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veinsfullofstars · 3 months

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❄️ Memories of winter ❄️

(ID: Kirby series fanart, Childhood Friends AU, featuring young Dedede, Meta, Para Dee, and Bow Dee engaging in various winter-themed activities and scenarios. DDD wears a burgundy full-body coat with fuzzy white puffball buttons and cuffs, a red-and-orange-striped scarf, and a red knitted cap with another white puffball on the end. Meta wears a purple-and-lilac-striped scarf patterned in simple dark bat shapes and a pair of knitted purple wing cozies. Para wears a green-and-brown plaid scarf and a pair of pale-green earmuffs with a white band alongside his glasses. Bow wears only a pair of white earmuffs with a light-blue band alongside her trademark bow. More detailed descriptions below the cut. END ID.)

Part 1 (you're here!) | Part 2

Finally managed to bang this out despite the weeks-long pain of driveway shoveling. A pox on this season, I say. At least the kiddos are having fun - look at them. Precious beans.

Sketches started btw 11/23 and 01/24, render started 01/08/24, finished 01/21/24. NOTE: This was originally posted on my deleted account on 01/29/24.

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Image descriptions (from top to bottom):

-The kids all packed together on a wooded sled going fast downhill toward the viewer’s left. Meta up front leaning into the wind with a look of excited wonder on his face, Para sitting beside him with his hands covering his face in fright, DDD behind them holding onto the sled and squinting hard against the wind, Bow behind him holding onto his shoulder and waving her free hand in the air in joyful exhilaration.

-DDD and Meta iceskating towards the viewer’s right (each wearing a pair of brown skates with gold clasps and silver blades). DDD has fallen flat on his face (in his signature head-slide pose), and Meta glances over at him as he skates past, a look of concern on his face, his scarf trailing out behind him.

-Bow on a snowboard (the deck patterned in long swooping lines almost like waves in various shades of teal), soaring up through the air towards the viewer’s left, her feet planted firmly, one hand gripping the board, the other tossed back behind her, her expression determined.

-A snowball fight between Meta and Bow on one team (background) and Para and DDD on the other (foreground), each hiding behind a wall of packed snow. DDD startles, arms held out and eyes comically wide, as a snowball - tossed by Bow - hits him right in the back of the head. Para (sitting beside him) glances up from where he is making more snowballs. Behind them, Meta climbs on top of his team’s fort, a snowball the size of his own body held over his head, his eyes a pair of ultra-instinct diamonds as he prepares to throw.

-Para trying out a set of skis (the decks lime-green, the shoes brown with gold clasps, the poles dark-green with lime-green handles). He looks very unsteady on his feet, holding the poles out wide as he trembles, frowning down through his lime-green ski mask. He says in a speech bubble, “P-Pizza… French fry…”

-Meta standing neutrally, wearing his scarf and wing cozies along with DDD’s knitted cap, his breath visible beside him in a small puff.

-The kids all lying on the snow making snow angels (top-down view, DDD on bottom, Meta on left, Bow on top, Para on right). DDD laughs with his eyes closed as he drags his arms and feet through the snow in wide arcs. Meta grins happily behind his scarf as he does the same. Bow excitedly flails her little arms and feet through the snow as fast as she can, spraying snow everywhere. Para - caught in her wake - curls slightly away from Bow and blocks the snow with his hand, one eye closed, smiling despite himself.

-DDD sitting with his arms held out as his friends all cuddle close to him for warmth - Para draped over his right side (viewer’s left), Bow peeking out from behind his left shoulder, Meta lying against his left side (viewer’s right) - all looking quite content save for DDD himself, who looks only slightly annoyed. Squiggly lines radiate out from him to indicate body heat, while an arrow points at him with the text “Living Space Heater”.

-DDD, Meta, and Para all enjoying mugs of hot cocoa, each piled high with swirls of cream, wisps of steam curling off of them. DDD holds one mug for himself (pale-yellow with a light-blue snowflake design) and hands out another for Meta (light-blue with a pale-yellow snowflake design). Meta reaches for it excitedly, eyes wide and sparkling, his little hands waving and his wings flared out behind him, straining in their cozies. Beside him, Para sits with his own mug (light-green with a pale-red snowflake design), holding it in both hands and smiling contentedly.

-The kids making snowpeople. On the left, DDD stands before a snowman vaguely modeled after himself (with rocks for the eyes, mouth, and buttons, three twigs on top for his plumage, and a fish-patterned scarf - presumably Bow’s - around its neck), grinning cockily and mimicking its pose with one hand on his hip, the other held up in a flex. Para stands beside him with an armful of extra sticks, looking very unimpressed with an ellipsis over his head. On the right, Meta leans on one foot with his back to the viewer, working on a snowman that looks somewhat like Galacta Knight (with twigs shoved in to represent his horns and the cross visor of his mask, and mounds of snow in back to represent wings). In the foreground, Bow sits stubbornly half-buried in a pile of snow, shivering, a drop of snot hanging from her face.

#veins art #veins ocs #veins fanart #fanart #kirby series #kirby #king dedede #meta knight #original character #oc #kirby oc #para dee #bow dee #AU #childhood friends au #winter #page composition my behated -_-#good news - I kept DDD squint after all #any opportunity to use the Dededeathpose - I will take it #Meta didn't start the snowball fight but he Will finish it #*Chowder voice* body heeeeeat #fun fact - one of Bow's moms made Meta those wing cozies; they're a little restricting (not flying in 'em) but they do keep him extra warm #contrast that with Bow who will do everything in her power to NOT wear her winter gear EVER (much to her parents' frustration)#DDD (ever the enabler) dared Bow to see how long she could stay buried in snow #(mostly to keep her from preemptively destroying their snowmen)#spoiler alert - she got sick and they all got in trouble for it; she still brags about winning the dare tho #another fun fact - I based Meta's scarf design off of the inner tube he uses in KRtDLDx :D #veinsfullofstars

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 11 months

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okay so if you want to get the absolute MOST bang for your buck re: cheap lemonade mix, you actually need to start 24-48 hours in advance

what you're gonna do is get a pitcher or whatever you have that can hold a gallon of water, and you're going to shovel in eight (8) little scoops of the lemonade powder. I've been using country time(TM) personally but you do you. then fill 'er up with water and that's that for the pitcher.

what happens next is prep your fruits. this is largely up to personal taste but I sliced up two lemons and then halved like eight fat strawberries? also cut a small lime in two; wouldn't recommend going overboard on the lime unless you REALLY like that flavor. I also dumped in 6 full oz of raspberries because raspberries good.

anyway then you just leave that in your fridge for the fruits to soak. a day is good but two days is better. by three days you'll be drinking an icy cold summertime sunset.

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ventiswampwater · 8 months

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[ 13 ] the garden center of a home improvement store

Lester Sinclair x reader, fluff or smut—both are good! Also, there's no pressure to fulfil this. If it strikes your fancy, great! If not, no worries. 😊 💚

tysm for the prompt crumb <33

881 words. Lester Sinclair x GN!Reader. Absolutely NO warnings, just fluffy flirtation!

send me a prompt & a character and I'll write u a lil smthn smthn 👀

The air is murky out here, sun streaming through the glass ceiling.

You make your way slowly around the tables, peering at the assortment of flowers and potted plants. Your eyes land on the mums, their petals a vibrant explosion of color in the center display. After a moment of deliberation, you pick up one of the pots.

You’ve never been one with a green thumb, but you’ll try anything once. As you go to set it in your shopping cart, you feel a tap on your shoulder.

Turning around, you’re met with a bright smile—courtesy of the dirtiest man you've ever seen. He almost looks like he's taken a voluntary tumble into one of the many flowerbeds, dirt smearing across his cheeks and coating his clothes.

"Reckon you're better off with that one." He points towards a nearly identical pot of flowers at the side of the display. "One you got; stems are a lil' woody. Figure these folks haven't been waterin' 'em enough."

You lift the planter in your hands up and peer at the stems. You're not exactly sure what you're looking at, but…sure. Carefully, you set the pot of mums back on the table, reaching for the planter he suggested.

"Just figured you outta know." He shrugs.

"Thanks." You shoot him a smile.

His cart is overflowing with gardening tools, the unwieldy handles of several shovels spearing into the air. Amidst the chaotic assortment of lawn gear, you spy a pale purple succulent, stacked haphazardly on an overturned utility bucket.

"She's a beauty, ain't she?" He gestures down at the plant, beaming at you like a proud parent. "Couldn't bear leavin' her behind."

"She is." You nod.

"You have a good day now!" The items in his cart clang discordantly against each other as he wheels away. You wince as a particularly loud crash fills the air.

You hope that his succulent survives the shopping trip.

A week later, you step back into the gardening center. The now-familiar blast of muggy air smacks you directly in the face as you walk through the automatic doors.

Technically, you're here for some plant food. Technically. That's a good cover up story. A good Responsible Adult Reason to be back here again so soon. It's absolutely not motivated by the fact that you felt like your pot of mums was looking lonely on your porch. Of course not. It couldn't be. Because you don't need another plant. You don't even really have solid proof that you can keep the one you have alive, yet.

You should've known.

You're a bit of a fickle thing with your interests, bouncing from one to the other depending on your mood. Right now, for whatever reason, you're stuck on gardening. Like a malevolent botanical hivemind, your brain is currently tethered directly to those godforsaken flower displays. Now that you have one, you need another. That's what people always told you about tattoos, but you're surprised to find it also ringing true for plants.

First, though, practicality must reign. You grab a basket and stride down an aisle of gardening supplies, scanning the metal shelves for a shaker bottle of plant food. Rounding a corner, you nearly bump into someone squatting next to a palate stacked with bags of lime.

"Sorry!" You exclaim.

"No problem." It's the guy from last week. He peers up at you, his eyes brightening with recognition. "How's them mums doin'?"

"They're good." You smile. "Surprised you remember me."

“Well, you’re plenty memorable.” He says, eyes darting up your frame.

He's covered in marginally less dirt this time. He's also cuter than you remembered.

"You think so?" You smile.

“If you don’t mind me sayin’.” He dips his head bashfully.

This is most definitely not what you came for...but it's certainly a bonus.

“Isn’t this what people use to get rid of bodies?” You ask playfully, gesturing down at a bag of lime. You weren't sure how true that was, but you vaguely remembered seeing it in some true crime documentary. Or maybe that was lye, not lime—

"This kind ain’t no good for that.” He replies brightly, tapping at the label. “See, uh, this—it’ll slow decomp down…to a crawl. You ain't never gettin' rid of nothin' dead with it."

"You don't say…"

“Ya’ gotta use the right stuff. Now this—" He pats another bag matter-of-factly, nodding approvingly. "—this is the stuff you need for that kinda job."

You watch as he picks up the bag and heaves it into his cart. Wiping the dust off his hands, he gives you a lopsided grin.

"But even then, ya’ know, there’s always somethin’ left over in the end.” He continues. “'S hard gettin’ rid of bodies. Harder than ya' think.”

"You get rid of a lot of bodies?" You arch a brow.

"Part'a the job." He shrugs. "Pickin' up roadkill."

“Ah, Parks and Rec-kinda stuff?”

“Guess ya' could say that.”

You slot behind him in line at the cash register, a planter full of violets in your basket.

"Do you have a pen?" You ask the cashier.

Impulsively, you lean over the conveyor belt and scrawl your number onto the side of his bag of lime.

You don't need to look up to know that he's grinning.

#it's SO weird to not write 27183787387 words for smthn. but here's a.........smthn for u MWAH #this is kinda hot garbage but I'm RUSTY!! lol #house of wax #lester sinclair x reader #if I get more of these they might need a tag so.........#bite-size fics #for now! at least! that can be the tag hdshjsfdhjfds

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riacte · 22 days

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I really am grateful for the anons yelling in my inbox whenever stuff happens because: sometimes being in this fandom inspires a specific case of fomo in which if you don't pay attention to the specific things you like, there is a chance you will simply never see your sought-after crumbs or have no idea where to find it. A lot of the times a blessed person will put stuff in the maintags and you will thank them on your knees, but sometimes you will need to be that person and dig into four hours of transcript for a three second moment. Gotta pick up the shovel and dig up the treasure you seek.

Also I realise I feel obliged to stick to False to blog from her POV. Like yeah I need to yap about her because someone else will liveblog the other hermit POVs so I'll know about the highlights of other teams.

Anyways I am SO prepared for the massive fomo this MCC will bring. Take my hand, close your eyes and ears, it is alright to know about NOTHING. What's this new funny clip with 1k notes on your dash. What's this new duo that popped up. New strats for the new game. New meta. Idk my brain doesn't have enough space. It's finals week. I don't know anything but I know I miss youuuu.

Finally: manifesting Lime vs Yellow. If only to throw it in the face of (not you MCCReddit) HC Reddit. Like haha the two hermit teams you gave less attention to are now in Dodgebolt weeee. The OGs Cub Iskall False woohoo. My BBC famous streamer in Dodgebolt <3

Anyways I shall be waiting for Obligatory Ren Mention somewhere in False's stream because it always happens 'cause chat misses doggy 😭

#ria.txt #maybe i need a drink [lie] [it's the devil speaking]#the drink is coffee that for some reason makes me sleepy instead

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fruit-salad-ship · 1 year

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As a total what if what would plums honest reaction be if she learned peaches history

Plum knows. As does Grey. (more below for those interested)

When Peach got back from Hisui she awoke in her bed, unsure how she made it home, Val in the ICU, alive, both their bodies broken, Peach swore she lost an arm in that fight, got the scar to prove it. While she believed it to be a dream, to once again be taunted with the visions of home, she eventually reliases she's actually back and her loved ones are very much with her again. A week of her picking up her old life pass. Every day it becomes more and more painful to keep the lies up, she spent two years dying to see Plum and Grey, and now finally back, she just wanted to clear it up. Perhaps that first week back was her bying time, the thought that she'd tell them, and theyd leave was never far from her mind. It's what people do right? They dont like something about someone and they go. It was scary, but peach understood the risks.

They deserved the truth.

She asked them in the morning to get home for dinner at a reasonable time if possible, she offered to cook one of their favorites, and left that morning once they headed off to work with a shovel, Booker, Bob, and Val. Peach walked out to the North, past the fences where no one was permitted to cross, abotu 20 minutes into the depths. It was dangerous, but there under a boulder the size of a house hid a secret. Val lifted the huge rock and shifted it to one side, everyone helping her dig a good 5ft down, a metal box burried. inside it, things peach had hidden away. Boulder returned, box under her arm, she went home, and proceeded to sit and stare at the box for an hour, debating internally just what to say, how to brign this up. Her brain made a very saddening decision, digging out a couple of travel bags, filling them with the things she needed to leave, shoving them under the bed to grab and go. Clothes, money, IDs, even Val's original pokeball, an item locked in a safe normally.

Grey got in first, came home to the smell of comfort food and fresh herbs, a little worried about the evening. Peach never asked for their time like this, nor offered to do dinner, she'd just do it without discussion. The event felt off. She got him a beer, and one for herself, fondly listening to him talk about his day, not a word said, just smiles and nods. Grey said nothing of the muddy shovel out front under the porch awning, assuming it was just Peach out doing some digging in the garden...though she never left her tools there. It was nothing, right?

Plum finally got in, kicking her shoes off, a sigh, complaints of the long day dealing with the mainland HQ and their monthly missions ahead. A lot of travel collecting data. She was also handed a beer, little lime in it, just how she liked them. They sat and talked, Peach unnervingly tentative, making sure nothing burnt, serving up a real special dinner.

It was afterwards that they all got to sit down on the sofa that they realised Peach wasnt sitting, she was by the sink, wringing her hands, staring out the window. It took them calling to her to snap her from her own thoughts, glancing over her shoulder. In her mind, this was the last time she'd be looked at like that, a notion that made her chest tight. So she sat, not with them, in an armchair to one side, and struggled to find the right words for a while. Grey and Plum both saw her looking for something, rummaging in hr pocket, placing a signet ring on the table, and a photo, tattered but in one piece. The ring had a family crest on it that they recognised, unsure how Peach got one. The photo of a family, one child looking very much like the professor, standing nervously beside figureheads of a notorious Sinnoh family, alwasy shrouded in questionable rumours, somehow dodging the law and avoiding any legal action with either careful planning or ridiculous luck. No one truly knew.

And Peach proceeded to introduce herself, her real self, the name she was given, not the one she chose. While Grey held the weighty fine crafted ring, and plum stared at the photo, she told them everything. Every nasty secret, every horrible detail, how she was trained, how she grew up, who raised her and what for. Plum knew her at her worst, and never realised it. Ranger days made a lot of sense, why Peach was so angry, so irritable. A kid who grew up way too fast, who left behind her flesh and blood for an orphaned pokemon, to try to save it from her heartless family. The name peach used back then was a lie too, falsified like everything else about her.

After expressing her sorrow and regret, for the horrible things she had to do, and chose to do herself, she got up, took the ring and the photo, and took a last look at the pair who failed to say anything. There was no coming back but despite the sinking feeling Peach did the right thing, finally free of carrying around all the lies, they deserved that much. She left for the bedroom after an apology, pulled her to go bags out, and quickly made her way to the door to go, having to pass by the pair on the sofa, saying nothing, didnt even dare look. Booker, Bob and Val on her heels, Boa no doubt in her usual place out in the garden, Peach had planned the route already, probably take a trip over to Unova, try to find a way to start again.

A 'hey!' caught her attention, turning in the open door to face Plum, heard her coming, rushed steps on the wood floors, followed by a searing sting to the cheek, her hand connecting hard. Stunned but not surprised by the slap, Peach didnt say anything, the pain sharp, but understandable. She expected her anger, but not the tears, not the weird mix of feelings going on with the ranger. Grey hadnt gotten up from the sofa, staring off into no where. Plum shouted, said peach should have said sooner, should have been transparent with it all, not for her sake, but for Grey, the poor guy had been with her for 11 years and not once had she mentioned this? Awful! Peach took the berrating, didnt retaliate, without a leg to stand on. The anger turned to sadness, more tears, blame thrown around, but finally, she pointed at the bags and sneered 'and then you run? youre a coward.'

Plum was right. She was a coward, didnt respond. the bag was taken from her hand and dumped on the floor, the ranger took her hand and dragged her back in the house, demanding the other satchel on her shoulder, tossing it to a chair without care. Plum called Grey and he finally looked up, rose from his chair, rushed to them both, mustering the biggest hug he could manage. He cried, plum was already in tears, peach didnt understand what was happening. This wasnt how it was suppose to go.

The house mons realised there was a pile up going on, a couple climbing up legs to get in on the hug.

It was difficult to grasp that despite the anger, despite the sorrow, neither wanted her gone? She didnt understand. Plum kept looking at her with fury that forced peach to glance away, but she was still holding her tight? It was a difficult time of figuring out what to feel and what to do. But the truth was both plum and grey were sad for her, sad that she'd been carrying that around for years alone, sad that she didnt feel like she could come to them sooner. They discussed it, dragged Peach to the sofa and forced her to sit there with them while they figured out just what to do next.

In the end Plum was furious but the anger subsided, and all that was left was grief, as if she was feeling sad for Peach, who seemed indifferent to it, and stayed very quiet for a long while. Grey while painfully sad was just glad she finally told him about who she really was, he held both his girls in bed and refused to let go, stayed up late, none of them able to sleep well at all, tossing and turning.

Things got easier with time. The jokes started to return, their conversations got snarky and dark, a humour that felt comforting to them all. Did plum take a little of her anger out on Peach? yes. yes she did.

but hey, no more secrets.

well.

until Peach decided on a lighter note to share with her that shes been painting for years and those paintings funded the island expansions....and plum and her family paid top dollar for them at auction......and bragged about them. to the creators face. without knowing.

ok now no more secrets!

#they know her for real #fruit salad #brainrot #long post #this is canon #like #they actually did this and know

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nihils-trolls · 1 month

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Funeral For a Forgotten Friend

Quilis Kelter | Kelter Castle | Present night

One, two. One, two-

Quilis absentmindedly counts the steps she takes up and down the corridor for the umpteenth time. A distraction, from the effects of the fading adrenaline rush a couple nights prior.

Normally a bit of panic or stress didn't strike the purple very much. But this time, it was different. Intense.

She stops in her tracks, recalling finally.

Several events had been brought up to Quilis. Things she had next to no memory of. Or rather, it was like they were being covered up. Blocked out by something. She remembers feeling what could only be described as a presence. Hooking claws into it, dragging it out. Sparks and strings of some violent magical energy that refused to let go.

But finally, a release.

Looking at whatever those thorny vines were, she saw her own handiwork- yet it was alien. Foreign to her, as if she did not truly make it herself. She remembers crushing it, and the sudden flood of everything it held back.

Quilis frowns, continuing onwards to… wherever she was going. Everything since that moment has been sort of fuzzy, blurred by a sense of unease. It was a lot, after all- getting back various memories from the span of two hundred sweeps or so all at once. It was scary. Is still, she supposes. The thought of having her own mind withheld from her like that.

However, her thoughts are interrupted by a loud thud originating from somewhere close by. Normally, she'd write it off as something the construction crew was up to. But she was nowhere near where they were working for it to make sense.

Concerned, she looks around- though, she doesn't have to try very hard. As soon as she takes another step, a door to her left slams against the wall as it swings open on its own accord. Behind it is a small room Quilis uses for storage, currently. Hive decor. Fabric bolts. Thread, twine, leather and beads. A small decorative box- which once was up on a shelf- lies open and turned over on the floor.

Its contents lay spread out on the floor. A yellowing fashion magazine from over a hundred and fifty sweeps ago, a few kandi bracelets, a rock painted in neon yellow, magenta and lime green. But most notable to Quilis, as she approaches the mess, is a pair of rose-tinted heart sunglasses. She picks them out of the bunch delicately to look them over, and kneels on the floor.

Using a hand to brush off a bit of grime, she holds the glasses in her hands- staring at them for a long few moments. Quilis then exhales and begins putting these things back in their box to take with her. To take them out to the garden, grabbing a shovel along the way.

Quilis digs a hole in one of the flowerbeds, setting the box inside. Before she covers it, she removes the neon-painted rock- deciding it would serve as a marker for this impromptu memorial. When she's finally satisfied with how it's buried, she moves to sit on the grass in front of it. Quil sets aside the shovel and looks down on the place quietly.

She doesn't say anything for the longest time, only speaking up once she's felt it's been enough.

“... I'm sorry that it took this long. It never should have. Forgetting shouldn't be an excuse, but…”

She trails off to fall silent again. A gentle breeze ruffles her hair.

“I wonder if you can hear me, all the way over in the afterlife. Doubt you're still roaming these parts, you seemed pretty content back then.”

She knows that they cannot. But she wants to let herself have this.

“In all the time I'd known you, I don't think I ever got to really say thank you- for everything. You never did let me. Told me that I only had myself to thank for getting myself out of there.

… But that wasn't necessarily true, was it?”

Again, she waits. As if she was going to get an answer.

“All this time… and I didn't even miss you. I'd forgotten who you even were. I guess not having you around anymore fucked me up.”

She gives a weak laugh, but purses her lips to fight off the tide of emotions.

“I figured this is a pretty nice spot-” her voice cracks, and she pauses to recover. “Peaceful. I know you wouldn't’ve wanted me to hold on to your stuff for this long, to do anything grandiose. So, this is all I'll do.

I… couldn't possibly think of trying to bother your rest. Had been through enough of shit while you were alive, huh?”

Quilis falls silent again. Her expression sours and she looks up.

“Fuck, what a thing to knock some sense back into me.” she whispers, rubbing her bleary eyes. She then breathes deeply to focus once again, and looks back down at the marker.

“See you later, Albumi. Or, Sparky, was it?”

Her face twists again; she sighs, shaking her head some. Moving to stand, Quilis picks up the shovel and walks away- leaving this all behind her.

#nihil writes #quilis kelter #the walls have seen and heard

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satsekhem · 10 months

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Epagomenal Day 4 2023 - Aset

Dig

Bury me

Underneath

Everything that I am

- Dig by Mudvayne

I feel my glowing, center grow

Infecting, I feel alive

Shovel dirt over lime

Plant it in myself to sit like a seed, under covers of earth and just be

- Not Falling by Mudvayne

#kemetic #epagomenal days 2023 #wep ronpet 2023 #aset

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wonderlandleighleigh · 2 years

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Not really the Schneider-verse (or it could be, who am I to say) but Jess and Rory getting the catch up they deserved in Let Me Hear Your Balalaikas Ringing Out - either Logan not turning up or them meeting up between that and the Prodigal Daughter Returns, either or neither, just some Literati love please <3

They find a tiny Vietnamese place open late in Hartford, with enormous bowls of Pho, and overstuffed Banh Mi sandwiches.

Jess pours a disgusting amount of sriracha and hoisin sauce into his soup, before squeezing an obscene amount of lime wedges in, and Rory follows suit. The soup is divine, the broth clearly simmered for days on end.

"So?" Jess asks as he uses his little ladle and chopsticks to shovel broth and noodles into his mouth.

"So," Rory agrees as she takes her own mouthful.

"You left Yale," Jess states.

She nods slowly. "I...did. I did. I left Yale. It was for the best."

Jess looks at her as if she's lost her mind. "That's not-"

"It is," she insists. "Look, I...I had this internship, and it- it didn't go very well. The person who gave it to me told me I don't have what it takes to be a journalist. And I came to realize that he was right, so I...stopped chasing something that's not going to happen."

Jess gazes at her a little sadly and it makes her avert her eyes. "Okay. So...what's the new dream?"

"I don't know yet."

"Have you thought about it at all?" he asks, slurping down more broth, grabbing a piece of beef from his bowl to munch on.

"No."

"Can I say something you don't wanna hear?"

"No."

"I'm gonna say it anyways," he announces, setting his utensils down. "I you worked yourself so hard, and you're so used to people telling you what you want to hear? That you had a breakdown."

Rory stares at him silently.

"And that's actually okay," Jess insists. "Breakdowns happen. I had mine. Running away to California like a fucking idiot."

"I don't want to talk about that," she says quickly.

"My point is," he says, getting back on track. "That no matter what happened at that internship? It doesn't matter. It's a drop in the bucket. One guy told you you're not good enough. Sucks for sure, but also fuck that guy. You work hard, Rory. You've always gone after what you want. Why stop now?"

Rory stays silent, looking down at her soup.

"You're really gonna let some crusty jerk get in your way?" Jess asks.

"He's not a crusty jerk - well, he is, but he's a very wealthy, powerful, crusty jerk," Rory says.

Jess smirks at her. "And won't it be the best feeling when you make him eat his words?"

Rory laughs a little. "I guess you have some experience with that."

He shrugs. "Well, all of Stars Hollow thought I'd end up in jail, and here I am. Paying for dinner with money I made from writing a book and editing for an independent press. I stopped by Stars Hollow and sold Andrew a few copies. I wish I could see Taylor's face when he sees them."

“Taylor may die.”

"I hope he'll at least have heart palpitations, I'll take that," Jess volleys back.

Rory takes a breath and goes back to eating her soup. "What if you're wrong? What if I really am not good enough to follow this path?"

"There's no 'good enough,'" he points out. "You either work your ass off to make it happen, or you don't. And considering all of those Friday nights we spent in senior year, where you studied, and I napped until you were done...I think you've got this covered."

She huffs out a breath. "I miss school. Logan...- Logan, my boyfriend - Logan and I do a lot of partying, and I just...feel..."

"Bored?" Jess supplies.

"God, I'm so bored."

"Ivy league drop-out," Jess sings in a terrible voice, trying to emulate Grease for her. "Go back to college..."

She bursts out laughing, almost spitting her soup out. "Oh, my god do that again, I want a recording."

"Never."

"Jess."

"Eat your soup. You've got a sandwich coming, you don't want 'em to overlap."

"Jess!"

"No."

*****

He drops her back at her grandparents' place, only to find another car waiting there.

"Logan," Rory smiles as she gets out of the passenger's side.

Jess joins her, handing her her leftover dessert.

"No," Rory says, whirling around. "You keep them."

Jess laughs. "What? No more mung bean bonbons for you?" he asks. "You're missing out."

"Yuck," Rory complains. "Logan, this is Jess. He's an old friend from Stars Hollow - Luke's nephew. Jess, this is Logan, my boyfriend."

Jess nods. "Hey."

Logan nods, looking wary. "Hey, man, good to meet you."

They shake hands briefly, and Jess holds up the bag. "Mung bean bonbons?"

"Uh..."

"We got Vietnamese food," Rory explains. "Jess got adventurous with dessert."

"They're not that bad."

"Yuck," Rory repeats, making Jess laugh.

"Seems like you two had a grand old time," Logan remarks.

"We haven't seen each other in a long time," Rory explains.

"You two date?" Logan asks.

"Yes," Rory responds truthfully. "But that was a long time ago. Jess wrote a book, and he's been going to small bookstores, selling copies. He was in the area."

"A writer. You a writer, Jess?" Logan asks.

"Sure," Jess responds slowly, lifting an eyebrow.

"Got many influences? Hemmingway? Proust? Kafka? Tolstoy?"

Jess turns to Rory, looking a little weirded out. "Is this guy a real person?"

Rory gives him a stern look. "Jess..."

"I'm just sayin', if Mattel made a Ken doll that was supposed to encourage little girls to go to an Ivy League school, it'd probably look like him."

"Oh, he's funny," Logan snarks. "Funny guy, huh?"

"And on that note, I'm gonna head out," Jess tells them. "Rory. Happy early birthday. Logan...you were also here."

Rory huffs. "Jess, wait."

"Let him go, Rory," Logan tells her.

She narrows her eyes at him and follows Jess to his car. "Hey."

He turns to her, raising his eyebrows.

"Sorry about him. He's...he's just..."

"An asshole," Jess tells her. "You're dating an asshole. Can I bribe you to break up with him if I sing the Grease thing again?"

"No."

Jess grins and leans in, kissing her cheek. "Go back to Yale, Rory. Stop boring yourself."

With that, he squeezes her arm gently, and hops into his car, driving off.

#fic #au #Gilmore Girls #Literati #Jess/Rory #Jess x Rory #aaaand Logan

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lumii-nosity · 10 months

Note

*slips note into your cage that has been written in glitter green pen with little yellow star stickers stuck all over it*

Salutations lumii! ⭐

We may not have talked much lately, but I have been in your life in spirit... and in your ⭐ ears... And I also have ⭐ been lacing your foods/drinks with a substance that will cause you to ⭐ evolve into a crab as all evolution should end... ⭐ The transformation should starts soon

Anyway, I have experience barbenheimer... I believe I will require in ⭐ tense therapy now and I wish to become Allan (or Alan ⭐ as his name SHOULD be spelled) but my child support would be through the roof since he is the baby daddy of all of Midge's children ⭐

I've been taking baths in butterscotch pudding ⭐ to calm down after a day at work and I've definitely been eating healthy/sarcasm ⭐

⭐ The grease from my job has formed a protective layer on me that not even the butterscotch can get through and the heat in my area has mel ⭐ ted plastic gloves permanently to my hands. ⭐

Now I must get back to drinking raw eggs and eating nails I will ⭐ speak with you later so we may plan orange brunch ⭐ and then fight a duel to the death with spoons and garden shovels ⭐

✨Cześć✨

Just so you know, every time I see key lime pie, I think of you.

Ooh, nice that you enjoyed the Barbie movie?

Morgue, I'm going to start forcing you to eat vegetables.

Yesss I miss orange brunch 🍊

#letters and postcards

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joedaytoday · 4 months

Text

MLK Weekend 2024

Saturday, January 13, 2024

MLK weekend is here. Enjoying not having anyplace to be but home. It's cold and there's a light coating of snow on the ground. Dale and I are lounging on the couch and Sylvester is on Dale's lap. It's very cozy in here. We're contemplating shoveling the snow but we're not moving too fast to make that happen.

Later...

It's cold. Dale and I just got in from shoveling the little bit of snow that's on the ground. Glad we're not just south of us in Iowa which is also frigid but getting HAMMERED with snow.

For us it's notable because we've been way warmer than usual this season and we haven't had enough snow at any given time to shovel any more that what we got overnight. We've been spoiled but we're bracing ourselves. Who knows when but the monster snowstorm WILL come.

Even later...

I've come to regard MLK weekend as something of an extension of winter break. As a teacher I've always gotten a 2 week break around the holidays. Every other teacher I talk to says the two week mark is just when they feel they're starting to really relax. That's the case for me with summer break too. Anyway, the two weeks I've been back in school have been productive albeit tiring. There's some good stuff going on at work but I'll just leave that there for now as I need to give myself a mental break from thinking and talking about my job.

I'm sitting down now with a Fresca and listening to Christmas with Ed Ames, one of my favorite Christmas albums from childhood. Hearing these songs brings me right back to the living room in the house on Stevens at Christmastime.

Later still...

We had Fran, Charlie, and Christine from Gethsemane over for dinner tonight and it was really delightful seeing all of them. Dale and I made a lasagna that went over very well. Fran brought over lychee martinis which she's been telling me about for a while. I loved 'em. They're one part lime rum, 1 part lemon run, 1 part vanilla rum, and 1 part lychee liqueur.

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bailesona · 5 months

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" darling, i know that you took my white pudding... " a night of driving and flying and driving again have long-stolen the subtleties of richard's interrogative skills. now, he leans against a luxuriously papered wall, too tired to sit up in the velvet chair, while stanley pauses mid-way through cutting up a sausage.

" you know what, babe, i'm gonna just chalk that one right up to jetlag, i won't even dignify that with a response-- "

" classic sign of guilt. " rani murmurs, slumped in her seat and pushing mushrooms around her plate. laszlo is looking paler than usual, indicative of the concoctions he'd forged at home, but ultimately far more alert and focused than the other three. particularly when a chirpy young waitress appears beside the table and asks if they'd like any other drinks before the scones arrive.

" one almond latte, extra shot, a cappuccino with two pumps of hazelnut, one orange juice with pulp and three lime wedges, and a green tea with honey. "

for the moment between the order and drayden's arrival, the group stare at him in bewilderment.

" what? we don't have time for you lot to fuck around trying to remember the order. we've got a whole bloody island to narrow down, so eat up, drink up, and let's go. " he's about to ask for a few boxes to shovel everything into when they spot @hcpebled approaching the table. " we ordered you a breakfast roll, lad, but you'll have to eat it in the toyota. we're currently divided between going west to the atlantic, north to the mountains, or east to the city. and by that, i mean i'm divided, and everyone else just wants to go to bed. "

OPTIONS ( D20 LINK HERE! ):

take one of the suggested routes from laszlo.

[ PERSUASION ] convince laszlo that it's better to get some rest first and plan the journey once everyone's slept a bit. ( d15 )

[ CHARISMA ] ask the waitress for help and directions. ( d10 )

[ INTELLIGENCE ] use your memories of aisling's fleeting mentions of her past to narrow down where in the country she might be. ( d14 )

OTHER!

#hcpebled #( LMK IF THIS NEEDS CHANGING! )#( ' BON APPETIT! ' / STARTER. )#( V; DORCHADAS. )

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rocknrollsalad · 5 months

Text

steddimas prompt fill - vacation destination

🍍 eddie tries to give steve a tropical vacation, thinking he needs a break, but it doesn't really go to plan.

🥥 content/trigger warnings: couples fighting, (harmless) threats from wayne

🌴 word count: 2260

Winter isn’t all grand snowstorms and huddling together for warmth. Usually, it’s just really cold and dark and miserable. Sometimes it snows, maybe enough to cancel school but never enough to cancel work, and then everything turns into this gray, slushy mess. No one bothers to clean it. They carve out a path to whatever they need and carry on with blinders. Waiting for spring to do the rest.

No season was more depressing and Eddie had never figured himself one for sun and tropics. As he dragged his feet through the slush, making the shortest path from his van to the door, he really thought laying on a white sandy beach sounded good right now.

As tough as Eddie was finding, his only-thrives-in-the-sun boyfriend was shriveling up and dying slowly. Steve lacked the energy to get up and do much of anything and his fuse was shorter than when he woke in the morning. Eddie knew he could take the man in a fight but didn’t think it’d be good for their relationship if they found out for sure.

So he did what he did best and hatched a dumb and overly elaborate plan.

In something he almost didn’t want an explanation for, both Gareth and Dustin’s parents had thrown tiki parties in the last year. They both had leftover directions that had the kitsch meter exploding. Part of Eddie wanted to be a fly on the wall of these gatherings. They were either absolutely insane or so lame they needed to be witnessed.

Both Dustin and Gareth were willing to lend leis, thatched placemats, and grass skirts for everything. Dustin threw in far too many tiki masks. Eddie needed exactly zero, he didn’t know what to do with three dozen. Gareth put in those bobble hula girls, coconut cups, and paper palm fronds. His character was going to win so many battles.

Nancy came in clutch with a bunch of blue sheets and comforters. Apparently, the Wheelers have some gender issues they need to work out and Mike goes through a lot of bedsheets. Eddie didn’t ask any further questions and plugged his ears when she tried to offer details. Though he was able to return the favor tenfold since Nancy kept insisting this was all for “some sort of sex thing”.

It was prudish of her in a way that didn’t match anything Eddie had heard her say. Maybe it had something to do with that cutesy pastel room of hers that also didn’t match. No matter how much Eddie insisted it wasn’t, she did the same, plugged her ears, and sang a song to not hear.

Robin offered nothing because Eddie didn’t ask. She’d spill every last bean and then make up some more stuff. He did, however, tell her all about the “sex thing” Nancy thought he was up to. Making her gag and retch as he made up kinks. “Do you think Steve would prefer a green sheet situation?” It didn’t mean anything but the girls of Hawkins must have some code Eddie wasn’t hip to. That was fine by him because Eddie could have made Robin actually throw up if he’d gone into real detail.

A next-door neighbor, who later had a conversation with Wayne about Eddie’s mental stability, lent him a kiddie pool. Foolishly, Eddie asked Lucas if he had any portable heaters without cluing him into the whole plan. His parents bought Eddie two and Mrs. Sinclair added a few scarves she’d knitted. A gift Eddie wasn’t going to turn away and he vowed to shovel their walkway every day this winter. He promised to give one of the heaters to Max when he was done with this event.

After days of begging for (and hiding) all this stuff, Eddie took it one step further and went to the grocery store. Picking out fresh pineapples, a mango, and some real coconuts. He stocked up on lime Jell-o at Claudia Henderson’s recommendation. Gareth’s mom talked a lot about ham but Eddie didn’t have the first clue what to do with that, so he figured hamburgers were close enough. A couple of bottles of rum rounded out the food part of things and Eddie felt he was all set.

Waiting for Steve to work a late shift on a day Wayne also worked was the hardest part of this and out of Eddie’s control. Though he was getting impatient enough he almost called everyone’s bosses. He needed to give Steve a vacation but this was the best their budget allowed for. But if the man didn’t “get away” soon, everyone was going to pay.

Eddie wasn’t just doing this for him. It was for them too!! And they were making it very, very hard. Plus, there were only so many ways Eddie could keep Steve out of the closet where everything was hiding. It was starting to get too stressful but finally, the day came.

Hallelujah and praise satan!

The miserable, disgusting snow on the ground was being washed away by torrential rains. Nothing about the outdoors said good things and Eddie was about to sing around his porch like a nanny in the Alps. His time had come. Of course, he had to sit on his hands for four hours and wait for Wayne to leave but after that, it was all Metallica and thoughts of something tropical.

This wasn’t any real destination. Eddie wasn’t looking to mimic a real place here. He wanted to give the illusion of warmth, of the beach and water, and show he was trying. He’d noticed Steve’s crummy mood and wanted to do something to help. Not to look like he cared but because he cared.

Wayne would spontaneously combust if he saw Eddie putting a kiddie pool in the middle of the living room, regardless of the season. It proved that no matter how grown up he got, he was always going to be a little bit afraid of Wayne as Eddie kept an eye on the door.

Once it was half filled, Eddie filled four of the largest pans they had and left them on the stove to wait. No tropical beach had cold water.

The rest of the decorations were hung and rehung as Eddie stood in a pile of blue sheets, taking in everything and making sure it was all just right. As the hours ticked down to minutes, Eddie got burgers cooking. In the oven because he couldn’t handle the stress of explaining the grill to Wayne too and the burner was all trying to boil water. No one would care where they were cooked, as long as Eddie remembered to turn the oven off it’d be okay.

In Steve’s eight-hour shift (plus travel time), Eddie had done everything he could to turn the trailer into a tropical oasis. He spent the last few minutes admiring his work and debating if he should put on a grass skirt or not, Steve was so lucky to have him.

Barely remembering to turn the music off, Eddie made a mad dash to Wayne’s closet and dug down deep. Way, way in the back were a couple of god-awful Hawaiian shirts, Eddie grabbed them and was able to get back to the living room before Steve pulled into the driveway.

As Eddie ping-ponged around the room, careful not to disturb anything, to find the “right place” to stand, Steve came in the door with a welcome everyone wanted to hear.

“What the hell is this?”

It was impossible not to deflate, frozen in mid-climb, Eddie’s shoulders dropped and he looked at Steve. “Ta-da?”

“What?” he repeated, the disgust too thick.

Eddie slipped down off the chair, two feet on the ground, tiptoeing over to Steve. Approaching the wild animal who’d already shown claws and teeth, Eddie sighed and tried to remember the speech he’d prepared.

“Look,” he started, a little too defensive for his liking. “You’ve been miserable lately and I can’t exactly take you on vacation. It’s, like, really fucking expensive, man. So I did the best I could.”

Steve took his shoes off and put his lunch and jacket on the table, same as every day. Leaving Eddie to wonder if it was okay to flip your boyfriend off behind his back in the middle of trying to do something nice for him. The consensus was yes and Steve was given the double salute.

“Okay but why? This isn’t the beach, I mean, there isn’t even sand.”

“No shit there isn’t sand, Steven. Wayne would kill me if he saw all this, I wasn’t going to put sand in the living room.”

“So what was the point?”

“Great…fucking question,” Eddie said, gritting his teeth and moving to the kitchen.

If he didn’t start doing something he was going to explode. And if he did, Steve certainly wasn’t going to clean up this mess so Wayne would kill him. Eddie was mad but he didn’t want the guy murdered.

He clicked all the burners off to let the boiling water cool down. Moving to the drawer of lids, Eddie tried to find something to put all the fruit away before it attracted bugs. If it even could in this weather. The whole time biting his tongue to stop from saying anything.

Steve disappeared for a bit, coming back in house clothes. By that point, Eddie was standing in the living room folding towels. He’d turned the music back on but kept it at a reasonable volume.

“There’s burgers in the oven and all the fixings on the counter. Unless you’ve gone vegetarian since I saw you this morning.”

“Why would I do-”

“Not a fucking clue,” Eddie snapped. He couldn’t hold it in anymore and Steve’s shitty mood was ruining the coolest thing Eddie had done in a while.

“What has gotten into you?”

“Yeah because I’ve been a real problem before now.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“You’ve been unbearable. Like you know I love when you’re kind of an asshole but it’s gone a little far. I did the dumb thing and tried to do something nice for you. It was weird, yeah, I know. That’s sort of my fucking thing but you walked in and turned your nose up at it.”

“Okay, sure. You put a pool in the living room.”

“Surrounded by blue sheets! It was a fake ocean. I got all this beach stuff and made you dinner, there were tropical drinks for later. I didn’t just put a pool in the living room, you're just being a dick.”

“I’m looking at it, you did.”

“Jesus Christ. Yeah, well once I get it out of the living room I’m going to bed. Fuck it and fuck you.”

The rest of the mess was going to be a lot to explain to Wayne but Eddie didn’t care. He couldn’t be in this situation any longer. So he dropped the sheet to the couch and focused on dragging the pool out the front door. Which took more work and feet shuffling than dragging it in did.

Eventually, though, he got it dumped out and stashed back under the porch. Tomorrow he’d return it. Perhaps with a thank you pineapple. From there he made good on his promise and went to his room. Not fully able to kick Steve out of the house but was confused as to why he was still there.

Eddie read until he fell asleep. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d fallen asleep angry like this. Hell, it probably had something to do with one of Steve’s stupid jock friends. There was something here about a leopard not changing his spots that Eddie really didn’t want to believe. They were too many months into this, he’d been too vulnerable. He thought Steve was doing the same but maybe he was still just some asshole jock.

The next morning Steve woke Eddie with a shake. “Wayne’s pissed and he wants you to clean all this shit up.”

“You fucking clean it,” Eddie grumbled, trying to wake up enough to even know who was talking to him.

“I’ll help but I don't know what half of this stuff is or where it goes. Wayne doesn’t even know where it came from.”

Bolting up in bed, Eddie glared at Steve. Sleep weakened the bit he wanted it to have but he tried to burn a hole through the man who had the nerve to perch on the end of Eddie’s bed after last night.

“Look who’s bright and cheery and helpful this morning,” Eddie said, trying to deepen the glare.

Steve pointed his thumb over his shoulder toward the open door. “Your uncle is out there, ready to toss us both to the curb. Can this wait?”

“No. It kind of can’t. Gimme the quick version.”

“You’re right. I was being an asshole and you were trying to do something nice.”

“And?”

“There’s no-what ‘and’?” Steve hissed, his head bobbing back and forth.

“Boy!” Wayne hollered.

“And…I wish I’d given it a chance?” Steve tried.

“You don’t,” Eddie deflated. “We can talk about that later, I guess.”

He’d really missed the mark on this. Steve couldn’t even lie…at gunpoint basically. Eddie needed to talk to Steve and find out why it didn’t work and maybe get a few ideas of what would work in the future. They’d have to do a lot of talking but first, they had to clean. There’d be nothing to sort out if they didn’t get Wayne his living room back in order.

#this went places i didn't expect #and i'm not sure i love the ending #but it's what i got #hey everyone come see what i wrote now

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