#it’s 8:40 I’ve never been on this early

[emmyrosee]

…most of my rants are about being these characters being playful and teasing with the reader but that won’t stop me from giving you one more. I’m touch starved!! This is all I crave!! Throw me onto a bed (or anywhere soft) and start a fight and I’m all yours!!

and I KNOW I SAID I HAD MORE SUNA (and I do, I most definitely do) BUT HERE’S SOME SAMU BC HE’S SO ABSJWJDKVJ AND I ADORE HOW YOU WRITE HIM (as I do with all the characters you write ofc, but since I feel like I’ve been neglecting him lately, I’m giving him some extra love tonight)

So anyway Osamu is tired and getting comfy in bed BUT you’re full of energy and talking to him about everything under the sun. It’s very clear you won’t be sleeping anytime soon and he wants a full 8 hours so he’s just like “oh, you’re not tired, huh? Let me tire you out then baby” and he fucking piCKS YOU UP AND you’re laughing and squirming in his arms in protest but he needs you to be t i r e d so he keeps it up and starts a war with pillows and tickles and he’s more awake now and fully enjoying it. And by the end, you’re so tired out that you just fall asleep on his chest. I love him. I want him to pick me up. I want to play fight with him. I want his arms around me. I’m not light but I just know he’d be able to lift me. …yes this WAS fueled by me not being tired but needing to sleep what about it?

I LITERALLY WANT TO RUIN HIS DAYS AND SLEEP SCHEDULE I LOVE HIM SO MUCH-

Also who do you think he is, he could toss you like a sac of potatoes boy is bUILT-

Like listen. He gets it. He doesn’t force you to get up with him every morning to help set up the restaurant, he wants you to sleep in and relax, but some days his body just needs to knock out early and sleep.

And usually, of course, it’s the days your body decides to kick it up a notch and stay up far later than him.

He’s left you in the living room with a sweet kiss on your head, telling you that he hopes you’ll come to bed soon, assures you that tomorrow he’ll be able to watch tv with you, tries to cover all the bases so you can let him fall asleep with peace and love.

Very clearly, however, you’re not going to go down with peace and love.

Because every minute and half, you’re back in the room. Be it to show him a tiktok, or talk about a recipe you think he should try, or a picture of Atsumu’s dog and how bad you want one, you’re. There.

“‘Samu, did you know that 40% of your dna is also shared in a banana-“

“Baby, I love you so much,” he says, voice raspy from being dragged out of sleep once again. “If you come in here one more time to talk to me, I’m going to make you regret it.”

You become silent, and his heart sinks at the idea he hurt your feelings with his words. He sits back up to see you, fiddling with your fingers in the doorway.

“Sorry,” you say softly.

He quickly shakes his head, “no, no baby, it’s okay, I didn’t-“

“Didn’t know grandpa needed his sleep so bad.”

Suddenly, his brows shoot up. You grin around a cheeky tongue bite, and he licks his upper lip at your defiance.

“I cannot stand you,” he snarls, immediately popping onto his feet and dashing towards you in a mad sprint, adrenaline pumping as you scream and dash away.

And listen, he’s a big man, but he’s got plenty of speed under his belt and you barely have time to scramble down the hall before he’s got you in his arms, tossing you over his shoulder. You’re kicking and laughing and doing everything you can to break free, but he’s not budging. Not even a little. Usually when osamu wants to play fight, he gives you a little bit of wiggle room as a false sense of freedom, but today, he’s serious, and it makes you giggle and scream in anticipation.

When he finally does release you, it’s with a rough toss on the bed, watching with a sick smirk as you scramble to make some distance, as if the mattress will protect you.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He scoffs, grabbing your ankle and dragging you back down the bed, your eyes widening because he’s never done that before, and apparently, you love it.

“I-I’ll leave you alone!” You reason, but he had no interest in your bargaining. Instead, he takes his pillow and swats it everywhere he can against you, against your legs and extended arms, being careful of your face but not exactly avoiding it.

You try to grab the pillow from his hands, and just to briefly disorient you, he holds the pillow over your face. By the time you throw the fluffed pillow off of you, he’s kneeling between your legs, “I know what will tire you out.”

You shove his broad shoulders as he smooths his hands over your kicking legs, pinning you to the bed with his body before tickling you with everything he can muster. You shriek so loud it hurts his own head, but skittering fingers only draw more cackles out of you, and he’s not feeling merciless.

“I hate you!” You lie between your cackles “I hate you! S-so mean! Stop iiitttt!”

“I’m not in the mood for that crap,” he snarls playfully; his tickling fingers slow only slightly so he can lean down, whispering in your ear- which also has you a giggling and whining from the feeling. “I want you to break.”

You try to tickle him back, which does, briefly, have him stopping to defend himself, but it doesn’t last long before he gathers your hands in his and pins them above your head to the mattress. The action makes your eyes widen in anticipation, a flash of panic being drowned out by a glimmer of eagerness.

“Are you done being an asshole?” He grits between his teeth. Your legs wrapping around his body to keep him close tell him everything he needs to know, but you do whine softly at the idea of him attacking you in such a position.

“Don’t tickle me,” you pant. “I’ll behave.”

“Bullshit,” he scoffs, his hand making a move to make you jump, and he watches in satisfaction as you giggle nervously. “You eat this shit up and you know it.”

Despite this, he does release you and kisses the last of your laughter from your lips, and the whole scene seems to make you into a pile of mush; your arms wrap around his neck and you pull him flush to you, mewling softly at the affections and feeling so close.

“God, I adore you,” he mumbles, smiling as you bury your face in his neck. You nod against his skin, and he chuckles at your sudden complacence. “You finally ready for bed?”

“Yes,” you sigh sleepily. “But I left the tv on. Gotta go turn it off.”

“I’ll take care of the tv,” he promises, kissing your temple, “get under the covers. Can’t risk you getting all energized again.” You snort before he gets up to turn off the tv in the living room, folding the blanket and putting your phone on the charger, grabbing you a glass of water before heading back to bed, where you’re curled up under his side of the bed, nuzzling into his pillow.

He chuckles, “seriously?”

“It’s warm,” you murmur. He lifts up your body to slide under you, letting you curl on his chest before switching off his lamp to finally, finally go to sleep.

“Osamu?”

“….”

“….osa-“

“What.”

“I love you.”

He sighs and buries his nose in the crown of your head, “I love you too.

“Please, for the love of fuck, go the fuck to sleep.”

[avatarpabu97]

On the subject of age for Betty and Simon and by some extension Marceline.

The wiki timeline clearly states that Simon was born forty four years before the mushroom war started. Clearly putting him at forty four.

Marcy was four years before the war clearly making her four.

They were 45~47 and 5~7 respectively when they met. The s5 episode 14 made it clear they were 47 and 7 at point in time and according to the official Enchiridion suggest that Marcy was about 5 or 6 when they met.

Age has always been concrete when lore was introduced and involved with the series.

Betty’s age is vague. Like the crew didn’t know what to put down for it quite yet. The Wiki putting her birth 20 to 40 years before the Mushroom.

The season 8 episode 1 where She’s infected the crown with her AI presence makes it sound they met when their both students and then the season 10 episode 11 makes you think they were both doctors at that point because of Betty’s trip where we assumed that was her apartment.

Then F&C episode 8 gives us the perspective of her being pre grad which depending on the profession being pre grad can put you anywhere to late 20s and early 30s. With Betty being a fan of Simon’s work who is an established doctorate but is treated poorly by the students he’s at lecture for. Which leads others to believe he’s a new doctorate.

And from what I can research it’s possible for undergraduates to publish work just not to larger journals. So realistically Betty can be a couple years younger then Simon and read his older work in smaller journals and by the time he has more experience he’s posting in bigger journals and she nearly ready to graduate.

Apparently from what I’ve gleaned undergrads can give lectures so it’s possible the library wasn’t the first time they met. We also have to take in the account of Betty possibly starting her studying much later. Instead of doing school right away or taking breaks during certain semesters. And the possibility of Simon being such a genius he graduated early from his school and studies he was much younger then normal to gain a doctorate.

The wiki also makes it vague how long ago Betty’s Trip was before the Mushroom war 5 to 10 years. But they discovered the enchirdion at 5!years before the mushroom war. Simon also found the crown 1-2 year before the war. But the timeline pre mushroom seems to be inconsistent given the nature of the show’s not really thinking of lore and history until after season 4 it’s hard to conclude unless we get word from god what Betty’s age is.

In conclusion I don’t know what to do about their age. What I have seen and can infer is that Betty is at least 4 years younger then Simon or close to age with him. They we’re together for somewhere between 5 to7 year as I’ve seen other on Reddit point based on how long it takes to publish books and work. He was never her teacher but Betty was definitely a fan of him. Possibly reading is work when Simon was still a student and didn’t get a breakthrough or respect until Enchiridion. Which he wanted to Share the glory with her. And he did respect her. She didn’t truly put her career on hold more like centered it around Simons because she was such a fan of his and in love that neither noticed until it was to late.

Interpert the relationship as you will. They are both consenting adults with an ambiguous age gap. That the writer don’t seem to want to confirm or wish to confirm as they expand the story of Adventure Time. Their is a lot of nuance that many are not considering when it comes to schooling and life in general because my sister herself started school for a teaching degree when she was about 19 which did put on hold because of life. She is in her mid thirties now going backwards to school until a year ago.

So do with this as you will.

[ninthprime]

mildly arbitrary rating of every gundam i have watched so far

in order of me starting them

witch from mercury: 7.5/10. we’re never gonna get confirmation of people’s various theories that this show was originally planned for 50 episodes and i’ve also heard that the showrunner’s series tend to be kind of just Like This, but gwitch has a lot of missed potential mostly focused on 1. its seemingly incomplete worldbuilding and 2. the fact that the arcs of much of its secondary cast (guel, nika, shaddiq) appear to jump over a few steps or just are missing something. on the other hand, the arcs of its primary cast (particularly suletta) are great, suletta herself is a top-tier protagonist, the tertiary cast is one of the best i’ve seen in gundam (i love earth house), and sulemio is probably objectively the best gundam romance even if i’m pretty sure it’s not my personal favorite.

gundam 0079: 9.5/10. the GOAT. you know how it is. every single person who got into gundam via gwitch like i did but still hasn’t gone back to watch 0079 is doing themself a total disservice. you watch this show and both everything about mecha and everything about modern anime in general suddenly clicks completely in your brain. everyone who has been obsessed with char aznable and amuro ray for the last 40+ years has been completely right. i think its only big flaws are some of its treatment of women (though later shows like ZZ have way more glaring issues there) and its shortened length, but frankly if you hadn’t told me it got cut short seven episodes early i would not have noticed, because its finale may be one of my all time favorite television finales ever. just go watch it. i’m sitting you down right now

zeta gundam: 8.5/10. a really ideal sequel in a lot of ways that are remarkable considering the gap of time between it and 0079. focuses on new characters who reflect on the last show while still being their own things, and brings back the cast of the last show in ways that feel like they make sense while still being unexpected and making you look at things in a new light. deeply iconic and atmospheric in ways that are a little overwhelming at times; it is a dour show. has way more glaring flaws for me than a lot of the fandom brings up though, mostly in its pacing and its villains. this show has an entire middle section i barely remember and do we need both the four and rosamia storylines? and frankly i do not care about the titans that much (other than sarah).

zz gundam: 8.5/10. zz defender crop is here. please ignore everyone who tells you that you can skip zz. zeta’s other half in ways that aren’t just “it started two weeks after zeta in real life”- it also fixes zeta’s pacing, provides a welcome counterpoint to its dire tone, and its villains are literally just improved versions of zeta’s (glemy is better scirocco! haman is a top tier gundam villain in general!). i think the middle section of this show- the entire time they are on earth- is my favorite section of UC gundam, or at least tied with 0079’s ramba ral and finale arcs. i do think the dip in quality people say it has in the last arc is true. also probably has the largest Woman Problem in any gundam i’ve seen so far (i have a threshold for bad women writing so high it is practically antifeminist but unfortunately emary breaks that threshold, what the hell is up with everything about emary) even though i love some of those women very much. secretly has the boldest and most thematically interesting gundam finale so far. ple forever

char’s counterattack: 8/10. as i’ve said before: a gorgeous film about two men being so divorced that thousands of people die. genuinely iconic and also very bold but i often find myself torn as to whether i want tomino to be more explicit about what he’s saying here. we could have saved ourselves years of “was char right??” debates but then again, it’s the spirit of cca to claim that only you have the right take about cca. beyond the time is a good song

gundam unicorn: 7.5/10. politics here are often confusing and messy, and i think it suffers from its core characters (banagher and mineva) and their relationship not getting the time they need. on the other hand, i’m interested in what it says about the worldbuilding of UC (even if i think it didn’t execute it that well) and its secondary cast is great; i did nearly cry about marida and zinnerman so that sure works. full frontal does not bug me nearly as much as he bothers most people although i think he has the same “needs more time to cook” issue banagher and mineva have. i even kind of like what they do with riddhe and i usually dislike that archetype. in other words: i would have been nuts for the forty episode (and properly paced) version of this show. marida forever

gundam hathaway: 7/10?? hard to tell here without having the next two movies. was a bit hard to get invested in the conflict near the end as we met many characters who are not developed yet. but the relationship between the core trio here is intriguing and i like hathaway as a protagonist a lot.

the rest of my “gundams i am most interested in list” is victory -> turn a -> 00 -> iron blooded orphans so that’s the next four shows. after…who can say

[latermarks]

September 3rd 2010 Smackdown

I love this plot that’s going on with Kane and Undertaker. Kane knows how to yap and it’s totally wild. He will just fucking yap for like 15-20 minutes and it’s actually just monologue status crazy town USA. But compared to nowadays, it’s cool to see the undertaker going at it! I had never heard em even pull a promo but now he comes out and it takes him 40 minutes to get a sentence out. Great great! Some sort of major announcement is coming during this.

Also something I’ve noticed is that… holy shit these edits put some fancams to shame dude. What were they doing back then? They had passion. But oh my god, I feel like I am going to have a seizure sometimes. The pyro or the introductions are absolutely unhinged.

NOTE: I will be skipping everything related to Alberto Del Rio because he’s a piece of shit :) byeeee bitch

Drew McIntyre is here and I love it! We love this shithead. He’s such a nasty boy at all times and we love to see it. He’s fighting Christian, whom I don’t really get. I feel so terminally neutral about Christian. Hes like an NPC to me. He’s currently getting his ass kicked because he fought with REDACTED earlier. Not sure why they are fighting, they don’t have any plot right now. But I love the PAPER JAMZ ad in the middle, reminding me we are in the safety of the early 2000s. This match isn’t anything special. Christian won. Wow. Keep it moving 💀🔨 captain charisma?? bro has negative aura to me I don’t get it.

Wow! An ad for their ancient website. Bring it back. WWE poker looks fun!

Oh god 😭 a women’s match. I hope they are allowed to have rights in this one! ☝️ Kelly Kelly is here looking amazing as always. And laycool, who I also love. They are currently sharing two halves of one belt! Wonderful. The women’s fights at this time are so cat fight and short. “hello pumpkin how are you your skin looks amazing” shut the fuck up 😭 it’s always so sexist and infantilizing. Also why do the women screech so much. “BEAT HER BEAT HER!” I love her. And the match is over it’s been .8 seconds. Ok gg ez

[arwatchesandreads]

Love Me, Love My Voice (很想很想你) Review

I went into this drama not knowing anything about it. I didn’t know the actors nor the plot. However, after watching this drama filled with honey dripping sweetness, I was so glad I gave it a watch. 

My Rating: 9/10

Episodes: 33

Country: China

Genre: Pure Romance with good Music and too many scenes with food

Aired: Nov 30th, 2023 - Dec 16th, 2023

Cast:

Tan Jian Ci plays Mo Qing Cheng/ Qiang Qing Ci

Zhou Ye plays Gu Sheng/ Sheng Sheng Man

Hou Wen Yuan plays Zhou Zheng/ Jue Mei Sha Yi

Yang Xi Zi plays Geng Xiao Xing

Vincent Cao plays Feng Ya Song

Chen Hao Lan plays Dou Bing/ Mo Mo Er

Synopsis: 

Sheng Sheng (played by Zhou Ye) seems like a typical university student, however she has another identity online as “Sheng Sheng Man” where she makes music in the folk pop genre. One day, in a voice chat room while Sheng Sheng was talking to her friend, her idol, Qiang Qing Ci  who is a voice actor (played by Tan Jian Ci) enters the voice chat and speaks to her. Thus, Sheng Sheng’s world into professional music and love begins. 

This drama was adapted from the novel “Really, Really Miss You” (很想很想你) by Mo Bao Fei Bao (墨宝非宝). 

Beware of Spoilers Moving Forward!

What Episode did the Main Couple Start Dating?

Sheng Sheng and Mo Qing Cheng start dating as early as episode 8. She is reluctant to accept since they have only been together a handful of times, however, Mo Qing Cheng persuades her to start a relationship with him. 

Misunderstandings?

There are literally no misunderstandings, no break ups, no petty problems between the main couple as they talk about their feelings pretty straightforwardly. This show was genuinely a breath of fresh air between two green flagged characters. 

Love Triangles?

None. Nada. There was no second male lead or female lead there to squash the other person’s feelings. Purely feel good. 

Love Me, Love My Voice Ending

Love Me, Love My Voice has a cute typical happy ending, where they skip 2 years into the future and basically wrap up the story where they show that Sheng Sheng has finished her postgraduate studies and is beginning to work professionally as a composer. She is also preparing to get married to Mo Qing Cheng as he has already bought them a house. They go on a little vacation to their first retreat spot, and take wedding pictures and essentially reminisce about their time together. 

We also find out that Zhou Zheng and Geng Xiao Xing are also officially together. We also get a cute ending for Feng Ya Song and Dou Bing, where he finally takes the courage to try to confess to Dou Bing and she essentially accepts by telling him to stop talking, and takes his hand. 

Love Me, Love My Voice Review- Cute, Fluffy, Wholesome Romance

I give this show a wonderful 9/10. This show literally was the fluffiest, cutest, most wholesome romance for a girly who loves romance. It fulfilled every checkmark. The main characters have the healthiest relationship, the premise of voice acting and folk pop music was new and super fun to watch and listen to. I’ve never listened to any folk pop music before this show, but I was genuinely loving every song in this show (P.S. i have all the songs from this show added to a playlist on Spotify luls). They were massive foodies, which didn’t help me as I was watching the show. It made me always crave food when they described recipes or he was whipping up a dish. 

My review of this show lost a point only because I felt the character’s romance stayed very stagnant close to the end and not much was changing. Also, with the random time skip I felt like the ending was rushed. It felt like it was supposed to have a 40 episode run, but the show was cut short. 

This show, all in all, was just pure fluff with a new fun premise of voice acting and folk pop music, with a lot of food added in to create a unique wholesome romance. 

In my opinion, it's a must-watch if you love romance shows with little to no misunderstandings, no love triangles and pure fluff romance <3. 

[jrow]

Fic Writing 20 Questions

Thanks for the tags @khorazir and @raina-at

How many works do you have on AO3?

13

2. What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

268,623

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Sherlock (BBC). I may try my hand at a Merlin fic in the next year, but we’ll see ...

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Beautiful Pictures

A Week in November

Lines in the Sand

The Man with the Cartier Frames

That Time of Year

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I love getting comments, so it’s the least I can do (even if it takes a few days). I love when authors respond to my comments, so it’s only fair.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Like many of the people answering these questions, I don’t write angsty endings. I considered it for Jam (I almost didn’t include the epilogue) but I love a happy ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

All my fics have happy endings. If I had to pick one as “happiest”, I’d say The Man With the Cartier Frames.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have not, luckily. I’ve had a weird comment or two where I’ve thought “why did you tell me that”, but nothing super negative.

9. Do you write smut?

Not really? I’ve written some mature scenes that allude to things, but don’t go into detail.  

10. Do you write crossovers?

No. I have particular objections, but I doubt I ever will.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, Lines in the Sand has been translated into French and That Time of Year into Russian.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven’t. I don’t object to the concept, but I’m not sure I’d be a great collaborator given my current writing style. I think I’m better at betaing which gives me a way to work with other fic writers.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

This is really tough. I feel like it’s okay if your “all time” favourite ship changes every five or ten years. I mean, I am a very different person at 40 than I was at 25. My favourite to write is definitely Johnlock—they have a great dynamic and are both really interesting characters in their own rights. So, they are definitely up there. The other ship that comes to mind in terms of those that have really stood the test of time for me is Goren/Eames from Law & Order:CI (a very small fandom). Goren has a lot of Sherlockian traits and Eames is just incredibly cool (and both actors are gorgeous, which doesn’t hurt!).  I discovered Merlin in the last year or two and really like Merthur (honestly, I also really like Mergwenthur which I never thought would be my thing, but Gwen is so lovely), but it’s too early to tell if that will last long enough to be on my all time list!

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Corsi, my NHL Johnlock AU. I have a couple chapters written, but I started it a long time ago and my writing style has changed a fair bit since then. I think I’d want to go back and rewrite the first chapter, but that seems like a waste … so, instead, I will just leave it to languish.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I write Parentlock really well. I have young kids, so it’s relatively easy for me to make kids read age appropriate (which they often don’t in stories, be they fic or published). I hope I am also able to convey that delicate balance that parents feel—namely adoring their kids with every once of your being while wanting to throttle them.  Basically, I think I can write believable kids and believable parents.

I also think I am okay at creating cases, mainly because I become a bit obsessed with making the pieces fit.  I like internal consistency!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I can’t plot out a fic well enough that I can post anything before it’s done. Which means, that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to write a truly long fic (say longer than 50K words).  To have the motivation to write something that long, I think I would need the dopamine hit from posting and getting feedback. But, I just can’t see me ever posting a fic before it’s completely written, because of how often I go back and revise as I write. Particularly for fics with any sort of case—I’ll have the loose parameters of the case set out, but the details won’t emerge until I write. Which may mean I have to go back and edit earlier content to make those details work (internal consistency!). Even things like John’s work schedule or the timing of a phone call or what time Rosie gets out of school may change a half dozen times as I write to make the other pieces work.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic? 

I think it’s fine, but it’s best if you have a half-decent knowledge of that language. The only language I would use is French, should that ever come up.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

X-Files (this also seems to be a common theme)

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Ugh. This is an impossible question. I really like Beneath the Surface—I love epistolary fics and I think I did pretty well with text exchanges in that one. I am also pretty proud of Jam. So, I suppose those would be my faves.

Hmmmm, I think I am late to the game here so anyone interested in doing this, consider yourself tagged!

[blindrapture]

SATURDAY JUNE 25TH, 2011 (Liverpool)

8:31 AM Holy cock. I woke up in a hotel. I don’t remember anything from the past several days. I mean, I remember being in that city, and running from that.. giant screaming face. And then I went down an alley and.. Motherfucker. It was the slender man. It’s like motherfucking Marble Hornets Part 2. What the fuck.

8:32 AM I have no idea where Donnie is. ..I have no idea where I am.

8:35 AM There’s a safe in my room. I’m gonna try the code “1102.” ..no? Well, fuck. I’m all out of ideas.

8:40 AM Okay, there’s a connecting door to the next room, and I knocked on it, and go ahead and guess who was on the other side. If you guessed “Donnie,” you’re wrong. Well okay, fine, you’re right.

8:58 AM We have deduced that neither of us remembers anything about the past few days. This is a very bad thing. But we’ll make do. We’re gonna look around the hotel.

9:01 AM Elevator’s working, right. We’re on the seventh floor. Trying the ground floor.

9:02 AM The elevator stopped on the third floor. It won’t do anything now. The doors haven’t opened yet. Oh, there we go. They opened. It’s just a regular hotel hallway. Takes a left turn after about seven doors.

9:03 AM Donnie’s coughing a lot. This door is ajar.

9:04 AM That window shows nothing but bricks. Where the hell are we? HELLO SLENDY DONNIE RUN

9:05 AM running down the haaaaall oh look at that that’s not Donnie ..slendy’s gone. And so’s that other person. What.

9:06 AM So, uh.. that was an old woman. I saw her for a little bit, standing in the middle of the hall, but now she’s just gone, man! It’s true! Donnie’s still here. We’re looking for the exit now.

9:13 AM Staircase! Hey! Finally. Aaand slendy’s up there fuck that shit we’re going down.

9:14 AM Ground floor ho boy see ya slendy wouldn’t wanna be ya!

9:15 AM We’re out of the hotel. Where are we now, we’re in Liverpool, okay. HELLO, LIVERPUDLIANS! WE ARE THE BEATLES, AND WE’RE flying zombies eat guitar controller eat it in the FACE oh god the blood dgjssdgwothaWHOA YEAH, YOU’D BETTER RUN, FLYING ZOMBIES. YEAH, YOU’D BETTER FALL TO THE GROUND AS IF YOU’VE JUST BEEN SHOT. YEAH, YOU’D BETTER DIE EVEN THOUGH I DON’T HAVE A GUN. Yeah, we’d better run.

9:19 AM Oh hi there! These are other nice people! Real people! Not twisted or demented or zombies or anything like that! They’re people! It’s a family of four, specifically.

9:48 AM The father’s name is Richard, that much I know. Mother’s name is Meredith. Man, British people have stupid names. >_> Even though I am one. It’s still true. They have two sons, one of whom looks about.. early-twenties, his name’s Rogers, other son’s probably around seventeen, name’s Bill. Completely generic names. They’re staying at a nearby inn until the Exodus sets sail. Donnie asked if we could stay with them, and they said we’d have to ask the innkeeper. Fair enough.

11:03 AM This town is large. See, I didn’t know that. Because I’ve never been to Liverpool before. Apparently it's not even a town; it's a city? Wow! I'm impressed with you, England. More than one city? Good job! But anyway, we just found the inn. It’s pretty close to the harbour.

11:22 AM The innkeeper’s given us a room. It’s a nice room, yes. But the innkeeper told us to watch out for the Masked Massacrer who’s been spotted in the area. I’m gonna ask around about this.

12:39 PM I’ve asked a good few people around here about this “Masked Massacrer” guy, and I’ve gotten a few details. Masky is a— oh. Actually, that sums it up, right there. Masky. A man in a mask. The Liverpoolians have dubbed him the “Massacrer” because he’s killed a whopping six people. How terrifying. I’ve killed more people than that. ..though I probably don’t want to start telling people that. They say this guy’s mask is funny. It’s like a crudely-drawn Jesus mask. There’s a beard and a moustache and the long hair and everything. So.. we’re up against the Masked Messiah. Except he kills people. How are these guys sure it’s not just Cockroach Jesus? Actually, then again, I’m sure if it was a human-sized cockroach, they’d be able to tell. Either way, this is gonna be a long four days.

1:03 PM Donnie wants to “listen to some music.” …”in bed.” “Together.” I’m “looking forward to this,” journal. I’ll see you after the “show.”

1:34 PM ffff neighbours came in! Guess we forgot to lock the doors. They said there’s a big inn-wide meeting going on downstairs. And they said we can work on repopulating the human race when it’s just the two of us left. Great, now we just look like the guests who fuck a lot. We weren’t even fucking, just cuddling. D: (I.. wasn’t ready.)

2:00 PM That meeting was boring. It was basically a headcount and making sure everyone was going on the Exodus. Oh, and a curfew. Eight o’ clock sharp, as Masky tends to strike after that.

2:27 PM We went to the local supermarket and got some non-perishable foods. Yummy! There’s lots of flying zombies in the sky, but they don’t seem to want to bother us. I’m glad.

5:09 PM Someone’s knocking in our door. At least they had the courtesy to knock. >.>

5:13 PM It was Rogers. He has something he wants to show us.

5:17 PM Out of the inn.

5:29 PM This is a golf club. Rogers led us here to play golf?

5:33 PM That’s a rabbit hole. It’s a vending machine, but every slot is taken up by an eyeball that’s blinking and looking around and ugh. It’s at the end of a hallway. I can tell that this door right here’s a rabbit hole. Rogers looks.. is he expecting us to go in? “You know what this is, right?” Donnie said it’s a rabbit hole. Rogers laughed. “No, no, no. What’s this?” He’s pointing at the entrance. I said it’s a door. “That’s right. It is a door. Do you know what that means?” We don’t. “It means we’ve got the key to Rapture right here in front of us.” He’s leading us away from the door now. “You don’t want to go into that door. You don’t want to go into any door, but what’s tricky is that sometimes you run into a door that doesn’t even look a thing like a door.” For some reason, I’m reminded of that huge vault thing that the Vorke was resting behind. It looked like a door, though actually… “The Exodus... why do you want to go on the Exodus, guys?” Donnie says we’re meeting people in America. “Nah, that’s not why. C’mon, be honest. Why do you want to go on the Exodus? Actually, let me ask a better question. Why do you have to go?” Uh.. shit. I don’t really know. “Why do you have no choice?” We don’t have a choice? WAITWAITWAIT, it’s because England is theirs now. Like that graffiti said. Rogers is grinning madly. "Ah, but whose? England is whose?” Donnie said “The things.” And I said “Fear.” “Yes. Yes. England belongs to them now. Fear. YES, yes that’s completely right. No one ever knows that, but you guys are the first I’ve found who knew!” He takes a bit to calm down. We’re at a window now, facing out to the driving range. Zombies are out there. “I’ve heard rumours. About what caused this weird stuff.” I asked if he meant Rapture, and he shouted. “It’s not Rapture. At least, this isn’t. I knew that as soon as I heard the blind prophets. They go around saying ‘Rapture is coming.’ ‘Cause it is. Rapture’s coming. It’s not here yet. The fears know that too, which is why they’ve come out to play. They were always here, you know. The fears. They used to just occasionally reach out to get people, but now they’re going crazy. They’re killing people left and right. Some of ‘em even use us to kill people for ’em.” ..fuck. Like the Harlequin. His face lit up. “The wooden girl. Yes. She uses people, uses us. I haven’t heard of her lately, though. Which is odd. Actually, a lot of the fears are doing odd things lately. Some of them are killing more than usual, but one thing’s certain: they’re claiming England for good now.” asdfgh oh, that was just Donnie grabbing my shirt, since my hands are occupied. “Do you know anything about the wooden girl? Why she’s gone quiet lately?” I looked at Donnie. She nodded at me. “It’s.. well, I subdued her, I guess you could say.” Rogers looked at me for a bit. Then he laughed. “But the wooden girl’s a fear. She can’t be subdued just like that. I’d be surprised if she could be subdued at all. I think she’s planning something. I dunno. Doctor Cloud, too. I hear nothing but trouble about what he found in JESUS IT’S THE MASKED MASSACRER HE KILLED ROGERS he’s gone. But. ._.

10:42 PM We’re gonna go to bed.

11:00 PM Rapture is coming.

(Attached: "The blind prophets are more of a continental Europe thing. Around the turn of the apocalypse, some Austrians woke up to find they were completely blind, and they all heard a voice telling them to go as far as they can around the world and spread the message that Rapture's coming. Lots of countries got this kind of thing, though only the Austrians were blind. Japan got long-haired girls, I guess to play on that cultural fear? Who can really say the logic behind all this? The point is, every prophet says it all started with a voice on May 21st, a disembodied voice that only some people could hear. This is only one of the many arbitrary things about the end of the world.")

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[circular-bircular]

Hi you said in an earlier post DID can develop before 9. Can you source that?

I'm not saying you're wrong I have a book that says 6-8 is the "cut off" age and I like reading all the theories on each age.

Side note have you done any research on wild children? There's a cut off age for how well they can be re-socialized into society. I do not know a lot about them but I feel the two are kinda connected

Hey! For some reason today has just not given me a break, so I am super struggling to find things!

Basically, the Theory of Structural Dissociation posits that DID develops from trauma before the age of integration, and that age is commonly reported as around 6-9. Thus, “DID develops before the age of 9” is kind of a miswording on my part. The basis develops then, but someone can become aware of their system at any part of life, and those separate parts might not be revealed to one another until much, much later. It was actually far more common, from what I’ve heard from older systems than I, for people to not discover their system until their late 30s, early 40s.

Some places to check for sources, since I seem to be struggling today:

The idea comes from the Theory of Structural Dissociation, which is the predominant theory on how structural dissociation works.

The Haunted Self is an invaluable resource for DID research, and I believe that’s where I first saw the 6-9 number (though I could be misremembering — it’s been quite some time since I read through that)

What came to my mind in that specific post was the case of Truddi Chase, from When Rabbit Howls, a woman who developed DID from abuse around the age of 2 iirc. (Fair warning — we barely have memories of this book because the only one who’s allowed to read it is our protector, and even he’s fuzzy on the details. One day we’ll be stable enough!)

This was a particularly interesting article we found while trying to find sources today, in the few minutes we had! All about a 15 year old diagnosed with DID.

Also, no, I’ve never researched that “wild children” topic myself. I’ve seen it in plenty of media however (likely wildly ableist media at that).

[bitterkarmaa]

Master-list of completed shorts

1. “Do you remember when-“ “Oh, I definitely remember.” [BEING WRITTEN]

3. “You’re wrong. So just sit there in your wrongness and be wrong” [BEING WRITTEN]

4. “It’s too early for you to be so peppy.” [BEING WRITTEN]

5. “......you look like you just saw a ghost.” (KB Eclipse & Lord Eclipse)

6. “I... I can’t believe it’s really you. I thought I’d never see you again.”

7. “Alright, I tried to warn you, but fine. We’ll do this your way.” [BEING WRITTEN]

8. “Hey! Why’d you stop?!”

9. “...when are you coming home?” (Eclipse, Blood Moon, Killcode)

10. “I can almost hear you pouting.” [BEING WRITTEN]

12. “You’re such a scumbag!”

13. “When is this going to get easier?” (Eclipse & Moon)

14. “You lied!” “I didn’t lie, I omitted. There’s a difference.”

15. “Everyday, I contemplate ending this. But....” “....but what?” [BEING WRITTEN]

20. “Nobody touch me! Except you, you can touch me.” (Blood Moon & Eclipse)

21. “Fine, but I’m only doing this for you.” (Lunar & Eclipse)

22. “Don’t be greedy.” (Veil)

23. “You’re not allowed to be gone for a whole week ever again.” (Eclipse & Blood Moon)

24. “I’ll protect you, with my life if necessary.” (Eclipse & Killcode)

25. “What kind of psychopath has 1,273 unread emails?” (Moon & Eclipse)

26. “You’re gonna have a really hard time topping this apology next time we fight.”

27. “What was your first impression of me?” [BEING WRITTEN]

28. “Shhh! You’re gonna get us caught!” (Eclipse & Blood Moon)

29. “I can’t believe I thought you were a good person. Congratulations, you’ve proven me wrong.”

32. “Oooh, seems like I’ve struck a nerve.” [BEING WRITTEN]

36. “I’m so sick of waking up like this.” (Eclipse & Blood Moon)

37. “I can’t leave with you crying like this.” (Rays & Veil)

38. “Of course I’m scared, but I’m also excited.” (Eclipse & Rays)

39. “If this was the last time we ever spoke, what would you want me to know?”

40. “I’m not going to apologize just because that’s what you want to hear.” (Sun & Eclipse)

41. “Just close your eyes. I will still be here when you open them again.” [BEING WRITTEN]

42. “I’d come for you. No matter what, when you need me, I will be there.”

43. “Can you walk?”

44. “This is not who you are. I know you better than that.”

46. “You can hold my hand.”

47. “The nightmares are just an illusion. I’m really here.”

48. “Tell me to stay and I will be here for as long as you’ll have me.”

49. “It’s okay to be afraid sometimes.”

50. “You don’t have to be strong all the time.”

51. “It’s alright. I’m not going to let go.”

52. “If you don’t know where to go, you can always come here.”

53. “You can go to sleep now. I will keep watch.”

54. “Hey, listen to me. You’re safe. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

55. “I want you to know that it’s okay to cry.”

56. “Take all the time you need.”

57. “Just look at me. Forget everything else.”

58. “They won’t take you away from me ever again.”

59. “You need to keep your eyes open. Just a little longer.”

60. “I’m going to ask you how you are and I would like you to answer me honestly.” [BEING WRITTEN]

61. “Could you hold me? Please.” (Eclipse & Veil)

62. “Nothing I’ll say will make it go away, but maybe I can make it a bit better.”

63. “Silly of you to think, you would have to do this alone.”

65. “After a while, it will get easier.”

66. “I will always watch over you.”

67. “Remember that I promise I made?”

68. “I would like to hold onto you a while longer.”

69. “You don’t have to say anything, I’ll do the talking.”

70. “Don’t look down. I’ve got you.”

71. “What did I do wrong!?” (Eclipse, Solar Flare, & KillCode)

72. “Come here, you look cold..”

73. “WAIT- I can do BETTER!”

74. “You can’t leave me yet! I still need you!” [BEING WRITTEN]

75. “W-Whose blood is that…”

76. “I don’t feel so good..”

77. “Sit still! And let me wrap the wound!”

78. “I’ll come back- I promise..”

79. “You’re hurt.”

80. “It’s me! It’s me! J-Just calm down!”

81. “I haven’t been hugged in years.”

82. “You’re pathetic.”

83. “If you pass out, I’m not going to catch you.”

84. “I can’t move.”

85. “Why are you still up? ITS 3AM-”

86. “No. I’m not a mad scientist. I’m just insane.”

87. “Hate to break it to you, but I’m still alive.”

88. “Management called. They want their idiot back. ”

[holliano]

I didn’t do hourly comics day this year because I’m already doing my daily temperatures and that’s already too much but here is a run down all the same:

01.02.2024

12-3:30am: general tomfoolery

3:30-6:30: sleep

6:30-7:20: disbelief at alarms actually going off and making me be awake.

8:00: arrive at work, see email from boss that makes me consider resigning before 9am.

9:00-11:59: work in misery

12:00: leave early drive to the airport.

12:40-2:10: wait at arrivals with oldest friends mum.

2:10: friend finally appears, did in fact bring ‘new’ husband with her. (They’ve been married 2 years but I’ve never met him so no final sign off)

3:00: eat still cold in the middle pie at butterfly creek. Eat all of pie because friend’s mum bought it. Listen to stories of recent travels.

3:30: say goodbye to friend, her husband, and her mum. They go home to Rotorua.

3:30-4:30: drive home from airport

5:00: lie down, have to leave again at 5:30

6:15-8:00 at summer hockey. We lose but we have fun and seeing my friends.

8:00-9:00: try to find creme egg at a shop. Any shop. Eventually fulfilled endeavour.

10:00: shower.

11:00: fall asleep on sofa

12:00 get cross at video for buffering too much.

Hopefully that paints a picture of the day.

Very nice to get friend back. She was too far away.

[grumpygreenwitch]

The Fairy and the Prince #31 + #32 + #33 + #34

Part 1 - Part 2 - Parts 3 & 4 - Part 5 - Part 6, 7 & 8 - Part 9 & 10 - Part 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16 - Part 17, 18, & 19 - Part 20, 21 & 22 - Part 23, 24, 25 & 26 - Part 27, 28, 29 & 30 - Part 31, 32, 33 & 34 - Part 35, 36 & 37 - Part 38, 39, 40 & 41 - Part 42 & 43 - Part 44 & 45 - Part 46 & 47 - Part 48, 49, 50 & 51 - Part, 52, 53 & 54 - Part 55 & 56 - Part 57, 58, 59 & 60 - Part 61, 62, 63, 64 & 65 - Part 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 & 72

So, uh, this gets a bit violent. As it’s bound to do when a redcap is involved. I’ve added a coupla tags I think would help, but let me know if I should do something differently.

Adam jerked awake from a fragile drowse when he heard his friends coming, Needle's low and rasping voice a pleased and pleasant growl in counterpoint to Linden's songbird cadence. He smiled in appreciation and climbed hastily down from the tree. "Linden, Needle!"

They rushed over to him. "Adam!" Linden cried out gladly, launching at him to hug him. He clung to them, to their friend, to their scent, sweet and familiar, to their deceptive strength, to their endless love. "Adam, what's wrong," Linden whispered, feeling the young prince all but crush them in his hug.

Adam pulled away. "Needlemaw," he said, his voice gone formal. "Could I have a word with you in private, please?"

Something flickered in the warm morning breeze between them all, and the redcap went very still. Her first instinct had been to rise and snarl in challenge; who was this mortal yearling to command her? Then she'd remembered that Adam claimed no crown, refused it even. That he didn't know he already wore one, gold and shining around his heart, earned by the strength of his character and the immensity of his honor. He was calling on that power at that moment, and he didn't even know he was doing it.

The redcap felt suddenly and profoundly uneasy. "It must be alone?" she asked.

Adam laced his fingers through Linden's, his grip almost painful, and the young sapling felt him trembling like a tree before a storm. "It must."

"I'll go see if Boul's awake," Linden breathed out. Something terrible was about to happen, the trees were all but weeping. But their faith in Adam was endless. "I'll try not to be long." They dashed away, fleet like a deer and nearly as panicky as one.

They faced one another, the deadly fairy maid and the young prince, and Adam swallowed painfully.

"Ye might as well spit out the poison before it burns up yer tongue, Adam."

"I don't want to," he admitted in a desperate plea. "It will hurt you and I don't want to."

Needlemaw froze; in all their years together she really had come to believe Adam could surprise her no further, and yet there they were, in that sunny clearing on that early summer morning, and the Prince-That-Wasn't would rather swallow whatever cruelty he was carrying around his heart rather than wound her with it. Three steps brought her to him and she hugged him tightly, felt him shake as he clung to her. "I'll not have it," she told him. "I'll not have that muchness of ye kill ye, Adam, not ever, not never-everty-ever, not for me, not for anyone. Out with it. Let me deal with me hurts." She pulled away and smiled her deadly smile. "If'n it should wound, well, I've friends here to help me with it, aye?"

He nodded and rubbed angrily at his face. "Gods, look at me, you'd think I'm a baby," he scoffed at himself, angrily fighting to keep from crying.

With sudden, heartbreaking and proud insight, Needlemaw realized he'd learned courage from her, of all possible sources in his life. "Adam."

He swallowed with an effort.

And he told her everything.

***

Needlemaw ran wailing from him.

Linden and Boul found him sitting on a root from the old linden tree, his hands tangled over his head, rocking back and forth. He clung to Linden, struggling to breathe, and Boul wrapped himself around them both, crooning the low lullaby of stone and earth, even as Linden brushed their hands through Adam's hair and assured him that they were together, they were there with him, he was not alone, he was safe. Linden had no idea how to bring their friend back to safety from this ledge, and the awareness of their impotence brought to fire the whites and blues and silvers of their shattered eyes. All they could do was hold Adam close. In the end, it seemed to be enough.

The story tumbled out of the young prince a second time. By the time he was done he was ashen and exhausted, sprawled boneless on the linden root, his head on Linden's lap.

"So it's what we thought," Linden declared somberly. "And a little bit worse in the bargain."

"Linden, could she protect him?"

"No."

Adam asked a far deadlier question. "Could you?"

"Ynoes."

"Linden."

"It doesn't matter, you don't want to be a king, so who cares? You're fine, you're safe all on your own. You shouldn't need me, you shouldn't need anyone. You'll be fine."

For the first time, Adam realized that Linden was saying the words as if speaking them out loud would make them true. "She'll hate me now."

"Needle? Never. They're not the sort that hates, her kind." Linden leaned down and Adam felt a cool brush against his forehead, and again against his cheek. By the time he realized what had happened Linden was moving away. "Boul, take him to the palace, to the fountain. I'm going to go find the Culli-maid, she'll know what to do from there."

"Needle?" the young troll asked worriedly as he scooped up the young prince, who found himself too exhausted to move or protest or fight.

"We can't help her right now," Linden admitted. "I wish we could, but we can't help her if she won't let us. I think it's best if we wait on her to sort herself out."

"Linden -"

Boul rumbled in wordless concern about his small family. Linden leaned up on their tiptoes to bump their forehead against the troll's. "Thank you, Boul. It's just hard sometimes, loving a mortal. She'll be alright."

"Linden!"

But Boul was moving then, deceptively fast for something with such seemingly stumpy legs, and Adam had been wrung of the last of his strength. Looking up as the sun shone through the green boughs of the woods, he faded away into welcome darkness, never to remember those kisses and those words as more than a dim dream, impossible to grasp.

***

Needlemaw found Adam cleaning stalls in the royal stables three days later. Normally a punishment duty, Adam often traded other princes for the job; he found it soothing to his mind and freeing to his body, hard and mindless work. That day he was so lost in his thoughts as he threw manure into the wheelbarrow that he entirely missed the equine population growing restive and nervous until one warhorse somewhere cried out a challenge.

"Adam."

"Needle!"

If she'd had any doubt that the Prince-That-Wasn't had bled to tell her cruel truths, which she hadn't, the redcap knew she would have lost them all when Adam came flying out of the pen he'd been cleaning, his eyes hopeful and wounded both. She opened her arms and he flew into them, and she realized, with some chagrin, that he was quickly getting to be nearly as tall as she. "Och, ye and the muchness of ye. Ye cannae carry the sorrows of the whole world on yuir shoulders, Adam. They're broad, they're not that broad."

"Maybe," he admitted, pulling away. "But I'd carry all of yours if I could, Needle."

"I know," she said simply. "I wonder sometimes whose blessing ye are, Adam, because by rights ye must be someone's." She tipped her head. "Let's talk outside, before yon beasties panic enough to break all their leggy-leggies at once."

He followed her dutifully and they sat on the fence around the jousting yard. "I'm sorry," Adam said at last as the silence grew between them.

"Dinnae be," the redcap replied. "Dinnae ever be sorry to offer the truth, Adam. More, when ye try so hard to offer it kindly. Each one is precious; together they're priceless."

"I hurt you."

"The truth hurt me. Ye? Never."

"Feels like the same," he muttered.

"'Tis not, and ye ken that. Leave the stubborn to Linden, now."

"What will you do now?"

Needlemaw blew out a long, very long breath, her tongue touching the tip of her sharp nose. "That, I'm still shaping in me head," she admitted. "I've got the bit at the end, and I've got a bit in the middle, but I need to be speaking with Linden about it, too. I wanted to find ye first. I thought ye might be hurting, and I didnae want that." She touched her fingers to her mouth, and brushed them against Adam's heart. "In truth, I only know one thing for sure, Adam. As much as yui've done for me, I have to ask a biggish favor, and it is a favor. With all the dues that come with it."

Adam ducked his head. "Can I do it as an apology? Not for telling you, but for hurting you? Because I did. I did hurt you, and for all the world I wish I hadn't, Needle."

She dragged in another deep breath. "Someone must have taught ye our rules, Adam, there's days I think ye know them better than half I could name on my side of the woods. Aye. That is fair and right. A favor for the hurt." She offered her hand formally.

Adam rubbed his hand clean on his pants and on his shirt, much to her quiet amusement, and shook.

"Ye got a letter from home, earlier this year. Asking ye to visit for a few days."

"I did." Adam sounded dubious.

Needlemaw's smile was a drawn blade. "Go visit."

The young prince licked his lips, nodded slowly, and trotted away.

Linden didn't wait for an invitation. When Needlemaw found them, looking for bits of white sparkling rock in a small muddy spring Boul had conjured for them from the ground, they flew at her with a glad cry. "Needlemaw!"

"Ooof!" The fairy maid took the impact and hugged her charge, the first true Danu-sidhe born in over three thousand years. "I think yui've forgotten to hate me."

"I forgot that forever ago," Linden replied. "Are you sad? Can I fix it?"

"I'm not sad... Well, I am, a little. I'm other things more. And yes, it can be fixed, and 'twill be fixed. But I'll be needing yuir help and one more to boot."

"Adam will - "

"It cannae be Adam," Needle explained. "I've sent him away. What's to come cannae fall at his feet."

"Oh," Linden merely nodded in understanding, then frowned minutely. "For long?"

Needlemaw chuckled. "No, I wouldnae do that to either of ye. No, a week. That's the tradition, from what I ken."

"Then who?"

Needle drew and held a deep breath. "I need the Culli-maid's help."

***

It didn't take long for Adam to organize. For this trip, with a standing invitation, he needed only to go to Master Leminy. The Master of Scions had grown into a habit of tightening up every time someone came into his offices, every time expecting the worst of news. His relief when Adam explained what he wanted was both visible and nearly solid.

That didn't mean the young prince had his way with it. Nearly one entire bag in the sturdy pack pony he was given was homework. Never one to give such labor to someone else, Adam was still used to having Beli as a study partner, but his friend had begged leave to stay muttering something about 'royal stipends' and 'robbed blind' and talking about getting a personal ledger as if he were making dire threats. Against who, Adam didn't even dare guess, but he was perfectly fine taking Dane instead, and likely a great deal safer. As before, Adam's strapping companion found himself equipped for the trip from the castoffs of too many dead princes; unlike Beli, he actually took all of it to the priests of the Tree-Father and the Night-Mother, and paid them for their blessings. Adam helped him carry a great deal of it, shaking his head to silence Dane when he tried to apologize for the delay.

It still took nearly three days to get ready. For the first time Adam met Dane's mother, a short and plump maid at the palace with flour on her apron and a white and messy bun on her head. The courtesy with which he greeted her flustered both mother and son. He had given his scarce goodbyes and was about to mount up when he found a familiar, unwelcomed face on the palace steps.

"William."

"Adam," the older prince said stiffly, and the silence stretched out unkindly between them. "I've not made time to see you after you came back. I'm sorry."

"Think nothing of it," Adam replied automatically; William's absence had never been the problem.

William replied just as instinctively, as if their learned manners were easier than the hidden truths they both carried and shared unspoken. "You did me a courtesy I should have remembered." He drew a deep breath and stared at the Royal Gardens, the slow-sweeping blades of the water-mill, the distant dark smudge of the royal woods  behind it. "Is everything alright? With... her, I mean?"

"It was when I last spoke to her," Adam replied truthfully. Everything had been fine between him and Needlemaw. "Why, is something wrong? Er, between you?" He hesitated minutely. "Ugh, it feels like intruding, asking something like that."

"No, no, it's fine, really. You're her friend. It's just." William looked at him. "It's been six days since I saw her. She's never away that long, unless it's winter, and I just thought, I wanted, I didn't know..." His voice trailed off. Adam could only guess that William was coming to terms with how little he actually did know about his fairy maid. "She's alright, then?"

"William, she's..." Adam sifted through his mental fingers everything he knew about Needlemaw, trying to finding some truth he could offer without betraying her confidence, because the only other option was to leap at William and punch him until he learned respect, and that just wasn't feasible. It would have been profoundly satisfying, but William wasn't his to claim. "She's been rising in importance among her people," he admitted at last.

"Oh? I didn't know that."

Of course not, Adam thought. You'd probably think it sickening to see her threading knucklebones into her cap. "She has her own obligations, William. I'm sure she's told you about that."

"Oh. Oh!" William caught his forehead on a hand. "Oh, I'm a right git, I didn't even think of that." He sighed, his concern swiftly turning to vexation. "So she's alright, then, just caught up on things."

Adam felt any vestige of concern over the older prince die on the spot. He'd never really been worried about Needle; he'd just been fretting about the absence of his shield. "I'm sure she'll make time for you soon, William," he declared. "But I do have to..."

"Oh, right, sorry, of course. Ah, safe trip, and all that." William stepped back and nodded, awkward once again.

Adam turned his back on him, mounted his horse, and rode away without a single glance back.

William did his best to curb his impatience. It was greatly motivated, he knew, by the fact that he'd crossed what every prince knew was the unspoken line between the safety of childhood and the danger of adulthood, and he'd made no other preparations to protect himself beyond courting the fairy maid. He figured divine providence had brought her to him, those few years ago; why tempt fate for two birds when there's one already in your hand?

He went about his life, trying not to feel threadbare and betrayed, and wondering how he might make her apologize to him for abandoning him so. Even a whirl around the jousting yard didn't improve his mood, but finding the letter waiting for him on his writing desk after he came out of his bath certainly did.

It was faintly perfumed, though he couldn't recognize the smell. Something lemony, like tea, or candies. The writing was elegant and lady-like, and his brows climbed up at the sight of it, having never seen his lady-love write, always scoffing at the thought of it as a skill. The apologies were many and elegant, and he allowed himself to be mollified somewhat. And she asked, ever so prettily, to see him. Just for a little while, if that was all they could manage, just for a breath, so she'd know he was safe. She would be waiting, the letter told him, in the wild garden that stood in the ruins of an old gamekeeper's cottage, a building of stone and moss-eaten timbers that was a favored haunt of theirs whenever the weather forced them to seek a roof. One of the cottage walls had caved in and the shutters were long gone, but the garden walls stood strong, and the slate roof still persisted. Mostly.

He dressed with care and practiced his most somber and severe and disappointed looks in his mirror. But William never allowed himself to go so far as to forget he needed the fairy maid. She was his safety, his shield, the only chance he'd left himself to win an impossible crown. His family had no wealth, they scarce had their title, and their blood tie to the Dowager was slim and suspect. For William, the choices were to go back home and languish in hollow honors until he could wed a bride well below his station but with a fat purse, or to survive the trial of the Folk in the Woods.

And that deep streak of cowardice Needlemaw had so clearly seen in him told the prince, without an ounce of compassion, that he would never live through it.

He picked up a small ribbon, a simple thing with a silver clasp, and made haste to the meeting. The bottom of the sun was touching the horizon when he reached the cottage, the early summer air full of golden motes and the deep, rich scents of a hundred wildflowers. He eschewed the iron gate, long gone to rust and impossible to move, and climbed over the wall where a tangle of ivy provided a very useful ladder. Landing inside he roused a cloud of ladybugs and a few errant butterflies, chivvying them aside with gentleness he'd only ever exercised because of the fairy maid. "Needle!"

He moved cautiously through paths they had trod together before, where the stepping stones were barely visible anymore. The warmth was invigorating, the scent in the breeze familiar and yet not, and he felt deeply happy just to smell it, just to be alive on that beautiful summer day, with every flower around him in bloom like a blessing given. "Needle?"

"Over here, William," she called out.

He turned and made his way to where the well had once stood. The brush opened up into a clearing here, where the stones had been put down with more care, set into sand and clay. "Needle?"

She rose and came around the well, and William lost his breath.

She was beautiful.

The fairy maid was tall, as tall as William if not more, but he'd long accepted that as something that couldn't be changed. But instead of boy's trousers or a peasant's woolen skirt, instead of a plain linen blouse saggy and threadbare, she wore an exquisite gown of lavender satin with plum-colored embroidery and cream lace. It tightened around a waist that William could have held with both his hands with perhaps a knuckle to spare, dainty and delicate.

The ugly, smelly russet cap was gone, and the wild mess of her crimson curls had been tamed back under a beautiful set of green enameled combs and a broad gold hair clasp set with black and red gemstones. Her eyes were rich and gold on her narrow, sharp face, but the most subtle touch of make-up softened the thin, angular lines to something sweet and demure. There was a faint touch of pink on her lips that made them a plush invitation. There was a delicate choker around her neck, like the branches of a tree, inset with white and delicate flowers made of some jewel William couldn't recognize.

A wiser man would have run then.

William merely stepped forward, drunk in the summer-rich air. He'd had his blessings from the Tree-Father's priest. He believed, in his heart of hearts, that Needle could not enthrall him. Needlemaw fully accepted that. She was using not a whit of her power.

The garden was Linden's. The wall was Boul's. And the exquisite beauty the redcap had become was entirely Culli's work.

"Needle, oh, look at you. Is this for me?" he breathed out in wonder.

"All for you," she admitted, letting him come to her, speaking very carefully, soft and meek like a mouse. It had taken her hours, and she'd never be able to repay the patience the Culli-maid had shown her in teaching her. "Did you think I was not listening, all those times you asked to see me thus?"

"I didn't think you cared." William reached her at last. He reached out to run his fingertips over the exquisitely bright crimson of her hair. "I didn't think you loved me enough," he said. For just a moment, a single heartbeat, he thought he smelled charnel, spilled blood, torn flesh.

Needlemaw tipped her head slightly. "Ah, William." The rich golden light of the setting summer sun caught on the jewels in her hair clasp.

The prince forgot everything else. She wasn't just powerful, she was beautiful, she was wealthy, she was everything he needed to become king. He slid his hand down to cradle that delicate, fine-boned cheek in the cup of his hand. "Look at you. You do love me."

Needlemaw's eyes closed under that warm, mortal touch. They were a drug, mortals were, but she was lucky: she'd had years to learn what true love was, from her mortal younger brother, from her wild and free and more-fey-than-most ward, from her littlest troll brother. She'd had ample time to see what honor looked like, what loyalty felt like, what goodness tasted like. She set her hand lightly over William's. Her eyes opened and she stared very calmly at this stupid mortal thing that thought she was to be used and unraveled like an undyed cap. "My William," she said. "My loving you isn't the problem; you not loving me is."

She gripped his hand, whipped around, and bit two of his fingers off.

William howled and staggered back, and she let him go. While he'd been busy looking at her the walls around them had risen to impossible heights. While he'd been enjoying the sight of what he thought he'd earned, the garden had shifted all around them, and other than knowing where the well was because he could still see it, he could tell nothing of direction or escape.

Needle rolled the fingers thoughtfully in her mouth and spat something into her dainty hand, holding it up to the light. It was William's signet ring, still holding part of one finger in its hoop.

The prince lunged for his dagger, belatedly remembering that he didn't carry it, he carried no weapons - steel and iron weren't nearly as valuable to him as the protection of his fairy-maid. "You bitch," he sobbed, and lunged at her anyways with his bare fists.

Needlemaw backhanded him with her free hand and he nearly flew half the length of the not inconsiderable garden, crashing down in a breathless, bloody, bruised heap, still scrabbling to turn around; he was terrified to face her but even more of losing sight of her. He needn't have bothered. The redcap prowled after him; she sank black talons into the bodice of the dress and ripped it off, revealing beneath it the threadbare shirt and man's breeches, the leather girdle full of the buttons she'd claimed from her kills. She ripped off the comb  and her hair turned into a wild mass, falling over her face, but not fast enough to hide the immense, gashing wound of her maw, filled with needle-like teeth, or the cadmium-yellow of her alien, inhuman, predatory eyes, full of rage and hunger. She spat on the comb; Boul's magic on it broke and it turned in her hand into the russet cap with the threaded knucklebones, and she shoved it in place with a jaunty little pat.

William tried to flee. She leapt and caught him by the back of the neck, lifting him up until his kicking feet were a good arm's length off the ground. She shook him roughly, and he clawed at her with his good hand and the crippled one, smearing his blood all over her.

Her long black tongue came out and licked at the smears, and her smile curled and curled and curled. "I'm told," she told him casually, "that yui're never to be parted from this wee trinket." She held up the signet ring; her tongue lashed out and took the last bit of William's finger from it, and it disappeared with a sickening crunch inside her mouth. "So I'll let yuir family have it because, more the fool me, I really did love ye, William, sweet, stupid William. Just so they'll know what's become of ye."

"Please," he pleaded, weeping and breathless. "Please!"

"Ah, there it is," she purred. "Now if'n only yui'd been a coward when it would've been helpful to the both of us."

"Please, I love you."

"Oh, do ye now. Cross yuir heart?"

"Yes!"

She brought him down until he could make out the yellow of her eyes through the crimson of her curls, until he could smell his blood on her breath. "Let's find out for surety-sure, then," she said cheerfully, and sank her free hand into his chest.

The signet ring was found, along with a single knucklebone, carefully placed dead center of the jousting ring when the first class of the day came by that morning. Needlemaw didn't mind parting with it. She had plenty other knucklebones to stitch into her cap, and William had not been a particularly fearsome kill to merit the honor.

[majaloveschris]

Hi, can you please post this message cause the situation is getting out of hand and a lot of people are questioning if they should still support him.

we all know it’s PR, i’m more upset that Chris agreed to do it knowing Alba and her friends controversial past

the age gap doesn’t bother me, (why), Alba does look young (something she can’t change) but we do have to remember she is a LAGAL CONSENTING adult.

what’s really annoying a lot of older women don’t get hate from dating/dated or marrying younger men. (Kate Beckinsale, priyanka chopra, kim kardashian, Kris Jenner, Demi Moore, Cher, Madonna, Sienna miller) they get praised cause it’s “old”women who can get still get young men.

But old men who date younger (Legal Consenting) women (Leo, Chris, Jake G, Henry, Ben A (sometimes), Brad pitt (sometimes), Bradley Cooper (sometimes), Sebastian (sometimes) even George clooney) get called having a midlife crisis.

Remember when Florence Pugh had to defend her relationship with Zac Braff, she even said she’s an adult who can make her own decisions and no one can tell her who she can or can’t love, I’m not saying that Chris Loves Alba but in the future who ever he decides to be with even if there an age gap (Legal of course) then we should respect that.

and can WE STOP CALLING HIM A SiCKO and a PEDO, do you know what Pedo is? some who goes for underage kids (16 or younger) and that’s not the case with Chris and Alba, people are only calling him that because they say she looks young ( again something she can’t changed).

BTW there other celebs that have/had age gaps but not that many have spoke about.

scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds (8 years) she was 23 when they got married.

Blake Livley and Ryan Reynolds (11 years)

Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger (10 years)

Sydney Sweeney and Jonathan Davino (13 years)

Hugh jackman and Deborra Lee

there are other celebrity couples who have same age gap as Chris and Alba but no one cares cause the women are in their early 30s or 40s,

let’s not forgot that Aaron Taylor Johnson was only 18 and his wife was 42 when they started dating (let’s talk about that)

i haven’t seen it on this blog but i’ve seen it on other blogs (mostly hate blogs + twitter accounts) i don’t even want to bring it up and draw more attention but if your ok with taking about it let me know.

let’s just stick to debunking this relationship so that they hopefully see we’re not believe it and end it ( and to stop forcing Warrior nuns down our throats, we’re not going to watch that crap show)

sorry this long had to rant

No problem! 

1. I agree with you! Getting into this PR situation with her was a bad idea.

2. Agree! She is a grown woman.

3, 4. I think Priyanka still gets a lot of hate, but I have to agree that, for example, maybe she was, but I never saw people calling Madonna out when she was dating a 28-year-old man.

Even though I still think they aren't dating, the fact that he's been called a pedophile is outrageous.

[angelcakesupreme]

so bored so i’m going to do this

1. odd question regarding the true part but, yes my name is zaria.

2. december 1st

3. 5’4”

4. taken by a pumpkin 🙂

5. i really like to apply three cute words together to get a good url.

6. i personally can adore both but if i had to chose, dogs. bigger dogs though because i don’t feel fond of smaller dog breeds lol. older cats are really cool.

7. as far as live action, i really like indie movies or films that generally focus on the slice of life genre. also films exploring a character navigating growth or love. i’m open to a lot of animation too but i adore surrealism and similar genres as my live action preferences for that too.

8. i really do wish i read more. its pretty difficult with adhd/autism but i do find myself fascinated with early 1900s children’s book illustrations.

9. both of my ears are pierced and i don’t want anymore.

10. i’ve always wanted to go to a safe meadow with flowers and sit under a large tree while letting a cute radio play 60s indie garage rock. my boyfriend and i will have a large quilted blanket out with a beautiful and classy packed picnic lunch with glassware and cute napkins. we have sandwiches, soup, iced tea, chocolates and a charcuterie board. different types of cheeses with honey and jams and meat for him. we laugh at weird jokes we make, play card games, maybe do arts and crafts together and watch the sunset. maybe watch the stars too. bonus to be near a river running quietly the whole time.

11. black iced coffee!

12. hard question to answer. i generally really dislike the idea that my passions have to intertwine with unhealthy capitalistic methods just to make ends meet. …i know there’s more optimistic ways to view that but i’m completely indifferent about pursuing a conventional idea of a career. i don’t have time or connections to do it but if possible something involving freelance art commissions or comics would be cool.

13. i don’t have this.

14. tofu pho easily! i can never get tired of it.

15. year of the tiger. tigers are cute but i wish it was rabbit!

16. i like knitting, baking and journaling.

17. i been to some pretty ordinary places really. i’ve been to quite a bit of the southern east coast of america and then to michigan and los angeles. thats about it.

18. i think i’d love to go to finland or japan.

19. japanese, french, finnish, russian and spanish.

20. just english, i can understand a considerable but small amount of spanish or japanese.

21. it’s hard to say… i really like all for different reasons but maybe spring at the moment.

22. i love stuffed animals. i own many like my melody, bunnies, an octopus cat, a teddy i had since 2005, and rilakkuma just to name a few.

23. i never had the former so tofu spaghetti for me.

24. being able to very easily recognize what year a piece of media came from.

25. i’ll go with a cute golden dagger with flowers and a bunny on it.

26. a rustic prep type of aesthetic i suppose. i definitely have it!

27. any kind of bunnies, giant african snail, puffins, panda bears, ducks, flamingos, frogs, and dogs.

28. right now i would probably say soap and sweat.

29. funny question, i don’t think i do. i very much value peace.

30. 4!

31. no!!!

32. i love both… so much… black coffee or cappuccino and green tea or chamomile… so lovely…

33. floral, strawberry, vanilla, warm apple, or coco butter.

34. don’t remind me… probably south park during 2010 to 2015.

35. 3rd, 7th, 10th, 16th, and my 23rd and 24th i suppose.

36. frankie foster!

37. ami from hi hi puffy amiyumi, frida suraez from el tigre, raggedy ann from raggedy ann and andy a musical adventure, and maybe lum from urusei yatsura and shantae.

38. i can’t answer this… ohhh ok i’ll try.

1. aguas de marco by elis regina

2. boranda by sergio mendes

3. l’elephant by tom tom club

4. sudden death by quelle chris

5. good days by sza

39. coffee, matcha and birthday batter!

40. my current wishlist is a customized cute stationery set, handheld vacuum, king sized bed set, more skirts, leggings, sweaters and crop tops, lotions, oils, dress shoes and sneakers, more cute socks and panties and some rugs and movie posters.

[jungle-angel]

Tropical Vacation prompts

Winter up here sucks and we’re due to get more snow. All I wanna do is curl up on a beach with the palm trees and a fruity drink to watch the waves. Currently taking requests for Top Gun Maverick, Outer Range, Bad Times At The El Royale, Salem’s Lot and Press Play.

1. Airport hell

2. Learning to surf

3. Lava/Volcanoes

4. “Show me your coconuts” (has been known to lead to smut)

5. Getting a beachside massage

6. Hawaiian shirts/dress

7. Somewhere over the rainbow

8. Baby’s first trip

9. The baby playing with and chasing after sea turtles

10. Plumeria flowers

11. Canoeing out at sea

12. Swimming with dolphins or sharks

13. Them and their s.o getting traditional tattoos (this shit hurts btw)

14. Ukulele

15. Messages in the sand

16. Teaching their s.o how to do traditional hula

17. Seashells

18. Getting married/honeymoon on the island

19. Making a new animal friend

20. Sex on the beach

21.Camping on the beach

22. Tropical bouquet

23. Laying in the hammock with their s.o and or their kids

24. In a little hut above the water

25. “I could lay here all day” 

26. Sun shower

27. Outdoor shower

28. “This is our own little spot” 

29. Getting to see the ocean in early morning

30. Looking for lost pirate treasure

31. Scuba diving on a wreck

32. Surprise in the hotel room

33. Smooth beach rocks

34. Drive around the islands

35. Looking at the stars from the top of the hills

36. Skinny dipping in the secret lagoon

37. Sun tanning/sunburns

38. Island life

39. Fire dance

40. Sandals (footwear)

41. Kissing in the hotel garden

42. Ohana means family

43. “It’s already noon and you still haven’t left that beach chair?” “Sorry hon, we’re on vacation and my butt isn’t planning on leaving this seat”

44. “You look cute in those board shorts” 

45. When the gang tags along

46. Sunset on the beach

47. “I don’t think this is a nude beach honey”

48. Singing like a siren on the beach

49. “I’ve got sand in places I’ve never even heard of before” 

50. Making the islands your second home

[magnetarmadda]

Hi there! Like probably a lot of people, I'm quite jealous and in awe of the amount of reading you seem to get done. If you don't mind my asking, did you read this many books when you were in grad school? I'm in the last few months of my PhD (in paleontology!) and I've found that working on my thesis has absolutely killed my ability to get through books. Did this happen to you? Did your brain recover afterward? Or did you never deal with the reading slump?

Thanks! (And I hope you're having a good day, because you seem like a cool and nice person!)

Hey, hi! First, best of luck with your final months of grad school!!! Honestly, for me, they were so hard because of the lack of structure. Just, “finish your dissertation” and that was all the instruction really. If you ever wanna chat/vent about that, lemme know!! (Also paleontology!!! That’s so cool!!)

I always like to preface my reading habits with this: I have a very fast reading comprehension speed, and so for me, it averages out to about 100 pages of a novel in an hour and about 75 pages of nonfiction in an hour. In that way, I got lucky with the combination of early reading education, at-home book discussions, and genetics. So I can sit down and read a 300-page book in one evening, which meant that, even though I was only reading only one or two days a week, I was still getting through 50+ a year that way in grad school

I also listen to a lot of audiobooks and love trade paperbacks of graphic novels. The graphic novels can be quite fast reads for me, and this again is partly luck and genetics—my mom’s an artist, so I learned to look at images critically quite young, and can frequently find important info in them quickly. Then, for audiobooks, I do struggle with some chronic illnesses and chronic pain, and I frequently have to check out of life—but I cannot be left alone in my own head, or I rapidly catastrophize lol. I also can’t shut my own brain off when it’s time to sleep, so I listen to audiobooks then as well. I’d say this means I average about 4 audiobooks a month, where they’re usually between 8 and 14 hours (I do listen at 1.25 or 1.5 speed, because otherwise my brain stops paying attention)

I was also lucky with my advisor in grad school. She had a firm self-care policy, in that she cares more about her students’ well-being and health than timely progress. So I never felt like I was stealing moments or neglecting my work—I was trying to cultivate the healthiest version of myself, given all the other factors outside of my control. In the six years I worked with her, we actually spent more than one meeting talking about fantasy novels instead of research, which was lovely

But, yeah, there were a lot of reading struggles in grad school for me. I would go long stretches of time where the idea of opening a book and reading more words was unbearable, because god, didn’t I just spend all day reading and writing?? I also started to not care as much for the types of books I read before grad school, so now I’ve got a few stacks of books on hand I feel guilty that I haven’t read (but I’m trying to recognize that I’ll probably never read them, because tastes can change). So I might've had motivation to read, but nothing I had on hand sounded particularly good

Submitting that dissertation and knowing the hard part was over was actually the biggest relief, I think maybe of my life. I defended in mid-October and then submitted the finished manuscript about two weeks later, and then I spent a solid month just…reading whatever the fuck I wanted to lol. I have a postdoc now (and am applying for faculty jobs 🤞), and the responsibilities are waaaaaay less than as a grad student. In fact, my PI is adamant that I should not do more than 40 hrs a week, and so I’ve been able to plow through books like wild in the last few months

I also want to say: grad school is hard. It’s so absolutely difficult. Master’s programs are rough, and PhD programs are their own rodeo, and it sucks to say (because it sounds awful to most people, I know), but unless someone goes through grad school themselves, it’s hard to fathom what makes it so hard and exhausting. It’s totally okay to cut yourself some slack for finding you don’t have as much energy for other things, even the things you really enjoy. The books will be there waiting, and I'll admit it took me a solid 4 years to accept that myself lol

Thanks for the lovely ask, and I really do wish you well as you finish up 💜 again, I'm here--ask box or dm--if you'd like to take more about any part of the process 💜

[futurewife]

HI LOOK AT THE MAN

Yes, I’m a slut for James McAvoy characters, what about it

His name is Lord Asriel. He’s from the show His Dark Materials, which is based on some novels I thought were erotica but are actually written for children? 🙃 wild lmao

I’ve never seen the show before, but I have it on hold at the library. I have the flu rn so idk when I’ll get to go pick it up. To think he is just sitting on a shelf, waiting for me to love him 😔

Idk that much about him, but I am already so whipped 😭 he’s gonna be my oldest f/o, he’s supposed to be in his late 40’s-early 50’s 🤧 why do the ages on my crushes just keep going up & up & up…? HELP. He literally has a daughter in this, so he’s canonically a dilf. He’s not the greatest parent, but it seems he has some really soft scenes w her, one of which I wrote an 8 page poem about bc Feelings™️

P.S. I LOVED your analysis of Lana’s latest song. I felt the same way, too, like she’d voiced this feeling I hadn’t been able to articulate?? “When’s it gonna be my turn?” WAHHHH. It would be so iconic for her to be in a tunnel for the mv. Do we even know if we’re getting an mv?

I AM LOOKING AT THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tbh i dont mind james mcavoy i do not think of him sexually but he has a aura that elicits fondness from me after watching xmen films HAHAHHAHA He's nice

A canonical DILF f/o in their middle agedness MMMMM I am here for it. technically Cable is also a canon dilf but I'm not fussed about kids so I never really think about it ashsdf BUT it's like a transferable skill. the fatherlyness is a pro for me like I'm also baby. hehe

Thank you for saying you liked my analysis it gives me a flashback to highschool english which was my best subject. I think I have played that song ten million times MOM!!!!!!!! I hope we are getting an mv I NEED HER IN THAT TUNNEL. lana gives me hope cause she never gives up hope. Even she (!) has doubts and fears about finding love and being accepted for who she truly is. But I also like that she doesn't spin it like she hasn't found what she's looking for bcause she is unworthy. It's because no one knows about or has made the effort to dig a little and find the beauty the tunnel under ocean boulevard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!