#and he got her the POSITION as a maid to Marie

[margridarnauds]

It's been five years since I got into this musical and it still haunts me that Orléans dies without knowing WHY Margrid betrayed him -- he'll always think that she lost her nerve at the last minute, because she never told him. He'd told her going in that morals weren't going to be particularly important in the operation, she signed on, and then she backed out when it became too difficult. He had no idea that they'd just engineered the death of her half-sister.

[sea-owl]

I just had a cute idea. Soulmate rings that upon the owners 18th birthday, the ring will leave the original owner and magically appear on their soulmate's right hand to be later moved to their left hand by the original owner of the ring. Each of these rings are super expensive due to the unique magic within them and are usually made for a person by their family after surviving their first year of life. The original owner has a connection to the ring, and it will glow when the soulmates meet. The ring will fashion itself to the asethics of its wearer. Those who had the rings would often wear gloves that could be seen through, often made with material like lace.

The Bridgertons have followed this tradition for generations. Each one of the siblings has had a ring commissioned for them and each one had worn it faithfully on their right hands until their 18th birthdays.

Kathony -

Anthony was looking forward to finding the woman whose hand now held his ring. Where it once sat on his right hand was now warm, leading Anthony to believe that whoever she was was definitely not in England. Then tradegy struck with Edmund's death that same year. Anthony no longer cared for his soul ring, instead throwing himself into being the head of the family. He didn't want to find his soulmate any more, he refused to put her in the same position that his mother was in when his father passed. No one comments when Anthony sometimes rubs the skin where his ring used to be nor the henna that sometimes appears. When Anthony's finger started getting colder six months before the 1814 season, he knew it was time to find a wife.

Kate was confused when the soul ring first appeared on her finger, and Mary had to explain it to her what the ring was. The tradition was not as popular in India so Kate had not heard of them before then. Mary did not have a soul ring herself but she did know of the stories and how the original owner was connected to the ring. That gave Kate the idea of doing henna designs around the ring on he finger. Maybe her henna rings would appear on her soulmate.

Benophie -

Benedict first saw his ring again on the night of the masquerade, when the Lady in Silver's glove slipped off her hand while running away from him. The ring had a faint glow that got dimmer the farther away she got from him. Benedict wanted to laugh and curse at the same time. He finds his soulmate and she runs away from him.

Sophie was in disbelief when the soul ring first appeared on her hand. These sort of fairytales don't happen to girls like her. The head maid was quick to hide the ring with a servant's glove. They both knew Araminta would go on a rampage should she ever see that ring. When Sophie left Pennwood she still kept the glove on. Better to keep herself safe.

Polin -

Colin's ring just confuses him. He'll try to follow his connection to it but every time he does he finds himself near Penelope. Penelope who never wears lace gloves, whose mama would absolutely jump at the chance to link her daughter to a family rich enough to afford a soul ring. Penelope never gives any indication that she has a soul ring on either. Sure she'll ask them questions about it when her curiosity arises but everyone does.

Part of the reason Penelope does not say anything about the ring is because of her love for Colin. She's been in love with him forever and she thinks it would be unfair to her soulmate that she's so in love with a different man. The other reason I can see being is that Portia does not put much stock in soul rings. They're more common in Portia's hometown (I'm thinking Ireland, canonically the Featheringtons do have Irish cousins) and she's a firm believer in her daughters finding an advantageous match, not a love match, but one that would secure them a good future. One day thought Penelope needed to do an urgent Whistledown run and could only find a pair of lace gloves. Putting them on Penelope rushed off down to the church. Besides it's not like her soul mate will use their connection via the ring to track her down to Flint St, right?

Saphne -

Both Simon and Daphne have soul rings. While Simon's father scoffed at the idea of the rings he did have a reputation to uphold and had one crafted for Simon for his 1st birthday. Daphne squealed when a second ring appeared on her right hand. In her mind it helped her greatly narrow down on which gentlemen to be on the look out for. Anthony would stare at her second ring from time to time like he knew something about it. When asked he would only shake his head and say her ring just looked familiar.

Simon felt sick when a new ring appeared on his hand. He was not expecting it. For years he has used his connection to his ring to avoid his soulmate, and now she had a connection to him and her ring. His plan was to never marry and this definitely put a wrench in things. Well at least he can hide it.

Philoise -

Eloise never put much stock into the ring. She may have once upon a time before her father died. After it was there, and one day it wasn't. She did use it as an excuse to reject gentlemen once or twice. Her ring though felt very, stationary. Eloise once described it feeling like a tree, she was quick to conclude that her soulmate did not travel very much. When she sent her first letter to Sir Phillip her finger where the ring used to sit tingled. Eloise brushed it off at first but as her correspondence to him continued Eloise felt it more and more. Please let me be right Eloise thought to herself that night she left for Romney Hall, to hopefully the man that was her soulmate.

The ring appeared on Phillip's hand on his wedding day. He was quick to put a glove over it, sending a silent apology to his soul mate. He had to honor his brother and make sure Marina and the children were taken care of. He hopped his soulmate would find happiness.

[hayleythesugarbowl]

Hey!! I saw your Thomas barrow headcanons and I was wondering if you could write a fic where the reader is a new maid and Thomas takes a liking to her and stands up for her and the reader then begins to fall for Thomas and he finds out somehow and tells her that he can’t love her and the reader understands and they end up as good friends? Thank you so much if you write this I love your writing!!

It’s Nice To Have a Friend || Thomas Barrow & reader • Part

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 ⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • thomas barrow masterlist ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

summary: when your father dies and you’re forced to get a job as a maid at Downton you are greeted by Thomas Barrow who takes to helping you get settled in

word count: 1.4k

warnings: none

a/n: thank you so much for the request, I’ve been meaning to write for Thomas and so I decided to make this a series. this is the first of a three part series (part 2 and 3 are out now!!) enjoy <3🍒💋

<— another thomas fic • next part —>

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Downton Abbey. You took in the grand estate as you walked up towards the house, clutching your coat tighter around yourself.

     Saying you needed this job would be an understatement. What with your father’s death and your mother’s not being able to uphold the farm, you needed every penny you could get. Sure, being a maid wasn’t your ideal job, but it would do. There were less respectable positions than a housemaid in a estate such as Lord and Lady Grantham’s.

     You stuck your chin up. You were lucky to have gotten this job. And you would make a good maid—you would have to. It wasn’t where you imagined yourself when you were a little girl and dreamed of being the next Mary Shelley. But what were dreams to reality. You shook these thoughts off as you approached the house. 

     As you headed towards where you guessed the the servants entrance was, you thought about the decisions that had got you here. You hoped you’d made the right ones. You stopped for a moment, leaning up against the wall, hoping no one could see you. This had to go well. You took a minute to collect yourself. A door opened a little ways down and someone stepped out. You saw his figure walking towards you. 

     “Can I help you?” The man who now stood before you asked, with a slight air of suspicion. He had dark hair and dark eyes and you couldn’t help but notice how good-looking he was. God does have his favorites, you thought.

     “I’m (Y/n) (Y/l/n), the new housemaid.” You told him, standing up straighter.

     “I didn’t know we needed another housemaid,” the man said. 

     “Well I’m not here to mend cars,” you told him.

     “Ah, of course not,” he smiled, “I see you prefer to spend your time lurking in the shadows.”

     “I was merely looking for the servants entrance,” you countered.

     He looked you up and down, “Right. This way,” he led you farther down, towards the door he had previously exited. 

     “Well, now I’ve introduced myself, who might you be? I don’t suppose you’re the butler.”

     “In time,” he said mysteriously. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m Thomas Barrow, his Lordship’s valet. It’s a right here.”

     You turned right and were led into the servants quarters, a lively place, bustling with cooks and maids and footmen as they went about their work. As Thomas led you to the back of the room and into a hall you marveled at how many servants worked here. Sure, the house was large but you couldn’t imagine one family needing that much help. 

     “Here we are,” Thomas stopped in front of a room with the door propped open and you were met with a stern looking woman and an even more stern looking man. 

     “Ah, (Y/n), I see you’ve made it,” the woman greeted you, smiling, “I hope your trip wasn’t too rough.”

     “No ma’am,” you answered. 

     “We’re glad to have you (Y/n),” the man said, “Mrs. Hughes and I have been quite busy lately with such a limited staff. Thank you, Thomas, for showing her the way.” 

     Thomas nodded and as you looked around you, the door pushed open a tad and you saw that a maid with blonde hair had entered the room.

     “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she said. 

     “We were just welcoming the new maid. (Y/n), this is Anna, the head housemaid. She’ll show you to your rooms.” Mr. Carson said. “You have a few minutes to get settled and then you’ll need to change. Mrs. Hughes can tell you when to get the girls rooms ready and when to turn the guest rooms. Daisy will wake you at 6:00 every morning.”

     The woman who must have been Anna led you down a hall. 

     “I don’t know how I’ll ever remember it all,” you said.

     “You’ll pick it up in no time,” Anna smiled encouragingly. She showed you to the room you were to be sharing with another one of the maids and you set your bag down that held your few possessions.

     Upon walking back to the servants dining room you found most of the people sitting around the table having a rest or mending something, their eyes on you once you walked in. 

      “So, has it always been your dream to be in service or did fate require it?” One woman said, not entirely kindly, you thought.

     “If you’re asking if I mean to be a housemaid my whole life then no, I can’t say that I do.” You answered honestly, maybe too honestly, you realized as the word tumbled out of your mouth. “I have my ambitions, just like the rest of us.”

     “You’ll do good to forget about them,” she drawled.

     “O’Brien doesn’t mean it,” Anna smiled at you, “I think it’s lovely that you’ve got dreams.”

     “You don’t mean to be here long then?” A kitchen girl asked you.

     “Oh I don’t mean that,” you said, “it’s a good position and I’m lucky to be here.”

     Suddenly, a cook with fiery red hair stormed into the room, glaring daggers at the girl who had just spoke. 

     “Daisy I said you could have a break not a day off!” 

     “Coming Mrs. Patmore,” Daisy scrambled off, glancing back at you with a worried look. 

     Thomas walked in just then, Daisy almost running into him, holding a cigarette, “Got a lot of ambitions, do you (Y/n)?”

     “I might,” you answered, looking at Thomas mysteriously. 

     “Well you mustn’t let Mr. Carson hear you talking about ‘em,” he lifted his cigarette to his mouth, “we’re not supposed to have thoughts and opinions down here.”

     “You have no trouble sharing yours,” O’Brien raised an eyebrow.

     “You’re one to talk,” he countered.

     You looked between them, and then turned to Anna, whispering, “They don’t get on, do they?”

     Anna turned to you. “They’re friends really,” she continued in a low voice, taking on a joking tone, “united in their treachery.”

     You didn’t think Thomas had seemed particularly treacherous. Cold maybe. Haughty sure. But not treacherous. However, first impressions were often wrong.

     Mr. Carson entered the room again. Everyone stood up, awaiting instruction. 

     “I’ve rung the dressing gong,” he said, “You must all begin to get ready for dinner. Everyone is ready to be dressed so you should head up at once. Thomas, His Lordship’s new shoes are in the boot room and they need brushing.”

     “Yes Mr. Carson.”

     Mrs. Hughes addressed you. “And (Y/n), if you could help Anna out by fetching Edith’s frock. It was being mended and I haven’t had a chance to send it up.” 

     “Yes Mrs. Hughes.” You went off with everyone else in a rush, heading in the same direction as Thomas.

     “Settling in yet?” Thomas asked you as you walked.

     “As much as I can,” you answered. “I hope so, at least.”

     He was silent a moment before saying, “Always rise when any of the family comes down here. Never appear in the dining room when dinner service is in progress. Prepare to serve long and tiring hours and don’t expect to be acknowledged for it neither. Remember that and you should be alright.”

     You looked at him. “Thank you, you’ve been ever so welcoming. I’ve no doubt you know this house like the back of your hand. If I was Mr. Carson I’d worry I’d be out of a job.”

     Thomas was silent.

     You accepted the silence for a few moments and then sought to break it. “So you seemed keen to talk about ambitions, what are your dreams, Mr. Barrow?”

     “Who says I’ve got dreams?”

     “Everyone has dreams,” you told him.

     “Not me,” he said cryptically. “People like me don’t have dreams.”

     “I don’t believe that. I think everyone’s got a right to hope just as anyone else.”

     “The world doesn’t share your views, my luck,” he said.

     As you pondered over what this meant, you followed Thomas into the boot room. He picked up a pair of shoes and grabbed a brush.

     “I’d like to become a novelist,” you said. “I like to write—that’s my dream.”

     He didn’t say anything

    You gathered a parcel that must have been Lady Edith’s dress and began to leave the room.  “That was a very interesting conversation, Mr. Barrow, thank you.”

     You turned back around before exiting. “I’d like to think we’ll become friends, you and I,” you told him.

     “Oh, (Y/n),” Thomas turned to you, stopping mid-brush, “I don’t have friends here. Everyone knows that.”

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<— another thomas fic • next part —>

ˋ°•*⁀➷ part 2 and 3 are up now hope you enjoyed this loves &lt;3

[ladyandthewalrus]

Social Class and Income Levels of IDV Characters

I’m back again with a long, intensive IDV post, this time regarding the quality of life most of Identity V’s characters would likely have led before coming to the manor. This list is not definitive and is based on a little guesswork in some areas, and also doesn’t include every single character, as I couldn’t find relevant information for every career, but I think provides an interesting look at character backgrounds, the sorts of resources they would have access to, and what life was like in the 1890s.

This post assumes that the vast majority of the characters live in the United Kingdom and that most of them were born there. As discussed in an earlier theory post, Oletus Manor is 100% in England and the DeRoss Couple and their daughter were English aristocrats. It also refers to fairly readily available information that can be found in various characters’ deduction systems, seasonal events, background and official videos, and birthday letters.

Lots- and I mean LOTS- of info below. 

First, a few notes about the class system in the late Victorian United Kingdom:

- Class was highly stratified, and moving up the social ladder was extremely difficult.

- Class was not necessarily just tied to income. Upbringing, family background, etc were just as large a determinant, which is why you might have an impoverished aristocrat with tons of property but no income who would still be welcome in elite social circles, whereas an up-and coming business owner bringing in £3,000/year would be shunned. Class was who got invited over to dinner; class was whether or not you’d been educated, and if you had to work with your hands.

The Upper Class/Aristocracy/Nobility:

- The top of the class system under the royal family (boo). Men might hold political positions, but members of this class would not have careers, as such. These characters likely have a passive income from investments or land owned and generational wealth. hey own one or more homes and employ extensive live-in household staff, including maids, butlers, drivers, cooks, gardeners etc.They can travel widely and partake of various entertainments, having time to cultivate talents in the arts.

Mary: She is, or believes herself to be (??), Marie Antoinette, an Austrian princess and the Queen of France. Antoinette was infamous for her lavish lifestyle and voracious appetite for fashion.

Joseph: He is referred to as a Count, but French nobility does not actually use that exact title. It’s possible he is a Comte, which is the equivalent of an Earl/Count in England. Either way, this is a middle of the ranking noble title. In the 2021 Christmas Event, he mentions his family owning several manors, so the Desaulniers family has, or had, a considerable amount of property.

An interesting thing that makes me wonder if his family’s wealth is depleted is that he consistently dresses in extremely outdated clothing, but I believe that speaks more to his sentimental obsession with the past than anything else.

Chloe/Vera: The real Vera had the capital to open a store front to sell Chloe’s perfumes. There is no mention of either daughter working prior to this, and the family employs several maids. Presumably, Chloe’s perfumes were a good money maker, as the 1890s marked the “Golden Era” of perfume production and sales. It is unusual, but not impossible, that an upper-class woman would own a business.

Melly: A successful social climber who began as a maid before marrying her employer, who owned a manor. She is well educated, to the extent she has been invited to lecture at a college or university.

Edgar: Edgar does not paint to generate income. His family was able to afford a long-term art tutor for him, and he is not interested in the prize money offered by the manor because his family’s wealth is more than sufficient. He is squarely in the aristocrat category, and enjoyed a lifestyle most of the other characters could only have dreamed of, at least in a fiscal sense.

Galatea: Another individual who pursued art as a passion or hobby rather than actual trade.This would simply not be realistic for anyone outside the upper classes.

Memory/Alice DeRoss: Her father possessed the title of Baron. Her mother is depicted in TOR with an upper-class English accent. Her parents own Oletus manor, which they were able to purchase, and employ two known servants (Burke and Bane). Running such a large estate would require an army of maids, cooks, gardeners, etc, who are not directly mentioned but implied.

Keigan: In her background video, we see her family in very formal dress at a large, lavishly set dinner table. Her brother holds the position of judge at a major court, which brought with it a great deal of respect and import. The average clerk made very little money, but it’s implied she is acting as his unofficial assistant/helper due to sisterly obligation, and does not want for money.

Jack: a bit of conjecture, but Jack at least played at being an artist, and takes on the role of a gentleman. It does not appear he needed to work to support himself.

Annie: Her father is a painter of some note, and her mother was a noted society beauty who left her a considerable inheritance that her father and fiancé conspired to get their hands on.

Luca: A fallen aristocrat with a mother of noble birth. His interests include piano, books, and experiments, all of which point to a privileged upbringing. Only someone with resources could run experiments and futz about with specialized equipment, which is why so many scientists from past eras came from upper class or even noble backgrounds. His father, Herman, blew through their fortune, and after Luca’s incident with Alva, he would not be a socially accepted individual.

The “Educated” Middle Class:

-Individuals or households with an income up to around £1000/ year. The wives do not have to work, but see to the home (oversee staff) and partake in social obligations, plan parties, and help educate the children in the arts. Daughters may become teachers or governesses if they don’t marry or prior to marriage, or in wealthier families, not work at all. They own their home and have live-in staff, such a cook and maids. ( see model yearly  budget for a man making £700/year here.) Vacations, domestic and abroad, and high-end entertainments are accessible. They have some time for hobbies, and probably play a musical instrument if also from a culturally upper-middle class family, such as a piano, violin, harpsichord, etc. Guitars, flutes etc would not be counted here, as they are more “common” instruments. These individuals might move in some of the same social circles as the aristocracy.

Emily: A well established Doctor working in a city hospital could expect to make up to £1000/ year, putting them at the upper end of the middle class. However, an independent Doctor would make much less, and in rural areas, would often be paid in food or services. Given Emily’s difficulties keeping her clinic open, she lingers in the border between being a member of the middle class “culturally”— we know she came from a middle class family and is educated— but she struggles with money and lacks for stability like some of the folks in the lower middle and many in the working classes. Despite a low income, her education would mean she’d be welcome in polite society.

Freddy: A top-payed Lawyer could make £1,200/ year, but Freddy is a bit of a failure. His actual financial status cannot be determined, but he is, like Emily, culturally middle class due to his education and white-collar job.

Aesop: Aesop Carl? relatively loaded, actually. The Victorian era was great for the funeral industry. The elaborate rituals surrounding mourning meant that those in adjacent careers were always busy, and it was fashionable to send off a loved one in great style. The lower classes imitated the lavish funerals of the wealthy, often bankrupting themselves in the process, because it was considered shameful to be unable to lay someone to rest properly, and reputation and respectability were of vital importance in the Victorian United Kingdom. 

As with today, there was an outcry about the funerary industry driving up prices and taking advantage of grieving people to line their pockets even more.A nice funeral, modest but respectable, cost about £11, and embalming services were an additional £10. A funeral with all the bells and whistles would fall at £21. A skilled Embalmer is capable of tending to several corpses in a day. Even if Aesop and Jerry only handled 50 corpses a year, they’d be making £500.  A modern mortician handles about 150 bodies a year, so that’s a cool £1500/year for them. This would mean a nice house with a garden, a maid, and a cook at the very least, presuming Jerry risked having staff around that could possibly catch him on his bullshit. (Though I guess he could just kill them too and replace them with someone who didn’t know better. Fucking Jerry). At least even if he was emotionally starved and groomed into becoming a murderer, he was still eating well, could have nice clothes, and take vacations? 

Another downside though is that then as is often true now, people did not want to socialize with someone who worked closely with dead bodies, and funeral industry workers were often ostracized, making his position here a little tenuous. 

His mother’s family appears to have been upper or middle class, as suggested by Aesop’s dance emote, in which he performs a pirouette. Ballet was an upper-class entertainment, and formal dance training would not be accessible to children of poorer families, and I doubt Jerry was enrolling him in a lot of extracurriculars, meaning he must have learned while still in his mother’s care.

Jose: A First Officer could make around £900/ year. His family was employed by the Queen, and once had a stellar reputation. Although sailors worked with their hands, a high-ranked officer on a ship was seen as fairly respectable.

Orpheus: Some conjecture here. Orpheus is, like Melly, someone who successfully moved up the social ladder, first being adopted by the aristocratic DeRoss couple and then making a name for himself as a novelist. His Survivor version is well-dressed in neat white clothes that would require maintenance and be antithetical to manual work that would dirty them.

Luchino: As a professor, he is educated and respectable, even if his methods are unconventional and his manner of dress hardly appropriate for the classroom.

Alva: He was a student together with Luca’s father, Herman, at an institute of higher education, meaning he is most likely from a family who could afford the expense of educating him.

EDIT: @ivy0309 pointed out that in the Mandarin version of Alva’s first deduction, the language states he comes from an impoverished place, meaning he was probably granted a scholarship and is another case of a successful social climber.

Ann: Ann’s deductions mention she wore exquisite and ornate mourning clothes after the deaths of her parents, suggesting her family had the money for funerals with pomp. She is also left land and at least two houses after her father’s passing.

Manually Laboring Middle Class:

Income wise these careers are middle class, being able to net £1000/year, but there was a difference between enjoying a good quality of life and being socially accepted. Iif you worked with your hands, no matter how skilled you were, you were still a laborer and seen as lacking in culture.

Tracy: A clockmaker made up to £400/year, which jumped to £840/ year if they also worked on watches as well. Her father, Mark, would have netted them enough money to fall into the working middle class, and this is before Tracy’s mechanical genius became evident. If Tracy’s life had gone differently, it is possible she could have become what was known as a Master Mechanic, a skilled worker who could earn £1000/ year, guaranteeing a high standard of living. 

Demi: As a Barmaid alone, Demi would make about £150/ year, which would be difficult to survive on; however, she and her brother own their establishment. Their bar could make about £1000/ year, giving them a comfortable life in terms of amenities, but Barmaids were not respected and often suspected of being easy; many young women in major cities who worked in shops and restaurants took up sex work to supplement their meager incomes.

Leo: At one point appears to have owned two factories, both his initial textile factory and the doomed arms factory. 

More or Less Stable Working Class

Emma: A gardener would make, at a maximum, £400/ year, and a young gardener like Emma would certainly not be able to earn that much. In her previous life as Lisa Beck before Leo made a bad investment, she was likely very comfortable, as Leo did own a presumably successful textile factory. She may be especially nostalgic for her childhood with her father because her situation changed drastically very rapidly, going from living in a pleasant environment with two parents, plenty of toys, good food and clothes/household with a steady income, to being placed in a Victorian orphanage and eventually becoming a manual laborer.

Helena: She wishes to attend college, but cannot afford to do so. We aren't exactly sure what her father does for work, but he is likely in the working class, as many middle class families could reasonably afford to educate at least one of their children, and Helena is, to our knowledge, an only child. They seem to have enough money to provide her with certain accommodations, like spectacles and her cane, though these may have been gifts from Sullivan.

Kevin: the lifestyle itself would be rough, but he could make  around $480/year (sorry for the currency change, but he lived and worked in the USA, and England did not have cowboys).

Bane: A game keeper often had a relatively low income and would by that definition actually fall into the below category, but housing was almost always provided to men who held this job, taking a stressor off his plate. Steady employment/staying at a position for several years was also common, providing general stability.

Working Class and Extremely Poor:

-Families or households often struggling to scrape by on under or around £300/ year, sometimes with individuals making as little as £25/ year. A frugal family at the top end of this budget would overlap with lower middle class and would be able to employ a maid, putting appearances first and sacrificing other luxuries. There is less money for entertainment, and almost all of the income goes to food and housing. Little or no savings. The vast majority of the population falls in this category because things never change, with only 7.7% of workers making £340 or above, and 42.9% £192 or under.

Norton: Coal miners earned around £260/ year. Norton was looking for gold and gems, but it’s safe to assume his standard of living would have been about the same as a coal minder. Compared to some jobs, this wage may have seemed decent, but mining was brutal and incredibly dangerous. Miners typically lived in housing camps operated by mine owners, and had to buy their daily essentials from in-camp stores and commissaries. 

Victor: I had to conjecture a little here, but senior postal service employees were making around £200-300/ year, and newer employees a starting annual wage of £90 so we can guess Victor falls around here as well. We also do not know about his family’s class background.

Andrew: Andrew probably wishes he really was a Train Conductor. In that job, he could have made £900/ year, granting him membership the middle class. Being a Grave Keeper or Grave Digger was an awful job, physically demanding and badly compensated. Cemeteries often stank of rotting bodies, and Grave Diggers had a low social standing because they worked so closely with corpses. I could not find concrete information about how much he would have made, but it would definitely fall below the £300/year mark that is the ceiling for entry into the lower middle class, given that the other Survivors with physical/ unskilled labor jobs seem to peak at the £200ish range.

Worth noting though not necessarily tied to class is the common misconception that Andrew is illiterate, which he certainly isn’t. His dedications include a diary entry he wrote in which he tries to justify to himself his bodysnatching activities, and he also received letters from Percy’s assistant. He might have a little trouble with small print due to his bad eyesight, but he can absolutely read and write. Most people, even the poorer classes, were at least somewhat literate in this period in the United Kingdom.

Outsiders/I Have No Idea

-These are characters with either extremely vague and mysterious pasts or who have extremely unconventional professions.

Patricia: A Voodoo practitioner, it is unclear if she performs the work of a Voodoo priestess, which could be lucrative. Marie Laveau, on whom she is allegedly loosely based, was very financial successful, but to be honest, I think the IDV writers have a very shaky grasp on actual Voodoo practices and beliefs (as do most folks probably who have no idea that a lot of practitioners are also Catholic. It's a syncretic religion so yes, Patricia’s nun costume actually makes some sense.)

Fiona: It is openly stated she comes from an unknown class. There aren’t really historical precedents I could find in my research for occultists of her stripe earning an income, as there’s no indication she goes around giving exhibitions or overseeing seaances. Many Victorians dabbled in the arcane as a hobby, but those who were able to fully devote themselves to their studies tended to come from very comfortable backgrounds, such as Helena Blavatsky and Aleister Crowley.

Kreacher: He is a thief. Nothing else to say.

Eli: Another character with an ambiguous background. We have little information about his family life, but he is considered in his write-up by the organizers of the manor games to be unemployed.

EDIT: @ivy0309 informed me Eli is listed as coming from a middle class background in the official setting book.

Ganji: He is likely extremely poor. I could not find anywhere what a professional athlete might have been paid, but we do at least know he cannot afford travel home to India.

William: He is presumably from a middle class family, given that he attended university. As with Andrew above, I have a seen of lot people claiming William is less intelligent/educated than he is, when he’s actually at least one of the most educated characters in the game. He may have made a poor decision drinking the poisoned wine and come off as a muscle head, but he is far from a himbo. I don’t know what his current social class could be considered, as professional athletes in the Victorian era were not the same was they are now, but William does appear based on his clothes to be a rugby player more or less full time?

Performers/Entertainers

-This is another tricky group to get a handle on, because the role of the entertainer in society meant that one could be exalted and idolized while also not being welcome in polite society. I cannot speak to actual income amounts for these characters, but can provide a few general notes of interest. Also worth noting is that a top-billed musician like Antonio would be treated very differently than the Hullabaloo performers, who were certainly seen as impolite and indecent.

Margaretha/Natalie: Female performers were often characterized as promiscuous and sexually available, and therefore sneered at. Margie is wearing the costume of an exotic dancer (for those who may not be aware, this doesn't meant actually foreign or exotic, it explicitly means a dance intended to arouse or excite). She is not doing well fiscally after Sergei’s death, and is implied by the description of her animal tamer costume to dance/busk for tips.

Her uncle and aunt who raised her lived in Lakeside, and Natalie is described as wearing a cheap cotton dress in a photograph of her  living under their care. Her background then would likely fall under manually laboring/working class.

Mike: Mike is one of the circus’ most popular performers, so he makes more than Margaretha, but that's all I can guess.

Joker: He is less popular than Mike and Sergei, but is allowed his own tent because either he has enough status in the Hullabaloo or nobody wants to room with him.

Violetta: Her family abandoned her, and she was seen as an asset by Max. Likely has little to no money of her own.

Servais: He at least considers himself middle class and respectable, and his dress does suggest he is financially solvent.

Antonio: A musician welcomed at court who played for upper-class audiences. Antonio was raised to be a money-maker by a stern father and did receive royal patronage, but based on his personality traits I am willing to bet he has poor money management skills. His real-life inspiration, Niccolo Paganini, died in debt.

Murro: Treated as a possession by Bernard and then living on the run, it's hard to imagine he had any way of earning money after fleeing the circus, nor the necessary knowledge to exist within society.

Willis Brothers: I believe their situation would be similar to Violetta’s. Disabled sideshow performers could occasionally have quite lucrative careers, but this was rare.

This is far from comprehensive, but thank you so much for taking the time to read this far! If you have any questions or wish to discuss anything here, please feel free to talk to me!

A great resource for approximating the income ranges used above is this database,  this is invaluable for looking at things like average wages, housing costs, price of goods in different countries (mostly the US, UK, and Western Europe) across decades and eras.

[oasislandingresident]

Pleasant Family [1]

Alright it is time to get ready for the shitshow

gee, I dont know game. Boinking the maid sounds like something that would threaten the family unity to me tbh

Wut??? They are tickling each other?? I was all ready for the usual fighting in this fine morning before they went to school and they are getting along?

There is no escaping this we know what's going to happen.

Yes yes poor Mary-Sue

Uhhhmmm - what is happening in this house?

Why is everyone other than Kaylynn behaving so normally? Daniel made no moves nor rolled any wants to boink Kaylynn. They've been all lovey dovey with Mary-Sue. Angela and Lilith are not fighting. Have I opened a portal to a parallel world?

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK???? I played this game for years. How the fuck did you two turn that relationship to positive?

I dunno what to tell you guys other than I'm so happy I don't have to constantly keep them busy so they won't fight

hehehe - shit talking their mom

Oh hellloo, don't mind me

Ah, a peaceful family dinner. Really a pleasant family this time

He has wishes for Mary sue I am in shock I tell you

And now he wants to boink her. I love this. I love this alternate universe I opened up here. Good for you Daniel. You've finally become a wholesome family man.

Meanwhile they are behaving like actual siblings

I swear other than making them do their wants I don't do anything. It's either acr making them interact or the game itself.

Daniel rolled a want to date and here we go.

They are celebrating rekindling their flame!

Oh yeah

I took Lilith to the arcade so she can meet people

Angela wanted to throw a party

Wendy ffs it's a teen party - fuck off man

And look who got promoted!

Would have been a better score if i had remembered to order food sooner.

This is just hilarious to me. Lilith is ignoring Dirk in favour of dancing with her sister. Never in a million years could I have imagined this happening

Meanwhile these guys are still kissing after their 10th? boinking. They are on their way to the 11th

He wishes this all the time it is crazy to me

Unbelievable. I'm not doing anything. It's all them on their own

[mariana-oconnor]

The Boscombe Valley Mystery pt 1

We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the maid brought in a telegram.

Watson's back living with his wife at this point. I assume he means Mary and he's not got married again without mentioning it.

'Have just been wired for from the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect.'

The word 'tragedy' does not fill me with optimism. But I suppose maybe if the tragic part is already out of the way before the story even starts, this might be less tragic than some of the others (Greek Interpreter, I'm looking at you).

But the airy tone and positivity here 'Air and scenery perfect' is such a wonderful juxtaposition with 'tragedy'. Hey Watson, want to investigate a horrible death? It's a beautiful part of the country.'

"What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. "Will you go?" "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at present." "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, and you are always so interested in Mr Sherlock Holmes's cases." "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained through one of them," I answered.

Yeah, Mary wants him out of the house. But Watson doesn't seem enamored of the idea.

And Watson being cute with his wife is such a weird thing to see here. In fact this entire exchange is strange. We don't usually have Mary on the page, and the fact that they're here having a nice chat over breakfast and Watson's flirting like 'of course I'm interested in Sherlock's cases, they're how I met you.' He's being quite smooth here. Gonna give him that.

But Mary absolutely wants him to get out from under her feet for a bit. And he doesn't take a lot of persuading, but more than I anticipated.

It's kind of nice to see this little slice of domesticity between them.

We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of papers which Holmes had brought with him.

An entire carriage to yourself? On a train in the UK? Wow. Excuse me while I try to imagine this...

"Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days."

How the turns table!

Watson, not reading the paper? Unthinkable!

"The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they have established a very serious case against the son of the murdered man."

So we have a dead man and a son convicted of his murder. And Holmes is once again saying that boring crimes are more difficult to solve.

"The men had known each other in the colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to settle down they should do so as near each other as possible."

I'm not the only one getting vibes, here, right?

"One was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr Turner."

I am instantly suspicious of this old woman. Who is she? What was she doing there? What's her name? How is she connected?

Watch her just be a random bystander who happened to be taking a walk.

"A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the woods picking flowers."

Moran, you say?

It is not looking good for young Mr McCarthy, I have to say. But do we trust Patience Moran who heard some bad language and went running to snitch to her mother.

"There are several people in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect in connection with 'A Study in Scarlet', to work out the case in his interest."

Is that a whiff of romance I smell in the air?

And Lestrade! Hi Lestrade. Good to have you back.

"...in this season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and inference."

Watson, you look a right mess. Oh, I'm only saying this to demonstrate my observational brilliance.

Lol. This is not objective, Holmes. You use the word 'slovenly'. You know what you're doing. Although I cannot deny that after some of Watson's descriptions of perfectly nice people, he kind of deserves this a bit.

I also feel like maybe this is the sort of thing a spouse is supposed to mention. Like 'James, dear. Your beard is a good quarter inch longer on the left side than the right. Maybe you should check that?'

"On the inspector of constabulary informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts."

Omg I've been spelling deserts wrong in this context for my entire life. Wtf. I mean, it makes sense because 'what I deserve', 'my deserts'. But I've only ever heard the one s word pronounced as dezert, not dizert so I just assumed. Wow.

"He appeared to be much surprised at seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, for my father was a man of a very violent temper."

Methinks the man was waiting for someone else and did not want his son around to see the meeting.

"He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some allusion to a rat."

Was it a giant rat, perhaps from overseas? Say... Sumatra?

"It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which followed."

I always get so annoyed when people say this in mysteries. Like, my dude, if you don't know who killed him and you don't know why then you have no idea if it was related to your argument or not. Maybe someone overheard/saw your argument and went up to argue with him about the very same thing. You cannot know. Either you don't know why your father was killed or you do know why your father was killed, you cannot have it both ways.

"The Coroner: 'I understand that the cry of "Cooee" was a common signal between you and your father?' "Witness: 'It was.' "The Coroner: 'How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol?'"

I mean... it's not exactly a top secret password? It's not like 'The fourth hawk hunts the night fox on the road to Atlantis'. It's a word. That is used in a certain context. Being used in that context. Unless coo-ee wasn't a phrase until after this?

OK, researching it has brought me dangerously close to spoilers, but I scrolled back up quickly enough that all I saw was the name of the story.

But apparently it's a Native Australian term originally, which I feel will be relevant because the two really good friends have come over from Australia. The wiki article says that it wasn't unknown in London in 1852 which is significantly before this story was written and set, but maybe it would be strange in a rural context. BUT if the guy is Australian why would he only use it with his son?

He was talking to his 'friend' from Australia.

Is this going to be a 'they're not really friends, they just know each others secrets' kind of situation?

"'Yet I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was gone.'"

Weird to see the word 'plaid' here as I've never heard an English person use it, I don't think. But it doesn't seem to be being used to describe a pattern, but a specific item here. Which research tells me could be the full kilt with the bit over the shoulder and everything - that would be a strange thing to be lying around in the grass - or it's a type of jacket... so it's just another way of saying coat?

Now we have a mysterious missing piece of grey fabric that may or may not have been a coat. Implying that the younger Mr McCarthy missed a whole ass person while he was cradling his father's dead body. Not that I can blame him for that.

Though I suppose it could have been a dog or an animal of some sort that grabbed the item.

"Both you and the coroner have been at some pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him credit for having too much imagination and too little?"

Like I said before, you can't have it both ways, Watson.

But I like Holmes's point: it's both too weird and too useless for him to have made it up. If you're going to make up a story, you make it believable and relevant to your innocence.

"And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the scene of action."

Reading time now. Shhh, Watson!

[starmaniamania]

In case you missed it - Starmania 2022 - Acte 1

ACT 2

There are many little details and references in the 2022 version/staging of Starmania that I noticed over the many many time I was able to see it (some obvious, some not) so I thought I'd try to make a complete list and see if 1) you also spotted them or 2) you spotted other things!

This will be in 2 parts because it'll be too long for one post. I'll put a link to the other part once it's done! (TUMBLR DON'T YOU DARE EAT THIS AGAIN)

It'll also be interesting to have a record and be able to compare if anything maybe changes during the second season come November!

Ouverture

Obviously the empty white grand piano is a tribute to Michel Berger

In season 1, dancer Matys Kaibo was sitting at the piano at the beginning and pretending to play it; the sound actually came from the live pianist (in Paris) or the soundtrack (on tour).

Some of the male dancers who represent Monopolis inhabitants are wearing skirts

The person who runs across the stage is usually Jeanne Jerosme (the maid) unless she's playing Stella that day. Her maid costume is actually the same costume with a little white collar added.

Monopolis

If you're sitting smack in the middle, the shoulder/sleeve details + wig that Cristal is wearing make her silhouette look like a golden star (ok, you have to squint a bit lol)

The placement of the characters in the structure reflect their position in Monopolis society: Marie-Jeanne and Ziggy at the bottom, Stella and the Gourou higher (but with Stella going down), and Zéro at the very top. Cristal is moving through the levels, and Johnny and Sadia are absent (probably because they're supposed to be outcasts?)

Quand on arrive en ville

The first of Johnny's victims spits out "blood" (but I think it's water) onto the stage when she gets hit; the second one has a blood stain around the collar.

Some of the Etoiles Noires are smoking electronic cigarettes, you can see a red "cherry" as well as smoke

Not really a staging detail, more of a goof, but I will never not laugh at the Etoiles Noire dragging in the 2nd victim while also carrying a cinder block under his arm, but when Johnny grabs the block it becomes the Heaviest Object on Earth. Poor little Johnny skipped arms day!

Johnny's jacket has a long rectangular outside pocket on the left breast which he can use to tuck his mic into; his t-shirt has a little bit of chain hanging at the front like a necklace, except it's sewn into the neckline. (He's got the same thing in his final black costume).

Petite musique terrienne/Johnny & Sadia/La complainte

The sound effect/lighting after "Quand on arrive" evoke an elevator going down into the underground parts of the city

The Undeground Café has an Etoiles Noires aesthetic moodboard/collage, featuring punk and anti-nuclear imagery, a picture of Zero Janvier with his eyes scratched out and a target around his head, and the current casts' "good luck" motto: "Ahhhh merde!"

Whoever isn't playing Zero Janvier that day (David or Aurel) sits at the Café's piano (an upright one, not the grand piano from the beginning) and pretends to play throughout most of that scene

Stella is sitting at a table (incognito, she's wearing a big black coat and sunglasses and sometimes a scarf on her head) drinking ("Moi ma drogue c'est l'alcool"); she makes a discreet exist once the Etoiles Noires show up.

Sadia is having a blue drink at the bar

When the Etoiles Noires show up, Johnny jumps up to sit on the bar next to Sadia and usually interacts with Marie-Jeanne (at least when it's Côme) either by grabbing a bottle out of her hand and drinking from it/dumping it on his head, or by touching MJ in some way (on the face; I saw him kiss her hand once), cementing the fact that they know each other quite well.

Sadia kicks a glass with her foot during her initial pitch to Johnny; the glass is almost always picked up by a helpful Etoile Noire rather than by Marie-Jeanne :p

Johnny stops the Etoiles Noires from going after Sadia when she starts addressing him, miming things like "Let it go, she's crazy." When she says "Si tu me suis tu seras quelqu'un" though, you can see him physically start paying attention.

At the end of their duet moment, Sadia runs a hand down his arm/front, suggesting that she's trying to seduce him and not just ideologically.

Travesti

Obviously, the double-wig reveal of the "chevelure d'un bleu azur" under the initial black wig with a blue streak

A bunch of extra Etoiles Noires show up for the "line-up" moment (the singers like Jeanne for example) and then disappear again to leave the floor clear for dancers and their acrobatics

During the line-up moment, the Etoile Noire who's propping up Sadia's leg also runs his hand up her thing (she bats it away occasionally). Meanwhile Johnny is cocking his huge, hard machine gun at hip level in a very subtle way, and then he leans in towards her and nuzzles her neck/ear.

Btw only Côme wears the long black mafioso coat that hides his gun at the beginning; as far as I know William always wears the "Quand on arrive en ville" jacket for some reason.

Sadia used to wear flesh-colored shorts under the blue underwear; then this changed to a pair of thick opaque tights, at least when Ambriel is playing her, so you don't see her thigh tattoos as much. (I think Miriam wears them sometimes but not always.)

The Jaguar is a REAL car which REALLY DRIVES onto the stage, but with a very small modified electric engine which obviously cannot go very fast lol

Sadia's gun is blue too, that girl does like matching her accessories

Johnny always smells the white fur coat before putting it on (to the point that it had a pretty visible foundation stain on the lapels) -- generally speaking the Etoiles Noires smell people a lot lol

An Etoile Noire graffities the words "Stone" and some stars on the car every night during the number

Another Etoile Noire is seen "grinding" the car with an electric tool in the background to show that they're gutting it (for the next numbers where the roof has gone) but it's actually just a button that makes sparks. She then dumps the tool into the back of the car -- there's no rear windshield

Il se passe quelque chose à Monopolis

Obviously the "going up the stairs" metaphor symbolizes Zéro Janvier trying to rise to the top

On the sentence "et ses buildings de verre qui filtrent la lumière" the backlighting of the stairs gets this really cool filtering effect, always one of my fave moments

Thomas Jolly mentioned in a podcast that he'd moved this song after Travesti and given it to Zéro to make the link more obvious between Sadia's violence with the Etoiles Noires and Zéro's quest for power. The song does take on a very sinister vibe when he's singing it!

Mass médias

The lyrics were changed from "ma cravate rouge ou ma cravate bleue" to "ma veste noire ou ma veste bleue" because this Zéro does not wear a tie, red or otherwise

The newspaper that Zéro is reading has Stella on the front page as well a few easter eggs, like picture of Berger and Plamondon, an ad for Naziland and an ad for a florist on the back (as well as the weather for France lol)

On the inside I think you can make out more pics of Berger and Plamondon, and I *think* a picture of the show by Dorfmann and the silhouette of the Seine Musicale??

Starmania Starmania

This is obvious but it took me embarrassingly long to realize because you can't see them depending on where you're seated, and they're sometimes fully in the dark -- there are 3 "backup singers" at the back of the stage on the left, doing vocals and a little choreography!

Cristal doesn't have her mic with her up in the air as she comes down from the rafters, a dancer brings it to her while two others unfasten her (she's suspended at the hips by a harness worn under the dress)

The light periodically draws black stars behind her, which engulf the entire stage at the end

L'interview de Zéro Janvier/Le blues du businessman/Jingle de Cristal

Pretty straightforward staging-wise. The Blues was going to be Zéro standing on top of the tower at some point, and then they realized it was too static and came up with the lighting thing.

Un garçon pas comme les autres

The little stage that Marie-Jeanne sits on is being pushed by a crouching tech, who then sits behind it during the whole song. If you're sitting at a certain angle you can see them, which I always find weirdly moving.

Ziggy is apparently waiting inside the stairs during the song; that must be where the elevator is, that pushes him to the top in time to start his "oops, didn't mean to overhear that" exit attempt. (As far as I know, it's the first time in the various productions that we know Ziggy has heard the song, which does interesting things to the Ziggy/MJ dynamic!)

Le coup de téléphone/Enfant de la pollution/Coup de téléphone 2

When Johnny and Sadia show up at the top of the stairs, Johnny is wearing the fur coat from Travesti (but that wasn't always the case!)

The Etoiles Noires often bother Marie-Jeanne behind her bar. Ziggy doesn't seem too intimidated -- I've seen him snap Etoile Noire!William's mask onto his eyes for example.

The phone that Sadia uses used to be black, now it's silver.

The Etoile Noire who operates the phone (Max Carpentier usually) stashes his weapon in a little pocket hung in the alcove of the Underground Café, where he brings the phone case back before becoming a Threatening Etoile Noire(TM) again for the interview

Of course, France Gall's voice is the one answering the phone ("Pour un scoop c'est un scoop...") we all know that now!

Interview de Johnny Rockfort/Banlieue Nord/Coup de foudre

When Cristal shows up at the Underground Café, she gets harrassed a bit by the Etoiles Noires obviously; a lot of it involves smelling her hair for some reason lol

If you're there on a Saturday afternoon (William and Gabrielle as Johnny and Cristal), you can sometimes spot Etoiles Noires!Côme and Lilya flirting in the background of that scene :p

Johnny does not have his own mic for this scene; he shares Cristal's at the beginning (apparently stemming from an incident during rehearsals in which someone dropped their mic, and they had to make do with one between two people) and then grabs hers to sing Banlieue Nord (she doesn't have one again until Coup de Foudre)

Obviously the live/recorded thing: the recording is live until Johnny and Cristal leave the stage, at which point it switches to pre-recorded footage with live sound from the wings. As far as I know, this is the only pre-recorded footage/live audio moment; other pre-recorded video moments all also have pre-recorded audio.

The footage was recorded in the bowels of the Nice venue they used for rehearsals. There are 4 alternates to cover every permutation of the two characters, with some small variations, for example in the Gabrielle/Côme version I think Gabrielle doesn't fall down at the end the way Lilya does (and according to my notes, Côme's jumpsuit has a big sweat stain down the back lol)

Thomas Jolly makes a cameo as an Etoile Noire in each of the versions I've seen (Côme/Lilya, Côme/Gabrielle and William/Gabrielle) just at the end of the tunnels part. In the Côme/Gabrielle version, Côme pats him on the stomach as they pass him.

Besoin d'amour

Once Cristal has stepped up onto the car and it's rotated, the dancers create a "diversion" a the front of the stage while she gets changed standing on the car hood. She gives Johnny her mic to ditch into the backseat of the car so she can get dressed. Her boiler suit unzips at the ankles so she can step into it while wearing her heels (although it doesn't always work, I've seen it go wrong at least twice lol).

And that's it for Part 1! :p Do let me know if you've got anything else or if I forgot anything or if you have any questions! In case you haven't noticed, I love talking about Starmania lololol

[summercreolefanfictioner]

maya sakamaki fashion headcanons

So here's the thing, I thought this headcanon thing is talking abt Maya's freaking closet (turns out I am wrong 😭). But I still wanna add the wardrobe thingy 'cause I just don't want my writing to go to waste.

As I've mentioned in Maya's random facts post, her main outfits are her long-sleeved maid outfit and the Ryoutei Academy school uniform. However, during summer, she switches to her short-sleeved maid uniform to cater to the season

The reason behind this is that, her other outfits are solely dependent on who her master is.

So yeah, during her time at the Feinze mansion, she was always wearing kimono/yukata and pairs them with dark boots. She also ensures it has a blade underneath so ppl who decide to mess with her won't stand a chance.

But now that she's a Sakamaki doll, Maya has more freedom to express her personality with her clothing.

In fact, she actually likes her clothes now better than the kimono lolita dresses bcos it makes her look more like a teenager instead of a priestess child at a temple

She actually leans on modern pastel grunge + soft girl + dark academia aesthetic outfits with a spring/winter-cool color range to match her pale skin, red eyes, and long dark hair.

So yeah, it's no secret that all her clothes are given by Kanato. In fact, some of them were handmade by him (especially the dresses) and Kanato even takes his time to style her before going out.

And since they were all handmade or given by him, you would notice attention to detail factors like ruffles, ribbons, etc.

Kanato actually has a hard time styling Maya because she has a soft classic body style and slightly large breasts. This forces Kanato to make dresses of larger sizes and accommodate her bust.

And yes, Kanato knows if Maya doesn't like the outfit he makes her wear by observing her for a good minute and if she doesn't stand in front of the mirror for too long, that's when he knows

He'll just make up an excuse that her frowning face made the dress ugly so he would think he styles her really well this sore loser

And yes, Maya never wears a pencil or body-hugging skirts. Not because Kanato doesn't like her emphasizing her womanly assets, but because it will be hard for her to fight in them

In the fake human AU series, Maya's wardrobe definitely got a drastic change. Since she was hired by Shuu to work as his secretary, Maya donned office-friendly outfits to match her work position and make her look more like an adult.

Kanato even commented Maya looked like a different person in the secretary get-up

Most of them are dresses or outfits with skirts. Square pants are a big no since it only makes her look smaller, so she opted for skinny dress pants or jeans.

When it comes to shoes, most of Maya's shoes are Mary Jane's, platforms, black boots, sneakers, doll shoes, and sandals. (all of them have blades hidden underneath)

And she loves wearing socks and stockings; it's like she loves covering her legs most of the time hence why she still uses black stockings despite her maid outfit

Kanato always gives her socks with cute patterns to give her edgy outfits a soft hint

Fun fact: Maya has never worn heels (as per the fake human series fic) because Karlheinz and Gilbert Feinze thought she has no need for them. Plus you can't insert a blade in heels.

That's why most of Maya's shoes don't have heels in them. And if they do, they're still a bit flat with mininalist design, just like this:

So yeah, she had to practice walking in heels thanks to Shuu and Kanato's meddling since she was disguised in the fake human AU series as Shuu's secretary.

Maya is actually not big on accessories.

After all, she's a maid and she can end up ruining them while doing household chores, especially laundry

However, being Kanato's exclusive doll wife has made her wear them since Kanato believes that her outfit is incomplete without them.

But she's still on the minimalist side of things, like a good pair with earrings will do and a necklace or choker. Sometimes she'll add a bracelet.

And yes, she never forgets her wedding ring.

Should a situation arise where she has to remove her ring for protection (cooking, laundry, washing hands), she turns the ring into a pendant on her necklace.

Maya is also a fan of cute beaded necklaces and bracelets. Kanato even made her so many of them so she can pair them all with her outfits

Other accessories she dons are the ones for her hair. Maya is fascinated by cute hair clips and ties and she thinks putting them on her elevates her look. Of course, aside from anything with cherry designs, she likes those ones with cute animals and girly patterns.

A/N: I kind of enjoyed writing this content. Maybe I should do others like this in the future

[kingedwardvi]

Curiously enough, I’ve only recently watched “Becoming Elizabeth” as I’ve concomitantly read Edward VI’s biography.

It is hardly a surprise to observe there were great differences between the show and the book, specially concerning Katheryn Parr and Thomas Seymour’s own relationship.

Admittedly, though I know little of this matter myself, came across the excerpt below which gave me a lot to think about. For those who are little familiar with the first Dowager Queen of England in an almost a century (the last being Queen Elizabeth Wideville), the following content might actually come a surprise—or not.

What matters here is to promote not only a healthy discussion about their union, but showing that whereas Katheryn did love the man, she was not his first option to marry and she was not a “fool” completely blinded by her affection for him: she hesitated at first, unwilling to remarry in at least two years before becoming Lady Seymour out of respect for the king of England. However, Lord Thomas was a persuasive man, writing as far as a poem to claim the dowager queen’s heart—and he eventually succeeded it, as we are seeing next.

“Katherine moved into her dower house at Chelsea - away from the eyes at court, it was the ideal setting for Seymour to pay secret visits by night. Letters were sent and received, their contents, upon Katherine's urging, were quickly burnt: 'Your letter being finished ... I remembered your commandment to me’, Seymour wrote, ‘wherewith I threw it into the fire, be minding to keep your requests and desires’, yet the survival of both their letters suggest that neither was quite so willing to part with these tokens of love and affection.

Katherine confided her feelings to her friend Lady Paget, who urged marriage. But Katherine was hesitant. She wished 'it had been her fate to have him for a husband' but she was mindful of her position as queen. She had even kept the affair secret from her sister Anne who, when Katherine finally revealed the news, 'did not a little rejoice'.

As a growing number of friends discovered the secret of the affair, it became increasingly difficult to keep it hidden and rumours soon abounded. Meeting Seymour in St James's Park, Princess Elizabeth's servant Katherine Ashley challenged him over his marriage plans. Seymour boasted 'he would prove to have the queen', to which Ashley retorted that she thought this 'was past proof as I had heard he was already married to her'.

Ashley was right, for sometime between mid May and the beginning of June the couple had wed in secret, with one commentator believing the marriage had taken place as early as thirty-four days after Henry's death.

If this was true, then Katherine was playing a dangerous game - if she had become pregnant, there would have been no certainty that the child was Seymour's or Henry's. Katherine remained unwilling to commit herself, having doubts to the last.

She claimed she was his 'loving wife in her heart' but was determined 'never to marry, and break it when I have done, if I live two years'. Nevertheless, Seymour got his way. News of their marriage could not stay secret for long.

'I wish the world was as well pleased with our meaning as lam well assured [of ] the goodness of God's’, Katherine had lamented, 'but the world is so wicked that it cannot be contented with good things’. Instead she suggested that they find support for their union amongst the most powerful members of the council and court.

Seymour tested Princess Mary's reaction. It was not good. Mary considered it 'strange news', writing that if Katherine was keen, there was little she could do. In any case, 'being a maid' she was 'nothing cunning' about 'wooing matters'.

Instead, Mary appealed to her dead father's memory: if Katherine was not willing, certainly she would not 'persuade her to forget the loss of him, who is as yet very ripe in mine own remembrance’. Privately Mary was horrified at the prospect, and blamed Katherine for the affair. She possibly even appealed to Elizabeth to discourage the queen, but her half-sister, not wishing to stir up trouble, told her that they lacked any influence at court and should suffer with patience what was impossible to prevent.

Seymour would have to look elsewhere for support and he knew precisely whom to turn to. His confidence rested in the fact that he had managed to remain in regular contact with Edward through John Fowler, a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, whom Seymour gave a bribe of £10 (£3,000) shortly after the coronation and before long was in his regular pay. Despite being almost continually in the presence of other gentlemen of the chamber, Fowler was soon able to converse with Edward and soon struck up a close friendship with the king, speaking to him alone.

It was not long before Seymour was calling in the favours. At the end of February he had met with Fowler over a drink and asked whether Edward had mentioned him - and in particular whether the king had ever wondered why he had remained unmarried. Would Edward be happy for him to marry? And who should he take as his bride?

Without asking too many questions, Fowler approached Edward a few days later, somewhat unsubtly repeating Seymour's queries. Edward's first reply was to suggest Anne of Cleves, but then, giving the matter more serious attention, answered that he thought Mary to be the best choice, if only 'to change her opinions'.

When Seymour heard, he laughed. 'I pray you, Mr Fowler, if you may soon, ask his Grace if he could be contented I should marry the Queen.’ He also wanted to know if Edward would write a letter on his behalf in support of the marriage.

It was at this time that Seymour, without Fowler's knowledge, began to visit Edward in private. It was not long before he had persuaded him to write a letter to Katherine, dated 25 June. Despite Edward writing to Katherine at the end of May urging her to 'continue to love my father', now the king seemingly endorsed her relationship with Seymour, since the letter ingeniously made their marriage appear as Edward's personal request to Katherine.

Moreover, it gave specific assurance that Edward would safeguard Katherine against any reaction from Somerset, who the couple knew would be furious at their secret union: 'Wherefore ye shall not need to fear any grief to come, or to suspect lack of aid in need; seeing that he, being mine uncle, is so good in nature that he will not be troublesome ... if any grief shall befall, I shall be a sufficient succour.'

The entire letter was no doubt composed by Seymour, who probably dictated it to the king.(…) When news of his brother's marriage leaked out, Somerset was furious. Edward's blessing made Somerset all the more enraged, and the king was not immune from the brunt of his anger, noting in his journal that 'the Lord Protector was much offended’.

But it was his wife Anne, the Duchess of Somerset, who took the greatest offence to the union. Described as 'a woman for many imperfections intolerable, and for pride monstrous, subtle and violent' who held Somerset under her sway 'by persuasions cunningly intermixed with tears', she detested Katherine.”

SKIDMORE, C. “Edward VI: The Lost King of England”.

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Chapter 2: Unexpected Crisis

Narrated by Mary.

Narrator: Gently pushing the door open, I enter the Queen’s quarters to see her reading on the bed.

Mary: Good day, Your Majesty.

Narrator: I pull open the curtains and insert my freshly-picked bouquet in the golden vase with intricate patterns sitting by the window.

Narrator: The white flowers bloom demurely, filling the room with its elegant fragrance.

Ophelia: You chose jasmine for today?

Mary: Yes. Do you like the smell, Your Majesty?

Ophelia: Yes, it’s good.

Narrator: Jasmines aren’t often found in palaces, actually, because they’re neither expensive nor eye-catching.

Narrator: Some would use them for jasmine tea, but many nobles consider it a mundane tea unfitting for their stately status.

Mary: If you like them, I’ll pick more tomorrow.

Narrator: Queen Ophelia smiles and puts down her book. I walk to her bedside and begin combing her hair.

Narrator: The Queen’s long, blonde hair is the color of the morning sun. I’ve always found it stunning.

Narrator: After the Queen’s hair is done, I place the crown on her head and serve breakfast.

Narrator: Breakfast is fluffy pancakes, fried eggs, and black tea that’s just at the right temperature. While the Queen enjoys her meal, we chat.

Mary: I heard some “statue people” have taken over the plaza in front of the museum.

Ophelia: Statue people?

Mary: They paint themselves white all over and stand motionless in the same position on the street. They look just like statues!

Ophelia: Why do they do that?

Mary: Who knows? I heard they call that performance art.

Ophelia: I see. It truly is unique.

Narrator: I love chatting with the Queen. She’s more of a listener and would sometimes smile at my anecdotes.

Narrator: I wish she’d never stop smiling. I love seeing her smile.

Narrator: The Duchess arrives on time in the afternoon.

Narrator: She’s got fiery red hair and a friendly personality. I invite her into the guest lounge and wait at the door with her maid, Sal.

Narrator: Sal, like the Duchess, is talkative. It’s her first time in the palace and she can barely conceal her excitement.

Sal: This place is sparkling all over! The Duke likes modern buildings more, though. Even squabbled with Madame over this once!

Narrator: The current palace was constructed during the reign of King August, the Queen’s father. He was a huge architecture buff.

Sal: Her Highness is so gorgeous. I’ve never seen someone this noble and elegant.

Narrator: Of course. She’s the kindest, most beautiful person I’ve ever met!

Sal: So, Miss Mary, how’s it like working in the palace?

Mary: It’s very busy.

Sal: Busy? Same here! Someone sent us another box of pine needle tea just yesterday. We barely have space left to store those!

Mary: Another?

Sal: Yeah! Madame mentioned it at a tea party once, and now everyone’s trying to get into her good books by sending her tea.

Mary: Doesn’t the Duchess really like pine needle tea?

Sal: Yeah, but who’d want to drink the same tea every day? She was happy at first, but now she’s getting tired of it.

Narrator: My heart sinks. We prepared pine needle tea for today’s afternoon tea, after all.

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

[laufire]

I'll probably pass on making more general/extensive posts on the subject since tumblr doesn't know the show xD, but what the hell, I might as well keep mentioning in little tidbits what I'm enjoying about "La Promesa" so far.

one thing is the showtp, which is a miracle in itself! they're hardly what I'm most interested in (that's THEM <3), but so far I've found them charming in spite of everything they have staked against them lol.

for some context: Jana's the lead character, a working class girl with a secret that got a job on the house so she could uncover the truth about her mother's murder and her brother's abduction. She's talented, witty, strong-willed and overall a very good protagonist (she'd be called a Mary Sue by certain fans AND I LOVE THAT ABOUT HER LMAO).

Manuel, male lead & love interest, is the first child of the lord's second marriage, second son overall. BUT. his mommy (Cruz, main antagonist, beloved) kiiiiinda stabbed the first son so now Manuel is the heir xD. however, he's not interested in such a position, as he cares mainly about building and flying aeroplanes, and like anybody with two working braincells, he thinks the elder sister should be the one to manage the state, as the one with both the ability and the will for it.

they meet when he sees her trick and manipulate her way into a job at the house. he finds this VERY charming, apparently LOL (he's right). he falls in love fully when later in the day she saves his life after an aeroplane crash (and then uses this to strong arm her way into a permanent job. I think that sealed the deal for him).

anyway. they have a few nice scenes here and there (Jana is not immune to her charms but she's far more concerned about a.) her family's mystery, and b.) helping the maid falsely accused of the heir's murder. who coincidentally has the same name as her mother and I wish the show did more with that). one such subplot is when he offers to fly her in the middle of the night to get a ~brand new remedy~ (adrenaline) that Jana, against the family's doctor, insist it's the only thing that could save the cook's life (she's right, and Simona lives).

but mainly I was SO utterly charmed by how this went:

Manuel: *gets drunk because his brother is dead, his parents are assholes, and the cops consider him a suspect* Manuel: *earnestly declares Jana "the most daring, intelligent, resolute woman I've ever met" in a way that clearly means "I love you", presents his lips for a kiss* Manuel: *profusely apologises the next day, amused when Jana repeatedly makes fun of him* Jana: *gives him a hangover remedy... that includes incredibly spicy chilli peppers as both a caring gesture AND a punishment*

[labyrinthofcrystals]

Family Tree time!! Except I can't show you the actual family tree because it's...got a lotta people on it lol. Most are just for filler, I swear. But!! I managed to write down the Important Members of my Alice's family, specifically her ancestors && descendants.

Phineas Hatter: The motherfucker that started it all lmao. He fell into Wonderland at age 10 in 1608 after exploring with his friend Blake Grimm. The two got attacked by the Jabberwocky, and while Blake was able to escape and return home, Phineas was driven further into Wonderland. Phineas is the Mad Hatter. He is loud, sociable, and somehow always in trouble. Him and Alice have a familial/parent-child relationship, as he took her in and cared for her when she fell into Wonderland.

Gwen White: Gwen is next, falling into Wonderland at age 12 in 1664. Shockingly, she did find a way back to Reality! Unfortunately she was thrown into an asylum, which she escaped and fell into Wonderland yet again, this time for good. Gwen is the White Queen. She is quiet, timid, and hates conflict. Her and Alice do not interact often, but they have positive views of each other.

Viktoria Glazier: Viktoria fell into Wonderland when she was 14 in 1720. She was trained by Spade Soldiers to be a knight, whereafter she joined the Spade Army. As an army of Wonderland, they fought pointless yet fatal wars that were often reminiscent of board games, leaving Vikrotia with a great deal of trauma and trust issues. She later quit the Spade Army and began working for Thomas Blanc/White Rabbit as a maid, going by Mary Anne to distance herself from that part of her life. Her and Alice have a sister-like relationship, though it is a little strained due to Viktoria’s aforementioned trust issues.

And then there’s Alice Glazier, who arrives in Wonderland at age 19 in 2022. Like all the humans that came to Wonderland, she, too, attempted to leave before resigning that she’d live there forever. Except…no, she was forced to go back and act like Wonderland didn’t exist, like all of that didn’t just happen. Well, unfortunately for everyone else, Wonderland was Alice’s home now, and she was going to find a way back to it. She is curious, tries to see the good in everyone, and a little insecure about her own abilities. Though she has made many friends and allies in Wonderland, the Tea Party Trio (Phineas/Hatter, Henry/Hare, & Morphie/Dormouse) will always be her family.

Finnegan Glazier: Finnegan is the son and first child of Alice Glazier and Wendy Dear. He is named after Phineas Hatter, a fact he is indifferent/on the verge of annoyance on. Finnegan has an interest in journaling and photography. He highly dislikes fantasy/fairytales and is very tired of hearing about what his mothers did when they were his age. He does not get along with Alice due to her more adventurous personality, which results in many arguments. After one such argument, he broke one of her mirrors in a fit of rage, which transported him to Looking-glass Land. Later on he publishes both his & Alice’s stories, under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. He is also the main character of the Tale “Through the Looking Glass”.

Carrie Glazier: Carrie is the daughter and second child of Alice Glazier and Wendy Dear. Like Alice, she is curious and adventurous, but is a lot more cautious of her actions. She does not get along with Wendy due to her more strict personality, leading to a strained relationship. In an effort to bond, Wendy tells her about Neverland, revealing that she had an extra bag of pixie dust Captain Hook gave her if she ever wanted to return. This results in an argument in which Carrie steals the bag, flying to Neverland herself. She is the main character of the Tale “Return to Neverland” (name subject to change).

Rosemary Glazier: Rosemary is the daughter of Carrie Glazier and Alice’s granddaughter/only grandchild. She is polite, soft spoken, and loves listening to old radio dramas. Unlike her ancestors, Rosemary was actually born in Wonderland, and it is the only home she has ever known. Unfortunately, her parents died when she was quite young, leaving her in the care of Phineas and Henry, who raised her as their own. She is part of a variation of the Tale “The Scorpion and the Frog”, taking the role of the Frog.

[renee-writer]

A Little Change in History Chapter 3

AO3

An hour later, Jamie and Murtagh return to the area where their new servants await. Claire, Mary and, Alex stand before them, all clean and dressed better. The first thing Jamie notices about Claire is her incredible eyes. They are brown and cat-like, the color of the finest whisky he drinks. Murtagh had inquired a wagon to help transport the people and goods they have acquired. Jamie shakes his head and re-focuses on the task at hand.

The servants only have one set of clothes. That would never do. He stops at store that sold blocks of cloth and yarn. “You will need some more clothes. For work and for Sunday services. You will attend mass and then have the rest of the day off.” Claire and Mary are shocked when he places ten shillings in Claire’s hand. “Buy material for you, Mary and, Alex. In muted colors, browns and black. Materials for shifts, skirts, stays, shirts and trousers for Alex.” They bow to him before climbing down to do it.

Jamie then turns his attention to Alex. “You were a nobleman’s son. What did you do?”

“Master, I was the manger of my father ‘s estate. Running his day to day business, wasn’t a hard job. It just involved a lot of paperwork and seeing things got to market.”

“First, I am not your master. You may call Mr. Fraser. Second, I could use a manager for Lallybroch. I need someone I can trust to help get things to market. Would you like the position?”

Alex eyes show his surprise. An important position and he was being asked not ordered. “Yes. Thank you Mr. Fraser.” He smiles.

The lasses return twenty minutes later. They carry bolts of material, yarn to darn socks and, various other little things to help with the sewing. Murtagh helps place it in the wagon as Claire comes up to Jamie. “Your change Master.”

He sighs. Not their fault. He hadn’t brought slaves just servants. “First, thank you. Second, I am not your master, You may call me Mr. Fraser.”

Four days later, they drive under the arch into the courtyard. Frank exits the barn with Robert . Jenny , Sarah and Mary, exit the front door. “Mo brathair, what do we have here?”

Claire, Mary and, Alex step out of the wagon and bow low to her. “Jenny, I present the new servants. Claire is a midwife and healer. Mary is a maid. Alex here is the new stable lad who shall also be helping as manager.. Everyone, this is Mrs. Murray. Claire and Mary, you may talk with here about anything. Alex, after you eat, Frank here,” He nods to him, “will help you learn your new barn duties.”

“Come, come. You must be hungry. Let’s get some food into you and then we can talk.” They walk into the kitchen and smell rabbit stew. All their stomachs rumble. It has been forever since they have had a good meal. They sit down and eat their fill, with Jenny, Mary and, Sarah. Jenny then took Claire and Mary into see their room while Alex goes out to the barn.

“Mary you will help cook and clean, laundry and other chores. Claire, you will have a place to see patients and we have an overgrown herb garden that needs sorted. When not at those tasks, I expect you to help with anything that needs doing. Now, anything I need to know?”

“Yes, Mrs. Murray. Mary only talks to me. She has a terrible stutter and is embarrassed to talk with others.”

“I see. We will work on that. Mrs. Crook is a kind soul and will look after you. Now, take some time to settle in. Come out in above twenty minutes to help Mrs. Crook, Mary and I will show you the clinic in the morning Claire.”

After she leaves, Mary and Claire hug each other. They had found a kind family. Having heard stories of horrid places, they are happy to be in a place where kindness rules. They come into the kitchen to help Mrs. Crook. “Claire, Mary, I am Mrs. Crook. You may call me Anne when Mrs. Murray isn’t about. Mary, I understand that you don’t speak?” Mary nods her head. “Well, I understand. We shall work on it.” She says with a smile.

The rest of the evening was spent serving the evening meal, cleaning up after. Then Mary and Claire sew clothes for themselves and Alex. They sleep well, knowing that they are well looked after.

[anitabyars]

New Release from Sawyer Bennett

Foster (Pittsburgh Titans, Book #13)

Synopsis:

When Foster McInnis’ ex-wife flakes and he finds himself with full custody of his daughter, the nanny he hires brings a new complication—an attraction he can’t ignore, no matter how hard he tries.

I love being on the ice and am grateful for my hockey career, but the off season is my favorite time of the year because it brings me my one true love—my daughter, Bowie Jane. Between my job and my ex-wife living across the country, the time I get to spend face-to-face with my kiddo is limited, though we make up for it with summers full of fun adventures. We’re thick as thieves and take full advantage of our time together, but the distance away from her is killing me.

My fortunes change when my ex walks away and I find myself with full custody. But with the hockey season looming, I know I’m going to need help taking care of Bowie Jane. Enter Mary Elizabeth Archer—otherwise known as Mazzy. Highly recommended to me through the Titans’ network, Mazzy crashes into our life like a hurricane. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met and to say I’m intrigued is an understatement. But no matter how attractive she is, no matter how I crave to know everything about her, I can’t go there. It’s inappropriate. Just wrong, wrong, wrong, even though she might be the most right thing I’ve ever known.

Being the indescribable force she is, there is soon no corner of our lives that Mazzy hasn’t impacted in a positive way. And my desire for more with her becomes far stronger than my misguided idea that I could ever resist this woman. Our attraction burns hot and keeping our eyes, hands and mouths off one another gets harder by the minute. It doesn’t take long for me to know that I’m all in with Mazzy. She’s my end game and, lucky for me, winning is my specialty.

Grab your copy of Foster directly from Sawyer by shopping the Sawyer Bennett Bookstore!

✦ E-Book and Audio (audio narrated by Tor Thom and Maxine Mitchell): https://bit.ly/STORE_Foster

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Not sure if you're ready to commit to Foster? Sawyer's got you covered!

✦ READ the first three chapters: https://bit.ly/Foster_Chapters

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About the Author:

New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Sawyer Bennett uses real life experience to create relatable stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From contemporary romance, fantasy romance, and both women’s and general fiction, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.

A former trial lawyer from North Carolina, when she is not bringing fiction to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to her very adorable daughter, as well as full-time servant to her wonderfully naughty dogs.

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[maviscat123]

Riley Crenshaw woke up and rolled over in bed. And when Riley Crenshaw rolled over in bed, it seemed as if the entire world shook. The gray-skinned rhino with the single horn adorning his snout, fairly typical for his species, was massive both in height and weight. As he sat up and yawned, he stretched, popping his back pleasantly. He glanced over at the empty side of the bed his ex-wife used to sleep on and frowned a little. He was amazed Marie could stand his bigness, in more ways than one. In all the years they'd been married prior to the divorce, he'd heard nary a peep from her about how much the bed shook whenever he so much as slightly readjusted his position. He told himself it was just because he had been a good man but in reality he knew it was just because of another part of him besides his belly that was big. A good man he was not, in the end, considering her reasons for divorcing him. Good men didn't cheat in their wives with other men, or live in a false marriage wherein they pretended to be straight.

But that was over and done with. Besides, although the divorce itself had been bitter, Marie had since forgiven him, and he also had custody of their children. Well, the ones not already grown up and out on their own. He stretched again and got out of bed, wandering into the large bathroom where he flipped on the light. He took a shower, dried himself, and then exited, and admired himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth. His body build at first appeared fat but, while there was some of it, mostly concentrated in his middle, a great deal of the rhino's girth was in fact muscle. He just looked flabby because he was lazy and didn't work out very much. His tendency to break gym equipment meant that meeting the demands of his weekly exercise regimen was next to impssible. Fortunately, the boys down at the Monochrome, his current gym, were understanding of his careless strength, Chad the wolf and Trent the stag in particular. His thoughts turned to Chad. At this, the towel wrapped around his waist began to rise a bit. Now that he was single again, Riley was free to date, and one of these days he needed to hit up that buff wolf instructor for a night out and perhaps a bit more.

His stomach grumbled. Finishing up in the bathroom, he went and dressed. He could hear Clarissa, their maid, waking Timothy and Ashton a few rooms over. They were twelve and fourteen respectively, and soon like their brothers and sisters would be off to high school and eventually college. Riley found himself wondering how in the world he and Marie had had so many children as he finished putting on his business suit and adjusted the bowtie which sat daintily at his neck. Adjusting it gently with a thick finger, he then left and went downstairs to find both boys scarfing down cereal at the breakfast table.

"What have I told you two about eating too fast?" he said sternly but softly.

"Sorry, Dad," said Timothy Crenshaw sheepishly. He ate a little slower.

Ashton Crenshaw by contrast just shrugged and kept right on eating at his usual pace. Timothy was the typical "good boy," and if Marie were still around he would've been a momma's boy for sure. Not that Riley minded. Ashton, though, was going through a rebellious face his father didn't understand. Did he blame Riley for the divorce? Or was he just being a spoiled little punk, as Riley himself had been at his age? Well, except for the spoiled part. Riley didn't know and didn't really care, as he had to get to work. He kissed each son goodbye in turn. Timothy giggled and kissed back on the cheek, whereas Ashton, of course, jerked away and made a show of gagging. Giving his eldest remaining son a gentle bop upside the head with a small smile, Riley put on his topcoat and left. Clarissa would ensure the boys got properly dressed and sent off to school. In the meantime, he went to work.

God, he wished it was the weekend already, and it was only Friday! It wasn't the stuffy suits he had to wear, but rather the boring office environment, legions of yes-men, and long, unproductive staff meetings. Not much ever seemed to get done at Crenshaw Shoes, Inc. lately. And that Friday was no different. More useless meetings and more boneheaded suggestions about how up improve their products to keep up with the competition. Riley had started the company with endorsement money from his time as a wrestler, when one of his major sponsors had been a big shoe company. His employees were well meaning but so incompetent that he really wished he'd been able to nab those two identical twin squirrels who interviwed for joint personal assistant jobs a few years ago. And not just because of their worth ethic. Sadly, that arrogant prick lion Stapleton had managed to get them. Riley just knew Stapleton was having three-ways with the Durants all the damn time.

But no matter. He had his own squirrel. His other favorite person down at the Monochrome. And that was another reason he wanted to get out of work more eagerly today. Because today was Friday which meant his Friday massage from Edwin down at the gym. Followed thereafter, most likely, by a snack of wiggly squirrel.

Eventually, work ended in the early evening. Leaving things to his assistant Cantlemere - Riley noticed with some sadness he tended to delegate important duties now more than he did them himself - Riley left the building. It was already dusk, the sky a soft orange color.  He drove to the gym in his luxury Hummer, the only vehicle on the market capable of containing and carrying him. He drove himself, have never needed nor wanted a chauffeur. He took a parking space in a lot down the street from the Monochrome Gym, and then exited the vehicle, casually strolling down the sidewalk until he reached the gym's entrance, and went inside. Due to the lateness of the day, the afternoon crowd was already leaving but the evening crowd, people like himself who got off of work around this time, would be coming in soon, and Riley prided himself on beating most of them here to have first dibs at his favorite masseur.

"Hi, Edwin," he said as he entered the massage parlor room at the back of the gym. He'd already changed out of his business suit and into a tight purple speedo which barely fit him and left nothing to the imagination as far as his male attributes were concerned.

Edwin Grimaldi was waiting for him as usual. The black-haired, reddish-furred squirrel teen grinned happily as his favorite customer entered. He was very lean-bodied, almost stick thin, but was damn cute and looked adorable in his own little speedo. He had been Riley's favorite masseur ever since the rhino's first day at the gym. He gave fucking great massages, one of his many rather interesting talents.

"Hi, Mr. Crenshaw, er, uh, I mean Riley," Edwin said a trifle submissively. The teenager was still having difficulty figuring out whether to be formal or informal, and it didn't help that the huge rhino honestly didn't care what the squirrel called him. "Hop up on the table and we'll begin."

Riley didn't exactly "hop up" - he'd break the table if he did that! - but did his best, and soon lay stretched out for Edwin's ease of access. He sighed and relaxed. Even before the massage had started he was feeling better after his hectic day at the company. He watched as Edwin went about setting up his usual array of oils and lotions and finally pulled the little wheeled cart containing all of them over. He grabbed two bottles at random, one in each hand.

"Scented or unscented?" he asked.

"Unscented," said Riley. "I don't wanna go home smelling like strawberries and cucumbers."

Nodding, Edwin set the scented bottle down and upended the unscented one, splurting a thick glob of white skin cream into his palm which reminded Riley of cum. The sort he might splurt if he got lucky with the masseur tonight. And he usually did. He smiled as Edwin nimbly climbed onto his back and slapped his hands together, rubbing the slick, oily cream between them, before planting his hands onto the rhino's shoulderblades with a wet, stick "plap" and setting to work. Riley murred and shifted beneath the young rodent as the cream was rubbed and smeared all over his bare back, Edwin not missing a single inch. Then the kneading and rubbing began, and Riley's relaxtion was complete. He groaned with delight and sprouted thick wood in his speedo, pressing against the cushioned table, as the squirrel dutifully worked out all of the kinks and knots in his customer's muscles.

"Wow, you sure have a lot of knots back here," Edwin observed conversationally, a tone of concern in his voice. "Rough day at the office?"

"No more than usual," said Riley. "More like just a long, dull, stressful week in general. It's really only when I come here and see you guys that I can really and truly cut loose and relax and, well, be myself." He chuckled. "Not only do these massages of yours relax me... rrrff... damn, Edwin, but you are better at this than you look... but also this place helps bring out my, well, let's say, inner predator."

Edwin chuckled. "Inner predator, huh?" he said as he worked around the nape of Riley's neck, using his thumbs. "I'd say so. Considering how many times you've eaten me over the past few months." After a pause, he hastily added, "Uh, not that I mind, of course."

The rhino chuckled, himself. He knew the squirrel loved getting eaten by him, ever since that first time. And indeed Riley had made sure to shove Edwin into every single one of his orifices at least twice since then. He'd eaten other patrons and customers at the gym, too, but those muscular guys, while fun and filling, tended to be a bit of a chore for him to get down. He much preferred guys like Edwin, thin and lanky. They were just an all around easier meal.

"Hey," said Edwin, "you know, now that you mention it, if bringin' out your inner predator is what you're after, maybe the gym isn't the place to do it if you're really looking to, uh, y'know, really cut loose?"

"What do you mean?" asked Riley, curious.

He knew of no other place in town that catered to voraphiles. Maybe one or two clubs, but those tended to get raided by the police due to the amount of digestion without reformation that went on there. With a few exceptions, Edwin's former friends included, the Monochrome Gym had an excellent track record of repeat business because they reformed their eaten customers and employees, and were certainly the only business in the city that was actually certified to perform vore. Said certificate, with an "A" rating, was even displayed near the front for everyone to see now that vore was becoming mainstream and the gym didn't need to be so discrete about the type of perks it offered besides exercise.

"Hold on," Edwin said, halting the massage. He slid off of Riley and hopped down to the floor.

Riley was annoyed but sat up, watching as Edwin went to where his clothes were hung up, and he took an envelope out of the pocket of his shorts. It looked quite fancy, with am embroidered logo on the front that read "Wildfire Labs." From within the envelope, Edwin removed a letter typed on an excellent piece of expensive stationary, and handed it to the rhino, who took it and skimmed over it. It read, "Dear potential customer. We here at Wildfire Labs are at the forefront of science and technology, and in particular vore research. It is our founders' strident goal to study the act of consuming another living creature, in an environment which is safe for both predator and prey. This weekend, the 18th and 19th respectively, Wildfire Labs will be performing an experiment to determine the effects of competitive group vore. We are searching for volunteers. If you read this invitation and are interested, please contact Wildfire Labs by phone or E-mail or better yet come down to our facility personally. If you sign up, more details will be given the day of the experiment. Hope to see you there. Sincerely, Fernald Grimaldi, PhD."

The name was handwritten in clumsy but workable cursive, and, reading the last name, Riley looked up at Edwin questioningly.

"My dad gave me those," the squirrel said. "Wildfire is doing this in cooperation with the gym and so Chad has me handing them out to customers. I wasn't supposed to read it, but since it was my dad who delivered them, I got a little curious..." He grinned shyly. Of his father, he quickly added, proudly, "He's a really smart scientist!"

"I bet he is," said Riley with a smile. He slid the letter back inside the envelope and then put it aside onto the cart for later. Then with a grin he grabbed Edwin and pulled him over and dragged the squirrel into his lap and kissed him softly on the lips. "And that smartness really rubbed off on his boy, too."

At this, Edwin blushed and snuggled close to Riley, and then gave a little cry as suddenly the rhino reversed their usual position, and pushed Edwin facedown onto the table and got on top of him. The squirrel groaned at Riley's weight pressing down onto him. Riley pulled Edwin's speedo down and off, tossing it aside, and gave the squirrel's ass a nice little slap before grabbing the bottle of unscented massage lotion, squirting some of the cream into his hand before turning and giving the bottle a hard squeeze and causing the entire rest of the white goop to "splut" against Edwin's bare back.

"Hey, what are you doing?" asked Edwin with a giggle.

"Just thought I'd return the favor for a change is all," Riley replied.

"Besides," he added softly, "got to lube you up!"

"What for?"

"You know what for," Riley said with a wink.

"Aw, Riley, again? You're insatiable!" giggled Edwin.

Riley began to smear and slather the cream all over Edwin's back and down over his ass, giving his shoulders, lower back and especially his butt a good workover with his strong hands, causing the thin rodent to shudder with delight at being on the receiving end of a massage.

"So, uh," moaned Edwin, "are you gonna go...?"

"I haven't decided yet," Riley admitted. "I'll have to think about it."

When there proved too much cream for one side, he turned Edwin over and did his chest and belly as well, and was pleased to find that the teenager's cock was hard. This too was smeared with the cream. He gasped and moaned as Riley's fingers encircled his lotion-slicked cock and began to slowly masturbate him. His narrow hips bucked as the strong hand gripped his young manhood until finally he gave a squeal and added his own cream to the lotion smeared over his belly. Riley leaned down and kissed him on the lips, and then Edwin used his feet to rub over the bulge of rhino cock in Riley's speedo, making him moan. Grinning, Edwin worked his toes into the waistband and started working the swimsuit off of his lover. With a chuckle, Riley assisted him, and used one of his free hands to pull off the speedo, tossing it to the floor. As he did so his huge cock flipped out and slapped against Edwin's smaller one, the head drooling thick gobs of pre.

Gripping the edges of the table to brace himself, Riley maneuvered his hips until his cockhead found Edwin's tailhole, and then with a grunt, the big rhino shoved it inside. Edwin threw back his head and cried out as he was penetrated by that massive member. It wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last, but it always hurt a little going in at first. Riley cooed softly into his ear to sooth him, and then started to move his hips back and forth, working his cock in and out of Edwin's rear, going deeper and deeper each time as the squirrel's anus clenched tightly around it. The massage table creaked and rocked back and forth. It would've collapsed under the force of Riley's exertions, but fortunately, it had been specially reinforced for big guys like him. Beneath him, the squirrel gasped and writhed, holding onto his big lover's muscular arms for support as he had his brains fucked out.

It didn't take long. Soon Riley gritted his teeth and growled as the force of his climax ripped through him and into Edwin, his thick rhino-cock pumping jet after jet of hot thick seed into the used ass of the massage boy. Edwin moaned in delight, and was rewarded with a sloppy, affectionate French kiss from the big rhino as Riley extracted himself delicately, his cock leaving the squirrel's ass with a "pop," creamy cum dribbling from that well-fucked orifice.

Now came the best part. As their lips left each other, Riley licked his as he eyed Edwin's lotion-drenched form. Nothing needed to be said between them. The squirrel grinned and nodded. With a grunt, Riley got down off the table, but left his throbbing cock lying along the top, between Edwin's slightly spread legs. Edwin erfed and looked down, watching as the urethra yawned open, dribbling cum. Dutifully and eagerly the squirrel lifted his legs, knees to his chest, and brought his feet to Riley's cockhead and slid his toes inside. This had the effect of making the rhino growl in satisfaction and then suddenly the cumslit slammed down on those toes and with a sucking motion Edwin's feet were pulled in to the ankles. He gasped and giggled, his young squirrel-cock already hard again. He liked it when Riley consumed him this way.

The cock pulsed, making ravenous slurping motions which pulled Edwin in to his knees, and then his thighs. Riley grasped him by his lotion-slicked sides and pulled him, and his cock, up off the table. Making hem both go vertical, he had but to release his hold on Edwin - no difficult task; holding on to him with all that cream was hard enough! - and the squirrel's slippery form combined with the inward sucking motions of the cock made the massage boy seem to simply slide down right out of sight almost. One second he was there, in up to his waist almost, and then suddenly he slid down in to his armpits with a loud "schlurk," fluffy tail forced up against his back. At this, Riley cried out and came again, his cum bibbling up around Edwin and lubing him further. Deep inside of that hungry shaft, Edwin's own cock shuddered and he added his second batch of seed to the mixture, wiggling in delight as the pulsating cock held him.

Eager to get his cock's meal over with now that he'd cum twice, Riley reached down, grabbed the top of Edwin's head, and shoved him the rest of the way inside, forcing his arms to stick up and point out of the drooling cumslir, visible only from the elbows up. They wiggled. Riley grunted and flexed his cock, which drew the twitching arms in with only two bucks of his hips, and then Edwin was gone and the greedy cock "burped" out some globs of cum mixed with massage lotion. As his balls filled out with the squirrel's trapped and wiggling form, Riley let out a deep sigh of satisfaction.

"Ah, you always know how to fill my balls out, Edwin," he said, giving the swollen sac a loving grope as the trapped rodent began gurgling away already.

That made him remember the letter, and after he had sufficiently recovered, and his balls hung fat and heavy with a new load of fresh rhino cum, Riley stepped over to the cart and picked up the envelope. He examined it, particular the Wildfire Labs logo, and thought about their offer.

"Hmm," he thought aloud. "Could be fun. I think I will go after all."

~*~

Riley was unable to make it the following day. First thing he did Saturday was to take care of the very severe morning wood he'd woken up with. He'd jacked off in the shower for what felt like a eternity before painting the walls with what had been Edwin only the previous evening. It all washed down the drain. Then he'd needed to fulfill some fatherly obligations to Ashton and Timothy, in particular taking Timothy to a water park he'd been excitedly wanting to go to for several weeks, and while the Wildfire experiment sounded like something Riley couldn't resist, who was he to deny his youngest son? And as for Ashton, well, he'd wanted a trip to the mall after the water park, and again Riley couldn't say no despite how insolently his older son had requested it.

However Saturday evening he did call Wildfire. To his annoyance, no phone number was provided on the card Edwin had given him, however it was easy enough to find them in the phonebook. After dialing, he sat there on his bed as the phone rang. Finally someone picked up and he heard a male voice say, "Hello, Wildfire Labs."

"Yes, I was wondering if I could speak to someone regarding your competitive group vore experiment?"

There was a pause. For a second Riley wondered if he'd said the wrong thing, been too forward or even called the wrong Wildfire Labs. But then the voice said, "One moment," and his call was transferred.

A second male voice picked up. "Zeryx speaking."

Riley made a face and wondered what kind of name 'Zeryx' was, but didn't say anything. The guy's name was what it was. "Hello," he said pleasantly, "I'm Riley Crenshaw and I'm interested in your, uh, experiment. Particularly in learning any more details about exactly what you meant by competitive vore."

"Who referred you?" Zeryx asked.

"Edwin Grimaldi," Riley replied.

"Ah, Fernald's son," the voice said with a chuckle. "Good kid. Anyway, Mr. Crenshaw, I'm afraid I can't give too many details out over the phone. All I can tell you now is that it's something of a contest consisting of eight people. However, if you sign up and come down to the labs tomorrow, everything will be explained in detail before the contest begins."

"And what if I don't like what I hear?" Riley asked, who was curious if he'd be able to back out past a certain point or not. Not that he wanted to, or was afraid, but the businessman in him preferred having escape clauses and failsafes. He did not want to be trapped in something he couldn't escape from.

"Unfortunately once you commit to the experiment and arrive you won't be permitted to leave until it's over," said Zeryx. "However, you'll be well compensated for your time, whether you win or not."

"I don't need money."

"That isn't what I meant Mr. Crenshaw," Zeryx said, a hint of playful mischief in his voice. Riley wondered what he meant, but then remembered it was a vore study, and grinned a little. "And also, you have our guarantee that the vore itself will be of the non-fatal variety. So what do you say, Mr. Crenshaw? Are you interested?"

Riley considered it. He disliked not being able to back out once he was involved, until it had been seen through. When he wrestled, at least they let you call time out. And besides, the entire thing was quite vague and mysterious and that tended to spell trouble if the wrong people were involved. However Edwin had been the one to turn him on to this thing, and he knew Edwin would never trick or mislead him. But what if the Wildfire people had lied to Edwin? Then again, the squirrel's father worked there, didn't he? If Edwin's father were anything like his gentle and honest son, then Wildfire and this Zeryx person were most likely completely on the level.

Becoming politely impatient, Zeryx added, "I should mention there are only eight potential constestant slots, and five have been filled already."

Riley grumbled, disliking this extra pressure. Apparently Wildfire was hard up for participants. Finally he made up his mind. "Fine," he said. "Sign me up."

"Excellent," said Zeryx, and somehow Riley could almost feel the guy's grin.

They then exchanged goodbyes and hung up. Sleep came quickly that night. A long and hard day of dealing with his kids tended to wear him out the more and more he got into middle age. As he drifted off into dreamland, the rhino's thoughts again turned to the possibility he was somehow being tricked. He hadn't become such a successful businessman by being a sap, after all. Although he basically believed in the overall good nature of people, it was still always wise to at least entertain the notion that something was afoot, and be ready for any tricks. And ultimately Riley decided he would be. If these Wildfire people were on the level, fine. If not? Well, he'd have a few surprises for them. Soon he was sleeping soundly.

~*~

Sunday, Riley's Hummer pulled into the parking lot at Wildfire Labs. It was a two-story brick building whose only outward unusual feature was the modern triangular glassed-in front lobby which projected outwards. Well that and the signs. One was at the front when you pulled into the parking lot. The second, larger one was on the side of the building itself. Both said "Wildfire Labs" and had a stylized flame symbol.

Riley found a parking space and got out, observing that except for the vehicles in the parking spaces reserved for employees, there were only seven other cars in the parking lot: a station wagon, a Mercury, a Ford pickup, a Volvo, a van, a Volkswagen and an old International pickup that had seen better days. He observed each one had some kind of sign hanging from the rearview mirror, of the type used by handicapped drivers. However instead of the unviersal symbol for the handicapped, these signs had the Wildfire logo on them. Overnight parking, he concluded.

Pocketing his keys and going inside, he found the brightly-lit, all-glass lobby empty. Where were the seven others? Even the front desk was devoid of anything. But then a door opened in the back and a tall, good-looking ram in a white lab coat emerged. He was well muscled, handsome and had dark gray fur. Underneath the lab coat he was wearing jeans and a muscle shirt. Riley guessed he was one of the scientists.

"Riley Crenshaw?" the ram asked. Riley instantly recognized him as Zeryx. The ram extended a hand and Riley gripped and shook it, making him wince a little. "Damn strong handshake you have there, Crenshaw. Or can I call you Riley?"

"Whichever you prefer," Riley said, releasing his hand.

"Riley it is, then," said Zeryx. He gave his now freed hand a shake and another mild wince before continuing. "We try not to be too formal here at Wildfire. Now then, first thing's first." From the pocket of his lab coat, he produced one of the signs with the Widlfire logo on it, and held it out to Riley. "We'd like you to stick this on the rearview mirror of your car, which I assume is that great big beast of a Hummvee out there."

"That's the one," Riley said, and took the sign. "Be right back."

He left, put the sign on his Hummer's rearview mirror, and then returned. Zeryx was still waiting for him. Riley stood before him expectantly, arms behind his back. To his amusement, he absolutely towered over the ram, very nearly dwarfing him in height and sheer girth. However, unlike some others, it didn't seem as though Zeryx were the least bit uneasy about the huge rhino. Riley guessed this was because creatures larger than even himself had been to this facility before.

Riley went with Zeryx through the door the ram had come out of which opened onto a long hallway lined with doors. They went through one of them seemingly at random and into a plush executive office which Riley assumed was Zeryx's. Here, there was a brief but tedious registration process. Riley was given multiple forms and documents to peruse and sign. He read them all. Including the fine print. He noticed Zeryx was growing impatient and occasionally glancing at a clock on the wall. Apparently most of the other participants just skimmed through the papers and signed without actually reading everything, but businessman Riley never signed anything he didn't thoroughly read and reread.

Fortunately, though, he was a fast reader, and soon, having decided Wildfire was on the level after all - the documents were primarily just insurance for participants' families in case something went wrong - Riley has finished and returned the signed papers to the ram.

"My, you sure took the time to really read those through," said Zeryx as he put them into a folder and then slid them into his desk drawer. "Now, if you'll follow me."

Zeryx stood and again Riley followed him out of the room and down the hall, this time to an elevator. There was no call button, merely a card swiper. The ram used a Wildfire ID card and slid it through the device, which beeped, and the elevator opened. It was quite large and unlike most elevators didn't groan and creak under Riley's weight as they stepped on, again supporting the rhino's theory that bigger men than he had come here before. Dragons most likely. They took the elevator to the second floor, which opened onto a waiting room. Here, Riley finally beheld his seven other fellow contestants, all males, lounging in chairs. A few were reading mazines. Others just sat there looking bored.

There was a horse, a deer, an elephant, another ram, an otter, a zebra and a bull. Except for the deer, they were all quite big and buff, even the otter. The elephant immediately turned and looked at Riley with a hint of antagonism in his eyes, making the rhino realize he was the second largest specimen here besides himself. He wore a T-shirt and slacks. Riley ventured a guess that he owned the old, tough-looking International truck.

"All right," said Zeryx, clapping his hands together. "Now that our eighth and final contestant has arrived, I'm sure you're all just dying to know the specifics of why you're here."

"About damn time," said the horse. He was big and beefy and had a long blonde mane, giving him the appearance of a surfer. His attire consisted of dress pants, shirt and a loosened necktie, with mirrored sunglasses pushed up onto his forehead. "I just wanna know when we can get to the eating part." He grinned and licked his lips as he eyed the deer.

The deer had short antlers despite his seeming older. Apparently he had them regularly trimmed and sanded. With his dainty glasses and sweater vest he seemed quite meek. He shivered a little at he big horse's gaze. As for the others, the zebra was lean and looked like a runner or other type of athlete. He was one of the ones reading a magazine. The otter was barely sitting still, clearly impatient. That left the bull and the ram. The bull also wore glasses and had a studious look about him despite his great size, which of course paled next to Riley, whilst the ram seemed like the youngest one here; his demeanor and dress, consisting of baggy pants and a loosefitting shirt, suggested a college student.

"Now, now, Jake," chided Zeryx of the horse. "When the time comes, you'll get your chance. Now, let me introduce everyone. Jake Ditmeyer there is the overager horse and the deer he's sizing up for supper is Conrad Funderburke." At this, Conrad the deer became even more nervous. Riley pitied him. "Dorian Castlewood is the zebra, Alejandro Ravello is my fellow ram over there, Ramone Peters is the bull, the otter has a real name but insists everyone call him 'Scratch' and Masten Wade is the elephant there. Everyone? This fine specimen here is Riley Crenshaw."

"Hello," they all said with varying degress of enthusiasm. Everyone except Masten who simply grunted and returned to his magazine.

"You can all put your reading material down now, because now that Riley is here we can finally begin."

There were grumbles and everyone stood, the ones who'd been reading tossing their magazines down on the low table in the middle of the room. Zeryx led the through a door - the only other way in or out besides the elevator - and took them into a large, high-tech laboratory that was completely white and sterile-looking. Acting much like a very enthused tour guide, Zeryx explained that here was one of the many laboratories where Wildfire's efforts to explore vore were done. There were banks of computers, different complicated-looking machines and in the center of the room was a big model of a DNA strand on a square pedestal.

Also in the room was a very large horse in a tightfitting button-down shirt and even tighter slacks, with a cell phone clipped to his belt. He looked like an absolute dish. Next to him was a short, middle-aged squirrel with black hair wearing a lab coat, slacks and dress shirt and striped necktie. Immediately, Riley pegged this fellow as Edwin's father, and grinned. The family resemblance was unmistable.

"This is our resident genius Flare Starfire," Zeryx said of the horse. "Wildfire Labs is his baby."

Riley had to resist a chuckle at yet another highly unusual name. But he held it back. Flare went around shaking everyone's hands.

"Yes," he said, "I started Wildfire a few years ago with my partner Cinder, who won't be joining us as he's sleeping off a couple of taurs. It began as a way of researching vore in a controlled laboratory environment. No longer do we need to awkwardly and potentially fatally experiment with better ways to make vore enjoyable for all participants. Here at Wildfire, everything is totally controlled amd micro-managed to get the best possible results."

There were a few murmurs. Riley nodded. Zeryx next introduced the squirrel scientist, confirming the rhino' suspicions.

"And this is one of our biochemists, Dr. Fernald Grimaldi," he said, patting the squirrel on the shoulder.

"Grimaldi, eh?" said Riley. "I know your son."

"Oh?" said Fernald. "How well?" He grinned a little.

"Intimately," Riley dared to venture. Then with a little smirk, said, "He's a wiggler."

There were some more murmurs and a couple of chuckles, and Fernald nodded and grinned approvingly. Clearly, he had no problems with his son being in a gay vorish relationship. Riley liked him immediately. Liked all the Wildfire staff so far. Especially Flare. Although the big horse seemed a bit reserved, he was very to-the-point and had an honest face.

"Well, here's hoping we have some more wigglers here today besides Fernald's son," said Flare, and coughed, spreading his hands to get everyone's attention. All eyes were on him. "You're all here because of Bracker v. Rand. If you haven't heard of it, it's a rather important court case concerning the outcome of the trial of one William Rand, a pred who ate the entire Bracker family without knowing how to reform them. They all died."

He let that sink in for a moment.

"Rand was found guilty of second degree murder and also had his pants sued off by Mr. and Mrs. Bracker's surviving relatives. The fallout of this case has been absolutely monumental, and right now, the courts are trying to determine whether or not vore should be legal, even with reforming. Now, Wildfire's reputation precedes it, and we've been called on by the court to demonstrate how vore can be an enjoyable and pleasurable experience, provided the prey is reformed, and we need audovisual data as evidence, which is why you're all here."

"I thought this was a contest," complained Jake.

"It still is. And I'll explain the rules in a moment. But first I just wanna make it clear to you all that your experiences will be recorded and used in court by the pro-vore side of the argument. You eight, and the other eight who preceded you yesterday, will help determine the law and make history."

There were a few uneasy looks, particularly from Conrad.

"And don't worry if you don't know how to reform your prey," added Fernald. "We'll take care of that."

"We here at Wildfire have thought of everything," added Zeryx with a confident grin.

"Now, the contest is simple," continued Flare. "You'll be divided into two groups of four and put into two separate rooms. Zeryx, Fernald and myself will monitor you from a control room. Each of the four in either group will try and devour his opponents and only the strongest... or hungriest... will prevail. It's going to essentially be a free-for-all. Wrestling, sex, whatever will help you enjoy yourselves and better dominate and consume your opponent. After that, the two remaining predators will face off against one another in the final round to determine the winner."

He then asked if they had any questions. There were some murmurs but eventually it was cleary no one had any. Least of all Riley. He was sizing the others up and determine which if any of them he could overpower. He figured he could take almost all of them except for Masten, and hoped that the elephant wasn't going to be in his group.

"All right," said Fernald, reading off of a typed sheet of paper in his hand. "Riley, Jake, Conrad and Scratch in the first group. Alejandro, Masten, Dorian and Ramone in the second. Group one in Room A and group two in Room B."

He turned and pointed to two doors, and the two different groups headed towards them. Riley led the way in his group, opening the door and entering. The room had plush carpet and aside from another door that Riley guessed adjoined the two rooms and a camera mounted on the ceiling, it was entirely featurelss. The adjoining door had no knob or handle, Riley noticed. Jake, Conrad and Scratch entered after him and then the door swung shut of its own volition with a slam, and there as an audible click. Next door, they heard a similar slam, trapping the second group. A suddenly nervous Scratch gave the doorknob a little tug to no effect.

"It's locked," he said pointlessly.

A voice came over the intercom. Zeryx's. "Okay now, strip off all your clothes and get to it, gentlemen. And by the way... the eating can't begin until the first guy shoots his load off."

"I'm still uneasy about this whole sex thing," said Conrad as he started to undress. The others did the same. "I mean, I just came for the vore. I'm married for Christ's sake!"

So was I, once, Riley thought, and toyed with asking the deer what he was doing here, but then remembered the invitation hadn't explicitly mentioned homosexual contact. Riley guessed Conrad was here either for the potential prize or possibly just out of curiosity, wondering what it'd be like to eat or be eaten. Although it was plain to Riley that this poor fellow was going to be the first to go in their group. Since there was nowhere to hang their clothes, after everyone stripped naked, they just tossed their clothing and other belongings to the floor. , and for a moment everyone stood awkwardly, unsure of who ought to make the first move. Each one of them was erect, hard as a rock, even the shy and ostensibly heterosexual Conrad.

In a control room elsewhere in the lab, Flare, Zeryx and Fernald sat watching the two groups on two large television screens mounted on the walls. Flare was reclining in a large plush executive office chair. Fernald was sitting at the controls while Zeryx stood behind him wearing a headset mic. On the second screen, showing Room B, Masten the elephant was grabbing Alejandro by the back of the neck and forcing him to his knees, making the ram open wide and take his thick cock past his lips as much as he could, the nearly table leg-sized member stretching the ram's maw wide and bulging his throat. Ramone and Dorian were nearby, and the bull had the zebra up against the wall and was forcibly kissing him as he forced his cock up the tight equine ass, pumping in and out of him. Dorian groaned and writhed, whilst Ramone simply grunted, although occasionally he would glance back at Masten.

Taking his headset off, Zeryx said, "I think those two are going to be the main contenders in the second group." He pointed at Masten and Ramone. "Wade and Peters. Look at the way they're sizing each other up."

"Indeed," said Fernald. "I don't expect much from Castlewood and Ravello. They're already prey. See how they submit to their predators sexually."

Flare however turned his gaze to the first screen showing Room A, wondering when someone in the so far less proactive first group was going to make a move. He focused on Riley. While he was impressed by the rhino's size, he seemed very reserved, not as outwardly aggressive as Masten and Ramone or any of the others. Was he just a gentle giant, or was his calm demeanor hiding something darker? The big horse, Jake, seemed like he might prevail, as well, or at least pose a challenge to the rhino. Whereas Flare's two colleagues had already called the two main contenders in the second group, Flare was unprepared just yet to name Riley the surefire winner of the first.

"Hey," said Scratch suddenly, grasping at the nape of Conrad's neck and dragging the deer over. "Suck my cock."

"Eeew," said Conrad. "I'd rather not."

"I said suck it, damn it, none of us can eat or be eaten until one of us blows our load, and my stomach is empty."

At the mention of empty stomachs, Riley felt his own growl. He'd skipped breakfast because of this. Deciding it was time to quit farting around, the rhino crossed the smallish room in two steps, politely motioning Jake aside and then roughly grabbing Scratch, yanking him around and making him release Conrad. He didn't like bullies. The muscular otter seemed surprised and blinked stupidly.

"I have a better idea," said Riley, "why don't you suck my dick?"

"Wha--?" cried Scratch.

He forced the otter to his knees much as Masten had with Alejandro. Then seizing him roughly but harmlessly by his spiky hair, he made the otter open his mouth and forced the bulbous, drooling head of his cock into Scratch's mouth. The otter's efforts to protest were muffled completely and Riley groaned aloud as he pushed more and more of the thick cock inside.

He felt someone come up behind him, and glance back. It was Jake. Grinning, the horse began to push his flared cockhead underneath Riley's tail and between his large gray asscheeks. The rhino didn't protest. He wasn't all dom, after all, and rather liked horses. He nodded his approval and closed his eyes with delight as the thick horse-cock plunged into his depths. Jake wrapped his arms around Riley's middle and began thrusting his hips, slowly fucking the bigger rhino as Scratch mewled and sucked Riley off. Conrad stood apart from them, watching with wide eyes, unwilling to join in, but still unable to look away. He started touching himself, and as the pace of the threesome's little love-train picked up, the deer was soon full-on masturbating.

"Seems someone's bi-curious," Zeryx said in the control room, indicating the voyeuristic Conrad.

"Yes, some married men tend to be," Ferald said, and he ought to know, having an ex-wife and a son of his own. "I'll bet you anything his wife knows nothing about this and he won't ever tell her."

Back in Room A, Riley gave a sudden grunt and clenched his tailhole around Jake's invading member, and Scratch's eyes widened as the rhino's climax hit, pumping what seemed liked gallons of semen - at least a little of which was probably still what was left of Edwin - into the startled otter's mouth. Scratch struggled to swallow, but a lot of it just squirted out from the corners of his mouth and dribbled down his cheeks and jawline. Observing this from over Riley's shoulder, Jake gave a laugh. Scratch glared up at him with annoyance and continued drinking down whatever he could. Behind Riley, the horse kept right on pumping his thick cock in and out of the rhino before finally hitting his own climax, arching his back and nickering with delight, giving unto Riley the wonderful feeling of hot jets of thick cum flooding into his bowels.

Riley took a moment to relax, closing his eyes. "Ahhh," he sighed. "Well, that may not make me the winner just yet, boys, but it certainly is a good start."

"Well, now the first group can begin the true competition," observed Fernald dryly. He sat back in his chair. The front of his dress slacks was tented massively and he squirmed a little.

Leaning over him, Zeryx chuckled as he looked at the squirrel's tented trousers. "Turned on by our work as usual, eh, Doctor?" the ram teased. His big hands reached down and started undoing the squirrel's pants.

"What about the experiment?" protested Fernald meekly as Zeryx freed his throbbing erection from within the confines of his pants and underwear.

"The cameras are recording everything," said Zeryx, and then dipped his horned head down into Fernald's lap, slurping the squirrel scientist's maleness into his drooling maw. "Mmm...!"

Still sitting nearby, Flare glanced over at his two subordinates and shook his head. This turn of events was hardly surprising. The vore experiments always had this kind of effect on the scientists observing them, and this wouldn't be the first or last time Zeryx took the lead and goaded a mostly willing colleague into just forgetting about their work and getting down and dirty right there in the control room. Having witnessed such antics before, the big gorse looked away from them, and focused his attention on the second viewscreen.

In Room B, it was actually Dorian who came first in that group, the splurting his thick seed as his ass was rammed thoroughly by Ramone. Realizing this meant the vore portion of the contest could begin, the bull opened wide and wasted no time in grabbing hold of the zebra's head and proceeding to stuff it into his maw. Observing from nearby, Masten glowered. He didn't like the bull starting before he did, and looked down. Alejandro was still sucking on the thick elephantine cock, unaware that Dorian had ejaculated and was now beginning to get eaten by Ramone. Putting his huge hand on the back of the ram's head, Masten urged him to suck harder and put more effort into his work. He didn't need to cum. He could just pull the ram off of his dick and begin devouring him, but he didn't want to start on Alejandro just yet. Instead, he would save him for last. He kept his gaze steeled on Ramone as the bull started stuffing live, squirming zebra into his mouth. Soon, Masten though. Soon.

In the control room, Flare found the performance of the second group thus far to be quite impressive, but lacking something. As he turned and looked at the first viewscreen, though, ignoring the pleasured moans of Fernald as he got his dick sucked by Zeryx, and trying to ignore his own erection growing inside of his pants for the time being, he noticed the first group had not yet begin voring each other, and focused his attention especially on Riley. It occurred to Flare that the difference between the two groups was that the second one was more concerned with rushing into things, whereas the first one seemed more about taking their time. The horse was of the opinion this was a fine approach. It would make the eventual vore that much sweeter when it finally happened. And judging by the way Riley was beginning to eye his fellow volunteers, it was finally about to.

In Room A, Conrad, still furiously beating his own deer-meat, was the third to climax, gasping as his medium-sized cock shot a single thin squirt of seed through the air to splatter onto the carpet. He collapsed panting against the wall. Thus far, Scratch was the only one of the four in Room A who hadn't cum yet. Riley would see about changing that momentarily, however. For his first victim, though, he had entirely other ideas, turning and looking at the deer and barely seemed to notice as Jake extracted himself from his ass. The room by now had a faint aroma of sweat and maleness to it. Riley breathed it deep through his flaring nostrils. He loved that smell. It was one reason why he loved the gym so much. It reminded him of his wrestling days.

He released Scratch, who stumbled back into a sitting position, coughing and spluttering, leaving the rhino-cock bobbing gently in the warm air, glistening with otter saliva and still drooling pre. The cumslit opened and closed hungrily, making the otter yelp a little and start scooting off.

"Aw, don't worry, hon," Riley cooed, "you're not the first. Instead, I think the first one of us to bid Wildfire Labs adieu ought to be the one who so far hasn't done a hell of a whole lot to participate."

All eyes were on Conrad, who was still tuckered out from his orgasm. Riley guessed the poor deer didn't get to cum all that often, and so that one piddily squirt he called a climax left him thoroughly panting. He looked up, blinking, as Riley came over. With both hands, the rhino grasped his sides and roughly but harmlessly lifted him off his feet as if he were nothing. Better to go ahead and get the least qualified participant out of the way right at the start, he reasoned.

"Hey, wait...!" whined Conrad.

"Time to join in on the fun, Conrad, my boy," Riley said, and leaned his head back and opened wide.

"Wait, aaahh...!" cried the deer.

He was upended and shoved headfirst into that cavernous, yawning mouth. His glasses were knocked off his face by the fat, drooling tongue which slobbered thick drool over his startled face. His vision was a blur of tongue and teeth and then finally he was plunged into darkness as his short-antlered head passed into the throat. Outside, Scratch, still sitting down, and Jake, who stood off to one side, watched as Riley swallowed, sucking the weakly struggling deer in to his middle. Jake briefly entertained the idea of starting on Scratch while Riley was busy but was too mesmerized watching the rhino eat.

A second gulp and he was in to his waist. The thick tongue curled up between Conrad's legs and toyed with his spent cock, bringing it to life again as the slick tip teased his balls. The deer shuddered and came again, but not much. However Riley's only reward was his prey's frenzied squirms of pleasure. Having obtained this, he released the deer, hands falling to his sides, and threw his head back, mouth yawning wide, and simply allowed gravity and his throat's powerful muscles to do the rest. Before the amazed eyes of Scratch and Jake, the limp legs of the deer slid down and out of side and Riley's already ample belly stretched out a bit more. He gave a soft burp.

"Mmm, ah," he said, turning to the otter and the horse. "I love the thin ones. It's always the thin ones that slide down the smoothest." So saying, he gave his bulging belly a slow, sensual rub. The other two observed his cock was still hard.

Leaning forward in his seat, Flare propped his chin up on his folded hands and smiled. Riley was already on a roll. In Room B, Ramone was still struggling to choke Dorian down and Masten still hadn't made a move one way or the other with Alejandro, who was still slurping and worshiping the elephant's huge dick, but in Room A, Riley had already swallowed his first victim. As he'd predicted, this in that room were beginning to heat up and get a hell of a lot more interesting now.

Nearby, Fernald gasped as he came and Zeryx stood back up, squirrel-cum dripping from his muzzle, and then Fernald was out of his chair suddenly and on his knees, unzipping and pulling down the ram's jeans. Thick ram-cock spilled forth and was immediately slurped into Fernald's eager mouth.

Back in Room A, Riley turned to his two remaining companions, who had now become his competitors. The contest was on. Scratch hopped to his feet and he and Jake exchanged uncertain looks. Riley simply stood there with his arms crossed as his huge belly gurgled noisily around its recent addition, whose struggles had already ceased. It wasn't yet satisfied with the light snack. It wanted the full meal. And the rhino was staring right at it. He slowly smirked and made a show of licking his chops. Boasting and showing off had always been a large part of wrestling, as it helped to not only get the audience pumped up, but to showcase your superiority to your opponents.

He sized them up. Jake was the only one he was certain was going to present a real challenge. Scratch didn't seem like he'd be much of a problem. In a way he pitied them and was jealous of the second group which had more muscleboys in it, particularly that big hunk of elephant named Masten. Riley licked his chops again, eager to get these two over with so he could move on to the real meal, the real challenge, Masten. He figured even if Masten defeated him, it would be a worthy defeat... and if he won? Oh, how the thought of that huge elephant packed tightly away into his stomach made his still hard cock twitch and his belly gurgle loudly.

Suddenly Jake and Scratch made their move, interrupting Riley's thoughts, and both of them rushed at him at once. It seemed they'd decided to join forces to defeat him, to give themselves more of a chance at winning. But Riley knew that even if one of them were to beat him and devour him somehow, neither of them stood a chance against Masten. Whoever won would certainly be in for a surprise.

As they ran at him, Riley crouched low. The smaller, faster otter was first to get to him, and Scratch attempted to jump onto the rhino and knock him down. Instead, Riley only staggered back a bit from the impact and remained standing. Scratch, muscular through he hs was, was absolutely knocked silly and fell flat on his ass. Then came Jake. He attempted to seize Riley's shoulders but the rhino grabbed his hands and locked their fingers together, so that each was squeezing the other's hands. They struggled. While smaller than Riley, the horse was bigger than the otter and so his larger bulk presented more of a challenge, and the two spent the better part of two minutes straining and grunting as each attempted to overpower the other.

As the struggle went on however, Jake began to get the sinking feeling that the huge rhino was only toying with him and trying to wear him down to make him an easier meal. And he was right. With sudden, effortless ease, Riley pushed on him and released his hands. Jake staggered back, but Riley prevented him from landing on top of the still stunned Scratch by grabbing his arm. With a grunt, he yanked the surprised horse back and lifted him up, wrapping his huge, muscular arms around Jake's middle and pinning the horse's arms to his sides, in a massive and powerful bear hug.

"Gotcha," he whispered.

He flexed, using his rock hard muscles to crush the wiggling horse against his massive chest and fat belly. Jake cried out in a mixture of pain and, to Riley's surprise and delight, pleasure. He licked Jake's chest to taste and calm him, and felt the horse's erection against his belly. He bucked the big equine up and down using his arms so that Jake was essentially forced to involuntarily dry-hump the rhino's broad tummy, until with a cry of pleasure, he came, shooting his cum in thick gushes over that broad expanse of fat and splattering some onto the huge chest as well. When Riley stopped, the spent horse was limp and unmoving in his arms, thoroughly worn out, outclassed and dominated by the rhino with the simplest method of overpowering someone. As big as he was and as muscular as he appeared to be, Jake struck Riley as being pretty lightweight. Yeah, he was big and tough but didn't work out and so despite appearances wasn't in shape.

By contrast, Riley appeared slow and fat... and while he was both of these things, he had carefully built up muscle to back it all up, and stayed physically active. He worked out enough to stay healthy and retain his physical prowess, but was lazy enough to keep his big fat belly which he'd come to enjoy so much, despite having originally gone to the Monochrome Gym to work it off. He had worked off a lot of his body fat but liked his big tummy. He wasn't sure why. He just did. With a contented sigh he released Jake, allowing the horse's limp form to slowly slither down the big, cum-coated belly to fall to his hands and knees on the floor at Riley's feet. He knelt there panting for a moment before Riley decided it was time to tuck him in.

Before he could move to consume him, though, Scratch rose to his feet, having recovered from his collision with Riley in the meantime. Deciding Jake wasn't going anywhere for the moment, Riley stepped around him and came running at Scratch. He tackled the otter, who, surprisingly, pushed back, digging his heels into the carpet. Riley was impressed, but he should've expected as much from a guy with a low center of gravity. Deciding that trying to push the otter back as he had the horse was useless, Riley let go and lurched back, and when Scratch predictably came at him again, he used the otter's momentum against him, and lifted him like nothing. Turning him around, he chuckled as he tucked the struggling otter under his left arm and sighed. He held him there whilst Scratch struggled and kicked uselessly, unable to break free, until finally after a few moments he'd expended his energy and hung limply panting as Jake had done.

Turning he found Jake still down on the floor panting and showing no signs of recovering anytime soon. Confident in his victory, Riley breathed deep the smell that permeated the room. The rich stink of sweat and sex, undeniably male. He loved it. Now his mind turned to how he ought to consume his two defeated opponents. His once more hard cock made him consider stuffing one of them down inside of there, and he considered Scratch, who he was already holding, but decided that he wanted a larger meal for his cock than the otter. He then shifted his grip so he was holding Scratch lower and let him slip down until he was kneeling behind him, head leaning against one of the large ass cheeks.

Scratch was beginning to recover when he realized exactly where he was, and he jerked back, but Riley's big hand held him fast, and guided it up underneath the rhino's swishing tail until the otter's lips came in contact with Riley's puckered anus, which, to Scratch's shock, opened hungrily to admit his muzzle. Riley groaned in absolute delight as he arched his back and pushed on the back of the otter's head, shoving his entire head inside with a soft fleshy sound, the tight tailhole sealing around Scratch's thick neck. The otter's hands, free, flew up and grasped at the big butt, fingers scrabbling against the rough gray flesh before pressing the palms against them, pushing, trying to yank his head free, but the tailhole only gripped tighter.

Riley licked his lips, frowning a little. Scratch was short but his beefy build gave the otter very broad shoulders. He worked himself back and forth while simultaneously lowering himself down over the kneeling form of the otter, and as he struggled, Scratch hunched his shoulders up, and with a sigh of delight and relief from Riley, the broad shoulders slid up inside easily. Now it was smooth sailing, and all he had to do was sit back and let his weight bring him completely down over Scratch's trapped form. Grasping his thick cock, he did just that, and Scratch effectively disappeared up inside of Riley as the big rhino's ass lowered down and landed against the floor with a muffled thud. Riley relaxed a little now and stroked himself to the otter's struggles, his cock leaking steady precum now.

In the control room, Flare had unzipped his pants and was casually stroking his massive equine member as he observed Riley's performance so far. Very impressive. Not all that surprising, given the rhino's history as a wrestler and much larger size as compared to his three so-called opponents. But still entertaining to watch Riley take them one by one. Flare rather liked that Riley was saving the largest of the three, his own fellow horse, for last. Nearby, Zeryx was lifting an unresisting Fernald out of his chair and opening his maw wide. The squirrel didn't struggle as the big ram slid his head inside of his mouth and began to devour him.

Flare chuckled. As usual, their horniness from observing their experiments was getting to them and causing them to want to engage in their own vorish play. Between this and the two groups of contestants, Flare realized, it was turning into a vore extravaganze here at the lab. Speaking of which, taking his eyes off of the ram swallowing the willing squirrel, and still idly stroking his horse-cock, Flare glance at the screen showing Room B to see how the second group was doing.

Ramone continued gulping down the struggling, squirming form of Dorian, Masten watching with great interest as the big bull swallowed the zebra to his middle, tossing his great horned head back and yawning his jaws wide to take in his hips. Meanwhile, Alejandro was still worshiping and kissing the elephant's big cock, having his head stroked by Masten's big hand. When Ramone had swallowed Dorian to his thighs and was beginning to turn to face the other two, the zebra's legs sticking out of his mouth, he was caught completely off guard as the elephant's trunk wrapped around him like a thick octopus tentacle, pinning his arms to his sides. He tried to scream but Dorian was filling his throat and prevented him. As he was lifted off his feet, the bull coughed, trying to dislodge the zebra instictively, either by finishing swallowing him or by regurgitating him.

Masten brought him closer and squeezed hard with the trunk. With a lurch the zebra slid out of the bull's mouth a little, and, grinning, opened his great tusked maw and let Dorian's feet enter it. The squirming form of the zebra was expelled from the mouth of the thwarted bull, right into the eager maw of the elephant! Dorian's head exited Ramone's mouth and he blinked at the sudden brightness of the lights, only to then find himself slipping backwards down Masten's throat. He gave a little cry as the elephant's jaws shut and he gave a great swallow, and the bulge of the twice-swallowed zebra slid down to disappear into the elephant's pudgy tummy. Then, with a burp, Masten reopened his mouth and used his trunk to tilt Ramone back so his feet entered the mouth, as Dorian's had, having realized the way the bull's horns pointed there was not way he could eat him headfirst.

Ramone struggled and fought as his feet and legs entered the dark cavern of Masten's gullet, the trunk guiding him right into his destination. The big broad tongue slid out to help him in, slurping over his thin-furred muscular body. Below, Alejandro was still suckling on the cock, and with a grunt, Masten experienced his second orgasm of the day, and Alejandro eagerly drank down the thick cum. As the flow tapered off, the ram stood, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and watched the horned head of the bull vanish into the elphant's mouth, shoved in by the tip of the trunk, which also went past the thick lips. With an "glorp," Masten pulled the trunk out and reached for Alejandro with it, even as the broad bulge of Ramone was going down his throat.

He took the ram by the arm. "Well, son, since you did such a great job of suckin'  my cock, why don't we let it return the favor?" He grinned broadly.

Alejandro chuckled nervously and was then guided once more down towards the the mammoth elephant-cock, the drooling slit yawning open to accept the ram's curly-horned head. He gave a muffled cry of surprise as he was crammed facefirst into it. Watching this, Flare was very pleased. He'd been eagerly awaiting the cock vore portion of things. He gripped his cock harder and began jerking it in earnest. Zeryx, who until then had been preoccupied with swallowing Fernald, noticed as well and turned, kicking squirrel feet and bushy squirrel tail hanging out of his open mouth.

"A lovely development," said Flare. "I was hoping they'd get around to cock vore sooner or later."

Zeryx finished swallowing Fernald, the last of the bushy tail vanishing past his lips. He gulped hard and burped. His stomach swelled out, but not all that much, considering the squirrel wasn't that big. He then sighed and say down in Fernald's chair.

"Crenshaw's anal vore was quite the fun turn of events as well," he said after catching his breath. He looked at the screen showing Room A. "And unless Ditmeyer pulls off a miracle in there it really does look like Crenshaw is going to be Wade's final opponent."

"Yes, indeed," said Flare, easing off on his cock, holding off until the main event as he kept his eyes on the second screen for now, wanting to see Masten's final performance before he went to face Riley.

The huge elephant grunted and moaned as he stuffed the struggling, muscular form of Alejandro into his cock, which was stretched massively around the ram's form. It took large gulps, sucking Alejandro down slowly but surely towards the pachyderm's waiting balls. When the ram was in up to his waist, Masten bent down and took him by his ankles and then lifted him up so that he was upside down. Unwilling to simply release him and let gravity and his cock's swallows do the remainder of the work, Masten grinned confidently and, keeping his hold on Alejandro's ankles, shoved him down hard, giving a loud cry of predatory pleasure as the ram disappeared into the cock to his calves in one swift plunge. Now Masten let go of the ankles, as they and the feet were essentially all that was visible of Alejandro outside of the monstrously engorged dick.

He stood up and leaned against the wall and relaxed, rubbing over his swollen belly, which had already begun to gurgle and digest Dorian and Ramone as their pitiful wiggles died down. His huge cock bucked up and down in the air, flinging precum this way and that, as Alejandro's weakly kicking feet disappeared down into the urethra, which closed after the ram's toes with a soft "glurp" and a sigh from Masten. In the control room, Flare watched as the bulge shaped like Alejandro traveled down the cock and then filled out the already large balls massively so that they sagged down onto the carpet. Masten's steadily leaking cock shuddered and returned to its original size.

Turning and looking at the camera, Masten burped and said, "Okay, I'm done. When do I go to the other room?"

Zeryx turned away from the first screen, put his headset back on and and spoke into the mic. "Your final opponent isn't done yet, Mr. Wade. We'll let you know when he's ready. Until then, you just relax and digest your three-course meal, big guy." He chuckled.

Back in Room A, Riley stood up and stretched a bit. Scratch's lower extremities had almost completely disappeared up the big rhino's ass. Only his feet and tail tip remained, clenched in between the broad asscheeks. With a grunt and a flex of his anal muscles as he arched his back, Riley completely sucked the otter's feet and tail inside with a soft schlucking sound. Finishing his stretch and feeling good and rested, he then returned his attention to his final meal, Jake. He couldn't rightly call the horse an opponent anymore. It seemed like Jake had finally given in, because he simply sat there looking defeated.

Riley slipped his hand down over his considerable belly, inside of which Conrad had finally stopped squirming and Riley could hear the loud gurgles signalling digestion, and groped for his erection. He found it and gripped it tightly. Inside of him he could feel Scratch making his journey through his bowels towards his final destination in the stomach. There, he'd meet up with Conrad, or whatever remained of him, and the two would turn into a thick, nutrient rich soup together to nourish the big rhino's body. As for Jake, Riley had other ideas for him. He jerked his cock slowly as he approached the sitting horse. Hearing him, Jake turned and his eyes boggled at the huge tower of fat and muscle looming over him.

"Time to go, horsie," Riley said softly.

Jake leaped to his feet as if to attack again, but Riley was deceptively fast, having anticipated this. A harmless blow to the horse's midsection drove the wind out of him, and he doubled over, wheezing and falling onto his knees. Riley regretted having to resort to such violence, but he was uninterested in struggling with the horse again. As Jake bent over, Riley took him by the back of his head and forced him to stoop down towards his loins. At the same time, he angled his throbbing maleness up, the cumslit gaping wide, thin strings of precum connecting the two sides like spittle. Jake gave a single muffled cry of protest and then his long equine snout was inserted with a "flumph." He looked quite silly kneeling there with half of his face inside of a cock.

He tried to pull himself free but his muzzle was caught in the inextricable pull of the cock's interior. Releasing his head, Riley balled up his fists, muscles bulging a bit, and grinned. Then he closed his eyes and flexed his dick. With a "schlurp" and a muffled scream, Jake's entire head was drawn in, and the ravenous cock didn't stop there, the already impossibly stretched cumslit working over the horse's broad shoulders with ease, as if they were nothing. Now it was easy going. Still using naught but his own hungry cock, Riley kept grunting and flexing, the cock slipping its way down the horse's muscular kneeling form, lubed by pre which slid in rivulets down the naked equine's body as he slowly disappeared up into the seemingly all-consuming cock, bulging it hugely with his form. To those in the control room, it appeared as if the horse's upper body had been encased in a latex bodysuit it was so tightly fitted to him, and so easy to see every detail of that trapped form.

What Riley did next was incredible. Whereas Masten had needed to grasp his prey's legs to lift him up for the next stage of his meal, Riley simply clenched his fists tighter, gritted his teeth, and gave a sudden forward thrust of his hips, and the cock lifted itself, partially consumed horse and all, up into the air. Jake's legs flailed around uselessly in the typical manner, and the rhino-cock began making lewd, slurping, gulping motions, swallowing that kicking, powerful body down in further.

The outline of Jake's head disappeared past the base of the shaft and entered the balls, bulging them out a bit with his snout. The bulge of the snout could be observed to open and close its mouth in a futile, soundless scream as it was pressed up against the interior of the sac. The bulge of the shoulders soon entered also, and Riley's balls began getting larger as more and more horse was emptied into them. The ravenous dick gulped more strongly, almost to Jake's waist. Riley, without opening his eyes, reached down and took hold of Jake's massively swollen horse-cock and pressed it against his taut tummy so it wouldn't be bent painfully backwards upon being consumed. A few seconds later, the stretched maw of the dick slid seamlessly over them, and Riley chuckled and gave Jake's pert ass a smack before it vanished into the slit.

Now, the urethra clamped Jake's legs shut, tail between them, and those strong limps pointed up, hooflike toes pointed right at the ceiling as though the horse were diving, and in a few smooth, liquid motions, they slid down and out of sight entirely, the cumslit slipping shut behind the tips of his toes like a sated beast's mouth, pre dribbling out like saliva. The tapering bulge of those swallowed legs slid gradually down until they disappeared past the base of the cock, and all of the consumed horse was deposited into Riley's balls. Only then did Riley relax, unclench his fists and open his eyes, and sigh in satisfaction, chuckling and giving his cock a stroke as if it were a beloved pet that had just fed.

Inside the balls, Jake struggled to no avail, before finally, exhausted thoroughly, he gave in and settled down. A thick "squelch" sounded the beginning of the stallion being churned into rhino cum for his predator. He liquefied and would be released the next time Riley had an orgasm. Which, considering he'd now won his first round, might be any moment now. He turned and leaned patiently with one hand against the wall.

"Okay," came Zeryx's voice over the loudspeaker. "Time for the final round!"

Riley turned and faced the door which adjoined the two rooms. There was an electronic "beep" and it slid open to reveal the hulking form of Masten beyond. The huge elephant stepped through with some difficulty due to his size, and approached the rhino, trunk swaying a little, hands balled into fists. His eyes were ice cold and intimidating, but Riley had taken on tougher opponents than this by pachyderm before. With a small smile, he gave a curt little bow, and then rushed at his approaching opponent. Masten did the same. Riley threw his shoulder into the elephant's ponderous gut, making Masten grunt, but then the thick trunk reached down and wrapped around Riley's head suddenly with a powerful gentleness, and started guiding his head towards the tusked maw as Masten grabbed his arms and held them, actually lifting the rhino off the floor!

In the control room, Zeryx stroked over his packed, gurgling belly as he watched. Flare leaned forwards in sudden interest as it looked like Riley had been totally outclassed. Regardless of who won, though, he was immensely turned on, more than ever before, his fingers going from teasing his cock to outright gripping and stroking it. Back in the room, Riley gritted his teeth as his head entered the mouth and the gray lips sealed around his throat. His horns scraping along the roof of the elephant's mouth didn't seem to bother Masten much, and the thick tongue slid underneath his chin and began to guide him towards the heckong, dark throat beyond.

Riley was unwilling to go peacefully. He'd never been anyone's prey and wasn't going to start now. He struggled harder. Unable to break Masten's grip, Riley decided to use his mass against the elephant, and suddenly lunged himself forwards into the throat! Masten's eyes went wide and he staggered back at the sudden forward momentum, lost his balance, and fell flat on his back. In the process, his grip on Riley's arms loosened, and the rhino wrenched them free, planting them firmly on the floor and tugging his head free of the mouth. His face and head dripping with the elephant's thick saliva, Riley strained and grunted as the trunk attempted to pull him back. Suddenly he felt Masten's cock poking at his large rump, and got an idea.

Tilting backwards, he pressed his tailhole against the cockhead, and groaned out loud as it spread him easily and started to slide in. Masten gasped as he did so, and his eyes became slightly glazed. The trunk loosened as Masten seemed to consent to letting his meal get fucked and filled with cream before being eaten, but Riley had other ideas. Like him, Masten was visibly worn out. He intended to wear him out even further. He grabbed at his own cock and jerked it slowly as he moved himself up and down on the mastadonian maleness filling his huge ass, moving his huge bulk up and down surprisingly easily using just his thickly muscled legs. Masten responded by thrusting his own gargantuan hips, pushing his dick upwards and into Riley. Perfect, thought Riley as he wiped some of Masten's saliva off of his face with his free hand.

In the control room, overcome by his arousal at watching the display, Flare got out of his chair and crossed over to where Zeryx sat. The ram was pulled out of his seat and made to bend over the control panel as the big horse shoved his thick equine meat into his tight rear end and began banging him in earnest. Zeryx moaned out in delight at this new development.

Meanwhile, it wasn't long before Masten experienced orgasm, arching his back and bellowing out in pleasure as he came, shooting his thick load up inside of Riley, who jerked his cock one final time and shot his own load, formerly Jake the horse, now in liquid form, in a large geyser which splattered over Masten's chest and also on his face. The rhino sighed as he halted his thrusting and simply sat astride the elephant's lap as Masten lay there panting and covered in sweat and cum. Masten's trunk slid off of Riley entirely and flumped limply to the side, and that was when Riley knew he had him. Getting off of Masten, Riley reached down and offered him his hand. Masten hesitated and then took it. Riley made as if to help him stand, but his other hand grabbed at the back of Masten's neck and he lowered his head, opening his mouth wide... and wider... and wider still!

The top of Masten's head slid into the rhino's hungry, drool-lined mouth, Masten grunting in annoyance and disapproval. However, he was so worn out from the thorough fucking Riley gave him that he barely even resisted as that impossibly massive maw descended over him, tight and stretchy. In seconds, the rhino had engulfed the elephant's entire head, trunk and all, heedless of the big, blunt tusks, and his lips sealed tightly around the thick neck. Even as Masten's big hands flew up and tried to pry the thick lips off his neck and free himself, Riley was settling back into a squatting position and getting comfortable for what was going to be quite a tough, but not impossible meal. He started to move his mouth down, pushing down using his muscular legs and great weight, and with painstaking slowness, like a great anaconda swallowing its huge prey, the rhino's tightly-stretched, mouth worked down the massive body of the elephant, who was still too tired to really struggle.

It took almost a full two minutes for Riley to consume his massive meal. When he was at Masten's waist, he used every single ounce of strength he had remaining to stand and rear his horned head back, tossing the elephant into the air, Masten's legs kicking weakly. Now Masten simply slowly slid down inside of him due to his great weight and the power of gravity. The great belly, filled with the still squirming forms of Dorian and Ramone, gave Riley the most difficulty, but he managed, which impressed Flare as he watched from inside the control room, still slipping it to the moaning Zeryx. The rhino's body ballooned outward massively, almost comically, with the huge size of the elephant, making Riley that much larger, and he sealed his lips behind the huge feet and his stretched mouth returned to normal, and he took that final gulp to send Masten completely down inside of himself, and then let out a huge, rolling, wet belch.

"Well that was pretty much expected," said Zeryx huskily as precum leaking from his ram-cock as Flare pounded him. He groaned and shot his load all over the control panel. "Aw, shit, not again!" he cried in mild annoyance. "That's the fifth fucking time this week!"

Flare chuckled and closed his eyes, gritting his teeth as he came, flooding Zeryx's tight ass with his thick horse-cum. He laid panting against the ram for a few moments. After recovering, he pulled himself free and stood back a bit, catching his breath. As Zeryx settled back into the chair once again, he adjusted his headset. On the viewscreens, Room B was totally empty except for discarded clothes. Room A also had discarded clothing but also one very, very full rhino.

"Well done, Mr. Crenshaw!" Zeryx said breathlessly, grinning. "It appears as though you've won our little contest!"

"Now what?" Riley inquired casually, then burped.

"Just wait there a moment and we'll get to you in a minute or two... we've, uh, kind of made a big mess of the monitoring station here."

Zeryx grumbled and started hunting for something to wipe all the cum off of the expensive scientific equipment with. Flare groaned a little and eased his still sensitive member back into his pants and zipped up. Adjusting himself a little, he then went over to the recording equipment to make sure everything that transpired in the two rooms had been successfully captured. After satisfying himself that it had, he took out the two DVDs onto which footage had been burned and turned to Zeryx.

"Okay, make sure these get to our guy at the lawyer's office so they can be entered into evidence. I'm sure this, along with all the other sessions we've got recorded, will be more than enough to persuade the judge that vore is harmless fun."

"Right-O," said Zeryx, and took the DVDs, putting them into two unmarked keepcases.

"I'll go and see to our winner," said Flare with a grin.

He left the control room. In Room A, Riley was sitting down, grinning happily as he massaged his massively bulging gut, which gurgled loudly. Masten was going to take quite some time to digest. The door opened, and Flare entered, holding something in his hand, a piece of paper which Riley took to be a check.

"Have fun?" the horse asked. "You look pretty stuffed."

"I am!" chuckled Riley. "You guys mind if I relax here for a bit before I go home?" he asked. "That big fella is gonna take a mighty long time to break down, and I kind of can't fit inside my car with this big of a gut."

Flare nodded. "Sure you can. We have residence areas for the employees which we sometimes let guests use. You can sleep off your meal there. No sense in you lying on the floor." He smiled.

"Right, and, uh, if I'm staying overnight, can I use your phone, as well? I'd like to call my maid and tell her I won't be home until tomorrow morning."

 

"Of course. Oh, and here is your reward for winning the contest." Flare offered the piece of paper to Riley. So, it was a check after all.

"Ah, no thanks," said Riley. "I'm pretty well off already. Don't need any extra money." He smirked. "But I will take a night out with you, if that's okay."

At first he expected Flare to be surprised but then the horse nodded and grinned, pocketing the check. "How does this Friday sound?" he asked softly.

"Perfect."

Rising with some difficulty, Riley thanked Flare and was given directions to where he could go and rest comfortably. As he left, he pondered what he and Flare would do on Friday. Dinner most likely. Yes, though, Riley, dinner sounded sublime. With Flare as the main course. He licked his lips.

[castle-dominion]

castle 7x7 Once Upon a Time in the West

the western episode liveblog

Lucky me I spent like 2.5 hours working on a supper that says it should take 35 mins bc I needed to make more for my uncle & I decided to take it slow instead of speeding thru at kitchen pace & also my finger has a hole slashed on it & honestly supper is still cooking in some ways.

Anyway liveblog time

All this medical jargon. At least we get the witnesses name right away.

Diamondback? *Immediately has a seizure*

Why clink glass when everyone is already there?

Brevity is the soul of wit (clipping) We got married! Their faces so good. The slow fall of javi's into a sneer/frown, lanie's fall into sad & slightly more open rather than just a smile, kevin's look between the two & blink JE: You guys suck. KR: What – why did you do that? LP: Hold – hold up. No, no, no, no, no.

they all just *turn* to look at martha Right drink ok

LP: Hold this (hold my beer) LP: I am your maid of honor. I haven’t had a carb in months, just in case I had to put that damn dress back on. KB: And you look great. LP: Save the flattery. Kate, you owe me dinner. I’m picking the restaurant and we’re ordering all the desserts. KB: (meekly) Okay. (I like how she's mad, says her piece, gets her apology dinner agreed to, & then forgives her & hugs her.)

*Lanie punches rick just a little bit* Guys! *dark strings that go just a little lower in anger* (clipping)

WE didn't get that call. Once again, not invited. & hey when I was a kid I made a skit on the Nativity of Christ by myself & when Mary & Joseph got married I didn't think of "I do" as the marriage, I didn't think of rings, I didn't think of vows, I thought of dancing. My stuffed animal that was Joseph & I (playing Mary) spun in circles together while I sang. To me, a wedding is about dancing. What I mean by this is: the reception is more important than actually getting married so don't worry u didn't miss a thing

RC: Could have been worse KB: It still might be. I mean, who knows what they’re doing to our place right now.

RC: Our place. Our. We’re married. We’re married. (he grabs her arm and links it with his) We did it, Mrs. Castle. KB: We certainly did, Mr. Beckett. RC: WAIT UNLESS THAT ADDS ANOTHER NAME TO HIS NAMES. Richard Alexander Edgar Rodgers Castle Beckett.

Why an island getaway if he's afraid of the ocean?

She looks good btw, nice hair. HOLY CRAP THAT HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE WEARING A JACKET OVER HER SCRUBS, i THOUGHT WAS A DOCTOR COVERED IN BLOOD & SHE WAS JUST CHATTING CASUALLY OUTSIDE AN OPERATING ROOM.

aT LEAST HE'S TRYING TO BE POSITIVE ABOUT MURDERS NOT MAI TAIS. whoops i didnt' realize caps lock was on. Also it is hard to type when I have a possible tendon injury in my finger

KB: And she believed she was a victim of foul play? Yay murder victim helping ppl know that they ARE a murder victim before they die! Dr: Yes, and so do I. Heart medicine? cardiac arrest? wait WHY is it lethal when unrefined? It is the same drug, just has other stuff near it like... fibre & calories & water from the plant... Unless the drug is actually altered on a chemical level... idrk. But yeah foxglove is medicinal & toxic. Why would the doctor want the detectives to do that? idk. Doesn't matter. All good.

Dagmar. (love-- I forget what I was writing, it's been a week or several. Oh wait maybe I was saying that I love people who sponsor disadvantaged children.)

Her mom only passed this recently? Oh & ew internship.

utter, whittle, such good diction *looks at him* Castle would be really smart abt this tho, he would give two smart answers, & then he'd say "third while you thought I was playing on my phone I found out it was a ranch in arizona"

but what's a "dude" ranch? XD esposito & castle XD they're still mad legit just tosses them his wallet XD

Sus (short, last minute, only 3 days) Beckett just does the time zone math in her head!? & according to sito the snake key is her bunkhouse key... "cowboy activities" so gay sex /j but also lol define cowboy activities, shovelling poop & breaking down your cattle into quarters for sale? she left her stuff OR she didn't bring it back with her bc she was in such a hurry

lol big boy & it hits him in the forehead

Video calls, ah yes. It's about the economy of the town, keeping people employed. Or yeah no it's personal. Love the set design too btw

Gates is pretty Sito shup. GATES OMG "I’m sure it was Mr. Castle’s fault." GATES OMG

RC: Well, look at this place. I mean, it’s got beautiful skies, wide open spaces, the thrill of the old west? (she’s still confused) What better place for an impromptu honeymoon? (her jaw drops) For the investigation, of course. We could jump on a plane and be there in a few hours. *right in front of gates* KB: No, Castle. We are not having a honeymoon at a dude ranch! ("a" honeymoon) Arguing so good RC: Well – it could be our cover story. We’re a newlywed couple with a hankering for the wild frontier, right? And look, Beckett. I know you want to see justice brought to this young woman’s killer. And … this … this is the only way. VG: I hate to say this, but your husband may be right. KB: *turns to look at her bc 1- why r u defending him, & 2- why are YOU defending HIM?* rysposito shared communication (Yeehaw) fricking love it. So excited for this ep.

(btw, I must have started this liveblog on the 27th; it is now oct 10, so you can see how busy my life is) clipping the fun intro but that horse whinney is the typical stock audio

Wow pretty people

Castle already looks kinda normal.

RC: Best honeymoon ever.

*Right out of the stagecoach KB steps into a pile of horse poop. She cringes.*

Love his outfit!!

James Grady. That's like James Jim Brady who disappeared mysteriously with Absolom Abbie Halkett. Love the language they use 'round here btw. Red bandannas is a good marker for the hands I think.

Aww upgraded them! Oh wait she was emailing about the fact that she was in room 14, the snake key wasn't relevant

JG: That’s my missus. Like yours, she runs the show here.

Castle speaking reminds me of firefly.

She's soo pretty

RC: Whoa. This is like, three fantasies coming true all at one. Only thing missing is … Gentlemen James, where do we get the replica guns? (he gestures shooting) Like yours. JG: Replica? Son, this is Arizona. It’s open carry.

Colt 45 babes

RC: (awed) I want to be him when I grow up. KB: (shrugs) Well yeah, if you grow up. JG: It’s all about practice, which you can do with one of our firearms, available for purchase at our gift shop. They just sell guns at gift shops in arizona? what!?!?

you mean ESPOSITO was wrong abt it being her bunk key.

RC: Are you looking for disinfectant? KB: Clues. Remember? Whitney was staying here. except she was NOT... this was not her room key.

whether we like it or not (big bro said aww)

He opens a door that turns out to be to the bathroom. But the bathroom isn’t empty. Tobias: Howdy, partner. RC shuts the door and turns back to KB. RC: I don’t know if it comes with the room, but there’s a naked cowboy shaving in our bathroom. This scene killed me. Just closes the door back on him. Tobias: Well, I guess when they found out that me and her both enjoyed chasing cowboys they figured what the heck. VERY authentic Tobias: I like my coffee like I like my men: strong, black, and bitter.

Tea (scandalbroth) (big bro loves this, he says "I love this faggot")

Of course they have a gay gossip at the cowboy honeymoon retreat. KB: So we procrastinate and make stuff up?

Well because you're more physically capable of hogtying beckett, you're the angry cop with training, he's the physically big writer who fences. But he gave you gunslinging!

they're allowed their phones?

Looove the outfits btw but I'm not taking a pic rn I have no time & don't have em standing beside each other.

KB: Hey Ryan, how’s it going? KR: Oh, wonderful. In fact, we were just discussing your nuptials. JE: Not the actual event, since neither of us were there. KB: Guys, is this really why you’re calling? KR: Partly, yes. JE: And we have news. Here’s the good: MTA cameras show that Whitney’s bags were left on the subway. KR: Here’s the bad news: they were stolen by a homeless man. But we put out a BOLO. Hopefully somebody will recognize him.

Wax covered cardboard? I thought that was like a broccoli case

She can tie up castle like how the bear tying class unus annus did tied up mark

Look at her nice & red dress

RC: I’ll take a coffin varnish. Bartender (who looks kinda cool ig): Some what? RC: You know, a gut warmer. Face burner. Nose paint? Cowboy cocktail? (the BARTENDER looks at him blankly) What do you all call whiskey here? Bartender: Whiskey RC: *flails his hand*

my man has an eyepatch wait XD keep an eye out! Castle!

Ollie: This isn’t a ring. It’s a noose.

Oh the bells are the signal for the ace up the sleeve thing & time for the gunfight.

Whitney did! *doesn't talk to whitney bc she dead* Ollie! Up high! Good on Castle for faking it with Ollie & Ollie for playing along so they can have their fight in private. Great dynamic. But the interruption made them both chill out a bit more.

Ranch key! *lock breaks*

Nice blowtorch but where the heck is it?

Dynamite IS covered in waxed paper but I thought of broccoli lol

Oh no we are going to receive some good old fashioned racism. My fnmi ass sitting over here waiting tensely 1876 babey!

CLIPPING RYAN ESPOSITO XD XD castle could have totally greased a palm for a truck.

15 miles on horseback? 4mph, that's 3 & a half hours or so bought himself a gun lol. I mean hey I'm anti gun but I love a sixshot. wait his& hers wedding gift guns? lmao that's great! But how will they get them back home?

love the fire there. If they're at a canter the entire way they could get there in 1h but thet ain't happening.

Yavapai dude: Seriously? You’re rolling up to the reservation dressed like extras from a Gene Autry movie? That’s some real cultural insensitivity. KB: Sorry. Sir, we didn’t mean any offense. We’re – we’re vacationing at Diamondback. YD: Yeah, I figured that. I was just messing with you folks. Relax.

Loooove languages. I watch murdoch mysteries & a lot of the languages are algonquian which means that since I know a bit of cree I can sometimes parse what they mean but these are words farther south. I don't know em.

KB: Yeah. I mean, the historical society, the Yavapai word, the dynamite. How does all of that add up to someone poisoning Whitney? It just doesn’t make sense.

He DID learn smth at the harmonica class!!! Cruising down the river? Let me call you sweetheart I'm in love with you? Magical, drinking champagne out of tin cups. Which one of them knew how to start a fire. *stripping* *there's a snake* *beckett fucking shoots it!?!?* *ryan & esposito run*

ryan & esposito look good now but esposito was different yesterday

the peacock boys?

first name Javi Castle stuttering

right, always the barkeep even if there was no mistranslation it would still happen just from english to english

the dam!

RC: Of course I want to go after the gold! It’s gold! he's done treasure hunts with her before uwu

Slim's a girl! Clyde is whitney's father!

Mm music! fake eagle (red tailed hawk) sound effect them thar hills

He told her to go first but he's first in... RC: Because it’s still here. For over a century, fifty ingots of pure gold have been trapped in this cold, dark tomb, waiting patiently to be rescued. (he kneels by the trunk) You hear that, Beckett? You hear them calling?

That's not gold!

That's blunt force trauma!

Pd? phillip dagmar? I thought it was Police Department typical cops "it DOES make u look guilty"

Bro said "it's them" bc the sheffir didn't want beckett to investigate in the first place but now daisy mae & the sherrif are taking beckett one way & james grady is taking castle alone the other way...

& I suddenly remember the rest of the episode, big bro is not far off.

Clyde "just fell" (& you cradled him as he died which is why YOUR shirt was bloody) Who was your other partner? Cut to: big bro's prediction

The slight pushzoom there...

*got his gun* it would be fun if the barkeep just shoots him (-big bro) But his gun ould have the safety on, but possibly a bullet in the chamber.

oh the barkeep IS there! *just ducks down a bit*

"residance in the bone ortchard" or castle you COULD sit down & have another drink & pretend you didn't hear the call from ryan & let jimmy get away (& then go after him later)

of cour'se it's a deus ex machina

RC: good thing I married the fastest gun from the east

Ooh beckett's corset tho it's a bit tight but still nice.

they like to bitch ig but it is not even GOOD bitching sometimes. kind of annoying. & "we're the reason they fell in love in the first place" where's your justification there? When you were complaining TO THEM it was FUN! now it is not in the fun way it's just bitchy & salty.

JE: Nah, nah. You know what really gets me? Is that they only invited immediate family. What, we’re not family? KR: More like poor relations. VG hangs back and listens to them talk. KR: And we’re probably the reason they fell in love in the first place. JE: Right? VG: You know, I’ve been listening to your bellyaching for the last few days. And I have to ask, *calm voice* VG, still calm voice: what the hell’s wrong with you two? (the way she says it is so good but she's also right) JE: Come on, sir. It doesn’t bother you? VG: You really want to know what I think, Detectives? *Ryan goes to say something. Maybe. He moves his mouth.* VG: I think that the two of you should stop whining like two little schoolgirls who weren’t invited to the dance and be happy that your friends, you very dear friends, have found a way to make it work. Especially after all the hell those two have been through. Now, that’s what I think. She gives them a pointed look. They’re chastised. KR: Well, when you put it that way … JE: Yeah, I mean, I guess in some opinions we have been kind of jerks about it, so … KR: Right. VG: Yeah. You have. But, if you’re interested there might be something you can do to make it up to them. She smiles. They’re skeptical. *Looks to esposito for a sec*

"you didn't invite us to your wedding" "Yeah well I named horses after you"

she lassooed him with her hog tying skills!

supposed to be a wedding dress; is a stripper dress *walking to her tied up* two vacation days is not a lot but four is a lot.

They get two honeymoons!

Well now, that was fun! & I did spend a bit over an hour & a half... esp when you consider I already watched some earlier but shush I had fun & this is a rare occurrance these days with how demanding school has been. Man trade school is a lot of work.