#Australian Duck Feathers & Down

[sleepyjoey76]

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[thewriterowl]

Luke Skywalker Thots

Because he is my baby and I would sell you all out for him for less than half a potato chip:

1) Slips up and will call animals their “baby names” in front of armies, delegates, Din, anyone he probably should be trying to impress (i.e: “oh the duckies are swimming” “....the ducks, Luke?” “....I said what I said.”)

2) Still wants a pet so bad and will try to adopt any fur/scaly/feather-baby that moves. No matter how poisonous.

2.5) Said dangerous, poisonous animal will love Luke back just as hard.

3) Is VERY jealous of Ezra and all his interactions with the Purgills (”I WANNA RIDE A SPACE WHALE TOO”)

4) Eventually does ride on a space whale

5) 100% still has Tatooine (aka Australian) accent that slips through from time to time.

5.5) Din can’t tell if it turns him on, if it confuses him, or if it is the most adorable/hysterical thing to hear this Jedi one-man army say some things that sound foreign to his ears  (”ARE YE TAKIN’A PISS, MATE?!” as he throws down some evil hunter)

6) Luke still has a temper but it is a lot better than it was before and he expresses it through some sort of craft, rather than sparring. So, if someone sees Luke really yanking out weeds in his garden or has knitted eight blankets or gloves they know he is not in a mood to be messed with.

7) if there is such a thing as space-soda, Luke has chugged a gallon bottle of it.

8) is probably a potato lover (baked, fried, roasted, etc.). I just see him loving potatoes 

9) Has an almost unlimited level with his inner-ear/equalirbium....almost. He knows the limits. And he knows because he spun himself in his X-Wing until he met that limit and puked.

9.5) He is trying for a new record with his spins

10) Luke does not need his Force power to beat anyone in an arm wrestling match. He throws them over the table from his sheer physical strength alone.

#star wars #the mandalorian #dinluke #luke skywalker #thots #luke headcanons #headcanons

[jeonginsdiary]

- tickletober day 26

- counting

- lee! felix | ler! seungmin

—————

“what are you supposed to be?” felix stared at seungmin’s long white coat with wide eyes, running his fingers along the variety of tools it’s pockets held.

the younger took out a lengthy purple feather, waving it around yongbok’s face. “isn’t it obvious? i’m a doctor!” he brushed the feather along the australian’s neck. “except the staff doesn’t trust me with real doctor tools, so they told me i had to be a tickle doctor instead.” the blonde flinched at the tickly feeling, scrunching his shoulders up and wriggling away. “so… you know what that means, right~” seungmin carefully pushed the older down onto the linoleum floor, pinning his hands to his chest.

“wait, this isn’t fair! get off of me!” felix began to struggle when the vocalist got comfortable on his hips.

the brunet lifted said boy’s shirt, slowly and agonizingly lowering the tool down. “not fair? this is just payback for that massage you gave me!” the vocalist twirled the tip of the feather into yongbok’s belly button, relishing in the scream of laughter it produced.

“ahahahah! stahahap, it tickles!”

“this is nothing. you wanna see what really tickles?”

the deep voiced boy was a nervous wreck, but nonetheless intrigued. “w-what? i can handle it!”

he really couldn’t.

seungmin shrugged. “if you say so.” and with that, jeongin was bouncing into the room at the call of his name. “just hold his arms up. make sure he can’t get away.” the boy motioned to felix’s helpless body.

“oh, you’re doing that,” the maknae took the australian’s arms, pinning them above his head. he cooed at the attempted glare shot at him.

the blonde shivered. “what are you even gonna do!?” blood rushed up to his cheeks and he turned his head to avoid their gaze.

“hm…” seungmin tapped a finger on yongbok’s side, giggling when the older broke into a tiny, anticipated smile. “can you handle… your ribs being counted?”

at those words, felix felt his stomach churn in a tingly manner as he tugged at his restrained limbs. “pleasepleaseplease! don’t do this!”

“now you’re begging?” the attacker whipped the feather back out, scratching the hard end on yongbok’s lowest rib. “one~” he teased.

“nohonohonohohoho!!” the older giggled hysterically when seungmin dug the same end of the feather into the crevice before moving onto his second rib. “plehehehease, it’s reheheheheheally ticklihish!” he arched his back when the boy abandoned his tickle tool, instead using his nails to claw at felix’s third rib. the australian arched his back reflexively, only causing his ribs to protrude which never failed in prompting seungmin to dig into the clearest one. the older crashed back down every time.

“come on! really laugh for me yongbok!” the younger whined. he ducked his head down, blowing the longest raspberry he could muster on the boy’s top few ribs.

that drove him crazy.

“sto—OOOOP! KIM SEHEHEHEHEUNGMIHIHIHIN!!” felix’s laughter silenced soon after, leaving him a thrashing, flustered, ticklish mess on the ground.

jeongin released the blonde’s hands and, after a bit of nibbling (which drove the australian crazy), seungmin let up before the older actually went insane.

“don’t even try and get me back, you deserved this!”

“mhm…” yongbok replied tiredly. if he knew one thing it was that kim seungmin would not be getting away with this…

—————

i really hope you guys liked this one and, though it is definitely one of my least favorites, i hope you don’t think so. it makes me really happy to know that you guys reread my fics!!

#kpop tickle #stray kids #stray kids tickle #tickletober

[luxebedding]

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[sleepyrights]

a bothersome stream clip

a small one shot that i thought id post here, too! this was originally meant to go into @acidtabletz​ dms, but alas, i wrote 1k words and didnt want to send individual messages.. so here you guys go!

pronouns used: they/them

"..that's probably not the best idea. Oh, chat! Did I tell you about the ti-" Y/N paused, hearing the door open. They looked over, a quizzical look in their eye. Chat could see it, confusion that turned into a smile the moment that they registered who it was.

Wilbur had come into the room, completely forgetting that Y/N was streaming. But by the time he realised, he was already in frame and it was too late. Oh well, nothing he can do about it now. So, he came up right behind Y/N, his lovely partner, and draped his arms over their shoulders in a loose hug. He smiled, tucking his head over their shoulder and looking at the screen.

"Hello, Wilbur." Y/N chuckled softly, glancing over to their flatmate.

"..Hi, chat." He smirked, as if playfully ignoring that Y/N was even there. He hummed softly, sinking himself further into his partner. He could just see chat going crazy, lots of his name and heart emojis passing by.

"Do you need something? You can come and stay on stream for a bit."

Wilbur paused a bit. Was he about to admit out loud that he just wanted some attention? He was just enjoying hanging off of Y/N at the moment, simply cherishing the small bits of human contact he was having. It wasn't even 5 hours since he last *got* attention, today was just one of those days for him.

He shook his head. "No, I just came in to ask if chat wanted to hear about the smallest penguins in the world."

There was a pause. "I'm sorry.. the what?"

"They're called blue fairy penguins! Or at least, that's what New Zealanders call them. They're native to Australian and New Zealand shores. Here, look at them-" He reached his arms out, tabbing out of whatever game Y/N had going on and pulled up google.

At the moment only Y/N and Wilbur could see the penguins, small lads with blue feathers and nice white bellies. They were truly adorable, but Wilbur didn't seem too interested in that.

"These are adorable-" Y/N awed, leaning back against Wilbur, his arms returning to hugging them comfortably.

"They're little shitheads is what they are. I mean, they're usually quite nice, but you can find them just randomly in the streets of New Zealand just going about their business. What sort of business do they even have? They live in holes!" He huffed softly, head ducking down, leaning into Y/N's.

Wilbur looked briefly to chat, seeing a few peculiar things pass by.

"Your honour, they're soulmates." "Oh my god, my streamer is so lucky!" "MY STREAMERS!!!" "This is true love, I don't know what to tell you."

"Oh? How'd you find them?" Y/N glanced over to Wilbur, head tilted slightly.

"Well, I was just sort of browsing reddit and I found them. They reminded me of you, so I looked into them. You know, since you're both so small." He smiled softly to himself.

"Wilburrrr..." Y/N whined, a blush spreading across their cheeks, smiling so wide. "You didn't have to say that in front of chat, I was keeping up a good illusion that I wasn't so small!"

"No way in hell you are! They all know how tiny you are, look at you in comparison to me! Chat, look at this!"

Wilbur lifted up Y/N's hand, spreading out their fingers. He pressed his hand against it, showing the comparison of his long slender fingers to their much smaller hand. Of course his hand would be much larger, it was almost a given.

"You're going to make them all make fun of me on Twitter-"

"Just delete Twitter, then." He smirked, shrugging. "You'll be fine! Here-" He looked directly into the camera. "Don't make fun of them, got that, chat? Leave the bullying of how small they are to me."

"That's not any better!" Y/N swatted the other's hand away, crossing their arms in a huff. "Is there any more things you'd like to interrupt my stream with?"

"Yes, actually." Wilbur relaxed a bit more, glancing towards the pictures of penguins that were still up on the screen. "They don't have any large natural predators to be worrying about, but a little penguin got killed by a rat once. Just one rat decided they've had enough and killed one of them for food I guess." He shrugged.

"Oh my god.." Y/N giggled, trying not to burst out into too much laughter. "You'll have to tell me more about that later, now I'm curious."

Wilbur couldn't help it, a smile creeping onto his face. Okay, that brightened his mood ten fold. He also felt like he was given enough attention for the moment. What he *really* wanted, was to pick Y/N up, drag them to the couch or the bed and cuddle, but obviously their stream had other things in mind for him.

"Alright-!" Wilbur stretched his arms forward, standing up. He gave a sigh, relaxing his shoulders as he got off of Y/N. "I think that's enough penguins for now. You enjoy the rest of your stream." He leaned down so he was back into frame, smiling and giving a wave to the camera. "Bye, chat! Be nice to them-" He quickly gave a more serious face, briefly. "Be nice.. Bye!"

Wilbur walked out of the room, smiling to himself in satisfaction of his work. That felt like it'd be a nice little clip for people to share around for a bit, giving Y/N some good content. Of course, he didn't get what he wanted, but he knew Y/N had to stop stream at some point. He could wait just the little bit longer before stealing them for a long several-movies-length cuddle session.

"Oh my god.. Sorry about him, chat! You all know how Wilbur can be. But here, these were the penguins he was talking about! Anyways-! ..I was going to talk about something before.. Chat, what topic where we on? Oh, right! So-"

#wilbur #wilbur soot #wilbur soot x reader #x reader #mcyt #dream smp #dreamsmp #dsmp #wilbur x reader #smp #sbi #sleepy bois inc #sleepy bois x reader #wilbur soot dream smp #wilbur dream smp

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Comics: Spies Like Us and Dime after Dime or Weblena: The Preschool Days (Lena Retrospective) (Comissioned by WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to Shadow Into Light, My Lena Retrospective, which fittingly has now come to Women’s History Month! I sadly do not have anything besides this arc prepared for the month. This month is pretty packed for me with two shows a week to cover, as while there’s only two weeks of Ducktales left final space starts up right after to take it’s spot, two arcs to cover, and two time specific movie reviews: animal crossing the movie and the 1990 TMNT film. I will try to get more than the currently planned top 12 superheroines list out there... but this month is very tight as is, so if I do not I deeply apologize.

Now that’s out of the way, it’s appropriate we start Women’s history month on some likely lesser known parts of Lena’s history, with some comics stories focusing on our faviorite emo lesbian duck and her 87 counterpart. Before I get started on that though Kev my patreon pointed out something intresting a few weeks back i’ve been forgetting to get to and since we’re looking into Minima, I felt this was the perfect time to do so: Lena’s Concept art. 

There’s quite a few things to gleam from this. For starters as pointed out in the reddit thread I got the image as a whole from this was made in 2015, meaning Lena was one of the first new characters designed for the series and was part of it from the VERY early stages, as evidenced by the fact that despite clearly having their new personalities established, Beakly and Webby still had the old designs. 

The other notable change is that her first design was way more like both Magica nad Minima, a bit more modern, but clearly far more obvious who she was related to. She also had all black feathers making the shadow twist a bit more obvious and was likely done away with both to avoid giving that twist away, the same reason for the fake lestrange name, and to avoid accidently black coding her, as while Lena being black would’ve been intersting, it also would’ve invited a firestorm of controversy given that their one black character in season 1.. woul’dve started off as a homeless, manipulative antagonist, and none of that would play well nor was it something the progressive crew of this show couldn’t spot from a mile away.  And even this early on they have an almost final design ready, simply changing the shirt to fit her personality more, and her hair to be pink because it honestly looked better She also had green eyes throughout, but for whatever reason they phased them out. That part I don’t quite get as they look nice but probably they were hard to translate to the reboot style once they settled on their own. Her purple eyeshadow and haircut though have stuck since and were good calls. 

One last VERY obvious note.. Webby was gay for Lena from minute one. While Dana helped it is now VERY obvious they gay coded this relationship from the design phase, and the crew was entirely aware the whole time and I gave them less credit than I should have. They clearly had this in mind, and it’s very likely ONLY subtext because Disney, while making more and more progress, is very reluctant to have queer characters as Owl House was a struggle and since they have a tighter leash on properites based on the sensational 6, that means Frank knew they had the same odds of making Webby or Della queer in anything but subtext that a pig has of suviving in a slaughterhouse. I bring this up because I fear the series getting accused of queerbaiting somewhere down the road instead of doing what they could with a bad hand and hoping they could make the show as gay as they could. Penny is as out as they posisbly could get her, and Violet and Lena’s dad’s got a full apperance, if no speaking role that made it obvious beyond a shadow of a doubt their gay and did it in a plot important episode. So they did their best and I want them to get credit for that. 

But while this is all intresting stuff, join me under the cut for the meat of today’s review as I dig into Lena’s only apperance in the tie-in comic that was never punished here, and the only apperance of her protoype Minima.

Spies Like Us:  As I mentioned this comic was never published here which is doubly weird to me because of how I knew this story existed. Since I follow comics weekly and buy trades reguarly, I read the solicits companies put out eveyr month to see what new series are coming, what the ones i’m currently reading are doing, and what trades are coming out. That sort of thing, and it’s something I love. I know their basically adds.. but their well put together adds that really pull you into the books you like. The big two and the indies are all very good at it and sometimes i’ts the only way to know a comic is coming if the company dosen’t make a press release for it ahead of time. 

So naturally given there are several comics I follow at idw, paticuarlly the TMNT comics, I read those solicits and found they were going to do an issue with Webby and Lena becoming spies, and was excited about it. I ended up forgetting about it and never really followed the Ducktales comic as it came out, and upon reading an issue or two recently, one for another comission by kev as one story, happy happy valley, was particularly terrible. For those who haven’t read the story or my review, it involved the family getting stranded on an island where their forced to partake in activites and smile..that somehow turned into an aseop about Louie wanting to be rich. It ended with this

Yes.. really. That actually happened. But even with this, I fully planned to cover the issue when I covered Lena, and brought it up to Kev when he commissioned the retrospective. He gave me the discord equilvent of a blank stare and had never heard of it. I soon found out why: the story was replaced as, and fair play to disney, it spoiled Beakly’s past from the agent 23 episode which wasn’t going to air in time.  What dosen’t work is they never reprinted the story in The US.. didn’t put it in a future issue and just swap it’s place didn’t put it in the nothing. And the story was fully complete as we’ll see, with a cover and everything so they had no excuse whatsoever to NEVER use it, even with what happened to Lena in the season finale, this clearly took place before that and it was weird to just shelve it because of that. But thankfully when a bunch of the stories were reprinted overseas, this and another one, also webby centric got published overseas. But not in english.

Lucky for me, I was able to find an english translation of an english story which you can read RIGHT HERE. It was translated by @neopuff and I thank them for it as without them this review would not be possible and want to give them all the credit. So was it worth all their hard work translating it? Well let’s take a look. 

We begin at the Manor where Lena is skulking around suspiciously.. though it turns out she and Webby are just playing hide and seek. Though Lena accuses cheating. The dialouge here is pretty flat though that’s not Neopuff’s fault at all. As I can attest from reading other stories a lot of the early IDW comics are just this flat in dialoguge no matter the writer as they were likely given character descriptions and basic info about the show they likely had written up for merchandising and Frank and Co were given no involvement and likely weren’t made avaliable to consult on the comics to help them be a bit more fleshed out. It’s very obvious to me Disney just tried to get these pumped out so they’d have a series in stores to tie in without carring about qualities and given Scrooge debuted in comics, their lack of care toward that side of things in general, but especially in the first american published original duck comics in a while, bothers me a lot. It’s inexcusable. 

That being said the story isn’t half bad nor is the setup as the two hear a beeping and find it’s Beakly’s phone going off with a mysterious message from Q, Webby thinks she’s been reactivated, and is encouraged by Lena to go look after her while she stays along. While Webby says in response

It just feels grossly out of character for both. Lena is far more subtle about manipulation as shown five minutes ago and Webby blindly trusts her. Because she has a massive crush on her and is naïve about how the world works. It just seems very odd of her to get suspicious as she never does on screen, and again it comes off as Disney having barely given the writers any materials on them when i’m sure Frank or Matt would’ve been happy to write up a thing for them to help outside of the usual press materials they were given. 

Though hte last line isn’t all that out of character and has an obvious answer as within a jumpcut Launchpad’s taking them to London and is told to blend in.. which he does with an australian flag and accent.. good gag. 

So our heroines do some heroic breaking and entering and look for the package, but soon find while hiding it’s already in transit.. and had obvious bows on int. Whoops. Our heroes trie the old follow tha tcar bit and refreshingly, it dosen’t pan out as the guy stops and tells them to get out. A nice twist. Unable to follow, our heroes instead find launchpad lost, as his map is upside down

So Lena dares him if he can follow that plane, a nice bit of character for both. I will give Joe credit. While the dialouge’s a bit flat and there was that out of character moment.. for the most part he does nail the actual character down and does use it decently enough. He’s just not given enough page room or actual details to work  with is all. 

So while our heroes follow they end up having to crash as they run out of fuel.. lucky their with the expert but end up near home where the package is delivered to. Turns out this wasn’t a spy thing, this was just a thing with her aunt. That’s fine and a nice gag.. it’s just ruined by just sorta.. ending. Lena leaves disapointed and Beakly scolds webby for “playing spy” and she’s sad. That’s it that’s how it ends. Which dosen’t fit the characters, as while Beakly would defintely scold her, it just dosen’t FIT that she’d be that tearse or not appricate the effort or give her an actual lecture and it feels like Joe had no idea how to end this after the gag and just.. ended it. 

Final Thoughts for Spies Likes Us: This was okay.  It is a bit of a disappointment as for the only story not available.. i’ts just okay and not really above an average Ducktales comics story, with some nice character bits but feeling a bit weak overall, as do at least the first half of the idw comics. I haven’t read the later stuff to see if it got better. It’s worth a read if you like Webby and Lena as characters and it’s not BAD, it’s just not anything impressive and is a simple hyjinks filled misunderstanding story. 

Dime After Dime:

So now  we go back a bit to the original. I didn’t do these in chronological order because frankly, Dime after Dime is the better story of the two and the bigger one at that, so I have more to work with here. But the original also had comics and honestly from the few i’ve read much BETTER comics. I chalk this up to two things: The Ducktales 87 comics seem to have come out AFTER the series was already a hit, and since Ducktales is pretty close to the original uncle scrooge comics minus it’s own tweaks here and there, it’s easy enough to just write the stories like you would a regular uncle scrooge story, just with Webby and Launchpad added, whereas the idw writers were staffed with writing for all new versions of the characters with noticable differences without much to go on.  It’s why to me with tie in comics you have two options: Wait long enough so you can put your story inbtween the episodes like the Steven Universe and Regular Show comics did or just make your own continuity entirely like the Adventure Time Comics and the Archie TMNT Adventures series did. The ONLY time i’ve seen a comic work like this is the Bravest Warriors comic, which had a talented writer and fit well enough in the margins until it sadly ended.. and honestly is BETTER in some cases than the series. I might get to it someday. The point is this comic shows why you need to have a deft hand adapting something instead of just falling your arms about and hoping it’ll work. 

So today’s comic was part of some Disney Series called cartoon tales, which clearly repackaged comic stories from wherever, and put them together. I don’t know much about it and the only other issue avaliable collects the disney adventures adaptation of “Just Us Justice Ducks”, which I might cover at some point. This book does have two other stories which i’d be happy to do on comission or on my own at some point, one involving gladstone the other gizmoduck, but for now, i’m just sticking to the title story and the reason you all came here. 

So we open with Magica gazing into her crystal ball from her Mt. Vesuvies base saying that Scrooge will never know what hit him I know exactly what and who wiil hit him thank you very much. 

Scrooge is seeing Webby off to her first day of day camp, getting all teary eyed which is touching. Beakly apparently goes with her as the story never SAYS Sshe does but she’s not also not around when the story moves on, as Launchpad says it looks like rain. Scrooge dismisses him, though Launchpad turns out to be right. Scrooge had good reason for once though, instead of just being a dick good on you comic for making me not want to punch him in the face, trust me that is a high bar to clear with the scrooge comics, as the weather was fine just a minute ago. Naturally it was Magica All Along! Nothing scrooge can do now that eveyrthing has gone wrong! Her entrance though is sadly not a catchy earwormy tune, but .. this confusing line

I think your thinking of Gladstone. And he’s still single so.. have at that but no Scrooge is the one who values hard work over anything else and brags about THAT or being rich. I .. I don’t get this line and frankly I don’t want to. Even in stories where the dime is supernaturally lucky and the source of his wealth he dosen’t boast about it because he’s not stupid and dosen’t want everyone knowing how to bankrupt him instantly. This line will baffle me until I die, presumably, given my life’s tragetctory, after reviewing an episode of mighty ducks and slipping on some a jerky wrapper. 

Scrooge asks what she wants... 

No this isn’t that kind of story sadly. Her plan is to.. zap the bin with lightning and take the dime. Really just went with your first draft didn’t you magica? But as stupid as this plan is Scrooge has prepared for it. He installed a lightning rod on the bin to save on power, and to power his new super soaker traps. So all Magica did was save him money. She flies off and nothing is acomplished. 

So we get back to Webby at the Teenie Weenie Day Camp.. and just so you don’t think that was a terrible joke on my part...

My theory for how this name got approved at all is the editor KNEW how that sounded and just wanted to see if Disney would actually print a comic with the phrase Teenie Weenie without getting what it means in slang or how hilariously inapproriate it is to namme a children’s camp after it. 

Your probably wondering who that grown woman calling Webby a dweeb is. Well story wise, she’s SUPPOSED to be another kid at the camp around Webby’s age. In practice, she looks like THIS in closeup

So it looks and plays like a 30 year old woman snuck into the day camp and no one’s noticed she’s not actually a children. Or their just humoring her because she had a week to live. I don’t know. I do know she doesn’t get to judge on names. 

Snippy Von Glitz, proof rich people really do hate their kids and this this comic is trying personally to give me material. Snippy is your average alpha bitch, taking a chair from Minma and being obnoxious and classist and all that jazz. Minima gets hers back by making the chair bouncy then returning it to normal so Snippy gets in trouble when she makes up things about the chair, with the lady in charge getting ready to call her Dad. You cannot convince me that her “Dad” is just what she calls her husband, this is how they both get off, and that the lady at the preschool only tolerates it because they pay her a lot and so far the kids haven’t noticed Snippy is 30. Webby likes minima finding her name pretty, proving that the ho yay is alive no matter the webby and magica relative, and Minma returns the favor by saving her from a block. 

Minma is reluctant to make an actual friend, finding they aren’t worth anything and given most of the kids here apparently pick on her and her aunt is well.. Magica, it’s understandable why she’d be so cold. But Webby presses on and says something from Scrooge about friends. Which given Ducktales scrooge has none goes weird but it gets Minma to find out she knows and lives with Scrooge, so she cons webby into taking the dime for show and tell, showing that she can manipulate them with her powers, and that he won’t notice it’s missing, getting her with “I thought you wanted to be friends” 

So let’s pause for a second and compare and contrast the two: Both are the niece, or at least sorta in Lena’s case, of Magica, both manipulate webby, and both are her first real friend: The 87 boys are little monsters and I don’t consider them friends or even brothers, while the 2017 ones are just that: brothers. Their her siblings in all but blood, not friends and have hteir own long complicated history. 

But otherwise the two are vastly different. Lena is a far more complex character as she’s been abused her whole life, is a rebel because Magica hardly gave her agency, and while she starts wooing webby out of self interest it’s clear even as far as the first episode she cares. Lena would gladly be part of the world if she could and this whole scheme is to gain that choice. 

Minma is still sympathetic but very different: She walls herself off because the other kids laugh and mock her for being herself and lashes out at them.. not unreasonably mind , but still feeling she needs no one else.. but as we’ll learn later she’s only helping Magica to finally feel accepted, to get all the fancy clothes and stuff that will make her popular instead of that grown woman masquerading as a kid for disturbing reasons. Minma is at her heart just a hurt kid desperate to fit in. And while Lena shares the desire for a place to belong.. it’s at it’s core much sadder. Lena.. wants a family. Someone to love her and to care about her and actually look after her. Minma has that she just wants to be loved. it’s similar but very diffrent and I can see why Lena evolved into what she did, as Frank and Matt ended up going in a far darker but ultimately more interesting direction. Minima is not a bad character at all though and without her I don’t think we would’ve had Lena, but at the end of the day the 87verse is just not that complicated, so the reboot needed something more and that more evolved into who we have now. 

Both kids excitedly talk about their new friends, with their respective guardians being distracted. Scrooge is distracted by the fact his car is a bit bumpy and Launchpad offers to fix it up for free with some parts from a buddy, which given the sentence “This won’t cost you anything” makes him erect, Scrooge agrees. Magica meanwhile, whose watching Minima while her mom is away which raises a LOT of questions we don’t have time for like who she is, is she’s poes wife or does Magica have other siblings... it’s a lot of questions we’re never going to get answers to. 

The next day Webby got the dime easy as Scrooge was distracted. so Minima swaps them while she’s distracted. But while swiping it was easy, which to be fair Webby is likely approved in his security so it woudln’t match her.. or the story just needed to progress. You make the call. 

Magica does the logical thing and goes and get sthe dime and the story ends there.. and i’m shitting you, she of course brags to scrooge, reveals minima as her spy, and offers to RACE him for it shortly after he realizes he has a fake.

The only major flaw in this story is Magica’s overconfdience, which isn’t BAD persay, but here has gotten to dumbass proportions. She just can’t plan for anything and a CHILD has a better plan than her that only dosen’t work for reasons we’ll get to. And that plan is almost ruined by Magica taunting scrooge!

So a race is on but Launchpad has transformed Scrooge’s old Model T into this

Damn that’s cool. Scrooge of course dosen’t like it, but honestly you get what you paid for. Oh that’s right you paid nothing for something you NEED to use every day for transportation. 

At  the rickity thickity bridge, Steve Buschemi’s worst roll and her minion ask Webby to roll with them and Minima mistakes this for betrayal planning to soak them all.. only for Webby to DEFEND HER, pointing out minma’s her friend, how she dresses is fine and she loves her no matter what.. the last part’s implied. The 30-year old asshole and her minon leave Webby and Minma is genuinely touched, as no one’s done that for her before. She put up so many walls... she didn’t realize someone could ACTUALLY care about her, so obessed with thinking she had to be like that soccer mom in preschoolers clothing, she just had to be herself: kinda werid but in that fun adams family way. Webby says she knows Minma would do the same.. so while she prepares to let’s get back to the race. Magica realizes Launchpad’s roadster is actually gaining and spreads some tacks, but Scrooge counters with some money.. because of course he has a lot of money in the trunk. But Magica takes out the bridge and while scrooge awesomely JUMPS IT... he’s still too late. 

As you probably guess though, Minima had a change of heart, and gave Webby the real dime back, and Scrooge confirms it. Minima TRIES to tell Magica, and Magica is horrified her niece is a goody goody “I”ll never hear the end of it at my astral aerobics class”.. I.. I want to see that. Let’s raise those spirit ladies and kick kick that soul, doge that shadow king punch them in the soul. Yes! Now eat it eat it and absorb it’s power!

We end on a button joke as Webby apologizes for taking the dime., Scrooge accepts it and Webby tells them magica learned to carpet and they gulp for some reason. 

Final Thoughts on Dime after Dime: This story was decent. It has problems, some jokes don’t land and Magica is made horribly incompetent, but minima’s character arc is endearing, and Webby herself is precious as always and her winning Minima over feels genuine. And Scrooge is in prime adoring uncle mode with her and i’ts just so cute. And the roadster race is pretty awesome to watch honestly. It’s an exceptional and enjoyable tie in story.. and not the last ducktales 87 story we’ll be covering here. Wink wonk. 

Next Time: Things get DARK as Lena and Webby head into the depths of Scrooge’s hidden bin and Lena heads into the depths of her own soul. 

Tommorow: Woo-Ooo mofos as we go back to the very beginning of the reboot! A family restored, a lost city to explore, and a glomgold rises! Be here or be square. 

#ducktales #ducktales 1987 #webbigail vanderquack #lena saberwing #weblena #minima de spell #magica de spell #bentina beakly #launchpad mcquack #scrooge mcduck #dime after dime #spies like us #idw #comics #animation #shadow into light

[mayve-hems]

Old Me | Ashton Irwin x OC

Type: IMAGINE | ONE SHOT | MULTI CHAPTER

Summary: It all started with a lie. One that tore the two Ashtons apart from each other the day before graduation. Five years later, Ashton and Kalypso are showing up to Calum Hood’s wedding, prepared only a little for what is about to come. Ashton is determined to prove to his ex girlfriend that he never has, and never will, stop loving her. 

Word Count: 14.7k

Note: I love my friend Anna because she helped me so much with this and she will forever have my heart. 

Warnings: selling/use of weed, drinking, lots and lots of cussing

Normal

Flashback

-

Kalypso ducks her head underneath a bathtub of water. Her chocolate brown hair billows around her like she’s a sea creature or a mermaid goddess watching over Mount Olympus. If she were a few years younger, she would’ve stained the rim of the bathtub with a hair dye concoction straight from a box.

Resurfacing, she scrubs paint from her fingers, arms, legs, and face. Stuffed deep under her nail beds, she reaches for Paris Pink paint. She hisses, separating her skin and nail, but admires how nice they look. Plain, long-stained black, and mostly healthy. Making a mental note to look up nail salons for a much needed acrylic manicure, she hears a pawing at the bathroom door.

Even though she’s single and lives alone, she knows there’s no privacy in her small apartment. Magik, a black cat she found in a dumpster, is clingier than Kalypso’s little sister, Stella. She has three seconds to stand and pull a towel around her body before she sees her hallway through a newly opened door and a quiet mew enters the bathroom. Magik is too smart for her own good.

“I’m glad it’s only you,” Kalypso sighs and steps onto a blue bath mat right out of the clawfoot tub. The linoleum is cold underneath her toes from her air conditioning, so right out of the bathtub, she never stands directly on the bathroom floor without something there. Kalypso forgets her slippers once again so she maneuvers a leap from the bathmat, through the semi-opened door, and onto her pretty white carpet. “Thought I’d have to deal with Stella,” She smiles once she’s on the carpet.

“Heard that!” Stella, Kalypso’s younger sister, says over her shoulder in the kitchen. Her hands busy themselves with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The bathroom is at the end of the hallway, with the kitchen having a sharp pivot to the left when you enter the living room, meaning that if she talks loud enough, Stella can hear everything Kalypso may say about her. “I was giving you time not to smell.”

“I hate you,” Kalypso sighs and turns left into her bedroom. A dream bedroom-- one with 70s rock and 80s pop -scratched- record glued to her ceiling, and blankets covering her bed. Hung LED lights and paint pretending to melt from the walls where the ceiling attaches and the aroma of vanilla incense. “Do you ever go home?”

She’s filled milk crates with vinyls that are used, right next to her bed, underneath the table holding the record player. To the left of her bed is an enormous window showing her a view of the city laid out in color and sunlight. Along her floor, she’s left clothes and other things out instead of cleaning them up.

Pulling her closet door open, two empty canvases tumble from beside her dresser. She picks them up, shoves them back into their designated place, and drops her towel to the floor. Kalypso isn’t worried about the windows on the top floor or her sister inside of her apartment.

Her fingers brush the sleeves of colorful shirts, over her dresser, and pays no attention to the art supplies she’s included inside. Above her hanging clothes are packing supplies and canvases she still needs to send out.

Kalypso owns her own ‘company’ called AKM_arts. AKM, after her initials, and arts because that’s always been her passion. Drawing, coloring, painting, crafting something into the way she’s feeling and letting the world see her so raw. She began as an instagram artist, Ashton Kalypso Montgomery, but quickly started selling custom pieces.

“You’re so pale,” Stella says, watching Kalypso pull a pair of jean shorts up her legs. Her plan for the day was to purchase more circle canvases when the shops finally opened. She needed to start more tie-dye nameplates. A man requested one for his daughter, Auzilynn, which Kalypso couldn’t seem to pronounce. “How are you Australian?”

Kalypso loves showing off her tattoos to the world; her mother's initials tattooed on the inside of her right shisn, a koi fish down her thigh, a single bee painfully placed behind her knee, a feather falling from hip to thigh, and several things in between. Her body is a canvas for anybody that deems themselves good enough.

“You’re two years younger than me, why do we look like twins?” Kalypso pulls a black shirt over her head that leaves the word ANGEL tattooed on her clavicle. “Is this cute?”

“You always looks tupid,” Stella replies, rolling her eyes. “But you’re still pale.”

“We’ve established this,”

“I got your mail for you,” Stella takes a bite from her sandwich, tearing the crust from the rest of the bread. Kalypso and Stella look a lot alike, besides their hair color. Kalypso always opted for a darker, more vibrant color like her natural dark brown. Stella, blonde, preferred pastels when they were in school.

Kalypso snatches the letter from her younger sister’s hand. Addressed for Ashton Kalypso Montgomery, apartment 607B. Stamped with a dog photo, and sealed with red wax. “It’s from Calum Hood.”

“Yeah, I got the same one,” Stella smiles at her sister. Kalypso and Calum’s friend group were close at one point, so Stella hung around as much as she could. The nuisance in the same grade as Calum and Luke that joined everything they did with Kalypso. “He’s getting married.”

“Married?”

“Yeah, his fiance is beautiful,”

Kalypso rips open the packaging. The location, the date and time, and a picture of Calum and his future-wife standing together in front of a brick wall. Stella’s right, Calum’s fiance is beautiful; curly brown hair, a hand placed over Calum’s chest, and a perfect smile. “Cool,” Kalypso tosses the invitation and the envelope in the trash. “Hope he has a good wedding.”

“You’re not going?”

“I love Calum and all, but I don’t want to see Ashton,”

“It’s been five years, Kal, get over it,” Stella brushes her blonde locks from her long face. “Please? I want to talk to Luke.”

“It’s been five years, Stel, get over it,” Kalypso bends down to look into her paint drawers unit for a certain color. Auzilynn’s name plate requires a rainbow painted into a tie-dye pattern. Kalypso isn’t sure if she has the correct shade of blue. “What would I do with my cat?” Opening the drawer dedicated the blue paints, she has more than enough.

“Alexander could watch Magik,” Stella replies, thinking about the guy just down the hall she’s trying to date. They’re in the flirting stage so far, and she hopes they’ll progress further eventually. “And I’m not trying to hook up with Hemmings. I’m trying to get my laptop back from him. It’s been way too long.”

She’s a year younger than her sister. She graduated with Luke Hemmings and Calum Hood. At the end of the day, she was a part of their friend group, including her sister Kalypso, Kalypso’s childhood best friend Michael Clifford, and Kalypso’s boyfriend, Ashton Irwin. WhenKalypso graduated from school, she was ready to take off and leave Sydney, never look back at the place that reminded her of her entire high school career. Stella was permitted to graduate halfway through her last year of school and they moved into the same apartment.

“He probably doesn’t have it anymore. It’s been five years,”

“Ashton probably doesn’t have feelings for you anymore, Ashton Kalypso. It’s been five years,”

Since they’re sisters, it didn’t take long for Stella to finally reach her limit and move into the apartment next door. They enter each other's homes whenever they want.

Kalypso rolls her eyes. “Do you ever stop?”

“Are you going to go?”

“Hell no,” Kalypso lets out a loud chuckle. “You’re hilarious,”

-

Returning from the store, Magik greets Kalypso at the door. Dropping four reusable bags on the floor, she greets her loud cat with pets and kisses. Canvases, paint, stickers, glitter, paintbrushes, all equaling way too much money from Kalypso’s wallet covers the entrance of her apartment. After greeting the cat, she gets started on cleaning her room and putting things away.

She throws the bags on her bed to straighten out the messy place. Clothes are folded or thrown into a laundry basket, blankets are folded or placed on her bed, canvases that turned out bad are put in a repaint pile where she turns them black and makes galaxies, and the craft massacre in her closet becomes properly organized. She puts canvases into an organizer with different sizes for different canvases and anything involving paint bottles or paint brushes directly is thrown into the messy paint drawers. She’s got way too many bottles of the same shade of blue that she needs for the rainbow tie-dye, but adds another into the drawer.

Quickly, though, she has to get to painting. Swirls of orange and red chase each other around an oval canvas. Swirling inward then out, mirroring each other. She goes in order of the rainbow, leaving one strip of purple on the narrow inside of the swirl. Tie-dye on a canvas. After it dries, she free hands the same. The person that ordered it chose basic cursive writing, which is easy with the help of muscle memory. Auzilynn, weird, but interesting.

She prints a label for the canvas and gets the packaging supplies ready so she can slip it inside and put it into the pile of canvases that need to be shipped off. She has eighteen wrapped canvases to go out of Australia, but only a few are staying inside. One, Auzilynn’s, isn’t going farther than the apartment complex a few blocks away. If Kalypso makes it in time, she can get Auzilynn’s out by 11 AM and have it delivered within a day.

Kalypso has over 100 orders to do, and only a few days until they need to be shipped off. She can’t take a few days off for a stupid wedding, it’d be worthless.

Although, she could use the break.

No! That’s stupider than anything else she’s thought of. At the same time, she could show off her glow-up and amazing life. Painting all day and night, scheduling her working hours, deciding what she gets to do. She has things to get done. Her paintbrushes need to be cleaned, canvases need to be organized and shipped, and her apartment is a disaster.

Taking a break from painting, Kalypso pours wet cat food into Magik’s bowl next to the refrigerator . The cat digs into her md-morning breakfast as if she’d never eaten before.

Across from the refrigerator, Kalypso pours a sink of hot water from the tap. Her paintbrushes are already in the sink, waiting to be cleaned. Browns, pinks, and blues explode from between the bristles. Galaxies dropped onto the stainless steel bottom like a picture.

She was thinking long and hard about going or staying. The one thing blowing her mind was Ashton Irwin and how he would have progressed. Was he still tall and handsome? Curly hair and eyes the color dewy grass? Married? Single? Still toying with the bad boy scene? She’d changed after moving away- rebellious tones and sassy remarks blossomed into doing whatever the hell she wanted to, but without so much hatred toward everyone. Weekly-dyed hair turned into natural brown on pale skin. Nobody could stay the same, so would Ashton still love her?

They broke up the day before graduating, Kalypso initiating the conversation, Ashton entirely speechless when she said the words. Kalypso had heard that he slept with a girl named Sage Miller, who was in their grade, the night before while at a party, from Luke. A cut-and-dry breakup where Kalypso blocked her ex boyfriend from her life. At graduation, Kalypso smiled, but every time she looked away from the cameras shoved in her face, broken pieces cut themselves along her throat.

She didn’t want to hear Ashton’s excuse when she broke up with him, she didn’t want to hear what he might have tried to come up with or how it wasn’t his fault. Kalypso, a girl that still knows her worth, realized that sometimes you don't need a guy to be happy.

Kalypso dials her sister for a video call. Continuous rinsing and scrubbing from her paintbrushes, laying them on the counter that wrapped from the sink to the fridge. She heard the dial tone end and her little sister picked up the call. Stella could only see a white ceiling.

“What do you want, Kal?”

“How long do you think Alex will watch Magik for?”

Ashton Irwin could still be single.

-

For Ashton Irwin, he's known about Calum's wedding since he proposed to the woman, but still put off packing until the day before he left. One suitcase full of men's clothes for a week's stay, and one smaller bag of his four-year-old daughter's clothes.

"She's not going to go," Luke remarks, looking at his fingernails. Painted orange with a highlighter by Ashton's daughter. He has a soft spot for his favorite four-year-old, but she likes destroying Luke's nails. "She hasn't even RSVPed yet and weddings in a week."

"You don't know that," Ashton replies. "She could just be Stella's plus-one."

"She's Kalypso, she's not the type to dwell on the past and wait around for peoples weddings,"

"You're kidding me," Ashton throws a dress at Luke. "She dragged me to thirty weddings in four years." Their flight leaves in only a few hours, and Ashton's slowly falling more and more behind on what he needs to get done. He needs to dress himself and his daughter, get a carry on bag ready for her, and manage to get to the airport. Luke's attention was diverted to grabby hands and a soft mewing, his name toward him. "She could've changed and now she's more sentimental or some shit. I did."

"Yeah, and how exactly are you going to explain Auzzie?" Luke lifts her from the floor, sitting her on his lap. They both stare at Ashton from the toddler bed. "Sorry that Sage Miller told you that I cheated on you because she kissed me at a party and you broke up with me. It didn't actually happen and I was so heartbroken I made myself believe her and hey, this kid came out of it. She died two years ago but it's okay because she was a drug addict and had nothing to do with Auzilynn. You want to get married?"

"Yeah, actually," Ashton moves across his room to get into Auzzie's dresser, searching for more than the few clothes he can find. Her toys are thrown everywhere and her clothes are torn from their drawers. He didn't have time to clean it up. "Is that so bad?" He starts pulling shirts and pants sets from the piles of clean clothes and a dress that she wore almost every day.

"What do you think, Auzzie?" Luke asks, shifting to pull her higher up. She looks just like Ashton, with a small mixture of her mother. Curly blonde hair in space buns, eyes that sparkle like glass, a crooked smile that could get her out of trouble. "Is daddy being ridiculous?"

Auzilynn nods her head. Her fingers toy with the part of her white tank top that's rolling up. "I want Doritos."

"You want Doritos?" Ashton asks. He decides he has enough outfits on his arm and in the somewhat packed back that he should start folding everything together. As long as it fits, he'll be happy.

"And fruit snacks!"

"Auzilynn Marie, you're not going to ruin your dinner," Ashton demands. "We're going to be at grandma's house in a few hours, can you wait until then?"

Auzilynn shakes her head then cups her fingers around Luke's ear. "Are we still growing fruit snacks?" She says in a hot-breathed whisper.

"Are we still growing fruit snacks?" Luke asks Ashton, wondering what he should answer. "Are they still growing?"

"Yes," Ashton groans. He ran out of fruit snacks three days beforehand and every place seemed to be out of the special type that Auzilynn liked. He told her they had to grow, and he was so happy children were susceptible. "They're still growing."

"Have you ever been to Sydney Auzzie?" Luke asks. His fingers search under her arms and around her neck for ticklish spots that cause her to giggle the most. Her body tenses up playfully. "Are you going to play with Uncle Mike tonight?"

"Yeah!" Auzilynn replies. Michael's still back in Sydney but visited often. He's probably Auzilynn's favorite.

"Back to Kal," Luke says. "How do you think it's such a good idea to talk to her."

"Because I know for sure that Stella's going." All he's wanted for the past five years is to tell Kalypso what happened that night, not some messed up version Sage had created. He plans to use Calum's wedding as a way to talk to Kalypso. A two-for-one deal; see Calum again and get back on good terms with his high school girlfriend. "If I can talk to Stella, she'll at least let Kalypso know that we conversed."

"How do you know? She could just lie and say you didn't show up,"

"They're sisters. They tell each other everything,"

Ashton has only been told stories about what happened to Kalypso after they graduated. She stopped hanging out with Calum, Luke, and occasionally messaged Michael. Stella became her best friend and her sister in one, and they moved several hours away.

Ashton had once been her drug and suffocated her when they broke up. The butterflies he had created turned into caterpillars that filled her lungs with goo and half-eaten flowers. Rumors told Ashton that she nursed herself with whiskey and sleepless nights from graduation on. He would see her driving around with Stella in the middle of the night, hoodie and messy bun-- when she looked the best.

"Stella probably won't listen to you either,"

Ashton and Sage pulled up to a stoplight in the middle of the night, returning from a party, almost a year after Ashton and Kalypso broke up. Kalypso pulled up right next to them, right before the light turned green, and rolled down her window. She screamed, "fuck you!" at the top of her lungs with a stern middle finger pointing straight at Ashton. She sped off when the light turned green. Something that irked Ashtons somewhat-of-a-girlfriend at the time, but to Ashton, that was a Kalypso thing to do.

"Can't you be positive?" Ashton folds another one of Auzilynn's dresses and sets it lightly in the suitcase. He's prepared for anything to happen, including several changes of clothes. "Can you fold the rest of those while I-" A ding runs through the room. Ashton's phone at full volume vibrates Luke's leg. He grabs it quickly to check who it is. Pleasantly surprised, he swipes the notification away. "That was fast."

"What was fast?"

"For Auzzie's birthday, I ordered this painting thing with her name on it," He clicks on the pattern he chose and flips his phone for Luke to see. "They shipped it already and I ordered it last night."

"Watch it be shitty," Luke laughs.

"I paid $50 for that thing," Ashton shakes his head. He prays that he didn't just waste his money entirely and that hopefully, the creator spelled his daughters' name right. "It better be good."

-

“I guess I can’t say the joke anymore,” Kalypso sasses, looking the large white house up and down. A porch that wraps all the way to the back door, into an over spacious backyard. She tilts her head to one side to comb all of her hair over her right shoulder. “Can’t really fuck your wife, Cal,” Calum glances up from his cement table and leans back in an outdoors chair. He looks like an older version of himself, rather than a completely different person. “Sorry, Mike told me to come up to the front.”

“Kalypso?” Calum asks. Brown hair thicker than life itself, large eyes that sparkle underneath any light, and a hoop through her right nostril. Somehow, she isn’t as intimidating as her high school self had been, but at the same time, she is worse.

Kalypso crosses her arms. In Calum’s high school eyes, there’s no way that the woman standing on his porch is his friend Kalypso. As an adult, he questions how she could’ve changed too much but remained the same. “Are we calling me Ashton again?”

“Huh?” Calum wonders. He is just amazed that she was coming after not returning her invite. She must be Stella’s plus one.

“You said Kalypso as if you are trying to get me to start going by Ashtonn again,”

“No!” Calum stammers. Kalypso used to be an avid member of not wanting to go to formal events. She skipped her own prom to go on a boat with Ashton, still in a prom dress. She barely showed up for her own graduation, and she’s voluntarily going to Calum’s wedding? She must really care about him. “I’m just surprised you showed up. Two days early.”

No hair dye, no lip piercing, no eyebrow slits, and she isn’t wearing a full face of makeup anymore. Gauged ears, a white shirt tied in a knot above the band of a black skater skirt, and tons of freckles.

“Was I really that bad of a friend?” Kalypso wearily asks. “If I was, then I’m sorry.”

“No,” Calum shakes his head and finally decides to stand up. He’s several inches taller than Kalypso still. “We’re going to Melbourne to see my sister next month and I was going to have a little celebration there. I didn’t expect you to come to the wedding.”

“Should I go home then?”

“No!” Calum sighs. “I’m just thinking of you from high school. You didn’t go to shit so I just thought you wouldn’t sit through a wedding.”

“I’ve changed,”

“Yes! I see that,” Calum smiles and gestures to her clothes. She wasn’t the biggest fan of skirts when they were teenagers. She’s gone through a tedious development of her character. “You look nice.”

“It’s Stella. If I had my way, I’d be wearing thigh highs,”

“There’s my Kaly!” Calum holds his arms out for an overly-zealous hug. Kalypso has never been near his height, nor all of his friends, so bear hugs are always expected. His heart beats in his chest like a rhythmic song. “What’s new? I haven’t heard from you in forever,”

"I gave birth to seven children and I'm married to John Mulaney," She looks around the porch, wanting to see what Calum's like now. There's a garden off to the side of the house, vegetables on the right side, fruit on the left.

Calum pulls a chair out for Kalypso to sit down in. He moves the documents on his table to the side so he can focus on her. "Really, huh?" They both chuckle and smile brightly. "Our group finished the kids bet."

"The kids bet?"

"Remember when we had a bet on who would have children first? We all tried to bet on you and Ashton,"

"Did I win? Who was my bid?"

"Michael's won," Calum answers. Michael guessed Ashton in general, Calum guessed Kalypso, Luke guessed Michael, and Ashton guessed Luke. "You bet me."

"Then who has the kid? Luke or Ashton?"

"Not important!" Luke says, clapping a hand on Kalypso's shoulder. She turns in the seat, excitedly. She almost tackles him to the cement out of excitement. How did she think that she couldn't go to the wedding? "Children are sticky and that's gross." She's gone five years without hanging out with her group every day of the week. Kalypso feels like a teenager again.

"Liar," Calum says. "You love Auzzie."

Kalypso laughs harder. Who names their kid Auzzie? "You and Michael babysat my brothers for years, and you enjoyed it."

"Kal, I don't need your opinion," Luke shakes his head. Michael and Luke were suckers for the Montgomery boys. A pair of twins seven years younger than Kalypso. "So, seven kids, huh?"

"Yeah," Kalypso starts to count off her fingers "Pride, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Greed, and Wrath,"

"Some people I could get along with," Luke smiles. He too is surprised by Kalypso's personality shirt. She was a classic skater girl with weed bags and a scale in her car. How did she turn into a perfect art freak? "But for real, husband? Wife? Any babies from them?"

"I've got a house, a cat, and my little sister,"

"Really?" Luke gasps.

"Just not that social anymore," She was once a sociable person, which is concerning to the boys. Ashton has had that big of an impact on her. "So, um, Michael or you got wives, Lu?"

"We're Auzzie's favorite single uncles," Luke smiles. "I mean if you're trying to give me your phone number I wouldn't-"

"-I'll give you my phone number in a friendly way. I'm not getting into your pants, Hems," Kalypso smiles and grabs his phone out of his hand. She unlocks it with the same password he's used since he was twelve. "So do I get to meet Auzzie? I feel left out."

"She's inside with Mike and Ash. If you want to concur that battles," Calum answers. He points to the screen door next to the table. Just inside, Kalypso can see two figures standing tall, shadowed onto a nice hardwood floor.

Kalypso is the leader of the broken-up group, even after five years of going solo. So badass, so intimidating that people didn't want to mess with her. With the five-year glow-up on her shoulders, she's a soft intimidating person. She still falls for hugs and attention, wrapping her arms around Luke's middle. He's grown at least three inches in five years.

"How's your mom? I was going to see if I could visit before I go back to Melbourne," Luke asks, letting go. Kalypso's torn from smiling and feeling depressed. She lives in Melbourne too, the irony of it all.

"She died," Kalypso folds both of her ears over to show the boys white ribbons. Pretty tattoos, but hidden. "Lung cancer got her a couple of years ago." Kalypso and Luke finally sit down in chairs.

"Oh," Luke's face falls. He wasn't that close to Kalypso's family like Ashton or Michael were, but he was still welcomed at any point in time. How did he not know that Mackenzie Montgomery died? "I'm sorry . . . I had no idea."

"It was just family at the funeral. Jasper almost didn't go," Kalypso was close to her mom her entire life. Kalypso, Stella, Jasper, and James' father left and never came back after the twins were born. Growing up from a seven-year-old, Kalypso made her mom into one of her best friends. They did almost everything together.

"Your brother Jasper?"

"That's the one,"

When Ashton and Kalypso broke up, Mackenzie and Michael were Kalypso's main support. A lot of times Stella or Luke were involved, and occasionally a couple of jokes from Calum, but Mackenzie never let her daughter feel alone. A beautiful woman, taken too soon.

"Why?"

"Too hard for him to face,"

Mackenzie called Kalypso and Stella every night after they moved to Melbourne. They'd talk about everything underneath the sun, except for the disease that was ruining Mackenzie's body. She never told anybody about that.

Kalypso clears her throat. "So did you guys ever make a band?"

Luke's face lights up. "We didn't start a band, but I have an apprenticeship at a recording studio."

"Really!?" Kalypso smiles. Luke's second choice in life was to become a music producer, even if he couldn't make it into a band. "I'm so happy for you." She claps her hand into Luke's for an achievement. "What about Michael. Any big breaks?"

"He streams video games,"

"Hey, at least he gets to do something he likes,"

"Are you talking trash on me!?" Michael screams, finally walking out of the house. "Holy shit it's Kalypso." Kalypso pivots in her chair to stare down the blond man. He looks just like he did in high school. "Ashton and I had a bet that you wouldn't come because he's here."

Kalypso's head drops. "Of course. Was I really just that bad of a friend?" Inside, she feels terrible, like she messed up as a person that not even her friends expected her to show up to Calum's wedding. She didn't think she was that bad at socializing."

"No, it's just . . . he's here so we thought you wouldn't want to come."

"I'm an adult, Michael, I can get over things."

"I'm not trying to be rude, 'Lypso, I just- you still go by Kalypso, right?" Michael asks. He hasn't heard either Calum nor Luke say Kalypso, because he wasn't listening. Ashton or Kalypso, he knows her by both names. Kalypso nods her head. "Good. I don't know if I can go back to calling you Ashton."

"Somebody say my name?" A thick Australian accent asks, following behind Michael. Kalypso wants to curl up into a ball, scared of Ashton. Ashton, the boy she was and still is in love with. Ashton, the man that cheated on her two days before they graduated. In his arms, a little girl with flowy brown hair smiles. Kalypso's heart fractures. "Oh,"

Luke reaches his arms out to grab Auzilynn from Ashton. Auzilynn practically jumps from Ashton's arms, but he's too distracted staring at Kalypso. She can't bring herself to look at him. Calum and Luke share uncomfortable looks. The tension can't be cut with a knife.

"Auzzie, can you say 'hi' to Kalypso?" Luke asks, setting her on his lap. Auzilynn is a mini-me to Ashton beside her darker, grown out hair, and softer versions of his features. Kalypso has no idea who her mom may be.

Auzilynn looks toward Kalypso. A wide, toothy smile forces a small smile from Kalypso. She has to admit that the two-year-old is pretty cute. "Hi, K'lyso!"

"Kalypso, babe," Ashton corrects. "Kuh-lip-so."

"K'lyso!"

"It's fine, Ashton," Kalypso says. "Hi, uh, Auzzie." She hesitates. She looks to Calum for an answer about Auzilynn's name. "Is it short for something, or-"

"Auzilynn," Luke informs her. "Auzilynn Marie Rose Irwin."

Kalypso looks back at Ashton, questioning the child's name. Normal middle names with an off-the-wall first name. Ashton smiles a closed-mouth smile, dimples showing and obvious frustration in his face.

"Sage named her," says Ashton. Kalypso feels herself falling apart even more. Suddenly, she can see Sage in Auzilynn. The way her eyes shaped like almonds, her bottom lip tucks underneath her teeth the smallest bit when she smiles, her nose looks as if she were a Who in How The Grinch Stole Christmas. With Ashton mixed inside of her, she manages to be adorable still. "I wanted to name her Marie Adair, but Sage said we were going to move to America when Auzzie was a year old and it would tell everyone she's Australian."

"Are you guys visiting from America?" Kalypso asks. She just wants to know if Sage is in the picture, if Ashton's moved on so much. He has a kid, meaning that he's opened up his heart enough for another woman to enter his life. Knowing her luck, Kalypso wonders if there would even be a place for her anymore.

"We've never even left the country,"

"Then where's Sage?"

"Hopefully the cemetery," Ashton replies. "She died when Auzzie was only a few months old. Drug overdose. Never even met Auzzie after signing the birth certificate."

"Oh, I'm so sorry,"

Feeling guilty, Kalypso finds it sort of funny that Sage was the one Ashton cheated with but Kalypso was more successful than her. Karma is a bitch.

-

"Are you talking shit on me?" Fourteen-year-old Ashton Kalypso Mongtomery asks Ashton Irwin. She slides down the end of the leather couch in the school atrium to sit closer to him. He smells like cedarwood and bonfire smoke. "Afraid of a little competition?"

"What are you talking about?" Ashton Irwin asks. The Ashtons have heard of each other, but never talked directly. All they know is that they're both friends with Michael Clifford, but not the same friend group. Ashton Montgomery spends more time with her sister in the year below than with Luke Hemmings or Calum Hood. "I don't even know you."

"Bull!" Ashton Montgomery snarls. Ashton Irwin watches the ball in her lip move to the side when she gets sassy. He swears she didn't have that yesterday during English. "Stop talking shit, or we're going to have beef."

"We can't have beef if I don't know you!"

Ashton Montgomery's tongue rolls over the fresh piercing in her lip. "Watch your mouth." She disappears into a messy hallway, blue hair dye lost in a sea of students, as quickly as she'd shown up.

-

Ashton Irwin was held back a year, while Luke and Calum skipped one. All of them -Michael, Luke, Calum, and both Ashtons- were in the same grade. Ashton Montgomery stays strictly with her sister Stella or Michael, with the occasional visit with Luke, while Ashton Irwin is known as the new kid Luke, Calum, and Michael adopted.

"So was she hot?" Calum excitedly asks. He's not very well acquainted with Ashton Montgomery. Michael forbade him to try and date her when he first expressed feelings, and the rule still stands.

Stella and Luke are dating and have been for two years, crossing the groups over just enough for Ashton Irwin to be the only one not knowing about Ashton Montgomery. Surprisingly, though, the whole school knows of Ashton Montgomery and her intriguing reputation, so how does he not?

"Who?" Ashton Irwin questions. He lays his hand next to him on the couch, trying to draw a boundary line from Calum to him. Calum still edges closer on the blue fabric. "Can you get me some tape?" He asks Luke. Luke, sitting in the chair next to the couch, grabs a roll of duct tape out of a drawer. "Calum, if you don't back off, I'll tape you to a wall." He rips a piece of tape off loudly.

"I'm talking about Montgomery!"

"Who?"

"Ashton!"

If Calum or Luke had to pick one person to be afraid of, Ashton Montgomery would be in the top slot. She's five-foot-nothing, full of pure sass and piercings. Ashton Irwin has seen his name twin in the hallway a few times and wants to learn about the abyss of Ashton Montgomery.

"Wait, you talked to Ash today? Tap some ass?" Luke asks. He thinks maybe, just maybe, Ashton conquered his fear of ripped skinny jeans, a grey tank top, and a red flannel. Ashton groans. "What? You're the one that wants her.

"And so does Calum,"

"Yeah, but they don't share a name," Luke smirks.

Ashton rolls his eyes. "When is the guy supposed to be here? I need to smoke so I can no longer hear you."

"Ask Mike," Luke answers, shrugging. He's no help. "He's the one that knows him."

"But he's showering,"

"Looks like you'll have to wait a little while then,"

Ashton is ready to kick some thirteen-year-old ass.

-

Luke stands up from the porch table, bored of painting on a canvas. Capturing her attention, Kalypso looks up to make sure nothing is wrong. He's got all 10 fingers, no paint is spilled, and his section isn't complete. "Calum can paint this himself," he says, stretching backward.

Kalypso looks down at their progress. Hood is written in fancy cursive and half painted silver with black outlining. "What time is it?" She asks, throwing her paintbrush into a cup of water. The canvas Calum chose is bigger than the table and one of the most agitating, simple paintings Kalypsos ever made.

"It's quarter till nine,"

"Oh shit," Kalypso jumps up to look at her phone. "I was supposed to call Stella." She quickly dials up her sister.

Luke focuses on the painting instead of Stella Montgomery's voice. So sweet, so soft, so silky smooth and calming like lavender perfume she uses every day. Secretly, Luke missed Stella and everything about her; the way she smiles over the stupidest things, her singing voice, how she whispers his name right before falling asleep.

When Kalypso ends the call, he has to distract himself. Quickly, before he falls in love with teal blue bedroom walls and indie songs. "Are you going to Calum's bachelor party?"

"Isn't that for . . . Guys?"

"Yeah, but you're like, one of the guys so it counts."

"Is there a stripper?"

"It's just Cal, Mike, Ash, and a few other guys. If you want to strip-"

"-I'm good. No worries,"

"So do you want to go?" Luke asks again. He pounds the bristles of a cheap paint brush into the bottom of a plastic cup to remove silver paint. Pounding, pounding harder and harder until he's afraid of destroying the brush. "It's just a sit around and drink beer type of night,"

"Yeah, I guess," Kalypso starts typing. "Let me tell Stella."

The paint water is dark grey, diluted with tons and tons of silver and only a few bristles of black. How does Kalypso spend hours just painting? Luke's back feels terrible and they haven't cleaned up yet. She must be a trooper to be able to do this all day every day, he thinks.

"Ready?" Kalypso asks.

"Yeah,"

-

"Ashton, answer the door," Michael commands. His eyes are glued to the TV, trying to beat Luke at Mario Kart. There's no way he's going to lose.

"It's your house,"

"It's your weed,"

"He's two hours late, it's probably shit too. Answer your door,"

"Pussy," Michael murmurs. He pauses the game while Luke whines about stopping, and stands up. A door leads right into the basement of Michaels's house from the outside, which is lucky because even though Michaels's parents love her, it's easier for Ashton Montgomery to walk into the house that way.

Michaels's hand rests gracefully on the door handle. His heels rise to check the peephole to make sure it is Ashton Montgomery. Unlike all of his friends and everyone else in his grade, a ground-breaking growth spurt still hasn't happened. His right leg is a hair shorter than his left, so he's anticipating it soon.

Michael opens the door to warm air and the smell of honey and vanilla shampoo. His childhood best friend claps her right hand into his. They move into a Bro Hug and let go when she reaches for the baggie in her hoodie pocket with her left hand. The price falls from her lips.

“Got it,” Michael slips the money carefully into her hand. “Hangout for a few?”

Ashton Montgomery nods and walks into the pathway Michael has opened up. She finds a spot on the couch, opposite to the spot Ashton Irwin has taken over.

"So you're still talking shit on me, Irwin?" She asks, pulling her feet into the couch too so she can sit in the fetal position. Michael sits on the floor to play Mario Kart again but turns around to hand her a sugar cookie his mom had made. "My time is not good enough for you?" Her initials are frosted in blue on a white background.

"Wait, so you're the-"

"-plug? Yeah." She slips the corner of the square cookie into her mouth. It tastes delicious. "I heard you're trying to compete."

"I'm not trying to compete, I'm just-"

"Selling? I don't need helpers." Another piece into her mouth, but this time, it's a straight bite from the cookie. Ashton Irwin looks her over, remembering that she's Michaels friend. She's not some stranger Michael invited inside. His mom made her a cookie.

"Will you let me-" Ashton Irwin starts. Ashton Montgomery opens her mouth to interrupt, but a stern finger in her face shuts her up. "-talk. You can't take up the whole neighborhood. You're 14."

"Fifteen," She corrects. "I turned 15 three days ago."

"Yes, of course," He rolls his eyes. "15 and a drug dealer. How could I have thought any different?" Ashton Montgomery takes a larger bite of her cookie, trying to fit the rest into her mouth. A tiny corner remains. "Let me guess, your favorite alcohol is straight vodka, your favorite movie is American Pie, you overcharge on eighths, and you're the baby of your family.

Michael glances back at Ashton Montgomery to see what she has to say. She swallows hard and dusts her hands on her black sweatpants. She doesn't have to prove herself to someone that doesn't need an answer, but she's sassy.

"I'm the oldest, I don't drink, I don't overcharge, and my favorite movie is Cars,"

"Cars?" Ashton Irwin repeats back.

"Mack is under-appreciated and needs more love despite his mistakes. He didn't mean to leave McQueen behind. McQueen made him drive all night and-"

It was Ashton Irwin's turn to interrupt. "-I've never even seen Cars."

Ashton Montgomery takes her finger and points at him angrily. The rest of her cookie goes into her mouth with her other hand. "You're missing out." Her hands move to push back falling hairs from the messy bun underneath her hood.

"You only like Mack because your dad used to call you Mini Mack," Michael pauses the game of Mario Kart again to turn and face the Ashtons. Luke unpauses the game and waits for Michael to realize.

"Mini Mack?"

"My moms' name is Mackenzie-"

"-and she looks just like her. Mini Mackenzie," Michael finishes.

"Can we not talk about this?" Ashton Montgomery covers her face with her hoodie sleeves, wanting to just crawl into a hole and shy away from everyone.

"Is it like a sore subject of something?"

She jumps up from the couch. Sweaty palms dry themselves on her sweatpants. "We're oversharing." She shoves her hands into her pockets. "Don't get too close to your d*g dealer." She turns to leave.

"I'll walk you out," Ashton Irwin stands up off the couch too. Lucky for him, he's hit a growth spurt. He's taller than her by almost a foot. "Did you walk here?" Ashton Irwin is barefoot and not wanting to go far in pajama pants and a shirt.

"I live next door," He watches her piercing move as she sasses him. Just the smallest movement to the side. "I can walk myself home safely."

"I'm being gentleman-ly,"

"I'm being independent,"

"If you're going to be like that, then I'm just trying to ask for your phone number, Ashton,"

"Well you suck at it," Ashton Montgomery pulls her phone from her sweatpants pocket and smiles. A wad of twenties fell back into her pocket. "Here."

"I think this is the most confusing encounter we've had in a long time," Luke says, trying to figure out how to talk about the two without having to say full names. Ashton One and Ashton Two?

"Yeah," Ashton Montgomery accepts her phone back from him. He'd texted himself and inserted his last name into his contact information on her phone. "Still 'wanna walk me home?"

"Of course," he reaches his hand for hers.

-

Luke pops the top off a bottle of beer and hands it to Kalypso. She takes two large gulps from it and grimaces when she remembers she hates beer. It goes down sticky and leaves an aftertaste she's not fond of.

"Oh shit," Luke says after retiring into a lawn chair with his beer. "I forgot how much you hate beer." He takes a large drink to indulge in the tension.

"Bro, I could've told you that," Ashton laughs and sits across from Kalypso. There's a bonfire raging in between them, screaming in flames and burning sticks. Kalypso wants to jump into the fire so she can burn alive. She wants to disappear from Ashton's view.

Without thinking about the gross taste, the way it feels when it hits her stomach, the way too much too quickly twists her light-weight head. She downs the rest of it and throws the bottle into a bucket of glass far away. Ashton sassily looks away as if he were cursing Kalypso out in his mind and sips. He's not much of a drinker either.

Kalypso stands up from her chair and sets off to find Calum. If she can get away from Ashton, she'll be okay.

"Where are you going?" Like asks, getting ready to stand up too. Calum's backyard is spacious, equipped with a pool, a deck with a hot tub insert, and tons of play area for his dogs. Kalypso would be the one to get lost.

"I'm giving Calum his wedding present," Kalypso replies. The chairs they're gathered in aren't far from the door, tucked into a barren area you wouldn't see without a roaring fire, so if she turns the corner the spotlight should illuminate Calum. "Leave me alone."

She walks a few steps to the corner and notices everything. She's only walked from the laundry room door to the fire pit, instead of the glass door to the wholesome part. "Aye! Cal!" Kalypso calls to gather his attention to her.

The dark-haired man looks up from his phone, obviously distracted from walking to the fire. He waves her over with a smile. "'S up?"

She pulls her right hand out to clasp into his and he feels something burn into his palm. He pulls his hand away to examine what it is. Green nuggets inside of a baggie.

"No fucking way, 'Lypso," he grins wide and starts to open the baggie.

"Should be about five grams, maybe a bit more,"

"Oh my god I've never loved you more than I do right now," he pulls her into a close hug, pressing Kalypso uncomfortably into his chest. Calum hugs, as everyone calls them. He forgets about how small people can be, and sometimes just squishes them.

"Good to know that I'm only good for weed,"

"You're good for so much more than that," Calum rocks them both back and forth in the hug, wobbling on his feet. An extreme Calum Hug. "So much more."

"Like making Ashton Irwin uncomfortable,"

Calum squeezes tighter. Kalypso can barely breathe. "That's the highlight of my year, bitch. I've never seen one man so on edge by a tiny woman."

"Calum you're killing me,"

"Oh shit," Calum finally lets go. Kalypso's insides fall from their squeezed positions back to their regular programming. "weed mans still got weed, huh?"

"What type of person would I be if I didn't?"

Calum high fives her. Right hand to left. "Why do you always dap up with your right, but you're left-handed?"

Kalypso smiles. Calum surprisingly smells beer on her. "You see," she says, running and pulling him to the fire. "Because you're right-handed, and he's right-handed, and he's right-handed, and he's right-handed." She points one by one to Michael, Luke, and Ashton. "You just learn how to."

"I guess so," Calum answers. "So since you don't drink, you want something else? I can load a bowl if you want?"

"Sure," Kalypso smiles. She hasn't smoked with close friends in years. Before walking into their graduation, Kalypso, Michael, Luke, and Calum all smoked a joint in the parking lot. None of them remember graduating. That was the last time they all hung out.

-

"Ashton!" Mackenzie Montgomery yells when she enters their homey kitchen from the garage. Jasper and James, Ashton's twin little brothers, enter in behind her. "What's for di-" Mackenzie stops to survey the scene. Both Ashtons dressed in matching band shirts at the dining room table, enjoying some type of dinner. Two scented candles burn in between them. "I didn't realize you were having friends over. You're supposed to tell me."

Ashton Montgomery wipes her mouth with a paper towel. "You weren't answering your phone. I thought it would be okay." She picks up a shrimp from her bowl of Alfredo and pasta to put into Jasper's mouth.

"This is Iron Man," James holds up an action figure missing both legs. Ashton Irwin nods his head and takes another bite of pasta. "Who's your favorite superhero?"

"I'm sorry, I was just really busy," Mackenzie sighs. "Sorry for my disheveled state, sweetheart, I just got off the ICU floor so I'm done for." Mackenzie sets her belongings on the counter a few feet behind the wooden table. "Boys, leave Ashton and her friend alone for once please."

The twins are identical, including their need for glasses. Jasper's wispy brown hair falls in his face and into his black frame glasses while he munches on the shrimp his sister gave him. He's the so-called 'nicer' twin.

"You look like you like Superman," James tells Ashton Irwin. Ashton smiles at the young boy.

James is the outgoing of the two. He swoops his hair to the side to free up his tiny forehead, unlike Jasper. He's more sociable, open, and willing to meet new people. The Stella of the boys. He flirts, he makes friends with, and charms most girls he runs into. Including Calum's sister.

"Where's Stel?" Mackenzie asks, moving from the counter to the sink. "Ashton Kalypso, I'm going to beat you if you don't learn to put things into the dishwasher." She picks Tupperware the shrimp Alfredo had been in and rinses it out. The dishwasher opens, and clean dishes shine. "Ashton!"

Ashton Montgomery rolls her eyes and slides her food to Jasper. James steps away from Ashton Irwin to start eating out of his sisters' bowl. Neither of them uses a fork, causing Mackenzie to groan.

"It's not my fault when Stella doesn't empty the dishwasher," Ashton Montgomery sasses. The lip piercing moves with her lip, and every time it does, Ashton Irwin just wants to stare. Sass is her biggest quality, the thing she's the best at. "Like, ever!"

"She's twelve, give her a break,"

"She's actually thirteen, Mother, but if you say so,"

"Ashton Kalypso Montgomery, can you please not be so sassy all the time? Do you know how to be normal?" Mackenzie turns from the dishwasher and remembers that there's a guest in the house. "I promise I'm not bullying my child, I'm just joking around." She takes a deep breath. "I'm Mackenzie, Ash's mom, but Michael just calls me mom like every other damn person I run into."

"If you're hungry, help yourself, blah blah blah," Ashton Montgomery slumps back in her chair. "I already gave him the rundown."

"So if you make a mess?" Mackenzie asks.

"You clean it up," Ashton Irwin answers.

"Ah! I like you already!" Mackenzie says. She pulls her black hair from her face and into a ponytail. And Ashton Irwin can see the resemblance entirely. "I'm going to go get freshened up. Don't give the boys any dessert, please. And, oh! I never got your name."

Ashton Irwin stands up to shake Mackenzie's hand. She's taller than her daughter, but Ashton Montgomery is an exact carbon copy of her mother. "I'm Ashton." He holds his hand out.

Mackenzie takes it. "Ashton?" She looks at her flushed-faced daughter slumping further into her chair. Mackenzie's eyes go wide. "Oh! I've heard about you."

"Is it bad?"

"Not my place to tell,"

Ashton looks over at Ashton at the table. "Really, huh?"

-

Taking in a breath full of smoke from the end of a pipe, Kalypso leans backward in the lawn chair. Calum's got those expensive lawn chairs with cushions, and a fire pit built into a table. Kalypso's body is warm from the fire and the guys surrounding it. Calum to her left, Luke to her right, Michael on the other side of Luke, Ashton between him and Calum. Laid out in front of her, past Ashton's head, she can see the city she grew up in. Lights that never seem to turn off. Cars and people that will never know it's her sitting on top of the hill, her back facing an expensive house.

She lets go of the smoke in her lungs, a cloud falling from her mouth. So thick and warm it blends in with the smoke from the fire. Luke snaps his finger in her direction, garnering her attention from the pretty lights in front of her. She blows the remains of the smoke in his face, turning toward him. He's chewing on the edge of a cinnamon-flavored graham cracker.

"Truth or dare?" he nods his head toward her. He leans his head back to take the last of his graham cracker. Luke's hands rubbed themselves together to get rid of crumbs and he finally rests them in his lap.

"I'm twenty-three, Luke, not twelve," Kalypso answers. She's not interested in the game.

"Just pick,"

"Fine," she presses the opening of her pipe back to her mouth, ready to ignite her personal flames again. The fires of her drug reflect in the eyes of Ashton's, and he dreads the flick of her thumb on a blue lighter. "Truth."

"Wimp," Luke smiles at her and her lighter ignites. Ashton can't help but watch her, ignoring Michael and Calum's conversation. "Where do you work?"

She breathes in deeply and pulls away from the glass. "I paint custom canvases for people." She lets go of the smoke, turning her head to her right shoulder so she doesn't hit Luke in the face with it. "Follow me on Instagram, a-k-m-underscore-arts."

"Wait," Ashton pauses. He waves his hand in the air to cut her off. "I think I just ordered a canvas from you for Auzzie. Auzilynn, A-u-z-i-l-y-n-n,"

Of course, Kalypso thinks. "Yeah, I think you did," She doesn't want to talk to Ashton. She wants to forget he exists. Kalypso wants the broken gems inside of her to fuse back together, but she can't do that. She doesn't know why. "Uh . . . Mike, truth or dare?"

Michael glances at Kalypso. "Dare?"

Kalypso blinks quickly, forgetting the feeling of a spinning world from her low tolerance. Her eyes close for a few seconds when she balances herself and sets the pipe down on the table surrounding the fire. "Go jump in the pool fully clothed."

"Now you're the one acting twelve," Michael laughs. "But bet. It's hot out here anyway."

-

“Look at the moon," Ashton points a steady finger to the glowing globe in the sky, lighting their way down the bumpy sidewalks. Eventually, Ashton hopes he'll have a car, and when he and Kalypso hang out, they won't have to skate back to either house. "It's so pretty,"

"Not prettier than you," Kalypso blows a kiss toward him, just a few feet ahead. Her skateboard is smaller than his, but the bottom is scratched up and doesn't have as much paint as it used to. Emblems from Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Sublime, AC/DC, and Nirvana's smiley face were once painted over a pink sunset. Scratches from skatepark equipment are starting to fade the emblems.

Ashton catches the kiss in a hand and releases it to the sky until a horrific scream brings him back. Lying on the cement a few feet away from a crack in the cement, Kalypso's lying on the ground. Ashton stop's his skateboard and discards it in the grass. The moon illuminates her clear left cheek.

"Are you okay?" He slides to the ground next to her and grabs her left arm to shift her to her right side. Somewhat of a rash on her right cheek, her wrist cocked oddly, and she just giggles. "'Lypso, are you okay?"

She continues giggling, her chest bubbling from the ground and bouncing her curled hair. "It hurts like a bitch," Kalypso giggles when she's hurt, Ashton realizes. "You should kiss it and make it feel better." An odd coping mechanism, but at least she's not crying.

"Kiss what?"

"My broken fucking hand,"

Ashton presses his lips to her hand. Soft buttons of pink kiss lightly. "Better?"

"Oh second thought, I think I busted my lip open too," Kalypso smiles. Burning, stinging is flowing through her wrist and she winces when she tries to move her fingers. "It needs a kiss." It would be impossible to explain to Mackenzie, to tell her that Kalypso wrecked her skateboard and still manage to ride when she heals. Mackenzie will want to ban skateboards from Kalypso, Stella, and the boys.

Ashton doesn't think, he just does what she asked. As humans ruin everything they touch, Ashton and Kalypso ruin each other in ways that make growth. Like destroying the ground to plant a blooming tree or trimming long hair so it will grow longer and healthier. Ashton's lips ruin watermelon lip balm on Kalypso's, and Kalypso ruins Ashton's wonder of what it tasted like.

A fire ignited between the two, leaving them both breathless after a two-second kiss. Flowers grew from both of them, sprouting beautiful things. They can't believe themselves.

Ashton, the brunette boy that was a year older than everyone else in his grade, kissed the girl he thinks of first every morning until unconsciousness brings him to dreams of marriage and spending the rest of his life with her. The girl that smiles and makes him photograph the way butterflies land and stick to her hair, the way Ashton looks happiest on rainy days with clouds looming in the sky, and everything she never wants to forget.

"I win," Kalypso smiles, even though her entire body is shaking. Ashton sits up and wraps arms underneath her back and knees. Kalypso's pulled from the ground and she kicks until her feet are planted. "I bet Luke you'd do it tonight."

"Do what tonight?"

"Kiss me."

"So you're telling me you broke your hand intentionally,"

Kalypso sighs. "Nope," she looks at her already-swollen hand. It's terrifying. "Go hard or go home, right?"

-

"Truth or dare?" Michael laughs, his shirt gone, and hair wild. "Ashton." he sips a beer, feeling some type of buzz plaguing his mind.

"Truth," Ashton answers. He's holding his beer more than the rest of them. With Kalypso present, he physically cannot become intoxicated. He doesn't know how, but he knows that no matter what she's to be protected. After years of going out drinking with her in high school, he made sure she was safe before he was.

"C'mon man, all you pick is truth,"

"I don't want to go into the pool,"

Michael scoffs. "Fine. What happened two days before graduation, Irwin?"

Kalypso looks up from the ground. She can't breathe. The flowers inside of her started to choke her airways until she knew that Ashton was watching her. Act normal. Act normal. She pretends to be unbothered. Everyone can see through it.

"What happened?" She whispers and takes Luke's glass of whiskey. She drinks all of it at once and hands the ice back to his protesting whines. "I'd like to hear this."

"I didn't do anything, actually,"

"Really, because-"

"-I went to a party," Ashton leans forward to set his beer down. Elbows on knees, hands clasped together. "And I drank something that Sage had given me. I woke up three hours later to Luke screaming at me. Sage told him I cheated on you."

The first time he'd been able to say it directly, out loud, in the presence of anybody else. The first time Kalypso felt she could talk about it too.

"Really? I heard-"

"-Where's your fucking evidence, Ashton?"

Kalypso's eyes went wide. She hadn't been called that name in forever. Her family, her friends, everyone around her adjusted to her new name. She stands up from her chair. She no longer cares what happens, she no longer cares if she's ever around him again. "Where's your evidence that you didn't, Ashton?" The ache in her heart tells her that she still loves him as she did five years ago.

"Video evidence dating that the entire time I was asleep in my bedroom, she was at the diner on George Street telling everyone she was going to prank us with that,"

"Bullshit,"

"Why would I lie? Five years, five fucking years, 'Lypso! Why would I lie about that?"

Kalypso blinks hard, frustrated, and stares at Calum. "I'm going back to my hotel. I'll see you in the morning." She looks back at Ashton. "You can go fuck yourself."

-

"Eight, nine, ten, eleven-" A road of thunder interrupts Kalypso. Lightening lights the setting sky. "It's eleven miles away."

"Really? The radar says it's already storming," Ashton replies, smiling. Kalypso pushes his phone from his hands. Being overdramatic, Ashton falls from his side into a soft thump on his back. "Look, you're so rough you knocked me over!"

"Liar!" Kalypso giggles. Her right hand, jailed in a blue cast, clenches her blanket when she lightly pressed into his chest with her left. "I think you're perfectly fine."

After breaking her wrist, Mackenzie put her daughter on house arrest. Ashton, Michael, and any other friends can visit, but Kalypso can't go see them until she's healed.

"Dinner!" Mackenzie yells from the bottom of their carpeted stairwell. Kalypso stands up from the comfy bed and grabs her phone off the charger.

When Kalypso was old enough to decorate her own bedroom, she took advantage of the design. She was given two closets, one with sliding doors, and one that has a single door leading to a room of shelves. Years prior her uncle helped her remove the sliding doors and shove her full-sized mattress into the space. Pillows along the back of the closet, where the widest part of her bed is. She has a perfect view of her TV and the windows.

"Ashton, dinner," Kalypso laughs. Her hand ruffles his messy curls and giggles at his bandana choice. The same color as her hair- cherry red. "C'mon, I'm hungry!"

"You're going to have to force me, Hungry, I'm comfy,"

"Oh yeah?" Off of her nightstand, she grabs a disposable camera and snaps a photo of Ashton, his stubborn self, and all of his glory. "One day, we're going to be twenty-something, and you're going to look at these photos and say 'thank goodness I'm not that stubborn anymore'."

"And you're going to wonder why you have always been dramatic and use disposable cameras."

"It's easier to print and hang up,"

"I think you're a little bit obsessed with my face," Ashton points to the wall surrounding the bed. Photos of Ashton and Kalypso, some with Michael and the guys, or Stella and Kalypso the few times they've gotten along. She changes the switch of her fairy lights to illuminate the area. She never needed an overhead light with floor-to-ceiling windows scattered around.

"I am not!" Kalypso smiles. Her hair is messy, wavy, and poofy in different directions. She tucks as much as she can behind her ear. Ashton grabs the camera to snap a photo of her reaching for him. "Please! I'm hungry!"

"What'd your mom make for dinner?"

"Grilled salmon,"

"You hate fish,"

"But you don't!" She tugs harder on his hand. "I'm hungry!"

"What are you going to eat?"

"Grandma is making Jasper and I chicken strips," Calypso falls backward onto her hardwood floor when Ashton stands up. He catches her when her butt grazes the ground and pulls her into him. "C'mon!"

"So you get chicken strips and I get fish?"

"Yes!" Kalypso continues pulling Ashton out of her room, down the stairs. Stella and the boys have already made it to the bottom. "It's your favorite. Last night we had my favorite, and tomorrow we get James' favorite."

"You just had to include me, huh?" Ashton asks while he descends from the top floor. Kalypso's two stairs ahead of him.

She shakes her head. "Actually, I requested shrimp alfredo for dinner but no. Mom wanted me to have something you like," She lies.

"Yeah?"

"Uh-huh!" They end up at the bottom of the stairs and round the left corner to the kitchen. "You're here every day. Might as well include you."

James groans, looking at his sisters' boyfriend. "Do you ever go home?" With Ashton in the picture, James didn't get to spend as much time with Kalypso.

"James Samuel!" Mackenzie calls. "That's not very nice."

Pre-Ashton, James, and Jasper could fall asleep in Calypso's bed with her. When Ashton and Kalypso started dating, Ashton started sticking around until she falls asleep and goes home when he knows she is officially out for the night. The times Ashton stays with the guys, he calls her to talk when she feels drowsy. It's their routine.

Mackenzie sets a tray of chicken strips on the table for the non-fish-liking children. "Ash, can you- My Ashton," She smiles, uncomfortable. "Ashton Kalypso, can you get the tea from the outside fridge?"

"I vow we call her 'Lypso!" Jasper says, already stealing chicken strips. His dark hair falls over his auburn eyes.

"No!" James answers. "Ashton One and Ashton Two."

"Or," Kalypso holds a finger in the air. "Ditch Ashton entirely and become Fletcher and Kalypso." Ashton gives her a side-eye glare. "What?"

"I'm not going by Fletcher,"

"Noob,"

"Kalypso, tea!" Mackenzie demands and points to the garage door. Kalypso disappears inside.

"We should just sell Ashton Kalypso on eBay!"

"James, we aren't selling your sister," Mackenzie shakes her head. She sits on the first chair to the right, and across from Jasper. Ashton and Kalypso always sit next to each other on the other side of the boys.

"But she's a girl," He grimaces. "And she talks a lot now."

"I would rather her talk a lot than be silent again," Mackenzie says. "Ashton, you're a real blessing to her. You have no idea."

"What do you mean?"

"Until last year she never really talked to anyone but Michael and Stella," Mackenzie starts. Ashton couldn't believe that at one point, Kalypso was so shy she couldn't talk. "I swear she talked for an hour straight the day she met you."

"Mom," Kalypso groans, closing the garage door behind her. A pitcher of sun tea half mixed with lemonade in her hands. The only thing the boys will drink besides soda. "There are some things you don't have to share."

-

Three shots down, as many as it takes to go. Kalypso, even hating alcohol, wants to forget his name. She wants to forget that he exists in the real world and that he's so close, but so far away. All she can do is scream his name and wonder why she wasn't good enough. They were too young to know about love, and if they weren't they were too dumb to think that it could last forever.

Kalypso forgot the massive bar and hangout area Michael had in his basement. When the five, and sometimes Stella, became known and interested in alcohol, Michael's was the house to get it from. Easy access, nobody realized anything was touched. Either there, or stealing food from Kalypso's refrigerator, you could find any of them.

Luke sets down a box in front of her at the bar. "Ashton says this is for you." He slides it closer to her. Her palm stops it.

She doesn't want anything to do with Ashton. His stupid box, his stupid face, his stupid mistakes. She was rejecting his presence and everything that comes with it. "Shove it up his ass" She put another shot into her mouth and swallowed. Four in. So many more to go.

"Kal, can you please just take it?"

She slams her glass down onto the marble counter. "What's in it?" If it's stupid, there was no point in opening it.

"No idea,"

Kalypso tucks her pink thumbnail at the paper tape. She is just a slice, just barely a poke, away from whatever Ashton is up to.

"Probably just giving things back,"

"Five years later?"

"You never know." Luke grabs a knife from the other side of the bar and slices the top open quickly. Flaps fly open, revealing several things inside. Michael adjusts off a barstool to get a closer look.

Papers, indented and worn by ballpoint pens of all colors. Stuffed animals, jewelry, familiar things Ashton has given to Kalypso and she returned. Off the top, Luke lays a stuffed stingray on the bar. Kalypso loved that stingray, named it Dionysius, and kept it amongst her pillows for years.

A necklace with Ashton engraved in a silver plate, two stuffed bears his mom had made, and rocks they'd painted together. Movie ticket stubs from every date, and the millions of photos they'd taken together. She glued them to the inside when she gave him the brown box. She gave him the box that way and he never changed it. Maybe they weren't too naive to know what love is.

"Look," Michael says and grabs a photo from the box, pulling it off easily. "You were so small." He gives it to Kalypso to see.

Wide-eyed, a mouth full of braces, and wearing Ashton's clothes, Kalypso was sitting in Ashton's lap. Her hand blocking most of her face, leaving only Ashton and a thirteen-year-old Luke to be seen. Her hand was in a cast-- the photo was from when they first started dating.

Kalypso grabs another photo from the box. Sitting in the front, she was the smallest and not looking in the mirror like everyone else was. Kalypso's bedroom-- her mirror covered in plastic flowers, the boys and Stella posing with her. Calum to her left, Stella to her right, Ashton behind her, Luke behind Calum, Michael behind Stella. Stella had taken the photo. Kalypso was at least seventeen.

On the bottom of the box was a photo printed on regular printer paper of the fire she used to engulf his belongings. A jersey she had with IRWIN on the back for all of his football games, his clothes, and the rest of their photos.

"He kept this for five years?" She shakes her head. "Now, who can't get over who?"

Luke reads a paper in the box. "You should look at this." A giant blue #1 shone at the top of it.

' 'Lypso, I tried to talk to you and your mom yesterday to explain what happened and the whole story. You wouldn't give me the time of day. I wouldn't either, to be honest. '

She reads it aloud. The letter continues, explaining the box. Everything inside was the same and he didn't want it. Another paper, labeled #2, had a list.

1.I've written coordinates down. These are all the places where I knew I couldn't live without you. Something significant happened at each one and I remember them all perfectly. Plug it into google and remember, for me.

2. You can go there. If you want to pretend you're in a fanfiction of a young adult movie where we'll end up together. If you do, I have something there to remind you of it all.

3. You don't have to forgive me or take me back. I just want you to know how much I still love you.

4. They're not in order.

Coordinates:

"Either of you have Google Earth?" Kalypso asks. Luke pulls his phone out. She enters the first set and waits. "Literally we're right here." Kalypso looks for answers in the men.

"How about you go look in the downstairs living room," Luke hints. "That's where-"

"-That's where he asked for my number,"

"And you still have an interrupting problem."

Kalypso rolls her eyes, but can't seem to get downstairs fast enough. A photo is waiting for her where Ashton sat that night. She grabs the paper; it has something else to say.

"I'm the oldest, I don't drink, I don't overcharge, and my favorite movie is Cars." "Cars?" "Mack is under-appreciated and deserves more love despite his mistakes,"

I swear that was the most eye-opening and Kalypso thing I'd heard, Mini Mack

"I remember that night," Kalypso can see it.

"15 and a drug dealer. How could I have thought any different?" Ashton Montgomery takes a larger bite of her cookie, trying to fit the rest into her mouth. A tiny corner remains. "Let me guess, your favorite alcohol is straight vodka, your favorite movie is American Pie, you overcharge on eighths, and you're the baby of your family."

"First night Ashton had bought from me personally," Kalypso felt the warmth through her entire body. Ashton remembered.

"I'm the oldest, I don't drink, I don't overcharge, and my favorite movie is Cars,"

"Cars?" Ashton Irwin repeats back.

"Mack is under-appreciated and needs more love despite his mistakes. He didn't mean to leave McQueen behind. McQueen made him drive all night and-"

It was Ashton Irwin's turn to interrupt. "-I've never even seen Cars."

Ashton Montgomery takes her finger and points at him angrily. The rest of her cookie goes into her mouth with her other hand. "You're missing out." Her hands move to push back falling hairs from the messy bun underneath her hood.

He remembered one of the most insignificant things about her.

"You only like Mack because your dad used to call you Mini Mack," Michael pauses the game of Mario Kart again to turn and face the Ashtons. Luke unpauses the game and waits for Michael to realize.

"Mini Mack?"

"My moms' name is Mackenzie-"

"-and she looks just like her. Mini Mackenzie," Michael finishes.

The next coordinate was where she wrecked her skateboard. Taped to a broken stick is a photo of Kalypso laying on Ashton's bed with him. It was a few days after when everyone finally caught up with decorating her cast, and Mackenzie didn't realize Kalypso had left the house. She wore a white tank top, one strap falling off her arm. Right hand bandaged up, lays in Ashton's next to her. Kalypso was surprised by the camera Ashton's sister randomly ran up to them with. She caught a photo while standing on top of Ashton's bed.

"You should kiss it and make it feel better."

She still has the scar from the wreck on her wrist. A reminder of that night for the rest of her life. The feeling of Ashton's lips on hers. Warm cement painful under her palms.

"Kiss what?"

"My broken fucking hand,"

Ashton presses his lips to her hand. Soft buttons of pink kiss lightly. "Better?"

"Oh second thought, I think I busted my lip open too," Kalypso smiles. Burning, stinging is flowing through her wrist and she winces when she tries to move her fingers. "It needs a kiss."

He remembered eating dinner at Kalypso's house every night for eight weeks straight. The day her cast was removed, they went on their first date.

Makenzie made them do an uncomfortable photoshoot before their showing of Cars. A dress, a bowtie that clipped on, and uncomfortable shoes. Teaching Kalypso how to drive, laughing when she screamed while merging on the freeway. Video games, arcades, records. Their one-year dinner catered by Michael and Calum, listening to 2000s rap the whole time. Kalypso surprised Ashton with the jersey. One time Kalypso fell asleep on Ashton at Michael's house. Kalypso showing off her license when she got the guts to get it. A bonfire at the beach for Ashton's birthday, even though they couldn't swim.

They stargazed every night of the summer until the sun rose or sleep overcame them. Where they met for a concert, where Ashton parked his car at a drive-in date, Ashton getting a bunch of a facemask mixture stuck in his curls.

Their last year together. Driving around for hours on end, listening to AC/DC, and laughing. They always bought slushies beforehand. An entire day on a boat in the lake. Bikinis, tanning lotion, and seven of Kalypso's cousins. All he could see was her. Kalypso got her first tattoo at 18-- a dinosaur encased in a glass jar. A 50s themed Disney Movie marathon Luke, Calum, and Stella helped Ashton plan. The day before they broke up.

The day before they broke up.

'I'll always love you. -Ashton'

She drops the last thing into the box. Does Ashton still love her? Impossible to think about. He has a daughter, probably a girlfriend, probably an entire life she would be imploding on. She puts the box in front of her waist. Kalypso feels bare and like nothing before. "Can you take me to the hotel?" Ashton knew Kalypso better than he knew himself.

Luke nods his head and motions for her to walk with him to Michael's car. On the back window, there's a penis drawn in the dirt.

It's easier for Kalypso to be in the dark, wiping falling tears like nothing. Headlights illuminating the road, not her. Luke pats her hand on the armrest. She was once hard, a badass around everyone but Ashton, and now the only scary part about her is her quick wit.

-

Stella set up the hotel room. Toiletries in the bathroom, pajamas on the bed. The sisters decided to share a suitcase for their two-day trip. They'll fly back tomorrow night-- they'll go back to their apartments after picking Magik up from Jaspers, and Kalypso will spend all night trying to catch up on painting orders.

"What's that?" Stella asks, folding a shirt over her hands. She's getting ready for a shower. Instead of replying, Kalypso sets the box on Stella's bed. Her legs buckle underneath and her sister has to catch her before she shatters into the carpet.

Muttered words. Teas. Stella opens the overly stuffed box that they couldn't close. She is amazed, reading everything Ashton had to say about Kalypso. The photographs, the concert tickets to Blink-182 and some country singers. A stapled-together packet of Kalypso's favorite of everything. Songs, movies, food, drinks, even her favorite names. The joke she always made about naming their kids Asher and Ashley. Her favorite colors and the book she constantly read over and over again and became surprised at the outcome every time.

Ashton knew everything about her when they dated. Things she never realized herself. She knew him as he knew her. The day before graduation, though, he had made his decision.

-

Kalypso applied a white shimmer to her tear ducts. Dabbing opposite of a red smokey eye. Practicing her graduation makeup one last time and trying to get Ashton's opinion about it.

"How many of my bandanas are you going to steal?" Ashton asks, throwing another bandana toward his girlfriend. She wipes the glitter off her middle finger onto her blue jeans.

"We both can wear one," She folds the bandana up into a strap and hands it back to Ashton. "Put it on. You'd look cute."

"Cute? I'm supposed to be intimidating." Ashton giggles, but reluctantly folds the strip over his forehead and ties it at the base of his neck. "Now we look alike."

"Is that a bad thing?" Kalypso asks.

"Nope," Ashton stands up from Kalypso's bed to stand behind her. All he can think about is how much he loves her, how beautiful she always has been. Freshly dyed, cherry red hair chopped at her shoulders, curly from braids. "Are we still going to the beach after graduation?" She had tied a bandana in her hair to hold her hair back too. Black and white, like Ashton's.

"Yeah, but after the graduation party,"

Ashton grimaces. He has a surprise for her at the beach. A stupid party will get in the way.

"C'mon, Ash, your mom is throwing it for all of us,"

"She's such a cock block,"

"Ashton!"

"I'm kidding," Ashton giggles again.

"Now, what do you think of this look?"

"I think that you look beautiful no matter what," Ashton smiles. Her lipstick matches her hair and looks like it would stain his lips. "With or without makeup."

Calypso sighs. "You always say that," She grabs her phone from the floor. A text to Stella asking where she is.

"And?"

"You have to say that,"

If Ashton never said it, he'd be a liar. She is his princess, more goddess-like than anyone had ever seen. "Do you want me to tell you if you look ugly."

"Yes,"

"If I only ever told you when you looked ugly, I'd be mute,"

Kalypso rolls her eyes. "Of course you would say that."

Ashton's head reaches over her right shoulder to press a kiss on her cheek. "You look like the moon and every star in the galaxy."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I can spend three summers straight watching you every time you're around and still get excited for the next one,"

Kalypso blushes. "You're so cheesy."

"I know," A ding from his phone distracts Ashton from his girlfriend. "Luke wants to know if he can come back with Stella."

"Sure,"

Ashton types quickly. The text sends. Luke's on his way with Stella. "Are you excited to be done with school?"

"Yes," Kalypso smiles. Braces removed, teeth are pearly white and straight. "We can hang out so much more than before. We don't have to worry about curfews or my brothers."

"Still dreaming about an apartment with a clawfoot bathtub and large windows everywhere?"

"With high ceilings and at least one cat? Of course,"

"We'll move to Melbourn and live happily ever after,"

"Melbourn? You've never said anything about Melbourn before?"

"I may be trying to pull a few strings,"

"Ash!" Kalypso gasps.

"I wasn't sure if you'd want to go or-"

"-Stella entering the room! Please redress!" Stella announces, pushing Kalypso's bedroom door open. "What's the tea?"

"We'll talk about this later, okay?" Kalypso assures.

"Of course," Ashton hopes she's okay with it.

-

"He tried so hard on all of this, oh my, . . . wow," Stella's still pulling things from the box, looking over everything included. Her finger catches on a CD. "What's on this?" Kalypso has no clue but grabs her laptop out of her suitcase.

Her finger shakily presses play and a screen of dark lighting and an ugly girl sitting in a diner booth shows up. It's Sage.

Long, black hair pulled into an overly large messy bun that outweighed her entire head. A square-shaped face and a pig nose permanently turned upward.

Sage shoves a french fry into her mouth while smiling. The person behind the camera asks what Sage was so happy about. She shoves another fry into her mouth. "I came up with a genius idea. Prank the high school sweethearts. There's no way that shit can last forever."

"How'd you do it?" A boy sitting next to her asks.

"I put Nyquil in Ashton's drinks. Knocked him out cold. I'll tell him that he got super drunk and we had sex. The worst thing that'll happen is they'll break up." Sage giggles, covering her mouth. Her fingers are manicured with long acrylics and red nail polish. "I have to show this to like Stella or something so Kalypso isn't that depressed."

"Don't you want them to break up so you can date Ashton though?"

"Ew!" Sage shoves her friend next to her. "I could never. Not into weirdos."

Stella pulls her sister into her arms. The biggest hug she could offer to her best friend. Kalypso partly crawls into her lap, feeling like shit.

"I'm an idiot,"

"You didn't know,"

"Did you ever see this?"

"Not once. I haven't even talked to her since I was like sixteen,"

"I should've believed him." He probably has a wife, another kid on the way, a whole life with no room for Kalypso.

Stella grabs the box and turns it upside down. "He kept all of this for so long." All of the contents spill out onto the floor. "What's that?" She points to a tiny velvet box on the carpet. It only reminds Kalypso of one thing.

"No way," Stella passes the box to Kalypso. "Is this-" She cracks the box open and a gold ring with two silver diamonds on top stares at her. "Oh my God."

Stella picks up the ring. "I . . . I remember this. You and I have the same sized fingers so he made me go with him while you were at work one day,"

"You knew?" Tingles flow through Kalypso's body.

"He was going to propose on the beach. After you graduated. He was trying so hard to get his mom to cancel the party so you'd make it for the sunset."

Kalypso cries even harder, thinking about her past.

-

Kalypso ducks her head underneath the water of her hotel bathtub. Chocolate brown locks billow around her like she's some magical creature or a mermaid. She remembers when she was younger and would've stained the bathtub with different hair dye concoctions. The happiest moments in her life included colored hair -- and Ashton. Chocolate brown, like a symbolistic feature telling her she's not living to her fullest potential.

Her Last dye was that cherry red before graduation. Ashton brought out everything she loved about herself. Quickly, she resurfaced, gasping for breath. She couldn't live without Ashton. Stella threw her clean clothes and watched her run to the passenger door of Michael's car. They sped off, driving way faster than they should have.

Michael stopped in front of Ashton's moms' house, watching Kalypso knock on Ashton's door. Her hair is still dripping wet and staining the back of her shirt. Michael's anticipating someone answering the door. It's just Ashton, Auzilynn, and his mom. Someone will answer that knows Kalypso.

Ashton's the one to open the door. He can't even speak before her.

"You say you fell in love with me in the basement and you remembered that I'm Mini Mack. You stayed with me for eight weeks from the time school got out until I fell asleep when I broke my hand. You set up dates for me and you with Michael, Luke, Calum, or Stella creating stupid pasta dishes with mystery meat because we never had money because we were teenagers. You taught me how to drive. You put up with my constant pictures and annoying comments.

You spent summers with me on a trampoline looking at the sky because I told you that seeing the stars made me happy. You gave me one of your football jerseys when you would wear the other so we would match. You called me beautiful all the time, every single day, and never once let me forget it. You made me feel emotions I didn't know I had. I drowned in you, but yet," Kalypso finally looks up from the ground to lock eyes with Ashton. Her blue orbs lock with brown ones. "I believed someone with a fake tan and an ugly nose over you."

"It was because everyone else did," Ashton says. He's stone-faced, afraid that if he shows emotion he'll crumble. She's his drug, even after five years of straight hatred. "Luke, Michael, Calum, Stella," He looks away. Ashton can't stand to look at her anymore without turning into the high school boy in love with her. He spent five angry years going to sleep without knowing she was safe and secure with a pillow, a blanket, and that stupid stingray. "They all believed her because I couldn't remember."

"Yeah, but I should've trusted you," Kalypso starts tearing up. Her voice can paint pictures of nature scenes you only see in dreams, but her tears could destroy villages and towns. Ashton holds a hand out to her, wanting to bring her inside. "I was so stupid."

"You didn't know," Kalypso takes his hand for the warmth of a home again. One she spent a lot of time during her adolescence. The carpet is still warm and white, the couch with a strain on the armrest from when Ashton spilled something on it. His bedroom upstairs, where they made out one too many times. Her home away from home.

"You wanted to go to the beach," Kalypso whispers. "You . . . you wanted to go to the beach, and right before, I ruined it. I ruined it all. And now you have Auzzie and a maybe wife and I'm never going to be worth anything in your life but just right now I want you to consider, do you still love me? Right here, right now, that's all I need to know and I'll leave you alone."

Ashton pulls Kalypso close to his body for a hug. He smells the same, feels the same, and radiates the same energy he had for several years. "Ashton Kalypso," Ashton softly smiles, trying to lighten the mood. "You overthink way too much."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I could never stop loving you,"

#Ashton irwin #Ashton Irwin x oc #Ashton calypso montgomery #old me #calm #no shame #Ashton Irwin ff #Ashton Irwin fic #Ashton Irwin smut #Calum Hood x reader #Calum Hood imagine #Luke Hemmings blurb #Michael Clifford smut #5sos smut #5 seconds of summer #fluff #angst #smut #drugs #weed #alcohol #5 seconds of summer smut #5sos ashton #5sos Luke #5sos calum #5sos michael #5sos fic #5sos blurb #5sos imagine #5sos x oc

[birdstudies]

October 19, 2019 - Pacific Black Duck, Grey Duck, or Australian Black Duck (Anas superciliosa)

Found in much of Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and nearby islands, these ducks are closely related to Mallards and will interbreed with them where Mallards have been introduced. They eat seeds, aquatic plants, insects, crustaceans, and mollusks, dipping their heads under the water to forage or plucking plants and insects off the ground. Females lay clutches of between 7 and 13 eggs in shallow nests on the ground constructed from marsh grass and other vegetation, twigs, and down feathers. They incubate the eggs alone.

#pacific black duck #grey duck #australian black duck #anas superciliosa #duck #bird #birds #illustration #art #water #birblr art

[gaiafiles]

『PARK CHAEYOUNG ❙ GENDERFLUID』 ⟿ looks like GAIA KWAK is here for THEIR JUNIOR year as a HORTICULTURE student. SHE is 21 years old & known to be IMPULSIVE, OBSERVANT, LYRICAL & DETACHED. They’re living in GORHAM, so if you’re there, watch out for them. ⬳ bells. 20. pst. she.

(smiling_dachshund.gif) hi hi i’m bells!!  this is my chihuahua-esque, tiny but tough plant ruler miss gaia kwak and we’re so happy to finally be here. 

folds hands. divorce/cheating/alcoholism tw. 

gaia (born yehwa kwak) is an only child and found a deep-rooted interest in nature at an early age for that same reason. despite a saccharine demeanor, they most certainly won’t back down from a brawl, especially not when you have something they want (see: the new pokemon game, a shiny new trowel, or, above anything, a fresh pint of ben & jerry’s cherry garcia.)

her relationship with her mother has always been... rocky to say the least. mrs kwak was ice cold and unshakable, practically a marble statue of a woman that only cracked when she deemed you worthy. think tiny hands tugging at nightgowns, mommy can you read me a bedtime story? but you said tomorrow yesterday too... it’s no big surprise they turned out this way. 

business trips turned into infidelity turned into divorce, and soon enough little yehwa found herself in the back of her dad’s car, spiral aloe plopped in her lace-clad lap as they bid their childhood home goodbye. 

it wasn’t all bad news - weekends became capital F & capital D family bonding days, hot australian sun gently kissing freckled noses, toes curling into damp grass, a wide eyed yehwa feverishly scribbling down instructions to pitch a tent or build a campfire in impressive detail. 

though the pain of abandonment eventually caught up to her, days turning into blurs of bottle caps and numbness. it was easy to hide at first, just a shot every now and then to take the edge off... yehwa only accepted she had a problem after the Accident™ 

they’d started spending most of her time in the great outdoors by themself after that (the plants wouldn’t hurt them the way people could). skinned knees and cigarette butts while she skated along daisy ridden dirt paths, and she soon realized she could ride forever but she’d never find the answers she was trying to find. 

hoping for a fresh start and wanting to run as far away from the broken little girl she once was as possible, yehwa made the decision to write a note reassuring her father she was safe, changed her name to be untraceable, and soon enough she was on her merry way across the globe. 

cleaning up for a couple months and studying to get into their dream school was the easy part. rehab worked for a while, long enough to get their shit together and be accepted, though she still struggles with her alcoholism and broken family dynamic on the daily. they’re constantly fighting a battle with the inner child they’re so desperately trying to drown. 

as one may assume, gaia has no interest in talking about their past. bug her about it more than once and she won’t hesitate to bite your head off for breakfast. 

she has no interest in talking about... much really, not for the first little while she gets to know someone. likes fleshing their opponent out first. catch gaia at the library and they’ll smile at you, give a little wave but it’s the kind that says you don’t really know me and you never will. (like a duck preening its feathers, her father would say, kwak kwak kwak!)

but she loves the people she does let in like a wildfire!! unforgiving and always hungry for more. she loves with her whole heart and she’ll never let u forget it. to gaia the currency of love is weekly playlists and personalized memes <3

gaia constantly has to have something in her hands. a sleek vintage camera, an antique gibson or maybe a rusted fidget spinner, just as long as she’s occupied.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

exes, study buddies, friends that drifted, enemies, a half sibling from her mother’s side? ride or dies, roomies, u name it, i want it.... genuinely just here for a laff... please lms to plot and i’ll come to u shortly?? <3

#radintro #hi!!! im so excited to write w u all!! #oki think i edited this a little bit more to my liking im sorry its rushed and bad and im the worst #i'll have clays stuff up by tomorrow :D #divorce tw #cheating tw #alcoholism tw

[mistress-audios-babies]

Elijah Phillip Rizzo (Gang 1)

Basic Character Questions

First name?: Elijah.

 Surname?: Rizzo.

 Middle names?: Philip.

 Nicknames: Eli, Ja Ja, Italian Sherlock, Eagle.

 Date of birth?: 30 May 1986.

 Age?: 34.

 Physical / Appearance

Height?: 158cm.

 Weight?: 84kg.

 Build?:  Slightly toned but mostly average.

 Hair colour?: Black with some grey patches.

 Hair style?: Hugh Grant style.

 Eye colour?: Cognac.

 Eye Shape?: Hooded.

 Glasses or contact lenses?: Glasses.

 Distinguishing facial features?: Defined cheek bones. Inverted triangle shape. Facial hair.

 Which facial feature is most prominent?: Cheek bones.

 Which bodily feature is most prominent?: His limp.

 Other distinguishing features?: Scars on his face/hands/torso/legs. Right glass eye. Missing fingers.

 Skin?: Scars. Brown skin tone. Rough.

 Hands?: Missing fingers. Paler palms. Palm scars.

 Scars?: Scars on his face/hands/legs/torso.

 Birthmarks?: Pinkish patch on back of neck.

 Tattoos?: Detailed compass on the inside of his left wrist (coloured).

 Physical handicaps?: Limp. Missing fingers. Glass eye.

 Type of clothes?: On job: Charcoal twill storm system bespoke car coat. White dress shirt. Black dress pants. Pinstripe tie. Black fedora with feather. Comfortable black leather boots. Black silk gloves. Christian cross necklace. Silice.

 How do they wear their clothes?: They dress neatly in public, especially in work, but is more casual at home, most times looking bedraggled from the constant stress.

 What are their feet like? (type of shoes, state of shoes, socks, feet, pristine, dirty, worn, etc): Comfortable black leather boots while in public. Plain white socks while home. Boots worn but sturdy. He has multiple of the same type of boots. Feet leathery, perpetually sore.

 Race / Ethnicity?: Italian.

 Mannerisms?: Has Australian colloquialisms and slight Australian accent, but mostly Italian. Dark sense of humour. Mostly stoic. Slight stutter. Sometimes cannot think of English words.

 Are they in good health?: They have high blood pressure, and PTSD.

 Do they have any disabilities?: Limp. Missing eye. Missing fingers. High blood pressure. PTSD.

 Personality

What words or phrases do they overuse?: General army sayings mostly.

 Do they have a catchphrase?: Houston, that’s your problem.

 Are they more optimistic or pessimistic?: They struggle to remain optimistic, but tries to be.

 Are they introverted or extroverted?: Introverted mainly. Somewhat of a shut-in.

 Do they ever put on airs?: He vents when he drinks, and so he avoids drinking until he feels he cannot take it any longer.

 What bad habits do they have?: Smoking. Swearing in inappropriate situations. Putting his cigarette between his fingers to create a makeshift middle finger. Joking in inappropriate situations.

 What makes them laugh out loud?: His humour runs between overly childish to darkly mature.

 How do they display affection?: Small physical gestures, like squeezing hands.

 Mental handicaps?: PTSD. Depression.

 How do they want to be seen by others?: A mix of the silent and strong and a positive influence.

 How do they see themselves?: He sees himself as made of darkness, and he doesn’t want anyone else to see this. He desperately wants to regain the happy-go-lucky person he was before his army stint, and so tries to be as optimistic as he possibly can.

 How are they seen by others?: Cold and formulaic. Stoic. Emotionally aloof.  Unpleasant yet strangely infectious.

 Strongest character trait?: His problem solving and ability to put aside emotions for facts.

 Weakest character trait?: His desperation to remain optimistic that can get in the way of remaining in the moment.

 How competitive are they?: He generally lets his actions and work speak for themselves rather than asserting for validation.

 Do they make snap judgements or take time to consider?: Take time with his work, but is prone to snap decisions outside of work.

 How do they react to praise?: They remain stoic on the outside but inwardly love it.

 How do they react to criticism?: They remain stoic again, and usually has a smoke afterwards to ponder it.

 What is their greatest fear?: Anything happening to his family, or Private.

 What are their biggest secrets?: He never killed anyone in combat.

 What is their philosophy of life?: No matter the blackness in your soul, only put out light into the world.

 When was the last time they cried?: The last time he drank, which was months ago.

 What haunts them?: His time on the battlefield.

 What are their political views?: Generally middle-based, more left leaning.

 What will they stand up for?: Everyone’s right to justice.

 Who do they quote?: His drill Sargent.

 Are they indoorsy or outdoorsy?: More indoorsy.

 What is their sinful little habit?: Smoking.

 What sense do they most rely on?: Touch and smell.

 How do they treat people better than them?: He treats everyone with equal respect, except for people who hurt others in any way.

 How do they treat people worse than them?: He treats everyone with equal respect, except for people who hurt others in any way.

 What quality do they most value in a friend?: Honesty and compassion.

 What do they consider an overrated virtue?: Courage. Courage disabled him.

 If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?: His need for approval of his character.

 What is their obsession?: Cartoons.

 What are their pet peeves?: Needless negativity.

 What are their idiosyncrasies?: Rising early. Constant tidiness. Perpetual attention. Always at attention in some way. Self-flagellation.

  Friends and Family

Is their family big or small? Who does it consist of?: Big family, but only he, his parents and three younger siblings immigrated to Australia. His mother, his father, two younger sisters, and a younger brother.

 What is their perception of family?: He makes an effort to keep in contact with them all, and he has a very good relationship with them all. His family are the ones that mean most to him.

 Do they have siblings? Older or younger?: Two younger sisters and a younger brother (Bella, Luna, and Mattia).

 Describe their best friend.: He doesn’t have one yet.

 Ideal best friend?: One who can make him feel happy, not just exude it. One who will stand by him through everything. One who he can trust and rely on. One that makes him comfortable to be himself.

 Describe their other friends.: Right now he only has work friends, and they are mainly surface level.

 Describe their acquaintances: He considers baristas at local coffee shops to be his acquaintances as they are some of the only people he sees on a regular basis other than work friends.

 Do they have any pets?: He has a blond fox terrier named Private.

 Who are their natural allies?: His colleagues.

 Who are their surprising allies?: The people he works for.

 Past and Future

What was your character like as a baby? As a child?: He was a giggly ball of energy for the longest time. He matured once he got to high school, especially once they immigrated to Australia, as he saw himself responsible of getting his baby sister through the ordeal, who was the only sibling he had at the time.

 Did they grow up rich or poor?: They were fairly well off, not breaching either term.

 Did they grow up nurtured or neglected?: There was no neglect nor abuse, but they weren’t particularly sheltered.

What is the most offensive thing they ever said?: He developed quite a degrading sense of humour in the army, and would constantly say discriminatory things to everyone he deemed beneath him. He grew out of this.

 What is their greatest achievement?: Obtaining his Associate Degree in Criminology.

 What was their first kiss like?: He had his first kiss while on a movie date with his then girlfriend, it started as nervous and shaky, but evolved into a make out session filled with passion.

 What is the worst thing they did to someone they loved?: After returning home after his deployment, he hit his girlfriend while having a flashback, and the relationship ended up terminating as his aggression was too much for her to handle. This is why he tries so hard to be better now.

 What are their ambitions?: At this point in his life, he doesn’t aspire to be anymore than what he already is. All he desires to do is to get through life as best he can.

 What advice would they give their younger self?: Don’t be a hero.

 What smells remind them of their childhood?: The smell of spaghetti cooking and the smell of rain in the winter.

 What was their childhood ambition?: To be like those heroes he saw on tv, to really make a difference in the world like they did.

 What is their best childhood memory?: Coming home from school everyday to his baby sister being so excited to see him, and getting to play with her and be almost as much a parent as their actual parents were.

 What is their worst childhood memory?: Learning what death was when he found out his favourite teacher had been murdered by her ex wife. This started his interest in forensics and justice.

 Did they have an imaginary childhood friend?: It was more like he pretended actual objects were people and he had a rock collection he acted was his fan club for when he was a big hero in the future.

 When was the last time they were crushed with disappointment?: When his relationship ended up terminating a few months ago.

 What past act are they most ashamed of?: The night his fiancée left him, when he had gotten outrageously drunk and had broken down, throwing things around the room and trashing their flat, screaming for Reggie to duck. He had thrown a vase at her and had cut her badly, and she packed her things and left him, leaving him to wake in the morning on the floor with a trashed flat, and his fiancée gone with no recollection of what happened apart from a voice message she had left him at a pay phone. This was the last time he drank.

 What past act are they most proud of?: As much as he regrets it, he is proud of taking the brunt of the explosion for his mate Reggie on the battlefield. They were sneaking past enemy lines to try and free some Iraqi girls they had befriended, and in doing so they had been target for concentrated attack. But while he is proud of his actions and showing of morale, he is also ashamed that they had captured Reggie, thus making his actions basically nought. He never saw him again, and the only way he wasn’t captured as well was the girls dragging him to safety. For all he knows Reggie is still being held prisoner.

 Has anyone ever saved their life?: The Iraqi girls who dragged him to safety when he and Reggie had gone to rescue them. And plenty of his mates had taken literal bullets for him during their deployment.

Strongest childhood memory?: Immigrating to Australia. He remembers being woken up late at night to be told his father had been told to station there with the Carabinieri, and he remembers excitedly packing his things with drooping, sleepy eyes, wondering about the new possibilities he would be faced with. He remembers being able to sit first class on their way over, eating his first croissant (it was filled with gooey chocolate and topped with sweet raspberries). He remembers being carried to their new temporary accommodations after not sleeping the whole trip over, and then proceeding to sleep for a straight 16 hours.

 Love

Do they believe in love at first sight?: Not particularly; he feels there needs to be an intimate connection beforehand for the love to actually be meaningful.

 Are they in a relationship?: He recently broke up with fiancée, and is looking more for companionship rather than an actual relationship.

 What is their sexuality?: He’s not really sure; he’s had girlfriends before, but he feels he like men as well. He’s not overtly sexual (he does have sex and will passionately do so when in the moment, but his libido is low at all other times).

 How do they behave in a relationship?: He finds himself acting rather awkwardly no matter how long he has been with the person, and he behaves pleasantly until he’s been drinking, which is a major problem for him that he is now trying to fix by not touching the stuff.

 When did you character last have sex?: He picked up a stripper from a local bar not long after his breakup and took them to his flat to pay them for their trouble.

 What sort of sex do they have?: It’s usually rough and violent. It’s what could be considered orthodox.

 Has your character ever been in love?: He considered himself to have been, but he sometimes wonders, if he really had been, why had he ended up hurting them? He hadn’t wanted to, but why did it take just drinking for that to come out? It must have been waiting under the surface. He hates himself for this.

 Have they ever had their heart broken?: His first girlfriend had been told by her parents to break up with him as they didn’t want her to be around him. He used his first cigarette afterwards.

 Conflict

How do they respond to a threat?: Mostly he tries to stay level-headed, but certain situations leave him terrified and unable to think or act rationally.

 Are they most likely to fight with their fists or their tongue?: Mostly he fights with his words, but tends to react physically when those he cares about are put into question.

 What is your character’s kryptonite?: His family, most notably his siblings.

 If your character could only save one thing from their burning house, what would it be?: From his childhood home, his siblings, and from his current flat, his dog Private.

 How do they perceive strangers?: He tries to see them as potential friends, but truthfully sees them as potential threats.

 What do they love to hate?: America ( in a playful way).

 What are their phobias?: Waking up back on the battlefield. Loud noises. Anything approaching him fast.

What is their choice of weapon?: Beretta Model 1915-19 pistol.

 What living person do they most despise?: The man to have set off the grenades that disabled him.

 Have they ever been bullied or teased?: He was lightly teased for his accent when he attended the rest of his primary schooling and his secondary schooling.

 Where do they go when they’re angry?:  To a park close to his flat where he turns up music loud and runs along the path, always leading to the gym.

 Who are their enemies and why?: Many of his clients view him as an enemy, as he can be what gets them in jail.

  Work, Education and Hobbies

What is their current job?: Forensic Criminologist.

 What do they think about their current job?: It’s a meaningful passion to him, but it can be rather stressful.

 What are some of their past jobs?: He had an eight year stint in the army, and then worked as a barista and a janitor while studying criminology in university.

 What are their hobbies?: He enjoys drawing and working with paints. He enjoyed training his dog to be a serviceable disability working dog. He enjoys dead lifting and going on runs with Private.

 Educational background?: He started school in Italy and then continued with it until Grade 12 while in Australia, and then undertook study in Criminology at the University of Queensland.

 Intelligence level?: He is highly intelligent, as evidenced by his career achievements.

 Do they have any specialist training?: The History of Crime and Abnormal Psychology.

 Do they have a natural talent for something?: He’s incredibly skilled at painting and drawing, and he uses this to his advantage by selling them at some markets and conventions.

 Do they play a sport? Are they any good?: He enjoys dead lifting and running, and he’s very good at it.

 What is their socioeconomic status?: Middle upper class.

Favourites

What is their favourite animal?: Goats, especially the ones with the biggest horns, and deer.

 Which animal to they dislike the most?: Any type of snake.

 What place would they most like to visit?: He would like to go back to his hometown, Treviso someday.

 What is the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen?: His baby sister being brought home for the first time.

 What is their favourite song?: Bernadette (IAMX).

 Music, art, reading preferred?: Music: Electronic dance and jazz. Art: Realistic paintings and cartoon-y style. Reading: Mystery and thriller.

 What is their favourite colour?: Orange.

 What is their password?: The combination to his old school locker.

 Favourite food: Anything gluten-containing, and anything green. He’s not generally a picky eater, but really the only thing he won’t stand are frozen meals, reminding him too much of MRE’s.

 What is their favourite work of art?: The Creation of Adam.

 Who is their favourite artist?: Michelangelo.

 What is their favourite day of the week?: Thursday.

  Possessions

What is in their fridge: It’s stocked with fruit and vegetables mainly, and other general items.

 What is on their bedside table?: A digital clock, a picture of him in his army uniform, a pocket watch his dad gave to him, letters his family sent him while in combat, his current book, a pack of cigarettes, his cilice, prescription pain killers, and his phone.

 What is in their car?: He keeps his car rather clean, but does have some old coffee cups in there along with a cross hanging by his mirror that he touches every time before driving and some old CD’s.

 What is in their bin?: Rubbish, failed notes and sketches.

 What is in their purse or wallet?: Money, driver’s license, debit card, his work ID, a pack of cigarettes, some chewing gum wrappers, other’s business cards, lip balm, over-the-counter pain killers, caffeine patches.

 What is in their pockets?: His phone, a pack of cigarettes, chewing gum wrappers, spare change.

What is their most treasured possession?: The family letters sent to him while in combat.

 Spirituality

Who or what is your character’s guardian angel?: He considers Reggie, his younger sister Bella, and Private to be.

Do they believe in the afterlife?: He believes in Heaven and Hell.

 What are their religious views?: He has Christian faith.

 What do they think heaven is?: Whatever Heaven would be to the specific person, exactly what it is they’ve always wanted. A perfect version of their happy place. For him this would be back in his home town with his family.

 What do they think hell is?: Whatever Hell would be to the specific person, exactly what they can’t stand. For him this would be him trying to escape from enemy lines, having to disabled over and over again.

 Are they superstitious?: Not really.

 What would they like to be reincarnated as?: He fancies the idea of coming back as a deer stag.

 How would they like to die?: Either to die of old age, or murdered on the job. He would more than happy to give his life for justice.

 What is your character’s spirit animal?: A woodpecker that he repeatedly hallucinated seeing on the battlefield, native to Italy but nowhere to be found in Afghanistan. It gave him the strength to keep going, to one day be able to see one in person again.

 What is their zodiac sign?: Gemini.

 Values

What do they think is the worst thing that can be done to a person?: Take away their dignity.

 What is their view of ‘freedom’?: To do as the white male can. They are free in most every aspect of life, and while there are some things that shouldn’t be tolerated from anyone no matter what race, he sees freedom as everyone having the same right as ‘the desirables’.

 When did they last lie?: When he told Bella he had been cutting back on his smoking on their biweekly phone call a few weeks back.

 What’s their view of lying?: He wishes to be seen as such a beacon of positivity that he would rather lie to keep that charade up. He hates how many times he has been the cause of other’s pain, and even for smaller things, he never wants to be the one to make someone hurt if he can possibly help it.

 When did they last make a promise?: He promised the last victim of the crime he was working on that he would do everything he could to make sure they got the proper justice they deserved.

 Did they keep or break their last promise?: He was successful in testifying against the criminal, and getting the victim the appropriate treatment and help.

 Daily life

What are their eating habits?: He eats cleanly on most days and has a cheat day on Thursday.

 Do they have any allergies?: He gets hay-fever and gets sinus infections easily.

 Describe their home: His flat is a very good size and is kept mostly clean except for his study, which is always chaotic as this is where he brings all his case work when he goes home. He decorates conservatively, but does have some personal flares around the flat, such as framed TV show posters in his lounge area, some assorted knick-knacks on the kitchen counter, plush pillows on his lounge etc.

 Are they minimalist or a clutter hoarder?: He’s more minimalist than clutterer, but he’s not really either.

 What do they do first thing on a weekday morning?: He prays on the floor and applies his cilice.

 What do they do on a Sunday afternoon?: This is the time he sets aside for his artwork, and so goes to his tiny studio to paint/draw.

 What do they do on a Friday night?: He goes to the gym for an hour, jogs home, takes a shower, and makes dinner, eating it in front of the TV and heading into his study to pour over his work from the week.

 What is the soft drink of choice?: Lemonade.

 What is their alcoholic drink of choice?: He tries not to drink, but Rum and Coke, or White Liquor.

 Miscellaneous

What is their character archetype?: The Caregiver/The Optimist.

 Who is their hero?: His dad.

 What or who would your character dress up as for Halloween?: The Cat in the Hat (lol).

 Are they comfortable with technology?: He has to be with his job.

 If they could save one person, who would it be?: Bella.

 If they could call one person for help, who would it be?: His work friend, ‘Dr’ Michelle Rodney.

 What is their favourite proverb?: Far d’una mosca un elefante (To make an elephant out of a fly).

 What is their greatest extravagance?: He likes to live modestly, but it would be all of his art supplies and his studio.

 What is their greatest regret?: His army stint.

 What is their perception of redemption?: When the actions speak louder than their words. Talk is cheap and tell nothing of disposition.

 What would they do if they won the lottery?: Take a trip first class back to his hometown to spend a few months with his family, and Private would have only the best toys and treats~

 What is their favourite fairytale?: The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

 What fairytale do they hate?: The Little Mermaid.

 Do they believe in happy endings?: The idea of happily ever after doesn’t really exist, and while he accepts that once you’ve gotten that ‘fairy tale ending’ things will most probably never be that happy again, it also doesn’t have to be downhill from there. A large part of happiness is what you make, and waiting for the hill to slope in the sun is sometimes as bad as tumbling down it in the dark. Every day counts, and right now he hopes his best day isn’t for years to come.

 What is their idea of perfect happiness?: Where he is adapted to his new physical circumstances to where it’s like he’s not disabled at all, where he can think back on his stint and not panic, with his family, with Private, living in peace at last.

 What would they ask a fortune teller?: Did Reggie ever escape, and is there any chance of him meeting someone and not fucking it up?

 If your character could travel through time, where would they go?: He would go back to before he left his family and hold them a little bit longer. Get their scent to hold stronger in his nose for when he would later need that reassurance.

 What sport do they excel at?: Deadlifting.

 What sport do they suck at?: Swimming.

 If they could have a superpower, what would they choose?: To be instantly competent at everything he attempts first try.

#elijah #gang 1

[drferox]

So I am feeling under the weather again and wanted to take a break from the usual to daydream about the farm I would one day like to have in the future, and all the things on it.

Basically a permaculture set up maintained by a small group of people that either live full or part time on the property, trying to be self-sustaining and do away with modern monocultures as much as we possibly can. I would love to be maintaining genetic stocks of plants and animals that had fallen out of favor with industrialisation and factory farming, those that perhaps were less efficient as converting feed into animal protein, but those that were hardier on ‘unimproved’ (read: more natural) terrain. Heritage and old-style breeds.

The LSB might be spending his time figuring out how to build Earthships and set up aquaponics and the tech side of it, while I spend my time thinking about the biosphere side.

Oof, I want my fluffy Highland Cattle so badly. Smaller than some of the european breeds, hardy on unimproved pasture and good mothering instincts means they’d probably do quite well on a gradually improving system. Plus they’re one of the breeds most genetically similar to the ancient Aurochs, which is cool in and of itself, but with so much of our beef cattle herd being angus/hereford/shorthorn and the occasional wagyu (whether that’s real wagyu or not) I would really like to maintain a pocket population of these cattle, even if I can only manage 6-8 breeding cows and their offspring.

Some homesteaders milk one as their house cow, but I have a fondness for the old Jersey cow and wouldn’t mind having one around for milk, but I’m not sure if she’d bee too productive or require more feed supplements than we have available. So I would be hoping to carefully experiment with crossing the Jersey to Highlands and see what a 50:50 or 25:75 cross produces and whether that’s suitable for whatever land we end up with. I’d also be very curious to see what a Jersey’s mothing instincts are like if she has other cattle with good mothering instincts to hang around, watch and learn from. (Because whether cows have a cultural component to mothering behavior is something I’d be curious to look at)

Tamworth pigs! An older breed that is barely hanging on in Australia (and importing new pig genetics is nearly impossible with our quarantine rules), I would be really keen to help the conservation of this breed one day. They’re not as long-backed as the Large White x Landrace pigs that are mostly used in commercial and factory farming setups, which means slightly less bacon meat per pig, and they have smaller litters typically or around 8 instead of around 10-12, but they’re better foragers, typically lose less piglets to mortality even in free range settings and they’re brown! Which under the Australian sun means less UV associated skin conditions/cancers.  Imagine them foraging through weedy land to help clear it, or foraging under the fruit trees in established orchards.

Goat friends! Partly to graze down weeds and rough land, and partly because I enjoy being around goats and would love to be able to make goatmilk soap.

Chickens are something that I must have one day, and something that I need to research a heck of a lot more. I want to be able to maintain multiple different genetic groups so I can have different coloured eggs.

All of those egg colours are from chickens! And I think that’s fantastic. But I need to look a lot more into the breeds that are actually available in Australia, brush up on my pet chicken medicine skills, and sit down to do the maths and logistics about maintaining all these separate breeds of chickens together. But somebody has to scour the vegetable patches of bugs and it’s going to be these funky little dinosaurs.

Peacocks are another species I’d be interesting in keeping, espeically some of the weirder colour combinations like charcoal and cameo. I’m not sure on their availability though, and haven’t seen much on their health in general so of course curious to know more about these relatively uncommon colours.

They’re also a kind of family history thing, so perhaps more mascot than anything else, but the feathers are lovely.

I thought about quails for more species diversity, but probably wouldn’t do turkeys or ducks. Turkeys may be difficult to keep healthy if they’re rotating over ground that had chickens in it in a free range system, and to be honest there are plenty of native duck species that I’d rather visit and fly away instead of trying to keep. They’re quire messy little critters, cute as they are.

Geese though, geese are a maybe. They can graze, and in a rotational grazing system they’re useful because there are multiple species of worms that cattle, pigs and even kangaroos can transmit which the geese do not, so there’s potentially a job for them there.

I haven’t contemplated rabbits at all because there are already so many feral ones, and they come with myxo, that keeping domestic rabbits on a rural property seems just unwise. And there are feral deer, feral pigs, and kangaroos/wallaby in many rural areas that they have to be accounted for too. Feral pigs are a quarantine risk for domestic pigs, feral deer can bring in too many worm species, but the roos can visit as long as they stay on the grasses and not the vegetable gardens.

I couldn’t forget fish either. Our freshwater rivers have been in such a bad shape for so long, why wouldn’t I farm native freshwater species in the farm dams or an aquaponics system? Even if most of what we need from the fish is their poop, I like looking at fish, and maintaining a healthy population independent from the whims of river water politics would make me feel slightly more comfortable about the future.

Murray cod and perch are the commonly available species, but with enough tanks there’s no reason I couldn’t have other, smaller river species or even invertebrates that are local to wherever we end up. Gotta keep those genetics alive somewhere, and if we can do it, why wouldn’t we?

Bugs and bees! We’d need to have corridors of native plants as havens for native insects (I want my Christmas Beetles back on the landscape, thank you) but also strips of non-native and cottage wildflowers and herbs to feed the honey bees, grow our drier herbs and florals for soap making.The plan being having lots of different species mixed together makes it harder for pathogens to take hold

And that’s just animal breeds I’d really like to have running around the place, before even looking at the heritage breeds of cottage vegetables that have been making a comeback through places like Digger’s. I think my favourite is Granny’s Throwing Tomato.

#rambling #one day #permaculture #the goal #personal

[sleepyjoey76]

Finding Your Perfect Feather Down Pillow: How to Choose the Right One Online

A restful night's sleep is a precious commodity, and one of the key contributors to a comfortable slumber is a quality pillow. Feather down pillows, known for their luxurious feel and natural materials, are a popular choice for many sleep enthusiasts. With the convenience of online shopping, finding the right feather-down pillow has never been easier. However, the variety of options can be overwhelming. In this guide, we'll walk you through the process of selecting the perfect feather down pillow online, ensuring that you make a choice that leads to blissful nights of sleep.

Understanding Feather Down Pillows:

Feather down pillows are crafted using a combination of feathers and down clusters. Feathers provide support and structure, while down clusters offer softness and insulation. The ratio of feathers to down determines the pillow's firmness and loft. Here's how to make an informed choice:

Firmness and Loft: Feather down pillows come in various levels of firmness and loft. If you prefer a plush, cloud-like feel, opt for a higher down content. For more support, choose a pillow with a higher feather content. Keep your sleep position in mind: back and side sleepers often benefit from medium to high loft, while stomach sleepers may prefer a lower loft.

Fill Power: Fill power measures the quality of down in the pillow. Higher fill power indicates larger, more resilient down clusters that provide better support and insulation. Look for pillows with a fill power of at least 600 for optimal quality.

Cover Material: The cover fabric plays a role in the pillow's comfort and durability. Choose covers made from natural materials like cotton or organic fabrics for breathability and softness.

Thread Count: A higher thread count in the pillow cover can prevent down and feathers from poking through. Look for a thread count of 300 or higher for better durability.

Advantages of Feather Down Pillows:

Feather down pillows offer several benefits that make them a favorite among sleepers:

Natural Comfort: The combination of feathers and down provides a balance of support and softness, resulting in a comfortable sleep surface.

Breathability: Feather down pillows allow air to circulate, preventing heat retention and ensuring a cooler night's sleep.

Longevity: High-quality feather down pillows can last for years with proper care, making them a durable investment.

Fluffability: Feather down pillows can be easily fluffed and reshaped, maintaining their loft and support over time.

Tips for Choosing the Right Feather Down Pillow Online:

Read Product Descriptions: Pay close attention to the product descriptions to understand the pillow's firmness, fill power, and materials used.

Customer Reviews: Reviews from other customers can provide valuable insights into the pillow's comfort, durability, and overall satisfaction.

Consider Allergies: If you have allergies, ensure that the pillow is hypoallergenic and has been treated to remove allergens.

Pillow Care: Feather down pillows require occasional fluffing to maintain their loft. Check if the pillow comes with care instructions.

Certifications: Look for certifications like Responsible Down Standard (RDS), which ensures ethical sourcing and treatment of down used in the pillows.

Reading Between the Lines: Decoding Product Descriptions

When browsing feather-down pillows online, understanding product descriptions is key to making an informed choice. Here's what to look for:

Fill Ratio: Product descriptions often mention the ratio of feathers to down. For example, "70/30" indicates 70% feathers and 30% down. Choose a ratio that aligns with your comfort preferences.

Fill Power: Higher fill power indicates better quality down clusters. Look for terms like "600 fill power" or "800 fill power" for premium pillows.

Firmness: Descriptions may use terms like "soft," "medium," or "firm" to indicate the pillow's feel. Match the firmness to your sleep position and comfort needs.

Cover Material: Information about the cover material and thread count can give you an idea of the pillow's overall quality and durability.

Ethical Sourcing: If ethical considerations are important to you, look for pillows with certifications like RDS, which ensures responsible sourcing of down.

Finalizing Your Choice:

After considering your sleep position, and desired firmness, and reviewing product descriptions, you're ready to make a decision. Here are some final tips to help you choose the perfect feather-down pillow online:

Budget: Set a budget range before browsing to narrow down your options and avoid overspending.

Reviews: Take customer reviews seriously. Real-world experiences can provide insights into comfort, durability, and overall satisfaction.

Trial Periods and Return Policies: If the pillow comes with a trial period or flexible return policy, it's an opportunity to test the pillow's comfort over several nights.

Combination of Pillows: If you're unable to find a single pillow that meets all your needs, consider using a combination of pillows. For example, you might use a firmer feather-down pillow underneath a softer one.

Sleep Trial: A sleep trial period allows you to experience the pillow's comfort in your own home. Take advantage of this if available.

Choosing the perfect feather-down pillow online involves a combination of understanding your preferences, reading product descriptions, and considering customer reviews. By focusing on factors like firmness, fill power and cover material, you can make an informed decision that leads to nights of luxurious and restful sleep. Remember, investing in a quality pillow is an investment in your sleep quality and overall well-being.

#Feather and Down Quilts Australia #Australian Made Doonas #Continental Pillows 80x80 #Feather Down Quilt #Warm Duvets #Light Weight Quilts #Duck Down Duvet #Feather and Down Duvet #High Quality Quilt Sets #Online Quilt Shops #Feather Down Doonas Australia #Featherdown Quilt #Feather Down Doona #Duck Down Quilts #European Pillow (65x65cm) #Standard Pillow (45x70cm) #Best Doona Australia #Feather Quilts Australia #Down Quilts Australia #Australian Duck Feathers & Down #Duck Feather Quilts Australia #Buy Pillow online

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Nettapus auritus, N. coromandelianus, N. pulchellus

African Pygmy Goose by Derek Keats, CC BY 2.0

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Name: Nettapus auritus, N. coromandelianus, N. pulchellus

Status: Extant

First Described: 1836

Described By: Brandt

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Galloanserae, Anseriformes, Anseres, Anatoidea, Anatidae 

Today we have a series of very special geese - the Pygmy Geese! We have the African Pygmy Goose, Nettapus auritus, the Cotton Pygmy Goose, N. coromandelianus, and the Green Pygmy Goose, N. pulchellus. Nettapus does have two fossil species, N. eyrensis and an undescribed specimen, known from the Lower Cooper River fossil location in South Australia, dating to about 100,000 years ago from the Tarantian of the Pleistocene, and Jalisco in Mexico from about 5 million years ago, in the Zanclean of the Pliocene, making it a recently appeared bird all things considered. They are the smallest known fowl genus, meaning, smaller than any other duck or chicken. They have short bills, round heads, and short legs, making them absolutely adorable, and they nest in tree holes, which just increases the adorable quotient. Luckily, none of these birds are threatened with extinction at this time. 

African Pygmy Goose by Veli Pohjonen, in the Public Domain 

The African Pygmy Goose is the one species of this group known from Africa, specifically sub-Saharan Africa. It weighs between about 285 and 260 grams, with very small wingspans and short bills extending to the forehead, leading to them being called geese. The males have white faces with black eye patches, and iridescent black crowns that look green in the light going down the back of the neck, with green patches of feathers around the ears. The females, meanwhile, have grey faces, with smudges of brown patches. Both look essentially similar for their bodies, with black-iridescent-green feathers running down the back and brown feathers underneath. Ducklings have white feathers with similar grey and brown patterns as the adult females, though their bodies are white and black and speckled grey. This is a nomadic bird species, moving all over Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, looking for slow flowing and stagnant water with water lilies in inland areas to live. They feed primarily on water lilies, as well as floating seeds and small invertebrates. They have strong pair bounds that last over several seasons, and their breeding is actually triggered by the presence of rain!  

Cotton Pygmy Goose by Mprasannak, CC BY-SA 4.0 

The other two species in this genus hail from Australia and Asia; with the Cotton Pygmy Goose found in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia and Australia. They are very small, even smaller than the African Pygmy Goose, weighing as little as 160 grams. They have short, deep bills and rounded white heads with brown plumage at the top. They are mostly white, with males having greenish plumage during the mating season, and the wings being green with white bands. They feet on vegetation, and nest in hollows, producing nests of 6 to 12 eggs at a time. 

Green Pygmy Goose by Summerdrought, CC B-SA 4.0 

Finally, the Green Pygmy Goose is known primarily from New Guinea and North Australia, and is in between the African Pygmy Goose and the Cotton Pygmy Goose in size. It has a small grey-ish bill, with dark green feathers over their neck and back, as well as black feathers for the wings and speckled brown and white and black feathers for the bodies. The females aren’t green, but have barred necks, but that is the only real difference there. The males have high0pitched whistles that are returned by lower-pitched calls by the females. They nest in tree hollows and live in vegetated lagoons, feeding primarily on vegetation. 

Sources: 

Boles, W. E. 2010. A Revision of C. W. De Vis’ Fossil Cormorants (Aves: Phalacrocoracidae). Records of the Australian Museum 62:145-155 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_goose 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_pygmy_goose 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_pygmy_goose 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_pygmy_goose 

#nettapus #pygmy goose #bird #dinosaur #birblr #palaeoblr #african pygmy goose #cotton pygmy goose #green pygmy goose #nettapus pulchellus #nettapus coromandelianus #nettapus auritus #paleontology #prehistory #prehistoric life #dinosaurs #biology #a dinosaur a day #a-dinosaur-a-day #dinosaur of the day #dinosaur-of-the-day #science #nature #factfile #Dìneasar #דינוזאור #डायनासोर #ديناصور #ডাইনোসর #risaeðla

[luxebedding]

Enjoy Blissful Nights of Sleep With Luxe Bedding’s Super King Quilt

With Luxe Bedding's Australian Super King Quilts, you can experience a whole new level of comfort and warmth. Made with the best materials, our quilts are filled with fluffy clusters of ultra-soft duck feathers and white down to provide excellent insulation without adding too much heat. Not only that, but our super king quilt is designed to last longer than the standard size. It is carefully cut and quilted to make it last as long as possible and protect it from wear and tear. Plus, its hypoallergenic material makes it perfect for those who suffer from allergies or other medical conditions. If you're looking for something extra special this winter season, look no further than Luxe Bedding's Australian Super King Quilt. Visit us at https://www.luxebedding.com.au/bedding/quilts.html and keep yourself snug and cosy all night long!

#super king quilt

[gokul2181]

CSK vs SRH Live Score: Sunrisers Hyderabad lose David Warner, Kane Williamson quickly | Cricket News

New Post has been published on https://jordarnews.in/csk-vs-srh-live-score-sunrisers-hyderabad-lose-david-warner-kane-williamson-quickly-cricket-news/

CSK vs SRH Live Score: Sunrisers Hyderabad lose David Warner, Kane Williamson quickly | Cricket News

LIVE BLOG | LIVE SCORECARD End of OVER 17: 22 runs off Curran’s over. SRH 133/4 OVERS 16.5: FOUR! Clever batting from Priyam. This time he uses the pace and sends the ball towards third man. OVERS 14.4: SIX! Oh boy! That’s huge. Priyam leans forward and launches it over deep square leg region. NO BALL FROM CURRAN. FREE HIT COMING UP OVERS 16.4: FOUR! Priyam Garg smashes Sam Curran for back-to-back boundaries. Sam Curran is back into the attack. End of OVER 16: 11 runs off Shardul’s over. SRH 111/4 OVERS 15.6: FOUR! What a shot from Priyam. He sends Shardul towards backward square leg. SRH 111/4 OVERS 15.4: Priyam sends Shardul towards third man. He runs for a couple and calls for a third too. Brilliant running between the wickets by the two youngsters. Shardul starts his third over. End of OVER 15: 9 runs off Bravo’s over. SRH 100/4 OVERS 14.6: FOUR! Abhishek Verma hammers Bravo for a boundary towards long off. 100 comes up for SRH. Good running between the wickets by the two youngsters – Abhishek and Priyam. Bravo starts his third over. End of OVER 14: 14 runs off Jadeja’s over. SRH 91/4 OVERS 13.4: SIX! A four and now a six for the left-hander Abhishek off Jadeja. He connects it well and hammers the ball over deep mid wicket region. Excellent shot from him. SRH 89/4 Jadeja starts his second over. End of OVER 13: 6 runs off Chawla’s over. SRH 77/4 OVERS 12.1: FOUR! Abhishek Sharma sends Chawla for a boundary. Chawla starts his third over. End of OVER 12: Brilliant from Jadeja. Just 2 runs off his over. SRJ 71/4 Ravindra Jadeja comes into the attack. End of OVER 11: 6 runs off Chawla’s over. SRH 69/4 OVERS 10.6: WICKET! Yes! No!Yes!No and Williamson departs. Williamson tucks the ball and runs without looking at Priyam Garg. Rayudu grabs the ball and throws it towards Dhoni and the skipper does the rest. Warner and now Williamson. SRH lose big wickets in quick succession. SRH 69/4 OVERS 10.5: WICKET! Chawla gets rid of David Warner for 28 runs. Warner smashes this too hard bud finds Du Plessis at the boundary ropes. Another brilliant catch from Du Plessis in the tournament. Huge wicket for CSK. SRH 69/3 OVERS 10.4: FOUR! That’s slog sweep from Warner. The Australian smashes Chawla too hard for a boundary. Piyush Chawla starts his second over. 10 overs gone! Just 3 runs off Bravo’s over. SRH 63/2 Dwayne Bravo is back into the attack. This will be his second over. End of OVER 9: 8 runs off Chawla’s over. SRH 60/2 OVERS 8.2: FOUR! David Warner plays a superb reverse sweep and sends the ball towards third man. SRH 57/2 Bowling change for CSK: Piyush Chawla comes into the attack. End of OVER 8: 5 runs off Shardul’s over. SRH 52/2 OVERS 7.3: FOUR! Kane Williamson takes a stride and drives Shardul towards deep extra cover for a boundary. Classy from Williamson. 50 COMES UP for the Orange Army. SRH 51/2 Kane Williamson comes to the crease OVERS 7.1: WICKET! Shardul Thakur gets the big wicket, removes well-settled Manish Pandey for 29. Good length ball from Shardul. Pandey tries to hit towards extra cover but finds Curran who takes an easy catch. Big wicket for CSK. SRH 47/2 Shardul Thakur starts his second over. End of OVER 7: Brilliant start from Bravo. He concedes just 5 runs off his first over. SRH 47/1 Look who is here. Dwayne Bravo is ready to bowl his first over of the IPL 2020. End of OVER 6: 9 runs off Thakur’s over. SRH 42/1 OVERS 5.4: FOUR! Classy from Warner. He plays this straight down the ground. Thakur isn’t happy with this. SRH 39/1 Bowling change for CSK: Shardul Thakur comes into the attack End of OVER 5: 6 runs off Chahar’s over. SRH 33/1 OVERS 4.1: FOUR! Short from Chahar. Pandey goes on backfoot and slaps the ball over mid on for a boundary. SRH 31/1

Another boundary! Manish’s fifth so far 👏👏#SRH – 31/1 (4.2)#CSKvSRH #OrangeArmy #KeepRising https://t.co/YOsGLDSKC5

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) 1601648628000

Chahar starts his third over. End of OVER 4: 9 runs off Curran’s over. SRH 27/1 OVERS 3.2: FOUR! Pandey goes this time over Curran’s head. What a confident shot from him. SRH 23/1 Curran starts his second over. End of OVER 3: Another good over from Chahar. Just 6 runs off it. SRH 18/1 OVERS 2.1: FOUR! What a timing from Manish Pandey. He stands tall and drives Chahar towards long off for a boundary. SRH 16/1 Chahar starts his second over. End of OVER 2: 6 runs off Curran’s over. SRH 12/1 OVERS 1.3: FOUR! Super shot from Manish Pandey. He lofts the ball towards long off for a boundary. SRH 11/1 Sam Curran comes into the attack. End of OVER 1: What a brilliant over from Chahar. SRH 6/1 Manish Pandey comes to the crease OVER 0.4: BOWLED! What a delivery from Deepak Chahar. Chahar strikes in his forst over, Jonny Bairstow departs for a duck. Brilliant bowling from Chahar. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, from the commentary box says, “Chahar has completely deceived Baitrstow”. What a start from CSK. Sunrisers 1/1

What an over this has been for the @ChennaiIPL.Deepak Chahar gets the big wicket of Bairstow who departs for a du… https://t.co/6YcIT8XH9V

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 1601647668000

David Warner against CSK (last 5 knocks): 90(45) 53(42) 61(28) 50(25) 57(45) Deepak Chahar will open the attack for CSK. Here we go…..!!!!! SRH captain David Warner and Jonny Bairstow will open the innings for SRH. Chennai Super Kings are making their way to the middle. Dhoni is having a chat with his men. Most matches in IPL 194 MS Dhoni* 193 Suresh Raina 192 Rohit Sharma 185 Dinesh Karthik Another feather on the legendary MS Dhoni’s hat:

MS Dhoni today becomes the most capped player (194) in the history of IPL.#Dream11IPL https://t.co/PwpDFcEA2E

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 1601646068000

Here’s how Suresh Raina wished MS Dhoni:

Congratulations Mahi bhai (@msdhoni) at becoming the most capped IPL player. Happiest that my record is being broke… https://t.co/FgXXxncZPO

— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) 1601645883000

CAPTAINS’ TAKE: MS DHONI (CHENNAI SUPER KINGS): Hopefully the wicket won’t slow down much. We got time at a very important juncture and it will also help us reflect what we need to change in batting and bowling. Momentum when it comes to batting is one of the key aspects. The length has been crucial and experience really plays in. Vijay, Ruturaj and Hazlewood make way for Rayudu, Shardul and Bravo.

Back with the #yellove bang for 2020. 🦁💛 #WhistlePodu #WhistleFromHome #CSKvSRH https://t.co/MrPdZvXRpJ

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) 1601646777000

DAVID WARNER (SUNRISERS HYDERABAD): We are gonna have a bat. Looks a nice wicket and we want to put runs on the board. We are a good side at defending and if all goes to plan, hopefully we can defend it. No changes for us PLAYING XIs: Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (captain), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Priyam Garg, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, K Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk/captain), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar

Three changes for #CSK in the Playing XI for today’s game.#SRH remain unchanged.#Dream11IPL #CSKvSRH https://t.co/esFRDZZ3Qi

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 1601646222000

TOSS: Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner wins the toss, opts to bat against Chennai Super Kings.

David Warner wins the toss and elects to bat first against #CSK in Match 14 of #Dream11IPL.#CSKvSRH https://t.co/s0NeQCRJ37

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 1601645751000

Captain Warner wins the toss and we’ll bat first 💪#CSKvSRH #OrangeArmy #KeepRising https://t.co/hMHtolRDVr

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) 1601645484000

Both the captain are in the middle. It’s toss time, folks. PITCH REPORT – By Michael Slater and Kevin Pietersen Dimension wise it’s same on both square boundaries. There is not a lot of grass on the pitch. The Test match length has been hard to get away on this pitch. Maybe, it will play a little low today and the team that wins the toss might bat first Here the THALA comes:

MS Dhoni arrives here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium for Match 14 of #Dream11IPL.#CSKvSRH https://t.co/lWPmOUDThs

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 1601644387000

Right before the Lions get into their #ManjaSokka! 🦁💛BGM by Super Fans AKR and Vardhan. #WhistleFromHome… https://t.co/mD0YqzHoI0

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) 1601644301000

STAT ATTACK: CSK have upper hand over SRH: Since 2018, CSK have won 5 and SRH have 1 Hello and welcome to the Live coverage of Match 14 of the IPL 2020 between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai.

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[dherzogblog]

songs/17

Hey everyone. Welcome back. In a break with tradition I expanded this year’s playlist well beyond the 80 minute limit of a CD.  in addition, and let’s be honest here, I did have some extra time on my hands to listen to music in 2017. So for your listening (and reading ) pleasure I present 1 hour and 50 minutes of the good stuff from the past year. I know, I know, it’s a lot. So is this blog for anyone who actually tries to read it. I’ll promise to try and get it back under control next year, but in the meantime…. enjoy! PS- Click on the bold type below for the music, extras and surprises.

Ride with Me- The Mavericks My theme song for 2017. This year was all about travel and figuring out what I was going to when I grow up. I checked ALL the boxes on the travel end, while the latter remains a work in progress. As the year began and I found myself “unencumbered”, I literally told Noreen to keep her bags packed. A few weeks later the always dependable Mavericks echoed my thoughts with this tune singing: “I gotta go… a whole world to see. So pack your bags up baby, Come along and ride with me “. And ride we did. From Havana to The Grand Canyon, Tokyo to Tel Aviv,  Motown to Muscle Shoals and many places in between, It was trains, planes, and automobile’s across thousands of miles with Noreen and as well as some good friends. It was nothing but good times, and I was so grateful for the opportunity.

No Particular Place To Go- Chuck Berry In 1973 a concert film entitled “Let The Good Times Roll” was released. It was a document of the then popular Richard Nader Rock & Roll revival shows that filled Madison Square Garden regularly. The film featured performances by Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Shirelles, and Chuck Berry. It was an era of great popularity for the vintage rock sounds of the 50′s. American Graffiti, Happy Days, Sha Na Na, and even The Beach Boys had helped usher in a “oldies” music revival. It was “retro” and” throwback” before  anyone coined those terms. And it proved that music that was once considered disposable as well as the exclusive domain of pimply teenagers had true enduring appeal. At the time Chuck Berry was riding the wave of his somewhat regrettable “My Ding A Long” novelty single. That song, as well as the 50’s/60’s revival in general is probably what got my 12 year old self into the theater. It was incredible to watch Little Richard climb all over the stage in a frenzy, his androgynous image predating Bowie, and his frenzied stage antics providing a blue print for Prince. Then there was Bo Diddley all in black, strutting the stage with his signature guitar chugging like a freight train, and Chuck Berry duck walking the crowd into a frenzy, it all had me mesmerized. Upon seeing the film, I was so blown away I went back to see it a second time just days later. It was the only way to see it again back then. The acts were all well past their prime and were considered mere “oldies” acts at the time. Berry was not yet 50. (He wouldn’t have been old enough to play Desert Trip) For me, it was a crash course in rock history helping me understand and process almost everything I heard after.

Champagne Corolla- Justin Townes Earle More Songs About Cars And Girls. JTE covers a lot of ground on this outing. He’s 8 albums into his career, and stepping out of the long shadow of his father. 

How to Boil An Egg- Courtney Barnett One off single from Australian singer songwriter making her return to the list. More messy, jangly musings on Millenial angst. She returned later in the year with a full length album with in partnership with Kurt Vile.

On The Rock- Bash & Pop Speaking of jangly and messy, Replacement Tommy Stinson delivers one of my favorite songs of the year. Good fun.

Bad Art and Weirdo Ideas (Quiet Slang)- Beach Slang The original version of this song appeared on the songs/15 list. James Alex the band’s leader starting touring under the moniker Quiet Slang last year. This EP contains some remakes as well as covers recorded in a “Quiet Slang” setting that includes strings. I loved this song the first time around, and even more so now.

Slow Me Down- Jess Ware  This year’s model. Yet another of the UK’s seemingly endless supply of soulful female vocalists. I love a good torch ballad.

Brand New Me- Aretha Franklin and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra I’m normally suspect of these types of projects. Too gimmicky. Messing with these seminal records borders on sacrilege, But it being Lady Soul, along with some of my very favorite songs I gave a listen. Pairing classic Aretha vocals with brand new backing from London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra  these reboots seem to reach for something else. Imagine them as part of an Aretha Franklin Broadway jukebox musical or the lush soundtrack to an Aretha biopic.  And while this particular cut doesn’t have the low key swing of the original, it does have it’s own big, brassy charm. Cinematic orchestration aside, these Aretha vocals remain stone cold classics in any settings. 

At The Breaking Point- Zeshan B Remarkable debut from an Indian Muslim soul singer out of Chicago. The album, recorded in Memphis, is a mixture of obscure R&B , and retro feel originals expertly capturing a mid sixties soul vibe. Sung in three different languages , including Punjabi, the disc also features a great rendition of George Perkins Civil rights song “Cryin In The Streets”

Feeling Alive- Earl St. Clair This young man from Alabama delivers a positive and upbeat message in a modern R&B setting. Plus, I am totally down with the sentiment: “My friends say I should live a little, gotta say yes more”. From his gospel influenced singing to the fiddle heard near the end, their are echos of the deep south felt throughout.

Sweet Love- Wizkid Slinky exotic riddims from this Nigerian hip hop artist

Skin and Bone- Phil Cook I don’t know much about this guy. From north Carolina by way of Wisconsin. His previous record (this was a one off single) was mostly performed in an acoustic country blues/gospel vein. This track reminds me of a late era Sly Stone groove meeting conscious hip hop. The message is right on time, so “clap your hands”.

Birds Of A Feather, We Rock Together- Vulfpeck Vulpeck are back with all their funky, eclectic, quirky charm intact. You not be be able to get the title refrain out of your head after hearing it once. 

Brutal- the Expanders “Man say it brutal out deh”. Perfect description for the world at large in 2017. This Southern California unit specializes in rekindling the spirit of 70’s roots reggae, specifically the unique sounds of the eras classic vocal trios. This is a faithful remake of the Itals track from 1981. Original Ital Ronnie Davis died earlier this year. 

Ladies Nite- Bootsy Collins It’s ladies night in America folks. Bootsy always knows what time it is. O.G.Funk style.

My Old School- Steely Dan (Walter Becker) When I got to college in the fall of 1977, Steely Dan’s Aja was just about to hit record shops. It was an immediate smash upon being released. Prior to that release I knew their pop hits, but not the LP’s to a large degree. I really loved Aja. I was a big jazz funk fan and it had a lot of that influence. Later that school year, during the blizzard of 78, I have vivid memories of that record blasting from nearly every dorm room stereo and radio as we were cooped up for days on end. My next door neighbor in the dorm (from Worcester/“"Woostah" Mass) was a true Steely Dan fanatic. He considered Aja a bit of a sell out on their part.  He insisted I listen to the 5 albums in their catalogue that proceeded it. So I did, borrowing from his collection one LP at a time. I liked them all, especially the magnificent Katy Lied. But the song that always stayed with me was My Old School. A funky (and and not a bit bitter) anthem with a blast of horns straight from E Street topped off with an unforgettable sing a long chorus. As of this printing the Becker estate is now suing Fagen. California might fall into the sea just yet, and but no one is gong back to their old school.

Heart Of The City- Los Straitjackets In 17 years I’m not sure I’ve ever included a rock instrumental. Los Straitjackets remain the premier purveyors of that long forgotten genre. On their latest the band tackle’s the great Nick Lowe’s canon. Super rockin fun all the way through.

Jackpot- Nikki Lane Stylish Nashville rebel with a great voice, rolls the dice and comes with a twangy and rocking winner

A Little Pain- Margo Price A slice of country soul heaven from alt country’s it girl.

Living In The City- Hurray For The Riff Raff On her latest outing band leader Alynda Lee Segarra embraces her Bronx bred Hispanic roots moving ever so slightly away from the alt country sound of previous albums. This track splits the difference nicely. 

Here Comes My Girl- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers I vividly remember both the first time I saw Tom Petty perform, as well as the last time. The first was in Madison Square Garden as part of a tremendous line up at one of The No Nukes Shows headlined by Bruce Springsteen. The under card was pretty strong that night. Bonnie Raitt, Peter Tosh, and Gil Scott- Heron. I was a fan of all the acts and had seen them all play live, save Petty. I was not sure what to expect from Petty that night. At that time he had three songs garnering airplay and scratching the Top 40. There was the Byrds like “American Girl”, the AOR ready “Breakdown”, and the taught, urgent energy of  “I Need to Know”. That track had me wondering if The Heartbreakers might just be another skinny tie band. In addition there was the slight confusion because punk rocker Johnny Thunders band was also named The Heartbreakers . So I wasn’t exactly sure what I was about to see. His short dispelled any notions of a the act being new wave flash in the pan. It was clear Petty was more straight ahead rock classicist. The release of Damn The Torpedoes just a few weeks later would confirm that. Petty had arrived and was thrust onto the charts and into the big leagues. I was never a huge fan. I loved the best albums and ignored the others. I never found him a great live performer, but always left his shows happy. The songs were great and the band was top notch. Somehow despite his nuanced low key approach he became an unlikely MTV video star. He made continually great clips and they dominated the channel. Despite that, he never did promotions and contests, was rarely interviewed, and his managers did not work us nearly as much as his superstar peers. He toured regularly and always seemed to have a clip in rotation. He was the every man rock star, not bigger than life, not overly political, just writing great songs, hanging with The Wilbury’s and doing his thing. It felt like he was was always there, but he never was. A huge star, yet somehow in the shadows. Hence I rarely ever came face to face. My one memory is standing on stage at Live Aid next to him, and then Heartbreaker drummer Stan Lynch as they waited like anxious school boys to see the reunited Led Zeppelin. They could not have been more excited, anxiously awaiting the set to begin. The band hit the stage and started too play. It was a disaster, just awful. Half way through the second song Petty threw Lynch a sour look. In a flash they were gone, back to the artist compound. They could not bear to watch. I saw Petty perform for the last time just ten days before he passed. I was in the first row at The Hollywood Bowl. Early on I remarked to my wife “He doesn’t look good” (although truthfully, did he ever?). His energy seemed good, and his demeanor upbeat, but he was pasty and wan. He stumbled crossing the stage a few times, took some quiet puff of a cigarette hidden on the drum riser. And he was doing a weird thing with his mouth/lips/teeth. But honestly my reaction was not unlike running into a friend you haven’t seen in a bit where they did not look their best. Like everyone else, I was shocked when I heard the news. When all is said and done for me, it was the songs. Lyrics clear and concise, monster melodic hooks, classic influences and great production.  Petty had a chip on his shoulder for sure, but it fueled the hope, ambition, and longing in his best songs and allowed him to achieve pop perfection over and over.

Gentle On My Mind- Glen Campbell 1968. I listened to what ever WABC played on the radio. Around that time there were three sappy and saccharine pop hits that always managed to make my cynicism free, nine year old heart ache with melancholy. The country soul of “O.C Smith’s. “Little Green Apples”, the maudlin mush of Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey”, and the gorgeous,”Gentle on My Mind”. 1968 turned dark quickly with the assassination of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the simmering controversy around the Vietnam War, and a divisive presidential election. The bright sunlight of The Summer Of Love disappeared as quickly, as did this type of 60′s pop (and psychedelia for that matter). Campbell continued to write mainstream and country hits, star in his own prime tine TV series (”Hello, I’m Glen Campbell!”), and later become tabloid fodder with his drama and drug fueled marriage to country bad girl Tanya Tucker. All of this conspiring to obscure the fact that he was a truly a tremendous songwriter and performer. I was moved recently watching the heartbreaking documentary “I’ll Be Me” which chronicles his battle with Alzhiemers on his final tour. Its well worth a watch and adds to the story of this somewhat overlooked legend.

Tupelo- Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit Beautiful ballad from the ex Drive By Trucker. A great album overall as well.

Transformation- Van Morrison If this sounds familiar, that’s probably the point. This track echoes back to Van’s great mid 70′s albums. It’’s smothered in enough tupelo honey, crazy love and  celtic soul to turn on your electric light and send you into the mystic. I’m gonna guess you’re all ok with that.

Midnight Rider- Allman Brothers Band  (Greg Allman) CLICK HERE for my earlier Greg Allman post (REVISED AND UPDATED)

Find Yourself- Lukas Nelson and The Promise of The Real Willie’s son and band fresh off the road deliver a promising set. This southern soul track recalls classic’s like William Bell’s “I Forgot to Be Your Lover”, and Delaney and Bonnie’s version of “Everybody Loves A Winner. That plus the pedigree gets my interest. Willie clearly raised him right.

 What Would I Do- Lizz Wright The elegant and soulful Lizz Wright delivers plenty of grace on her latest set of well chosen covers like this Ray Charles gem.

Have You Heard Anything From The Lord Today- Cody Chestnutt Elusive and genre hopping Cody Chestnutt returns with only his fifth album in over 15 years.  Better known within the industry than out, he always delivers something interesting. This time it’s a little bit of a little bit of faith.

Not Dark Yet- Shelby Lynne& Alison Moorer Two of country’s finest voices, and sisters, finally team up for an entire album. This is one of my very favorite latter day Dylan tunes, and they sing it beautifully. I was haunted by their version the very first time I heard it and have played it quite a bit since. I’ve always interpreted the lyrics to be the final reflections of someone getting ready to meet their maker. As 2017 brought some very tough days, there were times I couldn’t help thinking of it as a reflection of the state of our union and the planet. “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there” I thought to myself once too often. Here’s to a better 2018. Here’s the whole thing on Spotify: songs/17 The Herzogs wish you and all of yours the very best. Look forward to seeing you in the new year. xo dh Los Angeles, December 2017