chegg

[banan0isblue]

Heyy everyone, I'm back after my grave, well I'm somewhat motivated to draw A Monster in Paris with a Christmas theme, it occurred to me that why not give gifts to the flea? If you want, you can write me ideas for gifts that you would give to Francoeur:)

[nerdychaoscherryblossom]

Once Upon a Pixar (2026)

Hello. It's me, and this is the Pixar version of Once Upon a Studio called Once Upon a Pixar.

(The film opens with the headquarters at Pixar as the employees leave for the day.)

Pixar Intern: It's so incredible to think that George Lucas started Pixar back in 1979 until it was founded by Steve Jobs in 1986 40 years ago today. To think of all those talented animators and unforgettable characters who have been a part of the studio over the years.

Pete Docter: Yep. (as he and the intern turn around one last time) If the characters could talk to each other.

(Pete Docter and the intern leave as the door closes while the title comes up: "Once Upon a Pixar". The camera zooms into a photo picture of Woody, Jessie and Bullseye running on a record player. Woody glances back as everything seems quiet in the lobby.)

Woody: Psst! Atta. Princess Atta. You there?

(Princess Atta flies into the lobby and over to his picture.)

Woody: Is that it? They all gone?

Princess Atta: Yep, they're all gone.

Woody: Yee-haw! (he, Jessie and Bullseye leap out of the picture) Come on, Jessie, this is it.

Jessie: Let's get everyone. Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!

Joy: (gasps) There's the signal! All right, everyone! (she, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust jump out of their production cell) It's picture time!

Elio Silos: That's tonight?

Joy: That's now.

Ember Lumen: The 40-year group photo. (she and Wade jump out of their production cell as well) And the sun's going down. Come on, Wade, let's feel the burn!

Wade Ripple: Ooh, a fire pun. (chuckles) Got to like that.

(Suddenly, Arlo and Spot come out of their production cell as Wade gasps and goes against the wall.)

Arlo: (chuckles nervously) Sorry.

Woody: Picture time, gang!

Mei Lee: (chuckles) Okay, here we come!

(Mei Lee, Miriam, Abby, Priya and Tyler jump out of their production cell while they laugh.)

Abby: Wake up, everyone!

(The Oozma Kappa come out of their production cell as Squishy yells while Russell, Carl and Dug walk down the hallway.)

Russell: Whoa!

Dug: Awesome!

Russell: Oh, Mr. Lightyear! Get the folks upstairs!

Buzz Lightyear: Roger that, Russell. To infinity and beyond!

(Buzz Lightyear flies upstairs as Lightning McQueen drives happily down the hall with Mater.)

Mater: Yee-haw!

Merida: (jumps out of her production cell) It's picture time! (runs to the lobby) We're meeting at the lobby!

Flik: Okay! See you there!

(Miguel Rivera and Riley Andersen ride on Dim as Dim flies to the lobby.)

Miguel Rivera: (hollers)

(Francis gives a fun ride to Dash Parr.)

Dash Parr: Whoa! Higher! (laughs)

(Francis chuckles as Remy and Emile slide down the stairs as Luca Paguro lands on the floor and sighs as he catches Nemo.)

Nemo: Water.

Luca Paguro: (shudders and rushes to the counter)

P.T. Flea: No, no, no, there's no time for snacks!

Luca Paguro: Uh, Andy! A little help here?

Andy Davis: Oh, uh, let me see here. There we go, a nice bucket of water.

(Luca Paguro dunks Nemo to a bucket of water.)

Nemo: (grunts)

Linguini: (chuckles) Oh, waiter! There's a fish in the bucket! (laughs)

(Ernesto de la Cruz tries to get candy from the vending machine while he curses in Spanish as Mr. Incredible and Frozone walk down the hall.)

Mr. Incredible: Yikes! Do you think all the villains might catch up?

Frozone: Hmm. (freezes Syndrome in his frame) Not all.

Syndrome: (strains)

(Rex goes to the elevator with Imelda Rivera, Manticore, Ian, Barley and Laurel Lightfoot.)

Imelda Rivera: Going down?

Roz: Hold the elevator. I'm going to the lobby.

Rex: Huh? Oh, you've got to be joking.

(Joe Gardner hums to "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" while he draws Hector Rivera.)

Brook Ripple: Hey, black man. Shake a leg, will ya?

Joe Gardner: The leg won't make a difference, it's all in the wrist.

(Hector Rivera bursts out of the drawing as Joe Gardner shrieks in surprise.)

Hector Rivera: Ay! I haven't seen a fall like that since Spain. (fixes the chair) Oh! Much better.

(At the men's room, Hopper, 4*Town and Chef Skinner freshen up as Chef Skinner blows a kiss and chuckles. Suddenly, Tuck and Roll appear in front of his eyes, laughing, as Jessie opens the door.)

Jessie: Let's move it, gentlemen!

(While Lorenzo Paguro tries to free his wife Daniela Paguro from her picture, Giulia Marcovaldo walk with Buster, Mr. Mittens, Larry and Machivelli.)

Giulia Marcovaldo: Uh-huh. Meeting at the lobby. Don't eat the rats.

(Scud tries to eat Remy and Emile but Dante pops up and scares Scud away, thus saving the rats' lives. While Izzy and her team walk by, Mei Lee and her friends watch a cartoon on a TV.)

Izzy Hawthorne: Come on, everyone, you're gonna have nightmares.

(Zurg pops out of the TV and scares Mei Lee and her friends away, laughing. Back at the elevator, Roz makes it in time.)

Roz: Thanks very much for holding the elevator.

Rex: (groans)

Evelyn Deavor: I'm also going to the lobby as well.

Rex: Huh? Oh, come on!

(While M-O is being followed and annoyed by Dot, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson follow down the stairs, where Mr. Anderson is the one to drop his wallet and they laugh. Buster picks up the wallet and runs off with it.)

Mr. Anderson: Hey, Buster! Andy, get your dog!

(Woody follows up the stairs as he looks amused when he sees Underminer leading Colette Tatou with his hypnosis watch.)

Woody: Underminer? Underminer! You-- You stop that now, Underminer!

Rosie: Don't worry, Woody. (chuckles) I got this.

(Rosie hits Underminer offscreen unconsciously.)

Woody: Huh. (gasps) Wow.

(Woody looks up at photographs of John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich and Joe Ranft while he takes his hat off.)

Buzz Lightyear: Oh, Woody, where are you? We're at the lobby!

Woody: (chuckles) Got to go, but thanks. (puts his hat back on) On with the show.

(At the lobby, Woody rides on WALL-E with a fire extinguisher)

Woody: Yee-haw!

Mike Wazowski: Coast is clear, Sheriff.

Woody: Great! (holds the door open) Right this way, everybody.

(Sulley bumps into the door.)

Woody: Oh! Sulley, are you okay?

James P. Sullivan: (grunts) Never better, Eastwood. (accidentally trips the trash can)

Stinky Pete: I knew I'm surrounded by... (gets startled by Slim who rides on EVE) Idiots!

Slim: Tallyho! Whee! I'll show you the world! (laughs)

Woody: Oh, great, the ladder.

(Buzz sets the ladder while he hums.)

Mr. Dicker: Every time it gets hard. Money, money, money.

Woody: All right, everyone. Get-- Get together now. (to Tinny) Oh. After you, Tinny.

Emile: Oh. Pardon me.

Francis: (holds up a camera) Here's the camera, Lightyear.

Buzz Lightyear: (takes a camera and chuckles) Thanks, Francis. (climbs up the ladder)

Woody: Buzz, be careful!

Buzz Lightyear: (makes it to the top) All right, now where's the timer button?

Molt: Oh, oh! Three, two, one! (Randall Boggs grins)

(Buzz accidentally falls off while he screams and breaks the camera. As Buster walks to the broken camera, Buzz recognizes it.)

Andy Davis: Come on, Buster. (Buster runs back to Andy)

Buzz Lightyear: Huh? Oh, no. It's ruined.

Anger: Well, that was fun!

Sadness: Maybe we can try again in another forty years.

(The characters sigh disappointedly and are about to leave.)

Woody: Oh, no, no, wait. Come back. It-- It-- It'll be fine. It'll be...

(Just as the characters are about to leave, Randy Newman appears from nowhere while he plays "You've Got a Friend in Me" on piano with his orchestra.)

Randy Newman: ♪ You've got a friend in me ♪

♪ You've got a friend in me ♪

♪ When the road looks rough ahead ♪

♪ And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed ♪

Hopper: I knew this was gonna happen.

Randy Newman: ♪ You just remember what your old pal said ♪

♪ Boy, you've got a friend in me ♪

♪ Yeah, you've got a friend in me ♪

(While the song goes on, Mr. Incredible fixes the camera as Buzz looks excited and Sulley puts the ladder back in position. Manny and Gipsy lift Buzz to help him up as Buzz sets the camera up for the photo.)

♪ Some other folks might be ♪

♪ A little bit smarter than I am ♪

♪ Bigger and stronger too, maybe ♪

♪ But none of them will ever love you ♪

♪ The way I do, it's me and you, boy ♪

♪ And as the years go by ♪

♪ Our friendship will never die ♪

♪ You're gonna see it's our destiny ♪

All: ♪ You've got a friend in me ♪

♪ You've got a friend in me ♪

♪ You've got a friend in me ♪

(The camera flashes as the group photo in the Pixar hall is taken, and the short ends with a text "To the animators, directors and crew of Pixar who worked for 40 years on movies and short films, Thank You." and then the song ends.)

Well, I think this is the transcript. I hope you like it. I also hope Pixar does a new short film like Once Upon a Studio did. Have a Happy New Year.

[starthetripledevil]

Mario Legacy Challenge: 1980

We begin a new decade following the end of the 1970s last year. As of now, Jumpman and Lady are living in an apartment with their one daughter, Pauline. But things are about to change...

Jumpman and Lady begin the year feeling flirty.

Not long after, Lady discovers she is pregnant. Being a family-oriented Sim with the Big Happy Family aspiration, she is happy about this.

Lady tells her husband the big news. He is happy too.

Some time later (still in Q1), Lana Yee comes to visit the Marios. While she is here, Jumpman tells her about his time as a professional basketball player (a job which he quit because they made him become the team mascot).

Jumpman also decides to introduce Lana to one of his other friends, his neighbor Emmalyn Winters. Lana seems interested in becoming friends, but Emmalyn not so much.

A major reason for Lana's visit is a flea market which happens to take place near Mario's home apartment (and I guess going there also gives her an opportunity to visit an old friend). Lana and Jumpman go to the flea market together. Lana is sure Jumpman won't be able to haggle successfully.

And she's right.

The vendor here is Elle Craig, a person Lady briefly met while visiting an art gallery a while back.

A while later, Lady also goes to the flea market. She and Elle get along quite well and even become friends.

After the flea market, Lady tells Emmalyn about her pregnancy. And Pauline happens to be there too.

At some later point, Jumpman goes jogging. And he also plays some basketball while he's at it.

All of this boosts his fitness skill to level 7, making it one of 4 skills (along with comedy, logic and handiness) where he's at this level. He has also already reached level 8 in charisma and cooking. This means he only needs to level up in the 4 skills in order to complete the Renaissance Sim aspiration.

Jumpman and Lady read some books to improve their skills even more (handiness for Jumpman and writing for Lady, the latter being something she needs for her job).

Lady's sister Luigeena invites Lady to join her at a festival. (In-game this is the Humor and Hijinks Festival, but I don't think Luigeena would really be the type of person to attend that type of festival, so I will just say this is a tea festival). This is in the same location as the New Year's festival about 10½ years earlier (in which Jumpman celebrated the start of the 1970s).

Just like then, Emmalyn is here again, wearing the same yellow dress. (Just as before, she is joining the Jokesters team.)

A tea which makes its drinker glow yellow (at least until the end of the festival)? This is what Luigeena and Lady came to check out.

The festival also gives those attending the opportunity to paint, so Lady decides to paint a playful painting.

In the summer of 1980, the Marios go on a vacation. They are staying in a vacation home in the Seaside Kingdom, not far away from where Jumpman's former neighbor Kaori and her family live.

The first member of the family they cross paths with is Rangi, Kaori's husband.

And next is Caitlin, Kaori's daughter from before she met Rangi. She was still a child back when Jumpman first met her and now she's a young adult.

Both Pauline and Lady make sand sculptures (individually).

Jumpman makes fish dinner for the family. Jumpman is working as a fisherman as one of his two part-time jobs, though I'm not sure if this particular fish was caught by him.

One day during the Marios' vacation, the Kaori & Parata family comes to visit the place where they are staying.

Here is Kaori and Rangi's daughter (Caitlin's younger half-sister) Rhonda, who was born shortly before the family moved to the Seaside Kingdom. The two children don't seem to get along, however.

Pauline seems to be getting along better with Kaori's older daughter. (They even gained a positive sentiment, but I don't remember which one.)

After the Marios return from their vacation, Jumpman spends some time fishing even outside of work. (With this, he is also improving his fishing skill, as he's at level 2 but needs level 4 in order to be promoted in the fisherman job.)

It's October and Jumpman is in panic as his wife is about to give birth soon.

The babies are twin boys. The older one is named Mario, just like his father (and yes, their last name as well). The younger one is named Luigi, after Aunt Luigeena. That's right. The Super Mario Bros. are here! And with that, Gen 2 has been born.

Pauline meets her new siblings and she's not happy at all. How dare her parents have more children and not give all the attention to her?

And just to recap, here is the full family tree so far. (Including some stuff that hasn't been covered in the Tumblr posts yet on the Robotnik family side. There will be a Tumblr post dedicated to what happens with the Robotnik family, which is basically a side household that's irrelevant to the main story except at the very beginning.)

And pretty much the rest of the year is taking care of the newborn babies. The renovations for giving the twins their bedroom haven't been completed yet.

For Jumpman's experiences in 1981, see this post.

[lazyheartcomputer]

Alright, there's something I'm about to get off my chest for tomorrow. *ahem* Yee yee ass rat rabbit bout to do some real shit. Like when i saw that on tumblr before or after my hiatus or when I'm bored, like my brain blew up to think of a name for my guy with freckles because he reminds me of a hare, but he's a yee yee ass rat rabbit with tattered clothing and doesn't take a bath frfr. If he don't come home, I swear to god imma punch him in the face when that time comes. And I'm a bit worried about him going out like that, all his clothes ruined up.... and this is the reason why I called him a yee yee ass rat rabbit (for those who don't and do know about), it's because he's dirty! He's like a rat with no fleas! Now we're gonna have a fuckin field day by tomorrow and we're about to see yee yee ass rat rabbit in action throughout the whole arc, and I'm about to do some shitpost here and on Twitter, cause it's getting hype but awesome at the same time!

[sloaners]

my favs include:

the one where suddenly all of team minato start growing bijuu/juubi features

"I got a little trigger happy with the knife"

Sakumo hosing down all nine of his puppies

Kakashi Has Fleas

yee I love exploring all aspects of team Minato weirdness!!!

(also I’ll be real I have no clue what the last two are referring to, if that’s from shittilydrawing or something that’s a very flattering conflation jfjjfkfkdk)

[erratic-brainrot]

16, 22, 24 ;)

Kissy kissy thank you for asking me questions cam

Okay so-

16 ) Match 5 Characters with an animal

Ah! This is such a cute question and it’s hard to pick who I want to do. But I’m gonna try my best!!!

Eric cartman? Racoon

This one is kinda basic and referenced in canon. But honestly? It also just makes sense, raccoons are known for lurking, stealing, being dangerous, being chubby looking, etc…

Kyle Broflovski? A Cat!

This is specifically because of my rooster/cam but I do genuinely see it. Kyle is an affectionate person, but on his own terms— like a cat; he doesn’t offer his trust easy but those he really trusts, he trusts them violently so; He kinda gets a bad rep for being defensive and aggressive, even though he behaves well; He has very strong maternal (not gendered used) instincts for those younger than himself, something cats are known for— very momma bear vibes; he’s very independent; etc…

Stan Marsh? Ofc a Dog!

Stan is simply just a puppy. Literally whenever he’s happy he acts like the “golden retriever person” meme. He’s kinda more openly affectionate, kinda gets fidgety? Jumpy (basically he stims) when he gets happy, within the main four he’s shown to be one of the more reliable and loyal ones, is notably physically active, very impacted by those he loves, etc. And most obviously, he already loves dogs a lot! So it just feels befitting

Kenny Mccormick? A rat…?

Okay so this one was a little tricky because in my eyes Kenny is simply a rodent core! All rodents vibe with his energy and it’s very iconic for him. Within this I was debating which ones make me think the most of him. A possum, a ferret (which I had to find out wasn’t even a rodent!), mouse, and a rat.

And Rat, honestly, it made the most sense still looking within their traits. Now rats and mice are very similar to each other with minor differences. However rats tend to be way relaxed, dog like, and more durable creatures. Rats are known to be very smart and empathetic, they form life bonds, despite stereotypes they are known to be clean and well managed themselves, they get along with siblings easy, they CAN CHUCKLE!!!, they’re low maintenance pets, they have pretty strong memories, they can be taught a bunch of tricks, etc… that, paired with the fact of Kenny canonically having a relationship with rats- ie getting devoured by them after death- creates a heavy association with them. They are also creatures that often get a bad rep for things outside of their control, as they do their best to survive, much like Kenny.

I could also reference how thanks to the plague (which was the fault of fleas, not rats), many people associated rats with death— so Yee.

Now for the last one… I’m debating… but I’m just gonna go with one I’ve always liked.

Tweek Tweak? A Guinea pig!

So, I’ve thought about this for a long time. Ever since my friend got a guinea pig and explained to me the basic needs and traits of a guinea pig— I genuinely just saw this association, that blended with creek stuff, is just kinda cute!

Anyways, onto the proper points! Guinea pigs are anxious creatures! Known for their messy hairs (more common with long hair breeds than short hair), iconic and frequent squeaks, they are jumpy (when they’re anxious or just really excited, they tend to bounce! It’s really cute to see), they enjoy cuddling— actively sometimes nuzzling into owners because they want contact, they don’t sleep much, and are very sociable creatures (they don’t like being alone. Usually your suppose to get them in pairs but you can manage just one as long as you give them extra attention), and they are faster learners. It just makes sense to me that tweeks are a little guinea pig! And I can see in canon this being pointed out by craig. Since Craig is a silly bitch.

22) Who’s the cutest kid in South Park?

Uhm, so this is a difficult question because I don’t know if your reference who I think would be by average beauty standard ideas- as many have debated in the topic the list has brought up— or if we’re talking about super subjective personality stuff.

But because this is my blog, I’m gonna say the ladder. Although I think the majority of South Park kids are cute in one way or another, like Stan with his board games, Kenny little exclamations, Butters little art projects, craigs obsession with red racier, Kyle need to take care of kids littler than himself, etc

Out of all of them, I think tweek is the cutest. This is a bit tricky to explain in a cohesive and clean manner— but basically, Tweek is just this straight up good kid with a lot of quirks and ND traits that I simply enjoy and think are cute. Now, I want to be clear that I’m saying cute in a more reflective way— tweek reads as a very stim, anxious (and tic heavy for that matter) character, a lot of which I can relate to. He makes me feel positive about a lot of my traits because I like them with him. I simply see his difference as a good thing, homey.

Not to mention that he’s shown to be a highly considerate, effort heavy, compassionate, low confidence/self-esteem, creative as hell, quick thinking character! It’s endearing to see the way he often approaches things with the constant want for things to be okay. It’s relatable in an exaggerated manner. I simply just want to parent and take care of him— especially when you consider how awful his home life is. He’s simply a poor, awkwardly charming bastard who I can never imagine as a “villain”.

Also he’s feral at the same time and can kick so much ass. So how he balances this all is simply remarkable.

(I’m still not happy with how I wrote this but it’s getting long and I’ve rewrote this several times and I don’t wanna get lost in details ahh)

24) Is Butters gay?

To me, Butters is a bisexual trans femme (usually straight up just trans girl)

Butters has shown genuine indifference in attraction, and there’s often a lot of jokes with them being gay/bi— not to mention admitting having a crush on “princess Kenny” (which yes is a female expression but butters knows it’s Kenny— who as far as butters is concern atm is cishet. Idk it didn’t seem like a character thing at all???) Their attraction to girl is undeniably— with him also having the stereotype of “Wendy Testaburger in my fantasy” bullshit ((poor gal needs a break))

Now with being trans, it’s a very debated headcanon. I could talk about it for hours. But to sum it up. Butters ideas of gender seem really confused— they seem to focus on your “sex” than anything to do with behaviour. Which seems kinda odd to me? That butters kinda gets aggressive or weird with girls despite canonically being notably feminine, and seems to be okay with/actively enjoying dressing in traditionally feminine or girlish ways— till they were forced to be marjorine… which that episode alone is odd.

Butters felt embarrassed by it but seemed to actively seemed to take the girls words to heart, and enjoyed being a girl once they were accepted as part of the group.

All and all. Butters displays a lot of internalization regarding anything that differs from the cishet way— which makes sense with how they are raised. Literally butters almost got killed because their dad was a cheating queer person. With linda constantly making fuckinh weird comments time to time… and just the way butters seems to understand the world and things is so heavily distorted.

I genuinely think they envy girls.

It’s really hard to explain without going into heavier depths. But yeah. Butters has full queer vibes, just more internalizes then the likes of Kenny haha

[gh0ulbunni]

@amberallure

@comicgoth666

@yee-honks

@ohmygillygoshoppler

@thephoenixfirescout

ALRIGHT BITCHES, TOAD BUT A WARRIOR CAT!

Toadleap is a wiry and thin tom-cat with a white-ish base with a light brown and dark brown patterning with unusual... Green markings? Thanks to a cruel prank played on him by young twolegs.

Toadleap was a former semi feral kittypet named Morty who lived in a disheveled horder's home. If you werent standing on piles of clutter and garbage, you'd be standing on the bodies of forgotten cats or dried piles of cat feces and urine. Morty was taken prematurely from his mother before he was properly weaned, therefore giving him a slightly underdeveloped and malnurished appearance as a kitten. Most food was stale meow mix pellets or rotting mouse carcasses. The place stunk of urine, old feces, decay, and rot. In the house, the horder had 45 cats in a 1000 square ft ranch style house with only two litterboxes... and this horder was not a nice one. It seemed she was not fully there or coherent and would often take her frustration or anger out on the cats, specifically Morty as he was who she could catch the easiest. After her death, more twolegs came to round up the cats to help them, many of the cats bolted out the door to freedom, one being Morty. For 4 hours after that he ran and ran deeper into the forest before collapsing from exhaustion and malnutrition..

Later on during patrol, Heavypelt (Blob), Raventail (Mystique), and Boulderfall (Avalanche) happened upon the slowly dying apprentice age tom who was covered in matted fur, fleas, sores, and scratches with his paws painfully cut up and bruised from all the running he had done. It was clear he was in piss poor condition and if left there, would have been dead. Despite their deputy Raventail's protest, Heavypelt and Boulderfall took pity on the small tom and helped carry him back to camp where he was quickly assessed by Lizardwing (Sauron) and Steelstar (Magneto). He spent the next two moons recovering in the apprentice's burrow, being hounded by Quickpaw (Pietro) for info about life with twolegs, and trying to talk with Scarletpaw, who he soon developed a crush on but was disappointed to learn it was only one sided and she disliked him quite strongly based on the fact he was once a kittypet and still had that musty urine smell caked onto his fur, but that soon came out with incessant grooming on Boulderfall and Shadowleaf's (Polaris) end and a few thorough dunkings in the local river.

Once recovered though, Morty was soon given the new name Toadpaw and assigned to be mentored by Heavypelt. Despite the fact he started his apprenticeship so late, he absolutely thrived in the forest and became quite adapted to swimming, chasing prey, and climbing trees to patrol from there. At 14 moons old, a couple moons after Quickpaw and Scarletpaw became Quickfoot and Scarletcloud, Toadpaw was renamed to Toadleap for his ability to bound and jump further and higher then all the other cats, even Quickfoot. Toadleap has now grown into himself, turning from a thin and underweight young tom to a sturdy and stocky warrior with his own apprentice, Flamepaw (Pyro)

[mor-beck-more-problems]

Flashback Friday || Morgan & Luis

TIMING: Distant past, in the days of yee-haw

LOCATION: The Magick Cauldron, Houston, Texas

PARTIES: @ontheluis & @mor-beck-more-problems

SUMMARY: Luis wanders into a magic shop looking for some herbs, Morgan spies an opportunity, and the cards know more than either of them reckon. 

CONTAINS: Mellow yee-haw vibes

“Welcome, traveler, to the Magick Cauldron! Browse at your pleasure and inquire if you have any questions!” Morgan had given the scripted greeting so many times, it came out of her in full customer service cheer every time the shop door opened. She didn’t even look up from the book she had open under the cash register anymore, but flipped another page and let the customers let her know if there was something worth talking about by shouting ‘lady!’ or coming into her peripheral view.

The Magick Cauldron was the only occult shop still standing West Houston after the Y2K stress fads had died away and the first bout of shiny, corporate development had found its way into Montrose and bulldozed a crystal shop, a Greek deli, and one of the few ladies-only gay bars in favor of a mixed use building that so far only housed a nail salon and a Jamba Juice. Ralf, the fine proprietor of the Cauldron as he called himself, said that this space was protected. As the door chimed open again and Morgan made her welcome speech, bright and shiny as the plastic plate armor hanging in the kid’s section, she wondered if he was right. She never seemed to serve more than a dozen or so customers during her shifts, but the lights stayed on, day after sweltering day. If Ralf was right, it might just be the one piece of real magic in the place, not that she could say that to anyone’s face.

The warped outline of a boy rippled over the glass counter and Morgan blinked up from her book. “Is there something I can help you with, weary traveler?” She asked wryly.

“Sorry ma’am,” Luis assured, “didn’t mean to bring the stray in here,”

Evening had fallen outside, heat from the blistering still wafting off the pavement. Telephone poles and streetlights were thin black columns that stood stark against the blazing orange and wane blues of sunset.  

“Go on, git!”

At the Magick Cauldron’s threshold was an enormous black dog. Even while quietly sitting on its haunches the shaggy canine was easily as tall as the teenage boy snapped at it. Pupiless red eyes regarded Luis impassively, only an ear twitch showing that the dog wasn’t just a statue.

When the black dog gave no indication of actually entering the store nor stopping its scrutiny of Luis, the young man cut his losses and regarded the woman at the counter again.

“Here,” Luis reached into a pocket of his jeans and withdrew a crumpled piece of paper, smoothing it on the counter. The names of herbs and powders were written in someone else’s prime neat handwriting. “I uh don’t know what any of this is…,” he confessed.

Morgan took the paper carefully between her fingers, trying not to let her discomfort at how damp and sweaty it was show too much. It didn’t take much to figure out she was looking at an herbalist mixture for anxiety and sleeplessness. She looked up and the boy, and down to the list again. “We’ve got everything you need over here,” she said. She lead the boy over to the bulk aisle where the dried herbs and bottled oils were kept and alphabetized. “Did you want these bagged separate or together? Or--you probably don’t know how these work huh? We’ll do separate, so you can use any excess as you wish. But fair warning, we have a purchase minimum of one ounce for each item.” She put a small paper bag on the shelf in the middle of the display and started shovelling the herbs in. As she worked, she glanded sidelong at the kid and the dog that had decided to become instantly fond of him. Someone cared about them, to throw together this recipe, and he looked embarrassed enough for a kid his age to seem like he needed help. Would it be wrong to squeeze a few more dollars out of him if it so happened to brighten his day or give him some direction? Sure, he was scruffy, but not so much as to be desperate. He could afford a few extra bucks, right?

“Hey, you okay there?” Morgan asked him. “You seem a little lost. I’m getting some ‘needs direction’ vibes from you.” She gestured vaguely. “If you’re looking for Niko Niko’s, it’s just further down the street. You’re not supposed to leave your car here while you go over there, but I won’t tell. And if you need something a little less literal, I might be able to help you with that.” She nodded toward the oracle room at the back of the shop, with its hand painted sign hanging crooked from a nail and entryway draped with lavender beads. “I do have sliding scale rates, if it helps you make up your mind.”

The great black dog continued to watch Luis in silent stillness, the Barghest’s posture poised as if waiting for something.

“No offense ma’am but I don’t believe in…,” the teenager half-turned but caught sight of the enormous stray waiting for him in the darkening sunset. Those pupiless red eyes immediately filled Luis with a nameless dread. Cold sweat stained the back of his T-shirt as Luis’ skin went clammy despite the Texan heat. Luis couldn’t process why some random big-ass dog would wig him out so much. He wasn’t even afraid of it biting him or even the dog itself.

So why was his heart pounding in his temples?

“Yeah uh..s-seperate would be great,” Luis reaffirmed to Morgan needlessly. The labels on the tinctures and herbal selections blurred in his vision as Luis tried to get a handle on his thoughts. “Direction like, oh you mean to the interstate,” Luis replied in a misinterpretation of Morgan’s broader meaning. “I’m alright thanks, yeah merging on that triple hairpin by Foster is a pain in the ass but it's chill.”

Luis looked over to the oracle room with the dubiety of someone for whom the occult was just a vague ‘other’ mentioned at Mass or when abuela suggested a Sonora Market cure for whatever new cold was going around. He seemed about to decline again until the creeping skin-crawl of Barghest’s glare boring into his back made Luis amenable to any distraction.

“Yeah uh sure,” he said, taking a step towards the beaded shroud. “I’ll give it a shot.”

Morgan followed the boy’s eyes to the dog. He was looking pretty well fed for a stray, and his eyes--red, alert, sharp with an uncommon intelligence--made her shiver. Definitely supernatural. She didn’t know, how, or what, but it didn’t look good. “And I mean--” How to put this in just the right way? Or at least the more convincing way? “I mean your spirit, your chakras. Believe in your connection to the universe or not, but are you really going to say to my face that you know how you’re going to make your life worthwhile to yourself? That you know how to reach your greatest good?” No one did. Heck, she was a devout wiccan most days out of the year and even she didn’t know what her highest, greatest good looked like. “And if you’ve got the cash, I’ll throw in a cleansing, something to make--” she gestured at him vaguely, “Whatever negative heavy energy this is that’s stuck to you. Seriously, do you ever feel tired out of nowhere?” It was summer and the sun was exhausting; everyone got tired out of nowhere.

Maybe she was laying it on a little thick, but Morgan was tired of ordering off the dollar menu for dinner and she felt like she was taking her life into her own hands when she conjured money from school pens and laundry lint cotton. This kid’s money might get her a pot pie that didn’t come from the freezer, or enough tacos to last her a week, or maybe she’d blow it all on seafood, or a dress that hadn’t been worn by someone else. “I’ll ring you up first, and then we’ll see about getting the rest of you squared away.” Morgan did, and when that part of the transaction was over, she lead him into the oracle room.

In truth, the oracle room was an old storage closet with the door taken out. Morgan breezed through them and went to the antique flea market find armoire, where all the necessary items were kept. Morgan took out a small tray of tarot decks and took the one she liked best, a well loved Raider-Waite with stars on the backs and gold-gilt edges. “I’ll shuffle them myself, but you should tell me when to cut and start again and when to stop. When I’m done, you’ll spread them. You’re the one who needs to connect with the deck, after all.”

Rafael Martininez had given his son that smirking half-smile while Malia had given Luis the pale blue eyes watching Morgan shuffle cards. Sweaty light brown hair clung to his forehead beneath the Dallas Burn hat, stray strands dangling back his eyes. The lanky teenager sat awkwardly across from the cartomancer, doubting not only her veracity but that a term like destiny could even apply to someone like him.

Like many children who’re so profoundly blessed to grow up in a home of unconditional love, Luis had no idea that Rafael and Malia given him a protection rarer than talismans, weirds, or wards. Rafael had come to this country for a better life, and Malia had wanted a home that was safer then the hell she’d left. Together they’d given both dreams to their children, so Luis and his siblings would never have to go through what they had.

The freckled face that lifted to Morgan’s was innocent of hate, abuse, or fear of abandonment. Even in following a strange woman into a shrouded back room, it’d never occurred to Luis to worry about anything more sinister than carnival charlantry.

“So uh...like this ma’am,” Luis asked as he placed some cards face down on the table.

It was this very innocence in Louis that dulled the edge off Morgan’s guilt. It was wrong (if wrong was a real concept) to spoil something pure, but if she was really the worst thing that was going to happen to this kid in his teenage years, he was pretty darn lucky. At least he was getting some introspection out of the deal. Could he have gotten a tarot deck from the discount bookstore two blocks over for a quarter of what she was going to charge him, or thought everything out on his own for free? Yes. But he was also some bushy tailed high school kid; could happen wasn’t the same thing as would happen.

She’d had more instructions to give, some arbitrary waving of hands and maybe some visualization in what one of her co-workers called her ‘yoga voice’, but Louis, in his eagerness, had taken more than the requisite three cards she had planned on, wich just meant she had a ready-made excuse for the forty dollars she was going to take from him. “My, my, aren’t we eager?” She said. “What’s interesting to me already is that you have intuitively drawn out one of the more complex and energy taxing card spreads. Imperfectly, but--” She straightened them out at random until they made more of a geometric pattern. “See? I barely did anything at all. These cards must really like you. I don’t normally do something this involved, but it looks like there’s something here that wants to come out, and I’m not in the business of stifling anyone’s growth or energy.”

Morgan flipped the first card over to reveal The Fool and managed to keep her laughter light and soft. “Well, even if I hadn’t been doing this for so long, this is you, where you are right now. Don’t take the title personally, these are antiquated terms. He’s just young, and at the start of a great journey, not even begun, just on the precipice. He’s got his whole life ahead of him, and the sun, see? It’s shining on him to show that the universe is aligned with his desires. The world wants you to support you, wants to see you succeed.”

The second card. The Tower. Morgan’s eyes widened. Not really vibing with the story she’d been telling, but maybe the one after… Eight of Cups. Morgan flipped over the last ones. Death and The Moon. “Hmm...Fascinating...” Morgan said, stalling for a way to spin this. “The thing about the major arcana is the magnitude of forces. Forces like destiny and fate and the collective consciousness. These forces are bigger than a ten minute fight with your friends or what you want to do after graduation, these are ‘beyond your control’. And you have four. The universe really does have plans for you, that’s kind of exciting, right?” She smiled, hoping to get some confirmation from him, or at least some more of his trust. “What does your intuition tell you about this journey, honey?”

Morgan’s performative coaxing elicited a dubious look, but the striking illustrations of the Tarot drew Luis’ attention regardless. The fool was poised with one foot over the cliff, smiling blissfully as the sun warmed his back. The tower’s blackened crenellations tumbled down the cliffside as the once indomitable edifice was battered into ruins by a storm. A haggard traveler slumped down in relief on a river bank as eight golden chalice stood resplendent over the churning rapids. Death rode on its pale horse, a scythe clutched in one skeletal hand while offering an exquisitely detailed rose. The Moon slept in the sky above a verdant shore. Wolves howled in its light while pelagic creatures breached on the lunar tide.

“Woah that art on these is something else,” admitted Luis as he squinted at the intricate illuminations, clearly sensitive to aesthetics but not the higher esoteric meaning.

Unfortunately intuition is only as good as the experiences which inform it and Luis Martinez had been sheltered from the world’s cruelty. It was a blessing to be sure, but it also made Luis unable to imagine that evil doesn’t need consent to claim you.

“My intuition is uh,” floundered the young man who had about as much affinity for divination as the average block of cedar. “The ranch’ll catch on fire, maybe a relative will die, but we’ll find like eight things that’ll make it better before the next full moon,” Luis posited.

Morgan’s stomach rumbled as the boy ogled the artwork on the cards. She was tempted to commend the kid on his ‘uncanny insight’ into the realm of the divine and take her money and run down the street for a hot stack of tacos. But the kid was so bright eyed and easily awed. She felt like she owed him at least some of her knowledge, even if she thought the tarot was psychological self-talk at best.

“Fortunately for your relatives, nothing here is quite that literal,” she said, laughing warmly. “But this journey you’re on, both within and without, is going to be perilous.” Perilous to the point of being seriously dangerous and traumatic, if this really was his subconscious sensing something on the horizon. But that wasn’t something she was going to say to his face. She wanted money without having to lie to her mother about where it came from later. “Even though your desires are upheld by the earth and stars, there will come a time when it feels as though you’ve been cast out and lost everything. But the key to staying your course is to…” What was a precious uplift-y way to spin this? “Hold fast to your sense of self. Remember the core of who you are and what you want. Because, if you do, then you will survive the upheavals, and you will be able to choose wisely what to keep, what to leave behind, and end up so strong, it’ll feel like you’ve been resurrected and leveled up into a new, better, cooler version of yourself!” She had no idea how to make sense of the moon card in a positive five star customer service rating sort of way, so she moved it underneath the spread, smiling like this had been her master plan all along.

“This card with the moon and the wolves isn’t your endgame, it’s an indicator of the vehicle, the thing that encompases the whole. All this massive change ahead of you isn’t necessarily going to be visible to everyone. It comes from within, sometimes hidden, like how you can only see the stars when it’s dark out and most of the world is asleep, and wolves howl when the world is in shadows. It’s like that. And it’s going to be amazing.”

Morgan checked her watch and slumped back in her chair as if she were exhausted. Not a hard thing to do when it was this hot out. “So, that’s gonna be forty dollars for the energy and the insight. Technically, with how many cards you pulled, it should be a little more, but I can tell you’re taking a risk on something new here and I want to honor that. But we can keep going if you have any more questions!”

“Vehicle huh...not sure dad’s gonna let me spraypaint moons and wolves on the truck,” Luis mused, perhaps taking the ‘vehicle’ thing a bit too literally or not wanting to think too hard about the possibility of his life changing.

Luis looked over the intricately illustrated cards, eyebrows wrinkling as he tried to parse through the profound chicanery Morgan had spouted. A bite of the lower lip hinted that Luis had never really encountered those who could appear to say everything while stating nothing particularly specific.

“Well shiiiii..,” the teenager breathed before glancing up at Morgan and catching himself with a small hssk of inhalation, as if some inner parental voice had scolded him about cursing in front of a lady. “That was pretty cool,” he amended, clearly at a loss before everything he’d been told, too polite to claim he didn’t believe any of it, but also too much a child of modernity to heed the weird feeling in his gut that recognized something...hit different...about this chance prophecy.

Luis grinned bashfully and unknowingly let fate’s final warning pass him by.

“Forty bucks huh, I’ll havta explain that somehow,” the young man noted with the mild consternation of someone blessed enough to just worry about a family member who’d be more peeved about gas money going to “fortuneteller” then the actual cash itself.

The bills slid across the table after some awkward wallet-riffling. “Thank you ma’am.”

Morgan snatched up the bills and shoved them down her shirt before the kid could change his mind. Whatever ominous feelings his subconscious were trying to air out was no concern for her. She had too many problems of her own to bother with anyone else’s. “It takes a long time to read the cards,” she drawled smugly. “And lots of energy, to open oneself and reach beyond the veil.” She waved her fingers as if to say tootles, and went back to fanning herself until he was gone.

She helped a lady find some yarrow and made up a policy about consultation fees to get another $10 in her pocket. She was using her agency to bridge the gap between minimum shop girl wage and living wage, working her will to get the right kind of energy flowing her way. Mostly, the energy of not-starving and not invoking the ire of darkness from using alchemy to get ahead. It didn’t line up with the rest of what she understood, neutral magic forces should be lining up to help her right her cosmic access and be less chronically miserable, but that was a problem to untangle another day.

At the end of her shift, Morgan shuffled the cards once again and lined them up on the cleansing plate the shopkeeper wanted the used decks put on. By chance, or so she told herself, she picked up the topmost card to see what was there for her. But it was just the death card, and Morgan knew the last thing that was gonna happen to her life was a hard reset. She stuck it back in the middle of the deck and slipped away into the long shadows that marked the summer evening.

[banan0isblue]

Flea panic* Remake yee

[b0nten]

I was literally this close 🤏 to blocking my friend bc she had a thing for k*saki. Like no sweets not in the friendship you’re not. 🙄

- 🥖

EXCUSE MY BLUNTNESS BUT WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND 'HAS A THING' FOR K*SAKI. MF HAS A YEE YEE ASS PISS COLORED HAIRCUT WITH DOLLAR STORE FLEA MARKET MOTORWAY THICK ASS GLASSES AND A TENNIS BALL LOOKING HEAD, ALL OF THAT TOPPED OFF WITH A CREEPY WIDE ASS MOMO SMILE ??? WHO EVEN FINDS HIM ATTRACTIVE ????

🥖 anon bby, i'm sorry you had to go through something this traumatic 😔

[starthetripledevil]

Mario Legacy Challenge: 1973

Last year, Mario proposed to Pauline and the two started planning their wedding.

The wedding is happening in Q1 of the year.

But before that, Tony invites Mario to join him at a flea market. Obviously, in-universe this isn't on the same day as the wedding (in-game it was because each day represents 3 months). Tony has heard Mario is not good at haggling so he wants to show Mario how to haggle successfully.

Mario manages to haggle, yet despite this, he's not actually planning on buying anything.

Mario will be leaving this apartment behind after the wedding, but he still has one last repairing left to do. (At least it's a way to improve his handiness skill.)

The wedding has started! Pictured here are just some of the guests: Luigeena Arthur (Mario's soon to be sister-in-law), Kaori Kato, Regan Espinoza, Tony Arhur, Rangi Parata and Lana Yee. Although he doesn't appear in any of the screenshots (at least not recognizably), I'm sure Nico (Pauline's father) is also at the wedding.

It's time for the ceremony. The guests have gathered here to watch as Mario and Pauline get married.

And with that, Mario and Pauline are now married. Their last name being... also Mario, the last name Mario took back in 1964 when he left behind his old family. Admittedly, the members of this family aren't the most creative when it comes to naming. (There will be more of that later in the post.)

One more goal for the wedding is to have some drinks...

...as well as some food. There is a caterer who made plenty of this yogurt thing (I don't remember exactly what it was) for some reason.

While all of this is going on, Kaori is playing with her younger daughter, Rhonda. Caitlin is also somewhere at the wedding but doesn't appear in any of the screenshots.

Following the wedding, Mario moves in with Pauline, who is already living with Luigeena and Tony. So now it's two sisters and both of their husbands living together in the same apartment.

Luigeena is now pregnant (iirc she was already pregnant when Mario moved into the household). Also, since she is in the culinary career, she is generally the one cooking, though this particular instance isn't going that well due to her feeling uncomfortable from the cheap fridge. (She needs cooking level 2 to be promoted in her job.)

This apartment doesn't have as many problems as Mario's old home, but it still doesn't mean they don't have to deal with the occasional toilets breaking. At least it's a way for Mario to improve his handiness skill.

During their two years of living together, Tony and Pauline have had to deal with not getting along that well, but they have been working on improving their relationship. (Of course, in-game, most of this happened over one game of chess.) Pauline is determined to make things better and after some talking while playing chess, the two have finally managed to become friends. With this, Pauline also manages to get over her fear of unfulfilled dreams (which she apparently had before this point though I don't think I ever mentioned it in the original tweets other than when she got over it).

Pauline isn't the only one to play chess with Tony. Mario, still aiming to improve his logic skill, also plays some chess (and now that he lives with the Arthurs, he can play chess even more frequently than before). And he also tells some jokes to improve his comedy skill. (With this, he gets comedy skill level 6.)

As for Pauline, she needs to work on her writing skill for her job as a style influencer. (I used the skill book for this.)

It's Q4 of the year and Luigeena is going to give birth soon.

It's twin girls! The older twin is named Marianne, after Mario (and the "-ne" ending might be a nod to Pauline). The younger twin... well, she's just named Luigeena after her mother. I told you they aren't the most creative when it comes to naming.

Both Mario and Pauline spend some time with their newborn nieces. The next year and a half is basically going to be all four of them taking care of the twins.

For Mario's experiences in 1974, see this post.

[sweetcinnamonrolls]

Nichole: *gently holds Parker close* I wouldn't shave you anyways, sweetie. But I would say a flea bath is definitely in order

Parker: "gasps" yee! Bath! Bath! Bath!...... what's a bath?

[deathtokillian]

Everyone thought I was gonna buy a bass to be the next flea. Jokes on them I wanna be chris n°2 from anti flag

Hell yee

[sablelab]

Covert Operations - Chapter 68

DISCLAIMER: This is a modern AU crossover story with Outlander and La Femme Nikita. LFN and its characters do not belong to me nor do those from Outlander.

SYNOPSIS:  As they are jogging in the park, Karen asks very probing questions eliciting information from Claire.  When Karen takes a fall, she rests while Claire explores some market stalls and witnesses some things that are puzzling and also tragic.

*For reading my story, for hitting the like heart, for taking the time to write a comment and for reblogging my story over the past week then THANK YOU so much.  I really do appreciate it immensely.

 Previous chapters can be found … https://sablelab.tumblr.com/covertoperations

CHAPTER 68

 Claire Beauchamp could have quite easily had a good lie in daydreaming about what a wonderful lover James Fraser was, but seeing that he’d already left the apartment, and had asked her to meet him specifically in the park, she decided that it was best to keep her normal jogging routine with her neighbour. It was already prearranged between the two women anyway, for just as Karen Yee was leaving last night, she’d asked if Claire still wanted to go jogging in the morning.

She remembered that her friend had cast a quick glance towards were Jamie was sitting, then back at her.  Karen had a questioning look on her face especially knowing that she had company. No doubt this was an attempt to ascertain if her male companion might be staying the night.  If so, then Karen was giving her an out to cancel their weekly jogging session together if something better came up ... that something or someone being her male friend ... James Fraser.  

It was highly probable that Jamie too had made plans to rendezvous where the two friends always jogged to have a chance meeting with her neighbour again. More than likely, it was because of these ulterior motives that he suggested to meet him in the park of all places.  Jamie was skeptical of her relationship with Karen, and another chance meeting with her would give him more information with which to ascertain her true motives.  It would also allow her to see if Jamie’s concerns were warranted.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lost in thought and locking the door behind her, Claire stepped out of her apartment ready to go jogging with her neighbour Karen Yee.  Dressed in her exercise sportswear of sweatpants and crop top, she stopped to adjust her Fitbit on her wrist.  With her hair pulled back in a pony tail, she looked refreshed and vibrant after her invigorating shower despite the little aches in her body.  She’d also consumed a hearty breakfast which had curbed the stomach rumbles and alleviated her ravenous appetite. Claire had decided to tell Karen to make sure it was a leisurely jog and not too strenuous given that she had a full stomach, but she’d been ravenous this morning particularly as they had not had any dinner last night.

Walking to the apartment opposite hers, Claire was just about to knock on her jogging partner’s door, when Karen, dressed in similar running gear, poked her head out of her apartment at the same time. She looked up at her friendly neighbour with a smile on her face.

“Good morning.” “Karen.”

She gave Claire the once over and with tongue in cheek stated, “So Beauchamp ... I guess we are still going jogging.”

“Yep ... That’s why I’m dressed for jogging with my personal trainer,” Claire replied equally as ironical emphasizing the personal trainer remark and doing some quick little jogs up and down on the spot.

Karen laughed. “Well ... It’s a lovely day to get in some aerobic exercise, and what better place than the park.”

“Can we do a slow jog though ... I had a rather ...”

“Heavy night?” Karen interrupted with inflection in her words and a raised eyebrow.

Claire looked at her friend with a perplexed look on her face then quickly replied realising what she was insinuating.  “No! ...  A hearty breakfast.”

“Oh? ... So? ... No dinner?” Karen stated with a wry grin and double meaning behind her words.

“Something like that ...” Claire replied while a rosy blush suddenly warmed her cheeks at the look Karen was giving her.

“Oh ... Do tell Claire...”

“Nothing to tell.”

“If you say so ...” Then after a short pause and another pointed look at Claire, Karen asked, “Are you ready to go?” “Sure ... You?” “Yeah ... Come on. Let’s go before it gets too busy,” Karen answered as she tossed her morning paper in her doorway and shut the door behind her.  Linking arms with Claire, the two women then headed towards the elevator. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On entering Victoria Park, Claire and Karen passed by the imposing statue of Queen Victoria, after whom the park was named at the main entrance on Causeway Road. This place was an oasis of calm, peace, tranquillity and space amidst the hustle and bustle, and teeming non-stop moving metropolis of Hong Kong.  The park offered a welcome respite to its citizens to appreciate nature, relax and enjoy the environs and what they offered. As the two women jogged along the jogging track and through the park, they passed by groups of people near a large fountain practising the slow motion peaceful, unified movements and choreography of Tai Chi. They jogged up and down on the spot for a short while as they marvelled at the many elderly Chinese men and women partaking in the martial arts discipline before continuing their run.  

As they ran side by side down a tree lined area, they talked. “So Claire ... did you enjoy yourself at The Triangle the other night?” “Yeah ... It was wonderful.  I had a great time.” “What did you think of my guy Andy?” “He was very nice. Cute too.” “Hmm ... I think so ...” Giving Claire a side grin Karen added, “He stayed last night and went for a run earlier ... we might bump into him while we’re out jogging.” “Better keep our eyes peeled then.”  Claire replied glancing around her but she failed to see anyone who resembled Karen’s male friend Andrew Ma.

“Hey! What about that Jamie guy? Is he your boyfriend?” Karen asked in a nonchalant way so as not to appear to be too intrusive, but merely somewhat inquisitive. “No ... he’s just a friend that’s all.” “You two looked so good together. Are you sure that’s all he is? ... It seemed a lot more to me.” Karen asked pressing for more information than Claire was willing to give and knowing that she was holding something back from her.

Claire laughed replying, “No, like I said before, nothing to tell.”

“Is he staying in Hong Kong for long?”

“No, he’s gone to Shanghai.”

“Oh.” Karen sounded a little disappointed by this answer, but forged ahead with another question. “So, where did you two meet?” Suddenly Karen’s questions were becoming more probing and Claire remembered Jamie’s warning about her neighbour and friend. She gave her a telling look, “You’re very inquisitive today all of a sudden Karen. Why so many questions?”

“Sorry, I’m just being a nosy neighbour. Jamie seemed like a great guy. I just want you to be as happy as me.”

“Thanks Karen ... but I am happy or I will be when I get a job.” Thinking that she may have overstepped the mark a little and not wanting Claire to become overly suspicious of her questioning, Karen changed the subject. “So how about Andy getting us tickets for Saturday night?” “That was unbelievable that he was able to do so. He’s fantastic.”

“I think so.”

“I can’t wait to finally meet Jonathon Randall. What’s he like?” “I’ve met him once or twice. He’s always been nice to me.  I think he’ll like you.” “Oh? Why’s that?” Claire queried looking at Karen as they jogged along. “Remember, Andy said that he likes his women tall and brunette ... and hello Claire ... that’s you!” Karen laughed hoping that Claire was appeased by her answer. “You don’t say ... Well maybe I’ll go as a redhead instead.” “Oh Claire you’re such a riot.” “Yeah ... don’t I know it?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  

Jogging through the park the two friends soon came upon some craft markets set up along the lake. Vendors had their produce and merchandise including all kinds of bric-a-brac, lanterns, authentic Chinese items and masses of flowers laid out on tables in the sunshine. The market was bustling with energy, and couples and families were milling around looking over or purchasing the products on display as they strolled through the park in the beautiful sunny weather. 

“Oh, look Karen! Let’s go check it out.” “Sure ... Why not.” But as they jogged over towards the flea market Karen fell and twisted her ankle. “Ow!” she cried out, as she lay on the ground clutching at her foot and rolling in pain. Concerned, Claire crouched down beside her watching her friend with concern. “Hey, are you okay?” “I’m all right ... but I seem to have twisted my ankle.”

 “What can I do?”

“Can you help me up? I think I’ll just sit down on the bench over there for a while,” she answered as Claire helped her to her feet. Placing her arm around Claire’s shoulder for support, Karen began to hobble over in the direction of the park bench.   Finally they  made their way over to the seat beside the path, and she sat down taking the weight off her swollen ankle. 

“I’ll stay with you.”

“No ... no ... you go and check out the stalls Claire ... I’ll be fine here.”

“Are you sure?” “Positive ... I’ll be okay if I rest for a while.” “All right ... I won’t be long.” “That’s okay ... I won’t be going anywhere in a hurry. Take your time,” Karen replied placing her injured foot up onto the bench seat and leaning back against the wooden frame.

“Thanks. I’ll be back before you miss me. Rest up that ankle.” 

“I will. Have fun.” *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Making her way over to the stalls, Claire started to casually look around the flea market.  Hoping that she might find something for her watch and sunglasses collection, she went searching for some bargains. She’d loved the night stalls in Patpong where Jamie had bought her the Franck Muller watch that was so precious to her and this time, she would be happy to find a quirky pair of sunglasses that she liked.  However, before she ventured any further along the many stalls, Claire stopped and turned to see if Karen was okay sitting on the park bench.  If she walked any further down the hill, she would lose sight of her friend and Claire was still a little worried about her. Waving at her, she noticed that Karen had decided to elevate her foot on the bench which was a good move to relieve the pressure of a sore ankle. However, an injury like this really needed to be bandaged, and if she saw some bandages, Claire decided that she would buy them and bind Karen’s ankle for support when she returned.

Karen Yee saw her friend waving at her and waved back, but soon lost sight of Claire as she mingled in with the crowd.  However, once Claire Beauchamp was out of sight, Karen lowered her foot to the ground and taking out her cell phone, quickly dialled a number. With a grimace of frustration, she placed the phone to her ear and waited for the connection. When it came, she tersely asked, “Where the hell are you? She’s at the market.”

“Okay ... I’m in position.” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* The flea market reminded Claire of the night markets she’d seen in Thailand except that today there were many original art and craft items for sale. She was having fun checking out all the bargains on display and got caught up in the moment. Walking along the row of stalls, Claire stopped at one that particularly caught her eye where she saw some curios for sale. Examining the ornaments, she decided to ask the price. She began to haggle over the cost and tried to barter with the seller, but since the price for the item was still too high, she declined to buy. She then walked over to another stall selling art work. As she was examining the paintings, Claire happened to casually glance up and saw a familiar face ahead. Stopping in her tracks, she took a double take thinking that her eyes were deceiving her. No! ... It couldn’t be! But ... it was... It was Jamie. He was back. Claire raised her hand to wave at him, but he obviously hadn’t seen her either, so she decided to follow him at a discrete distance to see where he was going. Although it had only been a couple of hours since she had seen him, Jamie looked wonderful and oh, so sexy wearing his dark sunglasses and all dressed in black with his auburn hair glistening in the sunshine. Claire felt a little quiver of awareness in her stomach, she smiled and swallowed the breath she was holding at seeing him this morning.  She couldn’t take her eyes from his body and was a little spellbound just admiring this gorgeous specimen of manhood.  James Fraser was a commanding figure, but today he looked relaxed and carefree eating pretzels as he too mingled amongst the crowd in the park.

God, he’s a gorgeous looking man. It was strange but wonderful at the same time to see him as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Perhaps he was thinking about last night. She had done nothing else but think of what had happened, and if she hadn’t have said yes to Karen last night on going on their planned jogging session this morning, then she may have spent the day at home daydreaming and waiting for their rendezvous here at the park. 

Claire watched Jamie walk away and waited until he was some distance ahead but still in eye sight and then followed him, but she hid behind a tree when he stopped and dumped the finished pretzel bag in a rubbish bin. She watched as he continued to walk around the park before taking a seat on a park bench. Nonchalantly looking around, he surveyed the surrounds as if he was just a casual people observer.  However, Claire knew Jamie was always Section alert to any anomalies and she wondered if this was where she would meet him.  She checked her watch but it was more than an hour before their rendezvous time.  It was not like James Fraser to casually just sit and wait.  He was always punctual and if he said 11 o’clock, then he would meet her at that very time.  

There were plenty of reasons why he was at the park early, and she wracked her brain with some scenarios that were puzzling.

Jamie had said that he would meet her in the park, but not exactly the location where the meeting would take place. It wasn’t even 11 o’clock yet, so, was it here that he would meet her and was that why he was waiting on the park bench because he was early? Perhaps he was just filling in time until they met up or perhaps his time at Section was cut shorter than he’d expected? Was it really her or someone else connected with Section that he was waiting for?  Could it be associated with the phone call this morning?  Was that the only explanation?

However, it was soon became apparent to Claire that he was waiting for someone else.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

She was just about to reveal herself and confront Jamie, when she looked up and saw a beautiful Caucasian woman approach him. When she saw Jamie give the woman a warm hug in greeting, Claire felt some jealously at his familiar embrace, and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She watched enthralled but inquisitive as to whom this person was and how Jamie knew her. Having never seen this woman before, curiosity was eating away at her. 

Who was she? Who was this woman? How did he know her? Was she one of Jamie’s informants or just a female friend? From her vantage point, Claire could tell by the woman’s body language that it appeared that she was not happy and was upset about something. She seemed a little nervous too and anxiously looked around several times, but Jamie comforted her and placed his arm around her shoulder which seemed to reassure her. Claire meanwhile took the opportunity to move a little further forward when they were distracted and stood behind a large tree trunk where she couldn’t be detected but still see what was happening. She was closer than before and tried to overhear what they were saying, however, the two spoke quietly and exchanged only a few words. Claire tried to hear what they were talking about but it was impossible to make out their conversation. She also tried to lip read what they were saying to each other in an effort to make out some of their exchange.  Unfortunately, it too was futile, so Claire had to be content with watching their body language and trying to decipher what was going on. Her curiosity, nonetheless, was getting the better of her and she was intrigued as to what they were saying. Her mind was musing over the possible scenarios that might involve James Fraser and this attractive woman. She wondered what they were talking about, but surely Jamie would inform her later and debrief her as to what he was discussing with the mystery woman. Was this woman an operative that Jamie knew from the past? If so, did he train her? Had she been his material? Was his concern for her purely professional?

Many more questions ate away at her thoughts. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* “Jamie ... It was a mistake to come here.” “Why?” “I think I’m being watched. I may have been compromised.” Surreptitiously his keen eyes glanced around the immediate area and he saw three men talking but they moved off in different directions. In the near distance, two elderly men sat, playing a game of chess at one of the picnic tables. Beyond that, on another bench in the park, a family were watching their child play while a young man on a Moped buzzed by a few feet in front of them. Jamie also noticed a couple holding hands and kissing on a bench nearby but he saw no one who appeared to be tailing the woman. “Are ye sure?” She hesitated for a while before continuing, “No ... it’s just a gut feeling.” “Do ye want me to bring ye back in?” “No ... although you've got to bring me back in soon enough.” “I’ll speak to Operations.” “Thank you.” “Do ye have something hard on Inspector Ng? If not then there's nothing more to discuss.” “Here take this,” she replied handing him a disk. “What's this?” “Take it to Comm. ... Fergus will pull off the specifics. There’s still much more to learn about him.” “Is there anything else?” “No ... I’ve told you all I know. Everything else is on the disk.” “Thank ye.” “Be careful Jamie. He’s dangerous ... and ruthless.” “We will.” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~ Their meeting was brief. The woman looked around once more before Jamie escorted her back towards her car. Observing from a distance, Claire followed close behind once they had turned their backs to her. Jamie took the woman’s arm and they walked towards the park’s exit where several cars were parked in the car park. When they arrived at the parking bay where her car was located, they turned to face one another. Jamie kissed the woman goodbye on each cheek, then opened her car door and ushered her into the driver’s seat, before closing the door after her. Claire watched the scene taking place and was unable to tear her eyes away from what was happening. Once the woman was in her car, Jamie said goodbye and turned to walk away. Creeping back behind her observation position, Claire watched as he left. The woman settled into her car then turned over the ignition to start the vehicle. Distracted by her thoughts of what Jamie was doing here in Victoria Park and why, Claire was startled when she heard a loud explosion rock the tranquillity of the area. Looking back towards the car park she saw the Caucasian woman’s car burst into flames. People started to scream and came rushing to where the explosion had taken place. Mingling in with the crowd, James Fraser glanced behind him and saw the exploding car too. The detonation was just as unexpected to him as it was to those gathered in the park. He looked around as people came rushing past him to check out what had just happened in the peaceful environs of the park. Jamie, though, moved in the opposite direction casually walking away from the scene as if nothing had happened. Nonetheless, he knew that something serious had just happened that would and could have far reaching ramifications. A shocked look of disbelief crossed Claire’s face at what had just occurred as well. She was more perplexed than before. Why did Jamie talk to the woman? Who was she? Why was she killed? And more importantly ... by whom? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Claire began to jog away from the scene but as she did so a man who was jogging in the other direction bumped into her causing her to lose her balance and nearly fall. “Oh ... I’m so sorry,” he apologised reaching out his hand to steady her. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” “No ... I’m fine,” she replied righting herself and looking at the handsome man out of the corner of her eye. “Can I buy you a drink and apologise for my clumsiness?” He asked as a way of saying sorry. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary. I’m just about to meet up with my friend.” Claire tried to go around him, but he stepped into her path, blocking her from continuing on her run. “Are you sure I can’t buy you a drink?” He insisted flirting with her. “Positive ... Excuse me but my friend is waiting.” “Can’t blame a guy for trying ...” he replied with a smile, letting her leave voluntarily. “Goodbye ... enjoy your run.” Before jogging off, he watched Claire move away and when she was some distance ahead, he flipped open his cell phone. “She’s on her way back.” “Good ... Meet us at the rendezvous spot.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* to be continued

[feralpoodles]

My entry for @ivory-shell ‘s bachelor challenge! Thank you for doing this she was a lot of fun to make! :) (also I’m not good at screenshots lol sorry)

Andi Pierson

traits: creative, perfectionist, non-committal

aspiration: joke star

Virgo (born September 3rd)

21

raised by a single mom, has one half sister who’s 12 years older than her

born in Oasis Springs, constantly moving around since she was really young all the way through high school because her mom was always looking for work

always the really funny kid, got along with everyone but never got really close to anyone cause she was always leaving and changing schools

currently living in a really garbage apartment in San Myshuno, is saving up to move to Del Sol Valley 

absolutely cannot deal with the cold, anything under 50 degrees F and she is freezing and suffering

In contrast, will wear a hoodie in 90 degree weather no problem

really really wants to be a comedian

has done a bunch of small gigs in bars and cafes and stuff, is trying really hard to make a name for herself and do something bigger

hates talking about her feelings, uses humor as a way to cope with stuff

likes to think of herself as the mom friend, is really the vodka aunt friend

absolute meme lord, runs a fairly successful meme page

made like three vines when Vine was still a thing, one of them got 100,000 loops, she still brags about it to this day

she was really self conscious about her red hair when she was a kid, but after she read Harry Potter she fell in love with it 

cuts her own hair, thinks hair dressers are a scam (basically hacks off an inch or two of hair with whatever scissors she can find whenever she feels like, it used to always be really uneven but now she can do it almost perfectly)

has a scar above her left eyebrow that she thinks makes her look really cool so she pushes her hair to the other side to show it off

she got the scar when she ate shit on her skateboard when she was 6, tells people she got it from a goose (with no further explanation, she just looks solemnly into the distance for a second before changing the subject, baffles literally everyone)

started saying uwu and yee yee ironically but cannot stop anymore, it is a problem

also uses an unhealthy amount of emojis (also ironically, but its still a problem)

always wears those two sapphire (her birthstone) rings, one she got from her mom, the other she got at a flea market in Del Sol Valley the first time she visited

her secret: she writes poetry (its actually really good) and posts it anonymously online. She’s never ever told anyone about it and seriously doubts she ever will 

is telling people that she’s going on the bachelor show to promote her comedy stuff, is actually going on because she thinks Reid is... really hot 

absolutely DOES NOT have a crush on him this is PURELY business 

Ok so I wrote... way too much lol I got carried away! I ! Love ! Her ! This was a lot of fun, I hope she gets picked but either way I can’t wait for the bachelor game to start! :)

Private download obviously 

bonus: this is very Andi lol:

[mousemarner]

for the musicals ask do DEH and BMC *AND* spring awakening 😈

HOOOO okay -

Dear Evan Hansen Have I seen the show?: thrice now! Plus several boots several times, and I’m seeing the Toronto production in the spring!

The first song from this show I heard: Oh I think it was probably Waving Through a Window!

Do I own the cast album?: (I think I pirated it shhhhh) its on my iPod yee

Favorite song: that SO depends on mood, right now I’d say Sincerely Me or So Big/So Small. Good For You is also always a top contender.

Favorite character: Zoe and Heidi. I just adore them. They’re so complex and funny and flawed and GOOD.

Cast members I’ve met: oh man…I’ve stage doored three times. First time I met Michael Park, JLT, and RBJ briefly said hi as well. Second time I met MLB (😍) and I think Michael and JLT were out again. Third time I got to meet Alex, Sky, Mallory, Phoenix, Michael Park, and Lisa. Outside of stage door, I met MLB on the sidewalk about two hours before curtain the first time I saw the show and he was out with Olivia, Colton, and Mike Faist so I didn’t meet them but I did see them. Then I went to Broadway Flea Market this year and saw like literally everyone basically, everyone mentioned above plus Roman and Garrett and Dan and Asa and Diamond. FINALLY, i went to MLB’s 54 Below concert and I met him obvi as well as Diamond, Mallory, Phoenix, Sky, Alex, Asa, Garrett, Dan, Roman, and there were probably others there but I can’t remember. Sorry this is super obnoxious I just happen to be really really fortunate in this regard ❤️

song I didn’t like at first but now do: ooh I used to hate If I Could Tell Her just because of what it represents but literally the first time I heard MLB Sing it I was like :O I Get it now. Now I love it! Also I have always like, felt Words Fail is a good song but I NEVER listen to it since it’s so upsetting, but recently I’ve started actually going out of my way to play it which is !!!

song I used to like but now don’t: none…only song I ever didn’t like is tbiag and I still hate it, so

Favorite non-sung line: oh god there’s so many…one that literally makes me sob just thinking about it is Zoe’s last line, “I wanted to make sure you saw this.” Idk why. It just gets me SO bad. Also Heidi’s “one day this will feel like a very long time ago” which I’m paraphrasing but has become my fucking MANTRA over the last year and a half as far as getting through bad mental health shit. I genuinely and sincerely credit that line with being a part of why I’m here right now typing this.

Favorite lyric: oh my god idek where to BEGIN. Basically ALL of so big/so small. Maybe specifically “and I knew I’d come up short a million different ways and I did/and I do/and I will” and then “your mom isn’t going anywhere/your mom is staying right here/no matter what.”

Overall rating out of 10: 9/10 ❤️❤️❤️

Be More Chill -

Have I seen the show?: YES I was lucky enough to catch one of the final performances of the Off-Broadway run

The first song from this show I heard: I think I listened to it in order, so More Than Survive

Do I own the cast album?: same as above lol it Is on my iPod

Favorite song: I think Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into is genuinely one of the better songs I’ve heard in ANY recent musical it’s just great. More Than Survive is a GENIUS opening number and Voices In My Head is a GORGEOUS and BRILLIANT closer that makes me SOB.

Favorite character: JEREMY HEERE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

Cast members I’ve met: I stage doored after the show and met Will, George, Stephanie, Tiffany, Jason Tan, Katlyn, Lauren, and Jason Williams!

song I didn’t like at first but now do: oooh gosh hm. I still don’t really listen to Pitiful Children at all but in context watching the show I was shocked by how much I LOVED it. Also I always Liked the Pants Song but it has grown on me SO much that it’s probably in my top 5 songs in the show now. Phenomenal.

song I used to like but now don’t: I haven’t really Unliked a song. I guess I like Do You Wanna Hang less and less.

Favorite non-sung line: Like half the shit Michael says. Maybe Jeremy’s dad deadass asking “Do you love him?” Idk im struggling to pull in dialogue rn because I mostly just listen to the cast recording but I remember Jake having some lines that KILLLLLED me they were so funny.

Favorite lyric: the whole end of Voices In My Head 😭😭😭. Also “you know that you are my favorite person” of course

Overall rating out of 10: straight up I’m giving this a 9.8 and the .2 is because their costume design for Jenna in particular but also Christine needs to improve SIGNIFICANTLY, otherwise Uh. She’s Perfect.

Spring Awakening -

Have I seen the show?: I’ve seen two reallly good college productions and a ton of bootlegs of both Broadway runs and the tour!

The first song from this show I heard: ooooh that was a long time ago now so I’m not positive but I Think it would have been either Mama Who Bore Me or I Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind.

Do I own the cast album?: on my iPod yee

Favorite song: TOUCH ME!!!!! It’s my fave song in this musical and possibly ANY musical!!!!!

Favorite character: Wendla and Moritz but I adore literally ALL of the kids. They’re My kids now those parents aren’t allowed to have them.

Cast members I’ve met: well I’ve never seen SA professionally but I have met a few past tour cast members and stuff stage dooring other things!

song I didn’t like at first but now do: the biggest one is DEF Song of Purple Summer. I used to HATE it and insist the show should have ended after Those You’ve Known and skip it every time, but then I saw how Deaf West did it and. I GOT it. Now it’s one of my favorite numbers in the show. That’s the power of Michael Arden babey! To a lesser extent, the first word of your body and my junk have both grown on me a lot.

song I used to like but now don’t: idk I don’t really have many of these because I tend to have pretty solid opinions on things from the jump.

Favorite non-sung line: Moritz’s final monologue, and a lot of Melchior’s writing asides. Hanschen’s “tonight will seem unbelievably beautiful.”

Favorite lyric: just the entirety of Touch Me. Honestly. The whole thing. “Where the winds sigh” “I love your light” “only hymns upon your lips” I could go on forever. I also adore “a song so big in one so small” in song of purple summer.

Overall rating out of 10: a hard 11/10