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your-dietician · 2 years

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Well Intentioned: Seth Rogen Talks Handmade by Seth, Balancing Hollywood With Hobbies, and Why for Him, Weed Is Wellness

New Post has been published on https://medianwire.com/well-intentioned-seth-rogen-talks-handmade-by-seth-balancing-hollywood-with-hobbies-and-why-for-him-weed-is-wellness/

Well Intentioned: Seth Rogen Talks Handmade by Seth, Balancing Hollywood With Hobbies, and Why for Him, Weed Is Wellness

From mantras to meditation, mindfulness to manifestation, Well Intentioned offers an intimate look at how to make space for self-care in meaningful ways, big and small.

Seth Rogen is very blonde at the moment. “It’s for a TV show,” he reveals over Zoom from his home in Los Angeles, running his hand over a short crop with visible dark roots. “On the show, I play a guy having a midlife crisis, so, sure,” Rogen laughs, spinning a just-rolled joint through his fingers. At 40, the actor, director, writer and producer is approaching middle-age himself, but there doesn’t seem to be any imminent crises on the horizon; if anything, Rogen appears to be thriving. In addition to a number of forthcoming acting projects, including Steven Spielberg’s TIFF-favorite, The Fabelmans—for which the Freaks and Geeks alum is receiving early praise— Rogen became a brand founder last year with the launch of Houseplant, a curated collection of cannabis and cannabis-adjacent homewares and accessories, which has also provided a platform for his ceramics passion heard ’round the Internet.

“My journey with pottery and with Houseplant were kind of parallel in a very nice way,” Rogen explains of how the search for nice ashtrays for his own home led to a realization: “It seemed like no one had made a new one in the last 30 years.” As he became more serious about pottery, a pastime his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, put him onto, Rogen started experimenting with ashtray designs and then rolling trays, many of the prototypes of which have become some of Houseplant’s bestsellers. “I couldn’t be happier because the brand was truly born out of what I was already doing.” During the pandemic, a home studio allowed Rogen to hone his throwing and molding skills even further. “Having my own kiln is like a real revelatory thing in terms of learning and experimenting,” he explains of the design freedom that has led to advancements like his “gloopy” glaze technique, which recently beget one of Houseplant’s newest ashtrays (as well as an unexpected viral manicure moment). It has also allowed him to start stockpiling his own work.

“I have a closet full of shit,” Rogen reveals, and while he has spent the last few years gifting these pieces to friends or donating them to charity auctions, he has decided to give the Seth stans what they want: Today, Rogen is dropping Handmade by Seth, four original vases that will be given away to four lucky winners via a raffle on houseplant.com. “I have no desire to hoard these things for myself,” Rogen says of the colorful pieces named for characters from Point Break and Demolition Man (the smallest of the bunch, “Johnny Utah” is a sweet 3” x 2.5” vessel with plenty of versatility). Adds Rogen, “This just seemed like a fun way to get them into people’s hands.” Here, the multi-hyphenate talks about his creative process, vintage-hunting in Palm Springs, and why for him, weed is wellness.

1. Keep Your Brain Busy

I’ve always had a lot of hobbies. Like, I’ve always looked for new creative outlets. I’m someone who had to acknowledge that I do like hanging out and doing nothing and watching television and movies and shit, but I also really like having creative things to engage me. And I like having a lot of different things to engage me when I’m working in the film or television world. I actually enjoy working on a ton of different things at once—it’s helpful to bounce around. I was very into photography for a long time— I think every actor kind of goes through that at some point or another; then I was very into gardening and I started making my own bonsais; I painted for a little while. I always wanted to create tactile art, but really was not that good at it. I am not a good painter, like in a traditional, figurative sense, you know what I mean? It’s like when you’re in art class, you can quickly see the kids who are good and the kids who aren’t, and I was like, not. But my wife had done pottery in high school and every once in a while she would join a studio, and she would be like, “We should go take a class together. I think you would like it.” Then we did, and I loved it and that was really it. We were off to the races. It’s become something that’s really great that we can do together.

2. Make Pottery

Almost all ceramics have some hand-touch to them. They are organic—made of dirt and covered in sand that is heated to turn into glass, essentially. I mean, there’s other things in there, but that’s the core of it. It’s something that’s been around for tens of thousands of years, which is very comforting— and also very singular, which my other jobs are the complete opposite of. I love making movies and television shows, but with that stuff you’ll have this creative thing in your head that you wanna express and you literally need, like, 250 people to do it. Otherwise, you just can’t do it. And that’s really hard! And by nature of that, it’s incredibly expensive, it’s insane and it’s complicated. So it’s nice to do something that is expressive and that seems to get a good response from people. And I can literally do it alone and I don’t need the finances of, like, a major media conglomerate to help execute my vision. The scale is much different as a result but there is something very nice about how simple it is.

Houseplant ashtray set by Seth in moss

3. Surround Yourself With Beautiful Things

I kind of fell into design and art through the comic book world and through a bunch of my friends who did graffiti in high school. So I would read, like, Juxtapose magazine and that kind of thing in the nineties and that became a weird backdoor route into high-end art and design in some ways, because a lot of those artists that I started to follow—Faile and Shepard Fairey, and Kaws—kind of then transitioned into that world. So I followed my interest through that and then when we made This Is the End, what was funny is that we built a house—like the whole thing was in this house, and me and my writing and directing partner, Evan [Goldberg] got really into the furniture, and the furniture design, and the fixtures, and the lighting and the materials, and all of a sudden, that was kind of the first time I unabashedly gave myself permission to really like this stuff in a lot of ways. That movie really was actually the thing that led me to indulge in it. But I’ve always collected stuff. I think it’s probably a Jewish trauma that I’ve inherited. We probably have the instinct to keep as many things as possible, because…you never know! So, when I like a thing, it is my instinct to get as much of it as I can. Collecting comic books kind of transitioned to these Japanese vinyl toys, and then I was trying to get nice ashtrays for my own home and I started going online and buying vintage ashtrays. Smoking cigarettes has gone out of fashion, but when something is popular, it draws creative minds, and in the ’60s and ’50s and before that, all of these great creative minds and architects and designers were designing ashtrays. That’s definitely one of the thought processes that inspired what we are doing with Houseplant. I’m not above any second-hand ashtray reseller. I’ve gone to all of them online and I physically go to vintage and antique stores. I’ve found some great ones in Palm Springs. I think I have over 600 now.

Juxtapoz Magazine 1996 Vol. 2 #3

Super7 Japanese vinyl Mummy Boy

Just Vintage La Solana ashtray

4. Smoke Weed

Smoking weed is so culturally acceptable now, thank God, in most of the country, not enough of it, but most of it. I’m from Vancouver where it’s very, very acceptable. Everyone smoked weed when I was growing up and I’ve been smoking since I was 13 years old, which is not necessarily something I recommend! [Laughs.] But it’s been well documented for me. Now, I just smoke weed all day, every day and I love it. And thank God it’s out there because it seems to be what I need. I know weed works for me. You’ll have a very hard time getting me to go somewhere I can’t smoke weed at this point in my life because it doesn’t seem reasonable to me [laughs]. I’ve equated it to, like, wearing glasses or shoes. It is just a thing I do to make my journey through the day more navigable. Could I go through my day without glasses or shoes? Yeah. Would it be much worse? For sure. That’s really how I view it.

5. Keep Family Close

My wife is incredibly influential on any creative thing I’m ever doing because I just talk to her about all of it, all the time, and she has great taste and opinions. I would actually like to find a way to maybe convince her to let [Houseplant] make a version of these really cool vases she does! There are some things we’ve kind of made together where it’s like, she threw it and I trimmed it or something like that, or I glazed it and she designed it. But we haven’t done anything “official” together. We talk about it, though, and we should do it. We’re open to a collab, sure. We work well together—and with our dog. She’s a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and she just turned 13 the other day. She’s so grumpy and slow now, but it’s wonderful. We actually molded a lighter off of her. She’s a real inspiration to all of us. [Laughs.]

Houseplant Zelda lighter caddy

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twstankin · 4 years

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=Ankin’s Terms of Use=

If I make art for you and you wish to post it to your blog, please ask me first! If I say no, then just please reblog it/or not do anything and go along your day.

If I give you the Okay, I require you credit me by my name and one of my blogs (name: Ankin, blogs: Twstankin or Multi- ankin) and tagging me so I know that it’s been reposted. THIS IS MANDATORY. OTHERWISE I WILL ASK YOU TO TAKE IT DOWN.

Not manditory but i would appreciate it if you provide an active link back to one of my blogs

You CANNOT post my art to a social media platform I do not have. Currently Tumblr is the only place I’ll allow it.

✨I may not be the best artist in the world but respect me by crediting my work, please and thank you.✨

#putting this out there because I like to do gift art and for the raffle prize winners #it’s also time I did this anyways #mod ankin #ankin problems #Ankin’s Terms of Use

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twinkiplier · 2 years

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This is gonna run a little long, but please bear with me as I am really excited to host this raffle. For those only interested in the money, the top prize is a $100 Visa gift card that the grand prize winner will receive the code for privately. Disclaimer: This is NOT an art contest, I will NOT be judging people's art against eachother. This is a RAFFLE, where you draw something and it's given a random number which will be generated at the conclusion of the raffle. You do not have to put your full talent into this drawing, but I would honestly appreciate it if you did because I absolutely love seeing what people create.

Rules: - Play nice, and don't complain if you don't win. It's completely random and says nothing about your art or effort. I appreciate each and every entry regardless of artistic talent or perceived quality. - Digital, traditional, and all other types of artists are all allowed. If you want to do a physical craft, I will pay for you to ship it to me, no questions asked. - There are two prompts, and you can enter the raffle up to two times, one for each prompt. - Each entry MUST follow the basic rules of the prompt, if it doesn't I will contact you immeditely to let you know so that you can edit it and resubmit. If you choose not to resubmit, your entry will not be counted. - The raffle will end on May 1st, 2022, and winners will be drawn the same day. - Usually I do a tier system depending on the amount of entries, but I feel like that makes people walk away from the raffle without entering, so I won't be doing that. Instead, the prizes will scale with the amount of entries. - No gore or NSFW is allowed due to me not being comfortable with Tummy being drawn that way. He also MUST be wearing clothes.

Prompt 1: I have gone to huge lengths to fill Tummy's wardrobe with a lot of of my actual clothing, and would love to see him drawn in something I would wear rather than his default outfit. You can use the functioning wardrobe on his ToyHouse account, but please put effort into the accuracy and quality. - This prompt MUST be fullbody and fully colored. Shading is not necessary, but allowed. Chibi is okay but please don't simplify the clothing, as that is the focus of the art.

Prompt 2: Tummy has two boyfriends, Markus and Hamlet. I absolutely love drawings of them being together and doing something cute or fun. If you want, you can ask me and I'll describe a date or activity my boyfriend and I have done for you to draw, as I would LOVE to see that. There are three different ways you can go about this prompt: - Tummy with Markus OR Hamlet, both fullbody, with background, shading optional. - Tummy with Markus OR Hamlet, both halfbody, with background, shading required. - Tummy with Markus AND Hamlet, all at least halfbody, with background, shading optional.

Prizes: - The grand prize is, of course, a $100 Visa gift card. - 5 runner-ups will each receive $20 via PayPal OR a fullbody drawing/custom if they cannot accept PayPal. - Every non-winning entry will receive a complementary headshot/bust of the character provided in their entry form.

How to Enter: Fill out this form: https://forms.gle/AZNZ6jDSQYtHysMD7 You can fill it out a maximum of two times, one for each prompt!

ToyHouse Information: https://toyhou.se/8158758.tummy https://toyhou.se/5867679.markus https://toyhou.se/9958737.hamlet

#raffle #challenge #art challenge #contest #art contest #art raffle #furry #fursona #draw my fursona #draw my oc #draw my character #cash prize

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beatricebidelaire · 3 years

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an afternoon of filming with Director Sebald

for @asoue-network‘s raffle event and for @lesbianscieszka

Jacquelyn helps Gustav with his newest film, Astronomer at the Campus Coffee Shop.

word count: ~2.3k

alt: ao3

Jacquelyn is a good, professional secretary. It’s her assigned VFD-post. She knows the importance of her role, she’s good at her job, and she’s proficient in passing the necessary information back to VFD that she acquires through her secretary role. But sometimes even good volunteers need a break from their assigned job, particularly when they have to work under Arthur Poe. In times like those, Jacquelyn usually hops on her motorcycle, puts on her bright red, vintage-looking helmet (a gift from an ex-girlfriend that she keeps to this day, call her nostalgic), and heads to Gustav’s studio and sees if he needs any help with his movies.

Gustav has a studio in The City in the Arts District, which is not far from the Financial District Jacquelyn works at. On Eighth Street, squeezed between a postmodern art gallery and a dance studio, there’s a very arty signboard that says “Sebald Film Production”. The “S” in “Sebald” is a colorful snake, courtesy of Monty.

Today’s one of those days. Jacquelyn arrives at the Art District, parks her motorcycle on the street, and climbs up the stairs to the fifth floor.

When she pushes open the door of the studio, Gustav is standing in front of a big whiteboard, staring at it intently, and keeps erasing and adding words with a bright green marker. The leftmost of the whiteboard has an important message, written in black, ready to be inserted into various film dialogues using the Sebald Code method.

“Hey, Gustav,” she says.

“Jacquelyn,” he greets, turning his head. “Did you quit your secretary job and decide to come work for me?”

“Oh, you know what they say,” Jacquelyn drawls. “Don’t mix pleasure with work.”

“Do they now? Well, couldn’t be me,” Gustav grins easily, stretching his arms upwards into a yawn. “I’m all about mixing pleasure and work.”

“You and Monty both,” Jacquelyn comments wryly.

“Exactly,” he agrees, beaming. “And while I’ve been warned that this may lead to me becoming a workaholic, at least I’m still having fun. I’ve seen workaholics in the organization who aren’t even having fun.”

Jacquelyn raises an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t call the Snicket twins unhappy workaholics -”

“And yet,” Gustav points out, his grin turning sly, “they’re the ones that come to your mind immediately when I didn’t even mention any specific names. And, speaking of the Snickets, K asked me to deliver this message -” he nods towards the whiteboard, “to the seas.”

If the M research becomes too dangerous, it may need to be destroyed.

“Research” is a pretty vague term, especially considering the number of researches that are always going on in the organization. Simply writing “the research” will not work. Jacquelyn has some guesses about why the message includes an initial of the project, instead of a full name, when the words will already be scattered in the dialogues with the Sebald Code. It means that it’s not a simple term that can be inserted easily without suspicion. Instead, it’s probably a very specific term.

Something as specific as Medusoid, or maybe Mycelium.

A warning to everyone, especially those near the seas, near the Anwhistle Aquatics, about what Gregor Anwhistle is currently developing. A reminder to pay attention, to stay on alert, because action may be needed to be taken any time.

Volatile people and their volatile weapons. The organization is always keeping an eye out on those dangerous projects. Alert and guarded and wary, yet keeping the option to use the technology open if possible.

“Is that all the message?” Jacquelyn asks, studying the whiteboard thoughtfully. On the whiteboard, Gustav has a working dialogue between two characters, A and B.

“No,” Gustav replies. “The rest are location and time, though, so we can find something out of the usual dialogue templates to fit those in.”

Gustav has a collection of dialogue templates fit for passing on Sebald Code encoded messages with lots of numbers and names of places, and the collection is growing constantly as they all jot it down whenever a new inspiration occurs. It will probably not be a big deal if they reuse some occasionally, but Gustav prefers not to, if possible, even when sometimes the targeted audience is a very small group of people. He calls it professionalism.

Jacquelyn studies the whiteboard again and notices the line “A for Astronomer, B for Barista” written at the top. “Astronomer at the coffee shop?”

“Probably,” Gustav agrees, nodding. “Or maybe we can be more specific - “Astronomer at the Campus Coffee Shop”. Since the message contains ‘research’ and ‘dangerous’, I thought we could have a setting where a character talks about their research. And the campus coffee shop feels fitting. It doesn’t have to be an astronomer, I suppose. But I want something that begins with an A, or a C.”

“I like astronomer,” Jacquelyn opines. “Plus, I’ve been reading sci-fi recently, there are probably inspirations I can use for the dialogues when the astronomer talks about their research.”

“Ah, astronomer it is, then,” Gustav grins.

****

They work out a first draft of the dialogue, and then take turns playing the astronomer and the barista, rehearsing the lines and changing them.

“No, no, you’re missing a word there, we can add an adjective before ‘eclipse’.”

“We need to change the cause of the tidal waves, it needs to be consistent with what the astronomer said earlier here. We need to follow a certain framework of the rules we built for this world. It doesn’t have to follow the framework of the real world but it should follow the rules we set already.”

“I remember when we filmed that documentary with Snicket, there were a lot of things that happened that’s inconsistent with the whole setting.”

“Documentaries are different. That’s documenting what actually happened. Real world doesn’t have to make sense, but fiction does.”

“Wait, light-year counts as two words for Sebald Code purposes.”

“Does it? Hyphenated phrases didn’t count as two words when we worked on ‘Vampires in the Retirement Community’.”

“Right, but the rule has been revised since then. Organization’s orders.”

“Should it be ‘reflector’ or ‘refractor’ here?”

“Refractor. Hmm, but we’re missing a few words, so we can have the barista say reflector first, and then correct it ‘I meant ‘refractor’, then the word count matches.”

****

After going back and forth a few rounds, the dialogues now look less like a first draft and more readily to be a part of an actual script.

“I need to get this sent out by Thursday,” Gustav says. “Do you have time to go out for a quick filming? We can probably do the dialogues in the coffee shop right here in the studio with a few background arrangements, but I want to get some outside scenes to use. Such as when the astronomer is on the way to the coffee shop on campus.”

Jacquelyn shrugs, “I’m free for the rest of the day, so fine by me. Actually, if we go to the City College at this time, maybe we can even meet Monty later. Isn’t his guest lecture today?”

“It is. He’s probably planning to spend the rest of the day in the lab or something, but I’m hoping we can drag him out for some parts of the filming. He spends too much time cooped up inside when he’s visiting City College,” Gustav shakes his head.

“To be fair to him, it’s not like he’s always indoors. In fact, he’s more often than not outdoors, especially when he’s on expeditions. Remember that trip to Peru?”

“Very hard to forget when he’s ready to go out every day at 7am,” Gustav laughs, his expression fond. “But it was certainly fun.”

****

They jump on Jacquelyn’s motorcycle, Jacquelyn and Gustav and Gustav’s camera. Jacquelyn’s motorcycle easily cuts into the spaces between cars amidst the heavy traffic, skillfully dodging the bikes and horses they see on the way. They pass a very familiar looking taxi near the Publishing District, and Jacques Snicket, stuck in the traffic, rolls the window down and gives them a nod.

Gustav gives him a jaunty wave. Jacques’s expression remained unchanged.

Gustav laughs. “Poor J, stuck in the traffic,” he comments.

“Is that speed any slower than how he usually drives, though?” Jacquelyn asks, amused, remembering Kit’s complaints about her brother.

“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” Gustav drawls. “You know, I’ve been thinking about doing a film about that taxi. It’s full of history. Did you know their mother once drove that taxi into a river?”

“Well, K certainly takes after their mother, then,” Jacquelyn replies as the motorcycle enters the university. “This place hasn’t changed much. What’s the last movie you shot here?”

“That would be when I was filming Skeletons in the Closet,” Gustav grins. “Monty’s good friend from the paleontology department was kind enough to show us her collection. Actually, I think the department ended up using the video for advertising too, after I sent them a copy as a thank you.”

Jacquelyn parks the motorcycle in front of the Herpetology building, and they go knocking on their favorite herpetologist’s office. There are three students in Monty’s office asking questions about the lecture he gave earlier, so when they arrive, Monty is very enthusiastically and very carefully showing them the Virginian Wolfsnake he brought today.

“It’s the Virginian Wolfsnake,” Gustav recognizes from far away. “13 dollars say he’s telling the typewriter story.”

“I’m not betting against that,” Jacquelyn rolls her eyes. “Lemony Snicket’s imaginative experiment. Of course he’s telling that one.”

“I should make a movie about that one day, too.”

“Virginian Wolfsnake in front of the Typewriter?”

“Absolutely,” Gustav laughs. “Hi M, we’re here.”

****

One of the students recognizes Jacquelyn and gets quite excited. “You’re the actress in Zombies in the Snow!”

When the student doesn’t seem to recognize Gustav, Gustav subtly arches an eyebrow at Jacquelyn, and Jacquelyn tosses him a smirk.

“She is,” Monty answers, beaming. “And this is the director of the film, Gustav Sebald.”

“The Gustav Sebald?” The student’s eyes widen.

“The one and only,” Gustav affirms. “How come you’re more recognizable than me, Jacquelyn?”

“Your appearances are too mysterious, people only know you by name and not what you look like,” Jacquelyn replies drily. She adds in amusement, “keep this up and you’ll become Snicket, Gustav.”

The three students exchange a look. “Miss Scieszka, are you referring to the wanted arsonist Lemony Snicket?”

“I heard that he died - wasn’t that announced in The Daily Punctilio?”

“Thrice - no, four times - I’ve been counting,” one of the students says. “I chose Lemony Snicket for my final project in the class of Urban Legends Analysis, and rumors have it that he’s appeared at at least one of his funerals.” The student’s voice lowers conspiratorially. “Personally, I believe that Snicket is alive. He has to be.”

Jacquelyn and Gustav and Monty exchange a look. It’s always quite an experience to hear a more famous - or infamous - VFD member described by the general public without knowledge about VFD. Beatrice is usually referred to the star actress who suddenly quit the stage and went into a financial district job, while Lemony’s known for being a wanted criminal suspected of arson and theft, but also a talented accordion player amongst the music circles. Indie film lovers usually have heard of Gustav and can recognize Jacquelyn for starring in some of Gustav’s films. Personally, Jacquelyn thinks none of their reputation can rival Lemony’s. That man truly is his own category, unparalleled by anyone else.

The students eagerly ask if they can join in after finding out Gustav and Jacquelyn are here for filming. Jacquelyn quickly reruns in her head the dialogues she and Gustav came up with earlier, and concludes that even though this film contains a coded message intended only for the volunteers’ eyes, it’s hidden well enough that allowing the students to participate as extras shouldn’t cause any security issues. She exchanges a glance with Gustav.

Gustav smiles cheerfully and says to the students, “Sure, come on then!”

The six of them head to the coffee shop on the campus, Jacquelyn checking the disguise kit she brought and wondering what to use for today. Meanwhile, Gustav hands out some scripts to the students. As Gustav talks to the students and answers their questions about filming, Monty walks closer to Jacquelyn and asks, in a low voice, “I take it this is for the fungi project G has been invested in?”

Jacquelyn gives a subtle nod, “Yes. The situation is getting complicated each day, and it’s been decided that something has to be done about it.”

“G is a nice guy. He’s just … sometimes he’s too focused on his research and ignores everything else that’s going on outside of it.”

“We know, M. That’s why the others have to keep an eye on those ‘outside stuff’ for him,” Jacquelyn replies. “We have to monitor those things - it’s our responsibility.”

Monty is silent for a moment. “Jacquelyn - you’re young. I think you’re still just an apprentice when the Orwell incident went down, were you?”

Jacquelyn frowns. “Right. What’s that got to do with anything?”

“When the organization says they want to monitor the scientists for safety reasons, it’s probably not a lie. But that doesn’t mean sometimes the tension rises and things quickly go downhill. Like that time with Dr. Orwell.”

“If I recall,” Jacquelyn says slowly. “A lot of records on that are quite … ambiguous.”

“For a reason,” Monty says. “For a reason. But maybe I’m being paranoid. Maybe this won’t be like what happened with Orwell.” With an attempt at cheeriness that succeeds, he pats her back and smiles. “Now let’s get this film done, shall we?”

****

Gustav sets up his filming camera and makes one final check to ensure that everyone is at the position they need to be at.

“Three, two, one, action!”

#asoue #jacquelyn scieszka #gustav sebald #monty montgomery #my writing

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gatheringfiki · 2 years

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GatheringFiKi Interest Survey 2021 - Results

Hi folks,

First of all, huge thank you to those who took the time to fill in our recent survey. We have now reviewed the results and have a couple of points we’d like to share.

1) Existing Events:

12 Days of Christmas - 123 points

FiKi Week - 153 points

Fandom Raffle Exchange - 172 points

Durin's Day Gift Exchange - 174 points

AUpocalypse - 200 points

Kink Bingo - 209 points

Drabble Challenges - 212 points

Trick or Treat - 218 points

H/C Bingo - 220 points

Fanfic Rec Bingo - 222 points

Show Some Love - 225 points

Fic of a Fic - 235 points

Secret Admirers - 243 points

Round Robins - 335 points

No surprises near the top, AUpocalypse did well for itself, as did both Bingos and Trick or Treat - suspect because they're new. Interest in Drabble Challenges seems to be waning (ran too often?), rec-type-events have not been popular for a few years now, Secret Admirers took a dramatic fall from grace (???) and nobody liked Round Robins.

I thiiiiiiiiink that we need to do some sort of a guide for 'I'm an artist - which events can I take part in and how?' because there are very few purely aimed at writers, and yet outside of 12 Days and DDGE (if it runs) we get very few art responses.

2) New Events:

'I miss the twelve days when we churned out twelve chapters of the same story over the time period' - I don't remember us ever running this event. Submitting prompts - see: Raffle and Drabble Challenges.

Physical/Digital FiKi Zine - going by how many people did the survey, there are 20-30 people in this fandom. Even IF each of them wanted to actually buy/read a copy, we're all over the world. And that's before considering how to create actual content for it. The economies of scale say: 'no' :(

Kink/H/C Meme - see: Kink and H/C Bingos. ;)

Round Robins with the whole story known - this event scores SO consistently at the very bottom, that we won't be running it again, in any format.

Tale Teller’s Fright Night - interesting idea, but I think we'd have 2 challenges: a) this assumes that we all have a fairly uniform knowledge of films/songs/whatever of a particular theme and we don't - we come from very diverse backgrounds; b) while we do occasionally incorporate elements of 'first come first served' in our events, it's always a risk: we're in different time zones, folks with anxiety start stressing about it, and if all the things you wanted are gone, you just won't take part. Thank you for the suggestion though ;)

3) Events Frequency:

Not often enough - 7.4%

Just often enough - 85.2%

Too often - 7.4%

We will carry on doing what we're doing :)

4) Attracting New People:

Simple photo collage event / summer reading logs / a game of tag - thems are really new event ideas. I think that we already have such a range of events that if someone new wanted to get involved, there is already plenty of opportunity to find something for your interests. You can bring a horse to the water but you can't make it drink...

How to participate in our events link - every event is slightly different and we don't really have an 'etiquette' that would apply across the board. There is a clear instructions post provided at the start of each event though. Again, horse, water...

Hobbit Re-show - not sure I fully understand this one - please elaborate?

FiKi Discord Channel - @shinigami714 Do you know if it's actually active? If so, could you please do the linking there? Let's discuss on chat.

Putting a GatheringFiKi link in author's notes on AO3 - yes, good idea, only we have no way of enforcing it! Please feel free to do so if you wish, though - we'd be very grateful <3

We wanted to also take this opportunity to thank everyone for the wonderful and humbling words of encouragement we’ve received. We do what we do because of the people in this fandom and we will continue our work for as long as there is interest in it. It’s what being in a fandom means to us and hopefully it inspires some of you too :)

A Calendar Post for 2022 will follow.

One final point: Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey first premiered in December 2012. That makes 2022 its 10th anniversary year (yes, a decade we've been in this glorious dumpster together!!).

To commemorate this momentous occasion, we were thinking (circumstances permitting) of organising a joint re-watch of Hobbit: AUJ, just after Christmas 2022. By which I mean synchronised start of the film + Skype open side by side for live commentary. There may also be other, little nods towards AUJ throughout the year ;)

Happy New Year, peeps!

~gatheringfiki

#GatheringFiKi #Interest Survey #Fili/Kili #FiKi #Durincest #the Hobbit #Mitchers #Britchell #DarkHawk #IoLuke

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alex-ruins-everything · 3 years

Text

Turning Pages - Chapter 6

Intrulogical bookshop au! Read the whole thing on ao3 here.

“Roman, that’s no fair! I called dibs on the car days ago!” Remus argued, chasing his brother down the hall.

“And I told you! Virgil and I are going to the mall, so I need it!” Roman replied, dodging Remus’ attempted swing when the other got too close.

“Well it’s your fault for breaking your own dumb car!”

Remus had been waiting for this day since he had somehow miraculously gotten Logan to agree to go on a date with him. Logan, the uptight nerd from the bookshop with a jawline that could cut glass and eyes Remus wanted to be waterboarded in. He had texted the number on the back of the receipt immediately upon getting it. A simple ‘hey itz Remus ;-3’ to which Logan replied with perfect grammar and punctuation. Gah, he could be in love. They had gone back and forth about their plans for the aquarium and Remus had promised to pick Logan up. Then the conversation turned to other things and Remus got to know more about Logan other than the fact that he was gorgeous. He liked astronomy (which is different from astrology apparently), he drank his coffee black, and he had been working at the bookshop since he was sixteen. Remus had never committed to anything that long, that was insane. For every question he answered he asked one in return and Remus couldn’t remember the last time he’d held someone’s attention that long in a positive way that wasn’t Janus or Roman.

Roman, who was currently trying to sabotage their date it would seem by putting his own first. Remus had to resolve this quickly or he’d risk being late to pick Logan up.

“Roman, you know how pumped I’ve been for this. I’m taking the car,” Remus argued, watching Roman pluck the car keys off the hook and fully getting ready to pounce on his brother.

“Take your bike! You have options, I don’t!” Roman replied, holding the keys away from Remus.

“Fine! Fine. But you so owe me a big one.”

Roman cheered at winning the argument as Remus plucked the keys to his motorcycle off the hook and headed out to the garage, grabbing his jacket on the way. It might have been hot as hell outside but the aquarium could be chilly plus he never rode without his jacket. He shoved the helmet on his noggin and grabbed a spare for Logan before zooming off to the address his date had given him. It was an easy enough to find building, balconies lining the outer walls and large brass numbers over the front door. Remus parked his bike and pulled his helmet off, finding L. Berry on the doorbell system and pushing the appropriate button.

“Hello?” Logan’s voice answered after a while.

“Your noble steed awaits, Specs. You ready?”

“Ah, yes. I’ll be down in just a moment, Remus.”

Remus went to go lean against his bike, resting his helmet on the ground so it didn’t get knocked off. It really was just a moment before Logan emerged from the building’s front door causing a smile to break out on his face. The nerd walked over and Remus opened his arms for a hug to be met with a hand extended for a handshake. He laughed and went for that instead.

“We aren’t going on that...are we?” Logan asked, eyeing the bike warily.

“Ro totally hijacked the car this morning,” Remus explained. “You’ve never ridden one before?”

“No. Motorcycles are highly impractical and-” “Lemme stop you there,” Remus said, handing Logan the spare helmet. “It’s not as dangerous as you think it is. All you gotta do is hold onto me nice and tight and before you know it, we’ll be at the aquarium making kissy faces as the fishies.”

“That’s not generally how I spend my time at the aquarium...is that how you spend your time at the aquarium?” Logan questioned, taking the helmet hesitantly.

“Sometimes, yeah,” Remus laughed, sticking his own helmet on and getting onto the bike, motioning for Logan to do the same.

Once Logan was on and he felt long arms secure themselves around his waist Remus headed off to the aquarium. He looked in the mirrors every once in a while to check if Logan was okay and after about a mile of panic the other seemed to relax a little bit and almost looked like he was enjoying the ride. The only thing Remus didn’t like about this was that he didn’t get the chance to converse with Logan, but there was plenty of time for that once they got to the aquarium itself. Besides...silence was a pretty good payoff for having Logan hugging him from behind. It wasn’t a terribly far ride to the aquarium and they were there quite quickly.

“See? That wasn’t so bad was it?” Remus asked, getting off first and holding out a hand to help Logan do the same. “And now you can check that off your bucket list.” “No...it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” Logan admitted, accepting the hand offered to him for help. “Though I do not have a bucket list, I don’t think riding a motorcycle would be on it. I never had any desire to do that before...but it was rather exhilarating…”

“You use a whole lotta fancy words, Specs. I like it.”

Remus held out a hand for Logan’s helmet to secure it on the bike with his own. He thought he almost saw the hint of blushing on the other’s cheeks but that could have been the summer sun beating down on them. Logan didn’t have sunglasses like he did, just his regular ol’ glasses.

“I got a membership to this place so I’ll get the tickets, they’re free with it,” Remus said as they walked into the large building, the lighting inside much darker and slightly blue tinted.

“I’m a member as well, actually,” Logan replied. “I’m a member of all educational facilities in the tristate area.”

“Oh be still my beating heart...cute and a member at the aquarium? You’re really turning out to be the whole package here, Logie.”

Logan opened his mouth like perhaps he wanted to protest the new nickname or that he wasn’t any sort of package, but the duo was called up to the ticket booth before he could. Remus went ahead and asked for two tickets anyway, flashing his membership card and getting two stickers to show they had been cleared for admission. He stuck his own on his chest before sticking Logan’s on his tie and moving them off the line and towards the first set of tanks.

“So...you wore a tie to a date to an aquarium, huh?” Remus asked, starting up conversation as they looked at the colorful fish swimming around.

“Oh- yes,” Logan said, looking down at his now stickered tie. “Admittedly, I did have to research how to dress for a date and the articles I read mentioned ties. I wear them often so I thought it was the best route. Was I not supposed to wear a tie to the aquarium?”

“No, no. You can wear whatever you want, Lo. I was just curious,” Remus assured, pausing a moment. “You had a look up what to wear for a date?”

“Well, yes. I, ah...don’t go on very many. Or...any...”

“Aw…” Remus cooed, gently nudging Logan’s shoulder with his own. “Then we’ll make this a good one.”

The two of them walked around, pausing to look into the different tanks. Remus coulda sworn he almost saw a smile on the other’s face at some of his enthusiastic bouncing. Turns out Logan had a whole lot of fish facts to share and Remus eagerly listened, sharing a few of his own though they weren’t as cool as the ones Logan shared. When they got to the archway tank a shark swam right overhead of them and Re excitedly pointed it out, the pair stopping to watch the shark swim around for a while. Shockingly the aquarium wasn’t too busy on a Thursday afternoon, only a few groups of camp kids in brightly colored matching shirts. Finally they got to Remus’ favorite exhibit.

“Look!” he said, grabbing Logan’s hand and pulling him over to the octopus tanks. “God- aren’t they fuckin’ awesome…”

“You’re quite fond of octopuses, aren't you?” Logan questioned, nodding to the tattoo on display on Remus’ arm since the other had cut the sleeves off of his shirt at some point.

“I really couldn’t tell ya why...I just think they’re neat,” Remus explained, smiling when Logan pointed out his tattoo. “This octopus is actually here! He’s somewhere in this tank but y’know, camouflage and all.”

“You got a tattoo of one of the octopuses from this aquarium?” Logan asked for clarification, his eyes going from Remus to the tank in an attempt to find the creature in question.

“Yeah, Duke. When I was like twelve or somethin’ I won a raffle to name their newest octopus. I made the poor nanny drive me here like every day so I could see him.”

“That’s actually...quite nice.”

“Oh! There he is,” Remus said, pointing out a small bit of movement in the sand at the bottom of the tank. Now that they knew where to look it was easy to spot the octopus. “Did you know octopi have three hearts? Oh! And blue blood.”

“I did know that, but it’s very interesting,” Logan nodded. “They also lack bones and are quite intelligent.”

“They’re just so cool!”

They stood and watched Duke the octopus for a long time, swapping facts about cephalopods. The octopus eventually did move and Remus was able to show off the similarities between the creature in the tank and the tattoo on his arm. The resemblance was striking. Eventually they moved on, continuing to talk about they fish they passed until they ended up in the gift shop.

“I always loved the gift shop of museums,” Remus said, moving over to browse a rack of postcards. “It was almost like a reward for making it through the boring stuff.”

“You didn’t seem to find the aquarium boring,” Logan stated.

“Oh, yeah. Aquariums don’t count. I just...don’t like museums as much. They’re cool and all - especially the art museum that has all the medieval armor and weaponry - but no one will go with me because apparently I’m too loud for museum culture.”

“I quite enjoy that museum actually,” Logan said. “Perhaps we can go there together. I do have a membership.”

Remus thought he was gonna vibrate from excitement. Logan had just asked him on a second date, right? That’s what had happened? He gave an enthusiastic nod, his eyes catching on something along the wall. Ties!

“Oh! Oh, wait here,” he said, running over to the display.

Sure enough they had a few different designs. Remus immediately fell in love with a navy blue tie that had a green octopus towards the bottom. He pulled it off the rack, not bothering to check the price and moved back to show Logan.

“I’m gonna get this for you,” he said, holding the tie up.

“Wha- Remus, no. You don’t have to do that,” Logan replied. “It’s a very lovely tie, but you don’t need to buy me a gift.”

“I know I don’t need to. I want to...so I am.”

“I’m not going to be able to convince you to put that back, am I?”

“Nope.”

“Very well,” Logan nodded. “Your turn to wait here.”

Remus did as he was told, looking over the rack of postcards again. He found one with an eel on it and picked one up to give to Janus. Eels were like water snakes, right? Janus did love his snakes. Not too long after he walked off Logan came back with a small stuffed octopus in his hands.

“I’m going to buy this for you,” Logan said. “Is that- is this something you’d like?”

“Lo, I will literally cherish that for the rest of my life,” Remus grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement. “Hell, I’ll be buried with it.”

Logan’s shoulders seemed to relax a little bit at Remus’ approval. Remus moved over to the register, flashing his membership card again for that wonderful 10% off he got as a perk. Once he was done Logan got rung up, showing his own card.

“For you,” Logan said, holding out the stuffed octopus.

“And for you,” Remus replied, exchanging the tie for the toy. “Y’know...all this walking around the aquarium has me heavily craving some coffee. You game?”

“I- yes. I would also appreciate some caffeine right now,” Logan nodded.

“It’s no Remy’s place, but there’s a cafe like a block away, c’mon,” Remus said, grabbing Logan’s hand again to lead him away from the aquarium and towards the sidewalk.

The coffee shop was much busier than the aquarium but the smell of roasting beans was pretty much divine as soon as they walked in. The seats inside were all full but there were a few spare seats outside that hopefully wouldn’t be snagged before they got their orders in. The two of them continued to chat during the walk and while waiting on line. Remus placed their order, getting a black coffee for Logan and his own personal drink which he liked to call the Gamble With Death.

“Surely that cannot be good for your heart,” Logan stated after hearing Remus say eight shots of espresso.

“It hasn’t killed me yet,” Remus shrugged. “If it ever does I promise to let you know.”

“How would you let me know? You’d be dead?”

Before Remus could think up an answer for that his name was called out and he went to go grab the two cups, handing Logan his. They grabbed a table outside and Remus stuck his new octopus in the middle of the table.

“He needs a name,” he said, gesturing to the stuffed toy.

“It does?” Logan questioned, sipping his coffee.

“Of course he does!”

“You could perhaps go with a nod to H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu and name him that,” Logan suggested.

“Hm...I like that, I like that,” Remus nodded, getting an idea. “Cthuwu. Y’know, like ‘uwu’?”

“Tell me if I use this wrong but, ah...cursed.”

Remus broke into laughter at that, assuring Logan that was the right context but it was more the delivery that caught him off guard. Apparently Virgil works with Logan to get the adorable nerd up to date with modern slang. The guy had flashcards which Remus absolutely needed to see now. They stayed at that cafe table long after their coffee cups had been drained, until suddenly the sky was a mass of pinks and oranges.

“Ah, shit. I totally kept you out longer than I had promised,” Remus said, stretching in his chair.

“Oh,” Logan looked up, blinking like he had just been pulled out of their little personal bubble. “Yes. I should probably get home. I do have work tomorrow and I have my nightly routine to keep up with.”

“So...organized,” Remus grinned, standing up and tossing his empty cup into the trash bin. “Then home we go, Logie.”

Logan stood up as well, discarding his cup and following Remus back to his motorcycle. Remus was able to fill any void of silence by running his mouth. He was currently telling Logan about the first time he took Janus on the bike. He hadn’t been too fond of it. Remus handed Logan his helmet and stuck their purchases in his side bag, before long they were back off towards Logan’s apartment.

“Y’know, Lo...I had a lot of fun today,” Remus said once the engine was killed and they were parked by Logan’s front door.

“I...actually did too. You were certainly a wonderful companion for the aquarium,” Logan replied, handing back his borrowed helmet. “Thank you for not letting me die on the back of the motorcycle.”

“Nah, Specs...I would never let someone as cute and clever as you die,” Remus winked, pulling the tie out of the side bag and sticking the helmet in there with Cthuwu. “I’ll see you around, yeah? I’m almost done with that book you recommended.”

“Oh? I’m so glad you’re liking it,” Logan grinned, books seeming to be a topic he rather enjoyed talking about. “Well...I’ll start building a list of recommendations for you.”

“Absolutely cannot wait,” Remus returned the other’s smile, pausing for a moment before taking a step closer and kissing Logan on the cheek. “Bye, Specs.”

He shoved the helmet on his head and sped back home after making sure Logan made it inside alright. He looked a little dazed after that kiss on the cheek which was just so damn adorable. Remus was absolutely on cloud nine. Now he got to go home and gush about it all to Janus over the phone.

TAGLIST:

@theiwatobiicepic

#alex-writes-everything #turning pages #intrulogical #prinxiety #moceit #remus sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #janus sanders #sanders sides #thomas sanders

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rokutouxei · 3 years

Text

the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

ikemen vampire: temptation through the dark theo van gogh / mc | T | [ ao3 link in bio ]

The challenge seemed pretty simple: to try to befriend the university bookshop’s most sour employee, Theo van Gogh. As a literature major with a boatload of book recommendations on her back, it ought to be a simple task indeed. But as she uncovers what lies between Theo’s pages, the more she finds it harder to become closer to him without having to put the feeling directly into words. What can she learn from Theo about what it means to stay—and how can she teach Theo about what it means to let go? | written for ikevamp big bang 2020!

[ masterpost for all chapters ]

CHAPTER 14 OF 22

... I choked on such longing I couldn’t spit out. Yes, desire is so different when God bore you hungry. I could have devoured anything and still have been starving. In one version of our story the fruit is in your chest. David, I eat it anyway. O, I know nothing but to take & keep taking.

- Belovéd, Yves Olade

Something in their world shifts.

She hadn’t exactly formally talked it out with Vincent, but it’s somehow settled that she would be there for him to talk to whenever he had something about his exhibit that he wanted to discuss. It was different to have someone on “neutral ground”—someone who wasn’t Theo, who wasn’t carrying the weight of having to bear everything else for the exhibit to happen. And Theo doesn’t mind sharing the space with Vincent with her, either. ‘

It starts simple. A little group chat with Theo (although he rarely responds to the messages) and Vincent to toss ideas, throw little inspirational things. On Friday afternoons, when her schedule is a little more open, she sometimes visits the van Gogh house to check on Vincent and what he’s done so far. She helps him with the expressions on his models, gives him insight into what a viewer would think of the painting. Having been born and raised in this place, she gives the best advice on what places would have the best views to paint, where it would be possible to go outside and sketch and draw.

The exhibit slowly comes into shape.

Theo helps Vincent with the technicals: looking for a place to set it up, preparing the documents for the panel, buying the art materials, providing some comments for half-finished works. She helps Vincent with the storyline: drawing out his story of the little boy with paint seeping out of her hands, leaving a trail of art wherever he goes. How the world changes with every bit of it he touches.

But most importantly, they make sure they are there for Vincent, constantly nudging him in the direction he wants to go but is sometimes too hesitant to.

The final exams roll in with the same kind of raucousness as the midterms did, but there is a quiet kind of understanding between her and Theo that is different from the last time. The gang—she, Theo, Arthur, and Dazai—gathers to study together that pre-finals week, but it’s as if it’s only her and Theo around.

She peers up from what she’s writing on her notebook and when she finds Theo staring, she smiles up at him and he turns away with a grumble at being caught even if he knew he would. When he has his glasses on and is busy reviewing something on his computer, his eyes running left and right over pages of notes, she observes the way the feeble sun shines weak gold over his deep honey-colored hair, soft and likely gentle to the touch—and he lets her.

Arthur, of course, has something he wants to say, but this time he’s smart enough to hold it in, Dazai nudging him gently with his elbow, knowing it would be the worst shame to interrupt the little world she and Theo are in.

It is only once final exams have finished that the preparation for the exhibit rolls into full force for the brothers. Both Theo’s hours at the bookshop and Vincent’s hours at the café lessens as the university rolls into holiday mode, and now more than ever is Vincent working non-stop at his paintings, like they’re burning to get out of him.

Vincent now has time to get out his art.

And Theo—Theo has time to dream about the future.

And dreaming about the future.

Just in time for Christmas.

“Hey Arthur, what should I get Theo?”

She and Arthur are sitting at the Little Owl, waiting for Dazai to arrive. The two lovebirds were having their Christmas date early, because this year, Arthur is coming home to his family, likely to mooch for money. She intended to say no at first—after all, this is their date, regardless of whatever label they had for whatever was going on between the two of them—but upon the realization that Dazai was not only picky with food (and also had great taste) but also footing the bill, ‘yes’ was the only possible option.

Besides, Arthur wasn’t taking no for an answer, and she had to wrestle herself out of his original condition that she could only come if she was bringing Theo along, like a double date.

Arthur looks up from the little crossword puzzle he was solving on the café’s shared newspaper. “A kiss,” he answers without missing a beat. “Twenty, maybe. That might soften him.”

“Arthur.”

“Oh, he uses that exact tone on me too, little miss. Very uncanny.”

“I’m not giving him a kiss,” she sighs, turning her head back to her notebook, with the scribbled list of people and items next to their names. “You’re the worst person to ask.”

Arthur puts on a faux-offended face. “I’m only telling you what he’d appreciate the most.”

“Okay, smarty,” she rolls her eyes. “I’m just trying to get everyone Christmas presents.”

“You’re getting him something for Christmas?” Arthur’s eyes are wide in genuine surprise.

“I’m getting you something too!”

He hums. “Is that so. Entirely normal, platonic gifts.”

“Arthur!” she pouts. “I swear, there’s no bigger meaning to it. I like giving gifts for Christmas. It’s kind of routine at this point.”

“So you’re getting Vincent a gift too.”

“Of course.”

“And I, Dazai, and Isaac.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “What, I have to give you a full list of who I’m giving gifts to for Christmas?”

“Yes,” Arthur says, tapping her nose with a pen. She scrunches up her nose in response. “Checking for fairness.”

“Fairness?!” she looks at him pointedly. “Look, you’re just fishing for clues that I’ll get Theo something—” she raises her fingers to make air quotes, “—‘more meaningful’ and ‘more valuable’ than the rest of you guys as a clue to whatever the hell your theory is.”

“It’s not a theory, little bird, it’s an observation,” Arthur says, with a laugh. “The fact that you still refuse to say what my theory is out loud is really telling, you know?”

“No, it’s because it’s not true.”

“What is not true?”

“Your theory.”

“Which is?”

Which is that I’ve entirely fallen in love with Theo and I don’t want to admit it because I’m afraid of what happens after that and if I own up to it. It’s not true at all. Not even the littlest bit.

Why would she be afraid of something she loves?

Not her, no. She’s the kind of person who runs toward what she wants.

This doesn’t make any sense.

She sighs. “Why did I even ask you. This is pointless. I’ll ask Vincent instead.”

“Oh, but he wouldn’t know what our dearest Theo would want,” Arthur hums. “He’s hard to give gifts to.”

“Wait, ‘our’?” she begins to argue, but then shakes her head. “Never mind. How are you claiming more knowledge than Vincent? Theo hates your guts.”

“Because he knows I know him.”

“That means he hates my guts too.”

“He does.”

She sighs. There’s not much point arguing with Arthur oftentimes—the best way is to surrender and then just try and figure out a way out of the mess one had walked into afterward. “Okay, fine. What is it that he’d appreciate getting for Christmas?”

Arthur grins. “You owe me one?”

She groans. She knows she will regret this deeply like she did the last time, but—“I do! Now ‘fess up!”

The holiday season in their university town is quiet. Much quieter, at least, than on regular school season. Most of the students go back to their hometowns after the exams, and the streets get quieter and quieter the closer it is to Christmas. Stores that used to be open most of the day open later and close earlier; cafés and libraries and emptier; the streets are less crowded. The hustle and bustle become muted and more peaceful.

Theo likes being on campus around this time of year because it’s different from the usual. Before Theo attended the university, when Vincent was the only one out here, his brother used to come home for the holidays. But ever since Theo came here, and the entire incident with Vincent’s graduation and his project came into light, they hadn’t gone home—mostly to save the money, but also because it doesn’t… feel right to go home back yet.

That’s alright. It’s not as if it’s lonely out here in late December.

Not all students go home. Arthur goes home—he says it’s for a sweetheart who has “long been missing him”, but they all know better. Dazai and Isaac stay a little longer than the other students do, but they go home as well. But Vincent and Theo stay.

And so does she.

It’s a beautiful city to spend the winter in, after all.

Like most places, there’s a little holiday culture of its own in the town as well. A student representative council gathers early in December to arrange a gigantic potluck-slash-party at around noon on the 24th, where students who have stayed get to hang out with everyone else who is still there to share some Christmas cheer. The event is usually held at the Grove, which means there’s also space to ice skate. Some vendors are invited to sell their wares of Christmas food as well—and of course, alcohol is included. Speakers are installed and Christmas music, both lively and more romantic, play throughout the course of the party. Those who sign in earlier get to join in an exchange gift affair at the latter part of it too. There’s also a raffle for little gifts and prizes. And of course, there’s the snowball fight. It’s a small, homey event, and many students actually decide to stay on campus for this particular party.

Every year, Theo is pretty neutral about the potluck.

Every year, Vincent wants to go. So Theo always comes with him.

And this year… Vincent is inviting her too.

He considers getting her a pack of highlighters.

He doesn’t know much about the world of stationery and fancy studying materials, but there’s a certain brand of fancy highlighters he sees a lot around campus. They’re not the easiest brand to get, according to his research, but if he orders it soon it might just make it on time.

Or maybe a fountain pen?

Fountain pens are classy. And thoughts have been given on them, so he knows it’s not a bad shot. He isn’t quite sure what kind, though, what brand, and maybe he could get one that’s the exact same model and brand as his, but isn’t that a little too obvious? He doesn’t want to be too obvious. He doesn’t want it to be obvious at all, or even known.

A book, perhaps, might be the best option, then.

Books have been an integral part of their… relationship, anyway. No other meaning to that. If there is anything to be read about that, then that’s not on him, is it? That makes this entire process simpler. He’ll just need to drop by the bookstore, check the stocks, pick up the most mundane and boring poetry book—the lamest, the worst, why would he give something meaningful—and then get a gift bag, maybe some wrapping paper—

Theo is so deep in his thoughts he doesn’t catch Vincent entering the room, even as the door behind his older brother closes with a click. The look on Theo’s face—furrowed brows, tense shoulders, the light in his eyes—makes Vincent smile just the tiniest bit.

The sound of his voice shakes Theo out of his reverie.

“Have you chosen what to get her?” Vincent asks, providing no context. He doesn’t need to. He knows his brother well, and he even turns away from Theo to lessen the blow, pretending to look for something in his bedside drawer.

“I’m not getting her anything,” Theo scoffs weakly, his frown deepening as the tips of his ears turn bright red.

Sometime around noon of the 24th, the three of them meet at the plaza to join the potluck. The brothers bring cupcakes—“I didn’t know you baked, Vincent!” “It wasn’t me, it was Theo.” “Oh?”—and she brings some spaghetti, and the rest of the table is overflowing with food to eat. Everyone is dressed in shades of gold, red, green, and white. Music plays through the speakers attached to the streetlights.

Her face kind of hurts with how big she’s smiling.

She doesn’t hate life on the campus, no, but it’s become monotone, a little too uninteresting that leaves her on edge. It’s exactly why she was so eager to get on with Arthur’s dare and get to know Theo in the first place—she had that sense that maybe it would bring her somewhere new, somewhere fascinating. The only exception to the otherwise boring campus life is on big events like this holiday party, and the feeling is something she can’t get enough of.

The party goes just about as one would expect—her, pulling Vincent around by the elbow getting him to try all the different kinds of food laid out (“No, no, I couldn’t possibly eat anymore—” “Just one more bite! Just one!”); her, pulling Theo by the wrist to join her and Vincent in ice-skating (“I’m not interested.” “You have no say in the matter!”); and then, of course, Theo, pelting her right in the face with a snowball (the most annoyed pout she can muster, together with “Oh you want war, then you’re getting it!”)

It is already four in the afternoon when the three of them make it out of the hubbub. Theo is walking with his hands in his pockets, humming along to one of the Christmas songs now aggressively stuck in his head after having heard it at least 60 times in the past four hours. She teases him about it and he frowns about it, but he’s still humming.

“I ate too much!” she whines, clutching her stomach pitifully as they walked. “Absolutely no regrets though. I love Christmas potluck, but this year was just crazy.”

Vincent laughs. “You really shouldn’t have gotten that last pretzel,” he chides.

“But it was so good! I don’t know where they sourced that cinnamon, but it made me cry.”

Theo snorts. “You cried?”

“I did, I don’t understand how one wouldn’t,” she sighs. “Theo, you were just too into your chocolate-topped-with-caramel-topped-with-strawberries-topped-with—” she takes a breath, “—diabetes cake thing. Why was that even allowed to exist.”

“You just have no taste,” Theo says, but it has no venom in it.

She grins. “Neither do you.”

“That makes us even.”

She should be going home by now—the sun will be setting soon, and she’d rather not be walking home in the dark in the snow—but her little apartment building is rather empty for the holidays, and it can get quite lonely when the rest of the campus is still celebrating. It’s a good thing she doesn’t need to tell the brothers for them to understand, and they let her walk with them all the way back to their little house, the one she’s been in so often in the past few months, it kind of feels like a second home too.

“Hot chocolates?” Vincent asks once they’ve made it through the threshold with matched sighs, hanging his coat by the rack. She whoops and cheers.

“Yes please!” she says, “I’ll choose a movie!”

Christmas has never really been a special holiday to her in the past. Sure, it’s enjoyable, and involves a lot of food and gifts, the questionable-if-enjoyable company of a lot of family members, sometimes even distantly extended ones, and most of the sense of the holiday is about its commercialized form instead of the actual religious holiday, giving it an alienating feeling, but—

This year it’s a little different.

Feels a little different.

Not quite like the usual.

Not when she’s snuggled under a blanket, Theo in between her and Vincent, a mug of hot chocolate in her hands, Klaus on the TV. Not when it’s been a long semester of burning the midnight oil studying and working so hard, and then suddenly it feels like it’s okay to rest.

Rest in this place that lets her curl up warmly in its softness.

And sure, maybe some things feel the same, familiar, like Theo’s nose, scrunched up because he’s taking the movie a little too seriously, or Vincent’s sunny smile, or Arthur’s text message in her phone of [ no mistletoe? 🎄 ]—but it’s different.

The longing tearing at her heart, she begins to be sure that she’ll miss this.

It’s not home but she’s sure if one day she will ever find it, it will probably feel like this.

They sit around the living room talking to each other even after the movie ends, and by the time it truly feels like the day has settled down around them, the sun is long out of the sky. Slowly, the sinking feeling that she had overstayed her welcome begins to crawl over her, once Vincent brings their now-empty mugs onto the kitchen sink. She straightens up at her seat, nervously fidgeting next to the mountain of blankets separating her and Theo on the couch.

And then suddenly, she remembers.

“Oh, but before the night ends—”

She digs into her bag and pulls out a small gift, wrapped with a yellow ribbon. Vincent returns to the living area just at the right moment, so she hands the present to Vincent. “Merry Christmas, Vincent! It’s not much, but I hope it proves helpful for your current project.”

He doesn’t know it yet, but it’s a box of fresh paints, the brand he uses. Not in as wide an array of colors of what he does have, but still a good number. She made sure to check which ones he used the most.

“You didn’t have to!” he says, summer sun in his smile. “Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome, Vincent, of course,” she says. And then, she pulls out another thing—turning towards Theo as she hands him a box, neatly held together with starry wrapping paper and a sheer white ribbon. “Merry Christmas, Theo. Thanks for everything this year.”

Vincent chuckles at the look of surprise on Theo’s face. Theo looks back at his brother, betrayed.

But he doesn’t have much time for that, because the gift is hovering in between him and her awkwardly. He takes it and mumbles a soft, “Um, thanks.”

She blinks. “Do you not want it?”

“I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Surprises are good this time of year,” she says. Grins when she catches the tips of Theo’s ears already pink. Vincent spots it too and laughs, as he reaches out from underneath their little Christmas tree to hand them some gifts as well.

By the heft of it, she guesses what’s inside her wrapped present is a small painting; she beams at Vincent and throws him an embrace in thanks. Vincent gifts Theo a gray sweater with a reindeer on it, the kind of gift one would receive from their grandmother instead of their brother, but Theo quickly puts it over his shirt excitedly anyway.

She wonders why Theo hasn’t opened her gift to him yet.

Vincent manages to say up to half of “And what about you, Theo?” when Theo quickly gets up on his feet, saying, “I should walk you home,” pointing at the clock on the wall. Solidly eight at night. Not that late, really, but—there’s no good overstaying. Her heart drops a little but she nods anyway.

“Yeah, I should,” she agrees. “Thank you for today, Vincent.”

He beams. “Of course. Come join us anytime.”

Theo holds the gift box she had given him under his arm and turns to her. “Ready in 5?”

“Yup, I just need to go to the restroom,” she says. “I’ll be back.”

She clears her head quickly in the bathroom. She doesn’t know when she started to get so riled up whenever Theo walked her home—late evenings at the van Goghs on Fridays spent talking about the exhibit has made it a common affair—but tonight, her heart is hammering in her chest somehow. It’s been a normal day. Nothing’s different, she convinces herself, so there’s no need for all these theatrics and heart acrobatics.

When she gets out to the foyer, she catches Theo leaning against the wall, his hands in the pockets of his coat, and—

The deep blue scarf around his neck.

The one she chose for him.

Arthur said the best gift to give Theo is one he will be able to use, but—

She hadn’t imagined seeing it in use would leave her dry of words, too.

“Let’s go?”

She pretends the flush in her face is due to the sudden cold. “Yeah, let’s go.”

The walk home isn’t entirely quiet. She checks her phone and shows him the photos of Christmas eve the rest of their friends have sent them, in the group chat Theo never checks because he’s just not that kind of guy. Then they talk about the party, her profusely accusing Theo of attempted murder for having hit her right on target at the face pretty hard with that snowball. And then, they turn toward talking about the exhibit, and Vincent, and the upcoming year and—

Talk like this, about the little things, like they usually do.

The comforting usuals of their friendship.

Nothing different. Nothing new.

Just the usual.

Finally, after 20 minutes she wanted to last forever, they make it to her apartment complex. They bid goodbye at the entrance. She’s just about turned around to leave when she feels the warmth of his fingers around her wrist, pulling her back.

“Theo?” “Hondje," they call to each other at the same time.

He hands a small, wrapped box he’s kept underneath his coat towards her.

“For you.”

She blinks. Oh, if Arthur could have seen their mirrored expressions from their exchange of gifts, he would have laughed so loudly. “What is this?”

He narrows her eyes at her, as if she said something stupid. “A gift.”

“I mean—” she begins, but then just chuckles. “I mean thanks. This means a lot.”

“Don’t think about it too hard. Rest well,” he says, the following syllables of her name just light on his lips. The sound of it makes her nerves flutter. She holds onto the gift box in her hand tightly instead, as if making sure it’s there. That this is real. Theo gives her a look like she’s transparent. “You’re always welcome at the house. No matter how long you stay. Merry Christmas.”

A smile creeps up on her face uncontrollably. “Merry Christmas too, Theo.”

She waves goodbye to him and watches him disappear off the corner before she runs upstairs to go to her room—to shut the door behind her and take a deep breath. She shrugs her coat off, tucks the mittens inside the pockets.

Puts the little box she’d been holding so carefully, still warm from Theo’s coat, along with her little wrapped painting from Vincent, underneath the small makeshift Christmas tree sitting on her kitchen counter.

Earlier that day, Theo had slipped a note in between the pages of a poetry book—on an old receipt he’d scribbled on at the back, which said: thanks for helping my brother out. thought our little miss ‘love is the answer to all of the world’s problems’ would enjoy a bit of e.e. cummings.

And tomorrow, first thing on Christmas morning, sipping on hot chocolate with sugar marshmallows on top, she will open the box and find the note and grin widely. And, in a reversal of her usual, she will make herself comfortable on the couch, overlooking the window, the falling snow, and read the book slowly, investing her heart in each syllable. Listening to every sound in her head. Carrying each word gently, taking her time.

Dipping her feet lightly into the book. Relishing in the curve of the words on her lips as she reads—words Theo chose and wrapped into a gift, then given to her.

#the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart #ikemen vampire #ikevamp theo

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lizzie-wendigo · 3 years

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My Christmas Revenge (Story Time)

Okey people! now I finally have the opportunity to tell you this. As I said, if everything went as expected, I would tell you my reasons for my revenge this Christmas. And it turned out better than I expected!

You see, in my neighborhood we made a "secret santa", to avoid direct contact due to the pandemic, we only raffled first the names of those who signed up in the raffle, and well... I got someone who hated me a lot, and who also hated me. I'm talking about my Ex crush (yes, who I told you about in the special drawing I made of Ma Fucking B-day):

https://www.deviantart.com/lizzieaguilar/art/Ma-Fucking-B-day-846086037

Anyway, it turns out that he never liked me, he always hated me all the time, but I made an effort to please him (it was my mistake, I know, no one should change to please a person, much less if that person is not worth it).

So a year ago, in secret santa, he got to give me a gift, and he gave me... his damn cheap headphones, which he just wrapped in damn wrapping paper and put a bow on them. Those headphones besides being used, they only served as A DAMN HEARING! Not even the two! only one!!

That day I really had a bad time. And this was my revenge:

Some time ago he commented a lot, that he wanted a "Nintendo Switch" and I found a box in an excellent condition to disguise his gift and I made it heavy enough for him to believe that it had a real Nintendo inside.

And what we had to do was put the gift in the mailboxes or leave them outside the houses and they would pick it up, this year I received a digital hand watch from my cousin (great, I already needed it) and I wanted to see the expression of my ex crush when opening his gift.

I could see him from the window, I didn't make any noise, I looked at him outside his house through the window in his living room. I could see the illusion in his eyes, and the emotion of him and when he opened he found...

HIS DAMN CHEAP HEADPHONES! Exactly! Those same ones that he gave me last Christmas, I put them inside the box and I gave him back!

Right away his expression became something like: ﴾͡๏̯͡๏﴿

I just touched his window, and when he turned to see I yelled: YOU DESERVE IT!

And I started singing "You're a Mean One, Mr Grinch"!! (because all call me grinch darling because I don't celebrate Christmas)

That was my Christmas revenge folks! I don't regret anything!

Comment "Merry Christmas, Ya Flithy Animal. and Happy New Year" if you think he deserved it or if you think it was funny

#story time #lizzie-wendigo #christmas 2020

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lionews · 3 years

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Yikes, hopefully it's fine for me to send this as a defense for myself, because clearly people are taking things....way out of context and out of proportion as well as making some super odd assumptions. I hardly ever stand up for myself but fuck, I feel like I need to this time.

To be clear I've purchased exactly two raffle lionesses out of "spite", both being against the same person, and it is exactly who everyone says it is. And frankly I probably would have been interested in the RLs regardless of who was going for them, people exaggerate sometimes (in this case "Oh I ONLY bought them out of spite", it wasn't solely to spite someone but that fact DID help me justify spending GB on the lions). I definitely don't try to hoard RLs from the entire community, I at the very least try to make sure a clone is kinged to keep slots alive. I DO NOT hoard markings slots. I promise you that if I've denied you a marking, it was because other active people own the slot and I know you could get it elsewhere. Most of my lions are simply not for sale but I DO try to make notes of people who have asked for slots and keep an eye on my girls passing cubs with the marking.

Regardless of WHY I purchase a RL, I absolutely adore all of mine and dote on them constantly with art and lore. They're loved and frankly that should be enough of a reason for me to do whatever I'd like with them, whether I sell heats and clones like I have with several or keep them amongst friends until I or my friends are comfortable with heat/clone sales. I absolutely do not get bored of my RLs in two weeks, that part of that conversation was relating to something ENTIRELY different, being that I tend to buy random cool lions and then get bored of owning them (that particular comment was about an Orchid based Dwarf, Dwarves are a pain in the ass and I forget that literally every time I decide I want one again).

If I wanted to "hoard" raffle lionesses, I'd be buying a lot more of them than I have. Lots of raffle lionesses are sold and I own a small portion of them (a total of 8, one of which was gifted to me, two were sold to me privately by friends, one was offered to me after I inquired about her heats, one I won in an auction, two I purchased from the winners the day they were drawn, and one I bought from the public trading center), all of which I genuinely enjoy and most of which were purchased months or even a year+ after their original draw date. I VERY RARELY actually message a winner about the raffle lioness herself, occasionally I message asking about marking slots or future heats but rarely do I attempt to purchase the lioness herself. I genuinely just enjoy raffle lionesses and BO traits, and I've been a majority BO breeder since I began playing LD. I don't really understand why it's such a big thing to just not want to sell clones/heats, the main purpose of raffle lionesses is to introduce new slots and attributes, and all of mine have done that (bar maybe my Flint, she was not very good at passing slots and did not clone). So long as the lion isn't absolutely neglected and the slots don't die I don't see the problem ^^"

My 5ksb RL was purchased off the public trading center, that's what the owner wanted for her so that's what I paid for her. I'm absolutely NOT scamming anyone out of anything, and frankly I offered more for several of them than what the winner actually decided to sell them to me for. I've definitely offered more than I should have for certain RLs, aha.

For the record, I'm not actually going for the current Soul RL and decided that literally the day after I was talking about it. I get excited abt shit and make big plans then when the excitement wears off I go "ah. huh. that's not something i actually feel like doing.", it be like that sometimes. I'm sure a lot of you do the same for things YOU enjoy.

I did not intend to "shit talk" the Temporal RL owner, I simply stated I likely wouldn't sell lots of clones/heats like they did. Everyone knows the Temp NR, it was an example. I easily could have called out one of my own RLs, the Cairn specifically. It wasn't mocking, and tone is often lost over text and I do apologize if it came off that way but that wasn't what I meant. I love the Temp NR and have owned clones of her myself, she's gorgeous. I just prefer that some lions aren't like that, if that makes sense? Like I personally don't want a few of my RLs to be "everywhere" but it isn't BAD if some are. I just don't think ALL of them should be.

"Overpricing" and "not priced to sell, priced for offers" are VERY different things. I put a higher buyout than I'm expecting to get on purpose to discourage lowballs, and it works very well! Everyone is free to offer less than buyout on my trades. I sell my Nadirs for 800 GB because that's what they've proven to sell for in auctions and offer-to-purchase trades, hence why I state now that I'm looking for 800 GB as a price. If they stop selling for that price then cool, that's how a market that's based on supply and demand works.

I have grown from my time in CLFL, I don't associate with people there any longer and I've apologized to several people I know I hurt there and am now friendly with them on their terms. I know I was an asshole but people DO change with time and become better people when they have better support systems and are around people who help them, like I've had. CLFL was not a healthy place for me to be and I removed myself from there to help myself.

This was meant to be short but unfortunately it was not, I don't know how to shut the fuck up and I apologize ^^" I likely won't be back to make another statement as frankly this blog causes me extreme amounts of stress but I've had several people come to me via Discord specifically to tell me people were talking about me here and I feel it's necessary to clear some things up, especially seeing a ton of assumptions being through around.

Also my pronouns are she/her! (And a note to that specific anon, my Nadir clone has been up for sale longer than the RL has been out, I'm very clearly not selling him for RL money. I'm just selling him for extra project funds for both of my kings, thanks!)

- Typh

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

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Survey #315

“can’t breathe to scream / suffocating in this dream / long way down”

Who was your first big crush? I would probably say this guy in high school named Sebastian. We sat beside each other in Art, and I definitely liked him a lot. Man, my freshman-sophomore years honestly involved a handful of crushes before Jason popped into the picture and I lost all romantic interest in everyone else. Where was the first place you drove after you got your license? N/A Is it a blue sky outside right now? No. All North Carolina has known for weeks on end now is rain. We've had very rare sunny days, but for the most part, it's just gray and gross. Was your last breakup a bad one? Nah, I'd say it ended maturely and with a mutual understanding of "why." When was the last time you were surprised, in a pleasant way? Hell if I know. Is there an ice-cream flavor that you strongly dislike? Which one? Yeah, like strawberry. What was the last sitcom you watched? No clue. ^ Do you have a favorite character in that sitcom? Why is that character your favorite? N/A What does the last group you joined on Facebook concern? I am 90% sure it was this group I joined that is literally just about cute yet dangerous animals lmao, mostly reptiles and invertebrates. "Misunderstood biteybois and where to befriemd them" or some stupid shit like that. Has there been a spider in your house at any time recently? Not that I've seen, no. Do you like wearing make-up? Not at all. I only like wearing it for pictures and then taking that shit off. ^ If so, how old were you when you first started to wear it? I started consistently wearing it my freshman year of high school. Then some time later I just showed up one day without any, shocked all my friends, and then only wore it when I felt like it. What foods are you craving lately, if any? Nothing, really. What were some of your favorite foods as a child? Chicken nuggets of course, as well as spaghetti, peanut butter sandwiches, just the typical stuff that kids tend to enjoy. When you were younger, did you ever have a friend that your parents hated? No. Have you ever talked in your sleep before? That's very normal for me, especially now that I have nightmares like every goddamn night. What was the last song you heard, that reminded you of someone? Well, not a real someone, but "The Ordinary World" by the Hit House is 110% one of Fetch's soon-to-be themes. What has brought you joy today? Nothing brought me "joy," really. When was the last time you won a prize in a raffle? What was it? I actually recently won an art rafle on deviantART hosted by a truly amazing artist, like I thought I had no chance, and she's going to be drawing Moondust!!!! :'''') What is the next non-essential item that you intend to buy for yourself? I'm still paying the bulk of my tattoo in May. Is there anywhere in your town/city that's rumored to be haunted? Oh, I'm sure. When you were younger, did you ever think that a certain place was haunted? Bitch I still do lmao. What were your school meals like? Did you enjoy them? This really depended on the menu for the day. My school lunches were nowhere near as bad as some people make theirs sound, but most things still weren't great. I think school pizzas are the most notoriously bad. What kind of granola bar did you eat most recently? I had a cashew bar earlier today. Do you have any books on your shelf that you've read multiple times? I never reread books. What did your last post on social media concern? That I personally wrote, something regarding subtle racism still being racism, pretty much. How do you feel about people using graphic images as a scare tactic to promote their beliefs? (i.e.: PETA, abortion…) I have mixed feelings on this. Like sometimes seeing the brutal side of certain things is definitely useful in opening someone's mind to things they don't want to see/think about, but then there's that, too: it can just be so invasive and unexpected, and thus very upsetting and even scarring. I'd say I'm most for the "appropriate" social media route: using censorship that the viewer can decide whether or not to remove. But you obviously can't do that in like, a public protest with a sign, so idk. Which is harder for you: writing creatively or academically? Honestly, both are pretty easy for me. I enjoy writing creatively far more, though. Do you think gender neutral bathrooms are a good idea? I think it's fine to have them as an option. When was the last time you voluntarily went outside of your comfort zone? Just talking about stuff in group therapy recently. Would you ever use a dating site that costs money, like Match.com or eHarmony? Have you known anyone who had good experience with such sites? No, and yes. Do you think it’s fair that people are able to make a reasonable salary and live comfortable lives just by making YouTube videos? Yes? It takes charisma and talent in some area (humor, education, etc.) as well as consistency for it to be a reliable career, and just consider how often you hear about creators burning out. That happens for a reason. Entertainment is a valid job category and should not be seen as an unfair joke. Whether you’re in college or not, do you become fearful about whether or not you’ll find a good job? Story of my life. What is something you can only understand if you've experienced it first hand? Deep heartbreak. Do you think it's a double standard that a woman can hit a man and expect to get away with it, but if a man hits a woman it's assault? Obviously. Abuse knows no gender, and hitting another person is just that. I do, however, believe in self-defense, also regardless of gender. In terms of a wedding, put these things in order from what would be MOST important to be perfect, to LEAST important... Engagement ring, dress, hair, venue, ceremony, food, pictures, decorations, honeymoon. This requires too much thinking, haha... but I do know the quality of my honeymoon would be most important to me, given that that's personal time with my new spouse and not a public celebration. I feel like what goes on behind closed doors is more important and heartfelt than how you act publicly. Do you have a go-to small talk conversation topic? Probably video games or music, idk. Define "small talk." Does anyone owe you money? Do you owe anyone money? (Besides credit cards) Mom does. She just a few days ago had to borrow $100 for rent. If someone was going to buy you any practical gift (anything except a house or car), what would you choose? It'd be dope as fuck if someone could pay for Venus' next terrarium, but that's a big purchase that I'd have a hard time accepting. How many people do you know with the same first name as you? At least one, but her name is spelled differently. What in your opinion is the best love song ever written? I'm not sure, but I can tell you that "When It's Love" by Van Halen has always been high on the list for me. Was your mother married when she had you? No, actually. I thought she was until my most recent bday, I think. It was just part of a conversation. How old was the first person you kissed? He was a few months into 18. The first person you were in a relationship with, do you still care about them? Of course, he's a sweet guy. We don't talk or anything, but that doesn't mean I don't care about him. Has anyone ever sang to you? Yes. So, what if you married the last person you kissed? That'd be pretty rad. What are you listening to at the moment? "Long Way Down" from the The Evil Within soundtrack. It's funny, like I've loved the game for many years, but I'm now in a serious semi-obsession phase after watching another let's play of it. Have you read the The Hunger Games trilogy? I only read the first book. I loved it, but just never continued. What is your boss’ (or school prinicpal’s) name? N/A Who is the person you dislike the most? That I personally know, probably a former best friend, oddly enough. Do you text your parents often? If Mom's not home, it's not unusual for us to text. I don't text my dad much because he's not a fan of texting. Do you watch YouTube videos often? Pretty much always. Do you know anyone with celiac disease? Sara, my aunt, and my cousin. Those are the ones I know of, anyway. Do you currently have any alarms set? No. How many cars can fit in your driveway? Barely even two. If someone else is here, they usually just park where the road meets the sidewalk of the cul-de-sac. Do you have the ashes of a family member or a pet? Of my dog Teddy, yes. Have you ever been involved in a car crash? Yes, as a kid. Do you prefer flash or no flash on a camera? Definitely no flash. It's more natural, and especially with people, it obviously prevents red eye. How often do you use hashtags? Just about never. Have you ever had whiplash before? No. Have you ever given another person or an animal a bath before? Pets, yes. I could never bathe another human. Is there a birdbath in your yard? No. Weirdest place you’ve ever had a cramp? Nowhere weird, I think... How many lamps are in the room you’re in? How many are actually turned on? Technically three, if you count my snake's heat lamp. Right now that's the only light that's on. Are there any activities you enjoy doing, but can only do for a short amount of time before you get bored or tired of them? Yeah, reading comes to mind first. Is there anything coming out soon (books, albums, movies, video games) that you're looking forward to? I'm not up-to-date on this stuff at all, not even video games. What is something someone recommended to you that you disliked/hated? I know Girt's recommended me music I haven't been a fan of. We like the same general stuff, but there are specific sub-genres we differ in opinion about. Can you unwrap a Starburst in your mouth? ... There are people who do this to even know in the first place??? What is the last thing you ate? Popcorn. Who is your favorite person to spend time with? Sara. Do you know how to grill a steak? I don't know how to cook, period. Do you have a large dog? We don't have a dog currently, but Mom is looking for one pretty intently. We don't know the size it'll end up being. Do you like walking places? Absolutely not. I can't walk far at all without my legs starting to scream at me because leading such a sedentary lifestyle led to muscle atrophy in my legs. It's incredibly embarrassing. Are you a fan of bands most people don’t know of? That's not uncommon for me. Have you ever sent an X-Rated picture to someone? No. Do you think your voice is higher or lower than average? It's deeper than the average woman's. Do you have a pool? No, but I really, really want one... Given how easily I sweat, I would love to use swimming to strengthen my legs. I could also stop the very moment I feel I need to; it in general sounds like something I could quite easily do. How many times have you been on a plane? Ummm including the trips going back, at least six times. Favorite ice cream flavor? Oh my gooooood, if you haven't tried Ben & Jerry's "phish food"... fucking try that shit. It is innnnnncredible. Do you have a TikTok? Nope. Do you enjoy driving? Fuck no I don't. Your favorite store as a teen? Hot Topic was and still is my fave, ha. Favorite YouTuber? There's this one called Markiplier that I think's pretty cool. How many online accounts do you have? A LOT. My whole life is essentially on the computer, so... .-. Do you tend to always be in some sort of drama? Quite the opposite. Do you collect quarters from every state? No. When was the last time your living room furniture was rearranged? Not since we moved into this place. When you were little did you like watching Cartoon Network, Disney or Nickelodeon more? Disney probably topped Nickelodeon. I didn't watch much CN. Who was the last person to kiss you on the cheek? Either my niece or nephew when saying bye. Have you ever seen a magic show? Yes, as a kid. I even had a magician for my bday once. When was the last time you vomited and why? It's been a year or so. It would've been a side effect of starting a certain med that I didn't stay on because it so consistently made me sick. Where do you usually sit when you eat dinner? Either in my bed (I know) or at the dinner table if Nicole is here to eat with us. What time do you usually go to sleep at night? It's typically around 7:30-8:30, occasionally a bit later. I can't believe as a teen, it was my "rule" that I couldn't go to sleep before 10:30 because it was "too early." Nowadays, I can barely imagine regularly staying up that late. Do you avoid using public restrooms? As best as I can. I've seen some nasty shit. What’s your favorite type of cookie? Chocolate chip. How basic.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''long way down'' - the evil within ost

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pbandjesse · 4 years

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So I thought I had an interview today. But it was not an interview at all! Because the woman from the Y kept referring to me as the new lead teacher at this site. So...Not an interview! I have the job and I start on monday!

I am slightly conflicted but Ill get to that later.

I slept pretty well. I woke up at 8 like I am supposed to. But I wanted so much to go back to sleep. My navel piercing tore a little again and I had to take the jewelry out. Its very annoying. I have had this piercing for almost a decade but now I am getting psoriasis on it? Really?? At least all the other parts of my skin is healing really well. Im actually shocked but also worried about what I go off the steroid. Cause in the past its just all come back as soon as I stop. But at least for now I can enjoy it.

I did get up though. I got a shower. I bothered James. He made me a bagel. I teased him for how little cream cheese he put on it. And after chilling in the dungeon for a while I went to work on some art.

I had to sew a little tear on the dress I wore today. And the I just got to work on some of the last frog things Im making before the store goes live. I found a bag of hair clips so I didnt need to go buy any and that was exciting. I also worked on putting holes in the backs of the lego froggies. I am waiting on the heart beads still but the frogs went well.

The car was still not ready at noon. So James coordinated with him dad to borrow the car from him and walked to the monument to pick it up. I was nervous to drive someone elses car. James gave me some tips but I was still really scared.

I had lunch while James was gone. Cleaned up the apartment a little more. Made sure I had everything I needed. My notebook and stuff. Cleaned up my eyebrows. Was nervous!! But then James was back and I had to actually think about leaving.

But James got me a gift! It came in the mail! Its that fragrant jewels brand that is like bath bombs and candles with rings in it. They all smell like chocolate. I am excited to see what I get. He's the sweetest boy.

I left early. Because of course I did. I had a podcast. And it was a quick drive. Its about 20 minutes give or take. But man. It was so scary driving this car. It didnt coast like ours does, and I couldnt figure out how to put the head lights on. And I was just so nervous. But it ended up being fine but I was still scared the whole time.

I got to the place and it was nice! The neighborhood was nice. Solidly middle class. The location is next to a school. But its a Police Athletic League. And I dont know how I feel about that!! Like I firmly. Do NOT LIKE COPS. I dont want to be associated with the police. But also. The kids?? I want to help the kids. And Im not working for the cops. Im working for the Y. And the two guys who are working their are the sweetest guys. Older black men. Special education teachers. Kind and funny. So like. I have hopes. But yeah. It feels weird.

Lana, the Y contact, was parked in front of me and I texted her I was there and once she was done her conference call we walked over to the building.

And like I said the two men were so nice. We had a meeting and thats when I realized, oh I have this job. Because she kept referring to me as the lead teacher. Eventually I jumped in and was like. Hey BTW! This is my background and sort of gave my teaching history so that they had an idea of who I am. I will also have an aid, but she wasnt there today. I hope she's nice.

After the meeting the guys gave me a tour. Its a small building but is also very nicely laid out. Have a few different rooms. I have some ideas for how the space Ill be in could work. And while I am mostly there as support for the kids, I will have some time to do arts projects with them. Im excited for how much freedom I have but also they dont actually have any registered kids yet so I dont know the ages besides that they have it open for 5 to 17. Ill make it work.

After the tour we basically said see you at 8am on monday! And I was like. Awesome. And headed out.

I didnt exactly know where I was. But I also didnt want to be driving around a bunch in Tucker's car. But also I wanted wawa so I googled the closest one and headed there. I was starving.

The wawa was actually really busy. It was hard to socially distance but I think most people tried their best. I got my sandwich and ate in the car. And then headed to drop off the car with Tucker.

I had trouble parking but eventually I figured it out. I dont parallel park well on a good day but I did alright. And dropped off the keys with Tucker just minutes before the monument closed. So I made it! It was nice to see him. He won the raffle for tickets to the raven's game on sunday. I tisked at him but they are doing like a wild amount of distancing. So I hope its fine even if we arent happy about it.

I walked home. And honestly it was a long walk but I had a nice time. The weather was good. I had a drink. I had a podcast. It was a good time. A man asked for a quarter and I had exactly that. And it was just a good time.

I got home and was in a good mood. I have been having a good night. Enjoying photographing more art. Making so many drafts on instagram in prep for the store opening on sunday. I have just been having a nice night.

But I am tired. I think I am going to take a bath and use my new bath bomb and maybe the ring will come out?? I am looking forward to the surprise.

I hope tomorrow is another good day. Sleep well everyone. Take care of yourselves.

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adventuresloane · 4 years

Text

The Million Ways The World Ends

Pairing: Dani/Aubrey

Rating: G

Words: 2.7k+

Raffle prize for @space-unicron !

Summary: "It was like before, when they worked in near-silence and with barely more light than the blue stovetop flame, so as not to wake up anyone else. It might as well have been just the same. Except it wasn't, actually. They'd been in the small kitchen for twenty minutes now, the longest they'd stayed in such a close proximity in weeks."

The world is ending, again. Dani and Aubrey decide to make pancakes about it. (Just some quiet pre-Amnesty finale hurt/comfort because we deserved it. Gift for @space-unicron on tumblr!)

Read on AO3

Aubrey was up at 4 AM and knee-deep in a Wikipedia article about the origin of leap years when the knock jolted her. After taking a moment to reassure herself that it was a person at the door and not a sign of worse to come, she let her breath out. She got off Duck's couch and went to the peephole.

Technically, it wasn't impossible that she was hallucinating. It had happened before on nights like this--sometimes when she went long enough without sleep, she heard passing police sirens that weren't there, and once when she got her meds mixed up before bed, she thought she could feel the color blue. But standing outside the door, Dani's form looked solid enough. Her heart beat harder than it had been before, stirred up her insides into mush. She unlocked the door.

"Dani," she said, and then, remembering the others in the apartment, tried more quietly, "Dani." That was all she could think to say.

Dani, though, only had to look at Aubrey once and then glance away. "Have you slept at all?"

"No."

"You should."

"Well, so should you," Aubrey answered reflexively.

"You know I don't sleep," she said in a whisper, all the more muffled as she turned her face toward the ground. There might have been a brief, tired smile there, or just a shadow.

Anyway, this, at least, was familiar. They'd had the same pointless conversation many nights, before everything had happened. Though usually, it had happened when one of them was standing in the doorway of the other's room at the lodge. But they weren't at the lodge. Still, this, Aubrey could handle. "Yeah, I know," she sighed. "Apparently I don't either anymore."

"I didn't think you'd be asleep."

She nodded, then waited for more. When Dani didn't give it to her, she scratched the buzzed back of her head and mumbled, "Um, so...do you need something? Everything's okay at Leo's place, right?"

"Yes. Yes, it's definitely fine, I just..." Her arms squeezed more tightly around the brown paper grocery bag, making it crackle. She seemed to remember, at that point, that it was there, and quickly held it straight out to Aubrey as if she were handing her a squawking baby.

"Oh," Aubrey said a full two seconds before thinking to take the bag from her. She squinted into the darkness to see an egg carton, white bags full of several different kinds of flour, milk in a glinting glass bottle. "Uh...thank you for the groceries?"

Dani had always been quite a bad bluffer. She released the word, "Sure" in a long, heavy breath, not unlike the huff of a sad dog. Something else seemed to come out of her along with it, something that had been buoying her.

It was getting chilly. "Is that it? Or do you vant to suck my blood?"

That wasn't what Aubrey had meant. She had meant to ask whether she needed anything, again, really. The shitty joke was supposed to have translated, however crudely, into an outstretched hand. But Dani hadn't taken it that way. She jerked as if in reaction to a static shock from the doorknob.

Pancakes, her addled mind put together in that moment. They were ingredients for pancakes.

"No, that's all," she whispered. "Sorry, I...you should keep trying to rest, or..."

"No, hey, hold on." Aubrey reached for her, almost grabbed the sleeve of her sweater, and then pulled her fingers back as if from intense heat.

This, she realized, had already become a muscle memory. The flinch was her very body not wanting to repeat what had happened yesterday and in previous days. This past afternoon, when she and Dani and the other Sylphs had made the trek to H2Woah! That Was Fun--the hot springs were closed to them now--they had sat on opposite ends of the backseat, Jake between them. When Aubrey had seen her standing alone over one of the pools and looking straight down, she had thought about it hard, had told herself to let it be, and then regardless had gone over to put a hand on her shoulder. To which Dani had immediately said, Don't, and then, Please. And it was fine, and it made sense that she wasn't ready for that, and it was alright that she was still grieving after Ned and the government and everything, and still of all things that had happened it was this that made Aubrey feel like throwing up into the deep end.

So she wasn't touching Dani now. Dani stopped anyway at her call, hair swinging as she turned her head back towards her.

Even in her disguised human form, there was a moon-like shine to her eyes. The pupils looked almost glossy.

Aubrey kind of wanted to apologize, though she wasn't sure for what. She swallowed that instinct back hard and said instead, "Do you want to make pancakes?"

For a moment, she said nothing. Then, quietly, but in a voice that sounded more alive than she had in weeks: "You have to invite me in first, you know."

The sun was far from rising still. But the sky held a little more of blue than of black now, to more starkly outline the silhouette of the crater that had been Mt. Kepler. Duck got up at six, out of habit, though since the encroachment of the FBI on the town, his Forest Service duties had been reduced, and he didn't need to head into work as early. They had a couple hours alone.

It might as well have been like before, in the lodge. They didn't have the stainless steel surfaces of the building's kitchen--stainless steel that they tried not to muck up too much, lest they invoke Barclay's grouchiness--but this was far from the first time they'd made insomniac pancakes in the wee hours. Dani mixed dry ingredients with the sifter. Aubrey whisked the batter hard. Eggs were broken and left a little shining goo on the edge of the granite countertop, which they resolved to clean later. It was like before, when they worked in near-silence and with barely more light than the blue stovetop flame, so as not to wake up anyone else. It might as well have been just the same.

Except it wasn't, actually. They'd been in the small kitchen for twenty minutes now, the longest they'd stayed in such a close proximity in weeks. Aubrey spoke one or two hushed words at a time, telling her where the pans and utensils were in the unfamiliar kitchen, and sometimes she didn't even speak to do that, just gestured with her spatula or foot at a cupboard door. In the lodge, their quiet had been the quiet of kids at a sleepover after lights-out, warm in the darkness, struggling not to giggle or to look each other in the eye for too long in case their laughing started up again. They had smeared batter on each other's noses. That felt like a long time ago. The only thing they'd had to worry about back then was disturbing Mama, who at that time would either be asleep or up late working on her art, always there somewhere. Mama wasn't anywhere now. Probably nowhere that existed according to the government, anyway.

Aubrey flipped a pancake straight out of the pan and over the back of her head.

She wheeled around only to find Dani dropping to her knees on the tile. She caught the pancake in her palm just before it hit the ground. Then she intoned, "ow, ow, shit, ow," flipping the hot, floppy thing frantically from hand to hand so as not to let it fall, the harshness of her whispers making up for the lack of volume.

"Wait, wait, I gotcha, just hold up--" Aubrey brought the pan over, down to her level. Finally, in sailed the offending pancake like a live fish on land. Even in the dim light, she could see Dani's reddened hands. Both froze, crouched on the floor, locked in eye contact while they waited to hear whether anyone had been woken up by all that. No sound came.

Dani cracked first, with a snorting laugh she tried to muffle by hiding her mouth behind her hair like always. Aubrey wasn't far behind, giggling through her teeth until she sounded like a hissing kettle. They alternated laughing and shushing and more barely contained laughing, calming down only to glance at each other again and start right back up, and this went on for maybe a couple minutes before Dani's voice changed and Aubrey looked up to find her crying.

"Oh, honey..."

"It's fine," Dani blubbered, scrubbing her eyes. "I'll be fine, I'm sorry."

"It's not fine," she murmured, swallowing the lump in her own throat. She looked out the window. "You can cry it out if you want. The world's falling apart and everything's shit."

"Falling apart?" She almost laughed again, wetly. "It's fallen. Mama's not even..." She choked herself off.

Aubrey gulped hard again. Gulped down her desire to brush the tears away with her thumb. Gulped down how much she wanted to feel the smoothness of Dani's cheek like a balm on her hand. Her fingers twitched. Instead of putting them on Dani's shoulder or knee or face, she stood and then, holding her breath, held her hand out.

Through her tears, it took Dani a moment to notice the gesture. She took a few more just to blink in surprise. Aubrey felt her chest about to burst.

Then it was her turn to be surprised. Dani, instead of taking her hand, grabbed her upper arm to pull herself off the floor. Aubrey didn't know whether to jolt away from the touch or melt into it. She did neither. She just stayed steady and stiff. Still, Dani kept touching her bicep. First she clung to it. Then, after awhile of her sniffling and struggling to regain her breath, she started to trace the black tattoo on Aubrey's upper arm. There was just enough light from outside now to see it plainly.

"It's the Black Rabbit of Inlé," Aubrey murmured. "Watership Down was my favorite book as a kid."

"Mm?"

"Yeah," she sighed. While she talked, she felt her own breathing start to regulate again, though she hardly realized she'd been struggling with it before. If she could keep talking, she was still okay. They both were. "I got that after my mom died. He's the rabbit grim reaper, basically, in the characters', uh...weird rabbit mythology. It's cooler than I'm making it sound. Anyway, he's scary, but you find out in the myth towards the end of the book that he can be fair, too, and even kind of merciful."

As she went on, Dani didn't look at her directly, only nodded and "mm"ed occasionally. Early on in their relationship, this was something that had confused and then embarrassed Aubrey. She had assumed that Dani was annoyed by the rambling and simply too polite to say anything. They had had one of their very few fights over it--or, rather, they had come as close to an actual fight as they ever had. When Aubrey, with no small amount of passive-aggression, had said that Dani could leave if she didn't like hearing her talk, Dani had whipped around to look at her with such shock that Aubrey couldn't fathom how her next sentence could be a lie. I do like it, though, she'd said. I just want to hear your voice as much as I can, no matter what you're saying.

Dani wasn't actively crying anymore, just sniffling now and then as snot kept dripping from her nose. "I like Fiver best," she said in a voice that was only a bit hoarse.

"So you have read it!"

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, the way she sometimes did when she grinned. "You mentioned before it was your favorite."

She tried to ignore the familiar surge in her chest, the good ache that almost overwhelmed her. "Figures you'd like the shy, spiritual one. I was always a Bigwig fan myself. Hey, I burnt the hell out of this pancake. You still wanna make more?"

They did. When they were done, they sat on the couch with their plates and ate and watched with parched, tired eyes as golden light peeked over the broken mountain. On the night that the great stone peak was destroyed, it sent up so much debris and powdered rock into the air that the sun looked pale and watery in the gray sky for days afterward. It lent a certain authenticity to the end of the world, a certain movie quality that was almost validating. Now, after the disturbance caused by the destruction of the mountain, the animals were starting to congregate again in the area. The birds in the morning sounded louder in the now quiet town than they ever had. Or maybe they had always been there and were now simply more noticeable. That, too, was to be expected of the end of days.

The pancakes tasted good. While she had a second serving, she tried to keep a running tally of things that still existed, for now, anyway. Birds. 5:18 AM breakfast. Her own encyclopedic knowledge of Watership Down. Presumably, Watership Down itself, assuming the ragged copy in her room hadn't vanished from the shelf. Sunrise.

The woman tucked up against her, having set her plate aside. Dani had always done something to her. For her entire life, Aubrey had tried to get a hold on her perpetually scattered, racing thoughts and wrangle them into order. As it turns out, Dani could quiet them, gently, with just a touch, just the presence of her body. Right now, Aubrey could feel them settling to the bottom of her skull like sand in a slow-flowing river. In the past, no matter what monster she had faced, she could stumble back to find Dani waiting, always waiting at the lodge, steady and calm and content to let Aubrey lean against her as she stretched. That seemed like a very long time ago.

Aubrey almost wanted an apology, though she wasn't sure what for. She pushed the idea aside. She tried to focus on Dani's cool, soft skin against hers. The sense of familiar calm returned to her, like a loyal pet. Everything, objectively, was shit. Mind-blowingly, deathly awful, actually, if you counted the FBI and the aliens and the distinct possibility of interplanetary war. And it didn't feel that way, just now. It felt like she could evade it all, like the thin girl by her side could hide and shield her from all of it. All the world will be your enemy, Prince of a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you. The still dim, compact living room had the feeling of a den or burrow. The two of them had the feeling of two creatures huddled in the dark, small in the grand scheme of things, but absurdly alive.

"Did you like your apocalypse pancakes?" Aubrey asked.

"Even better than insomnia pancakes."

"Are you scared? About, you know. Everything."

Dani really seemed to think about it before saying, "Kind of...no?"

"That's pretty insane of you, I'm not gonna lie. You're either incredibly metal or you're lying."

"You know I can't lie," she answered wryly. "And, well, I've seen it before, you know. The world ending, I mean. My world ended for the first time when I left Sylvain. I thought I'd die."

Aubrey nodded. She understood. The world had ended on the night her childhood home burnt down. Again when Ned died, when Mama left. Though she was ashamed to admit it, it had even, in some smaller way, ended when Dani seemed to be done with her. She felt that she could lose almost anything else so long as Dani was with her. And here she was, and so, somehow, just in this moment, there was nothing to fear. "Guess the world's always ending, huh?" Aubrey said. "The universe keeps trying to nerf us and we just won't die."

"It ends all the time in a million little ways." By now, Dani's fingers had worked their way in to weave between Aubrey's. She squeezed. "But you and I won't."

#dani #aubrey #danbrey #vampfire #taz amnesty #taz #the adventure zone #the zone cast #taz dani #taz aubrey #aubrey little #taz fanfic #fan fiction #hurt and comfort

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