#the opening is pretty much how the adventures of blueberry goes

[radiantseraphina]

*clears throat* garlude and galaxia, but they're lesbians. galaxia is a magic golden lady that garlude met in her dreams and was like "oh no she's hot" and since garlude knew she was doomed, galaxia trying everything in her power to make it not so but ALAS

Here’s to hoping Tumblr doesn’t kill my formatting! EDIT: So…that looks horrifying. Here’s the AO3 link until I work out the kinks. Yikes.

It has to be me, SirArthur.

Jecra’s blond hair was matted, caked with mud, and stuck upin every direction. Dried blood cracked along the side of his face, and hisclothes were torn so badly that it was a miracle they were even still holdingtogether. It was his first knightly quest, one that was supposed to be a simple find-missing-children-and-save-them-from-the-demonbeast.Unfortunately, it had turned into a village-elders-are-trafficking-the-children-of-poor-people-and-scapegoating-this-outcast-in-the-woodssort of mission.

“Garlude!” Jecra exclaimed, absolutely beaming. “Look! Ifound a new Star Warrior! This is Meta Knight!”

Jecra enthusiastically pushed forward a dark blue puffball,who looked as bad—if not worse—than Jecra did. And although the puffballshivered from exhaustion and anxiety, Garlude saw only his eyes. They were thebrightest possible gold, holding the radiance of the sun and the calmness ofthe moon and the fire and sacredness and warmth and light of the Golden Lady’sown sacred forge.

“We don’t know if I’m a Star Warrior,” the puffball repliedawkwardly.

He didn’t feel right. Garlude, herself, wasn’t a StarWarrior, but she knew what Star Warriors felt like. This puffball wasn’t enough of some indescribable, namelessthing that Garlude had felt dozens of times. He was a tangle of stardust anddark magic, two forces that should have torn one another asunder, but somehow,they had found balance in this—

This boy, really. This puffball was no older than Jecra, whowas barely at the cusp of adulthood.

“Sure, you are!” Jecra replied, winking. “No need to be somodest, pretty knight!”

And Jecra must’ve felt it. He must’ve known that Meta Knightfelt wrong, and yet Jecra laughed andsmiled and flirted so easily.

When Meta Knight looked directly at her, Garlude saw all herdoubts reflected in his face. Even if Jecra didn’tknow Meta Knight was wrong or broken or torn apart and stitched togetherlike some sort of perverse ragdoll of light and darkness, starlight andshadows, Meta Knight knew it.

And Garlude knew at the moment that she had found the GoldenLady’s champion.

I know Meta Knight isto be her wielder, but I was one of Galaxia’s priestesses.

 Garlude’s life was one of light and goodness. She lived in theGolden Lady’s temple, promising her chastity, her life, and her loyalty, to theGolden Lady. While some maidens struggled with this choice, Garlude never had.She had never desired a man, and the only woman she desired was an unreachable,celestial being.

Garlude was never entirely sure when her devotion to theGolden Lady became love to the Golden Lady, but Garlude nevertheless replicatedall the courting rituals that she would have performed for anyone else. Shewrote poetry in hackneyed meter and softly sang her words at the foot of theGolden Lady’s pedestal, where her blade rested and always caught the light ofthe sun and stars.

And one day, Garlude approached the pedestal, and lightburst into the room like a diamond shattering. The Golden Lady stood beforeher. She looked like a member of Garlude’s own race and had draped herself incloth of gold. Her eyes were soft and kind and the color of rubies, deep andradiant.

Hello, the Ladywhispered.

Garlude tried to swallow past the lump in her throat, andwhen she failed to speak, the Golden Lady laughed.

My dear, I love you,too, the Lady said. Doesn’t it seemright that we should finally meet?

 And warmth burst into Garlude’s chest. She nodded hastily,so happy that she scarcely understood how she could hold the strength of suchfeelings within her. Never had she imagined that the Golden Lady would look so luminous, so beautiful, so utterly human. So perfect.

 I have a duty toprotect her as she protected me.

 Garlude was a young woman when the Golden Lady’s sacredsword was stolen and her priestesses all slain, save for Garlude who had—by chance—beenaway. With tears branding her cheeks, Garlude watched her home blaze, embersrising into the sky. Her gaze was drawn to a glimpse of gold, the Lady watching.Garlude struggled for words. She wanted to scream and cry and hurt the Lady fornot doing more, for not saving everyone, but the Lady’s face gave Garludepause.

Never before had Garlude seen such despair in the face ofanother living being. The Golden Lady was hurt, too.

The Lady walked to Garlude’s side. She offered soft smilesand gentle caresses, which Garlude accepted with hitching breaths and freshtears.

I am so sorry, mybeloved, the Golden Lady whispered. Hadthis been in my power to prevent, I promise I would have. The best I could do was send you away and hope that you survived. I may twist the strands of fate, but I may not weave them. I may delay the inevitable for a season or two but nothing more.

 Of course, she would have prevented it if she could have.Garlude knew it, and she wept harder with the admission. The Golden Lady wassacred, but she was not all-powerful, and without her wielder, she wasincapable to striking down the dark forces as she had in centuries before.

“I love you,” Garlude whispered reverently.

And I, you, the GoldenLady replied. My dearest Garlude.

 For a long time, Garlude stood and sobbed and let the GoldenLady hold her. Eventually, Garlude knew she would have to leave, but in thatmoment, she just wanted to be held by the one she loved most of all. And later, Garlude would realize what the Golden Lady had meant by delay the inevitable, and Garlude would realize with dawning dread that she was meant to be dead and that Death would come. And the noble Golden Lady would be able to thwart Death’s cold touch as she once had.

 I know that I willlikely die on this quest. I have seen it in my dreams.

 The Golden Lady’s face was sad, her red irises carrying adepth of pain the Garlude would have thought impossible. Garlude had seen thispain only once before, when the Lady’s sacred abbey burned. They didn’t need to exchange any words; Garlude could sense what was coming. She had escaped death before because of the Lady’s gracious hand, but the Lady could not thwart Death forever.

My dearest, I shallsee you once your time is done, the Lady said. You will join your kin in the stars, and I shall always delight in your warmth and light.

 Garlude drew in a deep, steadying breath as her Lady’s handcaressed her hair so tenderly. “Does it have to be him?” Garlude asked.

Why can’t it be me?

 Yes, the Lady murmured, her beautiful face pinching in sorrow. “Destiny has woven a web abouthim, and even I have no power over such things. If Meta Knight has no companion, he will die. I know I ask a high price of you, my dear heart.

Sometimes, it seemed incomprehensible that the sacred GoldenLady would be incapable of anything, but Garlude understood the gravity of the Lady’s words. The Lady would never lie. 

 But I love Meta Knight,and I love Galaxia.

Sometimes, Garlude watched Meta Knight and Jecra, who wasforever around. They grew closer over the years. Jecra’s touches grew lessfriendly and became more intimate, more communicative. Jecra learned to speakentire sentences with the way his thumb brushed against Meta Knight’s armor orflesh. And Garlude watched as Jecra slowly coaxed Meta Knight out of hiscoldness and shyness, chipping away at his ice until Meta Knight blossomed likean iris after the last frost of winter.

 And maybe Garlude began to love him, too. Some nights, Garludewould find him staring at the stars; Meta Knight never seemed to tire of them.

“How are you, Meta?” Garlude asked one night, as Meta Knight’sgaze remained fixed on the winter sky.

“I’m well,” he replied. “Just thinking. Do you ever feellike the stars are calling for you?”

“I think all Star Warriors feel that.”

Meta Knight shook his head. “No,” he said. “Literally calling for you. Actualvoices.”

Garlude grew very still. Meta Knight’s bluntness had snappedsomething deep inside her. Noting her silence, Meta Knight’s gaze met hers. “Inever said anything,” he said carefully. “Not to Father, not to Jecra. But I havealways heard her.”

“Her?” Garlude whispered.

And although Garlude knew the name before he spoke it, MetaKnight’s answer still shattered her world.

“Galaxia,” Meta Knight said, gently and reverently. “Butthat doesn’t make sense. That’s just galaxyin another language.”

Galaxy and so much more.

Therefore, Sir Arthur,allow me to join Meta Knight in retrieving the sacred sword Galaxia, so that Imay serve my beloved, golden lady one last time.

[deefighter2739]

METADEDE!!!!!!!!!! METADEDE GIVE ME YOUR METADEDE HEADCANONS (please 😍)

Well how can I say no to a "please" 😳 (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK AAA)

So... I have a lot for them and I'm in a good mood so this will take a while...

Headcanons under the cut!

First of all, some hcs for their dynamic:

Both are very competitive. Different fighting styles and personalities + same fighting spirit = The perfect rival for the other. They'll compete for everything.

The best hugger in Dreamland and his touch starved knight. Dedede was hesitant to show physical affection at first, in case that'll make Meta feel uncomfortable. But once he's confident he'd be constantly kissing and squishing his beloved orb man.

Meta Knight holds the perfect equilibrium between treating Dedede like a dumbass and still show a deep respect for him. Sometimes he might be rather "bitter" to Dedede but he knows it will never be actually hurtful for him (he'd stop if so). He may be idiot but he’s still his idiot.

Dedede is pretty quick to notice if something's off with MK. The knight may be good at hiding his feelings, but when you've been hanging out with the same man for years you become easy to read. Also Meta Knight is a terrible liar.

They kept their relationship as a secret for the first weeks, scared of what will people on Dreamland think (they all thought they were a couple way before they became one. So the news didn't really surprise them).

Slowburn? Slowburn! Both are SO stubborn and prideful to admit they developed feelings for the other. Worried about how it might ruin their friendship in case they get rejected. Being able to hold the secret for months or even years.

Timeline hcs!

Some general ideas for how I see their relationship developing through every game. Though I'm open to different timelines for them (Loving to see tons of universes where the same two dorks fall in love...!!)

Their relationship was strictly professional during the first games, both had respect but didn't really could stand the other (Dedede had a bad reputation and Meta Knight was unbearably arrogant). They only worked together in order to keep Nightmare sealed (protecting the Star Rod's pieces)

It didn't take too much before their differences became so strong it lead to Meta Knight quitting his job as Dedede's knight and therefore MK's Revenge happened. They didn't see each other again until after Amazing Mirror.

During Squeak Squad they had already reconciled, at first it felt awkward for both of them as their last encounter was before their development arcs ("oh no, they know the cringy past me”), but their determination to fix their past mistakes was stronger! As time went both realized they were more similar than they thought and slowly but surely became good friends.

Aaaand during the modern era they were already the best friends. Working together on their adventures, always hanging out together, sworn partners, you know…developing a liiitle crush...

More random hcs!

They share an interest for mechanics. Meta Knight got some knowledge when the Halberd was being built; and Dedede got it as a hobbie for him, always pulling a new invention (like his jet hammer).

Both are also very good at chess! Dedede wins most of their games and Meta's pride doesn't like that.

Meta Knight gave the first kiss.

Ripple Queen knew about Dedede's crush! And always encouraged him to confess. She'll be the Maid of Honor at the metadede wedding.

Dedede has a ton of cringy nicknames for Meta, most of them involving sweets. One of his favorite names is "Blueberry Muffin".

Meta Knight got better sleep habits when he started dating Dedede.

They like to have dates on Kawasaki's café every weekend.

———————————————————————

Aaand there goes! MetaDede headcanons! I love these two so much and this ask was a good chance to release some of that energy 😅

I'm sorry if I made this too long… Though I'd love to throw more of these and give more details in the future.

[whisperlullaby]

Don’t Over Do It

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Words: 1766

Warnings: Violence, mentions of smut, mentions of disordered eating and over-exercising, explicit language.

Summary: Your boyfriend is an asshole. Bucky reminds you that you are perfect the way you are.

A/N: Listen apparently it’s sad girl Sunday over here. This is another story from a real life thing that happened to me with a Bucky twist! Thank you forever to @river-soul​ for looking over this story. I hope you guys enjoy and if I missed any warnings please let me know!

"Doll, you okay?" Bucky wondered. "You've been really quiet all morning."

When your eyes darted up, everyone around the table was staring at you.

"Yeah, I'm fine." You looked down at your soggy bowl of cereal. "Actually I'm gonna bring this back to my room. I'm a little tired." 

You got up and left before anyone could object. You made it to your room and almost had the door shut before a metal arm pushed through.

"You don't seem like yourself. Did something happen with Sean last night?"

At the mention of your boyfriend, you flinched. Letting out a sigh you allowed Bucky to step into your room. You placed the bowl on the kitchenette counter and turned to face Bucky.

"It's nothing. Just dumb relationship stuff really," you chuckled but it was a humorless sound. "I'll be fine tomorrow, I promise."

Bucky looked at you skeptically.

"Okay, but if you need anything you know you can come to me. I'm here for you."

Bucky placed a gentle kiss on your forehead before he left. When you heard the sound of your door click shut, you grabbed your bowl and dumped it down the sink.

///////

The next day you were sitting in the shared kitchen picking at a bowl of blueberries while scribbling notes in your journal. You heard a chair scrape next to you as Bucky plopped down and leaned onto the table.

"Whatcha writing doll?"

You felt your face flush with heat. 

"I'm just writing down what I'm eating. Making sure it's all healthy, trying to be better about what goes in my body, ya know?" 

Bucky cocked his head.

"That seems like a lot of extra work. I don't think you need to keep track of what you're eating." 

He paused, eyes roamed over your figure. 

"You look great doll." 

You snorted.

 "Yeah okay, Buck whatever you say." 

You closed your journal and stood up.

 "I'm gonna head to the gym. You can have the rest of the blueberries if you want," you offered, leaving before Bucky could say anything to you.

/////////

Three hours later Bucky slammed open the door to the gym where you were dripping sweat on the treadmill.

"Steve said you've been here for hours, doll," Bucky stated an edge of anger in his voice. "You are going to run yourself straight to the med bay if you don't pace yourself."

You turned off the treadmill in a huff and stalked over to Bucky on shaky legs.

"I know my limit, Sergeant. I'm fine. Why are you being so nosey about my life all of a sudden? Yesterday, following me to my room. Today in the kitchen. What's your problem?"

"Yesterday you never made it out of your room. Did you eat anything for the rest of the day?" Bucky’s voice seemed to drip with concern. "You didn't even finish that poor excuse for a breakfast this morning and you've been here for three hours."

Your eyes dropped to the floor. You shifted uncomfortably under Bucky's gaze before your anger spiked again.

"It's none of your fucking business, Barnes. I need to lose a few pounds and how I do that is absolutely none of your concern." 

You started to shove past Bucky but stumbled your vision blurring. 

Bucky caught you as you fell into him.

"Sweetheart let me help you to your room, please." 

You looked up at him and nodded. He helped you into your room and placed you on the couch. You watched him disappear into the kitchen and return with some water before sitting next to you and pulling you into his side.

"Doll, you need to tell me what happened. What's making you do this to yourself?" 

You took in an unsteady breath.

"Yesterday Sean and I were making out in his car. It was getting pretty, um, hot and I went to get on his lap but he pushed me away. He said I was too big to have car sex with, that if I lost a few pounds we could try but he would be uncomfortable with how I looked now. That he couldn’t even attempt to maneuver me in such a small space."

You picked at a loose thread on Bucky's shirt. You didn't realize he had stopped breathing until you looked up at him and saw how red he was.

"He told you to lose weight. Because he couldn't figure out how to fuck you in a car?" Bucky seethed.

You shot up. 

“I don't think he meant it like that. I mean I've been meaning to slim down anyway. I know I put on a bit of weight since starting fieldwork."

Bucky cupped your face in his hands. 

"You've put on muscle, doll. You need it to kick ass, lord knows you can knock me to the mat like a pro. Your body is perfect exactly how it is. You do not need to put yourself through any of that shit to slim down."

Bucky’s thumbs brushed away your tears as they fell. 

"He's not a bad guy Bucky I'm sure he didn't mean to upset me. He's coming over tonight.  I'll talk to him about it."

Bucky sighed and shook his head. 

"If you need me I'm right next door," he offered, placing a kiss on your forehead.

"Thank you. I don't know what I did to deserve having someone like you in my life." 

You looked into Bucky's eyes and saw them flash with adoration.

"Oh, doll, you don't need to do anything. You deserve everything I can give you and more." 

Bucky pulled you close and hugged you. You melted into his embrace with ease.

//////

"Hey, Sean! You're just in time. I just finished up dinner."  

"Smells great." He looked at the table full of chicken parmesan, pasta, and garlic bread. "This all for me?"

You laughed. "Well, not all of it silly. I'm going to have some too."

"Don't you think this is a bit much? I thought you were trying to lose some weight. So we could, ya know, have fun anywhere." 

When he pinched the skin of your hips you sucked in a deep breath, willing the tears that pricked your eyes not to fall. 

"I just thought maybe this would be okay? I didn't think I looked that bad."

"Not bad babe just, you can tell you've put on some weight. I'm just trying to help you, do you have a salad? Maybe that'll be better for you instead." 

Just as Sean made his way towards the fridge, your door burst open to reveal Bucky. His chest was heaving and his eyes were shooting daggers.

You looked shocked as you watched him rush over to Sean with malicious intent. "Bucky stop, what are you doing?"

Bucky paused his movements but never took his death glare from Sean.

"I was walking by and I heard what he said to you."

Before you could react Bucky had Sean dangling midair. 

"You are a pathetic excuse for a man and you're lucky I don't beat the shit out of you right here. Have you ever taken one look at Y/N? She is perfect. And you don't appreciate her, she's over here pouring herself over dinner to make you happy and all you can do is worry about her weight." 

You were stunned as you watched Sean struggling in Bucky's grasp.

"Babe, are you going to tell your guard dog to heel and let me down," Sean gasped frantically.

Bucky growled as you placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"Bucky let him go. He didn't mean anything by it.”

Bucky slowly placed him on the ground. Sean moved around Bucky to face you.

“Babe of course I didn’t mean anything by it. You look beautiful, I just thought you would want to lose some of the baby fat so we could be more adventurous.”

You heard the metal plates shift before you saw Bucky pull back to knock Sean out. You gasped as Sean collapsed on the floor unconscious.

“What has gotten into you!? You heard him, he didn’t mean it he is just trying to look out for me.” You pushed Bucky back. “Why can’t you just listen to him?! He’s right! I just need to watch what I eat. Once I lose the weight I’ll be...I’ll earn his love.”

You looked into Bucky’s eyes and saw his heartbreak in real-time. 

“Y/N. You do not need to lose a single inch on yourself. Sean is a delusional asshat who wouldn’t know a gorgeous dame if she punched him in the face. You do not need to earn a person’s love.”

You stared at Bucky for a moment before you crumbled to the floor sobbing. He rushed over and cradled you to his chest, soothing you with his hands, drawing gentle patterns along your back. Sean started to stir and Bucky gently pushed you off his lap to stand and grab Sean by the collar.

“You are gone. Don’t contact her again and if I hear you’ve been around I’ll make sure you stay out a lot longer than you were,” Bucky threatened before throwing him out of your apartment.

He returned to you and helped you up. You offered him a gentle smile.

“Why did you do that Bucky?” You held your breath while you waited for his answer.

Bucky looked softly into your eyes. 

“Because you are the most beautiful person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing inside and out. Hearing what he was doing to you, warping your perception of yourself into something dangerous, I couldn’t live with myself if I stood back and did nothing. I had to protect my best girl.”

He reached out and wiped a stray tear off your face. You smiled from ear to ear and grabbed his hand to press a soft kiss on the palm.

“Thank you,” you told him, eyeing the table of food. “Well I cooked all of this and it’s probably going to get cold if we don’t eat it soon.”

“You asking me to dinner doll?” Bucky smirked.

“Well, it’s a start to thank you for everything you have done for me over the last few days. Besides I’m starving.” You started to turn around to grab the plates off the counter when Bucky grabbed your arm spinning you into him. He kissed you breathless and you were quick to deepen the kiss. 

When Bucky pulled back he was grinning.

“Let’s eat, then maybe I can show you how real men are able to fuck in a car.”

[maymyheartbmyguidingkey]

aren’t we a nice pear

you can blame @duelistkingdom​ for this, not me

Yugi was quickly learning that certain fruits may have been tough to come by during the 18th dynasty - if not non-existent.

His first clue was when he brought a coconut back to the apartment, intending to make his famous coconut curry and sticky rice.

Atem had peeked into his grocery bags, adorably curious (Sugoroku had always done the grocery shopping, and rarely did he ever obtain fresh fruits), and had gasped dramatically, startling Yugi so badly he nearly jumped out of his own skin.

"What? What's wrong? I swear to god, if I broke the eggs -"

But when Yugi swivelled to survey the damage, he found instead Atem holding a coconut aloft, reverently.

His shoulders fell.

"A coconut," Atem hissed. "When father would return from his diplomatic travels he would near always bring coconuts. The juice was divine."

Yugi rolled his eyes good-naturedly and returned to putting away their groceries. "You almost gave me a heart attack over a coconut. What, were they not very popular in your time?"

Atem was silent for long enough that Yugi knew: if he looked back at him right now, he'd be met with an unfairly incredulous stare.

So Yugi turned to him, face resolutely deadpan, finding his prediction entirely correct.

"Yugi, my partner, light of my life -"

Yugi's eyebrows climbed into his hairline.

"- coconuts were an import," Atem said, like it was especially important, clutching the coconut to his chest as if it were a wounded animal. "Only the fabulously wealthy -" he pantomimed tossing hair over his shoulder, "could possibly afford such a luxury good."

Yugi snorted, finding the eggs (thankfully, in good shape) and placing them delicately in their designated spot in the fridge.

"Well you were fabulously wealthy, O dearest Pharaoh, so why are you clinging to it like a starving man?"

"Because coconuts are - what is it Jou always says? It is the most ridiculous - oh yes - lit."

Yugi froze, eyes squeezed shut. "Atem. My world. Dearest heart. Never say that again."

But then his brain buffered. Wait a damn minute -

Eyes comically wide, Yugi said, "Wait. Atem. What kind of fruit did you have?"

Atem pursed his lips, tossing the coconut from hand to hand, resting his elbows on the quartz island between them. "Grapes. I rather liked those. Oh - figs, though I found them too sweet. Nabk -"

“Atem,” Yugi pressed, suddenly desperate, “what’s a strawberry?”

Atem blinked, confused as to how and why the tone of their conversation shifted. “I... suppose I'm not quite sure? When you say the word, an image crops up, but I have not the faintest -”

Yugi was already grabbing his keys. “I'm going back to the store.”

“What on Earth -”

“I’ve been craving cherries anyway. Oh my god, and pomegran - no, wait, you guys had those, right? Pretty sure that was an 8th dynasty thing. Peaches! Pineapple? Holy - I need to learn how to slice a pineapple -”

“Yugi, my love, what is happening right now?”

“Oh, I’m so stupid,” Yugi scoffed, taking Atem by the hand, who squawked indignantly at his self-insult. He dragged Atem hurriedly to the front door, fumbling to slip on his shoes with only one hand. “You can just come with me.”

“Call yourself stupid one more time. I have hands now, Yugi. I can smack you.”

“Why, what better for me to kiss, my dear?” Yugi said, throwing his pharaoh a sly smirk, raising Atem’s knuckles to his lips. Atem’s face flushed a pretty red, and he stared pointedly down at his own backless loafers, grumpily slipping them on.

“Cheeky,” he mumbled, sounding secretly pleased.

☆

“Yugi. Where... what is this place?”

Yugi sent him a bright grin, squeezing Atem's hand where he held it in his jacket pocket. “This, O mighty Pharaoh, is the grocery store.”

Atem gawked at the various signage as Yugi dragged him to the cart well, snatching up a handbasket and promptly making a beeline for the produce section.

“Wait, wait, was that - was that a massive cart to wheel your groceries about in?” Atem asked, incredulous. “How affluent must you be to fill one of those?”

Yugi snorted. “I can't believe I never once brought you to a grocery store. Goes to show how often those lunches from 7/11 saved my life in high school.”

“Oh,” Atem said, staring at the wall of colorful greeting cards as they passed. “Well, this is delightful. It's much like the market, just. Indoors. And with fluorescent lighting.”

“Yeah, you get it,” Yugi encouraged, leaning over to kiss Atem’s temple firmly. “C'mon, this way.”

The produce section was lush today, what with it being a random Thursday afternoon, and Atem was already spotting things he had never seen before but knew the names of (thanks to the brain of a certain now-adult who he had often possessed when he was nothing but a no-name disembodied spirit).

“There! The - what was the word? - strawberries,” he chirped. “What kind of name is that, by the way?”

Yugi squeezed his hand twice, their mutual sign for it’s okay, grab it, holding the basket within Atem’s reach. “Says the guy with nabk. Throw ‘em in there, hot stuff.”

“The -” Atem blanched, holding up a packet of strawberries, confused. “All of them?”

Yugi raised his eyebrows. “Yes? What, you want me to open it and pluck out a single strawberry?”

“Well - wouldn’t - isn’t the whole thing expensive? They seem like they would be expensive.”

“Oh, no,” Yugi slid the basket to the crook of his elbow, swiping up a packet himself and giving the label a read. “Strawberries are one of Japan's biggest exports. Oooh, and I love amaou variety. Perfect for your first try.”

He gently took the packet from a stunned Atem’s hand and dropped both into the basket. Atem sputtered.

“That is - you can just, buy fruit en masse? Affordably?”

Yugi laughed quietly, spotting the pineapples and leading Atem toward them. “Maybe not as cheaply as in other places - we kind of have a thing for designer fruit here. But these packs are only ¥500 each.”

“Only how mu - oh my land, those are horrifying.”

“Yeah, if you’re not used to them, they’re pretty freaky,” Yugi acquiesced, reaching for a piece of the spiky fruit - only for Atem to slap his hand away.

Yugi whipped around to stare at him, bewildered. The look on Atem’s face wouldn’t be out of place beside the dictionary definition of appalled.

“My Yugi will most certainly not be touching the pointy death fruit!” he hissed, gesturing violently toward the pineapples, like his reaction was obvious. “I used to inhabit that body, you know.”

Yugi pressed his lips into a firm line, trying desperately not to burst into laughter.

“Atem. Pharaoh of my heart. My angel,” he whispered, taking a deep breath. “I love you so much. Just - watch this.”

And Yugi - while giving Atem a pointed, amused look - reached again for a pineapple, easily picking one from its perch by its uninviting body.

Atem, perplexed, brows raised in astonishment, stammered. “But - it - you -”

Yugi offered it to him. “It's not a cactus. Its bark is worse than its bite.”

Atem hesitated, but Yugi patiently held the pineapple toward him, nodding encouragingly when Atem met his eyes doubtfully.

And so Atem took it in his elegant, princely hands, brows furrowed in confusion when it did not, in fact, slice him to ribbons.

“But... it looks so evil.”

“Right? But it’s only poke-y. Honestly I just wanna meet the guy who saw one for the first time and immediately thought, “hey, I’m gonna crack this shit open and give it a taste”.”

☆

Yugi created a monster.

They had picked out a few more things for Atem to try, including the promised cherries and peaches (Atem giving a smug “now that is more like it” when he saw the peaches priced at two for ¥1990), but also some things that yugi had realized he took completely for granted: blueberries, kiwis - bananas. God, bananas.

Atem had also discovered that coconut water was sold by itself, in convenient single portions, and had happily trotted off to the self-checkout counter with a case of six, an endeared Yugi in tow.

It had been a week since that fateful day.

Atem sat on their cute little cream loveseat, newly-acquired and much-needed reading glasses on his nose and feet propped up on the matching ottoman, his current read in his lap. He held one of Yugi's many reusable water bottles in his hand, half-full with coconut water, blueberries, strawberries and ice floating prettily at the top. His bottle-holding arm was curled protectively around a bowl precariously perched on the arm rest, where he kept his (perfectly sliced) pineapple rings.

"Living in the lap of luxury, I see," Yugi said, plopping down beside Atem and draping himself directly atop the open book. He gazed up at his boyfriend, mischievous. "Lavish attention upon me as you do your precious books and fruits, O great Pharaoh."

Atem rolled his eyes, plucking a ring of pineapple from the bowl and tearing it in half. Yugi opened his mouth expectantly.

"Who said this was for you?" Atem snorted, popping one half in his mouth. "This is the last of it and you are a brat."

Yugi, as per usual, pouted to get his way. Atem, as per usual, was unable to resist said pout, huffing and presenting Yugi with the other half.

"A brat maybe, but loved by you nonetheless," he cheeked as he chewed.

"Exhibit A. Eat with your mouth closed; you are in the presence of royalty," atem said. "And sit properly, for goodness sake - you'll choke, and I refuse to have that on my conscience."

And sit properly Yugi did - mostly. He slung himself over Atem's shoulders, muttering into his neck, "You know, that's the third pineapple you've -"

"Ananas."

Yugi scoffed. Ever since Atem had Googled the Arabic name for the fruit (an adventure in it's own right), he refused to use anything else.

"Yes, ananas, yet somehow I’m the brat here," Yugi continued, "point being: it's the third one you've decimated this week. We just ran out of bananas, and I think that was the last pack of strawberries, too. I'm gonna go broke."

"This is fine. We can subsist off of fruit alone."

Yugi leaned back and stared into Atem's face, who had gone back to reading his book, unfazed. "You can subsist off of fruit alone. I need meat. Protein."

Atem pulled off his glasses and slapped the book shut, giving Yugi the most skeptical look he’d ever seen. "Yugi. You are a waif."

"Hey! No body-shaming here!" Yugi protested, pulling his legs up and into Atem's lap, again smothering the book. "All the more reason for me to have meat in my diet! I won't survive."

"You know, I used that miraculous thing - Google - and it told me that meat is actually quite bad for you. Did you know that humans only evolved to eat it because -"

Yugi groaned, stuffing his face back into the crook of Atem's neck, his next words muffled. "Google made my boyfriend health-conscious and now I can't have bacon. I'm sending corporate a strongly-worded email."

Atem's quiet laughter was like warm sunshine, and Yugi basked in it, the tell tale thunk of his water bottle being set on the side table music to his ears, as Atem could only be freeing his hand for one reason. He began to stroke Yugi's hair, and if Yugi could purr, the sound of it would reverberate through the entire apartment building.

They fell into a comfortable silence, only broken by the soft sounds of their chewing as they polish off the pineapple rings, Atem more than happy to continue feeding Yugi pieces.

"I may joke around," Yugi finally whispered, like they were the only two who existed in the universe, "but you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'd sell my kidney to buy you whatever you wanted."

Yugi felt a puff of a laugh against the crown of his head; the press of Atem's lips. "No need to go to such extremities, precious one. You are all I would ever wish for."

[zoocross0vers]

ZOOTOPIAN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG BRAINSTORM TIME DAY 3

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTER ROLES

The Heroes Concept

Sorry for delay but I finally showing topic that what character would fit into character and how their roles would look like (I explain in here)

As an example let’s start with main cast:

Sonic as Sonic - since he’s the main character of the story there’s no need to change his character role since those are key-important for the plot like in movie

(here’s his profile just in case: https://sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(Paramount)#Cast_)

The only in his case would be the change of place and  comunity: he’s in world of anthromophic mammals with no powers and certain prejudices and stereotypes, and sometimes certain paranoias, which that makes his anxietes harder since he is also a mammal/hedgehog but still different: blue, prefers shoes, glowes instead of clothes and has powers. And it could be possibility that when he arrived on Zootopia (not sure how if their planet is called Earth or not) the missing mammal case was happening and distrust towards mammals was growing, give him reason to not show up after what happened last time. There could be also small possibility he helped stopped the Bellwether takeover although unknowingly (or maybe not? who knows) and some two pair of eyes probably might noticed him even briefly though if you know what I mean. But for the record he decided to hide in Green Hills where he meet Nick and Judy and you know the rest.

Nick Wilde as Tom Wachowski

Tom personality

Kind-hearted and hard-working, Tom actively pursues the chance to help other people and is dedicated to his duty as Green Hills’s sheriff. He is very brave and is not afraid to get physical if the need arises and is protective of those he cares about. Despite his sharp tongue and an occasionally dark sense of humor, he is very sweet and gentle and frequently goes out of his way to assist others. Tom enjoys telling corny jokes, whether he is alone or with company. According to Sonic, Tom often talks with donuts and eats them if they “do not listen him”.

He dislikes boredom to the point that Green Hills’ lack of action nearly drives him out of his hometown to pursue work in San Fransisco. Tom shows open skepticism when presented with a situation that seems odd or fabricated, such as when he first met Dr. Robotnik. Although Tom is not afraid to fight, he prefers to avoid resorting to violence, shown when he tried to leave the Piston Pit when confronted by angry bar patrons.

Nick personality

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Nick_Wilde

Since those two are pretty much different when it comes certain things but have still lot in common like bad pun jokes and sense for justice.

It was not easy to make it right. I wanted him fit into Tom’s role but also keep his Wilde charm he has. Thankfully I was able to do right somehow so here it is:

Nick was actually born in Green Hills and was friend with Judy Hopps in childhood after incident with Gideon, but after incident with Ranger Scouts where she was present in this case ashamed for certain actions he decided to move (or run away) to Zootopia to live as shifty fox, unaware of him been targeted by Bellwether. But Judy whose also decided to study in Zootopia find and trying to make up to him and bring him back to Green Hills. After studying, while dating, they return to Green Hills get married and Nick follows footstep to became sheriff be a better person (unaware of him also been followed by small certain blue guardian: take a hint of what I mean by it). After hearing of Bellwether case he wants to try be a cop in Zootopia to find a purpose (instead just leave Green Hills out of boredoom he wants to prove himself be better). He sympatize with Sonic more since he knows what is like to feared of what you are and been haunted by a past. I still need to work on that.

Judy Hopps as Maddie Wachowski

Maddie Personality

As a veterinarian, Maddie cares deeply about living creatures and enjoys helping them to heal. She scolds Tom not to shoot the raccoons that get into their trash with her dart gun and gets annoyed with him when she finds out he shot Sonic with it. She also shows sympathy for Sonic when she sees that his feet hurt because he wore through his sneakers. She works well under-pressure and shows emotional and intellectual maturity. She is very loving and supportive of her husband. She made him a cake to congratulate him in case he got the job he wanted in San Francisco and another cake in case he did not get it. She also tells him that since he has made sacrifices for her, she is happy to sacrifice for him.

Judy Personality

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Judy_Hopps

They sure have more in common aside for job. She cares for her husband since childhood despite of what happened, she even go after him to make up to him, save him from wrong path and ask for forgiveness, since she feels responsible for it, even though none of both was fault. She was born in Bunnyburrow but always visited her relatives from mothers side in Green Hills where she also first met Nick (inspired by my life, I really love to visit my relatives) She wanted to be cop but could not, but also found a passion in medicine and that is why she became vet after she moved in Green Hills with Nick (those two make a really great team, also it is nice callback from concept of Zistopia where Nick pretented to be vet). She also shows connection with Sonic and in this case has less problems with his “nudity” considering she always has to check her patients without clothes. (trust me I know what I talking about)

Again still need to work on that. I hope you help me grinding with this. For now that is all but I promise there will be more. Also think you can pictures on those description since I dont know how to do that along with your opinions? (you can use my drawing for that if you want ;-D)

And also:

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY ZOOTOPIA

...

Hi Guest! I’m so sorry for taking forever to get back to you on this. Hope you had a great 5th Zootopia Anniversary! I watched the movie again that day and even after 5 years, I still love that movie!!! <3 <3 <3 

But anyhoo, on to this lovely Sonic crossover!

When it comes to the setting, do you think Green Hills should actually be BunnyBurrow? Or do you want Green Hills to remain it’s own thing?

I guess I ask because the way Nick is being set up, he kind of reminds me of this one fic that Helthehatter wrote called, “Blueberries”, where it’s an alternate story of how Nick and Judy met. In that fic, Nick is a deputy in BunnyBurrow and his police partner is Finnick and Nick is pretty bored because not much happens in a small town like BunnyBurrow (that is until he meets Judy, who never became a cop before meeting him). 

I picture Nick would be something like this where he and Judy weren’t the ones who solved the Bellwether and Nighthowlers case, but Jack and Skye. And he wants to have an exciting adventure like that and be a hero, do something important, but nothing ever happens in BunnyBurrow/Green Hills. 

I could still see Judy being his partner on the force, but unlike him, she’s actually pretty content being a cop in a small town. Though, if you like the idea of her being a vet better for this then I could work with that ^^

Personality wise it shouldn’t be too hard to give the characters similar traits since they seem to have enough in common. 

Would it be okay if Judy does at least try to get Sonic to wear some clothes, it still feels like something she would do, lol! ^^” But of course, in a nice understanding way rather than in a panicky manner.

When it comes to Sonic, rather than Nick just forming a sort of best friendship with him, maybe Sonic can kind of look up to him and Judy like parents? I mean, Sonic is still a teenager and Nick and Judy are full grown adults. That way at the end, he really is joining a new family. :)

I think I like the idea of this Nick having been born in Green Hills/Bunny Burrow rather than Zootopia, because that makes his desire for a new and bigger setting more important. If he grew up in Zootopia, left it, then wants to go back to it, then it kind of takes away that feeling of wanting more.

In regards to Sonic, maybe he decided to hide not just because he’s a blue hedgehog, bust also because he’s basically walking around naked and maybe when he first showed up he walked like that in front of some old ladies and he scared them. Ever since then he decided to observe the animals from afar. It’d be a good reason too why he had a disguise too. Here not to blend in as a human, but simply to cover himself up?

I say let’s just call the Zootopia world Earth. It’s easier ^^

Not sure yet, if Sonic should’ve had an active role in the nighthowler incident, but maybe he did manage to see the fear and chaos it caused in animals via Nick and Judy’s TV and by observing animals from afar. If he did decide to help solve it though, maybe he probably just helped Jack and Skye grab the concentrated pellet and handed it to them like a blue blurr and then with that evidence in their grasp, it proved enough to arrest Bellwether and they got the credit since nobody saw him.

This is all I got so far. Does this work for you? Is there more you’d like to add or change?

[ardenskyedarcy221b]

from our family to yours

read on AO3

for @hailing-stars​ and @ciaconnaa​ for their unending support of me. love you 3000 besties!

“I come bearing presents!” shouts Peter, stepping through the front door of the cabin he calls his second home, juggling his backpack and several Target bags. “Who missed me?”

“Petey!” his little sister’s ear-splitting screech precedes tiny feet stomping down the stairs as if she were an entire stampede before he has two feet inside and the door shut behind him. 

Peter hauls himself fully through the threshold, makes sure the glass door latches, quickly deposits his belongings on the ground. He braces himself. 

It doesn’t take Morgan long to launch herself at his knees. 

Peter catches her easily, swinging her around and pulling melodious giggles as a result, until Morgan’s arms wind around his neck and she knees his side as she locks her legs around his waist. He beams at her. 

Her eyes squint with the force of her smile. “Missed you,” she mumbles once she burrows into his neck. “Don’t like it when you leave me.”

“Mmm, I missed you, Mo-kitty.” 

Morgan yanks away, brows furrowed and looking like a dark-headed version of her mother, and professes, “I’m not a kitty, Pete!”

Peter’s laughter mingles with Tony’s, who Peter glances up to see pushing himself up and off the sofa and sporting a wide grin. 

“I could have sworn you were a cat! You act just like one.”

“I do not,” she says with all the seriousness of a professional attorney, though the uptick lips ruins the aura. “I’m a princess who slays dragons.”

“Woah ho! Well excuse me.” 

“You’re excused.” 

Tony snorts as he tugs on Peter’s shoulder so he can pull the teenager into his chest, squeezing him tightly first then planting a kiss on his temple. 

“No, Daddy! Pete’s here to see me.”

Tony’s wide gaze finds and holds Peter’s as they share a moment of commiseration. Then Tony winks. 

“Are you a kidnapper?” he asks his daughter, tugging once on her ponytail. 

“What?”

“I asked if you’re a kidnapper.”

“I’m not!”

“So you can’t keep Pete from me. Otherwise that would make you a kidnapper.”

Peter snorts once. 

“Daddy,” she drags out the final vowel, head lolling backwards and dramatically rolling her eyes. “I asked Petey to come, not you.”

“And yet, you’re both in my house.”

“Actually, it’s Mommy’s house sooo,” she ends her sentence with a shrug. 

Peter tucks the feisty five year old under his chin and attempts to hold in his belly laughs. Morgan fights it at first, though she’s quick to act like a spider-monkey and cling to him if it’ll mean she has all the claim to him. 

Tony rolls his eyes. 

“What’s in the bags, Petey?”

“Ah-ha! No treats before lunch! You can do whatever you two wanna do after you eat.”

“You’re no fun.”

“Um, excuse you, little miss; I’m the cool parent, what kind of nonsense are you saying?”

“Petey agrees with me.”

“I plead the fifth.”

“Ouch. Taken out by both of my kids.” sniffs Tony. “You’re lucky I already made sandwiches and brought out those blueberry bites Mom made; otherwise, I’d say no lunch.” 

Peter rolls his eyes and sets off for the kitchen. “You’re all talk, old man.” 

“Hey now,” protests Tony, “there’s no need for that kinda behavior in front of your impressionable sister. She repeats everything she hears.”

“All talk, old man,” parrots Morgan as she pulls away from Peter’s chin, grin wide and mischievous and not bothering to hide her giggling amusement, batting her eyelashes at her father, though Tony doesn’t see her. “Mommy says same thing.”

Peter imagines Tony rolls his eyes as he leads them into the kitchen. He feels the magnitude of it. 

As Tony veers toward the island where there is a smorgasbord of food, Peter steers toward the kitchen table and tries depositing Morgan in her designated seat. Only the little girl is doing a great impression of having sticky powers and Morgan stays attached to his waist and neck. 

“Can I sit with you?” 

Peter raises his eyes at her. 

Her lower lip juts out into the beginning of an impressive pout. 

Peter sighs. 

Morgan beams. 

Peter pulls out his own designated chair with all the drama required to get his sister in a fit of continuous giggles until she snorts and they plop down. Morgan makes herself comfortable, twisting on his lap until she can smile up at him. If Pepper were home, Morgan would sit in her seat; but because she’s on a plane home from Beijing, Tony explains, and both Tony and Peter have an extremely difficult time telling the little girl no, Morgan gets what she wants. 

Tony doesn’t even blink when he comes over with plates: simply sets two on one placemat and heads back for his own. 

Morgan grabs her sandwich and bites into the middle. 

“Will you tell me a story?”

Peter eats around her, hoping he doesn’t drop crumbs in her hair. “What, like right now?”

Her expression is the equivalent of a duh noise and Peter bops her nose for it. 

“Once upon a time, both my kids ate their lunch quietly. The end.” 

“Daddy!” 

“You asked for a story; I gave you a story,” comes the cheeky reply from Tony as he finally pulls out his seat at the kitchen table. 

Morgan glares at him. “I asked Petey for a story,” she emphasizes the name. 

Peter cuts in before Tony aggravates Morgan so much she ends up in tears of frustration. (He knows from experience that this time of the day is notorious for meltdowns; Morgan thinks she has outgrown naps, but her behavior has the tendency to disagree with the little girl.) “Do you want a real story or pretend one?” 

Morgan tilts her chin in the air, eyes squinting close as she thinks. As her eyes pop open she cries, “A Spider-Man story!” 

Tony groans. 

Peter grins. “Did I tell you how Spidey accidentally let an animal loose at the zoo?”

Brown eyes nearly eclipse his sister’s face as they widen at his words. “You what?” 

Her words are echoed by her father, though the baritone isn’t a tone of wonder but one of exasperation. 

Yeah, maybe Peter shouldn’t have told this story at the table since he spent all week making sure Tony didn’t hear about it. Well, the last thirty-six hours. Same thing. There went his longest record of keeping a secret that wasn’t his secret identity. Oh well, best get on with it then. 

“So Spidey is at the zoo, right? And he’s helping a little girl just a little bit older than you, Mo, find her way back to her parents. She said they were supposed to be at the penguins exhibit.”

“Oooh, I love penguins!!” 

“I know you do; that’s what I told the little girl that my baby sister loooooves them.” 

Morgan’s smile turned into a wide, pleased grin. “So what happened next?”

“Is this really a story you should be telling her?” interjects a wary Tony, rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

“All my stories have a moral to them.” 

“Doesn’t answer my question.”

“Yes, I need to tell this story. There’s valuable life lessons to be learned today,” Peter finishes with a firm nod, shifting his attention back to Morgan and flashes her a wide smile. Her giggles are hidden behind her hand she slaps to her mouth, and Peter huffs out a snort of laughter. “SO, back to what I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted—”

“—I’ll ground you—”

“No you won’t.” 

“Mommy says you’re all talk, Daddy.”

Tony groans, long and loud and dramatic, head tipping back until it plonks against the back of his chair. 

Peter carries on, “I may have accidentally let loose a penguin or two.” 

“Oh no!”

“You WHAT?!” 

“Stop interrupting me,” says Peter, flapping his hand in Tony’s general direction, not daring to meet what will surely be steely brown eyes, and continues, “but it’s okay! I’m Spider-Man. I took care of it.”

“Petey!” squeals Morgan, “what happened?!” 

“So there may have been an incident where everyone wanted Spidey to feed the penguins and for future reference I am not able to stick to ice and reinforced glass is nothing against a clumsy superhero.” 

Tony makes a high pitched noise as Morgan titters in amusement. 

“Have you ever tried to catch a runaway penguin before, Mo?” Peter asks with all the levels of seriousness he can muster, which isn’t very much.

“No,” she shakes her head. “I have tried to catch Gerald when he escapes his pen! He ran out of his fence one time on Daddy though; it was pretty funny.” 

“Funny for everyone but him, I’d imagine. So, I’m running after a penguin—“

“Why didn’t you use your webs?”

Peter makes a face. “Apparently there are surfaces I cannot stick and the same goes toward my webs? I guess. I dunno. You’re such a smarter cookie than I am, Mo; because I didn’t think it through.”

Tony snorts, “He finally admits it.” 

“This is the important bit!” whines Peter with an over-exaggerated tone. “She needs to learn the moral of the story.” 

“What’s a moral?”

“Well,” starts Peter, “I guess it’s kinda like lesson learned from a story, between what’s right and what’s wrong. Does that make sense?”

At first Morgan nods and Peter believes he explained it well enough for his little sister. Until she shrugs on top of the nodding movement and Peter bites back a groan. Tony was just telling him over the phone at the beginning of the week Morgan had picked up a new habit: Peter didn’t believe him, though he isn’t sure why. Now he understands how frustrating it is to see the little girl acting willfully oblivious. The glint in her eye says it all: Morgan thinks she’s being funny if she acts oblivious. Peter hopes it isn’t a long habit. 

The little girl opens her mouth to speak but Peter cuts her off. 

“Okay, moral of the story always fix your mistakes. Make sense?”

“Yep!”

Tony rolls his eyes, not bothering to hid his wide smirk as he says, “Alright, finish eating.”

Morgan takes another large bite. 

Peter leans across the tabletop and stage-whispers to Morgan, “Maybe next time I’ll tell you about my shark tank adventures.”

Tony barks, “Absolutely not!”

Peter sputters out a cackle while Morgan snickers behind her hand. 

Rest of lunch passes uneventfully. 

Until it’s time for Morgan’s nap and Peter can’t say no to telling his little sister a story and gets dragged upstairs and he finds himself cramped on a twin bed with said little sister wedged up against him, looking up at him and awaiting a new story with all the patience of an expectant five year old. 

“Tell me a story.” 

“Once upon a time, Morgan had to take a nap but she couldn’t stop talking so her heroic big brother Peter hypnotized her and she still didn’t go to sleep because she is sooo stubborn.” 

Morgan’s eyebrows scrunch together. “Tell me a different story.” 

“Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Morgan—“

“No, she can’t have my name!”

“Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Rosie—“

“Nooo, I don’t wanna hear a story about a little girl.”

“Once upon a time, there was a little boy named José and he loved to ride his bike. His bike was red and blue after his favorite superhero and he loved riding it every single day. What happens next?”

“No.”

“What do you mean no?” asks Peter, shifting around to stare down at the stubborn child practically glued at his side. “You’re a great storyteller!”

Morgan makes a face. 

“Tell me what happens next; I forget.” 

And so the next forty-five minutes go until Morgan falls asleep. 

It takes three minutes more for Peter to feel comfortable enough to slip out from Morgan’s hold and tiptoe out of her bedroom. 

“I’m surprised she fell asleep,” is his greeting from Tony once Peter crests the bottom step. 

Peter doesn’t reply until he plops down next to his mentor and snuggles into the older man’s side, “She really loves her stories.” 

“That she does.” nods Tony, wrapping his arm around Peter’s shoulder and tugging him closer into his side. “What goodies did you bring this time?”

“Pajamas.” 

“Oh, boy.”

And they leave the conversation untouched after that eloquent reply. 

Television remains turned off, though FRIDAY provides holiday music as gentle white noise, as Tony and Peter catch up. Peter admits he’s ready for his midterms despite feeling overly prepared and stressed from the mounting work. 

“I’m proud of you, Pete.” the words are strong, sure, and are spoken with the warmth of a parent unleashing his tenderness freely upon his child. “You never cease amazing me. To have you in my life is one incredible thing; but the fact Morgan gets to grow up with you as her older brother... I’m one lucky dad to have two extraordinary children. No matter what you two become, continue to become.”

A soft smile unfurls as the teenager settles more firmly against a shoulder and chest, closing his eyes at the bubbling emotions stirring inside him. Peace. Harmony. Belonging. All things he has struggled tremendously over since his return, and Tony’s lengthy recovery; flighty feelings he now tries his damnedest to relish whenever they appear. More frequently, and not taken for granted. 

Of course the peace is always broken when a five year old is underfoot. Morgan sleeps all of ninety minutes, at most, before she’s zooming downstairs and climbing over the back of the couch to nestle between her brother and father. 

“Presents!!” she screeches directly into Peter’s ear canal. “Petey, please!?”

Peter blinks away the fuzzy-ringing sensation. 

“Morgan, you know better than to scream in Peter’s ears.” starts Tony. 

Wide eyes grow larger, comically on such a cherubic face, as the five year old professes, “I’m just excited.” at her father’s raised eyebrows she tacks on, “Sorry, Petey.”

He presses a kiss to her forehead. “S’alright, Mo-kitty.”

She pouts, curling down her lower lip, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Well, you know where his stuff’s at, Morgan.” Tony says after a beat of his daughter’s prolonged dramatics. 

Morgan shifts as if to jump off Peter’s lap and Peter lifts her with enhanced deftness, keeping her from kicking or elbowing him or Tony in her quest to track down goodies, and Peter sets her on her feet. Morgan pays no attention to how she’s on the ground. She shuffle-sprints toward the front door and dives right into the Target bags. 

“Oooh, jammies! Daddy!” she crows. 

Tony pokes Peter in the side. 

Peter yelps, immensely ticklish in that spot. He jumps up and away from his mentor, turning to scrunch up his face at the other man, before trotting over to assist Morgan. 

If anyone says Peter went overboard on their family pajamas, he’ll just point to Tony and say the man’s never taught him control. Peter is stoked about them and honestly he wants them out of their bags quick so Morgan can amp up his excitement. 

Morgan pulls out Peter’s pjs first and Peter is quick to explain the white blob, 

“It’s a unicorn, Mo.” 

“Oh!” she hands it to him. 

Peter shakes it out and holds it up against his body, making certain that the hood is situated enough for Morgan to see the attached horn. 

“A unicorn?” questions Tony from behind. 

“Oh, just you wait,” smirks Peter and notions for Morgan to dig into the same bag. “I almost got us matching pjs because I liked yours so much.” he tosses his unicorn footless pajamas onto the couch and turns back to see Morgan pulling out a colorful creation, directing at her, “Do you know what that is?” 

She makes a weird noise at the back of her throat, like she wants to scream and speak at the same time. Then she professes, “It’s a DRAGON!”

“She’s the slayer of dragons.” whines Tony. 

“Exactly!” Peter preens with a little wiggle of excitement. “Look, it even has a tail!”

“Pete!”

“Yeah, Mo?”

“Am I gonna be a princess?”

“No. I hope I picked out something better for you. Go ahead and see, in that last bag.” he encourage,. 

Morgan digs into the next bag and positively shrieks. “It’s a mermaid!”

Peter had settled on mermaid pajamas for Morgan simply because her favorite color is blue and Peter was a fan of the tail’s design. And the children’s section didn’t have as much to choose from in the variety Peter wanted. Needs must, and all that jazz. 

“Let’s put them on NOW!!!”

“Morguna—“

“Mo—“

“NOW!”

Since both are pushovers, Morgan gets what she wants, though it may have something to do with the fact Morgan immediately started tugging her sweater over her head. 

Ten minutes later they were all bundled up in their footless pajamas (footies in Morgan’s case), hot chocolates in hand, and sitting on the couch bickering over what holiday movie to watch. 

Morgan wins with the newest Pixar classic. 

They’re halfway through the second movie, though there’s more singing and jumping around the living room than sitting and enjoying the movie, when Pepper wonders into the house. There is too much chaos for Pepper’s entrance to steal away anyone’s attention. Volume from the movie is up higher than usual; and even then Morgan and Peter’s singing is heard clearly. Tony is roped into singing the choruses. 

So of course the first thing Pepper says is, 

“Why’d you start chaotic Christmas without me?”

“MOMMY!” shrieks Morgan, jumping onto the couch so she can scurry up the back and throw herself into her mother’s arms. 

Pepper catches Morgan, juggling her around until the child is situated at her hip. “What new outfit do you have on; Mommy’s never seen it before.”

“Petey got it for me, see! I’m a mermaid.” 

“And it’s blue! How nice of him.”

Peter grins big over at Pepper and she laughs upon seeing his own getup. 

“He got one for Daddy, too!” continues on Morgan, patting her mother’s cheeks for her full attention. “Daddy’s a dragon! And I’m the dragon slayer!”

“Oh, poor Daddy.” 

Tony stretches over the couch’s back, pouting identically to his daughter’s infamous expression. “Yeah, poor Daddy. He’s been stuck at home with two rowdy heathens! He’s a withering dragon.”

Peter snorts, “Quick, someone give him hugs and kisses!” 

Morgan wraps her arms around Pepper’s neck and proceeds to offer a kiss to her mother’s cheek. 

Tony scoffs, smile blossoming despite the faux-hurt expression. 

Pepper’s head tosses back, laughter shaking her frame. 

Peter drops down next to Tony, resting his head against Tony’s shoulder. “Hi.” 

“Oh, look! Someone has come to love on the poor, withering away dragon!” croons Tony, wrapping both arms around Peter until he’s snug in his embrace. “A unicorn’s love is the purest of them all.” 

Peter snorts loudly at that proclamation. 

Morgan cackles madly at the noise, for whatever reason she is always overcome with immense pleasure whenever anyone snorts in laughter. “He sounds like a pig.” she whisper-shouts at Pepper.

“Kinda weird for a unicorn!” comes Peppers reply.

At the reminder of their pajamas, Morgan whips around and says, “Hey! Daddy, you can’t snuggle my unicorn!! He’s mine!” and then she promptly attempts throwing herself out of Pepper’s arm and onto the couch. 

Pepper doesn’t let her go. 

Tony begins raining kisses down on Peter. 

For his part, Peter pretends to squirm away, hoping to rile up his sister

Morgan falls for it: immediately squawking and wiggling away from her mother in an attempt to attack her father. After a few moments, Pepper allows Morgan to climb onto the couch and she latches onto her dad’s prosthetic arm. 

“Noo, Daddy, Petey’s my unicorn!”

“I knew him first; he’s mine.”

Pepper barks out a surprised, “Tony!”

Tony and Morgan squabble over who Peter belongs to for several loud moments. Peter laughs hysterically between the both of them. Pepper wonders up behind the couch and combs her fingers through Peter’s hair and says, 

“What if I claimed Peter as my own?”

Tony gasps. 

Morgan squeals, “Can’t! He’s mine!”

Peter tugs Morgan into his lap. “Oh yeah? And what if I said I’m my own man?”

Morgan’s brows furrow at that proclamation. 

Tony, thankfully, switches the conversation, “Hey, Mo? Why don’t you ask Mom to put on her special jammies at the back of our closet?”

Pepper backs away from the couch. “No way.” she says with all the dignity of a composed CEO not afraid of anything, shaking her head and swishing around her ponytail. “You promised you’d never bring it up again!”

Peter bites his lip, “I didn’t get Pepper pjs because you said on Monday she wouldn’t be back until next week!”

Tony shushes him, “It’s okay. I did say that. But Pep has a black cat footie pajama set in our room that she loves to wear.” 

Peter turns around to stare incredulously at Pepper, “You do?!”

Pepper mouths at her husband, “I hate you,” before turning her attention to Peter, “I do. I’ll be back; give me ten minutes.” and she trudges up the staircase. 

Morgan and Peter share a commemorating look of victory. 

Tony claps his hands. “Finally! I’ve been wanting to do a family portrait forever!”

Peter throws his head back with laughter, “You seriously wanna do family pictures in pjs?”

“When have I ever been conventional?”

“Fair.” 

Morgan jumps out of Peter’s lap and begins bouncing on the cushions once more. “We need to start the movie over! We missed ten whole minutes!”

“We can rewind it,” her father soothes. 

“Nope,” she shakes her head, “gotta start it allllll over. I said so.” 

“And your word is law?”

Morgan nods. 

Tony sweeps her into his arm, to the tune of Morgan shrieking, and says between kisses, “How about I think about it while you clean up your mess? I want our picture taken in front of the fireplace.”

Morgan glances that way and pulls a scrunched up face. “Do I gotta?”

Peter stands up and offers the little girl his hand, “I’ll help.”

So Peter and Morgan clean up. 

Pepper comes back down, decked out in her black cat pajamas. Peter retrains from commenting on her, admittedly awesome, ensemble. Tony, on the other hand, immediately begins flirting with his wife as Morgan and Peter finish their task. 

After a few moments, Pepper puts an end of Tony’s comments by directing them all in front of the fireplace. 

“One serious and the rest are silly,” Tony says as his sits in the middle, pulling Peter onto his left side. “Think you can manage all that, FRI?”

“Well within my purviews, boss; I am more than capable of taking family portraits.”

“Excellent! Morgan, you sit with Mom, alright?”

“Yes!”

“Say goofball on the count of three,” FRIDAY directs and begins counting down. 

“Goofball!” echoes four voices. 

Tony puts the serious picture up on the company website. And if May ends up being bombarded with several silly pictures ten minutes later, well, Tony and Peter both know she won’t mind. 

[breannacasey]

Season Tag

I was tagged by @oneawkwardcookie

Rules: Answer the 12 questions & tag 5 other peope!

What is your favorite season? Autumn. It’s still nice enough that you can enjoy doing things outside, but without it being too warm. And the clothes are already much better and it’s comfortable. And there’s rain and wind. And it’s so beautiful with all the colours in the trees. And there are all those seasonal produce. Like squashes to make potages with, and you can go pick apples.

In Marie-Tempête by Dominique Demers, one of my favourite books, there’s this quote “J’ai toujours aimé l’automne. À cause des grands vents qui hurlent et qui secouent tout. L’automne n’est pas une saison morte. C’est plein de vie, de furie. Mais c’est aussi une saison qui nous berce pendant de longs moments. Au ralenti. En silence. Quand la pluie cesse et que les vents s’apaisent.” which I’ve always vibed with. (quick, rough translation: I’ve always loved fall. Because of the big winds howling and shaking everything. Fall isn’t a dead season. It is full of life, of fury. But it’s also a season that rocks us for long moments. In slow motion. In silence. When the rain stops and the winds calm down.)  

Do you prefer warmer or colder weather? Colder. When it gets above 25, I get miserable.

What do you do on a rainy day? I love writing by my open window, or watching a movie, or reading. All cuddled up in blankets, maybe with tea or hot chocolate.

How is a typical winter where you live? Cold or not? Cold, yes. Some days it is colder here than in Antarctica, though during winter here it’s summer down there. There’s plenty of snow, which is very pretty. I love the glow of light reflected on it at night. Nights are brighter in the winter and I love it. We get that annoying freezing rain that takes forever to scrape off your car. Sometimes the wind is so cold, it feels like you can’t breathe. And so much time goes into getting the snow out of the way. Most people have a love/hate relationship with it, usually by February we all start getting sick of it. And then by July, I already miss it.

Have you ever experienced snow? I have walked through knee high snow to get to my car in the parking lot then spent 15-20 minutes getting snow off of it and out of the way on more than one occasion. Which sounds bad, but as long as there’s no ice, it’s bearable. I have spent close to 45 minutes after a long day scraping an inch of ice off my car that sucks, so when it’s just snow and no ice, it’s good. I have made so many snow forts as a kid. And the usual walk to school where you should be walking in the street, but walking on the snow banks covering the sidewalk is an adventure and so much more fun. Until you leg slips too far down and your boot stays stuck in it and you’re standing on one leg trying to retrieve it.

True or false? “I LOVE RAIN!” True. Except in winter, of course. But most of the year, I absolutely love it.

What is your go to food in the summer? Anything easy, like salad, hot dogs, burgers. I absolutely love skewers. And corn is great too. And strawberries, raspberries and blueberries with cream is the perfect dessert. And when rhubarb is in season, crumble. I’ll also put berries in it, since they’re usually in season at the same time.

What is your favorite ice cream flavour? Chocolate. I’m basic. I prefer twist when I get it covered with chocolate though.

Coffee, tea or cocoa? Coffee. Though I also love tea, can’t finish dinner without some black tea. And hot chocolate is a nice treat on winter or rainy nights.

Describe your favorite seasonal clothing item! Knit sweaters. I have an oversized cream coloured one that is just so soft and cozy. And with the amount of scarves and hats I own I guess I should mention that.

What is your favorite Holiday? I don’t really have one. I guess St-Jean-Baptiste, which is my province’s national holiday. Mainly because it’s more celebrated with friends than family. And it’s barbecue season so that’s nice. It’s what we did this year with my friends, a social distancing barbecue. And then sometimes a fire later at night. In high school, I would go camping with my family and another family at that time of year. So it was fun to be around the fire, making sausages and marshmallows and hearing the fireworks from afar.

If you were a season, which one would you be? Autumn. 

I tag @officerrxyes @yesimweirdgetusedtoit @terramous @brilliantbanshee @luna-colorata

[chaoticoconut]

BARBARA GORDON HEADCANONS THAT MAKE ME SWOON!!

(and so can you!! alfkvoekfndnej does anyone get that reference anyhoo)

I couldn't NOT post these idk I was showering and then I was hit with a mf tornado of hcs about my favorite gal and I figured I'd share :))))

Barbara and Tim are actually the most potty mouthed members of the batfam, excluding Kate. Jason is close, but only when he's upset (which probably seems trivial bc he's yk always upset but I hc him a pretty chill if not bitter and snarky guy). Tim cusses more when he's tired, but he consciously tries to bite his tongue. Barbara has no remorse and cusses very casually and openly, because she sees no point in abstaining. It releases endorphins guys. Duh. She uses those ridiculous "holy heck Batman!" lines as Batgirl unless she's genuinely thrown off her game. She limits her cussing a lot as Oracle bc she's not one to offend people, and you never know. It's most definitely a civilian thing for her, and anyone who knows Babs knows she's a fucking sailor.

Her favorite food of all time is pizza. Her dream house has a brick pizza oven. She has a food blog with every pizzeria in the greater Gotham area ranked from best to worst. Her favorite of all time is the Gotham Pizza Garden, which is located in Old Gotham near the police station. Technically it's the second best pizza in Gotham, second to Gargoyle Pie Company, which is renowned for being the epitome of Gotham-style pizza and is always busy. She has a lot of memories of GPG though, and loves both pies. GPG also has an incredible Chicago style pizza, which is her second favorite type of pizza. She does however believe Gotham style is superior and thinks less of Dick for disagreeing (@blanddcheadcanons tie-in heyo!!) Very few things make Babs as happy as gourmet pizza.

She grew up watching Teenage Mutant Turtles, Powerpuff Girls, and Star Trek. They all hold a very special place in her heart. There is totally a connection between her love of pizza and TMNT and turtles and mixed martial arts. She once got the boys to go as the turtles for Halloween, with her crushing it as April.

Speaking of turtles, she's had a pet turtle named after icon Nichelle Nichols since high school. Yes, she does call her Shelly. Yes it's cliche. No she does not care. She also has a calico cat named Cornflake that Dick gave her as a birthday present. She doesn't have pet dogs until she and Dick finally settle down. She never had them growing up because her father is allergic and her mother was a devout cat lady. She's not really sure why she never got any on her own, she's just more familiar with cats. After her mom passed away, she did get a bunch of bunnies whom she and JJ named after their favorite horror movie monsters and serial killers.

She loves slasher flicks. It's a family thing. JJ was creepy about it, Jim loves the thrill, Babs loves the mythos, and her mom was never really afraid of anything and found them funny.

She inherited her mother's love for baking. She left her her cookbook, which contains an amazing mixed berry pie recipe. Her pie baking abilities rival Alfred's. She even begins to branch out with her recipes and experiment with all sorts of fillings and even cake-pies (fanfic au tie-in heyo). Everybody loves a Barbara baked good. She knows everyone's faves and literally crushes holiday season. Dick is all about the og mixed berry pie, whereas Jay, who loves lemon everything (hc I saw awhile ago that I just love) prefers either a lemon meringue or a raspberry lemon. Tim is all about strawberry open face while Steph prefers cherry cheesecake or pecan pie. Cass and Bruce both love her cinnamon apple pie. Duke loves just about anything she bakes, but especially her more adventurous, contest winning pies like kiwi-blueberry-black cherry and other originals. Kate will die for Babs' cherry pie. Damian prefers blackberry or mixed like Dick. Alfred is a sweet potato pie kind of guy himself. There's a farmer's market in Blüdhaven her mother went with her to when she was a kid that Barbara still goes to get get all the fresh fruit.

Even better than Barbara or Alfred baking alone is them baking together. Roy Harper is also a pretty good baker. They all trade recipes with Martha Kent. M'gann brings wine to the manor and assembles them all for fun days of baking.

She's also totally the type of gal who made a shit ton of cupcakes when she ran for class prez and stayed I from Batgirl duties to finish them. Just saying.

She picks baking back up as Oracle but several hero emergencies lead her to burn perfectly good desserts.

She and Roy will always have puppy-love crushes on one another and be totally oblivious. They both did ballet as kids, love baking, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, shameless empty flirting, and tech. They're completely platonic and really great lifelong friends. They met at a Wayne gala as kids.

As if she wasn't already talented enough, she's completely ambidextrous. I'm jealous. Dick and Wally are left handed. Bruce is similarly ambi. Selina's a leftie. Maybe Alfred too.

She likes to enter contests and win for fun. She's a monster. Everything from baking to video games to weight lifting, she loves showing people up.

Dick, Babs, and Tim all snore atrociously loud. The batfam hates it. She's the quietest out of them all, but she's also a blanket hog. And a major cuddler.

Her favorite colors are grey and green. Purple does deserve an honorable mention however. Her apartment is a fair mix of green and grey decor and covered in books.

She was a total ballerina growing up, just like her mom wanted. That was until she discovered how kick ass martial arts were, and she got a little too jacked to continue with ballet as a formidable career option. Her next best option is becoming a cop at this point, but her father believes that not only would it be far too dangerous but a waste of her skills (like ballet cough cough). This upsets her so much she goes off and invents Batgirl, complete with a stole grappling gun from evidence.

In college she works as a barista and excels at it. Her dream is to open up a cafe/bakery/flower shop with Dinah some day. She wants to call her half Bean Me Up Scotty! (another hc I saw and fell in love with)

Babs is also a pretty good cook being that she became the family chef at a young age (Jim can barbeque and make spaghetti. That's literally it. Maybe some breakfast). Cooking lessons from Alfred certainly helped.

Her personality is so versatile. She can get along with pretty much anyone due to her wide range of interests and skills which is what makes Oracle so bad ass. She's also a Libra so she adapts fairly easily to any group without seeming fake.

She has a podcast where she rants about tech and feminism and politics and plays video games

She SO took Latin in high school and dominated competitions. She loves classical studies and is a dork for Greek and Roman mythology as well as linguistics. She has a pretty good grasp on all of the romance languages, and learns languages fairly quickly.

She always smells like mint and books. She has killer mint shampoo and conditioner, which is a Kean family thing (they just love the scent). She always smells refreshing.

She likes coffee but prefers tea always. She's like Ramona Flowers with tea

Her music taste is total 90s nostalgia (grunge, boybands, air pop, ska, hip hop) meets far too indie 4 u. Yes she's pretentious. Yes she loves chick rock and *NSYNC and Britney and Kurt Cobain and Biggie and deal with it. She also loves shit you've never even heard of. Was totally into the Gotham punk scene as a teen.

She collects vinyl and books and horror flicks ugh hipster queen

She loves spicy food and Dick cannot stand it. They both like sour candy though

If your Barbara Gordon didn't graduate high school at 16 she doesn't have rights

She was all of the Robin's first crush. Duh. Tim will always think she's the gold standard of women. He likes that she usually sticks up for him. He doesn't mind being seen as her male equivalent lmao

At some point Jay and Babs are roommates and it's literally the best I'll talk abt that later

Her type is guys with dark hair or blonde gals.

[epickendall]

The Thrilling adventure of Spider-Man and Harley Quinn part 7

Alex tells Harley and Peter about the whole the city became a wreck of a city with vampiric creatures of the night. "See a long time ago; there was this superhero that goes by the name of Alucard he had long black hair, red eyes, and muscles for days. Alucard has powers like a vampire he can fly, super strength, super speed and can suck blood from a person's body,"

Harley interrupts Alex, "can he also turn into a bat?"

"No, as I was saying shortly in a few years Alucard became this city hero by saving the innocent,  putting bad guys away, and all that superhero duty. He was the beloved city hero giving him countless medals and keys the city, but then something changed about him,"

"What change in Alucard?" said Peter

"Alucard started to be more violent and chaotic when fighting bad guys, even accidentally killing a few criminals when drinking their blood. Then he began to come after people that did the smallest crimes like littering or jaywalking. The other heroes had to put him away, or he'll hurt more people, but then he broke out, and he got no power to turn people into mindless creatures like ghouls his army of ghouls that you see for the past few days."

"what about the other superheroes why didn't they stopped him?"

"They couldn't because the government stepped and quarantined the city with some high tech shield around the city, so the infection leaving us here with the monsters,"

"And what about you seem you got the tech to get out of here?" said Harley

"I can't I made a promise to a friend to save this city,"

"And how are planning to do that with us?" said Peter

"See I think you guys got the skills and talents to final stop Alucard bloodthirsty rampage and get the government to take those damn shields down around the city,"

"Then how are we going to do that,"

"Simple Alucard has been hiding out on Alcatraz Island that at the end of the shield you two will go there with some volunteers of the center to help when you get to Alcatraz island just kill Alucard, and all of his ghouls die in the city,"

"I cannot be that simple since we are dealing with vampire hero," said Harley

"It will you have lost a few of his brain cells over the past five years,"

"How do you know all of this  information are you a hero, Alex,"

No, I'm afraid not I used to be a pretty good thief and getting useful information people,"

"Okay then I'm judging a person on his past but what in this for when it's all over," said Peter

"I'll take you guys back to your own earth's after you deal with Alucard do we have a deal?"

"I'm fine with killing an evil vampire how about you spidey?" said Harley turning to Peter

"You can kill him Harley I don't kill people,"

"And it looks like we got a deal, Alex," Harley grabs Alex's hands and shakes it.

"Good you two need some rest after a long day there is a private sleeping quarter for the two to rest until tomorrow morning when the plan get started,"

The two went out of Alex tent and head to their sleeping quarters that had a couple of bunk beds, a footlocker, a mirror, a table, and a few lamps.

"So Spidey do you want to share a bed together," said Harley who lean against Peter's chest and flashing her eyelashes

"I think I'm good sleeping by myself, Harley," Peter move back from Harley.

"Aw fine but if a little cold and lonely you know where you could find me," Harley then jump into a bottom bunk of a bed.

"Jesus this woman is too much for me," Peter thought as climb onto a top bunk above Harley.

"Goodnight Spider-Man,"

"Goodnight Harley,"

A couple in hours in the night Harley got a dream where she was in this massive mansion with tons of sports and muscle cars, lots of money, a movie theater, and a statue of a pony with miniguns at the sides. Harley is in the backyard Harley was wearing a red v neck lace dress, black high heels boots, pearl necklace, and red and black earrings. Harley was shooting a bunch of mini version of the Joker with a Barrett M82 and then bombing then up with a couple of dynamite.

"I love yard work," said Harley one Joker tries to stab her with a knife but Harley stomp with her boots "little fucker,"

Then she hears the back door open she turns to see Spider-Man unmasked wearing a fancy red and blue suit holding something behind his back.

"Harley I'm home," said Spider-Man

"I could see that come here handsome," Harley kissies Spider-Man on the lips and stops notice he was holding something "what you got behind your back,"

"A special treat for my special girl," Spider-Man shows Harley a pie "it's your favorite blueberry pie,"

"You should have," Harley takes the pie and cuts a piece for her and Spider-Man with a knife the two ate until a baby started to cry.

"Sounds like Bella has woken up,"

"Let's go check on her,"

Spider-Man and Harley went in the mansion and to the baby room full of toys and pictures of animals there was a baby crib Spider-Man and Harley look down to see a baby girl with brown hair and blue eyes crying Spider-Man picks her up and cuddle her until she stopped crying.

"Your such a good father," said Harley

"And your such a good mother," Spider-Man who then kisses Harley on the cheeks.

"Remember we got dinner with red later and I think I could convince her to be experimental with us tonight when the baby asleep," Harley flash a sexy grin.

"I would love that any way you want to do it is fine with me,"

Back in the world, Peter wakes up for a few seconds to hear, Harley talked in her sleep.

"Yes Spider-Man I want to do it like it was our honeymoon.," said Harley

"What the hell is she dreaming about, I think it is best I go back to sleep," Peter thought going back to sleep.

[pagesandmagic]

Love’s Pretty Rusty

Woah, I’m back to writing again! Who knew it would take so long? Re-watching Once Upon A Time gave me knew inspiration to write again (also re-watching Hook + Emma fall in love again is oh so fabulous). SO I found inspiration for this little piece about Hook + Emma in alternate universes. Which you can find HERE.  It’s pretty great stuff. As always, thank you for the love and I hope I have some more free time to be able to write more (if this is something that you all enjoy, because heck knows I love, love, love writing about these characters.) Please let me know if there’s any kind of plot you’d like to see made into words. As always, feel free to request!

xo

Photo by Ashley Davis

Killian Jones sat at his darkened kitchen island downing his third glass of rum. He checked the clock, 10:30am, damn you, Rusty. It was then that he had realized he’d been awake four hours and yet no luck finding his beloved dog, Rusty. He ran his fingers over the rim of his cup. That dog was his life, his everything. Rusty had helped him through the darkest moments of his life - the death of his parents, the lost loves of his life. He was determined to find him. Killian poured the rest of the rum into his flask and tucked it safely inside a pocket of his black leather jacket. He had to keep looking. 

Emma Swan liked to run. She wasn’t sure what it was about running that she enjoyed so much. Maybe it was the way her feet pounded against the pavement like she was stomping out all the bad vibes in her life. Or maybe it was the way her heart pounded so hard she thought it was going to fly out of her chest. It cleared her head, made her feel light again, like she could get rid of all the pain from her past and start new. At least until her next run. 

Killian sat on the park bench with his head in his hands. This was the place he came when life got hard. Normally, Rusty was by his side, but not this time. His heart broke thinking that him and Rusty would never share a park bench again. He grabbed the “Lost” posters from his lap and began walking around the park again. Surly someone would care. Surly someone would find him. 

Emma turned into the park, her favorite spot during her runs. It was the place where she would take Henry when he was a baby and would walk for hours around the little lake. But now Henry was in third grade and Emma tried to fill her days with runs and her job and trying not to think about all the things she had done wrong in her life. It’s a hard knock life. What she wouldn’t give to have life be normal. No pain from her past, having Henry grow up with a dad, having her own parents. Normalcy. 

When Killian got Rusty she was just a puppy. He sought out after her because he needed a sense of normalcy in his life. He needed someone to love, someone to look after, someone who needed him as much as he needed them. He remembered how much his heart thumped in his chest as he walked into the shelter. He was so excited to find the perfect pet, the perfect pal, the perfect partner in crime. And that’s exactly what he found in the small Golden Retriever puppy in the shelter that day. A perfect companion.

Emma grew up an orphan, a lost girl, might as well have been a lost soul too. Because she always felt that way. Her parents died when she was young, at least that’s what her foster families always told her. Car crash, one said. Murder, another said. In her twenty eight years she never knew the truth. But did she really want to? If she found out that they abandoned her, left her to fend on her own, she could never live with that. So she kept it in the back of her mind stored away with all the other pains of her life neatly filed into separate painful categories. She vowed she would never allow her own child to feel the kind of pain she felt knowing she would never meet her own parents on this side of Earth. 

Killian grabbed the bottle of flask from his pocket and sank in his own sorrows. He stumbled through the park feeling the gaze of the young mothers in their yoga pants giving full judgement for his actions. What did it matter without his best friend by his side? Nothing did. He continued to staple posters in the park for another hour, hoping with everything inside of him someone would recognize his beloved dog. He rubbed his temples and took one last swig from his flask. He would find Rusty, but he would need a miracle first. 

Emma was the observant kind of person. She could name every person who walked in this park, some were moms of the kids Henry went to school with, others were people she came in contact with at her little shop. Small town perks. So when something new appeared it didn’t come without notice. It made her stop in her tracks. A picture of the friendliest looking dog she had ever seen, the kind of dog that made her heart leap with happiness. The kind of dog that Henry would love to be around. She tore the poster down and tucked it in her fleece sweater. She continued on her run home, already mapping out the adventure her and Henry were going to have when he came home from school.

Killian grabbed a blueberry muffin from his island and sat down on his couch, turning on the TV hoping for some kind of distraction. He had only ever loved two women in his life. They both broke his heart. Practically tore out his heart and threw it into an ocean. Since the last one, he slept in a new bed every night, tasting new lips, drinking his body weight in rum each week. He swore off love, swore off any feelings even close to the ones he felt with the women he loved. He scoffed even thinking about feeling the same way again. How could he? How could he ever give someone his heart again when the only people he had ever given his heart to betrayed him? No. It wouldn’t ever happen again. That’s why he had Rusty. To fill the void in his life that he always had. Just as he polished off his muffin and one episode of Friends his doorbell rang.

Emma welcomed Henry from school with some chocolate chip muffins and a proposition. 

“Hey Kid,” Emma chuckled, holding out a fresh muffin in one hand and the poster in another. “So what do you say we go on a little adventure today?”

Henry smiled, “When have I ever said no to one of those?” He threw his backpack down on the kitchen floor and took a bite out of the muffin. 

“That’s what I was hoping,” Emma smirked, taking a bite out of Henry’s muffin. He laughed and his eyebrows furrowed. 

“So where do you suppose a dog goes on a Monday afternoon?” Henry said, his words muffled from the muffin he devoured. “If he’s been lost for a day, I don’t think he would have gotten too far. Have you checked the park?”

“That’s where I found the poster, but we could always go back and check.” Emma offered. 

“No, if you were already there, I can’t imagine him being there. He’s a big dog, you would’ve seen him.” Henry brushed his fingers on his chin, searching his mind for a spot. Then his eyes lit up with excitement, “If I were a dog, I know just the spot I’d go to. Come on, mom. Let’s find this dog.” 

Henry took his mom to the one other place besides the park that he could think of where the Golden Retriever would be. 

“You brought us to the dump?” Emma plugged her nose at the smell that wavered around her. 

Henry smirked up at her, “Of course I did. If I were a dog, this is where I’d go, there’s all kinds of cool things here.” He plugged his nose, “Plus there’s food here, so if he’s hungry he’d have something to eat, once you get over the smell.” 

“All right, kid.” Emma held her nose even tighter, “Let’s hope you’re right,”

The pair spent some time searching the outside of the dump hoping that Rusty was somewhere. They called his name, they threw treats into the air, but no dog in sight. 

“I’m sorry mom.” Henry stated a half hour into their search, “I thought he’d be here.” 

“It’s alright, Henry. Come on, let’s go home before we permanently smell like moldy cheese.” They both laughed. 

Once they reached Emma’s little yellow bug they heard barking from a distance. Henry’s eyes lit up, “Do you think that could be him?

“Rusty!” They both yelled in unison. 

No more than five seconds later they saw a coat of gold running towards them with a wagging tail. Henry ran to the smelly dog, “Mom, it’s him. I can’t believe we found him!”

“You found him, kid.” Emma patted him on the shoulder, “Come on, let’s get him cleaned up and brought back to his owner. I’m sure he’ll be so relieved to have his friend back.”

Killian Jones opened his door only to be pummeled down with wet kisses. “Rusty!” he exclaimed, he ran his fingers throughout Rusty’s shiny coat. “How did you find your way home? Where were you at?” He gently pushed the dog off of him and brushed the hair and slobber off him. He stood up to find one of the most beautiful people he had ever seen in his life standing in his doorway. 

“H-hello.” Killian cleared his throat, obviously taken aback by the beauty before him. “You found my Rusty?”

Emma smiled at him, “I didn’t actually, I only found your poster,” she placed her hand on Henry’s shoulder, “This guy was the one who actually found Rusty.”

Killian got down on one knee - to Henry’s height, “Thank you, mate,” he smiled, “Rusty is my best friend, my right hand man. Thank you for bringing him home to me,” he patted Henry’s arm. 

“It was no problem,” Henry smiled, “My mom and I had a lot of fun looking for him.” 

Killian rose to his feet. Looking down at his dog he smiled, “I hope you were at your best behavior whilst with this lovely lady,” Rusty brushed his face with his paw and ran inside the house and plopped on his best, chewing at his bone. 

Holding out his hand to Emma, “Thank you,” he paused, squeezing her hand, “Really, truly. Rusty is my best friend, I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

“Well, it was my pleasure, actually it was my son’s,” she pointed to the boy who had already made his way back into the yellow Bug, his nose in a book, “He took it upon himself to make sure Rusty got home to you,” Emma smiled at him. 

Killian Jones was awestruck by this girl in front of him. Her beauty was like something he had never seen before. When he looked into her eyes he knew they told a story. A story of adventures and love, but a story of pain and heartache. Her smile shone so brightly, her lips so pink. She was beautiful. 

Emma Swan thought there was something special about this boy. She had always been intrigued by a boy with an accent. His bright blue eyes showed the pain of his past, but so kind as they drew her in. The way he spoke was so soft, so kind that she already started to imagine herself having many conversations with that voice for years to come. 

“May I buy you a cup off coffee as a thank you for taking care of Rusty?” Killian asked with a glimmer of hope in his voice. The kind of hope he never thought he’d hear come out of his mouth ever again. 

“Sure,” Emma smiled, her heart fluttering with a glimmer of hope. The kind of hope her heart missed after so many years. “Why not?” 

[chesawritingstuff]

Seaside Day 5

The worst of my cold and sore throat was done by today so I was feeling pretty good physically this day. We got ready fairly early so we could grab some All-Star Coffee before we made our way to the beach. It was another beautiful day, which gave me some hope that things were going to turn out well. We each got our drinks and Gabby and Anne got some mcdonalds before we made our way southward to Seaside. The girl who did our drinks this day was one of the better ones and all our drinks looked all fancy with the artistic way she drizzled the sauces along the sides of the cup and atop the whipped cream. I don’t normally take photos of my food or drinks but for this one I did. =P 

I’ve been pretty bad at picking my drinks though these last few times I’d been here. I got another one that I had not tried before and it tasted good but just wasn’t what I was wanting. This had a lot of caramel and that’s more of David’s thing than mine. But the white chocolate tasted good, it softened the saltiness of the caramel. 

Gabby lent me a pair of her glasses that she had stored in the car. They were a little loose on me but they did the job =D My nose isn’t long or big enough for most glasses so they end up slipping down my face, that or I have to tilt my head back and walk which just makes me look stuck up lol Thankfully these weren’t as bad as that. I’m glad that we all remembered sunglasses today because the sun was right in front of us for most of the trip. 

To get from Bremerton to Seaside takes about 3 hours and 25 minutes so this isn’t a short drive. It wasn’t that long into the drive, maybe halfway in that the surroundings started to look familiar to me. There was a bunch of logging towns that I was certain we’d passed when Dave was driving us on the way to the AirBnB but I shook it off thinking I must be connecting things that just looked similar. 

It wasn’t until we got to the Oregon seaside that I was like oh crap... I think we’ve been here before. I was afraid to tell Gabby because she wasn’t in the best of moods that day either. Its because she had been working crazy hours before the vacation and with all we’d been doing that week she didn’t have enough time to catch up on sleep and rest. Plus all the driving she’d been doing which is why she was tired and cranky. 

I didn’t realize at first that we were at the same beach we’d gone to with Dave at first because we’d parked right beside the aquarium that Gabby wanted to take us too. The Aquarium and the beach with the Lewis and Clark Monument is only a fifteen minute walk from each other or six minutes by car. T____T I still feel bad about this. But we did do a lot of things we didn’t have time to when we first came here so it wasn’t a complete waste. Like the aquarium I mentioned, that was a first for me. 

Gabby’s been here before with her mom and this aquarium is famous for the harbor seals. Their website reads - The Seaside Aquarium is a small privately owned aquarium. A family of harbor seals awaits you at the front entrance, which you can feed. Food may be purchased after paid admission. Inside we 35 glass front tanks, which feature marine life found along the Oregon Coast. For the more adventurous, we have two touch tanks. Gently touch the sticky tentacles of a sea anemone or let a little hermit crab scurry around on your hand.

It was still fairly busy when we came so we had to wait in line to buy our tickets. The harbor seals were just to our left and above us was a display of an orca with its sharp pointy teeth. We went through the exhibit before checking out the seals. This is the smallest aquarium I’ve ever been to and its located at the end of a dead end street right on the beach. There were a dozen aquarium displays showcasing the various sea life like sea urchins, Octopi, and a variety of different fish species. They also have a touch tank that was popular with the children and another bigger open tank with a giant octopus inside. 

It didn’t take us long to get through all the cases and were back in front to buy trays of fish for 2 dollars so we could feed the seals. From what I was reading online there is a lot of debate about the welfare of the sea lions in here and their small living conditions. I won’t go into detail about that because it is too sad so I’ll just focus on what we did. As soon as we walked up with our trays of food the seals began to get loud and were splashing the water and barking to get our attention. I tried to throw the fish I had to the ones that were near the back because I’m more partial to the weaker, quieter ones because I worry they don’t get to eat a lot due to their more vocal and more assertive brethren. 

It didn’t take long to get through the fish and we were leaving to let the next group go up and have their turn to feed the seals. I’m glad there was a wash station because my hands smelled bad from handling fish. I don’t like the feel or touch of meat, especially fish. I’ll handle it if I need to but its not a sensation I like. 

We spent a little time on the beach just outside the aquarium. Anne was telling us how this beach with its mini sand dunes had a very close resemblance to the ones in Denmark, minus the mountains and the buildings in the distance. There were a few people flying kites out today as well as bbq’s making this cloudy day feel like a summer outing =P 

We did not stay here long though, Gabby was not in a good mood at this point and it made Anne and I not really want to spend much time on the beach. We headed back to the car since the parking by the aquarium is limited and found a parking spot in the lot nearby. Someone was nice enough to let Gabby know she had plenty of space to park and once that was done we headed towards the shopping area. As soon as we entered I was like uh-oh... I immediately recognized the “Aspiring Shop” because Dave had tried to get me to take a silly photo in front of there. I was confused when he’d told me to hold my head like I was in pain, it wasn’t until I turned around and saw the name of the store that I understood what he was trying to do. 

I felt really bad at this point and decided to let Gabby know that we’d been here recently, BUT that when we had come here last time we didn’t get the chance to go into any of the stores or spent much time in the area. Gabby was obviously a little annoyed at the news and asked why we didn’t say anything. I apologized again and explained that I didn’t realize that we’d been here, the name didn’t ring any bells when she mentioned taking us here. 

We did do a fair amount of window shopping and I was able to find a really cool store that sold a lot of the clothes I like to wear. I got myself a new pair of shorts that I can use for my jogs and this really neat jacket that goes with most my outfits. I spent a good amount of time there.  After Gabby said that the store she really wanted to go to was this saltwater taffy store called the “Seaside Candyman”. She had promised her mom and coworkers she’d bring back some taffy for them. 

It’s in this little indoor building known as the “heritage square mall” that has a few shops as well as some tables to sit and eat at in the open area in the middle. Weirdly they had old Baywatch cutouts on a top floor balcony just watching over people as they exit the buildling. I couldn’t find much information on this place other than it having an antique store and the candy shop but I’m not sure what else might be there.

Inside the store I was amazed at the large assortment of homemade taffy they had. There are 170 different flavors to actually choose from! When you walk in, there is a large wheel for people to win. If you land on certain spots, you win prizes. Even if you don't win, you still win a free piece of taffy! The taffy is more reasonably priced than the other candy stores in the touristy area, and there are SO many types of taffy! In addition, they also sell different types of candy and ice cream too. I didn’t even know where to start really but got a bag and eventually began throwing at least two of each flavor I thought sounded interesting. This was going to be for Dave and TJ so I got flavors that sounded good to them though. The taffy wrappers don’t have the flavor written on them so its kind of a mystery what flavor you’ll end up with. I know I got some interesting flavors like a variety of bacon flavored ones, there was pumpkin pie, green apple, pancake (in various flavors like blueberry and chocolate) and many more that I can’t name at the moment. 

While I was waiting on Gabby to finish picking out her taffy one of the staff members asked if I’d like to spin the wheel at a chance for free taffy. I decided why not. It didn’t cost me anything so I had nothing to lose. I obviously didn’t get the bigger prizes but everyone gets one free taffy for trying. I wasn’t planning to eat any of the taffy but I decided I would at least eat that one. It ended up being a blue raspberry flavor which was pretty good. I’m not really into taffy to be honest, it mostly has to do with the texture. I don’t really like candies that get stuck on your teeth, for instance caramel candies etc. I have a bad habit of needing to bite things even hard candies because i don’t have the patience to savor them sadly and not the best habit when it comes to sticky foods like taffy. 

I’m still glad I tried it out and got out of my comfort zone to try and spin the wheel by myself. 

After buying our candy and finishing up all the shopping we wanted to do we went to the Pig’n Pancake for our lunch. Gabby went here with her mom and thought it was a place we’d all enjoy. This family dining place was established in 1961 and offers 35 varieties of breakfast (including homemade pancakes) served anytime. It was fairly busy when we entered but were promptly seated and our waiter was with us very quickly. 

I’m not really sure what I ordered, I feel like it was a chicken wrap of some sort. I’m not even sure why I find it important to mention the food. I think mostly I try to recall this information to work my brain muscles and keep my mind sharp and able to retain information. So hopefully me mentioning what food we ate isn’t too boring. Feel free to skip these parts lol. 

I remember the portion sizes being quite big here only because of the sheer amount of food they gave Gabby. She had ordered the chicken fried steak and a side of something... The steak with the gravy and mashed potatoes just stick clearly in my mind. 

We were ready to head home after getting food and the sooner the better because we had three and a half hours of being in the car ahead of us. We were all rather sleepy from lack of sleep the last couple of days which made the drive drag even longer. Because Gabby was super tired I forced myself to stay awake even though I kept feeling myself getting close to drifting out of consciousness many times. 

We played the movie game for a good two hours, trying to think of movies is a good way of exercising the mind and keeping you awake. Still there is only so many movies you can remember and we had to change the rules a few times so we could get different letters. Its funny how quickly you forget the names of movies when you need to remember them. It was especially frustrating when you had to think of a movie that started with a vowel. E was a frequent one to come up and quickly became our least favorite. 

At the final hour mark before getting home both Gabby and I had exhausted our brain and were too tired to think of movies anymore. Still I kept awake but Gabby was having a difficult time. There was one point where she actually drifted off and swerved into the right line before jolting back awake and correcting herself. I felt so bad for her and wished she’d just pulled over and let herself get a nap in but once she’s made up her mind there is little to change it. I think it happened one other time so to fight the tiredness she opened the window on her side and turned the air conditioner up to make herself cold. A technique I’ve seen Dave use on many occasions when he needs to stay awake. 

It was a relief when we finally got back safely and Anne and I told Gabby to sleep in the next day since we didn’t have any plans. The evening was much of a blur mostly because we were exhausted and tired at this point. It’s weird though, almost like clockwork I’d wake up around one or two in the morning and not be able to get to sleep due to my nose clogging up. Not just this night but almost every day we’d been there. After an hour to three hours at most I’d finally be able to get back to sleep again. I think one of the reasons besides the stuffy nose is the front porch lights are super bright so the living room is pretty bright at night. Even with the curtains closed there isn’t much you can do about the harsh fluorescent light flooding in. 

I think between my lack of sleep, the change in my exercise routine and all the food I’d been eating these last few days I felt so bloated and was dealing with the start of a bad breakout. 

That’s the one bad thing about vacations, the change in routine can really mess up your body and sleep schedule. 

[thotclaws]

A rant that I need to get off my chest. Please don’t take any of this seriously, this is just a ramble that I need to calm myself down..Soooo All of this is just my personal opinion. You may have yours, which is fine. Write down what else do you think about this situation?

So. I’ve been a fan of a small show that has grown into one of the best animated show’s ever...not Steven Universe. NO, Star Wars Rebels.

During it’s first run, it has been known throughout the community as the worst thing to ever happen and no one gave the show a chance for it to shine and it did. It’s now becoming very popular in the SW community. That and the show has gotten good ratings on Disney XD, but also seeing that there are shows that get lower raters due to Disney XD being more for teens but that’s not really the main focus. 

I’ve seen ships and fanfiction throughout the net. I’m glad this it’s gotten the love and attention it deserves but there was a time when it was hated and it still is. I don’t know why but I may have to explain. 

You see. Not everyone is STILL taking the purchase of Lucasfilm too lightly and has gone far as to say that the fandom will forever be tainted. BITCH that’s been happening since the prequels and I know that they’re not good movies, but I still like only a few things to come from it. There’s good things and bad things from everything. Nothing is perfect. So let the prequel lovers love it!

*Clears throat*

I like the show, is it perfect? no of course not. I have my problems with The Clone Wars but that doesn’t mean that its superior over Rebels, not exactly. Rebels and TCW are equally good. I remember watching TCW when it started to become popular and I started getting into the SW fandom during that time. By then I started wanting to watch anything Star Wars related. Even the prequels (even though their mediocre in my eyes but they could be better in script. The script was shit). In my eyes, I liked anything that came out of the fandom. I also remember TCW not being very good during it’s first season run, and now that it’s gone on to have 6 seasons, it’s not good for some odd reason. This is why I still won’t get the fandom and it’s spoiled fans. Once something new has been made with different characters and a different setting. Now here’s where the rant starts and how it just when down hill from there. 

By the time of my graduation in 2014, Disney announced that all of the Expanded Universe material is now considered non canon and rebranded as Legends. The fandom went into flames over this. I couldn’t believe that they would erase most of our beloved stories and characters. Now I understand why they needed to be wiped away. For one thing, there was a shit ton of contradictions and another is giving the freedom to write whatever the fuck they want with the characters, and most of the time, they end up either lame, stupid and or OP AF! Either way, I’m glad that it’s wiped away. Do I want some material or characters to be canon? Of course! I’m not saying every piece of good material should be canon. I’d much rather have it worked into the actual canon. 

I’ve seen many posts bashing Lucasfilm, sending out death threats and it was insane. Who the fuck has the audacity to be a terrible person that has no control over you? I mean seriously. Just chill. Disney is doing a good job of taking care of the canon. They have writers and on lookers in Lucasfilm to make sure that nothing contradicts each other and has the freedom to go all out on what they want. Not what the fandom wants, only time when someone has a petition to get something canon. So the fandom was really in rage. I didn’t understand the commotion cuz I haven’t read any Legends material up until recently. I never understood why so many people hated the fandom or still hate it to this day. All just because Disney wanted to go in a direction that fans weren’t anticipating. I’m glad it’s like that. If you please ALL fans, then there wouldn’t be any imagination left to write. Having an open mind is a good thing, and that what Disney wanted. They wanted to go in their own direction, they wanted to make Rebels and that got hate for no damn reason just because Disney wanted to make another 3D animated show that was like TCW when the only reason why it never got a proper conclusion was the purchase of Lucasfilm. TCW was airing on CN and CN isn’t owned by Disney. If they did decide to remake it and finish it, then I’ll be happy but being patient is the only answer to what the fans want. 

I hate it when a show gives the audience what THEY want, it’s ruining what I love about shows and writing. I love it when creators don’t give a fuck what the audience want. That’s why Game of Thrones has such a massive fanbase is because George R. R. Martin is someone who doesn’t specialize in pleasing everyone. If a show is running out of idea’s, it may be a good time to end it. I love it when creators know that if a fanbase is ruining or doing good (for the most part) job of being a balanced fandom. The only reason why I left the DW fandom was because it wasn’t for me anymore. It gave me what I wanted to see in an adventure in time and space and I still love the show, but the problem is that once you’ve done everything that you wanted. What do you do now? Do you continue and get more money? Or do you end it and say that’s it. That’s the main problem with what I have with this show. Is that once you have all of the idea’s told, that’s it really. 

For Star Wars it’s the same. Legends was good at making planets and giving us good characters and an few excellent stories that were recognized by George Lucas himself. Timothy Zahn is just one of my favorite authors that hasn’t lost touch with who they are. If you look up his interviews. You can tell that he’s just so humble, he just has a lot to say. That’s what I love about a person who’s still continuing their passion. So he’s has a fanbase of his own. That goes the same for the entirety of Legends ALL of it is fan fiction, and some pretty damn good ones if I do say so myself. 

Speaking of which. I think the point I’m trying to make here is that. Once a team is doing something that you don’t personally want. That’s totally ok, but some just had to be a bitch about it. Thrawn is canon, Are you happy that he is? Let me talk about Thrawn for a second. I’m going to be honest, I never knew who he was and what his back story was. I just known him in Legends and passed it off as just a character. Now Mara Jade. I knew who she was. For Thrawn, I didn’t know how his character worked and now that he’s canon. It made me want to look him up. I read about his character in Heir to the Empire and loved it. (I’m still waiting to get Dark Force Rising and it’s taking me a while). Now I’m obsessed with his character. It puts me in the shoes of someone who has grown up with these types of stories and seeing them being wiped away...it made me sad. I understood how the Legends community felt. 

*Wipes away a tear and clears throat again*

Let me talk about Rebels for just one second. I love this show. Does it have problems? yes. Not every show is perfect but for a show for me to love and watch is more different than what I do. I look and criticize what I’m watching. Is it a bit too kid friendly at times? Yes. What did you expect from a TV-Y show? Hehe. Anyways, the show has gotten hate the first time it was announced. When I read the comments on some of the SW’s YouTube videos on Rebels. It breaks my heart to see that they haven’t given it a chance, now when season 2 was announced. They started to see that it had some potential and watched it. I was super surprised that they wanted to watch it. Now that season 3 is here (AND IS ON HIATUS AND IT’S KILLING ME!! ><) Thrawn is announced to be the main antagonist. That’s when the flood gates of the Legends community spilled to the fandom and thanked Lucasfilm for giving us back our blueberry Grand Admiral. I’m happy that he’s canon. He’s the perfect character for our hero’s to go up against. He’s a great antagonist and I can’t wait for the novel to come out. I bet Timothy Zahn is so happy that he get’s to write Thrawn again! :D 

Now this is also where the hypocrisy lies. There have been fans complaining of the lack of “quality content” (which is bullshit) and that Legends is SOOOO much more better than the actual canon and that Rebels is stupid and Oh...Thrawn’s in Rebels? OH SOOOO NOW YOU WANT TO WATCH THE SHOW JUST BECAUSE THRAWN IS IN IT?! WTF? REALLY?! THAT IS A LOAD OF HORSE SHIT! Are people this egotistical or just assholes IDK? But that part pisses me off the most. Some fans clam that Disney is not going to do a good job of holding the mold of the canon and it’s going to get messed up like Legends were, and they don’t take a moment to think of what they just said. Disney is a BEAST of a company, so they’re going to make sure there aren’t anything left out of place. They just don’t have faith in the continuity of Star Wars and it makes me sad beyond belief. 

I thought the show would suck, but I watched it and I love it. I think Rebels has a lot of things that surpasses that of TCW and vice versa. I love Kallus’ character. I thought he was a good villain, now he’s developing as a character and it’s nice to see that the team and Filoni is making a good show and taking care of the characters. If it was a bad show, then they wouldn’t have these explanations that I’ve mentioned above. It would have poor ratings, bad character development, terrible CGI, and awful writing. It would be spread through out the community as a bad as it is, but it isn’t. There are fans flocking to see what happens next, and now that there’s the hiatus...K. You got me there hehehe. They’re just doing some touch up’s and that’s good right? Keep a show running smoothly is to make it better. So even though I don’t mind the hiatus...I’M JUST DYING TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH SABINE! FILONI WAAAAHHHYYYYY!!!?! ;-; 

 fijodfiohhkdf h; ag rhiorg oih4weijeworji.kfrz.kjewg dbjgs dkfesdhkjaegrihk

That’s how I feel about now. I may be cynical, but I’M A CYNICAL FANGIRL! WOOO!! I’m like an old man sometime...heheheh. I’m like old man Rex.

I’m not forcing you to watch the show. I’m asking for those who haven’t gave the show a fucking chance. DO IT NOW before you pull some random bullshit out of your ass. I always have everything to support my opinions. This isn’t really a rant on just Rebels but just the fandoms views on Disney and how they’re being ‘effected’ even though none of them contributed to writing anything good from Legends. Sooo...

Like I said. I’m cynical ;) doesn’t mean I can still enjoy something. 

I think I’m done with this rant. Hope this was enlightening on my opinions on the fandom as a whole. If you want me to rant on anything else. Leave me a reply and I’ll see what I can do. I’m pretty good at rambling. 

[wheremustwego]

Joan and Oliver

              “God, I feel like I’m sixteen.”

Joan snickers, taking the proffered blunt and leaning back. The smoke curls up, thick and blue, before a gust of wind takes it away. She glances at Oliver as she takes a long inhale, imagining the ghost of her lips pressing into the paper just before her own make contact. The thought comes and goes as a wisp; Oliver’s eyes are closed, lashes a heavy smudge on her reddened cheeks. She always flushed in the summer, Joan thinks, unable to ever trick her mom into thinking she hadn’t been sneaking out when they were younger.

“What, Oli? Didn’t think you’d be sitting here getting stoned with a college dropout?” Joan titters.

It’s Oliver’s turn to snicker, then, and she takes another small hit. “Yeah. Not when I’m on that nine-to-five shit. You’re lucky I have PTO. We can’t all be unemployed, fuckin’…freeloader.” Her grin is bright, the light casting pink to her. Joan has to look away; there’s no way she won’t be burnt from the intensity of it.

“Dunno, it’s pretty cool. Besides, I’ve only been back for what, a month?”

Oliver purses her lips, eyes widening as she rolls them away dismissively. Joan laughs, loud, and they can’t help but grin at one another.

“I know you’re mooching off Willow and your mom,” Oliver states, matter-of-fact. Joan raises her eyebrows, encouraging her to go on. “They talk to me about it all the time. Slip me little letters in my mailbox, slide me napkins they’ve written on when I’m at work…It’s very elaborate, I have to say,” she finishes, giggling. Her hands gesture wildly as she talks, red nails pinched on the end of the blunt. She holds it to Joan’s lips as she tilts her face up, dark eyes glittering in the dying light.

“Mm. Maybe I’ll have to have a talk with them later,” Joan contemplates, effect slightly dampened by the smoke she’s holding in. She exhales in a cough, laughing as Oliver drops the blunt with a curse between them. She starts to paw at the earth, red nails like rubies in the dirt, giggling as Joan attempts to stop her.

“No, no, dude, I’m sorry, I know those are so hard to roll—” Oliver apologizes.

“They’re not, you’re just a clumsy dumbass,” Joan laughs, grabbing at her wrists.

“No, I’m just an adult, asshole. Slacker…slacker mother fucker.”

This sets the two of them off in full, giggling as the blunt is forgotten and Joan’s grip slackens but her fingertips stay on Oliver’s pulse; Joan’s own fingers are strong and sure, feeling the gentle thump, thump, thump beneath. Their giggles continue, gleeful in a way that Joan cannot remember feeling since she had left.

This close, Joan can see the layers in Oliver’s hair, remembers feeling the thickness of it during clumsy attempts at childhood French braids. It’s lightened with the sun, dark strands turning golden in the summer, and has been cut to chin-length since she had last seen her; the sight is fresh, new.

Thump, thump, thump.

Joan could swear her own heart was beating in tune to the other’s, Oliver’s dark, round eyes turned up towards her. The giggles have stopped, though their grins have remained, softening at the corners.

Oliver has an easier time, as always, turning her hand over and into Joan’s hand. She had always been better at leading, as far as Joan was concerned. Their fingers slot together easily, complementary. Joan is aware, absently, that her own hand is sweating, but it receives a gentle squeeze from Oliver nonetheless. They quiet down and the moment stretches, stretches, stretches as Joan takes in her friend’s features, strong and sharp; freckles under her eyes, across her nose, now with a little gold hoop through the nostril. She wonders, absently, how long it’s been there—did she go alone to the only piercer within forty minutes of town, or was it done in the dim light of a coworker’s bathroom, haphazard and half-drunk?

Their hands are clumsily joined together in the dirt, and Joan feels caught. Snagged. How could she have left?

How could she ever leave again?

Oliver seems to find something similarly interesting in Joan’s face, dark eyes openly searching along her friend’s features. She seems to find something satisfactory, because a small smile pulls at a corner of her full lips.

Joan cannot look away.

The moment stretches.

Oliver looks back.

She’s scared for a moment that it will break, but knows better.

Despite her best friend’s earlier words, they weren’t sixteen anymore. They weren’t perched under a bridge at midnight, ducking down to avoid the police cruiser as they hid in the weeds, knees knocking together; they weren’t at one of Sam’s parties, bodies pressed together in a swell of music, pretending there were other people in the room. They were here, twenty-two, aimless. They were back home; Oliver with her front desk job, Joan with her half-formed friendships and forgotten Maine acquaintances. There was a rough tree trunk pressed to their backs, and the summer air was a warm balm that felt sweltering compared to the ice in Joan’s veins, the clamminess in her hand.

Oliver looks away, slips her hand out of Joan’s grasp, and finds the blunt with surprising accuracy. Joan is left reeling, blinking at the loss. She watches her friend gently blow the dirt from the blunt, using the flame from the lighter to assist.

Joan looks away, swallowing harshly and taking a deep breath.

She misses this place, she realizes. The smell of the blueberries, summer sun ripened in the woods behind her house and the sound of the train thundering through the outskirts of town. She misses her mom’s warm house, windows eternally opened in the summer, and misses her sister’s bright laugh. She misses the familiar turns and grips of the road by her house that leads to Oliver’s street—misses Oliver. She misses their shared looks, the easy beat of their conversations, the smell of her shampoo, the smudge of cherry lip balm on the lip of a glass.

When she was younger, she had thought she knew everything about Oliver, much like the worn pages of her favorite childhood book. Surely, surely she had catalogued every miniscule thing about her, as the scientists in the rainforest did the frogs—her clever eyes, sharp and bright in the sun; the full bow of her lips; the small depression in her proud chin; the strong line of her nose; the brush of freckles along the lines of her tanned shoulders. Like Galileo studied the stars, surely Joan had spent long enough cataloguing the constellations in her freckles to plan a map of them by heart and knew where to find the shortcut from the one behind her ear to the one beneath her eye. She could go from freckle to freckle until she got to the delicate curve of her neck and where it meets the sharp bite of her collarbone, like sailors used the North Star to navigate.

Surely, surely, surely, Joan had itemized everything about her, but as the time had passed several states away, she realized she was wrong.

Her frame had filled out more in the years Joan had been gone, muscle developing on her sun-pinked skin from lifting trays at the cafe. Her hair had changed only in length—Joan had always been more adventurous, anyway—and now was chopped short around her face, dark curls lightened at the tips in a show of summer fashion.

And this—this, their carefully crafted intimacy, a quiet sequestering from the world humming around them—this had always stayed the same.

Even with their years and states apart, Joan had felt pulled towards Oliver like a magnet pulls north. Even adrift, coming back to Oliver felt like gulping water after recess in school. 1, 2, 3… The counting of the other children ring in her head. She didn’t want to pull back after reaching 10, like they did in school; she could not, anymore. The feelings had dulled only slightly in the time apart, flaring back to life in a hot furl in her chest when their gazes had locked again in the café. Had that really only been a month ago?

“I thought of you, you know,” Oliver murmurs, voice a sweet pitch against the whispering of the trees. Joan waits as she always does, still attempting to quiet her heartbeat. “I was so mad at you for so long for leaving. Then, as…as I got older, and I saw you post with all your friends, I realized I was just,” she pauses, considering. “Envious.”

Joan’s throat clicks around a swallow as she shakes her head minutely. “I just had to leave, Ol. You know that. It didn’t have anything to do with anyone.”

“No, I know. I’m glad you went, Joan. You…you look so happy now.”

Oliver’s cheek turns as she lifts her gaze to Joan’s, head resting on her friend’s shoulder. Joan meets them, swallows dryly again, jaw clenching. The world suddenly feels too pressing, too small. The weed is making her heart swell like a balloon, and if it weren’t for Oliver’s steady, firm grip on her hand, she’d float away. Joan had been prepared for anger, had been prepared for coldness for her (abandoned) childhood friend. She had been expecting to make apologies and to spend the majority of the summer attempting to mend their bond; she had been expecting to delicately sew it back together, each prick of the sharp needle against her finger a smarting reminder.

She hadn’t been prepared for this.

Oliver’s gaze is open and searching, and though Joan had always been content to take the lead, she was merely the instrument for Oliver’s quick mind. Oliver had always known what to do, had always been prepared with a plan, even when Joan felt as if she were about to tumble into a precipice. Now, she realizes, Oliver had been following her lead just as much. It was a dance only the two of them knew; it had been learned in hours, months, years spent with their heads pressed together in conspiracy.

Oliver feels just as lost and small as she does, just as displaced and aimless as her. The thought tugs something in Joan’s guts and she has to look away from Oliver again, brows knitting together.

“I think freedom and happiness may be getting a little confused here. I’m not happy, I’m just…roaming. I’m just waiting for what’s next.”

[theherblifeblog]

Spotlight Series: Emma Baron Founder of MilkWeed

Emma Baron is curating heirlooms that you will love forever. Tired of mass produced accessories she set out to create a space where artisans could create functional works of art that you would place in any room in your home. 

"Made by hand on Canadian land" Emma's company Milkweed offers pieces that are modern yet timeless. The company's obvious love for all things Canadiana is charming and heart warming and everything on offer is designed to age gracefully and last a lifetime. 

Milkweed is about beautiful objects made by hand & made to last.” Tell me a little bit about this philosophy

We're excited that Canada is leading the world in the cannabis paradigm shift. If we're going to be known for great cannabis, and we're already so gosh darn hospitable, then shouldn't we be able to serve it all up in style on Canadian-made accessories? A couple years ago we looked around the city and the internet to find accessories from local artists that were on that Kinfolk/Dwell/modernist tip, but we didn't find anything that fit.

We're big believers in shopping, eating, and smoking local, so we decided to jump in and fill the niche. You develop a relationship with dependable, handmade objects that you don't with disposable, mass-produced pieces. Plus, call us crazy, but we believe that people should be paid fair wages. Working directly with local artists, we know how the pieces are made and the effort that goes into them. Working with natural materials like clay, wood, and metal, we pay attention to the details that make an object stand the test of time, in both style and craft.

You’re from a small town in Northern Ontario, what was that like growing up? When did you discover a love for cannabis?

It's taken me a while to appreciate it, but Northern Ontario is a beautiful, wild and magic place. It offers so many kinds of adventures and bounties that are invisible to the untrained eye: secret patches of wild blueberries; wildlife scampering through your yard on the daily; crystal clear lakes; vast expanses of forests and fields. The other thing it offers is time and a lack of resources, which are the ingredients for creativity and problem-solving. I learned how to make and do things myself, and appreciate the effort that goes into handmade goods. I've been crafting and selling since I was 6, travelling with my mum and grandmother to one-of-a-kind shows across Ontario. I need to go home to stay for a bit and learn to weave with my grandmother.

I was much later to the cannabis party than most of my friends. Not that I really lent credence to the war on drugs or had a super-conservative family, I was just busy with all the nerdy activities like student council, theatre, and band. I also worked part-time as a server during the school year, and in the summer I would work two jobs as a bookkeeper during the weekdays and at the restaurant on nights and weekends. It wasn't until the last few months of high school that I smoked my first joint. It was during a Metallica concert at the Winnipeg Arena, and it was... a bit much, if I'm honest. (Both Metallica and the joint.) My best friend and I still laugh pretty hard about it today. My love for cannabis came in university, where I discovered that I much preferred to relax at a party with a joint than with a drink.

Can you tell us what brought you to the cannabis industry? How did you get from Dryden Ontario to Milkweed?

People skills and a love of adventure. Working in the hospitality industry put me through a degree in arts administration, both of these fields trained me in aesthetics, organization, and persistence. As I became more comfortable with cannabis, I became increasingly less comfortable with the stoner stereotype, as I'm sure the majority of Canadians have. I've often worked (at least) two jobs since I was 14, put myself through a degree on my own dime, and always have a volunteer event on my schedule.

What inspired Milkweed?

Cannabis is a compliment to your day, something that gets you doing what you like to do. Whether that's kayaking, killing it at the weekly office creative meeting, painting in-situ at the park, the average person uses cannabis as a tool to facilitate doing what they like to do. Cannabis is the means to an end, not a dead end. We were inspired to create a new cannabis aesthetic as we didn't see ourselves in the products that were on the market. Many cannabis accessories are mass-manufactured, which inspired us to create a brand that was homegrown, closer to the heart and hands of Canadians.

We chose the name Milkweed for a few reasons. Firstly, we wanted a nod to the Canadian ecosystem,  and secondly, it conveniently contains the letters w-e-e-d in its name. We try to bring some wit and humour to the table, as they are great tools for breaking down barriers and opening up the conversation.

How do you find new artists to work with? What do you look for?

Our first priority when we're looking for artists is, of course, local goods. We'd love for our website to represent cannabis accessories from every part of Canada.

We tend to look for artists who aren't already creating cannabis inspired pieces, it helps bring a new perspective to the products. We work with them to create new objects that could sit in almost any room in your home, or maybe in your bag or as your carry-all that transports you to your next adventure.

Pieces with a story are important too - we're not looking to squeeze margins or fastest turnarounds from our suppliers. We want to support small entrepreneurs who are doing cool things that appeal to a broad variety of Canadians who will appreciate their work. Our products, we hope, will be a one-time purchase, to be used over with confidence wherever you may need them.

Do you have a favourite piece on the website? 

The Road Trip Kit is the anchor piece to the collection. It was a process to get it right, but a labour of love. Sourcing vegetable tanned leather is harder than you'd think! It takes multiple weeks longer to tan the hides with natural dyes. Feeling out just the right size for the pouch: big enough for your vape or phone in the long pocket, yet sleek enough that you'd carry the kit by itself on any occasion. The thickness of the leather needs to be just so - not flimsy or bulky. The kit represents everything we stand for: quality-made, durable, stylish goods with a history and a future.

What is your vision for Milkweed going forward?

We're emphasizing Canadian creativity, design, and local production in the emerging cannabis marketplace. We want for Canadian craftspeople to be involved this new economy, and we would love to have pieces from every province and territory in our collections. We look forward to collaborations with emerging brands from coast-to-coast-to-coast. We're also looking forward to collaborating with the rest of the world once cannabis legalization catches up. We love finding collaborators who share the same lenses of craftsmanship and quality, working with them directly to make objects with a sense of place and a story.

Are you excited about the end of cannabis prohibition in Canada? How do you think it might impact your business?

Yes, prohibition of cannabis has been a failure and we're glad to see it end for a few reasons. Once we're through the birthing pains, I think we'll start to see the emergence of a truly Canadian cannabis culture, and I'm excited to see what that looks like. It will be great for business when we can do social media ad buying, but working around the limitations has forced us to be more creative and sharpened our wits, so both sides of the grass are green. I look at LCBO's very popular 'Food and Drink' and I know it won't be long until we're there with cannabis.

If you were to offer one piece of advice to another woman looking to jump into this industry, what would you tell her?

Do it! There's plenty of pie for everyone. Find a mentor. Show up for things. Go to networking events, even if its shitty outside and you don't feel like it. The future of all industry depends on a diversity of thought, so your opinion definitely matters.

"Show up for things. Go to networking events, even if its shitty outside and you don't feel like it. The future of all industry depends on​​​​​​​ a diversity of thought, so your opinion definitely matters."  -- Emma Baron

Where can readers connect with Milkweed to learn more? 

Find us at Shopmilkweed.ca to get a look at the goods. Follow us on Instagram - we're all about getting out and exploring the world, and taking pictures of the fun and beauty along the way. Tag us, we'd love to see what kind of adventures you're up to.

[consulting-celiac-in-the-tardis]

Best of 2017: 21 Things to Be Grateful For From 2017

New blog post! By the time this blog post goes live, 2017 would've passed and we'll all be enjoying the first day of 2018. As the new year begins, I'm 100% certain that there will be tons of "Best of 2017" lists floating around on your computer screen - from lists about the Best Shows on Netflix 2017 (if you haven't checked out these foodie documentaries, add that to your 2018 new year's resolutions!) to the Best Selling Books 2017. This year, though, I wanted to end the holiday season - and 2017 - on a less materialistic note. As I shared this past Christmas, my family has shifted from giving actual "gifts" to focusing more on experience gifts. Similarly, we've also all tried to be more mindful...and gratitude is a big part of mindfulness.

So, to start 2018 off on a positive note, I'm sharing 21 things I'm grateful for from 2017, from delicious gluten free products that blew my taste buds away to special moments with loved ones to important events in the gluten free community. My hope for this post? First, that you'll discover some new gluten free foods or fun activities to add to your 2018 New Year's Resolutions. Even more importantly, I hope this helps you kick off 2018 with a mindful mindset - and that you think of 21 things you're grateful for too!

1. Learning how to take control of my gut health with Hyperbiotics.

It's no secret that my stomach and I still have days where we don't get along. As I've shared before, I used to be the kind of girl who could eat anything - and a lot of it. Since celiac entered my life, though, my less-than-flat stomach is the physical trait that I often feel most self-conscious about. Making a probiotic part of my 2017 daily routine hasn't entirely put my stomach problems in the past, but, as I shared in this post, Hyperbiotics has definitely changed my gut health for the better! If you've never tried using a probiotic (or eating probiotic-rich foods like yogurt or kimchi), adding some probiotics to your life could be the healthy living trick you need for 2018.

2. Graduating college with honors!

2017 seemed like a really long year...and I think that mainly has to do with all of the big life changes that occurred during it, including graduating college! Technically, I finished my time at Point Loma Nazarene University in December of 2016, since I graduated a semester early. However, I didn't actually walk across the stage and receive my diploma until the following January.

Honestly, it already feels like it's been FOREVER since I was in undergrad. After all, in the eight months immediately after I graduated, I: 1) lived in Colorado with my parents and learned to adapt to the cold weather, 2) worked a full-time job with Entity Magazine (more on that later), 3) and almost went bat-cat-crazy over grad school applications. But the chance to return to my college as a successful graduate and celebrate three and a half years of hard work with lots of family and friends? That was a pretty dang special moment of 2017!

3. Bonding with the countless other celiacs who also found that a gluten free diet wasn't enough...

This was one of my most popular blog posts in 2017, and, as I read more and more of y'all's comments on my blog and social media channels, it was easy to see why: I'm not the only celiac who has struggled to feel "right" even after going gluten free. It was definitely hard to think back to such a dark time in my life. I literally can't remember a lot of my first semester of college since I was dealing with so much celiac complications, from going on a liquid diet the day after my 18th birthday to being hospitalized for malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. As usual, though, being able to laugh and cry and connect with tons of people across the globe who delt (or are dealing) with similar struggles made all the work worth it.

4. Reading too many epic mysteries and psychological thrillers to count.

I haven't really shared much of this on the blog, but I am a HUGE fan of mysteries and psychological thrillers. Heck, a lot of my winter break from grad school has been dedicated to hitting the local library and devouring all the novels I can get my hands on! So, it seemed only fitting to recognize some of the awesome reads that made 2017 especially great.

Some of my favorite mystery books and psychological thrillers of the year include:

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware: I cannot say enough good things about this book or about the author's other novels. The plot will have you guessing until the very last page, and there isn't any gore - just a truly brilliant psychological thriller!

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins: if you haven't already read this book (and/or seen the movie), definitely add it to your 2018 New Years Resolutions. The characters are all well-developed and intriguing, and you won't know who the real "villain" is until the very end.

The Widow by Fiona Barton: such an interesting (not to mention nail-biting) read about marriage and the secrets people hold for their loved ones. I won't say more for risk of giving anything away, but this book definitely needs to be on your 2018 Reading List.

The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle: what happens when your husband dies on a plane that he's not supposed to be taking in the first place? This book tackles that question! This was a fast-paced thriller that had plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested the whole way through. (Can you tell that marriage, loyalty and lies were common themes in 2017 psychological thrillers?!?)

Among the Wicked by Linda Castillo: anything from the Kate Burkholder mystery series is a winner. The main character (the aforementioned Kate B.) grew up Amish but chose to leave her Amish community, and a lot of her cases as the Chief of Police deal with her Amish roots. Great for mystery lovers and anyone interested in Amish culture!

5. The "things I'm afraid to tell you" blogging movement.

In case you didn't read any of these posts (including my own post, here), the "Things I'm Afraid to Tell You" blogging movement is exactly how it sounds: a movement encouraging bloggers to write about the things they're afraid to tell their readers. The first time I read a "Things I'm Afraid to Tell You" post, all I could think was: "Wow. Respect." 'Cause it takes a heck of a lot of courage to publish "secrets" or personal insecurities or controversial truths on the Internet, and that's exactly what bloggers like Ashley at Blissful Basil were doing.

Like this post? Then tweet me some love by clicking here: "I'm starting 2018 on a #mindful note by sharing 21 #glutenfree eats, personal moments & events in the #glutenfree community from 2017 that I'm grateful for. What are you #grateful for from last year? #bestof2017 #mindfulness http://bit.ly/2pD5RBw"

I don't know how many (if any!) great secrets or truths I revealed in my own post, but I do know that it felt nerve-wracking to click "publish" - and that I'm so grateful for the bloggers who inspire me to be even more authentic and open every day!

6. Discovering the gluten free heaven that is the Gluten Escape in Denver, Colorado!

If you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance, food allergies or just love finger-lickin'-good food, then you can imagine how excited it's been to discover an epic gluten-free bakery not too far from where my parents live. The Gluten Escape is a 100% gluten free bakery in Denver, and they also offer various paleo, nut-free and vegan options.

So far, I'm absolutely in love with their (gluten free and vegan) cinnamon rolls, scones (the blueberry version was to die for!) and their seasonal pumpkin muffins. Their dark chocolate brownie was also the best gluten free brownie my mom and I have ever tasted. One of the best parts about visiting home is definitely visiting the Gluten Escape during my stay!

7. Learning how to balance chronic illness and a full-time job.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest opportunities I received in 2017 was working as the Senior Editor for Entity Magazine. During the year I spent with Entity Magazine (I started interning with them the summer before my last semester of college!), I learned so much about freelance writing, interviewing experts, SEO optimization, and marketing an online magazine. However, I also learned a lot about balancing a chronic illness and a full-time job, from knowing my physical limits (and making sure I get the accommodations I need to give my 110% every work day) to embracing the fact that I will never be a "normal" employee. Even though I no longer work with Entity Magazine, I'm so grateful for everything they taught me and how I'll be able to apply these lessons to my future career adventures.

8. Conquering the Manitou Incline!

I was sidelined by a re-aggravated IT band injury only a few weeks after my Dad and I attempted (and succeeded!) at climbing nearly vertical .8 mile hike fondly known as the Manitou Incline. However, I definitely have no regrets! It only took us 53 minutes to climb up the 2,300 steps, but we were sweatin' like crazy and ended up hiking around 8 miles overall. If you're ever in Manitou, Colorado and want a physical challenge with plenty of Instagram-worthy picture opportunities, definitely check out The Incline!

9. Seeing thousands of celiacs, gluten intolerants and food allergy warriors speak up against ignorance and ill-treatment.

It's impossible to deny that 2017 included plenty of negative events (many of which I won't even go into here). Some of the bad moments that especially stick out in my mind, though, are related to the gluten free and food allergy communities. For instance, there was the teen with a dairy allergy who died after school bullies allegedly gave him cheese and the boy with a gluten allergy allegedly forced to eat outside in the rain at Colonial Williamsburg. And, of course, these are only a few of the people who faced challenges related to their celiac disease, food allergies or chronic illness in 2017. It's horrible that these tragedies happened, and it's equally horrible that stories like these will likely continue to be told in the New Year. What I am grateful for, though, is the fact that people spoke up when faced with tragedies or ill-treatment like those listed above. When I posted both of these articles on my Facebook page, hundreds of people liked, commented or shared; the first article even went mini-viral, reaching over 50,000 people. Similarly, people have also been brave enough to post articles like "Don't Be a Jerk About Food Allergies" to raise awareness about how dangerous dietary limitations can be. As much as 2017 has been a year of challenges and tragedies for gluten free and food allergy communities, it has also been a year of increased awareness and support. My biggest hope? That 2018 will continue this movement...and trigger systematic change (like in school or restaurant policies) as well.

10. Being accepted into a fully funded grad school program.

To be completely honest, hearing back from the 11 grad schools I applied to was, in one word, brutal. Emails with my acceptance (or, in the case of 10 of the schools, rejection) would appear in email at all hours, and I was starting to lose hope that I would get into anywhere. Then, late one night, I opened up an email from Minnesota State University, Mankato...and screamed. I was accepted! My joy was dampened by the fact that financial aid wasn't guaranteed at that paricular school, and I'd need to go through yet another application process to receive funding. A month later, I got another email offering me an assistantship: in return for teaching Intro to English, my tuition was covered and I'd receive a small stipend to live on. I'd never even visited Minnesota and I'd never taught a college class, but I said yes with a huge smile. And so began my next adventure of 2017...

11. Falling in love with everything from BFree Foods.

I know I say this all the time, but finding a gluten free bread that doesn't taste like cardboard is dang difficult...not to mention finding a gluten free and vegan bread option. So when I got the chance to taste BFree Foods earlier this year, it was an easy yes. Since then, BFree Foods has become one of my fave gluten free bread companies (along with Canyon Bakehouse). And trust me - their gluten free pita bread would definitely make 2018 even more delicious!

12. Making even more online BFFs.

It really is amazing how close you can feel to people even when you've never met them in person. The magic of the Internet, for sure! In particular, I've loved getting to know Cora from My Little Tablespoon (she really is one of the sweetest and most encouraging people I've ever "met"), Ellen from My Uncommon Everyday and Kat from Katalyst Health a little better this past year. Amber from Eats and Exercise By Amber is a sweetheart as usual while Dairy Free Gina and The Herbivorous Traveler and are partners in crime when it comes to Instagram giveaways! Especially since I've been battling a little bit of loneliness from moving to a new state where I don't know anyone, these online connections from 2017 were - and still are - true blessings.

Like this post? Then tweet me some love by clicking here: "I'm starting 2018 on a #mindful note by sharing 21 #glutenfree eats, personal moments & events in the #glutenfree community from 2017 that I'm grateful for. What are you #grateful for from last year? #bestof2017 #mindfulness http://bit.ly/2pD5RBw"

13. Reading about the progress being made in celiac disease research or legislation.

I don't know about you, but progress always has me smiling - especially when it's progress in celiac disease research or legislation. Luckily, 2017 offered some of both. One of the biggest pieces of news about celiac disease this year was a study finding that a common virus could trigger celiac disease. There are still plenty of questions about the biological causes of celiac disease, but at least scientists seem to be moving in the right direction! Even more recently, the FDA released recommendations for labeling gluten in medicines. In its current version, their draft of "Gluten in Drug Products and Associated Labeling Recommendations" suggests that appropriate products include the phrase: "Contains no ingredient made from a gluten-containing grain (wheat, barley, or rye)." Considering how difficult it can be to find out about gluten in medications right now, I know I'm looking forward to seeing how these guidelines are adopted.

14. Discovering some celiac-safe options near my new home in Mankato, Minnesota.

I'll be the first to say that Mankato, Minnesota is no gluten free mecca. However, I was beyond excited to discover that Friesen’s Family Bakery and Bistro, a small restaurant a few miles from my apartment, has several gluten free (and many vegan) options!

So far I've tried Friesen's peanut butter cookies (which turned out to be chewy, two-inch-thick gluten free heaven) and a carton of their white bean veggie soup (heavily spiced but perfect when paired with potatoes and avocado). Warming up with a celiac-safe bowl of soup - that you didn't even have to cook! - is one heck of a tasty reminder to be grateful for small blessings!

15. Mastering (at least most of the time!) the art of eating healthy on a budget.

It's no secret that eating healthy for cheap - not to mention eating gluten free on a budget - can be super challenging. In the last year, though, I've learned some tricks and tips that help me spend $35 or less a week on groceries. Of course, there are times when I don't plan my shopping carefully enough and end up spending more money than I should. There are also times when a girl just has to #YOLO it and buy the $3 avocado 'cause you're craving an epic guacamole burrito for dinner that night. However, every little bit of money saved helps...and will be put to good use in 2018.

16. Realizing that I actually *really* like teaching a college English class!

I literally had no idea how teaching my own college class would go. I knew that I was knowledgeable about the subject I was teaching (English 101), and I knew that I enjoyed helping people improve their writing. What I didn't know, though, was how comfortable I'd actually feel in the front of the class...or that I'd discover that, out of all the jobs I've tried, teaching has felt the most "right" so far. My most rewarding moment of the semester was definitely receiving an email from one of my students thanking me for the reading I'd assigned and explaining that the reading changed his perspective on writing. If I can make even a small difference in one student's life every semester, I'll be pretty dang excited!

17. Seeing restaurants like Chick Fil A and Jersey Mike's Subs step up their gluten free game.

You know I love finding even more gluten free restaurant options, and several new big chains joined the gluten free family in 2017. I was especially excited to hear of Chick Fil A's gluten free bun, which was introduced earlier this year. Since Chick Fil A's gluten free bun is served separately in a sealed plastic bag in order to prevent cross contamination, some have complained that the bun tastes dry and bland. However, I love the extra steps Chick Fil A is taking to have a celiac-safe gluten free menu. Other gluten free restaurant news from 2017 included Shake Shack introducing a new gluten free bun (along with staff training to help prevent cross contamination), Jersey Mike's rolling out a gluten free bun and Canada Subways experimenting with gluten free bread. The more mainstream gluten free restaurant options there are, the easier it can feel to thrive with celiac disease, food allergies or other dietary limitations. Here's to hoping for even more gluten free restaurant choices in 2018!

18. Learning that homemade vegan protein ice cream is a thing...

If I had to sum up my night time snacking in 2017 using only three words, "protein ice cream" would probably be the most accurate choice! I'll admit it: usually, protein powder ain't my thang. However, I'm always looking for ways to upgrade my gut health, so when I got the chance to try this fermented vegan protein powder last August, I couldn't say no. Who knew that blended frozen bananas + protein powder + coconut milk could be so addictive?!? 

19.  Surviving my first semester of grad school!

Between car troubles, computer troubles, a phone that died the night before finals week and the regular chaos of grad school and teaching a college class for the first time, there were definitely moments I doubted being able to survive my first semester of grad school. So you can only imagine how freakin' grateful I was to walk out of my last final around a month ago. Grad school has definitely been one thousand times more challenging than I ever expected (and I'm sure I'll write a blog post with more details soon). However, considering how much I've grown from just one semester of grad school, I know this three-year adventure will be worth all of the stress and hard work.

Like this post? Then tweet me some love by clicking here: "I'm starting 2018 on a #mindful note by sharing 21 #glutenfree eats, personal moments & events in the #glutenfree community from 2017 that I'm grateful for. What are you #grateful for from last year? #bestof2017 #mindfulness http://bit.ly/2pD5RBw"

20. Stumbling upon some new staple recipes, like homemade trail mix and rainbow energy balls colored with superfoods and fruit.

You know that moment when you bite into a delicious dish and realize you're completely in love? That happened several times in 2017 with my own gluten free recipes!

Some particular favorite gluten free recipes that I keep making again and again include:

Taste the Rainbow Bliss Balls: homemade healthy energy balls that are naturally dyed with superfoods and fruits!

Secretly Healthy Sweet n' Salty Trail Mix: this crunchy homemade trail mix has become my new favorite gluten free snack.

The Ultimate Gluten Free and Vegan Snack Plate Dinner: AKA, a lazy dinner that somehow always manages to taste like a time-consuming feast!

Super Clumpy Summer Squash Granola: when you're craving a sweet treat but want some hidden veggies...

The Easiest Gluten Free Cast Iron Skillet Pizza: perfect for nights when you want pizza but don't have the time or energy to make a homemade gluten free pizza crust!

21. Having the chance to relax and recharge with my family during the holidays.

As I shared at the end of November, I'm spending my Christmas break in between the first and second semester of grad school with my family in Colorado! It definitely took me some time to turn off my brain and get into relaxation mode, but having a solid month of just enjoying time with my family, writing and exploring Colorado Springs has been such a blessing. I can only hope that all of my readers' holidays (I'm talking to you!) have been just as relaxing and filled with family memories. 2017 was a crazy year full of endings and new beginnings and challenges and surprises and good food and everything in between. Throughout those intense 12 months, though, there were plenty of moments to be thankful for...and that's what this "Best of 2017" list was all about.

Even more important than writing this list, though, is remembering it. I know that 2018 will have its own obstacles and blessings and, this year, I hope that I can do a better job of being grateful when something happens instead of only feeling gratitude upon reflection. And I'm challenging you to adopt the same mindset in the New Year - and beyond! What are you grateful for from 2017? What are you looking forward to in 2018? Tell me in the comments! via Blogger http://ift.tt/2CnqiZ1

[mockingzelda]

♔ HEADCANONS (PT. II) — MISCELLANEOUS ♔

STYLE —

Has a tendency to adopt looks that some might consider “cliche” or “outdated”; instead she finds that those trends are classic and timeless. For example: her favorite flowers are red roses, her pearl necklace is her favorite piece of jewelry, and her little black dress is her go-to outfit. Others might find her tastes simple, but Zelda believes that there must be something special about them if they’re capable of withstanding the test of time.

Zelda channels classic Hollywood glamour in her day-to-day looks, making vintage looks effortlessly chic without using too many makeup products. Most days, she recreates Audrey Hepburn’s classic cat eye and wears no more than two coats of Dior’s Diorshow Mascara, which is also her mother’s go-to. Zelda isn’t one to follow makeup trends, and has never been a fan of the ultra matte liquid lipstick fad or muddy contours with blinding highlights. Instead, she sticks with satin lipsticks in nude colors during the day, and reaches for MAC’s Ruby Roo when she wants to amp up her look. Despite what Mary Greenwell says, Zelda thinks that royal blue eyeliner goes great with her blue eyes, and channels Princess Diana’s style whenever she wants to appear a little bit edgier. Her nails are always manicured short and usually painted a nudey pink.

Her daily skin care regime is intensive, composed of 14 steps (including triple-cleansing and layering serums) and all-natural French products. Zelda’s mother always emphasized the importance of taking care of her skin at a young age, in order to prevent any damage in the future. This has been drilled into Zelda’s mind since she was young enough to get her first zit, and she never dares to skip out on washing her face before bed or applying sunscreen before leaving the house. Taking a page out of Grace Kelly’s book, Zelda also constantly moisturizes her hands and has multiple mini lotion bottles in her purse.

Her hair routine is much more low-maintenance, though that’s mostly due to her good genes. With a weekly deep-conditioning, her hair remains sleek and frizz-free. She wears it long, but is conscious of getting it trimmed on the 4th of every other month. Heat protectant is a necessity; she refuses to blow dry her hair without some kind of guard. Zelda typically wears her hair down or in a ponytail, not one to be adventurous or try different styles.

Her signature scent is Chateau Krigler 12, an elegant concoction of rose, mimosa, and lily of the valley. Zelda wears it all the time, and actually possesses more than one bottle; there’s one in her college dorm, in her bedroom at her parents’ house, in her purse, and in her travel bag. That way, she always has one on hand and can spritz herself in any situation. Considering the steep price tag for each bottle ($365 for 3.4 oz.), there is a lot of love for this perfume. Before she discovered Chateau Krigler 12, Zelda used to sample her grandmother’s extensive perfume collection. When she was too little to know any better, she’d drench her skin in Chanel N°5, and other fragrances that were too overwhelming and mature for a young girl. When she entered her teens and started to develop her own personal sense of style, she began searching for the one perfect perfume that would compliment her in any situation. Turns out, she didn’t have to look any further than the The Plaza Hotel. Krigler has been creating fragrances for centuries, and for royals and celebrities alike. The minute Zelda caught a whiff of Grace Kelly’s favorite scent, she knew that nothing else would compare.

Though a life on the catwalk was never for her, Zelda inherited her mother’s love of upscale fashion. She’s a little too old to have her mother pick out her clothes, but Zelda trusts her judgement and usually loves whatever designer garb she’s gifted from trunk shows. She’s a fan of vintage couture, but her day-to-day school style is pretty modest, consisting of Oxfords and Burberry blazers. Dating PARIS has brought out a more provocative streak in her, and she often wears pricey, lacey lingerie underneath her seemingly drab frocks -- she loves the look on his face when he discovers exactly what’s hidden underneath her modest blouse.

FOOD — 

Blueberry pancakes are her favorite comfort food, and whenever she’s feeling down nothing gets her back up quicker than a stack from the Clinton St. Baking Company. 

Zelda also constantly drinks water throughout the day, a tip she picked up from her mother about maintaining healthy, glowy skin. She avoids soft drinks like the plague, and could never get on the “juicing” fad either. Gin martinis are her drink of choice.

Zelda and her mother have a yearly tradition that’s been going on since Zelda turned eight. Every year on her birthday they get up extra early, dress up in Givenchy, and have breakfast at the Tiffany’s store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan. It’s the same store where Audrey Hepburn shot that iconic opening scene in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the two of them always have Zelda’s birthday breakfast there there no matter what. They spend time eating in designer dregs while admiring the window displays, although the streets are rarely as empty and quiet in real life as they were in the movie. Even after she moved away to attend Harvard, Zelda still took the day off and even brought back a classic Boston breakfast: Dunkin’ Donuts. Every year, Zelda invites CLYTEMNESTRA to come with celebrate her birthday with them, and she tries not to get too disappointed at how her sister and her mother both brush off the invite.

ACADEMICS — 

As a result of all the traveling she did during her modeling career, Zelda’s mother speaks a handful of different languages. Even though Zelda spent most of her upbringing in New York, she inherited her mother’s talent of picking up languages quickly. Her maternal grandmother is French and made sure that she learned how to speak the language at a young age, and Zelda knows it just as well as she does English. She also aced every Spanish course she took in school, and is currently trying to learn Italian. Zelda hopes to be at an intermediate level before Milan Fashion Week in February.

As a freshman, Zelda currently resides on campus. She lives in a single at the Grays dormitory, which is located on Elm Yard. One would think that someone with such a Type A personality would live in a spotless room, but Zelda’s dorm is almost always a mess. Growing up, she never had to clean up after herself; there were maids who made her bed and nannies who put away all her toys. Though she likes to think that she’s more down-to-earth than some of her peers, Zelda truly didn’t realize just how spoiled she was until she started to live on her own. Although PARIS has offered her one of his freshman minions to do her chores, she’s become determined to prove to herself that she can do something as simple as cleaning her room. However, it’s not as easy as her parents’ hired help always made it seem. It’s hard to keep herself accountable on such a trivial matter, especially with her busy schedule. Her room is more often than not a mess of organized chaos, with designer clothes folded on her desk chair and chemistry textbooks occupying her bed. Very rarely will she invite anyone over without at least a day’s warning, too embarrassed to have anyone see what a slob she truly is.

The media has an annoying tendency of giving her parents’ traits to Zelda and her sister. She can’t count the number of times she read an article about how she’s the next fresh face in the fashion industry, or heard a rumor about how she might star in her father’s next blockbuster. The older Zelda’s gotten, the more she’s tried to establish herself as someone with her own goals and interests; while she is the perfect daughter, she’s not just a daughter. Anyone who got to took the time to speak to her would see that she has a wide array of interests and thoughts that aren’t just related to fashion or pop culture. Her phone is has alerts turned on for seven different news apps from multiple countries, and she votes in every election, not just the Presidential one. Her favorite films usually aren’t shown in theaters, and she’d much rather spend the day reading a scientific journal than watching a movie anyway. Her favorite musicians don’t walk this Earth anymore, and the only concert she’s ever been to was the New York Philharmonic’s (if that even counts). There’s a lot more to Zelda than meets the eye, but she’s grown used to the fact that most people simply view her as a pretty face with rich parents.