#thanks giz i hope you enjoy this!!!

[atmymercy]

Hii🤍

I think you are beautiful inside and out like a little cat 😻🐈‍⬛

i choose the deck (moonology)

What does Burk think of me (I don't know if he has feelings for me, please tell me what you see 🤍)- Giz♒

😊 thx

hello giz! awww i think you're beautiful inside and out too, honey! we can be cats staring at the photo of the fish together! lol

i love the quote, honey! it rings so damn true about everything! sometimes i wish i had figured this out earlier but i think that's the beauty in this quote, right? that is seems so simple but the actual recognition of this in your life takes time and patience. ah! such a lovely quote! thank you!

for you & moonology deck!

i'm just going to be quite honest on this one. burke wants to tap that! lolol yep! he is liking what he is seeing! and thankfully this is not a 18+ message because the imagery i'm getting is a bit... implied is all i'm going to say! he likes you, honey! very attracted! like this spicy pink-red vibe is going on on his part for sure! your spirit guides are also saying if you want to get a better idea of how he feels, you need to look at the big picture. don't take all the small moments and analyzed them. nope! instead, take the overall path into mind! like burke was like this at the beginning but he sure isn't like that anymore, is he? like he was somebody who just stood outside your circle before? now he's fully wanting to get into your circle! you'll see the clues if you look into it like that, your spirit guides are reassuring. also expect a change in this connection to come! i'm seeing burke might come around with a little surprise for you, honey! ooh! feel free to come back and tell me about it! lol

hope you enjoyed it! please give feedback or buy me a coffee when you can! also please tell your friends if you enjoyed this! if you want to explore this further, please consider a private read as well. also thank you for sharing with me!♡

love & light!

-tea

as always, my rules & info are in my pinned post if you're interested in a reading of your own!

[rorykillmore]

and i'd love to hear about any aus you've been thinking about/working on!

okay so lately i’ve been getting nostalgic about charmed, as sometimes happens with me,

but i’ve always loved the idea of playing with charmed aus because the universe is so extensive! you can get so creative with translating character concepts into it! and it’s just really fun in general?? so i’ve been thinking about building on that more often buuut for lack of a core concept to center anything around rn, i thought i’d just talk a little bit about the ideas i have for my characters! some might be subject to change depending on how much i keep developing this, but

okay so lucille i think would probably be some kind of darker, underworld-aligned species. i’ll just say a demon to make it easier. lucille is some species of demon, but probably with some human blood in her background. human traits probably initially manifested more in her brother, thomas, than they did her, but after he died she started struggling and succumbing more and more to grief and guilt (which full-blooded demons can’t typically experience) and probably ends up trying to explore that and grow from it at some point?

to reflect the redemption arc she went through on denny i even like the idea of her eventually making a deal similar to the one drake made, where he got to be human for a year but then had to die at the end of it. i mean,, that’s really sad but i also feel it’d be kind of rewarding for lucille in a charmed au. she’d really get to experience life properly for the first time and learn shit about herself and it’d have all the more meaning for her if there was some kind of time limit on it.

siobhan -- easy one, she’d be a banshee!

...actually charmed banshee lore isn’t toooo different from siobhan’s family curse, save for the fact that banshees in this universe essentially ‘infect’ each other (if you’re a witch who’s stagnated in deep grief or pain and you hear a banshee’s scream, you slowly begin to transform into one). so yeah siobhan starts out a witch, gets turned into a banshee at some point and loses her humanity, is a pretty spooky villain for awhile. maybe at some point there’d be hope of turning her back though?? like whatever involvement rocket or red would have in this au, maybe they’re the ones to do it.

sara.... i dunno, i’ve considered a few aus where she’s a witch, but she could also potentially make for a very interesting whitelighter? a sassy damaged whitelighter who kinda stumbles her way through helping people sometimes but can also be very good at it; kind of paige-esque. because sara’s death in her canon is like, an infamous event, and sure characters die and come back all the time on charmed. but with how much sara’s death changed and transformed her (and how she has to leave her old life behind afterwards), i think it’s appropriate to bring her back as a whitelighter, and have her get assigned to watch over a group of ragtag, time traveling witches who are supposed to save the world. you get the picture!

i’m keeping heather a witch because i really like the ideas you’ve already come up with re: her, duke, and mcnamara kind of being this buffy-esque teenage demon fighting trio!! and then like meeting/joining up with veronica later on and stuff. one little twist i was considering adding in (appropriate to heather’s character,) is maybe making her a witch/demon hybrid? which... isn’t a fact she’s keen to disclose because if revealing you’re a witch is dangerous in normal society, revealing you have demon blood is dangerous even in magical societies. she has a slightly more aggressive nature and more destructive powers because of it, but is by and large pretty firm about defining who she is and what she wants to be.

okay and for madeline, i’ve kind of fallen in love with (no pun intended,) the idea of her being a cupid! i love. charmed’s cupid lore. a cupid is essentially a like a whitelighter where after you die, if you were a good person in life, you get offered a ‘higher calling’, except instead of being a guardian angel you’re essentially just... an angelic matchmaker??  you spread love, help people fix their relationships, etc. i feel this is something madeline would be genuinely good at, but also like, i can think of nothing more appropriate than giving her a job where she literally has to meddle in people’s relationship bullshit. she’d LOVE it.

trish would be a witch who i’d kind of envision playing a role similar to prue where she’s like, a really headstrong, formidable, slightly obsessive force of nature in the magical community who has a pretty established reputation for taking down demons. i’m not sure what her active power would be... maybe one of the elemental powers?? or maybe something like molecular combustion like piper has. it’d be something pretty in your face, much more offensive than defensive.

i also had the the thought that an interesting thing to throw into trish’s arc is to have her... join up with the avatars at some point?? or be strongly tempted to. because in this au, trish is still... trish, she still struggles a lot with wanting to save people and wanting to save herself and not wanting to be helpless. so this organization offering her a shitton of power and also the opportunity to save the world would be IMMENSELY tempting for her, and of course if you remember anything about the avatars, things would spiral into disaster from there,

dolores... man i still haven’t settled on a strong idea for her, i feel like, because there are so many different directions i kind of want to go in. one thing i do feel strongly about is she would be a GREAT character to demonstrate like, what absolute assholes the elders can be in service of the “greater good”. the elders seem like a good standin for the park engineers in this context because like, both are all-powerful forces (in their respective settings) who oversee things and have no moral qualms with manipulating events as they feel they need to.

so one idea i’m playing with is dolores being a witch (or possibly a witch/whitelighter hybrid?) who has some kind of Big Destiny she’s involved in that the elders are Very concerned with. but it kind of fucks with her life a lot and puts immense responsibility on her, so at some point she kind of just decides to fuck off and break free onto her own path

...but the elders don’t like that, and reset her memory so they can train her for their purposes from scratch

so you’d still get those same elements of like, her trying to figure out who she really is and what’s really true and trying to break free from something really huge and complicated?? yeah i think i like this

sophie-anne, of course, would be a vampire! easy one! i honestly can’t remember if much is known about charmed vampires except for that a) they’re considered outcasts even in the underworld,  b) they live in clans and are run by queens, c) are actually mostly women (with some exceptions i remember) for some reason. basically i’m pretty sure that charmed vampires are a bunch of gay demon ladies who decided they were fed up with the underworld’s bullshit. so that all translates pretty well for sophie! she’s the queen of one of the more prominent clans and basically just likes to chill. and flirt with witches sometimes, which exasperates her advisers constantly because don’t draw their attention, sophie!!! maybe she also turns cloud at some point, depending on whether you’d want to translate that aspect into a charmed au for him

as for camille... i think she’d either start out a normal human, or some kind of witch with pretty chill powers who doesn’t usually get involved in the witch/demonic conflicts. camille just wants to live a quiet life, basically. BUT in this au she does have a ~destiny~ as a future whitelighter, but it’s evident to like. basically all of the powers that be that she has a lot of shit to work out before she’s ready for that. so camille would basically be the character in this au who gets ASSIGNED a whitelighter to try to help her through things as my opportunity to explore that. i’m not sure who it would be yet but i just feel that is the best way to translate some of her pre-existing character stuff and play with some really interesting growth. camille with a guardian angel would be a disaster. but she’s also so unwaveringly kind and resilient as a character that i think she’d ultimately make a good whitelighter herself if she had someone to work through some things with. so. 

i wasn’t sure what concept to settle on for sly. maybe he’d be a wizard... ? i remember wizards kind of being this like, offshoot branches of witches who are kind of mischievous and sometimes untrustworthy (and also they’re almost entirely extinct and the remaining survivors seem to have a lot of issues with that, which... is fitting for poor sly...). do you remember that wizard who wanted to become the source of all evil so he could use the power to revive his entire species? yeah i feel like sly in this au would ultimately go up against that kind of well-meaning  but very dangerous villain and really struggle with it

alternatively maybe he’d be a werewolf or something, to express the fact that he’s a furry, but i don’t have as much of a developed idea for that,

delia is both easy and difficult to fit into this au. obviously she’d be a witch of some kind, but i’d have to figure out some kind of extra edge to express the whole supreme thing. maybe she comes from an especially powerful bloodline like the halliwells, or maybe she’s some kind of demigoddess... ? idk i’ll think of something interesting

and honestly i feel like some of my cats would actually work very well as familiars, especially if i could figure out some interesting characters to pair them with

[karasuno-chaos]

Can you write a food fight Headcanon scenario with Miya Osamu?

Hi Anon! Thank you for the request. I absolutely loved this idea! Although i got really hungry while working on it. 😅 I hope you enjoy this! -Giz

Food Fight with Miya Osamu

You start dating right before graduating from Inarizaki, so you’re there during the beginning years of Onigiri Miya.

You’ve helped Osamu talk out his ideas for the business and stood by him as he took those first steps to make it a reality.

You’re honored to be the first person he turns to with new ideas.

Even if he is strong-willed and usually goes with his own opinion regardless of what you say.

You’re still touched when he asks you about things, especially the food, which happens a lot in the early days when he’s figuring out the menu.

You spend dozens of afternoons in his kitchen as he works out new fillings and defines the taste of his restaurant.

You don’t know how he does it, but he knows how to combine ingredients into something magical.

In addition to being stubbornly opinionated, he’s also a perfectionist, especially when it comes to his food.

One afternoon, he’s cooking batch after batch of the same flavor of onigiri because he can’t seem to get it quite right.

“What about this one?” he asks, placing another plate in front of you. You’ve already eaten so many, you have no idea how he expects you to eat any more.

(He always seems to have room for more, and it never seems to physically affect him. He’s inhuman.)

“They taste exactly like the others,” you say.

“You only had one bite. Finish it first.”

“Samu, I’m stuffed,” you groan, “and you’re always saying my pallet isn’t refined enough to really understand your food. The past three plates have all tasted the same to me.”

“So it’s still just alright.”

You kind of regret your lukewarm reaction to this recipe, but he always demands your honest opinion when he comes to you for help.

“Not everyone is going to like the entire menu. It’s okay to have one or two less than stellar flavors.”

“No one goes to a restaurant where the reviews say ‘Everything is great except one or two dishes’.”

“People really aren’t that picky,” you sigh, but he’s already turning back to the rice cooker.

“Let me try another rice seasoning.”

“No!” You shoot up from your chair to try and block him. “My stomach can’t take any more!”

“Y/N, I need to get this right.”

He tries to elbow you out of the way, but you manage to wiggle between him and the counter, putting you in a perfect position to interfere with his cooking.

You do your best to push ingredients out of reach and disrupt his movements.

“Y/N,” he says warningly when you bump him with your shoulder and cause him to over season the rice. Again.

You turn to face him, looping your arms around his waist and giving him your best puppy dog eyes.

“Can we please take a break?”

His face is impassive as he looks at you, but there’s a glimmer of something less serious in his eyes.

You squeak in surprise when he throws a pinch of the over seasoned rice against your cheek.

He smirks before turning back to cooking, but you’re not ready to let it go.

You take a few strips of cut celery from the counter and return fire.

It quickly becomes an all-out food fight.

You grab whatever you can: rice, vegetables, bits of meat, and spices are flying around the kitchen.

Both Osamu and you get very competitive, so you don’t care that you’re making a mess of the kitchen and ruining your clothes.

You just want to one-up him however you can.

Even though you’re in it to win it, you’re laughing and having fun.

At some point, you get out the eggs and things get really messy.

Snacks come out of cupboards, and pantry stores diminish as you add to your arsenal.

Basically, nothing is off limits.

Eventually Osamu manages to pin you against his chest and mercilessly sprinkles you with sesame seeds.

“Alright! Alright,” you gasp. “I give up. I’m done.”

“Are you?” he demands, though the shower of sesame seeds stops.

“I am,” you promise, relaxing in his grip.

“I’m not so sure.” Osamu wraps his other arm around you and presses his cheek to yours, slowly turning you to survey the state of the kitchen.

“See this mess? Someone needs to clean it up.”

“You started this fight Samu.”

But I also won. And it’s my kitchen, so my rules.”

“You’re such a diva,” you grumble. He just smears some egg on your shoulder and kisses your cheek.

You stick out your tongue at him in response.

“Where are you going?” you demand when he releases you and heads for the exit.

“To shower and change.”

“What about this mess?”

“Start with the rice cooker. I’ll get back to perfecting that recipe when I’m done.”

He smirks over his shoulder as he exits, leaving you surrounded by the aftermath of your food fight.

You know he’ll be back in five minutes, damp from a quick rinse and ready to help clean up, so you just sigh and start cleaning out the rice cooker.

By the time you’re done with this mess, you might work up an appetite and be ready for another round of Osamu’s cooking experiments.

[so-writing]

Digital Get Down - Valter Skarsgard

Terrible title, ridiculously good NSYNC song. 

I’m feeling a little weird about posting this because it’s totally possible he’ll see it, but fuck it, we’re all anonymous here! 

This is the first request for another brother and I didn’t plan to write multiple parts but it really got away from me. Not sure how I feel about it so far, you guys be the judge. 

-

“Someone made you famous, Paige.”

“What?”

I looked up from my book and over at my roommate sitting on the couch scrolling through her phone. 

“That thing you tweeted this morning about having the weekend off work had one other like when I first saw it, it now has 307.”

“Excuse me? I don’t even have 307 followers. Show me.”

Closing my book, I hopped off the chair and joined her on the couch. The tweet had 307 likes and 8 retweets. I had gained a few new followers as well. 

“You went a little viral, can I come when you move out to LA and start selling skinny tea on Instagram?” 

Several hours and six or seven shots of vodka later, I was laying in bed after a night out with friends. Randomly remembering the tweet, I grabbed my phone from the bedside table and opened the Twitter app. 

Who had interacted with my tweet that it got that much attention? I normally got little to no action on Twitter, so this was different. 

A lot of the likes were just random people, there were a few verified checks but most of them were joke accounts. Nothing really stuck out. 

Valter Skarsgård liked your Tweet

Except that.

Throwing the blankets from my body, I stumbled out of bed and clumsily ran to wake my roommate. 

“Anna!” I pounded my fists on the door, “Anna it was fuckin a Skarsgard!” 

“Jesus Paige, you are drunk,” she shouted through the door, “go to bed!” 

Ignoring her, I started jiggling the knob until she grew irritated enough to open the door to tell me to fuck off.

“Wait!” I put my hand up before she could say anything and shoved my phone at her. “Look at this! Look at this!”

“Well damn, he retweeted it too, that’s probably where all the likes came from. He has a decent sized following. I wonder how he found it in the first place?” 

“You should send him a message.”

“I think the fuck not. He’d probably ignore it, I’m sure he gets a ton of messages from random girls.” 

“No, you should definitely send him a message because he followed you too. You have your Instagram posted on Twitter right? I’m checking that too.” 

We had moved into her room and were sitting on her bed. I panicked as she combed through my social media. 

I had been following Valter on both Instagram and Twitter for over a year. I watched his streams when I could but never commented in his chat. I liked his tweets and photos on Instagram but never attempted to interact with him. 

He’s a Swedish celebrity and I’m a random girl that lives on the other side of the world. I always assumed we’d never have any contact, just like all of the other famous people I follow on social media. 

“You have a new follow request. You should decide whether you want to accept or not.” 

The devious look on her face made me tense as I looked to see who the request was from. 

When I saw, I instantly hit confirm.

“Fuck, maybe I should send him a message.” 

“I mean, I’ll be pissed if you don’t. Don’t do it tonight though, you’re still drunk and will send something stupid. Wait until tomorrow morning.”

Sleep came easily and to my surprise, I didn’t wake up feeling as hungover as expected. I went about my usual morning routine and cleaned up the apartment a little bit, purposely avoiding all social media for fear of… I’m not sure what exactly. 

It was still very much a surprise that Valter Skarsgard knew I even existed. 

Anna had left for work, which meant I would have to find the courage to actually send the message that I would probably write and then erase at least ten times. She was right though, if I didn’t at least try to contact him, I’d be regretting it later. 

“Here we go, you think I can do this Giz?” 

Gizmo, my cat, rubbed against my legs and meowed loudly.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” 

Upon opening the instagram app, I saw a notification for a message. I thought nothing of it, Anna and I were always sending stuff to each other through direct messaging. 

The message was not from Anna.

“Funny tweet. Cute cat.” 

Holy shit. Valter had messaged me first and he had looked at my photos, because instagram was the only place Gizmo was posted. 

“Thanks. Yours are cute too. I’ve seen them on your stream a few times.” 

His reply was instant.

“You watch my streams? I hope you enjoy them.” 

“I do, you’re very entertaining.”

“Thanks, I’d hope so, it is how I make my money after all.” 

I wasn’t sure how to continue the conversation. If I started asking him about acting, he might get the wrong idea. I decided to go with what I had been thinking since last night.

“So, not to be rude or anything, but I’m curious… Why did you reach out to me?” 

Usually when you start a sentence with ‘not to be rude’ you’re about to be rude as fuck and I had forgotten that until a second after I sent the message. 

This time, his response wasn’t as quick. Seven minutes passed and I started to get nervous that I’d ruined it and he’d never get back to me. 

Refusing to let myself get worked up over something so stupid and small, I didn’t even fucking know the guy, I put my phone in my purse and decided to grab some lunch.

The taco place I wanted to get food from was a short walk away and I forced myself to only think of what kind of tacos I was going to order. 

It was once I had already placed, received and was seated a in a small corner booth with the tacos in front of me that my hands began to sweat. I needed to check my phone. He might have just been busy and unable to get to his phone.

“I stumbled across your Twitter and liked what you were posting. I’m not really sure, I just felt social I guess. I can fuck off if you want?” 

“No, I don’t want that at all. It was just completely unexpected. I’m glad you did though.”

“Weirdly, me too. I never do this kind of thing. Do you mind if we talk in a different way, though? I get so many bullshit messages that I lose track of actual conversations on here.”

We talked through iMessage for the rest of the day about mostly surface level stuff. He’d given me an email instead of a phone number, insisting that he was sure I didn’t have bad intentions but he still had to look out for himself.

Anna and I were sitting in the living room watching TV while I texted with Valter. 

“You’ve really been talking to baby Skarsgard all day? This isn’t some kind of alternate universe?”

“I cannot confirm or deny anything, but as far as I know, I’m pretty sure all of this actually happened.”

“You know he reached out because he thinks you’re hot, right?” 

“I’m not sure about that.”

“Paige, really?! Your location is on both your instagram and Twitter. He didn’t message a random girl halfway around the world because he liked her tweets and thought she had a sparkling personality.”

“He’s famous in his country! I think he’d have no trouble finding a hookup on his side of the Atlantic.”

“I’m not saying he didn’t like what you posted, I’m sure he did. I’m saying that he looked at your profile picture and probably thought you were attractive so he requested you on instagram and confirmed his thought that you were attractive so he messaged you. I’m also not saying he’s trying to hook up with you or anything, but I am saying that he messaged you because you’re hot. Ask him.” 

“I’m not doing that.”

“I will then.” 

Anna lunged across the couch and snatched my phone before I could react. 

“Anna please don’t!” 

She was quick and made it to the bathroom, locking the door behind her, before I could catch her. 

“Seriously, please don’t, I don’t want to him to stop talking to me.”

“Why do you care so much? You said yourself the conversation has been pretty basic and that it would probably just drop off in a day or two.” 

I didn’t have a good response. I didn’t want him to stop talking to me because I liked the attention but ultimately it wouldn’t matter because we would eventually, probably sooner than later, lose touch.

“Fine, I don’t care. Ask him whatever you want.” 

Giving up, I went back into the living room, dropped onto the couch and waited for her to return from embarrassing me.

Several minutes passed. I muted the TV and listened to what should have been silence. Anna was in the bathroom still, but she was talking to someone.

The door opened a moment later and she held my phone above her. 

“Ok, I’m going to sit down with Paige and you tell me what you think.” 

A shiver ran down my spine and my eyes went wide when she sat and I finally saw the screen. 

If it hadn’t been clear to me before, it was now. I was looking at FaceTime between Anna, myself and Valter Skarsgard. 

“So what do you think? Is Paige pretty?” 

He must have been sitting at his computer, because the background of the chat was what you saw when you watched his livestream.

He ran the hand that wasn’t holding the phone through his blonde hair and then across his face, a smile visible on his lips.

“Yeah, she’s pretty.” 

[bebalanced222]

I am a Covid Refugee! (Part 2)

7th September to 22nd September 2020

Did I mention the puppies? We have four miniature dachshund puppies 🐶 here - they were four weeks old when I arrived, and now, at eight weeks, they are heading off to their new homes. 

Penny with her five week old puppies

It was so funny last Friday (11/9/20), Rachael was doing the mail run and the Vet appointment to get the puppies microchipped was at 12 noon in Ravenshoe. So Rachael asked me to bring the puppies in, along with Penny, their mum, and she would meet me at the vets. Well, I was running late of course (it was a usual work day for me) and you would have laughed watching me stuff these roly poly puppies into the little carry cage. By the time I got to the fourth one there was no room and they were squirming around - I pushed the last one in and hoped for the best!! They survived! Penny was happy to sit on my lap for the drive in to town. So now they are micro chipped and vaccinated and ready for their new families! 

Picture of cuteness!

They are keeping one, one goes to the family that provided the service, and two are being sold.

My daughter Rachael and her husband Scott have a Droughtmaster stud and Scott is really into his breeding. Lots of cow business goes on here on a daily basis - some of their bulls are here where he can keep a close eye on them, some are agisted next door, and they have two paddocks where they agist at Evelyn Central, a twenty minute drive away, as well they manage some cattle that are not theirs. It is a full life - hard working stewards of the land.

Wednesday nights I have been staying in town with my friend Jenny. She made up a session room in her home for me to do my craniosacral work while I am here, and also drummed up lots of clients. Too easy! So we chill out together Wednesday nights, then I have my dowsing Zoom call from 6 to 8am Thursday, after which we walk up town to have a coffee. I love it. The rest of the day is spent seeing clients. Sometimes, if it is a long day, I will stay Thursday night as well, and head home early Friday morning to continue my “work from home” job. Everyone who has received a session from me has come back for more! They all love me and want me to stay. 😍

Preparing for the Big Party

15.09.20:

The family have started to arrive - Brad & Ash and little Evie arrived yesterday and Mark & Denica (the newly weds) arrived a few hours ago. My son Aaron and his family arrive early Saturday, as will everyone else. We are expecting at least 25 will be staying on the property - most will have their own camping set-up in preparation for the Michael Bowden Memorial ride. We are expecting 36 for the ride with maybe 15 of them will be bike riders - the rest are support crew!

Saturday 19th September we are hosting a big party cum BBQ to celebrate Denica’s 30th birthday (in lieu of a wedding celebration which Covid has once again forbidden) and the Memorial Ride will be from the following Thursday 24th through to Monday the 28th of September. It is for these two events that I am a Covid Refugee!

Here is a few photos from the night before the party - we had to check the lights and sample the fire pit of course! 

Brothers, Mark and Brad, around the fire 🔥

Party lights are up - thanks Mark!

Mark and Denica decided to make dinner on Friday night - Mark’s famous curried sausages - yum!

The little kids enjoyed walking this pathway! The solar lights create a pretty star pattern.

The hostess is enjoying having all her chickies home!

19th September - party day!

The grey skies dissipated after a week of drizzly weather. Emily and Rob, and Aaron & Janine and family left Weipa early afternoon and drove through the night arriving in Ravenshoe in the early hours of the morning. (It is a 12 hour drive from Weipa in the far north to Ravenshoe - approximately 850 km). Em and Rob were on the fold out bed in the living room. Brad & Ash and Evie were in one of the bedrooms, me in another, and Mark and Denica were in the caravan. Aaron had three bikes strapped on top of his camper so alternate sleeping arrangements had been made for them for that first night. I had one sleepy Eli crawl into bed with Nanny Naj (the highlight of my stay!!!). Beau elected to sleep with Auntie Rachael and Uncle Scott, but after 10 minutes he announced he wanted to sleep with mum and dad! They were in Brad and Ash’s camper but Brad had forgotten to set the bed up for them! Whoops! Sorry guys. The cool night air was a shock for the Weipa-ites!

In the morning Scott put on his chef’s hat and cooked up a hearty breakfast for the fifteen of us. All the work that we had been doing for the previous six weeks had been in preparation for this moment! It was a gloriously crazy time. 

The Charters Towers crew arrived, and friends of Mark and Denica from Cairns, Denica’s mum and dad, Scott’s family, and more and more and more . . . 

Tents were erected, swags set up here and there, and the day just flowed. The kids had a ball - obviously feeding the animals was a highlight. I will let the pictures tell the story.

Aaron with the kiddies off to see the bulls!

Scott with Evie off to see the bulls!

Poppy Pete discussing the finer details of horses with Cody

Cody and Beau helping Rachael feed the horses

Aaron, Rachael & Beau - all the kids got to ride Sunny

Eli is a fast runner!

Beau

That grin!

Eli on Sunny

Horse rides, dogs, camps ....

Big kids playing card drinking games!

The party table ....

Little kids having fun

Denica’s mum & dad - Emma and Ian. Emma deep fried heaps of spring rolls and chicken wings 🍗 that she had prepared by hand.

Rachael and Mark getting ready to light the birthday sparklers 

Rob & Emily - it’s a blurry shot but it captures the moment!

Happy 30th Birthday Denica!

Aaron & Janine & the boys. Check out Cody blowing out the “candles”!!!

Beau showing me his new bike

It was a fabulous night with everyone enjoying themselves. At the time it was thought we may have made too much food, but by the time everyone had departed at the end of the weekend there was nothing left - and no-one left hungry! 

The next day Mark and Denica had a date with a wedding photographer, so they set off to repeat their wedding vows in front of their nearest and dearest. (Because of the Covid pandemic, all their wedding plans had been scrapped, even the latest one to hold the reception at the venue they had booked. However, as they had already paid the photographer, they decided to take advantage of this time to create a keepsake of this important occasion.)

At Tully Falls lookout - with faithful Leonard

At Hardy’s Farm in Evelyn Central (refer to my previous blog about this stunning property)

And while on the topic of creating keepsakes, the next day we did a Bowden photoshoot to capture five generations all together!

L-R: Rob, Emily, Scott, Jarrod, Ron, Denica, Nana McVicker, Evie, Mark, Sue, Rachael, me, Ashleigh, Brad, dogs Leonard, Frankie and Giz, and Jarrod is holding an unnamed puppy.

Five generations in one photograph - how special! Nana McVicker is Scott’s grandmother, and now he is grandfather to baby Evie! Thank you Nana for making this day so special for all the family.

This tale will be continued in Part 3 of I am a Covid Refugee.

[ts-valledelaluna]

F4 Rites of Passage

Hit Play on this before you start reading to hit the vibe!

CZERN - You were a victim of overplaying too early. I liked you as a person, but you made too many "deals"

JUDE- You were gone too soon. I was really hoping that you would make merge and we would reunite, because I wanted to work with you. I'm sorry it didn't work out.

CONNER - Victim of my idiocy #1. For some reason, we were pegged as a duo. I thought you were cool, but I guess everyone else thought I'd be easier to manipulate.

GEVONTE - I feel so bad that you had to go so early. When I saw you on the cast, I was ecstatic, because I had just been eliminated in 703 Challenge and couldn't work with you. I wish I hadn't voted you  out.

GIZMO - I'm so sorry you had the unfortune of losing your vote. I can't blame your tribe for voting out a voteless person, but I wish it hadn't been you.

NEIL - From my experience talking to you on OG Coyo, I thought you were really cool. I wish we could have worked together.

KEEGAN - My blood pact. In the game of cat and mouse, the cat should theoretically always win. I was the mouse, and somehow I won. I wish I had tried harder to work with you though, it would have saved me a lot of trouble.

RIZO - I wish I had been able to talk to you more. I know from experience that first merge boot is absolutely the worst, I'm so sorry that you had the misfortune of receiving it.

NATHAN - I don't know if you felt the same way, but I considered you my ride or die until you left. You had me as a Guardian Angel in a way, and I'm glad I was able to at least try to help you. If I had known that you were getting the majority of the votes, I would have tried to save you. It hurt so bad to have to badmouth you after you were gone so I could fit in.

LEXI - I know I've basically said this to half the cast, but I wish we could have worked together. Maybe we can if we play another game together! Like Gevonte, I was really happy to see you on the cast. I think we really could have worked together if I hadn't wanted Keegan out so bad. That was just one of my mistakes I guess.

NICK - Victim of my idiocy #2. I don't know if this is what you want to hear, but you know what? You fucking told me so. It WASN'T the right time to get you out. Yet, here I am, not campaigning enough to save you, because I'm an idiot. I'm so sorry, I hope you aren't too mad.

CHRISTIAN - Victim of my idiocy #3. I wish I had warned you that you were getting votes. I wish I hadn't voted wrong. I'm just not very smart. You are a really kind person, and I'm glad that I was able to meet someone like you.

JOEY - I'm so glad I got to play this game with you. We never really got to work together but you let me vent to you when I had one of the worst days ever. Before I met you, I didn't think I'd like you at all because of how you'd been described. But you defied my expectations so much. Thank you for playing this game, I really really really mean that.

AMY - Victim of my idiocy #4. You are one of the sweetest people I've ever had the fortune of playing with. I just can't believe you're gone. It's all my fault, I'm so stupid. I hope you and the rest of the jury can forgive me. I wish I was in jury instead.

Wow that’s a thumbnail

MICHAEL- UGH DUDEEEEE. You know I loVE you as a person and whenever we can get the chance to play together I try to work with you at least for a bit, but apperantly this time you talked to no one the whole time so you became the easy boot. I wasnt happy to see that when i woke up but also wasnt dissapointed.

CZERN: My blood pact. You rarley talked to me but i heard why you left, and WHY YOU GOTTA BE SO MESSYYYYYY, promising EVERYONE you werent gonna vote them is a god damn death sentence. GGWP praying for your best in the future.

TOMMY: Back to your ways.Not talking much, only talking about yourself, and talking game day 1. Your days were very much numbered from the start, this from my end was expected,

JUDE: JUDE UGH. I REALLY wanted to work with you at least for a little bit but you were completely unaware of the situation you were getting put into. I have always liked you as a person and this will not change here. It was unfortunate how this game played out but ignorance is bilss sometimes.

CONNER: Yeah you got what you deserved. Compete next time XOXO

GEVONTE: Absolute mess once again. Not alot to say here.

GIZMO: This was wasn't fun. Giz i went to you IMMEDATLEY talking about the ability to have something going early, and you told me about your no vote. 5 days later,,,you went wild. Making deals with everyone, spreading information, you were too messy for you own good. So when i woke up, i told you what was gonna happen and you used that as a tool to try and get me out, intentionally or not, and that was the nail in the coffin, Good game to you but UGH that was a round.

NEIL: Neil you are a really good strategist, but unaware of the social ability fully. I enjoyed talking to you but you said too much to hurt yourself, like how you watched every season of survivor. Without knowing you and that being one of the first things you say, i kept track. And you led several votes, and then eventually i was able to write your name down right before the official merge. It was a time and a half and you played hard, but thats what ended your game.

KEEGAN: Okay did I expect this? Not really. Knowing you and Lexi were tight i actually wanted to work with you at least a little bit, plus Rachael liked you so you couldnt be THAT BAD right? Bas circumstance took you out and i was saddened by it, but a child was looking for revenge.

RIZO:#BLINDSIDE, but not by me. Last i knew the newbs had conversation about who they could take out, and then i passed out with my vote on Nick, next thing i knew your game was over in a 8-4-2. You and I were TIGHT, we had called that were just personal and we had good game talk too, you were someone i really wanted to go far with in this game and i was HEARTBROKEN to see you go, but luckily for us... NATHAN: ...your main perpetrator goes next. And HOW SWEET IT WAS. A genuine #Blindside with him feeling comfortable and it not matter in the end. If it makes you feel better, I think im the only one in the 4 who actually voted you out. It was OH SO NICE to watch you go after the game i witnessed you play,,,it was nice to have your #1 in my ear though ;)

LEXI: This was the hardest vote I made all game, situation and all. I really enjoyed the conversation we had, it was really genuine and alot of good came out of it. I also wanted to work with you for a long time, and when Keegan left i thought i could do it, but unfortunately you had wanted to go on a revenge tour, and i couldnt let that go through fully. It hurt like hell and it hurt even worse when you gave me your red charm...knowing what I did was showing just what occurred...and what was to come...

NICK: what was to come...was ultimate betrayal. Nick if you dont get most robbed Juror i would be shocked. You had a REALLY good relay of information game, making everyone feel like they were close to you was a god damn good play for you. And you wanted a Final Three with amy myself and you, it was smart on your end, a lock for a win. But that was not gonna work for me and you knowing the position you had in this game I knew when we couldnt get the duo, they would be forced to look into your sights. I expect you to be bitter towards me and I wouldnt blame you.

CHRISTIAN: PLAYING WITH YOU MADE ME WANT TO DRIVE SPOONS INTO MY EYES. Your targeted at premerge was Jules, then me for like 40 minutes, then Jules again. WHY WAS JULES YOUR TARGET? You were so deadset on this happening but you didnt have the social standing for it as when you heard your name once you lost it. You were a paranoid player and having to figure out when/how to see you go was a headache in itself, and if what you said as you left was true, you having an idol was not in the plans. Good game, you are a good man and I meant when i said i liked you as a person and wanted to work with you….but DEAR GATO PLEASE BREATHE. (ironic from me if you remember the nick vote)

JOEY: The crackhead himself! Jeezus you were a damn mess too, how did you and Gato become the last pact? I have no idea, but you definitely had yourself set up to win if you were able to see the end, but your game was transparent. Not to say mine isnt either, it very well could be, but your every move was always tracked by someone else. I do not think a single thing you said in this game was hidden, including your idol. You know its always respect with me towards you but you did yourself in from the start.

AMY: If there was one person to say I was not expecting to work with this game, it was you. A reserved player who never acted on the information they had. When i said you were more intelligent then you let on, I meant it. You had information, you HAD to of had information for your game. It makes no sense if you didnt. I think out of anyone in this game you have the most potential to do REALLY well in the future and I hope that you do get that chance. It was a pleasure to play with you and I will see you very soon I do believe.

Michael- I wish we were able to play this game longer together! Even though you got my vote in the first tribal, the time I could talk to you was super cool and I really enjoyed talking to you about puzzle games and such. I’m sorry the stars didn’t align for you to stay but that’s just how it played out.

Czern- One word: Robbed. I haven’t gotten to play with you in either of the games we’ve been cast for together, but I swear to you soon enough the ORG strategy is going to click and you’re going to go deep in one of these games. Hell, it happened to me this season! Keep being you and I wish you the best of luck in future ORGs.

Tommy- Another person I didn’t get to play with for too long. Just from what I saw you went into game mode really fast, and I respect the hustle. It just didn’t slide in this game, and after hearing about how close you were with Gevonte, I knew you had to go.

Jude- I never got to play with you in this game, but just from the cast reveal you seemed pretty interesting! I’m sorry cause I hear you lowkey got robbed by Neil/Joey but I guess that’s just how the ORG struggle goes.

Conner- Not going to lie, from first glance in the cast reveal you seemed like someone I wanted to work with, and it could’ve worked. However, I heard you threw my name out as soon as we hit the swap beach, so I had to do what I had to do. You were fun to talk to on the rare occasions we did, though.

Gizmo- MY KING! Oh my god, playing as your blood pact was so fun! I really did enjoy my conversations with you, and I was so sad I wasn’t able to play with you in this game. I heard you kinda went a bit off the walls the round you got booted, but I see you killing it in other ORGs right now. Keep it up!

Gevonte- A fellow member of the Phandom! My personal conversations with you were super super fun, and I loved just fucking around. We were never able to connect on a game level, and your interests were always contrary to mine. It sucks, but that’s how it played out.

Neil- For the couple of days I was able to talk to you and wasn’t caught up in my own game, I had a really nice time talking to you! You seemed like a really cool dude, and I loved seeing the art you commissioned and talking about video games! On a game level I heard you were playing a bit hard too fast but that tends to happen on first ORGs :) I’m sure you’ll kill it soon.

Keegan- Oh my god, my King! One of the nicest and coolest people I’ve met in the ORG community, I had a good time playing this game with you. However, we never really connected on a game level, and I knew I was nowhere near the top of your interests to keep around. I’d like to say I have a decent read on the game, and thinking what I was thinking I knew I couldn’t trust you in the game. Also, I kind of wanted to get back at you for MTH hehe. I’m having a blast in Forest of Horrors btw!

Rizo- Looking back, this boot probably hurt the most for me to do. I started to get extremely desperate to not be a merge boot, and in the process I accidentally gave a fellow merge booter that placement. You were probably my favorite person to talk to pre-swap, and I trusted you almost 100%, which I normally don’t do. Just chatting with you about whatever and then going into game mode was a ton of fun, but I knew for a fact you knew more than you were telling me. I saw you kill it in 1984, so you keep doing you King! Thank you so much for being a good sport about your boot, I really appreciate it.

Nathan- My ride or die during the swap phase of this game, Nathan, you played a hell of a game. I was able to use you as a shield for a little bit, and then unfortunately you were voted out earlier than I expected. I came into this game being told you were a horrible person and a bunch of shit, but I really did not see any of that inside of the game. Just talking to you about whatever was a ton of fun. You were one of the first people to actively attempt to go on call with me, which is a rare occurrence, and you put up a hell of a fight this season. I wish you were able to succeed in your guardian angel competition so we could continue to play the game together, but sadly that was not how it played out.

Lexi- My tribe mom! Along with the Rizo boot, this is one of the boots that hurt the most in the moment and in the long term. Talking to you during the swap was so much fun, and I really wanted to work with you for the entirety of the game. Unfortunately, you were too closely tied to Keegan, and I had to take that shot (I had a bigger part in that then I led on, but you probably knew that hehe). The day where your boot occurred was probably the saddest day I had this season, cause I knew you were going from that morning. It sucked because, after not talking for a few days, we were finally able to reconnect in this game but it was too late. I know things were going rough for you during the game, so I hope everything is going okay now! I can’t wait to talk to you again, and it was so fun to play with and against you in this game!

Nick- You told me that we needed to keep each other around to make it to the end of the game, but here I am! I talked to you a lot in this game, and was really pleased by you in this game, it is very clear you are a seasoned veteran! You were one of the only people that actively kept up talking to me for the entirety of the game, and didn’t just fizzle out. You said on several occasions you wanted to work with me, and then made alliances against my best interest and expected me to trust you. I knew what you were doing pretty much the entire time you were in merge, but it was a pleasure to play alongside you.

Christian- Ohh Christian. I wasn’t able to talk to you much on a personal level, but I did enjoy our conversations about Roblox and such. We were never able to find much to connect with other than Survivor and Roblox outfits and such, but I’m sure there were some connections beneath that. From what I heard, you were gunning for me from the start of the merge, which meant I had to take you out before you could get your shot at me. As a newbie, you played amazingly, and I still have no idea if you actually had an idol or not LMAO.

Joey- Joey you played a fucking chaotic game, I’ll say that much. I heard stories about how you wanted to go to rocks at final 6 to force the rock blocker, which like, what the fuck? You played like a crackhead, and it was one of the greatest things I’ve seen in awhile. You mentioned how people didn’t like your social game, but I didn’t really see it? In my opinion, you talked to me a good amount, so I really had no complaints. I think you had a genuine shot had you made it further into the game, and I hope you’re enjoying the 6th place chat (since you said it was really cool)!!! Thank you for taking the move so well at final 6, game respects game!!!

Amy- The most recent boot, you were very much an interesting one to play with. I really wish we had time to connect more on a social level, cause your life seems so fucking interesting and I wish I knew more about it. We had a sort of mutual respect in this game, and I always wanted to be on the same side of the votes as you, but it never really worked out (mostly because I decided to be a crackhead every single vote LMAO). I’m sorry you were a casualty in the last vote, but you were really the only option I could take a shot at at that point. I’m sorry I celebrated so hard btw, that was tasteless on my part. Good game!!!

[woollenpharaohs]

I was tagged by @rhinkipoo - thank you, new friend!

Name: Tamsin

Star sign: Pisces (although every horoscope i have ever read is not me)

Height: 5′8″ / 178cm

Put your music on shuffle. What are the first 6 songs to pop up?

Archie Marry Me by Alvvays

Friends with Scum by The Grates

Baby I’m Afraid by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Hunting For Witches (Crystal Castles remix) by Bloc Party

Go by The Chemical Brothers

Rattlesnake by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Grab the book nearest to you and turn to page 23, what is line 17?

look my nearest book is Blood Meridian and I’ve only read 3 pages of it, i don’t wanna spoil it for myself!

Ever had a song or poem written about you?

For my birthday last year, my family had agreed not to do presents but my mum was sneaky and wrote me a sweet little poem. i’m not sure i’d enjoy someone writing a song for me! it depends if it was in a romantic or a friendly/appreciative way.

When was the last time you played air guitar?

Hmmm i don’t think i do that! haha i definitely air drum though. doing it right now listening to that king giz song 

Who is your celebrity crush?

sooo many…. Princess Nokia, Carrie Coon, Julianne Moore, Clea Duvall, Lakeith Stanfield, Alia Shawkat, Tessa Thompson, Ben Whishaw, Catherine Keener, Dane Dehaan, Michael B. Jordan, Noomi Rapace UM THIS LIST CAN AND WILL GO ON 

Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

Yes haha i crashed my first car by rear ending someone. look, ok, the light was green and i thought they were moving off and they didn’t. and yeah, they were ok, but i totalled my car. since then i haven’t had any bad crashes. one time i drove too close to a bin and it poked a hole in my side mirror which is still there to this day. i never did anything about it. pretty sure there’s a spider living inside :/

Do you like the smell of petrol?

yep!

What was the last movie you saw?

I remembered that i lied in the other ask. the last film that i actually saw was ‘It Comes At Night’ (2017) which was kinda lame and forgettable. 

What was the worst injury you’ve had?

I have managed to not hurt myself too badly. i’ve never broken a bone… i think the worst was possibly when i was a kid and i put my palm flat on a hot iron. or maybe… i had cut my toe on a shard of glass at the bottom of a pool once. both times i was a kid. i’m pretty clumsy but never hurt myself badly haha. 

Do you have any obsessions right now?

Rhett and Link haha. also i’m really into finding and amassing good hour long mixes on youtube and not listening to half of them. that’s great fun. 

Do you tend to hold grudges against anyone who’s done you wrong?

not at all! i’m fairly forgiving… perhaps too much so. it’s pretty hard to piss me off, but if you somehow find out a way to upset me, i’m more likely to avoid you than hold a weighted hatred against you. Even if you've done something particularly disgraceful in my eyes. 

In a relationship?

yep! it will be our 9 year anniversary this april. i’m hoping to take a trip to tasmania or perth, but we’ll see! 

yeah i’m not sure who to tag beside @tiinkers-tales

[karasuno-chaos]

Choosing His Tie (Osamu x Reader)

I feel like Osamu is one of those people that doesn’t dress up often, but when he does, he only serves quality looks.👔  -Giz

Word Count:  1,470

Fluffvember masterlist

“Y/N!” your husband shouts from the bedroom.

“What?” you holler back, not moving from your position on the couch watching Vine compilations.

“Come here!”

“Why?”

“I want your opinion!”

You sigh but pause the current video.  Osamu doesn’t ask for your opinion very often.  He’s pretty decisive, and even when you tell him what you think, he usually sticks with his own opinion.  If he’s proactively seeking your input, he’s a bit desperate.  You haul yourself off of the couch and head to the bedroom.

“What is it?” you ask, leaning in the doorway.  He’s standing in front of the dresser mirror wearing a black suit with a white button-up.  The jacket is unbuttoned, and he’s popped the collar on his shirt.  You take a moment to admire how he looks.  Osamu is much more comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans or sweatpants, but his natural confidence makes him look effortlessly suave in the simple black suit.  You’d insisted he get it tailored to fit his figure, and you’re so glad you did when the effect is so beautiful.

“Stop ogling,” he says, glancing at your reflection.  While his twin is quite obviously an attention hog, Osamu enjoys getting attention, too, especially from you.  The fact that he isn’t allowing you to stare means something is bothering him.

“I’ll try to keep it under control,” you say with a teasing smirk.  “If you didn’t call me over to flaunt your looks, what do you need?”

“Help me pick a tie.”

“Seriously?”  You pretend to complain.  “I was in the middle of a really funny video.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to pull you away from such an important activity.  It’s not like I’m trying to prepare to meet with the bank to secure a loan so we can open another branch of our restaurant chain.”

His words are a bit harsh, but you’re used to his bluntness.  You also know how much this next step in his business means to him.  With the additional brand exposure from sponsoring volleyball events, there’s been a significant increase in sales at every Onigiri Miya location.  Eager to ride the wave of steady popularity, Osamu’s decided now is the perfect time to extend that success to the nation’s capital.  He has his eye on a location near the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, but to move forward with his plan, he needs another loan from the bank.

“It’s just a tie, Samu,” you say soothingly.  “It won’t make or break their decision.”

“You don’t know that.”

You frown.  Your husband is stubborn, but he also doesn’t bother with trivialities unless he’s being intentionally petty.  A tie shouldn’t worry him this much.

“Are you feeling okay?” you ask, walking to him and placing the back of your hand on his forehead.  He looks annoyed for a second, but you move your hand to his cheek and he sighs.  Osamu closes his eyes, allowing your touch to temporarily soothe his mind.

“I’m fine,” he promises.  When he opens his eyes, they’re serious but not manic.  You think he’s a little more focused, which means he’s better prepared to get the job done.

“Good,” you say, dropping your hand.  “For a moment, I definitely thought you were freaking out, which would have been totally uncool.”

“Huh?”  His eyes narrow in a challenge.  You do love to push his buttons, but only because you can take the heat.

“You’ve had this meeting how many times now?”

“Twice I guess.”

“Exactly,” you hum, turning your attention to the pile of ties he’s laid out on the dresser.  You begin selecting options and draping them over his shoulders to see how they look with his outfit.  “You’ve already opened two very successful locations and paid back those loans in good time with good faith.  You’ve given the bank no reason to doubt your reliability.  You’re a solid investment.  The way I see it, this meeting’s more of a formality than anything.  You’ve got this in the bag.”

“Do you know how impractical you sound?  Thank goodness I’m in charge of our business,” he sighs.

“Yes of course dear.  I’ll just stick to our branding and menu design and visual advertising and picking out your ties.  Unless you can do that last one yourself now?”

Osamu rolls his eyes, neither apologizing nor thanking you.  A less secure person would never survive his hot and cold nature, but you know him well enough to see how much he appreciates you.  It’s why you’re such good partners in both business and life.

You also know that the back and forth banter is helping him to focus.  You’ve heard numerous stories about the rambunctious exchanges he and his twin would have before volleyball games.  Somehow the snide remarks and sense of competition make him perform better, and you’re happy to rile him up a bit if it helps.

“Okay, I’ve got it down to three options,” you announce.  “First up-”

“No,” your husband says immediately, pulling a frown from your lips.

“Come on,” you whine.  “This is my favorite.”

“It’s childish.”

“It’s whimsical and fun,” you counter.  “Just look at the happy little onigiri!”

He looks at the tie with the cartoon food dancing across a deep blue background.  It had been a joke gift from Atsumu a few years ago, but you love it so he wears it sometimes.  Today, however, won’t be one of those days.

“No,” he insists.  “I need them to take me seriously.”

“Buzzkill.”  You put the tie on the dresser and grab the other options.  “Okay boring businessman, which one screams ‘give me money’ more?”

One tie is an eye-catching abstract swirl of greens and blues.  The other is a shimmery silver with a subtle pattern that catches the light.  You have a favorite, but you want to let him choose.

After a moment of contemplation, he picks the silver one and starts putting it on without a word.  You were secretly rooting for that one.  The silver brings out some of the lighter grey in his eyes, and it looks really sharp paired with that suit.

You put away his other ties while he finishes primping.  He has plenty of time before the meeting, but you know he’ll arrive at the bank early and take a few minutes to look over his business plan again.  After hanging up the last tie, you turn to watch him.  Now that his outfit is complete, he seems much more at ease, as he should be.  You have no doubt he is ready for this meeting.

“You’re ogling again,” he says.

“I can’t help it,” you reply with a grin.  You wrap your arms around his waist, and he smirks at you.  “You look like a billion yen.”

“Let’s hope so.”  He kisses the top of your head and rubs your back.  It’s the most thanks you’re likely to get from him, but you don’t mind.  You feel his appreciation in the way he holds you.

“Need me for anything else?” you ask, looking up at him.

“The rest of my life,” he says smoothly.

“Only if you make dinner tonight.”

Osamu quirks an eyebrow.

“You drive a hard bargain.”

“Really?  I feel like dinner is a small price to pay for my eternal love and support,” you hum.  “You should definitely accept before I rethink the terms of this contract.”

“It’s a deal.”  He smiles as he kisses you.

“Good negotiation.  Now go do it again with the bank people.”

“And what are you going to do?” he asks as he follows you out of the bedroom.

“I was in the middle of a really funny video, remember?  And I have a few more queued up after that.”

“Sounds thrilling.”

“You know me.  I live a life of adrenaline and excitement.”

“Just as long as you don’t waste your time at work like this.”

“Feed me a good dinner tonight and I promise to be on my game all day tomorrow.”

“There you go negotiating again.  Maybe I should send you to this meeting instead.”

“No way, not after you got all dressed up for it.  You can’t deprive the world of this rare sighting of Suave Businessman Samu.”  You straighten his tie when you reach the front door.  “You’re going to kill it, okay?  Like service ace, blockout, wicked spike kill it.”

“Volleyball metaphors?  That’s so three years ago.”

“Whatever.”  You capture his lips in a quick kiss.  “See you later.”

“Yeah.”

His goodbye isn’t overly heartfelt, but it’s perfectly him.  Osamu grins at you before he leaves, and you get a second to admire this confident, well-dressed man that you’ve married before you’re staring at the back of the door.  You sigh and settle onto the couch to distract yourself with videos until he’s back to tell you how it went.

[karasuno-chaos]

Morning Runs (Ushijima x Reader)

I had so many little scenes that I wanted to include in this but it was already becoming longer than I wanted it to be, so I’ll save those scenes for some other time. 😉-Giz

Word count:  1,481

Fluffvember masterlist

You leaned to the side, stretching and urging your tired muscles to wake up.  Normally you’d let yourself sleep another hour before setting out on your daily run, but your fiancé liked to get an early start.  On your days off, you’d rather skip the exercise and treat yourself to a lazy morning, but you’d learned long ago that Ushijima had his own way of doing things.

“What route do you want to take?” he asked, stretching beside you.

“Well, how far are we going?” you responded with some trepidation.  Normally he ran much faster and farther than you so you pursued your exercise separately.  But as it was his day off, he was allowing himself an easier run, which meant you could run together.

“I was thinking a few miles,” he said, and you grimaced a little as you stretched your calf muscles.

“Okay,” you grunted, “but only if the pace is moderate and we avoid any major hills.”

You discussed the details of your route while you finished stretching.  Then you put your earbuds in and stepped to the sidewalk.

“Ready?” you asked, and he nodded.  You started your running playlist, and then you were moving.

You settled into a comfortable pace that matched the beat of the music, and Ushijima fell into step beside you.  You didn’t know how he could run without listening to anything.  You needed the music to distract your mind from the physical effort or overly introspective thoughts.  Running in silence sounded like madness, but you wouldn’t be surprised if your fiancé found it peaceful.  He probably had some meditative exercises to think through during his workouts, or maybe he just let his mind go blank while his body went through the motions.  Even after two years of being in a relationship, the rhythm of his thoughts could still be a mystery to you.

As you fell into your groove, you begrudgingly allowed yourself to appreciate the experience of running this early in the day.  Few other people were awake, and there was a special camaraderie you felt with them as you passed.  Everyone had a specific purpose for being up and about at this hour, and the intentionality was invigorating in a way.  You also appreciated the peace of your neighborhood as the sun just began to creep through the streets.  The calm itself felt productive and full of potential.  You had to admit that experiencing this feeling was a good way to start the day.

Despite matching your pace, Ushijima’s longer legs meant he was gradually pulling ahead, but you didn’t mind.  He outperformed you in nearly all physical activities, so you refused to consider this a competition.  Besides, letting him pull ahead gave you yet another pleasant sight while you ran.  You wondered how he’d gotten such good posture.  Even while running, he towered tall and proud and confident.

That self-assurance had been what first caught your eye.  You’d seen him out running a few times, and it baffled you how he could look so calm while maintaining such a fast pace.  You wanted to know the secret to his energy, but you weren’t confident enough to approach him and ask.

Your introductory encounter happened early one morning a month and a half after you’d started taking an interest in him.  You’d gotten up a little earlier than usual for your morning run (admittedly to have a better chance to see him, but he never needed to know that).  You hadn’t been particularly excited about cutting your sleep short, so you hadn’t been as thorough in your pre-workout stretches as you should have been.  Sure enough, about a third of the way through your route, you had a stitch in your side and an incredibly painful cramp in your calf.

You were doubled over trying to massage the pain out of your rebelling muscle when a deep voice asked if you were okay.  When you realized it was the guy you’d been hoping to see but were unprepared to talk to, you were temporarily tongue-tied.

“Um,” you stammered, then winced as your nerves reacted to your fingers pressing on your leg.  “Yeah, I’m okay.  It’s just a cramp.”

“Ah.”  You couldn’t read his expression as he looked at you.  “Stretching is good for that.”

“So I’ve heard,” you grunted.  “I just didn’t give myself enough time this morning to properly warm up.”

“That was negligent.”

“And now, as you can see, I am paying the price.”  You had the impression that he hadn’t meant to offend with his last comment, just that he was observing your predicament and stating the facts.  You wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially as your conversation continued to pique your interest.  He spoke with the same confidence he exuded while running.  Where did that assurance come from?

“Where exactly is the pain?” he asked.  His interest was strange, but you described the area of your leg currently causing problems.

“May I?”  He gestured toward you.

“Uh,” you stuttered, perplexed why someone who, for all intents and purposes, was a stranger had taken such an interest.

“My father is a physical trainer, and I have a lot of personal experience overcoming cramps,” he explained as though responding in a job interview.  The longer you interacted, the more he surprised you, and the more curious you became.

“Sure,” you decided.  He told you to sit and extend your leg.  Squatting in front of you, he elevated your leg slightly and gently but firmly pushed your toes back toward you.  Your breath hissed between your teeth at the stretch.

“The pain is temporary,” he said, and you couldn’t tell if he was attempting to encourage you or pose a philosophical truth, but you were too busy trying to control your reaction to the pain to really consider it.  Luckily it did begin to ease after a moment, and you sighed in relief.  Noticing the grimace leave your face, he took the heel of his hand and rubbed it along your calf to help work out the rest of the cramp.

“Thank you,” you said when you felt you had enough control over your limbs again.  You were also becoming aware of how intimate this contact was, and how you were still technically strangers.

“You’re welcome,” he replied.  He dropped your leg and stood before offering you his hand.

“I’m L/N Y/N, by the way.”  You figured you ought to actually introduce yourself before parting ways.

“Ushijima Wakatoshi.”

“It’s nice to meet you.  Thanks again for your help.”

“You should probably stretch again after your run.”

“I’ll be sure to do that,” you reassured him.  There was an awkward moment where you just stared at each other before he turned.

“Have a good day,” he said before continuing with his run.

“You too!” you called cheerfully.  You allowed yourself a few moments to feel the full embarrassment of the encounter before forcing yourself to start running again.  At least you’d finally met him, though your brief interactions had only made you more curious to know more about him.

You ran into each other more often on your runs after that.  Those encounters led to brief conversations and then to longer conversations, and eventually he asked you on a date.  Now here you were two years later, engaged and still using morning runs to bond.  It was funny how the situation was the same and different all at once, and you were learning to enjoy that duality in every experience with your fiancé.

Ushijima had lengthened his lead to half a block when you saw him pause at the next corner.  You thought he was waiting for the morning traffic before crossing, but he turned back to you.  Even after a mile and a half, he still looked remarkably composed.

“What’s up?” you asked, turning down the volume of your music.

“We’re getting married in three months.”

“Yes,” you said slowly, wondering where this was going.

“We’ll get to do this all of the time.”

“Maybe not all of the time.  I still can’t keep up with you.”

“I mean we’ll get to spend every morning together.”  He met your eyes with warmth and love.  “I’m really looking forward to it Y/N.”

“Me too,” you agreed, a pleasant blush rising in your cheeks.  Ushijima didn’t feel the need to stop and share his feelings very often, so you treasured these little moments when they came.  He bent down to press a kiss to your lips, and you didn’t mind that he was a little sweaty because you loved him.  Then he was turning away to continue the run as though nothing had interrupted it in the first place.  You chuckled breathlessly as you followed.  If running with him would include more of these moments, you might not mind getting up so early more often.

[karasuno-chaos]

Hiiiii! I hope you’re having a wonderful day today! I was wondering if I could request hcs for Suga and Tanaka and their reactions to having an s/o who really likes to have their hair played with or back scratches during cuddles and they just melt at their touch? I crave the fluff ;-;. Thankies! ❤️

Melting at Their Touch with Suga and Tanaka

Hello!  I hope you’re having a wonderful day, too!  Sorry this took me a little bit to write, but I hope you enjoy it. I love writing fluff with  Suga, and Tanaka is one of my faves, so this was a joy of a prompt. Thanks for the request! 🤗 -Giz

Suga

I firmly believe that Suga is a huge cuddlebug.

Holding hands, bumping knees under the table, laying his head on your shoulder and letting you do the same--these are constant little signs of his love.

You’re snuggled up on the couch one day working on homework when Suga starts playing absentmindedly in your hair.

He runs his fingers through it gently.  He loves the feel of it between his fingers.

Occasionally he massages your scalp a little, and you lean into his touch.

Neither of you notices at first, but Suga definitely catches on after a bit.

He loves your reaction!  All of the tension leaves your face and you smile a happy little smile.

By the time he starts massaging the tension from your neck and shoulders, neither of you are getting much homework done.

“Sorry, am I distracting you?” he asks as you set aside your homework.

“Please don’t stop,” you say, wrapping your arms around him.

Suga is secretly thrilled that you want more.  Any excuse to cuddle with his favorite person!!

He wraps you in a hug but his hands continue to rub the tension out of your muscles.

The moment he starts scratching your back, you absolutely melt.

You sigh happily, and you don’t see it, but Suga blushes.

He knows that just because he’s comfortable with physical affection doesn’t mean you always are, so moments like this when he knows you’re enjoying his cuddles really warm his heart.

He wants you to be happy, and right now he’s making you really happy, which makes him happy, too!

He does kind of wonder why you’re reacting so strongly to his cuddles, though.

“Have you been stressed a lot lately?”

“Not particularly,” you murmur.  “Why do you ask?”

“You’re just so relaxed all of a sudden.”

“Sorry!  Is it too much?  Am I bothering you?”  You sit up, blushing in embarrassment.

“No!  Not at all,” he reassures you, cradling your face.  “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

The way he looks at you has you blushing all over again.  He’s so attentive and gentle, even when he’s teasing or pulling pranks.  He really is the sweetest!

If Suga notices you’re worried or having a bad day, he’ll make sure to give you some extra attention and cuddles.  It’s one way he can support you and be there for you.

Sometimes when he’s having a bad day, he’ll ask for cuddles because the way you wholeheartedly melt into him really warms his heart.

Cuddles are Suga’s favorite way of telling you he loves you, and he’ll never get tired of your reactions.

Tanaka

Tanaka talks big but is such a softie.

At the beginning of your relationship, he’s really careful to treat you right.  He can’t believe you’re actually dating him, and he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable and scare you away.

You appreciated his desire to respect your boundaries, but you also want him to be comfortable and stop worrying.

“Ryuu, you don’t have to ask for permission every time you want to hold my hand or cuddle.  If I don’t like what you’re doing, I’ll tell you, okay?”

That puts him somewhat at ease, though cuddles for the first few months of your relationship mainly consist of hugs and sitting side-by-side with his arm around you.

It’s nice, but sometimes you crave more.

The first time Tanaka rubs your back, he’s a little freaked out by your reaction.

All of a sudden you’re leaning into him with a heavy sigh, and he’s not sure why.

Are you okay?  Did he do something wrong?  He’s never seen you behave like this.

“Ryuu, why’d you stop?” you pout.

“You… Are you okay?”

“No.  I want you to scratch my back some more.  It feels really good.”

Eventually he gets used to the way you melt at his touch, and honestly?  He finds it super cute.

You two aren’t overly cuddly in public so he’s basically the only one who gets to see you so relaxed like this, and that’s really special.

One time you’re laying on top of him while he’s scratching your back and you fall asleep.

You look so peaceful and happy, he doesn’t think his heart can handle it.

He knows he can come off as rough and intimidating, so to have you be so comfortable and happy with him that you can fall asleep?  It means a lot to him.

Pulse you’re just too adorable!!

Sometimes he plays with your hair when his feelings grow too big to contain but it’s not an opportune time for cuddles.

You’ll be eating lunch or walking home with the volleyball team and he’ll run his hand through your hair a few times or just cradle your head for a second.

You always smile sweetly at him, letting him know you got his message, and it always makes him blush a little.

He doesn’t care how often his friends tease him.  He loves seeing that smile.

One day as you’re hanging out, you notice him looking at you like he wants to say something.

“Is something bothering you, Ryuu?”

Suddenly he’s blushing bright red.

“Could you maybe rub my head for a bit?  If you’re comfortable with that.”

asdfjkl; He really is such a softie!!  There’s no way you can say no.

As you massage his scalp and see how content it makes him, leaning into your touch, you fall in love with him a little bit more.

[karasuno-chaos]

hello 💞 can i request kageyama and suga (seperate)cuddling hcs??? im soft for both of them 🤧🤧💞💗✨

asdfjkl;  Cuddles with soft setter boys???  Absolutely!!  It’s sort of a hybrid of headcanons and scenarios, I hope that’s okay? 🥺 👉👈  Sometimes I start writing and get a bit carried away.  Thanks for the request! 🤗 -Giz

Cuddles with Kageyama and Suga

Kageyama

Listen, this boy loves you.  He really, really does.  He’s just a bit dense when it comes to anything not directly related to volleyball.

You learned early on in your relationship that dropping hints will get you nowhere.  It’s best to be direct.

You’re at his house for what’s supposed to be a study date, but he got distracted watching playback of his last match, and you got bored trying to work through these grammar exercises ages ago.

You put your homework aside and shimmy across the couch to you boyfriend.  You take his arm and wrap it around you so you can nestle into his side, your head against his chest.

One of the many nice things about Kageyama is that he very rarely says no to cuddling.  Once he knows you want physical affection, he will deliver.

You sit with him awhile, his arm holding you comfortably, watching him rewind and replay the same twenty seconds of the game over and over.

“What are you looking for?” you ask eventually.

“Something’s off about the way Asahi spikes this ball, and I can’t tell if it’s how I set it or his approach or what.”

“Well what do his spikes normally look like?”

He rewinds further to show you a different rally, then replays the one that’s bothering him.

You like asking Kageyama to talk about volleyball sometimes.  He gets so passionate about it, and you love the way his eyes sparkle while he talks, so you have a general idea of what he looks for when he’s evaluating his gameplay.

You can see the difference in the attacks, but if your boyfriend can’t see why, you probably won’t, either.  Still, you want to be supportive and helpful, so you study the video and ask questions and offer suggestions.

While you sit there, you slip your fingers inside his sweatshirt sleeve to gently hold his wrist.  It’s subtle, but Kageyama’s learned it’s a sign that you really want to cuddle.  (He’s really trying to understand you, it just takes him time to figure things out.)

He’s not making any progress on his homework or unravelling this play, so he moves his laptop aside and opens his arms in invitation.

Eagerly you climb into his lap and wrap your arms around his waist, tucking your head against his neck.

Kageyama wraps his arms around you and rests his cheek against your forehead.

He’s so warm!  You never feel so safe and loved as when you’re in his arms.

It’s also incredibly comfortable for both of you.  You’ve spent entire afternoons cuddling like this, talking about anything and nothing, just enjoying being together.

Sometimes he rubs your back or massages your scalp, but more often you just sit there wrapped together in contentment.

You’ve also learned this is an effective method to get your boyfriend to relax, and you’re not surprised when his breathing slows and deepens.

You lift your head slowly to check, and sure enough, he’s fallen asleep.He looks so peaceful when he sleeps, and it warms your heart to know he’s so at ease with you that he can relax like this.

You drop your head and smile into his chest, breathing in the warmth and joy before drifting off yourself.

Suga

Suga is incredible at cuddling.  It’s life-changing.

Just look at him.  How could you not want to cuddle him 24/7???

Lucky for you, he loves to cuddle and isn’t afraid to surprise you with a soft blanket and warm hugs when it looks like you could use them (or even when you don’t).

You’re working on homework after a long day of school and activities, squished into an armchair with your boyfriend who finished his assignments a little while ago and is scrolling through his phone.

Suga loves cuddling with you like this, sharing a space that’s technically too small for two people but is actually the perfect size when you sit in his lap and tangle your legs together while he wraps a blanket around you both and rests his chin on your shoulder.  It’s his favorite way of passing time with you.

Today, though, he notices the creases in your forehead growing deeper as you stare at your reading assignment.  You look so done, and he wants to smother you in a hug and kiss you until you’re smiling.

“How’s it going?” he asks.

“It’s going,” you sigh, adjusting your hold on the book.

“Is it?”

“Yes?”  You turn to look at him, confused by the question.  He’s looking at you sympathetically.

“You haven’t turned a page in the last five minutes.”

You groan and smash the book into your face to cover your frustration and embarrassment.  You feel your boyfriend chuckle.

“Wait,” you say, letting the book fall back into your lap, “you’ve been staring at me for five minutes?”

“With the utmost adoration.  I’m a little offended you didn’t notice,” he teases.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just really not focusing tonight.”

“Here, let me help.  What part are you at?”

You indicate the spot, and after adjusting how you’re sitting so he can see the book, he starts reading to you.

Even though he’s reading your homework, it’s so soft and pleasant???  Like you could listen to him reciting the phone book and you would love every minute of it.

There’s something incredibly intimate in knowing his murmuring voice is meant solely for you.  You can feel every inhale in his chest, and his breath sometimes ghosts against your cheek.

He uses one hand to turn the pages of the book and the other to hold your hand beneath the blanket.  Sometimes his thumb gently rubs circles on your skin.

You’re almost disappointed when he finishes reading, but then he sets aside the book and wraps you tightly in his arms and the blanket for some dedicated cuddle time.

It would almost be suffocating except you love being smothered in his affection, and he makes sure you’re super comfortable the whole time.

He loves playing with your hands and letting you play with his, but be warned:  if you’re not paying enough attention, he WILL try and tickle you.  He’s not above teasing you if he thinks he can get away with it.

If you’re not in the mood, though, he’ll just hold you and drop soft kisses onto your cheek while you talk together.

He’ll put up a fuss when you try to get up or you have to stop because he doesn’t ever want to let go of you.  You make him so happy!

10/10 Please cuddle Suga because he loves it and you will too.

[karasuno-chaos]

Hello it’s me again! I wanted to say thank you again for answering my last request, and I have another! How would Suga and Tanaka (I love them sm I’m sorry) react to an s/o who laughs at everything, even laughs their own jokes? I have a broken sense of humor and so I was wondering how they’d react to something like that. Thank you so so much! I hope you’re having a wonderful day <3 <3

Laughing at Everything with Suga and Tanaka

Hello again!  Thanks for another wonderful request. 🤗  If you ever have a silly joke or story you want to share, send it my way!  I love dumb puns and dad jokes, plus I think everyone could use a little more laughter these days.  Anyways, I hope you enjoy and have a fantastic day! 😊 -Giz

Suga

We all know Suga has a healthy sense of humor.

He’s always down to pull pranks and tease his friends, and the fact that you laugh Every Single Time delights him to no end.

Daichi, Kiyoko, and Asahi react with long-suffering sighs, but you always smile and giggle.

If he can get you to full-on laugh, it’s the best day ever.

Lucky for him, you are endlessly amused.

At first he’s not sure whether you laugh out of sympathy or genuine humor, but when he hears you laugh at your own jokes, he knows you’re just like that.

He figures out how to interpret your laughs.  He can tell when you think something is dumb funny or seriously hilarious or you’re not even sure why you’re laughing, you just are.

Want to know the best part?  Suga always laughs when you laugh.

Even if he doesn’t understand why you find something funny, he can’t help it.  Something about your giggle is infectious.

Sometimes you and Suga will be hanging out and suddenly you chuckle to yourself.

“What is it?” he asks, already grinning.

“Nothing,” you say, but you keep giggling.

“Seriously, what is it?”

After you show him the meme or read the post that was cracking you up, he chuckles, even if he doesn’t find it that funny.

He thinks your ability to find delight in so much is kind of a superpower.  You’re always finding something to make you smile.  He loves that about you.

Be ready for SO MANY INSIDE JOKES!!

Sometimes you drive your friends crazy because it’s like you two speak a language just for yourselves, and no one can figure it out.

Suga will send you random texts of those jokes out of the blue, and they send you into fits of laughter wherever you are.

Sometimes you come across a particularly good joke or funny story and you just have to share it, so you give your boyfriend a call.

“Hey Y/N.”  Suga always answers so cheerfully.

“Hey, I’ve got the funniest thing to share with you.”

Half the time you keep cracking up before you can get through the joke or story, so it takes twice as long as it should, but Suga waits in patient amusement and chuckles appreciatively when you finally get to the punch line.

If you’re having a bad day, he’ll look up jokes to tell you and keep feeding them to you until you’re both giggling.

If he’s in one of his mischievous moods, he’ll whisper a bad pun or inside joke into your ear while you’re cuddling.

Feeling you laugh in his arms is definitely one of his favorite things.

Tanaka

Sometimes when you laugh, it freaks him out a little.

If he doesn’t understand why you’re laughing, he wonders if he’s missing something.

For a while he was actually concerned whether you’re okay because you laugh so much.

He’d witnessed too many moments when you’re sleep deprived and a little loopy so everything is ten times funnier than it should be and you just can’t. stop. laughing.

After a few of those uncontrollable giggle fits, he just accepts that that’s how you are.

He doesn’t always laugh along like Suga, but he’ll give you a smile.

When he’s getting up to mischief and you laugh?  He’ll be even more flamboyant so he can hear you giggle again.

You really love him, even when he’s ridiculous, and laughing is one of the ways you show that.

Sometimes you laugh when he’s trying to be intimidating, but you can’t help it!  You know he’s really just a big old sweetheart, so this punk attitude is hilarious.

“Babe, I’m trying to smack talk the other team.  Do you mind?”

“Sorry,” you giggle, kissing his cheek.  “I’ll see you inside.”

Of course now he’s blushing, which further undermines his tough guy persona, but he doesn’t care because you kissed him and he loves you.

He’ll never yell at you for laughing, even if he doesn’t get what you find so funny.

He will, however, tell you when you’re being bafflingly ridiculous.

“Y/N, that joke was terrible,” he’ll deadpan, or “That toaster’s always looked like it has a face, babe.  Why are you laughing about it now?”

Most of the time, though, you’re on the same wavelength.

There are times when you two just build off of each other’s jokes and your friends are just like “Please stop”.

When you try to tell him a joke or story and are laughing too hard to form sentences, he’ll wait patiently with just the hint of a smile until you get to the punch line.

“That’s it?  Can I get back the last five minutes of my life please?”

“Ryuu!”

“I’m kidding.”  He throws his arm over your shoulder and kisses your forehead.  You can tell from the slight tremble of his ribs and his smile that he’s holding in his own laughter to tease you.

Memes!  Tanaka definitely has a bunch saved on his phone and will send them to you throughout the day.

He’s also surprisingly good at snapping unflattering candid pictures of your friends which the two of you then turn into memes.  Your friends have had to accept that there’s nothing they can do to stop you.

10/10 most chaotic and fun couple.

[rorykillmore]

so today is @tailsthesales  and as a birthday fic he requested a piece fitting tails into a transformers au!  so. i gave it my best shot. imagining tails & co as autobots was actually EXTREMELY fun. this is idw-verse (fitting, i figure,) aaaand takes place directly after the dark cybertron arc where shockwave has almost destroyed all of reality, just for a point of reference.

so happy birthday, giz!!! i know we are all experiencing some rocky times right now, but i hope you manage to enjoy it. <3  you have been such a consistently warm and engaging presence in my life in all the time we’ve been friends and co-admins, and i endlessly appreciate how quick you are to support my ideas and encourage my writing. hopefully this fic serves to do the same for yours, because i can’t WAIT to see more of tails in the future!!

“Ha. Sonic? Slow down? The war may be over, the universe may have almost ended, and Megatron may be an Autobot, but some things still are never gonna change.”

“Alright, alright, alright. Head count. Everyone sit down for a head count.” Rodimus raises his voice to be heard over the crowds, and seems... honestly, rather taken aback when people actually listen. “...Okay, one: wasn’t expecting that to work. Two: there are way too many of you to actually count, so nevermind.”

Tails actually hears Knuckles snort.  “And this is what happens when you slap ‘Prime’ on the end of your name and call yourself a leader.”

“Hey, come on, cut him some slack,” Sonic says, astoundingly cheerful for someone who is presently laid out on a portable operating slab. But then, he’s always been unflinching about putting his life in Tails’ hands.  “He did just help save the universe.”

“We all did,” Knuckles grumbles.

“I don’t see too much damage,” Tails reports, trying to distract them both with some good news.  “That Ammonite’s shot totally missed your transformation cog, which is great! This coulda got ugly.”

“Have I told you lately how much I love your bedside manner?” Sonic chuckles, looking up at him. “But thanks, Tails. Close me up and lets get back out there! I’m sure there’s a lot of injured Autobots who could still use our help.”

The three of them - as Ratchet, the medic Tails looks up to most, once said - make quite a team.  Sonic is a racer-turned-Autobot-frontliner who likes to play the hero nearly as often as Rodimus does (Tails supposes that might be why he’s so quick to defend him), Knuckles is an ex-Wrecker who joined up with them during his quest to lead a life with less... well, wreckage (not that they always avoid it), and Tails himself is a helicopter bot and a medic who just recently completed his training. Together, they form Team Sonic (after some mild debate between Sonic and Knuckles -- which Tails had stayed out of, because he just didn’t think “Team Tails” had the same ring to it), and they’ve stuck together since even after the war officially ended.

Tails definitely isn’t complaining. They’re stronger together -- and war or no war, the universe still needs their help! 

...As recently evidenced by, uh, Shockwave trying to destroy it. Thank Primus they all got out of that one okay, Sonic’s minor interior injuries aside. 

He closes Sonic up once everything is back in working order, and predictably, the former racer is back on his feet in an instant. Tails has never exactly known him to be the patient type.

“Try and take it easy for a little while, just in case,” he warns gently regardless.

Knuckles barks out a laugh.  “Ha. Sonic? Slow down? The war may be over, the universe may have almost ended, and Megatron may be an Autobot, but some things still are never gonna change.”

“Megatron is a... what?”  Tails turns to him, optics bright with disbelief, certain he must have misheard. Even Sonic stops dead in his tracks, waiting for the punchline.

Knuckles shrugs, almost uncomfortably. “Just a rumor that’s going around.”

Tails has to admit, it’s not a very plausible rumor. The feared leader of the Decepticons? The guy with the body count in the billions? An Autobot?

Sonic crosses his arms. “Unbelievable. People will say anything.”

“Everyone here accounted for?” Ultra Magnus’s voice booms above them as his rounds finally bring him to their group. Tails straightens up instinctively and gives Magnus a quick salute for good measure, since, well. That’s the kind of thing Magnus appreciates.

“Yes sir! Sonic had a gunshot wound, but it wasn’t serious.”

“Tails patched me right up, as per usual,” Sonic asserts, giving Tails a quick, confident smile that has Tails beaming back at him.

Ultra Magnus seems satisfied by that report.  “Very good. Listen,”  He pauses, turning to scrutinize Tails specifically, and Tails goes still.  “Optimus wants to speak to you.”

There’s a moment of silence as the three of them take that in.

“Prime?” Knuckles finally and impulsively blurts out.

Ultra Magnus gives him a deadpan look in response.  “Do you know another Optimus?”

None of them do, of course, but Tails can’t help but share in Knuckles’ confusion. Why would Optimus Prime want to speak to him? If there’s a de facto leader of their little team, it’s Sonic, after all. 

But when he turns to meet his friend’s gaze, Sonic is staring somberly but encouragingly back at him, and Tails takes heart in his silent show of support. He turns back to Magnus carefully.  “Er, sure, Ultra Magnus. Sure thing. Um -- now?”

“Whenever you have a moment.”  Ultra Magnus ticks their names off on his datapad and starts to move on.  Then he pauses, glancing shortly over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t keep him waiting.”

Tails is pretty sure Magnus didn’t mean for that to sound as ominous as it did. A good sixty percent of what comes out of Magnus’ mouth is, notoriously, unintentionally ominous just by virtue of him having absolutely no sense of humor (not that Tails would ever say that to his face). He looks back at his friends again. Knuckles shrugs, and Sonic gives him a thumbs up.

“You guys’ll be okay?” Tails still asks just to make sure.

“Golden,” Sonic assures him.  “Go on and see what the big guy wants. We’ll wait for you.”

Tails takes heart in knowing he doesn’t have to question that for a second.

When he finds Optimus, though, he looks more... harrowed, somehow, than Tails expected. Maybe it’s just that Tails is used to him looking so unshakable, though comparatively, Optimus still looks a lot less shaken than the rest of them. It makes Tails wonder what really did happen with Megatron.

Then again... the battle hadn’t been easy on any of them. It’s not a stretch to say that there’s probably not an unshaken ‘bot among them.

“Sir?” Tails greets, standing to respectful attention none the less.  “You wanted to see me?”  

“Yes, Tails. Thank you for lending me a few moments of your time.  I know you must want to be with your team right now.”  Optimus pauses, and Tails tries not to waver under his scrutiny.  “Are they all alright?”

“We’ve had worse scrapes, sir!” Tails assures him, and then winces a little, because that makes all the lives that have just been lost seem horribly trivial.  “ -- I just mean! We were lucky, this time. Sonic got shot, but I patched him right up.”

Optimus nods slowly.  “Ratchet tells me he commends you on your medical skill.”

It takes a second for that to sink in.  “Commends -- ?”  Tails stumbles over his own words.  Ratchet? The Ratchet?  The Autobots’ most famous and accomplished medic?  If-Tails-Had-A-Hero-Besides-Sonic-Himself Ratchet?   

“Oh,” is all he ends up saying,and he winces immediately and tries to amend:  “Wow. That’s... quite an honor, sir.”

“Well, he isn’t one to give out easy praise.”  Optimus’ tone sounds a little warmer now.  “Which is why I had... hoped to ask you for a favor.”

Name it,  Tails wants to say,  whatever you need!  But, he reminds himself, that’s not exactly his call to make.  Sonic is the de facto leader of their team, and even if Tails was to act individually, he... wouldn’t want to do it without consulting his friends. Still. To even be asked, by Optimus Prime no less, is...

It’s...

“What is it?” Tails asks, focused and somber.

Optimus barely hesitates, in a way most ‘bots wouldn’t recognize, in a way Tails only just manages to catch.  “The war may be over. Shockwave may be gone, and the threat he posed along with him, but... I fear there are dangerous days yet to come.”

It’s not exactly reassuring. Tails represses the urge to shift his weight nervously. Is there some lingering threat Optimus is still worried about... ?

“Will you stay here on Cybertron?”  Optimus finishes his request finally.  “At least for the duration of Megatron’s trial?”

“Megatron is -- going on trial?” Tails blurts out before he can stop himself. Again, he thinks back to Knuckles’ rumor.

“He says he plans on pleading guilty. If that proves true... it won’t be a long one.”

The list of Megatron’s crimes is so immeasurably extensive that Tails understands the worry of the alternative. To contest each and every charge could take years.

And, after all, it’s Megatron.  It’s not unreasonable to wonder if he has something else up his sleeve.

“But want to account for every possibility, in the meantime,” Tails provides, nodding to himself.

“At the very least, some of the Decepticons won’t stand for it. Ratchet wants as many medics on standby as possible. And... I wanted to request you specifically.”   

Tails’ spark feels like it’s fizzling in his chest.  “...Why?”

“Because you’ve held onto your kindness, all this time,” Optimus replies heavily.  “And I think we’re about to need a lot of that.”

It should make Tails swell with pride. But for a moment, it only makes him sad. What will become of them now, their kind, who have only ever known war with one another for millions and millions of years? 

But whatever the future holds, Optimus needs him today.  Resolutely, Tails answers, “I’ll have to ask my team. I dunno what the plan was, as far as staying on Cybertron goes, but... if Sonic thinks we’re needed here, I’m sure he won’t say no.”

“Thank you. Even just for considering the request,” Optimus’ gratitude is resolute, and Tails can’t help but smile in response.  “You know where to find me, whenever you’ve made your decision.”

“We won’t keep you waiting long,” Tails promises, and giving him a wave, turns to make his way back to his friends. In a way, maybe it’s a good thing they already have another mission ahead of them.  Primus knows none of them have ever been the type to stand still.

[rorykillmore]

so i have an extraordinary number of friends with march/april birthdays, and now that it’s technically the 26th, it’s @tailsthesales!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIZ!!! they asked me to write a little leon/laura thing for our panfandom site soooo i gave it a shot! luv that alliteration they have goin’ on,

but first, to get mushy for a second... giz, i know you deal with a lot. you’re not one to complain very much or put it on other people but.... i know you do and i also know that you work so hard to stay strong and positive and kind for your friends and i love that SO MUCH about you. thank you so so much especially for everything you’ve helped me with staff-wise on denny lately and just, in general, for making my life a little brighter and better. i hope you have a wonderful birthday because you deserve the WORLD <3 <3 <3

anyway now enjoy leon and laura laughing alone with salad(tm) at the gala event 

What is it with her and nice guys?

Okay, not ‘nice’ -- genuine, kind, decent fucking human beings. They make Laura feel so empty in comparison.

In life, Laura had never considered herself a self-conscious person.

In death, she’s sheer, walking defiance. Mad Sweeney cracks his seventieth dead wife joke, and she doesn’t give a fuck. Random passersby stare to her pale, discolored face half-masked by the usual giant pair of sunglasses she wears, and she doesn’t give a fuck.

As a rule: she generally does not give a fuck. It’s one of the best things about being dead.

It’s one of the things she doesn’t miss feeling.

But there’s something about getting glammed up to go to a high-end political gala that’ll smack the self-consciousness right back into a gal.

No amount of washing, it turns out, will give her hair back the natural sheen and bounce it had when she was alive, and no amount of make-up is going to convincingly return the glow to her skin. Laura guesses she was pretty, once. It had never been very high on her list of concerns, mostly because Shadow would have looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world even on a terrible day.

Tonight, she’s just trying for presentable. But Leon beams at her when she actually shows up anyway, kind of like Shadow might have, and she’s not sure if it makes her feel better or worse.

“Hey,” she says when she’s close enough to greet him, feeling a bit silly as she wonders if that was somehow too informal.

“Hey, Laura,” Leon returns amicably. “You look great.”

Laura raises her eyebrows at him, in a ‘come on, you can say it’ kind of way, but as per usual, Leon seems nothing if not sincere. She decides not to ruin his mood by griping, even if she can’t understand how someone who’s been through everything he has can look at a dead woman and feel anything but uneasy at best.  “Thanks. You too.”

It’s not a lie on her part: Leon cleans up nice. It’s a little jarring to see him in something other than casual attire, but his clean, pressed black suit makes him look a little less weighed down, somehow.

Or maybe it’s just the vibe of this place. Laura can already tell from out here that the gala is thrumming with a kind of excitable energy that even she can kind of feel. She guesses most rifters haven’t had anything quite like this to look forward to in a long time.

“Shall we?” she asks Leon, only a little sardonically.  He offers her his arm and she rolls his eyes and takes it carefully, quietly grateful that it’s not skin to skin contact.

“You’re taller in heels.” Leon notes, catching Laura off guard by teasing her.

“Shut up.”

The banter settles her nerves a little, and they head inside. Everything’s a little too bright, or at least it feels that way to Laura, fresh out of the night and down her usual pair of shades. Maybe ‘zombie’ has been missing the mark, this whole time. Maybe she should’ve been making vampire jokes this whole time. 

“You okay?” Leon asks her, and Laura tries not to feel taken aback at how quickly he notices her discomfort.

“My eyes are a little sensitive, that’s all. You know I don’t even really see in color anymore?”

“That’s probably lucky, in this particular situation.” In mild amusement, Leon watches some kid strut past, and even Laura can tell that his suit’s the gaudiest fucking thing she’s ever seen.

Wait --

“Let’s go this way,” she says suddenly to Leon, tugging his arm perhaps a little harder than she meant to and unbalancing him as she jerks them both out of the Technical Boy’s eye line.

���Hey --” It takes Leon a moment to find his footing. He glances over his shoulder. “Who was that?”

“No one important,” Laura says, knowing it’s technically a lie but also that it isn’t, because that particular God is not particularly important to her. “Just one of those awkward ‘I don’t want to run into anyone I know’ situations.”

“Why was he dressed like that?”

“I ask myself that question every time I see him.”

Leon chuckles, and Laura manages to smile a little despite her slightly frazzled state. “What about you?” she continues.  “As an... official member of the MLD, you’re probably expected to do some socializing, or something. Right?”

Leon glances at her, slightly pained. 

“Shitty co-workers?” Laura prompts, and is a little pleased to hear him laugh again.

“I just don’t know them that well,” he tells her gingerly. “Except for the chief -- Felix? He’s actually pretty decent.”

“Surprising, for a police chief.”  Idly, Laura scans the room as if she thinks she might be able to pick Felix out on sight, even though she’s never met him before. “Well... if you don’t want to introduce me, what do you want to do?”

He looks pensive for a second.  “We could get some drinks?” Then he nearly stammers over his own words, giving her an apologetic double-take.  “-- Sorry. I forgot.”

“You forgot?” Laura needles him, though it’s entirely playful. Somehow, some of her earlier self-consciousness has ebbed away without her noticing. “It’s fine, Leon. I don’t care if you wanna get a drink -- you’ll probably need it.”

But Leon is shaking his head, and his expression is different now in a way that Laura can’t quite read.  “...Or... we could dance?”

Laura stares at him, deadpan.

“Is that a no?” Leon asks, smiling easily, and Laura knows that if she did say no he wouldn’t push her. But that doesn’t make her feel any less like she’s starting to put a damper on his night. 

“No. I mean, yes. I mean --”  She huffs a little, or at least goes through the motions, since she doesn’t technically breathe anymore.  “Nevermind. What kind of asshole comes to a thing like this and says they don’t want to dance? Let’s go.”  

She leaves his side to stalk out onto the dance floor, praying that whatever universal karma is almost definitely working against her at this point doesn’t prompt the DJ to start playing Thriller, or something. Leon follows a little more slowly, and looking back at him, Laura suddenly wonders if he hadn’t expected her to say yes. The slight uncertainty in his posture makes her feel a little better about her own nerves, at least. She doesn’t think she’s done this since her’s and Shadow’s wedding, and even then, she wasn’t stellar at it.

“So...” Leon begins as they come to a standstill.  Laura can’t bear the thought of them awkwardly sizing each other up any longer, so she reaches up to put her hand on his shoulder, and uses her other to take one of his. She knows she must be cold to the touch, as she always is, but to Leon’s credit he doesn’t flinch. 

“You lead,” she tells him. “‘Cause I will definitely fuck us up.”

Leon carefully settles his other hand on her waist, and Laura only thinks about the fact that there won’t be any pulse for him to feel for a second. She’s more preoccupied with trying to remember how to slow dance without looking like an idiot.

Not that anyone said that this was supposed to be romantic, but it’s so entirely the opposite as they both try to find their footing that she kind of wants to laugh. Which, in a weird sort of way, makes her feel a little better. Soon, they settle into an easy, swaying rhythm with the music, and -- sure, maybe it’s not the total, cheesy, embarrassing nightmare she might have imagined it as.

It’s almost kind of nice. And because she can’t let herself have nice things for too long, Laura starts to circle back around to feeling guilty again.

What is it with her and nice guys?

Okay, not ‘nice’ -- genuine, kind, decent fucking human beings. They make Laura feel so empty in comparison.

But then again, pretending that Leon isn’t capable of being a reasonably aware judge of character after all he’s been through is probably doing a disservice to her. And telling herself that nothing has changed - that nothing will ever change - since she was alive won’t get her anywhere.  

And Laura’s not sure where it is she wants to be... but she doesn’t want to be standing still.

Neither does Leon, she thinks. That’s why he’s always pushing forward, why he’s already secured his position in the MLD, why he still wants to help people even though Laura knows he’s probably met too many people who were beyond helping to count.

It’s not like Laura wants to be his charity case, or anything, but she’s not so sure she likes the idea of being beyond help either. So maybe they can help each other.

If only for tonight. If only a little, in passing moments like this one.