#and there was actually 4 pearls in the book and i just forgot

[oifaaa]

Listen listen is the Percy Jackson show making changes so big that even me with my horrible little memory is noticing - yes Do I care - absolutely not I'm still enjoying the show and the changes so far have just helped keep me on my toes bc wtf do you mean Percy has 4 pearls?!?? What do you mean the summer solstice has happened?!!? What is going on I need to know !!!!

#percy jackson #pjo tv show #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #percy jackson spoilers #pjo spoilers #like what #what #how is he meant to fail to save what is most important in the end if he has 4 pearls ???? #does he lose one??? #does he have to give it away ??? #is there someone else that has to get out of the underworld??? #i like how theyre throwing in these curve balls #really makes me insane #... be funny if this is another memory thing #and there was actually 4 pearls in the book and i just forgot

[chichariann]

It's weird to read people's post about how they hate this episode cuz

The lack of a zebra

Already knowing what the lotus casino is a trap

Grover being the only one who got trapped

The gang being "too smart"

Luke's mom's expositioh

Lack of action

The deadline passing

4 pearls

Episode is mostly dialogue

Idk. Honestly but heres what I thought as the episode went on...

Very long post. Read the red text if u just want points

Okay, they suspect the wrong person to be the thief (typical detective trope - still fits)

Cute grover and percabeth banter

They already know about the lotus flowers. Makes sense as there are 3 greek myth knowledgeable kids there. At least on of them should know.

They split up. Bad idea

The pair are being cautious

Grover is gone now

Percy and annabeth are searching for hermes so makes sense they'd be at the casino area. I dont see how they could be trapped—nop they already were the moment they stepped in

May Castellan exposition. Okay, revealing the premise of being a seer but not telling us what happened to her as a result is good. Without context from the books, we now know that something's happened to his mom and we do not know except for Luke blaming Hermes for it

Hermes parenting talk - this happens in Sea of Monsters but its nice to at least see a contrast of how he's gonna feel pre-betrayal vs post-betrayal.

Poseidon was the one who warned hermes about trying to be close to luke. Contrasting Poseidon, now, wanting to meet Percy

They past the deadline - what does this mean???

They almost forgot Grover but eventually finding him

Grover started this episode saying that his friends would never understand his personal quest to one day save the natural world, and here he is now, memories wiped except for what he wants to do with his life. And percy understands and is hopeful for him

Hermes taxi scene was hilarious

Percabeth moment

Teleport to Santa Monica

Percy meets the Nereid who tells him that theyd passed the deadline

Percy still wants to finish the quest 1) to save his mom 2) get the bolt 3) stop a war

4 PEARLS???

What I'm taking from this:

There were A LOT of changes to how this scene played out in the books. I like that the kids are smart. I like that Grover got to tell Percy about his personal quest even if it was just a glimpse of it.

Should there have been a Zebra? MAYBE. I wouldve loved to see Percy talk to em but its not exactly plot relevant. Do I wish they had gotten trapped by just playing games? Yeah, but then how would they get to talk to Hermes. They would've just forgotten why they were there in the first place. Do I wish there was more action? No, not really. Do I wish the kids had flaws? THEY ALREADY DO. Grover got trapped by his own desires and personal goal over the quest he was on. Percy and Annabeth may not have shown their flaws this episode but... They already had in the past episodes. Maybe they shouldve but Im not mad that they're just... There.

I actually love that they're past the deadline and Percy has 4 pearls. Cuz it makes us wonder what would happen next. I think as book fans, we pride ourselves of knowing what happens next. Immune to any surprise. But when we do, there are 2 reactions: 1) intrigue and worry and unfortunately common, 2) despising the changes. I fall under number 1. I like that I dont know what could happen next. I know how it SHOULD go but I like that Rick is still surprising us despite knowing what could happen.

I like that we get Hermes parenting moments in this episode. Because instead of learning a sliver of why Luke betrays Percy at the end of the season at the last episode, we get a bit of exposition into his early life.

Annabeth says not to talk to Luke about his dad

Something happened to his mom and Luke hates Hermes for it

Hermes is keeping his distance because he knows that whatever he does, he's gonna end up hurting Luke

All of this sets up what will happen not just later in the books, but LATER IN THE SERIES. Rick wrote The Lightning Thief without any concrete idea of how the later books will play out. NOW HE DOES. So it makes sense to give us a way to understand Luke. To know why he makes the final decision in the book.

I would have found it weird if the gang went on the quest, got back to camp, got a sliver of Luke's opinion of the gods, then betrayal. NONE OF US WOULD UNDERSTAND. We get that he hates the gods but we won't know why. Now we do. By giving us all this material to work with, it gives its viewers the opportunity to really think, if you were in his shoes, would you have done it too? Would you be like Ethan or Chris, and joined him in that rebellion? I definitely could.

Because I for one would know that when I first read the books then reread it after, I would never even think about joining him given the context of the first book. We really only understand why he betrays the gods at like... The 5th book. When we finally get his backstory. Throughout the series, it has just been Percy hating Luke and being annoyed that Annabeth was so forgiving of him. Then on the last book, we finally get the backstory. Because, when you write in first person perspective, you cant give backstory IF the narrator is not talking to the character or is at the place where it happens. Throughout the whole series, Percy never thinks about what pushed Luke to make his decisions until, Nico had to bring Percy to where it all started. IN THE LAST BOOK. IN THE 5TH SEASON. THATS WHEN WE FINALLY GET TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES LUKE CLICK.

It brings Luke out of the characterization of being someone who hates the gods and wants to overthrow them cuz they dont care about his kids. To someone who was abandoned and ignored by his father. To someone who is a victim to the gods' rules and their world (his mom). I kinda understand why he is the one leading the war here. Its cuz he's experienced one of the worst things that could happen to a demigod. Losing his mom. Getting ignored by his dad. Undervalued by the gods.

THIS ENTIRE SEASON HAS JUST BEEN SET UP FOR LUKE'S STORY. BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW... THAT IN THE LAST BOOK, RACHEL TELLS PERCY THAT HE IS NOT THE HERO OF THIS STORY. HE IS NOT THE ONE TO STOP THE WAR. LUKE IS THE HERO AT THE END OF THE SERIES. AND IT WOULD'VE BEEN WEIRD IF WE NEVER GET TO UNDERSTAND WHY UNTIL.... THE LAST BOOK.

#percy jackson episode 6 #percy series #percy jackson spoilers #lotus casino #luke's character has always been interesting to me and I hate that i only only got interested after reading the last book #i understand that there are flaws in this series cuz like... when will there ever be a flawless series #if u want a 1 to 1 adaption just read the books #one thing i do love about the writing in the series though is love how it sounds like rick's current writing #i feel like im reading trials of apollo or magnus chase or chalice of thr gods or the sun and the star #it understands that we know more now and rhe writing adapts to it

[tabithwaslost]

30 Ace Attorney Headcanons!

It's been a while ever since I made one of these.

1. Iris is now out of prison and she runs a small business, she is doing very well for herself.

2. Iris visits The WAA from time to time and keeps up with their news.

3. Klavier broke down after the events of AJ:AA

4. When Klavier isn't feeling well, he goes back to his home country which is Germany for a while and comes back when he feels better.

5. Daryan was plotting to kill Klavier and he only became friends with Klavier for money and fame.

6. Phoenix not only exorcised Dahlia from Maya's body, he also shattered her spirit. So now Dahlia no longer exists, not even in the afterlife.

7. Maya offered to channel Claire for Layton when she found out about her. Layton politely declined. "A true gentleman lets his partner rest in peace."

8. Vera's blood allowed scientists to create a vaccine to many illnesses.

9. In honor/honour of Phoenix Wright, Miles changed his whole court outfit and wore a suit and tie just like Phoenix's but in black for the entire disbarment of Phoenix.

10. Maya replays old conversations with Mia on the phone.

11. PLVSAA is canon. And it took Maya 9 years to become the master of her village because she forgot how to channel spirits after she was brainwashed into believing that she's a baker.

12. The insanity of the prosecutors' building and The WAA is weirdly comforting to Miles.

13. Manfred wanted his children to be perfect prosecutors and get full grades in all important lessons. As a result, Franziska and Miles barely passed art and music and Franziska even failed music in 7th grade.

14. Yanni Yogi's parrot, Polly, was given to the Kura'in village after he went to prison.

15. Apollo named his rabbit after Clay.

16. Godot lost his sense of taste and he's trying to make new coffee blends to get it back.

17. Godot used his lawyer skills to get a lower sentence and he is out of prison by AJ:AA.

18. Despite her being guilty, Aura was found "Not Guilty" in her trial.

19. Kristoph is becoming more disconnected with reality with each passing day.

20. Trucy, Athena and Klavier all get along so well because they all have severe ADHD.

21. Jean Greyerl became a chemist.

22. Zacharias Barnham and Eve Belduke both became actual prosecutors.

23. Meanwhile Espella Cantabella became an author, director and an animator.

24. Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright are still in contact and they also visit Labyrinthia every once in a while.

25. In 2029, the entire main Ace Attorney cast are all planning a trip to Labyrinthia. Every single person.

26. Pearl got her driver's license at 16 and has a car that Iris bought for her.

27. Espella and Eve painted the walls making them a gradient of colors and drew things such as open books with dragons coming out of them, witches on broomsticks, huge machines, and things like that on the walls of the Bell Tower.

28. Labyrinthia is now officially on and it is marked on maps.

29. After the events of PLVSAA, Phoenix and Miles sat down in Miles's office and Phoenix explained EVERYTHING that happened in great detail.

30. Phoenix lost his magatama in Labyrinthia but Espella found it later. That's why he couldn't see psyche licks throughout the whole game.

#ace attorney #iris hawthorne #klavier gavin #daryan crescend #dahlia hawthorne #phoenix wright #maya fey #Professor Layton #professor layton vs ace attorney #plvsaa #vera misham #miles edgeworth #Manfred von Karma #franziska von karma #Apollo justice #clay terran #godot #aura blackquill #Kristoph Gavin #trucy wright #Athena cykes #jean greyerl #Eve Belduke #zacharias barnham #espella cantabella #Pearl fey

[aprillikesthings]

I lead part of EfM thing today (see earlier posts) and it went well ahhhhh thank God

and I've made my lunches for the next week!

and I'm munching on a salad

and all day I was looking forward to this, the moment I can (re)watch MORE SHE-RA

I've barely worked on my longer fic this weekend (other than copy/pasting a bunch of things Nate said after the show ended into the notes section of the doc) and tbh rewatching the ACTUAL SHOW is hella distracting bc with twenty eps left we're going to start getting into more of the really high-stakes stuff

Also, true story: I originally watched, like, the second half of season 4 and all of season 5 in two days of marathoning with Daci. So quite frankly? The last, like, third of the show is just kind of a blur to me now.

SO LET'S GO

s4 ep7 Mer-Mysteries

A mission in Dryl went badly, they've figured out someone's telling the Horde what they're doing, they're not tracking Adora because she wasn't even there--

YES

plz enjoy Sea Hawk's faces

Bow's sudden nervousness reminds me of when I was in line at the TSA in Dulles airport and was weirdly nervous. I had no reason to be nervous. AND YET. I'm usually totally fine at TSA? But the people at Dulles were scary!!!

(I was way less nervous coming back from Iceland, despite knowing I had Kinder Surprise Eggs in my suitcase. Which are actually illegal to bring into the USA. You can buy "Kinder Joy Eggs" in the USA, which do not have the toy, but the ones with the toys are against the law! Anyway I bought them for Daci. I was only nervous for a split second at customs in the USA bc they asked me what I'd brought home from Iceland and I was like...wool yarn. books. sweets (I'd also bought licorice and chocolate). But he just waved me through. WHEW.)

she's still big mad about this lolol

BUT she's right a spy IS the only thing that makes sense (but also the audience knows shit they don't)

Pearl?? A Pearl who knows too much?????

c'mon I had to

lolol they lampshaded the way lightning keeps striking when Mermista says something

to be fair she IS the most recent addition and the one they know the least

oh hey I also write everything in purple (or lavender) ink

lol

oh, shut up

well not this episode, specifically

LOLLLLL

honestly this is a lot like the DnD episode

so on the one hand, I know Flutterina is doing this to make them fight, but on the other hand Glimmer is right; on the other OTHER hand, I also would prefer a warning before being forced to see my abusive parent having free range of the castle I live in

BAHAHAHA I read Nate saying these two were interrupted on a date night, but also plz notice the colors of the flowers, it's literally most of the lesbian pride flag, they were SO unsubtle

The Ken from Plumeria is talking to the pastry chef from Dryl with the super cute outfit, and she looks bashful for a second after this screenshot; I am now shipping this and no one can stop me

speaking of ships (yes I know this isn't meant to be shippy lol)

a youtube video titled "it's raining on your window and you live in Bright Moon Castle ASMR for sleep 4 hours"

(....I'd listen to that)

(On a related note, mynoise dot net has a bunch of rain sounds on the website, and it also has an app--it's seriously the BEST website/app for ambient sounds because they're so adjustable and never repeat, and I just want everyone to know about them. The rain and ocean sounds are great on earbuds to cover up snoring so you can sleep!!! Worked better than my fancy earplugs while I was on the Camino and sleeping in all those hostels)

And back to the cartoon, where there's obviously suspicious shit happening because people seem to be in two places at once and their communications thing got shattered

oh so her name IS just The General

Flutterina (aka Double Trouble) has got to be like "oh my god wtf is up with this dude I cannot handle this bullshit"

Once again Glimmer proves that her and Catra are actually very, very alike

BUSTED

OOHHHHH they set up a trap I forgot, this is amazing

Adora: "we created a diversion :)" Glimmer: "You were a really good actress. For once."

pfft

Anyway Double Trouble is confessing the whole plan

:(

poor Mermista :(

there's a creepy-ass moment of seeing part of Horde Prime's face as he smiles, roll credits

#april rewatches spop #mer-mysteries

[kendrixtermina]

PSA: I saw one “9s cant be intuitives” post too many and I have finally snapped

It’s worth noting that the average 9 is xSFx (just ‘cause there are a lot of SFs) so its not too strange that what was basically the world’s very first 9 description would skew towards those. (same for the 8 one skewing ESTx)

Naranjo prolly wasn’t even wrong, within his initial sample of people. Obviously as more ppl started using the system they would’ve gathered more data & come across other combos. Geez. For example if you read maitri she reports to have found intellectual 2s since (probably meaning NFJs, which are, after all,  rare)

The frustrating thing is that if you read it with like, one braincell’s worth of reader discretion, “Character and Neurosis” is a really good book actually.

Its a much better source than the annoying pdb peeps with poor reading comprehension are making it out to be.

Why did people read it & take away “lets go make intuitive bias even worse” rather than, idk, all the more nuanced stuff on the head triad that’s in there, which later authors sans Palmer kind of forgot? 6s being badass/ put in scarce less edgy terms than 8 and ddescribed as the "most logical"? The whole clever, verbally gifted, intellectual, multitalented side of 7? 5 being, like, actually fleshed out as both a rather specific temperament and a potential hellrealm of suffering beyond this "prosaic brainiac" bullshit, complete with more emphasis on the dark, artsy, sensitive side and depictions of some more INF-y specimens? The feisty, dramatic side of 2, the intellectual side of 4 and the scientific side of 3?

pearls before swine truly. 

You can postulate all you want about what combinations "should" be possible, but your theory has to be tested against reality.

And in reality there is a whole lot of ppl with both 9 and INFP characteristics. There just are! You don't need to take anyone's word for it. Use your eyes. Look for their cognitive functions, then sort them by triads.

This frustrates me so much.

How can you have such a total lack of curiosity?

If you find something where your theory doesn't match reality, that means you've hit the edge of the map. The unknown! The chance to expand your understanding. This is amazing and precious.

A theory that doesn't evolve, where the originator is just parroted, is no theory at all, but dogma or ideology. Physics evolved beyond Aristotle, psychology beyond Freud. Not cause those ppl werent brilliant pioneers, but because they discovered something real that others could also study and expand upon.

You can learn so much about what 9 really means, and what INFP really means, if you find out what remains the same by swapping out the other component.

Why did using enneagram and mbti together get so popular? Cause it captures a lot more info in tandem than each does alone. INFP 4 is very different from INFP 9. INFP 9 is different from ESFJ or ISTP 9.

Don't you want to check if its possible? Why its possible? How its possible?

Narrow mindedness and dogmatism is the worst. it just clean neutralizes the eyes from peoples faces

... Seriously, why did Scientific/ Tech-Affine 3s never catch on? I come across alot! Mostly INTJs and ISTPs. i have to tell them “Youre a 3″ and they’ll be all heart broken like the Mean Internet Lady just came to confiscate their Smart Person Card. And im like - “But you can get shit done. But you can deal with people. That’s hardly worthless!” - and they... dont say this, per se, but what shines through is “But I wanted the one with the brainy reputation :( “ 

Well, let’s fix that. Repeat after Big Sis: “3s can be sciency and tech affine.” Even the artist ones keep comparing themselves to darn robots in their songs. 

lets just all keep repeating it till all the sciency 3s are no longer sad. 

#enneagram #9w1 #9w8 #3w2 #3w4 #5w6 #5w4

[silhouetteofacedar]

Pearl, Ch. 5: Marche Funèbre

Previous Chapter - AO3 - MSR, rated E

It’s just another Tuesday.

Scully’s been telling herself that all morning as a kind of mantra in an attempt to calm her nerves. It’s not working.

It’s just another Tuesday, and she’s getting ready for an unremarkable workday. She showers, blowdries her hair, puts on the little pearl earrings her father gave her when she finished her undergrad.

In another timeline, in the life her parents wanted for her, she would be putting these earrings on beneath a lacy white veil. Her mother and sister would fuss over her dress, adjusting the train and making sure it hung well on her healthy frame, pressing a sprawling bouquet of flowers into her arms.

But that’s not her reality; in this timeline, she’s alone in her bedroom, putting on the creamy beige suit she’s worn to the office several times already. Her mother doesn’t know, and her sister is dead.

She feels oddly like she’s preparing for her own funeral, albeit a little premature. Will my mother have me cremated, or will they bury me in something I never wore? she wonders.

She thinks of Mulder then, a spouse in name only, and her stomach clenches.

Don’t go there, Dana. Tuesday.

She barely eats breakfast; cautiously nibbling at dry toast, wincing as it sticks in her throat. Her appetite has shrunk considerably lately, and her nervousness this morning isn’t helping. She gulps a glass of tepid water, eyeing the clock in the kitchen.

She doesn’t have to be at the office for another hour, but she decides to go in anyway.

She arrives a half hour early and is surprised to see that Mulder is already there. He rarely arrives before her unless he’s preparing a slideshow or simply never went home the night before. She would usually assume he slept in his desk chair, except this morning he’s freshly shaved and wearing a suit that’s still crisp from the cleaners, a blue striped tie neatly fastened at his neck.

As soon as he notices her enter the room, he covers his eyes and spins his chair away from her. “Bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony,” he says, attempting levity. The joke falls flat.

“Good morning to you, too,” Scully replies drily, setting her briefcase on her chair. “You’re early.”

He peeks at her over his shoulder and turns back to face her. “Yeah, I, uh, thought I should get a head start on some paperwork since we’re taking a long lunch today.”

Long lunch. Is that what they call eloping nowadays?

Scully raises a brow. “That’s surprisingly reasonable of you, Mulder; are you feeling okay?”

He huffs a laugh. “I could use some coffee,” he admits. “Didn’t get the best sleep last night.”

A clumsy response flits around in her mouth, about the quality of sleep one should expect from a leather sofa, but she swallows it. Instead she pulls out her day planner, leafing through the pages until she reaches March eighteenth, scanning her notes. “We have a meeting with Skinner at ten,” she reminds him, setting the book down on the desk. “I’ll get us some coffee from upstairs, and then we can dig into that inbox.” She gives him a tight little smile before leaving the office in search of caffeine.

-

Mulder’s had a rough morning.

He woke up just after five and thrashed about on his couch for half an hour before giving up on sleep altogether. He threw on some clothes and went for a nippy predawn run, relishing the lactic acid burn in his sleepy muscles; chasing one ache down with another.

Back at home he showered and scrubbed every inch of his body clean, even though Scully wouldn’t see it. He shaved carefully, slowly tracing his jaw with the razor. He didn’t want a single nick to mar his skin today.

Every thought, every movement, every little choice he made this morning, was for her.

It was almost funny, them both arriving to the office early and desperately pretending everything was normal. He hopes this new fog of awkwardness around them eventually dissipates; the whole point of this arrangement was that, in spite of legal status, their relationship wouldn’t change.

Scully retreats to find them coffee, and Mulder heaves a sigh, slumping over his desk. He’s going to wrinkle his shirt, but what does it matter? As far as anyone else knows, it’s just another Tuesday.

He glances down and sees Scully’s date book open on the desk, filled with notes and appointments in her neat, slanting script. He angles it toward himself and casually scans the day’s page, two appointments catching his eye.

Get married, 1:00

Chemo, 4:00

He grips the edge of the desk, inhaling sharply. That deep, forbidden feeling hits him like a wave of nausea, rolling sickly sweet through his stomach. He wants to throw the book away, hide under his desk, dissolve into panic on the worn gray carpet of their office. She’s breaking her remaining days into neat little pieces, organizing them tightly in the grids of her calendar, squeezing every last drop of time out of them. And giving that time to him.

This is the worst way to want a woman, he decides. Selfishly lapping up every spilled second, thirsting for more than she can give. Probably more than she wants to give.

Scully walks back into the office, two styrofoam cups in hand. Mulder feels a quick burst of shame at having been caught reading her appointment book, as though it was a secret diary and not a simple calendar.

“It’s at one, in case you forgot,” Scully says, passing him a cup. Coffee, black, one sugar like always. She sits in the chair opposite him, hands cradling a cup of what appears to be tea, judging from the little paper tag fluttering from a string hanging out of it. He wonders how the ring in the small box in his pocket would look on her slender hands.

“Mulder,” she prompts, casting her eyes up at him as she blows on the surface of her drink to cool it.

“Sorry, was I staring?” he asks.

“Mm,” she nods, taking a careful sip. “I’m fine, if that’s what-”

“No, no,” he says quickly. “You. Um. You look very nice today, actually. That’s all.”

Her cheeks remain pale. “Oh. Well, thank you,” she says calmly. “You look very nice today too.”

That was the idea, Mulder thinks desperately, painfully. I wore this tie to match your eyes.

The minute hand on the clock lurches silently forward.

#pearl #my fic #txf fic #msr #cancer arc #marriage of convenience #secret marriage #mmm i love angst with my morning bagel #also i'm moving out of state so i'm busy as FUCK packing all my shit #i'm doing my darndest for yall okay xx

[ayuen]

Gnostic Chorus - theory time!

Not really, just something that bothered me for a long time. From the first moment I saw this one story it did not left my mind and sometimes new information we get fit... so I decided to have a little fun and write down my own thoughts on it. And since we have little to no information about Kaeya... about that a little later, well, let’s treat it like my little headcannon that may turn out not true but is so fun, so here we go :D

Also some spoliers? about newest Archon quest I guess? it may turn out long, I’m just in a mood for it, so you have been warned. 

So the story starts with this glorious kingdom, established among the heavens:

Khaenri'ah was like Dain said: 

He says nothing about them being underground. 

And well, they didn’t have a god, so these words can be understood differently, like Khaenri'ah being among kingdoms in a heaven in garden of gods.

Next we have this line about a crowned heir, will come back to her later. 

She was tasked to search for the genesis pearl...(genesis makes me think about creation - so here another idea for a possibility like remember Khemia? maybe she was meant to find it, but somehow forgot who she was? And stayed as a ruler of  Khaenri'ah? well, let’s leave it for another time) from the kingdom of darkness. 

So lets’ stop here. There is this theory that Teyvat is upside down. 

Which could mean that what we consider top is actually bottom. So if the lore in the books talks about Khaenri'ah as an underground kingdom maybe it’s just misinformation? Maybe not but if we take into consideration how recent Kaeya’s love poem isn’t without a doubt translatable, truly who can trust in everything that’s written about historical events in the pieces in the game? But if it was in fact turned upside down... also this quest and the theory of a fake sky? From  The Crisis Deepens. This would be too much to write about it, also I read all about it, bc I wasn’t playing the game at the time so yeah, it’s on youtube in any case.

So from newest Archon quest we have this: 

I know it doesn’t say out right that there is someone above our sibling leading Abyss but whatever Paimon says something, it is relevant so we can take it into consideration. Will come back to it in a moment as well. 

And here comes Childe, Tartaglia, I don’t have him so here a part of his story: (And why did I bring Childe?) Well, first we have his story where it’s said that he learned how to fight from a woman in the abyss:

Story 4

“That 14-year-old boy got lost in the snowy forest.

Pursued by bears and wolf packs, he lost his footing and fell into a bottomless crack in the earth's surface.

There, he witnessed the endless possibilities of another ancient world. There, he would meet a mysterious swordswoman...

Or perhaps one should say that this dark realm had sensed the burning ambition in this boy's heart.”

“In those three months, the swordswoman taught Tartaglia how to pass through the Abyss unhindered, and more importantly, nurtured the ability to stir up endless havoc from within Ajax's trouble-mongering nature.”

Also a really nice post on reddit about his transformation.

 https://www.reddit.com/r/childemains/comments/m9nbei/reasons_behind_the_appearance_similarities/

Also there’s another one:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Impact/comments/mt8l3i/at_young_age_childe_had_fallen_into_abyssal_and/

For those who prefer to see it all in one post. And in the story line our sibling who leads Abyss is Lumine, it does not fit her fighting style. even before coming to Teyvat she was using a sword, so her style wouldn’t change much, even after traveling through every nation. 

So I’m assuming it’s another person who is higher than Lumine in a hierarchy in the Abyss. So remember this Crowned Heir that was supposed to find the Genesis Pearl? What if she did in fact ended up in the Abyss, she believed to be a queen of the darkness.

Which would also explain why our sibling is not called queen, but princess:

We don’t know how she may ended up in there, but we also know that The Abyss equals ppl from Khaenri'ah. Than why Dain is against Abyss order? 

Like who laid this curse upon him? Not Gods I think, so maybe the queen of the abyss? Since abyss mages fear her more than they fear painful interrogation...

Also The Abyss order and Dain are on different sides. Why? We don’t know what happened there for sure. 

There are also theories (also on youtube) about the cycle and the truth of the word. What if the Genesis pearl is just a knowledge of this word? What if this crowned heir figured it out? And decided to destroy Celestia? And forgot about her orgins, forgot Khaenri'ah? What if what Abyss is trying to do have really not much to do with revenge for for destroying  Khaenri'ah but for all the destruction that Celestia did? What if Dain is on other side because he doesn’t need to fight this order? He doesn’t like gods for what happend to Khaenri'ah but we don’t see him rushing to harm them either. But that’s topic for another occasion.

Coming back to this “theory”. 

The second crowned heir taken on the path where the first have stumbled. 

Here also why I think it’s not about our siblings. We don’t know from where they come from, true. We know they were traveling together, maybe they where searching for something? Maybe they are royals? Now we know nothing about it. We know that:

I’m not putting the whole exchange here but from this we know that our sibling was not send by someone to find something our sibling failed to do. We don’t know what is this destiny Lumine/Aether talks about.

From the Gnostic Chorus we know this about first crowned heir:

But as we see in the newest Archon quest, it’s from Aether being on the side of the Abyss because I play Lumine.

He/Lumine didn’t forget who they are. From this we can see they also searched for their new home, maybe their last one was destroyed too? Maybe that’s why Lumine sides with people from Khaenri'ah? 

But anyway...

Who in the story have a task to do? Who was send with a clear mission we know nothing about? Who is a person about which we actually know less than about Dain? 

Yeah, Kaeya.

We know his father abandoned him at Down Winery with a mission of being their “Last hope” (I will be not posting pictures here about it, this post is long enough). There is a lot of theories about him being a prince or some royal since theories about Dain being a sword are confirmed (see theories about Alberich) not to mention the names of his talents that led us to this conclusion long ago.

For for sake of this theory let’s say that Kaeya is a prince send to find Genesis Pearl. Wouldn’t it fit that he makes friends with criminals? Who is better for a information network? 

Not to mention, he told the truth to Diluc, if he was a treat wouldn’t he kill him? or at last told about him to others? Diluc was respected at the time, who wouldn’t believe him?

So maybe his goal is not to destroy Mondstat?  

I always was wondering about this one. What major decision? maybe I’m thinking here too much from experience, maybe it’s not common approach... but his father left him in unknown land, with strangers. With a mission on his shoulders. And Mond gave him a loving family, Crepus, Diluc other ppl who love him, as it is stated on official side of Genshin Impact. 

Why would it be a hard choice to choose between happiness and duty? Like I said maybe it’s not a common approach, but what does some old kingdom mean when you have a found home? Shouldn’t it mean more? Is it really that hard of a choice?

But what if he have someone to save? Someone he cares about? or loves? Who isn’t guilty but lost? 

You probably can tell where I’m going now with it right?

What if he will have to save his sister? Ok, some will say Aether have to save Lumine from Abyss order but does he? Is she kept there against her will? did she forget about him or their goal? or is she just waiting for him so they can really reunite and continue their journey through words?

I know that this messes with my “theory”:

Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview: Travail｜Genshin Impact

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAlKhARUcoY

But Dain is against Lumine? He is against the whole Abyss Order, why would be stop us from getting or sister and getting away from Tayvat for good?

The thing that doesn’t fit is that he seems to be talking to Aether here with “You who set foot into this word. Your journey has reached it’s end but one final doorway remains.” And yeah, Aether is travelling, prob the reason why most of NPC call us Traveler instead of using our name. But it can be taken about kaeya as well, if we consider the fact that he come from Khaenri'ah and now he is in Tayvat, which is not considered to be a part of Tayvat. 

Ok, it’s longer than I thought... and I still wanted to put her more but oh well.   

#Kaeya #kaeya alberich #kaeya genshin #genshin impact #theory #Kaeya theory #spoilers??? #it's my rumbling #will make Kaeya facts part two soon #I just used all my brain power on this

[fiddlepickdouglas]

Viva Las Vegas, Pt. 18 -Chemistry

Summary: Sunset Curve Alive AU, Willex, what will they do?, 2.5k

@trevor-wilson-covington is the bestie who makes these lovely edits, we stan supportive friends

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17

“Two, three, four!” Alex counted off and the band sprung into action inside the studio. The one good thing about the drums was that it made him hyper aware of every limb on his body. There was no room for distractions or intrusive thoughts when he was keeping time. It was almost like the euphoria of being dizzy, only without the dizziness. He could be okay in this state for a little while - just long enough to reset his mind and declutter itself.

As they finished their take, they heard a familiar voice from the sound booth.

“Sounds incredible boys!”

Caleb. There went the whole ‘reset and declutter’ thing he had going.

Each of the guys looked around at each other, knowing they would have to do their best to pretend they didn’t know anything. This was the first time they were seeing him since Alex had given the news to the rest of the band. None of them had actually discussed what they would do the next time Caleb happened to stop in. Setting down their instruments and slowly filing into the sound booth, they all greeted Caleb, trying to appear happy to see him.

“Let’s hear that playback, shall we?” he said as they all sat together. He pressed a few knobs on his soundboard and they all listened closely to their own song. It was just gonna be another session with notes on where they could dub vocals here and there or duplicate tracks to fill things out - it had to be normal, Alex prayed.

“And let’s stop here for a minute,” Caleb was saying after getting into a couple minutes of the track. “Reggie. What happened to the bassline?” Reggie sat up, blinking at being called out. “That’s not what was on your demo; why did you change it?”

Reggie’s face had already fallen as he made flustered attempts to respond.

“I-I...I just liked that line better...I think it fits the style and the direction of the song,” he stammered, shoulders slumped, avoiding eye contact. His hands came together in his usual fidget - the one he did when he got yelled at. Alex saw Bobby’s hand curl into a fist.

“Alright, alright, trust me,” Caleb placated. “I understand, probably more than any of you, why improvising a part feels so good. I wouldn’t host a jazz club if I didn’t get that. But here the difference is that no one knows your songs yet, boys.”

“We’ve had faithful fans for years,” Luke interrupted.

Caleb cut him off with a mere look. Shutting his mouth, Luke scratched the back of his head nervously. After taking a breath, Caleb simply let out a sigh.

“Boys.” His tone was really drawing on the charisma, Alex noticed. “My job in helping you reach the stardom that you all one hundred percent deserve is to help you create a footprint on the walk of fame. A footprint means as beginners we can’t mess with the core elements that make your brand. These songs need to stay consistent until we have thousands of fans singing back to you in the audience the very lines you wrote in your humble garage. They need to know the first few seconds of that drumbeat and recall who you are on the radio. They are going to learn those basslines and those chords and add them to their own repertoire while they aspire to be legends like you! Don’t you see how important that is? I know. Playing around is fun; experimenting with new ideas and sounds is the whole reason we’re here. But from now on, I want you boys to stay in one lane, and I will match your speed.”

Eyeing each other warily, they all awkwardly murmured and nodded to agree with him. None of his words had been all that comforting. Alex was stuck thinking about how Caleb had made an appeal to every single one of them and somehow been right on the nose. It was like he could read their minds and it felt rather invasive.

“We’ll remember that,” Alex told him. He knew the other three were battling with their fight or flight responses and it would be suspicious.

“Oh, good,” Caleb replied. “I can see we’re having an off day, but maybe Alex can get the rest of you on board. Let’s run that song again.”

Exchanging glances, the guys stood up and headed back into the recording booth.

“Man, chemistry sucks,” Bobby complained from his seat in the armchair in his garage. Books were spread out around him, as well as about a dozen crumpled up pieces of notebook paper. “Reggie would get this.”

Alex looked up from the history homework he’d been focused on. He was gaining such an ear for whenever Reggie or Bobby mentioned one another and it made him laugh inwardly. For now, though, he had to hide the smirk.

“Well, I would call him, but he’s taking care of his sister tonight.”

“Yeah, I know. I don’t want to bother him anyways.”

This was one of the rare occasions where it was just Alex and Bobby together. Usually at least Luke would be around, but he was out on some date with Julie and there was no telling when he was expected back. Bobby had been helping Alex with history for a little bit but about half an hour ago remembered his own homework in a panic. Now they were both having trouble focusing. Their time in the studio that morning was clearly still on both of their minds.

“Hey, did Reggie tell you we were playing for his cousin’s wedding?” Alex asked in a non sequitur fashion.

“What?” Bobby said, finally sitting up and tearing his eyes off the diagram he was making. “No, he didn’t. Since when was that happening?”

“I’ve known for a couple weeks,” Alex told him casually.

“Oh.” Bobby looked down at the floor. “Any reason you haven’t mentioned it until now?”

Alex shifted in his seat on the couch at the suspicion in Bobby’s voice, but tried to play it off with a shrug.

“I just forgot. We’ve had a lot going on since he mentioned it to me.”

It did the trick. Still, Bobby sat in thought for a while, playing with his tongue inside his mouth absent-mindedly. Alex physically bit his own tongue to keep himself from asking what was on Bobby’s mind and pretended to turn his attention back to his history work. There was a long, static pause.

“Reggie’s been really weird lately,” Bobby said.

“Is that so?” Alex didn’t look up this time.

“Yeah. I mean, he’s always been goofy and everything, but I mean, he’s been unusual even for him. You know what I mean?”

“I guess I haven’t been paying as close of attention.” Alex flipped a page in his text book. “But I’ll take your word. Are you worried about him?”

Furrowing his brow, Bobby frowned in thought.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I mean, I always worry about him, you know, cuz of everything he deals with at home. But I don’t know...this is different.”

“Is it because of what Caleb said today?”

“I didn’t like that either, but no, that’s not it.”

He looked so serious that Alex couldn’t find it funny anymore. Actually, Bobby seemed so distressed by it that it was making Alex distressed.

“Hey,” he said with concern. “Why do you look so bummed about it?”

He received a glance as though a great weight sat upon Bobby’s shoulders. It was so familiar it shot him in the chest. His friend looked so lost and uncertain, so afraid to speak his mind. And Alex thought Reggie had been conflicted. It was a little worrying.

“I think you actually know what's going on, huh?” Bobby said in resignation.

Nope. Now it was just frustrating. Alex sat up and looked at Bobby directly.

“Okay, I know expressing yourself isn’t your strong suit, Bobby, but please say it out loud. You can do it. Especially with me.”

His friend’s eyebrows knit together even further, trying to convince himself to get it off his chest. A minute passed, and finally he shut his chemistry book, set it aside, and faced Alex.

“I have feelings for Reggie.”

Thank god.

“Good job! You’re officially the last to know!”

Bobby’s face fell into a confused expression.

“What?”

Alex merely shrugged. They were so helpless, but luckily he was better at trying to solve others’ problems than his own.

“I had to let you come to your own conclusion. It was exhausting; you took forever.”

Bobby folded his hands and fidgeted with his thumbs.

“How long have you noticed?”

“Technically? Since before playing at the Pearl. But that’s when it really started to be obvious.”

Smirking, Bobby just bowed and shook his head.

“You know,” he began. “When I was first getting to know you, I didn’t trust you. Luke and I were already so close, and he introduced me to you and Reggie and you two already were such good friends. For a while I couldn’t figure out when you were being sarcastic or serious and I didn’t want to admit I was too sensitive. Reggie helped me figure out the difference and I just sort of dropped anything I was upset about.”

Alex listened carefully, nodding at his words.

“And now you’ve started getting all personal because you know I’m the most trustworthy one here, right?” he half-teased.

Nodding, Bobby smiled a little.

“I guess this is the part where you tell me to get my crap together and tell Reggie?”

“Yep,” Alex said. “But go at your own pace. The last thing I want is you two making things even weirder than they already are by trying to discuss things when you’re not prepared. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great, but don’t forget the rest of the band in the process.”

“Oh, yeah,” Bobby pondered. “You have a point. Speaking of weird business, I’m still not cool about us pretending to go along with making the album while knowing what we do about Caleb.”

“Me neither, but I think Luke was right. We’re just being careful.”

“Since when is Sunset Curve careful, though? We would just set up and play wherever we could until we got chased off the property, and then we’d just find a new location the next night.”

“The difference is we were nobody fifteen year olds who didn’t have contracts signed. You said it yourself, we could risk losing the rights to our own music if we break things off.”

“We read the contracts, though, right?” Bobby insisted. “I made sure we did. I don’t remember anything that seemed too controlling in them.”

“Would we have known what to look for?” Alex responded.

Sighing heavily and flopping back into his chair, Bobby stared up into the ceiling. It felt like no good answer could be given. Alex was frustrated too, but he remembered what Tía Victoria had told him as well. He believed Willie, of course, especially since Victoria hadn’t actually seen or spoken to him. She hadn’t been able to get a sniff of Caleb’s true nature, and she was a professional investigator. If Caleb could fool her that easily, he’d tied their hands while they willingly held them out.

“Bobby,” Alex started. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking we should stop laying ourselves on the ground and letting him walk all over us. None of this ‘establish the brand’ B.S.”

Straightening his posture, Alex sat up and folded his hands. That was exactly what he wanted to do, too. Even if he didn’t know anything else about Caleb, the way he’d gone after Reggie had left a sour enough taste in his mouth. Before he could say anything else to Bobby, Luke stepped into the garage.

“Guys, I was thinking - ” he started.

“You wanna go after Caleb too?” Bobby said.

“Whoa, how did you know?” he sat back in surprise.

“Bobby and I were just talking about it,” Alex told him. Luke raised his eyebrows as he flopped onto the couch beside Alex.

“Were you guys mad when he singled out Reggie, too?”

“Yes!”

“Nobody shames Reggie like that!”

“Bobby, you should go cheer him up,” Luke suggested. “We all know you’re in love with him.”

“Oh my god!” Bobby cried, throwing his arms into the air in exasperation. Immediately he stood up and gathered all his books. “Just for that, I’m turning in you guys. Have a nice night, Alex. Luke, I hope it’s cold.” He stormed out of the garage and into his house while Luke and Alex simply laughed together.

“I, uh… I already gave him a speech about it,” Alex told Luke, smirking.

“Thank you!” Luke cried. “I know they tease me about being dense but at least I go for what I want! And so do you!”

Smiling at the acknowledgement of him and Willie, Alex slowly started packing up his homework. He could finish it tomorrow night.

“By the way, how was hanging out with Julie?” he asked.

Placing his arms behind his head, Luke got that dreamy far-off look on his face. The ‘Julie on the mind’ look. He smiled like he’d seen an angel and the angel had smiled back in kind.

“Oh, she’s awesome. She’s way better at roller skating than me. I wish there were two of me just so one of us could hold her hand while skating with her and the other could sit down and watch.”

Alex made a face at the odd visual, but he understood what Luke was talking about. He wondered what he and Willie looked like from an outside perspective. Did they look as happy as he felt? Did Willie bring out something in him that he’d never seen in the mirror? Or even something the rest of the guys didn’t know yet? That was something he really wanted to discuss with Willie now.

“I can’t wait until her mom gets out of the hospital,” Luke was saying. “I want to learn everything she can teach me. She told me she took two years just working on the production of an album for her band. Imagine what we could do with our songs if we had her in the studio instead of Caleb.”

“Wow,” Alex commented. “At this point, I really wish we were working with the Molinas. At least they seem to get us.”

Luke looked at him and Alex knew he’d heard all the underlying meaning in that sentence. All the guys had been accepted by Julie’s family in a way none of their own seemed capable of. Alex almost wished he hadn’t said it out loud because it only tempted him to forget about heading home.

“Maybe one day, we will, Alex,” Luke said, giving him an encouraging smile.

He chuckled as he shouldered his backpack and headed out the door.

“Yeah. That’d be sweet.”

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #fanfic #jatp fanfic #sunset curve #alive au #willex #willie #alex mercer #luke patterson #reggie peters #bobby wilson #julie molina #caleb covington #viva las vegas #vlv #chemistry #fiddlepickdouglas

[jlalafics]

“Lesson Learned”-Part 3 of 4

Yes, we’re almost to the end.

Also, we’re about to have some major changes in this next section.

It’s a little squicky on some subjects but nothing I don’t think you can’t handle.

Thank you if you’re still reading! Enjoy!

Summary: Sometimes Katniss asks too much of Peeta. This time she’s gone too far. College Everlark. Katniss and Peeta POV’s. Rated M.

Previous Parts:

Part One

Part Two

_______

Those words coming out of her mouth are like a shot of electricity.

Her stare is bold, though I do see a sliver of uncertainty.

“It’s not that difficult,” I tell her. “Your hand…my hand…orally…vaginally…I assure you that it will get hard.”

She meets my eyes, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. “Which one do you like?”

Blowjob!—my cock practically screams at me.

This isn’t about me, however. This is about her.

“What would you like to try?”

“Uh…hand, I guess,” Katniss tells me.

I nod and take her hand. “Should we do this in your room?”

She doesn’t reply; instead, she pulls me along to the open door of her bedroom and we walk in.

Katniss’ bedroom is softly lit by two tall paper lanterns that sit on each of her side tables. Her walls are painted a soft white except for the sage green accent wall behind her bed. Her bedding is a grey and white pattern with light green throw pillows.

She leads me over to the bed shyly. “Is it easier if you lay down?”

“I mean, that’s how I usually do it,” I offer, and she snorts. “Just trying to be honest.”

“Honest and gross are two different things,” Katniss informs me. “So…hop on that bed and let’s get to it.”

“Setting the mood, aren’t we?”

I sit on the bed and lay back as she follows, scooting next to me before going to her knees. We’ve laid on this bed millions of times to watch movies or listen to music. I’ve even slept here when I was too drunk to make it to my apartment. However, it is awkward to be here completely exposed as she kneels besides me and examines every inch of my skin.

“I don’t know what to do,” she finally tells me. “You have to guide me.”

I nod, taking her hand and bringing it to my cock.

“This is a penis.” Katniss rolls her eyes and I chuckle, covering her hand with my mine. “There are different parts.” I guide her hand along my length which has stiffen at the warmth of her touch. “This is the shaft. Most of the stimulation is along it—”

“Tell me more, professor,” she jokes though there is a distinct purr which cause a frisson of heat to travel through me.

My dick is definitely hard now.

“So you’re going to stroke…” I move her hand along with mine in a slow rub, letting her get a feel for the rhythm. Fuck, this feels amazing! My hips begin to move along with her caress. “Do you think you have the hang of it?”

I manage to push the question through clenched teeth.

The curiosity in her grey eyes is unbelievably sexy.

“I think I got it,” she tells me, her eyes on my hard-on. Katniss matches my movements, even following the amount of pressure I usually use to a T. The softness of her skin and the firmness of her strokes causes me to push up into her hand. “Am I doing this right?”

“So right…” I reply breathless.

“And, do I anything with the head?” Katniss asks. Her eyes peer as a pearl of pre-cum seeps out from the tip. Her thumb unconsciously reaches to smear the liquid along the head and as she sweeps on the underside of it, I suddenly feel it happen—

“Fuck!” My hips shoot up as I abruptly come, spunk covering her hand…my stomach…her sheets…I feel dizzy at the sensation.

Shit—I can’t believe I came so quickly.

It’s like a girl has never put a hand on me or something. As I come down, I realize the mess that I’ve made and look to a shell-shocked Katniss.

“I’m so sorry…I should’ve mentioned getting a towel or something—”

“No,” she blurts out. Katniss is flushed, her whole body taking on a rosy hue. “Um…it was actually amazing to watch.”

“But the sheets…” I croak out. “I’ll pay you back.”

“You better.” She looks at her hand, covered by my essence. “How does this taste?”

And without another thought, Katniss sticks her finger in her mouth—

“UGH!” She blanches and then looks to me aghast, her eyes almost bugging out. “In Johanna’s books, they all make jizz sound so good. This is…not. No offense.”

“I don’t exactly sample my semen,” I tell her as I sit up. “But how does it taste?”

Katniss smacks her lips. “Like nothing at first and then extremely bitter—” She gags. “And I feel like my mouth is going to be dry for the rest of the night…I need water…or a beer.”

“I’ll grab you one,” I tell her. “But first, I need a towel.”

+++++++

Peeta returns after taking a quick break from the bathroom and then the kitchen. He’s holding out a beer and a bottle of water for me.

“A peace offering for ruining a very nice duvet set,” Peeta says. “Which one?”

“I’ll take the water first.” The bitter taste hasn’t exactly disappeared from my tongue or my throat. “Out of curiosity, is there anyway to fix that taste?”

“I’ve heard that pineapple juice helps,” he replies. “I’m not sure how much the guy needs to drink but it doesn’t hurt to try, right?” Joining me on the bed—my sheets have now been pushed to the foot of the bed—Peeta turns to me. “Have you ever tasted yourself?”

“No. I don’t exactly think about sticking my fingers down there,” I say.

“You had boyfriends,” Peeta says, resting back on a pillow. “Have any of them ever kissed you after oral?”

I find myself scoffing.

“I had no idea how to give a handjob, you think that someone has gone down on me?”

My experience has consisted of some over-the-shirt action during a movie in high school and one rub over Marvel’s jeans which was quickly cut short because his mom had come home early from work.

And finally, this evening.

“We have to do something about that,” Peeta declares before taking the water from my grasp. “Lay back.”

“You really don’t have to,” I protest. “I’m learning how to seduce a man—”

“Listen, some guys are all for their own pleasure,” he tells me. “However, the right guys are going to reciprocate. If Cato doesn’t, he’s fucking trash.”

Oh, Cato. I forgot all about him.

The image of him has become a distant memory in comparison to watching Peeta come undone at just the stroke of my hand.

Makes a girl feel a little powerful, you know.

I nod in agreement as I lay flat on my back. “Do I ask him or should he just know?”

“The right guy is going to want to give you pleasure. Don’t sell yourself short, Katniss. You deserve someone who wants to give you what you need.” Peeta settles next to me, his lips going to my neck and I try to bite back a moan, but the feeling of his kiss goes straight to my pussy. “I want to hear you. Don’t hold back.”

“Peeta, have you been with many women?”

He stops, pulling away, and looks to me…guiltily.

“We said honesty, right?” I nod and he lets out a sigh. “I’ve done stuff with girls. But I’ve never gone all the way.”

I’m intrigued. The campus is full of beautiful women and more than one woman has come to me asking for help in regard to catching Peeta. “Why?”

Peeta shrugs. “We get to that point and…it never pans out.”

“So, I would be your first?” I ask slowly. “If it pans out.”

He nods. “Are you mad?”

I shake my head immediately.

“No. I can’t really judge you on waiting when I’ve done the same thing. It just has to be the right person and we trust each other. We’re not afraid to be real—even if it hurts.”

“Right,” Peeta agrees quietly. He looks down at me. “You really are a queen, Katniss.”

That look in his eyes; it’s full and warm. I can’t breathe from the intensity of it all.

“Now, I demand that you touch me,” I say, hoping that my voice sounds light. I take the hand resting against his side and press it to one of breasts. His eyes go to his hand, cupping my breast, his thumb just hovering over my nipple. “You have touched a boob, right?”

That snaps him right out of his trance. “I have…lots of them!”

I laugh—hard—at the incredulous look on his face. “You just looked really in over your head for a moment!”

“You have a pair of gorgeous tits in your grasp, you’re going to be a little overwhelmed,” he protests with a grin. His thumb brushes over my nipple—finally!—and I’m immediately squirming at his touch. Peeta notices, his eyes go to me. “You like this.”

I love it.  I’ll never admit that it’s because the sight of my arousal causes his whole expression to go slack. I have a power over him, and I enjoy it.

“Obviously,” I choke out.

Then Peeta leans down, taking my nipple into his mouth.

Everything flips and I lose myself of the sensation of him teasing the peak to full height. He nips, not too hard and swirls around my areola gently.

However, when he suddenly sucks—

“Stop!” I yelp.

Peeta pulls back immediately. “What?”

“Too much, dude!” I push up on my elbows. “Honesty, right?” He nods, still silent. “You have to be a little gentler. No girl wants to feel like you’re trying to milk her like a cow.” Taking his hand, I bring my mouth to his index finger and suck gently at the tip of it. Peeta starts at the motion. I draw my lips away slowly, eyes on him, pulling out with a soft pop. “Like this.”

He lets out a ragged breath. “You’re amazing.”

I snort as I lay back down. “I just believe in a good education.”

Peeta moves down, mouth just over my breast and with the slightest of touches, takes my nipple into his mouth once more.

And it’s fucking amazing.

My lower half twists and I can feel the gush of wetness between my thighs as he sucks and savors. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed anything more than feeling Peeta’s mouth on my tits.

Maybe there is one thing.

Our first kiss.

Peeta is moving downwards, his lips on my abdomen, gentle as he tastes my skin and it sends shivers through me.

This shouldn’t be happening; I shouldn’t be enjoying this…

This intimacy, those kisses.

I shouldn’t be having an epiphany about my feelings as Peeta kneels in front of me and parts my thighs. He lays on his stomach, resting my thighs onto his shoulders, and bringing his mouth over my netherlips.

“What are you doing?” I ask, pushing myself onto my elbows to look at him.

“I’m going to eat you out,” he replies matter-of-factly. “Didn’t we just have this talk about reciprocation? I swear sometimes I don’t think you really listen to me—”

“Stop with the melodrama.” I take a deep breath before speaking. “I feel a bit overwhelmed. Because I’m not going to come right away. Maybe I won’t even come.”

“This isn’t about an orgasm,” he argues. “It’s about learning to enjoy yourself. Any decent guy will enjoy the sound of his girl enjoying herself, okay?” Peeta looks at me in exasperation. “Now will you lay back like a good girl and just let me eat your pussy already?”

I huff and lay back.

The first swipe is not so bad, just a quick sweep from my lips to just above my clit, and I hum in contentment. He takes that as a good sign and continues, listening for whenever a hiss and groan escapes my lips.

I don’t make it very easy on him or myself. I’m stuck in my own head about whether or not, it’s okay down there…scent wise.

“Peeta?” I push back onto my elbows. He looks up, doe-eyed and his jaw covered in…me. “I smell okay, right?”

“You smell lovely,” he assures me with chuckle.

“Lovely?” I raise a brow. “Like what does that exactly smell like?”

“Kind of musky, but not too much,” he informs me. “And you taste just as nice.”

“How’s that?”

Peeta sits up for a moment, thinking on my question. “Faintly salty, but good.”

I tilt my head at his words. “Like a salt-water gargle?”

“No…” He pauses. “…more like chicken broth?”

I can’t help but laugh. “That’s about the realest answer I’ve heard.”

“Would you settle for bone broth then?” he retorts with a grin. “It’s much better for you.”

“Why am I friends with you?” I ask.

Peeta smirks—and he’s so damn handsome that I want nothing more than to just be near him.

“Because I’m the shit.”

I’m on my knees right in front of him. I can smell myself on his lips, it’s not bad—faintly musky.

“Shithead,” I retort.

Peeta wraps his arms around my back, pulling me close.

“Taste yourself on me,” he whispers.

I press forward, my mouth slanting over his, tasting that tang of myself. He responds ardently, his tongue rough inside my mouth, hungry and yearning for something that I desperately want to give him.

Love.

Did I just fucking fall in love with him?

He pulls away breathless, his blue eyes dark and full as he looks at me and only me.

“What did I tell you?” he says huskily. “Lovely.”

Yes.

Yes, I fucking did

#Lesson Learned #Part Three #Everlark Fanfiction #Everlark #college!Everlark

[mrcurrygoestospain]

Camino De Santiago - Round 5

Spain travel log, 2021…

Day One:

September 20 - Depart Seattle for Madrid, by way of London. There were plenty of issues just getting to this point. In addition to the ongoing concerns over COVID-19, or perhaps because of them, I had some serious concerns about whether I could and whether I should do this trip at all. In the end, I think I simply realized that it was totally appropriate for me to go on this trip: I’ve been “responsible” and taken the full round of vaccinations, generally avoided social contacts with people and been diligent about the masks. So I made my reservations and thought everything was fine. About 2 weeks before takeoff, I got an email from Iberia that one of my flights had been changed. When I looked into it, I found that it was the connecting flight from London to Madrid and the schedule had been bumped up by about 6 hours taking me from having a 2 hour layover in Heathrow to needing to be on a plane for Madrid 4 hours before I actually landed in London and would be able to board it… It took attempts at phone calls over several days to get this corrected. Finally, I tried while I was at top work one morning around 5:00 am. I finally got through and a nice lady helped rebook my connecting flight. She found the only available flight on that day that would work; now I have a seven hour layover.

I prepped for my trip, checklists and routes planned. I arrived at the airport 3 hours early, just in case. Although I booked with Iberia, it was a British flight. So standing in line at the BA counter in SeaTac, I saw the sign: “All passengers must show proof of a negative COVID test.” What? I’d already checked multiple times; I only need proof of vaccination to get into Spain. I check the internet. Sure enough, if you’re on a layover in England, you need a negative test…A quick Google search helped me find a testing center at SeaTac airport, so I rushed down to baggage claim number nine to see if I could get a test in time. In all honesty, I really thought I wasn’t going to make it and I’d have to try to contact the airline again to find a way to reschedule my flight. I stood in the line for what seemed like forever, but finally had the privilege of paying $250 for a rapid COVID test. T- minus 2 hours 30 minutes to departure and they promised results in 1-1.5 hours. The test itself was relatively painless. After all of the horror stories I’d heard about the nasal swabs, I was a bit worried. But it didn’t hurt, it just tickled a little bit. I waited, and waited…it seemed like they would never have my results. While I waited, I heard stories from other travelers who had missed flights or rebooking because of these ridiculous COVID-related requirements. One young Canadian lady I spoke to shared that she’d spent over $1000 on COVID tests in the last month due to traveling. I guess my $250 wasn’t so much.

I finally got my negative test results and rushed back to the check in counter, filled out the required government forms and headed through security. The flight was delayed.

After a nine hour flight to London, I had seven or eight hours to kill in Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5, before boarding my flight to Madrid. I shopped, I ate, I listened to podcasts. I took a few naps and generally cursed British Airways for changing my original flight. Some Italian guy made quite a scene at the boarding gate for the flight to Madrid. The gate agent handled it quite well and passive-aggressively punished him for his demeanor.

I arrived in Madrid after an easy flight on Iberia, made my way to the metro and on to my Hostel. It was a nice enough place. After 28 hours of travel, I was ready for a shower and bed.

Day 2:

On my one day in Madrid, I walked from my hostel/hotel to the Museo Nacional del Prado. It’s Spain’s greatest art museum. This was my second time there and I spent a lot more of it. There are so many amazing pieces and, for someone who used to truly despise art, it was amazing. I highly recommend it. I haven’t been to a whole lot of art museums, but it is, by far, my favorite. I followed that with a walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens. I’m sure they’re great when all of the flowers are blooming, but in early fall, it’s just a lot of green. Either way, it was still peaceful. I visited another nearby park, walked around and viewed the statues, and then made my way back towards the hotel and passed it to go to the Cathedral opposite the royal palace. It’s a much more modern cathedral than the ones I’ll see on the Camino, but still impressive.

Day 3:

On the morning of the third day, I got up early and got packed. Took the metro to the train station and purchased a ticket to Leon. After two hours on the train, I took a 20 minute walk to the hotel and dropped off my bag, and then spent the next few hours wandering the city. I found a barber and got a haircut for 9 Euro, quite a bargain. Stopped at the “Taste of America” shop to get a bottle of hot sauce (Cholula, of course), and just meandered around the city until I could get checked in at the hotel. It was a pretty uneventful day, which is just what I needed. I was still very tired from all of the traveling and trying to swap schedules.

Day 4:

I got up late, around 8:00 AM and started walking the city. I stopped for a cafe con leche and met a Scottish couple who had been walking the Camino for the last few weeks. While we waited out the rain under cover, the shared with me some of their other walking adventures, including tales of walking through the Swiss Alps on the Via Francigena, a pilgrimage route to Rome. I may have to look into that for a future trip. I also shared with them my plans/considerations of taking a walk on the “Great Glen Way” in Scotland. The wife had already done this and highly recommended it, along with the West Highland Way. Both are approximately 5-day walks through some of the wild country of Scotland. When the rain let up, we parted ways and I went to tour the Cathedral, toured the Basilica of Saint Isidore and wandered around town, shopping and eating. Inside the Saint Isidore museum and basilica, i had the opportunity to see what is referred to as the “Sistine Chapel of Romanesque Art” as well as a gold and silver cup that some historians claim is the “holy grail.”

Day 5:

Didn’t sleep much…I forgot how much they like to party in Spain. It was LOUD all night long. Anyway, started my walk. Today was about 27 km and it rained through about 50% of the day. It was a mix of roads and dirt tracks. I only saw one other pilgrim, a Spaniard who doesn’t speak any English. I got ahead of him and had stopped for a rest at a picnics table on top of a mountain. He showed up a few minutes behind me and I tried to chat for a minute, but the language barrier…. I offered him half of my tangerine and then he took off again. I passed him up later. I had been slightly worried about where to stay for the night as the municipal albergue in this province/state are currently closed due to the ‘Rona, but when I got to town I found a pension with rooms available. The lovely lady named Susana showed me to a room and also worked tirelessly to make me a reservation for the following night. I hadn’t eaten much for the day, so I ordered big: hot dog and patatas oil bravas. Patatas bravas is a traditional dish in Spain which is made of fried potatoe cubes that are covered in a (typically) spicy tomato sauce. Potatoes Ali Oli are the same fried potatoes but with a garlic cream sauce instead of the spicy sauce. This one combined both sauces. It was nice. The inside of the restaurant/bar/cafe was very loud with a bunch of men playing a card game I’m not familiar with, so I went outside to have a beer. An older Spaniard, named Hilario, came out and started trying to talk to me. I explained that I am American and I don’t speak much Spanish, but he disagreed. So he went inside and got another man, a Hungarian who had been in Spain for the last 25 years, named Fernanco(?) who was extremely drunk, to come out and talk to me. He was so drunk, he introduced himself as “muy borracho” or “very drunk” and the proceeded to tell me that he used to be a muy Thai fighter and a coal miner and now he was just a fat drunk who collected money from the government because he got hit in the head too many times. At least I THINK that’s what they were saying…. I went to bed early to get a good rest and let my aching feet and hips recover before a long day tomorrow….from La Robla to Poladura, should be about 25km or so with some very intense climbs. We’ll see.

I’m currently on the Camino San Salvador, which is a route from Leon to Oviedo. They say “whoever goes to Santiago without visiting Oviedo, goes to the servant but not to the Lord.” This is because Oviedo is famous for having a specific relic. While most people are aware of the Shroud of Turin, which is the burial cloth of Jesus, many don’t know (including me, until recently) that traditional Jewish burial included placing a cloth over the face of the deceased immediately after death and until the body was prepared for burial. This cloth would then be removed and the full-body cloth would be applied. So anyway, this Cathedral boasts possession of the face covering that was placed over Jesus’ head, likely immediately after the spear pearled his side and before he was brought down off of the cross. Once I complete the Camino San Salvador (about 5 days, I hope), I will continue on to the Camino Primitivo, one of the many Camino’s de Santiago. So the Camino San Salvador goes to the relics of Christ and the Camino Santiago (Santiago = Saint James) goes to the resting place and remains of Saint James (the major), also known as “Santiago Matamoros” or “Saint James the Moor Slayer”, the patron saint of Spain.

[galadrieljones]

As You Were (Chapter 4)

Fandom: The Last of Us | Pairing: Joel x OC | Content: Fix-it | Rating: Mature

Masterpost

When Joel and Ellie take a wrong turn on their journey from Pittsburgh to Wyoming, they find themselves lost in, what feels like a time warp: a beautiful place with a dark and dangerous secret. While there, they meet Cici and Noah, a mother and son fighting tirelessly for survival, and who have recently endured a terrible tragedy on their family farm. Amidst their joint desire to find hope for the future, the two groups decide set out west together, changing the course of the story (as we know it), and the very course of their lives.

This is an AU, starting after the events of the Summer chapter in the first game, and extending into the timeline of the second game. Joel lives.

Chapter 4: The Trench (Pt. 1 and 2)

“I’m scared of ending up alone.”

1.

She walked along the river, and she found him sitting on the grassy bank, with his feet in. He still had his boots on. “Don’t,” she said, crouching beside him. “You need to take off your boots first.”

“No you don’t,” he said. He smiled. “Come try it out.”

She sat down, but she didn’t put her feet in the water. The river bank was wet anyway. It was getting her jeans damp. She didn’t feel like taking off her boots. “I thought the whole point was to be free,” she said.

“You can be free any way you like,” he said. “That’s the definition of freedom.”

“I guess you’re right,” she said.

The big blue sky cast out above them as opals. There were no clouds. No anxious metal sounds. There were no fears.

“I know you’re pregnant,” he said. He was staring at his boots in the water. “I saw the test.”

She looked down at her hands. Everybody was always doing that. “You saw it?”

“I didn’t mean to. You left it in the trash. Where did you even find one?”

“Amy,” she said. “She had some, from the Wal-mart. I had to pay her with two chickens.”

“Pretty good deal, considering.”

“Are you mad?” she said.

He looked at her with his brown eyes. Sometimes they could be hard as bolts. Today, they were soft. “Why would I be mad?”

“Because we didn’t mean it,” she said. “My dad is gonna kill me.”

“No he won’t,” said Will. He took her hand and pressed his thumb against her knuckles. “Nobody is gonna die.”

Mom. Don’t go back.

“Cici?”

She opened her eyes. When she looked around, she realized it was morning, well past the break of dawn. She had fallen asleep on the couch. She was looking at Joel now. He was standing in the middle of the living room, wearing a new tee-shirt but the same jeans. He had a rifle on his back, and a shotgun. He was looking confused. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry. Hi.”

“You sleep down here last night?”

“Yeah,” she said. She put her feet on the ground, her face in her palms. “I was just reading, pretty late. I guess I must have been so tired. I slept through the night.”

“Well that ain’t so bad,” said Joel. He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “I was just, uh. I was gonna head out, with Noah. He’s gonna show me the work that needs doing on the perimeter. I’m sorry if I startled you.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “You said you’re going with Noah now?”

“Yes, ma’am. He says it shouldn’t take past lunch.”

“I’ll have something ready,” she said. Then, she looked around. “Is Ellie still asleep?”

“No,” said Joel. “She’s out, feeding the chickens and gathering eggs.”

“Oh. Okay, well, good.”

“I think she likes it here,” said Joel, glancing out the window. “She ain’t never spent time outdoors like this before. It’s good for her.”

“I’m glad,” said Cici. She was still sort of out of it. She got up and started walking to the kitchen. “Did Noah make any coffee this morning?”

Joel kind of paused. He seemed taken off-guard but he hid it well. “Noah didn’t mention any coffee,” he said.

“He probably just forgot,” she said, putting a kettle on the stove. “We scavenged a couple big bags from the roastery in town, a couple months ago. I mean, it ain’t fresh, but it does the trick. I can make you some, if you like. It’ll just be a minute.”

Joel walked over to the table. He leaned against one of the chairs. “Uh, sure,” he said. “Sure, that’d be fine.”

“You look dumbfounded,” she said. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” said Joel. “Everything’s, uh, just fine. I just—I ain’t had coffee in a while.”

“How long?”

He glanced down at his watch, which she had noticed early on. It was broken, but she figured there was a good reason he must have kept wearing it, or else it could have just been habit. Grown men were like that, she knew. They just got to doing things for so long sometimes, they forgot why or how. They just kept doing it till they died. “Years,” he said.

“Well, you’re in luck then,” she said. “Would Ellie want some, or is she too young?”

“I don’t think she’d like the stuff,” said Joel.

“Noah doesn’t either,” she said.

Ellie came inside a moment later then, as Cici was boiling the water. She was holding a whole basket full of eggs and looking very pleased with herself. Noah followed behind her with his familiar shotgun set on his shoulder.

“Look at all these eggs,” said Ellie, holding up the basket. “Joel, do you see this?”

"I do.”

“Very good haul,” said Cici. The kettle was whistling. She started pouring the water over the grounds, through a cone, into a mug for Joel. “I’m just making Joel a quick cup of coffee, before you boys head down to the perimeter.”

“You guys got coffee?” said Ellie, sitting down at the table. “Holy shit, Joel. You must be freaking out.”

Joel then gave her a little bit of a side-eye. “I am not freaking out. Though I will admit, it’s a treat.”

Ellie started counting the eggs, one by one. "Anyway," she said. "What do you guys think you’ll see when you go down there? Is it pretty gnarly?"

“Hopefully we'll see nothing,” said Noah. He picked up an apple, from a blue porcelain bowl on the counter. “Hopefully we’ll just finish the trench, reset the mines, and be done.” He took a bite.

"Good," said Ellie.

“I’m just happy to see the two of you out of danger,” said Joel, sitting back in his chair. “Whatever I can do. This place deserves a second chance.”

Cici just focused on the coffee. She wanted it to be good.

When they got outside, Noah took Joel out to the crow’s nest where he wanted to pick up a small canister of gasoline and a lighter and some other stuff, including the replacement mines, and a true blue improved explosive. That one, said Noah, was more or less just some parts his mom had made for a fancy pipe bomb, plus a proximity sensor. He had them up there stored in a backpack. When they got up to the top of the ladder, Joel notice the Pearl Jam poster and did a double-take. In some ways, being on that farm in the middle of nowhere, it felt like he had stepped through some sort of time warp.

“My dad liked them,” said Noah, reading his mind, pocketing a book of matches and loading his 9mm, which he then holstered in the waist of his jeans. “That was his.”

“That’s a blast from the past,” said Joel.

“What year were you born?” said Noah.

The question was surprising, and direct. Both Noah and Cici had these unfiltered ways about them in which they could sit in complete silence for multiple moments at a time, but then, out of nowhere, abruptly come to the truth, simply asking and saying the things they meant with very little pretense or warning. “Uh, 1984,” said Joel.

“Dang,” said Noah. “You’re as old as my Uncle Nick.”

“Who's Uncle Nick."

“My mom’s step-brother," said Noah. "He was old enough that he was in Iraq.”

“What year?”

“2004, I think, was the start of his first tour."

Joel took a deep breath. He had his hands on his hips as he was nodding his head to the memory. “Yeah, I knew a lot of guys that enlisted,” he said, “after 9/11, in 2003. At the time, it seemed like there was something to fight for. It wasn’t that uncommon where I grew up.”

“Did you enlist?” said Noah.

“No,” said Joel, glancing back to the poster. It was a silkscreen, from a concert in Madison, probably back in like 1996.

“Why not?”

“I thought about it, but I had—well, I had other responsibilities at the time.”

Noah just stared at him, unclear.

“Let’s get a move on,” said Joel.

It took them about twenty minutes to get all the way to the section of the perimeter that needed maintenance. Noah said this was an especially vulnerable spot, as it pushed right up against the woods, with a wide frontage to the Kickapoo River just a few miles away on the other side. To get there, they had to follow the creek, which was overgrown in some parts with a great deal of bramble. At some point, they emerged and then had to walk through about five acres of arable land that had gone to seed. There was also a fairly overgrown apple orchard, and a field of actual, farmed corn, plus a stable, in the distance. Most of the trek was downhill, but the sun was hot that day. They were cooking.

Noah didn’t talk much. Joel was getting a little apprehensive about what, exactly, it was they were going to run into out there. He knew they were going to finish digging a trench, and he knew they would have to navigate their way through a live minefield, using the map that Noah had stuffed in his back pocket. He trusted the kid, and he trusted Cici, but he still had no idea what the hell he was doing. Part of him was worried about getting a leg blown off. The other part was amped up, just in case they were set to run into a horde. There were a lot of trees out there, and he didn’t really understand how it was they had kept this place fully booby-trapped in such an organized fashion for so long all by themselves. But then he thought about Bill, back in Massachusetts and suddenly, based on his most recent memories of a life lived with Tess, in which the two of them survived mainly by navigating the loopholes of a fully-fledged but decaying QZ, he began to realize that perhaps the kind of hard work he was used to, in the grand scheme of things, wasn’t that difficult at all.

“You know, I asked your mom yesterday,” said Joel as they scaled down a shallow ridge overgrown with prickly shrubs, “about whether y’all had some idea of what’s been causing the increase in activity out here, with Infected.”

“What did she tell you?” said Noah.

“She told me to talk to you.”

When they got to the bottom of the ridge, they walked a little further out, through a meadow with a dry well. Up ahead, finally, they saw it—the minefield. It was on the other side of an electric fence, about ten feel high. The fence had barbed wire spooled along the top, but it didn’t seem to be properly electric anymore, as there was a huge hole cut in the links, which they took turns squeezing through.

“You know how I told you, the water, coming in from the Kickapoo, the Bad Axe, some other major tributaries off the Mississippi, it’s ain’t safe?” said Noah.

“Yeah,” said Joel.

“Well, one day,” said Noah—he had a machete, which he was now using to hack through some of bramble on the other side of the fence, “about a year and a half ago, we heard a distress call from the Amish. There used to be a whole huge family of them on the other side of them woods, over north. They didn’t use the radio, but they had a hand-powered siren, which they would use to signal any threats in the area.”

“These the Amish that got the scrapyard?”

“Yeah,” said Noah. “They were called the Lapps, before. Anyway, when the siren went off, my dad and my uncle went over there, and some of the other guys in the area that we knew. They thought they were gonna find maybe some reavers, or a small horde, wandering in from the town. But when they got there, it was like, the whole entire family was turning. Every single one of them, like dozens of people, infected, at the same time. It was insane, my dad said. It was starting to rain, so my dad and my uncle, they just herded them all into the barn and locked them in, and then they came home. They said it was bizarre. If one person gets infected and starts turning other people, why did the distress call come in so late? Why weren’t there more dead? Everybody was just sick, they said. All at once, as if they'd all been infected at the same time.”

Joel was focused on his footing, stepping through the tall grasses. There were so many grasshoppers, you couldn’t count. “Did you figure out what caused it?"

“Eventually,” said Noah. “We were used to using a well, which draws on a aquifer, under the ground, for our water. But the Amish, after the Outbreak in 2013, they apparently started hauling their water in straight from the river, fished it all the time.”

“Spores in the river?”

“In all the rivers,” said Noah.

“How?”

“All the tributaries coming into the floodplain, they’re all contaminated. A couple of travelers came through not long after the outbreak at the Lapp farm. They said that every city up and down the Mississippi, and on a major tributary, everywhere is going nuts with Infected. They said that, in LaCrosse, you could see the Cordyceps, growing right off the banks. There was something going on.”

“Jesus.”

“So like a year ago,” Noah continued, “all of us—me, my mom, my dad, and my uncle, we went up to LaCrosse.” He stopped in his tracks then, took a long drink of water from a canteen in his backpack.

“What happened?” said Joel.

“We got cornered by a horde before we could make it into the city,” he said, “in a church just south of Shelby. There was a fire. My mom and me got out, barely. My dad and my uncle didn’t. By the time the two of us got back to Viroqua, the rest of the Amish in the area had either abandoned their farms, or turned. The whole town, anybody left in this part of the Driftless, they were almost all of them gone. Dead, turned, or gone.”

Joel felt heavy, blindsided. He looked at his boots in the tall grass, getting wet from the river marsh. When he looked up now, he could see it there, in its glory: the minefield. Just like a long, flat expanse of grass that spread out, stretching around the property, maybe about twenty yards deep. On the other side of the minefield was the trench, and then a whole lot of trees, growing up the side of a wooded ridge. “Everything you just told me, that’s all true?” he said.

“Yes.”

“Jesus Christ, kid.”

“I know.”

“You said there are others in the area. The Amish who got the scrapyard. Some of them survived?”

“Yeah,” said Noah. “One of the families had been on a supply run, eastward, during the outbreak. They came back, and they stayed. They still live over the hill. There are a few others, a couple families here and there. My Aunt Amy, she was married to my Uncle Nick, she left a little bit after we got back from LaCrosse, went down to the Quad Cities with her daughter. They had family down there, on Amy’s side, in Moline. We’ve tried to keep tabs on what’s going on down there, but it all went dark a while ago. I have no idea if they made it.”

“So you think the Infected, they’re coming down the river, with the spores.”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t know why, or how, the water became like it is? Because it ain’t like that in the northeast. Spores infecting people through the water supply is news to me.”

“We don’t know what’s causing it,” said Noah. “We know there’s something going on in LaCrosse, but we’ve never gone back.”

Joel took a deep breath. “I’m really sorry, son,” he said. “I am. That’s a tough hand.”

“Thanks,” said Noah, shaking his head. “But I doubt it’s any worse than your sob story, or Ellie’s, or any of the other sob stories you must hear traveling around these days.”

“That don’t matter,” said Joel. He regarded Noah, whose cynicism was familiar to his own. “In the grand scheme of things, one loss might seem meaningless, but just because a lot of people are dying that don’t mean the people that you lose, that their lives held any less significance to you when they were still alive. You get that?”

Noah was just staring at him, as if the words he was hearing were foreign, or new. He did, however, nod stiffly, and then he looked away. Joel didn’t know if it had gotten through. He just felt for the boy.

“All the shit we need to do, it’s up there,” said Noah.

Joel squinted past the minefield toward the trench. “It looks like it’s nearly finished.”

“It is,” he said. “The Infected tripped two mines and one bomb yesterday. We’ll clean up the trench, and then we'll replace the explosives. With you here, it’ll be fast.”

“What are the odds we’re gonna run into Infected out there at that trench?” said Joel. “There’s a lot of trees.”

“I don’t know,” said Noah. He took the map out of his back pocket, unfolded it. It was hand-drawn in blue pen. “They hang out in there sometimes, because it’s cool. They get lost, and then they freak out if they hear you. Just like, stay alert. And while we’re in the minefield, follow in my footsteps exactly so that you don’t blow up. We’ll go slow.”

Joel sighed profoundly. He closed his eyes, gathered his courage, prayed to the good lord nothing would happen, knowing it was fruitless, but doing it anyway. “Alright then," he said.

2.

By noon, they had finished the trench. The sun was high, and they were both sweating and starving, ready for some respite. Joel watched Noah assemble the pipe bomb while leaning against a shovel in the shade of a lavish white oak. Noah had about him a sense of precision that suggested he had been doing this sort of thing from a very young age.

“Where the hell did y’all learn to do all this?” said Joel. His gray tee-shirt was almost soaked through with sweat. He was dirty and he could feel the sunburn on the back of his neck.

“My Uncle Nick,” he said. “The one who was in Iraq.”

“That what he did over there?” said Joel.

“Yeah,” said Noah. “It was basically his whole job to disarm these things. He also went to some African countries after his initial tours for demining operations.”

“Goddam. That’s some brave business.”

“Still took a zombie apocalypse and a church fire to kill him,” said Noah, digging out an impression in the dirt with his bare hands. “Fucking clown world.”

“You’re telling me,” said Joel. “You almost done?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m gonna go take a leak,” said Joel, looking around. “You good?”

Noah nodded, working carefully. “Just be careful.”

“I will,” said Joel.

After showing her how to sheer a sheep that morning, Cici showed Ellie all the different, easy parts you need to make a perfectly compact pipe bomb. “You can take it with you anywhere,” she said. “You can make them fancy, but they don’t need to be fancy. This gets the job done.”

They were out in the shed, which was more or less a workspace. It was all full of guns, assembled and in pieces, hanging on the wall, and in piles. There were axes, machetes, and two grindstones. There were shelves and shelves of different sized containers and wires, all colors and lengths, lining the walls. As Cici worked, Ellie sat on the tool bench, watching, rapt, by the good light coming through the window. “Where did you learn to do all this?” she said eventually.

“From my step-brother,” said Cici. “He was an EOD specialist in the Army.”    

“What’s that stand for?”

“Explosive Ordnance Disposal.”

"That’s insane,” said Ellie. “Back in Boston, we had some demolition training, but it was basically just like, how to make five different versions of a Molotov cocktail.”

“Those work pretty well, too,” said Cici.

“Later, I met this guy, Bill—he knows Joel—and he had basically trip-wired this entire little town where he lived. He showed Joel how to make nail bombs, too.”

“Nail bombs are not that much different than what we’re doing here,” said Cici. “Maybe a little cruder.”

“Seems a lot cruder.”

“So how do you like it?” said Cici. “Traveling with him? With Joel.”

“It’s okay,” said Ellie. She rested her chin on her knees. “He’s kind of...terse. Just sometimes though. He doesn’t talk much. When he does, I don't know. It’s okay. He seems a little stern, I know, but he's really not that bad.”

“He said you lost some people, back east. In Boston. And in Pittsburgh. I just—I wanted to say I’m sorry. That must have been really hard, and really scary.”

Ellie looked down at her Converse. One of them had come untied. “Yeah,” she said. “It’s not really...easy. I guess.”

“No, it isn’t.” Cici completed the pipe bomb, set it neatly on the workbench between them, like a cake. She didn’t press for details, on Boston, or Pittsburgh. “Voilà,” she said.

Ellie was oddly comforted. “That’s so freakin cool,” she said.

Back at the house, Cici got Ellie started on making a new loaf of bread. Meanwhile, she sliced up a fresh loaf from the pantry and set about making sandwiches.

“So, you go from making bombs to making sandwiches, huh?” said Ellie. She was standing at the counter kneading the dough. It was squishy, she thought. Weirdly satisfying.

“Pretty much,” said Cici. She had prepared four tall ham and cheese sandwiches, on sourdough. Simple fare. For the them, and for Joel and Noah. “Sometimes, we watch movies. Maybe we can watch one tonight.”

“This is my kind of living,” said Ellie.

They smiled at each other.

But then.

“What the fuck was that?” said Ellie.

They heard the mines going off, one by one, well into the distance. A rapid succession. Too many.

"Cici?"

“Shit."

"Was that the mines?" said Ellie. "Are they okay? What the fuck?"

In the trees, Joel zipped up and resituated himself. The thicket out there beyond the trench was quite beautiful. The nature sounds were almost deafening but in a way that suggested an earthly innocence. Joel was used to wearing a backpack, but with a home nearby, he didn’t really need one that day, so he felt light, despite the sweat and the physical exhaustion. Oddly enough, it had felt good to dig and to use his strength for something productive. Rather than killing, he was building for once. It had been a long time. He took the shotgun off his shoulder and checked the rounds. The sound it made was metal and ran in cacophony to the ongoing symphony of the trees.

He’d gone out maybe only ten yards or so, from Noah, who he could no longer hear but he could still see, through a crack in the foliage. He had made sure not to get beyond sight. Ready to head back, he put the gun strap back over his shoulder and took a step, breaking a twig beneath his boot, and the sound should have been innocuous, but instead, it seemed to trigger a familiar, inhuman noise nearby, and then that seemed to trigger another.

Joel swore under his breath, pumped the shotgun, and waited. He stood very still and listened to the cicadas clicking off in the trees in that ongoing rhythm, and out the corner of his eye he then saw something woman-shaped dart between a break in the foliage. If he truly parsed the noise of the thicket he could hear their heavy, frantic breathing. It was stalkers.

In slow silence he backed out of the thicket and made his way back to Noah at the trench. Noah was finishing up his wiring of the pipe bomb to the motion sensor and said something about how they were pretty much all set to go, whenever Joel was ready. Joel shushed him.

“Fuck,” said Noah, in a whisper. He picked up his shotgun off the earth. “What is it?”

“Stalkers,” said Joel. “I caught sight of one, but there’s more.”

"If we stay quiet, we can—”

But it was too late. They heard unsteady footsteps coming up the thicket. Raising their guns, they waited. A runner, looked to be a man, dressed in fishing gear stumbled out of the trees, bloodied up, shivering and afraid. Joel and Noah tried to stand perfectly still, but it saw them, and they were backed against the minefield, and it was no choice. Joel blew the thing’s jaw clean off. It dropped to the soil in silence, but the sound of the gun brought the stalkers out of the trees.

“Follow as close as you can,” said Noah.

“I will. Now go.”

It happened fast. As they navigated the mines, the sounds of the Infected in the woods rose up behind them in a maelstrom. There were way too many, maybe two dozen, must have been dormant in there, fucking lulled under the shade. When they got to the fence, Joel and Noah slipped back through the other side, turning around to watch a whole shitload, gnashing through the trees and descending upon the perimeter in total disorganization. Several fell into the trench, and the rest tripped the mines, plus the brand new pipe bomb, causing loud explosions that shrouded the whole field in a cloud of dust and smoke.

Joel and Noah hit the earth. It was so loud, Joel could feel the ringing in his ears vibrating in his teeth, and when, as he caught his bearings, he finally looked up, realizing it wasn’t over, Noah was dragging him to his feet, shouting something incomprehensible. Then, GET BACK. Scrambling into the tall grass, Joel watched as Noah lit up the canister of gasoline with a couple rags and chucked it as far and hard as he could past the barbed wire spools over the fence. When it landed, it blew to high heaven and in its wake, the sounds of all the Infected leftover from the mines turned to chaotic agony. There were birds dismounting from the trees in all directions, squawking. Then, a deadly quiet.

“Fucking shit,” said Noah, stumbling backward. He fell to his hands and knees, coughing from the dust.

As the ringing died down in his ears and in his molars, the afternoon seemed to crack wide open. Joel was on his back, staring up at the clear blue sky. “You okay?” he said.

Noah was heaving now, out of breath, covered in the detritus from head to toe. He walked over, held out his hand, hauled Joel back to his feet. “Yeah,” he said. “You?”

“I’m okay,” said Joel. He dusted himself off, still coughing and waving his way through the dust. He tripped forward to the fence and pressed into it, trying to make anything out at at all in the minefield. He could see some of the blistering bodies, smell the explosive energy, the roasting, human carnage. It was horrific. Then, he saw the trench. “Goddammit,” he said. “The whole thing is pulled up again.

Noah was keeled over, squinting out at the trees. “This place is fucked,” he said, more to himself than anything. “Lets get the fuck out of here.”

Cici took the walkie out of her back pocket. She shouted into it for a while, but nobody answered. She then rushed them out of the house.

"Where are we going?" said Ellie.

"Crow’s nest.”

Up the ladder, Ellie felt like she was just blowing in the wind, no direction. But Cici had kicked into some sort of military high gear. She was holding a sniper rifle, which Ellie did not remember seeing her grab. She then handed Ellie a loaded rifle of her own, which had been hanging on a hook by the door. It felt heavy and wooden, but Ellie understood it. Cici asked if Ellie knew what to do.

“Yeah,” said Ellie, shaken. “Joel showed me. In Pittsburgh."

She then handed Ellie a pair of binoculars, told her to watch the horizon, westerly. Ellie did as she was told.

The sun was hot. There were no clouds. The sky was big and blue, as a gem. She spotted a few plumes of smoke at the perimeter, but she didn't see Noah or Joel. If she couldn't see Joel, she didn’t know what she was supposed to be looking for. All those explosions had sent her into an adrenaline-baked sort of panic, so that when Cici finally got Noah on the walkie, Ellie was so fucking relieved, she let go of the binoculars so that they thudded to the floor. She felt stupid, picked them up immediately, but then closed her eyes and felt an unexpected flood, again. Like she wanted to go home. Whatever that meant. But it was really powerful. She thought she might puke. She held it inside. “Holy shit,” she said.

“We’re okay,” said Noah over the walkie. “Infected ambushed us at the trench. But it’s done. Over.”

“Thank fucking god,” said Cici. “Me and Ellie got the scope on your location, just in case. Over.”

“Thanks,” said Noah. “I’m pretty sure they’re all fried. But they took the trench with them, and a bunch of the mines. We had to light up the rest with gasoline. The whole section is fucked up, even worse than before. Over.”

“Jesus Christ,” said Cici, hanging her head. “Okay. You boys just get back here. Over.”

“Okay."

Over.

Ellie watched then as Cici set down the walkie and leaned, slowly, against the rifle, almost struggling to keep her balance. She had her eyes pressed shut, as if praying. Her blond hair was braided over her shoulder, but the plaits were all loose now. “Fuck,” she said, in a whisper.

"They're okay," said Ellie.

But Cici was talking to herself then. Not in a crazy way, just a stressed way, almost like she had forgotten that Ellie was in the room. “I can’t do this anymore,” she was saying.

"That’s my fucking brother," he said.

She was not okay, in the radio tower.

"Screw it."

Ellie went over to Cici and placed her hand on Cici’s shoulder. She didn’t want to be standing there alone anymore, and the smell of the smoke was starting to waft in with the breeze.

#the last of us #tlou #the last of us part 2 #tlou2 #tlou fanfic #ellie tlou #joel tlou #as you were #cw: #violence #new banner!! #pirated that font good and plenty #<3

[mewtonian-physics]

i forgot to respond earlier but YES if you feel up to ranking the cases you should! :D

i absolutely feel up to it! okay, let’s go! below, my rankings for all of the ace attorney cases i’ve played so far... please note that these are all subjective opinions and you may highly disagree, but this is how i feel :) please also note that this will contain me crushing hard on a couple of characters but i promise not to get over the top about it.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

The First Turnabout -- 2/10 I literally do not care about this one like, at all. I do like having Mia around, hence why it has 2 points instead of 0. But also it’s a Larry case and I really do not like Larry. Plus... everything else. I just don’t like it. (And Phoenix having passed the bar exam but not knowing what a cross-examination is, even if it’s just for tutorial purposes, drives me up the wall.)

Turnabout Sisters -- 6/10 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA [sobs] This case hurts me. It hurts. Both because of the painful loss of sibling rights and because April May exists. Very different types of hurting, but all the same... She’s one of the reasons why this case gets points taken off of it. Another reason is that I’m just not huge on how it progresses; I’m never a fan of when Mia has to come in and be like ‘this is what you need to do!’ I like figuring it out myself, y’know? But also, heyyyyy, introduction to some characters that are very dear to my heart! Edgeworth time! Fantastic!

Turnabout Samurai -- 5/10 I like Will Powers a lot, and I would kill for Cody, and Penny makes me happy because she has the same name as me, and Dee Vasquez... Wow. Wow. She’s really something. But the plot is kind of boring and goes on for too long, Wendy Oldbag makes me want to defenestrate myself (especially when she talks to Edgeworth) and Sal Manella fills me with a murderous rage. So this case only gets a 5/10. It would probably get lower, except I really love Edgeworth realizing what’s going on and starting to help out, and the scene at the end... well. Well. I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate.

Turnabout Goodbyes -- 10/10 Excellent case. Perfect case. Could not think more highly of it. Yes my lifespan is decreased whenever I see Manfred von Karma but it’s okay. I love defending Edgeworth and I love the backstory even though I also hate it, and I love the actual realistic depictions of trauma, and I love cross-examining the parrot, and I love love LOVE the ending, of course, because getting justice has never felt so goddamn satisfying before. Yeah, I think this case is just my absolute favorite (so far).

Rise from the Ashes -- 9/10 This case hurts me deeply for a thousand different reasons. The sibling rights... The REMOVAL of sibling rights... (I cried. I actually cried.) Edgeworth suffering... It’s all so painful but it’s so well-written that it’s okay. Point taken off because the whole rotating evidence thing kind of annoyed me. ‘But isn’t that also a mechanic in the Investigations series?’ Yeah, but it’s okay when Investigations does it. Don’t ask me to elaborate.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All

The Lost Turnabout -- 3/10 This case only gets points for Maggey, and also Wellington’s cool ringtone. Oh, and the line about bananas. You know the one. Otherwise, it’s just kind of boring, though I do appreciate that they actually came up with an excuse as to why Phoenix suddenly needs everything explained to him again. Even if that excuse is a bit silly.

Reunion, and Turnabout -- 7/10 It’s not a favorite by any means, but this one is pretty good. Pearl is just baby. The whole Miney sisters thing is deeply upsetting to me, but in a way that’s kind of good. The Hotti Clinic makes me really fucking angry and creeped out, so points taken off for that. Also, Franziska has arrived, and oh boy am I glad to see her!

Turnabout Big Top -- -10000000000000000/10 NO NO NO NO NO. FUCK THIS CASE. I HATE IT SO FUCKING MUCH. I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS ONE. The only good thing in it is how Franziska talks about Miles, because sibling rights are real. But the rest of it? The rest of it can burn.

Farewell, My Turnabout -- 9/10 This is a really good case! I LOVE the twist, I didn’t expect it at all, and it was so cool. I also really like Adrian. Shelly de Killer is pretty cool too. And of course, Edgeworth is back! Hallelujah! Franziska getting shot though... :( And having to go to that damn clinic... :((( Oh and also I love Shoe with every fiber of my being.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

Turnabout Memories -- 7/10 Ah, another flashback case, and one that doesn’t absolutely destroy me emotionally! Mia is here! Phoenix Wright as a sick college student with no common sense is here! Dahlia Hawthorne is here! It’s quite a collection of interesting individuals, and on top of that, it’s just a cool case! Even if lovestruck Phoenix makes me feel like hitting someone... Sort of like what it does to Mia... 

The Stolen Turnabout -- 6/10 The case itself isn’t that good, to be honest. But I would kill for Ron and Desiree DeLite. They’re so sweet, and Ron is so funny... On the other hand, though, Luke Atmey can go Zvarri himself. I hated him from the very moment he first appeared. What an annoying, fraudulent ass. Also, Godot was there, and I didn’t like him, either, even though I hadn’t yet seen quite just how bad he can get. It was really nice to see Adrian living her best life, though!

Recipe for Turnabout -- 2/10 I really didn’t like this one... I don’t want to talk about it... I did like Lisa Basil though. Too bad she wasn’t much of a character. Oh, and Viola too. And seeing Maggey again was nice. But those were the only good points in an otherwise horrible case.

Turnabout Beginnings -- 7/10 The case is pretty high quality, but it tormented me. Seeing Edgeworth in that coat... with those sprites, just like von Karma’s... And that one line... I hated every minute of it. It hurt. The only way it could’ve been worse was if von Karma himself had been there, but that gets saved for Investigations. Mia being there again was fun, though. And Dahlia... Wow. Lots going on there. That ending was... a lot. Terry was a creep and I didn’t like him, but watching that... Yeah. Yeah. And Diego did not endear himself to me in the slightest.

Bridge to the Turnabout -- 8/10 Too much Godot. Otherwise, this was a really great case. Playing as Edgeworth was so much fun, and Franziska being there too was incredible, and the whole thing tying up all the loose ends was just... so cool. Admittedly, the case itself made me very sad, but... it was so good. So good. I wanted to kill Godot partway through, though. No one talks to Franziska that way. No one. Plus, his whole stupid attitude about Mia... Yeah, I hated his guts, that’s for sure. It also had the scene that I hate (Phoenix needs to fucking learn what PTSD is or I swear to god) but otherwise, very good case.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Turnabout Visitor -- 5/10 HELLOOOOOO I was so excited to finally play these games that the whole case is a bit of a blur, but I do remember not really finding it that interesting outside of the whole rush of ‘FUCK YEAH I’M PLAYING INVESTIGATIONS’. Jacques annoyed me. But it’s Investigations. Investigations is cool.

Turnabout Airlines -- 7/10 Okay, first of all, Edgeworth hiding Steel Samurai stuff in a law book is genuinely just the funniest thing ever. But this case was pretty fun! I love that Franziska’s working with Interpol now, good for her! The characters were pretty cool (I really liked Cammy) and I thought a lot of it was pretty funny, too.

The Kidnapped Turnabout -- 6/10 The only reason this gets 6 points is because it introduced Kay Faraday, who is my chaos child that I love dearly, and also Shi-Long Lang, who I have a very complicated relationship with. It switches from love to hate frequently. It also introduced their totally epic theme songs, one of which is now my morning alarm. Otherwise, I really don’t like it that much. The case goes on for too long, and a lot of the characters are pretty annoying. I really hate Lance. I feel bad for Lauren, though. Ernest... Ugh. Ugh. The man makes me want to break things. Every time he mentions von Karma, he inevitably says something that makes my blood boil. And it brings back Wendy Oldbag, which is always bad news, and she was so fucking creepy, and... yeah. I enjoyed seeing Ema again, though! She seemed to be living her best life :)

Turnabout Reminiscence -- 9/10 This case had too much von Karma in it, and the fact that he went and called Edgeworth worthless right to his face made me so angry and upset... But! It is still a very good case! I really like Detective Badd, and Calisto... Calisto is very pretty and fun, but... yeah. Also! Baby Kay! Baby Kay is everything! And the sibling rights, they were everywhere! The case was just full of them! I love Miles and Franziska bickering like regular siblings. I love the scene with the Swiss rolls. I love Franziska getting between him and her dad. Sibling rights are so real.

Turnabout Ablaze -- 6/10 This case was pretty eventful. Not a favorite by any means, but still good. I thought it was a little too long, though, and the ending just really felt like it was dragging out too much. It got to the point that I wasn’t even fired up anymore, I was just kind of trying to get it all over with. Also, whether he meant it or not, Lang accusing Franziska of murder made me mad. But some of the twists were cool, even if I figured out most of them ahead of time... Also, Edgeworth getting really mad about Larry playing the Steel Samurai was hilarious, in a mean way. I felt a little bit bad for laughing.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth: Prosecutor’s Path

Turnabout Target -- 4/10 This one was kinda boring, to be honest. I liked seeing Shelly de Killer again, though, with his matching ice cream cone. And I liked Nicole. (I bet I know who her first mentor was...)

The Imprisoned Turnabout -- 5/10 This one also kinda bored me, unfortunately. Raymond ticked me off from basically the moment he walked onscreen, because sure, let’s blame Edgeworth for [checks notes] ah yes, being manipulated by Manfred von Karma since he was nine. Let’s do that. Nothing wrong with that at all. /dripping sarcasm Sebastian also ticked me off at first, but I’m warming up to him. Also, I was in love at first sight with Justine Courtney. [heart eyes] I am not embarrassed in the slightest to admit to it. She is amazing. Simon is really funny and I think it would’ve been hilarious if he was actually evil, but he was innocent, so... My blood ran cold when I found out the Berry Big Circus was involved, but thank god, it was only Regina. No Franziska yet. I’m really hoping Franziska will show up.

The Inherited Turnabout -- 8/10 I haven’t finished this one yet, but so far, I’ve been enjoying it, even if it torments me with sadness and anger. Once again, von Karma shortens my lifespan, but Gregory Edgeworth lengthens it. (I think it’s really funny that they got ProZD to voice him.) Raymond... I still don’t like Raymond. Though his eating the paper is funny. Also! Also! Katherine Hall! This game introduced two women in a row that I have absolutely fallen for, and I have zero complaints about this. They are incredible. Sebastian is really funny in this one and like I said I am really warming up to him. Yeah. That’s all I really have to say so far. Still no sign of Franziska...

I’m definitely excited to see where the other cases in this game will take me, and after that it will be time for Apollo Justice! I am looking forward to finally meeting the famous Klavier Gavin... But I am not at all looking forward to meeting Kristoph... Oh, well. I’ll live. Probably.

Thank you for reading all of this, haha! I have a lot of thoughts... Many thoughts head full (of Ace Attorney).

#ask #anon #kris don't look #character hate #Anonymous

[prettywordsyouleft]

The Spirit(s) of Christmas - Part 4

Summary: It was your first Christmas at the Seaside Manor since you had inherited it. Whilst you were ready for some Christmas spirit, the ghosts haunting it weren’t as willing to celebrate.

Pairing: reader x Day6 (ft. previous OCs)

World: Spiritual Connection (masterlist HERE)

Genre: ghost au / romance / fluff / minor angst

Warnings: tissues may be needed for this part

A/N: Welcome back to the Seaside Manor! I knew we couldn’t just leave the ghosts to celebrate by themselves - which apparently, they aren’t so keen to do anyway! So we had to return and see if we could bring in some festive cheer!

This story is part of a previously written world. It may make some sense, but to understand all the characters, I highly recommend reading all the previous parts and spinoffs in the masterlist first before reading this series! They can be found in the link above.

The Spirit(s) of Christmas will be shared daily at 10am from 2 December NZST.

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

The mood around the manor had definitely turned festive. There was a countdown for the upcoming wedding in place and when you weren’t making sure your last guests for the year were comfortable and enjoying their stay, you were darting back and forth from meetings with Becky and Sarah. Although she was still stunned, when Sarah learned of Jae’s and Becky’s upcoming nuptials, she had insisted on making the perfect wedding cake.

It couldn’t be going any better.

Well, there was just one person left who wasn’t as festive as the rest. You found Sungjin reading a book in the living room the Sunday before Christmas, his eyes lifting to the barely decorated tree when you sat down beside him. “Do you even plan on hanging anything more than tinsel on this tree?”

“Of course.”

“Y/N, it’s three days until Christmas, shouldn’t you have done it by now?”

You nodded, laughing a little. “You still nag me so well, Dad.”

Sungjin didn’t respond, though you noticed the way he glanced away, swallowing down the lump that had formed in his throat. Choosing it as a perfect time to shift closer, you buried yourself into him. It wasn’t really something you had done much since returning as an adult but you could remember doing this almost daily whenever you stayed as a child. You couldn’t help but tear up when you felt his protective hug envelope you just as he did when you were little.

Sungjin chuckled hoarsely. “You’re not as small as you once were. You used to fit in my arms completely.”

“Still feels good to me.”

“Same.”

“I miss her so much,” you mumbled into the embrace and he held you more tightly. “I wish she was here.”

“I’m sure your Grandmother is watching over us all from somewhere nearby, knowing her.”

“She should visit then,” you grumbled, lifting your head up from his chest and instantly feeling his thumbs wipe away your tear stains. Sungjin then nodded in agreement, looking around the room.

“It would be nice if she could see how well this place looks. You’ve done a good job this year.”

“You all helped me, don’t forget. If it weren’t for you, I’d not have the courage to be out here running this business. I would have just sold up and moved on probably.”

“Your Grandmother would’ve hated that,” Sungjin teased, his smile soon losing its humour. He brushed your hair away from your face instead. “I’m glad you stayed.”

“Is it weird that I’m so much older now and yet you’re still like a parental figure to me?”

Sungjin shook his head. “I’m dead and way older than you; I’m still your Dad as far as I’m concerned.”

“I knew you heard us that time! When I was telling Grandma how I felt. It was you who made the bang, I saw you.”

“Did your Grandmother ever tell you about how she loved you like the child she didn’t get to have too? Your mother is so much like her father that Pearl could never quite relate to her like she did you.”

“So I’m your love child?” you offered and Sungjin blushed. “Whatever our relationship is, we still have so much to talk about. I feel like I never just sit and hear the stories of you and Pearl.”

“Should you call her that?” he warned lightly and you grinned.

“Can I tell you something first?” Sungjin nodded and you produced the box you had come in with. “I never hung up a single ornament on the tree until she arrived at my house. That’s why I haven’t been able to do it this year because I know there’s no way she can.”

You opened the box, showcasing some of your favourite ornaments, the ones that your grandmother had cherished. With tears falling, you smiled up at Sungjin. “Can you hang them with me?”

After placing on the ornaments together, Sungjin had led you into your grandmother’s room which had been left the way she had last done so. You had actually transformed two of the downstairs rooms into bedrooms, the once six-bedroom manor now boasting eight rooms, allowing Sarah to have her own space and your grandmother’s to remain as a place you could step into whenever you missed her. You were already heightened enough from hanging decorations with Sungjin that being in here felt like a home you hadn’t visited in so long. You reached for your favourite handmade cushion from her bed, hugging it to yourself.

“I want to show you something.”

“Oh?”

“There was a time where your Grandmother insisted that she married me. Of course, in what realm would that hold up? Still, she was certain that day would come for us and so, she made something for it.”

Sungjin pressed on the wall panel that you knew as a hiding place, stepping inside only for a moment before he retrieved something from within. Returning, he held out a garment bag whilst smiling. “I almost forgot about this dress until you suggested Becky and Jae get married. Now, it’s not much. I for one think it’s gorgeous but that’s because Pearl made it.”

Unzipping the bag, you retrieved the ivory dress from the inside, gasping when you saw it. It was a simple dress and yet you loved everything about it. You could see her craftsmanship within every stitch you admired. Glancing up at Sungjin, you gave him a watery smile. “Did she ever wear it in front of you?”

“Isn’t that bad luck?” Sungjin asked, shaking his head softly before smirking. “I may or may not have taken a peek during her final fitting.”

“I wish I could wear this one day,” you murmured, running your hands across the fabric fondly. “She would have been a beautiful bride at your side.”

“So will you, one day.”

“I’m not going to get married,” you answered pointedly, though your heart fluttered at the idea of Brian in a suit at your side. It was unrealistic, even if you would want nothing more than to marry the person you loved most.

You knew you could love Brian wholeheartedly without announcing any I do. You had already said that when you stepped into this relationship with him.

“But we both know someone who is,” Sungjin mentioned, ushering you towards the door. You grinned before darting down the hallway to the study. Barging through the door, you cringed when Becky yelped.

“Oh, I’m useless at sewing! No matter how much I try, this gown isn’t working out.”

Grinning, you held up the special dress. “I might have something to help you out.”

Monday went by in a blur, fare-welling your final guests before going over remaining wedding touches with Becky and Jae. Brian had been assisting Jae and all his needs whilst you focused on trying different hairstyles and makeup with Becky and Sarah. Admittedly, you were enjoying both their company greatly. You never felt overwhelmed with being the only female living here for some time but you hadn’t exactly made a lot of friends you could just hang out with either.

Now with Sarah in the knowledge of the afterlife, and along with Becky, you were more than content.

However, your relaxed nature of the day before was gone when you got up early on Christmas Eve and with but a mere kiss for the still sleeping man in your bed, you dashed to the bathroom where you could hear pre-wedding jitters going on.

“This is crazy,” Becky breathed as Sarah curled her hair. “I’m getting married.”

“Yes you are!”

“After nearly one hundred and fifty years of being apart.”

“Love can last more than a lifetime,” Sarah breathed dreamily and you smirked at her dazed smile.

“Do you think that this is silly at all?” Becky asked a moment later and both you and Sarah shook your heads. “No?”

“What’s silly about telling the man you love that you want to be his bride forever?” Sarah wondered and you reached out to hold Becky’s shaking hand.

“Jae is going to freak out when he sees you.”

“Not if I don’t first!” she admitted with a giggle.

Two hours later, everything was almost ready for your Christmas wedding. The manor looked the part, both a winter wonderland and ceremony ready. Wonpil had scattered petals on a pathway up to the makeshift archway Brian and Dowoon had built. Sungjin was setting out a small number of chairs and Jae appeared to be the epitome of an anxious groom.

“What if I forget what I want to say? I mean, I’m good with my words, right? It’s how I got here in the first place. I never shut up when it came to B! We dated and we fell more in love and I still did the most of the talking and that was okay. But what if I can’t talk today?!”

“You got this, bro!” Dowoon enthused and Wonpil nodded as he fixed the bouquet a final time.

“Even if you can’t talk, I’m sure Becky will, which will be a nice change from when she couldn’t,” Sungjin offered.

“You’ll be fine. Just don’t cry too much because then your eyes will grow smaller and-”

“Brian,” you called out to the man who was teasingly working up his best friend. He turned, his mouth falling ajar at seeing you there. You had changed into a mint green dress you and Sarah had picked up for the special occasion, and you had to admit that seeing all the hard work everyone had put into this ceremony and of your bridal look as well had your stomach full of flutters.

Until you realised there was one role for this wedding missing.

“Hey um, it looks really great in here and I know you’re ready to get on with this but who’s going to run the show?”

“What do you mean?” Jae asked, his eyes widening behind his glasses.

“Well, at most weddings, there’s usually a celebrant or pastor or someone. Did any of you figure that out yet, like I asked you to?” Watching the five men look sheepishly at each other, you groaned in realisation. “Guys!”

“Well, I thought we had sorted it,” Brian mentioned, scrunching his nose up a little as he thought. “Did we not decide on someone?”

“I was on flowers,” Wonpil announced, handing you the bouquet you needed for Becky.

Dowoon pointed to the archway. “I helped Brian build this.”

“And I can’t do it myself,” Jae said, looking around at his friends. “Could you imagine that?! That’s more words.”

“Well, I thought Brian was doing it.”

“Does it matter who? Just choose someone and do it now!” you hissed, pointing to the clock. “We wanted to start at ten!”

“How about if I do it?”

All of you turned around, completely shocked by who had turned up for the Christmas wedding.

_________________

Part 5

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#pwyl; the spirits of christmas #kwritersworldnet #pwyl; spiritual connection #pwyl; christmas #day6 #day6 imagines #day6 scenarios #day6 fiction #day6 fanfic #day6 fluff #day6 au #park sungjin #sungjin imagines #sungjin scenarios #sungjin fiction #sungjin fanfic #sungjin fluff #sungjin au #jae fiction #young k fiction #wonpil fiction #dowoon fiction #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop fiction #kpop fanfic #kpop fluff #kpop christmas

[all-things-are-nothing-to-me]

Degenerations – Between Pride and Gender Victimhood

I am an anarchist, I am not a feminist because I see feminism as a sectarian and victimist withdrawal, I have never made any gender discrimination although I don’t use gender-friendly linguistic conventions, on the contrary I often use dirty politically incorrect language. I think that the annulment of gender privilege and similar oppression is already contained in the search for anarchy, that is to say in the practice of anti-authoritarian relations, and should be cultivated there. Ah, I forgot, I loathe consciousness-raising in public meetings and I also consider assemblies to be blunt instruments. I understand and also have the will to meet. But I see how all too often the assembly degenerates into sterile self-representation.

You see nowadays you risk having to start off with such a preamble in order to enter the thicket of clichés on gender and feminism, disentangling yourself in the intricate incapacity to relate to the anarchist galaxy, with a range of behaviors going from hyper-emotiveness to the bureaucratic calculation of what stand (and degree of negotiable compromise) to take in a struggle. I don’t think that authoritarian and sexist behavior can be fought by trying to spread new linguistic conventions or by cooking up shreds of mainstream indignant rhetoric (among which #nonunadimeno [enough is enough], the femicide count on TV, pride, red shoes and rainbow ribbons) in an alternative sauce.

Rather these should be recognized as signs of yet another operation of the deconstruction of real meaning and recuperation in act. Convinced that one is opposing them, in actual fact one is adapting to the very behavioral and normative codes conceded by dominion as ways of releasing tension.

It’s nothing new that economic and political power is tending to swallow up and re-digest everything, faster and faster; consider for example the pearls of anti-sexist, anti-racist or whatever it might be neo-conservatism and conformism that are being dispensed by the media every day.

I believe that the first misunderstanding is the inability to put certain kinds of behavior into context, within what should be a wider critique of relations and communication and interaction between individuals in the anti-authoritarian sense, reducing them to the level of questions of gender.

Gender categorization, in LGBTI (XYZ…) style, should be left to those who need to feel themselves a protected category, in pigeonholes more suited to a Linnaean categorization of individuals than free bodies and minds. Instead, we find such pigeonholes in anti-authoritarian milieus, which should already have internalized their refusal.

By the way I’m far from believing that so-called liberated spaces really are such, in fact they often become parking lots for various forms of malaise and instead of enhancing the quality of life and relationships they risk lowering it even more.

For example it’s not possible to see every inability to interact in a meeting as sexism, authoritarian imposition or gender violence: I read in a pamphlet [1] that was around last year stigmatizing the latent violence in relations between comrades ‘the oldest exercises power over the youngest, those with more experience impose themselves on those who have less, whoever is stronger on the not so strong, mirroring the relations of the existent we say we want subvert.’

This is supposed to be a critique of authoritarian attitudes in anti-authoritarian milieus and it would be valid, were it not that it banalises and flattens everything: there is a fundamental difference between imposition of strength and the expression of experience. The inability to express oneself or to act is neither authoritarian nor anti-authoritarian, and can only be solved individually… otherwise we come to the idiocy of praising inability and inaction.

The concept of emotive violence or the violation of emotional integrity is even more ephemeral, because it promotes this analytical junk among anti-authoritarian individuals who should have far sharper critical weapons and practical capacity of intervention. As well as emptying of meaning the inflicted and brutal violence it is being compared to.

How can we claim to engage in an unrelenting struggle against authority and dissertate on revolutionary and liberatory violence if we cannot even react individually to some ‘undesired comment in the street’ (by taking it for what it is, and dealing with it accordingly with the person who spat it out) or keep up an animated discussion during a meeting without having recourse to the shield of violated sensitivity? Why do we find ourselves reading the disarming and obvious idiocy that advises making love with a woman in order to avoid an unwanted abortion?  [2] Why codify, even in the field of gender, only for “female gangs”, like conquest, self-defence from aggression and harassment? Isn’t this a problem common to all genders among liberated beings?

Why should we revisit the most outworn products in the wardrobe of 1970s feminism, such as separatist meetings… maybe calling them workshops (a really ugly term that combines work and shop, borrowed from business conventions and unworthy of free discussions)?

I read the spectre of the same reductive and banalising mechanism in another recent publication, the Italian edition of the Rote Zora claims [3], i.e. the intention to sensitize only a female audience about a group of women who carried out armed struggle in the 1980s and 90s in Germany, insisting on the choice of gender, of very great interest on some feminist topics, as a privileged discriminating factor for taking them out of oblivion… given that one doesn’t want it ‘to belong to official history. It is written by men’ [4]… What?!? Is it not that official historiography tends to not talk about them because they were angry, not angry feminists? Just as it doesn’t deal with – or distorts – the history, actions and writings of so many other angry men and women? The partial vision is not that of Rote Zora who experimented their own path of individual and collective struggle and liberation in the context of wider anti-imperialist and anti-capitalistic action, but of those who try to make a flag out of it in order to give more credibility and specific weight to their own theorizing, to then reduce themselves to looking for ‘paths of self-defence’.

Why entrench oneself in a ‘feminist and lesbian’ discourse [5]? Why yet another protective cage, rather than develop the beauty and infinity of more advanced ideas of the critique of domination (not only gender), put forward and tested?

‘Sisterhood’ has always seemed to me to be a form of allusive alienation of transversal political alliances between oppressed and oppressors, between ‘inter-classist’ as it has become fashionable to say again… adverse parties. I also happened to see a booklet [6] recently containing an Italian feminist’s interviews of some female veterans of the Spanish revolution in 1936, aimed at finding a questionable ‘sisterhood’ between women anarchists engaged on the front line (and in the background with Mujeres Libres), the POUM and Stalinist women.

It was quite significant that almost centenarian anarchist revolutionary women were far more lucid and open in their critique about the limitations of feminism than their interviewer imbued with 1970s’ clichés was: in the extreme calm of a life lived to the full, they were able to explain simply the equal relations between male and female comrades, and how they managed to ridicule and neutralize the machismos that emerged among the most retrograde and stupid of their comrades. In short the practices and theoretical contribution of these women are far more advanced along the path of liberation of the individual and the negation of authoritarian dynamics than those of feminists who glean from their experiences, defending simulacra of struggle instead of the struggle itself. The need for auto-da-fé, the ‘deconstruction of one’s male privileges’, the search for separate places for discussions, self-awareness and self-analysis in public seem a little too much like signs of these times of over-exposition and woolly thinking, parading ‘struggles’ by category and interior struggles, to end up not struggling at all.

Anna,

Women’s prison of Rebibbia, Italy

October 2018

[1] Violenza di genere in ambienti antiautoritari ed in spazi liberati [Gender violence in antiauthoritarian milieus and in liberated spaces], Italian edition translated from Spanish in 2017[2] Critica all’aborto [Critique of abortion], Jauria – Trans-feminist publication for animal liberation, issue 1, Summer/Autumn 2015[3] Rote Zora – guerriglia urbana femminista [Rote Zora – Feminist urban guerrilla], Autoproduzione Femminista, 2018[4] From the introduction to the same book[5] Which the Rote Zora women themselves didn’t think relevant. From a 1984 interview with Rote Zora: ‘Some of us have children, many others don’t. Some are lesbian, others love men’, page 51, ibidem[6] Donne contro [Women against], Isabella Lorusso, ed. CSA editrice, 2013

#Anna Beniamino #Féminas Brujas and Insurrectionalists #insurrectionary anarchism #post feminism #post feminist anarchy #queer nihilism #anarchism #communism #anarcho communism #feminism

[mellowfilmmaker]

Steven Universe “Change Your Mind” Review

A few days ago “Change Your Mind”, the big Season 5 finale of Steven Universe came out. My thoughts on the episode can be neatly summed up by Tyra Banks in this following gif. 

 Yeah, my followers might already know this, but I’m not that big of a fan of the episode. Not only did I think it was bad, but it pretty much deflated my interest in the series. A commenter on one my posts compared it to someone deflating a balloon, but I personally see it more as someone slowly deflating the air out of all of your tires of your car. 

Let’s talk about the first major issue with this episode. The redemption of the diamonds was way too easy. All it took was a short speech from The Great Prophet Steven for Blue and Yellow Diamond to completely change their tunes. I’ll admit that I wasn’t a supporter of the idea of them redeeming the Diamonds, but I might have been ok with it if it was decently executed. I personally believe that having the redemption come off as rushed as it was is probably the worst mistake they could’ve made in their redemption. People usually don’t just completely change if you just talk to them. At least not abusers and facists which the diamonds are meant to represent. In real life, anything you have to say to a facist in order to change them, they’ve probably heard a 1,000 times before. Try to tell Donald Trump that he’s really hurting migrant children, and he’ll probably just blame the Democrats or get angry at you or ignore you. Hell a person doesn't even have to be abusive in order to not listen. It’s human nature to sometimes push back against changes that someone else is pushing on them. I forgot what it was called, but I read about that in a book about depression. That makes sense, if you want to change you want to feel like you’re doing it for you and you’re not being controlled by someone else. I’m just saying that the diamonds changing way too quickly is unrealistic, insulting, and I think potentially dangerous.

Now let’s go ahead and kill the most common and awful defense of this kind of bullshit. “It’s a kid show!” Ok let’s pretend that isn't an awful argument. Let’s pretend that kid shows are just immune from criticism. That argument doesn’t apply to Steven Universe. If this was a TV-Y show called The Adventures of Pretty Pink Princess & the Power of Love where the protagonist defeats the villain Mr. Meanie by hugging him and being his friend, then I could give this a pass. Steven Universe however is rated TV-PG (the same rating as Downton Abbey, The Office, The Good Place, and many other shows that aren’t called Kid shows) and tries to tackle real world topics. Just look at the dialogue between Steven and Blue Diamond. The dialogue is clearly meant to mirror dialogue spoken by an LGBT youth (specifically trans) and their bigoted parent. If you’re going to bring real world topics into your show, then you will be called out if you portray them badly. This episode actually made me realize that Steven Universe is actually kind of a confused show. It both wants to a fantasy show that takes place in its own little world detached from the baggage of our reality and it wants to also tackle real world topics. Maybe a writer can pull that off, but SU sure as hell can’t. 

Now here’s my other major problem with this episode, there’s so much shit being thrown in this episode. Here’s the major stuff shown in this episode: Blue Diamond redeemed, Yellow Diamond redeemed, Lapis new outfit, Peridot new outfit, Garnet new outfit, Amethyst new outfit, Pearl new outfit, Rainbow Quartz 2.0 revealed, Sunstone revealed, Obsidian revealed, Steven’s gems get popped, Steven accepts himself, White Diamond redeemed, Pink Pearl gets her memories back, Lars comes back with the off colors, Lars and Sadie reconcile, the corrupted gems are healed, Jasper and Amethyst reconcile, end. That’s too much stuff. The problem with having so much stuff in this episode is that many of these moments lose their impact because they don’t have time to breathe or be given much attention. Smoky Quartz’s reveal had way more impact than both Rainbow Quartz’s and Sunstone’s reveal, because there was an episode dedicated to it. This special somehow made the reveal of the temple fusion A.K.A. Obsidian seem mundane. This is impressive since the Temple Fusion has been silently built up since the pilot. The reveal of Obsidian should have felt a lot bigger than it did. The gravity of the moment was partly diminished by the fact that the episode revealed two fusions right before her. Then they had the healing of the corrupted gems. It should have felt like one of the biggest moments of the show, but it was instead played in the background while a reprisal of the theme song was playing, greatly diminishing its impact. This episode just was filled with moments that were disappointing in its execution. It was a carousal of disappointment. 

The other problem with all of these events losing their impact in this episode is that many of these events could’ve gotten their own episode and have been better for it. Revealing Obsidian in this episode makes sense, but Rainbow Quartz and Sunstone could’ve been revealed sometime during season 4 or 5. Think of all the awful filler episodes we got in those seasons that could have easily been cut out in favor of an episode about Rainbow Quartz or Sunstone or Lars coming home. Hell, Jasper being healed could have been a really interesting arc. This episode really is like a college student procrastinating till the last minute to doing their homework. 

Now those were my two biggest problems with the episode, but there were a lot of other smaller problems too. A lot of the dialogue in the episode was pretty bad. It was clunky at times and there were many times characters explained the obvious. Everyone just seems to know exactly what to do with little to no explanation. Peridot is only slightly better in this episode than she was in Reunited. The designs of Rainbow Quartz and Sunstone were fine, but their personalities were way too gimmicky. They screamed “Not going to receive further character development”. The episode earns my personal ire that the reconciliation of Jasper and Amethyst, the epilogue to one of my favorite arcs of the show, is shown in a musical montage where we don’t even hear what they say. Meanwhile, we do get to see and hear Lars and Sadie reconcile, something that immediately earns my apathy. It’s the most out of touch moment in SU since the ending of Your Mother and Mine. 

Now is there stuff I like about this episode, well yes. The scene where Steven connects to his Pink Diamond half was really well animated and emotionally satisfying. I also really liked the ending. It was nice and atmospheric. I just wish those moments got a better episode. 

Overall this episode is pretty bad. I do eventually want to make a list of my least favorite episodes of Steven Universe ( also might make a favorite episode list), and this is destined for the top ( or bottom) three. This is not only bad, but it might be show killing bad. I lost most of my excitement for the show because of this episode. Like for the first time in a long time I’m happy for the show to go on hiatus. That Steven Universe movie better be damn good. It better set up some interesting new arcs and be completely satisfying. I overall give this an “Awful, Don’t Watch It” on my recommendation meter. 

Maybe that’s a bit too harsh, but I’ve had the habit of going too easy on this show (like in hindsight, Familiar should’ve gotten a lower rating from me). Also just based on the impact the episode had on me personally, I cannot rate it any higher. There’s definitely worse stuff out there, but as far as SU is concerned, this is almost as bad as it gets. 

#steven universe #su critical #change your mind #review

[everlarkficexchange]

Prompt 33.

Written by: @wendywobbles

Prompt 33: “Where’s my engagement ring?” [submitted by @sunflowerslyf​]

“Where’s my engagement ring?” Katniss looked from her bare hand at her friend Johanna. Jo had popped into Katniss office with a coffee and they were chatting when suddenly Katniss realised her ring wasn’t on her finger. She spun on her chair and frantically started lifting things up from her desk.

“Relax” said Jo “I’m sure it’s here.” She started looking too, scouring the floor around the desk.  

It wasn’t in any of the usual spots.  Katniss Everdeen had a habit of taking off her ring when she was working, it annoyed her when she was typing and despite her colleagues warning that she was going to misplace it up to today she hadn’t….except that time she left it in the bathroom on the first floor and Leevy returned it two hours later or the time she left it on the kitchen window sill in Prim’s apartment, then that was the time she left it in the Mellark’s after dinner one Sunday. Old Edna, Peeta’s mum, had a field day with that “mark my words if she can leave this trinket behind so easily I dread to think what your marriage will be like” this was one of the nicer things she had said-the old bag-and she’d lot count of the times she left it sitting on the counter top at home

But recently work had been busier than usual, with more events then normal on the calendar and extra work Katniss had been running around, skipping lunch, working longer hours and she had lost some weight and more than once the ring had slipped off, she knew she should have been more careful…..

“Ok…OK.. lemme think. I’m not panicking. I am not panicking” Katniss was clearly panicking.

Jo rolled her eyes she had been through the lost ring drama more than once with Katniss. “Relax Brainless, let’s just retrace your steps and see if we can work it out”

“Ok, so this morning I had a doctor appointment – before you ask no I’m not pregnant- I remember having it then.  Then I went home before I came to work.  Peeta is going away to that Culinary Convention in District 2 so I wanted to see him before he went.  He won’t be back until tomorrow late“

“Bluegh I get it you two lovebirds couldn’t be parted. Continue”

“Whatever Jo. Anyway I helped him pack the last of his stuff and drove him to the airport. The car! I’ll check  the car. Where are you going?” Jo had thrown her coffee cup in the bin and was following Katniss.

“Eh it’s Friday, I’m bored. We’re going  on a pearl hunt” Jo laughed at her joke, Katniss just looked blankly at her “The kids book by Michael Rosen? “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” Never mind” Jo shoved Katniss out the door muttering something about needing to read more.

They marched down to Katniss car and pulled it apart, by the time they were finished that had found a pair of shoes, an odd sock, a bracelet, Peeta’s old sunglasses and about $15 in loose change but no ring.

“Ok” said Jo pocketing the change “where to next?”

“Back to work, it’s only gone 3 and we’re here until 4 at least. Come on let’s go.  It’s probably be at home”

“Fine.  I’ll ring Gale and tell him I’ll be late this evening and I’ll help you look at home.  We’ll find it” for all her sharp edges and rough ways Johanna Mason would move heaven and earth to help her loved ones “Plus it’ll give me break for the hellcats for a bit longer ” she cackled as she walked away.

She shook her head and tried to concentrate on work but she couldn’t. She rang the doctors to see if maybe it was there but they had nothing. She needed to find her ring.  She thought back to the day Peeta had proposed and then the saga that was finding her the perfect ring……

18 months ago

“So is that a yes?” Peeta Mellark was standing  in the middle of his and Katniss kitchen in their newly purchased house-he would have been kneeling but the prosthetic he wore made it difficult.

They had just bought their first home together and were unpacking.   Katniss found the toaster and has thrown some bread in to make toast. This moving lark was hard work and she was starving a couple of slices of toast, with real butter and marmalade was just what she needed.  She turned to ask Peeta what he wanted when she saw him standing there with a half afraid look on his face, a big question on his lips and a small box in his hands.

The first thing Katniss did was drop the bread she was holding, the second thing  she screamed  yes and the third thing….well I leave that to your imagination.

Afterwards as they lay on the sofa, relaxed and blissfully happy Peeta suddenly remembered he had forgotten to give her the ring.  He hopped up and walked naked through to the kitchen following the trail of their discarded clothes and grabbed the ring box . 

“Not a great start to my new role of fiancé I forgot to give you this. Now it just a plain silver band until we can find “the one” He sat back down beside her “I looked and I couldn’t find anything that really fit for you.  You don’t wear jewellery so I want to make sure that your engagement isn’t too big, top showy. I looked at diamonds, I looked at emeralds and then there were the different metals and settings it was far more difficult than I thought.  I hope you don’t mind?”

“No Peeta how could I mind! I’m happy with this” she looked at the silver band now sitting proudly on the third finger of her left hand.  Now let’s go order some Chinese food and crack open the champagne Prim gave us for moving in here and celebrate our engagement.”

And so Katniss and Peeta announced their engagement.  Friends and family were delighted.  Mrs Mellark couldn’t understand why Katniss didn’t have a diamond.  She actually asked Peeta could he afford a ring. Katniss wanted to smack the old hag but she resisted the urge.  Peeta simply smiled and told his mother that yes he could afford a ring but he and Katniss were going to choose the perfect ring together.  She still didn’t understand and was heard muttering that she would never understand these hippie kids and what was wrong with tradition.

So they started looking for a ring.  Peeta was right finding the perfect Katniss ring was not easy.  Pushy sales assistants didn’t help matters insisting all the girls LOVED a diamond,  and  while Katniss did think they were pretty they weren’t her.   After two months Katniss was fed up and so when it came time to visit Katniss mom in District 4 she was glad to take a break.

They flew to District 4 where Mrs Everdeen lived and worked. She moved there some time ago to take up a position in the local maternity hospital.  Since she couldn’t travel to 12 when Katniss and Peeta gotten engaged she invited them out and paid their airfare as an engagement gift.  They jumped at the chance, between buying the house and the usual stress and strains of life it was a while since they had been away.  They had a lovely few days and on Saturday morning Katniss was sitting with her mother having breakfast Peeta was having a rare lie in.  They were talking about this and that, Katniss was regaling her mother with some of the ring shopping stories.

“Before you say anything mother, it’ not because I’m fussy. I just have specific requirements….ok I’m a bit fussy “ she grinned as she said this

“Morning Everdeens” Peeta was up, he leaned in to give Katniss a kiss on the cheek “I keep telling you Katniss you are allowed to be cautious and you want to be sure of your choice,  this will be on your finger for life unless you trade me in for a newer model someday” he said this with a smile.

“Never!” responded Katniss

Mrs Everdeen smiled at the two of them “How about when you guys are ready we head down to the market and have a look around, there are a few jewellers and goldsmiths down by the Marina. We can grab lunch as well, what do you think?”

“Sounds great Mrs E”

It was a lovely day, they were in no hurry so they took in the sights, walked along the beach. Peeta bought some seaweed salt convinced he could make use of it in the bakery back home.

They found Cresta and Odair Goldsmiths and Fine Jewellery and decided to have a look.  The pieces on display were all inspired by nature and had simplicity to them that Katniss was quite taken with.  Annie Cresta and her husband Finnick ODair were in the shop Annie was dealing with customer while Finnick was working on something.  Katniss looked at several of the designs and when Annie finished with the other customer so came over and introduced herself and  they got chatting Peeta and Katniss explaining they were looking for an engagement ring, and the difficulty they were having finding one that really spoke to them.   Annie showed them a further  selection of rings and there was no denying they were beautiful but not quite right.  At this point Finnick had come out and was chatting to them when Katniss caught sight of a bracelet he had on “Excuse me? What’s that symbol?” Katniss asked as she pointed at his arm

“This is a Claddagh it’s a traditional Irish symbol it represents love, loyalty and friendship.  The heart is the love, the hands friendship and the crown represents loyalty.  Do you like it? It is more traditionally seen in a ring here I’ll show you?” Annie passed Finnick a design book with pictures of rings designed and crafted by Finnick.

Peeta and Katniss looked through and Katniss knew this could be the one for her “Yes but I would like it more contemporary, flatter… am I making sense?”

“Of course! And if you’re not it’s our job to bring your dream to reality. If we go with a wishbone style, which is easy enough to fashion from the shape we can make a wedding band to sit perfectly with the engagement ring Let’s get to work” said Finnick

And they did. Finnick helped to bring Katniss vision to reality. Peeta had noticed that some of the pieces in the shop had Mother of Pearl inlaid so he asked Finnick if it would possible to use that in the ring as  the heart.  Finnick said that shouldn’t be a problem.  Peeta liked the idea of part of 4 being in the ring.

So when Katniss and Peeta left District 4, the making of the ring was underway and they would have it in a few months.

And now she had lost it.  This was awful.  She wondered how Peeta would react when she told him.  This was Peeta she knew he would be ok and I mean they had insurance.  It wouldn’t be the same but that was ok except  it wasn’t she had to find that ring.

She picked up her phone and called Jo “Jo meet me at the car in 10 minutes.  We have a ring to find”

As Katniss left her office and headed to the reception to wait for Jo. 

“Hey Katniss, heading out early?” asked Keith one of security guards at her office.

“Yeah. Keith I don’t suppose anyone handed in a ring today? I’ve lost mine” she described it but Keith said there was nothing left with him. He said he would send an email round to all the building and he would let the cleaning crew know to be on the lookout.

“Thanks I’d appreciate that. I’ll leave my mobile number you can call me if anything turns up”

“Right! Let’s get going” shouted Jo “I’ll follow you in my car. Oooo I’m starving can we order food when we get to yours? Bye Keith, see you Monday”

Once they got to the house Jo got Katniss to retrace her steps and they walked through the house but turned up nothing.

“Wait! Peeta would have emptied the bins before leaving….oh god I’m going to have to go through the rubbish” Katniss wailed

“Well we won’t  be doing that tonight.  Let’s get the gang together and pull this place apart tomorrow we’ll find it before Peeta gets back. Now I’m heading home I’ll be here with Gale and the kids tomorrow about 10? Oscar and Emily will  be delighted to help in the search plus their tiny child hands can get into places we can’t.  We’ll get Madge, Delly and Darius round too”

After Jo left Peeta called Katniss.  Peeta was in his element at the conference talking a mile a minute about meeting news suppliers, learning new techniques and making new contacts.  He was going to meet his brother who lived in District 2 for dinner this evening then tomorrow there were a number of workshops he was attending.  Katniss smiled as Peeta prattled on about this and that.

“Enough about me, how was your day?”

“Good, nothing unusual.  I finalised at the details for the training event next month so the pressure is off for a few days at least.  What time are you back tomorrow?”

“My flight is back in  lands at 7 I thought we could go to Sae’s and grab dinner when I get in?”

“We could or we could just stay in……..I mean you’ve have been away  and well Peeta a woman has needs……” she whispered seductively

“Check the freezer” laughed Peeta “you didn’t think I’d leave you without a supply of cheese buns did you”

“And that is why you are the perfect man for me Peeta Mellark, but I still think we should stay in”

“Ok well love you. I got to go meet Lincoln. I talk you tomorrow”

“Bye Peeta, love you”. 

True to her word Jo arrived with the troops the next morning.  Katniss has coffee and pancakes ready.  Jo being Jo called everyone to order “Listen up people! We have a situation on our hands.  We are here to help Katniss find her engagement ring which she has lost. Again.  Now we are going to pull this house apart.  Every piece of furniture, every drain, every bin –no stone left unturned.  Right Kantiss and I will take the upstairs, kids you come with us.  Gale and Darius you are an on rubbish sorting, garden and car.  We looked at the car already but going over it again is probably a good idea. Madge and Delly hit up the kitchen, living room, dining room.  We’ll find this bad boy!”

Gale laughed at his wife “Honey we really need to get you a hobby, but for now Darius let’s get ready to play in the bins”

Delly asked Katniss if she had sat on any particular sofa or chair yesterday “No I don’t think so why?”

“Well I started an upholstery class last month and I could easily remove and replace the base of the sofa if you needed to look in there.”

Katniss was slightly horrified but desperate “Do whatever you’ve got to do Delly”

She ran upstairs to where Johanna was she had all the shoes and handbags Katniss owned out on the floor and Oscar and Emily where shaking t hem then flinging them over their shoulders when nothing fell out. Jo meanwhile was stripping the bed and shaking pillows.  She pointed and Katniss “You can check your beside tables….you don’t want me finding out what’s in your goodie drawer”

Oscar was instantly alert to the words “Goodie drawer” “Aunty Katniss do you keep a drawer of sweets and chocolate in your bedroom…..that is so cool. Can I have something?”

“No Oscar don’t mind your mom she said…erm hoodie drawer….it’s where Uncle Peeta keeps his hoodies. Oooo look what’s that?” Once Oscar was distracted Katniss threw a sock at Johanna.

The search of the house turned up no ring. 

The search of the bins turned up no ring.

The drains held nothing except hair….causing Gale to comment that Katniss shed more hair then his dog.

The garden had nothing either.  Darius suggested he get his metal detector but as she hadn’t actually spent any time in the garden it wasn’t necessary.

And Delly wasn’t very good an upholstery, Katniss was glad no one could see the bottom of her sofa.

“It’s actually gone” Katniss slumped onto the nearest chair and a lone tear fell from her eye, before she knew it she had started to cry.  Oscar and Emily were watching TV and Katniss was grateful, she didn’t want to scare the kids with her crying.  Her friends all rushed to her and hugged her until she finally stopped.

When she had calmed herself a bit she accepted the cup of tea Madge had made for her and  everyone sat around the table. 

“Have we missed anywhere Kat?” asked Darius “Let’s go back over your movements yesterday again.  From the time you got up until the time you noticed the ring was gone”

“What’s the point?” sighed Katniss

“Look” said Madge “I know we’ve already been through it but let’s start from the top and work our way through your day.  We might have missed something.  We have time and we are not quitters!”  Nods from around the table made Katniss smile and she knew they were right.

“Ok let’s get lunch and then “Operation we’re going on a pearl hunt” can officially begin” said Jo, Gale laughed and from the living room Oscar and Emily started singing and song about a bear, Delly, Madge, Gale and Darius joined the kids singing….Katniss was just lost.

“C’mon” laughed Delly “I’ll help you make lunch”

An hour later and everyone was fed and ready to go.  They did one final sweep of the house Katniss led them through the house stopping everywhere she had been and then back down to the front door.

“Ok. So next thing I did was get in the car and drive to town.  We’ve pulled the car apart twice so I’m satisfied it’s not there.  I went to the doctor’s office,  popped into Mellark’s for a coffee and from there I headed to the chemist and picked up some stuff and finally headed to work.  Don’t look at me like that Joanne….ok I skived a bit but I think I’ve earned it.  I’ve been working my ass off and my fingers to the bone hence the reason I lost my ring” Katniss joked.

“Right so do you wanna drive into town?” asked Gale

The day itself was dry and not too warm, walking to town didn’t take too long but with the two kiddos it might take a bit longer but it was nice spending time with her friends, even if they were spending it looking for her engagement ring “If everyone is up for it, how about we walk? Jo will the kids be okay with that?”

“Sure and we have enough adults here that can carry them if their little legs get tired….and Gale brought the buggy.  We have wheels and we are ready  to roll.  So let’s go.  Everyone ready? Oscar and Emily are you ready to lead us?”

“Yyyyeeeeess” came the excited shouts

“Ok guys  why don’t you start singing our song?” grinned Gale

And they set off to the kids screeching “We’re going on a pearl hunt, we’re gonna catch a big one” and the adults laughing and  Katniss joining in singing the song.

 Thirty minutes later the troop arrived at the doctor’s office and entered in a line with Oscar and Emily leading the way followed by Katniss, Jo, Delly, Madge, Darius and then Gale.

“Oh my!” said the receptionist Effie Trinket “what have we here?”

“Hey Effie, I know I rang last night and there was no sign of my ring but I was kinda hoping that it may have turned up? Maybe one of your cleaning crew found it?” asked Katniss

“Oh dear Katniss I’m afraid not. Are you all looking for the ring? “she asked as she surveyed the group in front of her.

“We sure are” replied Darius “we’re like a modern day Fellowship of the Ring….or something”

“Well in that case good luck in your quest brave sirs and madams” Effie smiled and then indicated to the bucket of stickers and lollypops she kept at her desk  Jo nodded and Effie handed Oscar and Emily one of each.  The kids were delighted and popped their treasures into their backpacks.

“Effie, do you think maybe us adults could get a lollypop too?” asked Madge

Effie laughed and handed them each a lollypop.

“Right! Kiddos are you ready.  Time to get singing again” The gang left a confused looking Effie and marched onto Birdsong Street and headed towards Mellark’s with everyone of then singing loudly “We’re going in a pearl hunt, we’re gonna catch a big one”

Mr Mellark stood at the counter and could hear the singing long before the Katniss and her gang of singers came into sight.  He laughed as they entered, Emily and Oscar headed straight to the display case that held the cupcakes and cookies.

“Hey Mr M” Katniss smiled “I don’t suppose……the thing is….whew this is hard”

“Katniss? You’re beginning to worry me, what is it dear?”

“I lost my engagement ring, I was hoping I had dropped it here” she whispered to him

“Oh my dear, no nothing and I cleaned the shop myself and no one handed it in.  Is this a ring search party” he nodded to the assembled group around the shop.

“Yep” and she relayed the story of the last 24 hours to him.

“It will turn up I’m sure of it” he patted her hand before turning his attention to the adults and children in the shop and spoke to them “Well I think that when a person undertakes a task such of this they require sustenance and who better than a baker to provide this! I have some cheese buns and quiche that I can box up and I think perhaps your little helpers might be allowed a cookie…” this time Gale nodded a yes and smiled.  Mr Mellark packaged everything up and once more the headed out with the kids leading the way and singing loudly.

Katniss stopped outside the chemist. This was her last chance,  Jo stopped beside her and gave her hand a squeeze “C’mon I have a good feeling about this.  Ok kids one last time we’re going on a pearl hunt…”

Katniss headed straight up to the counter and when she spoke to the assistant she had all but given up hope that she would find her ring when she heard the manager Sae call to her “Katniss! We found a ring…well Rue found it. Rue works here part time and she was stocking some shelves and she found a ring, very unusual design it was too. Wait just a second while I grab the lost and found box”

From behind her Katniss heard Delly squeal, the kids asking Gale what lost and found was and were they getting something since everyone else had given them a treat.  Gale hushed them but Katniss smiled. 

“Here we go” she put a box on the counter and everyone peered into it, Gale and Darius had picked Oscar and Emily up so they didn’t miss a thing.

Katniss’ heart sank they was a ring but it was a silver with what looked like and emerald, beautiful but not hers “No Sae, that’s not mine” Sae glanced into the box  “Oh no wait, wait , wait that’s not the ring I meant” She flew off back to the office and returned with and envelope “Here” she  said and Jo reached out and  took it and passed it to Katniss……

“OH MY GOD!” she shrieked “it’s my ring! It’s my ring”  Everyone cheered, then laughed and cheered some more and just at that moment Katniss mobile phone rang.  It was Peeta.

“Shhhhh its Peeta ”she hissed at everyone  “Hey honey, everything ok?”

“Hey, yeah just have a few minutes before my next demo so I thought I’d ring and say hello.  Up to anything interesting?”

“Me? No, no not doing anything exciting” as she said that Emily piped up “But Auntie Katniss tell Peeta we’re going on a pearl hunt”

“Hey Katniss is that Emily? Are you hanging with Jo and the kids,and you’re on a bear hunt? I love that story”

“Am I really the only one who doesn’t know that story?” she asked Peeta

“Ah ask the kids for if you can have  lend of their book, you’ll soon get up to speed. Look  I’ve got to go sweetheart I’ll see you later”

Katniss slipped the ring back on her finger where is belonged.  It was a bit loose but before she could say anything Sae handed her a packet of plastic tubes(at least that’s what it looked like)“Until you get that beautiful ring resized use these “Ring Snugs” it will help keep your ring on”

Katniss pulled out her phone and text Mr Mellark to let him know they had found the ring.

Everyone headed back onto the street.  Katniss felt herself welling up again as she looked  around at her friends “Thank you all,  I really thought I’d lost it.  You gave up your Saturday to wade through garbage, pulled sofas apart, and pulled my house apart and you Jo you especially kept me going.  I can never thank  you guys enough.  But to start with how about we all head back to mine,  I’ll order dinner  and we can relax.  Emily and Oscar would you like to pick a movie to watch?”

A chorus of yes please filled the air and they set off back towards Katniss and Peeta’s house all singing  “We’re going on pearl hunt”

After everyone had headed home that evening Katniss waited for Peeta.  She had debated whether or not to tell Peeta what had happened but as Jo pointed out they had been seen by half the town singing and word would spread.

When Peeta finally arrived home Katniss was waiting with a cold beer and a tall tale for him…. and Peeta had bought her a copy of “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”

So I hope I did this some justice for you @sunflowerslyf.  This is partly based on something that happened to me only I lost my wedding ring and never found it…..and trying to find a replacement has been way harder then you would think: )

A quick google will throw up the details of the book and song “We’re going on a Bear Hunt” but be warned you may end up with it stuck in your head if you don’t already know it :)

#Springtime Edition 2019 #wendywobbles #sunflowerslyf #prompt 33 #submission