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lovestuckyhatemarvel · 1 year

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Okay so, here we are with season 4 episode 1 of Stranger Things. But before I get into the episode, I need to explain something: I’ve never actually watched this season before. I have, however, watched Steddie compilations on YouTube. Regardless, I’m labeling this as a ‘rewatch’ because it’ll keep the series consistent. And parts of it technically are a rewatch. Anyway, these are also going to be way longer than usual because a lot more is just Brand New™️ to me. Although some I haven’t seen but do know because of fanfiction.

1.) I literally can’t remember what made the Texas shooting something that would be necessary to be mentioned at the beginning when America has shootings all the time.

Edit: I have been reminded of the actual case it’s referencing. But I think Texas shooting is going to become less and less of an obvious connection as time goes on, especially for people who aren’t in America. I am in America, and there’s just…too many shootings to keep track of, tbh.

2.) I don’t know why I’m watching this recap. I literally watched season 3 last week or whatever but they really cut out the Russian interrogation/secret base locating stuff entirely from their recap.

3.) season 4 really starts out by being like, “Remember Brenner? Remember that douchebag? Well, guess what. He’s actually super boring in everyday life.”

4.) 010 come on down to get your psychic powers tested and your ability to interpret Brenner’s bad drawings tested. Oh nvm at least now they’re trying to locate people only to witness both Six and Dr. Ellis’ death.

5.) Wait why did Brenner survive this? How did Brenner survive this? Ten is dead. Also, since when does Brenner care about the kids? It’s not like he’s treated them well.

6.) El looking really crazy covered in blood and basically hyperventilating.

7.) El’s got her own room. Also, we’ve gone 185 days since season 3 and now El is painting little figures. And is giving a recap via letter. Joyce is a telemarketer, Will is gay pining, Jonathan has a broken car and is a stoner. Argyle has a pizza van and takes them to school. The bullies in school are cliches.

8.) Nancy drives Mike to school and Karen Wheeler looks great. Also they want Mike home by 9 pm because of his 6:30 flight.

9.) Suzie is editing a D- to an A for Dustin.

10.) I love this conversation about crushes between Robin and Steve. Boobies. Although I don’t like Robin’s hair as much this season.

11.) Max rides the bus and missed a Thursday meeting so needs to go after lunch.

12.) oh there’s Chrissy. And here’s the marching band with Robin playing the TRUMPET. Looks like Vickie’s a clarinet player. Jason and Lucas on the basketball team while Dustin and Mike argue about girlfriends in the crowd.

13.) I know it’s way too early since Jason hasn’t done anything yet, but I already hate him. He just has a punchable face. “Think about all these dead people DID THEY DIE FOR US TO LOSE AT BASKETBALL?” I would have keyed his car in high school. Like oh my god.

14.) Mike and Dustin are nerds and freaks and proud of it. To be fair, Lucas always has been cooler than them. But also Lucas should have gone to Eddie himself.

15.) PACKAGE. FROM. RUSSIA. Man, do not ever send anything delicate to Joyce, she fucking demolishes packages. Oh, that’s an ugly doll. I’ve read about the doll but didn’t know it was that ugly.

16.) El/Jane has to go after a blonde girl talking about Helen Keller for her presentation about Hopper? That’s rough, buddy. Angela is a bitch and I hate her Ariana Grande looking ass. Will is trying and I love that him and El are siblings but yeah, no, that presentation went badly.

17.) Max is doing her loner thing but does get to see Chrissy being upset in the hall as she heads away from the counselor.

18.) C in English and C- in Spanish. It’s not normal for Max but babe, C’s get degrees. You’ll be okay. Max’s mom is drinking, working two jobs, and stepdad is gone. Max is still my favorite even if she is a liar. Lucas’ advice about finding something she cares about is technically good but poor wording and timing. Max isn’t really open for help.

19.) Stranger Things really loves shots of people in bathrooms holding the sides of the sink. Also we get to hear Chrissy vomiting.

20.) Chrissy’s hallucinating. She has issues with her mom being awful about her weight and honestly, mood.

21.) Oh hi, Eddie. You’re a goofy guy. And now Eddie walks across the table. Also honestly, so far the bullying in Hawkins is like, minimal. All that happened in that scene is Eddie got called a freak. Dustin and Mike do try to get the game postponed. I still think Lucas should have asked. Eddie’s got to pass Mrs. O’Donnell’s class and that’s it to pass the class. Eddie really does yank both those dweebs out of their seats with barely any effort.

22.) Murray has karate from 1-3 on Fridays? Good for him. Oh and the doll from Russia has nipples. Teeny tiny nipples. And now needs to be smashed.

23.) Everyone thinks it’s weird that Nancy and Jonathan aren’t spending spring break together. I still think Nancy’s a comphet case. I love that Mike asks Nancy and Dustin asks Steve. Max is sarcastic to Dustin’s request which is very funny. Literally everyone shoots them down. Dustin comes up with an idea nad sprints off faster than I knew was possible.

24.) Oh it’s the picnic table behind the school scene. And we hear and see a clock chiming as she waits for Eddie. I’ve never actually seen the build up to the meeting with Eddie. Did not know the clock breaks and spills spiders.

25.) Eddie is tempted to leave ‘cause Chrissy is acting crazy. Eddie is very dramatic and they were in a talent show together. Eddie used to have buzzed hair and now plays at the Hideout on Tuesdays. I would have loved for Chrissy to live and for these two to be another Steve and Robin. Chrissy asks for something stronger.

26.) El failed a math test, I think? And if that’s the test she failed, it’s extra sad because that’s what she called herself good at in the opening letter. And then Angela tripped her? And her stupid friends stomp on her project. I wanna kick Angela’s ass. El forgets that she doesn’t have powers and it’s so embarrassing. El doesn’t snitch but a teacher takes Angela away anyway.

27.) Will feels so bad and is trying so hard to help.

28.) I feel like it wouldn’t require a paint can from a tree to break a porcelain doll. Oh, Murray thinks it might have an explosive. AND IT’S FILLED WITH A NOTE SAYING HOP IS ALIVE AND IT’S WRITTEN IN CUT OUT LETTERS LIKE IT’S FROM A SERIAL KILLER. WHY DID THEY DO THAT??? LMAO

29.) And now it’s the championship. I feel like fanfics stretch episode 1 into like, 3 chapters. Steve came with his date to see Lucas. And here’s Tammy Thompson. And she’s…bad. this bad performance is worth it for Steve’s sassy expressions.

30.) Oh, hey Erica Sinclair. LMAO WAIT, IS SHE WEARING AN AMERICAN FLAG? GOD, YOU DWEEB. I will say that the rest of hellfire that just kind of chortles in response to everything is so far just background noise that I do not care about. I do love that Erica is way better at insults than Eddie and he kind of adores her.

31.) I still hate Jason.

32.) Technically if we’re going with the lore of we thought Vecna was killed by Kas then technically El/Jane is this show’s Kas.

33.) Okay going back and forth is too hard when they’re going back this fast between basketball and Hellfire so I’ll just summarize at the end. Lucas going in and the gameplay mirror each other very obviously. It’s an old trope but a good one. Eddie’s unhinged.

34.) “There is no shame in running. Don’t be heroes.”

35.) Dustin misses and so does Jason. But Lucas and Erica both win. This slow mo is kind of excessive. Eddie’s fucking thrilled that Erica did a critical success. Although did they actually need a natural 20 to win? That doesn’t really make sense if the guy only has 15 HP left. Presumably they haven’t been critting to attack this fucking thing this entire session. So really it’s a matter of going above his AC. And technically you don’t need a nat 20 to do that, especially if you have enough bonuses. Although they are playing a different version of D&D than I’ve ever played so maybe I’m taking out of my ass.

36.) Aw, Max listened to the game’s result on the radio. I thought she went. Her mom is passed out on the couch. Max takes food to a dog. Eddie lives like, directly across from her. For some reason, from fanfics, I thought they were like, directly next to each other. Still, Max saw Chrissy go into his trailer.

37.) Wayne works nights. Eddie does not know where his ketamine is. Should keep track of that. That is a very cool guitar he has though. Chrissy’s hallucinations are very bad now and she’s no longer responsive. And now the lights are flickering. Vecna’s ugly as hell. There are so many spiders in this vision. Eddie really is trying to wake her up but I’m not sure how he thought I DON’T LIKE THIS, CHRISSY, WAKE UP would help.

38.) did not know we see Vecna in episode 1. “It’s time for your suffering to end.” Don’t be weird, dude. And now Chrissy is floating. Her death is like, both weirdly graphic and also sanitized. Like it looks cartoonish. I didn’t realize how cartoonish it looks. Bones don’t break through the skin. There’s barely any blood. Her skin moves like putty.

#stranger things #stranger things rewatch #season 4 episode 1 #s4e1 #stranger things s4e1 #only kind of a rewatch #I’ve seen steddie compilations and that’s it

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zacharyja · 4 months

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Saturday, May 25, 2024

Day Trip to Osaka

Today began as always at 8am with the class meeting at 9am. After the meeting we all headed to the train station to make our way to Osaka, which is about an hour away from Kyoto by train, and this is my second time making this trip so I knew what to expect going in. The train ride there was fine but I was pretty sleepy and was drifting off while standing up on the train. We eventually made it to Osaka and got off at Osaka Station where we then walked as a group to the Umeda Sky Building, which is a famous Osaka skyline skyscraper featuring two 40 story tall towers conjoined by the top 2 stories. Once we made it inside of the building we got into an elevator up to nearly the top before getting into escalators to take us up to the very top at the observation deck. After going to multiple different observation decks in different cities, I will say it is pretty cool to have seen so many and be able to recognize the differences between the skylines of these cities and how they compare.

I enjoyed getting to see the city of Osaka from such a high vantage point, and it was also cool to see the mountains ranging in the background of the city. Osaka is a lot bigger than I had previously anticipated and I am quite surprised by the scale of the city. I also thought it was cool to learn that in Osaka, people stand in the right side of the escalator and walk on the left, whereas in Tokyo the inverse is true. According to Professor Smith, this is because when escalators were being unveiled in Japan, in Osaka for the first time, they used the western method of escalator courtesy, and when escalators made their way to Tokyo, they went about it in the normal way without outside influence which resulted in these differences.

After viewing the city from the top of the building, we then made our way down and out of the building we broke for lunch. Some friends and I decided on an Udon place where I ordered Dashi Udon with duck meat. My meal was pretty decent but nothing too special, the udon noodles were better than any i’ve had in the USA though. After this we all hopped on a train and made our way to a stop close to the Osaka Castle, which I was pretty excited to see. We then walked up to the castle and I was amazed at how massive it was close up, as seeing it from a distance looks like a normal house size but being 5 feet away really puts it into scale. The castle was very pretty and well decorated, and I was a fan of the architecture in general.

After viewing the castle, we all got on another train and made our way to Dotonbori, which is the main shopping and restaurant area in Osaka. I was not too much of a fan of this place, as it was extremely busy and a bit overwhelming at times, but it was still cool to see such a famous area in person. After walking around a bit with some friends we ended up deciding to head to the Osaka Pokemon Center to look around, it was also inside of a massive 10 story shopping mall that had just about every store you could think of, ranging from Gucci, to Lego, to a Godzilla store. The stuff there really was random and it was fun just exploring the area and seeing what it had to offer.

After this, we made our way back to the hotel which took about an hour again. After we got back I went and got Gyudon for dinner to satisfy my hunger cravings before coming back to the hotel and showering and doing my laundry.

Academic Reflection

Todays reading focused a bit on the urbanization and industrialization of Japan, which was a pretty interesting topic to cover for today as we have seen so much of Japan already and got to go to another city in one day, mainly only possible because of the amazing infrastructure. I was a bit shocked to hear that in Japan, homes are not really an investment, and rather are readily destroyed and rebuilt as they do not really like to preserve old building and would rather demolish it and completely restart. This is a stark contrast to how housing is handled in the United States, where we tend to keep houses for as long as they possibly last, opting to renovate things over and over instead of demolishing and restarting. It’s interesting to see both sides of the coin, as maybe America could take notes from Japan in this sense to help with the housing crisis, as not viewing homes as investment would mean that people will stop holding on to them for so long. Another point that was brought up and I had already heard about, was how the loose zoning laws in Japan contributed to the dense urban population and allowed for their characteristic walkable cities. Though this was not new information, the content was definitely solidified via the reading.

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mcheang · 4 years

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When babysitting Chris and the twins, Lila tries to impress them by claiming to be Rena Rogue, but one of them points out she was supposedly in Achu when Rena first appeared.

Smarter than they look

After all, Etta and Ella give a first impression of fun-loving girls with no thought beyond causing mischief.

It was just after watching Ladybug defeat an akuma on live TV that Lila claimed credit for being Ladybug’s mentor.

Lila cupped a hand around her mouth. “After all, I am Rena Rouge.” She even tugged on her fox necklace.

Chris’ eyes widened in awe

The twins just said, “No, you’re not. You were in Achu when Scarlet Moth appeared.”

Lila shrugged. “I called Pegasus to teleport me back.”

Etta: and how can you be Rena Rouge when she had to rely on Ladybug for fighting us?

Ella: I remember seeing a video of Rena being unsure of how to use her powers. How could you be Ladybug’s mentor?

Lila: it’s been a while since I’ve used my powers that I’ve become rusty.

Ella: and why are you telling us this? Or even wearing your miraculous in full view. Superheroes value their secret identities.

Lila: because I trust you

Etta: this is the first time you’re babysitting us and we just made a mess of the kitchen for you to clean up.

Lila: I trust Chris

Etta: Chris believes anything.

Chris: hey!

Ella: you believe your brother when he tells you he and Alya are doing homework...

Etta: when they are really playing Super Penguino

Chris: he what?

Lila: ok, how about we watch a movie?

Etta: are you just trying to distract us

Ella: so we won’t talk about you?

Lila: you were right. I made a mistake in telling you girls my secret identity

Etta: but you don’t have one

Ella: unless you mean Volpina

Lila gritted her teeth. “Yeah, sure.”

Chris’ face fell. “So you were lying about being a heroine this whole time? Are all your stories lies?”

Lila: no!

Chris: prove it. Have the creator of Miraculous Crush tweet that he knows you. Summon Ladybug. Have Adrien tell all his fan clubs that you’re his girlfriend.

Lila: I can’t do that. You don’t boss around your friends like that. And my relationship with Adrien is supposed to be a secret so his fans don’t tear me apart.

Chris: I’m sure friends won’t mind defending your credibility

Lila: this is nonsense. If you don’t want to believe me, fine. But I’m telling the truth.

Chris crossed his arms, pouting. “I won’t believe it till I see it.”

Lila sighed and turned her glare on the twins...who were back to demolishing the kitchen? oh come on!

But whenever Lila tried to get them to behave, they just chanted, “Lila liar is a stranger. We don’t listen to strangers.”

Chris just watched this go on for like 10 minutes before FaceTiming his brother the incident.

Alya and Nino were not happy to have their date cut short to help clean up a dirty kitchen. Lila tried to blame the kids but Nino held up his hand, an angry look on his face.

Nino: save it. Chris told me the lies you planted in his head. So much for not being interested in Adrien.

Alya: if you were a harmless compulsive liar, I might have forgiven you. But you took advantage of our kindness to buy you meals. Get out! Oh, and you can be sure I I’ve checked with your mother about your ailments on the way back. By the time you reach your house, she is probably done with her chat with Ms Bustier.

Lila paled. Maybe she should run away then, make her mother worry so her anger would fade.

Alya’s phone beeped. “Ugh. Never mind. Apparently your mother is worried about you constantly running from problems that she doesn’t trust you will go home immediately. She’s coming here personally.”

Lila: you can’t lock me in here.

Alya glanced at her twins. “Hey girls, how do you feel about bringing out the ropes and sock again?”

The twins were gleeful.

Mrs Rossi arrived and only sighed at the sight of her daughter gagged and glaring, bound to the dining chair.

Lila was sent to a correctional facility. Mrs Rossi payed back the classmates for all the ripped off lunch money. Lila will not be receiving allowance for a long time.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #ml fanfic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #Lila is exposed #Lila gets exposed #Etta and Ella #Chris Lahiffe

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mychemicalimagines · 4 years

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You’re My Forever-Jasper Hale-Chapter 9

Summary: After the Battle of the Newborns, Bella reveals she’s getting married to Edward. After the wedding, Alexia’s life has been nothing but up. She gets to be with the love of her life forever. One little thing chances that. Will she actually get her forever…or will it end before it begins?

Warnings: Cussing, Angst, Supernatural, Paranormal, Love, Bella-Bashing, Smut, Blood

Words: 3556

Tag List: @jayrart @elskinner45 @nocturnalherb16 @buckysforeverprincess @diyunho @negans-womam @deepobservationcherryblossom @fangirl1029 @thelostallycat @dreamslove92 @scarletmeii @thecaptainsgingersnap @jai-lynne-unknown @0-r-1-0-n @stephbass28 @magnificentzombiebasement @arseofrivia @vampiregirl1797 @millie-753 @fandom-imagines1 @aylamlc @celyndavies @geekysimmerthings @krazykatkay456 @marvelofwitch @frozenhuntress67 @sooophie19 @xcharlottemikaelsonx @azure23x @luna-thedarkwolf @treestarrrrrrrr @hi-my-name-is-riley @salsameter @jasperschillvibe @mikariell95 @whattheheckisevengoingon @starcatcher-kay @awesomebooklover17 @strangerthanfanfiction713 @nj01 @vxidnik @oi-itsemily @i-love-you-green @bubblyanis @emma-is-a-nerd @amethyst-atf @thegirlwhowishedeveryonelived @whyisgmora @kawaiikpoplover268 @booksalwaysandforever @fandomsstolemylife00 @rororo06 @jgtfvhsg @unadulteredscreams @justfangirliing @bitchy-witchy-post-mortem @kyky9103 @it-is-rebel-owl-ma-dudes @hiisay @aknerdchick @sana-li

A/N: i have some news! Chapter 10 is probably gonna be the ending to this series! Oh my god, I never thought it would get this far! I love you guys!! (no it’s not a puppy XD!!!!) Comment some things you wanna see in the last chapter!!

Ask box is always open to ask Jasper and Ally some things about their relationship that you have ALWAYS wondered!

That night, I’m laying on Charlotte’s bed, reading her a bedtime story. Well it’s not really a bedtime story, but rather it’s a book that’s filled with poems. Edward bought her the book so that she can get into poetry. It’ll give them something in common. He bought it before she got into piano but Charlotte loves it when we read this book to her anyway. This specific poem is called The Lotos-eaters which is by Alfred-Lord Tennyson.

“There is sweet music that softer falls, than petals from blown roses on the grass.” I read aloud. “Or night-dews on still waters between walls, of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass. Music that brings sweet sleep down from the blissful skies.”

I glance down at Charlotte who’s laying in my arms. Her eyes are closed and I smile. I gently move her and put the book on the side table after marking the spot we managed to get to tonight.

“Mommy?” Her sweet, precious and oh-so-innocent voice whispers.

“Yes, baby?” I look back down at her.

“Did Aunt Alice and Uncle Kevin run away because we’re gonna die?” She opens her eyes. “Because of me?”

“No, sweetie. I think they left to keep us safer.” I admit. “That’s what all these other people are here for too. I’ll never let anybody hurt you.”

I kiss her head and cover her up more. She snuggles to her stuffed bunny that Emmett bought for her.

“Go to sleep baby.” I whisper before standing up.

I turn off her lights before walking into the living room. I sigh and pick up the note that Alice left with Sam. Why would they just leave? I sit down on the couch while reading the note over and over. I glance up after a few minutes when I hear quiet footsteps.

“It’s strange. Physically, I feel like I could demolish a tank...Mentally? I just feel drained.” I look away from Jasper as he sits down next to me.

“How about a bath?” He asks, leaning over to me.

He starts kissing on my shoulder making me bite my lip softly. He reaches over and unbuttons my shirt...technically his shirt because I stole it from his part of the closet. I giggle slightly.

“I do remember how to undress myself, you know?” I smirk at him.

“Yeah, I just do it so much better.” He kisses my shoulder again. “For you, it’s just another mundane task. For me? It’s fun!”

I giggle slightly before looking back at Alice’s note and sigh.

“Ally, I’ve had a bad habit of underestimating you.” Jasper admits, looking at the note, keeping his chin on my shoulder. “Every obstacle you’ve faced, I’d think you couldn’t overcome it...and you did. You’re the reason I have something to fight for...My family.”

I look up at him and smile before kissing his lips, softly and yet still passionate enough to express all my love for him that I could never express in words alone. He smiles into the kiss before slowly leaning back, breaking the brief skin to skin contact.

“I’m gonna get the water running.” He stands up and kisses my forehead.

He walks into another part of the house and I stare down at the note. I flip it over to read the name of the book she ripped it from for the fifth time. Raising an eyebrow, I glance over to the bookcase that Jasper made sure to put in the house. The book is in the middle of the second row. I quickly stand up and speed over to it. Taking the book into my hands before taking a deep unneeded breath.

I open it before flipping, page by page until I see a familiar handwriting. Right before the first chapter, there’s another note from Alice.

‘J. Jenks, Seattle - destroy this.’

I raise an eyebrow once again. Alice made sure only I would get the message. She must have had a vision that I was a shield just like Bella and that my mind would be safe from Aro. I glance up when I hear Jasper’s footsteps again and I quickly throw the book into the fireplace.

The fire welcomes the book and starts burning it quickly.

***

The next day, I call and make an appointment with this J. Jenks. I decide to take Charlotte to my dad’s house to decorate the Christmas tree since Christmas is just around the corner. Seth wants to come with since his mom would be there as well as his imprint.

“You said your dad knows about you?” Seth asks, glancing at me from the passenger seat.

I nod. “Yep. He just doesn’t know about you guys. All he does know is that you and your mom know about me and the Cullens. I also don’t want him to come around the house with the 27 vampires. All of them around one human? That wouldn’t be so great. I don’t think that any of them have as good self control as I do.”

He chuckles before nodding. “I’m glad to get away from them. Their eyes kinda scare me. And their smell makes my wolf super mad.”

I glance over at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I know they’re the good guys but my wolf wants to attack. You’re different. You’re the mother of my imprint. My wolf likes you.” He chuckles again.

I nod in understanding before parking in front of my dad’s house. My dad and Sue walk out of the house just as Charlotte unbuckles her seat and jumps out.

“There she is!”

I get out at the same time as Seth. My dad catches Charlotte in his arms and swings her around for a second.

“Wow! Look at you! You’ve grown half a foot!” Dad says, wrapping an arm around her. “Seriously! Like six inches!”

She laughs and hugs him.

“Come on inside. Lunch is on the table.” Sue smiles and waves us toward the door.

“We got a tree to decorate, huh?” Dad smiles widely at Charlotte who nods fast.

“I’ve actually got a few errands to run. I’ll be back soon, okay?” I call out.

My dad looks at me and nods. “Is it a...Family thing?”

I get what he means. Is it a Vampire thing?

“Yep. Don’t worry. I’ll be back in time for the star on the top.” I smile widely.

“You see, Charlie, mommy over there ALWAYS puts the star on top.” Dad tells Charlotte.

“Really?” She giggles.

“Yep! It’s been her job since she was your age!” Dad kisses her head before waving at me. “Maybe even younger!”

I giggle and wave.

“Love you, guys!” I call out before getting into my car.

I hear them yell it back before I pull away from the house. I drive all the way to Seattle with one thing on my mind. ‘Alice’s note gave me a sense of hope. Maybe she had a plan for us after all and maybe J. Jenks was the key.’ I pull into the restaurant that we agreed to meet at this morning and I park my car. I walk inside at a human speed before being directed to his table.

I see an African American man sitting down with a briefcase in his lap. I stop by the table causing him to look up.

“Miss Swan.” He stands up and puts his hand out.

“Hi.” I smile and shake his hand.

“I am so happy you called.” He admits before we both sit down. “I always meet my private clients here, it’s more….comfortable than the office.”

“And it’s more public.” I nod.

He smiles before nodding. “Yes.”

“So what type of work do you do, J?” I ask, putting my hands in my lap.

“You know, this and that. It’s always different which keeps it interesting.” He reveals.

“Have you known Alice and Kevin long?” I ask.

“I’ve been working with them for more than 20 years. And my late partner knew Kevin 15 years before that. He’s...uh...unusually well preserved.” He whispers.

“Yes, he is.” I nod.

“I trust that Mr. Kevin is enjoying his vacation?” J raises an eyebrow.

“He didn’t tell you where he was going, did he?”

“No, no, no. He just mentioned that he was leaving when he came by to place his order.” J moves his briefcase.

“I assume his order is ready?” I bite my lip.

“Of course. I’ve never been late with a delivery.”

He opens his briefcase and hands me an envelope. I open it up to find forged passports and documentation for Charlotte and Seth. I bite my lip. Only they will be getting away if something happens. Jasper and I might lose our lives in this battle, but at least our child will be safe. That’s what matters to him and I at this point.

“Is there a problem?” J speaks up.

“No, my fiance and I thought we’d all be traveling together.” I lie easily.

“Kevin said only two were traveling. His instructions were very clear.” J says.

“It’s my mistake. Apparently that’s not going to happen.” I sigh.

J and I quickly end our meeting and I drive back to my dad's house. Alice’s vision was clear. Charlotte would have a future but...Jasper and I wouldn’t be a part of it. That night, I watch as Jasper quickly picks up Charlotte who squeals in delight before hugging him close. I smile and bite my lip, trying to get all the memories in now. If something happens...I want to know that we’ve done everything we could for her.

I walk into her room and quickly pack a bag. Packing in some clothes she’d need and money that I'd stashed away for a while, I make sure to get whatever I think might make her happy for her new life...one without her parents in it, if it comes to it. I grab one of her notebooks and write her a note.

‘My beautiful and wonderful Charlotte, I thought we would have forever together. But Forever isn’t as long as I’d hoped. I know now why Alice left me clues...It’s to keep you safe. Everything you and Seth will need is in this bag. Seth will protect you and he’ll help you learn about the Quileute Legends. Know that your father and I love you more than anything in this world. You are the best thing to ever happen to me. Hopefully one day you will be able to have your own children and know exactly what I feel everytime I look at you.

Love Always and Forever,

Mommy <3’

I jump when I hear a small knock on the door. Alistair is smirking down at me.

“It’s a romantic notion, isn’t it? That a righteous few can defy a great evil. But I must admit you...uh..even had me believing for a moment. Well, good luck.” He says before walking away. “You’re gonna need it. Cheers.”

I jump out of my seat and grab onto his arm. His head snaps toward me.

“Alistair, it’s a precaution. Alice…” I sigh. “Alice thinks that Charlotte and Seth will be able to get away if the fight does start. I want my child safe. You have to understand that.”

“I do…” He starts.

“Please. Don’t leave.” I whisper. “We need you.”

He sighs and nods. “If a fight starts...I’m out just like your family.”

“I understand that.” I nod. “But please...witness with them as well...”

He nods before I gently remove his arm.

“Thank you.” I whisper again. “I owe you. Anything you need.”

“I’ll hold you to that...forever.” He smirks.

I giggle and nod. “Forever.”

He quickly speeds out of the room.

***

Dad has been asking about Bella. I finally had to reveal the truth...like I have done for everything. I told him that Bella was mad that I had gotten pregnant so she left. She wanted Edward to be angry as well but he was excited. He wanted to get to know his niece so Bella left him.

Dad was upset. Said, ‘How could she do this? It’s not like it’s the end of the world that you got pregnant.’ I told him how she wanted to be a vampire and because I got pregnant it ruined her plans. He just rolled his eyes and shook his head before I put the star on the tree yesterday. But today is Christmas and we’re, of course, spending it with my dad, Sue, and Leah.

I sit on the arm of the couch watching Charlotte and Seth play a game on the floor. I giggle as Charlotte wins for the 2nd time in a row.

“How are you doing that?” Seth asks, staring at the board.

She giggles. “Uncle Emmett loves this game!”

“Again!” Seth resets the board.

I shake my head and look up when I feel a hand on my back. Jasper smiles down at me.

“Hi, sweetie.” I whisper softly.

He winks before kissing the top of my head.

“The snow is sticking.” I sigh.

“We still have today, baby.” He rubs my back.

I nod just as my dad walks out of the kitchen.

“Alright! Present time! Leah, stop eating. Seth, you start. Get it going.” Dad sits down in his favorite chair.

Seth hands a small package to Charlotte when I stand up.

“Here, dad. We didn’t have time to wrap yours.” I hold out an envelope.

He raises an eyebrow before taking it. He opens it and his eyes widen.

“A five day fishing trip to Fraser River?” He looks at us.

“It's for you and Sue.” I smile widely.

Jasper wraps an arm around my waist. “You leave tomorrow.”

“Wow, that’s really nice. Thank you!” He starts to read the tickets before his head snaps up. “Tomorrow? I can’t...I can’t leave tomorrow.”

“I made arrangements for you at work.” Sue walks in with two cups.

He nods. “Sneaky and extravagant.”

“And non-refundable, I’m afraid.” Jasper speaks up with a smile.

“You two trying to get rid of me?” Dad asks, watching us. Jasper and I glance at each other before looking at him again. “‘Cause it’s working.”

Dad laughs and looks back at the tickets. I relax and smile. He doesn’t know about this meeting we’re going to have. He just knows that the Cullens, Jasper, Seth, Leah, Charlotte and I are going on a small vacation so we won’t be home.��

“Fraser River...that means we’ll be chasing cutthroat.” Dad looks up to Sue who sits on the arm of his chair.

“We might even hook a rainbow or some bulls.” She smiles.

“Woman knows her trout.” Dad smiles at me.

I’m happy he found Sue. Someone he’s known his whole life and knows about my… condition and isn’t gonna ask why his granddaughter was looking 6 years old yesterday and now she’s looking like she’s going to be 12 next week. Charlotte stands up and holds up her present from Seth. I kneel down to her level.

“Hey, sweetie. That’s beautiful. Let me see.” I take the bracelet from her hand.

My eyes light up when I realize what it is. It’s a Quileute Promise Bracelet. It’s their version of a promise ring. I glance at Seth with a smile.

“Seth made this for you?” I ask, causing her to nod fast. “Wanna put it on?”

I put it on her wrist before kissing her head. She giggles.

“It’s so pretty.” She looks up at me.

“It is pretty. Just like you.” I poke her nose which makes her giggle. “Don’t forget to thank Seth.”

She turns to him and hugs him around his neck. I look up at Jasper who is smiling down at me. Best Christmas ever.

***

I finish putting up Charlotte’s tent. We only left my dad’s house a few hours ago and now we’re having a small bonfire before we have the…meeting tomorrow. I make sure she’s covered up before I read her a little more of her poem book. Right before she falls asleep, I give her a locket that Jasper got me for our first Christmas together a long time ago.

She opens it to reveal the photo of Jasper and I from our first date. The one where we’re dating and I’m laughing at him making fun of the instructor. Next to it the words ‘Plus Que Ma Propre Vie’ are engraved.

I kiss her head before whispering. “This means ‘more than my own life’, and that’s how much your father and I love you. Tomorrow I’m going to need you to stay with Seth, no matter what. Even if I tell him that…” I sigh. “That he has to take you somewhere.”

Charlotte looks up at me with a few tears running down her cheeks.

“I love you, mommy.”

“I love you, sweetie. Never ever forget that, okay?” I kiss her head again.

She nods against me. It doesn’t take long for her to fall asleep. I quietly slip out from under her when Seth crawls in. I pat his back and crawl out before standing beside Paul who’s hanging out at our bonfire tonight. He smiles and looks back at his small pile of wood. Benjamin walks over with a smile. He holds up one finger and fire appears.

I shake my head with a giggle. He holds up three more fingers, fire at all the tips. He then throws the fire at the logs creating our bonfire.

“That’s what I’m talking about. A little pre-battle bonfire, telling war stories.” Paul cheers a little before grabbing my arm, gently.

He pulls me down to the log where he’s now sitting causing me to sit on the edge. I bump my hips into his and he scoots over. Benjamin sits down next to him with a smile. Paul looks up at the rest of our witnesses with a raised eyebrow.

“What are you doing, standing there like a fucking statue?” He scuffs.

I playfully, and gently, smack his leg before pointing toward Charlotte’s tent.

“She’s asleep.” He rolls his eyes before smiling at me.

Garrett speeds over and sits down on a log next to ours.

“Name any American Battle, I was there.” He smirks.

“Little Big Horn.” Paul immediately says.

“I came this close…” He holds up two fingers. “...to biting Custer but the Indians caught him first.”

Kate speeds over and sits to Garrett.

“Try Oleg’s assault on Constantinople, he didn’t win that one on his own.” She smirks at him.

“If you’re talking about battles, you’re talking about the Eleven Years War. No one does rebellion like the Irish.” Liam speaks up from where his family’s sitting.

“You lost the Eleven Years War.” Garrett points out.

“Aye.” Liam nods. “But it was one hell of a rebellion.”

Everyone laughs and agrees with him. I try to listen to the rest of the battles and war stories but my ears pick up Jasper, Edward and Carlisle’s conversation.

“I can’t help thinking, all these people are putting themselves in danger because we fell in love with humans.” Edward mumbles.

“You guys found your mates. You deserve to be happy.” Carlisle pats his shoulder.

“But at what cost?” Jasper glances at his adoptive, vampire father.

“Everyone here has something to fight for. I certainly do. I have a granddaughter that I never thought I would have. I have a wife...my children. I would fight every day for them if I had too.” Carlisle reveals.

I feel eyes on the back of my head before someone else speaks.

“I never thanked you for bringing Alice, Kevin and I in. If you never did, I wouldn’t have the life I do now.” Jasper whispers but not low enough.

“Don’t thank me.” Carlisle chuckles. “Thank that wonderful woman you’ve got.”

A few seconds later I feel Jasper speed over to me. I look up just as he kneels and wraps his arms around my neck from behind.

“I love you.” He whispers in my ear.

I put my hands on his forearms and smile widely. “I love you, Mr. Whitlock-Hale.”

He kisses the back of my head before letting me go. I watch him bump into Paul’s back. Paul looks up, briefly, before asking Benjamin to scoot down. He does and Paul scoots down, following him. I scoot down the log as well. Jasper takes his place next to me, gently taking my hand, and weaving our fingers together as looks at everyone. Paul smirks and leans down.

“Finally found some people older than you, Mr. Steak Sauce.”

Jasper laughs and nods. “You’re right about that, kid.”

“I’m not a kid!” Paul playfully glares at him.

“Besides Charlotte and Seth, you are literally the youngest!” Jasper laughs.

“Least I’m not hard as a rock.” Paul crosses his arms.

I snort softly, hiding my face against Jasper’s neck, whispering. “I like it when you’re hard as a rock.”

“At least I’m not hairy.” Jasper retorts, gently squeezing my hand, before whispering, low enough for just me to hear. “I know you do, baby.”

Everyone laughs and Paul grumbles to himself. Garrett smirks before bringing up another battle he was in...but Kate reveals he needed help there as well.

#jasper hale #Twilight Jasper #jasper hale twilight #jasper hale fanfiction #jasper hale imagines #jasper hale imagine #jasper hale x oc #jasper hale x reader #jasper hale x you #jasper hale x y/n #jasper hale x swan!reader #jasper hale love story #twilight #twilight fanfiction #twilight love story

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tuscanwalker · 3 years

Text

September 10, 2021- Exit Through the Gift Shop

12.5 km, 100 m (325 ft) CUS

I guess I’m going to have to stop eating as though I was still walking. My smart watch says I walked around 18,000 steps yesterday and burned about 900 calories above baseline. This is a far cry from the 50,000+ steps and 4,500+ calories I burned on my last walking day. While I am sure that I was burning fat then, I am just as certain I am adding fat now. Strangely, Kim and I have never lost weight on any of our walks, we just cast thinner shadows at the end.

Today, after an 8 am breakfast, I ran to catch the 8:44 to Moselkern. From there, because I had no car and there is no shuttle on weekdays, I walked 5 km up a shallow trail until Burg Eltz appeared out of the forest. This was my kind of walking. An average 2% slope through a beautiful forest alongside the picturesque Eltz River. Meadows were filled with what others have described as wild orchids, although they look more like a relative of snapdragons to me. Even the stairs at the end were a civilized 20 m high. It took a bit over an hour each way, but it was time well spent.

As I have always said, when visiting popular sights it is best to go early or late to avoid the crowds. When I arrived at just past 10 a huge electric sign announced that there were currently 82 people in the castle grounds with a maximum Covid capacity of 350. When I left an hour or so later, the number on the big board was 331 and at least another 150 were lined up outside (terrifyingly cheek by jowl) and waiting to buy tickets.

Basically, this fairy tale castle has been under construction and reconstruction since the 12th Century. Three of the Eltz brothers had an argument 100 years after construction began and the family split into three parts, the Golden Lions (Eltz Kempenich), the Silver Lions (Eltz Rubinach) and the Buffalo Horns (Eltz Rudindorf. Over the next 500 years they built three interconnected homes within the Castle (condo?). Through shrewd political alliances they avoided having the castle stormed and demolished like so many others in the region although there was that unfortunate 5 year siege during the so called “Eltz Feud”. The Rudindorf branch of the family died out in the 18th century and the Rubinich branch sold out in the 19th. Today, the Kempenichs use about a third of the castle as a vacation home while the rest is open to the public as a way of paying the horrendous upkeep costs. This is the only actual tour I have been on while in Germany. Each tour was limited to ten people and we had to simply walk quickly through two rooms as they were not deemed large enough to permit sufficient physical distancing. No pictures were allowed except in the Treasury and Armoury where the family kept some of its goodies.

After walking back down (I met no one on my way up, but over 100 on my way down) I hopped a train back to Cochem, arriving 4 1/2 hours after I left. I immediately threw out my hiking shoes. They were the same ones I used in Portugal and while I had not worn them since, the sole on the right one began to separate a couple of days ago. This may because that is the leg I limped on for 500+ km in Portugal or it could be that I was almost always walking north on the west side of the river, so the right shoe provided most of the support on the many trails that sloped off the cliffs.

Then, for the last time, I grabbed another leisurely lunch with a half a litre of Riesling and sat reading on the restaurant terrace for a couple of hours. While my wine consumption is likely going to come under review when I get home, it should be remembered that Riesling in only around 10% alcohol. Thus my half litre had only slightly more than would two glasses of the wines we usually drink that are 14-16% alcohol. If that sounds like rationalization to you, you are very astute.

Tomorrow, I’m off to the Frankfurt Airport where I will get my very expensive preflight molecular Covid test (have appt) and then adjourn to the Airport Ibis Hotel to see if I can come home on Sunday. I will also try to fulfill the true purpose of my trip, to get Lu-Anne a bottle of Monkey 57 gin in duty free as it is apparently available only in Germany.

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the-coconut-asado · 4 years

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Our Golden Girl’s Kitchen

A couple of years back, my cousin Doro announced she was going to publish a book of our grandmother’s recipes. It set all the cousins off on an odyssey of frenzied WhatsApps swapping memories, and in my case a mad dash to storage to find yet another of mum’s old scrapbooks, stuffed with fragments of recipes typed up on that onion-skin paper of the Mad Men era.

Slowly but surely, recipes surfaced for Granny’s steak and kidney pudding (to this day, the name of our family WhatsApp group), tallarines (fettuccine by any other name) and more cakes and tarts than a whole series of Masterchef pressure tests.

But Doro’s job was made much easier by someone else who had kept Granny’s legacy alive all these years. The person who, while Granny was a distant memory for many of us, was the biggest influence on our lives. At the end of the book, Doro wrote a dedication to her: “ Auntie Joan, I remember you, sometime before Christmas, making us stir the plum pudding and saying “don’t forget to make a wish!”; the chicken pie or Irish stew with dumplings you prepared when I used to come for lunch after university classes; the plum ice cream you always had in your “ancient” fridge and the smell of scones and cake on our birthdays.’

Last week, Auntie Joan died. 99 years of love, wisdom and many a raised eyebrow at each of us at one time or another. She had a delicious smile that hinted at secrets she might share with you some day, and even up to her mid-nineties kept a ramrod straight back, figure to die for and effortless elegance that prompted a 28 year old male friend to comment at my wedding that she was the only 68 year old he had ever fancied.Cheeky, but at the same time, kudos.

If I’ve made her sound like a warm embrace of a woman, she was. She was also a ninja. For most of her working life, Auntie Joan - Joan Nolan MBE - was Vice Consul at the British Embassy in Rosario, and later in Buenos Aires. She started volunteering there during the war, and eventually they started to pay her (nice of them), then promote her.

This had upsides - her influence to help others (a guiding principle of her life), the opportunity to travel, and the people she met. She once told me of an Embassy cocktail party on board a ship attended by Eva and Juan Peron. She had little time for Peron, but was a little flattered when having started to leave down the gangplank he abruptly turned back, sought Auntie Joan out, kissed her hand and apologised profusely for not having said goodbye. Manners counted for a lot with her, so the apparently off-hand Eva was barely mentioned in despatches.

Her job also had downsides: held at gunpoint more than once, and in the constant company of a bodyguard after her boss was kidnapped (the inspiration for Graham Greene’s novel The Honorary Consul). One day a masked gang raided the embassy, rounded up all the staff, tied them up and locked them in the bathroom. But the ringleader treated Joan with weird courtesy, politely requested she enter the bathroom but left her unbound. Joan said afterwards: “ I think that man knew me. And if I ever see those eyes again, I will know who he was.” She kept looking but never did, but she did show us the hail of bullet holes the gang had let off at the outer wall of the embassy before they left.

30 years on, at 85, clearly feeling she had been down this road before, she wrestled an armed thief trying to steal her friend’s car. ‘ Dear, I knew the gun was a toy’, she said breezily when I had my WTAF! Moment on a phone call with her.

Though all this time she looked after my grandparents and my great aunt until their deaths - pretty thankless and back-breakingly hard as they all survived to their nineties and in my great aunt’s case to 101 - as well as her husband Stanley who died when she was still young. Yet she still made time to feed, nurture and look out for her nieces and nephews as they travelled through her flat en route to school, college and work - and then her grand nieces and nephews as they repeated the cycle.

Living in London, I didn’t see as much of Joan as my cousins, but felt just as close to her thanks to her copious letters. And it was her trips to London I remember most. Wafting glamorously into Gatwick in her boucle red overcoat, nipping up to Newcastle for the day to have lunch with a friend (when Dad retold the story, he always added, untruthfully, ‘And the friend wasn’t even at home!”), leaving a cloud of delicate rose scent in her wake, a perfume that always reminded me of her apartment in Rosario. A bit like Buenos Aires itself, Auntie Joan was an evocation of the best bits of 1930’s Europe.

And despite eating like a mouse in her own home - spreading her morning toast with what looked and tasted like wallpaper paste but was actually zero cholesterol cream cheese - her kitchen with its pots and pans, scoured and gleaming within an inch of their lives, was in a constant hiatus of puddings, pies and roasts for the family as well as that iconic plum pudding at Christmas. And when we took her out to eat the appetite she kept hidden at home came tumbling out. I once witnessed her demolish a whole sea bass, noodles and a quarter of a peking duck when we took her to a restaurant in Chinatown. Unlike the rest of my family, she was unafraid of spice and heat.

Serene, always; sassy, sometimes. After all, Joan’s favourite TV programme when she came to visit us in London was The Golden Girls. In a life where everyone depended on her, she was someone comfortable with not needing to depend on anyone else - until old age meant she had to. I used to smile to myself when, in later years, she would end all of her stories with ‘And they said, “Joan, you are the ONLY one who could have done/ solved/ sorted/ this’’. And yet, if we don’t tell the world how talented, determined and capable we are - who else is going to? #thiswomancould

So here are two dishes that we all eat thanks to Auntie Joan - her plum ice cream (with some added spice from cinnamon) and her Spanish Cake, a delicate and sweet treat that evokes those high teas that are still a family tradition. And finally, a dish that evokes the memory of lemon chicken, the dish that she and my daughter Lara would love to make together.

Hasta luego, nuestra querida tia. We were so lucky to have you as long as we did.

Plum ice cream

I have never eaten plum ice cream other than at Auntie Joan’s house and I have no idea why it isn’t a popular flavour commercially. My version only tweaks her original recipe - two egg whites rather than one, a stick of cinnamon and the seeds of a vanilla pod added to the plums as they poach. The brilliant thing about this ice cream - aside from it’s taste of autumn, log fires and sticky crumble - is that you don’t need an ice cream maker.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

300g red-skinned plums

175g caster sugar

¾ cup water

1 cinnamon stick

Seeds from one vanilla pod

Juice of half a lemon

300g double cream

2 egg whites

How to make

Seed and quarter the plums and pop into a pan with the sugar, cinnamon stick, vanilla seeds and water. Bring to a simmer, cover and continue to simmer on a low heat until the plums are soft and the liquid has become syrupy. Turn off the heat and leave for another 10 minutes - you really want the spices and the red skin of the plums to seep into the syrup.

Turn the plums into a sieve and extract as much syrup and pulp as you can into a clean bowl, using the back of a spatula. Cover and chill for at least an hour.

In two separate bowls, whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks (be careful not to overbeat or it will turn into butter) and the egg whites until they form firm peaks.

Alternate folding the cream, then the egg whites, then cream, then egg whites into the plum pulp.

Pour into a freezer container - or just use an oblong cake tin, cover and freeze overnight. Remember to take out of the fridge for 15 mins before serving.

Spanish Cake

This is the perfect cake to eat with a cup of tea or coffee. Light and delicate from texture to flavour. Simple dust of icing sugar on the top and you are good to go. Auntie Joan’s original recipe as typed - which features in Doro’s book - is as spare with detail as one of Bake Off’s technical challenges. Fortunately I featured it in a column I wrote for Choice magazine a few years ago, so have filled in the gaps. Makes 12-16 squares.

Ingredients

125g melted unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

2 eggs, separated

125ml milk

600g plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp mixed spice

Icing sugar to serve

How to Make

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm square cake tin and line with baking parchment.

Whisk the sugar with the butter until thick and pale. Add the egg yolks and continue to beat for a couple of minutes.

Add the milk and beat again. Finally, sift in the flour, baking powder and spices and mix gently until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the cake batter.

Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. The cake is ready when the top is golden and a toothpick or sate stick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Cool in the cake tine for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. When cool, dust the surface with icing sugar, cut into squares and serve.

Quick Chicken with kale, haricots and caramelised lemon

Auntie Joan loved chicken, and when we visited Buenos Aires when my daughter Lara was little, she and Auntie Joan would love to make lemon chicken together. Am sure she would have loved this flavour-packed little number, courtesy of Alison Roman in the NY Times.

Ingredients

1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed

1 shallot, peeled and cut into 8

6-8 chicken thighs

1 400g can of haricot or cannellini beans

1 bunch kale, leaves only (discard ribs)

1tblspn sunflower oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil for dressing

How to make

Toss the lemon slices and shallots in a small bowl and season.

Heat a large frying pan or skillet, add the sunflower oil, then add the chicken, skin side down. Press the chicken down with a spatula to ensure the maximum surface gets nice and brown. Cook for 5-8 minutes, then cook on the other side for a further 8-10 minutes until cooked through and the chicken skin is nice and crispy. Transfer the chicken to a plate, leaving the fat in the pan.

Add the lemon and shallot to the hot pan - stand pack as it will probably spit and sizzle. Cook, stirring gently, until the lemon has started to caramelise - about 3-5 minutes.

Add the drained beans to the pan and season. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans soak up that caramelised chicken fat - about 4 mins. Working in batches, add kale and toss to wilt, seasoning again as you go.

Return the chicken to the pan, along with the juices that have collected on the plate, and cook for a couple of minutes more.

Serve, drizzled with a little olive oil, and accompany with some crusty bread.

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sabine-leo · 5 years

Text

Mischief Managed...

I got the first request from a raffle winner yesterday! And I was able to comply fast! So, here is the first Oneshot written for @bluedemonsblog! Hope you enjoy!

Author: @sabine-leo

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Wordcount: 2554

Summary/ Request by @bluedemonsblog: Loki is New in the avengers Tower and things are kinda awkard because of New York and all, but april fool's is close so the reader go talk to him since he is the god of mischief to get some Ideas and hopefully team up! Bonus points If Loki didn't know what april fool's is! In the end of the day reader and Loki end up as good friends and the other avengers are confused and kinda scared

Today was the day…

Today the tower would get another ‘inmate’ as you jokingly called every resident who lived here.

Currently there were 9 residents. Tony & Pepper, Peter, Steve, Bucky, Bruce, Nat, Thor whenever he was on Midgard as he called it and yourself. The other Avengers dropping by on a daily basis. Well, today the number would go up one resident and there would be 10 quarters inhabited. It had taken Tony a while to get accustomed to the idea, but he finally came around to accept that this was the right thing to do. You had met the new resident only on one mission and there you never really had the time to talk to him or give him more than a once over with your eyes.

The short glances had been enough to know that he was one handsome and tall specimen but you couldn´t help yourself hanging around the general area waiting for his arrival to get another maybe lingering look on the God of Mischief himself. Curled up on a sofa overlooking the skyline of New York and more important the landing pad of the tower, you sat there half-heartedly reading a book. Even if you had been totally taken in by the story you would not have missed the bright, rainbow-light that almost blinded you just this second. Thor emerged first, head held high and ready to knock down everyone in his way followed by the black haired, tall God called Loki that regally strode out of the light. Seemingly at ease and carrying himself with a very alluring self-esteem. Tony stumbled out last. Shaking his head and with a little trouble to stand up straight he held up one finger as he stabilized himself with one hand on his knees.

“I think I´m gonna puke! Holly shit, the whole ride I tumbled like a leave in the wind!”

Thor boomed out a laugh and clapped Tony on the back which almost sent him on his knees.

Loki just stood there with his hands behind his back and watched Tony struggle to keep his breakfast in. “If you need to relieve yourself I would recommend not to hurl over the edge, you might heave onto a poor soul walking the streets.” That actually made Tony laugh and stand up straight again only to say “Let´s get inside! I think I need to lay down for a moment!”

Walking along the pad the 3 very different men came inside and looked over as you stood up to greet them. “Hey, welcome back!” You said with a smile on your face. Tony tumbled onto the sofa next to you with a groan and Thor smiled back “Lady (Y/N) how nice of you to greet us upon our arrival!” He hugged you in a almost bone crashing bear-hug. “Hey Thor!” You laughed as he had put you down again and looked over to Loki. “Welcome Loki, I´m (Y/N) I never got to introduce myself on our joined mission.” You held out a hand.

Loki looked at your hand and nodded but didn´t take it. “May I please retire to my quarters?!” He asked polite but would not look into your eyes. Thor looked confused. “I thought I could show you around first…” “Brother, please. Just show me to my quarters…” Thor nodded and threw an excusing look your way as he led Loki out of the common area into the sector of the private quarters. Loki did not seem at ease at all as he led you believe after stepping out of the Bifrost. He seemed a bit unsure and tense to be here in New York. You hoped he would get around and settle in. The New York incident almost 4 years in the past should not worry him that much any longer…at least you thought so. He was cleared of all charges and not under any influence any longer. He could be himself and start being a part of the team….well you hoped he would be!

You didn´t see Loki for lunch, nor for dinner and not for breakfast the next day. He should be starving by now. At least you would be. Putting something together on a tray you decided to be nice and bring him a tray full of food. Maybe he was not ready to be around the others just now. Knocking on his door with your foot as your hands were full you waited a moment. The door flew open “WHAT?” an angry looking Loki stood before you but his face fell the second he recognised it was you.

“Umm..” you started “I thought you might be hungry?!” with a little smile you held up the tray.

“I didn´t know what your preferences are so I put a bit of everything on it!”

Loki looked at the tray and then into your eyes. “That is very kind of you.” He took the tray from your hands and his belly rumbled. “Seems like you are hungry” You laughed a little. Loki smiled and seemed to be torn between being polite and wanting his peace. You stepped back, relieving him of the choice. “Bon Appetit…If you´d like some company my quarters are 2 doors down opposite yours… It´s nice to have you around!” With that you left him staring after you.

She really meant it Loki thought. He could not sense a lie nor a mistrust or unease on your part. Someone who encountered him without being biased or feeling uneasy around him had been very rare in his whole live. With a slight smile on his face he stepped inside his room and demolished the breakfast…

Lunch and Dinner passed again without Loki joining you and the others. But the next morning a knock sounded on your door and as you opened it a tray with breakfast waited at your doorstep. Looking up you saw Loki’s door close with a soft click. So he wanted to get into contact, or at least retaliate for the favour you did him yesterday. Taking the tray you went into the kitchen and added some things to it, then went back and knocked on Loki’s door again.

He opened with a hesitant look but a small smile lightened up his face as he saw you and the tray of food. “I thought we could eat together?!” You said with a smile and waited for him to respond.

“I didn´t want to impose…” He said in his formal manner but opened the door wider and added more darkly “If you are brave enough to step into my lair…” You grinned and stepped inside. “If you want to test my bravery you need to up your game! I´m not scared of you when you drop your voice.” Loki chuckled a little and gave the door a push that it fell loudly into its lock. You didn´t even flinch, you just looked around at the still packed boxes and the empty walls.

“Your lair needs enhancing if I may say so!” You sat down on the floor and looked up at this tall, leather-clad god looking down on you. His expression was intense as he said “Your bravery intrigues me, I can´t say that this happens a lot with Midgardians. But aren´t you afraid to be behind closed doors with the one that attacked this city?”

You took a sip of the Orange juice and set the glass down again. “You were not yourself, you were influenced and relieved of all charges, so why should I be afraid? Innocent until proven guilty..” You winked at him. “And you intrigue me as well… Can´t say that happens a lot with gods from Asgard!” You copied his words. Loki sat down opposite you and tried to get his long legs into a crossed legged position. “What about my brother…he´s a god of Asgard too?!”

Grinning you said “Well, yes, he is…but he is more like a big clumsy puppy most of the times. IF you don´t get on the wrong side of his hammer…” Loki actually laughed out loud at your description. “Do you care to tell me what you think of me ?” He looked a bit hesitant but smiled as he saw you did not take offense of him being so direct.

You tilted your head and looked at him. “Hmm.. I might need some more time to be accurate but for now I think you are a handsome stranger that needs help making this place your home!”

Loki grinned “Handsome?”

You laughed. “Yes, Handsome… but shouldn´t you take offense at me criticizing your house keeping?” Loki laughed and looked around. “No, I think you are quite right…I am in dire need of help…”

That was the start of a slowly building friendship between you and the god of mischief. Loki did not befriend someone lightly and he still needed a little more time to adjust to the fact that you really wanted to be his friend. Helping him making his assigned quarters his home was a good start. You helped him shop some stuff that he´d like to have in his room and the joined breakfast was a ritual you kept up over months now.

One particular day you had played a prank on Thor who had gotten on your nerves lately. Laughingly running through the corridor while being chased by a flour covered Thor you ran right into Loki´s room without knocking. You only heard “I WOULD NOT!” from Thor whereas a confused looking Loki tried to take the scene in as you tried to hide behind him. Thor wanted to enter Loki´s room but a invisible barrier kept him out.

Hmm interesting, you ALWAYS could walk right in…

“Loki! Hand out this little misbehaving Midgardian!” Thor boomed… Giggling behind Loki he had to hide a smile as he looked at his ghostlike looking brother. “What is the matter brother? You seem to look awfully pale this morning…” Another fit of giggles behind Loki’s back.

“By Odin, hand her out.. she pranked me! She is like a little fierce protégé of mischief!”

Loki grinned and turned to look at you. “Is that so darling?”

He had taken on giving you pet names over the last weeks and you quite enjoyed it.

“In my defense, your brother got on my nerves and it´s almost April fool’s day!”

Thor tried another time to get in…without luck…

“He can be a big oaf at times…” Loki said and turned back to face Thor.

“It seems you deserved to be pranked…and who am I to judge a mischief-maker?!”

Thor wanted to interrupt but Loki flicked his fingers and the door closed into Thor´s face.

Loki grinned as Thor swore but turned to look at you.

“I´m afraid you are stuck in my room for the time being… so do pray tell, WHAT on Midgard is April Fool´s Day?”

With a big grin on your face you inaugurated Loki to the tradition of April Fools!

After your explanation Loki´s eyes lit up. The broad smile on his face was more than handsome and you were happy to be in his good graces.

“Alright Darling….we do have 2 days left to plan let´s get to work!”

Ohhh this was going to be fun!

April Fools day came and it started off with a bang! Literally…

A loud boom went off in the kitchen and seemingly shook the foundations of the Tower. Everybody currently in the Tower came running. Steve in his stars and stripes boxers, Bucky only with a towel around his waist. Thor butt naked with his hammer only covering him in the front and Tony very dishevelled in his pyjamas. You and Loki sat inside the kitchen….but only you and the whole kitchen were covered in confetti… Loki was spotless.

“What the heck?” Tony yelled but got distracted by Thor´s naked butt.

Loki grinned. “Sorry to wake you… I guess the confetti bomb was a bit too explosive and went off to early…but anyhow… APRIL FOOLS EVERYBODY!” Loud murmurs of disbelieve and immaturity remarks were thrown your way as everybody retreated into their chambers again to get ready for the day.

“God, I think I´m blinded by seeing Thor naked…and WHY did only I get to be covered in confetti?” You asked the grinning god opposite you.

“For my pleasure... but we better hide now. The fun starts soon!”

Loki stood up and held out his hand… you took it and the both of you went into his room.

Soon there were shouts heard all around the Tower. Loki had programmed the screens in the lab to be upside down for the day which Tony and Banner did not find very comfy to look at.

You had put glitter in Thor´s blow-dryer which Loki found VERY amusing as he saw Thor’s glittery head on the surveillance screen the both of you had set up in Loki’s room. EVERY outfit Steve would put on today would magically change into a stars and stripes suit. And Bucky had to seek his arm in a room full of water balloons and soapboxes. Jarvis would NOT answer a question today or come to aid if anybody needed his help but you and Loki. Somehow you had convinced him that this was a fun day and he even played annoying songs through the speakers in every room but Loki’s.

Loki beamed with joy and fun. You hadn´t seen him that happy since he had moved in. Laughing softly you picked some more confetti out of your hair and watched him. “I think we should not leave this room for the next day until everybody has cooled down again…sorry Trickster.. you´re stuck with my company!” Loki turned and walked over to were you were standing.

“I could not wish for a better companion!” He wrapped you in a tight hug and kissed your cheek.

You blushed a little but smiled at him. He was hands on with you but until now he had never made a move for more…

Loki laughed a softly, picking at some confetti dots sticking to your neck…

“You really are COVERD with confetti!”

“DUH! It´s got into my clothes too, I don´t know how but you managed to stick it to my whole body!” Loki smiled wickedly. “I already told you…FOR MY PLEASURE! But if you ask nicely I may trade my secret..”

“Trade?” You asked and looked up into his beautiful eyes.

“Yes, trade…” he grinned and backed you into the bathroom.

“…Loki?” you asked a little unsure. “If this is another prank I will get back at you!”

Loki smiled and pecked your lips. “It is not darling…I promise…! I simply want to help you free your body from the confetti…under the shower….naked…with a lot of kissing! I´m done being your friend…” He looked into your eyes. “I want to be your friend AND your lover, I never thought I would find someone that fitting for me…but then I met you…”

Bending down he initiated a kiss that branded you inside and out. Yes, the both of you did fit.. in every aspect!!! And it wasn´t only for Loki´s pleasure that he had to be VERY thorough freeing you from the confetti!

In the Tower…nobody felt save on April the 1st ever again!

Loki Tags for: @drakesfiance @confessionsofastrugglingteen @inlovewithfreyamikaelson @heart-shaped-hell @theoneanna @marikochi @xxxeatyourh3artoutxxx @awkwardfangirl2014 @rainbowsinthestorm @bluedemonsblog

#Loki #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #loki x reader #loki x you #loki fanfic #Loki fanfiction #au fanfiction #god of mischief #loki god of mischief #trickster #the avengers #au avengers fic #fanfiction #avengers fanfic #tom hiddleston #lokis army #i love loki #loki friggason

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365daysofsasuhina · 5 years

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[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred Fifty-Three: Stacks ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga Neji, Hyūga Hiashi ] [ SasuHina, death ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]

What a heavy two weeks it’s been.

The passing of her aunt was undeniably difficult. Funeral arrangements - handled mostly by her cousin, and her father - at least ended with a beautiful if not sorrowful reflection of her life. And as much as the grief weighs on them, well...life goes on. They all have jobs, homes, and in some cases relationships to tend to. While Hotaru will never be forgotten...there’s still so much more to be remembered.

Hinata took the few days surrounding the funeral off from work to stay in the city, helping with arrangements and providing moral support for Neji. Thankfully her boss is rather understanding, giving her the days with her paid leave and offering more should something come up.

Two days after, Hinata’s arranged to return home, giving heartfelt goodbyes to her cousin, and even to her father and sister.

“...hopefully the next time I’m in town, things will be...lighter,” she offers softly, hands loosely clasped as she looks sorrowfully at them all. “D-don’t hesitate to call if you need me, or if something else comes up.”

“Thank you, Hinata. Having you here made a world of difference,” Neji replies, tone still weighed with grief.

“Of course...take care, Neji. Father, Hanabi.”

“We’ll be in touch,” Hiashi assures her before the group disbands.

Thankfully, by now, Hinata’s car is more than fixed. The demolished tire from her first day back to the city was easily replaced, and nothing else has gone wrong with the vehicle since.

...she also hasn’t contacted the man who gave her a lift into town.

Mostly, she just can’t wrap her head around a celebrity just so happening upon her in her hour of need, let alone being nice enough to give her a ride, listen to her grief, and give her his number in case she happened to need anything else.

In truth, well...nothing has come up to ask of him. Not that Hinata thinks she could bring herself to even if something did, but...well, she also lacks an excuse.

And now she’s heading home for what will likely be a long absence from her home city, and...she’s not sure when she’ll be back, let alone if she’ll ever have a reason or chance to run into Sasuke again. The two hour drive is typically only made for holidays or birthdays. Or...well, days like what brought her here this time around.

But before she makes the long trip back, Hinata decides to be ever so slightly self indulgent. While some parts of the city hold bittersweet (or just plain bitter) memories...one place she still finds comfort in is a diner along one of the slower streets. How it’s still standing with all of the remodels and buyouts around it, Hinata really isn’t sure...but she’s damn glad it’s still there.

Parking in the lot with a surprising amount of other cars, she steps out and locks her own, taking a moment to look the building over. It’s had a few touch-ups since she was a little girl - new paint, a bigger parking lot - but otherwise is the same place she can just barely remember coming to with her mother and father before Hanabi was born, and her mother lost.

Sighing softly, she adjusts her purse along her shoulder and walks in.

Immediately, the smells of good food fill her nose, and she can’t help a small smile and a happy hum. It’s been far too long since she let herself come here. Waiting to be taken to a table, she accepts a menu...but already knows what she’s here for.

...that’s when she pauses.

Digging out her phone, her fingers wriggle in indecision over the screen, hovering over Sasuke’s name. Surely he’s busy...it’s not like she can just ask him to stop what he’s doing and waste his time on her. Especially for something so...insignificant.

...and yet something tells her to try

Nibbling her lip, she quickly types up a message and hits send before she can chicken out.

...do you happen to be in the mood for pancakes?

Setting her phone down anxiously, she locks her hands to keep from fidgeting, eyes giving the mobile frequent glances. A minute passes...and then two...and then it buzzes!

Like she’s trying to grab a slippery fish, Hinata dives onto the phone, nearly letting it squirt out of her grip before reading the message.

As a matter of fact, I was just thinking about lunch. Where r u?

Staring dumbly at the reply, it takes her a long moment to process that he just agreed. Shaking away her shock, she gives him the name and address of the place.

Cool. C u in 10.

...did that really just happen?

A bit numb in shock, Hinata declines to order quite yet, instead asking for a mug of hot chocolate...complete with whip cream. Sipping it quietly once it arrives, she can’t help her eyes flicking to the door every few seconds.

When he walks in, she almost chokes.

Dark eyes roam over the place before spotting her, gesturing when the waitress comes to seat him. She, unlike Hinata’s first impression, clearly recognizes him, attempting to subtly gush over him as she takes him to Hinata’s table.

...her attitude cools, however, when she sees he’s moving to sit alone with a woman.

Shrinking a bit sheepishly at her scathing glance, Hinata watches her go before looking to Sasuke. “...I, um...I-I really didn’t think you’d...that you’d come.”

“You caught me at just the right time,” he affirms, giving his own menu a glance. “Just finished a photo shoot and I’m starving.”

“...oh! Well...good! Um...just about a-anything is good here.”

“You said something about pancakes?”

Oh...he remembers what she said? “Y...yeah. Um…” A nervous hand tucks hair behind her ear. “...I used to come here with my family when I was pretty little. After all of the...after the last few weeks, I just...wanted to come in again before I left.”

“Heading home?”

“Mhm...I’ve already missed several days of work.”

“Ah, right...architect, if I remember correctly…?”

“Yes. M-my boss is pretty nice, so...I’ve had more time than I r-really should have.”

“Glad they understood. And that I got to see you before you head back.”

Hinata can’t help but stiffen just a hair in surprise. He’s…? “M...me too. Sorry I didn’t, um...text you earlier. Busy, and...w-well, I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Sasuke snorts. “If I had something on, I’d just reply later. My brother has me well trained not to look at my phone when I shouldn’t.”

She stifles a small laugh. “Oh…?”

“Yeah...he’s a bit more polite than I am,” Sasuke replies, giving a hint of a grin. “Older brother syndrome: forever my babysitter.”

“M-my cousin is the same way with me…”

It’s then the waitress returns, asking for their orders. Hinata gets her desired pancakes topped with strawberry jam, and Sasuke does the same, holding on the jam and getting only butter.

“Not a fan of sweets,” he explains at her look once the server leaves.

“W-what?! But...that’s not possible. Sweets are so good!”

He shrugs, clearly amused. “I think my brother got all the sweet teeth. He’d be right there with you. I’m just more of a salty or savory guy.”

“Then w-why did you get pancakes…? There’s other things to order.”

“Well, I wanted to see what the fuss was about.”

In spite of herself, Hinata goes a light shade of pink.

Eventually, two rather impressive stacks of pancakes arrive: one with jam, the other slathered in butter. Hinata has to pause. Has this dish always come with so many…? Can she even eat them all?

“Smells awesome,” Sasuke admits, breaking her from her surprise.

“...they are! They’re p-perfectly light and fluffy,” she replies, eagerness returning at his enthusiasm. Taking up her own utensils, she takes a bite as he does, forgetting herself for a moment and humming in satisfaction.

Just as heavenly as she remembers.

Across from her, Sasuke chews thoughtfully for a moment before swallowing. “...I will admit, I’m not really a pancake guy...but these are damn good.”

Mouth still full, Hinata simply brightens in response, then going pink as she realizes she looks like a bit of a chipmunk, cheeks full of pancake.

As she sheepishly ducks to chew, Sasuke just chuckles.

They pass the time with idle conversation: Sasuke does most of the talking, offering bits of his schedule the past few weeks. As expected, he’s been busy.

“Since our last film came out, we’ve been promoting it like crazy. It’s done pretty well, so they want to milk it for all its worth. Hence the shoot this morning.”

“I see...I don’t really s-see many movies, but I’ll have to go watch it!”

“You don’t have to just cuz I’m in it. Only if you’re actually interested.”

“I am!”

Head leaned in a hand as he watches her struggle to finish her last pancake, Sasuke seems to quietly study her. “...m’glad you texted me. I talk to a lot of people, but...it’s a lot easier to talk to you than any of them.”

She pauses mid bite, blinking. “...really?”

“Yeah. You’re just so...normal.” His brow perks as she snorts. “...what?”

“...I-I don’t know about normal…”

“Well, compared to a lot of the kooks I end up around most days. You just...talk. And listen. Everyone else just wants to be heard, wants to be right, wants something from me. It’s exhausting.”

Brow wilting, Hinata isn’t sure how to respond. “...it c-certainly sounds tiring...I’m sorry.”

“Eh...it comes with the job. Still...it’s nice to have a break. So thanks. I needed this more than you know. But by the sounds of it, you don’t head this way too often, do you?”

At that, she grimaces a bit in guilt. “Well...no, n-not really. Four hours round trip is just...rough. And, um...m-my family is rather busy, so I don’t see them much. But...maybe I could -?”

“Don’t make arrangements just on my behalf,” he cuts in, waving a hand. “That’s not fair.”

“But -?”

“It’s fine. If you have other reasons to turn up, let me know, and I’ll make it work. But don’t go out on a limb just for my sake. I’ll survive. Besides, we’ve broken the texting ice. That’ll be nice on its own.”

“Well...a-all right.”

He affords her a small smile before glancing to her plate, half a pancake still left. “...give up?”

After a confused pause, she laughs. “Yeah...I don’t remember it being that much food.”

Before she can object, he sneaks his fork over, snagging a cut but untouched bite and chomping it.

Hinata just...blinks.

“...hm...not too bad,” he offers nonchalantly, setting down the utensil. “Still too sweet, though.”

She doesn’t have a reply, taken aback.

“Well...I better get back to it. And you probably want to get home.”

“O-oh, um...yeah.”

“Hey, text me when you get back, all right? Just in case I have to go rescue you again.”

“...oh! Um...a-all right. I’ll...I’ll do that.”

The pair head out, Hinata ignoring the squinting glare from the waitress as she finds her car. “Well...guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah, for sure. Drive safe, Hinata.”

“Y-you too!” Slipping into her seat, Hinata revs the engine before carefully navigating the lot, winding through town and onto the highway.

Belly full of pancakes and mind full of thoughts, she prepares for the long drive home.

.oOo.

(This is a sequel to day 352!) A very quick turn around from yesterday's prompt! Partly because this actually fit and came to me quickly, but also because a reader asked for a follow up, and...I thought I'd go ahead and do that! Hinata seems to be making a new friend! Nothing quite like bonding over pancakes, lol - Sasuke appears to appreciate her simplicity. I'm sure they're going to remain in touch ;3 Anywho, I gotta head to bed, so that's all from me. Thanks for reading!

#sasuhina #uchiha sasuke #hyūga hinata #hyūga neji #hyūga hiashi #death //#best years of your life [ au ]#365daysofsasuhina

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afraidof-thedark · 5 years

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My family and I see the same chiropractic doctors - a husband and wife team. When we first started going I remembered their office having two large photos - one of them as a family, and one of their two young boys. One was probably 2 and the other 4 or 5. After a few months I went back in and the wife was pregnant with the third - she was also licensed to do chiropractic work on other pregnant women and babies/toddlers, and she’d been working on a baby that day and came out of the room holding them and smiling while also being pregnant - I remembered thinking that was very cute - on my return even later she was out after having had the baby and I remember having to wait long as her husband rushed around trying to take both of their patient loads for the day.

Fast forward to my mom going in. They have a conversation that my mom is sharing with me later in the week and she said she had told him, “well, when you have kids, yada yada yada...”

I was immediately confused and said, “Mom, he has three already.”

She swore he didn’t, and so did my dad and brother. Up and down, everyone swore.

Next time I went in and asked, and sure enough, no kids - just cats. I was heavily disassociating the rest of the day.

I have vivid memories of photographs of them as a family, photographs of the two boys together, and of seeing her pregnant and hearing about the delivery. I even remember her complaining about her feet hurting one day while being on the tail end of the pregnancy.

It still bothers me almost every day.

EDIT: to preface these, no, I am not mentally ill.

All of my other glitches aren't really long stories, except for one I'll tell at the end. Most of them are small things like dropping something and having it completely disappear, even when moving furniture to try to find it, or later on to clean or something.

I hear voices calling my name a lot, clear as day, resembling my family's.

I do have vivid dreams. This was not a dream. My father was with me both times, things were read and signed, clocks were working. We worked in the same building for a few years and would make appointments on the same day, and then he'd drop me home. My dreams are fucking weird and glitchy as well, though. Almost every time. To the point where it's annoying and I'm not sleeping well even though I'm obviously hitting REM.

The only other big glitch I've (possibly) experienced (I still haven't decided), was during clinicals for nursing school. We had them for a while at an older hospital that they were renovating. The floor we were on had a second wing that was closed up. When we looked through the door, we could only see plastic tarps on the floors, and empty stations.

We went down to the cafe to get lunch, and on our way down we'd passed a wall that used to have art hanging on it. There was a sign above for the city's arts program but no paintings, just places where they used to be framed by dust.

I told the other two I was with that I had to use the restroom and I'd meet them back upstairs. There were another set of elevators near the bathrooms, so I took those instead of walking all the way back down the hall and around the corner. The elevator was really unsteady and noisy, and when the doors opened I was staring at a completely demolished nurse's station, some wires hanging from the ceiling, and the tarps on the floor. I just thought, "Oh, shit. I got off on the renovation side" so I started walking down to the double doors that I thought lead to the actual wing. I passed completely empty rooms, some that still were fully furnished, and I just felt really uneasy the whole time. I got to the doors and they were locked and all I could see was darkness on the other side, so of fucking course I sped back to the shaky elevators and went back down to take the set I knew would dump me where I needed to be.

When I got back downstairs though, there was one singular woman halfway through hanging art on that empty wall. And the wall was big. Yards and yards across. It was a whole wall of a hospital hallway. She smiled at me and I felt even weirder. I made it back upstairs and proceeded to tell everyone that I had accidentally played the elevator game. They hadn't seen that woman on their way back, and I'd only been about 5-10 minutes behind them.

There are other tiny things that I can't even remember because they happen so often. I always joke I must be dying and slipping into other universes constantly.

-u/little_doer

#glitch in the matrix #glitch #strange

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correctmianitequotes · 5 years

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DAY THREE: SONJA

[a/n sad tiem. we’ve got your normal, expected episode three angst + some sonja specific angst! fun stuff. don’t worry, there’s some slight syndisparklez at the end. i’m probably going to start doing the dream scenario chapters next. enjoy! please give me feedback on how you think it could have gone differently!]

DAY 3: SONJA

Today was supposed to be a good day.

We started the day off with goals; get iron, make beds, and improve the house.

Tucker had just crafted the first chestplate when he announced he was going back into the mine. We didn’t think anything of it; we all had communicators, and he was only strip mining. Besides, it was Tucker. It wasn’t like it was me or anything.

Tom brought up the topic of who we thought would die first. “We’ll take it in turns. Firefoxx, who do you think’s gonna-”

“Tom,” I said immediately. I hardly thought about it. I know he’s good at fighting and all that, but he’s not very good at using his brain or paying attention. Tom has the impulse control of a rat on cocaine. I figured he would hit a zombie pigman without thinking and die on the spot, or get too greedy and fall in lava while mining diamonds. “You’re too ballsy. You’re just gonna jump in like YOLOOO and you’re gonna- you’re gonna… yeah.”

“That’s what I thought too, but then I remembered Tom telling me about another life he lived doing this and that it went okay for him, so,” Jordan countered.

“Okay, okay, fair… What about you, Sparkly Pants?”

“I don’t know. I think it’ll probably be me,” Jordan admitted. He laughed at himself.

“Really?” I said incredulously. Sparklez? Dying? Sounds fake but okay. Jordan’s wayyy too careful to risk it all, and he knows his stuff. The only way I could really see him dying is if he got caught in the water by skeletons or something where he just couldn’t fight back.

“How do you think you’re going to die?” Tom pressed.

“Ummm…” Sparklez mused for a moment. “I mean, I am about to go out and get some sugar cane.”

“Watch me die right now,” he added, laughing.

Don’t say that, I thought to myself. Jordan hopped into his little boat and sailed away.

“I mean, the only thing that could really happen is if I found one of those guardian temples and got zapped to death and- god dangit my boat broke.”

“Don’t worry, I have enough to make a new one,” he reassured us.

“Nope, he’s stranded, rip in pieces Jordan,” Tucker said.

I opened the chest and found stacks upon stacks of cobblestone. I turned to Tom who was demolishing the house and asked him, “Are you rebuilding this? There’s, like, a bunch of cobble in here.”

Tom continued digging out the sand around that area and scoffed. “I’m not rebuilding it, you are.”

“Oh, so you just destroyed it? That’s what you’re doing. Okay.”

“...... no.” Tom looked kind of guilty for a moment, then sighed. “Sonja, do I look like the destructive type? No.”

“Yes,” we all disputed at the same time.

“Alright,” Tom laughed, conceding.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“What if none of us die the whole time?” Sparklez proposed from far off in the ocean somewhere.

“Aww, you just jinxed it!” Tom blamed him

“Why would you say it. Why would you say? That was the one thing nobody was going to bring up and you just- way to go Jordan.” Tucker’s communicator crackled. That happens sometimes when the person gets too far underground.

“Hey Tucker, you brought food, right?” Tom inquired, tapping his comm.

“Uh yeah, I’m almost out, though.”

“Right, come back up here and get some. I am your mother and I’m telling you to get up here right now. I’m getting your packed lunch ready,” Tom said in a joking tone, but he actually started preparing some porkchops for Tucker to take into the mine with him.

“Alright, I’ll be up in a sec. I think I’m pretty close to discovering a system down here,” which, knowing Tucker, meant that he’d mine until he almost fainted, and then drag himself back up 2 hours after that.

“While I’m out here, I might as well look around,” Jordan reasoned. I began planning our new base while Tom went back to check on the crops.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I found… Nothing.” Jordan announced, sounding disappointed.

“Aww.”

“Actually- No wait! I did find a thing. I found an underwater temple!”

“Really?”

“Are you joking?”

I could see Tom’s brain begin to actually process what Jordan had just said. “Wait, wai- th-the temple?”

“The underwater temple with the Elder Guardian in it. You know, the only underwater temple there is?” I could hear Jordan rolling his eyes.

“WH- WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? I-GH-ghah.” Tom facepalmed, rubbing his face in hands. When he looked up at me, he had a clear expression of annoyance on his face.

“Sonja, ask me who you think is going to die first.”

“Who do you think’s gonna die first?”

“Well, there’s this guy named, uh, Captain Sparkly Dick-”

Jordan burst out laughing. Tom started gesturing dramatically. “Who decided to go off in a boat ON HIS OWN, crash it, THEN decided to go adventuring in the water when there’s an insane new mob boss IN THAT WATER.”

“I’m not going to die! It’s not like I’m going to go on in there and be like ‘hey Elder Guardian, what’s good?’” Jordan mocked.

“Alright, just- be careful, alright?” Tom intoned seriously. He looked slightly anxious. “Tucker’s in the mine, Jordan’s in a boat in a Guardian temple, and Sonja’s- Oh, Sonja’s fine.” I genuinely couldn’t tell if he meant for me to hear that or not. It was like he was taking roll. Whether the others heard it or not, they didn’t mention it.

“Oo! I just found lava! And redstone. We’re good, guys.” Tucker announced from the mine.

Tom laughed awkwardly. “Dunno why that’s a thing to celebrate. Unless you’re gonna, like, burn everything down.

“Hey, Tucker, who do you think is gonna die first?” I asked him.

He was quiet for a moment. “Pro’lly you,” he confessed.

“Me?” I repeated, offended. I mean, he was probably right, but I was still offended anyway.

“Listen, Sonj, I love you, I’d give my life for you, buuutttt…. You’re not very good at surviving. You’re better at, like, doing stuff around the base.”

“Not in a sexist way,” he clarified. “Like making it nice and purdy and making sure we can eat and stuff.

I paused in my sapling collecting and thought back to all the times that I relied on Tucker to protect me from stuff. It was a lot.

“If it weren’t for you, we’d probably be dead,” he added.

“Yeah, exactly!” I concurred, liking his addition better than the original implications.

I came back over to the place the Sand Hut once stood. It was completely flattened. Where there had once been a sandbank with a (not so) lovely base made of sand walls now stood some floating furnaces, chests, and a crude (but functional) bed. We had made a pact not to sleep until all of us could. I was only a couple wool away from having four beds.

“Did you level this whole thing?” I gawked.

“Yeah.”

“And I’m supposed to rebuild it? I don’t even know where to begin!”

Jordan cut in. “Wait did you just- completely remove-”

“Yep,” I answered. Jordan chucked.

“The poor sand hut!” he lamented. When he said that, there was a slight whine in my comm. He was getting close to the island again.

“It was shite anyway,” Tom asserted. I made a pouty face and sulked back over to the furnaces and leaned them. I built that thing- with his help. Not completely my fault it looked not so good.

The whine happened again. I could now see Jordan in his boat, wind in his hair and slightly sweaty from rowing.

Tom laughed. “Look at your cape flapping majestically in the wind! You look like a proper adventurer.” Jordan landed, smiling and slightly red in the face, although I didn’t know if it was from exertion or the compliment.

“So how big do you want this place? Not very big, I’m assuming?” I pressed Tom.

He shrugged. “Well, you’re used to not very big, so-”

Tucker’s mic crackled again as he spoke. “WOOWW. What is this? I’m off getting materials and-” All of a sudden, I heard Tucker shrieking “CREEPER!”, and an explosion so loud it caused my comm to spaz out. I felt all the air leave my lungs.

“Tucker?”

“Tucker!”

“TUCKER!?”

“TUCKER!”

We shouted to no avail.

“Maybe- maybe the explosion knocked his mic out, and he’s okay!” Tom said, panicked. He ran in a dead sprint towards the mine. Jordan followed him. I felt frozen in my tracks. Something was crumpling within me. I knew immediately that Tom was wrong. I think that he did, too. I found it in me to follow the boys into the mine. We ran down the stone steps towards where tucker had been. Tom got there before Jordan or I. We both jogged into a small, dark space. We saw Tom, kneeling on the ground, motionless. There was no body (thank god), no remains except for his items dropped on the ground and his hat, which Tom was holding in his hands. I have never seen Tom look more like a zombie than in that moment- cold and dead inside. The only way I was sure that he was still actually alive was the way his chest was rising and falling rapidly. I, on the other hand, couldn’t breathe. The need for oxygen was gone. The three of us stood there for a while, might have been 10 minutes, staring at the stuff on the ground and the crater in the walls. Abruptly, Jordan scooped everything into his inventory and straightened up.

“I-I can’t take it anymore. I need some air,” he said shortly, and went back up the stairs.

“So do I,” I managed to say. I pulled Tom up by his collar; it was doing no good for him to sit down here and rot. He followed without protest.

We made it up to the surface. I saw Jordan sitting on the grass. I joined him, plopping down without saying anything. Tom did the same, putting his face in his hands. I finally found it in me to breathe. The sunlight felt nice on my skin.

“We’re a man down,” croaked Tom. I noticed a lump in his throat.

“How are we going to defeat all the bosses and stuff now? We’ve only got three people,” Jordan said quietly.

“We’ve got the Ender Dragon, the Elder Guardian, and the Wither, and-” Tom looked like he was freaking out.

“I’m like, .5 of a person,” I admitted. Jordan laughed humorlessly.

“You might as well get on that boat, and- and sail outta here!” Tom snapped.

“Woah.” I stepped back, kind of hurt. I was really taking some blows today. Jordan put an arm around me protectively and looked at Tom reproachfully.

Tom blinked. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, looking bewildered. “I didn’t mean that. I was just-”

He pulled on his hair. Tom lashes out when he’s feeling emotional. This was the most vulnerable I had ever seen him. His pitch black eyes were glittering with tears. His voice wobbled when he spoke. He seemed very close to breaking apart.

“We need to do something. To honor him,” Tom propositioned. Jordan and I nodded gravely.

“Pour one out?” Jordan joked awkwardly. He really didn’t seem to like the atmosphere that had set upon us, so he took it upon himself to lighten the mood. Tom made a weird noise that was like a cross between a laugh and a cry.

“I’m going to build him a grave.” He stood up, took some cobblestone, and crafted a suitable headstone for our fallen friend. He placed three walls on the ground with a post on top of the middle. He put the hat on top of the post sacredly, like it was an offering to a god.

And as I was staring at it, I couldn’t help but make the observation.

It looks like a dick.

But I couldn’t say that.

Because there’s no one for me to make dick jokes with anymore.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tom rubbed his hands in his face and sighed. He stared at Tucker’s grave, shaking his head. “What have I been saying? Don’t go in on your own! He kept adventuring on his own!”

“I don’t know that bringing another person would have helped, though. It probably would have just killed both of us,” Jordan brought up. Tom shuddered.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Not a lot happened after that. I went back to working on the house with Jordan’s help this time, and Tom went back down into the mine.

“I just want to check it out some more,” he claimed. While he was down there, he figured he could probably mine a bit. I think that Mianite or Dianite or Ianite or somebody was looking down on us at that moment, because not long after that Tom found twelve diamonds. Twelve. Diamonds. It should have been a happy moment, but it was ruined by the gravity

Tom emerged from the mines just as I finished placing chests in the new house. I was pretty happy with it. If there were two things I was good at, they were animal breeding and house making. I have a natural eye for symmetry and details that the boys missed somehow.

“Woah, it looks amazing, guys!” Tom said, impressed. He seemed to be in a slightly better mood. I smiled to myself.

“Thanks.” I started making beds, and was about to place them down when I noticed that I had made four out of habit. My heart sank all over again. I pushed the fourth bed into the corner. It reminded me of the lonely pig Jordan made fun of Tucker trying to shove into the pit a couple days ago. I put three beds in the center of the room.

“I’m completely shot,” Tom announced, kicking off his shoes and passing out on the bed in the middle. Jordan chuckled and clambered in next to him, maintaining a reasonable distance from Tom. I curled up on the left, near the bed that should have had my boyfriend in it.

“Let’s all cuddle together,” suggested Tom. I had no clue if he’s serious or not. I think it was one of those “what if… ha ha… unless?” type things.

“No thanks,” Jordan replied calmly, setting his glasses down on the furnace next to his bed.

“Aww, come on, Jordy poo, you know you love me.”

Jordan stayed silent, provoking Tom to wiggle up next to him. Jordan sighed defeatedly, looking up at our stone ceiling. He actually let Tom stay there for the rest of the night. Tom and I were both surprised by this- Jordan’s a fan of his personal space. I guess that he recognized that Tom needed comfort tonight. Maybe he secretly enjoys it (I think he does). Whatever the case was, I ended up getting quite a bit of space to myself. I didn’t really appreciate it, though.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I lay awake that night, thinking about what Tom and Tucker had said about my contributions to the team.

I knew that I wasn’t good at fighting, so I stuck with what I was good at; raising animals, tending to crops, cooking the food, and letting the boys do all the dirty work. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing that stuff, but at the same time, I sometimes want a little more. But whenever I tried to help them, I just got in the way. Was I really just deadweight? I certainly felt like it sometimes. Especially on the old island. I felt like baggage, or more accurately, the lesser child. Mianite saw Tucker as the straight A son with a sports scholarship, and me as the daughter who really wasn’t good for anything except for occasionally helping Tucker. I didn’t direct that frustration towards my boyfriend- he did nothing wrong except for maybe not share some glory every once and awhile- , but it was still there. And Tom’s snide comments did nothing to help this.

Speaking of Tom, I could hear him snoring softly. Clearly the trauma of today wasn’t too much to keep Tom from conking out almost immediately. I rolled over and smiled slightly. I was grateful that Tom was directing his total lack of respect for personal space at Jordan and not me. Jordan was lying on his back, hands folded on his stomach and eyes staring at the ceiling.

“Sparklez?” I whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Do you… really think I'm useless?” It just sort of came out without me thinking.

Jordan was silent for a second, then answered, “No, of course not.”

“Okay. I know I’m not Tucker, but…”

“Sonja, you’re fine. Go to sleep,” Jordan said sleepily. I rolled back over. If there was one thing Jordan isn’t good at, it’s emotions. Specifically dealing with them, whether they belonged to him or someone else. I noticed he hadn’t done much outward processing of Tucker's death yet. He mostly kept quiet unless he was asking me where things should go or one-word replies to whatever Tom said. He didn’t strike me as a guy you could go to with your problems, unless they dealt with redstone or general crafting knowledge.

That’s something else I’m good at that no one else on the team is. I’m good at empathy. But what do the empathetics do when they need comfort?

Turn to an empty bed, I guess.

Well, there’s only one person left who hasn’t written, and it’s Tom. So he’ll probably pick back up in the morning.

~Sonja.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #trisle #trisle au #trinity island #omgitsfirefoxx #captainsparklez #tom syndicate #rip tucker lmao #tonja

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nshah2 · 4 years

Text

First Part of Story Lolz: The first step into the cavern isn’t that dark. People believe it is but they’re just intimidated by the dark green moss that grows around it along with the spiky vines. Marie Jane? The Marie who likes to switch between Mary because it makes her feel chic? Oh she was just flabbergasted to the even proposition of stepping one Louis Vuitton, red high-heel in there. Even so, she was curious about the bright side of the cavern, as much of an oxymoron of that statement is. Everyone is.

Alex Lyres, skinny jeans and long sleeves, brown skin or hairy arms, one of the two, that is unsuspecting of outside analyzing, and depressed green eyes. They fell silent in front of the cavern, walked in slowly in a trance of the great things that awaited, pushing away the wispy spider webs and teething bats. I hope she doesn’t get lost.

Kamila Civet, she ran. She ran straight in, we hardly saw her anymore. She’s addicted to the cavern, she likes to run through all of it. She can’t handle the darkness though, it pushes her out with sharp black nails, sometimes it only used two, sometimes it used all.

The cavern does terrible things, it made me lose what was alread lost.

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Chapter 1:

A tip of a black word that could have meant to be blue grazes me everytime I step out of my house. Ten thousand words clutter the pages of others' mother tongues, so you can imagine the scars that yielded me weak to the eye of the majority. Fading away into the deepest shadow of Oaktown High seemed to cloak me with the power of moving through the halls without being at a sword's end, or at least at one I could see. I had grown comfortable with this lifestyle because it’s all I knew along with the wrappers of mistakes in my closet. But please do not play the chorus of slow violin notes because I am not my paragraph, I am my essay.

I couldn’t say the same about Mary Jane.

Gaggles of laughter follow her tall figure, swaying with her long blonde hair. Skinny arms wrapped around the shoulders of her companions whose skin is as unblemished as their reputation. Longing stares from the girls and boys who smile for status. An idolized individual that excelled at whatever you did not. “Okay, okay, listen!” Samia Davenport tries to reason, “Ignore the fact he’s a ginger. He’s cute.” Mary squeezes Samia’s face and squeals, “My little babushka is growing up. She likes men who aren’t on reality T.V too!” Samia swats her arm away, trying not to laugh. “Oh shut up, don’t deny that Dave Hansen is absolutely my soulmate.” Dave Hansen? Interesting, stupid choice. The boy who spread a rumor about you being homeless in eighth grade? The boy who chopped your hair off in ninth! The boy who smirks and everything feels like a blissful high, a serenity of happiness flooding through your brain. Too bad he likes Maya, who dismissed half of his heart with a slur that demolished him into succumbing to a camp which told him, be Christian, not you.

They’re idiots for craving such expensive baggage because they know they can’t have it, though I can’t fault them. I’ve -however- learned to push my credit card back into my pocket and tame my legs to walk out of the store.

Mary nods with disinterest as she eyes Ms. Alejandras classroom. “Wait up, okay?” She grinned at Samia and rushed in the door. “Ms! Ms. Alehandra, I was wondering if I could obtain some extra credit?”

“Mary, just turn in your missing assignments . I’ll give you 50% for each.”

“I lost all the papers.”

“I can print new ones.”

I watch the exchange with dancing pupils, careful to not let my shadow get into the light. Mary has fists furrowed into small pockets with inching frustration poking out of them.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Tapping on the linoleum floor, 1, 2, 3, 4…

“It’s uneven. It has to be 0-5, 5-10, 15-20. Right now if I do an extra credit assignment it’ll finally be 0-5.”

“Does it have to be in 5s?”

“More satisfying in 5s ma’am.”

Ms. Alejandra adjusts her long brown pencil skirt and touches Mary’s shoulder. “Read a book after you complete your missing assignments and then talk to Dr. Vienna.”

Mary sighs, she nods a quiet thank you and walks away with red fists and a crippling smile. “Did you get the extra credit?” Samia asks. Mary laughs , “No, that idiot was like ‘oh just talk to Dr. Vienna after you do it. Like oh cause he always helps, blah, blah.”

Dr. Vienna, the man who thought if you met him or his staff every night at 8:00 pm to get your daily fix of yellow, blue, pink, or green you could be cured from your worries. I mean, he’s not wrong. But yellow turns to blue and blue to pink and pink to green and then thousands of green clutter a controlled mind.

“What did you say?” Samia asks.

“I was just like ‘Yeah, sure, whatever haha.”

“I would have just cleaned her room right then and there, just ignore her and start cleaning.”

“Oh, if only.”

A familiar buzz sounds through the halls. A calling for lost luggage, they want to keep alive. Too bad our owners aren’t coming to pick us up any time soon. Airport security was a hassle enough the first time.

Most of us groan and walk to the assigned seats and watch the numbers. Dr. Vienna sits with the ones who watch too carefully. “Don’t you wish you were like them?” Says the blonde girl next to me, tapping my shoulder. “No Kamila, I don’t.” She rolls her eyes, “Well then you're crazy, imagine how easy it is for them. I can’t believe some of these girls came voluntarily. It’s like being Albert Einstein and then going to a camp that teaches you to be dumb.” Kamila eyes her cheesy potato cubes and boiled egg on veggies. She stuffs all of it in her pocket, one egg slice, one cube, one veggie at a time. Staring, being mesmerized by the girls who grasp control over uncontrollable behaviors. I want to tap her shoulder like she did to me but I know she’s so much more cluttered than me, she would trip over all her the mess in her brain to think that’s pretty. Mary walks to our table with her plate of food, a lunch of one cookie, one apple, two pieces of lean fish, a salad, and a baked potato. “Just be balanced.” Mary said, smiling shiny white teeth. “Do you really want to go into the cavern just to look like that? They’re miserable.” Kamila glared back, “Oh please Mary. All 5’8 of you would want to sit there and look like that. Everyone does.” Mary sits down, “Of course everyone does. But it’s not worth it. Besides, the cavern is so gross and if you go the wrong way you are done forever. You don’t even get to be them. “

Kamila scowled in disgust, “Ugh you know nothing! I already did, I got lost too but I’m going to go back and find my way in.” Mary laughed, “Kamila, you're going to go in there and never get out. You're going to want to keep going. But you won’t be able to. It’s like a cigarette, you’ll be addicted.”

“What’s the cavern?” I popped in. They looked at me with shock.

“You don’t know what the cavern is? It’s literally why almost everyone is in here. What are you in for then?”

“My parents got sick of having a kid who doesn’t know how to love them.” My flat response. It didn’t even feel like I spoke, I just opened my mouth and the words fell into place. The ones I was hoping would never come out.

“Oh.” They said in unison, eyes wary of the girl they once thought was innocent. Would it be better if I had gone into the cavern first? Got addicted to it, whatever ‘it’ may be.” Uneasily Mary explained, “If you haven’t gone into the cavern, it’s best you only know it by its code name. It’s not actually a cavern.”

Kamila joined in, “I came in here for other reasons too, then I learned about it and started. You need something to distract you here. I mean but if you haven’t started it, find something else.”

“Just tell me what it is.”

They both looked at eachother, they seemed indecisive. Should we tell her? I could practically hear the words they looked at each other with. It couldn’t be that problematic, could it? “I’m sure I’ve heard of worse.” They both shook their heads. “It’s not that you haven’t.”

Kamila tried to explain.

“It’s just that you can’t try it once and be done. If you try it, you're done for. It’s not murder obviously, it’s...it’s like everything bad on this world is labeled in colors. Blue for normal, green for normal but you're slipping, orange for hey this is getting bad, and red for you messed up. The cavern pushes you to orange right? But then you like it so you keep going and slip down to red. Then it's like...it takes all of it’s rocks and barricades you with them. The oxygen is slowly slipping away, you know you will die. But in your mind that's worth it so you either die or someone pulls you out. Hardly ever does anyone pull you out though.”

Chapter 2:

All week I had been curious to what the cavern was, jumping at any chance to pull the answer out of unsuspecting victims. Yet they always hushed me and pointed at a staff member or harshly whispered something along the lines of “if you don’t know you don’t need to. I shouldn’t be talking about this here.” Yet in every location I could find with every set of people available, the answer was always the same. Actually that's a false statement, as time went on the answers became more general and specific at the same time. The cavern was so wide, it had such an in depth storyline but from physical appearances it was normal and forgettable. The cavern came off as a stranger to me, a human I did not know who has a story that would make me cry if I read it.

“Mama used to say that my eyes were a gift from the desert, that they were a sandy brown drought. “

That’s cute.” Commented Kamila. “My Mom used to call me a little bird. Since my legs used to be really skinny and I liked to wear my halloween costume wings like almost every day.”

“Did I say that out loud?” I ask.

“Yeah, you do that a lot, ponder quietly with a mysterious look on your face and then randomly drop in the crumble of words in your head.”

“Oh.”

I’m pretty sure Mom used to say something like that. That my eyes seemed to get lost in the colourful realm, speechless to the greenery of new ideas and scenarios. I guess the cavern was a new scenario. I had spent two years at Oakwood, never once did the word cavern actually mean anything to me than the base definition. I suspected it was a hangout for teens to maybe drink or smoke, that’s why they called it addicting. But Mom also used to say “Your never far off from the truth once you make an assumption, your penny isn’t in the fairy’s hand but it’s going down the well, it’s getting closer.” It could be about smoking or drinking, but then they would have used another example to compare it to. Reverse psychology? No, in the span of a few seconds they wouldn’t have been intellectual enough to corroborate such an intricate plan, unless they did... But they aren’t exactly top of the chain in terms of intelligence.

No, they certainly weren’t. One blank page could hold wiser knowledge than their brains could ever learn in their lifetime. Maybe the way they mindlessly transferred their thoughts onto a piece of a paper got them an A, but they have no street smarts. A ratio that didn’t match Mary's agenda would throw her off her high horse into the dirt. If Kamila spoke a word everyone didn’t agree with she would resort back to the deep depths of her mind, not caring about the cobwebs and dirty floor. Everyone in this school is like this, stubborn, selfish brats who didn’t realise that sticking your nose in a book doesn’t make you a genius. It makes you an average person who gets a teacher's signature on her report card with a happy face sticker. Wow, good on you, a happy face, that’s going to get you through life? A happy face?

“Little Madam, the one in the blue dress? Oh where is she, is she sticking out because of her oh so obvious dress? Or the fact that she isn’t hearing anything I’m saying?”

Everyone laughs with pasted smiles for an objective. Everyone knows Ms. Alejandra picks favorites. It’s all objective. Even her damn joke is objective, a power move, calling everyone out and making them laugh about it. Keep laughing, I’m not a clone.

Definitely not a clone of her favorites right now.

“Yes, Ma’am?” I speak, keeping my dignity upheld.

She sighs with annoyance, “Can you tell me what I was just explaining about chain rules?”

Chain rules, chain rules, chain rules...She must have just been covering it today, that fatuous fool Kamila was correct. The cavern was good for distracting you.

“I’m not sure.” I say, my voice felt like a particularly bad day on the ground near the Pacific Ocean in the Philippines.

Another sigh, this time with actual disappointed eyes. Did she expect me to know the complications of a couple of Xs and numbers labeled under-

“The derivative of f(g(x)) . g’(x) will always be f'(g(x))⋅g'(x).”

Everyone turned around to the raised hand and straight face of Alex Lyres. A matty mess of short, dirty blonde hair, bangs almost cocealing the never turned off glare in her green eyes. Her limbs were long and skinny and danced in the wind every Friday where administrators let her be `recreational”.

Alex Lyres who sits at the table with Dr. Vienna every day and goes to him personally for three green ones every night. She speaks seldom but when she does her words dive into your mind and almost as quickly as they come in, evaporate. She would know about the cavern, she was at the table Kamila admired specifically because people who were there went in the cavern. Or should I say, went in too deep. But I’d have to rephrase my wording into a more casual conversation. You don’t just light a candle in a monster accompanied by darkness, you wait for the perfect time.

Tick, Tock.

One-Forty. Two-a clock.

The bell dings its warning signs and Alex lifts her legs off the seat. In quick movements she makes her way to her bedroom. The teacher gives her that stern ‘what do you think you're doing’ look and she starts to slow down, hanging her head a little lower.

“Alex! Hey!”

She looks around, uncomfortable that her name has been brought into the spotlight. Don’t worry Alex, give me the answers and the switch gets clicked off.

It gives her a chance though, a chance to slide her feet across the marble floor, static building in her soft teddy bear socks.

“Alex, hey can I ask you something?”

“Sure, um…?”

I disregard her blank stare, notioning me to give out my name. My name has never been uttered in the walls of this wretched place and it never will. I won’t give it that power.

“How do you do it?”

It’s like her facial features immediately morphed into a sweaty recognition about what I’m about to say.

“How do I do what?”

“Y’know…” I push, “How do you do the...cavern?”

She looks at me for a couple of seconds before shaking her head and storming away. I chase after her which isn’t hard because she speeds with caution. Why? We aren’t allowed to run in the halls but we can speed walk. She’s not going to get in trouble for speed walking.

“Yeah, I am.”

“I said that aloud?” I really need to stop doing that.

“No, I can just see it in your face. You're confused on why I look so cautious. Yeah, I will get in trouble if I’m going ‘above average speed’ or whatever.”

My hand instinctively goes to grab my chin, I pause indecisively. It’s extra but it’s what you're supposed to do when you're confused. “Why?”

“Why do you think?” She snaps.

“I don’t know, why are you specific?”

“Not just me, everyone else in the cavern.”

My mind jumps back to the main objective and I robotically move myself into a more sympathetic position. Arms crossed with pouty eyes, “Why wouldn’t they let you run just because you’ve been in the cavern?”

“Again, why do you think?”

“I don’t know?”

She looks at me up and down with quizzing eyes, her disbelief is obvious. I’m not sure what I did wrong, I guess I really need more information.

Her eyes widened with shock, “Oh my god, are you that one girl who's trying to find the cavern? Oh, my friends told me you would try to find me, just forget about it!”

I don’t care about much at all. The world is a blank page I’d like to keep clean, showing interesting written words I can not erase. If I try, the eraser marks will clutter what could have been a precise story of nothing. If I don’t care, nothing happens which is easier than risking your life for a second of happiness that will wash away. Yet, now, there are no warm arms to welcome me into a hug. No one is waiting for the three special words from me anymore. My desire from others has faded away to a past sentence no one will ever flip a page back to again. No one wants me, I have no purpose. It would make the three years pass a little bit faster, maybe once I’m out I can prove I am still deserving of those arms.

I’m not playing by a script anymore, the stage has disappeared. Emotions come rushing back as the dam has broken with that one phrase. I can’t forget about it, I can’t be denied again. Just give me something to latch onto, please.

My voice cracks and eyes water, alien sobs escape my cracked lips. Alex watches as I fall to the ground. I can’t understand why I’m crying. I don’t know what’s going on. I just know that I still feel no matter how much I want to deny. Suddenly I feel those warm arms I’ve been longing for since the first day I stepped foot into Oakwood. Alex cloaks me in kindness while I stare blankly at the dizzy walls. “Are you okay?” Alex asks.

“No.” I reply.

Alex sighs and pulls me up, “I...do you consider yourself-like...doomed? Do you think of yourself as a time bomb?”

“No, that’s idiotic.”

She looks at me with eyes that are confused, “When you get out of here, you have hope?”

I’m about to say yes, yes of course I do. I don’t even deserve to be here, I didn’t do anything. I’m fine, I-

The strong glass walls reinforced with thick creamy clay blocks show me a reflection of a stranger. I can’t speak for her.

“I don’t know.”

“Ok.”

Alex starts walking down the hall so I follow, feeling sheepish and insecure. What just happened? Her dorm room is void of decoration and sound, an echoless big room.

She motions for me to go in, so I do.

“You want to know what the cavern is?”

“Yes, obviously.”

“Ok, choose.”

She lays out three items on her bed, “Choose one.”

There is a toothbrush, a jug, and a box with cloth inside.

“How did you get this all? The toothbrush isn’t used right?”

“On my rare free days, I collect what I can.”

“You hid this? I’ve heard of smuggling phones, but a humongous jug?”

“You’d be surprised what siblings can smuggle in for you when they're giving you ‘clothes’?”

I look at the random items, “What is the point of these? What are you trying to prove, just tell me!”

She looks at me with annoyance, “Do you want to do this my way or get someone else's help. Trust me, if you really want to know you're going to do it my way. No one is as sadistic as I am to help you.”

Chapter 3:

I took the toothbrush, unsure of the faith that comes with it. I already have one so it just lies in my cabinet drawer, waiting for it’s mysterious day to arrive. I’m not sure really what or how this will lead me to the cavern. I’ve been trying it out though, in every situation I can’t really find a way to use it. So, again, my only choice is to hint a subtle lie, a little dancing shadow among the white imperial clouds. I hinder my speed from each class so Kamila’s wistful, disorganized eyes can zero in on me. Her being, well her, she’s obviously going to ‘casually’ speed up to me so she can initiate a conversation about her busy schedule. I’ll listen, or at least pretend to, while she goes on about being so tired her eyes nearly popped out from studying so she couldn’t get that one math page done and can she copy mine?

That’s boring and I don’t have time though.

“Hey! Were you waiting up for me?” Kamila asks, tapping my shoulder.

“You can copy my math page Kamila.” I say dryly, she's not the only one who's tired from studying.

“Excuse me?” She asks, tone offended. She walks in front of me and places her hands on her hips. “Why would you think I need that?”

“Why else would you be talking to me?” I ask, did I misread why she always sped up to me in the hallways? I’m not in any clubs, I don’t think I can help her with advice for that.

“What the hell do you mean? ‘Cause you're my friend?” Her structure relaxes a little bit, seeing my face soften into a concerned look. I wrinkled my nose a little more so I look less offensive and more defensive. ‘Slouch a bit, look down. She’s mad.’ I think to myself. It’s working.

Then the words set in and I stop for a second. The definition of a friend is a person you have a bond of mutual affection with.

“‘I’m not affectionate towards you.” I say.

Kamila looks at me with that studying eyes of hers, “Yeah, so?”

“Then we aren’t friends.”

“Yeah, but-”

“There is no “but”, that’s the exact definition of friend.”

She sighs with frustration, “Do you like garlic bread?”

“What does that have to do with-”

“Do you?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

She pulls out a dictionary from her satchel, “The definition of like is to have love, respect, and admiration for something. Tell me, do you admire garlic bread?”

“To be honest, food is quite neutral as a whole to me-”

Her face looked tired and annoyed so I cut it off.

“No, I don’t admire garlic bread.”

Her face transforms from drowsy monday to a bright sunday morning, “Exactly!” With that, she strided off with her red sneakers bouncing off the marble floor through the endless hallways. I never got to ask her about the toothbrush.

Why are people so complicated? I don’t understand any of them. Why doesn’t anyone want anything from me here?

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rizzizzsins-blog · 5 years

Text

From the Ashes, Ch 8

Wanna read this on Archive? Click here.

The shopping trip was a success. Asher rediscovered his love of cyberpunk, and he looked like an extra out of Akira . After he and Cinn had lunch at the food court, much to Edge’s dismay, everyone piled into Edge’s Jaguar, and they were off.

“You both have such nice cars,” Asher marveled a bit.

“Don’t compare my brother’s hunk of junk to my marvel of nature!” Edge frowned a little.

“Listen ‘ere, that Pontiac took me an entire year to restore. I’d like to see ya try it,” Cinn smirked.

“That’s not fair! You know I’m not a tinkerer like you!” Edge protested.

“Then quit throwin’ shade at my baby. She’s perfect the way she is, save fer a little dust from this one,” he nudged Asher with his elbow.

“Oh, sorry,” Asher apologized; Cinn shook his head. “I’m just jokin’, princey. It’ll be alright. ‘S a memory, that’s for sure.”

A memory, huh…

“This may be a bit of a drive, so feel free to fall asleep,” Edge remarked, adjusting his mirrors a bit before driving off.

“You got it, bro.”

“I’m not talking to you! I need your help with the directions! The place doesn’t appear on my map apps, since it’s technically a closed business.”

“Yeah, alright. Make a left, then stay on 64 for about 10 miles.”

Asher slowly sunk into the Jaguar’s leather seats. He hadn’t realized how tired he was. The shopping trip had left him completely drained.

Asher was in the community garden; the sun was slowly coming up. Dew dotted all of the leaves, and the tulips were lazily opening, one petal at a time.

It was around the time to harvest the dandelions. Apparently humans treated them as pest plants, but they were quite a good food source, so his glen grew them. It was best to pick half while they were flowering and half afterwards.

As he reached out to them, they shrank away. Asher moved his hand closer, and the plants leaned further away. Frustrated, he reached out and snagged an apple off a tree. As he was about to put it in his mouth, he felt something wet and sticky in his palm.

The apple was decomposing rapidly in his hand, until it melted into a viscous, black sludge. Asher turned to see where he’d walked; the grass was dead in every area where he’d stepped.

“Samara! You’re ruining everything!” His mother shouted, her hands in her hair.

“Mom! I’m sorry! I----” The rot spread faster and faster, crawling up his mother’s roots.

“You ruin everything, Samara. Everything.” Her flesh rots, and her teeth fall out one by one.

Asher screamed himself awake.

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!” Edge pulled over hard, turning off the ignition. “WHAT’S HAPPENING?” His eyelights glowed intensely, and the magic of battle brewed in the air.

“I’m sorry, mom… sorry….” Asher mumbled. He was awake. It was over.

“I shoulda fuckin’ warned him about the nightmares, Boss. It was my fault.”

“No, I could have done so as well.”

Asher shook his head. “Don’t worry… I can’t remember the last good dream I had. They’ve just never been that bad.”

“Yeah… our dad never talks about his. Makes sense, though, since he doesn’t fuckin’ talk about anythin’.”

“Hmph, it is frustrating. I can tell that it’s bothering him. He has the same microexpressions as I do when I’m upset. But he just shoves it all down and acts like an asshole. That’s going to blow up in his face some day.. I hope I’m not around for that,” Edge sighed.

“So… we almost there? Sorry for scaring you.”

Edge restarted the car, and they were off. They were pretty out of the city; the interstate was mottled with wildflowers and tall grass. Large houses with acres of property made up most of the landscape.

“Yes, just one more turn off this exit and it’s the first place on the left.” They rounded the hill next to the exit and…

Jesus Christ. The house was an absolute horrorshow. It looked like the kind of place that a church would run a haunted house in to raise money for charity. How it hadn’t been condemned or demolished was beyond Asher. The shutters were slowly sliding off their windows. Some windows were missing panes altogether, covered by plywood instead. The parking lot was full of luxury cars and retrofitted antique vehicles.

“This is… a little worse than I expected, Edge.”

“I know it looks a bit haunted on the outside, but that’s simply because they don’t feel like fixing it. The inside is a lot nicer,” The captain assured him as they pulled into the lot.

He checked his phone. Goddamn it, a whole bunch of them had dipped out of lunch. Including Vanilla.

Fuming, Edge smiled at Asher. “Excuse me for one moment, Asher.”

“Easy, bro.”

“NO! THEY SAID THEY WERE COMING! WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE TAKING RESPONSIBILITY?”

Edge basically slammed his fingers into the keypad as he dialed someone Asher didn’t know.

“VANILLA! WHAT THE FUCK GIVES?!”

“What can I say? Not interested.” Looks like Edge hit the speaker button in his hurry.

“YOU COULD APOLOGIZE!”

“I’m not the one doing something wrong. You’re introducing some decomposing rando into a house of already half-functional skeletons. And now the queen wants to throw in that psycho? Count me the fuck out.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT PSYCHO.” Edge’s eyelights went out.

“Oh, you haven’t heard? He just got released from prison, and that’s what Fafriel wants to do with him. You should probably make peace with your old man before he’s wiped off the face of the earth.”

“RIGHT. AS IF YOUR FATHER IS GOING TO LEAVE HIS HOME JUST BECAUSE OF TWO NEW PEOPLE. NOT EVERYONE THROWS IN THE TOWEL WHENEVER THEY FACE ANY LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY, SANS.”

The line went quiet.

“If I have to drag my dad out of that building by force, I will. I’m not losin’ him after just getting him back.”

“OH, YOU’RE GONNA DRAG HIM OUT? HE’LL JUST TELEPORT BACK. OUR FATHERS ARE EVEN BETTER AT TAKING ON CHALLENGES THAN YOU ARE AT RUNNING AWAY FROM THEM. GOOD DAY, SANS,” Edge hung up with a wicked grin.

“Who was that?” Asher asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Vanilla. Cinn’s Tale Kingdom counterpart. We’ve both been on the Surface for the same amount of time and he hasn’t evolved or matured one bit in that time. I for one, am proud of all the progress my brother has made. Vanilla and Honey just seem to go backwards, frankly. I feel sorry for Papaya and Azure.”

“There’s no need to feel sorry for me, Edge! Sans is just going through a rough patch!” A skeleton in a suit jacket, leather elbow patches and plaid orange dress pants put his hand on Edge’s shoulder.

“NYAAAGH! DON’T DO THAT, PAPY!”

“See? You don’t like it when you’re talked about behind your back , do you?” the other chuckled. “Don’t worry! I would have dragged Sans by the ear here if I had to. Brother, come out of the car!”

A dark blue-eyed skeleton skulked out of his brother’s Ferrari.

“Coming.”

“Hello, little dryad! My name is Papaya Aster, Esquire. It is truly an honor to meet you!” He seemed so excited he could barely contain himself, pulling out a fidget spinner to burn off the extra energy.

“Go on, Papaya. It doesn’t hurt to ask,” Edge clapped him on the back.

“A-ARE YOU A HUGGER? E-excuse me, I tend to be a little too clingy sometimes!” Papaya smiled apologetically.

“Oh? Sure. Haven’t been hugged too often, but I like trying new things, hahaha.”

Papaya scooped Asher up and spun him around, before setting him down carefully, making sure he landed properly.

“Jeez. Can’t say I’ve ever been hugged with quite so much enthusiasm. Thank you, Papaya.”

“It’s no issue! If you’re ever wanting a hug, I am always ready to give!”

“Yeah, and that’s just the issue,” his brother muttered. That must be Vanilla.

“Nice to meet you,” Asher smiled, offering a hand.

Vanilla takes it. The others seemed to have expected something to happen, since they were all cringing. But nothing happened.

“Nilla’s the name. I’m one of your landlords, I guess.”

“Right,” Asher swallowed.

“Is anyone else planning on showing up?” Edge sighed, pinching his nasal bridge.

“I believe Azure is coming in. Honey’s… a little impaired at the moment.”

“You can say drunk , Papy,” Edge spat.

“I don’t want to make a bad impression!” Papyrus responded. They weren’t upset, not with each other, at least.

“Considering the unpleasantness that was the phone call with your brother, I think that we can drop all pretenses.”

A car braked hard in the parking lot. A pair of heels stuck out of the door, as well as… a riding crop?

“ESPRESSO! CORTADO! GET OUT OF THE CAR, THE TENANT IS ALREADY HERE!” He shouted, a curt rasp in his voice.Two thumbs up popped out of the windows, before two long, yellow eyed skeletons stepped out of the car. The one yelling stepped out last, needing assistance from one of his brothers to get down from their enormous Lexus GX.

The smaller seemed to be in charge, the other two trailing behind him. One of them was hunched as he walked, his hoodie dipping just a little over his eyes. Headphones sat squarely on his shoulders. The other was much dressed like his brother, walking straight, in a rather futuristic black trench.

“ESPRESSO! PICK UP THE SLACK! WE ONLY HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME TO ASSESS THE TENANT BEFORE YOUR THERAPY SESSION!”

The hunched one nodded, running a little to catch up with his brothers.

The two militant ones squinted at Asher hard.

“CORTADO. HIS STATS.”

Wait, Asher’s stats?! What the hell did they need those for? Were they about to fight him or something?

“Illegible. Nothing but VOID-garbled gibberish, Captain.”

“THEN GIVE ME AN ESTIMATE!”

“Uh… do I need to do something here?” Asher asked Edge.

“No. This is just… their routine. Riesling, do you intend on wasting all of lunch staring at our tenant, or will you introduce yourself like a normal person?”

“THIS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL! CORTADO, I GROW IMPATIENT.”

“DEF 50. ATK 30. HP 30/30. Soul of Justice.”

“PATHETIC! A COMPLETE AND UTTER WEAKLING! GOOD. YOU ARE OF NO THREAT TO OUR FATHER AND MAY PROCEED.”

“Al...right?” Asher wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or insulted. Maybe a little bit of both. He wasn’t a complete weakling, right?

“WE MUST WAIT FOR THE LONE COMMANDER, AS WELL AS OUR COUSIN AND HIS PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A COMPANY,” Riesling sighed.

“You know Scamp and Sliv are always late. Let’s just go inside and get this over with,” Nilla sighed deeper. Cinn gritted his teeth.

“You’se guys go on ahead. I’m gonna need a moment.”

“Fine,” Edge nodded. “Asher, would you mind staying for a moment with my brother? I would like to make sure our fathers aren’t doing anything abnormally dangerous, and set up a bit, before you enter.”

“Alright, sounds good.”

Everyone except Cinn and Asher went into the house. The door practically screeched whenever it was open and shut.

Cinn pulled out a cigar and sat on the hood of the Jaguar. “Y’ want one?”

“I can’t smoke. It’s really bad for plants. Even though I’m more rot than plant, I still don’t want to risk it,” Asher declined.

“Suit yaself.” He snapped his fingers and the tip of the cigar lit up. So he knew a little fire magic…

“.... So that was… a lot. Are you all related? Or what’s the story?”

“We’re all counterparts. It gets kinda messy. Our names started out as nicknames, but eventually we had ‘em all legally changed. Got sick of gettin’ ‘calls for Sans and Papyrus’. How was we supposed to know which pair people wanted?!” He chuckled a bit.

“But, yeah… I’m sorry yer havin’ to go through all this. I’d hoped this would be a little easier than you livin’ on yer own, but all I’ve done is complicate the shit outta your life. This one’s on me, princey.”

Asher shook his head.

“You know, it’s at least been different. I got so used to my routines with Theo that I kind of forgot what life was like outside of that. Sure, not everything’s fun, and certainly not Vanilla, but it’s been different, and in that sense, refreshing. It helps me keep my mind off… this,” he smiled, gesturing to his broken body.

“Yeah. That’s what velcro shoes an’ jackets are for. Ya look right outta Blade Runner.”

Asher’s smile grew a little bigger. “I have mixed feelings about that film, but the aesthetic is top notch.”

“Yeah…” Cinn drew in a big puff, before blowing it out in the shape of a heart. “Hehehe, I still got it.”

“Can you blow it out your eyes?” Asher had to ask.

“Hell no! Shit burns like a motherfucker. Who showed ya that?” Cinn shuddered.

“Me. Nyeh heh, didn’t mean to set the bar too high for ya, shorty,” Scamp popped in and noogied Cinn mid inhale, giving him a coughing fit and stealing his cigar.

“You sack of fuckin’ shit, you planned that!” Cinn growled. Asher could kind of tell they were playing around.

“Brother. Please. We arrived with a duty, and we must perform it.”

“DON’T TREAT IT LIKE A DUTY, TREAT IT LIKE AN ADVENTURE! WE GET TO MEET A NEW FRIEND! HOPEFULLY CRIMSON WON’T INSULT THEM SO MUCH THAT THEY LEAVE CRYING THIS TIME!” It was odd. The two voices sounded like they were from the same person, yet one of them was heavy and flat, and the other was bouncing off the walls. Eventually, Asher was able to see the two skeletons talking. They had showed up in a sporty motorbike and sidecar, removing their helmets before coming to say hello.

“Nyeh heh, you Blue’s side piece now?” Scamp joked with the quieter one. The two motorcyclists looked almost inverted. The quieter one with muted purple eyelights robotically shook Asher’s hand, before the bright-eyed one grabbed Asher’s other hand and shook it vigorously.

“HELLO! I DON’T BELIEVE WE’VE MET! MY NAME IS AZURE ASTER, AND THIS IS MY FRIEND, SLIVOVITZ ASTER!”

“Yeah, here’s my big bro. Well, big metaphorically.”

“Hardee har har. Because I’m short. Very original, brother,” Slivovitz sighed. “I would at least like to supervise Edge making the food, even if he will no longer let me assist.”

“MAYBE IF WE’RE LUCKY WE CAN SNEAK MAKING A FEW SIDE DISHES. COME ON, SLIV!” Azure grabbed Sliv’s hand and basically Naruto ran to the door.

“Well, princey, whatcha see is whatcha get. You still wanna go in that house?” Cinn checked. “Y’ can say no. I’d fuckin’ say no.”

Asher shook his head. “I’m ready. I want to give this a try.”

Without realizing it, Asher took Cinn’s hand, and they walked inside. It was lunchtime.

#fta #from the ashes #ssll inspired #ssll #undertail

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kariachi · 5 years

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”So, we’re gonna start today’s Martin Mystery rewatches with The Vampire Returns. Should I have listened to more of the Young Frankenstein soundtrack during lunch in preparation? Probably. But here we are instead.

I love how this show always specifies the exact time shit starts going down. For instance, in this episode, 10:32 pm CEST

Good on Lady Soulsucker’s date for paying enough attention to notice when the girl he’s out with grows fangs and her eyes start glowing. You don’t see that often enough.

Aw and then she takes the daintiest bite of apple with teeth bigger than Date-Dude’s face.

I wonder how they got out without being noticed... can’t remember if the vampires in this episode can do the ‘turn to fog’ thing. Sure I’ll find out later.

Diana sitting there with a book and a crowd of impressed young ladies. What are you showing them, Diana? Did you make this book yourself? Did you mother write it? I can’t think of a reason for the ooo-ing and ahh-ing going on otherwise. Either that or you managed to attract a pack of lesbians and they are trying to get in your pants.

...ya know I’m kinda all for the idea that Diana has unwittingly attracted a chunk of Torrington’s lesbian population and they are all trying to smooze in the awkward way that only a young gay can manage.

Also hello Tonio, it’s nice to see you. I’m going to have to include you in this in some way, I believe, given the location and also that this is a fic for nix.

Martin, Martin, sweetie, no. You are not getting that girl. There were actual sparkles coming off her, you don’t deserve that sort’ve quality. Plus, ya know, she sounds like your brand of nerd isn’t her style. I know the saying is “aim for the moon, if you fail you’ll land among the stars” but let’s be realistic for five seconds

Tonio can see this disaster coming from a mile away.

Amber is not having it, solidly unimpressed. I’m shocked.

You think the girls at this school ever rate the boys and just, give Martin a solid 6/10 for effort and moxie alone? “We wouldn’t date him, but at least he’s entertainingly stupid.”

Amber’s look of shock and concern at the idea of Martin enjoying studying. Like she’s about to call in the Psi Psi Psi girls and Diana, clearly their moron has fallen ill. Diana, meanwhile, is just pissed and I can’t decide whether the idea that this is because Martin is lying to get a date or because ‘has he been lying for the past our entire lives’ is funnier.

Though, given we’ll be working with witch!Martin for this it’s not like he’s lying. He just doesn’t like studying, well, anything they teach at Torrington. (Although I am still a big fan of the idea that he’s perfectly bright and just doesn’t apply himself like, at all.)

Martin don’t growl at your sister, you’ll get enough chances to in season 3.

And Amber trying to let him down easy.

“Very rare, and totally irreplaceable” and you, all the way into season 2, are going to work with them, in your office, immediately after calling in Martin- known disaster and Destroyer of Projects? I swear you’d think MOM wanted her crap ruined. After a point you have no one to blame but yourself.

Martin no.

I repeat, MOM, no one to blame but yourself. Most people with an ounce of sense would stow away the shit they didn’t want destroyed when the guy who keeps destroying shit was called in.

Diana no. You’re being sent on a mission not a fucking river cruise.

Introducing, the world’s scariest tunnel of love. First condoms in the water, now people going missing, this dude is just done.

Well Lady Soulsucker just fucking demolished that place didn’t she. Godsdamn, forget shutting it down because people disappeared, shut it down because it’s officially a safety hazard.

Okay, access hatch in the ceiling, that explains that.

...Okay but Martin isn’t entirely wrong with his assessment here? Something strong and nocturnal is right on the nose, and while the werewolf and half-beast-half-humanoid (and I love he uses that word specifically) hybrid guesses aren’t quite right, they aren’t far off the mark. He brought his A game today.

Diana, darling, kids playing practical jokes generally don’t leave fair rides completely demolished in their wake. That is not a normal occurrence.

Java about to eat half-consumed food off the floor like child did Diana not teach you better than that? I wouldn’t be surprised Martin didn’t but Diana?

500 year old saliva. This is the sort’ve ridiculousness I expect from this show. What, did Lady Soulsucker not swallow, spit, or brush her teeth since she escaped her coffin? Was she going around with 500 years of no brushing on her breath? Of course she’s got vampire hypnosis it’s the only way she could get a date.

Vampire goes rwar at children, flees into the sun to escape capture. Also he may need some heavier clothes, those don’t seem to be keeping the sunlight out.

Martin no.

Billy making himself useful. Helping them follow the massive flashing clue that is the vampire’s clothing.

Martin slow your jock-ass down

Martin no, purple isn’t your color.

Okay, can I just say here that Lady Soulsucker looks fucking weird? She looks like a haunted porcelain doll. Or a shitty oc. Here, a theme song to go with her.

Question, why is there a surf shop in the middle of Paris? Is Paris big for surfing? A true French sport?

Oh, yeah, Simone, I forgot her name. It’s very French. Also dude chill.

Diana will not be stopped by some weird hyper-jealous dude.

She also, ya know, looks like a fucking corpse. But yeah, the reflection thing is your first clue something’s up.

He doesn’t see her, he doesn’t hear her, he doesn’t smell the 500-yo morning breath. I claiming him as an anosmiac by the way, the flag is in.

Welp. I can’t decide whether this feeding was more or less extreme than the last one. I mean, this time was pretty fucking hardcore, but last time she demolished an entire fair ride.

Simone, sweetie, have you considered that if you are looking for a specific guy maybe, just maybe, the way to go about it isn’t to just eat whatever random dude happens to be within hypnotizing range? Just a thought?

“He needs help, I’m going in” Martin says right after watching a guy get eaten by a vampire, proving that while he may not be the moron we deserve, he’s the moron we need. Diana, on the other hand, is a voice of reason and doesn’t deserve this shit.

Lucky those clothes were there to break your fall, Martin.

Martin, after dropping from the ceiling into a vampire’s feeding ground, alone: Don’t make me fuck your shit up! Simone, seeing this: Oh yay it’s my moron! Speak of the devil!

Am I saying Gerard was probably just as much an impulsive dumbshit as his great-x-grandson? Yes. Yes I am.

“Clever, and brave.” And a complete moron of a dork. “Just like my Gerard.”

“And just as handsome” it’s nice to see the looks keep in that family? I don’t believe Gerard got the floaty hair though, but his hair looked stupid so really Martin has the advantage there.

Vampire minions are strong, holding back Java with one hand.

Vampire true love is apparently very sparky.

Well Diana, at least you saved the watch.

Martin gets abducted by vampires, Billy immediately must run to the scene.

I’d be impressed with your strength, Java, if those doors hadn’t looked 70% fallen in before you got to them. You could’ve probably gotten the same result from a hearty cough on them.

Gerard=Martin w/o floaty hair or modern fashion. Don’t know why the portrait is in black in white.

You’d think Billy could’ve taken the thirty seconds to read a brief overview about the woman while he waited for Diana and Java, but no.

No wonder Gerard looks weird, there’s not even a splash of warm color in that outfit. And warm tones don’t do Simone any favors. Coordinate your fashion better, people, you’re vampires for fuck’s sake! What would Mike say!

How do we know about genes from a 15th century vampire? Also I note she says ‘relative’ and not ‘descendant’, but I’m not in the mood to dig into that.

Billy you are literally a galactic conqueror, but your big boy underwear on and get in the basement.

Let’s be real, Diana, that’s just a sibling thing. You go into horrible places to save them so you can give them hell about making you go to a horrible place to save them.

How many minions has Simone gotten together? Like, the clan hasn’t been renewed yet, so... When did she get the time? It’s been like 24 hours

Okay, that explains new guy A, what about B and C over there, who look like they stepped out of Robin Hood? where they sealed in with you? Is this the old crew?

Simone, queen of the night and motivational speeches.

Martin you can’t just call on a specific guy, poor thing probably had a heart attack. “Fuck, my Lady’s new consort has beef, fuckfuckfuck” but no, you just want some fucking fries. And Simone is fucking loving it.

Okay, so we know some of them sleep upside down.

It’s nice to see vampires can still be active sleepers.

Hissy vampires on all fours

Vampire!Martin is perfectly fine with being an evil trophy husband

Vampire!Martin standing there like “yeah, you rule the underworld, babe, rocking it!”

“Do you know how much grief I’ll get at Torrington if my stepbrother comes back a vampire?” Would it really be that much more than you get just for having him as a stepbrother in the first place?

A vampire lord consort and yet still, at heart, an annoying brother

Simone: Get me back my fucking moron and we’re all screwed!

Tell me that’s like, Diana or Java’s dirty sock because I’m fairly certain even Martin doesn’t deserve to have his own stuffed in his mouth

And Simone becomes a massive fucking bat beast. Fur, muzzle, little winglet-dealies, big ears, big teeth, no tail...

Okay, yeah, Java’s sock, cool

Those are some seriously dirty windows. Or, well, were.

Sunlight burns everybody but also burns Simone to fucking ash right quick. Which then removes the curse on her victims.

Also I wanna know more about this apparent vampire gene. It is of much interest, especially given next episode will be dealing with werewolves and in some folklore werewolves when killed become vampires, so...

Martin. No.

Amber really. Either you were setting him up or you yourself are dense as teak.

Oh Martin... stick with spies and monsters, honey

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elastigirl72 · 5 years

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Day 13-14: Veneto>Trieste, Trieste>Senj

1,187 miles completed, 900 or so to go...two new countries 🇸🇮🇭🇷

Greetings from Senj, Croatia 😊

WHAT THE HELL do Croatians put in their Lemon Ice Tea? If I got 3 hours sleep last night I’d be exaggerating. But that it’s my go to energy drink for cycling here, it bodes well for an excellent ride 😊 The last time I felt this wired, well, too long. The likely explanation is the E numbers in the supposed healthier option of iced tea; equally, I’ve just cycled through a country, crossing it’s border silently, just a sign to say I was approaching Slovenia, and 250 metres later, boom: no control, cars, only a change of tarmac, once grey and flat, now pale and cracked.

I assumed the control point was further on up the mountain; surrounded by lush forests and rolling hills, void of life other than the apparent chorus of feathered natives. The sun hadn’t fully appeared and the weather could go either way, leaving me rather focused on the option of getting over the top and in to Croatia quickly. The final peak on the route is around 900m, but even my luggage felt lighter than any other climb I’d done this trip. Rolling on, I eventually hit a border control believing this was Slovenia, and for the first time, I was asked for my passport by a guard who came out and met me, and taught me that “Vala” was thank you. None the wiser that I had crossed into Croatia, my bike, Monkey II and it’s younger sibling, my frame bag, rolled on, blissfully alone. I’d realised that Spotify had moved into the next week and the deepest joy, a new Discover Weekly playlist. Artificial intelligence is very clever. In the tunes it presented me this week, first on the list, Crazy by Seal, Moving by Supergrass. I couldn’t be more elated on a ride than I felt in those two hours. I was in my own private heaven.

Not until I stopped for cappuccino at Cafe Bicicletta did I realise it was the Croatian border I crossed. I should have realised passing through Rejika, a crumbing, graffiti, once grand port city, interlaced with tram lines and an intricate network of roads. I looked very alien, and the city people looked very different to those I had seen in Trieste, just 20 miles ago and a country away. I didn’t know until I paid for my drinks that Croatia, whilst in the EU, has its own currency, the Kuna. I’d bought a roll, and at what I believed was €2.70 for a bit of bread, I was getting the “tourist” rate, the lady corrected me, taking my euro coins, all 50c, and putting me out of my confusion.

1000m climbed and 40 miles to go, the landscape again changed dramatically. Forested mountains to my left, the Adriatic and stark, barren, sometimes silhouetted landscapes to my right. It was beautiful, the route, challengingly hilly, and still the heavy clouds followed me, reminding me to keep pedalling or risk a soaking. I realised at this point my chain had developed a new rub in the big ring. It’s quite disheartening to hear...so small ring most of the remaining miles the answer.

I have a habit of unknowingly booking my bed at the highest point in a town. The accommodations in Senj was just this, with a 30% wrong turn to finish and 2200 climbing metres for the day, finally arrived, meeting the friendliest hosts of my trip, immaculate studio apartment, a freshly made tea, overlooking the ancient town and it’s proud castle. My goodness, I had arrived. It started to feel like the Odyssey had been to get to this Dalmatian Coastline. Inclement weather across Italy behind me, now I could breathe. If I hadn’t already felt challenged, it was now I was going to find out what I am made of.

Looking back at Italy, whilst I love Italy, I had not loved this particular visit. I’d got unlucky with the low weather front that arrived as I reached the Alps, and is still with me, but hopefully passing. I could have left later in the year. But if I felt the roads were busy now, in two months, they’d be so much worse.

I hit my low points in Italy (assuming there will be no more). I had to force a rest day after Venice, huddling down in a closed petrol station deciding how long I could survive as I chilled to the bone, sheltering from the freezing wind and wet to the core despite my wet weather gear. After finding the nearest hotel, and then waking the next day to the same torrential rain and 4 degrees, my heart was truly deflated. There was only one thing for it. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. It was drastic, but the ridiculousness of the necessity to dress up as a cycling clown weirdly raises my spirits. The hotel owner, Rosa, and her husband, who called himself Leonardo (da Vinci) after helping to craft my stapled bin liner dress to go with my ingenious shower cap helmet/head saver, joined in laughing at my insistence at my intention to at least start again rather than get a train, or another friend’s suggestion, a ferry. All great options. Only to me that felt like failure. By 10 I was on the road with gritted teeth and an unbreaking resolve to make it to Trieste.

Looking left, I could see the Dolomites like a northern wall, covered in snow to the lower levels, a constant reminder of how messed up my trip would have been if I’d gone with any intial plan to ride through Trento. Surprisingly, the rain abated somewhat by the time I reached the Italian Rice Fields, wetlands with more water networks than I’ve ever seen and an abundance of wetland birds of all shapes and sizes. I had no nutrition for this 5 hour ride. I’d didn’t stop. And at 3:10pm, I arrived, victorious in the Italian Riviera town of Trieste. I really liked it here. My room was great, central, and vibrant atmosphere all around. I made my four yearly visit to McDonald’s to get a hot chocolate (amazing in Italy! Last time I was in McDonald’s was also a cycling trip in Italy in 2016, where starving and desperate after a long hard ride and all of Italy closed for lunch, I ordered 9 chicken nuggets, 6 chicken wings, a side salad, and fries, and ashamedly, enjoyed and demolished them all 😆). Knowing that a tough day lay ahead, I found my local bike mechanic to give my bike a mini service and at 10am I hit the road in search of new countries.

A few friends knowing what I’m doing, cycling from home to somewhere in Greece, ask am I having fun. This is my 6th cycling adventure, and in my head, an adventure won’t always be fun. Sometimes it won’t be fun at all, from beginning to end. Some adventures will be a combination of fun and he’ll, and the hope is that the trip will be more fun than arduous. The thing is, when it’s a good day, it’s amazing. There are incredible moments, desperate days, and varying degrees of pain and pleasure. But I think is good to take the risk and see what happens. At no point during or after an adventure have I said “I wish I hadn’t done it”. Even travelling alone and carting your own gear, riding 6 hours a day or more in all weather, you take yourself both mentally and physically to places otherwise unreachable, creating heightened memories and teaching you things about yourself, revealing your weaknesses and discovering strengths. I wasn’t sure I’d have a knee strong enough to make this trip. But here I am, over half way, excited, happy, weary but ready for another day. And when all is said and done, it’s still only a trip around a supermarket car park compared to those that climb mountains or sail across oceans. I have so many options to get home. On my hardest day this trip, I was sat within 5 miles of an international airport (Marco Polo), a train station (could have got me to Trieste) and a ferry terminal (anywhere between Trieste, Dalmatian Coastline and Athens).

I still have my cycling t shirt casual evening attire. I wear it now almost to excuse myself for my scruffy appearance. As if to say “no need to ask. Yup. Cyclist. Solo. Smelly. Weird”. I’ve also not managed to shed my wet weather gear yet but it’s coming. I can feel it! 😊

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