#we got a tentative schedule and next week we start to get more into the hands-on stuff

[emotionalsupportdman]

DAY ONE OF EMT TRAINING COMPLETE!!!!!!

[beanarie]

this was inspired by chatter in the tag earlier in the week about tommy not having the reflex to ask for help, not having an emergency contact, etc. bucktommy nation, i'm loving it here.

more a request than a proposal

Wednesday afternoon, as the 118 drove back from a small grease fire, Buck received a text from Tommy.

gonna need a raincheck on hiking Saturday

He kept his expression neutral so his friends wouldn't notice and start giving him a hard time. No problem. Everything okay?

yeah of course. brunch instead? I'll order in

He spent the rest of the week telling himself there was probably nothing wrong.

Saturday, at the agreed upon time, Buck showed up at Tommy's door, looked down at the boot Tommy was wearing, and felt a burst of something ugly which he instantly tried to squash. At least he wasn't getting dumped. "Uh, hey. What happened there?"

Tommy rolled his eyes at himself. "I broke my foot a few days ago."

"What?"

"Yeah, Tuesday night. I'd just maxed out my flight hours and-" He cocked his head. "Why is your face doing that?"

Buck walked away, got in his car, and sat there as Tommy stopped blinking in confusion and went back inside.

Ten seconds later, Buck was ringing the bell again.

Tommy didn't raise an eyebrow, but the muscle twitched like he'd considered it. "I'd ask if you left something behind, but you didn't actually get through the door."

"I was off on Tuesday," Buck said.

"Okay?"

"You knew that. We compared both our schedules for the week. That was how we settled on Saturday."

"I recall." Tommy grimaced. "Look, can we go inside? Standing is not my favorite right now."

"Oh!" Shit. "Yeah. Yeah, of course."

Following close behind as Tommy settled on the couch, Buck grabbed a throw pillow for his foot to seem marginally less useless. Now inside, surrounded by all things Tommy, he felt decidedly off-kilter. "Do you... want me here?"

"I thought I did," Tommy said, laying his head against the arm of the couch with a tired sigh. "Go on, tell me what your problem is."

From there, Buck could see the kitchen table laden with takeout containers and a pitcher of orange juice. "Food's getting cold," he pointed out.

"I didn't have much appetite anyway. The food was my clever way of luring you here." He smiled at that, a little, rueful one.

Buck wanted to smile back. He wanted to say Tommy was the only lure he needed. "How did you get home from the ER?"

"I mean, my crew still had more than half a 24 to go, so." He lifted his phone and shook it a bit.

"Uber," Buck said, wanting to break something.

Tommy melted more against the couch as the penny dropped. "Evan, we've been dating three months. I didn't want you to feel obligated."

"It's been a big three months," Buck said.

"Yeah." Tommy gave another little smile. "Sinking ships and runaway grooms and drug cartels, oh my."

"You showed up for me on multiple occasions in that time." The only other options for seating were too far away. Buck knelt on the carpet near the couch.

"You look like you're proposing." Tommy snorted, then looked mildly alarmed. "Take out a ring right now and I'll scream."

"Shut up," he said with a quiet laugh. Tentatively, he reached for Tommy's hand, and smiled as Tommy let their fingers tangle together. "Sorry for being weird. It's just, I like you a lot."

"Ditto," Tommy said, rolling his wrist a few degrees, watching their hands with a strange light in his eyes.

"It hasn't sucked, right? Being my next call after my family when something happens."

"No." Tommy looked thoughtful. His thumb rubbed the back of Buck's hand. "Sucked is not the word I'd use."

"You've been in pain this whole time and I had no idea. I hate that."

The second sigh was more weary than the first. "Evan, it's okay. I'm-"

"If you want me to- to go, I will." They were still so new. Buck couldn't insist on anything, he could only offer. "I know you can take care of yourself. You don't have to, though. Not all the time."

Tommy tugged on their hands, pulling Buck closer. "Stay."

[berryispunk]

By The Fire

Pairing: Pero Tovar x gn! reader

summary: All your friends cancelled last minute on your planned camping trip so you're left with the new guy in your friend group.

tags: fluff, developing feelings, alcohol mention, i don't even know if this is Pero but in my head he is

notes: This was a struggle honestly. Second entry for the summer week over at @fanfictionoverload. Way too many words for way too little happening. Unbeta'd, we die with the sinking ship :)

word count: ~ 700

The camping trip was planned months in advance.

Given the size of the group and their busy schedules it was a wonder y’all were able to narrow down a date for it in the first place.

And now you sit here, all alone with Pero, the new one in your friend group and you’re kind of mad that they all cancelled except for this guy you not even once talked much with. 

Maybe, you thought, he’s just not that big of a talker.

But now the both of you sit in your car and the silence is heavy and kinda awkward.

“So no one else will join us ?” he breaks the silence, but doesn’t look at you as you turn down the volume of the car radio. 

“Yeah, no. They all cancelled. Lastly Jess because her boyfriend got food poisoning and this man is a grown baby and not able to exist on his own...” you shake your head while sighing heavily. 

He scoffs. 

“Yeah, I figured. But Jess is so caring. I love that about her. It speaks for her, you know…”

You nod. 

“She’s an angel." 

A while later the sun is already setting behind the horizon and tinting everything in orange hues when both of ýou arrive at the camspide.

As you leave the car you stretch your stiffened limbs and groan. 

“I set up the tent”, Pero suddenly says and you blink at him. 

“I can help you…” you suggest but he shakes his head.

“You can set up the fire if you want to instead…” 

You agree and start doing but in all honesty you suck at this and you forgot to bring a lighter in your hurry so after a while Pero joins your side.

“Everything alright here?”he asks softly leaning a bit over the fireplace and you rub your neck sheepishly.

“I forgot a lighter…”

He laughs deeply. 

“Oh, really? Well, good for you I know a thing or two about lighting a fire..” he winks at you and you have to bite back a smirk.

“Lucky for us we don’t have to freeze tonight, huh?” you chuckle and he answers with a smirk and you catch yourself mustering him for a moment before you tear your gaze away. 

Only a few minutes later the fire burns bright just in time as the night falls.

It’s just now that you recognize the big scar on the left side of his face, starting over his eyebrow all the way up to his cheek. 

“If you don’t mind… how did you get that scar?” you ask as softly as you can, really not wanting to overstep. 

“Ah, this old thing? Well… it’s a longer story I don’t know if–”

“Yes”, you interrupt him. “Tell me all about it. What else do we have to do?” 

He gives you an almost shy smile in return, clearly not expecting someone to really care about it.

You take a seat next to him on the log he sits on and find yourself hanging on his every word.

The two of you end up talking the whole night, longing glances, shared laughter and alcohol is all it takes for you to develop a crush on him. 

When you wobbly stand up to go over to your tent you’re way more tipsy than anticipated and almost fall over your own feet but he catches you. 

“Easy there…” he says and supports you to stand. 

“‘M-sorry… I think I overestimated myself…” you murmur and he gives you a warm smile. 

“You need any help?” his face is suddenly so damn close to yours and in all honesty he’s even more pretty up close. 

You shake your head. 

“You’re really pretty, you know that?” you almost purr and if the alcohol wouldn’t make your tongue that lose and your mind this hazy you would regret this. 

“Your scar too by the way…” 

Pero just looks at you for a long moment, his brown eyes locking with yours before he gently pinches your cheek. 

“How drunk are you?”, he laughs.

“Maybe a bit, but I mean it…” you protest with a pout. 

“I know” he answers and then adds “Thank you.” 

His smile is genuine, but so are your words. 

my masterlist

[23fallencomets]

FOP Go Camping!

ya girl knows a thing or two about camping and hiking so enjoy! this is from @dozyisdead’s prompt which was just FOP (among other things but i miss FOP) and i couldn’t agree more. also im from california so the boys are in Sequoia National Park :)

“This is dumb.”

“You’re dumb.” Fred mumbles, swatting Logan with one hand as he tries to mess with the music. Logan grumbles, crossing his arms as he flops back onto his seat.

“Local Florida man would rather get stranded in the Atlantic than sleep for three nights in California’s national forests, more at 12.” Oscar says, a little too awake for someone who only slept three hours over the last two days.

To be fair, Oscar has driven the first three hours out of Nevada after Fred had fallen down a rabbit hole of things one can do at Sequoia National Park a few days ago. Since there was a few weeks in between their next schedule, they got everything they needed for a spontaneous camping trip.

They had shoved everything in the little Civic they had rented once they got everything and hit the road at eight in the morning. The GPS said they would get to the camping ground—which Fred had miraculously found an opening for—by two in the afternoon, maybe three if they were lucky.

Oscar had knocked out the second Fred had gotten behind the wheel, curled up with his hoodie over his head. They were supposed to switch off in thirty minutes but traffic was still flowing and the nearest exit was still a few minutes away.

“Why are you even awake?” Logan asks, angling his body to look at Oscar. He still looks sleepy, eyes half lidded and heavy eye bags under said eyes. Oscar shrugs, fighting with the seatbelt as he tries to sit up.

“How far are we?” Oscar asks, squinting at the GPS. The 3hrs seems a little horrifying as he sits back, blinking hard as Logan hands him a little container of food and a cool Gatorade.

He eats the fruit as Fred and Logan continue to bicker over the music, the cadence of their voices overlapping each other almost soothingly as he tries to not fall asleep again.

Eventually they switch off and Logan drives a little faster than necessary, but they get there alive, pay the camping fare and get directed to their campsite.

It’s quite gorgeous, tall trees with red bark spiraling upwards until Oscar has to tilt his head all the way back just to see the tops of tree. He feels a little out of place, like if it’s a privilege he’s seeing any of this.

Between the three of them they set up their campsite, putting all their food in their designated bear-proof containers and tackle the four person tent. None of them know how to set it up and it takes them longer than necessary to finally put it all together.

Fred gets snappy around the four hour mark so Logan forces him to sit down on the a tree stump and eat a sandwich while they inflated the air mattress. The tent was surprisingly pretty big from the inside and the two mattresses fit easily.

After that it’s just arranging a few things before they can get started on an early dinner. While Logan and Oscar had been organizing the tent—and Fred had recovered from being hangry—he had started on a small campfire within the designated fire pit.

Some local in the market that had found on their way out of Nevada had recommended some meat that they can cook over the fire and how much they would need for three guys on a three day-two night camping trip. Along with that they had bought stuff for s’mores because Oscar and Fred clearly did not understand the inherent importance of s’mores mad over a fire pit.

“There’s this rock, Moro Rock and it’s 350 steps to the top.” Fred says while they make dinner, “It’s not that far from here, probably like twenty-thirty minutes.”

Logan nods, “There’s some sick trails,” He says holding up the map, “The dudes a few campsites over recommended the Meadow trail.”

With a formed plan, they finish cooking and eating before figuring out their sleeping arrangements. In the end, Logan and Oscar share one of the air mattresses while Fred sleeps on the other. They had bought thick blankets as they (read: Oscar) had the foresight to check the weather and it was supposed to be pretty icy at night.

When Logan and Oscar wake up, they find Fred tucked up against Oscar, the cold clearly having gotten to him. It takes a while for all of them to get up, the cold making them want to lay in bed a bit longer.

They revive the fire and make a quick breakfast before changing into the proper attire for hiking. They did buy hiking boots but the weather was supposed to heat up later in the day so it was shorts, a long sleeve, a backpack with snacks and water bottles, and a light sweater.

Oscar is reading fun facts throughout the drive to the actual park and Logan forks over the $35 day fee.

The rock itself is impressive but Oscar looks at the steps apprehensively. They curl around the formation of the mountain, a single chain separating the upward and downward traffic and keeping hikers within the steps.

They get halfway up before Logan starts regretting his decision, his calves and thighs burning with each step. Fred is barley ahead of him and clearly having the time of his life as Oscar grumbles behind him. The view is gorgeous, snow capped mountains visible even from where they were. The air is slowly warming up the longer they go and by the time they reach the top, Logan is tempted to throttle an exhilarated Fred.

The three crowd around one of the information boards, reading about the Sierra Nevada and the Great Western Divide.

“I’m never trusting you again.” Logan mutters, his breathing heavy as he leans against Fred. The air is obviously thinner here due to the elevation and Logan is almost itching to go back down. It had taken a little over an hour and a half to climb and he knows it’ll be quicker on their way down.

“Enjoy the moment, you dick.” Oscar says, poking Logan’s side causing him to jerk. Fred giggles, taking a photo of the scenery, smile soft as he leans into Logan. He can’t help the heavy breath, the slight tremble in his legs as he lets himself relax. It’s still early enough that there’s not that many people, allowing them to enjoy each others presence.

It is grounding, seeing the expanse of forest ahead of them. It makes Logan feel better, a bit more at ease as Fred takes a picture of all three of them, sweaty and properly flushed before clapping his hand.

“This is going to be fun.”

And it was.

[weirdmageddon]

MMOLB UPDATES

haven’t been on here in a while so i’ll post some updates.

over the week, the site’s performance has dramatically slowed down because there are over 1,200 (lesser league) teams now. each one is playing a simulated game against another team, meaning above 600 games being played simultaneously. Danny has a new server ready and is getting ready to migrate it there.

new games are scheduled to begin every 2 hours, but because of the server throttling we apparently have had two spillovers on games that lasted more than 2 hours. it seems very unlikely (most games should end at about 50 minutes), but there are a lot of teams! the sim ticks keeping time probably slowed.

the election options are now available to view. Season 0 Lesser League players are going to be replaced by a new lineup on people’s teams going forward. there were clones at the beginning (the seed wasn’t increasing properly which has since been fixed but cloned players remain in the league) and other bugs, so this would be a way to truly start fresh. Season 0 really was just a test run anyway, so it’s understandable.

some people expressed sadness because they already got attached to their team’s players, but have we learned nothing from the incineration of jaylen hotdogfingers upon opening the forbidden book? nobody is meant to last forever. anything could happen. FACT.

the tentative schedule as i have come to understand it is as follows:

Games start Monday morning — End midnight on Saturday

Break during Saturday’s daytime

Reconvene Saturday evening at 6pm CST for the Home Run Challenge and Superstar Game.

“For the Home Run Challenge, each league's top hitter will pair up with the pitcher that gives up the most home runs, and they take turns trying to hit as many home runs as possible. After that, the Superstar Game is an exhibition game featuring the top players from each league forming teams and facing off at The Starfield! The winner of the Superstar Game will get home field advantage for their team in the Greatest Series, the final match of the Postseason.”

Games start up again on Sunday at midnight — Thursday afternoon (next week)

Friday and Saturday (next week) are for the postseason and Seasonal election.

the Sunday the day after the election, idk day of rest maybe?

for my personal team Tampa Strings, i want to put their stats here now for posterity. i’m going to pick Relegate during the election since i’d still like to see them around sometime in the future, even if they’re pulled to another team in the league.

Fortuna Skyes is my best batter, but Fox DeGrom and Fiona Shevchuk trail close behind her.

my pitchers are probably why my team’s W-L ratio is 17-24 despite my great batting lineup.

*foghorn sound effect*

i’m excited for the future of MMOLB, and glad to be here from the beginning even with all the kinks that needed to be worked out.

Danny and the Umps are doing a great job

EDIT: MMOLB has been moved to a new server and the site runs much smoother now.

also, from within a game, you can click on a team’s name and see their roster from there instead of having to get at it from the league standings.

stats for players are now visible on the site! however if you’d like a color-coded overview, there is a fan-created alternative we were using before stats were deployed on the site.

https://lunanova.space/mmolb/

it also still has its own advantages over MMOLB’s built-in stat display:

you can see a team’s overall stats all at once.

color-coded stats (table is sortable)

you can see your team’s ranking in your Lesser League Subleague, since the MMOLB site only displays the top 12. (Elo at the top of the page).

you can see your game history and quickly see the stats of the teams yours were up against.

[ros3ybabe]

Daily Check In - September 28th, 2023 🎀

did not do much today by my standards but I’m still recovering from this cold plus my allergies are acting up so I’ve been in bed a lot of today. I did accomplish some things tho so it was not a fully unproductive day for me!

🩷 What I Ate Today -

Breakfast - boiled chicken potstickers, hash browns with ketchup, and a coffee

Lunch - bowl of spaghetti with two pieces of buttered bread

Dinner - two slices of dominoes handmade pan pepperoni pizza and three slices of cheese bread

Extra - three more cups of coffee and not near enough water, half a green smoothie made with frozen fruits, spinach, and almond milk

I have not been eating the best recently and I know that, but I think that’s due to my hormones being messed up at the moment, my current sickness, my extreme fatigue and exhaustion, and a lack of physical activity in my life. However, I decided I’m going to try to go to the gym and get on the treadmill (maybe do some strength training if I’m feeling confident enough) at my university activity center at least three days a week so that way I can start getting some of my energy back and gain some more discipline and control in my life. I’m hoping I get to the point where I can be a runner again, I miss my 8 minute mile time, my running playlist, and how free I felt when I’d go running. So that’s a new goal of mine as well! My boyfriend even said we can go jogging together when I see him next weekend, so I’m looking forward to that for sure!

🩷 Personal Accomplishments -

Did the dishes

Brought my laundry from the dryer to my room (have yet to put away clean clothes)

Night time skincare

Studied Duolingo/Busuu for ~20 minutes

Skimmed through first Genki lesson in preparation for actually studying from the textbook

Showered and washed my hair

made a tentative workout schedule in google calendar for next week

🩷 Academic Accomplishments -

completed and submitted extended assignment for psychology class

completed and submitted lab report for anatomy lab

began paper set up for first section of research study paper for psychology class

again, not a super productive day but I’m still happy with it. I got a decent amount of stuff done and I have some stuff I want to accomplish tomorrow, which I will list below.

🩷 Academic Goals for Tomorrow, Sept 29th -

Complete a rough draft of first section of research study paper before 10am psychology lab

Begin taking notes for module six for my health for sport and fitness class

Complete practical assignment for health for sport and fitness class

~20 minutes japanese study using apps

🩷 Personal Goals for Tomorrow, Sept 29th -

Morning and Night skincare

morning and night guided journal

work on content for RD mentor instagram

Go to bed by 10pm (be asleep by that time!!!)

Drink at least one liter of water

Only two cups of caffeine

Don’t buy anything from the university food court!

wake up early <3

not the most specific personal goals but still things that I know I can achieve! I’m super tired and it’s not even that late and I haven’t done much this week. That’s how I know I made the right decision to take time for myself. always have your own best interest at heart, in a positive and healthy way! Don’t push past your limits and don’t let yourself burn out! It’s easier said than done but taking care of yourself is so important! That’s something I need to continually remind myself!

til next time lovelies 🩷🤍

[junosita]

Chapter II Reunion & Reflections

~ February 24th 2038

The ‘Salt Lake Crew’ has finally returned to the base. After about 4 months they’re back and their goal has been accomplished.

For the past week or two Juno has been spending her free time close to the gate so that she could observe the people coming in. Well today was her lucky day. Just as she was getting comfortable the gate opened up and she saw Owen and Abby walk through with the others. She watched them walk to the medical center, deciding to let them settle back in before she went pestering them.

After a few hours Juno went looking for Owen but ended up finding Manny and Jordan instead.

“Hey Juno,” Manny called out, seeing the lost look on her face “Who’re you looking for?” He asks once he has her attention.

“Owen, any idea where he is?” She asks, looking between them both.

“Haven’t seen him since we got back” Jordan chimed in then looked at Manny for his answer. “Me either, your best best would be Mel or Abby” Manny pats her shoulder, “Hope you find him”

“Thank you both” She smiles at the two men before heading off to the medical center.

She finds Mel at the medical center and asks her if she’s seen Owen. Mel shakes her head and tells her he ran off before she could ask where he was going. Juno huffs and thanks her before running off. After a couple minutes of searching for both Owen and Abby she huffs and decides she’ll quit looking for now. He’ll come find her before night comes.

He did not come to find her before sunset. Abby did though. Well not exactly. Abby came to find her around 9pm.

A soft knock on the door pulled Juno’s focus away from her book. She got up from her chair and padded over to the door. She pulled it open expecting to see her brother but was pleasantly surprised by Abby instead.

“Hey..Owen uh wanted me to check up on you, y’know since we were gone” Abby says, leaning against the door frame.

Juno smiles at the taller woman “I’m alright, how is he? I haven’t actually talked to him since you guys got back”

“He’s alright, the trip shook all of us a bit so he just needs some time away from..everything” She explains.

Juno nods, “right, well I’m glad he’s doing okay” there’s an awkward silence for a moment “How are you doing?” she asks tentatively.

Abby doesn’t answer immediately, “I’m okay, just a little sleep deprived”

“I bet, you should get to bed, get back on your sleep schedule” Juno suggests.

“Yeah, you’re right” there’s a pause in the blonde’s words, “I’ll see you in the morning?” she asks.

Juno nods “Yeah- yeah absolutely” she grins wider “goodnight Abby”

“Night Juno” Abby waves, walking off to her own room.

Juno watches the other woman walk off for a moment before turning back into her own bedroom. She takes a moment, thinking about the interaction. She’s only spent a month in total with Abby but something felt a little off. Maybe it was just because of the trip to Jackson. She said that everyone had been a little shaken up so maybe that was it.

~ March 2nd 2038

Juno thought she was losing it, she had to be losing it actually. There was no way she was starting to fall for Abby. Her brother’s ex. There was no way. Except there was because she was absolutely falling for her. Day by day she became more infatuated with the older woman. Speaking of Abby, Juno had patrol with her in a few hours.

“Jesus, again?” Juno murmurs to herself as she braids her hair, “I’m always on patrol with her”

She complained as if she hated the older woman.

The next few hours went by quickly, so did the first half of patrol until Abby started asking questions.

“Hey, Jun are you doing alright” Abby asks, holding up a garage door for Juno to duck under.

“Huh- yeah um” Juno stops herself before she starts unnecessarily stuttering.

Abby gives her a once over “You’re quiet” she states simply.

“I uh..I’m just a little tired” It wasn’t a lie but that wasn’t why she’d been so quiet.

“..Alright then”

The silence that follows is awkward but neither girl can dwell on it for long. Both of their thoughts are interrupted by the scream of an infected. They maneuver through the dimly lit building quietly, listening for any more screams or rustling. Along the way Abby used a shiv to take out a few unsuspecting Runners and Juno did the same with her bow. They were doing good until they came across a dim open room. The room was filled with an unsettling sound coming from the five Clickers inside. Two stood idly, in unnatural curled stances while the other three seemed to be searching. Abby took one in the corner while Juno shot the idle two with her bow. She aimed for the fourth one while Abby made her way to the fifth. Before Juno could steady her shot she was sent flying to the floor with the wind knocked out of her. A Stalker laid on top of her, trying to get a bite.

“Shit-!” She gasped, trying to pry the creature off of her. “Come on, get off!”

The last two Clickers in the room started to make their way towards Juno. Abby took them out with her rifle before rushing to help Juno with the Stalker. She kicked it off before shooting it in the head. Juno took a moment to gather herself before taking Abby’s hand and standing.

“Are you bit?” Abby asks a bit impatiently.

“I'm clean” Juno confirms, grabbing her own rifle and scanning the room.

It was quiet. Eerily quiet.

“Keep an eye out” Abby murmurs.

They move forward, cautious of any dark corners or doorways. The building is still and silent as they progress. It seems empty but something is screaming at Juno telling her it isn’t. Her grip in her rifle is tight. The next room they enter is a mess, there’s clutter and furniture scattered throughout the room. Abby starts to take her next step but Juno grabs her shoulder, her other hand motioning to the rusted filing cabinet. Or rather what’s beside it. There’s a figure hunched beside it. It wasn’t a Clicker from what they could see. It likely wasn’t a Runner either. Was it a person? Or was it just a Stalker in plain sight?

The figure's head shot up as Juno took a step forward. The room became still and they realized it was indeed another person. They both relaxed slightly but didn’t lower their weapons. Before either girl could speak, the stranger sprung towards them. Without hesitation Abby raised her rifle and took the shot. The crack of the gun was followed by the thud of the body then again, silence.

“Come on..we gotta finish clearing the building..” Abby mutters, clearly a bit shaken up.

Juno follows after her. The building seems still again as they venture upstairs. The silence between them is full of stolen glances, some of concern, others of desire. The silence is broken by the cracking of floor boards beneath them.

Before either of them can get to a more solid spot the flooring caves in. Right through the previous floor as well. They end up in what they can only assume is a basement.

“Ugh..this seems to be a trend around here..falling through floors” Abby grunts, trying to pull her bag out from under the debris.

“Yeah seems like i-” Juno cuts herself off as she hears the familiar clicking. “Abby..” she whispers.

Abby moves quickly but quietly, pulling Juno into the far corner. Both of their bags are still stuck in the debris but there wasn’t time to grab either of them yet. The girls are flush against each other back-to-front. Juno reaches for the gun in her thigh holster but realizes she lost it in the fall.

“Shit..” she murmurs, opting for the switchblade tucked into her waistband instead.

She peels her body away from Abby’s with hesitance, lurking towards the Clicker. She takes it out from behind and lays it down. After listening for more infected they stand up and grab their bags. After a few minutes they get back to the floor they arrived on.

“Alright, time to get the fuck outta here” Juno murmurs.

“You couldn’t be more right” Abby huffs, leading the way to the door.

Once they’re out they decide to take a breather. They sit down against a tree in the more open area, leaning against each other.

Juno finally breaks the silence “Thank you” she nearly whispers. Her eyes are closed and her head is leaned back against the stump. Abby looks down at her before responding with a soft “for what?”. Juno huffs in slight amusement at the other girl’s question “For saving my life”

“Oh..anytime Jun” Abby smiles slightly.

Juno opens her eyes to look at the other blonde and her face flushes slightly. They were too close. She sits up, turning to face Abby while also backing up. More silence falls over the two of them.

“You’re too quiet” Abby points out.

“Thought you liked the quiet?” Juno asks.

“Not with you” Her face says that she doesn’t realize what she’s saying until after she’s said it.

They look at each other for a moment before Juno clears her throat and speaks up again. “We should head back..”

“Juno-” Abby starts but gets cut off by the smaller woman “Later..we..we’ll talk about it later.”

Abby nods, showing that she respects her decision. The walk back to the base is quiet, they don’t run into any more infected. Thankfully they don’t run into any Scars either. They part ways after arriving back, Juno going off to find Owen and Abby going to her shared room.

Juno ends up finding Owen in the mess hall, he looks like he’s waiting for somebody.

“Hey, Owen, can we talk?” She slides into the seat across from him.

“Yeah- you look a little stressed” He comments, studying his sister’s face.

“A little more than a little” she murmurs, she takes a breath before continuing “I kinda don’t wanna say it now..jesus”

“C’mon it can’t be horrible” he reassures.

“Would you consider me..being in love with your ex as horrible?” she asks hesitantly.

Owen’s jaw drops “are you serious?” There's no anger behind his words, just pure shock.

“Yeah..” she puts her face in her hands.

Owen takes a breath before continuing. He assures Juno that he isn’t upset with her before anything else. He tells her that if that’s the way she wants to go then go for it. She almost can’t believe her ears. When Mel shows up she takes it as her sign to leave but not before saying bye to the both of them. She heads back to her own room with things to reflect on and things to prepare for.

Series Masterlist

[lifeofkaze]

Scattered Stars

Saturday morning began early for Lizzie. 

The sun had just begun to show its face on the horizon, its first tentative rays filtering into the dormitory, when she gently pushed her cat off her, quietly got dressed and slid from the room with her peacefully sleeping friends. 

The Hufflepuff dormitory was close to abandoned, with only a handful of house elves wandering about cleaning out the fireplaces. Lizzie smiled as she passed them, even more so as her eyes fell on the other person who had just stepped into the common room.

“You’re up early, Captain,” she greeted Orion with a quick kiss on the cheek. “It’s barely even light outside.”

“What’s early for one is late for the other.” Orion inclined his head. “Care to join me to greet the rising sun?”

“If only I could,” Lizzie sighed, only partly as a joke. “I’ve got a full day ahead of me. There’s loads to prepare.”

“An evening of peace tastes much sweeter after a day’s worth of work.” When Lizzie didn’t reply, he tilted his head. “You haven’t forgotten about tonight, have you?”

A smile spread on Lizzie’s face. “How could I?” 

Having given her a short but sweet kiss goodbye, Lizzie pulled herself together and fetched some parchment from one of the study nooks. For now, she would have to put the thought of her date with Orion aside; she had other things to take care of first.

Almost an hour later, Lizzie wearily put down her quill. Preparing the study material for her tutoring lessons had taken longer than anticipated, and the common room had begun filling with students in different states of sleepiness. Her stomach rumbling noisily, she stuffed her notes into her bag and joined the stream of Hufflepuffs headed for the Great Hall, her mind already on the next task on her list. 

After a quickly gulped-down breakfast, Lizzie made her way to the Transfiguration classroom, where a flustered-looking Andre Egwu was already awaiting her.

“Where were you?” he called out as soon as Lizzie had closed the door behind her. “I’ve been waiting for you forever.”

“I’m only five minutes late, at most.”

“Five minutes we could have spent working,” Andre tutted. “No time for squabbling now, darling. The Spring Ball is in two weeks, and I have so many outfits to finish. I’ll be forever grateful you’re helping out with modelling but I do need to ask you to get undressed now. And stop laughing,” he added when Lizzie started giggling, “this is fashion, not fun.”

Over an hour Andre directed Lizzie to try on dress after dress, turning this way and that. They were still far from done, and way behind the schedule Lizzie had worked out for the day. When Andre was finally satisfied, both their patience had worn thin, as had Lizzie’s cushion of extra time. She hurried on to the empty Charms classroom, in front of which Penny was pacing back and forth.

“The meeting of the ball committee is about to start,” she called out as soon as Lizzie was within earshot. Hectic red spots were dotting her cheeks. “What took you so long?”

“I got held up.”

“By what?” 

“Doesn’t matter. Come on, let’s get inside.”

The meeting turned out to be more of a chore than Lizzie had expected. The discussion turned from matters of drinks and snacks to whether Firebugs were a suitable means of providing ambience light. Lizzie grew increasingly frustrated with her peers’ unwillingness to reach any sort of conclusion and earned herself more than one irritated glance from Penny. 

As soon as they were done, she shot out of her seat and from the room. When she arrived at the library slightly out of breath, Rowan had already piled up Arithmancy books and writing utensils all around her. She looked up with a frown as Lizzie slumped into the chair next to her.

“Where -”

“Yes, yes, where have I been, I know. Late, sorry.”

Rowan pushed her silvery glasses up her nose. “No, I meant, where is your bag?”

Lizzie looked down at the feet of her chair in astonishment, half-expecting to see her bag with her notes and parchment standing there. Realising she must have forgotten it either at Andre’s or Penny’s she cursed, which earned herself an indignant look from Madam Pince, and hurried to retrieve her things.

Studying usually came easy to her, but today, Lizzie had trouble concentrating. She was hungry and tired, and the topic Professor Vector had them cover rather complicated. When she was nearly done with her assignment, Rowan glanced at her parchment with a frown.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked, pulling Lizzie’s parchment toward her. “That’s different from what I have.”

“Of course I am,” Lizzie said, sounding more irritated than she had meant to. Rowan had broken her from her thoughts about her upcoming tutoring session. “I did it exactly according to the book.”

“The new part, yes,” Rowan said, shaking her head, “but the base calculations are all messed up.”

Lizzie snatched her parchment back, groaning when she realised that Rowan was right. 

“I’ll change it tomorrow,” Lizzie sighed, rolling up her parchment and cursing quietly when she realised the ink hadn’t fully dried yet. “Looks like I need to rewrite it anyway.”

“We can revise it together if you like.”

“I know what I’m doing, alright?” Lizzie snapped. “It was just an oversight. And I don’t have time anyway, I have some tutoring to do.”

A couple of minutes later, Lizzie arrived at the Transfiguration classroom, once again late. The parts she had prepared in the mornings went well, but when it was time to improvise what she hadn’t been able to complete beforehand, Lizzie found herself becoming increasingly snappy with the hapless students trying to turn their mice into snuff boxes. 

Everyone was glad when the lesson was over. On Lizzie’s part, the sentiment faded when overheard their students whispering among each other as they left the classroom.

“What was up with her today?”

“Snapping at Maddie like that for making a small mistake.”

“Have you seen her snuff box? I swear it still had whiskers.”

Feeling the strange urge to accelerate her steps and bump into the gossiping students from behind, Lizzie let herself fall back. When they were out of earshot, she slumped into one of the cloisters, fighting the tears welling up in her eyes. 

They were right. Her Transfiguration had been awful, but she had still been thinking about what Rowan had said about her assignment, and Penny’s strong case for roses in favour of peonies, and all the gossip Andre had told her without asking and her head was so full that it felt close to bursting. 

The rest of her day carried on much in the same fashion. Somehow, Lizzie was always late, always distracted, and wherever she went, her annoyance grew. Hungry, tired, and thoroughly fed up, she made straight for her dormitory once she was done and curled up beneath the covers to instantly fall asleep.

She woke hours later when the door creaked and light spilt onto her face.

“Oh,” Penny’s voice gasped, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were in here.”

“Where else would I be?” Lizzie grumbled, turning from the light and pressing her face back into the pillow.

“Don’t you have a date tonight?” 

At that, Lizzie immediately sat up straight, almost falling over herself in her hurry to get changed. Hastily pulling fresh clothes from her dresser, she risked a look at the alarm on Rowan’s nightstand, cursing when she realised the time. Not bothering to give Penny a goodbye, she rushed from the dormitory and out of the common room.

By the time she reached the foot of the Astronomy Tower, she was breathing heavily. Heart still thumping in her ears, she tilted her head back to where the metal staircase in front of her spiralled upwards into darkness. Contrary to when she had first gone up there with Orion exactly one year ago, there was no moonglow lighting the way up but even from down here she could see the stars glittering through the openings in the walls. 

Taking another deep breath, Lizzie began to climb. She had almost reached the top when footsteps sounded on the metal above her, prompting her to stop. A moment later, Orion came into view on his way down. A look of surprise crossed his face.

“Thank Godric you’re still here,” Lizzie blurted out before he had a chance to say anything. “I’m so so sorry for standing you up. So sorry. I just wanted to quickly lie down for a second because the day was so horrid and I must’ve fallen asleep and I… I…”

Before she could say anything more, the tears she had pushed away for the better part of the day finally spilt over. The end of her sentence got drowned in a sob, and Lizzie had never been more glad than when Orion took the last few steps separating them and closed his arms around her.

“I didn’t get to see you the whole day,” he murmured, running his hand up and down her spine in a soothing manner. “As fleeting as a gust of wind.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Lizzie sniffed. “You know I didn’t. I hope you know I didn’t because I honestly didn’t.”

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“Nothing. Everything,” Lizzie said. She wiped at her eyes, furiously so when her tears wouldn’t stop coming. “Everything I touched today went wrong, and everybody is angry with me, and the only thing I was looking forward to was stargazing with you and now I’ve even missed that.”

“The stars will be here for a little longer, but when your mind is scattered like a pile of leaves you won’t have the mindset it takes to enjoy them,” Orion said gently. “I need you to pull your thoughts together, Chaser. I need you to be here with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I said. Come on.” 

He took her by the hand and led her up the stairs until they stood on the platform of the Astronomy Tower beneath the starry sky. 

“Look up,” he told her, doing so himself. “How far away they are. And yet, don’t they look so close?” 

Lizzie dipped her head back, breathing in the cool night air. “As if you could touch them.” 

“As if they’ve come to tell us something.”

“And what would that be?”

“Listen.”

Sceptically, Lizzie turned her face skywards again and became still. Having listened intently for several moments, she glanced at Orion from the corner of her eye. 

“I don’t hear anything.”

“Don’t you?”

“Not really.”

“Because I do. I hear the rush of the trees below. I hear the wind falling from the sky, blowing around the castle. I hear the beat of my own heart. Don’t you hear these things, too?”

“Sure, but…”

“That means you have arrived,” Orion said and pulled her into his arms, “right here, in this very moment.”

“Haven’t I been here before?”

“Do you think you have?” When Lizzie didn’t reply, he continued, “The whole day, your mind was torn apart, dwelling on things that lay behind you and in the future alike. Splitting yourself up like this, you won’t ever be able to live in the moment at hand, finding balance in all the small wonders surrounding us.” 

“I just wanted to help my friends.”

“Have you, though?”

Lizzie hung her head. “I promised them. I can’t just go back on my responsibilities because I don’t feel like I can ‘appreciate the moment’.” 

“I never said you should. A gust of wind can scatter leaves, or it can blow away the dust and leave behind nothing but clarity. It’s a matter of perspective.” 

“I don’t know about this, Orion,” Lizzie sighed, resting her head against his chest. “I messed up, there’s no talking around it. We all have bad days. It is what it is.”

“One bad day shouldn’t spoil a beautiful night.”

“I’m trying, okay? It’s just not that easy to let go.”

“Then I know exactly what you need.”

He leaned in and kissed her, long and lingeringly. When he pulled away, Lizzie took an inadvertent step after him.

“I might need more of that.” 

Orion laughed and turned from her, and it was only now that Lizzie saw that he was holding his wand behind his back. Before she could ask the reason, he’d already stepped towards the platform’s railing, where two slender shadows had appeared, hovering at knee level.

“You’ve summoned our broomsticks?”

“It appears to be so.”

“Why?”

Orion mounted his broom, pushing Lizzie’s towards her with his foot. “You’ll find out in a minute.”

Her curiosity sparked, Lizzie climbed onto her Silverswift and followed Orion as he steered his broomstick away from the castle. They flew down and away from the lights twinkling in the old windows, staying well out of sight, until they reached the shore of the Black Lake. 

Much to Lizzie’s surprise, Orion didn’t land. He accelerated instead, going so low over the water that his feet would have gone beneath the surface had he stretched them. Confused, Lizzie did likewise. Wind whipping through her hair, she lay flat on her broomstick to become even faster, flitting over the surface of the lake until everything around her was reduced to a blur. 

When they reached the middle of the lake, Orion stopped.

“Look around, Chaser,” he said, taking his hands off his broomstick and crossing them behind his head as he turned his face skyward. “Up is down. Down is up. Earth and sky, both the same.”

Still somewhat sceptical, Lizzie did as he had bade her, and the sarcastic remark on the tip of her tongue faded. 

The wind that had blown around the top of the Astronomy Tower had ceased. The water beneath her feet was smooth and still, a perfect layer of black ink in which the myriad of stars in the firmament above were mirrored. The sight stretched as far as the eye could see, and as Lizzie raised her eyes, the sea of stars continued there, scattered everywhere around her, above her, below her, as if she were floating in the endless vastness of the universe.

“Up is down,” she whispered.

“The world is full of wonders, full of beauty and inspiration,” Orion said softly. “We only need to be present enough to see it.” 

Lizzie pried her eyes away from the glittering star-sea, resting them on Orion and his patient, loving smile. Suddenly, her throat became constricted and she could feel the tears rise in her chest but this time for entirely different reasons. She flew closer to him, so close that she could lay her hand against his cheek. 

“Thank you,” she whispered, “for everything. I didn’t know how much I needed this.” 

“I wanted to show you this for a long time.”

Lizzie’s eyes went soft. “I love you, you know.” 

If Orion was surprised at her admittance, he didn’t let it show. “I love you, too.” 

Butterflies swarming in her stomach, Lizzie leaned in to kiss him but before their lips could touch, a sudden gust of cold water had them break apart. Too stunned to even squeal, Lizzie had just enough time to see the end of a giant tentacle vanish in a big ripple on the otherwise smooth surface. 

Shaking his wet hair from his face, Orion burst out laughing. 

“Something tells me the Giant Squid isn’t a fan of romance.” He chuckled at Lizzie’s dark look. “Let’s go back. This little universe around us may be beautiful, but it sure is also pretty cold.” 

When they had reached the Quidditch pitch and changed into the training gear they had found in the changing rooms, Orion took Lizzie’s hand, intertwining their fingers as they made their way back to the castle. 

“How do you feel now?” 

Lizzie grunted. “Cold and wet.”

“And besides?” 

Lizzie paused and turned her head so that she could see the surface of the Black Lake in the distance. The wind had picked up again, and it was bitingly cold and made her shudder, but it also made her feel the warmth of her cheeks, and Orion’s hand in hers, and how her body was thrumming with the heat of her blood as if there was fire coursing through her veins.

“Lizzie?” she heard Orion ask. “Are you still with me?”

“Yes,” Lizzie smiled, turning her back on the lake and its beautiful darkness and toward Orion and the light of the castle. “I’m here. Right here.” 

[z-h-i-e]

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

I end up on the fence on the 'write what you know' advice. On one hand, I do it constantly, but on the other hand, I'll go learn things so that I can write what I now know. It's that whole 'method writer' thing for me -- which is, undoubtedly, what I am, because I argue I'm more a storyteller who sometimes writes things down than a writer. Anyone who has spent significant amounts of time with me in Discord has gotten to hear headcanons and scenes and dialogue which may or may not ever be written. But I digress...

What do I know... I feel like I've lived a very blessed life in many regards because of all I've had a chance to experience. I am or have been all of the following: musician, artist, teacher, librarian, retail clerk, professor, politician, advocate, genealogical lecturer, consultant, writing coach, life coach, event coordinator/scheduler, manager, newsletter writer for a historical society. I ran my own business twice. I've worked in the public sector, private sector, and as an independent contractor. I've had many opportunities and had a chance to see things from many facets -- in theatre, for example, I've been a musician in the pit, an actor on the stage, and director behind the curtain, and a playwriter who should have been in the audience but knew the stage manager and got to hang out in the wings.

I seize opportunities - sometimes, I end up a little overwhelmed, but I (usually) overcome the obstacles and succeed. Where we came from and what we know makes us who we are. I was poor twice and middle-class twice. There's a big difference between eating ramen because it's what I could afford and eating ramen because I want to eat ramen (I'm eating ramen right now). All of those experiences start to seep into writing. When I was four years old I almost died. I spent the better part of a week in an oxygen tent. Since then, I've dealt with neurological and muscular issues that suck, but are better than the alternative. I didn't sleep, really sleep, until I was 35, when I was diagnosed with apnea. Sleeping scared me the first time I got a full 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. 8 hours of unawareness. Nightmares were worse -- no one should have their first true nightmare in their mid-30s. That shit was really hard to unpack. My therapist should have been paid double the going rate for that year. (I'd had some weird fever dreams prior to that -- around ten years earlier, I had a second 'shouldn't have lived through that' experience when I rocked a temperature of 106 for several days -- but those were nothing compared to actual nightmares.)

Fanfiction is a much cheaper alternative to therapy (and, solidly gets an A+ from my therapist as one of my top coping mechanisms). It's journaling about life, it's sharing ideas, it's documenting daily journeys, it's fun and relaxing, and I've been doing it since I was 8. That is a significant stretch, really. The first piece was turned in as a school assignment. I used to write fanfiction for Super Mario Brothers, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and of course, ThunderCats. And I'd read it to classmates during class time, voices and all. I got to do my junior year cultural paper on Klingons, and I gave a lecture senior year on literary sources and their connection to the themes and storylines in ThunderCats. I have continued to read fanfiction in public at open mics and other events - it's the best way to mainstream and normalize it, and gosh darn it, it's been a far easier nerdom thing to normalize than furry bowling nights were. (I do miss furry bowling night, though. But I digress.)

So I do end up writing about things I know, and I've lived long enough to have a whole bag of holding full of experiences and memories to draw from -- and when I don't know something, I (usually) want to go and learn about it. I took up kickboxing and karate in college so that I could learn how to better write fight scenes. I spent a month of driving on my own to places I'd never been before to get into Fingon's head a little more (because you know, rescuing Maedhros was not the first time Fingon up and left on his own). I keep a bow at the door, next to my red shoes, because I think that's what Beleg would have done. I took the golden flowers growing at the house we live in as the sign that we should buy that house, even though it was a short sale and a pain in the ass to get through, because I was going to find a way to live in the House of the Golden Flower even if it took all summer (and it just about did). Then we planted strawberries there, for Samwise, because you know he and Rosie would absolutely have strawberries growing in their garden. (I can't take credit for the fox that lives in our yard - he showed up on his own - but it's as good of a second confirmation sign as any that we did end up in the right place.)

So that's a lot, and my lunch is almost over, but I almost feel like the question is less what do I know and more what do I not know. Everyone draws a line somewhere.

Horses. I do not know horses. Middle-earth has a lot of fucking horses in it. He's got a horse, she's got a horse, this elf over here's got a war horse, this other one has a war horse but it has jingle fucking bells on it... yeah. Lots of horses. Now, I'm in a state with lots of farms. Fair amount of horses. I see five different horses on my drive to work every day. Why is horses not a thing in the what we know category... well, I'm pretty convinced that with a head that size, you never know when one is going to open its mouth like an alligator and eat you. I'm not taking chances. Don't talk to me about logistics or physiology. I didn't make it this far in life to be eaten by a horse. So we're going to play it safe on this one and just read a book. I have a bunch of books about horses. Riding horses, fancyass dressage books, horse identification. People see my books, they say, wow, you must like horses! Hells no. You ever hear the whole 'keep your friends close, keep your horses that might eat you in two bites closer' line? Well, now you have. So that which I do not know and do not experience comes from books.

The end.

Thank you for your question, Anonymous.

[bearpillowmonster]

D23 Haul

Eh. No Kingdom Hearts. No Big Hero 6, that would've made everything worth it but I feel like lately companies have been showing too much too early. Here's Incredibles 3...it's happening, dunno what it's going to be, when or anything else but it's coming! Frozen 3, concept art, 3 years from now...which is so far away that I wouldn't even plan on getting people's hopes up, look at Beyond the Spiderverse, where is that? I don't mind waiting for it but they set that original date too soon, it wasn't just the strike, it was that they weren't even ready for it to begin with, it was a pipe dream and only makes people more wary when something gets delayed. I thought we learned this from CP2077 but apparently nobody learns anything.

On a positive note, I'll allow the Lilo and Stitch one even though Detective Pikachu set the standard for those designs but it had a cool intro. Tron at least had a cool laser and Nine Inch Nails (though no actual music reveal) Zootopia and Moana did great. Snow White actually got a trailer. Toy Story told us what it was about (even though it sounds tacky and seems in part with the og TS2 concept)

The parks. Yeah, we're gonna have a Lion King Land and an Encanto Land and a Frozen Land and a Villain Land- "Well, when is that?" Uh, yeah, left on read, so we have pictures! "That's concept art. That's not going to be how it'll look." Come back to me when you have models or animatronics and did you really just tell us that LK Land was based on the 1994 movie and show us concept art for the 2019 one? AND it's just Splash Mountain but with Pride Rock? You've had since 1994 to think something up and that's it?

Look at all the hotel concept arts to what they ended up being. So you're telling me that you won't (not 'can't', 'won't') spring for a new dragon for Fantasmic (which is literally on the poster for it) but you'll make a whole side-park for villains and add a dragon. And the walking mat...yeah, that's cool technology but that's all you're showing. You didn't incorporate it into anything. "Yeah, we're going to use this in the future...for something!" It's all tentative.

Well, what about the games? They had a big presentation set out after announcing that they wanted to get back into games. The stream actually taking place within Fortnite. They had an Epic Mickey panel celebrating its remaster and original release. They have all these Marvel games in the works, Kingdom Hearts (of course) and rumors that the Disney Afternoon cast will join in Fortnite, a vague Epic Games collaboration announced earlier in the year. So what did we get? I'll start a bingo card...Oh...it started a half hour later than scheduled. Ok? Oh, it has the leaders with Dave Filoni, Pete Docter, Kevin Feige and Jennifer Lee and they each have something to announce. Ok, Disney Villains in Fortnite. More concept art. Ok? The Incredibles in Fortnite. Ok, a picture. IG-11 with Baby Yoda backpack and Moff Gideon coming next week. Ok, this is all Fortnite, maybe they'll get that out of the way first. A bunch of Marvel cast which was inevitable as they have most in there already, ok. Black. Huh? Black? Oh, it's over, they didn't say bye, they didn't say anything else, just DONE, mic drop. You needed a whole event and panel that was delayed...for some skins?

I thought they were holding back throughout the year to save stuff for the game event but no, they were actually just trying to scrape the barrel to make stuff for it, maybe that's why they delayed it, they realized that they didn't have anything and had to try to get everybody that got applause on stage. They didn't seem to know what they were doing, like these people were thrown in, quickly briefed to add a quick word before grab the wheel and show it. It reminded me of trying to stretch out my powerpoint in college to meet the 5 minute runtime.

Show me stuff, sure, there was no shortage overall but I feel like concept -> production -> marketing -> release should be how it goes but lately it's all been combined with production taking a backseat and release still on the GPS. Show me earlier stuff at an event like D23 but make it past the concept stage first, show me production!

They design it to generate hype so much before the fact that by the time it actually releases, you feel like you've seen everything and nothing is no longer a surprise. "Oh yeah, Incredibles 3 is coming out. I could've expected that but now it's real and I heard about it 20 years ago." It's not just Disney, it's every corporation, I see it with game shows. Oh...a title card...oh...CONCEPT ART. I love concept art but it's more something I like to see AFTER THE FACT as bonus of seeing 'we went from here to where we are now!' but I see the whole journey now, I don't need the after the fact, you're not investing in your future, you're investing in your now so that investors will see this, it's no secret, it's not about the mainstream fans anymore that actually do most of the promoting for you and give it the returns. It's a bunch of rich people buying into other rich people and the audience just happens to be outside fueling it.

[thoughts4all]

Day 296: Amazing Trip

I want to talk about this amazing trip I went on this past weekend. Before I begin I just want to say I am proud of myself for staying accurate with the number of day of each post. I constantly take breaks thus had to count back multiple time. Today I realized tumblr shows the date of each post so I just counted from post one and it is indeed accurate. Anyways, here is my amazing trip.

The build up. This weekend, I set out to Oktoberfest. I live in Germany and Oktoberfest is an internationally recognized holiday. I thought to myself, I have to go. My co workers said I should go, and after hearing that a previous intern even bought a lederhosen without even being in the Oktoberfest season, I knew I had to show up. I bought my lederhosen and started looking up the event. I texted some friends I hug out with past weekends but they were all busy. I heard you don't have to be at the fair grounds all day and I could probably just go home after participating in the early shift. I decided against it since I wanted to party and also meet people. I booked a hostel/campsite that consisted of international travellers with a decent number of them being solo travellers like myself. I quickly booked the place for an eight person shared tipi and did not look into it too deeply.

Pre-excitement. After going home and looking at my reservation more thoroughly, I got even more excited. The place had unlimited alcohol alcohol for 15 euros a day and hostel a party comprising of many fun activities. Additionally, there were group chats being made on the platform and on instagram which was bringing solo travelers together. I was excited, I knew I was not going to end up alone on this trip and at this festival. My lederhosen game the day of my travel and fit decently well which was a relief. My bavarian roommated semi approved of my cheap lederhosen and suggested I wear my timberland boots with my outfit. I got my gear and I was ready to go. I was working from home to get there as early as I can. I left right away and ran to the train station only to realize I was looking at the next weeks schedule instead of today. Coupled with bus substitutions for trains and a delay to miss a connection, I arrived over four hours later.

Amazing start. On last bus to the campsite, I was already in Munich and noticed a group of guys mention camping. When I found an opening in their foreign conversation, I asked them if they were going camping and where they are from. These guys were about 29 years old, big and scaring. The group was from Slovakia and they were going as well. They were not very social but at least friendly. The bus stopped right in front of the camp grounds and we could already see the tents and hear the party. I was checking in an started talking with another group. They were Spanish and Venezuelan and also decently older than me. I knew most people if not everyone was going to be a good deal older than me at this event. They were super friendly and we were talking through the entire check in. To my surprise the event was being hosted by Australians. They handed us a drink even before we checked in. After checking in, I miraculously got promoted to a single tent - which I later go on to being incredibly grateful for - and the Australian guiding me to my tent was super nice and chill; He was quit his job and just was just traveling.

Superb first night. After settling into my tent, I headed out towards the party. I was walking around for the first bit when I noticed a group of girls my age. Finally there were people that weren't half a decade older than me. Started up with a casual conversation and turns out they were exactly my age doing an exchange term from California. I immediately started chirping them for being American - me being Canadian and all - and then started teaching them Canadian slang and handshakes. I got along with them super well and kind of joined their group. The reason I was able to join their group so easily was because I told them I had a girlfriend so my only motivation was to make some friends my age, and I was cool as hell. The night went on, I became really good friends with them. We met some Hawaiian girls our age and ran into other guys like the Spanish guy from the check in. At the end of the night, they invited me out with them for Oktoberfest and told me they would wake me up after walking me to my tent.

Crazy day. I woke up two hours early to piss and I was still a tad drunk from the night before. I went back to bed in the cold tent and woke up from my light sleep from my new friends calling for me outside the tent. After getting ready, I got my free breakfast with one of the Hawaiian girls from last night. Heard she had a long distance relationship as well but what long distance even before her study abroad. After a delayed morning we all set out for Oktoberfest. Having the german travel app, I lead the enormous group to Oktoberfest through transfers on public transport. It was cold a cold day to not wear a jacket or a sweater but it decided not to anyways, which I now regret since I am sick. We got into the Hofbrau tent - where all the loud Americans and Australians go - to meet up with their friends who had a table. There were so many students on exchange from their particular university from California. Even my group was considered new to them so we only talked within our little camping group. While talking with a really drunk girl, she mistook my extraverted vibes for flirting and was trying to kiss me. I ducked away and my new friends helped by standing between us. We met some middle aged German dudes who were snorting tobacco. The urinals were funny; They were all connected so I was pissing in a stream of collected piss. I felt like a barn animal. The beer was strong and my group wanted to chug so I got really drunk. The drunkest I have ever been during the day. We decided we were getting tired and wanted to leave despite knowing we would not be able to get in due to the sheer amount of people and lines. Me and one of the girls wanted to steal a beer mug as a souvenir. On the way out I noticed another one on the floor so I picked it up. I guess it did not fit in the jacket because a security officer grabbed my arm. My first reaction was to run so I shook him off and sprinted. I was paranoid so I made a bunch of turn to loose any body chasing me. I ended up dropping one since I was so drunk and it shattered in. After walking around the entire park I decided I would have to leave the festival grounds and hide it. I successfully left, hid it in a bush and made it back. My friend I met a week ago came to see me. I met up with him and my new friends. We went to the devil's wheel and me and my friend did it. I ate a half chicken and after loosing hope to get into another tent, we decided we would try a bar in Munich. We left the grounds and I almost gave up on finding my hidden mug when my friend found it. We got snacks and mall food for dinner. Instead of heading to the bar, we went back to the campsite for free alcohol. Campsite was fun once again. I met someone from my university. I talked a lot with the Hawaiian girls and I will see them again in a few weeks when I visit their exchange city. I wing manned a girl talking with a guy from instagram but they did not have the balls to talk to each other in person. I met a Mexican guy who said I can come to his guest house whenever. I saw the Spanish guy from the first night. I met a guy who was acting so suspicious that he might be in the US army. We attempted an all nighter since the girls had a flight early in the morning but security escorted us all back to our tents around 4. Around 5 my girlfriend was too drunk back home so I had to call my friends to get her home safely. I woke up a few hours later to techno music at 8 am. So I went home early the next morning and slept for 6 hours in the day.

[molosmojo]

Hajj 2023: Performing the Hajj rituals

"All that you have been praying for and all that you have paid for, is finally here - the next 4 to 5 days are the most important days for each one of you to complete your Hajj and being called a Haji"

The coordinator's words for us Mashaeed (chaperone) had hit me hard - this was part of the briefing session just before we were to begin the final leg of our trip, to be performing the Hajj; being called a Haji!

While in the first 4 weeks, we had an exhaustive schedule, these 6 days when we had to perform the Hajj rituals, were 2x of what we had done in the past.

In addition to performing my Hajj rituals, I was nominated by our Masool (Group Leader) to be one of the Mashaeed (chaperone) for our group of 45 people. What it entailed was to get everyone to be present for each ritual, ON TIME (especially the ones who would always be late and make the group wait). To ensure that all local transport arrangements are made for the group so when they come, we don't waste any time and just leave for our rituals. I was extremely patient as a person to ensure I don't flare up on some idiots in the group.

Here's an overview of what we did during those 7 days:

Day 1: Sunday @ 25-Jun: in the evening, we left for the Holy Kaaba to perform our prayers and take on the Hajj Ehraam (only 2 pieces of cloth). We came back to the hotel and slept. This Ehraam would be our bodies for the next 4 days - they would come off only while taking a quick body bath.

Day 2: we were at the hotel practically till evening and then we left for Mina which was ~4KMs from the hotel. A bus was arranged to take us to Mina where we were staying in a tent. We were 40 men in that tent and it had bunk bed arrangements for resting/sleeping. I had chosen the top rack for myself. We were a total of ~5000 Dawoodi Bohras in those tents and had ~60; washrooms spread across these tents. It was an experience to wait in queues for the basics - getting up at odd hours to avoid the rush. Oh man, the first night in Mina was a tough one as I couldn't sleep with these thoughts "what's going to happen!"

Day 3: we finished breakfast (a light one) early morning and left for Namera - our base camp from where we would walk to the Arafat mountain. We reached our camp by 10 or so in the morning and we were welcomed with no electricity. It was tough sitting on those tents for 4 hours in that heat. We finished our lunch by 12 or so, offered our afternoon prayers and then got ready to walk to the mountain. It's considered as THE PLACE to offer your prayers under the Sun that day and God listens! It was a ~3KM walk to the mountain and we took an hour or so to reach there.... We offered our prayers and came back to Namera camp by evening to complete the rest of the prayers until sunset under the skies! It was one of the most difficult days when we were in the open practically the entire day. We finished dinner and then late at night, we had to go to Muzdaliffah where we had to sleep for at least 10 minutes. Sleep where? "On the streets,!" We started in our bus and could only manage to cover 5 to 6 KMs in 3 hours. I finally nudged the Masool to get down and start walking. It took us an hour's walk to reach Muzdaliffah by 4:30AM, offering one prayer and sleeping there itself. We laid our mats, shut our eyes in that chaos and slept for 10 minutes on the road, under the skies with people walking over us!

Day 4: post sleeping (or trying to sleep) for 10 minutes, it was time to offer our morning prayers by 5AM. We finished that and got the group together to collect 70 stones each to be thrown at the devil in Mina. The stones had to be carefully chosen, counting to exactly 70 - not more, not less! It took us an hour and a half to finish this and then the mad rush to get the bus to take us back to Mina. It took us over an hour in the morning to just get into our bus! We came back to Mina and finished our lunch. Then we left to hit 7 stones on one of the devils. It was a 1.5KMs walk to this place and we were done before the evening prayers. On our way back, we had to shave our head and boy, finding a barber and getting him to shave 18 heads, it took us 3 hours and a 5KM walk to get that done. We finally finished our rituals by 9:30PM that day and then had dinner. The sleep that night was a must and I slept too, like a baby on that top tier!

Day 5: sleeping the previous night was such a bliss....woke up fresh early in the morning and finished the routines. This day too was going to be a long day. We had to walk 5 KMs to Manhar from Mina to finish our Zabihat (sacrificing a goat). We were done with this in a couple of hours in the morning and then I went to look for a bus for the group to go back to our hotel. After some negotiations, he agreed to come and we left for the hotel to freshen up and leave for the Holy Kaaba to finish our Hajj Tawaaf. It took us 3 hours to complete this process. This step was the last one for Hajj and I was now a HAJI! We could finally change our clothes now! In the evening, we left from the hotel and came back to Mina to go for throwing 21 stones at the devils. We must have walked 25 KMs on this day!

Day 6: we rested the first half and in the second half, around evening time, we again went to throw 21 stones at the devils. My feet on this day were stoned - didn't feel anything there!

Day 7: we woke up early and finished the final round of throwing 21 stones at the devils and immediately left for our hotel.

Aaah... Hajj is all about hardwork and completing each step was an accomplishment! Each one of us had a sense of relief once we were back at the hotel .... Happiness all around!

[xtruss]

4 Ways To Save Your Lawn From Searing Heat, According To A Superintendent

— By Josh Sens | July 2, 2023

Getty Images

Here's how to manage a thirsty lawn. Some like it hot. But no one in their right mind favors unrelenting temperatures in the triple digits. Especially not if they’re caring for turf.

Blistering weather, like the kind now bearing down on much of the South, can be rough on superintendents and their grounds — and on homeowners and their yards.

Matt Guilfoil, a longtime member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association and the co-host of the turf-care podcast, From the Jingweeds, is the head super at Desert Canyon Golf Club, in the Phoenix area, where the daily highs this week have been pushing 115.

We asked Guilfoil what he does to prevent burnout of the agronomic kind, and whether those tips might also work at home.

1. Avoid Evaporation

You know how confidence in your swing can vanish in an instant? Water droplets on hots days are like that, too. Faster than you can say evapotranspiration, they dissipate into thin air. The takeaway? Don’t water at high noon, or at any other hour when the sun is blazing. You’re mostly wasting a precious resource. Before sunrise or after sunset are the preferred windows, Guilfoil says,, when temperatures are cooler.

You’ve probably heard that it’s bad to water at night, as it leaves the turf susceptible to fungus and other problems. There’s some truth to that, Guilfoil concedes, but it’s more of an issue in regions with cool-season grasses. Warm-season grasses are hardier that way; they can withstand an overnight soaking. “They pretty much want all the water and humidity they can get,” Guilfoil says. And they’ll be happier the next day when the heat kicks in again. If you’ve got a grass like Bermuda in your yard, don’t hesitate to give it an evening drink.

2. Target Trouble Spots

When grass gets dangerously dehydrated, it starts to discolor. With cool-season grasses, the hue looks almost blue, Guilfoil says. But with warm-season grasses, the color is more blackish. If you see a troubled patch starting to form, hand watering, or spot watering, is the way to go. Turn your hose directly on the parched turf, and keep irrigating until the soil is damp (a simple home test is to stick a screwdriver into the ground and pull it out, checking for dampness).

Spot watering is a common on-course practice. But just as not all supers have similar maintenance budgets, not all homeowners have an equal appetite for yard care. A lot depends not only on your schedule but your expectations.

“At some of the private courses around here, they won’t tolerate any discoloration and they’ve got the resources to keep things that way,” Guilfoil says. “I don’t have that luxury.” Something similar applies at home. “If you’re one of those people who insists on having the nicest lawn on the block, you’re probably going to be out there hand-watering. Otherwise, don’t sweat it. Your lawn isn’t absolutely perfect? There are worse things in life.”

3. Throw Shade

During the summer, Augusta National sets up tents around its greens to protect them from the sun. You could do the same at home, though you might catch flack from neighbors for being excessive, or attract unwanted guests who mistake you for Jay Gatsby throwing a garden party. Just make sure you allow for air flow underneath.

A more understated option is black netting, like the stuff superintendents sometimes stretch over newly seeded ground or a tee box they’re saving for a tournament. Usually, the purpose of the netting is to deter against birds or golfers. “But it can work as shade, too,” Guilfoil says.

4. Raise Your Mowing Heights

The tighter you mow your grass, the more delicate it is. During prolonged heat spells, do yourself—and your lawn—a favor by letting it grow a little longer. More resilience for the blades. Less work for you.

[jasminexbaudelaires]

[ A WEEK OR SO LATER ] Jasmine: I'm so sorry! I stg I didn't ditch you. Got distracted (no one is surprised), then broke my phone and had to wait for the new one. Jasmine: I am fairly certain I know which Insta account you're talking about, actually. 😂 Cows in the kitchen are 100% disastrous lmao. I've had kids in the kitchen when I'm cooking, though, and they tend to cause their own kind of chaos lol. Jasmine: I've never woken up to any sort of livestock in my bed before, thankfully. Went camping once and woke up to find a skunk outside my tent when I got up in the morning; that's about as far as I've come with having wild animals near my bed. That was an experience I don't want to repeat. Or well, at least while I was sleeping. There was that time the ranch hands thought it would be hilarious to fill my cabin up with chickens that were fucking *everywhere*. Jasmine: Ooh, what kind of convention was it? But my schedule is free most days in the evenings, so whenever you're free you can just stop by. Otherwise I'm usually helping the ranch hands. If I'm not there, you can usually find me on the ranch somewhere lol. Jasmine: No, oddly enough it started screaming when I screamed, and then it started laughing like a fucking asshole. I made that hand's life a living hell for the next month or so though until he made it up to me. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ Jasmine: This is a prime example of why the communities in Water World worked so well. They created whole worlds out on the water; granted the ice caps had melted and there wasn't much land, but still. I think it could work if we get the right materials. I mean, you could anchor the mini islands down and still make sure that the zombies can't climb them. I still don't think they could swim, though. If we're going from a realistic standpoint, zombies are corpses; if they're freshly turned then it'll be a sink-float-sink process as the body decomposes, but if they've been dead for a while then they'll sink because they're heavier than water. They'll probably be able to tread water or move around the bottom of the ocean, but you also have to think about the animals that live in the ocean. Most don't eat living humans, but there are plenty that will eat or nibble on dead flesh. So I honestly think that setting something up out in the middle of the ocean might be a good idea if you can prep decently for it. Jasmine: I'm interested in a fallout shelter for sure, but more like what you saw in the 100 or T3 or in Silo or even Fallout. But it would have to be a shelter that would be self-sustainable for years; something that could generate its own oxygen and food and everything. What about you? Jasmine: I honestly didn't know that bloaters existed outside of TLOU so that's fucking insane. If I saw them anywhere, I'm pretty sure I would rage quit whatever I was playing. 😂

Matt: Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarl! There's a goat in your bed! Actually...has that ever happened to you? Never lived that la vida Rancho before so don't know if that's an actual occurrence. I follow this one Insta where they bring a cow into the kitchen and it's hilarious and disastrous! Matt: IT'S TRUE! I am episodically challenged! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Matt:

Matt: I work today and I'm driving to Philly tomorrow to stay overnight for a convention this Monday but my buns are free Tuesday and Wednesday! How does your schedule look? Matt: Holy shit. I don't mean to laugh but then again, I do because hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahha what a fucking hilarious and dick thing for that ranch hand to do to you! Seems like the kind of shit I'd pull on Stells or Chris when we were kids. Did the Furby laugh when you saw it because I would've pissed myself for realsies Matt: Talking about all this prep got me wondering if it's possible to survive on a yacht. The thing I'm not sure of is if zombies can swim. In some games, they can walk along the ocean/lake floor because they don't need oxygen. But what about swimming? If you don't set anchor, they can't climb it or are even capable of it. The big issue I see, even if you grow crops in planters and have a fresh-water system, is how to maintain the yacht because wear and tear will happen. Matt: Are you interested in a fallout shelter? I don't know what goes into building one or the likelihood of ever needing one. Hell, if doomsday ever happens, my ass will be dust in the wind. Don't think I want to be around to see a nuclear winter. Matt: Bloaters... I play this one zombie game and those fuckers are the bane of my existence! They destroy my traps set up and inflict a helluva lot of damage to me and my fortress.

[brains4brawn]

Summer Camp, Football

I was so excited for science camp, it would be my last year as I would start college in the fall. The camp was huge and divided into four major sections; Arts, Sports, Science, and Space with Sports taking up most of the land. The different parts of the camp didn't mingle too much but every Fourth of July there was a gigantic celebration.

It was great seeing old friends and getting to bunk in one of the smaller Sci cabins. My best friend Jeff was assigned with me and we went over the catalog to see what classes there were for the seniors.

In the distance we could hear the rowdy football jocks. It was a trade off, the smaller more private cabins were on the outer perimeter close to the sports section, specifically the footballers. Jeff and I just ignored them while we made our schedules for the following 8 weeks. I started to unpack my huge suitcase into the dresser beside my bed, in the second drawer was a small football key chain with the camp logo emblazoned on it. I picked it up and got a slight static shock, I showed it to Jeff and he thought that some meathead must have forgotten it. We both laughed and well both got slightly turned on at the thought of one of those jocks sleeping in our beds.

The day went by quickly and soon we had our introduction dinner and met everyone in Sci. Soon though I was in bed, tired but excited for tomorrow.

Tomorrow came to early, I awoke at 4:19 am with tons of energy! It was like lightning had struck, i bounced out of bed and began to quietly pace hoping not to disturb Jeff. I decided to go outside where I heard grunting in the distance. I followed the sounds to a flat track woven in-between some cabins where some big jocks were doing an early morning run. One of them saw me and motioned to me, for some reason i went closer. This guy was stunning, he was shirtless and showing off his rock hard body. I felt my penis begin to tent as i drew close, He asked why I was here and I made up some story that my dad always takes me on early jogs and if i could join them. He looked me over and then said that any bro is welcome to join.

I got back around 6:30 my body sore but energized. Jeff was still softly snoring on his side of the cabin. I quickly went to the bathroom and took a shower. Jeff was just getting out of bed when I re-entered the bedroom, he rushed past me into the vacant bathroom, while he was getting ready I still was overcome with energy. I went to a spot on the wood floor and proceeded to do some pushups until I heard the shower turn off.

The next week flew by as I developed a new morning routine. Every morning I'd be up at 4am and jogging with Seth and his bros. They were all really welcoming, and I was having a great time just not thinking. Heck, Jeff even commented one day that I was looking healthier. It felt weird to keep this from my best friend but I know he wouldn't understand. Even though the guys here were awesome, Jeff had been bullied practically his entire life back home.

Afternoons soon became torture as my Sci projects were becoming harder to focus on. My body was brimming with energy and I couldn't wait for the two hours of free time before dinner. Jeff and I used to sit and watch the hunky Jocks play their different sports during the afternoon breaks but now I had the urge to join them. I feel bad for ditching Jeff but now I get in the water and go for a swim or grab some boots and go on a short hike.

Its been almost four weeks since camp started and I haven't felt this good in years. Every morning I get up and run with my bro Seth and the gang, then go and work out at the sports camp gym. By the time I get back to the cabin to shower and change Jeff is already gone. I feel bad for the little bro, he's obviously gay and a guy with my bod can't be easy to room with. It still kinda sucks that I'm in a Sci cabin but at least I'm not far from the rest of the footballers. After morning PT I go to strategy sessions and game history. Then the afternoon is spent playing touch footie with the guys.

The Fourth of July was a blast. All the different sports teams came together and we had scrimmages all day. The Sci Nerds showed off some dope looking robots and the Space Dweebs launched rockets. Later on the Theater Dorks put on a talent show, then came a cookout dinner BBQ. Lastly came the fireworks. As the sky was bombarded by the light, I noticed Jeff off by himself. Not wanting anyone to be alone I picked up my things and moved closer to him. Sitting next to him it was hard not to notice just how much smaller my cabin bro was.

At first he tried to ignore me, but fuck i am not someone who is ignored easily. I scooted my perfect ass up beside him and he told me to go away. I just sat there letting him get used to my presence, I felt an odd need to be protective of the little guy. I heard a sigh and then in a whisper Jeff asked if I knew how perfect I was.

Well duh, I am tall proportionally muscular and let's face it, any guy would be lucky to have a piece of me. Something awoke inside me, feelings that I knew were there but didn't want to admit. I was Mr. Popular, big man on campus, life of the party, but somewhere in the last month I had devolved a crush on this lonely nerd.

It was after midnight when Jeff and I got back to the cabin. I woke up with the little nerd spooning against my bod. Fuck it felt good having him next to me, my morning wood pressed against his back. Jeff woke up slowly and I felt the goosebumps as he realized his situation. His head tilted up and he looked into my eyes, I took the chance and kissed him gently..... which quickly turned into a passionate make out session... which....well, let's say the little nerd is one of the best cocksuckers ever. The moment I erupted into his mouth a slight bit of static electricity passed from me into him.

From then on we became inseparable. Jeff joined me for morning PT and came to support the team in our mock tournament with our sister campgrounds, while I tried my best to support his Sci shit. By the time we left, Jeff had put on some decent size and was getting along with all my bros on the team.

Epilogue:

Two men stand in the tiny cabin, marveling at how they'd spent so much time in such a cramped space. The taller man had just finished his second season in the NFL while his shorter husband had become the CEO of his own successful startup. The men stood there, reminiscing on how they met the summer before college and how they couldn't imagine life without each other. Jeff gave his husband's hand a squeeze before the two of them started their summers as owners of this special place.

[azures-bazar]

Peculiar Scents

Let's be honest, almost everyone agrees that 1899!John rarely takes baths and is somewhat dirty all day long ! lol

And here is another very weird one-shot my brain managed to work with ! I wrote this between 2 coffees while on a break, please don't mind my awful mistakes ! :')

The gif can be explained later in this one-shot ! This is not a ship.

John Marston x GenderNeutral!reader

Word count : 2k

Short summary : You can’t stand it anymore. This smell is terrible ! John didn’t wash in three weeks... and you can't let him keep going.  

A/note : This is NOT A SHIP ! The reader is having a very friendly/sibling-like relationship with John Marston. I’m too much into John x Abigail (or even John x Javier), sorry :’)

Tags : cute, John is terrified of water, ancient rubber duck, flowers, bath, good and bad scents, John is always dirty, chapter 3, siblings

"No !"

John’s voice sounded across camp. You and Sean had been chasing him for over an hour to convince him to wash himself. You had first attempted to be very nice to him, gently asking him to just rub a piece of wet cloth over his body, which did not seem to work much. Sean was more brutal, carrying ropes to lasso him while John kept walking around camp to get away from the two of you. However, despite giving your best effort to convince him to clean himself a little, John was not ready to accept your request. Abigail had begged you while Arthur had given up, you kindly obliged. 

"Pa’ always stinks !" you heard Jack say almost twice a day

"I can’t walk by his tent no more." the girls had told you

"Sometimes I feel like there’s a rotting corpse in his tent !" Pearson often complained 

"I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he’s peeing by his bed every morning to mark his territory…" Bill usually sighed when passing by John’s tent

In fact, you were one of the first victims of his terrible smell. Your tent was right next to his, and his horrible scent of sweat could only make you feel nauseous as soon as you would wake up and while he would open his tent flaps, unleashing his body odours for at least five minutes. The two of you were always paired to go on guard duty at the same time, so it meant that you were sharing the same schedule when it came to rest in your respective tents. Dutch had firmly refused to move your quarters away from John’s, believing it would certainly enrage Ms. Grimshaw and disturb her overall organisation. He also thought it would lead other members to actively start asking the girls and Arthur to move their tents depending on their moods… and Sean would have been the first to ask for his tent to be moved closer to Lenny’s. 

As far as you could recall, John had always hated baths, and it was painfully hard to convince him otherwise. When you got inducted into the gang by Dutch, just five or six years after John, you could easily remember his smell and how bad you felt when he was too close to you, feeling nauseous most of the time. You adored him, he was the closest to a brother to you, you were always paired with him and hanged with him quite often, but his overall body odour could not make you stay near him for more than a hour without leading you to get some serious migraines. He would wash every once in a while, probably three times a month, which was a miracle considering his hatred for water in general. 

Quite often, Arthur had to hogtie him and drop him into the nearest lake or river, or even go to the closest saloon to give him a proper bath. And, indeed, John hated that. He hated being hogtied and forced into water and would never miss the opportunity to complain whenever someone would do that to him. 

"Get back here, Marston !" Sean shouted from behind you 

"I said no !" 

"Oi, ya ain’t gonna go far, we can track ya with yer bloody scent !" 

Arthur watched you pass before him with a smirk, proceeding to draw a scene of you and Sean chasing Arthur in his journal. He could feel empathy for the two of you, despite this sight was probably the most delightful comedy he had ever watched so far. He had been at your place for years, and seeing someone else have to catch Marston to give him a bath was a very nice comedy to watch ! 

"John, please !" you shouted 

"Leave me be !" 

You kept walking around camp for a while as Sean was preparing his lasso. John’s quick walk was also quite comical to watch, the way he moved his hips and arms made him look like a real clown. A dirty clown. You grumbled as John started running away from camp, quickly getting on your horse as Sean followed you, climbing on Ennis. He was ready to lasso John, who was trying his best to get away from Clemens Point by running as fast as he could. What a surprising thing to watch, just a few weeks ago, he could barely walk due to his recent scars ! 

"C’mon Marston !" Sean laughed. "Some water ain’t gonna kill ya !" 

"Leave me and my dirt alone !" Marston shouted 

"Ain’t got a chance !" you laughed 

John was not going to let anyone take him to take a bath. He hated water, he always had. Bessie had been the only one who had successfully convinced him to bathe, he would do it as soon as she would ask. However, since her passing, it had been overwhelmingly difficult to get Marston to take a bath. He was deadly scared of water, for some reason. Arthur did try his best to teach him to swim, but Marston never succeeded, nearly drowning more than once. It always took a few gang members to drag him into water by now, and you were often among these poor fellers that would be chosen to give him a bath. 

After a very short time, Sean successfully lassoed John, you went down your horse, you tied his hands in his back. He started swearing, begging you to let go, wriggling as much as he could to set himself free. You had to pinch your nose, what a terrible smell ! Even Sean, who’s overall body odour was mix between whiskey and cigarettes, smelled better than John ! 

"Yer goin’ to take a bath, Marston !" MacGuire happily said, dragging John to Ennis 

"Leave me alone !" he responded, wriggling his arms to get the rope away from his wrists 

"I can’t stand your smell anymore, John." you grumbled. "I seriously can’t. So you’re going to take a bath or…-" 

"Or what ?! I ain’t a kid no more, Y/N ! You can’t just scold me like a child ! I ain’t a…-" 

"Next time, I’ll take our boat right here and throw you into the lake so you won’t ever reach the edge of Clemens Point." 

John gasped and grumbled, nodding in shame as Sean dragged him on Ennis. You led the way to Rhodes, heading to the saloon in which MacGuire paid for John’s bath, but refused to come with you. You were going to deal with him alone, while Sean would certainly drink at the counter and probably pass out. All the work was on shoulders, but you agreed with that. You led John to the bathroom, quickly pulling his pants down. Indeed, you were going to have to get him naked, which would certainly be the hardest thing you would ever have to do. 

"H-hey !" he blushed 

"Wanna get wet clothes ?" you asked 

"No, but do you really need to undress me ?" 

"Unless you do it yourself." 

John rolled eyes. You headed to the door and locked yourself in with him, he rose his hands for you to untie them. You obliged and turned around, giving him enough privacy to undress, grumbling a little while sliding into the bathtub. The water was foamy enough for you to avoid seeing his body parts, making you feel much more comfortable. Indeed, you did not want to see John bare body, so you would not dig your hands in the warm water. You turned back, John was keeping his knees close to his chest, giving you a death stare as you approached. 

"You ain’t gonna drown here, John." you said. "Relax."

"I hate you, Y/N. I hate you and Sean." 

"No need remind me, I already know that and love you too." 

"I said I ha…-"

"Me too."  

You walked around the bathtub, looking around the shelves, picking a very peculiar yellowish form into your hands. A rubber duck, you had seen many of these on the shelves of a variety of shops, they were relatively new in stores. John could not relax, you quickly threw the rubber duck in the tub, making him gasp as water got splashed over his grumpy face. 

"What the hell is that ?!" he asked, rubbing his eyes 

"It’s a rubber duck." you answered. "I think they got these to keep children entertained." 

"Do I look like a child ?!"

You nodded with a large smile, causing John to turn shades darker. You had been aware about him being constantly belittled by Arthur, frequently being told he was a child… you even heard Hosea mention that even little Jack was far much docile !

"When you refuse to take a bath, I swear I feel like I’m having Jack right here. It’s funny, though." you laughed

"Damn." 

"It ain't my fault if you can't behave better than your four-year-old boy."

"You can't be serious right now."

You laughed and shrugged, causing Marston to sigh. You watched John looking at this strange realistic looking rubber duck while washing his hair, calmly rubbing his scalp. He quickly became obsessed with this rather strange duck you have him, not even realising anything about his current situation. It gave you more space to wash him without a single complaint. You still allowed him to do clean the bottom parts of his body, not wanting to go any further than his chest. John sighed, still keeping the duck under his arm as MacGuire knocked at the door. 

"Dead-Eye MacGuire here !" he shouted. "Open the door ! "

"Don’t let him in." John grumbled. "Please, don’t."

"If I make him stay outside, you can be sure this place will be on fire in a few minutes."

"Christ sake..." 

Marston sighed and turned his down. You went to the door and opened, making Sean break into the room. While quickly looking at him, you noticed him carrying a broom in one hand, and a bottle of whiskey in the other. 

"It’s cleaning time, Johnny !" MacGuire happily shouted 

"Wait, what ?!" 

"Let’s get this dirt out of your body, fella !" 

"Get away from me you damn creep !"

"Sean, wait…-" you gasped 

Sean happy sipped some whiskey and dropped an empty bottle on the nearby chair, allowing you to close the door behind him. John curled up into a ball as Sean started rubbing the broom on his soap-covered back. Marston groaned, painfully holding the rubber duck against him while his fists clenched on the sides of the bath. You watched Sean scrubbing John’s upper body until it was red, preparing a new set of clothes while John was screaming how much he hated you. Both of you. 

"I want you to rot in hell !!" 

Thankfully enough, Sean quickly stopped scrubbing John’s body, allowing him to leave the bath to get dressed while you were not watching. John refused to mount on Sean’s horse and decided to get on yours instead, grumbling all the way back to camp while holding your onto waist. Arthur came to greet you with a warm smile, John pushed him aside and quickly got into his tent, closing its flaps. 

"Damn, he smells much better !" Arthur said, gently patting your shoulder. "How d'you do this ?" 

"Well, we had to convince him in a rather kin…-" 

"We had to use violence, English." Sean stopped you. "Bad business. Very bad business."

Sean walked away as Arthur looked at you with wide eyes. Violence ? What kind of violence did you use ? You gently shook your head, quickly explaining that the treatment you gave to John was not as violent as Sean depicted it to be.

"Violence ?" Arthur smiled. "You really used violence ?"

"Sort of." you shrugged

When the night came, you could finally rest. No more bad smell, you could breathe without feeling like a cow had just covered John’s tent with shit ! However, as the smell was gone, you could hear John groan, and Hosea’s voice sounding inside his tent. You had seen Matthews preparing a mixture to help John’s back to heal after being scrubbed so violently by Sean, and thinking about him applying his balm on Marston made you chuckle to yourself. You could hear how painful it was for him, he kept whining each time Hosea would touch his back. 

"At least, you smell better !" Hosea said with a smile 

Yes. At least, he did.