#thank u op many great points were made

[artificial-absinthe]

Crazy, how you ask for understanding and end up being slightly vilified by the entitled ppl who are too lazy to litteraly tag a post...

Btw great point with ooc tag. I'd also love it. I'm just scared of rebloging your post as it seems whenever you want personalization, you may be seen as queer fobic and the worst evil, while it's just a preference to see the canon. Like litteraly ppl don't get that if they'd start making Megatron in green colours just because they like it, the ooc tag would be nice too.

But of course it's a gender thing so ppl will get offended... and I'm saying this, being in favour of your post, and being fuken queer... It's just sad, cause it's always going to the "oh consider xyz because we feel offended" while the op requesting this may be the nicest ally or queer themselves. But because their bubble is touched, they can't understand that they pierce your bubble as well, in the end turning into the conservative thinking of "I'd not tag my post, cause my idea is more important, or it makes me happy, so fuck you I'm free citizen, and allowed to do what I want"... and then they try to say, they are the opened, inclusive ones... while their thinking is litteraly the same as those, they oppose. It's just funny to me... how ppl just can't take a simple, kind request... they need to go balistic on both sides over it, as I'm also disapointed with those who just ran to harras the person... they are also guilty of asshole type of thinking... It's just sad how even in seemingly progressive place, there are still so many "conservative thinking" assholes...

Eh sorry for the long ramble. Just wanted to tell you, that you're not alone with this thinking. Just wanted to let u know, even that I know you'd say you don't care if someone agrees or not. But still, thank u for this post. Maybe it will change something for the better despite countless idiots who can't take a request like a civilised human beings...

No need to apologize at all. You absolutely understand it all and make very accurate and relevant points, and I totally agree with you.

I didn't even knew that this was still going. I figured some people had, though begrudgingly, accepted to use a tag, and some others would flood the Megatron tag with their occ content without a tag to filter out of spite (exactly with the mindset that you described), because people speaking ill of me doesn't even come to tell me directly, perhaps because they know I genuinely won't be affected by their hate and misplaced adjectives, and so I only know of this when someone else tells me.

On the other hand, while I do not crave for understanding, it's very nice that the people who agree with me voice it, because this request and pointing out is not only for me, but also for everyone else who is tired of the OCC thing flooding the content about a character.

Indeed, you are not the only one who has said this to me, and even before I made that request I had held conversations about how people was tired of it, but also feared voicing it because they, like yourself, were wary about getting the "queerfobic" hate. Which is no more than a shield that people abuse of whenever someone disagrees with their headcanons or anything else. That way they make themselves to be "on the right" and rally sympathizers to share their grudge with and attack the ones disagreeing with them. Which is a very unbecoming thing to do, and I wish they just acknowledged the reasons for what they are. (In this case, not everyone likes mischaracterization/Occ content. Period)

Thus, I decided to be the one to voice it, but it would be good that all the anons and people agreeing with me in private would do it publicly, without being haters themselves as some had been (which was counterproductive, actually), because that way it could be taken seriously and only for what it is... Perhaps... hopefully.

Of course I'm not saying that I don't appreciate that you say it also like this, since I understand that not everyone can be as cold as myself.

[genshinluvr]

ok sjdhhdsia i just found ur isekaid reader fics today and ive been thinking abt them for hours, i love them SO much theyre so fun and sweet and this is such a weird and specific point but i rlly love when characters who dont know each other in canon interact in fanfics, like xiao being ittos babysitter in the windtrace one, or like itto and childe sparring frequently, etc. like i never expect to like harem fics but this series is just a good time, it rlly brightened an otherwise bad day for me!! i even love the angsty bits with mc's health not being too great (the boys are so sweet 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 i DO wanna cuddle with 15 genshin men on one bed ty ❤️), i REALLY wanna see a part 2 of the things that shouldve been left unsaid fic!!! of course ur not Obligated to make one i just rlly like it ^^ I also love how unexpectedly long these stories are but i also just cant get enough of them!! thats all, just me gushing in ur inbox, thank u SO MUCH and have a nice day op 🥰🥰🥰

Ahhhhhhhhh I'm so happy to hear that you love them! :D Whenever I make the Isekai'd!Reader fics, I try to visualize how each of the characters interacts with one another if they were in the same place as each other without making them too out of character.

I will be making part two of the Worlds That Should Have Been Left Unsaid very soon! I'm planning out a lot of parts for many stories at the moment (Xiao's angst, Ayato's angst, Crave, Words That Should Have Been Left Unsaid, maybe even the third part for How to (Not) Play Windtrace). There's a lot being planned out at the moment and I hope I can get them posted very soon! I do have many other individual stories coming soon and once they're posted, I'm hoping to be able to accept requests! ^^

When I made stories for other fandoms years ago, the longest I would type out would be about over 1k words. But I'm trying to type out more than that for all of my Genshin fics :> Your message made my day and I hope you have a good day as well, anon! :D ❤️❤️

[sapphic-sasuke]

Hello, how are you doing these days? I'm back with another ask. Since we see the term 'potential' being applied to characters a lot now, do you think Itachi had any 'potential' to be an interesting character? It is a bit later that he became a mess of theme- and plot-related mistakes, but do you think in there's any basis in canon for him to have been a decent character? One that, if not complex, at least made sense? Thank you and have a great day!

OMGG HIII FAV MUTUAL i been okay these days so busy w my new job but good. howre u? 

I think Itachi had the potential to be an interesting character. Itachi’s character could have been extrapolated in so many different ways that seeing him shoved into a corner just ARGGH. there’s not much depth to him despite popular belief.

It’s crazy to me because part 1 Itachi HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL ARGGH. It’s like.. man the fear? The way all of the jounins and konoha just couldn’t match him at all! That build up was so nice. His confrontation with Sasuke where he chokes him. It’s so good!!!

I think the reason Itachi’s character fails so spectacularly is because of how the narrative wanted to warp him into someone who “wasn’t that bad” or “had good intentions to save the village but his method of action was flawed” (i see this argument a lot honestly) this argument is reiterated by obito and later naruto and kakashi. because itachi committed genocide to save konoha, he’s seen as morally grey despite the fact that the village he’s saving is highkey fascist and fucks over so many smaller, weaker villages (case in point, NAGATO!) konoha is LITERALLY a military dictatorship. there’s absolutely nothing good about that awful village and itachi killed his family for it

okay now back to my initial point, itachi killing the uchihas for konoha is fundamental to his character, it shapes him... but my god he would have been sooo much better as only an antagonist instead of someone in the middle. I understand that he was manipulated by the elders but Itachi as an antagonist would have still worked even after the plot twist of killing for konoha. He fails because his character sort of stretches out to shadow over everyone else. he’s painted out to be unbelievably strong and infallible even in death to the point it’s just laughable and it isn’t done well either because there’s no purpose to it. it does not forward the plot, it just feels like fanservice. he doesn’t fit into the story with the characters at all. it feels so forced, grating and awkward. suddenly these characters established to be the best of the best are tripping over their feet over a sick shinobi with eyes that are almost blind

His character isn’t that developed; his persona of being strong, deadly and calm is never questioned or challenged. He’s either this loving brother full of guilt or a perfect shinobi. It’s boring! Sasuke loves him when he finds out the truth, the hokages call him a hero and... that would have been a really good point to show how corrupt and horrific the shinobi system is but Itachi’s actions are never questioned! there’s nothing in the narrative in shippuden to make you believe that Itachi was wrong other than his regret (this is mainly because of how the Uchihas are viewed by everyone) And his regret is targeted more at making sasuke suffer than the killing of his clan.

Making Itachi a compelling character could have been done in so many ways so long as there wasn’t this suffocating attempt to justify him in the manga.

And I guess properly flesh out his motives. He kills his clan for konoha for Sasuke. Okay. He joins the Akatsuki to spy on them for Konoha. How would that have worked? If we’re going along with him being a spy, maybe we can be shown how he gradually loses all his morals, finds killing easier. Maybe there’s a moment where he’s surprised at how easy he finds it to fit in with Akatsuki. It would explain his torture of Sasuke more if his default reaction to anything that isn’t entirely numbing is violence. Maybe instead of everything being some greater manipulative bullshit, moments where he harms Sasuke are genuine lapses in control. He’s so obsessed with Sasuke he can’t even rationalise his actions.

(I’m still of the belief that him joining the Akatsuki as a spy was an awful plot point. It would have been better if he only joined the Akatsuki to amplify his villainous persona so Sasuke feels even more inclined to kill when he’s going around terrorising people. I feel like Itachi after killing the clan no longer caring much for Konoha, only Sasuke and a weird obsession for peace because that’s what he also did all of this for, would have been a far more interesting twist. He’s a very selfish character that gets interpreted as selfless for the “sacrifices” he makes because the shinobi think he’s right.)

We need to be shown just how horrific Itachi’s actions are the same way we were shown in part 1 Naruto. And other than the physical consequences, the mental ones too.

I guess what would make Itachi more interesting as a character if we went along with his canon actions would be to see his thought process more. This guy killed his entire clan—show us how twisted his mind can be. Show us how the guilt/self hatred/anger/apathy destroys himself until he’s quite literally begging Sasuke to kill him in his mind.

Rather than having his machinations work out, what if he fails? What if it goes wrong? We need more moments where he’s failing. Not beating legendary characters like Orochimaru. There’s no satisfactory release to Itachi, even in his death. It’s very bland.

I don’t think the plot twist of Itachi killing for konoha in itself was bad, it’s more the execution that was bad. Because we’re already shown in part 1 that Konoha is corrupt. The plot messes come from 1) the urge to make Itachi out to be infallible and righteous but deeply troubled and 2) the narrative trying its hardest to paint the uchihas out to be inherently evil and 3) the lack of accountability placed on individuals and more on “the cycle of hatred” ignoring that it’s these Kages in power who were perpetuating that system.

Okay so I will forever be salty at the direction Itachi’s character took. They took a mysterious older brother and turned him into a plot convulted mess with the worst fake deep quotes and annoying op attacks pulled out of his ass. almost damn well ruined Sasuke’s character too smh. So yeah bestie Itachi had sooo much potential. He could have properly been used as an instrument to show shinobi like the protagonists that Sasuke’s anger is valid and that the village they fight for is evil and not worth it or to properly allow the Uchiha to receive justice but nooooooo guys he felt bad :( and he loves sasuke :( and he was a spy for the village all the protagonists are from fighting terrorism in the shadows :( and the uchihas deserved it for rising up against the village that was discriminating against them :( clearly state sponsored genocide isn’t that bad :( yeah he tortured his brother and his spying did nothing to stop akatsuki but he tried :(

[some-dr-writings]

Rantaro, Chiaki, and Ibuki x S/O who’s scared of touch asking to hold their hand

Rantaro Amami:

·       “You don’t like touch?... Okay.”

·       Rantaro never pried you was to why you didn’t like touch. All he knew was you didn’t like it at the very least and that was enough for him. Didn’t matter what the reason was, in the end you didn’t like touch, so he respected that.

·       However, touch was rather important to Rantaro, extremely actually. He cared about you; you were his partner. After having lost all of his little sisters, he was scared of losing you too. When out he needed you close, hold your hand or something to place his heart at ease and know you were still by his side and wouldn’t just suddenly disappear when he wasn’t paying attention to you for a moment like had happened with others so many times before.

·       Talking through both of your needs you came to a compromise. When out Rantaro could hold on to a piece of your clothing whether it be the hem of a shirt or the end of a sleeve or scarf. It was an arrangement you both could be comfortable with.

·       It was another day of searching, simply walking along down that snowy street. A chilling wind rolled past kicking up some snow as it went. He pulled up his scarf just a bit higher to shield a little more of himself from the cold. The crunching sound of the snow beneath your feet was a delightful contrast from the silent world the powdery substance had created, like placing a blanket over one’s ears. It was so quiet he could here even your meek, mumbled voice.

·       “Rantaro?” “Yeah.” “……… uh…” Rantaro simply waited patiently. He didn’t mind the lulls in conversations like most would. They were good moments to collect your thoughts on what the other had said, even if it was just wondering what they could want. “I… I’m not sure if I’m okay with touch yet, but… maybe… we could try? J-just this once, since we both have gloves on… I think I’ll feel safer trying like this.” “Okay. Would you feel better if I took your hand, or do you want to take mine.” “U-uh… I… I don’t know…” “… “Maybe we could both go for it?” “Y-yeah! I think that’s good!”

·       Whether from the cold or from fear or nervousness, Rantaro couldn’t tell why your hand lightly trembled in his, but that didn’t matter. You wanted to try and was something he was going to cherish forever.

    Chiaki Nanami:

·       Chiaki didn’t particularly mind your no touching rule. You must have had your reasons for it so she didn’t push you. Besides touch was not the only way to connect with a person, you could still happily enjoy paying video games with one another, hell if you wanted the distance you could even play on opposite sides of the world and still connect.

·       It didn’t matter the game whether single player or co-op, competitive or cooperative you’d play any and all games together. Often you’d end up just talking about whatever, the recent chaos Chiaki’s class had gotten into, the rough day you had when someone bumped into you sending you into a panic, some random thing in the news, the latest video game releases, didn’t matter really you just liked talking with one another.

·       “Did you at least go to the nurse’s office?” Your response was a bit prolonged, just a single drawn-out syllable as you tried figuring out where on the map exactly the new boss had appeared. “Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeaah. Yeah, I did.” “… Y/N you’re going the wrong way.” “Wait… No that’s the only path to the boss.” “The pathway is blocked, take the mountain rout.” “Oh!” “… You’re awfully distracted. Did something happen at the nurse’s office?” “No, no. I… I’m just… tired. Tired of getting so worked up all the time at the slightest contact. It’s been years now, but I still get so panicky. I hate it. I just want to not have to deal with this anymore… I just… I wanna hug you and hold your hand without feeling scared. I know you won’t do anything and yet I still… Aaaand I die great- just great!” Chiaki gently took the controller from you and placed it aside. “Let’s take a break from the game, okay?” “No, we don’t have to stop because of me.” “But you’re not having fun so there’s no point.” “… Okay.”

·       You simply watched as Chiaki went about saving and shutting off the system before placing away your controllers. “Chiaki! I wanna hold your hand!” “Will you be okay?” “I’ll make myself okay! I’M FINE!” “Chords of steel, nice. But I don’t like the sound of this.” “But I can still try, right?” “… If you want too.” Both your hands gripped around one of her’s, your nails just digging in. Your hands trembled under the pressure and your breathing wavered. Then you let go practically throwing your self back. “Nope-no-no, i- no- I just can’t- UGH Why!? Why does this have to be so stupid-” You were suddenly caught off guard feeling a blanket tossed on you. “… Thank you.” “It’s okay. I know how frustrating this can be for you… Want to play a good puzzle game to distract you?” “Yeah, I’d like that.”

     Ibuki Mioda:

·       As much as you cared about one another, at first things were extremely rough. Ibuki was a rather naturally touchy person so trying to get used to not touching the person she loved took a bit to get used to, but she forced herself to stop for your sake, as much as she wanted to hug you and such, it would never be more important than your comfort and feeling safe, she never wanted to ever scare you. Thankfully there were plenty of other things you could do together like write and play music, go to amusement parks, go traveling, maybe go hiking, or visit a zoo, perhaps try something new like going to a spa, didn’t matter you could just do anything together.

·       It was pouring outside so after some running around in the rain for the fun of it and drying off the pair of you here hidden away in Ibuki’s room. Instruments and papers were scattered about, the pair of you writing down any lyrics you could think of, Ibuki constantly changing instruments to make up an accompaniment to go with it. It was rather random and bombastic, but it was a method that had made many a great song and really, the end result didn’t matter to either of you, it was just fun making up stuff. Though there was also fun to be found in perfecting songs as well.

·       You sat on the bed trying to strum the strings of the bass guitar as Ibuki wailed away, one foot on the ground, the other propped up on the seat of a chair. You ended up placing aside your guitar opting to draw Ibuki, she looked kind cool, posing and playing away. “Hmm? Hey, how come you stopped?” “Eh, I still don’t know the bass, Buki.” “Whaaaaaaat? It’s fine I’ll show you. Let’s play!” Ibuki wasn’t half-bad as a teacher but often her lessons would derail at some point and the pair of you would end up doing something else. “Sure.” And so you picked back up the guitar.

·       “Wait. Back up. I place my fingers… here?” “Not exactly. You gotta use all your finger, get all those strings!” “Uh… Hey, could you maybe… place my fingers for me? and hold my hand in the right place?” “………” “Bu-” “Sure!” Though Ibuki sat beside you, she made sure to not get too close. She could hear how your breathing wavered a bit from the contact, but you were doing okay, not screaming like you used to when she accidentally tackled you into a hug from behind. She was glad you got comfortable around her, even after she messed up so much. She was glad you were both trying.

[dreadpoetssociety]

Fevers Don’t Exist

TW: Fever ? (I’m not sure what counts for triggers so pls lmk if I miss anything)

Prompt: hi!! could u do one maybe where like, the reader is an actress on supernatural and she plays like their younger sister on the show or something and she gets sick at a con or something? Thanks !!

NOTE: Hey guys, I’m alive!!!! I know I have a lot of Spencer prompts atm, but it’s really hard to write them when I’m not like, hyper focused on Criminal Minds. I am going to try though! So sorry I’ve left so many of you in the wind, I am a very inconsistent person, my bad. But here’s this! It’s REALLY bad because I’m terrible at being realistic but like idk it’s something.

I really don’t even know what to put for tags on this. 

()()()()()() 

Ah, September. You knew what came along every September, and looked forward to it for the first eight months of every year. Secaucus, New Jersey. You loved every con you went to, truly. Everyone was so nice, you love staying in hotels, panels are such a great time, the whole thing. It's a great experience outside of the set to get connected with fans. And, they loved you almost as much as you loved them. You were typically closer in age, since you were still just a teenager. You also started out as a fan of the show before somehow snatching a role, so you really were with them at one point. Everything that excites them excited you just as much. And, you loved making friends with them. You weren't allowed to be reckless with your phone number, so you made a snapchat that you shared exclusively with con goers, whom you made swear to secrecy. It was like a club, and you just enjoyed genuinely talking to everyone. But, when you woke up that first morning, you knew it was going to be a long day. Your body ached, and you were still pretty exhausted. You had a fever, but didn't really know if it was a fever because you were still young, and God forbid you ever decided to recognize the signs of you being sick. It was almost like a form of denial, not knowing. You were sweating, but freezing, and your throat felt particularly dry. Your headache rested underneath your eyes for the most part, to which you just blamed on being tired. Your stomach didn't hurt, but you definitely weren't hungry. Even though you hadn't felt exactly 100% the past days before, and you obviously weren't feeling right now, you just deduced that it was all because you were tired, and had a late flight in. As a responsible person does, of course. You didn't even bother taking any medicine for it, because hey, you obviously weren't sick, you'd feel better in a bit, and you didn't have any, so why waste the time, right? 

You groggily got dressed and met up with "the boys" (even though they were all older than you) for the free breakfast downstairs, in a separate room, since fans did happen to stay in the same hotel. You grabbed some Cheerios, only to conspicuously throw them away after. 

"You good, Y/N?" Jared asked out loud, gaining the attention of Jensen, Misha, and Alex. You could feel their eyes burning through your skin. Or, maybe that was the fever. It had to be their eyes, you convinced yourself, you didn't have a fever. You were fine. 

"Yeah, why?" you asked, faking the perk in your voice and confused eyes. Your eyes felt really heavy, you noticed. 

"You just... You look exhausted. And pale." he said, "And you threw away that cereal without eating any of it." 

You looked down at yourself as an effect for what you were about to say, "Wow, well that's one way to make me self-conscious. I thought I looked kind of poppin'." you laughed slightly, trying to play it off. 

"W-wait, no that's- that's not what I meant! You look fine, I just-" he was embarrassed. You and the others chuckled.

"I'm kidding. I'm all good, just went to bed late, y'know?" you smiled. It was hard to try and mask the rasp in your voice, and doing so made you feel the need to cough, so you downed some water until it dialed down a bit. He nodded. In your mind, you blessed your acting skills, thinking you got away with it. What you didn't know was that Misha, Jensen, and Jared, as fathers do, knew every trick in the book, and each noted to keep an eye on you. Not to mention, they'd been acting far longer than you had, and could just tell when one switches into a character. They all figured that if you weren't sick now, you would be in days to come, and exchanged glances with each other, while Alex innocently continued to chew on his toast. 

"Well, if you're tired, I don't think you have a panel or anything for another hour or something, maybe you could catch up on some sleep then." Jared suggested. You shrugged.

"Nah," you said, "I've got photo-ops in like, twenty minutes. I should actually probably get going. I'll catch up later!" 

You left with a wave, and disappeared into the hotel somewhere. You stopped in your room, allowing yourself finally to set free the coughs living in the back of your throat. You blamed it on your throat being dry since you didn't drink enough water. Not on germs. So, you grabbed two water bottles from the small fridge in your room, and left, making your way towards the convention center.

  You felt slightly better during photo-ops, which just confirmed in your mind that it was impossible that you were sick right now. You smiled and talked to everyone. There was one girl, who introduced herself as Meredith, who stuck out in your mind. She gave you this super cool hand painted keychain, which you very excitedly put on your keys instantly.

"Dude, I've been looking for a cool keychain. Not just one of those janky ones you find at like 7-11, like a cool one. This is so exciting." you smiled genuinely. You had just recently bought yourself a car, and thought that your keys looked a little lonely, and searched for hours on Etsy for something to spice it up a bit. A weird obsession, thinking about it now.

She laughed, "I'm glad you like it!"

"Hell, yeah! Now, are there any poses you wanna do? Or do you just want to hit that casual look? I could make it look like I'm meeting you." you stupidly rambled. One of your traits that was so widely known was how funny and awkward (in a good way) that you were. It took you a long time to get to that point, though, because you were always anxious about meeting others. You still are every now and then, but it's different here. 

"I was just hoping to get a hug." she said, "If that's okay with you." 

"Yeah, that's cool!" you wrapped your arms around each other and shot the camera a grin. The girl looked a bit confused. 

"Hey," she said, quietly, "are you like, okay? You feel really hot."

Nervously, you replied, "Oh, no, yeah totally fine. I'm just wearing two layers, and it's getting spicy in here."

"Yeah," she answered, "don't push yourself, okay?"

"I won't, thank you. It was really nice meeting you!" 

"You, too! Thanks!" she waved goodbye and you moved on to the last few people in line. She was right, though. You realized that you felt worse than you did when you walked in. You thought it had gone away for a while, but now it was just amplified. You noticed you were cold again, but that you were sweating as well. It must've just been the temperature in the room. These conventions aren't always able to keep a steady temp in the entire building, right?

This day, you didn't have much to do. Most of your events were on the other days to come. You had one panel in a few hours, and then a panel with Jared, Jensen, and Misha a few hours after that, and then bam, the day was over. You just had to get through those two events. Just two. 

Two, events. And both were an hour. So, two hours out of the day. Rookie work. Yet, as your panel approached, the headache had expanded from under your eyes to anywhere that there was space to hurt, your throat ached and so did your lungs from how much you were going off somewhere to cough in privacy, your body felt heavy, you couldn't tell if you were hot or cold at this point it was some weird combination of both, your stomach hurt just slightly, the world was moving around you a bit more than it usually would, and the fever you "didn't" have had climbed a degree, probably two. And, at some point during the day, you got pretty congested. You felt like you could just fall asleep at any moment. Jared and Jensen happened to be walking by where you had been waiting by yourself, away from any congoers or employees, and noticed that even though you were leaning against a wall, you somehow were still swaying.

"Y/N?" Jensen called out, worried. You heard him, you knew you were supposed to respond, but didn't know how. Maybe you did have a fever, and maybe you sort of let it out of control. It was like you were comprehending them, but not at the same time. You heard everything, but it just swept right through your feverish mind. The walked in front of you and examined you within seconds. You felt Jared's cold, really abnormally large man hand sweep your hair back and land on your forehead. 

"J, she's burning up." you felt another hand on your face. You, quite exhaustedly, swatted it away. They couldn't figure out how it'd gotten so bad so quickly. You were sick this morning, but not to this degree. They knew then that you had just shrugged it off all day, and your teenage fever brain probably didn't even think to take any kind of medicine or anything for it, even if you were trying to hide it.

"I'm good. Just tired. Fevers don’t exist." you finally mumbled, taking a few deep breathes, which you hadn't really been able to do in a bit without being rudely interrupted by a bone-shaking cough. It felt nice, almost. The boys sighed at you and shook their heads. 

"Y/N, you should go back to your room and get some rest. We can bring you some stuff that'll help." Jared suggested. You shook your head and opened your eyes, which somehow felt even heavier.

"Nah," you said to them, "I've got a panel, I think, in like, I ‘dunno, some minutes or something. Something I-" you pushed yourself off the wall to try and make your way somewhere, but stumbled a step or two, which result in Jensen and Jared instinctively to grab you in order to keep you steady.

"Like hell we're letting you go to that, Y/N, you can't even form a sentence, or stand for that matter. You're out of your mind. We're going to bring you back now, we'll take care of your panel thing." Jensen stated pretty sternly. You were about to fight back, and they could see it, but you coughed a few times, and they could almost feel it in their own chests. You just nodded in defeat.

"Yeah, maybe I could just like, sleep, for an hour or two." you whispered, tiredly. The two were still holding you steady, and could see you already falling asleep before even going anywhere. 

"Or six, by the looks of it." Jared joked lightly.

"Poor kid." Jensen said to Jared as the were walking out of your room. They helped you get there, and you were gone before you even saw the bed, "Why do they always have to pretend like they aren't sick? Look where it gets them."

"Don't know, man. You can't talk, though. You literally tell people you are immune to illness." Jared laughed quietly, shutting you door.

"Well I am. I am the perfect example of health. I don't get sick." 

"Yeah," Jared rolled his eyes, "Right. Watch you catch what Y/N has. You practically carried her all the way here. There's no way you're escaping it." Walking towards the center, the back way of course, Jensen scoffed, "Please, germs take one look at me and know not to mess this up. And, by the logic, that means you're already infected, too. So, tell me, princess, what sort of soup do you want spoon-fed?" 

Again, Jared rolled his eyes, and the two laughed. They weren't making fun of you, they were making fun of each other, and knew that you would've wanted in on that action.

"Y/N probably would've destroyed us if she heard that. Something along the longs of 'You want me to tuck you in? Carry you bridal style?'" Jared pitched his voice a tone higher for it. Again, the two men laughed.

They made their way backstage of what's supposed yo be your panel, and informed the crew about what was going on. They were just going to fill in for you, probably tell a few embarrassing stories.

When they made their way through the curtain, the crowd shouted. They were obviously excited to see the two leads, but also were obviously confused. "Alright, you're probably confused." Jensen stated the obvious, "Because obviously, we look nothing like Y/N, and thank God she does not look like us." The crowd laughed.

"Anyway, Y/N can't make it today. She's really sick-" the crowd cut Jared off with a unison "awe." People yelled out that they hoped she felt better, tell her to take care of herself, and so on.

"Yeah, poor kid looked like she was just going to fall asleep right where she was standing. She literally tried to come anyway, like, kid, you're making no sense. Y/N couldn't really fight against us, though, so she's sleeping now." Jensen explained, "So we came here to chat in her stead, but just know she really was planning on coming. That kid loves you guys." and again, the "awe" rolled through the crowd. 

"If she wasn't sick, she could totally kick both your-" the last word was cut off, but was implied anyway, someone screamed from the crowd, which resulted in laughter.

"Yeah, probably. Even if we were stronger than her," sarcastically, of course, "she'd still beat us. Kid's too fast, and I'm too old." Jared laughed.

In the last ten minutes of the panel, Jared decided to give you call. Not only to check in on you, but so you could at least say hi to your crowd. When you heard the phone ring, you groggily opened your eyes and aimlessly reached for it.

"Hello?" you answered. Jared almost frowned at how sick you sounded, even with just one word.

"Y/N?" Jensen stepped in, "It's Jensen."

"Unfortunate." you sighed exhaustedly. It was joke, a really tired one, but still enough to make the crowd laugh.

"We're here at your panel, we thought you might want to say hi." Jared said loudly, holding the speaker of his phone to the microphone. 

"Panel?" you asked. Panel? What panel? Your delirious mind was clearly confused, "Who's that?" 

"Y/N, the con. The convention panel?" Jensen actually sounded worried. They probably should've thought to give you some sort of medicine to do something about the fever you had before they'd left.

"Oh," you closed your eyes again, almost falling asleep, before remembering finally what it was they meant, and after a moment, "Oh! Crap, the panel thing, I'm late."

"No, Y/N, stay there, we've got it covered remember? You can't come. You can say hi to them, though." Jensen interjected quickly.

"Okay, hi guys." you just followed as told.

The crowd responded with a series of hello's. 

"'M really sorry. I hope they aren't boring you." the two men could practically hear you closing your eyes. The crowd responded in inaudible chatter. Jensen and Jared walked from the mic for a second.

"Sorry if we woke you, kid." Jared apologized, having just realized they probably could've left you alone, "W also just wanted to check in. See how you're doing."

"How are you feeling?" Jensen asked, but got a mumbled word in response, "Alright, well, just go back to sleep, we'll be up there soon." 

Jared hung up the phone, and the two began to answer the last few questions and close up. They waved their goodbyes to the crowd, and started heading back your way.

"Jensen, you got any over the counters with you? Thermometers or anything? All I've got is Advil, and I don't even know what's really bothering her yet other than that cough and being tired."

"Yup. Danneel always makes me carry literally an entire medicine cabinet, just for these moments. I'll go get 'em and meet you there. It'd probably do her some good to eat something, too. I don't know if she's got like, a stomach virus thing going on, though." Jensen answered.

"I'll see what she'll say and let you know." 

The two parted ways, and Jared made his way to you. Even though he'd only talked to you just a few minutes before, you were dead to the world by the time he opened the door. The room was boiling, and Jared looked over to the thermostat to see that you'd at some point put it on to 90 degrees. 

"Jesus, Y/N, I know you've got a fever, but damn." he said, more so to himself than to you. He looked over at you after turning it down to see you curled beneath what looked like any blanket you could find. He came over and started removing the blankets slowly, and shook you gently to wake you up.

"Y/N, wake up for a minute, it's Jared."

"'Mm." was all you said, until you realized your layers of warmth had been moved, "What're doing? It's cold."

"Y/N, you're dripping in sweat. It's the fever making you cold."

"I don't have a fever." you retorted, "I'm good. Just tired."

"Kid, you've been tired the whole day. You've been sleeping this whole time." he tried rationalizing.

"I have?" you questioned, closing you eyes again. Jared put his hand to your forehead again. Somehow, it was warmer than the first time he'd done it before the panel. It was then that Jensen finally appeared, a whole bag of things in hand, "Could you bring the thermometer over?"

"Yeah, gotcha." He walked over and rummaged through the bag at the same time, pulling out a thermometer.

"Y/N, we need to take your temperature." Jensen said.

"No need." you said, "'M not sick."

"You are so obviously sick, I'm not asking." again with that stern voice. Jared gave him a "Hey, she's sick, back off a little" sort of look, but it had worked, and you let them take your temp. They were almost shocked when the thing beeped at 103.

"Should we take her to a hospital? That's way too high." Jared asked. 

"If it gets any higher, yes, but let's see if we can bring it down first." Jensen replied.

"No hospitals." you demanded, opening your eyes and glaring at them. 

"We aren't bringing you yet, Y/N, but I need you to eat this so you can take some meds." he held out two pieces of toast that he must've brought from his room. You hated toast even when you weren't sick.

"I'm not really hungry." 

"I know, but it'll help. You haven't told us what's bothering you yet, either." Jared responded.

"Nothing's-" you coughed a few times, a bit violently, "bothering me." "We can see that." Jensen said sarcastically.

"Everything's bothering me." you whispered, giving up.

"Your stomach hurt?" Jensen asked. You waved your hand from side to side to signal a so-so, "Think you'll get sick at all?"

"No, it's not like that, I don't think." you breathed out, another cough escaping you. You took a few bites out of the toast. It made you uncomfortable, but it was then that you realized you probably felt that way since you really hadn't eaten much that day or the one before, which probably contributed to the splitting headache. It didn't go away after, either though. You pushed yourself up. You almost fell over, but Jared put a hand out for you.

"Alright, good. Take this. I'm going to be frank, it tastes disgusting." Jensen handed over a small cup of liquid, "Sometimes, if you take it like a shot, it helps. But you shouldn't know how to take shots, but if you do it, I won't judge." And so you did, causing the two to chuckle slightly at you. 

"You were right, about the sleep thing." you slumped back onto the bed heavily, like a brick.

"When am I ever wrong?" Jensen asked, "Don't answer that, actually."

But you were already sleeping again, and the boys decided to stay nearby for now. The next panel wasn't for another few hours anyway, and they just didn't want you to be alone. Also, incase you were wrong about the toast, and it decided to make its return. Jared's phone began to ring loudly, to which he very quickly tried to answer so his obnoxious ringtone wouldn't wake you up again, not that you wouldn't have just fallen back asleep anyway.

"Misha? Hey, what's up?" Jared answered. Jensen walked over to hear what was going on on the other side of the line, but Jared just decided to put it on speaker.

"Where are you guys? I haven't seen you all day. Felicia, Alex, and I are going out for lunch, we were wondering if you guys want to come. I tried calling Y/N, but she didn't answer, so." he rambled.

"That's because Y/N's not feeling well." Jensen said, giving him a solution to his predicament of not being answered, "We're with her right now, so we'll have to pass."

"She's sick? Is she okay?" 

"Yeah, I think so. She's just got this crazy fever we've been trying to bring down. Thinking about it now, Jensen, we should probably check it again." 

"A fever?"

"It's been at 103 degrees for like, two hours. At least for what we know of. She's probably had one all day, but as a dumb teenager does, she just tried to ignore it." 

"If it goes up you should-"

"Yeah, we know," Jared said, "we're trying really hard to avoid that, though. Also, she'll definitely fight against it, I don't know." 

Jensen, from the other side of the room at the sound of a beeping thermometer, could be heard on Misha's end, "It went down, finally. 102.2."

"Thank God, I was getting worried."

"Should I come there? Do you guys need any help?" Misha asked.

"I mean you can, but I think we're good. She's just been trying to sleep it off the whole time, so not much is really going on." Jensen was closer to the phone now, "Like, she's got this cough, a headache, and you can hear how congested she sounds, but mostly I think she's just exhausted. I honestly don't know how because she's just been sleeping for hours."

"Fatigue."

"Yeah, poor kid. I don't think I've ever seen her so tired, it almost makes me tired to be honest." Jensen joked.

"Maybe you're just getting sick." Jared slipped in.

"Not possible. I am immune."

"Nobody is immune, Jensen." Misha sighed.

"I'm not nobody." he shrugged. 

"Alright, well, we're going to get lunch then. If you need anything let me know, and tell her I hope she feels better." Misha concludes.

"We will, thanks Misha." and with that, Jared hung up. For a few more hours, the two hung around. They were there when you woke from some fever dreams, and when you needed a cough drop, or twelve, and wake you up every now and then to check your temperature, which raised and dropped and raised and dropped, but currently was at a very steady 102.4. But, soon enough, it was time for them to leave for the last panel of the day, and unsurprisingly, you tried to follow suit.

"Y/N, we gotta go, but we'll be back in about an hour from the panel." Jared said. You took a deep breath and sluggishly pushed yourself to the side of the bed. Having been sick, and not having sat up in a few hours, the blood rushed from your head, leaving you dizzy.

"What're you doing?" Jensen asked.

"The panel. I missed the last one I should go to this one. I feel okay." you yawned, then coughed slightly.

"Y/N, really, you shouldn't even think about pushing it like that." Jared said. Jensen walked over to you, half on the bed, clearly trying to steady yourself just from the movement of sitting up. The spinning room honestly almost made the toast make a reprise, and you hiccupped, and held your breath.

"Hey," Jensen grabbed a can quickly, noticing, "are you going to be sick?"

Giving it a minute, it went away, and you shook you head no, causing a huge tension to leave the room.

"Alright, well, remember how you said I was right all the time earlier?" Jensen pun the can down.

"No, must've been the fever." you half joked, causing Jared to laugh. 

"Alright- well- okay, shut up. We agreed I'm always right, and that I was right about needing sleep, so I say you need some more." Jensen demanded rather than suggested. 

"Yeah, or at least lay around and do nothing. I can't imagine ever sleeping as much as you just did." Jared joked, pushing you very gently back down, with his hand on your back, knowing you would just hit the bed without it. Your eyes were heavy again, and your throat was painfully dry, and you coughed. Your aching head also agreed with the two of them to your dismay.

"Maybe just a bit more." you mumbled, "A few minutes."

"Yeah a few minutes, sure." Jared smiled, knowing you were probably going to knock out for a few hours once again. You opened your eyes again.

"You think," you coughed, "that they'll be mad?

"Who?" Jensen asked.

Feeling pretty sick, you said, "That I don't go? I don’t feel really good."

Ah, the fever comes to play once again, it seems, but the two felt some sort of triumph now that you've at least admitted to being sick, even if it's been hours. It concerned them, though, if you felt bad enough to admit it.

"No, they'll be fine about it. We'll be back soon. Misha or Alex might come in to check on you, alright?" Jared answered, to which you nodded.

They weren't gone long. You spent half the next day sleeping, too, until you could stand without swaying. You did sneak back to the con, against Jensen and Jared's orders, since you really didn't break that fever and cough for a few more days, only to be caught after a tweet of you at the con was trending and the cast caught wind of it. But, eventually, you were better, and got the chance to help Jared take care of an "always immune" Jensen. And he was more stubborn than you were.

[rebelrainfall]

you know what they say about absence

ao3 link here

Hey @cassianserso it’s me, your secret santa! I loved your prompt (Jyn and Cassian writing letters to each other), and I had SO much fun with it. I so hope I did it justice!

***

The cold air hits Jyn like a wall as the door to the transport swings open. It may be a good thing - there was barely room to sit down during this last four-hour leg of the return trip and she’s about ready to collapse. Cassian’s not in the hangar, not that she expected him to be, and neither is the U-wing. He must have left already, for what will be his first covert op in almost a year. He was so restless being grounded, hated feeling useless. She’s happy for him.

She’s less happy for herself, not that that’s a thought she has the time or will to explore.

No matter what Solo might say, there’s nothing weird about what she and Cassian are. Since those few, tense weeks after Scarif they’ve become close, and that’s all it is. They share a room because it’s convenient. They’re friends. Partners. And yeah, if someone had told her a year ago her life would be like this she would have been terrified, but things are different now. It’s good. What they have is good. She’s good at soothing that little voice that cries every now and then (more than she’d ever like to admit) for more. What he gives her is more than enough.

Jyn punches the code into the door of their room, ignoring the pounding behind her eyes. She has a day and a half before she’ll have to ship out again and she intends to spend as much of that time as possible asleep. Even the hot water in the ‘fresher isn’t enough to keep her there for a moment longer than necessary.

Cassian is definitely gone. The cot across from hers is neatly made, his least-conspicuous jacket gone from its hook. He’ll be on a mid level of Coruscant by now, if she remembers correctly what he told her. 

Her own things are almost entirely the way she left them. Her blankets are half-on, half-off the bed, her vest thrown over the back of the desk chair, but there is something different. 

There’s a piece of folded flimsi on her pillow.

There’s no introduction - her name isn’t even on it. But the note is in Cassian’s handwriting.

I was hoping you’d be back before I left and it came so close. If you arrived when you were scheduled to it’ll only have been an eight hour difference. I can’t say when I’ll be back but I think it should be soon. 

I heard from Bodhi yesterday. He says to tell you training is going well. He didn’t say as much, but it sounds like things are going well with Skywalker, too.

K wasn’t cleared to come with me for this one and he’s very upset about it, so be advised. He should be having his ocular lenses replaced in Bay 3 if you need him.

Maybe you’ll be around when I get back next time. I guess I’ve gotten used to [word(s) scribbled out] having someone else in the room at night. The silence is strange.

There’s no ending or signature, but she doesn’t need one. Cassian never struck her as one for gestures like this, and that he went out of his way to leave this for her makes her warm in a way she refuses to linger on. 

She sleeps twelve hours that night, and ten the next, and in the time between she snatches a sheet of flimsi from a supply closet to return the favour.

I’m sorry I can’t be back to see you. Trafficking rings don’t like to be kept waiting. At least I had two full nights in a proper bed, but you’re right. I miss It is too quiet here alone.

K is a little more charitable now that he can see again. I almost want to say pleasant, but we both know that word doesn’t apply to him. Don’t listen to anything he may tell you - the smoke bomb was his idea.

I’m shipping off again this afternoon to the outer rim, somewhere near Sullust. Pilot says the planet’s almost as cold as here. Bet you had a nice warm room on Coruscant, too bad I can’t stow away with you.

She leaves her note on his pillow and climbs into the shuttle with his in her pocket, like some holo-drama damsel collecting love letters. 

 Maybe he’ll be here next time she gets back.

II.

He isn’t. 

There are signs all over the room that he was here, at some point, since her. Another jacket missing from its hook, an empty mug where she didn’t leave it.

Another note on her pillow.

Just missed you again. We have the worst timing. I’m back on Coruscant, but this next stint is [word(s) scribbled out] delicate. I might be back in a few weeks, but it could be months. I hoped to see you before I left, but you’re right. The war doesn’t wait. 

Don’t let it go to your head, but I think I miss you. I still couldn’t bring K and it gets [word(s) scribbled out] boring by myself. K’s still being a grump - keep him company for me, hey? I also heard something about him attempting to create his own language to bother Skywalker’s droid, so I suggest you keep an eye on that.

There’s still no signature, but this time there’s a date. Two weeks ago. Jyn puts the flimsi down with a heavy breath. It could be months. The timing is… not great. She has an unusual stretch of downtime, more than a week, and no one to spend it with. This is the end of what she’d become accustomed to, she realizes. Now that he’s back in the field, Cassian can no longer be a daily fixture in her life. The prospect frightens her more than she cares to consider.

It’s ironic. Never thought I’d be sad to be alone.

Of course it isn’t so lonely as she might have feared. Bodhi is finally back from his flight training, a full-fledged X-wing pilot with the stories and the friends to prove it. He’s come such a long way in the short time she’s known him and his company is refreshing, even if he isn’t the man she finds her mind wandering far too often toward now that he’s gone.

She sleeps fine that week, though the nights are still too quiet. She could never miss the hum of snoring and whispers of the pathfinders at night. But alone, the dark and the quiet are oppressive in their deepness, threatening to swallow her without Cassian’s steady breathing from across the small space. It scares her, how accustomed she’s gotten to having someone else around. To having him around.

Maybe this is for the best, this separation. She hadn’t realized how much she relies on Cassian, his presence, his kindness. It’s a dangerous game, to rely on anyone. She’s always held a savage pride toward her independence, and maybe this reminder is what she needs to get herself back on track. 

Maybe.

But when she considers it, life without him seems more frightening even than the weakness of reliance. She doesn’t have to be alone any more. The night before she leaves again she sits at the desk in their quarters writing him another note.

Sorry I can’t be here, tried my best! Since you’re so broken without me. I’m never forgetting that and I’ll make sure you don’t either.

Hope you’re here when I get back. I need Bodhi needs someone else to talk to - you can only hear the same three stories about Luke Skywalker so many times and I hit my limit two days after he got back.

Heading back to the outer rim today. Those traffickers from before are gone so now we’re just cleanup crew. Getting sick of Dameron’s jokes. Not that yours are any better. 

Maybe I do miss you

III.

Four time zones on three different planets in the space of a week and Jyn’s circadian rhythm is wrecked. Thane says it’s 0500 local time when they hit atmo and she has to take his word for it because that makes as much sense as anything else.

She doesn’t see many people as she lugs her duffle back toward the barracks. It’s early enough that anyone on a night shift is still working and most of those who start in the morning aren’t awake yet. Madine’s given the crew the full day off, thank the force, and Jyn intends to take full advantage of that fact.

She opens the door and switches on the light before she notices anything different. Someone startles upright on the cot across from hers.

“Shavit, sorry!” She flicks it back off, already halfway to the ‘fresher to turn on that light instead as her pack lands on the floor with a quiet thud.

“No, no, it’s ok. I’m not - I wasn’t asleep.” Cassian’s voice is rough, but alert. “Turn on the light.”

She does, kicking off her boots, before the first thing he said registers. “It’s five in the morning! Why weren’t you asleep?”

He shrugs, squinting at her as his eyes adjust to the light. His hair has gotten longer since she saw him last, long enough now to fall in his face. A little part of her wants to comb it away from his eyes, or maybe tousle the bit by his ears. She shoves the thought away.

“Hi, by the way,” he says, ignoring her question. “Did you just get back?”

“Yeah.” She slumps down on her bed. “And hello to you, too.”

Stars, she’s missed him. Until now she hadn’t realized how much. But now that she’s looking at him… The way he smiles at her, gentle, makes her want little more than to wrap her arms around him. Kiss that gorgeous grin off his face.

Oh.

When did that start?

(A long time ago, not that she means to admit it).

He’s saying something but she missed the beginning, a little distracted.

“Sorry?”

He shakes his head. “You really are tired. I said, meet me for lunch, if you’re awake by then?”

“Sure, I probably will be.” She’ll make sure she is - like she would skip a meal with him after the six weeks they’ve just missed each other. “How long are you back?”

“Technically, I’m still a stand-by agent. So probably a while.

“I have at least a week.” Jyn drags herself back upright and heads towards the ‘fresher. The sooner she gets in the shower, the sooner she can get out and into bed. The hot water is heaven after so long caked in mud, but it still isn’t enough to keep her any longer than necessary. Once she’s out and dressed she sits on the counter to braid her hair, listening to Cassian talk about Coruscant through the open door.

“You should know, my ‘apartment’ sucked. My neighbour in the unit below smoked and it would come up through the vent and I didn’t have any windows. You would have hated it.”

“Wanna bet? I slept in a tree last night. Not a treehouse or even a platform, a hollowed-out tree.”

He huffs a laugh. “Sounds like fun.”

She finishes her hair and turns her attention to the healing gash on her shoulder, opening the cupboard for a square of gauze and a roll of medical tape. She hops down from the counter to pass them to him. “Help me with this?”

“Where?”

“Shoulder. I can’t quite reach it.”

She turns around and pulls down the strap of her tank top to show him. He hisses in sympathy.

“What did you do to yourself?”

“Fight with that stupid tree. It looks worse than it is.”

“Still.”

Settling down on his bed, he guides her to sit in front of him so he can center the gauze over the wound. His hands are gentle smoothing the edge of the tape to her skin. She hopes it’s cold enough that he’ll assume that’s what makes her shiver. He’s so careful - far more than she would have been.

He runs a hand softly up and down her back once it’s in place, and Jyn freezes. 

“There,” he murmurs, “All patched up.”

“Thank you,” she says, proud of how steady her voice is. Force, she’s pathetic. He’s her friend. This is nothing new, this touch is not new. 

If she were to lean back she would be in his arms.

Not that she’s thinking about that.

They’ve lived together for months. He’s touched her more than this dozens of times. Why is this the gesture to undo her?

Cassian clears his throat and she almost jumps. Kriff, did he notice her sudden nervousness? But then he gestures to the desk and the two cups on it.

“Caf for me, tea for you. Should be cool enough to drink, now.”

Oh, he’s an angel. She stands up to get them and then to sit down on her own cot, grateful to have an excuse to get away from his overwhelming proximity. She passes his mug across to him and takes a sip of hers, and of course it’s her favourite kind.

“Thank you. You’re getting up now?”

“If I get more done this morning I can have a longer break for lunch with you.”

Stars, has he always been this kind?

“Aw,” she deadpans, “It’s like you missed me.”

He flicks his eyes up to hers, then looks down into his own drink. 

“I did.”

She focuses on her tea, carefully not looking at him. She can’t feel this way. Not now, not ever. This is Cassian. 

“How did the rest of the trip go? Aside from the evil tree.” It’s been quiet for long enough that the question is a surprise. She shrugs. It’s ok, she tells herself. He’s her friend and that’s more than enough. She’ll love him forever for it no matter how else her traitorous heart might behave.

“Boring. Helped Kyrell’s squadron distribute aid for a while, and then we took out the last holdout cell. It was never a huge operation. That ring had maybe a dozen ships.”

“Boring is good.”

“Mm. How about you?”

“A little less boring, but I can’t… it’s classified, sorry.”

She knows he’s not brushing her off. She wishes there was something he could tell her, if only to keep hearing his voice after so long, but she’s used to that answer. So she takes another sip of her tea and tries to remember anything that’s happened. Anything she could say to make him smile.

“How is Kay?” Is what she settles on. “Did he finish that spite-project of his?”

“His language? He did, and Threepio is suitably bothered.”

“Good.”

“What’s better though - the princess caught wind of it and now she’s trying to figure out if we could work it into a code. So all the droids might have to learn it, not just Threepio.”

It was the right topic. Casisian’s lit up as he tells her about this, all the little details he knows. She finishes her tea before she has time to realize it, and her exhaustion really is starting to catch up with her, but it’s not until Cassian stands up that she gives any of that a moment’s thought.

“You should get to bed,” he says, crouching down to fish his clothes out from the drawer under his bed. “You have six hours ‘til lunch and if you’re late I’m not saving you caf.”

“Mean,” she grumbles, pulling her blankets up off the floor and setting an alarm on her datapad while he takes out a towel. She hears Cassian turn on the shower as she lays down. She’s asleep before it shuts off.

*

Jyn would not consider herself a morning person. Not that it’s truly morning when her alarm goes off at half-after noon, but that’s just a technicality. She tells herself it’s better for her sleep cycle to get up now, and go back to bed at a more normal hour, but really it’s only her plan with Cassian that gets her properly awake.

Alarm still blaring, she reaches under the bed to grab the first set of clothes she can reach. She sits up, stretches, and reaches to turn it off.

And stops.

There’s a piece of flimsi on her datapad.

Confused, she reaches for it. She talked to Cassian only hours ago, and she’ll see him soon, so why would he need to leave her a letter now?

Unless he couldn’t meet her. If he was sent off for another op, if he’s going to be gone for weeks, but no. He’d have woken her if he had to leave. He wouldn’t leave without a goodbye.

She unfolds the note, worried. Something must be wrong.

Jyn, it begins, and that’s new. She likes the way her name looks in his small, tidy writing.

Jyn,

I’m glad you’re  home. I really have missed you. So much.

There’s something I want you to know. I never planned to tell you but [word(s) scribbled out] I think I see things a little differently now. I should have waited until I saw you at lunch but I think this may be easier in writing.

I won’t waste time. I love you. You know that already, you must. You mean so much to me and I don’t want to imagine my life without you. But it’s more than that, I’m in love with you. I was never going to bring it up but something this morning [word(s) scribbled out] [word(s) scribbled out]. I can’t explain it.

If I’m right, if you want what I do, forgive me for doing this the coward’s way and let me be yours. If I’m wrong, [word(s) scribbled out] I’m so sorry. Please, please, let me down softly and I’ll never bring this up again. We can forget about it, I’ll get over myself, just let me be in your life. I had to tell you. I love you. I’m sorry.

Jyn stares down at the words on the page.

It doesn’t compute.

Not the first time, barely the second time.

Let me be yours.

Jyn puts the letter down after her fourth time reading it, only to pick it right back up again.  She takes a deep breath, forcing her mind into a facsimile of calm and tries to think logically. 

Everything she’s hardly realized she wanted. More.

He…

He loves her.

Cassian loves her. And by now he’s probably sitting in the mess wondering if she’ll show up. Assuming the worst, if she knows him at all.

He loves her.

Luckily, there’s something she can do about that.

[clowndaydreams]

Yan!Marvus x Reader

I hope you all like it!

“Can you pass me the potato chips?” You looked over to your companion. Marvus nodded and reached over to get said bag from his side of the couch.

“here ya go.” You grunted a quick thank you to the clown and started to dig in. You had been hanging out with Marvus all day. You still couldn’t believe how friendly you’ve gotten with the superstar since you met him at that concert you went to. It had been a few perigrees since then, but the clown had since made a habit of inviting you over randomly when he was free. You were just happy that he remembered you at all.

Currently though, you were both relaxing on the couch and watching some Slam or Get Culled episodes that he was in. Right now, a season finale was playing. He was the final challenge for that season’s top 2. They had to rap battle him and whoever fared better was the winner.  You glanced over at him. He was in his usual facepaint, but was casually wearing a neon yellow ripped tank top and matching pajama pants with some designer troll logo and ‘JUICY’ all over them. How he managed to look so hot in that would forever elude you. You snapped out of it when he started speaking again.

“u kno, i thought ricard was the better 1 outta those 2.” You pretended to glare at him.

“SPOILERS!” You jokingly huffed, lightly shoving his arm. It didn’t move, as you’d expect.

“LOL! XoD sorry fam, seen dis crap 1000 times alreddy.” Wait, then why did he let you pick this episode? Or even agree to watch this with you? If this was boring you could do something else. And as if he could read your mind, he held up a hand.

“dun worry bout dis. is chill or w/e. butt srsly, u kno who gunna win.”

“Still! I wanna watch it!” You giggled. You both watched on in silence as Marvus was brought on to surprise the contestants.

“How were they behind the scenes?” You asked as you watched the confessionals for both of the contestants.

“ricards moirail b a clown, so me n him knew each other alreddy. he wuz p chill i guess lol.”

“What about Krayaa?”

“turns out she wuz a fangirl. foamin at the mouth n erythng.”

“Really?!” You turned to him to try and see if he was lying. He looked almost bored about it all. Like you were both talking about the weather or something. You wished you could be so relaxed about meeting a rabid fangirl and somehow living to tell the tale. Seadwellers were supposed to be stronger and more durable than landdwellers. At least, that was according Polypa anyway. Huh, you had to remember to check on her later after you got home too.

“ye. she wanted 2 pail after the shoot.” Your jaw dropped. Krayaa was a seadweller! Did he have to listen to her? She could have killed him for not listening!

“Nahhh, no worries,, the contract she signed for the ep woulda had her disqualified and mah bodyguards woulda whooped her b4 she had a chance. ;op” He chuckled. “If she managed 2 get thru them, I aint no wimp.” He added, flexing his arms a little to prove his point. You almost couldn’t stop staring. He had to know what he was doing to you…right? Granted, this was a crush you had no intention of pursuing. If you were speaking honestly, Marvus was a guy who probably didn’t want commitment due to his lifestyle. Even then, he had people throwing themselves at him constantly. People his own species. People who were a lot better fitting with his general aesthetic and not some poor wandering alien that he would DM when he was high when they both should have been sleeping. Your own concepts of relationships and types of love were different. But you could dream, right? You were content with just having him as your designated hot friend anyway. …That did mean you were allowed to drool over him in your mind. As long as it doesn’t get creepy to him. Yeah. You were fine.

“u gud (Y/N)? u tryna lure snacks into ur mouth or smth?” You snapped out of your stupor.

“Ew! Gross! I don’t eat bugs like you weirdos!”

“it aint gross. literally free snacks u can catch. :o)” He laughed.

“Where I’m from they’re gross!” Granted, there were places that did eat crickets and the like on Earth, but you would never tell him that.

“dun knock it till ya try it.” He got up and left the room, returning after a moment with a small box.

“…What is that.” You had a sinking feeling you knew what it was.

“chirp grubs.” He opened it and there they were. Disgusting caramelized crickets.

“I can’t.” You shook your head.

“more 4 me lol.” You looked away as he ate a few of the crickets. You looked back at him when his palmhusk rang. It sounded like a clown horn version of one of his songs. Fitting, honestly.

He glanced at it and rolled his eyes before silencing the phone.

“Who was that?”

“thottie.”

“Oh…” He looked bored again. Not good. What could you talk to him about to keep him interested?

“Uh…You ever get tired of the fans trying to aggressively pail you?” Ok, that wasn’t the best choice for conversation. Your bad.

“i meannn….in the beginning yeah. now its kinda the norm 4 me ufeelme?”

“Yeah, I guess. Does it ever make you feel like you can’t have a relation-er, quadrant?” You assumed it would, but that would also come with fame in general, wouldn’t it? You weren’t sure. Then again, if he didn’t want-

“kinda. i think its kinda funny how i can attract psychos, fans and thots, but not my crushes.” You sat up straight. Marvus had a crush?

“Wait. You…uh…are pale or um….red? for somebody?” You didn’t have the best grasp on quadrant terms.

“lol sumtimes i forget your an alien.” He leaned back onto the couch.

“butt yeah, i have a few crushes at the mo.” He smiled, staring at the ceiling.  Few. He has more than one crush right now. That soft smile said it all. He had it bad.

“…Can you tell me who they are?” He looked over at you and looked sheepish.

“i…dun think is a gud idea.”

“Please? I have to know who the great Marvus Xoloto has a crush on.”

“u kno 1. itll be awk af :o(“ Now you had to know. Now you were thinking about whether or not Marvus had a type. What if they were all mega hot models? Wait! Did he have a crush on Chahut? They would totally have to know each other. Who else did you both know??? He heard of Cirava, but you didn’t think they talked. Who???

“…kk fine. only if u slam a faygo tho.” You gave him a look.

“Isn’t Faygo…not for non-clowns?”

“is just us. whos gunna kno?”

“You promise nobody’s gonna know?”

“on my life. u slam a faygo, n ill tell u who my flush be.” You thought it over. You remembered tasting the stuff at clown church when you went you went with Chahut that one time. Just a sip left you a bit tipsy. A whole bottle may have rendered you unable to be coherent enough to even process who his flush crush was. Would it be worth it? You felt a choice coming on. Either way you had to drink a certain amount in order to maybe try and learn this random troll’s identity. The question was, do you try and counter his offer or just slam the entire bottle and hope for the best?

…

It would be better to respect your own limits. A bunch of your friends had lectured you a few times over putting yourself out just to potentially make a friend. This would piss them off and would probably not end in your favor even if you did decide to just go with it anyway.

“How much faygo do I have to drink?”

“hm…” He got up, went to the kitchen and got a small can of Grape Faygo, a normal bottle for one and a whole 2 liter bottle. “imma b nice. u get a choice. u gotta try 2 finish the can. u get 1 q with the name if u finish the can. Smol bottle gets u 2 qs and the name n the 2L gets u as many qs as u liek. fair enough 2 u?”

…Now you wanted to chug the 2 liter. You haven’t even seen anyone try to down that other than the Grand High Blood once when you took Karako to clown church for the first time. But that guy was a clown and he is HUGE. You, not so much. But, you chose to respect yourself for once. You’d see how you felt after the small can and go from there. You picked it up, opened the can and took a deep breathe. Powers that be, let this not wreck you and let this answer be worth it. If he cops out with his answers, you would try to hurt him. You started chugging. You did your best to try and treat it like a shot like Cirava taught you so you wouldn’t taste the overly sweet flavor too much. After a moment of light agony and attempting to not drown in the soda, you reached the end of the can. You slammed it onto the coffee table and started panting. Ok, you weren’t feeling woozy like before. Maybe those tiny sips when you went to clown church helped your body get used to it.

“u gunna try the otha bottles?” You managed to shake your head. You weren’t gonna do that again. Your head started hurting. You looked over at him. Were his eyes always so vibrantly purple? Woah, now they’re flashing purple. What the heck? Was this Faygo high? You now understood why all the other clowns were so goofy after drinking a cup of this stuff. Crap, now your head was starting to hurt.

“Wh-Who….who is it..?” You started feeling like you were gonna pass out. You laid down on the couch. You needed to close your eyes. That was way too much for you. You felt Marvus pick you up into his arms.

“ye…after u wake up bb.” Wake up? Wait, did he just call you a pet name?! You were about to question him when he tilted his head.

“dangg,, u managed 2 stay awake with chuckles and faygo? ur stronger than i thought. Soz bout this babes.” His eyes became blindingly vibrant again and you blacked out.

[thejadedjewel]

Game Grumps Live - Asbury Park, NJ - 8/24/19

Game Grumps Live:

Left to Jersey 9:30-ish

Got to Jersey by 2PM.

Had lunch at Wendys – terrible bathroom, great food.  Checked in at Inn afterwards, but did a check of the Stone Pony Summer Stage to see how it looked.  Chilled at the room until a little before 5PM.

Was dropped off and got in line.  At the time, it had almost completely circled around the whole area (building and outdoor stage).  Doors opened a little before 6 because the line soon went all the way around TWICE. Talked with the guys and ladies in line and made friends with them.  There were folks as Danny Sexbang, Arina, and Daniella.  Got in around 615-ish.  Got water and waited over an hour in line for the merch table.

A ‘burgie’ chant started up at one point.  Lots of awesome music played – Rush, Queen, etc.

There was a chopper circling around and many of us joked that Dan and Arin would make an entrance from it.  Cheers always happened when someone came on-stage, one point tossing water into the audience.

Got shirt and poster and left my drawings at the table.  Then hit the bathroom.  By this time it was 740-ish and the screen suddenly pulled up the Wii-U main menu.  A voice came on and started to hype the crowd that the show will be starting a few minutes later.  By this time, the sun was setting and nearly gone.

Show started around 8 with Vernon coming on-stage to hype the crowd.  He notes that this was the biggest Game Grumps Live ever – 4 thousand fans.  To prep everyone, a fan – Chris – is brought up from the audience to play Super Mario Bros world 1-1 blindfolded.  Chaos ensues, but Chris ended up beating it after two game overs and on the last life of attempt 3.

Afterwards, Vernon joked that he was out there stalling for time due to Arin pooping and joked about making an attempt of standup comedy.  Before he leaves, he gives some homework to everyone: make a new friend at the show – it’s easy.  He also tells everyone to be kind and tells everyone to get loud and do the theme song. V: Hey, I’m grump. Us: I’M NOT SO GRUMP!  AND WE’RE THE GAME GRUMPS!

Coming out to music (Pour Some Sugar On Me) Arin and Dan ate up the applause. Dan was extra-hyped due to the show not only being the first outdoor show, but also in his birth state of New Jersey.  “Welcome Home” chants ensue.  There’s also a joke from Dan about how Arin would make cracks at live shows about the place they’re doing it, but Arin refused to do one due to fears of being beat up by Jersey folks.

Game time – Mario Party 10!  Dan was Yoshi and Arin was Peach.  The crowd was split into two sides – side one was Player 3, Waluigi and side two, my side, was Player 4, Toad.  We were given chants to shout out (“Wa-Lu-Igi!”/”Go Toad!  Go Toad!”)

Danny: (after giving each team their chants) I’m drunk with power!

To compensate for Player 3 and 4’s rolls, Arin would do that.  When Dan told the crowd to boo Arin when he rolled wrong, the crowd started to boo anyway.

Arin: Don’t boo yet!

Dan: Your Jersey hate is like vitamins(?) to me!

For Mini-games, someone to represent for each player team would come up onstage to play alongside Dan and Arin.  Mini-game 1 had Jonathon for team Waluigi and Devon for Team Toad.  When asked for something to get their respected teams hyped up, they said “Waaaaa” and “We’re the video game boys” (Us: We’re the ones who win!)  The game was a memory-esq game, which was gonna be bad for Dan (because of the weed he smoked in the 90’s killing his memory) and Arin (because he’s “an idiot”, in his words).  The game was intense with Jonathon winning.  This was when Dan noticed that, for some odd reason, Waluigi had ‘boob physics’.

Mini-game two came soon with Marcus (wearing a Dream Daddy T-shirt) and Kirsten (wearing the sexy Sonic costume) for Team Waluigi and Team toad respectively. The question asked, by Arin, was which sandwich is the favorite – Dan jokingly said that was the stupidest question ever asked… then asked “same question” for the other player (something similar happened later) and it was Tuna Melt VS BLT.  We were also asked to do a giant Golf Clap during the mini-game shenanigans.

The post-Golf clap comment from Dan: You have given Daddy the ASRM tingles.

Daddy Chants ensued.  Dan would do another “Daddy” comment shortly afterwards – “So many stars for Daddy”.

When it was time for the third Mini-game of the night, Dan and Arin noticed some cool stuff in the crowd – A “Bienvenue Power Bottoms” sign and a “Burgie” paper craft being held up.  Player 3 and Player 4 were Divan and Chris, who was dressed like Danny Sexbang, and their question was to say something to badmouth the opposing team.  Divan’s was “Boo, Toad, you suck!” while Chris was “This is why you weren’t in Smash!”  Burn comments ensue.  Mini-game turned out to be a three on one battle… everyone vs Arin.

Dan: It’s New Jersey VS Arin!

Arin eventually won that game and during and after the game, there was a “Fuck You, Arin” chant from everyone.  Dan “OK! OK!  Hang on!  Hang on! Hang on!  Don’t get me wrong… I love it…,” but he asked if they should do “Heck you, Arin” but decided nope and let the crowd continue.  He then joked about how the folks on the boardwalk were probably wondering what the hell’s going on at the show.

Mini-game four was with Erid and a tall guy named Roger.  Dan also noted that his dad, Avi, was in the audience.  I began to chant “Avi” and pretty soon a large chant for “AVI” started.  Team Toad/Roger won the mini game.

Mini-game five was Bowser related with a lot of stars up for grabs.  Both players were ladies – a female Danny who, like Dan, was Jewish, from Jersey, favorite color was light blue, and loved dinosaurs, and Renee, who had an LED helmet and had apparently been there since 6AM.  There were 6AM chants for her.  Dan noted that he smelt weed in the audience, which I thought was a stupid thing to go.  Dan then picked the wrong mini-game chosen for that round.  His reasoning for the screw up? “I HAVE GIANT THUMBS!”  Team Toad won that round again.

Final mini-game was up and it was Sophie and Bethany as players 3 and 4.  They were asked to say something to hype their teams.  Sophie said “Mycaruba” (a old-school Game Grumps joke) while Bethany’s was “We got this, dude!”  Team 3 won and the finally tally was Waluigi/Team 3 victory.

For the last bit of the show was a Q and A with the audience.  Ground rules were laid out: No selfies, no hugs, not songs, and you can’t touch Dan’s hair… so Dan touched his hair for us.

Q: Favorite Cartoon Network cartoon? A: from Dan, it was Aqua team Hunger Force and, since it was aired on CN, Starlight Brigade music video while for Arin, it was “Mighty Magisword”, which he worked on.

Q: Favorite game they got into via Grumps? A: Dan went with House Party while Arin couldn’t think of one.  They hyped the new version that was going to include them as characters coming soon.

Q: for Arin, favorite voice to do around the office? A: the Grubba voice and the “Ball-sniffing adventure” one.

Q: A request for some more Snipperclips, which they would love to do.

Q: For Arin, it was about the frequency of his pooping and asking the “Yum to Dump” ratio.

A: Arin talked about a incident from eating at Whataburger.  He pulled off at an exit and ate a burger from Whataburger. Got back on the interstate… and pulled over at the next exit to do a 2 at that exit’s Whataburger.

I think I’m gonna avoid Whataburger…. Q: Can Claud come back? (I have no idea who Claud was, but they want him to come back.  I think they meant “Claudio Sanchez”, who had appeared on Guest Grumps.)

Q: For Arin, favorite 3D Zelda game? A: first game he said was “A Link Between Worlds”.  When asked for a second, he picked “Wind Waker”.  Good choice.

Q: A request for more Dog Island and Princef Taaanx.

The next question was right by me and I managed to get two pictures of Vernon, who was out in the crowd getting the questions from the crowd.  I thanked Vernon for the second one, which he smiled for. Before the question was asked, there were some “Furry” jokes and Dan went into a long rant about being a Furry in reference to the running gag about him being one.  The question was about Starbomb and hopes for new stuff in relation to it.  Dan and Arin threw around some possibilities like a boxed set for the CD’s/vinyls.

Q: What’s gonna be the new format for live shows.  They have no idea.

Q: An offer to do later framing for CDs/Vinyls/etc.

Q: for Danny, since he and the asker are from Jersey, is it Pork Rolls or Taylor Ham? Dan picked Taylor ham, prompting booos.

Q: the original asker game his question op to his friend, who asked since they looked alike and had similar likes, does Dan know who the doctor was that cloned the two of them?

Dan thinks it was Def Leppard’s lead singer Joe Elliot (?)

The last question: "the band bowling for soup...are they bowling to receive soup or are they bowling on behalf of soup?"  Dan thinks they’re bowling on behalf of soup while Arin thinks it’s the former.

To end the show off, Dan notes this show meant a lot for him since it’s in Jersey and the best night.  “Danny”/”Jersey” chants.  Dan and Arin thanked everyone and left with a message: They don’t care what your race/religion/gender/political stance/etc. is, they love us.

Show ended a little around 950 and I got my ride back to the Inn to chill.

Pictures to come later

[planetoban]

Savin’s Answers from Twitter, Part 5!

Pretty much done with the backlog; this post covers tweets from November 2018 through May 2019

As always, tweets are in order from most to least recent, and answers may not 100% true/canon since things are bound to change during production of the sequel. Text is unedited save for formatting; in a few places I added [comments] for context.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Also: If you’re going to ask Savin something, please be respectful and appropriate. He’s a person just like you and me.

-

@NekoItoi: Will the bluray be released for Region A or solely region B? As I really want to finally own Oban in hd

@EiffelSavin: The bluray will be crowdfunded and region free

(x)

@Helloworld1012: Maybe U could get a adventures of young Aikka series funded

@EiffelSavin: Actually we're developping both a sequel and a spinof, which would reveal a lot about Aikka's past...

(x)

[talking about rick]

@Antarasis: Pretty metalhead.  👍 And losing your ability to pursue your #1 passion is such a heavy hitting topic. Was interesting to see a character confronted with it. Especially to see an admirable character give in to anger because of helplessness and make him act unpleasant/unlikable.

@EiffelSavin: I agree. Characters that are not just plain black and white are very interresting to follow.

(x)

@Helloworld1012: out of curiosity, Do U [Savin and Thomas] prefer the Eva & Jordan romantic pairing and prefer that Eva & Jordan be a couple or the Eva & Aikka romantic  pairing & prefer that Eva & Aikka become a couple? I heard from a discord chat that U both have different views in

‏@Helloworld1012: who Eva should end up with. And do Romantically pair Eva with one of them.

@EiffelSavin: I don't remember disagreeing with Thomas over this and would rather leave the choice to the audience - both relationships are important ! This being said, the question of who Eva likes most may resurface in the sequel, if we get to make it...

(x)

@Xanidos43: is it still possible to get the newsletter? i would love to support and buy the blu ray upon release.

@EiffelSavin: There will be more newsletters to come. For now just register on the bluray page of the http://obanstarracers.com  website

(x)

@Helloworld1012: Hey I’ve noticed for quite a while, that Aikka and Eva in the concept art physically look to be about the same age, please give us this one hint. Is the fact that Eva and Aikka look physically the same age in the concept art have something to do with the plot or OSR

@Helloworld1012: 2? Or is it just because you and @Thomasintokyo just wanted to show what Eva and Aikka could possible look like when their older?

@EiffelSavin: One possible direction for the sequel is for it to take place a few years after the original show. Hence the concept art. But this is still under discussion and would also depend on who finances the series

(x)

@Antarasis: Can we have a show about poor Muir, haha? Oh god, if I'd have the time I'd so make a parody show about Muir. There should be Muirs in Skyrim instead of mudcrabs. And Muir should get a skin in FightCrab. x'D Aaah, the potential of Muir. Please don't commit suizide, little crab.

@EiffelSavin: I could easily imagine a series about the adventures of "young muir"(!) Not sure we could get it funded though ☺️

(x)

@AldrenMcneal: Hi there! i recently watched an Oban Star Racers video and found out a potential sequel was in the works. i found your twitter and realized it was announced back in 2017. How much progress have you made since then? Do you have the story planned out? Thanks!‏

@EiffelSavin: The story is planned out but we need investors - and time as well, since we're all involved in other projects too. Hopefully a successful bluray release we'll help refocuss everyone's energy

(x)

@Bfahome: I heard rumors in the past that there's a "full" version of Oban's English opening, "Never Say Never".  Are those rumors true and, if so, who would be the ones to have it?  Would it even exist still?

@EiffelSavin: I'm not sure about this. I think the only version I ever heard was the opening version. For your info our US partners felt very strongly about using that song.  I gave my OK because it was pretty catchy, even though the op credits were created to match Yoko Kanno's title song.

(x)

@EiffelSavin: Thanks a lot to the 1000+ #obanstarracers fans who took the time to answer our little survey. Here's what you answered to one of the first question asked. Among the alien racers, it seems Spirit made quite an impression #animation #anime #surveys #jetix #nhkbs #toowam

@MattGiusti: The lack of Sul on this list is very sad.

@EiffelSavin;: Sul came right after and would certainly have fared better if the question was who's your favorite alien character. Bear in mind that the list of choices here included some of the main characters of the show, like Jordan and Aikka and that one could only give a single answer.

@rhodanum: I'm quite surprised at how high Spirit ranked (higher than Stan, Don and Maya!) and that Jordan ranked higher than Aikka. The latter is especially surprising, given the gigantic number of fanworks (fanart, fanfic) featuring Aikka or Aikka x Eva, compared to Jordan or Jordan x Eva

@EiffelSavin: Aikka ranked first in some territories but overall Jordan came first - among the voters at least. I would be interesting to see if female and male voters voted equally - or predominantly - for one or the other...

(x) (x)

@GabrielAubry2: What happened to Prince Aikka after he returns to Nourasia? Won’t the Crogs on the planet be angry at what he did on Oban?

@EiffelSavin: Good question indeed but bear in mind their leader crashed on Oban and that there were fierce rivalries between the rest of chiefs. This must have slowed them somehow. Plus there's a new Avatar! 🙂

(x)

@RakkuBoi: ust took the survey. It's probably asking for too much but one idea I expressed was the possibility of including autographes. Maybe on the art cards that might be included? Your's or @Thomasintokyo would be AMAZING.

@EiffelSavin: Point noted 😉

(x)

@kueekueeng: from a fan who's been waiting for years, is "The 2 Queens"  movie ever going to be released?‏

@EiffelSavin: Finding funding on the French market as proven more difficult than anticipated but we haven't given up and have also started working on an animated series adaptation, possibly with a more "radical" artistic direction. More news hopefully soon...

(x)

@SonicMrgame2017: Which program you guys used for animation?

@EiffelSavin: Here are the programs the team used for the animation: Pencils (well sharpened), large and thin Erasers, and most important: thousands and thousands of sheets of Paper 😉

@SonicMrgame2017: Yeah, but, the animation was done in cels or you guys used some kind of digital ink? PD: Respects!!!! I love handrawn animation

@EiffelSavin: Oban used digital paint and compositing. When we produced the series it was the very last days of painted cells in Japan, where it lasted longer than in other countries. I think the last series that used painted cells was "Sazae-san". 🙂

(x)

@quantum_cuboid: QUESTION. Can you give us any insight as to which characters will make a return in the OSR sequel? There were many good characters, and a few that make me wonder whatever happened to them!

@EiffelSavin: I'll give you one: Eva (!) 😉 For the rest I prefer to keep quiet for now but feel free to make suggestions ☺️

(x)

[note: this thread is originally in French and I used Google Translate]

@supalinocelosu: So it was the authors directly who led the # ObanStarRacers

@ EiffelSavin: I think that should be the norm but apparently no ... I was also present during the English dubbing in Vancouver. But this time there was a director of English voices. I was commenting but not directly the direction of US actors

(x)

@theinmaskedboy: Could you clarify a doubt sir? 1) What happened with him when he arrived on the earth, because at the end of the galactic race he did not mention again .. 2) There are some loose ends in history, like the crow .. Was he eliminated from the race? or just leave?

@EiffelSavin: Spirit did not make it to the final 3 so he was eliminated & returned to his home planet. Regarding Rick, his job was done so he went back home too. We had crazy plans of making a sequel with him starring as a private PI (!)  Who knows we may reuse that in 1 form or another

(x)

@Taibhse_Designs: Now this is a beauty to see, any concept art for the whizzing arrow or other paint job ideas other than the bunny exist that never made it to print?

@EiffelSavin: yes. We did more than 10 paint job tests before going for the actual ones :) That certainly could be something for the new art book.

(x)

@Taibhse_Designs: I have the original DVDs still in good condition with the cardboard sleeve, I atleast rewatch the entire series once a year and would love a Blu-ray version. Would love to see some stats on the ships like actual scale, measurements, or official heights of the characters.Taibhse Designs added,

@EiffelSavin: That could be a cool extra actually, or something to add to a new art book. If you join the Oban Bluray Project newsletter on http://obanstarracers.com  we'll soon ask you about the type of features and goodies you'd like to have.

(x)

@TheRealZentron: The 1080p 4:3 version is the most crisp out of the three, but I like the cinematic scope of the 16:9, I just wish it was as crisp! Still, can't wait until the Blu-Ray comes out, hopefully it will be available to and playable in the UK!

@EiffelSavin: The bluray will be, for the first time, in the original rate of 24f/s and will be zone free‏

@TheRealZentron: That's great to hear Savin, thanks for the info! I'll sure to place my order once available, it'll sure be good watching OSR HD on my 70" 4K TV! Will the set also include the original Molly Star-Racer trailer in HD or the regular SD?

@EiffelSavin: I'm working on this. The pb is to get the rights to the music. In all cases it will be sd as it was produced that way but we'll try to upscale it in the best possible way from the best source available.

(x)

[Original question deleted]

@EiffelSavin: That was my notes, yes: Maya cut off from her family because of her choice to become a racer with Don, and Don having old parents that died early. Thus no grand parents for Eve to turn 2. But since we never go beyond that in the story, U can make up your own idea on backstory 🙂

(x)

@LovesOban: Please tell me because I’ve been obsessing over this, but even though he wouldn’t be as skilled as Aikka, Cannan or a Nourasian knight in martial arts, & Even though in 2082 DW isn’t the most athletic & even though DW is more brains than brawn & doesn’t have brute strength, in

@EiffelSavin: Don Wei is not a "big man" but he's determined and has grown quite tough, at least since Maya's death. Do you remember the first time he meets Rick and his biker buddies in the middle of the desert?  He stands up to them pretty well, doesn't he?

(x)

@HG_Alsmyr: are you going to have Thomas Romain join you for the Ōban sequel by chance?

@EiffelSavin: Yes. We've already started to collaborate on the sequel and spinoff projects. Working together again was very touching actually 🙂

(x)

[shimmerjjang]

VIP Diaries: (Meeting Seungri!!!) The Great Seungri Show in Manila 2019

Hello 안녕 안녕 shimmers and VIPs! Wow, I’ve been wanting to publish this post for a while now because this experience I had during The Great Seungri Show in Manila is a FIRST in my whole life as a BIGBANG VIP! I met Seungri and I got the sweet sweet chance to be in a photo with him. Not a standee, not a poster but the real Seungri!! Gurlll, I could go on and on about this but let me compose myself for a bit and talk about The Great Seungri Tour which happened in MOA Arena last January 19, 2019.

So, if you know me or if you’ve been following my SNS and happened to see one of my posts from last year, you’d know how much I loathe this area. I swore I won’t even go anywhere near Mall of Asia after the trauma I had from this horrible incident. And after that, I never attended any sort of event if it’s held around this area.

THIS IS MY FIRST TIME back here in months. Only BIGBANG can bring me back! The bitter memories are now replaced, thanks my Panda Seungri!!

This VIP concert experience is made possible by K-Music Insider! I’m beyond grateful for this chance because the truth is, my budget didn’t allow me to shed 10k upfront that time for the VIP seats and photo-op opportunity. I would’ve settled for a cheaper lower box ticket but I still made sure I hop into giveaways with the goal of getting a photo-op pass in mind. And dear heavens K-Music Insider blessed me with one! 넘너무 행복해 ㅠㅠ

Gates opened at 7pm and I entered the venue at around 7:15. There weren’t crazy lines so I just went straight to the entrance. There weren’t any chaos (thank goodness) and I know it’s a good thing, but I’m kinda sad too because we weren’t able to fill the entire arena. The show was announced late so many VIPs weren’t able to prepare them fundsss (including me haha)

BUT when the show started, it didn’t feel like the arena isn’t full! It was a whole new party out there!! Just exactly as how I expect a BIGBANG concert should be. I mean, Seungri is a total charmer and I’m sure all VIPs know that he’s the best at sweeping the crowd off their feet compared to the rest of the members. Seungri has been my bias wrecker since 2012! Oh well, but yo gurl is tough and my heart for G-Dragon won’t be swayed by anything!!!! \\(^^,)//

Here are some fancams I managed to take. I know, I wasn’t able to take that much because I really want to savor the moment. Also, this is my first time to attend a concert without my sister or cousin (huhuhuhu) so I don’t have someone to take turns with recording. But then again, all throughout my life as a K-Pop fangirl, I have learned how important it is to really get into the moment instead of recording each and every part of the show. So yep, enjoy my mini fancams! 

Opening MV - Where R U From

BANG BANG BANG

Intro Talk (Some in Tagalog)

GG BE

If You

Where R U From

Fire - 2NE1 Sandara 

I am the BEST - 2NE1 Sandara

Go Away - 2NE1 Sandara

Dahil Sa’yo Tagalog Cover - Pandara (Seungri & Sandara)

Seungri calling his mom (haha!)

Tagumpay (Seungri’s self-composed Tagalog song LOL)

We Like 2 Party

셋 셀테니 (1,2,3)

In My World

I’m so proud of Seungri! This is his first ever solo world tour and I can see that he did so well in pleasing and wowing the crowd despite the absence of his hyungs. 

Did you watch the whole video? BOYYY I CHOKED WHEN HE SLAYED THAT TAGALOG SONG!! I swear that song by Inigo Pascual annoyed me for a while because I hear it everywhere. But gurllll, who would’ve thought that I’d learn how to love it. I’ve been singing it subconsciously right after the concert. I mean, I’m gonna be honest, he sounded more native than Sandara and Ryan Bang (he showed up briefly on stage too along with Anne Curtis) LOL

Dara was also a guest for Seungri’s show. Well, Sandara has always been a steady guest whenever BIGBANG would show up here for a tour! That’s OG YG Family for you, children! The 2NE1 songs she performed were immensely nostalgic. How can my eyes well up over happy songs? I’m still hoping for a 2NE1 reunion to fulfill my empty Blackjack heart! :(

Seungri has always been the life of the party and he’s so good at being in variety shows! That’s what he served us during his concert. For a short moment we all thought we mistakenly entered a comedy bar, not a concert LOL Seungri made my stomach burst out of laughter the entire night. He’s just GOLD! He even savaged his fellow BIGBANG members in front of us. haha! Ang lakas ng loob kasi everyone’s in the military haha

Seungri showed us funny photos of every BIGBANG member for him to roast... EXCEPT for T.O.P... So naturally, us VIPs will ask and look for him. When he wrapped the photos up without including TOP, all of us went “Where’s TOP?!!!” I honestly thought he’ll just brush it off, considering all the crazy controversy surrounding TOP, I won’t be surprised if he’ll just ignore us. But Seungri didn’t. He heard us and he gave us a very reassuring answer.

VIPS: “TOP!!! TOP!!! Where’s TOP?”

SEUNGRI: “Ah, TOP? He’s fine! I just wanna say he’s okay.”

ME: Wooooh!!! OMG OMG *hyperventilating*

SEUNGRI: “He’s super okay. Yeah. He will come back soon, don’t worry!”

VIPs: *crying and going wild*

SEUNGRI: “You know what, now in BIGBANG, TOP is MOST OKAY! hahaha We are all okay..”

ME: LAUGHING WHILE CRYING UGLY TEARS

Watch the full clip of that comedic/unexpectedly emotional part here..

The entire show lasted for around 3 hours, I think. Seungri gave us major K-Pop throwback as he also sang a lot of his great hits from his early solo career (Strong Baby, Gotta Talk to U, GG BE..), as well as BIGBANG’s! It was an amazing show full of nostalgia. 

Here’s my only #OOTD shot from the concert, together with my fellow mod at BIGBANG Philippines - Chi! 

We, along with the ladies of 2NE1 PH, as well as other VIP friends lined up for the photo-op right after the concert. Each photo with Seungri will be done by 10s and we’re fortunate enough to be the last ones in line so there were just 8 of us.

AND NOW! TADAAAAAA!! Here’s our official group photo courtesy of LOONG Studio, the official promoter for Seungri’s Manila leg of the tour.

I mean, let that sink in for a short moment. Gurl, MY EXISTENCE GOT PULVERIZED! I wasn’t sure of what was happening and if it really was happening at all. For the first time in my 10-year VIP fangirl life, I was able to see and interact with a BIGBANG member. INSANE!

As I was walking towards Seungri, my mind went blank. I just stretched my hand for him to shake and I told him that he did great on stage. OH DEAR I remember him just looking back at me, smiling and thanking me for coming to his show. I’m in a trance! And because I went straight to him and approached him first, I totally forgot everything I initially planned. I have my phone in hand to secretly record everything just for my personal memento but totally forgot!! Also planning to stand beside him (I was 2nd in line so I could’ve done that) but chose to just talk to him first so by the time I was done talking, everyone got settled already while I’m still lost in front of him! Also planned to stand on his right side because that’s my freakin’ angle but totally forgot!!! HAHAHAHA Basically, my mind stopped functioning LOL but I’m so happy I got to interact with the King of all Maknaes, SEUNGRI. Everything happened so fast and when we were asked to leave, I made sure I told him I love him! HAHA He’s probably tired of hearing that from everybody but at least I let it out my chest. ^^

Say hello to my very nervous smile!!!! HAHAHA My heart was about to pop out of my mouth! SEUNGRI is just super handsome and I’m not just saying this because I’m a fan. Like he’s legit handsome and his smile is so dreamy. He’s just genuinely friendly and there’s this warmth from him that makes you forget he’s a star. I guess I’m used to seeing K-Pop stars being cold in real life, but definitely not Seungri! 

Ah, seeing him so close is definitely one for the books! Ah also, I would like to thank my Moonshot x Innisfree combo for keeping my foundation on point despite going crazy the entire night. hihihi~~ (I will review these two soon, promise!)

I’m beyond happy to see Seungri’s last show before he enlists. Their OT5 comeback may take a while because of their military schedule and all these sad controversies that still stir everything up unnecessarily! But hey, we’re all waiting at the Flower Road (꽃길) so I can only hope that the kings stay healthy and happy. 

My next goal is to see all BIGBANG members in their Final world tour in Seoul - 2020, 2021, who knows! Really hoping to have the same amazing opportunity like this to meet all of them next time. IT WILL HAPPEN I CAN FEEL IT! <3

Read more of my VIP Diares here or my other K-Pop shenanigans here.

[murfpersonalblog]

The 7 Greatest Heroes of Greek Mythology - Mythological Curiosities - See U in History

Heracles of Thebes

Achilles of Thessaly

Odysseus of Ithaca

Theseus of Athens

Perseus of Argos

Jason of Thessaly

Bellerophon of Corinth

_________________________________________________________

Cool video, but my Heroes list is very different. They’re all amazing, or they wouldn’t be heroes, but IMO the most impressive heroes are the ones who persevered despite a series of what would otherwise be insurmountable odds. Their greatness is not just due to their general popularity, but the greatness of the obstacles they overcame. You have to beat the best to be the best.

So my TOP TEN Greek Heroes list is:

Heracles of Thebes

Odysseus of Ithaca

Jason of Thessaly

Cadmus of Thebes

Perseus of Argos

Theseus of Athens

Diomedes of Argos

Honorable Mention: Bellerophon of Corinth

Honorable Mention: Achilles of Thessaly

Honorable Mention: Atalanta of Arcadia

1) HERACLES: because obviously. Son of Zeus, strongest man alive, he bested the 10 (or 12) Labors, plus his 9 Minor Labors, his numerous feats with the Argonauts, his critical role in winning the Gigantomachia on Mt Olympus, freeing Prometheus, rescuing Theseus, fathering a effton of babies, etc etc. He was literally worshiped as a god, one of the only Greek heroes to live on Mt. Olympus after his death. Even Hera had to back down and respect his gangsta. #Iconic #Legendary #YourFaveCouldNever

Hercules sets the bar for the 4/4 main criteria for what makes MY IDEAL top-tier Greek mythological hero:

Monsters: Defeating mythic creatures/beings on epic adventures

Underworld: Going to Hades and back

God-Tier: Divine patronage/assistance, lineage, apotheosis, etc

Legacy: Founding cities, dynasties, etc

2) ODYSSEUS: smartest Greek hero EVER, and biggest liar/trickster. Odysseus’ adventures were OP. Despite not even being a demigod, just a mortal man (blessed by Athena but cursed by Poseidon), he still survived the entire Trojan War, Scylla & Charybdis, the sirens, the Lotus Eaters, Polyphemus the Cyclops, Circe, the Laestrygonians, and numerous shipwrecks & storms; went to Hades and lived; got shapeshifted into an old man; and still reclaimed his place as king of Ithaca by taking out all of Penelope's suitors cuz he’s a #BAMF archer and warrior, too. Odysseus also has the 4th highest kill count in the Iliad (after Patroclus, Diomedes, and Achilles). It took 20 years, and he lost everything but his life & his wits, but he made it home. (4/4)

3) JASON: Leader of the Argonauts, the most boss collection of heroes ever -- Hercules, the Gemini Twins, Orpheus, Nestor, Pelops, Meleager, Theseus, Autolycus, Atalanta*, Peleus, etc. -- #SquadGoals. Their adventures together are literally the stuff of legend -- the Crashing Rocks, fought harpies, sirens, giants, fire-breathing bulls, Talos the automaton, AND the Colchis Dragon guarding the Golden Fleece (and an army of Spartoi, sown dragon-teeth -- see Cadmus). Jason survived it all, and his travels and feats were effing impressive, designed explicitly cuz King Pelias KNEW finding the Golden Fleece was 100% impossible -- but Jason beat the odds and did it anyway. 

Jason was a mortal man, blessed by Hera, and husband of the sorceress Medea. #JusticeForMedea, Jason did her dirty, ditching her for some rando chick (Hera’s classic trigger). Hera renounced Jason cuz he broke his wedding vows to Medea, and Hera’s sacred stern on the Argo brained him to death (AKA: Eff your heroics, if you’re a scrub). One of his & Medea’s sons, Thessalus, managed to escape Medea's carnage, and Jason’s kingdom of Thessaly gets its name from him (or one of Heracles’ sons of the same name, depending on your source) . (3/4)

4) CADMUS: the very FIRST Greek hero, founder of Thebes, brother of Europa, defeater of the Ismenian Dragon, sower of the Spartoi (dragon teeth warriors), ancestor of Dionysus. I am super biased when it comes to dragons and dragon-slayers (Hercules, Jason, Cadmus). A mortal man from Phoenicia, Cadmus was blessed by Athena, favored by the other gods, but was cursed by Ares for killing the Ismenian Dragon (Ares son), and depending on the source was killed or turned into a snake, etc.

Jason benefited entirely from knowing what Cadmus did before with the Dragon and Spartoi. But I rank Jason higher than Cadmus, because although Cadmus killed a dragon first, and adventured before ALL of the other Greek heroes (Heracles included), he did relatively less than they did. Heroes (and their storytellers) were all trying to one-up the feats of the heroes that came before them, so Cadmus’ bar naturally lowers in light of that. But IMO I still see Cadmus as a more impressive hero than some others, because Cadmus set the bar for Heracles, Jason, Odysseus, everybody. Cadmus 👏  Did 👏  It 👏  FIRST.👏 (3/4)

5) PERSEUS: Son of Zeus and a mortal woman; slayer of Medusa the Gorgon and Cetus the Sea Monster; founder of the Myceneans; ancestor (and half-brother) of Hercules. Out of the pre-Heraclidean heroes (Cadmus, Perseus, Aeacus, Bellerophon, Pelops & Oenomaus, Oedipus) Perseus’ adventures were the scariest, IMO. The Graeae, the Gorgons, AND Cetus? Yikes. However, Perseus only managed to kill Medusa cuz she was asleep the whole time. All those depictions of him facing off against her in some thrilling battle? Pop culture fabrication -- it never happened, he crept up on her like a ninja. (#JusticeForMedusa) And thanks to the frikkin Renaissance, people think Perseus tamed Pegasus, which he never did either, that was Bellerophon vs the Chimera.

Still, he’s awesome. On top of his #Iconic armor set (sword, helm of invisibility & winged sandals), Perseus has a lot of similarities with Hermes (god of, amongst other things, thieves and liars), cuz his opponents were literally impossible for mortals to face otherwise. Perseus needed all of those sneaky wiles to steal the Graeae’s eye, and sneak past the other Gorgons, and nab Medusa, run off with her head without the other Gorgons tearing him to shreds, and make it back home. But he only managed to kill Cetus & rescue Andromeda & reclaim his birthright as King of Argos because he had Medusa’s head.

So...cool adventures, great story, sweetest god-tier gear EVER (#Deus ExMachinaRealness), and really impressive monsters. (3/4) (Perseus never went to Hades & back, but some sources interpret the Cave of the Gorgons, Graeae or both as a chthonic journey, too.)

6) THESEUS: Son of Poseidon and a mortal woman (his step-father’s King Aegeus, whom the Aegean Sea’s named after -- a really sad story that’s Theseus’ fault), Theseus is the founder of Athens & the Acropolis, and slayer of the Minotaur. (3/4) But I have to explain a few things:

Monsters: IMO beating the Minotaur is Theseus’ most impressive feat. That was a legit monster. Theseus also caught & sacrificed the Cretan/Marathonian Boar (sire of the Minotaur), and killed the man-eating Crommyonian Sow. But compared to Dragons & Gorgons (asleep or not), IMO I can’t rank Theseus’ defeat of the Minotaur over heroes who killed a lot more than that. According to Ovid, Theseus also slayed the Centaur King Eurytion, who started the Centauromachia vs the Lapiths, but AFAIK he’s the only one who says so. Theseus also went on many adventures, slaying bandits and pacifying barbarians in his 6 Labors, which established Theseus as an official Athenian folk hero well before his battle in the Labyrinth. But again, I’m can’t rank bandits over an army of draconic spartoi.

Hades: Theseus technically gets (4/4) on my criteria, but I deducted that point cuz he only hit it just barely. By the skin of his butt-cheeks. LITERALLY. Theseus’ jaunt to Hades was one of the BALLSIEST examples of hubris and straight up idiocy in all of Greek mythology, IMO. Theseus decided that being the wingman in his BFF Pirithous’ harebrained plan to kidnap Persephone for a bride was a good idea. O_O The only reason Theseus made it out alive (spoiler: Pirithous did not) is cuz Heracles RIPPED Theseus off his seat, allowing Hades to get his literal POUND OF FLESH from Theseus’ arse in appeasement. That was not heroic on Theseus’ part at all; he was crying like a baby the entire time, TRAPPED in Hades for MONTHS until HERACLES happened to go there to collect Cerberus. POINT DEDUCTED! #sorryboutit

7) DIOMEDES: Diomedes 👏 Gets 👏  NO 👏  Respect 👏 . Omg, where is the Hollywood blockbuster featuring MY BOY? Other than Heracles, name another Greek hero who fought against not one but TWO OLYMPIAN GODS and WON? O_O Diomedes, a mortal man, King of Argos and founder of several Italian cities, was a hero of the Trojan War. After Patroclus, Diomedes has the 2nd highest kill count in the Iliad. He managed to wound Aphrodite & her son Aeneas at Troy, AND left Ares -- THE God of WAR -- screaming & hollering like a toddler with a tantrum when Diomedes & Athena wounded him, making Ares retreat from the battlefield like a wuss. Ares, y’all. ARES. Diomedes didn’t KILL any gods, no, but he’s still thebomb.com.

Blessed by Athena, Diomedes was the 2nd most clever warrior after Odysseus, and after Achilles died, together they came up with the most iconic plots against the Trojans: creating the Trojan Horse, and stealing the Palladium. In antiquity Diomedes was venerated as a god as part of his hero cult, but his fame was later supplanted by Achilles & Odysseus, to the point that in today’s pop culture Diomedes is rarely ever mentioned. #UnderratedAF (3/4)

Honorable Mentions

8) BELLEROPHON: A mortal man, grandson of Sisyphus, Bellerophon was falsely accused of rape, and as punishment the king (the lying heifer’s father) sent Bellerophon to kill The Chimera (a 3-headed FIRE BREATHING monstrosity) to clear his name (knowing full well it was impossible). Blessed by Athena, Bellerophon was able to tame Pegasus (Medusa’s son by Poseidon’s rape), and reach the Chimera’s lair. He lathered himself in fire-proof oil, and stabbed the Chimera in the frikkin throat till it choked on the melted metal from his speartip.

Unfortunately, the king didn’t believe him, and sent Bellerophon on a series of labors to kill Amazons & pirates, which Bellerophon did, with Poseidon’s help. Unfortunately, his glory went to his frikkin head, and when Bellerophon tried to fly Pegasus up Mt Olympus Zeus struck him dead with lightning bolts for his hubris. (2/4)

9) ACHILLES: Achilles is THE greatest hero of the Trojan War, leader of the Myrmidons and Greece’s best warrior EVER. He had mad skills. But by my 4 Main Criteria, I can't rank him above the other heroes. Achilles is a great icon for warriors to aspire to, and in many ways is the most realistic hero of the bunch, IMO, but that’s just it. He did a lot of incredible things. But not impossible things. He’s too normal for me, compared to the rest. :\ (2/4)

Monsters: All the other heroes on my list faced off against gods, giants, the brood of Echidna & Typhon, unnatural beasts, etc. Achilles’ greatest foe is Hector, Troy’s greatest warrior, yes, but who is another mortal man. Achilles did defeat Amazons (like Penthesilea, daughter of Ares), but so did Bellerophon, on top of the Chimera. And as far as kill count goes, Patroclus killed the most people at Troy, while Achilles pouted in his tent! Diomedes killed a effton, as did Odysseus (who earned Achilles’ armor rather than Ajax), so.... Imma need some gods & monsters, Achilles. :\

Hades: When Achilles died he went to the nicest place in Hades, in the Isles of the Blessed/Elysian Fields. Not exactly the Greek Valhalla, since the gods don’t live in Elysion, but close. But several heroes ranked higher on my list came back from the Land of the Dead (I’ve seen some Heroes Lists put Orpheus, another Argonaut, in the Top 7 cuz of the Orphic Cult & having been to Hades and back). Achilles chose to fight at Troy and die young & heroically; but when Odysseus spoke to Achilles’ ghost in Hades he told Odysseus he regretted his decision. XD

Divinity/Assistance: Achilles is the son of the water nymph Thetis -- whose wedding to Achilles’ mortal dad started the Apple of Discord & Judgement of Paris which caused to the Trojan War -- so he’s not 100% human, but he’s not the son of an Olympian, either. Thetis had Hephaestus craft god-tier armor for Achilles, and made him invulnerable to further injury (sources vary on if he was lathered in ambrosia lotion; or dunked in the River Styx; or was slow-roasted on a magical fire). But Achilles was still mortal, as seen by that little ankle problem of his. So I wonder which demigod would win in a fight, Achilles, Perseus, or Theseus? (Hercules beats everybody, duh.) But I gave Achilles 1 point here.

Politico-Religious Legacy: Achilles’ son Neoptolemus founded Epirus, and the line Alexander the Great’s mother Olympias hails from, thus making Achilles Alexander’s ancestor (depending on who you believe). That’s dope. Another point. (2/4)

10) ATALANTA: AFAIK Atalanta’s the only non-Amazonian mortal warrior woman Hero in Greek myth (Cyrene & Callisto were nymphs). A mortal woman, Atalanta was abandoned in the woods at birth for being born female, and was nursed by a she-bear. A SHE-BEAR. In the WOODS, y’all. Atalanta was found by hunters who took her in, and grew up to be a fierce huntress. She took part in the Calydonian Boar Hunt, and was THE FIRST to actually wound it, while the other heroes were busy shaking in their sandals. She got to keep the pelt as her prize. Depending on your source, she did or didn’t join the Argonauts, or was only with them briefly. She also beat Achilles’ dad Peleus (another Argonaut) in a wrestling match. She also slew two Centaurs who tried to rape her. Atalanta was NOT to be trifled with. 👸

Thanks to the impiety of her husband (from Atalanta’s famous race with the Golden Apples; his name varies depending on the sources), both he and Atalanta were cursed by the gods (precisely which one varies by sources), turned into lions and slaughtered. #SMDH.  (2/4)

[franeridart]

dude your recent demon & angel kiribaku art reminds me a little bit of aziraphale and crowley from good omens!! like aziraphale would be angrier as baku obvs but still i thought of it and it made me happy lol

A lot of people have mentioned that in the tags/under the post and that makes me!!! super happy!!!! Good Omens is one of my fav books and Crowley one of my fav characters, so the comment feels nice! I wasn’t specifically thinking about them when drawing it, but possibly a bit I was influenced anyway!! I wonder if what made everyone think about them was Kiri’s sunglasses? It’s not noticeable but I did give him glowing eyes too after all haha

Anon said:Have you ever thought about how op a TodoBakuDeku fusion would be? (if they could stay together that is lol!)

Never thought of it tbh, but at this point I’m pretty sure with a lot of work on Baku’s part they’d be able to stick together long enough! He wouldn’t find it comfortable but they’d def be one of the strongest three-people-fusions in the class - not the strongest, tho, since they all have the same sort of straightforward offensive power when it comes to their quirks, I think I could find three people who’d make a stronger fusion... Baku Kiri and Momo, for example, would be even more impressive imho! Since all their quirks cover a different field, and their minds/personalities mesh well enough to have the right amount of planning and instinctive reaction/self-preservation and safety of others/pride and self-doubt/lawfulness and chaotic acting and so on. Even just as a team, without counting them as a fusion, I think they’d make one of the most balanced ones! Compared to that putting Todo Deku and Baku in the same place is just a recipe for disaster more often than not haha

Anon said:no, i move slow, I wanna stop time, I'll sit here til I find the,, inspiration to draw,,,,,,

LMAO it’s a song about art block after all, I feel every word in it a whole damn lot hahaha

Anon said:Art block or no art block, I love everything you come up with 💜

AW HECK ANON you’re so sweet!!! Thank you so much!!!!! ;O;

Anon said:Mixing thei hero names? So uuuh King Riot?

We still don’t know Baku’s hero name, so anything might be, really! It’s why I didn’t outright have Kiri mention any idea, I got no clue myself where he was going with it haha it’d be cool if his hero name were Ground Zero, because it’d mix well with Red Riot imho (Red Zero or Ground Riot or Red Ground, they all sound nice!) but what if Baku’s hero name ends up just being Katsuki, after all? How do you mix that with Red Riot? (the answer is Red Victory, or Akatsu!! from akai (red) + katsu !! ngl I’ve thought about this a lot lmao) anyway so many possibilities so little known facts!

Anon said:I love the details on Kiri and Baku's skin. Great job!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Anon said:!!!!!!!!!! fran oh my god your zine piece is so beautiful!!!!!!!

Sob thank youuu!!!! I’m glad you liked it!!!! ;O;

Anon said:i just got my zine and the art and writing was so lovely, i loved your comic at the end. an amazing way to end the zine♡

THANK YOU!!!! I’m jelly, I still haven’t gotten mine ;O; I hope the comic was easy to read even in printed form, I’ve been worried about that for months hahaha rip at least there’s the pdf

Anon said: i’m in love with your kiri bday art!!!! with the colorless art like that, are we allowed to color it? of course no posting it, but just for fun.

If you promise not to post it, I’m cool with it! Thank you for liking it enough to want to do that!!! Seriously tho don’t post it if you do

Anon said:Can you draw more kamisero? g u d q u a l i t y s h i p ma' dude.

Maybe? Currently it really isn’t between my top priorities but who knows

Anon said:FRANNNNN!!!! Your comic for the Take My Hand zine!!!! I'm gonna cry! It's so beautiful and the boys are so perfect! Your art is so amazing, I was so thrilled to see your piece. Not to mention the detail you put in. Their hands killed me! With Bakugou's palms and Kiri's arms! Ugh, I just can't, I love it so much.

I’M SO GLAD YOU LIKED THE HANDS it’s weird bc that one panel is probably my fav in the comic and I was so sure no one was gonna really notice it but!! So many people did!!!!! It makes me so happy oh man ;O;

Anon said:Hey coulda maybe make a traitor Kaminari comic?

Nope! No traitor arts here, sorry! SInce I don’t believe any of the theories to the point of finding them outright laughable, any art I could ever make about it would just come out looking either fake or ridiculous and no one wants to see that lmao

Anon said:your take my hand comic!!! it's so good!! thank you for doing the boys so well ;;;

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOUUUU!!!!!!!!

Anon said:I don't know if you remember, but a couple months ago I asked if it'd be okay for me to write something based on a few of your art pieces. Would that still be alright? Your art is gorgeous and makes my brain think and brings joy to me all the time ^^ would absolutely link to the art and credit you. that's not even a question :)

That still depends on which art you’re specifically talking about! And thank you so much for the compliment!!

Anon said:I don’t know if you read fan fiction, but I have one to suggest to you! It’s called, “It’s Obvious When You Lie”. Only three chapters are out so far, but it’s really good!

I’ll add it to my marked for later list then!! Thank you so much for the rec, I don’t easily try out ongoing fics so this was very nice of u!!!

Anon said:In the body switch AU Todoroki sees how fucked up Midoriya feels around Bakugou('s body?) and realizes wow fuck this guy has traumatized my bf. I wonder what I can do to fuck w/ him so the day before they switch back (So Bakugou can't do much in retaliation) he takes Bakugou's body and does the stupidest bullshit ever as revenge

HECK anon sorry but nothing like this would happen ever as long as I’m the one writing the AU! For three main reasons! One, I don’t think Deku is traumatized at all! His relationship with Baku at the moment is actually pretty damn neat and on equal footing, you go you two, growing so much!! Two, Baku and Todo are friends!!! And Todo would never be a dick to Baku instead of just talking to him, if he had a problem with him!! Three, even if one and two weren’t true, Deku has no need for knights in shining armor fighting his battles for him!! He’s a strong independent boy and if he hasn’t fought Baku over this it’s probs cause he doesn’t want anyone to fight him over it!!! Also in this specific AU Todo and Deku aren’t dating, so the scenario doesn’t work for me! Sorry!

Anon said:Have you ever thought about krbk wedding?

I have! And I’ve talked about it on here a few times too! Lately I’ve been thinking about it again tho, from a designs point of view, because!! There’s that very neat post going around tumblr about that wedding photos in which one of the two grooms has a white tux with a cape, and I’ve been thinking about a variation of it for Kirishima’s wedding suit :0 something red instead of white, but generally similar! It’s a lot of effort to draw it so I still haven’t, but yeh!!

Anon said:Hello! I read this fic about your cat comics and the author said to send you some love in their end notes so here is some well-deserved love: your art is beautiful! It's why I became interested in BakuShima and I would not have loved these characters as much if it weren't for you. You also seem to be a very nice person, your mind is beautiful and I am glad you exist

G O DS this is such a nice ask!!!! thank you so so much!!!! ;O;

Anon said:Non chiedo una risposta a questo messaggio, anzi. Volevo solo dirti che trovo la tua arte FANTASTICA, e non sai quanto i tuoi comic e tutto il tuo lavoro mi ha strappato più di un sorriso in brutti momenti. Sapere che sei italiana mi ha fatto totalmente impazzire. Continua così, hai del talento vero. E grazie!

NUHHHH GRAZIE A TE PER ESSERE COSI’ GENTILE OMFG !!!!!!!!!! ;A;

Anon said:Okay okay okay! I adore your art! Could you maybe... draw some KiriBaku fantasy? If it’s not too much to ask! It can be as simple as can be! Your art is just really cute!

Yes I can and yes I will!!! Definitely and in the near future, did you know one of the app games JUST revealed a fantasy wolf Baku as a special halloween chara?? It’s just fantasy Baku with wolf ears and tail, but he’s adorable and I’ve been wanting to draw him since I saw him this morning ;O; so cute!

Anon said:Pssst. Singer Baku, Guitarist Kami, and Drummer Kiri. A good hc if I do say so myself.

It IS a great thought!! Drummer Kiri and Singer Baku have always been a weakness of mine too, so heck!! What a good image! If we put Jirou on bass and vocals too and sero on keyboard and mina on guitar, you make my fav band right then and there hahaha

Anon said:I'm not in the BNHA fandom at the moment but your art still continues to give me the warm fuzzies

GODS ISN’T THIS A NICE ASK!! I’m happy I can make you enjoy even characters you’re not specifically into! Thank you so much for sticking around!!!! ;O;

Anon said:i just got into bnha and fell in love with your art, started going through your sketch tag, and then realize that youre the person who made a bunch of haikyuu comics i loved a while ago so im! very glad to rediscover your stuff!!

HOLY GODS THAT’S NEAT!!! Welcome back!!!! ;O;

Anon said:I love it when you draw kiri with his hair down 💕💕💕 so good, so pure 💕💕💕💕

Oh boy thank you!! ;O; he’s so much easier to draw with his hair spiked for me, knowing people like the way I draw his hair when down means a whole damn lot!! 

Anon said:Hello! First I love your account and artwork! Second will you ever be drawing Mako and Taiyou again? They are so adorable! Also Bakugou and Kirishima seems like amazing dad's!

Thank you!!! And yes I will! I have another ask around here asking about them, so maybe soon! Just gotta find the right idea to draw, I got a bunch but they’re all way too long for my curret attenton span level sadly hahaha rip

Anon said:lmaaaaooo my boi kaminari be having an emotional awakening

Kaminari is like, he’s always somewhere subconsciously known that Baku’s objectively pretty, but since he knows him so well and he’s always around him and most of the times they’re bickering and making fun of each other he’s never actually realized, so now he’s like oh, NOW I see it hahaha

Anon said:hi u probably get this enough but I wanted to give u all my appreciation for ur art thank u for sharing it with us I love everything u post ♡♡♡

THANK YOU!!!! It might be greedy of me but this sorta asks are never enough for me, so seriously thank you for taking your time to drop by and be so nice!!!

Anon said:Could you please draw more of the body swap au? Or what if a different pair of students were to switch?

I’m not gonna draw any other switch with other students, because before settling on Baku and Todo I went through a lot of possibilities and came to the conclusion that nothing would be as funny as Baku and Todo switched are (or at least nothing Horikoshi hasn’t already done himself lmao) so there’s that. I might draw more of them switched, but to be honest with you the only idea with that concept I have right now is Bakugou forgetting he’s suddenly taller and continuously walking into things around the dorms, so there’s that as well hahaha

[informedinterest]

MCSM - a more Real..

Author’s Notes;

  (Sl; Ligh  implied

          t

         abus

         e)

Setting: Change to an ice 

land   

(A excessive 

    place   To keep the characters from being hateable from the             ,offset)

      Several          Char          had to be edited       slightly

The

 Orde

 r

 of

th

e

Ston

e,

Gabriel,

Magnus,

Eligard,

 United

   By

 Soren

Defeated

   the

   Ender

  Drag

      on

     Trac

          in

          g

         the

        word

          s

        wi

          th

         hi

          s

        fi

        n

        g

         e

          r

         “Right

            we

          shou

             l

             d

             b

            e

           going

             Now

              ,

                ‘’

            Shifted

           fro

           m

          th

          ei

            r

         perch,

            in

          Brigh

           t

           Light

            in

            g

            Of

Day

Gil,

loung

 in

 g

wi

 t

 h

 a

 cop

 y

 of

‘Gabriel and

a Guide

  to

defense,’

     Jess

     e

     Olivia

     +

     Axel

     Drap

     p

     e

     d

     wit

      h

    ‘Log

      ist

      ics

      fo

      r

      th

      e

     Loose

     assorted,”

        By

     Magnus

     Aiden

     a

      wkward

                  ly

       Propp

      e

      d

      Wi

       t

        h,

   “Action

    ali

   zatio

     n

    fo

    r

    th

   e

   il

begotten

~Eligard

   and

    hi

    s

    pre

    viou

    s

  dis

   card

    ed

   “Evaluation

    E

    valati

     on

      of

    Happ

     ine

     s

     s

     ,”

     By

    Soren,

    some

      where

   “Aw,

     I was going

    to

   read

    that

      ,”

    Petra

   (newly

   Reach

    in

    g

    for

   On

    e

   of

  the

 many

 stuffed

  book

 shelves

  wi

    t

    h

   “Tr

     e

      e

   Car

       e

     You

       r

    Guide

       to

      th

      e

     Geo

  phenomen

     a

     l

    ,”

    ,

  “

  ‘Iv-

   and the many uses of Po

     -‘

   (The book

    so scruffed into its corner

    that that’s all that could be

     re -

         ,

     An

      d,

        +

    “Adventure;

      Where

           to

         find

         ‘em

           ,

            ”

      “Not

        if

      we’re

      going

        to

     mak

     e

     it

     to

    th

     e

  con

  ve

   n

   tio

   n

   ,

   ”

  “Besides

     don’t

      you

    al

    ready

     hav

     e

   tha

      t

   c

   op

    y,

    ,“

 “Yeah

   but

    it’s

    a  

 go

  od

re

 a

 d

 ,

 ”

“Besides

it’s different from the

traveling

edition

   ,”

“Trav

 el

  i

  n

  g

edi

t

io

 n,”

 ,

Axel

sniffed

 ,

Lukas,

“C’mon

  five

  min

  utes don’t want to be

  late,”

 “Con

  v

  en

  t

   io

   n

   s

   ,”

   On

    groun

     d

    Jesse

       get

        t

        in

        g

       hi

       s

      pe

      t

      boar

     Reube

      n,

       for

       th

       e

       trek

       To

      be greeted by what seem

    e

    d  

      like 2 million Quest’N

     ‘answers

                posters

        with Gabriel‘s

            face

          posted

             on

              it,

          “This

              is

             th

             e

           bes

            t day

           of

            m

            y

            lif

            e,”

           While the others were there to roll

         the

             i

             r

           eyes

            except Lukas

            “leave

               it

              be,

               “

            “If it was anyone else

              -

           I’d have to

          carry them off the

          floor

           to,”

            ,”

           A

        “riv

         al

          ,”

       Te

        a

       m,

     Cordial

     en

       ough

      wit

      h

     Luk

     as

   “Tell

    Ethan

        I

      said

     hell

      o,

        “

     Not so much

      with

       th

       e

      rest of

     them

     “Our

   Invention

       Is

     Goi

        ng

         to

         be

       Grea

          t,

          ”

        “Our

          s

         wil

          l

          be

         great

           er,”

           “What

              got

                in

                 to

                 th

                 e

                 m,

                  “

                  ,

             “Ivor

             fan boys

                 ,”

               Axel

               Shrug

    ged,

“Oh

speak

  of

 the

Devil,

You might have some company as

 Ivor

  fan

 club

 le

 a

d

 e

 r,

Pet

 r

 a

  ,”

 “oh,

 The

  m

 agai

 n,

 ”

“Wh

 o

Cou

 ld

 n

 ’t

 al

  l

 t

 h

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books

 he’

 s

Written

abou

  t

 po-,”

 Fad

 in

 g

Into

com

fort

able

not

hing

As they made it to the

 bu

 i

 ld

zon

 e

And

 Olivia

  start

   e

   d

  draw

   in

   g

  u

  p

 sta

  t

 istics,

  for

  th

  e

 build

So you wouldn’t mind

  coming with me

 and

  helping me

   find him,

    would

      you

    Jess

     e,“

    ,

 “Um,

   Ye

   ah,

  Su

   re,

   We

  should

     be

   done

  here

  right,

 Lukas

    “

 Jesse

 yelle

  d

 u

 p

t

o

Lukus

 Who

  gave

  hi

  m

  a

thu

 mbs

  u

  p,

 And away about

 Olivia who is staying behind to talk to some

   planners

“So what’s up with this

   Ivor

   guy

  a

  gain

    , ”

  I th

 “I’ve

 always

  be

   en

  m

  o

  r

  e

 in

ter

es

t

e

d

i

n

Ma

g

n

u

s,

I mean all the

scientific

 . .

stuff,

Realiz

   in

   g

  he

 had

 inter

  ru

  p

  t

  e

 d

  ,

  ”

Slyily

smili

 ng,

“Iv

 or

 is

 a

kno

wn

 st

 u

 d

  i

 e

 r

 of

plant

 s

 an

 d

the

 ir

essence

    ,

    “

   “An

apothecary,”

   “Not

   Quite

      ,-“

   “Huh

      I’d

    though

      t

     we

       ’

      d

     m

      e

      et

     h

      i

     m

      h

      e

      r

      e,”

   “Let

    me

    go

  chec

    k

   “Jesse

     stay

    here,”

    Please

    “ what

       are

       you

      doin

       g

      her

      e?

      “

    Iriat

     te

     d,

   “Mr.

   Ivor

   sir,

    I

  was

 hoping

  to

 give

 this

  to

 you

 be

 fore

the

sho

w,”

“Yes,

Yes-

Actual

  ly

glancing

  at

 th

 e

thin

 g

Mouth

 agape

 at

 th

 e

“Withe

  r

 Skul

  l,”

She

he

 ld

 in

h

 e

 r

h

a

n

d

s,

“ This

    is

..perfect,

   thank

    you,”

  “Hel

    p

   your

   sel

    f

   to

   t

   h

   e

  di

   a

  monds

    in

   th

   e

 ches

   t

 o

 ve

  r

ther

   e,

   “

“Sir,

 thes

  e

  aren’t

 diamonds,

   these

    are

 moissanite,

     .”

 “Maybe

     we

    should

     te

      l

       l

     hi

     m

    “Wh

       y,”

    “Because

       thes

          e

       migh

          t

         b

         e

      im

      por

        t

       an

        t

        t

        o

       h

        i

       m,

        ”

       “Don��t

        wanna

        mess up the

        show,”

          ,

       Petra

          &

      Jess

       e,

     Mak

       in

       g

       it’

     ba

       c

       k,

      an

       d

    Me

      e

      t

      in

      g

    A

     xl

      e

     the

      re,

     “ Axel

       wha

         t

       ar

        e

       yo

        u

       doi

        n

        g

      h

      e

       r

      e

       ,

       ”

       “Oh hey,”

       Munching on

         a bowl

          of

        pret

         ze

           l

           s

       “guys,

       Gabriel

         stop

         pe

        d

         by

        our

        buil

        d,

       sai

      d

       it

     was

    “Clas

     s,

     and

    gav

      e

     me

   “this

      ,

    [Sev

      eral chains with the words

       “back

         stage

        pas

         s

         e

         s,

         ” etc

         hed

          on

         th

         e

          m

         ,”

        “ Luk

           as

         wen

          t

          t

          o

         giv

         e

        yo

        u

      you

        r

        s

      J

     ess

       e,”

    “Gill

       is

     geek

       in

       g

     Out

    over

  Ga

   briel,

  Olivia’s

    tal

    kin

    g with some

    Pl

     an

      n

     e

     r

     s

     ,-

    “

   “Oh

    hey

   Petr

    a,

   I requested

    one

     for

     you,

    Though don’t think you need it since you’re a

    distributor

    an

    d

   al

    l,

   ,”

 Petra

  smil

    in

    g,

   sly

    ily

   tak

     in

     g

   ou

    t

   he

    r

“dis

 trib

  u

 tor,

  ”

 tag,

“Anywa

     y

  we

   can

   ’t

    sto

    p

     t

     o

      tal

     k

     no

     w

    a

     x

     l

     e,

     “

 “Hav

    e

   t

   o

  r

  e

 tur

  n

som

  e

th

  i

 n

 g

 to

 on

  e

  o

  f

 th

 e

guest

 s

 ,

 ”

 ,

“That

woul

 d

  be

 his

Room

,”

 Jesse asked quickly as Petra lightly pushed him forward (from be

   hind,

   as he slid on

     ward

      s,

       “Yeah, t

         ‘The door clicked

        sh

         u

          t behind

         th

         e

         m,

        A flight o

         f

       stai

        r

       s ,

     “Well,

       this

        is,

      ambitious

           ,

           “

        “Are you

         kidding

       having to build

          stairs

      all the way down in

         ice,”

         ,

        “ I had no idea that Ivor was such a

           builder

            architect

            ,

            ”

        “ It’s a shame it’s so

         Dark in here,”

        light

           ing up a

          light,

           As they made it through what

         see

         med to be

        big

        book

        shelves

         ,

        The li

       ghts

      flick

       ed

       on

     sud

     den

     ly

    Jesse  

   gras

    ping a

   han

   d

   on

  her

   mouth

  (For no

   part

   icular

   re

   a

   s

   o

   n

    ,

“ Nice

    to

   see

    me

   again,

     no,

     no,

      “

    ‘B

     e

      en

      a

      lon

     g

     tim

      e,’

      ,no”

      “FI

       nally

       out

       of your

      sh-“

       “Mr.

        Ivor,

         sir,

          “

      “Aagh,”

          ,

        Petra

        pe

         eping into the

        dar

        k

        nes

        s, of the

      di

      m,

        ly

        li

        t,

     dun

      g

      eo  

      n,

     “I’m

      her

       e

      to ask you about the

     dia

       Pe-

     moissan

       it

       e,

       yo

        u,

       gav

         e,

        me

             ,”

            -

        “It’s

          ,

          ”

       “Get

        Out

         ,”

       “But-“

      “Get out before I call

           security,”

           ,

          Petra

         Slink

          e

          d,

       Jesse

      follow

         ing

       quietly

       after

          ,

       “Well

        at least

        we got

        our

        an

        sw

        er.

         Come’ on let’s go join the

        others

         before the

           show

           st

            arts,

          “Jesse,

            I was lo

            ok

             in

             g

            all

           over

            for

            you,

             -“

          Lukas

          “Axel

         already

          ,told

            us

             ,

          ”Course

  he

 did,”

gruff

   ly,

  just

   as

  pana

   l,

Ivor

  “Finally out of the dark

 nes

   s of

  your

shadow

  ,”

“Now how about

            a real monster

and we���ll see how we measure up

   .”

“Ivor,

 th

   is

 really

  isn’t

  th

   e

  plac

   e,

   -

  or

  th

  e

  tim-

    ,

    “

   A

Compartment

 Reveal

   in

   g

   th

   e

Components

  for

   a

Wither

   ,

 Ivo

  r

 ad

 d

 i

 n

 g

 th

  e

 last

  par

  t,

   a

 “Wither

  Skull,”

    the

   Withe

      r

     Skul

      l ,

      th

      e

      On

       e

     Petra

        -

      The audience burst into applause as it st

      arted

    mo

      v

      in

      g believing it to be part of the

   show,

    Gabriel,

       tak

        in

        g

       out

         a

       wooden

        sword

        The

      Crowd

      Disperse

      as the

      Wither

      start

        e

        d

     at

      tack

       ing

     th

     e

     m,

   “Ivor

      That’s

    Eno

      ugh,

      Turn

       this

      thing

       of

        f,

     Lukas

   Confronted

     “Oh,

      I will

    One o’

     Soren,

      Once,

        hey

         it’s

         not

        work

         in

         g,

         Ivor pressing the button panicking

        ly,

      “Hey, guys

     what’s going

           on,

             “

          Axel

            joi

            ni

            n

            g

         th

          e

          m,

        at the cleared out

        con

        vent

         i

        on,

      “Ivor’s

       gon

       e

       Off

       the

      Wal

      l

     s

     And

   made an invention trying to

    kill

   every

    one,”

    Gill

   repli

   “Co

      ol

       ,”

    “ an

      d

     destroy,”

     “ Why won’t

       this

     stupid

      wire,”

      “Hm,

       Wire

         ,”

      “Axel

          ,”

       Oli

         v

         i

        a,

      “ I mean there was a

        wire on

        the

       table,”

       “Axel,

        what

        hap

         pen

           e

          d

          t

           o

          t

          h

           e

          w

          ir

           e,

       “Well,”

         Axel

        flush

         ing,

        “I um

         I

          took

           it,”

         “AXEL!!”

         “What they did say take

        whatever

         you

        wa

         nt

          ,

         ”

  “Wher

     e

     is-

     it-

     I used it to add

       another light display to the

            statue

            c-

            thing,

            “Well you

             might

  want

to get it

 now,”

Backing away from the

destruction

 on

  stage that seem to get

 eve

   r

 clos

  e

   r

    Stepping

      ove

       r the

   woo

   den

   sw

   ord

   The

  remote

   next

 dis

 regar

 d

   ed

   i

   n

frustration

  As they were driven back to the

 statue

  cr,

“Got

   it

   ,“

 “Hand

      it

    Gill

      ,

      ”

    Gil

       l

     Pas

      sin

      g

      i

      t

     to

    wh

     o

    gave

      to

   Jess

    e

   who

  Brok

   e

   it

 dow

 n,

   whil

   e,

   Olivia

   whisper

    ed

  instructions on how to

   put it

    together to Aiden

   Whil

    e

   Axel

      +

   Olivia

    play

     ed

   dis

   trac

   t

    io

     n

    “Done,”

      Tos

      s

      ed

      up

       to

     Lukas,

      Who

      went

        to

     pres

      s

       th

       e

    but

     to

     n,

   Only for

   Ivor to

   sn

   atch it out of his hand and do the

  Honor,

   And,

    It

 Didn’t

  wo

    r

    k,

  “So

 Losers

     ,”

    A

 Leather

 Jacket

  Rush

   e

   d

   by,

  “ Ethan,

       if

     you’re

      not

     goin

      g

      t

      o

      b

      e

    hel

     p

    fu

    l-

   ,”

Lukas

           snapped

             but they were already

      long

        gone,

        Trail

         ing

        afte

         r

        the

        m

        To the

      Edge,

     Ivor

    hauling

    Gabriel’s

  unconscious

     form,

  “I

    want

     e

    d

 to see him

   humiliated not

 dead

    ,”

  Gabriel

   stirrin

    g by the

  Edge,

Talkin

g

  to

 “Gill,

  you

  need

     to

    tak

     e

    t

    h

     i

    s

 emble

  m,”

Tak

  in

  g

  it

 ou

  t

  of

 his

coat

  ,

 “Fin

 d

  th

  e

 other

  s

   -

   ,

   ”

  Pas

  sing

   Ou

     t,

   And

    Gil

      l

    Run

     n

   ing off in the opposite direction with the

 wheel,

   It’s flashing a

    slight blue at Gill’

             s

             tou

            ch

           Befor

            e

            a

           brow

            n

          dot,

           around

          th

          e

        ri

       m,

      Mak

       ing a small

    streak

    pa

     t

     h,

     ,

    Shifting with the

  users

   stance to point in a

   certain

 dir

  ec

  t

  io

  n

Tak

 in

 g

Of

 f

Af

te

r

it

A

Broken

 Crate

 r

Wi

 t

  h

 h

  i

  m

  a

   s

   K

    i

    n

    g

    ,

    It was

   nearly

   im

   po

   s

  sib

   le

   to

 m

  a

   k

   e

   it

   t

    o

   h

    i

   m,

“Mag

    nus,

Ga

  bri

   el

 Sen

   t

   Us,”

 “ Gabriel

     huh,”

    Magnus

     hol

     ding up the

      tr

       in

      ke

       t,

     Before

        throwing him down the pile

          he’

           d

          jus

            t

         struggle

           d

           t

          o

        cli

          m

          b,

         On

         top of

         Gil

            l

        Who’d

         bee

         n

       s

        u

       p

         por

      t

       in

        g

       hi

      m

  “This.

      is

   point

    les

     s.”

   “He

      ’s

  Insane,”

    Jess

      e

  Admit

     t

    ed

 dejected

    ly,

  Shar

    in

    g

    a

   lo

   ok

   wit

   h

 Axe

  L

  ,

“Then

  we

sh

 ould

 mo

  ve

  onto

   the

   nex

    t

    one-,”

    Axel

   shook

     his

    head,

   “ We

    need

      to get

     this

    done,

    We’re

    stay

     in

     g

   he

     r

    e

   go

    on

   ah

   e

   a

  d

  ,”

Lukas

Speech

 less,

Before

Going

 On

ahead,

Aidan

 Wi

 t

  h

 h

  i

 m,

“Hm,

 Of

course

  I’ll

  go

 with

 you,”

Eligard

   far

 mor

 e

Co Operative,

 Soren

    “I

 should

   stay

    out

     he

     re,”

    Whe

     n

   The

    y

  got

   to

Soren’s

 hous

  e,

 “Soren and I .. didn’t leave things off

too

 go od

  last time

   I- we

   spoke”

     ,

   “It

 would

    be

 better

     if

  you

  go,

Soren, not so much..

.

   Having

    taking

       to

      knit

      ting

        a

       lot,

      And

  docu

  ment

    ing his

   rare

    animal

     fin

      dings

      Not p

       l

       ease

       d

       to be distur

       b

       ed

        b

        y

       t

       h

       e

       m,

     How

      eve

        r very excited to see

     Reuben,

       Jess

         e

          ’s

          pe

           t

           pi

           g,

          “Animal

           s,

             lovely

          creatures

              ,

             Don’t

             betray you

             and take your

             th

              ings

               ,

              I’ve seen

                 a few

               of course

             - but to see it

                   bonded

                     with

           a

       human,

           ,

         You

         must

          tell

          me

          the

          tale,

          Sitting with

          Soren

           and having

            tea

            I found

            Reuben

             (That

            ’s his

             name)

                           at the

                           place

  we

 built

 our

                       treehouse,

   ”

While

 So

 ren

                           knit

          Re

            ub

            en

             a

            ti

           ny,

        Sw

          ea

         te

          r,

        “Now

          back

            to

            the

           point,

             we

            could

             reall

              y

              use-

            appreci

               ate-

                ,“

            Soren’s

             fac

 e

chan

 g

  ing at his

change

  in

 words,

              “you

                 r

              he

               l

              p,

              ”

             “I want-

            to help you

            I really do,

              “

              Soren

               insist

               e

               d,

              “But the Order

                and

                   I, didn’t

                leave things on

                good

                terms,

  Hesitatin

   g,

 Cou,

 “Would  

   Reuben be

   t

    here,

       “

    Jess

     e

    Nod

    ded

    “And you’d be helping a lot of

      animals-“

    “Fine-

      I’ll

     go,”

      ,

   Jesse

    em

   er

    gi

    n

    g

  wi

    t

    h,

 Soren

  Only to find

    Aidan

  an

   d

   Eligard

     No

    Long

      er

     ther

      e,

    “They  

      went

     ahead

         to

         th

          e

       Temple

          ,”

       Lukas

        whis

         per

          ed

           Swa

            pp

             in

             g

           stories

          wi

            th

           Luk

            as  

 on

 th

  e

 w

   a

   y

   as        

    he

    le

     ad

    t

    h

     e

     m

      b

       a

       c

       k

        to

        th

        e

      Te

      m

        ple,

       The

      only

      thing

       left

      after

       th

        e

     Wither’s

     rampage

      “And

       our

       tree

      house

        is

       ri

       gh

         t

      ov

        e

        r

     th

      e

      r

     e,”

   Lukas

   poi

    n

    t

    e

    d

  ou

    t,

 Petr

 a

 sho

 w

  in

  g

  u

  p

  w

   i

   t

   h

   I

   v

   o

   r,

  And

  things

  clearly

   went

  down

    hi

     ll from

    th

    er

    e,

  Ivor,

  im mediately

   taking charge of the whole

  op      eration

 as        Soren

watch

e

d

Irr

iat

 e

 d

  o

  n           th

  e

   side

    lin

    e

    s,

Goin

  g

 t

  o

 g

 e

  t

Mag

n

u

 s

 with

t

h

e

sp

ar

e

tim

e

,

“Who

dares-

So

r

e

 n,

 “

 Dro

 pp

  ing the explosive behind his back as he went to

cuddle

Soren,

 who

 star

 e

  d

 blank

 l

 y,

“Soren,

 ‘how you been

  cute

   pig,

   Always

    a sucker for

    (cute

    animals,

       so

      how,

          “

      Holding up the emblem

      intimi

      datingly

                Sw

       “Al right,

        oh right,

        ,sure

            “

         Mak

            in

            g

            it

           b

           a

          c

          k

          t

          o

         t

          h

          e

                   Temple,

          to

        he

        ar,

      “It’s

      Done!”

      Soren

       raisi

        ng

         an

         ey

           e

         bro

          w,

          at

           leas

            t,

            “This will

 de

 activate

    the

   Wither

   storm,

     “

    “Once

        in

      walking distance so

       of

     course,

        ,”

     Shoving

        th

         e

      devic

         e

       of

         f

       on

     Lukas

      Who

      went

        to

       suit

        up

       as well as the rest of

      them,

 At the moment

arrived,

   “I’ll watch

     Reuben

    for

    you,

     “

  Soren

   Offe

    r

   ed

   Reuben

  Could take

       a pretty

    mighty

  pun

    ch,

   but saf

  er

 no

  t

  to

  risk

    it,

 “Sure

 Reuben

   likes

   you,”

   As

   he

  went

  through

      Sl

       ici

       n

       g

     Thr

      ou

      g

       h

      th

      e

     Wit

     her

     Spawn

    ed

    hord

    e,

   The

  Wither

   storm

   falte

     r

    in

    g  

    an

    d

   fall

    in

    g

  Com

     in

     g

    ou

      t

Rescuing those that the  

   Wither

    storm

      had

      cap

       tur

        e

        d,

       Inc

        Lud

          in

          g

        Gab

          r

          i

          el,

          Wi

           th

          Fro

           s

          t

          bi

          t

         e,

         Only

           for

             it  

             to

            star

 t

mov

 in

  g

 ag

   a

   i

   n,

   In

  three,

   “Run!”

    Luk

    as

    Wa

      rn

      e

      d,

     They ran, castle destroyed,

         and forced to find shelter in a

     cave

     “This never

       would’ve

      happened,

       “

      “Magnus please for once in your life shut your

     accursed

     mouth,”

     Soren

      snap

     p

     e

     d

 worriedly,

 “Eligard help me attend to

  Gabriel’s

   frost

   bite

     ,”

     -

  Into the Night

“Ivor,

 I can’t believe

  so such a fool

  hardy

   plan!”

  Wak

  in

  g

 up

Lukas

 an

 d

           dis

            turb

            i

           n

           g

          th

          e

       other

        s,

      Goin  

        g

       ou

        t

        t

        o

       ,

                  “I should’ve

                    stood up

                for

                m

                 yself

                 a

                  long time ago

Ivor

       Give me that

        in fernal device,”

      “ it need

        s

       morganite

         ,”

      “You use

       d

       dia-

      mond,

         ”

          as argument broke out

          Lukas,

            Petra coming behind

            Lukas after being treated

        for

         minor

          frost

         -burn

         Sm,

        “Looks like I actually

       wi

         ll have use of that

     mor

     ganite,“

  Petra crossed her arms clearly haven’t forgotten the abrasive

      behavior

        ear

         lie

         r,

      “Pl-

       huc

       ke

       d

     Morganite

      at

     h

      i

     m,

    “Yo

      u

    should

     pro

     bably

     destroy

      it

     fo

     r

   goo

   d

m

 easur

  e

   ,”

  Soren  

    giv

      in

      g

      Luk

       as      

       h

       i

       s

      s

      w

      or

      d,

   “Oh look at

    Soren can’t kill an

    ender

    dragon-

   O

    op

    s,”

   “Ivor, you have

   never,

  Been

 helpful

    to

  any

  one

   in

  th

  e

 g

  r

 ou

 p

ever”

  “I-

 Mag

  nus

 C’mon on

  that isn’t

  true

  right

   buddy ,”

  Mag

   nus

  hid

   ing

  be

   hin

    d

 Sore

   n,

  Eli    

   gar

   d

  Cros

    s

     in

      g

     he

       r

     ar

      m

       s,

      “It’s

       time you leave

      Ivor,

        “

      Ivor looking at them before running

      into the Wasteland

      Of the

       ir

     ow

       n

    mak

     i

     n

      g

   “Come on we have inventions

      to make

     and things

       to

      rebuild

         ,”

      “Is it true that you didn’t

     slay

      the

     end

       e

       r

    d

    ra

     g

    on,

    “No,

  Aligardz’s

    dragon

     look

      e

      d

      to

       o

     m

      u

      c

      h

     lik

      e

     an

    an

      i

    mal,

      I lulled

      it

       to

    sl

     e

     ep,

      Not a blade pierc

      e

      d it’s  

     pel

      t

    Soren

     Stro

      kin

      g

      R

       ueben’s

      h

      ea

      d,

      “Ivor’s

        ma-

         ,”

        a sound,

        “We should get back to

    invent,”

        So

        ren’

        s

        word

         s

          fad

           ed

           of

            f

           as he enter

          th

         e

         cav

         e

        Leav

          ing

         Jess

          e with the

        othe

        r

        s

        Suit

          ing up to take on the

        Withe

            r

          on

 e

          last

          tim

           e,

         Soren

          watch

            in

 g

Reuben,

The

Withe

 r

 fell

And

Lukas

Aiden,

Olivia,

Jesse

Axel

and

            Gil

             l

  As

 we

  l

  l

 a

 s

Petr

a

            Be

           cam

 e

hero

e

s,

Axel

Event

ually

         re

             turn

              in

              g

 int

  o

ac

count

abil

 ity

  ,

The

 End

[the-energon-hole]

Maybe a hc for when the bayverse bots (Op,' 'Bee, 'Hide, 'Ratch, and maybe Jazz) have to deal w their small human friend falling asleep in their cab (who is, unfortunately, an extremely heavy sleeper)??? 💟 Thank u bunches, I love your writing!!!

Optimus Prime

-It was a normal problem that you had- you were a restless kind of person, and being on a military base that is always on high alert never really helped. It was hard for you to fall asleep at times, it has always been that way ever since you were a kid as insomnia apparently runs in your family. Sleeping medication never really helped either, and that was one of the reasons you got a car with the most comfortable seats you could- if there was one thing that always worked, it was a nice long car ride in the middle of an empty space with nothing but wide open space around you.

-Before you could make it to your car parked in an enclosed garage, you ran into the big boss bot- Optimus Prime. It was still a little overwhelming being in the presence of such a great and powerful leader, he was probably the nicest alien in the world, but he was so much bigger than you it is sometimes intimidating. Well, most people were taller than you, but that was beside the point- as most people will never reach the radiance and grace that this big bot gives off with such ease. He really was a sight to be beheld, and you were one of the lucky humans that was allowed to interact with him on more than a weekly basis, most people only get to experience him on television- and those broadcasts do him no justice at all.

-Once you addressed each other with a simple greeting, he asked the obvious question that was on his mind when he noticed you walking around in the middle of the night. Once you explained you inability to sleep and your simple solution, he made you an offer you would have never dreamed of receiving- he offered to take you for a ride in his alt-mode. How could you refuse? The two of you were out driving in the middle of the abandoned area outside of the base, enjoying some light conversations when Optimus took notice you began to doze off in the passenger side of his cab. Once he drove back you were out cold, he assumed it must come with not getting enough sleep- he didn’t have the spark to wake you up, s he just let you sleep there until you would be ready to awaken in the next few hours when roll call would happen.

Bumblebee

-You had such a long day working around all of these soldiers and politicians, you were hoping that your room that was a little far away from the soldier barracks would be your sanctuary. There your bed was supposed to be an escape from your busy everyday life , but right now it was starting to feel more and more like a hard rock prison you couldn’t escape. You can lay there all night, wide awake yet  extremely tired, but your body and mind just can’t seem to stop racing from all the information you were supposed to retain and memorize. Sometimes you hated your job, as important as it was, you just wished you could take some kind of vacation- go somewhere and just sleep.

-After a few hours of just staring at a wall, you began to grow a little restless and wanted to do something that might help tire you out physically more. Maybe you can go to the gym on the base? No way, those people never wipe down the equipment when they are done. You could go for a walk? In the middle of podunk nowhere with nothing to look at and potentially getting lost… Driving? That could work- driving was a great way to zone out while making great miles, you also couldn’t really get lost driving- just follow a road you’ll end up somewhere. That was almost a romantic thought to you, just hop in your car and drive until you end up in a whole ‘nother life- to bad that would never happen.

-You were so zoned out that you ran body first into an obstacle that just appeared in front of you on the way to your car, you heard a little dink as you hit something metal rather hard, and you let out a groan in pain. You hear a radio voice saying “Oops!”, and you knew immediately it was that bot Bumblebee- not paying attention to where he was walking. To be fair, neither were you, it could have ended badly for the both of you. Exchanging greetings, you can’t recall what happened after that, because in a sleepy haze you must have agreed to go for a ride with Bee- not that that was a bad thing or anything. It’s just an odd thing; one minute you were standing on base talking to the bot, and the next you were in his cab taking a ride down the road to somewhere different. He didn’t mind that you fell asleep halfway towards “somewhere else” he was just excited for you to wake up and be in a different place, you described it as romantic? He could relate to that.

Ironhide

-It was something the two of you do as a way to escape from the others in the base, it’s not that you hated being around those people, it’s just tiring seeing the same people 24 hours 7 days a week. It felt like every week the world was ending and they all had to come together as a team to take out some kind of bad guy. It was exhausting and you both, frankly, needed a break. Ironhide felt the same way about it, he was a loyal Autobot soldier through and through, but he was far from the regality of a prime- he had his own mental limitations, and he was glad the two of you were able to get away every once in awhile to just drive and forget about all the bad shit that was happening.

-The soldiers now stopped trying to make you two stay on base on these days, because with or without their permission you were gone quicker than they were able to track you down. You two always came back within the next 24 hours or so, meaning Optimus didn’t care too much that Ironhide needed time to himself to rejuvenate and relax his mind-the same can’t be said about your superiors, each one of them hates it when you sneak off to do something they don’t know about. You are justified though, because you have never once missed one of their deadlines or sherked nay kind of task they have given you. They can be mad all they wanted, you and ‘Hide, you needed this.

-The old soldier thought that it was nice, when you fell asleep in the passenger seat of his cab- even though you slept like a rock and sounded like a fog horn when you snored. You placed so much trust in his old frame that he felt proud that he still had enough gentleness in his spark to have a friend like you. Most see him as some kind crazy monster, and really he was, but he wasn’t like that 24/7- and he was glad to share those softer moments with you, even if he would threaten your life if you so much as breathed a word about it to anyone, especially if you said anything to Lennox.

Ratchet

-You were a little bit more meek and softer than some of the other specialized talent that the humans kept on the base, something the others liked to refer to as “an easy target”- a theoretical punching bag if one prefered. It’s not like you didn’t have any friends or anything, people seemed to like you very much so, it’s just you had a preference to keep silent and laugh along rather than correct people about their misconceptions pertaining to you or your personality.You didn’t seem to mind what the others liked to tease about, and you would tease them right back but Ratchet go tthe feeling those werent as personal as some of the things said to you- it was just no enigma as to why you preferred the company of a  bunch of alien robot life from outer space than that of your own species.

-You enjoyed everyone’s company a lot, but sometimes even you would get overwhelmed at everyone’s friendly quips and jokes at your expense. You had patiences it was true, but in reality, everyone had a breaking point- even the most softest and kindest of us all. Ratchet could relate- he became a medic in order to help his fellow bots and to be a positive influence on those who had it worse than he did, it was probably why you two were so close and could relate to each other so well. It was nice having a friend who was so similar in nature- and it helped the others around the base become more comfortable with the alien presences as well, as sometimes new soldiers and workers get a little jumpy when coming face to face with the towering machines for the very first time. You almost had a heart attack meeting Optimus Prime for the first time- he was so much bigger than all the others it was kind of intimidating, looking back on that day you can laugh about it now.

-You and Ratch were on your way back from a simple supply run, which for some reason had to happen so late in the night that if not for his headlights you wouldn’t be able to see the road in front of you. It gave you a chance to have a break from the others around the base, and it gave Ratchet a chance to safely stretch his struts without worrying about getting ambushed by Decepticons, he would avoid physical conflict if he could. He took note of your relaxed vitals and your lax body language- and let you snooze soundly while he drove back to the base, he was glad you were a hard sleeper as these back roads weren’t the best thing to drive on for relaxing. Evolutionarily, sleeping heavily isn’t the best strategic ability for survival, but as long as he was around he was sure you wouldn’t have anything to worry about. 

Jazz

-You just seemed to be able to get along with anyone- including those from an entirely different planet that had a big difference in culture and identity. It’s what you do best- which is why you were most likely picked for this kind of job, your ability to bend and compromise when a situation got tough, which isn’t a skill many can boast about having. It’s probably why Jazz and you got along so well, you were both laid back individuals who were able to roll with the punches and maintain a clear and level head when it comes to what is expected of you and what you will do in order to complete a mission. Also Jazz was more willing to participate in human cultural events and knowledge a little bit more than the rest of his team, he found humans and their creativity to be just as exciting as you found them and their ability to transform into automobiles and aircrafts.

-It was always fun to have an outing with the bots, especially ones where you get to show them what other humans beyond those who live on the base behave like. It was nice to just sit in Jazz’s cab while he would ask certain questions about people as they would walk by, while you answered to the best of your ability whole always reminding him that humans come in so many variations it’s hard to categorize them into neat little labels. People watching had always been a fun thing for you to do- and sharing such a small and pivotal part of human nature it was interesting to see their reactions. All the other bots thought it was rather “stupid” to put it mildly, they didn’t get just sitting and watching normal people do mundane things, but Jazz got it- it was a way to reconnect with the normal everyday people that they were fighting so hard to protect.

-Once everyone went back to the base, it was just you and Jazz for a very long time- ad he didn’t notice your light snoring until long after the humans had vacated the area for the night and the streets were empty and quiet. He noticed how comfortable and serene you looked- and decided against trying to wake you up, he knows how much work you have to do to try and broker peace between all the battling red tape and politicians and decided this might be a good way for you to actually sleep. He was convinced in that moment that if any human can unite them, it was going to be you- and he felt proud that he knew someone so strong yet unspoiled by cynical and bitter ideology.

[veryfineday]

Saturday 23 April 1825

6 5/60

10 3/4

.. [Anne’s period] 

From 7 3/4 to 10 10/60 wrote the few last lines of the 1st end, the whole of the 2nd a great deal under the seal, all very small and close, and crossed the 1st page of my letter (began on wednesday part written on Thursday and finished this morning) to ‘madame madame Barlow, Quai Voltaire no.15, Paris’, all which read over, wafered, and directed, and gave for George to take to the post-office –

I have had no time to make extracts but it is very affectionate  say she will perhaps ssee me again before the all off[er]ed two years are expired write as if having no wish but to make her my wife §§  yet say she knows ‘the hard necessity of circumstance that clings around me now’ bid her do what is best for her own interest and for Janes §  for her sake I can forget to be selfish nay more than this abhor thought bid her ‘not sacrifice a certain good for the upncertain prospect of making happy one whose affections she had gained forever but whose hopes of happiness had waked not from their sleep of years till roused by you to live and tremble once again’ § – all this brought on by my saying I had been taken by surprise altogether tho I ought not to have been by the reappearance of her ‘old beau’ that is Mr William Bell §  said I had not the same feeling of repugnance towards him as Mr Hancock between whom to again use her aunts words il nya pas de choix  in point of gentility Mrs H[ancock] nothing beyond her bright grates in bread street but bade her not atten[d] to me but make other inquiries  said I did not mean to reflect on her taste she had seen Mr H[ancock] ‘in ignorance and at Place Vendome two reasons taken conjointly quite enough to excuse the whole thing’ –

she would not ruin me in postage – if her letters cost no more than now and she write regularly every fortnight of her life, they would only cost 47 shillings and 8 d.pence a year  a sum far greater than which I should save by the habits of economy her regard had taught me – why did she not marK the little volumes?  § Rousseaus Nouvelle Heloise  she herself was the only one to whom I would give  did she think I could now make such presents to others perhaps she would soon become what she was pleased to call ‘more rational’ without much effort  ‘you have taught me much untaught before and surely I must strangely learn that hardest science  to forget [wh]ere I can associate another with those sentiments which you have chastened and refined  there is a little sacred record in my memory that would star t up into life against me’ were I to give these too interesting volume to any other than herself – had before all this bidden her not tell me any more of her being an injury to my future prospects etc. etc. §  they we were good enough to content me I wanted nothing more than I was likely to have ‘save that most difficult to gain of all possesions a heart in unison with my own’ –

§ alluding to madame G-[Galvani] ‘They are who thinK but little or tomorrow or of yesterday – are they the happier? I doubt it much – Then are, too, who have no faith in worlds to come; who have no stay for thought to rest upon, and, with whom, it would ‘destroy their paradise’ – when ‘we go hence, and are no more seen, who ever much remembers us, save that lonely one within whose heart our shrine was raised?’ 

ThanKs for her present of the Environs of Paris – I should con it over and plan some litt[l]e excursions for us  concluded my letter with bidding her tell me everything and ‘remember it is the gentle beam of affection not the meridian blaze of intellect that makes happy the heart of your affectionately attached AL’ –

vide last wednesday page 285. no observation made on mrs. B-’s[Barlow’s] letter because I had not time – 3 pp.pages long ends, and a great deal under the seal, all very small and close – § very very affectionate ‘a diversity of objects and scenery saved you from the intense misery I have suffered’ and she goes on to describe feelings much more intense than I had ever dreampt of her experiencing for me it ended in her being ill and having a great deal of fever for which Mrs Guantlet made her take calomel etc. § ‘I became so ill I had so much fever that I composed letters in my brain to your uncle telling him that your return alone could save my child from being an orphan’ – ‘so thin am I that my rings are laid aside I kept losing them every moment’ – about the going to Edmonto[n] etc. she says ‘I know not how to express all my obligation none but yourself could have acted as you describe the invention and decision was unique and the desc[r]iption capital’ –

§ Mr William Bell her ‘old beau’ had called and sat two hours with her making it evident he would offer if he thought he had the smallest chance of being accepted § ‘when I saw him..... I asked myself is that the man who caused much a sensation in our families how altered how changed in every respect’ – ‘would that I had but one day more of your dear societyelf in this ssalon I have so many things unsaid which perhaps we may never meet with op[p]ortunity to express but to tell you truly I must have many days of your society to induce me to undergo the agonized feelings I endured the days which followed your departure I thought I was near my end not that I fear death but on my childs account not that I love you less  but that I feel satisfied you would be decidedly better provided for without the burden of my acquaintance which can only prove disadvantageous and imprudent in being encouraged I must stop op my pen for I know non [not] what my light head would scribble on to say the best thing I could do with this sheet would be to consign it to the flame my next I trust will be more rational god bless and prese[r]ve you you know all I would say adieu CMB’ thus ends the third page –

Her aunt writes that mr. de Lancey speaKs highly of me – Jane has got the SKetch booK with ‘which is extremely well bound – I never saw Jane so delighted with anything’ § – of madame G-Galvani ‘I do not Know anyone who only thinKs of the present so much as our friend – all her actions, even in respect to economy, portray the same character’.... my letter sent off from London on the monday reached mrs. B-Barlow the Thursday following (the 14th April) – and was charged 24 sols – written on my very thin French paper and wafered –

 §§ in my answer when on the subject  vide line 12 from the bottom of the last page slightly alluded to our connection none could possibly understand it but herself  said I still sighed § after happiness gone by with a sigh more deep and long than she might think ‘in the midst of occupation when the strong voice of duty and necessity call on our attention the mind may be diverted for a while but tis the hour of rest when we retire into ourselves tis then when wh fancy brings to mind what absence takes away and thought of happiness gone by disorders all the heart’ said my own room was perhaps the worst place in which to calculate my loss – in an earlier part of my letter had hoped that at all rates she would not be disappointed in me as a friend §  would have nothing to regret but my misfortune (this hard necessity of circumstance that brings around me now) nothing to reproach but my loving her too well  this would be my only fault towards her which I hoped she would forgive ‘and even its very faultiness may wear away with time for time may come when my regard maybe your own without another voice to claim it maybe your own as well from duty as from inclination §§ – in another part speaking of my regard for her calling for no sacri fice on my part my prospect were good enough  [?] and alluding to her thinking of Janes interest  ‘even pride forbids that all the sacrifice should be on one side’ meaning hers § adding ‘if you were as ssingle as I am  I should expect the same sacrifices from you I would in such a case make myself’ - 

Breakfast at 10 1/4 – came upstairs at 11 1/4 – had just written the part of my journal of today on the last page when (at 12 1/2) Cordingley said Dr. Kenny and mr. Sunderland were come (to my aunt) went down – went into the drawing room, where they were with my aunt, for 10 minutes – then waited their going, and followed them into the front stable – spoke to them for a minute or 2 – Dr. K-[Kenny] thinKs my aunt in a very weaK, suffering state – a very delicate subject to deal with – this catching – convulsive motion of the diaphragm which has come on so much within these last few days, the worst symptom – I see he thinKs her constitution much broKen –

she had a warm bath last night, and is to have one again tonight about 98º Fahrenheit – after coming up to bed last night, went down to see how Cordingley had ordered the bath – found the tub 3/2 to two thirds full of water at 170º - staid 25 minutes till Cordingley had put in cold water that reduced it to about 100, or a few degrees more – my aunt too was sitting by the lower Kitchen fire waiting all this time – very bad management – and the tub placed just under the oat bread racK

staid talKing to my uncle and aunt, and did not come upstairs till 1 3/4 – then wrote the whole of the last page which tooK me till 3 – from 3 1/4 to 5 1/4 wrote 3 pp.[pages] and the ends (tolerably close) to mrs. N-[Norcliffe] to go tomor[row] – easy chit-chat, in answer to mrs. N-’s[Norcliffe’s] letter on wednesday 3 pp.[pages] (quite full) the ends, and a good deal under the seal –

a very Kind letter – I had no time to make any observation on it on wednesday – anxious to Know that M-[Mariana] did not visit colonel BerKeley – ‘why introduce her to him at all – old as Jam, I would not be introduced to him’... § a man whose character is so despicable and well Known, that it did not want the addition of his treacherous conduct to miss Foote, to make him as I believe he is, most generally despised .... it is not the 1st trait of treachery to a female’... together with what I copied from M-’s[Mariana’s] letter in my last to mrs. N-[Norcliffe] and the remainder I have copied in this, conclude the L-s[Lawtons] did not visit him, but left mrs. N-[Norcliffe] to form her own conclusions –

§ on her 1st page mrs. N-[Norcliffe] writes ‘you and I suit very well; and, should I live and have my health next year, at this time, should much enjoy a sejour of a month in our capital (London) with you’ – answer after mentioning my uncle and aunt’s health, and saying Dr. Kenny had been here this morning to see the latter – ‘should they be well enough for me to leave them, next year, and this time, nothing would delight me so much, as a month with you in that 1st of cities, London – at all rates, I hope and trust, no flaw in your own health wil be the preventative’ –

Have asKed mrs. N-[Norcliffe] if she Knows anything of mrs. Middleton, daughter of sir William Grace, wife of Mr. Middleton of IlKley – mother of mr. Peter m-[Middleton] of StocKhill-parK who married Miss [Stourton] – wrote the above of this page read over and folded and directed my letter to mrs. N-[Norcliffe], and had just done at 6 –

Great deal of rain last night – rained from the time of my getting up, more or less, till about 3 p.m. – about 8 a.m. sent John Booth to desire nothing to be done at the foot path – no stones to be led, for fear of cutting Thomas Pearson’s field – Dinner at 6 1/2 – Did nothing in the evening – Fair this evening (vide the 4th line above)  Barometer 3 1/4 degree below changeable Fahrenheit 44º at 9 p.m. at which hour came up to bed – Reading volume 1 Rousseau’s confession and looKing at the map of England and that of France, for about an hour – E [2 dots inside] O [1 dot inside] – my cousin came just before getting into bed

[maybe-writing]

Trevor could not think of many, if any, times in his thirty years of life that he dreaded going to his childhood home as much as he did right now. He dragged himself up the well-kept sidewalk, with the perfectly manicured lawn on his left, and the evenly watered flower bed on his right. He climbed up the beautiful wooden steps, ornate with ceramic garden gnomes and smiling turtles. He pulled open the screen door, and firmly face-planted into the sparkly white front door.

Trevor rapped, almost furiously but not too aggressively mind you, on the door until he got an answer. A woman in her sixties, with a half-painted face, and hair still tightly wound in curlers opens the door to greet him “Hi Trevor honey, so glad you could do this for us.”

“Hey mom, it’s not a problem.” It was a problem.

“Yeah, well the car is in the shop, so we had no other way to get to the polls.”

“Quick question. You never lock the front door when you are home. Any reason?”

“Oh, you can never be too careful in these crazy times.” His mother glided through the kitchen to move a few things and make a space for the make-up mirror, “These neighborhoods are getting quite dangerous.”

Trevor’s face couldn’t help but to show all of his furious confusion. He whipped his head around to the large bay window positioned quite squarely at the front of the house. Outside, two women in their late forties, covered head to toe in neon. Shoes, leggings, track jacket, fanny pack, even the hair ties that held their hair up in a tight perfect ponytail were matched. In sync as they shuffled past the front yard.

Mr. Abernathy in his yard, maintaining his already well-maintained lawn, as he always had since Trevor was six. Next door, a new young family that he had never met, barely older than Trevor was in his yard. He was tossing a football with a five-year-old, his platinum blond hair trimmed neatly into a precise mushroom. A woman was brushing the sunflower golden hair of a three-year-old girl in a bright pink dress. Trevor looked back at his mother bewildered. How could this woman think this slice of all-American, sugar free, all organic, Anglo-Saxon wet dream of an echo chamber could be remotely dangerous?

Trevor moved into the living room, “I’ll just be a few more minutes to put my face on,” his mother called from the kitchen island. Trevor nodded as he stepped behind his father watching a local news station. They were interviewing the candidates for the mayoral election. They were talking to the man who was currently polling the highest, taking his photo op. John Smith, not a very unique sounding name, but that’s the name he picked.

Trevor can see his father out of his peripherals, locked onto every word. Trevor was more fixated on the man, and he used that word very loosely, on the screen. His emaciated cheeks almost seemed to vacuum into his mouth every time he talked. They highlighted his sharp pronounced cheek bones. His sunken eyes, with harsh dark circles, made the yellow tint in his irises more noticeable. And Trevor couldn’t help acknowledging how soulless they were. His voice was hoarse, raw, and definitely sinister.

“So, this is the guy?”

“He wants to keep the city safe” his father remarked with gravel and venom in his statement.

“Those bumps on his forehead seem new, and like they are still growing.”

“You just want to find the worst in people.”

Trevor leaned over the couch to try and get his father’s attention, “He’s possessed by a demon. That is the main point of his campaign.” Trevor gazed at his father who seemed to be going through extra effort to avoid eye contact. “He told people to call him John Smith, because his true name can’t be translated from Latin.”

“I thought you were supposed to be Mr. Open-minded now.” The way he said it, Trevor knew it was meant to be an insult, but it didn’t quite faze him. So he simply leaned back and waited.

“I’m ready. Thanks again so much for this,” his mother said. Trevor nodded sweetly but disappointed. His father pulled himself from the couch in a manner reserved for unhappy buffalo. “Say thank you Jeff,” his father let out some semblance of the words ‘thank’ and ‘you’. Trevor’s mom glared at him and hinted at a try again. Jeff mumbled out what sounded like a statement relatively close to ‘mind your business Peggy’.

They all settled into his car, Jeff in the front seat and Peggy in the back, “There is a polling station on Maple Street.” Peggy cooed from her spot in the car. Trevor punched the address into his GPS and noticed that it was only 20 minutes away.

Trevor’s head filled with a multitude of ideas, and the possibility of changing his parents minds in 20 minutes was impossible. As he pulled out of the driveway and rolled onto the street, every neighbor they passed gave a big wave. They were clearly planning something horrible.

Why did Trevor agree to this? He couldn’t have something else to do today? He could have stayed home with his wife. Lord knows it was needed at this time. He should have said no, but they were his parents. He could stall, until they had no choice to give up and go home, “It looks like there is a branch of my bank on the way. You guys mind if I stop?”

“You’re the one driving,” Jeff grumbled, “It’s none of my business.” Peggy reached from the back to swat his arm as he stared out the window. They exchanged a small mumbled conversation of hushed inaudible words.

Trevor parked his car and informed his parents he would be back in a flash. Much to his dismay there was no line. The one time he would have been happy for a line at the bank. His snail pace through the rope guides seemed weirder than he intended. He had no desire to make the poor teller believe he was trying to rob the place, so he moved at a normal pace.

“Hi, how can I help you today?” the bright-eyed girl said in a not too threatening, please don’t have a gun, tone.

“Yeah, can I get my balance on my accounts.” Trevor said, only then realizing how stupid it sounded.

“If you have the app, you can do it yourself.”

“Yea, I know,” Trevor mumbled practically defeated. The girl finally connected the dots and took down his information and began looking up his account.

Is this really the best he could do? Meandering around a bank? This was amateur hour. “I’m sorry, it seems the computer is going a bit slow” She has clearly done this before. If he was going to do this, he was going to need to work a bit harder.

The computer found the time to finally get the balance and the teller printed it up, “Is there anything else I can get you today?” She asked, and Trevor had a few ideas but nothing remotely good enough. He could actually rob the bank, but that seemed like a lot of paperwork. He thanked her and made his way back to his car to deal with his ornery father.

“Are we all good?” Jeff said through a scowl. Trevor drove down the path set by the GPS. Trevor recognized where he was and where he was going now. The female voice told him to make a right at the light. He sat there waiting for the light to change, and the longer it took the more he built up his courage. Once the light turned green, he drove straight.

“I thought you were supposed to turn left?” Peggy called from the back.

“This is a better way,” Trevor never remembered ever lying to his parents, “we can avoid the traffic.”

“Make a U-turn” the robotic female voice said from his phone.

“We just go this way and be there in no time.”

“Make a left turn,” Trevor turned off the GPS.

“This way doesn’t seem faster,” Jeff growled after ten or eleven turns down back roads and side streets.

“Just the next left and we should be within spitting distance.” Spitting distance? When has Trevor ever said that? He knew where he was, so he knew the street was going to be backed up enough to hold them off.

As they turned onto a practically empty street, Trevor felt like the universe was really working against him today. He wasted fifteen minutes and was only a few miles away from the destination. There was a breakfast place near, and at 9:30 in the morning it could be a good way to waste time.

“I didn’t have breakfast yet; you guys ok if we stop? We have time.”

“That sounds fun,” Peggy beamed. Jeff mumbled an incoherent form of ‘fine’.

“Table for three?” the dark-haired girl asked as she grabbed the menus and silverware. As she walked them to an empty table in the empty restaurant, Trevor felt the universe was playing a cruel trick on him for playing a cruel trick on his parents. The waitress barely let them sit down before trying to get them drinks, and headed off in a flash.

“So I need to ask,” Trevor stated to break the tension “What is so appealing about this guy?”

“Well I know you lost your faith but we haven’t,” Jeff barked.

“I still very much consider myself a Christian, which is why I can’t see myself voting for a prince of hell.”

“In case you didn’t know,” Jeff huffed “he is consistently surrounded by priests and religious leaders praying for his well-being and anointing him.”

“Other people call that an exorcism,” Trevor stated without looking up from the menu, “Besides that feels like a fruitless effort. Whomever used to own that body is clearly dead.”

“He wants to make real changes.”

“Burning down churches will make some real waves.”

“He won’t burn down every church,” Peggy tried to add, “he didn’t mean that.”

“I’m sure your church is safe. Didn’t Pastor Griffin make a sermon about voting for him, because God said so?”

“You don’t get it.”

The waitress seemed less eager to return to the table this time around. After dropping off the food she practically ran away. The silence was necessary but still awkward. “He wants to put something in place to avoid any more of those riots.”

“Those ‘riots’ started out peaceful, much like this breakfast should have.”

“It always starts ‘peaceful’ with them.”

“Chloe’s doing great, since you asked in such a nice way. She’s pregnant, twenty-one weeks. So, you’ll be grandparents.” His father’s face didn’t move. His mother forced a smile that almost looked like she filled her pants with something foul. “Don’t choke on your meal with excitement.”

“Well as long as you don’t name it anything ridiculous like Dayquan or Latasha.”

“Why would we do that?” Trevor asked angrily.

“You know how THEY are.”

“They?” Trevor almost felt punched in the gut, “Have you always had a problem with Chloe being black?” His parents have always been nice to Chloe. He met her in college and when he brought her home after his third semester they were welcoming. Then again,he remembered how

his parents were also pretty upset about the one black kid in his high school being an affirmative action and how it would affect Trevor getting into a good college.

“We just thought you would be with someone different.” Peggy said under her breath.

“They destroy our cities, try to take over by marrying our children, and he wants to make sure that it doesn’t happen by strengthening the right people.”

Trevor felt the biggest wait fall on his shoulders “I finally get it.”

“He’s the only one who gets it.” Jeff snapped.

“No, I do,” Trevor said solemnly, “so let’s finish up here and we head to the polling station.”

Trevor settled the bill and drove the last few miles to take his parents to complete their civic duty. These weren’t people who were brainwashed or led astray by the serpent magic of a hell beast. These were who they were, and he was talking to them.

Jeff marched back to the car proudly displaying his ‘I voted’ sticker. He plopped down into the seat triumphant and arrogant. “All good?” Trevor asked.

“Yup,” Jeff said with no gravel, but all the smugness.

“Great,” Trevor said kindly. Jeff's eyes slightly narrowed but a grin slithered across his face.

The car ride back was much shorter, without any pit stops, and silent. Trevor pulled into the driveway of his parents’ home, “Thank you,'' Jeff said softly as he poked his head back into the car.

Trevor knew his father took the change in behavior as compliance to the cause, and that didn’t bother him, “Of course,” he could think what he wanted.

As Jeff and Peggy walked back into the house, Trevor had to accept who they truly are. He had to accept that he would change, or they wouldn’t be there for the birth of their grandchild. Either way, he would never dread having to pull into this driveway ever again, because he would be doing it less often.