#maybe i should stop posting so many selfies

[emberwhite]

I spent the last 11 months working with my illustrator, Marta, to make the children's book of my dreams. We were able to get every detail just the way I wanted, and I'm very happy with the final result. She is the best person I have ever worked with, and I mean, just look at those colors!

I wanted to tell that story of anyone's who ever felt that they didn't belong anywhere. Whether you are a nerd, autistic, queer, trans, a furry, or some combination of the above, it makes for a sad and difficult life. This isn't just my story. This is our story.

I also want to say the month following the book's launch has been very stressful. I have never done this kind of book before, and I didn't know how to get the word out about it. I do have a small publishing business and a full-time job, so I figured let's put my some money into advertising this time. Indie writers will tell you great success stories they've had using Facebook ads, so I started a page and boosting my posts.

Within a first few days, I got a lot of likes and shares and even a few people who requested the book and left great reviews for me. There were also people memeing on how the boy turns into a delicious venison steak at the end of the book. It was all in good fun, though. It honestly made made laugh. Things were great, so I made more posts and increased spending.

But somehow, someway these new posts ended up on the wrong side of the platform. Soon, we saw claims of how the book was perpetuating mental illness, of how this book goes against all of basic biology and logic, and how the lgbtq agenda was corrupting our kids.

This brought out even more people to support the book, so I just let them at it and enjoyed my time reading comments after work. A few days later, then conversation moved from politics to encouraging bullying, accusing others of abusing children, and a competition to who could post the most cruel image. They were just comments, however, and after all, people were still supporting the book.

But then the trolls started organizing. Over night, I got hit with 3 one-star reviews on Amazon. My heart stopped. If your book ever falls below a certain rating, it can be removed, and blocked, and you can receive a strike on your publishing account. All that hard work was about to be deleted, and it was all my fault for posting it in the wrong place.

I panicked, pulled all my posts, and went into hiding, hoping things would die down. I reported the reviews and so did many others, but here's the thing you might have noticed across platforms like Google and Amazon. There are community guidelines that I referenced in my email, but unless people are doing something highly illegal, things are rarely ever taken down on these massive platforms. So those reviews are still there to this day. Once again, it's my fault, and I should have seen it coming.

Luckily, the harassment stopped, and the book is doing better now, at least in the US. The overall rating is still rickety in Europe, Canada, and Australia, so any reviews there help me out quite a lot. I'm currently looking for a new home to post about the book and talk about everything that went into it. I also love to talk about all things books if you ever want to chat. Maybe I'll post a selfie one day, too. Otherwise, the book is still on Amazon, and the full story and illustrations are on YouTube as well if you want to read it for free.

[thatdeadaquarius]

PowerPoint night with the genshin cast ✨

NO BC I SAW THIS IN MY INBOX AND I WAS FROTHING AT THE MOUTH WITH TOO MANY IDEASSS, the energy is just this:

You introduce the wonderful concept of powerpoints, then a powerpoint night and you should expect absolute chaos

Mondstadt over here like,

"Why I Deserve Wine:

I am a god

I am YOUR god, give me offerings duh

(insert conclusion here)"

by Venti, he didn't even both filling out some slides, and they're all just plain text with maybe a nice selfie of himself on the first slide lmao

STOP, DILUC'S POWERPOINT BEING A 40 SLIDE PRESENTATION RESPONSE TO VENTI'S AHALKSJ

or better yet, Creator!You version:

"An Explanation of Why the One Above Us All Would Enjoy Living in Liyue During Their Stay Here" by Zhongli, which takes approx. 4+ hours to get thru, and its his case for why u should stay in Liyue Harbor - half the ppl there are actually paying attention and the other half are fast asleep (u included)

Meanwhile Yae Miko trying to stir the pot like, "Which Vision-User, God, or Nation is Our Ruler's Favorite" 💀

Also another presentation that would make several ppl give response presentations and it just becomes: HER SISTER WAS A WITCH BRO = THE CREATOR LIKES SUMERU MORE BRO

CRYING- people like Zhongli, Albedo, Alhaitham, Xingqiu, Neuvillette, Xiao, Sucrose, Jean, Ei/Raiden Shogun, Faruzan all misunderstanding and thinking u actually want a real presentation from them 😭😭

ngl all the Sumeru/Akademiya/Fontaine characters have probably gotten somewhat close to doing some kind of equivalent to this, mostly bc ppl will debate abt the stupidest stuff over there so they get it, wonder if they made drinking games out of it lol

(first question from Sumeru characters is "what is powerpoint night, and why has Alhaitham probably already won it")

pls im so braindead rn there are ENDLESS possibilities for this, if anyone has more I am LISTENING!!!

Safe Travel 0rah,

💀♒

If you wanna join a taglist, DM me what for! "Pspspsss, please tag me for [All SAGAU posts, Only SAGAU Language AUs, diff fandom, etc.]!"

(If you ever wanna drop, just DM me! "No more taglists/[specifically this AU/fandom] please!")

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi / @fallen-starr / @areaderofbooks / @devilangel657 / @esthelily / @justinsomniachild / @nanithefuck / @questionotmystopit / @chinuneko

@kiyomi-uchiha777

[0w0tsuki]

Trans girls who think that their sisters need to shut up pand play nice with sissies/femboys need to realize that's a two way street. Maybe you should ask sissies as a whole to stop being wildly transmisoginistic-oh wait transmisogyny is literally the point of sissy kink. It's raceplay but for trans women.

As someone who has had to share kink spaces where sissies are unavoidable because the content creators cater to them, they're so common that if your AMAB in that kink space your basically presumed to be one, they have absolutely no respect for boundaries I can assure you that the "trans woman who discovered herself through sissy kink" is vastly outnumbered by transmisoginists who stalk trans women to steal our selfies for their sissy captions blog while demonizing us and making transfemininity out to be something that is inherently sexual and to be ashamed of.

That is unless of course you go down the #transisbeautiful tag where you will find plenty of girls posting their fully clothed SFW selfies as #humiliated sissy, #gay man, #beta faggot, and as many queer positive tags as they can find so they can say to as many people who will be hurt by it as possible that they agree with their no trans sissies even the most sfw presentation of transfemininity is still inherently sexual and something to be ashamed of.

Sissy kink is personally responsible for sending me into a pit of denial and internalized transmisogyny that I couldn't have gotten out on my own and everytime I see these girls I think about how I would've been like that if I didn't get the help I got. Like for all of you who say we have to be nice to sissies because "a lot of them are probably closeted eggs" have you ever took a second to consider WHY there are so many eggs in the sissy community?

Have you maybe considered that sissy communities are in the exact same kinks that draw in Transfem eggs and are designed to keep them in the closet for as long as possible purely for the transmisogynists who fetishize us? Why are you asking the trans women who have been traumatized by these communities to be the one extending the hand.

Why do you expect trans women to rebuild every bridge that's been burned by others?

[jewish-vents]

i've been having so many baader-meinhof effect moments that are making feel paranoid and afraid of everyone i talk to online. after my local jcc was vandalized, a friend reblogged a post about antisemitism accusations being comparatively unimportant distraction (and to be clear, i hadn't talked about it, but from then on i was paralyzed - fearing that maybe i shouldn't but then getting so angry at myself because why wasn't i?). the week amit soussana came forward with her experiences in captivity, i saw a post about the importance of giving sympathy to hamas. it predated the article, but did the person who reblogged it know? was this their takeaway? a student of a jewish teacher i know drew blood libel caricature of him, and while he was texting about it, a discord server was blowing up with complaints about how ugly they thought an actor was, and how it fit because he was a zionist. i've never posted selfies; how could they know we could pass for siblings?

two friends praised the soldier who killed himself and called it protest, one even reposted a tweet commenting (in a degrading way) on the lack israelis who had done the same. the same week i read a story of an activist who grandstanded about bringing a guillotine to the houses of her city council. she mentioned gandhi in her rant, and i couldn't stop thinking about how he thought the jews of europe should have committed mass suicide

it's inescapable and deafening

.

[betbeton]

𓆱 Beep Beep ♡

Various TR Men Sending Horny Videos and Pictures

Warnings - Various 'Vanilla' Kinks, Post Timeskip

18+ Minors DNI

·GN Reader·

·A/N - the manga fell off but i'm still wilding for these criminals·

HQ Version

・❥・ Masterlist

⪧ Haitani Ran

Sends you videos of his dick casually

Like 'babe should i dye my pubes?' That type of stuff, it's 50/50 whether he's joking or not

Also sniffs your underwear when jacking off for a video to send you, he'd never admit it though

Honestly you should have seen this coming. You've been with him for so many years at this point it should have been obvious what the video he had sent you was, after all Ran Haitani is the biggest brat you have ever been around. He teases and flirts more than he holds normal conversations with you, he also gets into arguments over skin and hair care, but that's not nearly as important as his casual habit of sending you pictures of his cock while at work. Not while you're at work, no no that would be far too normal, he sends them while he's at work. You're surprised he hasn't been reprimanded, though you doubt that would stop him. Right now though your were far more concerned about the background of his dick pic than the cock plastered across the middle of the photo. There were two other sets of expensive looking dress shoes in the picture, one you recognized as the pair you had purchased Rindou as a birthday present and the other you had to assume was Kokonoi with how flashy the shoes were. Then the realization hit you like a train, he had taken a picture of his cock in the middle of a meeting that would be the only explanation as to why the picture was so dark and why there were two other pairs of shoes in the background! You could only hope Rindou yelled some sense into him if he was caught, though you doubt even a verbal thrashing from his brother would set the menace to society on the straight and narrow.

⪧ Akashi 'Sanzu' Haruchiyo

He exclusively sends blurry pictures

He'll get high and have the wonderful idea to booty call you by sending a blurry photo of his cock,

sometimes he'll attempt a naked mirror selfie only for it to come out like a cryptid picture

Head tilting as you tried to decipher what you had woken up to, it was either a close up of your partner's leg or maybe some person he beat up. Whatever it was you were unreasonably determined to figure it out, normally Sanzu would send vague horribly written sexts with his nudes so due to the lack of any high ramblings accompanying the picture you assumed it was of something nonsexual. Padding over to your bedroom your crawled into bed with your phone in hand. Holding it tightly to your chest as you shook Sanzu with you other hand, the man groaned as he rolled over to face you. A lazy grin splitting his scarred faced as he crooned at you.

"What's up ba-"

Not letting him finish you shoved your phone into his hands and popped your burning question.

"Haru, what the fuck is this?"

Blinking several times he squinted at the blurry picture before letting out an almost manic cackle, holding your phone back out to you he enlightened you while gesturing to his covered cock.

"Can't you tell? It's my dick, you can see my left nut in the picture along with my pubes babe!"

Gawking you snatched your phone back and gave the picture a closer look before tugging back the blankets and peeking down his boxers. With an almost sage like nod you fixed a squinted gaze his way.

"I see."

Trying to ignore the rough hand slinking up your arm you tucked your phone back into your sleep shorts, though you fixed a half hearted glare Sanzu's way when he spoke.

"So ... since you already peeked at my morning wood, wanna take care of it pretty baby?"

You didn't even let his smug grin grow into a smirk before grabbing a pillow and trying to suffocate him while he cackled like a loon.

⪧ Hanma Shuji

Mocks you for being horny and a slut while sending pictures and videos of him getting off

Really the king of projecting his ho tendencies onto others, though he'd only do it for/to you

Also makes sure you're in public before sending

It was the sixth time you phone had buzzed while you were out with your friends for lunch, the sixth time you were certain Hanma had sent you either a video or picture of himself cumming. Really the man was a menace to your social life as well as your current sex strike for the last time he did this. Though like every other time before this, the moment your friends had slipped away to use the restroom you tugged your phone from your pocket. Flicking through your notifications you clicked on Hanma's messages with a heavy sigh leaving your lips, luckily your phone's volume had been off otherwise his lecherous moans would have spread through the entire restaurant. Unluckily for you though those three little dots were still blipping away at the bottom of your chat, a sense of unease settled in souring your tepid arousal as another picture of his stupid smug face popped onto your screen. If you hadn't been being harassed by him for the last half hour of lunch you would have swooned at the picture, it was from his collarbone up and if you looked closely you could even see his own cum dribbling down his chin. This man was a menace, a criminal in the purest sense of the word, but he was yours and honestly with how hot and bothered that picture had you feeling you might have been willing to give up your no sex punishment ... for a day.

[noellevanious]

Alright. This is pissing me off now. More "drama" regarding my friend Avery and DemilyPyro below the cut.

Summary: Avery got harassed, Demily didnt apologize, blamed other things like her autism and memory issues, and other despicable things.

Context:

my friend Moira posted yesterday about local tumblr user Demilypyro being a shithead, after talking about how she had personally experienced her being shitty before. Because of this, she was getting harassed enough by Demily Fans that she relented and posted "Receipts" they were asking for (in quotes because.... she just said she was being shitty, no receipts should be needed)

The screenshots showed Demily clearly being shitty last year, talking rudely about a friend Moira had after the friend had posted a selfie in a channel they were both in.

Moira was told that Demily was apologizing, and considering the hatemail she was getting, I don't blame her for hearing that and going "Alright, awesome, I don't want or need to talk about that anymore! Leave me alone please and stop sending me hatemails/moving goalposts to prove that Demily is literally Worse than The Devil!"

I was looking through my blog, and, out of curiosity, I checked to see, and...

post screencaps above are from

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(no link cause im on mobile and this shit is hard but. the post should be locatable)

(link post above is from)

(link to post screencap is from)

.... blaming her autism, memory issues, and echoing fans levying suspicions about it being about her being trans, among other bad faith shit.

Doing this is despicable. Insulting trans women and mocking how they look and using questionable terms (they may or may not be dogwhistles, thats the nature of dogwhistles, and so I don't hold that against her, but still. questionable) and acknowledging that that actually happened is bad enough, especially when you're also trans. Infighting during a surge of transmisogyny, where straight women are being killed because people think they're trans, is nothing short of catastrophically stupid.

But to then, instead of just outright apologize, let your audience build it up as som witch-hunt and push the blame onto aspects of your life you can't control, is... something else.

I have autism, as do many of my friends. Not only is autism an obscenely variable mental health variable, but it also is not how South Park portrayed it once, where you impulsively shout out insults. Dulling your social senses is not the same as outright insulting trans women.

I also have friends with serious memory issues, as well as close relatives (my grandmother developed alzheimers in 2021 before she passed early this year). It's devastating in both directions.

To use those as scapegoats so you don't have to take responsbility for... being a shithead? Fucking despicable. No better word for it. Disrespectful, insulting to other people that have those issues and don't use them to excuse being shitty, apathetic at best.

Now, what is my point making this post? Besides this genuinely pissing me off an insane amount, I wanted to use it as a teaching opportunity -

You know how easy it would be to have made these "drama" not exist? Two magic words:

Take. Responsibility.

If you're ever in a situation where people are telling you you're being a shithead, and you know in the back of your head "Yeah, this stuff is really shitty, and it did come out of my mouth" - just fucking own up! Take responsibility for your shitty actions! "I'm sorry. I said shitty things. I'm going to strive to do and be better. I take full responsibility."

It's literally that simple - because it shows that - you know you made mistakes, but you have the capacity to learn from those mistakes! Like every fucking human being ever! Don't hide behind other things to avoid that responsbility!Don't passively promote your fans saying shit like "Hmmmm maybe other trans girls are calling you out because youre trans!" or "Hmm maybe they just hate you and want you to suffer!" Just fucking own up!

I don't know where this post is gonna end up. I fully expect more demily fans to harass me, I've already blocked Demily herself (because I don't want to even interact with somebody that badmouths other transgirls because they don't fit their beauty standards).

But, I do want to clarify and stress: I do not want, or care about, any more of this "drama" beyond her apologizing and owning up.

Seeing her fans mock and insult and harass my friend who already constantly deals with shit way more than anybody should, and then going on her blog and seeing her not only play the Woe is Me appeal to ethos bullshit, but also promote fans that are passing the blame around on boogeymen like her being trans, is dangerous, insulting, and made me furious, and I wanted to get it out of my system.

[my-mt-heart]

tldr here - it was very short qa, only 30 mins no questions. norman and melissa hung out and took selfies and signed stuff with as many people as possible before security wrapped it up. neither stopped when the came out the back to their cars.

what do you want to know? you don't have to post this / you can repost it under a cut for spoilers, idc.

pros: most scene time in the first ep is of carol, who's dry wit i missed but is totally back. i like the new character, avi. beautiful scenery, love that it's supposed to be maine. the crowd cheered for carol / melissa, there wasn't like favoritism towards norman / daryl in terms of reactions. fans of all ages / genders / etc.

cons: same character development. she meets someone, she puts on a facade. i was so frustrated carol didn't just tell the truth. i didn't watch the first season out of spite but daryl's scenes.....i really felt like i was watching, like, harry potter and the walking dead. it just felt wrong.

neutral (imo-not significant but feels a little stale / like they didn't try atp): focusing on carol's loss of sophia, call backs to The Barn scene, there's a cherokee rose that symbolizes "hope."

from the qa: norman really hyped up the finale but that could just be to get people to watch. teased "bickering like an old married couple." zabel teased the photos of mel and norm shooting in paris and norman was like, "there's pictures of it on the internet" they know. when they asked melissa what she said on the radio she did an adorable bit about "i want my socks back" or something. she also implied that she's been apart of crafting where the character goes and what's important. dalton ross is very cringe, he needs everyone to know he was the guy to be at the height of the comic-con days (but he wasn't that was hardwick lol). there was a well known rick cosplayer there and people were trying to sneak photos, i think they thought he was andy fr.

plot spoilers: tldr carol befriends a guy, avi, for his plane and convinces him to fly her to france by the end of the first episode to find her daughter sophia, who was in paris with her father ed when the world ended (avi calls her out on this and everyone laughs). she plays on the loss of his son, which melissa says is "awful." i'm not positive bc i didn't watch but i think avi's place is where daryl made the radio call from to cArol but i can't be sure i could be making that up.

it was cool but also gave me this deep bit of sadness? like maybe i'm too old for this and need to move on. it was a little disorganized - they kept removing reserved seating so people kept rushing for closer seats, which left me in the middle of the front section with empty seats in either side of me? it was weird.

Thanks for the writeup! I'm really happy Melissa was so well-received. She deserves that.

Carol falling back on old habits makes me nervous because of how quickly some viewers like to demonize her (female characters are always judged more harshly than men for their flaws). I know she's desperate to get to Daryl, I love that he's her emotional drive, and I trust Melissa's performance will be nuanced, but I'll judge the writing when I get to see the scene for myself.

What is Daryl's arc in 201?

I feel like there is actually a lot of healing left to do as far as Sophia goes, so I'm glad Melissa wanted to explore that. I hope the callbacks/flashbacks with Sophia as well as with Daryl really will help Carol grow as a character. I'm confident in Melissa's storytelling abilities. She's very intuitive. Zabel on the other hand tends to put gimmicks before substance and that doesn't mesh well. If people are saying they can feel Melissa's influence in the episode, that's a good sign. AMC should keep leaning into her vision for Carol/Caryl.

[thegreymoon]

Hi! Thank you for responding to my question about 2ha haters' bad takes. Your answer helped a lot! It's true that some people will simply never shut up when it comes to blindly hating on 2ha. However, I do wonder if meatbun had focused a bit more on ranwan's sexuaI trauma (especially chu wanning. as in making them talk about it at least once maybe in the post canon extras?), would these horrible takes be a somewhat lower in number...? Anyway, thank you for responding!

Hey, anon!

I'm glad you found my reply helpful!

Honestly, I think Meatbun focuses enough on what was done to them both, considering what the focus of this book is to begin with. This is an erotic novel, not a manual on healthy relationships. Again, people who cannot tell the difference really shouldn't be reading this book in the first place.

I don't see how anything would have been improved if Meatbun had stopped in the middle of the text and put up a warning in bright, neon letters saying, "DISCLAIMER: Don't rape people in real life, kids!" Nor do I see the benefit of the two of them sitting down and analysing it in text bit by bit so that a bunch of antis can be satisfied (spoiler alert: they still wouldn't be satisfied and would still nitpick it till kingdom come anyway). As it stands, they do discuss what was done to them both. Primarily in chapter 279, before Mo Ran's death, when Chu Wanning ends it with "I was willing, I am still willing and will be willing in the future too." We see Chu Wanning having nightmares post-canon. We see him and Mo Ran negotiating consent in the extras for one of their kinkier games and how sensitive Mo Ran in his right mind is to what he's done to Chu Wanning before and how important his consent is now. I am sure there are multiple other instances that I can't remember off the top of my head, but again, like I said, none of this matters.

This whole discussion reminds me of a tragic event some years ago at Yellowstone National Park where a group of people ignored a clear warning, crossed a barrier, went to take a picture too close to the edge of a waterfall, fell in and died. Later, a journalist asked a ranger if they were going to put up more signs and the ranger replied, "No." Rightfully so, because there were plenty of warnings and common sense should tell you that this is dangerous, but if you choose to ignore all that for a cute selfie, then whatever happens afterwards is on you. No matter how many warnings there are, stupid people are going to be stupid, ignore them all and get hurt.

The same principle goes for smaller things, like deciding whether or not to read 2ha. I feel like people have done plenty by spreading warnings far and wide that this book contains non-con. The book itself is labelled as being for adult readers only. Reasonable people understand what kinky erotica is, do not equate fiction with reality and do not get butthurt when two fictional dudes in ancient fantasy China don't have a detailed manifesto in-text about their opinions on the evils of rape. This book is for people looking for erotic fantasy (with a dash of having their neurons rearranged by the story on the side). It is not and never will be a guidebook on safe, sane and consensual sex.

In any case, nonny, my advice remains the same! Block and ignore all antis and bad faith takes. You cannot win this argument and you shouldn't try. Just block, block, block and block some more. You will be much happier, I promise!

^_^

[gretavangroupie]

Bloom (Chapter 4)

Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Warnings: Angst, Smut.

“Why else love, if not to feel stars exploding in our veins” - Butterflies Rising

You and Amelia arrive home around early afternoon and you quickly do your few work tasks for the day, so that its not a total loss. You hear Amelia put an album on the record player, and you hum along with her selection. You are fighting the urge to text Josh and see what he is up to. You wonder where they are going next. You wonder the next time you will get to see him, or even if you will. Next thing you know you find your self googling Greta Van Fleet. You see pictures of the guys in various stages of life. You see Josh with many different haircuts and you giggle to yourself. You open Spotify and pull up their artist profile and begin your deep dive into their music. As you continue your google searching you find out that Jake and Josh are twins, they are older than Sam and Danny, and they are from Michigan. You click on a link that takes you to a video of them performing in 2015 and you laugh at how far they have come since then. The next link takes you to twitter, where there are hundreds of people talking about Josh and the other guys. They are clearly huge fans, posting selfies with the guys and reposting photos of them all throughout their careers, along with jokes and various other things.

You begin to wonder if you are in over your head, you’re suddenly very overwhelmed when you spot a photo of you and Josh. You quickly click on it to make it larger. It’s a photo of you two walking out to the van last night. Josh’s arm linked through yours. Both of you smiling at each other. The caption reading, “Who is this????” With multiple comments of people speculating or asking the same thing.

You quickly close the computer screen shut and sit there and stare into space. You realize you should probably send the picture to Josh if he hasn’t already seen it. Maybe that’s why you haven’t heard from him, however you quickly talk yourself out of it.

You reopen the computer, take a picture of the screen and you text it to Amelia instead. She replies almost instantly.

Amelia: Aww! That is so cute! Better get used to it!

You: Not aww! I haven’t heard from Josh since yesterday morning and I am wondering if this is the reason! I don’t think he wants anyone to know about this “thing”. 

Amelia: That’s show business babe, and from what Danny told me I don’t think that is the case.

You: What do you mean what Danny told you? Why am I just now hearing about this??? Come in the office right now!

A few minutes later Amelia steps through the door.

“Im sorrrrry, I didn’t want to say anything because technically it was a secret, but I don’t want you to worry.” She said.

You shoot her an icy look. 

“Lets hear it.” You demand.

She sighs, “Okay so Danny told me that Josh hasn’t really dated anyone in while, and that this is the first time that he has ever had a girl back stage with him, let alone share his hotel room with. He said that he has been talking about you non stop, so I really wouldn’t worry about that picture…” She says reassuringly.

You let out a deep breath and spin around in your computer chair thinking about this new information. You find yourself biting the inside of your cheek.

“Well, it doesn’t change the fact that I haven’t heard from him since.” You say pointedly.

“I haven’t heard from Danny either if it makes you feel better. Let’s go grab some dinner.”

Dinner and the rest of the evening were relatively quiet. Knowing you both had a full day of work tomorrow, you decided to turn in early. You settle on watching a movie in bed and just relaxing until you fall asleep. Half way through ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ you hear your phone buzz on your night stand. You pick it up. It’s Josh.

Josh: Hey pretty girl, I JUST got service. We have been driving through the mountains all day to Virginia and we finally just arrived. I have been thinking about you all day.

Your heart leaps out of your chest. You aren’t sure why your brain always assumes the worst but you have to stop listening to it. You reply quickly.

You: Hi! I have been thinking about you too. Glad you all made it safely. Have you seen this?

You attach the picture you took from your computer earlier and hit send.

Josh: I had not since I didn’t have any service, but I have now. It’s a cute picture. I think I’ll save it. ;)

Another text comes through right after.

Josh: I wish you were here.

You: Yeah, It is chilly here tonight, I could go for another good nights sleep with you to keep me warm. 

Josh: I wish I could say it won’t be long, but I don’t think I will be home for a break for at least another month. We have already had quite a few ups and downs with this tour and having to cancel a few shows. I am hoping the rest of it goes smoothly. 

You: It’s okay you’re worth the wait. ;) Sorry to hear about the cancellations. Im sending good vibes for the rest of the tour.

Josh: You will let me know If you want to come to any of the shows right? You can come to any of them. I’ll even let you share my hotel room…

You: Yeah, I will let you know. The last part sounds nice…

Josh: You know I never use my phone this much, my brothers are already making fun of me. Usually I can’t even find it. What have you done to me?

You: I can let you go…

Josh: NO! Im just saying, its nice to have someone of my own to talk to for once. Usually the guys call their girlfriends around this time every night, and I just hangout by myself until they are done. I am happy I can participate in the group activity now.

You: Happy to be of service. :)

Josh: I can think of a few things you could service…

You: Oh really? Like what?

Josh: Well, just use that beautiful mind, Im sure you can think of a few things. ;)

You: I will think about it, but will you?

Josh: I have been all day pretty girl. In fact I haven’t stopped thinking about it since we left the hotel. I’m going to get some sleep, our manager has a whole day planned for us tomorrow… 

You: Sounds like fun! Goodnight Josh

Josh: Goodnight angel, sleep well. I will talk to you tomorrow.

You place your phone back on the night stand and finish your movie, but you haven’t watched a minute of it. You drift off to sleep replaying your favorite night with Josh, over and over, wishing you could cuddle up next to him right now.

You woke up the next morning feeling happier than usual. Something about knowing that you would talk to Josh again today made you that way. Like nothing could ruin your mood. 

That is, until your little spat with your boss. After that, the rest of your day was uneventful.

Around 6:30 you receive a text from Josh.

Josh: Hey beautiful, we are about to start doing pre-show warm ups for tonight. I will call you after the show, before we hit the road? If it’s not too late? I don’t want to keep you up. 

You respond immediately knowing he is going to put his phone down any second. You decide to keep it short and sweet.

You: I’ll be up, and looking forward to it. Break a leg. :)

You spent the rest of the night anxiously awaiting your phone call with Josh. Around 11:30 you are staring to doze off while waiting when you feel your phone vibrating on your bed.

“Hello?” You answer groggily.

“Hello lovely” Josh says with a raspy voice. “You sound like you were asleep?” he asks.

“I… wasn’t… fully asleep.” You say coyly. “I was just resting my eyes” you joke.

“How was the show?” You ask.

“It was great, it was a good one tonight, the crowd was really receptive and we all had a good time.” He says proudly.

“Aw, wish I could have been there. I have been brushing up on lyrics.” You say.

“Ah, I can give you a private lesson if you want. Just say the word. I happen to know them all.”he jokes.

“I’m sure you would be an excellent teacher.” You laugh.

“How was your day, did you do anything fun?” He asks.

It’s so weird that Josh, a literal rockstar, wants to know about your average and mundane everyday life. When his is the complete opposite.

“No, I had a small tiff with my boss over a scheduling conflict but other than that it was a pretty normal day for me. I was talking to Amelia about possibly going to one of those co-work office spaces just to get out of the house more but still be in a working environment. She told me about a couple and I may check them out next week. Fun stuff I know.” You joke.

“That sounds very efficient, but still communicative. That is probably where I would end up too. I like to talk to new people.” He says.

“No, not you!” You joke at his expense.

“We are on the road all night tonight to go to Pennsylvania.” He says.

“Do you play again tomorrow or do you have a night off? Im not sure how all of this works.” You say.

“Yes, we play again tomorrow, then we have a two days off, with traveling of course, and then we play another two nights in a row. It’s a little confusing, i’ll send you the tour schedule. That way you can count down the days until I get to come home for a break.” He says.

You can hear the excitement in his voice. You get butterflies in your stomach at the countdown statement. He wants to see you again when he gets back? Why you? You’re not complaining though…

“When are you supposed to have that break?” You ask.

“We are supposed to have a long break after the Bangor show around the beginning of October. Almost 10 days I think, before we hit the road again for another month.” He says. “And the minute I get home I’m coming to see you.” He announces.

“Oh hey, they are calling for us to get on the bus. I have to go for now, but maybe I can call you again tomorrow?” He asks.

“Of course, you can call me or text me any time you want. You know that.” You say.

“I do now.” He says. “Goodnight sweet girl, I will talk to you tomorrow”.

You can hear the sentiment in his voice.

“Goodnight to you too, whenever that will be, safe travels and I will talk to you tomorrow.” You reply.

“Bye babe” he says. “Bye” you reply right before you hit the end call button.

You spend yet another night dreaming of being wrapped up in Josh.

The next several days went about the same. You did end up going into a co-work space in East Nashville and it was really nice to be around others, also working remotely. 

You and Josh texted a few times throughout the day but every night he would call you right around 11:30. You could tell that he likes to talk on the phone more than he liked to text. He would send you picture of random things that he would see in the cities they would visit but he really had a lot more to say over the phone. You talked about the shows on show nights, the funny signs he would see and the outfits people would wear. And on non show nights he would want to talk about your day and random topics he would choose. Every day you felt like you were getting to know him better and better becoming closer with each other. Each night he would tell you how many days were left until he would see you. And the number was officially down to one. Looking at their schedule they had a show tonight in Bangor, and then he would fly home for almost 2 weeks. He had already told you all of the things that he planned for the two of you to do together when he got back. You could hardly wait to see him, even though it had barely been 2 weeks since the last time you saw him. 

He had texted you a few things today, his normal good morning, something funny one of the guys did at lunch and just a little while ago he texted you telling you they were about to go on and that he would call you after.

Around 11:30 you waited for your phone call with Josh. 11:30 turned into midnight, which turned in 12:30, with no phone call. You worried a little but chalked it up to Josh probably being tired and that you would just talk to him tomorrow. You decided to go to bed, knowing that tomorrow night around this time you would hopefully be intertwined with him into the early morning.

*Bzz, Bzz, Bzz* you wake up to your phone vibrating on your night stand. The clock showing 2:41AM. It’s Josh. 

With squinting eyes you read his text.

Josh: I know its late, I’m sorry I didn’t call you babe, I fucked up really bad.

After that bombshell of a text, your heart drops for a second. You read it again. You contemplate replying now, or in the morning. If he is awake right now, something must be wrong.

You: What’s wrong Josh? Is everything okay?

You nervously wait for his reply, your hands starting to get clammy. You see the three dots begin to move and stop before starting back again.

Josh: Something happened at the show tonight and I am in horrible pain. I don’t want you to worry but I will text you when we land tomorrow. 

That’s right, they are supposed to come home tomorrow.

You: Im so sorry, I understand if you don’t want to talk about it. I hope you can get some sleep tonight. Goodnight Josh.

Josh: Night angel

You try to go back to sleep but you toss and turn all night wondering what could have happened at the show. You finally fall back asleep thinking of the possibility of seeing Josh tomorrow.

The next day you pace around nervously wondering and waiting to hear from Josh. You are dying to know what happened but you refuse to check social media. You want to hear it from him.

Around 2:30 your phone rings. It’s Josh. 

“Hello?” You  answer.

“Hey babe, We are back in Nashville. Jake is going to take me home if you want to come over?” He says.

“Sure, just text me your address. Also, are you feeling okay? Are you sure you’re up for me coming over? I completely understand…” he cuts you off suddenly.

“Yes, Im sure. You’re the only person I want to see right now.”  He says.

“Okay, well I will see you in a little while…” you say

“See you then.” he replies.

Once the phone call ends you rush around trying to freshen up and decide on something to wear. Josh texts you his address and you see that he only lives about 10 minutes away.

You head over to his house around 3:15 to make sure that he has enough time to get back from the airport and settle in a bit. You are shaking with nerves. You haven’t seen him since that day in Knoxville, where seemingly everything changed. Mentally and physically.

You pull into his driveway and see his jeep sitting there. You notice lights on inside the house and you know he is home. You wipe your sweaty palms on your jeans and turn off your car. 

You get out and begin to walk to the door. Josh opens the front door before you make it there, leaning against the door jam, looking just as beautiful as you remember.

“You found me” he says.

“Well google found you, I just followed the directions” you joke.

He ushers you inside and you’re met with the very faint aroma of incense, a type you can’t quite put your finger on just yet. It smells just like Josh. 

“Okay I can’t take it anymore, what’s wrong? What happened?” You beg.

“Ahhh…..” He lets out an exasperated breath. “Lets sit” he says falling into his leather couch.

“So the show was going great, nothing out of the ordinary, we were at the very tail end of the set. I decided to go stand over by Jake while he did his thing, and honestly I am not super sure what exactly transpired but I was standing too close to one of the pyrotechnic machines and when the fireworks shot out at the end of his solo, it felt like someone shot me in my left ear. I thought my in ear monitor was malfunctioning so I pulled it out quickly but the pain was searing through my head. We still had about 20 minutes left in the show, so I just pushed through it. Jake knew something was up. He didn’t take his eyes off of me the rest of the show, and Sam and Danny picked up on it not too long after him” he said.

You rubbed his arm as he continued his retelling, and he leaned into your touch. You could tell he wasn’t feeling great.

“Anyways, I finished the show the best that I could. As soon as we got off stage I went to see the Aid that travels with us. It took her all of about 5 minutes to come to the conclusion that my ear drum was ruptured.” He finished.

“Oh no” you say with sad eyes, still rubbing his hands between yours.

“It hurts so damn bad, it feels like there is an ice pick lodged into my ear canal” He says rubbing his forehead.

“Is there anything you can do?” You ask.

“That’s the worst part. No. There is literally nothing I can do except let it heal which could take weeks, months even.” He says. “The aid said that I need to keep loud noises to a minimum to help speed up the recovery which brings the tour into play.” He states.

You stare at him, unsure of what to say. 

“I am going to take the next 10 days to do absolutely that. Im going to go get a second opinion. We have had some bad luck with this tour, I swear its cursed. This is the last thing I needed to happen.” He jokes.

“Well if there is anything I can do, please just tell me” you say lovingly with a gentle smile.

“You already are. This is just what I need. It’s also all I have thought about for two weeks.” He smiles at you. 

His hand reaches up and brushes your cheek and weaves through your hair as he pulls you in for the most gentle and desperate kiss. The kiss you’ve been waiting for and imagining for days. This is not exactly how your reunion played out in your head but you’re here now and it feels more right than you imagined it would.

Your lips both part simultaneously to allow the other access and your tongues begin their familiar dance.

You break away “Is this okay? I don’t want to hurt you” you ask.

“It’s worth it” he says tackling you down to the couch.

“You’ll tell me if it’s too much right?” You ask.

“No probably not…” he laughs continuing to kiss you between remarks. “Do you want a drink?” He asks.

“Sure what do you have? I know you haven’t been here for a bit” you say. He gets up and walks into his kitchen.

“I think I might have bottle of wine Sam left here.” he says looking around his pantry.

“Yep. Here it is. Will this work?” He asks.

“Anything is fine, really.” you reply. He removes two wine glasses from the cabinet and pours the glasses half full. He corks the wine and delivers your glass. “Im not really a big red wine guy, but it will work. Anything to stop this nagging pain.” He says.

“See I knew it, let’s just relax and hang out. You need to rest.” You state.

“You’ll stay tonight, right?” He asks with longing eyes.

“If you want me to, but I will have to borrow some clothes again.” you smirk.

“Please, yes, I want you to stay and of course you can borrow whatever you want. Just go in the closet, and whatever you find, is yours.” He says.

You decide to order in dinner since Josh’s fridge is practically empty, life of a rockstar I guess. Once you both had eaten you decided to watch a movie, which you will now be calling films at Josh’s request. About halfway through you look over to see Josh sound asleep with your legs in his lap. All the traveling and time zone changes has finally caught up with him. He looks so peaceful, head slung back onto the back of the couch, his mouth slightly parted and you hear small breaths escaping. You could stare at him forever. He just has that something that makes you never want to look away. Like you’re in a trance. You find yourself absentmindedly running your fingers through his curls when his eyes flutter open a tiny bit and he sees your staring at him.

“I think dozed off there for a second.” He smiles.

“About 30 minutes actually, but let’s go to bed. You need to sleep.” You say.

“I would love nothing more.” He says, standing up to head to his bedroom.

You’ve never seen his bedroom but imagined what it may look like. Once you arrive down the hall, you step in and its almost exactly as you pictured. It’s calm and serene and cozy and you know that this is his safe space where he can wind down and forget the chaos of his life. He points to a door and tells you that that is where the closet is and to take whatever you want.

You walk into the closet and find rows and rows of shirts, pants, shorts, coverall type suits, etc. you look around for just a plain t-shirt to sleep in and once you find it you quickly shed your clothes and slip it on. You find a bin with all of his boxers, and grab a pair of boxer briefs that are navy colored with tiny pink flowers. You slip off your thong and slide the briefs on instead.

You walk out of the closet to find Josh already in bed, the room dimly lit by a lamp on his bedside table. He pulls the duvet back motioning for you to get in. He seems happy with your selection of clothing based on his smile.  You crawl in next to him and snuggle into his side. He wraps his arms around you pulling you in even closer to his side. He holds you there for for a few minutes before turning to look at you. This is exactly what you pictured every single night as you fell asleep, for the past two weeks. It finally real and its sinfully good. 

Your hand begins to migrate down from Josh’s bare chest down to his waist until your hand meets his happy trail and you realize that he is completely nude and hard as a rock.

“You’re naked!” You say playfully.

“Well I always sleep naked when I am home, feels better to be completely free in these linen sheets” he says almost like a song.

“Im not complaining” you say as your hand finds his length gripping around the base. 

A small hiss comes from his mouth and his body tenses.

His hand begins to feel up your body sliding under your shirt and grasping and kneading at your breast. You take this as a sign to continue as you start to move your hand up and down his rock hard dick. His mouth is on yours quicker than you can even register and his tongue is exploring every inch of your mouth. His lips, soft and plush against yours heightens the arousal between your legs as you begin to rub your legs together just to feel a bit of friction.

He takes notice and removes his hand from your nipple and begins to make his way down to your center. 

“Baby I have thought about this for days” he says. “I need to taste you.” he begs.

You feel a bead of pre cum form at his tip and smooth over it with your thumb before bringing it to your mouth and dragging your thumb along your tongue slowly while staring him right in the eyes.  That is his final straw and he grabs you and pushes you up the bed. Your heart is beating out of your chest as he rest between you parted legs. He shimmies the boxers down your legs and throws them across the bed.

“Open for me pretty girl” he says. You know that you would do anything he asks when he uses those words.

He rubs his hands up and down your thighs slowly to help you relax, it does just that and you find yourself opening up to him. He begins to kiss his way up your thighs starting at your knee and making his way towards your center, your hands gripping the sheets underneath you.

“Josh, please” you beg. Desperate to feel something, anything.

You suddenly feel his warm tongue slide right up your already dripping core. You feel a spark of electricity travel from your toes all the way to your head. He circles around your clit with his tongue and you are positive that this has never felt this good before. He continues to lap away at your center until you are shaking in anticipation of your release. He slides a finger inside of you and gages your reaction. You slid your hand into his curls letting him know to continue. He pumps in and out and then adds another finger.

“Josh I’m gonna cum” you cry out.

“Do it. Do it for me baby.” He says in a husky voice. “Right here on my hand, show me pretty girl.”

As if they were magic words you begin to unravel, right there, in a moment you’ve thought of for days. You look into big brown eyes, but they aren’t just eyes, they are his eyes and that alone is enough to be your undoing.

As you begin your decent back down to earth Josh slowly removes his hand and makes his way up to your face. “How beautifully you come apart for me” with a soft kiss on your panting chest. You reach for him and he stops you, feeling a pang of rejection he slides his hand to your face. “Tonight was for you” he says. “Now, we will sleep and tomorrow you can have your way with me” he laughs. He reached over to turn off the lamp and rolls back into your side. He pulls you into him. Your bodies fitting perfectly together, he places his hand on your hair and smoothes it into place around your shoulders, petting your head and humming a familiar melody very softly as you both drift off to sleep in pure bliss.

[sweettjrose]

Detective Mickey Pilot P.5

So this took a little bit longer than expected... Yeah. I guess I don't really have a realistic idea of how long these will end up taking. I'll try not to take as long on Part 6 and the possible epilogue. But part 5 is finished and honestly, I am really happy with how it turned out. I can't believe we are already so close to the end. Again thank you all so much for the support. I appreciate it so much!!!

Well, you waited long enough, let's jump into... Part 5.

Previous Part: X

Final Part: X

Mickey closes the gate of the construction site, but doesn’t lock it. He gives a small smile, seemingly pleased with what he just accomplished. The site should hopefully remain untouched by the time he needs it. Apparently this was going to be a building for a parachuting and paragliding class, but something must have happened and the building never got finished. It has been sitting unused for almost about a year now. Thankfully, Mickey knew the construction manager who was in charge of the project and he let Mickey borrow the keys to the site. Mickey helped him in the past find his missing electrical tools in the garage of his sneaky neighbor and this was a way to say thank you. Mickey looks at the sky. He uses whatever Junior Woodchuck knowledge he could muster and gathers that it is about noon. Hm… That should hopefully be enough time to enact the second part of his plan.

Mickey heads over to his car which is tucked away in a nearby parking lot, hopefully not easy to see. He opens the trunk and takes out a bag of five Little Korker V39 Cameras. They aren’t exactly in the best shape since Mickey had to fix them. But they look convincing enough. He takes the cameras out and wraps them around his body using the straps they are connected to. Mickey then walks a couple blocks until he is closer to the docks. After finding a good enough spot, he gets his phone out and takes a selfie, trying his best to capture both the cameras and the docks. It is a bit of a challenge thanks to his tiny arms, but he finally manages to get a good picture. As he walks back to his car, he prepares a social media post with the selfie. The mouse debates on whether to try to add a caption but decides to just tag words that will hopefully get attention in the right circles. He schedules the post to go off in about an hour, giving him some time to prepare, and then places his phone in the glove compartment of his car.

There. Now with the bait set, all Mickey has to do is to head back to the docks and wait. Thankfully, there aren’t many people around as not many ships come in or out this time of year. Though there are still a few fishermen who do seem a bit curious about the mouse with the cameras wrapped around him, but not curious enough to stop their work. Once Mickey returns to the spot where he took the picture, he begins to pace around. It is still going to be a couple of minutes until the post he made is released onto the internet. Then the second part of his plan can begin. He smiles to himself thinking about how confusing the post will be to his friends and family. He usually posts pictures of the time he spends with Minnie or Pluto. But perhaps they’ll see why by the end of today. But until then, all he can do is wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.

Hours pass and Mickey continues to pace the area, he tries his best to stick close to where he took the picture but walks out far enough to increase his chance of being seen. As Mickey walks around he starts to wonder if his plan will work. Will He see the post? What if He doesn’t? What if Mickey is wasting his time? Maybe He already found all the cameras and is gone by now. There were only 13 left, the last time he checked. But then again how is the Phantom Blot finding these cameras? These are old cameras and not everyone is going to make a post about them or have them in a store. What if… Mickey shakes himself out of his thoughts. He needs to focus if this plan is going to work. The mouse takes another look around at his surroundings, keeping a close eye on any shadowy areas. Unfortunately, he has yet to see anything of note. Mickey pulls out an energy bar from his pocket and starts to eat. He needs to keep his energy up, in case his target appears out of nowhere. Mickey sighs. He really hopes that this works. If it can’t, he wouldn’t know what else to do… “Mickey?”

The Mouse quickly turns his head at the sound of the voice, getting ready to run if needed. He looks around to see… A furious hawk standing right behind him. Shoot. The Editor in Chief. What is he doing here? How did he… The Editor interrupted his thoughts and shouted at the mouse asking where in the world he had been all day. He brings up that Mickey was supposed to come in today and how he has been trying to call him for hours. Mickey stands there. At a complete loss of what to do. Not him. Not now. Mickey tries his best to stutter out a response but is interrupted again as the Hawk goes on about how he had to track down the mouse’s location based off of a recent social media post and cannot understand why on earth he is here. The Editor then takes notice of the hanging cameras around Mickey’s body and asks what those are for until his eyebrows furrow upon realizing for himself. He harshly inquires on whether those are the cameras from the story he told Mickey to drop. Mickey tries once again to explain, only for the Hawk to continue about how he told the mouse to stop going after this story. He expresses that he can’t believe that he disobeyed him and is still wasting time on this stupid case. He offered Mickey a very generous second chance and he threw it back into his face. As the Hawk goes on ranting, Mickey just stands there. Frozen. He doesn’t know what to say or do. He wasn’t expecting this at all. How can he even fix this? Can he fix this? He’s never been in trouble like this. Ever. Oh Gosh. Everything is falling apart. He’s done for. It’s over.

As Mickey drowns in waves of worry, he does manage to catch the end bits of the Editor’s angry tirade as he exclaims that this is why he didn’t want the previous Editor in Chief to hire another Mouse. He continues how that hack journalist Felicity has caused the Mouseton Argus nothing but trouble and knew her brother would be just as bad. As Mickey hears this, he instantly retorts about how his sister is not a hack journalist. She is one of the best journalists in the world. The Editor gives a hearty but cruel chortle and challenges the mouse about how she is far from the best and only got to where she is due to being a manipulative opportunist. She would have run this paper into the ground if she didn’t get her fancy new job in the city. Mickey couldn’t believe his ears. And he wouldn’t believe it. He knows who his sister is. His sister got to where she is due to her hardwork and determination. She would not manipulate anyone. She never would. He shouts back at the Editor claiming that he is lying and he is just saying that because he’s jealous of her. This seemed to stop the editor-in-chief right in his tracks. Before his face hardened he icily tells the mouse that he doesn’t know his sister like he does. He starts closing in on the mouse adding that Mickey, on the other hand, is such a low-rate pathetic weakling who wouldn’t last a second as a real journalist. He’s a nobody who has absolutely nothing to offer the world of journalism. People like Mickey don’t go far into the world. People like Mickey don’t amount to anything. And people like Mickey should be grateful that people like him give them the time of day. 

The Editor takes a step back from the cornered mouse and fixes his collar. He takes one last glance at the shaking mouse with tears building up in his eyes. He sighs and notes that since he is such a nice guy, he is willing to give Mickey one final chance. But this time Mickey will be demoted to something somehow lower than he already is and his pay will be docked. But Mickey better drop this story once and for all or he is fired from the Mouseton Argus and will never ever work there again. Mickey's heart drops. He is still shaking, trying to recuperate after the harsh blows made against his sister and him. Mickey knew taking this case would have risks. But now his whole future is being put on the line. And he can’t give up now. He can’t. He is so close. There is too much at stake. Mickey tries one last time to plead with the Hawk, explaining that he needs to stick with this case. So many lives are in danger and if he just had a little bit more time… Unfortunately, he doesn’t get far until the Editor yells at him again, telling him about how he doesn’t care and how Mickey needs to learn to stay in his place and obey or else he will make sure that Mickey never works as a journalist Anywhere... Ever. Again. Mickey sulked. He could feel his mind blackout in deep despair. What is he going to do?

A young Mickey enters a small pink and orange room holding two printed photos in his hands. He hands them over to the taller feminine mouse who just recently finished typing something on her desktop computer. Felicity smiles at Mickey and thanks him for the pictures. She takes them to her printer covered in flower and kitten stickers and scans them. Once scanned she quickly adds them to the document she was making. And there. Finished. She remarks about how excited she is to share the new issue of the Mouseton Middle School Gazette tomorrow. She’s really proud of the article she wrote about the Winter Dance and thanks to Mickey she got some amazing pictures to go with it. Mickey can’t help but smile at his sister. He always loved how excited she got over her paper. She put so much love and care into it and as a result, everyone started to care for it too, including him. Mickey couldn’t stop himself from blurting out how he wanted to be just like her. Felicity turns to him and giggles a bit asking Mickey what he means. He explains that he wants to be a journalist just like her when he grows up. She is so smart and nice and hardworking and he wants to be too. She continues to giggle and thanks Mickey, adding that Mickey doesn’t have to be a journalist to be smart and hardworking. She explains that Mickey should find what really makes him happy. She knows that whatever he chooses, he will be amazing at. Mickey gives a thoughtful expression. Clearly trying to soak in what she said. Felicity clicks a couple more keys and the printer turns on, printing out a stack of articles. As the printer finishes she takes the stack and gives Mickey one last grin before asking “So Mickey… What do you want to do?”

A much older but still young Mickey walks up to the stage that is in front of him. He is currently surrounded by a crowd and trying his best to see if he can spot the person he is looking for. It takes a bit, but he finally catches her large round ears. He rushes through the crowd and gives his big sister a hug. She immediately looks over and laughs seeing her younger brother clinging to her once again. She greets him and hugs him back. Mickey congratulates her for her college graduation adding that he can’t believe she got hired at the Mouseton Argus for her first job. She mentions that it was tough, but she managed to impress the Editor in Chief enough that they had to hire her. Mickey jokes that she should save him a spot and Felicity giggles adding that she will try her best. Mickey laughs a bit, but then his smile starts to slowly fade away, revealing a much more worried expression. Felicity catches this and asks him what’s wrong. Mickey tries to tell her that it is nothing to worry about, but Felicity knows better and asks again, adding that Mickey could tell her anything. Mickey takes a breath and admits that he is a bit worried about whether he can accomplish as much as her. His sister accomplished so many amazing things and Mickey isn’t sure if he has what it takes. Felicity smiles and kneels a bit, looking Mickey straight in the eyes. She tells him that she knows who her brother is. And that he has more than it takes to accomplish anything he wants. She knows that either as a journalist or as anything else Mickey will do amazing and she will be there to support him the whole way. A smile returns to Mickey's face joined with a couple of tears. He remarks that there are so many choices he has to make soon and just wants to make the right ones like she did. She gazes at him with her warm eyes and loving smile. “Oh, Mickey. You are so smart, so kind, and just so brave. You always did the right thing even when it was hard. It is what I love about you. I know you will make the right choice. I just know it. I believe in you”

The right choice. The right choice. Mickey could feel a lump in his throat as he knew what he had to do. It wasn’t easy. But he had to do it. “I quit”. The Editor perked up at the response, asking the mouse to repeat himself. Mickey repeats himself this time louder and clearer. “I Quit”.  The Editor in Chief looks at him completely baffled, not believing at all what he is hearing. Mickey explains that he is tired of all the abuse that he had to deal with at the Mouseton Argus. And how the Editor went too far in trying to bring his sister into this. He thought that being a journalist was his dream, but it was not worth it for all of this. He needs to continue working on this Camera story. This is very important to him and he won’t give up. The only thing standing in his way right now is the Editor. And if the Editor is not going to trust him, then he can get out of his way. I quit. And with that, Mickey pushes aside the hawk and restarts his rounds. The Editor stands there completely dumbfounded, not at all expecting the mouse to actually fight back this time. He manages to regain composure and shouts at the mouse claiming that he will regret this decision and he will never work as a journalist ever again. Only for the mouse to continue on his path, completely ignoring the hawk. Frustrated, the Editor kicks a nearby rock and then stomps off in the other direction. 

As the Editor storms away, Mickey stops for a bit to comprehend what happened. He felt like his heart was pounding out of his chest. Did he do that? Did he really do that? Why did he do that? No, he had to do that. He stood there waiting. Expecting to feel a wave of guilt for what he just did. But he doesn’t… At all. If anything he could feel his shoulders get a bit lighter. Huh. Maybe he did actually make the right choice… Well, either way, he still has important business to finish. And unfortunately, that confrontation took away some valuable time. He really hoped he didn’t miss his target. Mickey starts walking again. Continuing on the same path as before. Still walking. Still watching. Still waiting. A couple more hours pass and the warm day shifts into a chilly night. Mickey shivers as a cool wind brushes against his bare arms. The street lights automatically turn on, giving the mouse a little bit of light, though not much. Mickey proceeds with his pacing, holding his hands behind his back. Where is he? Did he not see the post? What if he thought it was too suspicious? What if he already got the blueprint and left already? What if the editor-in-chief scared him away? What if he is never coming? What if the plan already failed? What if … Mickey failed. The mouse stops in his tracks. Did he fail? No. He didn’t fail. Yet. Argh this plan is taking forever. And this is the only plan he has left. It is getting so late. Maybe he can try again tomorrow. What if he doesn’t come around then either? How long should he stay here? How long should he be doing this? Should he stay overnight? Should he sleep? Did he bring enough energy bars? It’s getting cold. Why didn’t he bring a jacket? What should he…

“Excuse me, I would hate to interrupt, but this is rather boring. What exactly is your plan here?”

The haunting baritone struck right through his core, causing every single muscle in his body to tense and raise every single hair. The Phantom Blot. He’s here. Right here. How long was he here? Was he following him? Stop. Stop. Don’t overthink. Don’t have time. The plan. Don’t forget the plan. You need to run. Run. NOW. Mickey pulls all his strength to force his body to move. Pushing himself to turn around and bolt in the direction he needed to go. Mickey could feel his heart, head, and everything pounding as he made the leap to rush toward his destination. Unfortunately, the moment was short-lived as the Blot rather quickly snatched the mouse up with his lightning-speed reflexes and held the mouse up by his collar. “I don’t think so~”. Shoot. How is he so fast? Mickey stutters out a plea at the Phantom Blot to let him go, only for the man to laugh brutally in response. He admits that he is not sure how the mouse managed to escape alive, but he has quite the nerve to think he can taunt him like this. Perhaps he was too kind before. Maybe he should try something that will send a more agonizing message. Mickey goes limp in the evil man’s hands. He barely even got 5 feet before getting captured. Is this too much? Did he really go beyond what he can handle? Is the Phantom Blot really…“What’s the matter? Are you still afraid?” The villain lets out a sinister laugh while raising the mouse up face to face with Mickey’s collar still tight in a vicious grip. Mickey tries his best to avoid looking at the malicious bright white eyes but finds it hard to. He hated those eyes. 

“Do not be upset little mouse. It is quite alright to be afraid, necessary even. Fear is what protects you from danger. It is what keeps you alive to see another day. Unfortunately… it becomes utterly useless if you choose to ignore it… I may have pegged you wrong before. You are not just a pathetic nobody… but quite stupid too ”

Mickey could feel frustration rising up within him. He was sick of this. He was sick of being scared. He was sick of being treated like garbage. He just wanted to help people. And he will. He isn’t going to let this fear control him anymore. It is not over yet. Mickey could feel this raging bubble into a burst of energy. He then channeled this energy into the rest of his body kicking, punching,  whatever he could to break free. The Phantom Blot first appears amused at this sudden burst of bravery and holds the mouse back a bit. However, he later finds that he is struggling to keep hold of the pesky mouse. Annoyed, the Phantom Blot slams the mouse against the wall of a nearby warehouse. Before Mickey even has a chance to get up, The Blot is already on him, ripping off the cameras and tying him down with rope. Mickey tries his best to fight him off, but the man is much bigger and stronger than him. However, the mouse doesn’t make it easy. The Blot notes how the mouse is being much more of a bother than he was before. But he is not worried. After this, the mouse will be all but a dangling memory. As the villain finishes tying him up, Mickey shouts about how he’ll never find the blueprint and how he will always be there to stop him. The Phantom Blot completely ignores these cries and grabs the other end of the rope as well as a couple of other things. He then drags the mouse over to the docks, taking little care in protecting Mickey’s head from bumping up against the ground.

Once the Blot reaches the end of one of the docks, he starts to tie one end of the rope to the middle of a large board he carried over. Mickey angrily demands to know what he is doing. The Phantom Blot snidely remarks how the mouse would probably prefer not to know. Mickey assesses the situation and asks if the Phantom Blot is going to drop him into the water. The Blot notes that he may not be that stupid after all. Mickey laughs and notes he would just float on the water and then all he would have to do is wait for someone to save him in the morning. Mickey felt a sense of pride for a nanosecond until he noticed the smug aura of the Phantom Blot hadn't changed. Instead, the malevolent figure thanked the mouse for the reminder and started attaching some weights to the rope around Mickey. Swell. He and his big mouth. Before Mickey has a chance to retort, the Phantom Blot places a gag over his mouth. He comments about how he is getting tired of hearing the mouse’s voice and prefers it when he is too scared to talk. As the Blot finishes what he was tying up, Mickey manages to shake the gag off and exclaims how he will never get away with this. The Phantom Blot drops what he is doing and glares at him with those horrid striking white eyes. Mickey wanted so badly to look away but needed to be strong. The Phantom Blot then moved his hands to cradle Mickey’s head, giving a tight squeeze. He gave a  soft chuckle that rapidly evolved into a venomous cackle.

“Oh my sweet little mouse. I already have”

And with that the Phantom Blot suddenly brings his hands around Mickey’s head and roughly tightens the gag around Mickey’s mouth and then launches him over the dock. Mickey braced himself for impact, but it never came as instead he heard a loud clap above him and his body quickly bounced over the water, due to the elasticity of the rope. Mickey then drops down again doing a couple more small bounces before finally stopping. He hung, faced down, a couple of feet over the water. The long wooden board he was tied to was stuck between two wooden poles above, preventing him from being fully thrusted into the cold dark ocean. He could still hear the Phantom Blot above him cackling and gloating about how he is not as heartless as he appears. He left the mouse out of the water and even gave him quite a nice view of the ocean. The mouse should appreciate this rare sudden act of grace… while he still can at least. As Mickey considers what that means, a large splash hits him in the face. What was that? Mickey looks over and notices that it is the… Cameras? They don’t even look broken into. Why did he… Mickey tries his best to look up, and notices the villainous figure still standing there. He seems to be looking at something in his hand, before walking away. What was in his hands? Why didn’t he put him fully in the water? Why did he toss the cameras? Mickey sighs, well the best he can with the gag on, and takes a good look at his surroundings. Unfortunately he couldn’t really enjoy the view of the ocean as it looks more murky and gross from where he was. Mickey paused for a second. He could still feel the fiery rage in his heart from before. He can’t give up. He won’t give up. He made a promise to Minnie to come back. And he was going to do everything it takes to keep that promise.

Mickey tries to do his best to wiggle out of the rope but finds it hard to move anything. Darn. Mickey could feel the Deja Vu from earlier. This guy really knows how to tie someone up... But he also gives his victims way too much time to figure a way out. And perhaps an old trick might work again. Mickey uses all the strength in his body to attempt to swing back and forth. It was tough and slow, the weights attached to his body didn’t really help, but it was possible and the best solution he had at the moment. For quite a while, Mickey continued to swing, building a lot of good momentum. However, he could already feel his body ache. And he wasn’t nearly as high as he would need to be to escape. He tried to think of any other solutions as he continued to swing his body but struggled to come up with anything. Some more time passes, and Mickey is still doing his best to swing, though is clearly tired and starts to slow down, he tries to think of a more effective plan, but is coming up cold. Cold. Something feels cold on his stomach. Cold and wet. What is that? Mickey looks down and notices that the ocean is a lot closer than it was before. The ocean? But he was a couple feet above? How… Oh crap the rising tide. Mickey forgot all about it. The momentum the mouse was building started to slow down as Mickey continued to hit the water. Crap. Crap. Now what does he do? The mouse could feel the panic bubble up inside of him, as he felt more of his body sink into the water. No. No. He will not give up. He will get out of this. He just has to keep thinking. Eventually, something will poke… Ouch! Mickey felt a sharp pain in his butt. The poke causes Mickey to jump, but not enough to get out of the water.

Mickey instantly looked at where the poke came from and saw a very angry swordfish. Crap. Mickey heard about the famous Mouseton Swordfish from Captain Churchmouse but never met one face to face. Unfortunately, the Mouseton Swordfish are known for being very territorial and deadly to any unlucky person who crosses their path. And it seems like right now Mickey is that unlucky person. Great. As if he needed more things to worry about. The mouse tries his best to kick his legs at the fish but struggles due to the rope tied around him. The Swordfish seems to swim back a bit, but only so it could prepare for another strike. Mickey notices and holds his position until… Swish. The swordfish takes another lunge at the mouse, but luckily Mickey gathered enough energy to just barely swing out of the way. It seems like the rope still got partially hit and is now somewhat frayed… The rope... It’s frayed. Mickey recalled how Captain Churchmouse told him that the nose of the Mouseton Swordfish also tends to be sharper than any other swordfish. Sharp enough to cut…

The Swordfish, annoyed about its failed second attempt, dives deep back into the water. Mickey sticks his head into the water and opens his eyes, trying his best to triangulate where the fish may be. He had a bit of trouble at first but then saw a flicker of the Swordfish’s body. It's time to go. Must be quick. Mickey used any remaining strength he had to orient his body as quickly as he could, as the Swordfish then raced towards him with incredible speed. Mickey could feel his heart pounding as he struggled to move his body in the thick water. It was tough. But he can do it. He knows he can. Come on. Move your body… Just a tiny bit more… A little bit more… Just one more smidge… and… THERE! As the mouse finally gets into his desired position the Swordfish lunges at him, but manages to aim right above his body, getting in between Mickey’s back and the rope. The swordfish lurched with so much force that it ended up hitting one of the legs of the dock and got its nose stuck. As the fish wiggled his nose to escape, Mickey could feel the ropes cut, until he was finally free. His adrenaline pushed him up the rope. As he finally reached the top, Mickey rolled over to his side, ripped off the gag around his mouth, and laid on his back catching his breath. He’s alive. HE’S ALIVE. Mickey let out a deep breath that evolved into a hearty laugh and then partially into tears. That was so close. So close. But he made it. He was lucky that Swordfish happened to be there. The Swordfish. Mickey looked over the edge of the dock to see if his mean companion was okay. Even though it attacked him, it was still just an animal trying to defend his territory. As he looked down he noticed the fish managed to free himself from the dock. It looked rather annoyed to have hit the dock and confused about where the intruder went. Mickey noticed part of a fish head nearby and threw it in the water, hoping it would work as an apology and sign of gratitude. The Swordfish seemed to appreciate the fish head well enough and swam off deeper into the sea

Still tired, Mickey rolled onto his back again. He wanted so badly to fall asleep right now. He had more than enough danger for tonight. But… He doesn’t have time to. His plan fell apart and now he needs to come up with another one quickly. He doesn’t know how long he has until the Phantom Blot finds what he needs and leaves. Mickey picks himself up and starts to wobble his way over to where he remembered parking his car, relying on a couple of streetlights to light his path. Thankfully his hiding spot worked and it was still there, completely untouched. He got in and immediately locked it, not wanting any more surprises that night… Now what. The question bounced around in Mickey’s mind as he fished out his phone from the glove compartment. Instinctively he just started scrolling around, hoping that something might spark his mind. He saw a couple of calls from the Editor in his missed call list, but nothing from anyone else. He checked his messages and didn't see anything of note there either. Well, nothing outside of a picture sent from Goofy sent to the group chat that he, Mickey, and Donald were in called “The Musketeers”. It was of Max and his friend PJ watching a movie under a blanket fortress. Goofy added a comment asking if they remember doing that in college. Mickey's phone pings. Donald just now responded with a picture of Huey, Dewey, and Louie doing the same thing adding a sarcastic comment about how Max should stop copying his boys. Mickey smiled. This is what he needed at the moment. He really loved his friends. They always could bring a smile to his face, no matter what. But they are also why he needs to do this. His friends can’t be safe with the Phantom Blot walking around with that weapon. Nobody or any of their friends would ever be safe. And that is why Mickey is going to stop him. 

Reinvigorated Mickey adds a heart emoji to both of the pictures and decides to check on the post he made to lure the Phantom Blot. He notices it has some likes on it and a couple of comments. One of them was from Horace who congratulates Mickey on finding so many cameras and asks if he could have some to replace his missing ones. But the other comment was from… Felicity? Mickey reads the comment. She remarks about how interesting the cameras Mickey found are but notes that they look a lot like the one that Captain Churchmouse had that didn’t work. She recalls how Mickey used to play with it as a kid. Huh. What. Mickey didn’t remember playing with this type of camera. He thought his earliest camera was Ol’ Reliable. Mickey's phone pings as Felicity recently adds another comment. She notes that it still may be at his lake house if she remembers correctly… Lakehouse… That isn’t too far from here. What if… Mickey quickly turns on the car and rapidly starts to back it out. Once the car is free out on the road, Mickey rushes down the quiet streets as he hurries to his next destination. However, he still makes sure to stop at red stoplights and not be too much above the speed limit. Mickey could feel his thoughts scramble as he considered all of the possibilities. This could be his next chance to get ahead of the Phantom Blot. Mickey could feel his heart tense. It quickly occurred to him that the Phantom Blot was also likely to see that post. It is likely that they will meet again. But he can’t back out now. Not now. He has to finish this no matter what it takes. He was terrified. But also brave. The Phantom Blot may have had the upper hand before, but this time Mickey has something that the Phantom Blot couldn’t possibly have… A shortcut. Mickey taps the contacts section on the screen in his car. He needs to make a quick call.

To be honest lake house was a very kind term to what is more like a cabin that happened to be next to a lake. Though to be fair it was a fairly large cabin and there were a couple of other smaller cabins nearby. This land and the small lake has been passed down through the Churchmouse family for years and since Churchmouse was a very close family friend, the Mouse family has been here quite a bit too. Whether for family gatherings or just to visit while his parents were away. To someone from the outside it wasn’t the prettiest place, but to Mickey it was beautiful. Thanks to the shortcut, Mickey arrives at the “lake house” rather quickly. Quick enough to give him quite a bit of time to look for the camera. Mickey parks in the spot Uncle Oswald used to park whenever he came for family reunions and then walked across the yard to the front door. Hopefully that spot will keep his car hidden. He looks for a special rock in the bushes and when he finds it, he opens it revealing a set of keys. Thankfully Captain Churchmouse and his wife are away at vacation. Mickey called them to ask if he could come over to find the old camera. Churchmouse was more than willing and told Mickey that it may be in the attic somewhere. Mickey smiled, Churchmouse really felt like another father to him.

Mickey quickly enters the cabin, picks up a flashlight near the door, and heads over to where the attic is. As Mickey walked through the house, memories of his childhood played out in his mind. Felicity and him running through the halls. The chatter of so many family reunions. The decorations from that one Christmas. That time he brought Minnie and Donald to play at the lake. So many memories. So many wonderful memories. Memories other families should also be having. Memories that could easily be taken away. Mickey shook himself out of his nostalgia and finally reached the ladder that led up to the Attic. He swiftly but also carefully climbs up the steps. When he reaches the top, he opens the hatch which lets out a wave of dust into his face. Mickey stands there coughing but still presses on to fully enter the attic. He could already feel his eyes and throat being irritated by the amount of dust here. Cough. But he can handle it. At the front of an attic, a giant circular window allows the glow of the moonlight to fill the room. Mickey heads over to the large pile of boxes and crates that lined both sides of the attic. Alright. Mickey cracked his knuckles. Time to get looking. 

About half an hour of searching passes and Mickey can already feel himself getting disheartened. So much time has passed and he barely got through half of the boxes. He opens one more box and starts frantically tossing out the contents, old clothes… old clothes… And even more old clothes. Crap. Mickey feels bad about tossing all the clothes on the floor, but he doesn’t have time to clean it up now. He’ll definitely have to come back and clean up afterward. He wished they labeled these better, or at least labeled them at all. Mickey slumps down onto the floor. He doesn’t have much time and needs to find that camera quick. Why do they have so much stuff? Why are there so many boxes? Why aren’t they labeled very well? Mickey shakes his head breaks himself out of another overthinking panic and takes a deep breath. Which wasn’t smart since this place was so dusty. Cough. Cough. Maybe he needs to think about this smarter. He takes a look at the boxes again. He quickly notices a piece of paper sticking out of the one he just ransacked. He picked it up and saw that it was a receipt for one of the dresses that was in the box. He notices the date is sometime in May 1973… Hm… Maybe he doesn’t have to look through everything. Mickey immediately starts rummaging through a nearby box and finds a picture frame. He looks in the bottom right corner and finds another date December 1975. Ah ha. Maybe if he starts looking for things with dates on them he can use that to track down the camera easier. 

Mickey heads back over to some of the previous boxes he already looked at that was closer to the door. He finds a couple things with dates on them ranging from the 50’s and 60’s… Hm… Maybe… Mickey starts to check out a pile of boxes that were after the ones with the 70’s stuff and finds a t-shirt with… 1981 on it. Hot Dog! The newer stuff must be towards the back of the room which is probably why he hasn’t found the camera yet. Now he just needs to find stuff that was from the late 90’s to mid 00’s as that is most likely when the camera was added to the attic. Mickey looks through some more boxes and specifically looks for things with dates on them. 1989… 1993… 1991… 1999… 2000… Something catches Mickey’s eye. It’s a chest hidden behind some boxes he is currently looking at. He starts to pull it out and wipes off the dust with his gloves. On the top of the chest, it reads “Mickey Mouse” Gasp! Mickey Mouse. Could this be it? Mickey instantly starts to open the chest and poke through the contents. In it, he finds some crude pictures that he must have made when he was younger. Seems like he always had a knack for drawing. He also catches some photos and some things he can best describe as art projects. Most of them seem pretty unfamiliar, but there is one or two that he actually does happen to recognize. Man, these must be from when he was really really young. 

As he picks up a drawing with a macaroni frame, he notices something large and boxy underneath it. He pries the item out of the chest and a huge smile grows on his face. He found it! The Little Korker V39. Mickey double checks and confirms that it is indeed the same version as the ones that were stolen. Filled with excitement, Mickey leaps off of the ground and gets ready to bolt to his car. Wait. What if… A sudden thought occurred to Mickey. He should probably check to see what is in it, first. Mickey looks around the camera and finds a latch. He opens the latch which opens up to reveal the inside of the camera. He instantly remembers about the secret compartment and starts to open it revealing… something green. Oh Boy! The chemical. He found the chemical. Mickey felt a wave of instant relief. He finally had physical proof. The police will have to believe him now. Or at least would be curious enough to check it out. Maybe Professor Ludwig Von Drake can figure out what it is. There are just so many possibilities… Wait what’s that. Mickey took a quick glance into the rest of the camera and noticed that there appeared to be something that was stuck within the camera parts. It appears to be a… piece of paper? Wait. Is it the… Mickey immediately starts to pull it out, though is careful to avoid ripping it. When he gets it out he starts to unfold it. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The blueprint… He found it… It was here. It was here the whole time. This is even better than the chemical. Mickey felt himself tearing up. This is amazing. This is wonderful. This is fantastic. Finally things are going to be…

“I believe that belongs to me”

The man takes one more step towards the mouse, this time moving at a quicker pace. Mickey tries to back up but hits the back wall of the attic. Mickey takes this as a cue to run. As the Phantom Blot charges towards him, he takes off rocketing past the Phantom Blot on his right side. Unfortunately, the nightmarishly quick reflexes of the Phantom Blot are already prepared to catch the mouse as he passes by. At least that is what would have happened if Mickey didn’t learn a lesson from last time. As the man swings for the mouse, Mickey does a fake out and makes a quick turn instead of running through his left side, instantly passing him. The switch happened so quickly that the Blot didn’t even have time to process it before the mouse was now behind him, bolting to the end of the room. Mickey felt a real sense of pride as he heard the grunts of confusion behind him. He did it. He finally got past him. But don’t celebrate yet. Run. Keep Running. Mickey charges forward, getting closer and closer to the window until he is close enough to leap out, launching his barreling body into the chilly night air. The mouse lands on part of the roof and then takes another jump landing on the ground. He bolts over to where his car is and turns it on. Thankfully it turns immediately on and he is able to back out and speed out of there. Mickey’s car flies down the street, with him not really caring about adhering to the speed limit. He had to hurry to the police station. No matter what. He can’t stop now. Honk! Honk! Honk! Mickey glances in the direction where the noise came from. He sees a very expensive-looking fancy black car that is currently tailing him. He doesn’t even have to guess who that could be. The car bumps into him from the back causing Mickey’s car to thrust forward. Mickey presses everything he can into the gas pedal, trying to get away as quickly as he can. Unfortunately, the other car speeds past him with ease, and once side by side the window near Mickey rolls down, revealing exactly who Mickey expected to see giving a “friendly” wave. Mickey partially rolls down his window and shouts at the Phantom Blot, calling him insane. The man laughs and alerts the mouse that what is insane is thinking that he could get away from him. The Blot’s car then leans into Mickey. Forcing Mickey to drive off the road, to avoid getting hit. Mickey tries his best to keep control of his car and screams back at the other man, warning that he needs to stop or he is going to get them both killed. The man shakes his head  “Nope, Just you ~” before slowing down his car. Mickey tried to process what he meant. But unfortunately, it was too late.

Him. It’s Him. He’s here. Mickey knew this was likely to happen. He hoped it wouldn’t. But it did. Now to deal with it. The mouse slowly turns around and catches a view of his frightening new guest. The Phantom Blot sat on top of the sill of the now-opened large circular window. His dark cloak blew into the room, vanishing as it touched any shadows. His bright blinding eyes only second to the moonlight that glowed behind him. Mickey stood up straight and stared the man down. Mickey’s not scared of him anymore. Okay, that was a lie. He was still terrified. But he can’t let that stop him now. He can’t let the Phantom Blot win. The cloaked figure leaves the window and starts walking toward the mouse at an excruciatingly slow pace. Mickey steps back at a similar rate, trying his best to maintain the distance while putting on a brave face. Mickey tells the thief that the blueprints don’t belong to him and will never belong to him. The Phantom Blot cocks his head a bit, somewhat still entertained by the pushback from the mouse. Entertained… But also… He states that he is grateful that the mouse ever so kindly found the blueprint for him, even after all the trouble he caused. And as a reward, he’ll let the mouse choose whether he wants things to end nicely… Or messy. The blueprint is already in his hands. What has yet to be determined is how much pain the mouse is willing to suffer. Mickey stands strong and reassures that he will never hand it over calling the Phantom Blot a creep. The Phantom Blot shakes his head and clicks his tongue, noting how the mouse is resorting to name-calling now. The mouse must have a masochistic desire to feel pain. But not to worry, The Phantom Blot will be more than happy to oblige.

[lightningboltreader]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you for the tag @welcometololaland @three-drink-amy @iboatedhere @jesuisici33!

I wasn't going to do this because I don't post much, but I thought maybe this would help other new/slow/stats clueless AO3 writers (I never looked at my Statistics page).

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

37 (and three more planned for this year)

2. What’s your AO3 total word count?

Comparatively tiny: 62,713

3. What fandoms do you write for?

911 Lone Star atm

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Well, let me tell you what the handy AO3 graph shows:

All Up In Your Mind

(5802, E) Carlos is lifting weights at the gym when he considers whether he looks too muscular for the wedding. For a second opinion he sends a locker room selfie to TK.

How to Bathe Your Lizard

(2913, E) All Carlos wants is a hot bath after a long day, but he comes home to find a small obstacle.

Only a Lifetime

(1504, T) Carlos watches TK with Lou Two and worries that this family won't be enough for him, for the prompt "Do you regret asking me to marry you?" TK assures him that the answer is an emphatic no.

He's Not For Sale

(3369, E) After the 4x10 Stand Up to Cancer fundraiser event, TK leads Carlos to the loft's bedroom to work out the frustration and longing born of tight suits, flirtatious smiles and the not too subtle hungry looks from charity patrons.

Dinner, Party of Three

(510, G) Carlos prepares for a night in with TK before an unexpected visitor joins them for dinner in this 4x06: This is Not a Drill ficlet

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

Yes! I should probably check. I intend to acknowledge every one. Thank you, thank you to those who comment.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don’t do that. Happy ending or it’s not over yet. < taking Amy's answer

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

Maybe Only a Lifetime?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet!

9. Do you write smut, if so what kind?

Yes, the Tarlos kind.

10. Do you write crossovers? If so, what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nah, they're not my thing.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I’m small potatoes over here.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

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

No, but I'd love to.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Been pretty Tarlos obsessed for a few years now.

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

A wedding countdown "cold feet" prompt fill in which Carlos doesn't want to marry TK after Gabriel dies. I stopped at 1,500 words, it was too fucking sad...but I'd like to fill in the comfort. lol

16. What are your writing strengths?

Not sure I've written enough to have strengths. I like prompt fills though, I think I"m pretty good at creating unique little scenarios.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Most of them! I'm new to fiction writing as an adult person. World building is probably the biggest in my mind.

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

Sadly I don't know any other languages well enough.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

[redacted] as a very angsty teen

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

The next one!

I haven’t seen a ton of these, come play along. :)

[unharmed]

[ Hello there! ]

[ Wow, you're seriously going to attempt reading about me?? Alright then, before we begin this long and tiresome charade, let's go over the basic information you NEED to know and understand.. ]

[ NO! i do not want to subscribe to your OF]

[ I don't "want" you. I don't "need" you. I don't want to "come see you". ]

[ Please for the love of whatever you love most, do not bother telling me this post offended you]

[ Aw you look beautiful when you’re smiling! Love those shoes too ;) ]

[ Alright, get comfortable my darling ]

[ I love people, i just don't find many interesting. So technically, the law of averages works against you.]

[ You might be awesome.. please, feel welcome to change my mind ]

[ Okay, Lets go. ]

[ My name is Arias ]

[ You most likely just pronounced it wrong.. ]

[ I like coffee ]

[ I like people. I wouldn't be able to live without people.]

[ I love talking ]

[ You don't know me ]

[ You probably wouldn't understand me even if you did ]

[ I'm From London ]

[ I also live in Los Angeles, Sydney and New york ]

[ Because i can ]

[ I travel a lot ]

[ I'm 6'3 ]

[ I like short girls ]

[ Not midgets. Short girls ]

[ My dad's white, my mum's spanish .. Incase you wondered ]

[ I'm English ]

[ Yes i have an accent, it's london with a hint of sydney]

[ I like it.. ]

[ No you probably will never hear it ]

[ Are you hungry? You should get a snack!! Maybe a drink? Stay hydrated!]

[ I've played Piano, Guitar and Violin since i was 4 ]

[ I write lyrics and music when i'm bored ]

[ No i will not write you a song ]

[ Yes i can sing ]

[ No i will not sing for you ]

[ I love to cook ]

[ No i will not cook for you ]

[ I'm blunt so i can be an arsehole ]

[ I'm quite nice in general ]

[ I'm passive, i really don't give a fuck ]

[ Unless i care.. then I absolutely give a fuck ]

[ I won't suck up just so you like me ]

[ I do what I want ]

[ I do not like cameras, in case you’re wondering why my page isn’t littered with selfies ]

[ No i will not be your trick monkey ]

[ or your human puppet ]

[ enough. ]

[ Make me smile, make me laugh, i'll get addicted to you ]

[ I'm a cuddle whore ]

[ I'm attracted to pretty faces and beautiful smiles ]

[ I'm a dreamer ]

[ I love to plan dreamy dates and sensational moments]

[ I have sleep issues. I like my issues ]

[ I love to read ]

[ I think you're spiffy because you're still reading this ]

[ I'm bored right now, so i may NEVER stop. ]

[ I LOVE to cook. I even bake my own bread haha ]

[ If you tak lyke dis, dun fuhkin tak 2 me mkay? ]

[ Right. got that off my chest ]

[ I swim, i run, i eat unhealthy, my body is so confused, but it's pretty to look at? ]

[ I love music, i have way too much music for one guy ]

[ I love kids, i have 3 god children and they rock my world ]

[ I'm opinionated and judgemental, however, i will listen to your opinion and i will listen to your side of the story]

[ I'm hopelessly romantic ]

[ I'm very very very picky ]

[ No. I'm not looking for anything or anyone ]

[ Romance.. is so misunderstood ]

[ I'm broken ]

[ No. You can't fix me ]

[ Wow. I didn't stop. You didn't stop. We're still here and we're meant to be *gushes* haha ]

[ I'll probably adopt. ]

[ I'm always bored ]

[ I like conversation ]

[ I love to read ]

[ I don't like pictures, i figure that if there is something beautiful enough, it'll burn into my memory ]

[ I however, do not want you to hit on me ]

[ I can be very perverted ]

[ No, this does not imply i want to talk dirty ]

[ Or.. that i want you to talk dirty ]

[ Or.. discuss my kinks ]

[ Please try not to be too creepy.. PRETTY PLEASE? ]

[ I'm also very moralistic ]

[ I love my imagnation ]

[ I have a major oral fetish ]

[ Do we have things in common? ]

[ No, You could probably never be my dream girl ]

[ I have never had a one night stand ]

[ Yes, i'm very picky and fucking frustrating ]

[ Are you Captain Entertainment? Sent to rescue me from the trescherous depths of boredom? ]

[ Didn't think so.. ]

[ I love cookies, they make me happy ]

[ I love cold miserable rainy weather ]

[ I'm cheeky ]

[ I’m contradictory ]

[ I'm complicated ]

[ I'm curious ]

[ Did the brackets annoy you? ]

[ Or.. the spacing? ]

[ You made it.. You deserve a prize! ]

[ Stupid word count ]

[ Message me if you still want more ]

[conkreetmonkey]

(rant, as a new Tumblr user (not actually that mad, just having a little fun))

I need all Tumblr users to understand that I will never interact with any post that explicitly asks for reblogs or likes. idc how many cutesy emojis you wrap that turd in, take that Facebook shit somewhere else. Especially people whose already obnoxiously existent under-post blurbs say something like "reblogs>likes!" Fuck off, if I was going to do either of those things, I certainly aren't planning to now. It's like if I gave you a $5 bill and you said you wished it was a $10. I'm trying to be nice, you greedy bastard. Stop being so passive-aggressive. This isn't a business transaction, but you're acting like a used car salesman trying to haggle for the best price. I'll give your post what I think it deserves.

Unless there are actual stakes behind a post, like if you're asking for help or spreading important news, or maybe even trying to promote an art account (sometimes), I respect it. Otherwise, I despise it when people beg for digital brownie points. It gives me Reddit "le updoots" flashbacks. I already hand out likes and reblogs like a kindergarten TA does a bag of dollar store lollipops. I'm not obligated to spread every one of your dark academia AU Klance fancams like the damn town crier. Your post should be likeable on its own accord, without you grovelling for scraps like a starving street dog every time you post a pink-tinted Twitter screenshot you stole from an Instagram repost bot.

And it's especially pathetic when it's just mindless selfies or other wannabe influencer shit. Clout means less than nothing here, and you get it by posting worthwhile content, not just by having a fat ass crammed into beige leggings. Nobody's going to pay you to advertise weird diet beverages if you get enough reblogs, and interaction doesn't prompt an algorithm to spread your insipid, soulless content slop. This is not a website for influencers. We do not want you here. You are a digital parasite that adds nothing and seeks only to take. Go away.

This isn't even mentioning the graphic design of some of these banners. Some of you even have brightly coloured little jpegs, although these are, I've found, more often used for DNI lists. Either way, it's obnoxious, and made more obnoxious by the fact that it was seemingly made in MS Paint by a preteen fujoshi in 2008. Get your pink text on magenta gradient backgrounds away from my poor eyeballs. This is the kind of thing that should be in a pinned post or a bio, not on every goddamn post you make. JUST STOP.

[lgchyoseop]

CHA HYOSEOP CAFE PERFORMANCE Q1 2023

“it’s easy to look backwards, but let’s keep our eyes ahead”

setlist: - any song, zico (rap) - selfish, moonbyul+seulgi (rap/singing) - daydream, j-hope (rap) - hi high, loona (dance) - want it, kisum+bora (rap/singing)

...

          while the male did feel rather busy, it wasn’t actually that much fan interaction he had had. he’d been busy here in legacy for the past half year (a little more than that actually) doing gig after gig. and while the male hadn’t debuted yet (and his rank in season five of future dreams made it seem like there would be a while), he had gathered some fans. for someone so confident in his looks, selfies weren’t really his thing, and upon his joining in legacy, it was only an introduction video and a sole vlive that made him aware to the public. then he appeared in two variety shows, and straight on to future dreams after that, while flowers were still the main thing he would post on the instagram, his face was out there. and he had had his first fan meeting during future dreams, and he had seen the first netizen post about him ever, though it was just a post about his updated hair colour, and they did take pictures of him without asking, perhaps that was a taste to what idol life could potentially bring. but while debut bootcamp had been hard and hopefully learned him something, debut bootcamp had been a break from interacting with the public.

but upon the learning of the cafe performances, he pretty quickly decided he wanted to do it, of course the bootcamp stopped him the first round, but now he was back and ready. his first intention had been to rap, as that was his strongest skill, but while he still felt incredibly terrible at dancing, he’d been made aware that his dancing skills had surpassed his singing skills. for some reason he still felt more comfortable with singing, but while it had been difficult, the male had decided to showcase all three skills today, with of course a main focus on rap, but perhaps he wanted to be seen as a triple-treat to the public (though would this performance even go out to the public? maybe if someone filmed it…)

he walks onto the stage, another outfit than usual, as minami had helped update his wardrobe. he’d done his make-up, the eye make-up a little more bold and glitter-y than usual. there’d been a lot of thought going into which outfit he should wear, he wanted to seem bold, strong, but his song choices didn’t exactly vibe with that, maybe cuter was better? but the cute style didn’t fit him perfectly (yet). at last it had been decided on a bold blue pair of pants, and a cropped shirt (ref), it didn’t feel too strong, and he also got the chance to show a bit of his abs (which he had worked oh so hard on lately). 

he walks onto the stage, a small applause, nothing much, perhaps there’s a few faces recognizing him, he’s not sure, but he bows deeply and many times, he’s thankful to be able to perform here today, even if it’s just for a small crowd. ‘one, two, three’ he counts in his head as he’s reached the center of the scene, he bows deeply and has a big smile upon his lips as his back straightens back. “i am cha hyoseop, twenty-three years old and a legacy trainee” he’s not sure how much to talk, if he should go straight to starting, or try to talk a little, after all, he was known for his charming-ness. “i was on the last season of future dreams, perhaps someone recognizes my face from there, though the hair was another colour” he points to his hair who has now become orange. “i’m very thankful that i had the chance to join future dreams, especially since when i auditioned for the fifth season i hadn’t been a trainee for even a year yet. i do however feel like i lacked a lot, and there’s a lot i didn’t get to show, my dream is still to debut, and it’s a dream i’ll keep chasing” he smiles “i want to improve, and keep improving, and i’m very thankful to anyone supporting me in this dream, i’ve prepared some different songs today, and for people who watched future dreams you might be surprised”. during future dreams he showcased basically nothing but rap, even while he was the oldest he couldn’t be a leader, but while this isn’t being watched by as many, he still wants to put on a good performance. “i’ll be starting with any song by zico” he bows a little, the music then begins.

there’d been a lot of consideration as to which song he should begin with, at first he wanted something quite strong, something that would instantly gain everyone’s look at him. but he also wanted this to be comforting and nice for the viewers in the cafe, zico was like a legend to hyoseop, someone he looked rather much up to, it was a song everyone knew, and it was a song he felt he could do. the song comes to a finish and he only manages to get a quick sip of water before the next melody begins. it’s another rap song, but mixed together with some singing, while he far from feels completely confident in his singing, he wanted to include it today. he’s smiling, enjoying performing, and it doesn’t seem like the people in the cafe completely hate him. 

the song comes to an end, and he gets the chance to talk again, something he’s quite good at. “as i said, i haven’t been a trainee at legacy for long, i auditioned in the summer of 2021, and the song i just rapped and sung was selfish by moonbyul and seulgi. it’s actually the song i auditioned with, however when i auditioned i left out the singing part, upon joining legacy i was only focusing on rapping. i had two left feet and if i sang it basically broke windows” he lets out a quick chuckle “i’m still far from being as good as the trainees who has been here far longer, but i’ve come a far way”. “i often wish i had recorded my improvement along the way here in legacy, because sometimes people tell you they can see a difference, but it’s difficult to see it yourself”. he runs a hand through his hair, not thinking of the current shirt he’s wearing, hence more of his stomach being shown for a moment and he hears a few people letting out noises, he lets out a chuckle before returning the microphone to his lips “i’m trying to be emotional and say something cool and supportive, and all you’re focusing on is my body” he lets out a chuckle, in the crowd he hears someone half-shout ‘sorry’. “no! no! it’s fine!” he turns around, lifting and flexing his arms, showing both his muscular arms and back, there’s a few screams that sound fan-girl kind of and he turns around with a big smile on his lips, another chuckle escaping. “if people keep showing up when i get the chance to perform, i shall keep showing my muscles” there’s a few claps and giggles. “you’ve all distracted me from what i was going to say… but i think it’s okay, perhaps i should get to perform again” … “this time, i shall get around to show everything”.

like before, he decides to start with what he’s confident in, it’s not a song he’s very familiar with, but it’s quite popular, and often performing popular songs has it’s plus. he’s already sung a little, and even that felt difficult, he’s only confident in his rapping at the moment, and he’s prepared much (“much”) more than that this time. as the third song finishes he feels chills coming over him already, as this time he’s prepared a dance, not jikjin of course, that song will haunt him till the day he dies. with further thought, he did not think through about wearing a crop-top while performing this song, it has quite a lot of arm moves… at least before it didn’t seem to exactly bother the audience, but he very clearly notices those phones taking pictures of him, how come there weren’t that many phones up before? he finishes, not as out of breath as he thought he would be, maybe that’s because he works out so much. the other songs have been fairly well known, perhaps selfish and hi high less, but he finishes off with a song, an ost, not very familiar to most people. the song includes both singing and rapping, though the singing very low level singing (which is needed for hyoseop). it’s a good song, and he’s glad to finish off with it. 

before he begins his ending mc-ing he takes another sip of water, perhaps a little bigger than a sip this time. “when i joined legacy i thought there would be going at least five years before i’d feel confident dancing on a stage, but now i’ve both tried future dreams, the family concert and this, and performing always feels good, no matter which crowd or how big of a crowd” he bows a little. “i’m really glad to all of you who’ve been willing to watch me, and i hope you’ll consider me in the journey to debut, i promise with my whole heart that i will get to debut no matter what, i’ll make sure to be able to get to that point” a smile upon his lips, quite big of a smile. “rewinding just like the film, our starting point is still there” a reference to future dreams, if anybody watched that. 

“thank you for having me! again, i am cha hyoseop, trainee at legacy entertainment” he smiles and bows, then leaves, oh how nice.

[merulast]

Tech talk

Tomorrow is kickoff. How do I feel? Kinda. Okay? I fetch a flu on the last days and my credo "do this or die on the road" starts to kick in. But on the other hand we always get a flu when we don't need it, eh? And when had we ever needed one? Anyway.

So far I wrote quite some Blog posts about how to find routes and plan stupid stuff. Stupid, because many things will not work once you start the trip anyway. But planing is still a good thing (isn't it?) because at least you learn about the possible options. And knowing the options is always a good thing!

But lets talk about something else: The Tech!!!!11!elf

It's so tech!!

I want to travel some 'roads' that are not very common for mid Europeans to hit. And what do you do if you want to know more but have no friends that ever leaves the home town? You reach out for social media and videos. And you probably had already noticed that I'm not quite a fan of vtubers and traveling youtubers. I would love to rant a bit more about them. But not now.

I still enjoyed to see the scenery. To see the locations. See the bus or the trains and having the opportunity to create my own, silly incomplete picture of what it is like. And so I decided that I also want to capture media! At least this time. Because last time, I did not even shot an single picture of anything in more then 1 year of living in Xi'an.

What to do with this media. Well. I don't really know! Will I just place them online? Maybe? Make youtube Videos that violate alot of copyrights? Maybe! Make fun on other popular vtuber content that made me cringe? Hell yeah! We will see!

(obviously I will most likely do nothing of all that!)

(Noel Philips - full time 'being not at home to review toilets' v-tuber)

Timelapse

The main brain fart that made me plan this trip was to see and feel the 'world' in between two places. And I noticed that some bored highway guys made timelapse videos of driving from a to b.

And while timelapse videos can have this 2007-warcraft-rouge-in-bw-with-linking-park-music feeling, they also can be interesting. Plus they ripe like wine. They are usually just showing the raw thing. No filters, no effects. No 'selection' of what to see. And I kinda like this. Nobody might be interested into a timelapse now. But it might be interesting later.

Anyway. So I decided to try that. And noticed, that there are not really affordable 'timelapse' Devices on the marked o.o?

Mobile Phones can do the trick. If you use some nice apps, they even could do it well. But for how long? What do you think how long will your power last? Mobile phones are small computers. They are not meant to record something for 4,8,24,48 hours non stop. And im pretty sure that most of the apps had not been written for this kind of 'professional usage', too.

Cameras are bigger devices. The can have a lot more capacity on board and the image quality should be nice. Okay. Do you want to spend more then 500 bucks on them? I .. dont know. Isn't it overkill? Another thing is that this cameras are huge. How to place them in public transport and let them run for 24h without getting robbed?

Build something! Yeah. Sure.

I got my hands on a cheap gopro7. When it comes to timelapse feature, there is absolute nothing positive to get something more modern. It shoots in 1080p and, to my big surprise, the build in power supply was able to last 12 hours straight without external supply. It is smal and I can easily tape it where-ever I want. With one picture taken all 5 seconds there is no shaking visible, even if I tape it straight to the casis of a bus, the picture remains very smooth.

360° Pictures

Why isn't this a thing? You shoot a picture and people can look around the whole place! ITS AMAZING! Fuck selfie with Ninni-Graniny in front of a Town sign. See the whole place! You can even upload them on google 'streetmap'!

See that tiny blue bubbles? Klick on them to see what this part of 'desert' looks like.

✅ Thats amazin! How could you not love this to look around all by yourself?!

❌ Serious cameras that make 360° pictures our of the box start at much moneyz

✅ But every modern smart phone can do that out of the boy if you take multiple pictures!

🆗 And It may looks not very professional for many reasons. You should watch an tutorial for better results

(who told you emojis would look nice on this? Grandmother whatsapp?)

Conclusion

So yeah. I will try both. Making some 360° pictures of locations that have none available, and also record the time lapse. We will see how it turns out!

[greenbagjosh]

24 July 1998 - funny hat day in Zürich near Central, a ride on the roller slide and I need a new camera :(

 An essay I wrote about 24th July 1998, originally on 24th July 2019.  

Hi everyone How is summer going so far?  The last couple of days the temperature dropped to the low 90's and a nice northern wind.  For this time of year, that is good.

It has been 21 (gasp!) years since I made the weekend tour of Munich-Zurich-Chiasso (TI)-Milan-Bolzano-Munich.  The 24th July 1998 in particular is that day I made the selfie at the ETH Zürich just outside the Clausiusbar Restaurant on the Tannenstrasse across from the university hospital building (https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m6!1e1!3m4...)(my camera was on a minitripod on a concrete ledge next to the stairs to the “TAN” building 1, noted with the blue “1” sign.  I was wearing my floppy cloth red-white-green striped top-hat).  

Today I am not going to exactly tell you what I did twenty years ago, as that is not the purpose of this post, or the ones for Thursday and Friday.  It is more of an epilogue as to what has happened since the actual events that took place.

Some thoughts I had from that time, include how much Europe has changed since that weekend, especially since many nations switched to the Euro but Switzerland and Liechtenstein (and also Campione near Lugano) did not.  One thing that has changed or is in the process of changing, is the speed at which trains will travel between Munich and Lindau on Lake Constance.  Prior to June 2019, the section between Geltendorf and Lindau Hbf, was unelectrified, and as such, was limited to diesel traction and around 100 mph.  Deutsche Bahn has strived to improve travel between Munich and Zürich, with "ABS 48" (ABS:  Ausbaustrecke - extension section), particularly in the Ostallgäu, the region kind of between Munich, Ulm and Lindau just north of the Bavarian Alps.  Basically it is setting up the 15 kV / 16.7 Hz catenary between Geltendorf and Lindau Hbf, plus upgrading the tracks between Buchloe and Hergatz.  More about it at www.abs48.com, you may need to use a translator as there is no known English page within that site.  Maybe at some point, there could be another extension from Buchloe/Memmingen to Kaufbeueren and Füssen - you might know the latter town as the home of the Neuschwanstein Castle.  Anyway, the works should be completed by December 2020, and travel between Munich and Lindau should be cut by at least a half hour, and Munich to Zürich no more than 3 3/4 hours including the direction change at Lindau.  Switzerland is part of the Schengen area, so stops at St. Margarethen (SG), border with Austria, would be relatively short, if only to drop off and pick up any essential rail staff, maybe there would be a random passport check.  

I may have told you about my journey on the S-10 from Zürich HB to Üetliberg via Triemli.  This was after I visited the Swiss National Museum, the ETH Zürich selfie moment and side trip to Stettbach to see the "banale" design of that station.  I could not do the same journey today, exactly as I did in 1998, owing to the fact that from Zürich HB to Selnau, the underground section between those two stations on both tracks, is under refurbishment until the end of August of this year.  Both stations are 30 years old this year, and the former ground-level Selnau station that I remember from the mid-1970s, has long since been demolished.  The new Selnau station has sort of a distinction, that it was constructed below the base of the River Sihl.  Every time I look at the north exit at Sihlstrasse, it never ceases to amaze me, that the escalator goes very deep underground, even deeper than the Sihl itself.  What else is around the Selnau station?   Immediately at Selnau there is "Museum Haus Konstruktiv", which contains artwork similar to what you might see at the Helmhaus towards Bellevueplatz and Stadelhofen station, as well as at the former arsenal at Rapperswil (SG), mainly modern art.   Next door is a public natatorium (indoor swimming pool), and at the south end is the stock exchange - you cannot miss it, as it has a big "BÖRSE" lettering on the side of the building.  However for many years I was unable to find it, until December 2016.  I guess I did not know in earlier visits, to look for the southern exit of Selnau station.

Back in Munich, in particular the Schneider Bräuhaus branch of the Stadtsparkasse München, a five minute walk from Marienplatz and also five minutes from the original Hofbräuhaus, was that in the 1990s, some ATMs would dispense Swiss Francs and Austrian Schilling.  The Austrian ATM would give 100 and 500 Schilling ($8 and $40, respectively) notes and the Swiss ATM would give 50 Francs.  In 1997 and 1998 this was very convenient.  This all changed by January 1999, when the Euro was pegged to the Deutsche Mark at about 1 EUR = 1.95583 Mark.  When I returned on Thursday 7th September 2000 to try to withdraw Swiss Francs as I would be staying a few days later at Lausanne, Zürich and Lugano, I found that the Swiss ATM had been converted to an ATM that gave out Spanish Pesetas.  But since January 2002, the foreign currency ATMs at that branch have disappeared, and even then, the Swiss ATMs would have been obsolete anyway since many places in Switzerland will accept Euro notes, sometimes coins as well.

One thing that has not changed, is that Street Parade, held every year on the second Saturday of August, is the high-occupancy weekend during the summer.  The mauve-colored youth hostel on Mutschellenstrasse, in the Wollishofen district, south of Bahnhof Enge, books up solid by early June, so it is always wise to book ahead.  Otherwise you will have to budget rail travel time to and from wherever you manage to book a room for the Street Parade weekend.  Also, even if you do manage to book a room at the Zürich youth hostel, public transit can be a challenge from 11 AM to midnight of the Street Parade day.  Anything north of Tunnelstrasse will be blocked off, and the Line 7 tram that usually goes past Hauptbahnhof, will travel for part of the Line 8 tram by Selnau station, south end just right at the Stock Exchange front door.  So if you are for example going from HB or Central at the northern end of Niederdorferstrasse, to the hostel, you will have to likely find a way to the south exit of Selnau station and take the Line 7 from that tram stop past Bahnhof Enge.  From Enge to Wollishofen, the route is as normal but you will have to deal with increased ridership.  Most of the rest of the year, line 7 is not as crowded.

One other thing that has not changed, and I hope it will not, is that the day pass, is valid for a full 24 hours after purchase.  In general, the day pass costs only twice as much as a single fare, to get it at a vending machine, you would need to pick the single fare, and then hit the button with two arrows going in opposite directions, and that would be it.  Depending on the time, a nighttime supplement may be required.  The 24 hour validity is supposed to eliminate the need for an extra ticket in the morning.  In my case, the full 24 hours might not be used, as I would be there from 12 PM on the 24th to about 8:30 AM on the 25th, so maybe 20 1/2 hours in total.  Not too bad.    

And what is for tomorrow?  I can give kind of an overview of the difference between the old Gotthard rail tunnel and the new Base Tunnel that opened in December 2016, and kind of an insight as to why the Base Tunnel exists and why it is important to at least know of its existence.  The Ceneri tunnel between Giubiasco and Lugano is not quite complete, it is expected to open in December 2020, so between Bodio and Chiasso, there is no noticeable difference in travel time for now.  Likewise the time between Chiasso and Milan remains essentially the same between 1998 and 2019, barring any recent engineering works.

Hope you found these reflections interesting.  24th to 26th July 1998 still remains the most memorable weekend in my memory.  Hope you also have agreeable weather.