring expectantly, eyeing him for so long she had to consciously stop the nervous twitch in her thighs.

Finally, finally, finally, after so long she started to reconsider all her life choices, finally he rocked back on his heels and spoke. “Me. I wanna go with you.”

She smiled and launched into his arms, laughing against his lips. And when she came up for air, he was actually beaming, too.

~~~~~

"You are not wearing that vest."

"Oh, I am. There's finally snow, I hafta wear it!"

"I swear to God, I don't know why I'm here."

"Cuz you like me."

"I like the snow."

"Lie. You hate the snow. You'd rather sit inside and glower at the fireplace."

"..."

"You like me."

"I don't like anyone."

"No, you like me."

"Fine. I like you."

"See, Colt? Was that so hard? And it's not so cold if we cuddle up, right? ….hey. Hey, wait a minute. What are you…? Don't you dare-"

"Haha."

"Did you just put snow down my vest?!?"

"...Whoops."

"You are a dead man!"

"Bring it, muppet."

"Dead, Kaneko. Dead!"

And as she tackled him to the ground, she realized the snow was everything she had ever dreamed it was. And then some.

.

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[terramythos]

My reread commentary on October Daye #8, "The Winter Long" or "more shit goes down in this book than the first 7 combined, holy shit".

I apologize to anyone who reads these cause I literally hit the length limit on this post and had to pare it down lmao 

-Good start: Under the Acknowledgements section: "Everything I have done with October's world to this point has been for the sake of getting here". Sooo basically the first 7 books? Setup for this one. We're in for a Ride.

I want to emphasize some of the best meta foreshadowing I've seen:

FOR REFERENCE, Rosemary and Rue is the title of book 1. It's also the only book whose opening Shakespeare quote (from Hamlet) doesn't really match the title. If you know your Shakespeare, you probably would have caught that and figured out that it was from The Winter's Tale instead. Plenty of conclusions you can draw just from that. Since then the series has been chock full of hidden identities, and this book has two BIG ones coming into play. Foreshadowing was here from the very fucking beginning, and it is some next level shit. Very well done.

-If you skipped book 1 you are SO fucked, btw.

- we're going to great lengths to describe Sylvester's physical appearance. Gee I wonder why. I'm sure it's not relevant

- yes Sylvester has FOX COLORED HAIR and YELLOW EYES and his magic smells like DAFFODILS and DOGWOOD FLOWERS. He is Toby's LEIGE and FATHER FIGURE.

Me on a first read: oh it's just beginning book exposition, they all do this

Me on a second read: god fucking damn it

- toby: I should have known Sylvester would never disappoint me.

Me: oh sweetie. Oh honey.

- "He smelled like smoke and rotten oranges.

This man wasn't Sylvester Torquill."

Anyone who read book 1: OHSHIT.AVI

Welcome back, Simon! You know, Sylvester's evil twin? You know, the big bad (so far) of the series? The the one responsible for turning Toby into a fish for 14 years?

-Yet he seems kinda... off, huh? Comments about how he didnt know the spell would last 14 years, how he hates to upset October's mom, of all people? Whatever could he mean? :)))

-New toby power: spell reflection? Hell yeah? Also spell BREAKING, but to be fair she did do that one other time. In, you guessed it, book 1.

- "When I tried to picture Sylvester's face, I kept seeing Simon's instead" ow oof

- Simon calling Amandine "Amy", which we've established is an affectionate nickname (it being what, you know, THE LUIDAEG calls her). Why would Simon, of all people, call her that?

... oh.

-That sure explains a LOT, huh? That sure was set up... this whole time, huh?

-Little "fuck you" lines like "I didn't know Sylvester had a niece" in book 2. Talking about January. Well, uh, he has several actually! You're one of them!

-Explanation for why Sylvester had any inclination to be October's mentor... eventually becoming her liege and father figure... even giving her the Changeling's Choice (something family is supposed to do). It seems mighty convenient that a random noble was involved in the life of a changeling to such an extent. BUT, if he was her uncle, and knew his brother wouldn't step up? Well...

-This isn't even the biggest reveal of the book. Like, we're only a handful of chapters in and this bomb gets dropped.

-Sylvester, every 10 minutes: oh boy I cant wait to see my brother so I can like, completely eviscerate him!

Everyone else: uh,

- Tybalt: and here I thought I was going to have to ask Sylvester for his blessing. Now I technically have to ask SIMON?

Toby: uwotm8

Tybalt: oh god uhh I'm joking yeah uhh I'm just trying to distract you from all this stress :)) yeah (nailed it!)!

-And now we begin the "wow Sylvester is actually not a great person" slide. It's been hinted at that he's pretty unstable and has shitty priorities regarding people he cares about. But Toby glossed over a lot of it because she adored him. Welp.

- It's also an interesting aside that Etienne was kind of a dick to Toby for a reason in the earlier books. He legit thought she had been knighted because she was family, not that she had earned the post. And after the last few books he clearly knows now that that's not the case and they've actually become friends. That's interesting hidden character development.

- ok so The Gang finds out that Simon was telling the truth when he said turning Toby into a fish for 14 years was to save her. Because he had actually been hired to KILL her and didn't want to do it. So it was a loophole-- everyone thought she was dead, and then (as established in book 1) pretty much everyone forgot she existed until the spell broke.

-BUT Simon is bound by a geas (where have we seen that before) and cannot divulge his employer's name. But who had such a grudge against Toby and/or her mom to order a hit on her AND forcibly bind everyone to secrecy?

-who knows? Not toby. So they go to The Luidaeg to maybe get a lead, and she establishes right away that she is ALSO bound under a geas and can't say who did it. So we play some 20 questions, and then...

ULTRA DISTRESSING LUIDAEG LORE :((((

-additional: another month name just came into play. August. Toby's half sister, missing for a century. WHAT IS WITH THE MONTH NAMES

- "please don't mistake villainy for evil." That's an.. interesting quote re:Simon.

- Simon's way of protecting toby from the impending threat is "well maybe you turn into a tree for a few centuries but like. You're safe, right? Why are you mad?"

- The Luidaeg: *is straight up dead*

Toby: hey tybalt remember that time in book 2 when I Resurrected the Dead

Tybalt: yeah, it was fucking terrifying and I didnt speak to you for 6 months

Toby: *finger guns* guess whaaaaaat

-The Luidaeg: *says just. A bunch of Lore*

Toby: Luidaeg dont you dare drop that cryptic shit on me then pass out

Luidaeg: nap time

-"If you so much as whisper the first word of a transformation spell, I'll have your larynx in my hand before the second word can form." DAMN, Tybalt.

-Simon: I am VERY sorry for my bullshit earlier. I can't tell you who my employer is, but I CAN give you this BOUQUET of ICE COLD ROSES. Ice cold, like winter. Winter Roses, if you will. Yeah. Uh have a nice life, bye!

Everyone: well this sure is a mystery

-Simon is definitely a morally grey character. Has done really awful shit, is built up as a major villain... but turns out he had relatively little control over his actions. He does the wrong thing a lot but it's usually not for a truly evil end? If the context is to be believed he got stuck in the geas contract with Unnamed Employer to save his daughter, which explains the bad shit he did that we know of. Which then inadvertently kicked off like the whole series. He seems to genuinely care about Toby in a warped way? It would be so easy to write him off as an evil stepdad or whatever and there's plenty of canon to support that stance (she's an illegitimate CHANGELING child) but he seems like he wants to just be her dad. I hope we explore his character more, is what I'm saying.

-And not to keep rambling about it but Toby is an established unreliable narrator and a horrible (initial) judge of character. So it's not like this is an asspull or off base at all.

Twist of the fucking century here.

-You know... the character who set off the events of the series? The character who was murdered in book 1 and bound October to a geas forcing her to find the culprit or die? Evening fucking Winterrose?

-There were hints, most very subtle unlike the other big twists, but probably the biggest one is SHE NEVER SHOWS UP AS A NIGHT HAUNT. And they're in the story quite a bit, and they ALWAYS feature killed off characters. Except Evening.

-My favorite hints were the ones just piled in book 1. Comments like "no one knows who Evening really is" said with zero self awareness. Because we are actually about to find out who she is... 7 goddamn books later.

-dead meme but "surprise, bitch. Bet you thought you saw the last of me."

-God she's so awful lol

-Toby thinking Quentin died then calling him THE SON SHE NEVER HAD is a BIG OOF right to the HEART. ;-;

-The book also points out that The Luidaeg through the series has ALWAYS referred to Evening in present tense. Even though she "died" in book 1.

-The Luidaeg ALSO never refers to her as Evening. It's always "The Winterrose". You know, a title. Which we have heavily emphasized is something the Firstborn use in place of their true names.

*jazz hands* Surprise!

-We also (finally) have a canon explanation for the... rather remarkable coincidence that Quentin, the fucking Crown Prince (from TORONTO), is in San Francisco at all. It was always weird he got sent to Shadowed Hills, and it's been commented on multiple times... Evening arranged it, of course! For reasons we don't quite know. But as the Daoine Sidhe Firstborn, her descendants couldn't exactly say no. Even though they didn't know who she really was.

-We really are falling all over Firstborn in this series? It sure is.. an odd coincidence, huh?

We got:

The Luidaeg: Roane/Selkie

Amandine: Dochas Sidhe

Acacia: Blodynbryd

Evening: Daoine Sidhe

Blind Michael: ... uh actually I don't think we ever learn what race he's Firstborn of. All his "children" are kidnapping victims forcibly twisted into monsters. Well, except for Luna, but we only know the Blodynbryd side.

But it's weird that for being so rare that we've run into 5 of them in 8 books. There's gotta be a reason for it.. but what?

-Luna starts the series as Toby's Surrogate Mom and is now just straight up an enemy huh

-I made this observation in my book 1 notes, but I find it very interesting that all of Toby's initial friends and allies... aren't by this point. Whereas her current allies are either former enemies or people she initially disliked or distrusted.

Starter allies: Sylvester? Was lying to her the whole time. Luna? Pretty much tried to sacrifice her (+above). Evening? Uhh this whole damn book. Devin? Tried to kill her for personal gain. Lily/Connor? Both killed off for real.

Current allies: Tybalt? Literal former enemy turned lover. Quentin? Kind of a snotty, vaguely racist kid she whips into shape. The Luidaeg? Extremely powerful witch who Toby assumes is True Neutral and wouldn't hesitate to kill her. May? Literal personal walking death omen.

It's just a cool reversal. There's so much really excellent character development in this series and I love it.

-Simon still is a pretty major bastard but.. less outright mustache twirling evil than we were led to believe up to this book. You learn his Backstory and while it really doesn't justify his actions it does...explain them.

-Blink and you miss it Lore: August is missing because she entered a contract with the Luidaeg. She's holding the candle from book 3 :)))

I'm starting to realize I stan The Luidaeg so hard I just have to take a picture every time she shows up and does stuff lmfao. (Best character).

-But... nothing like your inconceivably ancient and powerful aunt suddenly owing you a life debt, I guess???

-Toby. You know, just an ordinary weak changeling who has somehow managed to KILL A FIRSTBORN and RAISE THE DEAD. yikes.

I'm just putting this here cause it's funny as shit. Tybalt really is just... a cat

This book: I heard you like distressing Luidaeg lore??

Me: oh thanks I don't need to feel things

-God Evening is awful. Like, if you didn't know that already, see above.

-It says something about The Luidaeg that despite all that shit their Firstborn did to her she ends up becoming such good friends with Quentin, a Daoine Sidhe?

-BIG LORE with The Luidaeg talking to Maeve??? And Maeve "responding" kind of? This series damn well better explore what the fuck happened to those three it's been built up all series

-Omg the showdown with Evening and The Luidaeg. And Toby managing to break free and realize she deserves so much more than Evening-- all without magic. And Simon showing up for a last minute redemption trying to hit Evening with elf shot? I mean he gets shot in the process, but...

-We now have like, 3 or 4 characters just... asleep indefinitely thanks to elf shot. that's gonna be a Thing isnt it. Rayseline, Evening, Simon, Arden's brother...

WE DID IT BOYS

-This is the last full one I've already read. Most of my reactions in 9-12 are gonna be new. So.

[frozen-sea]

When we were going through my grandparents’ house a number of years ago, I took several books back with me. For the most part, they all just sat on one of my bookshelves since then. There were some romance novels, some classics, some stuff I never heard of. Last week I was looking at that shelf an I asked myself, Why did you take all of these if you’re never going to touch them? So I selected a book. This book. This fucking book. 

Despite the slightly risque title and cover, this was actually not that thrilling of a story. I thought this was one of the romance novels, but it turns out this is actually the first book in a 1940s teen novel series. And I’m about to spoil the whole thing for you so strap in. 

This is a story about Tobey Heydon. Tobey is her middle name. Her first name is something like Henrietta or Harriet, which she thinks sounds too much like a boy’s name and that would just be dreadful. (I guess no one ever told her that sometimes boys go by “Toby” too.) And she is Practically Seventeen.

Tobey has 2 older sisters who are Gorgeous and one younger sister who has freckles so she’s a Disgusting Pig. She also has 2 parents. Her mother has no distinguishing character traits that I can recall and her father hates the inventor of bubble bath. 

Tobey is semi-seriously dating some boy name Ambrose. He goes by Brose, for the rest of the book after his first appearance, but that didn’t stop me from picturing him as Mr. Ambrose from Bob’s Burgers for the entire time. Brose is Really Great, even though he never seems to do anything besides get jealous and jump to conclusions. But, you know, trust Tobey, he’s Really Great. 

Big event #1 in the book is Tobey’s older sister Alicia is engage to this guy Adam, who is playing the mall Santa that holiday season. The family convinces him to come to the house as Santa that Christmas to entertain the younger members of the family. He agrees and climbs up a ladder into an upstairs window of the house that night. But the oldest sister’s husband, who is totally out of the loop on all this, sees this guy climbing through their window and just assumes it must be a murder, so he climbs up after him to trap him. And then Brose shows up an sees the husband climbing through their window and just assumes it must be a murder and gets the police. The whole thing ends up with the ladder falling with the 2 guys on it an a huge fight in their front yard. Merry Christmas. 

Big event #2 is Tobey and Brose are suppose to go to some dance together. That same weekend, Alicia is suppose to go to a college dance with Adam. Tobey is upset because Alicia got a new dress but she did not, but she has a plan; she can borrow one of Alicia’s old dresses after her sister leaves, since Brose hasn’t seen any of those dresses. But! Alicia and Adam get into a huge fight and break up, totally ruining the dress plan. Since we can’t have that, Tobey tries to talk her sister into apologizing but that doesn’t work. So she goes to convince Adam instead. Brose sees her talking to Adam and automatically assumes there must be Something going on between them and storms off. Which, I mean, why would he think that if he knows who Adam is and he just sees them talking? How highly does he think of Tobey if he believes she would do that to her sister? But, you know, Really Great Guy, that Brose.

Anyway, Tobey then gets this idea that they could get Alicia to talk to Adam again if they make her jealous, so she talks Adam into telling Alicia that he’s taking her (Tobey) to the college dance instead since she’s being unreasonable. And surprisingly, the plan totally works. They get back together. However! Brose hears about Adam taking Tobey to the college dance too, right as he was about to apologize. So he storms off again and poor Tobey, she loses out of getting to wear her sister’s dress again. Or so it seems. 

Tobey sees her sister off to the college dance. Brose spies on them and when he sees Alicia leaving instead of Tobey, he decides maybe they can go to the dance after all. So Tobey gets to wear the dress she had her eye on. Thank fucking god. 

Big event #3 is Alicia’s and Adam’s wedding. Almost literally the exact same fucking thing happens with that as what happened with the dances. They get into a fight an call off the wedding, Tobey is horrified because she won’t be able to wear her wonderful bridesmaid dress if there’s no wedding, Tobey schemes to get them back together. They get back together and the wedding is back on. Tobey gets to wear the dress. Brose sees her in the dress and gets an erection (it didn’t actually say that but I mean, I assume). 

Big event #4 is Tobey’s family goes to their cottage by the lake for the summer. Brose and his family will also be there. Also Tobey’s best friend and her family. We don’t really know anything about the best friend because they removed most of her role so there would be more room for paragraphs about how much Tobey likes Brose. Boys are the most important, after all. 

Anyway, Tobey’s family leaves for the cottage a few weeks late that year. During that time Brose and all the other boys become smitten with New Girl Kentucky. New Girl Kentucky is Beautiful and her hair is Perfect and her skin is Perfect and she never goes swimming because that could make her look less Perfect. Because she’s so Beautiful, Tobey reaches the inevitable conclusion that she must be a Huge Bitch. 

Tobey spends the summer hating New Girl Kentucky even though she really should really be mad at Brose for being so easily able to forget about her. But, I’ll say it again, Brose is Really Great, so she can’t be mad at him. 

Finally, at the end of the summer an older boy shows up and New Girl Kentucky starts hanging out exclusively with him. With her gone, Brose suddenly remembers Tobey exists and she forgives him, rationalizing that a girl like New Girl Kentucky would be impossible for any guy to resist. 

Big event #5 is another goddamn dance. This time it’s a Sadie Hawkins type dance and Tobey’s taking her time asking Brose to go with her. As if she has time. As if he hasn’t be a fickle son of a bitch for this whole book. 

Tobey tells her little sister she’s going to take her coat to the tailor and leaves for the afternoon. While she’s out, Brose calls. Little sister answers and tells him Tobey’s gone out with some boy named Taylor. Good job, Little Sis. Brose gets jealous and asks some other girl out to the movies that day. Tobey doesn’t find out what happened until that night and decides to wait to talk to Brose at school the next day. 

The next day, she tells Brose what really happened. He feels deservely ashamed, but it turns out that while he was at the movies with that other girl, that Hag asked him to the dance and he said yes. To save face, Tobey says she’s got a different guy already lined up to go to that dance anyway so it’s all good. 

Over the next few days, she spends a bunch of time inventing an imaginary guy she met out of town at her aunt’s house. The plan is on the day of she’ll fake a call from the guy saying he sprained his ankle and cannot come. Her parents are so impressed that she didn’t beg them for a new dress that they go out and buy her one as a surprise. And her mom takes her out to get her hair and nails done. Tobey feels guilty but knows it would be too suspicious if she declined, so she goes along. No one leaves her alone long enough to make the fake call, though, and she’s seconds away from confessing everything, when some guy actually shows up at the house to pick her up!

It turns out her little sister read her diary, where she detailed her entire fake date plan. Since she felt bad for messing things up in the first place, she got one of her friends’ brothers to stand in. The brother showed up pretending to be Fake Date’s friend sent because Fake Date sprained his ankle and didn’t want to leave her hanging. 

So they go to the dance. Brose is jealous as all hell. He gets so upset they’re not at the dance together instead, that he arranges to have a Serious Talk with Tobey the next day. The next day, during their serious talk, Brose gives Tobey his class ring. Now, I always thought that meant you were like, officially dating or going steady or whatever term you want to use. But they say that it means that they are “very goo friends” or some bullshit, I assume to leave room for more of Brose’s jealousy antics in the next book of the series. 

THE END

[minimin1993]

S/M 55

Warning: Finally.

“Well look who finally blessed us with their presence.” Anthony said raising his eyebrows at the pair who finally got dressed and came back out to their friends who were all sporting the same smirk on their face. 

“Come on don’t be jealous, if I had a girl like that I would have done the same thing.” Toby said winking at Sebastian who sits down pulling Min on his lap again. “But I gotta admit you guys are not trying to even hid it, god damn look at those marks.” 

“What can I say, my girl likes it rough.” Sebastian said grabbing his drink. 

After that the pair just starts to enjoy the rest of the night which their friends certainly made it interesting when they both got put on the spot when 2 strippers came in dressing in a skimpy Bucky and Linda outfit for their lap dance, before the night came to an end with everyone clearly drunk out of their minds.

Wedding day 

“Damn Sebastian stop pacing you are going to put a hole in the floor.” Sebastian mother said as all the groomsmen watch Sebastian pace almost frantically around the hotel room. 

“Ma, what if she gets cold feet and doesn’t show up? What if she realize what a mess I am and doesn’t want to marry me anymore? Oh my god… What if….” 

“Sebby calm down, anyone with eyes can clearly see how much she loves you. Funny enough I already knew she was going to be the one the first time I met her. So don’t worry because when the time comes she will be walking down that asle.” 

“Thank you ma.” Sebastian said giving his mom a kiss on her cheek.

“Now if you excuse me I have to go check my soon to be daughter-in law.” 

Gloria excused herself from Sebastian room heading over to Min hotel room only to find all her bridesmaid knocking frantically on the bathroom door. “Minnie come out, everything is going to be fine.” Tiffany said trying to calm Min down who can be heard crying on the other side of the door. 

“What happen?” Gloria asked walking over to Tiffany and others. 

“She scared.” Tiffany sighed. 

“Let me talk to her. You guys wait and get ready in the other room.” 

“Thank you Gloria.” Tiffany said as they head to the living room to finish getting ready.

“Min dear open the door its Mom.” Gloria said softly, hearing the girl on the other side sniff and unlocks the door. Gloria walks in and sees the girl's eyes buffy looking sad and lost giving her a hug. “What's wrong dear?” 

“I’m scared that the moment I walk out there Sebastian will realize he doesn’t want me anymore because of how broken I am.” Min cried out hearing Gloria laugh lightly. 

“Oh dear, you and him are almost identical it's hilarious.” 

“What do you mean?” Min pulled away looking at Gloria who was softly wiping away her tears with a smile on her face. 

“When I was over their with Sebastian, he was pacing the entire room going on about what if you get cold feet and not show up.” 

“Really?” 

“Yes, and guess what my dear. In the years I have watched my son grow up I have never seen him this happy nor talk about anyone like he does about you. Trust me when I say this that boy loves you with everything he's got and he isn’t going to stop anytime soon if ever.” Gloria said pulling the girl out of the bathroom to the vanity where they were dolling her up for the wedding. “Now if you agree let's finish getting you ready before we give that boy a heart attack thinking you won’t show up, even though I think he still might have one from how beautiful you look my dear.” 

“Thank you mom.” Min smiles brightly at her. 

“Anytime.” Gloria said before calling in the bridal team back over to finish the girl up. 

When it was time for the Ceremony to start Sebastian was a sweating mess but his boys assured him everything is going to be alright. After Sebastian walked down the aisle with a huge smile on his face looking at his friends and family in the crowd he watches their groomsmen (Chace, Chris, Charles, Ethan, Paul, Will, and Toby) and bridesmaid (Tiffany, Jennie, Key, CL Eunji, Jin, and Linji) walk down the aisle looking dashing as ever.

(Bridesmaid dresses, minus Key who is in a suit)

His brain was starting to get negative thoughts once again until the music changed and everyone turned to look at the door. The moment the door opens, Sebastian swore his heart stopped and nothing around him existed but Min.

Min had her head bowed down nervously gripping Mr. Hwang's arm until she looks up and looks eyes with Sebastian who had the most beautiful smile on his face causing her to break into a huge smile herself. The closer she got to him the more her heart was rapidly beating until Mr. Hwang handed her hand over to Sebastian.

“She is all yours now son.” He said before taking a sit next to his wife. 

“I love you beautiful.” Sebastian whispered smiling down at her twinkling eyes. 

“I love you too handsome.” Min winks at him causing him to chuckle before they both look over at the priest. 

“To all present I say: We are gathered here, not to witness the beginning of what will be, but rather what already is! We do not create this marriage, because we cannot. We can and do, however, celebrate with Sebastian and Min the wondrous and joyful occurrence that has already taken place in their lives, and the commitment they make today. I have been told that they have written their own vows. Sebastian would you like to start us off.” The priest gesture to Sebastian who turns back to Min grabbing both her hands taking a deep breathe. 

“I remember the first day I met you and I swore since that day you are going to be the death of me and till this day I still stand by that and more because I have never expected that that was the day I met the love of my life. Growing up I never imagine myself ever getting married but dam was I wrong, here comes this 5’3 girl who snatched my phone out of my hand and ran around the studio so fast I never expect to catch her. But here I am standing under god promising myself to her because I have caught something more valuable. Her heart; even though I still wonder why on earth did this woman choose me when I have nothing to offer her. I promise to be the best husband I can be even though I have no stinking clue how to do that. I promise to love you and cherish you till the end of time and more. I promise you my mind, body, and soul even though you already owned that like how you already own my heart. I can’t imagine my life without you and I can’t wait to continue this crazy journey with you by my side forever. I love you.” Sebastian vowed wiping the happy tears that Min was slowly shedding. 

“Wow that is such a tough one to follow. And like your mom had told me how we are identical because I also started my vows with the first day I met you too. I remember how I was talking to Chris and Kevin when this perfect specimen walks over to us with the cutest smile I have ever seen and lets not let me forget the most gorgeous pair of eyes I will never get tired of looking into. But like you said I also never expected to meet the love of my life. Throughout my life I have gone through many horrible things and if I was given a choice to redo everything I will still choose to go through that again if it leads me right back into your arms. I promise to be the best wife I can be to the best of my knowledge. I promise to love you with everything I have and more because you deserve someone better than me but you still somehow decided to choose me. I promise you my mind, heart, body, and soul because I would be nothing without you by my side. Sebastian Stan, I love you.” Min said now wiping Sebastian tears.

“You've both chosen to wear rings as a reminder of these promises. People often say wedding bands are a perfect circle, with no beginning and no end. As you look at these rings over the years, I hope you remember that. You've created something invaluable, and just as I know you'll protect these rings, I'm confident you'll protect the commitments you've made to one another today. Sebastian, as you place this ring on Min’s finger, repeat these words after me: This ring symbolizes my love for you and the commitments we made today.” The priest said as Sebastian slips the ring on Min finger repeating the words. “Min, as you place this ring on Sebastian's finger, repeat these words after me: This ring symbolizes my love for you and the commitments we made today.” 

“By the power of your love and commitment to each other, and by the power vested in me I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now seal your vows with a kiss.” Sebastian was beaming with happiness and joy as he pulls Min close to him dipping his head down to give her a kiss that their friends and family started to hoot and holler nonstop. “Congratulations. Family and loved ones, I now present to you the newly married couple and . Let's hear it for 'em!” 

“I love you Mrs. Stan.” Sebastian whispered into her lips who was grinning up at him. “I love you too Mr. Stan.”   

Reception

“I am blessed to know these 2 idiot for a decade and lets just say that it has been a journey for sure waiting for them to admit their feelings for each other. I have watched them start out as just friends pretending to not acknowledge that they literally needed each other presence like water. Even when they both were in other relationships they still can not lose the other person, like come on who has each other house keys to even having a personal closet in each other's house. Sebastian I hope you know you are one lucky ass person and I swear if you ever hurt our little princess which I know you won't but you will have the entire Marvel family come after you. I love you both and I wish you both nothing but the best. To Sebastian and Min.” Chris said raising a toast to the newlyweds for everyone to join in with him.

“Now if the time is right I welcome the bride and groom up to have their first dance.” The MC announced as Sebastian pulls up a blushing Min over to the dance floor and the music starts to play. Julia Michaels Heaven. 

Heaven ^^

(Listen to the song in this part, it literally how I describe Sebastian Stan and this whole story was inspired by this song. Even if I didn’t portray him as a bad guy but you know what I am talking about *wink*) 

“I love how this song kind of represents our relationship in a way.” Sebastian said as they swayed to the music. 

“I can’t help it, you are my bad boy who brings heaven to me.” Min said smiling up at him. 

“So you would do anything for me?” 

“Would you do anything for me?” 

“Without a question babygirl.” Sebastian said looking at Min in her eyes, she pulls him down and gives him a loving kiss that took his breath away.

[pen-parker-blog]

Yeah this is the New Years Resolution I am most likely to fail. Every year I tell myself to read more books, every birthday and Christmas I ask people to buy me books, and thus the pile of tree spawn next to my bed grows higher and higher. I wake up and roll over each morning, to be reminded of what an uncultered swine I am, with all the books I own yet haven’t bothered to read. So the odds are somewhat stacked against me with this new years resolution. Maybe this is the year I will finally turn things around right..right?

So many books, so little time.

It’s not that I’m not a reader, I love reading. Ever since I was a child I loved reading, and I did get through a lot of books when I was a kid. Granted, aside from Harry Potter, most of those books were not read by choice, rather dictated to me by whatever the school/college/university curriculum was. Throughout education, we would dream of the days when we would be able to read books because we wanted to. Imagine it, a world where we get to read books because we want to, not because we have to. Then University comes to an end, and did I catch up on all the books I wanted to read? Did I bollocks. I borrowed a copy of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, from one of my friends in second year of Uni (2011), and I didn’t get round to reading it until last year (I did message said friend and asked if she wanted the book back, after I’d kept it unwittingly for 5 years, but she was fine with it). The problem is I don’t give myself the time to read. Once I come from home from work, I’m usually go to the gym, then come home and make food, I usually watch something on Netflix whilst eating, then I need to clean the kitchen but I can’t be arsed so I go on Facebook, then  I finally clean the kitchen, then I sort out food for work in the morning, then I get distracted by the Xbox One (I mean have you played Overwatch?), or I get distracted by whatever shit is spewed out onto Youtube, then I’m on Facebook again chatting with friends, then I realise I have no clothes for the morning, then I realise I need to clean the house, but then I realise it’s been an hour since  I played Overwatch, then I go on Youtube and then BAM! It’s 1am…Bugger.

Half the time, when I do find a quiet moment with nothing to do, I often take to the laptop to punch out some writing, be it scripts I am working on, or more recently blog posts. But then I find myself, as many writers do, stuck in a rut, struggling to come up with… them ideas on…how to write things…good.

You know what helps with that? Reading a God Damn book!

To be fair to myself, I did manage to get through some good books last year, although it was usually down to being placed in a situation where I literally had no other choice but to read. Last year I played the part of Toby in Amy’s View, at The Chesil Theatre. The character only appeared at the very end, which meant I had 1 and 3/4 acts worth of time to sit backstage, and in that time I managed to get through 3 books. The aforementioned The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, David Owen’s Panther, and Hunter S Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in as Vegas. I also went away to Majorca for a week, and when you find yourself on long flights/coach trips, or just sat relaxing on the balcony/by the pool, it’s very easy to sit back and get lost in a great story. In Majorica I read both Room and The Girl on the Train, again two great books and both with movies that I really want to see. There was also a brief period of time, where I ended up having to commute from my parents house to work every day at the start of winter, and so the train journeys gave me the time to read The Shining, leant to me by a friend. I love Stephen King, and being able to read one of his most famous works, made the early-as-hell journey to work, in the freezing cold, all the more bearable. However, once I returned to my own home, with now a mere 10 minute walk to work in the mornings, The Shining remained untouched in my bag for a good few weeks, calling out to me: “Come read with us, Davey!” Luckily, to avoid keeping someone elses property for another half decade, I did manage to finish the book, but it took me far too long to do, especially considering how much I enjoyed reading it to start with.

The problem with me now is that I tend to only read, when there is literally nothing else to do. The only reason I started reading The Shining on the train was because the South West Train Wifi never quite made it to the carriage I was on, the only reason I started reading in the dressing room at the Chesil, was because I had slowly lost my mind and descended into madness, playing non stop Candy Crush during rehearsals. So I am vowing to make things right this year, and actually make the time to read more books in my own time. Like my previous Resolution Revolution post, I am hoping that posting it on here, revealing my shame for all the world to see, will help encourage me to do better in the literary arts (unless I delete this post and claim blissful ignorance).

Anyways, here are a list of books that I own, which I am vowing to read this year.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Volume 1 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This is a pretty big book, maybe I got intimidated by the size. I got this as a Secret Santa gift from my friend E.J years ago and I was psyched. I love Sherlock Holmes, so what better way to show my appreciation for this literary icon than actual reading some literature? This is only Volume 1, so hopefully I may move on to further volumes before the year is out.

The Familiar – Mark Z. Danielewski

Mark Z. Danielewski’s debut novel House of Leaves is one of my favourite books of all time – holy shit – if you haven’t read this book I urge you to do so (I mean ever re-read this year, it’s that good), so when my friend Leo who introduced me to said book informed me of his new novel, I was excited. Not only that, but this book was set to be the first in a 12 part series? Oh my God, this is going to be the greatest thing to happen since the world was made! And boy did I hate it. What made House of Leaves memorable was that you had 3 different narratives intertwining perfectly in one novel. So for his next novel, Danielewski decided to go down the Hollywood sequel route and crank everything up to eleventity-stupid. Now there were like a dozen different plots, subplots, narratives, writing styles, words written in a circle that you had to turn the book clockwise just to read a sentence. It was a mess and felt like a pale imitation of what made the first book so great. But, that’s just it, because his first book was so great, I am willing to give this book another chance. Who knows, this still could be the greatest thing ever. Let’s find out.

Autobiographies

I love reading autobiographies from professionals who work, or have worked, in the entertainment industry. Writers, actors, comedians, broadcasters, I love reading about their lives, careers and experiences all from the horse’s mouth (or hooves, seeing as it was typed not spoken). A few years back I brought Steve Coogan’s autobiography, and last Christmas my parents brought me John Cleese’s and Brian Blessed’s (Fun fact, it is impossible to read his autobiography and not imagine him screaming it with the force of 100 db). All of these people are icons of mine for many different reasons, and hopefully will be the first of many icons who’s lives I have the privilege of delving into.

Graphic Novels

I don’t care what you say, but these count as books, and yes I am saying this as a 25 year old man, but I am also saying this as a massive nerd. The first one is a gripping Captain America story that I got from my friends Dee & Tom last birthday, which I started reading, got instantly hooked, but then for some bizarre reason, stopped. I fear it got lost under the forest of books I told myself I would read last year.Now that I have moved that pile onto an actual bookcase, I intend to get right back into this novel, followed swiftly by Moon Knight, a well received gift from the pair last Christmas. Cannot wait.

No Exit and Three Other Plays

I’m an admirer of Jean Paul Sartre, so much so that my friend Louisa brought me the greatest mug in the world back in Christmas 2015.

I directed a production of No Exit back in University, so it only makes sense I actually read the other three plays that came with the script. Who know’s what that may lead to? Plus, as I tend to dabble in script writing, best way to improve on it is to study previous theatrical works again.

Hamlet: Poem Unlimited – Harold Bloom

I begged my friend Leo to lend me this book, Hamlet is one of my favourite plays and Harold Bloom’s study of the play was something I really wanted to read. That was again, quite a few years ago, and I still have it… and I need to finish it. Better get started.

Sonnets – William Shakespeare

My friend Louisa brought me this book a few years back. Seeing as I may end up reading one of them at her wedding next year, it makes sense to brush up on the old Shakes’ work doesn’t it?

  Books to help me write good better

As I said before, the best way to improve my writing is to actually sit down and read a book. So it makes sense to have some books dedicated to improving on this craft. I brought Rib Davis’ Writing Dialogue for Scripts last year at the BFI shop, and my friend Leo brought me Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell for Christmas 2016. Considering I am currently working on three short plays this month, am starting work on an episode of a Radio Drama for Blazing Caribou Studios, am taking on the 28 Plays Later Challenge next month (which I strongly recommend any other writers out there check out and sign up for here), have ideas for two books that I want to start writing – one of which I’ve started –  and I want to finish writing  a full length play this year, it makes sense that I surround myself with books like these.

  So that’s that for my Second New Years Resolution. Granted I’ve made this same resolution at the start of most years, but seeing how much time I’ve spent blabbing on about it on this blog, I’m hoping it will be enough motivation to actually go and uphold it this time around. Here’s to the great stories waiting for me, and the many more out there waiting to be told.

Dave

Be sure to check out my first New Years Resolution Post here, and keep your eyes peeled for my third and final one coming soon.

Resolution Revolution – Read More Books Yeah this is the New Years Resolution I am most likely to fail. Every year I tell myself to read more books, every birthday and Christmas I ask people to buy me books, and thus the pile of tree spawn next to my bed grows higher and higher.