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#Or spent time in my Igloo at all
profiteroleval · 8 months
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A family can be the Island's number 1 public menace, his half-penguin half-mammal serial robber gf, and their crab child
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I think its time some of the creeps got some fluff :D
Puppeteer, Hobo, and Kate experiencing some wholesomeness with their S/Os? Mayhaps? Snuggles and cuddles oh my!
I tried to make it winter themed because it's that time of year :)
Puppeteer:
Listen, he's already pretty clingy over you, but once winter hits you basically never get rid of him. He always gets worried that you're gonna get too cold out there and get sick, and so he tends to hover over you, making sure you're dressing well and that you're staying warm enough in all of this winter weather. Winter is also the time of year when he starts (insisting) suggesting that you wear his clothes because they'll keep you warmer. He'll bundle you up in his sweaters, or a scarf of his, or a nice thick jacket, claiming it's totally necessary when really half of it is just that he thinks you look incredibly adorable when you're wearing his clothes, and so he gets super excited whenever you do so during the colder months. If you ever tease him and say that if you wear all his clothes he won't have any left for himself he will go out and buy doubles of his outfits so that you can't use that excuse anymore. Also, Pup never wants to let you out of bed in the mornings. He just wants to stay curled up beside you, cuddling with you, and spending the day resting with you because he feels much weaker and more tired because of the cold, so his solution to that problem is to get a good grip on you and just cuddle you until you can somehow manage to escape him about an hour later than normal.
Hobo:
Hobo is probably one of the cuddliest creeps, and you'll find that could pretty early on in your relationship with him. Nothing makes this poor touch starved bird boy happier than being able to get some love and affection from you, and luckily you're always happy to provide it. Nothing beats lazy mornings with you both sprawled out in bed, your body wrapped up in his arms and wings, the two of you content to lay there for as long as you'd like, in no rush to do anything else. Although, with it being winter, sometimes Hobo likes to get outside with you and spend some time exploring in the cold. He's never gotten to have fun with people out there before, and you're always excited to give him a chance to experience that. He's often entranced by the falling snow, spending hours just watching it fall. He'll sit out there with you, a wing protectively draped over you so you don't have to worry about it soaking into and chilling you. After you've spent some time outside, head in and make the two of you some hot chocolate, curl up in front of the fire or on the couch, put something on the TV, and just relax together underneath a blanket, and you'll have Hobo thinking he must be in heaven with how relaxed and content he feels beside you. He's a simple guy, and it doesn't take much for him to feel fully cheery and at ease beside you.
Kate:
Kate absolutely loves wintertime, and she loves it even more when she gets to spend it with you, her favorite person in the entire world. I'm talking about building snowmen together, having snowball fights, making snow angels, fuck it, she might even ask if you want to put in the time and energy to build an igloo together. Kate just absolutely loves being outside and fucking around and exploring, and all of that is even more fun when you're out there with her. If you get too cold she's more than happy to go in with you, but she loves spending as much time as possible with you running around in the snow. When you finally go back in, she'll make the two of you some of her famous homemade hot chocolate, complete with marshmallows and whipped cream if you'd like it, and she'll sit by the mansion fireplace with you, laughing and telling jokes and stories with you to pass the time while you warm up together. After that is a nice warm shower, and then throwing on your pajamas and jumping into bed to snuggle up together. She'll make a blanket fort or just drown the two of you in a big pile of blankets, snuggle up to you, and just lay there and relax with you in utter bliss until both of you are too sleepy to stay awake any longer. Kate never thought she'd be lucky enough to have someone to do things like this with, so it makes her so incredibly happy to be able to have you by her side. 
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Warmth
Paring: Hemmer x fem!Reader Fandom: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Words: 1.6K Summary: She couldn't be sure if it was an Aenar thing or just a Hemmer thing but as pacifist as he was, just as stubborn and proud he could be.
Not my gif!!!
WINTER WRITING PLAN!!!
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"Are you sure?"
She looked at him sceptically, if amused, leaning against the doorframe. Hemmer snorted snidely and wrinkled his nose. "I am Aenar. I grew up in snow and ice. That little bit out there won't hurt me."
With that, he pointed above them where a glass ceiling revealed a snow-covered landscape.
It was December and the Enterprise had actually found time to stay in space dock for repairs, allowing the crew to spend Christmas with their family.
Her family, however, were either no longer alive or currently nowhere near Earth and instead, after asking if it was all right, had decided to go on holiday with her fiancé. Hemmer had given her permission to choose the holiday destination and in the end she had decided on Lapland in Finland.
She had been more than lucky to get one of the ice igloos, which served as a kind of hotel.
They were not very spacious, but there was enough room for a double bed, a small bathroom and a small kitchenette, as well as a small fireplace in front of which a fluffy carpet was placed...
At first Hemmer had protested. He did not want to travel to a place  where she would be so cold, but she had not given in.  Hemmer had spent most of his life on a ship, where it was far too warm for him. So what was two weeks in the cold for her?
After a while, he had scowled and agreed on the condition that they would stay in the hotel for the first few days so that she wouldn't immediately suffer a shock freeze. She had agreed and
the last two days they had spent in front of the fireplace, wrapped in a blanket, leaning against each other and just enjoying each other's presence.
They hadn't had to talk much. If she had wanted to tell him something, she had only had to think about it and if he had wanted to say something, he had leaned down and whispered in her ear so softly that it would not have been heard under other circumstances.
And she loved this togetherness and closeness, but she wanted to finally make good on her promise and give Hemmer his coldness. However, the Aenar turned out to be quite stubborn.
"I believe you, darling. However, you might want to wear something more than a rather thinner jacket after all."
Hemmer just shook his head. "It's not that cold for me. These temperatures were summer on Andoria. Here, though..." He didn't finish his sentence, just wrapped a scarf around her neck, pressed gloves into her hand and topped off his creation by pressing a pink bobble hat onto her head, which had little flashing lights built in and which she had never seen before.
"So I can find you in the dark too." He grinned impossibly smugly and, jokingly, she swatted at him with her gloves.
"Idiot. But fine, if you say so. Don't complain if you're cold, though."
"I won't be cold."
She was still sceptical but could not suppress a smile when Hemmer held out his hand and bowed to her. "May I ask the lady for this dance?"
She laughed out and placed her gloved hands in his exposed ones and curtsied slightly.
"It would be my pleasure."
Hemmer gave a short laugh as well and pulled her close so that she slammed against his chest, pressing a quick kiss against her temple, followed by a strand of transmitted thoughts that she couldn't quite follow, but all of which radiated gratitude and appreciation.
Before she could return this, however, Hemmer pressed the panel next to the door, whereupon it slid aside and an icy wind whistled at them.
" Sure you don't want to wear something thicker?"
At her question he just shook his head vigorously and began to pull her energetically behind him, which in turn elicited a laugh from her.
She hadn't seen him this eager and keen in a long time.
However, she could understand him. The landscape was breathtakingly beautiful.
Their igloo was in the middle of a forest. Although it was accessible by vehicle and the area was cordoned off enough so that they were not in danger of being attacked by wild animals, this patch of untouched earth seemed so peaceful that she felt she could stay here forever, despite the biting cold.
It was already dark, but the snow glistened in the pale light of the occasional lantern. Her breath danced in the air, forming the most beautiful shapes before mingling with Hemmer's and rising towards the sky.
To the stars, as they always did.
During the walk, she had hooked her arm with his and wrapped her hand around his, while at the same time resting her head on his shoulder. She felt his calm, even breathing and the light pressure his fingers exerted on hers and had to sigh.
While her fiancé liked to pretend he was grumpy and standoffish, he secretly loved physical contact and the full range of it.
Holding hands, hugging, resting his head on her shoulder, or the other way around, cuddling, kissing, he was open to everything.
Once, as they lay in their quarters on the Enterprise at night, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her and her hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat, listening to the ship's engines, Hemmer had spoken quietly, in a whisper, of his home.
About the majestic ice caves and structures the Aenar had built over the last millennia. About his family, whom he loved and missed more than anything, but who supported him in all his deeds. And about the Aenar culture and how important physical contact was for them.
They lived on an ice planet, a moon of cold, where warmth was something precious. Sharing one's own body heat was therefore a sign of a high level of trust, appreciation and love, and something that was not done lightly.
His words had brought tears to her eyes and since then she had appreciated every single touch of his body and had not taken it for granted.
Now to have this physical contact, in a place that was similar to Hemmer's home planet and where this custom, this culture, would make sense again and could take up its original intuition, was more than proof enough for her that Hemmer loved her.
Even if she really didn't need this proof.
During their walk, Hemmer had started to talk quietly about the possibilities of excursions for the next few days, the future five-year mission of the Enterprise and everything else.
It did not bother her. She would never tire of listening to him.
However, she was beginning to notice something that was not normally common for Hemmer. His voice was shaking, getting quieter and he was stumbling over words.
At first she didn't give it much thought. Maybe he was tired or distracted by his surroundings, but the further they walked, the more noticeable it became and she became sceptical, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
At first glance there wasn't much different from before, though on closer inspection she noticed that wasn't the case.
His lower lip was trembling, his shoulders were hunched and he seemed to shiver with every gust of wind. She had to avoid rolling her eyes in amusement.
"Hemmer, dear?" she interrupted him gently and instantly he turned his attention to her, which in turn warmed her heart.
"Yes?" They stopped and she disengaged her arm from his to touch his cheek with her hand, looking at him amused and loving at the same time. His skin was ice cold.
"I don't want to tease you, of course, or say that I said it, but, could it be that you are cold?"
Hemmer straightened up and almost seemed to bristle. "Of course not, that's ridiculous. I am an Aenar, I hardly feel this cold."
Just at that moment, a particularly icy wind brushed against them, making him shiver.
"Mhhh, of course."
Hemmer glanced to the side and she instantly felt bad as she thought she saw shame on his face. She now took his entire face in her hands.
"Hemmer, there's nothing wrong with that. Everybody gets cold sometimes."
"But I shouldn't be cold. I'm an Aenar, these temperatures are nothing compared to Andoria."
"Maybe." Lovingly, she let her finger run over his dominant cheekbone. "However, you must remember that you have spent the last few years on Earth and on starships, all of which are not geared to the normal temperature tolerance of Aenar and Andorians. So it's normal for you to have to get used to it again."
Hesitantly, he looked up. "So you don't think that." He hesitated."... that I am broken?"
She gasped and immediately pressed a kiss to his lips. "Hemmer, don't even think of putting words like that in your mouth. I love you and I don't care if you walk around in sub-zero temperatures in short clothes or suddenly find only desert temperatures comfortable. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, do you understand that?!"
He nodded hesitantly and she kissed him again. "And that you'll never forget it."
She then let go of him and started twiddling with her scarf, which elicited a frown from Hemmer.
"What are you doing that for?"
"Giving you my scarf." Hemmer protested, however she didn't listen and managed to wrap the piece of fabric around his neck.
"You'll be cold!"
"And you are cold," she countered. He started to protest again, however she pressed her finger to his lips. "Please," she whispered, "let me share my warmth with you."
For a few moments Hemmer held still, looking at her with admiration and love and wonder all at once, before he glanced to the side and pulled her close.
"You are impossible."
"I love you too, Hemmer."
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@bigblissandlove1
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artiststarme · 1 year
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On a completely unrelated note and not the real life story that happened to me today at work that prompted me to write this, I'm quitting my job! Lol, I hope you guys like this and please leave your thoughts in the comments.
~*~*~*~
On a particularly hot and miserable summer in June, Family Video lost power. The AC whirred to a stop, the computers went dark, and Steve groaned. Without the computers, he couldn’t check out tapes or load information on returns. And without the AC, Steve couldn’t function. Since it was only Steve in the store, he made the executive decision to close for the day. 
He stuck a handwritten note to the door that spoke of inconveniences and waived video fees the next day then went home. His house was practically an igloo in comparison to the sweltering heat in the shoebox that was Family Video. It felt amazing. 
Steve spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around. He was enjoying the extra time off that he didn’t expect and he didn’t think of the early close at the store any further. 
Early the next morning, he was awoken to the shrill screeching of the house phone. Thinking it may be something important or perhaps one of the kids that needed something, he answered. 
“Harrington residence.”
“What do you mean ‘sorry for the inconvenience, we’re closed today but we’ll waive your return fees tomorrow’? Are you out of your damn mind, Harrington?”
“Oh hi Keith. Um yeah, we lost power and I couldn’t really do anything so I closed the store a few hours early. I didn’t want anyone to get upset about late fees so I said they would be waived,” Steve explained calmly. 
“That’s ridiculous! You’re an idiot, Harrington. We used to do things without the computer before and you’re telling me that you couldn’t do it again? You’re so stupid! Do you even know how much money you’re costing us by closing for hours and waiving late fees? Are you even listening to me?” Keith ranted on and on without letting Steve speak. 
“Um hello? Are you still there? I actually can’t hear you right now,” Steve faked, his voice quivering slightly with shock. 
Keith grumbled a little bit more before hanging up with a slam. Steve was surprised. First of all, he couldn’t believe that his manager had called him stupid. And over that? Second of all, he was offended. No, he didn’t want to have to deal with a bunch of paper trails and lists or the scorching heat when he was only making $3.25 an hour. 
What was he going to do about it? He was going to skip his shift that day and hang out with Eddie instead. The fucking lunatic was probably going to key Keith’s car or something once he heard about this. And that’s why Steve loved him.
Permanent Tag List: @doubleb11 @nburkhardt @zerokrox-blog @newtstabber @i-less-than-three-you @carlyv @pyrohonk @straight4joekeery @trippypancakes
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pony-central · 2 days
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Winter Lovers Part 2 - SMG4 Story
Summary - After receiving emails from Mario, telling them that they were going on holiday, SMG4 and SMG3 prepared their bags and set off to find their destination. Ultimately, they were driven away to the Arctic and locked in an igloo. Can these two Meme Guardians escape in time, or will they once again be... Snowtrapped?
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SMG3 was banging his fists against the door, trying to get Mario's attention. But the door was locked, so there was no way to get out of there.
SMG4: He wants us... To relive... The igloo incident...
SMG3: MARIO! LET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, OR ELSE I'LL SLAM THE DOOR ON YOUR PINGAS AGAIN!!! 😠
No response from the red plumber. SMG3 sighed in frustration. He didn't know how to entertain himself. All there was in the igloo was himself, a TV, a toilet, and his friend, who wasn't having a good time.
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The blue Meme Guardian sniffled. He didn't like the igloo, as it was the same one him and SMG3 were in eight years ago. SMG4 started to whimper, and then, his whimpers turned into crying. SMG3 got slightly concerned.
SMG3: Uhhh, hey. SMG4? What's wrong? 🤨
SMG4: *whimpers* I don't like it here. I wanna go home! 😭
SMG3: So do I. But, Mario won't let us leave. Plus, there's no fucking heater in here! We're gonna freeze to death unless we get warm somehow! 😫
SMG4: *sobs* I know! 😭😭😭
SMG3: Oh, SMG4. Please don't get all emotional. We're grown men, not babies. It's time to man up.
SMG4 sniffled and got up.
SMG4: OK. But, how do we heat up? There's no heater around here.
SMG3: That's what I was saying.
SMG4: Well, I guess we could... Share body heat. That could warm us up.
SMG3 was blushing. SMG4 smirked at him.
SMG4: Ooh, you're being a Tsundere again, SMG3. 😏
SMG3: N - No, I'm not! You... BAKA! 😳🫣
SMG4: *laughing* OK. I guess that DID cheer me up a bit. Good thing I have a blanket here.
He pulled out a blue and purple blanket from his luggage. SMG3 was relieved that the blue boy had a way of staying warm during the brutal winters. SMG3 huddled up with SMG4 and they spent their time watching TV.
SMG3: You feel better now?
SMG4: Yeah. I do. I bet you miss Eggdog. 😊
SMG3: I guess so. But still, it's been a while since we last, well... You know... Shared body heat and went crazy in here. *sighs* Memories. Even if over a million people remembered it. 😔
He was then surprised at SMG4 snuggling next to him. The blue boy had fallen asleep.
SMG4: 😴
SMG3: *soft chuckle* Aww. *hugs him back*
SMG3 started shivering. The coldness was getting to him. SMG4 was still fast asleep to even notice.
SMG3: *mind* Fuck. I'm still cold! Is the blanket not cold enough?
He noticed SMG4 was shivering, too. But not in the "I'm freezing" way. More like the "I'm having a crazy dream!" way.
SMG3: Huh? Why is he shaking in his sleep? 😟
SMG4: *soft whimpers* Please... SMG3... Go... H... Mmm!
SMG3: *mind* Is he.... Dreaming about me?
SMG4: *soft whimpering* I... I love... I love you...
SMG3: *mind* Oh, my God. He IS thinking about me.
SMG3 snuggled up to SMG4 and hugged him. SMG4 could only muster up a small smile. It would be a long night in the igloo. 😊
To be Continued...
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oneatlatime · 1 year
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The Avatar Returns
Exposition as an opening theme song is an interesting choice. I thought that was a quirk of the first episode, but nope. Less catchy than an actual song, but probably less annoying that hearing a song 50+ times in a row.
Episode 2 starts right where episode 1 left off, making me think that this must have been a two part premiere.
Yeah, Sokka is right. Gran-gran is right. Katara's known this boy for five minutes and she's already breaking what seem to be basic, long-established, life or death rules. See this is why gran-gran weighs Katara down with washing Sokka's dirty socks (and probably any other chore she can find). The first time this girl has more than five minutes to herself she endangers everyone (albeit with help). But Aang seriously doesn't get how dangerous the situation is, what with him being frozen for a hundred years. Katara had to be the responsible one with regards to the ship and she blew it. And now presumably they're all gonna get melted to death. Or burnt. Fireburnt? Firebended? Killed a bunch.
"Well I'm banished too!" UUUGGGHHH wrong hill to die on! This girl goes from 0 to 100 lightning fast. Although if the Fire nation do attack, Katara may be setting herself up to be the sole survivor of her village.
Why does the temporally dislocated 12 year old have more sense that Katara? So bossy and hotheaded and teenage girl-like. And she's known him for five minutes, why is she heartbroken by his leaving? Girl you feel too much.
"I haven't cleaned my room in 100 years" such a simple joke but it completely caught me off guard. Aang's priorities are so in line with what an actual 12 year old prioritises. I love it.
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Laying it on thick.
You know it's too bad that igloos don't have wooden doors because I think Katara would feel a lot better slamming one right about now. Don't yell at your grandma.
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Can ice do this? Also Appa looks so comfy. The one time I lived somewhere with bay windows & box seats I sat like this all the time. Messed my neck up every time I did, but that didn't stop me. The comfiness outweighs the pain.
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They weren't kidding when they said all the men went to war. I was expecting a Helm's Deep type situation where old men and younger teenagers would be there to man the defences. But it's really just Sokka. That's an impossible burden.
This is the second episode of a kids' cartoon so I don't think they're going to kill anyone, but if this were a more realistic show, or real life, that whole village would be doomed.
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What a shot! And he's not running. That's an unquantifiable level of courage.
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Boat's got no brakes
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That is not where I was expecting that ship to open.
The fire benders have horns. And I bet that steam coming out of the ship smells sulphurous.
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That might be the best possible outcome. Head first in a snowbank is embarrassing but not fatal. Also war cries are manly but they give advance warning to your target. Hush up.
I love the "show no fear!" kid. Sokka's genuinely got these little kids believing in him. The potty break scene last episode shows that he pretty much has no idea what he's talking about but he's got the kids convinced! And the moms probably appreciate him taking charge of them for a few hours, even if he has no actual combat experience. And he keeps getting up!
How hard did he throw that boomerang!?! It took 24 seconds according to my DVD for it to come back.
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It honked. Lord have mercy it honked. I have a weakness for well-placed sound effects and this one got me. Also these other soldiers must have orders to be as useless as possible. And do they all have the same face?
Zuko's spent years meditating? Don't believe it. Unless angry meditation is a thing? Maybe he has to meditate himself into angriness before he can burn stuff? Like work up a rage? Just guessing.
"Well you're just a teenager" They're all babies! All of them!
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I repeat, Katara you feel too much! You need to grow up apathetic and cynical like the rest of us dried up adult husks ASAP or else you're really gonna be hurting.
"Take care of Appa for me until I get back!" I love this. He's announcing at maximum volume that he's going to escape and none of the fire soldiers react?
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Sokka my man of practicality and action. Gran-gran my grandma of practicality and action. Katara my annoying little sister.
Is Zuko's little speech to Aang supposed to be a veiled insult or is he just making small talk? Obviously it's exposition for the viewer re: how monks are raised, but why did he feel the need to say that? Also your dad likes sticks? Cool. We all have hobbies.
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So pretty.
Sokka, my man of synonyms. So Appa understands basic language commands but not spoken English. Heartfelt pleas won't get him flying, but yipyip will.
These two are such siblings. "big deal he's flying" careful there Sokka, you were nearly uncool in front of your younger sister. That can be fatal.
Aang is so polite when he's wiping the floor with full grown men. Also he has crazy good aim. That trick to break the ropes? How?
To be fair, Aang said he'd go with them, not that he'd stay with them.
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Burrito Zuko
Aang's whole defense is running away. And it's working! Not the bit with burrito Zuko but he's actually winning this fight.
That mattress slam is brutal. I know this is a cartoon and physics isn't real here, but that caught me off guard. How is Zuko still conscious?
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Prince burrito is a parkour champ.
Appa! Has the same problem as Sokka re: announcing sneak strikes.
Zuko what was your plan? Knocking him into the water doesn't recapture him.
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Yep. Appropriate reaction to cyclone Aang.
So Aang does know how to waterbend. Katara didn't need to go north after all.
Love the head bonking callback.
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This is genius on the fly problem solving. Only works backwards? Then do it backwards! Also these guys are dead. They'll suffocate long before they freeze.
"Shoot them down!" He orders... himself?
Siding with Zuko over the old man on this one. Aang is crazy powerful.
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I just realised his eyes are different sizes. Does that impact his vision? For that matter, if that is a burn from taking a fireball to the face, how does he still have an eye?
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So so pretty.
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A literal cloud passes over when a cloud passes over their conversation. Clever.
Aang's waterbending was instinctive? Or only accessible during the glow-up. So they do still need to go north.
Katara you know your brother so well. He does indeed want to knock some fire bender heads. Sokka, having defeated his nemesis the potty break, now moves on to greater targets.
No matter what goes on in the show, all episodes end on a high note because that credits song is just so good.
Final thoughts
This was good! I think I liked this episode better than the first one, which makes sense. The first episode has to do all the set up, it's the next one that can have fun. Those moves Aang was pulling in the ship were really impressive. And really clever too.
Still loving Sokka, still loving Aang, Zuko was less of an asshole this episode. He also felt more competent, or maybe coherent? Like his character hangs together better, despite the butt honking. I laughed just typing that. I'm still not used to Zuko's voice actor though. I like how unique all of the characters' voices are in this show so far, but Zuko's still feels out of place to me.
The show doesn't dwell too much on Sokka facing down the fire nation ship (there is lots of build up but it gets played for laughs), but I think it's the stand out moment for me in this episode. Obviously it was foolhardy and a doomed effort, but it was also Sokka very literally fulfilling his responsibilities to the village. He was tasked with protecting his sister; he did. Goofy as it is, this moment is a win for Sokka. Not wise, but a win.
I love that Aang is 12, and feels 12. So often fiction about kid heroes that is intended for young readers/viewers has characters that feel like adults despite their stated age, but Aang feels 12. Katara feels like she's trying to be a grown-up so hard but keeps slipping up and acting her actual age. Sokka feels like he's trying to act as he thinks a man should, but keeps getting called out by Katara and responding in a way that fits his actual age. They close out this episode with plans for a multi-stage animal-riding safari. I love these priorities. Saving the world can wait, hopping llamas cannot.
My one problem with this episode is Katara. She needs to slow down, dial it back, stop yelling at grandmothers, and stop feeling everything at 110% before she exhausts herself. I get that the South pole and a grand total of like 25 people is probably a really boring way to grow up, but she threw herself heart first at Aang with near-suicidal enthusiasm, assuming that banishment in the South Pole would actually be a death sentence. I don't know how old she is, but that is such a teenage girl thing to do. And she's gonna get hurt!
Next episode needs more Sokka quips and more Appa. I would watch whole episodes with just Appa. I'd watch a whole Sokka episode too.
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eleanorfenyxwrites · 1 year
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The Romance of Anonymity
Part 1 / 2
@polyshipweek 2023 Day 1 - Road Trip
What universe is better for road trip vibes than the 90's strip mall AU? As per usual in this universe there's virtually no plot to this, just flirting and Vibes™. Part 2 will be 'Bed Sharing' for day 3 of the prompt list ♥
--//--
Sunlight flickers red and burning orange against Meng Yao’s eyelids, the searing heat of it tempered slightly by the intermittent ruffle of the breeze through his hair. Under the monotone rush of the wind past the cracked-open window and the hum of the asphalt beneath their tires, he can just barely hear his boyfriends talking quietly together in the front seat, a soft, safe countermelody to the road noise that had lulled him to sleep some indeterminate amount of time ago.
“I can’t believe he’s short enough to lay across the seat like that,” Mingjue marvels, snagging Meng Yao’s pleasantly wandering attention away from contemplating a second nap.
“Well darling it’s not like he doesn’t have his legs curled up as well,” Xichen laughs quietly. “He only barely fits on it better than you or I would.”
“Still!” Mingjue protests, on the verge of laughter that Xichen quickly shushes through his own chuckling. “I feel like I always forget how small he is and then he pulls shit like this.”
“I may be asleep but that won’t stop me from kicking your ass, da-ge,” Meng Yao pipes up, smiling blindly up at the roof of the car when his boyfriends laugh without muffling themselves, all of them a little giddy from the hours they’ve already spent in the car over the last day and a half.
“A-Yao, sweetheart, you’re going to get a crick in your neck,” Lan Xichen frets with a soft hand laid on his bent knee. Meng Yao cracks an eye open and turns his head enough to squint through the sunlight on his face at his boyfriend turned around halfway to reach over the top of the front seat of Mingjue’s Cutlass. “Do you want us to pull over and get the pillow out of my suitcase?”
Meng Yao stretches his arms straight up towards the roof before he turns onto his side to face the front seat with a sigh, one eye still stubbornly shut against the early-afternoon sun cutting through the window above his head. Lan Xichen lifts his hand to allow the movement but puts it back the moment he’s settled, palm rasping pleasantly over his jeans as he rubs it back and forth, calf to knee to thigh and then back down.
“Mmm maybe. How long did I sleep?” he asks around a yawn.
“About an hour and a half,” Mingjue tells him, head lifting a bit as if to look at him in the rearview mirror though Meng Yao can’t see the mirror well enough to meet his eyes at this angle. “A-Huan and I were planning to switch at the next rest stop in about ten miles, so we’re pulling over anyway.”
Meng Yao spends another long moment indulging in the sleepy lassitude of the hot sun, the rumbling of the car, the road, and the attention of his boyfriends before he lets it slip away in favor of waking up properly.
He sighs again, mutters a grumpy, “No, I’ll wake up it’s fine,” and props himself up with a hand on the seat beneath him, forcing himself upright with the promise of kissing Xichen for a reward. Xichen smiles and goes up on one leg to lean back over the bench seat and accept his kiss easily, the both of them ignoring Mingjue’s grumbling about the unfairness of being the driver and why doesn’t he get any kisses just because he has to pay attention to the road.
“Ten more miles, da-ge,” Xichen soothes when they break apart. Meng Yao gives himself a little shake to wake himself up properly as Xichen turns to lay his head down on Mingjue’s shoulder, beseeching and teasing as he tuts over Mingjue’s many hardships and how he’s so brave to endure them anyway just to get him riled up.
Smiling at the familiar tune of his boyfriends’ banter, Meng Yao reaches down to the beat up igloo cooler from the gym down in the footwell behind the driver’s seat to rummage around for something decent to snack on. (The problem with dating two health-conscious gym rats is that they think grapes constitute a snack. Which…fine, maybe, but Meng Yao is of the opinion that cheap, filling junk calories of any kind are far superior, and he’d insisted they pack accordingly.)
“A-Yao?” Mingjue calls when they seem to notice his foraging up front.
“Hm?”
“Did we bring beef jerky?”
Oh of course, how could he forget the only other acceptable snack for the non-vegetarian gym rat boyfriend?
“I could never part you from your one true love, da-ge.”
This time he’s in the perfect spot to look up at meet Mingjue’s eyes in the mirror when his boyfriend sighs and raises an eyebrow at him, unimpressed.
“Sassy. Go back to sleep, you’re still grumpy.”
Meng Yao withdraws the package of teriyaki jerky and pinches it delicately between thumb and forefinger to slowly drape it over the middle of the seat between Mingjue and Xichen, wiggling the package back and forth a bit to make it crinkle.
“No thank you, da-ge. You’re going to eat what you want of this, brush your teeth at the rest stop, and then we’re going to make out in the back seat while Xichen tries not to run somebody off the road from trying to watch us.”
Nie Mingjue’s eyes in the mirror crinkle up as he grins widely enough Meng Yao is sure his dimples are as deep as they can go.
“A-Yao,” Xichen doesn’t quite pout but it’s close, turning to look at him again to better hit him hard with his best pleading eyes. “Can’t we stop somewhere for a while so we can all…relax?”
Meng Yao offers Xichen a sweet smile and stands up a little, hunching over to avoid hitting his head on the roof (though his hair still rubs against the microfiber lining) and leaning over the seat to bury his face in the crook of Xichen’s neck. He presses a few kisses to one of the spots that makes him shiver and punctuates them with a little nibble.
“Of course, er-ge, that’s why we’re stopping at a motel tonight,” he purrs. He’s still getting used to so many things: being wanted – by two handsome men – and telling one or both of them ‘no’ (even temporarily) are probably the biggest ones. But he hopes he never gets so used to the effect he has on them that it becomes mundane. Xichen tips his head to the side to give him better access and swallows thickly, turning into putty even from such a light touch.
“The faster you drive when it’s your turn the sooner we can make that happen,” Mingjue adds, always his partner in crime when driving Xichen up the wall is on the table. Meng Yao feels Xichen shiver again and he peeks an eye open to see Mingjue’s taken one hand off the wheel to rub it slowly up and down Xichen’s thigh with clear intent. “Just, you know…If you need an incentive to drive faster than the average 90-year-old.”
Meng Yao snickers into Xichen’s neck, effectively ruining the sexy vibe he’d been going for but he doesn’t mind. He smacks another kiss to the skin under his mouth before he sits back down again and resumes his hunt for his own snacks as Xichen sighs and opens up the bag of jerky to start handing pieces to Mingjue while he drives, the 5-mile sign for the rest area flashing by the window just as Meng Yao sits up with a triumphant cry for having found his bag of goldfish tucked safely in a separate bag where they wouldn’t get crushed.
--//--
As all motel rooms are, theirs is dingy and unimpressive. Meng Yao lugs his suitcase in first with a grunt, sticky in the small of his back and under his arms even just from the short walk from the parking lot up to their room on the second floor. He steps aside to let Mingjue and Xichen through, relieved when Xichen immediately heads for the AC unit under the window to flip up the lid and start fiddling with the dials. Mingjue barely even bothers to kick the door shut behind himself before he yanks his shirt off over his head by the back of the collar and rolls his shoulders with a sigh of relief.
“Mingjue, darling, you have got to get a car with a working air conditioner,” Xichen whines from where he’s draped himself over the humming unit, cold air fluttering the strands of his hair hanging damp with sweat over his forehead.
“Can’t hear you!” Mingjue shouts back from where he’s soaking a rag at the bathroom sink to scrub over the heat-flushed back of his neck. Xichen rolls his eyes at the blatant lie but seems a bit too wilted to bother arguing. Meng Yao drops a kiss to his sweaty hair in consolation before he makes what is, objectively, the best decision out of the three of them and goes to monopolize the shower.
“There is absolutely not room for two in this shower, da-ge,” Meng Yao hums a few minutes later when the man pulls the curtain back about halfway, enough to lean against the wall so they can chat without the floor getting soaked.
“Could be, you don’t know.”
“Considering what happens when we shower together, yes I do know.”
Mingjue smirks at him and gives him a long, appraising look down the length of his body while Meng Yao turns to grab the complimentary bottle of shower gel that contains enough soap for roughly half a grown man’s body.
“Fine, suit yourself. We’re thinking about ordering pizza from that spot we passed on the way in, A-Huan’s too hot to pretend like he doesn’t want to be spoiled with junk food. I’m assuming you have no complaints?”
“Not a one. Don’t let him order mushrooms though, he doesn’t have to pretend to like them for our sakes.”
“Sure. You want soda?”
Meng Yao shrugs and preens under the way Mingjue’s watching him attempt to stretch the shower gel as far as it can go to clean the sweat-salt off every inch of his skin, looking very much like he’d absolutely be the one doing it for him if Meng Yao would let him.
“Coke’s fine, or there’s always water from the sink.”
Mingjue nods, pushes off from the wall with a sigh, and finally looks up to meet his eyes again, clearly unembarrassed by his own brazen behavior.
“ ‘Kay. Hurry up, that looks really fucking nice and I think A-Huan’s actually going to fuse with that air conditioner if I let him lay there too much longer.”
“Him you can send in to share,” Meng Yao turns his face out of the spray to say, earning himself a heartfelt, “Oh fuck you,” that makes his laughter bounce off the walls of the tiny closet of a bathroom when Nie Mingjue turns to head back out into the rest of the room.
Xichen, when he arrives just as Meng Yao is finishing his rinse, plasters himself to his back and crowds him under the weak spray with eager kisses along his neck and shoulder that make Meng Yao laugh, quieter this time, as he reaches back to pat clumsily at Lan Xichen’s thigh.
“Hi, Huan-ge,” he hums. Xichen nuzzles into his hair and wraps strong arms around his chest to hold him close as he turns them around with shuffling steps to sigh as the cool water hits his back. Meng Yao chuckles again and leans his head to the side to pillow his cheek on Xichen’s bicep, eyes drifting shut to better appreciate the contrast of smooth, warm skin and the cool slide of water between and over them both tangled up together.
They stay there like that for long, quiet minutes, just standing together under the water, swaying ever so slightly as Xichen hums something that they’d had on in the car earlier under his breath. Meng Yao relaxes his (yes, sore) neck a little further until his cheek is fully smushed against Xichen’s arm, lazy and utterly unconcerned with how he looks. He’s just held and comfortable in the too-dim bathroom of a Motel 6 in some tiny town where no one but his boyfriends knows him.
They’ll be gone in the morning, a few strange faces in a rotating cast of them through this place, a battered blue car on the road going somewhere no one around them will care about. Meng Yao feels the weight of years fall off his shoulders in the anonymity of it, secure in the knowledge that he won’t be lost, he’s still known by the most important people in his life and they’re right here with him, but outside of his partners no one else cares.
It’s more freeing than he would’ve ever expected.
They get out of the shower when Xichen decides to unstick himself from Meng Yao’s back with a few parting kisses tender enough to make Meng Yao’s eyes sting. Xichen pats him dry, smiling, with the scratchy motel towels that smell of strong industrial bleach. Meng Yao returns the favor with another identical towel, ruffling up Xichen’s long hair for good measure to stop it dripping on his shoulders and making his boyfriend wrinkle his nose at him when he emerges from the towel, rumpled and soft around the edges.
“Hi,” Meng Yao says again and earns a kiss to the tip of his nose for it. The careful brush of knuckles against his cheek.
“Hi, sweetheart.” Not fair not fair not fair. Meng Yao tries not to melt at the tenderness in Xichen’s voice and realizes immediately that that will be impossible while stuck in this tiny bathroom looking up at him and his stupid kind eyes. He needs Mingjue.
He returns the kiss to his nose with a smacking one to Xichen’s bare chest and then he’s wrapping his towel around his waist to head out into the room again in search of something sharper to force him back into the shape of his body.
Mingjue’s sitting on the edge of the bed nearer the door still in just his jeans, hunched over enough to rest his elbow on his knee to better hold the room’s phone to his ear. Meng Yao climbs up onto the bed behind him and knee-walks his way across the slippery (stained? Ew) bedspread to drape himself over his back the way Xichen had done to him in the shower, arms over Nie Mingjue’s shoulders and his cheek resting against the back of his head.
“I told you Xichen left food in the fridge for you to have for dinner,” Mingjue snaps in the way he only talks to Nie Huaisang – beleaguered and affectionate in equal parts. Meng Yao has been reliably informed that that’s simply the curse of having a little brother. He privately thinks his own brother wouldn’t feel like that if they were on speaking terms. (Or...’acknowledging each other’s existences’ terms.)
Nie Mingjue covers his eyes with his free hand at whatever Nie Huaisang says in reply. Meng Yao ghosts his fingertips up and down the familiar contours of Nie Mingjue’s chest as he focuses more on the vibration of his boyfriend’s voice thrumming through him where they’re pressed together chest-to-back while Xichen putters around them, getting dressed and turning down the covers on the other bed for the evening.
“Okay, fine, whatever, but if you spend all of your allowance eating at every restaurant in town I’m not giving you more. It’s your choice, money for the arcade for the week or dinners with your boyfriend.”
Meng Yao smiles a little as Nie Huaisang whines on the other end of the line, too garbled up for him to hear from here, and brings one hand up to card lazily through Mingjue’s hair, brushing it back from his too-warm forehead.
“Alright, A-Sang, whatever! Did you go help Zonghui with the gym today like I asked?”
Meng Yao ducks down a bit to start pressing featherlight kisses along the shell of Mingjue’s ear, smiling when his boyfriend leans his head further to the side to allow it as well as hold the phone receiver between his shoulder and his head to grab Meng Yao’s hands in both of his to squeeze his fingers, raise them to his mouth to nip at his fingertips in between his own little kisses in return.
Meng Yao sharpens his kisses into little bites the longer Mingjue spends hemming and hawing to his brother on the phone, until finally he’s gnawing on his boyfriend’s earlobe (much to Xichen’s entertainment where he’s pretending to meditate on the other bed) and Mingjue gives up with a huff of irritation, sitting up straight again abruptly and catching the receiver before it can fall away from his ear.
“A-Sang I have to go, we need to order dinner and get to sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow night, okay?”
Meng Yao smirks in triumph as Mingjue practically slams the phone down to turn and tackle him to the bed, teeth bared as he lunges in to return the favor with hard bites up and down the expanse of Meng Yao’s entire neck.
“No fair!” he gasps around breathless laughter, “I only went for your ear!!”
“I’ll order dinner,” Xichen offers, reaching for the phone and the laminated page of listings for restaurants that deliver in the area off the nightstand. Meng Yao doesn’t even have time to chide him for this betrayal in not rescuing him before Mingjue is kissing him hard and dirty, fitting all the too-soft parts of him that Xichen drags out into the light with barely an effort back under the surface where they belong.
For now.
Xichen orders dinner and Meng Yao makes Mingjue leave him be long enough to get dressed in lounge pants at least before the pizza arrives. They all pile into the bed they won’t be sleeping in to eat, sitting cross-legged with knees knocking and toes brushing ankles, dinner piled up between and around them on the bedspread that has absolutely seen worse than some stray pizza grease. Meng Yao lets the feeling of it settle into his bones, and he decides that before this road trip is over he’s going to tell them both that he loves them. Out here, where it’s just them and the road and a string of motels they’ll never see again, he feels like this is the way he can say it first.
Unwatched.
Unmonitored.
Just a man who loves his chosen People.
One of many.
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sapporo-division · 5 months
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👪 for Yuki (Christmas is his birthday, isn’t it)
☃️ for Iwao
🎁 for Yoichi
~Happy Early Christmas :)
👪 Does your OC or their family invite a lot of people with them to celebrate it? Is their house filled with tons of relatives, cousins and other family members? Or do they keep the celebrations relatively low-key and only invite a few people? Or do they celebrate it by themselves?
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“I tend to fly back to UK one week early to celebrate not only my birthday but also spent time with my family on holidays. All of my younger brothers and sisters were very excited to see me coming home every year. I even planning to bought many gifts as possible for them for their liking. Well there is one person I’m not looking forward to see… I do have other relatives from UK coming to our home for my birthday, as well. I knew myself I’ve done this before but it feels like such a long time to see familiar faces after staying in Japan.”
☃️ Does your OC enjoy the winter time? Do they like going outside and playing in the snow, building snowmen, having snowball fights, etc.? Or do they prefer to stay inside where its warm?
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“Well I am a street magician so of course I enjoy going outside playing the snow on winter season. There are times I tend to play with the children at the nearest park doing bunch of fun activities with snowboarding, building snowman/small igloo and my favorite snowball fights! I’m always the one to be the elements of surprise of throwing snowballs at my dearest friends and no one knows I did it~ usually at Yoichi, it was the most entertaining 💗 Haah~ I really love that game so much. At the end of the day, I went straight back home and rest on my couch with drinking hot chocolate.”
🎁 Is there a particular gift that your OC wants this year? Are they hoping someone bought it for them? Have they worked hard to buy it themselves? Or are they hoping for a small miracle, and it will magically appear under the tree on Christmas morning?
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“I-I’d like to think I’m the one who’d work my butt out earning much salary I have rather than waiting for someone to give me a present. It-I’s just that……I kind of feel bad for someone to buy me gifts for me that I wanted. You can say it costs…a lot of yen and yeah…I sound a bit selfish and impatient. F-for that question, I usually bought things in online shops. It’s way more easy than going out to mall of lots of people, especially on Black Friday. That was a nightmare……”
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changterhune · 5 months
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ATTACK OF THE NEW NOVEL!!!
I started a new novel about a week ago and no one is more surprised than I. 
For starters I’ve not been focused on writing of late. Most of my free time has been devoted to art or music. Some writing but only on existing stuff like the mythical 4th issue of Bunnyhead, a horror novel and writing for Igloo Magazine.
The main reason though has been due to my chronic clinical depression. Yes, I’m an artist suffering from depression. Ain’t that a surprise? But seriously I have it and it’s been better and worse depending on the time of day you ask. Heh. But it’s real and for whatever reason I’ve not been too interested  in it frankly. 
The pandemic was what kicked off my dry spell. My father’s death in late 2021 flattened me and I’ve spent the better part of the last two years grieving and recovering. Writing seemed to be the hardest thing to do in that period. Story ideas came and went but few made me feel like they needed to be written down. It was low on the list of priorities. I’ve been more focused on music of late so writing wasn’t where the muse went to either gift me or shit on me depending on how you look at it. 
About two weeks ago though a funny thing happened. I’d been thinking about a character in the horror novel I’m working on (sporadically I admit). And I had a revelation about them after wondering about that age old question one ponders when they write fiction: what makes this guy tick. 
Then all of a sudden it clicked, this thing that I’d been wrestling with suddenly came together. I wrote several thousand words of diary entries for them and they held up under the fierce scrutiny of the morning after. I edited, wrote more, edited again and wrote more. It was a good work and I looked forward to more.
A couple nights later I was watching tv with my wife and out of nowhere this idea hit me. I was surprised because it was later in the night and I was thinking more about sleep than anything else. But the idea stuck in my head. I tossed it over a bit as one does when this happens, wondering if it had legs or not. So I did what I often do and wrote some notes, basic premise and rough outline.
I did go to bed kind of excited because it had been so long since a story. The next morning it seemed good enough to write so I sat down and started typing. First chapter emerged pretty easily considering the writing muscles in the brain hadn’t worked in a while so there was some awakening of those. But the words came and after a bit I’d enough to write out a rough general outline of beginning middle and end then some more for a possible second book. 
Well then…
As I said no one is more surprised than I. The detail will remain with me for a while until it’s time. But writing’s continued apace and will until it’s either done or I’m sick of it. 
Next I’ll say about it you’ll either hear I’ve got a book deal or I’m self-publishing it. 
Until then stay away from the demons unless they’ve got pizza.
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dirtwatchman · 6 months
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PARTIES: Caleb (@dirtwatchman) TIME: Early August SUMMARY: Caleb gets caught doing something unsavory by a random stranger. How unlucky for said stranger. WARNINGS: Death, grave disturbances, cpr, blood, surgery (not descriptive, just mentions), unsanitary (also not descriptive, just want to be safe), mentions of child/domestic abuse
He didn’t know his own strength anymore. Even when he was well fed and less of a threat to society, Caleb apparently had more strength than he realized. It was probably all of those years spent digging in a cemetery so that people could lay their loved ones to rest or maybe even the years spent working his odd end jobs but no matter what it was he needed to remember this moment so that it didn’t happen again. Flashes of the night kept replaying in his mind as he dug up the soft earth beneath his feet, undoing the progress he’d made to re-bury a body Caleb had just stolen a brain from earlier. 
The person had come out of nowhere, their eyes wide as they roamed over the various tools the zombie used to pry the dead person’s brain from their skull, until they stopped on said brain resting in a plastic container inside of his Igloo cooler. A scream rang out in the night causing him to realize he wasn’t alone, a breath he didn’t necessarily need to take hitching in his throat as his eyes met the other person's panic stricken ones. Caleb stammered while he tried to think of an explanation to give but how did one explain this scene? How was he supposed to tell them that Caleb was only trying to keep people safe? He couldn’t, a full sentence hadn’t gotten the chance to form before the other person was yelling.
“Oh my god, you freak, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Maybe if the person hadn’t uttered those words at all they would still be with the living but when he’d heard ‘freak’ Caleb saw red. It brought him back to those nights he’d spent with the Ellsworth’s, bringing back the words that his own foster father had shouted at him far too often in his youth. ‘Freak’ seemed to be a trigger for him, something that had been completely unknown before that night, and a fact that only instilled more fear in his mind. This couldn’t happen again and yet the word was a common insult to throw around. Maybe not at him but there were a multitude of other ‘freaks’ walking through the streets of Wicked’s Rest and just as many disrespectful human beings, if not more.
Looking back on it, the person calling him a freak was valid. How often did someone come along and find a man with a dead person’s brain sitting next to them on the ground? Nobody could blame them for wanting to go to the authorities, not even the zombie who was doing his best to sustain his and others appetites. But in the heat of the moment Caleb had lost the ability to think clearly and now the stranger was laying on the ground, blood pooling from the wound to their head. One minute they were yelling about going to the police and then the next he was pushing them so hard they’d cracked their skull against a particularly sturdy headstone.
The worst part? For a split second Caleb had felt vindicated, relieved, some sort of sick satisfaction as he moved closer to them and watched them bleed from their open wound imagining that it was Gary lying there not breathing. 
Then he finally realized they weren’t breathing. 
“Wait…wait, no!” 
Caleb shook his head as his own words echoed in his mind, the panic lacing his voice still palpable even within a memory. The shovel in his hand hit the top of the coffin he’d already said goodbye to once tonight, causing a vibration to move through his hands and his arms, arms that should have been sore after trying to revive the person he’d killed. But after wiping away more of the dirt, all Caleb could do was stand there and stare at the gray coloring of it. The color matched the body sitting at the edge of the grave, his gaze cutting to the hand now hanging over the edge. It was as if they were pointing at him, accusing him, ignoring the apology that repeatedly slipped from his lips earlier in the night.
“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry!”
Caleb’s arms moved in sync to the rhythm of Staying Alive, the song they told him to hum if he’d ever needed to administer CPR to anyone. His hands were clasped together over the person’s chest, pumping as hard as he could in hopes of bringing them back from the murky depths of death. It was useless though. They were gone. He knew they were gone and yet he couldn’t stop the motion until he heard the tell tale crack that told him he’d broken their ribs in more than one place. 
That sound pulled him away from the song. He sat back on his legs as defeat joined the despair filling his entire body, tears rolling down his cheeks when he finally accepted that they were dead. How did this happen? He was careful about keeping himself fed so that he could avoid situations like this and yet there was a body on the ground next to him with their skull exposed. 
“I’m sorry.”
It slipped from his lips again, his mouth moving with the ghost of his own lips as he pulled himself back to the present once more. This time it was whispered as opposed to being spit out like poison against his tongue. The apology disappeared into the night, joining the sounds of the crickets playing a mournful tune. At least they were getting a proper funeral.
Caleb wiped at his nose with the sleeve of the flannel shirt he had wrapped around his waist before he threw the shovel over the edge of the grave. He crawled out himself, situating himself so he was sitting next to the body with his legs hanging over the side. A proper funeral held goodbyes, words of sorrow from loved ones. Even if he wasn’t a loved one, even if in their last moments this person was terrified of him, they deserved to know that Caleb hadn’t meant to do this. They deserved…something.
What did one say about someone they didn’t know? Especially when he was the cause of their demise? He looked over at them, their eyes wide open with fear. Rigor Mortis had already started to set in so there was no use in trying to close them but he wished he’d thought to do it earlier. Again, he felt like he was already on trial for the murder he hoped would never be discovered, those lifeless eyes boring into him, burning him up from the inside. 
“If it helps, I’m…never going to get this out of my mind.” And he wouldn’t. This person was a part of him now. They would forever be a part of his history, of what makes him who he is. They were molding him into a new shape even now. “Even if you don’t come back as a ghost you’re going to haunt me. Isn’t it fun that that’s your legacy?” The words dripped with sarcasm usually only reserved for himself. He supposed they still were even as the body continued to stare back at him.
It was time, though. He needed to get moving and make this body disappear quickly. If he kept this up somebody else was going to come along and all the effort spent would be wasted. Sighing, he stood up and unceremoniously kicked the body into the grave with one foot. It landed with a thud against the coffin below, causing him to flinch. How primitive of him. 
“Here lies…a person who didn’t deserve this no matter how harsh their words were. They join Mrs. Darcy in the dark depths of the earth, forever bound to her with their too early demise. I wish you all the peace death can bring.” Swallowing thickly, Caleb moved to grab his shovel but before he started to entomb them within the earth he repeated the words he’d said a hundred times that night. 
“I really am sorry.”
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squenble · 1 year
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collection of things that have happened on our minecraft server:
discovered thag playing any sort of goat horn near my friend causes their entire game to crash
another friend has stolen almost 20 crafting tables and lives in a pit above our house
spent almost 20 minutes walking to a lush cave just to find 1 singular glowberry bush and nothing else (then proceeded to accidentally destroy it)
somehow discovered a friend's faraway ice base, then proceeded to accidentally kill their only snowman
I found a horse that jumps really high and almost launched myself into a ravine with it
friend has a diamond axe and an enchanted diamond pickaxe, despite none of us having diamonds yet
been digging a giant tunnel through the mountains and haven't found a single diamond
witnessed a massive fucking horde of zombies attack a village, then watched them all get stuck in a single house
friend handed an allay a bone.
spent multiple minutes walking back and forth trying to find an igloo before realizing it was right next to us
friend got blown up by 2 creepers at the same time
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So my buddy L...
I kinda forgot how well we get on & how alike we are in a lot of ways. So when we first met via my ex friend (his now ex wife), we got on but apparently unbeknownst to me, he was told to not be so chummy with me. Then I went no contact with the friend & by proxy him. He popped back up about a year ago when they got divorced. Since then, timing has been such that I've mostly only seen him when he has the 3 kids, which understandably makes him a bit more... stressed.
Well this visit started the last night the kids were here, so I spent Friday & the weekend with L. I intended to leave Saturday but... now it's monday.
While he is deeply scattered because of his bonkers level of adhd and I am meticulously organized, beyond that we think alike & have the same kind of humor along with the deadpan delivery. Last night the internet went down & we spent 2-3 hrs just riffing off of each other's bits making each other laugh until we were in tears.
For example, he's a middle school art teacher & was out for all of last week, so yesterday he told me to help him come up with b.s. to tell his students when they asked why he was gone and he wants enough stories that he can tell everyone/class something different. We came up with... he was trapped in a meat freezer for a week & had to live in an igloo of frozen steaks to survive. He fell off a rollercoaster. He got lost in the woods for 4 days and was so dehydrated that he couldn't come back til today. And my personal favorite: that witch in the woods that he knows (me. He actively spreads semi true lore about me to his students. Apparently has been for like... 2 years.) got mad because he trampled some flowers so she turned him into a tree for a week. This one was punctuated by him saying in a very serious tone "Do you have any idea how hard it is to photosynthesize?!"
All deadpan, totally serious delivery.
I'll also say something or hand him something & he'll generally say "Damn it I was about to say that/look for that! How do you get ahead of my thought process?"
Listening to him talk in general is fascinating to me, too. Dude cannot express himself via written word to save his life. He has me proof/edit all his important emails. He's got serious dyslexia so he doesn't read on the reg. But he's really good at articulating verbally & has a vocabulary that rivals mine... all in an extremely thick southern drawl. I can genuinely listen to him talk about shit all day. Hell that's how I spent Saturday & Sunday. At some point he went on a 30 min rant about the Jurassic Park movie series & their lack of stegosaurus representation because they are his favorite dinosaur. (He made good points.)
Dude is so much fun to hang out with when not overly stressed about stuff.
He also doesn't watch stuff outside of specific youtube videos so I made him watch Sandman & Good Omens with me, both of which he loved. And on another trip over here, he was upset so I showed him the celebrity mean tweets from... Jimmy Kimmel? on youtube and he laughed so hard I had to pause between them out of concern for his ability to breathe.
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idp-dome · 3 months
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Stage 1
For our following meetings, I began by presenting the research I had done over the weekend. I had come across a very useful article (https://doi.org/10.1145/2994310.2994339) that demonstrates one of the first dome interactive experiences that was catered for the game AstroSurf. Even though our project is not a game, the research process and its outcomes exposed me to the various technical aspects of creating a dome-based projection, which helped me start visualising the structure. Many concerns arose while reading the article, so I wanted to share them with my teammates. The first thing I noticed is that we did not know the definitive shape of the dome structure. Is it a semi-sphere resembling an igloo? Or is it a cylinder base with a flat dome ceiling? Is the video we create going to be projected from the top to the base of the walls, touching the floor? Or is it merely going to be projected on the top surface of the dome? All valid questions that we did not have answers to.
Another thing I presented to the group was the strong impact that the positioning of viewers has on the experience. In the research paper, there is a discussion about how people experiencing the simulation ended up lying on the floor instead of standing up and moving around. This exposed a greater need for designing the game in a way that makes it comfortable and easy for individuals to interact with. In our case, people will be lying on their backs looking up towards the top of the dome, but the problem is we don’t know in which direction their bodies will be positioned. For this reason, I suggested erasing the idea of having sky-ground, up-down, and ceiling-floor as recognizable perceptions. Instead, I proposed creating a spatial environment where the person is floating from one space to another. In this manner, the dome projection acts as a simulation rather than a mere representation of an image, a key concept when handling depiction and immersion. I also found a video which could help us learn how to convert panoramic renders from Unreal to a full-dome video in After Effects (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM_PDDpaD_Y). It also gave the example of visualizing the projection in 3D using a virtual dome. Some videos I provided to better understand the technology at use were the like of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QOAILi0OZg and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYWJr1u8AU0.
On the other hand, Talha explained an experiment he had done regarding setting up an Unreal Engine scene and camera where he tested the rendered outcome using the Oculus VR headset. He proposed that motion sickness is one thing we need to be mindful of as camera movements can heavily impact the experience. He deduced that keeping the camera fixed, or only animating it on one axis would be preferable. He also provided us with another useful resource (https://lumenandforge.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-360-domes/) which helped us understand the technology of 360 domes better. Talha also suggested the use of fade transitions in our video to go from one environment to another, but I felt like it would cause disruption to the experience, and make the simulation seem fragmented. Talha ended up setting up an Unreal Engine collaboration using GitHub source control and repositories, which we could use to work on the same project files from our own devices.
Anosh proposed using sound design elements to link the stages of our dome experience as a base for narration. He also set up the Tumblr blog for us and wrote an introductory post for it. He also explained how we could use it to submit posts to it from our own personal accounts. He also spent the time he had to get a bit familiar with Unreal Engine 5 and ask the rest of the team some questions in regards to the technicalities involved in our workflow.
Overall, we had agreed that we wanted to have colourful and vivid visuals that are eye-catching. Since we wanted to focus on the holistic experience, we thought of how we could use lighting to our advantage to direct the viewers’ attention and implement abstract geometric shapes in the landscape. For this reason, Eric developed some cool sketches and drawings that could inspire us to create 3D environments.
We had some alternate ideas that we wanted to keep as a plan B in case we decided to shift from our original concept:
Journey through desolate wastes (low-end soundscape, wind that ends up picking up as we ascend a mountain, Journey game)
Floating through space (slowly revealing some sort of hazard in space, maybe a wormhole)
Paralysed patient in lab or hospital (geometrical dimension)
Maybe combine all ideas through flashes. Basically Walking Simulator without the walking.
A jungle with mysterious creatures around.
To conclude, I ended up sharing a Pinterest board with pins I had gathered that could act as further inspiration or references to finalise our concept. (https://www.pinterest.com/itsjoeas/dome/?invite_code=0f2fdec8fce74f75aa46dbf6744733b7&sender=594756831948224619)
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jungfamilysims · 4 months
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Let's Game!
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I got bored at the last lot pretty fast, so I decided to leave the morning after I checked in. It's time for my favorite place in the whole game: The carnival lot! I can't express how much I loved this place as a kid. I spent way too much time playing these stupid games.
But first things first, as you can see, there aren't any rooms here. Instead, you rent one of those igloos overnight. Thankfully, there aren't any NPCs staying the night, so you don't have to worry about not having enough space.
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One thing I forgot about was the snowmen. It's kind of funny, because you have to rent a "snowman kit" in the shop on the lot to actually build one, but it's still cute!
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There are a total of five games on this lot. It costs a few simoleons to play. Your sim can play some of the games by themselves, but some games require at least one other sim to play.
If you win, you'll get tickets. You can exchange the tickets to prices in the price shop! Some of the prices are ridiculously expensive, though. You will have to spend hours (in real life) getting enough tickets to buy those. But... Isn't it kind of the same in real life on these type of places?
And that's all for the snowy lots! This family deserves to go somewhere more... tropical now. See ya in the next post!
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positivepeacock · 4 months
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Happy Saturday! I’ve always loved to write and take pictures and was inspired last night to start this blog! With work, school, sports, birthdays, holidays, hunting (and fishing 🙄) and the never ending to do list it’s difficult to find time to have some one on one time. Our day started with dropping the girls and their presents off at school then we were able to have breakfast together for the first time in who knows how long. We also visited a few downtown shops for last minute shopping and loved that we could stay local and find so many unique gifts and everywhere we went the employees were happy and wonderful. This time of year is so joyful and heartbreaking at the same time, that I was inspired to share only the positive things I see. There is so much negativity, worry and devastation in the world right now and sometimes it feels wrong to enjoy all the blessings we have, but I have to keep enjoying and focusing on my kids and the joys in life or it will pull us all down. We are blessed to be able to help others in the ways we can and pray for a more positive future ❤️ Here was the start of our day!
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We spent the rest of the day wrapping gifts and watching Christmas movies. Hoping this will be a new tradition to take time off together before Christmas 🎄
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Now to the main story of the day! I wanted to share the positive experience we had on our Igloo dining date at Silver Birch Supper Club in Tomahawk. We arrived to a beautiful lit up igloo on the deck overlooking the lake with holiday decor, cozy blankets, plenty of heat and a fun light up Bluetooth spreader to listen to any music we wanted! They brought breadsticks and our salads and a husband approved homemade whiskey old fashioned and a surprise drink for me with a caramel apple martini. The food was cooked perfect and ended the evening with a surprise dessert to look like the igloo 🥃🍸🍨 We could feel ourselves relax and the whole experience lifted our weary spirits after a crazy few weeks. If you’re able to book an igloo experience here or any other place that offers I’d recommend it! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and focus on the positives! Until next time 🦚
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aquoteamusetheword · 6 months
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Trip of a Lifetime – Epilogue
“Take care of all your memories. For you cannot relive them.” ~ Bob Dylan
July 2013
The quality time spent with our friends is what really made the trip special.
After our nightly dinner we shared a devotion. It started with a passage of scripture, followed by thought provoking questions, discussion, and ended with prayers of thanksgiving and gratitude for this place, this time and for each other. Johnni, Mani and the rest of the staff joined us on the last night. I will never forget their Spanish prayers; I understood about one in five words, it was beautiful. Johnni later told me that he had been the caretaker for over three years and of the hundreds of groups that had stayed at Racho de Costa we were the only one to ever invite them to share a meal.
Late nights were not spent in a movie room; they were spent in the separate movie theater. Two ten-foot statue replicas of the Oscars greeted us at the entrance. The screen was 20 ft. across and it offered 6 rows of viewing pleasure. I distinctly remember four things… 1. The thermostat must have been stuck on 62 degrees. After the 97-degree days this place felt like we were in an igloo (blankets were mandatory). 2. There was a real deal popcorn machine and five gallon red and white plastic buckets. If they sold popcorn in this size at the Regal it would require a second mortgage. 3. Pillows, there must have been over 100 pillows, so many that we often recreated the stuffed animal scene from E.T. 4. Every movie we watched starred Denzel Washington.
One last story to tell… the massage. At the beginning of the week four of us had opted for the massages that were offered. Now the trip was almost over, and after five days in a tropical paradise do you really need a massage… not so much. The ladies went first. The massages were under beach side open air gazebos. The rest of our party watched from poolside some 20 feet above the beach. It came time for the guys. When I approached the gazebo, the masseuse made it clear that I was over dressed. The masseuse looked away, held up the sheet and reluctantly I climbed onto the table and covered up. This should have been relaxing, getting a massage and looking at the beautiful Gulf of California. It wasn’t. The wind was every bit of 30 miles an hour. Keeping the sheet tucked under my legs was more difficult than making successful polenta in the appetizer round on Chopped. Now, I am not one to put my pastor on a pedestal, but mine was on that hill with a perfect view. Somehow, I escaped with my dignity, albeit less relaxed than when I started.
Leaving was bittersweet. I really don’t remember much about the ride back through the desert. Leigh only took one Ambien on the return flight… she was fully awake when we landed. But when we arrived back at home the entire week seemed like a dream.
“Lord, if You do no more, you've done more than enough.” Psalms 118:24b
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