#anyway! i will slep now so that i can get back to work on my projects tmrw morning

[hua-fei-hua]

*flopped down on a couch w/a glass bottle of apple juice to make it look like i'm drinking beer*

yeah... yeah i'm fine.... just coming to terms w/the fact that i must use javascript in order to achieve my vision w/the neocities...

#the main reason i haven't just abandoned this particular aspect of the Vision(tm) is bc it would be useful for like. #more than one thing. so it's like. le sigh. #(reading the documentation for tippy tooltips tonight so that i can sleep on it n try to implement it tmrw or something) #why is it always js.... please god spare me at least a Little bit of suffering here i'll never sin again etc etc #speaking of sin i've started speaking more candidly abt my queerness w/the kids at work this week #it's nice to talk to the older kids (as in fifth grade or older) bc even tho like. nine years old is when they start to be tolerable #they lack awareness n life experience. today i told the older kids that i like men but in a gay way #n one of them was like 'i don't get it' n then i reminded her of Gender:tm: n she was like 'ohhhh i get it' #n the two guys also listening were like 'what. i still don't get it.' ONE OF THEM ASKED ME IF I WAS AMAB ACTUALLY LOL #n i was like 'what? that's not important.' but that was really surprising! kids usually read me as female #so it was kind of flattering in a way to be asked 'were you born a boy?' like idk how he's trying to process my gender #but i'm going to flatter myself into thinking the question comes from him like. idk clocking some kind of innate masculinity or w/e idk #花話 #anyway it's Crazy that it took me almost a year to not feel like i'd get instantly fired for telling kids i'm queer #Not going to lie it really felt like i'd never get to this point but it really is kinda just once you start it gets easier #(though to be fair i also wouldn't have told Any of the kids Anything had one of them not started acting like 'gays' was a dirty word) #(n i just Looked at him n said 'you know i'm a queer right?' n he was like 'O_O') #when i worked at homophobic summer camp i do remember daydreaming abt telling my boss i was a 'flaming queer' #i'd have put my feet up on her desk n everything as i made direct eye contact w/her but ofc i never did anything like that. #anyway! i will slep now so that i can get back to work on my projects tmrw morning

[bomberqueen17]

uhhhhmuhgawhhhh

ok this has been a long fucking month.

i am back in buffalo. i am in my house. i had to find my pillow, which had gotten misfiled. but i have had a slep, i have gotten catsnuggles, i have gotten *cough* we'll call them dudesnuggles. i have awoken. i have made my coffee the way i like it. i am on a couch on my computer and don't have to do anything for at least an hour.

now i can tell to you the Saga of All Of It.

so like ok August was a really rough month. It was just-- busy, and I had been tentatively on a three-weeks-on, one-week-off schedule at the farm, and had thus managed to visit Buffalo like, well once this summer but you know. Anyway the last time I was home I'd spent the entire time helping Dude's mom clear out his aunt's house, so it hadn't exactly been relaxing or let me do any of my own projects, but it had been something. But I got back to the farm and it was go-go-go-go, and then BIL and Farmsister and Farmkid and my mom went on vacation together for a week so I had to watch the house and fill in some farm duties especially dealing with the farmer's market and such, and then they got back and it was a frantic game of catch-up, and then the Livestock Manager got married so he had a week off before and a week after, prearranged but the amount of work was still the same. And it meant that BIL especially was very overworked and was horribly cranky about it and, I'm not gonna tiptoe around it, was real fuckin mean to specifically me for a bunch of it, so that sucked out loud. And in the midst of all of this there were a couple of events where everybody else was invited to a thing and I had to stay home and cover for the absences. And it all kinda piled up and like, I'm a grown ass woman and can handle not being invited to things but it was a lot of things. And I tried, in the middle there, to celebrate my birthday a little bit? but there wasn't a ton of time, I found out Friday afternoon that I'd be able to have Saturday off, so I did scrape together an expedition for myself to a nearby art museum at least but that was the sum total of it, a flying visit from a friend for which I had like four free hours and then had to return to work, and dude visited for the weekend and I got to spend a couple hours looking at art. That was it.

So I was really tired and really done, and this final week BIL was just like outright shitty to me, yelling at me about things that either 1) went against a policy he'd made up earlier, like using a particular method of cleaning on a particular floor drain which he had specifically told me not to do, clearly changed his mind about, and then was furious i hadn't done, but see I wasn't notified of the mind change there so I didn't know? anyway, or 2) were things that I'm not in charge of and I just happened to be the person closest to him when he noticed that something hadn't been done the way he thought it should have specifically been done today even though there would have been reasons at other times to not do it like that, and in fact in this case later it became useful that it had been done as it was, and-- just anyway. It was stuff normally I'd not be so upset about but at the culmination of this extremely thankless-grinding month I was just distraught.

So I got my work done early enough to leave at midday on Friday. And I did, after lunch I did a tiny bit more work but left the farm before 2pm, absolutely giddy at the thought of getting home to Buffalo in time for dinner.

And traffic was annoyingly heavy on 787, but all was fine and doable and not a problem until some jackass decided to cut into the entrance ramp for the 90 at the last possible second and some even bigger jackass decided that the only way to react to this was by theatrically overreacting by coming to a complete fucking stop and so

well i hit the person in front of me, and the person behind me hit me, and the person behind her hit her, and we all pulled off on the side of the road and had to wait for the cops. My hood was crunched shut, and my exhaust system, already having become noisy from part of a pipe rusting through, snapped clean in half.

But nothing was leaking. And nobody was hurt. The lady in the car behind gave me her number and left, because she had dogs in the car who were likely to overheat in the 90F high humidity, and also recently a woman had been killed on the side of this very road in this very situation and she was too afraid to wait. But the ladies in the car ahead were nice and offered me a drink from their cooler and just seemed tired but not mad, and had already called the cops which was great because I had forgotten how to operate my phone in all the kerfuffle.

So we waited for a state trooper to show up-- and notably, he was actually really nice, very reassuring, understanding of how I was also on the phone with my insurance company (also very nice, and I had to have her on the car speaker because the traffic noise was so much i couldn't hear my phone microphone at all, and I was so distracted I kept being like "you want me to what" and then not hearing the answer-- telling her my license plate number was like the most difficult thing for some reason), and he got us to move our cars to a different off-ramp where there was less traffic, and we filled out all the paperwork and stuff and he gave me directions for how to get back to the westbound interstate. He called the lady from the car behind me, for me, and the two of them explained to me that since there was negligible damage I didn't actually have to report that accident if I didn't want to, and so I was like okay fine let's not even bother, since it has to be a whole separate accident report and none of the damage to my car is from that accident. (Not visibly anyway, though I expect it's probably why the exhaust system did what it did-- still though, not likely to be relevant. Even though surely the accident I did report is going to be determined to be my fault, but this second one wouldn't be-- it wouldn't help anything.)

I took off and immediately realized I wasn't going to be able to drive the car as it was, and helpfully a man pulled up next to me at that light and said "your exhaust system is definitely dragging, do you know about it?" and I said wearily "I was just in an accident so thank you for helping me identify what the problem actually is", and went past the on-ramp into the parking lot of a fire hall right there that happened to also be a pokemon gym in my color. I sat for a moment, put a defender in the gym (thanks, random team instinct person, for having taken that gym half an hour previous, that cheered me up a bunch), and then got out of my car, found a work glove I knew I'd thrown in there, crawled under the car a bit, and tucked the muffler pipe up to sit on top of the catalytic converter so it wouldn't drag on the ground. (I don't know that the glove was necessary but I do know exhaust systems get real fuckin hot so i do recommend gloves if handling any of those parts on a car that's been running lately.)

It worked, it held, and I was like well. Car runs. Hood's all cattywumpus but it's definitely not going to fly open because it's literally crimped shut. Already had some front-end damage on this thing from an accident we mutually decided not to report a couple years back-- very minor but the plastic is cracked and the foglight mount damaged. Well now it's proper fucked, so that's fine. I was going to have to find a mechanic to repair the muffler assemblage anyway, it was already loud as fuck, so now it's just done with the polite fiction of being an exhaust system.

So I walked around the car, open and shut all the doors to make sure they still did, and then got in and got onto the Thruway. Fuck this shit, I was not going to drive back to the farm and then have to rely on a bunch of people of whom I'm slightly tired and who are clearly also slightly tired of me to have to ferry my ass around, and miss my extremely extremely necessary week off of work (because you know if I'm there I'm going to fucking do work on the farm, that's how it works, I have no boundaries).

All I wanted was to see a person (and cat) who actually enjoy my company and want to see me.

So I put in earplugs because the noise was not great, and drove 300 miles, and arrived just before dark, and pulled into the driveway and Chita was so surprised to see me that she came right out to me even though i was still sitting in my car. She doesn't like cars, hates them when they're moving and really doesn't like being in them, but she does like to sit under them when they're off.

[image description: a small gray cat with her paws up on the running board of a blue car, peering in the open driver's side door with motion-blurred interest; the foreground is my bare leg and the hem of my dress and my filthy car floor]

So I'm home, and I have already done all the awkward phone calls, and I was expecting I'd need to call the garage my insurance company has set up to do the assessing (that's how my insurance company does it) but the text of it says they'll call me. i still might call them midmorning today to see if they're open. IDK I don't even care what happens now, I'm home and I've had my own coffee and my cat missed me and my dude missed me and i'll just figure the rest out later.

#about the author #car accidents #not graphic don't worry

[erosathelstan]

WARNING: Spoilers for Act 3

I don't really have much BG3 friends irl and I have a lot of thoughts that I cannot put into proper writing yet so I'll just post it here:

As much as I love the idea of giving Astarion an item that allows him to walk in the sun (my durge also does that, bcs in my headcanon the "Sunwalker's Gift" is the perfect item to do just that) I just want to talk about one other thing that Astarion mentions about being a vampire that I don't see a lot of people posting about: the aspect of hunger.

In one of his conversations with a Dark Urge PC, he mentions being unable to speak and think clearly when he wasn't able to feed for a long time because the hunger deprives him of reason. During one of the post-Cazador dialogues, too (if you kill Cazador without him, regardless if you're DU or Tav) he talks about being condemned to an eternity of hunger without being able to make a choice about it. Freedom to choose and consent is a major theme in Astarion's story, and with Cazador gone, that hunger then becomes the primary contender for his ability to choose for himself, because that hunger can literally rob him of reason when left unchecked.

Yes, he's also a murder hobo and wouldn't even blink twice if he had to kill someone, especially if it's for the sake of keeping himself safe and well-fed. At the moment, considering that our Tav/Durge is also a willing Personal Juicebox™ for his twink ass, then the guy is pretty much food secure. However, I don't think that later on in their relationship, he'd be comfortable with continuing that arrangement with their partner - whether it's due to old age/sickness on Tav's part, or some sort of self-realization that we can all only headcanon about. Him hunting down criminals/vagrants/random strangers also inadvertently puts Tav and whatever home they've made in danger, as someone at some point will want to hunt the vampire that killed their friend/family/workmate/what-have-you. Idk maybe some mofo with a strong sense of justice will also eventually go after his ass because he's a total menace to society.

Fighting is not a problem, or at least at first. Tav can fight. Tav literally led the group into fucking up an Elder Brain ffs, so what's a couple of vampire hunters and/or vengeful band of misfits, amiryt? But again, it will be kinda tiring to have to always be on guard, because someone might just kill you and the love of your life because you fed on someone else's. Also, again, he can fight for as long as he needs to, but what about Tav? Esp if our Tavs are not from long-lived races.

Part of getting Astarion's life back has to not only include making him able to stand in the sun again, but also ridding him of that hunger. Vampiric hunger can be an all-consuming thing that could put both him and his lover in significant danger. Whether he as a character would want to address this is a matter of our personal interpretations as fans/writers/artists, but I personally want to see more of this aspect of his vampirism being explored in fan works.

Anyway, I have said too many words. Maybe I need to finally give in and go hunting in Ao3 for this type of content. But for now, I slep 🙃

#Astarion #astarion ancunin #Dark Urge #Tav #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #Random ramblings #I need more friends that play this game ffs #the pale elf #just how much redemption can we give him? #basically just break my heart some more maybe #like... maybe Tav/Durge dies in pursuit for a cure for his vampirism???

[libertys-lovers]

Lúcio, hey! I really wanted to catch you before you dashed off hehe, your music just drew me right in! Anyway, i've got some questions if you wouldn't mind?

Perhps.. 5, 6 and 12 from the ask game? :]

Also, how did serenading your dear Libby go? ;] ✨️

Haha, well hey Slep! Thanks for stopping by! How’s my favorite fish been?

Oh! That? It… it went well. You know I always love making new beats for her. Karamatsu even offered some guitar samples for me to remix into it… it was really nice.

But hey, I wouldn’t worry too much about that! I’d keep an eye on your own herd, haha! Last I heard, all of your living foods were trying to plan a banquet for you. But what do I know? Anyways, of course I’ll answer some questions for you! Let’s get to it!

🐸🎶🐸🎶🐸🎶

🐸🎶🐸🎶🐸🎶

5: Any upcoming plans with Libs?

I think right now we’re all just trying to figure out how to celebrate the holidays! The others and I usually throw a big party with Libs, kind of like the one we did for Halloween. I should plan another clubbing night for us sometime though. That’d be fun!

6. What was my first impression of Libs when I first met her?

I don’t know… I guess I always thought she was really sweet! She was definitely shy back then though, but looking back I guess it makes sense! Anyways, I knew some of her writing before I met her, so I also kind of admired her for how creative she seemed to be! I can make some amazing tunes, but I don’t know if I can come up with the storylines that she has. It’s… it’s nice knowing she felt pretty much the same way about me.

But, uh, moving on!

12. Are there any hobbies or interests I’ve gotten into from Libs? Or, are there any of hers that I can’t get into?

Well lately, Libs has been really into jellyfish! She’s been doing a lot of research on them, I think for a new project of hers? Anyways, she’s been finding time to tell us a bit of the facts she’s learned, and it’s actually really interesting! Like comb jellies! They basically naturally produce light! Now how cool is that?! She’s also been getting into making ita bags, which actually sounds really fun! I kind of want to make a frog ita bag to bring to my shows, or even an ita bag based on her!

Anyways, hmm, a hobby or interest of hers I can’t get into? The only one I can think of would be moths. She really likes them, and that’s cool and all, but those eye patterns on their wings just freak me out! Ha, I guess that just means they work though, right?

Thanks again for asking something!

~ Lúcio 🐸🎶

#self ship #self shipper #self shipping #🍁L.L. F/Ovember; The Squeakquel🍁 #romantic f/o #🐸📱songwriter📱🐸 #gif #gif warning

[tsuki-sennin]

Tsuki plays NichiAsa catchup! Part Two! Three whole-ass episodes of PreCure! I'm uh... gonna have to truncate a few things, but that's okay! The important thing here is I'm getting myself back up to speed. And it might be extra long anyways, who knows~!

Tsubasa and Ageha get their finisher, and like... two episodes worth of soul-searching. That's the impression I'm getting.

Spoilers, I guess...

-Holy shit, that's so much breakfast

-Ageha, what the fuck, how can we afford to eat like that-

-You don't know what Tsubasa eats! He could need specific kinds of fruit like a waxwing, grain like a sparrow, snakes like a secretary bird! Hell, he could be a cannibal for all you know!

-Oh

-Well, that's two out of four, at least.

-Off to school with ye, girls not focused on this episode.

-I see Elle does not fear the vacuum.

-Running into the man's room right in front of him, you are so cruel Ageha-neesan.

-Pimped out crib.

-Oni Pants

-Borb Form

-What the fuck, that was like two seconds how-

-Come now Ageha, a bird's gotta bathe in a body of water!

-Tsubasa looks like someone put him in the drier on a towel setting.

-"Decompress, Tsubasa! I need to see the feathering!"

-S-Rank Victory Babysat.

-Sora's very happy to smell like Premium Bandai prices.

-Pretty Holic~!

-The boy sleps

-Staying up late into the night with your latest masterpiece...

-I can't believe she transformed once and then died the next episode. This is some Takahashi shit right there.

-"Don't Hehe! me, woman!"

-Tsubasa-mandated nap.

-"Well okay~! Time for you to go through the wringer~!"

-Well yeah Battamonda, they do tend to come in groups.

-In fairness, this idea is sound in theory.

-"It's time for you to paint~!"

-Tsubasa takes his craft seriously.

-Fittingly enough I relate Ageha a lot more to Tsubasa's dad.

-Ne! Ne?

-Tulip~!

-I suppose it's only fitting that a babby contributes to the artistic achievement of the babysitter's club.

-Hirogaru Yuki!

-Hirogaru Wanderful~!

-...Battamonda was weirdly fast there.

-"No littering! >:("

-Man Shield Cures are cool.

-"Wow Sora, I can't believe we had a fun adventure you can't prove didn't happen off screen~!"

-"It was wild, Mashiro~! Wait until Tsubasa hears about th- BIRD!"

-Battamonda hates babies.

-"NEEEEEE"

-You tell him, Princess!

-Ooooh

-Very nice colors.

-Updraft Shining!

-OHHHH PAINT PALLET THAT'S SO CUTE

-Red!

-White!

-"BUTTERFLY WHAT THE HECK-"

-The sounds are fun

-A whole-ass Phoenix.

-BORB GROUND POUND

-"Mirror Pad! ...I guess!"

-"HAX! I CALL HAX!"

-Age!

-HAPPY

-Good morning, Miyuki.

-Butterfly being part of the ending finally feels correct.

-Mashiron focus, let's goooo

-20 episodes! ...well, 21, but I'm getting there!

-Tea time.

-"Finally, some quiet."

-Horsegirl Yoyo

-No time for any of that, Cinderella time!

-Oh fuck Momotaro again.

-Fairy tale books, books, books, and books!

-...perhaps Miyuki should've waited a little, I think we're a little close to Marchenland.

-Shopping~!

-"Didn't I just scold you last episode about working yourself too hard?"

-"Whatever, Mom~!"

-NATSUMI-

-Sorry.

-That name's a bit of a fight or flight for me now

-Wait, Natsumi... Pretty Holic... oh, that's a Tropical Rouge reference

-Cute

-Mashi-ron Privileges

-MERMAIDS

-THIS IS TROPICAL ROUGE

-Time to write a story~!

-Lots and lots of

-...MOVED BY BREAD

-Sora, you are truly someone special.

-Elle wishes to become sand. She cares not for how coarse, rough, and irritating it may be.

-...I deadass thought that farshot of Sora was her making a lenny face.

-Oh okay, and this one of Mashiro gives me big Osaka energy.

-"Too big, too Momotaro!"

-"My artistic genius has left me and took the kids."

-"It's okay Mashiro! You're still based, you're still cool!"

-Uh oh, here comes trouble.

-Sharingan is Caringan.

-I mean it seems like this little guy doesn't mind her not handing over the keys to her kingdom too much.

-Well, that went nowhere~!

-Urashima Taro!

-"INSPIRATION STRIKES!"

-Go Mashiron, shuffle rapidly home!

-Finally hitting your stride is the most satisfying thing ever.

-Tea Time

-You know what you must do, Sora.

-"...Okay!"

-Appreciation Jumpscare

-Victory!

-Battamonda, once more!

-"Whoa, you might get hit by a truck and all your disgusting guts might get on your manuscript~!"

-Full Team Transformation!

-...at least, until the next one shows up.

-"Disrespecting the sancity of a traffic light!? Unforgivable!"

-T

-Toki wo tomare?

-"Fuck the fight! Prism's dream is our dream too!"

-...Oh my God, it pauses Battamonda too.

-Orange!

-Shield Mode!

-Oooooooh!

-Mashi-run!

-Big Borb

-"Well, whatever, I still won because I wasted your time, haha, ratio!"

-Lots of really cute faces this episode.

-Holy hell, Natsumi.

-Gentle world...

-May I see the gentle world?

-Aw that's nice

-The entire zoo became friends

-No victory in anything but a valuable experience

-MELODYYYYYYY

-Hibiki what the fuck,

-Vegetables

-Vegetables

-Last episode for today, let's gooooo

-He cleaned the windows and swept the floor and polished up the handle on the big front door~!

-Well you might very well not be Cure Wing forever, son.

-Yeah, growing up sucks hard, lad.

-HE SQUEAKS

-Tea time, once more!

-I think it's okay if you don't have a dream yet. I lived that way for a long time.

-Outing time?

-Vegetables....

-Imagine being a bird and making a bird.

-...wait, what the fuck am I talking about, we make statues all the time.

-Tomat... Corn...

-Peper...

-Compost!

-Ah the Wikipedia rabbit hole.

-Connect and expand!

-Luncc Time

-Raw Vege...

-Dip...

-DEPP SOSS

-Sora, do they not have sauce up there.

-Raiiiiiiiin!

-"The boy's a weathercock!"

-Battamonda's having a Battaponder.

-Man, eating under a gazebo in the rain...

-Peppers are too much for Ageha-san.

-"I don't have granny wisdom! I just learned a lot about weather during my- Oh!"

-Genuinely good message for a kids' show to have.

-Has he been posing there in the rain the whole time

-The Bird! The Bird!! You've officially gone too far this time, Battamonda!

-"Wing's bird... he's too fast!"

-"Oh golly, Sky, I worked real hard on it~"

-White! Blue!

-Freeze Magic

-Damn, this thing's cool.

-Ascending current!

-Shoot the sky!

-Hail~!

-...speaking of which, I'm so mad Hail was nerfed in Scarlet and Violet into "snowstorm", that's some weak-ass shit right there.

-Battamonda has resorted to a rampage.

-Beyond the clouds! Tsubasa Yuunagi takes flight!

-Pretty Cure! Titanic Rainbow! Rule of Three!

-"Next time is serious... you get it?"

-Mirror Pad! Help us out!

-Curry time...

-Blossoooooom!

-Good job, Tsubomi.

-Not a lot of cameos left.

-Alright, what's up for us next?

-Oh! Shalala!

-...Ohhhhh, Battamonda's planning something bad.

-Whew... now I'm all caught up! Yippee! Hot time!

-Alright, I'm gonna go eat lunch. All them vegetables made me hungry. Huttah!

#Hop! Step! Jump! Hero Gals Dream of the Everlasting Sky! #hirogaru sky pretty cure #hirogaru sky spoilers #hirogaru sky precure #pretty cure #precure

[love-and-monsters]

A Selkie’s Coat

M monster X GN human, 5,659 words

The sea has agreed to send one of their selkies to land to experience human culture for the first time- and his exasperated babysitter gets a crash course in selkie culture and their coats. 

“How’s your new job going?” Marcus asked. I sipped slowly from my paper coffee cup, sort of wishing it was booze.

“I feel like I’ve been roped into babysitting.”

Marcus laughed. “Isn’t that just what tutoring usually is?” He paused for a moment, brow wrinkling. “Wait. I thought you were supposed to be tutoring college students now?”

“I am. I applied for the job at my college. I mean, I’m still doing the whole correcting high school student papers, but, you know. More money and I figured I’d be at least looking at some interesting subjects.” I drained my coffee. It did not seem to be helping me wake up. I glared at the dregs. Was it worth it to get another one?

“So then why are we talking about babysitting?” Marcus asked.

I drummed my fingers on the table, trying to think of the best way to explain it. The path to the present was a little meandering. “Uh. Let’s back up. You know SLEP?”

“Sea-land exchange program,” Marcus said with a nod. “What about it?”

“My college participates. Well, they just started participating. Some official from the program came to the tutoring center to talk to us about it. Anyway, the gist was, they wanted someone from the tutoring program to help the new guy out. Mostly with papers and assignments, but also, you know, just to sort of help him get used to the land in general. I applied because you get extra money for it- like, only a couple extra dollars an hour, but it meant I’d at least be able to live on something other than ramen.”

Marcus nodded. “You’re babysitting a merman.”

“Selkie,” I corrected. “And, uh. Something like that.”

When I’d heard that it was a selkie coming to my college, I hadn’t been overly concerned with the time commitment. I mean, look at a seal on a beach. Doesn’t exactly scream ‘ball of energy,’ does it? I thought my biggest concern would be just showing him around and making sure he could plug in his laptop without electrocuting himself. I did not expect a guy with little to no understanding of social conventions and the energy of someone who shotgunned six redbulls and an espresso shot.

“The first day,” I said, speaking in an undertone, “he walked around wearing nothing but his sealskin. For hours.”

Marcus snorted into his cup and emerged choking on coffee. “Is that why you called me and demanded my old clothes?”

I threw up my hands. “I couldn’t bring him into a store! He was nude! People told him to wear clothes, but he said, and I quote ‘oh, I thought you were exaggerating about the nudity taboo.’”

Marcus’ snorts turned into peals of laughter. “Yeah, it’s real funny for you,” I groaned. “You’re not the one why has to chase after the guy at all hours, making sure he’s not bolting into traffic.” I massaged my temples. “He did that once, by the way. Got so excited about seeing a real car he just took off. It took so long to explain to him that those cars will not just move out of the way if he gets in front of one.”

“Is that why you told me to get him a decaf?” Marcus asked, glancing at the third coffee cup on the table.

“Yes. I can’t imagine what he’d be like if he got caffeine in him,” I said. Marcus glanced over my shoulder and I saw his eyes widen. I closed my mouth just as the hyperactive selkie sat back in his seat.

“Find the bathroom okay, Hipsid?” I asked. He nodded. Even sitting still, he was jittering his legs enough to shake the table. I cradled my coffee protectively in my hands.

“Yep! It’s interesting!” He scooped up his coffee and took a massive gulp before sputtering. “Hot!”

“It’s coffee!” I said, seizing a wad of napkins and blotting up the spill. Hipsid gave me an apologetic look. His eyes were dark and enormous, radiating every one of his emotions.

“Sorry! I didn’t expect it to be so bitter, either.” He took a smaller sip, smacking thoughtfully. “It’s weird. But not bad!”

Hipsid’s legs pressed awkwardly close to mine under the table. He was tall, with long, black hair clipped up into a loose bun. His skin was a light brown, which offset the dappled gray and white coat he always had slung around his shoulders. It was long, nearly reaching the floor, and I kept having to resist the impulse to touch it. Selkie coats were oddly mesmerizing, and I couldn’t keep my mind from wandering to how soft it would be if I just touched it.

“So, how’s land treating you?” Marcus asked. Hipsid’s head snapped toward him, an enormous smile spreading over his face.

“Oh, it’s very interesting! There’s so many things I’ve never seen before! And everything works so different on land.” He took another sip of coffee. “There’s nothing like this in the ocean.”

Marcus’ phone buzzed and he snatched it up. “Oh, damn. Work’s calling. I gotta go, I’ll see you later.” He drained the rest of his coffee in a quick gulp and tossed the cup in the trash as he jogged out the door.

“Where’s he going?” Hipsid asked.

“He works as an EMT. He’s on call. And we should probably get going to,” I said, standing up.

“But I haven’t seen anything interesting yet!” Hipsid said. He poked out his lower lip. His face was soft and extremely expressive. It was easy to read his feelings just from looking at him, and now it was clear that he was pleading.

I shifted. Technically, we were supposed to be studying. Hipsid was absolutely unwilling to sit still for more than a few minutes. He kept swiveling in his seat, eyes wide as he took in everything around him.

“What exactly do you want to see?” I asked tentatively.

“Everything!” Hipsid said, bolting out of his chair. “I’ve heard so much about the land, but I’ve barely seen anything so far!” I sighed. Hipsid was already wriggling in his seat. There was no way he was going to sit still for a study session.

“Okay,” I said tentatively. “We can walk around for a little- hey!”

No sooner had I started to say the words than Hipsid was on his feet, heading toward the door. I snagged my cup and followed him.

We emerged at the back of the college campus. There were students scattered all over the place, most of them with their noses buried in books. Hipsid looked back and forth, eyes wide, like he was taking everything in. “Look!” he said, excitedly pointing up toward the sky. “What’s that?”

I squinted in the direction he was pointing. “Uh. That’s a butterfly.”

“It looks kind of like a fish!” he said. I squinted at it. I supposed, if you considered that it was brightly colored and it moved in a swift, darting way through the sky, it did look a little like a fish. “Can you eat it?”

“Oh, no,” I said, snagging his hand and pulling him away. “Absolutely not. Butterflies are poisonous. And you can’t just eat random things you find outside!”

Hipsid twisted to look at me, eyes wide and guileless. “Really? Why not?”

He sounded so genuinely bewildered that it took me a moment to answer. “Uh, because you don’t know if it’s safe? It could be toxic! Or have diseases!”

Hipsid’s brow wrinkled. “Then what do you eat?” he asked, sounding genuinely bewildered.

“Food? That we buy?” I said. Hipsid’s brow wrinkled further. “Uh. You get it at stores?” There was no change in his expression. “You know what, I’ll just show you. We can go into town.”

Hipsid’s expression cleared like the sun breaking through clouds. “Yes! Yes! Let’s go!” He glanced around as if expecting the town to suddenly appear in front of him. “Which way?”

His hand tightened around mine and I realized we were still connected. I dropped it. “This way. Follow me.”

Hipsid trotted eagerly at my side as I led him to the bus stop. Luckily, just as we arrived there, the bus trundled down the street. Hipsid’s mouth dropped open, then he began to choke on the fumes.

“It’s big!” he said. He coughed again, covering his mouth with a hand. “And it stinks!”

“Yeah, most cars do. Come on.” I nodded toward the door as it hissed open. Hipsid practically pressed against my back as we boarded. I could feel his eyes burning into me as I traded money for tickets with the driver.

“What’s that?” he asked as we started to walk to our seats.

“It’s a ticket. It lets me ride the bus. When we get back on later, it tells the driver that I already paid to ride back and I don’t need to pay again.”

“Paying,” Hipsid repeated, like he was feeling out the word in his mouth. I squinted at him suspiciously.

“They told you about paying, right?” Selkies didn’t have an economy, or any kind of money. Even if it had been explained to Hipsid before, I didn’t have great hope that he’d absorbed it.

“Yes,” he said, but he didn’t sound confident. “I have money.” He fished in his pocket for a moment and pulled out a wallet. “How much is a ticket?”

“You don’t need to pay me-” I froze, staring at the fifty he was offering me. “How much money do you have?”

“I don’t know. They gave me the wallet and said I should use it to buy things I need.” I snatched the wallet from his hand and stared into it. There were several hundreds, even more fifties, and a handful of twenties.

“You’re just carrying all this around with you?” I said, my voice edging toward hysterics. Hipsid looked endearingly bewildered, like a puppy unsure why he was being scolded.

“Yes! They said I needed money!” His voice was pitching toward a loud whine as well, and we were drawing attention. I dropped my voice.

“You can’t carry this much money around with you. You’re going to get robbed. You need to leave some of it at home.”

“Couldn’t someone just take it from my house?” Hipsid said. “Isn’t it safer if it stays with me?”

“You can hide it somewhere, or put it in something with a lock, like a safe. Someone could shoot you and take your wallet.” Hipsid’s eyes went wide.

“That happens?” He stared around the bus with badly-concealed suspicion. “Often?!”

“No, no, not often, but it could, especially if you make a habit of carrying a lot of money on you,” I said, trying to soothe him. Hipsid looked at his wallet with roughly the same amount of caution one would give a live grenade. “Look, I’ll keep an eye out for you, all right? Just don’t do it again.”

He nodded seriously, tucking his wallet back into a pocket and tugging his coat tighter around him. I wondered, vaguely, if he could change into a seal while wearing clothes. Did they just kind of vanish? Did he have to strip?

“What’s wrong?” Hipsid asked. I startled out of my thoughts and realized that I’d been staring intently at him.

“Oh. Nothing.” Fortunately, the bus started moving at that moment and Hipsid became distracted enough to forget the whole thing.

“It’s bumpy!” he said, jittering slightly in his seat. “Oh, it’s a little disorienting!”

His excitement lasted for about three minutes before it transitioned into queasiness. He swayed against me, eyes closed. “You didn’t tell me you get carsick,” I said. There was a grayish tone to his brown skin and beads of sweat had started popping up on his forehead and cheeks.

“I’ve never been in a car before,” Hipsid said, not opening his eyes. He hiccupped and groaned. “I don’t feel well.”

Not eager to have a selkie vomit on me, I ended up herding him off the bus two stops early. We sat in the but stop together, Hipsid groaning with queasiness. “Put your head between your knees,” I suggested, trying to push him into a rough approximation of the position. “Breathe slowly.”

Hipsid hiccupped again and leaned into me. I swiped some of his hair out of his face. He pressed into my touch, seeking out the comfort.

“Feeling better?” I asked after we had spent a few minutes sitting and I had managed to force some water down Hipsid’s throat.

“Better,” he said. His skin was less sallow and he seemed to be breathing easier. “I don’t like busses.”

“They’re not the most comfortable mode of transportation. We might have to walk back,” I said. Hipsid sighed, readjusting his coat.

“It smells weird here,” he said, wrinkling his nose and looking around. We were sitting near a road, with cars passing every few moments. There was a constant smell of smoke and exhaust. Hipsid grimaced, nose wrinkling all the way up to between his brows.

“It’s the fumes. Exhaust and people smoking and stuff,” I said. Hipsid shook his head, snorting, then sneezed.

“How do you stand it?” he asked. I shrugged.

“Doesn’t bother me that much. Maybe you’re a little more sensitive,” I suggested. “Selkies are suppose to have better noses than humans.”

“I can tell,” Hipsid said. He sneezed again and coughed. “Can we go inside?”

We walked down the street, glancing at the buildings. Eventually, I pulled him inside a small museum. “This place is interesting,” I said. “It’s a history of the town. It’s got some stuff about sea and land relationships in here too.”

Hipsid perked up. Inside, the air was fresh and clean and it seemed to have revived his mood. “Okay! Ooh, what’s that?”

I pressed my lips together deliberately, trying hard not to laugh at him. “That’s a map, Hipsid. It’s not a display.”

Regardless of my telling him that the map was not, in fact, the most interesting part of the museum, he still spent several minutes staring at the lighted display. When I finally managed to budge him, he got immediately distracted by a tiny display showing the founding of the college.

Distractible was easily the best word to describe the trip. Hipsid was just as eager to look at things like sliding glass doors and water fountains as he was to look at the actual exhibits. I had to admit that it was kind of endearing to watch him. He was so genuinely excited about everything that it was infectious.

“The town got its start as a fishing village, and then the college came and it kind of transformed everything,” I said, trying to explain what little information I knew to him. “Here, there’s a little demonstration on how they used to weave together the fishing nets.”

Hipsid peered closely at the lengths of rope that criss-crossed the table, and the little diagrams showing you how to know it. “This is how humans catch fish?” he asked. “It seems so complicated.”

“Yeah? What’s a better way?” I asked.

“With your teeth,” Hipsid said, clicking his jaws in demonstration.

“I really don’t think that would work for us,” I said.

“No,” Hipsid said, looking at me consideringly. “You really are clumsy in the water.” He giggled to himself, probably thinking about the humans he’d seen swimming before. “It’s funny.”

“I’m sure,” I said, delicately not mentioning that selkies, when in their seal forms, were not the most graceful land animals. “But it’s not like we really need to be good swimmers. We’re not made for it.”

“I’ve swum in this body before,” Hipsid said confidently. “It’s not hard. You just don’t know how to do it.” He turned, looking me up and down. “I could teach you!” he exclaimed, so loud I jumped a little. “Then I can show you around the ocean like you’re showing me around land!” He seized my hands, springing lightly up onto his toes. “It’ll be great! I can show you the Abyssal Depths, the Great Caverns, the Haven Reefs!”

I squeezed his hands gently before sliding my fingers out from between his. “That’s not really going to work. Humans can’t breathe or see under the water that well. I’d have to get diving gear and take lessons.”

Hipsid’s expression drooped, almost comically. He looked genuinely crushed. “Oh.”

“I can go swimming with you at some point,” I said, trying to cheer him back up. He looked so much like a kicked puppy, it was hard to resist the urge to cuddle him. “It just might be hard for me to see your home.”

“We could go swimming now,” Hipsid said, mood one-eightying back to excitement. “The ocean’s not far away! You can show me stuff on the way there and I can show you stuff once we’re at the ocean!”

“Er, I don’t have my swimsuit,” I protested, but he had already started to drag me through the exhibits. His enthusiasm was oddly catching, though. I couldn’t help the smile that was starting to tug at my mouth.

And then Hipsid came to a complete stop in front of me and I rammed into him.

“Ouch,” I said, stepping back and gingerly touching my nose. It seemed unharmed. “What’s the deal? You okay?”

Hipsid didn’t respond. In fact, he was uncharacteristically still. His eyes were locked on the exhibit in the center of the room.

It was clearly a centerpiece, the crown jewel of the collection. It was elevated and angled lights shone on it from all sides. A glass box surrounded it. Held in the middle of the case, carefully arranged to show it from all angles, was a dappled gray fur coat.

A selkie coat. There was a small, silver plaque in front of it, with tiny type explaining the exhibit. Hipsid made a noise int eh back of his throat, a sort of choked whimper.

“Are you okay?” I asked again. “Hipsid? Do you want to go? We can leave-”

“Why is that here?” His voice was choked, tight, verging on a sob. I looked between him and the coat.

“It’s part of the exhibit, I guess,” I said. I approached the case to read the plaque. Hipsid followed me, though he hung back, as though frightened something was going to snatch at him.

I skimmed the plaque. “Says here that this coat is from one of the founders of the village. Apparently, he got it from his wife, who was a selkie. When she died, he gave the coat to his kids and they donated it to the museum.”

“That’s not true!” Hipsid’s voice was frantic and surprisingly loud. I stared at him. “It doesn’t belong here!”

“Hey, hey,” I said, trying to calm him down. People were starting to look in our direction. “Do you want to go somewhere-”

“He stole it!” Hipsid’s voice was still rising. “He took it from her and she had to stay on land with him! He didn’t even let her be buried in it! And now it’s on display, here, instead of where it belongs, with her!” His voice was utterly distressed, expression stricken. His breathing was rapid and shallow. “It can’t stay here!”

He reached for the case and I automatically snatched his hand back. “You can’t touch it! We’ll get in trouble!”

Hipsid’s gaze snapped to me, eyes wide. For a second, I wasn’t even sure he was seeing me. Then his gaze focused. He blinked rapidly, like he was barely holding back tears. “They stole a part of her,” he said. His voice was softer, but more earnest, like he was trying to explain something vitally important to me. “They stole a part of her identity and put it up in a museum like they own it. They’re not supposed to have this.”

I put a hand on his shoulder, trying to soothe him. My hand pressed against the smooth fur of his coat and he jerked away. “I know it’s not right, but there’s nothing we can do. If we grab it and run, we’ll never be able to make it out of the museum. Let’s calm down and we’ll see if we can figure something out.”

Hipsid allowed me to guide him out of the room and to a small bench. He flopped on it bonelessly, covering his face in his hands. His shoulders trembled. I fished in my pocket and offered him a tissue. He mopped at his face, snuffling loudly. I sat, waiting for him to calm down enough to speak.

After a few minutes, he lifted his head. His face was a little splotchy and his eyes were red. He rubbed under his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Better?” I asked tentatively.

He gave me a stony look. “No.” He sat back up and rubbed his eyes off. “But I’m done crying for now.”

“I’m sorry.” I wasn’t quite sure what else to say. There didn’t seem to be much I could say. My stomach twisted with a combination of guilt and uncertainty.

Hipsid made a quiet noise of distress. “It’s not fair,” he said. “She had her coat stolen from her in life. Why couldn’t she at least have it in death?”

“How do you know it was stolen?” I asked. Hipsid gave me a cynical look.

“It was stolen,” he said. “If a human takes our coat, we’re bound to them. So, some humans use it to make us their… partner, I guess. Not a slave, but subjugated. If she’d kept her coat, it wouldn’t have been here. She would have taken it back to the ocean before she died. That’s what we always do, so the coat is returned to the waves.” He fell silent. “That’s where it should be.”

I looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry,” I said again. “There’s got to be something we can do. Maybe we can petition the museum? Or maybe we can get the college to do something about it. We can at least draw attention to the fact that it’s not right that it’s here.”

Hipsid looked at me. “You want to help me?”

“Yes, of course. I mean, we can’t just break it out, but there’s got to be some way we can get it out of here and back where it belongs. You’re right, it shouldn’t be here. I bet if I talk to the people who organize SLEP, they can set something up.”

A small, tentatively hopeful smile pulled at Hipsid’s lips. His eyes brightened. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I stood up. “Let’s go. We can get there before the offices close if we hurry.”

Hipsid seized my hand, causing me to startle. His shoulder pressed against mine as an eager smile spread over his face. “Okay! Let’s go!” There were still tear tracks on his face, but he was beaming once more, apparently hopeful. I smiled back.

We walked out into the cool air and started heading back toward the bus stop. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to use the bus again, I realized. Not unless I was ready to get puked on by a selkie. We would just have to walk fast.

It was only a few minutes after we had passed the first bus stop that I started to get an uncomfortable tingling sensation along the back of my neck. Some of the hairs there started to stand on end. I kept glancing over my shoulder. Something was wrong.

“What’s the matter?” Hipsid asked. I rubbed at the back of my neck, frowning down the street behind us.

“Don’t be too obvious about it,” I said in an undertone, “but have you seen some of those people behind us before?”

Hipsid looked over his shoulder. He seemed to be trying to be subtle, but he had no practice with it. “They were at the museum, weren’t they?” he asked in a whisper.

“Yes,” I said. “They left right after we did.” I ducked down a side street. After a few minutes, I saw the men trickle into the street behind us. My stomach sank. “They’re following us.”

Hipsid licked his lips. “Why?”

“I don’t know. But I have a bad feeling about it.” I hazarded another glance over my shoulder. The men were still following. I managed to catch a glimpse of one of their faces as they passed by a beam of light. “They were at the museum, too,” I whispered. Hipsid looked down at me, lips drawn tight with worry.

“So, they followed us here?” he asked. My heart was starting to pound. My first instinct had been to see if they were following us, but now I regretted it. The amount of people was starting to thin out and the men following us were speeding up. A nasty thought was starting to form in my head.

“They followed us from the museum and they weren’t following us before,” I said. One of my hands locked around Hipsid’s wrist, keeping him close to me. “What was at the museum and is also here now?”

There was a pause while Hipsid thought it over. I both felt and heard his sharp intake of breath. “Selkie coats.” There was a tremor in his voice and he clutched his coat tighter around himself.

“If they were going to take the one at the museum, and then they saw you, they might be thinking you’re an easier target.” I scanned the sides of the alleyway, looking for a way out. The street was getting narrower and there were barely any people around. “Probably noticed when you started yelling.”

Hipsid ignored the comment. “What do we do?” His hand fumbled for mine, squeezing hard. I glanced over my shoulder again. The men weren’t bothering to be subtle about it anymore. They were starting to pick up the pace, closing in on us. I was trying to think rapidly, but my panic wasn’t helping.

Finally, I managed to snag on an idea. “Give me your coat.”

Hipsid stumbled over his own feet. “What?” He clutched at his coat like he thought I was going to snatch it off his shoulders. “No! Why do you want it?”

“They’re after the coat, right? I’m faster than you, and more experienced on land. They’ll follow me and I’ll be able to evade them. You can run and get help.”

Hipsid looked unconvinced. “No. It’s… No!” “Look, it’s the best idea I’ve got right now!” We were rapidly running out of time. The men were approaching.

“The coats are important to us! They’re more than just a part of us, they’re… well, there are a lot of implications to a selkie giving you their coat!” Hipsid sputtered. “It’s not something we can do lightly!”

“Please,” I said. “I know selkies are protective of their coats. I promise, I will keep it safe. Nothing will happen to it and you’ll get it back safe.” I stopped to look into Hipsid’s face. His eyes bored into mine, deep, and dark, and full of worry. I took a steadying breath. “I swear, Hipsid. I will keep your coat safe and get it back to you.”

A small shudder passed through Hipsid’s body. He slipped his coat from his shoulder and passed it to me. His hands lingered over mine. “Keep it safe.”

“I promise,” I said. There was a weight to it. I could feel the heaviness of the vow settling on me like a mantle. Hipsid gave a small nod. He lingered for only a moment longer, then took off running.

There was a moment of confusion in the men- apparently they hadn’t been expecting us to split up. It gave me just enough time to slip past them and sprint out back into the main street.

The coat was heavy and it pressed against my back as I ran. My legs and lungs burned as I slipped past people. Luckily, I knew the town well enough to duck between the buildings and weave around everything. There was no way Hipsid, still unused to being on land, would have been able to keep up. I had to work my way through some tight squeezes and turn quickly.

Finally, gasping, I slipped into a tiny alleyway and stopped. I was pretty sure I’d been able to lose the men. My lungs burned and I felt my legs trembling from exertion. Slowly, I sank to the ground.

I stayed huddled in the alleyway for a long time. At least, it felt long. I waited until the sun had completely set before squeezing myself out of the cramped alley. I held the coat against my chest. It was warm, despite the chill in the air, and I kept stroking my fingers over the smooth fur.

My legs ached and I walked awkwardly down the city street. Hipsid. I had to find Hipsid. We hadn’t discussed where we were going to meet up again. How was I going to find him? Absent of any other ideas on what to do, I headed back toward campus.

That was, apparently, Hipsid’s idea as well, because he was waiting near the entrance to campus, pacing anxiously. When his eyes fell on me, he sprinted toward me, squeezing me into a hug. “You’re okay! I was about to call someone for help, I though you’d gotten captured or hurt!” He broke off, big eyes looking down into my face.

“I’m fine. Just took me a little while to lose them.” We broke apart. I was still holding his coat, wrapped around my arms. He glanced at it, but made no move to take it from me. Anxiety tensed the edges of his eyes and he fidgeted with his fingers.

I slowly unwrapped the coat from my arms. There was an odd nudging feeling in the back of my mind. The air seemed hideously cold as I peeled the coat away from my skin. I had the strange urge to cling to it, to hold it close to me. The desire bubbled up inside me with surprising intensity. Hipsid’s expression tensed, like he could tell the direction my thoughts were taking.

No. Slowly and deliberately, I held the coat out toward him. It was his, and I’d seen how upset he’d gotten when someone else’s coat had been taken. The image of his big, sorrowful eyes looking at me with betrayal made my heart ache. Hipsid reached out and took the coat, gathering it in his arms. He had an expression like he couldn’t quite believe what was happening.

“Th-thank you.” He stumbled over his words a little and his eyes flicked up to meet mine for only a moment before darting away again. He took a cautious step back. “I- I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

He hurried away, casting his coat on over his shoulders. I stared after him, feeling slightly hurt. I’d saved his coat and he was just going to run off? I shrugged it off. Maybe there was something here that I wasn’t understanding. I wasn’t really an expert in selkie culture. Maybe he needed to wash it or something.

I went back to my room and collapsed into bed. It was surprisingly hard to get to sleep. Adrenaline still pounded through me.

I had to drag myself to work the next day, practically collapsing across my tutoring table. I looked up as my shift started to see Hipsid nervously hovering near the doorway. He was rocking back and forth on his heels and turning something over in his hands. His eyes fell on me and he smiled hesitantly. “Morning.”

I stifled a yawn.” Good morning.” Hipsid walked over to the table and sat down slowly. He was wearing his coat around his shoulders as per usual.

“You look tired,” he said. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Just a little sleepy, that’s all. How are you? Yesterday was… rough.”

Hipsid nodded, ducking his head again. “It wasn’t all bad,” he said. “It ended pretty nice.” His voice was shy.

“All’s well that ends well,” I agreed. “So, what did you want help with today?”

Hipsid gave a nervous little laugh. “Oh, I’m not really here for tutoring. I came by to- well, to give you this.”

He handed me the object he’d been fiddling with. It was a small, black box with a sort of velvety coating. I opened it.

Nestled in the box was a small, golden ring. A perfectly smooth, white pearl was set in the middle of it. “It’s beautiful,” I said. “But you don’t need to give me a ring. I don’t need to be rewarded for saving your coat.”

“Oh, I know,” Hipsid said. “The coat’s enough, isn’t it? But I thought it would be nice to propose in a human way, too.”

There was a long pause. The world seemed to tilt underneath me. “I’m sorry?”

“Humans propose with rings,” Hipsid said. “I had one, so I thought we could-”

“No, no. When was the first proposal?” I said. Hipsid blinked.

“You gave me back my coat,” he said. “Coats are important to us. You held my coat, held a part of me, and then returned it with no expectations. That’s a proposal.”

I gaped at him. “But I wasn’t intending to propose!”

“But you did,” Hipsid said. He looked at me eagerly. “We don’t have to get married right away! But it’s nice to be engaged. I don’t have to worry about anyone else touching my coat!”

I stared at him. There was a part of me that wanted to protest, but… His enthusiasm was infectious again. And looking at his beaming smile and eager eyes, my heart did do a little skip in my chest. “Okay,” I said. “But we’re going to take it slow, okay? And we do it the human way.” Hipsid nodded, looking delighted. “Good. Now, do you know what dating is?”

#exophilia #selkie #selkie coat #monster boyfriend #selkie boyfriend #monster lover #seal #male monster

[official-weasley]

Meant to Be (Charlie Weasley x OC)

What happens when Bill brings home a girl and Charlie is completely awestruck by her?

WARNINGS: Mentions of sex and alcohol.

CHAPTER 2

Charlie

“How come you are always the last one to leave?” I chuckled at Peter’s remark.

“I’m in no hurry, I still have to feed the Chinese Fireball and you know she’s stubborn.” I turned to him, brushing the hair off my face.

“I can do it, you know I’m staying here for the holidays and you’re…” He stepped closer and snatched the bag with food in front of me. “…going to miss your portkey.”

“Are you sure?” I narrowed my eyes at him, taking off my gloves.

“Charlie, when was the last time you saw your family?” He sighed.

“About six months ago.” I actually had to think about it.

“See!” He stretched out his hand, making me give my gloves to him. “The dragons will survive without you for a few days.” He winked at me.

Perhaps he was right. I don’t know how to take a day off. If it wasn’t for Peter and my team, I would be working all the time. They are the ones who stop me here and there and get me drunk.

“I still have to pack!” I remembered.

I woke up at 5 this morning and went to feed the dragons straight away, completely forgetting I am leaving for the Burrow afterward.

“Damn it, Charlie! You always do this to me.” Peter shook his head. “I’ll fire you.”

“What for?” I chortled. “For working too hard?”

“Yes!” He laughed. “You have 30 minutes before the portkey closes. You better go now!”

“Alright, alright. I’m going.” I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t you miss your family?” He asked, concern on his face.

“Of course, I do!” I really did but I am not going to tell my boss how much. “Don’t you miss yours?”

“I do but I see them once per month, sometimes even twice. You don’t know how to take that much time off, remember?” He smirked at me.

“That’s right, keep rubbing it in my face.” I bumped his shoulder with my fist and waved at him, starting down the path towards my hut.

Did he say 30 minutes to pack and catch the portkey? He’s mental, that’s not enough time! I picked up the pace, my keys ready. I ran straight to my dresser when I entered my home and started throwing clothes on my bed.

A pair of jeans, a hat, scarf, two t-shirts. I think that’s enough for a 4-day stay! Oh, shit! I can’t go without one of mum’s jumpers. I stuck my head back in the dresser, my eyes tracking the burgundy jumper with a green dragon in it.

Where are you?

I would say that I have to reorganize my closet but I know I would never end up doing it anyway. I wear mostly the same clothes to work every day and the only time I try a bit harder to look presentable is when I go home. It’s a waste of time otherwise. Why spend the time picking an outfit when you can spend it with dragons?

There it is!

I knew I was probably going to get a new one as a Christmas present but I loved this one the most. Mum’s jumpers were the only thing I didn’t like about my job. I couldn’t wear them without completely ruining them, I loved them too much to do that so they were being untouched in my closet.

Now to get my toothbrush and that should be all. How much time I have left until my portkey closes and Peter kills me?

I leaned my head to check the clock on the kitchen wall. 10 minutes. I can make that if I run!

I was walking towards the front gate, still zipping my bag.

“Going home for the holidays, Charlie?”

Oh, no. Not now!

“Yes.” I turned around and forced a smile. “How about you, April?”

“Oh, I’m staying. Don’t really have anywhere to be.” If she is indicating that I should take her with me, she has got to be joking.

John was right, should’ve never slept with her.

“Well, a lot of our mates are staying, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” I didn’t want to be rude, but I am not bringing her home.

My mum would faint, me having a girlfriend after all these years and she really wasn’t a girl I imagined myself in a relationship with. She was too needy and wanted to be with me all the time.

First of all, I don’t have time for that and second of all, sex wasn’t that great either and we have nothing in common and…

“I just wanted to say goodbye.” She took a step toward me and I took one backward.

Please, don’t hug me!

“Bye!” I waved my hand, turned around, and ran for it.

The second I touch the portkey, I’m free!

I have to start being better at picking women. This one stalks my every move, the one before that still sends me letters and my friends are doing nothing but laughing in my face for it. Perhaps I should get better at picking friends too!

I finally reached the portkey and without turning around to see if April followed me, I touched the bottle and landed flat on my face in the forest near my family home. I dusted myself off and started towards the house.

I stopped walking about 20 meters from it. I just had to take it all in. I missed it. I missed my home, my parents, and all my siblings. I really hope Bill will be able to get time off and come too, I miss him the most even though I saw him 2 months ago when he came to visit me.

I knocked on the door and slowly opened it.

“Charlie!” Before I could put my bag down, Ginny’s hands were already around my waist. I hugged her back.

She grew so much and got stronger too.

“I missed you too, Gin.” I chuckled.

“You’re going to help me later.” She grinned and ran away before I could ask her what she needs help with.

“Charlie, dear. Welcome home!” My mum crushed me with her hug but I didn’t mind.

I might be 21 but I still loved to hug my mum as I did when I was a kid. Mum pulled away and started looking around behind me.

“I didn’t bring anyone with me, mum.” I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, Charles. Don’t tell me there aren’t any pretty girls in that Sanctuary of yours.” She scolded me.

“Mum, beauty isn’t everything. I want someone I can connect with.” She was the only one who got me to admit things like this out loud.

I know she only wants me to be happy but I’m still too young to think about settling down.

“What about that April girl. I was really hoping to meet her.” She sighed.

April? How did she know about April?

“How do you know about her?” I asked rather frightened.

I was afraid of her answer.

“She wrote to me a few months ago, telling me what a wonderful son I’ve raised. She seemed nice, did you break up with her already?” She narrowed her eyes, her hands on her hips.

She wrote to my mum?! She’s mental!

“We were never together we only slep…” I bit my tongue. My mum really didn’t have to know about my sex life. “You know what, it’s complicated.” I raised my hands in defeat.

That’s the sentence that usually keeps people from asking further questions, right?

Mum didn’t get a chance to say anything else as Fred and George came down the stairs.

“Hi, Charlie!” Fred said and ran past me and straight through the front door.

“Might want to duck!” George stopped next to me for a second before following his twin.

I quickly turned my head towards the stairs where a whistling sound was coming from. I ducked as fireworks started to go off all around the living room, kitchen, and hallway. If mum wasn’t shouting, storming past me to find the twins, I would be laughing right now.

“I see they still haven’t changed.” I said and sat next to Ron on the sofa.

“You’re lucky you were at Hogwarts with them in their early years.” Ron rolled his eyes. “They are driving mum mad. She sends them a Howler per week if not more.”

“Should I talk to them?” I chuckled.

I know I shouldn’t find this amusing but I couldn’t help it. They were the only ones of us kids that didn’t fear mum and I know a Howler is not going to stop them from wreaking havoc.

“I don’t think it’s going to help, mate. Nothing can help those two.” Ron gulped. “Nice to have you home, though.” He patted my shoulder.

Ron was always a bit awkward when it came to social interactions.

“How is school? You doing good?” I cleared my voice, pretending to be strict.

I never gave hard time to my younger siblings. It was always Bill’s job and I just helped the house from setting on fire. He was the one who kept track of the homework and even did some homeschooling when mum was too busy. I was the one who chased them around and made sure they didn’t hurt themselves.

“School’s fine, I guess.” Ron shrugged. “How’s Norbert?” He swallowed hard.

I know he thinks he can’t ask about the dragon we helped rescue in his first year. I miss Hagrid, I really do.

“Fine. Healthy and big.” I laughed. I rolled up the sleeve of my right arm and showed him a deep scar all across my forearm. “He did this.”

“Charles Weasley, what is that!” Mum seeing a new scar while being mad at the twins was a bad combination.

“Mum, it’s already healed. Don’t make a big deal out of it!” I quickly rolled my sleeve back down.

“You better tell me that this is the only new one you have!” She barked at me.

Where were Fred and George now so she could shout at them?

“Yes.” I lied.

Thank Merlin I don’t have to take off my shirt because I have a much bigger scar stretching all across my back and I know she would lose her head if she saw that one.

She eyed me suspiciously, not really believing my lie but she knew she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. The second I got the job in the Sanctuary she flipped out. She was hoping until the last minute that I would somehow change my mind even though all I could talk about were dragons since I can remember.

I’m pretty sure dragon was the first word that came out of my mouth. At first, I cared that she was so against it but after a while I let it go. I knew she would never understand.

Nobody ever did. Not even Bill and he is my best friend. He loves his job but he wasn’t obsessing over Curse Breaking until his fourth year at Hogwarts and even then he wasn’t so into it as I was about becoming a Dragonologist.

“So Charlie are you going to help me?” Ginny squeezed between me and Ron, making him almost fall off the sofa.

“What do you need help with, Gin?” I smiled at her.

I forgot how my siblings always occupied me. I am not going to deny it, it felt great.

“I need you to help me with my Transfiguration essay.” She said, staring at the notes in her hands.

“Transfiguration?” I blinked at her. “How am I supposed to help you with that?”

I sucked at Transfiguration. Charms, okay. Astronomy, maybe. Even Defence Against the Dark Arts. But Care of Magical Creatures was the only subject I was confident I could help with.

“Have you forgotten what I do for a living?” I poked her shoulder.

“I’m joking!” She laughed. She loved messing with me. “I need to write an essay about newly hatched dragons for Care of Magical Creatures and who better to ask.” She scrambled her notes across the coffee table and gave one of the papers to me.

“What do they eat, how they behave, when can they leave their mother, how dangerous they are and how to defend yourself if you encounter one.” I read out loud.

“Easy!” I exclaimed. “Do you have your quill and paper ready?”

I clapped my hands and she stood up, grinning. She came back only seconds later with her writing equipment and sat back down.

If Peter ever fires me for working too hard perhaps I can help Hagrid with Care of Magical Creatures.

I couldn’t believe how much fun I was having helping Ginny with her essay. Answering all those questions was a piece of cake for me and I could tell that Ginny was enjoying my company.

“Mum, need any help in the kitchen?” I asked when something started to smell good.

I missed her cooking. We had good food in the Sanctuary but nothing compares to home cooking.

“Don’t you worry about it, Charlie. You help Ginny with her homework, I will ask Ron and Percy to help.” She grinned at me, thankful for the offer.

I turned back to Ginny as she was just finishing the answer to the second question when I heard a pop outside. I looked at the family clock and watched the hand with Bill’s name move to Home. Before either Ginny or I could announce it to mum, the door opened and Bill stepped inside.

“Hi, everyone. I’m home!” He sang. He wasn’t alone though. I heard someone chuckling behind him. “I brought a guest, I hope that’s alright.” He said, turned more to mum than to us.

I could see he was nervous and a second later, I found out why.

He brought home a girl. Damn, she was beautiful. Perhaps I should reconsider my career choice. None of the girls in the Sanctuary looked like that. No offense to them.

I blinked twice to be sure I wasn’t overreacting. I have never seen someone as lovely as she was. She wasn’t the most beautiful girl in the world but there was something about her, something shining through that made her absolutely stunning.

I shook my head, what was I doing! She’s Bill’s girlfriend.

“Oh, my.” Mum whispered into her hand.

I could see her eyes sparkle as she slowly made her way towards Bill and his guest.

“Everybody this is Rhylee. Rhylee, this is my mum, my brother Charlie and my sister Ginny.” Bill pointed his finger at us on the sofa. “And that’s Ron and Percy.” He pointed at them at the kitchen table and they both waved with a knife, as they were cutting vegetables. “And I guess you’ll meet the twins later.” Bill’s eyes were searching for them.

“Where’s dad?” Bill asked, taking off his coat.

“He’s stuck at work but will be joining us soon.” Mum beamed, her eyes still on Rhylee.

She grabbed her hand and practically dragged her into the kitchen. Bill rolled his eyes and quickly followed them. I think he was afraid mum would bombard Rhylee with questions.

“She’s really pretty.” Ginny said, her eyes on Bill’s girlfriend. I couldn’t take my eyes off her either.

“Yeah.” I blurted out. I shook my head. “Ginny, come on. Focus on your homework.” I tapped my finger on Ginny’s parchment.

She snapped back and took her quill out of the ink bottle.

“On it.” She started scribbling again.

“The sooner you finish, the sooner we can play Quidditch.” I whispered to her.

She started writing faster and I giggled. That always got her. If you could bribe my sister with anything it was Quidditch.

My eyes quickly wandered back to the kitchen. To Rhylee. She was so interesting and I have never wanted to know more about anyone as I did about her right now. She seemed mysterious as if you would need a lot of time to figure her out.

“What was the spell again, Charlie?” Ginny’s voice made me look away for the third time.

I really need to stop staring at her or she will think Bill’s brother is a creep.

“Immobulus, Ginny.” I said, my voice distant. I was not having as much fun helping her anymore. I was more interested in Bill’s girl.

“What are you two up to?” Bill sat next to me on the sofa and peeked at what Ginny was writing. “Homework! Merlin, I’m glad I’m late.” He laughed and tapped my back.

“Congratulations, Bill.” I winked at him. “Mum seems to like her.” I nodded to the kitchen where Rhylee was talking to our mum.

She didn’t look uncomfortable at all even though I knew mum was asking her all sorts of questions that violated personal space.

“We’re not together.” Bill said quietly.

They’re not? What was he waiting for!

“And that’s my cue to leave.” Ginny closed her ink bottle.

Bill and I laughed.

Every time we talked about girls, Ginny got up and left. I know she was too young for these things and she was always uncomfortable talking about it even though Ron told me once in a letter that he finds it annoying how obsessed she is with Harry Potter.

“What about your essay?” I mocked her.

“I remember what you told me and I can finish it later.” She stuck her tongue at me. “Besides, mum needs me in the kitchen.”

That was a bold lie Ginerva and you know it!

She just wanted to properly meet Rhylee and ask her questions as mum did.

“What are you waiting for, Bill?” I turned to my brother now.

I couldn’t believe the girl he brought home wasn’t his girlfriend. What was he thinking?

“I don’t know, Charlie!” He sighed and melted into the sofa. “I feel so intimidated by her and we have been friends for 3 years and…”

“How many more excuses are you going to give me?” I raised my eyebrows at him.

He never had problems asking a girl out before. He wasn’t as big on one-night stands as I was but he wasn’t awkward with girls either. But even I have to admit that Rhylee did look a bit intimidating. However, I know that wouldn’t stop me. She was a mystery box waiting to be opened and I knew that if it was me I wouldn’t waste a minute.

“I know. I suck.” Bill pursed his lips and looked towards Rhylee. “I promise I’ll do it once we get back. No more excuses.”

“You swear?” I mocked him.

“Yes!” Bill rolled his eyes.

“What’s that thing Ginny does?” I scratched my head. “Something with fingers?”

“Pinky promise?” Bill laughed.

“Yes! Let’s do that!” I smirked.

“No way. I am not making a pinky promise with you!” Bill wanted to get up but I grabbed his hand and pushed him back down.

“Oh, yes you are!” I was having too much fun messing with him.

He might be two years older than me and might have a fang for an earring and might be dressed in leather and look all cool but I knew he was still a big loving teddy bear he has been before he decided to put dragonhide boots on his feet. I brought my pinky closer to his face and just as we were about to finalize the deal, Rhylee disturbed us.

“I think we haven’t been properly introduced yet.” She said, looking at me.

“Yeah, I guess so.” I cleared my throat and lowered my hand. I shook hers and Bill offered her to sit down next to him.

“You know, you two have a lot in common.” Bill said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

“How come?” I finally tore my eyes off hers and looked at my brother.

“Rhylee here is a Dragonologist like you.” He grinned.

I think my heart just skipped a beat. This was not happening. She wasn’t. She couldn’t be. This was so unfair! Bill gets this amazing girl and doesn’t even ask her out and I’m stuck with April who sends my mum letters without me knowing about it.

“I work at Gringotts.” She explained.

I gasped. Finally, someone who can tell me about the dragons that are guarding the vaults in the Bank!

“What breeds do you have down there?” I bit my tongue.

I suddenly remembered that I was not supposed to know that Gringotts had dragons.

It’s supposed to be a secret and Bill could lose his job by telling me that. Ministry wasn’t big on dragons and goblins would never admit that they have one of the most dangerous creatures so close to where people go. Bill let it slip one time I visited him in Egypt. He thought I would find it interesting, being obsessed with dragons and all.

“Oh, Charlie.” Bill laughed and Rhylee followed his lead.

If somebody asked me right now if she fancied my brother I don’t think I would be able to answer them.

“It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone that you know.” She turned to me with the biggest grin on her face.

Was she excited to talk about dragons?

“How many dragons do you keep down there?” I tried to sound as casual as possible even though I wanted to burst from excitement.

“Two and we are getting a third one after the holidays. We have an Ukranian Ironbelly and an albino Swedish Short-Snout and we’re getting…”

“You have an albino dragon down there?!” My voice was a tad too loud.

I had to sit up straight to steady my breathing. I have never seen one and thought they were a myth. I only read about them and made it my life’s goal to see it one day and here she was, saying they have an albino Swedish Short-Snout as if she was talking about rabbits.

“Yeah.” Rhylee chuckled. “You should see him. He’s so beautiful. He was already grown up when I got the job but one of my co-workers has worked with him since he was 6 months old and I’m still jealous of that. Imagine a small albino Snouty!” Her voice got just as high as mine was before.

This was unreal. I couldn’t believe she loved dragons so much. I work with more than 20 Dragonologists but I always felt like I am more obsessed with the creatures than anyone else and here she was. She looked about my age so she couldn’t attend Hogwarts otherwise I would remember her. Heck, I would probably want to be her best friend!

“I wish! You have to smuggle me in one day. I would love to see him!” I leaned on my arms.

“Perhaps that can be arranged.” She laughed.

“What do his scales look like? Are his eyes red, because I read once that it’s a fifty-fifty chance that they have normal eyes and…” I looked at Bill, sitting between us.

I sat back up straight and cleared my throat. This wasn’t right.

I know the expression on Bill’s face and I don’t like it. Out of all my siblings, I was always closest to Bill. We were the first to go to school and he always looked after me there. He was my big brother and I owed so much to him.

He was my best friend and he knows everything about me. He was there for me when I broke up with my girlfriend the Summer after I graduated from Hogwarts and we stuck together when mum was going on and on what dangerous career paths we both chose.

I knew him better than anyone and the look on his face was saying that he felt left out and I couldn’t blame him. It was enough that he had to listen to me talk about dragons non-stop until he became a Curse Breaker and moved to Egypt and even after that I didn’t stop with my obsession. And now he was sitting between me and the girl he really liked and he had nothing to add to the conversation.

It was wrong and it wasn’t fair to him. He brought this girl here to introduce her to his family and then ask her out and I was ruining it for him. It didn’t matter that I was completely awestruck by her or that she was beautiful or that I would love to get to know her better.

Nobody was worth losing my brother over. I never want to see that expression on his face again. He shouldn’t feel like this. He already stalled asking this girl out and I wasn’t helping.

“You know what…” I sucked in a breath. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s talk about something else.” I forced a smile.

As much as I would love to talk about dragons with Rhylee, Bill was more important to me even though I could see she felt the same and was loving all the questions I was asking her.

“How did you two meet?” I turned to Bill.

I wanted nothing more than for him to start speaking, to feel included.

“We can talk about that later.” Bill smiled. I know he appreciated that I tried changing the topic. “You two clearly have a lot of questions for each other and I haven’t seen the twins yet so I will go upstairs and see what they are up to and you two talk.” He stood up.

“You sure?” I tried stopping him.

I know he wasn’t okay with this and neither was I.

“Pinky promise.” He laughed and walked away.

“Pinky promise? Really?” I turned to Rhylee, her eyebrows raised.

“Long story.” I shook my head and chuckled.

“So…” She pressed her lips together and poked my knee. She was so playful. “Do you want to know more about the dragons I work with or do you want to know how Bill and I met?”

“What do you think?” I smirked at her and made her laugh.

This was not good. I was completely mesmerized by her.

“To answer your previous two questions…” She sat closer to me. “His scales are completely white except the ones on his tail. Those are washed-up red. It’s really interesting and I tried searching for the reason behind the reddish color in several books but I couldn’t find anything.” She sighed.

“And about your questions about the eyes. I asked Simon, the one I said before that worked with the albino before I got there, he said that his eyes changed when he was about 1 year old. They are black now but apparently, they were red before and I so wish I could see that. He had to look even more beautiful!” She squeaked.

“So according to him, that would mean that they do have red eyes but lose the color with age?” I thought out loud.

“Seems like it. He’s the only albino I encountered. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more about it.” She sighed.

“Anyways, as I said before. We have the two and we’re getting a Norwegian Ridgeback after the holidays. I can’t even begin to explain to you how excited I am for that!” She clapped her hands together.

She was basically me in a female form.

“Do you name them? We do in the Sanctuary. One of my co-workers has a 5-year-old daughter and a few months ago our rescue team brought a new Common Welsh Green and we let her name him and she called him Bunny.” I laughed.

“Oh, that is so sweet!” Rhylee laughed too. “The albino is Dash and our Ukrainian Ironbelly is Kyan. They were named before I got there so I didn’t have a chance to pick.” She said sadly. “But my team did say that I can name the one we’re getting now.” Her face brightened up immediately.

She has her own team? I had so many questions for her that I would need to prolong my stay to get the answers to all of them.

“Did you pick out the name yet?” I asked.

Even though I wanted to know more about her team and how is she handling being in charge. I was recently appointed to lead a team and I wasn’t good at bossing people around. One question at the time, Charlie.

“I was thinking of Nyx. It’s similar to Nox since the dragon is black. I don’t know yet.” She shrugged her shoulders, but I knew she had it all figured out.

She reminded me of myself when I had more to say but stopped because I thought the other party wouldn’t be interested in what I have to say.

“I like it.” I encouraged her. “We have a Norwegian Ridgeback. His name is Norbert.”

“Oh, that’s cute.” She cupped her face. I could see she was debating whether she picked the right name or not. “Maybe you can help me pick a name.” She bumped into my shoulder. “You know, in case I change my mind.”

“Sure.” I replied and sat a bit away from her. I don’t want her to be too friendly with me. I was already having too much fun with her.

“I’m sorry. Am I talking too much about dragons?” She sighed.

She must’ve noticed me moving away.

“Oh, no. Not at all!” I reassured her.

“It’s just…” She sucked in a breath. I knew she wasn’t sure if she should say what she’s about to say and at this point, neither was I. “Nobody ever shows such enthusiasm about dragons as you just did. All those questions you asked me. It’s nice to talk to someone who shares your passion.” She explained.

“Tell me about it.” I took a deep breath.

We should not talk about how much we are enjoying this or how much fun we are having. Just talking to her felt like I was doing something illegal. She came here with Bill, remember?

“I have a team of six including me and it’s hard to see that it’s just a job to most of them, you know. They don’t care as much as I do. If it was on me, I would be there all the time and I would do so much more for them but they always laugh at me and tell me I’m too obsessed or that I’m a workaholic. They do what they need to do and then go home and it’s hard working with people like that. It’s hard to trust them. There is this girl,” she licked her lips, “Lizzie, she’s the only one I can trust. She cares about the dragons. The rest of them, I don’t know. Perhaps I’m overreacting.” Her eyes moved from the coffee table to mine.

They were so full of emotion, so full of passion for her job.

Why did Bill bring her here!

“You’re not.” I placed my hand on her shoulder but quickly pulled away.

What was I doing?

“I’m the same. There are more than 20 people in the Sanctuary and I can’t relate to any of them.” I frowned. “They love dragons and they do care about them but after a long working day, they don’t want to talk about work which is understandable but it can get quite lonely when I want to discuss several occurrences that happened during the day and they all tell me that I should shut up and drink my beer and that we can talk about it in the morning. They just don’t understand that there is so much more to the creatures than just breathing fire and feeding them.” I couldn’t believe I was telling her this.

I never talked about this to anyone. I loved my job and I loved Romania and I love all the friends I’ve made there but nobody understood me as Rhylee did and I met her an hour ago. It was crazy.

This was crazy! I can’t believe I was talking to this incredible girl that was as obsessed with dragons as I was and wanted to talk about nothing else and I had to hold myself back because I felt guilty because of Bill.

“I can’t believe someone actually understands me.” She said more to herself than to me.

I looked at her and we stared at each other for solid five seconds before she looked away, clearing her throat.

“So…” She swallowed. “Your mates tell you to shut up and drink your beer?” She chuckled.

“Yeah.” I joined her. “We usually grab a beer or two on Fridays or during the weekend. There isn’t much to do for fun so we get drunk.” I said, a little embarrassed.

I didn’t know her well enough to know if she was okay with that. Not that it matters what her opinion of me is. Soon, I’ll be her brother-in-law.

“At least you can get drunk.” She laughed. “I have nobody to do that with. All my co-workers are so serious and go straight home after work so the only one I can really talk or have any fun with is my roommate Lyla.”

“That’s just sad.” I teased her.

“Tell me about it.” She guffawed. “Why don’t you tell me about one of your adventures, mister I-have-friends-who-want-to-drink-with-me.” She winked at me.

I know it was harmless and I was reading too much into this but it only made me feel worse.

I didn’t know how she was around Bill but she was great with me. I felt so relaxed around her and felt as if I could tell her anything and she wouldn’t judge. She emitted this calming energy that was just pulling me toward her and I was losing it.

“Well, this one time me and my two co-workers Andrew and Theo got drunk. We were walking to our huts when Theo got an idea that we should fly on a dragon.” Rhylee put her hand on her lips, trying hard not to laugh. “We didn’t go to the ones that are still young and therefore less dangerous, we went to the most vicious one we have in the reserve!” I exclaimed. “The Chinese Fireball that was also guarding her newly hatched babies.”

“You’re insane!” Rhylee gasped, her eyes widened.

“We were giggling like a bunch of schoolgirls, Andrew still with a beer bottle in his hand. We thought we were being quiet.” I continued.

“And you were not.” Rhylee chuckled.

“Of course, not! We were probably louder than her roar.” I laughed. “We were walking towards her and laughing so much that we didn’t notice she woke up. She stood up and when Theo saw it instead of running he started laughing his arse off! The Fireball roared her lungs out and woke up the entire village, while we ran back to the huts and tried to hide the fact that it was us.”

“Did you get away with it?” Rhylee was completely invested in the story.

“Nah! Almost got fired. If Peter wasn’t such an understanding boss we would probably all be out of jobs right now.” I finished my story.

Rhylee couldn’t stop laughing. She had one of those rare laughs. You could tell she only laughs when something is really funny and would never fake it just for the sake of it.

I really didn’t like how much she was starting to grow on me. Thank Merlin I was rarely home and was in Romania almost the whole year-round. I will have to find a way to avoid her when she comes to visit with Bill for the holidays.

Rhylee bit her lip after she stopped laughing and we stared at each other again. Why was she doing this to me! It looked as if she was reading my expression. Trying to figure out what I was thinking. I hope she wasn’t a Legimens, that would be really bad for me and for Bill. As long as I keep it inside my head I am not doing anyone any harm.

“Can you tell me where the bathroom is?” She said after the awkward silence.

“Upstairs, first door to the right.” I was glad she was going away.

Not that I wanted her to leave. I could see why Bill liked her so much. I am completely screwed. I have never felt such a connection to any girl before. Not even with the girl I had the only serious relationship with. This is not how I imagined my holidays to go.

I wanted to spend some quality time with my siblings and my parents and then bury myself in my work again. I did not plan to hate myself for feeling what I feel.

Which, by the way, I have no idea what it is. I have never felt something like this before. It wasn’t butterflies. No, it was stronger than that. She filled my chest with excitement and my head with questions and not just about dragons.

I wanted to get to know her better. I wanted to talk to her about her life and what she likes and about her family. I wanted to take her out on a date and I haven’t felt that way with anyone since I left Hogwarts.

I don’t have time for a relationship. Perhaps that’s an excuse because I didn’t find the right person yet. I am pretty good at reading people and if I see that it wouldn’t lead to anything or would fall apart sooner or later I just leave.

Or take them to bed.

I know it’s not exactly nice if the other party expects more but a meaningless fling or a one-night stand here and there is what I have been about for 3 years now. Well, to be honest, the last one was with April, 7 months ago, and staring at my older brother’s future girlfriend’s ass while she goes to the bathroom really wasn’t helping.

“Did you scare her away already?” Bill’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I have to stop doing this. I have to stop thinking about her, staring at her and I definitely have to stop talking to her.

I don’t know how I will be able to do it for the next 4 days but I have to try. I love Bill. He’s my brother. I have to put myself aside and I have to think about him. I would never do anything to hurt him and the thoughts I was having would do just that if he knew about them.

I asked her about dragons, she asked me the same. We had a few laughs and now she should spend the rest of the holidays with Bill. I have 5 other siblings, somebody ought to keep me occupied and then hopefully I won’t have to see her until their wedding and to be honest I could probably avoid her there too.

It doesn’t matter how she made me feel. It doesn’t matter that I felt understood and that we have so much in common. It doesn’t matter that she laughed at my dumb story or that she made me feel as if I could tell her anything in this world.

It doesn’t matter that I find her beyond beautiful and charming and it definitely doesn’t matter that I felt something between us that I have never felt before in my entire life.

Bill.

Bill is what matters.

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[musicfren]

They’ve got a bad reputation (they’ll get a standing ovation) part 2

HI HAVE I, TOLD YOU, THAT, @nottesilhouette IS THE MOST FRIGGEN AMAZING WRITER IN THE WHOLE WORLD? God...why do we do this to ourselves, friggen 3400 word story in the span of 2 days...this is entirely exclusively my fault pay no mind  Read part 1 here. Happy @felinettenovember y’all, time for slep!

...oh, dear gods, why is Felix here? The spotlight burns into his face like shame, regret bubbling up in his stomach. He doesn’t remember challenging Marinette but he has, apparently, and now everyone’s watching and he has to-- he has to-- fight. Defend himself. 

Or breathe, if he can manage it.

One seems easier than the other. Well, here goes nothing. Felix steps forward and calls engarde. 

“Ophelia did nothing but obey the men in her life!” He cries, stepping forward, gesticulating wildly. The crowd gasps, and Felix doesn’t understand why until he realizes he's still holding the sword prop, white-knuckled grip around its hilt. Marinette’s eyes go wide with surprise and Felix nearly blurts out an apology right there. But then a glint of something sharper flashes in her gaze, burning with determination and suddenly Felix isn’t feeling quite so confident. It’s too late to quail now. He steps forward and matches her, still talking. “She’s hardly enough of an independent person to qualify as a character.” 

“What would she be, then?” Marinette’s voice is steady, calm, and Felix is wildly, irrationally envious of it. He can’t work out how to make his statements come out smooth, suave like she’s managed, so he goes for the next best weapon: rage.

“She’s little more than a symbol, a prop,” he spits, and the crowd reacts appropriately. Something in his chest loosens at the idea that he’s performed correctly. Something in his heart wrenches.

Marinette sends him a snide look. “You would know. You’re a model mannequin.” 

They’re circling each other now: Felix is brash, forceful, cutting broad slashes through the air with each sweeping generalization he makes. Marinette is steady, precise, pulling apart the stitches of his defense with needle-fine precision. His pulse quickens; a glance at the audience shows she’s winning their favor. This isn’t the clever riposte and quick banter they expected, and Felix is coming across as dim-witted at best. 

“Well, what is she then? You have so many judgements, it’s time you raised an opinion of your own-- or do you have no policy but to raze mine?” Felix pushes her back, scrambling for repost. He needs to be interesting, he needs to be clever, he needs to-- turn it back onto Marinette before the crowd realizes he’s faking, that he doesn’t want to be here, that he’s… scared. 

His tongue sours at the words, and he hates himself for saying them. Marinette shoots him a glare full of challenge, and for an instant he considers conceding right there. Marinette believes so strongly in her cause, and Felix is desperate to apologize, to reconcile, to just acknowledge the points she’s making. But he’s trapped now, caught in the reputation he’s built for this audience and his own pride, and he has nowhere to go but forward. 

Or backwards, apparently, because with each point Marinette makes, crisp and concise and clear, Felix finds himself frantically retreating further and further.

“Ophelia is the only person in the play who recognizes that Hamlet needs help.” 

“That’s not true--”

She cuts him off with a slice.  “She’s the only person who notices and tries to stop him, who cares enough to call him out on his actions, to hold him accountable to the promises he made before his mad plan, to who he used to be.” 

“The entire argument is milquetoast--” He stabs desperately.

“They speak of beauty and reputation, of expectations and the way one’s actions will never outweigh the image others have of them.” 

“They speak of madness and prostitution!”

They’ve become locked in combat now, their blades darting in the scant space their words leave behind. The crowd presses forward, squeezes the stage almost to bursting. Nino presses his face to the camera lense, not wanting to miss an instant.

“The argument is framed against women but its themes are centered on Hamlet’s own realization of the position he’s found himself in. It breaks the adrenaline rush long enough to show him, in all his grief and desperation, the reality he’s constructed for himself. They speak of agency!” 

“Ophelia has none!”

“Ophelia reminds him that he does!” Marinette’s voice finally raises. “Ophelia reminds Hamlet who he is, what he has, if only for a moment. Ophelia grieves for him, for his loss: of his father, of his sanity and dignity and agency. She acknowledges that he is a liar, but remembers the man he used to be, the person he put work into being.” 

“She laments the loss of his attention, nothing more.”

“To write her statements off as such discounts the tone and the manner with which they are intended; she is returning his madman’s accusations with compassion and reason, she is the only person who has done so, who will ever do so.” 

“Why should I take her seriously when no one else does?!” It’s a mad, desperate response as he finds himself teetering at the edge of the stage, and he’s unbalanced. He swings again, unhinged. 

“None of the men in her life-- not her father, not her brother, not god himself-- take her seriously until she dies.”

“She trips into a river.” Finally, Felix is in charge of this conversation; this, Marinette cannot deny. It is his strongest point, and the only point that matters. He steadies himself, holds his sword like a shield to defend his statement. 

“Her death is not an accident. Her death is the culmination of the climax. Her death is the reason anyone stops long enough to notice how far gone Hamlet is! Her death tethers Hamlet to the person he used to be, who loved her once, who remembered what it felt like to choose what he did and who he was.” 

“That makes her nothing more than the physical manifestation and harbinger of Hamlet's descent into madness,” and Felix puts on a smirk because he knows he should. 

Felix wishes he was being honest, passionate the way Marinette is being. Felix wishes her voice didn’t seem so far away, calling from a world he remembers existing in but can’t find his way back to anymore. Felix wishes he was talking to her in a realm even close to reality instead of the mirage he’s operating in, desperate not to fall through. 

Instead, he steps forward from the edge of the stage and keeps his sword aloft. “She’s trapped in the societal confines of traditional womanhood. She’s nothing more than a woman in a world where that doesn’t matter.”

“You’re right.” 

Marinette stops moving forward to meet him, drops her arm. Felix is thrilled, and sick and confused, doubly so when he notices the ferocity in her expression. It is not one of someone who has given up. It is one of someone who is about to pounce.

“You’re right, she is nothing more than a woman in a world where that doesn’t matter. No one cares what she has to say. So she makes it matter. She dies, and she is finally heard. You’re right, and she’s a genius for the way she wields it like a weapon.” Marinette smirks, matching his smugness with self-assured pride, and taps his wrist with her sword. His own slips easily out of his grasp, and he trembles; with what emotion, he cannot place. “Being able to do the work of all these men in 58 lines doesn’t make her less of a character, Felix. It makes her more of one, and more power to her for what she’s able to notice that no one else will. It’s not her fault men can’t manage it.”

 Felix finally snaps. “My sense is not less than yours!”

Marinette pauses, and very very slowly, grins. It’s terrifying, predatorial. She rakes her gaze down his body, and he shivers. “I had thought to agree but this battle of wits has proven very much so the opposite. When she blows him a kiss and winks, Felix collapses where he stands. 

It’s over. The tension the assembled students have been holding in their collective lungs for the last five minutes erupts into cheers and thunderous applause.

“Bravo, bravo.” says Nino, pushing through the crowd, most of whom are still frantically scribbling in their notebooks. Felix can scarcely bring himself to look up, his face burning with humiliation. The room around him is rapidly becoming a confusing blur of angry lights and prying eyes.

“You guys were amazing, I’ve never seen anything like that before! Honestly I should turn this in just like that.” Nino moves around to get a few more shots of their faces, lit up under the harsh theatre lights.

“No way!” shouts someone from the crowd, “I’m turning it in first!” “--can’t believe how easily Marinette just eviscerated Felix! I thought he was good at literature but--” “--she’s so clever, he could barely keep up--”  “--he’s not very good at this, is he--”

Someone else laughs and soon the whole crowd is bickering, arguing over who will lay claim to Marinette’s mental prowess and Felix’s mortification. 

“Enough, ALL of you! That was completely uncalled for. This wasn’t for you to take advantage of. None of you-- none of you-- bothered to state your own position, your own opinion. All you did was encourage my attacks, which were honestly in poor form.” Marinette hardly stops to breathe. “And anyways, I’m only more coherent because I’ve done weeks of research on this character. Felix kept up to someone who wasn’t just thinking on her feet, and his points still had credibility-- do you know how many literary analyses I’ve read on his position just to try and work out how to defend mine?” Marinette leans over and offers Felix a gentle smile and an outstretched hand. He gratefully accepts.

Felix takes her hand and pulls himself up with it, and stands shoulder to shoulder with her, looking out at the sea of chastised faces. “And now you think you can turn in our work-- her work, really-- and our performance as your own as if you have any claim to it-- it’s disgusting. Marinette poured herself into caring about this, and… and I should’ve listened to her, but I don’t get to take credit for the work she’s done to be this person. I need to do the work myself. You’re manipulators and thieves if you think you deserve any part of what she’s done.” 

“Hey, everyone is manipulated by something. Hamlet, Claudius, Horaito… you would know, right?” Marinette looks at him again, soft and shy and concerned through her lashes.

Felix swallows hard, glances at the cameras still rolling. Yeah, he would know.

“Thank you.” He says, stumbling and trying to hide the way his legs are shaking. “I, um… I guess I’d better put these swords away before someone stabs themselves.”

Nino slaps a hand on his shoulder so hard he nearly falls back down again. “Felix, my man! Get that grumpy black uniform off you!”

“Um… what?” Felix turns in confusion, head still spinning.

“You, my friend, are stage-hand no more! We’re still missing a Hamlet, and I know I’ve found the perfect one right here!”

“...WHAT?!?” 

As the world around him starts to blur, Marinette slips her hand into his and squeezes, shooting him a fond, amused grin. “You’re going to do great, Felix. I’ll see you on stage.” She presses her lips to his cheek, soft, warm, and… the scene fades to black to the sound of cheering.

#felinette #battle of wits #felinette november #felinette month 2020 #MusicFrenDoesWords #aaaaaaaa #nottesilhouette is just hamelton #but a good person

[unseeliefaelass]

Darksiders: Origins

Chapter 3: Names and Heirarchy

Ale remained watchful of the infant from then on. She continued her work with the other embryos now infants themselves as well. With this one however, she felt a strong connection to. Which may have been strengthened by the infant's constant need for attention and help. Nothing Ale didn't know about infants to be sure. Yet she still felt the bond all the same. Ale noticed the infant would have trouble staying in his sleep state alongside the others. During which time, Ale would bring him back out to lull the little one back into sleep. Whilst the machine connected to the pods did provide the appropriate nutrients for them, the infant began refusing it. Absalom noticed this first and asked Ale to fix the problem. No matter what though, the child refused to take to the vines that worked as hollow tubes for his food.  Eventually Ale took another risk and started bringing him out more often. Giving the little one a bottle whilst holding him gently. Whilst this did slow his progress when compared to the other infants, there was little choice in Ale's mind. Lilith heard of each moment from Absalom naturally, leading to her jealousy manifesting more. Llildan tried his best to distract her of course, but warned Ale to not pull out the child so frequently. Ale couldn't stop in her mind, so she attempted to quell Lilith's rage against her by inquiring about names for them.

Lilith growled quietly in response before turning her head in exacerbation, "I've little time for such things. However as someone refuses to do her job as expected; it seems I've got no choice now. For now, leave the room. You will only come back when I ask for you. Absalom and I will handle the naming ourselves."

"But if the little one gets hungry he won't eat from the vines. I need to keep an eye on him if he's to make it." Ale protested.

Lilith's familiar twisted grin appeared, "I am his Mother. Therefore, I will handle it as I see fit. Be lucky I need you alive for my childrens' sake."

Ale backed down at this, but still worried herself sick over the child's fate. Llildan tried to keep her at ease, and ultimately began to regret his choice to ask for her help. Meanwhile Lilith and Absalom observed the children around them. She then gave Absalom reign over naming the males, whilst she named the females. Believing herself more qualified to name the female children. Absalom was annoyed at this, but did his task all the same. There was more girls than boys, which made sense to Absalom. He himself was male, so six girls versus five males was a perfect ratio.

He went on to the biggest ones first, "For the largest one here, Urias. The leaner one next to him shall be Methuselah."

Lilith in the meantime spotted a particularly beautiful little girl among the females. Thinking nothing of it, she took the little baby out of her pod to examine her beauty more. Just then the child opened her eyes, revealing a brilliant deep blue color. Within that deep blue, were specs of pale gold with a white limbal ring around her iris. Creating a truly stunning glow around the area. Her name was easy to think up from there, "Lazuli, no other name fits such a beauty. I can scarcely wait to see her fully grown." She then returned Lazuli to her pod with little thought to the child's cries. However it began to annoy her somewhat, so before closing the pod Lilith began her own lullaby. If one could even call it such, with how aggressive she sounded.

"Envy of the angels, beauty above demons,

hush now and return to rest in silence.

One day when you're grown and ready,

you will aid me in complete compliance.

You needn't empty those deep blue oceans,

with such wasteful tears and cries.

Such energy is better saved and used,

for a later time when our fires blaze the skies.

Envy of the angels, beauty above demons,

rest and dream of screaming demon tyrants.

One day when you're grown and ready,

your voice and battle cries should rival sirens.

Close up those deep blue gems within,

quiet down for your cries I gave no license.

some day you and the others will be ready,

and go through creation in righteous violence."

Surprisingly, the child did quiet down and sleep. Though Absalom guessed in his head that she'd likely not stay asleep long. Lilith noted his skeptical look and chided him, "Now now my child, you know what's to come. It seems there's much left to teach you yet. For now though, we have work to continue."

Absalom simply nodded, and went back to naming the rest of the boys, "Only three left, and two of them look...pretty close. Not even in the same pod and already trying to reach each other. Hmm, Cedron and Hebron will be your names then. Which leaves this tiny little thing here. You really should be bigger though, hopefully you'll catch up in time. Maybe having a name will help, so I'll think a bit harder on this one."

As Absalom did so, Lilith simply finished naming the other girls. Using their eyes to determine it as she took each child out to see them. Placing them all on a cushioned table next to each other. Like their 'sister' Lazuli, each one had gemstone like colors to their eyes. Lazuli was just the only one 'blessed' with more than one color in her eyes.

Lilith sighed at this, "Disappointing, but at least my new favorite daughter can be another leader. All in due time as some might say. Now then let us see..."

She observed the eyes of each girl vigorously. The first one in line from the left had eyes of jade in color, and seemed normal enough to Lilith. This one Lilith named Jadeite, as Jade would be too obvious she thought. That and jadeite was a category of the light green jade anyway; which Lilith felt was accurate to this child. The second one next to her ended up having rose quartz colored eyes, but acted off. Lilith noticed how she seemed to not see when she waved her hand above the little one's head. Lilith could only assume from there that this was blindness, and clicked her tongue in annoyance. The child reacted to it though, and reached out towards her general direction. Lilith glanced around her and toward a thinking Absalom before clicking a few more times in a rhythm. She grinned again as the child finally seemed to figure out where she was. Lilith thus rewarded her with being held a bit longer and chose her name as being Sio. Which was similar to the chemical formula of Rose Quartz, SiO₂. Lilith did do enough tinkering with science to know this much at least. The third girl had black eyes with barely any glow to them at all. What hair she currently had matched her eyes with the same dullness. Lilith barely acknowledged this one from there, but did remember to name her. Thus the child was swiftly named Onyx with little thought put in at all. The fourth child had white opalescent eyes, and a surprisingly lively attitude. That part annoyed Lilith a tad, so she didn't think much else of her. At least the child had lovely eyes, and would hopefully be more beautiful later on as well. Lilith named this one Opal and moved on from there. Finally there was the final 'daughter' to name. Her eyes were completely pale gold, alongside her small bits of hair. Despite reminding her of Onyx, at least she had some glowing going on. This pleased Lilith enough to at least indulge the child's neediness. Tickling the little one with a manicured, yet still clawed finger. While doing so, she named her Pyrite as her eyes and hair weren't a true gold. Lilith then returned everyone to their pods, and left Absalom to name the final male child.

Absalom finally indeed chose a name to the runt of children. Scooping him up once he's sure Lilith isn't watching, "Menahem, this shall be your name."

As he kept holding Menahem, Ale surprised him, "Absalom."

"Hrah! Oh it's you Ale. I've just named him, the runt I mean."

"He won't stay a runt, not if I have a say in it. Though I'd like to hear the name you've picked out." Ale expressed to him.

"His name is Menahem."

Ale smiled warmly, "You know, I think it sounds good for him."

Absalom then handed Menahem off to Ale, knowing she could get him back to sleep easily enough. Naturally she sang her lullaby as per usual to him,

"Mi Atan les daw aud bea a pere,

bea cale aud finst yesh slep's resehn.

Lek ga o yesh freyrs, pangs, aud ma,

thare's ne rez fo an hersh tha's sa.

Bea stor ni thet darnes o nicht,

sas thet liteh o das tist nule farse hinde.

Beaca alle sei desir ni drems,

ferar sae nit thet worl o yesh minde.

Freyr nule thos no thet touside,

fo ere wit mi sei're sae niside.

Fet nule oer troubs ro nemads,

tings alwas gein bette ni darnes.

Bea stor ni thet darnes o nicht,

sas thet liteh o das tist nule farse hinde.

Beaca alle sei desir ni drems,

ferar sae nit thet worl o yesh minde.

Bea stor ni thet darnes o nicht,

sas thet liteh o das tist nule farse hinde.

Beaca alle sei desir ni drems,

ferar sae nit thet worl o yesh minde.

Mi Atan les daw aud bea a pere,

bea cale aud finst yesh slep's resehn."

#Darksiders: Origins #Darksiders Fandom #Darksiders Fanfics #Lilith #Absalom #Little Death #Death With A Different Name

[franeridart]

Anon said: How are you just like "Oh these are just some warm up sketches" and post a full finished piece, while I'm over here sketching a triangle person and calling it a finished piece.

I dunno if this was a legit question asking for a legit answer, but I do happen to have a legit answer so I might as well give it! If I wanted to go into detals with it it’d take me forever though, so allow me to separate it into two points to make it easier

I learnt how to be very fast in putting down my lines and trained myself into not overthinking every single dot I put down. This took about five or six years of drawing daily and a whole life of drawing occasionally before then, because to do so you need to reach a point where you’re drawing something you’ve drawn so many times that by now your hand sort of goes without you needing to think about it much, so it’s not a fast process, but boy is it worth it. Mostly learning how to not overthink it, overthinking it used to be 90% of my time spent on a drawing and dear god did it suck the joy out of everything I drew

I have two very distinctive ways of approaching a drawing, one where I actually put effort in it and the other where I just want to let the squiggles out of my pen, and warm ups are the second one - the lack of effort I’m putting in can have different forms and show in different ways, so a warm up could be a fully colored piece as it could be just a pencil doodle, depending on where and on what exactly I’m being lazy: it could be the type of tool I’m using that allows me to draw without having to line, it could be a very tiny canvas that lets me avoid a ton of details a big canvas would demand. I might be cutting the time I usually put in making sure my anatomy is correct, I might be using a shading technique that takes a tenth of the time my usual one would, I might be using a style that’s just easier and faster to draw, or drawing characters I’ve drawn a trillion times in extremely generic poses and clothes. There’s a lot of things that I can do to make things faster for me! It’s skills you gain as you draw a lot - you learn how to draw things the hard way, and then you realize that along the way you learnt how to do them the easy way too

hope this actually answers your question! If it was a question at all lol if it wasn’t then sorry for rambling, please pretend I didn’t say anything hahaha

Anon said: I love your newest comic!!! So adorable!! I noticed Bakugou's mom does the affectionate hair rustle thing to him in the manga/anime, do you think Bakugou subconsciously does the same to show affection cause of it? I love the way you draw faces and poses, it's so expressive!!

Ahhhhh thank you so much!!! And yeah, it might be! After all we do take a lot from the people we live with even without realizing, and he’s already so similar to his mom!

Anon said: I saw your bakushima comic from October 9th (2019) where Bakugo falls asleep studying and Kirishima sets him down on the table properly and it was so soft my heart is crying

;;;;; !!!!!!!! I’m glad you liked it!! <3<3

Anon said: If it not to much, could I possibly get a Ochamina doodle pls? I just love some sweet lesbeans 👉👈

Awww I’m not taking requests right now, but I’ll keep it in mind for next time I want to doodle and don’t know what!

Anon said: I love your art! I envy you.

Please don’t! There’s a lot of reasons why being me isn’t a lot of fun - if it’s just my skill you envy, then all you gotta do is draw a lot! 

Anon said: i just went through your entire kiribaku tag and omg it was beautiful seeing the progression in your art skills but still keeping the same funny/cute/heartwarming/etc traits you thought up for their dynamic!! i hope that makes sense haha !! love your art keep it up

It does make sense!!! Thank you so much both for looking through the whole tag and for thinking so, it means a lot to me!! ;;; <3<3

Anon said: Hey fran! I hope you're doing well(especially with quarantine and all)!! I really love your anatomy and how fluid and stylistic it can be! It's super fun to look at! I wanted to ask you if you ever did any in depth studies on anatomy? Like muscles and bones. I've heard a lot of artists mention the necessity of studying bones/muscles, i'd really like to know your opinion on the subject

Ahhh god thank you so much!! And... hmm let’s see if I can word this properly and have it make sense - always keeping in mind that this is just my opinion, of course!

If all you want to do is to draw, then all you need to do is to pick up your pencil and draw - it’s really that easy as far as I’m concerned. You don’t need to know anatomy in depth to just draw, everyone has seen a person, everyone knows how a person looks. That is, if all you want to do is to draw for the sake of drawing. If you want to draw an anatomically correct looking human being, though, you do need to know how anatomy works - and the deeper you’ll go into studying it the more correct your people will look. It’s kind how everyone can draw a bicycle, but if you want to draw a realistic bicycle you’re gonna need to look up references for it, you know? It’s all on the level at which you’re interested in drawing, the more technically skilled you want to be the more you’ll have to study

As for my personal experience with this, I hate studying with a passion. Studying puts a damper on my enjoyement of everything, and drawing isn’t excluded from this - you put a book in front of me expecting me to study it and suddenly I never want to pick up a pencil again. This means that I never sat down and studied anatomy in depth and all in one go just to learn how to draw a human being, but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t, slowly and now and again and in bits and pieces, study parts of the body to get a better understanding of it. I know better about the skeleton than I do about muscles, and I still have enough to learn about everything that anyone who’s studied anatomy properly would find a trillion mistakes in everything I draw, but my way of going about drawing has always been and always will be putting my enjoyement of it first and foremost, so I’m not interested in putting myself through a tour-de-force to learn everything there is to know about anatomy just to make my doodles look appealing to someone with a medical degree haha I’m just doing me, and when the mood is right I look up how to properly draw something, but until then I just do it as best as I can with my limited knowledge, being fully aware that what I’m producing is far from accurate but being willing to make that compromise for my own comfort

So that’s my opinion on it lol it all boils down to how important it is for you to know how to properly draw the human body - of course it’s gonna look more professional and better if you’ve studied it, but everyone has their own priorities, you know?

Anon said: Thank you for your hard work, seeing an upload from you is so nice, and the colors are so pretty

Thank you so muuuuccchhhhh!!!! TTATT <3<3<3

Anon said: Opinions on Tokoyami Fumikage 💕

One of my top faves in the whole manga, actually! I have a drawing in the making of him, I should get back to it..........

Anon said: HOLY SHIT FRAN THE TOES HOW YOU DRAW THE TOES SO WELL FEET ARE THE DEATH OF ME AND YOU’RE OVER HERE DRAWING TOES THEY’RE SO GOOD PLEASE TEACH ME YOUR WAYS!!! -❤️

Thank you!!!!!!!! So pretty much my way of learning this specific skill was being obsessed with elves when I was fifteen and wanting to draw them all the time  and also for whatever reason being convinced that they were not supposed to wear shoes so I just drew a lot of feet with references and tutorials and stuff till I could draw my elves properly. Which isn’t necessarily what you need to do to learn how to draw feet, but, I mean, it worked for me lol

Anon said: I love ur Bnha ships and all but what would u do if some of them didn’t become canon??

Oh, I actually don’t care about that at all? I don’t expect most of them to become canon anyway - like, ochadeku sounds reasonable and kamijirou seems to be getting there, but everything else I never even considered it as an actual possibilily. I don’t really ship because I want to see my ships become canon, I just like the potential in what I can make with them? If that makes sense? They’re just fun to think about and I like making fancontent, that’s all there is to it really haha honestly if I had my way no ship would ever be canon ever ha ha ha

Anon said: Slep is for the wek

No actually sleep is for Frans who want a chance at getting up tomorrow morning without an headache for once, so I should do that and go to sleep already lmao

#fran answers #a couple of long ones in this one !!!!! #feeling blabbery tonight

[goldenkamuyhunting]

[EP31 Spoiler] When Tsukishima said that people in the 7th called Ogata "mountain cat" as a cruel joke, I'm surprised to see Sugimoto genuinely feeling bad for Ogata. Like bruh he straight up shot you in head, remember? I understand why Tsukishima appeared uncomfortable recounting this because he was judged by his father's sins too, but Sugimoto's reaction was a surprise to me. Your thought?

Honestly...

I don’t really think it’s surprising.

I’m not sure if you’re just an anime viewer or are you also following the manga (if you aren’t I recommend reading it as it’s much, much better than the anime) but I warn you my answer will include also parts that will refer to scenes in the manga that weren’t included in the anime (because the anime decided not to animate them) or that in the anime continuity have yet to happen as the manga is the original source of material and behaviours.

Anyway, let’s start with the part that’s common in both media, in short the scene in question.

Here it’s how it is in the anime.

And here there’s the manga version.

The dialogue and the core of the scene is more or less the same so I won’t dig too much into the small differences and just discuss the scene.

A bit of technicalities, first.

Words used:

Yamaneko (山猫)= “Wildcat”, litterally “mountain cat”.

Ōyamaneko (オオヤマネコ)= “Lynx”, litterally “big mountain cat”.

Meko Oyasi (メコオヤシ)= “Cat monster” (oyasi are, losely, malicious Ainu mythological creatures, Tsukishima will later see the meko oyasi as equivalent to the Japanese ‘Bakeneko’ (化け猫) = “monster cat”)

Now... the slang for geisha ‘wildcat’ has a complicate story but, back then, was used for ‘geisha’ who actually slept with customers. Now, a geisha isn’t supposed to sleep with a customer or engage with him in any sort of sexual act. That’s why ‘geisha’ who slept with customers were viewed as a fraud, people who deceive others, because they passed themselves for geisha when they actually were prostitutes.

So the sentence Koito said actually means ‘the son of a swindler is a swindler’.

The ‘joke’, if we want to call it as such, is objectively pathetic and dumb, a way to attack a person not over something he can control, like his character or his actions, but over something he can’t control, like who gave birth to him, made worse (although Sugimoto can’t know this part) by how Ogata’s mother didn’t slep with Hanazawa for money but because she fell for him and if there was a swindler in the story that one is Hanazawa who took advantage of her feelings and then dumper her.

But, back to Ogata, he has no control over his mother’s work or what she chose to do prior to his birth, nor he had the chance to chose her over another woman as his mother. He is also not his mother, and being a swindler isn’t a genetically trasmissible trait.

So what the 7th division called a joke is actually a personal attack done in really poor taste based on a wrong assumption (that Ogata’s mother was a prostitute) and a fallacity (frauding behaviour isn’t heriditary) that aimed to hit Ogata not for a fault of his but for something he had no control over in a time in which he hadn’t betrayed the 7th yet (as the joke started prior to Ogata’s betrayal).

Attacking Ogata defining him a fraud, a swinder, was a big blow in a time where honour was held so valuable, so it’s not really minor.

Back to Sugimoto though, Sugimoto is an adult.

He can see it’s a low blow, something petty and childish, something completely different from calling Ogata ‘murderer’ or ‘jerk’ or even a ‘swindler’ but for things HE and not his mom, did, and it’s a joke the 7th division passed on way before Ogata shoot him and way before Ogata betrayed them.

Therefore, even if he wants Ogata dead, in such circumstance he decides not to side with people who take fun slandering others for reasons that aren’t connected to their crimes... or try to. But we’ll get to this part later.

(and of course there’s to keep in consideration Sugimoto is not overly fond of Koito either, so he’s likely not going to humour him).

There’s more though, as Sugimoto isn’t coming to this realization only due to his ‘deductive ability’ but more due to personal experience.

If you’re only an anime viewer you might not know it, but Sugimoto also suffered being attacked for something he had no part in. This part was completely censored in the anime, like all the scenes that end up involving Umeko, but Sugimoto’s whole family fell sick with tuberculosis. While Sugimoto was forced to watch his relative die one after the other the village he lived him shunned him and his family, with people considering to burn down their house with them in... and, although we don’t hear it, it’s possible they also insulted them.

The result is that Sugimoto takes very poorly when people badtalk about other people for reasons unrelated to them.

In case you missed it, the one Shiraishi does is another cruel joke.

‘Sono Ainu wa omae-san no kai inu ka?’

そのアイヌはお前さんの飼いイヌか？

Lit: “That Ainu is your pet dog?”

When he says “pet dog” this translates as ‘kai inu’’ (飼いイヌ) a word that sound similar to ‘Ainu’ and that therefore was used to insult Ainu.

Anyway Sugimoto can’t help but loathe that joke because he had been on the receiving help of something similar and can’t help but be reminded of it when Tsukishima explains him the whole thing.

He very likely wouldn’t have felt bad for Ogata at all if they had attacked him for something that Ogata did, but hearing them attack Ogata for something he had no control over had instead to ring a bell in him, reminding him of his own drama, hence the rejection of their actions, especially when Koito, whom Sugimoto sees as a spoiled brat, seems instead in favour of them.

Said all this, despite knowing what the men of the 7th was wrong, neither Tsukishima nor Sugimoto truly managed to avoid following their example, although in a more veiled way. I would say hypocritical much but the truth is that when you are angry at someone or even hate that person (for rightful or wrong reasons) in many cases YOU feel legittimate to be a jerk and do things you reproach in others.

Tsukishima, angry about how Ogata killed Maeyama, referenced to it calling him a ‘pet cat’ on his face...

...and later on referred to him as an ‘Ōyamaneko’.

Sugimoto too is not above making references to Ogata being a wildcat by saying Ogata claw things for the fun of it...

...and by using ‘nekoyoke’ (猫よけ), which yes, means “cat repellent”.

So as you can see neither Tsukishima nor Sugimoto are so morally above others they don’t slip into petting insulting despite knowing it’s wrong but, at least, both of them tried to be mature about it.

So that’s how I see it.

Sugimoto, despite hating Ogata, could see the joke was wrong because it rang a bell inside him, one he couldn’t ignore as it’s deeply tied to his personal tragedy so he refused to partake in the act.

However, as things between him and Ogata worsened, despite his attempts he slipped in the act, albeith not in an openly manner... because humans are often just like that, when they’re angry at someone it seems fair even attack them with slander instead than sticking to the right motivations. Which is sad... but human.

At least that’s how I see it. Of course I can be wrong in my interpretation.

Anyway, thank you for your ask!

#Golden Kamuy #Ogata Hyakunosuke #Sugimoto Saichi #Koito Otonoshin #Tsukishima Hajime #Ask

[nowimthevillain]

Dream

Ok very weird don’t remember early parts so well all I know is that the setting was a school and it had Nandor as a teacher and Guillermo as a student (from what we do in the shadows the tv series)

My POV was in third person following Guillermo

It was a school but the classes were like a game show? / video game there were platforming sections and a weird bit where there were lots of food bags on display at the front of the class and the goal was to scribble out anything that relates to flour, because the woman that supplies the flour was nasty and we wanted her to not have the business (idk this was a part of the dream but I don’t remember it enough) and the other part was we had to circle items that would be good on a sandwich and draw little images of them, idk, Guillermo got paired with this old woman who instead of doing the work was just eating the food, and teacher Nandor had a go at her and told her her social distancing was trash

Anyways the class ended and Guillermo wanted to know how he did and teacher Nandor said everyone would have to wait for the next class/episode like it was a cliff hanger, Guillermo was frustrated because he needed to know if he was top of the class or not so he came up with an idea

The next part was like the next scene he was standing with some class mates and had agreed to swap clothes with a female Chinese student so that they could infiltrate the class room and view the results without raising suspicion , she gave him a pack of cards from some reason? And they went off to change when the came back they looked remarkably like eachother, the only difference was the girl that was Guillermo had a more feminine cheekbone structure and the Guillermo as the girl had very subtle 5 o’clock shadow but from a distance you couldn’t tell

The longer they were in eachothers personas the more they became like eachother and it was starting to freak out the other students but that comes into play a bit later

So Guillermo as the girl re-entered the class room, all the classrooms seem to look like connected greenhouses now for some reason Nandor enquires as to what (she) is doing there when the real girl and Guillermo come in and starts distracting him, Guillermo slep is out the back door of the class room and Nandor is distracted by something going on down the corridor and leaves, the girl follows him and the other classmates circle around via the corridor, in one of the back areas the duo almost run into a ghoul (how was met earlier in the dream but I can’t remember the circumstances so) if they ran into him they would be busted because He can tell people by their specific scent so they head back into one of the classrooms,

the scene cuts to Nandor in the corridor and the other students approaching, there’s a big jock lad huddled on the floor and Nandor kicks him and he vanishes, one of the students asks if he’s gone already and Nandor kicks him again and he reapears (he keeps turning invisible and sometimes can’t control it) the jock is moaning about it, Nandor kicks him again and the muscles on his arms bulge out into the shape of a car engine on either side he seems to be in slight pain but it’s more of an inconvenience, after a while they pop back in and he decides to go for a rest

Even futher down the corridor Guillermo and the girl come out of another door and the rest of the students go to join them, they have accomplished what they needed to do and the students watch as they are talking to eachother but weirdly getting a little too much into character, even putting on voices and copying mannerisms, they end up confessing their love for eachother in character and passionately kissing meanwhile the other students are like... what the actual fuck is going on

Anyways they kinda get over it and the girl as Guillermo and most of the group head off, Guillermo as the girl and another female student are talking and walking down a side corridor, she is treating Guillermo as if he actually is the girl, they walk up to this black archway as they are talking (kinda looks like an eluvian from dragon age) chatting away when stood in front of this arch, looking at it, the other girl says so you and Guillermo have always liked eachother “that’s super cool”, Guillermo as the girl’s face went from a smile and dropped into a neutral face and said “no it’s not”, confused the other girl turns around and Guillermo flat foots her into this archway, she screams as she falls back, moments later the same girl walks out looking super cool but with a barley noticeable 5oclock shadow? The Guillermo girl talk to her like he’s always known her and the camera pans to the other side of the black arch only to be a classroom full of students including the real Guillermo, the Chinese girl and the female student that just got kicked in, they all seemed to be intelegent students the girl that just arrived here was freaking out but the rest of them were sitting round the table with pens and papers, the real Guillermo explains that they can’t just walk out because they have tried and they have all calmed down and are figuring a way out

All these students had been replaced with dark counterparts and been sealed in this room!

And unfortunately that’s where I woke up, I would have loved to continue the story because it was getting super interesting but yeah I guess that’s gone now, I always have super weird and I’m depth dreams but I kinda like it, it’s always interesting! So yeah that’s it

#dreamlog #dreams #dream #wwdits #weird

[libertys-lovers]

Hello my fren :] ☆♡☆

I'm definetly gonna be asking you more things, but for now can i please get [Almond Joy], [Sweet tarts], [Caramel] and [Butterfinger] for Medic? I think he's neat and i miss tf2 :]

Hiya Slep! You can absoLUTELY get some info ‘bout Medic! Thanks for sending an ask (and feel free to send in as much as ya want lolol)!

ALMOND JOY ~ What do Medic and I associate with each other?: I guess I associate Medic with the usual stuff; hospital aesthetics, birds… Hell- I also associate him a lot with his Burly Beast look; the first time he started dressing like that to missions I was UTTERLY flabbergasted, and from time to time Medic (and even the others) like to bully me about it. I just… ya can’t be exposed like that during war… i don’t uNDERSTAND 😭. Meanwhile, Medic associates me with with my lil news cap (and fedoras in general it seems). I think he associates brains with me too??? Idk, he’ll call me into his lab whenever he’s doing brain experiments so I can see; probably ‘cause I like psychology idk- He associates me with typewriters too; he always brings up how he hears me typing away on the thing half the time he walks by my office.

SWEET TARTS ~ What does Medic think of Sniper and Pauling?: Medic gets along with Sniper as well as he does with anyone else on his team; he likes him enough but will still commit morally questionable tests on him! He really respects Pauling tho, partially because she’s his boss and partially because she’s one of the only smart ones that he knows (in his opinion anyways!).

CARAMEL ~ Who’s the more responsible one out of the both of us?: Me, no question. I’m probably one of the most responsible ones out of this entire fort ngl. He is a very chaotic man that sometimes lets his passion for medical discovery override common sense, so sometimes I gotta remind him that he can test his stuff at another, more useful time! To be completely fair though, I’m not 100% responsible either… I may or may not sometimes fuel his chaos (jokingly or on purpose? who has to know-)

BUTTERFINGER ~ How would we describe our friendship?: Chaotic but close; we bicker a lot, but it’s like friend bickering! Sometimes our lil debates get so intense tho that the other Mercs question if it’s a genuine fight or not, but once we start laughing then they relax a bit (though they’re also incredibly confused). We light-heartedly poke fun at each others’ jobs (I call him nurse & he calls me paper-boy for example), but we do find genuine interest in what the other person’s working on! We’ll ground each other when we need it, and we’ll wrap it off with a pat on the back and a smirk facing the future. None of the other Mercs really expected us to be close, but we really are!

~ Signing off, 📰The Journalist📰

#self ship #self shipper #self shipping #self ship ask game #platonic f/o #🏥📰medical report📰🏥 #gif #gif warning

[imagine-a-killingharmony]

Drunk V3 Boys!

How about a s/o that has to deal with the v3 boys getting super drunk and then the after math of how is the hangover. ( bonus points if drunk kokichi says the " Finland" spongebob meme) please and ty

Quickly, just imagine them as adults like I am- underage drinking is a big fat “no”, look at me being an... dork. But anyway In the less dork-part let’s say this... I’m literally a giant mess who hasn’t ever been drunk or anything, I don’t really know the effects so we’re going to use those anime-type-of-drunk which is very likely VERY inaccurate or... somewhat-realistic I don’t know. But woah.

Kiibo (Error! Error! Overheating!)

After coming back from his last check-up from Miu you were expecting to be cuddled up close with Kiibo on the couch, watching nextflix- some cheesy Disney movie which you’ve already seen thousands of time before... that’s what you thought....

Till Kiibo walked in adjusted by an trembling Miu who had her arm slung around him, she looked down on the verge of tears muttering about being “so disrespected”, Kiibo sluggishly rolls his head up bursts of steam expanded from every inch of his body.

“... U... Uuuh... there was a function I added inside of em’ to test some booze I was plannin’ on drinking... it was... uh... successful but... J-Just take him- I don’t want to be fuckin’ called out anymore!”

Miu threw Kiibo in your direction running back from once she came, wiping at her eyes as she whined about “how mean” he was... you could only watch Kiibo stir awake, nervousness pricked at your stomach as you realized she made Kiibo try an alcoholic... BEVERAGE!

“... (S/O)?” Kiibo glances up at you, blinking once or twice as he took in his surroundings, you asked if he was okay- he groggily nodded his head. “Never better (S/O)... but... Miu... I-I was just telling her about how stupid it is that she puts herself down almost all the time when she has a brilliant mind, then her very inappropriate attitude- which she presents herself to cover up that wall of self-esteem issues she has... Ah... then there was me getting onto the fact that most people are uncomfortable with the sexual intuendos she has- and for some odd reason before I could say anymore she dragged me here...”

“... I rebooted on the way... once or twice...”

“... what.” Oh. Oh my god... He... What? Kiibo said that?

“... Yes... Hey (S/O) actually I-I have some things to say about you too, look me in the eyes, look at me right now please...” Kiibo cups your face, he looks you right in the eyes, those aren’t the soft loving eyes you know- those are eyes that... are going to fucking destroy you.

Kiibo holds your face tight, escape is impossible, he sluggishly rolls his head as a soft frown falls on his face.

“... You have your errors yourself actually... like... how you...”

...

...

You failed... you are absolutely burnt, just turned into soot by the end of his rant, he’s just sleeping peacefully under the blankets that you had gotten for “cuddle night”, you don’t feel soft at all- you just feel absolutely WRECKED.

Shuichi Saihara (Sad Drunk)

You had both gone out on a party together, specifically a reunion with your classmates which Kokichi was hosting... which already sported red flags but you all didn’t question it, that is until people started to drop like flies... people who drank the punch specifically dropped like flies.

Kaede asked who made the punch... when the relevation that it was Miu and Kokichi themselves it all fell into place like a puzzle, they spiked the goddamn punch.

One of the victims... happened to be Shuichi, a light-weight he hugged your arm tightly slurring and whirling, tears fell down his face as he cried and sobbed about the world.

“... (S-S-S/O!) It’s no fair... I-Iiiii never did anything wrong so why does everything hafta’ be against meeeee...? *hic* it’s unfair.... unfairunfairunfair!”

It’s the fifth time you pat his back, he leans in for a better hold of you so you can give him more affection, he loves that so please do go on, he lets out a slurred hiccup.

“... (S-S/O) a... aaare you seeing anyone...? You always were soooo pretty... and... aaand niiiiice... *hic* and... aaand it make me really happy... I-Iiii wanted to date you since forever ago...”

... How drunk is he to forget the two of you are already dating? “I am.”

Shuichi’s eyes widen, he presses himself up against you with an wail as he starts to cry harder. “Of course yu are- H-Hic- I’m NOT CRYINGF.”

You can’t help but to wonder how he’ll feel in the morning, for now you try to give your poor drunk boyfriend solace as you explain how the two of you are already well- dating.

Luckily, Shuichi falls asleep on your lap while you comfort him, the tears having tired him out... he put his hands around your waist, he bids the world “night night”.

Ryoma Hoshi (Excitable Drunk)

Ryoma wasn’t a heavy drinker, actually he had never drank an drop of the stuff ever, prison doesn’t allow those sort of luxuries, besides he just didn’t want to ruin his reputation by drinking at about fifteen or some shit.

So... he was old enough, the two of you were going on a date here... he’d was just chugging the stuff considering he wanted to see how it tasted, which was rather gross under further consideration... but what he happened to pick up is that he wasn’t feeling all that woozy... guess he ain’t no light-weight.

But he sure ain’t no god, it takes about three whole damn bottles for the effects to start to shine.

...It takes five whole damn bottles for him to actually feel anything, you kept a close eye on your boyfriend as he put the second bottle down with a huff, wiping at his mouth with a “wew”!

“... That was uh, gross taste, heh.” Ryoma pulled his hat up, his cheeks flush slightly pink as he looked around. “Hey. Hey (S/O) you gorgeous son of a bitch look at me.” As soon as you even give him your attention he fingerguns.

... Ryoma wobbly pulls himself up, he doesn’t look like he’ll trip, honestly somehow he still has his balance as he takes your hand.

“... Oh my god I just had an amazing idea. We should adopt,,, a lot of cats,,, not like,,, any cats,,, but... buuuut like an shop full of them,,, and name each of them something silly...” Ryoma’s eyes sparkle deviously. “... Or... like... like... steal everybody’s cats... so we remain the supreme leaders of feline...”

“... Ryoma... do... do you feel tired? Want to take a nap, as amazing ideas as these sound I don’t think your in the right state of mind for... this.” If you let any of this happen, Ryoma’s going to hate himself in the morning.

“I know what I’m doing... I have a license... gimme a sec...” Ryoma pulls out a piece of paper, writes on it, flips it to reveal in sloppy handwriting: “I knwo wat Im do”

You try to survey his features after writing that, all he does is shoot his fingerguns at you.

...Okat you honestly need to take a few pictures of this to show Ryoma later oh my god he’s wobbling towards the door to bring one of those plans he’s mentioned to full-glory, you locked the door for Ryoma, his drunken brain can’t comprehend how to use a step-ladder. You just go to get him some water...

Kaito Momota (... Tired Drunk)

Kaito wouldn’t drink... much, sure, he would totally forge an certificate to like- well, go to space but that was for a good cause! Stuff like drinking was meant to be done for special events and shit otherwise you might get hooked!

And he didn’t actually mean to get drunk on you! He promised he just... kind of mistook the wine in the fridge as the grape panta, he was thirsty- and really fucking tired! Okay? He didn’t expect when he chugged the whole bottle down for the world to... to... hnnnnnn... what’s the word...?

It took a while for you to notice anything was amiss, Kaito had taken himself out of the room to “go get a drink” then he still never came back, so you went to check on your boyfriend to see if he still hadn’t gotten anything, needed some help.

What you didn’t expect to see was Kaito Momota Luminary of the Stars on the floor looking back up at the ceiling mindlessly, with that bottle of wine held tightly in his hands.

“... D... Doo... yu... think it’d be a bd idea if I trie... tried to take a np here? Jst... slep untl a hangover fcks me the hell up, everything hur ts.”

... Oh god! That’s even more errors than usual, so it’s likely on purpose! Kaito’s DRUNK!

You go to get some water for him in the fridge, Kaito’s still looking at the ceiling talking to himself slightly hushed, you don’t know what he’s thinking but he looks like he’s having an ephiphany about the world.

“Holy... Hly sht (S/O) I jst realized how fuckin... weird that Shuichi’s hair stands up like that... he doesn’t use anything to make it like that so how.”

“... Kaito I don’t think your in the right state of mind to make choices like that...” You offer some water to him, his eyes widen.

“Why... Why is everyone’s hair dyed- Like is it actually dyed? Or is it just natural- how can it be natural tho... unless... oh my god (S/O)... we’re in an anime I can’t believe it.”

“Kaito I think you need an second...”

“No. No I know what I’m sayin- oh my god we’re the main characters in some weird anime (S/O)... that’s the only explanation,,, I have to tell... Tsumugi but my legs won’t work nn nn n n..”

... You just pat his head, Kaito grimaces... he was absolutely wasted so everything he said held no inch of truth in it, you just hoped that soon enough your efforts to help him better bare fruit... So he doesn’t make anymore odd claims like him and his friends are in some “weird anime”!

Winks at the fourth wall.

Rantaro Amami (Immune System Of God)

Rantaro... wasn’t a drinker... well besides those really fancy drinks that he usually saw when you both got out, those always looked like a magical experience to try out so he usually did buy those but... he’s never actually gotten legitimately “drunk”, it may be because he never drinks too much.

Then there was the time that had asked Rantaro if he had ever gotten in all words actually “drunk” he responded with a shrug: “I guess I do...? Uh, I’m usually in the right state of mind afterwards still... enough to walk...”

... This was a topic which needed much more exploration... so you went out to a bar together, you swore that anything he got was on you... he squinted but still he bought some colorful drinks in funny-looking cups, peering towards you while he did...

...

He wasn’t actually drunk even after drinking quite a bit, what is this man, how is his immune system keeping him awake? Rantaro chuckles... “Yeah, I think that’s enough for tonight.. come on let’s go home.”

You either failed or this task is just impossible, you take the hand he offers you and walk outside with him... the only noticeable effect are the times he almost bumps into the wall but other than that... nothing...

He knows how to hold his liquor...

Gonta Gokuhara (Clumsy Drunk)

This was Kokichi’s fault, that’s all you know... he offered something for Gonta, that’s what he told you when he gave you back a stumbling crying boyfriend.

“... How did you even get him to drink this- oh my god! Gonta- baby please go lay down on the couch...” You led Gonta to the couch to sit down, he sobbed loudly into the pillow almost falling off, you gave a harsh glare to the Supreme Leader who chuckled at your displeasure.

“I told him it was “Respect Women Juice! TM! Yeah he really just drank it without an inch of hesitance...! Then he fell over drunk, it was hilarious till I had to actually bring him here.”

Gonta let out another loud sob as he fell over off the couch onto the floor, crying about how “Gonta caaaan’t see...!!!”

“You... are one screwed up... mess of a person Kokichi Ouma...” Pushing Gonta back onto the couch you tried to reassure him everything was alright, Kokichi grinned at you putting both of his hands behind the of his head.

“Oh I know... I know really quite well! Good luck dealing with him!”

Kokichi left the two of you alone together, you just let Gonta cry against you about how everything felt so weird... offering some water and some hugs, you’ll get revenge at Kokichi for this... you swear to it.

Kokichi Ouma (Angry Drunk)

... How... Who the hell had enough of your boyfriend to go and make him chug down so much alchohol he got drunk, god knows, but he was now... here... and slurring about some criticisms you didn’t know he had...

“Like... (S/O) it’s so stupid... instead of like... liiiike... getting mad at me when I insult her she usually gets off on it... it’s so gross,,, like how horny can somebody be (S/O)? How HORNY can you be?”

“... Kokichi... do you need a...” Despite how you tried to chime in he always cut you off, with a half-awake grumble...

“No... No let me say this... Hiiiii... iii... so... so what the hell is with Kaito’s sense of logic....? I know, know for a fact he CAN be stupid enough to literally TRUST everybody he meets, like even if there’s hard proof that their an asshole he’s STILL by their side... what the FUCK.”

“Are you talking about Maki?”

“SHE LITERALLY CHOKED ME ONCE YES, Y ES I MEAN MAKI...!” Kokichi touches his neck, rubbing at it. “Honestly... Maki is such a damn... damn jerk... seriously... she’s made “do you want to die” her punchline to almost any jokes she makes, we get it, your edgy as hell!”

While Kokichi grumbled the both of you didn’t notice the door quietly open up... nor did you notice it until their footsteps were in the right range for you to notice them...

Maki trails into the room with an sweating Kaito Momota by her side, she held a card in her hand with the words: “sorry for making you chug beer” in a rather sloppy handwriting...

“... Makiroll, don’t do this...-“ The astronaut tried to stop the caregiver but it was too late, she was already sprinting towards Kokichi to land a finishing blow...!

“FINLAND!”

[To be continued (But not really)]

Korekiyo Shinguuji (Beutifial,,, ohbnn)

How did he actually... get like this, well you honestly swear to god you don’t know, he just appeared at your doorstep muttering about how beautiful humanity was... in so much typos it was almost impossible to decipher a word of what he said...

“... Korekiyo do... you want some water?”

“... hdhdbnnkklllllln.” Korekiyo press his head against the pillow lethargically, he groaned afterwords grasping at his stomach.

“... Is... Is that a yes? A maybe? A... no?”

“... nnnnnnnnnnz.”

“No it is! No it is...”

“Okay! So do you want to um... take a nap?”

“... nbcbxzzz.”

Well. Well you can’t decipher any of this mess, picking yourself up you go to the kitchen to try and take in all that’s happened today...

“... I’ll just get that water anyway...” You pray to whatever god that exists... to please... pleasepleaseplease never have Korekiyo get drunk again.

#mod shuichi #mod shumai #ndrv3 imagines #ndrv3 x reader #kokichi ouma #shuichi saihara #kiibo #rantaro amami #ryoma hoshi #kaito momota #korekiyo shinguuji #gonta gokuhara #tw: alcohol

[learning-to-think]

Fourth to 16th day

As I didn’t succed at doing this everyday, I’m doing it now, but only in English. Sorry German language, a bit too tired for you right now.

4) Are you in any clubs, organizations, or sports teams at school? Describe them. I’m not at school so hard to answer. But when I was not homeschooled I have been at the gardening club in sixième (11-12 yo), then in the climbing team and theatre club for two years. I was once in the journal club, because our referent teacher wanted us to create the school web-newspaper (?)

5) Do you use a bullet journal? Why? Yes, I do indeed! I use it to note what I did each day to remember. Usually I note what I tend to forget and then blame myself for not doing it, while I, in fact, did it. So I can check, see I did it, and not blame myself, and that’s good. I also use it to remember when was the last time I did a hygiene thing, because I have some troubles with it.

6) What does your ideal life after school look like? After this school, I’d go to a Dramatic Arts School, I’d do some castings, end up in a comedy, or a serie, some movies. Aside I’d become fluent in three or for language (without taking in count French). One day, eventually, I’d find someone with whom I’d fall in love, share my life. We would adopt a child. Or I adopt a child of my own if there’s nobody with me, I don’t care that much on this part.

7) Write about a time that your teacher was really unfair or annoying in class. Ooooh there was this teacher. I don’t know if it really get here but that’s the only one I can think of. Ok so, I had his wife when I was in primary school, and she was the Evil, nobody liked her. So when we go to secondary school and we discover him, we’re like “no wayyyy” and then we learn he is just as Evil as her. In second year, I’m in one of his classes, we do a groupwork (and we’re actually all working in this group, I swear) but, like, I hate him, I don’t like the topic, ‘cause it’s science and I’m not a science person, and I don’t like the software I have to work on. But anyway, I spend nearly one entire hour on this software, doing my job in this group, in the end of the two hours we print everything and depose the binder on the teacher’s desk. I, personnaly, do it. The next week, HE took all the binders and hand them out to each group. But not our group. It’s the first hour of the day, I’m not fully awake, a bit tired, very emotive, subject to anxiety and he lost our work. ALL our work. Including that f*cking plan I was working on despite hating the software. And on top of that HE accuses US of not putting it on the desk. So I ended up crying, a guy I disliked jumped on the occasion to go with me to the nursery, I’m like “fuck off”. The fact he accused us (or just me, as I was the last person to see the binder) was just more than I could handled. And he didn’t show the least of compassion at all. When he find it on another table, he was like “See, it’s here, no reason to cry. Now go back to work.”.

8) Write about a friend you met in class. It was the first hour of latin, the very first I ever had. With my ‘best friend’ we were late, so there were no places free for us to sit side by side anymore. I went straight to the front, because I’m small and can’t see shit if I’m in the back. There I met a guy, his name is Maël. He had (and still has) the most beautiful blue eyes I had to see IRL. I was still my size, back then. Now he’s huge. He also has a male voice now. He was not the more studious guy, and neither was I. He was funny, so I liked him. We ate together sometimes. And we were also together for the climbing team (we were the too featherweights...). Even though I didn’t keep latin the last year, and even with the fact we weren’t in the same class after that, we remained sort of friends, seeing each others in the intercourses. It’s him who talked first about Doctor Who to me. His humour harmed me sometimes, ‘cause he kept saying “You’re not my friend anymore” when I did whatever he didn’t like, even the more minor thing (like, if I didn’t share my cookies), but in first year of highschool we were in the same class, his best friend was in another class, and I think he get afraid of losing his friends, or something like that, because he never said it again, after three years of it. A real relief.

9) Do you know what you want to major/pursue a career in? If so, how did you decide on this? If not, what are some subjects you would consider pursuing? I want to major and pursue a career in acting, as much in theater than cinema, as I said before. I discovered theater acting when I was about ten years old, and it was GREAT. I’m in my eighth year now, in the same association from the beginning. I just love it, and can’t think of stopping, nor doing anything else for a living.

10) What kind of music do you study to? Why? I like to study with movies or series soundtrack, mostly the Doctor Who themes compilation because it lasts 35 minutes, so I can take a break at the end of it. Also it gives me hope and drives me away from reality. There is just the texts I’m reading and the music that tells me where I am in the time (because I know when it’s nearly the end).

11) Where do you like to study? Why? I like to study in my bedroom because it is the only place in the house where 1) there’s nobody else than me to make noise 2) I an put the music at maximum without anyone to complain 3) I know how to play with the temperature so it’s not too cold nor too hot for me.

12) What’s one book that you had to read for class that you ended up liking, and why? Hmm Une bouteille à la mer de Gaza by Valérie Zenatti, I don’t remember why exactly but I know I didn’t like very much the teacher (also she asked us to read a short version of Les Misérables, Victor Hugo, and I hated it so I didn’t trust her then), and I ended up reading the book in four hours straight up, because it was realy easy to read and I didn’t want to put it down once I’ve began to read. Another book was Le quatrième mur, Sorj Chalandon. I didn’t know the why, but I didn’t feel it when the teacher asked us to read it. So I didn’t read it, and we didn’t have the time to study it finally. BUT the Fate did not seem to agree because I had to read it in first year, and it was on the list of books to read for the summer hollydays between first and second year. So I finally read it and omg it was good. I can’t explain, but I loved it.

13) What are some go-to study snacks? Either a fruit and cereal bar or a fruit. This days it’s grappes my dad has picked in our garden. But sometimes it’s just a sip of water.

14) Is your target language one that you studied in school? How long have you been studying it? Yup it is. School began to tech us English when I was... seven. So... oh Lord it’s been ten years. And for German it’s been...six years.

15) What is one bad habit that keeps you from being productive? How will you combat this? I have my phone on my desk, and my capacity to stay and concentrate is not one of the greatest so... I always go and check tumblr. Or I look at my skin for new spot of pimple. Or I just lose myself and go in my mind. I don’t know how to combat this really, apart from the phone: I just have to turn it off and put it on my bed, for exemple.

16) Write your homework (or work) to-do list in your target language. - Answer to the English family I’m going to spend a weekend with in october - Slep well and do that challenge in German, one day.

#english challenge #thinking there

[chyeahlex16]

Since I am not spoiler free...

BOY have I got THINGS TO SAY

Spoilers down below, pls talk to me if you’ve seen the season!!

First of all, of the top of my head bc i just saw something that reminded me of it, can we just talk about those flashbacks???

That outfit that Texas Kogane was wearing-- correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that what Keith dressed SHIRO in when they got him back in the first fucking episode of season one??? And the gloves??? Keith’s wearing his dad’s gloves??? 

And during the broganes flashbacks--Does that mean the hoverbike is Shiro’s and Keith took it over after he disappeared?? 

And can we talk about the Galran traits Keith had when he was fighting Clone Shiro? The eyes, maybe the teeth, and I think even the purple skin at one point?? Plus he’s apparently taller, ‘grizzlier’ and whatever else Lance called him lmao he ain’t slick pfft 

Speaking of Lance, I find it hard to say things that aren’t complaints bc I really don’t want to complain about things this season. We were handed something that didn’t leave me 100% unhappy and unsatisfied, and I wanna take that with grace and not be all nitpicky and weird about. I feel like the more we complain and nitpick at it, the less we’ll encourage other potential shows that might wanna do what we ask for, if that makes sense? That’s not to say there aren’t things to complain about, (bc let’s be real........you know,,,,) , but maybe keep it to constructive criticism instead of verbal attacks? Maybe I’m just sensitive but a lot of the things I see are really..... aggressive. Tbh Idek why I’m saying this as if anyone important is gonna read it aslkdjalk ignore me i guess lol

Anyway, let’s talk about the good things with Lance! My boy got some screen time giving those orders!! Being in charge, giving out good plans, doing good things!! Offering encouragement and being stern and levelheaded when needed, all that good stuff. Yes, a bunch of his screen time was him being jealous of Lotor and Allura, but again, I’m tryna focus on the positives here. I’m so excited to see what happens when they go home!!!! I wanna see Lance’s family!! Wanna see him extend it around!!! Wanna see him welcome everyone into his home!! And he was so suave when he was playing as his character in the DND episode, that was great!

Speaking of the DND episode, it was actually really good I think! It made me laugh a bunch, and although it was a lot of comic relief and funny times... actually, I think that’s all it was... I’m v tired and the earlier episodes are blurring, ngl. Moving on! It was a good episode that made me laugh and showcased a lot of their strengths and abilities to work as a team, and I love the jokes they made about Shiro in it. Really humanized him and made him more like one of them, if that makes sense? I feel like he’s always been treated as Black Paladin, Leader of Voltron, Levelheaded Person At All Times, when, like, he’s a real person with lots emotions and joys too?? Ya know, a human, on the same level as the others. I feel like, as far as the show goes, he’s put on this pedestal and only taken down in rare moments, like the jokes in the DND ep and (only instance i can think of off the top of my head) the laser gun noises instance in s1. 

AND SPEAKING OF SHIRO, CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT THE ASTRAL PLANE SCENE WITH KEITH. His fucking explanation of what happened to me killed me. He said he DIED and I WANTED TO DIE. I’m very surprised by this season, it’s the only one to have made me almost cry in the span of like 3 episodes like this. Where emotions come in, this bitch really tried to go for it. They had me for a bit, ya know?? I laughed, I wanted to cry, I got angry and annoyed and irritated, the whole shebang, it did a good job of getting an okay range of emotions out. 

Everyone else is talking about this too, but they made Keith look so good in this season??? Like, as a lesbian, I am surprised; they made my sons look amazing. And this sparked the need to complain about the Krolia scene continuation from “You’re my mom??” but. But. I am not going to complain (yet ). And I’m not going to reblog discourse either. I am not tryna be in the business of tearing down things that potentially make me happy. This season gave me moments of happiness. Sparse moments, but moments nonetheless. It left me hopeful for the next season bc let me be an honest bitch and say that I have no idea what’s gonna happen next. All I can say is I hope they don’t fuck it up. 

For now, I think this concludes my bubbling thoughts on season 6 for the night/morning. It’s 3am and I am Tired. If you’ve made it this far on my ramblings, thanks for reading, I probs didn’t make much sense, pls come talk to me further about it!! Let’s gush!! And although I said I wasn’t about the complaining that doesn’t mean you can’t come into my messages to complain! I’m actually a fair bitch who will hear you out lol, we can discuss. But yeah. I look forward to all the art and fanfics that will come from this season, even tho I myself as a writer can’t think of anything I could write from this. It was kinda... dry of substance for my tastes. But after a few days of mulling it over, I’m sure something will come to me and many others. 

I go slep now goonigh <333

EDIT: HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN THE FUCKING WOLF???? MY BOY HAD A PET AND I NEVER EVEN LEARNED ITS NAME BUT I LOVED THAT MONTAGE OF BONDING BETWEEN THEM, MAY IT BE LOYAL AS FUCK TO HIM 

#longpost #vld s6 #vld spoilers #vld s6 spoilers #my rambling thoughts #chacha speaks