#this project was really fun I’m excited to see the whole deck together!

[cactikoi]

Possible In Stars and Time Act 6 spoilers under the cut!!!

For the in stars and time tarot deck project! It’s so cool seeing everyone’s cards for it !

[sixthwater]

Pick A Card - What Type of Character Would You Be

Today we will be looking to see which character you would be or what tropes you would fall under within a piece of fiction, so don’t take this too personally and have fun!

Focus on which picture you resonate with, makes you the most comfortable, is the more familiar, etcetc. Take a deep breath and choose whenever you are relaxed. (Left → Right, Pile 1 → Pile 3)

Decks Used: Star Spinner Tarot, Archetype Cards, Believe in Your Own Magic oracle, Arcana of Astrology, and Rebel Deck

Pile One: Lost Child

You, my friends, would be the character that is innocent at heart, but tries to ground themselves to seem mature. Like they’ve earned their spot at the adult table. I’ve been trying to figure out what trope to assign you because at first I was going to go with "The Woobie" but it wasn’t quite that, and then I realized it’s because there’s a constant back and forth between this excitement (Choleric) and a more calmer front (Phlegmatic), which is actually reflected in the colors here. Even for those bouts that it gets really bad and goes into a Melancholic mode, the purples are here too, so let me actually start breaking this down. Lmao and “Skeletons” by keshi is playing:

Feel bad, go to bed Wake up even worse, yeah So sad in my head

With our 3oW Rx, KnoP, and HiPr Rx, it’s showing me that while the Knight is what’s being shown to the world, the Priestess still lurks in the background (fitting), which results in that 3oW struggling to finish projects. It’s like the Knight wants to be practical and ground himself. He sees things for what they are and ‘pssh ghosts aren’t real dummy’—whereas this Priestess is sort of just whistling in the corner of every scene you pass and flashing things before your eyes and going ‘what? Idk what did you see?’, testing you, like did you really smother her that much are you just pretending like you aren’t in touch with her, because she knows you’re not. So yeah you want to look closer but what did that KnofP just tell you? So this all leads to the stalemate of the 3oW Rx. You just kind of. Sit there and go back and forth within your mind over which side of yourself you want to sit in for the day but you’re never able to really balance either of them because at the end of the day they’re opposites that are difficult to bring together, but there’s another reason to that.

We have “Child: Wounded” and “Lioness: You’ve earned all your stripes”. For the princess card, I asked for which section you’d belong to if you were a character, and it’s the princess section meaning you wait for no one to save you and you can save yourself, but it’s interesting that these two came out together so it takes on a new meaning. This can range from you having a past with actual abuse or patterns of people pointing out the ‘weird’ things they consider you to do, which would tie back into you smothering certain aspects of yourself that you now feel like you need to hide and put others forward. However it’s something that you’ve fought through, survived, and now it’s a part of your life that you either refuse to forget as proof of the person you are or in a way you’re ‘happy’ that it brought you to better people or better things—and as I’m typing this my favorite song “Exorcism” by Clairity is playing, and this part is standing out to me

So I'll reclaim my body and my soul Banish the broken from my bones You're no longer my religion So I take on a whole new energy Manifest a better part of me

So yeah. Proud of you. Moving onto the astrology cards, these are qualities that you would give off or people would pick up on as a character I was SO giddy when I saw them and then realized the colors matched up Directly with the other cards, we love that here. We have Virgo and the Twelfth House, which pretty much repeats everything I said earlier with that KnoP and HiPr fighting with each other. It’s also interesting that these two cards are opposing signs/houses as well. For the waning gibbous moon, it states that “you may be feeling ostracized by your community” and that files in neatly with your child: wounded card. With the lunar eclipse card, that’s usually a sign that during this time truths will be revealed to you, so along with virgo this is screaming that your character would be one that has endured a not so happy childhood, and grew up steeling themselves, learned, and wants to put a better energy/heart back into the world to make sure other people wouldn’t have to experience that Or wants to make sure no one could ever hurt them like that again. Might be a little bit of both, but Virgo has a bad habit of being emotionally cut-off for people they don’t care for and then going All In for those that they love, but regardless they are service oriented and twelfth house is all about truths unshe- ah. Maybe you’re an oracle LMAO. Like the healer or token magical character that ~knows~ the unknown so everyone seeks their guidance. That would make sense with the troubled past because if a young kid just starts going off about how someone is gonna die in 4 days in a specific way and it happens that would probably be very concerning. Anyway onto the last card

The last card I wanted to pull was something your character would be caught saying or ‘an iconic phrase’. You guys got “Get the fuck out of your head: Get in your heart, it misses you”. Really trying to sell it here. Uh. Really I’d be repeating everything for a fourth time LOL. It’s very much head vs heart, my heads in the game but my hearts in the song vibes. Your character in a story has a lot of internal conflict but feels like once they go along on the heroes journey they would help to unravel a lot of their deeply rooted issues and would be coming out a lot happier, I’m happy for them. So actually, since I think some of this is…..hitting outside of fiction, I’m going to pull a positive therapets card (don’t tell the other groups sshhh).

Character Ex: Vanya (Umbrella Academy), Yatora (Blue Period), Honey (Ouran High School Host Club), Forest Whitaker (Jingle Jangle)

I hope you have a fantastic morning, day, evening, night, wherever you are and I hope yoooouuu had a good glass of water today 😊

Pile Two: Everything’s Good Here

Let me be honest, yall confused the hell out of me at first. I thought you guys were the token charmer, and then the dude with the stick up your ass, and then party kid, but I got it we’re good. I Will Say though, that “Get Up And Move” by Kumi Koda was Stuck in my head while I was trying to actually think and now that I’ve mulled over everything that’s hilarious, because it’s not even really for the song, I was just thinking ‘get up and move your boooddyy’ before realizing the “Move Your Ass” card was there along with Hygeia. Quite literally fucking—go do something LMAO but I’ll add it anyway since she’s a good party song.

Starting with our main three cards: The Devil Rx, 9oW Rx, and 4oW. This is pretty clear to me that there was a- Ok I have no clear reasoning behind this so let’s use this as like, an example because after all this is supposed to be if you were a character. You were set up to follow this path, expected to fill certain shoes and fit this portrait or character (heh) that other people had in mind for you and it was difficult, some could say Annoying, because that wasn’t what you wanted to do. Eventually you got fed up and decided uh, ‘well I’m not gonna do this anymore?? Sorry guys’. Maaaybbbeee rebelled a bit too hard, and eventually made a deal that like ‘can I be myself at least if I’m gonna be doing this shit can I have a little bit of freedom’? It’s giving me those vibes. The Devil Rx calls for independence and breaking from addiction but you still have this 9oW Rx, which still shows that theres an input of way too much energy and things are still wearing you down. However it’s being balanced with a 4oW, so think of an equivalent of going to your 9-5 job and they ask you to do overtime but they promise you can have like Monday off or you’re thinking the entire time “man at least I can head straight home to binge some Netflix/straight to the bar to hang with my friends”. There’s a give and take with what’s wearing you down in this role you’ve taken but you’re balancing it out with what brings you joy, and you had to bargain or fight for that. I’m getting a sort of “I’m just looking out for myself” prioritizing vibe here, but it’s not negative. In The Devil card, he’s looking away from others, with eyes closed, who are tied out while he’s able to ‘escape’ if that’s what we’ll call it today, and in the 4oW she has her eyes closed and is looking down. Still content but there’s a sort of distant feeling in all of these cards that’s sort of feeling like “yeah I love you and I can make emotional connections but you’re going to have to fight for it and I’m prioritizing myself first always because why wouldn’t I?”. Which like, after a hypothetical childhood like that yeah why wouldn’t you. So combined with this Judge in shadow, I don’t think it’s a misuse of authority or being a prick or anything. If anything I think it’s either being brutally honest about how the world works (not everything is going to work and people die sally), or whenever people need your skills sometimes maybe you don’t actually try as hard as you should. That would probably be the misuse of authority. Now I’m understanding why I wanted to put this song on—Up To No Good by The Hoosiers, it’s a song about a man cheating on a girl so it didn’t fit but he keeps telling her that she’s foolish for just trusting him despite all the signs and kinda mocks her tbh.

I don't wanna be the one to tell you the world is broke But you're so innocent you cannot separate fire from the smoke Words drip like honey dear how sweet it is to hear But not everything that you are presented is as it appears

I’m getting like a child prodigy that is a Huge smart-ass and would rather being doing ‘more interesting’ stuff than their supposed job most of the time. Like ‘yeah yeah this has to be done or it’ll cause a rip in our galaxy I’ll get to it before 5 leave me alone’ and you pass out for uh eight hours, very stressful for everyone involved. You’re fun to be around though when there isn’t something important going on.

For the section you’d belong to we have “Universe: we’re all just stardust”, which is in the mermaid set. Which makes sense combined with the rest of your cards. It is said that “the mermaid finds her voice in this one” which I think is quite neat since the whole story up there speaks about creating your own path. On the other hand, this stardust card talks about understanding that we are all connected and that we must all help each other and do our part as there are bigger things besides us within this universe, since we are mere specks or dots on a map. I think this Really makes sense because if someone is weighed down with such a heavy burden or important role from childhood, then they would immediately understand how small we as humans are or how complex the world is. Especially if it’s a role they mastered. Thank god I watch anime or I really would’ve been stumped on this. SO! The astrology cards that I was laughing at earlier. Fifth House, Neptune, Hygeia, and the Twelfth House. This is actually hilarious you are definitely a character that the majority audience would fall for LMAO. So with Neptune and Twelfth House, this an obvious sign that

1. Your character would be capable of many things that they would choose to hide from nearly everyone they meet for various reasons (don’t ask me to do it, treat me like anyone else, a sore spot, etcetc),

2. Your character is insanely gifted and looks like they’re working magic to the untrained eye but they’re just well-known/chosen for a reason

3. Got some escapism problems

What do you use for that escapism?? Well we got the fifth house right there. You Love To Do Anything that stimulates those little brain cells of yours. Party? Ok. Flings? Ok. Those little already made cross stitches that you find in Michaels? Ok. Whatever you can do that doesn’t involve your job you’re gonna do it. Hell I can even see oversleeping since there’s Hygeia asking you to get yourself together and get a schedule put in for yourself along with the aggressive “Get the fuck outside”. Which is interesting because I was asking for what You would say. So in one sense I think you would be well aware that you’re slipping or being a little lazy, but then again, your job is stressful ☹ we gotta hit the boop boop button and cause the serotonin for two more hours you know.

Character Ex: Lavi (D. Gray-Man), Break (Pandora Hearts), Killua (Hunter x Hunter), Klaus (Umbrella Academy)

I hope you have a fantastic morning, day, evening, night, wherever you are and I hope yoooouuu get that schedule set in place, I have heavy 6th house placements I can help 😉

Pile Three: #iconik

Yes I have a biased pile No do not tell the other piles. Pile three….the amount of youtube essays that would be made about you……the way you would impact a generation that is way after your time…..the way you would divide the media…..your impact truly. Congratulations, you are the Token Mean Girl Pile!!! However at the end of the day, everyone (the media) falls for you so like? You’re winning anyway. You will never be seen slipping unless karma comes for you like it does every morning as if breakfast is served. Let’s get into it

To start off with our main three we have: The Lovers, 7oP Rx, and Justice. Alright, so this confused me at first because I thought you were the second love interest doomed to fail and well you Are, but Definitely not in the way I thought you were. The Lovers is sort of like, your front. You present yourself as this doe-eyed, fresh, and sort of innocent individual who would always put their partner first. It’s also the very first thing that others notice about you as well, there’s an immediate attraction that people would (well, other characters) catch and they think you’d be the perfect partner even though they know Nothing about you, but that’s perfect for you and you use that to your advantage. You can play the part and you’re emotionally intelligent—you know what people need and can sense how to operate with different people. Some 7th house energy going on here. Relationships are very important to you but not in a love way, it’s just that you know connections are extremely important for. Well, everything. Careers, Status, Opportunities—the people you know truly can change your life overnight so where’s the harm in just ‘playing nice’. Which is where the 7oP Rx comes into play. There is a lot of work put into things that ultimately, don’t stay in your life and will fall apart rather quickly because lies don’t stay hidden, no matter how well you think you can hide them. It’s a wasted investment considering it’s for something that you’re dipping your toes in to see if there’s a short-term win or to see if you can get a long-term connection, but that connection will be lost if you screw over the person you used to get there so either way? Hard work for nothing. So then we have the very interesting Justice card. This card plays out in two ways. One way is, very obvious, karma will come back to bite you in the butt. You come at someone with ill intent, then that will be served right back at you at some point. The second way, though, is that with your general honest composition, you get rewarded by the universe for not putting up with shit whenever people with even shittier intentions with you hurt you. Let me explain

For your archetype, we have “Bully”. Haha! Oh my god and “Crowded” by Jeannie Ortega started playing. Anyway, this fits right into your character trope that you come off as an extremely intimidating person. You’re not afraid to say what everyone would usually say behind closed doors or after that person is gone. Look up any clip of Fallon Carrington from Dynasty when she interacts with her step-mother or…well anyone, and that’s the energy that this card gives off. At the same time, this gives you the ability to confront your inner demons and whatever deeply rooted issues that causes a lot of your problems that you might deflect onto others. It gives you the strength to fight a lot of your battles. Which only adds onto that intimidating energy. If people aren’t used to talking to someone that will straight up tell you “hey you did this wrong you’re looking a little ugly also don’t touch me” then they’re probably not going to want to be around them lmao. However, at the same time that if you’re being an ass and causing conflict in other people’s life, since you’re willing to confront others when they’re being assholes or doing something that even You wouldn’t do, when you’re being horrifically wrong, then the world will come to protect you and deal out karma for you and hand you your Justice at the same time. Which is why this Justice card was very interesting to come up, as this happens with all the characters I listed as examples. While they ruined. About nearly everyone they interacted with, they also stood up for themselves, refused to take things lying down, and when they were fucked over they did get their own justice with the help of others or on their own. Big Saturn dom energy and we fucks with it.

You were also sorted into the mermaid section with the card “Villain: you can always rewrite the story”. A joke at this point. On one hand, mermaids are beautiful and they’re related to sirens, and they’re usually written as gorgeous creatures that could only possibly exist in fairy tales (Venusian energy). Either way, this card speaks about how even if we lose to shitty events or people in our lives, we can still rewrite our endings to make them better, or that we don’t have to leave them to end in tragedy. We are the writers of our own lives and we can do what we want with it. Now with the astrology cards that sealed your fate and was even Funnier: Psyche, Taurus, Juno, and Ascendant. So with the Ascendant here, it’s very clear that mask/front that I spoke about earlier, it’s very important. Whether it’s what you show others or that people only notice your appearance or beauty first. However, with this Taurus here, while it’s a Venusian planet, it still is stubborn and will tell you off if it oversteps boundaries. It appreciates it’s comfort and finer things, but don’t fuck with it. Having this here is a really nice bridge from the surface to inner world though, because your character clearly is a softie to those they actually have a bond with. Psyche and Juno are asteroids that deeply invest themselves into their relationships to the point of nearly destroying the world around them to make sure their relationship can thrive and doing whatever they can to make sure it can survive and improve. So whether or not it’s a false or real one that brings you happiness, relationships are at the center of your life and what makes you operate.

Finally, our last card for your fantastic catch phrase: “Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t look at anyone. You need some fucking time alone. And you know why”. This is….fitting for either you saying this to someone to put them in their place in a tough love sort of way or being Told this from someone very close to you in some sort of needed character development arc of sorts. The weird thing with this pile is that instead of songs, I thought of more moments and lines from scenes so Absolutely, you’d be an iconic character that would be remembered and clipped on youtube for years. Probably the character people would remember the most even if they hated you.

Character Ex; Fallon Carrington (Dynasty), Sharpay Evans (High School Musical), Jennifer Check (Jennifer’s Body), Ami Kawashima (Toradora)

I hope you have a fantastic morning, day, evening, night, wherever you are and I hope yoooouuu continue to take over the world with that boss ass energy you got going on there.

[drabbles-mc]

Like Father, Like Son

Neron ‘Creeper’ Vargas x F!Reader

Request by Anon: Could you do a fic with someone (idc they could all be my baby daddy lol) being a boy dad. Like helping him fix his bike, temporary tattoos to look like their mini me and just being lovey and protective over their mom like their dad

Warnings: talk of pregnancy, a whole lot of family fluff

Word Count: 1.7k

A/N: I would die for soft Creeper Vargas. Me and @garbinge had a mini idea-bouncing sesh about him as a family man and I have a feeling this will not be my last fic about Dad!Creeper lmao. Hope you enjoy!

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You heard the familiar rumble of his bike as he pulled into the driveway. Smiling to yourself, you slowly made your way towards the front door. You opened it as he walked up the steps to greet you with a hand on your ever-growing stomach and a light kiss on your lips.

“How are you two ladies today?” he asked as he gently ran his hand over your stomach.

You chuckled, “We’re alright. The rest of your pack, however, is up to no good.”

He smiled, “Oh so they’re my pack now?”

Trying to contain your smirk, you nodded, “Go out back and see what they’ve been up to. You’ll definitely agree that they’re yours today.”

You listened to the sound of his heavy, booted footsteps as he made his way through the house to get to the back yard. You followed a little ways behind, and sure enough moments after you heard the deck door slide shut, you heard the sound of your husband’s laughter filling the air. By the time you made it to the door, Creeper was already crouched down, taking stock of the entire scene in front of him.

“What’s goin’ on out here, lil man?” he asked as he sat down next to his son, who was very seriously looking over all the markers that were spread out in front of him.

“We’re gonna look like you!” your son had the proudest smile on his face as he waved his marker around in the air.

You watched as Creeper took in the sight of his three kids all actually sitting and getting along together. Your son was outnumbered by his little twin sisters, and the three of them bickered constantly the way that young siblings do. But the rare moments when they all really liked each other and got along made the rest of it worth it. You subconsciously rested your hand on your stomach—truthfully neither of you knew the sex of the baby, but Creeper was certain it was another girl. He was practically willing it into existence. You were both going to be thrilled no matter what, but as you stood back and watched Creeper picking out what color to use for his son’s next ‘tattoo’ you couldn’t help but to hope that you’d have another boy running around soon to even out the ranks.

“Who came up with this idea, huh?” Creeper asked the three of them as he carefully started doodling on the back of his son’s hand with a magic marker. The twins simultaneously pointed to their brother and Creeper couldn’t help but to laugh, “I should’ve known.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard them so quiet,” you spoke up as you watched the four of them, “I thought I might’ve lost them for a minute—that’s how quiet the house was.”

“You three? Quiet?” he looked back and forth amongst them, “I don’t believe it,” he put the cap back on the marker and motioned for the girls to come closer, “Lemme see your ink, lil mamas.”

Creeper smiled as he looked at all the designs and doodles that covered his children’s arms. All things being considered, it wasn’t the messiest thing the little crew had ever gotten into. He loved everything about being a father, but moments like this really made his entire heart swell. All three of them had their arms covered in stars and smiley faces, and his son had a very scribbly skull drawn on his knee.

“I like this one,” Creeper tapped his son’s knee lightly, “You do that?” He nodded proudly and Creeper pulled him against his side, “You’ll have to give me one later.”

“Girls?” you shifted your weight from one foot to the other, “Now that Dad’s home we can take the dogs out. Still wanna go?”

They leapt up, cheering happily with all the energy that six-year-olds usually had, as they ran inside to grab their socks and shoes. You laughed as you listened to the clamor they caused. Looking back at Creeper and your son, you couldn’t help but to smile.

“You’re more than welcome to come with us,” you rested your arms on top of your new baby bump, “But I figured you two might like some boy time.”

Creeper looked up at you from the floor, “You shouldn’t be doing all that, baby. You should be resting. I’ll take are of it.”

You shook your head, “Walking is good for me, Neron. And for the baby. We’ll be fine.”

“You’re sure?”

You nodded as you walked over and placed a kiss on the top of your husband’s head, “Positive. You two have fun. I love you both.”

“Love you,” they both called after you in unison as you walked away. You smiled to yourself as you made your way through the house to catch up with your daughters, who were already being half-dragged out of the house by the dogs they managed to clip the leashes onto.

“Well,” Creeper slowly rose to his feet, holding his hands out to help his son to do the same, “Now that your tattoos are all dry, wanna help me with the bike?”

“Really?” his eyes lit up as he set his hands into his father’s.

“Yea,” he pulled him up and instantly tucked the boy against his side, “C’mon, it’s been a while since we worked on it.”

The two of them walked through the house and made their way out the front door so thye could get to the garage. Creeper stood back, allowing his son to lift and push the garage door up as high as he could before his dad had to take over and open it the rest of the way. Running in, the boy went right over to the light switch and flipped it on. Creeper chuckled as he walked in, making his way over to the large sheet that was draped over his latest project that he’d been tackling little by little with his son.

With a flourish, he removed the fabric, and his son’s eyes instantly lit up. Creeper had always been a bit of a fixer—he liked having projects to plug away at to help him unwind. The bike had been brought to the scrapyard by someone who, “Clearly doesn’t know a fucking thing about motorcycles,” according to Creeper, because there was plenty of potential left for it. The bones were still decent, it just needed a lot of TLC. Creeper called dibs on it and no one was going to fight him on it. So bringing it back to life had been his latest task.

For as much as he enjoyed his solitude a lot of the time, having your son as a built-in assistant to help him with the bike had been a great experience for the both of them. For as young as he was, he was very interested in everything that his father could tell him about the bike, the parts, and the tools used to fix it all. The two of them made a good pair, your son sifting through the tool chest to get whatever his father needed, and Creeper showing him little tricks of taking things apart and putting them back together.

“Y’know,” he cranked the wrench as his son sat next to him, watching intently, “when we’re all done with this, you can choose the color for it if you want.”

His eyes were bright, eyebrows raised in excitement, “Yea?”

He nodded, “Yea. You’ve been doing a lot of work on this—it’s only fair,” he paused for a moment, “It can be your bike, when you’re old enough.”

“Mine?” his eyes were filled with wonder as he thought about what his father had just told him.

“Yea. Just,” he chuckled, “Don’t tell your mom that I said that. It’ll be our little surprise for her.”

“Don’t tell me what?” you were leaning against the garage doorframe, a soft smile on your face as you watched the two of them working together.

Creeper turned around quickly, clearly searching your face to see how much of the conversation you’d heard, “Nothin’, mama. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

You chuckled, not convinced, “Mhm. I’m sure,” you absentmindedly ran your hands over your stomach, “Just came out to let you boys know to start wrapping up—dinner’ll be ready in ten.”

You made your way back to the house to finish getting dinner ready and you could hear your two favorite men in the world behind you as they started to clean up their project for the night. It brought a smile to your face and put a warmth in your chest as you walked inside and listened to the loud laughter of your two daughters getting into some kind of trouble in their bedroom.

When they finally made their way inside, you sent them both to wash their hands and get ready for dinner. You could see the disappointment on your son’s face at the thought of washing all of his tattoos away and you had to chuckled quietly to yourself.

“I love you,” Creeper said quietly with a soft smile as he pressed a kiss to your cheek in passing while he made his way to the kitchen sink to wash up.

“I love you too,” you smiled over at him for a second before getting plates and cups down out of the cupboard above your head.

You were getting ready to lift the stack of plates when your son came sliding into the kitchen, skidding skillfully on the hardwood floor in his socks. He lifted the plates instead, beating you to it. You tried to take them back from him, not wanting him to drop the entire stack of plates and have them break, but he insisted.

“I got it, Mom,” he reassured with a nod.

“Honey, I don’t want you to—”

“Dad said you need to rest,” he turned and started walking towards the dining room table, “I got it.”

You chuckled as you glanced over at your husband, “Between the two of you, I’m never going to get to do anything anymore, am I?”

He laughed and kissed you lightly on the lips, “Maybe not. But it’s because we love you.”

You gently cupped his cheek and ran your thumb along his cheekbone, “I love you too.”

[omniswords]

Chronicles of a Parisian Dumbass 15

new year, new chapter c: it's been a while since i've worked on Chronicles—December Mood dips are Not Delicious, plus i started streaming regularly, which has been fun! ((i’m omnistruck on Twitch if you want to check it out 🥰) but rest assured i intend to see it through to the end. i hope you've been well <3 take care, and enjoy!

From: itsdjbubbles

My dude, if your stage presence is anything like this flyer, y’all are absolutely gonna kill it at La Tortue.

Well. Luka doesn’t know about that.

It’s not like Kitty Section is totally obscure. They’ve had a stage in Paris’s annual pop-up music festival or more than one occasion. And sometimes Juleka’s tagged along to street corners with him so they could duet in hopes of more than just pocket change. And, of course, there was that whole music contest with Bob Ross and XY, but that had only ended in fiasco: their music was stolen, Rose’s vocals ripped right off the track. Luka argued up and down over the phone until he was red in the face, nearly biked down to the studio and let them have it, but he could hardly prove it. And he cared too much about it jeopardizing Juleka’s happiness to follow through.

Total corporate bullshit. He didn’t know how Jagged Stone did it. When he said so at dinner the night he gave up, his Ma only tousled his hair and said, “You’re my boy, aren’t you?”

Sometimes he thinks that’s the strongest, bravest, he’s ever been. That all his audacity peaked years ago, and he’s only gotten worse since then.

Bubbles isn’t corporate bullshit. Luka feels like he’d be able to figure out something like that from conversation alone. But their talks have been friendly—and more than that, supportive. He’s even shown a few messages to the band, just to check that he wasn’t losing his mind. And he saw how their faces softened in approval, or lit up with excitement. Even Juleka’s.

Besides, Bubbles makes music. And when he samples something, he actually credits it. He knows how to play the game. And it feels like they’re on the same side of the board.

Bubbles has that stage presence; the fact that he only needs that one shadowy picture on his profile is more than enough of an indicator. And Bubbles has a reputation that precedes him. So even if they’re on the same side of the board, it feels like Bubbles is always just a couple of steps ahead.

At least his bandmates are on the same side, and at the same step. All it took was a casual mention, during a late-night band practice, of “the bakery he keeps getting their snacks from” being all in on getting them even more exposure. They didn’t exactly do a good job of hiding their excitement, but he wouldn’t have wanted them to, anyway. Even Juleka, after practice ended, had to admit, “You did good.” And then, with perhaps a bit more snark, “Maybe she’s the one trying to impress you. “

“Stop,” Luka said with a roll of his eyes, but he couldn’t help thinking about it once the partition between their beds was up. There was no way Marinette Dupain-Cheng was trying to impress him.

…Was there?

By now, nearly a day later, Luka’s still asking himself that. Still hemming and hawing like they have more than just two weeks to get their act together. Pacing below deck with his phone in his hand, thinking about pear tarts and pretty faces instead of going to see them in person, and staring at Marinette’s phone numbers until he thinks he’s accidentally memorized both of them.

He doesn’t recognize the pattern or the area code of one of them, so he can only assume that it's an American number. But he still hasn’t mucked up the courage to text or even save the French one in his phone. Why does he need to be scared in the first place? It’s a phone number, and this is strictly business, and everything between them has been strictly business.

Well. Nearly everything. Nearly strictly.

He thinks.

Okay. Okay. All he has to do is say… what? Hi? Who just starts texting someone for the first time with “Hi?” But he can’t go writing a whole essay either, even though at least now he has the power to edit his words instead of just saying them and hoping for the best.

This is harder than it needs to be. And yeah, maybe he’s just making it harder than it needs to be, but it’s not like his brain and the shake in his hands are giving him much of a choice in the matter.

Luka switches back over to his message thread with Bubbles and shoots off a quick reply—flatterer—because maybe answering something easy will make the hard stuff more tolerable. He finds himself looking toward his guitar as though it might lend him strength… well, what the hell. It couldn’t hurt. He plays a doodle or two, idle notes, and catches himself before his fingers can drift toward the beginning of the ocean-blue song. At this point, it’s neither perfect nor good, and he can’t tell if it’s personal dissatisfaction or the numbers that the latest draft has been doing online.

Both. It’s probably both.

Messaging Marinette ends up being just as hard after his attempts at centering as it was before—because as it turns out, the whole music-giving-him-unbridled-confidence thing really only works while he’s playing it. So now he’s left still staring at the blank NEW MESSAGE screen, the cursor blinking almost tauntingly at him because of course it is. Because somehow, he can write a note telling a girl her eyes are pretty and survive long enough to see her smile about it, but he can’t send that same girl a text. It’s not like he can even see her reaction this time, anyway; that just gives him even more of an advantage.

Okay. Okay. He can actually do this. Maybe. He thinks—no, no, he has to.

With a deep breath that he holds longer than he releases, Luka opens a new message.

To: Marinette hey. it’s luka.

And like an idiot, he hits SEND before he’s even put the rest of his message together. So now he has to make a mad dash to come up with something so he doesn’t seem like a total creep for messaging her out of the blue.

For fuck’s sake. This is exactly why he writes his messages in the notes first.

To: Marinette sorry, hit send before i could finish. anyway, just wanted to tell you the band is cool with the postcard idea. i can pay you next time i come to the bakery, if that’s cool.

To: Marinette anyway, it’s really cool of you to offer your help like this. sorry if i didn’t say so yesterday, it’s kind of been... a wild time.

Luka locks his phone before he can agonize too much over what he’s sent, stuffs it away and starts pacing again. It’s not a frantic, shaky thing; no, he’s learned to keep the shakes on the inside until no one’s around to see them. He jumps when his back pocket vibrates, and he nearly drops his phone trying to fish it out. It’s only Bubbles, and he can’t tell whether he’s relieved or disappointed until his phone buzzes again. Twice. And this time, it actually is from Marinette.

From: itsdjbubbles Sorry, I was getting some stuff ready for my next project. Listen, I’m just saying. Don’t sell yourself short as this stuff. Paris is gonna hear you up there, and it’s gonna lose its collective fucking mind.

From: Marinette hi luka ☺️ no worries, i do that too sometimes. here’s the mockup for the postcard. let me know what your band thinks, i’ll do some tweaks and send it to print. sound good?

Luka balks, both at the tone of the message and at the picture she sent. It looks almost exactly like the flyer, same color scheme and everything. The only difference seems to be in the composition, which makes sense; she’s got more of the eye for this stuff, even for someone who only “dabbles.”

To: Marinette wow, this is... thank you? that was fast. and this is really well put-together. i think they’re gonna love it.

you really weren’t kidding, huh.

Luka finds himself sinking onto his bed and staring at the message thread instead of actually doing something productive. And strangely, he’s fine with that. The more time passes, the less scary it is to see her typing back, again and again and again.

From: Marinette course i wasn’t kidding. “help” is practically my middle name to the people who matter.

and i mean, there’s only a little bit of time until your show, right? so, gotta get movin.

anyway, i gotta run. my friend needs help for his summer class and i promised i’d go visit today.

Keep me posted about your band!

♥️

There is far too much in that message for Luka to need to process. “People who matter?” “Keep me posted?” The literal heart emoji at the end? He reads their messages over and over, mostly to confirm that this really, actually just happened, but he’s not going to push his luck. Maybe she just talks to everyone like that, and more importantly, the two of them haven’t been much more than a series of transactions anyway.

A... lot of transactions.

That she’s been doing a lot of giving for.

Luka tries and at least sort of succeeds at shaking the thought from his mind; he can’t read hers, and he shouldn’t try to. He sends her one last text—cool, have a good one—and switches back to Bubbles before he can worry if his words were too casual.

To: itsdjbubbles Thanks for the vote of confidence. I guess you’re not the only one? the bakery I go to, they’re offering to help too.

or, I mean, CBG is offering to help.

Bubbles’s reply doesn’t come until a few hours later. It’s presumably after that project work he mentioned, and definitely after Luka’s had some time to play out the rest of the shakes before he goes busking. His phone buzzes with the notification just as he’s about to leave, and what Bubbles has to say makes his stomach churn and his blood run both hot and cold.

From: itsdjbubbles wait. wait wait wait. hold on i just scrolled your posts.

CBG is *Marinette Dupain-Cheng?*

ohhhhhhh my dude you are in for it now.

[rohad93]

Moonlit Masquerade: Sandcastles pt 2

i hate editing super long documents so this is gonna be in a few parts.

~

Amity isn't having the best week.

Sunday felt like it lasted forever, stuffed into an itchy, uncomfortable dress that her mother had picked for her to wear to her party where she had to spend several hours with a fake smile plastered on her face, till her cheeks hurt, playing her part along with the twins.

She's pressured into a few dances with the children of their parents' coworkers and it hits her that the same songs, that feel so short when she dances with Luz, can feel so agonizingly long with their clammy hands on hers and their much too stiff grip on her waist.

Songs aren’t nearly long enough when her girlfriend holds her and spins her around. It makes her feel light and she doesn't think she could possibly dance better then she does with Luz.

She feels slow and jerky dancing with the other children of her parents’ blueblood, society friends.

They smile in a way they think must be charming and dashing, but Amity knows better. Most of them are just as scheming and devious as their parents or just as uninterested in all of this as she is.

She was looking forward to Monday if for no other reason than to get out of her house and see Luz, which she did, just not as much as usual.

She had to go home straight after school to help Eda, which did happen sometimes.

She at least had Tuesday to look forward to, but the next day as she was arriving at school her scroll beeped with a message from Luz, saying she wasn’t going to be at school today, which yeah, was pretty disappointing. Tuesday had become her favorite day of the school week, even if her ability to take notes and pay attention to the teacher did slip quite noticeably on that particular day of the week.

Wednesday comes and Luz does come to school, with a bandage on her forehead, claiming she fell on the stairs, which is on par for her, but it’s quickly forgotten, along with Monday and Tuesday when she yanks Amity into a concealed corner to kiss her while their friends play watch.  

Lunch is normal enough, even though she tells her that she has to go straight home again after school, she at least got to see her today so she’ll make do.

On Thursday Luz arrives late, so they miss each other, and is then curiously absent from lunch, though she sends her a message saying they finally can spend some time together after school, but Luz seems distracted when she arrives.

They’re lounging around their secret room, reading and normally Luz is much more animated when they read Azura, but today she seems lost in thought.

“Are you okay?” Amity finally asks from her place reclined against her girlfriend’s chest.

They’ve been sitting on the floor, Luz’s back against the cushions with Amity sitting between her legs, back against her chest while she holds the third Azura book they’ve been rereading in her hands.

Luz has been strangely quiet, running her index finger over the tip of one of Amity’s pointed ears distractedly. She’s become quite used to being in intimate proximity to Luz but her face is still pink regardless, though faint. She’s beginning to get a little worried. Luz is hardly this quiet for this long, it’s a little unnerving.

“Hmm?” Luz hums questioningly and Amity knows she hasn’t been listening to anything she’s been reading either. “Sorry, what?” Luz glances down at her and mercifully the finger running over her ear stops as well.

Amity tilts her head back to look at her.

“I asked if you were okay,” she repeats the question.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine, why?” she cocks her head.

“You’ve just been quiet today and you've been really busy and I...,” she trails off not sure how to say ‘You’ve been busy and I miss you’ without coming off as clingy or needy, because really, it's just been a few days; but the limited time they have together before or after school and on Tuesdays is special to her, and she finds herself not at all liking the sudden deprivation from it.

She doesn’t have to say it though. Luz’s confused face slowly turns into a grin as she looks down at her.

“Have you been lonely without me, Amity?” She asks in a syrupy sweet and knowing voice that makes Amity turn red and scowl at the same time.

Amity just huffs, turning away and Luz grins at the back of her head and wraps her arms around her, squeezing her close and pressing a kiss to her the back of her head.

“Lo siento, mi amor. Eda has just been working on a big project and has been needing my help."

Amity relaxes into her hold, mock annoyance, and any real annoyance or loneliness she’s been feeling at Luz’s sudden absence this week, fading as she holds her tightly. She has to remind herself that she can tell Luz anything without fear of judgment or being made fun of. It’s still a strange thing to her.

“I understand I just…” her face remains pink as she mumbles something under her breath.

“What was that?” Luz blinks and whatever she said is repeated at the same volume.

“Uh, one more time?” Luz asks and Amity makes an annoyed sound in her throat.

“I said… I miss you,” she finally says loud enough for her to hear, but the tone is soft, fragile. “I miss you when we’re not together,” she mumbles, but Luz hears her and is glad that Amity is still facing away from her so she can’t see the teary doe-eyed look she’s giving her.

“I miss you too, Amity.” She sat her chin on her shoulder and squeezed.

Amity broke into a wide grin as Luz smooshed her face against hers.

“Maybe... we could hang out this weekend? My family has a beach house on the southern side of the Isles and the twins got them to let the three of us go over for the long weekend by ourselves… would you like to go?” She glanced back and frowned upon seeing the grimace on luz’s face. “You’re busy aren’t you?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah… since they can’t use magic to carry things it’s all hands on deck for the monthly supply run Saturday.” Luz frowned, especially as she watched the way her girlfriend's face fell. Sure, she was lying for the greater good, and Amity would be so excited tomorrow when they surprised her, but that didn’t make the disappointed look on her face any easier to see right now.

“I’m sorry…,” Luz started but Amity shook her head.

“It’s okay…  I understand,” she assured with a small smile, but Luz knows better, she's gotten good at reading Amity's face and the tone of her voice; she's disappointed.

“When Eda's project is done we'll spend a whole weekend together, I promise, mi amor." She squeezes Amity close and smiles knowingly into her hair.

"Soon, I hope," Amity sighs, leaning into her hold, deciding to just enjoy the time they have now

'much sooner than you think' Luz thinks to herself.

When their time together is done for the day Luz hurries home through the portal and runs straight to her room to get her stuff ready.

Gus and Willow will be there before noon tomorrow so they can take her portal glyph to the beach house. She's been practicing with it and the size of the glyph doesn't seem to matter. It just needs to be big enough to walk through, and she can be anywhere on the Isles near instantly.

Out of curiosity she tried one and thought of the human world, but it went nowhere.

Much as she hates to think it, she can't find it in herself to be disappointed. No one can say she didn't try though.

Her bag is packed and ready by the door, along with the box of decorations the twins had given her at lunchtime today. Since she, Willow, and Gus will get there first, they're on decoration duty.

Next to it are two cardboard boxes of her surprise for Amity and she grins to herself at the thought.

Amity hadn't expressly forbidden her from buying her presents but she didn't like Luz buying her stuff when they went out by themselves or with their friends.

She told her she felt bad when Luz spent her limited funds on her.

So Luz had come up with a rather ingenious gift if she does say so herself. Something they don't have on the Boiling Isles.

She couldn't believe her luck when she'd been digging through one of Eda's human junk piles in one of the spare rooms.

Two large boxes full of the stuff.

She ran to Eda asking if she could have them and Eda waves a hand.

"Whatever you want in there, take it, Kid."

She couldn't wait to see the look on Amity's face. Everyone else's too.

It takes her a while to go to sleep that night, she's so excited she tosses and turns a while and King gets fed up with her and stalks off to Eda's room, mumbling under his breath.

She wakes up before dawn the next day and jumps out of bed and dresses before quickly running down the stairs.

Lilith is sitting at the table having her customary cup of morning tea when Luz skids into the kitchen. The elder Clawthorne smiles at her, though far more subdued then the manic one on the human's face.

"Let's get baking!" Luz throws up her hands and Lilith chuckles.

"Very well."

A few hours later the sun has risen and Eda and King have finally come downstairs, groggy and eyes barely open just as Luz is boxing up the cake.

"All done?" Eda mumbles as she pours herself some apple blood.

"Yup, just waiting on Gus and Willow!" She grins setting the cake box down the table and swats at King's hand as he reaches for it.

"No, King, that's for Amity's party," she scolds and the tiny demon grumbles, glaring up at her.

"Everything you do is for that cupcake smasher!" he squeals with rage at being denied.

"I do not!" Luz argues.

"Yes, you do!" King stands in the chair, pointing a tiny clawed hand at her.

"Well…!" Luz pauses not sure what to say to that. Maybe she does do a lot for Amity, but Amity does just as much for her, so she fails to see how that's a bad thing.

Eda is watching her and grins.

Luz of course talked her ear off about their date under the grom tree last month, including her impromptu confession of love.

She'd just been nodding along, half-listening, flipping through a book as Luz waxed poetic about how 'amazing' and 'romantic' it was until the words: "Then I accidentally said I loved her out loud…"

That made her sit up and pay attention.

Luz had a tendency to get carried away and she was suddenly worried she'd… how did the kid put it? 'jumped the gun?'

She listened much closer to the rest of the story.

"Did you mean it?" Eda asked her when she finishes.

"Huh?" Luz looked up at her.

"Do you love her?" the older witch clarified.

"Oh…" Luz looked away, smiling dopily to herself. "Yeah… I did mean it. I do love her." She nodded.

"How do you know?" Eda pressed and Luz looked at her confused and Eda frowned, trying to think of a way to word it that wouldn't burst Luz's bubble if she was wrong. She just wants to protect her kid.

"Look, Luz, I know you like her a lot, believe me, and I'm not trying to say you couldn't love her, but you are still young and you do tend to get ahead of yourself…, so I'm just asking, how do you know you love her?" she words carefully. This is new territory for Eda.

'The talk' she can give, she's plenty familiar with that, but love? That's never been her strong suit, and she has a long trail of broken relationships behind her to prove it.

Luz pursed her lips, trying to think of a way to explain it to her mentor, whose right of course. She knows she's still young and stuff, she's famous for leaping before she looks, but Luz also knows her feelings. She's spent enough time alone with only her feelings to know how to read them, she's had crushes, but she's never felt anything like this before.

"Being with Amity… makes me happier than I've ever been…, then I thought I could be…," she starts slowly. "And I want to make her happy too… and I'd do anything to do that." She looks up at Eda, who's staring back at her with an unreadable expression.

"Alright," she finally says.

"Alright?" Luz repeats, blinking. Eda nods.

"If you say you love her, I believe you."

Luz smiles at her.

"And if she breaks your heart, we'll feed her to Hooty…" she grins wickedly making Luz squawk.

"Eda!"

"Well…" Luz hesitates, trying to figure out what to say.

"You love her, that’s how it goes," Eda says with a shrug, drawing everyone's gaze.

""Edalyn, they've only been together-" whatever else Lilith is going to say it's cut off by Luz who grins.

"Yeah," she says with a grin. "And Amity loves me, so we do things to make each other happy,” she tells the demon looking up at her grumpily. “I love you too though." She bends down and kisses the top of King's head and he makes a little squealing sound. "But this is for Amity, I'll make a cake for you next weekend," she promises, and then there's a knock on the door. "Gus and Willow are here!" She sprints out of the room leaving a grinning Eda, a stunned Lilith, and a happily squeaking King in her wake.

Lilith looks to her sister who is grinning behind her cup, looking where Luz has disappeared into the living room, where she and her friends' voices are coming from.

"You knew about this?" she asks.

"Mhmm," is her sister's answer.

"And you didn't talk to her?" Lilith cocks a brow as Eda's eyes slide to look at her.

"I did," she says, then takes a loud slurp from her cup.

"And?"

"And she loves her." Eda shrugs. "What do you want from me?"

"Edalyn, she's fourteen, how could she possibly know that?" Lilith sighs, rubbing her temples. Eda leans back in her chair, holding up her cup and giving her sister a deadpan look.

"And how can we know she isn't?" she retorts.

"They… they…!" Lilith holds up her hands, trying to decide what to say.

"Look, the kid and I talked. She says she's in love and I believe it. I honestly think Luz would put her life on the line for that girl, and I don't think I'm wrong when I say the same thing for Amity, heck, I watched her jump in front of Luz to protect her from Grom, and that was before they were dating!" Eda threw up a hand.

Lilith looks toward the living room where they can hear the kids talking.

"I suppose time will tell…," she hums.

Eda just grunts in response, much to her sister's annoyance.

"Perhaps you really should give her… a talk…," Lilith says after a moment and Eda snorts into her cup, laughing.

"Already covered, in great, embarrassing detail," she says proudly.

"No doubt." Lilith rolls her eyes and her sister only grins.

Luz dashes back into the kitchen and carefully picks up the box containing the cake.

"We're heading out," she says. Eda stands and walks over.

"Have fun, kid." She ruffles Luz's hair, making her grin.

"Ah, Luz, before you go, I have something for you to take." Lilith pulls a small dark blue wrapped gift from her pocket and sets it gently atop The cake box. "Something for Amity I would like her to have… only if she wants it…," she explains.

Luz looks at the small gift before looking up at Lilith and nodding with a smile.

With that, she turns and walks quickly but carefully out of the kitchen.

A few minutes later a portal blazed to life in front of the owl house and then all the kids are gone.

"What'cha give the kid?" Eda asks curiously, glancing at Lilith out of the corner of her eye.

"Something I hope she finds useful…"

"I hate it when you're cryptic…" Eda grumbles and Lilith smirks.

[bluecrusadearcade]

Harrison Osterfield is not your regular irregular

By Baker Street, Gentleman’s Journal quizzes the star of Netflix’s new drama on world records, Sherlock Holmes and his golf swing…

Draped in a silk shirt and paisley scarf, Harrison Osterfield is shivering his way across a brisk Regent’s Park. But he’s not complaining. Why would he? After all, the 24-year-old has dealt with worse. In his latest television series alone — Netflix’s The Irregulars — he’s tussled with demonic crows, paranormal serial killers and even the occult. So a little nip in the air? Nothing to worry about.

“I do have my eye on that jumper, though,” beams Osterfield from behind a bold pair of sunglasses. I don’t blame him. It’s a chunky-knit, funnel-neck number from Connolly, and the next piece of clothing lined up for this al fresco photoshoot. But, for now, the young actor must grit his chattering teeth — and continue striking willowy poses in that billowy shirt.

And those poses are turning heads. Dog-walkers, taxi drivers and tourists are all picking up on Osterfield’s energy; a coolly British blend of big grins and bouncy enthusiasm. He swings from a lamppost! He dances through daffodils! He feeds the pigeons! NW1 hasn’t seen this much action in months…

And we’ve come to Regent’s Park for obvious reasons; Baker Street snakes down from its south-west corner. And, on that famous thoroughfare, sits the fictional digs of Sherlock Holmes. But The Irregulars, a supernatural-tinged drama named for Holmes’ gang of trusty street informants, wasn’t shot in London. Rather, it was filmed on the authentically old streets of Sheffield and Liverpool — the same cobbles walked by the Peaky Blinder boys. So this, Osterfield grins, is a fun opportunity to see the real thing.

“All of the rest of the cast,” he admits, “are really big Sherlock fans. I’ve never really read any of the Sherlock books. I’ve seen maybe one Robert Downey Jr. film? So I was very new going into it.”

Today, then, will be a crash course. Because, after we get Osterfield out of the park (and into that jumper), we’re heading to the Holmes Hotel for a coffee and a catch-up. It’s a relatively new hotel just off Baker Street, decked out with knowing nods to the world’s greatest detective. There’s a bronze bulldog guarding the door, pipe-patterned wallpaper and signature cocktails at the sadly-closed bar (anyone for a ‘Case Closed’?).

But, though there are only suggestions of Sherlock in the Holmes Hotel, Osterfield explains that they’re even subtler in the show. Because The Irregulars, in a nutshell (wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma), sidelines the sleuth, and shifts the focus onto Osterfield and his fellow gang members. The actor plays one of the show’s leads; frail runaway nobleman Prince Leopold. All sullen glances and broken bones, his story is the heart of this first season.

“And it’s been a long project in the making,” says Osterfield, noting that filming on The Irregulars began almost two years ago. “That’s quite daunting. When you’ve spent that much time on something and you’ve got no idea how it’s going to turn out?

“It means that, now, it’s crunch time,” he continues, face creasing with mock-worry, “and I have no idea how people are going to react. But I’m really proud of the work, and that’s what I’m taking away from it.”

The Irregulars may be Osterfield’s first lead role — but he’s been acting for years, popping up in several short films and the George Clooney-directed adaptation of Catch-22 before Netflix took notice. His first role came at 11-years-old, when he was cast as Tiny Tim in his school’s stage production of A Christmas Carol. “It’s funny, actually,” says Osterfield, “because it’s quite a similar physicality to my role in The Irregulars”.

“But that’s where it started,” he continues. “And the real reason I got into acting was because there was this girl in the drama class who I really liked. I thought, if I joined up and impressed her, I could take her out on a date. That didn’t happen. But, although she wasn’t interested at all — the acting seems to be going okay!”

It certainly does. But, like actors all over the world, it’s been a very slow year for Osterfield. He returned to set in September to finish filming the Netflix show — but the rest of his lockdown was eerily, cannily familiar to everyone else’s.

“I went back to my home in Kingston,” he nods, “where I was living with three of my best mates who are also actors. Quite a few of my friends are in theatre, and they had a really tough time of it — not knowing what was going to happen next. I was very lucky, knowing that I was going back to finish something”.

The actor says it was strange being locked-down with fellow performers. With sets closed around the country and curtains falling on theatres, it was one of the first times they had all been at home together. But, even with the additional pressure, he says there were no problems. And there never have been, according to Osterfield — as it’s rare that he and his friends ever compete for the same role.

“We’re all very different castings!” he laughs. “Which is good. It’s a mixed bag, really. But it’s very useful when you’ve got to self-tape an audition and there’s another actor literally upstairs. Also, we’ve all known each other for ten years, so we’ve grown up together and, luckily, know when not to push each other’s buttons.”

With no work, Osterfield spent most of his 2020 getting stuck into lockdown. And he shamelessly tried every self-isolated stereotype. He binge-watched every sports documentary from Drive to Survive to Last Chance U. He upped the frequency and intensity of his workouts. He even tried his hand at cooking. He tried everything.

“I did try everything!” the actor laughs, fizzing once more with that lamppost-swinging, daffodil-dancing energy. “Really! I think I went though every lockdown activity there is. I gave baking a go for two weeks — that didn’t work out. I made a banana bread and that was it. I’m not going to be delving into that any more…

“We were quite lucky, though,” he adds, “because we had an outdoor space. We built a homemade golf net in our garden, by putting up two wooden poles and hanging a blue screen we had left over from filming. That kept us entertained most days”.

But, despite the failed banana breads, closed-off golf courses and Irregulars anxiety, Osterfield says that the worst thing about lockdown was missing his family.

“Because we’re a very close family”, he explains. “Massively so. And, usually, we’d have family gatherings every other weekend – my whole family are in East Grinstead and closer to Brighton, so real countryside. I’m honestly just looking forward to the day, with summer on the horizon, that we can do some good barbecues outside.

“We even tried family Zoom quizzes over lockdown,” he adds, “and they all figured out that I’m not that clever. The rest of my family all seem really, really intelligent. I don’t know if they were just revising beforehand, but I was definitely last a couple of times…”

And Osterfield’s most inspiring family member — not to mention the most irregular — is his 89-year-old grandfather. Despite the young actor upping his own fitness levels during lockdown (“I started doing handstand push-ups. That’s my new skill!”) Osterfield’s grandfather put those athletic achievements to shame.

“He’s fitter than me!” laughs Osterfield. “He’s been kept at home for most of the time and, as a family, we’ve been quite worried about him. But I struggle to keep up with him. I’ll ring him up and ask how his day’s going and he’ll say ‘Oh, hi Harry. Can I call you back later on? I’m just doing some exercise’. So he’s doing better than okay!”

But the exercising, Osterfield says seriously, has been a real lifeline. It’s kept both him and his mind busy during lockdown — and has motivated the actor to pursue more physical, active roles in the future. If he can look back at a body of versatile work, measured out in marked body transformations, he says he’ll be happy.

“I’ve been doing a lot of bodyweight exercise over the last year,” he nods. “I thought it would be quite cool, while in lockdown, to break a world record for something — so I’ve been trying lots of fitness challenges. I’m very close to getting the most burpee chin-ups in under a minute. I’ve got to knuckle down on that.

“I also tried to eat an apple in under 38 seconds,” he laughs. “Which sounds like a long time, but it’s actually quite difficult. And, with apples, I eat everything. Even the middle bit. Even the stem. I just chuck it down. I’m a big fruit bat, so I eat everything apart from the seeds.”

There’s that bouncy energy again; that fun-but-utterly-sincere enthusiasm. It’s an odd thing for an actor, to be so happily unabashed by everything — but the 24-year-old is as animated when talking about his acting as he is about his apples. And that’s nice to see. He’s clearly relishing every opportunity to better himself, and just getting started with what promises to be a very exciting career. Harrison Osterfield, it seems, takes every bite of the apple — literally. Talk about irregular.

[veldian]

tell us more of ur think tank hcs i personally am at the edge of my seat

HELL YEAH ALRIGHT HERE WE GO. some of these might be against canon in some way but that's your fault for trusting me with this

ALSO, AS USUAL, I HAVE TO APOLOGIZE. THIS GOT VERY LONG. when i think about the tanks i go fuckin wild with it

starting with pride headcanons to get the ball rolling

all the tanks are nonbinary, but additionally, dala is a trans woman and 0 is a trans man

8 hates gender he fucking hates it. every day he wakes up and says "today i will make gender my bitch" and then he does. he says this in the game too you just don't know cuz he only speaks in static (don't factcheck this)

if you ask 8 what pronouns she uses, they will shrug and give you a "i dunno" noise. sometimes it'll make a non-committal hand movement and some unintelligible noises. good luck

god this bitch (borous) is gay! good for him! good for him.

he's also intersex! i don't remember where we got that hc but i like it and im holding onto it

okay but borous calls himself bi because yeah Men, but he also loves dala very much and doesn't want to misgender her. also as previously stated, 8's main goal is to confuse everyone about their gender so the tanks all stick with mspec labels to be on the safe side. you never know what'll happen. gender is a ticking time bomb

bi gang: klein, borous, 0

pan gang: dala, mobius

don't ask her about any of her identities she doesn't know the answer either: 8

have i gone off about polytank dynamics enough? i don't think so

8 and dala started dating first because horny bitches gravitate towards each other. they can also "pass" as a "straight couple" so hopefully no one at work will look at them and call them slurs. hopefully

klein and borous knocked things out of the park for being the first gay scientists ever

8 and dala became polyam icons and pulled 0 in. trans bitches gravitate towards each other

klein and borous did the same with mobius. bitches with facial hair gravitate towards each other

???????

idk and then all six of them started dating somehow. the end

somewhere along the way klein and 8 were like "i like you a little too much" and now they're inseparable

okay anyway. misc hcs

ive mentioned this before but when i pretend everything is in modern times, 0 is a tiktokker and he thrives on the attention and making fun of his coworkers on the internet

"watching steven universe repeatedly when i felt even slightly bad transed my gender" - doctor 8 old world blues

i just remembered i made a carrd for the tanks as if they were kinnies in their early to mid 20s

8 kinned pearl su. borous kinned werewolf cookie. 0 kinned rimmer red dwarf. mobius kinned... morbius forbidden planet. obviously. klein refused to put his kins on it. DID DALA KIN FROM DANGANRONPA

i think at one point we had a half-joking hc where klein gets nauseous if he sees blood

and then that changed to he can't see others blood, only his own

while borous can't see his own blood, but he's fine seeing other ppl's

i know borous said that gabe barked at everyone, but i think gabe trusts the other tanks because he knows borous does

borous set up a kissing booth with gabe. the crowd goes wild

when the tanks get together they usually go to klein's. he's the leader or something. also he has a fucking bar in his house.

he complains about them the whole time but you can really tell he loves having people over. why else would he deck his house out like that? he LOVES hosting stuff. house husband

if you saw my chart where i said klein would rather die than do dishes, i was so wrong. his house is pristine. its easily the cleanest

klein's love language is acts of service. he goes over to his partners' houses when they feel awful and clean stuff up for them when they can't. he also makes them food if they want it. he only complains a little, but you can tell he's mostly teasing

did you know klein has five mugs in his kitchen in-game. he's literally prepared to host his partners at any given moment.

the group have learned that letting 8 come over when their house is a mess is a Huge mistake. it goes from 8 trying to help "tidy up" to "im going to put your books and albums in alphabetical order by artist also your clothes are going to be hue-sorted"

"8 why are there only 8 books on each of my bookshelves"

"it looks better"

"it literally does not"

8 can no longer stomach going into 0's house

on the other hand, 0 hates staying in 8's house. the ticking of all their clocks is sensory hell

on 80 date nights they have to do rock-paper-scissors for which house they go to. or they go out. they love each other but their houses drive the other fucking nuts

oh speaking of their houses. yes dala said she didn't like Literal Teddy Bears but that is null and void considering she has teddies in her house

and she has 5 on her bed. five of them :)

she named all of them after her partners! its mostly cute but there is a slight bit of concern because they know what she does with them <__<

not that 8 has any place to judge. mobius found batteries under its pillow once. all 8 said was "they can vibrate." mobius regrets touching them.

i don't know what to say about dala's mannequins i don't have anything funny im just scared

WHY ARE 0 AND KLEIN THE ONLY ONES WITH BATHROOMS IT DRIVES ME INSANE 0'S BATHTUB ISNT EVEN LAYING DOWN ITS AGAINST THE WALL WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT GENERATOR IN HIS BATHROOM DO THE OTHER TANKS JUST SHIT OUTSIDE I'M SEEING RED

mobius and 0 are both into robotics, and they worked together to make muggy, so they've had date nights where they mainly tinker with electronic things.

0 gets very excited when he makes a breakthrough, and seeing that warms mobius's heart. mobius made a habit of kissing 0 on the forehead or squeezing 0 into a hug when they figure things out.

(0 remembers he likes men.) 😳

dala/klein date nights are essentially just them drinking and gossiping chatting

i asked polycule for some more, so here are ones from your local think tank kinnies

borous -

"klein and borous both like classical music in very different ways. klein mostly likes it to feel smart (see: wheatley) but he just started associating it with the others so it felt nicer And borous just likes it bc hes borous"

klein also likes jazz, but so do all the rest of them

8 has a cochlear implant

"dala likes dressing up to look pretty (see: runway) but is personally embarrassed by it (until she gets encouragement) bc she feels like the others dont support that"

"0 loves collecting and reading those stupid magazines with the birthday party products and themes that ud wanna buy from as a kid but are way too expensive"

"mobius has a secret love for puppetry and will try to bring it up sometimes whenever he can. hes made 3 separate sets of the other tanks as puppets and they freak 0 out"

"borous, in an attempt to better his faults, has started learning from dala and 8 on how to take care of plants instead of what he did before. his basement turns into a cool little green house cozy cuddle area"

"to add on: 8 gardens to cope whenever hes alone bc (projects onto ur kin) he mood drops very fast when alone"

"mobius likes dressing in cozy sweaters and fancy stuff"

0 -

"0 doesn't like anal that much" (thanks.)

dala -

"their new rap album called boyz in the tanks" (THANKS.)

and to top things off, :) here are the normal names for them all, created primarily by our borous kinnie

klein - Ernest Klein (nicknamed ernie)

mobius - Wilbert Mobius (nicknamed bert)

borous - James H. Borous (nicknamed jamie)

dala - Dala Theodore (HER NICKNAME IS TEDDY ITS GENIUS)

8 - Emmett Handley (nicknamed 8 + emmy)

0 - Robert O'Barrick (nicknamed 0/O + robbie (HIM SHARING HOUSE'S NAME IS INTENTIONAL. HE'S TRANS HE PICKED HIS NAME WHY DID HE DO THIS))

[sesamestreep]

stack the deck with wild cards (chapter 6)

(read on AO3)

(start from the beginning)

SUMMARY: One year later... 

A/N: Here is the epilogue for my Obvious Child AU, which might be dorky but I really wanted to write some fluff to cap the whole thing off. Still mild content warnings for abortion and pregnancy here, so please check the AO3 link if you need more info on that. I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for the response this fic has gotten, everyone has been so lovely, and I want y’all to know how much it means to me. It may be September but you’re all my Valentines.

Jyn wakes up alone, which is surprising. It’s Saturday, so Cassian doesn’t have to work and he normally sleeps in like a teenager on the weekends, a habit she’d found hilarious at first. She would have figured him for an early riser, always up at the crack of dawn to work on some project or other, but more often than not, she’s up before him, sketching in bed until he finally wakes up. It was endearing, really, especially after she’d spent so much time thinking he was this perfectly responsible adult, to realize he had quirks just like anyone else, and not just the saintly or admirable kind, like how he can never leave his job at the office or how invested he gets in local elections no one else has even heard of. Being alone in bed on the weekend is unusual for her now that she's adjusted to his habits, though, and when she checks the clock on the bedside table, it’s only just past nine, which elevates this situation from weird to concerning. Even if he’s awake at this hour, he’s never out of bed by now. She throws off the covers and immediately regrets it when the cold air hits her all at once. Cassian better have a good reason for making her get out of bed to look for him, because she’d much rather stay under the cocoon of blankets all day.

For all Jyn’s concern, the mystery of his whereabouts is easily solved. She can hear him tinkering around in the kitchen before she turns the corner and sees him standing there, measuring flour into a mixing bowl. There’s ingredients scattered in front of him, and a container of strawberries sitting open on the part of the counter Jyn leans her hip against to watch him. She can smell coffee brewing too.

“Good morning,” she says, smiling at him.

He must be truly distracted, because he actually jumps at the sound of her voice. Normally, he’s pretty difficult to startle. “Jyn,” he says, like he’s somehow surprised to find her in his apartment. “You’re up early.”

“Not as early as you,” she replies. “What’s all this?”

“Uh, it’s…nothing.”

“Try again.”

Cassian sighs, defeated. “It’s for you. Well, it’s for us. For our anniversary.”

“What?”

“I was going to make you breakfast for our anniversary. It was going to be a surprise, but you woke up earlier than I expected.”

“It’s not our anniversary,” Jyn says, flatly.

He looks at her with concern. “Yes, it is,” he says, carefully. “We started dating a year ago.”

“That can’t be true. It can’t be a year already.”

“Well, it’s pretty easy to remember, since our anniversary is Valentine’s Day.”

Jyn groans and buries her face in her hands. “I’m the worst girlfriend in the history of the world.”

“That’s not true.”

“I forgot our anniversary and Valentine’s Day, Cassian! That’s awful!”

“I should have reminded you,” he says, like this is his fault somehow. “I just got caught up with the idea of surprising you with breakfast and I didn’t want to spoil it.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He waves her apology away stiffly. “It’s okay. Really. You told me you weren’t into Valentine’s Day when we started dating. I didn’t expect anything.”

“I didn’t even know you counted today as our anniversary!”

“When else would it be?”

Jyn gestures emphatically at nothing in particular. “I don’t know, maybe not the day I got an abortion?”

“But that was our first date.”

“Most people wouldn’t find that romantic.”

“Most people would be wrong, then,” he says with a shrug, as he continues measuring out flour. “I thought it was very romantic.”

Jyn thinks back to that day, which was somehow a year ago. It feels simultaneously like it just happened and like it’s been an eternity since then. She thinks about Cassian bringing her flowers and holding her hand in the cab on the way to her appointment, about him keeping her calm in the waiting room by attempting a crossword in People Magazine that he clearly knew none of the answers to and asking for her help with all of them, and about him telling her later that he’d passed the time during her procedure by answering emails on his phone until his supervisor called and yelled at him for working when he’d called out for the day. She remembers him getting them a cab back to her place, even though she was still a little out of it from the anesthesia at the time, and that he made them tea in her tiny kitchen before convincing her to watch ‘The Sound of Music’ for the first time because it was his go-to sick day movie ever since he was a kid.

(She found out later that it’s actually his grandmother’s favorite movie because apparently Captain Von Trapp reminds her of her late husband, or so she told Cassian when he was a kid. She was always the one who stayed with him if he was home sick from school, because both his parents still had to go to work, which is how her favorite movie became his sick day movie, but it took him having a nasty head cold three months into them dating before he admitted any of this to Jyn. Until then, she just thought he really liked musicals).

She also remembers falling asleep after maybe thirty minutes of the movie, even though she really wanted to stay awake because Cassian had seemed so excited for her to see it. She drifted off to the feeling of him brushing his fingers gently through her hair and, when she woke up, it was the next morning and she was in her bed, which meant he’d carried her there from the couch and she’d been asleep the whole time, which was just unfair. He did have the good sense not to try to be chivalrous with her by sleeping on the floor or, worse, on the couch, so at least she’d gotten to wake up next to him, a pleasure she’d missed out on the first time they’d hooked up, when she’d fled immediately afterwards to avoid the very intimacy she found herself enjoying that day.

“You’re right,” she says, now, wrapping her arms around his middle. “It was romantic.”

Cassian lifts his arm to make room for her and then drapes it around her shoulders to pull her in closer. “But if you’d rather use a different day for our anniversary, we can. These can just be Valentine’s Day waffles.”

“You’re making me waffles?!”

“Yes?” He replies, sounding wary, like he’s afraid he’s done something wrong. She shouldn’t have yelled. That was probably confusing for him.

“God, I love you,” she says, pulling him down for a kiss that’s meant to be quick but then she gets distracted because kissing him is still so much fun, even though she can do it whenever she wants now.

“They’re not—that hard—to make,” he says, or tries to, between kisses. He seems like he might try to argue the point further, which Jyn absolutely doesn’t want to happen, so she slips her tongue into his mouth and deepens their kiss, making him groan in a way she recognizes as a sound of defeat. A moment later, he throws his arms around her waist and lifts her up onto the counter, narrowly avoiding knocking over the mixing bowl in the process.

She parts her legs so he can step in between them and smiles when he kisses her again. This is the thing they’ve always been good at, even before they were dating. She had worried (clearly unnecessarily) that putting a label on it, being serious and exclusive, would ruin this, but if anything, it’s only gotten better with time. The efforts she’d made to keep him at a distance during their first time together only seemed more and more foolish as she got to know him better and saw the lengths he went to in order to satisfy her and make her happy.

Her initial proposal, when they finally got their shit together and started dating, was for them to take things slow—at least, emotionally. When it came to their physical relationship, the doctor had told her she could have sex again as soon as she felt ready, which only took about a week after the abortion. Cassian was, of course, trying to be careful about it, not wanting to rush her when she’d been so clear about needing to ease her way back into dating. His gentlemanly willpower held out a little longer than she expected, leading Jyn to unapologetically sabotage their second attempt at a movie night together by making out with him the whole time and they’d ended up having sex right there on the couch. She can’t even remember what movie they were trying to watch that night.

Then again, sex had always been the easy part for them; it was everything else that was tricky. Jyn’s rules—don’t put a label on it, don’t call it a relationship, just take things slow—had worked wonders in the beginning, but the longer they dated, the more it was clear they needed to call this something . Jyn was surprised to find the idea didn’t terrify her as much as it once had and it only took one long weekend where Cassian was laid out by an awful cold and she made him (store bought and microwaved) soup while finally seeing ‘The Sound of Music’ all the way through (several times, in fact) before she realized that, whether she admitted it to herself or not, she was in a serious relationship. When Cassian finally recovered, he thanked her a little too profusely for taking care of him, and Jyn had been so flustered by his praise that she’d blurted out that she loved him before she could talk herself out of it. She would have been much more embarrassed if his face hadn’t lit up with the most beautiful smile as soon as she said it, and if he hadn’t kissed her senseless a moment later, saying he loved her too whenever they came up for air.

She doesn’t tell him now that, if she had to pick a date for their anniversary, it would be then, the day she finally got over herself and told him she loved him. Because that would be sappy and embarrassing and also his idea seems much easier to remember for next year, anyway.

“I’m going to make this up to you,” she says, against his mouth, as his hands are creeping up under her t-shirt.

Cassian laughs. “Are you going to get me one of those giant stuffed bears from Duane Reade with the hearts that say ‘I Love You Bear-y Much’ on them?”

“If that’s what you want,” Jyn says, pulling back to look at him quizzically. “I was just going to let you fuck me on the kitchen counter, but it’s up to you.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but…”

“Oh my god, you’d rather have the bear, wouldn’t you?”

“No,” he says, burying his face in her shoulder. “I already know you love me bear-y much. I don’t need anything to remind me.”

Jyn swats at him half-heartedly. “Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s just…this is where we prepare our food. It doesn’t feel sanitary to, well, you know…”

“Are you telling me that—on our anniversary of all days—you’d rather have boring, normal sex instead of weird, potentially unsanitary sex in the kitchen that you share with a roommate and where you’re currently preparing a meal?”

Cassian nods, looking like he’s putting on a contrite expression just for her sake. “That’s exactly what I’m saying, yes. Although, I don’t know if concern for Bodhi should even merit a mention. We both know he barely lives here anymore.”

Jyn does her best not to react to that, even though she knows Cassian is right. Bodhi is away for the weekend with Taidu and she’s fairly sure one or both of them are going to broach the topic of moving in together finally, since Bodhi spends most nights at Taidu’s studio apartment anyway, because it grants him access to a dog while also allowing him to spend more time alone with his boyfriend that he loves. If they move in together, though, that leaves Cassian without a roommate, which means he and Jyn will probably have to have a conversation about where their relationship is going.

It’s sooner than she’d normally consider even the possibility of moving in with someone, but she barely tolerates her current roommate as it is and, more importantly, she could see herself living with Cassian. It’s almost too easy to picture. Before, with Reece, they’d hit the two-year mark and she’d told herself that living together was the next logical step but it hadn’t been because she’d truly wanted it. It was just something people in relationships were supposed to do when they’d been together that long. Now, though, their circumstances might necessitate the conversation, but her excitement outweighs her feeling of obligation. It doesn’t stop her from being terrified that Cassian will think it’s too soon and she’ll scare him off, though, but they can burn that bridge when they get to it. There’s nothing to worry about until Bodhi comes home with news.

“And besides,” Cassian continues, interrupting her thoughts, “I wouldn’t call it boring to have sex with my beautiful girlfriend in our soft bed on our anniversary. That’s basically the dream.”

“Sap,” Jyn says, poking his cheek with her index finger and ignoring the way her heart races at how he thinks of the bed as theirs . “Can we at least bring the strawberries with us? Or is that too wild for you?”

“What are they gonna do, watch?”

“No, dumbass, we’re going to eat them. You know… sensually .”

“You can just admit you’re hungry,” he says, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“That too,” she says, smiling. He hands her the carton before he unceremoniously lifts her off the counter. She thinks he’s going to put her down at first, but he seems content to carry her all the way back to the bedroom. She makes an inelegant noise of surprise when he tosses her on the bed, which just makes him laugh in response.

“What? I thought you were worried our sex life was getting boring,” he says, unapologetically proud of himself.

She tosses the strawberries onto the side table, so her hands are free to grab him by the front of his shirt and pull him in for a kiss. “I promise I’m going to remember our anniversary next year,” she says, as he settles on top of her. “You’re not going to be able to move for Duane Reade bears.”

She expects him to smile at that, to laugh it off and kiss her again, but instead he stills. His eyes search her face as his hand comes to cup her cheek. “Next year?” He asks, his tone careful.

Jyn feels her heartbeat stutter in her chest—the old nerves and worries haven’t abandoned her completely, after all—but she still manages a smile before she leans in and kisses him again. “Next year,�� she says, firmly. She can’t be sure, of course, but she has faith they’ll make it.

[narcoleptic-drag-queen]

38 Q with Crygi please💕💕💕

I can’t believe I managed to make this not very sexy at all and just fluffy, but that is what crygi does to me 🙃i hope you like it!

38 - “Fine, but I’m gonna complain the whole time.”

Q - Stripper/Porn Star AU

-

When Gigi had agreed to this project, Jaida had told her, with no uncertainty, that the world was probably ending now that she was going to willingly work with Crystal Methyd.

“That is,” she’d added, as Gigi rolled her eyes and continued to throw her bags together. “If you don’t burn down Paris before then.”

“And that’s exactly why I’m going,” Gigi’d said. “Paris. France. I’ll go visit Oscar Wilde’s tomb and be cultured.”

“That’ll be a first,” Jaida had snorted, and Gigi’d slapped her with the silk scarf she’d planned on wearing the third day of her visit, with the little beret that matches. She’s planned out all of her days in Paris, wanting to be completely decked out in designer clothes and sleek hairdos - that is, for when she isn’t going to naked.

Gigi loves being a porn star.

It’s gotten her fame, fans, money, and now, it’s gotten her to Paris, to work with Nicky Doll, famous for her lesbian period erotica that sounds niche but actually has a massive following. It’s a dream come true: fancy costumes and fun scenes and no dicks. The only catch?

Crystal Methyd.

She’s arrogant, air-headed, and completely pretentious. She only takes specific projects, sticking to the ‘weird’ side of porn (“What’s the fun in normal?” she’d said when Gigi had worked with her last, clearly eyeing Gigi up and down), and yet still managing to build an enormous fanbase. 

Gigi can already feel the little ball of resentment growing in her chest as she makes her way through the set, still clinging on to an insult that wasn’t even really an insult years later. To be called ‘normal’ - it itches under her skin. She’s creative. She thinks out of the box, moves into more than just het, vanilla stuff. She can be weird. She just doesn’t have a fucking god complex when it comes to taking more traditional projects.

But she’s not bitter. Crystal isn’t worth it.

Obviously.

Gigi makes a beeline towards the foldable table set up with Dunkin’ Donuts boxes, itching for coffee. What she really wants is to drown her stresses in wine, but a mocha latte is going to have to do. 

She fills a styrofoam cup and quickly raises it to her lips, looking around. It looks like they’re starting with a scene in an attic, with long, billowing white curtains and a rickety-ass bed shoved in the corner. She can see the period gowns tucked away in the corner for her and Crystal, and a strange mix of excitement and dread runs through her. She doesn’t know how she’s going to do this with Crystal, of all people, but she’s an actress, and an actress she shall be.

She wonders if--

“Is that coffee any good?”

Gigi’s entire body stiffens. She turns to find Crystal standing beside her, all curly brown hair and insane grin, pointing to the coffee with a questioning brow quirked. She’s gorgeous. Not that Gigi’s noticing anything special, of course. All porn stars are gorgeous.

“It’s fine,” Gigi says flatly, after a moment, and Crystal gives a happy shrug before grabbing a cup for herself. 

“Coffee’s coffee!” 

Gigi feels frustration bubble up in her gut, Crystal’s permanent cheer far too much for 8 am. “Yep,” she grits out. 

“Are you excited?” Crystal asks, oblivious to Gigi’s mood. “We’re working with Nicky Doll! Can you believe it?”

“Actually, I can,” Gigi says shortly. Crystal looks a little taken aback.

“Ummmm,” she says, long and drawn out. “Well. Are you excited?”

“Sure.”

“You don’t sound so excited,” Crystal teases, and Gigi bristles.

“I think you’re excited enough for the both of us.”

Crystal giggles. “Can you blame me? This is like a dream! I love projects like this, they’re so… odd, I live for it.”

Gigi understands the implication perfectly: and you, obviously, don’t. Normie. “What, and I don’t?” she snaps, and Crystal looks surprised.

“Wh--”

“I’m not weird enough for it?” Gigi presses. “Too ‘normal’ to be invited here? Is that why you’re so surprised?”

“I’m not surprised to see you here at all,” Crystal says, and then her eyes take on a sort of mischievous gleam. “You were cc’d in the email, after all.”

Gigi stares at her. “You’re an asshole,” she decides, and she turns to walk away, irritation thrumming through her veins, embarrassment coloring her cheeks. She hadn’t needed to go off like that, but the nerve to tell her that--

Crystal grabs her arm. “Hey, wait!” she says, and Gigi stops, turning around to meet Crystal’s eyes. They’re beautiful, a sort of hazel color that catches the light in breathtaking ways. Not that Gigi cares. She’s sure she’s seen prettier.

“I’m sorry,” Crystal says, and she doesn’t let go of Gigi’s arm, even though they’re stopped. “I didn’t mean to make you think-- I’m not surprised you’re here. I know this is right up your alley - you watched so many period dramas when we were working on that one motorcyclist series. When I got the email, I immediately thought of you.”

Gigi can feel herself softening, regret pinching at her chest. “You did?” she asks, and Crystal laughs like it’s obvious. Which, now that Gigi’s thinking about it….

“I’ve been following you too long to not!”

“You have?”

Crystal frowns at her, a confused smile on her lips. “I’m a big fan. I thought I told you that.”

Gigi licks her lips, nervous giggles bubbling up inside her chest. “I thought you were being sarcastic.”

Crystal’s eyes widen. “Gigi Goode, I don’t think I’ve ever used sarcasm in my entire life.”

“That’s a lie,” Gigi laughs, heat still staining her cheeks. Crystal shrugs. 

“Maybe,” she says playfully. She finally lets go of Gigi’s arm, and Gigi finds herself missing her touch, which makes her blush come back to her full force. She doesn’t quite know what to say in response, embarrassed at her years long grudge and quick temper, at her assumptions and snippy comments - she doesn’t know how to react to Crystal, anymore, other than think she’s beautiful and want to hold her hand.

Gigi hates being gay.

“Wanna grab some more coffee?” Crystal asks, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over them. Gigi smiles.

“You want more lukewarm Dunkin’ Donuts?”

“No,” Crystal laughs. “Let’s go to the little cafe around the corner. We still have an hour before Nicky gets here. That is, unless you don’t want to?”

Warmth unfurls in Gigi’s chest, and she’s unable to stop the gigantic grin that spreads across her face. “Fine,” she says, finally able to tease her back. “But I’m going to complain the whole time.”

She allows herself to think that Crystal’s laugh is musical, and she allows the other woman to take her hand to lead her out of the building, her touch comforting and warm. It’s the best decision she’s made, in a while.

She can’t wait to have sex with her.

[cherryeol04]

Jolly Chaos

Genre: Humor, fluff, stupidity? Pairing: JacksonxOC, ChangbinxAidenxFelix Word Count: 2.9K Summary: While getting presents for Aiden’s boyfriend, Sabrina and Aiden get snowed in at the mall. At least there are some hot guys to occupy her time with. A/N: This is a crappy summary and doesn’t even begin to describe this story. lmao. I’m sorry.

“Stay indoors because a snowstorm is projected to hit the city by 4pm. You do not want to be out when it hits.”

The audio from the TV served as white noise as the two bodies in the house moved in sync within the kitchen. A balancing act of dancing around each other as they worked on their baked goods.  Sabrina had only wanted to make cookies, but Aiden has insisted that they also make cupcakes because “icing them is fun”. What wasn’t fun, however, was the clean up at the end. And if there was one thing Sabrina had learned in her years of babysitting the Park son, it was that he didn’t clean up after himself. Somehow, he always managed to weasel his way out of cleaning duties. Aiden truly was an amazing kid.

“Six minutes until the cookies are done!” Sabrina called out as she dumped the mixing bowls into the sink to be cleaned later. Her gaze turned to Aiden who was hunched over his tray of cupcakes, a look of concentration creasing his brows - tongue poking out of the side of his mouth. It was actually kind of cute, the way he carefully moved his hand in a circle, creating the perfect icing swirl. He was oblivious to what she had just said, lost in his own world of decorating. It was picturesque, so Sabrina pulled out her phone and opened her camera, quickly snapping a few pictures of Aiden for “memories sake (read: blackmail)”.

Despite the camera noises and flash, the younger male remained unbothered. So Sabrina took the time to send the pictures to two different group chats. The first was with Aiden and his parents and she figured that they would appreciate some cute pictures of their son not causing trouble for once. The second group chat was one with a mixture of her friends and Aiden’s friends, which also included Aiden’s two boyfriends. In this chat, she only sent one of the pictures - the decent looking one, after all, she needed to keep at least one picture for blackmailing purposes. Glancing to the clock, Sabrina hummed and made her way back to the over to the oven to check on her cookies. A comfortable silence fell over them once more, broken only when Aiden finished his decorating and Sabrina had plated her 24 count tray of cookies.

“They look burnt.” Aiden complained and his nose scrunched up.

“You look burnt.” Sabrina retorted.

“That doesn’t make sense!” Aiden huffed with a shake of his head. “They smell good though. Good job.” A compliment in a way and it was certainly more than what Sabrina thought she was going to get. Not that Aiden was a rude or misbehaving teen. On the contrary, he was a well mannered and sweet young man. He honestly didn’t need a babysitter at his ripe old age of 17, but Aiden did have a tendency to be a bit dense and clumsy at times. If not for his last attempt of cooking unsupervised that led to the kitchen nearly burnt to the ground, his parents wouldn’t have insisted on having someone to watch him. But it couldn’t be helped and it was better to have someone with better common sense around to make sure Aiden didn’t accidentally burn or destroy something in the house. Sans his friends because they just couldn’t be trusted. Sabrina didn’t mind though, Aiden was like a little brother to her and hey, she also got free food. It was a win-win situation.

“Thanks, Aiden.” It was a soft return of gratitude to the praise she had received, followed with a gentle smile that was returned wholeheartedly and reminded Sabrina of the sun. What a precious guy.

“Hey Bri, do you think we can hit the mall?”

Sabrina raised a brow at the question, shoulders raising too. “I mean we could, but it might hurt.”

Aiden groaned at the poorly made joke, eyes rolling in exasperation. “That’s not what I meant and you know it!”

Sabrina couldn’t suppress the giggle that bubbled up in her chest, one hand raising to cover her mouth as she tried to keep from snorting. After calming herself, she cleared her throat and nodded. “Sure. Let’s clean up-”

“We can clean later.” Aiden whined, a pout on his lips. “I want to get to the mall before it closes.”

“Why?” Sabrina asked.

“I - uh - need to get gifts...for my boyfriends,” Aiden said shyly, head bowed in embarrassment as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. It was really cute, but everything about Aiden was cute and Sabrina could understand how he managed to get two boyfriends.

“You haven’t gotten them a gift yet? Christmas is next week!”

“I know! I’ve just been so busy with exams and homework. I barely have the time to see them, let alone have time to go Christmas shopping. Doesn’t help they go to a different school.” Aiden pouted, a soft sigh leaving his lips.

“So, what you’re saying is that if I take you to the mall, I would be helping your relationship?” she asked, a smirk playing on her lips.  “Little Aiden will be a good boyfriend then, making his boyfriends happy?” she teased, relishing in the whine that he let out in embarrassment. “Alright, we can go, but on one condition.”

“Name it.” Aiden agreed quickly. A little too quickly, which made Sabrina happy.

“You do all the dishes when we get back, by yourself.” Sabrina laughed as Adien’s mouth dropped and she could see he was getting ready to protest, but never uttered a word. Instead, he simply closed his mouth and nodded, resigned to his fate. The things he did for Felix and Changbin.

“Okay.”

“Perfect! Let’s go then!” Sabrina cheered and headed out of the kitchen and to the front door. Free of cleaning duty, she was more than excited to go shopping now.

~*~*~*~

The relief that came when Sabrina finally parked was more than welcomed with Aiden thanking all the Gods he knew in a rush of muttered praises, surprised that they hadn’t crashed or ran anyone over. Sabrina was actually surprised she managed to keep her road rage in check and didn’t hit anyone. Though she really had wanted to run one woman over in particular. She had just decided to walk out in front of her car, without even checking to make sure the coast was clear.

Stupid Karen.

Aiden practically sprinted to the main entrance of the mall, leaving Sabrina to fumble with her keys to get the car locked. With the click of the doors, Sabrina ran after Aiden, chasing the bratty teenager through the food court and down the leftwing - barely dodging the unsuspecting patrons milling about. “Aiden! Slow down! You’re gonna run into-” The world rushed around her, yet all she could focus on was her heavy breathing and the feeling of arms around her waist. Looking up, her eyes locked with a pair of chocolate brown orbs, brows creased with concern.

“Are you alright?”

Gathering her bearings, Sabrina straightened herself as she slowly left the man’s embrace with a nod. “I’m fine. I’m so sorry about that.” she apologized, bowing to the other. She felt absolutely terrible about running into the man. And she certainly wasn’t being a good role model for Aiden.

“It’s okay. As long as you’re not hurt.”  He was being too kind, which only deepened Sabrina’s guilt. She had expected him to yell and blame her for being careless, which was true. But instead, he was worried about her. A complete stranger! She would be lying if she said that it didn’t make her heart flutter a little.

“No, it’s not. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing or where I was going. I’m so sorry.” She protested, once more bowing to the man, a little deeper than last time.

“It’s fine, really.” the guy laughed, his whole face a light with a bright smile. It was stunning and took Sabrina’s breath away. “Just be more careful, okay?” he asked and she gave him a tentative nod. It seemed to satisfy him and with one last smile, he walked off.

The encounter was strange, but by the time Sabrina found Aiden again, it had completely escaped her memory. The younger male was in the bookstore, browsing through the shelves stacked with cards and board games. He had three games already in his hands, eyes reading over the back of another game that was sitting on the shelf. “What did you find?” she asked, moving to stand beside him. He jumped, struggling to hold onto the games as he glared at Sabrina.

“You just gave me a heart attack! Jesus!” he whined, trying to keep his voice so he didn’t disturb any of the other shoppers, but that was a struggle for him. Aiden was not at all a quiet boy.

“Sorry.”  She wasn’t at all sorry, giving a shrug before taking one of the card decks from Aiden’s hand. “Cards Against Humanity?”

“Yeah. Normally I play with Felix and Changbin online. It has a larger and better selection of card decks. But there have been times we’ve wanted to play while together, but we didn’t have 3 computers and using our phones sucked.” Aiden explained, pouting at the memories.

“So you’re going to give your boyfriends a card game?” Sabrina raised a brow as she stared at Aiden, watching him squirm under her gaze.

“Yeah, why not?”

“Why not? Because that’s such a sucky gift! You should be getting them something romantic or something.” she huffed out.

“Romantic? Like what?”

“I don’t know, google it. Romantic gifts to give your boyfriend. I mean, you could even give them headphones. Something other than a card game.” she said, taking the games from Aiden’s grasp and placing them back on the shelf. “What do they like? Give them a gift to complement their personalities or something they really have been asking for.”

Silence fell over the two as Aiden stared at the floor, brows knitted together. Sabrina was worried that maybe she had been a little too harsh and critical on Aiden for his gift choices. Honestly, who was she to even protest as she had? They weren’t her boyfriends. But she did remember all the drama and angst Aiden went through to even get to the current point he was at with his boyfriends. She really just wanted to make sure his Christmas with his boyfriends was as sweet and romantic as it could get. He deserved it.

“Aiden-”

“Bri-”

They stared at each other, waiting for the other to talk. When neither of them made a move, Aiden let out a heavy sigh. “Bri, I need help. I don’t know what to do or get them. They’re just so…” Aiden trailed off and let out a frustrated sigh, pushing a hand through his hair. “What do you get someone who is so perfect and has everything they could ever want?” he asked. The sheer desperation that was shining in his eyes had Sabrina’s heartbreaking and she wanted nothing more than to pull Aiden into a hug and protect him from the world. But maybe it was that protection that left him so clueless.

“Maybe they don’t need trivial items?” Sabrina suggested, an idea coming to her.

“What do you mean?”

“Instead of spending your money on a card game or something else they’ve probably received a dozen times, maybe you could make them something?” Sabrina suggested with a gentle smile. “You know? A handmade gift always means more than a store-bought one.”

“Make something? I’m not at all creative, what could I possibly make them?” Aiden pouted, staring off to the side, racking his brain for ideas.

“Aiden, you’re going to school for the performing arts. You make music for your classes. You’re very much creative.” she assured as she reached out and patted his head. “You don’t need to do anything grand like writing them a song or anything. Just something heartfelt.” She felt like she was talking to a child, who didn’t have the cognitive capabilities to understand what she was saying. It really saddened her, but he was managing on his own.

“Like a card? Or a letter?” Aiden asked. Sabrina nodded with a gentle smile.

“Yeah! Come on, let’s go check out the stationery section. We can get some cute paper, colored pens, and washi tape. Maybe we can find some other things we can add.” Taking his hand, Sabrina led him from the games and across the store to browse for the items they needed.

“Thanks, Bri, you’re the best.”

~*~*~*~

It didn’t feel like it was that late in the day, but by the time Sabrina and Aiden finished their shopping, the store was almost completely empty. It was odd, especially considering the fact it was only 3 pm, long before the mall was supposed to close even with the holiday hours. Nonetheless, the two made their way to the front entrance and were greeted by the largest and thickest blanket of snow, falling from the sky.

“Oh, crap.” Sabrina whispered.

“Oh, crap indeed.” A voice from behind her agreed and she turned around, staring at the group of males behind her. One of whom she recognized almost instantly as the handsome stranger she had run into earlier that afternoon. “The news said it wouldn’t hit until later.” he complained.

“Looks like the weatherman might have been drunk again.” Another male spoke up from next to Mr. Handsome. The group was composed of five guys, all very good looking and for a moment, Sabrina questioned what she did in her past life to be surrounded by such handsome men.

“Lix? Binne?” Aiden asked, brows furrowed as he stared at the group. “Jinnie?” All those names sounded familiar from the countless tales Aiden would recount when Sabrina would come over to hang out with him. And suddenly, Sabrina didn’t feel so blessed because at least three of the five good looking guys were a couple of years younger than her.

“Aiden! What a small world.” Hyunjin cheered as he walked over and pulled Aiden into a tight hug. Aiden smiled, returning the hug before pulling back shortly after to move to Felix and Changbin, giving them each a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“I’m here Christmas shopping with my-” He stopped himself, cheeks flushing as he looked to Sabrina who was smirking.

“You’re what?” Felix prompted.

“His babysitter.” Sabrina grinned, winking at the whining boy who was trying to hide behind his two boyfriends. “I’m Sabrina or Bri for short.”

“Nice to meet you, Sabrina. It sure is a small world, we’re babysitting too. I’m Jinyoung and this is Jackson.”

“We’ve met.” Jackson chuckled and Sabrina could feel herself blushing.

“Again, I’m so sorry. I was chasing after that one.” she said as she pointed to Aiden.

“Hey! I was just excited!” Aiden pouted.

“I said it was alright. Stop apologizing.” Jackson assured her with a soft laugh, flashing her such a sweet smile that it only seemed to enhance his handsome features and Sabrina found herself wanting to see more of that smile.

Was there a formation of a crush happening? There sure was.

“Okay.” The reply was soft and she wasn’t sure if they had actually heard her or not. It didn’t matter though and she turned her attention back outside. It honestly shocked her at how quickly the storm had rolled in and covered the ground with such a thick layer of snow. They weren't even at the mall that long! Her eyes scanned the gray sky, slowly darkening further as the clouds slowly moved. It was only going to get worse, she could tell.

“Looks like we’re stuck. At least until the storm passes.” Jinyoung mused.

“Who knows how long that’ll be.” Sabrina commented and turned around. There were a few groups of other people milling about the mall entrance. All stuck just like them. Well, at least they still had power.

They spent the next five hours waiting within the mall. The food court employees that were left fired up the grills and made meals for those stuck there. Sabrina spent her time getting to know Jackson and Jinyoung, swapping stories about Aiden, Felix, and Changbin. Most were absolutely hilarious and Sabrina was very glad that she wasn’t the only one who was witness to Aiden’s stupid moments. It was around 8 pm when rescue workers were finally able to clear a path to the doors of the mall and another hour before roads were cleared enough for everyone to head home. Though Sabrina was ready to go home, she didn’t really want her time with Jackson to end. The older male (as she found out) was very funny and she wanted to get to know him even more. But Aiden was tired and getting cranky, so being the good babysitter she was, she took him home. And as they were warming up and cleaning up the kitchen, Aiden handed her a piece of paper.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Jackson’s number. He said to call him whenever.” Aiden shrugged before disappearing out of the kitchen, leaving Sabrina to clean alone. She couldn’t even bring herself to care either, eager to finish and call Jackson. Maybe this Christmas she won’t be lonely.

Tags: @cuddly-bangchan​ @lordseochangbin​ @channiesmixtape​​ @starryseung​​ @felixsanxchatbot​​ @jisungsjheekies​​

[trenchcoatkitten]

So I’ve been reading Temperature of the Heart, and you’ve mentioned how you have the whole thing written already. Can you describe what that’s like? What’s your writing process? How long does it take for you to write everything start to finish? Do you plan it all out or just kind of wing it? How long do you sit in an idea before you start?? Sorry about all the questions, I’m just so curious >_

bro!!! are you sure i will scream about writing for days omg

first of all THANK YOU its so freaking cool that you came to ask your questions and that you like my writing, im still sort of getting used to my writing not just being garbage that i read in the dark at 2am and never share with anybody, and i am always excited to answer questions waaaah 

(THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG I APOLOGIZE IM PUTTING A READING BREAK IN CAUSE I WENT OFF BRO, IM THE WOOOOORST) 

my process is pretty weird, it’s kind of all over the place? I’m kind of a halfway planner halfway pantser. I have an idea and usually make some disjointed notes about character and the main idea, in my phone or maybe on a google doc, and then a pinterest board maybe? Something to get excited about, a visualization. I ALWAYS tell myself im going to make an outline first and then i ALWAYS just jump right into writing because I’m too excited/impatient to wait. give me words on a page. give me dialogue. 

Usually when I’m a little bit into the project, when i know that I’m not going to abandon it to the depths off where my WIPs go to die (rip like literally over 300 individual and unique works, this is NOT an exaggeration, you should see my document bank its gross) Ill say “ok fuck you sami its time to actually know where you’re going” and I’ll sit down and make the grossest outline you have EVER seen. like im talking, my outlines are littered with memes, me yelling at myself, actual stuff thats going to end up in the final project, and just general random garbage? its so gross. Ive literally only showed one of my outlines to one person ever (hi akira!) bc im super self conscious of them and hate the way that i write them. making an outline usually sucks up an entire day of writing. they’re pages and pages because some parts will be INCREDIBLY specific and other parts will be so vague you dont even know

From there, when im done with my garbage outline, (after going back through what I’ve written and fixing the shit that was just me going off like a psycho) I usually start writing in earnest. I’ll highlight the parts of the outline that I’ve done and I’ll go back and check it often to make sure im following through on my plans and the character arcs and such, making sure that everything ties in and such. This section is me like. every day getting home from work or whatever and sitting down at the computer and not moving until 2am, this is the section where i forget to eat and I dont sleep enough and i forget to drink water or take my vitamins and I do word sprints with myself and have days where I write 10 thousand words in one sitting. (very not healthy and also terrible i do NOT recommend) this is the section where I’ll handwrite anything i can in the back of classes and at rehearsals because im pouring out words.

during this section I go back and edit ENDLESSLY. i cannot write something and just let it be. I go back to the section I wrote the night before, I go back to the section I just wrote, i go back to the very beginning. I generally dont have to do 1st 2nd 3rd draft this way, but it is much more time consuming as Im just writing. i dont know if i reccommend this its a MESS

THeN once i finish writing the whole thing, i sit down and reread/edit the whole thing once through. this makes sure i have good flow, the paragraphs go together well, the prose feels right to me, timelines make sense. during this time i make ENDLESS paper notes with calendars, section notes, additions, drabbles, thoughts about my own shit. i have notebooks full of just garbage. im not kidding. full notebooks. 

Once I finish that read/edit through I’m usually happy. only once something is completely finished will I consider posting. I go back too much, I add shit, I can’t let go of shit, not until it’s done. While I’m posting - I go through the chapter I’m going to post with a fine tooth comb, try to catch any tiny little mistake, add words here and there, but never change anything large if I can help it. Then i format it on Ao3 (this is literal hell, fuck the HTML editor it wants me to die) and then post it. Deciding to post a chapter to actually hitting ‘post’ usually takes me 1-4 hours, depending on the length, the difficulty of formatting, and how many goddamn links i wanna put in the chapter notes cause im the worst~ (insert jean ralphio voice) 

~~~

LISTEN im probably super extra but I’ve been writing since I was in sixth grade (thats twelve years! time is an enigma and i hate it!) and so I have a bit of practice, i have a bit of experience and while I’m not the best me that I can be, I KNOW myself, and this is just what works best for me. 

As for timing - it depends on the length of the project and how motivated I am. It took me about a month to write Royal (~50k), just a little over a month to write All Might’s All Night Shop Stop (~75k), and just about two months to write Temperature of the Heart (~115k). I try to post every few days, because as a person I hate waiting and I don’t want to do that to my readers! 

~~~

As for the ‘how long do i sit on an idea before writing it’ it really depends. Some things I will receive inspiration or a sliver of an idea and start writing it in the next ten minutes, even if I have to stop working on something I’m already working on, because that was Brain Has Decided. Sometimes I will consider an idea for like. months before actually doing it. I’ve had the idea for FBoW (the newest thing im working on oops? have i told anybody about this NO cause that will make it REAL) since before I started Royal, which was like. Last november. But I just couldnt quite do it for some reason, and it wasn’t pressing. My brain is super broken, and a lot of times I get sick over ideas. I can’t sleep or eat until I’ve written, and I will repeat phrases to myself until i can get them out of my head by writing them down. (Sometimes this is something nice or poetic - “The golden hour lights up the whole world, wiggling its fingers into every nook and cranny, lighting up two people lounging on a bench-swing, someone leaned onto porch stairs with a mug of tea, the space between those walking down a dirt road, a couple of dogs laid out on the deck.” and other times its literally “Ranch Fiddlesticks.” I’m not kidding. i have a note in my phone that says ranch fiddlesticks because I was actually going to Die if i didnt write it down.)

I do wish my brain didn’t do this - but I guess it makes some fun art, doesn’t it? 

WOW OKAY THIS WAS SO LONG im so sorry jesus christ. SOrry i will ALWAYS go off about my process and what it’s like to write. Writing is so so important to me, I LOVE it with every tiny atom of my weak, alcohol-infused, overworked heart. Despite how scary it is sometimes I am very glad to be sharing my work with the world, seeing peoples’ reactions and hearing things about my words, hearing how this little picture in my mind has gone into yours. 

okay jfc im done now im so sorry. thank you again and again and again, a thousand times over, for reading my work and enjoying the worlds that i enjoy building. It makes me feel like I’m worth it. It makes me feel like I’m doing something good. 

ily :’)

[peterstanslizzie]

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 1.13 (Come Fly With Me)

Lizzie and Miranda are decked out in sixties-inspired fashion

- The episode opens to a 1960′s Rat Pack song playing in the background, courtesy of Gordo. He is starting to get into the whole old-school Las Vegas ‘lounge-style’ culture and this doesn’t seem to really bother his friends because Gordo has always been the kind of person to stay away from current trends. 

- For example, as Lizzie mentioned, when everybody in school was into rollerblading, he opted to unicycle instead. It sounds to me like he is doing all of this for the sake of being different. I think we should just be who we want to be and do the things we like regardless of it being on trend or not. 

- Gordo asks Lizzie if she could pick up a Rat Pack music CD for him after school because he has an appointment with his podiatrist. She reluctantly agrees and before leaving, she advises him to take it easy on the whole Rat Pack thing. 

Getting into Rat Pack

Vince, a one-time character I presume

- After collecting the CD on Gordo’s behalf, a kid named Vince on the school bus snatches it from Lizzie’s hand and makes fun of her and Miranda for absolutely no reason. If you’re going to make fun of someone, you might as well do it right but Vince is just atrocious at it lol. 

- Out of nowhere, Ethan Craft comes to the rescue and intimidates Vince to give the CD back to Lizzie. Because of that, Lizzie crushes on Ethan once again. I thought two episodes ago in Episode 1.11, Ethan was going to leave Miranda during their marriage project presentation because he was being manipulated by Kate. And now she still likes him? I guess they can’t fault Ethan for being an airhead.

Animated Lizzie looks really cute in this sort of Mad Men inspired outfit

- Ethan then starts listening to the Rat Pack CD on his music player (or boom box?) and he actually really enjoys it. Lizzie and Miranda, obviously smitten by Ethan’s liking to Gordo’s CD pretends to act like they actually listen to this style of music and they agree to meet up later to hook Ethan up with more Rat Pack music. 

- At school, Lizzie and Miranda start talking to Gordo in a similar way to how he was talking to them at the beginning of this episode. He feels flattered by them wanting to know more about his interests in Rat Pack and is willing to teach them more about the culture. We also get a funny bit where Miranda points out to Gordo that he blinks his eyes a lot. 

The more you try to not think about blinking, the more you actually blink your eyes. Facts.

Meet Matt’s Best Friend, Lanny

*Please note my review of Matt’s plot-line this episode is compiled into this section.

I’m a little scared of Lanny and so are Sam and Jo

- We cut to the backyard of the Mcguire home where Matt and his silent friend, Lanny are playing netball. They are trying to set the record for the longest netball rally but they are struggling to even be close to beating the current record. So is this all happening when Lizzie’s in school? Shouldn’t Matt and Lanny be in school as well? I shouldn’t think too much about this lol. 

- Lanny telepathically lets Matt know they should try to attempt another world record and Matt starts consulting the World Records book to see what they can do. We then get a montage of them attempting to set a number of different world records and of course, they fail miserably. I don’t even want to get into the specifics of what they were doing in this montage but at least ‘Survivor’ by Destiny’s Child was playing in the background. 

- In the second half of the episode, Matt is about to give up on trying to set his own world record after 38 attempts. Jo, brilliant as always, comes up with an idea to trick Matt and Lanny into believing they set their own record for ‘Most Consecutive Failed Attempts’. Matt is very excited about this and they go out to celebrate by getting some ice cream.

Lanny likes Pumpkin flavored ice cream by the way

Stop Trying to Make Rat Pack Happen!

How can you not fall for that smile?

- At the school cafeteria, Gordo notices that some people are starting to dress similarly to him and he hopes that Lizzie and Miranda doesn’t turn his interests in 1960′s Rat Pack into another fad at school. Ethan then pops up next to them and he compliments Gordo’s shirt. Lizzie uses this opportunity to invite him to shop with them at this store called ‘Anteater’ (weird name for a store but okay) so that he can get the same type of clothes Gordo’s wearing. Gordo isn’t thrilled about all of this. 

- Presumably a day later, it seems like the Rat Pack trend had caught the eye of the entire school because everybody is dressed like they are in the sixties. Even Kate Sanders is embracing this trend and she goes up to Lizzie and Miranda and compliments them both for making Gordo’s interest in ‘lounge-style’ culture a thing at school. 

How tall is Kate? She is so much taller than Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda. 

- She’s being awfully nice to them and that’s because she needs their help to organize this month’s dance and make it Rat Pack themed. Lizzie and Miranda are very excited about the prospect of being able to help plan their school dance and they both agree to help Kate out. 

- As Kate leaves, Lizzie asks Gordo if they could use his Las Vegas posters as decorations but he doesn’t want to help them because he just doesn’t like the fact that his Rat Pack interests are becoming popular in school. I mean, I do get where Gordo is coming from; I think nobody would actually really like Rat Pack music unless it’s considered trendy. But he needs to not take everything so seriously. Trends do come and go. 

Gordo is having a mini Crisis

Lizzie’s expressions are gold here when Gordo is talking to her about his World War II plane model given to him by his aunt.

- At Gordo’s house (I think this is the first time Lizzie is shown to be in his house), Lizzie mentions to Gordo how everyone at school is excited about the upcoming Rat Pack themed dance. Gordo reveals to her his interest in Rat Pack is gone and he is now into WW2 style airplanes.

- He also lets her know that he doesn’t like it that everybody is now into Rat Pack and that Kate Sanders has turned this whole thing into a “mindless fad” because she doesn’t know the difference between a ‘ding dong’ and a ‘Ring-A-Ding-Ding’. Lizzie feels bad about ruining his hobby. Don’t feel bad Lizzie; Gordo just needs to wait it out.

Planning the ‘Lounging Around’ School Dance

- Kate is holding a meeting with her fellow school dance committee members to plan out Friday’s dance. She entrusts Lizzie to get a list of songs to be played by the DJ and she entrusts Miranda to prepare a list of criteria for the judges to look out for when assessing outfits for the costume contest. And she wants all of this by the next day. 

- Lizzie and Miranda panic and are desperate to ask Gordo for help. Can’t they consult the school computers and library or something? Didn’t they also exist back in 2001 as well?

I’m sure the wardrobe department had a fun time dressing the girls up back then

- They find Gordo playing with his WW2 plane outside and ask him for help but he just isn’t willing to help them this time around because as we all know, he doesn’t like how Lizzie and Miranda played a part in making his Rat Pack hobby a major fad. 

- I touched on this earlier; Gordo has a point in saying that everyone in school now likes Rat Pack only because it is the biggest thing currently. But Lizzie and Miranda also made a good point in saying people are allowed to like whatever they want, regardless of how they came to know about Rat Pack and Frank Sinatra and the sort. 

Time for the School Dance

“Let’s like dance, Ethan”. Kate is just too funny

- We are then taken to their school dance and I have to say, Kate and company did a really good job organising the event. The venue is well decorated and everybody looks amazing in their sixties-inspired outfits. However, Lizzie and Miranda doesn’t seem to be enjoying themselves because Gordo isn’t there with them. 

Best friends gotta stick together

- Luckily for them, Gordo pops up and makes a grand entry into the auditorium, complete with an amazing suit and a suave attitude to match. Gordo admits to them that he shouldn’t force himself to do things just to be different and Lizzie tells him they’re lucky to have someone like Gordo who doesn’t care about what people think about his hobbies. 

- In the end, everything is resolved and the episode ends with a cute trio dance:

That’s all folks

Overall Thoughts

- What I got most out of watching this episode is the idea of seasonal trends and how easy it is for people to catch onto them just because everyone else is. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you actually like those trends. And being different for the sake of being different is something we shouldn’t really hold on to either. 

- Gordo definitely shone in this episode. I really felt his frustration towards everyone who suddenly jumped on his hobby bandwagon and made it a ‘mindless fad’ as he puts it. Good job on the actor’s (Adam Lamberg) part. Miranda and Lizzie also have very identical plot-lines this episode, although Lizzie did more in this episode than Miranda. I think it’s hard for the character of Miranda to really shine in an episode unless she’s one of the main focuses, you know? But that’s just me.

- After having an impressive plot-line last episode, Matt’s plot-line with his parents this time around has gone back to being weightless and goofy. At least we get to see Lanny in person for the first time. 

[rainydawgradioblog]

Interview: Guerilla Toss - 09/26 @ the Vera Project

Guerilla Toss is a NYC-based experimental rock / synthpop / psychedelic / post-funk / prog-whatever / everything in between band signed to DFA records who is currently touring all throughout the continental US. This past Saturday, before their show with Calvin Johnson and Behavior at the Vera Project, my friend Anna and I were graciously invited into their tour van decked out with psychedelic decorations to chat with vocalist Kassie Carlson and hang out with her internet-famous Chow-Chow Watley. Enjoy the interview and catch them in these cities in the coming weeks!

Elliott: Hey! Thanks for taking the time to talk to me! How are you doing?

Kassie: Good, good! Just got done with soundcheck.

Elliott: Cool! How far into your tour are you guys at this point?

Kassie: Not that far actually, we’ve only done four dates or something, but we drove out here.

Elliott: That’s a long drive.

Anna: You guys just did Salt Lake, right?

Kassie: Yup, Diabolical Records. We were just in Portland, then Vancouver, then here.

Elliott: Cool, enough talking like a normal person, I’m gonna ask you a bunch of convoluted questions now. First of all, this bill is kind of wild, Calvin Johnson is another one of my favorite artists. How did this show come together? Are you guys big K Records fans?

Calvin Johnson and band opening the show.

Kassie: Calvin actually played at our light and projections person’s record store in Macon, GA. So that’s how we made the connection, and Calvin was really interested in coming here!

Watley gets up and walks around.

Elliott: Hi Watley!

Kassie: Sit! Watley…

Elliott: Have you had any other particularly cool openers this tour so far, or in recent memory?

Kassie: Well, the other opener tonight is Behavior, a couple members of Wand, the drummer and guitarist, so I’m really excited about that!

Elliott: Nice, I just saw Wand open for Stereolab!

Kassie: Cool, yeah, it’s an epic bill.

Elliott: I’m excited! I also noticed last time I saw you guys, you busted out a violin which was a bit unexpected but really cool! Are there any other instruments members play that you would maybe want to use on Guerilla Toss stuff?

Kassie: I also recently got an OP-1, which has been cool to experiment with. There’s lots of sounds, and this guy Cuckoo on Patreon puts a lot of samples for the OP-1 online for super cheap, like you can buy stuff for a dollar. He always puts up new stuff, so I’ve been getting down that rabbit hole, but yeah! I’ll be playing it tonight, it should be fun!

Anna: That’s a difficult purchase to make these days! Those things are not easy to come by.

Kassie: Yeah, me and the drummer split it. And we got it on eBay or something, it was used.

Anna: Those things are great.

Elliott: I’ve also heard you guys like to do band hikes. I also interviewed your friends Palberta on Rainy Dawg a while ago…

Watley steps on voice recorder, and tries to get out of the van door.

Kassie: Watley!

Elliott: Haha! Anyway… Palberta told me they bring a rice cooker and camp every night on tour. Are there any other activities people typically forgo on tour that you like to make time for?

Kassie: Yeah, we just went to Moab on this tour, to the arches. It’s good to get out of the van and stretch your legs a bit. That was fun. It’s cool to drive around, sometimes there’s not time to do the hiking thing, but we took some days off this time around so we’re not in the car for 8 hours. It’s good for morale.

Anna: Moab especially, it’s so nice.

Kassie: Yeah I’d never been, so it was cool to make it out there.

Elliott: So, it feels lately like vocals being more forefront in recent material, that the music is driven more by lyrics and melody. I got into you guys via Gay Disco, but my favorite of yours is GT Ultra. It feels like my experience as a listen has changed a lot, you cover a lot of ground in that there’s different ways to enjoy Guerilla Toss as a listener. Do you feel like your writing process has significantly changed?

Kassie: Well we’ve mostly just been shifting things around and trying different things to keep it fresh. It’s lots of fun, yeah!

Elliott: And about writing stuff, I know you’re very into jamming, you improv a lot live. Does writing material ever come out of that?

Kassie: We mostly just improv between songs. They’re all through-composed, and all have parts that are pretty specific. Sometimes we’ll write songs by jamming for a few hours, but a lot of the time, say Peter (drummer) will come in with a part of a song, or a skeleton of a song, or even a full song, which is how it’s mostly been lately, and then I’ll put some vocals on it, and we’ll try different things, different instrumentation.

Anna: Are there any members that bring more in terms of song structure?

Kassie: Definitely Peter brings the most, but I do all the vocals, everyone does their respective parts.

Elliott: Cool! Do you have a particular favorite piece of gear? Anything that might have inspired a song or a moment in a song?

Kassie: Yeah, I have a red Boss V-20 vocal pedal, that I use a lot and I really like. I use it for harmonies, there’s chorus on there, there’s delay and reverb, harmonies and doubling. I feel like it just helps my voice feel a lot thicker and more present, you know. It gives me more control over my sound. A lot of the time in venues, especially DIY venues, it can get buried. And also I want to be more true to the recording, like in “Betty Dreams of Green Men,” there’s those harmonies that come in off and on, so I use the pedal to create that harmony.

Anna: And what you said about DIY shows, getting sounds that are accurate. Do you play a lot of stuff like that now?

Kassie: No, not as much lately. But even in bars and stuff, it can be tough. We don’t travel with a sound person, we’re not playing stadiums.

Anna: Is that a shift that you miss at all?

Kassie: Not really. I like being able to hear myself when I sing, so it doesn’t hurt my voice as much. Of course I love the vibe of DIY venues but there’s good things in the middle, where your friends from DIY shows will come, but it won’t get shut down, and we have money for gas and stuff like that.

Elliott: Gas money is definitely important.

Trucks passing by.

Kassie: Watley’s scared of the trucks…

Elliott: So I have a question that’s part fun fact, part question. Your Wikipedia page, where it says you encourage tapers at your show, it used to say you encouraged tapirs, like the weird little animal. It was a typo but it actually linked to the tapir page!

Kassie: Oh weird! I didn’t notice but that is sick.

Elliott: Yeah, someone actually linked it to the page!

Kassie: That’s awesome!

Elliott: So that got me thinking, there probably haven’t been many tapirs at Guerilla Toss shows, but I think it would be sick! What sort of animals would you want to see at a Guerilla Toss shows? Also, these hypothetical animals have all the hypothetical ear protection they need.

Kassie: A lot more chows! We also really like otters. We were talking a lot during our soundcheck about snails. So snails would be cool. Snails all over the place. But really animal would be interesting!

Anna: Species-inclusive venue!

Kassie: Yeah! Oh, and bison, Watley loves bison. A few cows. He loves cows, he’s always looking at me like “Mom, did you see that? Woah, look there’s cows!” Yeah, good boy!

Elliott: Does Watley have a favorite Guerilla Toss song? Is he gonna get a feature anytime soon?

Kassie: He might actually, yeah!

Anna: A bark sample, that must be fun to work with on the OP-1! 

Kassie: Yeah, that’s one of the many things that are on my to-do list for sure.

Elliott: Hell yeah, I’m stoked for that whenever it happens. You guys seem to have a lot of collabs, one-off releases, live albums, splits and stuff. Do you usually come into those thinking “we’re gonna write an album” or just a song, or working with somebody, or is your writing process usually the same for those?

Kassie: We usually just create a whole album, we only did that one split with the Sediment Club. The live album was a cool project, that was completely live, we recorded it in Nashville.

Elliott: You also have that remix album with Jay Glass Dubs?

Kassie: Oh yeah, that was just a DFA thing, he totally did that himself.

Elliott: Cool! So visuals are clearly an important part of Guerilla Toss, I was wondering if you look at these different forms of visuals in the same way, like do you tie in live projections, music videos, album art or do you view them separately?

Kassie: They’re kinda separate. Lots of different people do our album art. Keith Rankin did a few, the most recent one was by someone named Yu Maeda, and before that was Jacob van Loon, he did Twisted Crystal. And then GT Ultra is actually acid strips from the 70s.

Anna: That one was a particularly cool design. Do you mostly reach out to the artists to do the art?

Kassie: Thank you! And yeah, it’s usually something they already have done that we use, but a couple of the ones from Keith Rankin were commissions.

Elliott: Cool! So, I feel like your albums tend to have a coherent sonic palette, but they cover a lot of ground as far as the songs go. Do you come into recording an album with a bunch of songs you’ve written or do you write specifically for an album?

Kassie: I think Peter is pretty much always writing music, and we already have new music we’re working on for after What Would The Odd Do, so it’s just kind of a constant stream of stuff, lots of never-ending recording and never-ending writing.

Elliott: Cool, well I didn’t write anything else down.

Kassie: Alright! Any other random questions?

Elliott: Not that I can think of. I’m excited to see you guys play!

Kassie: Hell yeah!

Anna: Actually, I usually ask touring bands this. What kind of stuff have you been listening to on the way over?

Kassie: Oh all kinds of things! Listened to a little Battles.

Elliott: Oh nice! The new one, Juice B Crypts?

Kassie: All of the albums! I think it was a consensus that we liked the earlier albums better, but hey, that’s something people always say. I like it all! It’s pretty cool.

Elliott: Cool, well thank you for letting us in the van and talking with us!

Kassie: Of course! Can you unhook that leash?

Elliott: Sure!

Kassie: (to Watley) Let’s go pee!

- Elliott Hansen

[jay-cult]

A Golden Promise

Hey guys :D I wrote a little one shot for Rhon during my free time in school. After this I can start working on chapter fics and stuff during class. For now have this lovely fic.

*Features Rhon and Scree, told from Rhon’s perspective primarily *Hints of Jaya, maybe more than hints *Also has lots and lots of Jay. Lots *Mild swearing because Rhon is a hecker *I actually have no idea how making jewelry works, I literally made this up I’m admitting this now, but I’ll fill in that hole with “it’s Rhon’s way”

While “lounging” around in her freetime, Rhon puts on a new task when her nephew brings her news and asks for help with a creation, and perhaps with more.

A Golden Promise

Rhon was having a sort of usual day.

“So, what are you thinking for this one, eh? How much are you gonna rip me off this time?” Her client asked, half joking.

She leaned in. “I told you the price,” she said flatly, but still repeated the obviously fair payment that he was to give her. In return for his vehicle being fixed, he would give her money. That’s how life worked, weirdo.

Scree was perched casually on her shoulder, and he leaned toward the client like her, trying his best to appear intimidating. The eagle fixed him with a piercing stare.

“Alright, alright, I’m jokin’, calm down,” he smiled and waved his hand in a sweeping motion as if to say, “Forget about it.” He readied a bag full of gold coins and tossed it at her.

Scree hopped off from her shoulder and quickly grabbed the bag before it hit her, but the weight of it immediately made him drop to the ground before he could spread his wings enough. He let out a screech.

Rhon looked menacingly toward where her client had just stood, but he was already climbing into his newly fixed vehicle.

“Ninjago should really establish some form of paper money,” she muttered to Scree while picking the bag of gold up from the ground.

To keep property private and all that, Rhon wouldn’t usually do her business while her airship was docked where the ninja’s place of residence was, which at this time was the newly built Monastery. She wasn’t there often. The lack of business, the noise of her companions, and the distance from fresh resources also made for a not-so-beneficial time. But today, she was staying with said companions for the simple reason of wanting to spend time with them. She did care about them, after all.

She and Scree made their way inside her airship, the Grayscale. It was big enough to hold a workshop where she could work on a couple of business and creative projects, a bedroom, a large guestroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a general piloting area atop the deck that contained many control panels filled with levers, buttons, and monitors, and of course the cockpit with a steering wheel. The deck itself was plain, with a few masts with sails enabling its flight. It was maybe two thirds of the size of the ninjas’ many previous models of the Destiny’s Bounty.

She built it herself, with some help from a friend, a long time ago.

Rhon set the bag down on a table in her workshop. She sat down and sorted through the coins, counting up the value. Scree disappeared while she was counting and returned with a couple of lizards in his mouth, settling down on a perch by the table to consume them. Rhon looked down at her calculations. One gold coin short. Figures.

“RhooOOOOON! AUNT RHON! Hi-”

Rhon jumped in her seat, scattering coins all over the table. Scree lifted into the air and let out a surprised shriek. Rhon exhaled and relaxed, but Scree continued to flap in midair, clearly choking on something.

“Scree? Fuck-” Rhon stood out of her seat again, jumping up to grab her bird.

“Aa! Oh no! I’m sorry, ooohhhh no.” It was Jay. He ran over quickly, clearly not really knowing what to do and looking on concerned.

Finally, after a few retches and hits on the back, Scree coughed and a lizard came flying out of his throat. It splatted on a wall.

“That... literally could not have gone worse,” Rhon sighed.

Jay scratched his neck, embarrassed. “I am SO sorry, shoot, I didn’t mean to-”

“Of course you didn’t, don’t get all twisted up,” she interrupted, though frowning. If it was any normal person they would be up to their ears in Rhon’s insults and accusations, but this was Jay. “Just… shake it off.”

Her nephew suddenly brightened up. Scree flapped over and landed on his shoulder, signifying forgiveness. “Okay, okay. I came here to tell yoouuu something great, oh man.”

Rhon crossed her arms and narrowed on of her eyebrows, looking at him curiously. Sure, Jay was enthusiastic and, well, emotional, but him being THIS excited-looking was a rare case. “Alright, what?”

“So, uh, like, you know, Nya.”

“Yes, yes, I know Nya, she’s kind of a close ally of mine,” Rhon said slightly sarcastically. She couldn’t really help it.

“Yeah, yeah, Nya, well. Going to….. I’m going to….. ask her to be my Yang!” Jay revealed enthusiastically.

“Oh wow, really?” Rhon asked, actually surprised. “Wow, uh, congrats!” She awkwardly smiled.

She noticed that her nephew was about ready to jump out of his pants.

“Damn Jay, calm down,” she said a bit forcefully, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. Rhon knew that her Jay was an expressive person, so something this huge might just have made him explode. “I can barely understand you.”

“Sorry, sorry, just.” He forced himself to stop being so jittery. “I’m…. really excited, and nervous especially.”

No kidding. She stood there looking at him with Scree on his shoulder and thinking it over. Jay and Nya were, at the least, different. That’s what made them special, she thought. The two were quite obviously mad for each other. The reason was, quite simply put, that they had just been through so much. Through suffering and even through death… real death. Young love, am I right? She thought sarcastically. To herself.

“Anyway, um.” Jay chilled down a little bit, becoming much more like himself. “I’m not just telling you the news.”

Rhon raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I really need your help.”

She thought he must have been joking for a second, and was about to say that he got her. But for once he had a serious look on his face. “Wait,” she said after a few moments of silence. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah, of course, I need a charm.”

Rhon let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh, thank FSM. I thought you meant- oh, nevermind.”

Her nephew stood confused for a while before he burst out laughing. “WHAT? You thought I wanted to ask you to help with the general thing? Like th-the asking and the romance and like, the wooing-”

Rhon wasn’t really used to being made fun of, so she just stood there frowning and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, hell no am I a romantic. Great Garm does that generate a weird image.”

Jay laughed more at her statement. “Oh man I’m just imagining this like, you, but Scree’s kind of flying around in majestic circles,” Scree let out a little noise at the mention of his name, “and your cape is flowing in the wind and you’re going, uh, ‘hey there, sweetheart,’ with a twinkle in your eye or something.”

She started to laugh a little. “Imagine I’m making some sort of a heart made of lightning.”

“Ah, Garm,” he let out his breath, “that’s funny. Wait wait wait, look, you mean like this?”

Jay brought his hands up to his chest and jerked them a little. Lightning flew out of them and formed a fantastic heart shape. His face was twisted in extreme focus.

“Hey, that’s actually really good,” Rhon complimented. She followed, bringing her hands up to her chest, and trying the best in her mind to flex out the bolts. Same jolted off to the side, while others flew up too far.

“Try bending your hands back a bit more,” the blue ninja instructed. “And you gotta focus, which yeah, is really hard, but you can- yeah, there you go!”

Rhon smiled upon seeing herself be able to do the fun trick. She was extremely tempted to bust out a “Hey there, sweetheart,” but as much as she loved her nephew, she retained her dignity.

“You could try this thing out on your girl,” Rhon suggested.

“Ooh, yeah you’re right, that’s a great idea!” He said, accepting her suggestion. “I sure will sometime.”

She rolled her eyes again. “Okay, fun’s over. You wanted the charm, right?”

“Yeah, you know how to make stuff, right?”

“Well, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but I’m not exactly the craft-tsy type. Draw-tsy, sure, but…”

“Bold of you to assume I’m not the same.”

He chuckled a bit.

“Ah, I’m just kiddin’. I’ve made odes of gold from my last fix. I may not be ‘crafty’ but I’ve got an idea. We can try it out.” She ruffled the short boy’s hair and walked off to retrieve a stool from her workshop’s auto-fixing… area… thing. The place where vehicles would go when she worked on them.

She returned to her desk and set the stool beside her chair, making an area of two seats. Rhon looked at the still-scattered coins on the desk. With the help of Scree (Jay was off poking around in her workshop. She let only him and sometimes Nya if they were together do so with the whole ship) she gathered the coins up into a bag.

Rhon readied her smelter and placed a large amount of coins- there not being enough later would be a problem- in it. Finally, some hard clay and carving tools in her hands, she made her way back to her desk.

Jay returned there at the same time and Scree made a perching area out of his head. She placed the glob of clay in front of him, leaving a little for herself. In front of him she also placed a piece of paper and a pen.

She sat down, ready to give him a few hours of her time. “What are your ideas?”

“Well it’s a Yin and Yang charm, obviously,” he replied. “We’ll be making that symbol with the charm. Each part goes to its respective party.” Jay reached for his head and scratched Scree on his neck. The eagle let out a soft churr. “So then maybe we could the elemental signs on each respective part.”

He carefully sketched out the symbol. He drew another circle around it, putting his two lines on one side and Nya’s curvy splash on the other. He labelled his with Yin and hers with Yang.

“Well it’s really nice but also too bland,” he sighed.

“Creativity’s your thing,” Rhon pushed. “Do something with it.”

“Well I can’t just… force myself to do it,” he argued. “Ideas aren’t made, they pop out of thin air, during the wrongest times, like in the shower, or in the middle of making-”

“OKAY, alright, yeah, sorry,” she interrupted, “I just hoped you’d at least have gotten an idea already. How long ago did you start thinking about doing this again?”

“Like a week ago, but in all honesty, there’s so much else to distract me about it, I can hardly think about something as detailed to the situation as charm designs. Like what about the clothes I’ll wear or the way I’ll have to have my hair look on the day I ask.”

As Jay spoke he looked down at his gi, emphasizing his point. His eyes trailed the intricate gold designs of the beautiful dragon that stretched across him. “Oh, wait! Dragons… dragons are really cool.”

Rhon nodded as he sketched down the design onto the paper. “You know, I hate being prodded, but I’m still gonna prod you. You seem a little nervous to do this. ‘Little’ is, ah, relative.”

“YEAH YOU THINK?!” Jay yelled. He seemed to know what to do, as he took the clay and some tools and began carving the shape of a half of the charm, frustratingly digging out the curves and lines. “I mean, what if I’m not really the best. Actually, yeah, I’m not the best, it’s a fact. What am I even doing, I’m not even as strong as Cole, I’m not as smart as Zane. I don’t have near Kai’s looks… those do run in the family… and Lloyd’s leadership abilities and social skills are beyond my ability. And Nya, well she has like, so much of all of those skills. I’m just a rip-off compilation of everyone. And I mean, I have freckles. What cute person has freckles?”

Rhon was taken slightly aback. Very aback, actually. It had been ages since someone had ever expressed such deep negative feelings to her before, since she wasn’t exactly the best giver of advice. When her sister had yelled in distress, she had listened.

When it came to family, she’d still listen.

She made sure her nephew was done and looked at him. “What cute person has freckles?” she mumbled. “I’ll show you what cute person has freckles.”

“Huh?” Jay said. “Nevermind. Stop staring at me like that, you make eye contact as often as I enter a fight without fear.”

“Jesus,” she said, tilting her head and frowning. “You sure know how to put yourself down.”

He suddenly looked as if he regretted everything. His eyes widened in realization, he scrunched back guiltily, and he purposefully looked away, focusing back on his project and saying not another word.

“You know,” Rhon piped up quietly, “I may not be the prettiest woman alive… I mean I’m getting so OLD. And my eyes definitely show how tired I am, and I’m rarely seen smiling. And have you seen this slouch?”

He continued to pick delicate strokes into his clay. “Old, huh? Thirty is old…”

“But when I was a kid, and I grew up with your mother, I thought she was the prettiest person alive. Us Staticholders valued beauty and wealth, so the way I was raised should really show how right I was. And you’ve seen your father, yeah? Up on the big screen, bein’ that cool, hot mess, famous n’ all. And though not nice-looking myself, I have a say in the matter for sure. And what I will say is that you’re a perfect mix of the two. You are the hottest kid on this side of Ninjago.”

He smiled a little bit. “Yeah, yeah, I guess that makes me feel a little better.” Scree flew off his head and landed behind his carved cast, cooing at him.

“And even if you had the grossest, most repulsive face in the history of every creature alive, your heart of gold wins above everything. You care so much about all your friends, and definitely about your girlfriend, and that’s all that matters.”

“And don’t forget you, you crazy old geezer,” he snickered.

“Oh yeah? Call me a geezer one more time and I’ll kick your ass,” she laughed, standing up off her chair and plunging her hands into his hair, messing it up in the everlasting aunt move of rufflement.

“Geezer, geezer, geezer,” he prodded.

“Oh you’re just asking for it!” she yelled, messing it up even more.

They settled down and she patted his head in a finishing touch.

“Okay,” Rhon said, “One more thing. What the hell is up with the freckle thing?”

Her nephew chuckled and shyly answered, “Ah, yeah, sorry, didn’t mean to offend you or anything..”

“Freckles, dear Jay, are like the beauty spots of the waking world. Nobody hates freckles. They are a damn blessing.” She tugged on the wraps on one of her arms and wrapped it off quickly.

“Holy shit,” he marveled, seeing her freckle-invaded arm.

Rhon gasped and smacked him upside the head.

“What was that for-?”

“You don’t just say shit like that!”

“But you do- you JUST-”

“Just because it’s me, doesn’t mean it should be you,” Rhon growled.

“Aw, come on,” Jay was smiling, an eyebrow narrowed. “I’m VERY grown-up.”

“The minute you say grown-up you lose the ability to BE grown up,” she commented back. “But anyway. How is your charm coming along?”

He picked it up and placed it in front of her. It was very intricately carved, a dragon with the dot in its jaw in line with the flow of the shape.

“Okay, good,” she said. “Now we have to put this in the oven so it hardens.”

~

Scree A. Buckbeak III soared above the monastery on his midday hunt. His independence from Rhon was only certain times, usually in the relaxation periods of the day. Relaxation for her, that is. He flapped down to perch on the roof. His claws scraped the fresh brick, still so smooth and perfect because of how recent the monastery had been rebuilt. He twitched his head sideways so that his eye faced the commotion of the humans below.

A newly-old-bodied Sensei Wu sipped some tea under the shade below. In the shade beside him, Rhon leaned against an outer wall. Wu put the teacup down and closed his eyes in a focused thought.

In the blazing sun, six brightly-dressed ninja were already standing aside, weary. They had already grown tired of their previous excitement for the brand new training equipment, and as it moved and mechanized in the searing heat, they whined.

“But Sensei,” Jay, Scree’s favorite, argued. “We’re already so… trained up and old and learned. Do we have to still..?”

“Yeah,” the red one agreed. “Isn’t there better things to fight around the island somewhere?”

The green one stepped forward, looking a little reluctant. “I’m afraid I have to agree with them, Sensei. Why train on useless things when we could be saving people and fighting crime out there?”

Wu opened one eye, gazing at the ninja. “I am quite aware that you wish to be the heroes of every crime in Ninjago,” he replied, “however not every nuisance needs a ninja.”

Scree turned his head and scratched the back of his neck with his claw. As the ninja began to train like police dogs the sun sunk lower into the afternoon, lengthening their shadows across the course.

He watched as Jay stumbled over to the girl, exhaustion evident in every one of his limbs. “The FSM is merciless,” he groaned.

She giggled and patted his back. “What happened to all that spunk you always had after hours of working?”

“It’s just not the same anymore,” he replied, smiling. “I don’t feel like a student anymore. This is basically a profession. We’re on the end of eighteen.”

“Come on,” she said, but her hopes looked like they fell a little. If Jay was the most positive ninja, him being negative usually meant a real emergency. “Just because we’re a lot older doesn’t mean we have to be so serious all the time. We can work without the weight of people’s lives or possessions in our hands, and just have fun like we used to.”

“That’s much deeper advice than I signed up for, Nya,” he joked. “I’m just… tired.”

“We always are, but we gotta keep pushing,” she responded. She lowered her voice. “Especially because of old guy and old guy junior over there.”

They both laughed, glancing over to where Wu and Lloyd were working on moves.

“Think they’ll care if we just run and ditch the rest of the day?” She asked.

“Oh, yeah. We’ll be in trouble, big time,” Jay answered.

“What’s life without a little risk?”

“No, seriously. Let’s not.”

“Okay. Well in that case, let’s do what we have to!” she quickly kissed him on the cheek before jumping up and getting in a position with her weapon.

With renewed strength, Jay too jumped into action, facing her, ready.

The two worked like magic, in and out, back and forth. Fighting against each other was a rare thing for them now, that was sure. It was different from fighting alongside each other. They knew each other’s moves to well and rarely struck.

Scree hopped off the roof and flew away to hunt again.

    ~

After the clay had been heated, hardened, cooled, carved, and all the works, the gold had been poured and set out to cool the same, twice. Rhon slid the second golden half from the cast, handing it to Jay for him to ink in some black designs.

“Can’t believe you’re really growing up, buddy,” she commented as he focused on the intricate patterns.

“Don’t be nice, it’s creepy,” Jay said, but smiled. He put the inking instrument down and smiled as he looked at the two halves. He picked them both up in his hands, studying them as if he were an archaeologist studying an artifact. They were precious to him.

He looked up. “Thanks to the ends of Ninjago, aunt Rhon,” he said slightly nervously. “I’m actually really glad I was able to think of things and you know. Make it myself.”

“It’s all gotta be from the heart,” she pointed to her chest.

Scree soared in through a window and greeted Rhon with a nuzzle after landing on her shoulder. She patted his head.

“Now get outta here, kid. Show her how much she means to ya.”

[scifrey]

From Signing to Signing

Congratulations! You’ve signed with your first literary agent, and they love your manuscript! Huzzah! Bravo! Cheers! Mazel Tov!

… now what?

What happens next?

Working with your Agent

After you’ve had “The Talk” with your agent, and agreed to sign on as a client, one of the first things you will likely discuss with them will be what revisions they would like to see done on your existing manuscript (unless you already revised the book as a condition of offer).

You will likely also have a conversation about what other manuscripts you currently either have already complete, or what ideas you may have for future books or - if the book you signed on has series potential - where to go with the next books.

Remember, your agent is your ally for your future career, and they are the ones with their eyes on the market.

Shopping your Manuscript

Once your manuscript edits are complete and your book is ready to be sent out to publishers and editors for consideration, your agent will work with your to build a Shopping or Pitch package. This is where those Back Cover Copy, 1-3-5 Page synopsis, Market Comparisons, Series Potential, etc. documents that you ought to have been writing while you were sending the books out to agents to consider come in.

When you’re both happy with what you have, your agent will start sending out letters of interest (these days, more like emails of interest) to the industry connections they have. Editors, publishers, etc. They’ll talk it up at conferences and list it in their available properties if that’s something they do. They’ll work with the agency’s foreign rights partners and dramatic adaptations partners to pitch the manuscript around those parts as well.

You’ll likely get some nos, some partial or full reads and a pass, or some interest. The ideal is to have several editors at multiple houses wanting to acquire the book, which would result in a bidding war.  

Once you have an offer, you and your agent will discuss the terms of the offer (it may include a book tour, it may not; it may include an advance, it may not; it may include an audio book, it may not, etc.), request any desired changes to the phrasing or clauses, and then sign it.

At this point, the work of turning your manuscript into a book passes out of your agent’s hands and into your acquiring editor’s.

Working with your Publishing House

Editing

Once all the paperwork is signed with your publisher, your acquiring agent will reach out to you with a formal Editing Letter. You will likely have been in contact with them already, talking about the book and what they loved about it, and where they see it fitting in their hourse’s roster and marketing plants. But this will be the first real notice that it’s Go Time.

The letter will outline the strengths of the manuscript, and discuss any changes they propose. You can always talk with your editor if something is unclear, doesn’t seem to sit right, or would impede future narrative plans. Always make sure you guys have a through understanding of what you’re each talking about and are completely on the same page before diving back into revisions.

Sometimes these revisions are substantial and include complete burn-and-rewrites, and sometimes they’re like, four little notes. It all depends on what serves the manuscript best to make it a strong book product.

Once you and your editor are satisfied with the rewrites, a timeline for publication will likely be set, and the great spinning wheel of turning this manuscript into a Book starts cranking into motion.

Copyediting

Next, your manuscript will be handed off to a proofreader and copyeditor. Their job is to hunt down and destroy all those typos, comma splices, and mistaken homonyms.

Depending on the size of the publishing house, this might be the same person as your acquiring editor, or a freelancer they hire, or an in-house copyeditor. Either way, these edits should all serve to strengthen your manuscript, so if at some point you’re reviewing them and something is clashing, or they’re stripping out the voice, talk to your acquiring editor about it.

You may have a few back and forths, depending on what you want to accept or reject in their proposed changes.

Cover

Likely, you’ll have already been discussing your ideas for the cover with your acquiring editor. Remember, you as the writer don’t actually have the power to dictate or veto the cover ideas, but of course as the person who knows the story best you will be asked your opinion. Different publishers include authors to different extents in this discussion process.

Usually a cover is completed far enough in advance of the book that it can be used as the jumping off point for the Buzz Building that will take place in the 3 -12 months prior to the book’s release date.

Discuss with your editor what their marketing department has planned for the cover release, and loop your agent into this discussion so all three of you can strategize together.

Interior Design & Galleys

The next time you see you manuscript, it will be book shaped! After everyone’s signed off on the edits, your manuscript is forwarded on to a typesetter/interior designer, who will lay it out in book format. This is the time when they’ll add things like illustrations, if your book comes with them, or specific fanciful scene separators, or the title page.

Any specific imagery or layout choices will have likely already been discussed with your acquiring editor before this time, so now is the moment to review the book and make sure that it was translated onto the page correctly.

A “galley” is basically a dress-rehearsal for your book. You’ll be asked to review it (and hopefully with at least a few weeks lead time so you’re not rushed), and make sure that not only are major mistakes (like two chapter 4s and no chapter 5 ) or small weird formatting concerns (like cut off lines, or things that are italic which should not be or vice versa), or something else is wonky.

Where I’m given the lead time, I prefer to be able to print this out and see it “book shaped” to get a sense of the whole product, not just the story.

You’ll be asked to send back your fixes and then, for really reals, the book will be out of your hands forever. That’s it! No more changes! All done!

Marketing and ARCs

A lot of this work will probably actually take place alongside your work on what was requested of you in your Editing Letter.

Once you have your cover (and it’s been released), you can start using it in your own marketing initiatives. Authors are usually the ones who must design and pay for the little in-hand things like lapel pins, bookmarks, postcards, library posters, and of course whatever graphics you use for your own social media and website.

Your publisher will work to get the book out to review sites, awards, industry publications, and if they have the pull and the money, premium placement on a shelf, or book tours or appearances.  You may or may not be paired up with a publicist in the house to help with this.

You may have very little marketing support, if they’re a very small house with a very small budget, so in this case you may want to consider hiring a publicist yourself, or a social media advertiser, or a virtual assistant, or paying a friend in wine to put out a newsletter every month for you (thank you, Karen!). Or you may wanna just buckle down and do it yourself.

Either way, do some research and make yourself a plan. I have lots of advice on marketing your work in my other Words for Writers articles.

When the book is done-done-done, the publisher will make ARCs - Advance Reader Copies. Basically, pre-publication books. This should be the final book in every way except that they are available before the book’s actual release date.

These are sometimes paper, sometimes e-only. Reviewing the ARC will be the Final Chance Ever to find mistakes, but should be pretty clean.

ARCs are then sent out by either you or your publisher’s marketing team, or both, to reviewers, media outlets, contests, and industry publications. This helps to generate the vitally important pre-publication buzz for the novel.

The Big Wait

(Sometimes I think this stage is added simply so you can take a breather from your book and stop despising it after having reread and rewritten it about seventy million times. I’m always grateful for it though because it’s nice to have the time to refill your well with excitement and joy for your story.)

This is where the marketing plans start whirring into motion and you’ll start sending the ARCs out for reviews. They’ll start coming in so you can use them to support your marketing, and add them to your website.

This is the perfect down time to do all those little To Do list things you’ve been missing - update your website, write thank-you notes, get your social media queued up, arrange your book launch party, etc.

Time to go have another chat with your agent! Get them up to speed with the marketing plans that your publishing house is enacting, and talk through what you think you can add on your end, and from the agency, to support or augment that push. Makes some checklists, start some buzz going, and then…

Step back.

Do nothing.

RELAX. Catch up on sleep. Do your taxes. Spend time with your kids. Meal prep. Whatever sparks your joy.

And, eventually, when you’re ready to jump back into the creative well, start the next project you and your agent earmarked as your follow up. This might be book #2 in your series, or something else entirely. Check in with your agent, and then have fun!

Release Day

Time to get back at it!

On the day your book is released, it will likely be All Hands On Deck. You, your publisher, your editor, and your agent will be working in tandem to execute all of your social media blasts and marketing pushes. Try to set up as much of it as possible to be automated on the day-of.

Some people have their book launch party coincide with the release date, some choose to do it after, and some choose not to have a party at all. Research what works best for you, and make sure you have enough lead time for you/the bookstore to actually receive your box of books in the mail!

The Aftermath

The book is out, the party is over, the cake is eaten and your hand is cramped from all the autographs you signed. Bravi!

Don’t forget to keep your social media and website up to date with any changes that might come with the book - new fantastic reviews worth sharing, the announcement of a foreign language edition acquisition, an audiobook adaptation, etc. etc.

At the same time. take some time to refresh, recharge, and revel in what you accomplished before jumping back to the other project you’re working on.

You deserve it!  You published a book!

*

Still have questions? Read more WORDS FOR WRITERS here or ASK ME HERE.

[agirlinjapan]

Red Data Girl: My Longest Day of School (Week 29)

Red Data Girl: My Longest Day of School By Noriko Ogiwara A Translation

Miss the last piece? Read it here!

Check out the RDG Translation twitter!

Help me pay for my next translation project on Ko-fi.

I’m back from Japan! I had a great two weeks in the country, and I’m already making plans to go back next year. Maybe Hokkaido next time?

I, being the nerd that I am, found my way to three RDG related places on my trip. As I think I mentioned before, I went to Mt. Togakushi and Mt, Takao, but as a last minute addition to the trip, I also stopped by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to see the view from its observation deck. All three places were great experiences. The two mountains were especially fun. I’d recommend them to anyone who even vaguely enjoys hiking. They weren’t difficult treks at all. (Mt. Takao has some more challenging trails available if you’re into that though.)

Along with talking about how my trip went, I also have some exciting RDG news. For the month of August, I’ll be moving back to a weekly posting schedule. That means I’ll be posting four weeks in a row starting on the 5th. As always, I’ll be posting the installations on Sunday evenings around 5:20 EST. I can also tell you that RDG 5 will come to an end in August, and we’ll be moving onto RDG 6. It’s going to be a busy month for RDG!

Red Data Girl: My Longest Day of School By Noriko Ogiwara Chapter 4: Choice Part 4 (1 of 2)

“Is that Takayanagi’s voice?” Izumiko asked, quickly recognizing the tone just as Miyuki had.

“Ah, yes,” the dog responded. “I wanted to ask your thoughts on this, Izumiko. Why do you see me as a dog?”

“Is this dog Takayanagi?”

Miyuki gazed at Izumiko standing next to him, her wide eyed. He sighed, and said, “So it was unintentional after all. I had a feeling it was.”

“Regardless, I have made it to where you are,” the dog continued. “Thus, I am reminded of the theory that a prince can be released from the magic holding him, and returned to his true form by a princess’s kiss.”

“Who’s the prince?” Izumiko asked, shocked. She quickly grew upset. “There’s no way I’m going to do anything like that. You’re really making me angry, Takayanagi. You’re the one who’s been using magic. You were using it at the horse ring to completely change the way I was thinking. Oh. I remember now. This has something to do with launching the balloon, doesn’t it?”

Her voice became sharp as her frustration continued to increase. “What was the chemistry club’s balloon for? Am I right in thinking that it was influencing people’s emotions through magic? ”

“Mmm. Of course it would be you pulling something like that,” Miyuki added slowly. “You might have come here in this form, but I knew you’d find a way to benefit from all of this. I was completely aware of everything you’d already done, and I still didn’t beat you up when I had the chance.”

The dog flattened its ears a little, but besides that, remained sure of itself.

“Is this really something to get so upset about? We’re expected to utilize the powers in our possession and fight, aren’t we? I believe it’s pointless to get worked up over this just because we all possess strong magic.”

“So what did the balloon do?” Miyuki pressed. “Keep talking until Izumiko tells you to stop,”

Takayanagi paused, but then began to speak somewhat reluctantly. “…Here in the world, there is a species that has evolved further than any other. Magic users. We diviners have been studying hybrid magic. The balloon is one of our experiments. We added a small bit of substance that would create a hallucinogenic reaction…”

“Did the balloon scatter it? You really are the one who did all this.”

“It was a tiny amount. It didn’t harm anyone. The effects will wear off in about half a day.”

Izumiko stared at Takayanagi, her eyes bright. “The school festival is falling apart because you did this. There are ghosts all around the horse ring because of you, too.”

At this point, Miyuki cleared his throat.

“Actually, I hate to say it, but you’re the bigger reason why the festival is falling apart, Izumiko. You probably don’t know this, but right now, all the electronics on campus have stopped working. No one can use their cellphones or laptops.”

“What?! That’s impossible!”

“But, Takayanagi seems to be the one who set everything in motion,” Miyuki finished.

Izumiko stared blankly out in front of her as she remembered how she had refused Takayanagi with all her might before disappearing into this dimension.

“The whole school was affected? No way… What about off campus?”

“I haven’t checked to see, but I’m guessing anywhere beyond the school probably wasn’t affected. It turns out that there are multiple barriers around the campus. The diviners weren’t the only ones who created one. The ascetic monks did too, along with other groups.”

“That must be why so many strange things were happening on campus lately. The diviners have been using magic everywhere. This thing with the balloon is practically medication abuse.”    

Takayanagi’s expression grew somewhat frustrated. “That’s not true. Since long, long ago, people have seen the efficiency of medicine and magic as two separate entities, but they’re really not. When a person slips into an altered state of consciousness, they are able to think and feel in ways that they normally wouldn’t, just like the effects magic can create.”

“If anyone’s experiencing an altered state of consciousness, it’s you,” Miyuki retorted.

This time, Takayanagi cleared his throat. The white dog placed his front paws together and sat down neatly. Then he turned his gaze to Izumiko.

“Izumiko. I now understand that your magic has been much stronger than mine this whole time. Even working with a group, I did not match up to you. I know we were the ones who ambushed you so inconveniently, but I apologize sincerely for underestimating you. I will respect you from here on out, and do what I need to make everything up to you. So please, return me to my normal form. Find an opportunity to do so soon. People will come looking for me.”

“Did you put enough complaints in that apology? Asshole,” Miyuki grumbled. “Izumiko, I’d completely support you if you decided to leave that guy the way he is right now. He’ll be much more popular with everyone that way.”

Izumiko looked at the pining dog. He was quite a pretty white, Shiba inu, and he did look very dog-like—no one would have guessed he was really a high school boy. Still, she could not imagine that the dog felt the same way.

“I don’t think I can turn you back. I want to if I can, but doing that would be completely different from healing Sagara’s wound.”

“That’s because I’m a better person than he is,” Miyuki remarked, looking rather pleased.

“That’s not true, Izumiko. I suffered greatly in order to make it here to you.”

“Sagara’s wound happened here, so I just had to imagine what I wanted to see,” Izumiko said, still at a loss at what to do. “You were turned into a dog outside of this dimension, so I can’t imagine you back to the way you were.”

Takayanagi’s voice rose in protest. “Isn’t it your doing that I’m here in this dimension with its different wavelengths? And you tell me that you can’t do anything?”

Izumiko gave a vague shake of her head. “Well, that’s not really the way I remembered it…”

“Yeah, Takayanagi. You didn’t come here and then become a dog. You looked like one back at the academy,” Miyuki pointed out. “And you were the one who was making the campus into such a strange place, weren’t you?”

“You yourself said that groups other than the diviners were putting up barriers!” Takayanagi said angrily. “You can’t accuse me of everything when everyone’s doing something. All the magic mixed together and created something like a bad chemical reaction.”

Miyuki took a breath and then called up into the sky, “Wamiya, tell us what to do. Will we be able to return to the school without settling this?”

The crow did not appear, but his voice was audible throughout the clearing.

“Izumiko is not yet conscious of her abilities. She has the power to return the dog to its original form, and fix the rift in the school, but she doesn’t know how. All she can do to access this power is have it bubble up unconsciously or dance.”

That’s right. I’ve been able to use Kagura dance before…

She recalled how it had felt when she had done the Kagura dance in front of the stone door in Togakushi.

I guess the wavelengths increased while I was dancing then...

Miyuki looked at Izumiko quickly. “You’re definitely dressed to dance. Could you? You don’t have to force yourself on Takayanagi’s account, though.”

Izumiko had momentarily forgotten how she was dressed, but now she remembered. She straightened herself. Her hem and sleeves still touched the ground, but that didn’t change the fact that she was still dressed in the beautiful, red over kimono. Her long hair flowed over the cloth’s floral brocade design, its deep black luster looking so good against the outfit that the leaves it had picked up earlier were barely noticeable.

“Sure. There isn’t anyone else to see us, so I can dance here.”

She easily pulled a fan from her kimono to dance with. Creating one was much simpler than treating Miyuki’s wound had been. She tucked it into her hand and then looked around the woods. She couldn’t help but think that the space between the trees was a little small for dancing.

“But first, I have to find a larger space where I can see the sky.”

“We saw a place like that on our way here,” Miyuki said. “It’s this way.”

The three of them began to walk.

Mayura waited uneasily, continuously torturing herself with the thoughts streaming through her head. She couldn’t stand the fact that Manatsu hadn’t let her come with him.

She had already considered running after him to the horse ring more times than she could count, but she was the princess general right now. She had responsibilities to her team. It was just as Manatsu had said.

The electronics on campus were still not working. Seeing as no one could figure out the source of the malfunction, the unrest among the students was growing. The team’s third year high school members hadn’t fallen into panic right away, but the middle school players were in an uproar. Those middle schoolers also clearly wanted to put their trust in Mayura more than anyone else. They had no plans for leaving the sports grounds any time soon.

In the student government tent, Mayura could see that Jean Honoka Kisaragi had come over from the classroom building along with the vice principal and some of the teachers. With the entire school’s PA system down, the administration had to join in on running the festival. They couldn’t leave it entirely to the students anymore.

After a hurried consultation, the schedule was changed and an afternoon break was added so that repairs could be looked into. With the break going on, there were many fewer students from the castle attack team gathered on the field than there had been before.

Just then, Mayura noticed a group of kuroko moving towards her.

“Manatsu.”

As if sensing Mayura’s worry, Manatsu broke off from the group and jogged to her side.

“Sorry for not coming sooner. The horse ring area is in complete chaos.”

“…Thank God…”

Mayura had to take several deep breaths to keep her composure. She didn’t want anyone seeing the princess general cry over her brother at the moment.

“I thought you were further away than that. What about Masumi?”

“He’s somewhere else.” Manatsu was a little out of breath. His eyes were cold. “I couldn’t go, so I told Shinko to go instead,” he said, looking at his sister.

“Sagara?”

“He went into another dimension to search for Izumiko. Izumiko and Masumi are in an alternate reality touching this one.” After taking a deep breath, Manatsu added, “I wanted to search for Izumiko, but honestly, I probably couldn’t have gotten to her. Masumi and I are too different at this point.”

“Masumi… isn’t coming back?”

“I’m not sure. I think it’ll depend on what Izumiko and Miyuki decide to do.”

After a moment of silence, Mayura said softly, “I don’t like it when you’re not with me, but I don’t like it when Masumi isn’t with me either. This is all happening too fast…”

“Mayura.”

“Masumi said he’d be with me today. I haven’t settled things with Takayanagi yet…”

Manatsu’s voice was also soft, but his tone was determined. “I’ll tell you everything later, but what you need to know right now is that Takayanagi’s disappeared. I want to say this to you. Stop your fight to become best in the school. It wasn’t right of us to use Masumi to join the competition.”

Mayura blinked. “What are you talking about? Why are you saying it wasn’t right all of a sudden?”

“Because it’s going to end in a sacrifice. It would be great if we could fix our current problems, but then something else would just take their place. Izumiko would become that sacrifice.”

Mayura shrank back as if she had been hit. She stared at her brother. “What do you mean?...”

“First, I need to lead the students to where everyone’s going to meet. Then we’ll talk more.”

Manatsu looked around and then jogged away, leaving Mayura wrestling with her emotions. A minute later though, she returned to her duties as princess general.

Keep reading!