#he has his badge back for two minutes and he's getting invited to give lectures at legal academies

[starry-nightengale]

Some hard-to-swallow pills:

Before being disbarred, Phoenix Wright was only a practicing lawyer for as long as it takes to GET a law degree (3 years).

He was a broke piano player for twice as long as he was a lawyer (7 years), before getting his badge back.

His entire legal career was less than half the length of Winston Payne’s winning streak (again, stated to be 7 years before Mia came along and schooled his ass).

[chicgeekgirl89]

Teamsgiving 2019: A Squid and the Dagger Story

Fandom: NCIS LA

Characters: Full Team plus a few guests

                                 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Ma!! Mama!!” Deeks bellowed from the bar dining room.

“Martin, how many times do I have to tell you not to yell for your mother?” Roberta stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. “If you need me, come find me.”

Deeks was not in the mood for a lecture. “What the hell is this?” He gestured at the long dining table running through the middle of the room.

“It’s a table Martin. A table that I helped you set this morning.”

“No, I mean this!” He thrust a butter dish at her with a frown on his face.

“Oh that. I ran out of butter for the potatoes so I used a little.”

“A little?! Mama, you beheaded him!” Sure enough, the tiny, turkey-shaped butter was headless. 

“Well he’s just going to get eaten anyway. What’s the big deal if he lost his noggin a little early?”

“I can’t serve headless turkeys to our guests!”

“Well I hate to break this to you dear, but the turkey currently in the oven is also headless. I’m sure no one will mind.” She patted his cheek and turned to go. “And if you’d like me to finish cooking said turkey, I’d suggest you refrain from any more criticism!”

Both his mother and Kensi had encouraged him to give up the idea of hosting a “teamsgiving” at the bar, citing that the kitchen was too small to cook for the number of people invited. He’d plowed ahead anyway, stating that he had a second kitchen upstairs. It didn’t matter that Callen lived in the same room as that kitchen. He was sure their team leader wouldn’t mind.

As it turned out Callen did mind, but after a lot of smooth talking and several promises for updates to other things in the apartment, he’d given in. Deeks had left him babysitting the stuffing and gravy while he’d gone downstairs to check on his mother, the butter-turkey murderer. Deeks glared down at the offending bird and then set it down on the table in disgust. His first problem had been allowing anybody else to help with this dinner. Clearly no one knew what they were doing.

His second problem was that Kensi wasn’t there yet with the pies. He checked his watch and then pulled out his phone to text her just as she walked in the door. “Babe, where have you been? I thought you’d be here like an hour ago,” Deeks said as she set several boxes on the side table.

“Sorry,” she gave him a peck on the cheek. “The pies took longer to bake than I thought.”

The word “bake” sent a trickle of fear down Deeks’ spine. “Bake? What do you mean bake? I thought you were picking the pies up at the store.”

“Well I was going to,” she told him. “But then I thought, how hard could a pie be? It’s just a crust with stuff in it.”

“Oh no. No, no, no.” Deeks put his hands on her cheeks, squishing them together. “Kensi. Kensalina. My darling wife. Tell me, tell me, that you did not bake these pies on your own.”

She swatted him away and glared in annoyance. “Yes, Deeks, I baked the pies. And you’re welcome.”

“But Kens, you can’t bake,” Deeks said weakly. “Remember the Christmas cookie incident of 2018? And the brownie debacle of 2017? I can still smell the smoke when I open the cabinet over the stove.”

Kensi huffed. “I just wanted to give it a try. See? Look. They’re fine.”

They did look okay, all three of them lined up inside the boxes she’d brought in. Deeks swallowed his panic and tried to move on. “Okay. Okay fine. It’s fine. We have lots of ice cream anyway. That will cover up whatever these taste like.”

Kensi’s glare turned even stonier. “You know, for someone hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, you’re not being very thankful.”

“I just want things to be perfect!” Deeks said. 

“Yeah, well, maybe you should think about the true meaning of the holiday.” She headed for the stairs.

“Where are you going? You said you’d help me get the drinks ready!”

“I’m going to see if Callen needs any help!”

She opened the upstairs door without knocking and slammed it shut behind her.

Deeks was left to make his Thanksgiving cocktails on his own. He’d just barely finished with the last glass when the door to the bar opened and Nell and Eric came in. “Hey! Welcome!” Deeks rushed over and took the casserole dish from Nell. “Welcome to Teamsgiving!”

“We’re glad to be here,” Nell said. “That’s sweet potato casserole. It should go in the oven until we’re ready to eat.”

“I’ll take that.” Roberta appeared and whisked the dish away into the kitchen. “I’ll just see what I can move around in here to get it in!” she yelled pointedly at her son as she walked past.

“Can we help with anything?” Eric asked as Deeks handed them each a drink. “I’m an excellent dishwasher.”

“No, just come on in, relax, enjoy yourselves. Sam should be by any minute and Callen’s just upstairs—“

The door opened again and Sam came in, but he wasn’t alone. “What’s up Deeks?” he said with a grin. “I hope you don’t mind, I brought a friend.”

“Katherine. What a surprise,” Deeks said, his mind mentally calculating exactly how many dinner rolls that left per person. “Come in. The more the merrier!”

He pressed drinks into their hands as Callen and Kensi came downstairs bearing the gravy and stuffing. “Well hello Katherine,” Callen said with a gigantic smirk on his face. “Good to see you. Did we know you were coming?”

“Well I never say no to pie,” she told him.

“You might say it this time,” Deeks muttered, glancing at Kensi to make sure she hadn’t heard.

The door opened a third time and Hetty strolled in, her eyes taking a critical look around the room. “Well, this is quite the establishment Mr. Deeks,” she said. “I’m so glad I had the opportunity to come and see it for myself.”

“Hetty! What can I get you?” Deeks asked. “Whiskey?”

“I prefer scotch please. Neat.”

“Coming right up.”

“Turkey’s done!” Roberta shouted from the kitchen. A few seconds later she appeared, bearing a gigantic tray “Everybody get settled down while it’s hot.”

As they scraped their chairs back to get seated there was a knock on the door. Deeks looked around the room counting people and then at Kensi who shrugged. “We’re all here, right?” Callen said, as the knock sounded again.

“Oh that’s for me.” Roberta fluffed her hair, and straightened her dress. “I invited a guest.”

“A guest? Mama, you didn’t tell me about this, we’re not going to have enough rolls!” Deeks hissed as she walked by him and opened the door. “Well hello AK!” she crooned. “Come inside.”

“I have brought best vodka for team Thanksgiving celebration,” an extremely familiar voice boomed.

Every eye at the table widened. “No,” Deeks whispered. “Oh god no.”

“Hello friends!” Arkady Kolcheck himself stepped through the door, a broad smile on his face, the bottle of aforementioned vodka held high. “I am come to celebrate this beautiful American holiday with you!”

Callen turned a pointed look at Deeks. “Did you know about this?”

Deeks shook his head. He could feel tension creeping into his shoulders. “I did not. But I think I’ll turn in my badge because I definitely should have anticipated it.”

“Sit right here by me AK,” Roberta said, ushering him to a chair.

“Oh no.” He pulled out her chair with a dramatic flair. “It is always the ladies first my Robbie.”

Kensi wrinkled her nose. “Did you know your mom and Arkady had nicknames for each other?”

“No, I did not and I wish I still did not,” Deeks said, pouring himself a very large glass of wine.

“But I see one friend I do not know,” Arkady said once he was settled. “Hello lovely lady. I am Arkady Kolcheck, best friend of G Callen—“

“No.” Callen shook his head.

“—And good friend to rest of NCIS team,” Arkady said. “And you are?”

“I’m Katherine,” she said. “A friend of Sam’s.”

Arkady’s eyes immediately began to sparkle. “Oh, a special lady friend. If you have any questions about my good friend Sam Hanna, I am happy to answer them. We have known each other many, many years now.”

“I don’t want to sit across from him all night,” Sam said immediately.

“Well I’m not sitting across from him,” Callen said.

“That’s enough from the two of you,” Hetty said from the head of the table. “We are all here to have a good time together. Mr. Deeks I think a toast is in order.”

The senior agents settled back into their seats with a grumble. Deeks saw Eric and Nell exchange amused looks before both taking large sips from their glasses. “Ah, well thank you Hetty,” Deeks said. “And thank you everyone for coming. It’s uh, it’s truly a gift to have you all here.”

He glanced down at Kensi. She took his hand and squeezed it, all pie comments forgiven. He looked around the table, taking in every face he saw. The faces of his friends. The faces of his family, such as they were. Ten years ago he never would have imagined something like this. And today, he had it all. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to share a table and a life with. I know I don’t just speak for myself when I say, everyone in this room has earned their spot here, one way or another. And I’m grateful for every, single one of you.” He cleared his throat. “So let’s eat.”

It turned out having two extra people around didn’t damage the mood of the evening after all. The drinks flowed freely and so did the conversation. Katherine was actually a lot of fun and Eric and Nell were completely on board with Arkady dragging out the karaoke machine and breaking into “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” halfway through dinner.

“Okay, here you go,” Kensi said, serving up pie as the evening grew late. 

“This looks great Kensi,” Callen said.

“I can smell all the cinnamon and spices,” Eric said, taking a bite.

His face changed immediately and he began to chew very slowly. Callen also took a forkful, his eyes widening in obvious discomfort.

Kensi was oblivious to the sudden mood change around the table as one after another, everyone took a bite of pie. That was, until Arkady tucked into his piece. He choked and spat it into a napkin.

Kensi’s jaw dropped. “Seriously Arkady?”

“I’m sorry Kensi, but that is horseshit,” Arkady told her bluntly.

“Well it might not be top of the line but it can’t be that bad.” She plopped herself down next to Deeks and took a big forkful. Her eyebrows shot up and she looked at her husband. “I must have mixed up the salt and the sugar,” she said guiltily.

He shook his head. Only Kensi. “Sorry?” she said, not looking particularly apologetic at all.

He kissed the top of her head. “It’s all right.”

“No it’s not. I want dessert,” Callen said.

“There’s ice cream in the freezer. Help yourself,” Deeks said.

“I’ll get it!” Eric shot out of his chair. “I spent many days in my youth working at a Coldstone Creamery.”

“I don’t know what the hell any of that means, but I’ll have vanilla,” Sam said.

“Vanilla?” Katherine asked skeptically. “You’re asking for the most boring flavor?”

“I will take a hot cup of tea instead Mr. Beale,” Hetty requested.

“I’ll help.” Nell got up and started clearing plates as Roberta did the same.

Deeks settled back into his chair, Kensi rested her head on his shoulder and he put an arm around her. It might not have been a perfect Teamsgiving, but it turned out it was exactly the one he’d always wanted.

[hellomynudebrain]

The shift

Hello! 

This fanfic is to celebrate the  twins  Choi’s birthday. There will be two different stories to each twin, this one is a fluff stories ( I think) and the other would be a NSFW story with Saeyoung. like always the story turned a little longer than I expected ^^;

Thanx to @rossyele to help me clean my fanfic! You helped me a lot! :3

I hoped you enjoy it!

All by myself Don’t wanna be All by myself Anymore 

“ I hate this song!” That’s what I said when I turned off the radio. “Hey! Don’t turn it off! I love that song and is Celine Dion, ‘mam! Besides, there’s still a customer on the dinner!”

The cook yelled from the kitchen and he was right, is was Celine Dion and there was a lonely guy on the corner of the dinner. 

He was a redhead with a beige sweater and diamond pattern across his chest. 

He was just there looking at the cup of cold coffee in front of him. I took his order a few hoursago. He came with a couple, also a redhead and a brunette girl. I supposed that he was his twin and the girl his mate. They laughed pretty loud, the other twin only observed them with an annoyed face. They took their time to eat and drink. At the end the couple left first leaving behind the poor guy. But he was so quiet that I hardly noticed him. I approached him slowly and with my “customer smile” I stood next to him.

“Do you need anything else, dear?”

He lifted his head a little towards where I was and hesitated to answer, “...I’m sorry. It’s closing time, right?”

“Yes, that’s right! But tell me why do you look so sad?”

“...Sorry, I don’t know you and I’m leaving anyway.” He took the money out of his pocket and left it next to the cup of coffee.

“Well, I’m here if you want to talk with someone!” I yelled while he walked away. 

The next day I came early to my shift because my college is close to my work.

My shift was like always. Some customers being jerks, some of them want to touch my butt, bad tips and some offensive jokes about my work. But just an hour before closing time the same redhead came and entered the dinner and sat on the same spot. A coworker tried to take his order, but he asked specifically for me.

“Good evening. Welcome to Haneul Dinner. What can I get for you?” 

“...A cup of american coffee, please.”

He didn’t see me on the eye and took a long pause before he asked me something else, “...and chocomint ice cream...I like the one from here”

I giggled at his response, he looked annoyed with my reaction and made a pout which made me giggle again. 

“I’m sorry. That reaction was cute. I’ll bring your order right away.”

My remark only made him blush and I smirked.

I ended my shift like the day before with the stupid song from Celine Dion and the lonely guy on the corner of the dinner. It felt like a deja vú. I approached him like the night before, but this time the cup of coffee was empty and the ice cream was gone. 

“Do you need anything else, dear?”

“No...Well, yes...no..but yes!...Damn it.”

“ Are you ok?” I looked at him concerced.

“Yes, I’m good... I just want...Can I wait for your shift to end and accompany you home?” His words surprised me but he looked so needy and lonely somehow that I couldn’t refuse him. 

“Ok, I’ll clean my part and you can wait for me on the back of building.”

I cleaned really quick and with an excitement I forgot I had.

When I changed my uniform to my normal clothes and got out from my work the redhead guy was outside waiting for me. I walked until I faced him and looked at him closely. He was very thin, his eyes were a pretty mint green with huge under bags. He looked nervous but I decided to break the ice.

“So...What do you want?...Sorry, I accepted your invitation but I don’t know your name.”

“....Saeran”

“Saeran...that’s a pretty name! Well, Saeran, What do you want from me?” “Can we be friends, Caliope? ”

This guy has the ability to leave me astonished and the worst of it, he knew my name.

“I would like to be your friend, but can you call me Cali instead of Caliope, please?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you and act too familiar with you, but your name was written on your work badge.” 

All of a sudden he began to bow and started to tremble. I didn’t like his reaction, it was like he was afraid of what I said to him… or me?

“No, no, no! You don’t have to apologize! You didn’t know that I hate my name and prefer that people call me Cali. It’s not your fault.” 

“Really? You don’t hate me?”

“No, of course not! Besides, how can I be angry at my new friend?”

He smiled and both of us began to walk side by side. The air felt tense so I broke the ice once again.

“So...Why me? Why do you want to be my friend?”

“....Because… you didn’t treat my like a disease or pity me.”

“Well, to be honest I can’t do that. I’m a waitress and besides, you looked lonely.”

“I only look like myself...”

I didn’t want to offend him but a little giggle got out from my mouth which made him blush and pout a little bit. 

“...What is so funny?” He sounded a little mad.

  “Nothing, it’s just that I find you cute and funny!” 

After that the walk was awkward, but nice...yes...I felt awkwardly nice somehow. Before we knew it we were in front of my home.

“Well, we are already here! This is my home!”

“Sorry, It was a bad idea...” He spoke with a trace of sadness.

How in the world did he change his mood so fast?

“Why do you feel sorry?”

“It’s only that I...I’m bored and you were sighing all the way here.”

“I was because you may not know this but all the time your face changed so much that it was funny and I didn’t want to giggle and make you angry.”

This time my words were the ones that surprised him and made his face as red as his hair. I laughed until my tummy hurt. He  covered his face with a hand and began to talk. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow on the dinner... Bye.” And he walked away. 

“I found a cute funny fellow!” I said to myself.

The next few days he came to the dinner and ordered some ice cream and a cup of coffee andwaited for me after my shift was over. I rushed everyday to work only to take his order, clean and change my clothes to go as quickly as I could to his side.

Since that day our conversation turned to be more intimate. 

He’s living with his stupid twin bother, his words not mine, and his wife. He likes chocomint ice cream and flowers, too; even though he said it was a secret that he keep from his brother.

He asked me some personal questions, too. But,  definitely, my favorite moment with him was when it rained and we shared an umbrella. He was so red with the little touch of our shoulders,he was so shy that I smirked all the way. 

One day I was late to my shift so I ran as fast as I could. I didn’t want to miss a single minute to talk with Saeran. But when I arrived he was already there with a girl. 

This time he didn’t asked for me, a coworker took his order. 

I watched all afternoon as he talked freely and noticed expressions on him that I never saw before. I felt a little sting on my heart. 

Finally, when my shift was over and I got out my first thought was that he would be waiting for me, but he wasn’t.

The next days although, he was there, I didn’t take his order anymore and I left my work place by the front door, not the back. I was angry at him, but I didn’t know why.

The following days, he looked sad and went away before closing time. We ignored each other, until one day he never came back.

My lecture ended earlier but this time the excitement that I had before wasn’t there anymore,so I walked to work that day.I entered the dinner and I saw him again, sitting in another table. 

My heart began to race really fast, but again, Saeran was with that girl. Unfortunately, I had to attend the table next to them and seeing them together really hurt, but like a pro I had to deal with it.

I took my notebook and walked to the table.

 “Good afternoon. Welcome to Haneul Dinner. What can I get for you?”

“Hello, Caliope! I’d like to get your number~!

It wasn’t the first time that I had to deal with ’flirty customers’ so I didn’t notice the deathly gaze behind me.

I giggled and continued my job. 

“Sorry, sir, but my number is not on the menu. May I bring you something to drink?”

“Come on Cali, babe! You can give us your number and come party with us!”

“I’m really sorry, sir. I can’t date with my dear customers, because it’s against the politics of the restaurant”

It’s wasn’t true, but the owner told all the personal when something like this happens we can use this excuse to politely deny them.

“Huh?...A tough one...then two the of house’s specialty and two cokes, Caliope, babe!” “Alright! I’ll be right back with your orders”

I just ignored that last word, took the order and smiled at them but in that instant I felt a hand on my butt. One of those guys touched my butt and laughed like it was funny or some game. I should’ve slapped him but I couldn’t do it. Once inside the kitchen, I screamed. 

“That asshole! He touched my butt! This day is the worst! If I wouldn’t need this job, I would probably slap him”

At that moment, a really big noise broke my tantrum and the cook that loves Celine Dion screamed.

“Cali, the guy who always waits for you has made a ruckus outside!”

I rushed through the dinner and saw how Saeran was beating both guys.

“You touched her with you filthy hands! What gives you the right to even see her?”

“Calm down, we thought she was an easy girl, I mean, she’s a waitress!”

“How you dare?! Now, you’re going to know real hell!”

Saeran became a different person than when I saw him, he was like possessed. Even so I took courage and got between them.

“Saeran, stop it!”

“Those bastards have the nerve to touch you I can’t let them live.” Saeran, please.”

I hugged him he calmed down instantly and the other guys took the opportunity to run away.

I got him outside to talk, “...Saeran?...Are you okay?”

“No! They touched and looked at you with nasty intentions...How can I be okay?”

“Saeran, they molested me but I am used to this kind of behavior.”

“No!, You shouldn’t be used to it! That’s bad even I...”

“Even you what?”

“Nothing, I’ll just go away, you hate me anyway!”

“I don’t hate you, Saeran. In fact, I like you!”

In that moment I understood why I hated the idea of Saeran with another girl.

“Sure....If you like me, you shouldn’t stop talking to me and ignored me...so...bye”

I ran after him taking his hand. I panicked when I saw his gaze full of loneliness and anger so I kissed him on the lips. That moment froze for an instant.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have. You have a girlfriend waiting for you inside.”

His eyes opened surprised and I wasn’t the only one who panicked, he began to mumble.

“No! She is not my girlfriend, Cali! I used to be in love with her...but not now, besides she is my brother’s wife and...my brother is inside too....You can ask him if you want... She wanted to know who I was in love with so I brought her last time...she started to mess with me and...”

I got everything he said but seeing him so nervous was so cute. I giggled , he pouted like in the old times. This time was different because I gave him a little peck on the lips.

“Wait for me, my shift is almost over!”

He blushed and nodded.

The shift was over and he was there as thin as I remebered. I was so excited that I ran to kiss him. Little by little the kiss turned more passionate, my hand grabbed his hair to pull him on a deeper kiss...untill...

“Hey, love birds! Get a room!” 

His bother yelled at us from his car.  

[milominderbindered]

thirty days of skam fic: day nineteen aka, the sequel to the neighbours fic

beginning. accusation. restless. leaves. rainbow. flame. formal. under. move. silver. prepared. knowledge. denial. cans. order. thanks. look. summer. transformation. tremble. tent. mad. thousand. paper. winter. luxury. letters. promise. simple. future.

[ PART ONE ] [ READ ON AO3 ]

As soon as Even finds out he’s been keeping Isak awake every night for weeks, several things happen.  First, the late night noises stop almost immediately and completely, which must mean Even has either put carpet back down like he said he was going to, or just completely changed all his habits for Isak.  Second, this lets Isak actually get some sleep again, which his professors seem to appreciate since he stops falling asleep in lectures, and his friends seem to appreciate because they inform him that he’s at least forty percent less grumpy.

Third, Isak starts running into Even everywhere.

They bump into each other at the cafe Isak didn’t know Even worked at, the laundry room he’s never seen Even in before, the bench just down the street from their building, the tram back from University.  Eskild keeps inviting Even to movie nights at the kollektiv, and then in return Even keeps cooking them all dinner, and he also starts texting Isak about random little things during the day, which never fail to make Isak laugh and secretly blush to himself and then get teased by all his friends for the besotted way he’s looking down at his phone.

By the time a few more weeks have passed, Isak has to upgrade his feelings for Even from crush to full-on infatuation.

But between Eskild’s never-ending meddling and Linn’s eternal presence at the kollektiv and Even’s roommates, Mikael and Yousef and Elias, being around a lot too, it takes a while before Isak and Even get any more time alone.  It’s not like Isak’s angling for anything, but still, if the universe wanted to throw him some kind of situation where he could stare at Even all he wanted and not get caught in the act by his roommates, he wouldn’t complain.

And then, one day, Isak manages to lock himself out.

He doesn’t know how he’s done it -- he always remembers his keys, but his keyring broke in his bag at some point during his day at uni, and Isak’s ended up with the key to the outside of the building, but not the one which actually opens the kollektiv’s front door.  And Eskild’s at work and it’s the one day that Linn happens to be visiting her family, so he’s just stood there, feeling like an idiot with an armful of organic chemistry books, no coat, and a phone on 2% battery.  It’s drizzling outside so he doesn’t even want to go and walk somewhere else, but he supposes he’ll have to, and just take shelter at the nearest coffee shop or force Jonas to take pity on him.

Except, before he can actually turn around and leave, Isak suddenly spots Even coming up the stairs, and doesn’t even waste a second before calling out to him.

“Isak, hey!” Even responds immediately.  He looks happy to see Isak -- at least, Isak thinks so, although Even’s always pretty cheerful so he could be imagining it.  He bounds up the rest of the stairs and then stands a little bit closer than he has to, a little bit closer than you’d probably lean to a casual friend -- but then, Isak could be imagining that too.  “Shit, locked out?  Don’t worry, I do that like, at least once a week.  Wanna come and chill at mine until Eskild can rescue you?”

And that’s how Isak ends up in Even’s flat for the very first time.

It really is laid out the same as the kollektiv, but decorated so differently that it’s almost hard to tell.  It’s weird, like seeing Isak’s own flat in an alternate universe; he’d be quite happy to just wander around and inspect the way they’ve nudged an armchair into an alcove that Eskild has a bookcase in, or the way their kitchen is flipped so the fridge is by the window, but as soon as they’ve toed their shoes off at the door, Even is leading the way towards his bedroom.

Okay, Isak thinks.  He can work with that.

As he takes his first steps into Even’s bedroom, Isak feels a bit like he’s walking into some kind of sacred site.  He’d spent most of the last month imagining endless scenarios for what was in the room above his that caused so much noise -- but when it comes down to it, Even’s room is pretty normal.  He has a big bed that’s unmade and messy and pushed against the wall.  A couple of guitars, which Isak is sure he must have heard being played at 3am a few times.  There isn’t a trampoline, or any evidence of drilling equipment, so he’s still not quite sure what Even could have been doing all those nights to cause so much noise.

The next thing he spots is the wall, which is papered in drawings and doodles and interesting little cut-outs.  Even had said he was an artist, but Isak hadn’t really considered what kind of art he did; he wanders closer, reading a few of the hand drawn little comics, and finds they’re quirky and surprisingly funny.

“These are really good,” he observes, glancing over his shoulder at Even and smiling a bit.  Even is watching Isak, like he’s observing the response to the room, and he smiles a little lopsidedly.

“Really?  Ah, thanks.  They’re not my main thing, I actually make movies too, and paint, but -- yeah, sometimes nothing will shut my brain up except doodling.”

Isak understands that.  He’s no sort of artist, but he definitely has a bit of a messy brain that he can’t always find the volume switch in.

“Well, I like them.”  He smiles a bit too softly at Even, and Even smiles back, a wide grin that makes his eyes crinkle up and his whole face turn adorable.

Isak’s heart thuds in his chest.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Even asks.

-----

They’ve sat side-by-side through plenty of movies at the kollektiv by now, but being alone together, sat on Even’s bed and so close their shoulders are touching, is something else entirely.  

Isak barely takes in two seconds of the movie; the whole of his brain is consumed by how good Even smells, and how warm he is where they’re pressed together, and how his deep laugh rumbles through his chest every time Isak misses a joke on screen.  

When the movie ends, Even looks over at Isak, and asks, “Did you like it?”

Turned like this, their faces are so, so close.

“Yeah,” Isak says.  It’s barely a lie; he loved the entire experience of watching this movie, despite the fact that he doesn’t even remembered what it’s called.  “It was great.  Thanks.”

-----

After that, Even starts texting him more, and it seems like they’re bumping into each other ever more often, and Isak can barely handle it.  Every time they’re all in the same room, Eskild has started giving Isak meaningful looks, and Isak just glares back at him.  The thing is, it sometimes seems like maybe, just maybe, Isak’s crush isn’t totally unreciprocated -- but Isak has a bad track record with mistaking friendly straight guys as interested in him, and he’s never heard Even talk about sexuality, ever, except the once he’d mentioned having an ex-girlfriend.

One day, when Isak is doing dishes in the kitchen and Eskild is sewing up a hole in a pair of leggings at the table behind him, Isak decides he’s going to just casually ask, and clears his throat.

“Uh, Eskild?” he says, not looking up from the mouldy pan of pasta he’s scrubbing out.  “Has -- um.  Has Even ever, I dunno, mentioned to you about -- talked to you about his sexuality?”

There’s a moment of absolutely blank silence, and then all of a sudden a squeal and a pair of arms throwing themselves around Isak’s shoulders from behind.  He immediately tenses up, washing up water sloshing everywhere as Eskild jostles him, but it’s too late to take it back now.

“Aww, baby!  I knew you were crushing, I just knew it!  I have such a good guru sixth sense about these things, don’t I?”  Not really -- Isak’s probably just extremely obvious.  He knows that.  “And he hasn’t talked to me about it, but I’ve noticed the little pansexual flag badge on that sexy denim jacket he always wears, haven’t you?”

Clearly Isak hadn’t, but that information is interesting at the very least.  He shrugs Eskild off, trying to seem annoyed, and grumbles something about just being curious before dropping the subject entirely.

But next time they see each other on the stairs, and Even stands just a little closer than most people would and brushes his fingers over Isak’s arm, Isak does take note of the badge on Even’s jacket.  

-----

One day, when Isak has a pretty big exam coming up, he puts his phone on do not disturb mode while he studies.  When he takes a break after an hour, for a bag of Doritos and a quick check of his notifications, there is a solid wall of texts on his phone, all from the same number.  His face twitches into a hopeless little smile as he clicks on them, seeing the dumb meme Even had sent him to begin with, and then a series of increasingly pointless but cute messages about what he’s having for dinner and the fact that Isak is taking too long to text back.

[ 19:02 -- From: Even 4B ]

should i start blasting music through the floorboards when you ignore me? haha

Isak figures studying can wait a little bit longer.

[ 19:13 -- To: Even 4B ]

didn’t realise you were that desperate for my attention, sorry ;P

He has started being just a little, tiny bit flirtier in texts lately.  So far, Even hasn’t said anything about it, so Isak’s gonna just keep sending those winky emojis and hoping he’s being obvious enough.

[ 19:13 -- From: Even 4B ]

Isak, you’ve known me for several months now, surely you should realise i am ALWAYS desperate for your attention!

Even’s reply is almost immediate; he really must have been waiting for Isak to text back.  Isak bites his lip as he reads the message, and then reads it again for good measure, feeling his heart beating a little too quick.  His fingers hover over his phone, starting to type out a response but then deciding it sounds lame and backspacing, beginning again -- but after a minute, he must have been taking too long to reply, because all of a sudden an obnoxious pop song starts blasting from the room above his.

Isak actually laughs, flopping back onto his bed and looking up at the ceiling, as if the blank white plaster represents Even himself.

[ 19: 15 -- To: Even 4B ]

omg, GEEZ, okay you have my attention, just stop the gabrielle! wanna hang out?

Studying can wait.  You only live once, Isak decides, and it’s not every day that a cute boy is trying so hard to get you to give him the time of day.

-----

The music turns off, and Even appears at the door three minutes later, beaming rather triumphantly.  Isak rolls his eyes, but leads the way to his room anyway -- he wants Even all to himself, so speed is of the essence, before Eskild realises they have a visitor and hijacks Even for the rest of the night.

Even has been in Isak’s room a couple of times, but never really hung out in there before.  Isak suddenly feels a bit regretful of how messy it is, and does a quick sweep with his eyes to check he hasn’t left any mouldy plates or dirty underwear out in the open -- luckily not, it’s just crumpled clothes and a whole lot of uni notes strewn all over the floor.

“Uh, so,” he says, suddenly feeling awkward.  They’re just stood there, and Even is standing close, like he always does, and it’s making it way too hard for Isak to think.  “What do you wanna do?  We could play FIFA, or watch a movie or something, or, uh, I guess we could order food, but we’ll have to sneak it past Eskild.” Even looks amused, a little pressed-lips smile on his face as he stares down at Isak.

“That all sounds chill,” he says, shrugging.  Why is he so much smoother than Isak?  How is that fair?  “But why don’t we just sit and talk for a bit?”

Isak’s heart thunders in his chest, but he nods, and a few minutes later they’re sat on his bed together, Even’s long legs crossed over the crumpled edge of Isak’s duvet, close enough that their knees touch.  Even’s telling a long story about one of his film classes, and Isak is half listening, half watching and thinking how much he likes the way Even talks with his hands, all big gestures like he’s trying to draw the words into life.  

And then the story ends, and the room is just quiet.  Even looks at him, almost evaluating, his eyes all soft.  One of his expressive hands drifts between them, and his fingertips rest oh-so lightly on Isak’s knee.

“You look nice today, by the way,” Even says, smiling so softly that his nose scrunches up.  

Isak thinks fuck it, leans into the tiny space between their bodies, catches Even’s face between his hands, and kisses him.

Even’s lips are like nothing else he’s ever felt, and Isak can’t help but gasp against him when Even immediately starts kissing him back.  The hand on Isak’s knee slides all the way up his leg and holds onto his hip instead, and Isak leans in closer, and then closer still, until his arms are wound all the way around Even’s neck and their mouths are moving frantically against each other and he can pull until they both go tumbling back onto the mattress, legs uncrossing and winding together, their whole bodies intertwining.

It could be seconds or hours later, but Isak’s whole body is overwhelmed with heat and he eventually eventually gets dizzy enough to pull away for a brief moment, needing to catch his breath.  As soon as he does, Even nuzzles into his cheek, a deep little hum escaping him.

“So I guess I really did get your attention,” he says, his voice sounding all soft and pleased, and Isak can’t help but burst out laughing.

They stay in Isak’s bed for the whole rest of the night.  At some point, in-between orgasms and jokes and deep conversations, Isak is forced to recategorise Even once again.  This time, he goes straight from infatuation to boyfriend.

Isak thinks he might keep that one for a while.

[neth-dugan]

Nine Worlds 2017

This is a slightly lengthy report but meh. Tumblr has a ‘skip to next post’ function so what the heck.

I managed to get a pre-con cold rather than the traditional post-con one, which I’ve managed to give to @knittedace​ as well, oops. I did have hand gel on me and tissues to minimise the spread. If I gave anybody else my cold I’m sorry!

I met up with @knittedace​ on the Thursday. We were meant to go to the Natural History Museum but I’d been off work sick the previous day and just couldn’t do it. No energy. Instead we met up at the hotel itself and as soon as we could get into the room we unpacked and I took a nice and much needed nap.

We went to the ‘Cheese and Cheese’ evening event, one of two events to welcome people to the convention. There was cheese of both the literal and literary variety to be enjoyed. I read out a riveting and very cheesy Power Rangers VHS tape description, but the best was a very cracky, rather explicit Doctor Who one that had the entire room in hysterics. I was laughing so much I was coughing up a lung.

FRIDAY

I was initiated into the Order of the Dalek! Learnt how to put on @knittedace​‘s knitted Dalek costume - something I got better at as the weekend went on. I also came across some great cosplays, and @knittedace​ got to pose with a Missy and Thirteenth Doctor. She’ll post the pic if she wants to. 

In the morning I decided to go for something different from what I usually go to. We’d met the woman running some of the kids panels and she invited us along. So I went. It was pretty cute, gave the parents some adults to be around too and just played some simple games. Don’t really get to do that ever. And then there was a fun story that was like some kind of Dinosaur version of Planet of the Apes but about environmental issues and written a few decades back.

Then I went to a crafty thing in which we all made hair bands! Met some great teens, two of whom had made their own cosplays. For one it was her fourteenth birthday and she ended up having to help me out because I’m rubbish at this stuff. We had some good talks fandom but also human orientations and labels and just being happy with who you are.  Oddly we all also ended up in the next thing which was basically free tea and cake with tables to chat at. 

I came across this same group of teens at this con, all through the weekend. They’re all smart and for all that they’re still growing up and maturing they’re great people already.

I was given the green tea left ofter after. Yay free tea!

Toxicity in Fandom was my next stop. Nothing particularly surprising but still a good talk that had someone who had once been a part of those hostile groups though they’ve grown up and are better now. It also touched on how the toxicity doesn’t just come from the traditional bigots and gamergate type folk, but also people from those who use the language of social justice to bully rather than for good. The folk who live up to all the bad things people throw at the ‘sjw’ name.

Nine at Nine Worlds: Nine Tropes which was about, well, tropes in fan fic. Nine of us presenting five minutes on our favourite trope. It had the return of Nina - Lady of the Puppets - and then I did mine on ‘Time Travel Fix It Fics’. Went well. People laughed. Someone the next day pulled me aside to have a chat about it. Apparently I accidentally made them read loads of fic with the trope. Oooops. There was also a dramatic 007/Q power point fic reading that I helped out with, to lots of laughter.

There was also a late night game of Slash, with my home made deck, with other members of that panel including Tanya who had lead it. Tanya, for those who don’t know, was co-head of the Fan Fiction track back when tracks were organised differently and there was a specific Fan Fiction track. She’s still a big part of the fan works type stuff and is pretty damn awesome. She’s been there to help me out when I needed it and is pretty brilliant. There were also others who just came and joined in and that’s the beauty of these things. But then it was time for bed.

SATURDAY

Before any panels started, me and @knittedace​ met up with the person who’d be our third in Sunday’s Redemption round table to have a real world chat over breakfast which was fun. I’ve no idea if he has a tumblr ID to tag him in however. I’d wanted to have someone who knew about anime on there because neither me or @knittedace​ know anything about it. I know about Yuri on Ice but not much else. And though it’s mostly a workshop it is a bit panel so yeah. We had a great talk. And food.

We found the infamous ‘TARDIS full of Bras’ cosplayer. For those who don’t know there was a comment on a British newspaper site that is our version of Fox saying that the new Doctor couldn’t be a woman because then the TARDIS would be full of bras. So some brilliant soul went and turned this into a cosplay and just…. love. Again the pic I have is of Helen too so it’s up to her to post it. But seriously, OMG LOVE.

Time Travel and Film was our first panel of the day. We both got there in time for the hall to be mostly empty. I had on my TNG uniform hoodie thing with my comms badge pin so we get this photo:

The talk itself was also fun. Presented by an actual university lecturer on Philosophy, and turns out she was also the woman on a panel I’d be running later in the day. I looked at her name on the power point, down at the names I had for the panel and up again and went ‘huh’. Seriously though, good lecture about time travel from the perspective of philosophy rather than physics and its different possible models.

I was talking to some folk and the lecturer after, @knittedace​ having already left when I got a text from her saying there was a Londo cosplayer outside. I sped out there as fast as I could to find this fantastic person:

I have no idea their name or anything other than they were determined to remain in character and had a wife who sounded a bit bemused and long suffering of it all. Kinda reminded me of my mom trying to deal with my dad actually.  He was really fun though. (ETA: I am told that he is @TheWarLlama on twitter) (ETA2: Apparently the woman wasn’t his wife. I just assumed because the dynamic going on reminded me of my mom lol. Oops. )

Queer Coding in Disney was my next stop. The person doing it did a good job. Made sure they explained what queer coding was in the first place for those who didn’t know and then went through Disney. Talked about films I didn’t know much about, and there was some talk about how some of this also intersected with other minorities and representation of various people.

After that I went upstairs for a nap. I was tired, still had that damnable cold, and wanted to be my best for my panel. I missed a panel slot with content but self care is important so up I went.

But then I was back! With my Hufflepuff scarf and wand! And still in my Starfleet uniform hoodie!

I think on the way into the panel hall someone said something like ‘hello Commander’ and I was a bit confused. Mostly because I didn’t have any pips so couldn’t be an officer but that’s a small thing and I think I smiled back?

In any case, next up was my panel. Which upon arriving at the convention I discovered was to be held in the largest room at the convention. Eeeep!

Dumbledore: Good or Evil? Went pretty well. At least one member of my panel was surprised it was ever even a debate, but she none the less stood up and argued for good. She was the above mentioned philosophy lecturer so debating is kind of her thing. She comes at it very much from a philosophical theory perspective though which I think caught out one or two people in the audience going from twitter. A person took a picture and stuck it on their twitter. You can find that here. I’m in the middle.

There was a lot of talk about how Dumbles does or doesn’t use his power for people, abandoning Harry, the things that go on in his school under his responsibility, and at one point he was compared to Boris Johnson. How he seems to be about consequences more than the actions themselves. Is it intent or your actions that make you good or evil? Does the era that the man grew up in excuse things? Does the fact that there was a war coming/going on excuse things or not?

There was a question at the end about him being a slave owner due to house elves. That…. I had red sirens screaming in my head there. Thankfully it was with hardly any time to go. It’s a very good question. Something worth looking at. But nobody on the panel had any real place speaking on it. The philosopher took it, but she took it from literally a philosophical perspective rather than a moral one which probably came off wrong to some. Because yeah, that wasn’t a moral stance. I didn’t really know what to do there other than internally panic a bit and try to move on as fast as I could with a ‘this could be a whole other panel and should be’ thing.

I was so worried about not being neutral that I didn’t step in to point things out or ask things when looking back I wish I had. There are things about that I’d have liked to improve but largely the response seemed to be good. I learnt from it. We had a vote at the end on of the audience thought Dumbledore was ‘good, ‘evil or bad leaning’ or ‘it’s complicated guys leave us alone’. The result was a mixed bag with lots of complicated so I guess that wins. People did come up to chat to us when we were still on stage after it ended to thank us for this or that. I’d warded off a comment from team Evil that was about cheating but could also have come across as anti-poly and so someone thanked me for that.

Druids, Deities and Daemons: Archeological Horrors in ‘Doctor Who’ was my next thing. It wasn’t particularly exciting but it was an interesting look at how the show portrays archeology from an Egyptologist who had a delightful manner of presentation. You can tell he’s upper middle or upper class but he isn’t snooty and he’s just really cheerful and into his thing. Which is always a joy to see. He wasn’t fond of Ten saying that as a time traveller he laughed at archaeologists. Fair.

Ageism in fanworks/fandom was a panel Tanya had asked me to be on last minute when playing Slash the night before. So I had no prep time and possibly a few people were confused as to why an extra person was sat up there. I was probably the youngest person on there, no worries. But interestingly also the only person who had actually grown up in fandom rather than finding it as an adult. It was interesting, throwing up different experiences with fandom and how it sees age, how it changes. But also how media sees us. How it expects women to age out of fandom but for male fans to be the sad lonely people in the basement forever. 

Space Opera! SF&F in Musicals was a unique panel, for me anyway. Held in the lower levels with half the room covered by bean bags. By this point I could barely walk. I don’t know why, something happened to my legs and I found it increasingly hard to walk through the day. @knittedace​ said I should grab a priority access sticker but I’d have felt like a fraud even as I slowly limped my way around the place so i didn’t. But I managed to get a chair anyway so yay!

The person presenting it was drunk. I thought they were just mellow. It had originally been designed as an academic thing but given when it was scheduled it became a kind of guided tour of musical SF/F complete with YouTube clips, sarcastic comments from the audience and much fun. Also singing along sometimes.  I lost the key to my room. It later turned out I’d left it there when I awoke from my nap but I couldn’t find @knittedace​ so I got reception to invalidate the old ones and issue new ones. With slightly disturbing ease come to think of it. And that was that.

SUNDAY

Marvel v DC Fanworks was the first panel of the morning. Chaired by a very very very tired Tanya who was having a hard time of it I think. It was a good conversation but you could tell she didn’t have the energy to chair it as she might want to. I was sat next to the birthday girl from Friday who is smart and knows her stuff and was very very excited. So excited she frequently interrupted and spoke over others. I don’t blame her. She was excited and we’ve all been there. I’ve been there. And ideally it is the chair’s job to gently deal with that but as I said, tired. In the end a person left the room when they got talked over once too often. I don’t blame either. It sucks to be talked over, especially for some people who find that really hard. And though I’m sad she left I understand it.

But I’ve been a very excited teenager, in fandom at that, before. It’s also hard to pull that in when you don’t have the experience and you’re having so much fun and you have so so so many things you want to say and nobody is telling you no. I’ve been her as I said. The things she wanted to say were all good things. Just a convergence of multiple things that didn’t mix well is all. I think she noticed too as she got a sad look with the woman left the room. Felt bad for both of them really. All three of them.

Queer Dax was my next panel, and one I was running. I’d decided that there was no way joined Trill weren’t queer, and wanted to talk about that, so here we are. I’d made sure that the panel had people on it who were queer in various ways and though one person couldn’t make it due to passport issues we held on. 

The room started to fill up well before the start time. So we were chatting at everything from pets in the different series with someone insisting that Neelix was the pet on Voyager. Gasp! To how Mourn maybe talks a lot in ways we don’t get to Garak/Bashir slash to anything. The place was pretty full by the time we started.

It was a good discussion. I later found out that the person who’d manned the convention’s front desk really wanted to go but couldn’t and so was following a person’s live tweet of it as it went on. 

We talked about the identity of the symbionts themselves, what it may be like to suddenly be flooded with all these humanoid identities. How maybe they’re like drag (at the start anyway). How we never hear them talk for themselves, as themselves, just the hosts. We’ve even had former hosts separated from the whole and able to talk in the singular. But never a symbiont. We asked how memory worked, to what degree were the hosts individuals or now and how that may work. How there were ‘very special episode’ moments but how they kinda also played out like every other Dax romance and was pretty good for the era. How Trek at least had a framework where this discussion was possible.

I framed lots of things  as ‘for Paramount in the 90s’ or similar because yeah. The studios. Boy. And the times.

There was also a good deal of talk about the parallels between the way joined Trill are treated, and how Trill are screened to trans gatekeeping and queer separatism. How Dax seems to get away with literally everything and does Jadzia Dax at least have privilege? Lots of stuff I haven’t mentioned.

Someone in the audience asked about things within Trek that called to us as queer people and I got to go on about my asexual headcanon for Seven of Nine.

A Study in Redemption: Character Arcs in our Fandoms aka ‘Redemption’. And oh boy this has a long history. Originally this was a proper panel but stuff happened behind the scenes, messages got mixed and instead of it being a panel full of fandomy meta people it was proper Named authors and I got anxious and didn’t know what the hell to do and internally screamed some. I reached out to Tanya for help, and she and a person above her in the Nine Worlds team really did help. I am so thankful to the both of them. We ended up splitting it into two with the authors keeping the proper panel thing and doing it from their perspective and I’d do a kind of panel/round table discussion thing. Mostly round table. I heard some not so great things about the ‘Redemption in Sci-FI’ panel aka the parent one. I couldn’t be there so I don’t know the details.

This one was awesome though. @knittedace​ was on it with me, as well as our third the anime guy. Who did have things to contribute even to western stuff that coming from another perspective and tradition was pretty cool.

Again it filled up fast. We were chatting about various stuff before the panel time started. And by the official start time arrived we had to put a sign on the door outside saying we were full except for a couple priority access seats. And it truly was only two priority access seats. One woman came in, and then left as she didn’t have a priority access sticker when there was still a ‘open to all’ seat left. Oh well.

In this one I brought all of my experience charing over the weekend. What I’d seen and liked, seen and didn’t like, as well as stuff I knew already. I knew this could be a tricky topic for some so I made sure rules were set out first.

Like, obviously we are talking about characters who have done bad things. And this will be mentioned. We can talk about Anakin Skywalker but not go into graphic detail over what he did. Use trigger warnings. If someone is talking about something you find hard raise both hands or otherwise make yourself known in a way other than ‘I want to talk next’ and we will stop. Let you get out. And send someone to let you in again. That people know the protocol for spoiler warnings in their own media types and fandoms and to use them. And again if you need to stop someone because you’re behind the bell curve in catching up, let us know and leave and we’ll bring you back in after. Someone did take advantage of this which was awesome.

I also made sure people knew talking over others wasn’t what I wanted, that they were to respect others and let them finish and that sometimes the three of us on the mini panel thing would pull things back to us to raise new points or add new questions etc.

It went really well. Orderly. One person had to leave for a minute and did so, no fuss was made, and came back in after, People respected others, good discussion was had, the topics moved forward rather than spiral deeper and deeper on things, nothing got graphic. Somehow there was humour even given the topic but not inappropriate humour. 

Lots of good points including how some characters are seeking redemption even if probably they don’t need it. How for many people who had either been raised in a toxic/evil environment or who had been through crap otherwise, redemption was also often a story of gaining or regaining agency. How doing a good thing and then dying to save a person for selfish reasons wasn’t really redemption. Or how someone forcing you to be good by putting a soul in your body or other magic or something making you good is also not really redemption. Redemption, proper redemption, required choice and consequences and owning what you had did and overcoming. How sometimes there is an aspect of white saviour going on. 

I loved that panel. I really really did.

What gets me most is that at the end of the night, someone who I really respect (not Tanya to be clear) came up and told me that my Dax and Redemption panels had been her two favourite of the entire convention. I was so so touched, and honoured and it meant a lot. I had a couple other people say they’d loved Dax but this one person was… it blew me away. 

Geeky Cupcake Decorating was just pure fun. Me and @knittedace​ went to this just as a fun thing to do. Also being asexual we figured it was our duty. Speaking of, I made this lovely delight:

I had to mix the grey fondant myself. I think it’s fondant? Terms confuse me. @knittedace​ Made this brilliant set of Doctor Who cakes that she can show off later but where much admired. And the table near by made a truly adorable set of Yuri on Ice cakes. Some seriously talented folks. Also plenty of kids having a lot of fun. One little girl was running around showing off the cake she’d made and that her dad had made with real pride. So cute.

We went for dinner after that, sad that things were ending, and came back in time to go to the end of convention quiz. 

End of the Con Quiz is hosed by Ash every year. And much to my delight we were once again visited by the infamous No Face. This isn’t a cosplay, this is like a visitation from the real thing. Last year they were slowly chasing Ash all over the place. This time they were menacing him from the corner whilst people gave it tribute (and it ate the dire wolf) to making Ash dance.

I knew almost none of the answers. I never do. But they did ask a question about my panel!

Our team decided to call ourselves ‘Quiz Master Ash/No Face OTP’. Not much of a reaction from Ash to that when he read it out. We came fourth. There was joint last which mean they had to battle it out to get (or not get if they so chose) the last place prize.

Never have you seen such a tense and dramatic game of Jenga. There was Star Trek fight music (Kirk edition) on repeat several times, there was the Benny Hill chase music, there was the Crystal Maze music, there was the Tetris theme. There were people at the back standing up to watch, everyone was tense. Even No Face got in on the action intimidating people/paying attention.

No Face got way closer than that. Scary.

I mean seriously. Though it has since been revealed, nobody knew who the person doing No Face was for two years. And they were fantastically in character. It was genius. And people treat them with the respect and caution as though they were actually a malevolent spirit. So this was fun for everyone up there lol.

Eventually that ended and we retreated to the mini bar in the games rom. Played more Slash for a bit until we all had to leave.

And then it was the end of the con. And all is sad.

Me and @knittedace​ had to share a bed as the room was one large bed rather than two singles. And I was joking that if we were inside a fan fic this would so be the ‘forced to share a bed’ trope. Followed by some joking about waking up to bumps in unexpected places. Like lower legs. Or something. But we got to sleep eventually.

I’m sad to be home. I have ideas for panels next year already. I miss it. @knittedace​ described getting home sick when she got home and I hadn’t framed it that way before but it is. We both grew up in fandom. Spending time here, talking here, learning here. Fandom is a culture we spent our formative years in and are still a part of. And conventions are like temporary pop up real world manifestations of that. So it kinda makes sense. But what makes them so special, in many ways, is that they are temporary. Even if it’s always sad to leave.

Also, and importantly, at the bottom of the back page of the program was this very touching easter egg that will make you feel the feels if you decode it:

–. -. ..- / - . .-. .-. -.– / .–. .-. .- - -.-. …. . - -

Nine Worlds Staff and Volunteers

They are brilliant. They work tirelessly before, during, and after the con to make things work. From the techies making sure all the equipment works to those running the front desk and twitter so people know what is going on to those making sure things go to plan or even have a plan, to everyone else who makes everything work. To those who do the nitty gritty stuff like finances and talking to hotels or sponsors to get stuff done to those who organise tracks and content to those who book entertainment to everyone who volunteers for a few hours. 

They work so hard. And need so much thanks. None of this would work if not for them. It doesn’t matter how many of us are willing to sit at behind a mic and babble at you for an hour, if none of them are there nothing would happen at all.

So thanks to them for all they have done, and all they continue to do.