#MsB goes for a walk
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Didn't go out very much on this trip to Toronto, between all the scanning of photos and the bad right foot. Still managed to pop out briefly again today (walk #82!) just to do a bit more shopping while that mostly involved bus and subway rides, rather then walking ~1 mile each way as it does up north. This is me waiting for the bus at Yonge & Finch this afternoon.
Heading back north tomorrow. I think I may try to do more frequent short walks, since the long walks are to be avoided.
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Magic School Bus/Wild Kratts crossover masterpost
Basically, @daiohficblog and I have been coming up with lots of headcanons that cross over the shows.
WARNING: This post is by no means organized.
How does everyone know each other?
First of all, Ms. Frizzle knows everyone. So of course she would know the Kratt brothers and the rest of the WK team (Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy).
The MSB kids are introduced to the Wild Kratts team during a whale-watching trip off the New England coast.
Phoebe's uncle, Dr. Cecil Byrd, is a traveling ornithologist from Australia and often bumps into the WK team.
Creature powers:
The kids all have their own creature power suits (which Aviva made them for Christmas one year).
Color schemes:
Phoebe: Red
D.A.: Violet (different from purple!!!)
Carlos: Dark blue
Tim: Cerulean
Ralphie: Green
Arnold: Yellow
Wanda: Pink
Keesha: Fuchsia/Magenta
Other hc's
Carlos and Mikey's sibling dynamic parallels Martin and Chris's dynamic. You have the older sibling who likes to goof off and the younger bro with slightly more brain cells.
First creature power the kids used:
Carlos and DA: Peregrine falcon
Ralphie, Arnold, and Phoebe: Red fox
Tim: Pine marten
Keesha: Rattlesnake
Wanda: Bullfrog
Family/pets/whatnot.
Phoebe and Ralphie are step-siblings in this universe. They also have the most pets:
Brandy (a grumpy old tortoiseshell cat). Dr. Tennelli (Ralphie's mom) adopted her before Ralphie was born. Former stray.
Joxter, a black-and-white tomcat. Brandy's son. Adventurous, but also lazy (rather like his namesake from the Moomin books). Good swimmer.
Renee and Megan: Two red foxes, rescued from a fur farm. Renee has the "normal" reddish-orange coat, and Megan is leucistic.
Jeanette: An old border collie (female). Another rescue.
Loretta: A black-and-white Newfoundland dog. 6 years old.
Charlie: a piebald ball python. (Not sure whether Charlie should be a boy or a girl.)
Fang: a male red-kneed tarantula belonging to Ralphie.
HC's continued (not in any particular order)
Carlos is very arachnophobic-- so he tries to avoid spiders at all costs. However, most other "scary" animals (sharks, crocodilians, snakes, bats, etc...) don't frighten him.
Martin and Chris have become somewhat of "elder sibling figures" for the kids.
Wanda is the water-lover of the MSB gang. She brings her snorkeling/scuba gear WHEREVER she goes.
Phoebe and Ralphie (AKA the Terese-Tennelli siblings) like to visit Ralphie's uncle Brian at the lake to go fishing. It's the same lake where the "Bass Class" fishing contest took place.
Uncle Brian (Dr. Tennelli's younger brother) is an expert fisherman.
In the fishing contest before the events of "Bass Class," Brian won first place in the local fishing contest, and Gavin came in third. Fortunately, Brian is a lot nicer about winning and losing than a certain cheater named Zach.
The WK kids of Frogwater Pond (Gavin, Ronan, Jenny, Katie, Aidan, and Nolan) are in this AU, and they know the MSB kids. (Since they know Phoebe and Ralphie, who come to their forest every summer).
Carlos has two younger siblings: Mikey (one year younger) and Maria (three years younger).
Mikey is a computer/tech prodigy, and as such, often helps Aviva with her inventions. He also makes his own inventions (for which Carlos is usually the test subject). He uses a wheelchair to get around.
Maria is the math expert of her siblings. She is also deaf and uses American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate.
Mikey might not be able to walk, but he's good at a lot of things: fishing, kayaking/canoeing, playing the piano, and more.
Phoebe and Carlos (the most avid birdwatchers of the MSB gang) have developed a "secret language" composed entirely of birdcalls. One key part of this language is that anyone using it has a birdcall that stands in for their name.
For instance, Phoebe's bird name is the eastern phoebe's song, while Carlos uses the northern cardinal's song for his name.
They also teach the birdcall language to Martin and Chris, who use the calls of the purple martin and pileated woodpecker, respectively. It does not go well.
Phoebe might seem harmless, but she isn't. She's been taking karate classes since she was little, and if you hurt any animals around her, RUN. In fact, she's rather like her avian namesake: small and unassuming, but a fighter through and through.
Wanda is even more of a fighter-- leading to the bird nerds in both crews comparing her to a kingbird.
The Ice Cream Run is a time-honored tradition of both the MSB gang and the Wild Kratts team. Some details:
The best Ice Cream Runs are at night. Everyone get in the car/bus/Tortuga and head for the ice cream store.
You do not want to interrupt the Ice Cream Run. Under ANY circumstances. (The WK villains learned this the hard way.)
Phoebe and Martin bond over the fact that they share their names with birds. (The eastern phoebe and purple martin, respectively.
Any time either of them sees one of those birds, they'll send each other a picture of said bird with the caption "this you?"
Wanda can pilot the Cheetah Racer and the Amphisub and the Buzz Bikes. She is not allowed in the Tortuga's cockpit.
Carlos can pilot most of the underwater vehicles (the Amphisub and the Manta sleds), but he always crashes the hoverbikes.
Mikey usually helps Koki with system maintenance of the Tortuga. (At least in the early days, when he's still learning how to make computer programs without any bugs.)
How each of the kids handles being captured by any of the WK villains:
Arnold: Carlos shows up and frees him. (The two of them are rock bros, and rock bros always have each others' backs.)
Carlos: Annoying them with horrible puns and messing with their tech.
DA: Smacks the villains with her books.
Keesha: Also resorts to punching.
Phoebe: Fury of the bird she's named after.
Ralphie: Smacks the villains with his baseball bat.
Tim: Escape artist.
Wanda: Crowbar to the face. (Nobody knows where she got the crowbar.)
Wanda has only been captured once. After that time, none of the villains dare to capture her again.
Pretty much all the MSB kids (Arnold included) will resort to violence or trickery if they're captured.
Carlos might be the goofball of the MSB gang, but he can switch into serious mode very quickly-- especially when one of his younger siblings or friends is in danger.
MSB kids from oldest to youngest: Carlos, D.A., Wanda, Tim, Keesha, Arnold, Ralphie, and Phoebe.
There is a 6-month age gap between Carlos (born in October) and Phoebe (born in April).
By contrast, the shortest age gap is between D.A. and Wanda, who were born one week apart in November.
Carlos's favorite creature power to use is peregrine falcon power-- to the point where he always keeps a falcon feather with him.
Tim is the climbing expert of the MSB gang. Wanda is the swimming expert.
Tim is also the only person in the "I Injured Myself Falling Out of a Tree" club (which comprises himself, Phoebe, Wanda, Carlos, and Chris) who has never broken a bone.
Every now and then, Carlos (dinosaur nerd) will contact the Tortuga to tell them he's seen a dinosaur. They know full well that he means birds.
Wanda rescues her pet bullfrog Bella from a shady pet store while Bella is still a tadpole.
As in the "Hopes Home" MSB episode, Bella escapes and goes off to live in the wild. However, Wanda can't help but worry about her.
HC that Bella escaped to Frogwater Pond, and the kids there keep an eye on her.
The "Gets Swamped" episode of MSB is also canon to this AU. After the events of that episode, the swamp Carlos helped save is made a nature preserve in his honor.
Carlos and Wanda are practically adopted twins, and they share a brain cell.
Wanda technically has two brothers, but she doesn't get along with them very well. She argues a lot with her older brother Henry (they both get on each others' nerves), and there isn't a lot she can do with her younger brother William.
Martin and Chris have substitute-taught Ms. Frizzle's class a few times. It ends up being just as chaotic (if not more so) than the days when the Friz is there.
This is all I have. Will post more headcanons if I think of more.
#magic school bus#wild kratts#headcanons#crossover#need a tag for this crossover#anyone have any ideas?
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And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 41)
Note: Man, sorry, Taiyang and Snowie are just a giant wealth of meaningful and silly interactions. AWRD next chapter, definitely.
Thump!
Snowie put down her fifth Mantle Steinbier of the night, frost still pouring out the first four and the unopened sixth nearby.
“Better?” Taiyang asked as he sat on the stool next to her, his one bottle of San Lorenzo still unfinished.
Snowie sighed heavily, and nodded her head. “Yeah… whole lot better… sorry you had to see that earlier, I just get… super emotional over my kids.”
“Hey, it’s no trouble at all, I get the same way with mine.”
“So you also break down in public, burst into tears from over-emotion, and drown your brain in alcohol till you can handle your emotions again…?” Snowie asked, a small smile on her face.
“… Okay, maybe not that kind of response, but I was the one the suddenly pulled all that ‘how do I deal with the fact that my daughters are probably going to die out there’ business on you earlier.”
“I don’t mind, Tai,” Snowie said. “Okay, maybe I do mind, but it’s a conversation everyone has to have with someone sometime! Preferably long before they need to do it for real, and they haven’t alienated them from smothering them so much. We don’t talk about it enough period, anyway!”
Boo-boop-bee-doop!
Snowie blinked, as did some of the other patrons in the Hestia-themed bar/restaurant they were in. “The hell…?” she muttered.
“That was mine, excuse me a moment,” Taiyang said, pulling his scroll out from his pocket and checking his messages.
Snowie blinked, before her eyes widened in realization. “… Wait, shit: we were supposed to show up at that dinner party with your landlady… fuck, it’s over, isn’t it?”
“Yeeep,” Taiyang said. “You mind taking a selfie with me, photographic proof there was an emotional crisis I had to attend to, and thus a good reason to miss it?”
“Oh, sure, go right on ahead,” Snowie said. “Don’t even need time to put a sad face on, the aura of despair and regret I’m giving off ought to be evidence enough already.”
Taiyang nodded as he flipped to the camera. “Don’t smile now!” said as he held out his scroll.
Click.
“How’s this look?” Taiyang asked, showing off the picture.
Snowie put down her beer bottle. “Let’s see… slumped over a bar, four empty bottles of MSB, eyes red from crying, a fifth already in my mouth… yep, this is about as unflattering and depressing as it gets, send it.”
“You sure about that?”
“You want me to make up another long-ass, rambling oath while we’re at it?” Snowie said, trying to put her free hand over her chest, and missing.
“Nah, I’m convinced,” Taiyang replied, adding an explanation to it before he sent it off. He and Snowie waited a short while for the reply. “Mrs. Ang sends her regards, says you ought not to drink too much, and you can stay over at her place if you need to.”
“Should I?”
“Practically speaking, yes, her place is as good as anyone else’s for shelter, but since I like you, it might be best if I just hire one of those rickshaws outside and get you back to Haven. Or you could just stay at my place, if you’d like! Not the first time I’ve ever had someone completely wasted sleeping on my couch for the night.”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly!” Snowie cried. “You already bought me a six-case of beer, plus dinner/comfort food, you’ve already spent way too much on me. The elevators are a real walk from here, yeah, but as soon as we get back to it it’s just not falling off the side as it goes all the way up to the top.
“I’m like Qrow—even while drunk, I always find some way to get where I’m going to, eventually!” she said, proudly raising her beer up into the air before she took another swig out of it.
Taiyang winced. “Yeah, no, we’re definitely taking a ride out of here and to my place now. Trust me, I've learned that whenever whenever you have a really drunk person to deal with, no matter how close your destination is, it's always better to just get a vehicle of any sort, ideally motorized.”
“But didn’t you and Qrow go around a lot on foot? He’s really drunk all the time, right?”
Taiyang put his drink down and shot her a look. “How else do you think I learned?”
Snowie paused. “Fair point,” she said, gesturing the mouth of her bottle towards Taiyang. “Just let me finish the rest of this beer, and number six, too, and we can go.”
“Couldn’t you just get it to go, and work on it tomorrow?” Taiyang asked.
“Nah, I like following an old Mantle tradition: never take a beer bottle with you when you order it at a bar, ‘cause the bottles used to be pretty expensive to make and designed to be reused for years, but now it’s just respectful for the bartender and the brewers,” Snowie said, before she drained the last of MSB #5, set it with the other four.
“What about drinking #6?” Taiyang asked. “Seems like you could just leave this for someone else; no reason they wouldn’t take a free, unopened beer, or the bar could just sell it again.”
Snowie smiled as she pulled up #6, put the cap on the edge of the stone counter, then slammed her palm down on it, popping it open. “Other Mantle tradition: always try to drink all that you order, someone worked HARD to get it to you in the first place,” she said, before she brought it to her lips.
“Sounds like a good excuse to enable alcoholism,” Taiyang said, amused.
Snowie sighed happily as she set it back down. “You’d be surprised at how many treasured traditions and beliefs Mantle has that do just that.”
Taiyang nodded. “So, anything else you’d like to talk about?” he asked. “More small talk? More deep, intimate conversations that branch off from that small talk soon as either of us find a decent jump off point? Or is that enough potentially heartwrenching conversation for tonight?”
Snowie put her bottle down, hesitated for a moment, before she asked, “You mind if we talk about our kids?”
“Sure!” Taiyang said, beaming. “Bragging about how great they are, or asking each other specific questions?”
“Asking,” Snowie replied. “We’ll probably be here all night gushing and crying about them if we got free reign. And with that out of the way… I hear both of your girls are in Huntsman Academy at the same time, one of them two years early—you must be super proud of them.”
Taiyang smiled and nodded. “Always have been, but yeah, it’s hard no to be a little extra proud of Ruby right now.”
Snowie shot him a knowing look, before she chuckled. “How’d you take the news?”
“Shocked, but not really, you know?” Taiyang replied. “Ruby was always been a step above everyone else, in case you didn’t already figure that out from seeing her in combat—she designed and built Crescent Rose herself, too.”
“I’ve seen and I’ve heard!” Snowie chirped. “The tech has really advanced since the last time I’ve seen one of those things,” before she took another drink.
“She’ll let you take a look at it if you let her take a look at yours, just saying,” Taiyang said.
Snowie sighed. “Yeah, I’ve thought about that, but my current trio doesn’t feel like a worthy exchange; maybe if I still had Gaudium, I wouldn’t feel too bad...” she said, staring into her beer bottle.
“Weapons are still weapons to Ruby—whatever the tech level, era, or complexity, she’ll be happy all the same,” Taiyang said. “Anyway, this might just turn into all about her, and you’ve only got so much beer left—how do you feel about Weiss getting into Haven?”
Snowie sucked in a breath, and let it go slowly. “Terrified, mostly. Excited, and happy for her, too. Sad that she won’t be coming home after school any more, like she did back at Sanctum.
“More than a little worried about what life may be throwing at her in the immediate future; her academy life is starting to feel just like the first years of my parents’ expeditions, except the weird, ancient crap attracting trouble like a super-powered magnet/beacon came much earlier,” she said, before she took a swig of her drink, now half-empty.
“I’m sure she’ll make a full recovery,” Taiyang said.
“And I know she will!” Snowie replied. “We always do—durable and determined, that’s what the Schnees are.” She turned back to Taiyang. “How do you feel about their new teams?”
“Well, kind of happy but also kind of unhappy they ended up separated; on the one hand, it gives Ruby a chance to start making new friends and connecting with people that weren’t from the Bunker or our little ragtag community outside the school, without relying too much on her sister.
“On the other hand, she was always a moderating presence for Yang, and it seems like JAYS are set to become the new problem team this batch like STRQ was, if all the police reports are anything to go by.”
“Sure AWRD won’t take that title instead?” Snowie asked, smiling.
“Eh, maybe, maybe not—seems like trouble is more keen on finding them, than the other way around, and that’s a very important distinction,” Taiyang replied. “How do you feel about Weiss and Akko being with Ruby and Diana?”
“Eh, much the same as you, except I’m a lot less unhappy about her ending up with her best friend already on the same team with her,” Snowie replied. “Their teachers always said Akko would have flunked out of Sanctum without Weiss, but honestly, it was more the other way around, it just wasn’t as obvious looking at their transcripts and their grades.”
She took another swig, then continued. “They’re getting along super well with Ruby and Diana, though—whoever decided to put them together either got really lucky, or just knew they’d fit perfectly together, in spite of how different they are.
“Like… tabasco sauce and blue flavour in a single snowball.”
“Blue flavour…?” Taiyang asked.
“Call me a culinary heathen for not being able to tell the difference between them, but blue flavour is always fucking delicious.” Snowie said as she emptied her bottle, then put it down with the rest.
“Hey, I’m not judging!” Taiyang said. He put some money down on a nearby tray, the bartender came to collect it. “You ready to go?” he asked.
“Yep!” Snowie said, slamming both her hands on the bar before she pushed herself up, and off her stool.
Taiyang grabbed her and held her steady as she began to sway to one side. “You still sure you’re ready to go...?”
“Yes.” Snowie said, grabbing onto his arm with both hands. “As soon as the room stops spinning.”
“Do you need a cab?” the bartender asked as she returned with Taiyang’s change.
“We’re taking a rickshaw, thanks,” Taiyang said.
The bartender nodded, took away Snowie’s empty bottles and Taiyang’s unfinished beer as the two of them made their way out the small, Hestia-themed restaurant they were in.
“Hey, Tai? “Did we discuss where I’d be staying the night?” Snowie asked as they made it out to the sidewalk, headed for the line of parked rickshaws and their waiting drivers nearby.
“Yeah, but we didn’t really make a decision,” Taiyang replied as he steadied Snowie.
“Which place is closer?” she asked as she grabbed the side of a rickshaw.
“My apartment,” Taiyang said as he helped her into the back. “It’s cramped, but it should be reasonably big enough for the two of us, now that Yang and Ruby moved out, and it’ll just be us and my dog.”
Snowie’s eyes widened. “You have a dog? That’s great!” Her face fell in horror. “Oh, shit, how late is it right now? Poor thing must be starving right now!”
“Relax!” Taiyang said as he climbed in himself. “I always make sure to keep plenty of cans of dog food within easy access for Zwei, with a can opener!”
Snowie looked at him gravely. “Manual or electric?”
“Manual,” Taiyang replied calmly.
Snowie sighed. “Phew, I was worried for a moment there!”
“So, my place it is?” Taiyang asked as the driver started the engine.
“To your place!” Snowie said, her hand shooting up and thumping against the canvas roof. “I want to see your dog...” she mumbled as she awkwardly took it back. “What kind of dog is Zwei? One of the pure breeds, or one of those dogs where you really can’t tell just what the hell it is they were descended from?”
Taiyang told the driver his address, turned back to Snowie, and said, “Pretty sure he’s a Giovanna Valen Corgi.”
Snowie squealed. “Oh my gosh—those are one of those little tiny horizontal dogs, right?!”
Taiyang sniggered. “’Little tiny horizontal dogs…?’”
“Fuck you, I’ve got six steinbiers in me, words are hard!” Snowie said just as cheerfully as earlier.
Taiyang nodded. “Yes, he’s a little tiny horizontal dog,” he said as the rickshaw started moving. “Super friendly, super smart, super talented; got him during a real rough spot in my life, and he’s just been my furry best friend since.”
“Do you think he’ll like me?” Snowie asked.
“Oh, definitely!” Taiyang replied. “Why do you ask? Bad history with dogs?”
“Well, not with dogs, exactly, and not me specifically, but my mommy was always terrified of animals in general. Probably because she was tiny. I mean, she still is tiny. Like really, super fucking tiny... if she wasn’t like a trained huntress, a really big dog could take her out pretty easily just by running into her really hard.
“So yeah, that’s why we don’t have pets, and it’s why Winter has so many plushies—it was the closest she could get. Well, you know, that and aside from the fact that…” Snowie trailed off. “… You know what, nevermind, it’s not the good kind of story.”
“I won’t mind if you want to tell it,” Taiyang asked.
“Well, I don’t, so don’t pry...” Snowie snapped.
“I won’t!” Taiyang said, holding up his hands.
It was silent for a while as the rickshaw navigated Mistral’s winding streets, the tunnels, and the uphill and downhill climbs, with poor roads, transitions from pavement to dirt then back again, and potholes hounding them the whole way.
“Hey...” Snowie muttered. “Sorry getting snippy just now, it’s just…” she sighed “… that part of my life is something I really don’t like revisiting if I can help it, especially since it worsens my… emotional issues.”
“Don’t worry, it’s totally cool,” Taiyang said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We’ve all got parts of our pasts we’re not proud of, that we don’t feel like sharing, or that we’ve already buried and are uninterested in unearthing—everyone has them, me included.”
“In case you couldn’t tell from the ‘Qrow in a skirt’ story, and all the other fun tales he’s probably shared with you, I was a real shithead back in my Beacon days.”
Snowie chuckled. “Yeah, I got that much, though I’d call you more an ‘asshat.’”
“Huh. Haven’t heard that before. What’s it mean?”
“It’s from Vox, and you know the saying ‘head up your ass’? Think that, but instead of going the whole way and putting your cranium into your rectal cavity, you stop just before, and walk around with your butt right over your head, like a hat. It’s supposed to mean that you aren’t completely oblivious to the situation, you’re worse:
“You can see what’s going on and understand it, but you still act like an idiot regardless—starting with walking around bent over like that.”
“Can’t be a very comfortable position,” Taiyang said seriously.
“Nor does it seem good for the spine,” Snowie replied just as gravely.
The two of them burst out laughing, the rickshaw slowed and came to a stop before a large apartment building, clearly aged and weathered but still holding strong.
Taiyang helped Snowie out and paid the driver, she examined the area, saw the nearby patch of green grass and tall trees close littered with toys, tire swings, and outdoor training equipment; the clothes hung up to dry just outside the windows; and the warm, friendly lights pouring out.
“Geeze… what time is it already?”
“9:17!” Taiyang said as he checked his scroll.
“… Fuck, how long was I crying and drowning my sorrows at that bar?”
“Don’t really know!” Taiyang said. “I guess it didn’t help that we’ve been walking everywhere, and it took us a while to find it. Anyway--” he reached into his pocket, pulled out a series of keys held together by a little corgi keychain “--want to head inside, and meet my dog?”
“Do the Starlight Crusaders always beat the ever loving crap out of the monsters before blasting them with magic?” Snowie replied, beaming.
“I’m guessing that’s a yes,” Taiyang said, smiling as he headed through the front door, Snowie eagerly following behind.
There was already a stream of people heading out one of the apartments on the ground floor, all of them carrying serving plates and food containers, either full of leftovers, or to be washed elsewhere. One of them noticed Taiyang, and smiled. “Hey, Tai’s back!” he said. “Oh, with his friend, too!”
A different tenant sniggered. “Finally getting back in the dating game after all these years, Tai?” she said teasingly.
“We’re just friends, I swear!” Taiyang said with mock panic.
“No offense meant to Taiyang, either, but I’m a lesbian,” Snowie added.
The line started shifting and moving as a tiny old lady carefully shuffled her way out the door. “Tai!” she cried as she saw him, every wrinkle on her face shifting as she smiled.
“Evening, Mrs. Ang!” Taiyang said, waving. “Sorry Snowie and I missed dinner this Sunday, things happened.”
“Don’t worry, I saw your message and your photo,” Mrs. Ang said, nodding sympathetically before she turned to Snowie. “Are you doing okay, young lady? You didn’t drink too much earlier, did you?”
“Much better, Mrs. Ang, and, well, yes, but Tai helped me get here and is offering to let me stay the night!”
The tenants made teasing scandalized sounds, Mrs. Ang looked at them like a grandmother silently scolding her wards, before she turned back to Snowie and Taiyang, all smiles again. “Please don’t mind them; we’re all like a family here, just can’t help but butt heads and step on each others’ toes!”
Snowie laughed. “Oh, believe me, I know the feeling.”
Mrs. Ang chuckled, before she sighed. “I wish I could stay and talk more, but these old bones need their rest already...”
“It’s fine, Mrs. Ang, I’ve already got it,” Taiyang said, smiling as he lead Snowie to the stairs at the end of the hall.
Mrs. Ang smiled back.“Thank you, Tai. You two be careful at the stairs, now! Sometimes someone trips and falls, and they just sleep where they landed till morning!”
“We will, Mrs. Ang!” Taiyang said as they started going up the old, creaky stairs.
“Would that someone happen to be Qrow?” Snowie asked quietly.
“You know it,” Taiyang replied, smiling.
They climbed up to the third floor, to the only unit with a dog door. “Gotta warn you, it’s not very big,” he said as he put his key in the lock. “Space is at a real premium here compared to back at Patch, and teaching only pays so well.”
“Oh, believe me, I know cramped,” Snowie said. “My parents built our house on the side of a cliff, and every attempt to expand have been months to year long endeavours. Now come on, don’t keep me in suspense!” she said, rubbing her hands together.
Taiyang smiled as opened his door, pushed it open and gestured inside with dramatic flair. “Then welcome, Snowie, to the Xiao Long-Rose Family home!”
There were plenty of things Snowie could have noticed about the place: that the living room was actually very large, if it hadn’t been jam-packed with a huge couch and so much shelving and boxes all stacked up all the way to the ceiling; that there was a well used punching bag and a tiny exercise area in the corner; or that there was all manner of tech scattered about, half-finished projects, defunct prosthetic limbs, sometimes even weapon components.
But all she really saw was the dog bed nestled just at the side of the couch, and the dog therein.
Zwei was already up and waiting, looking curiously at the door and his master, before he locked eyes with Snowie. There was a brief moment of silence as the two of them just stared at each other, Taiyang silently observed them from the side.
“Woof!” Zwei went, panting and “smiling” as he trotted up to Snowie.
Snowie squealed as she rushed into apartment, kneeling before Zwei, before she picked him up. “OH MY GOSH, HE’S SO CUTE! I MEAN I HAD AN IDEA IN MY HEAD ABOUT WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE, BUT IT’S SO DIFFERENT IN REALITY, AND SO MUCH BETTER!”
The three of them winced as there was suddenly a loud banging coming through the floor.
“Sorry, did I just piss off your neighbours?” Snowie said, now whispering. “I’m sorry, it’s just that we basically lived alone in our house, no one to really get bothered by all our shouting and swearing.”
Taiyang laughed as he closed the door behind him. “It’s fine… not the worst thing the neighbours have ever gotten angry at us for, trust me,” he said as he stepped in. “I’m just going to go get some spare blankets and pillows, and you can sleep on the couch.
“Not that my daughter’s beds aren’t free, it’s just that their room is still kind of a disaster area still, and I think it’d be a little too dangerous to let you sleep there, drunk or not.”
“Oh no, it’s fine!” Snowie said as sat down on the floor, Zwei now eagerly lapping at her face and snuggling up to her. “Thank you, you’ve already been so generous, I don’t want to intrude any more than I already have…!” she blubbered.
Taiyang frowned. “Are you okay…?”
“Just super happy I’ve gotten to play with an actual dog again,” Snowie said as she teared up once again. “Look at him!” she said as she picked Zwei up again, held him out to Taiyang. “He’s so tiny and horizontal, I love him!”
“You know, he is actually a licensed therapy dog,” Taiyang said as he headed to a closet in the corner. “I bring him to the Bunker sometimes, and he can definitely come with if you’re going.”
“Please let him come with,” Snowie said, shedding copious tears of joy. “I’ve only been with him for less than five minutes but already I don’t know what I’m going to do without him...”
“So that’s a yes to consulting for the Bunker?” Taiyang asked as he opened the closet door, reflexively pushed back some of the items threatening to spill out.
“Yes!” Snowie cried. “Just tell me when we’re going—I basically have nothing in the way of a social life outside my family and people I see everyday at Hoshiko!” She stopped, and frowned. “… And now I just made myself sad...”
Zwei noticed, and quickly doubled down on his snuggling efforts.
Taiyang smiled as he watched. “Thanks, Snowie, this means a lot to me,” he said as he carefully pulled out some spare blankets and pillows, braced the items about to fall, until they settled into a mostly stable configuration again.
“No, thank you, Taiyang,” Snowie said as she cradled Zwei in her arms. “We should do this again sometime—friend-dating.”
“Friend-dating?” Taiyang asked as he closed the door with his foot, braced his back against the door for a moment.
“There’s a word for that in Vox, but I can’t remember it at the moment ‘cause I’m drunk and your dog’s really cute!” Snowie whined. “Isn’t it fucking weird how we don’t have a single word for friend-dating in International Standard? And the ones we do have are so awful—‘hanging out,’ yuck!
“Like hanging outside is ever a good thing! Unless it’s like, swing sets, or jungle gyms… anyway, it’s weird!
“Friends are super important, there should be a way to say you’re going on friend-dates with them, just going out to dinner and having fun because you like them, not because want to smooch them, and maybe bang later if it goes well!”
“I guess it’s just one of those mysteries of life,” Taiyang said as brought the pillows and sheets back to the couch, and laid them out. “Bathroom’s down the hall near the kitchen, just look for the only other door in this place that has a doggy door. You need to use it? Because I need to get ready for bed then go to sleep for work tomorrow.”
“No, no, you go on ahead, I can hold my liquor and my bladder just fine,” Snowie replied as she grabbed Zwei, gently put him down on the floor and held him still. “Hey Tai? Can I ask you something before you go?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Is it kinda weird that we just met earlier today, and we’re already spilling our deep, ‘stay awake at night in terror’ fears to each other, crying and hugging in public, letting ourselves stay at each other’s places, and inviting us to work with our kids? All just because they happen to be teammates, and one of us is on the same level as one of them in weapons engineering?”
Taiyang thought about it for a moment, before he shrugged. “Nah, I don’t think so; we’re both hunters, and you know what they say at the Lodge, right? Help each other out off the field--”
“--Because you never know when they’re the going to be the ones who’ll have your back on the field.” Snowie finished with him, before she smiled. “Thanks, for clearing that up… I’ve”--she looked away-- “got something of a… I guess it’s not a ‘fear,’ but I don’t really know what to call it, about people who I just seem to get along super well with straight from the get-go...”
“And you’d be right to!” Taiyang said. “But I guess this is just one of those times when you meet one of those strangers who also happen to be your new best friend, like Zwei!”
“Woof!” Zwei went, panting happily as he looked up at Snowie.
She laughed. “Yeah... I guess so. Night, Tai,” she said as she got up and climbed onto the couch.
“Night, Snowie,” Tai said, before he headed down to the bathroom. “Don’t let Zwei sleep on the couch, by the way!”
“I promise I won’t!” Snowie said as she took off her shoes. “I fall off out of bed all the time in the morning, and I don’t want to risk crushing his tiny little horizontal dog bones and organs! That’d be bad!” she turned to Zwei. “Did you get all that?” she asked.
Zwei barked, and nodded.
“Good boy!” Snowie said as she reached out and petted him.
Snowie, Zwei, and Taiyang all turned in for the night soon enough. Some time later, around 11PM, Snowie’s scroll buzzed with a message from Whitley:
“Where are you?”
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[LYRICS] My Sister’s Barbershop - Secret Everyone Knows (with IU)
(Note: While it’s indicated here as ‘MSB’ (My Sister’s Barbershop), there’s actually 3 of them in the band.)
MSB:
Were you aware all along
that in this relationship
we would have to break up eventually?
Even if you make it seem like nothing’s wrong,
I can tell,
since it’s all written in your eyes.
Both:
Both of us suffering from the same pain
just ran into each other by chance right?
IU:
That’s right, goodbye will
find its way to us someday.
Please silently come over,
and tell me
in a whisper…
Both:
I told you there’s no such thing as forever.
IU:
Seeing me like that,
you nod your head too.
IU/Both:
The start and end to this is obvious
so why do I even bother? In the process,
we met each other, but
as time goes by, everything that piles up between us,
leaves us with no choice but to break up.
MSB:
My dear, are you returning to the path
that we once walked towards each other?
Both:
But every now and then,
I dream of forever too,
MSB:
like an ice-cream that doesn’t melt
even after a long time has passed.
Both:
If the start and end to this was obvious to us,
why did we even meet?
IU:
I don’t know either.
Another year went by.
MSB:
We’re dancing again today
to the beat of the music.
IU:
In this ever-changing world,
we can only believe in
this moment right now when we’re together.
IU:
I think I know
what’s longer and more precious than forever
Both:
and that’s none other than right now.
MSB:
When I look at you looking at me,
Both:
this moment lasts forever.
MSB:
Right here where we are now,
Both:
what’s important is right now.
IU:
This moment that we’re together,
Both:
this lasts forever.
Right here where we are now,
this lasts forever.
IU:
This moment that we’re together,
Both:
what’s important is right now.
Right here where we are now.
MSB:
This thing called love is even shorter than this song.
At times like this, just keep singing.
IU:
Whisper to me.
MSB:
Whisper to me today as well,
IU:
in my ear softly.
Translated by IUteamstarcandy
Korean lyrics: MelOn
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Apr 22 - Went on a snack shopping run, which I'm counting as Walk #80, especially since I couldn't get a seat on the bus back and had to stand, with grocery bags and a backpack of (thankfully mostly light) stuff. My bad foot hates me.
I made a vat of soup for supper to use up some of the vast amount of miscellaneous meat stock the nephew has in his fridge and chest freezers. Which after adding things such as potatoes, great northern beans, mixed frozen veg, a can of tomatoes, and some mild Italian sausages takes up as much room as the tubs of stock did, but at least it's gone from 'stuff to use up in cooking' to 'stuff that's ready to eat'.
Apr 23 - Haven't done much today, except making a big dutch oven full of braised lamb shanks to use up a frozen package of them that the nephew unearthed from the depths of his chest freezer. They're something my sister bought over a year ago - no idea what she planned to use them in, and we couldn't find an applicable recipe in her cook books, so we googled until we found one that sounded tasty (and it was). Had it with calrose rice. There's enough leftovers that it, too, is going to take up as much room in the freezer as it did before making the meal, but again, at least it's gone from ingredients to something that's ready-to-eat.
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Mar 28 - ran a couple loads of laundry. Walked downtown to the pharmacy to pick up prescription refills, which is counting as Walk #79 - first I've been on since coming back from Toronto at the start of the year.
For supper I did fish sticks, oven fries, and steamed mixed veg.
Mar 29 - very much feeling yesterday's two mile walk. Put away laundry. Cleaned toilet (bleah). Just me for supper so nuked some leftover soup from the freezer.
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Went out again and am counting it as another walk (#76). Might be headed back north tomorrow instead of Friday so I popped out this evening to do some last-minute shopping, and also grabbed food while I was out since the nephew and I hadn't made anything for supper yet.
This is me waiting at the Finch Station bus platform to catch the bus back to near my nephew's house. Yeah I've still been masking (except for a couple of times when I've forgotten to grab one before leaving the house) because why not. I have enough minor health issues already without risking adding something like long covid (or worse) to the mix.
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Finally something I can count as Walk #62 - probably my last here in Toronto before I head back north.
Popped out early this morning to go get blood drawn for testing; apparently the blood pressure medication I was prescribed can in some people have a negative effect on kidney function, so I needed to have followup tests a week after starting on it. That was over at Bathurst & Finch, then I popped back over to Yonge & Finch where there’s a postal outlet in the Shoppers Drug Mart, where I could both top up my phone and pick up some odds and ends. After that I hopped a bus north on Yonge to go to an Iranian supermarket I knew of (Khorak Supermarket) to pick up dried barberries for making barberry rice (YUM!). Except I wasn’t paying attention and hopped on a Steeles Express bus instead of a regular Steeles bus, so I couldn’t get off where I needed to. When I got off at Steeles & Yonge I was only 2-3 stops north of where the supermarket is, so I decided to walk it, and then catch a bus back south to Finch Station. The walk was almost exactly a kilometre, according to Google Maps. Plus of course whatever walking I did between other places on this little outing.
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Walk #66 today, came back along the creek trail and took a lot of pictures of flowers in bloom. Finally managed to get a few good ones with the macro focus mode - a close up of a bumblebee and of a fireweed flowering stalk.
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Still playing around with the camera settings on my phone when I go for walks (this was #64). Took a surprisingly nice photo of a sign and some tufted vetch (with bonus bumblebee) at the top of the many flights of stairs down to the old high school (now grade school) in the bottom of what was once a gravel pit. I like the depth of field the portrait mode gives, it's much more attractive than the trying-to-be-sharp-everywhere of the regular photo mode.
Still failing to get the hang of the macro setting, even when I'm the right distance I get poor results. This was the best I managed out of multiple attempts along my route:
#MsB goes for a walk#Bumblebee#Tufted Vetch#I once won a scrabble game by spelling vetch iirc#My BIL didn't believe it was a real word and challenged#Which surprised me because he was a life-long gardener#And you see (introduced) vetch growing wild all over the place#It's a good weed#Fixes nitrogen in the soil#Native bees like it#Not toxic to animals#Cows love it#It's in the pea family#I called it 'cannonball plant' growing up because of the round black seeds
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Did walk #73 today. Went out shopping, down to Queen Street West from Spadina to just west of Bathurst. Happily went to a couple of stores I have not visited in literal decades (and was very happy to find still existed) - Arton Beads, where I picked up some beads to replace some on the neckline of a blouse I have, plus a couple of cords to restring some necklaces, and Romni Wools, where I picked up the above shown cotton yarn to crochet into a scarf, in theory (more about that under the cut). Sadly my wool allergy precluded me picking up most of the really cool yarns they had, though I greatly enjoyed walking around the store admiring all the pretty yarns.
After that I headed back to North York, stopped in at a Wendy's for lunch (think it's been over a decade since I last had a frosty) and then popped into a Loblaws to pick up some odds and ends (mostly snacks). And then back to the nephew's place. All told I think the round trip and roaming around ate up about four hours time.
Since I'm currently sitting for hours at a time scanning photos, which takes quite a few seconds per photo to do, I figured I should do something I've been thinking of for a while, and try doing a simple crochet project again, since I can probably do several stitches per scan (and in the past I've crocheted entire baby blankets in repeated tiny spurts like that). A colourful scarf seemed a decent option - just row after identical row of single stitches, probably, or if I feel more ambitious I suppose I could do doubles or triples and chains to make a fillet pattern of some kind. I was tentatively thinking of doing a "colour of the sky" inspired scarf, if I could find small inexpensive skeins in enough colours, but decided that was probably a bit ambitious for a first project back.
I eventually settled on this really nice variegated cotton yarn to work with. I also bought two sizes of hooks, since I'm not sure which will work better with this yarn; iirc the larger hook will work better if I want a looser stitch (which I do), but the smaller hook may be closer to the correct size to use with this particular yarn, since it's quite thin. We'll see what happens when I try starting off the scarf tomorrow.
I haven't worked with a twisted skein of yarn like this before; taking one of the two apart and winding it into a ball was a nightmarish sequence of repeated gigantic tangles that had to be carefully picked apart enough to wind up more yarn. I think I should try and find an online tutorial on how to handle them before I try balling up the second. Yes, that is the cardstock backing from one of the needles I'm using to wind the wool onto :)
Not at all sure how long a scarf this'll make, since I haven't crocheted in years and have lost all sense of amounts. I will be very happy if these two large skeins are enough to approach 4th Doctor scarf lengths, and I figure if I severely underbought and it's much shorter than expected, I can give it a twist and join the ends for an infinity scarf. I'm mostly expecting something between those two extremes.
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Walks #55 and #56 done.
Went to NYGH to visit my sister the day before yesterday, and did some grocery shopping on the way home.
Today I popped out and went down to Kitchen Stuff Plus south of Yonge & Eglinton to grab a fast read meat thermometer, because I’m roasting a chicken for supper, and my sister’s old one stopped functioning some time back (not entirely surprising, iirc she’d had it since going to George Brown College to study cooking back in the late 80s). Much to my delight they were also selling reuseable fabric shopping bags very similar to one my sister gave me as a stocking stuffer many years back (green and brown bag on left) that’s been my favourite one to have squirrelled away in my purse ever since, as it rolls up so small (and has a matching storage pouch). So I happily grabbed one of them in a nice blue pattern.
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Walk #52 took place this evening. Spotted this cute little cement robot while walking over to the pharmacy at Yonge & Finch to pick up a prescription refill for my sister. Completely adorable.
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Walk #60 was this evening, and involved walking as fast as I could with my nephew over to Yonge Street (because we JUST missed the eastbound bus) to catch the subway one stop south to North York Centre. Where we went up to the theatre in Empress Walk in order to catch a showing of Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse
It was excellent.
I’d suggested a few days ago that if we got two good days of sorting done, we go out to see the movie as our reward (yes I will bribe myself for motivation to get things done). Both of us enjoyed it very much, and are waiting impatiently for the third (supposedly due out next March).
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Walk #58 - (no picture) - popped out to buy snacks and a couple of things we needed. Construction on Finch this last week+ means that a few blocks of walking is involved to get to the closest eastbound bus stop. Plus lots of wandering around the grocery store finding the things I needed. Used my new green purse since it was a match for the olive green shirt I have on. Liking very much that it can be worn as a backpack.
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Walk #49, AKA a late evening run to the grocery store for snacks plus odds and ends of groceries. Was just after 8pm when I left the house and coming up on 10pm when I returned (one of the top things I miss about living in Toronto - being able to shop at all hours). Some of that time obviously was spent in transit, but the biggest chunk of it was just wandering around the grocery store and repeatedly being hit by sticker shock from current food prices ($6 for celery!? Are they fucking crazy?).
Spotted an ice cream truck making rounds (or possibly heading home, though they had their music playing) while waiting at the bus stop on the way out. Was a nice, quiet night on my way back. Could only see one “star” - probably Venus but possibly Mars, so not at all an actual star - and occasional airplane lights.
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