#i am getting up at 5am to study spending the entire day doing that and it's not even like im not taking any breaks - i am

[septemberkisses]

for some reason, the exams this time are feeling like such a chore. and what's funny is that they shouldn't, because im studying my dream course at my dream university. it really shouldn't and yet it's happening.

#I actually do not know what to do #i am getting up at 5am to study spending the entire day doing that and it's not even like im not taking any breaks - i am #but like #its so frustrating #but oh well #college is stressful #mine #miya's envelopes #academia #college #student life #studying #studies #history

[pbandjesse]

I am happy to be home. I missed James. Camp is fun and I love being there but also it makes me feel like being home is more special.

And last night was a little rough. After I did my post I would mostly just scroll on my phone and watched videos. The storm would pick up eventually. I would fall asleep around midnight. But at 5am I was woken up by how loud the rain was. It was really really bad. I would pull one of my blankets around my head to try to dampen the sound. And was able to fall back asleep until 8.

I felt a lot better when I woke up. I had felt so dizzy and bad last night. So it was nice to not feel so bad.

I got cleaned up and dressed. It took me a few minutes to get ready. I don't have a good system yet but I will figure it out.

I would walk down to the nurse's office to use the bathroom. And then to the lodge for a weird breakfast wrap. The kitchen had some weird choices for vegetarian options but they made attempts at least. And no onions.

After breakfast I just chilled and waited for what would come next.

They decided we would do the practice rotations today. Which was fine with me. Took them a bit to figure that out so I was sitting with Celia and Jaymie and told them about this blog and how I've been doing it, without missing a day, since 2011. It's pretty crazy. It's nice to be able to see everything of my entire twenties. I'm glad I keep doing it even if it's a little tough some days. Just to spend the time.

Soon all specialty staff and programs staff came up and we were assigned numbers and we told to go get ready for the group rotations. There were 10 rotations. And it was a lot! But honestly it was very fun for me.

I loved that almost everyone came to talk to me and I got to set my rules and expectations. And went through all my projects and materials and it was fun. Love a captive audience. And when my friends were there it was also just fun talking and being excited about camp.

Lunch was next. Which was only upsetting slightly. Because they had grilled cheeses with turkey? But no grilled cheeses. And all the vegetarians were really bummed. The tofu thing they had for us was a little spacier then I would have liked but it was good. The rice was to dry. But it was fine. We were all just sad about the lack of grilled cheeses.

After lunch Ty asked me to teach him look knitting. But we had to watch an absolutely infuriating video where a 4 year old boy drowned. 8 minutes no one noticed him!! It was horrible. And then I decided I needed to read the case study and it was so much worse then lifeguards not paying attention and a staff member roughhousing by throwing the kids in the pool over and over. The site was an unlicensed child care center. None of the life guards were trained in child CPR. Most of them had no training at all. The director claimed they didn't know they could get training. No one knew where the aed was. The front desk called 911 because no one else did. But told them it was a seizure so the fire department wasn't ready for a water rescue. The whole thing was horrible. And it just kept getting worse? The $1.5 million was not enough.

Ty would come and sit with me and I showed him how to look knit. He keeps wrapping the wrong way but we have caught it every time and he's doing great honestly. I'm excited that I was able to show someone so quickly. Loom knitting is just so accessable and I love that about it.

We would just sit and knit together while we had the rest of our training for the afternoon. And I would finish the rest of my yarn. Hopefully I can have time to get more tomorrow after the market. If I'm not falling asleep.

I would have a chat with Chris about an idea he had about making flags for the staff for ribbon awards and patches. I love the idea. I'm going to try to do some pricing and research on how we could do it. And then I went to help Celia move some tables and chairs.

Then as I was walking back to the lodge I saw that Ty and Dachelle and Chloe and the other horse staff was carrying goats and a turkey!! I was so excited to go and see them. I brought Ty his knitting he had left at the table. And I got to pet the goat. And see the turkey and it was so fun. I love when we have all these animals.

We had our last things. We went over to the office to go over drop off stuff. I was a little late and I heard Heather and Chris saying someone would be at the bears directing traffic and also being the first smiley face and I immediately was like. Let me do it!!!! I loved doing it last year. So I get to do that on Sunday and I'm very happy about that.

I would sit with Heather for a bit. And then we went back to the lodge to go over some schedule stuff. And then we were free.

I told Jeniya and Dame to meet me up at the art building. And I would head up to get a few things together. And we were able to get out right before it started raining hard again.

The ride home would be a little tough because if the rain. We saw two accidents and then a tree went down on the highway!! Which was wild to see!!

But I got them safely to the y. And I headed home to grab my husband.

James was waiting for me outside. And we had smooches and then we went to Chipotle.

Where we ran into someone James knew from highschool. And we ate and talked. And I made myself feel a little sick so I only ate half. And then we went to get me some camp groceries. Which was fun but my stomach was hurting. And I really wanted to go home. So we finished up and headed to the parking lot.

Where we saw a woman drop a bottle because her hands were to full but it didn't break!! And we were like can we help? And she had me reach in her pocket for her car keys. Just so much trust. But then she dropped the bottle again and it shattered this time and I felt so bad!! But we got her in the car and we all had a nice moment.

And then me and James went home. I was happy to see my Sweetp. And my fish and my from we got everyone fed. And I took a full everything shower and it felt great.

And me and James have been resting since then. Watching tiktoks. Enjoying each other's company. I am really happy.

Tomorrow I have the market. And hopefully a nap. And then buying some yarn while James records for a few hours. I hope it's a great day. I love you all. Sleep well!! Goodnight!!

[justtrying-studyblog]

The Meaning of Life & Other Discoveries at 18

Hey, it's been a bit, hasn't it? I've thought about updating sooner, but frankly, my life was turned upside down and I never knew just how to phrase everything that has happened. Not to say that I feel ready now, but I need to tell you guys.

I'm not going to Keele University (school in England) anymore.

It's weird for me to say, part of me feels ashamed. As though it were my fault as if this just proves that I truly am a failure. As if the other shoe has finally dropped. However, in reality, it just wasn't the right choice.

I had a lot of worries from the beginning about that school. It took them a month after my IB results were posted to finally access them and tell me I wasn't accepted into their forensic science program. It broke my heart, to be honest. I had never truly failed at something like that before, never had someone tell me straight out no for something I've worked my butt off and have been praying for. However, they did accept me into their law program, where I would be studying law and criminology. Handy dandy, right? Forensic scientists still need some law background to really succeed, right? However, it was law in a country that I don't live in, and don't know if I want to spend the rest of my life in.

Nevertheless, I accepted and started getting ready for the school year. Emails were being sent almost daily filled with questions, pleas for reconsideration, and the occasional update request. Because, within a month of being accepted, I still had not received an IT account, student email, or any visa information. I hadn't even gotten any responses to my emails asking about them.

Flash to a week before, I had tickets booked, bags packed, bid my farewells to everyone, and was panicking because I still did not have a visa nor an IT account. A week before I left, I finally received the information to apply for a visa, and promptly submitted my application, however, it was Friday, and all centers to get my fingerprints for the visa were closed. This was the last step and the end was in sight, but there was a BRP shaped hole between me and it.

To say I was stressed is an understatement. I spent every night panicked, crying, and trying to convince myself that I did want to study law and that this was the right choice for me. Unfortunately, they also had a horrible call center and they always seemed to be closed (especially with the 7 hr time difference). So, I stayed up late three days before my trip (it was previously the weekend) to contact them.

I was binging Great British Bake Off while waiting for their call centers to open so that I could finally sort out everything. Come 4am, I'm not able to get a hold of anyone since the department I needed didn't appear to have working phones for some reason. My sleep-deprived, anxious self then receives an email that just broke me.

We cannot do anything, you will have to sort it out on your own.

I snapped, I was exhausted and more stressed than I have ever been in my life and I just broke down in my living room at 4 in the morning. My parents came downstairs and helped me calm down and they talked through a solution with me, and at 5am I went to bed, a single thought echoing in my mind.

"I don't want to go"

It's scary. You're expected to figure out your entire life's path at just 18. You get advice from everyone; parents, sisters, teachers, and friends who all think they know best, but in the end, it's on you. And after having your hand held your entire academic career and being told exactly what to do, this is a very daunting task.

Especailly when you feel as though you've chosen wrong. One thought that kept circulating in my head is that this was my first decision in my adult life, and I can't seem to get it right.

Although, despite this decision being yours to make, I do recommend talking things through with someone you value the opinion of. For me, that's my oldest sister. We sat down the next day and she asked me why I wanted to go. When I couldn't answer, she asked me why I would be paying all that money to go somewhere to study something I don't even care for. And then, it all made sense. I wouldn't.

All this fear of making the wrong choice. Of feeling like no matter what I did, I'd be disappointing someone. And in the end, I had to stay true to what I want, why I want to continue learning, and what I want to learn. The next day, I sent out an email to Keele withdrawing my application and started my search for a school that will answer my calls, let me study what I want, and not make me stress beyond belief.

It's tough, I'll admit. Part of me is ashamed to not be in school now and watching all my friends make a new life for themselves in their respective schools. I never imagined this path for me.

But I'm starting to think that's the secret of life. You can't anticipate what's going to happen next. Sure, you can make plans and have a general idea, but it never truly works out that way, does it? I mean, I never imagined my senior year would be taken over by a global pandemic, or that I wouldn't be studying straight out of high school.

Life doesn't go how you expect it to. No one controls it's path, we merely learn to walk it.

This isn't how I expected my life to go, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. It just means I'll have more to tell years from now. And that also doesn't mean my life is immediately better, I'm now back at step 1 of finding a university, but now I have the hindsight to not settle, and to go for what I want, not what I am expected to want. University is a journey, and man, if this is the beginning, I can't even imagine what's about to come. So, for now...

✨Stay safe and take a deep breath, you're where you're meant to be✨

#study blog #studyblr #life update #university #rant #advice

[thranduilland]

Why is fitness culture so fucking intense? And I don’t mean like the ‘you’re fat and you should starve to get better!!’ I mean like... you go to a fitness class/gym and get fucking wrecked for not having the time to do three hour work outs every day. For not having the ability to get up at 5am every day to work out before you have to go and spend a day at work trying not to murder everyone. For having one (1) chocolate bar in a moment of weakness. For not being able to smile and be happy about getting up early and getting fucking obliterated in a work out routine.

It’s like. I would like to be fit. But I also have a full time job. I, personally, am also studying part time while working full time. I don’t have the time to spend hours every day on working out and doing resistance training. I am lucky to get five hours sleep even without the idea of waking up early to punish my body. I have never in my entire life been happy to be awake BEFORE the sun, so why the hell would I be happy about being awake before the sun for the sole purpose of tiring myself out before work?!?!

Fuck off.

#fitness #fitness culture #gym

[thewinedark]

What sort of time schedule do you think is best? Waking up, working, sleeping etc...

I have the most awful schedule since leaving school and I still have no idea how to study. Now I’m at uni, sleeping at 5am and getting up after midday!

Anon, it sounds like you desperately need to form a healthy daily routine that prioritizes sleep, eating, and exercising. I took an entire class on this last semester, and I cannot emphasize enough how vital those three things are for your mental, physical, and educational health. Please take the advice I offer here, because it can have a huge impact on pretty much every area of your life.

SLEEP. It is so important for you, especially as a student, to get a full eight hours of sleep, and to try to maintain the times you start and stop sleeping. For me, sleep is a main priority because I know that when my sleep schedule slips, I am very vulnerable to depressive episodes. It’s also super vital for making sure everything you study actually sticks in your brain, as well as a ton of other student-related things that I won’t go into here but let me just say cannot be sacrificed. When exactly this eight hour period starts is up to you, and when your classes start. Last semester my first class started at ten, and I woke up at eight. This gave me a full two hours to wake up, exercise, make breakfast, and do any homework or readings that I missed before class. Around eight is my preferred wakeup time, but it depends on your personal productivity levels and when your classes start. I would not recommend sleeping past ten though. Make a firm decision on when you will go to sleep, and when you will wake up, and refuse to allow anything to interfere with this, even studying or homework. Sometimes you might slip, and spend an extra half an hour on your phone before bed or something, or decide to sleep in a bit one day. This is fine, so long as you adjust your schedule accordingly to get those eight hours, and you only allow it to happen occasionally. 

Exercise. After I wake up, I spend an average of 30 minutes working out and exercising in some capacity. Again, I won’t go into all the scientific details in a Tumblr post, but the short of it is that getting your heartbeat up, particularly with some form of aerobic exercise, has drastic effects on your ability to learn, as well as your mental and physical health. Also, studies show that no matter how small the amount of exercise, it still has positive effects, so even if all you feel capable of is ten minutes of yoga and a couple jumping jacks, it’s beneficial. Still, I’d recommend 30-40 minutes if you’re able. You really just need a few square feet of space, no need to go to the gym (unless that helps you stick to your routine or do specific exercises). There are tons of exercise videos on YouTube, I know Chloe Ting has a cult following for her beginner ab workouts, maybe try them.

Eat. Give yourself the protein and carbs you need for energy and brain power before you head to classes or to get work done. During school semesters, I generally give myself two quick and easy options for breakfast, so I can’t weasel my way out of making it. Either avocado on toast or an egg on english muffin. Protein, carbs, tasty, and can be made in under ten minutes. Cooking and eating gives you time to relax and prepare for classes and work, and after you finish, you can go get dressed (in a wonderful dark academic-style outfit, I’m sure) and head to whatever things you need to get done.

Once you have a morning routine that works for you, it’s easy to fill in the gaps where classes or work goes. And from there you can figure out times to devote to studying, homework, clubs, etc. If you don’t already have one, definitely get a calendar to put down deadlines, and I’d recommend a weekly planner as well. Please take care of yourself, and work to find ways to maintain your health and get the most out of your education. 

#me shaking anon by the shoulders #5am???? #NOOOO #SLEEP PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD #asks #lifestyle #studyblr #serena speaks

[sandalwoodhusbands]

when i was little my mom used to play friends reruns on the tv constantly. anyone remembers the episode where monica moved in with chandler, and her and rachel cried on the couch because it was 'the end of an era'? i didn't really get it then, but i think i do now.

i know the show will go on. i'm happy that it will. in some way though, it feels like a little piece of my heart left with the last rolling credits tonight. it's only fair that i give it a deserving farewell.

first of all, i want to clarify that this isn't a post for tumblr. this is a post for my friends, that i want to share on tumblr because i am proud of us and of what we've found, and i want everyone to know.

lily. @davnci you made all of this happen, you know? i've always been a casual watcher. a casual reader, a casual listener. if it hadn't been for you i wouldn't be where i am now. this happened because of you, god fucking bless the moment you decided you wanted to fight for an eliott season.

sophie. my dear wifey. i have no words to explain how much i love you. you already know, i've told you enough times. if i could change one thing, it would be the distance between us. you're one of my favorite people on earth, and i wish you all the good in the world. you deserve it.

tara. @jebentnietalleen what can i say to you that you don't know already? you always thank me for reaching out one year ago. i would do it 100 times over. when we parted ways in paris i told you 'I'll see you soon' and you said 'i hope so'. now we're thinking about going on vacation together next year. i think that says enough about our relationship. i love you.

helen. @eliotts-eyes my beautiful helena de troya. my favorite greek godess, and my bro. remember the other day when we talked about missing someone without having met them? that's what i feel about you. i can't wait to sing to harry styles and do cartwheels with you, i don't care what city as long as it happens. i love you.

meg. @lifeisevak my favorite british person, up there in my top 10 favorite people i love to talk to. you came to me like a hurricane, talking about skam og and pride and i was instantly in awe of you. that still hasn't changed. i want to hug you so bad sometimes i could cry. bloody hell, i am so proud of you and all that you've become, it doesn't even make sense because i had nothing to do with it. i am so proud of you for just existing. i love you.

camille. @demaury fuck. you chaos personified. if i had to have 5am conversations about the french revolution with someone it would be with you. thank you so much for taking a piece of yourself and sharing it with me and our friends. if i could bottle up all of the times you make me fucking lose it with one of your jokes i'd have enough bottles to reconstruct the mediterranean sea. i love you.

belle. @choupielu my beautiful dumb dumb daughter. you drive me up the walls, you make me stay up until 6am more than once. you get me in weird groupchats with people i've never met in my life, and i let you. i let you do a lot of things, i hope you feel special. it it all turns to shit, i know who will threaten the world with their bare hands. there's a saying in spanish that says 'las cosas grandes vienen en frascos pequeños' look it up. te queero.

alicia. @crazyabeh you fucking gorgeous human being. if i had to put a face to summer, it'd be yours. i've told you many times. you glow. you're so kindhearted, some would say too much. the first time we met you got me a welcoming gif (i loved it by the way. my mama still asks about you) and the next time we see each other i'll get you a 'let's not spend this long without seeing each other again' one.

glory. @actualsoulmates if you decide on coming to study your masters here you know my door is open for you. in fact, if you don't come live with me for at least a month i will be very upset. you deserve everything good that there is in this world. if this hellsite did something good, is bring us together (and hey, july 23rd... we're throwing a party right?) te amo.

lucie. @hellswolfie for such a quiet one, you're one of my favorite people. i've seen you around for so long, since i very first started my side account. wanna hear a secret? when you joined our friend group i was so fucking happy. i might be the one putting out content, but i was so eager to get to know you for real. you're so sweet, i love you forever.

mara. i don't think i've ever met someone who got the demons in my head quite as you do. i miss you a lot when you're not here. i always feel like a bit of an overexcited puppy when you come back, but i think that's okay, i just want you to feel loved. you know ohana? how no one gets left behind? even when you're not there we don't forget you. you're part of us, always will be, and i love you.

verena. you fucking kind human. you have many reasons to get mad when things go to shit, but you're always the one there making sure everyone is okay and cheering us up. remember that thing you did at the begining of the quarentine? the japanese tradition? no one's ever cared like this for me. i'll forever be thankful. i love you.

manar. @waunderlnst0 you're definitely the purest one out of all my friends. it's funny, really. if i wanna talk to someone i know you'll always be around. you're chaotic good. and hey, thanks for being faster than mr axel auriant in catching his posts. i love you.

ani. @coffeerocks i'm not entirely convinced you and vere weren't long lost siblings in another timeline. you are so sweet. thanks for putting up with my weird texting habits. you've done so many things for me that we both know about and I'll never get to thank you enough. so many genuine acts of kindness, i hope your life will be the happiest it can be. i love you.

julie. @ariavds you're texting me as i'm writing this, and all i'm thinking is 'god, is it possible to be this fond of someone else?'. words fall short for all i would like to say to you. you're not the same person that i met a year ago. to that shy girl, i wanted yo say thank you, for bringing you to me. i said once you were the best person that had happened to me this year and i still stand by it. je t'adore ma julie.

anabelle. @mabubblebulle 🦝❤️🦔🐿️🌸🍍 out of all the things skam france has brought to me, you're the one that came more unexpected. my beautiful, perfectionist ravenclaw. if you ever feel sad, remember that in the parallel universe where the pandemic didn't happen we'd be spending our summer weekends together. just gotta hold in there. happy me ❤️

sophia. @eliottdemmaury an actual eliott demaury in disguise, your username matches you. i really hope for, the best for you. i want you to be happy all of the time instead of just sometimes. you brilliant, beautiful mind that kills me with your words. i am so happy that i met you. i don't wanna see you sad ever. i love you. (an actual babey)

jaime. @surrealsunday well, if it isn't the neglecting parent. you are, how do i even explain it? as a reader, thank you so much for your fics. the last chapter of hollow edge came out 12 hours after i got the news that my flight to paris had been canceled. it was the first thing that got a smile out of me that day. as a friend, thank you so much for indulging me in my bullshit. i was going through a hard time and julie said 'beg her for it, maybe she'll write it' so i did. and so you wrote it. and dedicated it to me. thank you so much for being a part of this fandom.

nicole. @anditsnicole you're such a good heart. i love your take on the show, but i also love how it's more than that. i love that you ask me how i'm doing, if there's anything happening in my life. i love that i care. thank you for sharing your ride with me for the past 2 seasons.

britt. @i-wish-i-felt-you-there for such a young age (she says, the 20 year old), you're such a fierce person. i admire you. i love that you convinced me to watch a whole movie based on a videogame i haven't played in my fucking life and never will. the nights that i stayed up with you talking and laughing, until 6am and i had a headache, i'd never trade them for anything. i love you you disaster human.

keren. @thedelegationofkeren god i miss you. you were one of the first people i met in here. you had to witness at least 3 of my breakdowns, if i remember correctly. and you stayed, even if you were a stranger, you stayed. and i thank you for that. i hope we'll be there for each other in the future too. i love you.

most of all, though? skam france. thank you. thank you for creating a platform that, as flawed as it might be, it brought these people to my life. thank you.

merci, skam france. it's been real.

#thank you thank you thank you #long post

[heloisedaphnebrightmore]

First of all, I was so nervous I sent that last message without flipping the anon switch because I didn't double check like usual. Lol. It's only a matter of time so hopefully you figure it out before then. 😉

Also, I could not get through this entire post without dying of laughter. I was laughing so hard I was crying last night. It took me 10+ minutes to get a hold of myself. I'm over here having the time of my life and you're going crazy trying to figure it out. I'm sorry I'm laughing but it's just so much fun for me. 😂

Aw Gina, I love you too!!! I'm glad to be back too. I'll try to be more consistent. 😊

Welp, at least now you know I'm not from the UK if I don't know the difference between pounds and euros. Haha. But I Googled it and omg 120 pounds is even more than 120 euros! Geez!

Oh gosh no, I'm alright. No need to be nervous. I just catch a lot of colds because I spend a lot of time in the cold and as we've established, I only kind of take care of myself. Haha.

That draft is everything! I'm gone for two days and you're ready to send out a search party for me. 😅 I wish I'd waited so I could see that post. 🤣🤣🤣 I say post it anyway just so I can see. Maybe you can get the entire Harry Potter side of Tumblr searching for me. (I'm kidding! 😅)

Omg I'm just glad that at least last night it wasn't me that kept you up until 7am but instead it was Tiktok. I'm only responsible for the hour between 4 and 5am. So that's something at least. 😅

because no, I don't want to talk about me, I am ready to find out who you are!

I think we might have to come up with a rule here. I think when you ask a series of questions at the end (like in your last message) I get to pick one identity question from the group but you also have to include a getting to know you question that we both answer (like favorite color or favorite movie or something). 😊

Here are my highlights from your lists:

The Shadowhunters thing actually could be a useful clue if you know where to look or who to ask. So I'm glad you remember that. 😉

Personal Edition:

Ok the first three made me smile so much. You're the best. 😊

4. 6 days ago you wrote; the new semester has started

Dang Gina! You're really out here making a timeline of all our interactions aren't you? 🤣🤣🤣

5. You are hoping you'll be able to read and interact a little more.

Once again, this actually could be a clue if you know where to look.

7. You only kind of take care of yourself; Let me get my slipper 😅

No slippers needed today. After this I'm gonna have brunch and I promise to drink a full glass of something with my meal. (I hate water but it'll be something)

9. You are doing a research project on landing mechanics in a specific sport; This is where I thought I knew who you were. Then you destroyed it by saying; You are majoring in science and you like testing and analyzation 🙈

I'm super interested in who you thought I was with this one. I am curious to know how the second portion destroyed that, because research and analyzation go together, do they not? I'm confused.

18. We talked a few times in different places; How is that a clue?! 😂

That's literally the most important clue I've given you! It means you might have to look outside of our asks to find answers to my clues! I actually thought I gave myself away the other day, and I was absolutely dying of laughter watching you respond and realizing you hadn't noticed.

Conclusions:

You are actually correct on all three of those! You do follow me, I am over 18, and I am from the US!

It sounds like the science thing is what's tripping you up the most, so I will clarify (kind of) "I'm majoring in a science"

Of those clues you asked for, many of them will give me away! So instead I will technically answer one but make it extra vague; There are 3 names people on Tumblr call me, and in alphabetical order the letters they start with are E, I, and M.

Yes, I much prefer these vague clues... 😄 But to be honest, I threw in a couple good ones this time so hopefully you've made a little progress and have some ideas of where to look next. I also honestly think I gave myself away today, so I am anxiously awaiting your response. 😬

(I wish I could put a read more in asks, this has gotten super long so apologies to your followers. Although by the looks of the likes on some of our messages it looks like some people are enjoying this as much as I am 😅) -⭐

Shoot, I wish you forgot to switch the anon xD

Actually, it is hilarious, so I completely understand xD I’m feeling like Sherlock Holmes but a dumber, less useful version. Like a faulty Sherlock Holmes xD

Rest under the cut :D

I don’t want you to feel like you have to message me or it’s like an obligation so if you have no time and you are too busy, then just take your time, I completely get it, we are not rushing anywhere. <3

Hahaha you would love it if everyone searched for you :D The anonymous Tumblr celebrity xD I might post it regardless, but I don’t want to get attacked about trying to expose my anon’s identity. I have seen posts where people went off on accounts saying they shouldn’t try knowing their anon’s identity as they chose to be on anon for a reason. I don’t really want to have to explain myself to everyone and coming off stalkerish and you are the only one who knows the whole story and a couple of my followers xD I will have to think this through, until then it sits in my drafts. :D

Okay, pink and black are my favourite colours and I don’t have a favourite movie. Now that it’s out of the way, back to you xD

You see, you said you spend a lot of time in the cold! Once again this makes me think of the same person I initially thought of. When you referred to Shadowhunters, again it’s the same person I am thinking of, but there is also another person in my mind so now I have two options.

Research and analysis go together, but again the person I thought of said something about studying sport stuff, exercise science thingy, that’s why it threw me off. That’s why I changed my mind and decided you are not that person. But now that you say A science it makes me think of that person again, but on the other hand I don’t know what the other protentional person studies. God, you are killing me!

You say we have talked the other day. There was only 4 people I have talked to outside of my asks recently and one of them was the same person I thought of from the beginning, but also my second option was between those 4 people too.

Both of my options are 18+, I follow them, and they are from the US. You see, both of my options have at least one of those letters, but now I’m off to confusion land again, because you said they call you 3 names. Who on earth uses 3 names? xD

5. You are hoping you'll be able to read and interact a little more. - Once again, this actually could be a clue if you know where to look.

This did not help at all xD I think what you consider clue is not a clue for me and what I consider a clue is not a clue for you xD This is getting twisted at this stage xD I honestly think we are both in the same Discord server, I am quite sure at this point.

The fact that you think you gave yourself away makes me feel utterly useless. I am trying to think of all the people I have talked to recently and all of them has I, E and M in their name or their name starts with those letters, but only one of them talked to me about cold and science. Whether I am missing something very obvious or I know who you are, and I am simply questioning myself at this point.

Let me ask you one question, which would help me find the right answer. Have you got any injuries and if yes, what’s that? :D

I feel like I’m close, but at the same time I keep questioning it <3

#Heloise's inbox #⭐ anon

[anonsally]

Days 79-82 of COVID-19 shelter-in-place

These have been four very intense days both globally and personally. This admittedly long post will focus more (but not exclusively) on the personal side of that.

Day 79 was Wednesday. I hadn’t had enough sleep, but I got up at a reasonable hour because I needed a ballet class. Before class started, I got a call from the medical center for scheduling a procedure I need to have done. That will be in 2 weeks, contingent on me testing negative for COVID-19 four days beforehand. I’m anxious about the procedure but will be glad to get it over with after several months of worry. Anyway, ballet class was good for calming me down. 

It was hot out. I did my parents’ grocery shopping (and bought a few things for us) and then had a nice conversation with my dad when I dropped off his groceries. We talked about the state of the world. He told me about a city that had literally fired its entire police department and started over... which is what we probably need on a national level, with very few exceptions. 

I refueled the car on the way home and got a predictably late start on my work day. Wife got two more job interviews scheduled at very different companies. I took a walk, spotting another Steller’s jay at the bird feeders. The jays are so much larger than the little birds who frequent the feeders!

I then went to try to buy milk, but the tiny independent market had closed early to enable the employees to get home before curfew. So I had to go to Trader Joe’s instead. By the time I got home I was somewhat demotivated about food prep, but luckily Wife pulled herself together and scrambled me an egg. I didn’t manage to get to bed till 1am, which was at least an hour later than I’d intended, but Wife was still up at 4am!

Day 80. I forced myself to get up at 8:30 since I knew I would need to go to bed early that night. I arranged to (video-)meet with my boss at 12:30. I started work around 11am or so and got a few thing done. The meeting with my boss was good--partly social, discussing how we were coping with the situation and working from home, what we missed about the office, and such, but we also talked about what I’ve been working on. She reminded me that the study section reviewing my grant application will be meeting this month, so I will have to remember to check my scores.

Afterwards we had a meeting with a few other coworkers, which was fairly productive. I had a short “coffee break” video call with a colleague, too. The county-wide curfew was lifted a day early.

After work, I took a walk in a direction I hadn’t gone in a while. Was heartened to see Black Lives Matter signs even in cul-de-sacs in a wealthy, mainly white neighborhood. I picked up takeout for dinner, and did a bunch of Adulting in the early evening, including preparing for the next morning. I was in bed by 10:45pm.

Day 81. My alarm got me up at 5am, and we left at 6am. We got to the medical center on time at 7am and I went in (Wife was not allowed to accompany me, but had to be there to drive me home; there was a separate room across the street for visitors to wait in, which was good because it was suddenly very cold outside). Initially, there was a lot of waiting, during which I did a little bit of yoga and dancing as I knew I would not be able to move much for the rest of the day. I was there for a diagnostic procedure involving a needle (for data privacy reasons I won’t get more specific here; it’s unrelated to the procedure I’m having in 2 weeks), which required me to remain horizontal for 4 hours afterwards, at least according to the information they’d given me beforehand. I had to be fasting from midnight the night before: no food or drink, including water.

Eventually I was wheeled down to the ultrasound department, where the doctor who planned to do the procedure met me and the radiologists. However, when they looked at the images, there were a lot of vessels around. The doctor did not feel confident that she could do the procedure based on a mark on my skin without accidentally hitting a blood vessel. So she asked the radiologists to do it as an ultrasound-guided procedure, which would be safer since they would be able to see what they were doing on the ultrasound. This procedure was done with only local anaesthetic. Mostly I couldn’t feel what was going on, and it was supposed to be very quick, but unfortunately, the resident had a lot of trouble--the senior radiologist was trying to guide him through doing, but he couldn’t get the needle positioned quite right, and in the end the senior radiologist had to do it herself. It was pretty uncomfortable and there were some moments where it was quite painful. I tried to breathe deeply and stay relaxed, but it was hard. When they finally got it to work, it was over pretty quickly. I was relieved. It was about 11am by then.

However, I had to spend an hour in a large recovery room with many other patients, while my blood pressure and pulse were monitored. I had expected to have the procedure done upstairs in the room where I’d started, where I had left all my stuff. They very kindly sent someone up to retrieve my phone for me so I could at least text Wife and my parents so they would know the worst of it was over. 

After an hour I was wheeled upstairs and transferred from the gurney to a bed (this took 3 people as I was not allowed to stand up yet) for more monitoring. They drew my blood to test my blood counts; I was going to be allowed to leave after only 2 hours of bed rest if the counts were stable. After the 2 hours, I was allowed to get up and use the bathroom (and grab the crossword puzzles from my backpack to work on), and then I continued resting while waiting first for the blood counts, which finally came back fine, and then for the discharge papers, which took an unreasonably long time. Around 2pm the nurse finally allowed me to have some ice--hoorah! (I was parched. I normally drink at least 2 liters of water per day.) At 2:40pm I was cleared to leave; I texted Wife, who went to get the car and picked me up at the entrance to the hospital at about 3pm. 

Literally every single person on the hospital staff was kind and friendly. They all introduced themselves to me by name, including the people whose job it was to simply wheel me from one place to another, and they all seemed to be invested in my well-being. When I was being wheeled through the hallway, whenever we passed anyone else who worked there they smiled and said hello both to me and to the person in charge of transporting me. It seemed like everyone working really considered themselves a team, with respect for everyone regardless of place in the hospital hierarchy. Since, like all patients during this pandemic, I was there alone and a bit anxious, it made the experience much less unpleasant than it could have been.  

I spent 8 hours in the hospital, so I really hope I didn’t catch COVID-19, but the procedures seemed pretty good. I was wearing a mask almost all the time (except in the room where I was waiting at the beginning and end, which was essentially private), as were all the employees, and everyone was sanitising their hands every time they entered or exited a room or touched any equipment. I also didn’t spend the whole time with any one person. So, hopefully it was safe. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon vedging out at home, rehydrating, and finally eating, and I went to bed earlier than usual though later than I expected, around 12:15am.

Day 82. I wanted to try to get a lot of sleep so my body could heal from yesterday’s ordeal, so today I slept till about 10am. The wound from the procedure is tender to the touch and there’s a small bruise near it, but otherwise I’m not in pain from it. Except my ankle is in more pain than it’s been in for ages, and I have no idea why. Maybe I slept on it funny? Or maybe it’s an aftereffect of the weird position I had to hold during the procedure.

I think my joy at getting to eat cereal this morning was perhaps a bit over-the-top!

Wife had a bad headache today, likely caused by neck tension from all the driving yesterday. I am still pretty tired today, despite all the sleep, but I suppose that’s to be expected.

We went to the farmers’ market and stumbled upon a socially-distanced, family-friendly protest. A friend of mine was there with her kids, but I didn’t see her. We bought our produce--though I had to make an extra trip back to the car to drop off my purchases, as I am not supposed to lift anything heavy today. The stand with the curried fish had run out, but they still had some uncooked prepped fish, so we bought that and they explained how to steam it at home. We came home and cooked the fish and ate it for lunch; it was just as good as it would’ve been if they’d cooked it. Phew! Other than that we’ve been relaxing at home, though Wife did gather her energy and go for a run, which has helped to relieve her headache a little (as has the bath she took afterwards, and the painkillers she took). 

I’m hoping to feel up to taking a dance class (online) tomorrow. 

#personal #dance #birdwatching #Health Care #food #even though there is no picture of food here #black lives matter #epidemiology #activism #tl;dr

[brinytrolls]

if you’re open to plotting something new, what are some ideas you might want to explore with someone??

i am always open to plotting!! let me see what i can find, i’ll organise it by character,,,no dancestors for now but if u wanted to plot with one of them, feel free to send another ask!! 

i dont really have any DETAILED plot ideas, these are more just starting points..sadly none of my ocs rly have future arcs planned out so these are all pretty casual...and these are not an exhaustive list! im open to any and all plot ideas so pls dont be afraid to ask!! 

for faldur,, 

he’s always open for ex matesprits or ex kismesis, as well as casual pitch flings. theres pretty much no guidelines for these ones, if it’s someone who’d be interested in him, and they’re jade or above, it’s fair game! 

an ex mate might be someone who found him too intense and broke up with him, someone who indulged his narcissism and boosted his ego til his other quads were forced to intervene, or something else entirely, as long as there was a reason they had to break up (i currently dont want him to have a red quad 4 Reasons) 

kismesis flings…hes open to anything. he hangs around bars often and will flirt with Anyone he finds attractive, so if someones open to that kinda thing its good to go. this could also lead to general friendships! he has no friends currently. boo 

on the topic of friends, book friends! a little known fact is he spends a lot of time on book forums, and someone to geek out over books with would be a nice change of pace. 

bitchy highblood friends. just like a bitchy seadweller squad would be fun, tbh. 

enemies! got a seadweller who would find him obnoxious? hell yeah! enemies is pretty open ended, i’d be willing to have faldur fucked up to teach him a lesson (within reason, he IS a seadweller and he is strong. he does fight a lot) alternatively, u got a lowblood (or highblood tbh) who needs a reason to be afraid of seadwellers? faldur attacks ppl who so much as look at him funny, so thats a valid option too

MAFIA TIES…faldur works as an assassin for when people need something really fucked up done to someone. do with that what u will

OH I JUST REMEMBERED fleet recruiters/anyone from the fleet/similar organisation who sees potential in him. faldurs constantly torn between redemption and leaving it all behind to join the fleet, so that could be interesting! 

theres definitely more but…tbh im welcome to anyone approaching me with ANY plot ideas they have! 

will do the rest under the cut bc that got LONG 

I WROTE THIS ALL OUT AND FORGOT HARREL 

BIG ONE IS just other mafia trolls!!

mafia bosses/hitmen who would hire him. who are doing jobs on the downlow, and need a cleanup guy! harrel is very good at his job so he’s highly regarded within the business 

especially mean mafia ppl. be mean to him. its part of his character hes anxious bc the mafia is mean 

no specifics, but i want harrel to just get Fucked Up. like i said, he’s highly regarded so holding him for ransom isn’t out of the question. just fuck this nerd up 

on a lighter note! he frequents record shops and jazz clubs, so maybe a musician or two with similar interests to help him get out of his shell. he needs a friend or two. 

friends from university! anyone in sciences, forensics, medical science, criminal studies…he probably studied with them! his backstory is that he disappeared from university one day when he got kidnapped by a mafia boss, and managed to wrangle his way into them keeping him alive. an old friend who noticed and is suddenly Very Confused upon seeing him again like 5 years later 

someone he went to uni with who’s now in the law industry, and the conflict that might arise from them being on two totally different ends of the spectrum…could be a fun dynamic! 

on the same wavelength: old flames from university. ex quadrants, ex hookups, ex crushes. people he was romantically involved with before suddenly disappearing 

i think thats all…

forrr sarky! 

no real quad stuff needed for him…perhaps an ex or two, but no real ideas there! 

other grubtubers to be friends with, or fans who’ve met/would want to meet him! grubtube is a HUGE part of his life and i’ve never really been able to explore it, bc he has no connections involved with it. u got a grubtuber troll who’d collab with him? a troll who enjoys letsplays? a weird youtuber superfan who’d give their right arm to meet a letsplayer? fuck yea dude all valid options 

PETTY INTERNET DRAMA. im sure theres potential

sarky IS a shifter, meaning he turns into a weird dragon monster in the dead of night on a full…moons (idk how that works on alternia,,,hello???) u got a troll who’d stop him when they catch him stumbling shirtless thru the city streets post-shift towards a local diner at 4am weirdly covered in scars and looing like he’s about to pass out?? a poor overworked diner worker wondering what the Fuck this dudes deal is when he stumbles in at 5am before cramming his face full of meat?? a troll who hangs out in the wilderness bordering the city and saw the horrific sight of this fuzzy teal bitch shifting into a giant dragon?? or just a fellow shifter perhaps?? idk theres a lot that can be done here, im sure 

apartment neighbours! disgruntled highblood a floor below him wondering why this bitch keeps scaling the building?? or someone who thinks its pretty sick, actually. 

fellow city dwellers for him to meet and befriend or annoy the shit out of…he takes the subway a lot, so they can meet there. or in some greasy food place

connected to faldur, any ex quads of faldurs that had to be intervened with and broken up, sarky was probably involved. if u want them to be bitter towards him, feel free. it makes for more interest >:3c 

florem time…………..

GET FLOREM A GIRLFRIEND 2K20…PLEASE. i just want her to have a girlfriend. its what she deserves and we all know it 

get her FRIENDS TOO....friends who will support her, and her weird hobbies. florem has a tendency to help other people and forget about her own needs, so itd be nice for her to have a friend who listens to her too... 

perhaps a troll who stumbles upon her weird troll-eating plant. a fellow enthusiast or some poor soul she has to rescue, either or 

a fellow taxidermy enthusiast....maybe a pen pal who buys stuff from whatever the troll equivalent of etsy is 

camping buddy...............she has no one to go camping with!!

im sadly low on ideas for florem but i DO want interactions with her...

veleno tiem babey

she needs a gf in every single goddamn quad.....shes 100% single 

a Bunch of highbloods who were cocky enough to gamble against her, and are incredibly mad about losing. highbloods out for vengeance 

on the same wavelength, a highblood who lost and got incredibly mad and fucked her face up, giving her all them scars....vel would avoid them for the rest of her life, but perhaps its someone who frequents the same casinos as she does so she cant avoid em 4 Extra Drama 

other down on their luck lowbloods, maybe younger ones, who need her help bc shes Experienced. she can become their Street Mom 

other down on their luck lowbloods for her to just befriend!! she frequents a shitty diner, as well as singing in a jazz club and hanging around in casinos. if youve got a lowblood who hangs around in those places they could def meet! 

i THINK thats all i got...but know i am more than open to literally Any plot suggestion ever >:3c

#Anonymous #ask #save #pls read this is u ever even Consider rping with me i spent 2 long writing this #fredmusings #i cant believe i whole ass forgot harrel

[flipsideds]

“ oh, haha... ”  a default response to a very non-default situation –– a little post-show, barside rendez-vous with an older man who insists nour has been singing to directly to him the entire night. “ flirting ?  i... ”  

gentle eyes gloss over the banquet hall’s dimmed lights, bright smiles, flickering electric candles... “ . . . what’s that ? ”  and then he’s off, gin and tonic in hand. three strides and it’s already half-drained. yikes.

or, alternatively :  greetings loved ones!! my name is linc ( 21 / est / she/her ) and here is the ever so graceful, ever so unintentionally magnetic nour al-busiri! below the cut you’ll find a messy run-down. i am so excited to plot & write with all of you !!

( i’m scheduled for a tonsillectomy tomorrow so i’m gonna be so grateful for the distraction, y’all have no idea. ) 

if you want some great mood-setters for this beb’s backstory / insight into his soul, slap on some jacob collier, kevin garrett, or charlie burg ‘n let’s get cookin’ !

so this is all copy-pasted from a discord chat with devon bc i improvised nour’s entire life story over a span of... 10 minutes ?? bahaha pls enjoy i apologize in advance. ( i also put this in normal text size bc it is v long and i don’t want anyone hurting their eyes !! protect dem beautiful retinas <3 )

h i s t o r y .

his parents met in grade school in egypt, but then didn't reconnect until their masters studies crossed paths in london... immediately fell head over heels again ( had they been searching for one another in crowds since being 6-7 years old?? maybe... ). graduated top of their class, accepted job offers in london in the biopharmaceutical realm. but then. when nour was 3...

they were involved in a freak monorail accident on their way back from a science conference in amsterdam. the babysitter paid 80 quid to watch the kids for two nights became their sole protector in this world. british authorities had trouble contacting other kin, but managed to reach mr. al-busiri's mother, rashida, who was still living in dahab with her second husband, zaim.

the al-busiri's came from old money. so off nour goes ( and potentially his older bro if i decide he exists... potential wc with a rami malek fc tbh ) to live in the city which, unbeknownst to him, sparked his parents' storybook love.

so nour grows up in this like... picturesque seaside childhood. collects shells. bonds with his grandmother and her husband. they encourage him with school, etc. but he quickly shows that he excels at maths and... music? wow. that's unexpected. gets his first piano at 5. first guitar at 6. by 8 1/2, he's managed to hodge-podge together a little recording studio for himself in his bedroom, and he's constantly serenading his friends at school.

( death tw / illness tw ) then comes zaim's stroke. he lives for four months after, but he loses his ability to speak. his motor skills deteriorate. nour and his grandmother do their best to tend to him –– she's already about 40% down the macular degeneration path, but hasn't told him yet that her vision's going. so 10 y/o nour does what he does best: unconditional love and support, delivered through the gift of song. zaim dies after requesting his favorite song: 'blackbird' by the beatles, sung in verses alternating from english to arabic.

after,  it's just nour and rashida against the world ( maybe his brother too bergorghre if i decide he's a thing ) . rashida's forced to come clean about her vision the day she can't for the life of her find the bloody pen she just put down so she can finish signing off on nour's choir trip permission slip. ( it's right next to her, to her left, just out of her closing field of vision. ) things progress more rapidly after that. by the time nour's 16, his grandmother is legally blind. it's not an uncommon sight to see him at the markets or strolling along the beach with her on his arm. she refuses canes as long as nour's around. ( “ don't rob me of my youth, nuri-nuri [ my light ] ”  )

despite her growing dependency on him, she encourages him to apply to unis all over the globe. by the time college apps roll around, nour is somewhat of a local household name: he plays summer concerts, coffee shops, and is even asked to play at his teacher's wedding ceremony –– and his neighbor's cat funeral.

acceptances roll in. julliard. berkeley. chicago school of music. he chooses chicago, because there's someone there. someone he connected with online a few years back, a friend, but... could turn into something more. this hopeless romantic heedlessly ventures off to find out if this boy in chicago might... be someone. something more.

spoiler alert: he gets to chicago, starts music school. and each meet-up they set? gets pushed. sometimes it's traffic. a cold. transit trouble. can't get work off, sorry. things with ma are really tough. the excuses kept coming but... nour's naive. he believes every word. but in his second year of uni, things....... start getting suspicious. by chance, he spots this man in the window of a coffee shop downtown. overjoyed, he texts as much. but ... messages go read and unanswered. phone calls dwindle.

his music suffers. so does his muse. so much so that he's tempted to drop out, to throw in the towel, to just...... go back home. he speaks with his grandmother each day on the phone. she's doing well, stop worrying, nuri-nuri, your uncle is taking good care of me. nour goes on dates. thinks about chicago boy. thinks about him a lot.

he's 20 when it happens. sat on a stage in a little dive bar, tuning his acoustic guitar for an opening number, and there. those eyes. he knows them.

they talk after the show, in the alley. share a cigarette. and it's almost like... maybe things are finally clicking. maybe this is finally their shot.

except chicago boy ( neil ) says they have to stop talking. that he had to just... see nour for himself. see that he's real. hear him sing, and... move on. nour doesn't buy it. pushes back. asks why the hell neil'd come out now only to slink back to the shadows. things get heated. neil yells. and the men... the men who hear and come running ?  they think nour is the cause of it all.

( hate crime tw, violence tw )  how many kicks does it take to break to the center of a broken heart ? twelve. how many broken ribs does it take to immobilize a probably terrorist, dude ? four. shattered wrist. snapped ankle. broken arm. cracked skull. and neil scuttles off like nour's bad meat. bad blood. like he asked for this. 

chicago school of music receives a call from weiss memorial three days later.

nour never gets his degree. he breaks his apartment lease. flies home after he heals, spends a year with his grandmother and uncle. just... creating. writing, playing, trying to fill that void with something. but then things with his uncle get heated. he wants to put his own mother in a home, sell the estate, pocket the cash. nour fights it, but he's got no legal bearing.

the nursing home concept never takes hold, though, because his grandmother's still sharp as shit and refuses to sign anything nour doesn't read first. eventually the uncle grows tired of fighting and stops trying, just... slinks back to his husband and keeps his mouth shut. nour's grandmother pressures him to go back to chicago, make that city wish he never left. take back his own story. together they work to find a live-in aide they trust. freshly 22, nour ventures back to the city that broke him.

he finds cheap housing, a gig. the malnati, seems legit. good money. good exposure. and then he meets @ryderxmms​ –– they form one night stand. when not scheduled for malnati banquets, you can find nour providing vocals ( and occasional keys ) in the dive bars / parties the band lands gigs at.

g e n e r a l .

nour creates like food and drink don’t exist, sunlight is an illusion, and all the human body needs for sustenance is sound. he can find his way around just about any instrument under the sun, but his main poisons are piano, acoustic guitar, and digital recording tools –– think jacob collier and you’re right on the money.

actually, i’m stealing a lot of jacob collier discography and pegging it as his creations. this kid’s got an experimental sound and loves it.

he grew up speaking english and arabic equally, but because he learned english in london and then continued in egypt, he does have a mild brit-arab accent. it’s v cute, i promise.

looks like he’d be a total lothario, yeah ?? but. he’s so shy ?  so sweet ?  get him on a stage and he’s shameless but plop him in a bar and eye him up and he’ll honestly just smile nervously and pretend you’re looking at someone else.

love languages : singing to his succulents and plants before his 5am morning runs. facetime calls at times least convenient for him, but most convenient for you. little notes written on napkins, smiley face doodles included. candy bars. lingering a little longer in doorways after saying hello, just to see you smile.

he’s got major water sign vibes. birthday comin’ up in march, woot woot !!

he often wears very simple statement pieces. he likes rings, crystal pendants, leather bracelets. soft tees layered with embroidered jackets, metallic blazers. somehow he pulls off mixed media and crazy prints that should never go together ?  he just... is so easy breezy.

he often wears his hair wild ‘n curly, unless the gig he’s got mandates a more streamlined look. 

falls in love.... 14 times a day ??  really.

has a scar across his left temple from the incident with neil. will probably write it off as a bike riding accident. ( he doesn’t know how to ride a bike. )

don’t let him cook ever, okay ??  unless you want him to literally do this.

pls come at me for all the plots ?  i’m so open for all the things !!!  y’all got me on discord, so feel free to slide on into my dms. i promise i will be so thrilled <3

#intro. #☼ –– gimme that afterglow ! inspo.

[neighbours-kid]

Christ, It‘s December Already?

December is not fully over yet, but since I‘m fucking off to Berlin tomorrow until the end of the year, I decided to wrap up this month now already. You can expect a full round up of 2019 once I‘m back home in the new year, but for now, December.

I want to say December went over even quicker than November did, and I think it actually rings quite true. December began for me with the final day of the candle making event in our church, and then stress. Well—technically. In theory. The practical part of brain didn‘t actually quite catch up with that stress. I was highly aware of the fact that my exams — important ‘I definitely have to pass these’ exams — were coming up and that I should be studying for them. In reality? Yeah, not that much. I wanted to, yes. I tried, also yes. But there isn‘t always a way where there‘s a will. Not always. It did turn out mostly okay though, I think. I know I definitely passed one of them. Haven‘t heard back yet from the others. But we‘ll see. And hope for the best.

But there were also some fun things in this month, not just exam stress and time seemingly running away from me. A dear friend of mine celebrated her birthday early on in the month and that was an incredible blast. Walking home at nearly 5am in pitch black night, the sky clear and scattered with stars was equally as beautiful.

We celebrated Christmas at our annual English Department Christmas Party and that has got to be my highlight of the entire term. It was wonderful. Having my lovely friends there, drinking great booze, eating chili and all kinds of cakes and cookies and whatnot. Being able to let go for a moment even though exams were still coming up the week after? It was just so good. Dancing like there‘s no tomorrow. Singing Christmas carols with our favourite professor. Changing the tune to Irish drinking songs and not-quite sea shanties after we give our all with 12 Days to Christmas? More dancing. Screaming along to Bohemian Rhapsody, knowing that everyone in the room is doing exactly the same. It was a wonderful fucking time. I look forward to this party every single year. Every year. There‘s just something so grounding and pure about it. I can‘t really fully explain it. Guess you‘d have to be there.

Exams and the term finally over, I had my dearest friends over at my place for a wonderful little Christmas celebration and it was everything that I‘d hoped it would be. We played games, we ate, we joked, we exchanged gifts and made each other cry. These insane fucking beautiful idiots bought me the Occult version of the Illustrated Good Omens and I haven‘t completely processed it even now, I don‘t think. I am just so lucky to have these people in my life. And to think that the majority of them I only really met a year ago? I am amazed.

I am just now getting home from Christmas at my dad‘s place. We ate great food, played cards, watched movies, had an over all wonderful time. Before that, I was at my mom‘s place which was also very lovely. And I was at my not-quite-family‘s place and celebrated with them too, which I hold just as dear to my heart as all my other Christmases. It‘s, overall, been a very lovely and warm few days of celebration, really. I have enjoyed it greatly this year.

The holidays aren‘t always easy, especially not for people like me. Being around family that might not know who you truly are, or not care, or not care enough, is super challenging. I‘m lucky with mine, for the most part. I still had to sit through the whole misgendering hell, but it‘ll get better, I know it will.

I am very excited to spend some days away now, allowing me to get my mind off of things a bit. The financial aspect of it all is gonna be a thorn in my side, but it‘ll turn out okay, I‘m sure. December just isn‘t a friendly place for the bank account, that‘s all. But I‘m excited, I‘ve never been to Berlin and neither has my friend who I‘m going with, so this should be very exciting and fun. Museums, bookshops, coffee, history. All the good things we both like a good bit.

That‘s all for now. I hope you‘ve had most pleasant holidays and will continue to have a wonderful time in these last few days of 2019. I‘ll see y‘all on the flip side.

Happy Holidays.

#new year #end of year #personal #holidays #travelling #monthly blog #germany #update #blog post #text post #holiday #vacation #new year's eve #christmas

[randomactuallywrites-57]

Origin

Title: Origin Author: randomwriter57 Rating: G Word Count: 9,961 Event + Prompt: @sormikweek day three - Fear/Excitement (Wind) Notes: i love miraculous ladybug. i love superhero AUs. please don't judge me. you shouldn't need to have seen the show to understand this oneshot, but please let me know if anything is unclear! also feel free to come and yell with me about this AU because i love it a lot.

Summary: There is such thing as magic - both the good kind, and the bad.

Also on: AO3

There is such thing as magic.

That’s what Sorey thinks, anyway. Usually his nature tends to be that of a realistic thinker, but he’s always had a soft spot for the supernatural. It doesn’t matter what kind of magic it is; stereotypical witchcraft or spell-casting, or even forces like fate and destiny. Regardless of the type, magic has to exist in some form or another.

Of course, there’s no proof that he’s right. Even if there is, he has no way of finding it for himself, especially not when he’s in a situation like this.

His father’s study feels like a black hole where magic goes to die. The dark, regal colouring and antique flooring might suggest the opposite. But the atmosphere in the room, the hopelessness permeating the air, is what lets him know he’s right.

Georg Heldalf, Sorey’s father, stands before the window, his back facing him and blocking the outside world from view. The light before him creates the effect of his back being shadowed, hidden from view.

“Please, father,” Sorey pleads. “I promise I’ll be careful, and I’ll come straight home afterwards-”

“I’ve told you time and time again, Sorey,” Georg says without moving to face him. “You will not be going to school and that is final.”

“Is it too much to ask for a single year of being allowed to learn more about the world?”

His father scoffs. “How insolent. I pay for the best tutors in Pendrago to teach you everything you need to know for a full education, and this is the thanks I get. Everything you need is in this house.”

Sorey clenches his fist, turning his gaze to the only other adult in the room. His father’s assistant, Runette, only watches silently, her lips pressed tightly together.

Maybe magic isn’t real after all. At least, it doesn’t exist in this house.

“I appreciate everything you do for me,” Sorey says in a measured tone, “but there’s more for me to see outside this house. More people for me to meet. A life lived without going outside is barely a life at all.”

Georg heaves a great sigh, pushing a hand through his blond hair in agitation. “I have given you everything I could since your birth. Now your mother is gone, I am going through more trouble to keep you safe and happy.”

“But can’t you see that I’m not happy?”

“Leave.” His father’s tone is final, strong and low. “You will not be going to school. I have nothing more to say on the matter.”

For a moment, Sorey waits, desperate to say something else, to try to convince him. In the end, though, all he can do is hold his tongue and leave, heading back through the large, lonely house towards his room.

Now, more than ever, he wishes magic was real. Maybe then he’d have a chance at a normal life.

Mikleo would love for magic to be real. Maybe it would make life easier.

Of course, there's no chance of that happening. Though he enjoys thinking of impossible things, he always sees them for what they are - impossible. That's why he doesn't get his hopes up that high school will be any better than middle school had been, or that some miracle will suddenly fix everything wrong with his life.

When he gets up on the first day of high school, his excitement is tainted by a sense of dread. There won't be many new people in his class, judging on how previous years have been. He'll be stuck in another year with a group of people he's never fit in with, and who never seemed to like him anyway.

Switching off his alarm, he takes a moment to gaze at his phone’s wallpaper, his lips curling upward at the sight of a picture of him with his best friend.

He wishes, not for the first time, that Sorey might be there to brave this new school year with him.

Again, there’s no chance of that happening. Even without the factor of Sorey’s father being the strictest man he’s ever had the misfortune to meet, he hasn’t seen Sorey for months, now. Not since his mother, Selene disappeared.

Locking his phone, he forces himself out of bed, where he puts on his glasses and begins to get ready for the day. His new school uniform is a little big on him, the white blazer sleeves almost dwarfing his palms, but he’ll grow into it. At least when he brushes his mouse-brown hair into a more sophisticated style, he doesn’t look quite so young.

Once he’s ready, he heads downstairs from his attic bedroom into the kitchen. His mother, Muse, is already there, brewing them both cups of tea to go with the cereal which sits on the island counter.

“Good morning, sweet pea,” Muse says through a yawn.

Muse has the same problem as Mikleo in that she’s always busy and never takes breaks. She wakes up at 5am everyday to make pastries for the coming day in the bakery downstairs. Then she spends all day working there, and she does the admin work at night before bed. Somehow, she fits in time to clean the house and do the chores whilst Mikleo is at school, too. He has no idea how she does it.

“Morning,” he replies, sitting down at one of the island stools. He grabs a clean bowl and pours himself some cereal. “How are you?”

“Ready for another busy day, as usual,” she says, putting a strong cup of tea on the counter beside him. “Are you excited for school? First day of a new year, after all.”

Mikleo hums in an unenthusiastic tone. “It’ll be the same as it is every year, mum.”

“But you’re in high school now,” she points out, sitting down to get her own breakfast. “Maybe something exciting will happen that will make your whole year amazing.”

“That would take a miracle, mum.”

‘Or some form of magic,’ he thinks.

A man stands alone in a dark chamber. The only light source is a window high above him, which looks out onto the city from a great height. Though the chamber is shrouded in darkness, there is no furniture to be seen. The only other inhabitants of the room are silver energy particles which float around the man, hovering near the ground.

The man holds out his hand in front of him, where a brooch lies in his palm. A red gem glimmers in the centre of its golden body, shimmering in the low light.

“What did you say you are?” he asks.

In front of him floats a strange being, one with skin of a purple hue and a blob-like form. The little creature has small pointed ears atop its head, and a tail with a fluffy tip.

"I am a kwami named Symonne," the creature says. "I live within the brooch you're holding, the Lion Miraculous."

"And if I wear this brooch, you will grant me powers?" he asks.

"Yes. I provide the power to send off energy to people, which gives them their own powers for a short period of time, under your jurisdiction. They will be able to do as you command them to."

Though the man’s face is hidden in shadows, his teeth gleam in the light. "And if I capture two certain Miraculouses, I might be granted special powers?"

Symonne nods. "Capturing the Miraculous of the Magpie and the Cat will grant you both the powers of creation and destruction, and any wish you ask for will come true."

A grin spreads across his lips. "Then I shall do exactly that. And what better way to lure two Miraculous-holding superheroes than to create supervillains, do you not agree?"

"Yes, master," Symonne says, her own lips curling as she watches him pin the brooch onto his shirt. "All you have to do is ask."

The man, standing tall in his lair, calls out. "Symonne, transform me!"

Darkness envelopes him, swirling around him as his clothing changes. A moment passes before he stands once more, this time clad in an entirely different outfit, one drenched in hues of purple and black. A mask covers his face, hiding his identity behind the image of a lion. The brooch on his collarbone holds together a long black cloak.

“Let it be known now that I am Calamity,” he says. "I shall cover Pendrago in darkness, in order to fulfil my wish. That is my answer."

Calamity lets out a roar of laughter, and for a moment, the world sees nothing but darkness.

The dark aura, for the most part, is unnoticeable. Only a few creatures sense it when it washes over them, one of whom stirs in a small house on the outskirts of the city.

Kyme freezes in the drawer where he usually sleeps, his body wrought with fear. This sensation filling him is one he has only felt a few times before, at times which preceded eras filled with chaos.

It is dread which makes him fly out of the drawer, heading quickly to his master’s side.

He finds Zenrus in the living room of the house, sitting on a pillow in front of the fireplace. He takes a long drag from his pipe, his expression all too calm considering the situation.

“Master,” he says.

Zenrus turns his attention to the green kwami. “Kyme. Is something wrong?”

“Yes, master. I felt a terrible aura. It can only mean one thing.”

“The Lion Miraculous?” When Kyme doesn’t respond, he breathes out the smoke from his pipe. “So, Calamity will rise once more. It was bound to happen one day.”

“But master, it hasn’t even been two decades-”

“There is no use in pondering the reason,” Zenrus says. He pulls out a necklace from around his neck, clutching it in his free hand. “We must make haste in stopping Calamity.”

Kyme zooms over, stopping Zenrus from uttering any more words. “Master, with all due respect, your body is too weak now to transform.”

“I’m still young,” he says, though they both know otherwise. For a man who has lived for centuries, even if he is strong, he does not have the power alone needed to triumph over evil. “But you are right. We must call on those with power stronger than any other.”

He gets up from his seat, moving over to where a music box sits in the corner of the room. Though it looks innocent enough, he opens a panel on it and types in a code. When it opens, it reveals dozens of pieces of jewellery, all inscribed with ancient symbols.

“You will choose another Magpie and Luzrov?” Kyme asks hesitantly. He isn’t sure he wants to know the answer. Hearing the truth will only tell him how much their city, and perhaps even their world, is at stake.

Zenrus nods gravely. “In times like these, it is only these two who may put an end to the evil threatening our world. I’m afraid it is a necessity.”

For a moment, they both stay silent, contemplating the war which will begin the moment these Miraculouses come into use. It will be a long struggle, if the past instances are anything to go by. They’ll need to use all of their strength, and choose heroes with unwavering hearts.

Kyme turns his attention to his master. “Where should we begin?”

It’s surprisingly easy to sneak out of Sorey’s house.

He’s only done it a few times before, and he’s never gone much farther than the end of the street. That being said, he could have gone farther, if he’d wanted. His only issue is the guilt which crawls into his throat at the thought of being caught.

This time, however, when he climbs out of his window and over the wall surrounding the house, he doesn’t look back. To get what he’s always wanted, he can’t back out now. Otherwise he’ll never get to go to school, have a normal life, make new friends and see his existing ones more often.

And lord knows seeing Mikleo right now would be good enough to make this whole trip worth it.

He runs down the street, heading in the direction of the local high school. Pendrago is a large city, but most of the public services are very central, and with his father’s house being in the city centre, it’s fairly easy to find where he’s going. Not having an escort tailing him makes getting around a lot easier, too.

As he moves into more crowded areas, he forces himself to slow his pace to a fast walk. He can’t have himself sticking out in such a huge crowd, lest someone recognises him from the few pictures online of his father with his family, back when his political power stretched further.

All he’s going to do is enrol for classes. If he does that, surely his father will understand his resolve.

The school building looms in the distance, and he speeds up, ready to run straight in. However, as he approaches it, he sees an old man crossing the street in front of the school. The man walks with a cane and a hunched back, very slowly and uncertainly. The ringing of the school bell punctuates the moment his foot slips, and he falls to the ground, just as a car turns the corner.

When Sorey moves now, it is an instinct more than a thought process. One moment he’s watching from afar, the next he kneels beside the man on the road. He picks up the man’s cane before turning to him.

“Are you okay?” he asks, offering an arm. “Can you stand?”

The car approaching grinds to a halt as the old man takes Sorey’s arm, using it to levy himself off the ground and onto his feet once more. They move onto the pavement and Sorey passes him his cane with a warm smile, which the old man returns gratefully.

Before either Sorey or the man can say anything, though, the halted car’s door slams, and a familiar voice assaults his ears.

“Sorey!” His father’s assistant Runette stands by the car, her eyes wide with anger, chest heaving. “You must come home at once!”

Feeling his heart crush in his chest, Sorey turns to face her. He doesn’t notice as the old man walks away, barely using his cane at all to move. “Please, you don’t understand. I’ve wanted this for so long-”

“Your father has told you time and again. Neither he or I will make any exceptions.”

The sound of a crowd grows, and Sorey knows if he doesn’t want to cause a scene whilst the students are going for lunch, he should stand down. But he can’t bring himself to give up. This is his last chance at convincing his father - or at least his assistant - that he ought to be allowed to attend public school.

“I understand that my father is worried for me,” Sorey says, “but I don’t see any issue with this. School is meant to be a safe place. Why would I get hurt here?”

“You will not be attending, and that is final.”

“Please-”

“Sorey?”

This voice feels like a blessing and a curse when he hears it.

Sorey whips around, his heart racing as he sees the familiar figure of Mikleo standing a few feet away. He’s wearing the school’s uniform, complete with the iconic white blazer Sorey has seen people wearing when he passes the school in the car. The formal dress is a little surprising, but he can’t say it doesn’t suit Mikleo. The only thing which doesn’t seem to belong on his face is the confusion and concern forming in his violet eyes.

“Mikleo,” Sorey says weakly.

“What are you doing here?” Mikleo asks, looking between Sorey and Runette. “Is something wrong?”

When Sorey opens his mouth to answer, he feels Runette’s ice-cold glare in the back of his head more than he hears her speak his name in a warning tone.

He holds up a finger to represent “one second” before rushing over to Mikleo.

“There isn’t time to explain everything right now,” Sorey says. “Can I call you later?”

Though Mikleo looks like he wants to ask more questions, he settles for a nod. “Alright. Just don’t scare me like that in the future, okay?”

“Thanks, Mikleo.”

Sorey heads back toward Runette, hesitating when he sees the escort car waiting for him, ready to return him to a life he will never escape from.

There’s no point in resisting, though. All he can do is obey the wishes of his father. He’s powerless to do anything else.

Zenrus turns the corner, heading into an alleyway behind the school. It’s shaded enough that onlookers shouldn’t see more than a silhouette if they happen to glance over as they pass by. Reaching into his pocket, he removes an ornate jewellery box in the shape of a hexagon, marked with symbols only he and a few others understand.

“Take this to that boy’s house,” he tells Kyme, who comes out from his hiding spot in Zenrus’ other pocket.

“Are you certain? This boy is definitely the right one for the Magpie Miraculous?”

Part of Zenrus wishes Kyme wouldn’t be so cautious, but then again, he is the same way. “I only ever chose wrongly once, years ago. I will not allow that to happen again.”

With that as his answer, Kyme gives in, taking the box from his master. He is dwarfed by its size, but he manages to carry it with him as he flies off into the sky on his mission.

Watching after him, Zenrus grasps his cane. There is nothing left to do now but search for the other hero their city needs, and then hope he’s made the right decision.

As the black car drives away, Mikleo wonders if this day can get any weirder.

Not only has he just been faced with the sight of his best friend for the first time in months, having an argument in front of his school. He’s also been in classes where he doesn’t recognise a single person, and watched his History teacher lose his composure over the rudeness of a few careless students.

To be fair, Mikleo can understand why his teacher was upset. Professor Uno seems like an intelligent and patient man. For a class to give such a rude first impression, interrupting constantly and bickering without any care for their teacher’s warnings, it doesn’t give him hope for the rest of the school year. If the other students would just be more considerate, maybe things would be better.

A crash interrupts his thoughts, followed by a shriek of fear. He whips back to face the school, heart stopping as he sees what stands at the door.

Rather than a person, it’s more of a half-human, half-snake creature. The blue tail suggests it’s more snakelike, along with the scales crawling up the man’s exposed neck and face. His hair falls around his shoulders in a mess, his eyes now slits, glowing with rage. Strangest of all, he wears a snake around his neck.

“Students,” the man calls out, “My name is Uroboros. It is time you were taught a lesson in manners!”

When Mikleo said he wanted people to be more considerate, this isn’t how he expected them to be taught about it.

He backs away behind one of the pillars supporting the school building, watching from behind it as the snake man moves towards the fleeing students, swiping at them with long claws. It’s a sight unlike anything he’s seen before, unlike anything he’s ever wanted to see, and for a horrifying moment, he wonders if this is the proof he desired that magic exists.

If it is, he kind of wishes he never found out.

Uroboros swipes at a pillar, causing the roof to cave in, stone dust and debris falling from above. Mikleo has to run to get out of the way, holding one arm over his head and the other over his mouth, the fabric of his blazer hot against his lips from his breaths. As he reaches the corner of the building, he notices an old man standing nearby, a look of horror in his eyes as his cane lies abandoned a few feet away.

“You need to get out of here!” Mikleo yells, getting the man’s attention. He runs toward him, picking up the cane and handing it to him. “I’ll help you to safety.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, Mikleo grabs the man’s arm and drags him around the corner, running with him down the alleyway toward the next street down. It’s a useful shortcut to know, one which leads to a main street with plenty shops lining the streets. He drags the man into one at random. The door opens with a crash, and the woman behind the counter startles as he rushes in.

“There’s something attacking near the school,” Mikleo explains, letting go of the man’s arm. “Please look after this man. Lock all the doors and alert the others on this street.”

The woman nods, too scared and shocked to say a word, and Mikleo runs out of the shop again. If someone is terrorising the school, he can’t bring himself to sit back and do nothing.

In the shop, Zenrus gives a reassuring smile to the cashier before heading to the door. “The young boy is right. Please stay inside.”

The woman says, “Where are you going?”

“I have far more important things to be doing than hiding,” he answers cryptically.

As he leaves the shop and rushes down the street as fast as his legs will take him - which, to be fair, is a lot slower than it used to be - he can’t help the heavy feeling in his heart.

“I suppose the white cat runs in your blood,” he says to himself as he runs toward a certain bakery, where a pair of violet eyes reside, matching those of the boy he has chosen.

It’s only once Sorey gets back to his bedroom and turns on his TV that he hears about what’s happening.

He sits down on his sofa, reclining and ready to find another documentary he’s already watched a thousand times, only to find himself bombarded with news announcements.

“A man with the tail of a snake has been spotted roaming near the Pendrago High School,” the news reporter says. The footage switches to an aerial shot of the school, where it shows an unbelievable creature who truly has the body of a snake. “The creature is incredibly violent. We urge citizens to stay at home if possible, and not to engage the beast at all costs.”

“This is crazy,” Sorey murmurs, watching in horror as the snake creature swipes at a passing student. “Is this real?”

It occurs to him, that Mikleo had been near the school only minutes ago. He hopes with all his heart that he managed to get away.

His head drops as he wonders how this will end up. Will someone be able to stop the beast? Or will it continue terrorising innocent people? This is the kind of thing which only happens in comic books, but as far as he knows, there aren’t any superheros in Pendrago.

Catching sight of something in the corner of his eye, he looks up. In the centre of his coffee table sits an antique jewellery box.

It’s like nothing he’s seen before. Though the markings have come up in textbooks and online articles he’s read about ancient relics, he can’t figure out its origin era, or what it’s supposed to mean. Most confusing of all, of course, is how it ended up in his room. He’s never seen it before, and neither his father nor his assistants are the types to give gifts at random.

Well, he has nothing to lose. He opens the jewellery box.

Suddenly, a burst of white light surrounds him, and he squints his eyes as something materialises before him. It takes a moment for the light to disappear before he sees an unfamiliar creature floating in the air above the box. It looks a little like a bird, though it’s an unnatural shade of green, and it has a little antenna thing sticking out from its head. It also grins at him, which Sorey is unsure birds are usually able to do.

His expression changes to a disappointed frown a moment later. “Awww, I’d been hoping for a pretty lady this time.”

Sorey blinks, unsure how much more surprised he can get. He isn’t sure whether to ask what it is or why it can talk or what. In the end, what comes out of his mouth is, “Sorry?”

The thing, whatever he is, crosses his arms behind his head, letting his expression become easygoing once more. “Welp, can’t be helped. Hey kid, the name’s Zaveid. Looks like I’ll be your kwami from here on out.”

“What?” Sorey asks, getting even more confused at this new terminology. “What does that mean? Who are you?”

The kwami - Zaveid - rolls his eyes in exasperation. “I just told you, I’m Zaveid, a kwami. Seriously, you got ears, don’t you?” He looks down at the jewellery box, prompting Sorey to do the same. “See those earrings? That’s where I live.”

They’re an ordinary looking pair of silver ear cuffs, each with two black beads attached to them.

“You live in the earrings?” Sorey asks.

“Yup. If you put them on and say “transform me”, I grant you super special powers, and you can purify evil.”

Sorey’s eyes widen, slowly beginning to understand what Zaveid is talking about. “Wait, you can make people have magic?”

Zaveid grins. “Yeah. With my help, you’ll be a superhero. You up for it?”

“Of course! This is the kind of thing I’ve always dreamed of!” Sorey jumps up from the sofa, taking the earrings out of the box. As he puts them on, he continues with his questions, trying to pry more information out of the kwami.

Though Zaveid doesn’t tell him much, he learns this: with these earrings, he will become a hero with the power to create a lucky item to help him defeat villains. These are people who have been tainted by evil creatures known as akumas, which are controlled by - well, he’s not sure, Zaveid changes the subject before he can ask. In any case, as a hero, he’ll have the strength and ability to save those in need, and to purify the akumas, returning the victims to their original states.

“So you mean to say the snake thing attacking the school is an akuma victim?” Sorey asks, looking over to the TV once more.

“Looks like it,” Zaveid says. He doesn’t sound like he’s in much of a hurry as he says, “You should probably be quick. Looks like that guy’s only getting angrier.”

With both earrings on, there’s nothing stopping Sorey from going now. He clenches his hand into a fist, then grins confidently.

“Alright. Zaveid, transform me!”

Zaveid is sucked into his earrings, and light explodes around him. His body is encompassed by a warm aura, and he finds his clothes changing to a black and white bodysuit, fit with a colourful bird’s tail and thigh-high lace up boots. A mask with a pointed, beak-like nose covers his face, and he runs a glove-covered hand through his hair, messing it up a little to make it more windswept. White feathers sprout from his earrings, brushing against his skin.

The moment passes, and he finds himself alone in his room, now in a strange outfit.

Still, Sorey has never felt so powerful before. Now, he feels like he’s capable of anything.

“This is amazing!” he says, looking over himself. “So now what do I do?”

Only silence answers him.

“Zaveid?” he says, looking around himself. The kwami is nowhere to be seen.

“Alright,” he says to himself. “Guess I’ll figure it out as I go along.”

He rushes over to the window and jumps out, ready to take on whatever this creature will throw at him.

Mikleo’s chest heaves with exertion. He’s been running around the school for longer than he can keep track of, now. At least it looks like he’s helped most of the stragglers to safety at this point, but if there are any more here, he’s not sure how much help he’ll be. He’s already out of energy, and no one has shown up to tackle the snake man yet.

All he can do is hope that someone will come to save the day. After all, if snake people exist, then there must also be someone with the power to best them. Well at least, that’s what he hopes.

He makes sure the coast is clear before running out from his hiding spot, trying to find the best way of getting away from the school. It’ll do no good if he gets caught by that snake man now.

The door is in sight. He runs toward it at full speed, hoping the snake is where he left it, nearer the rear of the school than the front entrance. He gets outside, toward the debris where pillars have fallen, and it’s only at the last moment that he hears the sound of crumbling rock.

‘Oh no,’ he thinks.

Before he can even move to protect himself, something comes barrelling into him, pushing him out of the building as the stone pillars fall, blocking the door. He lands on the ground with a thud and a large weight on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

The weight shifts.

“Are you alright?” someone asks.

Mikleo opens his eyes, his heart hammering as he takes in the image of someone new, someone he’s sure he’s never seen before and yet feels some sort of familiarity toward. This guy - he has to be a superhero, no one else would wear that getup and push people out of collapsing buildings with that strength - but there’s something in his green eyes that Mikleo feels like he should recognise.

“I-I’m fine,” he stammers, still shell-shocked. He swallows to regain his composure before speaking again. “Who are you?”

The hero gets up off of him before offering a hand, pulling him back onto his feet with ease. “My name is So- er, Magpie,” he says. “I’m here to help get rid of a snake problem?”

For a moment, Mikleo isn’t sure exactly what to say. He’s never thought about being in this kind of situation before. Everything happening to him has put his head in such a spin, it feels like his whole knowledge of normal conversation has gone right out of his head.

In the end, he looks over in the direction of the school building. “I suspect it’s in there somewhere.”

Magpie nods, his feathered earrings blowing in the wind with the ends of his windswept hair. “Thanks. Let me get you to safety first, though. Can’t have you getting bit, after all.”

He ends his sentence with a cheeky smile. Mikleo can’t help but wonder how he can smile in this dangerous situation.

In the end, he doesn’t get a choice in this matter. Magpie picks him up in a fireman’s lift with ease, using a running start before running and jumping up onto the building opposite the school. He runs along the rooftops, bridging the gaps with jumps Mikleo can’t imagine a normal person making. It’s only a matter of minutes before he drops Mikleo off on the balcony of his family’s bakery, where the trapdoor leads down into Mikleo’s room.

“How did you know this is my house?” Mikleo asks as Magpie sets him down.

The hero gives a loud laugh, scratching the back of his head. “Lucky guess? Anyway, I’d better go. Stay safe!”

With that, Magpie flits off again, leaving Mikleo to watch in a bewilderment.

“Messed that up,” Sorey mutters to himself as he makes his way back toward the school. “I almost completely blew my cover! Of course Mikleo would be the first one I’d bump into…”

Had it been any other situation, Sorey would have told Mikleo everything right away. After all, this is something they could both enthuse over, sharing their amazement at the existence of superpowers and heroes and ancient earrings with magical birds living inside of them. In the end, though, there’s no way he can say anything. Zaveid made as much clear earlier, when he told Sorey about the Miraculous.

“Oh, but you can’t tell anyone,” he said, his face growing serious only then. “Not your mum, not your girlfriend, no one.”

Sorey didn’t know how to tell Zaveid that his mum is dead and that he doesn’t have - or want - a girlfriend. He got the gist, though, and that’s why he knows not to tell Mikleo.

Still, he can’t help but feel a little more comfortable, now that’s over. At least he can rest assured that Mikleo is safe at home. Now he can focus fully on fighting the akuma.

He makes his way back to the school, glad to see that the snake has remained within the courtyard. It fumes with rage, but Sorey tries not to think too much about that. If he stands a chance of beating this thing, he’ll do better if he doesn’t worry about how angry it looks.

The only problem now is that he has no idea how to take this thing down. Sure, he has a weapon, though it’s a magical recorder, which Sorey doesn’t even know how to play, let alone how to use in close combat. The only other thing he knows he can do is summon a lucky item, but there’s no guarantee it will be of any use either.

As he watches the creature tear down another pillar, though, he knows there’s no other option.

Lifting the recorder to his lips, his hands somehow know exactly what to do. He plays a short tune, a ball of light forming at the base of the instrument. Then he throws that light into the sky and cries, “Lucky charm!”

The light grows above him, twisting and forming into an unrecognisable shape before disappearing. At the same time as it disappears, a book falls from the sky into his hand.

“A book?” he says, frowning as he examines the cover. It looks like a school-issued textbook, though he has no idea why this is going to be of any use.

“You!” a voice cries before he can figure it out.

Sorey stows the book in his belt, hoping it won’t slip out, and turns his attention to the akuma. Since it’s noticed him by now, there’s no way he can hide. All he can do is fight.

“Hey, snake face!” Sorey yells to it. “What’s got your tail in a twist?”

“People like you!” Uroboros says, lashing out at the pillar supporting the roof where Sorey stands. He barely manages to escape before it crumbles, running along the roof as the snake follows, pushing every pillar it sees to the ground. “People who have no consideration! Brats like you need to be taught a lesson, and that’s what I will do!”

(Uroboros, in his anger, almost does not hear the voice in his head, reminding him of his duty. When he hears it, though, he hisses, knowing his duty and vowing to obey.)

“Pretty dangerous lesson,” Sorey says, hopping over to a nearby tree. “Does it really need to involve so much destruction?”

“There is no better way,” the snake says. “But your lesson will be different. Before I can punish you, I must have those earrings!”

Sorey sighs. Of course this is how things would turn out. “Isn’t stealing pretty inconsiderate? How ironic.”

He hops out of the tree, moving along lampposts and other trees, using roofs as leverage as Uroboros follows, destroying everything he touches. Sorey can’t help but worry how long all this will take to fix.

Still, as he runs, his head spins with options. He needs to figure out a plan, some way to use this book, or to trap the akuma victim-

That’s it!

He changes his course, setting off in the direction of the school once more. “Bet you can’t catch me!”

Uroboros, as expected, follows in a blind rage, entering the school courtyard through the side, the only area not blocked by pillars. Sorey then runs around the debris, hopping onto the roof supported by the last remaining pillars.

“You will be taught a lesson!” the snake cries out, lashing out at the pillars.

As expected, the pillars crumble. Sorey barely manages to hop away before the roof falls with them, a crash of dust and debris falling to the ground. With all the exits blocked off, Uroboros can only cry out in frustration as Sorey remains out of his reach.

There’s no time to celebrate, though. Before he can even wonder what to do next, his earrings beep at him, reminding him of something else he’d forgotten: time.

Zaveid's voice floats through his mind, a reminder of their earlier conversation. “If you use your power, you’ll only have five minutes until you transform back. We kwamis can’t keep up for longer than that.”

He groans. Even if he has the villain cornered, of course he’s going to run into another complication. And all for the sake of a book he doesn’t know the use of.

Pulling the book out from his belt, he begins to sift through the pages, ignoring how the snake man yells at him from below. He doesn’t hear when the snake man grips the debris, trying to climb up the wall to reach him.

Sorey reaches the last page. Uroboros reaches the edge of the roof.

Someone suddenly plucks the book from Sorey’s hands and throws it at the snake, making him fall down once more.

When Sorey looks up, his heart stops. In front of him stands a boy painted in white, with fluffy cloud-like hair and a white super suit not unlike his own. Two pointed ears pop up from between tufts of hair. His left wrist bears a bracelet of gold, with a small aquamarine jewel embedded within it.

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about him are his eyes, hidden behind a white mask, a vibrant violet against his pale palette. The colour extends to the sclera, covering what would usually be white in a pale lilac hue.

Sorey’s first thought is, ‘I’m in love.’

His second is, ‘This guy is like me.’

“Aren’t you reckless,” the stranger says, regarding him with a judging gaze. “You should pay more attention to your surroundings.”

Sorey barely manages to snap put of his stupor to give a response. “I- uh- thanks?”

The stranger's lips curl up a little, and he turns away. “Go and rest up, and come back once you’re done. I can hold this thing off for now.”

The beeping in Sorey's ears reminds him that he ought to hurry in doing so. Before he leaves, however, he asks, “Who are you?”

The hero looks over his shoulder at him, his gaze steady as he answers. “Luzrov.”

The name tingles sweetly on Sorey’s lips, and he can’t help but smile when he repeats it. “Luzrov. Thanks, I’ll be back!”

He rushes off, feeling his energy soar at the thought of having someone like Luzrov at his side.

Mikleo isn’t entirely sure how his day has gotten to this point. He’s a little under the impression that he’ll wake up at some point, finding this all to be a dream.

The too-real feeling of fear as he stands near the snake akuma, alone, is enough to tell him that this is actually happening.

Once Magpie dropped him off at home, he rushed back into his room, turning on the computer in his room and waiting impatiently for the live news stream to load. As he tapped his foot, he noticed a jewellery box sitting on his desk where he knew it hadn’t been this morning.

Long story short, that jewellery box is what got him here. Who’d have thought, when he woke up this morning, that he’d be a superhero by afternoon?

Of course, he’d been entirely disbelieving, at first. It had taken a solid ten minutes for his kwami, Lailah, to calm him down, speaking carefully to get him to understand the situation. She went through everything she could with him, though there were certain things she couldn’t answer due to lack of knowing, and other things she wouldn’t answer, for reasons Mikleo did not know.

In any case, he has the gist of it, and now he’s here.

Fighting an akuma.

Alone, apparently.

Well, not entirely alone. Magpie will come back. All Mikleo has to do is wait until he has rested enough. It should be easy to keep the snake man trapped until then.

Except the snake is stronger than he anticipates. By the time Magpie leaves, Uroboros has carved away a chunk of the debris surrounding the courtyard, trying to dig his way out. Mikleo springs into action, running over to that side of the roof and using his staff to whack the snake away from the new exit.

A moment later, the snake swipes out at him, throwing him to the other side.

“Another brat!” he yells. “You will be taught a lesson, all of you! But not before I take your Miraculous!”

“You’re not taking anything of mine,” Mikleo says through gritted teeth, forcing himself back onto his feet. “And you’re not getting away, either! I can’t have you destroying Pendrago just because of your anger.”

“Oh? You think you can stop me?” Uroboros hisses. In a flash, he makes his way toward him, giving him only seconds to jump back onto the roof.

Still, it’s not quite safe yet. Uroboros swipes at the wall supporting the roof, causing that part of the roof to crumble under Mikleo’s feet. It’s all he can do to jump at the last second, scurrying away from the falling chunks, trying to find stable land.

“Hurry up, Magpie,” he mutters, his heart freezing as the snake lashes out at the wall beneath him.

“Grape mille-feuille? Seriously?”

Zaveid nods with a serious expression, though the effect is dampened by how exhausted he looks. His antenna droops from lack of energy. “Yup. Best thing for getting back energy, don’t you think?”

“Are you sure you can’t eat anything else?” Sorey asks, glancing at the kwami where he rests in his bag. “There aren’t many bakeries that sell something so fancy, you know.”

“Come on, there has to be somewhere around here,” Zaveid says. “And you can’t complain about the price. I saw your house. You’re loooooooaded, kid.”

“Just because my family has money doesn’t mean I can magic up fancy sweets at your whim,” Sorey mutters.

Seriously, he never would have guessed kwamis would be such hard work. Sure, he’s worried. He doesn’t want Zaveid to be low on energy for too long, but they’re kind of running on a time limit, here.

Glancing around himself, he sees that most of the stores nearby are closed, shutters down over the doors and windows. That much is to be expected, of course - this is the first time an attack like this has happened. It could destroy anything and anyone. This way things are much safer. It does make it more difficult to find a bakery that is still open, though.

The only one he can think of that might let him in is-

“Oh, that’s it!”

Sorey rushes down the street, turning a corner and heading in a direction he knows all too well.

“What, you found someplace?” Zaveid asks.

“My best friend’s family runs a bakery,” Sorey explains. “They make all kinds of sweets. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make your fancy grape things, too!”

It only takes a minute to reach the bakery, which thankfully doesn’t have its doors locked. He rushes in, the bell chiming above his head as he does. Muse looks up from the counter when he enters, her eyes widening.

“Sorey?” she says. “What are you doing here? Are you looking for Mikleo?”

“Not this time,” he says. “Do you by any chance make grape mille-feuille?”

“Yes, we do,” Muse says, her eyebrows drawn inward.

Catching a glimpse of his bag, Sorey sees Zaveid flash a quick thumbs-up, and he nods at Muse. “That’s perfect. Could I get one, please?”

As Muse bags up the treat, she says, “Isn’t this a strange time to be looking for sweets?”

“I guess,” he says. “Oh, speaking of Mikleo, though, did he make it home safe?”

Her hand freezes on the tongs, and she lays them down. “I haven’t seen him. I thought I heard the roof trapdoor open, but he wasn’t there when I went up to check on him.”

Fear strikes Sorey’s heart. If Mikleo isn’t here, then where could he be? This is exactly where he left him, after all. And how could he have left the house again without Muse noticing? And why would he?

All this worrying is making his head hurt.

He quickly pays for the mille-feuille, thanking Muse, before rushing out of the bakery again, this time with a new sense of urgency. He needs to get back and help Luzrov, before it finds Mikleo, or anyone else it could hurt.

At Pendrago castle, Uroboros pulls down a tree without mercy. Mikleo hops out of its branches, leaping between lampposts and praying he won’t catch up. There aren’t many civilians around, at the very least. Most of them seem to have left when the news alerts were broadcasted, though a couple of stragglers scream their way away from the akuma as it approaches. It’s lucky Mikleo is as fast on his feet as he is now, or else he’d have no chance of distracting Uroboros long enough to give them time to escape.

Speaking of luck, he thinks his is starting to wear thin. He's running out of lampposts, and the only other thing nearby that he could possibly use as leverage would be the castle itself. The possibility of this creature damaging such an important historical building makes him feel sick to his stomach, but he supposes he'd rather have that over someone dying because he lured the villain too close to other people.

He braces himself before leaping onto the castle ramparts, running along the walls to reach the main building. Uroboros follows behind, though he can only tell by the sound of its tail slithering over the ground and his angry complaining. He doesn’t dare look back at it, too afraid of what he might see.

Once reaches the main courtyard of the castle, he leads Uroboros in the front, taking him as far into the castle as he can from above. Only once they reach the innermost chamber before the main building does he pause, turning back.

In contrast to the destruction outside of it, the castle itself is entirely undamaged. Not a single brick lays out of place, not a dent within them. Uroboros doesn’t even try to strike out at the walls around him, where Mikleo has him almost cornered.

“It’s not attacking,” he murmurs in amazement. “But why?”

“Maybe because he’s a history teacher.”

Mikleo jumps in surprise at the sudden reappearance of Magpie, who stands a few feet away, holding the forgotten textbook.

“How do you figure?” he asks once he gets over the sudden shock, ignoring the mischievous grin which spreads across Magpie’s lips at his reaction.

“This is a history textbook,” Magpie says, flipping it open to a chapter entitled The Era of Asgard. “I looked through it earlier. It's really fascinating stuff, and that has to be the reason why he won’t damage the castle.”

“What, because he cares about history? I suppose it makes sense, but then you have to wonder how he became akumatised in the first place.”

Magpie shrugs. “I think he was angry at his students.”

Looking back at Uroboros, Mikleo squints, trying to see through blue scales to the face underneath. Something clicks for him a moment later.

“It can’t be – Professor Uno?!”

The snake yells in anger. “I am Uno no longer! My name is Uroboros, and I will punish all those who do not listen!”

“You know this guy?” Magpie asks.

“He’s an acquaintance,” Mikleo answers. “But that answers one question. Now all we have to do is purify him, right?”

“Yeah!”

A long moment of silence passes between the two of them. Then, hesitantly, Magpie says, “How do we do that?”

In that moment, the amount that Mikleo was impressed by Magpie goes down exponentially.

“Didn’t you talk to your kwami before transforming?” he says.

“O-of course I did!” he sputters. “He wasn’t exactly specific about methodology, though. All I know is that we need to find the thing that was infected by the akuma and destroy it.”

“So like a trinket of some kind?”

“Yeah. Glasses, a bag, anything that’s part of his personal effects that was there before he turned.”

Mikleo turns to look at Uroboros once more. He looks so different from when he was human that Mikleo can’t really tell what’s new and what he had on him already. All he notices that looks suspicious is the snake around his neck which looks almost like the blue tie he’d worn earlier in class.

“Do you think it might be his tie?” Mikleo asks.

Magpie hesitates for a moment before nodding. “Might be. It’d be worth a shot, right?”

“Well sure, but we still have to get close enough to break it.”

“Time for some close combat, I guess,” Magpie says, moving to the edge of the roof. “You up for it?”

“It’s not like there’s any other choice.” Mikleo moves to stand at Magpie’s side, looking out over the castle where the akuma lies. “If you distract it, I might be able to destroy the tie using my power.”

“You can destroy things?” Magpie asks, wide-eyed. “That’s so cool!”

Mikleo rolls his eyes at the praise. “You can create things from thin air. I’m just doing my part, too.”

They both turn back to face the akuma victim, and on the count of three, they drop down, ready to fight.

“I’ll distract it,” Magpie says before calling out to Uroboros. “Hey, snake-face! Over here!”

When the distraction works, Mikleo takes his chance. He rushes around the side of the snake, watching out for its tail as he swipes it at Magpie. He pulls out his staff and extends it, quickly thinking through the logistics of how this thing might work in their favour.

“Gotta try harder than that!” Magpie yells at Uroboros, flitting out of his reach again. He glances over in Mikleo’s direction, waiting for a signal.

Mikleo gulps. This is all on him - if their plan fails, it’ll be his fault.

All he can do is try.

He raises a hand in a claw and summons his power. “Cataclysm!”

A tingling sensation fills his hand, a buzz of darkness swarming around the white glove of his suit. He holds it out of the way as he uses his other hand to hold the staff, extending it beneath him to push himself into the air. As he jumps over Uroboros, he reaches his other hand down, his fingers grazing the edge of the tie.

It’s enough to do the job. The snake-shaped tie hisses as it crumples into dust. A purple blob of energy comes out of it, floating slowly upward. Before either of them can do anything, it suddenly grows larger, collecting in a giant mass above them, forming into the shape of a lion’s head.

“Listen well,” it says in a low, deep rumble. “I am Calamity. I cannot be stopped or quelled, and I will without doubt take those Miraculous of yours. I will cause chaos in this city. Weaklings like you will not stop me. You might as well hand them over right now.”

Mikleo glares at the lion’s head, ready to answer, but Magpie steps out before he can say anything.

“Don’t be so sure about that,” Magpie says. He stands tall and confident, even against the threat of a supervillain. “You can try as much as you like to cause destruction, but Luzrov and I will always be here to stop you. There’s no way you’ll be having our Miraculous. So just wait, Calamity. You’ll be the one giving yours up, and then this city will be brought to peace again.”

When Magpie looks over his shoulder at Mikleo, he steps forward, joining him at his side.

“That’s right,” he says.

“Fools,” Calamity says. “You will pay the price for your idiocy.”

Magpie smirks, then using his weapon, he jumps up and cuts through the ball of malevolence, purifying it with a single strike. The akuma is the only remnant, which he quickly purifies with a short melody. Then he tosses his lucky charm book into the air. A flame-like substance spreads from it, reaching endlessly over the sky for a moment, fixing everything that was broken by the fight.

The moment ends, and the city is brought to peace once more.

“Okay, that was pretty incredible,” Mikleo says, turning to his new partner in fighting crime. He holds up a fist. “Nice job.”

Magpie grins before bumping their wrists together. “Nice job, Luzrov. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

At that moment, Mikleo’s bracelet decides to beep at him, warning him of his time limit. “Well, I’d better go. See you soon, Magpie.”

With that, Mikleo uses his staff to move to higher ground, ready to get back home and finally rest.

(He doesn’t notice how Magpie watches as he goes, eyes filled with a fondness which seems far too great for people who have only just met. And yet, the warmth in his heart indicates that this bond will only become stronger, and he can’t wait to see his new partner again.)

It’s only natural that Mikleo is exhausted, the next morning.

When he got home last night, he barely said a greeting to his mother before collapsing into bed, passing out quickly from all the excitement of the previous hours. He wakes up not long before his alarm, starving and still aching from the fight yesterday. The sound of raindrops on his window soothes him a little, but not enough to make him feel any better physically.

“Oh, you’re awake,” a small voice says.

He turns his head to see Lailah on his pillow, smiling at him. She doesn’t look at all tired, and he supposes she must have gotten herself something to eat whilst he slept.

“Morning, Lailah,” he says. “So it wasn’t a dream, huh?”

Lailah gives a little laugh. Her tail flicks on the pillow. “No, it was real. You both did a wonderful job, yesterday.”

“Will that happen often?” he asks, uncertain. Even if he has this power now, knowing that the city will be in danger is concerning.

“Yes,” Lailah says, her ears drooping. “I’m afraid Calamity will not stop until the city is covered in chaos. Only you and Magpie have the power to stop him.”

He lets out a deep breath through his nose. When he signed up to this yesterday, he had no idea how serious this would become. And yet, he can’t bring himself to regret his decision, when he thinks about the number of people he saved yesterday.

Sitting up, he says, “I suppose I’d better do my best from here on out, then. I’ll be counting on you, Lailah.”

Floating up to his side, Lailah’s eyes are filled with hope. “I have every faith that you’ll make a wonderful Luzrov, Mikleo.”

He gets ready for school as usual, feeling a tad less reluctant than yesterday. When he heads downstairs for breakfast, his mother greets him with her usual smile. Somehow, today she looks more tired than yesterday. She stays quiet as he comes in, watching him as he pours his cereal for himself. He’s glad his bracelet is covered by his blazer, since he can only imagine the questions he’d get for having it.

Eventually, his mother speaks.

“Where were you yesterday?” she says. “During that attack, we were so worried for you. We heard you come in, but you weren’t there when we checked.”

Mikleo tries not to let his thoughts show on his face when he thinks, ‘Oh crap.’

“I forgot something at school,” Mikleo lies. “It was my phone. I couldn’t leave it there.”

Muse’s expression only becomes more distraught at his answer. “I thought you had more common sense than that. Wasn’t that monster at the school?”

“It wasn’t there when I got back,” Mikleo says. “I won’t do it again though, I promise.”

For a moment, she keeps up the pretence of being angry with him. She can’t hold it forever, though, and she ends up moving over to hug him tightly.

“You’d better not,” she says.

Mikleo hopes he’ll be able to hide it better in the future, or else this superhero business will be a lot tougher than he thought it would be.

Once he finishes breakfast and gathers his stuff, he says goodbye to his mum and heads out of the bakery house. The rain falls lightly on his head, cool and refreshing. He doesn’t have an umbrella, but that hasn’t stopped him from walking in the rain before. He might be soaked by the time he reaches school, of course, but he tries not to think about that.

Stepping away from the bakery door, he moves out onto the pavement-

Only to find that the rain suddenly stops.

Well, it doesn’t stop completely. He can see it falling in front of him, and can hear it pattering on the umbrella over his head. Sure enough, there’s now a stretch of clear plastic above his head, an umbrella held out by none other than-

“Sorey?!”

Sorey stands behind him, holding out the umbrella as the rain dampens his hair, running down his silver earcuffs and onto the shoulders of a brown cardigan, emblazoned with a familiar coat of arms.

“Morning, Mikleo,” Sorey says. His smile and the fondness in his eyes are warm enough to make Mikleo shiver.

Mikleo finds for a long moment that he can’t speak, his throat constricted by some unknown force. When he finally finds words, he says, “What are you wearing?”

In a teasing tone, Sorey says, “What does it look like I’m wearing?”

“Did you actually convince your dad?” Mikleo asks in disbelief. “How?”

“Turns out sneaking out of the house to go to school is a good way to make strict parents believe you want to go to school,” Sorey says with a shrug. “I dunno, though. When I got home Runette told me he’d said it was okay.”

Mikleo’s heart stutters. Somehow, everything he’d wanted is coming true. Magic is real, life is looking up, and his best friend will be in the same class as him from now on.

He couldn’t be happier.

“We should get going, or we’ll be late,” Mikleo says, pushing the umbrella so it shelters them both. The proximity between them strikes pins and needles into his arm, but he doesn’t shy away.

Instead, he walks at Sorey’s side towards his - their - school.

#sormikweek2018 #sormik #tales of zestiria #toz #tales of zestiria fanfiction #HI I LOVE THIS AU #this fic took so long to write though #why is the origins part so difficult and long ughghggh #i've written like three different reveals and combined they're all shorter than this oneshot

[ezmisery]

How to successfully ransom a child

Hello Tumblr. I have lurked on this site for a while, but I feel it is time to share some things with you. Honestly, I’m only doing this because I am sick of hearing about people kidnapping kids and doing it all wrong. I have successfully ransomed over a dozen children. Some might call me an expert. I want to tell you how to do it correctly. Maybe then you’ll start doing it right.

I’m going to use my most recent conquest as an example. Her name is Sophie.

You don’t need to know my name.

The first step is to choose a kid. Gender doesn’t matter, but I prefer girls. If you want the best ransom you’ll want to pick a family that is tight-knit. The more the parents love the kid the more they’ll give up to get it back.

Choose a family in a town you don’t live in. Ideally it should be at least an hour away. You must have no connection to the family. They don’t know you, but you will learn everything about them.

I picked Sophie because she had braided pigtails. I liked that. She was just big enough to do some things on her own but still little. Small. Smooth. I grabbed Sophie on her way home from school. But before taking her, I did my research. This is where so many people fail. You have to study the family. You have to know when they leave the house, what hobbies they have, who visits, and where the breaks in the chain are. You need to spend a lot of time watching. Waiting.

There is so much waiting, but it makes the prize so much better.

Sophie’s family lived in a farmhouse in a small town. Their police force consisted of a sheriff and only a few officers. A smaller police force will help you. To make yourself less noticeable, don’t use the same car to watch the house in. Changing colors and kinds of car will make it impossible to track you.

It took five months for the perfect opportunity. Sophie usually walked home with a friend. The way home was through a field, out of sight from any house. But the friend was a barrier. I was lucky. The friend was sick. She didn’t go to school. So Sophie walked alone, her backpack hanging off one arm, her precious blonde hair braided in those long, silken pigtails.

Don’t hurt her. Make it fast. One arm around the diaphragm, the other over her mouth. She is small, carry her to your car. Don’t lean in and smell her hair.

Once you have the kid the real work starts. You’ll want to send a ransom note in the mail. Emails and phone calls are too easily traceable. A letter you can simply place in any mailbox. Leave the return address blank.

Keep her quiet. No one can hear her, but silence makes it better.

In your letter, you’ll explain that you have the child. You will not harm the child as long as the family is willing to pay the ransom. As far as the amount of money, it needs to be a reasonable amount. Significant enough to warrant an abduction but low enough that a typical family could raise the amount. I usually stick between $20,000 and $50,000. An average family can get a loan for that amount if needed.

Ideally, the letter should arrive the day after the kid is taken. The family will have already called the police. This letter will incite even more fear.

You cannot go to the house. Do not drive by. Do not go to the town, no matter how much you want to. And you will want to. You may watch the news. You may rub the strands between your fingers. You may plan your next move. But nothing else.

In the first letter you’ll simply say you will call with more instructions. Do. Not. Call. The family will be waiting by the phone. They will not leave the house. The FBI may have been called. A wiretap will be placed. Every conversation will be recorded. You cannot let them hear your voice.

Sophie’s hair tastes like laundry soap and freshly mowed grass.

Next it is time to write your second letter. It should be sent two week after the first. In this letter, you will include something written by the kid. This is to prove the it is alive. Make it write about things you would have no way of knowing. You should also include a picture of it, fully dressed, with a newspaper. The letter will remind them of the ransom amount. Say you are anxious to get the money. You will contact them soon with the drop location.

Remember the smoothness.

Sophie. Soft. Sweet. Syrup.

After the second letter is another waiting period. This one is longer, it has to be at least a few months. That’s when you will be tested. You will want to call them. To reach out. But trust your instincts. The prize is worth the waiting.

Spend time with Sophie. Tell her about your father. Your secrets are safe with her. You can trust her.

When the wait is over you will send the last letter. In it, you will include a picture of the kid in different clothes, hair cut, but smiling. Holding another newspaper. It can write something to its parents but it isn’t realty important. What does matter is your exact instructions.

The money must be in cash and untraceable.

The drop point must be in the middle of a popular wooded area in the early morning, around 5am. The area should be at least an hour away.

The entire family must bring the money to the site.

No cops allowed.

The family must wait an hour at the location, with the money in the spot. Then the kid will be released to them.

The reunited family must then return home immediately and never speak of this event again.

Of course the family will not follow all of the rules. Police will no doubt join them at the site, hiding. But that’s okay.

You never planned to go there in the first place.

After all, Sophie has been dead since the day after you took her.

She has to die. It’s part of the plan. You use her, love her, take her hair. And then she is gone. It is gone. It is now with the other its. Bloated empty shells.

Deflated balloons hanging from the ceiling.

You have to make it write the letters when you take it home. You tell it what dates to write. You take the two pictures that first day too. Just edit the newspaper to match the correct dates. It’s not hard. The waiting is hard.

But the prize is worth the wait.

Silken braided pigtails. You can suck on the ends as you drive to the house. It tastes like a little dead girl.

But the hair was already dead.

No one will be at the house when you get there. Everyone, including the authorities, will be at the drop site. Now it is their turn to wait. For something that will never come.

You have to break into the house. This is where you will collect your ransom. You may take anything that is of any worth. Televisions, jewelry, computers. If the computers do not have a password (most don’t) there is another task you must complete. Delete all photos of it. Log into any social media (most people leave themselves logged in) and delete any reference to it. Photos. Quotes. Artwork. Do the same around the house. Take all the family pictures. Take any art it drew, anything with its name on it. Make it look like there never was a child in the house at all.

The process can take a long time. Be thorough. Think of the braids in your front seat. The smoothness.

And finally, as you drive away, you can collect your ransom. Your prize. Sure, you can sell the items you stole. It won’t make you that much money but that’s not the real reason to do this. What you will collect is the knowledge that you destroyed that family.

They will never see their kid again. Never smell its hair. You own it now.

They will never recover. All of their treasured items are gone. You have stolen their sanity. Joy. Safety. They will never be able to trust again.

And that fact tastes almost as good as the pigtails.

So there you go. That’s how you successfully ransom a child. Now all of you out there have no excuse to do it wrong.

#ezmisery #scary story #horror #ransom #death

[acciosmarts]

19-8-2018

HEY! This photo isn't very studyish but it’s got some study guides in it and I wanted to post here so it’s my excuse lmao.

Question: how do you deal with seemingly doing everything right (making to-do lists, setting timers, not using phone, sleeping and eating well, giving all attention to task at hand, taking breaks, meditation, the lot) but not ever managing to get any work completed before reaching a point of lack of focus where it’s pointless to keep going for the day? Send help :/

[ramble in the keep reading]

So I’ve been feeling really ready to Fix My Life recently but I’ve found it a bit discouraging not seeming to be able to do very much work in a day, regardless of how much planning I put in I can’t focus and end up having to put off 90% of my to-do list because I purely don’t have the time it takes to actually get stuff done. This is a cry for help, but I think it’ll also be a bunch of stuff I’m trying to do to facilitate an increase in work?

1. Tidy room, tidy mind My whole house is a shite heap right now because of a flood meaning my bedroom is mostly devoid of furniture, flooring, and most of my stuff. However, I cleared up my floordrobe (floor-wardrobe) and brought in a tiny, soon to be thrown out set of drawers from the stash of our entire life in the garage to give me a surface other than my bed. I also stole my mum’s couch laptop desk to use next to my bed so I don’t have to use the kitchen table any more. It’s the little things! (i can’t wait for a complete recovery of my room though, I’ve been waiting since last october! Damn need for painting and concern for my sister’s allergies.)

2. Waking up early! UnJaded Jade on youtube is the biggest catalyst for this one--for the last week or so I’ve been getting up (or trying to) at 5am. It’s been a bit rocky, but when I manage it it’s been invaluable to spend the time meditating and stretching. I’m also trying to use the extra private time to plan my day and then do school work--this week I am spending 6-7am (approximately, I don’t want to be too harsh so early) practicing writing for English class. If it works out (or if I think the reason it doesn’t is fixable) I’ll continue that, or else I’ll switch back to general whatever needs doing.

3. Killing that phone addiction! Honestly, I don’t feel like I can take full credit for this but I’ve mostly stopped craving my phone, which makes it easier to silence it and leave it far away while I work to limit distractions. The only issue is that I then have to use my laptop for any timers, which is  pretty fallible and I think I might work on keeping my phone close enough to use it when I need it, but not getting distracted at all by it.

4. Diet. Today is a bad day for this, but in general I try to eat a plentiful variety of fruits and veg, as well as limiting refined sugars. I’m also vegan, but that’s not for health reasons. Basically, I try to fuel my body in the most healthy way possible in order to keep my brain #healthy.

5. Water. I drink a lot of water. It does kinda get annoying because of all the pee breaks, but other than that I notice I feel a lot less with it when I’m dehydrated.

6. MAKING MY BED. at this point, my choices are highly messy, distracting kitchen table or bd for studying so the most I can do is make my bed, put the wrong pillow on the top, and sit up with the laptop table rather than lie down or sit with stuff on the bed. 

7. Planning work. This one I’ve gotta work on, because I always plan but find it far too difficult to get any of the work done even if i sit down with it and try to focus.

8. Scheduling. I thought this didn’t work for me, but  i think this week I’m going to try it again because I NEED something to work. Exams are coming ever closer and I need to sort myself out!!!

SO yeah. This post is a bit of a mess so apologies for that, but I think it may have been helpful (procastination 100%) to do this. 

#cat rambles #my face #studyblr #study #study tips

[financiallymint]

How I Manage Money in College – Money Mistakes

Second of the ‘How I manage money in college’ series! I am happy to present Jalpan Dave from Passive Income Engineering and his article on the important money mistakes he made in college and what he would have done differently. Some really great info here!

The story

My first encounter with the importance of money was back at the age of 13. My Dad’s friend gave him a copy of the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” Since I was an only child, the only people I could interact with at home where my parents so I’d poke my nose into whatever they were doing.

The timing was perfect – my summer holidays were coming up and there was this nice colourful book in front of me which for all I know was written by a 13 year old just like me who had two fathers, one of whom was rich and the other…not so much.

I spent the entire summer vacation reading the book from 11pm to 5am in the morning. It felt wonderful! The book talked about two little kids who were trying to earn more money and came up with all kinds of weird and wonderful ways to do so including trying to make coins themselves thereby counterfeiting money!

Even though it took me so long to finish the book, it’s key lessons were hard wired into my brain from that point on including:

The rich learn to make money to work for them

An asset puts money in your pocket, a liability takes money out of your pocket

Investing is one of the ways you can build assets and thereby put money in your pocket

The book had such a profound impact on me that I still carry that tattered old book with me. I have relocated several times in my life but I have never lost the book. I still have the copy I read back when I was 13 years old:

Just looking at the book would remind me of the importance of investing so during college, I went to seminars about investing, read some more books and even took part in a stock investing competition in order to hone my skills.

Yet, when I graduated and started working, I had no idea where my money was going every month. Fortunately, I woke up one day and found I had $2,000 – enough money to buy some stocks. But despite all the books I had read and all the competitions I had taken part in, my mind went blank when it came to actually investing my real money.

Lesson learned: Knowledge is NOT power. APPLIED knowledge is power!

I started going to seminars and talks again hoping that someone will give me some “tips.” With the presentations and case studies that were shared at these seminars, I invested in 2 stocks. One of them, I still own to this day and it has paid me good dividends time after time.

The other stock… tanked 90% from the time I bought it! Thankfully, I had done my research so after 4 long years, I sold it back at the same price I bought it and got my money back so that I have to suffer no longer.

Eventually though, I learned the right way to invest and started earning income through investing as I write about on my blog.

However, every now and then, I meet someone who had gotten their act together since their college days. They do all the things that I do today now that I’m a little wiser. And every time I look at them, I think to myself, “I wish I hadn’t made these mistakes back in college.”

It dawned on me that fundamentally, what held me back during college was psychological. Subconsciously, I had been thinking “I’m still a student. I’m not supposed to me earning yet. Investing, earning, all those things are for people who have graduated already.”

Looking back, I wish someone had slapped me and told me to do all the things in college that I do now including:

1. Invest. For real.

Instead of thinking “I’ll invest the moment I get my first paycheck” I would have invested during college. This way, I could have made mistakes with small amounts of money instead of with a $2,000 sum which was far more painful to endure.

Most importantly, I would have been putting knowledge to practice which is more effective than simply gaining more knowledge. One reason why I wish there had been blogs like Financially Mint around is that it makes it much easier for college to get started with investing and sorting out their finances.

Every year you delay investing could mean several thousands of dollars (or pounds) lost over your lifetime. For instance, look at this article which proves that if you start investing at 25 as opposed to 35, all else being equal, you could end up with almost twice as much money later in life. Then pause for a second and think about what is possible if you started investing at 18 or 20 instead.

Imagine how far ahead you’ll be!

2. Start a side hustle.

Again, the main culprit here was my own limiting beliefs. “Adults start businesses. Not college students.”

WRONG!

Looking back, college would have been a perfect time to start a side hustle since there is no penalty for failure. If the business fails, big deal. I’d just get on with my studies and look for other ideas. I have no major bills to pay or a family to support. Moreover, if you ask someone in your university (a professor, your university’s entrepreneurship center etc…) chances are there are grants specifically intended for students to start businesses.

Today of course, you don’t even need much money to begin.

You could start a blog like many other students and working professionals, and if you really don’t want to spend any money you could always create a free account on medium.com and start blogging there.

3. Build good financial habits.

I thought I had learned everything about money. It was a painful realisation that what I had actually learned is how important it is to learn about money! I found myself spending on a whim certain times whilst other times, I would pinch pennies like there was no tomorrow.

Eventually, I learned that the way to build good financial habits is to take 30 mins out on the first of every month to divide your money into different bank accounts.

One bank account for investing, one for long term savings, and yes, one account for having fun!

For instance, say you plan to spend no more than $700 every month. You could leave $400 in your main account for food and other necessities, transfer $100 to another account to save for the long term, $100 to yet another account to invest and then $100 to yet another account for going out with friends, travelling or doing whatever else you love to do.

Your bank may even allow you to hold different debit cards that are tied to these different accounts. So when you go out with friends, you spend using the debit card connected to your “having fun” account. Once you had spent your $100, you card would deny future payments hence ensuring that you never overspend.

Building such habits early on means you are more likely to stick to them for the rest of your life setting you up for a lifetime of financial success.

One of Steve Jobs’ favourite Hindu sayings went something like this – “For the first 30 years of your life, you form your habits. For the rest of your life, your habits form you.”

Conclusion

I’d like to end by saying that in today’s world, anyone can do anything. We can start businesses online with no money down. We can start investing while still in college and get a head start on growing our money. Do not wait until you graduate and “enter the real world” to pursue your dreams and build a better financial future.

You can start building a better future TODAY whilst you are still in college.

Now I’d love for you to tell me in the comments below:

What is one tiny little step or habit you will start today to put yourself in a better financial situation?

I read and respond to every comment!

Financially Mint top takeaways

Top mistakes to avoid in college

1. Not investing: Get started with these guides: UK, USA 2. Not side-hustling: Here are some cool jobs and side-hustle ideas 3. Not implementing good habits: budgeting, saving, investing.

A ton of valuable advice in this article. I really love the tip of having different debit cards for different types of spending. And the great important message: yes you can start anything, even in college. Who’s motivated to get started?!!

Read more like this over at Financially Mint

#budget #studentonabudget #financiallymint #college #university #collegehacks #financialeducation

[deeeeeeepdown]

“Anything worth it will ruin your life for a bit.”

I read the quote on Instagram and it sinks into me, heavy and true. 

(This is why I feel so conflicted about the app, for the record - how are stupid posed pictures and capital T TRUTHS mingling like this as I scroll? - but that’s an entirely different conversation.)

My career path ruined my life for a bit. For years, I struggled. And succeeded? For years, I felt a sense of barely keeping my head above water, surviving without thriving, wading through the murky waters of being so young, sacrificing so much, and being so unsure of every step even as I took them. At 14, I wanted a life of security, prestige, meaning, and beauty and I started off on the surest path I could think of to get there. Doctoring. Healing by the standards of Western culture. So often along the way, I wanted more art, more ambiguity, more softness and blurry lines. So often, I was heaving heavy sighs as I stared into microscopes struggling to focus my eyes on embryos, epithelium, and eosinophils. I wanted to travel, find lovely things, languish in the vastness of mornings and instead I awoke at 5am to stare at equations, molecules, and literal dead bodies. I cringed and squirmed and railed against the process. It ruined my life, for a bit. 

Now, nearly every morning,  I climb into the car I bought myself in scrubs my husband gave me for Christmas and I choose a podcast or playlist to carry me to the hospital whose doors I practically skip inside. I spend 8-14 hours a day holding the hands of strangers while they scream or sob or explain their pain to me. That is my actual job. I get full body chills at least twice a day. I use my voice and my mind and sometimes those molecules I once stared at to ease their pain. Or to prevent further pain. Or to help them make sense of old pain. Probably half the time, I don’t make any difference at all but I get to try and sometimes I get to see undeniable improvement in their lives. At night, I sometimes dream about my patients. I love them in a way that is so specific and so impossible to put into words. I pray with and for them. Many of them become a part of me, soak into me, change me. To say it has been “worth it” is to do it an injustice. It is a privilege in the truest sense of the word, to do what I do. I can’t help but laugh to think someone gives me money in exchange for that privilege. 

These days, I often find myself overcome with gratitude for every younger version of me that made my life possible. Somehow, she knew what she was doing. Somehow, she kept going. I have this desire to sit down with all those iterations of me that are almost unrecognizable now. Morgan, sitting in the upstairs of Coffee Emporium feeling lonely. Morgan, crying herself to sleep in a dark dorm room. Morgan, having diarrhea and praying to God outside Alber’s lecture hall before her first biology exam. Morgan, walking into her first medical school interview after driving 4 hours on roads she didn’t recognize. Morgan, with that anvil of dread in her stomach as she rolled out of bed and left to study while it snowed. Morgan, blinking back tears while Ivan and Alyosha shook the car as they sang “Don’t Lose Your Love” on repeat. Morgan, as she smelled people dying. Morgan, when she found psychiatry and realized there was joy bubbling up like weeds through concrete cracks. Morgan when she rode the elevator down to the first floor after therapy. She messed it up often and she hurt people along the way and she should have taken Lexapro a lot sooner but she made it. I am eternally grateful for her. She has had my back when I needed her to most.