#Otherwise they probably wouldn't have sold it to me for $20!

[stellaluna33]

I bought a vintage umbrella with a long parasol-style handle online, because I was getting cold feet about re-covering the antique parasol I already have (like, YEAH, the silk is shattered, but the fabric is SO PRETTY, and they literally DO NOT make fabric like that anymore!* 😭), but... Guys. Guys. I have to stick with the original plan and just use this as an umbrella, because... Well, first of all, this umbrella is HUGE! Which is FANTASTIC for an umbrella! And LESS fantastic for me having to buy enough silk to re-cover this thing as a parasol. 😅. And the existing fabric, while dirty, turns out to be the sort of dirty I can clean. But also... I have needed an umbrella and this is the most majestic, unbearably elegant umbrella I could ever hope for, and DANG IT! I want to be unbearably elegant in the rain! Guys, the handle is So Long and ornate, it doubles as one of those fancy walking sticks, and when I finally make that grey walking suit I bought fabric for like 8 years ago, I will be SO DISTINGUISHED you will not even believe it.

(*Ask me if you want to know more about the gorgeous parasol fabric, haha)

[synthetic-venus]

Another rant about Sakura and the popularity poll

I have to admit that I was the first surprised to see Sakura coming third in the last popularity vote result. I was expecting her to be at least top 15, and would have been more than happy to see her top 10, so yeah, seeing her in third place was a bit of a shock.

Since the beginning of this popularity poll, I have tried to stay as far away as possible from all the scandals related to the cheating going on in the fandom right now. Firstly, because, let's be honest, most (if not every) fandom has been using bots or cheating techniques to vote several times a day for their favorite character. And secondly, because it is written black on white on the poll's website that all fraudulent votes will not be taken into account, so clearly, whether there is cheating or not, we shouldn't even care that some dumbasses aren't following the rules.

Nevertheless, I still keep coming across many posts insulting accusing the same fandom of ruining the experience of this poll because of their cheating and I have to admit that it's starting to slightly irritate me.

The anime community has always been hypocritical when it comes to the treatment of certain characters and their community. We're not going to change them now, but I'm getting tired of the harassment and hatred that a lot of Sakura stans are getting on a daily basis because they don't share the same taste on a fictional character as others.

Of course, the Sakura community is far from being innocent. But I think it wouldn't hurt for some people to put a little water in their wine when it comes to calling an entire community a "cancer on society" or "mentally retarded" because you've seen screenshots of a couple of randoms claiming to have voted 30,000 times a day for Sakura. (And not to be that person, but anyone who believes that you can vote that amount of time in one day is probably not the sharpest knife in the drawer...)

But let's be honest for a sec. What bothers most of these people isn't the cheating going on in the fandom, otherwise they would be denouncing all the fandoms doing this and not just this particular one. No, what really bothers them is that they have convinced themselves for so many years that Sakura was such an unlikable character, that they can't handle the fact that actually, she is, and has always been highly appreciated by the community. When I see some people saying that Sakura wouldn't even be top 20 without the cheating when in all the official popularity polls there have been she has always been in the top 14, It makes me laugh a little. It really shows how the internet has totally blinded a part of the community to believe that Sakura was hated by everyone.

Has the character of Sakura been undergoing a huge wave of hatred for decades? Yes.

Is the Sakura fandom one of the biggest and most invested in the Naruto community? Also, yes.

And I think a lot of people tend to forget that. Especially the ones who aren't Naruto fans but still jump on the anti-Sakura wagon train whenever they can because hating Sakura has kind of been one of the anime community favorite's private joke for years. But yeah, all this to say that it's not that surprising to see Sakura ranking that high in this poll, especially with all the content we've been having from her for the past few months.

With the manga and anime adaptation of Sasuke Retsuden, a lot of people seem to be rediscovering her character in a more positive light. Her merch is always sold out and anytime there is a little official content of her, the fans go wild. Let's not forget all the fan projects that are organized for her. If there is one thing that cannot be taken away from her fans, it's their investment in the fandom.

They showed it very well during this popularity vote by collaborating with artists and other fandoms to motivate people to vote. Moreover, they are the few who didn't fall into the trap of "the winner of the poll will gets their own manga" thing.

While a part of the fandom has been voting for undeveloped characters and therefore not necessarily the favorites of the majority, another part has decided to vote for one character in order to counter the votes of the Sakura stans, and as a result, are not even voting for their favorite character.

So yes, the results of this poll will not be representative of the opinion of the fandom. But it won't be the fault of Sakura's fandom as some people like to say. It will be because some people have either misunderstood the instructions of this poll (which clearly says to vote for your favorite character) and/or are so blinded by their hatred for a 2D character that they would rather see a character that they don't necessarily appreciate win the poll instead of her.

Honestly I don't care if Sakura comes first, third or ninth. But this poll has shown once again how rotten the community is and how they won't take any responsibility for their mistakes and blame everything on the Sakura stans. As usual.

[marshallpupfan]

Hey Marshall pup fan what’s your favorite and rarest Marshall item me my favorite is the old talking plushes from 2014 and my rarest Marshall item is the toys with the pop up pup packs and it’s probably the rarest items I own is the pups with the pop up pup packs

Believe it or not, my favorite is this figurine, from the "Pup to Hero" play set. I know that must seem odd, especially given all of the interesting items I have in my collection, but it's my favorite because it's one of the very few items I have that's just Marshall. Like I often say when asked this question, at the end of the day, it's the character I became a huge fan of, not his outfits and gadgets. I love having something of just him and nothing else, which we rarely ever get. In that regard, it's unique to me, which is why it's my favorite.

As for my rarest, it might be one of these two. The one on the left, a Christmas ornament, was an item on my want-to-find wishlist for years. For a while there, I was starting to wonder if it even existed at all, as I legit only ever seen evidence of it on some old website. Sure enough, one finally popped up on Ebay one day, and I was so quick to snag it! Honestly, I doubt I'll ever see another one again.

Otherwise, my other rarest is likely this figurine of Marshall in his winter cap. You wouldn't believe it, but this thing often goes up to around $75 or more on Ebay! I managed to get this one for about $20, but only because I imported it from the United Kingdom (guess it's not as rare over there). Sadly, shipping was another $20, but that's still cheaper than ones sold here in the United States. 😅

[trillscienceofficer]

I gotta say, you're posts are making me think how hilarious Chakotay/Seven are, and I love how it's actually coinciding with me figuring how to write a story with Seven and B'Elanna. Also! I agree the moment B'Elanna figures out about them, she would be "WTF, man!" At Chakotay, since that was all I could picture when I was trying to write a scene between them.

* (In my head, Chakotay/Seven was angsty and then hilarious because for me, Seven hasn't spoken to Chakotay in 20 years. And then I realized when Seven breaks up with someone she ghosts them for 20 years or kills them. and then does the opposite with Raffi).

Oh man I just keep thinking about Chakotay/Seven because you're so right, it's hilarious as a pairing but also angsty.

Between Seven being Seven and having no experience with relationships whatsoever (and facing said new experience like she does with everything else, with the subtlety of a battering ram) and Chakotay who I think is genuinely fond of Seven (he's been in her corner pretty much since he put his own brain on the line in order to disconnect her from the Collective) and could be very patient with her but also has his own bad experiences with women using and/or deceiving him. I don't know what he would do if, for example, Seven confessed that she used his likeness in a holoprogram. It could get angsty very fast, is what I'm saying.

But in general I think of them as a funny couple, I think most of their interactions would go much like the scene in which Seven and Chakotay kiss for the first time. I'm sure Seven will keep thinking that there is a script they should follow for 'progressing' the relationship and Chakotay sighing and having to explain that no, actually there is no script, until Seven finally gets it. (But Seven will keep trying to find the way in which you can Win At Relationships And Sex because nothing is worth doing unless you can do it perfectly the first time around, isn't it.) I think Chakotay understands that Seven generally cares more than she lets on, and he's challenged her to express said care and broaden her horizons a few times over the years (“One Small Step” and “Natural Law” come to mind) and Seven does care about him a great deal otherwise I don't think she'd have ever suggested they try dating in the first place.

And yes lol B'Elanna will be SO DISAPPOINTED in Chakotay once she learns of his relationship with Seven, there's no way she would take that information with any kind of neutrality. I'm not sure she would confront him, mostly because by that time she's probably very busy with a newborn baby, but B'Elanna would think less of both of them for it.

I can't blame B'Elanna tbh, Chakotay and Seven are kind of odd together and I'm not sure it would've worked out in the best case scenario, but being thrown back into the Alpha Quadrant basically a few hours after having decided to be together? I really don't think the relationship survived for very long, especially since we know Chakotay got a Starfleet commission and Seven didn't. That was very likely the final blow, and it was probably ugly and full of angst. I wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't spoken to each other in 20 years like you said.

And by the time of Star Trek: Picard it has become a bit of a pattern for Seven, hasn't it, to just run as fast as she can away from anything that has a chance to hurt her (I'm thinking of how she tried to run away even in “No Man's Land”). To be honest I don't blame her given the whole Bjayzl thing—by the time we see Seven again Chakotay is likely a very distant memory for her, and the end of that relationship just the beginning of all her troubles in the Alpha Quadrant. But it's not like Chakotay did much better for his part since he got stuck in the Delta Quadrant again, lol. Truly a couple of people who do Not have luck by their side!

I'm sorry this got so long and rambling, I'm just weirdly fond of this ship! I wasn't always but talking to @avoicefromthestars really sold me on them and @fate-motif has the best ideas when it comes to their post-canon breakup. I'm very glad if you can see the potential of this ship even a tiny bit, and now I'm very curious to see how you made it fit with writing about Seven and B'Elanna 👀

[andguesswhat]

Diary of a mall Santa Claus

14

Theft Day

* "What the hell??? Where's my jacket???" Timmy searches in panic through his backpack, "And my...! Someone stole all my money out of my wallet! And my jacket is gone!" During the shift, someone apparently broke into Timmy's locker. Armie wished it had been his. The shop assistant is nice and understanding, but in the end she can't help much. Especially not right now. Completely frustrated, Armie and Timmy step out of the mall and Timmy immediately begins to freeze. Armie takes off his jacket and gives it to Timmy, who accepts it gratefully, but he wishes he could do more. For instance find this asshole and pull his ears out so he could have some elf ears for life. "What about you?" Timmy looks at Armie. Armie shrugs his shoulders. "I'm not cold." "Wrong world, huh? You more or less only know warm temperatures, you should be cold." Armie shrugs again and smiles slightly. He still doesn't know how to help Timmy. And wishes he could. Timmy points to the watch Armie is wearing. "Wow, is that real? I mean, if it is, it's weird to have one of those and still have money problems so you have to work at a mall as Santa, isn’t it?" Armie muses. "I never thought of that before... But when you're right, you're right." He pulls out his cell phone and looks for the nearest pawn shop. "Come on..." he says, pulling Timmy along with him, shortly afterwards into a cab, and 20 minutes later he's sold his watch and is a rich man. Why didn't he think of this before? Well, actually he is very glad that he didn't think of it earlier, because otherwise he wouldn't have met Timmy. And he doesn't want to think about that for too long.  Timmy seems a little intimidated since they were at the pawn shop, he hasn't said much, probably feels guilty about giving Armie that terrific idea, but Armie is busy anyway. Again he searches his phone until he finds what he's looking for. "Ok, come on, let's get you a new jacket." Again he pulls Timmy along with him, who tries desperately to keep up with Armie's pace, until they're in front of a fancy store.  The saleswoman is about to close the store, but Armie knocks on the front door and gives his most charming smile. "What are we doing here?" whispers Timmy behind him. "This is way too expensive for me, I can't afford it, Armie." "You don't have to," Armie simply cuts off Timmy's concern. The lady comes to the door, opens it and smiles, "Sorry, we're just closing." "Yes, I know, but please, someone stole this young man's jacket and it's freezing." He hands her a fifty dollar bill. The lady looks at them both, her smile widens and she opens the door without taking the bill. "No need for that." Armie and Timmy enter the small boutique and Timmy's eyes widen even more, his fingers wandering over the racks of clothes. "Did you see the prices?" he whispers to Armie again. "Yeah, but don't worry about it. You know how much money I just got, right? And I really don't care, okay? I want to do this. You can pay me back when you get your first role in a blockbuster, okay?" Timmy looks at Armie for a second and finally grins. "Okay." "So hurry up, the lady wants to call it a day."

Timmy obviously knows what he's doing. He looks through the racks of clothes briskly, admiring this and that and "That would look good on you!" and finally finds a big, fluffy coat that will definitely keep him very warm. And although Armie kind of liked how Timmy looked in his way-too-big jacket, he looks absolutely stunning in this one. And how happy Timmy smiles makes it twice as worth. That smile stays on Timmy's face the entire ride, too. As they catch a cab to Timmy's apartment, Timmy lets his fingers glide over his coat, feeling the buttons, telling Armie about his favorite designers and how much he loves to express himself with clothes and how he wishes he had the money to do it. "I don't know how to thank you," he finally says when the cab pulls up. "No need. Glad you're warm now," Armie replies. And then Armie suddenly feels a warm Timmy against his body, Timmy hugs him tightly, and Armie holds his breath because he didn't expect to have Timmy's face so close to his. A soft "Thank you, Armie," a kiss on the cheek, and Timmy turns to open the door. "See you tomorrow!" "Yeah, have a good night." The door slams shut. Did his voice just quaver? Armie sees the cabbie's amused look in the mirror. Okay, it did. Armie sighs. There was a reason he doesn't do that boyfriend stuff. He doesn't like it when things happen that he can't control. When he can't control his own emotions.

These are just stupid hormones!

*

[msommers]

modern actor/celebrity AU for any two kids u wanna talk about :>

oh boy, this is a fun and silly one let’s go. okay so the obvious first candidate would be maeve

we been knew she could pull off being a big star. one of those wombo combo writers and actors who ends up starring in one or two or a few of the adaptions of her own works on top of the other things she stars in. i could see in some worlds her also(/or) releasing music tbh

speaking of—Of Course as an actress she primarily works on period or fantasy pieces because she loves the drama and romance of them. other than that i could see her being a hit in rom-coms, romances, musicals, and thrillers. i would personally kill for a maeve role in a period paranormal film, i simply think it would be dope

an absolute hoe for con panels, online interviews and podcasts guest spots because it's the perfect excuse for her to get all passionate and eager to share about her works with the folk who are the most interested. don't let her do any of those puppy interviews because she'll want to adopt all of them by the end of it

legally obligated to make a joke about her having her own taika/tessa/rita moment in the media of the cameras catching her with more than one partner. which leads into her being ardent about openly talking on her polyamory & bisexuality whenever she can to spread more proud and positive representation.

caused a meltdown in her fan community one time because she dyed her hair a deep purple out of the blue and debuted it thru a fuckn insta story or something unassuming lmao

second kiddo would have to be riya lmao

one of those celebs who was in the spotlight from birth because both of her parents are famous. grew up a media darling and ate up all the attention, probably became an influencer in her late teens because of being so active on social media.

unfortunately i know in my heart that she would be the worst little diva imaginable when she first starts working because she's been spoiled her entire life. real big "i'll be in my trailer k bye" "i want this very specific flavor of ice cream that's only sold out of country ready for me or i'll throw a fit" "yeah i'll wait for my driver who cares if i'm 20 minutes late" kind of energy. people put up with it because she's pretty, is surprisingly good at acting, and her daddy's the one who got her those first roles and everyone loves him so they don't wanna make him upset by bringing up the fact his daughter's kind of a brat ://

has a new partner on her arm like every damn month. probably becomes a whole Thing for fandom and certain media outlets to predict which co-star she's going to start hooking up with whenever the cast is announced for her next project tbh

the majority of her roles are rich characters because she plays the part well and positively adores being put in expensive wardrobes. can't be convinced otherwise that her most well known role wouldn't be some type of princess in a fantasy or historical, she'd eat that shit up. the material, the wardrobe, the constant instances of people addressing her ass princess in interviews which needs to be stopped her ego is big enough as is please god

she's probably been involved in multiple instances of people recording her in embarrassing/shameful/private moments and selling the clips off to online tabloids. being shamed by her mother for behavior at a party in some back room, a loud break-up outside of her hotel at 1am, talking mad shit about one of her co-stars while drunk outside of a club as she waits for her driver, etc etc. hopefully she grows up and stops behaving like that lmao

send me an au and i’ll tell you 5 headcanons for it!

[torislander]

rant

the worst part about being emotionally empathetic is that i cannot control it.

every video i watch makes me cry; videos of someone who lost a loved one, videos of animals, videos about someone being murdered, videos of people dancing, videos of people scoring a goal in a game, videos of war, videos of someone singing, videos of someone winning something, videos of people having fun.

it literally doesn't matter, i cry over everything.

i love it when people are really good at the things they love so i always cry over happy videos where someone is just casually doing really well at something that they like.

i also cry when other people cry, whether it's happy or sad or otherwise, if someone else tears up i will too.

i spend half of my time at home crying.

i cry during every movie i watch. i can probably count on one hand how many movies didn't make me cry. i even cry during like crappy low-budget films that absolutely should not make anyone cry.

if i hear someone arguing with someone else and it's very clear that one of them is in the wrong and the other one is just being horrible, i will literally cry out of frustration for that person.

i just get really sad for other people.

i cry the most when i don't have the comprehension of what someone is going through. so sad stuff where someone talks about how their friend died or how their boyfriend was murdered or how their country is at war. i have never experienced death at all, let alone war, therefore i have almost zero comprehension of what that could possibly feel like and then i just sob.

i saw a video earlier today of a girl sharing texts from her little sister who is presumed dead in palestine (the little sister is abt ten) and she was saying goodbye to her older sister because she knew she was going to die, so naturally i cried and cried while reading these texts because no one, let alone a child, should have to be kept awake by the sound of bombs wondering when (not if) one is going to hit her. anyway, i was reading comments and some people were like "this almost made me cry, that's so sad" or "omg i teared up at this, i'm so sorry for your loss", as i was literally on the verge of hyperventilating...

i'm obviously not judging anyone cause not everyone cries over these things and that doesn't mean they don't feel as horrible about it as i do, but i just literally don't know what it's like to not cry over something like that.

i also cry for myself sometimes when i tell a story of something that happened to me.

at work we swap stories all the time and sometimes they're like sadder things that happened to us (we don't trauma dump or anything, no one ever cries when sharing it's just stuff that were maybe not Over but we're more or less past (or it's just easy to talk about))(but sometimes they'll tell me a story of something that happened to them and it'll make me tear up and i have to pretend to go grab something so i can wipe them away loll)

but one time i was telling them this story about the last job i had where i worked last thanksgiving. we had a super long line out the door all day because people were picking up their pre orders and stuff (it was a bbq restaurant and we sold smoked hams on holidays that ppl would pre order). so anyway, so bc all of the orders were already in the system their order slips wouldn't print out when i check them in. i had to manually go in and re print it so it would send it to the kitchen so they would know what order to grab. some orders would take longer than others if they ordered to pick it up warm and got a lot of stuff, so it wasn't unusual for someone to sit there for twenty minutes (tops) while they waited.

this one lady came in and i forgot to fucking send her order slip to the kitchen. after abt 20 minutes i notice her sitting there staring at me and she looks pissed but a lot of people who came in that day got pissed when they had to wait 20 min because people are stupid. anyway so i kinda just ignored it bc i figured it'd be out in a minute and also i was super busy. another 20 min go by and i look up and she's sitting there and i was like "oh shit. i fucked up." meanwhile this lady is just sitting there scowling at me ten feet away. (now mind you, she did not at any point come up to me and question me or go up to any of my coworkers to question it, she chose to just sit there all pissed off for 40 min) so i kinda waved her over and i was like "have you still not gotten your order" which obvs she didn't so i was like "omg im so so so sorry, this is all my fault, i did this, i feel so bad, i am going to go tell them to drop everything and make yours real quick" which is exactly what i did, i went and begged the kitchen to drop their orders and make hers (knowing that they'd be pissed w me and they were but i didn't care) and her order was out in like three minutes. i offered her cake i offered her a drink and i continually apologized profusely to this woman bc i felt horrible about it. i felt so horrible abt it that i started to cry. in her face. i had to go into the kitchen to the back for like a quick sec to wipe away my tears and pull myself together.

but yeah, it was my fault and even though this woman didn't use her words and ask me abt her order for forty minutes which obvs was weird i still felt horrible and cried bc i was mad at myself For Her.

anyway, my whole point is that i was telling my current coworkers this like two months ago AS A FUNNY STORY AND I STARTED CRYING WHEN I WAS TALKING ABOUT THE PART WHERE I APOLOGIZED TO HER LIKE WTF IS WRONG W ME ITS A FUNNY STORY AND IT DOESNT EVEN MAKE ME SAD I WAS JUST SO FRUSTRATED WITH MYSELF BC SHE WAS FRUSTRATED WITH ME THAT IT STILL MAKES ME CRY.

i dont know what i'm talking about anymore so i'll shut up but i'm just saying i cry too much.

[ladynestaarcheron]

Like Pristine Glass - Chapter Fifteen

ao3 - ff.net - masterpost

(tagging these cuties: @humanexile @skychild29 @rhysandsdarlingfeyre @candid-confetti ​ @rhysandsrightknee @missing-merlin @azriels-forgotten-shadow @books-and-cocos @sezkins79 @city-of-fae @someonemagical @dusty-lightbulb @messyhairday-me)

what’s this?? a chapter for lpg, not 10 day after the last one?? bet your bottom dollar!!

thanks so much as always @thestarwhowishes!! and thanks to all my marvelous readers. i love you all so much. thanks for taking a chance on my weird maladaptive fantasy and sticking around<3

---

December 20 - Year of

Nesta hadn't realized Emerie's shop was closing for Solstice, and apparently, Emerie hadn't realized Nesta wasn't celebrating.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, eyebrows raised, as Nesta entered.

"Working."

"The Commander left last night."

"So? I'm not his keeper."

"You don't...you're not going for Solstice?" Emerie frowned, like she couldn't understand.

Nesta shrugged. "I did not grow up with this holiday. I don't care about it."

"But it's fun," Emerie said, bewildered.

Nesta rolled her eyes as she began rehanging coats. She certainly did not classify an hours-long sit-down meal with her sister's in-laws as fun. Last Solstice, in fact, was a contender for Least Fun Night of Her Life.

"Your sisters probably bought you presents," Emerie said, pestering, which was quite unlike her. It was this obsession with Solstice, this worshipping. Apparently, her employer was infected with it as well. "Don't you like presents?"

"I prefer to buy things myself," Nesta said. She never did get the point of surprises. If you chose something yourself you couldn't possibly be disappointed, which she told Emerie.

"You can ask for something."

"Why do you have to wait for Solstice, then?" Nesta said. "If you want something, just buy it. If you have money. And if you don't, you can't celebrate anyway."

"Solstice isn't just about gifts."

"I don't worship your gods," Nesta said carelessly, making her way behind the front desk. She rifled through some of the papers she had on file—they ought to start thinking about spring wear, if they wanted to stay ahead of everyone else. "We should order lighter wear in January. Start putting things on the racks in February. Judging by how much we've sold this month—"

"I'm not very devout," interrupted Emerie.

Nesta looked up from the papers. Emerie's dark eyes were unblinking, her brown face schooled in a different expression from her usual indifference.

"All right," Nesta said.

"I don't go to any temple on Solstice."

"Fine," Nesta said. She didn't care. She had never been to a temple in her life.

"I still celebrate."

"Fine," Nesta said again. "I think we should order lighterwear in January."

"You should come to mine for dinner tomorrow evening," Emerie said.

Nesta narrowed her eyes.

"I was just going to go to the bonfires," she said. "But we could have a proper dinner."

"You're not spending it with your mother?"

"No...I eat breakfast with her."

Eugh. Breakfast with the whole family. Nesta cannot imagine any day deemed worthy of waking up early and then immediately being barraged by people.

"Fine," she said. "Will you look at this? My predictions for February..."

Emerie wasn't religious, as she said. This wasn't a dinner of worship. Or insufferable so-called family—Emerie never pretended to be Nesta's adoptive sister. Just...someone whom she got along with.

That was fine. This wasn't...instead of something else. It was just dinner. She'd had dinner with Emerie before. Before...before she'd started having it with Cassian every night.

This was fine.

December 15 - 1 year after

Their beautiful new archivist walked like a queen: back straight, chin set, stormy grey eyes surveying all that she saw as if considering everything in her path. All that went away when she picked up a book to read, melting like sugarberry ice in the summer, and it was Zeyn's favorite way to see her.

Her posture changed. Nesta always stood like she had a broom tied to her spine—did it not hurt, he wondered, to be like that all the time?—and when she found herself a quiet corner of Sugar Books, she folded into herself, unaware of her surroundings. Sometimes she would even mindlessly tug on a lock of her hair, tug it right out of the precise braid, and it would curl downwards, playing on her lashes—

"You're staring at her again," Maz snickered.

Zeyn snapped his head back to the book he was supposed to be working on. "I am not."

"Hush, Maz," Leyla said. "He's in love. It's sweet."

"It's creepy."

"I am not in love with her. And keep your voice down," he added, lowering his own dramatically. He risked a glance towards Nesta. Whether she was ignoring them or truly couldn't hear, he could not tell.

He wasn't in love with her. He had only just met her. But how could he not stare? She was so perfectly beautiful. Like she hadn't been born, like she'd been expertly made, sculpted by gods.

"You only think she's beautiful because she's High Fae," Maz said, sounding a bit sour.

"That's ridiculous," Leyla said, cutting in before Zeyn could himself. "Nesta is beautiful. But don't worry, Maz, we think you are, too." She winked as she picked up her crate of books and left.

Maz's eyes followed her out of the room.

"I'm sure she meant it," Zeyn teased.

"Oh, shut up. Go back to staring at Nesta."

"I wasn't staring."

"Were so..."

There was no point in arguing. It sounded pathetic, and it felt it, too. But it didn't need to be that way, right?

"Oh, great, there he goes," Maz muttered under his breath as Zeyn stood. "Off to swoop in on the scary pregnant lady."

Zeyn sincerely hoped she hadn't heard that. Nesta didn't appear to like to talk about her pregnancy much. She didn't like to talk to anyone about anything much. She was private to the point of secrecy.

"Good book?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

"It's all right," she replied, not looking up.

"Never did read any human-authored stuff much," he said. What was that flicker in her eye? "Maybe you could recommend some to me."

"That's my job."

He laughed. She didn't.

He cleared his throat. "So," he said, trying to find something else to talk about. "Are you excited for Solstice?"

That got her to look up. "You have Solstice here?"

He laughed. "Of course we do."

"No, I mean...the holiday?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't we?"

Nesta looked back down. She closed her book, though. "They don't have it everywhere. In the Summer Court," she added. "They...only celebrate the one in the summer."

"Oh," Zeyn said. "Well...we like to celebrate whatever we can in Sugar Valley." He grinned. "I suppose you've already seen the list of Solstice festivities." Erest, the town councilhead, had been proud to announce it at last week's town meeting. He had hung it on the notice board at the inn, and she was still staying there—although not for much longer, he thought, as Adil definitely had some sort of plans to find her somewhere else.

"I have not," she said.

"Oh. Are you...going back for Solstice? To Prythian?" Perhaps, because she had not realized it was a holiday here as well, she had made plans to leave.

"No. I'm...I don't have anything planned." Something was sitting on the tip of her tongue, behind her red lips, pursed shut. But she didn't let it out.

"Well, you should come to one of the town's celebrations!" An idea clicked into his mind. "I mean, you'll have to come to ours, right?"

"Ours?"

"The Sugar Books celebration. We have a staff party. Solstice Eve."

No one did anything on the day before Solstice, did they? So when he announced to them that they all had to come and pretend like it wasn't only for Nesta, they wouldn't—well, Maz wouldn't be too cross. He doubted the rest of them would mind. Miri would probably even help him plan it.

"Oh. I didn't realize you were...so close."

"We are!" Well, they got along. For the most part. That was enough. "It'll be a lot of fun. You'll come?"

Nesta's eyes darted around the room. She smoothed her hands over her skirts—always a shade of grey, always modest. But not so form-hiding that he hadn't noticed the slight changes in her body over the past month or so. Early pregnancy flattered Nesta. "Sure," she said.

Zeyn bit back his broad grin, not wanting to scare her off. He couldn't stop the excited twitch of his ears, though.

December 21 - year of

This Solstice, Emerie thought, was shaping up to be even less festive than last, which was saying something, because only a few short months before that one, various males in her family had died on the front lines in the war against Hybern.

She had shared a quiet breakfast with her mother, who hadn't spoken too much. Mostly just shot her wary glances. Probably because of the demonic scent all over her.

And now she was preparing dinner to share with that demon.

She didn't blame her mother. Nesta's scent was sweet in the same warding way of venom. Any living being innately knew to stay away from it. And Nesta didn't exactly have a winning personality that encouraged otherwise.

But she did good things for her shop. Emerie liked her for that enough.

Nesta Archeron wasn't a bad person. She didn't deserve to have Solstice alone, even if she didn't celebrate it.

The hair on Emerie's neck prickled when she heard her short raps on the door, but she ignored them. She wasn't scared of her Other employee.

Emerie didn't have much finery, but she did make an effort on Solstice. She wore shoes that were prettier than they were sensible and her hemlines sparkled. A glittering pin kept her braid at the side of her head—her usual hairstyle, but the ornament was only ever worn a few times a year.

Nesta made no such changes to her wardrobe, but she didn't need to. She wore her hair in crown-like knots and braids every day and no matter how drab the grey she wore in her dresses, nothing could dull her beauty.

She had even, Emerie noted, filled out a bit in the weeks she had been here. Her frame, once pitifully thin, had sparked gossip when she had first arrived at camp. Emerie remembered hearing rumors about how the Commander did not feed the High Lady's terrifying sister...

"Happy Solstice," Emerie said.

Nesta grimaced.

Emerie turned so Nesta wouldn't see her roll her eyes. "Wine?" she said, looking over her shoulder.

Nesa's jaw clenched. Her eyes closed. "No," she gritted.

All right, then. Emerie thought perhaps it would be better if she didn't have any, either. She put the bottle down and said, "Don't suppose you saw any of the shows last night." Some of the males put them on—flips and tricks, flying through the air.

"No."

"Neither did I," she said, and she couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. That was another thing she liked about Nesta Archeron. She genuinely did not care about anything Emerie's people did. She hadn't liked it at first, but now, seeing her disdain for some of the most respected people in the camps, the absolute apathy she had for the cruel ones who mocked females like her on what was supposed to be a sacred day...

Well. She supposed she had a few reasons to be glad Nesta had decided to enter her shop the day she wandered around their camp alone.

December 18 - 4 years after

It takes an enormous amount of power to winnow all the way across the sea, so on the agreed-upon date, Feyre is to fly to Sugar Valley. Along with her husband.

Things have been much better with her sister over the past month—both of her sisters, actually. Feyre has visited a few times, and Elain came to stay for a whole week. The children had loved that, as Cassian had also managed to spend a few days then.

But she has still not seen Rhysand since that day in September five years ago.

She assumes they—Rhysand and Morrigan—will summon the strength they need to mind themselves in her presence. She doesn't ask for much. Only quiet.

Nicky bounces with excitement all morning, rattling off to Ollie a list of all the things they're going to do "across the sea", courtesy of the stories his aunts and father have spent the past few weeks filling his head with. Avery keeps tapping Nesta's legs and asking when they're going to leave.

Nesta lets them amuse themselves, for the most part, as she double—and triple-checks their bags. Presents for the children that she was instructed to take and keep as surprise until Solstice evening by various townsfolk (some for her as well), clothes, medication for Ollie's lungs—he hasn't needed it in a while, but it never hurt to have it along—some favorite toys, books, the purple cup Avery needs, jars of jam...

All of this, of course, to keep herself busy. Until half past ten, when she hears the knock on her door.

Steeling herself is not particularly easy to do with her children's cries of "I want to open the door!" chorusing around her, but she manages.

Nicky gets there first. He lifts his chubby hand high above his head to reach the doorknob and throws himself at Feyre when he sees her.

"Hey!" she says, laughing as she catches him. "Oh, hello to you, too, Ava!" For Ava has also launched herself at her aunt.

Ollie stays safely behind her legs. He had been excited to see Feyre, but Rhysand, standing behind her, throws him off. He looks up at her, and she smiles down at him reassuringly.

"This is your uncle, Rhys!"

Nesta cannot stop her lip from curling upward. She might deny the relation on her side, but Cassian obviously has not on his.

"Hello," he says, smiling along with Feyre. "Nicky, and Ava...hello, Nesta. You're looking well."

"Hmm."

"And you must be Ollie," Rhys says, bending to his knee, to meet him at eye-level. "Hi. I'm Rhys."

Ollie looks up at Nesta again.

"It's all right," she says to him quietly. "But you can stay with me."

Nesta pulls Avery and Nicky into a hug and tells them she'll see them soon. Rhys holds onto two of their bags and then swoops the pair of them into his arms. With a nod at Nesta, he disappears.

"Ready, Ollie?" Feyre asks him, picking him up and holding him close to her chest.

He nods against her and leans on her shoulder. Nesta grabs the other bags and links her arm in her sister's.

"Let's go."

And they do.

It is, as usual, a most disorienting experience, and Nesta loses her sense of self for a few moments, but Avery's laughing voice brings her back.

She sees Cassian first, holding Ava and Nicky. Ollie squirms out of Feyre's arms to run to him, too.

She feels an arm on her shoulder. "Are you all right, Nesta?"

"Fine," she says to Feyre.

They're in her home, the third one, on the banks of the Sidra. One of the living rooms. Nesta recognizes the stained glass windows, the midnight blues—and, of course, the painted pictures of everyone. Herself excluded, obviously.

She remembers when Feyre had shown her the house. She hadn't mentioned the original Archeron decor, but she hadn't needed to. It had been impossible not to notice, and it still is. Had she expected her to say anything? To ask why?

Perhaps it had bothered her then, but it doesn't now. Nesta has her own house. Contrary to what her sister believes, not everyone you know by blood or happenstance needs to hold an intimate place in your heart, a spot of honor on your walls.

"Nesta? Are you sure you're all right?"

Nesta looks up at Cassian. His smile from seeing the triplets has dimmed. "I'm fine." She clears her throat. "Where can I put our things?"

"Oh, well, actually...we'll take a carriage."

She could swear Cassian bites his lip—in nervousness?

"All right," she says, giving a little shrug. The townhouse doesn't include much better memories than this place, but she guesses it'll be better. At least they'll have their own place, at least she won't have to be around all of them for the whole time. "Let's go."

Feyre and Rhysand help them bring their things down where the carriage is waiting for them.

"We're all the way across the sea, Mummy!" Nicky exclaims, rushing to clasp her hand in his.

"We are, angel."

"And we're...we came the whole way!"

"The whole way."

"For Solstice!"

"Mm-hm," Nesta says, keeping an eye on Avery pulling Ollie along.

"Where are we going now?"

"We're going to take a short ride," she says, lifting him up into the carriage. "Now you Avery—yes, sit tight. We're going to take a short ride to where we'll be staying."

"Where are we staying?"

"With our aunts?"

"No, we'll—"

"Actually," Cassian cuts in, placing Ollie in, "we're going to my house."

Nesta gives him a sharp glance, but he doesn't meet her eye as he helps her in.

"I didn't know you bought a house here," she says, low so the children can't hear her.

"Yeah, I...I mean, do you want to stay at the townhouse? That's empty now."

"No, no, I'm sure yours is fine. I mean. Is it—have you—?"

"Yeah, yeah, I've got beds for them...and you...and there's...I think you'll like it. Close to a park."

No matter how low they talk, all three of them pick up on that.

"We're going to play in the park?"

"Are our aunts coming too?"

"All right," Nesta says, a bit loudly, over them all. "We're going to go to Appa's house first and eat lunch and get settled and then we'll go to the park."

She hides a smile at their answering cheers.

"Where is it?" she asks Cassian.

"Near the Rainbow."

She doesn't particularly like the hustle and bustle of Velaris' city center. Too many people, too loud. Sugar Valley residents can be plenty loud, sure, and all the forgotten gods know that town meetings can be ridiculously stifling, but there are not so many people that Nesta does not know them all by face if not by name.

But she sees the house—Cassian's house—is not too close to the Rainbow. In fact, it's closer to the Sidra. A nice bank, shallow waters. There are some families with small children playing there.

It's styled like most of the houses in Velaris—in fact, it looks a bit similar to the townhouse. She likes the novelty of her blue-boarded house in Sugar Valley, but the maple brown of this one is nice, too.

"Here we are," Cassian says, getting out first, to help them all down. He takes the bags in one hand and Ollie in his other. "Let's go."

The sparsely-decorated inside reminds her a bit of his home in Illyria, but perhaps with a bit more child-proofing done. There are no sharp edges in his living room; the chairs and tables are all rounded, so she doesn't stop the children from rushing off to explore the rooms on the top floor.

"Wow," Nesta says, looking around.

"Do you like it?"

She peers in through a doorway. "You have a proper dining room." She's not jealous. She loves her home. Just...she wishes she had one. It might be nice, one day, when the children are older.

"I haven't got much for it yet."

"I can see that." Beige appears to be the predominant color, which is...interesting. "Why...were you waiting for my sister's Solstice gifts? To match the decor to?" Feyre gives them all paintings every year—or at least, she used to.

Cassian laughs. "No, I was hoping...well, I don't know. I've never decorated a house before."

"You realize how insane that is?" she asks him. "You're nearly six hundred years old."

"I'm not nearly six-hundred years old..." he trails off. They've had this conversation countless times—teasing, gentle, mostly. And then one time, very much not.

"So," he says, clearing his throat. "This is the ground floor. Living room...dining room...kitchen...do you like the cabinets?"

He must be more anxious than she thought. "They're great."

"Do you want to see the upstairs?"

"Sure."

There are four bedrooms. "These two are smaller, so...oh, there you all are!" For the children have made their place in the room clearly meant to be theirs, with little beds corresponding with the colors of the ones in their home in Sugar Valley. "Right. Here's...the master..." He dumps their bags unceremoniously on the floor.

"Nice view," Nesta says, looking out onto the park. She can see the Night Court's mountains in the distance.

"You can stay here," he says. "You know, while you're here."

Nesta turns to face him, blinking. "What?"

"If you want."

"It's your room. It's your house."

"I can sleep in one of the smaller rooms."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I—please, just take it."

She blinks again. "All right." If he wants her to...

"Mummy!" Avery calls as she runs in. "Mummy, can we have lunch and go play?"

"Yes, ah—you have...do you have food?"

"Yeah, I've gone out and I've got the kitchen stocked...I'll get started, why don't you...settle in?" He leaves her with a parting smile, Avery trailing after him.

Get settled, she thinks. She's not quite sure what that entails, but she decides it includes a few minutes to herself before the overwhelming onslaught of Velaris crashes over her.

---

Chapter Sixteen