#of course the clothes are all hand made or thrifted or mended and all of the jewelry is either fake stolen or won in games of poker or pool

[sumersprkl]

I feel like the Taaco twins' senses of personal style developed because every time Lup wanted to jump into the middle of some stupid shit, she'd hand Taako all of her accessories for safekeeping and he'd just... Put them on.

They wear matching outfits not to be some kind of weird twin stereotype but because Taako needs to be prepared to wear anything Lup has on at a moment's notice.

Pretty soon they'd have arguments about who owns any single piece of jewelry because Lup swears she bought it for herself but it's been an essential part of Taako's wardrobe for 50 years.

So by the time they get to Faerun at the end of the Stolen Century, Lup looks like she walked out of a streetwear fashion magazine except that her only accessories are a jacket and MAYBE a pair of sunglasses, and Taako jangles when he walks under the weight of all his jewelry.

#of course the clothes are all hand made or thrifted or mended and all of the jewelry is either fake stolen or won in games of poker or pool #because it's the taaco twins #taz balance #taz #the adventure zone #lup taaco #lup taz #taako taaco #taz lup #taz taako #taako taz

[sapphicteaparty]

i've NEVER seen a single good faith discussions about pleather on this website and i want ppl to think critically for one second about the way businesses talk about their products. "vegan leather" is purely a marketing term and nothing else. it was invented by the fashion industry and it has nothing to do with vegans or veganism.

"vegan leather" is basically made of polyester (a type of plastic), but crucially a lot of clothes nowadays are made of polyester either fully or partially because it's cheaper to produce. so of course clothing companies are going to be producing and marketing things that make them more money.

these products are not even targeting vegans, they're making an average customer feel better about their purchases, same way they are now putting "eco" labels on some of their organic cotton clothing. it's just greenwashing. NOTHING in fast fashion is eco friendly in any way - this whole industry is extremely wasteful an exploitative on every level. when are ppl going to realize that these companies just say anything they can to make it seem like they care about anything other than their profit margins. because they don't.

my wish is that ppl that talk about how bad pleather is and how vegans are apparently responsible for all of the microplastic pollution in the world also talked or cared even a little bit about the absolutely horrific abuse and exploitation that happens in the clothing and fast fashion industry. talk about how this industry consistently fails (or outright refuses) to pay its workers a living wage or how they don't provide them humane working conditions - and how that led to thousands of garment workers dying and getting injured when a garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh (and that's not the only tragedy this industry is directly responsible for).

also microplastics are only the tip of the iceberg if you want to talk about the pollution that the clothing industry is responsible for (toxic chemicals and pesticides used in cotton production, garment dyes, the disposal of textile waste etc) - all of which has direct human costs tied to it.

but if your only concern ever was microplastics that clothes can shed then great! avoid all polyester and plastic clothing. but did you know textiles aren't even the primary microplastic contaminants? it's plastic bags, bottles and fishing nets by far. most ppl can't always avoid these plastic items in daily life. but do you eat fish? vegans don't.

i'm just so tired of the pleather discussion focusing on the wrong thing (vegans) when there are so many more aspects about the clothing industry and plastic pollution that never get addressed when they should. and the amount of misinformation on these topics is just laughable at this point. ppl sure enjoy reblogging posts that confirm their biases and free them from having to critically engage with complicated issues because it's so easy to just blame a group of ppl for it.

anyway if you're concerned about ethical clothing (i hope you are) then basically these are your best options:

wear what you already have and don't buy new clothes unless necessary

get second hand clothes

get upcycled clothes

this may seem a bit extreme but these are the only options that don't result in new clothes and textiles being produced because there is an overproduction issue in the clothing industry which is why over 80% of clothes end up in landfills. obviously these options aren't viable for everyone all the time but if the goal is sustainability then that's just the reality of things for now.

you can also do things like mend your clothes so they last longer, learn to sew to make your own clothes etc all of that is better than buying new clothes. donating clothes to a thrift store is also not ideal since they get so many donations that a lot of it ends up in a landfill anyway and recycling clothes is also not straightforward or even possible in a lot of cases. so not buying new/more clothes is the most environmentally friendly option. and before you go no ethical consumption under capitalism blah blah yeah we know. doesn't mean you are powerless and have no choices in anything ever.

please learn more about microplastics, the clothing/textile industry and veganism before you uncritically reblog another misinformed post about "vegan leather" or microplastics. also please don't uncritically believe what i wrote here either. if you're seriously interested in these topics then your source for this information shouldn't be some tumblr post in the first place. there are lot of studies, documentaries and articles about all the things i mentioned. i'm not a researcher or a scientist, so don't ask me. i'm just tired.

#vegan leather #veganism #pleather #fast fashion #long post #not interested in discussion tbh #i'm just venting #do ppl that are obsessed with pleather even read clothing labels #do you know where your clothes were made #do you know who made them #and do you know how much they were paid for their labor? #why aren't you mad about that

[just-antithings]

(Big of a long one, sorry)

I just came across another one of those "if you put your Hogwarts houses in your bio you're a terf" posts, and in the tags one of the people was talking about how they had a Gryffindor tshirt that was their favourite thing to wear which they just threw away because they'd rather never have such a thing touch them again. Fair enough, what anyone is comfortable with in their personal life is none of my business. But it did remind me of something similar that happened with me.

I own a perfectly good Fantastic Beasts t-shirt. It's the kind that has a simple design and good enough material to last YEARS. I did, of course, buy it before I knew about all this JKR business. Then couple of years ago I was faced with the fact that I own some HP merch and the dilemma of whether or not I should throw it away. This surprisingly came down to a moment where I properly understood and defined my own politics to myself.

At the same time that I had some people in my circles insisting on these performative measures, I was also learning about fast fashion and the very real impacts of clothing trends on the environment. After reading up on it enough and seeing the gross appropriation of "thrifting", it became obvious that the solution is to "reduce" waste, to stop buying more clothes than you need, to stop throwing away perfectly good clothes, to stitch up clothing that needs mending instead of replacing it, etc. The best clothing for the environment is the one already in your closet. That idea. Was I going to make an exception in this case and throw away this t-shirt because someone might think me a class traitor for it, even though whether I keep it or discard it doesn't actually change the support JKR doe or doesn't have anymore? On the one hand it was just one tshirt and it would keep me safe from my peers in those liberal circles. On the other hand it made me feel shame like i had never felt before. It reminded me of every other performative thing I've done in the name of activism and how little it has amounted to. I'm the kind of person who still has my wardrobe from five years ago almost intact with very few changes. Wasteful consumption has a very real cost and I don't do that anymore, so when it came down to tossing that tshirt out it ended up meaning more than it should have. I kept the tshirt. It's still in great shape, it's gonna last many years more as well and save me that much more consumption waste.

What if i had given it away? Would some random person who hasn't ever heard of the JKR drama (consider: I'm not from the West) suddenly become a Terf by wearing it? Would it keep HP and JKR relevant because some person who hardly even knows HP is now wearing a second hand tshirt from someone? When I went to another trans friend's house, who has been there for the community every single day, who has worked hard at the ground levels to create safe spaces for queer people, who has advocated for trans rights in our country, and when i saw their HP merch, what kind of an asshole would I be to call them out on it or say that I suddenly don't trust them because they made a reference to some book we all read as kids? In that moment, sitting with that friend, I also realised how far removed our day-to-day lives actually are from what was considered activism in online spaces. The latter can be great when it's about spreading information and having discussions. But something that reeks that much of simply a performance? Idk, I don't think people talking about HP in their daily lives or wearing an old Gryffindor tshirt or reblogging a gif has as much power over the queer struggle as people here seem to think. It's getting a bit annoying how because I see more posts talking about HP just to tell people who are engaging with it to die than i see actual posts by people just talking about the book. I think the former are the ones actually keeping it more relevant than it is

.

#mod erin #ask #posted without comment

[lovely--lover]

Edward Nashton with a Seamstress

Request: Edward Nashton with a seamstress s/o who likes to help make some of his gear and repair his clothes. Thank you @callsigncrash 

❔Eddie is a little chunky and gets almost all his clothes secondhand so he is prone to holes and tears in his clothing. So he would adore it if his partner could mend his clothing

❔He will approach you with red cheeks the clothing item folded in his hands. “My shirt ripped again....”

❔Every time he looks at a mended seam or added patch he thinks of you and the love you sewed into it. 

❔It can get quite cold in Gotham so you make Eddie a new set of gloves and a scarf (green of course💚 )

❔Eddie ask you to teach him how to sew so that he can fix his own clothes when you are busy. 

❔One day you meet him at the dinner and he has bandages all over his fingers. When you ask what happened Eddie tells you how he tried to fix the ripped seam in his slacks but he kept stabbing his fingers 🥺

❔You upcycle thrifted clothes into matching outfits for you and Eddie!! Eddie loves wearing them in public with you because it is a silent way of showing everyone who sees that you are his.

❔Eddies blankets definitely have holes them so you add colorful patches, cut into hearts, to mend them. His blanket is now covered in a rainbow of hearts 

The Riddler

❔”Can you sew leather?” 

❔Eddie comes to you with his mask design that is scribbled on a crumpled up piece of paper. The design was difficult to understand so you add your own changes to the mask.

❔When you show Eddie the mask he squeals “It is so much better than I could have ever imagined!” He tries it on immediately (makes you take the iconic polaroid photo 🤭)

❔You make mini shirts for his rats and he gets mad 🙄 “Why did you sew names on them?” “Because those are their names...” (your rat privileges are revoked😔 ) 

❔Ask you to add the question mark design onto his his jacket. He shows you the different question marks he made. “Which one looks the coolest.....it needs to be simple but also me?”

❔You gift his a teddy bear with a mini Riddler outfit that you handmade (you’ve got build a bear at home😊 )

Masterlist

I hope it’s not too short and you enjoy!!

@sapphicandserendipityy @mufnasa

#edward nashton #edward nashton imagine #edward nashton x reader #The Riddler #the riddler x reader #the riddler imagine #paul dano #paul dano imagine #paul dano x reader #paul dano character

[teethhunter]

Better than a Dream

Rosegarden Secret Santa Gift for @jealouscartoonist  based of their Cinderella AU

The kingdom was absolutely bustling with news of the Grand Ball.

Rumor had it that this event was to find a proper suitor for the Crown Prince, Oscar.

It was to be the largest event of the decade, more open  to the public than many events but also with many important and influential people planning to come. There was much talk of the preparations happening at the palace in the weeks leading up to the event as even those with no plans or no means to attend enjoyed participating in the excitement.

Many were sent into a tizzy of daydreams of meeting the love of their life at the ball. With all that talk about the prince those daydreams tended to prominently feature him. For some the daydreams morphed into full on scheming and for others they remained fun fantasies that filled the streets with quiet whispers and giggles of just how romantic it would be to get a moment alone with such a charming and handsome prince.

The rumors, however fun, were patently false.

Yes this was to be an event of massive proportions and King Ozpin certainly hoped that a few people might find a spark of romance for themselves that night but he wasn’t doing this to marry off his adoptive son to the first or most enthusiastic party-goer who made a move.

“Just because that wasn’t what you meant to do, doesn’t mean they won’t try.” Oscar pointed out, voicing his anxieties as the day of the ball grew closer.

“Ah but that’s just part of the fun!” Ozpin replied, a far too pleased look on his face.

“Fun for you maybe…”

“And fun for everyone else too. They are making their own fairytales that prominently feature themselves. The human imagination is a wonderful thing.”

Oscar sighed, he should have known that a chat with Ozpin wouldn’t exactly quell his fears in a normal way but it did sort of help even so, just a little bit. “You’re sure I have to go?”

“You’ve never had a miserable time at a party thus far. You can see your friends, maybe meet someone new… Just try to celebrate with everyone.”

In this kingdom still bustling about a ball lived a beautiful girl named Ruby Rose.

Ruby had never been to a ball. In fact Ruby couldn’t at all recall attending a party where she didn’t have to do all the prep work and clean up, only getting scraps of the food that was served.

She lived in a lovely house with her stepmother Salem, and her two stepsisters, Cinder and Neo. Despite the high status of the family and the fact that they could more than afford to hire servants, Salem treated Ruby as nothing but a scullery maid herself. She made Ruby do all the work around the house while Cinder and Neo did seemingly everything they could to make it more difficult. Cinder was more direct in her ways of showing disdain, she would make huge messes right when Ruby had something important to do,or she would burn Ruby’s possessions for fun. Neo was more subtle, waiting until no one was looking to set up situations that would frame Ruby as having messed up. Putting bleach into the wash with the dark clothing Ruby was cleaning, or slipping an ingredient someone in the family was mildly allergic to into a meal Ruby was preparing.

Ruby had grown rather numb to all their antics after dealing with them for so long.

The step family was of course planning on going to the ball and all the talk of the prince looking to find a suitor had certainly gotten back to them. For the last month Salem had been coaching Cinder in this elaborate scheme to catch the prince’s attention, ensuring that they had planned down to the last little detail.

Ruby thought it all a little silly because no matter how much they planned there was always a change that Cinder wouldn’t run into the prince at all, or he wouldn’t like her if he did meet her, maybe even see through that thin veneer of faked kindness to how cruel Cinder could actually be.

None of that was Ruby’s problem though and she had the sense to not voice any of these opinions. She had other things on her mind.

For the first time in her life she was going to go to a ball. Salem had given permission (however offhandedly, it was still a yes!).

For years, during her limited free time she would work at Pietro’s mechanic shop in town to earn money. She had a certain talent for weapon repairs which were nearly always a necessity for anyone traveling outside the city limits where beasts and bandits lurked.

Most of the money she earned at this job was tucked away to someday move far away from her stepfamily but for the last few months she had saved up the money and bought herself a lovely dress. The style of it might have been a bit unconventional- particularly when in combination with the boots she was planning to wear with it- but the fabric was silky to the touch and a deep red color and trimmed with an intricate lace at the hem. She was incredibly proud to have this tangible proof of the work she had put in to get to this point.

The morning before the ball, Ruby woke up early to go to the market to do the grocery shopping. She knew if she wanted time to get ready she would have to get all of her chores done as quickly as possible because here was always a chance Salem would add new tasks to the list.

The excitement in the air was palpable everywhere she went. It was the only thing anyone around was talking about it seemed. Normally Ruby was happy to talk idly with the owners of the various food stalls but today she just nodded along politely as she filled her basket, not lingering for the chit-chat.

Ruby arrived home, basket heavy with produce heavy on her arm, with plenty of time to complete the rest of her chores. She put away all the food and went immediately to cleaning. She took extra care to avoid her step family as Salem was already getting the girls dressed up and ready meaning they would all probably be looking to take their anxiety out on her.

By early afternoon Ruby has finished up and finally can retire to her room to rest and get ready. Her room was in the cellar, not much larger than a closet. It could get cold and damp in there during the winter and after downpours of rain though right now it was pleasantly cool compared to the hot summer weather.

She had done a lot to make it cozy and comfortable. Every inch of wall was decorated, her bed piled up with blankets, and her shelf lined with books she bought over the years from a thrift store in town.

When Ruby opened the door to her room she saw something that made her blood run cold. Cinder, perfectly dressed up and ready for the ball, perching on the end of her bed, holding Ruby’s dress.

Cinder smirked with an awful twist to her lips when she saw Ruby, like she was laying in wait for this moment, a lit candle held in one hand.

The dress had been hidden at the back of her closet so there was no way Cinder just tumbled on it.

“I thought you were joking about going to the ball. You can’t be serious.” Cinder said with a mock laugh.

“No… I wasn’t joking.” Ruby’s voice already held a hint of defeat, already knowing where this was going to go.

“Do you seriously think anyone there would be interested in /you/?” Disgust radiated from Cinder in those words.

“That’s not why I-” Ruby was cut off before she could finish her sentence.

“And this dress.   You’ll be turned away at the door for wearing something so low class.” Cinder held the dress up as if appraising it for it’s every flaw, as if it was too hideous to look at for too long.

“I…” That hurt more than it should for how many insulting things Cinder had said to her over the years. She had grown a rather thick skin about it but this dress was really important to her.

“Really, dear sister, I should save you from the embarrassment. You could tarnish our family name.” Cinder brought the candle up until the flame of it licked the lace trim, making it curl, then crisp, then catch fire.

“Please stop.” Ruby whispers, knowing it was useless, she knew what was about to happen the moment she saw Cinder in here.

It didn’t completely catch fire, put a few flames eat at the edges and creep up the bottom of the skirt, leaving it a mess of holes and ash.  Cinder says nothing else to her, simply unceremoniously dropping the dress in a pile on the ground, stepping on it as if to put out a still burning ember on her way out.

~~~~~

Ruby waited until the last of the burning embers died down before picking the dress up and bundling it in her lap as she sat on her bed. She sat frozen like that in silence, her ears ringing as she tried to bite back tears. There was no way she could mend this in time for the ball. She couldn’t afford to get new fabric even if she had the time.

All she had wanted was to share this one special night with everyone who was so excited about it but that was ruined.

“I wish I didn’t live with these awful people.” She muttered to herself. “I wish they would just disappear.” She took a breath and all at once any anger she held just deflated into grief as tears finally spilled. “No… I just wish I could go to this ball.”

In her mind she had held this event as a moment of defiant freedom, that if she could never escape Salem and she lived the rest of her life like this then at least she got this one wonderful moment.

“You called?” A voice broke the silence, startling Ruby so badly she nearly fell off the bed.

In front of her was a familiar man- er Fairy, technically. He stood in proper Fairy Godmother attire, a clearly enchanted black dress with translucent red fairy wings fluttering behind him. In contrast with the traditional look was his much less conventional scythe-style magic wand at his side and the full martini glass held precariously in his hand.

“Oh! …. You.” Ruby sighed in relief as she got her bearings after being so startled.

“Well don’t go sounding too thrilled about seeing your Fairy Godmother kiddo. You summoned me, remember?” He put on the airs of being dramatically offended though his smile told a different story.

Ruby wiped the lingering tears from her eyes before she spoke. “No it’s… sorry, it’s good to see you actually Qrow.”

In all honesty she had almost forgotten that wishing for things summoned him. She didn’t exactly even know why that happened. When she asked before all she got was a shrug from Qrow and some half-excuses about the ‘mysterious ways of magic’.

It had been a long time since she’d wished for anything actually. Her memories of her childhood were blurry at best but she could vaguely recall how she’d make all sorts of silly wishes just to have him come visit. He was odd and always a little tipsy but he was also so much nicer than her step-family that it made her earlier years with them much more tolerable.

“I didn’t actually mean to call you, it was sort of an accident.” She admitted after a moment.

“Hmm, well even if it was an accident, I’m here now so why don’t you tell an ‘ol Qrow your woes. Looks like you’ve had a rough time of it.” He walked with a strut in his step over the small distance to her bed, sitting down next to her. He took a long drink from his seemingly never emptying glass as he waited for her to talk.

Ruby started and stopped her attempts to explain several times before she got all the words out, still stumbling over herself. She gave more detail than could possibly ever be needed but this was the first time in a long time she ever let all these emotions out. She had friends in town but she never ever let any of them know the cruelty of her ‘family’. Her Fairy Godmother already knew of these things so for once it was safe.

She began to cry again as her words flowed. Qrow was content to listen in his somewhat drunkenly glazed over state.

“-and now I can’t go because my dress is ruined and it’s not like I have anything else I could wear and the ball is in just a few hours and I’m never going to get a chance like this again.”

Ruby finally took a pause and Qrow chuckled.

“Well if it’s only an outfit you need then I can fix you up fine.”  

“Wait, really?” It hadn’t actually crossed her mind that he could help with that..

“Yeah that’s what I’m here for. Mmm, but there’s limits to it, I think you remember that.” Qrow said, fiddling with is scythe-wand as he got ready to do some magic.

Yes Ruby remembered there were limits, there were always strange caveats to any wish she made but right now she could barely bother to care. “Okay! That’s fine, I don’t mind as long as I get to go. Wait um what are the limits?” “It’ll wear off at the stroke of midnight. Indefinite magic gives the worst sort of headache to do.”

“Are you sure that’s not just a hangover?” Ruby mumbed, being immediately met with a shove and grumble from Qrow.

“Shush you. No sassing your godmother. Magic works in mysterious ways.

Speaking of which, magicking you up might make you a little harder to recognize.  Not that you’ll look different, just a side effect of illusionary magic.”

Ruby nodded along, none of those terms sounded awful and now she was just in a rush to make it happen.  “Okay goes away at midnight and I’m sorta in disguise, I can handle that.”

“Great, go put that dress on then and I’ll get you all set. Best to work from a base product to build onto y’know.”

`

“Get out of my room then please?” Ruby started ushering him out of her room so she could have space to change.

“M’kay, I’ll wait outside.” He swayed as he walked out of the room, leaning against the wall in the hall as she got ready.

Ruby carefully slipped the dress on, as if trying to prevent it from crumbling more than it already had. Dark ash smeared her skin as the burnt bits brushed against her. She put her boots and accessories on to finish the look. One glance at her small, cracked mirror had her frowning. She looked absolutely ridiculous. It took her longer than it should have to build back up the confidence to call Qrow back in but eventually she did.

“Oh good, you’re all ready.” Qrow came to stand beside her. “Time for the magic words, you know the drill.” He lazily waved his scythe-wand over her head while in a dramatic and slurred fashion exclaiming “Bippity boppity boo!”

Ruby could feel the hum of magic before she could see it. The dress seemingly mended itself all at once, fitting even better than before. She was so captivated by how well it worked that she did notice the other alterations until she took a step and immediately lost her balance, sticking her arms out to keep herself from falling. Her nice practical knee high boots were now sparkling ruby red heeled shoes.

“Why did you give me stilts to walk on?” She asked, still trying to keep herself upright.

“Isn’t that just what people wear to these things?” Qrow shrugged, completely unbothered.

“I’m going to trip and die before I get there.” Ruby commented half to herself, but she didn’t want to be ungrateful and he had done something wonderful for her.

“Thank you for this.” She eventually added.

“Yeah yeah, any time. I’d love to stick around but I do have things to do, places to be. So go enjoy that ball, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He said, seemingly uncomfortable with the appreciation and in a rush to escape it, he disappeared in a blink.

Ruby walks the length of her room several times, trying to get a hang of walking in these shoes.

She didn’t dare leave her room until she was certain her step family had already left for the ball because she dreadd what Cinder might do if she saw Ruby all dressed up- or worse what Salem might do.

~~~~

When finally she is sure it is safe to leave, she heads out immediately to the palace.

The ball was in full motion when she arrived. It’s the most beautiful thing she has ever seen with people laughing, drinking, and dancing the night away to beautiful music performed by a live orchestra. There were tables filled with the most luxurious snacks and servants going around to cater to guests as well. There were of course guards posted around but even they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Ruby was a bit out of sort, unsure what to do with herself but more than content to just take it all in.

She has been seated in a quieter corner, enjoying some snacks when a man sidles up next to her to start a conversation which leads into asking her to dance. She politely declined but this repeated itself once again with an entirety different and more persistent lad who was determined to dance with her. She wouldn’t be able to dance in these silly shoes even if she knew how to or wanted to so she less than politely bid him farewell and walked away, trying to find somewhere she won’t be pestered.

She weaved through the crowds, paying little attention to who was there. It was during this escape that she stumbled terribly, instinctually grabbing at something to keep herself from falling on her face. The tearing sound of fabric was audible as she realized she grabbed the sleeve of some woman’s dress. The horrified screech from that woman was what made her realize the person she had grabbed was none other than Cinder.

Ruby stole a glance at the scene, Cinder having clearly been mid-conversation, now with a torn sleeve and wine covering her whole front from a glass that had been jostled.

Ruby quickly ducked her head, hiding her face, planning how to escape, praying that Cinder hadn’t noticed who she was. As it turned out, an escape plan was unnecessary as Cinder stormed off and away from all the prying eyes watching this scene play out.

Ruby stayed knelt there, stewing in her own mortification, wishing in her head to just disappear.  

“Hey, are you okay?” Someone asked, bending down and offering her a hand up.

“I’m… fi- fine?” Her voice cracked mid word as she took his offered hand and finally got a proper look at him. Her gaze sliding from his face to the circlet on his head. Without that, she would have no clue who he was, she had never seen the prince before after all.

She had made no move to stand yet but Prince Oscar had also made no move to help her up either. They were frozen like this, hand held, staring at each other.

For Ruby it was the shock of meeting the prince and him kindly trying to help her (and he was as pleasant looking as everyone said).

For Oscar it was because when his eyes met her he was utterly and inexplicably captivated. His heart skipped a long beat and he couldn’t seem to look away.  

In the same instant they both snapped out of it. Oscar helped her up in one swift motion, completely red in the face as he processed just how long he’d been staring at her.

“I’m-” Ruby was instantly interrupted.

“No I’m-” Oscar tried to say.

“Sorry” “Sorry.”

They said in the same moment, looking down and away from each other.

They fumbled over each other’s apologies for another moment and finally got the courage to look at each other again. Another pause, just for a breath and they both laugh.

“It’s not a big deal. If I’m being honest you sort of saved me there? I had been trying to get out of that conversation for a while and that definitely took care of it.” Oscar explained, rubbing the back of his neck as he confessed that.

Ruby held in another laugh, it would be very difficult to explain just how funny this situation was to her personally. “Well I’m happy to be a help?”

She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as she was quickly becoming acutely aware of just how many people were still watching them. “I should probably go do- do something else, something ball related, you know.”

She turned away and tried to disappear into the crowd, headed outside to get some fresh air. “Wait!” Oscar called but she didn’t seem to hear him. There wasn’t a thought in his head as he followed right after her out to one of the balconies. It was quiet out there and a major relief for him to have a break from people constantly wanting something from him.

When she noticed him approaching he flustered again, he had no reasonable explanation for why he followed her other than this undercurrent need to get to know her.

“Are you enjoying the ball?” He asked, internally cursing himself for such a bland introduction.

Ruby was more at ease without so many people around. Even if it was a little nerve racking to be speaking to someone so important, she was somehow less on edge than when anyone else at the ball had approached her. “I don’t really have anything to compare it with but it’s sort of amazing?” It was true, it was all so grand and amazing, even if she did have to dodge a couple of people it was still one the most incredible things she’d ever been a part of.

“Oh, so it’s your first time attending a ball then? I’m glad it’s been good.”

“Yeah I mean, all the books I loved when I was little had castles and grand balls in them and I never thought it would actually be like those stories. Turns out yeah it really is.”  Ruby took a seat on the bench to finally get off her feet.

“I loved those sorts of stories growing up too. I guess it’s weird now to think about how people dream of becoming royalty, being a prince or princess. I went from living on a farm to being adopted into this and then those stories were less fun to read.” He hadn’t really read any books like that since he moved into the palace, now that he thought about it. They all lost their charm.

“I always wanted to be a knight in those stories actually.” Ruby admitted.

“Oh really?” Somehow that didn’t seem surprising at all, he had known her for no more than a few minutes but there was a certain spark to her that made that so believable.

“Yeah I just loved the idea of protecting people that can’t protect themselves, y’know?”

“Remind me to introduce you to the castle guards sometime, I really think you’d like them.” Oscar noted. “But that’s a really nice dream you have though. I think sometimes imagining things is more fun than the reality of it? I’m very lucky to be in this position but living it made dreams of it more dull...I’m sorry I’m rambling!”  

Ruby covered her mouth to conceal a grin. “No, it’s fine. I know what you mean but I want to believe that sometimes reality can be even better than dreams if it’s the right reality for you.”

“That’s- hm I think I’d like to believe that too.” Oscar mumbled, leaving them sitting in comfortable silence side by side for a long moment.

“Would you like to go back inside and dance?” He eventually asked, worried she might grow bored with him otherwise.

Ruby shook her head immediately “Oh please no! I mean I’d love to but… erm you saw me trip back there, I don’t really want to have a repeat performance.”

“Okay then do you want to go on a walk?” Oscar just didn’t want to leave her side, not yet.

“That would be nice actually.” Ruby didn’t particularly want to end their conversation either.

Like a proper gentleman, Oscar offered her his arm to link together which abated any of her lingering anxiety about tripping again.

Oscar led her through a quieter path out of the castle and out along a cobble pathway that snaked around the rear courtyards and into the gardens. Lit only by the moonlight it was gorgeous, overflowing with different flowers and vines covering every surface other than the path itself. Their evening was filled with conversation, once past the initial awkwardness they slipped into comfortably chatting about all sorts of meaningless things.

Time had melted away for the both of them.

That was, until the gonging sound of the clock tower atop the castle interrupted Ruby mid sentence.

She went pale.

“I have to go.” She said, pulling away from him. She could already feel the magic beginning to fade as she hurried away.

“Wait come back!” Oscar held a hand out like he wanted to stop her, like he hoped she would listen and turn around for even a moment.

Just before she was out of Oscar’s view she stumbled once more, the heel of one of the slippers getting caught between two stones in the path.

Oscar flinched, taking one step forward. “Oh, are you okay?”

She didn’t have time to waste and she hated these stupid shoes anyways so she just slid her foot out of it and kept on running.

Ruby was well on her way out when Oscar stooped down to pick up her shoe. The clock had struck midnight and that slipper had reverted back to its old form as a boot. “You left your...boot?” He muttered to himself in complete confusion as he stared at it.

Ruby’s dress was back to it’s charred state by the time she had left the palace property. She hobbled her way home with one boot and one foot with nothing more than a sock on it.

Sneaking back inside her home went better than she was expecting. She was able to get to her room and change out of the ruined dress without anyone seeing her. None of that stopped Cinder from being in a foul mood and barging demanding Ruby draw her a bath. This time Ruby couldn’t even claim that Cinder’s mood wasn’t her fault, even if Cinder wasn’t aware that it was Ruby who had interrupted her plans.

~~~

The morning after the ball Oscar sulked through breakfast. He just couldn’t get his mind off the girl he had spoken with at the ball.

Four of his guards who were more just friends of his than anything else often joined him for meals when there was no formal gathering in place. Today was no different but there was a certain tension in the air.

“Soooo, how was the ball?” One of his guards, Nora asked, breaking the silence with a smile that told him she was already perfectly aware of how it went. “It was fine. It was a ball.” Oscar answered blandly, still staring at his food that he pushed around on his plate.

“Just fine? Hmm well I heard you disappeared with some pretty girl and didn’t show back up all night.”  Nora pressed more, leaning in with an intense expression like she was rearing for a full interrogation. Ren put a hand on her shoulder to try and rein her in.

“Oh you met someone?” Jaune asked and Oscar genuinely couldn’t tell if he was teasing or if he was completely out of the loop. “What’s her name?”

Oscar shrunk in on himself with a quiet sigh.“I don’t know, I didn’t ask.”

“Wait wait wait, you spend all night with this girl and you don’t even ask her name? How are you going to find her again?” Pure horror present in Nora’s voice as she asked that.

“I guess I probably won’t.” Oscar said like he was trying to come to terms with that himself.

“If you are meant to meet again, I think your paths will cross.” Pyrrha chimed in right as Oscar was getting ready to leave the table.

The entire day following Oscar felt like he was in a daze. He couldn’t concentrate for any of his lessons, which got him scolded by one of his etiquette teacher, Glynda, and told to leave early since he clearly ‘had his head in the clouds’.

Even King Ozpin commenced on it in passing with that odd smile on his face that always irked Oscar just a little bit.

When he finally had enough of all the ‘knowing’ comments and teasing he dug out his commoner clothes from his closet and slipped them on. He used to sneak out much more often because sometimes he missed being looked at like a normal person. He hadn’t done this in a while and the clothes didn’t quite fit anymore but he really needed some space.

Oscar wandered aimlessly through the maze of streets in the city surrounding the palace. For the first time all day he felt relaxed as he blended into the crowd with on stares or comments. There was always the slightest bit of tension he held from always having to perform in a princely manner, but here no one expected anything of him.

He was window shopping at an antique store when someone passing by catches his eye.

Maybe Pyrrha’s comment about paths crossing if they were meant to wasn’t so silly because he sees this girl and his brain goes completely fuzzy like it was trying to piece things together while his heart skips in a way that’s becoming very familiar to him.

“Hey wait!” He called out, jogging to catch up with her, not paying mind to how odd this might seem to bystanders.

Ruby doesn’t immediately realize it’s her that’s being called out to. Not until he catches up to her. She started, stopping mid-stride to look at him. Despite his change of clothes she recognized him immediately. She was nervous and happy and confused all at the same time. She never thought she’d see him again and didn’t think he would care to talk to her again either.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to scare you. I guess that was pretty weird to do.” Oscar said apologetically, realizing this was the second time in a row they had an awkward greeting.

“No, no it’s okay I just wasn’t expecting to see you again!” Ruby explained, unsure what to say or do now. “Do you come around here often?” She asked, just to fill the silence.

“Sometimes it’s just nice to be able to take a walk without people staring, you know?” Oscar answered, genuinely thrilled to talk to her about literally anything right now.

“Won’t people recognize you?” Ruby thought he was fairly recognizable, but then again she also had a whole night to take in the details about him.

“Well no one has so far, I think when people aren’t expecting to see me I sort of blend into the background.” The only person to recognize him thus far was her, but that was because he came running up to her so obviously.

“You weren’t expecting to see me but I didn’t blend into the background for you.”

“Oh it’s your eyes…” Oscar tapered off quickly, not wanting to admit that he’d been subconsciously scanning the crowd every moment he was out, hoping to run into her again.

“Hey, have you eaten lunch yet?” He changed the subject abruptly.

“I haven’t but-”

“Well, would you care to join me? There’s this little bakery I love around here.”

Ruby was anxious both because the longer the less chores she was getting done but also because she didn’t have the money on her to pay for lunch. But he looked so bright eyed and hopeful and that smile was killing her.

“I can’t be out for too long, but okay.” She answered finally.

“Really? Great!” Oscar was nearly bouncing on his feet as he offered her his arm reflexively, an overly formal gesture but sweet nonetheless.

Ruby laughed quietly but took his arm, ignoring the couple odd glances they earned.

Oscar led the way to this small corner shop filled to the brim with various baked goods. The sweet scent made her mouth water. She looked at all the different offerings as Oscar chatted with the old lady running the place, listing off the pastries he wanted to get.

He turned to Ruby after a moment and asked “What would you like?”

It hadn’t occurred to her that he was offering to pay for her until then, she didn’t have the money on her to actually buy anything so she was planning on just quietly not ordering anything.

She paused, internally scrambling to make a decision. “One of these?” She pointed to a flaky chocolate croissant that had caught her eye earlier. He picked up on her hesitance quickly and ordered both that and a couple of his personal favorites for her to try.

Once they gather up all their pastries they sit at the one small round table next to the window, settling down.

“ Okay, weird question but it’s been killing me ever since I last saw you.” Oscar asked.

Ruby nodded, giving permission for him to go ahead and ask.

“How do I phrase this,,,,When you left, you dropped your boot? But you definitely weren’t wearing a boot before that?”

Ruby blinked at him then laughed. “Yeah I get why you’d be thinking about htat for so long. It’s well, it was magic? And no I’m not joking! I really mean it.”

At first Oscar gave a slightly doubtful look but she seemed so genuine and there was no other good explanation either. “You know someone that can use magic then? Wow that’s pretty rare nowadays.”

There were traces of magic, some people were born with minor magical abilities and there were healers that cultivated that particular skill but it was rare to have someone perform magic for something like this.

“Yeah I’ve known him for my whole life I guess. Kinda an odd guy but also he’s always been there or me so I guess I can’t complain.”

With that they fell into easy conversation once again and once again time slipped away.

Until she was abruptly brought back to reality from a comment by the old lady running the shop.

“Are you two planning to just honeymoon it here or what? We’re losing daylight!” She asked, halfway between amused and annoyed at the two lovebirds.

Ruby froze, glancing out the window to note that indeed the sun was going down.

“Oh no, I have to go.” She should’ve already been working on dinner and none of her other chores were done yet, scrubbing the floors always was so time consuming.

She was out the door before he could even call out to her, almost impossibly quickly.

“I didn’t even ask you your name. Oscar grumbles as he buries his face against the cafe table.

~~~~

Quite predictably Ruby was immediately scolded when she arrived home. She hadn’t washed Neo’s clothes in time and all her other chores were left to do too. She had to work far into the night without dinner to get it all done, though she wasn’t too bothered after having a lovely lunch with Oscar. She figured that would be the last time she saw him, that fate decided to give her that nice little bit of closure with him, one nice happy moment she could think about as her knees ached from crawling on them scrubbing floors.

~~~~

Oscar however wasn’t at all satisfied in that being the last time they met. In fact had been skipping out on his lessons and duties, sneaking out in commoner’s clothes constantly. It was not like him at all, normally he was highly responsible and took his role seriously.

After several days of this, King Ozpin interrupted one of his escape attempts. “If you needed a break, you could always just ask for one.”

Oscar, very much having not expected Ozpin to be lurking by the exit he always snuck through to get to town, startled. “I’m- it’s not that- it’s-”

Ozpin just nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “You met someone.” He answered for Oscar.

Oscar just sighed and nodded.  

“Well, a little birdy was telling me about this girl who works at a mechanic’s shop. Pietro’s I believe? Interesting thing about her is she’s got bright silver eyes, a pretty rare trait.” Ozpin explained casually.

“I… didn’t tell you she has silver eyes?” As odd as it was, Oscar had grown somewhat accustomed to Ozpin’s odd ability to know things he really shouldn’t be able to and knew that the half shrug and smirk he was given at that comment was all he would receive.

Ozpin stepped aside, clearing the way to the exit and gesturing for Oscar to go on.

Oscar began lingering around that shop whenever he could. He didn’t see the girl that day, or the day after that. In fact it took almost a whole week and he was beginning to feel rather creepy for doing this.

He just wanted to know her name. If it turned out that she wanted nothing to do with him after that, then so be it.

But finally his determination paid off and she was there that day. He didn’t approach her while she worked, not wanting to interrupt and be incredibly rude.

Instead he waited until she was off shift and out of the store, making himself very visible as he approached her. He had a whole thing to say planned out but it all left his brain the moment she saw him and looked happy to see him.

“Sorry to ah- ambush you here but I- someone told me where to find you and-” He just couldn’t string a sentence together. “What’s your name?” He finally blurted out.

Ruby was surprised to see him but already grinning at his awkward entrance. “Ruby, it’s Ruby.”

“Ruby.” He repeated back to her with a look of wonder on his face that made her stomach flip. He said it like it was the most beautiful word he had ever heard.

“So Ruby, you work at a mechanic shop?” Oscar asked, as if he was looking for an excuse to say her name again.

“Yeah, I work on weapons mostly, it’s fun.”

“Weapons huh? How come?” He wanted to know everything about her, he realized.

“Well… same reason I dreamed of being a knight as a kid I think? It helps protect people, in any way I can manage. That and the way weapons are put together is sort of like a puzzle? I find it calming I think and-  oh, I do have to get going soon though.” She interrupted her self, knowing full well that they could talk for hours again.

“Come visit sometime!” Oscar said in a rush, not wanting to lose the chance to see her again.

“I can show you around, show you what it looks like when it’s not crowded with people for a big party.”

“If you’re sure that’s okay…” Ruby wanted to see him again too and seeing the rest of the palace sounded really interesting too.

“Absolutely! It won’t be a problem, no one around will mind.There’s always a guard up at the front gate, just tell them who you are and they’ll let you in.”

Ruby felt warm at the implication he'd mentioned her to enough people that the guards would know who she was. She nodded. “I’ll stop by as soon as I can, I promise.”

She left for home feeling light and with every intention of visiting him.

~~~~~

Bogged down by chores, it’s nearly two weeks later when she first gets a chance to visit. At the entrance to the castle stood a tall red haired woman in armor standing guard.

Ruby opens her mouth to introduce herself but doesn’t even have to as the guard is already opening the door. “It is very good to meet you.” she says. Ruby guessed Oscar really wasn’t exaggerating about the guards knowing who she was.

“Wait here and the Prince will be right down.” The guard assured.

Ruby stood in the main hall, looking at all the tapestries and portraits lining the walls as she waited.

Oscar showed up only minutes later, looking ecstatic and slightly out of breath as if he’d been running to get to her.

He reached out to her then hesitated. Like he wants to hug her or some show of affection but his etiquette training kicked in.

He held his hand out, palm up.

Ruby wasn’t entirely sure what to do but took a guess and put her hand very lightly on top of it.

His fingers curled around hers as he lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles.

This was by noble standards a very appropriate greeting for a woman he highly respected- if not a little strange because of their status difference. Yet it felt more intimate than just about anything else he could have done. She stood there,red faced and dizzy as he lowered their hands but still held hers in his. “I’m glad you actually came.”

“I promised I would, didn’t I?”

“Well I’m very glad you keep your promises then… I missed you.” He mumbled the last part before clearing his throat.”May I give you a tour?”

“Of course, lead the way your majesty.”

Oscar walked with her hand-in-hand through all the major parts of the castle. Quickly his tour got off track to them discussing other things with him briefly stating what room they were in but otherwise not bothering to give details about it, much more interested in the conversation at hand.

The sun is setting once again when they part ways, Oscar inviting her back any time she wants.

~~~~

Rumor has it that the Prince is seriously courting a girl. She is over many times a week and several servants whisper of the fact they have seen the two snuggled up together when they thought no one was looking. Even without that damning evidence, the bright mood the Prince was constantly in told the story plainly enough.

Ruby had taken to visiting the palace rather than working at the shop. She knew Pietro would welcome her back no matter how long it had been since she last worked. Still, it made her a bit anxious to not be working on her savings currently but for once in her life she was so very happy.

~~~~

Oscar had been serious about properly introducing Ruby to his guard friends. She got along with them easily, so easily in fact that they had begun teaching her the basics of fighting out in the training yard.

Whenever Oscar knew that was going to happen, he tried to get out of his duties early to go watch, it was always worth it to see.

This time around he got there just in time to watch Nora flip Ruby, pinning her to the ground.

“Nora… please try not to kill her, I think Oscar might actually get mad at us then.” Jaune pointed out as Ruby stood up and brushed herself off. “Oh come on, I’m not that breakable.” Ruby laughed. “You next then.” She grabbed one of the wooden training swords and stood at the ready for him.

A few parries from either side before Ruby went on the offensive, half accidentally Jaune over the head with it.

“Ow okay please don’t kill me either.” Jaune whined cradling his head.

Ruby snorted in an attempt to hide a laugh, completely unable to feign concern. “Hm but if I kill you do I get to take your place and be a guard?”

“What! No! Now I’m afraid you’re actually going to kill me.”

“You don’t need to kill Jaune to have a place here. You are more than welcome to stay” Pyrrha said while sympathetically rubbing Jaune’s shoulder, the only one willing to comfort him in his dramatics.

“I think there’s another role you’d prefer over being a guard though.” Ren noted, backed by Nora wagging her eyebrow to punctuate it with implication.

Ruby was less embarrassed now by this than she used to be. This teasing was commonplace now. There was no way it wasn’t glaringly obvious to everyone that the prince was courting her. Honestly she hadn’t put a whole lot of thought into it, it sort of just had been washing over her. Shows of affection are basically constant and they weren’t exactly secret about it even if they weren’t exactly clear about what they were to each other either.

~~~

It became a regular thing for Ruby to join Oscar for lunch or dinner on days when she visited. It was during one of these meals that she first met the King who apparently had the time to join them that particular day. King Ozpin was quite kind and welcoming to her, that dinner actually wasn’t nearly as awkward as she was expecting it to be. The only thing was that he kept saying things that made it sound like he’d met her before. It was odd but also hard to put her finger on exactly. When the meal was over and they parted ways Oscar assured that he was just like that but that the King really did seem to approve of her.

~~~

Some days she and Oscar would go spend their time in the palace library together. Usually they would just quietly enjoy having the other around, leaning gently against each other as they read. Sometimes they would talk about the books they were reading and get completely sidetracked. On this particular day they were going through the shelves of storybooks, quick and simple to read but filled with nostalgia. One particular set of books caught Ruby’s eye, pages faded to yellow with age and a gold trim around the edges. She grabbed for them before she noticed what she was doing, thumbing through the pages looking at the print and little illustrations. She hadn’t noticed how long she had been standing there when Oscar snuck up behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“What’d you have there?” He whispered.

“These books, I just, I remember them from when I was little but I think you’re missing one?” There were three books she found on the shelf from this series but there should be a fourth one, the one she remembered best. “My mom- my birth mom used to read these too but my favorite was this one that had these warriors who could turn all the beasts in the forest to stone with their eyes? And well, they had silver eyes which I thought was so cool because both me and her had them too.”  Ruby explained, she couldn’t even recall how the stories went, just like she couldn’t really recall her mother. Sometimes she’s sure she just dreamed it all up.

~~~

Oscar wasn’t too keen on giving gifts. It felt odd to do when he had so much wealth, like he was trying to buy affection. Today though was different. It was Ruby’s birthday and he’d been looking for this particular perfect gift all month long. Once she arrived he could hardly wait to give it to her.

“You’ve had that silly grin on since I’ve gotten here, it’s making me nervous..” Ruby said, eyeing him carefully.

“Okay, okay, I was going to wait until later but, well- hold on.” He turned tail, running up to his room and back to go grab the unwrapped present, returning soon after. “Here you go.”

In her hands he placed a book with those yellowed pages and gold trim. She stared at the title ‘The Warriors of the Woods ’, her fingers tracing the letters in awe. Her cheeks ached from the grin stuck on her face as dragged Oscar into a tight hug.

“Thank you so much!”

“Happy birthday.” Oscar said as he hugged her in return.

~~~

Ruby’s step-family was growing ever more suspicious as she kept returning home happy and grinning, humming songs to herself. Nothing seemed to manage to sour her mood whatsoever and every happy moment she showed only earned her more disdain and chores from Salem. Ruby did them all without complaint.

~~~

With Ruby around so often, Oscar began constantly skipping his lessons. All of his tutors eventually came up with a way to circumvent this by simply pulling Ruby into his lessons as well. Oobleck more or less ambushed them in the garden and gave them no room to politely escape as he handed them textbooks, paper, and pencils, diving right into a history lesson of the internal politics of the Kingdom of Vale.

One thing Oscar had learned about Ruby early on was that she hated being forced to sit still if it wasn’t her choice. She began to fidget, then doodle, then as all this information droned on made her head buzz she began to drift off into a nap.

Oscar nudged her awake a couple times before taking his paper and writing her a little note.

‘Think you’ll survive?’ He slid that over to her just before she began to doze again.

‘I don’t know! Is he always like this?’ Her writing was scrawls that took Oscar a moment to decipher but once he did he quietly laughed.

‘Pretty much, why do you think I skip out on this and spend time with you instead?’ He replied.

‘Saying I’m better than this isn’t a compliment :( ‘

This was the first, but definitely not the last time Ruby was brought into his lessons. Any time they could get away with it they passed notes and laughed like little school kids to pass the time.

~~~

When Oscar was having a bad day, he liked to go climb up into the rafters of the stables. The palace had a large stable where they kept the horses and a few chickens roamed freely. It felt familiar and safe to him. It wasn’t often that he had a truly bad day but today he was feeling very off. Ruby had come to visit that day and while it cheered him up in the way it always did, it didn’t exactly fix everything. That day Oscar decided to show Ruby his hiding spot in the rafters. He led her to the stable and showed her how he climbed up there, sitting comfortably on one of the beams.

“You don’t have to tell me but, is something wrong?” She asked, he had been so quiet today and they had never gone to spend time out here like this before.

“It’s nothing… nothing in particular, just a bad day, I guess.” Oscar admitted. “It’s silly, I mean it’s hard not to feel guilty about having a bad day when I have so much going or me.”

Ruby scooted closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “I don’t really think it’s silly, if you want to talk about it, I’m right here.”  She rests her head against his.

Oscar took a moment to try to put it into words. “I’m thankful, for everything Ozpin has done for me. I’m a prince now, and he doesn’t even push all these outdated royal rules on me or anything. But… I didn’t exactly grow up this way? I grew up on a farm, and sometimes I just miss how simple everything was there and I miss my aunt and everything else.”

Ruby understood then why he would want to go hide out here and in a way she could imagine how overwhelming this must be for him since what she’s experienced of palace life was awfully overwhelming to her too.

She didn’t think about it for even a moment before she turned her head to press her lips to his in a sweet reassuring kiss.

Now, affection was shown quite freely between them in private, nearly constantly touching. Kisses, on the cheek, forehead, back of the hand, those were all commonplace for them nowadays. Yet this right here was their first proper kiss.

They were both a bit red in the face at the realization but it felt like it hardly needed addressing, like it was inevitable.

“Hey when you said Ozpin doesn’t push outdated rules on you? I mean he’s not going to have a problem with…” Ruby gestured between the two of them.

Oscar laughed, kissing her in return finally before answering. “I think he’s all for this. He approves of you and he wants me to be happy, and well, you make me happy.”

~~~

Ruby shouldn’t have been surprised when one night she came home to find that book Oscar had gifted her a charred pile of illegible paper in the middle of her room. Cinder had always had a knack for knowing just which of Ruby’s possessions would hurt the most to lose. That, and the whole family had been completely furious with Ruby being so upbeat lately that of course Cinder would do something like that.

Somehow it is so much worse than the dress being burnt. She re-read this book every night before she went to bed to remember what she could of the family she once had and to remember that someone cared enough about her to go through all the effort to find it for her.

She cleaned up the pile, feeling cold and empty and like she was entirely trapped here. Maybe it was just because she’d summoned him last time Cinder burnt something of hers, or maybe she just desperately needed someone to talk to in general but once she is calm she whispers “I wish I could see my Fairy Godmother.”

Once again Qrow appears in front of her in a blink. “Y’know, you can call me when you aren’t crying.” He sighs. “What’s it about this time? I thought the last gig went well. Heard you even snagged yourself a prince.”

“Where did you hear that?! I- never mind, it doesn’t matter.”

“Am I wrong?” Qrow raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

“That’s not the point. But even if I did you shouldn’t pat yourself on the back about it. You nearly killed me with those heels.” Ruby was trying to sound serious but having something meaningless to argue over was such a relief it was difficult to keep that tone of voice.

“Oh I’m definitely patting myself on the back. When you two get hitched that makes me royalty by extension.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.” Ruby mumbled, hiding a smile by ducking her head.

“Well, enough of that. You never answered my question, what’d you need?”

“I don’t know. Nothing, I guess. I think I’m just tired of this place.”

It was nothing he could fix anyways, not permanently at least probably. “Could you stay for a while? We could play games like when I was little?” She asked, of all things she thinks that might cheer her up right now.

Qrow seemed a bit confused and maybe even a touch startled at that statement  but hid it quickly. “Didn’t think you remembered any of that.”

“You were always around, it’d be a little hard to forget!”

“Hmm…” For a moment he looked to be deep in thought before he shook his head.  “I guess I can spare a little time.”

~~~

It was a few days before Ruby visited the palace again, longer than she had gone without visiting in quite a while.

When finally she does come by, Oscar is visibly worried.

He greets her with a kiss but lingers close. “Did something happen?”

“No, no I was just really busy.” Ruby said blandly.

Oscar had an expression that said he knew that wasn’t the whole story but he wouldn’t press her on it either.

“Just some family trouble, talk about it later okay?” Ruby added to try to quell his concerns.

Before they could continue their conversation they were interrupted.

“Ah, you’re here, excellent!” Said Ozpin as he approached the couple who took a respectful step away from each other. “See, I wanted to formally invite you to our next upcoming ball.” He handed Ruby a sturdy envelope embossed with her name in silver print on the front.

“We’re having another ball?” Oscar asked.

“Yes, it’s been a few months since the last one so I thought it’s time for another celebration.” Didn’t I tell you?”

“It must have slipped your mind.” Oscar muttered, half sure that Ozpin came up with this on a whim just today.

“This one is by invitation only. Hence why I wanted to personally ensure that Miss Rose received hers.” Ozpin shot a meaningful look Oscar’s way as he said that before turning to direct his next statement to Ruby “Mm, anyways, don’t worry about attire, we can have you fitted for a dress, one properly suited for a night of dancing.”

He left no time for either of them to respond before heading off elsewhere. They both are left standing there, confused about what just happened.

“Hey Oscar?”

“Mhm?”

“So, I don’t actually know how to dance?” She was embarrassed to admit it, since it seemed like something everyone around knew how to do but her.

“Oh, well there’s some excellent tutors around here, you don’t have to worry about that!” Oscar reassured.

“Okay but what if I’m afraid of embarrassing myself in front of the tutors?”

“Are you afraid of embarrassing yourself in front of me?” He asked and she considered the question.

“Somehow a lot less afraid.” Ruby answered, there was a level of comfort she’d reached in being that vulnerable around him.

“Then how about I teach you?”

~~~

That started what would become the weeks of dance lessons leading up to this next ball.

“It’s easier than it looks. I was nervous the first time around too.” Oscar said, standing in the large empty ballroom with Ruby as he started the record player on some basic waltz music.

He demonstrated the base steps alone, explaining them as he went.

“Okay, want to give it a try?” He asked.

“I guess, sorry if I step on your toes.” Ruby was still pretty apprehensive even after watching him demonstrate.

Oscar chuckled, putting one hand on her waist. “I’ve seen you practicing sparring with the guards, you’re actually really graceful.”

“When I’m sparring I’m supposed to be aiming to hurt people, and here not so much.” She retorted.

That was only met with a fond kiss and Oscar’s other hand finding hers. “Come on, giving it a try?”

She began to follow his steps but it was clear how uneasy she felt no matter how long they tried it for.

“Here, let’s try something different. You lead.” Oscar offered.

“Won’t that make it worse?” Ruby thought that would just give her more opportunity to step on his feet.

“No, I think it’s pretty awkward to learn to do these all backwards, it’s easier to learn if you’re in the lead role.”

“Okay…” Ruby reversed their position, putting her hand on his waist to mirror the way he had been holding her before. They were nearly the same height so it worked perfectly in that sense.

It’s awkward at first still but Ruby was much less nervous, actually it was Oscar that was stumbling more now because he wasn’t used to this role.

By the time they had made their way around the room once, she was grinning.

When the music ended she hugged him.

“Thank you, that was way less awful than I was expecting.” She mumbled against his shoulder.

“Ha, glad it was better than awful?” His arms wrap around her in turn.

“But you aren’t done quite yet. That’s just the very basics, and you still need to practice this more too.”

Ruby feigned a pout with a grin hidden behind it. “What? There’s more?”

~~

Until the day of the ball they continued to practice. Oscar had been made to take dance classes since he’d been adopted so he was more than happy to show off some of the more intricate steps and dances. Ruby’s personal favorite was dips mainly for that cute dazed expression Oscar got on his face when she could easily dip him and pull him back up for a kiss.

~~

Rumor had it that the Prince will be engaged to miss Ruby Rose by the time this exclusive ball is over with.

This rumor may or may not have been started singlehandedly by one royal guard by the name of Nora Valkyrie. Regardless of how it started, word spread far and wide.

~~

Word spread so far and wide in fact that it reached Salem. She was fuming, oh how could that wretched girl catch the prince’s attention so easily?

As much as she wanted to lock Ruby away and have done with her, Salem knew that if the prince truly cared for the girl then he might very well go looking for her. So she bided her time and came up with a plan, forging an invitation for Cinder to go to this new ball.

Ruby didn’t know any of this. Maybe Salem was a bit more cold and cruel than usual, but Ruby had already grown to expect the worst so she couldn’t even tell the difference.

~~~

The night of the ball arrived rapidly and Ruby had snuck out without finishing her impossibly long list of chores knowing full well she would pay for it tomorrow.

She wore a lovely floor length dress in a similar red color as her previous one, this time with her comfy boots underneath rather than those awful stilts.

Ruby was happy with how she looked, and so much more relaxed without the constant fear that her step mother or sisters would somehow ruin this for her.

Her confidence only grew when she met Oscar at the entrance and he offered her his arm. “You look beautiful.” He said, sounding so genuinely awestruck.

She really had to hold herself back from kissing him or even hugging him since there still was etiquette to follow for an event like this.

“Thank you, you don’t look bad yourself.” She replied as she took his arm.

Oscar didn’t leave her side all night. As he was Prince, they did have to make the rounds of talking with anyone particularly important but everyone was quite polite and seemingly excited to meet her too.

Once all the niceties were out of the way, they joined everyone else on the dance floor.

Ruby wasn’t nervous anymore, though she put her hand on Oscar’s waist to immediately take the leading role in this dance. Oscar just laughed and tried to stealthily kiss her on the cheek, an action many caught sight of regardless, because of course people were keeping their eyes on the prince and his girl.

For the whole night they only dance with each other which no one seemed to take issue with.

Well, no one took issue with until one particular unwelcome guest mader appearance. A song had just ended when Ruby felt a harsh tap on her shoulder, a fingernail basically gouging into her arm. When she looked up at who was trying to get her attention, she tensed,  staring wide eyed. Cinder stood here, a fake overly polite smile plastered on her face as if she didn’t know exactly who Ruby was. “May I have this next dance with him?” She asked, putting Ruby in a position to look very rude and possessive if she were to say no.

Ruby couldn’t find her words at all, even if there was little Cinder could directly do to her here she still couldn’t help but be afraid.

Oscar picked up on something being wrong immediately, he’d never seen Ruby look so vacant and afraid, and this woman who had approached looked vaguely familiar. He frowned slightly before looking at the guest. “Would you excuse us for a moment?”

Cinder, seeing how this wasn’t going her way and so incredibly angry with Ruby getting her way, did not in fact excuse them for a minute. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think you heard me, I said may I have this dance?” Her grip on Ruby’s shoulder now bruising as she tried to rip her away from the Prince.

Oscar immediately got in between the two of them, and the guards were there almost immediately. Cinder did not go easily or quietly, in fact it made for a rather impressive wrestling match to watch in the middle of the dance floor before she was actually dragged off.

Everyone was quiet, shocked, and confused but slowly the party came back to life with people chancing quiet conversation and then returning to their dance.

“I’m sorry- about that.” Ruby mumbled, voice trembling slightly.

“That wasn’t your fault… at all. But, you seemed to know her?” Oscar spoke carefully, not wanting her to feel obligated to answer.

“She’s my stepsister.” She answered shortly

Suddenly something clicked for Oscar about the ‘family issues’ Ruby had alluded to before and it left a bitter feeling in his stomach. “Hey, you’re safe now.” He said, pulling her close.

“Yeah, for now.” Ruby sighed, she would still have to go home to.. To whatever was going to happen now.

“No, for always. You could stay here, stay with me.” Oscar blurted out, more than anything just wanting to make sure she was safe and happy. It took him longer than it should have to realize just how that sounded. “Okay, uh to be clear that was not a proposal. I promise that will be much better thought out and not asked when you’re dealing with a lot of stress-” His explanation was interrupted with a kiss.

“You do realize you just implied you’re going to propose, right?” Ruby asked once she pulled away.

Oscar laughed, giving her one more peck on the lips. “I thought that was obvious.”

#rosegarden #rosepine #ruby rose #Oscar Pine #secret santa #my fic #rwby

[valentinax]

[ VALENTINA ALVAREZ.   30.   CIS WOMAN.   SHE / HER ]  is here!   They’ve lived in Silver Lake for  [ 12 YEARS ]  and are originally from  [ PASADENA,  CA ].   They are a  [ BARTENDER AT DUNGEON & YOGA INSTRUCTOR AT 24/7 FITNESS ]  and in their downtime love  [ PLAYING VIDEO GAMES ]  and  [ UPCYCLING CLOTHING ].   They look a lot like  [ EMERAUDE TOUBIA ]  and live  [ IN OASIS APTS ].

content warnings:  mentions of alcohol and underage drinking,  pregnancy and labor,  allusions to nsfw content.

timeline.

december 10, 1990  --  valentina elena maroun is born.   half-sister to four older brothers,  her biological father misses her birth and is almost entirely absent throughout valentina’s youth.

1990 to 2008  --  valentina spends her formative years in pasadena,  ca with her family.   during this period,  her mother gets back with her previously separated husband  ( valentina’s brothers’ father )  for good.   valentina considers this man to be her real dad,  and at the age of 9 valentina’s surname is changed to his:  alvarez,  matching the rest of their family.   upon her high school graduation at 17 years old,  she prepares to move to silver lake with two of her friends:  they’re both to attend usc,  while valentina attends ucla on a partial athletic scholarship for softball.

2008 to 2010  --  spends her first two years of college doing exactly what most expect:  going out with friends,  experimenting,  drinking whatever she can get her hands on,  and so on and so forth.   she still takes her studies and softball seriously,  and works part-time at paco’s tacos in silver lake during this time.

2010 to 2011  --  falls pregnant at 19 and gives birth to her daughter,  rosa torres,  shortly after turning 20.   has taken the fall and spring semesters of this school year off to prepare for her daughter’s birth,  as well as to be home during rosa’s infancy.   has a strenuous,  lengthy and difficult labor.   it’s under pressure from her parents that valentina pursues a romantic relationship with rosa’s father,  lucas torres,  for rosa’s sake.  by 2012 however,  they come to agree a platonic relationship coparenting works best for everyone involved.

2011 to 2014  --  moves in with her brother in santa monica,  bringing rosa along with her,  to return to school and cut her commute in half.   has lost her athletic scholarship,  yet earns a partial academic one.   valentina relies heavily on family to help out with rosa during this period and has reached out to her biological father for financial aid.   their relationship is strained,  but on the mend.   upon her graduation,  valentina gets a job as a server at maria sol on the santa monica pier.

2015 to 2016  --  though valentina doesn’t want to,  she relents to moving back home so rosa can be closer to her father.   valentina reluctantly moves back in with her parents and enters a job tending bar at dungeon.

2016 to 2018  --  unable to stand living at home,  valentina convinces another one of her brothers to let her move in with him in silver lake.   gets a second job as a yoga instructor at 24/7 fitness.   she cuts back her hours at the club when in 2018,  she manages to land yet another job:  as a project-based writer for buzzfeed reviewing and researching sex toys.   this quickly leads to her brother encouraging  ( read:  telling )  her to move out when he’s put in the uncomfortable position of,  to put it as cleanly as possible,  hearing her working.

2018 to 2021  --  valentina finally moves out into a three bedroom apartment at the oasis with long-time friend,  helena,  for a roommate.   still works part-time at dungeon with hopes to quit soon,  and continues to teach yoga and contribute to buzzfeed.

personality traits.

alluring,  assertive,  vehement  --  valentina is a very passionate person and this translates into her sensuality.   she’s never really been afraid to go after the things she wants,  whether it’s in her personal or professional life.  in personal relationships,  valentina isn’t ashamed to make the first move and can be quite flirty at times.   unfortunately,  valentina has yet to be in a relationship that’s lasted longer than a year or two.   while she does want to settle down,  she can be fickle and unsure of what  ( or who )  she wants.

candid,  effervescent,  resilient  --  in general,  valentina is a person who values honesty and respects people who tell the truth when it’s most difficult.   her keen attitude on brutal honesty doesn’t,  however,  get in the way of her easygoing nature:  it’s not hard to get along with her and she’s incredibly outspoken and outgoing.   of course,  this may rub people the wrong way at times.

egocentric,  erratic,  frivolous  --  it may or may not be obvious that valentina has a penchant for changing her mind.   she does her best to think of others first,  especially so when it comes to her daughter,  but she’s entirely susceptible to her own whims.   she’s impulsive and seems to lack purpose.   and,  ultimately,  it scares her to consider that she’s never known what she wants to do with her life:  so she doesn’t stop to think.

recalcitrant,  resentful,  rigid  --  valentina is a fan of grudges.   she tends to hers like pets.   she’s often stubborn and unwavering and entirely unwilling to admit when she’s in the wrong.   fully the type to never forgive,  never forget,  but just move on.   and perhaps it comes from being the youngest,  but she’s also known for being pouty and upset when things don’t go her way.

miscellaneous headcanons.

for about 2 years beginning when she was 25,  valentina was apart of a roller derby team in los angeles.   given that the pronunciation of her nickname valé sounds so close to valley,  she quickly adopted valley hurl as her derby name.   she eventually quit due to no longer having the time to attend practices.

she still roller skates to this day and,  a year ago,  blew up on tiktok  ( along with her roommate,  the one who initially put her on to skating )  when she posted a video of herself skating and dancing down the street.   she’s since deleted previous videos and curated her entire tiktok feed to focus solely on her roller skating.

her social media totals:  1.8m tiktok followers,  178k instagram followers,  2k twitter followers.   most of these were gained within the past year and she’s certainly not famous by any means,  though she has been able to make money off sponsored ads on her instagram.

she’s very into fitness!   she played soccer growing up and still loves a good game of softball,  she loves running,  taking various fitness classes,  etc.   and on the mention of sports,  she also loves going to dodger games and watching sunday night football.

has considered streaming on twitch but ultimately decided she doesn’t have the time to commit to that sort of endeavor.   also has considered starting a podcast.   sort of a jack of all trades,  master of none.

case in point:  got into upcycling clothes a few years ago.   as a result,  got into sewing and began to go thrifting more frequently.   briefly sold stuff on depop before quitting that endeavor a month or so into it  --  now she mainly upcycles pieces for herself and her friends,  as gifts for people,  etc.

has a few tattoos  ( tbd )  that are easy to cover up and generally only visible when she’s wearing certain clothing.   her mother and grandparents were disappointed when they found out but are okay with them now.

is actually a pretty damn good singer!   her entire family is.   at family parties,  you’ll often catch them getting into karaoke or clearing out room somewhere for a dance floor.   it’s not unusual for them to egg you on to join in.

on that note,  a big part of valentina’s enjoyment comes from this type of fun.   even since having a child she’s never necessarily cut back on going out  --  whether it’s to nightclubs,  dive bars,  karaoke nights,  concerts,  anything  --  and has made some technically irresponsible choices.   still makes them to this day.   she’s not perfect by any means.   she’s learned to be more conscientious over the past decade,  however.

ultimately,  valentina struggles with motherhood:  she does the best she can and although her parents are great people,  she wants to make different choices than them.   there’s a lot to be said about how she dealt with parenthood at first and how she still struggles with it now,  but the short version literally is this:  she’s trying.

is afraid of the dark...   like very.   checks under the bed and in the closet at night to this day.   likely stems from the various pranks her brothers played on her as a kid.

currently does not eat noodles.   after a conversation with her daughter about how noodles look like worms,  valentina agreed to abstain from eating them out of solidarity.   is hoping her daughter will get over this aversion soon because valentina loves noodles.

#slintro #one ✯ character study. #i know this is long so like sincere thanks if u read lmaooo.

[hopetofantasy]

‘Wandering Romance’ - Part 4

- A future with child fic -

Square Filled: Future, Family, Past lovers Ship: Sander Driesen/Robbe Ijzermans   Trigger Warnings (if applicable): mentions of abuse, toxic relationships, self harm, rape/non-con elements, emotional manipulation, mental breakdown, panic attacks, self loathing Created for @skamevents

Summary: “A perfect, tight little family. But happy. Until one unfortunate day in May, in the year that David turned six.”

In the future, Robbe and Sander have a son named David. The only tie they have left with each other, actually. Because our lovers split up years ago, due to mistakes that were made in the past.

So is their love strong enough to sustain a healthy friendship? Will they find their way to each other again or break all connections for good?

Also available on AO3

SURPRISE: I’m going to add a FIFTH CHAPTER (EPILOGUE) TOO!

——————————————————

CHAPTER 4: 'No one sees myself like you do’

——————————————————

He knew he broke his heart.

Shattering the pieces everywhere. 

He knew they weren’t his to take, to glue together, to hold onto.

Yet, he did it. Again and again.

He caused pain, he felt pain, he gave the pain away. 

He hated pain.

But...

He loved pain.

He deserved it. He always deserved it.

Love was never his, love wasn’t there for him.

He didn’t deserved it.

Pain was better.

Breathe.

Why?

Breathe.

Why should he?

Please?

Pain was good.

Just once.

He wasn’t normal.

Come on, breathe for me.

Was he ever normal?

Oh god. Come on!

He was a monster. 

Goddammit, breathe!

He didn’t.

He didn’t do it.

He didn’t want to.

A cry.

Soft blurred halo.

Fierce light surrounding him.

Vaguely familiar blonde color in the corner of his eyes.

Deep pressure on his arm.

Harsh sound of a deep cry.

“Please, Robbe...”

The pain was enough.

But then...

After a century of darkness.

He took his first breath.

 -^-

 He didn’t remember how he got there. 

Slowly walking into his home and tracing the soft texture of the eggshell walls, he sighed deeply. He was welcomed back into the silence. As if he never left. As if they were never witness to anything else. Beautiful things had happened. Horrendous things had happened. But the walls would never speak of it. They kept their peace. 

Robbe liked that. 

The color was his pick, of course. As if Sander would have chosen boring beige, cold dark blue or a simple black. Come on. Get real. Back when they were together, he would have rolled his eyes at the suggestions the brown-haired boy would make. Arms crossed with faces close to each other, harsh veins popping out because of all the exertion of the shouting matches.

“Life is passion, Robbe. Don’t be the boring gay!” “Sander, we’re supposed to live in this, I don’t want to be nauseous of all the weird combinations!” “And what the hell is wrong with red and yellow?” “What’s right about red and yellow?” “God, are you serious?!”

Hours and hours of discussing splashes of paint, cataloguing each other’s taste, skipping the expensive brands and go into thrift stores to score beautiful furniture, to do it all over again. Yelling, kissing, making up. Falling out of bed, because of the fits of laughter. Mischievous eyes filled with what now?’s. Slight kisses to temples.

“Beige and brown!” “Orange and purple!” 

“Dark blue and light green!” “Salmon pink and aquamarine!” 

Soft Sander. Beautiful lover. His artist.

Always complying at a flutter of eyelashes, bending his knees at a sigh and holding him at one tear. Always there. Ready to take, to caress and to mend. Late night in bed with their little baby boy in their midst, whispering sweet words to let him catch on. Telling him stories about his day. About the weird accountant who wanted a beautiful portrait of his awful boss. Probably to throw darts at it, he figured. Why else? 

A cute giggle.

Oh, did he tell you about the elderly couple? Together for more than fifty years, alive and kicking. They wanted their love honored by making a beautiful portrait. “Yes, no problem”, he had said. After discussing the price, set-up and deadline, Sander had instructed them to sit down to pose. And that’s when they took off their clothes. “Ah, didn't we tell you? It’s a nude portrait!”

David had always been charmed by his papa’s life. Bowie was his hero, blonde hair and leather jackets was his forté. And the tiny boy was just following along. Worshipping every tiny piece. It ran in his blood, didn’t it? Being extraordinary? The artistry? His mother wasn’t conventional either. Noor was special, artsy and beautiful. So each day would pass and their son would be more and more like Sander. A light in the darkness.

And Robbe wasn’t.

He was cold, boring and hollow.

Like now, he was standing in his own home, not knowing what to do or say. He didn’t know how to get going, how to move along and change the course. It had all happened, but did it actually? Was he there? He could feel the ground beneath his feet, the musky air in his lungs, the color of the walls. But was he there? Had he ever been here? Was he truly him?

His hand immediately went to his arm, nails scratching the hardness of skin. And Robbe started to walk around. He needed to feel the space, to know where he was. Anxious pacing the wool carpet he had chosen to compliment the couch in their tiny living room. A space that had been filled with beautiful memories, that of Jens doing a handstand to impress his nephew and almost crashing into their new coffee table. 

His feet were slowly shuffling towards their dining room and kitchen. A small smile appeared at Robbe’s face, because he remembered how Moyo would make their regular tapas evenings happen here. Before they all had settled down with their partners and became too busy to organize them again. “I’m the best chef cook of the Western Hemisphere, Robbe! You’ll see!”, he said the first time. 

Right before the fire alarm went off. 

The next memory flashed before his eyes. Amber and Aaron coincidentally sitting in close proximity of each other. The one looking at the other, right when the other turned their gaze downwards. Jana subtly nudging her husband and whispering her observations. “They still love each other,” Robbe had heard from her. “Why won’t they go back together?” With a slight shrug from Jens as a response. “What can we do about it?”

He felt hurt.

Well, that was something.

A feeling.

A little red stain on his finger? Robbe huffed, looking down at the color. Red is a beautiful shade, isn’t it? So passionate, deep and yet, something that connected all of them. A thrilling feeling. Finally something that connected him to all his friends, his family, his own son. His ex-lover. He never truly felt tied to them all, especially in the later years.

A beep on his cell.

He was grey, as grey as the sharp steel in the kitchen. He wasn’t special. He never understood why Sander thought he was. Why his son would pick that exact song, the one which ripped his heart out and made him feel 16 years old again? Right then and there, at a beach town supermarket, a cute guy whirling him around on a supermarket cart. A feeling that went up and up, never coming down. 

A text.

Pain was inevitable, he had learned. With Noor. With Sander. With David. Because children were a blessing, they'd always be the good in the world. That’s why he needed to protect the boy, from all the evil. Why he would let himself be pushed off the stairs, so not one beautiful curl on his head would be harmed. Psychically or emotionally. 

- “I’m coming to talk to you” -

No other dark eyes filled with sorrow.

Only his.

 -^-

 “Come on, baby! Dance for me, you know you want to!”

“Wouter, please, stop it... You’re going to wake up my son.”

As if he cared...  Wouter just kept pulling at Robbe’s sweater, trying to discard it, so he could dug his nails at his bare arms. His response was to shut himself off. He wasn’t going to stop anyways, so why bother? Robbe liked it too, didn’t he? He was sure he did. When the other man nipped at his ear, slowly biting a trail down his neck and loosening his belt. He really loved it. Right?

“Rob- just do it for me. I’m too tired to move along!”, the man growled.

His breath filled with distain and mixed with the stench of cheap liquor. Eyes watered down to dimmed grey and clouds covering the sun. His hands were calloused, rough, manhandling him towards the end of the bed. The man named Robbe discarding his lover’s pants and hoping to shush loud moans by softly kissing his lips. His palm sweetly caressing, was met with a sharp pain in his wrist. Hmmm...

“I want it now. Don’t give me that bullshit about lubing it up and kissing gently. Just put a condom on already! I’m ready. You are too!”

Fear struck. Made him come out of the daze. Back into his mind. Robbe moved along to the other’s body, gripped the hip and pulled it from his orbit. Followed by a furious growl, whilst fingers formed a fist. He didn’t want it to happen. It would happen anyway. But still, he couldn’t say yes to this. This wasn’t what he wanted. Stop. Don’t do this.

“Wouter, stop it please...”, he whispered. “I don’t want this”

“What do you mean? You always say yes to this! It’s me your talking to, not some loser from the street, dumb-dumb.” Sickeningly sweet tone. A flower clearing through the greyish woods. An inkling of hushed love. Two bodies breathing together, bothered in various ways. But his head still screamed ‘no’. Greasy lips on his chest, licking towards his right nipple.

“I don’t want to, Wouter. Not tonight.”

Silence. 

Pull away.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yes, of course, Robbe. I’m not going to do anything you don’t want to. What kind of guy do you think I am? I’m not like that filthy know-it-all you call your ex. I mean, it’s not because you have a son with him, like you jump when he asks you to. You’re not his plaything... You’re mine. Right?”

Wouter’s face contorted in a cheap grin. He knew he shouldn’t fall for that, Robbe knew better. But did he? Maybe... Maybe his boyfriend was right? Sander did boss him around, when it came to their son. Always expecting to jump? But that wasn’t Sander was it? He didn’t know. He couldn’t think.

His thoughts were interrupted by his lover huffing out a short laugh. Seemed to be sobering up, a little. Maybe. “You shouldn’t worry your pretty head too much, darling. You’ll get wrinkles. But if we’re not going to do anything, I’ll need something to get the edge off. It’s been a long, hard damned week. I at least deserve a break. You want some?”

Oh, Robbe knew what ‘some’ meant. The brown haired boy didn’t like this feeling. Of not being in charge what was going to happen at this point of the evening. He shook his head, while his chest slowly closed up. The last memory he had of that stuff, was Wouter breaking his dresser. All because Robbe made a comment about his unemployment. A throw-away remark, that’s all it was.  He was going to shut his mouth now. 

It only took him a half hour. 

“You know, sweetie. I always wondered what so special about that boy of yours. He’s the apple of your eye, right? A spitting image of you both. And yet, he isn’t. The son of an unknown father and a dead mother. Beautiful that you took him in. That’s true. But what’s so special about those blonde curls?”

Ice.

His blood turned to ice. Is this how murderous anger felt? It felt really close. His body was too slow at first to follow his coked-up partner to the stairs. But caught him, before Wouter could step foot towards the child’s door. Hissing. He felt like a wild animal, a lion trying to protect its cub, when he spit out:

“Don’t. Even. FUCKING. Dare. Touching. Him. Or. I’ll. Kill. You. With. My. Bare. Hands.”

Dark storm clouds looked into his. Venom in the mouth.

“Does he know, Robbe... Does he know he’s not yours? That he’s a boy that’s neither made from love between two men nor out of a conscious decision by his true mother? Never knowing his real father, having two fakes instead. You told me that, you know. You might not remember, but I do. I know what you said about little David, sweet darling son...”

Robbe froze on the spot. His fight-or-flight-reaction going into full overdrive. The hair on his arms were standing up, senses completely aware of his surroundings. All while still having no shirt on, he now remembered. What a ridiculous thought. Him, a man, of barely 1.68m and bare chested, trying to fight someone without pants and at least one head bigger than him.

And yet... So tempting...

“I remember what you said, Robbe. You were blubbering all over me, crying about that beach blonde bitch again. Typical. But then you said it to me. Your real fear... That he isn’t yours. That he looks so much like Sander, beautiful unattainable Sander. Boohoo. And never like the boring you. That you blame your ex for that! That’s what you said, right? ‘I’ll never be good enough for sweet David, Sander seems to be’. That’s adorable. Truly. Adorable.”

Poison.

In his veins.

Deafening silence. 

“Maybe I should tell him, darling? All. Of. It. What do you t-”

Hard grunting. Hands everywhere. Red scratches.

Black irises taking over the grey. 

Pushing and pulling. 

Shouting. Screaming. Crying. 

Tilting worlds. Tumbling. Tripping. 

Falling. Falling. Falling. 

Pain.

Black.

And a few days later: 

“Don’t tell papa I broke my arm okay? It’s nothing to worry about, okay sweetie?” 

Followed by a soft:

“Okay, paps. I won't.”

 -^-

 “It’s better this way...”

“I know.”

“You know this is the only way.”

“I knów.”

Beautiful deep eyes. A pained expression. The back of a hand tracing his cheek. Wiping away the tears trickling down. A watery smile. This feeling of being left alone with all the responsibility on his shoulders, was somehow even worse than breaking up. But he shouldered through it anyway. He needed to. He needed to be strong for someone else.

“Robbe...”

“Sander, don’t...”, the other, tiny boy whispered. “Just promise you’ll take care of him. You’re the only one I trust with him.” His little hands still covering the man’s rosed cheeks. Fresh bandages wrapped around the fragile arms. Memories of closing, days of grey clouds and unspoken communication. Sander nodded his head. But he needed to say it, to get the feelings off his chest. 

“I’m so sorry, Robbe. I didn’t know. I was supposed to be there for you. In sickness and in health, right?” A pained smile of both. “I meant it, schat. I didn’t... I should’ve... We wouldn’t have...” Sander looked down. He couldn’t find the words to describe what he felt. 

“It’s okay”, his love answered. A fluttery kiss to his right cheek. “I’m still here. I’m not going away. Not for long at least. And then we can start again. We can start over... Maybe. Only... If you want to. I mean... If you still-”

“I still love you. I’ll always will. I’m never going to stop.” 

“Me neither...”

A ruffle through brown hair.

A featherlight hug.

A light giggle from him.

A cute wink he managed himself. 

“Chill...”

“Chill..."

Then he watched the brown jacket step towards the entrance, right into the arms of the welcoming nurses. All warmly tapping his shoulder, introducing themselves and trying to make him feel at home. Nodding at what he's saying. Already knowing why he's there, but listening anyways. They were going to be good for him. Just like they were good for Sander, a whole lifetime ago.

But before his life partner stepped through the door, he made a stop and turned around quickly.

With mischief on his face.

“So, what are we going to do in the next minute?!”

And a loud response for the artist, surprising even himself:

“In the next minute, I’ll wait for you!”

 And waiting he did.

#wtfock #wtfam #skambingo #skam events #part 4 of 5

[angelicspaceprince]

Dewey x Crafter Reader Headcanons

Ive fallen down a rabbit hole of crafting and I can't get up. Help me. I write hcs to help save my soul

I'll also edit when I have computer access so then there is a read more button or whatever they're called, I can't find it on mobile

Wrote directly onto the tumblr app so if there are any mistakes that's why. No betas, we die by our spelling and grammar mistakes here

You were a crafter before you met Dewey, having taken up most crafts by the time you were 17

Sewing, needlepoint, embroidery, cross stitch, knitting, crocheting

You'd experimented with them all and even though each one had its merits, you definitely had your favourites

Then life happened. You had to start working, unable to attend college, and soon you had no time to craft. If you were awake, you were working

Mostly low paying jobs to cover rent, bills etc, taking on as many shifts as possible

It was actually during one of your shifts you met Dewey

You started working at a local music shop, mostly serving and organising CDs when a very excited Dewey rocked up, wanting to find the newest release for one of his favourite bands

You got to talking and realised that you had similar music tastes and, even though you really wanted to get to know him more, you had to remain professional. You were still on the clock

Luckily for you, however, you were invited to go see a group of local bands performing to celebrate your friend's birthday

You recognized Dewey the moment he stepped on stage and was in awe at his musical skill

You figured it'd be weird to go up to him and start talking because a) if he didn't recognize you then having a stranger come up to you and say that you remembered him from work would be odd and b) if he DID recognize you from work that'd be even odder

You didn't want to give off stalker vibes, so you stayed at the bar, content just to leave it

Dewey, however, saw you in the crowd and had a different plan in mind

Still riding the adrenaline high from being on stage, he walked straight up to you

"I don't know if you remember me, bu-"

"I remember you."

"Oh."

You both blushed heavily as you shift in your seat. "Drink?" You offered. "I....I liked talking to you earlier, I'd like to talk some more."

Dewey positively beamed at that, sitting down next to you as you effectively start ignoring your friend's birthday party celebrations in favour of talking to the man in front of you

The rest, as they say, was history

You ended up dating pretty quickly after you first met, moving in with each other after only dating for 6 months

It was an accident, you had your power cut off (again) and it was the middle of winter. Dewey offered you a warm place to stay temporarily and after 4 weeks of looking for a new apartment, he just said "you're already living here, just move in with me."

It made things easier, now there were two people contributing to bills

Rent was never paid in full, but something was always sent in

Patty wasn't impressed by that but Ned wasn't as fussed, just happy to have something coming in

It helped that he really liked you and felt that you were a good fit for Dewey

Even though things still remained tough, you were happy just to have a roof over your head and someone who loved you

When Dewey started working for Horace Green, things became easier

Bills were paid with his paycheck, yours became groceries and fuel money

Even then, for the first time in a long time, you had spare cash

Most went into savings but being able to afford your own Netflix account? Felt amazing

Despite having a bit of extra money, some habits were hard to break.

You rarely bought clothing from anywhere but thrift stores and Walmart, Dewey prefering Walmart but essentially doing the same thing

Unfortunately, that meant the clothing you had bought wasn't always the best of quaility, especially when Dewey was the one wearing it

Just the nature of his jumpy, clutzy, accident prone and slightly messy self meant you were constantly buying him new shirts and mending his sweater vests

To be honest, it was getting old

You'd also been missing crafting for a while so. Two birds, one stone

The next time you were in Walmart alone, you grabbed yarn and knitting needles and on the few days a week you were home alone, slowly you started to knit him some new sweater vests, using an old one that was beyond repair as the template to make sure each one fit

The first one was just a plain, fadded red to get yourself back into practice before slowly beginning to add simple designs similar to the few he owned now

Then a couple of weird themed ones, a couple of his favourite bands, one with music notes in the design, one that was birthday themed, one with mini guitars, whatever amused you and you thought would amuse him, you knitted onto the sweater

Each vest took three weeks to make. By the time his birthday came around, you had made him ten new vests, having kept it a secret the entire time

You were super nervous when he opened up his present, but the giant smile on his face was worth it, excited with the concert tickets you managed to get for the two of you (in the pit, of course) and with each new sweater, he got more and more excited

"These are amazing babe! Where did you get them?" He asked as he got up to try his favourite (the one with a replica of his Gibson knitted around the bottom) on

You go quiet. "I....uh.....I made them."

He looked over at you like you just admitted you had found a cure for cancer

You'd neglected to tell him of your crafting past, it never came up so you never said

Now, however, he was keen to see you craft

He never even dared to try it out for himself, but enjoyed watching you knit or crochet without looking at your work, watching TV or chatting to Dewey as you just continued to work

Every year, he got at least two sweaters from you, and you made sure to knit a sensible one and a silly one

What amazed you was the fact that Dewey seemed to have fewer accidents

He took extra special care of all of the stuff you make him, never spilling so much as a drop of coffee on them and tried his best not to get them snagged on the one sharp part of the doorway into his office

One day he came home, nearly in tears

You were folding up laundry but you dropped everything and came rushing over, thinking the absolute worst but instead he simply pushed something into your hands and said "I'm so sorry"

Turns out, he took off his vest when he came in to play a song with the kindergartners, something he now does daily as part of his role as music teacher

He didn't notice one of the kids grabbing it and wandering off with it

It was covered in paint, one of the Gibsons were cut out and the yarn was beginning to unravel, despite clear attempts to keep it from doing so

It was ruined

You hush Dewey as you pull him close and reassure him it's ok, you can make him another one

It took a while to settle him, he treasured everything you made him and he allowed one to get ruined

But once you assured him it was fine and you knew it was an accident, you ended up spooning in the couch as you mentally start planning the new sweater

A month passed when he found a wrapped up parcel on his desk

He was running late, didn't have time to grab a coffee and accidentally grabbed his vest with a massive hole in the back rather than one of your handcrafted ones

Still, he made it to the classroom before any students arrived, so he quickly opened it up and a huge smile plastered its way onto his face

A new sweater vest that was near identicle to his ruined one, a bit cleaner and better designed than the old one

You'd also made him a pair of socks, something you'd been experimenting with, with the AC/DC logos on the side

He found the note at the bottom 'Hope you have a good day. I love you. Y/N. P.S. These are not allowed near the kindergartners ❤'

He quickly changed into the sweater, feeling so much better than he did 5 minutes ago

The socks became his lucky socks and he'd wear them to his gigs, stating that it was like you were up there with him

He shushed you when you pointed out that it meant he was technically stepping on you, telling you "you know what I mean" before giving you a kiss

He'd give you requests for scarves, beanies, the lot. Socks were for bed or performances only, apparently, but everything else was worn whenever

You even made beanies and scarves for members of the band who wanted them, each having the School of Rock logo on it plus the kid's name

Dewey loves wearing and telling everyone about the stuff you make because he thinks it's absolutely incredible you're able to create something like this

And he treasures everything you make him

Most importantly, he's there to listen when you rant that the yarn isn't working like it should, or just about crafting problems in general, and be an ear as you problem solve an issue and is there to celebrate the victories when it finally works

Gets really good at yarn shopping too, picks up the brands you prefer and learns to read the packaging labels

Just

He loves the fact you can create something just like he can

#school of rock musical headcanons #school of rock headcanons #school of rock the musical #school of rock musical #school of rock #dewey finn headcanons #dewey finn/reader #dewey finn #dewey finn x reader #ama writes #amas stuff

[constance-ophelia]

I have a few reflections on sustainable fashion as someone who grew up without money. However, I want to preface this by saying that I wasn’t destitute growing up and I’m aware of the privilege I had. Feel free to ignore this they’re just my rambles haha.

I’ve seen some posts lately which talk about thrifting responsibly so that there are still items left at Goodwill for those who need them. Which is all fine and good of course. But it feels a bit alienating because growing up I knew that Goodwill was off limits because it was too expensive, you know? If I got ‘new’ clothes (from a thrift store) it was from one of the less expensive little local ones. I generally wore hand me downs from relatives and friends though.

Growing up clothing from fast fashion brands also always seemed expensive and luxurious. Sure, they did need more mending, but I accepted that and brought out the sewing machine because I really loved some of those items. So it feels a little weird to have people talk about those items of clothing as cheap. I do understand and have observed the ways in which they are cheaply made, of course, but part of my younger brain still doesn’t quite process it.

Now I’m older and my family is doing better financially. I could invest in more properly sustainable clothing. And I will when I need new clothes; I’m not done mending the thrift store finds from high school yet. Many of those pieces really were well made and I don’t anticipate that they’ll be irreparable for years to come. It wouldn’t make sense to stop wearing them since I already have them. However, there’s still something in my childhood sensibilities which is uncomfortable with the conversations surrounding sustainable clothing, like I’m not really in a position to engage.

Yeah anyway that’s my ramble lol.

#sarah (sc)rambles #yet again I do know that I wasn't extremely poor for most of my childhood #both of my parents have college degrees and my Dad has a PhD #these are just my feelings from my perspective and I don't want to step on toes #we did eat regularly you know #growing up poor #sustainable fashion #ethical consumerism #ethical fashion #fast fashion #thrifting #thriftstores

[myaekingheart]

106. Rockabye Resolve

read the scarecrow and the bell on ao3

index | from the beginning | < previous | next >

               It was rare for Chikara-sensei to be in town for any longer than a few days. Rei never really knew what it was that she did, or why Lady Tsunade always had her off on missions, but she had always assumed it was because of Chikara’s talent. It would really make perfect sense. Chikara was sleek and skilled and her superior acting abilities made her a prime spy. She could weasel information out of anyone with her glittering eyes and charming accent. After all, Naru had to learn it from somewhere. Unlike Naru, however, Chikara was not delicate. Her broad shoulders and muscular physique, thanks to years of formal dance training, made her equal parts seductive and sinewy. Rei truly could not have asked for a better sensei and so when Chikara offered to spend the afternoon with her and Sekkachi, neither could pass up the offer.

               The moment they reached her apartment, Chikara swung the front door open and warmly ushered them inside. “Make yourselves comfortable, girls” she said as she slipped into the kitchen. “I just have a few loose ends to tie up and then we can be on our way!”

               “So, uh, what exactly are we doing this afternoon, anyway?” Rei asked. She peered around through the kitchen doorway but could only catch the tip of Chikara’s house slippers. They were soft and pink with little roses embroidered on them—like what one would expect a grandmother to wear.

               “Oh, nothing too fancy!” Chikara called into the living room. “I just have to run to the thrift store to get this rice cooker repaired!”

               Rei and Sekkachi exchanged confused glances. “And a thrift store is going to help you how, exactly?” Sekkachi asked.

               Chikara chuckled lyrically as she popped out of the kitchen then, carrying what was presumably her rice cooker in a wrinkled paper bag. The cord snaked out from the opening and swung near her hand. “Oh, that!” she laughed. “Yes, the thrift store is owned by a friend of mine who’s rather gifted with appliances! So whenever something breaks, I go to him for help.”

               “Ah-hah…” Sekkachi replied, nodding slowly. Chikara smiled at them and then motioned for them to come along. The girls quickly leapt to their feet and followed suit.

               The cherry blossoms had since begun to disappear as the air in Konoha warmed considerably. Sekkachi tightened her ponytail and huffed as she walked along down winding roads and past civilians eyeing her midriff cautiously. “Yo, Chikara-sensei” she called. Chikara glanced at her over her shoulder. “I don’t want to sound rude or ungrateful because I’m not, but is there any reason you needed us to tag along for this?”

               “No, not at all” Chikara replied. “I could very well do this on my own, but I figured since it’s so rare that I’m in town like this and that our schedules coincide, I thought it might be nice to go together. Unless you’d prefer to go home, Sekkachi?”

               Sekkachi raised her hands in surrender, dropping her eyes to the ground. “Absolutely not. Just curious.”

               Rei chuckled and elbowed Sekkachi mockingly. “Oh yeah, because otherwise you had such important plans with your couch, right?” she jested. With a frown, Sekkachi swatted Rei’s hand away and muttered a gritted shut up.

               It warmed Chikara’s heart seeing how little her students had changed. She knew it was not customary for a team to stick by one another after they’d all grown up and moved on, so the maintenance of Rei and Sekkachi’s bittersweet rivalry was a breath of fresh air. Chikara turned on her heels and walked backwards as she replied, “If it helps the situation at all, I was planning to take you all out for tea and sweets after this. A complimentary little treat, if you will.” She giggled then as she shifted the weight of the rice cooker into her one arm and opened the door of a dusty little shop on the corner. Rei quickly recognized it as the same place she had seen a mechanical monkey in the window of years before, as well as the same place into which Kakashi had shoved her to avoid confronation from his students. The smell of musty upholstery and old books immediately whacked her back to those moments from so long ago. A little old man with beady eyes behind glass bottle glasses sat hunched at the counter humming to himself.

               “Hey, Chikara-sensei” Rei whispered, “I thought this place was run by some little old lady.” A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of what may have become of her. She didn’t know the woman’s name, but she remembered Grandma Teiko mentioning that they knew each other in their youth.

               “Ah, yes” Chikara nodded, “That was his sister, Komori. Last I heard she was out of town visiting a new great-grandchild.” Rei pursed her lips and nodded, mildly impressed. She wondered how old this woman must be to have great-grandchildren.

               The man furrowed his brows then as if he heard an incomprehensible buzzing, then turned and his eyes bugged out of his skull. “Chikara, my dear!” he exclaimed, spreading his arms out in welcome. “So happy to see you again! What broke this time?”

               Chikara placed the rice cooker on the counter with a heavy thud. “I’m afraid my rice cooker has shit the bed!” she announced. “It never dings anymore when my rice is finished.”

               “Hmm, that is a problem…” the old man muttered. He slid the paper bag down so he could inspect the machine. It was a bulky thing made of brass or some other type of metal—it was hard for Rei to tell from a distance. All she knew for certain was that it was extremely old.

               Sekkachi smirked at the sight of it, tilting her head to get a better look. “You know, Chikara, have you ever considered just, you know, buying a new one?”

               Chikara and the old man stared at her dumbly. “Whyever would I do that?” she asked.

               “I mean…” Sekkachi started, pouting. “If it’s broken, it’s probably run it’s course. You could get a new one that works ten times better.”

               The old man smacked his lips and pointed a shaky finger in the air knowledgeably. “If you ask me” he started, “if something can be fixed, then there’s no use replacing it! You kids these days are all so quick to throw away good appliances. Pfah! You see, they don’t make good appliances like this anymore. The new stuf is all made to break so the companies can squeeze you out of your money. Pointless, that’s what it is! Absolutely pointless!”

               “Wow, Sekkachi” Rei grinned deviously. “He really schooled you.” Taunted yet again, Sekkachi frowned and punched Rei lightly in the arm—but not light enough to avoid a red mark.

               Frowning, the old man turned to Chikara and shook his head. “Your guests are rather crass, Chikara” he pouted.

               “Yes, they do seem to be acting rather out of turn, don’t they?” she asked through gritted teeth. She pulled the two girls nearer, her grip tight and threatening. “You’ll never believe it, but these young women were my students once upon a time. Rojin, this is Sekkachi Fumeiyo and Rei Natsuki. Girls, this is Rojin Choshu, a very gifted antiquary.” She emphasized his talent with a sharp gaze as if to silently threaten them to treat this man with respect.

               Rojin eyed them up and down before nodding slowly, a small smile touching his wrinkled lips. “I see…” he mused. “Now it all makes sense. No wonder—they have the same spirit you did in your youth” he jested, turning to Chikara.

               Rei and Sekkachi exchanged confused and curious glances. In her youth? What history did Chikara have with this man, exactly? Chikara chuckled politely, replying, “An unfortunate consequence, I’m afraid.”

               Rojin laughed kindheartedly, however, and said, “I’m sure what they lack in manners, they make up for out in the field.”

               Scratching her right shoulder, Chikara smirked and assured, “I’d say so.” Rojin’s eyes skated to her hand and suddenly an all-knowing expression crossed his face. Without saying a single word, she had told him all he needed to know about just how far her students have come. Before anything more could be said on the matter, however, Chikara peered at Rei and Sekkachi over her shoulder. “If you girls want” she said with a flourish of her hand, “you’re more than welcome to peruse the shelves while Rojin and I catch up!”

               “I’ll even give you a 20% discount!” the old man said. He pulled a rickety wooden stool out from behind the counter and patted the seat, an invitation for Chikara to sit. If mending the rice cooker wasn’t going to take all afternoon, their conversation surely would. They were going to be here for a long while. “It’s the least I can do for friends of Chikara’s!”

               Sekkachi gave a single nod as she began walking away. “We’ll let you know if we find anything interesting” she said apathetically. With a flick of her hand, she motioned for Rei to follow her deeper into the store.

               The mismatched shelves were stuffed with equally mismatched knick-knacks from boxes of hair dye, likely expired, to vacuum cleaners from thirty years ago. Rei, expectedly, made a beeline for the used book section. She always had a soft spot for used books. She liked finding copies with handwritten notes in the margins and love letters on the covers. A glimpse into the lives of the previous owners, like a little fragment of their history left behind. As Rei’s index finger grazed the spine of a brand-new copy of What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Sekkachi caught her attention from the clothing racks.

               Rei turned to find Sekkachi standing in the middle of the aisle holding up the most abysmal dress Rei had ever seen. The collar was stiff and white and shaped like the plastic cones they put on dogs at the vet’s office. The sleeves were the size of blimps. Lace and tacky fake pearls covered the entire corset and hem. “What do you say you get married in this bad boy?” Sekkachi asked, swerving her hips and pouting her lips as if that was going to make it any more appealing.

               “Not on your life” Rei joked.

               “Aw, why not?” Sekkachi whined. “Can’t you just imagine Kakashi’s face when he sees you walk down the aisle in this thing?”

               “Yeah, he’d go pale and make a run for it” Rei joked. She picked up the skirt between her thumb and index finger, as if touching it was going to burn her hand off. “I could hide an entire army in this thing.”              

               “Look at this, it even comes with a cute little headdress” Sekkachi cooed. She pulled the circlet up off the top of the hanger and shoved it crookedly onto Rei’s head. Bunches of tulle sprouted out from the ruffled base working their way to a fluffy veil crumpled down over Rei’s ponytail. “What a blushing bride!” Sekkachi grinned. Then, as she wrapped an arm around Rei, she joked in a high-pitched, mocking voice, “Oh, Kakashi! Take me, I’m yours!”

               Rei tore the circlet off her head and shoved it in Sekkachi’s face, restraining laughter. “I don’t fucking sound like that, you idiot” she rebuked. Sekkachi shrugged, grinning, as she stuffed the dress back onto the rack. The damn thing was so heavy, the hanger bowed in the middle and for a moment, Rei thought it was going to snap. “Be careful with that thing” she whispered, glancing back at Chikara and the old man anxiously. “You know what they say: you break it, you buy it.”

               “It’s not gonna break” Sekkachi dismissed. Then, after a moment of consideration, she began shoving Rei down the aisle, muttering, “But let’s get the fuck away from it just to be safe.”

               “That’s what I thought” Rei smirked. As Sekkachi veered left, Rei turned right toward a shelf of miscellaneous housewares. She skimmed past a crock pot, a set of commemorative glasses for the third hokage’s induction, and a cheese grater before stalling on a curious little package. Tied together neatly with a wrinkled ribbon was a pair of vintage baby booties and a matching blanket. Rei ran her hand across the blanket’s soft fabric—pale blue fleece. Embroidered in the corner was a happy little teddy bear holding three balloons in primary colors. She picked up the booties and turned them over in her hands, swinging the little pompoms dangling from the cuff. They were so tiny. How could anyone ever be so tiny? She ran her thumb along the fleece and a jolt of something rushed through her veins. Suddenly her face grew hot and red, her throat tightening. Rei fought with every ounce of her willpower to keep her lips from curling up into a smile. She turned the package over in her hand once again, feeling for a price tag though she knew she didn’t have any use. Before she could find one, however, Rojin called to her from the end of the aisle.

               “Those are $12 as a set” he announced. Rei startled, snapped out of her daze, as she whipped around to face him. She instinctively clutched the booties to her chest. There was a kind, sort of soft look on the man’s face as he then asked, “Are you expecting?” She watched his eyes quickly glance to her stomach as if he expected a hint of a baby bump. She wondered if he was hallucinating the existence of one with his old eyes, or even worse if her junk food diet was coming back to haunt her.

               Face bright red, Rei shoved the package back on the shelf and shook her head. “N-no, not at all!” she exclaimed. She caught Sekkachi’s eyes fall to her waist as she skirted around to inject herself into the conversation. Rei consequently folded her arms across her abdomen in an attempt to hide. In retrospect, she understood how suspicious this looked but it was better to guard herself than open the door to further scrutiny. People always manage to see what they want to see rather than the truth, anyway. “I was just, uh, you know…admiring the craftsmanship. They’re…they’re really well-made.”

               Rojin narrowed his eyes and nodded, mildly suspicious. “Ah, yes” he croaked. “I believe they were handmade. Barely used. The woman who brought them in said they were a gift for her daughter but turns out she already bought a pair that she liked better, so they had no real use for ‘em.”

               “Well, that’s dumb” Sekkachi scoffed. “I bet the old lady put a lot of work into them. Her daughter sounds like an ungrateful bitch.”

               The old man pursed his lips—it was clear he agreed with her sentiment, but not her choice of words. Rei glanced back to the set on the shelf, then dropped her eyes to the ground. She could feel her heart rate jumping, her face growing hotter. She needed to get out of here and fast. “Well, I’m sure they’re going to make an expecting mother very happy” she said before pushing past everyone toward the front door.

               Sekkachi’s gaze followed her, cocking a brow in curiosity, before turning back to Rojin. He hobbled toward the shelf to adjust the set’s display so that the booties were perfectly aligned. “That is the positive about places like this” he then said, rather wistfully. “At least someone can get some use out of these things. A much better fate than just tossing them in the trash.”

               “Yeah…” Sekkachi replied. Her eyes drifted to the blanket and booties for a moment before turning and abruptly approaching the door.

               It only took Rojin about 45 minutes to fix Chikara’s rice cooker. Rei was sure he had candidly mentioned what, exactly, was the trouble with it but by that point, all she heard was static. She rushed out of the shop before she could even say goodbye to the shopkeeper, pressing her back against the wall and gasping for breath. She was such an idiot, she was making a terrible mistake. She hated herself for thinking the things she was. There was no reason for it. It was so stupid.

               “So, Chikara-sensei” Seckkachi asked as the three of them walked toward the dango shop, “How exactly do you know that geezer?”

               Chikara chuckled and swatted the air with her free hand. “We’ve known each other for quite a long time!” she replied. “When I first came to Konoha, he looked after me. Don’t get the wrong idea, it wasn’t in any sexual sense. Rather, he acted like a kind old uncle toward me. I was a girl with a dream but no path and he helped lift me up and set me straight. Gave me a place to sleep and a warm meal every night. I would never have gotten where I am without his help and so I’ve been repaying the favor ever since.”

               “By…?” Sekkachi urged.

               “By enlisting his services!” Chikara said. “I give him my undivided business as a thank you. I never accept any of his discounts, either. It’s just not proper. He deserves to be paid full price, and sometimes even then some! I never tell him about the extra money I stick in the tip jar, though. Always take care of that when he’s not looking. He’d protest like the devil otherwise!”

               Sekkachi fought the smile threatening her lips, placing her hands on the back of her head as she strolled. She would never admit it but it warmed her heart to see Chikara keep in touch with people from her past. She never knew the details of her sensei’s life before Konoha, but she could only assume much of her life in the before had been vaulted away never to be seen again. Fading faces, connections collecting dust. But Chikara knew how to hold onto the good things. After all, that was all that mattered. Yes, only the good things.

               Amai greeted the trio warmly and ushered them to their usual table in the shop. She always knew exactly where Chikara preferred to sit: right by the window so she could get a good look out at the village. The blonde hugged Sekkachi close and asked if she had plans to come in with Hiretsuna sometime soon. Chikara arched a brow in intrigue as she and Rei sat on opposite sides of the table.

               “You sound like quite the sybarite, hmm, Sekkachi?” Chikara stated in a mockingly scandalous tone. “Amai, Hiretsuna. Who else might be on your list of ladyloves?”

               “Oh, stop it, it’s not like that” Sekkachi swatted at the air. Chikara slid a menu toward her across the table, though she knew Sekkachi never ordered anything from here. “Hiretsuna and I just come here every so often after my doctor’s appointments. It’s strictly platonic. Is it so wrong to be on good terms with the hospital staff? Heaven only knows I’m in there all the fucking time anyway.”

               As Chikara and Sekkachi conversed about the blue-haired kunoichi’s romance and chronic conditions, however, Rei’s mind wandered. She could hardly even remember stepping foot in the dango shop, she was so preoccupied with her own thoughts. And now, sitting here among the civilians, her eyes landed squarely on a group of young women a few tables over. They were chatting and laughing, all of them roughly the same age as herself. None of them mattered except for one. Situated right in the line of a strong beam of sunlight was a youthful brunette, her hair twisted up into a low bun. It was messy but perfectly so. She was plain but luminous, which Rei didn’t really understand the logic behind but it was true. A cotton blanket was draped over her shoulder and there, cradled in her arms, was a sweet little baby. They slept soundly against their mother’s breast, little hands clasped as if in prayer. Their skin glowed, their little ears almost transparent in the sunlight. Rei’s breath hitched in her throat as a daunting thought suddenly struck her on its own accord: that could be me. She felt sick the moment she thought it and wished she could cast it out of her brain immediately. Just because it could didn’t mean it should. That was a very important distinction. But if she just would…? No. Absolutely not. She was not going to have this conversation with herself. Not now.

               The longer she stared, the further into insanity she could feel herself spiraling. Logically, she knew she needed to look away. Any longer and people would notice. Any longer and the woman would catch sight of her, would grow uncomfortable, would complain to the management and have her kicked out. Rei didn’t even want to stare to begin with. She yelled at herself to just turn her head, to look down at the menu and order something and move on with her day like a regular person, but she was paralyzed. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. And that paralysis struck her with the plainest, most horrifying realization. Before she could even react to it, however, Sekkachi waved her hand roughly in front of Rei’s face and the trance was broken.

               “Earth to Rei! What the fuck is wrong with you?” Sekkachi asked.

               “I-I’m fine…it’s nothing” Rei stammered. She blinked a few times, trying to wake herself up. “I’m just…really tired. Work’s been, uh…kind of rough.”

               A knowing smile touched Chikara’s face then as she leaned back and tented her fingers. “How are things going with the ANBU, anyway?” she asked. A look of panic and confusion crossed Rei’s face at the question. She couldn’t deny Chikara answers, but also was legally obligated to keep her mouth shut. Truthfully, she didn’t even like making mention of her career in public like this at all. Her identity was her most valuable possession and she needed to protect it all costs. After all, the ANBU wore masks for a reason. Reading the sudden horror on her student’s face, Chikara pouted and swatted the air. “Now I know I’m not supposed to ask about details but you can at least tell me if things are going well.”

               Rei cleared her throat. Were things going well? She supposed so. Work was…steady. Tsunade seemed to be assigning her more and more responsibility. Rei attempted to compose herself before answering Chikara’s question. All the while, Chikara smiled and nodded along with a polite but knowing smile that made Rei almost nauseous. She tried to ignore it just as she tried to ignore the mother across the room. By the tie the three of them were finished, she was gone.

               Sekkachi and Rei waved goodbye to Chikara as they parted ways, watching her turn the corner with her giant rice cooker in tow. When Sekkachi offered to walk Rei home, the redhead was at first skeptical but also was in no place to refuse. Besides, Sekkachi had said, her and Kakashi’s apartment was on the way to her own anyway.

               “So what’s been up with you today?” Sekkachi asked, popping a cigarette into her mouth. She whipped her lighter out, using her palm as a shield as she struggled to light the end. The cigarette bobbed in her mouth as she spoke. “You’ve been zoning out and acting all weird. You freaked about the wedding or something?”

               Rei shook her head and crossed her arms. “No, not really. I’m just tired” she lied, eyes downcast. “I’ve been thinking a lot because I’m tired.”

               “Yeah?” Sekkachi asked. When she finally got her cigarette to light, she took a long drag and a look of utter relief swept across her face. Deep inhale, a moment to savor it, then a long sigh. “Thinking about what?”

               “Not really anything” Rei replied. “Just…thinking.” She hoped her answer, though vague, would be enough to sate Sekkachi’s curiosity. She didn’t have the strength to truly explain herself. She didn’t even want to explain herself to herself, whatever sense that made.

               As suspicious as Sekkachi was, she was far too worn out to press Rei further for answers. Rolling her eyes, she flicked some ash off the end of her cigarette and replied, “Well, whatever’s bugging you, just quit wasting your time overthinking it. Just tell your brain to shut the fuck up. Suck it up. There are more important things.”

               Sekkach’s delivery was so harsh and yet in this moment, Rei was grateful for her blunt honesty. She was right. Rei did need to stop overthinking it. She was so embarrassed for thinking about the things she was, but realistically what even was there to be embarrassed about? She didn’t let herself dwell long enough to find an answer. All she knew for certain was that a tiny seed had been planted in her brain—a seed which had since grown into something overbearing and unavoidable. Something almost even, dare she say, obsessive. She could feel the yearning deep in the pit of her stomach: a gurgling, twisting desperation that reduced her legs to jelly. No more overthinking it. No more second guessing or inventing reasons to turn back. She already knew exactly how she felt. As she unlocked the door to her and Kakashi’s apartment and stepped inside, she validated the thought in her head, turning the words over in her brain until they felt real. I’m ready to have a baby with Kakashi.

#rei natsuki #sekkachi fumeiyo #chikara #kakashi hatake #the scarecrow and the bell #naruto #naruto oc #fanfiction

[artificialqueens]

Ice Cream (Katlaska) - matryoshka

 A/N: Angst? I guess. This is in Katya’s point of view, a bit poetic (I tried,) so it kind of derails from the paragraph format, just a warning I guess, if that kinda stuff ticks you off. I don’t really know where this came from, but here it is. Welcome to 707.

I went back to our apartment. It’s still unlocked as if inviting trouble—well, I would’ve panicked before, but we really no longer have nothing to lose. Are we broke? Financially, no, but you know what I mean. It was still a relief though to see the place untouched and as it is. I’m such a fool, expecting to hear blasting Ariana Grande music, but you weren’t there, and even if the place seemed the same, I know it’s not. Most of the things stayed where I last saw them, which isn’t surprising considering it’s only been- what- a week?

A week of not seeing you, not calling you, but definitely a week full of thoughts of you, you missing, missing you, your awkward long limbs that I lo— like. Like. That’s fair. I figured I should give you space, but maybe I needed it more than you. Were you thinking of me? Because I tried to not think of you, key word is tried, outcome is hopeless.

Our—this place is small, cramped, like how I remembered it, we’ve decided what’s the point of buying a lavish flat when we rarely get to be there together, and I’m glad that we were practical- but I try not to dwell on the memories of our dwelling- ha! a pun- Usually, I could make myself laugh, but my smile didn’t even reach my eyes. I sigh, if you can’t make yourself laugh, you’ll live a lonely life!

I opted to keep my shoes on, it wouldn’t matter anyway. You wouldn’t be scolding me, you wouldn’t care, and I won’t stay for long. And yes, in all the things that I do, I would still consider what you would say. Sometimes, and by sometimes I mean when I’m a crying mess of a woman these past few days, I’d actually find myself wishing to hear Brenda more and less of your voice.

Our place doesn’t have a kitchen, no wonder we are both so skinny, I was always worried you’re malnourished and—anyways, there was just a single bed, a cabinet, a desktop, a mirror, a few small tables, some chairs that does not match the tables- oh, it doesn’t match, not at all. Books, magazines, your sketches of her- the cartoony galactic princess- some torn and some not. I spot small dead cigarette sticks, 7/11 plastics- both my fault, you tried forcing me into breaking these habits because you said you needed me to stay longer than another five years, but I never really got around that, and maybe that’s why we’re here. Ow! I just stumbled upon a weird doll that you got from one of our thrift shop expeditions- those were always fun, but seriously, you hoard too much stuff. What a mess, there were also scattered clothes, mostly dresses and pantyhose and some rare boy clothes, as a whore, I’m surprised we rarely have men over. Of course I’m kidding. I see your old nails which you decided are too damaged to be mended—that kind of stabbed my dried up heart, wait, oh I see socks with missing pairs- and I sympathized with the sock. The clatter on the floor reminds me too much of us, so I had to look up, then I saw our wall, and I wish I hadn’t done that. Wall of pictures- of you, of me, of us, and I wonder, when did you stop looking at me like I hung the moon.

It was like those scenes in the movies where they were too late to notice the car coming, so all they could do was close their eyes. I closed my eyes; those scenes were always stupid, as if closing your eyes would save you, from the accident, from the reality, from the pain. Spoiler, they never do. I know, I know, I’m flexible, I’m not a dancer though, but I seem to be professional at dancing around, avoiding my insecurities and problems, and thank the goddess, Ru Paul.

I now turned my attention to the drawers, we—this place needs to get cleaned, there’s too much dust, it makes my eyes water. Also, I might need to make an appointment with my doctor, the dust never made my eyes water before ha! I wiped my eyes because things were getting blurry, and guess what I found on the drawers. Your jar of karate patches. You never went back to doing karate, but your obsession with them never went away. You’re such a child, and this reminds me of Christmas, too many of them spent with you. And I don’t really need those thoughts right now, so like the flexible hooker that I am, I headed to the bed. I swear that made more sense in my head! Wait! We are in my head. Makes sense.

I saw a little hand jewelry of mine, and so I picked it up. But I really wish I hadn’t reached for this hand, and instead reached for yours that night because then I wouldn’t be here, and we—we could still be we—us. Grammar, am I right? Well, as a poet, I invoke my driver’s license.

Underneath the bed, I saw luggage and boxes marked with your name and a new address, and the tires screeched, the police asked for my license, now where was it. Paralyzed with fear. I feel a left turn. My mind is blank now.

Underneath the bed, I saw luggage and boxes marked with your name and a new address, and

it screams you

And me,

                        It screams us.

I had to stand up immediately, and I realized my feet actually went cold. Suddenly it was too bright outside, and the room felt too cramped, hot as fuck. HOT. AS FUCK.

Our little plant, beloved li’l poundcake, neglected—

                                                Dead, by the window.

            And it screams                                                            us                               

It screams                                                       you,

                                    and me.

I’m thankful for the curtains, helping me with the harsh sun.

I feel enveloped and protected, yet bare and raw, just like a youthful fetus

                                                            And I thought of you.

                                                And I was angry at myself. I’m sorry.

And I screamed:  Y O U

                                    Not knowing who I’m imploring, really—

            Tears

                        threatening

                                                to

                                                fall,

                                                                        and my eyes landed on the single set of keys.

Apartment 707—home, I thought. Hot chocolate, contact, vegetables, I remember.

Did you know that people believe that 707 is a lucky number. It gives you luck, supposedly, I think. Well, I guess we were lucky. They never said it will give you long lasting bliss. But we’re lucky. 

Reflecting the harsh light of the sun that seeped through the windows, blinding me, I squinted, I saw, 

                                    I felt betrayed—

Your set of keys, reflecting the harsh light of the sun that seeped through the windows, are blinding me, and I felt betrayed—

                        Your set of keys,

the curtains cannot cover all, I guess. Not your set of keys, not the reflection hurting me, not the hurt.

                        And I remembered you, and I allowed myself to this time.

I did not get angry, How could I get angry, when you weren’t angry. You just went cold, Alaska. We were civilized, you told me what’s up after I finished morning coffee, very considerate. Very kind. You’ve always been kind, but I— I wished you’d just grab a fork and stabbed me. That way I have a reason to be angry, I want to be angry, to feel anything, anything else rather than sadness and longing and looming thoughts of where did we go wrong? Where did I go wrong?

I don’t want to cry anymore, so I allowed myself the memories of lazing in the couch all day, a random episode of the Golden Girls playing on your laptop for the 37th time. 

Did those memories stopped me from crying? Not really, but I caught myself smiling at those memories, and I didn’t know I had closed my eyes until I opened them—and damn it, god damn it—I needed a smoke—I was now staring at myself at the weird antique mirror you got me, and then

                        I saw you,

your reflection,

                                                            behind me.

And I had a good look at us in the mirror,

                        I screamed you

                                                                                                still,

                                                                        still you, my eyes still look at you like you hung the moon, I’m wearing the smile that I know you like best. I’m even wearing your cap—

But you no longer screamed me—

oh at all.

            and this screams us.

  “Hey, Kat. I wasn’t expecting you to be here.” You smiled at me. I’m glad that you could smile. But I felt a cut at your use of Kat. I guess we’re back to being friends from work, Joanne.

“Yeah, hi, Lask. I just came ba—came here to pick this up.” I showed you the tiny hand that I’ve picked up just moments before you arrived. I am proud to be able to suck my tears in, and face you. I am a man, yep.

You laughed, it echoed in the room, and the sound pleasantly cut my heart. I let myself hurt and bleed, for now.

                                    We can do this. You’re an expert in this, with Needles-Thunderfuck and all, and me? I’m flexible.

This place is a mess and it’s cramped, but it was home, and it’s taking me back to sweet memories, and it used to be enough. This space used to scream us until we started screaming at each other,

but yeah right now, this screams us, we’re over. And yes, I’ve heard you screaming, Brenda. Loud and painfully clear.

We are over.

#katlaska #matryoshka #katya zamolodchikova #alaska thunderfuck #angst #rpdr fanfiction #submission

[gsasustainability]

Oxfam Wastesaver Factory Visit Melody Uyanga Ramsay, BA Fashion Design

With the support of SiAG I was able to visit Oxfam’s huge Wastesaver Factory in Batley, Huddersfield. My work in fashion design focuses on sustainability, ethics and its intersections, utilizing fashion as a vehicle to discuss the consistent legacy of colonization and its relationship to our current climate emergency.

In my final year I aim to be explicit about how we can change our consumer identity and the way we value our clothes as all these issues are linked to consumption (fast fashion, climate change, colonization and globalization) and have been exasperated by middle class and wealthy people in white dominated countries. Currently ‘greenwashing’ is turning our solutions into pure capitalistic endeavors by mostly only promoting and upholding people from one socio-economic background and race.

My graduate collection will be made entirely from second hand or otherwise discarded fabrics, largely displacing the loss of life to animals, environmental destruction and worker exploitation in addition to confronting our lethal desire for newness, and the people we champion in the pursuit of sustainability in fashion. Our current fashion industry has been designed in a linear system, all trade routes for cotton, silk and many resources used in the industry, as well as labour, correspond exactly to historical colonial routes, and this makes us see how the fashion system is one of oppression and exploitation.

I felt that this opportunity to visit the Wastesaver factory just couldn’t be missed, in order to find out the truth about the UK textile waste system as Oxfam states on their website that, "We're proud that no item donated goes to landfill." Yet with over 2,000 tonnes of clothes being exported abroad each week in that factory alone, I was skeptical of this claim.

My suspicions about how Oxfam discard their unsold clothes were confirmed by the trip, as I found out that the majority of the clothes that don’t sell on their online shops are sent to be burned at an energy plant or sold on to markets in Senegal via Frip Ethique an Oxfam-run social enterprise.

On a surface level, of course this system is much better than sending waste fabrics to landfill immediately and it provides jobs, and a livelihood to a community. Yet I struggle with this waste displacement system as it is again a structure where people of the Global South are dependent on the West’s unwanted products and strips them of the opportunity to control their own textile economies and local businesses.

Charity shops are embroiled in commodity chains which perpetuate poverty, yet this shouldn’t stop us from donating our clothes, however we do need to be more open about the power dynamics involved in ‘thrifting’. This is all quite heavy information to handle, but we can try to do our best once we have been educated about the truth. The most impactful ways we can radically do the right thing is by:

• Shopping second hand. • Supporting small local businesses. • Mending what we already have. • Consuming less, of higher quality (will you wear it more than 30 times?). • Hiring and empowering more women, and women of colour.

Please click here for a short film I made about my trip to the factory: My Website My Instagram

[nrahman-blog3]

25 Days Challenge!

Note: The original website is for 31 Days (aka a month), but I reduced it. If you want to participate for 31 days, here’s the Link. 

Day 1 - Hold on to your plastic trash

Collect your plastic (even recyclable) for the month so you can audit it later. 

Day 2 - Buy nothing new

Unless it’s something absolutely necessary, you can go off this. Try to do this for as long as you feel comfortable. 

Day 3 - Make a zero-waste kit from items you already own

A zero waste kit will save you from many problems. For example, taking a jar with you when you eat at your favourite restaurant. Some item’s include: 

Water Bottle and/or Mug

Metal Cutlery & Chopsticks

Cloth napkins

Jars

Cloth bags (e.g snacks) 

Cloth shopping bags

Day 4 - Cook with food only from the fridge

Cook a meal with what you have on hand to prevent food from going to waste. 

Day 5 - Shop at your local farmers’ market

If you don’t have access to any farmers’ markets, try to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

Day 6 - Plan for Composting

If you have any place in your home with dirt or grass, you can start composting. Collect food scraps in a container and toss them on the ground. Cover them with brown matter (e.g dry leaves). You can repeat this process everyday or once every few days. Many cities also have local food scrap locations where the organisations compost.

Day 7 - Pack a low-waste lunch 

Not only will you save money, you’ll get rid of the trash associated with take-out food. The wrappers, paper cup, plastic lid, straw, paper napkins, condiment packages, the bag that holds all the food, etc. 

Day 8 - Examine your 1st Week’s worth of trash

Every week, collect the trash or take pictures of it. Try to figure out alternatives for your problems (e.g what you don’t need or can make yourself). 

Day 9 - Plan meals

Plan your meals ahead of time (start off by planning at least one meal). It prevents packaging and food waste. Zero-waste cooking is much easier if you eat more vegetable dishes rather than meat dishes, which also are the healthiest. 

Day 10 - Fill up Bulk Bins

Flour, sugar, dried fruit, rice, oils, baking soda, olives, spices, tea, etc. are all things you can fill up on to reduce packaging waste. 

Day 11 - Save your veggie scraps

Save vegetables like celery, carrots, onions, cauliflower, garlic, tomatoes, etc. and put them in glass jars in the freezer. You can make broth out of the leftover parts!

Day 12 - Go Hiking

Not only will you appreciate nature more, but it has many benefits like improvement on short-term memory, reducing stress, improved vision, and increased concentration. Don’t forget your water bottle! 

Day 13 - Buy bread in a cloth bag (if you buy bread)

Find a bakery that sells bread loose and place it in your cloth blag. 

Day 14 - Switch to cloth menstrual pads 

You can save hundreds of dollars buy buying cloth pads! There are multiple websites online that sell cloth pads or cups. They are also available at drug stores and some grocery stores. 

Day 15 - Choose bar soap

There are much better bar soaps online that aren’t as harmful. Look for naked bars of soaps as well to reduce packaging waste. Bar soaps are also better than liquid soaps. You can even use them to wash dishes! If you want, you can turn the bar soap into liquid. 

Day 16 - Use a bamboo toothbrush

Bamboo toothbrushes are much more eco-friendly than plastic ones. You can get them online or try to find stores near you. 

Day 17 - Wash your hair

There are many homemade shampoos that are much more efficient than store-bought ones. Shampoo bars also exist. Try to wash your hair in a new, but much more safer way! 

Day 18 - Go to the thrift shop

If you’ve stuck to Day 2 but want to go shopping, try going to the thrift shop. 

Day 19 - Buy a meal in your own container

In case it feels unnatural, ask for moral support from a friend when making this request. After a few times, this will be completely normal. 

Day 20 -  No Snacks!

You won’t be tempted to buy junk food because you aren’t eating them AND they’re usually wrapped in plastic. You’ll appreciate your food more and save money. 

Day 21 - Replace paper towels

Use rags made out of old towels or t-shirts. You can even make cute reusable cloth towels. 

Day 22 - Clean your house! 

Clean your house using mild products like vinegar or baking soda (hint: use the rags you just made!). If you’re confused, just search online about homemade products to clean your house with. 

Day 23 - Make something

Make anything you want with your own hands! You can cook homemade pasta, mend a pair of pants, or even grow your own plant. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect! 

Day 24 -  Join a zero-waste community

Try to join a zero-waste community at your place or even create your own with your friends, family, and/or neighbours! You can even participate in communities online. 

Day 25 - Reward yourself

Of course you haven’t reached the lifestyle just after 25 days. Treat yourself for all the hard work you’ve done and see if there’s anything at all you can adapt into your current lifestyle. 

[resilienceredemptionresurrection]

Today I did some visible mending for the first time. While I love the idea of turning a tear or a stain into a unique part of the garment, it’s also a way to save good clothing from heading to…who knows where? Third world countries (no), homeless shelters (just the good stuff), thrift stores (overflowing), landfills (yes). Our philanthropic impulses are becoming less and less legit. According to a number of recent articles, there are many reasons why the world doesn’t need our old clothes any more. This is bad news, seriously bad news.

While the awareness of this problem is rising in some corners of the fashion world, cheap, throwaway clothing remains hugely popular. One can now afford to buy something new for a one-time occasion, pass it along, and replace it with another something new. All without breaking the bank. This consumer habit, however, is going to be very hard to break (along with air travel, gas-guzzling vehicles, and eating meat–some of the top contributors to climate change).

The visible mending movement is a piece of that story. We are being encouraged to mend anything remotely worth saving instead of donating it to charity or throwing it in the trash. If you must buy something, go to the thrift store or go for quality. This is where my son’s Donegal Irish knit sweater comes in.

The sweater in question and our son. Both are quite handsome!

First, it was definitely worth mending. This handmade sweater was purchased for a pretty penny (just over 100 Euros to be exact) on a trip to Ireland that we took before he started college. We aren’t wealthy, so it was a splurge, but we knew that with good care, the sweater could last a lifetime. Still, more than six years later, two small holes opened up in the elbows. Repairing it would give it many more years of useful life.

I had been interested in visible mending for awhile, but was busy with crochet and embroidery projects, so my experimentation was limited to just looking at examples and reading Tom of Holland’s blog. By all accounts, Tom invented the term and popularized the practice of visible mending.

Now I had my chance!

To get inspired, I visited his blog as well as Pinterest, which has a ton of inspiring visible mending examples. I was comfortable with the very basic version, but inspired by the more complicated and stunning examples pictured. Knowing my tendency to go big when my skills are still small, I for once decided to stick with the attractive, but less glamorous, basics. I didn’t want to screw this up.

Here is a bit of the journey and the results (mouse over photos for captions).

To start, I stabilized the hole and the unraveling edges with some Donegal yarn I had on hand. I knew I would be working over it.

Elbow #2. Close up.

Elbow #1. The result looks pretty good. I worked over the bottom layer of heavy yarn with a sport weight Peruvian yarn I had in my stash.

  The challenge for me was to work on only one side of the sweater sleeve. With most embroidery projects, I am used to going through the surface from top to bottom and bottom to top. Plus, it was hard to separate the surface I was working on from the other side of the sleeve (at one point, I had connected the two sleeve sides–rip, rip, rip). This is when a darning egg comes in handy. As you may know, these are traditionally made of wood and are short-handled with an egg-shaped knob. My mother had one of these she used for darning socks.

Of course, I didn’t have a darning egg, but gosh darn it (sorry!), I had a regular ol’ soup

If you don’t have a darning egg, a soup ladle works beautifully. The long handle came in handy when working on sweater sleeves.

ladle which was recommended on one of the sites I visited. That site also recommended an actual egg, but that seemed a bit risky. The ladle (right) worked perfectly. I could clutch the long handle between my knees as I worked on the sweater which was resting in my lap.

I have to say I’m pretty proud of the results. I got off to a shaky start, but the layers of yarn soon took shape, covering and reinforcing the hole nicely. It isn’t perfect, but I am now comfortable learning a new skill and thinking about other items around the house that might benefit from some creative mending.

Before I leave, please check out this mountain of information from Collapsologie about the crisis we face in respect to consumerism, climate change, and our addiction to technology (disregard the funky looking website). As you may suspect, there are no easy answers. Being aware of our impact on the planet is a good place to start if you feel overwhelmed or doubt if your efforts will even make a difference. To be honest, I don’t know if we can change much at this point (we missed that boat many years ago), but let’s at least try. *hops off soapbox*

And finally, use your creative impulses to raise awareness. The Danish landscape painter Eske Kath is questioning the direction and content of his art as the world faces an environmental crisis due to climate change. “The climate question leaves us with a feeling of impotence. We have no control,” he says. His latest paintings are a reaction to this uncertainty and the changing relationship with the natural world.

How will your work change today or in the future? As someone who works with fiber, I worry about the impact of raising sheep, llama, alpaca, etc. to support my yarn addiction. I worry about the dye used in the yarns, And what about the environmental cost of shipping? Some of these yarns come from the other side of the world.

My future may include buying only from local spinners (always a good idea), who, in turn, may be looking at their process for imparting color into the wool without creating toxic waste. My crocheted items may be made of only undyed yarns in tan, brown, grey, black.  I haven’t seen any sage green, sapphire blue, or turmeric-colored sheep yet.

While there are plenty of issues of global importance to be concerned about–beyond climate change–my wish is that we all strive to learn more, to be kind and generous, and to use our knowledge and our softened heart for the greater good.

Now go. Chop, chop. Get busy creating! The world needs you.

If you feel up to it, visit Storyline Creations on Facebook to see what I’m up to and to check out interesting links. I’d also love you forever if you “like” that page. Thank you!

      On the Mend Today I did some visible mending for the first time. While I love the idea of turning a tear or a stain into a unique part of the garment, it's also a way to save good clothing from heading to...who knows where?

#art #blog #Blogging #Blogs #creativity #crocheting #DIY #fashion

[marysmiller]

How to Use Textiles to Create Mesmerising Wall Art

Textiles make for beautiful and versatile wall hangings, and though they may be seen as traditional or old-fashioned, they definitely deserve a spot in the interiors of today. When it comes to wall hangings, the most popular one and the one that springs to mind immediately is the tapestry. The word tapestry originates from the French “tapisser” – or, “to cover with fabric, to carpet”. The tapestry as we know it today originated circa the 1500’s when they were hung in doorways to prevent cold winds from entering the home. However, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a tapestry being used for that purpose today, for now, we consider them to be exquisite pieces of art that serve no purpose but to delight those who are lucky enough to set their eyes upon it. Though they hail from centuries ago, they are still as stylish today, and need not resemble an antique – depending on the print, you can definitely use a tapestry in a 21st century home!

Features of Wall Hangings

Nowadays, the word “tapestry” envelops a large number of textiles and wall hangings. They can often be used to represent a culture, be an ode to the past or simply bring something funky and unique to a room. A tapestry can be as personal as you want it to be – it can be about your family or something else that you hold dear. Equally, it serves just as well as a simply decorated cloth with the sole purpose of adding another dimension of style to a tired room. You will undoubtedly have come across a lot of different ethnic tapestries if you have been around the world – they can make great souvenirs and can also educate you about the heritage and history of a different nation or culture. They can portray a scene or just house a beautiful myriad of patterns, and of course, their unique textures makes them incredibly snuggly and soft to the touch – so much so you might prefer them as a blanket than as a piece of decorative art!

Of course, you wall hanging doesn’t need to be an off-the-shelf tapestry, you can repurpose a rug, blanket, quilt or pretty much any cloth and hang it on your wall for something new! Wall hangings are particularly adept at adding a rustic and homely feel to a living room. They can be immensely varied in size, texture, colour, pattern and so on, and so it is unlikely you wouldn’t be able to find (or make) one that is perfect for your home, or maybe as a gift for somebody else’s home. Usually, wall hangings are made out of materials such as linen, wool or cotton, but some on the market can incorporate the likes of gold and silver. As you can imagine, you’d have to splash out a little extra cash for more luxurious hangings such as these, but they are perfect for bringing a more sophisticated and regal atmosphere to, say, the living room. If you want a tapestry that will complement the modern vibe of your home, try finding or making one with more abstract designs, or with pops of colour, to break away from the traditional design of tapestries. An eclectic mix of a variety of tapestries can also achieve this “modern” effect. Tapestries can work as a fantastic statement piece or can blend in with or behind a plethora of other features in a room.

Repurposing Materials to Use as Decoration

Textiles are varied in their uses – they can do pretty much whatever your imagination might want them to! Not to mention, they don’t require you to splash out unless you really want to, which is handy when we are trying to be a bit savvier with our cash. And of course, once you are tired of a wall hanging, it is easy to repurpose – maybe something as simple as hanging it upside down could breathe new life into it. Whatever the theme or vibe of your home, there is a tapestry to suit it. If you’re a beginner when it comes to tapestries and is unsure about where to begin, it’s a good idea to go to local thrift stores and antique shops and have a roam around to see if any kind of wall hanging catches your eye. It could also be worth starting at home, by rummaging through rooms and cupboards to see if there is leftover cloth that could be recycled into something gorgeous.

Even things that you may have believed were better off left on the floor, like rugs or carpets, can really shine on a wall if you know what to do with them! A fantastic advantage is their ability to “fill” a room that maybe looks a bit bare or sparse – thereby making it a much warmer and comfortable environment for anyone who inhabits it. There’s minimum fuss with a wall hanging – they are by no means permanent, so if you made the wrong call or simply want to try something new you can have them removed the same day that you change your mind. Tapestries even work in a dorm room due to their flexibility. Wall hangings are also suitable for a bedroom, and if you want to experiment you could use them in place of a conventional headboard! You can match other accessories in your bedroom or living room to the tapestry, or vice versa. Try to stick with a certain theme or colour scheme, as this reduces the risk of your tapestry being a little too overwhelming and consequently becoming a bit of an eyesore!

You could also use samples of materials like wallpaper as wall hangings, which you may even be able to acquire for free! You can’t really get much better than that surely! In the same vein, if you find some wrapping paper that catches your eye then don’t hesitate to at least try it out as a wall hanging, for you may have just hit the jackpot at a minimum cost! Wall hangings can go pretty much anywhere where they fit – next to stairs, above your television – you name it. If you are really bold (and have a little extra time on your hands) you could try a tapestry out on the ceiling! It could certainly add something eye-catching – but only if it works in unison with the rest of the room. When thinking of the colours in your tapestry, go for lighter hues to evoke a more calm and serene atmosphere, or opt for something a little more bright and vivid if you want some “wow factor”. Of course, you can mix up the sizes of your tapestries, maybe choosing a few smaller ones over one large, potentially overwhelming one.

Do-it-Yourself

If you are a renter, you may think that tapestries and other wall hangings won’t be of much use to you, but fortunately, you’d be wrong. Although contractual stipulations do indeed limit the number of alterations you can make to walls in your home, they won’t block off all avenues. Of course, do double-check with your landlord if your renovation is okay by them to avoid any disagreements after changes have been made! Some changes are difficult or impossible to undo and you don’t want to get yourself into a sticky and stressful situation. Hopefully, minor changes like a nail in the wall should be okay, though you may be asked to mend any imperfections in the wall if/when you leave.

You may think that trying to make your own wall hangings is too much of a task for the average person, but there’s not as much to it as you may think – and at the end of the day, it’ll give you something to be proud of. No doubt, after the huffing and puffing what you will have achieved will definitely be worth it! Even a very simple wall decoration like a collection of feathers will be super rewarding, as well as adding that personal touch that is hard to find in a store-bought object. If you have an old carpet or cloth, dust it off and jazz it up, maybe by adding rhinestones or sequins or anything else that can bring a bit of sparkle before it hanging it up. There are a ton of other ways to turn a variety of fabrics into some gorgeous wall décor. You could try transferring the cloth onto a canvas, and then hanging the canvas up if you feel that the cloth on its own does not add enough oomph. It’s not difficult at all, all you need to do is buy a canvas from a local store and then use any method you wish to attach the fabric to the canvas, be that via glueing or stapling. Simple fabrics such as these are a good option because they are very easy and cheap to get a hold of, and most likely you have some lying around the house already.

Once you have found or made your perfect wall hanging, you will then need to mount it onto the wall. One way to do this is using hook and loop tape. Sew some of this tape along the upper length of your hanging. Attach the other side of the tape to a slim piece of wood using staples or a good old hammer and nails, after which it is ready to hang on the wall. Alternatively, you could put your fabric in a frame, for something a little more chic and classy. For this, you’ll need a frame that is similar in measurement to your cloth. If your material is sturdy and flexible, stretch it over a foam board and pin it down with staples or glue, and then frame the whole piece. If your material is not as robust then rather than stretching it, which could possibly damage the fabric, delicately pin it down, and then proceed to frame the board. If you have something more heavy-duty to hang, like a tapestry, it could potentially be nailed straight into the wall – take care not to damage the tapestry nor the wall too much. If your tapestry is more lightly woven, the nails should be able to snuggle in past the thread so that the tapestry itself incurs no damage. You could try push pins for a lighter tapestry that is more firmly woven, but you may need to put holes in it, so think hard before making a decision as it may be irreversible.

You will also find that some tapestries come with their own casing, if this is the case for you then hanging will be even simpler for you. All you need to do is insert a rod into said casing, and then hang it on nails. If you have no rods at hand, they can easily be found at a hardware store or another local store. You can even DIY a casing if your tapestry doesn’t have one! If you are going to sew a casing on, watch a video or do some research about how to sew one on, and remember to make sure it sewed on straight or otherwise your tapestry will be hung on lopsided! If you are adamant about avoiding holes in your tapestry, perhaps because it ruins the look or because the tapestry was very pricey, then you may want to consider using Velcro to hang it up. Make sure your Velcro has enough strength to hold up a heavy tapestry. To begin with, you’ll need to nail a thin piece of wood into the studs in your wall. Put one side of the Velcro on the wood, and the opposite piece on the upper back of the tapestry. Attach the two and that is all, your tapestry is now up and ready to admire.

So there you have it, a few reasons as to why a tapestry could be the perfect addition for your home, as well as some tips to avoid the woes of hanging it up without causing too much damage to the tapestry or the wall! Happy decorating!

  source https://www.otomo.co.uk/blogs/news/how-to-use-textiles-to-create-mesmerising-wall-art source http://otomouk.blogspot.com/2018/02/how-to-use-textiles-to-create.html