#i feel so bad for his little tiny chicken wife. they obviously loved each other and it’s like. so sad when one half of an old couple dies

[z-iridest]

When You Call Him By His First Name- Yu-Gi-Oh! Edition (GN reader for the most part)

Yugi Muto

You met Yugi on your first day of school when you were both freshman

You'd found yourself lost in the big school and ran into Yugi (quite literally)

He showed you around, and after a conversation about Duel Monsters, the two of you hit it off right away

But it wasn't until sophomore year that he asked you out (with a little help from Yami)

At first, he blushed dark red everytime you called him a pet name besides his nickname

But, after a few years of dating, he got accustomed to it (honey may or may not be his favorite for you to call him..... God knows he loves calling you darling.)

That brings us to the present day:

Yugi and you had been living together since senior year, and he always made it a habit to find little ways to express his love for you

Cooking you breakfast, surprising you with a hug from behind, cuddling, or surprise kisses, he did everything he could to spoil you rotten with affection

That was about when you saw the newest challenge on Tik Tok

You bit your lip, uncertain whether or not to do it.... Then you started watching the videos

One of the videos you watched was your best friend calling their s/o by their first name.... and it was hilarious

So, you decided to try it yourself

While the two of you were getting ready to leave for a tournament Kaiba was hosting, you looked for your deck. "Yugi, have you seen my deck?" You asked him, only to get silence. "Yugi?"

When you turned around, he looked confused, his head tilted to one side.

"Did I do something wrong?" Yugi asked you. You shook your head.

"No, why?" You asked, somehow managing to keep your composure despite the fact that you wanted to bust up laughing

"You called me by my first name.... You haven't done that since before we first got together." Yugi pointed out. A giggle slipped out, which made Yugi raise a brow before he realized what was going on. "It's a Tik Tok challenge, isn't it?" He asked before you lost your self control, laughing as you doubled over.

Yugi shook his head, trying not to laugh himself as he walked over to you before scooping you up bridal style without warning

The action he took resulted in a squeak out of you, your arms automatically wrapping around his neck. When you looked at Yugi, you found a smile on his face.

"You're lucky I love you, my darling." He told you with a kiss to your nose, making you giggle

Yami Yugi/Atem

It took Yugi for this 5000 year old Pharaoh to figure out he had it bad for you

The longing looks whenever you'd walk into a room, the more he seemed to sweat with you around, the way his eyes would light up when you cheered him on in a duel, how flustered he got anytime your name was mentioned.

So, not unlike how he forced Yami to switch places when Tèa took him out to help him with his memories, he did the same thing by telling you to meet up with Yami after school

When you got to the meeting spot, you found Yami looking bewildered before he started yelling at the Puzzle, obviously not noticing you and having just been switched out with Yugi

"Hey! Yugi, I'm not... You can't.... This isn't a Duel!" Yami stumbled over his words, the moment you walked in on causing a giggle to slip out of you.

That giggle was when he finally noticed you, going beet red in embarrassment and waving awkwardly. "Hello." His greeting was just as awkward, shortly before you had asked him what he wanted to talk about. He had blushed and looked at his boots

"I just... Wanted to say..." His blush grew even darker, if it was humanly possible, before he looked at you through his lashes. "I really like you, and I want to know if you will allow me to be yours." Of course, you said yes, and the rest is history

Flash forward 3 years

Yami, aka Atem now, had gotten his memory and his name back, but instead of choosing to go to the Afterlife, he stayed with you.

He had told you that while he was happy to have his memories back, he still had many more memories he wanted to make with you

At the present day, the two of you had moved in together, and the gang had told you two time and time again that you guys acted like a married couple.

It made you blush, while Atem seemed to like the idea of calling you his wife (He even picked up the habit of calling you either wifey or his Queen of Hearts 🥰)

Since getting together, the two of you only called each other by pet names, two of the names Atem uses are the two I just mentioned. The others are baby, honey, sweetheart, darling, my love.... Yeah, that boy's a sap for you and he knows it

Meanwhile, you usually call him Baby, Honey, sweetie, darling, hubby, the list could go on forever.

Until the day you saw the newest challenge on Tik Tok.....

You knew it could possibly get you in trouble with Atem, but that was when the video you were just watching got sent to you by Joey, daring you to do it to Atem or owe him 30 bucks.

Guess what you ended up doing?

The two of you were cuddling on the couch together, and unbeknownst to Atem, your phone was recording everything.

His strong arms were wrapped around you, his head burried in the crook of your neck, planting little kisses there every now and then

"Atem." You spoke his name and had to stifle a giggle when he burried himself deeper into your neck. "Atem." You tried again, squeaking when he playfully nipped your neck, hearing a chuckle rumble in his chest. "Atem." You called his name a third time, causing him to look up at you with his head tipped to the side, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face

"Why do you keep calling me that?" He asked you.

"Because that's your name, you dork." You replied, a giggle slipping out before it turned into a squeak as he shifted the two of you so you were laying on his chest.

"Nope, not to you, my Queen. Now, what's my name?" He asked. You folded your arms on his chest, laying your chin on top so you could see him.

"Baby. I love you." You answered, making him smile.

"Much better. I love you too, my love." He answered before kissing your nose and making you giggle. "By the way, tell Joey he owes you 30 bucks." His comment made you laugh as you stopped recording and you could feel him shaking in laughter with you.

By Ra, did he love making you laugh, he lived for the little moments like this with you

If only you knew about the ring in his pocket, and his plan to make sure that the little moments would keep happening everyday....

Joey Wheeler

Now, for everyone's favorite Brooklyn Boy

Meeting him was.... Definitely a day to remember

He kept flirting with you (and failing miserably at dealing pickup lines), but it made you laugh

Not unlike Yugi and his s/o, the two of you connected with Duel Monsters (he may or may not have bragged that he taught Yugi everything he knew)

After a while of hanging out together, you found that Joey was actually charming and funny when he was being himself..... As well as cute when he was being protective of you if and when other guys made you uncomfortable

After a few months of knowing you, Joey asked you out

Over the next 3 years, you had no idea that he could get more protective than he already was with you, but you were wrong.

Next to Serenitity, you're the most important person in his life. If anyone thinks they could get away with messing with you, they'd have Joey in their face with the deadliest glare on his face and looking about ready to throw hands (You've had to drag him away from Kaiba a couple times)

As far as PDA went, he went with what you were comfortable with. If you were up for any PDA at all, he'd wrap an arm around your waist or hold your hand in his (he'd totally give you tiny kisses on your cheek, forehead or temple if you were okay with it). But, he would totally ask for permission though before showing any PDA

At home though.... Very different story. Kinda like a dog, he's really good at judging moods, especially when it comes to you. You're an open book for him. Down in the dumps and just got home? Joey practically launches himself at you to pull you into a big bear hug (can and will pepper your face in kisses until he gets a smile or giggle out of you)

Nicknames, though?

The second the two of you got together, Joey straight up started calling you "Babe", throwing the first name basis out the window. He has a different nickname for every mood too.... When you're calm or happy, the nickname is "Babe", when you're sad, it's " my Angel", When you're mad, he calls you "Firecraker", when you're excited, you're always, always "My baby", and so on

Your nicknames for him were always, Honey, baby, babe, darling, sweetie, etc.

About 3 years of dating, and 2 of living together, Tristan sent you a Tik Tok video, daring you to do the challenge in it. That challenge? Yeah, you're well aware of it by now....

You had no idea how Joey was going to react.... It made you a little nervous, to be honest

But, Tristan had insisted you pull it off, calling you a chicken

You were sitting on the couch, waiting for Joey, who was taking a while to grab the snacks. That was when you decided to just rip off the bandaid... So, to speak

"Joey, come cuddle me already!" You called him. You watched as he poked his head into the room, looking a bit confused.

"What'd ya call me, sweetheart?" He asked you.

"I called you by your name." You answered back matter-of-factly

"Nu-uh, you call me baby or any other pet name you got for me, but Joey is off limits. You're more special to me than dat, ya troublemakin' angel." Joey told you, making you giggle when he fluffed his collar just to make his point.

Hearing you giggle made him grin like a Cheshire cat and within seconds, he was curled up with you on his lap, the blanket draped over the two of you and his arms around you. Those big brown eyes stared lovingly down at you as the two of you cuddled together, his fingers running through your hair.

No doubt, this boy loved you to pieces. Nobody could call it just puppy love at this point...

Seto Kaiba

Speaking of aloof and emotionally unavailable at first, that was what Seto Kaiba was to you when the two of you first met

But, the more time you spent around him, the more you realized the cold nature was a facade he kept up... A protective barrier

After 2 years of knowing him, there came one night that both scared you half to death and changed everything for the two of you.

You were heading home one night when you noticed you were being followed

You took the long way home, trying to loose them and ignoring them Cat calling you, but they wouldn't give up and it was starting to scare you

Eventually, the boys ended up cornering you, and just when you thought they'd get away with doing what they wanted.....

"Get away from them unless you want me to make your lives miserable." When they had stepped back from you, you caught sight of Seto before he walked up to you and wrapped a protective arm around you, the glare on his face ice cold as he glared at your stalkers with a silent but deadly final warning

"Kaiba..." You had started to thank him, but he stopped you.

"Call me Seto, and you don't need to thank me. Let's just get you home before those freaks decide to show their ugly faces again." He told you

Not too long after that incident, Seto asked you out (was totally talked into it and teased by Mokuba)

Fast forward 3 years

You help Seto run KaibaCorp (partly because you hate it when he stays up all night getting work done and partly because he's more cranky when you're not around him), and the two of you live together in the Kaiba Mansion with Mokuba

It took him a year before he started calling you anything beside your name, first calling you "Honey" (totally by accident when he was half asleep). After that came darling, doll, baby, love, sweetheart (he's a sucker for the classic pet names)

While the two of you were still getting to know each other, you had called him Blue Eyes as a joke, and it ended up sticking. It just carried over into the dating stage, changing to "Baby Blue". Other pet names you call him include, Love, Baby, Babe, Honey, Sweetie, Darling (Grumpy Pants to joke around with him when he's being cranky)

But, then Mokuba and you saw a Tik Tok challenge that Mokuba begged you to try (may or may not have given you a puppy dog pout)

Around the time the three of you usually took lunch, you peeked in his office to see him working. You softly sighed.

"Seto, come on, take a break. It's time for lunch." The glare he gave you sent shivers down your spine and made you want to laugh at the same time. He looked extremely done

"What'd you just call me?" He asked.

"Your first name, what did it sound like?" You asked him sassily back. He stood up and walked over to you, reminding you just how much taller he was than you. He leaned one arm against the wall, pulling a kabedon as he leaned close to your face

"You know what you call me, baby." He purred out, his voice low in tone and a smirk crossing his lips when he saw how flustered you were getting

You managed to stutter out a "Baby", making his smirk grow wider before his lips brushed against your own

That cocky Blue Eyed Bastard knew exactly how to make your heart race, and he takes great pride in doing it

Tristan Taylor

For Tristan, meeting you was love at first sight.... Or rather, at first fall....

Tristan was so nervous about introducing himself to you, the boy literally tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face right in front of you

You had asked him if he was okay, and this cheesy flirt came out of his mouth: "Yeah, I'm okay, just fallen for you, that's all."

Cheesy pickup line? Yes, but Tristan's happy to say that it worked.

Fast forward 3 years....

Ever since the day he asked you out, the two of you stopped calling each other by your first names

For him, the nicknames you used were actually pretty limited: Handsome, Babe, and Darling were the only ones he'd respond to

For you, though, he has tons of nicknames (Goregous, Baby, sweetheart, to name a few)

So, when Joey showed you the newest Tik Tok challenge and begged you to do it, you got a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach

It actually took 2 days for Joey to finally convince you to do it (He bugged you until you agreed to)

You bit your lip the next day, not knowing how Tristan was going to react

It was early, your hair was a mess, and you were in one of Tristan's shirts and a pair of your sweatpants when you decided to get it over with

You rubbed your eyes from the sleep as you walked to the kitchen, able to hear Tristan cooking

Like every morning, you hugged him from behind, burrying your face in his back.

"Good morning, beautiful." He greeted you, turning to hug you. You smiled as he hugged you, hugging him back. While hugging you, he lifted you a bit off the ground, making you giggle.

"Good morning, Tristan." You smiled up at him, only for it to drop when Tristan looked worried. "What's wrong?"

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked. You shook your head

"No, of course not." You answered him

"Then why'd you call me by my first name?" He asked

"Because it's your name and I like it." You answered, smiling this time

"But, my name isn't Tristan to you. It's baby." He replied in the most adorable way possible, making you hug him again as you giggled

The embrace made him smile as he returned it

He loved the little moments with you

Duke Devlin

That brings us to the ladies' man of Yu-Gi-Oh!...... Duke Devlin

At first, you didn't like his attitude and made every attempt to show him you weren't interested in a playboy

But, unfortunately for you, that made him only try harder to pursue you.... Until Joey and Tristan got it through his head that his usual flirting wasn't going to work.

Months after that day, you got to the Duke Devlin he'd been trying to hide and you liked what you saw.

After a full year of being just friends, Duke asked you out

Fast forward 3 years:

Duke loves you to death, and after becoming your boyfriend, he never flirted with anyone else but you ever again

His favorite pet names for you include, Player 2, Baby, Babe, Hot Stuff, Doll, the list could go on forever

You've always called him your Player 1, Baby or Darling

But, then Tristan dared you to call him by his first name to see his reaction

You automatically knew it wouldn't end well, as he would think he did something wrong

Hence your hesitation

But, you decided to get it over with when the two of you were cuddling. His face was buried in your neck as he held you in his arms

"Duke." You said his name, giggling when he only responded by burying himself deeper into your neck. "Duke." You tried again

"That's not my name, Prince/Princess." Duke told you, refusing to cooperate and making you laugh

"Then what is it?" You asked, only to squeak when he made you lay back on the couch with him on top of you

"You know what it is." He purred with a smirk, leaning close to your face with his lips inches from yours

"Baby, you drive me crazy sometimes, you know that?" You asked him before he finally kissed you and shifted so you were on his lap again

"Yep, I know. You do the same thing to me."

Ryou Bakura

Did somebody say Cream Puff? That's right, it's Ryou's turn! ^.^

The two of you were both pretty shy when you met him, and the two of you clicked right away

Believe it or not, it took him 2 years to ask you out (Yeah, Yami Bakura forced him to, getting tired of hearing Ryou pine for you in his thoughts the whole time)

It took 5 years for the two of you to move in together, and by that point, both of you had abandoned calling each other by your first names

His personal favorite to call you is "My Love", "Dear" or "My Angel" while he adores being called "Darling", "Dear" and "Honey"

But, you saw a video challenge on Tik Tok that featured women calling their lovers by their first name instead of a pet name, you decided to try it....

If only you knew the reaction it would spawn....

You had just gotten home and couldn't find him anywhere when you decided to call him by his first name.

"Ryou? Where are you?" You asked. Ryou came running, looking scared.

"What's wrong? Is everything all right, you don't normally call me by my first name." He looked so terrified as he checked you for injuries, you felt so bad and hugged him, automatically feeling his arms wrap around you back.

"No, no, everything's fine, dear. I was just wondering where you were since you weren't there to greet me like normal." You told him

You eventually did tell him about the video challenge, just.... Later... After both of you had calmed down some

The two of you shared a good laugh over it

Marik Ishtar

While it took 5 years for Ryou to get used to being affectionate, Marik adjust a bit more quickly....

It took 3 years of being friends for Marik to know how he felt, and since he'd had no romance experience before you, it took him 2 more to go on pet name basis with you rather than first names

His favorite to call you is "Sugar" followed closely by "Baby" and "Princess/Prince". Your favorite to call him is "Darling", "Prince Charming" (that nickname gets him blushing everytime), and "Baby"

About 2 years after that, the two of you moved in together (Our adorable Egyptian boy didn't want to spend one more day with you away from him 🥺❤)

Which brings us to the present day...

You were trying on a special outfit for a date night with Marik when your best friend texted you, daring to do the challenge in the video she sent. You watched it, an eyebrow going up when you realized the video was girls calling their boyfriends/husbands by their first name instead

"You look beautiful/handsome in that outfit." You heard Marik before you turned to see him, an adoring smile on his face as he stood in the doorway

Deciding to do the dare (you'd never hear the end of it if you didn't), you looked down at yourself

"You don't think it looks bad on me, Marik?" You asked in the shy tone you had always used when addressing him for the first time

Marik tipped his head to one side, looking a bit confused. "Anything you wear looks perfect on you, baby, but why'd you call me that?"

"What, Marik? It's your name." You answered, looking up at you and trying to keep a smile from off your face

"Not to you for the past 4 years, it hasn't." Marik answered, both his brows up at this point. That's when a sly smirk crossed his face, a smirk you hadn't seen in years

You took a step back, but it was the wrong move as Marik pounced, bringing you into a hug and littering your face in kisses, making you laugh. "Now, what's. My. Name?" He asked in between kisses to everywhere on your face but your lips.

"Darling." You pouted, finally getting a long sweet kiss to your lips from Marik

He gave you a cute smile when the two of you finally separated

"Now, let's get going, my darling Prince/Princess."

If only you'd known he'd be asking you to be his King/Queen that night....

Yami Bakura

That brings us to the bad boys..... First up Yami Bakura

The second you met him, you started calling him by the nickname "Fluffy"....

Oh Gods of Egypt, he detested that nickname

But, Ryou wouldn't let him do anything about it, so he was stuck to listen as you referred to him as Fluffy the entire time

However.... The more you called him it, the more he didn't seem to mind much

In fact, 2 years after meeting him for the first time, he asked you out

But, don't think he doesn't have a nickname for you that he started using....

Dating you brought out a mushy side to him, much to his own disgust for the first few months, but he ended up loving when it made you blush, so the nickname he gave you stuck: his Lotus.

It went on like that for a while, the two of you bantered like an old married couple (5,000 years in that Millennium Ring is more than enough to make someone cranky as hell, let's be brutally honest here)

3 years later, the two of you were living together, and Yami Marik (Melvin) dared you to call Bakura by his name instead of the Fluffy nickname you had always used

Well, you had no idea how that was going to blow over with him, but you just shrugged and thought 'What the hell?'

You found Bakura in the kitchen and hugged him from behind. "Whatcha doin', Bakura?" You asked him before feeling him tense up in your arms. When you looked up at him, he looked in shock. "What?"

"You've never called me by my first name." He told you, looking down at you and shooting you a glare. "This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain dare now, would it?"

You blinked. "How do you do that?" You asked. He shrugged with a little smirk before suddenly picking you up, making you squeak in shock as he put you on the counter, standing between your legs.

"Only you get to call me Fluffy, my Lotus. Looks like I need to remind you of that." He purred deep in his throat with a smirk

Let's just say your voice was pretty hoarse the next morning..... 😳

Yami Marik (Melvin)

And that now brings us to our evil Egyptian boy, Yami Marik (aka Melvin)

The first time he met you, you called him "Psycho", while he called you "Doll"

The nicknames stuck, and when you two started dating after 2 years, nothing really changed.... He just called you "Baby" every now and then while you called him "My Handsome Little Psycho" or "Babe"

After a year or so of living together, you got a text from Yami Bakura daring you to call Melvin by his first name

You had no idea how he would react, honestly you didn't want to find out

But, with some convincing (and may or may not have threatened a one way trip to the Shadow Realm for you), he convinced you to do it

While the two of you were relaxing together, you looked up at Melvin.

"You know I love you, right, Melvin?" You asked him.

His eyes automatically went down to you, an eyebrow raised. "Why'd you call me that?" He asked.

"Because it's your name." You answered before you yelped as he pinned you down

"No, no, no, doll, say my name..." He told you before kissing your neck, making you bite back a moan. "My real name."

"Baby..." You moaned out before Melvin smashed his lips into yours and smirked.

"Good girl."

Taglist: @vivinightingale @bisexualmattholtstan @wataponwrites

[some-cookie-crumbz]

Life’s Eternal Rhyme

Life’s Eternal Rhyme - Kidge Month Day 31 Prompt Fill Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Kidge Summary: How very special are we To have on our family tree Mother Earth and Father Time. [x] Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more.

The whole place was hopping.

Normally crowds like this weren’t exactly his family’s style, but this seemed like one of the only times they broke from that norm. He made a small face as he slumped further into his chair, side-eying the extravagantly decorated piece of cake placed in front of him. For as much as he wanted to scarf it down, another part of him felt like it was a trap. Like eating the cake would be feeding into this whole thing. “Ugh, can you ever not sulk about everything?” A huffy, high-pitched voice squeaked behind him.

Great, it was friggin Raya.

He groaned loudly, making sure to leave his mouth hanging open as he did so it would be even louder, and threw his head against the back of his chair. “Go away, McClain,” he whined.

The young girl let out a disgruntled huff and he heard the distinct sound of a tiny high heel being stomped. “You don’t have to be a jerk all the time, Kaden!”

“I’m not being a jerk! I’m just bored! And you’re being annoying!” he huffed back, glaring at her.

She met his glare, arms crossed over her chest, before turning to look out at the crowd of dancers. “You mean to tell me this doesn’t make you feel at least a little something?”

He stared at her before looking back out at the dancers. “Uh, no. It’s crowded and loud and some people are getting really rowdy. Probably because they’re having way too much of that grown-up punch,” he said flatly, wrinkling his nose up.

She stared at him before shaking her head. “I feel bad for whatever sad, miserable soul marries you someday. I really, really do,” she said, her tone sounding like that of a resigned old woman. God, she was so dramatic! She let out a dreamy sigh, her arms falling away from being crossed. “Isn’t it just romantic, though? I mean, just a little bit?” she prodded gently. When he just glared at her she rolled her eyes. “What about for your Mom and Dad? Don’t you think they look incredible all dressed up?”  And then, because she could never stop herself, she waved one hand flippantly. “I mean, they aren’t nearly as classy as my Mom and Dad look on the regular, but, you know. My family knows how to step down and let other people take the spotlight every now and again.”

He blinked once, slowly, before looking back out at the crowd of dancers. “Your Dad literally looks like a choking chicken trying to give itself the Heimlich maneuver,”

She flushed and glared at him. “”You don’t know anything about dancing!” she snapped before finally storming off.

He felt a small smirk turn up on his lips before he turned his attention to the crowd; specifically, his parents. He did think Mom’s dress for the event was pretty and that both his parents looked good, but he didn’t really understand why this situation was somehow more romantic than their normal interactions. He could see in the way they were looking at each other as they moved along the floor with the other dancers, how soft and sweet and warm they watched each other. It wasn’t any different than how they looked at each other normally, but when he thought about it… There was something a little different about their expressions.

Then, suddenly, Dad scooped Mom up and spun her around, earning a surprised but delighted squeal from her. He cocked his head a bit, brow knitting as he tried to place what had changed.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

The whole place was hopping.

Normally crowds like this weren’t exactly his family’s style, but this seemed like one of the only times they broke from that norm. He chuckled a bit and gently bounced the babbling infant in his arms. “Yeah, Nico? You like all these bright colors and lights?” he hummed, reaching out to gently stroke one of the infant’s cheeks. The little guy suddenly jolted to attention and looked out into the throng dancers before them, flailing one hand at one of the figures. Who, from what he could see, was doing some old, forgotten dance from before he was born. “Yup, that’s… That’s Grampie Lance out there.”

“What’s the matter, Kogane? Still can’t recognize the Macarena?” An amused woman’s voice chimed from behind him.

“Well, it can be a bit difficult,” he quipped back, turning with a small grin on his lips, “considering you and your dad have a weakness for goofy meme stuff. Sometimes it all just kind of blurs together.”

“You’re not one to judge; my dad’s told me all about the meme-offs he used to have with your mother,” she continued. She then looked over at the baby in his arms and smiled, reaching out for him.

“The sins of the parent do not reflect on the child,” he retorted, but handed the baby over. Nico let out an excited little gurgle, reaching up to try and grab at the gleaming golden hoops dangling from her earlobe. “I warned you he was gonna be attracted to those. They’re too shiny for his baby brain to ignore.”

“Short attention spans run on Daddy’s side of the family,” she cooed, holding the baby up above her head and then lowering him to press kisses to his face.

“Me thinks the lady doth protest too much,” he drawled, “and is also choosing to ignore her own heritage to some extent.”

She rolled her eyes a bit as she settled Nico in her arms. “Oh please, you know you love it,”

“I wouldn’t have married you if I didn’t,” he laughed, settling an arm around her waist. He then paused to give her a pointed look. “And considering all I had to go through with your dad? That should more than prove how serious I am about my feelings for you.”

She let out a small hum and turned to look back out at the dancers, letting out a small sigh as she watched them all. “I know this isn’t really our kind of thing, but it’s really romantic, isn’t it?” she mused.

He blinked in surprise before chuckling and nodding, following her gaze to his own parents. They were older now, obviously. After all, he himself was an adult now, with a wife and child of his own. Somehow, though, as he watched them take the floor, they looked just as lovely as they had the last time he’d seen them dance like this before. Even with the small strips of grey appearing in their hair - and his Mom’s insistence that she could tell them which child had caused each one and when - and the smile lines and bags under their eyes.

And, in that moment, he suddenly understood what he didn’t back then.

This wasn’t special or romantic because it was a bit spectacle; it was special and romantic because of what it meant to them. It was the anniversary of the day they decided to be together, to live their lives together until the end. It was the day that they looked to the future and saw so much more than everything they’d been through, a light at the end of the tunnels they’d traversed. He knew much more now about all they’d faced in their time as Paladins, long before he was born, and just how much they had sacrificed for the good of others. In the end, they had finally been allowed to be selfish, to have the life they dreamt of with a partner who loved them as much as they loved them.

The look he had always been confused about, he now knew. It wasn’t just adoration; it was the kind of deep love that left them unable to see anyone else in the room. He watched as, much like back then, Dad scooped Mom up and twirled her around, laughing as she playfully teased him about breaking a hip. He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of Raya’s head beside him, smiling wider when she leaned heavily into him.

His parents, he thought, were the ultimate definition of what true love was supposed to be like.

#Voltron legendary defender #Keidge #Kidge #Peith #Kidgemas #MonthofKidge #MonthofKidge2019 #KidgeaPalooza #KidgeaPalooza2019 #Pidge Gunderson #Keith Kogane #my fics

[namjoonchronicles]

homebound | yoongi

Pairing: yoongi x reader Genre: fluff, domestic, marriage au Word count: 4k

Author’s note: i just need someone to catch me when i fall. To pick the things i accidentally left behind, hold my hand and tell me that i’m safe.

There’s something wrong with the snare file Hoseok gave.

Yoongi pursed his lips, staring at the screen of flattened audios full of soundwaves. His face shone by the light from the computer while the rest of the room is pitch black. Then, his passcode-only-accessible door beeped a certain combination and unlocked.

The light is flipped on and Yoongi didn’t even blink, resuming to type, like nothing happen. You walked in, with an exasperated sigh to say, “Can you please please please watch the fried chicken so it won’t burn, I need to poop.”

“Sure wokey...” Yoongi glanced to his screen and typing while pushing his chair back, ready to leave. His left foot was already extended out but his arm hadn’t left the keyboard, frantically punching a few button.

You, on the other hand, were running down the hallway to your main bedroom bathroom, already discarding your shorts and sped through the door.

Yoongi swings his feet out his home studio and shut the door with a mechanical click. The whole house smells like fried chicken. He poked the chicken with the tongs and decided that it wasn’t cooked yet. In a relaxed manner, he glides his eyes to the fridge and squinted over a very oddly suspicious writing that wasn’t his or hers. He pinched this paper and took a closer look.

Of course he didn’t recognise his own writing. He was drunk when he wrote it. On cough medicine.

“Kitchen sink needs fixing, too little flow of water.”

Yoongi went over to check if the allegations were true. It was.

Despite his drunken state, he remembered everything he needed to do as a husband. He had a terrible cough that day. Days, actually. Phlegm start building up and he expelled yellow greenish mucus, lost his voice for a few days, and came back with a groggy one. You told Namjoon he couldn’t be at work, so he stayed at home, where he’s safe. And fed.

Peeking at the chicken that’s happily frying in the pot, he uses the tongs to lift them from the hot oil and to the plate.It was your turn making lunch today, Yoongi will prepare dinner. Thinking that you’d be out in a short while, he placed another batch of chicken into the oil and it sizzled, deliciously.

“Such a heavenly smell…” you said in a sing-song voice. He felt your hand running across the span of his shoulders and your body weight on his when you leaned towards him. “Praising me won’t make me take over the fried chicken, wifey,” he scrunched his face at you and you pouted at him. “I hope you get eaten by the computers one day, and I’ll get all your insurance,” you leaned your back to the kitchen counter watching your husband squinting his eyes at each piece of chicken drumstick he placed inside the oil. “That would take awhile since scientists have not made it possible for a human to travel in micro sizes yet,” he mutters with a certain drawl.

You crossed your arm at him and he gives you a brief but frightened, side glance. He stiffens and placed the tongs on the side. Fidgeting, he turned to look away from you and wiped his nose, sniffling. The air changed, so you must have been angry.

“Move,” you pushed him from your spot, “Go to your studio.”

Yoongi acted like a slime, switching place with you, hugging you from behind and leaned his 5am stubble-covered chin on your shoulder,rocking his hip side to side. “...I’m going to the store in a bit, do you want anything?” he raspily whispered in your ear. You put on your best bitch face and continued cooking without responding to his question. It’s what he deserves for answering so snarkily. Yoongi had always been so tactless in his words, you often wondered where he got it from.

It didn’t take a lot for him to notice the blossoming reddish blue splotch of skin raised a bit higher than the others on your right knuckle. He frowns in distaste because obviously, you have hurt yourself when he’s not around. “What’s that?” He slides his chin off your shoulder and moved his hand down your forearm to your wrist to get a closer, accusing look. He tips his eyes at you and you took your hand to scratch your nose, and put them away from sight. “The first batch of fried chicken...was merciless,” you added a nervous chuckle, not wanting him to see you as a bad cook with little experience. There was excess liquid on the first batch, and it hid behind a coat of bread. You, who thought little of it thought that it would be safe to put them in the hot oil. It was an accident. It could have happened to anybody.

“Which one,” Yoongi grumbled. You blinked and gave him a blank expression. What on earth is he talking about.

“Which one of these fried chicken decided that it was okay to splatter hot oil on my wife’s wrist?” he narrowed his eyes to the plate of chicken.

You don’t know how but you managed to put on a straight face and then, a puzzled face while pointing to the one accused, without sputtering laughter. When you’d been with someone long enough, their jokes become something you just can’t tolerate, sober. Yoongi proceeds to grab the drumstick and rips its flesh to an act fit to be called, ‘angry-eating’. “I’m gonna slaughter you,” Yoongi thought.

“I think I pointed to the wrong one, they all look the same after frying,” you sounded so nonchalant, but the sound of chewing stop from Yoongi’s side. Then he glided his eyes to the rest of the chicken, muttering, “At least they know what happens if you hurt Min Yoongi’s wife.”

“Alright-alright, you’re going to fight the fried chicken for a tiny blister in place for your wife? Cute, but you gotta go to the store and get me some glass noodles. I saw one good recipe in the internet and wanted to try it out,” Hands on each of his shoulders, you whirl him around until you could smack his bum to usher him out the house. He struts outside with a cheeky smile and dug his hand into the pocket of his hoodie, hiding his head under the hood. He didn’t like people much, but he’d do anything to make your day easier. If the wifey wants glass noodles, then she’ll get them glass noodles. He left for something else too.

As he trudges his way there, he saw a familiar face. In the hallways stretching to the lobby where the post box for each residence were. She slips a letter inside.

He didn’t act so rashly and greeted her, because it seemed like she was there uninvited. If you knew she was here, you wouldn’t let her leave without a cup of coffee. Which led to Yoongi to wonder, why have you stopped speaking about her. Her, what was her name, Yoongi pondered. The one with a beauty mark on the side of her lips. Gemini. You always called your friends by their horoscope, instead of their real names. You used to talk about her a lot but somewhere in the span of four to five months, perhaps more, Yoongi couldn’t recall, you suddenly stopped. Yoongi made a mental note to take the letter from the box later when he returns. He wasn’t planning for a long stop at the store and promised to return less than half an hour.

“...that was odd,” he commented when he saw Gemini leaving without stalling any second. Did something happen between the two that he didn’t know about? That must have been it, then. You rarely spoke to him about your days because he was often so preoccupied with his work, so you both were drifting away emotionally, if not physically. That saddens him. Why did he need a reminder every now and then that he is married and is taking care of someone else’s soul apart from his own. He sighed to himself and resumed his route back to the store where he was supposed to be, ten minutes ago.

Maybe its due time that you get yourself a good spa trip.

Your neck and shoulders were suffering from constant stress, you were losing valuable sleep because your legs were having cramps in the middle of the night--and you bet, Yoongi didn’t know any of it. What did you expect? Him to read your mind, and expect him to know what you want without speaking, and communicating, like humans do? This is why you were his headache. You gave yourself a half shake of your head and a lingering smile on your lips, thinking of how ridiculous the concept of love is, in your head. Let’s be honest, Yoongi was your dream husband and your parent’s nightmare. You had emphasized this many times that you would not marry someone you didn’t feel connected with. Your mother called you stubborn, your father couldn’t look at you. But you were firm, and determined that this man is for you and like it or not, Yoongi will be your husband or there will be no discussions of marriage, at all. It frightened them. It was a threat to their neck, and the shame they had to bring themselves for having a child who hadn’t been married at an age where she should. And you had no problem saying yes to any rumor that went around, because making them proud was no longer your goal in life.

The horror of you declaring false affirmations towards rumors like, being a lesbian, or sponsoring younger men, flings for hobby--terrifies them, so they had to say yes to Yoongi. And Yoongi, the gullible one? Thought he was in it because everything was a okay and this was a typical marriage. It was anything but typical.

In the expanse of your acquaintance, Yoongi had gone through a lot of shit. Your step family for example, had come to ram your head to the wall more than once. Put you in false debt, get you running from loan sharks, you were in a mess. Yoongi, being as ever resourceful, offered help wherever he could. Be it lawyers, security guards, relocation, you name it, he had it taken care of. Until one point in life, he said, it would probably be easier if you married him, so you did. You never looked back since then. It was never a crossroad with Yoongi, you knew what you wanted, who you wanted and how you wanted it.

Once your mother invited him home to a family full of distant relatives, and you remembered he was all tensed up because it was a reunion of  a different kind. Why? Because unlike his seemingly ordinary family, your father past job made him able to befriend ex convicts and your grandmother from your mother’s side has ties to the town’s gangster. Your parents were the exact opposites to each other. The literal union of black and white town. You never really bothered on how they met despite being on different side of the law, but it happened, and you came to the world with your stubborn head. You wondered which side that was from.

Yoongi squeezed himself in between your very buff and tall, tattooed-all-over male cousins. Their hair was half shaved to show the tip of a dragon tattoo behind their ear. He looked so out of place. You had to save him because the boys were taunting on him. He puffed his cheeks and followed you to the kitchen. He thirstily gulped over a glass of water, emptying it in one go, his chest heaving up and down. “I like the one in white suit,” he’d suddenly say, “he seems nice…” You glanced over to the person he was referring to and chuckled through your nose. “Really?”

He nodded, innocently. “He was accused of burying four bodies in a mass grave behind his summer house, Yoongi. He’s not nice…” you swirled the remaining liquid in the glass he used and pour yourself another glass of water. “Oh,” he blinks.

“What about that one? He looks pretty young…” Yoongi puckered his lips to the guy in simple t-shirt, holding a bottle of soda. “Armed robbery. At 16,” you smacked your lips together.

Good times, good times. You took the pot away from the stove and set a plate of fried chicken on the dining table. The clock showed 2.05 pm. That store trip was taking him awhile, you thought to yourself. Maybe you could use a shower. The fabric of your shirt had taken up all the smell from the frying. Or maybe wash your hair. Steam escape the rice cooker as it cooks rice and you waddled in a hurry down the hallway again, taking off your shirt midway. 

Yoongi shoved the new set of steel pipe into the basket. Some snacks and glass noodles. He stopped around the pharmacy and staggered for awhile.

Seems like a lot of work for something so trivial, doesn’t it? Just get it and go, his brain barked, but his heart wanted to take some time and make careful decisions so his wife gets only the best. He grabs one box and prayed that it was indeed the best because his intuition says so.

Maybe she’d like some juice, even though we have some at home. Carrot juice? Honeydew? Hmm. He purses his lips and squinted his eyes at all the brands there. Then he felt it.

He felt a pair of eyes on him. He fidgets nervously. It seemed that he had caught someone’s attention. A female. Young. Wearing a J’adore perfume from Dior. That whiff of an intoxicating scent bothered Yoongi and he struggles to decide which one he wanted to take home. Her hair was down, and she had these expensive headphones sitting on her shoulders, her protruding clavicle was so distracting from the reflections in the mirror. And it seemed like she knew she was gathering Yoongi’s subtle attention. She suddenly stumbles closer to him and Yoongi stepped away, with a stagger. A fake fall, Yoongi knows this all too well.

He used the same tactics before. With you.

She, elegantly tucked her hair behind the shell of her multiple pierced ear, with her freshly manicured fingers. Tight leathers, not sneakers but black Nikes on black crop top, in this weather? Yoongi squawked in his head. He reached for one carton of carrot juice and so did she. The nerve of this girl. Her flirting game was off the chart. Yoongi excused himself, his brain running 1000 terabytes in one second, wondering how to break this girl’s heart. This is not his first time being hit on. You were right, his face is a problem. Yoongi switches sides with this determined girl, trying to get another row of the same brand and there she goes, obstructing Yoongi’s right hand path.

This can’t happen. Yoongi remained calm as she bowed and tried to have a conversation about how sorry she isn’t. All the games had been overplayed.

He reaches the carton now with a left hand where his wedding ring shimmers, blinding the girl’s heavily mascara and eyeliner--covered eyes. “Excuse me,” Yoongi spoked through gritty voice and a fake smile, pushing her away with his basket. I’m already taken.

He waddles to the self-service payment counter, as quick as he can and checked himself out with a swipe of his card. The girl stares at his back, feeling bad that someone out there had that fine piece of man as a husband. Better luck next time.

Humming to Trey Songz Already Taken, dancing in your casual tees and pastel blue short, your hair in a towel, you’re washing the coffee jug to make a new one for Yoongi later at night when he’s working. So he that he’d always have one cup when he required them even after you’d fallen asleep. His well being is your utmost priority. The main door swung open to him carrying several bags of items. You quickly set your hands away from the mug and aided him with one or two but he goes sputtering, “This one is heavy, take that one. That one is lighter.” He spoils you to no end.

“Pipes? What for?” You enquired while unbagging the glass noodles and snacks, already smiling to yourself that he bought your favourite snack even when you didn’t ask him to. Can he stop impressing you already? You’re getting tired of falling more and more in love with his romantic ass.

“I’ll worry about that, oh, babe…” his head jerks up as if he remembered something important, “I saw Gemini downstairs, she slipped this into the letterbox without stopping to say hi, I watched her leave.” You inched closer to his side, and took the envelope without much protest. “You met someone? You smell like a girl’s perfume,” you sniffed him out briefly before ripping the tip of the envelope, but stopped and deciding against it. “Some irrelevant tipsy girl decided to stumble next to me…” and you knew from his tone that he’s not trying to butter up the incident, because he knows that he will have no gain from it. “Well enough about that perfume, what happened with Gemini? Or more accurately, between you and Gemini…” Yoongi enquired.

“Nothing important,” you snapped, moving away from him but Yoongi let out a scoff and a smile as he slid his hand down your arm and grappled your wrist in a loose grip, stopping you from going any further. “It’s a long story and it will bore you,” the way you swiveled away from his grasp made him feel uneasy. And he stood still while you pulled the chair out the table so you could have finally have your lunch. “You took a while buying three items,” you wiggled your butt onto the chair and Yoongi joined after washing his hands underneath the faucet. “I got you juice too,” he swirls his spoon around his soup and took a careful, sip because it was still steaming. “...honey,” he said in a warning tone, because he knew you so well to know that you were avoiding something.

“Gemini said something that hurt my feelings, a year ago, and I’d been sitting on it,” you finally let out an exhale, as if you’ve been keeping the feeling to yourself for awhile. “She was speaking to this other friend I had a beef with and I felt like trash,” you hummed. Yoongi peeked at you through his bangs and glasses, chewing the meat slowly, as he listened. He was finally given the change to swim inside the thoughts of his wife and it was a rarely given chance. You were as secretive as he was. But you two loved each other immensely.

“I feel like I still couldn’t forgive her for what she did to me in college.”

Gemini and you were struggling to find a better house to rent for your second semester in that college. Having to pay rent and find money for deposits, you were pretty low on cash, but your parents never knew that because you don’t tell them things.

“Much like how you’re doing to me now,” Yoongi commented.

Now Gemini didn’t help you pay the deposits. And the room was for two, logically she has her part to pay. But she didn’t offer any financial aid, because she saw how financially able you are, with your car and your parent’s job. Aside from the deposit, the rent, and buying food, you also had to pay for gas of the car you took to college that Gemini also took a ride on. You didn’t want to sound petty and ask for gas money, but it was common sense--you thought. Gemini however, clearly came from family that had no sense. Because a little before the second semester study week began, she said she’s moving out.

“She didn’t tell me when she decided to move out, and was like,” you cleared your throat to mimic her high-pitched voice, “I’m moving out tomorrow, my dad will fetch me.”

And what does that bring you? A double rent for the next month, which is due on the same date she’s moving out that she won’t be paying, handling deposits for two people, and running low on cash for gas until the next scholarship fee comes.

“So you had to pay a two person fee for a room? Alone? While she flees home with her dad without spending money on rent? The nerve she had…” Yoongi mutters towards the end. “She also comes back to college with my car, because her father thinks my rented house was closer than the college…” you took one spoonful of food and think lightly of it. “Wow,” Yoongi drawled.

“Let me guess, she didn’t offer money for gas too? Despite you both were students, and you had to pay rent, and pay food and take her home when it’s raining?” Yoongi listed. You nodded, while ripping the kimchi apart with your chopstick, chewing. “How convenient it was for her dad huh… his daughter gets a free ride, doesn’t pay deposit or gas money, leeching off of you?” Yoongi was angrier than you were.

Fast forward another three years, Gemini said she wanted to stay over at your parents because you live in a city with more jobs than her town had. Even after you said that it was your parent’s house and not yours. She shouldn’t have taken the offer no matter what. It was manners and again, common sense.

“But she stayed about a month,” you mumbled. “Without paying rent I guess?” Yoongi shot.

Yoongi stares to you, his wife, thinking how easily you got played by people who only took advantage of you. Just because you look the part. Rich parents, a car and an able body to lean on. It disgusts him.

“She would have stayed longer if I didn’t tell her my mom was furious. My mom didn’t like her because she knew what happened to me during college,” you nodded to yourself. When she left you alone to pay rent and happily live and never really apologized for it. Hoping that the thing will go away in time. “She also broke my toilet cover and my mom’s mug when she was there… during that time, you were still doing that music scraps and sending it over to me to see how I think…” you reminisce. At least there were a few pleasing moments back then.

There was this one time, when you and Gemini weren’t completely speaking to one another, that she came to your house and gave you a pudding and post-it note. You should have felt something, but all you feel was hate. You couldn’t even talk yourself out of it. You left the pudding she made and it went bad. The thing is you don’t even eat pudding. You would have eaten if she didn’t force you to return the typical plastic container it came in. “She wrote, this container isn’t mine, so please return it a.s.a.p.”

“And what did you reply? How?” “I texted her and said, you can get the same plastic container at any store. I’m sorry I can’t return them to you,” you snapped.

She shouldn’t have given it if she wanted you to leave the house and hand them to her. You were under a depressive episode and to do that was rude. Countless times you reminded her that you didn’t want to be disturbed when you’re under such episodes, and after five years of friendship, she still didn’t understand and you stopped wanting to make her understand. You were happier alone. That’s what you decided. Having friends only bring me to my demise, and I’m tired.

Finding out the fact that she had been speaking to your other friend behind your back and proudly tell you about it, was very revolting and unacceptable. No matter what. You didn’t speak behind them about anything. And that’s another story you didn’t want to uncover.

“At the end, I felt like I wasn’t a good friend. I kept hurting, that’s what they told me.And I feel like, if they’re not leaving this ship then I will. They will leave one day, why not now, right?” You shrugged your shoulders and Yoongi casted his eyes downward to your plate. No more conversation about Gemini, but you did open the envelope she gave. It was her engagement party. Yoongi could see it in your eyes that you don’t want to go.

He rubs medicated oil on your feet and massaged your ankle, carefully. The pianist’s nimble fingers working on your nerves felt heavenly, but the contents of the letter didn’t allow you to enjoy it fully, so you set them on the side table and rolled your head back on the headboard, sighing out loud.

“I’m going to Hokkaido on that date, do you want to come with me?” he pinches the nose of your ankle, and dragged them down, sensually and carefully, avoiding your gaze when he asked and finally lifting his face when you were silent.

You carded your fingers through your hair and cocked your head to one side at him, smiling. “We should get separate rooms so you can actually do your work…” you caught him sheepishly smiling at the memories of the last time he took you with him to work.

“I will do no such thing, what will my manager say…” Yoongi rode both palms up your knee and thighs, kneading your flesh with utmost care, leaning his lips down to your centre and lands a kiss against your tummy.

“You were supposed to work right now.” “This is work.” A husband’s duty and Yoongi is a very dedicated family-man.

Yoongi was sitting up next to your sleeping body, and he carefully reaches over the box of burn ointment to put on your blossoming burn wound, and he does it so gently that you barely stirred. He rubs his thumb over the mound so softly, it felt like a fleeting touch, if anything. Yoongi presses a lingering kiss on the side of your temple and brushed his lips against your skin to whisper, “You’re safe with me.” Always.

If there’s any lesson to learn from the story you told, it’s to never piss you off, or be risked losing shelter. Yoongi will forever be happily homebound, as long as he behaves.

#homebound #bts #yoongi #bangtan boys #bts fics #soft yoongi #domestic au #bts fanfic #bts suga #bts fluff #min yoongi #myg #mys bts #bangtan fics #kpop #kpop fanfic #flash fic #fanfiction #bts ff #suga #suga fanfic #yoongi fanfic #husband yoongi #beyond the scene #bulletproof boy scout #bangtan fluff #yoongi x reader #yoongi x y/n #suga x you #suga x reader

[douxreviews]

The Good Place - ‘The Book of Dougs’ Review

By Lamounier

"We're four Oreos from heaven."

It turns out the Soul Squad landed on a side sector of the Good Place, just not the main area.

And that was enough to make Eleanor super anxious. How can you be this close to heaven and not make it? After all they have been through (and she just remembers a tiny portion of it), it's understandable that all she wants is just to rest in peace.

But there is more going on in Eleanor's mind, and it's brought to the surface when Chidi tries to cheer her up (by dressing up as a mailman and looking damn fine) and she bursts into tears. Because she has never been this happy and she fears it will go away. Eleanor never had a meaningful, lasting connection with anyone in her lifetime like the one she has with the members of the Soul Squad, especially with Chidi. She freaked out earlier in the season over the possibility of losing them, and her insecurity pops out here again. But as Chidi tells her, she should focus on the now. I love that quote by Tolstoy because it's so truthful. The past can't be changed and it's naive to think that we can assure the future will be a certain way. We never know what's coming next, and best we can do is live the now, the only time we have any power over. Eleanor gets the message, and since she can't guarantee she will be with Chidi forever, she decides they better off consume their love while they can. And so they hit the sheets.

Another character who has trouble dealing with her emotions is Janet, and it happens after she learns that Jason and Tahani discovered she has feelings for him. She's still exhausted from keeping the four humans inside her void and doesn't want to deal with emotions while pretending to be a Neutral Janet. I loved Tahani trying to take care of the situation, particularly her misguided attempt to end her marriage with Jason. Her certificate was adorable, albeit incorrect. I mean, death literally didn't part them, in fact, it brought them together in the first place, but, okay, that second part she doesn't remember.

I liked the resolution to that subplot, which focused more on the ladies and less on the man in the middle, and I also liked how the three of them just ended up group-crying, no matter how silly Jason's inclusion in the moment was. These people can keep being rebooted and they'll still grow the strongest ties to one another. Although, since we are talking about it, this season better not end on another reboot.

While the humans and Janet worked their issues, Michael continued his journey to save humanity and it was a rather frustrating experience since the Useless Committee of Uselessness did nothing to help him. I mean, 1,400 years to select and align an investigative team? I know the writers were poking fun at endless bureaucracy and supposedly good people that just sit around and do nothing useful, but come on. There you have a demon trying his hardest to save humanity against a bunch of self-proclaimed good guys who do nothing more than pass memorandum to each other saying how concerned they are (that was totally a jab at social media activists, right?). Are those guys just that clueless or are they not really good to begin with?

In any case, Michael realizes through a quick chat with Tahani that the Bad Place isn't tampering with the points system, but in reality the world has become so complex and people so interconnected that being a good person became harder. Buying your grandmother roses would earn a few points 500 years ago, but now it will actually lose you some points, because such an action will indirectly condone pollution of the planet and slavery.

Okay, so, I want to nitpick this a little bit. First, even though we are very connected now, there are still a few groups who are largely disconnected or completely isolated. I understand that the writers of The Good Place live in the super connected side of humanity, but that's not how it is for everyone. However, this is a fantasy show and I can let that issue slide if I assume that in the world of The Good Place everyone is connected, no exceptions. My biggest problem with the logic behind Michael's realization, though, is that our stand against slavery, for instance, is rather new. 500 years ago, slavery was normalized and voices against it were dissonant noises, not the choir. So if today the biggest problem for humanity is how complex the world has become, back then it would be the lack of a more consolidated notion of human rights. In both eras, though, I can see a handful of people making it to the Good Place.

But, again, this is a fantasy show and I'm probably being too dense, because, leaving logic aside, I was rather fascinated by the concept of how far the ramifications of our actions should be taken into our account. People become vegan when they stop and think about how much their eating habits contribute to the abuse of animals. I have a colleague at work who is a vegetarian, so not really a vegan, but he told me he has a few rules, such as buying the most expensive eggs (according to him, the cheaper the egg, the more the chicken suffered). But he'd still be totally forked in the points system, because transportation of the eggs probably polluted atmosphere and so on. We have been speculating for a while the likelihood of the points system setting the bar too high, and now we have proof that's exactly what it does. However, in our real world, should we put our actions under the microscope? Are we to blame for the unintended consequences of our good deeds? I love how this show keeps asking some really interesting moral questions as it takes us along the ride.

Favorite Things/Smells

Eleanor: Typhoon Falls, her favorite water park. "Chlorine, suntan lotion, Band-Aids and a thick cloud of teen hormones."

Chidi: either warm pretzels or the smell of absolute moral truth. They do smell alike, Janet confirmed.

Jason: Black Bortles holding the Super Bowl MVP trophy. Also, weed.

Tahani: a curtain closing between first class and economy.

Doorman: frogs, obviously.

Bonus: Eleanor's tears tasted like the nacho cheese from her favorite movie theater.

Too bad we didn't learn what Janet's and Michael's favorite things/smells were. Janet's would certainly have something to do with Jason.

Other Bits

- There is only one door for humans to enter the Good Place, the official entrance.

- Everything Eleanor used to try to unlock the other door to the Good Place turned to glitter.

- Jason spoke of the time they were in Janet's void as if it had been ages ago.

- Janet worried that her emotions would come out of her butt.

- Michael's jawline is indeed great.

- I'm usually annoyed at characters who are too naive, but Gwendolyn was adorable.

- The note on the champagne Eleanor and Chidi opened said: "Gwendolyn, here's some champagne for you for thanking me for thanking you for thanking me for thanking you for thanking me for the champagne you sent me." I wonder how many champagne bottles Gwendolyn and the writer of that note gave one another.

- Was it me or Jameela's delivery of "but we really didn't deal with my thing" was very Buffy-esque?

- Next stop: IHOP, Interdimensional Hole of Pancakes.

Quotes

Tahani: "Are you sure we're in the actual Good Place? It's rather carpeted."

Jason: "What kind of messed-up place would turn away refugees?"

Tahani: "Jason, you seem thoughtful. And that concerns me."

Jason: "It's nice to know I can talk about girls with my wife."

Chidi: "It's like when my parents would go to a symposium and I would sneak into their office and read the unabridged dictionary." Eleanor: "I can't believe I'm attracted to you."

Chidi: "Is this a horny cry?"

Chidi: "There is a quote I like by Tolstoy. 'There is only one time that is important. Now. It is the only time when we have any power.'" Eleanor: "I know that quote. An unverified Tyra Banks account posted that meme on Instagram." Chidi: "Well, now I hate it."

Michael: "The Titanic is sinking, and they're writing a strongly-worded letter to the iceberg."

Tahani: "There are so many unintended consequences to well-intentioned actions. It feels like a game you can't win."

Janet: "Why are you crying?" Tahani: "I don't know. I'm British, I never cry."

It's so unfair that there are only two more episodes left this season. Three out of four closed doors to heaven.

#The Good Place #Eleanor Shellstrop #Chidi Anagonye #Tahani Al-Jamil #Jason Mendoza #The Good Place Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

[redytofucknow-blog]

A Christmas to Remember

Frank and Olivia had a wonderful marriage. It was so great Olivia decided to share it with Roberto, Sal, and Ox. She wanted dick all the time, and Frank was no match for her sexual needs. So she got what she needed from three men and her husband. Frank was totally unaware of her trysts. Olivia, a raven haired, buxom temptress, had dark brown eyes, dark brown nipples, that seemingly protruded through bras, shirts, even sweaters! She wore yoga pants so tight, you could read her lips, her labia lips, as she did not wear underwear! Men's eyes, and quite a few women's eyes followed her ass like it was magnetic. Her bubble butt, and her very big bust meant she would never ever sleep alone. She was so fine. Frank's job as a Federal Information Technologist sounded better than the reality. He fixed computers for the government, mostly for the FBI and the NSA. He had multiple security clearances, but most of his job was getting rid of porn based viruses, adware and malware. Day in, and day out, people abused the government issued laptops and desktops without remorse! He had to clean it all out. There was a power failure, with no work to do, so he bought some flowers to surprise his lovely wife. He walked in, there she was on top of Ox, a very large black man, she was on all fours, Roberto the Hispanic maintenance guy was in her asshole, and she was being face fucked by Sal, the guy from upstairs. All three guys were married. He got out his phone, this video was going to be needed for his upcoming divorce. The foursome was totally unaware he was even there. He walked around getting better views of his soon to be ex wife's face. He was upset of course, but he was a very methodical man. Pain would come later. So it was a bit of a shock to find his wife fucking three men in their apartment. Frank lost his cool demeanour, told them they had until he loaded the Glock, and then he would use them all as targets. They were all assholes and elbows, getting clothes, and getting out. His beautiful cheating wife was now crying, begging forgiveness, it would never happen again. Of that he was certain, she would be someone else's problem, not his. "Take your worthless scum sucking ass out of here. Get your clothes and leave!" "Where am I supposed to go?" she whined. "Go stay with one of your boyfriends! Oh, wait. Their wives might not take kindly to a slut showing up. Especially one that just fucked her husband. Better go home to mom's house then." "It's ten degrees outside! I'll freeze outside! Please don't throw me out! I'll make it up to you somehow." "Poor planning on your part dosn't constitute an emergency on mine. Get out of here NOW. I can't stand to look at your cheating face. You have pissed me off for the last time. You obviously don't love me. So, get the fuck out. I'll file on Monday, we will be divorced in a couple of months. Get going, you piece of shit!" She whimpered, grabbed a few things and threw them in a carry on bag and out the door she went. He thought, good riddance. But even in the midst of his tirade, he knew she would try to wiggle her way back into his good graces. This time was over the top. She was fucking THREE GUYS for crying out loud! She had been caught before, and promised before, several times. He sent a copy of her coupling to her mom Pamela. Her dad had passed two years ago. Three months ago, her mother Pamela had entered the bathroom while he was peeing and calmly began to clutch and stroke his dick. He was kinda shocked, then turned on, as his mother in law was even more voluptuous than the skank he just threw out. She was on her knees in a heartbeat, sucking his still wet dick for all she was worth. He came in her mouth very quickly, she swallowed it down. She said, "Thank you so much, its been so long since I tasted cum. Thank you, Thank you!" She totally washed his cock in her mouth. She was trying to remove her dress, when he heard his wife on the other side of the door. He kissed his mother in law and said, "Thank You Pam! and walked out. The apple dosen't fall far from tree. The tiny Christmas tree had twinkling lights seemed to be trying to cheer poor Frank up. He was weeping, feeling totally inadequate as far as the female of the species was concerned. He didn't quite understand it. He took good care of her. He made love to her three or four times a week. He always had her come before him. Sometimes he would eat her out for an hour till she got off again and again. Was it his size? He wondered. He was blessed or cursed to have a fairly large penis, very thick and pretty long. She had never complained about it in the seven years they had been together, six as a married couple. Even when she had been caught cheating, she never even mentioned his equipment. He had a theory: She was a slut. In the absence of other evidence, it seemed the most likely theory. She really liked dicks. He thought about her mom. Like mom, like daughter? He would invite her mom over and fuck the shit out of her, and do it in front of the cheating bitch! Evil fantasy #3! The wind was whistling in the front windows. It was cold, even with the heat cranked up. He heard a knock at the door. He opened it to a pair of smurfs. Two women who lived next door were on his doorstep. They were freezing. They really did look almost blue though. Sharon, a buxom blonde lesbian, said,"Wwwwee hhhhaaattte tutto bbboother yyyooou. Ooourrr hhheeat iiiss oouuttt, can wwwee wwwarrm pull hherre fffoorrr a mmmiinnutte ppplleeassse?" He ushered them in. They had on winter coats, and blankets. "Come on in here. For crying out loud, it's Christmas! How about some hot chocolate? Have you two eaten? Ill whip something up for you sit down, get warm." He rubbed their shoulders, Sharon and Liz both.They felt so cold. He got hot chocolate for each of them and made some Chinese vegetables and sauteed chicken pieces. He served it hot. They acted like it was their first food in week! "Frank, you are the nicest guy we know. If I was interested in men, you would be on my list! Except of course that you're married." "Not anymore. I caught her again, this time with three guys at the same time! I gave her the boot. Sent her to her mom's house. I'm filing for divorce on Monday. That is it. I'm done!" He was very close to tears. "Frank, why aren't you eating too? We didn't just eat your dinner did we?" Sharon asked. Some color was back in her cheeks. She was very attractive with full red lips, high cheekbones and wonderful eyes, not to mention her curvy, heavenly body. "It's ok, my guests always come before I do," he said. Liz hugged him. She wasn't quite as buxom, but she was very ravishing nonetheless. She had jet black hair, and flawless olive toned skin. She had hypnotic green eyes that sparkled in the light. Her breasts while not the football size of her partner were still at least a D cup. She had big, thick nipples, that currently were hard as diamonds. They poked through her bra and her knit shirt! "Frank, thank you so much for taking us into your home. If there is ever anything we can do to help you, just name it. I think your wife was very stupid, cheating on a wonderful man like you. I mean, I'm not interested in men. But if I was, you would be high on my list. Why on earth? What got into her?" Liz opined. "Oh I saw with my own eyes what got into her. Thing is, their equipment didn't look any better than mine. I wish you guys could tell me what's wrong with me. I feel completely emasculated by this whole thing. I wasn't enough for her." Sharon keeled down in front of frank and quick as a wink, had his zipper down and his dick out. She was examining it closely. It throbbed in her fingers. "I've only ever seen three cocks up close before, my dad's, my brother's and my only boyfriend's. This one looks way different." "What's the matter with it?" "It's HUGE. Its at least twice as big as the cocks I've seen. I think its nice, but a little scary." "Why scary?" Frank asked. "Men turn into animals when they get excited. You could rape and pillage me with this thing. Ohmygod its getting BIGGER! And harder too!" Frank laughed. "First off, you are watching way too much porn. I'd say 80 to 90 percent of porn is male fantasy; not reality. When you make love, it's all about the other person, not raping and pillaging. I'm not even sure what that is. Are you trying to make me cum?" "May I please suck it? It ... It's like magnetic. I want to put it in my mouth. Please? I don't get to see any dicks being a dyke." "Why would you call yourself that? Isn't that a nasty term. And sure, you can put it in your mouth, don't chew on it, just suck it gently. I am actually close to cumming, so you probably don't want it in your mouth when I cum." "I want to look! I've never held a big dick like this. C'mon. Gimme" Liz seemed excited. She took over stroking, but Sharon still had her hand on the bottom of Frank's dick." "I'm gonna cum!"Frank said. Sharon put the head into her mouth, but you could see the ropes of cum shooting into her mouth. Liz watched in fascinated wonder. "Sharon, don't swallow the jism. I want to taste it!" Liz was adventurous today. Sharon kissed her and they traded his semen. It was so incredibly hot he was hard again in no time. "Holy shit, your hard already!" "It sorta has a mind of it's own." Liz said, "Kinda salty and tangy, but not as bad as I thought. I like it." Sharon looked at Liz. "I want to fuck him. Please?" "NO... Not unless he can fuck us BOTH! I have never had a dick either. It's only fair! "Can you fuck both of us? Can we both cum? TOGETHER?" "Sometimes, it's very tough to get the timing so that two people cum at the same time. But I can fuck you two together!" "What about birth control? You want me to get some condoms?" he asked "We're both on the pill, but for different reasons, but we're good. You could cum in my mouth again. I liked it" Sharon smacked her lips." "First man we share, and you want to eat all the cum. You cum glutton! Gotta share. I get the next load!" Liz did seem to like cum. "How do we start?" "Let's go in the bedroom and get naked and I'll show you." They weren't there two seconds and Liz was bareass naked. Sharon let Frank take off her things slowly, one button at a time. Liz was having none of that. She had the head of Frank's dick in her mouth. She bobbed her head. Frank had Sharon stand up. He started to tongue her cleft. He licked from her asshole to her landing strip. Liz was shaved bare. Her vulva was completely drenched. "Frank I know you're big on long foreplay, but I'm ready to get laid. Can I just jump on your dick PLEASE?!" "If this is your first time, there might some pain involved. Are you ready? If it hurts too much, just tell me" She guided his dick to her labia. She was very wet. Two seconds later, Liz was no longer a virgin. "Oh this feels nice. I've never been so... full. She started to rocking and pumping. In a few minutes as Frank was concentrating on Sharon's pussy, Liz had a big orgasm. She wailed long and loud. It was so delicious and fun! She didn't want to get off Frank's dick. "Who's being the cock glutton now?" Jibed Sharon. The girls switched ends. Frank was having a great time. Sharon was trying to get his big dick in her. She was having problems. So frank switched positions so he could better penetrate her. They were in a sorta missionary position, with her legs held up on his shoulders, high up. He said, "Are you ready?" She nodded and Frank pushed inside her. She screamed, frank was so concerned he stopped. "Don't you dare stop! I just had a wonderful orgasm. My first with a man, ever! Oh frank you are so fuckin good. I know we're just a couple of crazy dykes, but you have made me feel so special. Oh my God I'm gonna... COME AGAIN! UHH! UGH OH FUCK YES. BANG ME FRANK! OOOHHHH FUCK ME GOOD! AAEEEIIIAAHH! WOW!" Frank came as she did. Liz was watching closely, she saw her partner squirt her womanly juices all over the place. "Frank, can you make me squirt too?" "Honey, not all women squirt. Some do, some don't. Not every time either! We'll just have to keep fuckin you until it happens! Practice makes perfect." They all smiled. The bedroom was bathed in the flickering light from the fake electric fireplace. All three laid back in bed. Frank in the middle Sharon on his left, head on his shoulder, Liz on his right, head on his chest. Both girls had a hand on his dick, but he was big enough for that. There was a knock on the front door, then the door opened and closed. Dread was upon Frank as he imagined the fight he was about to have. "Frank, where are you?"a woman's voice, he thought it must be his wife. "There you are Frank, why don't you answer your phone. Why do you have the lesbians in bed with you? Hi Sharon, Hi Liz." It was Pamela, his voluptuous mother in law. "Hello Pamela," he said, "The girls are here because their apartment is like the artic. But while they were here, they took it upon themselves to help me with my depression. They tried to fuck the memory of Olivia out of me. What brings you here, my sexy mother in law?" "I came here to fuck you." "What?" "You heard me. I came here to fuck the shit out of you. A very Merry Christmas fuck. I've wanted you for so long. Every time my dumb slut daughter gets caught cheating, I think, I'll get to be with him this time. I'll finally confess my feelings for him. But every time, like clockwork, she wiggled and worms her way back into your heart. How many times has my daughter fucked someone behind your back? So I'm on a timetable. I figure I have three days before the big softheart takes her back. I'm going to try to convince him otherwise." "Yeah, I'm just an asshole I guess. I keep hoping she will change, this will be the last time she does this. I guess she will NEVER change. I feel so defeated. She dosen't really love me like she should. Or she lets her pussy do the thinking for her. Either way it sucks to be me. Why are you here now though. You really want to fuck me?" "Men are so fuckin dense." She took off her coat, she was naked underneath. She had huge tits, at least 48 DDD or EE. Her nipples were hard as rock and big as Frank's little finger, at least an inch long, and thick. Her areolas were a good four inches wide and puffy from excitement. Her labia was clean shaved and dripping, she was raring to go. She ripped the blanket from them and jumped up on Frank's legs. "Sorry girls, I'm determined to fuck this wonderful man. He makes me so hot just from him looking at me! Frank PLEASE! Take pity on this old broad. Give it to me, I beg of you!" She climbed up over his now very hard dick, and she aimed it for her cunt. She couldn't get it all in at once, but little by little as she stroked and pushed, she stretched out her vaginal walls to accommodate his manhood. For his part, he was twisting and tweaking her nipples as she purred. "Ohmygod Frank, you feel so much better than my fantasy. I've wanted you for seven years. Seven long, fuckin years! You feel wonderful in my snatch, Ohmygod here it comes, I'm... I'm... Gonna COME HARD, really HARD! Yes, Yes, Fuck YES, I'm coming! I'm COMING! Frank I love you. Uhh. Ugh. Uhhhh. Oh aahhh!" She GUSHED, not squirted. She exploded into multiple orgasms. It was the single best sex she had ever had. She collapsed on Frank's chest. The four of them spooned all night, with Frank's front being the sought after real estate. He did get some sleep. But the girls were all over him. He had to admit, they made him feel a lot better. Christmas morning, they were around the tree. He gave the presents he was going to give his wife, well now, forget it. He gave his mother in law a corselet in black leather and lace, and it fit her well. He gave Liz a quarter cup bra, and matching silk panties in white. Sharon got the black brocade one piece, with the trap door bottom. It fit ok. There was a knock on the door. Frank did not dread it this time as he had his shock troops. The key turned in the lock, and there stood his stunning shapely sister in law Beverley. She had just turned twenty. She walked in, in her winter coat and said, "Frank I heard what my stupid ass sister did. Three guys?! How could she do that to you. I'm here because I have a confession to make." She took off her coat and she was naked. Frank sighed, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. This would definitely be a Christmas to remember.

check out more here http://kayleighrees23.5gbfree.com/catchme

#sexstories #adult history #selfienude

[sparklyjojos]

the promised summary of Smoke, Soil or Sacrifices. [tw: a lot of child abuse in a dysfunctional family, mentioned suicide]

--

The narrator is Natsukawa Shirou [ 奈津川 四郎], an ER surgeon working in San Diego. You know the type: workaholic with a god complex, wearing Armani coats and having casual sex left and right, but also constantly sleep-deprived and popping anxiety pills like its candy. He has deep-seated aggression issues that even he himself is afraid of getting out of control, and to manage it he trained boxing for a while before a gang drove him out of the gym (long story). As his name implies, he's the youngest of four brothers - in order of birth: Ichirou [一郎], Jirou [二郎], Saburou [三郎] and him, Shirou [四郎] - but since he's working in the USA, he hasn't seen his family for a while.

One winter day Shirou learns that back in Japan, his mother got seriously hurt and is currently in a coma. He flies back to his Japan hometown, Nishi Akatsuki, meets with an old classmate Takaya Yoshio (who everybody calls “Rupan”, like Lupin the Third, after he once wrote that word instead of ‘renessaince’ on a test), and learns that there’s more to the attack: someone has been attacking the women of Nishi Akatsuki, hitting them in the back of the head and then partially burying them in the ground. None of the five victims died, but most were still unconscious, and no one saw the attacker. Even if his mother is alive, Shirou gets so furious about the attack that he nearly destroys Rupan’s car before he can calm himself down; he really does have violence issues. (Also Rupan is dating a high schooler Yamaguchi Usagi behind his wife’s back and Shirou has a really bad feeling about it).

We learn a little about the Natsukawa family. They’re descended from a German immigrant Hans who left them two things: first, ridiculous for Japanese standards height (the brothers are all >185cm tall); second, a mysterious warehouse with triangle-shaped floor and ceiling that he built next to the family house. Its history is grim: Hans’s son Daimaru (大丸) hanged himself inside the warehouse, and then Daimaru’s son, Maruo (丸雄, the narrator’s father) tended to close one of his kids inside a lot for misbehaving. Shirou remembers Maruo, and thinks about how as a kid he saw that his father’s body was scarred all over, which Maruo claimed was a remainder of injuries from one or another war.

Shirou has a reunion with two of his brothers, Ichirou and Saburou. Jirou, the second oldest, has mysteriously disappeared at 17 and nobody has seen him since, it seems. Ichirou is a politician, just like their father Maruo, while Saburou writes mystery novels starring detective Runbaba 12. (Shirou thinks they’re ridiculous, and remembers one that had the hero looking for his daughter and somehow ending up living with an amnesiac woman and a gay guy, or some nonsense like that.)

---

The serial attacker case is overseen by a Tokyo police officer Marikku Takahiro (真陸隆宏) and a Nagoya prosecutor Shirai Masami (白碑将美), both Shirou’s old schoolmates. Upon learning the facts about the case from them, Shirou figures out something nobody else realized: if on a map of Nishi Akatsuki you draw lines between some houses of the victims, and draw a spiral based on it, it’ll go perfectly through all the victims’ houses. [I’m not sure how to explain it in text, so here’s the map in question -- the numbers are houses:]

Shirou goes to where the origin of the spiral points to, at the shore of the river Shounokawa (not pictured on the map), and finds an empty coffin buried in the ground. He alarms the police and Saburou, who arrives at the scene with his detective friend, Banba Junjirou (番場 潤二郎). [Interestingly enough, he shares the last two kanji of his first name with Jirou, but it isn’t brought up ever -- I don’t know if this coincidence is done just for the sake of having a red herring, or will it be important in a later book]. Saburou often affectionately calls Banba ‘Runbaba’ and it seems he based the character in his books off of him. He originally hired Banba to help find Jirou, the missing brother, but they’ve been unsuccesful so far. Banba doesn’t really do anything useful at the scene, only claiming nonsense like the coffin being actually a time machine.

Shirou learns that the serial attacker always makes a photo of the crime scene and writes some nonsensical letters on it, and always puts an animal plushie in the ground next to the victim (so far: sheep, elephant, lion, sheep, koala). Through some truly inspired reasoning Shirou notices that since the victims were only partially buried, their body parts were always kinda sticking out in a grid pattern, and you can ‘read’ them like syllabary Braiile code. The resulting message is ‘MAMATASUKE’, seemingly a part of ‘mama tasukete’ = ‘help me mom’. And if you treat the letters on the photos as a Caesar cipher key, and pair it in a very complicated way with the names of the victims, you’ll get DRMN / NOBT / SZK / SNEO / GIAN... which looks like nothing, but these are abbreviations of famous kids cartoon characters, eg. the first one is Doraemon. Soon after this discovery, they learn that another victim was attacked (incidentally it’s Marikku’s mother), and the discovered pattern of plushies/words/etc. seems to continue.

Shirou goes to the hospital to visit his mother, meets Ichirou there and they start physically fighting kinda out of nowhere. Not because they hate each other for any reason; just because, it seems, there is something inside them that drives them to violence-as-bonding. After they flee the security, they talk about the case, and wonder if it wasn’t their missing brother Jirou who’s at fault. This conversation sends Shirou on a long trip down memory lane.

---

When Shirou was 9, he took three abandoned puppies home. The brothers were told they couldn’t keep them, and so the puppies eventually got entrusted to Jirou (then 12) so he’d find them a good owner somewhere else, but as he later admitted he’d just drowned them in the river instead. Jirou didn’t seem to care about the horrible thing he did. In fact, he always did horrible things, like breaking windows in other houses or killing and eating the neighbours’ chickens, and their father Maruo always locked him in the triangle warehouse for that. In primary school Jirou enacted long painful revenge on his bullies, and even called the terror he instilled his ‘Days of Creation’, as if the things he did were ‘a seal given to other by God’. But Jirou’s acts were (as present Shirou now thinks) a natural result of the violence that had been bestowed upon him finally exploding.

Jirou had been abused by Maruo ever since he'd been a tiny child; his every mistake was viciously criticized, and he was ‘jokingly’ threatened with getting abandoned in the mountains. After some time Maruo started beating him, and while Jirou pretended like he didn’t care, it was clear he was terrified and in pain. Ichirou as the oldest brother tried to stop Maruo or get outside help, for years and years, but nothing ever worked.

Eventually one day Maruo seemed to see his mistakes, crying promised to do better and embraced the kids (except Ichirou, who was skeptical and didn’t want to take a part in any display like that). Maruo really seemed to behave a little better after that, though mostly he was completely ignoring Jirou now. This caused Jirou to act out in order to get attention, which each time made Maruo close him in the triangle warehouse. Again, Jirou acted like it was nothing, and called the warehouse his ‘summer residence’, even if all of them were terrified of the dark place that was allegedly haunted by their grandfather’s ghost. Eventually Jirou’s actions escalated into committing petty crimes, and then all-out violence, though he drew a line at murder.

It was only after Maruo’s mother’s intervention that Maruo finally moved to Tokyo for some time, leaving the kids in her charge. Ichirou started tutoring Jirou and was surprised to find out that Jirou was actually incredibly smart; the boy could recite entire passages from books after flipping through them once, and draw complicated maps from memory. He still walked the path of violence, though, and once Maruo came back from Tokyo, the boy got hit and locked inside the warehouse a lot again. Because of his deeds Jirou at times seemed positively demonic to our young narrator; he even once recited Shirou a poem he wrote, which basically said ‘hey, remember those puppies? I killed them with a knife’ (actually it was deeper and more interesting than that, with a hidden promise from the poem’s narrator towards the dead puppies that ‘if I became god, you’d be the first ones I revive’, but obviously talking about that event hurt Shirou a lot all on its own). But even then, Shirou recalls he still held love for Jirou; they were brothers, after all.

Time passed. Ichirou moved toward a political career like his father. Saburou got attacked on the street and had his hand broken, which made him paranoid that somebody from the neighborhood / some organized crime group was out to kill him, but he still laughed at Shirou’s suggestion to run away from home (’and where would we run?”). He ended up ditching the piano that he had always loved playing, and instead got into fights a lot. Jirou by the time of high school was very popular among his peers, infamous among the Fukui policemen, had ‘fans’, and often smuggled girls into his bedroom, which again earned him a trip to the warehouse if Maruo caught him.

In 1986, when Jirou was 17, their grandmother (Maruo’s mother, the same who made him leave that one time) was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and stayed in the hospital in constant horrible pain. While Maruo tended to run away from the situation excusing himself with work trips, Jirou unexpectedly stayed by his grandmother’s side every night. On her death bed, she told her grandsons that “no matter how great or rich a person is, death will turn them into smoke, soil or sacrifices; the burned ones turn into smoke, the buried ones into soil, the others into sacrifices for wild beasts.” She apologized that she couldn’t protect the kids better, and that’s it’s her fault for raising Maruo badly. Then, in pain, she suddenly yelled ‘Daimaru, who killed you?!”, and then just before death demanded to see Maruo once more, to tell him that he’s still the one she loved the most in the world -- that last dying line was shocking to everyone, but hurt Jirou the most.

From then on, Jirou and Maruo’s conflict escalated even more, with Jirou for some reason starting to blame Maruo for Daimaru’s sucide. On 19 December the two started a horrible furniture-breaking physical fight while Saburou and Shirou could only helplessly watch. Suddenly their mother entered the scene with a knife in her hand, but she didn’t use it to stop the fight or otherwise help Jirou, who was looking at her with hope. Instead she screamed that it was Jirou she felt like stabbing, that it was all his fault and he should apologize to his father. Jirou didn’t intend to apologize (instead yelling that maybe it’d be better if he’d never been born), and the situation ended in Maruo brutalizing him and still bleeding throwing into the warehouse.

The next morning, Jirou couldn’t be found anywhere, as if he just vanished from the locked warehouse, and if the other brothers were honest, they were actually pretty glad about that.

--

Back in the present day, Shirou notices that the way a victim’s head is positioned always points like an arrow to the next crime scene, and tells Shirai to guard the houses the last victim points to.

Shirou then goes to the hospital once more to check on his mother, and surprises himself by crying a lot. Later he meets a nurse called Hatakida Atena that catches his eye with her red coat, but nothing comes out of it (he’s bad at / afraid of / unable to have anything more intimate than purely sexual relationships going on, it seems). Then his mother is visited by another victim of the case, Satou Ryouko, who tearfully recalls her joyful near-death experience she had after being attacked. She saw bright light, felt a warm god-like presence, then wandered through a giant forest and met the dead poet Raymond Carver that she had no prior knowledge about (she even recites his poem ‘My Death’). An unassuming student called Nozaki Hiroshi approaches them and seems to be very interested in Satou’s experience, asking for an interview, which she agrees to, as she feels the need to share her wonderful experience with the world.

And then there’s this... out-of-nowhere fragment in which Shirou and Ichirou’s wife Rihoko in the spur of the moment have sex in a random hospital closet (they apparently had an affair two years earlier), and some thugs hired by Ichirou’s political opponents snap pics and try to blackmail Shirou, but he fights them like it’s a damn martial arts movie except with more violence (like ‘biting into someone’s jugular’ kind of violence), and Shirou comes out of it alive but in pretty horrible shape, with the photos destroyed, and what the hell was that?

--

Hitching a ride back to town with Marikku, Shirou realizes that it’s possible it’s actually Marikku who’s behind the murders, as the sixth victim was his abusive mother, who it seems has still been inflicting physical abuse on him even after all these years. Maybe Marikku figured out the pattern of the attacks early on, and used it to arrange a copycat crime that’d get blamed on the original culprit? But just as Shirou confronts Marikku, they get into a car accident. Shirou gets some bones broken, while Marikku dies. Shirou isn’t sure whether it was suicide or not, but suspects the original culprit may have wanted to get rid of them -- later an investigation of the wreck proves that somebody tampered with the car.

Saburou and Rupan help Shirou make a daring escape from the hospital, and the brothers are having quite a lot of fun working together during that entire scene, even if Shirou’s injuries are so severe he has to fight his body not to faint from pain at times. Later, as they return to Nishi Akatsuki, Saburou admits that he and detective Banba believe the criminal may be Jirou, back to take revenge on the town (Banba didn’t disclose more information, as apparently he doesn’t like to tell Saburou anything until he has everything figured out). As proof, they found an old paper -- with the exact spiral pattern used in the crime drawn on it -- in the triangle warehouse, so it’s likely Jirou drew that before his disappearance. During the ride the brothers learn from Yamaguchi Usagi that the plushies found with the victims are their corresponding Doubutsu uranai animals (a sort of new hip horoscope that gives you a different animal depending on your date of birth).

Saburou tells Shirou that there’s another link between the victims: the two women that regained consciousness so far both had a Near-Death Experience (Saburou says it’s super interesting and mentions he’d like to use it in another book of his). Shirou thinks that it may not be a coincidence; maybe the attacker intends on giving the victims NDE like it’s some weird modern ritual, and the plushies serve the same purpose as ritual dolls, as empty vessels to which illness or other bad stuff would be passed? Suddenly Shirou remembers that random Nozaki Hiroshi guy who seemed very happy hearing about NDE from one of the victims, and something clicks. Shirou phones Nozaki’s mother and through some seemingly innocent questions (’Was he in Nishi Akatsuki lately? Does he act like this and this? ...Does he like Doraemon?’) realizes that the serial attacker really is Nozaki. They alert Shirai Masami and local media and rush to Nozaki’s house.

But they’re too late. In the house instead of Nozaki they find the body of detective Banba stabbed to death twenty one times, and Nozaki’s parents strangled by their own son. It seems Banba had figured out the solution before everyone else, and came to this house yesterday without telling Saburou. (”Rest in peace, Runbaba 12,” Shirou thinks reflexively.)

--

In the house they find a note from the criminal, who claims to be fulfilling orders of ‘the Great God Jawakutora-sin’ (or Jawakutora-shin), who governs over all human souls, but as those souls are ‘dirty, unaware, unseeing and ignorant’, the god wants to make them clean. The cleansing proccess has to start with mothers, so the next generation of humans would hopefully already be ‘clean’. Apparently Nozaki in his childhood had a NDE himself, saw ‘Jawakutora’s light’ and understood his guidance. The method involves hitting a precise spot at the back of a person’s head. This causes a ‘perfect opening’ in the skull to form, through which the soul can briefly fly out and have a NDE, that is, ‘be shown reality’, and also be shown Jawakutora’s great spiral structure (a spiral being its symbol) -- that’s the spiral on the map of Nishi Akatsuki. Jawakutora also told Nozaki to do all the other things: bury the victims, write the letters on the photos, and use the plushies (’animals who have never been given souls’. Or something).

While this note shows clearly that the culprit is just some religious fanatic, something bugs Shirou, and he still thinks Jirou may be involved, especially since the two dogs of the family were also killed without any reason.

--

After Banba’s death, Saburou mourns him and closes himself alone in the triangle warehouse for long periods of time. This unexpectedly allows him to discover something, and he calls Ichirou and Shirou to the warehouse. (Maruo and his wife at that time have a job-related meeting with a few other people in the house). This something is the mystery of their grandfather Daimaru’s death.

As Saburou points out, the old stains left from the corpse’s bodily fluids are spread over a significant area, in an arc, which would mean that the hanging corpse had to somehow move around in a circle. Saburou found out that the ceiling of the warehouse can be moved, independently of the walls, by pressing a hidden button. The ceiling rotates in such a way that the building seen from above eventually looks like a 6-pointed star, which was the warehouse’s purpose in the first place: apparently, their great-grandfather Hans was secretly Jewish, and while he was afraid of persecution if he showed his identity outright, he constructed this mechanism as a great big fuck you to the bigoted society who had no clue a giant Star of David was right under their noses.

When the ceiling is moved, there are large enough gaps in some places that a person can fit through; that’s how both Jirou and Daimaru’s murderer could get out. Yes, Daimaru was actually murdered -- by his own son Maruo, the son that he had abused for years and years. That abuse was what gave Maruo his scars. The violence instilled on him, which he then passed to his own sons...

While the brothers talk in the warehouse unaware of anything else, Nozaki sneaks into the main house and stabs everyone he runs into, eventually wounding every single person there. Maruo manages to dodge him and runs towards the warehouse, and in the heated moment yells, ‘Ichirou, Jirou, Saburou, Shirou! Run!”. The names of all his sons.

The brothers run out and see Nozaki stab Maruo, and as Ichirou moves to help his father he also gets injured. This makes the other two brothers’ blood boil and they fight Nozaki, with Shirou eventually using the attacker’s own knife to stab him. But Shirou’s job isn’t done yet: with help of Saburou he gets everyone moved to one spot, grabs his doctor bag, and through his sheer skills of an ER surgeon, lightning fast decisions and improvising on the spot, he manages to keep everyone including Maruo and Ichirou alive until the ambulance arrives. [And it’s fucking amazing to read.]

--

After Shirou heals physically (he did run away from the hospital earlier, after all), he goes to Rupan’s wife Takaya Mari, who’s a psychologist, and makes the first step on his way to heal emotionally. He cries like a baby throughout the entire session, finally lets so many emotions pour out chaotically out of him, and leaves with a lot of things in his head finally sorted out.

Later through his own investigation he learns that Jirou is alive and well, now working in the Ministry of Finances under the name ‘Kawaji Natsurou’, which is so obviously an anagram of ‘Natsukawa Jirou’ it’s surprising nobody noticed.

...but another romaji spelling of Jirou’s name (’Natsukawa Jiro’) is also an anagram for ‘Jawakutora-sin”, and Shirou now understands who was the mastermind behind Nozaki’s actions; who wanted to enact revenge on the mother who in a critical moment turned against him, and most likely on the entire family sooner or later. ...Although Shirou has a feeling he won’t try anything like that anymore.

During the therapy session, Shirou expresses forgiveness towards his father, and wonders whether or not this quick forgiveness isn’t just a foolish decision made in spur of the moment, under strong emotions... but after he heard Maruo yell all their names trying to save them in a similar moment of emotions, he has a feeling things will get better. Shirou’s mother hasn’t woken up yet, but he’s sure she’ll come out of that wonderful giant forest eventually. The force putting their family together is powerful like gravity -- whether this power won’t just bring another disaster, nobody can tell. Certainly, it’s best if Jirou still keeps as far away from them as it’s possible. Maybe it’d be for the best if every single one of them stayed apart, never had children, and let this cursed family be finally destroyed; maybe it’d be for the best if all that remained was smoke, soil or sacrifices. But it’s not the time to think about death. For now, what matters is that they’re all alive and have to try and keep on living.

In the end, Shirou calls Atena (the nurse from earlier) and asks her to sleep with him -- literally sleep with him, mostly -- and with the warm and safety, and another person’s heartbeat so close by, he can finally sleep calmly.

#maijo and jdc stuff #this book was actually pretty wholesome? #it had some rough patches but I liked it overall #long post

[safasaf2018]

Day 8 & 9 - 6/9/18 & 6/10/18

Apologies for the abrupt ending yesterday! I really wanted to be in the moment enjoying where I was, and not typing on my laptop in the shade. So now we’re back on campus! It’s 5:04 PM and I’m at the café so I can write about everything that happened yesterday and today. 

Alright so yesterday like I said we woke up early to leave the first hotel and head to the second one, right on the edge of the desert where the camels would pick us up. Our first stop was at a small artisan shop somewhere on the way there. We all bought head scarves for the desert, and many of us bought necklaces, including me. All the necklaces we got are variations of a tool that ancient Berber tribes used to navigate in the desert based on star placement. Some of us also got little containers designed especially for holding desert sand as a souvenir. The workers showed us how to wrap our head scarves, even though we all forgot right afterwards, and we left again. Shortly after that was our second stop, a fossil and mineral museum. The Sahara desert used to be the ocean floor, so Morocco is overflowing with natural minerals and fossils that are all surfacing as desertification reveals them. The worker at the museum gave us a tour. It was three rows of displays, ordered chronologically. He was obviously very very knowledgeable in his field, and very passionate about geology and archeology, which made it more interesting. They had single dinosaur claws bigger than my dog, tiny fish fossils, literally everything you could imagine, and it had all been found locally. I also learned that last year the oldest human remains we’ve discovered so far were found in Morocco! Anyways we finished the tour and then the really cool part came, where he took us to the back of the museum outside and showed us the process of finding, identifying, carving out, and polishing fossils and minerals/geodes to make them ready to display. Most of their fossils aren’t polished, but even without that step it’s a tedious process. The first step was tables full of raw minerals and rocks with fossils presumably inside of them, followed by piles of even more on the ground next to them that hadn’t been organized yet. He showed us clues to look at in the rock itself to know that a fossil could be inside. Next were similar piles, but with the rocks cracked open at exactly the right spot to reveal the fossil inside. After that was a small area with very very very fine tipped machines to carve or dust away the rock perfectly around the fossil to uncover it, and finally a line of workers outside buffing and polishing geodes and crystals for jewelry, paperweights, etc. He then brought us to a back room where they had hundreds and I mean hundreds of smaller fossils for sale, meticulously carved out and perfectly presented. They also had cutting boards, cheese platters, clocks, mirrors, and table/counter tops made out of some polished stone where you could SEE the fossils all throughout it. It looked like marble or some light colored stone, and there were fish and plants covering the surface, our professor bought a cheeseboard for his wife as per her request! It was so impressive, by far the coolest tour of a fossil/mineral museum I’ve ever personally received. A few students bought crystal or other stone/mineral necklaces there, and then we got in the bus and left. And finally we arrived at the next hotel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was 2:00 pm and very hot, so we went directly to the pool, changed into our bathing suits (the first time we didn’t have to worry about modesty in public because the hotel workers are used to tourists wearing whatever they normally wear), and jumped in the water, tanned, read in the shade, ordered cold drinks, staged photoshoots for each other, etc until lunch time. Lunch was served by the pool, and consisted of a fresh salad followed by a Berber omelette with cheese and tomatoes, chicken skewers and french fires, and then fresh fruit for desert. After lunch we went right back to what we were doing. For one of the students I got into the pool to take pictures of her sitting on the edge of the pool from the water, and then everybody wanted pictures like that so I spent about 45 minutes walking around chest-deep in the pool taking pictures of people, it was honestly so much fun. I love being able to take pictures of people and help them feel confident about themselves. After a few hours we had to start packing up to get ready to leave, and finally the camels arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We walked around back and 13 camels were lying down waiting for us. The men leading them helped us all put on our head scarves, we each chose a camel, got on, took pictures, said goodbye to our professor, and were off! Camel saddles are most definitely not designed for comfort, but it was without a doubt one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It ended up being about a two hour ride and although we were all sore and exhausted when we finally arrived I don’t think any of us would have changed a thing. In the very beginning we were all laughing and taking pictures, the guides were taking our phones one by one and getting pictures of us from further away, we were all freaking out. The camels were tied together, so we got to get pretty close to the people in front of and behind us! After the initial excitement, we all fell completely silent, in shock and bliss about our surroundings. This was about 5:30 pm, so the golden hour. Only about 10 minutes in we were already out of sight of the hotel because it was blocked by dunes, and it was truly blissful. So we all rode in silence for quite a while, soaking in the entire experience. When that eventually inevitably wore off (we are still teenagers after all) we started our new version of the game Telephone. The person leading the caravan would say something to the person behind them, and down the line until the very last person and we would see how messed up it got. It took forever and was pretty dysfunctional but it passed time and made us all laugh. I asked the guide if the camels had a name, and found out that mine was named Bob! Victor, the student in front of me, was riding Jimmy, and Brandon behind me was riding Tamu. Tamu kept coming close enough to Bob where he was just walking next to my hips and I could pet him, so I may go so far as to say that Tamu and I bonded more than Bob, he was SUCH a sweetheart. For the most part all of the camels were so well behaved. The camel at the back of my caravan that my friend Jack was on, named Vicky, was older I think, because she absolutely screamed whenever she had to lie down or stand up, I felt so bad. But no one fell or slipped on the way there, so it was successful! We all had to get used to the movements of camel riding - sit back in the saddle and lean forward when going uphill, hold on to the back of the saddle and lean back when going downhill, etc. For the most part we were all pretty awkward and stiff, holding onto the handle on the front of the saddle. Anyways we finally arrived at this tented community out of the middle of nowhere in between the dunes. The guides let us off a short ways away from the tents so we could walk up a dune and watch the sunset (one of the hardest workouts of my life) and then walk back to the camp afterwards. Some of the students were too tired or dizzy so they went back to camp immediately. After the sunset we walked to the tents and were led to an outside area in the middle that was surrounded by our rooms. The tents were really a structure covered in carpets and drapes that was divided into rooms, it was very impressive. The middle area where we were had a fireplace in the middle, big cough cushions in a circle to one side, and the entire community was covered in beautiful rugs to walk on as a trail through it over the sand. We all sat down there as one by one students came back from the sunset, and drank Moroccan mint tea. When everyone was back we played Never Have I Ever, a fun get to know you game, until dinner was served. There was one more group there with us, just two Japanese women who kept to themselves. Dinner was traditional Moroccan salad, tajine (roasted meat and vegetables), bread, and fresh fruit for desert. At dinner we played another more interesting game called Paranoia that isn’t necessarily get to know you game, but definitely a bonding game. We continued Paranoia after dinner in the common area again, until the people who lived/worked there came to the common area with drums and put on a show for us. After a few songs they backed up and said, “Okay! Now your turn!” I ran up immediately and made others come up with me. We honestly gave an honest attempt at doing a drum circle ourselves, but fell quite short. So two of them came up and did something simple on a drum that we were all to replicate while they then did fancier stuff around it. One of them sat next to me and when I was struggling with one of the drumming patterns he helped me figure it out, which I did pretty well, so he then challenged me to keep up with him as he went faster and faster and faster and I did really well!! He did still win though. Anyways then we drummed with them for longer, until they told us to sing. Kimberly and I sang Hey Jude and Just The Way You Are while they drummed in the background. Then they said “Dance!” so we got up and started dancing while they were drumming. I was curious to know if there was a traditional dance so I asked them, and they said there was but neither of them wanted to show us. They were both relatively young, and each one kept saying, “He’s better at it! He’ll show you! Not me.” it was pretty funny. In the end neither of them showed it to us, but it was still an unforgettable hour or so that I’m really really happy happened. Then we all sat back down on our cushions which we had formed into a tighter circle, and they sat talking on the other side of the area. We switched back to Never Have I Ever, which naturally started as funny/embarrassing stories, but eventually Danielle said, “Never have I ever felt that I didn’t belong at Yale” so whoever had felt that way at some point had to clap and put a finger down. A few students clapped and so did I, so Danielle asked us to elaborate. For most of them it was the social/partying scene, which was either too much or not enough for them, but when they got to me I said that it was mostly because of my financial situation and how I grew up, how I feel like a lot of students there grew up with parents in politics, or parents who went to Yale, or either way in an environment that very much resembled Yale, whereas I felt hugely unprepared and out of place on campus at times. That turned into a really really long talk where upperclassmen with similar backgrounds gave me advice, people asked me questions and to elaborate on certain things, etc. Then I apologized for sucking the air out of the game, and everyone reassured me that it was fine, and we naturally transitioned into a much deeper conversation rhythm where we talked in depth about feeling out of place on campus, how we juggle family life and Yale life, self care, so many deep topics that felt indescribably incredible to hash out under the stars in the Sahara at 1 AM with a bunch of Yale students. Very Breakfast Club-y. At about 2 AM some people had started to lie down on the cushions or even go into their huts, but many of us had absolutely no intention of sleeping. We went out of our tent space and found the group of Berbers all lying in a circle surrounding one of their phones on which they were playing Parcheesi! They asked if we wanted a rug to lie down on to look at the stars, because there were lights in the common area, so we all lied down on a long rug and looked up at the most stars I’ve ever seen in my entire life. There were countless shooting stars as well, and the temperature was so perfect. We couldn’t see the moon because it was below the horizon, but we didn’t know that, so we had Shâdy ask the Berbers if they knew where it was. The first time they answered, “She’s with her friends.” and the second time they answered, “She went to the mosque to pray!” so they were obviously pretty humorous fellows. Some of us also asked them if they knew how to use our necklaces to navigate and they told us that they knew what the necklaces were, but had no idea how to use them. We were out there for about a half hour and then all went back, but when some people seriously started going to sleep, the rest of us went back to the rug so we could talk without disturbing them. It was starting to get chillier so we brought blankets this time, and as it got later we naturally broke into pairs. Kimberly and Iskandar were together talking about something, and Victor and I were together talking about music. We had been talking about music earlier so we actually got out our phones and earbuds and started to show each other the songs we were talking about. We would take turns putting on a song that we thought perfectly captured the moment and then listen in silence, talking in the moments in between songs. We all did this for about two hours. At 4:00 AM we got up and woke up the others, packed up, and left on camel back. Again I wish more than anything that I could capture the feeling of leaning back on the cushion with Victor looking up at the stars listening to an eerily accurate song, or sitting around the teapot with my peers revealing ourselves to each other and learning how similar we all are, or literally any single moment from this weekend. Our professor told us that the Sahara trip was normally a very defining moment for the students in terms of bonding with a visible change in group closeness afterwards, especially this year since we all spent the night out there alone! The 5 people who were in my caravan and I all got on our same camels which was nice, only this time I know that at least I was much more comfortable, like weirdly so. Not right at first, initially I was still stiff and awkward, but something about being so tired, having just pulled an all nighter in the desert, being familiar with not only camel riding, but with the exact camel I was riding, and the fact that no one was caring about photos or how we looked anymore, it was honestly magical I don’t know how to explain it. I took off my sandals so I could feel Bob’s fur with my bare feet, I had my sweatshirt and head scarf on, and I learned to maintain my balance by just using my legs and feet and squeezing and leaning etc, instead of awkwardly holding onto the large handle in front of me. It felt so wildly different, so much better, more natural, more intimate with the animal, more intimate with the environment, I really don’t know how to explain it!!! I was Paikea and Bob was my whale. Early on in the walk they stopped and we all got off and they pointed up a small sand dune where we could walk up and watch the breathtaking sunrise. We got back on our camels after that and I listened to some of the music Victor had introduced me to in one ear so that the other ear could still here the wind, the camels, the sand, etc. It may honestly be the most at peace and blissful and “set” and natural I have ever felt, and I will forever be chasing that feeling in any way that I can. 

When we got back to the hotel we got off our camels, said goodbye to them and our guides, showered, packed up, ate a delicious Moroccan version of a continental breakfast (fresh fruit, flatbread, sauces, coffee, orange juice) and left. The bus ride was very very quiet as we were all either passed out or just quietly looking out the windows soaking in everything that had happened. At least I know that’s what I was doing, there was no way I could sleep. At one point I turned on “Fare Thee Well Love” on repeat and turned the volume up. It’s something I do when I’m traveling or sometimes just when I’m at home doing nothing, but especially when traveling, when I want to feel Daddy with me, and it worked. We stopped at a rest stop to buy snacks and then at the same beautiful restaurant as before for lunch, after which I was finally sleepy enough to nap off and on, and after a very very long ride arrived at the university. We all went to our rooms to shower (not everyone showered at the hotel) or nap, and I actually had a long talk with my roommate half in French half in English about tattoos, Moroccan identity and culture, boys in Morocco, her and how she feels about Morocco and life in general, etc. It was so nice to finally FINALLY connect with her, and then I showered and now I’m at the café! 

I wish so badly I could post pictures and videos on here, I’m going to try to figure it out as soon as possible. But for now I feel full to the brim of happiness and peace from not only the insanely spiritual experience I had in the desert, but also the long talks with the other students, the advice, the listening, everything. Despite being the most sore I’ve ever been in my entire life, I don’t think I could feel more at peace right now. 

But time to change that, because I have to go do homework!!!!!! Peace out.