#why green is middle color of rainbow

[sharkdoughnutz]

it might've taken me over 3 months, but i've finally finished my own designs for the mane 6

my main thought process for designing them was to use a color from the rainbow! i had to look up colors and their meanings to determine which color should go to which pony

rainbow dash is red because she's the most fierce and bold. sidenote: her mane and tail color is actually white but she finds that boring so she dyes it, not her tail because i didnt like how it looked there

fluttershy is green because of nature and animals, pretty basic i know lol. also her pelt pattern is supposed to look like a deer's

applejack is blue only because i felt orange would fit rarity better, and yellow and purple were going to the other two remaining girls, so apple got stuck with blue but i tried my best to make it work for her. i think blue also means like maturity or smth similar so it works out anyways

pinkie pie is yellow because she's like the embodiment of happiness and joy so it made sense (also i had to use the pink color cuz there is no yellow color for the font)

twilight is staying purple mainly because of her previous life surrounded by royalty and the such, and also because purple is a main color in a twilight sky - orange is secondary so thats why she now has orange too

and finally, rarity is orange because of her creativeness, especially when it comes to fashion design; i think her design is my personal favorite.

i also tried to come up with creative cutie mark designs and i think i passed. though, the only one that isnt super obvious what its trying to represent is probably twilight's. basically i was going for a six pointed star (each point representing each girl) then it comes together in the middle by the white part to symbolize they all need each other or smth like that

i might get around to celestia and luna because i feel like they'll be fun to redesign, and maybe even spike or the cmc

[areyoudreaminof]

Just For Mama: A Mother's Day One Shot.

This one goes out to all the MILFS. Just some next gen fluff for your weekend!

Feysand: Nyx (11)

Nyx lined up the brushes on the table for the sixth time. He needed them to be perfect. 

The remodeled art studio certainly was perfect. He and Papa planned it for months, and Nyx drew up the plans himself. The north wall was torn down, making way for a large bay window that would let in natural sunlight from dawn to dusk with a perfect view of the mountains. Little crystal ornaments were clipped onto the windowsill, throwing prisms of rainbow light all over the room that had been painted a warm cream color. Nyx had written to Cricket and Froggy to send them from the Day Court. His cousins had sent back an array of colored crystal charms, with one large lilac colored crystal bat. Nyx hung that one right in the middle of the room. 

Mama didn’t exactly need a new studio, but Nyx had wanted to do something special for Mother’s Day. It was technically a Day Court celebration, but his cousins were shocked that they didn’t celebrate it in the Night Court. “You don’t do anything for Mother’s Day?” Cricket had said with wide eyes a few years back, “At all?” But Nyx had been so taken with the idea, he went right to Papa, who agreed. So, Nyx had been doing small things for his mother every year on that spring day. Mama loved every single card he made and kept all the wooden figurines he had carved for her on her desk. 

But this year, Nyx wanted to do something bigger. Aunt Nesta had given him the idea last winter, pointing out that Mama’s regular studio faced the east, which didn’t get the best lighting from the afternoon onwards. It was why she painted in the mornings. He had drawn up his sketches that very night and brought them to Papa the next morning who had the builders in his office by the early afternoon. 

Papa had simply told Mama there was a plumbing problem and that the studio needed to be rebuilt. Mama bought it, though Nyx suspected she knew something was up. Nyx had presented his plans to the builder, a large green skinned orc named Neekar. “Measurements are only an inch off. I take on apprentices at twelve,” the orc grunted with satisfaction, “You can study when you come back from that camp of yours.” Papa just sighed and Nyx beamed with pride. 

Nyx came to the site every single day after lessons to work on the studio. He sanded and stained small beams of wood, he hammered nails and fetched tools. Nyx watched Neekar in his team in awe as they sawed and whittled away, explaining their technique as Nyx jotted down notes. 

Now, the day had finally come to bring Mama to the new studio. He gave one last look around, before he launched himself out of the room, stretching his wings in such a way to give him more momentum as he came face to face with his father and blindfolded mother. 

“Is that you Nyx?” she reached for him, stretching her fingers out. Nyx laced his own through them. “It’s me. Happy Mother’s Day.” 

“Anyone want to explain what’s going on?” Mama inquired with a tilt of her head as she pulled Nyx to her. He was nearly as tall as she was now, the top of his head sitting just below her chin. 

“Nyx has a surprise for you, darling,” Papa said, his violet eyes glinting with mischief, “Lead the way, son.” 

Nyx nodded, slowly leading Mama across the hall and stopping at the door. “You can take your blindfold off now.” he said, as he wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and opened the door. 

Mama removed the blindfold with her slender tattooed fingers. Her blue eyes crinkled in joy as she saw Nyx in front of her. He just hoped she didn't see him shaking as he took her by the hand again and led her into the studio. 

Mama gasped behind him and Nyx sighed in relief. Sunlight poured through the windows and filtered through the hanging crystals in cracks of multicolored light. New canvases had been stretched and propped up on easels, while clean brushes and wooden palettes sat ready to be used. 

Mama turned around, stunned at the new studio. “Did you do this for me?” Mama asked in wonder, her eyes round and her mouth agape. 

“I drew the plans and Papa helped.” Nyx replied bashfully, leading Mama to the frame that held the sketches he had done in the dead of night. Mama touched the glass with tears in her eyes. 

“I just called the builders,” Papa corrected, “Nyx was in here every day after his lessons doing something. He made this room all on his own.” 

“The master builder said he could take me on as an apprentice next year,” Nyx blurted but Mama cut him off as she pulled him in for a bone crushing hug. He wrapped his arms around her then, closing his eyes as she rocked him ever so gently. At the camps, some of the other boys gave him hell over his mother; that she was High Lady, that she was human once, that Nyx loved her so much. One of the first drag out brawls he had gotten into was with a particularly snide boy back at Windhaven who insulted her. Nyx split the boy's lip and broke his nose. 

“I love you, sweet boy.” Mama whispered in his ear, before kissing him on the forehead. 

“Love you too, Mama. Happy Mother’s Day” Nyx murmured against her neck, squeezing her harder. 

Mama pulled away as she cupped his face in her hands. “An architect’s apprentice at twelve? I think you might be the most accomplished heir the Night Court has seen.” Her blue eyes twinkled as she laughed. 

“I can’t argue with that,” Papa sighed as Nyx felt his cheeks and neck go red. “You can build yourself a house up at Windhaven.” 

“I might,” Nyx grumbled, “and my sofas won’t have dried barf on them.” 

“And that my darling, is how you’re going to unite Illyria, ” Mama teased, “With your talent, wisdom and cleanliness.” 

Papa drew them both into his arms, “If Nyx can pull this off on one of Helion’s made up holidays, I’d hate to see what he has up his sleeve for Solstice.” 

“Just you wait,” Nyx smirked, “I might add a whole new wing to the house.” 

______________________________________________________________________________

That night, Feyre watched the moon rise in the windows of her new studio, stars and galaxies blinked in the moonlight that washed across the peaks of the mountains. Feyre stroked the slabs of wood on the windowsill. Nyx created this, she thought with wonder and pride, he built this with his own hands. 

He did, he had the idea months ago. Rhys said in her mind as his arms snaked around her waist from behind. 

Feyre rested her head back on Rhys's chest, "We've done alright by him, I think." 

Rhys hummed in agreement as he turned her to face him, "We really did." 

Elucien: Cricket (9), Froggy (5)

It was times like this where Cricket wished she had gotten fire powers. 

She could technically turn the stove on by herself, she was nine , but she always had to have someone help her in the kitchen, since the stove had to be lit with a match and she was too short to not have to stand on a chair. “Supervision.” Papa called it. That’s why he was here, over her shoulder, watching Cricket stir the porridge in the small pot. 

“Perfect,” Papa murmured, “let’s add the cinnamon shall we?” 

Cricket sprinkled the small shaker of cinnamon sugar over the porridge, taking care not to put too much. Even though Mama ate her porridge sweet, there were still strawberries and blueberries to add, and there was warm raisin bread that her little sister was buttering on the table. 

The soft pink light of dawn and the sea breeze filtered into the kitchen. It was Mother’s Day in the Day Court, a celebration of motherhood. Grandfather swore they had always celebrated it, but Papa told Cricket that it only became a holiday when Grandmother came to live at court. Either way, Cricket and Froggy had brought Mama breakfast in bed for as long as they could remember. They’d spend the day at the beach, then have a big dinner with Grandfather and Grandmother on the balcony under the stars. 

“I think the porridge is done.” Cricket announced. With a wave of his hand, Papa put out the flame on the stove. Mama was still asleep, unusual, since she liked to get up with the sun. But there was some sort of party last night, and they got home late, so Grandmother stayed with them, since she didn’t like late parties. Cricket vaguely remembered a kiss on the forehead when she was dead asleep. 

“What time did you get home?” Cricket asked.

“Too late,” Papa replied, “Grandfather got into some sort of dance competition with some of the scholars, it was absolutely horrifying, but we couldn’t take our eyes off of it.” 

“Did he win?” Cricket tried to picture Grandfather dancing inside a circle with the scholars. 

“No, the astronomers beat him.” Cricket snorted and swallowed her belly laugh. 

“Leave it to cool while we cut the berries,” Papa whispered, “Everything alright, Froggy.?”

“Yes.” Froggy answered softly as she set down the butter knife. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, pushing her golden hair back from her face. “I haven't filled the vase with water yet.” 

“Let me do that,” Papa said as he kissed each of them. He took the crystal vase to the sink, filling it with water. Quickly, the girls gathered up the large bouquet of orange and apple blossoms they had picked yesterday. They had raced in the groves to see who could get the most flowers, scaling each tree like monkeys. Cricket had won, but just barely. A bowl of ripe oranges and apples sat on the table, another present for Mama. 

Froggy put the absurdly large bouquet into the vase, while Cricket arranged the last bits of fruit into the large porridge bowl. Papa set down a small velvet box on the tray, the sisters giggled as they caught each other's eye. Papa lifted the tray and the girls held back their giggles as they entered Mama and Papa’s room. 

Mama slept soundly, her curly hair braided across the silk pillowcase. Cricket opened the curtains, letting the now golden dawn light brighten the room. Froggy crawled gently on the bed, while Cricket flopped down face first. 

“Happy Mother’s Day!” they squealed as Mama opened her eyes and arms. The girls scurried into her embrace, latching on and kissing her face all over. Mama just laughed and kissed them back. Papa set the tray down across Mama’s lap and stole his own kiss as Cricket and Froggy snuggled on each side of her. She touched the white and pink blooms with awe.

“Oh, how beautiful! Did you girls pick these yourselves?” 

“Yep,” Cricket nodded, “we picked lots of fruit too.” 

“We can make orange juice and apple pie!” Froggy added breathlessly. 

“Maybe we can make some juice for our picnic at the beach today?” Mama added. 

“I’ve already got the pitchers out,” Papa laughed as he stretched out next to Cricket, wrapping his arm around her back to touch Mama’s hair. 

“And what’s this?”

Cricket and Froggy shot up with excitement as Mama opened up the small velvet box. The little golden chain inside had two delicate charms that wound together; a small honeysuckle and a wisteria blossom, the flowers associated with both of them. Cricket with her wild honeysuckle scent, and Froggy, a soft and delicate wisteria fragrance. They held their breath as tears filled Mama’s eyes. 

“Are you gonna put it on?” Froggy whispered nervously. Cricket swallowed her own anxiety. 

“I’m never going to take it off,” Mama promised as she took out the delicate chain reverently. “Let me,” Papa said, as he rose to latch the chain around her neck. 

“Thank you,” Mama breathed, kissing them both and wrapping each arm around them. “I love you both so much.” 

“Love you too, Mama.” Froggy whispered. “We love you the most.” Cricket added. 

Cricket and Froggy sank into her embrace, breathing in the familiar scent of honey and jasmine, of the sea breeze that wafted through the wood and sandstone room, just as it always had. They smelled the familiar scent of Papa as he managed to embrace all three of them, of the sun on their faces, or warm mornings just like this, and cool nights at home. 

“I think,” Mama announced, “it is a perfect day for swimming and a picnic.” 

“It certainly is,” Papa agreed, “I wonder who can get ready first?” 

Cricket and Froggy squealed and scrambled off the bed as they raced for their rooms. “No winnowing, Cricket!” Froggy shrieked as her sister laughed maniacally. 

Elain finally rose from the sheets and crossed the room, meeting Lucien halfway. She closed her eyes, as she embraced him, savoring the laughs of her girls across the small house they had lived in for years. The laughs that had echoed across her visions as she fought her way across a frozen wasteland and lake. Visions of red and golden hair that gave her the strength she thought she didn’t have as she destroyed a sorcerer's box and made her way back to Lucien. 

Her daughter’s had been her dream once, and now they were her reality. A messy and loving reality. 

She rose up on her toes, kissing her mate. “We should have a Father’s Day, I think.” 

“Don’t give my father any more excuses to blow smoke up his own ass,” Lucien laughed. 

“No, we’ll just blow smoke up your ass.” she leaned in again-

“Will you two stop kissing for once?” Cricket hollered from across the hallway. “You have one more minute to get ready!” Froggy shrieked from somewhere in the house. 

“Ready?” Lucien asked.

“For my family, always.”

Nessian: Oriana (4)

Oriana kicked her feet and flapped her wings along as she hummed. The picture looked very good, she thought. She colored in the lines she drew, a picture of her, Mama, Papa and her poofy kitten, Pudding. She made sure to put the House in there too, Mama said it was part of the family. 

“Mrow?” 

She turned to Pudding, his round face was cocked with confusion. Oriana sighed as she explained the picture again. 

“It’s Mother’s Day so I made Mama a book. That’s you and me, and Mama and Papa. I didn’t have green for your eyes though.” 

A green colored pencil appeared on the rug next to her. “Thank you, House!” she chirped to the House, who flickered a light in reply. Quickly, she filled in the eyes of her cat in the picture, finally satisfied with the result as Pudding pawed and rolled the rest of the pencils around the floor. 

“Mama is going to love your book,” Papa said, as he lowered himself down on the carpet next to her. 

“I know,” Oriana replied. She had been practicing her letters and she could write very well now. She wrote Mama a book about a Valkyrie helping a nice dragon and defeating an evil wizard. Aunt Gwyn helped thread ribbon to the pages. All that was left was to finish up the cover with a picture of her family. 

“Are we gonna eat at Sevanda’’s still?” Oriana asked, putting her book on the table, next to that wrapped box of new training leathers for Mama. “Can we get fried squid rings?” 

Papa made a gagging noise, “You can get fried squid rings, sweetheart. Mama is on her way back from the library, why don’t we get changed for the symphony?” He placed a kiss on her nose and Oriana kissed him right back on his before she ran back to her room, Pudding trailing behind her. 

The House had opened her wardrobe and suddenly, it seemed to Oriana that she had a lot more dresses that she remembered. 

She and Mama went to the symphony all the time after school and training. They watched the musicians rehearse during the day, but this was the first time Oriana got to see them perform with all the fancy grown ups. If Mama is going to wear her silver dress, Oriana thought, maybe she would wear silver too. But Mama loved it when she wore red, and she also wanted to wear her Valkyrie ribbon. Taking a deep breath, she dove into her wardrobe. 

_________________________________________________________

“I’m ready!” Oriana chirped as she bounced into Papa’s view. She had decided on her favorite red dress, purple socks, and her sparkly sandals. She held the ribbon in her hand that she wanted to tie around her head. Her cousin Cricket always kept her red hair short, so Oriana cut hers to her chin the same way. 

Papa scooped her up and twirled her, “You look beautiful, Ori. Why don’t we take the socks off, it’s not cold outside or inside the Symphony.” He set her down, unhooking Oriana’s shoes as she bounced on one foot. 

“Okay,” Oriana chirped, “can I wear my ribbon?” 

“Of course you can, would you like me to put it on?” 

“Not too tight,” Oriana demanded  as Papa tied the ribbon around her dark hair. 

“Never, sweetheart.” Softly, Mama’s voice carried in from the hall with another voice, Aunt Gwyn and Papa gave her a grin. “Are you ready to go surprise Mama?” 

“Let’s go!” Oriana squealed as she flapped her wings, hurling herself towards the hallway.  She used her wings to propel her steps, as she threw open the door. She didn’t think, just flew right into Mama’s arms. 

“Happy Mama’s Day!” Oriana exclaimed with a giggle, “Surprise! We’re going to the symphony!” 

Mama just laughed as she bounced Oriana on her hip, “Surprise indeed!” 

Aunt Gwyn placed a small stack of books on the little table by the door, “I won’t keep you any longer, Happy Mother’s Day.” she beamed brightly at Nesta before smacking a kiss on Oriana’s cheek. 

“Aunt Gwyn, are you gonna have a baby?” Oriana asked. 

“Oriana!” Mama chided, her face turning red as an apple.

Aunt Gwyn laughed, her pretty blue eyes sparkling, “Maybe one day.” 

“Well, could you have one now so I have someone to play with? Nyx went to the camps and Cricket and Froggy are at the Day Court. So, I want a baby cousin to play with.’ Oriana clasped her hands together tight and bounced on her feet. “Please.” 

“Don’t you have friends at school and your art class?” Aunt Gwyn giggled.

“Yes, I got lots of friends but I want another cousin.” Oriana thought for a moment. “A girl or a boy. Just a cousin who's fun.”  

“Well, when Uncle Az and I have a baby you’ll be the first cousin to know.” 

“You’re having a baby?” Papa  asked as he walked into the room. 

“Yeah, Aunt Gwyn’s gonna have a baby so I can have another cousin,” Oriana announced, “But not right now.” 

Mama and Aunt Gwyn just started laughing. 

___________________________________________

Oriana got her fried squid rings at Sevanda’s and she got extra whipped cream on her strawberry cake. They ate on the balcony and watched and waved at people walking down the street. At the symphony, an old High Fae female told Oriana she looked like a princess, “She’s my princess,” Papa had said proudly. Oriana watched the symphony reverently on Mama’s lap, bouncing along to the drums and tubas and she had only gotten tired during the flight up to the House. 

Now, in the dim light of her bedroom, Oriana scrambled up onto her bed, book in hand. “This is for you.” she puffed as she snuggled next to Mama. “It’s a book! Aunt Gwyn helped me tie it, but I wrote it all by myself.” “That’s me and you and Papa.” Oriana pointed at the figures in the drawing on the cover. “I put silver for my eyes and your eyes, cause we have silver eyes. And I used black and red for my wings!” Oriana pointed to the blob shape, “There’s Pudding,” she said, affirming her cat’s presence, “and here’s The House.” 

Nesta set the picture down reverently on the bedside table. Grabbing Oriana into a hug, she inhaled the sweet scent of mountain juniper. “I love it so much.” Nesta said softly, kissing Oriana’s face all over. “I’m going to show everyone in the library.” 

Oriana rubbed her eyes, the lights from her flower and star lights began to fuzz in vision as Mama’s song and arms cradled her to sleep. 

“Night, night, Mama.” she mumbled as she stepped into her dreams. 

Nesta listened to the soft rhythm of her daughter’s breath as she held her, a ritual she completed every single night since Oriana was born. 

The very idea of motherhood had terrified her, her own mother took residence in the back of her mind, whispering doubt into her ear. The first time Nesta had felt her child move, a sheer sense of terror washed over her; would she be another incarnation of her mother? Would she place all expectations of grandeur on the chest of her child with no thought for breath? 

But, the moment Madja had placed Oriana on her chest, her mother was banished from her mind. Instead, a door opened in her heart, revealing a vast and wondrous sky of love for her daughter. Her name, Oriana, an old Illyrian name, sounded like a song, and it was one that Nesta sang every day. She and Cassian had made this beautiful little girl; with Nesta’s blue gray eyes and dark hair that matched Cassian’s, but still had that baby fine texture that made it impossible to stay tidy for long.

Yet, she was completely her own person, a curious and creative child who loved music and stories. Nesta delighted in every moment, even if she did want to take refuge in the deepest pit of the library some days. 

The House had dimmed the lights softly, as Nesta stroked Oriana’s face, studying her Illyrian brow and Archeron nose, of the rosebud lips and cheeks that dimpled when she smiled, which thank the Mother, was every single day. Soft wings that curled at the top in a way that Cassian’s didn’t. Did his mother have wings like this, Nesta had often wondered, was this something Oriana carried of a grandmother that would have surely loved her? 

The door creaked as Cassian almost silently crept inside. “I missed storytime, didn’t I?” He lowered himself softly on the other side of the bed, wrapping their little girl and Nesta into his own arms. 

Nesta closed her eyes as she drifted off, at peace in the tangled arms of her family.

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[apomaro-mellow]

Hot for Teacher(s) 15

Part 14

Eddie only left long enough to pack a couple bags of the stuff he’d need to stay and then was back right away. It took less than an hour and he still didn’t like being away that long with some asshole alpha sniffing around his future mate and pup. Robin came over for dinner that evening. Apparently Steve had been keeping her at an arm’s length this past week as well and the only reason she didn’t bust down his door was because he texted her each day.

“I knew if I told you everything, you were gonna be pushy”, Steve said.

“Yeah!”, Robin threw her hands up. “Pushy is what you need. I can’t believe you let it get this far. You said you weren’t going to get involved with him again.”

“He’s not gonna lay a hand on you again, Stevie”, Eddie promised. “Robin and I’ll make sure of that.”

Evening came and Robin had to head home. Steve got Shawn ready for bed and once he was ready, he grabbed a book, Magic Treehouse of course. They had to finish where they left off. Steve sat next to him and was about to start when Shawn made him stop.

“What about Mr. Eddie?”

Steve blinked. “You want him to join us for story time?” Even the times when Eddie stayed over before, he gave Steve and Shawn their space during this, waiting for Steve in the master bedroom instead.

“He does really good voices when he reads to us in class”, Shawn said.

Steve stood, bringing the book with him as he went to his room. Eddie was in the middle of reading a book of his own, much thicker but both books had pirates on the cover. Eddie looked up when Steve entered.

“You’ve been given a very exclusive invite to story time.”

Eddie put a hand to his chest. “Moi? To what do I owe this honor?”

“The master of the house says you do good voices”, Steve smiled.

They both went back to Shawn’s room. Steve sat next to his son and put an arm around him, holding him close while Eddie sat at the foot of the bed, clearing his throat as he turned to the bookmarked page. He got right into it, giving each character a different voice. Morgan sounded ancient and wise while Jack sounded responsible, if a bit over-cautious. Shawn was enthralled and Steve almost worried that Eddie would be too exciting to get him to sleep. 

But Steve could tell Eddie was getting to a stopping point and sure enough, he felt Shawn’s head getting heavy on him. Eddie closed the book while Shawn was rubbing his eye. Steve kissed the top of his head.

“Good night, baby.”

“Night, pup”, Eddie whispered.

Shawn yawned through a good night of his own and the two of them walked out almost silently, closing the door behind themselves. Steve couldn’t wait until they got back to his room and kissed Eddie immediately. Sweetly, and then scenting him when he parted from his lips. How did he get so lucky to receive such a good alpha? Why was he so deserving?

“Let’s go to bed, honey”, Eddie said. 

They did and just as the lights turned out, Eddie remembered something that had puzzled him before. 

“Hey, is blue dish soap your favorite?”

“No”, Steve said, voice quiet in the dark. “Why?”

“That’s what you had on the shopping list. Specifically blue.” He heard Steve shift a little beside him and waited for him to respond. 

Steve sighed. “This is going to sound weird.”

“Sweetness, I’m all about weird.”

“I…like to…buy some things…in rainbow order”, Steve confessed like it was a great admission. “So like, the last soap I bought was green, so the next one had to be blue, and the next one will be purple and so on.”

Eddie waited for more and when there wasn’t, he reached for Steve, pulling him close. “Baby you think that’s weird?”

Steve shrugged.

“Are you gonna bite my head off if I forget the order?”

“I always put the color on the list, so you shouldn’t forget. But it’s no big deal if you do.”

“Then I consider it just another thing to love about you.”

It was surprisingly easy to settle into a routine over the next couple of days. Eddie would take Shawn to school and bring him home in the afternoon. Robin spent her spare time at the house too, especially in times when Steve otherwise would have been alone.

All the while, Eddie waited for Billy to show his face. He didn’t consider himself much of a fighter. In fact, back as a teen, he was more likely to run from bullies. But now he had something to fight for, someone that gave him the will to stand his ground. Billy could be seven feet of pure muscle and Eddie would go ten rounds just to keep him away from his mate and pup.

Eddie figured Billy would show up sooner or later, given that he’d been harassing Steve for about a week now. It was why he was loath to leave Steve alone for too long. It was why whenever he did leave the house, he made sure Robin was already on her way. So one afternoon, when Shawn finished his homework early and Robin walked through the door with some ingredients for dinner, Eddie took it upon himself to take Shawn to the park.

Nothing like some jungle gym time to work up an appetite for dinner. Eddie sat on a bench as Shawn ran around with other kids from the neighborhood. Sometimes just chasing each other through the playground equipment, other times coming up with games. He bristled without really understanding why until his brain caught up with his nose and realized it was the scent of the alpha that had been forcing himself onto Steve.

Billy sat down next to him, relaxed and loose like they were old buddies. Eddie held back the growl in his throat. There was no hiding who the other was. They knew each other’s scents too well and for the wrong reasons. 

“Fancy meeting you here”, Billy said.

“I’d fancy not meeting you all the same”, Eddie replied, keeping his eyes forward and on Shawn. 

“Look, I just wanted to talk, alpha to alpha. Steve’s probably told you all sorts of stories about me. But he embellishes. I’m not all that bad.”

“Oh?”

“I took some time off to help both of us. But I’m back now. Back to be a father to my pup and an alpha to my mate. He’s been begging for my bite for years and now it’s time to give it to him.”

“What changed?”, Eddie asked. “Why now?”

“I’m ready now”, Billy shrugged.

That had Eddie turning to face him, eyes blazing with anger. Now? He was ready now? He thought about Steve, sitting alone and feeling unloved in a hospital bed, about to bring Shawn into the world but on the edge of rejection sickness. He thought of the times Billy must’ve held his pup, his own flesh and blood, only to leave him and say nothing for two years.

Had Billy ever indulged Steve when he wanted to talk about a niche topic he covered in class? Did he ever read to Shawn? Was he ever involved in Powerpoint nights? When was the last time he ever made Steve feel wanted and loved and desired?

“Fuck you”, Eddie said. “If you come around our home again, I’m calling the cops.”

“You’d get me arrested? What would Steve think? Or that little boy there?”, Billy pointed and Eddie followed the gesture to where Shawn was, hiding behind the boards of the bridge that connected the slide to the monkey bars. He’d been peering over the edge but ducked down quickly.

“He’d see his dad get hauled off and I don’t think he’d ever forgive you for that”, Billy threatened.

Eddie reigned in his scent. Billy’s words washed off him and no longer meant anything.

“You know, I had to watch that. My old man threw curses at me and my uncle while he was taken away. I got over it.” At the time, he’d hated his dad, his uncle, even himself. Everything sucked and nothing seemed worth doing it. But time passed and he healed thanks to the safety and structure provided by his Uncle Wayne. All he could do was hope he could do the same for Shawn.

“Now if you’ll excuse us”, Eddie said as he stood. “It’s time to be getting home for dinner.” He took a few steps over to the playground. “Shawn! You ready to eat!?”

Shawn scurried to the other side of the bridge, slid down and ran right to Eddie, holding his hand tight. He met Billy’s intense gaze for just a brief moment before Eddie started to walk.

“You don’t have to worry about him”, Eddie promised.

Shawn squeezed his hand and Eddie squeezed back.

Part 16

Taglist

@anne-bennett-cosplayer @aol19 @lololol-1234 @gregre369 @attic-cat-blog

@hippieg1rl420 @spectrum-spectre @a-lovely-craziness @sharingisntkaren

[aroacesetitoff]

OG Infinight Reference Sheet + Headcanons

Marcy Burns/Elleve the Amender

-4 feet tall

-its mentioned that she has "rainbow robes" and ive decided to interpret that as sunset colored

-pre mining accident Marcy has longer hair and has already lost her eye to unknown circumstances

-post mining accident Marcy cut her hair and it turned whiter, and she switched to more monochrome clothing-symbolizes her turning away from her faith and also grieving her husband

-still wears her wedding ring, and keeps Fred's on a chain with a locket of his picture

-we know literally nothing abt Fred but I think he was also a halfling and had a sick ass mustache

-the symbol on pre-accident Marcy's eyepatch + staff is supposed to be of the Diarians (followers of Dia). The circle is Faeza, the hands are Dia herself, and the six teardrop shapes are the Diagems. Also meant to resemble a flower as a reference to Gum Gum

-magic goblet-does it have a name? Anyways Paralyte stole it from the Sheerays so I gave it an aquatic wave/seaweed design (water = life)

-idk how to design tattoos, but other clerics of dia would probably have similar ones-i think hers are religious in nature

Ostin Tashe/Slique the Symphonius

-ya boiiii

-4'6-so just barely taller than Bart. Barely

-had the most satisfying color palette for me- i love green and so does he

-i rewatched the hobbit/lotr trilogies so Ostin is def inspired by that-gave him braided hair and armor

-idk how a tuning sword works. Like a bident maybe? Ive drawn the sword in his right hand (the one with missing fingers) but he might prefer to fight left-handed. Idk ive trained with longswords before but ive never lost any fingers so i cant say

-magic lute-gave it a greener/mossier color palette to show it was from the Elderpines. The strings are vines and the rosette has a tree design

-dont know where Ostin's scars came from either, maybe he really did fight a dragon maybe he didnt-doesnt stop him

-post-Wight Winter i gave Slique a grey streak to match with Spectril

-also gave him a cool colored eye highlight for the same reason

Leonard Lank/Spectril the Surreptitious

-i put his height around 5'7/5'8

-made the rogue armor sharp and dark-had to recolor it from the origianly palette bc it was too dark tho lmao. Fur collar to foreshadow his time in the Ethereal Plane

-post-Wight Winter i gave him simple, more homey clothes bc at that point he had a family and wasn't focused on fighting. The fur is not bear fur i swear

-already mentioned it before but his hair started turning white + he grew it out/braided it back.

-he's got normal rogue daggers, and then the Ethereal daggers. Not shown but yeah they fade in and out of the Material and Ethereal Plane

-"Walls Have Ears-Doors Have Eyes" by Clan D. Stine-the wiki i think mentioned him having books that let him turn invisible and walk through walls-this one's definitely a Leitner (ifykyk)

-boots-deceptively simple in design from the Elderpines

-piercings include several ear piercings, snake bites, and an eyebrow piercing

-warm colored eye highlight to match with Slique-your honor i have (accidentally) sun/moon coded then because they are gay

Luz Prattle/Paralyte

-6'0 tall and definitely uses it for intimidation

-i think she dresses kinda emo/alt

-the only infinight with a unique logo-instead of two crossed swords its a snake eating itself

-committing to the snake bit-i gave her scale armor

-the gloves have two talons on the pointer and middle finger, based very specifically off a homebrew item i saw where the hand kind of looks like a biting snake. It contains a venom that paralyzes enemies and came from the Sheerays

-put a snake on her sword. Cause why not. Thats why she teamed up with Brink they are both snake lovers

-not drawn, but she would have a snake tattoo somewhere on her body

-hands are turning dark at the fingertips as a side effect of using the gloves so often. Her veins are visibly green because shes pale as hell and also suffering from long term exposure to Sangrianite

-facial scar-man im sorry i dont know where this one came from either. Kyborg shot her once tho i do remember that

Bo Bender/Grislee the Groundbreaker

-height is about 6'6, very tall lady

-all i had to go off was red bandana so its like her thing

-her locs are made of rocks and also have veins of gold in them

-the stuff on her shoulders and hammer are lichen-she takes such long naps outside they've started growing on her. And also earth genasi

-when shes raging she has magma veins coming from her eyes and hands, and the inside of her body also glows

-when shes not raging it cools to golden veins-still very hot to the touch sometimes

-didnt have a lot if ideas for her second outfit but i gave her a bearskin bc she is "grizzly"

-hammer is the other item from the Sheerays and is pretty much just a trunk on a stick in terms of design. Combined with the lute tho, they are probably some of the most powerful items in Faeza

Man thats a lot of characters. Should i have made these before I made 3 painting and a comic page? Yeah. But i didnt lol. Enjoy✌️

edit: fixed the magic item origins

[fountainpenguin]

So I was rereading your lore on witches in your riddledeep au and um.

Would this technically make Dev a witch??? lol. He also freebies a pizza across a digital title card that episode too.

😂 Y'know, it's funny you say that because for the past month, I've been wondering if anyone was going to ask me if Dale or Dev are witches. I don't know why I was wondering that, but it's been clinging to me. I couldn't think of a way to bring up "btw, they're not witches in my work" without it feeling weird.

My witch lore for context

Dale and Dev can specifically not be witches under my lore even if I wanted them to be, even if I were following a headcanon where the Dimmadomes get around the XYZ chromosome sterility through clones, because of something extremely specific that also exists in my lore that I cannot go back on.

Magic Colors

So, I have a whole magic system set up around the colors of magic. There are 6 possible colors in the OG series- 5 of which are represented on the Rainbow Bridge, 4 of which are represented on the Fairy Council, and 2 of which are extremely rare.

I gave the Fairy Elder (namedropped in "Timmy's Secret Wish") yellow robes, thus tying the Fairy Council together.

Each magic color has a meaning associated with the mood or thought pattern behind magic use. I drew my original inspiration from the colors Timmy's brain turns when Poof's controlling his body in "He Poofs, He Scores."

For those interested, my Colors of Magic post (From May 2016, but has screenshots) & my worldbuilding sideblog's post on magic colors (Cleaned-up lore with no pictures). Short version below:

Red is an extremely uncommon magic color, though we see it when Foop is fighting Cosmo and Wanda in "Playdate of Doom" and when Wanda jumpstarts Timmy's heart in "Yoo-Doo." It's the color I associate with life and death magic. So, y'know... Foop is very okay.

There's also indigo (used by Juandissimo in "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary"), which I consider a subset of blue.

Green is also extremely rare. Notably, it's the color Foop's magic slowly starts to turn throughout "Scary Godcouple"- He started off with blue, but sours to green in one of the only appearances we see of green in the entire series.

But you know what commonplace color we don't see?

Orange.

In my lore, orange-haired magic users (both Fae and genies) are the equivalent of shiny Pokémon. Even two orange magic-users don't normally have orange offspring- They produce yellows and reds.

And the thing is... I've already set up Happy Peppy Gary to be the only orange witch in my lore. In fact, I have a WIP multi-chapter 'fic about Gary getting discovered by H.P. and Anti-Cosmo, who lose their minds when they realize what he is (Pink and Gray).

Shout-out to one of my favorite dialogue exchanges I've ever written, from H.P. trying to sus Gary out as genie-descended:

H.P. brought his hand up to fiddle with his glasses. "Okay. Completely random get-to-know-you question. By any chance, are you afraid of small spaces?" "Deathly. Why?"

And Dale is Gary's age - in the same city where the Pixies dropped Gary and Betty after taking them in - which means if he WAS an orange witch, he would've been clocked so hard, so fast. Also, since I'm going the route of H.P. being Dale's godfather, there's no way he wouldn't have noticed even though Dale was MIA for years.

Fun Fact! Gary and Juandissimo are "related!" Juandissimo was finger-snapped into existence by Gary's ancestor, Crimsona. He's arguably a great-great-great-great uncle (5 generations up from Gary). In Cloudlands AU, Gary's middle name is actually Juandissimo! That's because Juandissimo's been assigned to godparent to this family several times (We met Gary's dad and grandmother, Quincy and Eunice, in Baby, You're a Rich Man; Sanderson matches Eunice's name to Juandissimo's in Chapter 10 while looking through godkid files).

Anyway, I COULD have witch genes passed down through Dev's mom's side of the family (Leadlys in my headcanon), but that comes with its own issues: if Leadly had XYZ chromosomes, he can't have Hadley, and I'm not going back on that. I could make his wife a witch, but that STILL has issues.

In my 'fics I play Ed Leadly as a guy who's looking for magical creatures (hence him being willing to drop 17 million dollars on someone else's dog in "Dog Gone"). I have literally shown him onscreen holding a witch-detecting compass that points to Gary (in "Opportunity"). There is no way he would not have clocked his ex as a witch, sldkfj...

Closing Comments

Dale and Dev are some of the only characters in my universe who are absolutely confirmed to not be witches, despite how much I have actually wondered if it would be fun to portray them as such.

I don't have a lore reason for the visual gags in that episode- I sadly have to clock it up to random cartoon silliness akin to Jenkins exploding into pieces when Jasmine sings in "Fly" (or Hazel also falling apart or exploding when people expressed crushes on her in "Multiverse of Jenkins").

In my lore, I actually do have Gary set up to be able to pass his witch powers to people he kisses (Because I thought it would be funny if that's why Betty is taller in some scenes than others; yes, I am that pedantic and it makes Betty's "But I don't like you like that" line exponentially funnier), but I've established that only genie-descended witches can pass powers... That doesn't make sense for Dev in this episode either.

Technically all the fluids can pass magic, so a blood transfusion would make Dev "a permanent false witch" if I wanted to do that, but I'm not gonna bother when again, we have people exploding in this show as a gag. Cursed gags I cannot touch with lore 😔

If anyone else makes the Dimmadomes witches, I'd be totally down to read that. I think it would be extremely funny if Dale Dimm was also a witch despite sentencing Alden Bitterroot to 350+ years of clawing his way out of Dimmsdale's well for witch crimes, but my AUs have pretty firmly locked Dale and Dev out of that option.

Riddleverse Design Facts

Here's another fun fact for any new followers who don't know I do this: I draw witches with spirals in their hair! Pics under the cut due to length:

Crocker has his in the back and Kevin has his on top!

You could TOTALLY make an argument that Leadly's spiral is in his mustache

Also, it's a very good thing I do this- I joked in the past that Gary and Dev look eerily similar (even sharing lots of body language), so it's nice to have things like freckles and a hair spiral I can fall back on.

I'm VERY happy with my adult Dev design, but I definitely kept freckles and hair spirals away from him, haha. Sneak peek of him next to his mom:

Note- Spiral headcanon excludes H.P., who has a unique family cowlick I gave him before doing this for witches. Poof doesn't count either since he's under Fae Get Alphabet Hair rules:

Whistle and Anti-Whistle [Soren] (at the bottom) are some of my favorite designs... I can't get over his upside-down W hair sldkfj.

But Wanda and Anti-Wanda having completely different Ws is another favorite thing. I'm especially proud of Dusty's little D tuft.

I'm not sure why Smoky ended up with what looks like an F (unless it's a T since he was Talon before Talon was Talon), but I remember doing a lot of designs for him. Sometimes I don't commit to alphabet hair if letters are hard (Soren's top zigzag is meant to be an S, which is a very hard letter to incorporate, and I think I didn't want Smoky and Soren to have the same one). I've been wanting to redesign Smoky a bit, so I'll probably fix it then.

Goldie's is subtle and you can see it better in some drawings than others, but she has M hair because her full name is Marigold :)

I should probably re-add her middle tuft to her official sideblog art, whoops.

Also, if this is how someone is finding out Poof and Foop literally were designed with alphabet hair, I have wonderful news for you. Fun fact, the "Anti-Poof" storyboard portrays Foop with a square spiral instead! It was the final detail of his design.

[nerdygaymormon]

Happy Pride

I want to wish a Happy Pride to:

Green Carnations

In 1892, Oscar Wilde had some of his friends wear a green carnation on their left lapels to the opening night of his show. An elegant and witty character in the play—who paralleled real-life Oscar Wilde—wore a carnation as part of his costume. Why green? It was an unnatural color for a carnation, Wilde chose this since it was said that homosexuality was unnatural. The green carnation became associated with Wilde and his flamboyant friends, and spread as a secret code to show others that you're gay.

"Be Gay, Do Crime"

The slogan "Be gay, do crime" has existed since at least 2011. The slogan suggests that crime and incivility may be necessary to earn equal rights given the criminalization of homosexuality around the world and a reminder that the Stonewall uprising was a riot. The slogan stands in contrast to the polished, corporate version of contemporary Pride, and shows that queerness has always been transgressive, regardless of its legal status. Part of being queer is being willing to push boundaries and protect one's self from the law since we have traditionally been attacked by it.

Peppermint Patty and Marcie

Peppermint Patty defied traditional gender norms. She played all sorts of sports at a time when it wasn't common for girls to do so. All the other female characters wore dresses, but Patty wears a t-shirt, shorts and sandals and the only other female character not to wear dresses is Marcie.

Peppermint Patty regularly flirts with Charlie Brown and has a strong bond with Marcie. While we don't know for sure, it certainly seems that Peppermint Patty is bi and her best friend Marcie is a lesbian.

I can imagine Peppermint Patty organizing the school's GSA or an all-inclusive dance, and loudly calling out any queerphobia. I like thinking of Patty getting a man's suit from a thrift store and going to Prom where she dances with both Marcie and Charlie Brown

Absolut Vodka

In 1979, Absolut entered the American market, but sales were slow. In 1981, Absolut starting targeting the LGBTQ consumer with the idea this group are trendsetters. Since 1981, Absolut has had print ads in queer magazines, sponsored events in gay bars, donated more than $40 million to queer charities and causes, sponsors the GLAAD Media Awards, and numerous major LGBTQ events in the US annually. Absolut has commissioned many openly gay artists to create ads, such as Andy Warhol, Nereyda Garcia Ferraz, David Spada, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf. Supporting the queer community in 1981 was risky, but they have invested in the community and earned loyalty in return.

Pink Triangle

In the 1930s and 40s, just as Nazi Germany required Jews in the concentration camps to wear a yellow star of David, gay men, bi men, and trans women had to wear a downward-pointing triangle on their chest. The symbol was reclaimed in the 1970's by the queer liberation movement as a symbol against homophobia, and then was adopted widely by the LGBTQ community. The community took this symbol from the holocaust to show we are stronger than the worst done to us.

The pink triangle has largely been replaced by the rainbow Pride flag, and a reason for this is explaining why a pink triangle is the symbol of the community required an explanation of its dark past and therefore was about what others did to us rather than a symbol representing who we are and our hopes & aspirations. Although it isn't used much anymore, it's important to remember the pink triangle as the first widely-adopted visual symbol of the queer community

Ace & Aro Rings

Beginning in 2005, wearing a black ring on the middle finger of your right hand became a way for people to signify their asexuality. The material and design of the ring are not important as long as it is primarily black. It’s about carrying a reminder on our hands that there are others like us, and it's a way to identify each other. A white ring on the left hand of the middle finger is the aro equivalent.

Eyebrow Slits

Eyebrow slits was a trend in the hip hop community in the 1990's and called "eyebrow cuts." The trend fell out of style, but was brought back in the 2010's by some male artists and models as an edgy fashion statement. Lesbians quickly adopted this trend, perhaps as a way of showing they aren't beholden to gendered fashion rules, and it quickly grew in popularity on social media as a way for members of the queer community to express themselves and signal to each other. It seems natural that a fashion style containing an underlying rebelliousness appeals to a group who are marginalized by society. The eyebrow slit trend largely has faded except among the LGBTQ+ community, and so has become associated with us.

Nautical Star Tattoos

For centuries, sailors would get tattoos, often of images with symbolic meanings, such as the nautical star (which represents the North Star) which was believed to ensure a sailor’s safe return home. In the 1940s and 50s, lesbians were navigating the choppy waters of societal norms and expectations, and this five-pointed star tattoo became their compass, helping them find others like themselves. They'd get this tattoo on the inner wrist because it could be covered by a watch strap during the day, allowing women to hide their identity when necessary for their safety or professional lives, but could reveal it in safe spaces. This symbol was revived in the 1970's and is still used by some to this day.

Online "Am I Gay?" Quizzes

A common experience of people who are gay, bi, and pan, is they find an online quiz that will ask a few questions and then determine whether you are gay, or will reveal how gay you are (as though this can be graded like a school test). Sometimes the questions are lighthearted, while others try to be more serious. Here's the thing, more than any quiz results, searching for this type of quiz is probably the biggest indicator that a person experiences attraction to people of their same gender. It can be helpful for someone to have a "confirmation" of how they're feeling, and thus these "am I gay" quizzes will remain a rite of passage many.

Subaru

In the early 1990's, Subaru was struggling. Sales of their dependable but plain cars were in decline. Subaru knew teachers, healthcare professionals, IT professionals, and the outdoorsy types bought 1/2 their cars in America, and they targeted advertisements at those groups. Soon they realized there was yet another core group, lesbians were 4 times more likely than the average American to purchase a Subaru.

Subaru began printing advertisements that made subtle nods to lesbians in a way that slipped past the notice of other Americans, such as having the license plate "XENA LVR" on a car. Many ads had taglines with double meanings. "Get Out. And Stay Out" could refer to exploring the outdoors in a Subaru—or coming out as gay. "It’s Not a Choice. It’s the Way We’re Built" could refer to all Subarus coming with all-wheel-drive—or an LGBTQ identity.

Subaru noticed a group of customers and created ads for them, a group which often felt unwelcome and invisible. The campaign was so successful that it became a stereotype that lesbians drive Subarus, even leading to the word "Lesbaru." Polls show that the queer community views Subaru as the most queer-friendly brand.

[caffieneaddictt18]

Moment of Peace

sorceress!reader travels with geralt and ciri as their healer and ciris mother figure as geralts wife. one relaxing day, reader shows ciri a little party trick that geralt doesnt know yet. ends with geralt and reader play fighting about why she didnt show him but showed ciri; and them all acting like a family

(not my image)

As we finally settle in a meadow, surrounded by forest, I let out a sigh of relief. The feeling of sun against my face and the soft soil beneath me feels amazing.

"Ciri! Y/N! Go collect water. I'll be right back." Geralt commands, but before he can leave to collect wood and sustenance for the night, you stop him and give him a quick kiss.

"Be safe."

"Always am."

Those simple four words are all you need before you walk off into the forest for a few yards, before you come upon a clear water stream. You see Ciri standing in the water and feeling the sun while collecting water. As you join her in the water, she looks up.

"So... why do you allow him to order you around if you're his wife?" Ciri, blunt as ever, asks, not understanding that this is Geralt's way of showing his love.

"He doesn't 'order' me around. It's his way of keeping us safe. I'm a mage and can keep you safe. You're training and can keep me safe. Plus, he goes off and does the dangerous hunting, so we don't have to. It's his way of showing love." I explain his actions and why I react without losing my patience with the way Geralt talks to me.

"Oh. I didn't think about it like that." Ciri ticks her head to the side and continues to collect water.

"Geralt isn't conventional. But he is exactly how I want him. I wouldn't want it any other way." I start towards the bank of the river and continue walking along the greenery of the forest.

As Ciri looked on as you walked, she watched in mystery. The forest seemed to bend to your will. The trees would part to make a path for you and the stones would roll out of the way, leaving only soft soil for you to walk on.

As you both reached your camp site, Geralt was dragging a large deer, and a cloth behind him that was filled. Probably with wood.

You and Ciri both put your jugs down as Geralt drops the sack of wood off near you and walks to the trees to skin the animal for food & it's hide.

You have the sense to build the fire and let Ciri light it later. She's normally sleepy when you build the fire. Makes it easier.

As you both run around, you find a good size patch of daisies.

"Ciri!" You call over the girl, "Come here!"

The blonde girl runs over to see what you're looking at.

"Would you like to learn how to make a daisy chain? You can even put one on Geralt, if you'd like." You throw out the tempting offer to make the Witcher seem silly.

And Ciri quickly agrees. You sit down, careful to avoid the daisies, and show her how to make a daisy chain/flower crown.

As the sun is no longer at its nice, warm heat and enters the baking heat, you take Ciri down to the stream again to clean up. 'The sun will dry us faster' was your reasoning to drag the girl with you.

As you are cleaning your clothes and yourself off, you see Ciri doing the same. Perfect.

"Hey, Ciri! Would you like to see something?"

"Um... What is it?"

"I promise, no harm will come unto you from me. It's just a little party trick."

"Ok..." She waded closer to you as you met her in the middle of the stream.

You magically gathered the sweat and water from Ciri and yourself, throwing it into the air and condensing the clouds around the sun to have more water, allowing the clouds to form a sort of circle around the sun. As the sun continues to shine, the clouds begin turn colors... briefly pink, then a light green, and there's a light blue! (Refer to the picture at the top)

Ciri looks at the sky in awe. "You can do this?" She points to the clouds.

"Yes. When I was at Aretuza, they taught not just politics and magic. They taught basic sciences. This was one of those. I had asked my teacher why there as a rainbow after every rainfall. She explained it to me. Since then, I had been practicing it until I was able to perfect it. Took a couple tries, but it came one day, and it stayed."

"And you never showed me?" A deep, hulking voice inquired from the shadows. Of course, the yellow cat-like eyes gave him away.

"I'm sorry, Geralt. I thought of it as a mere party trick. And it's not like it is helpful when we are off on adventures." I laugh and 'apologize' for not showing my husband sooner.

"You better be sorry!" He charges out of the woods and into the stream, getting both you and Ciri wet again, before lifting you by the waist and carrying you back to base on his shoulder. Everyone was laughing and peace was covering the three of them.

Just a moment of peace.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Cup of Tea:

I am so sorry the ending was bad. I didn't know what to put for the ending so I winged it. Thank you all so much for your love and support of my work! I love to see everyone enjoying it.

[pinazee]

Season 2 final thoughts:

My apologies to my Psych mutuals, my hyperfixation took me on a trip to Hatchetfield and very soon it’ll be in cinderellas castle. It can’t be helped. I plan on finishing my rewatch, especially because I’m about to get into one of my favorite seasons, but it’ll probably be sporadic at best.

Here are my final thoughts on season 2!

This is the official season of lassie stumbling upon shawn and gus by happenstance. He does it in american duos, dis-lodged, black and tan, and im counting lassie standing in front of his pic at the museum. He can push them away as much as he wants but shawns like a boomerang.

I find it incredibly disrespectful that shawn and gus took credit for finding that dinosaur when that one guy literally died for it . Also im pretty sure it would be impossible for a t-rex to be discovered in california because it was all underwater at that time. But thats neither here nor there.

Shawn being a forgery/handwriting expert brings up a funny/depressing image of little shawn having to write lines but in different peoples handwritings

Shawn is an incredibly fast thinker! He saw this scene

And not only deduced what actually happened, but also came up with a cover story for him at the same time.

Word of the day Abulic: abnormal lack of ability to act or to make decisions. Psych writers just casually dropped that little pearl in the middle of a scene in the finale

Overall it was a great season! Juliet got some more scenes, plus her character is beginning to get fleshed out, Gus was even funnier than i remembered, the heartfelt moments were very well acted especially by james who nailed the whole avoidant turmoil of it all. Henry, though, as ive stated in previous posts, is a lot harder to watch as a full fledged adult. He’s just such a prick to shawn any chance he can get. I’m so curious if I’ll be able to forgive him myself down the road. I mean, no wonder Shawn split when he turned 18 and hardly spoke to him again. Man, i wish we could’ve seen Shawn right after he left cause that is one juicy peach. He’d just be all angsty, jumping from one job to the next, getting fired or losing interest (or my personal headcanon is that his gifts of seeing everything kept getting him in some sort of trouble kind of like Poker Face (with natasha lyonne)).

Shawns add’l talents/ random knowledge:

-sketching

-forgery/ handwriting

-can operate a forklift (i think thats what it was lol)

-chess

-tango

-Spanish (honorable mention- he knows enough to speak it passably so i added it) and possibly Portuguese though i bet he just learned the one random phrase to try to trap jann

-acting

-airport codes

Gus niche interests:

-reality tv/ spanish soap operas

-archaeology

-legal tender

-santa barbara models/fashion

Rankings

The Blueberry Tier

American duos

Shawn (and gus) of the dead

Sixty five million years off

Black and tan: a crime of fashion

Nectarina Dulce Tier

Bounty hunters!

Lights, Camera, Homicidio!

Green Apple Jacks t-shirt tier

If you’re so smart then why are you dead

Rob a bye baby

Gus’ dad may have killed an old guy

Theres something about Mira

Did-lodged

And down the stretch comes murder

Psy vs. psy

Genocide of color Tier (somewhere a rainbow is weeping)

The old and the restless

Zero to murder in sixty seconds

Meat is murder…but murder is also murder

[blnk338]

COD Headcanons!!

Pt 2 b/c you guys loved these sm

Relationship hcs!!

Price:

Good chef, GREAT at bbq

Taps his phone screen too hard and squints at it

Googled “Pegging” because Soap told him to

Regrets it dearly

“I’m just going to rest my eyes” and falls into comatose for 8-10 years

Was the best man at Laswell’s wedding and still cries today thinking about it

Does the dad-sneeze thing

Supporter of small businesses

Vanilla > chocolate ice cream will get into a heated argument over this

Will put on a 19th-century oil tycoon accent when asking questions about technology to make light of the situation

This started when he didn’t know how to change the wallpaper on his iPhone

Laswell does an incredible impression of his impression

Crazy emetophobia

HOLIDAY DAD! Absolutely shite with gifts but will wake up at 3 am to set up everything and give you a good holiday

Very comfortable in his masculinity from raising two daughters, made sure to teach himself how to raise them to be smart and safe, and actively does his best to keep himself in check and support the women in his life

Ultimate straight ally

His oldest, 15, made him and her little sister go to pride and he voluntarily wore a shirt that said “free dad hugs”

Gaz:

Got Price to say “Girl trust you will be dealt with” and had to get Soap to punch him so he could breathe again

Fluent in French!

Bisexual w/ a preference for women

Needs two triple-shot espressos every morning

Hates oat milk; thinks it's grainy

Is lactose intolerant though

But he’s not the shit-your-brains-out lactose intolerant, he’s the wallow-in-pain-on-the-bathroom-floor-for-eighty-minutes lactose intolerant

Turkey hater. Not the animal, the food. Thinks it’s dry and flavorless

Okayish cook, phenomenal baker.

Will leave baked goods in the sergeant's/lieutenant's and captain's offices/breakrooms and act surprised when he sees the plate of freshly baked brownies

Tried smoking weed, hated it.

Middle child of an older sister and a younger brother

Didn’t like The Office

Soap:

Can make balloon animals out of anything balloon-like (condoms included)

Has a TikTok, makes TikTok references

Loves cats and dogs equally, but had only dogs growing up so he’s not really sure how to deal with cats

In a constant state of "trying his best"

Dick stick-n-poke tattoo on his calf

30-minute night routine

Double exfoliates

Disgusted at Ghost’s hygiene

Loves the holidays; this man goes fucking insane for Christmas lights and his house is the biggest source of light pollution in the entirety of the UK

RELIGIOUSLY a supporter of small businesses. Loves little family-run stores and buys local produce/groceries all the time

Highlighter kid in grade school

Blamed a fart on Gaz and asked him if he was feeling “Gazzy” (Garrick smacked the shit out of him)

Makes gagging noises over comms to fuck with Price

Knows what kinning is, kins Rainbow Dash

ADHD

Coffee does the opposite for him; he’ll be bouncing off the walls and you’ll hand him a double shot espresso and he’s calm as all fuck

GREAT AT READING SOCIAL CUES THOUGH

Really knows how to read body language and will step back if anyone gets uncomfortable

Youngest of 3 brothers and one older sister (she’s second to oldest amongst his siblings)

König:

Will literally sit at home in full tactical gear

Chess master

Loves horror movies but gets super scared

Likes Scrabble

Bug kid!!!!!

Hates birds. No one knows why.

Doesn’t drink, prefers virgin versions of alcohol

Drunk König is a sad König

Wore headgear because of his teeth when he was in middle school

Favorite color is yellow but does love green!

Will accidentally man-handle people because he forgets his strength

Always so terribly sorry about it

Ghost:

Has had his license revoked an uncountable number of times (currently does not have a license)

Drives

No rizz

Horrifyingly good aim with anything and everything. Will chuck trash across the house and somehow land it in the bin

Will lean his head down slightly if someone he respects (and is shorter than him) is talking

One of those dog people that’s like “I fucking hate cats.” And then you find them napping together, and he’s carrying the cat in the hood of his jacket, and he sneaking them treats, and he’s talking to them in a baby voice…

Wins staring contests, always

Knows his staring is bad, but doesn’t really do anything to change it

Speaking of which, he’s got a horrible German stare (google it)

Spaces out and sways side to side slightly, unaware that he’s been glaring lasers into an unsuspecting private for like a solid forty seconds.

Doesn’t know what kinning is but would kin Winter Soldier / Bucky Barnes

Likes sensory toys but will never buy one because he thinks they’re too obvious.

Really wants a sensory slug

Definitely the jealous type but will not say a single fucking word

Soft spot for animals and young children

Likes drinking for a buzz, but will easily stop himself. He doesn’t like being unaware of his surroundings

Edibles > mass amounts of alcohol

Little fidgeting -> rubbing his thumb across the side of his index finger, squeezing his hands, twitching his feet but not enough to tap them, playing with the hems of stuff

Mirrors in his house are covered/removed

Wants a pet but won’t get one because he doesn’t like the idea of something relying on him, only to abandon them or discard them. He’s away for work often so it’s not like they would be taken care of

Doesn’t actively seek partners because he doesn’t think he’s worth it

Behind the confident, stoic attitude, he’s a man who doesn’t value himself and therefore, if he does have feelings for anyone, doesn’t put in the effort to pursue them or he tries to kill the warm feelings in him.

Better to be alone than to hurt someone he cares about

Graves:

Screams at Football (US) games

Thinks he can out-grill Price; cannot.

Lost his kids in the divorce

Thinks no-sock loafers are the way to go

Doesn’t wear socks that much, actually

Can’t handle spice

Mint n’ chip ice cream kinda guy

Fav beer is Natty Lit

Likes egg salad

Dog guy

Divorced twice, btw

“But if the roles were reversed…”

Doesn’t have a problem with climate change, and thinks that the weather is getting nicer so, if anything, the climate is just getting better

Uses Crest toothpaste

Left-handed and makes a big deal out of it

Gets really up in the ass about calling soccer “football” (not ironically)

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

I saw you reblog the post about the bi flag colors and have potentially a Very Strange question:

Does your synesthesia for lgbtqia+ words coordinate with their respective flags?? I’m not sure why it would because everything we know about synesthesia says it’s organic and not influencable but I’m very curious!!!

...hmm. Let's think.

Queer: no. I love the rainbow, but nah, to me queer is a much greener word - actually, the aro flag is what I feel when I think the word queer. I do get a lot of green from 'aromantic', too, but also red. To me the aro flag would be red, green, white, grey, black.

Bi - yeah, pretty much right I think. But more gold sequins. Blue, purple, and gold sequins. Just a splash

Pan - so 'pansexual' is actually a lot of sunshiney joy that begins with pink, so it's really not bad. I mean the shade of pink is wrong (the word is more baby pink than Barbie pink), but it does give the right overall feeling.

Lesbian - that five stripe orange white and pink one? Perfect.

Gay - Not bad, with the greens and blues. But they should be vertical and darker and only three of them, I think. With a wine red thrown in somewhere. And a rock.

Trans - no. Completely off. It's like a landscape? Two hills, a red lake in the middle, and a coniferous forest on the left. I accept this would be an Odd flag.

Ace - pretty much in tone? And not bad for 'asexual', but 'ace' should be a red-pink-orange ice cream. Like a sundae. Three balls of ice cream. In a dish. With a wafer.

Non-binary: should be circles

Intersex: I cannot stress enough how jagged the word is to me, so the circle is completely off. To me it's all sharp angles. Good colours, but the purple should be more of a red-purple than a blue-purple.

[lululawrence]

may i ask you what is megamix?! I thought it was when the crowd at L shows were doing the rainbow flag, but i just saw a post saying something like 'when L skip megamix knowing it will be on tonight' so i'm 99% sure i don't understand what megamix is lol.. if you can answer this, thanks a lot and sorry to bother! Have a great day!

Oh hey! Yeah, so when people were able to get ahold of the set list before the first show they saw this mysterious wonder listed on there as “megamix” and we didn’t know what that would entail lol was it a new song called megamix? Was it a big mashup of songs? A medley? Who knew!!

When the time came around, we were BLOWN AWAY by the full on blue and green shining through the entirety of all this time and the SUPER COOL AND VIBEY transition that gave Louis a chance to squat and take in the crowd while all color was taken from the lighting and screens on stage so it was a wash of white and grays before suddenly SIBWAWC started with rainbow lighting EVERYWHERE as he sang surrounded by lights… amazing.

So the megamix is the combo of all this time and SIBWAWC, but his blatant use of lighting made it a natural place to wave the rainbow flags, especially since he kept saying “keep it going” right as there wasn’t anything to sing. We felt that was a call of sorts to have us wave rainbows back at him.

So that’s why the rainbows became kind of synonymous with the megamix, Louis literally started it himself! But the Megamix isn’t the rainbows, it’s the two songs he put together for the ultimate queer anthem right smack dab in the middle of his show (most) every night. Hope this helps!!

[aliciavance4228]

I Hate Lore Olympus (Sorry Not Sorry)

Note: I know that "hate" is a big word and that "dislike" is more fitting. But I never thought that I would ever encounter a comic that is so bad from its very beginning, so I have all the right to use it.

I remember that back when I was around 13 I heard for the very first time about Lore Olympus. I was already into Greek Mythology back then, but I hesistated reading/watching Lore Olympus and I remember myself abandoning it exactly in the middle of episode 10.

So I'm going to talk here about every little aspect that I didn't like about it and made me willing to abandon it so far.

The Colors

Look, I know that associating each god with a specific color based either on their role or personality isn't a new idea; we already see that in Disney's Hercules. At first I was like: "That must be interesting. I mean, it’s an easy way to distinguish each one of them, right?" But then I realized that the main reason why the creator chose to do that in the first place was because she wasn't too good at drawing. There are panels in which the characters are looking normal, and others in which they don’t look like themselves. The only thing that indicates you that yes, this is [Insert Name], is purely their color.

Also, I do not like the choice of color for many characters as well. For instace, the only reason why I believe that Hades is blue and Persephone is pink is because of the "boys=blue; girls=pink" stereotype. Also, why are Zeus and Poseidon purple and green, respectively? For me, it would've made more sense if Zeus was either white or golden and if Poseidon was the blue one. For Hades I think that either black (mortuary color), purple (associated with the riches) or at least a shade of grey would've been a better choice. As for Persephone, I think that ivy, teal, liliac and indigo would've all been better options.

Oh, and... why is Minthe red? Judging by her pointy years the creator wanted to make her look like some sort of a she-devil instead of a nymph. Mint green would've been a better color choice for her.

The Art Style on its own

This is a very subjective opinion, but I don't like this way too colorful, cartoonish design. I quess I'm just way too used of Seinen and Josei, lol.

On a serious note though, back when I was 6 I literally had a fairy tale book full of graphic/explicit illustrations. Inside the "Bluebeard" chapter there was literally an image with all of Bluebeard's previous wives beheaded, tied and thrown into a pool of blood. Not a very long time ago we used to tell our kids stories about cannibalism and child abandonment (looking at you, Hansel and Gretel!), because children are capable enough to understand that life isn't just rainbows and love and that bad thing are happening too. Are you really going to tell me that a pre-teen cannot read a comic series unless it's extremely colored and looks like something made by Disney?!

Minthe

You could've made Minthe either Hades' ex or a girl who tried to seduce him while knowing that he is already in a relationship. In these cases I would understand why you would choose to villainize her and turn her into the Big Bad Guy. But the fact that she and Hades were already in a relationship and he was willing to have an affair with another woman without any hesitation justifies her anger completely, anyone would be angry if they would know that their partner is cheating on them. The choice of making Persephone the mistress instead of her and then acting as if Minthe was in fact the bitch all this time is horrible.

Persephone

I want to know:

Why does she look and act like a child? Just because she was initially an "innocent flower girl" or something like that before she was kidnapped in the original myths that doesn’t mean that she has to act straight up like an infant. This kinda reminds of some sort of a Betty Boop situation: she's basically a character with the head of a child put on the body of a grown sexy woman; which not only that makes men thirsty over her, but helps them to easily manipulate her as well.

And look, I know that Homer is partly to be blamed for this as well: he describes her as trim-ankled and buxom all the time, so in this case it's alright to criticize the poet for the amount of unnecessary fanservice. Don't take this part too seriously.

Why is she only 19 whereas Hades is 2000+? Look, I know that even in the original Greek Mythology there is a generational gap between Hades and Persephone, but you could've made her at least a few centuries older. Was it that hard?! In this comic Hades is both physically and mentally WAY older than her, which instantly makes this relationship creepier than in the original myths. What is next, making her a minor?!

Why is she this little cupcake uncapable of doing anything wrong? Give me a complex character as a protagonist, not a Mary Sue. I understand that you wanted a compassionate and emphatic Persephone, but you know that just because someone is nice that doesn’t mean that they're automatically naïve or stupid, nor that they cannot have layers, right?

Hades

Look, I know that for a significant amount of time Hades was considered the equivalent of Satan and by extension depicted as evil by the Christian Hollywood. But just because he wasn't the devil that doesn’t mean that he automatically was this innocent shy awkard cute saint that never does anything wrong and should be raised in glory. You could've at least give him a dark and dour personality: make him morbid, brooding, sarcastic, surly, insufferable... I don't know, just anything. Besides, I don't like how the narrative acts as if he has no fault at all, when it's quite obivious not only that he cheated on Minthe, but that both of them are toxic and abusive in this relationship, not only her.

Ah, and... he's a creep. He's more of a creep here than in the original Greek Myths, and he's literally kidnapping her there. It's very obivious that he likes Persephone only for her body and nothing else. Even Plato wrote: "This is the reason why Haides, who is wise, consorts with her [Persephone], because she is wise." once.

Remember that moment from episode 8 when she asks him to help her with her hair, and he not only that immediately assumes that she wants to have sex with him, but also tells her that they can do that in the kitchen but to be careful because he has loud neighbors or something like that? That was straight up disgusting in my honest opinion and not exactly something that the ultimate gentleman this narrative presents him as would say.

Demeter

I vaguely remember one moment when Demeter shows Persephone a greenhouse or something like that, which turns out to be a cage. I can't tell for the moment if it was a dream or something that actually happened, but depicting Demeter as an overbearing mother is an instant big no for me. If anyone dares to demonize her just because they ship Hades and Persephone then I invite them to sleep in my trash can, no discussion.

Aphrodite

I just want to know why is Persephone more beautiful than the Goddess of Beauty. You cannot make the Goddess of Beauty less attractive than your MC, just because all the focus is on her.

Overall, I am very glad that I didn't continue it, and that because, from what I heard, things are becoming creepier and creepier with each chapter, and the entire comic is an insult to Greek Mythology (I can tell).

[bottlesofrouge]

on one condition.

harry styles x original character

part two.

word count: 8.5K

13 JUNE 2018

jackie: why is my sex crazed neighbor standing at my door asking for you

jackie: i think he has gifts????

14 JUNE 2018

lynn never replies to jackie.

it’s not that she doesn’t care, she just… doesn’t care. why should she accept whatever stupid, empty apology harry’s going to offer her. he wasn’t really sorry, she knew that. she also knew that she really wasn’t angry with him.

she lets things build and build until she finally reaches her breaking point, and unfortunately for harry, he was on the receiving end of one of those snaps. there was nothing more to it.

(she is a little curious as to what his gift was)

“lynn,” jane calls for her attention. the girl was sitting in front of her at one of those stone picnic tables at the park. she has melted ice cream running down her chin, and her hands were covered in stickiness, but god, lynn couldn’t love her any more.

“hmm?” lynn hums, reaching to wipe her messy face before the ice cream has a chance to pool on her shirt.

“i’m just happy you’re here,” she grins at the older girl, and lynn’s heart melts just like the ice cream.

amelia’s dance camp ran later than jane’s today, so lynn decided to take her to the park just because it was easier for her. they wouldn’t have to go all the way home, and jane could entertain herself. but, then they passed the ice cream shop on the corner, and lynn couldn’t say no to her sister’s puppy dog eyes.

so, then they were inside. jane ordered mint chip in a bowl because it was green, and green’s her favorite color. lynn asked for chocolate with rainbow sprinkles on a sugar cone.

they weren't outside for more than two seconds when jane decided she doesn’t like mint after all.

“you can spend the night at my place if you want to tonight.” lynn offers, and she sees the younger girl’s face light up.

“yes! yes!,” she chants, and lynn reminds her to lick her ice cream cone.

✮✮✮

jane, amelia, and lynn are laying in lynn’s bed, watching a random movie that amelia had chosen. growing up, the two of them could never agree on what to watch. ninety nine percent of the time it was because they were all nearly a decade apart (lynn was twelve years older than amelia and twenty two years older than jane). and the other one percent was because amelia just liked causing problems.

but, amelia was older now which meant they could watch more mature movies while jane slept soundly next to them (which is exactly what is happening right now). they were surrounded by tons of blanket and pillows, and more popcorn crumbs and kernels than lynn would like.

honestly, deep down, she didn’t really care. her sisters could turn her apartment upside down and she would happily clean up after them because (most of the time) it meant they were having fun. and she wanted her sisters to have the fun, care-free childhood she didn’t get.

silas: i’m home. i know you must have been worried sick about me since i left.

lynn: you spent a singular night at the airport... did you want me to send a card?

silas: flowers would be appreciated as well

lynn: im glad you got home safe, silas. you know that.

silas: i know, lynn. what are you up to?

silas: besides ignoring jackie.

“amelia, take a picture with me,” her sister leans in the frame and sticks her tongue out. “its for silas.” the middle sister only hums before turning her attention back to the movie.

lynn: attachment: 1 image

silas: pretty girls

lynn: too sweet silas

lynn: im not ignoring jackie im ignoring her neighbor

silas: she said he was hot

lynn: she thought chad was the epitome of hot

silas: fair

“can you maybe turn the ringer off?” amelia’s eyes are still on the television as she speaks.

“yeah, sorry,” she turns the ringer off, and slides her phone away from them. “i wanted to spend time with you tonight anyways. i feel like i never see you.”

“im growing up,” amelia rolls her eyes. “it’s not like i died.”

“i was just saying i missed you.”

and it was true. lynn felt like she rarely saw amelia (besides when she was busy driving her to whatever extracurriculars she was participating in at the moment). she was always out with friends when lynn stopped by for dinner, and really, amelia just didn’t come around as much as jane did.

amelia doesn’t say anything, and the moment’s passed so lynn lets it go, and turns her attention back to the movie. no one speaks again until amelia offers to watch jane in the morning so lynn can attend her hot yoga class.

15 JUNE 2018

"you really didn't have to do this," her finger's tracing the rim of her mug as she speaks. "i said it was fine."

"i know," harry replies. "but i wanted to."

gemma's sitting across from him at some local cafe by her apartment. he missed dinner with her (again) so, now he's up at the crack of dawn (really it was nearing seven in the morning) to make it up to his sister. he didn't necessarily want to be there, but he needed to be. that is if he wanted to save whatever was left of their relationship.

and really, he shouldn't be blamed for missing the dinner. lynn was sleeping in his bed, and he couldn't leave her. what if she woke up and needed something? like a gluten-free beef stew that took fifty-five minutes to make. or maybe a vegan red bean and rice skillet. he definitely didn't spend an hour scouring the internet and his cabinets for an allergen-friendly meal. no, because that would be crazy.

"mom said you were seeing someone," she raises her brow towards her brother, and harry can feel the sweat on his forehead already forming.

"its not anything serious. we're just," he panics and chooses gemma's earlier words. "seeing each other at the moment."

harry doesn't know a lot of things. like why the sky is blue or what the answer to seven thousand times ninety-three is. he doesn't know how wifi works and he doesn't know any other language besides english. but (more importantly) he doesn't know why he told his parents that lynn was his girlfriend.

it slipped out too easily. they were sitting in some restaurant a few days after, and his mom asked about her and he said it. it was supposed to be a joke because they had known each other for mere days, but then he saw the look in her eyes and he couldn't tell her that they didn't exchange more than five words with each other since they left that stupid barbecue.

"well, i'd like to meet her," gemma's grinning at him and it makes him sick to his stomach. "whenever you're serious and not just seeing each other at the moment."

"yeah," he smiles back at her, trying to ignore the bile rising in his throat. "for sure."

maybe he wouldn't be in this mess if he just would've talked to lynn when he ran into her on campus the other day instead of opening his goddamn mouth and letting whatever misogynist bullshit fall from it.

and if that wasn't humiliating enough, showing up at her friend's apartment with chocolates was icing on the cake. her friend (who he now knows as jacqueline) was so incredibly nice, but he probably looked like a complete psychopath. just showing up at a stranger's house... looking for someone that didn't even live there. he hated himself so much.

he looks at his sister for a second and instantly wishes he hadn't. growing up, he always felt like he was looking in a mirror when he looked at her. the two had the same dark brown hair and green eyes. their smiles were a bit lopsided, and their laughs sounded nearly the same.

now, when harry looks at his sister, he sees everything he's missing. gem graduated college at the top of her class, and she earned her spot as a top public relations specialist for a marketing company having only worked there for a year. she's married the love of her life, and they own a house that's close to his parents. gemma's family dinner invitations never get forgotten, and never once has her wedding invitation "gotten lost in the mail". harry's never seen his mom give her that look (except for the time she landed in the county jail), and their dad always, always lets her know just how proud she makes him.

harry wishes he was her sometimes.

the two siblings sat at the table for nearly an hour. she talked about andrew, and his absolute obsession with model trains. harry thought it was rather interesting, but gemma thought it was the hottest thing ever (ew). she filled him in on the extended family drama that she learned about at last month's family dinner, and he doesn't know how to tell her that he'd rather talk about anything else. really, anything. so, he brings up drew's model train collection again.

gemma's running late to work, so harry takes their used mugs to the drop-off station and follows her out of the coffee shop. saying goodbye to his sister was always bittersweet. bitter because he really did love her. she had the kindest soul and cared for him so much. honestly, he rarely saw her, but that was mostly his own doing. they lived thirty minutes apart and most days the drive seemed a bit too much.

saying goodbye was sweet because he felt like he could finally breathe when she was gone. gemma was suffocating in the most motherly way possible.

"i'll come see you," she says with her arms around his neck. "and... what did mom say her name was? lynn?"

there's a hum a few feet away from them and harry opens his eyes to see lynn standing less than two feet away from them.

it's honestly like a scene from a movie, and harry is punching the fucking wall (metaphorically of course) because how could something like this happen in real like. if the two would've said goodbye inside like gemma insisted, this entire thing could've been avoided.

he's staring at her with so much intensity, begging her silently to please not say anything. but, he's harry, and nothing good ever happens to harry.

"wow harry, brown hair and pretty green eyes. you must be really restraining yourself," and in any other situation, he would've laughed because, he'll admit, lynn was funny.

"who's this?" gemma's looking in between them and harry just really wants to die.

"i'm lynn," she reaches out her hand. "and you must be his-"

"my sister!" he interrupts. he pulls his shirt collar away from his neck. when did it get so hot outside? "lynn this is my sister, gemma. gemma, this is lynn."

"oh wow, this is such a great coincidence," gemma's smiling at lynn. "i'm running late, but you two should come over this weekend. drew and i would be happy to cook dinner. it's been so long since harry's had a partner."

lynn looks over the top of her glasses at harry, and she's smiling one of those fake smiles that don't reach her eyes, and fuck, he was done for. he could feel his heart beating all the way in his fingertips, and he's not sure what he's embarrassed more by. the fact that lynn knows he's lied to his sister, or the fact that she just told everyone on the street corner that he hasn't dated anyone in so long.

"actually," lynn says, and that smile is still glued to her face. "harry, why don't you tell her?"

"we were going to invite you to mine this weekend," harry's talking so fast that lynn can't get a word in. "i'll text you, alright? you've got two minutes," harry taps his watch, and gemma's eyes widen. she hugs harry, and yells a goodbye to lynn as she's running into her office building next door.

"your partner," lynn's looking at him with her arms crossed in front of her. "as if i would ever be with someone like you."

"you don't know me, lynn," he rubs his eyes, trying to push whatever tears were threatening to fall back in. because really, he shouldn't be crying, but he was absolutely mortified. maybe if he stood close enough to the edge of the sidewalk, a student driver would clip him. not enough to kill him, but a little amnesia and maybe a light coma would be pleasant.

"look, im sorry, okay? i didn't mean to make you-" his voice cracks and suddenly death by student driver isn't sounding too bad. "i want to talk if you're up for it. we can grab dinner there," he nods his head towards a random restaurant across the street. "maybe tonight at 7? only come if you want. no pressure. i don't even have your phone number so no annoying texts or unwanted phone calls."

he doesn't even wait for her to respond before turning around and feeling the hot, fresh tears slide down his face. he shouldn't be crying. there was no denying that. but, harry hasn't felt this humiliated since his mom held that make-shift intervention. he knows it's a little dramatic, but he would rather drop dead than feel this level of embarrassment ever again.

embarrassment has always been harry's least favorite feeling. his body always went warm, and his face and ears burned so badly, he knew they were hot to the touch. he hated feeling that way because his body was so telling. anyone around him would be able to tell that he was completely humiliated, and that just made him feel horrible.

when he gets back to his apartment, jacqueline is just walking out of hers. if he's quiet enough, he thinks he'll be able to go undetected because the girl always takes the stairs. no matter the time of day or how many bags of groceries she was carrying, jacqueline would never be caught taking the elevator.

except for today, apparently, because as soon as she locks her door, she turns to the right and starts making her way to the elevator.

"hey," she smiles warmly at him. "headed to professor sullivan's class?"

"fuck," harry bangs his head on his door a little too hard before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. how did he manage to forget the singular class he has been attending nearly every day for the last two weeks?

he clears his throat and turns to offer jacqueline a smile, but it comes across in a way that suggests he might be going slightly crazy. "uh, i don't think so. maybe next time."

"are you sure? she has a really strict attendance policy," jacqueline says. honestly, harry hates the idea of taking a journalism class, and he wasn't sure why a fifth one was added into the course study. he was majoring in public relations and to him at least, five journalism classes was overdoing it just a bit. "you can come over and copy my reading notes if you'd like. then, you can drive us so we won't be late."

"are you sure?"

"i really don't want to take the bus if im being honest," harry laughs a little before telling her he'd be right back.

he gets his school bag from the desk in his room, and meets jacqueline in her apartment. the two sit on her couch while harry copies her notes from whatever reading they were supposed to do over night. the girl offers harry coffee, and comes back from her kitchen with a to-go coffee cup filled with the best oat milk latte harry has ever tried.

"thanks again for the notes, jacqueline," harry says, closing his notebook and leaning further back into her couch. the cushions are so soft. he could probably fall asleep right now.

"please, call me jackie. consider the notes a thank you for driving me," she smiles at him, and harry takes a moment to really look at her. jackie looked the complete opposite of lynn. she had dark, curly hair and deep brown eyes. her skin was tan, and she was significantly shorter than him. she's always smiling, even after taking the ungodly amount of stairs, and harry thinks she's probably the nicest person he's ever met.

"we can carpool from now on," he says. "since i'll be going there anyways."

she offers him another warm smile and decides that they should get going because jackie hates being late, and to her, being on time is still considered late. they take the elevator down to ground level (thank god), and she follows him to his car. harry silently thanks whatever higher being may be listening for convincing him to throw away all of his tear-stained and snot-filled drive-thru napkins from earlier.

"i tried to give lynn your gift by the way," jackie says while looking out the window. "i don't want you to think i didn't."

"thank you," he replies. "i shouldn't have brought them. i just felt bad and... i don't know. it was stupid of me."

"it wasn't," she speaks with such sincerity, it makes harry smile. "she's not usually like this," jackie lets such a long sigh out, and harry can see her breath fogging up the window. "the lynn i grew up with would've written you a five-page thank you note just because you thought of her."

harry knows jackie's only venting, but he isn't really sure what to say. he didn't really know either of them, but he can't help but wonder what exactly she meant by that.

"sorry," she smiles at him again, and harry wonders if that's the only facial expression she ever makes.

"there's nothing to be sorry for," he replies, and she turns back to look out the window.

the two sit next to each other in class, and harry is glad to see that jackie seems to hate professor sullivan's lectures just as much as she does. he finds himself constantly checking the clock, and it's like the minute hand barely moves in between each glance. the longest he's gone without looking so far has been a whopping seven minutes.

during a particularly long speech about the importance of credibility, which is something harry had learned about during his first year here three years ago, jackie leans over and scribbles in the top corner of his notebook. when she leans back, harry takes a look at what she wrote.

omg move on already

he feels himself grinning as he pencils a 'god i know' in the margins of her notebook.

the two do this back and forth for the entire lecture, writing to each other when professor sullivan went on rant after rant. and when professor sullivan pointed at harry to answer some question he wasn't paying attention to, jackie answered for him, pretending like she couldn't tell who the woman was pointing to.

"she gives the worst lectures. i swear im always on the brink of falling asleep." jackie says as the two walk down the hallway of the very oversized communications building.

"tell me about it," harry accidentally bumps into her with his arm. "i don't even know why this was added to my course study."

"yours too? they added two to mine right as i'm about to graduate."

"that sucks," harry says. "i've got to make a stop real quick. is that alright?"

"actually, my next class is in twenty minutes upstairs," jackie slows down her walking and nods to the staircase a few feet in front of them. of course, she's taking the stairs.

"alright," harry says. "if you ever want to study or anything, my front door is always unlocked."

"i'm not sure if you're serious, but you shouldn't go around telling people that," she jokes. "i'll see you tuesday?"

"tuesday it is," he nods.

jackie offer a small wave as he leaves, and harry feels a little sick the entire seven-minute drive back to his apartment. he wasn't sure if it was the fact that he was going to have to face lynn now, or the fact that he didn't know if she was coming that made him so anxious, but that doesn't stop him from throwing up in the community trash can.

picking out an outfit feels like the hardest thing harry's ever done since he spent a week in an organic chemistry class. he didn't really know where they were eating, and he didn't know if he was supposed to be trying to impress lynn. the only thing he did know was another mick jagger cosplayer comment might be just what he needs to set him over the edge. he opts for jeans and a white polo shirt from his short-lived student coaching stint at the beginning of freshman year.

harry's deciding which cologne to wear (or if he should wear any at all because what if strong smells give lynn a headache) when he throws up again.

the drive to the restaurant feels way shorter than when he had made it earlier today. it was like he had blinked and he was there. the nearly hour-long drive with rush hour traffic was a complete blur.

he decides to sit on a bench that was conveniently located outside. the restaurant seemed to be a tex-mex situation and harry wanted to cry because that was his least favorite kind of food. he loved mexican food, but there was something about white people putting their own spin on dishes that kind of grossed him out.

he waits for ten minutes, and then twenty, and by this time harry's starting to get a little embarrassed. the amount of times the hostess came out to ask if he was ready to put his name in for a table was already at three, and he thinks he'll have to leave the country if it reaches five.

she comes out the fourth time around 7:30 and harry gives her his name because firstly, he's starving. and second, he cannot let her ask a fifth time.

"if your date doesn't show up, i get off in twenty," she winks at him and harry can feel his cheeks warm. he licks his lips and goes to take her up on her offer because she was insanely attractive and harry was incredibly bored.

"no need," lynn is standing next to him with one of her fake smiles on her face. "if you would've given me more than a second of your time, i could've told you i was free at 7:30," she says, leaning down so her lips were level with his ear. she kisses his cheek before standing up and asking the hostess if their table was ready.

"you could've texted," harry says as they follow the girl. "you have my number."

lynn looks at him with furrowed brows, and harry taps his forehead. "that's right. you ignored the gift i left with your friend."

"so flowers are supposed to make up for what you said?" lynn crosses her arms in front of her at the table, and orders a double jack and coke when the waiter stops by a second later.

"i'll have a water, please," harry smiles politely and waits until the guy leaves before turning back to look at lynn. "they were chocolates actually."

"even worse," she stares at him blankly before yawning, like spending time with harry is the most boring thing to do in the world.

"i really didn't owe you anything," being around lynn brings out the worst in him. "me saying that women thank me for bringing them home is somehow worse than you continuously implying i have this great big fantasy of fucking myself, right?"

"you're right," she takes a drink from her jack and coke. "i was having a rough day. i'm sorry."

harry gasps and puts his hand over his chest. "lynn apologizing? did hell just freeze over?"

"ha ha. you're so funny, harry," her tone is robotic. "but i mean it. i'm sorry. and i have a proposition for you."

"what might that be?" harry leans forward, and lynn raises her brow like she's expecting harry to say whatever sexual innuendo he's biting back. and of course he doesn't make it because that would be wildly inappropriate (but it definitely involves the bright red lipstick she's wearing).

lynn asks him if he would be interested in fake dating her, and harry sits there as she explains it and pretends like that wasn't the entire reason he had invited her out to the restaurant in the first place. he was expecting to beg, maybe even get on his hands and knees, so he was happy to sit back and watch lynn list out all of the pros and cons with pleading eyes while he enjoyed the taco salad he had ordered a little while prior.

he feels a little bad for not interrupting her before she got to the ten-minute mark of her very well thought out proposal. she even included how she was completely okay with labeling it as an open relationship so harry could sleep with whoever he wanted whenever he wanted without worrying that someone they knew might see them, and he had to admit that that condition alone made his answer an immediate yes.

"i'll do it on one condition," harry drinks from his water glass and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "you can't fall in love with me."

"ah, there's the harry i know," lynn flicks her crinkled straw wrapper at his face, and it lands in the middle of his salad. he frowns and tries to fish it out with his fork, but he decides he's not really that hungry anymore. "something tells me that won't be a problem."

17 JUNE 2018

in her twenty seven years of being alive, lynn has never met her boyfriends' families. of course she met luke's, but lynn had known liz and robert way before she and luke were even a thing, so it felt wrong to count that. her college boyfriend's parents were dead (or so he told her for the entirety of their relationship), and the guy she saw briefly after him never became serious enough for her to even learn his parents' names.

so, here she was, sitting at a dinner table surrounded by harry's immediate family. harry had cooked some kind of italian chicken dish that lynn had to chase with a gulp of wine after each bite. it wasn't that it was that bad, she just hated chicken (and also it was that bad).

she had expected it to be awkward, meeting his parents and sister for the first time, but this was borderline unbearable. no one really spoke besides his dad when he would ask gemma about her new promotion at whatever company she worked for. his sister always answered with a polite smile, but lynn could tell it made her uncomfortable by the pitying glances she would give harry after she answered.

"so, lynn," marianne lightly dabs her mouth with a napkin. "your mom tells me you dropped out of school to work in a bakery. any plans of going back?"

john laughs under his breath at this, and lynn feels her face growing incredibly hot. "not at the moment, no."

"well certainly that'll change, right? i don't think decorating cakes would be a long-term career for someone who seems intelligent like yourself," his dad says. marianne scolds him quietly, and lynn can feel harry tensing next to him.

part of her wants harry to stick up for her, but he doesn't. instead, he pushes his food around his plate, doesn't even look up from the table. each second of silence that passes feels more suffocating than the last.

"i think six figures for overseeing my bakery that i spent years building is a pretty good career, don't you think, john?" it comes out so incredible rude, but lynn means it. she wasn't going to sit around and feel belittled by grown adults. harry might be able to sit back and take it, but there was no way in hell she was going to do the same.

"kathleen didn't mention it was yours," marianne smiles at her like she's trying to diffuse whatever situation is brewing. "sounds like lots of hard work. we'll have to stop by sometime."

"yeah, maybe," lynn's offering the older woman a smile that was just as fake as hers, and she feels harry nudging her with his elbow as if she was the one who did something wrong. she wasn't going to apologize or whatever the fuck harry wanted her to do, so instead she excuses herself to the bathroom.

when lynn had brought up the idea of fake dating, she had assumed it would be more of a social media relationship. he could change his facebook status to in a relationship —with lynn adams, and lynn would post a few instagram stories. nothing too crazy, just a little soft launching to keep her friends off her back. nothing could have prepared her for something like this.

when she returns to the table, her dinner dish is cleared, and instead there is a small dessert plate sitting in it's place. there's a sheet cake sitting in the center of the table, and gemma is smiling uncomfortably as her husband takes a picture of her with it. when she sits down, she's able to catch the "congratulations gemma" written in pink icing. god, this was going to be a long night.

lynn's in the kitchen washing the dinner dishes when his family decides to call it a night. they don't come in to say goodbye to her, and she thanks god because lynn doesn't think she could stand to be around them for two more minutes.

"lynn," harry's leaning against the door frame, and lynn keeps her back to him. she shuts off the water even though half of the dishes were still remaining, and dries her hands with the dish rag sitting next to the sink.

"lynn," he tries again. "i'm sorry."

"why don't you stand up to them?" she leans against his sink. "i would never let my dad talk to you like that, harry. especially if you were doing me a favor like this."

"what?" his eyes move from the ground to her face. "what about the way you spoke to him?"

"im not apologizing for that," she scoffs. "he had no right to speak to me like that."

"he's an adult and you're-"

"an adult too," she pushes past him because quite honestly she was done with this conversation. lynn puts on her shoes by his front door and ignores harry repeatedly asking her where she's going before storming over to jackie's apartment.

18 JUNE 2018

"yeah, she's here," she hears jackie's sleepy voice coming from her front door. "sorry she worried you, harry. see you tomorrow."

lynn pretends she's been fast asleep when jackie gently rubs her arm and asks if she wants to move to the guest room.

19 JUNE 2018

"im just saying, why do we have to still be in class when she doesn't."

"okay, you've got a point," jackie's swinging her feet while she sits on the stool at his breakfast bar. "at least we get to work together though."

harry passes her mug across the bar, "yeah, i guess so."

professor sullivan canceled their class today, and instead sent everyone a link to a hefty seven-five-question pop quiz, and harry was less than thrilled about it. especially because the cancellation email was sent out thirty minutes before class started.

"i think we should take yours first. that way we can use my course material to answer," jackie takes a sip of the coffee harry made her and hums. "and then we can take pictures of each answer and use them to answer mine."

and that's what they do. harry reads the question, jackie looks up the answer, and then he takes a photo of whatever answer they've selected. it takes nearly an hour and a half and three cups of coffee to complete the seventy-five questions. harry even apologizes at one point because his folgers and chobani sweet cream coffee creamer is no match to jackie's oat milk lattes. she only smiles at him, and takes a second cup.

"oh my god," harry leans over to look at the girl's laptop screen.

"we should've known the questions were going to be in random order," harry taps his phone screen. "i can take yours for you if you want. so you don't miss your next class."

"thanks, but that one was canceled, too. i think they're having a power outage in that building."

jackie and harry sit there for another two hours taking her quiz. she reads the first few words of three questions at a time and harry goes through all seventy-five photos to see which one held the correct answer. the two move from coffee to the half-empty bottle of red wine harry had started drinking last night, and by the time they're done, they're sitting on his couch with merlot-stained lips and two '96%'s displayed on their laptop screens.

and harry really doesn't know what led to them eating dinner at his kitchen table, but they do. they're eating cheap chinese food right out of the container along with a few more glasses of red wine. at one point, they forget the glasses altogether and pass a freshly opened bottle back and forth between them until it's nearly empty.

"i don't think you're as mean as lynn says you are," jackie says, her lips pressed to the bottle.

harry feels like he's been punched in the stomach when he realizes lynn had told her about their situation. not because he was embarrassed, but because he really, really wanted to taste the merlot on jackie's lips.

"it's an open relationship," harry says, and jackie offers him a closed-lipped smile. "we could-"

"ask me another time," the girl interrupts. "when i haven't had a bottle of wine."

jackie stands up and takes most of their dinner mess to the kitchen before harry stands up to help her. they throw most of it away, and jackie puts their dirty silverware into his dishwasher.

they're standing by his front door a few moments later. neither of them are talking, but jackie's looking at harry in a way that makes his entire body warm.

"for the record," her finger runs along the side of his hand. "i really wanted to say yes. goodnight harry."

22 JUNE 2018

lynn's been sitting outside jackie's apartment with two full boxes of pastries she had stolen from her bakery before it closed today for at least twenty minutes. she knocked for a solid five minutes before resorting to calling the girl. she had gotten to call number thirty-seven when the elevator dinged and jackie walked out with harry trailing right behind her.

"hey," lynn calls for their attention. "i've been calling you."

her friend shrugs and lynn pretends not to notice the way harry's lips are faintly stained red. or the way the red is the exact same shade as the girl's lipstick. "must've left my phone."

jackie unlocks her door and invites the two inside and lynn waits for harry to be right behind her before whispering an "expected nothing less" which makes harry roll his eyes.

"you said this was an open relationship, lynn," harry says. the two are whisper arguing in the doorway of the apartment while the sound of jackie rummaging through her liquor cabinet echoes around them.

"yeah, open as in you're free to sleep with a random girl from the bar. i didn't mean..." her voice falls because she's not really sure what she meant. "whatever, these are for your parents. my apologies for being a bitch the other night."

"maybe you should bring them back tomorrow... for the dinner you're supposed to be attending."

"i'd actually rather kill myself," she says. "tell them i said hello."

"you promised, lynn," his voice is soft. like he's pleading with her rather than yelling at her in a way that jackie can't hear, and he's rocking on his feet moving just the slightest bit closer to her.

"and you promised you'd come to my sister's dance recital today," she pushes the boxes further into his chest. "i can assume you were busy with something other than your journalism quiz."

"something in addition to my journalism quiz," and lynn wants to smack the smirk right off of his face. this whole thing made her feel a little sick. "please lynn, i'll come to the next one. i swear."

"since you've supplied the last two times," jackie's standing in front of them with a bottle of jack in one hand and two cans of coke in the other. she smiles one of the smiles lynn used to find so comforting, but this time, it only makes her stomach churn.

it wasn't even two weeks ago when jackie was so concerned about her. she doesn't understand how she could go from that to whatever the hell she was doing with harry. lynn wouldn't have minded (at least she thinks so), but jackie could've at least asked her. harry was her boyfriend after all.

lynn leaves jackie's apartment with the two pastry boxes, dinner plans for tomorrow, and silas on facetime.

"please tell me it's not as weird as it makes me feel," lynn props her phone against the dashboard so she can see silas's face.

"honestly el... you're sure you told her you were together?"

lynn nods and turns her blinker on to get out of the complex. "after i told her how horrible he had been to me, too."

she had already told silas about the fake relationship because the two tell each other everything. "he probably showed a little interest in her. think about it. chad and her broke up how long ago and she still talks about it."

"i don't think she's that desperate for male attention."

"maybe not. but definitely desperate enough for attention from people who resemble chad."

lynn hums, "yeah probably."

"i cannot put into words how much i hate chad." silas says. "jackie deserved so much better than him."

"what if harry's that, and im just standing in their way?"

silas frowns at her. "i find harry extremely attractive, but i would never do that to you, lynn. open relationship or not. there's just some lines you don't cross."

"yeah," she's not sure if she agrees with silas entirely. "i don't know. we're not even together. i have no reason to be mad."

"she thinks you two are together. that's a little fucked up, lynn," and really she's nothing but grateful for silas. he always made everything feel just a little bit more okay. like she wasn't crazy for being upset with jackie. "i'll talk to her and see where her head's at."

"have i told you how grateful i am for you?"

"not today," he grins. "but i do take venmo and paypal. i'll send the handles your way."

[sixminutestoriesblog]

st. patrick's day

Saint Patrick's Day! Green beer, green clothes, parades and corned beef and cabbage for all! In America, we have a lot of traditions associated with St. Pat's Day and a pleasure in celebrating them whether we're Irish or not - heck, even whether we understand them or not.

So let's take a look at some of the ways we celebrate and what we get wrong - and right.

To start with the man himself, Saint Patrick wasn't Irish. Patrick grew up on the Britain side of things. This doesn't make him British however. At the time, the Isle of Britain was run, mostly, by the Romans and letters from Patrick that have survived see him not only writing them in Latin but signing them as Patricius. Whether he was Roman by birth is still a mystery to this day but his family is believed to have been part of the Roman aristocracy. At sixteen, he was kidnapped and ended up in slavery as a shepherd in Ireland before eventually escaping back to Britain. After receiving training however, he returned to Ireland as a missionary and the rest is - well, not history but certainly lore.

There's some speculation, in fact, that the Saint Patrick of myth was actually two men. Saint Patrick the escaped slave and a bishop sent by Pope Celestine in 431 named Palladius to support the 'Irish believing in Christ' that already lived there.

Did he, or they, at least drive out the snakes? Legend says that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland and the island has been slither free since. The truth is - according to fossil records, Ireland never had any snakes to drive out. Ireland was under an ice sheet up until the last glacial period and after that it was safely surrounded by water. To save a little bit of the story, some historians believe 'driving out the snakes' was more of a metaphor for driving out the pagan religions of that time instead.

But we totally wear green to avoid getting pinched! Right? Actually - yes. Though the pinching is supposed to come from mischievous leprechauns, not your over-enthusiastic siblings. Apparently, leprechauns can't see you if you're wearing green and therefore, they can't pinch what they can't see. Given our decorations featuring the little people dressed all in green, you'd think that would make it hard for them to find each other but - not really. You see, traditionally - leprechauns wore red.

The pot of gold, sometimes at the end of the rainbow though - that's real(ish).

So is the leprechauns' strange blind spot with green why everything's green on St. Pat's Day? Not really. Green is associated with Ireland, the Emerald Isle, these days but for most of its history, Ireland, and St. Patrick's, color - was blue. Green recently came into prominence during Ireland's struggle with England. Green came to be associated with the Irish side of things and wearing green was a way to show which side of that you were on. The green beer/food though? That's entirely an American thing.

Speaking of green beer, the drinking is an American thing as well. Or, at least, the 'this is a traditional part of the holiday'. In Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day has long been a Catholic religious holiday - and it also happens to fall in the middle of Lent. Originally, the day had a lot more to do with going to church than to the local pub. Which isn't to say no one in Ireland celebrates the holiday with a drink. 'Drowning the shamrock' involved pouring whiskey over a shamrock in the bottom of a glass. The whiskey is then drunk and the soaked plant is thrown over your left shoulder to complete the tradition - and get you some extra luck.

Shamrocks being considered lucky is a part of the holiday. Called 'seamroy' by the ancient Celts, the shamrock was considered a sacred plant. St. Patrick was also supposed to have used the three leaves of the plant to explain the Trinity during his sermons. Like the clover, finding a four leaf shamrock is good luck and five leaves promises a future of vast wealth!

So, yes, a lot of our St. Pat's Day traditions aren't exactly... traditional. Don't discount them or their importance however. Many of the ways we celebrate St. Patrick's Day today are the direct results of Irish immigrants to America. The parades, the corned beef and cabbage, the celebration of Irish traditions - those were all created in the mid to late 1800s by Irish Americans that wanted to celebrate their heritage. So don't feel bad for indulging in a day of parties and eating your favorite food.

Just remember to cut a cross in your soda buns to 'let the devil out' before putting them in the oven to bake for the holiday.

[myunghology]

8 — shitty debates : first and last love — scaramouche x fem reader smau

written work utc!

GUIDE

normal white colored text is you / [name]

normal red colored text is hutao

normal orange colored text is lumine

normal blue colored text is xingqiu

blue colored text with bold is chongyun

purple colored text is scaramouche

red colored text with bold is heizou

orange colored text with bold is aether

normal green colored text is xiao

green colored text with bold is venti

white colored text with bold is kazuha

white colored text with “ ” is anyone / everyone ?

LET'S START!

—

"hello everyone, my name is kaedehara kazuha and I'll be your host for this debate night. since it's our first time— let's ask some of our players what they think."

"to be honest—"

"wait heizou, I didn't tell you to speak."

“NAUUURRRRRR”

heizou covers his mouth slightly, sarcastically hanging his lead down in shame.

"xiao, please give your thoughts.”

"..."

"well—"

“HEY IT'S XIAOS TURN!!!”

"😞...."

"okay you know what, I'll just stop asking. Let's choose the teams based on the topics. which popcorn do you dig the most? savory, or caramel?"

"dig the most..?

"shut up stop complaining"

—

[name], hutao, lumine, xingqiu, chongyun - savory

scaramouche, aether, venti, xiao, heizou - caramel

—

"okay.. I'll go first." venti tilts his head, "I'm gonna go easy this time. I will argue logically."

"Caramel is sweet, right? If you eat something sweet, your mood becomes sweet as well."

"I thought you said you'd argue logically."

"[NAME]??"

"... You'd become a sweet person, and warm hearted— which makes you attractive."

"..after eating popcorn?"

"STOP. anyway, you can become a sweet guy."

"there's no such thi—"

"LET ME HAVE MY MOMENT."

"eating caramel popcorn will make you sweet, so—"

"life isn't all sugar and rainbows"

"venti i know you're our teammate but please stop embarrassing us"

hutao points her pen towards heizou at the other end of the room, "the fact that heizous making that face means that he, himself doesn't understand your logic."

"..let me say one thing—"

"it's still our turn. nowadays, people eat popcorn while drinking cola, caramel popcorn + cola, sugar + sugar"

"AHHH that's dangerous"

then suddenly, aether speaks up, and stands up from his seat, walking in the middle of the two tables facing each other.

"everyone, do you believe in fate?"

"no"

he looks down and go backs to his seat in embarrassment, but then goes back to the middle again.

"well.. I believe in fate, everyone, soulmates, really do exist. just like scaramouche and [na]—"

“AEEEEYYYYY. TOO SOON.” everyone yells, "Are you going to announce it yet?"

"everyone... sweet caramel makes you.. sweet."

lumine and xingqiu yawn sarcastically, "the candy called sour and sweet, right?"

"it doesn't work." he says as he goes back to his seat.

".. what happens when you eat caramel popcorn? your hands get sticky, right?"

"ah, I don't use my hands, I just eat from the box."

"motherfucker what are you a dog?"

"so, what happens then?"

".. rub your hands to the person right next to you."

"GROSS"

"now, savory taste also blends in salty taste, salty and savory— then you will become, salty—"

"stop saying such ridiculous things!"

“AHAHAHAHAHAH [NAME]”

—

we'll be right back. (no we won't)

> previous | main mlist | next <

SYPNOSIS scaramouche accidentally meets a girl on a late night while he was on vacation. it was cold and there were fireworks. soon, they had become friends after a week, but then scaramouche had to go back home, but unfortunately he forgot to ask for her number. now he's trying to look for them, he doesn't know why, but he felt like he should.

TAGLIST, opened! send in an ask to be added because i won't be accepting comments. if your name isn't highlighted, it means i cannot tag you. please notify me if you've change your user. 🏷 @kunikame @plinkuro @cherrybeomgyu @sakiimeo @lez-zuha @blurr3db3rry @rvoulte @mcchaoticgrimreaper @jiminscarmex @euhla @dazaisfavgf @phoenix-eclipses @cerisearan @myspacekuni @katsumikumo @alatusorrow @beriiov @aikochan4859 @giggles8899 @thenightsflower @tsukuyo-kou @cupiditis @alwaysmentallyill @tjjjrsj @jinxnotpowder @arraxthatsonjah @invaderzia1 @akagism @lisaslittle-helper @lfgceo @eimuros @aloveablechaos @kiyuuyu @elysiasbae @dollpoetwriting @jiyua @moonbunny-fl @lxry-chxn @bleedingwhiteroses222 @xingyunclouds @vvyeislazzy @skimm0nzz @yoitslei @meigalaxy @iwishitwas @simp4bakuh03 1/2

[lukecastellanshandholder]

It's thinking about Percico/ Nicercy hours tonight so I want to talk about an idea that I'm actually writing about in one of my many wips, but I wanna talk about NOW!

Imagine if everything would've gone wrong in the giant war. Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Jason and Reyna end up dying in the war. Percy and Annabeth die closing the doors of death while the others die fighting Gaia. Leaving Nico alone, with no true pillar. He's heartbroken after Percy dies, full of guilt, hatred towards himself, anger towards the fates for taking away his one true love forever. Taking another important person away from him again. For making it where he couldn't protect Percy as he had promised himself that he would do years ago.

He takes that anger and heartbreak to the battle field and manages to help land the final blow on Gaia, with Jason's sacrifice and Leo's help as well. Just to find out that he had lost another sister and another person that he was starting to consider a friend.

Everything leaves Nico numb. He feels like he has nothing and no one else to lose because... He honestly didn't. Not anyone that he truly cared about.

So when the gods offer Nico Godhood as a token of their appreciation, he doesn't turn them down. He saw it a fitting punishment, one that would last an eternity, one that he would spend alone.

He becomes a death god, the god of heroic deaths. And wasn't that just ironic.

He doesn't ever think about taking any kind of lovers, because no one would ever compare to the one that he truly loved. Besides, he didn't deserve any happiness, at least that's what he thought. He let all of his loved ones die, why should he be the one alive and happy. If anyone deserves those things, they were Percy and the others.

Even with his newly acquired God hood, Nico was never able to track down the souls of his friends. It seemed that they had all chosen rebirth. He had resigned himself to never seeing them again and moved on.

It was a good 100 years after the Giant war that something happened. Nico was out in the city, walking aimlessly as he tended to do when he wasn't really busy. He stopped at a park, a big water fountain in the middle with the sun shining off of the water and looking to form rainbows. The sound of the water rushing and gurgling. Water. It reminded him of-

"Hey mister, are you ok?"

Nico raised an eyebrow and looked over to his right. It wasn't often that mortals acknowledged or even saw him, so he was a bit surprised that a kid had come up and talked to him.

When he got a good look at the kid looking up at him, he felt everything stop.

There was a power that came with him being a death god, he was not only able to see a person's soul, but he was also able to see the lives that a single soul had lived just by looking into their eyes.

The first thing he saw were green eyes that resembled the color of the ocean, what followed was a tsunami of memories from a past life that was full of so much pain and tragedy. One that was cut way too short. A past life that Nico himself was a part of.

The past life of Percy Jackson.

Nico could only stare at the young boy that stood in front of him. The boy had the same color eyes as Percy and they looked similar, but he did look different compared to his Percy. So much lighter, not burdened with trauma from the past unlike Percy had been.

But Nico had found Percy's soul, or moreso it seemed to have found him.

Nico barely registered another voice calling from across the park until the boy looked over to a friendly looking man who Nico could only assume was the boys father. "Sorry, mister. I have to go. But... Make sure to take care of yourself, ok? Promise me."

Nico blinked and nodded his head numbly. The boy just smiled at him brightly before running over to his father and hugging him tightly before they walked away.

Nico didn't know how long he stayed rooted in that one spot, staring at the empty spot next to him where the boy had been standing.

'Promise me'

Nico could hear that phrase flowing through the wind in the voice of someone he had never and never would be able to forget. Someone that he would spend the rest of his immortal life thinking about. Someone he couldn't keep his promise to.

Nico's knees buckled, causing him to fall to his knees in front of the fountain in the park. The rushing sound of the water covered the sounds of Nico's sobs. Emotions that he hadn't let out ever since he was a mortal, were now falling from his eyes and into one of the puddles on the ground below.